This site is an archive of ChiotsRun.com. For the latest information about Susy and her adventrures, visit the Cultivate Simple site.
Thank you for all your support over the years!

007 Day are Here Again

December 26th, 2013

Well, the 007 days of Christmas have once again arrived here at Chiot’s Run. Mr Chiots and I are huge James Bond fans so each year between Christmas and New Year’s Day we watch as many Bond movies as we can. Last year we got the 50 year anniversary boxed set as a Christmas gift for each other, it’s a great way to get all the movies.
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It’s fun to have crazy traditions that don’t really have anything to do with the actual holidays. We love that at this time of the year we have a little down time and watching movies forces us to take some much needed physical rest.

Do you have any holiday traditions that are out of the ordinary?

Merry Christmas

December 25th, 2013

Merry Christmas from Chiots Run copy

Beautiful – but Painful

December 24th, 2013

The ice storm continued all day yesterday, we lost power for a few hours in the afternoon but it came back on. I still have a “lights out” blog post scheduled for tomorrow in case they go out again and I can’t get on-line. Ice storms are beautiful, but they’re a mess. We have enough ice that trees are dropping branches left and right. When you go outside the sound of branches and trees coming down is constant. Lucky for us, there aren’t any trees close enough to drop branches on the house. The chicken coop barely escaped a big white pine branch.
Ice Storm 1
Ice Storm 5
Ice Storm 2
Ice Storm 8
Ice Storm 3
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Ice Storm 4
Ice Storm 9
Ice Storm 7
It should be interesting to get out a little today to see how much damage has been done. We won’t be able to go into the wood until all the ice melts and we’re hoping our driveway melts soon.

Anyone else dealing with ice and power outages from this storm?

Cultivate Simple 58: Preparing for the Worst

December 23rd, 2013

With a half of an inch of ice on the ground and more to come, we discuss being prepared for power outages and natural disasters.

South River Miso a great source for naturally fermented miso and tamari.

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The Basics
– Prepare for the basic essential needs first: warmth and water
– If you live in a cold climate you need to have an alternate source of heat, at it’s most basic a small propane heater works well.
– An oil lamp works well for providing light for a room, it works much better than flashlights

Power
– Batteries (if rechargeables make sure they are all topped off, including cell phones)
– Have a GOOD flashlight
– Inverter to power appliances from your car (less expensive but your car is not ‘built’ for this)
– Generator (more expensive but made for the job)
– A generator is only as good as the supply of fuel you have
– Turn off all your stuff so when the power comes back on it doesn’t overwhelm the grid
Steve Harris’s Website has lots of good information on power.

Food
– Cook a pot of soup the night before, it’s easier to heat up one pot of already prepared food than try to cook without power, if the power doesn’t go out you have food for the next day
– Always have a weeks worth of food on hand
– Canned food is good, raw ingredients are better
– You need a way to cook it. If you don’t have a gas stove that will run without power, make alternate plans (grill, coleman stove, cook over fire)
– If there is an extended power outage, eat perishable food first
– Freeze gallon jugs of water in your freezer (thermal mass)

Water
– Do you have a well or city water
– Gather water in containers for drinking and cooking
– Having a Berkey water filter will save you from having to boil
– Fill the bathtub with water for washing and flushing (tub bladder)
– Your hot water tank is an often overlooked source of water

Supplies
– Have some cash on hand
– First Aid Supplies
– Sanitary supplies
– Extra items above can be used for trade/barter in extended outages

Security
– People are stupid and stupid people do stupid things when society breaks down

Entertainment
– Have things to do without power/electric: knitting, crocheting, reading, puzzles, games, etc
– Movies on laptop

Book of the Week

What is the longest stretch you have been without power?

The Garden Year – a poem by Sara Coleridge

December 22nd, 2013

THE GARDEN YEAR
by Sara Coleridge

January brings the snow,
Makes our feet and fingers glow.

February brings the rain,
Thaws the frozen lake again.

March brings breezes, loud and shrill,
To stir the dancing daffodil.

April brings the primrose sweet,
Scatters daisies at our feet.

May brings flocks of pretty lambs
Skipping by their fleecy dams.

June brings tulips, lilies, roses,
Fills the children’s hands with posies.

Hot July brings cooling showers,
Apricots, and gillyflowers.

August brings the sheaves of corn,
Then the harvest home is borne.

Warm September brings the fruit;
Sportsmen then begin to shoot.

Fresh October brings the pheasant;
Then to gather nuts is pleasant.

Dull November brings the blast;
Then the leaves are whirling fast.

Chill December brings the sleet,
Blazing fire, and Christmas treat.

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woodburner
Christmas tree 3

What’s your December bringing?

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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