Hello New Year!

One week down, 52 to go...

As I get older time seems to speed up. I am not in such a hurry.

It has been a while since I have managed to add a post: busy with life; busy with business; busy with family. Busy with staying warm in this very winter-y winter!
One of my resolutions is to make sure I post to the BLOG at least once each month.

Meanwhile, I have still been writing.
After completing a full year of Haiku poems, a Japanese form with 3 lines of 5, 7, 5 syllables respectively, I have embarked on a new project of writing a Tanka poem every day, thereby upping the difficulty a bit. A Tanka is an older Japanese form with 5 lines, 5, 7, 5, 7, 7, syllables.

Here is some of my favorite Haiku, 1 from each month in  2010:

1/25 - As we walk we flush/ Jays and Flickers, Varied Thrush/ Birds of winter woods

2/5- Earth shakes herself now/ A reminder of power/ Beyond human dreams

3/26 - Snow on peach blossoms/ Can only happen in spring /White kiss on petal

4/11 - As the years pass by/ The treasure of friendship grows/ Ever more precious

5/2 – The plaintive sweet cry/ Coyote on the mountain/ Singing to the sky 

6/11 - Murder in the night/ The wail of some poor creature/ Laughter of the fox.

7/10 - Children of dreamers/ Perceive life abundant/ With possibility

8/14 - Crucible of dreams/ The infinite mystery/ Of night's vast display

9/1 – Earth’s mighty power/ Lies just beneath the surface/ A tempest below

10/4 - Slow to illumine/ These dark days cloud my senses/And prolong my dreams

11/13 - How the chest contains/ A heart swelled with emotion/ Is a mystery 

12/21- Clouds parted briefly/ As Autumn became Winter/ Revealing the moon

 
 And here a couple of my brand new Tanka:

1/2 - Brilliant winter night/ Star fire piercing the darkness/ Yet bringing no warmth/ Down to this ice cold mountain/ From the universe beyond

1/7 - Deep, cold, and silent/ Rain swollen river runs strong/ Carrying the tale/ Hidden in muddy waters/ How raging storms tamed the earth

Let's see if I am up to the challenge!

 

Manual Production

Living off the grid, as we do, gives you a fine sense of power use. When you can use people power effectively you tend to forgo modern machinery with motors.
Once in a while you can be lucky enough to find a perfect piece of equipment from the past that was developed to do the job you need. That is the case with our paper cutter.

This is our guillotine. 100 years old when we bought it, an antique print shop manual paper cutter. That's one big chunk of cast iron!

You probably already know we use environmentally friendly Thai Unryu paper made from Mulberry trees to wrap our soaps.
These fine handcrafted art papers come in large sheets that need to be cut into smaller size to wrap the individual bars of soap.

Cutting the sheets individually is not an option, a print shop style paper cutter, or guillotine, cuts a large stack of paper all at one time. Most modern guillotines are powered by hydraulic motors. This is one of the original manual ones.
You can still buy manual bulk paper cutters, but they are not as beautiful a piece of machinery as this!

You put a stack of paper on the table after adjusting a stop to the proper length, using the wheel you see in front, then turn the wheel on top to clamp it down.
The blade (reflecting the paper) comes down by pulling/pushing a long handle activating a lever. Then it is held back by a counterweight. Primitive machinery, but very effective. 

After cutting into strips the proper width, you readjust the stop and cut into rectangles.
Below you can see the stop on the back of the cutter.

Here you can see the size of the original sheets of Unryu mulberry paper, a cut strip, and the finished size.



On the right is the cut paper for our bath bars, with smaller paper for mini soaps in front.

Below is paper, and soap waiting to be wrapped.
We wrap all the soaps by hand as well.
 Just a peek into how we do things here at Simmons Natural Bodycare.

Sweet Herbs

'Tis harvest time and we have been busy filling the pantry with all manner of food. We do a lot of food preserving here, from drying to freezing, canning to cellaring. A habit developed long ago that we see no reason to abandon. We like to eat, we like to garden, filling up the pantry is the obvious fnext step.

From fruit to green beans and tuna (OK, not from our garden), Italian style tomato sauce to Mexican style salsa we fill jars with the food from orchard and garden that will feed us through the winter and beyond.

We have always felt that anyone can grow a little fresh food for themselves. Even apartment dwellers can have a windowbox with greens or other vegetables. But of the things you can grow and save for year-round use, I would wager that herbs are the easiest.

From Basil to Oregano, Chives to Thyme, I can't imagine cooking without using herbs, fresh or dried. Many are hardy perennials and very simple to grow and save.

We recently added new raised beds to our garden. With 1/2" hardware cloth underneath, they are a gopher proof planting area. Previously we had planted gopher delectables such as carrots and garlic in cut off oil drums that are from the food grade oils we use in our soapmaking (see our business site). With the new beds, some of these barrels were now free and I saw the chance to make a new herb garden. I've planted a variety of types of Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, Dill, Chives and Sage in these barrels, as well as a couple of Lavender plants so far.

This has worked out even better than we expected. In only two months these herbs have grown so vigorously that we are already able to harvest plenty for drying. This is fabulous - as I make herb blends for seasoning when I cook (see earlier BLOG "I'm All Mixed Up"). We also grow a variety of Basils, Tarragon, and Marjoram elsewhere.

There is absolutely nothing complicated about drying herbs, all you need is a well ventilated place to hang them. I pick bunches of herbs late in the morning after the dew has dried off of the leaves. I will pick them at pretty much any stage, but preferably before they flower (if you want Dill Seed, you must wait until after they flower and then form seeds). Bunch the cut ends of the stems together in a bundle that is not so big and tight that the center may have trouble drying and wrap securely with a rubber band. This is a hot tip! The rubber band will contract with the stems as they dry and keep your bundle from falling apart. You can tie a string or wire to the rubber band to hand the bunch from or just hook the bunch over a nail without. I save those twistie ties from store vegetables and use those. They stay rigid enough I can put a loop in them and hook them on the rafters without a ladder (or handy tall person, which I am not).

If it is a place that gets direct sunlight you can tie the bunch inside a paper bag and hang it all together. This helps preserve the color of the herbs. This also confines the fine leaves of the herbs, should they break off when dry.
Once dry, I strip the leaves off of the stems and store in airtight containers in a dry, dark place. I don't crush or crumble them until I am ready to use them or make one of my blends. They retain  flavor and aroma longer when stored as whole leaves.

And then, in the dead of winter I can relive the flavors and aromas of summer by adding these herbs to my cooking. It's as easy as that!

In Gratitude...

There are not many days that go by that, even if only for a fleet moment, I don't realize how fortunate I am.
Despite all the things that go wrong most days: the things that don't go as planned; the things I cannot afford; the minor pains and glitches; overall I do know I have much to be thankful for.

Thank you
Mahalo (Hawaiian)
Bedankt (Dutch)
Akun (Khymer)

Some time back I started writing thank you notes on a broad scale. From individuals to the state highway department, I want to let it be known that I appreciate the work that is done that has helped make my life easier.
Everyone voices it when they have something to complain about. We all want to point out when there's something that needs done or changed or that we disagree with. But when those changes happen we are often already on to the next issue that needs fixing rather than ready to acknowledge the things that have occurred to improve our lives or fix some problem.

Spasibo (Russian)
Bayarlalaa (Mongolian)
Arigato (Japanese)
Grazie (Italian)

Letting it be known that we appreciate the work done by our family, friends, and neighbors, community or government organizations and representatives goes a long way in reinforcing the energy and spirit of those who do what they can to make things happen.
Show your gratitude. It will be appreciated.

Ngiyabonga (Zulu)
Mamnoon (Arabic)
Tack (Swedish)
Asante (Swahili)

The Future... A Matter of Balance

I now know I am definitely solar powered. This year's unbelievably long, dreary, wet and chill spring had me sluggish and depressed. I thought "Gee, I AM getting old and decrepit". Well, turns out that as soon as we had a sunny day my energy came back just fine, although I confess I do seem to keep getting older.

Seriously, sun and warmth provide the energy that drives the most important aspects of our life. Just watch the acceleration in the growth of the garden (or lawn) as soon as the weather warms. And it is our great fortune that Earth's distance from our Sun is just right, not too hot nor too cold. Wow! Are we lucky! We really depend on this delicate balance between our planetary home and it's star to create the amazing conditions that sustains life here on Earth. With all the changes it goes through, this is still an imminently habitable planet (See post: "Habitat for One and All"). Yet, that it's 'not nice to fool with Mother Nature' may turn out to be an understatement in relatively short order.

But still, it is this fortuitous geometry that permits the habitable planet that we have, despite the extreme weather conditions we've been having and that could intensify. Weather is determined by the balance between hot and cold air, which then creates conditions from flood to drought, searing heat to frigid chill. All this affects the living situation on the earth and in the sea in ways we are really only beginning to understand. But life is resilient and humans are determined and, hopefully, we will be able to adapt to what we must and, through our actions, modify the degree of change that could happen.

Interestingly, despite some fears, working toward a sustainable future may not mean total deprivation. There are many changes that will not only streamline your life, but make it more affordable in this time of economic stress, AND lighten the burden we are placing on the natural system's delicate balance. There are so many people on the planet that if we all adjust our habits some the end result will add up quickly. If you haven't started to change your lifestyle to make it more "Earth - Friendly", there's no better time to start than now!

Right away it will help save money and help the environment to not buy so much stuff! OK, the economy is awful, so we are already not buying as much stuff, but pay attention to which stuff you do buy. Right away, if it is a disposable, single use, item that can be replaced with something more durable, go for the durable. The initial cost may be a bit more, but the overall cost ( and we are talking $$ here) is much less. You generally do get what you pay for, and cheap junk is still junk and shortly ends up in the landfill to be replaced by??? See "the Story of Stuff" to get an idea of how this impacts our lives.
I don't advocate discarding what you have now that works, but replacing stuff with a better alternative (if replacement is even necessary) when it gets discarded.

One area which is easy to improve is electrical appliances. Some of them are real energy hogs, and when you replace them with efficient Energy Star rated appliances you save money on your bill and less electricity needs to be produced. If, instead of ever increasing energy needs we could keep the demand even or reduce it, the possibility of a future of Green, renewable energy alternatives becomes brighter. Here are some  energy calculators to help you evaluate your energy use and whether energy efficient products or renewable energy are right for you.

"Nature can provide for the needs of people; [she] can't provide for the greed of people."

- Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)

I really believe change is in the air, but that it doesn't have to be disastrous. I don't believe anyone could be maliciously out to destroy the habitability of Earth's future in order to have a more convenient, wealthy life now. But I do believe we do some unfortunate things out of ignorance and blundering, coupled with the desire to always have more than fills our needs. More money, more convenience, more stuff... No one has ever shown this to create contentment or happiness. Only to feed an endless desire. And in the long run, we could lose it all.