We are socked in today. I remember when a day like this gave me the willies as Bruce had to make the hour plus commute to his job, no matter what the weather. This is better. We’ll read ,play some board games and maybe watch a movie. It will be a good day and not too cold. We will probably even get the snowpeople repaired. They’re looking pitiful.
Bruce went to a local library to watch the documentary, The World According To Monsanto, last night. He returned pretty upset. We know that there is little we can do on the macro level but much we can do on the micro. We have a list of products and vendors that I need to post on the refrigerator and reference before I go shopping. I’m reading more about saving seeds. It isn’t easy, especially for biennials and plants in the squash and corn families. It’s easy to say that people have always saved seed but they did it at a time when they didn’t need to worry about what their neighbor was growing. It’s a whole lot harder now.
I have a dehydrator load going. The fruit leather I made in the fall is long gone and I miss it. There is actually a benefit to drying leather now. The heat is welcome and I’m not fighting the humidity. I’m not rushing around trying to get the garden to bed and the meat in the freezer. I have a couple of trays of squash drying too. I like dried squash. It takes up so little space and is a breeze to fix. I’m starting to lose some butternuts to decay now and drying is a good way to save it. I did put a few bags in the freezer too. If I could be sure the power would stay on I would cook up more now but we have a lot of heavy snow out there.
I just scheduled an energy audit. Our house is old and drafty and we can use all the help we can get.
January 12, 2011 at 7:51 am
Can you post that list of vendors and products to avoid re Monsanto?
January 12, 2011 at 8:47 am
gotta love snow days! We’re well up over a foot now. Fruit leather sounds like a great plan and I have tons of berries in the freezer.
we have a genny if the power goes out, so I won’t worry too much. Stay safe!
January 12, 2011 at 8:52 am
It took me an 1 1/2 to get to work today and even though I’m sick I still have to come in. I really need to make some changes so that I can either work from home or work for myself. All that wasted fuel and my time just getting to work. It just don’t seem right.
January 12, 2011 at 9:43 am
A suggestion for your energy audit? If it’s going to include a blower door test, there’s something you can do ahead of time to maximize that brief window of time when it’s in operation. Get yourself a couple tubes of silicone sealing caulk and a caulk gun. Once the blower door is operating, you’ll be able to walk around the house and sense where the gaps are. Fill in as many as you can, and/or mark the ones you find with sticky notes. Part of an energy retrofit is probably going to entail workers sealing those cracks. And that work will likely be billed by the hour. You may as well reduce the work they have to do, so you pay for less. There’ll be some gaps you can’t deal with, and plenty you’ll miss, which the pros will later address. But if one of you keeps the auditor talking while the door is blowing, the other gets more time to work on the caulking. Practice a bit before hand so you can work a bit more efficiently. Any gaps at all around window frames or doors are going to need caulking. Start there for practice.
January 12, 2011 at 7:24 pm
We’ve been snowed/iced in since Monday here in Northwest Georgia. They’ve plowed, sanded and salted the main roads but don’t have the manpower or equipment to get to the various subdivisions. We’ve seen others venture out on the icy roads but we’re in no hurry to take that risk when it’s not necessary. Our various pantries (cupboards, fridge, freezer) are well stocked and we’ve got books and hobbies to keep us entertained.
I’ve been sewing gift bags for next Christmas with fabric that I got on sale at 90% a couple of years ago. And when I need a break from sewing, I’ve been knitting dish clothes.
We were prepared for the power to go out, but thankfully that hasn’t happen. So now we wait until the temperatures rise enough to melt the ice and clear the roads.
January 13, 2011 at 2:45 am
I’m always quite happy to get snowed in! It doesn’t happen very often here, but it’s nice to slow down completely.
Kathy, what do you do with your dried squash? To fix it, I mean. I’m in the UK so we don’t cook with squash as much as I think we should. I’m on a mission to include more in our diet as we can grow and store it so easily, but I could definitely do with some more ideas!
A couple of my squash are going squishy too, so drying them would be a good idea. It’s just what to do with them afterwards…
January 13, 2011 at 6:32 am
The non-gmo list is long but you can find it at NONgmoShoppingGuide.com. After my squash is dried I break it into little waffers. A 2-cup batch fits perfectly in 12 ounce mason jar. Then I vacuum seal the jar. To use it, put it in a glass, 2-cup measure and fill it with boiling water. You cover it and let it set or out it a saucepan and simmer until it’s soft. You really can’t tell it from fresh squash. To our friends below, I hope you have all fared well in the floods. What a tragedy!
January 13, 2011 at 9:21 am
Thanks for the GMO link. Lots of good information there.
January 14, 2011 at 3:04 am
Thank you Kathy, I’ll be dehydrating squash this weekend!