Essentials

Does it look like a mess? Well it is, but the good thing is a lot of essential things have been and are currently being worked on: re-doing some plumbing, new electric, new way of heating the home, adding support poles in the basement (if you look back on our cleaning weekend, the support poles being used were trees).

We have been getting a lot of help from Ryan's dad and uncle with the "guts" of this. They all are very handy and knowledgeable, but there are some things we're better off hiring out, like electrical.

holes in walls = new electrical

Our plan is to heat the home with wood and use a gas furnace as a back-up. We chose a Jack wood furnace for efficiency and space saving. We've always loved wood stoves, but because we don't have a ton of space in our living area, this is the route we chose.

 

 furnace / wood furnace

And another essential thing we did this past weekend was spend time with good friends! We camped and watched our friend compete in the Midwest Kayak Freestyle Championships. Thank you, Warkens, for letting us join you at this fun event!

getting cooled down in the river

So, while the Glory Acres is being transformed "behind the scenes" for the next couple days (maybe, hopefully not weeks), we have things to share from where we're currently staying: Ryan's parent's homestead nicknamed "The Coop". This is where we're "practicing" for homesteading, and boy have some things been a learning experience!