Saturday 15 December 2018

Seems I haven't posted in a while

So... Updates... um...

Well, Hugslut's job is going well, and as of Dec. 3 I'm doing the part time housewife thing. Working fast food Wed-Fri and relaxing on the weekend, and hardcore homemaker duties on Mon-Tues.

I've been trying to keep track of what I've been up to homemaker-wise for my own peace of mind. I know I'm prone to wondering wtf I did all day without a ta-da list, and so I'm hoping that looking over what I've accomplished in the 3 months til our next household seasonal summit will show me that this was a good idea.


The little orange bastard is as cute and annoying as usual. He had to go to the vet to get surgery for a cavity analogue, but recovered quickly and well.

I bought is a tiny lavender "christmas tree". It's literally just heavily pruned lavender but I wanted a plant in the house that wouldn't kill the cat if he decided to nibble a single tiny corner of one leaf. (The daffodil incident was harrowing). The lavender is growing nicely and Franklin has learned to leave it alone.

Holidays are upon us. We don't really do much about winter holidays here. I'm gonna make almond shortbread for the work potluck, visit our families, and work boxing day for extra money goodness.

Tumblr is dying due to Apple porn restrictions, G+ is closing down because they think it's not used enough, Twitter is mostly where I see updates on news stories, so I needed somewhere new to hang out in blissful ignorance.  Enter, Mastodon.social. Seems pretty nice.

On the self improvement front, I've been "reading" a bunch of audiobooks and working on my interpersonal and organizational skillz. I've kinda dropped the workouts because I get SO BORED doing bodyweight exercises at home... and so we've been looking into the YMCA and other local gyms. The YMCA appeals because they are VERY flexible on their membership stuff... but they're about twice as much as the place that makes you sign up for a year....so...yeah, still thinking on that.

That's about it for now I think.
Hope your holidays are meaningful to you in whatever way you hope they will be.

Sunday 7 October 2018

:-(

My boyfriend just told me yesterday that he and his nesting-partner may be moving out of town in a few months. I wasn't emotionally ready for him to be long distance yet.

Kinda sad now, but determined to make use of what time we have left. They won't be going too far(2hr drive) but I won't be seeing him every week anymore... Maybe every month or two.

Thursday 4 October 2018

A finish line has been set!

When discussing my homesteading dream, the smart-alecky joke is that it's been three to five years away for ten years now. Hugslut decided that now we have our feet under us, it's time to start walking toward that goal.

We're going to be tucking all non-essential moneys into a savings account to cover the downpayment, any lawyers fees and such, the cost of moving, and any repairs/upgrades that the property needs right away.

In 3 years (January 2022) we will take a look at the savings, take a look at the real estate markets in BC(because it's gorgeous on the island) and NB(because that's where Wolfie lives), and decide if we're going to move that year. If not, repeat in 2023. If it's still not a good idea we wait until 2024. At that point we get a real estate agent because we ARE buying a house in 2024. It may not be the perfect place, but we'll get all the things we need, and some of the things we want.

For an example of the type of place we're looking for... THIS would be ideal.... if it was in Hardiness Zone 7+ instead of 5. (and even where it is, it would still make the top 10 list) The only thing it's missing is two little cottages for our moms.

Now having a secure deadline is good and all but. it's made me realize how much there is to do in the next 3 years. Not only is there all our boxes and closets and random stuff that we've been meaning to go through "one of these days", I need to be in better shape in order to handle the rigours of starting up a homestead and I've been letting that slip.

This month I've started (ridiculously slowly) with the DARBEE Foundations Program every other day instead of every day. Next month I'll go to every day, and in December I might bump it up to level two... but maybe not. Depends on the progress I'm feeling(or not).

In the new year I want to look into Aikido and ASL classes. Hopefully I can find something inexpensive at a community centre.

Thursday 6 September 2018

Journey vs Destination

I was just watching an early StartTrek: The Next Generation episode with Hugslut tonight. It was the one where Q offers Commander Riker the chance to become a Q.

At the end Riker offers everybody gifts that they really really want, and they give them back because it's not actually what they want.

I kind of feel the same way about my current journey. There are times when I feel that I don't want to get organized I want to be organized, I don't want to get in shape I want to be in shape.

I was thinking tonight that if there was a Q that offered me to be organized and be in shape the way I dream of in my future, I would take it...

And then I thought about my dream farm, and if I would be happy to have that at a snap of the fingers...

Strangely enough the answer is no.

Although I would really appreciate some magical help in some of the steps to get me where I want to go, I do still want to take that journey to my dream destination.

I want the joy of picking a property, fixing up the house the way we like it, choosing our animals, digging in the soil and creating a garden, meeting friends and neighbors and creating a community, and even the stupid little things like living here and saving up and learning the homemaking skills I'll need.

It's strange how I can be content with the journey for the big goal, but it's so much harder with the small goals.

Wednesday 15 August 2018

The Obstinate Obstetrician Obstacle



I was at work today, just doing my job when my brain popped up with the question:

"How is the word 'obstetrician' related to the word 'obstacle'?"


I mean, English is a weird language. There was a chance that they weren't related at all.

My train of thought was:

Obstacle = Thing blocking the way
Obstinate = Creates/births obstacles/blocks
Obstetrician = Doctor of blockages....? Really?

Well I finally got home and looked it up to find:

obstetric (adj.)
1742, from Modern Latin obstetricus "pertaining to a midwife," from obstetrix (genitive obstetricis) "midwife," literally "one who stands opposite (the woman giving birth)," from obstare "stand opposite to" (see obstacle). The true adjective would be obstetricic, "but only pedantry would take exception to obstetric at this stage of its career." [Fowler]. Related: Obstetrical.

So, Yeah... Not block, "stand opposite to".... Makes sense now. 😊

Thursday 2 August 2018

Homemaking

My wife and I were talking about a few things during out household summit meeting and she pointed out how many hours a week I actually spend doing housework/homemaking. Adding that to my working for pay hours results in a 44+ hour work week.

I hadn't thought of it like that and some of the tasks she mentioned, I estimated less time for and was therefore not recognizing my own contributions.

I am currently working on tracking this stuff so I can see it and feel more accomplished instead of guilty when I'm tired and need a break.

Wednesday 4 July 2018

Mrs got a new job!

She starts Monday and although it will take time for us to get back to normal... The pressure is now lifting.

Sunday 1 July 2018

It's only science if you write it down



I've been trying this new thing where I record my kitchen experiments with their creation dates, check-to-see-if-it's-done dates, and then a big long event that goes to the Best Before date.

This gives me a quick way to see what's available right now and also I can set myself notifications so I don't forget to check on ferments at the appropriate intervals.

One day I'd like to have an ongoing record of recipes and batches to find out how changing things improves or detracts from the finished product.

Saturday 2 June 2018

Ginger Carrots

My experience with fermenting cabbage so far has been okay... but I had been adding too much salt and chickening out by putting it in the fridge too early in the process. This has resulted in very-salty-and-only-slightly-sour-kraut that's closer to coleslaw.

It's fine. We eat it... but it's not quite right.

After listening to a BUNCH of episodes of the Living Homegrown podcast, I was inspired to make a carrot ferment.

It was really simple. Four grated carrots, some grated ginger, and 1 tbsp of pickling salt in 2 cups of water for the brine.

I should have a nice hot & sour carrot soon, and hopefully this experiment into non-cabbage pickling will be the success I need to be a bit braver with fermenting.

Wednesday 2 May 2018

incremental success


  • managed to (slightly) carbonate kombucha
  • went walking after dinner for a few nights in a row
  • actually called a psych doc, left msg with receptionist, got voicemail back from doc, and two days later(now) emailed doc back
  • have not cried at work in a while(at least a week?)
  • finally got around to deleting Facebook account

Sunday 22 April 2018

Kombucha!

So after a bunch of reading, trying a few comercial varieties, and days of YouTube research, I finnally felt ready to start brewing.

I called up a friend I knew used to brew for info/advice on locating a scoby and found out she still homebrews for her family and was willing to not only provide a scoby, but made up a deluxe starter kit for me. As thanks I brought a jar of my homemade strawberry jam.

I am now the owner of three upcycled bottles of homemade kombucha, a brand new gallon of sweet tea and scoby happily chugging away in their jar, and a smaller jar for brewing in with the sugar and tea bags for next week's batch of concentrate inside! I also came home with a finger of ginger for flavouring.

We laughed when I noticed the handwritting on the wide-mouth lid was mine. It was from a jar of homemade strawberry sauce I had given her 3 years ago.

This is the strength of the gifting community over the bartering economy. If I were to pay/barter for a kit this elaborate, well lets just say the jam wouldn't cover it. Giving what you can when you have excess bolsters your community, and a healthy community can bolster you when you don't have enough.

I'm hoping a regular supply of kombucha with help stabilize my digestive troubles and provide some of the B-vitamins that are deficient in my gluten-free diet.... And also just be a nice replacement for diet and sugar laden sodas.

Wednesday 18 April 2018

Uninstalled Facebook

I've told loved ones about my trial separation from the increasingly creepy facebook, and wiped it from my phone.

I will check in on the web version in a couple weeks to make sure there isn't any "omg but I don't have your email!" comments, and then download my data and delete my profile.

Monday 26 March 2018

Tough Calls

Source


I finally got around to calling the numbers my family doctor gave me to find a psychologist. Some of them were out of date and there's a bunch more calls to make before I even decide which doc to do an intake appointment with and cross my fingers that I can manage to get something accomplished before my benefits run out.


Friday 23 March 2018

It's been a hard winter

Source

I didn't know for sure what was wrong, but I did know something was.
I went to a doctor and she confirmed I have anxiety issues and maybe more and referred me out to a psychologist... I still haven't called.... :-/

I'm a bit worried. I see 3 options. They'll tell me I have something there's no treatment for like autism, or they'll tell me my anxiety levels fall within "normal" and I'm just a crybaby, or they do find something to treat and give me exercises to do and ... I just don't do it because there's so much in my life I just don't do lately no mater how important.