St. Patrick’s Day & The Plumbing’s Awry

Posted on March 17, 2024 by Laura Grace Weldon

Today has been another of our cherished family Sundays — three generations sharing our various enthusiasms and updates and frustrations together.

I don’t make much of St. Patrick’s Day but I did pull together a sort-of Irish breakfast. Homemade sausage rolls (vegetarian and not), eggs, mushy peas (no surprise, these were not a hit), fruit, whole grain apple cake with custard sauce. I suggested a pot of tea to complete the vibe but had no takers. Afterwards there was some happy playing outside complete with joyously muddy boots and pants, then inside for board games and drawing and fort-building using sheets and clips. (Beach chair clips are great for this.) 

It was around then that my spouse and son discovered a pipe leading from our sink and dishwasher has been slowly leaking into the basement, apparently for many years. This was, if I understood the muttering, thanks to work by “some idiot” before we moved in. Of course the plumber in our family was in Illinois helping a friend. Our poor house has been through a lot. Foundation cracks, water damage, and a back porch that was barely nailed onto the house. Now this.

By the time I got lunch ready it was a bit chaotic around here. Lasagna (three different kinds might have been overkill), whole wheat rolls with a garlic butter candle, fruit, several kinds of veg, and two new cookie recipes. Several people didn’t eat at all. One kid didn’t try much other than rolls. No matter. We spent it together, plumbing problem or no plumbing problem. These Sundays are a vital nutrient to me. Not only do we spend time together, I hope this gives my hard-working loved ones time to relax with at least two meals they don’t have to make. I also admit I feel downright nourished when I can cook for others. That may even be more true now that my allergies don’t let me have any of these foods.* 

My spouse is saying he’ll need to jack up the porch and tear out a wall. It sounds like a lot of work and he has my sympathy. There are so many things falling apart in our world. From here it looks like we humans are the cause of every single one.

I know in this house it’s not the right moment to say I’m grateful that this problem was found before it got worse. That I’m grateful it can be fixed. That washing dishes in the laundry tub isn’t that big a deal. I wish the larger fixes necessary on this beautiful planet were as doable.

*That’s not entirely true, I can eat the fruit and veg.

Posted in home repair | 3 Comments

Early Autumn

Posted on September 27, 2021 by Laura Grace Weldon

Autumn is my favorite time of year. Time to pay attention, to savor these days of contrast and beauty.

Fungi fruits as the day’s hours grow shorter.

Flowers and potatoes in our cauldron have only a few weeks left to flourish, maybe less, before frost comes calling.

Gorgeous vulture families decorate the skies.

Our new neighbor’s steers help me miss our own cattle a little less.

This is a time for shelling beans, putting up produce, ensuring we’ve got supplies for winter. But mostly it’s time to enjoy the loveliness around us before winter arrives with her own harsh beauty.

Posted in autumn | Tagged | 5 Comments

Kiwis Refuse To Procreate

Posted on August 7, 2021 by Laura Grace Weldon

No, not New Zealanders. (Although their birth rates are reportedly lower than ever.) I’m talking about the hardy kiwis we planted seven years ago.

These delicate grape tomato-sized fruits are said to be reliable producers. Unlike their cousins commonly found in grocery stores, these have a soft edible skin and are delicate when ripe. Male and female versions of the plants must grow nearby, so we carefully bought four of each when we planted. Nothing for a few years — not a single blossom nor single fruit. So we dug in a few more, after being assured we’d bought male and female plants. Everything is growing nicely but still not a single flower.

What we have is a huge hand-built structure made to accommodate not-so-decorative vines that simply refuse to procreate. 

So last Christmas, the grim Christmas of 2020 when we hadn’t seen our youngest family members for nine long miserable months of Covid-19 isolation, I said all I wanted as gifts were things to transform the arbor into a play structure. I knew it would help me hang on to hope that our weekly family Sundays would finally return.

Return they have!

Perfect use for our optimistically large arbor. And if those vines decide to produce, I know which little hands will be picking them.

Here’s wishing everything that doesn’t flower and fruit in your life might transform into a wholly different joy.

Posted in gardening, repurposing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Bring Back The Sharing Shed

Posted on July 21, 2021 by Laura Grace Weldon

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When a friend moved to a small town in Maine, years ago, she enjoyed telling me how different life was there than in Ohio. Of all the contrasts, the two most fascinating to me were direct governance using the town hall method and the barn at the town dump.

This barn was lined with shelves where residents left behind things like old clothes, a broken lawnmower, vintage LPs, outgrown toys, hand tools, art supplies, knickknacks, lightly read magazines, and kitchenware. Then when they stopped by to toss bottles in the recycling bin or trash in the dump, they’d bring another item or two to the barn, being sure to peruse for something they might want — maybe a lamp needing a new shade, a stack of doll clothes, a few paperback mysteries, wool sweaters for felting projects, a leaf rake.

Some small towns are adding such sharing sheds to their waste facilities, such as this one in Virginia. Others are closing landfills, which will likely end the practice of sharing sheds as well.

All around the world there are initiatives that replicate and improve on the sharing shed. These projects are bedrock efforts to build community while reducing waste.

Here are a few similarly inspiring projects. 

ReTuna is the world’s first recycling mall, located in Eskilstuna, Sweden. Everything sold is recycled, upcycled, repaired, or organically/sustainably produced. Stores offer fashion, décor, technology, toys, and books.

SCRAP, located in San Francisco, is a creative reuse center where educators and artists can find donated and waste-diverted art supplies. Every year, SCRAP makes about $75,000 worth of art supplies available to teachers through giveaways. They also host classes and workshops. A similarly named venture, SCRAP Creative Reuse, operates in Ann Arbor, Baltimore, Portland, and Richmond.

Shareable. Get a free ebook on launching neighborhood waste reduction in your area from Shareable.net.: “Beyond Waste: Community Solutions to Managing Our Resources.”

 

There are great options nearby as well.

In Cleveland, the urban area closest to us, Upcycle Parts Shop has diverted 36 tons of waste from landfills since it opened in 2014

Cleveland also has several free stores which, unlike Goodwill or Salvation Army, offer used clothing, housewares, furniture, and other items for free to anyone who walks in the door. That includes Free Shop in the Slavic Village neighborhood

“Pass it On: A Resource-Full Guide to Donating Usable Stuff,” published by the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District. The guide lists dozens of groups that want your old furniture, bikes, books and many other items. The information is posted online as a searchable database or call 216-443-3749 to have a booklet mailed to you.

Posted in community, frugality, simple living | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Even Frugal Has Limits

Posted on April 27, 2021 by Laura Grace Weldon

I grew up learning to make do or do without. This approach not only saves money, it encourages creative thinking. Okay, it encourages stubbornness too.

As a gardener this has taught me a lot. I don’t purchase seed potatoes; instead I use sprouted potatoes from the pantry. I don’t buy many seeds because I’ve learned to harvest seeds from the previous year’s plantings. I grow lettuce and tender herbs right outside the door for easy use, succession planting them to keep up a good supply until autumn’s frosts. I thin seedlings by replanting them, repurpose tools, share/trade plants. I’ve even used worn out jeans, cut in long sections, to tamp down weeds between rows in the vegetable garden. (Heavy non-plastic feed bags do a better job.)

But even I can recognize when it’s time to give up.

These shoes have looked beyond saving for years. The leather has been re-stitched and the soles glued back on multiple times. This time I believe they’ve had it. The sole half fell off when I was carrying plants back to our hoop house. Arms full, I had no other option than to hop-walk till I got there, then rip the sole the rest of the way off. It’s hard to let these shoes go after so many years, but I guess it’s time to relinquish them to the garbage can. I may hum a little funeral tune as I do in memory of their long and faithful service.

Posted in frugality | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Boris the Duck Gets By With A Little Help From A Friend

Posted on December 3, 2020 by Laura Grace Weldon

Winter weather is here and we wonder how Boris will fare.

Each spring we’re heartened to see wild ducks on our pond. We start to notice personalities as they trek to the seed-scattered ground under our birdfeeders and the corn my husband puts out for them. We always leave a wide unmowed perimeter around the feeder as cover for birds visiting in daylight and other creatures coming by to eat dropped seed after dusk.

Although we’ve never encountered any waterfowl as hilarious as Louse the Goose, duck antics are a pleasure to watch. That’s more true than ever this year, with political chaos and a pandemic on our minds. There’s substantial peace found watching ducks out the window while waiting for coffee to brew or sitting on the back porch as the ducks converse in murmured honks with one another. We grow particularly fond of the nesting females and root for their ducklings to survive despite all the nearby predators known to feast on them.

We know winter has truly arrived when the ducks have departed.

But this year we have Boris* to consider. Boris hung around all spring and summer, noticeable due to a broken wing that healed at a strange angle and renders him flightless. A few weeks ago a raft of ducks arrived. They swam and dined with Boris all day, then flew away. Ducks aren’t always the kindest to each other but this looked like a farewell party.

We know Boris will be spending the winter here, alone. We continue to leave birdseed and cracked corn out for him. We have the shelter of tall grasses and sunchokes for him to hide in, but the pond will inevitably freeze and we don’t know what Boris will do then. The water is safest place for a flightless duck. Every day I see Boris happily doing mallard things is a good day. 

And then, unexpectedly, another lone male mallard showed up. He and Boris have been swimming and eating together for nearly two weeks. Maybe Boris’ duck pal will keep him company till spring. Although experts have told us humans to expect a dire winter, maybe it won’t be as dire for our duck friends. We have many outcomes to hope for. Might as well include ducks in those hopes.

*Boris doesn’t appear in pictures. He’s a wary duck, a very important skill when one can’t fly.

Posted in ducks and geese, winter | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Canning, Drying, Freezing- Oh My!

Posted on October 24, 2020 by Laura Grace Weldon

There’s no satisfaction quite like putting food by, especially food you’ve grown. Simply opening cupboards filled with gleaming Mason jars is a visual feast. This year the pleasure of planting, harvesting, and preserving food is tempered by concern about the winter to come. Experts say the upcoming months may be “dire” due to rampant Covid-19 cases. We’re already mourning those we’ve lost. I can’t imagine more illness and death…

I’m glad the garden calls. I still have the last tomatoes, beans, potatoes, and tomatillos to harvest. Chard, kale, leeks, sunchokes, and other cold-hardy vegetables can be brought in as needed for the next few months. Nearly everything else is finally preserved as November waves from the distance. 

The largest number of our jars are filled with tomato products including marinara, stewed tomatoes, and barbeque sauce. We also make lots of salsa.

I laughed at the size of this pot when my husband brought it home years ago, but now we have several huge pots that are all used when we can.

My favorites to can are fruit, especially jam. Peach jam looks like sunrise in a jar.

We cook food down inside, but process jars outside. We’re very fortunate one of our sons (find him here) built this awesome brew stand, which also works as an outdoor canning miracle keeping heat and steam out of the house.

The dehydrator has also been busy. I’m particularly fond of dried tomato slices, which I crumble into soups and casseroles all winter long. I also dried summer squash, an abundance of carrots, and some peppers. Lots of dried fruit too, including gummy fruits made from zucchini.

Plus lacto-fermented goodies like these peppers, destined for hot sauce

and this pickled vegetable mélange.

Cupboards and freezers stocked, we hope for the absolute best this winter, both here and in every home. Stay safe, take care of each other, and savor your time around the table! May winter be kind to us all.

Posted in autumn, canning, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Eat The Raspberries

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Laura Grace Weldon

My oldest and his wife offered freshly harvested raspberries. My next oldest went over to pick them up and drop them here. Eight pints of beautiful berries!

Although I power through lot of vegetables, I almost never eat fruit. Sometimes a few blueberries, if we have plenty. But I put some of these raspberries in a bowl to enjoy. As I ate I wondered why I felt so strange about this luxury. Even guilty. Then I remembered why.

Fresh fruit is expensive. For years I’d stretch the budget to buy fruit in season for my children. If my kids wanted me to have some I’d tell them I already had some. (I did, one or two berries.) Even fruit we grew was a treasure to be shared between four kids. After all these years I developed an ingrained “save the fruit” thing. When this came up in a discussion, my wise friend Diane pointed out, “How great it is that your kids are bringing your gifts back to you.”

I went back and put a whole pint of raspberries in a lovely blue bowl, then savored each one. They were delicious.

Posted in eating, summer | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Yonder Basement Window Glows Strangely Pink

Posted on May 5, 2020 by Laura Grace Weldon

We have been starting seeds indoors for decades. There’s something enormously heartening about tucking tiny seeds into pots while March winds howl outside. In a few months those pale specks will result in glossy eggplants, huge squash, fiery peppers, and much more.

In our earliest years we started seeds in pots made of coiled newspaper alongside sunny windows. Now we’ve got a large planting table and start hundreds of seeds, sequencing to start heat-loving plants after we move early cool-tolerant seedlings like cabbage and broccoli out to harden off.

One year we had tremendous losses soon after germination, only to discover that peat pots we’d bought were themselves contaminated. Never again. We now stick to large reusable pots.

But the last few years we encountered a new problem. Seedlings that germinated well began to get leggy, their elongated stems indicating the plants weren’t getting enough light. We tried lowering the lights till they nearly touched the tops of the plants. We tried setting the timer to leave the lights on longer. Nothing seemed to help. Early this spring my husband discovered the problem. He read that grow lights, like our old full-spectrum bulbs, can actually wear out. They are just as bright, but don’t emit enough of the light plants need.

So he started the search for the best-reviewed new lights. He settled on very different-looking lights, compact and strangely colored. The basement glowed fuschia but the difference in our plants became obvious within a matter of days. They grew stronger and faster than we’d seen in years.

The grow lights he ordered have two settings I’ve never seen before. Bud or Bloom. “Huh,” I said, like the clueless person I can be. “What’s that about?”

“Pot,” he said. “Looks like most people who order these lights grow pot.”

We do grow herbs. Basil, cilantro, lemongrass, that sort of thing. But not THAT particular herb. I hope our neighbors, seeing the strange pink glow from our basement windows, don’t assume we’ve gone into a different sort of grow business…

Posted in gardening, seed starting | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Kindness In Trying Times

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Laura Grace Weldon

I have never felt more a member of my community than now, when none of us can get together. Last week I posted a question on our community Facebook page. I have a diagnosis that puts me in a risk group, meaning I should avoid going out to stores. I asked if there were any grocery stores delivering to our area after my own searches for Instacart offered no options. I was hoping to find an alternative more self-reliant than taking our marvelous offspring up on their offer to do our shopping. That day and for days afterwards I got responses, amazing responses, to my FB question. These included nearby churches with volunteers willing to do shopping for others. Even individual people messaged me with offers to do my shopping. I felt tearful with gratitude. I’m used to providing help, not receiving it. I turned everyone down with appreciation but was still overwhelmed by the unexpected kindness.

In this time of surreal, unexpected, and frankly terrifying upheaval due to Covid-19 my small community and surrounding area blooms with kindness. People are making and donating masks; finding new ways to support local businesses; checking in on neighbors; offering toys, games, books, and other items for free; writing encouraging messages in brightly colored chalk on sidewalks; offering free rooms for healthcare workers; and much more. When people ask for specific help they’re answered quickly, usually with many offers.

Crisis invariably brings out the best in people. The true core of humanity is cooperation. We could not have evolved to this time without the collaborative genius that brought about language, healing arts, shared care for the vulnerable, and creative space for true innovation. We are who we are because we pull together. We can get through this too.

 

Ways to help

Reach out to one another, particularly to those who live alone or have special needs. Ask not only how you might help them, but remember the reciprocal benefits of asking for their help. You might ask others for their advice or expertise on a situation you’re facing. Your older neighbor could have useful experience training a puppy or handling a grumpy teen.  Your great-aunt could likely tell you what to make for dinner out of the few items in your fridge or answer a question you’ve had about genealogy. Or ask if they mind a short visit on the phone to brighten your spirits!

Volunteer at a safe social distance through local houses of worship, organizations, and neighborhood groups.  Meals-on-Wheels is often looking for volunteers, and such drop-offs can be done quickly.

Thank essential workers: those who work in grocery stores, gas stations, nursing homes, and hospitals, food production, utilities, maintenance, police, fire, EMS, and everyone else who faces daily risks to keep our communities functioning.

Patronize local businesses and remember to tip generously.

Donate to local food banks.

Adopt or foster a shelter animal. Dogs and cats need homes now more than ever. And don’t forget to make plans for your own animals should you become sick.

Blood donations are critically needed. Find out where to donate by going to American Red Cross (Blood Drives)  or calling 800-733-2767

Make masks to donate or share with others. This is a tutorial for making a simple mask, with ties fashioned from knit fabric (even t-shirts).  This is a more in-depth tutorial with several options, all using a pipe cleaner to hold it more closely to the wearer’s nose. They aren’t recommended for healthcare workers, but community use.

Talk to others going through what you are. Quarantine Chat lets you talk to people anywhere in the world. (I’ve talked to people in Spain and Canada as well as many U.S. states so far.)

 

 

Posted in community, gratitude | Tagged , , | 2 Comments