Rescue

I just realized that it has been a week, almost, since my last post. I've been trying to keep up with everything that is going on with the economic situation here in the states and I am very concerned. My sister, the CPA, prepared an amazing presentation that she provided to the US Embassy employees in Peru that she gave to my coworker via a conference call. Now I am very scared. I do not have TV service at the house so mostly I am out of the loop on goings on in the world. Remember on my prior posts (I think I wrote about it here) where my instincts were screaming that I was not prepared enough for what was coming?? Well. . . it is practically here. Perhaps Christine (my sister, the CPA) can video her presentation that I can post to this blog. Let me know if you are interested in hearing.

My days have been spent working at both jobs and trying to put up what I can at home. The grapes and garden are done. I have been buying some local produce where I can find it; however, that appears to be almost finished as well.

Doing not Thinking Challenge: The furnace will arrive tomorrow and Ronnie has permission from his employer to take off when it arrives to get it installed and hooked into the house. Heat would be good as the nights are getting colder. It is colder earlier this year.
Recycling at work is going well even though the cleaning staff was initally resistant. I had added some goals to my Challenge, specifically related to Ashley's room and I think I need to revamp my list. I'm thinking on it and will create a list to the side of the blog. =)

Stay safe and well.

move journal. . . maybe? and still no furnace

I love eyecandy. You know, the visually appealing, creativity encouraging websites with color options, icons, etc. that allow one to easily customize a webpage. Blogger took me a while to learn to navigate and there are some features I am still working on. Part of my slowness is attributed to the lack of time to sit and explore; navigate through the seemingly endless pages of information to find what I am looking for. The new site would be http://wardhouse.wordpress.com.

I like typepad; however being a paid site, I cannot justify the expense when I can ramble somewhere else for free. =) Some of the peeps I read have wordpress and I very much enjoy the variety of creative outlets available. I just need to figure out how to snatch the code (CSS or HTML) from some of the page designs I like and move it to blogger. If I can get that tackled, then I will leave things as they are. =)

Thoughts? Opinions? Or am I just feeling restless and am better off leaving well enough alone.

Oh, and the furnace has been delayed another week. It was originally scheduled for delivery either yesterday or today. Gene called to say that it would be next week. Apparently production has been slammed and there are a zillion people in front of me. Trick is my heating money has gone to purchase the wood furnace, so there is no extra for 100 gal of heating oil (especially at 4.60/gal). We are bundling up and adding blankets at night. It is good practice for this winter! =) Wood splitting is going well. Ronnie uses a maul and is through a log in no time. I use a wood chisel and an 8 lb. sledge hammer. I am still working on my first log while he is on his 4th! lol It'll get better with time. I think I just need to get another maul and work on my aim. =P

Tandem

Today I drove 2 hours to Charlottesville to have a dermatologist look at this mole.

She was not worried about that one I came in for, she took another one to send away. Then took some nitrogen to this thing on the bottom of my foot. Three stitches and a limp later, I arrived home to help Ronnie clear a path to the tandem. The back of the lot was the only place the wood truck could get to to drop the load. Wow!
We had a few obstacles to overcome, like small trees, lots of brush, etc. We got there though. Saved as many smaller trees as we

could. Then, voila! Tandem of wood. This load is much bigger than it appears from 'below'. Tomorrow I'll have to get a shot from the top of the road.

Tomorrow, I believe, we will begin cutting the tandem into logs to either use as is or split for the furnace. I cannot wait! Oh, and the lavender is blooming. I just planted it this year. =)

Double Bonus Good News Wednesdays

First: today my tandem load arrived (weeks ahead of time) so I have wood yet no stove! LOL The wood had to be placed into the back of the wooded lot at our house - it arrived as I was leaving for work so I have not seen it yet! The stove will arrive next week.

Second: The recycling green boxes for work arrive this weekend so we will have company wide recycling come Monday - I am so excited!! =)

Ok, home from work (11:44 pm est) and headed to bed. Will post a tandem picture tomorrow.

Nitey nite!

Gasoline, Sustainable Living

This past weekend Ronnie and I went with his oldest daughter, Angel, to PA to visit her boyfriend; he is attending UTI (an automotive technical institute). We visited Lancaster and took them to some of the sights Ronnie and I get to see when we visit Lancaster each May. While we were away a gas crisis occured in Bath County. While gas prices in PA and Staunton appeared to remain 'normal', Bath County shot to over $4/gal (one place was $4.59) with 3 of the 4 stations selling out and that last station limited people to only 10 gal., no containers! Suprised me, actually. I am young enough to have missed the waiting in line thing for gas and where one could only buy gas on certain days depending upon your license plate number, or was it your birthday. . . Hmms. Anyway, the Amish appear to be relatively unaffected by the outside world's energy issues. I realize the Amish have their own problems as a community, living in a 'modern world'. I believe that with all of our 'modern' discoveries we have lost touch with how to live simply with the land we walk on, live with.

Anyway, while we were out we stopped at this store called the outhouse. It has all sorts of cool little what nots to look at, toys to play with, fudge and novelties to buy. Wish I had bought one of these masks! A picture of the homies! =P This trip took it all out of me, both $$ and engery. Not much has been done at the house other than the basics (laundry, dishes, picking up). I use the bread maker all the time now and have not bought a loaf from the store in awhile.

Wish I had started this lifestyle awhile ago and been better prepared for the crisis that is here sooner than later. I fell so unprepared! *ack*

Doing not Thinking Challenge Update

Some amazing news. I previously posted about finding a tandem load of 22 foot logs that we would need to cut, split and stack for $600; this tandem load would last about 2 winters. Well, yesterday Ronnie gets a call from his boss saying a mutual, but not close, friend has purchased a tandem load but needs help cutting and splitting - he is a musician and cannot mess up his hands. Anyway, in exchange for helping to cut/split this huge load of wood, we will get to use some for home! Most of our fuel will come from this pile. I may still need to order a 1/2 tandem but am waiting Ronnie gets a chance to look at this load. =)

This Sunday, while Ashley and I were picking grapes, Ronnie measured and pulled through his guide wire to use in pulling the pipes and wiring through the conduit. We are getting closer to stove arrival!


When you look at the front of our house, to the right is the old Ashwood School that has been or is in the process of being renovated into an antique store (open now) with the owners living on the 2nd floor. These neighbors are pretty cool as they are into sustainable living and can from their garden all summer long. Their garden is impressive. Anyway, between the school and my yard are some hundred year old trees that are dying or have died. One actually fell two years ago and thankfully, hit nothing vital. The one branch that ended up in my yard dug a divet that was two feet deep! These ancient, but dead, beauties are coming down this October - good for the neighbors taylor stove and really good for the garden next year! =)

and MORE grapes

Remember I mentioned how well this vine was producing?? Well, in order to reach some of this goodness, I had to climb under the collapsing vine to collect. Ashley and I picked almost 5 gallons of grapes, which have been made into grape juice. No sweetener added as I am not sure if I want to make some of this into more grape jelly. There are more grapes to be picked. I work at the restuarant tomorrow and Wednesday so the time to spend on this will be little until Thursday.

Ashley helped me pick grapes and while picking she discovered an 8 legged friend. LOL I thought she was going to fly off that ladder!

Grapes

We have inherited the most amazing grape arbor. Even though the supports are collapsing, something I will redo late this fall, the vine does not seem to care or notice. This is the first year that I have noticed the grapes being this prolific. Growing up I would help my mom with canning; however, assisting and actually doing are two different things! I am happy to report that we canned 9 1/2 pints and 9 pints of grape jelly, with an arbor still packed with grapes. I'd like to set aside either grape juice or can the grapes in water to save for later in the winter and make some grape juice then. I seem to remember Terry's mom having canning jars of grapes in the cellar. From what I have read online so far, fresh grape juice does not freeze well. =( Any suggestions?

On another note, Ronnie and I had to run a few errands in 'town', I use that term loosely as Hot Springs does not have a stop light and 'town' consists of a few shops. Anyway, while we were out I found this chicken pot that was just too lovely to pass up. The picture does not show how the blue glows and has an irridescent look to it.

Our furnace will arrive in two weeks and in preparation, we have sought out individuals who sell tandem loads of wood. These individuals are difficult to find; we found one yesterday who will, for $600, deliver a tandem load of 22 foot logs. LOL This will be green wood so we will either need to cut some downed wood out of the National Forest (with a license, of course!) or purchase already cut, seasoned wood. We will see.

As I plan for the winter, I think about how to dry clothes other than using the clothes dryer. Hanging them outside seems to take forever to dry. I will hang a line in the laundry room; however, that will not work for everything. Any suggestions?

First day of school

I have been remise in my updates! Vision (meaning eye on the prize) has become blurred and I am hoping now that the school routine is being set, I will be able to get back on track. The quick and dirty:

• Garden appears to be fizzling - I need to get back in and replant the cucumbers and more of them.


• Check on status of stove - everything is in place - Delayed three weeks!


• Purchase Federal license to pick up dead wood

Recycling continues to be a challenge at work. It is amazing that even though I have cans marked, how much is till put into the regular trash. *sighs* This goal will be ongoing. Sally is off work this week as her son is getting married and she holds the key for moving the program along within the company.

I think I am on track with all my Doing not thinking challenge goals, minus the mac-daddy dream: full time homesteader. Once I get the whole, how-to-pay-the-bills thing figured out. . .

A new goal: to start working on how to build/where to place a chicken coop. I want a coop the ladies can be in during the winter nights and then a tractor for them to hang out in during the day. The tractor needs to be safe for them to be in while I am not home. There are numerous ideas available on the web, I need to decide on one and run with it. Placement is key; Needs to be where they will not bother the neighbors (no rooster). Then there is everything that goes along with that - food, waterers, bedding. . Did I get everything? Also, I do not want to raise them from chicks as I am afraid they will die since I work outside the home everyday. Many locals talk about buying poulets from places a few hours drive away, which is fine with me. Fewer losses and I can get the number of hens I need instead of overbuying in hopes that I will end up with 5.