Cozy Days in our Off Grid Cottage

This week brought its challenges and its silent victories. From snowy nights to Christmas memories, come and spend three days in our little corner of the world. It's a story of hard work, little joys and the magic of a life lived with simplicity. Today started as all good days should, with breakfast. Eggs from our chickens. Bacon from the pigs we raise and the kind of silent satisfaction that only comes when your meal is a product of your own hands. But soon the work started. Instead, we entered the house. The day of free action left its mark. Piles of plates and crumbs that seemed to multiply from night to day. Cleaning seemed like a restart, a way to clean the table and our minds. We decided it was time to update our chainsaw, something we had wanted to buy for some time. We will find out what we need to do to fix the other one because it has been good for us in the last three years. But we wanted a bigger chainsaw and we needed one that would work immediately. We had to drive to the city to buy this chainsaw personally. And while we were there, it started to snow unexpectedly. We managed to get home before any of the roads froze. And as beautiful as the snow was, the work could not wait. We hurried, turned on our new chainsaw and went out to cut wood in the snow in the dark. We should have bought this much earlier. I wanted this chainsaw literally three years ago, and my life improved immediately. It gets dark very early lately, so we don't think much about spending time outdoors in the dark. It's part of life here. Our streetlights are a great help and one of our most important tools. Our new chainsaw didn't disappoint, and even though most people don't like this job, being out there in the first snow at night was very magical and quiet. We filled our wooden shelves inside and warmed our hands near the fire. And then we rested, grateful for our cozy home. A home and a successful day off the grid that really seemed worth it. Some challenges cannot be solved in the moment. And to thrive living outside the world, you have to learn to adapt and move on. It was cold in the morning and the routine was familiar. Another day, another round of chores. I decided to give the chickens a snack, pumpkins for the decoration of our porch. And there is always time for a little football with the dogs. I opened the cat house and found them all cozy and sleepy in their beds. Good morning! Come back inside! The fire needed to be rekindled to ward off the cold of the morning. Breakfast was potato pancakes made with leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving Day. Casey ground coffee beans with his faithful manual grinder and prepared some coffee in his mocha coffee maker. His system is not for lots of coffee, but it's perfect for wine. And best of all, it doesn't require electricity to be made and it's portable. She never runs out of her coffee. Today, I'm working on a project we've wanted to do for a few years and that suddenly came to the top of our list of tasks. It's funny when you think about doing something for a long time, but money or time get in the way and, when everything finally aligns, you feel like you should have done it before. That's how I feel about this water filtration system under the sink. After years carrying water from the sink to the pantry to fill our Berkey filter, we finally find time and money to make a change. Having instant filtered water in the sink seems like a little luxury. And even if I ask myself why we didn't do that before, I know this was the right time. We closed the night watercolor class, a new hobby we've been enjoying lately. After taking a class a few weeks ago, we decided we'd like to invest in some watercolors. It wasn't a big investment, and the materials don't take up much space, which is kind of a requirement in our little house. It's quiet, creative and a great way to spend time without screens. Tomorrow started with the usual tasks, but the day had bigger plans. It was time to clean the chicken coop, a necessary task to keep our flock healthy. The bed used was straight to the compost. Before adding the new bed, the compartment was coated with lime to repel and reduce moisture and odor. We made sure the compost pile was watered, because the right amount of moisture is essential to keep the decomposition process under control. And then we cut wood again to the right size. This time, in the light of day, we spent some time shredding twigs using our favorite tool, the twig shredder. It was invented by a 13-year-old girl after her mother got hurt shredding twigs in another way. Ah, wait. This tool is a test of creativity born out of necessity, a very dear concept in our offline life. It's these little innovations that make the most difficult jobs easier. Lunch was quick, so we got the balls from our freezer and ice. Having a stock of homemade meals ready to eat has been very important to us on busy days like this. As the light of day disappeared, we went to the porch, where the fall decorations gave way to the joy of Christmas. Do you think I should tie these two to the garland? Does it look red and black to you? I just don't think it's right. 1. We spent some time thinking about what kind of bow we wanted to put on the garland and then we attached it. We also made some bows to put on the Christmas tree. Now, all that remains to be done on our tree is to make or find the perfect ornament. This year, my grandmother sewed all the Christmas tree skirts for the grandchildren. Each of us had to choose their own themes, and I decided I wanted a green olive chess skirt with a bow. It's reversible and I think it's so adorable. It's something I'm going to cherish every year. My grandmother and my mother are seamstresses, so I learned to sew very early. And Casey too, and that's why last year we sewed a collection of bandanas for our dogs. Now they have several bandanas matching for each season. We spent Christmas and changed autumn for these. This is a recipe I'm developing. We started documenting recipes that we do a lot to share on our blog and we want the focus to be on using things that you plant and grow on your property, farm or even in your backyard. This is a great project to assume that it will take years to be completed, but I will leave the link below for what is available on the blog so far. Living outside the circuit is not what most people consider a traditional life, but we have our little traditions in our lives that remind us of where we came from and inspire us where we are going. This life is all less predictable, but it is at the pace of each day, at work, at fun, in the moments of silence that we find joy. Thank you for spending these days with us, until next time, stay warm and inspired.