Downsize

With the way I'm living right now, it may not be preferable but it's not bad. Just takes more planning. Truth is that it's just kind of the way many or most lived in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Though I do have a generator, TV, dorm fridge and CFC lights.

Now I went and bought some LED christmas lights, which pull much less power than even mini bulbs. If you were to use 1200 of them, they would still pull less than a single 100 watt bulb! Also got a couple of battery powered LED decorations for my daughter.

Since weather is getting colder, I place an ice chest outside with perishable food in it at night, bring it in in the morning.

The other day I was checking CL and someone was giving away large old windows. I went and got them. Turned out he gave me 16 glass panes, 8 largest of which were 3x5 ft. Two cracked on the way home but still the pieces are large enough to just cut to smaller window sizes, maybe even decorative. Good start for solarium! I have some cement posts set to begin building columns. Need more concrete and mortar mix.

Got a used gas space heater for $65. Puts out 35k btu and keeps several rooms warm. Actually better than the furnace did. Can't use fireplace when daughter's around because of her asthma. I have a CO detector right by the heater which has not gone off once in the 3 weeks I've had the heater. Tested it a few times and it works fine.

Most of the garden is done for the year. Wound up with 14 pumpkins of various sizes and types. Largest was about 40 lbs. Going to try two crops next year, one early and one traditional. Planted garlic a few days ago and some spinach is still growing.

Dug up and brought in tomato plants before the weather cooled too much. Now have tomato and pepper plants growing inside. A few are still growing tomatoes. Not a lot but not bad for November. I'll try to keep the good ones going and just move them out in the spring. I also planted some peas inside. Never got a crop outside. See how it goes. Never hurts to try.

Been working a lot last couple of weeks. Now I badly need to clean house.