You might want to look into Farm caretaking. Folks who have farms occasionally take a vacation once in awhile and need someone who can care for the animals, etc. while they are away. This might be a good way to get some experience before deciding the type of farming you might like to do. Also, try googling "Farm caretaking". One of the links that pop up are for the Caretaker gazette. I had a subscription for years. Never applied for any of the positions, but I used to enjoy reading the ads for caretaking beautiful estates for ranch/farm/ and multiple home owners. They have sample ads at the website. Here is one example: "ALABAMA I NEED A HOUSESITTER and animal caretaker for the months of June to August for my home and animals outside of Selma. I have ten acres. I will need to show and teach the housesitter how to feed and care for my animals. The housesitter must be an animal lover to care for my horses, dogs, and cats. The horses do not need exercising or brushing. For more details, please email.... " Links that might be useful: CARETAKE A FARM (AND LIVE RENT FREE) www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/1976-05-01/ Caretake-a-Farm-And-Live-Rent-Free.aspx Caretaker.org

I'm glad this thread was revived, I often wonder how people do it :-) My DH and I bought our home ourselves with our savings and also through a program called NACA (Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America). IDK if the program is the same, now, as it was 14 years ago when we went through it. We both have science degrees. We both started working when we were 16 (DH I think worked even younger delivering papers), and we worked through college as well. I'm proud we did it all ourselves, but I do feel like what we've achieved isn't "good enough". That said, as much as we need a bigger home, now that we have kids etc, it's not happening. We STILL have to save a down payment, and the value of our home, right now, is about what it was 14 years ago. Our equity would not move us to a bigger home in a nicer neighborhood, it would be a cruddy home at the same size in a nicer place, or a bigger home here but if we're going to stay here then I would just stay in the house we already have. Over the years so many things have had to be re-done -- kitchen, both bathrooms, and we're looking at needing a roof in a few years plus HVAC. This is the modest product of people who paid their own way w/o help. It gets you a modest lifestyle. Most of my friends are in similar situations. The only friend who is in a pretty nice, more expensive home in a more exclusive neighborhood has family in real estate (and her DH is a realtor). They have had more opportunities to score great homes at great prices. I think the people who afford the really nice places...either they are taking on more than they should, or they have assistance from family, or they got really lucky/successful with business or investments. A friend of mine told me that when she bought her home, her real estate agent was shocked that she had saved her down payment herself; the agent said most young people are using "gift" money from relatives.

It surprisingly went down near us the past day or two. But we all know how the "supply/demand" affects prices. If we "demand" less, the price will go down... Though I'm NOT by any means trying to down play the crisis it puts many of us in when these prices get so out of control, it IS all good for the environent... It's my hope that this is a condition/habit that we all try to maintain in good times, as well as bad. We should NEVER, for the good of us all, ever be this dependent on foreign supplies (oil).

That reminded me to grind a pot worth of beans to stick into the freezer. It will be fine taste-wise if we loose power as we also do not loose our gas cooktop during a storm. (labeled emergency coffee) Last week, during 65 temp, our lights flickered, twice, then power went out for an hour. No sensible reason. If a long term storm we have a back-up generator. Grind and brew as usual. From coffeeGeek, an easy 5 post forum read... That said.... percolators are generally considered to be at the bottom of the quality scale when it comes to producing good coffee. Excessively high or low temperatures are not good - the best coffee is produced in a certain brewing temp range that is a bit below the boiling point. Percolators, by design, boil the coffee to send it up through the tube and allow it to drip down through the basket. Once again, however, some folks who are accustomed to the taste of percolator coffee may actually prefer it to all others, bu then again, my parents drink month old Folger's decaf from a giant can and just love it. brew methods It is really just finding what you like. We wet our Chemex filter once the kettle whistles. And helps to heat the glass caraf and clean the paper filter of the 'paper taste'.. Pour that out, grind the beans, then proceed with the first pour-over that blooms the fresh grinds. Also gives the hot water a chance to cool down a bit. Morning methodical tasks like feeding the pups, etc. are happening at the same time. What i have noticed, and did a temp test, with the auto-drip machines, is the first two minutes of drip are well below a good hot temp when wetting the grinds. Not unlike a heat-on-demand hot water heater, that first water out of the pot is not hot at all on the lower end machines. (the exception was a thrift store SpaceSaver that made great electric drip)...that thing was super and no longer made. The two recommended elec pots mentioned, one is the technovorm, (sp) i considered at one time but we found our preferred method with the Chemex. Now have that at both homes and a basic elec drip at the farm. I think a Cuisinart. Not great but perfectly fine coffee, but looking for a elec kettle and a cone system as i can use the kettle for tea...something i drink all day during the summer months. Easy to find and i have a few months before spring planting. My parents have the most basic cheap drip and get a bag of A&P beans and pull out the braun grinder for us. Fine for the visit and no need to travel with my system. (we are not that picky). Just have our method at home. Just helping azmom make that good cup she remembers from her trip, attempting to make at home. -and important to note ..roasting at home is 5-6 $ per pound as opposed to buying roasted at much more, often double the cost. Co-workers stop at coffee shops on the way to work and spend 4-5 dollars. That is 25-30 dollars a week. Often send someone out after lunch and spend on another round of coffee drinks...we on the other hand spend 5-6 a week and like our home brew. Just a personal choice.