Learning something new at my age

I read somewhere recently that one can clear the glass of a wood burning stove with wood ash from the fire.  So naturally, after one of our winter fires left the glass all "smoked" up recently, I had to try it.

Dirty, smoked filled glass

I took a small wad of loo paper (I don't buy or use paper towel in my home) dampened it and dipped it gently in the cold ash of the fire and then carefully wiped the glass.

Just a dab of wood ash on some tissue (loo) paper

Wow - it works!! 😀  It works beautifully.

Previously, as it doesn't easily "rub" off, I had taken a blade to the gunk in order to carefully remove it without scratching the glass.  But this is now a breeze.

Just be careful to use the fine wood ash - not the tiny (or  bigger) chunks of charcoal which may remain in your ash tray.

Leave the "chunks" of wood ash behind and just take a bit of the finer ash

If only I'd know this since 2012 when we first had the Rosie installed and keeping us warm during winter...

The glass in front of the fire pit
is clean again.  Nothing nicer than
seeing the flames of the fire that
 is keeping you warm - it
somehow adds to the warming effect.

P.S.  The "ashed" bit of loo paper went straight onto my compost heap.

Thank you

This is just to reach out to all of those who have contacted me since my last post - whether through comments on previous blog posts, or through personal e-mails.

Firstly, thank you to you all - too many names to mention, but you know who you are.  I was so very touched that you took the time and trouble to contact me.  Bless you - you will never know what strength you sent my way - even through the tears.

It has not been an easy time since 17 August 2019 - and has been one of great loss, angst, misery, guilt, loneliness and adjustment.  I think I am finally coming out the other side with some semblance of sanity - I hope I am.  I still have too many "bad days" but at least there are longer periods of better days in between.

Covid-19 also hasn't helped anyone I guess - with life taking on an even more abnormal and surreal slant - if that is possible?  I hope you have all managed to weather the various lockdowns, and have successfully managed the virus if you were unfortunate enough to catch it.

Our son, RSon, or Richard as he is called, decided to relocated himself and his business to our smallholding so that I could continue to live here.  That would not be possible if I was on my own, so I am very grateful for that.  The thought of having to leave Ronnie's and my dream, and move back to a town and trying to live squashed between neigbouring houses (or even in a block of flats / apartments) seriously didn't appeal - especially after having spent 3 months in Cape Town with Ronnie when he was ill so that he could have instant and easy access to treatment.  But, I fear smallholding life is very isolated for a relative young'un and his chances of meeting with, and interacting with people of his age is now limited to clients that he may visit / work for.  That worries me.  But, he, for now, seems happy enough.

My enthusiasm for being self-sufficient and living an eco-friendlier life was completely drowned out by my loss, but I hope to get stuck into the garden and preserving, recycling and repurposing things once again this coming summer.  I am finally trying to keep busy once again - albeit in a much more muted fashion.

Without trying to lecture anyone, please can I ask you - go to your partners - hug them, tell them they are loved and show them your love in each and every small way you can.  Most of all, give and get hugs.  You have no idea how much strength, energy and warmth a hug gives until they are no more.

I will try and write a post when the urge is strong enough and I have something I think you would enjoy my sharing with you.  In the meantime, thank you all again.

Stay safe everyone.

Dani

Ronald Peter Nieckau

Ronald Peter Nieckau

18/07/1953 -  17/08/2019

Rest in peace, my very, very dear Ronnie.  

The horrific, last cruel four and a half months should not have to be endured by anyone - least of all you - the bravest, gentlest and kindest person I know.

Your bravery, compassion for others, sense of absolute fairness, enjoyment of life, humour and oh, so gentle spirit lives on in our memories.  Your achievements and fulfillment of dreams are recorded on this blog. 

Forever now I am a rudderless ship - adrift at sea.  The gaping hole left by your loss is unbearable, and my only consolation is that the cruel, short illness - so very, very bravely born - will not, and cannot, harm you anymore.

“Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,

That I shall say good night till it be morrow.”

Rest in peace, my Ronnie Bunt.  I love you.  Always.

Wiedersehen - until we meet again…

LOA

I will be taking a leave of absense from this blog.  I have started another blog to help the residents of Cape Town who are about to hit Day Zero.  

Day Zero is when the 5 dams which supply Cape Town hit a collective total of 13.5%.

It is the day when level 7 water restrictions take effect and when everyone within the Cape Town metropole is limited to 25 ltrs (+/- 6 gallons) of water / person / day.  That 25 lts must include what they need for drinking (hydration), food prep, hygiene, cleaning, laundry, pets, etc and also covers what they use at the gym school and workplace...

It is no mean feat.

Day Zero is currently expected to hit on 12 April 2018.  Should weather conditions remain hot and windy, evapouration will bring that date forward.

All the hints and tips I'm sharing on this new blog are from the members of the Water Shedding Western Cape facebook page.

Having them all in one place, makes them easier to access - and removes the negative, complaining posts that tend to abound in public forums / facebook groups.

Necessity is certainly the mother of invention!!  I'm blown away with the amazingly innovative ways that people have come up with to reduce their water usage.

You're welcome to join in - you never know, one day you too may need some assistance, or idea's on how to live with 25 ltrs / person / day...

https://wswchintstips.blogspot.co.za/

Let there be light

We have tried various solar power lights for our front entrance steps and finally I have found something that actually works.

The builders left us a problem - an
 uneven top step designed to confuse
 anyone decending the stairs in the
 darkness

The tread of first step isn't equal to the rest, and this sometime throws off your "mindset" as you decend the steps.  Add nighttime to the equation and it's even worse.

So, when I saw an ad on TV for a solar powered light that not only looked bright enough for my purpose, but also shone in a wide arc, I had to have one last attempt at solving our problem.

Allowing the lights a day to charge up, RMan installed the lights either side of the staircase.

At nightfall we rushed out to see if they would fit the bill.

The view from the garden

They were perfect 😀

What a welcoming smiley face 😀

 They are even attractive and welcoming during the daylight hours... 

Each tread is perfectly illuminated - so no more tripping - ever.
That image just about sums up my contentment with these solar lights 

What is the view from the top of the flight of stairs?  

A heart 😀

Emergency action

This is probably a boring subject to most of you, but the reality is that the drought in the Western Cape, and specifically Cape Town, may cause Cape Town to be the first ever metropolitan to run out of water.  Ever.

https://www.enca.com/south-africa/cape-town-day-zero-moved-forward-by-a-week

There are 5 dams which feed Cape Town:

• Theewaterskloof Dam.
• Wemmershoek Dam.
• Steenbras Dams (Upper and lower)
• Voëlvlei Dam.
• Berg River Dam

The Theewaterskloof Dam is the largest, and it is currently sitting at 16.05% - 10% of which is unusable, so basically that dam has 6.05% water left to give Cape Town.  The combined total of all five dams is 29.1%  When that total hits 13.7% Day Zero has arrived and the only water supplied to the entire city will be by water tanker.  This is predicted to happen on 22 April 2018.  If we have any heatwaves before then, then obviously that date will be brought forward.

So, I have been researching how to "create" water, and this site gave me a few idea's: http://all-about-water-filters.com/awesome-diy-emergency-ways-to-filter-water-in-the-wild/

I tried out # 5, and this was the result.

Empty jar inside muddy water filled glass salad bowl

I took a clear glass salad bowl and added some muddy water to it.  

View from the side

An empty jam jar was placed inside the salad bowl.  

Rock / weight placed in the centre of the plastic wrap

The salad bowl was then covered in cling wrap, with a stone in the centre. This is so that any condensation which gathers on the cling wrap will fall into the empty jam jar and not back into the muddy water.

A drop of water in the making

Placing the salad bowl in the sun I left it for the day.

Small rock / weight placed in the centre of the plastic wrap

Condensation is clearly visible on the inside of the plastic wrap.

Water collected in the jam jar via condensation

At the end of the day, this is how much water was collected.

Roughly 25mls of water

Placing it in a measuring jug, roughly 25mm was collected.

Considering I used a clear glass salad bowl (in order to demonstrate the principle / take photo's), that's not bad.  Had I used a black container instead of the glass, I'm sure that more condensation would've taken place and the yield would've been greater.  To produce enough water to drink / stay hydrated would probably require a number of containers, but I am chuffed at the success of the experiment.

A word of caution though.  This does not produce "clean" water.  It produces clear water, which will still contain germs / bacteria.  Therefore, I would recommend that anyone who tries this method, boils the clear water prior to drinking.

Home made Olla pots

Happy New Year everyone.  Yup - I have been MIA but, unfortunately, family visiting and their requirements takes precedence.

Notwithstanding the extreme weather being experienced in the northern hemisphere, the Western Cape drought continues.

I defy anyone ot tell me that climate change is a figment of some scientists imagination...😈

The people of Cape Town are on level 6 water restrictions, which means they are only permitted 87 ltrs (19 gallons) of water / person / day or 350ltrs / household / day (77 gallons).  That 87ltrs is for personal hygiene, to drink, to flush toilets, to do laundry, etc.  An almost impossible task.  A good percentage of Cape Tonians are catching as much water as possible (standing in buckets in their maximum 2 minute  shower, catching that water and using it as the first wash laundry water.  They then catch that dirty laundry water in order to flush their toilets - but they are employing "if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down".  Ditto with their kitchen washing up water - that, too, is either used - by 8 - 10 lt (kg) bucket load - to flush toilets, or to try and keep alive whatever plants in their garden they can.  Lawns - they are a thing of the past.  Those who are fortunate (or should that be unfortunate) enough to have a swimming pool - most have covered their pools however they can, and are also directing grey water from the house to the pool to try and keep them as topped up as they can.  Whatever little rain that falls is also either directed to a rain water storage tank (for those that can afford one) or directly to their pools.

Some people are coping.  Some aren't.

It's heartbreaking. 

The area's main supply dam (Theewaterskloof) is down to 16.56% - or which only 6.56% is usable.  The last 10% is not recoupable.  They anticipate that the available water will be used up by Valentines Day, but, due to the summer heat which is only now letting itself be felt, I think it is more likely to dry up at the end of January 2018.  Thereafter, 4.5 million people will receive their potable water via water tanker - 25 ltrs at a time...

Hectic!!

Those who pray - please pray for the Western Cape.  Those who rain dance - dance like no one is watching...

And we are not untouched by this disaster.  Although we are not on water restrictions - yet - as our supply dam is pretty full, the 37 - 39oC heat we had in December, and which we are still currently experiencing, we should only have in mid-to-late February.  I fear that our potable water supply dam, small as it is, will be requisitioned in order to assist in keeping the people of Cape Town supplied with potable water via those water tankers.

So, for the sake of my veggie garden lateral thinking had to be employed.

8.  Ollas: Are unglazed, porous clay pots that are planted underground near plants and deter water evaporation or run off.  Water is poured directly unto the olla and it releases the water to the root system of the plant as needed.

https://permaculturenews.org/2013/08/08/water-retention-landscape-techniques-for-farm-and-garden/

When I was 11 years old I fell off of a swing shaped like a banana (or boat) which was big enough to seat 10 - 12 kids. Falling from +/- 3 mtrs high onto the ground, and then the heavy swing swung down and hit me as well, breaking my right arm and right hip (in the ball joint). A op sorted that out and the injury didn't give me much trouble in my younger years. 

However, the years are ticking by, and 10 years ago it was discovered that not only did the accident break my arm and hip, it also damaged my spine so that the disc between L3 & L4 vertebrae has moved sideways with no hindrance in it's path away from where it should be. Short of a spinal fusion op (which I would rather not have) nothing can be done about it. So, bending down to ground level is not an easy task - it's OK getting down, but getting up again is almost impossible without clinging onto something for support.

Pallets for transporting large floor tiles

Thus our local tile shop came to my rescue when I needed to plant and grow veggies on our smallholding. 1 X 1 mtr tiles come in these enormous pallet like crates, which, once they're lined with gunplas (builders plastic) and filled with soil, they make the most amazing raised beds. But, there are all sorts of cracks and crevices for pests to live in. I counteract that by sowing the vegetable seed, and then covering them with a half a milk bottle - sort of like a mini greenhouse until the plant is big enough not to be that dramatically affected by snails or slugs. 

Being a raised bed means that the water, via gravity, slides downwards more easily than sideways - as would happen in a veggie bed in the ground. And my lettuce and cabbage plants kept "bolting" (going to seed too quickly) - even though the raised beds are inside a 60% shade cloth structure, but I reckon the gravity draining water didn't help either. 

My new Olla pot

A few weeks ago I finally found what I had literally been looking for for a couple of years - some "raw" clay flowerpots (as opposed to pots with a type of "seal" / glaze on the clay) which I found at our local co-op and which I intended to sink into the ground and use as below ground watering containers - to enable the water to reach the roots.

A sideways pic to illustrate the "raw" clay look

A gentleman did a post on the Drought Gardening SA Facebook group recently regarding the beautiful Olla pots he makes and that reminded me that I hadn't put my pots to their intended use yet - the house has been full of family for the last few weeks and their needs came first.

I used pritt multi tack to seal the hole at the bottom in order for the
pot to hold water

But, having been prompted by his posting, I set about experimenting.

I took the 21cm / 3.0 lt pot, sealed the drainage hole with pritt multi tack, filled the pot, and left it for 3.5 hours whilst we went through to Swellies for our weekly shopping. 

A piece of our wood mulch to make opening the lid to check the
 water level easier

Upon my return from town the success of the experiment is visible - as can be clearly seen water has "leaked" through the clay into the bucket.

Water seepage out of the pot after 3.5 hours

Having cleaned our local co-op out of this sized pot I have asked them to order 6 more. This is a definite winner. I believe that using grey water in these posts will also help to filter out a fair amount of "debris" (and maybe to a point some contaminants) in the water too.

The drop in water level is due to:
 1 absorption by the dry clay
 2 seepage through the clay pot - JUST what I was hoping for 😀

To say I am thrilled and excited is putting it mildly. I am sure that the problems I've experienced with the veg "bolting" is now a thing of the past.

My new olla pots in situ

The best thing of all - the pots weren't expensive - roughly R72.08 / pot (US$5.86 or £4.14) with drip tray lid.  Perfect 😀

Merry, Merry and Happy, Happy

May the Reason for the Season abound in your homes.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours.