Heating 
CURTAINS!(12)
As ya’ll know, we don’t have central heat and this old 1917 house can be drafty. Obviously, curtains on windows, especially thermal, can keep a room warmer in winter and cooler in summer.
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BRRRRRRRR
Headlines like “So Cal braces for winter storm” have been teasing us for the past few days leave us wondering where this phantom storm is. We haven’t had a lick of rain only dreary and cold temperatures instead. A chance of rain was predicted Fri, Sat, Sun now they are changing the weather forecast to chance of [...]
(0) WINTER PREPARATIONS
“During World War II many consumer goods were rationed for civilians in order to supply more goods for both American and Allied troops. Among the items rationed were sugar, red meat, gas, oil, coffee, and rubber. In October 1942 fuel oil was rationed. During the especially cold winter of 1942-43 this brought numerous protests from [...]
(15) LOW IMPACT HEATING
Salvaged wood & heat Here on the urban homestead we don’t have central heat, instead we heat our home (well, only three out of the nine rooms) using a small compact (EPA certified) Jotul wood stove. I’ve written many a times before about how we combat the cold by dressing in layers and well, just getting used to [...]
(3) BITS & PIECES
Newflash: Storm Watch!!! It’s the storm of the century! Ok, a bit too dramatic… Trying again, it’s the storm of the year, well, how about the month? actually that’s more like it and it’s the truth. The first measurable rain in over 7 weeks rolled in on Friday. The local news station sent reporters [...]
(6) POWERING DOWN
Glowing wood stove Wood Stove = Family Togetherness We really like our little wood Jotul stove, one of the best investments we’ve made. For its small size it puts out some serious heat. What’s even better is that we can use scrap [non native eucalyptus] wood that would have otherwise gone to the dump. The [...]
(6) FIRE
It’s a Cat’s Life: Best seat in the house Sunday was a perfect day to break in the new wood stove. Since new stoves emit a smell we figured on taking advantage of the beautiful afternoon (crisp, sunny and cool) to break in the Jotul. The first break in procedure is to heat the stove [...]
(4) WOOD!
A local tree trimmer, and friend of ours, brought over some dry eucalyptus (a non native tree) firewood on Friday so we can crank up the new wood stove soon. In lieu of payment we bartered a few homemade preserves and item from the Peddler’s Wagon. Not a bad trade, especially when a cord of [...]
(3) END OF THE WEEK
‘The old Lakota was wise. He knew that man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard; he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to lack of respect for humans too.’ – Luther Standing Bear Mixed edible flower boxes, meyer lemons Winter Garden With the holiday’s approaching our orders for mixed edible [...]
(2) HOMESTEAD HAPPENINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
De-Cluttering There are so many draft journal postings it’s becoming a cluttered, disorganized mess. So, before the year is out I am going to try to a bit of “cyber cleaning.” Anyhow, feeling a bit posting fatigue at the moment so, the less said/written, the better. Here are a few new posts with some exciting [...]
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