As of December 1 2009... all new posts will be made at the following blog:

  • So much to talk about - I have reactivated this blog to be for my personal journey these days ... separate from the one I have for epilepsy ( www.seizures-suck.blogspot.com ), the...
    4 years ago

Possible Change

Keeping up with these blogs is very time consuming ... not that I mind, usually! We're getting ready to embark on an intensive homesteading adventure, and may not be able to work on blogs daily.

So... I'm thinking about combining our blogs (cooking, gardening, homesteading, survival, storage, homeschooling, etc.) into one. I would eventually move posts to the new and combined blog.

We have a lot of readers, and I value your opinion. Thoughts?

Manifesting Our Homestead

We're looking for a special place to call our own. It's about time ... had to sell the house, settle down from the stress, figure out exactly what we want, and set out to get it.

The Kid and I looked on Tuesday. Found several that might be ok, but not really exactly what we want. Then I found the perfect place online, and sent the info to our agent. He found out details, and if the vacant house isn't in total disrepair, it's perfect for us.

35 acres. Creek running through that fills a little pond. Workshop. Barn. Wood cookstove. Wood fireplace. Out in the boonies. Low taxes.

Come on, Universe! If this is our highest and best property.. make it happen!

Manifest Monday: Bring Us A New Home!

We finally got rid of the albatross of a home, and now it's time to look for our next (and very last!) home. We are quite specific about what we want. Away from hustle and bustle. Stream or other water like a pond. Secluded. Good soil. Affordable. Huge basement.

Bring it on! We're ready!

Creating an Intentional Community in Colorado

Tentatively called “Mountain Gardens Community”, will be a multi-generational community with an emphasis on self-reliant living for4-10 families. Not religious but spiritual. Homeschool. Organic gardening. Survival preparedness (whether economic collapse, tornadoes, or etc.) We are looking for members to join our group when we purchase the property within 45-60 minutes drive of south Denver, Colorado. We plan to live as “off the grid” as possible, raising our own meat, grains, veggies, fruit, fabric, and more.

This first family have or are working to acquire these skills: baking, wine-making, candle-making, fiber-harvesting/carding/spinning, paper-making, soap-making from plants, dehydrating to preserve harvests, using gourds to make utensils/pots/etc, yogurt-making, intensive gardening, basket-making, dart-gun and sling-shot, and Reiki. We also have LOTS of books, have started a fiber-rabbit herd, dehydrate garden produce, and work online for additional income. We have gluten-intolerance and other food problems so we don't plan to grow wheat.

Crops:
  • corn
  • amaranth
  • oats
  • rice
  • quinoa
  • flax
  • sesame
  • wheat (grown in alternate years as some other crops to avoid cross-contamination for gluten-free grain)
  • potatoes
  • sweet potatoes
  • gourds (for crafts like baskets, dippers, etc.)
  • luffa/dishcloth gourd (edible but also for cleaning supplies)
  • apples (human and livestock food, applesauce, cider, vinegar)
  • willows (for crafts like baskets, living teepees, etc.)
  • nut and fruit trees and bushes
  • elderberry bushes (for privacy fencing and elderberry wine/syrup)
  • cotton
  • bayberry bushes (fruit makes candle-wax)
  • herbs, fruits, sugar beets, stevia, veggies and more and more and more!

Animals:
  • sheep (wool, milk, fertilizer)
  • goat (fiber, brush clearance, milk, fertilizer)
  • rabbit (fibert, fertilizer)
  • chickens (meat, eggs, pest control, fertilizer, feathers)
  • quail (meat, eggs, fertilizer, feathers)
  • fish (meat, fertilizer)
  • worm (fertilizer)
  • bees (honey, wax, pollination)
  • possibly horses or donkeys to pull plows and other farm work

Suggested skills needed: pottery, glass-blowing, leather tanning and making, leather-worker (shoes, belts, coats, saddles, bags), cartwright, wheel-wright, blacksmith, foundry for smelting recyclable metals, bartering, furniture-making, wool-shearing, fiber-weaving, seamstress/tailor, soap-making from lye, canning, brewer, cheese-making, smoking meats, sausage-making, gardening/farming, animal husbandry, cider-making, baking, health care/wilderness medicine, midwife, dentistry, herbology, education (for our homeschooled kids), basket-making, bee-keeping, straw-bale/underground home/yurt construction, butchering, ham radio, hydroponics, vermicomposting, greenhouses/sunrooms, fish farming, permaculture, gray water systems, water-catchment-systems, mead-making, wild food foraging, growing mushrooms, mountain plants and foods, planting by signs, weather reading, making musical instruments, butter churn making, and much more "living green with this Earth".

Thoughts:

  • We're not all about the chores and work! Games, dances, "sports", music, ice cream socials, celebrations, cottage crafts, rituals, and more.
  • Off the grid, power by wind/solar/water, water-catchment. Hope to be self-sustaining by the end of 2011.
  • Families can elect to invest in the property and building, or can rent.
  • Land owned by few, some or all.
  • Percentage of food grown: 90% (goal!).
  • Share community meals: evening meals, taking turns in the preparation, and all help plan menu.
  • Dietary choice/restrictions: we eat what we grow. Mostly organic, and as healthy as possible. Omnivorous. Some gluten-free and lactose-free. Diabetic. Picky eaters and people with food intolerances or allergies are welcome! If you don't know about cross-contaminating food for people with allergies, we'll teach you!
  • Alcohol: occasionally - mostly what we make. Tobacco use: prohibited indoors. Illegal drugs: prohibited.
  • Spiritual practices: Not christian, but spiritual. Wiccan or Earth-Based preferred.
  • Prepare for civil unrest, economic disaster, severe weather, etc. without going gun-crazy but willing to defend what's ours as necessary.
  • Education: homeschooled or unschooled.
  • Money: All members have independent income, whether by job or possibly sell extra produce or cottage crafts (soap, candles, baskets, etc.) at farmers markets or flea market.
  • Labor: All members contribute a certain number of hours to garden, animals, and other "chores". We all work our individual strengths and specialties too.
  • Join Fee: possibly - TBD. Regular Fees: possibly - for property taxes, etc - TBD.
  • Decision making: create our own government, but mostly by consensus. Leadership core group.
  • Families to make this community will value their privacy, enjoy life, embrace preparing for the worst while hoping for the best, are willing to contribute to the welfare of the community, and believe that the state of the world prohibits living the lives we want to live within an urban setting.
  • Intend to create a private grove for special celebrations.
  • We hope to have all families on board by March 2010, so we can figure out how much money we have, find our property and design our housing.

If you're interesting in learning how to become a part of this community, please e-mail: kriyacreate at yahoo dot com and we'll answer as soon as we can. Serious people only.

Review: It Must Be Karma

It Must Be Karma
www.itmustbekarma.com
12008 Melody Drive
Westminster, CO 80234
Tel: 303-252-7489

A New Age Store

Our family was recently looking for a few special items to help us accomplish a goal: candles, oils, and possibly incense. We'd been thinking about going into this store for a while, and grabbed the chance. It was easy to find, only just slightly tucked away in a strip shopping center off of 120th Street and Melody (near I-25). Plenty of parking.

We parked right in front of the store (no one else there) and walked in. Ah. The usual scent associated with new age shops greeted us, but that was about all. The store-worker said a brief hello then never spoke to us again. We walked around, trying to figure out the source of disjointed energy and confusion. While the store had candles and oils and incense as well as books as well as other things like a money-spell bubble bath (??) and so forth, I started to get a headache and sat down. We left shortly after without purchasing anything.

I'm sure this is a perfectly good store for a novice or people looking for a gimmicky new-age store, but not for a serious new ager.

Thumbs Down.

Manifest Monday: Love

Dear Universe: Surround us with the gift of being and living and seeing and loving. Bless us with all of the high vibrational love that we can embrace.

Long Time Coming

Major transitions in our lives these days. Wonderful upheavals. We hope to be focused and ready to go again by the end of Summer (2009).

We'll be using this blog to review Colorado new age shops, let you know about get-togethers and meet-ups, and give more info.

Do you have a favorite new age or metaphysical book store, gift shop, book, etc, in Colorado? Write a detailed review and e-mail it to: kriyacreate@yahoo.com so we can post it. Be sure to give lots of details, and thumbs up or thumbs down.

Thank you for your visit and patience. Please come back.