Saturday, March 30, 2024

March 29 - The Campfire Trail - A Night of Stars Mingling with Campfire Embers

March 29, 2024

Day 910 of the Adventure

We've reached the time of year when sitting outside in the evening has once again become mild and therefore, easy. I know, a large enough fire can make it tolerable anytime it's cold. We did have a fire tonight and it did add some nice warmth, although it added more in terms of ambiance as we sat looking towards the setting sun in the west. It's a peaceful existence. The sounds include the crackling of the fire, tree frogs singing down the hill, owls calling to each other. 

Yes. I'm soaking up as much of this early springtime atmosphere as I can. I remember so many years of thinking, "You know, it would be a nice night for a fire with a cup of hot coffee", but then would just never do it. Maybe it's a sense in me that there's a lot of time that needs to be made up for. As it grew late, stars began to mingle bright white with the sparkling orange embers of the fire that rose into the sky to meet them. We remained there until long after dark.  In fact, picking my way back to the cabin was remarkably difficult since we had left no lights on to see our way back. I guess if the biggest difficulty I record today is that of finding my way back to the cabin from the firepit in the dark, life can't be all that bad!

Carry On

Adventure Quote:  “The sky is already purple; the first few stars have appeared, suddenly, as if someone had thrown a handful of silver across the edge of the world.” ― Alice Hoffman

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost in the Dark (Colombia Dark French Roast)

Resources

Make sure to visit our website regularly to see new products and resources.

YouTube Channel: The Campfire Trail
YouTube Channel: Life of Treasures

Our Books
Treasures of Life - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Treasures of Life 2 - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Back to the Land - Planning your Back to the Land Roadmap by Martin
Wealth Creation - Principles of Wealth Creation by Martin

Please Consider Subscribing to our monthly "How-To", Do-It-Yourself" newsletter in the upper right corner of this page.   AND........

Click any of the following Video links to start your own adventure with us on our YouTube Channel:  

Creating a "Roadmap" Back to the Land


Our 30 Day "Back to the Land" Playlist



Creating Sustainable Income

Creating Sustainable Income Make sure you are subscribed to "The Campfire Trail" YouTube channel and have the "Notification Bell" set to "ALL" to receive notifications of new video publications. 
Video List
on No comments:

Thursday, March 28, 2024

March 28 - The Campfire Trail - When is the 2nd Best Time?

March 28, 2024

Day 909 of the Adventure

Over the past two days, I've been exploring the decision process that brought us to creating a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. I can only assume that others are interested in this for themselves as well. (Here's Links to the previous postings Day 1, Day 2) I think that one of the biggest obstacles to starting anything is figuring out how. In the hesitation of that, the default action is sometimes to do nothing, figuring that something will just work out, somehow, eventually, maybe. If it's okay to say it, That's a REALLY BAD Plan! I love thinking in terms of five years when it comes to planning. Five years is literally enough time to accomplish nearly anything of significance. In fact, as the economy continues to drain us financially, now is the best time to begin taking action on a self-sufficiency quest of your own. If you gamble on, and build plans around things getting worse and that indeed happens, you will have made a good choice. If you gamble on, and build plans around things getting better and that indeed happens, you've made a good choice. If you plan for the worse and things get better, you've lost nothing and are still in better shape than if you'd done nothing. However, if you plan for the best and things get worse, then and only then will you realize you have "Chosen Poorly" as the old Knight in the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade declared. 

Sometimes, a reality check needs to occur and I believe this is one of those times. I've been a student of economics and politics for years, in fact decades. Whether we see economic improvement or economic decline on a monthly or even yearly basis, I personally see a declining trend in quality of life from a financial and economic point of view in our future. It doesn't so much concern me for me, but it does concern me for my kids, grandkids, other extended family and many friends. What is the answer?

Captain Adreane on Treasured Times
To me, my answer lies in a greater sense of self-sufficiency. For me, that is achieved by gaining greater independence in the areas of housing, food sources, energy and simply anything that has to do with necessities. In fact. I'd go as far to say that it includes things that have to do with our recreation and pleasure time as well. That's part of the reason I'm weaning myself away from cruise ships and spending those dollars to support family members who can offer me even better experiences from their own boats. It keeps it in the family and helps them to be more self-sufficient as well. This alone should stand as a testament that I am not a doomsday survivalist hoping to survive a holocaust in a hole somewhere. If that were ever to happen, I'm not sure that surviving would be on my "Must Do" list anyway. Still, there's plenty of room to argue the point that building fire-walls of sustainability is a good thing. Much of that will include, by necessity, the ability to secure food, energy, shelter and water resources that are not affected by economic pressures of any kind. 

Click Here to Purchase
What is the answer to this? I believe it begins with owning a property suitable for self-sufficient living. That alone is a basic necessity and one that represents a considerable decision and commitment. Unfortunately, it also represents probably the single biggest financial commitment you will likely make in the entire lifespan of that lifestyle. AND.... It kind of has to happen in the beginning. All of that is what makes the process so daunting. I get that, but it doesn't have to necessarily be the end of the dream. I've been encouraging those who want to start their personal "Back to the Land" journey to view it as a five-year process. Then make a decision to find a way to begin that process today. Five years ago would have been the perfect time to start, but today is the second best time to start. If you struggle with all of the things you need to think of, and to do, and fight your way through, let me make a suggestion. We recently completed a video series that doesn't cost anything to view covering 30 days-worth of tasks or subjects you can start on right now. (Links below for that at Creating a Roadmap Back to the Land) In addition, we wrote a companion book to help get that plan mapped out for you. It's available from Amazon. You can click the image to the right and find it. The video series pretty much mirrors the book but the book is probably better organized. I've generally not been very aggressive about promoting the book but honestly, I believe it is worth the price to help get a plan established. If $9.95 is too much for that then anything else that will be needed to accomplish the dream will likely be too much as well. 

I truly believe that creating a self-sufficient life is the answer to the economic difficulties we are currently experiencing. I also truly believe that it will become even more important in our future. The time is right, because tomorrow will be one more day into the future. One more day that we look back and say to ourselves, I should have started yesterday........

Carry On

Adventure Quote:  “You need to invest time in understanding and discovering yourself” ― Sunday Adelaja

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost on the Trail (Guatemala)

Resources

Make sure to visit our website regularly to see new products and resources.

YouTube Channel: The Campfire Trail
YouTube Channel: Life of Treasures

Our Books
Treasures of Life - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Treasures of Life 2 - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Back to the Land - Planning your Back to the Land Roadmap by Martin
Wealth Creation - Principles of Wealth Creation by Martin

Please Consider Subscribing to our monthly "How-To", Do-It-Yourself" newsletter in the upper right corner of this page.   AND........

Click any of the following Video links to start your own adventure with us on our YouTube Channel:  

Creating a "Roadmap" Back to the Land


Our 30 Day "Back to the Land" Playlist



Creating Sustainable Income

Creating Sustainable Income Make sure you are subscribed to "The Campfire Trail" YouTube channel and have the "Notification Bell" set to "ALL" to receive notifications of new video publications. 
Video List
on No comments:

March 27 - The Campfire Trail - Waiting For "Too Late"

March 27, 2024

Day 908 of the Adventure

As promised, I'm continuing on today with my posting from yesterday. (Here it is if you missed it) I should probably begin with stating the fact that I have no issues with the "eating food recovered from the garbage" part of the story. In fact, in a way, it helps to emphasize how difficult life and be when you simply do what you have to do when facing that struggle. All of that was simply background for the direction we've taken in the last couple years. 

There's a fine line, I believe, between doing things out of necessity or even fear and doing them out of prudence and responsible planning. I think that the self-sufficiency lifestyle falls into the "prudence and responsibility" category. I also believe that we typically tend to dismiss planning until many times it's too late to effectively do much about it when crisis strikes. It's true with savings accounts, home maintenance, vehicle maintenance, retirement, and really, you name it. We are mostly procrastinators at our core. The same can be said for self-reliance and self-sufficiency. As we began to evaluate the situation we found ourselves in during the Covid event. We were facing the arbitrary closing of our businesses and potential financial calamity. Fortunately, we were able to weather that storm through a lot of hard work and hard decisions. Within a year however, we were beginning to make plans to become much better prepared for similar events. We decided to make the journey towards self-sufficiency beginning as soon as we could tie up some loose ends in our business life. Once the journey began, there's been no looking back. 

As we prepared to embark on our personal journey to self-sufficiency, we made another decision. If we're going through all the trouble of it for ourselves, why not document the process for others to follow. That was in early 2021. In fact, the decision was made in March of 2021. We purchased video equipment and prepared to head down a road that we weren't sure exactly where it would lead us. We still had two recreational properties that consumed a lot of our time. Not knowing whether we would continue to be tied to them, we began making plans that included lots of options both including keeping the properties or potentially liquidating one of them. The interesting part was that the decisions we would be making that year had so many more "moving parts" than most people have to deal with. Planning for all of it was nearly impossible. We envisioned so many different pathways and honestly didn't know if any of them would actually work. By September of that year, we knew it was time to commit to a property where we could get started. Almost immediately after that, the path became clear. More on that tomorrow. 

Carry On

Adventure Quote:  “You are not the victim of the world, but rather the master of your own destiny. It is your choices and decisions that determine your destiny.” ― Roy T. Bennett

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost on the Trail (Guatemala)

Resources

Make sure to visit our website regularly to see new products and resources.

YouTube Channel: The Campfire Trail
YouTube Channel: Life of Treasures

Our Books
Treasures of Life - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Treasures of Life 2 - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Back to the Land - Planning your Back to the Land Roadmap by Martin
Wealth Creation - Principles of Wealth Creation by Martin

Please Consider Subscribing to our monthly "How-To", Do-It-Yourself" newsletter in the upper right corner of this page.   AND........

Click any of the following Video links to start your own adventure with us on our YouTube Channel:  

Creating a "Roadmap" Back to the Land


Our 30 Day "Back to the Land" Playlist



Creating Sustainable Income

Creating Sustainable Income Make sure you are subscribed to "The Campfire Trail" YouTube channel and have the "Notification Bell" set to "ALL" to receive notifications of new video publications. 
Video List
on No comments:

March 26 - The Campfire Trail - A Strange but Relevant Memory

March 26, 2024

Day 907 of the Adventure

Is the whole "Self-Sufficiency" paradigm worth all the work and effort? Obviously, I'm not old enough to have experienced hardship on a scale equal to the Great Depression. My mom was, however. She's been gone several years now but here life was lived in a constant state of remembrance of that part of her life. I suppose some get over it and others don't. I hate to say it but I believe her perspective was driven by fear of a repeat of that experience and she was always prepared to be ready for it if it happened. My dad, on the other hand just tended to go along with it to keep her happy. He seemed to not be as concerned but was okay with accommodating her storing of critical supplies. Our perspective as the kids (my sister and me) did not include Great Depression level experiences. We had everything we needed but not a lot beyond that. At times it felt like lack, but in reality, it wasn't a "desperation" variety of lack. I do remember once, mom bringing home a bunch of cans of USDA commodity food. It was peanut butter, canned meats like chicken and other larges canned goods that I don't remember what all was in them. They were all big, like quate and half gallon sized cans it seemed. The surprising part was that she got them from the neighbors garbage pile on the side of their hill. What she was doing there, I have no idea but she like rummaging through trash and finding things that were still usable. I do remember that it infuriated her that the neighbors, who were receiving government benefits of food were simply throwing a lot of it out. Especially since we were not getting any aid and were having a hard time keeping enough groceries in the house. The food was good. It was sealed in cans so no issues there. That whole memory has been something that's stuck with me my entire life that I've never shared with anyone. 

I bring this up today to make a couple points. First, it's memories like things that I believe pressed me into pursuing a business pathway intended to avoid that kind of life. Which turned out well for us. The second point is that it's always kept me aware of what kind of a life was possible if things, like the economy, began to go south on us. While I feel we've been able to build an economic and financial firewall against that, I know many others who haven't. I guess it's for this reason in particular that I understand and can relate to the stresses associated with the struggle to make ends meet and keep the bills paid and food on the table. So I ask again, Is the whole "Self-Sufficiency" paradigm worth all the work and effort?" 

I'm planning on carrying this thought into tomorrow's post and try to make a little more sense of it. 

Carry On

Adventure Quote:  “You do what you have to do. That's who you seem to be to me, anyway. You're one who does what he has to do.” ― Dean Koontz

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost in the Dark (Colombia Dark French Roast)

Resources

Make sure to visit our website regularly to see new products and resources.

YouTube Channel: The Campfire Trail
YouTube Channel: Life of Treasures

Our Books
Treasures of Life - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Treasures of Life 2 - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Back to the Land - Planning your Back to the Land Roadmap by Martin
Wealth Creation - Principles of Wealth Creation by Martin

Please Consider Subscribing to our monthly "How-To", Do-It-Yourself" newsletter in the upper right corner of this page.   AND........

Click any of the following Video links to start your own adventure with us on our YouTube Channel:  

Creating a "Roadmap" Back to the Land


Our 30 Day "Back to the Land" Playlist



Creating Sustainable Income

Creating Sustainable Income Make sure you are subscribed to "The Campfire Trail" YouTube channel and have the "Notification Bell" set to "ALL" to receive notifications of new video publications. 
Video List
on No comments:

March 25 - The Campfire Trail - Garden Update

March 25, 2024

Day 906 of the Adventure

Rain was drizzling on us most of the day. It was timely since Shelley had scrambled to get at least one of the raised beds in the garden planted yesterday. Back in early February, I started calculating in my head how long it would take us to have the garden ready. I estimated eight weeks and as of now, I think about ten or eleven would have been better. Good thing we started when we did. Part of the hold up was weather. part of it was the routine of watching the grandkids. Part of it was simply the other things that pop up that you can't account for that take time away from working the garden. Taking all that into consideration, here's an update.

The trees that needed to be removed are all gone except for one that I'm not sure about yet. It's smaller so could be removed about at any time. Three of the nine planned raised beds are built and three are about half built. The deer fence frame is about two thirds done, but we've only stretched about twenty feet of fence so far. The rain water collection tank is in place but no collection system has been built yet. That's okay because we do have a water hydrant we can use right there in the garden. Don't even mention the greenhouse. That will be close to the end of the project. I think we'll still be able to use it this year, just not sure what we'll do in there until Fall when we will attempt to extend the growing season. We've considered hydroponics and possibly even aquaponics there. We'll see how that goes. The final addition will be the solar panel racks along the north fence, with the panels facing south in the direction of the garden. It's been work but it's been fun......... mostly! The work we're doing this year is pretty much a one-time deal. After these parts are done, it will be normal Springtime prep after that.

Carry On

Adventure Quote:  “It is necessary to build a system or a structure which will allow you to form your dream into reality” ― Sunday Adelaja

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost in the Woods (Colombia/Costa Rica blend)

Resources

Make sure to visit our website regularly to see new products and resources.

YouTube Channel: The Campfire Trail
YouTube Channel: Life of Treasures

Our Books
Treasures of Life - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Treasures of Life 2 - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Back to the Land - Planning your Back to the Land Roadmap by Martin
Wealth Creation - Principles of Wealth Creation by Martin

Please Consider Subscribing to our monthly "How-To", Do-It-Yourself" newsletter in the upper right corner of this page.   AND........

Click any of the following Video links to start your own adventure with us on our YouTube Channel:  

Creating a "Roadmap" Back to the Land


Our 30 Day "Back to the Land" Playlist



Creating Sustainable Income

Creating Sustainable Income Make sure you are subscribed to "The Campfire Trail" YouTube channel and have the "Notification Bell" set to "ALL" to receive notifications of new video publications. 
Video List
on No comments:

Monday, March 25, 2024

March 24 - The Campfire Trail - Let The Gardening Begin

March 24, 2024

Day 905 of the Adventure

To all of you seasoned gardeners out there, you probably laugh at our enthusiasm over getting our garden up and going. We actually had a wildly prolific garden over 30 years ago when we still lived in Iowa. All of that came to an end here in Missouri. We never really had a place here that was conducive to growing a garden. Until now...... and this one has been quite a bit of work to get cleared and prepared!

I was off babysitting our grand-daughter today and left Shelley in charge of the activities around the cabin. When I returned, she had been busy planting seeds in the garden beds we have already built. So far there are three of them and we still plan to build six more. The weather says we're expecting moderating temperatures and rain beginning later tonight so....... Let the gardening begin!

Carry On

Adventure Quote:  “The master of the garden is the one who waters it, trims the branches, plants the seeds, and pulls the weeds. If you merely stroll through the garden, you are but an acolyte.” ― Vera Nazaria

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost in the "Garden" (Not really a coffee blend but should be!)

Resources

Make sure to visit our website regularly to see new products and resources.

YouTube Channel: The Campfire Trail
YouTube Channel: Life of Treasures

Our Books
Treasures of Life - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Treasures of Life 2 - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Back to the Land - Planning your Back to the Land Roadmap by Martin
Wealth Creation - Principles of Wealth Creation by Martin

Please Consider Subscribing to our monthly "How-To", Do-It-Yourself" newsletter in the upper right corner of this page.   AND........

Click any of the following Video links to start your own adventure with us on our YouTube Channel:  

Creating a "Roadmap" Back to the Land


Our 30 Day "Back to the Land" Playlist



Creating Sustainable Income

Creating Sustainable Income Make sure you are subscribed to "The Campfire Trail" YouTube channel and have the "Notification Bell" set to "ALL" to receive notifications of new video publications. 
Video List
on No comments:

Saturday, March 23, 2024

March 23 - The Campfire Trail - Appreciating Nature

March 23, 2024

Day 904 of the Adventure

The woods are beginning to come alive with the blooming of the Dogwoods. I've noticed that since we've cleared the areas for the cabin and some of the other spaces we've cleaned and opened up, the Dogwoods seem happier with the amount of sun they get. Even though our time is pressed to have the garden ready for planting, it's still important to enjoy the nature around here as much as possible. The flowering season doesn't last very long and it's ashamed to miss it because you didn't take the time to absorb as much as possible while it's happening.  Right now, it's happening. SO.......... No work today. Just appreciating life!

Carry On

Adventure Quote:  “There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.”  ― Mahatma Gandhi

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Highlander Grogg (Butterscotch/Rum flavors)

Resources

Make sure to visit our website regularly to see new products and resources.

YouTube Channel: The Campfire Trail
YouTube Channel: Life of Treasures

Our Books
Treasures of Life - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Treasures of Life 2 - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Back to the Land - Planning your Back to the Land Roadmap by Martin
Wealth Creation - Principles of Wealth Creation by Martin

Please Consider Subscribing to our monthly "How-To", Do-It-Yourself" newsletter in the upper right corner of this page.   AND........

Click any of the following Video links to start your own adventure with us on our YouTube Channel:  

Creating a "Roadmap" Back to the Land


Our 30 Day "Back to the Land" Playlist



Creating Sustainable Income

Creating Sustainable Income Make sure you are subscribed to "The Campfire Trail" YouTube channel and have the "Notification Bell" set to "ALL" to receive notifications of new video publications. 
Video List
on No comments:

March 22 - The Campfire Trail - Ten Times Bigger Than The Cabin

March 22, 2024

Day 903 of the Adventure

Laying out three more raised beds
Today is Shelley's birthday. We celebrated with breakfast in town and then immediately returned home to do a bunch of work. If you have not been following our "Getting the Garden Prepped" videos, you wouldn't know that we are down to about one week left on our deadline to have it ready for planting. It's been an eight-week process and doesn't seem like it should be that dramatic. It wouldn't be either were it not for the fact that it began as a patch of wild, raw woodland forest. We removed about a dozen big oak trees, all kinds of underbrush, have been building raised garden beds, building deer fence, prepping a spot for the building of a greenhouse and more. So, it's been a significant project. Not to mention the fact that we've had rain days, cold days, gone to see the grandkid days and other "Days" where working our garden area just didn't work out. PLUS, its not just a simple small area either. It measures out to be about 60 feet by 70 feet. That's 4,200 square feet of garden area, which is right at three quarters of an acre. It's also about ten times as big as our cabin just for some interesting perspective. Not all of it will be actual growing space. It's a garden area rather than a straight up garden. We are opting for raised beds, which means pathways. We also plan for some of it to be reserved for planting some fruit trees and berry bushes. There will be space for the greenhouse and other things as well that we will get into later. 4,200 square feet is simply the area enclosed by fence. 

Next year, the garden work will be EASY, by comparison. It will then be the basic Springtime cleanup, soil prep and planting. It's all part of the self-sufficiency goals and I really am looking forward to a good space for the food production activities. As of today, we are one week from our deadline and I'm almost certain we will not make it. Nevertheless, since we really only need the beds to do our planting, I think we'll have those done in time for planting as the normal planting dates arrive. After that, the only other critical step of the process is to get the deer fence up by the time things start to sprout. I think that will give us another week or two of time. Everything else on the list can get completed as we have time for it. 

Carry On

Adventure Quote:  “I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.” ― Ruth Stout

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost in the Woods (Colombia, Costa Rica blend)

Resources

Make sure to visit our website regularly to see new products and resources.

YouTube Channel: The Campfire Trail
YouTube Channel: Life of Treasures

Our Books
Treasures of Life - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Treasures of Life 2 - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Back to the Land - Planning your Back to the Land Roadmap by Martin
Wealth Creation - Principles of Wealth Creation by Martin

Please Consider Subscribing to our monthly "How-To", Do-It-Yourself" newsletter in the upper right corner of this page.   AND........

Click any of the following Video links to start your own adventure with us on our YouTube Channel:  

Creating a "Roadmap" Back to the Land


Our 30 Day "Back to the Land" Playlist



Creating Sustainable Income

Creating Sustainable Income Make sure you are subscribed to "The Campfire Trail" YouTube channel and have the "Notification Bell" set to "ALL" to receive notifications of new video publications. 
Video List
on No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)