The cold is gone, for now, and there is sun and one can split firewood wearing just a sweater and gather eggs before they freeze. Last week, when it was still bitterly cold, DH, Amie and I bundled up and drove to an old, wooden bridge in town for the unobstructed view of the north. …
Author Archives: kaat
Riot for Abundance – December 2013 – Month 62
OVER FIVE YEARS OF RIOT! This is the Riot for Abundance for the month of December 2013, Â for the two of us for half of the month, and one for the other half (DH was in Europe for the whole month, Amie and I joined him there in the middle, and as of then we …
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Frost
Record Cold
NOAA predicts -13 F or -25 C for tonight. I’ve been perusing the historical weather data for Massachusetts and that looks like a record cold. If we make that, we beat the low of -12 of 1957. This kind of cold was on my mind when I went out to give the hens a bowl of fresh warm …
Cold
Yesterday night it went down to 9 F (-12.7 C) and tonight they predict 5 F (-15 C), -1 F with windchill. That’s cold. The two inches of snow that remain creak and crunch under your boots. Speaking of which, I shelled out for a good set of boots: MuckBoots, with steel toes. I read …
A Tiny House
 Glue gun where have you been all my life?! Amie and I have been dreaming up a Tiny House. She would like a house of her own (she just skips the room of her own) and I am always looking for ways to populate the ole homestead in more comfortable ways. We often have lots …
Riot for Abundance – October and November 2013 – Months 60-61
FIVE YEARS OF RIOT! This is the Riot for Abundance for the months of October and November 2013,  for the three of us plus one (we had friends and family in law staying over and all together they count somewhat for one). Edson fixed the calculator: all go tither to crunch those numbers! Gasoline.  Calculated per …
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The Day’s Gifts
This afternoon, taking advantage of the warmer weather and the abeyance of snow/rain, I spent a good three hours splitting, moving and stacking close to 1/4 cord of firewood. While I was at it I conversed with the chickens, whose coop is next to the woodpile and the chopping block (eek). Two friends happened by …
Homemade Wine Bottle Labels
 Some of these are inside jokes: PS. We’re not in Seattle. Far from it. The majority agreed that labels with castles on them lend a certain cachet to the wine: When the conversation turned to sulfites, the theme changed:  From there on out, it was a free for all: Some of them mention an expiration date:  Â
Bottling the Wine
We bottled the wine (which was pressed, see here, and racked, see here earlier). We ended up with 29 bottles,  8 of Cabernet Franc, 10 of Merlot and 11 of a 70-30 mix. My MIL, FIL and SIL were here, as well as our three NYC friends, and we put everyone to work. Drawing the labels: each label …