Riot for Austerity – Month 16

Last year’s averages (calculated here) are mentioned as a baseline. I use this calculator. Gasoline. I can’t wait for the temperatures to go up and the rains to stop so I can bike Amie to school. 9.96 gallons per person (pp) in cars + 10 miles pp on public transport =  24 % of the …

Riot for Austerity – Month 15

Last year’s averages (calculated here) are mentioned as a baseline. I use this calculator. Gasoline. This is the usual: still too high. When the temperatures go up I’m really going to work on biking Amie to school and back. 9.52 gallons per person (pp) in cars + 10 miles pp on public transport =  23 …

Riot for Austerity – Month 14

We’re back and Rioting again. I’ll again keep last year’s averages (calculated here) visible as a baseline. I use this calculator. Gasoline. Well, there’s no way around it: Amie and I flew to Belgium – our first visit in 3 years – and I’m counting it as driving there, and back. I’m using our own …

Riot for Austerity – Month 13

We entered the second year of the Riot. I’ll keep last year’s averages (calculated here) visible as a baseline. In case you’re wondering, I use this calculator. Gasoline. I added DH’s miles on public transportation (shuttle), which I neglected to do last year. This was an exceptional month, as we made a round-way car trip …

Independence Days – Week 11

Independence Days goes on and on and, round and round. Not much to report this week: caught a bug and though it’s not getting worse, it’s not much getting better either, so I’m on a low fire here. Plant. Nothing. The mung bean sprouting didn’t go too well: I must be doing something wrong. Harvest. …

Riot for Austerity – Month 12

We finished our 12th month, we made it around the year! I’ll list this month’s consumption first and then I’ll discuss the yearly average. Gasoline. 7.4 gallons pp =18 % of the US National Average Yearly average: 24.8% I just saw that I never calculated DH’s miles on public transportation (shuttle). I’ll start adding those …

Independence Days, Week 9

Nothing much of anything happened this week: I’m a bit out of whack with DH gone, and I’ve also started working on the novel again (again!), while it snows. We had our first frost and our first snow, and the garden is in full Winter mode now. Plant. Planted pak choi. That will be it …

Flushing Drinking Water, Not – and Toilet Cloth

Okay, I’m warning you. This one’s (perhaps) on the edge for this blog, but it was inevitable. It’s about our toilet flushing habits. So if you’re here to read about Amie’s drawings or how the carrots are doing (badly), proceed at your own risk. This is the one aspect of our homestead that I don’t …

Canner and Stove

I can cross two more items off my “Tools/Toys” list in the sidebar. “Lookit” (*) what arrived yesterday, one after the other: My Presto 23 quart high pressure canner, present from DH for my birthday Our new wood stove, present to ourselves for our 8th wedding anniversary That’s two big pillars of self-sufficient living right …