For adoring fans of our United States: The Bill of Rights

I think it is incumbent that we read the bill of rights once in a while to understand what principles our great country was founded on. Reading our Bill of Rights will truly bless you with wisdom. Be mindful in these times as there are many who would seek to remove your freedoms. I’ll expand on a few of these later. Pay particular attention to 1 and 2.

The U.S. Bill of Rights

The Preamble to The Bill of Rights

Congress of the United States
begun and held at the City of New-York, on
Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.

THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.

RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.

ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.

Note: The following text is a transcription of the first ten amendments to the Constitution in their original form. These amendments were ratified December 15, 1791, and form what is known as the “Bill of Rights.”

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Added a metal bed, many plants are starting to grow well.

Since the price of wood is now nearly equal with the cost of sheet metal, I tried my hand at building a metal bed. I should have leveled off the spot a bit better, but it will do. Filling a 12″ bed is a lot more work than a 6″ bed.

We are now getting a few snow peas to nibble on. My experiment with the overwintered tomato plant seems to be working out. The cutting is still green in its planter. If it works, I think I’ll start using the cutting method to get a quicker start on the growing season.

I also installed a rebar panel down the center of the tomato bed to give some decent structure to the tom’s as they get bitter.

The blueberries seem to be happy as well in their permanent bed. They have all been leafing out and growing. I hope to get them to a big enough size that they will produce a crop for me next year. We clipped the flowers on them this year to give them better growth. 6 of them were barely twigs when I picked up for $5 a piece.

We need to get a good watering solution in place. The hand watering starts to become a bit of a burden when you get more than 2 beds.

Get growing.

Mr. SNH

Chicken coup nearly ready

I spent the weekend building the chicken coup. The ladies are getting too big and need to have some room to roam. Vertical beams are sunken to 18″ with a concrete footer. The max height is 6’6″, but tapers to 6’3″ at the rear. I planned on originally roofing the top, but now think we will just put wire on it for now. If it rains, they will have access to the inside of the shed. This will also help keep the structure around during a hurricane. If I put a roof on it, it might just sail away.

I did not get as far as I wanted to since it is V-day weekend and Mrs. SNH’s birthday weekend. This is always a very busy time of year.

I found out just how un-even my ground was. My level became my best friend on this build. Still need to finish up with hardware cloth, a door to the inside of the shed and frame off a section in the shed for the 4 ladies.
The green beans were found reaching for the sun this morning. Glad to see they are starting to take off.
The peas have decided to start climbing as well.

Fan of Gold Rush, plant your (Tony) Beets!

Planted my Detroit Dark Red Beets last weekend. I have 2 emerging. Since I am a fan of the gold rush show, they will now forever be called Tony Beets for all varieties.
More plants have moved into the bed today : cabbage, collards and marigolds

I also managed to finish up a 4×4′ bed to extend the 8×4. I will continue the planting in that one as the broccoli and bean starts grow a bit bigger.

The house is great, but we didn’t know there was a fencing problem!

Ok, sorry, had to borrow that from that insurance brand. Really, once we got rid of the tree, we were able to install a fence and keep Cocoa the wonderdog out. She supervised the construction of the fence. The garden area is shaping up for some planting this year.

Yes, a fencing problem
gravel 2.5′ down in a whole, cement from 2′ to 6″ deep, 8 posts installed.
There was a 40 foot tree in the center of that view previously.
progress pic, oh, and I picked up some wood for a 8×4 garden bed as well.
4′ opening for the yard tools and wheel barrows.
Uhh, nevermind that unfinished gate, you didn’t see that.
Blackberry trellis installed with a plant that was barely a twig and has overwintered.
And yes, as I promised. A winter tomato picked by the youngest SNH’er. It was delicious.

I am boycotting the anti-first amendment corporations !

Greetings Fans of the SNH site. Today, I am blocking twitter, facebook and other platforms that are singularly focused on suppression of free speech and opinions in opposition to theirs. You will no longer have the convenient links to their platforms from snhliving. I recommend you do the same for your privacy and freedom.

It is my Libertarian view that the first and second amendments are paramount to the freedom of all US citizens.

Mr. SNH.

Happy New Year, time to get your financial plan in place!

With the New Year upon us, it is a great time to review your financial plans. Some great areas to look at are:

My new year will start out by dedicating a deposit to a new high yield savings account and funneling part of that deposit into a taxable investment account. The reason I am adding a taxable account to our plan is to fill in the gap between short term savings and long term retirement goals. This middle-stage bucket of funds will allow some growth and allow us to use some of the dividends that we receive. A key difference between my taxable account and my “tax advantaged” accounts are as follows:

  • Taxable account will require me to pay taxes on realized gains and losses each year.
  • Taxable account will not be penalized if I choose to use those funds since they are structured in a way that allows me to take profits at any time.
  • I usually DRIP funds into my retirement account, but the taxable account will not use DRIP since we may choose to funnel those dividends into other opportunities or spend them for some entertainment.
  • Will open me up to funds that I would ordinarily avoid in my Roth. For example, I can now invest in Muni CEF’s if they appear attractive and get to take advantage of the tax free nature of these funds. This would be a great post down the road. Hmm!!!
  • The Taxable account will allow us to make gains above inflation for big ticket items like a new roof, solar or future car purchase. That new Toyota Hybrid Sienna and Subaru Ascent look mighty fine! For now, we will continue to drive ours into the ground. Grandpa SNH recently bought a Honda CRV will all of the bells and whistles and seems to be very happy with it.

I may also look at sending back our TV box since our Roku provides the same functionality with our cable subscription. Doing so would save about $90 a year. At the end of the year, we may also decide to remove cable altogether and go back to antenna services since we seem to watch a relatively small number of channels and programs. We were cord cutters for a long time in Georgia and decided to trial cable again in Florida to see if there was a large benefit. I don’t currently think we get a good ROI for the service. Again, it is up to evaluation after a full year cycle with it.

Have a happy new year! Don’t forget to review your New Years financial plan. Keep building and growing.

Mr. SNH

A couple of things are happening in the garden and the home!

Mrs. SNH did a great job of clearing out some of the old homeowner’s plantings around the house. This is making way for us to get the back yard in shape. I was planning to chop down the large Pine in the rear, but decided it would be better to talk to a Professional before I take that one on.

If you are planning to do your own tree removal, please check out a few safety videos on felling trees. There are a lot of things that could go wrong. Better to pay a pro if you are in a tight spot and haven’t done it before.

We got a few of the cool season veggies started in some plant pots. We placed them on the roof of the shed that is still standing. This avoids the rather nosey wonderdog from interrupting the young plants. We started with Broccoli, Snow Peas and Romaine lettuce.

Last night was fun too, we ordered 2 Orange trees from backyardcitrustrees.com. I staggered the variety with a Valencia and Navel to give a slightly different flavor and slightly different harvest time. It will take about 3 years before we see the ‘fruits of our labor’ but well worth the free shipping and anticipation of our fresh citrus. The last little bit to round out our trees for the property will likely be an avocado and peach.

Lastly, we decided to relieve the stress of vacuuming up after the cats and dog. We purchased a Shark Robotic Vacuum and put it to work. We named her Mrs. Patmore after the cook in Downton Abbey. I know, pretty unimpressive if you already have one of these doing the chores for you, but it truly is a time saver allowing you to do more productive things.

Ahh, the peace of automation

December Garden Activities and a few smart tips.

Good Afternoon SNH’ers. The little SNH’ers are looking forward to Santa Clause making a visit and I am out prepping parts of the garden. Here are the highlights:

* Hose system is partially extended to the garden area. I’ll be finished with the extension tomorrow. I cant wait to actually have water on the other side of the house.

* The Lemon/Lime combo tree is planted in the ground about 10 feet outside of the edge of the house. This should give enough room when it is full size.

* I’ll be cementing the first permanent post of the fence system tomorrow. I also fixed a hole in the fence where our pug friend was popping in to visit Cocoa the wonderdog. While our pug friend is nice, he should stay in his own yard.

* The banana tree has been trimmed of a few of its dying leaves which pulled down our ISP cable into the house.

Other smart tips for December:

Get your investments in order before the end of the year in case you need to make plans for filing taxes.

Re-evaluate your portfolio’s and talk with your financial advisor about the upcoming year.

Don’t leave your iPhone on the hood of your car. Apparently when you drive, they fall off! Who knew. Mrs. SNH wont be doing that one again!