Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Homestead Blog Hop #44

Homestead Blog Hop every Wednesday featuring real food recipes, natural health remedies, DIY, crafts, Gardening Tips, and more...

Welcome to the Homestead Blog Hop!

This year has been interesting. We had a fairly wet spring, not as bad as some of our friends further north, but we were delayed in planting our garden. Even after our garden was in, we were still getting a good bit of rain. Then it was like someone turned the spigot off, it turned really dry. The heat has been another issue this year for us. We have had heat indexes in excess of 105 degrees more this year than any I can remember and I take notice of things like that. 

Rain started this weekend and has not let up. The temperature is much more bearable, and the plants really needed it. I am already seeing the signs of the approaching fall and I am ready for it. If you would like to know more about the signs people have used to predict weather I invite you to check out this post.

Some would call if folklore, I call it observation. Watching the signs will give you a heads up on what the weather will be like.

  Now on to the hop... Homestead Blog Hop will take place every Wednesday and is for all things homesteading: real food recipes, farm animals, crafts, DIY, how-to's, gardening, anything from-scratch, natural home/health, self-sufficiency, self-reliance, natural remedies, essential oils, & more! Basically anything related to homesteading.

Meet and Follow Your Hosts!

Kelly - Simple Life Mom (Facebook/Pinterest/Twitter/G+) Jennifer - Homesteading on Grace (Facebook/Pinterest/G+) Amanda - Idlewild Alaska (Facebook/Pinterest) Bonnie - The Not So Modern Housewife (Facebook/Pinterest/Twitter/G+) Gregg - The Rural Economist (Facebook/Pinterest/Twitter/G+/Instagram)

Featured Posts from the Last Homestead Blog Hop

Each week we will choose three posts to feature.Each post will be shared on all social media platforms by all of the hosts! Here are the features from Last Week's Hop:
Homestead Blog Hop Featured from Homesteading on 4 D Acres
1. Easy Blackberry Pie From Homesteading on 4 D Acres
Featured on the Homestead Blog Hop from Stone Family Farmstead
Featured on the Homestead Blog Hop from Organic 4 Greenlivings
Congrats! Feel free to grab the featured on button for your post.
Just right click and 'save image as...'
Homestead Blog Hop every Wednesday featuring real food recipes, natural health remedies, DIY, crafts, Gardening Tips, and more...
Guidelines for this Get-Together:
  1. Click on the “Add your Link” Button below and add a great image of your project or recipe. Make sure you link to the page of your family friendly post – not the main page of your blog!
  2. Try to visit at least a few other blogs at the party. Be sure to leave a comment to let them know you stopped by!
  3. Please link back to this post somehow (a text link is ok). This is one thing we look for when choosing who to feature. We will share
Let the Party Begin!

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Homestead Blog Hop #43

Homestead Blog Hop every Wednesday featuring real food recipes,
natural health remedies, DIY, crafts, Gardening Tips, and more...


It is that time again. The summer is beginning to wind down. I noticed the yellow butterflies beginning to migrate this week. Within about a month and a half we will have our first cool spell. My thoughts are starting to turn to hunting season. I am determined to spend a lot more time in the woods this year. 

Every season has its good points and its bad points. This summer has been extremely hot and the last half has been really dry. We were blessed with a nice rain shower last night. Our garden is starting to wind down. I hope this finds you well and I invite you to take a little time and enjoy some good homestead writing from folks around the country and in some cases around the world.

Welcome to the Homestead Blog Hop!



Now on to the hop...

Homestead Blog Hop will take place every Wednesday and is for all things homesteading: real food recipes, farm animals, crafts, DIY, how-to's, gardening, anything from-scratch, natural home/health, self-sufficiency, self-reliance, natural remedies, essential oils, & more! Basically anything related to homesteading.

Meet and Follow Your Hosts!





Featured Posts from the Last Homestead Blog Hop

Each week we will choose three posts to feature.Each post will be shared on all social media platforms by all of the hosts! Here are the features from Last Week's Hop:
Featured on the Homestead Blog Hop - 7 Ways to Use Beer in The Garden
from Feathers in the Woods
2. 7 Ways to Use Beer in the Garden from Feathers in the Woods
Congrats! Feel free to grab the featured on button for your post.
Just right click and 'save image as...'
Homestead Blog Hop every Wednesday featuring real food recipes,
natural health remedies, DIY, crafts, Gardening Tips, and more...
Guidelines for this Get-Together:
                   

  1. Click on the “Add your Link” Button below and add a great image of your project or recipe. Make sure you link to the page of your family friendly post – not the main page of your blog!
  2.                

  3. Try to visit at least a few other blogs at the party. Be sure to leave a comment to let them know you stopped by!
  4.                

  5. Please link back to this post somehow (a text link is ok). This is one thing we look for when choosing who to feature. We will share
  6. Let the Party Begin!

    Wednesday, August 5, 2015

    Homestead Blog Hop #42

    Homestead Blog Hop every Wednesday featuring real food recipes, natural health remedies, DIY, crafts, Gardening Tips, and more...

    Welcome to the Homestead Blog Hop!

    My wife, our youngest daughter, and I managed to steal some time away for some rest and relaxation this past weekend. That doesn't happen nearly often enough. I guess we are fairly predictable because we spent that time at one of our favorite Alabama State Parks. We spent time on the beach area and even did some hiking. I recorded 5 videos while we were there (I just can't really get away, but at least that is something I enjoy. 






    For me being able to spend time in nature is the best way to relax. Another way to relax is to read great posts and hopefully learn something new. Kick back and enjoy. Be sure and let me know which are your favorites.




      Now on to the hop... Homestead Blog Hop will take place every Wednesday and is for all things homesteading: real food recipes, farm animals, crafts, DIY, how-to's, gardening, anything from-scratch, natural home/health, self-sufficiency, self-reliance, natural remedies, essential oils, & more! Basically anything related to homesteading.

    Meet and Follow Your Hosts!

    Kelly - Simple Life Mom (Facebook/Pinterest/Twitter/G+) Jennifer - Homesteading on Grace (Facebook/Pinterest/G+) Amanda - Idlewild Alaska (Facebook/Pinterest) Bonnie - The Not So Modern Housewife (Facebook/Pinterest/Twitter/G+) Gregg - The Rural Economist (Facebook/Pinterest/Twitter/G+/Instagram)

    Featured Posts from the Last Homestead Blog Hop

    Each week we will choose three posts to feature.Each post will be shared on all social media platforms by all of the hosts! Here are the features from Last Week's Hop:
    Homesteading Hippy Featured on Homestead Blog Hop
    1. Why You Need Yarrow From The Homesteading Hippy
    LL Farm Featured on the Homestead Blog Hop
    2. Easy Blackberry Cobbler from LL Farm
    Oak Hill Homestead Featured on Homestead Blog Hop
    3. Homemade Yogurt the Easy Way by Oak Hill Homestead
    Congrats! Feel free to grab the featured on button for your post.
    Just right click and 'save image as...'
    Homestead Blog Hop every Wednesday featuring real food recipes, natural health remedies, DIY, crafts, Gardening Tips, and more...
    Guidelines for this Get-Together:
    1. Click on the “Add your Link” Button below and add a great image of your project or recipe. Make sure you link to the page of your family friendly post – not the main page of your blog!
    2. Try to visit at least a few other blogs at the party. Be sure to leave a comment to let them know you stopped by!
    3. Please link back to this post somehow (a text link is ok). This is one thing we look for when choosing who to feature. We will share
    Let the Party Begin!

    Monday, August 3, 2015

    eBooks or Hard Copies



    There is no doubt that we are living in a digital age. At no time in history has everyone had access to so much information. It amazes me that many of us have more computing in our pocket or purse than the first computers on which I worked. I remember working a word processor on a Commador 64. For those of you who are younger than I, the Commador 64 only had 64 megabytes of memory. Computers today have an average of 2 gigabytes of random access memory.  The difference is remarkable.

    When I was a child, if you wanted to learn about something you started with the encyclopedia, after that you looked for a book or magazine from a reputable publication. Depending on how much you wanted to learn about a particular subject you could wind up visiting the library many times. This is no longer necessary, all you have to do is Google it.

    Now we have smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. There is no limit to the amount of information a person can find if they are willing to take the time. With the addition of jump drives and external hard drives we can store more information than ever before. From how to books to cook books you can get almost any book that is in print in a digital format. The only real exception is older titles. 

    Pros and Cons of Hardcopy Books


    There are a lot of good reasons to keep real books around and there are a few drawbacks.

    Pros of Print Books


    They never go bad. As long as a book is kept dry then it will keep for generations. I have a 1908 edition of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol.

    They require no energy. It doesn't matter if the power is out or even a total grid failure, you still have access to the information.

    Aesthetics. I know this is just a personal preference, but I am not alone. The feel and texture, the ability to just pick them up whenever we want and put them down. I just like books.

    Cons of Print Books


    As much as I love books there are some drawbacks that I need to list, there may be more but here are the ones that I think are most prominent.

    Storage. I am one of those people who believe that no home is complete without a set of bookshelves, but having said that is you have a lot of books,storage can become an issue. Not only do books need to have a place where they can be stored, but they also need to be readily available. I know people who have boxes of books stored in a shed out behind their house. This type of storage has several problems. First is unless you keep really good records, there is no way to know what books are in which box. Second is rodents. Rodents can destroy books quickly. They will use them for nesting material. Third is normal degradation.Unless your storage is climate controlled, just the wide swings in temperature can and will take its toll on the binding.

    Weight. If you are a prepper and your plan is to bug out if things turn bad, weight can be a limiting factor. If your backpack is anything like mine there isn't a lot of room left. 

    Some may be thinking, "why would I take books with me?" Well, it depends on where you are going and what you might face. Books like Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy's Survival Medicine Handbook and Edible Plants Field Guide would be a minimum, if for no other reason than to have them as a reference.

    Cost. It is a lot more expensive to have a book printed than to produce a digital copy. Once the information is available online there is an unlimited number of copies. With printed books that is not the case. The company will produce a certain number of copies, after that additional runs must be made. 

    Normally a digital version or ebook costs about half, sometimes less, of a printed copy.

    Environmental Impact. An ebook takes nothing but electricity and the internet to produce. A physical copy takes paper, ink, and glue at a minimum. For most of us this is a consideration. 



    Pros and Cons of Ebooks or Digital Archives


    After reading the pros and cons of hardcopy books you may be thinking that ebooks have all benefits and no problems, that is simply untrue.

    Pros of eBooks

    They weigh nothing and storage is a breeze. An ebook is nothing but lines of code stored either on a device or on the internet. It still amazes me that a block of letters, numbers, and symbols can be interpreted as a picture. 

    Right now I have 33 ebooks on my phone and still have room for pictures, videos, and I even do most of my writing on my phone. There is still room to spare.

    Cost. I know we covered this above but it is worth repeating. The cost of an ebook is usually half or less. If you watch you may find the title you want at a reduced price and sometimes even free.

    Available anywhere. If you have a device with you like a smartphone or tablet, all of the books you have downloaded are there. As long as you have access to the internet you can acquire more information.
    Searchable. Many ebooks have the ability to be searched for keywords. Instead of having to scan through a book to find the chapter or section you want you can just search. This is really useful in books that teach.

    Cons of eBooks


    Some are difficult to read. I have purchased ebooks from authors in the past. If they aren't formatted well they can be difficult to read. Another problem I have encountered is that when you stop reading some ebooks they don't start back where you left off. Some restart at the beginning every time, if you don't remember the page marker or chapter you stopped in you will have to scan every page or so to find where you left off. I have only encountered this problem with ebooks I have purchased from authors. I have never experienced this with anything I have purchased through Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

    Must have electricity. My phone's battery, when I have all of the functions activated, only lasts about 5 hours. If I have the internet and GPS turned off the battery will last 8 to 10 hours, but continuous reading really cuts battery life.

    Crashes. This is aggravating to no end, though it usually only occurs when you have used most of the available memory of the device on which you are reading.

    Not all titles are available. I have talked about this a little bit it is still an issue. Most brand new titles will have a digital version and even most of the classics have been converted. The real trouble is with the titles that are in between in age. This is improving, volunteers and publishers are working to make popular titles available but it is still not completed.

    A Hybrid Opinion


    For me I have found that many of the how to'a and informational writings that I enjoy most many of them are from magazines. As of yet I do not subscribe to any online versions of print magazines. This and most of the time there are only one or two articles in a given publication that I feel are worth my wild to save, I have come up with a way for me to save these articles without having piles and piles of magazines sitting around waiting on me to need them.

    When I find an article that I want to save, I will either tear it out of the magazine or make a copy. Then I place these articles in a three ring binder in page protectors. Doing this cuts down the bulk of what I have stored and also allows for organization based on subject matter. Creating a table of contents in the front of each binder takes the guess work out of finding what you are looking for. If you want to go the extra step you can even place tabs to mark different sections within each binder. This can also be done with your favorite blog posts that you want to save for later.

    I really enjoy both ebooks and print books. I am of the opinion that they both have their place. With the exception of classics, I prefer all fiction books digitally. I prefer how to books in print.

    If after reading this you think ebooks could be at least a valid option for some of your reading and you do not have a ebook reader you can get kindle for free.

    What do you think?

    Bringing Rural Back

    Have something to add to this topic join the Forum on The Rural Economist. If you would like to contribute to the conversation we would love to have you join us. It is brand new, but I am sure it will grow. 



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