On the other side of the field Frederic the cat is very very poorly. He has a large tumour in his abdomen, and those are always bad news. He is at home now having terminal care (that is medication for pain) because nothing else can be done. The vet said maybe a day, maybe a week.
He loaths 'Suma with all his might, so we haven't really been talking lately. I do not intend to go to say my farewells, because it will only upset Frederic - he thinks if I'm there, 'Suma will be there, too.
He has been the mightiest cat I have ever known, he is not a Norwegian nor ragdoll, but with his magnificient fur he has always remainded me of a huge beast. He even has wider nose than cats usually have.
Saturday, 7 September 2019
Monday, 2 September 2019
I forgot to mention
Spa visits are free to us. We get (me and hb) some workplace health promotion money from our employers, and that can be used to buy tickets to spas and pools etc. I bought season tickets to us with that money.
September - time to shikn about Christmast presents. Sister asked for a house...
September - time to shikn about Christmast presents. Sister asked for a house...
Sunday, 1 September 2019
Budjeting and harvesting
Summer is about to end, we will have warm days a week or two, but usually by the mid September autunm is here with full force.
Kids are back at school, so everything is normal. As normal as it ever is here at Ulv's lair.
Soon I need to check all winter clothing, because cold weather comes always fast, too fast. I bought a new jacket for me last winter, it will do at least another winter (it was around 12€, so I'm not counting on it to keep many years). I think kids have winter jackets ok, but they probably all need new shoes. Well, os won't, he has his winter boots he has been wearing through this summer, and they are ok. I don't need new shoes (I got new work boots last winter). With some rotation, I found wellies for all kids. I'm the only one without decent wellies, there is places where no waterproof shoes or boots will do, only wellies. I would have a pair, but someone ate them. Hrmpf.
Kids also need new winter gloves, they wear them out in less than a winter. I don't bother to buy the most expensive ones, it only makes me mad/sad when they get them ripped on barbed wire or burn holes with fire while grilling sausages... something always happens.
Boys need skates, and I think I have to buy a pair of skis (+shoes +poles) for ys, he will use them at school. Sys likes to ski, so he might need also now ones. They have actually grown!
That would probably take us to the Christmas. by then d will need a new tab for drawing, and I think sys would also need a better one, he has been using d's old one, which was already worn out when he got it. D likes to have a polaroid camera, so that must be hinted to his uncle, who might or might not want to buy it for present.
I need to check kids' cell phones, ys's phone is quite ond and battered, and os doesn't even have a smart one at all. Hb needs a new phone, too, he has found CAT phone he likes.
- 3 pair of winter boots (60-75€/ pair)
- 3 pair of winter cloves (20€/ pair)
- hb's phone about 300€
- 2 phones for os and ys (100€/phone)
- 2 pair of skates, one helmet (about 50€/pair + 45€/helmet)
- 2 set of skis + accessories (about 150€ per set if I'm lucky, more likely 250€)
One thing I don't have to buy is tea. I have enought loose leaf black tea and dried herbs (raspberry, meadow sweet, rowan, blackcurrant, strawberry) for at least a year (it is packed airtight) and have some mint, too. My mint isn't enjoying dry weather, and I haven't been able to water it enough. Next year I might to need a new spot for it to grow. I should pick lemon balm and lemon thyme to dry, they should be nice as tea, too. At work I'm drinking tea I got as a present from my co-worker (but I did buy her a gift, too).
Garden is producing nicely. Zucchinis/courgettes are coming strong, as well runner beans and green beans. I have managed to freeze some, I think after a week or two I'll have enough to cover whole winter consumption of green beans/runners. Also broad beans are producing, I had a massive black fly infestation this summer (because of drought) but I sow a lot in spring, which in hindsight has proven a very good idea. And brassicas are suffering very badly because of some species of phyllotretas. They are everywhere, even in beans and corn this year. I guess drought is the reason.
Corns are making cobs, so I might even have something to serve to os, he likes homegrown corn, but usually I end up few mini cobs if I get anything. This year things look more promising.
Nzs with only six or so plants is producing massive amounts. It started out really slowly, but now I can harvest every day.
But potatoes. Oh my poor potatoes! Those in bags have grown ok, but on veg plot they died. I get about 3 spuds per plant, so it is very good thing we can have food from shops instead on relying on my vegetable plot. Two years ago potatoes suffered because they don't know how to swim, well, this year...
I'll be off to check my damsons, they might be 30-40 fruits if no-one has eaten them (wasps most likely) I'd like to have 10l bucket of damsons to freeze, but it will never happen - this is the best year ever in 20 yrs I have had that bush/tree, and last "big" crop was about a dozen fruits😂
Can't get apples anywhere, might need to buy some. We eat them just like that, of course, but my mother makes apple sauce I use in everything (mainly in tomato based sauses). Maybe I'll need to put up a note on office's entrance.
It's still not raining much, so we might be in trouble in winter. Well is still dryish, so much that we have been going to local spa once a week for a thorough wash! Kids enjoy standing under a warm shower - at home we never allow them to take long showers, because our water heater is old and too small for our use. We run out of hot water quite often. (But it is not as bad as it sounds, we have a sauna and we warm/heat it at least once a week in summer and twice a week in winter, so even if kids can't spend their evenings under a shower, they can get properly clean in very warm environment ). And of course we have our pool, which is used daily now. But you just can't wash with snow... So we might need to come up with new ideas by then.
Two rainy days have made a difference in the forest, though. Mushrooms (chanterelles) and ceps are growing fast, i have found porchinos daily. This morning I picked two and brought them to my aunt, she was happy, she had an eye operation few weeks ago and isn'n allowed to go foraging.
Kids are back at school, so everything is normal. As normal as it ever is here at Ulv's lair.
Soon I need to check all winter clothing, because cold weather comes always fast, too fast. I bought a new jacket for me last winter, it will do at least another winter (it was around 12€, so I'm not counting on it to keep many years). I think kids have winter jackets ok, but they probably all need new shoes. Well, os won't, he has his winter boots he has been wearing through this summer, and they are ok. I don't need new shoes (I got new work boots last winter). With some rotation, I found wellies for all kids. I'm the only one without decent wellies, there is places where no waterproof shoes or boots will do, only wellies. I would have a pair, but someone ate them. Hrmpf.
Kids also need new winter gloves, they wear them out in less than a winter. I don't bother to buy the most expensive ones, it only makes me mad/sad when they get them ripped on barbed wire or burn holes with fire while grilling sausages... something always happens.
Boys need skates, and I think I have to buy a pair of skis (+shoes +poles) for ys, he will use them at school. Sys likes to ski, so he might need also now ones. They have actually grown!
That would probably take us to the Christmas. by then d will need a new tab for drawing, and I think sys would also need a better one, he has been using d's old one, which was already worn out when he got it. D likes to have a polaroid camera, so that must be hinted to his uncle, who might or might not want to buy it for present.
I need to check kids' cell phones, ys's phone is quite ond and battered, and os doesn't even have a smart one at all. Hb needs a new phone, too, he has found CAT phone he likes.
- 3 pair of winter boots (60-75€/ pair)
- 3 pair of winter cloves (20€/ pair)
- hb's phone about 300€
- 2 phones for os and ys (100€/phone)
- 2 pair of skates, one helmet (about 50€/pair + 45€/helmet)
- 2 set of skis + accessories (about 150€ per set if I'm lucky, more likely 250€)
One thing I don't have to buy is tea. I have enought loose leaf black tea and dried herbs (raspberry, meadow sweet, rowan, blackcurrant, strawberry) for at least a year (it is packed airtight) and have some mint, too. My mint isn't enjoying dry weather, and I haven't been able to water it enough. Next year I might to need a new spot for it to grow. I should pick lemon balm and lemon thyme to dry, they should be nice as tea, too. At work I'm drinking tea I got as a present from my co-worker (but I did buy her a gift, too).
Garden is producing nicely. Zucchinis/courgettes are coming strong, as well runner beans and green beans. I have managed to freeze some, I think after a week or two I'll have enough to cover whole winter consumption of green beans/runners. Also broad beans are producing, I had a massive black fly infestation this summer (because of drought) but I sow a lot in spring, which in hindsight has proven a very good idea. And brassicas are suffering very badly because of some species of phyllotretas. They are everywhere, even in beans and corn this year. I guess drought is the reason.
Corns are making cobs, so I might even have something to serve to os, he likes homegrown corn, but usually I end up few mini cobs if I get anything. This year things look more promising.
Nzs with only six or so plants is producing massive amounts. It started out really slowly, but now I can harvest every day.
But potatoes. Oh my poor potatoes! Those in bags have grown ok, but on veg plot they died. I get about 3 spuds per plant, so it is very good thing we can have food from shops instead on relying on my vegetable plot. Two years ago potatoes suffered because they don't know how to swim, well, this year...
I'll be off to check my damsons, they might be 30-40 fruits if no-one has eaten them (wasps most likely) I'd like to have 10l bucket of damsons to freeze, but it will never happen - this is the best year ever in 20 yrs I have had that bush/tree, and last "big" crop was about a dozen fruits😂
Can't get apples anywhere, might need to buy some. We eat them just like that, of course, but my mother makes apple sauce I use in everything (mainly in tomato based sauses). Maybe I'll need to put up a note on office's entrance.
It's still not raining much, so we might be in trouble in winter. Well is still dryish, so much that we have been going to local spa once a week for a thorough wash! Kids enjoy standing under a warm shower - at home we never allow them to take long showers, because our water heater is old and too small for our use. We run out of hot water quite often. (But it is not as bad as it sounds, we have a sauna and we warm/heat it at least once a week in summer and twice a week in winter, so even if kids can't spend their evenings under a shower, they can get properly clean in very warm environment ). And of course we have our pool, which is used daily now. But you just can't wash with snow... So we might need to come up with new ideas by then.
Two rainy days have made a difference in the forest, though. Mushrooms (chanterelles) and ceps are growing fast, i have found porchinos daily. This morning I picked two and brought them to my aunt, she was happy, she had an eye operation few weeks ago and isn'n allowed to go foraging.
Thursday, 29 August 2019
Disgusting
I just pulled a tick off from kitten's a**e. Disgusting.
Two things.
A positive one: I saw it without my reading glasses.
And another one: Why was I looking at kitten's bum?
No photo.
Two things.
A positive one: I saw it without my reading glasses.
And another one: Why was I looking at kitten's bum?
No photo.
Tuesday, 13 August 2019
Back to nine to five (or eight to four)
So, back to work. Co-worker called he'd been admitted to half-retirement because of his poor health. His knees can't keep up the work we do. He's only, what? ten years older than I am. But I haven't never been an athlete or even a fitnes fanatic, so it wouldn't probably be my knees that give up, I'd bet on brains.
Now I remembered what I was telling about in that post I deleted. Our water is running out. Last time we had decent rainfall was 2017! Last winter's snow didn't thaw, it evaporated. We had a little rain in spring, but it didn't filled ground water reserves much. We have a rather shallow well, and sometimes in very dry summers water level drops too low to comfort. A good thing was, that in spring '18 we had really heavy flooding with all that thawing snow, so last year reserves were filled to the brim.
I have been waiting for rain since June. At the moment there is nice dark grey cloud hanging in the sky - but it comes from wrong direction, so it will not rain here (there's a lake and a big hill which divert rain from that direction). If cloud comes from east it usually rains, and we haven't had eastern clouds forever. Last autunm's jet stream/tornado? We had few drops, when half a kilometer away there were loads of hail.
Ground water filters from rainwater really slowly, it could take more than a year for rain to become groundwater, so this drough is result of last summers drought plus this summer. If the snow wouldn't evaporated, it would have stopped ground water levels going low.
So for a few weeks we can't take a shower all six people at the same day (we have a pool to use, which is helping), if I need to wash laundry and fill barrels to water veg plot. I can use dishwasher (it uses very little water, if I do dishes by hand, I use more water), so we don't have to use imagination how to make food without making dirty dishes... I'm not going to use paper plates.
If we really were in trouble, we have our outhouse, so we could skip using wc completely. Now it's only recommendation to boys to go outside to pee...
But we can take this, nature will cope with this, it will be all right. This is not like drought in India or Australia or California or Africa. This is a mild inconvenience.
It s raining now, only slight mist but water nonetheless. I went to pick gooseberries on the other side of the field and yes! my clothes got soaked with rain. What a joy! 'Suma didn't think it as a joy, but she is content sleeping on couch under ys's duvet.
This is going to be an expensive autunm/winter. D started her first year at local college, and even if the shcool itself is free (they get free lunch and free health care) books and other materials costs dearly. We have so far bought four books, some new, some used. 135€. Today we'll go and spend some more euros for other books! A positive side of this is that the only book shop hereby sells used books, so we don't have to buy from internet - now we can choose and even be picky to get books that have all pages etc... And she needs a new laptop for school.
I'm trying to find a ways to spend less money on everything. Not an easy task, but maybe achieveable.
Being self suffiecient completely is not realistic aim at the moment, probably never. But we can be self sufficient on firewood:
Luckily that is only a small area (1-1,5 acres) behind our forest, it belongs to old man's cousin. This kind of forestry in no longer wanted, it doesn't produce much (much less than if you just let forest to grow how it grows naturally). They thought in '50's and 60's that if you get rid of everything else than trees, trees will grow faster because there is no competition. Wrong, so wrong. Trees need their neighbours, they need mushrooms, undergrowth, biodiversity. This field of trees is silently waiting spruce bark beetles to attack.
Now I remembered what I was telling about in that post I deleted. Our water is running out. Last time we had decent rainfall was 2017! Last winter's snow didn't thaw, it evaporated. We had a little rain in spring, but it didn't filled ground water reserves much. We have a rather shallow well, and sometimes in very dry summers water level drops too low to comfort. A good thing was, that in spring '18 we had really heavy flooding with all that thawing snow, so last year reserves were filled to the brim.
I have been waiting for rain since June. At the moment there is nice dark grey cloud hanging in the sky - but it comes from wrong direction, so it will not rain here (there's a lake and a big hill which divert rain from that direction). If cloud comes from east it usually rains, and we haven't had eastern clouds forever. Last autunm's jet stream/tornado? We had few drops, when half a kilometer away there were loads of hail.
Ground water filters from rainwater really slowly, it could take more than a year for rain to become groundwater, so this drough is result of last summers drought plus this summer. If the snow wouldn't evaporated, it would have stopped ground water levels going low.
So for a few weeks we can't take a shower all six people at the same day (we have a pool to use, which is helping), if I need to wash laundry and fill barrels to water veg plot. I can use dishwasher (it uses very little water, if I do dishes by hand, I use more water), so we don't have to use imagination how to make food without making dirty dishes... I'm not going to use paper plates.
If we really were in trouble, we have our outhouse, so we could skip using wc completely. Now it's only recommendation to boys to go outside to pee...
But we can take this, nature will cope with this, it will be all right. This is not like drought in India or Australia or California or Africa. This is a mild inconvenience.
It s raining now, only slight mist but water nonetheless. I went to pick gooseberries on the other side of the field and yes! my clothes got soaked with rain. What a joy! 'Suma didn't think it as a joy, but she is content sleeping on couch under ys's duvet.
This is going to be an expensive autunm/winter. D started her first year at local college, and even if the shcool itself is free (they get free lunch and free health care) books and other materials costs dearly. We have so far bought four books, some new, some used. 135€. Today we'll go and spend some more euros for other books! A positive side of this is that the only book shop hereby sells used books, so we don't have to buy from internet - now we can choose and even be picky to get books that have all pages etc... And she needs a new laptop for school.
I'm trying to find a ways to spend less money on everything. Not an easy task, but maybe achieveable.
Being self suffiecient completely is not realistic aim at the moment, probably never. But we can be self sufficient on firewood:
 |
| This is my first ever attempt on creative woodtsacking. Sorry about blur - I found out I had a fingerprint on the lense. Blurry brown structure behinf the tsack is our outhouse (lighter on the left is garage). |
 |
| So I cheated... No, this outside structure makes this stack sturdier, like cross laminated timber. Inside will be filled. |
 |
| Btw, i have myself split all wood this summer. With that lethal screw splitter, which should be banned... Old man installed an emergency stop wire, I have tested every day it works just to be sure. |
 |
| We are not only busy bees (notice no smudge on the lense). |
 |
| My watermelon! |
 |
| Field of trees.Not the kind of forest I like - there is no undergrowth, it's dark and suffocating place. And trees are not growing well at all. |
Luckily that is only a small area (1-1,5 acres) behind our forest, it belongs to old man's cousin. This kind of forestry in no longer wanted, it doesn't produce much (much less than if you just let forest to grow how it grows naturally). They thought in '50's and 60's that if you get rid of everything else than trees, trees will grow faster because there is no competition. Wrong, so wrong. Trees need their neighbours, they need mushrooms, undergrowth, biodiversity. This field of trees is silently waiting spruce bark beetles to attack.
Sunday, 4 August 2019
Years are not brothers...
No.
Last summer we had first frost at late September. Now we are already covering our gardens with fleece... A bit daunting task for me as a small person I have difficulties to get that fleece over my runner beans and corn.
Corn is growing beautifully, I see tassels forming, so i should find first small cobs soon. Ys wants to have minicorn (that is small unripened cobs) and os is waiting for real big cobs. This might be actually a year I can provide them both!
******
Darn. I managed to delete the whole post after that part. I have no idea what I wrote, probably about veggie plot, zucchinis, weird weather (now we have frosts, last year we had heat wave - but at least there were no rain in either summer...)
Last summer we had first frost at late September. Now we are already covering our gardens with fleece... A bit daunting task for me as a small person I have difficulties to get that fleece over my runner beans and corn.
Corn is growing beautifully, I see tassels forming, so i should find first small cobs soon. Ys wants to have minicorn (that is small unripened cobs) and os is waiting for real big cobs. This might be actually a year I can provide them both!
******
Darn. I managed to delete the whole post after that part. I have no idea what I wrote, probably about veggie plot, zucchinis, weird weather (now we have frosts, last year we had heat wave - but at least there were no rain in either summer...)
Did I say I was expecting frost?
And frost indeed we had. When I was taking off fleeces in veg plot after morning's 'Sumawalk, they were still stiff with frost! Ok, it was 6.30 am, but sun had risen two hours earlier. I'm so glad I tackled fleeces over runner beans and corn, too, as they would have been doomed. I hope I didn't take covers off too early, but I had to leave to work. D will open greenhouse and polytunnel doors.
Back to business, I thought I would be alone in the office today, but colleague is here too. Well, he might leave early today (after he has checked all his mail), they had a new baby in late June and he might be needed at home - his wife might be a bit in a hurry with four small children. I know I was.
We did go berrypicking with my sister yesterday, I was back home 8.30pm. We got quite nice amount, but I must say picking wild raspberries is not one of my favourite hobbies. All nettles (ouch!) thorns (ouch), mosquitos, few wasps... 'Suma was so nice, she didn't run off, se only tried eat her waterbottle twice (there's no water in forest at the moment) and she tired eat raspberries all by herself! It was lovely and funny, she loves raspberries, but this is the first time she actually tried to eat them by herself. It was much easier with 'Suma than with kids! There are so much unripened berries left, we might need to go there later. Sister is on four week vacation, so we have time.
Back to business, I thought I would be alone in the office today, but colleague is here too. Well, he might leave early today (after he has checked all his mail), they had a new baby in late June and he might be needed at home - his wife might be a bit in a hurry with four small children. I know I was.
We did go berrypicking with my sister yesterday, I was back home 8.30pm. We got quite nice amount, but I must say picking wild raspberries is not one of my favourite hobbies. All nettles (ouch!) thorns (ouch), mosquitos, few wasps... 'Suma was so nice, she didn't run off, se only tried eat her waterbottle twice (there's no water in forest at the moment) and she tired eat raspberries all by herself! It was lovely and funny, she loves raspberries, but this is the first time she actually tried to eat them by herself. It was much easier with 'Suma than with kids! There are so much unripened berries left, we might need to go there later. Sister is on four week vacation, so we have time.
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