Spring is broken

Spring has been wonky as you all know. Southern Illinois is in the middle of deciding whether it wants to be summer already or go back to winter.  As usual the backyard is not dried out.  Brenna, Sister Zim and I have some seedlings started but the broccoli and cauliflower keep dying and this week I forgot to shut the light box off and fried some tomato seedlings...Some of the larger potted tomatoes held there own and the eggplants are now doing nicely though!!..the peppers aren't germinating but the seed was older so who knows. I spent an hour after work starting more tomatoes and cayenne.

Work is doing ok, Im on a different shift working 10 hour days now.  Its nice to only work 4 days a week. I now have entire weekends off. The downside is I dont get home until almost 11pm, I dont crash until like 1 or 3 (still working out the kinds there) and am trying to find a balance in all of it. This Friday we were supposed to till the garden but its going to rain again. Brenna and I are going to stake the garden and tarp it in hopes of keeping it dry enough so that when it stops raining Saturday we can till, keep your fingers crossed. Friday while Im stuck indoors I will be getting planters set up for some container gardening. At least some things will get done on Friday.

Snow!

The weather outside has been interesting. We had a bit of a blizzard on the evening of the 25^th. I could have stayed at Sister Zim’s house again but I decided I’d tough it out at home. I made it home before it really hit.  The next morning I awoke at 6am started getting ready for work and walked out the door and into a Currier and Ives scene. Snow blanketed everything in generous amounts…very generous amounts. The plows had been down my street and still you could not see the road. I could however see the extra snow piled onto the entrance to the driveway.

I looked up the road and saw a few cars and a truck slid over into the ditches. I called into work and went back to bed.  When I woke back up my roommate Walley had finally gotten back in from Christmas with his folks and he said the roads were horrid if it was anything besides a highway or interstate. Then he took off to work.  I finally got dressed and proceeded to go into the garage to find the snow shovel..of which I know longer own. I know we were in possession of one once but that was before the divorce and the two winters since Bill left have been pretty non existent so I didn’t notice it being gone. It could have been broken and tossed for all I know, it wasn’t a thing I messed with. All I had was a garden shovel and I figured that if Walley could make it in a Kia then I could make it out in my Altima. Thankfully I was right!

Driving around I took my time and enjoyed the scenery. I had forgotten how pretty snowscapes can be. How it covers everything with a quiet beauty and makes you feel that the world is resting for a moment. How peaceful it can make you feel.  I saw snowmen and sleds. I saw kids and adults playing. I even saw a snow panda made by the workers at my favorite Chinese restaurant.  I enjoyed my snow day. I have pics I just have to upload them.

Since the initial blizzard we’ve had a couple more inches of snow followed by days above freezing.  The roads are fairly clear unless it’s a back road, parking lots melt and then refreeze. Tonight we are supposed to get more but I’ve yet to confirm it with the weather channel. Im hoping that it’s false info as I am travelling after work on NYE to Lexington, KY to see some friends.

2012…a year in review and tentative plan for 2013

I’d have to see that this has probably been the worst year for me since I started blogging. Catching up on other peoples blogs I've realized it’s not as bad as some peoples obviously and that has given me perspective. When I say it was the worst year it means it’s been the worst year for my depression.  I didn't garden, I didn't really craft much, and only once did I hang the laundry out to dry this summer, I let the house and yard get to looking shabby, I herniated a disc in my back, I gained 30 lbs…..I just haven’t cared. 

2012 was the year that the car died and ALL the major appliances revolted. The stove was replaced. The fridge was broken for 3 weeks but could at least be repaired. The dishwasher also has been acting up (it is a luxury I know) but I seem to have gotten it fixed myself. The washer is not working properly; it washes but no longer spins. I think a belt slipped and I think the heating coil in the dryer is going out.   I am a fan of repair over replacement for most things but I wanted to wait ‘til after the holidays for it to get looked at.

But there were many wonderful things that happened this year.  I have been watching Sister Zim’s baby grow which never ceases to amaze me. I've watched another “sister” and her family start into urban gardening and homesteading with wonderful results.  I traveled a bit.  I fell in love with two wonderful men and I had my heart broken because it just couldn't work with either one of them.  Yes, I count that as a wonderful thing, because I was afraid I couldn't really fall in love again after Bill. Lust is one thing, love is another. I helped form an SCA group in my area and it’s working out well. I made new friends; I tried things outside of my comfort zone. I did live, in a weird, quirky way.

So what now? I’m asking myself that as well.  There are plans…. Plans within plans within plans. There are plans for travel, lots of travel. All over Illinois for family and SCA events. Trips over into Kentucky, Missouri, and of course, Pennsylvania.  Dagorhir’s Ragnarok and SCA’s Pennsic War(well the 2^nd week anyway) are about a month apart from each other this year and are both at the same place. I've already been approved for the time off for both.

There are garden and house plans. Brenna has moved to a place about 3 blocks from me. We will be converting the back yard back to her former garden glory. There will be yard work done and painting done. There will hopefully be new flooring, and new roommates. There will be canning, freezing and dehydrating done.  There will be more home cooking.

There are baby plans (No I’m not pregnant) There is weight on me that needs to go away, there are medical issues like my blood pressure and my herniated disc that need to be handled better as well as my PCOS. I go to the doctor next month to discuss baby plans and better management of my PCOS. There will be depression management plans as I’m going to start seeing a counselor.

Well there you go, that was 2012 and a preview of what I’m hoping to accomplish in 2013.  Bring on the new year!

Baking Bread

So a little over a year ago I was gifted a bread machine by friends who were combining households and didnt want it anymore.  It sat in it's box in my trunk for a really long time until the Alero died in January and it was brought home when I cleaned out said car before selling her for scrap. Then it proceeded to sit on the floor until a couple weeks ago when I decided to do a deep clean of the house.  The conversation with Walley then began about actually USING it. He had forgotten we had it as well. Walley loves bread and decided to start reading the manual and took it upon himself to get ingredients to make bread.  Today he decided he was going to attempt the Parmesan Pepper loaf recipe and set it on the timer to be done when he got home.  So while I puttered around the house recovering from a particularly wicked migraine he got it all set up. 

Walley adding yeast to the mix

What the whole mix looks like. Bread machines are picky about what exact order they are put in.

So the time was set so that it would start it's yummy magic at 7p I waited in anticipation and then suddenly it kicked on and started to sound like a Gatling gun...not good. I go to check on it and its having a seizure on the counter and as I look through the view window I can see that it's not mixing. So I called, facebooked and texted around and got the general consensus that I need to stop it and open the lid and try pushing the pan farther down. I did as I was bade and it locked in properly. I restarted the mixer to the blissful sound of normal kneading and texted Walley to let him know all that happened....now there are just 2 hours left to go. I will update with pictures soon!

HELP!!

So I was given an Oster bread machine. Walley is trying to do his first batch and the entire thing sounds like its going to explode now, its in the mixing mode. Is this normal?

***UPDATE**** Found out the problem was the pan wasn't pushed down all the way. Crisis averted! I will do a proper post on Walley's and my bread adventure shortly after I get the photos uploaded

I Fell Off the Face of the Earth

Well let's see.....long time no speak.  I'm thinking that I need to pick this writing thing back up.  The depression has been kicking my butt since my last post.  I'm trying to get out of the funk but things have been suffering since it got worse.  I do have a working car now. It's working out pretty good. While I'm writing a small storm is rolling over, just thunder so far not any extra rain.  We got plenty yesterday here in De Soto and oh gods did we need it! Southern Illinois, like most of the rest of the midwest, is dealing with being in the drought.  The fields here are the worst that I can remember. I tried to garden but my yard flooded again at one point and it was a major loss, then I let the whole thing go to weeds.  I had sectioned a spot out to do a fall garden but they are saying the drought may last til Halloween!!  So what I've decided to do is make the plot smaller, work on getting the rain barrels functional again and plant late Aug.  If I do that then I can start stuff indoors to have ready by then.

Let's see what else is new? I had to find a new home for Tater, which was sad but for the best.  He is very happy with his new home and owners and he has another dog to play with.  Jodie is off to basic and I am looking for a new roommate. Walley is still here and still a gods-send with helping me around the house.  Sister Zim and I are getting ready to delve into making soaps of all kinds and house cleaners. She is looking to get into selling things, I like to make stuff but I am not good at the business part of things so we'll just see.

Outside of that not much doing.  I have a LOT of catching up to do with other peoples' blogs

Works in progress

Well the end of January kinda sucked. My Alero died, the engine was shot. It was going to cost me $1350 to get a newer engine put in. The car wasn't even worth 1/4 of that. So I am currently without a car. The money I got scrapping her has gone into my savings account as I start saving for a down payment on a new car. I went to the banks but my credit took quite a hit and they won't finance me unless I have a co-signer. The dealerships were the same. I am lucky that the roommates and friends don't mind taking me into town for work and shopping etc.

In good news I was offered a workshare position over at Frontwards Farm.  I'm very honored to be thought well enough of to be offered this opportunity to work with something on this scale. Me, working in a hoop house and a high tunnel...and they have chickens!! Another reason to get the car thing taken care of asap.

Im grabbing my seeds and starting inventory for this year's garden. I have decided I will set up garden space for other people in my backyard. I have 2 people already on board. I will have to get the areas measured and twined off for them. I think I may rent a big tiller to work the beds this time. My front tine tiller needs some maintenance done. Im looking forward to the growing season.