Testing Times

Humbug........  We have been trying so hard to stay within our budgets, reduce our debts and become more self sufficient and I think we are doing pretty darn well, much room for improvement though.

Yesterday was just plain horrible. We have been contesting a gas bill for over a year now, our gas co. filled our tank without our consent then sent us a bill for £1,300, of course we said that we would only pay for what we were using not a bulk order that arrived unsolicited.  We have been paying bits off but yesterday they closed off the pipe!  So no hot water, heating or hob to cook on.  Well do you know what, we lit the open fire curled up with our hot water bottles and felt really fine about it, yes I was worried about it, yes it scared me, it really upset DH but in reality it hit home once again how we relie on outside organisations for our everyday needs.  In truth the gas will be back on next week as we will have to just pay the darn thing but it has made me realise things have to change.

So we are thinking how to adapt the following as ultimately we would prefer to go off-grid.

Feed the cooker from a gas bottle - we can regulate this better
Solar panel to heat the radiators upstairs and hot water -we rent our home so might prove tricky
Create an outside shower for the summer months - using black hose or painted radiator to warm the water
Run our computors off a small solar panel
Solar lamps for the kids room
Collect and store wood all year - this year we have been hopeless and cold

So for the next few days I am going to list everything we buy in including resources and utilities and try and find ways to change the way we do this.

To kick start my home self suffiency audit I thought I would try going from room to room, I know the kitchen will be one of the most challenging rooms.

But to cheer myself on I thought I would remind myself of what we are already doing:

Make our own bread
Make our own Jams
Chutneys and Passatas in jars
Sundried tomatos
Freeze our cherries and courgettes
Make cakes cereal bars etc
Made our own solar oven for the summer
Grow 50% of our own veg and store
Make soups for the freezer

G is busy drafting proofing doors and I will make more excluders this evening.  We will also prune all the fruit trees and hedges to store for kindling.

Any inspiring ideas for homesteading or becoming more self reliant welcome x

Home and Garden

I have been busy today making a cooked breakfast and a salmon pie for supper for dh as today is his birthday and later we are off iceskating in Siena followed by a concert at a beautiful castle near here.  Despite the ongoing festivities my mind is elsewhere - drifting into spring, warmer days, warm breezes to dry our clothes, sunny mornings full of birdsong and promise.  In reality I need to organise my home so that I feel less stressed and can function more easily.  Drying clothes at the moment is hell with no heating and constant rain - any wise ideas?

My plans for reorganisation are:

Structure my week and have set hours for each work project with deadlines that I keep (I am a PR and writer)
Sort out the kids room and get some better storage - baskets and boxes
Sort our towels and beddings into manageable heaps - no idea how other Mum's stay on top of this one
Have a weekly me night where I do girly twirly things like nails (rubbish at this one - always look like a gardener)
Wood pile - collect kindling and wood on daily dog walks
Get seeds in pots in readiness for the plot
Design the veg plot better as watering was hell last year
The office - agggggghhhh, somehow get some simple orderly systems in place
Painting - the whole house needs a lick of paint especially the bathroom and kids room
Books - ask dh to make some books shelves as we are looking like 'Black Books' at the moment
Cleaning - set up some kind of weekly system as I always feel so glum when we have tumbleweeds of dog hair rolling through the house
Time for us - make time once a month for just the two of us to wind down
Smell the roses - make myself stop and stare and take in the air
Enjoy the good and the bad the happy and the sad.....

Any advice on housekeeping most welcome as generally I dream of having an orderly home but have yet to find out how..  I love my life full of childrens laughter and animals and nature but sometimes a little structure might come in handy...

The kids are looking forward to TT's 5th birthday on Tuesday and the Befana celebrations on the 6th...... (infor from the web) Befana La Festa dell'Epifania (Epiphany - the 12th Night of Christmas) 6 January 2009. This festival is almost more popular among Italian children than Christmas itself. La Befana is a character in Italian folklore, similar to Santa Claus, who visits all the children of Italy on the eve of 6 January to fill their socks with sweets if they are good or a lump of coal if they are bad. The family typically leaves a small glass of wine and a plate with a few local specialities for Befana. During the day, many children dress up as Befana and visit the neighbourhood in the hope of receiving a small gift of money or sweets. Some of the costumes are astonishingly good and should be suitably rewarded. A popular market, the Fiera della Befana, takes place each year between Christmas and the Epiphany in Piazza Navona in the centre of Rome, where toys, sugar charcoal and candies are sold for the Roman children. In the areas north of Lucca, groups of singers still go door to door singing befanate.

Be careful what you wish for

I really truly believe that you can get a anything you want in life, just be careful what you wish for. For a while I have wanted a cat again, my old boy died over a year ago, so I have been thinking about getting a kitten and how we could avoid my husband's allergy to felines. Today a friend called to say that the vet near Siena had a bunch of scruffy kittens that needed homes. On Monday we should be able to bring one home, I will but an old armchair in the cantina (shed) and he can be a freerange cat like 'Sack' used to be. Wishes - I want to get chickens, a friend is helping me set this up and our landlord is helping us build a chicken run. I want to be more self sufficient - I now have a cupboard of tomato sauces and chutneys. I wanted more time with my children, I am there everyday after school now, I wanted to follow a dream and move to Italy and write books. I am living in Tuscany writing magazines and the books are brewing. Where am I heading with this rambling... Basically through sheer stubbornness and the power of really wanting something I have done alot in the last two years. With no money, no great plan just lots of enthusiasm we are doing what we wanted. So I am sending out some positive energy to all those people who still feel a long long way from their dream, remember some of this is down to how you view things. I have very little money at the moment - but you can't own the view, the seasons, the smell of autumn, the sound of my children's laughter anyway, so really I am as rich as I will ever be as I have so many things that are utterly priceless. Today the sun is shining, the old dog is snoring in the old chair, the kids are playing, we have chicken (Bat Wing Stew) for supper and are getting a little christmassy already, yes there will be work, finances and normal daily struggles but really I am content to be living this life full of crazy hair raising ups and slip slidey downs. Off to hunt for rosehips now in the chilly hills above Siena, in my ancient woolly sweater and stripey legwarmers........... the kids are horrified!