Things are heating up around here. My son, Ben, and his wife, Maggie, ae coming home for good in August. I am anxious to get them back here and settled. It is really lovely that they want to live close to us and get involved in the bee keeping and the farming. I thought of them so often this weekend as a lot went on that they would have enjoyed.
On Saturday night, we attended an Earth Hour concert. Now lots of people get all nasty and cynical about Earth Hour but I beg to differ. It is a good thing to have a non-violent, non-commercial, non-anything hour devoted to being on the same page with the others around the world who care about our planet. I am not saying that I expect any big changes to come about, just that I had a lovely time being in communion with folks next door and neighbors from across the world. The music was terrific, played by some of my favorite musicians. There was commentary between songs from people letting us all know what they’re up to on the energy/food/permaculture front. The kids came with us. I am always pleased to have foil for them against the consumerism they get from school and television.
After church we had an Easter Egg dying party. It was so much fun. I think the old guy with dementia, the retarded 40-year-old brother of a friend of mine and the retired chief-of-police had the most fun. Dying eggs is one of those irresistable activities that everybody should get to do. The only down side is that I had to buy commercial eggs. Our local eggs are blue, green and shades of brown and don’t take color like the nasty white ones from the market.
On that note, I got some groceries on Saturday. I don’t et them often so I think I notice the price hikes more than I would if I shopped each week. All I can say is that it is a darn good thing that we don’t food and energy in our inflation numbers. Otherwise I would think prices were going up.
I did some minor prepping this weekend. I picked up new underwear and socks for all of us and restocked some first-aid supplies. We will be having a Sustainability meeting on the first Wednesday in April. We are having a seed swap and pot-luck dinner. I am thinking that we should also have a prep swap. I have extras of some things like n0n-latex gloves. My guess is I’m not the only one with things I would be willing to share.
It’s pouring out so I am heading off to work. I do a bit of work for DCF. I get to pick my hours which is great for me. I don’t mind going in on day I couldn’t get outside to work anyway. The rest of the week looks fine. Bruce and I are in the planning stages of garden design. He wants to put in some more permanent raised beds as were the recipients of some great lumber. I want to find space for some strawberries. We have not had a lot of luck with them but I am an eternal optimist. Maybe this year I can get them before the ants do.
We are doing some work on the house. Nothing much, just updating some paint and wallpaper. Out big splurge is getting new windows for the upstairs. Ours are original to the house, complete with wavy glass and rotted frames. The new ones should look great and make it possible to open the windows. Yeah!!
March 29, 2010 at 7:29 am
I love “earth hour”. We rely way to much on background noise for comfort and easy entertainment. Prices are indeed going up, best I can figure is about 20% this past year.
March 29, 2010 at 8:58 am
you are going to love your new windows! When we put siding and tyvek on our house we noticed a big difference in our heating bill right away! I agree with you about the market basket that they use to calculate the inflation rate, would you beleive that one of the items in the basket is hockey pucks? At least that what they said on 60 minutes a while ago. Oh well, there is a greater depression going on, and they don’t want to panic the folks who don’t want to know what is going on. You are so right about the way to survive is to work together and build our local communities. Love your blog.
March 29, 2010 at 5:12 pm
I was getting ready to play our usual gig in the local pub on Saturday, when the owner put candles all over the counters. I asked what it was for, and he said Earth Hour. So I then asked, are we going to play acoustically too then (since we all have acoustic instruments) – a statement which was met by hysterical laughter. So the amp was still running, the lights were on, *and* there were candles burning. Go figure…..