Friends have been helping me cut wood for this winter – and maybe winters to come! When Ken died there were several piles of wood split and cut to 40″ for the side stoke holes on the wood pottery kiln. I had never used a chainsaw. Ken had bought a small one for me, but I couldn’t start it; Ken would start it and then use it… Since 40′ does …
Years (decades?) ago, Ken put wires in the concrete basement floor for in floor heat. It was wonderful, but like all the wire in floor heat we have heard about, it died mysteriously. And no one wants to hammer up the concrete. So last winter after Ken’s death I was completely dependent on wood heat – no back up. But I started planning and asking around. I decided off peak electrical heat storage was my …
Today I had a great surprise. A young friend, Ryan was in the area and was ready to help buzz up some of the kiln wood. There is a pile of mixed length Ken and I had stacked for the side stoke holes in the pottery kiln. Ryan jumped up and cut. I pitched into a trailer. Once that one was full, Ryan moved it close to where I …
Oscar the dog seemed to go for a walk even though it is the first snow and the weather is cool and cloudy and damp! So I brought my camera. The fall foliage is a bit past peak; I have enjoyed it for weeks and keep forgetting my camera. But with snow I found sights that make me smile: the sedum with darker shaded small blossoms below, Leaves still …
Well, our first snow fall of the season! The snow is drifting down in big flakes, and I fell like I am inside a lightly shaken snow globe. Looks like clouds all day, but with sun and higher temperatures as the week progresses, this snow wont stay long.
One way to empty freezers is to use some of the older or surplus for jams or wine. I made batches of plum jam (right) yesterday and strawberry today. Here is a photo as I pulled the strawberry out of the hot water bath. I am happy to report they have all sealed! Ping ping! And thank you to Otto and Sadie for the wire creations in the back.
Ken and I had a large cooler by the front door. It contained produce for sale. Since I am not raising or selling produce any more, it seems foolish to keep it. Friends can use it. They came Saturday to move it out and take it to their farm. Thank you. I hope it works for them as well as it did for us all these years The next thing was to …
Ken and I raised chickens and pork. Now I just have a very few chickens for eggs. We had a freezer for produce like strawberries and green beans and two smaller ones for meat in the fall when we had chickens, pork, and sometimes venison or beef. When Ken died I realized one person – the less active at that – would not need all this food. And if I went through it …
Many people have offered to help. I forgot who and with what. Here is what I need: someone to start a working splitter and help split half a trailer of wood. AND someone to buzz 40″ wood that does not need splitting into cook stove lengths Thank you to everyone who has helped so far.
It rained last night. It is cool, cloudy, and damp. I was thinking about staying inside today, making bread, working on sorting paper, and maybe taking a nap. Once I fed the dog, cat, and chickens I headed over to make my bed. Oscar and Big Red had claimed turf for napping and were giving me the Do Not Disturb looks. So I left them. After getting the bread dough mixed, I checked on them; …
