Hello & Welcome! I’m Kara, wife to Ryan and mountain mama to our 7 wild ones.
We live on some land nestled in the woods where we’ve been building a homestead from the ground up for the past 12 years. It is a work in progress, and everything takes longer than we expect. The modern world moves at such a hurried pace, so we strive to take a step back and live in a more natural rhythm with the world God made.
I’m passionate about being a keeper at home, growing healthy food, home education, learning old-fashioned skills, cooking from scratch, and building family culture. My interests are many and varied, but they all center around Home. Recently, I found a new love in growing flowers. It has been a dream I put on hold for several years, but in 2023 I decided to jump in prepared or not, and I’m so glad that I did!
We’d love for you to follow along
There is so much beauty in the simple things of life. In the little miracles and daily blessings that the Lord showers upon us. It is my hope that we can share some of those things, and encourage you in finding the extraordinary in your everyday ordinary.
What you can expect to see here as we work toward a slower paced life
By slower paced I don’t mean one free from hard work, but rather one of focused priorities. We all know that building anything meaningful takes intentional effort. Certainly, building our homes and families requires the best of us.
- Planting, growing, harvesting, and preparing garden produce
- Preservation methods such as canning, freezing, dehydrating, fermenting, and storage options
- Foraging edible & medicinal plants
- Hunting wild game
- Raising animals for meat and dairy
- Pantry preparedness
- Old-fashioned cooking
- Growing flowers
- Homemaking skills
- Sewing and crafting
- Living off the land
- Self-sufficiency
- Family economy
- Seasonal rhythms
- The ins and outs of building a homestead
- Homeschool encouragement
- Practical help with curriculum, lesson planning, and teaching multiple ages
- Charlotte Mason and Classical education
- Nature schooling
- Products and resources for your homeschool and homestead
A few random facts:
- Ryan and I have been married for 22 years
- Our water system is gravity fed from rainwater catchment and a spring we utilize during dry spells
- We lived completely off grid the first 3 years at our homestead
- Neither of us are very musical, however our children all play one or more instruments
- There are less than 10 years between our oldest and youngest
- Ryan has been a professional firefighter/EMT for 20 years
- If there is a snow/ice storm we might be stranded on our mountain for a couple of weeks
- We have a sawmill Ryan initially bought to salvage our timber for projects, which turned into a portable side business for many years, and is now only being used to focus on things here at home once again.
Connect with us
Wherever you are on your homesteading journey, we’ll be here cheering you on. We’ve had so many amazing mentors over the years whose insight and wisdom blessed us greatly, and it is our desire to be able to help others on this road less traveled. You can find us on Instagram & Facebook, and our inbox is always open.
