9-10 weeks

Hmmm, yep, the blog. Still here, still of interest. It gets confusing, y'all. Things posted here get to different people than Facebook, which is different than real life (really!). I get lost sometimes, assuming some in one world know things posted elsewhere. And huh, maybe it would be nice to see/communicate/interact with people more in PERSON. What a concept, eh?

I'm enjoying most parts of my "new life" (ie home more with kids, no workplace, no regular paycheck....hmmm) but am really realizing what a support system a real full-time job can be. Benefits, co-workers, SICK PAY. I've been struggling to get enough paying hours completed, between kid's germs and my germs and various other things. We are still working to get the hang of things. Oddly, I miss that old workplace more NOW than I did for the past nearly-year that I've been gone. We get a little isolated out here.

But here, I do have some very cute "co-workers"... one almost 10-week old little person, who is still looking much like her brother (in similar-aged photo on left)! She definitely seems to be a bit more social, with lots of "talking" and eye contact.



Big brother Bean is still doing well, most of the time. I've had some not-great mama bear moments with him lately, when he's deliberately doing something to pester baby Peach; grrr! But he's mostly a very good boy. Here he's showing off a HUGE apple from our tree, a "crisp" (honeycrisp) apple that was very tasty when we had it for lunch today!



And in other news (that should probaby get it's own post when I get a chance)... we are now hooked up to the electric grid out here! The yard is still a mess from the trenching (digger! In the yard!) and they haven't re-connected the solar panel yet (boo). But it's been nice not to worry about power on these dark wet fall days. We'll get our first power bill in a decade soon, though, which might not be as fun.



More later!

Hallo-was

So, yeah. There's this thing in November, when some people try to write a novel in one month (NaNoWriMo) or make a blog post every day (NaNoBloMo). In the interest of being contrary, I am almost doing the opposite; writing NOTHING all month! Ahem.

Anyway. We are still here, occasionally wearing costumes, occasionally not. It's the dark time, sun-wise, so that makes life just a little more interesting when living off the grid.

For instance, we spend Halloween evening at the laundromat! Wheee! We had sheets and blankets to wash, and this is the only way. Luckily, Bean is young enough that Halloween doesn't mean much yet. So, we did get dressed up, attended the co-op party (Bean's highlight was either the music from Terrance and Kelly, or "sweeping" the empty aisles afterward. The boy does love a good broom!) and then headed out to wash. We don't get trick-or-treaters at our house, anyway, so we were not missing that part of the day. It was festive, in a laundry sort of way.





We did also visit with cousin A at the mall... an crazy thing, but fun to see a cute little ladybug. Bean wasn't quite sure what to think, but she liked him!



We've also survived a nasty round of stomach flu (worse for the adults than Bean) and... it was sunny yesterday, so I celebrated by having some toast... an extravagance not usually seen all winter.




Life is good.

Diaper Day

A sunny interlude in the rainy week; a lovely warm Tuesday today, my new "day off". How best to use this day? I've discussed this solar-powered home phenomenon before; some people might think of the beach- I think of laundry!

To be honest, I did think of the beach, but in the end just couldn't swing it. I did make to town for a Mothersong gathering, which was nice. I did some other errands, but got back in time to dry a load of sheets and take down the diapers I put out earlier in the day. There might not be many more days this warm left this year! And our daycare provider has recently stopped offering the commercial account with the diaper service, so we bring back dirty diapers from Bean's days there; ugh. It's getting harder to keep up.

So, today, we visited the Diaper Beach! A rare moment of lawn time in the sun. The chickens usually have the run of the yard and that makes for it's own complications, but they seemed to be off somewhere else. So, this is how we enjoyed the sun!


Bean has a great new trick; turning over! Yes, indeed; from the tummy to the back, with only a little grunting and great concentration. That darn arm gets in the way, but he's on his way to becoming mobile! Yikes! But it's great fun... growing up!

Power Lament

My public service message for today:

Have you ever considered living “off the grid”? Before you make the leap (or tell me how lucky I am) please consider the whole lifestyle picture. Are you raising a small child? Working outside the home? Pumping mama-milk to store for later? Suspecting that you have an excess of a certain enzyme that makes milk go sour soon? Frustrated with a freezer that can’t store much or freeze very cold?

Then, by gosh, DON’T DO IT! Stay connected to that massive grid, hold tight to your power cord, for now. Yes, I appreciate that we get most of our energy from the sun, but I am ruing the day that WF made this decision (before my time here). Mostly because of the freezer situation, again. A Sunfrost refrigerator is a lovely investment in efficiency, but in practice, the thing is damp, tiny and not very cold. Fine for single ascetics, not so great for moms trying to work and pump and store milk safely for the baby.

Granted, I am also likely dealing with an enzyme issue that the freezer can’t help, but I HATE pouring out the hard-won human milk that has become foul-tasting in our lovely fridge/freezer.

In a perfect world (or at least my current view of perfect, ha), I wouldn’t be away from Bean so much and therefore wouldn’t need to pump and fret about storage for later. I’m struggling with the separation, no matter what our silly electricity situation may be. It’s so hard to stay motivated at “work” when it feels like there are more important things to be doing in my own life. Sigh…

And I’ll admit that the solar panels ARE appreciated and entertaining sometimes, and WF had no way of knowing that this would be our current life situation way back when he made these decisions. Just trying to get up the oomph and sort out logistics to make some changes to our life SOON, one way or another.

Doing Enough

We are emerging from our cocoon just a bit, but I have to remind myself to take it easy. I know that nurturing this new little being is a "project" more worthy than any other, but the part of me that was used to go-go-going while pregnant and working and going to meetings and... is still here a bit. I feel like I should be "using" this maternity leave somehow more, learning bird calls in the yard, or something. Maybe I will, but it's also just time to relax and learn this new role of mom. Things are going well, so far.



One of the things we HAVE started doing is cloth diapers. I actually enjoy doing laundry, but am not supposed to lift full laundry baskets right now (darn incision; grrr). I overdid it the other day, but goshdarnit, the Bean has clean diapers. I think it will work fine; we just need to buy a few more to allow some mega-wash days instead of many smaller wash days. We have no dryer; that makes me a bit nervous for winter days to come. But so far, we've had so much sun, and it's amazing how much more sun we have access to when not working in town all week!



The sun has also been great for walks and for good spring progress; WF is gardening already, but I'm not quite into that yet. Perhaps some spring/garden posts soon!

'Snow Baby yet

Get it? (S)No(w) baby just yet... Nope. Maybe soon. Hoping soon.



We did get snow, though... maybe baby is waiting for spring, thinking that it's not time quite yet. Actually, the panel picture is from this morning (when the snow reminded me of the icing on cheap storebought oatmeal cookies; remember those?).


The next pic was from this afternoon, which really warmed up with the sun.



The chickens have been enjoying the doorstep garden as a dustbath... not my first choice of location for them to engage in this mite-smothering orgy, but it's the warmest, dryest spot for now, and sometimes I just have to pick my battles.

WF did put up the rhubarb cage, though, to protect the greenest shoots in the yard. Looks like we're maybe a little behind last year in growth? And by May, it was quite springy here... we'll see what this year brings. Or will I be too preoccupied to care about spring milestones? We'll see... let's all think good baby-welcoming thoughts. We'll keep you posted!

Still here and kicking

Sorry, just haven’t been feeling very bloggy lately. We’re still here, baby is kicking (or poking or stretching or…?) and I have caught my first cold in a long time. Urgh. Trying to take care without doing most of my usual non-pregnant cold routine (goldenseal, zinc, etc are all no-nos right now). Have been enjoying some fresh, potent ginger tea and dried kelp. I’m not sure if the kelp is really helping the cold, but I’ve been craving it. Mmmm, salt. And iron and iodine and other good things; it’s a healthy (if non-local) craving at least.

We are also headed off soon for our yearly NE trek, which always involves much prep for housesitters and chicken-sitters and even solar system-sitters (the batteries can’t go for more than a couple days without a charge, so if it’s not sunny while we’re gone, stuff must be done). Blah. But it will be fun to get in a little adventure before I am bigger!

House projects are somewhat stalled while we gallivant around. Flooring still seems great; there’s just must to do with putting things back and waiting for other small jobs to be done first (painting, etc). I am somewhat fixated on finding baby furniture right now, but it’s hard to balance Freecycle and Craig’s List and Ebay and random email offers from friends while trying to travel and stay focused at work and home. I really wish it was garage sale season; the only bad thing about the timing of this baby adventure! That and ice, I suppose. I slipped and fell on my (new, well padded) backside last weekend; no harm done, but still a bit scary. Ah, winter. One of these days I’ll post some pictures of our shrinking snowpack and the chickens who brave the elements.

Be well!

Energy Fair: 6-yr-old Approved!

MREA Energy Fair: 6-yr-old Approved!

Whew. We ARE back, been back since late Sunday. It’s been a whirlwind week, with the culmination of a HUGE work project (the board approved of the results) and plenty of other odds and ends. Not sure where the time all goes.

We did have a good time last weekend at the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair down in Custer, WI. I suppose it’s ironic that we used 10 hours worth of gas to go learn about energy conservation (ahem) but it’s always a good way to learn a few new things and see some good, like minded people. I even ran into a couple of guys I used to know in my Kansas days- they drove much farther to be there!

We shared the car ride with our friend JF and her daughter AF, who is 6. There was a great kid’s tent with scheduled activities and a parade: we all rotated kid time, and it was fun. AF didn’t want to leave!



Here she is waiting patiently for some yummy breakfast from Organic Valley. It’s a huge event, and very well organized overall. I attended sessions on herbs, electromagnetic fields, eating organic on a dime and raising/teaching environmentally conscious kids. There are plenty of more technical sessions on solar or wind technology, but since we already have our system and it’s mostly maintained by WF or others, I choose the “wife” track- ha! There were lots of exhibitors selling everything from spindles to shirts to books to solar ovens: we didn’t buy a solar oven yet, but we’re considering it.

There were WAY more people there than in past years I’ve attended, but it seemed like more very beginner people (asking “What’s a tincture?” in the herbal class, etc) who were perhaps just becoming intrigued by this environmental stuff. The more the merrier, I suppose. I think the whole event is moving a bit more toward general sustainable living than technical sessions, anyway. Not sure we’ll drive down again for a few years, but it was worth the drive this year; a little adventure. More in the next post!

Power Outage

But no, that’s not my reason for the lack of blogging lately. Been busy. Also time-traveling again. Fun times, not easily translated to a computer venue.

So. When you make your own power with the help of a few high-tech panels and sensitive little generator, coming home to a dark house has a very different meaning. It’s not about “Oh, call the power company!” or “Hmmm, let’s get out the candles and wait and see…” It’s more like “Oh, sh*t, what’s happening? And how can we fix it?” It’s nice to be independent of the Big Power and their polluting ways, but it also means we’re literally on our own… with limited technical skills and luckily a friend with great skills and willingness to come out at odd times to help. This is the first time we’ve come home to NO power since I’ve been at this house, and it was a bit disconcerting.

The batteries can normally keep the house going for a while, even when the sun’s not been out. But now that the big melt is here, our silly septic system is filling with water. The pump runs constantly, draining the batteries completely. The system shut itself down to prevent damage to the batteries when the draw got too bad. This is good. My less-favorite piece is that the solution is to shut off the septic pump and not send any water down the drain for a week or so. No showers, laundry, etc, unless we can catch the water in a basin (which we can do with fairly little trouble, but still). The toilet question is actually no problem, since we do mostly humanure anyway.

People sometimes look at me like I’m crazy when I say “Yes, but…” when they tell me how lucky we are to live off the grid. It IS nice to be independent, but see above. There’s no big support system behind you when something breaks. When your house is built to “normal” power-hungry grid standards instead of simple off-grid standards, that can be a bit stinky. Literally, no-shower-laundry-dishwashing stinky.

I also know it’s a matter of expectations and outside-world “requirements”; who says I need to shower most days? I’ve lived with no plumbing before and survived, but maybe I’m getting too old and wimpy for this. Hmmm...

Solar Panel Pokey

Whew. Today was a warm, sunny weekend day (and the big snow is melting fast). If you live off-grid, that doesn't mean it's time to lounge on the deck with a cup of tea. Nope. It usually means that it's time to catch up on household chores that have been on hold while the sun hid during the week! Whoo!

It becomes a race, seeing how much good use I can make of the sun before it's gone. It's a juggling act, because there's not enough power to run everything at once... but once the batteries are full, the power goes nowhere and it seems a shame to waste it. But I also try to use as much passive sun as possible at the same time, airing and sunning things to take advantage of the natural disinfecting powers of sunlight.

Should I do this second load of laundry or should I run the vacuum? Can I sweep the stairs while the laundry runs so I have time to vacuum when it's done, then still have enough sun to dry the scrubbed floor? Is there anything I can cook with electricity while I scrub? Will the first load of laundry dry on the rack before the second load finishes? (Are you fascinated yet?) Can I clean the coop a bit in time for the dust to settle before the chickens go to bed?

It's a dance, really. A little like the Hokey Pokey, in fact! Behold my late-night musings, and sing along!

The Solar Panel Pokey

Put your first laundry in,
pull the vacuum cleaner out,
hang your dirty rugs up
and shake them all about

You do the Solar Pokey and you’re thankful for the sun
The sun’s what it’s all about!

Pull your first laundry out,
Put the drying rack out,
Hang the first clothes up
And shake them all about

You do the Solar Pokey and you watch for creeping clouds
The sun’s what it’s all about!

Put the vacuum cleaner on,
Suck those icky bugs up
Stretch that vacuum out
And wheel it all about

You do the Solar Pokey and you choose your power use
The sun’s what it’s all about

Put the second laundry in
Empty the drying rack out
Put the vacuum cleaner in
And juggle junk all about

You do the Solar Pokey and you juggle many tasks
The sun’s what it’s all about

Put the throw pillows out
Bring fresher rugs back in
Put the big broom out
And sweep stuff all about

You do the Solar Pokey and the sun is almost set
The sun’s what it’s all about

Pull the second laundry out
Hang the clothing all up
Open doors for airing in
Jump in the shower and wash it all about

Whew!

You did the Solar Pokey and you made the full best use
The sun’s what it’s all about!!

Cold, no Snow

You people said it would warm up soon. When, exactly?!

(Rooster with a touch of frostbite in the back; poor rooster! But it IS indeed warming up and he should heal OK).

It's so odd to see pictures of blizzards or ice storms on other blogs... we're still sitting here nearly snow-less, with just the bone-crushing cold over the past couple weeks. There's been no skiiing at all, and the local (bare) gravel roads have big cracks from dryness. There's white on the ground but not enough to cover all the ruts, etc on our land to allow "back-country" XC skiing.


A far cry from this view in 2005!

Solar power!

Today's post brought to you by real sun-power...


The sun came out today! Very exciting: celebration included treats for the chickens (they are NOT pets- ahem) and enthusiastic use of the electric sewing machine. Yeah!

We DO live off the grid here, but we don’t depend solely on our solar panels for electricity. That would be nearly impossible this time of year in MN. November is one of the worst months, ironically, even worse than later winter. So, we have a small generator hooked up to our big propane tank to make more power when the batteries need help. (We also use propane for heat and cooking in the winter).

We’re in the lap of luxury if we choose to run the generator. (Wash clothes AND vacuum at the same time: Crazy!) It’s just a bit stinky and loud. The whole point of solar panels is to reduce our contribution to air pollution and greenhouse gas emission, etc. So, we scrimp (and pester each other to turn off lights, ahem) until the batteries absolutely need a recharge.

So, no feeling sorry for us: it was a conscious decision to take this “standard suburban/rural” house of the grid a while back. WF chose not to reconnect the house to the grid a few years ago when some neighbor projects necessitated taking down the power poles, and so we’re in a sort of “artificial” off-grid world. Our house is definitely not a typical off-grid house, and needs quite a bit of electricity to run “normally”- ie well pump and septic. We end up scrimping more than most people would with a solar array of this size, but live very comfortably with a small, efficient fridge (w/ tiny freezer), efficient washer but no dryer, etc. We use the septic system as little as possible (WF is a humanure convert). All lights are compact flourescent; an incandescent bulb would be a ridiculous waste.

The solar decision was made before my time here, and I actually don’t think about it that much. Some of my co-workers are convinced I’m living in a cave without “real” electricity, but really, is it THAT weird to live without toasters or waffle irons or microwaves? Or electric sewing machines? I am coveting my grandmother’s old treadle machine these days. If you’re set up for it and give it a bit of thought, it really IS easy to live without much electricity.

The Joys of Solar

The joys of solar... mowing! Well, OK, maybe mowing the lawn isn't a JOY, exactly, but I do appreciate the particular arrangement we have for mowing:


Tada! Mowing the grass with direct sun-power. The grass grew with sun-power, why not mow with the same? The loooong orange cord doesn't go directly to the panel because the power has to go through the inverter first, but it's about as direct as you can get. The electric mower is a kick, too... sounds like a vaccuum cleaner, with no noxious emissions. The chickens run away from it the same way the cats run away from the vaccuum inside. You just have to be a lot more careful about not running over the cord!


The other use for sun this weekend was airing and cleaning and confirming that the moths are gone (whoohooo!). Good Dog, do I have a lot of stuff. This is only about half of what was in that basement room. Sheesh. Would you like to see the very first dress I ever wore to a formal high school dance, ca. 1989? You would?!? Behold:



It wasn't even a favorite, really... WHY do I still have this stuff? Mostly it's all the stuff I ever abandoned at my parent's house when I left for college, etc, coming back to haunt me. They've moved and gotten rid of all this stuff, and thoughtfully sent it all back to me. Aieeee! Now I guess it's finally time for decisions and off-loading. Feels good to finally be rid of it, but that make-less-garbage part of me wants to make sure it doesn't just end up in the landfill. Old bridesmaid dresses, anyone??

'S no(w) Beauty!

Ok, after all that serious posting below, I'll post some more fun pictures of our gift of SNOW this week!

I'll admit there was some "regular life" grumbling related to this, too (all this beauty became a getting-to-work hinderance) but today we can get out and enjoy. Not that the chickens are necessarily enjoying! They are more...tolerating. The brave explorations shown here didn't last long. They opted for sunbathing in their passive solar coop instead!



The amount was truly impressive for December. It just kept falling...