New England ~ January 2014

OMG!  I used to go bar hopping with the cowboys in Davie.

Once in elementary school a big rig trucker (probably a students parent) came by with a load of fresh xmas trees that still had snow on them and let us see it. That's the first time I ever saw snow.

NHG is from down there, too.  Whatta bunch of transplants we all are...and apparently a little masochistic moving into this weather from that.  
  
I have an apt in N. Miami on Biscayne Bay (think Dexter) but wouldn't be able to have my cat or a garden so I stay here. Plus I love my current job.

But this weather sucks.   
CC

Yea, I don't like being cold 8 months out of the year.  I spend most of the winter by the woodstove.  It's just too damned cold to do much else, for me at least.  DH doens't mind it, though.  He'll be outside in his shirt-sleeves when it's 20 degrees.

The coldest I've ever been up here was -38 on the thermometer.  I don't know if there was a windchill or not.  That was cold enough.  My nostrils felt like they were going to freeze together, and that was just from the house to the car & from the car to the office.  

Try to stay warm tonight, CC.  If you have any drafty windows, put some heavy blankets or something over them once the sun goes down so you can keep the heat in the house as much as possible.  Also, if you have one of those small electric heating pads, you can put one beneath your fitted sheet on your bed (by your feet) to help keep your tootsies toasty.   Just remember to unplug it before you fall asleep.

Come to think of it, a cat would work just as well...  

Thank goodness the storm has blown out to sea.  Today the sun is shining.

You can actually see the sunbeams on the snow.

We've got color today.  The sky is blue and white fluffy clouds are meandering across it.

My corgi enjoys being out in the sunshine even when its bitter cold. 

I finally harvested my last two Redskin Sweet Peppers from the pot I brought indoors.  I don't see any new blossoms so I think this is it.  But I know this variety has a fabulous flavor so I'm still enjoying the fruits of my summer garden when I make my Xmas gift rib eye steak for supper tonite..

I have a down comforter, a cat and a heating pad!  I turn the pad off when I turn the lights out, though.  Then the cat sneaks over and gets on top of me!      One pampered cat!  With this severe cold on the news, I wonder how some unlucky pets and the livestock survive.  I know some don't, and it breaks my heart.  A little off topic.  Stay warm, folks, and don't forget to drink water for hydration.  Even if it's cups of hot or warm water.

Oh, QB, just saw your beautiful photos. Such a blue sky! Ours is grey-tinged from the high pollution.

Beautiful photos, QB!  Wow!  We still have the storm here on the Cape.  It comes by in bands of wind and snow now.  I haven't opened the doors yet even though Lilly has been hollering to go out.  Tomorrow should be pretty.

OK, off to put my heating pad under Lilly's bed. She's not allowed in my room due to allergies and since I have a down comfortable & thermals, she can use the heat more I think. It'll plug into the Christmas lights timer that goes off at 9.

CC

Well, the wind died down a bit to 10 MPH gusts, so I went out and blew snow around for about 1.5 hours. The temp was about 2*F. I got a face full of snow a few times.



Then I came in for some Irish hot cocoa (yum) since hot buttered rum is currently off the menu.
Then I finished up making the laundry soap. This should last nearly a year. Total cost... about $3.   

I've been meaning to try my hand at making laundry soap. A friend of mine swears by it. What recipe do you use, Camp?

mollyhespra wrote:I've been meaning to try my hand at making laundry soap.  A friend of mine swears by it.  What recipe do you use, Camp?

THREE DOLLARS!?! Yeah, I'm on board for making this, too. Especially since I live by a lake I have to be extra careful.

"Most laundry detergents in your typical grocery store contain:

Petroleum distillates (aka napthas), which have been linked to cancer
Phenols, which can cause toxicity throughout the entire body
Artificial fragrances, which have been linked to various toxic effects on fish and mammals
Phosphates, which stimulate the growth of certain marine plants when they’re released into the environment and contribute to unbalanced ecosystems
Optical brighteners, which can be toxic to fish and can cause bacterial mutations and allergic reactions"

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/07/12/how-toxic-is-your-average-laundry-detergent.aspx

I bet Camp makes her own lye! But, what oil/fat does she use?

This is the recipe I use. It works just fine in a front loading HE washer.

http://www.duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455

I have found the trick is hand shaving a bar of Fells-Naptha (with a small knife) and making sure it is melted well. After mixing it in the bucket with the washing soda and borax it will gel so I keep stirring it every once in a while with a slotted spoon. Then before pouring that into the jugs using a whisk to bust up the gel even more. After the gel is in the jugs, add a bit of water and shake. This soap will separate in storage and should be lightly shaken before measuring the amount to be used in the washer.

sanderson wrote:I bet Camp makes her own lye!  But, what oil/fat does she use?

Nope, I did that once and that was enough, LOL. But at least I can say I know how.

ooooo...simple simon!  Thanks!  Now I just gotta wait for 7 more one gal jugs to show up. Or can it be stored in 2 five gal lidded buckets?

CC

I suppose it can be stored in the sealed buckets, preventing evaporation. I like the jugs because I can see how much gel I pour in to the jug and how much water to add to make it the correct concentration. I transfer the soap into one of the laundry soap bottles with a spigot.



I got most of these jugs one day from the school where I work.

camprn wrote:This is the recipe I use. It works just fine in a front loading HE washer.

http://www.duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455

I have found the trick is hand shaving a bar of Fells-Naptha (with a small knife) and making sure it is melted well. After mixing it in the bucket with the washing soda and borax it will gel so I keep stirring it every once in a while with a slotted spoon. Then before pouring that into the jugs using a whisk to bust up the gel even more. After the gel is in the jugs, add a bit of water and shake. This soap will separate in storage and should be lightly shaken before measuring the amount to be used in the washer.

Oh, THANKS!!! I have a front-loading HE washing machine, so that was going to be my next question. I think I just found me a project for this weekend...as if I don't have enough projects...

I have been making my own laundry soap for many years now as well. SOOOOOO CHEAP!!!

GG

There are other environmentally-friendly options.

donnainzone10 wrote:There are other environmentally-friendly options.

At $3 for 10 gallons? Please, do tell!

CapeCoddess wrote:

donnainzone10 wrote:There are other environmentally-friendly options.

At $3 for 10 gallons?  Please, do tell!

Yes please, post the recipe.
Of course I won't need to make more for a year.  

Hi guys! Hope you're all doing well. I guess Farmer's Almanac was right, if that was the source that said this was going to be a doozy of a winter. Jeesh.

Is quiltbea still around? I see Ray Praxxus is doing his seed giveaway again, this time you don't get a choice, he just has 5 types of seeds he's sending everyone. Here's the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAabqTqWxQs&feature=c4-overview&list=UU6YgvyGnc7HBvBEVAeDnsiw

Next month we start our seedlings! Time to drag out the charts and see what seeds to plant when. I don't even think I'm ordering seeds this year, except sugar snap pea and fortex beans, which I always run out of. I'm ordering fruit trees tho, $$$$. There's a vole (or 3) living in my raised asparagus bed so we'll see if the roots survive the winter. I guess you just have to set traps for them. 

Oh, and I bought a bag of organic mixed dried beans from the farmers market and I'm going to plant those for dried beans - it's actually cheaper just to buy the beans at the market than order the seeds from the catalog, at least one catalog I saw.

Any plans for new additions to your gardens? I may cut out the broccoli this year due to cabbage worms, BUT I just came across this:  http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/536919 "Not only are they harmless, They are absolutley delectable.I harvested a bunch of them this morning and steamed them with a small broccoli floret. With the broccoli you cant even tell that your eating them. Alone they are like eating little broccoli flavored shrimp. When steemed they firm right up and have a nice snap to them." LOLOL That's a new perspective.

Quilt Bea posted some beautiful winter photos this morning. Scroll back up.

Jessica!  Welcome back!!!  

NHGardener wrote: (snip)

Any plans for new additions to your gardens? I may cut out the broccoli this year due to cabbage worms, BUT I just came across this:  http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/536919 "Not only are they harmless, They are absolutley delectable.I harvested a bunch of them this morning and steamed them with a small broccoli floret. With the broccoli you cant even tell that your eating them. Alone they are like eating little broccoli flavored shrimp. When steemed they firm right up and have a nice snap to them." LOLOL That's a new perspective.

   (Thanks, I needed the bellylaugh!)

Maybe CC would be up for a little steamed cabbage worms with her aphid smoothie...

(You probably missed those posts about CC's indoor aphid problem.  Suffice it to say her smoothies were particularly...interesting...earlier this week.)

mollyhespra wrote:

CapeCoddess wrote:
Miami, then Ft Lauderdale.  It snowed once down there...turned everything brown.

CC

OMG, me, too!!!  And I remember that day!  It was in the early 70s and I was in 2nd or 3rd grade and I remember thinking to myself, "Where's the snow?  Isn't it supposed to turn white?" because all of it melted almost as soon as it hit the ground.  Some time later one of my classmates brought in a picture of himself playing in the snow but I remember even back then thinking that he was lying that it was "our" snow(storm) because there was too much of it accumulated on the ground.  I thought he'd taken it during a family trip somewhere cold, but he was bragging about how much snow *they'd* gotten which made the rest of us feel ripped off.

I never thought I'd end up in Northern New Hampshire.   I moved up here almost 13 years ago now.  Prior to that, I lived in the Davie area in Broward and before that, various & sundry places ranging from North Miami, South Miami and Miami Beach (before it became SoBe).

Holy Toledo, I'm from Ft. Lauderdale too. I remember it flurrying in 1978 I believe, I think it was final exam time in high school. 
= =
Thank you Sanderson, now I see quiltbea's posts!

mollyhespra wrote:
Jessica!  Welcome back!!!  

NHGardener wrote: (snip)

Any plans for new additions to your gardens? I may cut out the broccoli this year due to cabbage worms, BUT I just came across this:  http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/536919 "Not only are they harmless, They are absolutley delectable.I harvested a bunch of them this morning and steamed them with a small broccoli floret. With the broccoli you cant even tell that your eating them. Alone they are like eating little broccoli flavored shrimp. When steemed they firm right up and have a nice snap to them." LOLOL That's a new perspective.

   (Thanks, I needed the bellylaugh!)

Maybe CC would be up for a little steamed cabbage worms with her aphid smoothie...

(You probably missed those posts about CC's indoor aphid problem.  Suffice it to say her smoothies were particularly...interesting...earlier this week.)

Ah, a mixed meat dish! Lovely! Like pork sausage and ground beef in lasagne!

GG     

Well. I hope everyone made it through last night OK. The thermometer outside read -20 before I went to bed & it's still in the -teens. My furnace started making a really funky noise last night, but we still have heat, so I'm hoping it can make it through the weekend. I'll call the tech if it's still rattling on Monday.

We lost heat a few years back when the temps dipped into -30s for a couple of nights in a row, causing the forced hot water (heating) pipes to freeze in two of our upstairs rooms. The thermostat is in the living room, so it wasn't kicking on as often as it needed to in order to keep the pipes in those other rooms from freezing.

That was an expensive mistake. Since then, we're careful to run the heat "hotter" at night when it's going to be this cold just as a precaution.

Keep warm, everyone!

We hit -17 this morning. I left the kitchen faucet with a slight drip overnight. The good news is I still have cold running water. Bad news, I left the faucet wand in the cold  water position so there is currently no hot water in the kitchen.   The good news is I had this section of copper pipe replaced a few years ago to the pex tubing and most likely I have a small section of ice in the tube that will hopefully resolve as we warm up a bit.

In other news, the hair dryer is dead. Long live the hair dryer (as soon as I go to the store for a new one).