Hauling Wood with our horses and our farm bob sled Winter 2010

as winter sets in more you will be seeing a lot of this at Maple Valley off-grid Farm. This was taken from Jan/Feb 2010

Our off-grid ice house January 2010

a little bit about our ice house from 2010!

Cutting ice from our pond the old-fashioned way January 2010

more 2010 ice cutting highlights!

Cutting ice on our pond. Here is after the squares are cut January 2010

more 2010 ice cutting highlights!

Our Belgians moving a small bob sled of ice 2010

more 2010 ice cutting highlights...

Our ice saw cutting the ice 2010

We will be cutting ice again in the next week from our pond! Here are a few videos from last year.

We have added some more off-grid videos

Check it out at:

http://www.youtube.com/homemakerang

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Someone is 13 today!

He is just an older cowboy now...

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Christmas highlights...

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Merry Christmas from Maple Valley off-grid Farm

"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger."

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:7,11 KJV

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Merry making...

What are you up to today?
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We got a sweet Christmas card in the mail!

While staying at the Maple Cottage a guest snapped some incredibly cute photos and made them into their 2010 card! Isn't this cute!
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Momma's busy tonight

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This is an oldie but goodie! Get a kleenex!

There is sooooo much I do not share here! This video has been private for some time but tonight we will be sharing it. I feel someone needs to see it. Please enjoy... A clip of our lives before the off-grid farm, before anything you have seen here...

Watch here. God is so amazing! And He is still driving this thing!

off-grid laundry, or the old fashioned way to do laundry...

Laundry the old fashioned way, the off-grid way for this family of... 8 We have a kettle in our vesh haus that we fill and get a rip roarin' going in and then we start the wash machine, an old Maytag wringer washer you see below...
This kettle also heats all of our water for baths as well. Its not the prettiest but I am not complaining! I get to fill a huge claw foot bath tub from here and enjoy every minute of it! I am glad we didn't leave that bathtub behind at the palace!

and last but not least, on the outside of the vesh haus the little number, a Honda engine, powers the maytag wringer!

and sometimes I visit the laundry mat :). I hope this answers your questions on our laundry set up! We get a lot of them! And remember, this isn't that bad, Laura Ingalls had to do all of the laundry by hand and haul the creek water in remember?

More videos of our off-grid lifestyle

We have quite a few videos to see of our off-grid lifestyle, farming adventures and more right here... We think your entire family would enjoy them!

MVF clothing and game drive

Blessings to bless others are coming in every day! This pleasant package came all the way from Texas to Michigan! Thank you friends for your kind donations, we will direct them appropriately!
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Real life

12:45 pm. Schooling with no holds bard! If I waited to have everything perfect we wouldn't get it done. Most days are much more organized but not this time of year! We have been playing in the kitchen creating and more! Love it! Enjoy your children today, they are growin' fast!
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I sure hope we don't loose power! Ha Ha!

Severe Weather Alert for Coral, MI (49322)

Winter Storm Warning until Mon Dec 13 2010 07:00 AM EST

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM EST MONDAY... IMPACTS... * MEDIA REPORTS SEVERAL ACCIDENTS ON US-131 BETWEEN GRAND RAPIDS AND BIG RAPIDS. * THE WET SNOW HAS MADE ROADS EXTREMELY SLICK. * SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED VISIBILITIES AND SNOW COVERED ROADS. NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS POSSIBLE. * POWER OUTAGES POSSIBLE DUE TO HIGH WINDS. HAZARDOUS WEATHER... * RAIN HAS CHANGED OVER TO SNOW IN MOST LOCATIONS AND SHOULD COMPLETE THE CHANGE OVER BY 2 AM. * STORM TOTAL SNOW OF 5 TO 9 INCHES LATE TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. * BLOWING SNOW AND SUB ZERO WIND CHILLS DEVELOPING SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING SUNDAY NIGHT. NORTH WINDS GUSTING UP TO 50 MPH. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... * A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT...FOOD...AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.


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Supper tonight, wood fired!

We are having homemade chicken, bacon wood fired pizza tonight! I made enough food for 7 meals tonight so our cooking for the weekend is done!

Tomorrow we will be crafting!

We have been posting quite a few videos with more to come at: http://www.youtube.com/homemakerang

What are you all up too?

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be a subscriber

To our very own channel on you tube! Much better than Mtv but MVFtv! We will be posting farming videos, cooking, off-grid life, raising a family and more! All from our cell phone! Pretty cool! Subscribe today so you can get the latest and greatest from Maple Valley Farms!

Check it out by clicking our icon...

Lets pass the fun along!

This corny and fun video was filmed at our off-grid family farm, http://www.maplevalleyfarms.net/. With a Sony camera and a car battery. We farm with horses, homeschool (I bet you figured that) and love having a big family and grow our own food! We are happy and blessed... Check out our farm blog and pass this fun video along! Keep checking us out for our next great hit! AND PASS THIS ALONG TO YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!

Mr. Serious

Took a break to get his hair cut at the local Barber Shoppe!

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Guests tonight at the Maple Cottage...

Homemade artisan bread with MVF raw un filtered honey, brussel sprouts and new potatoes, prime rib and apple cobbler with coffee... All decorated with fresh Michigan nature! The smells are incredible here all with a toasty fired wood stove and oil lighting...

Why not consider a gift certificate to MVF for a cottage stay or our grass-fed beef! 616-566-8481

In the spirit of real farming, family and true faith,

Maple Valley Farms
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Serious wood haulin'

We will be burnin' a ton of wood until April 30, 2011!
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