Finally getting close to completing the house
After an extremely busy couple of years, early on were were just coming down weekend we finally got our place completed. Things moved a lot faster than we had expected, mostly for the fact that we used local help to build the structure and put in dry wall. This saved us a bundle of money. Sonny and my cousin John put in the electrical and plumbing. Sonny and I put in the insulation with the help of John and Carol. We installed the 3.7kw PV Solar system but we will talk more about that later.
We have been living here full time for a while now. Loving it.
Off-Grid in West Virginia 
Wow! I’ve been looking over you blog. It has been inspiring. My husband, our four children and myself moved to WV (my husband Mike works in Clarksburg) from Ohio last year and bought 50 acres of recently timbered raw land. We are planning on building a straw bale home and living off grid. In the meantime we rent a small apt nearby and bought a travel trailer and set it on the land so we have a spot to rest and for the kids to play while we’re there. So far, we’ve gotten very little done on the property but we’re hoping to get a decent road in over late winter that will enable us easier access to our home site. We keep chickens and recently got a saanen/pygmy doe and her young kid.
It is our dream to develop a small, mostly self sufficient smallholding much along the lines of John Seymour in his self sufficiency books.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. It is always nice to know that there are others who share a similar dream.
Shannon
Shannon,
We are glad you enjoy the blog. Linda and I just decided to jump into it and figure out most on the fly. So far with the help of the internet and a few of our friends who don’t think were crazy we have done pretty well. Building permits are pretty simple in Doddridge county. They seem quite relaxed. I have also figured out that the more you dig into the rules the more trouble you will find. So, keep your questions simple when talking at the permit place.
Last year we had our place changed to a farm and it will help out on the taxes. All I had were 8 chickens and we were good to go.
Hunting season has keep me off the blog the last couple of weeks. Linda is visiting our new Grandson in Texas. We will get back on it very soon.
Sonny
Congratulations on the new baby in the family!!! Very exciting times. And it is nice to meet you.
What county did your buy property in? Sonny
I don’t have a web site yet. My daughter is working on one for me. I am of the ol school and love to live back to basics. Life has taken me in many directions. I was born in WV. We now have a place in WV and am anxious to get things set up so that we can be as self sufficient as possible. I would like to know what part of Wv you are in. It would be nice to share ideas with others in the area. Please e mail me. My husband and I build a hot box last month and now are enjoying some fresh lettuce and the broccoli is getting little heads on them. The cabbage is starting to head. It sure was good to have a nice salad last night from our own plants and best of all we didn’t have to pay or go to the store. Hope to hear from you soon. Have a blessed day.
Hello Sonny and Linda!
We are right down the road from you in Jackson County and just started blogging about working toward a more sustainable life. I don’t know if we will ever be completely off grid, but we want to work towards consuming less. I just stumbled upon you through another blogroll and enjoy reading your posts. I look forward to watching your journey unfold.
Jennyerin