Selling Stuff and the Coolest Thrift Find of 2023!!

 There is a vintage store in a near by town.  Last time I was in UNIRONICALLY wearing torn up old Carhartt pants and a 25+ year old letterman's jacket, both of which I got at thrift stores years ago, I found the same items in WORSE SHAPE on the racks for sale for lots of money.

80$ish for the pants, 150-200$+ for letterman's jackets.

SO....last weekend I went in with some of my crap.  Some tatty Carhartts that I haven't worn in years because I lost weight.  A coffee pot I got a thrift about a year ago but it makes weak coffee.  It is like a moka pot from the 1980s.  Got 10$ each.  

No dice on the vintage Durango boots (that I got from thrift and they just hurt my feet) and a suede jacket I got for 25cents several years ago and never wear.  It's cute and fits, but I never wear it.  They didn't want it.

Oh well.

Earlier that day before the vintage shop opened up, I was doing a thrift store run with a friend (who also sold some vintage stuff to a different store) and spotted a super cool percolator for 6$ that looked damn old.   Also a columbia shirt in perfect shape also for 6$.  That's high for a shirt but my others are tatty and it's a new color, neon pink, that I can wear on job sites and skip the orange safety vest usually.  Those are handy.  It has zippy pockets too.  

The coffee percolator.  I thought 1930s but the base is skinny and odd so maybe older.....HOLY CRAP!!!

Last made in 1908:

That's it behind the tea cup (also thrifted a while back)

It is super cute.  I used the patent and maker info to google it and last made in 1908.  That skinny base is odd but it works.   

The coffee in that cup was nasty.  I hadn't cleaned out all the bits of antique coffee dregs apparently

Now I'm running plain water through it when the wood stove is in use anyway.  It is getting lighter and lighter.  I've used a few bamboo skewers to pick at the nooks and crannies that are full of coffee munge.  We'll get there.

The same pot in perfect shape is for sale on the ebay for 250$.  Ones in similar shape for much less than that but more than 6$.  Also, looks classy so I'm going to keep it and enjoy it.

Anti-Inflammatory Update 3: The Minor Sugar Intake

 Still sticking with the anti-inflammatory April as I define it.  No sugar, no refined carbs.  Bit of organic whole wheat flour, plenty of veggies, eggs, and whatnot.

It is going well.  My owie toe is getting mobility back. I have no idea if it would have gotten better at this rate without the diet, but I had been working on it for 2 months before this and only made a little progress.  I COULD drop a log on the same toe on the other foot and start eating crap to see how long it takes that to get better, but I'm not going to.  

LOTS of potatoes this week because that is what I have and they are getting soft so have to eat it up. Also, carrots and onions.  I'm eating nearly an onion a day and lots of soups.  Soups are easy and tasty...NOT NEWS on that.  Mostly boiling the diced onion directly in the water rather than frying it, as noted before, because I do not want every thing I own to stink of fried onion.

I'll have garlic for next week if I run out of onions.

It is easier to keep salt intake low when one cooks for one's self.

And, as with previous food experiments, it is making more creative.  You can do lots of things with a potato.

As I run out of potatoes and the quinoa is getting low, I've started adding in a bit of whole wheat flour doing countertop dough, because I do not have a fridge.  I add dried yeast bought YEARS ago, that dry stuff cheap by the pound, to some whole wheat organic flour.  Then add water (no salt, keeping sodium low) and leave it at least over night.

When it came time to bake the first try at the dough, I greased up the tiny skillet (from thrift, obviously) formerly probably in a cookie kit gift thingy, and put the dough on it and stuck it inside the wood stove.  That worked great!  I spun it around after a while, because one side was toward the coals, then flipped it when the top was pretty brown.   It was good!  Bland because no salt so I will probably try putting herbs or spices in it eventually.  Or fermenting it longer.  I have vital wheat gluten to boost the protein etc and have used that a time or two.

Eggs...buttloads of eggs are being consumed.  4 today.  The hens are laying so free range pastured eggs are available to me.  And delicious.   Boiled, fried, scrambled.  Not poached or soft boiled because that is GROSS.  Also did some muffins at work in the toaster oven with a bit of that flour in some eggs with some olive oil and service berries stored in vinegar all winter.   Service berries have also gone in some gelatin, unflavored organic beef gelatin.

I'm out of lentils, garbanzos and peruana beans.  Down to split green peas and working on learning to cook those.  They are fine.  Will probably do a pea and quinoa pilaf next week when the taters have run out.  

Yes, I could buy more potatoes or whatever but I want to do a clear out on my stored food before the farmers markets start up in May.  

Eggs with the anti-inflammatory spice mix has been most breakfasts.  A few I just put in a lot of cocoa powder.  Also good!  2T of either of those with 2 eggs beaten in makes more or less a pancake whether fried or microwaved in a bowl.

As for new recipes...other than the woodstove firebox baked bread, nothing new and there only the location of the baking was new.

If I come up with a good way to make green peas, I will share.

That is all pretty boring!  But, it's going well.

So...the minor sugar intake.  Yesterday a long time friend and colleague defended her PhD Dissertation via zoom and in person, I was in person.  She had made cookies and zucchini or something bread.  I went with 2 reasonably sized cookies.  I meant to take one, but maybe muscle memory defeated me??

Anyway, less than 40 carbs/sugars and under 40 sods based on the recipe she seems to have used.  Very good.

I've run out of some teas (like that rooibos from Paris...sigh) which motivated me to use up the nettle and other herbal tea supply, or start on it.  The nettles are a diuretic so the first day drinking that I got extra steps in running to the turlet.  But my cankles looked great!

Even with a bit of sugar yesterday, I am not having cravings today which is good.  

I've also managed 2 lunches out without blowing it.  Going to a restaurant that specializes in locally sourced ingredients and has healthy salad and soup options, then skipping the bread (salty even if local and organic flour is used and I have the salt issue...thanks old age!)

Not bad over all.

 

Pantry Challenge Update: 1 Month and 21 Days

 So far so good!

Someone brought me store bought bread yesterday, and food freely given by people who don't know what I am up to is inside the "ok" category per the rules I set up.  Anyone trying to give me stuff through pity or sabotage...that is outside the "ok" category.

So I ate some.  I hadn't had industrially processed carbs since an xmas dinner before xmas.  Turns out...I do not digest them nearly as well as whole grains well cooked/soaked.  Good to know.  Also, the bread was not particularly delicious, threw my sodium intake off, and I look like a puff ball today.  Totally not worth it.  I will try a little of the long ferment sourdough I can get at a local farmers market, but I think store bread type products are just not doing it.   I have the no-sodium baking powder and baking soda as well as yeast and the whole wheat, plain flour and keto-ish breads I've made with those, even with additional wheat gluten for texture, have been fine with my guts.  Again, excellent info.  Store bread is BS for my GI.  Like dairy...I might eat some breads now and then, but it will have to be worth it not crap.

Alright, as for the regular pantry challenge.  There are 10days left after today and I am clearly not going to clean out the supplies.  I will have protein (beans, lentils, duck meat, maybe tuna) left.  Grains, probably the whole wheat flour, left.  I won't get through the camelina seeds, the vinegar preserved berries, spices/herbs, coffee, tea, vinegar (still literal gallons), cocoa, possibly not the keto-flours, definitely not the vital wheat gluten.  Plenty of gelatin (I use it as a protein supplement, egg replacement in some recipes, and to thicken things).  Someone at work...and old lady...needed honey to make herbal medicines and casually said "do you have any honey?"...then STARED AT ME POINTEDLY.  I couldn't lie and said yes.  She stood there until I handed it over.  So...I will be out of sweeteners other than stevia.  Will need a bit of sugar to keep the kombucha mother going.

I will eat up the squash and I might go for the smoked duck this weekend.  Also hitting a jar of that chicken broth.  I think an egg drop soup made with that and some hot and sour spices and the dried veggies/mushrooms I have will be quite nice.  I plan to get onions, garlic and carrots once off the pantry challenge though I have granulated onion and garlic which is fine and can still do sprouts for fresh veggies and have a few frozen carrot slices.  I do want some fermented ginger carrots going again because they are delicious and keep their crunchy texture.  That really improves soups made with dried veggie mix.

At thrift yesterday (was in town to re-up the building permit) and got a norpro spaetzle cutter for 94cents!  It would have been a buck but I'm old and it was 10% off for the 55 and up crowd that day so whoohoo!  I have a spaetzle shaker with a squeezy lid too, also from thrift, obviously.

Once I go back to stores, I might put semolina flour on the "if it is on super sale" list because I think that is the better flour for those noodles.

I could easily go a few more weeks or a month on what I have and it would not be an issue as far as nutrition or calories.   NUTS.  I had no idea I had that much food.  Good to know. 

Pantry Challenge Day 29 Update

 OK...I ran out of solar a couple of times (my fault...too much internet surfing and youtubing on cloudy days) and with the home computer battery having crapped the bed a while back, it won't stay on unless plugged in and drawing power.  

Anyway, had some pantry triumphs over the xmas.

For dinner on the day, I made duck braised in cranberry sauce (which was supposed to be jelly made from no sugar cranberry juice bought on super sale with some buckwheat honey (the sweetener of the month) and some pomona brand pectin).  The jelly didn't set up and is quite tart, which I like.  So I braised a half pint of my home jarred duck in a bit of that failed delicious jelly. It was AMAZING.  Side dishes were roasted squash (a hybrid something random from my garden that looked like a pumpkin and had innards like a spaghetti squash..yes, I saved the seeds to roast later and to replant because it was a) delicious and b) ripened up in poor storage conditions) and a roasted onion.  Both roasted inside the woodstove.

I was SWEATING from keeping the stove hot enough all day to bake this cake...

It is a honey based cake with apple sauce (buckwheat honey, and a can of apple sauce from the pantry) and spices.  I had clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg all of which were called for. It was AMAZING.  I had dried figs that I forgot to stir in, and they were supposed to be raisins but I was out of raisins.  So, chopped up figs and threw them on top of the layer pans.   It was amazing.  I will be making it again but maybe 1/4 recipe.  this was a half and it was still a ton of cake.  It was pretty dense in the middle which might be due to the baking at a lower temp than I really wanted (see above...SWEATING) trying to keep the coleman stovetop camp oven thingy hot.  If I make a smaller version I can do it in the cast iron dutch oven and it will be easier.

I packed up a slice of cake for the neighbor because it was A LOT.  She returned a huge slice of pecan pie her daughter made and some penuche. I  had never had penuche. It was delicious and more dairy than I should have and I'm a bit snotty.

Anyway, over ate and it was excellent.  Made a coconut milk (powdered coconut milk in the pantry) mocha (cocoa in the pantry) and opened a buttload of treats from various relatives.

I am in town today, this is the office computer, office closed for the week! (we get crazy amounts of time off at full pay) to pick up yet another package.  As much as I love sugary treats, if there aren't any in there, that will be fine.

One Aunt sent a ton of good food for meals and snacks, and another sent chocolates.   Good people.  I got coffee and cookie packs from another friend, every more coffee and chocolate from yet another friend (people know me??), smoked duck from yet another.

I am rolling in good food.

Just did a formal inventory of the office pantry and will take inventory at home as well to restart January.

I won a 5$ coffee shop gift certificate on a radio show on Sunday, more to do with "exclusive listenership" than with my brains or speed dialing abilities, and hope to share that with a friend's grown kid on Sunday.  

I still have one xmas meal out to buy someone as planned, but otherwise, I think things are winding down.

I have 21" of snow, the bottom 1-2" is compacted ice so the total total that fell is more, on the ground at the homesite right now.  Bit sick of it, but it is super pretty.

It was cloudy 5 days running, zero solar gain on the batteries, and that is partly why I ran out of power.  Also, the batteries are getting old, and they are outside and the temp overnight was about 10F.  It will be colder tonight and tomorrow night, maybe also Friday night.  Then rewarming toward freezing during the day and 20s over night.  That is easier on the batteries.

OK, off to pick up that last box as the post office lady will be reopening post lunch now.

More, anon!

Pantry Challenge So Far, and I Forgot a Thing...

 I forgot another person who will need a meal treat for the holiday/her birthday!  We've done it for 20 years so, I will make an attempt to combine that with the already noted 1 meal out, but unlikely I can pull that off. 

Day 1 of the pantry challenge went fine.

Sardines for lunch (right from the can!  ew but I was headed to the field and in a hurry).  Eggy whole wheat flour skillet bread for breakfast.  It was supposed to be pancakes but they got puffy so they were skillet breads.

I made a couple of other things that were even less creative and interesting.

I figured out about how to divide the stock between December and January so I have some meat and veg left later in the game.  And thought through holiday meal options.  The ones at home.  I have so much to work with that treats are no problem.  Clearly I overstocked on that sort of thing.

It does make it easier NOT to eat the canned/packaged stuff right away.  That will last.  The carrots will make it another week or two, but not likely through January since I have no root cellar.  Same with the onions.  The squash might.  But, I will be working to keep an eye on the fresh and eat it as it gets to the end of good.  Also will get sprouts going as the other fresh food runs low.

I discovered another jar of coconut oil, 15fl oz, and 2 jars of 100% cranberry juice that I had spaced.  Those will be handy for xmas.  I have maple syrup that should go well with the cranberry juice to make a nice sauce for duck.  I've fermented some of the carrots with ginger which is a good tart side as well.  Hopefully will have an onion to roast because those are delicious and cook inside the woodstove.  And I have a little tiny squash that I can stuff with raisins or figs and walnuts and roast up with a bit of maple syrup or honey.  And if I get on the stick, a fresh batch of kombucha will be ready to flavor up.  Also have makings for hot chocolate or a mocha with coconut milk (powdered coconut milk is the bomb to have around), as well as german style pancakes for breakfast.  I reviewed the menu so I remember not to eat up the things I need for that meal.

A friend gave me 2 bags of powdered egg a week ago and that really helps.  If the chickens stop laying, I can still make most things.  Fried egg is a loser from powdered, but baking and pancakes work fine.

I also have gelatine...maybe a cranberry jello mold?  Or a coconut milk based pudding.

Post Vax Frugal Vacation

 1 step to a frugal vacation:

Step 1:  mooch off your richer sister.

(thanks!)

That's all the steps.

She's working from home and decided to do that from Santa Fe.   Rented a condo.  Offered me a free ticket and a couch and bingo-bango-bongo...free vacation.

Almost free. Pretty frugal.

An Aunt (Hi Chris) sponsored a dinner.  YUM.  We chose La Plazuela at La Fonda.  Super good and nicely spaced out.

Which reminds me:  I'm fully vaccined.  Thanks to the Tribe I work for who are super cool and generous.   Hence, traveled.  I know Fauci was saying it's not a license to travel, but it totes is.  Because I was going bonkers and offered a free vacation.  Some people....yes, you middle aged white conservative males!...were not masking on the airplanes, which were mostly packed.  At least I was vaccined.  Hope they didn't spread the 'rona to too  many people.  And, yes, I know the real word is "vaccinated" but I do not care.

ANYHOO, great vacation.  Ate most of the food in Santa Fe so don't bother going there now.

I loved that the museums that were open, mostly took timed appointments for entry.  It made for an old school, quiet, calm visit rather than the usual being run over by strollers full of toddlers piloted by privileged asshole parents who ram walls and damage art and talk loud.  ONE place, the Wheelwright, had people in there being loud IDIOTS, though there were limited timed entry tickets.  Oh well.

The farmers market and art market were done well especially when I went early to the farmers market.  People in Santa Fe are not, as a group, early risers.  The market doesn't start until 8am.  My day is half over by then.  By 10am it is getting crowded and the sellers are getting sick of people.  At 8, still not crowded and sellers still cheerful.

The art market folks...super appreciate them...are struggling with sales but hanging in there.  We bought a few significant pieces and I indulged in some amazing lotions/potions from Angela (Angelina?).  I shipped them to myself so can put the real contact when I get them.   She is amazing and gives great free, individually packed, samples.  I JUST ran out of her orange hand lotion before I went back down so now, have presents for 2 people and more lotion for me.

The farmers market...beware the eggs.  Some are 8$ a dozen, some are 3$ a dozen.  Tried both.  Get the 3$.  All are fine.  The 3$ had much less poo on them.  I'm not against poo, but the expensive ones took me forever to wash up.

We toured Tsankawi twice, Bandelier once, the Pecos and Rio Grande river areas with artists (Hi guys!) and it was lovely.  Saw relatives (also vaccined) and again, ate and ate and ate.  

Castro's is my  new favorite.  Best sopapillas on the planet.  Taosenos, at Taos, also amazing.  And then there is Santarepa...just eat there.  Eat whatever the owner says you should eat.  Tea House, fab.  Kakawa chocolate house, just eat there and drink the chocolate.  LOTS of non-dairy options! Woot woot!  Amazing.  Not fast, amazing.  Also, the little concession at Bandelier National Monument serves Kakawa hot chocolate so you can have some there too.  

At the farmers market we got goat meat and buffalo meat.  Both excellent.  Made some epically good meatloaf.

Pam (hi Pam!) was teaching me keto-ish stuff so I made a blueberry clafoutis (I know, not REALLY a clafoutis if it's not cherry but I was in France and they make non-cherry clafoutis too so shut up).  I substituted EVERY ingredient except the eggs and blueberries from a Jacques Pepin recipe and it was still delicious.   I will be eating that a lot.  

I'm not going keto, but am interested in getting away from so much carb-y, especially processed white carb-y, food.  

Maybe I will post pictures later but right now, I might need a nap.

Almost Free Dinner

 Thanks to friends I had a nearly free dinner!

A friend (Hi Sally) asked if I wanted brussel sprouts.  Yes please!  She gave me a little bag with those, some radishes and some rainbow carrots already sliced.  I fried them up in coconut oil (paid for that, given the price for the jar, about 5cents for this meal) on my woodstove (already using it for heat so no fuel cost for cooking).  I added a jar of duck meat which I got free for helping a friend butcher ducks.  I did buy the jar so that's about 1$ but is reused and reused so maybe 10cents of that goes to this meal because the lid has to be new each time. There was a lemon in the bag as well and I squeezed a bit of that over my bowl of stew and added a bit of pepper (less than a penny's worth)

For dessert I had a peach cobbler of sorts.  I had a can of peaches from a free food give away.  They were in pear juice so not overly sugary. In fact no added sugar.  I used some of the juice in the can to make a quick biscuit dough and poured that over the peached in a greased pan (more coconut oil...included in the 5cents above) with baking powder I bought years ago and just found (maybe 1cent worth based on current prices) and flour I got in exchange for helping butcher chickens at the community garden.   I also put in cinnamon and nutmeg which I found on a clearance shelf for 99 cents each in the BIG canisters.  Less than 1cent of spices but we'll round up to a penny by adding in the pepper from the stew.

Total for the meal: 

10cent jar lid and jar depreciation

5 cents coconut oil

1 penny in spices

_____________________

16cents.   Not bad.

Lunch was similarly cheap.

Pasta gotten free

Sauce gotten free

Beans gotten free

Diced pears in pear juice gotten free

Smoked salmon from a work colleague

Total:  Free  (and delicious really)

Breakfast was relatively spendy:
cinnamon and nutmeg, we'll call it a penny

banana...free

2 eggs (at 3$/dozen that is 25 cents per egg so 50 cents for organic free range eggs and it supports the community garden)  (my hens are not in a heated/lit coop and are laying about 2 eggs a week right now)

coffee 10$/2lbs on deep sale for good beans.  I get about 2 months of coffee from that.  so 10/60 is...17cents of coffee per day in my little french press.  (I use the grounds at least twice...the 3rd press is gross, the 2nd is not great)

water...out of the tap at work so free.

total for breakfast:

50cents eggs

1 cent spices

17 cents coffee

__________________

total:  68cents.

For the day:

68 + free + 16 = 84cents.   Not bad!

My goal is 50$ for groceries this month.  Not every day will be free and it's not a grocery budget I expect to be sustainable.  Right now I have plenty of stock on hand so I'm working my way through that.  I don't need to store it forever.  Better to eat what I have.

Last month I spent 47$ on groceries and about 10 of that was on candy bars. I have a habit of buying one each shopping trip.  So really, 37$ in actual groceries.  I should be able to hit 50$ this week and keep eating like royalty.  I mean really, duck soup with brussel sprouts and rainbow carrots for dinner?  That's pretty fancy food.

I have more than enough protein on hand, probably a month's worth of fruit and veg if I sprout the seeds I bought for that purpose.  I do like sprouts in the winter.  Something green and fresh and not sad bag-o-salad.  I'm not against bag-o-salad, I'm just too cheap to buy it anywhere other than the 'reduced for quick sale' bin where it is sad indeed.

Sadly last month, I did spend 68$ in restaurants/takeout type food.  One friend likes to go to lunch.  Who doesn't?  But it's a good place to cut the budget and my sodium intake.   The latter may be more important.

Anyway, I need to finish up the pasta sauce so pretty sure lunch tomorrow will be more of that.  I finished the beans but have more cans I could open and kidney beans on on spaghetti with sauce are surprisingly good!   Of course, pasta sauce is also the start of a passable tomato veggie soup.  Not a good one, but a passable one.  

For the weekend I need to decide which free meat to eat:

deer, elk, duck, chicken, salmon   Votes?

Oh Yeah...We're Bringing Water Back

 It's back!  Woot woot!!!

Pardon the lame reference to "We're bringing sexy back"...couldn't resist.

The water is fixed.

I'm pretty thrilled.

Friends who know what they are doing taught me what to do.  I need one more pipe wrench and a sump pump and I'd be able to do this myself.

The old frost free hydrant probably still would have worked, but I was done messing around.  There is a new hydrant on the nipple (heh heh) at the polypipe that feeds water downhill from the cistern.  

Thankfully the pump is fine AND thankfully I had one pipe run UP to the cistern and another DOWN the hill to the spigot.  The well driller dude said I could save a few hundred on the pipe if I used just one pipe for the whole bit.  I said NO.  I wanted to be able to cut into the water pipe down from the cistern and move things around, add bits, etc.  I think that's easier if the in and out pipes are separate.  This time it worked fine.

I do wish I had a shut off in the pipe.  Had to drain the cistern.  Hence the sump pump because the hydrant is the only outlet right now so it drained into the hole I dug to the bottom of said hydrant.  

Pretty amazed with how much I don't know about pumps and hydrants.  I know more now and could, with a 2nd pair of hands, replace the hydrant myself next time.  Good lord I hope there is NOT a next time.

As I was digging the hole, it kept filling with water.  I bailed and let it soak into the concrete like clay that is my soil.  When it's wet, it's heavy but I can slice it.  When it's dry you have to use a breaker bar to chop it up and then shovel it out.  I traded off between the two methods. 

When I got to the bottom of the hydrant, there was sticky grey clay.  The friend who knows water systems said that IS my red/yellow clay once it is wet and reacting with things like the gravel that bedded the hydrant.  Anyway, I'm 4 feet down in a hole, using my trusty Marshalltown 6" pointy trowel to clear out some gravel and that strange clay from the base of the hydrant.  I start hearing AIR rushing out the top of the hydrant (see previous post) and water starts shooting out the top and spigot bit.  On to my head and the rest of me.  Refreshing and surprising.  My hair had dirt/clay in it which became mud.  But, what are you going to do?

Must have just been water in the pipe because it stopped.

Once the friends got here Saturday, I finished digging because apparently I needed a bigger hole.

Having the sump to keep the water (which continued to flow in...must have bene in the ground from the years of draining from the frost free hydrant or something) down to a reasonable level really helped.

The nipple was a good surprise (unlike nip-slips which are generally NOT a good surprise for me).  It meant the new hydrant could just screw right on.  

Before we did that, we removed the old hydrant and ran the pump enough to make sure there was no clog and the water flowed well.  It did and it did.

Then more pumping to clear room for me in the hole.  At one point, I was within an inch of wet undies...and COVERED in clay from tip to tail to boot.

We start screwing on the new hydrant.  And keep trying and trying and trying and trying. It just will not thread.

The water-guy friend tests the screwy end of the hydrant with a plastic thingy.  It won't thread either.  DAMMIT!!!

I call the hardware store where I got the 6' hydrant.  They don't have another but they have a 7' hydrant, same brand.  FINE. Sold.

I change my pants  and shoes (too much clay/mud on me to get in their truck for the hardware run).  So, half muddy, we march into the store.  The store guy tries to tell us it's fine.  He's using a threaded nipple (heh heh) to test it and it goes on about 1/2 a turn.  We test the 7' version and it goes on a good quarter INCH, several turns, before it jams up.  I say I want that.  The 6' should not bind that fast.  It does taper so it gets tight, but that's nuts.

We get back to the ranch with the new hydrant, which is too long for the pick up bed and hangs over the tailgate corner a bit, and with new pipe dope to seal it up.  Back in the hole we get it threaded on and aimed fine with me on the base and the friend on the pipe.  Then I start the pump to fill the cistern enough to test it....no dice.  WIERD.  The friend reads the instructions and we should not have cranked on the pipe, instead I should have had both wrenches on the bottom on fittings.  Damn.  

Off it comes, more wrenching.  I have both wrenches in a hole filling with water (nearly to the undies).  More pumping.  We get the hydrant back off and all is well, AND the pipe seriously BURPS and gets pressure.  So, now we have a hold full of water and we're screwing the hydrant back on with me running both wrenches, sometimes with my feet halfway up the walls and my butt on a little ledge I didn't dig out and the water rising.  We get it and open it up...I make them wait until I am out of the hole.   

It works.  We have water with pressure!  It's been a month since I've had that.  YAY.

The water dude has us cut up a plastic bottle to make a void around the outlet at the bottom of the frost free hydrant.  I tape that one and we test it.  Still working.  Can see the water and hear it shooting into the void.  The hope is that keeps the clay from filling in the little hole again...as least I know how to fix it in a few years when it does happen.  We bed it in gravel (I kept that aside in buckets as I dug).  They take off.  I put a cut up shopping bag, the woven plasticy type, around the top of the plastic bottle cludge to try to filter any clay flowing down from the top trying to infiltrate the void.

Throw in the rest of the gravel and start with the clay.  I would say dirt or soil but who am I kidding?  It's clay.  I get it 1/3 to 1/2 full.  The hydrant is pretty stable and I'm beat so I give it up.  I will put more in today.

The clay I dug out is on tarps so once enough is off a tarp I can roll the rest off by pulling the tarp across the hole.  I will tamp it down as I go to try to keep it from sinking too much.  We'll see.

Here's an action shot of some hole work:

Thar She Blows!!!

 

It's not supposed to do that.

But at least water is coming out at a reasonable rate.

It didn't last long though.

Seems like some sort of wonky clay clog.  

I have help coming.  I've been without adequate water for a few weeks now.  It's kind of sucked but not more than some other things.

Tomorrow...in theory...we finish the dig out (which involves a sump pump now....cripes) and we go from there.

I hope I have a drop cord long enough to run that little pump.

Anyway, I have a new hydrant to install and took my time digging it out because I was being careful of the pipes and whatnot AND because my shoulder and back will only take so much punishment in a day.  

101 Money Saving Ideas: Numbers 12-23

As stated in the previous post, this is an idea swiped, with permission, from Money Mom over at the youtubes.  She has a great friendly cheerful channel that I've subscribed to for QUITE some time and really appreciate during the 'rona.  It's not doom and gloom.  It's happy and sensible.  Hence the channel name: Centsible Living with Money Mom.

Why hints 12-23?  Because I like the prime numbers and 23 is a good one.  So is 29 but I didn't think I could come up with that many and it would shorten the series to go that far so here we go:


12  Return the favor.  If you have someone who does for you, do for them.  I was pleased when a friend called and asked for a hand because she gives me more than I give her usually.  I don't keep an exact tally, but I know that she's someone I can count on if I need something, I "put out the word" (see previous blog post for that tip), or need advice on how to do stuff.  So when she calls for a hand I'm glad to return the favor. 

13  Make an errands list before I leave the house or at the first stop on the trip. I live 30 min out of town, 15 min out of tiny town.  If I'm headed in for something I take a moment to think through all the stuff I can get done in one trip and try to put it in a sensible order rather than the order that would require trips back and forth across town.  If I've got laundry to do I know I want to do that first, while the laundromat is clean and not full of people and the wifi isn't over subscribed.  Then I'll have 30 min or so to do the rest of the list.  Still want to think through a little bit before leaving.  I hate getting to town and seeing "return library books" or "drop recycling" and finding that I didn't put those things in the vehicle.  As for the order, my storage unit is near the laundromat so I can walk over there if I need to swap out clothes, get jars, or whatever.  If I need to hit a grocery store, I park midway between the store and the library and walk to both.  Cuts down on driving and the walk is good for me.  The grocery store also gives us a nickle credit for walking so that doesn't hurt.  It doesn't add up much at one trip every week or two but what the heck.

14  Get receipts!  This helps with the tracking noted in the last blog.  If I don't get a receipt, I make a note.  I hate getting home and not knowing why there isn't money left in my pocket.  Since I often pay cash, I need receipts in case something needs to be returned.  It isn't often but now and then I get a damaged or faulty item.  Receipts help in developing your price point awareness.  You may think something is a deal until you review receipts and notice the price is lower at one store than on sale at another. Keep an eye out especially for frequent purchases.  Those savings add up and we usually don't research them as well as the occasional purchase items.

15  Research before you buy.  This is easier with the internet but during the 'rona I've also gone back to using the phone.  Stores don't want to need us in there being looky-loos and crowding up the aisles.  When I needed fence posts I called the 3 hardware stores in the town where I was headed to check the stock and the price and the heavy-duty-ness of their posts.  Turns out the hardware I was going to skip because it is usually higher priced was the best deal on that.  I was able to let them know what I needed post-wise, they could pile them up and I ran in to pay, out to load, and off I went.  They got their cash with less needing to sanitize behind me and I saved money by not looking a the random sale items I might have bought but not needed.

16  Know where the clearance rack/pile is in each store. I frequent 4 grocery stores depending on which town I go to.  In each there is an out of the way spot with a shelf full of "just get these out of here" items, or in one case a cart.  I've found barely past sell-by date crackers, soups, coffee, vitamins, or the last package of something the store will no longer carry.  I hit these racks first WITH MY LIST which includes the "stock up if on super sale" items as well as the current need items.   If it's not on the list, I usually don't get it.  If it's 25cents and a treat, I might get it.  Got some dark chocolate honey patties one day that are usually over a buck each this way.  I get my hinges and hardware bits at the clearance rack at the hardware store.

17  Thriftstore hardware is checked before hardware store hardware.  Thrift stores often have piles of unopened or barely used hardware like door knobs (keys and all), hinges, latches, sand paper, paint in various colors.  Since I do not care if the hardware on a chicken coop made of pallets matches, or even on my crapentry® screen door, I used thrift store hardware.  It usually turns out cute.

18 Lumberyards have a free off-cuts pile.  Often anyway.  ASK.  The hardware/lumber I like in Moscow Idaho has a free bin next to the cutting table in the lumber yard.  If you buy ANYTHING you get to go take scraps.  I drive in there with the pick up and load up.  If it's not plywood or glued beams, it's at least burnable.  I have built many things from the scrap lumber.  I've got a pile of lumber stock in odd sizes, though a surprising number of 4' 2x4s are free.  Even some short stair step sides that must have been the wrong length. Someday I will have a structure that needs steps just that size.  Or a bonfire.

19  Little Free Libraries are the best.  Especially if you need a book just to have in the car, great for when you are stopped for paving projects.  They SAY it's 15 minutes but we all know it might be 45.  Having a book is a fine way to pass the time.  The Little Free Libraries are all over the place and you take a book or leave a book. No due dates, no questions. I donate back.  The books are also great for plane trips since you can leave them when you are done.  If I don't see a Little Free Library, there is always a laundromat. to drop them at. I've even left them at highway rest stops and public bathrooms thinking if people don't want to read them, they can always TP them.

20  Dumpster Diving.  I'm not devout on the dumpster diving, having rarely actually gone in one and never made a specific dumpster dive trip.  I do however, keep an eye out.  Living in a rural area with public rural dumpsters here and there, it's a common thing for folks to leave the good stuff outside the dumpster for the next person.  I will try to drive the truck if I need big stuff and am going past good dumpsters.  I've gotten a satellite dish thingy, little one that is a grid not a bowl, that the peas are climbing up now.   Plenty of lawn chairs (thanks summer tourists!), bits of fencing, pieces of lumber (wear gloves and watch for nails), and once an entire set of furniture for a summer rental including a TV...black and white bubble front with the clicky twisty knob.  The entire set being a dresser, a few lawn chairs, and the TV.  I had a blow up bed and folding picnic table.  Hose the stuff down or wash it up.  Make your own choice.  I donate back to the dumpsters as well if I have things that seem useful but not quite thrift store donatable or I'm not going past a thrift store.

21 Pass It On If You Don't Need It.  This goes back to number 12 I think.  I know who is gardening or canning, or crafting with fabric and paper.  If I have an overstock or see a great deal, I will ask around and see if one of those folks can use the overstock or the deal.  I found canning jars in great shape at the recycling center the other day (this recycling center specifically encourages direct recycling by letting us grab stuff back out of the bins and even providing free bins of buckets and things). I grabbed them and emailed around to friends who can and who give me things in jars. No one needed this size right now but all appreciated the inquiry.  I have radishes fermenting in them at the moment. One of the folks said she had too many jars of another size...a size I need right now for other things so she passed those on to me. I'm passing some clothes on to her next week.

22 Hang out with the like minded.  It's hard for me to share favors with people who think used items are gross.  People who buy all new stuff from stores I boycott, they find it hard to share with me or even hang with me.  So while we're friends now and then, usually not sharing friends.  Try to have a good set of your friend group be people who are also thrifty (or spendthrifty if that's what you like...nothing like taking a skinflint on an expensive venture to make everyone cranky!). 

23  Hang out with the unlike minded.  HA!  See what I did there?   Changed it up.  Anyway, #22 doesn't mean that you ONLY hang out with the like minded cheapskates.  That is dull and generates a judgmental bubble.  Also hang out with people who do other things but realize that they may not be the ones who will be thrilled to get a pair of your ripped carhartts for a birthday present.  I, however, would love them and would grease them up with my boot wax to make waterproof pants so...if anyone has a pair of old carhartts size 6, no spandex, send them on.   The unlike minded get us out of our bubbles and we get a break and see new things and get new ideas.  You learn from those who think differently as well as those who think like you.  Keeps you flexible and it's fun.  Sometimes you also find out that those who seem unlikeminded actually agree with you on many things. This can be confusing but is something to think about when you are stuck in a construction zone on the highway and you can't find that book you got free at the Little Free Library because your car is full of dumpster dived crap.

If You Build It, They Will Come

God I hate that movie!  

But, that crappy line is apparently true.

Coop 3.0 was barely settling in with the 3 red hens (ha!) when I got a call from the friend who gave me 2 of the red ones, Brittany and Suzanne (the chickens, not the friend, the friend is Cindy and human), had 11 hens given to her because the owner felt that the hens "bicker too much."...Uh...they are chickens.  Chickens are persnickety assholes.   Like most of the women in my family (sorry, but you know it's true).   Cindy has a full flock of heavy layers who don't eat much and these 11 weren't worth integrating to the big group, apparently.

Anyway, she called to see if I wanted more.  Given the size of Coop 3.0 and my unwillingness to build Coop 4.0 so soon, I said "no more than 3."
Cindy picked the 3 specialty breed hens and brought them over.

Here are the chickens. 

The reddish ones I've had for few weeks.  Others are new and very different.

Porky and Pearl

Porky is a Barred Rock (the black and white one).  She's big boned...actually, she's a fat ass.  Pearl is a Leghorn and quite shiny with an oddly large bosom just like Foghorn Leghorn in the cartoons.

Brittany and Suzanne with Porky and Pearl.

Brittany and Suzanne are "Novogen" breed.  A cross between Rhode Island reds and Leghorns.  They are super tame and lay HUGE brown eggs.  Porky, I think, also lays brown eggs.  Pearl is the only one laying white.  

Brittany is a scrawny red-neck runaway.  Suzanne is a follower who wants you to think she's tough, but she's not.

T-Bone giving the camera the stank eye, and Prudence looking put out behind her.

T-Bone came from the community garden in Worley.  All the rest are from my friend Cindy who is the bomb.  T-Bone was a runner who spent her days escaping the chicken run and digging up the garden.  I don't have a chicken run so she saves that escape time and spends it in the garden...digging shit up.  T-Bone is tough.  10 minutes after I let her out of the transport cage on my property, she had a mouthful of Brittany's feathers.   10 minutes after the 3 new chickens (Porky, Pearl and Prudence) arrived, she had a mouthful of Pru's feathers.  Suzanne just follows T-Bone around all day and gets panicky if she loses sight of T-Bone...basically Suzanne is T-Bone's bitch.

Prudence (Pru) is an Ameraucana big, and prissy (hence "Prudence").  

Pru lays BIG pale blue eggs that are a bit on the green side.

They were laying in the laying boxes, but today, no one could be bothered, apparently.  So I got one egg from the floor and covered in poo!  Jerks.  Tomorrow they will have to stay in the coop until there are eggs...at least 5 (they don't all lay every day...I think 5 eggs per week per bird is pretty good).  They will have plenty of food and water.  And it's a big coop and there is a giant storm tomorrow so I'm sure they will all be in there most of the day anyway.  When it rains they either sit under a table I have outside or go back in the coop.

UPDATE:  I actually wrote this last week.  The hens lay more in the coop now, but not entirely.  We may need more prison days (not full days...) to encourage them to lay in the coop.  Today (for real today) Pru spent HOURS just sitting in a nesting box not laying an egg.  What the hell?  The original 3 were busy sitting under the table I got out of a dumpster a few years ago:

CHICKENS!!!! 2020 Edition

So, I got chickens.  These are the ones my friend (HI Cindy) tagged as the chronic runaways so not worthy of her egg business (which is going NUTS during the quarantine...YAY local food!!! )

I have had them LESS than 24 hours.  About 20 hours actually since we put them in my cool chicken carrier in the back of the pick up.  About 18 hours since they went in my crappy coop.

Well, the main runner was already OUT of the chicken run.  She wasn't in the garden yet, but you know, matter of time.   These two are SUPER tame so easy to catch.  Perhaps my new exercise regime is chick'n chas'n. 

Still, really glad to have them.  I need to get some real feed because I actually would like eggs this time.  I may have to make more of a "fort knox" type chicken run.

I think it is the red-necked one in the picture, the one without her butt toward the camera.  So, what would you name a red-neck runaway teenager?  .....  Brittany!   The other one is more mellow so I'm thinking Suzanne.    Welcome to Brittany and Suzanne.  They are enjoying wheat berries, a banana peel and some clementine peels for breakfast. 

Later, they get a mouse I trapped in the upper raised bed.  I had to use some of my pandemic peanut butter ...GOOD organic all natural stuff... to bait the trap.  Must remember to get crappy cheap peanut butter for mouse bait.

Mid and Longer Term Things to Do: This Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

So, work is shutting down but I'm the office point person.  I volunteered.  It makes sense.  With schools and daycares closed, those who were not as careful with the birth control have childcare and often elder care issues.  I solved that second bit with what is known as the "geographic fix" in the anonymous type organizations.  I moved. (Sorry Sher!)  (Sorrier Pam!)

Anyway, rather than beating people up for the last sheet of toilet paper, perhaps we could do things that might really work.  Remember: you can wipe your butt with anything, just don't flush it.
With a humanure bucket toilet (which might be a good idea to start...and which I thought I had blogged but can't find a post so maybe a blog on that) I don't have to worry about clogs so as long as I'm not using plastic bags to do the job, my wiper can go in the system.
If you're rich, get a composting toilet and paper that decomposes easily should work.

I ran into this video on one of my favorite YouTube channels.  The lady has passed away and her advice is still good.  With so many people off work without benefits and the congress busy gutting the benefits bill, frugality NOW will help you both be and feel more in control of your finances from here on out.  (I hear that that "feeling" bit is important to some people.  Not my bag but whatever.  I'd rather be in control than feel in control.)

https://youtu.be/fgq5lqd4cxc

Her basic tips:
Family
Have a garden
Use and re-use
Make your own meals
Eat healthy

I figure "friends" count as family too as does the neighborhood.   So I emailed my phone number to my across the road neighbor (she was easy to find as she is a college professor).  We don't really chat because neither of us is like that.  But when I was waiting on a tow truck, she hollered over asking if I needed a ride.  When I go to the community band concerts where she plays the kettle drums, I say hi and chat about nothing for a minute.  We're both cranky so I assume we're both effective people.
She's older than I am and may end up not allowed out.  I can drop some groceries to her if need be.  Or meds.

As for the garden...check.  Do plant one.  Lots of libraries now have "seed libraries" and may be able to get some to you even if they are closed.  Stores are open and seeds are cheap.  You don't need the best and brightest to get started.  Cheap radishes are good.  They grow fast and are tasty and pretty.  Kids and old people love them.  You can dice up the greens and put them in fried eggs or use them in salads.  Let a few good looking early ones go to seed.  Replant every week.
In my raised bed, I had lettuce coming on and a volunteer kale (not because I meant to keep seed...because I was lazy).  We had a cold snap that might have killed them but it was nice to see something get started.
Lettuce is fast too.  Carrots are pretty easy to get going and you can use the tops like parsely.

As for Use and Re-Use...maybe don't reuse the TP unless you've gone with butt-cloths and you wash them between uses.
As for food...buy the whole version of veggies.  Carrots with tops.  Celery as whole bunches.  Skip the sliced and the diced and the trimmed.  Cut off the carrot about an inch down from the top.  Cut off the green bits (the tops) and use as parsley.  THEN, put the carrot nubbin, top side up, in a shallow container of water and watch the top regrow.  You can usually do this once.  Sometimes twice.  With celery, cut the stalks (not "stocks" as I keep seeing in stores...cripes) off about 1 inch up from the bottom.  Set the bottom in a bit of water.  Little celery stalks will grow up.  Remember to dry the celery leaves by laying them on a bit of paper (not that precious TP).  Use as a soup seasoning or in salad dressing when you don't have actual celery.  There's more.  Google it or tell those kids to figure it out with all their out-of-school free time.

As for the Make Your Own Meals...yes please!  I just gave a co-worker a recipe for homemade egg noodles because she couldn't find macaroni and wanted some.  She isn't much of a cook but has a pack of kids at home so it might be something to try with them.  One of them must have a knack for cooking.  Here's the video I sent her...with a note to skip the food coloring:

https://youtu.be/W2JzYzut_FE

Making your own meals is healthier and cheaper and will keep the kids busy.  Kids need to do real things that really help when a family or whomever they live with is/are going through a rough time.  Telling them to stare at a screen or play in the corner tells them they are ineffective and that carries through to adulthood.  Helping cook, garden, regrow a carrot top, find out how to do something, help with laundry, etc...let them help; it's all good for their stress level in the moment because they are making life better for their family/group and in the long run because each kid knows that he/she CAN make things better for themselves and those around them by DOING stuff.  There's research on this.  Look it up.

As for Eat Healthy, well, obviously.  Bingeing on sugary crap to make yourself feel better won't work.  A sugary diet makes one more susceptible to infections of all kinds.  Never mind the sugar-crash that can fuel bad "feelings" that so many of you find so important.  I do not understand why "eating healthy" is left off of the lists of things to do during this pandemic.  Worrying about not getting fastfood if you have a kitchen or even a hotpot or a wood stove and a pan (this does not apply to the homeless, destitute and others with so few resources...you get to eat whatever you can get your hands on safely), but for the majority of us, it is important.  Making your own meals makes it easier to eat healthy than to eat crap.


Thanks to Clara in the first video for her tips and for her family for putting the little video out yesterday from what they'd already filmed.
Her cooking and recipe videos are excellent and fun to watch.  Easy to cook along with.

TOO Many Puns So It's Just Blog Post about the Build Project

Things have been moving FAST.

The plumbing (owner permit...a.k.a ME).  I buggered it up the first time.  Slammed through another day with new help and MUCH more knowledge thanks to the friends who helped me through the first draft and passed the inspection 49 hours after the "fail". I got a green sticker on a random pipe sticking out of the ground.    I also ended up with 2 big boxes of unused bits and pieces to return to 3 or 4 different hardware stores.  As soon as I have slept a bit, I will get on that.

The first two assistants taught me a TON!  Thanks Jyl and Snuff!  For reals.
The final one...I told him that since it passed I would think of him every time I took a dump.  He was flattered.

So, the hole was filled and tamped. Gravel...tamping, more gravel...more tamping...lather, rinse, repeat.

Got the permit Thursday morning at about 8:30 AM and by 5pm Friday, 90% of the rebar is in.  The builder had a question about a detail (rebar drawn as though floating in the air...hard to pour concrete
on that and keep it in place).  So, he added some more rebar, had me take a picture and send it to his boss (aka Mrs Builderman) and hopefully the engineer will OK the slight modification.

At one point, the Mr Builderman said, "I tend to overbuild things."  Yep.  They should put that on the sign.

This morning 3 people showed up, 2 barely know me!!! And helped me rough in the pex tubes that will distribute heat in the slab in the imaginary magical solar future.  We'll see....
I'm sleeping on it and then in the morning I will go back and start tying them more definitively to the rebar.  The helpers (no names...well, they have names but I don't like to name names) were SUPER good.  None of us had done it but we watched the how-to video.  I watched it on a loop for a couple of hours and took notes because I am me. 
Anyway, here we are:

And the tubes.   I will neaten them up a bit.  I may have help tomorrow morning for that.

I will try to fish out some plumbing pictures too.  Perhaps one of the EPIC plumbers crack on the last assistant.  Cripes!!! It reminded me of the "credit card" joke my sister told me once.

You can admire the beautiful green "right to poop" sticker on the vertical black post.

The builder labor guys complimented me on having all the plumbing in one spot.  YA!!  AND interior wall.  The shortest heat tube goes through the kitchen and bath areas on either side of that.  Kitchen faces south.  The roll of tubing on the left of the picture is where the manifold will be.  It ends up under the kitchen counter.  I had wanted it in the bathroom but at 4'10" wide, with a 2'6" door...and a water supply pipe (that might actually be in the kitchen???  was supposed to be in the bathroom but the wall is 2" thick max so things have floated back and forth around it.  I don't really care...drill a hole and voila...water supply and most incoming water plumbing back in the bathroom), it was too crowded. So I remembered I didn't have to put this near the hot water heater.  If I put solar units on the south 2nd story wall or porch roof, I'll want that thing on the south wall anyway.  And it sorted out the tubing plan.   

I must have done a dozen tubing lay outs.  All of which would have worked and none of which we ultimately used.  Bits of each.  The boards are where walls will be more or less.  It struck me last night on layout 3001 that I had TOO MANY TUBES going through the bathroom if the main manifold is in there.  I'd be melting the toilet wax ring all damn winter.   That is apparently a thing based on the BIG RED LETTER WARNINGS in the installation manual.   Moving the manifold simplified the layout and limited the number of tubes that had to cross each other.  

Turning also turned (HA) out to be the biggest installation challenge.  So, at the suggestion of EG, a super friend and helper, we went the long way on the north living room and south/east living dining area.  BINGO.  Saved tubing and labor and it was easier to get into the vestibule where the solar batteries will live.

I thought to switch the supply/return path on the north loop so the sleeping area will get the water after the living area.  I like a chilly bedroom.  

Now I'm wondering if I could hook up inground tubes through the landscape around the house but deep in the ground and chill the floor in the summer.  

One helper (Hi C!!) suggested that this heated floor will be excellent for passing out drunk so I need to start drinking ASAP.

Cousin-in-law BG (not a real relative...no Norwegian has that status) had already suggested drinking when the first plumbing inspection was a fail and there was 2 days to hit the next inspection.  I may consider it next week.  The concrete pour will either happen or not happen.  Either way, I will be stressed out.  

In better news...my hair is suddenly down to my belt!  And NO I did not switch to high-waisted pants.  Since I am the shortest waisted person in the west, I'm sticking with the low waisted ones.  I keep the hair braided pretty much all the time so I hadn't noticed it got longer.  

SP and JH let me mooch a shower today and I went for the hair. My head was encased in a hard cap made of dust and scalp grease welded to hair.  Like adobe...hairdobe?  I can't imagine what it did to their drain.  But hey, if they need a new drainpipe run, I not only know how, I have enough plumbing parts in the car and on the porch to do it.  

Thank you to one and all who have helped, visited, encouraged and brought sustenance and expertise (except the Norwegians)

More anon.  

Best Fundraiser EVER. Also, Breakfast of Champions

Here is what I had for breakfast

 I don't know what the "Las Vegas Classic" is.  I don't care.  It could be a stripper competition.  I don't care.  Fry bread, sausage, egg, and that plasticine cheap "cheese" product.  5$.  EVEN though I had to scrape off the cheese because the sammiches were already assembled, I didn't care.  I usually have a tantrum about incipient dairy.  This time, I didn't care.  The actual sandwich was quite a bit larger than pictured. 5$.  And seriously delicious.  I supported a local group, locally made food (the fry bread was fresh), and talked to several community members as we stood in line.

The limited run of 150 sammiches gave the sale quite a bit of cache.  No dawdling over decisions because they were going to run out.  It also means the folks making and serving didn't have to hang out for very long.  There are over 1000 people in this town.  They will run out fast.

At least 300 of us got paid this morning.  Good timing.  I got there a bit before 8 and the sandwiches were already going fast.  So much for "Indian time"..."fry bread time" means "show up early or miss out."

 

Cute Puppy Click Bait!

Things I've Learned from Judge Judy

I've been youtube binge watching episodes and clips of Judge Judy shows.  It's not a good thing to do with my time...so I'm trying to find some redeeming value for my many wasted hours.

Turns out there are indeed some good financial lessons on Judge Judy:

1) NEVER EVER CO-SIGN a loan for anything, ever.  If the person can't get credit from professionals, or rent an apartment on their own, or get utilities turned on...whatever...then do not put your own money at risk.  If you cosign, the loan or utility bill or rent or whatever is actually all yours when they can't find the other signer.  So DO NOT CO-SIGN ANYTHING EVER.

2)  DO NOT pay anyone's bail.  They aren't going to pay you back.  They are going to say it's a gift.

3) DO NOT GET A CELL PHONE FOR ANYONE.  Or pay their cable, or any other media/communications type thing.  Just don't.  They will run up the bill and not pay it. 

4) DO NOT LOAN MONEY, and when you do, get a signed note with a specific pay off date.  Never ever let them say "I'll pay you when I can" or "I'll pay you when I have the money."  That just makes you a sucker because they will never be able to or never have the money. 

5) DO NOT SHARE HOUSING WITH ANYONE NOT ON THE LEASE because you are just screwed.

6) DO NOT TAKE ANYONE ON VACATIONS THEY WILL NOT PAY FOR IN ADVANCE.  They will just say that it was a gift and you will be screwed.

7) YOU CANNOT GET MORE THAN A CAR'S BLUE BOOK VALUE IN COMPENSATION FOR AN ACCIDENT.  It does not matter what sort of fancy wheels/stereo/paint job you paid for after market, she's going to award you fair condition blue book value. 

These are all things I knew, but it seems that most people who end up on Judge Judy do not know these things.  And are not going to learn them.

2016...goodbye and good riddance

2016 is a year that will live in infamy.  For me anyway.  Bit up and down.  Too much down.

Simplicity and frugality-wise, it wasn't terrible.  I managed to re-supply my savings enough to think about getting the real cabin started in 2017.

And thank goodness, and frugality, I had enough savings to do what needed to be done during some rough times.

Starting last December, ok, end of 2015, but it rolled right on through the new year so I'm lumping it all into 2016.  Why ruin 2 years?

Last December, I lost two people.  First a really good old friend passed away suddenly.  She was younger than me.  I didn't stay to help her family because I was heading back to the folks to visit my father.  He had the "big C"...no, not that one, cancer.  It was bad.  Really bad.  He died.  But at least I had the cash in savings to help my friend's family and to go back for the visit over the holidays and the vacation time to stay through the end times and the memorial.

Then, 11 days later, Gramma falls and breaks a hip.  Frankly, I think the hip broke, and then she fell.
I didn't go home immediately.  I already had another trip planned for Feb to help with my father's stuff.  Instead, helped pack up Gramma's apartment as she had to move to a nursing home. I got to visit her and Mom and the rest which was good.

In June my godson graduated college which was/is AWESOME!  SOOOO proud of him (he got out with very little debt..yeay him!!!).  I went for the graduation, helped with a move.  Then he and I took a celebratory road trip back to the family homesite for my father's memorial.  Drove Idaho to Iowa, and back.  We thought we could take a leisurely tour on the way back to Idaho, but alas, he GOT A JOB!  Yeay him!!!!!   So, we booked.  The graduation and trip were the highlight of 2016.  And again, glad I had saved up and could do this.

In Sept, another trip to Iowa.  Flew out and an Aunt (a very young fun one) and I drove a moving van back to Idaho with my stuff and a couple of her things out of Gram's apartment.  Got to visit Gram again.  And Mom and the rest.  The trip with the moving van went really well until the end.  The end SUCKED.  But the company and the scenery were excellent. Thanks Aunt!

Alas, a few weeks after I got back, a person I had worked with and who filled the role of uncle or grampa for me, passed away.

Next Gramma died.  She had decided it was time and that there would be NO memorial or funeral or anything.  Nothing.  She did want my sister and I to take a vacation with Mom.  So we went.  It was great and once again I was glad I had saved up and had the money to do this for Gram. (We all paid our own way so actually: yeay all of us.)

Finally, I got word that a friend from college had passed suddenly.  He was almost exactly my age.  I miss him. 

That's enough now.  Just one more day of 2016 to go. 

More on the good stuff:
The graduation and road trips were great!

The vacation with Mom and my sister was fabulous.  We love Vancouver BC.

And I love my wee shed cabin thing!  It is a BIT tough to keep warm when it is below 10degs F, and windy.   The rest of the time it is awesome.

I splurged and spent 20$ on a sled!  RETAIL and NEW.  Very unlike me but I had enough screwing around looking at thrift stores and the snow wasn't going to last forever.  I have been sledding and snow shoeing on my land.  That is now my favorite thing.

The solar got fixed and the well works!  I spent a bit to get the good electricians out, but now it works.  That was worth it.

And I got bees!!!!!

Simple Thrifty Introvert Friendly Holiday Extravaganza!!

I'm partway through an excellent Thanksgiving.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, how very American to celebrate the immolation and slaughter of native people.

Anyway, as you may have deduced, not my favorite holiday.  I don't mind celebrating the harvest with a bit of gluttony.  One can do that any day.  I have today off work and access to a friend's kitchen since she's out of town.  I am alone.  There is no television.  Introvert paradise.

Let overindulgence begin!

Breakfast: What did I have?  Oh, right. Spinach frittata and a coconut milk vanilla latte' which I made in my travel french press.  I did steal coffee beans from my hostess since I am out and forgot to buy any yesterday.

For a snack, a handful of walnuts (left from some thrifty holiday gift assemblage done yesterday) and a handful of stolen triscuits...sorry hostess!

I spent the morning preparing the big meal.  Most of my duties involved remembering the stove was one while something simmered or baked.

The main dish: Spicy adzuki beans on spelt berries. YUM!  I'd never cooked adzuki beans or spelt berries before but had done plenty of dry beans and whole grains.  That expertise along with the odd internet search saw me through.  I started both of those soaking, separately of course, last night.

In the morning I put the spelt in a big sauce pan with enough water to come about an inch over the top of the grain.  Brought it to a boil, and simmered. I don't know how long it simmered.  The internet said it would take 90 minutes, but it didn't take nearly that long.  I tasted it every now and then.  Once it wasn't crunchy, I called it good.  After a good drain in a seive, it went into a bowl in the fridge.
Since I still had some coconut milk after the latte' was made, I put some cooked spelt in a pint jar and topped it up with coconut milk and some fresh grated ginger root. It's in the fridge now becoming progressively more delicious.

After the exhausting time spent watching a video while the spelt simmered, I dove in and took on the beans.  These cooked up super fast as well.  Not the 40 min the internet told me. Lying damn internet! It was more like 25 min.  Again, I was tasting them off and on while they cooked.  They went from definitely not done to "OMG!  OVERDONE!" Pretty quickly.  But, still held up well in the final dish.

I drained the beans and left the lid off the pan to get them dried out a bit.  I don't like to leave cooked beans sitting in water.  Then, just let it all cool off.

Obviously I needed a rest after all that.

But wait!  What about dessert???
After the rest period, I made one of my quick tarts.  This may be the best one so far.
Apple with fresh grated ginger, and whatever cinnamon and nutmeg I could round up. Unroll the crust (the cheap store brand refrigerated pie crust...bought on sale of course), just one.  Put it on a baking sheet.  Not an insulted cookie sheet.  Those are stupid.  Just a thin piece of metal.
I had some plum pineapple jam from the farmers market so I used a couple tablespoons of that to make a circle on the unfurled crust (leave 1-2 inches of the edge unjammed).  I put the ginger more or less evenly on the jam.  I sliced up one granny smith apple, and scored the hide...these had crappy thick skin that was hard to bite through.  Arrange slices neatly on the jam.  Sprinkle the cinnamon and nutmeg on.  Fold the crust edges up over the apple edges any which way.  Seal up any cracks or tears in the crust. Bake at 425 until the crust is brown and the jam is a bit bubbly between the apple slices.

I have no idea how long that is.  Just keep an eye on it.

After another good rest, time to finalize the main dish.

I diced up an onion and sweated it in peanut oil.  This is thrifty peanut oil that I poured off the top of natural peanut butter I got on sale.  So, basically free oil.  I chopped up the remains of a head of garlic I found at my place.  Threw that in.  Let it sweat some more.  Turn up the heat and get a bit of carmelization going on the onions, but not much.  I put in about a tablespoon of cumin, and a mix of hot pepper (new mexico, ancho, chile de arbol, something else) that came in a multi-pack as a gift last christmas.  Stir that around and let it cook a tiny bit.

Open a can of diced tomatoes and throw that in.
While it heats up, get the beans.  I put in about 2 cups, maybe 2 1/2 cups.    Stir.
Then, I let it simmer.  It got quite dry even with the lid on the pan.  But, I let it be.  I probably kept it simmering about a half hour.

I heated up a cup of the spelt berries in a TINY bit of water in a smaller saucepan.  Once hot, I threw some spicy beans and mixed it up.  I had meant to slice up an avocado on there, but I didn't remember that until I was settled on the couch watching a movie and eating out of the pan so I just didn't bother.

The beans and spelt was really good!

The remains of the beans went into sandwich baggies with some spelt berries.  As I type they are freezing and I will take them to the office for microwave lunch options.

I meant to only eat ONE piece of the tart, but as I was doing some odd jobs in the afternoon, I just kept having "one more piece" and now, there is no more tart.  Oh well.

So, how was this all thrifty?

I got the organic adzuki beans for 50cents a pound and the spelt berries for about 66cents a pound.  A store was changing up the bulk-bin selections and had random bags of things they weren't going to carry in bulk anymore.  So, I grabbed what looked good.  I also got some prunes (which it turns out I do not hate) and other items.  The beans and spelt berries were the last things left from that deal.
The tomatoes are store brand, not expensive, but organic. The onion was something like 79cents a pound and the garlic is from the community garden for free.

Coconut milk is often a high end item.  The coconut milk I am using is from powder.  Wilderness Family brand.  While the bag of powder is still fairly spendy, there is virtually no waste.  You mix up as much as you need when you need it.  The bag I have is over a year old.  I think I spent $12.50 or so on it.  I don't use it that often, but it is still good.  Doesn't take up much space and no worry about freeze/thaw as I would have with cans.

The ginger was bought on sale about a month ago and I've been using it but it's time to use it up before it gets too dry and old.  Hence, ginger in things.

The jam was 3$ for homemade at the local farmers market.  I used 2 or 3 tablespoons full for the tart.  That's pretty thrifty.

I must say, it was a damn tasty meal!  All based on "what needs to be used up" supplemented with "what's on sale."  And a bit of theft from my hostess.  But I will leave her a tart or something as a thank you.
The store brand crusts were on sale for $1.69 and I used only 1 from the package of 2.
The apples were 79cents a pound.

The Importance of a Wee Break

Some lovely friends needed farm sitting!  YEAY!  They get a break and I get a break.  They have land as well, but with a "real" house that is a work in progress.  They also have livestock.

While they are off, actually about 30 min drive from my place, I'm up here, 90+ min from my place, sitting at their place.  They are camping and I get to be in a house with plumbing (plumbing with parts missing, see above "work in progress"). We all get a break.

Caring for livestock, sheep, horses, dogs, chickens, and cats, just for a weekend reminds me that livestock are a lifestyle choice.  Fence, shelter, feed, water, and minding.  I think for me the "minding" component would be the toughest.  I like to travel.  I like to know that if I need/want to stay elsewhere for the night, I can.  The bees will be fine.

While I'm enjoying their house, I also get to really see what I"m missing in my home.  I'm missing having a proper kitchen.  I don't mean one with ALL the modcons, but a stove I can just turn on and cook in more than one pan would be super.  I almost have that.  I've actually used the fridge a bit, but just for fun...cold brew and some overnight oats. Convenient but not important to me (but I must say...those oats were fine, more on them later).

I'm also having a netflix binge and will be glad to get away from TV when I leave.  It's fun for a while, but I don't want/need to watch every episode of "Chopped" in a row.  I did see some inspiring documentaries, but again, I can get those from the library if I want to watch them when I'm not here. 

Getting away also let me rethink my next cabin plan. I got too tied to one idea that was making the whole plan less comfortable.  On the drive, and knowing I didn't have any work tasks with me, I was able to think back through my varied plans and go back to the best one.  The one that I drew and thought "I would love to come home to that."  It shows off the kitchen, keeps the main entry as its own event.  It makes it slightly harder to put a summer kitchen in, but not much.  The overworked recent plan madeit awkward to enter the house every time.  So, back to the other one and let my personal architect (hi Jon!) work his magic with the summer kitchen.  The older plan also makes room for the solar equipment (batteries, inverter, etc) in a utility area rather than intruding on the living room . Those need to be in a closet, batteries preferable outside so they are fully vented. The inverter makes noise and clicks and has a light.  I'm in love with the dark.  The electronic lights at the farm sitting situation, as few as there are, still impinge on the dark.  I want DARK. 

I'm glad these friends have what they like and are making it more so.  And weall respect each others' choices about what we like.  None of us would impose the choices on another of us. (same with my other friend who has a new home: Hi Ange!!!).  Her home is different and perfect for her.  What we both have in common is that we come home and say "I can't believe I get to live here."  Yeay us.

So, the "work in progress" bit.  The place I'm farm sitting is an old unarchitected home.  My friends are redoing itasthey go.  Mostly it's great, but the adhoc bathrooms need updating.  So the old homestead house now has a beautiful bath with a repainted clawfoot tub, wood tongue and groove paneling on the walls, a toto toilet (low flush, easy on the septic), and some lovely primitive benches for the soaps and towels and whatnot.  The sink isn't in yet, but the tiles are placed to be grouted into a mosaic.  Very pretty.  They found towel racks, a light fixture, and toilet paper holder made of pipe.  Looks perfect and clean and goes with the house.

I think they will appreciate my future kitchen made of old table leaves and iron shelf supports and enamelware table portions.  They like eclectic and interesting too.