Rain Barrel Management

We've had a rain barrel under one of our downspouts for years. In our city, it's important to manage rainwater which routinely floods our ancient combined sewer system and pollutes the river which pollutes the bay downstream. I use the rainwater to water our outside plants. In hot weather, the water gets a little smelly - haven't tried very hard to solve this problem in an eco-friendly way, so I want to know if you have solutions (and any other rain barrel management tips - you can see we are a no-frills operation).

I think most people in our area disconnect their rain barrels from their downspouts in freezing temps, but we have not. I do actually use rainwater through the winter on houseplants and with compost activities. It is important to keep the rain barrel from freezing as the ice can damage the barrel itself as well as the spigots and overflow spouts through expansion and thawing. On warmish days, I would try to remember to drain water as needed to keep the rain barrel at half full or less. 

But I have hit on a more successful (for me) method: the stock tank heater. I don't love shopping as entertainment but it is true that sometimes shopping without a plan yields exciting problem solvers. I didn't even know there was such a thing as a heater for an animal's drinking water! 

"K&H De-Icer"

I just plug it in when the temperature is cold enough long enough to freeze the barrel. I do have to use an extension cord, which is not recommended, but our outlet is a new GFCI outlet so I am comfortable with the safety. The cord has a plastic sleeve to protect it from the top barrel edge as the heater floats along in the rain barrel. 

After I bought this heater and had it going, my dad told me it's possible to buy stock tank heaters that are "temperature limited," meaning they run on a thermostat and only heat the water to a pre-set temperature. That seems like a prudent energy saver that I would look for next time. 

I have now put away the stock tank heater three times this spring, mis-judging the depth of cold still in store for us. I am almost scared to put away the cold weather things again! Sadly, our neighbor's gorgeous magnolia buds were ruined in the last surprise cold spell, and I will miss the creamy pink blooms this spring. 

Mittens Yet

Last fall, I made Phoebe nice black felted wool mittens from an old sweater. I even placed the cuffs on the ribbing so that they hugged her wrists. She ignored the mittens all winter until I finally realized they were just too plain (and sophisticated and New Yorky) for her style. I offered to add hearts to them and then would she wear them? Oh yes, little pink hearts stitched on with blue perle cotton were just the ticket. 

I am still using the Purl Soho mitten pattern. It is so fast and uses just scraps of warm fabric! I can't justify knitting mittens again when these fleece ones are warm, fast, and economical. Plus, mittens are easy to lose, for anybody, not just kids, so I'm very pleased to have found easy, thrifty replacements. 

I even made myself a pair of leopard print fleece. I added a lining of grey knit cotton because I like very warm hands. 

We are having some spring-like days here and there - once I even put away the sleds and snowpants and stock tank heater from the rain barrel. That drew the attention of the snow gods and we got a not-little snowstorm, indeed we did. Spring, you really bring the drama! I have both my mittens and my barefoot sandals in rotation right now. I love it. 

Family Salmon Pie

This is like shepherd's pie, only with canned salmon and white sauce instead of beef and gravy. I riffed on two recipes. One came from The Little Irish Baking Book, which is a delightful read that tucks me into the Irish countryside.

The other recipe was from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Country Cookbook, which is delightful for the interior photos of Rocky Ridge. 

I added some parsley and spinach with the peas, and kicked up the white sauce with some onion, celery seed, and dry mustard. When I drained the liquid off the canned salmon, I used that as part of the liquid for the white sauce. 

Even so, I thought the whole thing was a little on the bland side, but my family was enthusiastic. My husband called it comfort food. Good thing they all had seconds because the pie filled up my casserole dish more than I expected from my guesstimates and I was hoping I didn't have a big dud on my hands.

 

My mom filled this same casserole dish with macaroni and cheese when I was a kid. . . comfort food. . . one of the nostalgic necessities of home life.

And also, I realized I was making this Irish recipe wearing the Irish fisherman's sweater my parents got in Ireland in the 1970s when my mom was pregnant with me. I love these objects freighted with memories which are also in happy use in my current life!

Seeking Advice on This Houseplant

My Grandma Weaver's house was full of houseplants, many of them given to her from owners who gave up trying to keep the plants happy. The entire wall in her daylight basement housed babies and big ones of all kinds, nurtured in plastic margarine tubs, yogurt cups, or old plastic nursery pots. When she passed on to glory 20 years ago, I was thrilled to get two of her houseplants.

My sister and I shared the jade plant and have propagated many baby jade plants successfully over the years (Locals! You can always hit me up for a baby jade plant). 

However, I am baffled by the spiderwort plant I have. It has nice looking pink and green tips, but all these papery dead leaves on the rest of the stems. I have tried re-potting, different light, re-propagating and starting over.. . . but it always reverts to this disheveled look with pretty tips.

It still looks strange even with the dead leaves removed.  I'm loathe to ditch the spiderwort because it's a direct connection to a grandma I cherish. . . but I'm not pleased with its looks. Any advice for getting rid of those dead-looking stems/leaves? For getting it to look less scraggly?

I think partly what is going on is that perfectly-shaped houseplants in trendy pots are terribly popular right now. This is testing my loyalty to my houseplants that are less cute. Also, spring is springing and I feel the urge to clean up, freshen up, and refurbish all the things. 

Saving Towels and Washcloths

 Maybe it's just at our house, but our towels start to fray along the edges well before the actual terrycloth is worn out. I trim the strings off, zig zag the edge in matching thread, and then fold it over just a quarter-inch to stitch it down. Makes a new edge and the towel keeps going. 

Currently most of our bath towels are wedding presents from 22 years ago. . . and counting! 

Then there was this washcloth that turned up with a frayed corner. It looks like a dog chewed on it, but that's puzzling since we don't have a dog. So I cut off the top strip entirely and stitched down the flat part to make a new edge. Let's see if that one can go 22 years, too. 

A Calico Tunic for Phoebe

 Phoebe does really love her leggings, so I bought her a stripey pair as a Christmas stocking stuffer and found some blue calico in my stash to make her a tunic. In fact, all the materials for this tunic were on hand.

I have used this pattern before for Genevieve. 

As I sorted through notions for the tunic, I discovered the most astonishing matching flannel, a scrap I have had in my stash for years and enjoyed looking at.

Look! It matches like the calico and flannel came from the same fabric line in 1970! Different fabrics bought as scraps from different stores, marinating in my stash for years, joined in such happiness. I just love it. Phoebe does too!

Why and How I Hang Laundry Outside in Frigid Winter

 Choose the whites to hang in sunny frozen winter. They will bleach!

I am willing to get numb fingers for anything that can really benefit from a free bleach. Otherwise, I put the unmentionables and rags, etc. inside on the radiators. Here, I hung these bits outside when the ambient temperature was 12F with a real-feel of 3F. The clothes were frozen stiff within the 5 minutes it took me to do this. 

Their line-dried deep-winter fresh scent was just exactly what I crave.

Also, please notice my nice big clothes dryer! It is this one from Lehman's, made in the USA. My old one was a similar umbrella style and had been repaired and babied along and rusted for a number of years now until it dramatically flopped to the ground this past summer (yes, with laundry on it - sighhh). 

I am very pleased with my sturdy new one. It is leaning to one side because I simply used my old ground screw (like a pipe you literally screw into the ground which provides a hole for the clothesline to stand in and is flat to the ground otherwise for mowing or running over). which is slightly large. The clothes dryer comes with its own ground screw which I'm sure, some day, I will get around to installing. When the weather is bad or we want the whole yard for our activities, I remove my clothes dryer from the yard. It can hold 4-5 loads of laundry, although keep in mind that my washing machine is on the smaller side. I am really happy with this clothes dryer and drying our things without electric or gas. 

My friend, also in town, uses the Amish method of pulleys with the clothesline high above her yard. Another city friend has a drying rack that she puts outside in good weather. Many ways to get the wet clothes out in the fresh air!