Looking back

Today while looking through my blog, I realized that I have written 204 posts. When I started it, I never thought I would write that many or end up having 112 followers. It started as just something to do on the now gone Yahoo 360, but I brought it here when I realized that no one ever read it but a handfull of Yahoo friends. I transferred some here and started writing regularly. Sometimes I would post 3-4 a week, and sometimes I would miss a few weeks alltogether. I like looking back and seeing the accomplishments here at home, and reading the comments from all of you followers. It's been a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to writing more this year.
My subject matter tends to jump around quite a bit. I started off sticking with the garden/homestead idea, but that's not all what I am about. I want to write and share all the things I enjoy, read about, or am passionate about, which leaves some entries with 12 comments and some with none. I've considered going back to just the gardening and homesteading for this blog, but I have decided not to. It's not all I do, so it won't be all I write about. The only place I can write freely about all of my interests is here. I frequent several online forums, but never quite fit in. The typical "suburban homesteader" sites are all about being pretty, and I am not. The hunting places are all about that trophy deer, and I'm about putting food in the freezer. The eco-green places want to talk about small trendy things they do that they saw on tv, where I want to go off grid and live like it was 1884. I'm too homestead for the survival folks, and too survival for the homestead folks. My only outlet of openly talking and sharing my life is here, and here it will stay.

Today I'll start with something I have never really talked about in just one post, and thats why we garden. I've talked about gardening hundreds of times, how we do what we do, and what we do with the produce, but I have never really said WHY. Well, there are several reasons. The first and foremost is not having to go buy something I can simply grow myself. I dispise the thought of going to the store and buying cans of green beans when I can spend a little time planting seeds and have the ability, like last year, to can 60 quarts of them at home. I can't imagine not looking out this window at all that we have planted and at the vegetable garden space and remember what it was like to go have to buy everything, I just can't. The work isn't all that hard, and the end results are amazing. I will never not have a garden simply for this one reason.

Reason number two is I know what is in my plants or what has been sprayed on them. NOTHING. We use no fertilizers other than compost. We use no pesticides or herbicides. I know that my tomato's came from my own backyard and not from Mexico where they are sprayed with chemicals that are banned in the US. Most produce you see at the stores is picked and shipped unripened, and sprayed to make them ripen in transit. This why you see big red apples and tomatos that taste like nothing, they aren't ripe. In the past, I have bought tasteless tomotos, dyed apples, and green onions with a slimy god knows what in the center of the stalk. I don't want to eat that, or anything else I have listed.

Another reason is to simply live simpler and save money. With a few dollars in seeds, and my time (which i DON'T put a price on), I can grow and harvest for myself a large amount of food that I would normally have to buy. Someday I would love to add up everything we harvested last year and compare it to what it would cost at the grocery store. Besides the cost of the food itself, we are saving money on gasoline and wear & tear on the vehicles. I find it insane to spend $3 in gas to get $10 worth of groceries. I have no need to go to the store for potato's, I just walk out back and dig some up...just like everything else.

Along with our goals of living simpler, the garden helps us towards our goal of being as self sufficient as we possibly can. By not relying on the stores to buy fruit or vegetables, we're one step closer. We grow what we eat, and we can, freeze, dehydrate, and store everything we grow. Trips to the store are usually less frequent, and normally just for basic items. Each new thing we raise or plant in the ground is one less thing we are reliant on the grocer for. That alone is worth the effort we put into our garden and plants.

My last reason I wrote a bit about in a post a few days ago. With everything I grow and eat myself, I am sending a message to the big boys. I'm telling the grocery stores I don't need them. I'm telling big agriculture the same. And I am telling the chemical companies we won't buy their product or anything treated with it. With the population exploding, we rely on the grocer more and more since there are only a handfull of people who produce their own compared to the total population. This pushes the grocer to need more, which pushes the farmer to produce more, which pushes the chemical companies to make and market products which help the other two. Being out of this loop gives you freedom. It gives you independance, and it tells them we are not all going to fall into their trap. My garden is a big " * you" to all of them.

As I was proof reading this entry, I had another reason and wasn't going to add it, but decided that I will. I know it's far fetched for a lot of people, and sometimes even for me, but I'm going to include it anyway. While reading some of the preparadness and survival wesites I frequent, I see a lot of people talking about learning gardening for those big SHTF scenerio's they are all so fond of talking about. Many of them plan to have gardens after some giant disaster, and there are actually companies that sell garden seeds for long term storage, marketing them as basically a "survival garden in a bucket". While I don't think much about giant disasters or such things, I do know that I have the skills, the means, and the know how to have my own garden if one of their scenerio's would ever come true. Now I don't see anything like that happening, but in case it ever does, I'll trade ya some potatos and onions for that case of .223 ammo, LOL.

Staring out the window...

Today is the first whole day I get to spend at home in over a month. The side work and odd jobs have kept me fairly busy, and our weekends have been spent visiting family and buying the sale items to restock the pantry. I've already done the dishes, cleaned the kitchen, put away laundry and sat to take a break before I take some tools back out to the garage and run the sweeper in the living room.
It's a warm day again, maybe in the mid to upper 40's. I'm sitting at the kitchen table looking out over the backyard and the FINALLY receeding snow. We had a record snowfall this year for February, totalling 31.7 inches. Counting other accumulation and drifts, we had spots close to 4 feet deep by the garage, chickenhouse and the woodpile. I do love winter to a point. Watching a nice slow snowfall is beautiful and a wonder of nature, but I really have to say I'm sick of it. We haven't had this much snow in a long long time, and we haven't had this much snow on the ground consistantly in more years than I can remember. Yea...all fine and dandy, but I'm done. I'm sitting here looking at the garden area, and the snow is melted just enough that I can see the contours of the raised beds, when a week ago it was a flat area covered in 3 feet of snow. I want this snow GONE! lol I want to get outside, get my hands dirty, and start the garden for the year. Of course, I can't do very much since we aren't even close to being out of danger of frosts, and with all this snow melting and the impending spring rains, it's going to be a mudhole. But I don't care right now. I'll pop on the rubber boots and get something accomplished at the first sign of open soil warming in the sun.
We have lots of plans for the garden this year. We'll be adding things we don't normally grow and adding more of things we grow little of. We'll be cutting back on a few others, while doubling or tripling 1 or 2 basics. I plan to find more older railroad ties and make more seperate beds just for greens. I plan to make another one just for carrots and celery. We'll double the onions and potatos, and cut back on my hot peppers. We'll be taking another shot at growing brussel sprouts since we have been eating so many lately, and I want to grow larger amounts of spinach and other like greens to process and can or freeze. This year will be all about producing to store, whether that would be canning, freezing, dehydrating, or basement storage of root crops; but also about growing more healty vegetables to eat during the growing season.
I'm also taking another look at growing wild edibles like dandelions, lambs quarters, and some other greens that people normally see as greens. These I want to plant around some trees and other area's in the front yard. They may look like ornamental plantings, but they are actually something edible. I've grown far past the point of caring about growing flowers and such just because they look pretty. Pretty has no use to me unless it is edible, just the same as grass in the yard. I see no point in wasting space just to plant things that are attractive to the eye and not the stomach. There are hundreds of edible plants and flowers out there that look just as good, if not better, than things we all normally stick in the flowerbeds with no concern other than how they look. I'll be doing a lot of research between now and "official" spring, and planting things accordingly. Of course Lisa will have her few small areas for some flowers that she loves, but I want to slowly do away with a lot, replacing them with edibles and herbs.
Since I mentioned herbs, the plans for the 30 foot circular herb bed out front are still on. We'll plant edible herbs, herbs for using as spice, and some medicinal herbs in that area. I'll be adding a small (4 foot) pond to the center of the area, hoping to attract frogs and toads to take care of the insect problem for me. I want this area to be something special. It won't only be for growing and cultivating herbs, but an area that stands out as a beautiful example of how something useful can be planted rather than a flower that just sits there and looks pretty. The pond can attract frogs and toads, and the herbs themselves can attract honey bees and hummindbirds. I want to start another area to grow a fairly large quantity of stevia since we have been using it as a sweetener more and more, but I have to find the right spot and make a bed for them. Being the same as everything else; when the snow melts off I will walk around the yard and pick out the perfect spot. Arrghhhhhh melt already!!!!!
So once again, our little homestead will be growing in production. I love looking back over the past nearly 11 years at this place and seeing how we have grown from a small 20x20 vegetable garden to where we are now and what the new plans are. I love knowing that each year we rid ourselves of more useless grass and palnt another area for things that are edible. With everything we add, we have the need to buy less, we eat better, and we're sending that message to the grocery stores and big agriculture. We don't need you, we don't want you. We can do for ourselves!

Well...enough for now folks. I'm off to get these tools to the garage, so another egg check, run the sweeper and plan dinner. I sure hope I can find something in the freezer to make LOL.

My viewpoint on herbicides, pesticides, and what you can do. Please think about this one.

Today while reading yet another news story about the affects of pesticides and herbicides on our envoirnment and us, I started thinking about why such things are produced. As much as I want to follow the crowd and point my finger at the chemical companies and large scale farmers who use these products, I can't without thinking WHY these chemicals exist and are used. Yes I know, chemicals are evil, and yes I know, there are alternative ways to farming, but for now, I am going to look at the big picture.

As I have written in many previous posts, there was a time when EVERYONE produced some, if not all, of their own food. This could have been on a farm, on the prarie, or the man in the mountains eating elk and wild berries. Everyone was responsible for themselves. But as the population grew, towns grew into cities, and people moved away to have "jobs", they needed to buy their food rather than produce it. Imagine in todays standards, comparing the need for food outsourcing in 1810 as compared to today in 2010.

I did a little research, actually very little, to find the population of the US in 1810 compared to today.The figures I used were from the first website that popped up showing all 3 dates that I wanted, so they may be rough estimates and not totally correct, but no matter what, the numbers are still staggering in comparison. The US population in 1810 was 7,240,000. In 1910, it was 92,228,000, and now in 2010, it is a whopping 299,867,000 people.

I couldn't find any figures as to percentage of people growing their own food in 1810 as compared today, but I'll assume the ratio then was a LOT higher than it is today. If I was to even figure that 10% of our population now grows their own food, the number is still higher than the total population in 1810. Even as I sit here and type this, these figures still amaze me.

So what do all these figures have to do with chemicals like herbicides and pesticides? You have to figure how much food has to be produced to feed this gigantic number of people today, and factor in how many actual farms are left in the US. These farmers have to produce X amount of food to send out due to demand, but they also have to produce that same amount to even turn a profit. With the use of thse chemicals, their work load is reduced, cutting them down on labor costs and overhead. Imagine, really sit and think, about how much food it takes to feed nearly 300 MILLION people in comparison to the 7 million people 200 years ago. That's a LOT of food.
Don't think I am sitting here agreeing with the use of such chemicals with no thoughts of long term affects on our enviornment or ourselves. I care just as much as anyone else who is reading this. I will never agree with spraying fields with pesticides, or growing corn that is genetically modified to contain its own herbicide within itself. I disagree with ALL of these practices. But....I do understand WHY those things are used. We simply could not afford to produce food for 300 million people using all natural and organic methods, making them affordable, reliable, and capable of turning a profit for the farmer.
Now...with all this being said, it's time to take a stand. I don't mean send letters to the chemical companies, or refuse to buy a certain brand of canned corn, I mean produce your own. At this point in time folks, growing your own food is a revolution. With just one small tomato plant you stick in the ground yourself, you're not buying this one thing from the store, and you're raising that middle finger to the chemical companies. With a garden, you're doing even more, you're starting a battle with them. You're raising BOTH fingers, and telling them that you don't need them. With everything you produce for yourself, you're less reliant on the machine, eating one less chemical laden food, and telling the big guys you don't need them.
I'm not going to write on and on this time, I've done that enough in the past with previous posts. I just want each of you to think about a few things. If everyone with the means to do so grew just SOME of their own food, how would this hurt these companies? If 10% of us grew a garden, thats 10% of everyone with some kind of property, how would THAT affect them? It's time to take back our food folks. Time to take it back to ourselves. Time to make it safe. Time to put it back in our own hands instead of the chemical companies and commercial farms. Think about it.

And just to refer you all to the article I was referring to, go read this:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/03/02/common-weedkiller-chemically-castrates-frogs-turns-males-into-females/ It's some REALLY scary stuff to know that a hericide we are all ingesting has altered the sex in frogs. Just one more reason to think........

Today I stopped to visit my folks for a bit, and mom surprised me with copies of pictures. They were pictures of my grandma's old house, which my grandfather built in the early 30's, and after he passed away, grandma raised 3 kids in by herself. I have a lot of fond memories of this place. The hand pump in the kitchen, evenings of watching late night tv with grandma and having massinve amounts of hot chocolate covered in marshmallow whip, and many Christmas's.

The place was wide open, with just a half wall seperating the kitchen from the living room. The room on the side was a bedroom that my dad, uncle, and aunt all shared while grandma slept on a rollaway bed she kept behind the couch. That bedroom (that sits lower than the main house) was origionally a chicken coop. The house was heated with a woodburner, though later it was converted to a radiant oil burner.

When my uncle built her the new house that I posted pictures of 2 weeks ago, she stayed next door at my aunts. She watched the dozer push over that house and cried all day. She started her life with my grandfather there. He built the house with his own two hands. She raised 3 kids there by herself. That tiny house was her life. My uncle just wanted better for her and had the means to do so, but my dad has never forgiven him for tearing it down and making his mother cry. She didn't like the new bigger house at first, but after getting used to quilting by a woodburner in a sewing room the size of the old house, she got used to it and got more comfortable.

While I could live with ease in something like this by myself, I cannot imagine raising 3 children in it. While I like to shun modern conviences and gadgets, I think of this house and can only imagine how hard it was. All of us have memories of that tiny house, and now I have pictures to look at and bring back more.

Sorry about the picture quality. My scanner is down, so these are pictures of a picture.

This view is of the right (east) side of the house. That door was rarely used, and was boarded and sided over not far after these were taken. It's hard to tell on these pictures, but the house was not on the ground. It was on wooden stilts and cement blocks.

This is the back of the house. That room to the left is the bedroom made from a chicken coop. The place never had shingles, only tarpaper. That door opened into the kitchen, and the living room started roughly 8 feet to the left. The sink with hand water pump was right under that back window.

This is the other side by the driveway. Note the size of the car in comparison to the house. Yea, it was tiny. That mirror on the right of the picture was on an old GMC stakebody truck that belonged to my uncle. The back was enclosed with wood, and it was always our "fort" when we played at grandma's. That driveway was lined with tiny rubber cutouts about the size of a penny from molds where grandma worked her second job. (she was a school custodain in the day and worked in a rubber shop in the evenings) She brought them home in buckets and poured them onto the drive since she could never afford gravel. I wish I still had one as a momento, but I don't.

Food storage shopping (yes it's that again)

There is really nothing exciting going on here at all. We've been dealing with the snow, then yesterday it decided to warm up and rain, THEN today it gets cold again...oh joy, ice. Even though a lot has melted, there is still around 10" or more. I'm really getting the itch to start garden plans, but looking out the window at snow reminds me that we have plenty of time until we can plant. I love winter, but hate this part when I just want it to go away so I can get outside.

I've been getting a fair amount of side work and odd jobs, so we've done a fair amount of shopping to restock the pantries and freezer while we can. We've gotten so much in fact, that this weekend I'll be cleaning out a closet in one of the spare bedrooms and converting it to pantry #4. I'll need to build some good strong shelves as we've decided to start buying more canned goods than we origionally considered. In the odd chance we have a bad crop of green beans or tomato's, we'll still have some on hand. I know we generally do really well with the garden, but there is always that chance. And besided, canned goods can last 5-10 years. We'll have plenty on hand for that "just in case", and we'll have plenty so the kids can come here to shop as they do quite often, and not cut us short at all.

We stock all the store bought items by ONLY shopping sales. We get the ads in the mail, go through them, and make a list of who has what we want, and how much we will be saving over regular prices. We watch for general sale prices, and always watch the buy one/get one sales. Some of these aren't that great, but some are. For instance, Saturday we bought buy1/get1's on kielbasa, smoked sausage,and roasts. The savings were pretty substantial, so we got 2 each of the kielbasa and sausage (getting 2 each free) and one roast (getting 1 free). We found boxed cereal at 5/$10, (regular 2.89 each) so we saved $4.45, plus the ad was buy 10 and get 3 free gallons of milk. We gave the kids 5 boxes of cereal and a gallon of milk, put the rest of the cereal away, and put the other 2 gallons of milk in the freezer. With milk going for 2.29, we saved $6.87 on it, plus the $4.45, making a total savings of $11.32. The second store had an unadvertised "one day sale" on peanut butter, normally 2.89 each, for 1.88. We bought the limit of 6, even though we had just purchased peanut butter at the first store for a sale price of 5/$10. (you can never have too much peanut butter lol) Between both stores, we saved a total of around $90.

Nothing we bought was anything we were out of or needed right away, but we took advantage of sales and got it anyway. Buy buying at sale prices and stocking up, we're saving even more in the long run. The regular price could rise, as would the sale price,and we'd have to burn gas to get to the store to get whatever we were out of. If I don't get back to work full time anytime soon, we'll already have food like we did before, which saved us a LOT of money over the past year. We have no intentions on slowing down on food storage, even if I was to go back to work full time tomorrow. It didn't take long to realize how much money we had saved, and how much having food on hand saved us from going hungry, or having to choose between the electric bill and groceries. Nope, we won't slow down at all. In fact, when I do get back to work, (which may be the end of this month or early march), we'll step up the storage. This economy is unstable, and so is the availibility of construction work. If something would happen and I would end up layed off again, even in a year, I don't want to have to worry about food at all.

We've started do store other things here as well, mainly pertaining to the bathroom and medicine cabinet. Storing these things makes as much sense to us as storing food; it's better to have it than not. We started with the usual things-TP, soap, toothpaste, razor blades, shaving soap, shampoo, etc. Now we're taking it into medicines and first aid. When we realized a month ago that we were out of ANY kind of aspirin/excedrine and Lisa had a headache, we started getting things a little at a time. Now we have everything for headaches to sunburn, from an upset stomach to poison ivy. Once again, I'd rather have it here, and don't want to make that unnecessary trip to the drug store for drawing salve or pepto. When I get a full list completed and stocked, I'll post it here.

I know I have posted a lot lately on preparadness, and I know that some of my regular readers don't do it themselves, or understand why. But, this is something that we are growing in as much as our homesteading or living simple. It's just another aspect of our lives that I choose to share with everyone. We aren't just about growing vegetables, or raising chickens, or making our own household cleaners and soaps, any more that we're just about being prepared. We live different than many people do, some say simple, and some say complicated. There are many sides to us, all of which we are very passionate about, and I share all of those sides with all of you. I just write these entries with whatever happens to be in my head that day....and today it was again about preparadness and food storage. Tomorrow could be chickens, lol. I never know where my head will be.

My sick uncle, and an ode to Grandma's "stuff"

On Friday evening, I got a strange call from my uncle. He asked me if I would take care of his dog (Duke) if he had to go into the hospital. It was a very odd and shocking question, so of course I had to ask why. It turns out that he had shoveled his driveway, then a path 100 yards to the woodpile, and was on his second wheelbarrow load of firewood when he got a tight chest, hot, and a bit dizzy. (keep in mind he's 74) I told him to call my mom since she's 5 minutes away and go to the ER, but of course he said no since he was feeling better. We talked for a few minutes, but after I got off the phone and talked to Lisa, I decided to pack an overnight bag and head over there to be with him in case something happened or it was worse than he made it sound.
He seemed ok that night other than a mild headace, so I slept on the couch. He told me in the morning he was fine, and after an hour or so of talking I headed home. On the way I called my mom to ask her to go see him, which she did. When she got there, he said he was having pains in his arm and leg, so mom took him straight to the hospital. They admitted him, and he is staying there tilll at least Tuesday morning so they can watch him and run tests. I'm staying there with Duke and watching the house while he's gone, but came home for our usual Sunday dinner with friends, and to gather work clothes and lunch food for tomorrow. Some Valentines weekend, huh? *sigh*
While at the house early yesterday, Lisa and I decided the place needed cleaning and started at it. It wasn't messy by any means, it just needed dusted and swept. While I was helping, I kept noticing things around the house. This little knick-knack on the mantle, that ceramic something-or-another on the buffet, little things all over. Everything I saw reminded me of Grandma, and made me miss her more than I usually do. Afterall, I was in HER house, still full of her stuff even though she has been gone for almost 14 years. My uncle still hasn't changed a thing, other than putting away all of her sewing stuff. Every little nook and cranny in the house had something of grandma's, whether it was some sort of decorative item, or something she made, or her cookware and more plates and bowls than anyone would need to feed a family of 40. Even her bedroom remains unchanged, other than her clothes are now gone. Walking around and seeing all of her stuff made me happy and sad at the same time. I'm happy to see things that remind me of her, but I'm sad to remember that she's gone. But...with all of her stuff still around, and all of the memories in my head, she'll never be gone.
I stood at the back door this morning with a cup of coffee, staring out over the 8 acres behind the house and trying to picture it in my head how my dad and uncle said it was when they were kids. I tried to picture the chicken coop, the pigpen, the dairy cow, and the fruits and gardens grandma had all over. At the same time, I pictured how I would return it to the way it was when the time comes that I inherit the place, and wonder if grandma would be proud. I can only hope that she would be. I watched some birds eat from one of the feeders, and saw 5 deer walk through the very back of the property near the creek. I smiled the whole time, remembering grandma, enjoying the view, and thinking how someday I will make this yet again a working homestead as it was when my grandparents moved there in 1930.
I love you grandma. I miss you. And I will take very good care of your property, and your stuff.

Saturday morning we woke up to our share of the winter storm we had been warned about. Sure, it's a bit of a pain, but look how beautiful it is!
I had to shovel a path from the stairs to the gate to even get it open,then from the gate to the car, and to the garage and chicken coop. Behind that blue tarp is the front of the chicken's run. and from there down the whole 45 feet to the coop,it had drifted to well over 2 feet deep. I got the hens fed and watered, gathered eggs, then started digging out the car. In some areas in the drive, it was between 1 and 2 feet deep, but at the top,thanks to snowplows, it was over 3 feet. I shoveled most of it,and a good spot to turn around, but left the areas that weren't as bad. That little Pontiac is awd and goes through the snow like a champ.
We took off about an hour after I was done, to visit Lisa's mother and do some shopping. The roads were still a bit snow covered and slow rolling, but we made it just fine. She asked us to stop and get her some nutrition drinks on the way, and while we were there, I stocked up on 2 packs of safety razor blades, 88 cent sale dish liquid, 3/$4 pain relivers & aspirin. We went to her moms place for a few hours, had a great visit, and headed out for more shopping.
One large grocery chain had a lot of 10/$10, 5/$5, and buy1/get1 sales on things we normaly eat and store, so we filled the cart with those and headed to the next one. There we picked up more good sale items to use and store, but were dissapointed that they quit carrying washing soda. They had everything else we use to make our laundry detergent, but not the soda. We got the Fels Naptha,Borax,and Castile soap, but now we have to find someone else who carries the soda. When we find it,we'll just get4-6 and not have to worry about it for about a year.
After we left there, we had to stop at the drug store for Lisa's prescription,and pick up a few small sale items we needed there too. While Lisa looked through the sale makeup, I went to the area that has bandages and first aid to price check a few things we were low on. I noticed a lot of clearance signs, and picked up a bunch of bandages,iodine, lighted pointed tweezers,and small 81 piece first aid kits at 75% off! The tweezers rang up at $1.25, the kits at $1.50, and the bandages at $1.00. I restocked and added to our first aid supplies for under $10 total. They also had batteries 40% off, so I got two 8 packs each AA and AAA. First aid and batteries are some of the things I *really* hate being low on, so I was happy to spend a few extra dollars at sale and clearance prices to restock my cabinets. We had one last trip to the pet store for dog food, where we decided that when I get paid for some side work this week, we'll buy 2 more, and keep a constant rotation of 3 going at all times. One open in the bin, and 2 behind it in full bags. With money being so tight the past year, some weeks buying dog food was hard at $30 a bag. Now that I have a little extra cash coming in, we'll set up the 3 bag rotation so if things get tight again, we'll at least have the other 2 to fall back on. We store and rotate everything for us, so why not dog food. It makes perfect sense. We got the food, came home, put it all away,and relaxed for the rest of the evening. We got to see Lisa's mom, and restock a lot of things we needed and/or were low on,so it was a good day. I checked back today to see if there were any more of those first aid kits,but they only had one...ahh well. I picked it up and will give it to the kids since I doubt they have anything at all at home.

We've been talking a lot about the diet change, and both of us are on board and doing fine with it. We talked about saving to join a local gym, and someone at Lisa's work offered her a treadmill for free. We picked it up Friday after she got off work, and I wanted to stop at goodwill just to look around. In the back sporting goods area, there was a $10 exercise bike,(cheap because it was missing a bolt in the seat), and a $15 rowing machine. Lisa had enough of their little stamps to give us a 30% discount, so we ended up getting both for $17.50. We flew home, unloaded the treadmill,and went back for the other 2. We ended up rearranging the living room to set it all up in since the basement ceiling is too low for me to use the tradmill. The ceiling is only 6'9. I'm 6'3 and the treadmill adds another 3". That only left me with 3" of headspace, so anything over a walk would be out of the question. It all fit just fine in one end of the living room, and we've been using all 3 this weekend. I'll keep watching goodwill for weights since I see them there once in a while,and we will be all set on our own home gym. We can both now exercise together in the comfort of our own house, save the money required for a 2 year membership, and be able to use it anytime we want. I'm gonna like this. Diet change and exercise together all the way. Lisa is already feeling great, and as of last Thursday hit the mark of losing 50 lbs!!!! She's done such an amazing job that she has inspired me to do the same. I'm not really overweight, but I am out of shape a bit thanks to being off work so long. So with changing our diets and exercising together, it will be another fun journey here at the W house....amd we do love our journey's.