Our friend came to visit recently and he commented on how much progress we’ve made in the four months we’d been on our new homestead. Calvin and I just looked at each other: When we look around we see the mess of trying to organize the contents of our former storage units, half dug garden beds, piles of materials, and tractor in need of a serious tune-up.

Our friend’s comment made me stop and take an inventory of what we’ve actually accomplished.

Moving Day(s):

The move home was made in multiple parts. Since we bought the place (Summer 2022), we’d bring tools and camping stuff whenever we’d come so that we could work a little here and there as we had time and opportunity. Our first big move was to bring Moby – our “extra bus” that we purchased to be a portable storage unit. Outfitted with our solar panels, Moby made it possible to “plug-and-play” our power system.

The Major Move was getting the Skoolie here with all our critters. The big bus, with the Moose catcher grill in front, looks quite imposing driving down the road! Had to finesse it up our windy forested driveway, but we got it on-site, parked and hooked up to solar.

I had brought the dogs to the homestead a time or two, so they were somewhat familiar with all the smells, but this was the first introduction to the cats. Being old pros at traveling, they found the Skoolie to be a much more comfortable experience – quieter, smoother, and lots more space to relax during the drive. Of course, as soon as I opened those air doors, there was the usual outpouring of fur babies to check things out! I’m happy to report that all six critters are happy and healthy in their new home.

Project #1: WATER

We arrived with 300 gallons of potable water onboard the skoolie and the mission became to set up our rainwater harvesting system before we ran out. So the first step was to build a roof and gutter system to catch rainwater from. Hurdle #1: Crappy winter weather! We had snow, deep freezes, drenching downpours, you name it. We’d get posts set, put together some of the trusses, then we’d get rained or snowed out for a week or two! Inch-by-inch is still progress, but our water supply was getting awfully low!

Finally, we got a break in the weather and Calvin one-armed those trusses into place, while I prepared the site for one of the 2,750 gallon storage tanks. Finally, we got Phase 1 in place just before a real Texas rainstorm and collected about 300 gallons of water in that first downpour. And with the switch of a couple valves, we were 100% on rainwater! What a great feeling to be water independent!

We get over 300 gallons of water for every inch of rain, and it has been a very wet spring. Our 2,750 gallon tank filled up within a little more than a month and has been consistently overflowing since. If we didn’t get another drop, we’d have a year of water from that one tank, and we have another one just like it! That is abundance, right there.

Gathering all the Stuff

Moving from Oregon to our Texas homestead has been a multi-stage, multi-year process, given our weird nomadic lifestyle. We couldn’t have done it without our very dear friends who have become our family over the past few years. They tolerated our stuff and our big rigs on their 10 acres, put up with our critters, and all of our comings and goings. Collecting the rest of our stuff, both from their place and our storage unit took a few months and lots of trips in our tiny van Mitzi, and then where to put it all? We have a little portable tarp carport for some things, like brush cutter and tools, and good sized section of our covered porch area has been built up with shelves and partial walls to hold whatever doesn’t fit in Moby. We probably didn’t need to keep so much, and I’m sure we’ll go through a few more purges before we’re done, but I think we both knew we would be back in homestead mode eventually and it’s nice to have all of our resources in one place.

Disruptions and Hurdles:

We arrived on site the first week of January 2024. Wouldn’t you know that a week later the neighbor started logging! The logging activity itself wasn’t a concern so much as log trucks tearing up our easement road that we’d worked on to make it possible to get our big rigs in. Rain and snow and truck traffic did quite a number on our only way in and out. Then the neighbor on the other side got into the action and started thinning their trees too! Oy vey. Add to that all the rain we’ve gotten (Two feet in the past few months!) and we have a soggy, muddy mess!

Getting Settled:

We’ve been inching our way into getting settled in and starting on next projects. It has been such an unusually wet spring that we’ve started and stopped a number of times, but some of the things that are in progress include:

But it hasn’t been all soggy and the rain has made everything lush and green and we have enjoyed the abundance of birds and butterflies, wildflowers and mushroom, and just the beauty of this area of Texas.

Next on our to do list is Phase 2 of our rainwater system, increasing storage capacity and setting up a gravity filter and pump system that doesn’t require electricity, developing our food independence with productive gardens, starting an orchard, and adding small livestock, and preparing for next winter. More on that later.

Thanks for checking in.

Best wishes from our NE Texas Homestead!