Tag Archives: survival

Prep Monday—Lining up the Ducks


Okay, we’re not exactly lining up ducks, but we DID outline the new house: in our current back yard, just because we can.

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It’s 24 by 32 feet, which comes to 768 square feet, which is the smallest house we’ve ever lived in. One house in Texas came close, 900, including the garage, but that was two adults, three kids, and a large dog. This one will be two adults, a small dog—and possibly a medium-sized one, along with a cat. And the cat will be thrilled, since he’ll be able to go outside! Finally!

So, bedroom, office, bathroom, kitchen, and living room. Oh, and the gun cabinet . . .

We’re cracking ourselves up here, going “through the walls” instead of doors—we haven’t marked all those. The main purpose here is to see the size, especially room size, in case we need to make adjustments.

I won’t lie, it’s pretty exciting. But the neighbors are probably wondering . . .

 

Prep Monday—It’s for Real!


We got some news over the weekend and, while we’re still working on the downsizing, we are starting to line up our costs for water, power, and shelter.

 

Here’s the big one, though: it’s time to find the property!

 

No, we’re not moving yet, but we wanted to get a head start so we can determine our needs, costs, and so forth. Instead of hauling everything out to the woods in, um, 23 months, we’ll start the building, etc., sometime in the next six months.

 

We’ve narrowed the location down to some 19 counties—don’t laugh, Missouri has a lot of them—south and west of St. Louis within about a two-hour drive.

 

What are we looking for, exactly? Ideally, about 35-50 acres, wooded; spring, live creek, electric to property line. Access, not landlocked. Oh, and affordable—like $50K, tops.

 

Believe it or not, something like this isn’t hard to find. In fact, there may be too many to choose from . . . But hey, it’s a start! Once we’re completely ready, we’ll narrow it down to a few in each area and start looking, in person.

 

And after we actually purchase the property, we’re going to start putting up the outbuildings and, if nothing else, will have a great place to camp over the next two years. Er, 23 months . . .