Skip to main content

Interlude

  Hey everyone!  Did you know that this page now has a companion Facebook page?   It will have articles, memes and such that interest me that relate to this page but don't really apply.  Be sure to check it out!

    I find myself in a holding pattern.  

    The generator has been ordered and is making it's way slowly to me, it will take approximately two weeks to find it's way to my door.   In the mean time I have the estimate from one  electrician and I'm waiting on the estimates of two more.   I am a bit fearful that I will have no choice than to go above my self imposed $1500 budget.   

    I'm also fearful that after having all this work done, that the generator will sit unused in my shed.  Although if I am serious about becoming more self sufficient, then I'm sure that it will come in use, somehow and someway.  

    It has occurred to me that I could put up the two ceiling fans we have in the meantime, or even start the painting in a few of our rooms.  However it's been decided by the powers that be - Susan - that we should hold off an any of this activity till after the holiday's.  

    So for now I'm spending my time on Facebook and various websites trying to learn some things - and I have a lot to learn - and get ready for the coming spring.    I do hope to do some cooking this weekend and may be making homemade eggnog, hummus and farts of Portingale.   

    Because I'm weird like that.   






Comments

What all the cool kids are reading.

Taking care of my mental health. A brief hiatus is in order

  Without going into to much detail, I decided to leave my job at the beginning of September.  There are many reasons for this but for some time I've been feeling that my current position has not been the best fit for either the company or myself.    I did not feel like the company was listening to my concerns nor do I feel like they really cared for their employee's; despite a killer benefit package that I'll never see again.  Their technology was at least 20 years behind everyone else and  I believe that they really didn't have the best interests of their customers at heart. It's not all their fault.  I'm to blame too as it seems that I've not been living up to their goals and needs for the last year, and this is one of the reasons it's taken me so long to write this blog post. In addition to trying to find a new job before the end of the month, I've been dealing with anxiety and a mild case of depressio n.  Writing a blog that deals with ...

In praise of the simple pumpkin. It has a lot of potential other than pies.

As I write this the temperature is climbing.  We have a window or two open, knowing that soon enough we will be shutting up the house for the next three months or so we can protect ourselves and our cats against the onslaught of winter.   Our wood stove burned overnight to take the chill out of the air and I found myself buying new boots and gloves and driving home with the windows down. This is the nature of autumn in Western Pennsylvania and as I sip on my pumpkin flavored coffee, I cannot help but praise the fruit of the season, and yes it is a fruit, the simple pumpkin. A few things are still growing in our garden, the last of the herbs and tomatoes...a stray pepper or two that needs to be picked.  Yet I find myself interested in growing pumpkins next year after realizing their potential and that they are high in nutritional value.   It's easy to forget in our modern world just how easy we have it as compared to our great grandparents and their grandparents....

Notes at the beginning of Autumn.

 It is officially autumn now, and slowly but surely, we prepare for the coming winter.  It is the time of year when nights are getting longer as the temperature drops. While I find it rather comfortable, my wife would rather turn on the fire to warm her hands. We are both getting older and the chill comes easily now.   It is the time of year when the shadows are growing longer, spiders find themselves in the way and we find ourselves doing a silly dance in an effort to avoid getting them on us after walking into their homes.   Pumpkin spice is everywhere.   I think about autumn as I lug the bags of wood pellets in one by one into my garage.   Last year we ordered four tons, or basically two hundred bags weighing 40 pounds (18.1 Kg) a piece.  Moved from outside the drive to the inside of the garage and restacked, over and over again.  It needs done.  We used three and a half of those tons.   This year I only order...