Copper crosses for sale!

My company, The Metal Peddler, will be making copper crosses to donate for sale to the mission trip fundraiser.  They are 9 inches tall, and there are 2 options - with or without our "Boldly Compassionate" fundraiser heart cut-out. They are available to purchase, and also as a thank you gift for our highest level supporters.

Each cross is made from 48 oz copper (1/16 inch thick) and is handrubbed raw copper. It will develop a patina over time. The patina will differ whether you hang this inside or out, exposure to dry or humid air etc.


Price: On ebay and my website we have these for $47.99/ 48.99, and a larger size at $95.

Special fundraiser price until April 19: $35/ $37

Want to order one? You can order here and pay by credit card or paypal. Click Buy Now & follow instructions. Allow a week or two for your cross to be made. For credit cards, you don't need a paypal account. 

Option 1: Local Pick Up. If you live in the area, you can pick these up from us in West Sunbury or from church.		Option 2: Shipping within USA  adds $6.60 Ships with US Mail
Select plain or heart cut-out Make selection... $0.00 USD Plain (no heart) $35.00 USD With heart cut-out $37.00 USD		Select plain or heart cut-out Make selection... $0.00 USD Plain (no heart) $35.00 USD With heart cut-out $37.00 USD

Mission Trip & Thanks

Giving is a joy all on its own. But we do like to show our thanks! 

Currently, when you give for our mission trip - unless you select to be anonymous - we will thank you on our supporters page and on our GoFundMe page. We are also offering thank you gifts. The various levels are below.  Learn more about the trip on my new blog www.BoldlyCompassionate.com

If you don't want the thank you gift, just let us know when you make your donation, or donate directly without clicking one of the boxes below. 

Donate any amount through paypal

Or select one of the levels below for the corresponding "Thank You" gift!

The levels below have limited quantities.
I will remove the levels once that has been reached.

Our Mission Trip Blog

The latest project.... Come on over and check it out!

Boost Your Immune System With A Drink, Recipe

The Best Ricotta Cheese With A Great Tip..

Make Your Own Laundry Soap, H E as Well

The Wild Boar Hunt..... Taking Some To Share

There have been a handful of people in my life that, with time and life, have slipped away from. Chris was one of those people that has and I regret this, but such is life..

Chris and I have done a lot of big things together, big game fishing, Elk, Boar, Deer hunting. Although he is a better salt water fishermen than me, I can slay 2-3 large mouth bass to his one. One year we made it to AAA fishing circuit and had two sponsors. 

We got up early in the morning, back then we had pagers, and he had paged me ready to go and head to our final destination.. South Carolina

We had taken some personal time off work, we worked at the same company, and we were known to hangout outside of work...

He had told me of a spot down there where his cousin had hunted a year before, and at the time it was a $800 Boar hunt and we paid for lodging and meals. We were promised each a hog to bring home... I packed the video camera and off we went...

I was so excited, and we were talking about the "what if's" as young men do... Adding a lot of dreams in it and it created some very interesting conversations... We got there and we needed to attend a short two hour class to understand about hunting Boar and working with dogs... Next day we go on the hunt....

Drawing straws, he got to hunt first and kill the first hog while I filmed it.... Within 15 minutes the dogs had a hog chased under a downed tree... The guide told Chris he could jump on top to scare the hog out, and made him aware of our locations and shoot only when he was sure.. So he climbs up does a couple of bounces on the trunk, and out came the hog..

To me, filming it, it was like I was watching it and not thinking about that thing headed my direction... But so it came, and it was so fast, by the time I realized what was going on, the Boar plowed right into me and knocked my on my arse... Camera went rolling and all.... I jumped up knowing that the day before Boars have been known to charge at people... I got up, scared, grabbed the camera to keep filming... Chris didn't kill that hog, but he spent years telling the story on how I got attacked by a Wild Boar....

We both did, in the end get hog meat to bring home.... 

Run To My Facebook Page and Name My Dog For Free Soap

What is the name of my dog?
My Dogs Name... Post It Here!!!! GO!!

Go tell them!!!!

Cyber Monday, Tree Standing, I Need Your Help!!

I hope you will take sometime out tomorrow and visit our Trading post and make some purchases there for this years Holidays. I have a few plans to use the money including building a website domain, and funding a couple DIY winter time projects. We have yet to do more than $75 in a single month, and opening the store I hope we can start generating some revenue to support more projects and giveaways.

All of the mods are friends of mine and have been working as volunteers as I do also. I depend on the two Company's I own to pay my personal bills, and I am booking for March of next year all ready. So as you now see, I am not looking to make a living from this blogging and teaching. Don't get me wrong if I could make a living at it, that would be wonderful, but that isn't in the plans right now.

It doesn't matter what you buy when you follow my links, you will still be contributing if you follow my links. I really would like more support in order to build the website well, so we can have our very own place. I own the domain already however I have to pay to have it built, and I want to have it built correctly.

I secured the deer stand the other day and also cleaned and bore sighted my weapon. I decided to hunt this year with my Winchester .270 Rifle. With a nice Scope, this is a very dependable weapon that kills with one shot. I got it in 2008 and killed my first doe that year with it.

As always, I will shot and kill the first legal buck I see, and I have done some scouting and located a nice area the deer have been bedding down in. I hope I get my kill in tomorrow...

Bartering.... Getting Clever For Wintertime

Dotted all over the countryside are little known wintertime hot spots that you can barter for wintertime space for your own gain. You can exchange labor for a 4x4 space or you could barter for a larger space.

Privately owned greenhouse owners are always eager to let one or two people hang out and have a space of their own with some fair labor exchanges. They will want to supply you your soil in which to grow your yummy food in, and with a little understanding will help you understand how greenhouses work. 

I have bartered my way into a local Greenhouse this year and have been given a 4x8 foot space this winter.

What should I grow?

Meet Your Host and Blogger

I was born in 1970 and found myself living on a farm in a small town in Pennsylvania with my Mom and Step Dad, Bob. I called Bob, Dad, as he was my Dad and was a driving force in my life.

Our farm was once a farm that produced its food to support a Hospital, and so they bought the 17 acre farm and leased the land around it from the state for cheap. From the start I was put into the barn where I raised chicks, kids, piglets, and calves.

I was also put into the garden, where I learned to grow food..... Mom and Dad were people who believed in harvesting earths wild food whenever they could find it. They also hunted animals for food off the land as well as fishing.

They taught me many things that I would not retain or remember later in life. Although, like all families, we had our ups and downs, I always felt loved. We never had a lot of clothes, we had school clothes and work clothes, school winter boots and barn boots. I never went without a meal, if I did it was my own fault.

As it would happen, one day we lost the farm.... I remember the man coming down the road and post a sign on the front door. At that moment, I felt as if my life was over.... I lost something that day, a part of me...

Looking around one day as my parents struggled with life issues, I would have to go live with my natural Father. He lived in Newport News Virginia. This big city is filled with military families and is an ever changing place so relationships can begin but not last. The whole area is military and the hustle of a growing place. I would live there until I went into the Army.

From the start I hated the city, sure it was a huge cultural shock, but the people seemed to be so disconnected from each other. They didn't share  small town family values like we did back home. I knew one day I was going to move back to the land and live like I was raised.

The Trigger...

I was living a good life, I decided to stop punching the mans time clock and start my own business. It took off and before I knew it I was making more money the I ever did. So we bought a house in the best area, best neighborhood, best school, and lived like yuppies with a hippie attitude.

As the news came on one evening, I saw a house down the street on the screen. A woman that I met a few times that lived down the street had been killed and other awful things. If it happened to her, we too were in danger or could be.

About that time we decided to go on vacation back home so I could visit family and the old farm. While here, we decided to look at properties... This place cried to me, it was run down, tired, over grown and neglected. As I looked deeper, I saw my own hope and transfer from those things to being my Homestead.

So as we arrived back in Newport News, we decided to give that all up, sell out, and walk away to a new more productive, responsible life...

After we settled in, I developed a five year plan, which now is the funniest joke around this home...

One of the biggest fan mail subjects is people that never followed their dream to get back to the land, or those that want to get back to the land.

You know your life, not me, but I say do it....

Be prepared to struggle, face the hard work, and own up to your own self. You will find yourself out here in the dirt. You will cry hundreds of tears, face things that you thought you would never encounter. You will grow respect for your land as much as you will yourself. One day, it will hit you like a ton of bricks,  and you will realize that you are doing it.....

Your land will shape you as much as you shape it. As your land changes, expect that changes will happen to you. 

The Cash Storm, Homesteaders Freedom...

With the warm coals from the hard wood fire, I sit in my warm house wearing my smiley faced pj bottoms and my traditional plain white T on. As the storm Sandy finally moves away, what is left in her path is beyond words, however lets take a closer look.

Held up by the force of wind, I once stood in the wind gale of a down graded category 3 Hurricane. As a natural entrepreneur minded man, I gather fuel, bar oil, sharpeners, chainsaws, straps and come along's,  timber jacks, ropes and cash. As I had already gathered basic 3 week supply of goods to take care of my family I was ready... As we sat in the eye for almost 15 minutes, I was already to get going.

Perhaps you might think that I was going to take advantage of people and charge outrageous prices to remove tree's from dwellings and other places... No, I was however using my money and skills to make money and provide people with a service. I made money after the hurricane moved through by having the tools and supplies on hand to get the job done right away as people wanted to get back to normal. I never charge to much and did dozens of jobs for what the people could afford or had on hand. I even bartered for some stuff....

As a young man, poor, I was always searching for new things to adventure into as long as I could benefit from it, and I enjoyed it, why not? I am positive this type of attitude of moving forward has helped me with running my own businesses as well as the risk of doing that. But Hurricanes and big storms always put a little green in my pocket. There was risk doing what I was doing, but I felt a need to take care of my family, money in my pocket insured I could buy supplies.

A few years ago we were hit by several big storms back to back. We had snow on top of snow on top of snow on top of snow... At one point, I had walls of snow that lined my driveway. But I didn't need to do as I had done before, nor was this storm any different. However perhaps my age now, maturity, knowing better, or just a more confident approach in getting through these types of natural events.

I remember sitting in the eye of that hurricane, in the dead still of air, looking at the coming wall, did I do the right thing and could we handle another 6 hours of this? We did in the end, but it sure was tough and scary. I thought I had 3 weeks of supplies, they lasted only a week.

As I sat here the other day while Sandy raged on, I thought about those days when I thought like that about money..... Today, I am just prepared for months if need be and I didn't go out of my way to do anything special. I don't feel like being in a panic to run to the store to buy supplies other than toilet paper. If I don't have a tin can of food, it doesn't bother me.

Being self sufficient has given me a confidence that I never knew it would. Sure you can say, well of coarse silly, but I can't explain the feelings of confidence I do have. I feel like we could be stuck here and we would survive and be okay. I know tons more about hunting, gathering, gardening and life skills. I feel like I could write a book and teach others the way I have adapted to this life of rewards and freedom. We that Homestead, step in and post a comment if you do, we have a sense of freedom others do not know or understand....

It compares to something like a right of passage, something you have learned and lived and now you can confidently execute the motions without thinking or worry...

By being self sufficient as I want to be, I think if the stuff hits the fan, we will be okay... That is a good feeling....