Zeer

To keep cool and hydrated while working outdoors during the summer, I used a small ice chest to hold glass bottles of water...with a frozen 1 gallon jug of water for the cooling agent.

The evolution of that process to not have to use the FREEZER for the frozen water jug involved putting together a Zeer--pot-in-pot--desert refrigerator.

...still working out the kinks on this one!!...the outside pot is suppose to be covered in condensation...as the evaporative process is working...but haven't gotten it to work properly with the terra cotta pots!!

Life Lessons

10 Life Lessons from Alexander the Great

Tao Te Ching: Chapter 10
translated by Chao-Hsiu Chen (2004)

Can one hold the soul in the body,
hold the mind in the spirit,
and keep them as one?

Can one concentrate the energy of life
and keep it supple like a newborn child?

Can one study everything and really know everything
without making a mistake?

Can one govern the nation with all the right actions
and really love the people?

Can one always make a decision with the right mind?

Can one empty the mind and fill it with the brightness of wisdom
and learn to step back from this knowledge?

Can one give life and grow life and yet claim no possession?

Can one supervise and benefit others,
yet exercise no authority and rely on no pride?

This is what is called the mysterious virtue.


Southern Cornbread Stuffing (adapted from Paula Deen's recipe)

Vegan Cornbread

7 slices oven-dried white bread

1 sleeve saltine crackers

2 cups celery, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

8 tablespoons non-dairy butter

7 cups no-chicken chicken stock

1 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon sage

1 tablespoon poultry seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine crumbled cornbread, dried white bread slices and saltines and mix together and set aside.

In a large skillet sauté the chopped celery and onion in butter until transparent, approximately 5-10 mins.  Pour sautéed mixture over cornbread mixture.  Add the stock, mix well, taste and add salt, pepper to taste, sage and poultry seasoning and mix well.  Reserve 2 heaping tablespoons of this mixture for the giblet gravy.  Pour mixture into a greased pan and bake until dressing is done, about 45 mins.  Serve with tofurky as a side dish.

6-8 servings

Off the grid--sort of!!

I guess it is a bit funny to have a solar panel for a tent!!  The tent is now predominately off-the-grid.  I'm still tweaking the set-up...so I have the "on-the-grid" electric cord as a back-up!!

Keeping a log of charge/usage, to determine if I'll need a second battery and/or solar panel.  Will have to test out the process to determine how long the batteries will run a small heater when it is REALLY cold this fall!!

Laundry Duty

The morning chores include: running, dressing for work, eating breakfast, checking email, brushing teeth, washing clothes, hanging clothes on the clothes line...then off to work in the bio-intensive demonstration garden.

After researching the most effective way to do hand washing...I pre-soak the clothes over night in a small plastic tub.  Then I scrub them the next morning on a washboard I borrowed from my sister.  Then comes two rinse cycles...wringing out between each batch.  If it is rainy, I hang the clothes in the little shed to dry.

I've embraced Mother Teresa's plan for clothing...only having "wash one/wear one" sets of work clothing...and I have added a "spare" set of everything...just in case!!  Also, only using a thin hand towel for drying off is MUCH easier to wash and dry every day.

So...I'm wearing one set of work clothes and then I just take the clothes off the line and have them ready to put on after I shower.  This streamlining has SO SIMPLIFIED my daily life!!  I love it!!

...cloudy mornings are the BEST!!  When the temperatures are still high, the cloud cover makes for lovely morning work in the garden!!

Beautiful morning at the Farm

Birthday Party

Flowers and such from the garden for the birthday party: zinnias, sunflowers, hyacinth bean, cranberry hibiscus, canna lilies and sweet potato vines.

Farm family chowing down...I was the chef of the day!!

60 Years Young Today!!

My...OH... My....has it really been a "new beginnings" year!!  Time sure flies when you're having a gypsy adventure!!

"How to live a life (or what I know so far...) 1.  You already are. Now. When are you going to choose to enjoy it? (How's that for clearing up the clutter?)"

I moved into a tent the end of June...yes...Texas summers are HOT!!  For a girl who loves to live in Alaska in the summers...you ask...WHY??...live in a tent during long stretches of 3 digit temperatures??

I was in between living places, so I thought taking the leap to the tent would be perfect timing...so...I embarked on a 6 month experiment in reducing my carbon footprint...one little step at a time.

I was still "connected" to the grid...using a small fan to keep cool when I went to sleep.  Once the sun went down behind the trees, the temperature dropped and sleeping was just fine!!  Only a few nights was it still 99 degrees at 8:00pm!!...but I survived without much angst!!

Also...my Pinterest-Homesteading board....