Ninja

When my hubby and I moved from a condo by the beach to a retreat in the mountains, we obviously took our critters with us. Roxy (the dog) and Ninja (the cat) immediately took to their new life--Roxy spending hours digging for gophers and pooping where no dog has pooped before, and Ninja honing the skills that earned him his name: hunting, climbing trees, and (of course) chasing Roxy.

Until now.

Ninja went out on Sunday night, like he's done countless times in the six months since we've been here. Except that he hasn't come home. My hubby, Roxy, and I have all gone out searching for him, but so far without success.

I've been to two animal shelters, but no one has delivered him into their care. Today, as Roxy and I were putting up flyers in the hope that one of our neighbors may have either seen or abducted him, we came across one of the neighbors going for an afternoon stroll. I explained to him what we were doing, and he candidly replied that "your cat's probably been eaten. We have about 200 cats, and they get eaten all the time." Exactly what I wanted to hear--not. Then came his insight: "Is your cat a mouser or a pet?" 

Aha! 

I have been worried sick about Ninja since Tuesday. He is a member of our family, but has also worked diligently to ensure that the mouse population doesn't get out of control. While it is too late for my feelings about Ninja, perhaps this will change my perspective on our feline companions in the future: perhaps there should be a difference between a mouser and a pet, at least on the mountain, where much bigger kitties roam the night.

I haven't given up on Ninja. My dreams have been filled with him coming home nonchalantly, wearing his signature "oh, hi" expression. I'm still hoping these dreams become a reality, and that he's out having the biggest adventure of his furry little life. Until then, we still have Roxy and our two little mousers-in-training for company. 

Accidental Housewife

For the past several weeks, I have found myself to be an accidental housewife. Which essentially means I have been on a hiatus from working. Which has been fantastic.

Contrary to the popular mythology, I have not been getting into screaming matches with other housewives. Nor have I been sitting around in pajamas drinking mimosas and eating bonbons.

I've been busy getting things done. In addition to coordinating all of our appliance deliveries and making sure none of them frightened the dog, I've finished unpacking (mostly). I've made countless trips to home improvement stores to get things for the house, the yard, and the water feature that is still balanced precariously between hot tub, pond, and primordial sludge. I've planted vegetables and waged war on the critters trying to eat them. I've cleaned up after the cat when he nabs the critters (three mice, a lizard, and a young squirrel, to date. Unfortunately, no gophers).

I've also been preparing for the end of my time as an accidental housewife. At some point, I will have to rejoin the workforce. Probably sooner rather than later. And I want to simplify my (and my hubby's) life for when that happens.

I've come across a trend called freezer meals. Basically, you prepare a meal (preferably from scratch) and then freeze it for later, to be thawed, heated, and eaten when you have less time to make dinner but still want a delicious home-cooked meal. A delicious home-cooked meal is more or less a nightly occurrence on the Mountain, because, oddly enough, no restaurants are willing to deliver. Which is probably going to keep us healthier in the long run.

Awesome

My honey and I haven't exactly had the easiest time settling into our new home. Delivery drivers don't want to trek onto the dirt road (and then they get lost once they do). The water heater broke. There are mice living in the walls (three fewer than there were before, thanks to our illustrious cat). The dryer keeps tripping the breaker. Something keeps eating my herb garden. The kitchen faucet started to leak. We're 30 miles from the nearest grocery store (I don't trust the meat counter at the liquor store). We still don't have a long-term way to dispose of trash. 

But I know we made the right decision about our home because of one simple thing: we both get excited about it. Whenever people find out about where we live, we both start gushing about how awesome it is. And that's pretty awesome, too.

In Hot Water

Actually, my hubby and I are not in hot water. We're out of it. When the propane guy came out last week to sign off on the safety of our house, he lit the pilot light on the water heater. It was amazing to have hot water--I splurged and used it on luxuries like bathing. A mere 48 hours later, the pilot light went out again.

This morning, a different propane guy came out to fill up our propane tank. Not having enough propane in the system can sometimes cause the pilot light to give up. Once the light's back on and the tank is working again, it takes about an hour to have enough hot water for things like bathing (which I was hoping to do before work, for some reason).

Unfortunately, my hot shower has to be put on hold (maybe for a day or two, yuck!). Even with a full propane tank, the pilot light won't stay lit. So now we are faced with a dilemma: should we get the gas-burning water heater repaired, or should we upgrade to a snazzy new tankless one? Benefits of a snazzy new tankless water heater include lower energy use and an endless supply of hot water (as long as we're not running our nonexistent dishwasher and showering simultaneously, according to energy.gov). Benefits of keeping the water heater that came with our lovely home include not trying to find someone to get rid of it and probably keeping a few more dollars in our bank account. Hmmm.

Boxes

Everything's happening so quickly now! 

On Tuesday, my honey and I signed what felt like a thousand sheets of paper. 

On Wednesday, we wired a huge sum of money out of the bank. 

On Thursday, we got a call from our realtor saying "Congrats."

On Friday, we went to our new house and got the keys. And we moved the first truckload of boxes.

On Saturday, we got the keys to our post office box. And we moved the second truckload of boxes. And we started gardening. My honey wants a lawn, and our dog wants a lawn. And the previous owners had gravel where there could be a lawn. Yes, gravel is more eco-friendly and lower maintenance. But if we install a grey water recycling system, I figure that will provide us with enough water for the lawn. Even though we don't have the grey water system yet, we figure we should start the lawn as soon as we can, since our growing season could potentially be cut short by snow, and we want to give the grass as good a chance as possible at survival.

On Sunday, I had to work. Which I really didn't want to do. What I really want to do at this point is to finish moving all of the boxes and the furniture and the dog and the cat and move in to our new home. And spend all of my energy making it ours and making it a home. Which will have to wait until the end of the week, when I have another day off from work and we can make another trip to our new house, with more boxes, and maybe some furniture, and do more gardening so we can have our lawn and, ultimately, our home.

On Pause

My hubby and I were hoping to have the keys to our new home in hand by now. Unfortunately, escrow is a long and painful process. And apparently homeowners insurance companies don't like dogs. But that's a rant for a different day. Today, I choose to be positive. Since I can't exactly move forward myself, I'd like to share some resources so that you can move forward yourselves.

If you feel like you need a little inspiration for change, take this quiz:

http://myfootprint.org

I find that National Geographic photos can be some of the most inspiring things of all, and they have a great collection of urban farming photos here: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/photos/urban-farming/

If you want to see what some others have accomplished through indoor farming, check out these links:

Hydroponics: http://www.terraspheresystems.com/index.php/news-media/19-news-news/41-urban-farming-20-no-soil-no-sun

Vertical Farming: http://inhabitat.com/the-worlds-first-commercial-vertical-farm-opens-in-singapore/

Creative ways and places to farm at home: http://foodtank.com/news/2014/02/beantown-farming-10-urban-agriculture-projects-in-boston

A small-business success story: http://www.urban-acres-farm.com

Here is a great site for tips on getting started:

http://anr.ext.wvu.edu/lawn_garden/gardening-101/vegetable-gardening/indoor-vegetable-gardening

Happy farming!

Why Garden?

There are many reasons to garden, and many reasons to garden indoors. Of the multitude of reasons that various people choose to garden, there are several that make the most sense to me. Allow me to explain:

Gardening is good for your health. Simply interacting with plants has been shown to have a positive effect on a person’s physical wellbeing (1). I know I feel better when I’m enjoying plants, nature, or the outdoors: that’s one of the reasons my hubby and I are moving to the mountains. It’s incredibly relaxing.

Eating fresh foods is good for your health. Fruits and veggies are most nutritious as soon as they’re picked (2). They also taste better that way.

Eating fresh foods is good for the environment. The farming methods through which we usually get our food use about 10 calories of Earth energy to produce 1 calorie of energy that we’re eating (3). If we grow even a little bit of food for ourselves, we can use more sustainable growing practices than the so-called “factory farms” (3). Growing practices like organic farming (most fertilizers are made from petroleum products… yuck!), indoor farming (which can make foods available year-round that would otherwise be either unavailable or, more likely, shipped from thousands of miles away (4)), and composting the inedible parts of plants (which can then be used as an organic fertilizer—cue singing “Circle of Life”).

Since my hubby and I are moving to the mountains (where the last time it snowed was April 1… seriously), I can’t grow as many things outdoors as I would probably like to. I don’t want to let a little thing like snow get in the way of making us more self-reliant, so I have to figure out ways we can grow food indoors. Like the things I mentioned in my last post: using indoor lighting can trick plants into thinking days are longer, which can mean more produce (5), and growing without soil can reduce water use by 70% (6).

I don’t want this adventure to just be about me (and my +1); I’d like it to be inspirational for everyone. Just because you don’t have an “outdoors” doesn’t mean you can’t grow your own food. Remember: every little bit helps. Even growing enough veggies for one meal means that that meal won’t be reliant on fertilizers and pesticides that are damaging to the environment. I would encourage you to start small: one tomato plant or herb garden in a windowsill is enough to plant the seeds of change. Or you can jump in with both feet, like I am. We can go through it together. It won’t always be easy; if it was, everyone would be doing it, right? But if we lead by example, one step at a time, we can make a change that’s bigger than ourselves. If we work together, if we become self-reliant, we can create a better tomorrow and a healthier world for everyone.

Surprise!

No, not that surprise.

My hubby and I have a new home. Almost. We could have keys within the week if we lock in home insurance and get the utilities transferred into our name(s) and do one or two other things. I didn’t want to say anything in case it didn’t work out, but we’re so close I can almost touch it!

When we get our home, it won’t be perfect. And that’s okay. That means that we’ll be able to truly make it our own, with lots of painting and lots of sanding and a new bathtub. And there are a few other things (okay, more than a few) about which I’ve asked my hubby to indulge me. Things I may have referred to as “weird hippy sh*t.” Things like a grey water recycling system. Rainwater barrels. Energy efficient appliances. Solar panels. Chickens. And an indoor farm.

We’re going to be slightly (okay, more than slightly) in the middle of nowhere. Which means we have plenty of space to stretch out, and a half-hour trip to the nearest grocery store. We’re going to have to change the way we eat: no more spur-of-the-moment trips to the store or fast food for dinner. Which gives us a couple of options: we can either choose to eat more pre-packaged and processed foods, or we can choose to grow our own food. I would much prefer the latter. If we grow our own food, we’ll be eating food that is both tastier and healthier.

A caveat: our new home isn’t just in the middle of nowhere… it’s in the middle of nowhere near the top of a mountain, where it snows as early as October and as late as April. Not exactly ideal growing conditions for most food plants. Which is where the weird hippy sh*t comes in. Growing food indoors will allow my hubby and me to grow more food in a smaller space by employing (hopefully) a combination of vertical farming and hydroponics. There will be planters stacked on top of other planters (bonus: the room I’m going to use comes with loads of shelves), and high-efficiency LED lights to provide enough light for optimal growing even when it’s snowing. And I’ll be able to use less of our grey water or rain barrel water by employing hydroponic growing strategies (which use a lot less water than growing plants in soil). And I’ll power the whole thing with our upcoming solar panels.

This is the beginning of a whole new chapter of BonnieTakesThePlunge. We’ve survived the “wedding” plunge. Now, let’s journey into the “new home” plunge, which will have just as many crazy adventures!

Hunting Season

My honey and I have begun hunting for a house. Correction: a home. In order to find the right home, we must start by finding the right realtor.

The first realtor we made contact with talked with us for two days before he vanished. Maybe he lost interest in us, maybe he got into some terrible accident. I guess we'll never know.

We got off to a better start with the second realtor. She took us out one sunny day to look at several properties. During the drive around town, she got lost. A lot. There were several points at which I considered asking her if she would permit either my honey or I to drive because I feared for our safety. This was slightly less than ideal.

The third realtor was someone associated with the bank, who called after we got pre-approved for a loan. He talked. And he talked. Primarily about himself and his experience. Apparently we went to the same university. He didn't get around to asking what we were looking for in a home.

We've moved on to our fourth realtor. So far, we've gone looking at properties twice. His schedule doesn't always match ours, so my honey and I are going to go out this weekend on our own to peek through the windows of a couple (vacant) places we like. 

Now that we're married, this is the kind of thing we do for fun. Hooray!

Two of a Kind

I never thought I'd be one of those people who wears matching shirts with my honey. I'm much to independent for that.

We got our first pair of matching shirts at a White Elephant party. They were the perfect gag gift: just ridiculous enough that we might actually be willing to wear them in public. (We have.)

That was so many shirts ago… We bought the next ones ourselves (who doesn't like Transformers?). The next were a gift. We've just gotten our fourth pair of matching shirts, this time for Valentine's Day, and from my Mummy. Mine says "I love my crazy husband." His says "I love my crazy wife." As far as gifts go, I'd have to say that one's pretty spot on.

It's a Good Thing I Like My Honey...

Between working more or less full-time and going to school more or less full-time, I don't really have time for a social life these days. My honey is the only person I have time to hang out with, and even that mostly consists of running errands and eating dinner. Ah, the glamorous life.