Life and Death and Pizza

We are well into the growing season here at Lick Skillet.

 

The garden is green and lush, yielding tomatoes and beans, corn and potatoes, bean beetles and slugs and flea beetles. 

At least this year the balance is tilting towards more vegetables than pests.
 
Our livestock is blossoming also.

Dale had more kittens (she finally has her date with the veterinarian next month). Current cat count is now at 5.

Mr. Gottlieb

Mrs. Claypool

Our two breeding does continue to be productive. Fluffy Black Phantom (I gotta stop giving the grandkids naming rights) had 9 fat kits who are now old enough to drive her nuts. Monster Bunny followed a few weeks later with 6 babies of her own.

And we recently harvested* eight rabbits. 
That brings the population at Rabbit Town up to 18.

The big surprise of the summer is keets!

One of our 4 guinea hens took herself off into the weeds for a month and came strutting back with 16 babies following her around. The noise level from 4 guineas is sometimes overwhelming, There just may be roast guinea on the menu at some future date if we want to keep our hearing. 
Guineas number stands at 20!

Our chicken raising hasn't been so successful. Our last two laying hens were attacked and killed WHILE IN THEIR FENCED RUN by what turned out to be a neighbor's dog. I came home a few weeks later from a poultry swap with three adult hens, two of whom died within days. The remaining Barred Rock is getting used to her surroundings but keeps looking for a flock to hang with.

So, on a whim, I ordered chicks from the Meyer Hatchery. 

This is a mixed bunch of peeps of indeterminate variety plus a free one. Meyers offers a free chick if you agree to donate its eggs to charity. Got my fingers crossed that it lives that long!
Chickens at this moment=17.

We were blessed to increase the human presence to 4 at Lick Skillet for a few days in July. Grandchildren Lizzy and Elias came to help out and keep us entertained.

 

They ran and climbed and painted and planted. We watched and listened and scolded and loved. In a few years we hope to add brother Oliver to the mix. A group of sheep is a flock, a bunch of sparrows is a host. Would a trio of grandchildren be called a frenzy?

A farm is a microcosm of the world; life and death and growth. Animals are born, some die. Crops grow and wither. Seasons come and go. But at Lick Skillet, one thing never changes...

Homemade pizza for dinner at least once a week.

*In other words, we killed and ate them. I was trying to be sensitive.

This is my cathedral

Morning has broken,
Like the first morning.

Blackbird has spoken,
Like the first bird.

Praise for the singing,

Praise for the morning,

Praise for them springing...

Sproing!

When winter finally concedes defeat, it seems that everything needs to be done AT ONCE: the coop and barn need to be cleaned out, the yard is a disaster, the garden beds are knee deep in weeds. Long to-do lists are made and muscles and backs ache continually from trying to do it all.

But that's not why I haven't posted.

Spring also brings new life: trees bud, tulips and dandelions bloom, bunnies and kittens are born, and we were privileged to spend time with our children and joyfully welcome a new grandson.

But that's not why I haven't posted, either.

I have lost my blogging mojo; nothing seems worth putting fingers to keyboard. This spring I just feel sprung.

For many, many years I have been desiring a more self-reliant, country life; I was a poster child for the back-to-the-land, Mother Earth News generation. I retired early and for 10 years we developed Woodchuck Acres into a mini-farm with chickens and goats and bees and a huge garden; hard work and I loved every minute. Two years ago, we took a leap of faith and moved to Indiana. Our reasons were being closer to our grandchildren, a warmer climate, and more land (without rocks!). 

Those reasons are still valid but my goals are less clear to me.

Various health issues have curtailed what I can reasonably accomplish, roadblocks arise that are tough to overcome and everything seems harder than it should be. I'm thinking the cosmos is trying to tell me something.

In other words, I am in yet another midlife crisis.

(Yes, I know that at 62 years of age, "midlife" may be overly optimistic, but it describes my dilemma as well as any other term I know.)

I am an old hand at re-evaluating my life; I know the drill of touchstones and imagining perfect days, of finding your strengths and plotting dreams. I may be too familiar with the process-- sometimes it can be hard to knock yourself out of your old habits and see things from a new angle, to consider all of the possibilities of the world.

But I am not looking for a radical change. I have no ambitions towards becoming a surgeon or conducting an orchestra. Rather I think I need to tweek what I have and love, to expand it further.

I still love living in the country but I miss the diversity of thought and lifestyle found in a more populated area. I'll give up gardening when you pry my trowel from my cold, dead fingers but I can let go of the obsession with growing everything we eat. The animals of the farm still bring me joy--well, some of the them. Guinea hens are every bit as noisy as their reputations suggest and the sheep have not been a success for us (for sale: 2 Katahdin ewes, one ram, year old). And owning an older house, even with all of the repairs and quirks, still means "home" to me. 

I need some help. Have you ever reinvented your life? Changed directions, sought out new adventures? I'd like to hear about it; not only the "I went back to school at 96 years of age to become an astronaut" showstoppers but the small, meaningful swerves your life took, even the mistakes. 'Cause this baby boomer is anxious to get back in the groove.
 

A Dream Come True

I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon sitting in the garden.

Forget those visions of a lovely bench in the sunshine; I was on my rump in the dirt.

We've had several warm days in a row and the garden soil is ready to turn. We shaped the garden into beds last year and mulched them over the winter. This was supposed to make them ready to plant come spring.

But come spring, we found we were over-run with wild garlic. It's everywhere.

I want to have spring peas and greens, so I've started reclaiming the raised beds. This means turning over every inch with a spade and pulling out the weeds.

 I can't do much on my bad knees so I plop myself down and scoot along on my behind, weeding as I go.

Some rabbits keep me company as I work.

It sounds tedious and in some ways it is. But I spent the winter dreaming of fresh vegetables and warm sunshine,

so this is a dream come true.

And the garden looks great, at least 16 square feet of it. That only leaves about 900 square feet to go!

[it's Just-]

With heartfelt thanks and apologies to e.e.cummings

It's Just-
spring     when the barnyard is mud-
slushy the little
gimp farmer

sings          Golly          Gee!

and chickensandsheep come
running for grass and
tidbits and it's
spring

when the farm is almost green

the funny
old farmer sings
Gol     ly     Gee!
and kittensandrabbits are binking

from sunshine and freshair and
it's 
spring
and

     the
          
          stiff-kneed

farmer      sings
Gol
ly
Gee!

Sun in my eyes

Heavenly days, I'm using math again!

  I recently received an email announcing a one-day sale on solar panels. A 15w unit that normally goes for $124.99 could be had for $59.99.

I love the idea of solar power and southern Indiana gets abundant sunshine. In addition, I have $100* to spend as I please. I've been saving it for summer auctions but now considered whether this might be a good use for it.

I threw out the idea to Tom and just explaining out loud what I had in mind helped me to clarify what would be involved (and how it was more complicated than my initial impression).

A solar panel is a marvelous thing, but by itself it is just a lawn decoration; it takes a bit more to make it useful. Our house is set up for conventional, on-grid AC electricity. Therefore, the easiest use of a small solar panel for us would be to run appliances directly (I'm not going to get into DC appliances here). In order to do that, we would need a battery-type pack to hold the energy and convert it to AC. This same company offers a power pack, a 150w generator that can be charged by the sun. It costs $199.99. 

And to connect the two, add in a cable for $4.99.

So, at the very least and not considering shipping or sales tax, it would cost me $264.97 for a set-up that would power, at most, a laptop, lights, and/or a cell phone. And then only after a full day of sunshine.

Here's the wall I run into everytime I consider alternative power: our electricity use averages 317 kw per month at about $.09 per kw. So disregarding the basic service charges and all of those weird extra costs that power companies add in, our electricity costs us about $29 per month. Using solar to power a few lights or this laptop might save us at most $5.00 every month. Using that figure it would take 53 months or over 4 years for the solar to pay for itself. And that does not include the cost to build a stand for the panel and the hassle of remembering to bring in the power pack and consistantly use it.

I know there are other factors: yes, any use of solar would reduce dependence on coal and oil. Yes, it is good to have a back-up during power failures. But sad to say, in this case economics trumps all. And I could buy a LOT of candles for $264.97.

So the $100 stays in my wallet...but there's an auction this Saturday!



* I sold my mother-of-the-bride dress on Ebay. It was a lovely Edwardian-style tea dress, the most elegant and expensive piece of clothing I have ever owned but now, sadly, a full size too small.

Counting the Cost

If frugality were an Olympic event, I'd be on the winner's podium.

If being thrifty were a movie, there would be an Oscar on my shelf (or repurposed as a doorstop or glasses holder).

I would describe myself as careful with money, others might see it as cheap.

Whatever the modifier, a lot of what I do is motivated by the desire to save money. And that includes cooking from scratch.

Conventional wisdom dictates that ingredients plus effort plus time yields lower cash outlay than buying prepared foods. 

Like most of life, it's not that straightforward and keeping track of actual expenses is a good idea. I recently made some choke cherry and rosehip jelly and attempted to figure out the cost benefit over store bought, if any.
 



Ingredients: 

Fruit juice. Back at Woodchuck Acres, free fruit was everywhere. The road was lined with choke cherry bushes and we had a planting of rosehip-heavy Rugosa roses. The harvest was so plentiful in 2010 that I had more than enough for several batches of jelly and canned a pint each of juice for future use. So for this jelly, the raw materials were free using my time (more about that in a bit) and some energy for heat and washing (more about that later also).

Pectin. One box purchased for $1.00

Sugar. 5 1/2 cups or about 38 1/2 ounces which is a little more than half of a bag (4 lbs.). I can't remember how much I paid for the bag, I think about $2.50, so let's call the price of the sugar $1.50.

Equipment, energy, time:

The jars and rings I have had for many years and reused some Tattler lids. I suppose I should figure depreciation on this stuff but I had enough of depreciation doing taxes, thank you very much.

Energy. Everything was washed in hot water, the lids were boiled and the jelly heated and I processed the final product in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. My attempt to figure out the cost here involved how many BTUs it takes to boil a gallon of water but I got lost somewhere between converting joules to BTUs (or was it the other way around?) and then the caloric properties of propane, etc. My final guess is I used less than 1/2 gallon of propane. Our propane cost us $1.99/gallon, so that totals another $1.00

My time. I'm retired so my time isn't worth anything to anyone except myself. I enjoy making jelly and think this is a good way to spend some of my life energy, so add in $0.00.

Total. The two pints of juice yielded eight half pint jars of jelly. The total outlay is $3.50 or $.44 per jar.

So in this case, homemade is cheaper. 

Cooking is easy to tally but other typical country endeavors are harder to list in terms of profit or loss.

Growing your own fruit and vegetables? Building sheds or fences? Livestock? 

Take chickens for example: Feed plus chicks plus building a coop plus fencing (a run if you cage them, your garden if you free-range). Is it worth it for the eggs and manure? How much is the joy of watching their goofy antics worth or the time you spent defrosting water pans in freezing temperatures or the heartbreak when they disappear to predators?

 Many times people say they want to move to the country and live a simple life, be self-sufficient and live cheaply--a wonderful ideal but please come to it with a healthy dose of realism. Not all do-it-yourself programs will save you money but you'll become rich in the things that matter. And that's real wealth.
 

 





 

You Reap What You Sew

 

Realtor's photo: think pink!

My newfound resolve to look on the bright side (Innovation and Eggface) has hit a snag this week: I'm sewing.

The previous owners of our place very graciously left the curtains and blinds in the living room. They couldn't have chosen things I would hate more if they had known me for my entire life.

The major color is mauve. My friends, relatives, and the world all know that pink is my least favorite color and mauve the hue most likely to induce me to hurl. On top of that torture, the flounces and lace are more country cute than country me.

So for the past 2 years I've been meaning to replace them and this month finally ordered supplies to make Roman shades.

This seems like a good time to take a side trip and discuss the issue of buying locally. Many well-meaning folks swear that the salvation of our nation is to purchase needs and wants within a limited radius of your domicile. The theory sounds good, but like most philosophies that will fit on a bumper sticker, implementing it is difficult.

Take making window covering for instance. The closest fabric store to Lick Skillet is over 60 miles away and then it's a chain that carries mostly items from China and most probably would not have drapery cord or shade pulls or the other bits and bobs I need. And studying our other online purchases for the past year, I note we have bought such disparate items as organic wheat berries, pewter metallic paint, and vintage movies, none of which we could buy within 4 or 5 counties of Lick Skillet. Ordering online for us is a better use of time and resources. If we have to travel to the nearest metropolitan area to shop, not only do we rarely find what we want, we also increase our carbon footprint with the gas used and we have to go out for lunch which hurts our wallets and our waistlines. Mini-rant over.

Back to sewing.

I have sewn shades before, at least partly successfully. This time there seems to be a conspiracy to ensure that this is the last fiber project I ever attempt. Everything has gone wrong and the air has a blue tinge from my vocabulary (I bet Tom didn't even realize I knew all of those words). 

This should be simple. A Roman shade is really just a rectangle but no matter how many times I carefully measure, the sides don't add up. I think maybe math has changed since I last made these.
 
One shade is finally completed (but not the valance).

Before I got the cleats to hold the cord.

But we have 4 windows!
  
 If I live through this project I will never boast about my sang froid again.

Innovation and EggFace

True confession: I have spent the past few years looking on the dark side of things. I used to describe myself as optimistic on a personal level but pessimistic about the state of the world but more and more the pessimism was winning on all fronts.

That's undergoing a change; I am sick of being depressed. It's boring for me and not much fun for others, so I'm gonna brightside my outlook in general.

Late January during this horrible winter may not be the best time to try to lift my spirits; luckily we live in an age when we can travel and explore beyond our frozen backyards with the click of a mouse. In looking for things to be upbeat about, I've reawakened to the power of human innovation. Our species has been around for thousands of years but still manages to come up with new ideas, and some of them are even good!

You can read about some of the latest at Springwise. Every week they collect some of the most creative new inventions around. Half of them I don't understand (I don't even have a cell phone, let alone a smartphone, so apps and that ilk don't mean squat in my world) and lots will die without being developed, but the breadth of thought is wonderful.

And speaking of new paths, look at ways people make a living. When I was in high school, we had guidance counselors who tried to steer you towards a career based on your grades and so-called talents (do they even have guidance counselors anymore?). I'm guessing that at least 90% of money-earning activities that you hear of now didn't even exist then--I know for a fact that no one was hiring Major League Baseball iOS developers in 1971.  And many people are combining seemingly disparate interests into careers. A good example is Jenna Woginrich at Cold Antler Farm. Jenna is a writer who is making her way on a small farm by blogging and writing books and holding workshops and raising sheep and teaching and... She always has a new project and definitely thinks outside the farm box.

Now for my eggface. In a previous post--Blog of the Century!--I disparaged the nerd term DFTBA (don't forget to be awesome). I had read it somewhere but didn't bother to learn more. Well, I have since followed up and I admit to being too quick to judge..

DFTBA is the brainchild of two of the most innovative young guys on the web, Hank and John Green, a.k.a Nerdfighters, a.k.a. Vlogbrothers, a.k.a too many other terms to list here. Their projects range from videoblogging to English football teams to best-selling books to raising thousands of dollars for charities. Check them out; this might be one of the few times when "awesome" is appropriate.

My toes may be frozen from trips out to care for the animals and I may be so sick of winter that I could scream BUT human innovation is a reason to look up beyond the icy mud. That and the fact that there are birds in my yard and they're singing!

Don't you feel better now? I do.

Stitches happen

After a 30 year hiatus, I am embroidering again. 

I bought a box of miscellaneous goodies at an auction; among other treasures inside were two pillowcases stamped for embroidery. I always have a long list of things to do over the winter, needlework wasn't one of them. But now I've got a new project, one perfect for working on while sitting in front of the wood stove on these frigid days.

Tom said this reminds him of a scene in the movie YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU where Tony and Alice discuss her mother:

Alice: Do you know why my mother writes plays?
Tony: Well, she probably likes literature, good books...
Alice: No, Because 8 years ago a typewriter was delivered to the house by mistake.
Tony: If it had been a plow, she would have taken up farming.
Alice: I'm sure of it.


We really can't predict the future. Making plans is fine, having goals and an idea of what you want out of life gives us direction. But I see it as a good thing that life surprises us with the unexpected.

So chart out those action steps but leave some wiggle room for chance and serendipity. Sometimes we have to just accept the new friend, the radical thought, or the embroidered pillowcases.

Blog of the Century!

We butchered our first rabbit; it was an awesome experience! Extreme simplicity and the meal was the ultimate in taste, a major culinary Event!! A self-reliance shocker!!!

 Along with the rabbit, can you taste some thinly veiled sarcasm?

 I am sick of exclamation points. I am tired of the media touting everything as the latest wonder, miracle, or other superlative. I don't want to be told to go for the gusto, live large, follow my passion, or DFTBA (don't forget to be awesome).

Stop.
Think.
Reflect.

 A life of all hill-top moments is exhausting and unsustainable. Life is daily. It is lived in seconds and minutes in the valleys. It is savoring the real and the common. It is whispering care and concern for our families and friends and world, not shouting our egos abroad. How can we be mindful of our lives if we are too caught up pretending that the minors are the majors?
 
Yes, there are wonders in this world but you won't find them on Facebook.

 DFTBA?

Let's strive for DFTBM--don't forget to be mindful--instead.