Slow Living Monthly 9

I can see the evidence of fall but just can't believe the summer went so fast!  I was in Missouri at the begining of September so am going to include two months worth of info and doings.

 Here is our slow living monthly link up for September. 

Nourish - The oven can now come back into use!  We do not have central heat or air conditioning and I sort of pride myself on not turning the oven on in the summer so as not to heat up the house more than needful.  I tend to get real excited about the cooler weather and the fun of having an oven again!  Made pull apart bread and homemade cookies already.   Have gone back to bread baking in the oven.  (In the summer the bread is made in the bread machine as a rule)  As the weather cools down the oven is used more and more and helps to heat this part of the house a little extra.

Prepare - Since  I knew I would be gone in August, I did most of my canning and pickling in July, fortunately the weather and the harvest cooperated.  Hubby became a master at freezing tomatoes while I was gone - we have bags of tomatoes with onions, or garlic or peppers in our new freezer!  (I still think he bought the freezer at that moment because he was afraid I would ask him to water bath everything!)  I will not complain, a freezer is something I have wanted for a long time, and it doesn't matter why we got it, it's there.  Since I got home (September 10th) I have finished off the cucumbers by doing a batch of dill

Cucumbers and corn on the same stalk!

relish, and taking the Armenian cucumbers to Bible Study and forcing friends to take them home with them!  While I liked the flavor, and they were very productive I will not plant them again as they just took over the garden and even ended up climbing my corn stalks!  (Hubby and I referred to them as our "zucchini crop" for the year!)  There are still a few carrots, a couple of cantaloupe, a watermelon and a few hardy tomatoes left in the garden.  The herbs did grow back after the cutting I did on them in July and this week I will start bringing them in to preserve for the winter, before we get a frost.

Reduce - I recently did a post on my "granny squares of grandmas yarn" which uses up all the old scraps of yarn she had.  I have also dug out my old skirts from several years ago when I dressed up for work and church.  I like skirts and jumpers etc, and have just gotten out of the habit of wearing them.  At our new church more of the women wear skirts and dresses so my project this month is to do alterations on the skirts so that they fit the body I have at almost 60 rather than the one I had at 40! (sigh...I suppose you guessed I am not making them slimmer!?) I am cutting off the tops and adding yokes and elastic waistbands.  I haven't tucked a shirt in for years and this will add years more life to these outfits that I spent good money on at the time to get quality goods.  Pictures will be forthcoming. (if it works)

Green - I have run out of ideas for this category, we have just done the usual, composting, recycling etc.

Grow - Ah, the "close in" woodpile, growing and ready for winter.  The rest of it is out in the barn and will be used on days when it is not too cold or wet to go the distance.  Keeping a supply close to the door makes the 'blizzardy' days a little easier.  I know there are those who do not think that wood stoves are very 'green'.  Let me make my case - The wood we buy is from fruit orchards that are being cut down to make room for young new trees, our wood stove is EPA rated at the highest efficiency (when we are burning you can't even see smoke coming from the chimney!) - last year we heated our home during a very long and cold winter on just a cord and a half of firewood!  So let me know if you disagree (nicely please!)


Create - All of my creativity recently has been focused on my crochet hooks or my sewing machine!  I am in the process of creating a new website that is requiring me to relearn the html that I knew a few years back and then forgot!  This is a family history website and will hopefully give me enough space for the whole lot of it!

Discover - During my time in Missouri I joined the Putnam County Genealogical Society and read the entire 2 volume set "A history of Putnam County".  It has histories submitted by families in the area and stories about local landmarks from newspaper accounts etc.  I have a hard time convincing my kids or husband that this was an 'awesome read' but it's OK, someday people will call me eccentric and they will just be old!! 

Enhance - My time with Grandma and Mom was my 'enhance' time this recent period.  I feel so blessed to have been able to help get grandma get out and about and take drives and go visiting.  Grandma has continued to get weaker and is failing now, she is pretty much bed fast and ready to go home to be with the Lord.  I hope I can help now by encouraging my mom and making her laugh now and then, I am so glad that mom is able to make this effort to see that her mom remains at home till the end.  (so proud of her...told grandma she was lucky - she gets to be 102 and her 80 year old daughter is still in good enough shape to take care of her!)  It probably won't be long now though and that is a good thing.
 

Home of a champion!

Enjoy - We went with friends to the Boise "Tour de Coop" tour of urban gardens and chicken coops.  There were 7 houses on the tour and each had interesting gardens and different kinds of hen-houses.  What fun to see all the decor and planting ideas. we even got to see the Western Idaho Fair Grand Champion Rooster!  Very cool of these families to open their yards to a bunch of strangers, we had a lot of fun and learned a lot about backyard chicken raising. (this is an eventual goal of ours) The houses ranged from the edge of town up in the hills to right downtown in high density housing and from 2 to 10 birds.  We learned about the laws and regulations and about keeping the flock warm in the winter.  A good time was had by all, and we even won a door prize! (a cool cookbook and a dishtowel/oven mitt combo with...you guessed it- chickens on it) 

The bridge across the river and hubby

Hubby and I also went fishing on the Snake River (OK he fishes and I take a crossword puzzle and my crocheting - and of course a lunch!) The fish were not biting but the day was beautiful!











Be sure to check out the other blogs on the Monthly 9 here

January Slow Living Monthly 9 Link Up

Starting off on a new year I like the new name and am happy to continue this little exercise.  I like being pushed a little to take a monthly inventory like this and it keeps me focused on the positive rather than the stack of unfinished whatever!  The coffee is hot and fresh, the fire is warm and cozy and the snow has been falling all day.  I'm comfortable so here goes....

Nourish - Still doing lots of soups and stews but are now getting our meat from a local meat and seafood shop and are so pleased!  The quality is awesome and the service is as well and we have been happy with the amounts as well.  Prices are about the same as the market and we like the buying local.  The couple is one from our church too so we are helping our local economy and eating well at the same time.  
I have also bought my first jar of coconut oil and am going to follow some advise and try it.  If it is half as good as the hype it will be worth the price!

Prepare - Still in the grip of a long winter here so I am doing less preparing and more eating of the prepared goods.  It is nice to have the homemade sauerkraut, canned tomatoes, frozen squash etc.. I have noticed the price of food has gone up significantly and am so grateful for the things we canned and froze last summer that we no longer have to buy.  This summer we will have an even larger growing area and will preserve even more.  Oh and hubby's salsa experiment turned out very well and he is thrilled!

Reduce - I am making a 'door curtain' for our back double glass door.  It is double pane glass but still is chilly near it.  The quilted curtains for the kitchen turned out well so this was to be my new project.  I chose 3 block patterns and used fabric that I had on hand (some I had since the late 70's and living at home with my folks!  We call it vintage!) The curtains will end up costing about $7 total for supplies - yeah!  I am always thrilled when I can use something I have on hand or have had around for a long time in a really constructive way.

Green - We always try to have water stored for emergencies, we are on a well so if the power goes out we are without water, we have a small generator but it is a hassle to connect etc. so we have started washing out our soda bottles and storing water in them.  They are clean and food grade and hubby had seen some websites that used it so our plastic is being reused before we recycle.

Grow - The only things that are growing at our house right now are the occasional thing in the back of the fridge!  I try to not have these but every once in awhile something hides well and grows...sigh!

Create - I spent a large amount of time in the baby yarn section and bought something called 'baby clouds' yarn and am in the middle of my first baby blanket for our upcoming granddaughter Lily and I just am in awe of how soft this stuff is - I may have to make something for me when this is done!  Something for sitting in front of the fire reading!

Discover - I am now addicted to history documentaries on you-tube!  I started watching the ones that fit in with my genealogy research and now I am hooked, I used to sit in front of the TV and crochet or do needlework but now it is my computer and BBC history! 

Enhance - Our quilt group at the church is ready to start quilting on the hand quilted 'masterpiece' we will be donating to the church-school auction.  We are now having work days on Thursday afternoons and those that are not interested in quilting are bringing their needlework or knitting etc. and just visiting - it is a real time of fun and fellowship.

Enjoy - I truly enjoy winter and have just wallowed in the whole 'too cold to go out' period and spent sinful amounts of time in my studio with my projects - hubby doesn't have as many indoor projects as I do so he busies himself vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms! (seriously when he's bored he cleans - I bake!)  I have to admit though even I who love the gray gloomy days was glad when the sun came out two days out of the last 16!  I went outside and just stood in it and then came inside and stood in front of the fire - it was pretty, it was not warm!