I put dough on for cinnamon rolls last night so this morning I made a huge batch and we all had a late breakfast. I’d had a night full of very strange dreams including having a huge fall out with my Mum on the phone as she only wanted to look after Davies and not Scarlett and then Scarlett and I had been watching out of the window while a new car was delivered (some sort of Smart car or similar to be hitched to the back of the campervan) and in the style of a squash plant from PvZ the delivery truck dumped it on top of our garage as the campervan was in the drive, it smashed straight through the garage and squashed the other vehicle inside the garage and they both crashed into the campervan. I don’t often have bad dreams I can actually recall but when I do they are always with a foot firmly in fact, something I am already bothered about and usually to do with something I have been doing or thinking about just before going to bed.
Usually other people’s dreams are very boring but I’m guessing if you read this you think my life is interesting enough so I thought I’d take a chance on my dreams being so as well ;).
So today’s schedule was yet more clearing of the garage and garden. Ady didn’t think we’d do it all in one weekend, I knew we would :). So the garage is now empty aside from two chest freezers which the tenants might want to borrow anyway, a washing machine that needs selling for spares / repairs (or sticking on freecycle if no one wants to buy it) and some tools and bits all tidily stacked at the far end and covered with a tarp that we’ve already agreed we will be leaving there. The back patio is clear, the chickens coop is very tidy, all raked over and ready to be handed over with two bins filled with food and bedding. The whole of the side and front gardens are clear of toys, rubbish and gardening things. The kids filled one sack each with toys they want to keep and they have been stowed along the side of the garage. Their sandpit, slide and playhouse are all on freecycle.
We did another 4 runs to the tip and I spent nearly two hours chopping up a full 3 week supply of firewood and then stacking all the rest up that is too big to chop and needs splitting with a sledgehammer and wedge. Back is very protest-y about such efforts now but I’m thinking it will be good practise for inevitable physical graft coming up this year.
In between we had tea / coffeee /hot chocolate and further helpings of cinnamon rolls to keep us going. Once home and finished Ady got dinner going while Davies had a bath, then I had a bath which Scarlett came and joined me in while Ady and Davies started watching the second Pirates of the Carribean film. I was reading How to be Off Grid and wanted to carry on so just read it aloud to Scarlett. I’ve been telling the rest of the family about the book anyway so she enjoyed actually being read some of it :).
We had dinner – roast turkey, bought at a quarter of the price just after Christmas and stuck in the freezer and watched Ray Mears and then Countryfile before doing Bad, Good, Learnt today:
Davies:
Bad: Didn’t watch whole film (it’s 2.5 hours long and neither Tarly nor I want to watch it)
Good: Looking forward to Eve & Rei coming tomorrow
Learnt: About national grid and pylons (me talking about the book and what on and off grid means)
Scarlett:
Bad: Got rid of ornaments from garden
Good: Got rid of lots of crap (she was shocked when I said I would actually type that she said this 😆 )
Learnt: how easy it is to grow watercress (Countryfile)
Ady:
Bad: Only done a few hours work and I’m aching
Good: Achieved our aims for the weekend of clearing garden & garage
Learnt: You need to set a barometer to altitude (height above or below sea level) before it works.
Nic:
Bad: How many things we’ve put into landfill
Good: Lasted very tough month financially (pay day tomorrow!)
Learnt: Little pop up cooking check on our turkey that tells you when it’s done. (very clever little gizmo that came stuck into the turkey and popped out when it was cooked).
Ady had a bath, I’ve caught up on blogging and replied to some emails. I had a Bob in the bath and I think such early indulgence has wussed me out (along with all that wood chopping).
i haven’t got any further in the off grid book than the beginning going on about all the water/electric/gas history. Interesting though 🙂
Comment by Kirsty — 24 January 2011 @ 8:22 am