A Forced Day Off
Early Sunday afternoon, Mr Chiots and I were working in the office and suddenly the lights went out. It was a windy day, but it didn’t seem that bad. We figured the lights would come back on shortly but decided to work outside in the mean time. There’s plenty of work to be done since we have to cut up all those trees we had taken down last Wednesday. We worked outside until sunset and the lights never did come back on.
We came inside, pulled out the old oil lamp that my parents gave us and made some hot chocolate (which is simply made by melting chocolate in warm milk). As we sat at the table sipping our hot cocoa we started to talk about how nice it was to not have all the distractions that we usually have. Since we both work from home we never really leave work. You’ll find us working at our desks at 6:30 am and sometimes at midnight as well. We never really mind when the electric goes out because it forces us to take time off from e-mails, blogging, and clients. At least I had already written and scheduled my blog post for the next day, but didn’t have time to proof it as usual – so sorry about the typos yesterday.
While enjoying our relaxing evening we decided that we’re going to have an electric free day once a month. We’ll turn everything off and spend the day away – truly enjoying time away from all the things that seem to dominate our lives. A day of no e-mail, no checking the radar on-line for rain, no googling answers to questions… It should be an interesting experiment, I’ll be sure to let you know when we’re doing it next month and perhaps you can join us!
How often does the electric go off at your house? Have you ever thought of going electric free on certain days?
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Preparing for a Bountiful Season
This time of year the pickings get slim in our freezer and basement pantry. The longer I garden and preserve food the better I get and not ending up with too much food come spring. The only things that remain in the freezer from last summer are: 4 gal. bags of wild black raspberries, 1.5 gal. bags of strawberries, 9 pints of corn, 2 cups of peas and 1 gal. bag of roasted tomatoes. Since the freezer is as empty as it will get, I defrosted it yesterday. I always defrost it during April or May.
I pulled everything out, put it in coolers and the fridge freezer, then I turned off the freezer, opened the door, lined the bottom with a bunch of towels and turned on a fan. In an hour or two it was completely defrosted (one reason to do this yearly is because the frost doesn’t build up and take as long to thaw). I wiped out any excess water and turned in on. When it was cold once again, I put everything back in.
I have a specific method for organizing my freezer. The worst thing ever is finding things that have gone bad because they get pushed to the back of the freezer and you forget they’re in there. When you have a big deep freeze it’s important to keep it organized and keep a list of what’s in there. That way you’re never suprised either by finding something you forgot was in there, or by reaching for something that isn’t there.
I organize the freezer shelves into types of food:
top shelf – berries, fruits, and veggies
middle shelf – whole chickens, ham, prepared food, and bread
bottom shelf – chicken, meaty bones, organ meats, and lard
bottom compartment – venison: steaks, roasts, and ground
door – nuts, grains, things frozen in jars: stock, corn, etc
I like to keep track of what’s in the freezer so I know exactly how much of each thing I have inside without having to open the door. I do this by keeping a list of what’s inside on the front door written in dry erase marker. When I remove something, I update the total for that item. This is a quick and easy way to keep track of what’s in your freezer. I organize my list by type of item, but you could also write on the area of the door that corresponds to the shelf inside.
We do have a lot of venison in the freezer since hunting season was in late November and Mr Chiots got three deer. I also just ordered 150 lbs of meaty bones, chicken feet, beef liver & heart for Lucy, which will take up a lot of the available space. By the time I start freezing summer berries and other vegetables we’ll have just enough space for them. Keeping your freezer full helps make it more efficient since your not cooling huge unused areas, and the cold food helps keep the freezer cold. If your freezer is more than half empty simply fill with plastic milk jugs filled 3/4 of the way with water. They’ll freeze and can be used to keep coolers cold in the summer, and they’ll help keep your freezer from using so much electricity!
Do you have a deep freezer? How do you keep track of what’s inside?
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Quote of the Day: Julian Grenfell
The naked earth is warm with Spring, and with green grass and bursting trees leans to the sun’s kiss glorying, and quivers in the sunny breeze.
~Julian Grenfell
Spring has been a little late in coming this year to Chiot’s Run. Usually by now we’re seeing tulips and a few blooming trees. This year the daffodils have just started and the soil has just thawed enough to plant peas & potatoes. A full month after the “usual” planting time.
In spring it seems that sky is always bluer, the sunsets more golden and the grass greener than you’ve ever seen before. I definitely appreciate living in an area where each season is very distinct! I think I appreciate the warmth of the sun as much as the grass does, I feel like I grow taller with each hour I spend in the sun. Perhaps refilling my stores of Vitamin D after the long dark winter.
What do you appreciate most about the spring weather?
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Soaking up the Sun
The last couple days have been fabulous as far as weather is concerned – sunny, not too warm, a nice breeze. I’ve been spending my days making new garden areas in the new lot. I spent all day yesterday at my mom’s planting potatoes, peas, and onions in her garden. As a result, I’m tired, really really tired. Too tired to think of anything creative to say and too tired to download all my photos and process them for a blog post. So instead I leave you with a few photos of our resident fatty cat Dexter enjoying the weather.
Have you been able to spend some quality time out in the garden this spring?
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Friday Favorite: Galvanized Goodies
You may have noticed a few old galvanized items I use throughout the garden. There’s something I really love about galvanized things, especially olds pieces. I love that they have a history behind them, who knows what they’ve been used for throughout their lives. I have a few pieces that were my parents, two old buckets, an old trash can, and an old watering can and a few other pieces I’ve collected along the way.
I have fond memories of this watering can as a girl. I don’t use it for watering, simply for decor. I’m hoping to add more watering cans to my collection as well when I can find them.
I don’t find ‘new’ items all that often since I don’t get to go to auctions as we work often on Saturdays. I do have Mr Chiot’s grandpa on the lookout, hopefully he’ll find me some big old washtubs, maybe a double sink, perhaps more watering cans and hopefully a few nice old oscar the grouch trash cans to store all of my potting soil and vermiculite in.
Do you have anything that you collect for you garden or for gardening?
