See what I picked up at the post office this morning

 26 of the most adorable little yellow puff balls. 

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Today is rainy and chilly.  The last several days have been beautiful.  Temperatures have been in the middle 60’s with a breeze every now and then.  Not strong enough of a breeze to keep those pesky blackflies away.  They have arrived, and are attacking full force.  No amount of bug repellent, fly stuff or bug dope will keep them from annoying you.  Yesterday a friend and I went out into the ‘back fourty’ on a mission.  Last fall we found a tremendous patch of wild rasperberries (read about it here).  I have always wanted a patch of my own, so a few years ago we bought many raspberry bushes.  The first year we didn’t really get any berries.  That is normal, the second year is suppose to yield more fruit, although we did get more fruit, it still didn’t seem like very much.  I really wanted to increase the size of the patch.  As a child, my neighbor had some of the most amazing raspberry patches.  Instead of buying more plants, this year I thought I would go snag a few from the patch we found.  In my reading on translplanting wild raspberry plants, I found that uprooting a small ’sucker’ (I am sure this is not the technical word) for transplanting is best. (the university of maine cooperative extension has very useful info on growing raspberries) Raspberries are very much like strawberries, where they send off shoots, or runners for new plant growth.    Off we went, with my gardening tools, tiny shovel and some buckets to put the plants in.  (I did not take into consideration the cloud of blackflies that would surround us)  We uprooted several suckers, and I stuck them in the buckets with some of the surrounding soil.  Raspberries seem to thrive in out of the way areas, especially if there has been some selective tree removal, which is the case here.  Their roots were intertwined with peices of bark, decomposing limbs, etc.  We will see how they fare.  I planted them in current patch, spacing them out a little.  I am unsure how mixing wild raspberry and ‘cultivated green-house bought’ varieties will work together.  Actually it is possible that these berries were someones cultivated patch many years ago.  I am hoping that they do really well. 

Also, while we were out with the tools, I thought I would also snag some of the ‘wild’ strawberries we saw last summer.  I cannot say that they are wild, they are just not cultivated, or cared for anymore.  It is a patch that had been given up on years and years ago, and they have just run into the field, most likely crossing with wild straberries.  They do not produce huge berries, so I think they have done a fine job of cross polinating with the wild ones.  The same time we bought those raspberry plants, we also bought strawberry plants.  No thanks to me, they died.  I moved them last year because they were only producing huge leafy plants.  Too much manure tends to have this affect on some plants, and since we planted them where the manure pile use to be, I thought I should move them.  Well, they didn’t survive.  Then we had to build a new sheep fence, so any signs of life were shortly destroyed.  Go figure.  I think I uprooted maybe 8 plants yesterday from the field.  I may go back for a few more.  I didn’t want to destroy the wild ones, because there is nothing like walking along the field and finding a petite, bright red, sweet wild strawberry.  It is a nice surprise on a really hot day while you fixing fences.  But snagging a few plants will not hurt them.  That is if they survive the transplanting.  And if they do not have to be moved again.  That is a hard thing on an everchanging property.  A homestead plot comes in very handy.  We do not have one yet.  We have plans in our head, or something unexpected will come to us (like sheep or a pig).  Things are constantly changing here, and that makes it difficult to make any sort of plan, especially for flower and herb gardens, raspberry and strawberry plants.  We are working on one.  Last spring I actaully drew out where everything had been planted, that way this spring, I could reference it when I was pulling weeds and preparing places for new plants.  Still more work and research to be done, just like everything else, it is a work in progress. 

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The month of April just seemed to blur by me.  I still cannot believe that it is May 1st.  Especially when  you wake up to this

That is frost.  That is the second time this week here on the homestead that we have had frost.  Although yesterday morning I noticed as I drove the kids to school that no one else seemed to have frost, just us.  That is what you get when you live in the woods.  The sun is warming things up nicely now, but it is suppose to be very chilly again tonight.  This is why we wait until the end of May to plant in the garden. 

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Has anyone recieved instructions on how to built that ark?  The rain we have been recieving has been tremendous since last evening.  There are flood watches, flood warnings, and I am beginning to wonder how much water really can fall from the sky at once.  Not only are we ankle deep in running water down our driveway, but we are also in mid-reconstruction here.  So that is my excuse for being scarce.  Recently we have been able to make some decissions around the homestead that actually benefit and suit us, rather than what some sales associate, or the public think are pleasing.  So, I will most likely be scarce for a bit longer, as we finish the kids bedrooms, the pantry, our bedroom and get things put back into some order.  We are also waiting for the arrival of our new chicks, and things to warm up a bit more so we can get the garden into the ground.  Big plans there.  Maybe I will get more pics up later, right now I need to check and make sure that the chickens haven’t turned into ducks.

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With winter in the foreground, new life abounds!  One of the things that I love about Spring is newness. 

There is newness in the smell of the air, there is newness in the trees (that causes me to sneeze).

And there is newness in life.  We visited Diversity Farm in Troy, Maine last night to see some of the new faces.

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I have not left, really.  With renovations, new appliances, and signs of spring, there is much to do.  The sun is warm, and I spent some time playing in the mud in the driveway.  We still have snow on the homestead, but it is going away.  Most people are not as sheltered by the trees like we are, so their snow is mostly gone.

Seems like I talk an awful lot about laundry, between the laundry detergent I make, our new all in one washer/dryer, and now “National Hanging Out Day on April 19th. Promoted by Project Laundry List, NHOD is an effort to get people to hang their clothes out on a line rather than using their clothes dryers.”

Thanks to Crunchy Chicken for spreading the word.  Read her post, visit the links then make an effort to hang out those clothes on the line.  I will start praying for no snow that day!

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I now believe that spring is here.  Aside from the snow slowly going away…I saw Grandfather’s ducks in a puddle in my driveway this morning.  They are not really his ducks (especially since he is no longer with us), but that is what I call them.  They come back every spring, and toodle around in the spring pond at the end of his driveway.

Mr. Duck 

Mr & Mrs Duck (she is in the upper left hand corner, nicely blending in)

I of course didn’t have the camera with me, but I was able to continue driving up the driveway, run inside to get my camera and walk back to the end, to find them a few feet away on the bank.  I could have stood there all day watching them.  I was surprised that I was able to get as close as I did without them waddling away.  I think the neighbors loud noisy truck may have pushed them a little further in.  But they are here, and to me, that means spring is actually here. 

Another glimpse of spring…

Finally!

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April is earth awareness month.  With earth day, and other activities, it seems that is all I seeing and reading about.  Do not get me wrong, I think it is great that people are taking the time become aware that we need to help protect our planet.  I have to agree with my 11 year old though, that it is too bad they only pay attention during these activities.  I read recently from Crunchy Chicken about how Seatle is proposing a fee on platic bags, she also mentioned San Francisco’s banning them all together.  I also found that Hawaii has introduced a bill to ban plastic bags.

First you need to know that I love, love, love my re-usable bags.  I have used everything from the LL Bean boat totes, to my own hand made bags.  Unfortunatly, I do not use them all the time.  I have forgetten them on the table, usually with my list, and I have also tried leaving them in my vehicle, only to end up taking my husbands jeep, which the bags are not in!  There is a grocery store that offers a 5¢ per bag for bringing your own bag.  That is a nice refund.  Especially if it is the week that you are stocking up.  Typically, I have three rather large bags, a small one, and an insulated one.  With summer coming, I do not want my ice cream all over the back seat.   Many times, if I have only purchased a few things I will not even take a bag.  My Good will purchase the other day I specifically asked to not have a bag. I was pretty sure I could carry the vest out of the store without the assistance of flimsy plastic handles.   I do need to do better at remembering my re-usable cloth bags all the time, not just most of the time. 

I am not sure how I feel about banning , or even being charged 20¢ for the use of them.  Is it extreme?  Or have we brought oursleves to the point that we need to go to the extreme?  I kinda feel this way about many things.  On trash day I see so many peoples trash ripped open and strewn all over, and people get so angry about it.  My thought is that if you didn’t put your food scraps in your curbside trash, then the crows, and other wildlife wouldn’t be waiting for you to put it out on Tuesday morning!  It is something that is called composting, and it does not have to be as difficult as some say it is.  That is another topic for another day…

It seems to me that in this country we tend to go to extremes.  We either do little to nothing, or do too much, but never a good, healthy combo.  With everything from our eating habits, our lifestyles, and now even our shopping bags.    

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Part 1

The washer/dryer
We are striving to lower those monthly bills.  For example, electricity.  We have what I consider a high electric bill. We fit in the bracket of the average american household, 10,500-12,000 kwh/yr depending where you find your information.  Considering that the average american household is 2.5, and where we are a family of five.  That would be fine, I guess if we were not already doing things to lower it. I wash our luandry only in cold water, averaging one load a day. I use the dryer for 5 mins to fluff our clothes after they were hung to dry. We no longer have a dishwasher, currently do not have a freezer(freezing temperatures outside, why pay to freeze), I have the fridge set to the lowest safe setting, unused things are unplugged(chargers, toaster, microwave, coffee maker, tv, dvd, etc), computers either off, or standby, lights off when not in use, adhere to ‘if it’s yellow let it mellow’…

A little too far off track…as far as I can tell, it has come down to the following culprites. (A long lengthy side track to relate this information) The bulk of the electricity usage comes from our well pump and older appliances. For now I am going to skip over the well pump, because, well frankly, I do not fully understand them. I know that ours is 300ft, and our neighbors is only 50ft. So every time that faucet is turned on, even just cold water, it uses a lot of electricity. On to the appliances. Our current appliances are a hotwater heater (electric, only two years old) cooking stove/range (electric, one year old), stackable washer/dryer and refrigerator (both atleast 22 years old). We decided that buying new appliances would be a motion in the right direction.  In the past, I would just take the most inexpensive, and deal with it. These are items that I use all the time, we have a relationship, and expectations. This is not something to be taken lightly.  If I doom my appliances to not meeting my expectations from the very beginning, no one will be happy. So, a month ago we did it. I ordered new appliances for our home. They were on our list for 5 years. I have been able to research, and decide for myself what was best for our family, not what the appliance store thought we needed, nor what is the norm for the average american family. If you have just begun reading, you might not realise we are NOT the average american family. I did not feel shoppers remorse after paying for the items, but I did feel uneasy paying so much for something that in the past I would have just opted for less. 

For now, I am just going to discuss our washer/dryer.  As I said earlier, I wash only in cold water, and only use the dryer to fluff for five mins after being hung to dry. I like the space saving of the stackable washer/dryer. Now this is the original stackable washer/dryer that is one unit, and fits very nicely in a closet space. It works well in our home because we do not have a lot of space. So when looking for a replacement, I spent a lot of time on deciding what I wanted to do. Which was not buying another stackable. (more for the reasons of of some remodeling)  There is no place for side by side units either. So I began researching all in one units. An all in one unit style is used for space saving, apartment type settings. The particular model we purchased is an LG washer/dryer combo.  It is a washer and a dryer in one unit.  How can you do that, you may ask.  It is a ventless condensing dryer.  You begin your wash cycle, then when it is done washing, it begins drying, in the same unit.  No having to switch your clothes from washer to dryer(although we still hang to dry).

Is it a switch to be ‘green’? Or frugal? Or is it possible that we are just trying to be responsible and educated in our purchases.  This particular model does exceed energy star ratings.   It’s yellow energy star tag states that it will only cost $14/year* to operate (*depending on your current electricity value).  But again, I wash in cold, I hang to dry.  So our savings may be huge compared to a 22+ years old unit, that may have not been working up to snuf.  It is also a huge space saver.  We have installed this unit where the dishwasher use to be.  Several years ago, the dishwasher that came with the house stopped working, and we took it out, leaving a huge hole under our kitchen counter.  Now, it houses our washing machine, yup, in the kitchen.  The install was not very difficult.  The plumbing was already there for the dishwasher, although we did change out a few pipes/valves, and the water drains the same as the dishwasher did.  What is also great, is that this unit did not require a 220 electric hook up, so we were able to install a outlet on the electric line that was for the dishwasher, so that the new washer/dryer could be plugged in.   My husband had most of the plumbing and electrical doen  by the time the unit was delivered at 3pm.  Not long after 4pm, we started our first load.  I was impressed.

I had the opportunity when researching this unit, to read many, many reviews.  There were many good reviews, and many not so good reviews.  There are other manufactures of like appliances, but this LG model recieved the most good reviews.  And I have to say, the bad reviews, were in my opinion, silly.  People who were not willing to change their washing/drying habits, or it was just not a good fit for their lifestyle.  So far we have done three loads of laundry, only one of them included drying, and I do not think that we will have to revamp our washing/drying habits at all.  Again, we are not the average american family.  Here is to many loads of clean laundry to come.  Now if it could just fold and put them away for me too. 

In part 2, we will look at our fridge.  Another appliance that is old and needs replacing. 

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We have some family on vacation in Aruba this week.  There is a camera that zooms in on a spot, and everyday we look to see if they are there.  Today, at the very end, Grampy left a message for Chase. 

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