Jenny Put the Kettle On

So we're starting to run out of things. Today marks the six month anniversary of our buy-nothing year. Now I store food and goods, so it generally takes a good while for me to run out of staples. But we're down to only four beers (Eric is grieved), I'm out of my favorite kinds of tea, I'm starting to get reminders that my magazine subscriptions are running out (no more Nation!) and various other minor shortages are arising. So I think not buying things is going to get harder for the second half of the year. Which is good, because in a way it has been too easy. I did find a very pleasant surprise this morning - a box of Constant Comment tea in the back of my storage. Guess what I'm drinking now? That orange peel scent is inspiring.

The one big challenge facing me is that I have to be best person in a friend's wedding in April, and I don't have anything suitable. So I'm going to canvas my friends' wardrobes and dig around to see what I can come up with. The problem is that most of my female friends are *short* - and I'm 6'. But I'll come up with something - maybe a guy friend will loan me a suit that I can tart up a little. My friend is very sweet - she said just pick something you like.

Several people have asked about the new kitchen and how we're enjoying it. The answer is that we aren't yet. We're still under construction, and Bill, our socialist heating guy who is supposed to install the new cookstove, and swore up and down he was free all of January seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. So while the cookstove is a lovely looking piece of equipment, I have no actual experience with it yet, other than to admire it and set things on it.

The kitchen renovation should be over in the next week or two. The cistern pump won't be up until spring, because we didn't get started until after the ground froze. The new composting toilets should be done shortly (for those who come to visit me who read this, don't panic, we're still keeping the guest potty ;-)), and it will be nice to have a permanent set-up there.

The kitchen will not be entirely non-electric. We left the electric stove in temporarily, although the goal is to convert eventually to propane. But the fridge is out - we have one in the little kitchen in the addition, but we're debating turning that off too, and keeping only the freezer. We'd use reusable ice packs and a couple of coolers in place of a fridge. It would cut back on our energy usage and emissions, but allow us to keep the much-more-essential freezer going. One of these days, I want one of those sunfrost freezers, but unless the book hits Oprah's list, that ain't gonna happen ;-).

But there will be a space on the counter to permanently mount my grain grinder, and places to hang my cast-iron pans. The staples will all live in glass mason jars and there will be a spot for the dogs to nap in front of the cookstove. I'm excited.

Seeds and plants are mostly on order, and I've got to call the Alpine goat breeder near us soon, to see if she'll have any does in late April (after we return from said wedding). There are geese going on the poultry order form, as well as (hurray!) chickens for my Mom and Susie (And
I'm trying to sneak some Polish hens on the order for myself and my sister, whose new house is going to need chickens. Eric questions the utility of chickens that aren't great layers and can't see where they are going. But I'm sure they serve some purpose, other than being cute). The old garage is going to be turned into a barn, and the side yard will be drained and fenced for goats. I've got to get on this milk thing - time to practice my cheese making.

And in a fit of total madness, I ordered a potted dwarf olive tree to live in my house. Anyone know how to take care of one?

Well, that's all the news around here. Anyone want to tell theirs? You can pull up a chair, put your feet on my woodstove (it isn't even warm so you might as well) and I'll make you a cup of constant comment.

Sharon