Start Up Costs

I knew I would regret not being able to hold onto my dad's tools, and that day is today. My dad had an asortment of every tool known to man. Table saw, jeweler's saws, vintage tools, and new tools. Then there was the plethora of garden tools. None of which where kept when my mom sold our house to downsize to yard free living. It just wasn't feasible to bring all that stuff with. I think most of it was given to friends, so atleast they live on. But man does it suck to have to buy all new stuff.. Especially in this economy when stuff is being made even cheaper.

The old barn

Happy Thanksgiving

First Time Buyers

The joys of home ownership. We closed the 22nd on a prince of property with a nice bit if land and a small home built in 1943. We went back and forth about it, almost tried to back out, but decided to just do it. We closed in escrow and took a couple days to rest and regroup. I'm too tired to blog this. Monday we picked up the Penske truck and the movers came to load it. I originally had a Uhaul arranged. But they misplaced my appliance dolly and wanted me to go pick one up. No. Driving the Penske truck was almost a spiritual experience. Whenever I'm driving a large vehicle, hauling freight, I feel reconnected with a part of myself that is missing. 

Land Scarlet!

buying rural property has been a bit over whelming. There's more involved than mortgages and home inspections. There's a well, septic, acreage, special insurance circumstances, TV and internet issues. Nothing is simple when trying to live the simple life. I think I'm about ready to drop dead from stress.

How to Find a Homestead

This blog is more of an auto-biographical, learn as we go, this is my experience kinda journal. So please don't think I'm presenting myself as the Joel Salitan of homesteading, or Les Stroud of wilderness skills. I'm not. I'm just a student wishing to know more. Due to bad decisions, frequent job changes, an attempt to change careers mid career, grow disillusioned and then quit without notice, add the current economy and unemployment rate, and you get a situation that has made me pretty undesirable to employers. Despite my skills.
I've always had the desire in me to farm, naturally. To live in harmony with nature and coop with it. I've never had the desire to divide and conquer it. Rather to live in peace with it, and what ever it gives me and my family, and anything extra to sell at market. I do not wish to stuff pastures full of beef or broiler houses full of hens.

Como Se Llama?

I'm in a current small scale legal battle over my T-shirt design called, "Como se Llama" I came up with in 2005. I originally designed my shirt using clip art of a llama, but once sales started to pick up in 2010 I redesigned the shirt using my own art. My sales topped out around Christmas of 2012 and it was after that other cafepress members began copying my design. So I applied to copyright my design. Now this is tricky business, the phrase, "Como se Llama" alone is not something you can copyright, I can copyright my llama image. I feel there is a copyright infringement issue since it's the image of a llama and the phrase that makes the design unique and hopefully funny too. The copyright office does not protect slogans and phrase but what about artwork with a phrase as a combined piece? What's interesting is I received a cease and desist letter from the lawyers at Chic Fil-A in 2006 about a shirt I was selling that said, "Eat more vegetables" obviously they were not within the legal rights of the copyright provision to sue me, but they were certainly hoping to scare anyone who was naive to the provisions of the copyright laws. I feel I have more of a case than Chic Fil-A since my sales are being negatively impacted by other people copying my design. My, "Eat more veggies" shirt wasn't impacting Chic Fil-A's profits. But since other people are using the phrase and a different llama image, does that mean they are legally copying my design? Is this how Naked Castaway is able to basically compete Survivorman's format without any legal fallout?
Como se Llama