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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Monday, August 25, 2008 Twas August, and the slimy tomato . . . No, wait, that's "twas brillig, and the slithy tove . . . "My version makes more sense. I'm not quite to the point of "If I never see another tomato again, I'll be happy," but it won't be long. I didn't plant enough tomatoes this year to can my own, so I bought a box of what is referred to around here as "canners." At $9.00 for roughly 3/4 of a bushel (a standard tomato box), they're not as cheap as one's own, but much better priced than supermarket tomatoes. I now know that I can get one 7-quart canner load, plus about three quarts, out of a box of canners. Since it doesn't make much sense to heat up the house and use the electricity for a partial load, I'll be picking up another box today. For the moment, I have seven quarts of tomatoes sitting next to the seven quarts of peaches on the pantry shelving.The other August project was to begin re-doing the kitchen. I'm fed up with not being able to get to where the mice are coming in. I can hear the little buggers running around under the kitchen cabinets and behind the stove, where I can't even put traps. So the base cabinets are going to go away. I'll replace the sink cabinet with a free-standing stainless steel commercial sink, and the electric stove will be replaced with a three-burner kerosene stove on legs, that will let me get to the area underneath and behind it. The only problem with tearing out the base cabinets, of course, is where I put the stuff that's stored in them. I'll replace them with free-standing cabinets on casters as I have time to build them, but I need some place to put the stuff while I'm building them. There are only two, besides the sink cabinet, and they're small. So I don't need a huge amount of new storage space. What I had in mind was to build a new kitchen table with a big lower shelf in addition to the table top. Most of what's in those two small base cabinets would fit on that shelf. So on Saturday, I picked up five of what the local lumber yard is pleased to call 8 foot 2 x 4's (we had to picked over three pallets full to find anything acceptable). I hauled the miter saw and the Workmate out of the shed, and cut all the lumber to the right size.This picture shows only the legs, but I also cut four cross pieces and two stretchers. I realized after cutting the stretchers that they were two long, so the saw will have to come back out to re-size them.I marked the ends of the legs for the 2" casters I bought, and then discovered that I apparently do not own a 1/4" wood boring bit. So we are now having the inevitable mid-project break for a run to the hardware store. The only thing resembling a hardware store that's open around here on a Sunday is 30 miles away in the next county, so I reluctantly put it all away. I also realized that while the 3" screws I bought to put it together with will work, I'd rather have bolts going all the way through the legs and cross pieces. I'll stay with the screws on the stretchers. So today I'll buy the plywood for the top and the shelf, a bit, and the bolts, and I should be able to get it finished. Or at least to the point where I have to either find the polyurethane varnish that's around here someplace (left over from finishing the spinning wheel), or make another trip to the store to buy some.If I don't finish today, nothing more happens until the weekend, since I'll be on the road the whole rest of the week. So today I get to choose between drying potatoes, finishing the table, or doing two more canner loads of tomatoes. Nothing like having a full schedule. posted by Liz @ 7:27 AM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
No, wait, that's "twas brillig, and the slithy tove . . . "My version makes more sense. I'm not quite to the point of "If I never see another tomato again, I'll be happy," but it won't be long. I didn't plant enough tomatoes this year to can my own, so I bought a box of what is referred to around here as "canners." At $9.00 for roughly 3/4 of a bushel (a standard tomato box), they're not as cheap as one's own, but much better priced than supermarket tomatoes. I now know that I can get one 7-quart canner load, plus about three quarts, out of a box of canners. Since it doesn't make much sense to heat up the house and use the electricity for a partial load, I'll be picking up another box today. For the moment, I have seven quarts of tomatoes sitting next to the seven quarts of peaches on the pantry shelving.The other August project was to begin re-doing the kitchen. I'm fed up with not being able to get to where the mice are coming in. I can hear the little buggers running around under the kitchen cabinets and behind the stove, where I can't even put traps. So the base cabinets are going to go away. I'll replace the sink cabinet with a free-standing stainless steel commercial sink, and the electric stove will be replaced with a three-burner kerosene stove on legs, that will let me get to the area underneath and behind it. The only problem with tearing out the base cabinets, of course, is where I put the stuff that's stored in them. I'll replace them with free-standing cabinets on casters as I have time to build them, but I need some place to put the stuff while I'm building them. There are only two, besides the sink cabinet, and they're small. So I don't need a huge amount of new storage space. What I had in mind was to build a new kitchen table with a big lower shelf in addition to the table top. Most of what's in those two small base cabinets would fit on that shelf. So on Saturday, I picked up five of what the local lumber yard is pleased to call 8 foot 2 x 4's (we had to picked over three pallets full to find anything acceptable). I hauled the miter saw and the Workmate out of the shed, and cut all the lumber to the right size.This picture shows only the legs, but I also cut four cross pieces and two stretchers. I realized after cutting the stretchers that they were two long, so the saw will have to come back out to re-size them.I marked the ends of the legs for the 2" casters I bought, and then discovered that I apparently do not own a 1/4" wood boring bit. So we are now having the inevitable mid-project break for a run to the hardware store. The only thing resembling a hardware store that's open around here on a Sunday is 30 miles away in the next county, so I reluctantly put it all away. I also realized that while the 3" screws I bought to put it together with will work, I'd rather have bolts going all the way through the legs and cross pieces. I'll stay with the screws on the stretchers. So today I'll buy the plywood for the top and the shelf, a bit, and the bolts, and I should be able to get it finished. Or at least to the point where I have to either find the polyurethane varnish that's around here someplace (left over from finishing the spinning wheel), or make another trip to the store to buy some.If I don't finish today, nothing more happens until the weekend, since I'll be on the road the whole rest of the week. So today I get to choose between drying potatoes, finishing the table, or doing two more canner loads of tomatoes. Nothing like having a full schedule.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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