Comments On Article: Down The Road

If you would like to share your comments for article Down the Road, this is where to do it! 

Click the Reply To This Topic button below to post yours.

Laura wrote

Your house seems so lovely Donna, both from what you say and from the pictures you kindly let us see. I am glad you are continuing with your studies and look forward to what this coming year brings.

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Grandma Donna wrote

Thank you Laura.

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Gail wrote

O Donna, I wish we could send you some of our rain. Your garden still looks lovely though. Funnily enough it’s been a great year for us for onions. Our celery did not do as well. We grew early Tiny Tim tomatoes in our sunroom. What a success. They grew right up to the ceiling. Our outside tomatoes are just coming on the vines now so having those early plants inside was a real bonus as we been eating tomatoes for about a month now. Thanks for a very interesting post again.
Blessings Gail ????????

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Grandma Donna wrote

Hi Gail, our garden failures just make me more determined next year. :) Every time I read or see pictures of someone's beautiful harvest I am "in for a new garden challenge". :) I do know that there will be several Cherokee Purple Tomatoes planted because Charles really likes these. Donna

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Emma - Barradale Farm wrote

I agree things today are built so poorly. It's incredibly frustrating. Even when you think you are spending more to get a good quality item, it still often breaks. Living off-grid we try to avoid a lot of electrical gadgets. I don't have a sandwich press, instead, I make toasties in a cast fry pan. Toast we do under the grill or on top of the wood oven if it is lit. I boil the kettle on the wood oven too or use a stovetop kettle. I do have a stick blender for whizzing soups and electric beaters. But that's about it in the kitchen tool department. I enjoy living simply and there is little I miss.

In winter we eat a lot of slow-cooked casseroles and broths on the aga, in summer meals are quicker, often with a lot of salad. However, I'm very thankful for my dishwasher and washing machine. Having such a tiny kitchen with a big family means bench space is precious and a sink full of dishes constantly drove me bonkers. It's an extravagance, but it does make living here and cleaning up much easier.

I agree there is a lot to learn from the old times. I don't think we were created to live such hectic and stressful lives. Even finding pockets of slowness and simplicity in the day is so helpful I think. xx

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Gayle wrote

Donna, I cannot tell you how happy I am that you are continuing on with your history studies. I certainly look forward to your posts and set aside a little time to read them (usually on Fridays after my morning chores are completed) with a cup of tea - it is part of my weekly routine. Not only are they educational, but inspirational as well. Thanks for sharing this part of your life with us.

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Mary Nienhouse wrote

I so enjoy your post! The ads are eye opening. It prompted me to look up wages from that time area. As homemakers we have always needed to be in charge of stretching those dollars with our food shopping.
Gma Donna, your gentle, practical posts always inspire me to live a more full, thankful life. Thank you so very much for sharing ??

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Grandma Donna wrote

Emma, I agree about the sink full of dishes. When we are up at the Myrtle I have a large pan that I stack the dishes needing to be washed. Each time we are up there for a few days I try to find a better routine with the dishes. I know now that before any item that goes in that pan has to be completely scraped or wiped off. I imagine all the different trials and errors you have gone through to get to where you are now.

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Grandma Donna wrote

Gayle, thank you, I am so happy that you enjoy reading my posts and find inspiration. Thank you for commenting.

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Grandma Donna wrote

Mary, I enjoy reading the microfilms of the old newspapers and there is much to learn there. You are very right that we are in charge of stretching those dollars. Many people today have very good ideas of how to do this but there something about looking back at the old ways that seem to make it more practical. :)

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Hilogene in Az wrote

G’Donna,
Wonderful post today, and I have been thinking about how today’s convenience has cost us our independence (or perhaps our hardiness). Living in Phoenix, summer storms come by and we lose our electricity, usually only for a few hours. So I have bought four small solar lights and have some candles. Much less light than normal lighting. I don’t want to use oil lamps so I bought a Coleman LED lamp that runs on batteries. Much improved but each four batteries only lasts 10 hours. Yikes! It got me thinking how learning to be independent of something simple like room lighting is so much more complex that I thought. Realistically if I need room light for days, then oil lamps would be logical. I know you and Charles have traveled down this path for years and have learned…thank you for sharing your knowledge and thoughts as the rest of us catch up ;)

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Galadriel wrote

Hi Donna, if you have the time/inclination, could you write about what tools and items from the past that you think are especially useful for people who want to be more self reliant? I know you have written in the past about things like oil lamps and canning supplies for instance.

I have a neighbour who is in her 90s who I know has a wealth of memories about how things were done in the past; she doesn't like talking about it though because she had an unhappy childhood. Next time I speak to her, I will ask her more specific questions about how things were done. Right now, I'm interested in how people in this country (UK) stayed warm before there was central heating. Our natural gas and electricity prices are insane and we are keeping the heating off (thankfully we have a wood stove in the living room--the bedrooms and bathroom are pretty chilly).

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Grandma Donna wrote

Hilogene,

It is difficult to make decision which type of lighting to use. Everything is so expensive now, candles, oil, electricity and especially batteries.
Several years ago I purchased some solar light bulbs with a small solar panel and the lights work very well and they still sell them on Amazon, are a Amazon choice bulbs that come with a pack of two bulbs and two solar panels for just under 20.00 at this time I am writing this. Ours have worked well for us. You can charge them in the sun or with the panel that comes with them and the bulbs put out good light but it is a whiter light than most people are used to .

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Grandma Donna wrote

Galadriel,
I have a post about a way that they kept warm long ago. Here is a link, maybe you can copy and post it from here if not, send me an email and I can send the link that way. My email is under my comment section. https://gdonna.com/living-like-the-past/soapstone/
I will post more information if you need it. Grandma Donna

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Rose wrote

Hello. I just wanted to share a bit as we've lived off grid for 14 years. I could share a bunch, but I will speak to the lighting. The best advice I can share having tried so, so many options is to live your life according to daylight and nighttime. It truly helps. At dark, try to go to sleep soon after and wake up at first light. For the most part, this is free and beneficial to health. Also, this link below is very efficient and a good solution. God bless!???????????????? https://youtu.be/S5_cwpZnRkU

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Grandma Donna wrote

Rose,
Thank you for sharing your experience of living off grid. The information of going to sleep at dark and wake at first light is absolutely the most sensible thing to do and what people did long ago, at least in the rural areas. After 14 years at this you must have quite a bit of practical knowledge and are welcome to share with us anytime for we have others that read this blog that are new to living off grid. Thank you for sharing the link to the Bright Betty. :)

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.

Andrea wrote

I remember when we lived in Oregon we had a radio channel that would only play music from 1959 and back. It was so so nice to listen to and then starting the week of Thanksgiving they'd play nothing but the old radio shows. I can't count how many times our family listened to them and had them on all day and would turn it off when we went to bed. It was just so exciting to listen too.

This comment was transferred from our old comments section.