Butter sorted - finally

Thanks to everyone for their comments on my last post - t'was a fabulous day, thank you :D

Back in December I wrote about my frustration at not being able to find a butter dish anywhere, and I posted my solution to that problem.

The inverted plant pots worked a treat!  The only problem was though that the inside were supposed to be glazed.  Why?  Because the porous clay absorbed the oil from the butter and started smelling rancid - the base on which the butter lay especially.  Not even boiling water would solve that problem.

So, fast forward to July this year and my frustration boiled over.

There is a well known potter in Swellendam - Bukkenberg Pottery.  I have popped in there a few years ago, but the items on offer that grabbed my attention were a tad over my budget.

Desperation makes one lose caution though.

On one of our trips to town at the end of July for our weekly shop, I talked RMan into popping in at the pottery studio, and, yippee, David, the master potter, was open to making me a butter dish!

I explained what I wanted - a butter dish glazed on the inside (so that it couldn't absorb the oil from the butter), with the outside left porous so that evapouration could occur thus keeping the butter chilled during the hottest time of the day.  

David suggested a slight deviation - something he used to make years ago.

4 French butter dishes waiting to be glazed, then fired.

What he came up with is a French butter dish.  

The smaller butter filled section is inverted into the larger water
 filled half

It works by filling the smaller end with butter, inverting the butter holding base into the wider section which contains water.

This is what the French butter dish looks like when it's sitting
 on my kitchen counter

The theory is that the water covers / closes the exposed surface of the butter thus preventing oxygen turning the butter rancid.  It is recommended changing the water every week - or every time you finish the butter in our case - we do love butter :D

As water and oil don't mix, the butter isn't watery at all - just completely spreadable :)

Soft enough, and completely spreadable :)

David made 4 French butter dishes, so there are three going spare.  At R220.00 a butter dish, which holds approx 350 - 400gms of butter, and is specially handcrafted, I don't think that is too much to ask.  Perhaps mine will become a family heirloom one day...

However, remember that this is a bespoke order.  A bespoke order in the smaller towns are done in small town time - in this case the order was placed at the end of July, and the butter dish was ready last week.  Admittedly his kiln was enormous, and needs to be filled to make it viable to run - I'd hate to know what his electricity / LP gas bill is every time he fires up the kiln.

It was worth waiting for though :D

That'll definitely save throwing away rancid butter, or having to open the fridge unnecessarily in order to get the butter.

Pottery bird feeder

But - I noticed something else hanging near his studio workshop...   Isn't this the most adorable bird feeder you have ever seen?

Pumpkin storage

Here in south Africa, pumpkins are not preserved as such.

Image source:
http://thechancemuse.blogspot.co.za/2012/04/pumpkin-cafe-and-other-roadside-wonders.html

Normally they are grown, left to hang on a withering vine, and then harvested and placed on a hot tin roof to weather the winter.

The pumpkins and butternut that I harvested last year were taken off the vine before they withered, and left to "air" on an open, but under cover shelf next to the alpaca feed.

They did OK - but not marvelously.  Towards the end the part of the pumpkin in contact with the shelf developed mould / rot. Perhaps there was too much moisture in the air?

Hmmm.  So, I wasn't happy.

Now, I don't have the freezer space to preserve that way.

And, I did not want to pressure can pumpkin.

So, the only other alternative was to dehydrate.

But, not via the use of electricity.

I want, and need, to deydrate via a solar / air method.

Freshly sliced pumpkin placed inside my Foothills
DryAway

I tried dehydrating slices in my Foothills DryAway, but I think I must have sliced it too thick.  

Day 2 of the drying process

It took 3 days to dehydrate, and during the dehydrating process, was bleached.

Finally dehyrated.
But, although unappetizing in appearance,
undoubtedly dehydrated

On re-hydrating the pumpkin, the wishy-washy colour remained.  Totally off-putting!!

Whilst I was googling how best to re-hydrate these slices I noted that most northern hemisphere people powdered their dehydrated pumpkins.  There is no way that these chunky slices would crush into powdered form.

So, my next experiment was to grate the pumpkin prior to placing in my solar dehydrator.

The grated pumpkin was placed on a black
silicone mat to prevent it from dropping
through the net

The grated pumpkin would've fallen through the netting within the Foothills DryAway, so I spread it out on a black silicone mat I normally use in the oven of my Rosie.

Completely dehydrated, and perfect
in colour

Grating the pumpkin worked a treat.  The grated pumpkin was placed out late (11.30a.m.-ish) and by 5.00p.m. the same day was compeltely dehydrated.

You can see the difference in the two different
methods of dehydrating the pumpkin

Most impoprtantly, as can be seen from the above pic, the dehydrated pumpkin retained it's colour!!

Just a sample of the dehydrated pumpkin
was placed in some boiling water

Re-hydrating the pumpkin?  That took a bit of hot, boiled water and half-an-hour later - viola!!

Half-an-hour later - perfectly re-hydrated
pumpkin.

Perfect.

Sigh - I'm a happy little puppy :)

This winter there will be loads of pumpkin soup, pumpkin fritters (dusted with cinnamon sugar), pureed pumpkin (with butter, cinnamon, touch of sugar and splash of cream), pumpkin bread - and, perhaps, I may even try and bake my first ever pumpkin pie ).

I will, of course, retain a couple of whole pumpkins - we can't be without roasted pumpkin now, can we?  :D

Inspiring

I do not normally share my political views, because, well, they're private.  But, I have to confess that this past weekend I have been abysmally dejected, despondent and disheartened with the human race, per se.  I feared the worst for this country - and it's future.

And, that was all because of the actions on one pathetic individual who seemed determined to have his way - putting that before the country, before his (political) party and before the people who elected him.

What our "President" attempted to do at the end of last week was nothing short of a dictators action.  Thank goodness for the people of this land, and his peers, as well as the financial markets, have all let him know in no uncertain terms that his actions were unconscionable.

https://www.change.org/p/thuli-madonsela-zuma-needs-to-step-down-government-in-sa-needs-to-change-before-its-too-late

(please, if you haven't already signed this petition, won't you do so.  We, the public, cannot remove him from office, only the Executive can do so.  But, the more that the public make their wishes known, the better the Executive can act in the best interests of South Africa.  After all the politicians are not better than us, they are elected by the people, for the benefit of the people and this country.

"Be the change you want to see" - Mahatma Ghandi

But, it was because of that despondency that I was completely shattered and unable to write my normal weekly post this past weekend.

But, everything is better now ;)  Sanity in South Africa has prevailed.

-----------------------------

Onto a more positive topic:

Would you like some inspiration on producing no trash / garbage?

I came across these two short video's on YouTube.  Please - check them out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eym10GGidQU&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYDQcBQUDpw

RMan and I have reduced our landfill quantity from 3 large black bags a week in 2005, to less than a third of a single black bag per week.

The bulk of our refuse we take to the recycling centre in Swellendam when we go through for our weekly shopping.

All it takes is a little bit of effort and the willingness...

Now, if our grocery stores would only allow one to purchase goods using your own containers that would be wonderful.  One day... :)

In for a penny...

...to save a pound in the long term.

Being a typical female I have been very, very grateful for my 320lt LG larger-than-the-undercounter bar-sized Defy fridge that we originally had here.

But, the LG was an 8-year-old fridge (B rated??) and it was chowing away at our stored solar power.  And it had a small freezer section with just enough space to hold a week or so's worth of food.  Plus, the fridge was always chockers - and needed re-arranging everytime I wanted to add something new to it's innards.  (Those damn half-full homemade sauce / jam / mustard bottles - they always take up so much space in a fridge, don't they?)

At the end of last summer I decided that I needed a freezer big enough to hold excess harvests from my garden.  It's just as well that I made that decision - as i found out 3 months ago that our local, and the only glass jar manufacturer in this country (Consol) has decided to stop making their preserving jars with the metal lid and metal ring seal!!!  What is wrong with them?

Anyway, I digress...  I have a chest freezer, but simultaneously adding the daily electrical consumption of a chest freezer to that of our old fridge would not be an ideal situation for our limited solar power.  It would effectively double up our power consumption.  Which we could handle in summer, but wouldn't be good in winter.

So, a-googling I went.

There are plenty of (expensive) imported A+ and even A++ fridges out there and which are actually available in South Africa.  But, I'm not looking to take out a bank loan.  Nor is RMan.

So, in April 2014 I wrote to the Defy manufacturer in Durban to find out if they had an A+ fridge.

Nope.

Nothing.

At that moment.

But, they were planning on releasing their latest model available from the end of September 2014.  And it was going to be an A+ model with a consumption of 484 KwH / year - roughly 133KwH / 24 hours.

Perfect.

I can wait.

I have patience.

Sometimes.

You cannot purchase directly from them (have they not heard of factory shops?) and have to purchase a Defy through a retail agent, and our closest one was the co-op in Swellendam.  I spoke to the lady in the kitchen appliances section and, after giving her the model number I had been supplied with by the manufacturing company, I asked her to please make a note in her diary and if she wouldn't mind contacting Defy closer to the time.

She did.

To make a very long story short (regarding Defy's web page and their displaying 3 models all with the same model number, but which are completely different fridges, one of which was ordered by the co-op, delivered to me, and swiftly returned the same day as incorrect) I finally, with the assistance of the Coastal Divisional Manager, received the correct fridge on Monday, 22 December 2014 - three weeks after I took delivery of the first incorrect fridge!!!  It seems none of their sales staff knew which was their latest model and which consumed 484kWh / year.  Hmmm....?

But, all's well that ends well.  It's a cracker :)

554 ltrs of
fridge and
freezer space :)

It uses only 1.33kWh / 24 hours compared to the old LG which used 2.1 kWh / 24 hours.  That gives us roughly an additional 800 watts - per day - to use on other things, or to be available during those dark, totally overcast winter days when the lights go on earlier and running the PC or laptop is required.

A+ rating with plenty of storage
 space

It's a beauty too :)

The old LG fridge freezer on the right
and the new Defy side-by-side A+ model
on the left.  I had hoped to get a white
model, but that will only be available
in February 2015.  I don't have that much
patience LOL so the stainless steel look
will have to do.

I have gained 120% more freezer space, and 98% more fridge space.  Nothing wrong with that, is there? :)

I have cleaned out the old LG, spruced it up, and it will be sold on - thereby recouping some of the cost (roughly a fifth) of the new Defy.  The chest freezer? We debated and came to the conclusion that we will keep it - just in case something goes wrong with the new fridge/freezer and it has to go in for repairs. I'd hate to have to throw away a whole bunch of (mainly frozen) food because I have nowhere to store it.  The chest freezer is in the garage, and is not in our way.

I was very chuffed, because it arrived in time to freeze the very last of the strawberries and youngberries, and will also hold home grown tomato puree ice cubes, and peppers, swiss chard, carrots and beans, etc for use when they are out of season.

Sometimes you have to spend a bit to save a bit in the long term.

Why?

Well, not only does this freezer now allow me to freeze a good portion of what I harvest, but this larger fridge / freezer will also make it possible for us to only have to go through to town once every 10 - 14 days, instead of every week, thereby saving on the fuel cost / transport footprint.

Happy days :)

Off grid cooking

I'm loving the cooler weather we're having.  And, I don't think it is my English roots which is causing this  LOL

Don't get me wrong, I love using my solar oven, in conjunction (when required) with our two plate gas stove from our old caravan.

Our re-purposed caravan
stove - we use the top two
plates and the grill, but
have never used the oven as
it apparentlty chews LP gas
like a box of chocolates in the
hands of two young'uns:)
So, the oven doubles up as
my mouse free bread bin

But, both of those are limited.  Firstly, by the weather, and secondly by the amount I can cook at any given time - normally two pots full of food in / on either.

During winter, when it's pouring down with rain, and using the Rosie, a whole new world of cooking opens up.

This is the use to which I put the Rosie last week...

Clockwise from the top:
Hot water for washing up (for
perspective in a 10 litre pot),
jars and lids being sterilized for the granadilla jam
busy being prepared in the centre pot,
the kettle (which is permanently on the boil),
chicken pieces being boiled for a hearty chicken soup
the next evening, home-grown butternut,
and, on the very left, there is a pot of rice cooking. 

The Rosie accomodated 6 pots and the kettle...plus in the oven I roasted chicken pieces and made bread rolls.

Chicken pieces roasting in my Rosie - the rolls
went it later...:)

...plus in the oven I roasted chicken pieces and made bread rolls.

Don't forget the hidden benefit.  Whilst all this is going on, our home was also being heated - to a very comfortable temperature :)

Now, considering that all of this used only 12 pieces of wood in total, I call that an economical way of cooking food whilst heating our home.

Eco-friendly pest control

I have long waxed irritatingly with regard to the field mouse problem here at Foothills Farm.  I realise that we are invading territory which they have inhabited for centuries, but, I have to ensure that they stay within their natural environment and don't invade ours.

So, this last week we took steps to ensure that no more of those incontinent field mice gain access to our home, and those pesky flies stay outside - permanently.

Firstly, I have an aversion to rodents.  Not only for their incontinent disease spreading capabilities, but also because each and every time they have entered our home, it has resulted in my having to wash anything that I think they may have traversed.  Spring cleaning a kitchen 10 - 12 times a year is not fun!

And, having to clamber up onto a chair whenever I saw a mouse inside was disruptive to say the least.  Hey, just because I live on a farm - no one said I had to be or was brave ;)

Way back in 2008, when we initially built phase 1 of our farmhouse, it was only planned that it would be a weekend / holiday situation, so open plan kitchen shelves were part of the "farm" look we were willing to embrace.

Before - open plan kitchen shelves

But, the open plan decor made it easy-peasy for the mice to climb into everything that was at floor level, and, through a gap in the shelves, up onto the shelves and into their contents.  That included pots and pans, casserole dishes, and the basic kitchen appliances which were stored in open boxes under all the shelves.

After - kitchen cupboards LOL

I guess I wore RMan down with my field mouse nagging, because, when we were in the local Co-Op and I saw an advertisement for work posted by a local carpenter, and I suggested that we "just" get a quote from him, and RMan finally succumbed.

Receiving his quote, and checking the references he gave, we gave him the go ahead to make cupboard doors for the open shelves.

As I only had the one drawer my kitchen utensils
were stored in "trays" on the shelves.  What a
waste of shelf space!

 The difference was immediately noticeable.

After - kitchen utensils are in their proper
place.  Can you tell where they are...?

Because the beautiful clay floor tiles are hand made, the floor is not completely level.  Some of the tiles are concave, and others convex.  That creates a problem when you are trying to create an opening which is less than a pencil width.  Why a pencil width?  Well, apparently a mouse can squeeze through any opening wider than a pencil.

A mouse proof strip across the entrance at floor
level takes care of the gap below the doors.
Note the big drawer above the cupboard...

Thus a strip was installed across the opening of the cupboard at floor level.  It will also help in preventing dust and dirt from accidentally "brushed" into the lowest section of the cupboard.

But, not only did he make doors, he also made me a wonderful, wide and deep drawer.

...Ha! This is where all my utensils are now
stored :)  For the drawer runner we have used
a sliding mechanism usually reserved for a
drawer / sliding shelf in a TV cabinet - so we
 know it is strong enough to handle the weight
of all those utensils without collapsing in future 

It is the perfect size to accommodate all those carving knives and forks, hand whisks, potato mashers, egg lifters, scissors, garlic press, wooden spoons, etc. that one accumulates after 31-odd years together.

It is too wonderful - everything is now in one place- no more searching through individual "trays" in a shelf :) 

We kept the old drawer from the caravan drawer
- why not, it was perfectly usable.  We
merely changed the face of it to match the
new drawer and cupboards.

And the old caravan drawer is now allocated only for our daily knives, forks, spoons and teaspoons, as well as the tin opener, cup measures, peelers and spoon measures.  Which gets the old cutlery caddy off my work surface, and gives me that little bit more room to work.

Sigh - I love it :)

Then - the fly problem.

Flies are part and parcel of farm life.  But there are just so many fly strips we can hang in a day, and just so many flies that I can, and will, handle crawling over me in the evenings when we are relaxing in front of the TV.

That's where the carpenter came in useful again.

A very solid fly screen covers
our kitchen door entrance

 He made us very sturdy fly screens - for both the back kitchen stable door...

A double fly screen was installed at
the Happy Doors :)

 ... and for the front "Happy Doors" which lead onto the patio.

Fly screens are commonplace in the US of A - I know because I have seen plenty of them in sitcoms and movies - both on TV and on the big screen the few times RMan and I have gone to the movies.

But, here, in fly country / continent, they are uncommon.

Why?????

Who cares - I finally have some, and they work! It is the strangest sensation to stand at what looks like a closed door, and feel the breeze wafting through. Quite peculiar LOL

Yeeeeeha!  No more complaints about field mice or flies on this blog ever - I promise.

1000 KwH of solar power

On Saturday at 3.15p.m. we hit a total consumption of 1000.9KwH on our Owl Electricity monitor.

The number in the bottom right corner indicates
we have consumed a total of 1000.9 KwH of solar
produced electricity

That equates to .9 tonnes of green house gases which were expelled into the atmosphere.  I forgot to take a photo of that on Saturday, so here is one from 48 hours later which shows .9027 tonnes

In the bottom right hand corner of the Owl
electricity monitor you can see our total
green house gas emissions from the electricity
produced by our solar panels - .9027 tonnes
today

We have taken 9 months, 20 days and 18 hours to consume what we would've used within 2 months in our town house.  Using 500KwH a month over the same period of time would've cost us ZAR4785.00 which means we are R4785.00 closer to having free electricity - with no increase in the electricity price amortised in :)

Escom's excess power warning

And we never have to worry when this warning comes on to the TV screen - Escom's warning that South African's are using more power than this parastatal can provide.

Love it - we just absolutely love it.

Through using only the power which has been produced by our solar panels (and stored in our deep cycle batteries) for lights, PC, printer and laptop, charging phones and cameras, fridge, TV and MNet decoder, plus charging the one deep cycle battery which runs our converted car radio / CD player...

The LED lights above my kitchen sink

...and the 7volt 12Amp battery which provides power to the LED lights above my kitchen sink, using my solar oven, manual appliances, gadgets and human power, life has been extremely comfortable, and, apart from the occasional wait for the batteries to reach sufficient charge on those overcast periods, life has carried on pretty much as normal.

Doing without a vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, chest freezer (the only thing I miss to be completely honest) electric toaster, kettle, geyser and iron, all those electric kitchen implements and food processors, to name just a few that I can think of on the spur of the moment, has been a breeze.

My hand operated coffee, herb and pepper grinders

An old fashioned  broom and mop, hand operated kitchen implements, using my solar oven to cook in and the small old caravan LP gas stove for heating tea / coffee water / cooking food / making toast under the tiny grill - yes, they all take a little longer, but - what's the rush?  I actually think that I have more time in my day now, than I ever did in the town house with all those aforementioned modern appliances which have supposedly been invented to save you time.

Do you know anyone who has time to spare?  Makes you think, doesn't it :)

RMan summed it up the other day.  He said to me that he is very happy and very comfortable here.  With both of us in the same mindset, it doesn't get better than that :)

Gently, gently... (part 2)

Again, I start this post by saying I am not trying to offend anyone - these are merely my thoughts and ramblings.  And my feedback on the have / have not lifestyle we have adopted.

My deep pondering of last week has led to thoughts on how else this planet came to be the position that it now finds itself.

Between the extreme temperatures, droughts / fires last year in America, and in Australia this year, as well as the blizzard which Boston, USA experienced at the end of last week and which it has not experience with such severity since the 1970's, I don't think that there are many out there who will deny that something is definitely screwy with our weather.  Global warming?  Extreme weather cycles?  Who knows.  But something is out of kilter.

Whilst writing my previous post I caught myself thinking what on Earth are we, the inhabitants of Earth, doing?  And doing in the so-called name of technology.  In the name of inventiveness.  In the name of saving time and effort?  In the name of economics?  In the name of self-indulgence? 

Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favour of new inventions.  But those inventions which actually benefit mankind, not the ones which are basically just trendy gadgets with a limited lifespan and which take up huge resources in their manufacture.

Take China for example.  They have no qualms in "copying" an item which carries European / USA patents - guess the logistics of patenting something in China is over the top?!  But, why do they need to copy the item, if it is already available? Because they can make it cheaper?  And then flood the market with their "Made in China" goods, which seldom match the quality of the original?

But, could this not be the result of the chaos which exists today?  The seemingly worldwide trend of "I must have the latest"?

For with all our mod-cons, all our time saving devices, all our fashion trends - are we any better off?  Are we cleverer - or lazier?  Are we able to save time - and what are we saving it for?  We're not doing more than we used to.  Are we?

Image source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangle_(machine)

What we are doing is saying, because I have a machine which can perform the task I need done, I can sit back and relax - "it's tiring putting washing into a machine, then shoving it in a tumble dryer or hanging it up and taking it down, ironing (well, some of you may do so - I don't LOL) it before putting it away".  Our parents (I'm showing my age here LOL) didn't have our modern gadgets to make their day easier, but they didn't do a whole lot less than we are doing now.  They had to fill the machine with water, allow it it agitate before draining it, and refilling it with fresh water to rinse the clothes.  Then they put the clothes through a mangle to squeeze them, before hanging them up on the line to dry.  No tumble dryers. 

But, even with all these wonder machines, we don't sit back and relax.  Why?  What are we filling our lives with busy-ness for?

Fracking - draining the very last reserves out of
Mother Earth

And, apart from our excessive consumption and hysterical mass production, are we not also polluting the ground and waterways with our chemical use - be they for :

 ~ pest prevention and fertilizing of crops;
 ~ for household "cleaning";
 ~ additives to foodstuffs to "make them last longer / stay fresher";
 ~ extracting, at great depth, the very last that the earth has to offer us;
 ~ or even the factories which are expelling them into the very air and water which makes our planet inhabitable by not only us homo sapiens (who are basically just advanced forms of animals, and in some cases not so advanced either LOL) but also by all the creatures who co-exist alongside us - or try to.

And as for fashion trends - is that not something which has been invented by manufacturers / tailors / clothing chain stores in order to sell more of their goods.  Why on God's planet, should it be important to have the latest cell phone / wear the latest fashion every season / year? What is wrong with last years cell phone / clothing.  Or the year before that?  Has it become the "thing" because if you don't keep up to date, you're not a successful business person?  And ditto for having the newest model vehicle or the most up-to-date appliances in your home / office.  Does it all boil down to "what do / will people think of me"?  It's crazy!

Why and when did we adopt consumer driven lifestyles - and, judging from reactions visible on the TV on far too many nights - allow that to dictate our feelings of happiness?  I mean, queuing up overnight outside a store in order to secure a "must-have" book or the latest electronic gadget as it's made available.  I wonder if those people have ever considered the implications of the importance they are attaching to those items, which will be so readily discarded when the next model makes its' appearance.

When did we humans lose the ability to experience authentic happiness?  Happiness from our roots.  From the ground up?  Happiness that we feel within us on a daily basis?  And happiness which is due to something other than an item we've purchased which makes us "feel good"?  Was it when we sold ourselves to laud the growth of economics?  Are we guilty of encouraging economies to expand beyond our basic needs?  Or have the corporations instilled this "want" in us through their advertising campaigns or movies through their high-faluting set dressing?

The race to sell more / have more / earn more?  Has that caused the chaos, disgruntled "poor me" attitude which is prevalent in society today, and the disregard for the long term consequences of our thoughtless actions.

I am fortunate because RMan and I have been able to "step back".  In November this year we will have been married for 33 years.  And at this precise moment in time we own less electrical / electronic gadgets than we did on our wedding day.  The some total of our "must have" items are:

a TV and local pay-to-view transmitter - we very rarely ( once or twice year) eat out, and we never go to movies / theatre.
A fridge.
A washing machine - powered by the genny once or twice a week.
A couple of side lights.
A hairdryer which is briefly powered by the genny once or twice a week in winter.  Summer - the hair just drips dry LOL
A charger for our cell phones and a computer.
And RMan has a couple of vital handyman tools.

I certainly don't miss a microwave (a pot over boiling water does the job more than adequately), an electric kettle or toaster (our 2 plate caravan LPG stove performs both those functions), the hated iron, heaters, air conditioners, ceiling fans, vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, tumble dryer, etc...  To be honest, the only "gadget" I do miss is a stand alone freezer - but our current solar set-up does not make provision for that 365 24-hours-a-day energy guzzler, and the contents of it will not understand a couple of overcast days ( = losing all power in the middle of the night when our battery storage falls too low).  Would be nice to freeze our excess garden produce though...

Simple non-electric kitchen implements -
they actually give me time - for myself :)

I revel in using my eco-friendly kitchen implements - a handheld beater / whisk, an egg timer which uses sand to tick by the seconds / minutes, a manual coffee plunger, a wooden orange / lemon squeezer, hand operated grinders, my ice trays which fit in the purpose designed section of my freezer, my precious solar oven and even my hand operated kitchen food processor, to name but a few - because they all actually give me more time!  And they reduce my use and demand of electricity.

My manual food processor - it works a treat :)

They give me time to dream, think, plan - to give of myself in order to create.

And these hand operated items are a damned sight easier to clean than similar modern time saving gadgets for which one sometimes almost needs a degree in order to dismantle.

Sure, those other appliances I could not run on our current limited solar power, but I don't miss them.  Not a single one on a single day.  And I wouldn't go back to "normal" in order to do so either.  I love the simplicity of our lifestyle, and can't comprehend why it took us so long to adopt it / revert back.  I feel somehow free-er.  Does that make sense? :)

A home grown salad - there is nothing to beat the taste

Similarly growing our own vegetables gives both Rman and I the assurance that what we are eating does not contain anything other than the water it took to encourage them to grow.  Even if they have a nibble out here, and a munch out there...  Becoming more and more self-sufficient can only make us wiser, more contented people.  However that self-sufficiency has a limitation for we both have a problem with killing animals - even if they are reared for consumption.  We're too soft LOL

Local knowledge is priceless, and ancient local knowledge even more so.  As the San people today keep their heritage alive through their story telling whilst living by choice in their harsh desert environment, so, too, should we be aware that future generations will be lost without our safeguarding the knowledge of their roots, their beginnings and their indebtedness to this planet.  Do we take the time to remember and to consider how to preserve all that knowledge in our hurly-burly days? 

We need to be aware of the consequences - our eco-footprint - which we are leaving behind for future generations to handle.  And we need to relearn how to treat ourselves, and our Earthly Home, in a gentler way.

After all, what is the rush?