so i'm trying out new ways to save money.  my goal is to save enough so that i can become a stay at home mom.  i ACHE to be a sahm.  i blame it on maternity leave.  i work for the county, and just about the only real benefit that we get is ridiculously long maternity leave.  seriously, my leave was almost worth the pregnancy (not the baby, i love my manchild but some people like being pregnant and those people are insane).  i relished my maternity leave.  manchild even had colic and i loved my time off of work. 

but saving money...  not as easy as one would think.  in a lot of ways, hubby and i have pared down a lot of 'stuff' down to it's barest essentials. 

cable?  don't have it.  not even anteni service.  for us, it's cheaper to buy a bluray or two a month than what we were spending on cable. 

car payment? we only have one.  the manvan is paid in full, and when that happy day that "goldie" is paid off, she's not getting replaced unless she's falling apart.

gas?  we do spend a fair amount on gas, but we do our shopping trips in clumps so there are no unnecessary trips to 'pick something up real quick'. and if the weather is nice, hubby rides his motorcycle to and from work, and that thing gets crazy-good gas mileage.  (and honestly, with bp raping our gulf coast, it's not like we can control the price we have to pay in gas)

honestly, the one place you'd think we can scrape a little extra savings is food.  but not so much.  healthy food is expensive.  a bowl of super-processed mac n cheese costs the same as an apple.  for the price of the smallest bowl of mixed fruit, you could buy three frozen dinners.  frozen dinners that are pumped so full of chemicals that honestly, you won't decompose after you die.  seriously.  people aren't decomposing like they used to.  mrs b. told me. 

honestly, working full time, and having a garden that was DESTROYED by the summer storms...  its hard to find good priced, healthy food. 

i need to spend more time around judgmntlhippy.  she'll show me the ropes.

a nifty little update

today is Litha.  I'll most likely celebrate in a pretty low key way, assuming that the rains hold off.  at the very most i'll light up a couple of lots in the fire pit, but i'll probably just light a couple of candles and sit on the couch for a Firefly marathon.  had friends over saturday for a min-celebration and a bonfire, so that was fun.

finally upgraded my compost bin.  admittedly 'upgrade' is a bit...  fancy... of a term. i went from the super crappy trash can system to the slightly less crappy hardware cloth fency thingy system.  yes, fency thingy is a technical term.

i guess i just didn't realize how well the trashcan  system was working until i emptied out the compost into the new bin.  i had some awesome compost! i, of course, have no way to use it till next year, but dang it was cool. one unforeseen problem of the hardware cloth system is keeping the creeper weeds out of the compost bin.  the last thing i need in my back yard is HEALTHIER weeds.  but i'm pretty sure that as long as i keep an eye on it, i can get it under control.

the garden is getting along well.  though i realized that if i had to survive on what i've plated so far a) i would starve and b) i would be the stinkiest corpse ever.  i will have onions upon onions, some garlic, and more blue potatoes than i think we'll be able to eat. (the novelty of blue potatoes will last exactly 1 1/2 meals with princess)

and as far as self sustainability goes, cheese making..... epic fail.  i got a kit with which i am supposed to learn to make my own cheese.  i've either done something horribly worn, or omaha's water system is chlorinated.  possibly both.  either way the cheese gods are not leased.  i will of course be trying again, probably right after pay day.  because lets face it, i can't NOT know how to do something.

i was at the water yesterday, were you? i did a beautiful simple little ritual, and manchild was in my lap the whole time. basically what i did was use my prayer beads to repeat the chant from Blade and Cauldron once for each bead. it was powerful and moving, and about the simplest thing in the world.

but i felt it.

i felt the power of that little chant, and knowing that hundreds would be doing if not the same thing, something equally powerful striving for a common goal. Fan-fracking-tastic!

Meet Us At The Water

Have you ever thought "Gee, the horrible things that BP has done to cornhole us in the gulf.... I wish there was something I could do about it?"

well now you can!!!!!!!!!

june 12th is the new moon, and pagans (and non pagans alike) are coming together in droves to help heal the oceans. you don't need access to the ocean or even to a stream, a bowl of water will be enough. hells people, use a shot glass if you have to! take your water, bless it, heal it, and send it back to the ocean to join the ocean so that it can be healed.

Blade and Cauldron created this chant to use:



we have one planet. she is our mother. please, come together with people off all faiths to heal her.

Self Sustainability Takes it in the Shorts

I am by nature a fairly law abiding person. running red lights doesn't count, no one was looking. so when i decided i wanted to be able to grow produce all year, i called my local extension office to find out what i needed to do to get a simple greenhouse, i was thinking something along the lines of 8X8, (with no water or electricity hooked up to it) up and running.

big mistake.

a permit is required. a permit. there is a minimum fee of $41 for the permit. i have to provide three copies of the plans as well as a detailed map of the possible location in relation to my property lines. it will take an average of three weeks to go through the planning committee. i will "probably' have to get the structure inspected (at mt cost). all for a structure that can literally be picked up by four strong guys with the promise of beer.

screw it. im building cold frames and im not telling a damn soul.