We're not farmers...

Got a couple of comments on the last post about us being farmers...

we are not...

I grew up on a small farm in Ohio...

we did not do crops...

just large gardens...

chickens for eggs...

when we moved to southern Missouri...

we had a couple hogs at grandpa's...

they also had chickens...

and goats...

milked them and kidded them with grandma...

and Uncle Charlie and Aunt Palos had a dairy farm...

milked 200 head twice a day...

they never got off the farm much...

we live in town...

on the edge of town...

there is a field behind us that is outside of the city limits....

at the end of our block is more fields as far as the eye can see...

my DH works at an elevator...

that's where they take the beans, corn and wheat to around here...

he works in the food grade part, but during harvest, he works the main elevator, too...

dumping trucks and all...

when he got out of high school, he quit college to work in a factory...

he had worked there 26 years when they called him in on Oct 1st, 2000...

he was making $20 an hour...

they looked him right in the eye and said we can pay 3 people what we pay you and let him go, along with 50 others...

he landed a job with the elevator with some help...

the people who owned the antique mall I ran are BIG farmers...

Mr. Bill found out my DH had an application in and made a trip to the elevator to talk to the manager himself...

the guy had it down to 2 people out of 100 and Steve was one of them...

and he got hired in April of 2001...

they closed the mall in August...

I was where I needed to be to get the help to get him the next job...

we went from $30 an hour between us to $9...

but we had insurance again...

and you cut back...

we have lost 75% of our area factories in the last 15 years...

the coal mines have closed...

the major employers are the colleges and Walmart...

and anything to do with farming...

I waited too long to draw disability...

I never gave up the idea of getting better and back on my feet...

we have too much to get SSI...

so I draw nothing...

except what I have sold on eBay and in the antique mall...

the crafts I do...

and we are putting a son through college and helping the other one...

and anyone else who comes our way...

DH is up to $12 an hour now...

he grabs any overtime he can get...

and I have always been cheap...

I will not pay full price for much at all...

we eat what is on sale...

I buy clothes out of season when it's marked down...

and it always works out...

we have what we need when we need it...

when it came time to buy a home...

I looked around at what was available at the time here and then we decided we would buy a manufactured home and put it in...

we were both still working and thought it would be until we retired...

we already owned the land...

when we put it in, I insisted it run west and east, not across the property north and south...

the evening sun only hits one room, one set of windows this way...

we looked a hundreds of homes before choosing this one...

and then I wouldn't take the one off of  the lot..

we ordered a new one and maxed out the insulation, roof, tie downs...

all the things you cannot see but make it last...

and economical...

the difference between a manufactured home and a mobile home is how its made and the cost...

this one was $58,000 and a mobile home was $20,000...

it's built just like a house...

but I didn't put it on a foundation of concrete block...

that would make it real estate and our taxes would have run $1000 a year more when we put it in...

I have always been practical...

my parents and grandparents taught me that...

and to live under your means...

our home, land and all our vehicles are paid for...

I know some of you are being hit hard out there and wondering what's going to happen next...

it just all works out...

live by faith...

give freely...

it all comes back...

and then some...

and understand you are not in control...

non of us are...

no matter what we think...

we all have what He wants us to have...

no more and no less...

this is the longest dern post I have ever done, and if you are still reading this...

bless your little heart!

so, I hope that clears up everything...

and if you have any questions...

just ask me...

being from a small town, I just assume everyone knows eveything about us...

have a fun day and weekend if I don't get back on here soon!

hugs to all of you- Tete