Snow, Ice, Freezing Rain!

We had it all. And then the winds came. We lost power yesterday, Valentine's Day, at about 8:12. Miriam told us it was 8:12 when her radio stopped radio-ing. Anyway, I got up (I was already excused from work due to the freezing rain) and started a fire in the fireplace. I was determined to keep us from freezing to death for however long it took, or until we ran out of firewood.
We had a lovely Valentine's Day. More on that later. Anyway we played games with the kids, read books, and generally enjoyed each other's company. All the while keeping the fire roaring along. Mary and I went for a walk around the neighborhood, just as the temperature fell down below freezing yesterday evening. We found several downed trees and such around the neighborhood, but mostly just branches and small stuff Most of the largest trees were taken down last winter, and I guess there weren't many ready to come down this winter. We looked in on a few of our elderly neighbors, and made sure that they had things under control. The kids made S'mores over the fire.
The kids slept in the living room, on our lovely Persian rug in their sleeping bags. Unfortunately the kids let the fire go out during the night, and it was very chilly this morning. I got up and got the fire started, but we had lost ground during the night. It never really got up above chilly all day. We were wearing many layers of clothes and the wonderful knit caps that Mom made for all of us. We bundled up, and stayed warm.
Work was delayed by 4 hours today, and I went in around 10:30. I had made soup before I went in, and it was finished when I got home.
BG&E had the power restored by about 5:45. That made for a long time without power. Each time something like this happens, it only makes me more determined to be self sufficient on the energy front, at least the household things like heat, power, and hot water.
We were very lucky, none of our trees lost any big branches, and the garden is safely put to bed under the snow and ice. I will have to take the tiger grass down, and toss it on the compost heap after the snow melts.

About Valentine's Day surprise:
Last weekend, when Mary went on her retreat, I had lots of time to plan my gifts for Mary. Mary had enjoyed the peanut butter fudge I made for Christmas, so I had an idea. Peanut Butter Cups! But better, VEGAN peanut butter cups. So I took semi-sweet vegan chocolate, melted in a bag in the microwave, and set about making peanut butter cups. I was quite proud of how they turned out, and then set off to get a box to make a beautiful presentation to Mary on Valentine's Day. I didn't have any idea that we wouldn't have power for most of it! Anyway, I also made a compilation CD of several love songs that she can listen to when she gets the chance. The funny story is that I could barely wait to give all of this to Mary. I had a really hard time keeping it hidden and not mentioning anything to her. So Tuesday night, I asked her if she wanted her Valentine's Day gift before I left for work, or after I got home. She didn't answer me then. So when my alarm went off, I had called in to work and found out that I didn't have to go in due to the weather, I told Mary I couldn't stand it anymore, so I hopped out of bed, and went and got her the presents. I think she liked them! It was kinda hard to tell, since it was about 5:30 in the morning, and Mary was still sleepy! She said she loves them, and me! Life is good!

Weekend to Myself

The kids are gone to their other parent's houses. Mary took a weekend religious retreat with Friends, which left me alone to my own devices.

It isn't often that I have so much free time to myself. I remember solitude from my single days, but with a family now that has 5 kids, a beautiful wife, and all of the circle of friends, coworkers, and relations, I really don't get large chunks of alone time. So what did I do?

I watched a few movies that a friend loaned me at work. I took long bath. I went shopping up at the Asian food store, I washed dishes, I finished the book I was reading. I slept in. I stayed up late. I did whatever struck me as interesting at the time. I went to meeting today. I went to Whole Foods to get some Dr. Bronner's Soap and took my time shopping for other stuff, and just checking out the rest of the store, not worrying about how long it takes.

I also have taken some time to just meditate.

What I've learned recently in meditation - I often reflect on my relationship with Kyle, as that is the point of most of my Samsara (suffering) lately. So I have been trying to come to terms with what Kyle is choosing in his life, mainly to distance himself from me and my family here. He choses to spend his time with his mother's family. Anyway, the suffering I've been enduring, while painful, hasn't killed me. So I meditate on it, and try to figure out what to do. Asking the Universe of an answer has brought me this: Letting Kyle go to do what he needs to be happy. Holding Kyle too tightly is the sure way to have him not want to stay. I found this in a meditation site that I view on occasion.

The Difference between Love and Attachment
Tenzin Palmo told a story about her mother's love
as an example of a love that does not bind.

"When I was 19 years old, I wanted to go to India to find a spiritual teacher.
Finally, I got an invitation letter.
I remember running along the road to meet my mother
as she was coming from work and saying to her 'I'm going to India!'

And she replied 'Oh yes dear, when are you leaving?'
Because she loved me, she was happy for me to leave her."

She went on to explain the moral of the story.
"We mistake love and attachment.
We think they are the same thing, but actually, they are opposites.
Love is 'I want you to be happy.'
Attachment is 'I want you to make me happy."'...

Something like that is what I'm hoping to give to Kyle. I love him dearly, but will let him go, to let him be happy.

Today's Meeting concentrated on this attachment theme, even though it isn't really a Quaker teaching. So it was interesting to hear their take on it.

Mary is going back to school!

She is looking to get another Masters, then on to a PhD. in Sociology. She is very excited about the whole thing, and I'm rooting for her. It means lots of time back in school, but she loves the classroom, and really wants to do some research on her "changing the culture of divorce in America" ideas. So back to school she is planning. She is taking practice GRE tests and has an appointment to get that done next week. She is really enjoying herself. More power to her, I say. It is kind of funny, since I really don't enjoy the classroom stuff, but love to learn, she really likes to do both. More details later on this!

During some the warmer part of the weekend, Sunday afternoon, I worked outside on the trellises for the beans and peas. I received some 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe on Free-cycle to use to keep the wood from rotting, and cut them into 2 foot lengths. I pounded one into the ground, then pulled it out, and pushed the soil out of it and then pushed it back into the ground. I took 2x4s and ripped them with the hand circular saw, so I had 2x2s. I then shaved off the end of the pole enough so that it would fit into the PVC pipe. This will keep the poles up even in strong wind, without having to pour concrete into my garden. Anyway, I then used the saw to nibble off some rabbets for the top poles. These will hold the trellis netting or strings that Mary and I will use for the peas and beans to climb. Anyway we have about 40' of trellis ready to go up, I just have to figure out how tall I want to make them. Then pound in the rest of the sections of pipe, and assemble them. I'm going to drill pilot holes in the tops of the poles, and through the rabbet joints and use a deck screw to hole the top poles on. It should look pretty spiffy when I get it done. But the temperature has just been way too cold to work outside since Sunday. Brrrrrr!

The kids are doing fine, normal school routine.

We've managed to keep the clutter monsters out of the living room

From Jan 2007 livi...

and dining room for a week! We can keep them out longer, I'm sure.

I hope everyone got a chance to at least scan through my environmental steps in my previous blog entry. Mary and I have taken a whole pile of small steps that have resulted in some really huge changes over time. Please consider something that you could do to make a positive change in either habit or health. Positive small steps are easy!

Environmental Small Steps
by James Kniskern

I'm sure that we will have folks around who would like to take a look at what we are doing. All added up they sound like big things, but they aren't really. Mary and I have just taken many small steps. We put some of those things into action that people may have read about. There are lots of things that we still want to do, but either don't have the time, money, or the solar window to accomplish.

I don't know if there is a list on the internet of things that can be done that are environmentally friendly, but there should be, shouldn't there? Here is a list of the things that Mary and I have done so far. Keep in mind that we tackle things in small batches, and keep working on them until they are done. None of this was done overnight! It takes time. Also it is a matter of changing some habits, and making things work for you!

1. Rain barrels at all 5 downspouts. These were assembled in 5 phases, and I learned how to make them from the internet! And yes, they are made from Rubbermaid 32 gallon trashcans. Each phase of rain barrels got little improvements and tweaks to make it better, so by the time I was installing the fifth set, I got it done in just a couple of hours. We use the water for the gardens around the house. The nice thing is that we don't have to carry water far to water plants.

2. Low flow shower head - low cost item at Home Depot. Reduces water usage by leaps and bounds, but still gives you the feeling of water pounding on you as you shower. It gives plenty of pressure to rinse shampoo out of hair and such. Ours doesn't quite match the other fixtures in the bathroom, but certainly does allow us to save huge amounts of water.

3. Greywater usage: Mary's idea. Catch water in the tub, carry it outside to water plants. We don't do this much in the wintertime, since the plants are sleeping. We do save shower water in 2 buckets next to the toilet to use for flushing. This came about because we have an old house, and didn't want to retrofit the place with more pipes to the outside. Also kids use MUCH less water when they have to carry it outside in buckets. It makes them think about what they are using. Our water consumption dropped to only 5 units per quarter.

We could get much more strict on this, by saving dishwater (no dishwasher in our house, hand washing only) and even saving hand-washing water too. We will probably do this in the spring when we need more water.

4. Electricity - Putting off-and-on-switched power strips on computers, entertainment centers and other things. - Electronic equipment that is in "standby" uses power, just waiting for you to use your remote control. This is essentially wasted power. Ok, so if you want a clock, use a clock that uses wind-up mechanism, or a rechargeable battery. Forget about the clocks in the electronics. They drain power.

5. Compact Florescent Lights (CFL): These are the famous curly bulbs. They save TONS of electricity! When Mary and I married, I started replacing all of the bulbs in her house with these. They are more expensive initially, but save money overall. They pay for themselves. There is something even better, and as of yet more expensive initially : LED lights. They last for 10s of years and use even less energy than CFLs. They take a bit more wiring, as they run on Direct Current (DC) instead of AC. Mary and I haven't moved to these yet, but will when we build our next house.

6. Get rid of the lawn. This took us about 3 years. Plan pathways and plant/flower beds. Make changes in small sections. Did you know that mowing grass using either gas or electric mowers is a fantastic waste of energy, money and time? If you absolutely have to keep some grass, then keep the patch small, only 30-40 square feet, just enough to have some green, or walk on barefoot. This can be easily cut with a rotary push mower, which uses no fossil fuel, and allows exercise too. Remember to let your grass clippings mulch down into the soil to feed your grass. That requires far less fertilizer, which is good for the environment too. Getting rid of the lawn saves hundreds of gallons of water, as well as fossil fuels required to make, transport and clean up fertilizers. The key to getting rid of your lawn is do a little bit at a time, and work toward building the soil. Once you have done this, the system actually takes far less work to maintain. Mary can actually weed the entire front gardens in about a half an hour. This is because we have it so heavily mulched and planted with plants we want, they crowd out the weeds. Planted and mulched garden beds hold more water than shallow rooted lawn grass, keeping much less runoff from leaving your property.

7. Gas mileage - Try to purchase a car with the highest gas mileage possible. Hybrids are better. Full electric if they suit your needs. Most people only travel long distances a few times a year - buy accordingly. I personally found it much more fun to buy a small engined scooter. It gets me to work on warmer days and gets about 80 MPG. So I think I'm doing a bit for global warming, and still having fun at the same time. Of course, it would be better if my job were only 3 miles from home, instead of 18, but I still have to get back and forth.

8. Use of "Bay Friendly" cleaners. This came about not because we wanted to "save the Bay" but because we didn't want to have to have another dry well dug for our septic system. Our first dry well stopped working, and caused a backup of sewage into the house, not a pleasant thing. So I read up on everything not to put into a septic system. Harsh cleaners, bleach, high phosphorus detergents, paint, borax, Epsom salt, and anything else that will kill my beneficial bacteria in the system is forbidden. This has the added benefit of making things biodegradable, and easy to put on the garden, and good for the Bay. It is a selfish reason, and frugal, to be environmentally friendly... It's expensive and smells bad to have septic system problems.

9. Get energy efficient appliances. We are still working on this one. We always shop for the best energy efficient appliances we can afford. Knowing how they will be more cost effective and efficient, makes a slightly more up front cost more bearable. We have to remember that the cost of using the appliance will go in in energy costs later on. Demand quality, efficiency and usability.

10. Hang clothes out on a clothes line. Lines are easy to put up, and clothespins are inexpensive. Even if the clothes are a little damp, 10 minutes in the dryer to finish them up will still save money and energy. We estimate we saved about $300 in the last year by hanging out laundry. As I told a friend recently, if you want softer clothes, use distilled vinegar in the rinse cycle, and tumble the clothes for 5 minutes after they are dry.

11. Drying clothes in the winter: Put a vent on the dryer that will allow moist hot air to be blown into the house instead of outside. Most people with central air have very dry homes. Added humidity makes the house feel warmer, and a load or two of laundry moisture won't make the house feel damp. Also, central heating dries the air in the house anyway. Also, a bit of heat from the dryer is saved, keeping your money from flying out the vent. Our vent can be switched to outside flow in the summer.

12. Water Filters - Simple carbon filter makes water taste better, and also removes some of the chlorine/chloramine/fluoride that is added to water in Maryland.

13. Composting Toilets. Simple to build and use. A bit of a chore, but saves HUGE amounts of drinking water from being flushed away.

14. Weather proof doors and windows. Weather stripping is inexpensive at hardware stores. I'm amazed at the amount of savings from sealing up those doors and windows. It takes a bit of practice to apply, but as my Dad used to say to us kids "Close the door! I'm not heating the entire outdoors!"

15. Install extra insulation in attics, crawlspaces, basements, exterior walls. We are still working on this, and add insulation as we can afford it. Doing it ourselves is least expensive, but again, pays for itself later on. This is equal to putting an extra blanket on the bed, or an extra sweater on when you are feeling cool.

16. Buy locally grown/produced foods. Support your local farmers market. They often have organic foods which are better for you and have traveled much shorter distances. Buying local saves fuel to transport food. Organic foods are higher in nutrients and trace minerals, and have no pesticides. One of my little sayings during sweet corn season, "If it is good enough for the worms, then it is good for me!" I just leave the worm in the pile of husks for the compost bin, cut out the worm eaten bit, and eat the rest of the corn.

17. Eat seasonally grown foods. This works if you garden, and if you don't, patronize those farmer's markets and freeze or can your food for the off season. This is something new for us, and while we are moving in this direction, we still have a good way to go.

18. Eat fewer processed foods. This allows you to be healthier and eat better foods. It has an advantage of allowing you to cook more for yourself at home, and eat recipes you like. Processed foods are packaged with way too much waste wrapping, have been transported way too far, and usually aren't good for you anyway.

19. Eat less meat. It costs enormous amounts of energy and water to feed, transport, and otherwise produce meat for your table. Use less, or for even better health go vegetarian or vegan (animal-derived food free). Reduce dairy and eggs. High energy cost to produce/transport, high health cost of consuming.

20. Lower house temperature in winter. If we are cold, we put a sweater on. We rarely have the house warmer than 66 in the winter. In the summer, our thermostat is set at 78 or 80. If we feel warm, we go outside and spend some time. Then coming inside feels cooler. The advantage is that the AC makes the house drier, so we feel cooler. 80 is pretty cool on a 95 degree day.

21. Wash laundry in cold water. It takes energy to heat water, and clothes get just as clean in cold water too. For extra-soiled clothes, try adding hydrogen peroxide (but not too much) to help your cleaner. Hydrogen peroxide won't harm the septic either.

22. Wash clothes less often. If your clothes aren't dirty, don't wash them after just one wearing. Wear clothes until they are soiled, and need to be washed. Over washing makes clothes age faster. (This works pretty well for adults, but for kids of course, they soil clothes pretty quickly.) I have a set of "gardening clothes" that I put on to garden in. This keeps my other clothes cleaner longer. (Undershirts and underwear are worn for a day, then washed.)

Things we are planning to do in our next home:

All of the above things plus:

Solar water heater

Solar panels - either selling power to power company or going off-grid completely

High thermal mass walls - cool in summer, warm in winter.

Heat with efficient "rocket heater" using scrap wood.

Living roof - again, cools in summer, holds in heat in the winter.

Sun room - shaded in summer, warms house in winter, brings natural light into the home. Allows seeds to be started for garden earlier. Possible food production inside the house during winter.

And more things that I'm sure we will figure out as we go.

A week of fun

Ok, so Mary and I have really strange definitions of "fun." Moving manure around the house to build topsoil for the garden beds, in January, even when the warm weather goes away, could be considered "strange" by some people's standards. Not us! No, we enjoy that kind of thing! Which really must confound my parents, who had to practically threaten me with bodily harm to get me to do chores when I was still living at their house!

But since it has turned colder, Mary has the painting going in the living room and dining room. She is really good at it, and is flying around the room, prepping, cutting-in, and rolling. She has the same "painting clothes" that she has been using for all the other painting projects, and they have served her well. You can really tell what those are used for! Anyway, the painting should be done soon, and we will have our living room back and our dining room. That will be a good thing.

I was outside this morning, not with any real projects to accomplish, but with just pre-snowstorm cleaning up. Stuff like, bringing the snow shovels down from the shed, getting the wood chips ready for the sidewalk, and general tidying up of the gardens that I hadn't had a chance to do with other projects taking priority.

On the wood chips for the sidewalk. We use wood chips instead of salt, or ice-melt, because we can reuse wood chips, wood chips don't contaminate the garden like salt does, salt hurts the Chesapeake Bay, and wood chips float to the top of the ice and refreeze, leaving a non-skid surface to walk on. Also wood chips when frozen into the snow, allow for slip-free walking. A much better environmental choice. Oh, and did I mention that wood chips were cheaper!

I don't envy Kyle and his scout troop this weekend. Seems they had a camping trip out at Quantico Marine Base both Friday and Saturday nights. I don't know if they managed to stay warm or not, but I'm sure they had an interesting time of it!

Today's hot January 22nd meal is Vegetable soup. This is an easy favorite of mine, because I clean out the fridge and the freezer and toss things into a pot, then open a few cans to round out what I have. This kind of soup is never the same twice. Today's soup has leftover greens from the garden, carrots, half a container of frozen onion gravy, a tubby of rice, some cooked wheat berries from last week, a can of corn, a can of kidney beans, a can of tomatoes that I puree to make the soup creamier, and some squash from the big freezer downstairs. I spice it up and add some vegetable bullion to it to give it some more body. Who says there isn't anything for vegetarians to eat? Yummy!

Wow. 2 pickup truck loads of --- Sh*t

Mary found someone who will bring composted horse manure right to the house. And today was cloudy, but pretty warm. I got the mudding done in the living/dining room so had some time to devote to spreading out the compost. Mary came out to help. We got lots done!

Yesterday, Mary was trying to fix up the front door molding. When the door was replaced, we put the old molding back on the door frame. Anyway, with the way the door was put in, the molding didn't quite fit right. No amount of jimmying or hammering was going to put it back on the way it would fit. So, I got some more at Home Depot today. I also got a nail set, and an inexpensive miter box with saw. I'll get that done tomorrow. Add some caulk and it will be done!

Now, after moving 2 loads of crap, I'm a bit tired!

Sanding Living room

So, I got started on the living room today. The rest of the stuff moved out, curtains taken down, and stored (Mary will wash them later), drop cloths put over sofa and love seat, and the sanding begun. It took about 3 hours to get ready to get the sanding started, and 2 1/2 hours to do the sanding. Yikes, the ol' right arm is really giving me what-for! The vibration of the sander really doesn't do my elbow very well. I have some pain, but will be taking some ibuprofen for it. That should help. I'm looking forward to getting the mudding started tomorrow after work. I hope to get at least half of it done tomorrow, and the other half done Tuesday. Then Wednesday sand again, and then repeat Thursday and Friday, with another round of sanding on Saturday. That will give me a couple of days to get whatever touch-ups need fixing for Sunday and MLK day.

I made soup for dinner. It was simmering while I was doing the sanding. Yummy!

Mary and I are just lounging around in the bedroom, since the living room is empty, and the family room has quite a bit of stuff in it.

Peace!