Green, Blue, Brown

Where'd I wander off to anyway?

2012-01-01T17:32:00.003-05:00

Exploring some different writing outlets....New blog:e4 and sons gardeningNew short story:[Also known as "attempting to write a novel, as slowly as possible."]The Lore KeepersI haven't decided whether to keep writing here (or, more correctly, to start writing here again). But for now, my mind is off wandering in different directions.--

At long last

2011-08-22T07:00:00.001-05:00

647 days since we first listed our house. 104 days since the offer came in. $61,000 below our initial list price. And it is finally done. But hey, at least we're not in a recession. --

D'oh!

2011-08-14T20:59:00.007-05:00

Here I've been, sitting on 499 blog posts for over a month. Welcome to number 500! There's punch and cake in the back, so help yourselves. As pathetic as it may be, my 500th blog post is going to be nothing more than a link to something I wrote on another blog.... http://our-thirty.blogspot.com/2011/08/challenge-accepted.html Here's the TED talk that inspired it: And thanks to

An Afternoon with Gene Logsdon

2011-07-07T22:01:00.002-05:00

[Note: I originally wrote this for the now defunct Hen and Harvest web site, back in August of 2008. Since it no longer appears anywhere on the web, I wanted to save it here.]I knew that Peter Hurd was a famous artist and that he had married into the Wyeth family. I loved his paintings, especially The Dry River (1938). That’s about all I knew about him. I was just at the beginning of my notion

Relocalizing my life

2011-04-22T19:24:00.003-05:00

Maybe it's my mood, but all kinds of red flags are giving me this sense that the giant rotary fecal disbursement mechanism is nearly operational.Slowly, very slowly, I'm making progress on things that are important to me. It's probably not really that slow, but it seems like it.One thing that's really important to me is supporting local businesses and products. Making my community stronger and

Wandering in our woods

2011-04-03T21:15:00.008-05:00

A nice little spot where the brook babblesThe next generationSome trees that came downbehind our housein the last rain stormAnybody home?FiddleheadsSpring beautiesDeer tracksThese little white flowers were everywhere--

Stress

2011-04-01T21:27:00.003-05:00

Is there such a thing as "reverse white coat syndrome"? You know, where your blood pressure goes down rather than up when somebody in a lab coat takes your blood pressure. My blood pressure is always lower at the doctor's office than it is at home or at one of those automatic blood pressure machines. Maybe it's just the fact that not having any kids around and not being at work makes it one of

Wow, has it really been that long?

2011-03-08T20:09:00.004-05:00

Once again I am a slacker.Then again, I've worked three weekends out of the last four (and I only got the one off because I was having surgery...) and a number of evenings - and this from a job where the major selling point was no nights and weekends because we have off shift staff.Since my last post, the cherry trees have bloomed, as have the daffodils, the forsythia, the vincas, some ornamental

A nice little tool for our new wood stove

2011-01-30T18:42:00.004-05:00

I found a great tool for getting a wood fire going. It goes by the the rather cumbersome name of "Fire Dragon Bellows / Poker". Apparently the generic name for this tool is a "blow poke," which sounds like something that should not be mentioned in polite company.Anyway, this is basically a hollow fire poker, with a brass mouthpiece on the the end, so you can blow air into the fire with pretty

The delights of metal roofing

2011-01-12T11:14:00.004-05:00

I wish you could hear the sounds we heard the other day.We had an ice storm the other day - which seems to be a bigger winter problem than snow around these parts. Anyway, so yesterday morning, our world was encased in ice - thin enough that it breaks when you walk on it, but thick enough that it's really loud when it does break.Daytime highs have not been very high, but the sun was out. On our

Photo follow-up from last post

2011-01-09T13:49:00.004-05:00

New roof(and new wood stove chimney)New wood stoveNew downspout and new (old) rainbarrelNow the only problem is that the water line from the well to the house has frozen. So we have no running water. Not an emergency at this point. But I've got to figure out how to either insulate it, or maybe wrap it in heat tape or something. I'd rather insulate though.--

Some nice milestones, and a loss

2011-01-07T17:50:00.003-05:00

Well, let's see.... Lots going on here.We lost one chicken. There was snow on the ground, but I couldn't find any non-chicken tracks. I couldn't find any breaches in the chicken pen. No blood, no carcass. Just a handful of feathers inside the coop. My best guess is a raccoon, or maybe a possum, came down a tree. But who knows. We don't have a CSI: Chicken Coop team. Emily, we hardly knew ye.But

Hoop house picture

2010-12-26T09:08:00.006-05:00

Here you go Madcap...For the record, this amount of snow in central North Carolina is headline news. They say this is the first "white Christmas" in decades.--

Time off at last, and putting it to some good use

2010-12-21T21:29:00.005-05:00

During the first half of this year, I didn't take many vacation days. Scattered days off here and there, but not much. Then I got a new job. The unused vacation turned into money, which was much needed. But with the new job I lost the ability to take time off for the first three months. That was tough, especially while trying to relocate, unpack, settle in, learn our way around, and generally

Bleh

2010-12-13T21:33:00.002-05:00

I need to cut down on my internet usage. I'm finding it has totally killed my attention span. I went from reading books to reading blogs to skimming blogs to skimming headlines.It's not all the internet's fault. I know my life is full of distractions. With three kids, including one toddler, one high maintenance kid, and one non-verbal autistic kid with sleep issues, it's pretty rare for me to

Chooks, Take 2

2010-12-04T20:05:00.004-05:00

We've been missing chickens ever since we sold our flock at the end of last summer. It's been more than a year since we've had the little cluckers around, but it seems like at least two.That ended today. I drove to pick up half a dozen assorted chickens from a guy named Russ. He's got 70-80 chickens of almost every breed imaginable, on a small suburban lot. His setup was impressive, and despite

Our back yard, showing off a bit

2010-11-15T22:35:00.004-05:00

Down in the lower right you can see the 5-foot fence and the extension ladder for scale. Click for the bigger version if you've got the bandwidth and the screen size.One of my favorite things about moving here has been the fall. It starts a little later than I'm used to. It's quite a bit warmer than I expected. (I haven't really been wearing a jacket regularly - we're still breaking 70 during the

Making progress

2010-11-09T18:00:00.005-05:00

It's been a bit of a slog since moving. So many boxes to empty, so many things to learn, so many places to find... so much chaos. It seems like the progress has been slow.But when I stop and think back at the projects we've gotten done so far, it's a pretty good list:- Got rid of all incandescent bulbs- Fixed constantly running toilet- Set up two rain barrels- Fenced back yard- Fixed door locks-

Why I'm loving my new home

2010-10-30T20:48:00.003-05:00

Where we used to live, I always felt like I was a bit of an extremist. I didn't talk to people about what I really thought or knew or wanted. I came here for that to some extent. I was one rant shy of the loony bin.Here, I feel like an extreme moderate. I feel like just another person trying to figure out the best ways to live on less - less energy, less money, less stuff... less everything.Let

Slacker

2010-10-10T20:08:00.004-05:00

I am not doing very well with this blogging thing lately. Work has been busy as the learning curve is a little steep. I can't just "do" any more. I have to follow processes and procedures. Only I don't know them yet.The long commute has cut into my free time too. That situation will improve in February, but I'm not there yet.Throw in a fun birthday weekend (the Big Four-Oh - yikes) and an

No phone, no TV, no internet, not a single luxury...

2010-09-13T20:09:00.007-05:00

unless you count well water, or electricity. (Okay I'd count those. But still...)You never realize just how dependent you are on something until you don't have it. We are currently without phone service (land line or mobile), internet, or television. We are virtually cut off from all forms of communication with the outside world, short of the mailbox at the end of the driveway. We have been for

We don't need no stinkin' hybrid

2010-09-04T20:42:00.007-05:00

It has been a crazy few weeks.The new job is going well. I'm really going to like it there.The commute, for now, is a bear. It will always be something of a bear, but right now it's as bad as it will ever get.We close on our house Tuesday. That will cut a good 10 minutes off the drive. Plus the kids morning schedule will be different, so I can leave earlier and beat some of the traffic, probably

Why I will never move again...

2010-08-12T20:34:00.003-05:00

Tuesday: Drive to Akron & back (2.5 hours each way) after work, with e5 tagging along.Wednesday: Take strangers on a tour of our property. Their real estate agent sent them. I happened to see them so I gave them the grand tour (outside only). They say they'll schedule a showing on the weekend.Thursday: Drive to Cincinnati & back (1:45 each way) for work.Friday: Drive to NC (8.5 hours one way),

Our new flexible, frugal meal plan

2010-07-28T17:21:00.005-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, we are about to be poor. Poor by choice at least, but with effectively half our non-housing income gone, we've got some major adjustments to make.One area that seemed like a good target for cost-cutting was food. Our grocery bills have been growing along with our kids. We don't eat a lot of convenience foods, but we do eat out more often than we mean to.

Event Horizon

2010-07-27T17:59:00.007-05:00

This week will likely represent a big turning point for us. We expect the new job offer to become 100% official sometime before the end of this week. I'll also need to give notice with my current employer by the first of next week. And to top it off, I'm driving down to the new location this weekend for a home inspection.You see, we're doing something that's probably very foolish: We're buying a

Instant Homestead Sale!

2010-06-22T15:46:00.004-05:00

Dory: He says, "It's time to let go!". Everything's going to be all right.Marlin: How do you know? How do you know something bad isn't gonna happen?!Dory: I don't!- Finding NemoAs many of you guessed from my last post, we've more or less made up our minds. Oh in theory there could still be some dramatic last minute change of heart (or circumstance), but mostly we're just waiting for the Gears

Standing on the precipice

2010-06-12T05:35:00.003-05:00

We are about to be faced with a very interesting (and risky) choice - in fact, it's probably the biggest decision our family has ever made.Option 1 is the Status Quo. Keep our current job and our current house. We really do love our home - nine acres, fenced pastures, pole barn, pond, and all the things we've put into it. But between a pay cut, rising health care costs, the addition of a new

Follow-up

2010-06-02T18:12:00.004-05:00

As a quick follow-up to my One Small Step post...Top 10 Things that Amelia Suddenly Likes to Eat by the Pound:(in no particular order)BeansMost kinds of soupStir fried bell peppersAnything with lettuce or greensAlmost anything with pastaAlmost anything with riceLentilsSweet cornEnglish muffinsPizza--

Two tidbits from Dirt: The Movie

2010-05-21T22:16:00.004-05:00

First, a quote:"Over many years, the dirt has taught me a lot. God did not give us this amazing dirt to mistreat it. I have a relationship with this living organism. At times I am dirt's father because I take care of it. At times dirt is my mother because she feeds me. And at times dirt is my lover because we share a loving relationship. I take care of it and the dirt takes care of me. I

Sell it baby

2010-05-16T21:28:00.010-05:00

So our new real estate agent came by to do the necessary paperwork and to get some pictures. The first thing that tipped me off that she was my kind of agent was that she was trying really hard to come over on a sunny day, so the pictures would be better. (Nothing worse than a gloomy, overcast photo of the six-figure asset you're trying to sell.)Anyway, we had a string of rainy days in a row, so

Sale update

2010-05-09T08:13:00.008-05:00

When we chose a real estate agent, we went with a local firm. I always like to support local businesses when I can, and we figured they'd be experts on selling in our area.Unfortunately, after half a year and only three showings, it looks like that approach is flawed. Oh I know, the market is not good. But ads in our small town paper are not cutting it. I've always imagined our buyer coming from

One small step...

2010-04-19T06:57:00.000-05:00

[Right: Amelia, wearing all of her favorite clothes at once, at her request. Some of the bottom layers can't even be seen. She wanted more, but we had to stop - partly because we couldn't stop giggling long enough to keep going. ]One of the things we asked Amelia's school to work on with her was food. She has sensory issues that go well beyond "picky eater" - her diet was limited to foods of

A funny dream

2010-04-18T07:45:00.003-05:00

I had a dream last night that scientists came up with a way to solve our energy, food, and population problems. They found a way to shrink people down to the height of a beer bottle. Tiny people ate less food, required less energy, and less space. So they started shrinking us. It was working great right up until all the house cats figured out we made good prey.I feel like if our house ever sells,

Container gardening

2010-04-06T12:37:00.003-05:00

I've never really done much container gardening. I guess when you have almost 9 acres, it seems weird to be constrained by containers. It always seems a little forced or artificial to me, and I didn't want to bother with it if I didn't have to.I'll still put some of the bigger crops in the ground - potatoes, corn, tomatoes - and I'll probably skip a few things this year. But after last year's

Next question

2010-03-19T17:47:00.002-05:00

Has anybody tried this? It looks intriguing. We're not in a position to try it right now, but we may give it a shot if we don't have success with traditional methods.I wuoldn't quite say there's nothing to lose, but there's not a lot to lose. We'll see how things go in the meantime.--

BPA-free reusable canning lids??

2010-03-14T19:31:00.002-05:00

Does anybody out there have experience with these?Tattler Reusable Canning Lids--

Multi-use homestead outbuilding

2010-03-08T20:18:00.001-05:00

So I've been tinkering with a design for a multi-use outbuilding. Thinking way too much I suspect.In the past we built several goat shelters, a chicken pen, a chicken tractor, along with milking stanchions for goats and another for a cow. We also planned the design for our pole barn. I never did get around to building a greenhouse, but I did finally finish my grape arbor.So I'm trying to combine

Instant Homestead

2010-03-01T16:20:00.020-05:00

If you know ANYBODY looking to buy a piece of land to come back to, send them to this page. We've got something for everyone. No really... Look, here I'll even give you the direct URL: http://greenbluebrown.blogspot.com/2010/03/instant-homestead.htmlThe house is about 2200 square feet, with 3 bedrooms and a loft that could easily be converted to a fourth bedroom (it's already got a closet even),

Jamie @ TED

2010-02-27T08:41:00.001-05:00

Fresh inspiration

2010-02-24T17:10:00.002-05:00

As I've whined too much already, it's hard to garden from Limbo. Everything is either tentative or hypothetical. I'm not ordering any seeds this year as I have such a large stockpile and a lack of motivation to try new stuff. Most of my winter garden reading attempts have tended more toward frustration than inspiration.But I've found a wonderful exception: The Permaculture Home Garden by

Sooooo.....

2010-02-19T18:02:00.003-05:00

Interesting things are afoot here at the Soggy Bottom Ranch. Well, there's at least the potential of interesting things afoot. We went on a scouting expedition this past weekend, to see what kind of houses might be in our target price range.Most were... meh. But one wasn't. One caught our attention. It had 3.6 acres, mostly wooded. The house is quirky for sure. It was an older ranch that's been

The brain is a funny thing

2010-01-31T11:26:00.003-05:00

I had a dream last night that I was sitting on a roller coaster, all buckled in and locked down. But there was some kind of problem, so the ride couldn't start. We just had to sit there and wait.And that was the whole dream. Lots of waiting.It seemed like we were sitting there for hours. We were unable to really move around much or get comfortable, but we still weren't going anywhere. So we just

They're taunting me

2010-01-27T20:19:00.004-05:00

The cruelest one arrived in the mail today: The Raintree Nursery catalog. The seed catalogs aren't so bad for me right now. I have so many seeds that I'm not even on the lookout for anything new in the garden. I've got more than I can handle already, and quite a few I haven't even tried yet.But Raintree, ohhh.... Fruits, nuts, berries, and their woody, perennial brethren are like kryptonite to me

One lesson learned

2010-01-16T07:55:00.002-05:00

One of the things I've learned since we departed Suburbia back in Aught-5 is that for us, anything approaching self-sufficiency is a bit unrealistic. Maybe if our home and land were paid for and I didn't have to work full time, we might be able to get a fair bit closer than we are now.Then again, I think true, independent self-sufficiency is pretty unrealistic for anybody. It's very hard to go it

Who out there has Nigerian Dwarf goats?

2010-01-12T21:24:00.003-05:00

How many do you have?How much land do they graze on?How much hay do you use per year?How much grain?How much milk do you get?So many questions.We want a smaller property. Or at least a smaller amount of pasture. But how small can we go?We've raised Nubian & Boer goats, so I have a feel for goats in general. I'd love to keep maybe 3-4 Nigerian dwarf goats, but I haven't gotten a good sense of how

Limbo

2009-12-15T14:31:00.003-05:00

If we ever move to a new place, remind me to tell you a funny story. Well, it's a stressful story right now, but it will be funny by the time I can tell it. I don't really know who might read this, and well, for now it'll just have to wait.In the meantime, nothing much is happening on the home selling front. It's not a great time to be selling a house around here. But we knew that. We only need

One Local Turkey

2009-11-29T18:03:00.003-05:00

We managed to get a local turkey from a nearby farm. The kids got to pet some big fluffy rabbits, feed some goats, and chase some poultry. Our turkey was (formerly) a Royal Palm, which I'd never encountered before. They're really beautiful birds.We also had some potatoes from our garden. We were going to have sweet potatoes from our garden* as well, but the yield wasn't really enough to work with

So...

2009-11-21T21:06:00.004-05:00

Let's see: Tomorrow morning at 8:30am, the painter arrives to take care of the soot marks on our awkward vaulted ceiling. We've got 11:30-1 blocked off for a house showing, and 1:30-3:00 blocked off for an open house. Monday to Wednesday, I'm working solo as most of our support staff will be taking the week off for Thanksgiving. Thursday through Sunday my mom's in town and staying with us. (

Breaking service dog news

2009-11-14T00:40:00.003-05:00

Amelia's service dog is Bobo! We'll all get to meet him on December 1st.

It's All Too Much, and other assorted chaos

2009-11-01T21:26:00.005-05:00

A few quick items from Chez Green, Blue, Brown:- Four out of five household members surveyed feel like dog doo. Fevers all around! Yay!- Speaking of dog doo... 30 days until Amelia gets her service dog. We are officially getting excited at this point. We should find out who her dog will be in just a few short weeks, so stay tuned.- Ten years of marriage. Lori says that means only 40 more to go

I'm too sexy for my dirt

2009-10-28T11:07:00.007-05:00

It's come to my attention that The San Diego Crunchy Chicken has nominated me for Hottest Eco-blogger. This made me laugh.Don't get me wrong - I'm flattered. It's just that anybody who's met me in person knows I'm a bit self-conscious and fairly nerdy. I don't recall ever being described to as "hot" before. I don't exude confidence, allure, or pheromones.I started keeping my hair cut short so

Makin' Lemonade

2009-10-23T19:22:00.005-05:00

One of the challenges of trying to do this small farm thing AND have a day job is that there's not always time to finish projects. I'd venture to say that most people who try this don't end up with their properties looking like the cover of a magazine. The partially finished projects combine with the scraps leftover from completed projects to create a lot of debris.The problem with trying to sell

Coming up for air

2009-10-21T22:28:00.001-05:00

So, where to begin... Well, I guess the obvious place to begin is here: We've decided to sell our house. Or at least to attempt to sell our house. It's been a tough decision for a whole bunch of reasons. And what comes next is still a work in progress. But that's another post.I don't know how it'll go really. To determine a fair market price, real estate agents normally look for comparable

Sabbatical

2009-09-03T19:21:00.005-05:00

After more than three years, and over 400 posts, the time has come for me to take a break from this blog. It's a tough decision for me, because I owe a lot to this little corner of cyberspace, but for a variety of reasons, it's time to step back, re-prioritize, re-energize, and get some things done.Part of the problem is just burnout. I used to be anxious to write about all kinds of ideas and

The Hard Sell

2009-08-25T10:40:00.004-05:00

A couple days ago, we returned from a week-long vacation. It's our second road trip this year, and likely to be our last for a while. Among other things, traveling with Amelia is just really hard, especially when it comes to sleep.Anyway, on our way back from visiting beaches and relatives near Charleston, SC, we stopped to spend a couple days with some old friends in North Carolina. We have a

Parenting and perspective

2009-08-24T10:53:00.004-05:00

Earlier this year I had lunch with a friend I hadn't seen in many, many years. We were catching each other up on our lives, our families, and what we'd been up to all that time. The subject of my daughter's medical & developmental issues came up. She was asking questions and I was answering, trying to paint a picture of the complexities of Amelia's world. And then she said something strange: "

My Evil Plan

2009-08-16T00:10:00.000-05:00

I'm happy to say that I've recently started implementing My Evil Plan.For long-time readers, My Evil Plan could probably be considered a spin-off of My Crazy Scheme. For non-long-time readers, here is the Reader's Digest version of My Crazy Scheme. The four part opus, or as I prefer to call it, the Director's Cut, can be found here:Part 1: Big Hairy Deal Part 2: Little Tiny StepsPart 3:

Somebody check my math!

2009-08-13T23:05:00.004-05:00

There was a recent post in an online forum which was making a case that vegetarianism is better from a carbon emissions standpoint than eating meat. It referenced one of many articles that complain (rightly) about the greenhouse gas emissions generated by feedlot meat. It spurred me to look for some data on grass-fed meat, by way of comparison. Here's part of what I wrote - including some rather

Going Off

2009-08-08T23:17:00.003-05:00

I've got stuff to share, but haven't had time or energy to say it of late. I'll get back to it shortly, but for now, we're switching off for one day a week. Not completely off, just computers, television, game systems and the like. A sort of low-tech family day. We decided we've been spending too much time staring at separate little glowing screens. So off we go. See you in a bit... and join us

Independence Days, week... uh... somethin'

2009-07-24T21:14:00.003-05:00

I'm kind of losing track of my posting schedule for this. I'm also forgetting some things, as usual.1. Plant something - One really tough comfrey plant that was forgotten for several months.2. Harvest something - Two apples! I picked them early because the birds were already pecking them. They were a bit tart and mealy, but pretty good considering. Sadly, we're getting at most one more apple this

Recipe for Free Soup

2009-07-23T23:10:00.004-05:00

First, buy a whole chicken.I know, I said it was free, but as any physicist can tell you, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Free always has a price, even if it's sometimes hidden.Anyway, soup.So buy a whole chicken. If you buy it from a nearby small farmer, you will be helping your local economy, your local ecology, your health, your taste buds, and your soul.Oven roast the chicken, and

Favorites, Part 6: Muck Boots.

2009-07-21T18:41:00.000-05:00

I recently had the opportunity to try out a pair of Muck Boots, courtesy of Muck Boots Online.Now, I've become very picky about footwear. I'm willing to spend extra for a good fit that will last. I don't like buying shoes, breaking them in, and having them fall to pieces on me. Also, my feet are, um, unconventional. Okay, they're mutant. (I know many people have a second toe longer than their big

Rainbow Unbent

2009-07-15T21:18:00.000-05:00

I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I had looked straight at it. Or if my six-year-old son hadn't told me these things exist. Kids see things the rest of us don't. He'd talked about seeing rainbows on the ground a couple times. Not in oil slicks, but in our front pasture. I glanced over my shoulder while driving, saw the scattered weeds of an overgrown field, and gave him one of those

Independence Days, weeks 11 & 12

2009-07-14T21:00:00.002-05:00

Man, it's been a weird summer. Nothing is really thriving. The corn and potatoes appear to be hanging in there, but everything else is just kind of sitting there.I should start writing this stuff down as the week progresses, because by the time I write this. I forget half the stuff we do.1. Plant something - Nothing this time.2. Harvest something - Eggs, a few beans and peas, a few berries. 3.

Independence Days week 10

2009-07-05T21:49:00.004-05:00

Late, late, late again. Too much going on...1. Plant something - Not this week.2. Harvest something - A handful of blueberries. And eggs. I think that was it. 3. Preserve something - Froze some blueberries. Just about to start on raspberry jam and pickles. 4. Reduce waste - Took a ton of stuff over to the thrift store. Made a long-overdue trip to the local recycling center and gave them a pickup

Favorites, Part 5: Baby Signs

2009-06-29T20:58:00.000-05:00

I don't even remember where I first heard about the idea, and I was slightly skeptical at first, but I'm a convert now. I love baby signs. If you're not familiar with this, it's a simplified form of sign language for babies. Babies often have the brainpower to communicate before they have the developmental ability to actually talk. If a baby can wave bye-bye, they can learn other signs and

Independence Days week 9

2009-06-27T12:00:00.003-05:00

A little late this week.1. Plant something - Nothing this week. Still trying to catch up with the weeds and grass. And yet another dead engine.2. Harvest something - Kale, lettuce, and eggs. Oh, and gooseberries, but the chickens did all that harvesting. Someday I'll remember to put bird netting over them. 3. Preserve something - Strawberries! Finally. We made about eight pints of

My weird home state

2009-06-23T20:06:00.005-05:00

Ohio must be a weird place for travelers.First of all, any state with counties named Hocking and Licking have to be a little strange.But it's also full of cities and towns whose names are taken from various Native American cultures, which are somtimes rendered in more than one way in different places. So Pickaway county has the same origin as a town called Piqua in another part of the state.

I love this chart

2009-06-21T22:27:00.003-05:00

I've been tracking our monthly electricity usage ever since we moved into this house, in a spreadsheet. It's got all kinds of nerdy calculations in it that estimate money saved, carbon dioxide saved, percent change, etc. But my favorite thing about it is the bar graph that shows monthly electricity usage from year to year. I had to shrink it a bit to fit on this page, but hopefully you can at

Freaky Mutant Strawberries

2009-06-20T12:07:00.002-05:00

Check out these monster strawberries...

Independence Days week 8

2009-06-18T19:30:00.002-05:00

I've been trying to catch up on life after last week's trip. And I'm fighting an annoying health problem that's trying it's damnedest to be chronic or something. Plus a daughter who's keeping me up too late and a son who's getting me up too early.It's been a long week.Next week my excuse will be too much cutting of grass and pulling of weeds. Hopefully anyway.1. Plant something - Nothing this

Favorites, Part 4: Curel

2009-06-13T22:31:00.004-05:00

I don't know what magic ingredients they put in the stuff, but Curel works for me where other stuff doesn't. It's in no way a "green," orgainc, or sustainable product as far as I know. They do sell a fragrance-free version, which is what I like best. The ingredient list sounds pretty dicey for a non-chemist like me. But I can't argue with the results.If I get a bad sunburn, I get insanely itchy

Independence Days week 7

2009-06-10T20:06:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm traveling again, this time quite reluctantly. I done gone off to the Big City to get me some learnin. But I was able to squeeze some Independence Days stuff in before the trip, and even a little during the trip.I think we must be onto something with the lifestyle adjustments we've been making over the last several years. I remember when I used to love traveling. Now, both on our recent

Independence Days week 6

2009-06-06T17:17:00.003-05:00

Had to stall this week's report long enough for me to actually have stuff to put on there. Still trying to catch up from our trip and Lori's illness...1. Plant something - Watermelon (Orangeglo), musk melon (Minnesota Midget), Asian melon (Sakata's Sweet), Cucumber (Parisian Pickling), and pumpkin (unknown variety, except that it was a pie pumpkin).2. Harvest something - I tried a couple nibbles

Independence Days week 5

2009-05-28T20:55:00.004-05:00

Hmm... This should be interesting.1. Plant something - Nothing this week.2. Harvest something - Nothing. 3. Preserve something - Nope. 4. Reduce waste - More like generated excess waste.5. Preparation and Storage - Nada.6. Build Community Food Systems - Does trading canned goods with somebody in another state count? 7. Eat the Food - Does eating somebody else's homegrown, local, and/or organic

Favorites, Part 3: The "Picnic Table"

2009-05-25T07:21:00.001-05:00

On a whim, after seeing something vaguely similar, I decided to build a little picnic table between the posts of our (still unfinished) arbor. It's smaller than a standard picnic table, but can still seat our whole family. It's also in close proximity to the clothesline, so it can double as a laundry folding area. Or a planting bench. Or a platform for Amelia to play with her random collection of

Favorites, Part 2: The Bearded Lady

2009-05-22T17:33:00.002-05:00

When we first got chickens, our plan was to hang on to a couple of the Buckeye roosters. Unfortunately, they were way too aggressive. They could draw blood with their spurs. They'd attack each other, me, Lori, the kids, the mail carrier, the neigbors, inanimate objects... So we decided to try to find a full-grown rooster whose temperament was a known quantity. We found somebody with two roosters

Gratuitous baby photo!

2009-05-21T16:00:00.002-05:00

Independence Days week 4

2009-05-20T20:22:00.000-05:00

A little light this week. I've been busy cutting grass, attacking weeds, and shoveling (forking?) manure. Trying very hard to stay ahead of things before the hot weather arrives. 1. Plant something - Popcorn (Pennsylvania Butter-Flavored, and Ladyfinger). We tried Ladyfinger once before and it didn't do that well, so I'm doing a trial of another variety as a comparison. Field corn (Ohio Blue

The Beginner's Guide to Hoeing

2009-05-18T20:08:00.006-05:00

So you want to learn how to hoe? It's not for everyone. You think you've got what it takes? Are you willing to get down and dirty? Do you like getting all hot and sweaty? Do you, um.... do you know when to push and when to pull, and how to perfect your stroke? And.... uh.... hmmm....Ok, I give up. That's all the tacky innuendos I can come up with. It's harder than it looks. (That's what she said.

Favorites, Part 1: The awesome hoe thingy

2009-05-16T18:18:00.010-05:00

I thought I'd write about a few current favorites around the homestead. (I adjusted the wording in that first sentence a little so you wouldn't start thinking about raindrops on roses...) So I started writing these in a single post, but as I am long-winded and have no editor, I decided it was best to split them up into separate posts.Up first, a mystery hoe.--I bought a few sturdy-looking garden

Independence Days week 3

2009-05-13T17:25:00.004-05:00

Busy week....1. Plant something - Lots of stuff here. I finally found my seed plates for my little Earthway seeder. Too bad the little seed chute was clogged with debris from sitting in the barn too long. But I did finally get it working, and had a long enough break in the rain to get the ground dry enough for more planting.Planted carrots (Danvers Half Long, Nantes Coreless, and Chantenay Red

Uninspired

2009-05-09T22:11:00.004-05:00

I have, for some reason, not been writing much here lately. It's almost like I've written all my views, explored all my interests, and told all my stories. That's not really true, because there are stories happening here almost every day. There are ideas rattling around in my head. There are even partially written blog posts.The trouble seems to be motivation. I do something, and I think, I

Independence Days week 2

2009-05-07T20:33:00.004-05:00

A light week in many categories. I've been a little under the weather and we've had a ton of stuff going on - Amelia & e5 turned six years old, we had a meeting at Amelia's school, another with the MRDD / County Services folks, e5's kindergarden "music" show, doctor visits... (And let me tell you - nothing makes you feel old quite like sitting in the waiting room at the urologist.)Anyway, on

Independence Days

2009-04-30T17:44:00.000-05:00

I've decided to participate in Sharon's Independence Days Challenge this year. It was interesting reading all the participants' regular updates last year, but more than that, it'll hopefully keep me honest, inspired, and motivated. I know a lot of

Watch me play expert....

2009-04-24T20:27:00.003-05:00

Swine Flu! AAAAH! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!Okay, probably not something to joke about. But the media has quickly whipped itself into a frenzy over the new influenza strain wreaking havoc in Mexico City. Why? Because it's a pretty rough one, and it's apparently spreading human-to-human. The story only broke within the last 48 hours or so, so there's still plenty of time to bring back all the avian flu /

A question for gardening experts...

2009-04-20T18:30:00.004-05:00

You're not supposed to use wood chips as mulch on your plants unless it's been aged. The explanation given is that as the wood rots, it will (initially at least) leach nitrogen from your soil that your plants would otherwise be able to use.You're also not supposed to use manure on your garden unless it's been aged, because it is too high in nitrogen and can burn your plants.So what if (

Doggy Bloggy Update

2009-04-18T13:22:00.003-05:00

MEA asked about Amelia's service dog. We're slated for the December training class. But if anybody in the September class can't make it, we'll be the first to get bumped to that one. We won't find out anything about the dog until a week before training. At that point, Amelia will get a letter from her dog, with a photo. Then it's off to sunny Xenia, Ohio for 10 days. We'll be sure to post more

Green grass, blue skies, brown eggs, and purple flowers...

2009-04-17T12:03:00.003-05:00

I'm excited that I can finally, I think, get some planting done this weekend. We've got sunny skies and nice temperatures forecast for the weekend, and a couple days without rain leading in, to dry things up a little. It's always hard to go to work on a beautiful spring day, but somehow working from home makes it even harder. I can see the garden, the sunshine, the things that need to get done.

Trust me...

2009-04-15T23:55:00.003-05:00

It's rare for me to tell people what to do, but you've got to see this. Take seven minutes out of your life and watch this video.Go on. I'll wait....(Thanks to Greenpa for pointing this one out.)--

Things that are awesome

2009-04-08T19:39:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of things that suck out there right now, and sometimes I get fixated on them. But today I want to fixate on the things in my life that Don't Suck. So here are ten (count 'em, ten!) awesome things from our world.1. Owen is taking his first steps. He also managed to touch a chicken for the first time. They were gathering around him in the back yard in hopes that he had something

The Earth Hour has no clothes

2009-03-30T13:23:00.003-05:00

Recently I received an email extolling me to participate in Earth Hour. It included an article that started like this:Lights out in 84 countries for Earth Hour 2009By CARYN ROUSSEAU, APCHICAGO — The lights are going down from the Great Pyramids to the Acropolis, the Eiffel Tower to Sears Tower, as more than 2,800 municipalities in 84 countries plan Saturday to mark the second worldwide Earth Hour

Approaching a crossroads?

2009-03-25T22:43:00.003-05:00

I've documented my tractor struggles here on numerous occasions. I just don't get along that well with internal combustion engines, or many other mechanical devices: Bolts in awkward places that are rusty and hard to get off; Parts that are expensive and/or have to be mail-ordered; Parts that are clearly inferior to the original because the original is no longer made; Tasks that require

Latest arrival

2009-03-15T15:55:00.004-05:00

Some people might look at our overgrown pastures and unkempt pond as the product of negligence and incompetence.Well, technically, they'd be right. If I could keep our tractor running and teach the kids to occupy themselves more, I'd probably be a little better at keeping the brush under control. But I'm never going to be one of those land owners who's land looks like the Wrigley Field

Willie Smits: A 20-year tale of hope: How we re-grew a rainforest

2009-03-14T18:37:00.001-05:00

This is pretty cool....

Late breaking story

2009-03-08T07:49:00.005-05:00

We're coming to you live this morning from the local hospital... which incidentally is not as exciting as it sounds. Poor Amelia didn't get along with the latest virus that came calling. She stopped eating in favor of an all-day nap on Thursday. She'd only get up to move from the recliner to the couch or from the couch to the big pillow on the floor. She'd spend her few waking minutes staring

A couple quick links...

2009-03-06T20:44:00.002-05:00

So, what does a trillion dollars look like?Like this.Well, unless you're in Zimbabwe.

Update on cherry pits as heating fuel

2009-03-05T22:40:00.000-05:00

At last, we're on the downhill side of winter. Or is it the uphill side? Anyway... it's finally warming up a bit, but over the course of this somewhat grueling winter, we've had plenty of opportunity to experiment with heating our house with cherry pits.It's really interesting to see the differences in the various fuels. Well, okay, maybe not to everybody. But just in case others are in a similar

Things that suck

2009-03-03T23:25:00.005-05:00

The last post was sort of playful misery - taking something mildly unpleasant and turning it into an amusing story.This post is about things that really do kind of suck.The other day our basement flooded. We got an inch or two of water. I always thought it could happen, given a variety of factors, so most things were up and out of harm's way. But there's still a lot of soggy cardboard boxes and

Cutting emissions, the hard way

2009-02-27T23:07:00.003-05:00

The things I do for you people.I mean, this time, I think I've really gone the extra mile. (The extra 1.6 km for my metric friends.)How many bloggers would go under the knife for what they believe in? How many would endure the cruelest cut?Yes, dear readers, in support of my beliefs, I've been snipped.In this case, my beliefs are that: A) Three kids is already too many. Once you're outnumbered,