World SitRep:
It’s June 9th, 2020. Covid is still adversely affecting us, with about half of the locals still wearing masks, and half of those still look at us without masks as though we were criminals. Lovely.

Labors of My Fruits:
Mangoes are coming in nicely in our old, majestic tree. Haden is the variety, I believe….but mine are larger than the typical Hadens….either way, they are one of the select few items I REALLY want to bring with us. I plan on dehydrating quite a bit of it, as well as canning some. We all love mango salsa, and I’m fairly certain I will no longer be growing them after the move. A Florida item that I will truly miss…so I’m bringing what I am able to harvest…

…except the squirrels are taste-testing as many of the unripe fruits as they can manage. Just a bite, enough to realize its isn’t tasty yet…and also just enough to start the fruit to rot, wasting it.

So ole’ db breaks out his Gamo Big Cat and thin the herd, and save the mangoes for my family’s consumption. Nothing is wasted, I was raised in West Virginia – we eat squirrel. My family may or may not realize what they have eaten…but I ate it too, so there is that…

Long Haul:
Still looking for an enclosed trailer. A family friend has one that will work, but it is smaller than we’d like, and while the price is very good, I have to apss on it, even though I could probably flip it for a profit…its a gift AND a curse.

While we could swing it if we HAD to, a new trailer isn’t in the budget, and honestly, would only be an inconvienance for the most part, as we have no place to park it. With the wife and I, along with 2 daughters, we have 4 cars. Add in two boyfriends, one that lives with us, there are 6 cars in our yard on a very frequent basis – so, no room. Yet!

It would be nice to have the trailer now so we could start packing some of the things we won’t be needing til we move – Lots of tools, some outdoor toys for camping and such, and the stockpile of empty feed sacks I’m collecting…feed sacks?

Plan? No Plan!:
So…our plan…I suppose I should post on that. Not just for future entertainment value (“WTF were we THINKING?”), but to somehow legitimize it. Naming something gives it power…
Update: Here is The Plan.

In the Bag:
Why collect feed sacks? Short version: To eliminate having a mortgage payment. We plan on building a small circular home from earthbags – feedsacks filled with dirt, tamped firmly into place, then plastered.

Now you KNOW we are crazy, right? Not just moving ourselves from Florida to Alaska, but moving there to live in a hobbit home made from DIRT?

I suppose I should add in that it will likely be a “dry cabin” – no running water. Yup. We are currently mulling over the unspoken question, “Outhouse or bucket?”

We will have electricity though…of a sort. And firewood for heat. Considering a rocket mass heater, yet another one of my crazy ideas.

But yeah, a house made of dirt. And no running water. Still want to come visit? 🙂

Hope you continue following us
Gonna be an intersting adventure…

Peace,
db