Thursday - January 15,  2004                           posted by Anaĩs at 5:23 AM PST

They are looking at possibly making another one with new reflective materials sold by Clear Dome . But for now the Cookit is doing a good job.

THE BAYOU  BIO

Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh

Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayou (bio)

Touching on a little bit of our Southern Roots there... me oh my o  ;-)

Now on a serious note, did you know that 40% of United States' oil refining capacity lies between Baton Rouge and Houston?

Nicole and a couple of her friends are coming tonight to do Titration - Applied to Biodiesel, titration is the act of determining the acidity of a sample of WVO by the drop wise addition of a known base to the sample while testing with pH paper for the desired neutral pH=7 reading. The amount of base needed to neutralize an amount of WVO determines how much base to add to the entire batch.

On the car search, we may have found a diesel car and we are getting all facts and details together. It wasn't something that we started looking at - first it was a diesel Mercedes wagon, then a suburban or van.

We actually need three types of cars - one truck for picking up lumber and other salvaged goodies, a little runabout ("putt putt") for around town and delivering, and a family car. Well, what kinda car is it? Don't want to count cars before they hatch so stay tuned!

Weather Report:  Nice & warm 85º!!!

Wednesday - January 14,  2004                           posted by Anaĩs at 11:31 AM PST

HEAT WAVE

While parts of the nation are in a deep freeze, we've had a warm spell this whole week - so warm, in fact, that in the evenings and mornings one can walk around in short sleeves and barefoot!

BIO FUEL UPDATE

I put up a preliminary biodiesel page, will have to work on it a bit later and load more photos. 

Weather Report:  Warm 85º!!!

Monday - January 12,  2004                           posted by Anaĩs at  7:31 AM PST

Nicole,  JC & Jules        Nicole and George talking with JC        Putting on pump

FROM FRYER TO FUEL

A couple days ago I posted on the SoCal BioDiesel forum to ask for some opinions on the Fuel Meister as our goal this year is to buy a diesel car and fuel it with biodiesel and then perhaps SVO.

Well, besides the jabs at expensive price, the comments weren't too positive for the Fuel Meister - many were critical of the plastic and so forth.   So, we then figured it was best to DIY.  But how?  We are such newbies and reading all the lingo is a bit over our heads... not to mention scary.

Then, on Friday we were contacted by Nicole Cousino (of FAT OF THE LAND "fame") who wanted to find a home for a biofuel processor she a couple of friends had made back in November.  We accepted and adopted it.  How great is that? 

She and her friends want to get it up and running by the end of January for the California Biodiesel Consumers' Conference to be held at Pizter College - it'll be the first processor of the kind in SoCal (she says)

So yesterday Nicole and her friend, George, brought over the fumeless processor  (first made by Berkley's "girl mark").  It was quite an exciting day, setting up the tank, putting on the hoses, testing out the pump, checking and reading and re-reading girl mark's instructions.  With everyone working together things were getting done!

We are hoping, if all goes well,  to produce a batch of biodiesel by Sunday which will be used in a friend's diesel Mercedes.

This week, I'll have to get some waste veggie oil (grease) from a local restaurant we deliver produce to and a couple of other things and then on Thursday or Friday we are expecting the folks from CommonVision to stop in (and perhaps a group of students from Arcadia high school who are doing a presentation on alternative transportation and fuels).

So, it's going to be a busy week!

Weather Report:  Sunny, pleasant.

 

Thursday - January 8,  2004                           posted by Anaĩs at  9:18 AM PST

Quinn was then allowed to recover in solitude until ready to be released .

Upon release, he found PTF’s urban homestead to his liking and remained a visitor. However, two days after his regaining his freedom, Quinn once again almost lost his life — to an aerial dive-bomb attack by a hawk while in mid-flight above our backyard which left him with a bloody puncture wound.

So, yet again, he was rescued, cleaned up and then released.

Only this time, he flew into the garage and refused to leave its safety.

Except….

While in the garage, he nearly beheaded himself in a rat trap.

Taking pity on this unlucky bird, we decided to build him a home. Quinn now lives perched on the upper-story of the chicken coop and spends his days in leisure eating his fill and watching the chickens and ducks.

He has since regained a little of his confidence after his unlucky run at life and does a morning circle flight each day, but always returns to his little home of protection.

{Note: we don't know the gender of the pigeon - so for now it's a "he." }

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Read our latest Dec/Jan PTF newsletter packed with interesting tips and articles.

Weather Report:  Sunny, pleasant.

Monday - January 5,  2004                           posted by Anaĩs at  7:53 AM PST

TOO COLD TO GROW

The garden has gone into hibernation - everything's in limbo effected by the freeze and continuing cold weather. 

The leafy greens don't seem to be affected, but the broccoli, cabbage and peas have been stunted.  The bananas, poor things, look absolutely horrible as they were hit the worst.

TAKING A LOOK BACK

When we hike up a mountain it's sure discouraging to look up to summit to see have far one has to go.  It's good to once and awhile take a breather and look over the side and see where you started from....

The other day I was browsing through the photos of the yard we have stored on the computer and I was shocked to see how things used to look like. One tends to forget the past and instead concentrates on the present problem areas.  So it's good to have a reminder once and awhile.  It's a humbling experience.

LOOKING AHEAD

Lots of new projects and old projects need to be finished as we are getting ready for the folks at CommonVision and the first ever veggie fueled permaculture design course.  We can't wait to see their veggie fueled bus - it's a really cool "hippy" bus right out of FLASHBACK (the movie).

The guys are moving the grey water reclamation reed bed to a sunnier location (the previous location was shaded by our neighbors huge pecan tree).  The reed bed will be used to drain the bath and sink water in and there the water will seep through layers of gravel.

We really want to concentrate our efforts on water this year... harvesting rain and storing water, reclaiming rain water and so on.

WHEN IT'S ALL TOO MUCH

In the PARADE magazine from Sunday's LA Times there's a great article about America's material abundance and its for cause unhappiness.

"The more we have the more we want." 

One day I want to the GAP to buy a pair of jeans.  A salesperson asked if she could help.  "I want a pair of jeans 32 -28,"  I said.  "Do you want them slim fit, easy fit, relaxed fit, baggy or extra-baggy?"  she replied.  "Do you want them stonewashed, acidwashed or distressed?  Do you want them button-fly or zipper fly? Do you wanted them faded or regular?" 

I was stunned.  A moment or two later, I sputtered out something like, " I just want regular jeans.  You know, the kind that used to be the only kind."

.... So I tried on all the pants and scrutinized myself in a mirror.  Whereas very little was riding on my decision, I was now convinced that one of these options had to be right for me, and I was determined to figure it out.

The jeans I chose turned out to be just fine, but it occurred to me that buying a pair of jeans should not be a day long project.  Purchasing jeans was once a five-minute affair; now it was a complex decision.

... If the number of choices keeps growing, negative effects start to appear.  As choices grow further, the negatives can escalate until we become overloaded.  At this point, choice no longer liberates us, it might even be said to tyrannize.

The Explosion of Choices

Modern life has provided a huge array of products to choose from.  Just walk into any large supermarket or drugstore looking for hair-care products, and you'll likely be confronted with more than 360 types of shampoo, conditioners and mousse.  Need painkiller?  There are 80 options.  How about toothpaste?  You have to 40 types to pick from.

More Choices... More Happiness?

It seems a simpler matter of logic that increased choice improves well-being.  But in fact, the opposite is true.  Respected scientists such as psychologist David G Myers and political scientist Robert E Land tell us that increase choice and increased affluence have, in fact been accompanied by decreased well-being.

The American "happiness quotient" has been going down gently but consistently downhill for more than a generation. In the last 30 yeas - a time of great prosperity - the proportion of the population describing itself as "very happy" has declined.

Weather Report:  Cool.

Thursday - January 1,  2004                           posted by Anaĩs at  6:35 AM PST

HIP, HIP, HOORAY!

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooal (whew, let me take a breath) has been reached! 

All things considered and with many crops not doing well because of weather conditions and a few crop failures (See Facts & Stats), it's a real blessing to have reached the goal.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

Honestly, there were times when we didn't think our little place could ever produce 3 TONS of food.

Mission, IMPOSSIBLE... or so we thought.  (Many of the trees aren't even mature and are only a few years old, so could it be possible that this little space of ours could reach close to 8,000 lbs in a couple years' time????)  Just imagine if everyone in urban, suburbanite areas in America grew a garden (any size), how much food there'd be! 

Never say never, dream big dreams, reach for the stars ... it's possible.

 THE ROSE CITY

We live by the parade route and Rose Bowl area (and during these times, we stick close to home and try to avoid the crowds).  This morning the Stealth Bomber was circling around the house, waiting for its grand entrance at the beginning of the Rose Parade and game.   At 8 o'clock, it swooped low over our house to do the first-ever flyover with F/A 22 and F-117A stealth fighters flanking the boomerang-shaped B-2 bomber, and flew down the entire parade route (and later flew again over our house after doing a fly-by on the Rose Bowl right after the national anthem).   Not too thrilled about war machines, but it is sure an impressive sight to say the least. 

WE SAY WE WANT A RESOLUTION

Well, ya know...

We accomplished some milestones this year in our Path to Freedom.  This year we look forward to moving on to better and greater things here on the homestead...

Our focus will be on "beyond gardening" and on reclaiming, reducing water, heating, conserving more electricity, handworks and skills, beekeeping, secondary products and more (as the ' to do' list at the right column shows).  

Lots of time and energy are and were spent thinking/planning the details of the projects than actually doing the real work. That's the most frustrating part.... but is a good lesson in patience and perseverance in this fast paced world of ours.

Do not be afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still  ~ Chinese Proverb ~

Weather Report:  Overcast and cool.