As the Spindle Turns . . .

This is mostly to remind myself. How to use a Kill A Watt meter:
1. Plug your appliance into the meter.
2. Allow it to run for a couple of days or longer. Some folks like 12 hours. Note: Freezers and refridgerators use more power in the summer months.
3. What to do with your reading. We are looking for annual consumption. So a meter that ran for 355 hours, reading 26.24 kWh means (26.24/355)*24 hrs *365 days= 647.5 kWh
Which is what my 1992 GE refridgerator is drawing. The newer model uses 399 kWh for comparison. I could get that number down by replacing the seals or just buy a new one for around $575. Hmmm.

647.5 - 399 = 248.5 kWh annual savings * 10.5¢ per kwh = $26.09 saved annually. Includes both distribution and default service support fees. So $575/26.09 = 22 years to pay for itself. No. I will pass on replacing it. If it was under 10 years, I would probably do it. So a new rubber seal may be more cost effective and should last me another 20 years. Of course, that's unless I go with a DC model connected to a battery bank with PV cells.

It was a good exercise. Thanks to Bill Osuch at the Self Reliant Homestead, http://selfreliantschool.com for the help with the watt meter.

I started doing some energy research. My thought was to get rid of the big fridge and replace it with something more energy efficient. An under-the-counter model could be housed in place of the broken dishwasher. So I went to the nearest appliance center. I picked up a booklet right before they closed. After reading it thoroughly, I found one energy star model and another than runs on DC, which means solar PV and a battery could run it without an inverter. The idea was that my energy savings could pay for the unit. So today we went in to look these things over in person.

Our host was courteous and took us seriously. That was a good start. The models I originally picked out were no longer available. Okay. A comparable model would run $2085 with a stainless door fascia and handle being an extra $380. If we buy by tomorrow at 4 pm, they will pay the sales tax. Yes, you got it, a glorified dorm fridge is $2500. Our host felt a fridge this size would need to be replaced every three years. The bigger units are built for longevity, ie 10 yrs. The small ones are not. When informed we had a twenty year old fridge, he did a bit of a double-take. Our current GE is actually 25 yrs old. He asked if it was a frost-free type. When I said yes, he shut up. He brought us spec sheets on the Sub-Zero model. Mostly, I was interested in the kwh that the fridge uses. It gives me a direct comparison to my existing fridge, which is currently hooked up to an energy meter. The mini fridge was rated at 406 kwh. How to compare -http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2335024/energy-savings-of-new-refigerator-vs-10-year-old-model

I looked up our existing fridge. In its current iteration/model, it runs for $521 at Lowes. It was the most energy efficient fridge you could buy in 1991. It's current energy rating is 382 kwh, more efficient than the high end dorm fridge at 406 kwh. https://www.lowes.com/pd/GE-15-5-cu-ft-Top-Freezer-Refrigerator-White/50260073?cm_mmc=SCE_BINGPLA_ONLY-_-Appliances-_-SosRefrigeration-_-50260073:GE&CAWELAID=&kpid=50260073&CAGPSPN=pla{ifdyn:dyn}&k_clickID=c42e629b-d682-4449-8e5b-1c9d4fa8bcad

Well, I kinda expected the store was high end and catered to the new subdivisions. There is another appliance store that carries a brand called Monogram. They have a nicer model. The produce drawer is bigger. Yes, still high end, about $1700. http://appliances.monogram.com/us/specs/ZIFS240HSS

We also looked over a propane fridge at Lehman's. It costs extra for venting. Can you imagine an unvented burner indoors in winter? Can you say carbon monoxide? It is in the same price range as these high end fridges, roughly $1200 and another $400 for a vent. Vents are required in Canada but not here. Still not satisfied with anything I've seen so far. Sadly, I have not found a DC fridge to run off solar batteries. They do make them. But I want to actually see them. I don't trust pictures. You can't judge workmanship. I haven't even asked where these refridgerators are made. So no solutions, but I have learned a lot. Models older than ten years, savings could range from $50 a year to $200. You can count on $50 for sure based on technology changes in 2007 but measure yours to be more accurate. Also those $38 a year energy cost on the energy tag can be based on diffent numbers. The fridge at the local appliance store assumed 8.8¢ a kwh. The one at Lowes was based on 12¢ a kwh. So no comparison. Sigh.

More bad news. The PA government has not reached a budget argreement with the govenor. Tom Wolf refused to sign the budget because its not balanced. He couldn't veto because they had enough votes to overturn his veto. So it went into effect without signature. The senate is concocting a way to tax fracking but loosen environmental controls. This has accomplished the lowering of the S & P bond status, caused the government to borrow money to keep running, and will hurt Penn State, Temple and Pitt Universities. Part of the state economic plan is to hike my tax on electric and gas this winter. Helluva way to run a railroad. As for my Senior Property Tax Relief, paid for by the PA lottery, kiss it goodbye. Yes, I learned a lot today. Just remember this state is overwhelmingly liberal but the minority figured out how to gerrymander here first. I'm fed up with both sides. Natural gas has all of them in its pocket. #disgusted
https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/state-redistricting-litigation

To all the people who buy from small businesses, buy local, buy from artisans, a big thank you! Your patronage means more than you could know. It means bills got paid, food got bought, art supplies were acquired, show fees were paid, basically allowing us to do more of what we do. Vivat!



Today we awoke with Autumn fast approaching, a chill in the air. The storm from Houston has finally arrived tonight. Knowing the weather would soon reach us, it was another long day of weeding, preparing beds, harvesting, and planting. Somehow I managed to get laundry done, start a custom hat, and get a few dyebaths going. Bread even got made. Orders were shipped. Errands were run. Very productive. The rabbit has been my constant companion. I have to be careful not to step on him as I work. We just happen to be one of the few houses without dogs running around. The rabbit is wild. He's been eating clover and fertilizing my lawn, a great addition to our permaculture system. The oregano was harvested for one last dyebath. The cooked remnants were composted. They will be a great mulch. I am also planning a light yellow dye mix with mint, goldenrod, and tarragon. It will be a lovely experiment, fingers crossed.

Wishing you a safe and restful holiday weekend! Be safe. For those of you along the Texas/Louisianna coast, you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Today I am looking at my family of three's energy usage. Why would I do that? Well, the Public Utility Commission decided to allow a 9% rate increase. For years, our bill was about $35. It slowly inched up to $50. Today's bill is over $80. Our usage is down from three years ago. Going up another 9% to $90 is not an option. We live on a fixed income. Therefore our usage must go down. So how do I cut that bill in half?

Let's look at the usage. The US average electrical use per house is 10,908 kWh a year. Our usage was 6,375 kWh/yr, well below the average. We unplugged the dysfunctional freezer and got it down to 6,090. But this is before the cost of electric went up. So how to proceed?



We have already gone down the road of bulbs long ago. In 1994 I had all compact fluorescents. We did not know then the danger of mercury vapor from broken bulbs. We did recycle the old ones at IKEA. Now we have LED bulbs. So the energy savings went from 13 W a bulb to 9 W on average. Not really much savings there. We saved more than that because several ceiling fixtures have just plain died. I have no light in three basement rooms, the kitchen light is on its last legs, and no light in one upstairs bedroom. But as Paul Wheaton frequently points out, lights were never really part of the problem. This was really about newer technology and a drive to get consumers to fund it. And fund it we did. We are so gullible.

So where then do I start? We experimented again with turning off all the ghosts. Ghosts are devices that draw power even when they're turned off. Things like computers, printers, scanners, the LED on the power strip, the TV, cable, and so on. For about a month, we religiously turned off the power strips at night, shutting everything down. This is probably good for you based on the amount of EMI they produce. Your body just plain needs a break from electronic fields. However, it was hard on the electronics which really weren't designed for this on/off behavior. The amount of money we saved was minimal. Over a longer period and as part of a multiple pronged plan, it could be significant. Start figuring in the early death of modems and computers and it might not be. Have to do more research on that. We did lose a modem during the expeiment.

The big ticket items in this house are the basement dehumidifier, washer, freezer, refrigerator, stove/oven and toaster oven. We also have a food processor and fans that get occaisional use. The dehumidifier is not something we can live without. The basement is too wet. Potentially, a more efficient one could be purchased. An expensive idea was a product called drinkable air, an 8 gallon a day water cooler that pulls drinking water out of the air. It lists for around 3 grand, but is made in the USA. Any money spent is outside our budget at the moment. 3 grand even more so as it does use electricity and not necessarily efficiently. The washer is not an option. It is how we make our living, by felting hats. Newer models do not allow wool to felt as effectively. We have no clothes dryer. Or rather, we use the sun and the furnace in winter. That brings us to the freezer.

We called a repairman and spent $245 on the freezer and the oven last month. The seal on the freezer was reglued into place and the bottom coil in the oven replaced. During the repair, we found out the heating controls on the stove burners need to be replaced as well. We frequently get runaway burners. The repair replaced an oven coil. I believe this will help with cooking time, the amount of time the oven is turned on. This is definitely an opportunity to fix/replace an item that uses excess electricity. The stove looks like a standard 1970s model. But how much will we save? I am going to run a test. If we cook outside on a fire or a Coleman, how much energy will we save per month? Today is not the day to start. It will take time to setup an outdoor kitchen. The Coleman is already on the back porch. The solar oven is not in the best shape but can be used if its really sunny out for baking. I want to set up a fire pit to try out the period clay pot cooking I learned at Gulf Wars. Stay tuned to find out how it goes.

The freezer was repaired but is no spring chicken. I think we bought it in 1990. Replacement parts are no longer made for our model. Ideally, I'd like a propane freezer that sits outside. They use electric until the grid goes down. Then they switch to propane. Lehman's has them as does Real Goods out in CA. Lehmann's is close to here. They serve the Amish community and sponsor a self-reliance podcast. Solar would be good too but I'd need a whole system for that. #Expensive https://realgoods.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Freezer

For the refridgerator, we are looking at an energy efficient model that is about the size of a dishwasher. We found one at Don's Appliance that we really like. https://www.google.com/maps/@40.2484785,-80.1740857,3a,90y,294.62h,71.82t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1snZkB0TQzsaQAAAQYbJLH_Q!2e0 Again, we are looking at spending about $1200. I just can't afford that. Appliance rebates for buying newer, energy efficient models are only $50. With advent of the pro-coal and the loosening of environmental standards, rebates will probably go away. It is market forces like my rate hike that will drive change now. I find it funny that the effiecient German kitchen of the 1920s and 30s thought that a refridgerator was an extravagance. They shopped daily and had milk delivered so why would you need one? A cool box was probably enough. Food was consumed fresh in the city, not stored. Anyway, we could certainly downsize. Our refridgerator's rubber seal is going too. All the sulfur in the air wrecks the rubber. I am looking at a model the size of a dishwasher, that fits under the counter, not a dorm fridge.

The only other items that could be replaced would be my CRT monitor on the Windows 98 machine. The whole computer would have to be replaced since I do not believe there is a USB port. Not doing another Windows machine. Sorry, you can't pay me enough for the aggravation. And there is one special light bulb in the hood over the stove. Did I miss anything? We don't own a microwave. Power tools are not regularly in use. The business scale is turned off when not in use. The iron broke. I do need a new one. The space heaters are only used to prevent pipes from freezing. That's about all I can think of.

For more Permaculture electricity saving ideas, visit Chris Towerton's youtube channel. https://youtu.be/f71-SYFaGbI

* April was an anomaly. It covers the month prior. My husband was in the hospital and I was at Gulf Wars so very little washing and cooking occurred, only my daughter was home.

I worked at the local grocery today, handing out samples of yogurt. Six hours of standing on hard concrete under glaring light while smiling and maintaining a welcoming demeanor. Dehydrated, tired and hungry, I came home rather grouchier than normal. Dehydration muddles up everything. Can't think straight to cook. Numbers make less sense. I get to do it all over tomorrow.

I am also juggling Ursula's Alcove's orders, answering questions, doing receipts, ordering merchandise, and so much more. Have patience please. Keeping multiple peoples' questions straight while trying this juggling act is not easy. See, there is no take-a-number system when dealing with me online. I answer everyone in the order received. Unfortunately, it may appear to you that you are my one and only customer, but there could actually be three people ahead of you. So please have patience especially if an answer requires me to unload a fully packed truck that just came home from a big show. And also prod me in case I owe you information. Notes at large events have a tendancy to get lost. Thanks. I will do my best! As always, I appreciate your business.

Planted High Mowing brand sugar snap peas along the driveway as well as beets today. Flipped the compost pile. Wet compost is heavy. Worked for four hours at Whole Foods. Walked to the library. And wound yarn. Lots of standing. Not bad for an old broad. Also planning displays for Pennsic, packing list, a couple of totes packed. Tried on clothes at Goodwill. I am officially a size 16 once again. I needed black pants for the work uniform. The size 20s I had were too big.

I spent the morning harvesting. I started with the potato onions. They are called potato onions because they grow in clumps like potatoes. Supposedly they are the oldest known breed of cultivated onion, going back several thousand years. The ones I planted in the Kuiper Belt were very small. The soil back there needs work. Probably more water and sun as well. The mulberry tree needs some trimming back to allow more light in.



Then on to the front yard to examine the potato bed. What were thought to be a late season German Butterball potato turned out to be Austrian Crescents, which are an early potato. Yes, they need to be dug up. No the soil isn't loose. These guys ended up turning green from exposure to the sun, rendering them toxic for human consumption. I will use them as seed potatoes for next year. I thought some of the carrots might be ready as well. No. They were wide but only an inch long. I got the back portion of the bed done. The sun got too hot to do more and the honeybees arrived to do their work.

More onions were planted in the next bed. They were laying on top of the soil, begging to come in from the sun. I planted both potato onions as well as yellow rock onions. The yellow rock onions went to seed. I wasn't happy about that. They were supposed to be regular cooking onions. I may have harvested two onions out of the couple pounds I purchased. All the rest were potato onions. Mostly in clumps of three. Usually they are in 5 or 7. The better quality soil and direct sunlight gave me a usable size. Still somewhat small compared to store-bought onions.



Green beans were from a very old seed packet from Ferry Morse. They were not an heirloom. Called yard long beans, this is my second year growing them. 2002 seed germinated last year giving me a basis to continue. They are hanging out in Middle Earth with the raspberry bushes. There are not many, maybee three plants. They seem to be growing fine. They like the trellis. The Purple Queen beans are growing in the SE mandala with the rhubarb. They are a small bush bean.The rhubarb had fresh, young and tender shoots which I also picked.





With the potatoes already dug up, I headed to the backyard where I had planted the rest of the Austrian Crescent potatoes. Sad, isn't it?



After some digging, I determined the top soil to be dry and hot. An inch down was pure wet clay. The potatoes had been steamed by the water and hot sun. They were very squishy. This was my Martian death ray. It is turning the squash plants yellow. Too much water in the clay. Next round it will get a mixing of sand and compost to loosen it up. Or else I'm just going to dig up the clay and starts working cob.

Who knew I had so many? I need more wool. I've got:

onion skins
coreopsis
oregano
sage
lemon balm
lichen
blood root
alkanet
madder
barberry
juniper
walnut
black raspberry
rhubarb
burdock
hollyhocks
dahlias
calendula/marigolds
goldenrod
yellow dock
russian tarragon
carrot tops
grapevines
tomato vines
dandelions
beets
plantain
and even the forsythia will give a color. India Flint uses rose leaves but I've not tried that yet. Come fall, I may try the neighbor's oak leaves. I'm sure there is more. Many of these plants give a different shade in spring than they do in fall. The joy is in experimenting. Some are more colorfast than others. I wonder about the horseradish . . .

And this link turned up http://pioneerthinking.com/natural-dyes

Front yard - Dye plants and Food


A narrow swathe of heat and dying plants while those around them are fine. I've since added a burlap shade cloth. We'll see if it helps. Mulch didn't.


Dye Experiments with Barbary trimmings






Thanks to good friends for seeds, madder among the beets

Kind of a bizarre week. We got home safely from the renfaire. The gate count was way down. I am re-evaluating my business. Amazon bought Whole Foods. The weather is more severe these days. We missed a tornado while we were away. Politics and the 24/7 news cycle is trying to scare everyone to death, false reports of Russia starting WWIII. What do all these things have to do with each other?

They are screwing with my business. I am still trying to recover from 2008. Let's start with that. It was the start of the "Great Recession". I had too much inventory and bad sales that year which set me on a bad financial business path. I borrowed money from my business credit card firm because the local bank would not cut me a loan. Then Capital One hiked everyone's interest rate to 18% who had used their "special check". They were sued because of this. We won. I got a check for $5.00. I still have an interest rate of 18%. I have called them many times trying to negotiate this rate down. Nope. This is nail number one and I did it to myself. Never, ever trust a bank. They are not your friend.

Books used to comprise about 60% of my business profit. Now we move onto Amazon. Since everyone started shopping online, the book industry is dead. Yes, books are coming back, however, not soon enough. E-books first. I lost several suppliers. Some just quit and retired. Some were eaten by other businesses who then destroyed the product line. It is very difficult for me to requalify with new suppliers and have minimum orders with three companies when I used to buy from one. A minimum order is usually around $250; however some suppliers require a first time buy of $1000. Yeah, it sucks. And no, many of them only have one title I want to buy. Then we move on to customers who buy books. I can't compete with Amazon's prices. Publishers charge anywhere from 60% to 80% of the cover price to retailers. So my profit on a book is not very high. Thirdly, gas prices went high and shipping costs went up. You get the idea. This really hurt my business too. So that's nail number 2. I zigged when I should have zagged.

Now we get to a couple of factors that have the same impact. Wage gap. With the average person's disposable income shrinking, there is less money available in the marketplace. Then climate change. Storms are becoming more frequent and severe. More likelihood that an event will get rained out or a flash flood will block off the roads to a site. Then there is the 24/7 scare-the-heck out of everyone so they stayed glued to your tv channel people. Results, less cash is spent at a show and attendance is down. It still costs me the same amount of money to get there but I have fewer sales. More shows are becoming marginal. End result is that I travel less because it lowers my costs.

Secondary climate change impact: With hotter summers and milder winters, socks are not selling. Wool is not selling. Hats are debatable. As they are hand made and take a lot of time, I don't know what my maximum sales could have been. I can only physically make 100 per year. So I have no upper end metric to compare to.

So I am going to have to think about this real hard. I don't know if I even have a product people still want. It is very likely that I saturated my market or that my market is too narrow or possibly too broad. I need to reinvent myself. Businesses go through cycles just like everything else. Hopefully I can learn a thing or two yet. I will still be around. My product selection may be reduced for a bit while I figure this one out.