1 can treet, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1 can mushroom stems & pieces, drained
1 can garbonzo beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chicken broth
1 can black eye peas, drained
1 cup cous cous (I used sun-dried tomato cous cous)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. Powdered garlic
1/2 tsp. rosemary
Fry the treet until it's all brown and yummy.
Mix all except the cous cous in pan and bring to a boil. Boil until everything is heated through. Add the cous cous and cover with lid, turn off heat. Let sit about 5 minutes, stir and serve. It will still have some liquid in it, kind of like a thick stew or thick soup. Mmmmm!
A nice rustic bread would have been good with this, but I didn't have any. So it was some plain ol' store bread instead.
I also added some velveeta to my boil when I got it, hubby sprinkled his with some parmesan cheese.
Can replace the cous cous with some cooked rice or cooked noodles for a different meal if you like. Or use regular cous cous instead of the sun-dried tomato kind I used. There are some really good ones out there that have all kinds of herbs cooked in or cheeses. I had the sun-dried cous cous on hand though. My beloved sister in law had bought it and didn't like it so I told her we like cous cous and she mailed it over. This is what I invented to use up some of it.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Critter Decisions
4 days since my last blog. Boy am I slipping or what? Some days have been hello busy, and still others around here are dead, dead, and deader. It's been pretty dead. Just day to day stuff going on, putting up shelves, doing dishes, getting over the crude and arguing with the dogs. lol.
We are still on the tail end of this cold thing. It just seems to hang on and on, no matter what suppliments we take or modern chemicals we gag down. Dayquil is some relief at least. Dad said to try Zinc, although it's supposed to be taken at the onset of a cold to help shorten the length of time you have it. Anything to get rid of it sooner. I content myself with the fact that I have exposed A LOT of people to it by now. :D Mom always said to share.
May have to run out today for a little bit, gotta hit the post office, then maybe go somewhere for some food. I don't know yet. Last night was a pretty rough night for us, hubby couldn't get any sleep and sometime around 3:30am finally got to snooze some. Of course this kept me and the dogs up, the dogs kept pacing and all that since it wasn't our nomal routine for dad to be up at that time on his computer or what not. I got to sleep about 4am, then was promptly awake at around 7:30am when hubby was yelling out the door for Freya to come back in. Ugh. Sleep is optional right?
I would love to go to one of the libraries today, but it seems all our local ones are closed on Fridays. Double Ugh. Maybe I'll have to content myself with just getting some breakfast while I am out getting mail. lol. Don't know, haven't decided on that yet. I COULD just make breakfast here, it would definitely save the cash. And I have all the fixings, from eggs to corned beef hash. I even have enough bread to make some french toast if that is what the hubby is willing to eat for the day. Cream of Wheat? Sure. Scrambled eggs? ok. Pancakes? I can even do that. hehe... I have a great recipe for corn fritters too. Super simple, and they were pretty good. Although, the recipe says to serve them with maple syrup, I don't know if I like that. I ate them that way last time, but I think I like them a little more savory. They said that they could be served as a dinner accompniment if you put sour cream over them. Maybe I'll do that, some sour cream, some bacon crumbles, some chives... Kind of like a loaded mashed potato. hehe..
We've decided that we want to do chickens, rabbits, and bees as well as the goats here on the property. Hubby thinks that the bees will be a nice solid addition, especially helpful with the garden, as well as a solid line of income for us. There is only one other place local that has honey for sale and they are about an hour a way or so. Nothing local to us here. So we think that the folks here would take to it pretty well. I want the chickens for the eggs, they can be sold, as well as eatten of course. Rabbits are good for the meat, pelts and their manure, which you can grow worms in. Worm castings are GOOD on a garden. They do wonders for the soil. don't know about selling the rabbit and chicken meat, but then I can always find a use for it here. Especially once I start canning it. We can use it for ourselves or the dogs. Either way it won't go to waste at all. Same with the goats. Milk is good to eat in cooked foods, and I guess it's not bad to drink either. The meat is good to eat, and of course, if you want to go to all the trouble to do it, you can tan the hide too. Goat leather is a fine grain leather that is good for gloves, and hats, but not tough enough for boots/shoes or other items that get a lot of wear and tear.
Ok, off to find some kind of trouble to get into!
Scattered Lady...
We are still on the tail end of this cold thing. It just seems to hang on and on, no matter what suppliments we take or modern chemicals we gag down. Dayquil is some relief at least. Dad said to try Zinc, although it's supposed to be taken at the onset of a cold to help shorten the length of time you have it. Anything to get rid of it sooner. I content myself with the fact that I have exposed A LOT of people to it by now. :D Mom always said to share.
May have to run out today for a little bit, gotta hit the post office, then maybe go somewhere for some food. I don't know yet. Last night was a pretty rough night for us, hubby couldn't get any sleep and sometime around 3:30am finally got to snooze some. Of course this kept me and the dogs up, the dogs kept pacing and all that since it wasn't our nomal routine for dad to be up at that time on his computer or what not. I got to sleep about 4am, then was promptly awake at around 7:30am when hubby was yelling out the door for Freya to come back in. Ugh. Sleep is optional right?
I would love to go to one of the libraries today, but it seems all our local ones are closed on Fridays. Double Ugh. Maybe I'll have to content myself with just getting some breakfast while I am out getting mail. lol. Don't know, haven't decided on that yet. I COULD just make breakfast here, it would definitely save the cash. And I have all the fixings, from eggs to corned beef hash. I even have enough bread to make some french toast if that is what the hubby is willing to eat for the day. Cream of Wheat? Sure. Scrambled eggs? ok. Pancakes? I can even do that. hehe... I have a great recipe for corn fritters too. Super simple, and they were pretty good. Although, the recipe says to serve them with maple syrup, I don't know if I like that. I ate them that way last time, but I think I like them a little more savory. They said that they could be served as a dinner accompniment if you put sour cream over them. Maybe I'll do that, some sour cream, some bacon crumbles, some chives... Kind of like a loaded mashed potato. hehe..
We've decided that we want to do chickens, rabbits, and bees as well as the goats here on the property. Hubby thinks that the bees will be a nice solid addition, especially helpful with the garden, as well as a solid line of income for us. There is only one other place local that has honey for sale and they are about an hour a way or so. Nothing local to us here. So we think that the folks here would take to it pretty well. I want the chickens for the eggs, they can be sold, as well as eatten of course. Rabbits are good for the meat, pelts and their manure, which you can grow worms in. Worm castings are GOOD on a garden. They do wonders for the soil. don't know about selling the rabbit and chicken meat, but then I can always find a use for it here. Especially once I start canning it. We can use it for ourselves or the dogs. Either way it won't go to waste at all. Same with the goats. Milk is good to eat in cooked foods, and I guess it's not bad to drink either. The meat is good to eat, and of course, if you want to go to all the trouble to do it, you can tan the hide too. Goat leather is a fine grain leather that is good for gloves, and hats, but not tough enough for boots/shoes or other items that get a lot of wear and tear.
Ok, off to find some kind of trouble to get into!
Scattered Lady...
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Plans and Foods
Yesterday we went to town, and I have to apologize as I didn't get any new blogs uploaded, we have been distracted lately and I really just forgot!
Anyway, as far as trips to town go, it was pretty untensioning (is that a word!?!). We had a full on plan as to where we were going, and in what order, and exactly how long and how much to spend at each. Whew. We now have enough supplies at the cabin (with the exception of water, and gas) that we don't HAVE to leave for 2 weeks! Today's plan is to go to the near small town and get water and gas enough to last us at least that long too. Ugh. Then we'll be broke again. lol. While we're in that little place they have a library, so we'll probably stop there... :) then I'll upload the blogs! Whoot!
I haven't attempted the mayo thing again yet. I am going to though, and see what I can get, I certainly don't want to let it beat me. With suggestions from many I was able to make the rice a success, and have made it several times in the last few weeks. so I am sure I can make the mayo a success out here in the outback of the wilds. I even made fried rice the other night and hubby ate 2 HUGE helpings. lol. I was pretty satisfied with that. It had been a while since he ate that big of helpings. :D By the way, when I make my rice I use BROTH instead of water, this gives it more flavor and a little healthier. When I made the fried rice I used beef broth in the rice. When I serve it under chicken based soups then I make it with chicken broth... you get the idea. I used to have some veggie boullion cubes, and would love to find them and use them to make rice, just as a different flavor and different set of ingredients. But I think they are packed out in the garage still with the rest of the dried stuff. hehe. We have 3 more shelves to put up and when we do then we'll bring in some of the dried stuff from the garage that I think we can use and maybe I'll find them then.
Tonight I think we may do some goulash. Macaroni noodles, with spaghetti sauce (doctored of course! I never leave it exactly as it comes out of the can or bottle! I like to add all kinds of stuff, garlic, onion, parsley, marjoram, and even cinnamon, which is very good in spagetti sauce and good for your heart. I think I may try chocolate in it soon as it's recommended for in chili and gives a nice smooth flavor), and some meat in it, served with some cheese and texas toast. The meat I use will be some hickory smoked sausage that I'll chop up. I think I'll put some corn and maybe some peas in it too so we get some veggies. It's very important to get meals out here with everything in them as much as possible. Especially with having no refrigeration, it's very easy to start missing out on this or that. Whenever we go into town and eat Hubby is sure to get milk so he doesn't miss out on all the good stuff there. I just wish more resteraunts served WHOLE milk and not this 2% garbage. Fat aside, whole milk is so much more healthy for you. This skim and 2% stuff doesn't give you all the vitamins and minerals you need. You may as well be drinking water.
Sometime in the next few days we are also going to be finishing up the walls for the insulation, woot! We have been putting it up because the only places we have to go still have tables and stuff in front of them. But now we have a stove/oven combo that I want to set up and use so I can bake and all that. And why go through setting it up without finishing off the walls? We would just have to drag it all out again when we did the insulation. So we are going to do it all at once. Ugh, it's a big job, but we have to do it. Even though it means we will both be stiff and sore afterwards.
ok, off to find something to get into. :D It's the start of a brand new day and we are supposed to get some rain tonight and tomorrow. Maybe it'll melt the last of the ice off the driveway, and some more of the snow. If it does then we'll be going for a nice walk about tomorrow or the next day. :D
Later Gaters!
Anyway, as far as trips to town go, it was pretty untensioning (is that a word!?!). We had a full on plan as to where we were going, and in what order, and exactly how long and how much to spend at each. Whew. We now have enough supplies at the cabin (with the exception of water, and gas) that we don't HAVE to leave for 2 weeks! Today's plan is to go to the near small town and get water and gas enough to last us at least that long too. Ugh. Then we'll be broke again. lol. While we're in that little place they have a library, so we'll probably stop there... :) then I'll upload the blogs! Whoot!
I haven't attempted the mayo thing again yet. I am going to though, and see what I can get, I certainly don't want to let it beat me. With suggestions from many I was able to make the rice a success, and have made it several times in the last few weeks. so I am sure I can make the mayo a success out here in the outback of the wilds. I even made fried rice the other night and hubby ate 2 HUGE helpings. lol. I was pretty satisfied with that. It had been a while since he ate that big of helpings. :D By the way, when I make my rice I use BROTH instead of water, this gives it more flavor and a little healthier. When I made the fried rice I used beef broth in the rice. When I serve it under chicken based soups then I make it with chicken broth... you get the idea. I used to have some veggie boullion cubes, and would love to find them and use them to make rice, just as a different flavor and different set of ingredients. But I think they are packed out in the garage still with the rest of the dried stuff. hehe. We have 3 more shelves to put up and when we do then we'll bring in some of the dried stuff from the garage that I think we can use and maybe I'll find them then.
Tonight I think we may do some goulash. Macaroni noodles, with spaghetti sauce (doctored of course! I never leave it exactly as it comes out of the can or bottle! I like to add all kinds of stuff, garlic, onion, parsley, marjoram, and even cinnamon, which is very good in spagetti sauce and good for your heart. I think I may try chocolate in it soon as it's recommended for in chili and gives a nice smooth flavor), and some meat in it, served with some cheese and texas toast. The meat I use will be some hickory smoked sausage that I'll chop up. I think I'll put some corn and maybe some peas in it too so we get some veggies. It's very important to get meals out here with everything in them as much as possible. Especially with having no refrigeration, it's very easy to start missing out on this or that. Whenever we go into town and eat Hubby is sure to get milk so he doesn't miss out on all the good stuff there. I just wish more resteraunts served WHOLE milk and not this 2% garbage. Fat aside, whole milk is so much more healthy for you. This skim and 2% stuff doesn't give you all the vitamins and minerals you need. You may as well be drinking water.
Sometime in the next few days we are also going to be finishing up the walls for the insulation, woot! We have been putting it up because the only places we have to go still have tables and stuff in front of them. But now we have a stove/oven combo that I want to set up and use so I can bake and all that. And why go through setting it up without finishing off the walls? We would just have to drag it all out again when we did the insulation. So we are going to do it all at once. Ugh, it's a big job, but we have to do it. Even though it means we will both be stiff and sore afterwards.
ok, off to find something to get into. :D It's the start of a brand new day and we are supposed to get some rain tonight and tomorrow. Maybe it'll melt the last of the ice off the driveway, and some more of the snow. If it does then we'll be going for a nice walk about tomorrow or the next day. :D
Later Gaters!
Plans and Foods
Yesterday we went to town, and I have to apologize as I didn't get any new blogs uploaded, we have been distracted lately and I really just forgot!
Anyway, as far as trips to town go, it was pretty untensioning (is that a word!?!). We had a full on plan as to where we were going, and in what order, and exactly how long and how much to spend at each. Whew. We now have enough supplies at the cabin (with the exception of water, and gas) that we don't HAVE to leave for 2 weeks! Today's plan is to go to the near small town and get water and gas enough to last us at least that long too. Ugh. Then we'll be broke again. lol. While we're in that little place they have a library, so we'll probably stop there... :) then I'll upload the blogs! Whoot!
I haven't attempted the mayo thing again yet. I am going to though, and see what I can get, I certainly don't want to let it beat me. With suggestions from many I was able to make the rice a success, and have made it several times in the last few weeks. so I am sure I can make the mayo a success out here in the outback of the wilds. I even made fried rice the other night and hubby ate 2 HUGE helpings. lol. I was pretty satisfied with that. It had been a while since he ate that big of helpings. :D By the way, when I make my rice I use BROTH instead of water, this gives it more flavor and a little healthier. When I made the fried rice I used beef broth in the rice. When I serve it under chicken based soups then I make it with chicken broth... you get the idea. I used to have some veggie boullion cubes, and would love to find them and use them to make rice, just as a different flavor and different set of ingredients. But I think they are packed out in the garage still with the rest of the dried stuff. hehe. We have 3 more shelves to put up and when we do then we'll bring in some of the dried stuff from the garage that I think we can use and maybe I'll find them then.
Tonight I think we may do some goulash. Macaroni noodles, with spaghetti sauce (doctored of course! I never leave it exactly as it comes out of the can or bottle! I like to add all kinds of stuff, garlic, onion, parsley, marjoram, and even cinnamon, which is very good in spagetti sauce and good for your heart. I think I may try chocolate in it soon as it's recommended for in chili and gives a nice smooth flavor), and some meat in it, served with some cheese and texas toast. The meat I use will be some hickory smoked sausage that I'll chop up. I think I'll put some corn and maybe some peas in it too so we get some veggies. It's very important to get meals out here with everything in them as much as possible. Especially with having no refrigeration, it's very easy to start missing out on this or that. Whenever we go into town and eat Hubby is sure to get milk so he doesn't miss out on all the good stuff there. I just wish more resteraunts served WHOLE milk and not this 2% garbage. Fat aside, whole milk is so much more healthy for you. This skim and 2% stuff doesn't give you all the vitamins and minerals you need. You may as well be drinking water.
Sometime in the next few days we are also going to be finishing up the walls for the insulation, woot! We have been putting it up because the only places we have to go still have tables and stuff in front of them. But now we have a stove/oven combo that I want to set up and use so I can bake and all that. And why go through setting it up without finishing off the walls? We would just have to drag it all out again when we did the insulation. So we are going to do it all at once. Ugh, it's a big job, but we have to do it. Even though it means we will both be stiff and sore afterwards.
ok, off to find something to get into. :D It's the start of a brand new day and we are supposed to get some rain tonight and tomorrow. Maybe it'll melt the last of the ice off the driveway, and some more of the snow. If it does then we'll be going for a nice walk about tomorrow or the next day. :D
Later Gaters!
Anyway, as far as trips to town go, it was pretty untensioning (is that a word!?!). We had a full on plan as to where we were going, and in what order, and exactly how long and how much to spend at each. Whew. We now have enough supplies at the cabin (with the exception of water, and gas) that we don't HAVE to leave for 2 weeks! Today's plan is to go to the near small town and get water and gas enough to last us at least that long too. Ugh. Then we'll be broke again. lol. While we're in that little place they have a library, so we'll probably stop there... :) then I'll upload the blogs! Whoot!
I haven't attempted the mayo thing again yet. I am going to though, and see what I can get, I certainly don't want to let it beat me. With suggestions from many I was able to make the rice a success, and have made it several times in the last few weeks. so I am sure I can make the mayo a success out here in the outback of the wilds. I even made fried rice the other night and hubby ate 2 HUGE helpings. lol. I was pretty satisfied with that. It had been a while since he ate that big of helpings. :D By the way, when I make my rice I use BROTH instead of water, this gives it more flavor and a little healthier. When I made the fried rice I used beef broth in the rice. When I serve it under chicken based soups then I make it with chicken broth... you get the idea. I used to have some veggie boullion cubes, and would love to find them and use them to make rice, just as a different flavor and different set of ingredients. But I think they are packed out in the garage still with the rest of the dried stuff. hehe. We have 3 more shelves to put up and when we do then we'll bring in some of the dried stuff from the garage that I think we can use and maybe I'll find them then.
Tonight I think we may do some goulash. Macaroni noodles, with spaghetti sauce (doctored of course! I never leave it exactly as it comes out of the can or bottle! I like to add all kinds of stuff, garlic, onion, parsley, marjoram, and even cinnamon, which is very good in spagetti sauce and good for your heart. I think I may try chocolate in it soon as it's recommended for in chili and gives a nice smooth flavor), and some meat in it, served with some cheese and texas toast. The meat I use will be some hickory smoked sausage that I'll chop up. I think I'll put some corn and maybe some peas in it too so we get some veggies. It's very important to get meals out here with everything in them as much as possible. Especially with having no refrigeration, it's very easy to start missing out on this or that. Whenever we go into town and eat Hubby is sure to get milk so he doesn't miss out on all the good stuff there. I just wish more resteraunts served WHOLE milk and not this 2% garbage. Fat aside, whole milk is so much more healthy for you. This skim and 2% stuff doesn't give you all the vitamins and minerals you need. You may as well be drinking water.
Sometime in the next few days we are also going to be finishing up the walls for the insulation, woot! We have been putting it up because the only places we have to go still have tables and stuff in front of them. But now we have a stove/oven combo that I want to set up and use so I can bake and all that. And why go through setting it up without finishing off the walls? We would just have to drag it all out again when we did the insulation. So we are going to do it all at once. Ugh, it's a big job, but we have to do it. Even though it means we will both be stiff and sore afterwards.
ok, off to find something to get into. :D It's the start of a brand new day and we are supposed to get some rain tonight and tomorrow. Maybe it'll melt the last of the ice off the driveway, and some more of the snow. If it does then we'll be going for a nice walk about tomorrow or the next day. :D
Later Gaters!
Monday, January 19, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!
Today is my Dad's BIRTHDAY! Happy Birthday Dad! I called, but didn't get an answer, perhaps you and mom were out
celebrating. If so, yay! If not, sorry.
Daughter is off her grounding, and seems to be holding closer to home. She has taken to ignoring dad at times,
but they are going to have to work it out. She still listens to me, so I am happy with that.. I giggle at him a
lot of what they go through with each other. He is still learning to speak "dog".
Last night about 9pm, there were two shots that came from South West of the cabin. Not that far away, but far
enough I didn't worry about them hitting us. I wonder if it was someone shooting deer? No one lives down there
that would be shooting coyotes at that time of night. Usually when it's someone shooting coyotes it's more down
where the cattle and sheep are than up here. There isn't any livestock close enough for the coyotes to be a
menace within the 2 - 3 miles of the cabin. I just hope that if it was someone poaching deer that they took the
deer to EAT it. I don't have a problem with someone taking a deer any time of year so long as it's for NEED and
not WANT. And so long as they don't waste it. honor the animal that died for you.
Because of hearing the shots, the dogs all stayed inside for the rest of the night. Not that Thor and Pan wanted
out then, but Freya was nosey enough she wanted to go see what was going on. hubby and I of course were smarter
than that. He made them stay in while he went to see what he could see. Of course he saw nothing. so all was
well and the next day we let the dogs out.
Other than that it's a quiet day, as hubby is now coming down with the crud. Ugh. Great. Oh well, maybe this
will be the only crud we have this season. lol. wishful thinking probably, but who knows right?
ok, going to jog, have some stuff to finish up.
Lackidaizical Lady of Treehaven
celebrating. If so, yay! If not, sorry.
Daughter is off her grounding, and seems to be holding closer to home. She has taken to ignoring dad at times,
but they are going to have to work it out. She still listens to me, so I am happy with that.. I giggle at him a
lot of what they go through with each other. He is still learning to speak "dog".
Last night about 9pm, there were two shots that came from South West of the cabin. Not that far away, but far
enough I didn't worry about them hitting us. I wonder if it was someone shooting deer? No one lives down there
that would be shooting coyotes at that time of night. Usually when it's someone shooting coyotes it's more down
where the cattle and sheep are than up here. There isn't any livestock close enough for the coyotes to be a
menace within the 2 - 3 miles of the cabin. I just hope that if it was someone poaching deer that they took the
deer to EAT it. I don't have a problem with someone taking a deer any time of year so long as it's for NEED and
not WANT. And so long as they don't waste it. honor the animal that died for you.
Because of hearing the shots, the dogs all stayed inside for the rest of the night. Not that Thor and Pan wanted
out then, but Freya was nosey enough she wanted to go see what was going on. hubby and I of course were smarter
than that. He made them stay in while he went to see what he could see. Of course he saw nothing. so all was
well and the next day we let the dogs out.
Other than that it's a quiet day, as hubby is now coming down with the crud. Ugh. Great. Oh well, maybe this
will be the only crud we have this season. lol. wishful thinking probably, but who knows right?
ok, going to jog, have some stuff to finish up.
Lackidaizical Lady of Treehaven
Sunday, January 18, 2009
LOCOVORISM
I promised a post on the term locovore.
Well, I don't have a specific definition in front of me, but here it goes.
Locovorism is a fairly old, yet resurging move towards eating / consuming what is only available close to you. Instead of going to a big box store to buy your bread, you either make it yourself or go to your local small bakery to purchase bread that is made right there. Instead of consuming tomatoes from venezuala when you live in Utah, you only eat them if they are grown in Utah. Thus you eat in season, foods that are picked and healtiest as well as keeping your money local.
For instance, if we still lived in Eugene, our veggies and more would be from the weekly farmers markets. Locally grown greens, mushrooms, honey, breads, cheeses and the like. The nice thing about this is you support LOCAL economy rather than some slave driver in China or Indonesia. There is also more of a chance that you KNOW what is in the food and such that you buy rather than plastic in your food or possible salmonella poisoning from some processing plant.
It's a proven fact in todays economy that those who are growing food for the BIG PRODUCTION of commercial growers, either don't care how they fertilize the food they are growing or they have just too much growing to pay attention to it all. This leaves it wide open for us to get salmonella, botulism and other nasties into our food supply.
Local growers grow LESS at once, so they can keep an eye on it, and they CARE more so that there is less chance of these nasties getting into the food chain.
The gigantic plus to this movement is that the money earned in Oregon, stays in Oregon longer.
Each person / family decides how close to home they are going to eat. Some say U.S. food only. This is nice, since you can't really grow oranges, lemons or limes here in the pacific northwest, and potatoes really don't like to grow too well in florida / southern california. Others say their same state. So for us, if it didn't grow in Oregon, then we wouldn't ingest it. This cuts out stuff like pineapple, oranges, lemons, limes, baking soda and a few other things. I don't think there are salt mines in Oregon either. lol. Some, go for so many miles from home. 100 miles, 50 miles or whatever. If you can't drive within that amount of space and get it then you don't bring it home.
I have had the privilage since we moved to meet a lot of people who follow this way of consuming. Some do it Conscientiously, it's good for our planet after all. And some of the people I have met do it because it's all they can afford to feed themselves is what they grow themselves. One of these wonderful people I met grows over 90% of the food they eat themselves. They trade butchering of livestock for some of that meat, and what they don't grow, they buy from others locally who grew it themselves organically. It's a pretty great way to live if you ask me. They don't own vast tracs of land, only 20 acres, and they don't have row after row of greenhouses to do this either. It can be done, even on only the 2 acres that hubby and I live on. But it's going to take US a little while longer to get there. lol. our land is mostly sand.
Even someone who lives in an apartment can grow some of their own food. While they may not be able to approach this 90% self sustainablilty in their food supply, every little bit will make a difference.
As a people, we need to do more to support our own self and stop being so reliant on other nations and countries to supply us with food and goods. It's here in our own countries. It doesn't matter if you live in the United States, Canada, England, Australia or anywhere else, we can all attain a great amount of self-sustainability on our own. It doesn't matter what it is, just something. Grow a few chickens and trade their eggs off, grow up 4 tomato plants and swap for some corn.. It doesn't take much. So you can't grow food to save your life (no pun intended), but you can cross stitch some of the most beautiful samplers in the area? Trade a sampler for some of your neighbors garden, or a home cobblers shoes, or for some car maintenance. It's a simple thing. And something we owe to ourselves.
Locovorism is a good thing, and with a little rearranging, and adjusting to our lives it's also something we all can do.
Here's some links where you can learn more and connect with others doing the same thing:
Well, I don't have a specific definition in front of me, but here it goes.
Locovorism is a fairly old, yet resurging move towards eating / consuming what is only available close to you. Instead of going to a big box store to buy your bread, you either make it yourself or go to your local small bakery to purchase bread that is made right there. Instead of consuming tomatoes from venezuala when you live in Utah, you only eat them if they are grown in Utah. Thus you eat in season, foods that are picked and healtiest as well as keeping your money local.
For instance, if we still lived in Eugene, our veggies and more would be from the weekly farmers markets. Locally grown greens, mushrooms, honey, breads, cheeses and the like. The nice thing about this is you support LOCAL economy rather than some slave driver in China or Indonesia. There is also more of a chance that you KNOW what is in the food and such that you buy rather than plastic in your food or possible salmonella poisoning from some processing plant.
It's a proven fact in todays economy that those who are growing food for the BIG PRODUCTION of commercial growers, either don't care how they fertilize the food they are growing or they have just too much growing to pay attention to it all. This leaves it wide open for us to get salmonella, botulism and other nasties into our food supply.
Local growers grow LESS at once, so they can keep an eye on it, and they CARE more so that there is less chance of these nasties getting into the food chain.
The gigantic plus to this movement is that the money earned in Oregon, stays in Oregon longer.
Each person / family decides how close to home they are going to eat. Some say U.S. food only. This is nice, since you can't really grow oranges, lemons or limes here in the pacific northwest, and potatoes really don't like to grow too well in florida / southern california. Others say their same state. So for us, if it didn't grow in Oregon, then we wouldn't ingest it. This cuts out stuff like pineapple, oranges, lemons, limes, baking soda and a few other things. I don't think there are salt mines in Oregon either. lol. Some, go for so many miles from home. 100 miles, 50 miles or whatever. If you can't drive within that amount of space and get it then you don't bring it home.
I have had the privilage since we moved to meet a lot of people who follow this way of consuming. Some do it Conscientiously, it's good for our planet after all. And some of the people I have met do it because it's all they can afford to feed themselves is what they grow themselves. One of these wonderful people I met grows over 90% of the food they eat themselves. They trade butchering of livestock for some of that meat, and what they don't grow, they buy from others locally who grew it themselves organically. It's a pretty great way to live if you ask me. They don't own vast tracs of land, only 20 acres, and they don't have row after row of greenhouses to do this either. It can be done, even on only the 2 acres that hubby and I live on. But it's going to take US a little while longer to get there. lol. our land is mostly sand.
Even someone who lives in an apartment can grow some of their own food. While they may not be able to approach this 90% self sustainablilty in their food supply, every little bit will make a difference.
As a people, we need to do more to support our own self and stop being so reliant on other nations and countries to supply us with food and goods. It's here in our own countries. It doesn't matter if you live in the United States, Canada, England, Australia or anywhere else, we can all attain a great amount of self-sustainability on our own. It doesn't matter what it is, just something. Grow a few chickens and trade their eggs off, grow up 4 tomato plants and swap for some corn.. It doesn't take much. So you can't grow food to save your life (no pun intended), but you can cross stitch some of the most beautiful samplers in the area? Trade a sampler for some of your neighbors garden, or a home cobblers shoes, or for some car maintenance. It's a simple thing. And something we owe to ourselves.
Locovorism is a good thing, and with a little rearranging, and adjusting to our lives it's also something we all can do.
Here's some links where you can learn more and connect with others doing the same thing:
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Daughters' Grounded Saturday
SATURDAY! It's a great day for most people, as it signals the first day of the weekend. Most people would be out shopping, or doing house chores that they aren't able to do during the week.. Us? We're sitting here with colds. Blech. Creeping crud of any kind is a horrible thing to have to put up with. It's even worse when it's your own creeping crud.
Daughter spent all day yesterday GROUNDED! She was so miffed, I'm surprised she didn't piddle on dad's pillow. She went outside on the leash, then was transferred to a tie outside for when she wanted out. Then on a leash and back inside. It was choresome for dad, but she had to put up with it. She'll get the clue she has to stay close if we have to keep her tied to a tree or on a leash forever!
We are going to run to town today, need to do some laundry and pick up some stuff, so I am not going to write much right now... I'll hit you up with more stuff later.
stuffy mom of three
Daughter spent all day yesterday GROUNDED! She was so miffed, I'm surprised she didn't piddle on dad's pillow. She went outside on the leash, then was transferred to a tie outside for when she wanted out. Then on a leash and back inside. It was choresome for dad, but she had to put up with it. She'll get the clue she has to stay close if we have to keep her tied to a tree or on a leash forever!
We are going to run to town today, need to do some laundry and pick up some stuff, so I am not going to write much right now... I'll hit you up with more stuff later.
stuffy mom of three
Thursday, January 15, 2009
New Friends
We had a full day yesterday, we drove down and got the mail, then did a few things here around the cabin. Not much of anything, except wash my hair and take a bath.
Then we made the mistake of letting Freya out. Teenagers! I swear, if she wasn't already Spayed I'd have her on birth control as much as she likes to run around. She was GONE. And no matter how much we called she was a no show. We were supposed to pick up Mr. Trader and his wife at 2:30... Needless to say we didn't.
I jump in the truck and head down the road... I would stop and turn off the engine and call every so often.. Wait to see if she showed, then start up and go on again. Hubby stayed at the cabin calling her and to see if she came back while I was gone. She did. She finally came back here to the cabin, leaving me with doggies in traps or dead dancing in my head until I came back here to find her here with dad (I had the phone with me, and even if I didn't he couldn't have called me since we have one phone!)... By this time it was 3pm, which was the time we were to be at our shindig.
Called Mr. Trader, who it turns out had some people who had dropped by, and let him know we were running late. then we got out to pick them up around 3:30 and on to the shindig at 4pm. Only an hour late. And when we explained about the daughter being truant, they all laughed and said they had been there.. Seems everyone in this area are dog owners! Whew.
Had a lovely night meeting some new, interesting friends. One of the families we met grow 90% + of their own food. And what they don't grow they purchase from neighbors and friends so it's all organic and they know what goes into it. We had a great night on the study of Genesis, and some language studies one of these fine people were working on and it lent a whole diffrent slant on the creation story. The fine lady of the house we were at had made a GREAT stew for us for dinner. Potatoes, broccoli, parsley, basil, tomatoes, onion, celery, sheep, and who knows what else. It was FANTASTIC. She said that the sheep was either Jacob's or Navaho Churro, she wasn't sure which, and that it takes a certain breed of sheep to produce good flavor. Reminds me, I gotta find out where she got it so I can get us some. She had canned it and it was very, very good. If she hadn't told me it was sheep, I wouldn't have known it, no gamey flavor, and very tender.
Then we went and dropped off Mr. trader and his wife, and came on home. It was a long day, but well worth it. Will have to get together with these friends again. I have a lot of questions regarding the Bible that haven't gotten a satisfactory answer for over the years, who knows, maybe this gentleman will have an answer for me that will settle my spirit.
Mother Treehaven, with a grounded teenage daughter...
Then we made the mistake of letting Freya out. Teenagers! I swear, if she wasn't already Spayed I'd have her on birth control as much as she likes to run around. She was GONE. And no matter how much we called she was a no show. We were supposed to pick up Mr. Trader and his wife at 2:30... Needless to say we didn't.
I jump in the truck and head down the road... I would stop and turn off the engine and call every so often.. Wait to see if she showed, then start up and go on again. Hubby stayed at the cabin calling her and to see if she came back while I was gone. She did. She finally came back here to the cabin, leaving me with doggies in traps or dead dancing in my head until I came back here to find her here with dad (I had the phone with me, and even if I didn't he couldn't have called me since we have one phone!)... By this time it was 3pm, which was the time we were to be at our shindig.
Called Mr. Trader, who it turns out had some people who had dropped by, and let him know we were running late. then we got out to pick them up around 3:30 and on to the shindig at 4pm. Only an hour late. And when we explained about the daughter being truant, they all laughed and said they had been there.. Seems everyone in this area are dog owners! Whew.
Had a lovely night meeting some new, interesting friends. One of the families we met grow 90% + of their own food. And what they don't grow they purchase from neighbors and friends so it's all organic and they know what goes into it. We had a great night on the study of Genesis, and some language studies one of these fine people were working on and it lent a whole diffrent slant on the creation story. The fine lady of the house we were at had made a GREAT stew for us for dinner. Potatoes, broccoli, parsley, basil, tomatoes, onion, celery, sheep, and who knows what else. It was FANTASTIC. She said that the sheep was either Jacob's or Navaho Churro, she wasn't sure which, and that it takes a certain breed of sheep to produce good flavor. Reminds me, I gotta find out where she got it so I can get us some. She had canned it and it was very, very good. If she hadn't told me it was sheep, I wouldn't have known it, no gamey flavor, and very tender.
Then we went and dropped off Mr. trader and his wife, and came on home. It was a long day, but well worth it. Will have to get together with these friends again. I have a lot of questions regarding the Bible that haven't gotten a satisfactory answer for over the years, who knows, maybe this gentleman will have an answer for me that will settle my spirit.
Mother Treehaven, with a grounded teenage daughter...
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Running like a beheaded chicken!
Sometimes you have a favor performed for you, and that person fades away and you aren't able to return the favor that was done. Other times, you get a chance to redo the favor.
We were able to return a favor yesterday. Our trader friend had done a great and wonderful favor for us a while back. And yesterday he needed one returned, so we were able to return it by driving him into the close large town to look for a new vehicle. his had died and he needed a chance to go in and look for a new one. It was a great day of fun where we went in and looked around at several vehicles and hoped to find him a new one, but no dice. Hopefully he'll get one soon. His ability to trade and work rests solely on his ability to have a vehicle.
We followed up his vehicle shopping (and hubby's in town therapy appointment) by going out to a wonderful buffet lunch. It celebrated Mr. Trader's birthday as well as was a good meal after a day of tiring driving.
today is Wednesday, and we are go to go a shindig and meet new people, so that is about all we have scheduled for the day. Will drive down and get the mail, then come back here for a bit before we pick up Mr. Trader and his wife, and then we'll all carpool to the shindig, don't know how late that will take us. Exciting life eh?
Mrs. Treehaven, running late and behind on her blog postings!
We were able to return a favor yesterday. Our trader friend had done a great and wonderful favor for us a while back. And yesterday he needed one returned, so we were able to return it by driving him into the close large town to look for a new vehicle. his had died and he needed a chance to go in and look for a new one. It was a great day of fun where we went in and looked around at several vehicles and hoped to find him a new one, but no dice. Hopefully he'll get one soon. His ability to trade and work rests solely on his ability to have a vehicle.
We followed up his vehicle shopping (and hubby's in town therapy appointment) by going out to a wonderful buffet lunch. It celebrated Mr. Trader's birthday as well as was a good meal after a day of tiring driving.
today is Wednesday, and we are go to go a shindig and meet new people, so that is about all we have scheduled for the day. Will drive down and get the mail, then come back here for a bit before we pick up Mr. Trader and his wife, and then we'll all carpool to the shindig, don't know how late that will take us. Exciting life eh?
Mrs. Treehaven, running late and behind on her blog postings!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Salt Pork Patties
1 lb salt pork, chopped fine
1/2 large onion, chopped fine
2 large eggs whipped
1/2 cup stove top stuffing for chicken crumbed fine
1/2 cup stove top stuffing as you get it from the package
Mix all together. If you don't like salt pork, or are on a salt restricted diet use regular ground pork. Another way to cut some of the salt from the salt pork is to soak the salt pork in milk overnight before chopping or grinding.
fry until dark brown in a skillet with some shortening in it.
Over this, I put a nice flour gravy.
Pour off the shortening from frying the patties into a can, but leave about 1 or 2 tbsp of the shortening in your skillet. Add to this an equal amount of flour and fry it for a few minutes to cook your flour up. Add to this enough milk to get your gravy to "gravy" consistency. I added NO seasoning to the gravy since the salt pork patties were so highly flavored from the salt in the pork itself as well as the onion and the seasonings of the stove top stuffing.
This was GOOD!
I served it with a can of green beans on the side.
1/2 large onion, chopped fine
2 large eggs whipped
1/2 cup stove top stuffing for chicken crumbed fine
1/2 cup stove top stuffing as you get it from the package
Mix all together. If you don't like salt pork, or are on a salt restricted diet use regular ground pork. Another way to cut some of the salt from the salt pork is to soak the salt pork in milk overnight before chopping or grinding.
fry until dark brown in a skillet with some shortening in it.
Over this, I put a nice flour gravy.
Pour off the shortening from frying the patties into a can, but leave about 1 or 2 tbsp of the shortening in your skillet. Add to this an equal amount of flour and fry it for a few minutes to cook your flour up. Add to this enough milk to get your gravy to "gravy" consistency. I added NO seasoning to the gravy since the salt pork patties were so highly flavored from the salt in the pork itself as well as the onion and the seasonings of the stove top stuffing.
This was GOOD!
I served it with a can of green beans on the side.
Day by Day
Yesterday was a very productive day. Got dishes done, cleaned out the turkey fryer we have been using as a hot water heater, and refilled it, made dinner, made breakfast, and who knows what else that I can't remember at this very moment. lol.
Two days ago I was driving back from the post office and the sound the truck makes changed. I thought I had put a rock through my muffler as our road has some fairly large stones on it. Especially on one expanse. So I drove to the post office day before yesterday and made sure that it wasn't something going wrong with the truck itself. It wasn't. So when I got home I mentioned it to the hubby, and he climbed under the truck and took a look before we left for the post office that morning. lo and behold it isn't a hole in my muffler. What happened is that the muffler came off of the tail pipe. So we drove down to the post office and back and when we got home hubby put the truck up on jacks so he could look and see what he needed to do to fix it. Keep in mind, hubby knows very little to nothing about car repair. But, once he got under there it turns out that he didn't need to know what anything at all about car repair. There is no screws to put the muffler back on. Apparently what has come loose is the muffler was WELDED on to the tail pipe and the weld broke. So now we have to find someone with welding equipment that can fix it for us.
Luckily we have a neighbor who knows about welding and has the equipment, so hubby is going to go ask him about getting help. Don't know what he will ask for payment or if he will even ASK for payment, but we'll have to make it right of course. The last thing we want is our neighbors thinking we are here just to ask them for favors and never give in return.
Dinner last night was rice made with beef broth, with sirloin soup over it from Campbells. Simple, fast, and very good and very filling. hubby had 2 plates full! I was very tickled about that. Him eating is always a good thing.
Today breakfast was scrambled eggs with a can of drained mushrooms, a can of drained sliced olives, and a can of treet chopped up in it. All fried up and made good. Served with BBQ sauce over it.
I really didn't sleep well last night, but then neither did Hubby, we don't know why. HE would get hot then cold, which in turn meant that he was turning the fire up and down. Which would make me hot and cold. And I was very restless, which meant that I kept knocking my sleep apnea mask askew, which made me have apnea episodes, which led to vivid dreams and a horrible sleep because I was stoppig breathing off and on all night. Ugh. It sucked.
tonight better be a much better night or perhaps tomorrow people may be wishing they never knew me. lol. On the up note, it looks like hubby was able to fix the lamp so it's no longer pulling over 100 watts for a 23 watt lamp. lol. It's now pulling about 20 watts which is MUCH better on our inverter and our battery. Every watt counts around here with a generator and a battery only and no city power. strange what you start paying attention to out here in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest.
Last night was SO BRIGHT outside. The moon is almost full, and there is still snow on the ground so it had some really great reflector to bounce off of. you could almost read it was so bright. I can't wait to see what it's like tonight.
Ok, I am going to attempt to get some other stuff done, but no promises. lol.
Mrs. Treehaven...
Two days ago I was driving back from the post office and the sound the truck makes changed. I thought I had put a rock through my muffler as our road has some fairly large stones on it. Especially on one expanse. So I drove to the post office day before yesterday and made sure that it wasn't something going wrong with the truck itself. It wasn't. So when I got home I mentioned it to the hubby, and he climbed under the truck and took a look before we left for the post office that morning. lo and behold it isn't a hole in my muffler. What happened is that the muffler came off of the tail pipe. So we drove down to the post office and back and when we got home hubby put the truck up on jacks so he could look and see what he needed to do to fix it. Keep in mind, hubby knows very little to nothing about car repair. But, once he got under there it turns out that he didn't need to know what anything at all about car repair. There is no screws to put the muffler back on. Apparently what has come loose is the muffler was WELDED on to the tail pipe and the weld broke.
Luckily we have a neighbor who knows about welding and has the equipment, so hubby is going to go ask him about getting help. Don't know what he will ask for payment or if he will even ASK for payment, but we'll have to make it right of course. The last thing we want is our neighbors thinking we are here just to ask them for favors and never give in return.
Dinner last night was rice made with beef broth, with sirloin soup over it from Campbells. Simple, fast, and very good and very filling. hubby had 2 plates full! I was very tickled about that. Him eating is always a good thing.
Today breakfast was scrambled eggs with a can of drained mushrooms, a can of drained sliced olives, and a can of treet chopped up in it. All fried up and made good. Served with BBQ sauce over it.
I really didn't sleep well last night, but then neither did Hubby, we don't know why. HE would get hot then cold, which in turn meant that he was turning the fire up and down. Which would make me hot and cold. And I was very restless, which meant that I kept knocking my sleep apnea mask askew, which made me have apnea episodes, which led to vivid dreams and a horrible sleep because I was stoppig breathing off and on all night. Ugh. It sucked.
tonight better be a much better night or perhaps tomorrow people may be wishing they never knew me. lol. On the up note, it looks like hubby was able to fix the lamp so it's no longer pulling over 100 watts for a 23 watt lamp. lol. It's now pulling about 20 watts which is MUCH better on our inverter and our battery. Every watt counts around here with a generator and a battery only and no city power. strange what you start paying attention to out here in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest.
Last night was SO BRIGHT outside. The moon is almost full, and there is still snow on the ground so it had some really great reflector to bounce off of. you could almost read it was so bright. I can't wait to see what it's like tonight.
Ok, I am going to attempt to get some other stuff done, but no promises. lol.
Mrs. Treehaven...
Friday, January 9, 2009
Another day in the neighborhood
Sometimes it's just go-go-go around here, and other times it's sit on your hands dead. That was the last few days. They were filled with doing laundry, cooking, doing a few dishes and fighting headaches for both myself and hubby.
There were a few highlights, such as our trader friend dropping by to visit one of the days. And I ran down to the post office both of the last few days. Received 2 dozen eggs from our post office friend too. She has good, homegrown eggs, and I even got one that was double yolked the other day. It's always a nice surprise to see those. I wonder if because there is more than one yolk that this means that there is more protein? Will have to look into that.
Freya has taken to going further afield when she goes out, so I KNOW I have to work on fencing of some sort soon. hubby and I differ in how her training should go and I think it may be causing a problem, both for her in confusion and us in that we can't agree. I firmly beleive that when she hears her name she should come to you. he thinks that she should here her name then wait for a second command, such as "here" or "down" or "sit". So, needless to say when I call her I don't use any secondary so I have to call her 5 or 6 times before she comes. Which frustrates me to no end to have a dog that doesn't obey as it should. He uses "Freya, HERE" to get her to come which also frustrates me. We're going to have to hash this out soon though. He says that he wants her to wait for a second command in case he wants to train her to do this or that... but he doesn't know what he wants to train her for yet. lol. I told him that he needs to figure that out SOON so we could get it settled as how she's trained. Poor dog is mighty confused right now and that needs to be fixed, she's to independant and smart to leave it hanging for long because she'll just do it her way if we can't or won't give her direction.
As I left to go to the post office on Wednesday Thor decided he wasn't going to let me out of the cabin without going with me. I tried to convince him to go back inside, but he wasn't having none of that. So hubby loaded him up in the truck and I took him with me. Spaz that Thor is, he of course wagged and wanted to make friends with everyone who walked by the truck. He thought that was a real fun, if boring, treat! thankfully yesterday I was able to convince him to stay home with the rest of the family when I went down.
I attempted mayonaisse yesterday. It was a flop. I was able to emulsify the egg and the oil, but it never thickened. I'll have to look over what I did and a few mayo recipes to see WHY it didn't thicken. It was a little on the frustrating side. I used olive oil, maybe I should have used a different oil, such as veggie oil which is lighter in order to get it to thicken. I used dry mustard as the recipe called for and lemon juice. A little Salt and Pepper was added too just as the recipe said I could add, but it still didn't work. Maybe I just need to break down and get a blender of some sort (unelectrical of course) and see if the added whipping would work to thicken it up. I know I want to get it right as mayo isn't something that you can leave unrefrigerated. I would rather make small amounts of mayonaisse by hand each time we need it than to buy a jar of mayo only to waste 1/2 (or more) of it because I have no safe way to store it after opening.
Breakfast this morning will be corned beef hash I think. It's quick and simple (I buy it canned) and doesn't take 400 dishes. lol. After that I'll do dishes so that I can make dinner without having to be frustrated by the lack of dish availability. I hate doing dishes, but most of that right now is the lack of where to put them. Once some more shelves get put in then I'll be happier about the situation.
As I mentioned before we received snow boots from my mother in law for Christmas. I didn't think they would make much difference, but I was sure wrong. I can wear one pair of socks a day now instead of two, and with the great tread on the bottom I almost never slip when I walk outside. The no-slipping thing is a HUGE boon to me. When you are short and chubby it is a great fear that you will fall and break something. And living out in the wilderness a broken bone is more than just a minor inconvienence. Especially if it's a broken ankle, foot, or leg. I wore my boots all day for the last 2 days and it's been very nice. I urge anyone who lives in the wilderness, semi-wilderness, or snowy/slick terrain to get some boots, it really does help.
My sister sent us gloves for Christmas. Thinsulate insulation in one of the pair even! Yay! Hands and especially fingers get very cold outside up here. We had some other gloves before these, but they were fingerless gloves and the others are the cheaper acrylic knitted gloves you can pick up for about $2.00 after Christmas in just about any store, mall or gas station quick mart. So these are definitely being used.
Have I mentioned I have some pretty great relatives. :D
OK, off to do some reading, then to get dressed and do breakfast. I have a day to handle. lol.
Mistress of the house, Drifting along on Treehaven's day...
There were a few highlights, such as our trader friend dropping by to visit one of the days. And I ran down to the post office both of the last few days. Received 2 dozen eggs from our post office friend too. She has good, homegrown eggs, and I even got one that was double yolked the other day. It's always a nice surprise to see those. I wonder if because there is more than one yolk that this means that there is more protein? Will have to look into that.
Freya has taken to going further afield when she goes out, so I KNOW I have to work on fencing of some sort soon. hubby and I differ in how her training should go and I think it may be causing a problem, both for her in confusion and us in that we can't agree. I firmly beleive that when she hears her name she should come to you. he thinks that she should here her name then wait for a second command, such as "here" or "down" or "sit". So, needless to say when I call her I don't use any secondary so I have to call her 5 or 6 times before she comes. Which frustrates me to no end to have a dog that doesn't obey as it should. He uses "Freya, HERE" to get her to come which also frustrates me. We're going to have to hash this out soon though. He says that he wants her to wait for a second command in case he wants to train her to do this or that... but he doesn't know what he wants to train her for yet. lol. I told him that he needs to figure that out SOON so we could get it settled as how she's trained. Poor dog is mighty confused right now and that needs to be fixed, she's to independant and smart to leave it hanging for long because she'll just do it her way if we can't or won't give her direction.
As I left to go to the post office on Wednesday Thor decided he wasn't going to let me out of the cabin without going with me. I tried to convince him to go back inside, but he wasn't having none of that. So hubby loaded him up in the truck and I took him with me. Spaz that Thor is, he of course wagged and wanted to make friends with everyone who walked by the truck. He thought that was a real fun, if boring, treat! thankfully yesterday I was able to convince him to stay home with the rest of the family when I went down.
I attempted mayonaisse yesterday. It was a flop. I was able to emulsify the egg and the oil, but it never thickened. I'll have to look over what I did and a few mayo recipes to see WHY it didn't thicken. It was a little on the frustrating side. I used olive oil, maybe I should have used a different oil, such as veggie oil which is lighter in order to get it to thicken. I used dry mustard as the recipe called for and lemon juice. A little Salt and Pepper was added too just as the recipe said I could add, but it still didn't work. Maybe I just need to break down and get a blender of some sort (unelectrical of course) and see if the added whipping would work to thicken it up. I know I want to get it right as mayo isn't something that you can leave unrefrigerated. I would rather make small amounts of mayonaisse by hand each time we need it than to buy a jar of mayo only to waste 1/2 (or more) of it because I have no safe way to store it after opening.
Breakfast this morning will be corned beef hash I think. It's quick and simple (I buy it canned) and doesn't take 400 dishes. lol. After that I'll do dishes so that I can make dinner without having to be frustrated by the lack of dish availability. I hate doing dishes, but most of that right now is the lack of where to put them. Once some more shelves get put in then I'll be happier about the situation.
As I mentioned before we received snow boots from my mother in law for Christmas. I didn't think they would make much difference, but I was sure wrong. I can wear one pair of socks a day now instead of two, and with the great tread on the bottom I almost never slip when I walk outside. The no-slipping thing is a HUGE boon to me. When you are short and chubby it is a great fear that you will fall and break something. And living out in the wilderness a broken bone is more than just a minor inconvienence. Especially if it's a broken ankle, foot, or leg. I wore my boots all day for the last 2 days and it's been very nice. I urge anyone who lives in the wilderness, semi-wilderness, or snowy/slick terrain to get some boots, it really does help.
My sister sent us gloves for Christmas. Thinsulate insulation in one of the pair even! Yay! Hands and especially fingers get very cold outside up here. We had some other gloves before these, but they were fingerless gloves and the others are the cheaper acrylic knitted gloves you can pick up for about $2.00 after Christmas in just about any store, mall or gas station quick mart. So these are definitely being used.
Have I mentioned I have some pretty great relatives. :D
OK, off to do some reading, then to get dressed and do breakfast. I have a day to handle. lol.
Mistress of the house, Drifting along on Treehaven's day...
Just Life
The last couple of days have been uneventful. We did some dishes, a little laundry, I changed the oil in the generator and we went for a nice walk.
We had a short visit from our friend Mr. Trader, we are going to be getting a propane oven from him as soon as we get some money. This will make wife happy. She will have a real oven to bake in again, mmm fresh bread. OK, it will make me happy also.
I have plenty of things on my "To Do" list but I'm constrained by materials, and materials cost money. I have lots of wood, all I have to do is cut it down and figure out how to make it into lumber using a hatchet and a chain saw. I really don't want to cut down a lot of my trees. The trees are most of the prosperity's value and are our reserve heat source should anything ever happen to the propane supply.
I'm starting to worry about my long term income prospects. I don't plan on being on disability forever and I 'm fairly certain that the insurance company will make sure that would be next to imposable. I don't think I will ever be able to go back to what I was doing. Just the thought of the cubical farm and the problems I was having puts me into a very Hulk like mood. (Hulk SMASH!!!)
My therapist says this kind of reaction is my reptile brain overriding the reasoning part of my brain. The reptile in me thinks I'm being chased by a gorilla and preps the body for fight or flight. I'm working with her to try and gain some control over this reaction, but something has occurred to me in the last few days. What if I am being chased by a gorilla? No, not a tree dwelling gorilla, I'm not that far gone, but the modern equivalent, a situation or event that is a threat to me or my family's life. If that is the case am I not putting myself at a disadvantage in a life or death conflict by overriding my reptile reaction? I don't know, it's something I will have to talk with her about at my next appointment.
For now I think I will just finish my morning caffeine fix (Tea, Earl Gray, Hot) and try and get through the day.
The Gorilla Chased Geek of Treehaven.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Breakdown of Society
I thought I would take a few minutes to write about the breakdown of our society. Maybe it's something everyone already knows, but no one seems to be doing Diddly Squat about.
There are people every day that are getting their electricity turned off here in the U.S. Why? Because they have to make the choice between FOOD for them and their children, or paying the electric bill... Which would you choose? Then, because it's winter here, they have to find ways to heat their house. Frequently this means UNSAFE ways. Such as running a generator in the basement or using the oven with it open to heat their house. I read a story on CNN yesterday that stated that deaths from carbon monoxide poisonings are expected to be WAY up this year because of the record # of people who have had their electricity cut off.
Let me back up a little. When human beings first started walking this planet. Way back when either Adam and Eve were created or when we evolved into standing beings depending on your personal beliefs... We didn't have electricity. I mean, electricity didn't evolve alongside us, nor does the Bible say "on the eighth day God created electrical current". BUT, as time went on and finally electricity was created, we adapted to where most of the human race MUST have electricity to survive. Either they aren't fit to think of life without it, or we have lost the skills to help us to live without it. Even I, living out here in the wild wilderness, must have an electrical current to run my sleep apnea machine and this laptop.
So here you have a bunch of people, living in these sprawling metropolis' who have had that electrical magic stilled to their dwellings and they don't know how to cope. Or they cope in the best way they know how. I think it's a bit of selective murder by the CEO's of these electric companies to cut off power to anyone during winter. Elder folks, people with children, people with medical needs.. It doesn't matter to them. If you can't pay them the moola, then you are shut off. The one thought of the high poobah's of these companies is.. "We'll shed a false tear when we find out you are dead from hypothermia or carbon monoxide poisoning so the press doesn't give us TOO bad of a name, and go looking through our books for the next poor sap we can shut off to keep the reaper going. After all, what were you to us? you didn't pay your bill so obviously the planet is better off without you."
Ok, here is what I think. I do not think that society as a whole should have to pay for certain things out of their hard earned cash. "GASP!" I think that electricity to homes, water to homes, sewage from homes should all be FREE to the public. What in hades do we pay taxes for anyway? For some sanctamonious b****rd in govenment to get a $300,000.00 yearly salary? Minimum!?!? Most make way more than that just to sit in a senate seat or what have you. What makes them more important than your local police officer or fireman or school teacher? You better beleive that Barrack Obama never got his power turned off, and you can also bet that he probably has had some late bills even after coming to the Senate. And I BET that you and me and one or two of your neighbors are who PAID Mr. Obamas power bills. I am picking on Mr. Obama only because he is a name I know everyone who reads this blog would know. If I decided to pick on Mr. Merkley then I am not sure someone on the East coast of the U.S. would know who I was talking about.
and BREATHE!... I know I should just let it go, because there is nothing I can do to change it, but I just have to get it off my chest. lol.
Food is another thing that miffs me off. Why in the world is food so expensive for the average or below average American to have to buy? There is no reason for any of this to cost so much. I know, I know... Fuel to ship it and people's paychecks to do the hauling, packing, shipping and importing and blah, blah, blah.
Why does Oregon ship Strawberries to California to sell then we ship California strawberries to Oregon to sell? You KNOW food would be cheaper if we kept it more local. Ship Eugene, Oregon Strawberries to Portland, Oregon to sell and I bet it would be a lot cheaper and the fruit would arrive in better condition. Because it didn't have to ship so far it could stay on the vine longer thus TASTING better when it arrived too.
you know why all this happens? Because we let it. And, hehe, this is where I tick a lot of people off I am sure, because Americans on the whole are a bunch of lazy lizards who don't want to bake their own bread, get off their butts and grow their own greenbeans, or learn a little chemistry and make their own ginger ale. That's right! LAZY! You can grow food, even if you live in an apartment you can grow food. It's not hard. So you only can grow tomatoes? So what?!? Maybe your neighbor can only get peas to grow, TRADE some of your tomatoes for it. Everyone grow their own thing in your neighborhood then you can get together once a week and trade with each other and tada! You have an entire selection to hand.
ok... I'm off of my soap box now... By the way... THANKS MOM IN LAW FOR THE GREAT BOOTS! They are very warm.
Mistress Treehaven, voice of the poor
Stay tuned for the next blog where I discuss the idea of "locovore".
There are people every day that are getting their electricity turned off here in the U.S. Why? Because they have to make the choice between FOOD for them and their children, or paying the electric bill... Which would you choose? Then, because it's winter here, they have to find ways to heat their house. Frequently this means UNSAFE ways. Such as running a generator in the basement or using the oven with it open to heat their house. I read a story on CNN yesterday that stated that deaths from carbon monoxide poisonings are expected to be WAY up this year because of the record # of people who have had their electricity cut off.
Let me back up a little. When human beings first started walking this planet. Way back when either Adam and Eve were created or when we evolved into standing beings depending on your personal beliefs... We didn't have electricity. I mean, electricity didn't evolve alongside us, nor does the Bible say "on the eighth day God created electrical current". BUT, as time went on and finally electricity was created, we adapted to where most of the human race MUST have electricity to survive. Either they aren't fit to think of life without it, or we have lost the skills to help us to live without it. Even I, living out here in the wild wilderness, must have an electrical current to run my sleep apnea machine and this laptop.
So here you have a bunch of people, living in these sprawling metropolis' who have had that electrical magic stilled to their dwellings and they don't know how to cope. Or they cope in the best way they know how. I think it's a bit of selective murder by the CEO's of these electric companies to cut off power to anyone during winter. Elder folks, people with children, people with medical needs.. It doesn't matter to them. If you can't pay them the moola, then you are shut off. The one thought of the high poobah's of these companies is.. "We'll shed a false tear when we find out you are dead from hypothermia or carbon monoxide poisoning so the press doesn't give us TOO bad of a name, and go looking through our books for the next poor sap we can shut off to keep the reaper going. After all, what were you to us? you didn't pay your bill so obviously the planet is better off without you."
Ok, here is what I think. I do not think that society as a whole should have to pay for certain things out of their hard earned cash. "GASP!" I think that electricity to homes, water to homes, sewage from homes should all be FREE to the public. What in hades do we pay taxes for anyway? For some sanctamonious b****rd in govenment to get a $300,000.00 yearly salary? Minimum!?!? Most make way more than that just to sit in a senate seat or what have you. What makes them more important than your local police officer or fireman or school teacher? You better beleive that Barrack Obama never got his power turned off, and you can also bet that he probably has had some late bills even after coming to the Senate. And I BET that you and me and one or two of your neighbors are who PAID Mr. Obamas power bills. I am picking on Mr. Obama only because he is a name I know everyone who reads this blog would know. If I decided to pick on Mr. Merkley then I am not sure someone on the East coast of the U.S. would know who I was talking about.
and BREATHE!... I know I should just let it go, because there is nothing I can do to change it, but I just have to get it off my chest. lol.
Food is another thing that miffs me off. Why in the world is food so expensive for the average or below average American to have to buy? There is no reason for any of this to cost so much. I know, I know... Fuel to ship it and people's paychecks to do the hauling, packing, shipping and importing and blah, blah, blah.
Why does Oregon ship Strawberries to California to sell then we ship California strawberries to Oregon to sell? You KNOW food would be cheaper if we kept it more local. Ship Eugene, Oregon Strawberries to Portland, Oregon to sell and I bet it would be a lot cheaper and the fruit would arrive in better condition. Because it didn't have to ship so far it could stay on the vine longer thus TASTING better when it arrived too.
you know why all this happens? Because we let it. And, hehe, this is where I tick a lot of people off I am sure, because Americans on the whole are a bunch of lazy lizards who don't want to bake their own bread, get off their butts and grow their own greenbeans, or learn a little chemistry and make their own ginger ale.
ok... I'm off of my soap box now... By the way... THANKS MOM IN LAW FOR THE GREAT BOOTS! They are very warm.
Mistress Treehaven, voice of the poor
Stay tuned for the next blog where I discuss the idea of "locovore".
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Information Expectations
Yesterday we made a trip into town. The goal was to spend the last of our cash on propane and gas, and grab some internet time at the library.
Overall I have been impressed by the library system in klamath county but yesterday's trip to the library was disappointing.
This branch has no wireless internet access. Every other branch we have used provided wireless access, but not this one. I asked the librarian why thay didn't offer wireless and was told that at one time thay did have wireless, but it caused some kind of problem with the DSL connection so thay stopped offering it.
BLINK ... BLINK
keep in mind that I'm a computer geek by trade. I have been working with computers of one kind or another for 25 years. There is no reason a wireless access point should cause any problems with a DSL connection. I don't think the librarian was lying to me, but someone is lying to someone.
The library has 3 computers hard wired to the DSL line. Two PC's with Windows, and one Mac system. When we got there one of the PC systems was in use and the other had no network connection. I think it has a bad connector on the network cable but thay have the OS locked down so tight I would have had to hack in just to work on it. I figured hacking the system was a bad idea so I just left it be. Looks like it will just have to wait for the paid county library geek to fix it, someday. We can hope.
With my options for internet access down to the Mac system I opened up Safari and tried to go to one of my podcast sites. Note I said "tried". Instead of my expected web site I get a notice that my requested web site is "'not on the approved web site list".
BLINK ... BLINK
A library should NOT filter internet access. A library is a center of information. No individual or group should determine what information someone can have access to.
I can already hear the shouts of "but we must protect the children". No, protecting the child is the job of the parent(s) not of the library. If you must allow someone else to "protect" your children then at least provide some kind of adult override so only the children are being "protected".
Beware the person who would deny you access to information, for in their heart they secretly believer themselves to be your master.
The Slightly Enraged Geek of Treehaven
Monday, January 5, 2009
This home protected by Mossberg
Sunday was not a complete down day, but not a lot got done. The wife's back was bothering her so most of what we wanted to get done was put off.
Instead we spent some quantity time shooting and cleaning our neglected firearms. That is to say, I did some shooting, and we both did some cleaning. Mrs. Treehaven didn't feel up to handling her baby, the Mossberg, but she is vary capable of using it should she need to.
I support the 2nd amendment fully. Our founding father's had just won a war using mostly farmers and merchants against a tyrant's professional soldiers. Thay knew the value of individuals with firearms and insured future generations would have access to firearms should the need ever arise again.
The rest of the day was down time. We had a short visit from our friend the trader, I spent some time doing some geek stuff and playing a computer game.
I charged up Tim (our battery) using the 50 amp setting last night. I got it up to 13.2 volts, still not the 14 volts I was hoping for. After running the sleep apnea machine all night and our light for an hour or so, Tim showed a remaining charge of 11.8 volts. Tonight I will repeat the process and see how things go.
I'm staring a spread sheet today to track our costs for power and heat. I will also track charge time, volts, and some other data that I will share once I have enough information to form solid conclusions from.
Today it's into town for a bit. We will be spending the last of our cash on some gasoline and propane. I hope we will have enough to last until next Monday.
I'm also going to drop off a laptop for our trader friend. I'm introducing him to the world of podcasts.
Well, time to face the day.
The unfocused Geek of Treehaven
Palsied Poodles, Shooting and my aching back
Yesterday didn't go as I planned at all! Sometime in the night I rolled over (I had woke up just enough to do it) and as I rolled, my shoulders rolled, and my hips didn't and I had a click and a crunching sound in my back. Ugh, so I woke up to a tight back that was sore. It was sore for most of the day so I spent it sitting. I don't mind a lazy day, but enforced lazy days I hate.
By last night it was doing better, but even today I am having twinges and some stiffness. I am hoping that the stiffness is gone by the time I get out doing stuff. I want to run into the nearest little town and fill up one of the 5 gallon gas cans and put $20.00 in the propane tank. That will be all the cash we have until our next check comes in. oh well, that's how the cookie crumbles so they say.
For our lazy day yesterday I played around on the computer, messed with some pictures, and prepped some stuff to send to my email list always_ready on yahoo groups and then cleaned our weapons. It's something you can do sitting at least. lol. hubby took the shot gun out after it was clean and put a few rounds through it, then I swabbed her down again.
I mention this only because I wanted to let you in on more about Pan, our palsied poodle in a Lab mix body. The first shot went off and you would have thought it hit him. He jumped up from where he was laying next to me and tried to crawl under me, the entire time shaking like a leaf in a snow storm. By the time his daddy had 9 or 10 rounds through, he was under a blanket, glued to me like epoxy and shaking like mad. I don't know how we will desensitize him. I thought if maybe I covered him with his blanket, a stadium sized fleece one, and just sat there with him it would help, but it really didn't. Unlike popular belief, you don't want to do the "poor baby" thing and pet them and love on them when they are like this. To a dog all this does is tell them that what they are doing is right, and I really don't want to reinforce his problems. Although, at 11 and 1/2 years old, I don't know if I will ever be able to desensitize him.
Freya jumped up from the floor onto the bed then put her head down and laid there. Thor just kind of cocked an ear and went back to sleep. Whoot! one out of three who does nothing when a gun goes off is a good thing!
If everything goes as planned, we'll be going to town as I mentioned earlier, stopping at a friends house to help them with their computer, then to the library to load pictures and the blogs (whoot!) and then back here to home, where I'll work on getting some english muffins going. I really want to give it a whirl and see if I can do it. Bread that doesn't have to be baked is a huge nicety right now. I know there are others, such as bannock, but I don't have the familiarity with them as I do others. Feel free to send me any stove top bread recipes, and I'll give them all a go and see if I can make them all work. Keep in mind here I am limited. lol. I have a coleman cookstove to cook on, and no dutch oven or frypan with a lid. That will be remedied soon, gotta have a frypan with a lid to fry chicken in. yummmm.
We are still continuing our quest for another furry companion as well. One more, no more than two more right now. We don't have room for the 20 or so I would LOVE to have, but you just can't fit that many dogs in a 200 SF cabin. lol.
More snow fell last night, only about an inch, but some. From the sounds of it my sister is getting hammered more with snow than we are, which is highly unusual. But I'm not complaining. She lives 5 minutes from town, we live just over an hour... She has electricity and we don't also, so this means that she can still stay warm no matter what, if we run out of propane right now we have no heat. And that depends on us being able to get to town to refill our tanks. I can't wait until we get our wood stove in, it'll be really nice to be able to not to have to run to town to get the propane filled or freeze. :D That's a choice I don't want to have to make.
ok, gotta brush my hair out and get ready to go soon. May your day be filled with wonder and glory!
Mistress Treehaven
By last night it was doing better, but even today I am having twinges and some stiffness. I am hoping that the stiffness is gone by the time I get out doing stuff. I want to run into the nearest little town and fill up one of the 5 gallon gas cans and put $20.00 in the propane tank. That will be all the cash we have until our next check comes in. oh well, that's how the cookie crumbles so they say.
For our lazy day yesterday I played around on the computer, messed with some pictures, and prepped some stuff to send to my email list always_ready on yahoo groups and then cleaned our weapons. It's something you can do sitting at least. lol. hubby took the shot gun out after it was clean and put a few rounds through it, then I swabbed her down again.
I mention this only because I wanted to let you in on more about Pan, our palsied poodle in a Lab mix body. The first shot went off and you would have thought it hit him. He jumped up from where he was laying next to me and tried to crawl under me, the entire time shaking like a leaf in a snow storm. By the time his daddy had 9 or 10 rounds through, he was under a blanket, glued to me like epoxy and shaking like mad. I don't know how we will desensitize him. I thought if maybe I covered him with his blanket, a stadium sized fleece one, and just sat there with him it would help, but it really didn't. Unlike popular belief, you don't want to do the "poor baby" thing and pet them and love on them when they are like this. To a dog all this does is tell them that what they are doing is right, and I really don't want to reinforce his problems. Although, at 11 and 1/2 years old, I don't know if I will ever be able to desensitize him.
Freya jumped up from the floor onto the bed then put her head down and laid there. Thor just kind of cocked an ear and went back to sleep. Whoot! one out of three who does nothing when a gun goes off is a good thing!
If everything goes as planned, we'll be going to town as I mentioned earlier, stopping at a friends house to help them with their computer, then to the library to load pictures and the blogs (whoot!) and then back here to home, where I'll work on getting some english muffins going. I really want to give it a whirl and see if I can do it. Bread that doesn't have to be baked is a huge nicety right now. I know there are others, such as bannock, but I don't have the familiarity with them as I do others. Feel free to send me any stove top bread recipes, and I'll give them all a go and see if I can make them all work. Keep in mind here I am limited. lol. I have a coleman cookstove to cook on, and no dutch oven or frypan with a lid. That will be remedied soon, gotta have a frypan with a lid to fry chicken in. yummmm.
We are still continuing our quest for another furry companion as well. One more, no more than two more right now. We don't have room for the 20 or so I would LOVE to have, but you just can't fit that many dogs in a 200 SF cabin. lol.
More snow fell last night, only about an inch, but some. From the sounds of it my sister is getting hammered more with snow than we are, which is highly unusual. But I'm not complaining. She lives 5 minutes from town, we live just over an hour... She has electricity and we don't also, so this means that she can still stay warm no matter what, if we run out of propane right now we have no heat. And that depends on us being able to get to town to refill our tanks. I can't wait until we get our wood stove in, it'll be really nice to be able to not to have to run to town to get the propane filled or freeze. :D That's a choice I don't want to have to make.
ok, gotta brush my hair out and get ready to go soon. May your day be filled with wonder and glory!
Mistress Treehaven
Sunday, January 4, 2009
"Some call me... Tim"
We name things, the wife's medical equipment is called Harvey, our portable 12 volt battery pack is R2, we even have a wooden chest we call George.
Now we have added the newest member of our none-fur family. Please say hi to Tim. Tim is 100Amp hours of 12 volt deep cycle power. Tim puts poor little R2 to shame. In fact I'm thinking of changing R2's name to R0.5 because it performed so poorly.
We named Tim after my nephew, the doctor. (Phd in Electrical Engineering) It was his christmas present that allowed us to aquire the heart of our off grid power system.
Using batteries as a main power source is not as straight forward as I thought it would be. Who would have thought that you would charge a 12 volt battery to above 12 volts. One of our neighbors says I should charge it up to about 14 volts using the 50 amp setting on our charger and then top it off at 2 amps for about an hour. I'm going to try that tonight.
We have a 750 watt inverter that converts the battery's DC power to AC. The inverter has 3 information displays, battery voltage, watts in use, and output voltage. The watts display has me a bit confused. Last night it showed our little 27 watt (CFL) light was pulling almost 100 watts. I don't know if our light bulb is going bad, the lamp itself has a problem, or if there is something in the whole process I just don't understand.
Working with limited power brings a whole new way of looking at power conservation. You need to really examine what your priorities are. For us the number 1 priority is the wife's sleep apnea machine. Our 2nd priority is charging our gizmoes, cell phone. iPod, R0.5, my PDA, and our laptops. The wife might disagree and say the number 2 priority is our one little light, but I'm good with just my head lamp.
I'm having to get use to doing any heavy computer work only when the genarator is running. Likewise, if we want to watch a DVD, we need to do so while the genarator is running, the laptop battery doesn't last for a whole movie.
I'm learning to adapt, this blog is being written on my PDA and I'm trying to keep myself busy with things that take little or no electricity. It's hard to be a geek in the backwoods.
The (twitching in power withdrawal) Geek of Treehaven
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Menial Labor
Dinner last night WAS meatloaf. about 1 lb of hamburger, and about 1/2 lb of sausage meat. I added to this, some
sea salt, some pepper, some worcestershire sauce, a drop or three of liquid smoke, and a few generous dollops of
hickory BBQ sauce. I made it up into largish meatball size (about the size of a baseball) and set it in a ring
around the outside of a pie tin. In the middle of this ring of meat I put a coffee cup of water and put it to
cook in an oven that varied from 300 to 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes. The coffee cup of water was to water
bath it. I only have one shelf in my camp oven, and this served nicely. To get a nice and moist meat loaf you
should always water bath it somehow. In a larger oven I usually put the loaf pan for the meatloaf in a cake pan
and put water in the cake pan. This really does work well in keeping the meatloaf moist.
We made a trip to the dump yesterday. Only $5.00 and it was just absolutely peachy. Dumped off a whole truck
load of trash and it was WONDERFUL. most of it was packaging for this or that. The world would be a much cleaner
place if companies just used less packaging.
Then we ran into the nearby small town and put some gas in the truck, and let hubby on the internet for a little
bit. He was trying to find more information on our generator and such. I was also able to find out that
"Loppered" milk is the same as Clabbered or soured milk. That's a relief! I had found a recipe for cottage
cheese that was basically just loppered milk with hot water poured over it and wanted to try it. But now I find
out I need unpasturized milk. Good grief. Where do you find that now a days when you don't own a cow?
Did some laundry by hand yesterday, now I have several days worth of clothes again. I'll probably wash some more
today or tomorrow though, just so I can keep up on it a little more. Will have to try to use bigger tubs though.
I used a few dishpans and they were FAR to small to do my jeans much less any of Hubby's thick flannel shirts. I
can't wait until spring and summer when I can put a clothes line or two outside. Then I'll have more room to dry
things. Right now I have a short line over the propane fireplace (about 3.5 feet long) for socks, washclothes and
other small things. And then for jeans and shirts they are hanging from the rafters. Come summer though.. Watch
out! I'll be a hanging fool!
So,to do laundry this is what I did. Large wash basin with warm water in it, and some liquid tide. I like the
liquid as even if you use cold water it will not clump up, but I don't like the fact that so much is stil WASTED
when you empty the bottle. Put the clothes in there while we filled the smaller basin with clear warm water. I
would swoosh the clothes in the wash basin, and if there were any particularly dirty spots I would scrub it
together with my hands until it looked cleaner again. Pay close attention, after you wash clothes many stains are
set, even if you don't machine dry them. Then I wrung out the clothes, and put them in the rinse basin. Hubby
swished well the clothes there, and wrung them well, then hung them up. Unmentionables were on a line strung over
the stove, and jeans/shirts/heavier stuff were tossed over rafters to dry.
Eventually I'll get two BIG basins like 5 gallons each, and a toilet plunger. I'll do the same thing there, that
I did with the smallish basins yesterday, but I'll be able to do more at a time. The plunger will work the
clothes like the agitater in a washing machine. I'll also splurge on a washboard to help get the hard stains and
dirt out of the clothes.
Got the mail, it had the usual bills in it. Blech. Also a nice big envelope of stuff from my Sister in law of
craft stuff to do. There is a great possiblity there. Stuff I may be able to make and sell or that hubby may
make and sell. Some definite possiblities there.
Well, I am off to do some stuff around here. This morning it's egg sammies for breakfast, and then to empty some
more boxes from the garage.
Later Gater!
sea salt, some pepper, some worcestershire sauce, a drop or three of liquid smoke, and a few generous dollops of
hickory BBQ sauce. I made it up into largish meatball size (about the size of a baseball) and set it in a ring
around the outside of a pie tin. In the middle of this ring of meat I put a coffee cup of water and put it to
cook in an oven that varied from 300 to 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes. The coffee cup of water was to water
bath it. I only have one shelf in my camp oven, and this served nicely. To get a nice and moist meat loaf you
should always water bath it somehow. In a larger oven I usually put the loaf pan for the meatloaf in a cake pan
and put water in the cake pan. This really does work well in keeping the meatloaf moist.
We made a trip to the dump yesterday. Only $5.00 and it was just absolutely peachy. Dumped off a whole truck
load of trash and it was WONDERFUL. most of it was packaging for this or that. The world would be a much cleaner
place if companies just used less packaging.
Then we ran into the nearby small town and put some gas in the truck, and let hubby on the internet for a little
bit. He was trying to find more information on our generator and such. I was also able to find out that
"Loppered" milk is the same as Clabbered or soured milk. That's a relief! I had found a recipe for cottage
cheese that was basically just loppered milk with hot water poured over it and wanted to try it. But now I find
out I need unpasturized milk. Good grief. Where do you find that now a days when you don't own a cow?
Did some laundry by hand yesterday, now I have several days worth of clothes again. I'll probably wash some more
today or tomorrow though, just so I can keep up on it a little more. Will have to try to use bigger tubs though.
I used a few dishpans and they were FAR to small to do my jeans much less any of Hubby's thick flannel shirts. I
can't wait until spring and summer when I can put a clothes line or two outside. Then I'll have more room to dry
things. Right now I have a short line over the propane fireplace (about 3.5 feet long) for socks, washclothes and
other small things. And then for jeans and shirts they are hanging from the rafters. Come summer though.. Watch
out! I'll be a hanging fool!
So,to do laundry this is what I did. Large wash basin with warm water in it, and some liquid tide. I like the
liquid as even if you use cold water it will not clump up, but I don't like the fact that so much is stil WASTED
when you empty the bottle. Put the clothes in there while we filled the smaller basin with clear warm water. I
would swoosh the clothes in the wash basin, and if there were any particularly dirty spots I would scrub it
together with my hands until it looked cleaner again. Pay close attention, after you wash clothes many stains are
set, even if you don't machine dry them. Then I wrung out the clothes, and put them in the rinse basin. Hubby
swished well the clothes there, and wrung them well, then hung them up. Unmentionables were on a line strung over
the stove, and jeans/shirts/heavier stuff were tossed over rafters to dry.
Eventually I'll get two BIG basins like 5 gallons each, and a toilet plunger. I'll do the same thing there, that
I did with the smallish basins yesterday, but I'll be able to do more at a time. The plunger will work the
clothes like the agitater in a washing machine. I'll also splurge on a washboard to help get the hard stains and
dirt out of the clothes.
Got the mail, it had the usual bills in it. Blech. Also a nice big envelope of stuff from my Sister in law of
craft stuff to do. There is a great possiblity there. Stuff I may be able to make and sell or that hubby may
make and sell. Some definite possiblities there.
Well, I am off to do some stuff around here. This morning it's egg sammies for breakfast, and then to empty some
more boxes from the garage.
Later Gater!
Friday, January 2, 2009
not so lazy daze...
Dinner last night WASN'T meatloaf, but it was really, really good. Here is what I did. About 1/2 lb of ground pork sausage, some sea salt, some pepper, some ground sage, some minced garlic, and I browned that up. To the ground pork add, one can of black eyed peas including the juice, add to this, a few drops of liquid smoke, and some brown sugar. Don't add to much brown sugar or it will be too sweet. Boil this for a few minutes. I split this into two bowls. THEN, add back to the pan one can of green beans and bring them to the boil so they heat through. Drain the green beans and put them over the top of the black eye peas in the bowls. Serve with bread and butter. It was very good, it was also very filling. lol. It's high fat, high fiber, high vitamins, high protien, and high taste. It also fullfilled our requirement of black eye peas and greens on New Years day. It's a Southern Thing.
Our lazy day was 1/2 a lazy day. lol. I woke up at 6:30 am, which is about when my body wakes me up every day anyway. That's when I wrote the blog and was grumpy about being awake. I also played a few turns on civilization. But after an hour or so found myself nodding back off, so I put up the computer, turned back on my sleep apnea machine and went back to sleep... Until noon. lol. Then I rousted myself and hubby decided to do some stuff too. So between noon and 7pm yesterday we got the following done:
Washed my blanket where Pan barfed on it New years night.
Emptied the turkey fryer into water jugs and refilled it with snow.
filled 2 basins with snow to put into the fryer as it melted down.
made dinner (see above).
Did dishes.
Emptied John (the small porta potty in the cabin).
Delivered some movies up to a friend, and took back his copy of "The Hulk".
Recharged the battery for my sleep apnea machine.
I know it doesn't sound like much, but we actually did do a lot for a day when we were still recovering from sleep deprivation. :D Today the plan is to take a load to the dump, get the mail, put up another shelf, and whatever else comes our way. Nothing solid yet. lol. Life today is still in the formative stage. I know that we do need to do some laundry, but I don't feel like driving into town to do it. So maybe I'll just find a way to wash some jeans here at the house. Since that is what I am out of is jeans. Would probably be good if I washed some other stuff too.
i've been reading a nice old book called "Housekeeping in Old Virginia". It's a compendium of sorts, mostly of recipes, but with some other knowledge tossed in. Edited by Marion Cabell Tyree, and the copyright is 1897. In it I found this recipe which I thought I would share. It actually sounds kind of good.
"To Prepare a Beef's Head as Stock for Soup"
"Cut up the head into small pieces and boil in a large quantity of water until it is boiled to pieces. Take out all the bones as for souse cheese, and boil again until thick. Then, while hot, season very highly with pepper, salt, catsup, allspice, and onion chopped fine.
Put into a mold to get cold. For a small family cut a thick slice, say five inches square, whenever you want soup in a hurry, adding about a quart of water. It need cook for a few minutes only, and is valuable as keeping well and being ready in times of emergency. By adding a few slices of boiled egg and a gill of good cooking wine, this soup may have very nearly the flavor of mock turtle." Mrs. A.M.D.
I know a gill is about the same size as a shot glass. I am guessing that this forms a type of aspic or gelatin, but how do you keep it? Does it dry out and you keep it on the shelf? Or in your icebox / refidgerator?
Another recipe calls for "loppered" milk.. Does anyone know what that is?
I LOVE old cookbooks. I would have a whole room full of them if I could.
Anyway, I am off to find some mischief.
Still recovering some Mrs. Treehaven
Our lazy day was 1/2 a lazy day. lol. I woke up at 6:30 am, which is about when my body wakes me up every day anyway. That's when I wrote the blog and was grumpy about being awake. I also played a few turns on civilization. But after an hour or so found myself nodding back off, so I put up the computer, turned back on my sleep apnea machine and went back to sleep... Until noon. lol. Then I rousted myself and hubby decided to do some stuff too. So between noon and 7pm yesterday we got the following done:
Washed my blanket where Pan barfed on it New years night.
Emptied the turkey fryer into water jugs and refilled it with snow.
filled 2 basins with snow to put into the fryer as it melted down.
made dinner (see above).
Did dishes.
Emptied John (the small porta potty in the cabin).
Delivered some movies up to a friend, and took back his copy of "The Hulk".
Recharged the battery for my sleep apnea machine.
I know it doesn't sound like much, but we actually did do a lot for a day when we were still recovering from sleep deprivation. :D Today the plan is to take a load to the dump, get the mail, put up another shelf, and whatever else comes our way. Nothing solid yet. lol. Life today is still in the formative stage. I know that we do need to do some laundry, but I don't feel like driving into town to do it. So maybe I'll just find a way to wash some jeans here at the house. Since that is what I am out of is jeans. Would probably be good if I washed some other stuff too.
i've been reading a nice old book called "Housekeeping in Old Virginia". It's a compendium of sorts, mostly of recipes, but with some other knowledge tossed in. Edited by Marion Cabell Tyree, and the copyright is 1897. In it I found this recipe which I thought I would share. It actually sounds kind of good.
"To Prepare a Beef's Head as Stock for Soup"
"Cut up the head into small pieces and boil in a large quantity of water until it is boiled to pieces. Take out all the bones as for souse cheese, and boil again until thick. Then, while hot, season very highly with pepper, salt, catsup, allspice, and onion chopped fine.
Put into a mold to get cold. For a small family cut a thick slice, say five inches square, whenever you want soup in a hurry, adding about a quart of water. It need cook for a few minutes only, and is valuable as keeping well and being ready in times of emergency. By adding a few slices of boiled egg and a gill of good cooking wine, this soup may have very nearly the flavor of mock turtle." Mrs. A.M.D.
I know a gill is about the same size as a shot glass. I am guessing that this forms a type of aspic or gelatin, but how do you keep it? Does it dry out and you keep it on the shelf? Or in your icebox / refidgerator?
Another recipe calls for "loppered" milk.. Does anyone know what that is?
I LOVE old cookbooks. I would have a whole room full of them if I could.
Anyway, I am off to find some mischief.
Still recovering some Mrs. Treehaven
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Hello 2009
The first day of the new year has dawned grey and raining. lol. It's almost like we were back in Eugene it's so grey outside my bedroom window. Glancing out the kitchen window doesn't change the scene much.. Especially considering they are only about 11 feet apart. hehe. I sit here awake, because at 6:30 this morning my body said it was time to get up. That's what time I usually get awake and doing "something" in the day. however, I had went to bed at 1am-ish, so I am still pretty rummy and tired. Getting to old for this party all night thing!
Having moved to the wilderness where our local civilization is about 4 miles away and that consists of about 5 businesses and a post office you would think that there wouldn't be much night life. But wow... Does it get a little wild or what?
Some of the local people own a local bar, local as in here in town. They threw a hoot-n-nanny (bigger than a shindig smaller than a feista) last night that was pretty nice. For the total sum of $27.00 we got a great meal, 4.5 beer for the hubby and bottomless pepsi for me. I even got a great handmade mardi-gra mask from one of the people we met last night.
We arrived about 7pm, and commenced with the eating and the looking for people. There were only about 4 or 5 other people there and we were teasing the hosts about where everyone was. She said to wait, that more were coming. And boy was she right. I lost count at about 25 or so, not counting kiddos. Yes, it was a family affair. We had kids as young as 1 and 1/2 running around.
There was no games, but plenty of good food, appetizers included popcorn, chips, salsa, BBQ sausage, turkey wraps with lettuce and cream cheese and whatever you wanted to order from the menu (but you had to pay for what you ordered off the menu). Drinks, hey, we were at a BAR for crying out loud. No hard liquer, but all the beer in about 40 different varieties that you could want. And lots of good people who were more than willing to chat you up.
Met a couple who live locally and who sell their lettuce at the local farmers market, and who are going to help open a store here locally, (I let them know I am willing to work!) and someone who knows someone who raises mules. There were so many people there I didn't meet everyone, but a good time was had by all.
The best part was that there were no arguements, no fights, and when we left to come home, I didn't have to dodge a torrent of drunken fools. Of course I did have to wait for the incredibly large amount of traffic as I pulled out of the parking lot to come home (one car on the road, going the opposite direction) but that's just normal right? I mean, there's always a lot of traffic on New Year's Night. Did I mention it was one car?
I have to say I have some pretty contented and happy New Years celebrations over the years. Most of these have been spent at home, happily surrounded by only my hubby and my dogs. Quietly celebrating the "out with the old, in with the new". But, never have I had a more enjoyable New Years outing.
Dinner last night was a mushroom/swiss burger with fries for me, and a handmade pizza bread for hubby. Dinner tonight will be meatloaf and veggies. Maybe. If I can stir that much energy. lol. If not then it'll be soup. But I do have a bunch of fresh hamburger to use so it won't go bad. And some sausage too.
And yes... Today will definitely be a lazy, nap kind of day.
Tired but happy Mistress of Treehaven.
Having moved to the wilderness where our local civilization is about 4 miles away and that consists of about 5 businesses and a post office you would think that there wouldn't be much night life. But wow... Does it get a little wild or what?
Some of the local people own a local bar, local as in here in town. They threw a hoot-n-nanny (bigger than a shindig smaller than a feista) last night that was pretty nice. For the total sum of $27.00 we got a great meal, 4.5 beer for the hubby and bottomless pepsi for me. I even got a great handmade mardi-gra mask from one of the people we met last night.
We arrived about 7pm, and commenced with the eating and the looking for people. There were only about 4 or 5 other people there and we were teasing the hosts about where everyone was. She said to wait, that more were coming. And boy was she right. I lost count at about 25 or so, not counting kiddos. Yes, it was a family affair. We had kids as young as 1 and 1/2 running around.
There was no games, but plenty of good food, appetizers included popcorn, chips, salsa, BBQ sausage, turkey wraps with lettuce and cream cheese and whatever you wanted to order from the menu (but you had to pay for what you ordered off the menu). Drinks, hey, we were at a BAR for crying out loud. No hard liquer, but all the beer in about 40 different varieties that you could want. And lots of good people who were more than willing to chat you up.
Met a couple who live locally and who sell their lettuce at the local farmers market, and who are going to help open a store here locally, (I let them know I am willing to work!) and someone who knows someone who raises mules. There were so many people there I didn't meet everyone, but a good time was had by all.
The best part was that there were no arguements, no fights, and when we left to come home, I didn't have to dodge a torrent of drunken fools. Of course I did have to wait for the incredibly large amount of traffic as I pulled out of the parking lot to come home (one car on the road, going the opposite direction) but that's just normal right? I mean, there's always a lot of traffic on New Year's Night. Did I mention it was one car?
I have to say I have some pretty contented and happy New Years celebrations over the years. Most of these have been spent at home, happily surrounded by only my hubby and my dogs. Quietly celebrating the "out with the old, in with the new". But, never have I had a more enjoyable New Years outing.
Dinner last night was a mushroom/swiss burger with fries for me, and a handmade pizza bread for hubby. Dinner tonight will be meatloaf and veggies. Maybe. If I can stir that much energy. lol. If not then it'll be soup. But I do have a bunch of fresh hamburger to use so it won't go bad. And some sausage too.
And yes... Today will definitely be a lazy, nap kind of day.
Tired but happy Mistress of Treehaven.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)