I have existential reasons for reviving this blog

 Is that not a crazy blog title or what? Truthfully, most of you are nodding your heads, and saying, "girl. I get it."
Did you ever think we'd be where we are as a planet so soon? Most non-scientists will say, "no."
Most hippy dippy types - kind of like me - are taking a deep breath and thinking we'd better get busy if we weren't already. We have one planet, one lifetime and long lives ahead of us. So it's time to think about sustainability and how to approach it again.

Tammy and I have avoided Covid. We followed the science, and did what was recommended. Admittedly, I'm tired of being at home so much, but I'm also grateful for the country place so that we can get out and move around! We're also of the mind that along with human activity helping to speed global warming, it's human activity that unleashed the horseman called death. Therefore, we aren't putting on blinders while we sing, "la la la."

Backyard Garden in the Shade

Over the last 5 years, we have not put in a vegetable garden in Austin because our yard is so shady. Any non-food plants I've planted are kind of wimpy. Most things need more sun. (But if you're looking for something scrappy for your yard - plant salvia. It seeds and pops up everywhere, and that means flowering plants galore - even in the shade.) As of this past week, I am going to try to put in a vegetable garden or two. 

I hung out with my longtime friend Kiya Heartwood this past week, and she showed me her permaculture gardens. I was re-inspired that food plants are heartier than I thought. I'll be asking her a ton of questions as I try this myself. She is a small farm pro. This weekend, however, is about figuring out where to put the beds and then start breaking up this hard-ass Austin dirt.

I think I can grow leafy vegetables, and I may try sweet potatoes. I'll try carrots and turnips, too (I'll be giving away turnips because I only want the greens). Then I need to figure out what kind of vertical food will grow in minimal shade. Maybe nothing, but I'd like to try something. I've studied the sun pattern in the backyard for years, and I never settled on the best spot to grow vegetables until I realized that there's a sort of deadish spot in the grass where the dogs like to sun. So.... guess where most of the sun lands? I'm feeling only slightly guilty about taking over their spot. I fully expect some retaliation.

Don't Take Food, Water and Health for Granted

At the risk of sounding doomsday like, we are no longer taking our food, water and health for granted. Covid has been surreal. As a people, we could have slowed the spread, but politics and conspiracies got in the way. Supply chains will once again be disrupted. In fact, I read that wheat yields were down worldwide. What's next? 

Water. Not one thing on this planet can live without it. As the polar ice caps melt, the salinity of the ocean changes, and life in the seas will change, too. The coastlines are shrinking. People are moving inland. Housing costs are skyrocketing around migration. And droughts mean less water for more people. 

Needless to say, I'll be adding a cistern or two to the house in Austin. As much as possible, I'll use rainwater to water my garden. I should probably try hill gardening to reduce water usage. More to come on if I do that. I'm probably not that patient, though.

And finally, solar. Y'all know I'm about the solar energy. I'll writes some entries on how my journey is going. More to come. In the meantime, if your yard is shady and you want a garden, leafy green vegetables are your best bet:

Spinach
Chard
Lettuces
Carrots - sort of
Turnips - sort of

If you're in Texas, always refer to Texas AgriLife for tips on what to plant and when to plant in your region. 

** I'm pretty sure Elizabeth took the photos in this blog entry, so credit goes to her.

Necessity is a Mother

Boy howdy! Do we know how to start a country getaway.

Carburetor cleaner straw - Such a wicked apparatus

Two things happened within 12 hours of each other.

1. Tammy got impatient and killed the lawn mower.
2. The glorious Sportsman generator verified that you get what you pay for.

We are on a one week vacation that is mostly centered around a relaxing getaway at the cabin. By all estimates, Tammy should have been able to come out here Thursday night, crank up the generator, turn on the AC, let the cabin cool off, and easily mow the lawn.

It didn't go that way. 

First of all, the generator died over the winter. It did it quietly. We didn't know about it until we pulled it out of the shed and tried to use it. If you're in Texas, you know it goes from Christmas to absolute, double digit hell overnight. So when we needed the generator we NEEDED the generator. It was so hot that we thought we killed the dog. Tammy started our vacation a day early to see if she could get the thing started. We knew it was a spark issue, but she is much more patient than me, and she thought she could solve the problem if I wasn't around.

She got it started! I was amazed, and I planned to end my work week by packing up some clothes, cool drinks and dogs, and heading on out to the cabin. In the meantime, something else happened. The cabin lawnmower ran out of gas exactly 5 rows short of completely mowing the yard. Let me back up here and take responsibility for original fuel storage sin. Many years ago, I put diesel in a red gas can. Not a green one (which is the designated color for diesel cans). I wrote "diesel" on the can with a sharpie. The ink faded over the years. Tammy was in a hurry to finish mowing because hell was quickly approaching.

Always use super unleaded gas in a lawnmower. Not diesel

Tammy accidentally put diesel in the lawnmower.
All you good ol' boys are rolling your eyes and laughing right now.
Don't be so judgy.
She went about the same things you boys would do to save the lawn mower.

Empty fuel tank.
Fill with super unleaded.
Run it.
Let it sputter and die.
Put a straw on the carburetor cleaner and spray into carburetor.

At which point, Tammy describes the straw as shooting into the carburetor and way into the engine. 

I took the engine apart and retrieved the straw, but as of this writing, we still have 5 rows of grass that need to be mowed.
I pulled out another straw that actually belonged in the air filter intake. I can't get it back in there.
I'm not giving up, but I'm not naive. I know we're probably doomed.

That's the first thing that happened.
Now, back to the generator.

You get what you pay for

The generator did not keep running. In fact, it blew out 2 spark plugs. Blew them the hell out. Thus stripping the threads of the spark plug hole. I'm going to try to fix this, but I tell you, it was one hot night. 

Tammy got up and went to Home Depot, at 5:30 AM, and bought the most amazing and basically expensive generator ever. But y'all. This little suitcase sized generator is the best!

Buy Here

First of all, its a Honda. Honda is just a better product. The Japanese don't skimp on quality. They don't throw it together, put a label on it, and sell it to some All-American company that loves to sell us on 'Merica.

2200 watts is really only enough to power our AC, but that's fine. We have solar power for everything else. This little guy runs smooth, is very quiet, and here's the crazy part. The power inversion is so consistent that the AC actually runs better. It never got very cool on the Sportsman. That's because the Sportsman has a Chinese knockoff of a Honda engine. It does not invert power consistently; even though it has almost double the wattage output.

The only drawback to the Honda EU 2200i is that it has a tiny fuel tank. It holds .95 gallons. Yep. A gallon minus 5 tenths of a percent. Weird. However, it's so efficient, that it will go for about 4 - 5 hours in extreme heat before refueling. That's fine. It keeps the cabin almost cold. On the converse, it ran 7 hours overnight. I didn't expect that. I though I'd be up at 3 AM to refuel. I woke up at 7 AM, and the thing was still running on one tank of fuel!

Here's my recommendation. Don't cheap out. If you want to go off grid, pay for quality.
I haven't written in the last 6 months, but this little machine inspired me.
More to come, as I attempt to salvage the Sportsman to be used as a barn generator (yep! We're in the process of clearing a few more acres and adding a barn!).

Stay tuned.

Survival Beyond the City Limits

City is key here. City. What once could be considered a big town is now a real city - Austin.
I've somewhat fallen out of love with it.
Here's why - just because people say something doesn't make it so.

Cool Things to Do That I Won't Do Anymore

1. The Trail of Lights - What a complete hassle. Crowded. Impossible to get to unless you find a bus lot and stand in line to wait for a bus that may or may  not be able to take you there. 
2.  SoCo - Douchy at best. That's all I have to say about that.
3. Canoeing or kayaking on Town... err... Ladybird Lake - People soup. What in the world is relaxing about a thousand people on SUPs or in kayaks?
4. Restaurant Institutions - There are a handful of old school restaurants left in Austin. I don't know if the new competition has made it O.K to offer mediocre service and food, or if they're at the end of their lifespan. I'm not naming names, but I've lost my warm fuzzy with them.
5. Hiking the Greenbelt - For starters, how do I find a parking space to do this? And if I can't park, how the heck many people are jabbering about on the trail? Nameste, y'all.

Refining Small Town Life

I started this blog because I love the country. I love our cabin. Frankly, I love Fayette County. It's rural, for sure, but there's something different about it. 

1. Culture for my fancy self - Festival Institute, Shakespeare at Winedale, The Painted Churches, and elegant shopping.
2. Kolaches -  Battling it out for the best kolaches anywhere! On the west side of the county and making a strong appearance on the very northeast corner of the county... Weikels! On the east side of the county, with a slight edge due to a speed limit drop to 55mph, Hruskas! On the south side of the county, perfectly positioned to fortify tourist on the Painted Churches tour, Original Kountry Bakery!
3. The Sunrise - No alarm clock needed. Always spectacular.
4. The Sunset - Shut your mouth. Put that phone up. 
5. The People - My mother used to say that the Czech people will open their door to anyone. They're welcoming and friendly. And that is true. They're progressive in their thinking, and that's why Fayette County is so vibrant and wonderful. 

Coming Soon

In the spring, people will flood to Fayette County for the bi-annual Antique Fair. It will be crazy big to the point of input overload. Then the wildflowers will bloom. Then the MS150 bike tour will make an overnight at the fair grounds. 

As summer sets in, Festival Institute will come alive with its summer classical music festival. Shakespear at Winedale will do plays for the people. The summer will come to a close with the Fayette County Fair.

I'm leaving so many festivals and cultural institutions out of this, but it's a blog, and people have a shorter attention span when reading a blog. 

I'm looking forward to the day we can turn our cabin into a guesthouse because we have finally made the permanent move.