Author Archives: Franci

Building a Passive Solar Concrete Home

family of 4 standing in front of a concrete walled home without a roof. Red dirt all around.

I’ve mentioned before about my brother and sister-in-law who homestead in Oklahoma. As if tending to the goats and keeping up with the garden was not enough, they also decided to design and build a passive solar style home. My brother, Trevor, is building the 2,000 square foot home from the ground up using his own skills, knowledge, and strength with a few experts and skilled laborers to help along the way.

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A Trip to Walden Pumpkin Farm

FALL 2021 UPDATE: CLICK HERE TO SEE TIME AND ACTIVITY CHANGES DUE TO COVID-19.

A pile of multi-color (orange, yellow, green, white, striped) gourds on a picnic table

A fall tradition of ours is to visit a pumpkin farm. Who doesn’t love farm animals, pumpkins galore, and running through a hay maze? At times it’s been difficult to find one that is reasonably priced and not too far from home.

Walden Farm, a local family-owned farm, meets all the above requirements.

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Make a Mixtape of your Childhood

twin red headed girls riding bikes in the rain with training wheels circa 1984
Riding bikes with my sister circa 1984

Music has always been a big part of my life. My parents always had the radio on or MTV playing in the background. Rarely does anything move my emotions as much as music.

So much has changed these days as far as music technology but I heard Sony is bringing back the Walkman. Get prepared! Personally I have the free version of Spotify which still allows playlist creation.

I’ve always loved compiling playlists. In high school, my sister and I would create mixtapes and give them as gifts to our friends. I had such a great time choosing the songs and even the order in which the songs were played.

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