Here you will find recorded the building of this beautiful homestead complete with solar and wind power, rain-water collection cisterns, a strawbale house and even a wolf or two to try to blow it all down! This adventure has not been without its trials but it has indeed been a most wonderful experience. This by far surpasses the plugged-in, city living just chasing your tail trying to make ends meet. The closeness to nature, the clean air and the beauty that surrounds us is so refreshing to the soul.

Latest updates (I know... updates haven't been occurring very regularly... sorry):

• 2008: What we accomplished this year...
  • Sometimes it seems that a lot of time goes by and nothing much really gets accomplished. Time is always spent chasing either dollars or my kids. And now, I've taken on full-time schooling as I'm going back to get a Master's degree in Marriage and Family Counseling. But as we look back on the year we did accomplish major milestones. We installed the finished floor in the second third of the house (only one third to go!), moved into the office with office stuff, the real kitchen is now functional (yeah!) and the toilet system has been updated and is now a fully functional composting toilet (better known as a sawdust toilet). It turned out really nice. At this point this is the only update that is documented on this website. Click here for the info!
• May 5-6, 2007: The Muddin' Party!!
  • We got about 50% done with the outside over the weekend. Thanks to everyone who showed up. Some work was done, friendships were made and renewed and many learned something. Here are a few pics...
• Added a window to the kitchen wall
  • In preparation for the upcoming Muddin' Party (see below), we installed an additional window in the kitchen wall. Here's a page showing the progress of the installation.
• Coming soon—May 5-6, 2007: Exterior Muddin' Party
  • We are finally going to be throwing a bunch of clay/mud/straw on the outside of the house. It's been exposed now for 7 years! Y'all are invited! Here are all the details, details, details...
• New feature to be added one day...
  • I will be installing a Masonry Heater one day but we need to start planning it right now. It affects the floor, the main room and the kitchen. Details of the planning are here.... I'm also hoping most of you visitors will look at some of the samples and vote for your favorite styles!
• March 1, 2007: Finished Earthen Floor
  • Back in January I solicited assistance in a floor design. Well, I finally did it and the results are here! Thanks to all who sent in suggestions.

We have 2 females that are 1 year old as of January 2007.

Gallery: Of course, you will find lots of pictures with some scattered commentary. These are grouped into the different sections of the homestead. Most of this is "mouseOver" active for most browsers which will save a lot on clicking forward and backward. If your browser is not compatible with this programming, then you may have to resort to the clicking forward and backward routine.

Special Features: This will have sections of possible special interest such as the StrawBale House, Off-Grid Power System, Rain Water Collection System, Earthen/Lime Stucco, Problems Encountered, and our Wolves.

Contact Us: This will give you some contact information such as email, phone number and location.

StawBale Ring: And this will take you to the bottom of the page with the information for the strawbale ring website network.

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