Sandy Stacey

Anne Miller wrote:We decided to go with Starlink in March.

I went back to my statement and I only paid $238.00, are there different levels of equipment?

I have unlimited date for my monthly fee.

Dear hubby and son in law did the installation though we did not have to drill through the wall because we had Hughesnet and used the hole they made.

What does your county consider a driveway?  Will a dirt road to the property work?  That is all we have here.

What is a Starlink waitlist?

We were on the Starlink wait list for over a year. It wasn't available yet in our area. It looks like we placed a $99 deposit for the waitlist.

Starlink Standard Actuated Kita74541f8-e848-407e-bdee-23f3d9ba4309  $549.00
Shop order
Deposit  -$99.00
Payment Summary
Items Subtotal  $450.00
Tax  $51.51
Shipping $50.00
Order Total  $551.51
Our order date was 04/27/2022  So maybe they've lowered the price since our order. I did see on Starlink's site that price is up to $120 now in my area.  The other good news is I did a generic check for the homestead area and Starlink is already available. I'm guessing because of the Native reservations in the area?

I need to find out what they do consider a driveway. I have no idea. This is the screwiest county I've ever seen. We have annual taxes due by Oct 1st and we still can't get them to give us an amount.

Thekla McDaniels wrote:Sandy, one thing you might consider is building in stages.  First a great room with kitchen alcove, small bathroom.  Start with what ever you consider essential, in a single space, with planned add ons…  Planning the whole thing at once can be overwhelming, and doesn’t necessarily get you the building you want to live in.

That's actually a good idea. I want a summer kitchen for canning and food preservation. I'm also going to downsize our house again and I would prefer to keep that mess out of the home since it will be small. I was thinking about one of the larger shed kits. Something we can throw up in a few weeks and then use as temporary living quarters while we build the kit house. We can not have more than one home on our homestead property. So I have to be careful what I build. I really like two companies https://www.ezlogstructures.com/ and amishbuilthomes.com  Both offer kits and the Amish even have modular walls in their kits. Like jigsaw puzzles for adults. The no cutting requirement was what sold me on the idea.

We finally came up on the Starlink list. The upfront equipment cost was $551 and fees run about $100/month. When I just signed into my account I saw a new offer for $59/month in select areas. We sent it back because we realized we would be moving to the homestead and I didn't want hubby drilling a hole through my exterior wall. There are no installers so be prepared (which shouldn't be a problem with this crowd). I do plan to use Starlink at the homestead but currently we are having an issue with the county. We can't get a 911 address until we put in a driveway. Map locations aren't accurate so until I can visit I don't even have accurate coordinates for the Starlink waitlist yet.

We own the land outright (ten acres). If the housing market doesn't tank we will be selling our home we own outright to plow the money into the new homestead. I'm currently looking at kit homes and modular homes. Being so rural there are no options for stick built. Which after our current home's build I'm not looking forward to owning another stick built home. We will be totally off grid and I could use some experienced advice.

I'm in the process of researching to build our homestead. There are some great sources on Youtube about trying to fireproof your rural home. One of the most helpful overlooked advice is to ensure you don't have vents in your eaves. Those vents are one of the primary causes of rural house fires in fire prone areas. They suck up a spark on the wind into the attic and there goes the house. The actual fire may be miles down the road. That was what stood out to me as the most blatant example. The commonsense things of nothing flammable within 50 ft of the house etc.

Here's the set I use. These have to be at least ten years old. It uses ceramic burrs and the grind is adjustable. I bought glass with metal lids first. I broke those consistently. I didn't think I would like the all wood shakers but they've held up to constant abuse.

https://www.amazon.com/XWXO-Wood-Salt-Pepper-Mill/dp/B07C9TVC17/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2N1O5P0761H83&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pClybhjCzwfcgVe9UM8XbhKzDvG9Iz3ZWN87uDEQcM-E0dwiRCc4ash7ZlXKKBUe_i4KBE-asrn9vU7gC2_Qg3FDcqFU85BnhPZ5cHJHJpCKZVYgKMgk3gNArApJn-K7NS1WflfEpDQlg8ImQBNeebLkRjVpOqfM_1pBw9p-9OwxcivKeEo1PJaxyvmDkQ0H7vOt-cNjOkCBAdUzkMMVWtP05oY3OLj53FEdT9KrAVXYGm-t31G5zHiKg_f_5T-GHintkmDYUd1B5mIDaMjeGSBU3kICp5XHwt9YYfm9v9k.ac6xiluitF9tNydHg-aNkCGDH9cCDtb95uOg9-w4mRk&dib_tag=se&keywords=wood%2Bsalt%2Band%2Bpepper%2Bgrinder%2Bset&qid=1758486976&sprefix=wood%2Bsalt%2Band%2B%2Caps%2C199&sr=8-6&th=1

I have fine, thin hair. So most of what's out on the market doesn't work for me. Barrettes and clips just slide out. A few years ago I found a clip called Xenclip. It looks like a spring but it holds my hair in place. I can even sleep in it. Trips to the dentist are easy now. I don't have to take out my hair clip to lay back in the dental chair. I put my hair up in the morning and I take the clip out at bedtime. I brush my hair like I would for a ponytail then make a bun style and clip it into place. I'm done for the day.

This was tough. I go through so many spices baking and cooking but when push comes to shove nothing beats korintje cinnamon. You've smelled and tasted korintje cinnamon when you go to the mall and eat a Cinnabon's cinnamon bun. The smell is heavenly. They use korintje cinnamon. It's the only cinnamon I use. I love allspice and nutmeg but life would be sad without korintje cinnamon.

I have more sourdough recipes than I ever would have time to bake. I also have recipes for things like cinnamon rolls, crepes and pancakes you can make from the sourdough discards. I even have sourdough recipes for different types of grain. What I don't have is step by step basic instructions for making a good quality sourdough starter. I can not get a sourdough starter to work. I have changed grains and water sources. I weigh everything that goes into the starter.  I would love a really basic book with pictures so I know yes that's what it should look like so move on to the next step. Sourdough has defeated me. I do live in the desert so I keep blaming the dry humidity but it's probably something I'm doing or not doing.. Also how to dehydrate or freeze dry starter for the future.

I used citric acid today when I canned wild blueberry pie filling. Citric acid subs for lemon juice  when canning but it leaves no taste behind. One tablespoon of bottled lemon juice is equal to 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid. I really like to use citric acid when I freeze dry apple slices and canning apple products. It doesn't leave that funny taste on apple products. Yes it's food grade and I buy it from Amazon. Made in the USA.