About Me

I am a wife and mother. I have a son (W) who is ten and a daughter (E) who is 8. I have two bonus children: a stepson (N) who is 18 and a stepdaughter (A) who is 14. My bio children are educated at home while the bonuses go to regular school.

Monday, June 6, 2016

New Washing Machine

For a year, we had a washing machine that refused to spin.  I needed a quick fix and didn't have several hundred dollars on hand with which to purchase a new washer so I bought an antique, or maybe just vintage, wringer.  Because I didn't buy the wash board, since the washing machine still agitated, we had nothing to which to attached it. But our laundry would finally be wrung out! 

At first, it was a 3 person job.  One person, held it steady on top of a saw horse. Another person fed the laundry in. (This was an art form to be learned.) The last person caught the laundry.  This only lasted a week until J did his laundry and found it tedious.  He built a stand for the wringer.



The first 5 months of this, I honestly wasn't bothered it. But after that, it got old. Our basement is cold making it less than pleasant (and let's be honest: I live in the First World so when I say something is less than pleasant, there are many people in the world who would love to be in my place).  Wringers also doesn't get out as much water as the spin cycle on a modern washing machine which led to almost every thing had to go through the dryer in the late fall, winter, and early spring. I also broke many zippers, buttons, clasps, and hooks.  On the plus side, my sewing skills did improve.

On Mother's Day, I was waiting for the liquor store in the grocery store to open. I took a look "For Sale" section of the bulletin board.  There was an apartment sized washer for sale for $125. I called and went to look at it. I asked a friend to pick it up in her vehicle. (I could have picked it up, but I would have had to remove the car seats, some things I had no interest in doing.)  J hooked it up and now I no longer have to wring out my laundry. 

Next on the agenda is an oven that keeps constant temperature!

Wrapping Paper Update

So my grand plans to save potato chip bags and use them as wrapping paper failed. I tried wrapping a present this weekend, and the tape wouldn't stick. So back to the drawing board.

Friday, June 3, 2016

Coffee

The mere mention of coffee is some circles ignites serious emotions. It's not difficult to find memes about how important coffee is to some people.

Some love it to a discomforting level.




Some come up with whimsical ways of expressing their addiction to it.




Some have a cute way of showing the variety of options from which to choose.





Until a few years ago, I wasn't a coffee drinker.  I would have the occasional late to combat a head ache that ways days old and not subsiding, but that was it.  I couldn't understand (and honestly, still don't)  all those people who  couldn't perform a menial task because they "hadn't had their coffee yet."  It felt like the last addiction that was socially acceptable.

(I don't have many smokers in my group, and those that do smoke, hide it.  Gone are the days of when smoking while in the presence of other people's children or standing in line is acceptable.  As the daughter of two heavy smokers, I greatly appreciate the lack of social acceptance of smoking.)

Anywho, a few summers ago, I watched my friend's 3 children for the summer. I also had my own 3 children to watch.  As if that wasn't enough, some times a friend would spend the day with us. It was a lot of kids: a 12yo girl, a 9yo boy, an 8yo boy, a 6 yo boy, a 6yo girl, and a 6mo old baby with another 9yo boy on occasion.

It was a lot, and I was tired. So I started drinking coffee.

I had known for some time that coffee is generally grown in warmer, humid regions that were previously rainforests by workers who are paid pennies if paid at all.  It bothered me. Why should someone work that hard for so little money and have their land raped so I could have a cup of fucking coffee?

So I went online and found some coffee is "Rainforest Alliance Certified" and  "Habitat-friendly Certified Organic Shade Grown."  What could the problem possibly be? Any guesses? Yes, it is expensive. So I drank it less.  A 12oz. bag lasted 3 months.

J, however, still prefers the coffee from the store: standard coffee with a flavor of Highlander Grog.  It is whole bean and more expensive than grabbing a can of whatever is sold in 3lb. cans but less expensive than my coffee. He also drinks it every day.  Sometimes though he doesn't take it all to work, but this never happens on the day I want coffee.

I noticed he would just dump the rest out the day next morning while he made fresh coffee for the day.  I don't care for waste so I thought about it. I started pouring the leftovers into a quart jar and putting in the fridge.  On my canning day, I would can it and have coffee for the emergencies when we are out of coffee and the snow it too deep to run to town or when the power is out. We have a gas stove so we can still heat it up on the stove.

That made me happy for awhile. Then I had another idea. After Jon leaves for work, I reuse his grounds.  I make half the amount he does. Once the coffee is made from the grounds for a second time, I pour the coffee through the machine so that the grounds are used thrice. I still have to add a ton of cream (not creamer, why the hell add all those ingredients to perfect cream?) and sugar because that is how I drink my coffee, but it taste the same.

After that, I put the grounds a sealable bag in the fridge.  Once it is full, I spread them out on a cookie sheet and let them dry.  Once dry, I rebag and freeze them.  In the spring, I mulch the blueberries with them.

I still buy the highly certified coffee. I use for when I make coffee first, Jon goes camping, or I make coffee after I drank all the other coffee; the last situation usually only happens when I have company. So that is how I deal with drinking something I know isn't the greatest for the planet.