Preps

Funny how my first post is a to-do/buy list. John will laugh at that for sure, since I'm a HUGE list maker. Over the past few months we have begun to get serious about preparing for the future. I will follow up with more posts about the economy, peak oil, and the enviroment, but for now this is a quick list to keep track of what I'm still working on accquiring before the year is out.

*More canning supplies. I have a pressure cooker, but it is missing some parts so I need to get more and increase my mason jar stash.

* seeds. The seed site I want to order from just opened back up so I will likely pick those up this week.

*kill-o-watt meter
* solar battery charger
*more wool stuffing
*start purchasing yarn, my fabric stash is healthy:)
*gravity water filter
* water proof matches
*good sleeping bags
*a tent

A few of my favorite bloggers:)
www.chrismartenson.com
www.sharonastyk.com

Chestnutt Ridge Road in Marietta, SC

Yesterday we all drove about 45 minutes northwest of Greer and met my parents to take a look at this 12 acres out in Marietta. The view (if you cleared the trees) is excellent. You are really close to the mountains in this area.

The pros:
1) There's alot of land for a decent price (around $60,000).
2) The land is heavily wooded and beautiful. It is rolling and there is a bluff at the end of the property from which you can hear a babbling brook.

The cons:
1) My Dad and I wandered the property for about 20 minutes in heavy brush and trees. We weren't sure whether there were clearings for building or not (the owner said there was).
2) There's very little pasture. There's some open area at the bottleneck of this property.
3) You can't access the land except through that bottleneck. On either side of that narrow pass the neighbors are pretty close. What's the use of moving to the country when your neighbors know exactly when you are leaving and coming?

So--this property will be taken off the list.

Feeble Update

Since last time I have written an entry I have built a small "compost patio" and have setup some worm composters (made out of plastic bins). We have added a small deck and added that to our new deck. We have also built three 4' x 8' raised garden beds for gardening this spring.

We are out of credit card debt and we have also bought 3 months of food stores.

I have also purchased a revolver (yeehaw)!

We are also going through the process of looking for land. See next entry.