Going Off Grid in East Tennessee; The Story and Chat Thread (neighborhoods, car wash)

[ylisa7]

PapPappy


So glad you made it over here from our motorhome remodel story. I am happy that you enjoyed our story, or stories.

You also have a great story. So many people have dreams of rural living...but it is different. I'm with your wife. I like my indoor plumbing and wouldn't want to have to carry buckets of water anywhere, lol.


Yes...I finally got a new camera. I haven't tried to have pictures blown up yet but I do have some ready to go...just waiting for some specials.

We did take our granddaughter to a great park in VA for her first camping trip. On that trip, she had the attention span of a gnat We will wait until she is older before attempting that again


OK..on to your questions.

1. Our propane usage the very first year here and through the winter was high. Most of it was because of the big propane refrigerator and also the gas fireplace which we used for heat. Our goal that first year was just to get into the house and live in it through the winter. Since then we have gotten rid of the big fireplace and use a wood stove for our heating with a "back up" propane heater. As of now we are still using the electric refrigerator.


2. Yes the clothes dryer is back inside the house...ready for winter usage and softer towels


3. We have the ridge vent but we haven't installed it yet. It is on the Fall list


4. Batteries:

Mike hooked two 6 volt batteries in series to get the 12 volts.

Our old system the panels were on separate systems but they all fed the same batterie bank. Now we have doubled the system and we have two completely separate systems with 12 panels each that feed the 24 batteries. The panels and the charge controllers are on separate systems but they share the same battery bank. In the summer we are oversized but that is the only way to do it so we can make it through the winter on our system.


5. The rv refrigerator is in the house right now next to my regular electric refrigerator. We are in the testing phase. So far the electric refrigerator is fine. We will see if we can make it through the winter with it. If not we have the rv refrigerator ready to go and Mike will add another vent out the top. We just haven't done it yet because we may not need to use it.


We are still a work in progress and still learning. One day we will have perfected it



LOL...no Niki is not stuffed...but she really doesn't move much anymore. She does a lot of leaning


Neat idea about the barn door.




Thank you so much for reading our story and writing in. We have small projects here and there but the bulk is done.




Have a great day.

[swbtoo]

Just want to say I've been thoroughly fascinated by these stories! Been following along from the beginning. It's been a delightful, informative journey. Thanks to all for sharing!

[PapPappy]

I can't wait for the next installment!
You had mentioned getting some animals....chickens, maybe even some goats to help keep the grass trimmed.

I would have to say that since you do travel, and you do leave TN for some extended periods of time, you probably shouldn't do it. Animal husbandry is a full time job...ask your neighbor with the cows, how often they get away? And they have beefers, so can honestly leave them for a weekend, without worry. We had a variety of animals when we had the place in PA, Horses, cows, goats, pigs, chickens, rabbits and ducks.... and while it was great at the time, I think that that experience has taught us something too. Now, we just have dogs (8) and cats (2)....

Now, if you did plan to spend the rest of your days in TN, and not head to FL to flip a house, then you might want to give it a try. I'd recommend goats, and probably Pigmy goats at that. They can really be delightful.

Something that I also wondered about, was the size of the pond? You appear to have had the area and the resources (equipment) to make that pond much larger, without spending a lot more money on it. I would have worried that those carp would almost outgrow the pond...especially if you catch and release. Since you had the pond on the other property, I know you aren't new to this, so there is probably a pretty good reason...just curious?

Also, since you haven't really written much about this summer....and I can't believe that you are just sitting on your hands, I wondered what you've been doing.....after all, there is always something to do on a homestead!

Thanks again for a great story....I think of you guys often!

[ylisa7]

PapPappy

We would love to have more animals but for now we will hold off. We used to have Pygmy goats and while they were very cool and fun...they never stayed where you wanted them to stay. We once got a call from the local store...."Mike...your goats are down here" The store was only 1/2 mile from our house...so off we went. Mike driving and me in the back of the truck with a feed bucket. The goats, about 15 of them, followed us back home single file down the highway Gotta love rural life

If anything I would like chickens. I love farm fresh eggs.

As for the pond...Mike was trying to work with the lay of our land without making one huge mess. We had to stay below the road, driveway. We could have gone farther back but there is another spring back there and it is total muck. We really didn't want to get any trucks stuck and tear things up more. Mike's biggest wish is to have a pond up top in front of our house but it would have to be wet weather pond and I'm not real keen on doing that. So far the pond and the fish are doing well. One of the Koi didn't make it. If the pond ever gets too small for them we can move them to a friend's pond but so far so good

You know us well, lol. We have been busy as usual but I can;t even remember half the things we have done. Right now I have no water because Mike is changing out our water heater. He is using a smaller one to save on space and also use less propane. This one doesn't have a pilot that stays on all the time. Of course after he gets that installed, we will have to pull the old one out and finish another closet.


Mike got a new log splitter so we have been cutting wood and playing with our new toy.


I have been picking tons of apples on the property and making apple butter, applesauce, apple pie filling, and apple crisp. I am appled out and I still have about 15 pounds of apples on my counter...and a lot more in the tress.

I did tear out my summer garden and have a fall garden planted. I have spinach, lettuce, turnips, cauliflower and strawberries growing.

Mike also customized a screen door for the motorhome. It is awesome


We sealed the 2nd part of the driveway last week and it looks really nice. Next spring we will seal the last part of the drive that got paved.

This week we also plan on re hooking and venting the combo refrigerator...just in case we need it. So far we are doing fine with the regular electric refrigerator.



Like I said...I'm not sure of all that we have done but I know we haven't been bored yet, lol. It seems like we always find something to do


I'll let you know when I have any pictures

[PapPappy]

I guess you're going to have to just walk around the property, and take some pictures of any updates (with your new camera), and then post them next week........we will not be denied! LOL!!!

[kygman]

Any dried apples? I'd love to help eat some dried apples!! lol

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Glad you got the roof vent. It will prevent that space from being a solar oven.

[ylisa7]

It's a sad day on the farm. The cow people came and took the calves out. So far it hasn't been too bad except for one mother who keeps calling for her baby. Supposedly there is a "right" time to take the calves out according to the Farmer's Almanac...and today is one of the days. I hope they are right.


So that started me thinking of all the cow stories and all the ups and downs of living near cows


Just some Cow Tales from the Mike and Lisa World

We starting working on our roads and the house here 4 1/2 years ago. The calves were already born for the season. I don't remember the exact number of cows on our land but we always have one adult bull, 6-7 cows(adult females), and their calves and bull calves.

Until that point I have never really had any run ins with cows....never really knew anything about them. The first thing I noticed was they are very very nosy. Whenever we drove in and worked the cows watched everything we did. Once the footers and walls were poured for our house....we found hoof prints all inside the house the next day. That's when the first fence went up.

Before we moved over here we had to fence off the whole yard. The cows would chew on tractor wires and cables. They would tear up any fresh grass seed you put down. Yes we had many frustrating times with the cows. Basically they thought everything was a toy that they had to investigate. The calves were especially enthralled by my dog Niki. They were totally captivated by the little Pug either because they had never seen a dog or they just couldn't believe she was a dog, lol. Either way it was because of Niki that I was able to pet my first calf. I didn't have names for them so I just called them by the tag numbers on their ears. 96 and 98 were the friendliest ones. 98 was a bull calf and he became my favorite. I got to the point where I could hand feed him treats which was very exciting for a girl form NY, lol. He also knew my voice. If I called out to him, he would come running in hopes of getting more treats

One time three of the calves got inside our fenced off house area. One of them was 98. We had to chase all of them out except 98 thought I was playing a game with him. He would chase me and run away and then come back to me again. It was fun but we really really had to get them outside our fence.

By the end of the summer they were all very used to us. Niki got too close to one calf and got a "gentle" warning kick. To this day she will not get too close to the cows.

That was also the fist time I ever encountered a full grown Bull close up. I was working on the fence and this huge bull came strolling over to me and laid down. He just laid there watching me while I was working on the fence. It was a little unnerving to say the least. He was a good Bull but just too big for me to trust. I stayed on my side of the fence and only hoped he stayed on his side. Just in case I did have an escape route planned


That was the first year we experienced the calves being taken from their mother's. It must have been on the wrong day according to the Almanac because it was heartbreaking for days. All they did was cry for their babies.

I will never forget 98 and only hope he got to have his own harem and didn't go to auction. That's what I want to believe. He would be a good bull


The next spring more babies were born but after the first ones, they were always skittish. One thing that became very clear the following year was how caring and social cows are. DH and I called it the babysitting patrol. Each day a different cow would watch the "kids" while the others got to roam the land and graze. They all took turns...even the bull. They also talk a lot....by mooing to each other. If they are not close by they constantly call each other to see where everyone is.


We have experienced seeing the calves when they are only an hour old and sadly seeing one calf born dead and torn apart by a fox. We have gotten to pet the very young babies and also helped one out of the ditch who somehow got stuck.


Two years ago our original Bull went blind in one eye. Supposedly that made him untrustworthy and he was sold. We also had a change in the cows. Some were taken out and new ones brought in. We also got a new, very young and small bull that year. He is no longer small.

That was the first time we saw cows fight. My DH and I went down to the pond to feed the fish and two cows were staring each other down. My DH was on one side and I was on the other side of the cows. He told me to get back. The two cows started pushing each other around. This is where the busy body part of cows comes in. Every single one of the other cows came down to watch the fight. It reminded me of school kids yelling fight, fight. They all stayed back while the other two fighting girls got rough. One got pushed into the pond. This went on for about 20 minutes and they just walked away. I never did figure out if there was a winner but we haven't seen the cows get into a fight since. I guess it must have been a bad mood day Bulls will fight and that's why we always only have one adult bull with the girls. Lucky bull huh?


Over the years they have torn down more fences, gotten hoof prints on our freshly paved driveway. made a mess out of our pond and even reached over and eaten all of my green bean plants out of my garden. I was not happy with them that day. Overall they are funny to watch and hear, annoying, good at keeping the lawn cut, and still nosy.

Yesterday I got all excited because the Bull who is now full grown let me hand feed him carrots. It was cool I thought he might come to me. Last month I was carrying a bucket of apples up the hill and the bull came towards me. I had no protection and I didn't trust him. He was actually after my white bucket. I threw apples at him until I got back to the house.

So yeah I still get a kick out of the cows even when they can be a pain. Right now I feel heartbroken for them. They go through this every year....and next spring we will have new calves and the babysitting rotation will start over.



Just another day with cows!!!!

[kygman]

And that aint no bull! lol

[hiknapster]

I remember that cow fight! That was amazing. Cows really are busy bodies!