Mamallama Transitions

Slug Love

2013-08-11T23:10:00.002-05:00

Pissing in the Pool

2013-06-29T16:19:00.000-05:00

It's almost July and the days have gone all sultry. Now we'll all be doing what we can to keep our core temperatures near normal for the next two or three months. For me this means dressing to accentuate natural evaporative cooling, scheduling my day to take best advantage of the cool times of the day, and, of course, frequent trips to the creek. For many, many others a major part of keeping cool involves a swimming pool.

When I think about swimming in public pools I always remember that my dear husband's grandpa used to look at everyone getting their swimming gear together and say "Why would I want to swim in a public urinal?"

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Back By Popular Demand

2013-03-20T09:11:00.000-05:00

Welcome to spring!

New Name and Address

2013-02-03T11:12:00.001-06:00

Hi Y'all! For those of you who do not know already, I've moved to a new web address and gotten a name change. The new blog is called A Sustainable Transition and the address is www.asustainabletransition.blogspot.com Thanks for visiting. I've enjoyed your contributions over the past year and hope to hear from you at the new place!

Peace

Growing Up

2013-01-11T09:47:00.000-06:00

Joe and I have been talking a lot about growing up lately. First of all our boys have all grown up into such fine folks. Our oldest has become very adept at finding his way on his own, even in hard times, and the other two are dedicating themselves to lifelong dreams for the land that they and we own. We are so proud of them that we could just bust. But seeing them growing up so well makes us think that it's time for us to do a bit of growing up as well.

Click on the picture to get to my new, red-hot blog!

Salvage My Life

2013-01-05T15:16:00.000-06:00

"Hi, My name's Barb and I'm a salvage grocery shopper."

"Hi Barb!"

"It's funny that I don't even remember exactly how it started. I know it was several years ago and I think my first salvage grocery was in Hartsville, TN. I'd heard about it from a number of friends of mine. It was a weird, disorganized store, I can't even remember what they called it, and I found some pretty good deals there. Some interesting sauces and maybe some organic cereals that were barely past sale date were about all I found that day.

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Veggies and Fruit Trees and Shrooms, Oh My!

2012-12-31T15:25:00.000-06:00

What better way to spend New Years than to complete the year's seed ordering? We have pretty exciting plans for the garden this year so putting in this order was really special.

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A New Found Patriotism

2012-12-28T10:12:00.001-06:00

I have never in my adult life considered myself to be a patriot. In my public-school trained mind patriotism has always meant waving flags, pledging allegiances, supporting a government regardless of what they do and so forth. This is not me. I discovered something new, though, just the other night while my husband read the first essay from Wendell Berry's book "Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community". These attributes that I have always seen as patriotism are actually nothing more than nationalism. I also discovered that I am truly patriotic to our country.

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Civilization

2012-12-24T18:06:00.002-06:00

Our late neighbor was a very quiet man, God rest his soul. We never really got to know him. He was a good neighbor but he kept to himself and his family. I was, however, friends with his wife, a gregarious woman and an avid, creative quilter. Many times over the years she told me that any time (which does not suggest frequency) that they went on a driving trip that carried them out of the county, the sight of the Lafayette water tower drew the comment "Back to civilization!" from Ray. I always listened to this story with a touch of incredulity, unable to grasp what Ray saw as civilization here in this one dog town (too poor to even have a horse).

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To Gift or not to Gift . . .

2012-12-19T08:22:00.002-06:00

Christmas is almost here and today I'll be spending time preparing the few gifts I'll be giving. Admittedly when I was young, this was a really big holiday for me. But, over the years a number of changes have happened in me to cause me to question the way this holiday works.

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My Dirty Thoughts

2012-12-08T14:15:00.002-06:00

Dirt . . . Soil . . . Humus . . . Compost . . . Manure . . . Humanure . . . Oh the thoughts that have been going through my head lately! And I've had the likes of the Permaculture Institute feeding me enticing videos that only compound the filthy wanderings of my mind.

You see, now that we are receiving enough rain that water independence seems within reach, my mind has moved on. I'm thinking more and more about the coming year's garden,

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Extreme Water Salvage

2012-12-02T11:53:00.000-06:00

I've written before about water independence and will surely write about it again, because I happen to feel that it is a very important topic. It may not seem so to most, and indeed, if you feel comfortable and confident in the ability of the public water supply (and the distribution thereof which is completely dependent on a petroleum platform) then you have no need to worry about water independence. If however, you are like me and are concerned that the petroleum industry and everything it supports are in their waning years, then you may want to spend some time pondering water filtration and rainwater harvesting. Hence my project of the morning.

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Resurrection

2012-11-29T15:50:00.000-06:00

I still feel a little fragile, but I think I'm back.

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By Popular Demand!

2012-11-28T09:00:00.000-06:00

I've been holding out on y'all. I've talked about storage projects, and greenhouse projects and all manner of other projects, but there is one I've been saving. I wanted to save it until it was actually finished, but a dear friend of mine can't wait that long. She wants to see the progress NOW! So here it is in all of its unfinished glory:

The Dodeggagon

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Water Independence

2012-11-15T13:27:00.000-06:00

It is a most beautiful autumn day here in Middle Tennessee and the family is using it well. Joe and Dominic have been making trips to the local sawmill to pick up slab wood. This is the wood that is sawn off of the outside of a log to turn it into a long square or rectangular pole. Once these slabs are removed it is much easier to saw the logs into usable lumber. (It also gets the bark out of the way.)

Listening

2012-11-09T07:57:00.000-06:00

An essential part of living a more sustainable life is listening. In our modern society it is altogether too easy to succumb to the white noise of every day life. Included in this white noise are - traffic noises, music (either yours or others), televisions, cell phones, customers or clients, bosses, and the omnipresent (though not noticed by many) 60 cycle hum of any electrical appliance or gadget. It is almost impossible to get away from these perpetual sounds. That is why designated wilderness areas in the USA are charged with providing solitude. People need opportunities to remove themselves from the constant barrage of sounds. This din makes it difficult to listen to those around us and even harder to listen to the spirit. You can call this spirit the Holy Spirit, Mother Earth, the Great Spirit, the voices of your ancestors, the inner self or anything else you want, but abiding in this spirit is an essential part of living closer to the earth.

If you are listening closely enough you can get a good idea of impending weather, feel when someone near you is in physical or psychological need, know what your land is needing, and perhaps most importantly, know what is either abundant or lacking in your own life.

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Remember, Remember the 5th of November

2012-11-05T17:39:00.000-06:00

Happy Anniversary to me! Or maybe I should say Happy Birthday. Exactly one year ago today I was re-born into a post Facebook life! "So what?" you might ask, but considering how much of my life was being frittered away on that website, I personally think it's a pretty big deal. A number of my old friends there were pretty sure I'd be back in a few weeks, but truth be told, I never even missed it. I am willing to acknowledge that there a few folks out there who are able to use it responsibly, I'm just not one of them. So, I set myself free.

What difference has it made in my life?
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Taking Care of the Important Things

2012-10-26T20:53:00.001-05:00

This morning we were up at 3:00 a.m. As I mentioned in a previous post we have been using all of our non-Power Ranger hours to accomplish project after project. It's really making a difference around here. But this morning we needed to do something really important.

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DIY Heaven?

2012-10-18T20:48:00.002-05:00

Last week our laptop screen started doing weirdish wild things. My sweetie pie did a little online research into what might be causing the problem. He decided that the ribbon wire that runs through the hinge was the problem so he ordered one and printed up instructions on how to dismantle a laptop in your own living room. The wire arrived this afternoon, so this evening while I sorted pinto beans to avoid watching, he and Dominic went where most men would never choose to go. Here are a few pics along with an approximation of the ensuing conversation. (I'll keep it G-rated)

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Flurries

2012-10-12T09:19:00.000-05:00

No it hasn't started snowing here yet, but here at our place there have been weekly flurries. You see, when we are in our work week at the great Mammoth Cave, though we come home now every evening, nothing is accomplished. Those days go like this: Get up ridiculously early, yoga, quick look online, breakfast, make lunch, go to work for 8 hours, come home, eat supper, talk or watch something light, go to bed. Rinse and repeat. On a particularly energetic morning I might manage to wash up a few dishes.

But then come our four day weekends! We are working so hard on our weekends that working at Mammoth Cave is like a vacation! Here are a couple of the projects we have been working on in our "off" time:

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You Know You're Having a Good Day When . . .

2012-09-29T07:02:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we were headed into the city. Not our favorite thing to do, but it was going to be worth it. We were headed to a major annual craft fair. We were stuck hopelessly in traffic and musing about how much later we were going to be arriving than what we had planned.

Suddenly, we heard a loud POP and steam began emerging from the hood of our little car. We limped the car over to the shoulder and pushed it up onto the grass. Opening the hood we quickly discovered that one of our radiator hoses had exploded. (seriously, it was in two pieces) Hopes for the day were dashed as my sons and I gazed at the carnage.

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Getting Close to Closing Time

2012-09-25T18:43:00.000-05:00

It's been a lovely Tuesday!

The last couple of nights have been pretty chilly. Thankfully it didn't frost though, we definitely weren't ready for that! The coolness has spurred us into action and today was spent readying for the fall.

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Commentary on Current Events

2012-09-22T06:09:00.001-05:00

I've been struggling for something to say about what is going on around the world lately. Finally Robert Frost supplied me with the words for which I was searching.

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Why am I so grumpy?

2012-09-17T20:05:00.002-05:00

I know, I have taken a long hiatus. But the last few weeks I've been a little out of sorts. Nothing specific, much of the garden is still doing well; the family is all happy and healthy; and I still have steady work. There is no particular reason for my grumpiness. But there it is. So I'm going to do what it seems most people like to do . . . blame it on the economy.

I actually do think that the general sluggishness of the economy causes an ambivalence in people that is hard to shake and even harder for us to put our finger on. But I have good news. There is an economic stimulus package out there that could really make a difference, and no, I'm not talking about the upcoming Quantitative Easing III. (I don't know about the rest of you but the last two of those didn't seem to make a difference in the lives of any of the people I rub shoulders with.) So I present to you . . . with appropriate fanfare . . . Joe Schanel's Economic Stimulus Package! Ta Da!!!

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There's Seed Saving and There's Seed Saving Part तीन [teen]

2012-08-24T13:02:00.000-05:00

It occurs to me that in my previous posts on seed saving (to be found here, and here) I was over-simplifying a bit. When one is dealing with tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, what I wrote is right on target. You see, all of these plants self-pollinate, so it is very common to be able to save their seeds without doing anything other than picking their fruits and following the simple steps I have outlined already. So you can consider these plants to be the primary school of seed saving!

Now we can move on to middle school!

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