About Me

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Fayette Co, KY, United States
I am a country girl stuck in the city, for the time-being. I enjoy the country way of life, and practice that in my home as best I can by canning and preserving foods, cooking and baking from scratch, crocheting, living vicariously thru the many blogs I follow about country life. I enjoy learning about raising livestock, and glean from my past employment and personal experiences of working with animals to fuel some of my postings. I have 5 cats, who keep my life interesting. And I am also an amateur poet. Thanks for stopping by and checking out this Farmer-gal who is caught in town, for now.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

A Trip to Casey County

Note: None of the photos were taken by me - they are from the Internet - I forgot to take my camera with me on my trip to Casey County - 8-(

On Saturday, I drove SW of Lexington to Casey County, where I will be moving at the end of September. I met a great Mennonite couple, Mr and Mrs W, who have a small home or cabin that they may rent to me - if my references check out! LOL

Some of these photos are ones of Amish and some are Mennonite, I know that there is a difference between the two, but I wanted to share some of what I found on the Internet.

The cabin is small, just 16 x 20 with a half loft for sleeping. There is a porch on the main level, and also one on the loft level, which has a porch swing. The area is hilly, and down from one of the hills comes the spring that furnishes the cabin with water. The cabin also has a dumbwaiter where I can put items that need to keep cool, and it is lowered to an area that is in the sub-basement, or below the basement, into a spot that has a spring running in it. The full basement is poured concrete for plenty of storage area, and a lot of shelves for keeping canned goods. The cabin is built on a hill, so the basement is a walk-in.

There is a kitchen area with a deep sink, counter space, and cupboards that run high up towards the ceiling for plenty of storage space. There is a small vanity next to the kitchen counter to wash hands and face. The source of heat and of cooking is like this Pioneer Maid wood cookstove.
Up the hill behind the cabin is an outhouse and a woodshed. There is a large boiler tub where a fire can be started under it to heat for a bath in the warmer weather. I haven't figured out how I am going to do laundry yet, but could conceivably get a gas powered wringer washer, and put that in the woodshed. There is one of those umbrella-type clothes lines so that soon the back of the cabin will take on this look.
For the time-being, when I first move in, I will be doing laundry at a friend's home and bringing it out to the cabin to hang and dry. There is a laundry line in the cabin on pullies that is located in the loft for drying clothes during cold weather. One thing that concerns me is that the lines from the spring to the cabin may freeze in the winter, at which time I'll need to haul water from my friend's home.

I was glad I just bought Ruby, my truck, last Monday because I couldn't have gotten to the cabin without her on the one lane gravel roads. On the way back from the cabin, we drove on a road that went thru a creek, and then up a steep hill. My Toyota Echo would've never made it.

It's going to be an adventure. And I'm not sure how much blogging I will be able to do except maybe once a week when I go to the public library in town to use my laptop. I'm not even sure I can get cell phone recpetion out at the cabin. My current carrier Sprint doesn't have any reception in that area, so I will have to find one that will. I was hoping to get a BlackBerry and keep up with email that way, but time will tell.
I'll keep you all posted on what transpires with this move. My first concern after moving will be to get a good supply of wood for cooking and heating before the weather turns too cold, and the prices go up. I imagine I'm gonna be eating a lot of store-bought canned food for a while until I get my feet under me and figure out how to cook from scratch on the Pioneer Maid. I really want to be able to do some boiling water bath canning and pressure canning to stock up for the winter, but I'll just have to see what time allows. I could easily see myself getting snowed in if we have a bad winter. Oh, and there is a large pond on the property, so like FarmerPam at Life on a Southern Farm, I may be taking my Ivory soap and take a dip in the pond to bathe while the weather is still nice.

Wish me luck, Ya'll. Take care, from soon to be Liberty KY in Casey County.

17 comments:

~from my front porch in the mountains~ said...

How exciting for you, Kathy!!!!!!!
My best advice would be to follow all of Homeaker Ang's advice at Living off Grid at Maple Valley Farm! I would so love to see you go spend some time on their farm :)
But, I do believe your *new* neighbors will be of wonderful help!

Keep us posted, sweet friend!
xo, misha

Thistle Cove Farm said...

You're made of stern stuff, Kathy, my hat is off to you! Check out the impact the soap might have on the pond; you don't want to kill it off. Your county library, probably, has i-net access thanks to Bill and Melissa Gates. When you go to town, include a trip to the library for i-net service.

Deb W said...

Good for you, going for your dream!!

Will you work off the farm? That was my first question when you described the remote location. If it's a challenge in the summer.... The basement sounds like a wonderful addition to the cabin! (Food storage) Will your landlords allow you to keep animals? If so, what direction will you go first? Chickens? Sheep? Don't forget I have breeding pairs of Angora rabbits, so if I knew someone wanted to buy a bunny or two ....maybe I could breed a litter just for you.

Kathy in KY said...

Hi Deb - I won't be working a farm at the cabin, but will be helping my friend, Bobbett, with her produce farm. she grows enough for her and her parents and sells the rest, and she wants to get started at a farmers market next year with my help. For right now, I won't have any animals, but that could come in the future. there is a good-sized barn where there used to be a dairy herd, plus a milking parlor. I would love to learn to spin, and maybe get some angora rabbits. I've studied a lot of different livestock, but never rabbits, I know nothing about them, so will have to read up on them. I would definitely want them for the angora, and not the meat!

Kathy in KY said...

Sandra - I have a laptop, so will be taking that in to the public library in Liberty, maybe once a week to blog and check email. And my laptop is set up for wireless Internet. I will probably have to take it to my friend Bobbett's place to charge up the laptop. I'm hoping I do have cell phone reception, and can get a BlackBerry, that will give me a connection to the outside world. My mailbox is about a mile from the cabin, on the main road. Thanks for your encouragement, I think I'm gonna need it, especially in the winter! And I will probably not, realistically, bathe in the pond, but go swimming. I don't want to upset the flora/fauna of the pond at all. I know one thing, I won't be bathing in the boiler-type container everyday, but will rinse off in the cabin and in the pond. I won't be around enough people to have to smell good! LOL - and the flowering deodorant would only attract bugs - although I guess they do have unscented. I'll keep you all posted. thanks for your comments. take care.

Anonymous said...
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Kent Island Red said...

Hi Kathy,
Stumbled on your blog today and I'm hoping you get to move into the cabin. Can't wait to hear how that goes, but sounds like fun:-) I'll start following your blog to read the latest updates about your life and hope you'll check out mine as well. Take care!

affectioknit said...

That just all sounds AWESOME to me!

Marigold said...

Oh my. I hope it all works out!

Dog Trot Farm said...

Wishing you well Kathy, this is quite an adventure you have begun. Will be looking forward to future posts, may trusty "RUBY" keep you safe.

Michelle said...

Make sure you get yourself enough wood for the season and then a bit extra on top of that. This sounds like a great adventure. Bluegrass Cellular has expanded their services throughout KY, so that might be your best shot at cell service out there. We live a ways out ourselves and that is the only cell service we can get at our house. I do hope you keep blogging because I would love to read about your progress!

Kathy in KY said...

Thanks Kent, I'll check out your blog as well - thanks for your comments.

Thanks Affectioknit - I think it's a pretty neat thing too.

Marigold - I hope it all works out, too. I figure if I can make it thru this winter, I can do anything I set my mind to do.

thanks Julie - for helping me name Ruby, it just fits her so well, not too femme, full of spunk, and a real go-getter in a time of need.

thanks Farmchick - getting firewood is my top priority when I move at the end of Sept. I can get a dump truck load delivered to the cabin, dumped, and then I stack it in the woodshed. I can also get some smaller pieces for cooking from my landlords' son who has a sawmill, and sells the wood that he doesn't use by the pickup load. I'll look online about Bluegrass Cellular, and see if it is in Casey Co. I think Verizon is there, too, but it's even spotting in my part of the county. I couldn't even get roaming reception on my Sprint phone yesterday in parts of the county.

Thank you all for your wonderful comments and encouragement

Sue from Ky. said...

Kathy, try to learn the different types of wood. That will be a big help in starting and holding your fires. Some burn better than others, and some hold better at night. I figure you'll be heating with it nights.There is an art to filling a stove and getting it to hold heat all night. My husband has it down pat and I am learning little by little. We heat mainly with wood to keep the electric bill down during the winter.I,too, will be interested in following your blog to see how you get along with you new project. Good Luck.

Anonymous said...

woodheat.org has lots of useful info.

try a tub in the house. you could heat the water off the exhaust pipe of the stove.
i hope they choose you and good luck.

Barbara said...

Well you are a very brave girl, and I will be praying for you sweet lady, God will provide your every need, hugs and blessings, Barbara

Angela said...

Hi Kathy in Kentucky! I'm Angela in West Virginia. I seen your comment on Suzanne's blog about possibly moving to a place without electric and I had to see where you were moving! lol

That really sounds interesting to make a move like that. Can't wait to read more about your adventures.

clairz said...

Hi, Kathy. I just came over from Pam's Life on a Southern Farm blog and am looking around your blog for the first time. What an adventure! I see from later posts that you are, indeed, going to be renting the cabin. I am wondering how you will make a living, but I'll keep reading backwards to see if I can find out for myself. Unless working on your friend's farm is the answer?