Getting Organized

I feel like I'm spinning my wheels here. Partly because we still don't have the metal roof on, and I'm wondering WHEN that is going to happen! Everything is ordered. We're just waiting for the roofer to come and do the job.

The other reason I feel like I'm spinning my wheels is because I'm getting suffocated by clutter again. Every time I think we're finally on top of the clutter here, things start piling up again. UGH. And since I want to live a simpler life, that means getting rid of clutter. So, I did it. I re-joined Flylady. I tend to get overwhelmed with her emails, and then I just don't bother with any of them. But I remember when I used to do Flylady faithfully, and my house was sparkling clean AND decluttered in no time!

This coming week's zone is the Living Room. I decided to get a head start on it, and started decluttering this morning. I was going to do just 15 minutes, but decided I just couldn't stand it. I know we're supposed to do baby steps and not get burned out but I just can't stand the living room. Its driving me crazy. So, I spent most of the day decluttering, posting things on Freecycle, answering freecycle responses, etc. I got rid of a bunch of stuff, so that was nice, and I have a few things that are waiting to be picked up some time in the next couple of days.

I cleaned and re-organized the bookshelf, but didn't dust it. I just straightened it up and re-organized the books a bit. Sounds like a simple job but it probably took me 2-3 hours to get it done. I have one more wall to go. And thats basically the top of the filing cabinet, and the desk. That won't take long I don't think.

I still feel very closed in because the stuff that needs to go isn't going RIGHT NOW.
But it helps to know that its packaged and ready to go. I even packaged up the techno trashcan, but when I set up the pickup, the website said it was *already* set up for pickup. Um, no its not! But they aren't in on Sat or Sun so I'll have to call on Monday about that. (SIGH...one more thing to remember to do on Monday!).

It seems like I've got tons of things to remember to do. Appointments to make and keep, paperwork to get sent in. A brand new watch that isn't working right. A portable phone that needs a battery. Just little stuff, but LOTS of little stuff. UGH.

The good news is that one of my co-workers asked me if I'd homeschool her little 2 year old grandaughter. I don't generally 'homeschool' a 2 year old, but when I asked about it, she mentioned that she just wanted someone to spend time with her and pay attention to her, read to her, stimulate her mind, enrich her environment, that kind of thing. Well, I'd be happy to do that. This place needs little ones running around again. And now my little grandaughter will gain a playmate too.

Maybe I need to open a little daycare/preschool kind of thing. Not a structured thing, but kind of a bunch of "centers" set up around the house for all the kids to just pick what they like and go to it. I think that would be fun. It might be worth doing if I make enough money doing it. But I don't know if I can ever quit my part time job because of the benefits I have. And I can't add a full time job to a part time one. Thats asking too much. I'm also thinking about helping out at a local animal rescue.

Too many choices! But I wouldn't mind taking one child in at least half the day. That could be fun.

Ahh welllll, upward and onward......

Taking a Break

If you are like me, you completely IMMERSE yourself in a project...almost to the exclusion of all else. I'm one of those "all or nothing" kinds of people. Interestingly enough though I'm *not* a "black or white" person.

Anyway, I had to take a break, which is why I haven't posted for awhile. We still have the water heater tank. Its on the porch, but now dh has another idea for solar water heating using the new metal roof when its installed (hasn't been done yet).

I'm not sure I completely understand his idea, but if we use it I'll explain it later down the road.

I've even slacked off on unplugging everything and today I'm using my top load washer to wash our king size sheets. And I haven't canned anything in a week. The pickling cucumbers I bought probably aren't even can-able anymore. Well, thats what I get I guess.

I have a chronic pain condition too. Over the last 2 months, I've been rearing to go, and I've been unstoppable so to speak, but this week it really caught up with me, especially today! So, I've decided it truly is in our (my) best interests to have back ups that are more convenient (like a washing machine (though eventually a front loader, and electric etc).

One of the things one has to do when considering this kind of lifestyle is what their ultimate goal is, for example:

Do I just want to reduce my footprint?
Do I want to be completely self sufficient?
How "off grid" do I want to go, and should it go beyond just electricity?
Do I want to be an example for others?
How reasonable are my ideas when the rest of the family isn't as gung ho as I am.

Anyway, these have been my thoughts over the past week.

Busy Day Today at the Homestead

Well, I didn't get to check the water tank for leaks (at least not yet). And I didn't get to find solar noon. My daughter had to be at work about the time I would have had to be home to check on solar noon and shadows. So much for that. Guess I'll have to try again tomorrow.

Instead, I pulled my sheets off the bed. I don't know how it happened, but when I went to bed at 3am, I put my hand on the bed to crawl in and there was grit all over my side of the bed. More than there has ever been. We have four dogs, and two of them like to crawl up on the bed with me in the mornings after my husband leaves for work. One of them sometimes crawls under the comforter, (but not under the top sheet, I won't let her, that minimizes any dirt getting between the sheets).

Anyway, sometimes they also play on the bed after they've been outside and track all kinds of dirt all over it. I usually either brush the bed off, vaccuum it off, or wash the sheets if its really bad. This time it was REALLY REALLY ba. It felt like someone dumped a whole cup full of sand on my side of the bed. But it was 3am and hubby was already in bed asleep, so I couldn't really do anything about it.

I decided to just slip the bottom sheet off of the corners on my side and roll it up towards the center of the bed. Then I grabbed a clean top sheet and laid it on my sid so I'd have something to lay on. I must say, I slept quite comfortably. And first thing, I took the sheets off the bed to wash them.

Well, I decided to use the wonderclean washer I have. I haven't washed sheets in it yet and wanted to see if it was an improvement over the bucket method. My conclusion is that its not a whole lot better.

The problem with the Wonder clean is that it does not have a drain on the bottom of the barrel. Thus, you have to turn the barrel upside down and drain the water out that way, into a bucket. And half the water misses the bucket, making a complete mess. Then you have to pull the sheets out of the barrel, and when you are doing king size sheets, thats all but impossible without slopping more water all over the place. UGH.

So, I've come to yet another conclusion. Either I need to exchange the Wonder Clean for the Wonder Washer (which *does* have a drain on the bottom), or I need to invest in a front loading washing machine.....or both. And honestly? With as much water as was slopped everywhere, there is no way I can use it in the kitchen in the winter, at least not for sheets, plus, in order to wash the next load, I had to use MORE water due to the amount that missed the bucket. The front loading machines probably use less water washing a full load than I did today washing a whole TWO sheets.

For now, I'm planning on returning the Wonder Clean and getting the Wonder Washer. I'd like to have one of them anyway, in case the washer breaks down or the power goes out, etc or even just for camping. Except for sheets its really easy to use so maybe I'll keep using it, but just for clothing. And in the summer I use rainwater because all I have to do is carry a bucket of rainwater over the picnic table where I do my laudnry.

My husband has no interest in using the Wonder Washer though, so we'll probably need a front loading machine anyway. We won't be investing in that until the top loader quits though. And given that the top loader a Kenmore and its 20 years old, there's no telling how long it will be till it finally kicks the bucket.

Moving on.....

I have a ton of cucumbers. I made the mistake of buying about 5 big ones for bread and butter pickles. I also bought the little pickling kind. And then we discovered we had cucumbers in the garden too. Since I had to work this past weekend, I didn't have time to get to them right away, so I hope we haven't lost too much quality for canning. This is the first time I've ever canned pickles.

I had trouble figuring out what to do by reading the Blue Book, so posted at homestead.org for some advice. I have my first batch of bread and butter pickles sitting with salt and ice on the counter. When thats done, then I have to make the canning solution and then I'll get those canned tonight outside on the outdoor gas burner we have. Its water bath canning, so it won't matter that its outside, unlike pressure canning where the PSI might be altered in the canner depending on outdoor conditions (it might not heat evenly, or so they tell me at the canner manufacturer).

I checked the garden. We have about 5 almost ripe tomatoes, a handful of small peppers, and two handfuls of green beans. I was really hoping for more green beans. Looks like I'll have to buy some after all. And if the tomatoes get ripe in too staggered a time frame, its going to be hard to can those. If I wait for some to ripen up, the others might rot. (sigh)

This is an interesting learning experience!

Now to get the sheets off the line and get them back on the bed. Goodness, I was so sleepy at about 4pm that I almost fell asleep right here at the computer. I guess I'll just work on as many pickles tonight as I can, and then worry about the hot water tank tomorrow. I've got all week, but I'm feeling overwhelmed knowing that in the next couple of weeks I've got to can green beans, tomatoes, peaches, possibly nectarines, and pears. And then in the fall I've got to get busy on more pears, and a ton of apple products.

I also want to plant a winter garden, albeit just a small one. Lettuce, squash, pumpkin, spinach (just a small amount), and I forget what else. There's so much stuff I could make and can but so little time!!!

And there is no more freezer space, so if I want to preserve anything, it has to be canned or dried. Which reminds me, I've got to get some panty hose so I can put the onions in them, tying a knot above each one. This is supposed to dry them but prevent any rot from getting to any of the other onions. We shall see. Most of my onions are small. But thats ok. We don't need big ones. I don't use a whole lot.

And last but not least, I made stuffed peppers for dinner. We had sausage earlier in the week, so I used that to flavor the spaghetti sauce and rice mixture. It smells YUMMY!! in the crockpot. And before the eggplant goes bad, I sliced that up to fry tonight. I put it in a vac sealed bag to keep the air from turning it all brown before I could finally cook it. So its stuffed peppers and eggplant sandwhiches for dinner tonight!! Then finish canning pickles.

I didn't even get to half of the phone calls I needed to make today so maybe I'll have to do that tomorrow. At least my son's "selective service" form got mailed today. He got a letter saying that he hadn't registered, so he finally registered, not that he wanted to, and I don't blame him. I think our govenrment has gotten completely out of control invading our lives in every way possible. I really don't think this is the government that the Founding Fathers envisioned. But perhaps it was inevitable.

Hazmat operation here!!!

Oh my goodness. While I was writing the last post, I didn't know it, but my daughter's boyfriend had begun unscrewing screws and bolts and other stuff on the old water heater we just brought home. He told me it wouldn't take him long to get the whole thing taken apart. And I thought, "Great!! That will give me a head start!".

I went down to take a look, and help out if needed. He took the top of the casing off (like a lid) and we looked inside. Well, it was insulated with ASBESTOS. So I told him not to go one step further and got us some scarves and gloves to wear. On went the scarves over mouth and nose. We continued working hard to get the rest of the screws and pipe fittings off, as they were rusted fast. But we finally did get everything off to the point where we could pull the inside drum out from the bottom of the casing.

The drum is steel, not cast iron as we first thought it might be. The asbestos ended up in piles all over my porch. YUCK. So we got some snow shovels and started shoveling it into big garbage bags. I'm guessing that will have to go to a hazmat facility.

We got everything cleaned up and I went in to take a shower. When I got out of the shower, I realized that I had left my glasses on the porch. I went down to get them and started sweeping the rest of the bits and pieces of asbestos over to the side. I came across pretty silver beads on the porch. But they didn't roll like beads....no, they rolled like the Terminator! Yes, this was MERCURY! Swept that up as best I could into a glass jar.

Now I'm sure I *will* be going to a hazmat disposal. The water heater is a 50gal capacity tank. Now we have to get our materials and plans and get busy on building the box it will go in. But first I want to test it for leaks.

I also had to do a little research on things like "True South", "Solar noon", and "Latitude" of where we live. Turns out we are at 40deg latitude. That means whenever I get the box built, the glass top will have to be angled at 40 degrees to get the most sunlight out of the day throughout the year.

Tomorrow I will find solar noon and check for shadows. Solar noon is the time of the day exactly half way between sunrise and sunset. So, if you go to the weather website and look up the sunrise/sunset, you can figure out when solar noon is. At Solar Noon, the sun is at Due South. And any shadows will lay due North. You can draw a straight line from True South to True North. This is the direction the solar collectors/reflectors need to be facing to catch the most sunlight through the day.

While facing True South, then you have to check for anything that would create a shadow over the collector. (I think we might have to cut down a tree, but thats ok...its rotting anyway).

Very interesting stuff! I'm going to use this as a homeschool project for my kids. It will throw in some astronomy and might be interesting to them! I know it is to me.

Beyond all of this research, this building project is going to be much more involved than I thought. I'm going to have to break it all down into little steps or I'll be too overwhelmed to finish it. I just hope after all this, that water heater doesn't leak.

Solar Heated Water, Here I Come!

About two weeks ago, I advertised on Freecycle that I wanted an old hot water heater tank, it didn't have to work, but it couldn't leak. Sure enough, I found one about a half hour's drive from our house. The problem was, HOW to get it here.

As luck would have it, my daughter's boyfriend is a young strong guy with a pick up truck. And I have my 19 year old son, who is also young and strong. With a little monetary incentive, I talked them both into helping me go get the water heater.

The water heater was stored in the basement of a 100 year old home. The home is beautiful! The owners tell me they got it at a steal, and each floor has about 1600sq feet of living space. WOW. I asked them how they heat their house, and they told me they use oil. Bet thats going to be expensive this year. I shared my knowledge of renting solar power and recommended they google it.

In the meantime, the two guys got ready to lift the water heater. The owner had guestimated that it weighs 200-300lbs. My son gave it a push to see how hard it was to budge, and it moved fairly easily. But we hadnt taken into account that it was sitting vertically, its tall, and its thin relative to its height, so of COURSE its going to move easily.

When they tried to turn it over and carry it, one at each end, THAT was a whole other story. And they had to carry it up some steps that were the outside access to the basement. Very challenging. They did manage to get it in the truck though!

On the way home, my son told me he thinks the inside tank is made of CAST IRON! On the one hand, thats why it was so incredibly heavy. The guys said they think it was 500-600lbs. So, it won't be easy to maneuver the tank around to work with it. But on the other hand, cast iron will hold heat MUCH better than steel and will help decrease the amount of heat lost at night.

Now I have to find some plans that will work best for us, and get busy on construction. I've found a couple of websites, one of which is excellent. But given that I'm not that saavy at construction terms, parts, etc, I'll definitely need help.
I've decided I'm going to draft my son into helping me build this thing. My husband just rolls his eyes and says its just one more piece of junk. But if we can get it built well, and built right, he will be glad for it later when propane gets even more expensive.