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Monday, January 12, 2015

Monday Musings and a Great Challenge Update.

In my out-with-the-old approach with this new year, I started listing things for sale and for free.  I am on some fiber groups on FB - mostly to see what kind of fleece there is out there and who has Icelandic and how much they charge.  I'm trying to get myself motivated to finish skirting and cleaning my 500 fleeces (fleeci?) and move it out of the house.  Before spring - when it will be 503 fleeces/i.  I decided to sell some leftover supplies from my wayward weaving days - five spools of carpet warp.  No big deal.  Well, it has all turned into a big stinky mess.  The woman who 'bought' it couldn't manage PayPal, so was sending a check.  Me, she-who-lacks-common-sense, said okey-dokey, just send me a check.  Then I mailed the warp.  And waited.  And waited.  And sent messages.  And waited some more.  Nada.  I went to the group administrator and she was very nice (didn't call me an idiot) and tried to reach her.  More nada.  So I posted what happened and, lo and behold, NonPayingWoman popped up with lame excuses.  I mean, really.  But, what was really interesting (and the gist of this long, rambling paragraph) were the comments to my post.  It was everything from someone, indeed, calling me an idiot (I didn't take offense), then six more people calling her an idiot for calling me an idiot, it was wild.   It remains to be seen if this nimrod will send me a check.

This social media stuff is very alarming to me.  Call me a fogey, but it seems that the anonymity of it all seems to give people the license to be vicious.  And, on the opposite end of the spectrum, the huge success of people posting a video of everything they do in a day is very sad,  Really?  Do I care if Michael brushes his teeth for six minutes?  Or that Mindy moved in with her boyfriend?  I do not.  To me it seems as if so many young people are putting their own lives on hold, while they sit and stare at someone else's lame life.  Sad, sad, sad.  Get out there and experience life, you whippersnappers!  That's an order from Aunt Sweezie.

My Non-Grocery List
 Enough of that.  Let's all sit and read about my Great Challenge.  (snort)  I've decided to do a weekly update - aiming for Mondays, but you know how it goes...  I am going to set up a separate tab to list everything I use during this quest.  Anything I grew/processed myself or that is local will be in bold.  I have also decided (since Mama Pea was concerned about my greens intake :)) that there are some things I can replenish - things in season, like carrots and greens - with the caveat that they all be locally grown.  This means hunting down winter farmers markets.  I think there are a couple around.  Also, there is a local coffee roaster, so I am saved.  You do not want me to post anything if I've run out of coffee,  Trust me on this.

One of my Big Daddys that didn't freeze.
So far, I have made:

Oatmeal with blueberries
Lentil soup
Corn/sweet potato soup
Sweet/sour beef with rice

For a full list of ingredients (this will help me figure out what I do and do not need to plant next year) take a look at the tab.  It will also become very apparent that I have a food 'situation'....


P.S. If anyone can clue me in on how to get my second page included here, I would greatly appreciate it.
Signed,
Technically Challenged

16 comments:

Sue said...

I agree that this internet thing can give folks license to act in ways they normally (??) would not. Maybe these are really mean people in real life. I don't know. I just know that I find myself more reading the "comments' portion of news stories now than the actual news story. Interesting and downright SCARY. There are a LOT of very angry people "out there". I think there is a lot more mental illness and bad manners than we realize.
Hope you get your check. If not, know that in the end--people GET what they deserve. Just always works out in the grand scheme of things.

Mama Pea said...

Your "second page . . . ? " Heck, I can't even figure out where your "tab" is.

Signed,
Extremely Technically Challenged
(But we all knew that already, didn't we?)

Susan said...

Sue - Yes, I definitely believe in Karma. I gave up reading comments on most things except the blogs I follow. It is way too scary.

Susan said...

Mama Pea - I found where to add the page/tab, but it goes into error mode. It's very frustrating. I may have to resort to a side bar list. Aren't you impressed with my technoese?

DFW said...

I so agree with your take on the downfall of social media. It really makes me concerned for the future 30 somethings. They will not know how to do ANYTHING for themselves because they have spent their teens & 20's in a smart phone fog looking at everyone's drama unfold.

Susan said...

I'm on Facebook as it's handy for keeping up with my Brit relatives. Hate the rest of it.
Do you have any local Swap and Shop sites for selling your excess? Around here everyone knows everyone so it is very hard to get away with bad behaviour. I hope your tab kicks itself into gear. I think i'll doing something similar, re the garden. I already know I overestimated the beans I needed to get me through the winter.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

I don't like to sell anything via the internet anymore. It's a crazy world out there.

Carolyn said...

We've only been to the store this year (yeah, I know, a whole 12 days into it) for apples and bananas for Rhiannon and dog food for the Giant Sloppy Dog. We're eating out of the freezer & pantry. Good luck on your Challenge!
As for your second page. Well, I did it a while back, I think? With the "tabs" at the top of the page, I think? How did I do it? Yeahhhhhhh. No idea, so sorry.
I've been on FB for a while and it is a total time-sucking entity that I really do need to push myself away from, but I do (Honestly!!) get my fix of my far-away sister on FB so it is sort of a necessary evil for me. I guess I just really need to "defriend" everyone else but a select few, which would cut my FB time probably by 80%. Do you think I should send those I'm going to "defriend" a card in the mail or something, or is there a proper protocol for booting someone of your "friends" list? Hmmmm.

Susan said...

Susan - I like the idea of FB, but the reality is really pretty disappointing. Mostly, it's just a regurgitation of stuff that I am not at all interested in. That is a great idea! I use a notebook, but that might be better.

Susan said...

DFW - I foresee a mass of two-legged lemmings, flowing this way and that and....over the cliff. Hope to goD I am part of the compost by then.

Susan said...

Kristina - I wish there were other avenues for commerce around. Like a bulletin board or local free newspaper. I may just hang onto everything and have a giant yard sale. Those are scary enough.

Susan said...

Carolyn - Well, we know that I am in the pet store/feed store every week. It's really amazing how much stuff I have put by. One of these weekends, I'm going to start cataloging everything. I'm sure I could cull out the 50 half-pints of jelly that I will never use. I just can't make myself throw anything out. Is jelly good for chickens? My one sister responds faster to FB messages than anything else and one of my besties is only on FB, so I am stuck as well. Otherwise? I would not be on it. You'll have to ask Aunt Sweezie about unfriending protocol...I have no idea... :)

Michelle said...

You know, it COULD be Blogger's issue, which may or may not be resolved soon. Try not to think it about it for a few days and try again.

Totally agree with you on the social media thing. Even less appealing to me now that I work with, um, some 'crazies'....

farm buddy said...

Hello,
I raise all my own meat, milk, and eggs, and vegetables during the growing season. During these winter months, I have plenty of meat, milk, eggs, and stored squash and potatoes, but no greens. However, I have been growing sprouts, specifically clover sprouts, and they are great! Really good for you too. Today my friend told me about another great idea. She said to get some field pea seeds (you can get 50 pounds of organic field pea seeds for $30.00, which will last forever!), and start them like sprouts. So first soak them in a jar of lukewarm water for 12 hours. Then rinse and drain every 12 hours for two or three days. When they just begin to sprout, put them in a flat with two inches or so of soil and let them grow for about six or seven days or until they are about six inches tall. My friend said these shoots make a great and plentiful salad. I am going to keep growing sprouts and shoots to supply myself with greens until I can get some spinach and lettuce going in my unheated greenhouse. Good luck!

Susan said...

FB - I grow sprouts, too, but am very interested in the pea shoot idea. I have quite a few winter peas and wonder if they would work - I will try it. Thanks so much for sharing that great idea!

Fiona said...

We have been good ....no store yet for food but Ralph does have a Best Buy/Staples problem! I am not sure how I will deal with store tomato sauce when the home made runs out. My first experiments in canning meat have been tasty when used in stir fries and dirty rice.
Good luck with the cheque. There is an integrity issue out there. Now take care and give the poor hard done by pooches and extra blanket for me!