Perils of Living in the Woods

At least one of the perils of living in the woods is that of falling trees. Forget snakes, poison ivy, wild animals consuming your garden and livestock, nothing has to be addressed with more immediacy than a fallen tree on your storage shed or across your road. A few years ago, after one of the hurricanes pummeled the East Coast, heavy rains loosened the soil around the tree roots. One tree fell onto the shed and crushed the entire upper story. This led to two years of clean-up and rebuilding. Now that the rebuilding is finished and the cleanup is done, we’ve had to deal with more falling trees and it feels never-ending.

Sometimes falling trees can be a blessing. One year, when my husband was out of town, a tree fell across the road on the night before Mother’s Day. Most women I know don’t enjoy Mother’s Day services. First, mother’s day talks at church relay how angel single women raised ten children while holding down three jobs and still managing to be the perfect mother or it’s the speaker’s personal ramblings about how much they love their mother because she never missed their baseball game—either way, it either makes you feel guilty that you aren’t that mother or you’re irritated that your mother was a flesh and blood woman and not one of these super legends and you’re not at the point in your life where you can accept that your mom has (hard swallow-gulp) flaws. So, in my excitement of not having to attend that particular Mother’s Day meeting, I called my girlfriend to relay my good news. Unbeknownst to me, her elderly father overheard her side of the phone call. So, it was at five in the morning that I heard the sound of the chainsaw humming faintly outside the house. I threw on some clothes and jogged down the road to find my friend’s father, wearing his Sunday best protected by an apron cutting up the offensive tree so I could make it to church on time. How could I not go after that? So much for missing out on Mother’s Day—I tried.

Earlier this spring, we came home after working long hours to find two trees down across the road. This meant that even though we were tired, we weren’t going to go anywhere until the tree was moved. Last month, another tree fell across the road a few feet down from the original spot. Just this week, again another two trees fell across the road in a different spot. Each time this happens, we have to drop whatever we’re doing and concentrate all our efforts and energy into moving entire trees off the road. We drag out the chainsaws, chains and tractor and get to work. Sometimes it takes a few days to get it all done. But, on the positive side, we’ll have wood for the winter . . .

Take Care, ALL

Hey, if you’re planning to buy our “Unplug From the Grid,” ebook, wait a few weeks. We are revamping it, adding to it and doing some reformatting to make it better. However, “The Nearly Painless Guide to Rainwater Harvesting” ebook is ready to go and I think it can help those wanting to find ways to get water without drilling a well. We just uploaded “The Nearly Painless Guide to Food Storage” in May and it’s doing well. If you get a chance, I would love to hear what you think of it.

 

A Tale of Two Nurserywomen

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.” A Tale of Two Cities

Today, I worked on my herb garden. I had thrown a few potatoes into one little section since the soil was sitting unused and I had some sprouts. They seemed to really enjoy it there, so for now, I’ll let them stay. Since space is at such a premium around here, I can’t afford to be wasteful. I know I’m getting a late start on planting, but it can’t be helped. I have spent the past few months working on my food storage book and barely found time to take my dog for his daily walk. I knew I would be paying the price for my procrastination, but I had no idea it would be as bad as it was.

First off, by the time I visited the local nursery, my favorite nurseryman had sold it and moved north. The first clue that he was gone was the lack of plants. As I drove up, one car was in the lot. A woman on a cell phone was milling about with her phone glued to her ear. She could hardly be bothered with her only customer and when she finally lowered her phone (not hanging up) to ask us what we wanted, I realized I wasn’t going to have a good experience. Second, the scant amount of plants she did have were hideously mistreated. Yellowed leaves on some, and some pepper plants had ALL the leaves plucked off with only a small undeveloped pepper hanging off it. WOW—I couldn’t believe it, they’d removed every single one of the plant’s leaves. How was it supposed to nourish itself? Anyway, I left there, feeling as if this nursery woman, no, not nursery woman—just woman on the phone, had committed a heinous murder of vegetables—HOW DARE SHE!

We had to drive an extra ten miles to get to the second nursery.  As we rounded the corner, I could see the place filled with plants, compost heaps across the yard, and the nursery woman was actually happy to see us. No begging to ask prices. No feeling as though I was a rude interloper when asking about various plants. As I settled on my purchases, I was comfortable knowing that she had actually cared about producing great plants instead of just making a buck. This was evident in the quality of them, the courteous service and her knowledgeable suggestions. Although I didn’t get the exact plants I wanted because of my tardiness, I left meeting a fellow gardener—someone who took pride in their work and was interested in living a holistic and a purposeful life.

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” A Tale of Two Cities

Take care, All—Hope you enjoyed the excursion into “A Tale of Two Cities,” one of my favorites.
If you’re interested in storing food, be sure to check out my new book. http://www.amazon.com/Nearly-Painless-Guide-Storage–Survival-Series-ebook/dp/B00KBCF5FC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1402019915&sr=8-2&keywords=hillary+bergeron

New Chicks

The newest editions to the homestead. My friend hatched out some eggs and gave me half of them. I’m feeling very lucky today.

Back in Tennessee

I’m back in Tennessee.  It was an eventful trip.  While I was in Alaska, my father passed away.  While it was expected, it was still hard.  I was grateful to be there and be able to say goodbye though.  I did get to see many friends who stopped by to pay condolences.  One friend, a chef-and quite a good one at that, stopped by for dinner.  I had marinated steaks all day from a recipe on the internet that promised the “very best steaks on the planet” and then found out when I was about to cook them, we didn’t have any propane for the grill.  I ended up cooking them on a George Forman Grill.  They turned out all right, but it is very intimidating cooking for a chef.  The weather there was said to be one of the coldest springs for Alaska and I believed it.  It actually snowed the second week in May-not just a light sprinkling, but a full-blown snow storm.  It was very disheartening as I was looking forward to spring.

The trip home was a disaster, which was also expected.  Of course, I packed too many clothes in the first place.  I didn’t need quite so many since I spent the majority of my time in my pajamas–as one should.  When it came time to pack to go home, of course I came home with more than I’d left with.  I did the sitting on the suitcase as I was zipping technique, but still had to resort to a second suitcase.  Then, because the zipper broke, I ended up duck-taping around it several times.  I believe that will be the luggage’s last trip.  In the end, of course I looked like a “hillbilly”–just one more humiliating experience to add to my repertoire.

The trip home was eventful.  Halfway through the long flight from Anchorage to Minneapolis, the guy in the seat behind me kept shoving my seat forward so that it felt like we were experiencing constant turbulence.  I would’ve been annoyed, but since it’s a given that we’re all going to be shoved into the plane like over-sized sardines in a small tin, I let it go.  Now I’m glad I did.  It turned out he was having medical problems-some kind of seizure.  The flight attendants came over the intercom and called for a doctor (preferably one with a license to come to the back of the plane).  When we landed, everyone had to remain seated until the paramedics boarded and helped him off the plane.  The next flight was delayed for 2 hours because one of the flight attendants had a family emergency.  The new flight attendant suggested, over the intercom, that since we were so happy she came, we could leave her $5, or preferably diamonds if we chose as we exited the plane.  But she was so curt and bossy during the flight, I doubt anyone would’ve wanted to-despite being saved after a 2-hour wait.  I’ve come to the determination that flying is never fun.  So, in a way, I’m glad to be back–but on the other hand, I left quite a few loved ones behind and I was sad to go.

Take care, All

Back in Alaska and saying goodbye to my father.

I left a beautiful spring to head to Alaska to experience breakup.  Anyone who’s been in Alaska in the spring time knows and loathes”breakup.”  It’s the time of year when weather vacillates between warm and freezing temperatures.  Snow melts, then freezes, then melts again, turning the yard into a giant mud puddle.  It’s usually this time of year when Alaskans bet on exactly when the Nenana River ice will break.  The contest started in 1906 and is still a big deal around these parts. 

 

However, I’m not here to enjoy the crisp, unpredictable weather.  My father passed away the week before last, so I came to help out and say goodbye.  When I think about the life of my father, I remember him as a lucky man.  He really did live a full life.  He spent a lot of time exploring the Alaskan wilderness, leading a team of pack-horses into the back country, either hunting or taking in a group of Sierra Club members to experience Alaska at its best.  He spent time teaching art at remote native Alaskan villages, as well as in Old-Believer Russian villages.  He would tell us the stories of how he’d have to get permission to enter the Russian villages from the elders who were trying to preserve their culture in an evolving world.  After growing up hearing his stories and seeing the fruits of his life through his painting and carving, I would be hard-pressed to find another individual who’d lived a more exciting life than my father.  It’s my hope that I can enjoy my life as much as he did in his. 

 

Take care, All

P.S.  Our new book on how to build a solar home is on Amazon.  If you haven’t had the chance to check it out, you may want to.  We also included a step-by-step guide on how to build a compost toilet and rainwater collection system. 

Bombing versus the Balm of Gilead

The recent events of the bombing of the Boston Marathon has left me heart-sick.  Every time something of this magnitude happens, I feel a piece of my soul being chipped away and being replaced by an angry, unfeeling heart, intent on revenge.  I was contemplating the events of yesterday and how it brought about an effect that chased away any happiness.  I realized my soul needed healing from the thoughts of helplessness encompassing me.  The Balm of Gilead came to mind, an ancient herb used in healing a variety of ailments as well as is symbolic for the power to soothe and heal.  I needed some kind of strong medicine to combat the pure evil it takes to blow up a child.

 

Since the opposite of evil is decent,good,honest,moral, sinless,upright and virtuous, to combat the evils of society we can do something that would represent these terms.  So, today, if you feel overwhelmed by evils of society, do something decent and good for humanity.  Do one thing that will help relieve human suffering in some way.  This may take the form of donating to a good cause, gathering supplies for a women’s shelter or going to the rest home to visit someone who doesn’t get any visitors, reading them a book perhaps.  Just do something that will help wipe away the evil of the day.  Don’t let them win.  We will never be able to eliminate the evils of society, but we can do something to wipe away the tidal wave of negative feelings and fear they leave in their wake.

 

Take care, All

P.S.  I found out that many comments were being sent to the spam box–so I apologize for not posting your comments.  If your comments have not been returned on my blog, I’m very sorry I didn’t think to look in the spam box before now.

 

The New Book is up!!!!

Hi everyone,

My new book, “UNPLUG from the Grid” is finally finished.  This book should help you set up your PV (solar) system.  We’ve included quite a lot of pictures and diagrams to help with the process.  We’ve also included sections on how to build a compost toilet and a rainwater collection system.   You know that saying, “there’s more than one way to skin a cat,” well if you ask 10 different people how to do something, you’ll get 10 different answers.  This is just the way we did it–our answer.  Even researching for this book, I came across new ideas and learned new techniques in the off-grid lifestyle.  It’s my hope that our experiences might be helpful to someone trying to get off the grid.  If you come across something that isn’t in the book, let us know.  I’m sure that we will try and update this book over time, adding new technological information as it becomes available. 

On a personal note, I’m back in Alaska again.  I actually left 80-degree weather for freezing temperatures. Who does that willingly????? 

Take care, ALL.

 

Pajama-Mama and Her New Water Filter

I’ve uploaded a video from our latest venture–trying to make a cheap water filter.  Somehow, we didn’t do something right.  Please excuse the pajamas, they’re super comfortable.  In fact, I think we should be able to wear pajamas “all” the time.  Why save the clothing with the most comfort for bedtime?

http://www.youtube.com/user/hsbergeron?feature=watch

50:1 MAPLE SYRUP FUN

Hi Friends,

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been on to update this blog.  In that time, I have put in any spare minute possible working on my Off-Grid Book.  While “Unplugged” is a memoir about my experiences, I’ve been getting a lot of feedback about how there wasn’t any “how-to” information in it.  I took the hint.  Bob and I have been working on “Solar Blessed–Building the Off-Grid Home,” for the past few months.  Since that time, we have put in anywhere from eight hours to sixteen hours a day, with the majority of our time near the sixteen-hour range.  Of course, this isn’t without some pain.  My upper back and arms, after spending hours bent over a computer, are strained to the point that for the past two weeks I have been in pain and had a constant headache.  It’s so bad, I actually had to visit my massage therapist friend.  Might I say, massage therapy is “AWESOME.”  I’m not over all my pain, but for one day, I felt like a normal person again. 

 

Despite all the work on the new book, I was still able to take a few minutes of time and put in some lettuce seed and collect the maple sap from the trees we tapped last month.  We strained out the bugs, leaves and twigs and set it on the wood stove to boil down.  After burning the first batch, we resolved to make sure the second batch came out.  When it got down to a certain point, we set the kitchen timer in fifteen-minute intervals.  After three days, we had the sap boiled down enough to call it syrup.  Wow!!!  It was great!!!  Nothing at the store compares.  Next year, we will start earlier collecting the sap.  Since it boils down from a 50-to-1 ratio, I would like a little more than just a baby food jar.

 

Just a side note, the deer actually pulled one of my buckets off the tree and chewed on it.  

 

Take care, 

 

Hillary

 

 

 

My Closet and Other Catastrophes

It’s a new year and with it come resolutions. One of my major resolutions this year is to turn my chaotic life into streamlined version of “simple living.” It’s hard to feel creative when I’m surrounded by clutter and of course it’s hard to clean around all those piles of junk. Step 1-start with the closet. I donned my Haz-Mat suit and went to work. I pawed through the piles and piles of shoes. In fact, if how many shoes a person owned equaled their wealth, I would probably be one of the richest women in North America. I have old shoes I just can’t bring myself to throw away, shoes I wear on special occasions, new shoes with the tags still on them and favorite shoes-that when I found out I liked them enough, I bought 2 pairs just to make sure I would have them if the old pair wore out. Now I found that this resolution is harder to keep than I originally thought, because now I’ve discovered I’m a shoe hoarder. Some people collect baseball cards–I collect shoes. New resolution–streamline my shoe collection. This simple living concept may be harder than I thought. Maybe I should hire a heartless consultant to come in and help me out or go to a hypnotist to tell me I only need 7 pairs of shoes and to make my choice wisely. Either way something has to be done.

On another note–I started writing my next book on the “off-grid lifestyle.” It’s taken up most of my week. I’m hoping that those who are interested in the off-grid lifestyle will find my book helpful and I’m hoping to be able to hit upon some insights that others haven’t suggested. If anyone has any questions that they’d like to have answered, feel free to leave me a note and I’ll try to include it in my book. I’m planning to include a man, as well as a woman’s perspective to off-grid living. My hopes are to have this book done by March or sooner–so wish me luck.

Well, take care All, and good luck with your New Year’s resolutions.

P.S. “Unplugged” is doing well on amazon. Many thanks to those who’ve left me reviews and encouragement. You’re the best!!!