Snow Walk (ft.) JuJu the Donkey

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Me and JuJu went for a walk today in the snow, looking for sunshine and finding other fun stuff like turkey tracks, ice in the creeks, pretty waterfalls of water.
But then JuJu runs off with some kids and I have to go find her in the dark.



Xoxoxox

Luck Cabin under Snow Seege

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Here's a lil video from the last few days of snow storms...
my laughs are all the kind that comes from crazy people who are snowed in alone for too long. That is not my happy laughter- it's called serious stress, hardship & isolation. I don't like the person I am right now.
On a lighter note, icicles can be really beautiful.



xoxoxox

Snow-pocolypse, & my bad!

I have had nothing to say.
Which is new for me. One of the reasons I write here (usually) every single day is because I want to share all the cool ass shit we can do while living sustainably, off grid, eco, primitive or whatevs label you enojoy giving it.
I havent been saying anything on here, because I have been in a sort of limbo that may not end till Spring time - when decisions must be made. I like to only write about good stuff, positive feelings, i like it to motivate, be happy --- none of which I could do the last few weeks in all the snow storms because everything I did to prepare here, kinda.... well.... started falling apart.
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The plumbing does something new every single day. I told ya'll about the filter-splosion in the cabin that flooded it, but there has also been intermitten times of no water, then water, then no water in the outside pump even, only water up the side of the mountain, then water again, then drain pipes freezing so i had to stop dripping water (aka no water again) - drain pipes de-frosting and coming apart, flooding the floor again, no running water?
I DONT fucking get it anymore?!!!
And i can tell you it's not sustainable water anymore (even though gravity fed) cause unless i put "heat tape" on the pipes (which uses bunches of electricity) they will stay frozen all winter long.
......
So i was talking on the phone with a friend who was ready for me to stop complaining and buck up - she said something to the effect "you wanted to be off grid" ---->
but these problems are not related to being Off Grid. They are problems of location, lack of immediate help, and did i mention NO SUNSHINE whatsoever during the winter months.
Yep, i found out the hard way that my cabin is between two ridges and during the winter the sun is behind a ridge and i get none. Even cutting back trees wont do enough good, and i would have to cut back hundreds of them, ones not even on my land.
My Mistake :::::::::::
not knowing the sun pattern before buying the Luck Cabin.
I thought it got enough sun, even though it doesnt get tons... i had no idea the winter would mean utter darkness. And the reason I have said nothing for quite a while now is because i have been sitting in my rocking chair in front the wood stove comtemplating whether I can spend the rest of my life half a year in darkness. This prospect, after all i have put into being here at the Luck Cabin, and it's utter perfection at all other times of the year make me feel heartbroken in a way there have been and still are no words for.
I don't know many or really any people who could live without sunshine half a year.
------ the other part of this, is just right down my driveway is another climate. I literally am just a few hundred feet from a warmer climate. My driveway marks some kind of elevation change, where the tempature drops a significant amount, and i got twice as much snow & cold as people just a lil' ways below me. Yesterday I took my Jimmy truck dangerously down the road, only to see that I really was in some kind of isolated world, one that had a storm much worse then those just hop, skips, and jumps away - and this was a bit of a shock.
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Two things I can NOT fix :::::::::::
the sun
the micro climate at the Luck Cabin
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For many weeks I could not put my finger on it, I could not put into words how i was feeling. I only knew I was getting no sunshine here and was feeling really depressed. I had no intention of ever revealing this dirty little secret, my big sustainability mistake.... but eventually i began crying (thanks PMS) and had to confess to the first person that rang my phone in the middle of the nervous breakdown.
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I think living this way alone is quite hard, but do-able. But if you choose to live off grid in a harsh winter climate alone, you are either brave, crazy or the uni-bomber!!! It's grueling. There is no question about it.
I now have a greater understanding of why re-wilders like Urban Scout are preaching community. Everything is much easier with a lil bit o' help. Especially in any climate that may have harsh storms during the winter.
*****
Western North Carolina used to not have this kind of weather, not the last ten years I have lived here until last winter. I hear from locals it's been over 20 years since they have seen storms like this. So although I am kicking myself, at the same time how was i to know about the micro-climate PLUS the strange climate changes?
What would you do, if you were me?
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Xoxoxoox

Screwed Blued and Tattoo'ed (or just snowed in again)

Terrible no good very bad SNOW STORM PREP ::::

• drove truck to state road that gets plowed and hiked back up a mile to the cabin
• filled the tub with water (pot by pot cause the water pipes under my cabin froze a week ago)
• fill pots and jars with water
• cook food ahead of time
• clean house, change cat litter, feed animals
• cleaned out composting toilet (frozen urine would be just TOO frOckin' much for me at this point!!!!)
• carried in STACKS of logs into the cabin and onto the porch
• hand washed comfort clothes and hung to dry above wood stove
• move all my bedding into my loft, where it's warm & I will be sleeping when it get down to -20 degrees
• charge up my crank lantern
• fall down in snow a bunch and not cry

And this is not even the beginning of what is to come...
the last storm never bothered to melt, my pipes under the house never defrosted (even though my gravity fed spring is still running just fine. It was supposed to rain today but instead of nice melty rain it snowed a few more inches. And well the icing on that snow cake is coming tonight and tomorrow thru the night.... feet of snow icing I am guessing.

What can i say? I dont like this part.... whatever this is a part of. But the feeling of accomplishing so much in one day to prepare for the worst feels damn good.

I need a girl scout uniform... but one that is long sleeve and made of alpaca wool, comes with matching wool gloves, hat, scarf, coat and leggings. With logo snow boots. Thanks Universe!

*****

BTW- I hope i don't lose power, internet or phone... but I dont know what is coming, and after last year I except the worst. Will miss ya'll if I do go M.I.A!!!! SMOOCHes!

XOxoxoxoxo

Run Leslie Run (What I do When Car Sick)

I have gotten brave in the last 8 months... or maybe just more healthy. Sometimes it's hard to say what makes what happen in a universe full of so much circumstance - but I tried driving my Jimmy truck to downtown Hot Springs (remember when i could not drive at all for a gazzillion years?). It's a town I have never been to before because the roads to get there make about as much sense as a plate of spaghetti, regurgitated. And trust me, there are many stops on the side of the road to do just that.
I thought I was doing well, in spite of the many fast driving rednecks daring head on collisions on blind curves... but eventually the road waves got to me (BaD nausea), and I had to get out the car, give up my original plan and just... run around.
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BENEFITS OF CAR SICKNESS::::

• You pull over and see the beautiful details of life you would never see blazing by in the car
• Time to play
• There are no other benefits i can think of cause actually car sickness sucks

I saw things I really love... giant icicles, awesome mountain views....

BIG rocks!

.... GRAffiti!

and the most brilliant sunset I have seen in a long time. All these things made it worth it. Of course I drove about 5 mph all the way home and never did make it to the town of Hot Springs. ;)

(for those who dare to wanna puke, I have a 6 minute video forthcoming tonight, of the roads I traveled...)

XOXOXoxox

My Snow Freak Out and My Snow Luv...

It's been snowing for days. The first day was novel, not so cold I could see my own breath inside my cabin (yet), I crocheted, I hung out with Bort, I even went for a short drive down to the Trust Store (i have never driven in snow before, even though I have lived here for 10 years!)....
But dang it... 3 days and still snowing the temperature dropped, and dropped. Finally my spring water froze in spite of pipe dripping & obsessive precautions, the wind chills hit -15 degrees in my county, and I worried for my animals!
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I brought ms. Butterworth inside because she was the only chicken shivering and not mentally capable of seeking out water & things to fulfill her needs. She's very happy by the wood stove again...
When I went out this morning to check on everyone else, someone was missing and I noticed right away. Beep Beep the baby chicken. I freaked. Under pressure I stay quite calm, I don't lose my mind but I do get very upset and cry and when I called for Beep Beep for 10 mins and she never showed up I thought the worst. All the other chickens were staying warm in their coop and nesting boxes, Beep Beep was nowhere in sight. I kept seeing R.I.P BEEP BEEP in my head, like it had already been tattoo'ed distastefully to my shoulder. With all the snow, and her being mostly white I felt like I was looking for the impossible to try tramping around in the snow- it had piled up enough inches overnight to have buried a small chicken.
I was about to give up and was walking out the gate, when instincts had me slam it back shut and quickly walk through the wooded area in the fence, across the spring and into the trees. My eyes felt like animal eyes, the ones that spot things better then normal... and that is when I saw her... poor lil' Beep Beep sitting on a small tree branch, freezing cold all alone, out in the open.

I grabbed her and hugged her to keep her body warm, as she shivered. I brought her right to the barn for warmth, food and water - all of which she was frantic about getting. I had never seen frozen poop on a chicken's ass till this moment. That's how cold it was. Poop-cicles.

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JuJu the donkey is getting much more feed then normal so she can create more body heat.

She also wanted to send out a reminder:::

Do Not Eat Yellow Snow. It's Not Lemon Flavuh. ;)

THE BEAUTY OF IT ALL::::

The cold is painful to me. Maybe cause I am so small, maybe cause my DNA is that of cajuns who lived in the hot tropical swamps- never the less, I hate the cold but love the beauty, the way it re-sculpts the landscape.

Xoxoxooxxx

Snowed

I'M BACK!
Sorry about the few days of M.I.A but we had our first silly slick wet icey snow storm here in the mountains, and well, my particular spot is much like a frozen Yukon. I got more snow then any one else in the area, and despite 60 degree weather now some ice patches still remain up here at the Luck Cabin. The electricity came and went and came back again, my running water in the house went and came back... then my internet went away and didn't come back till this morning.
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'No electricity' is not too bad in the snow for me because I have a wood stove that keeps me warm, i can cook on it and heat up water. The pipes freezing in my cabin sucks, but I have a non electric pump outside that won't freeze and holds water underground so I always have my spring water.
No internet though... UHG. I missed contact with the outside world. It's only natural, biological, historical and human. At least I have my animals....
JuJu was not a fan of the thicker, deeper snow. Neither were the chickens. Neither was I. The animals stayed in the mini barn for shelter and warmth.
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COOL TRICK FOR 'HEATING' BARN STALLS::: I read in my Donkey Companion book that keeping some donkey poop in their stall mixed with the wood shaving or hay actually helps keep it warm in the winter due to the heat produced by the composting process. I knew that alot of heat is produced by composting, but I wasn't sure it would really work in this application. But I found that JuJu's stall was warmer then outside. :)

Xoxoxo

Snow Day With My Animal Friends! (Ducks, Chickens and Donkey)

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Here are some videos of my animals here at the Luck Cabin today on our first snow day together! No one seemed to care about the changing seasons except for me... and maybe JuJu the donkey.


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This second video I am singing. I don't sing well but it doesnt matter to the chickens and donkey because they love to be sung to (this is one of those things that makes animals cooler then humans!)
Singing time makes Beep Beep the chicken sleepy... which I find so cute I could explode, or maybe melt, or fall to pieces. :)


XOxoxox

Things I Do (think & find) While It's Snowing

See me there in the pic above... I know it's hard to tell because my alpaca wool gloves are so hairy and thick, but I am shooting my middle finger up at the snowing sky. Fu@k this winter! Me and Snow, I don't know if we can be friends anymore... they are being a little clingy since like December, coming over too much, always hanging around my house like a stalker, ruining my plans, just plain smothering me. They scare away the animals too, and that's just messed up. Basically the snow is an emotionally abusive co-dependent self absorbed freak, only good for magically fertilizing the earth with rich nutrients.

I was thinking this morning as I woke up to more snow, that a great horror film (yet to be made) would be an Alfred Hitchcock style suspense thriller called "SNOW"... the plot would be simple: Snow keeps on comin' down, at first they predict 10 feet, but it dumps 100's of feet burying everything alive - people would live their last days under tunnels of white they can never dig out of.

um.... anyway... so while it is snowing I found these two things that are aestheically nice and nothing I need. Only want.

Organic Cotton PANTIE & BRA SET! yeah, it's hawtness - and normally yellow bothers me but right now yellow is looking like fun in the hot sun. :) You can click the link or the pic to see more organic cotton goodness.
Vintage OWLS! I have a thing for owls. Ever since one came and lived in my wood stove a few years ago I have been loving owls, especially the screech owl. I had named him Scratchy and when he died, i clipped his wings to keep and buried the rest of his body in front the cabin.

PS- those black owls pictured are at my friend's vintage store on Etsy, called SOUGHT. Remember when I wrote about a woman named "Sandy" who wanted to F' the president... that's her. I don't think she wants to F' him anymore, but i'm not sure.

Xoxoxoxo

Drawing In The Snow

The snow storm here in western North Carolina didn't turn out so bad this time, although the pipes froze for the 2nd time and busted, we still have power, phone, internet... and the cold just doesnt seem as frigid as it once did. The sun shining on the snow however was SO bright it was burning my eyes and I had to put on some sunglasses to even be able to look around without teetering on the border of snow blindness with burnt retinas.
I considered making a snow sculpture but decided to draw... (drawing in snow is a good lesson in impermanent art...). And even though I am a trained artist who could draw something awesome, instead I did these cause everyone knows that everyone else loves simple drawings of a naked lady, butterfly, love, a bunny and sunshine! So enjoy...
Feel free to put in requests, before the snow melts.

XoXo