Well folks, we are now officially on the tail end of winter. As a funny turn of events here in Oregon, we got a weird snow storm this morning which dumped about four inches of snow onto the farm. It likely won’t have any effect on anything I have going so far, but usually we … Continue reading Adapt, Improvise, and Overcome!

I try not to flood your timelines and email boxes with my blogs simply so I can say I put out a certain number of blogs a month or week, so I hope most of you understand that I only blog when things come up that I think you all may be interested in. This … Continue reading Bring It On!

We had a saying when I was in the Army, commonly referred to as the "Five P's": Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance".  Last year I was unable to plan ahead because I didn't know I would have my small homestead.  This year, however, I have plenty of time to do the best job I can do. … Continue reading Proper Planning Prevents…

For those readers out there who don't already know, I have asked Michelle to marry me and she has accepted (pictured below)!  This is the beginning of the seven month stretch to our wedding day and it is already starting to feel like a daunting exercise in overburdening yourself. Of course, we all know that … Continue reading Let The Whirlwind Begin

Well folks, I finally got to take my knife making class and I can say that it was, without a doubt, worth the money.  The instructor was Rachelle up at Trackers Earth – Portland and, like before, she was a wealth of information. As usual, I was brimming with questions which have absolutely nothing to do … Continue reading Fire Makes It Softer…and Harder

I have never been a salesman.  As a child, I was always put off by those guys that would get up in your face and say anything to get you to buy whatever it was they were selling.  It just makes me cringe to think about.  I always preferred the philosophy that, if your product was … Continue reading I’m No Salesman

This past weekend, my dad gave me the opportunity to go through some of my great grandfather's old tools and scrap metal that he left behind when he died.  As someone who is kind of a history buff, it was awesome to see some of the stuff he used as he was THE blacksmith for … Continue reading Grandpa’s Time Machine

I have a lot to learn when it comes to running a business.  Lucky for me, I have Michelle to help me through it as she pretty much built entire warehouse logistics and operations, at her last job, over fifteen years.  She knows a lot about shipping and receiving, selling on Amazon, labelling, working with … Continue reading Business, Blacksmithing, and Bees

I know only you gamers out there will get the title reference, but that's ok.  This weekend, I took the Blacksmithing Basics class from Trackers Earth - Portland and it was a seriously helpful class, if for no other reason than I was able to ask my questions to the instructor (Rachelle). First off, let … Continue reading Blacksmithing Level: +10