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.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
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 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.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
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:
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:
Happy farming!
Monday, April 21, 2014
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.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
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!
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
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!
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!
Friday, February 14, 2014
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.
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.
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