Winter stare

The survivors of the northern winter have a look. It's the 1000 yard stare of too much winter. Many look like refugees from a long running catastrophe. I almost feel bad for all those warm sunny days in southern waters -almost.

There's a backlog of stuff to catch up with. After three days of hauling waste veggie oil from local restaurants. I've over 60, 4.5 gallon jugs of veggie oil in my driveway. It's going to take another morning to get all that WVO under cover. Seems like a hassle, but that veggie will replace over $1,000 worth of diesel in my van.

The firewood supply is low. Fortunately my daughter and son-in-law have let me take some from their pile. That has helped a lot. Milder days have also made a big difference. The kitchen woodstove is the heart of the house. It provides warmth, cooking, and hot water.

Before heading south last October, we cut all ties to the local electric company. That saved us months of “meter fees.” Electric companies have fees that get charged even if no electricity is used. As soon as we got back I switched the house completely over to our solar electric system. We've had to make some minor adjustments, but it's working. A bit more sunshine would help, but we aren't suffering.

That being said, I have a generator for backup. The problem is that it's in a friend's shed and that shed is buried in snow. He will be able to get it soon, so I'll have backup power. Rainy days are forecast. It'll be good to have it. That would allow me to catch up on my laundry quicker. I've left over gasoline in my boat that should be used up before it goes bad.

There are all kinds of interesting things to do, so at least I'm not bored.

-Sixbears