Independence Days, long overdue

It's been a long while since I posted an Independence Days update. Of course, we are in the dark days of winter so the production aspect is absent. But, here goes the update:

1. Plant something- Yes, I actually did. I planted some chive seeds in a little pot on the kitchen windowsill. I saved some seeds last year from our chives in town and while I could transplant some from there, I thought I'd try to to start some from seed. I also picked up some herb seeds (see the last post) and hope to get the rest ordered soon. I also have figured out where I will do my seed starting this year. I don't have the set up I have used in past years and now I have cats to contend with. I'll do a post on the seed starting cupboard when I get it up and running- I'd hate to spoil the surprise.

2. Harvest something- Nope, only snow and ice. And we've got plenty of both that I'd be willing to share with anyone who feels deprived.

3. Preserve something- not yet. I got a good deal on some organic oranges so we have been saving the peels and will make candied orange peel. I also need to process some apples from the fridge but I'll need to see when I have time to do that.

4. Waste Not- Um, just the usual. We have been really good at remembering to take the cloth bags to the store lately. I did resort to getting little packets of hot chocolate mix for the sledding party the other weekend so that contributed to extra waste around here.

5. Want Not- Hit the sales at the store recently and got some extra dog food and toilet paper- all the things that make the world go around. V picked another 50 lbs of ice melt/rock salt today. Our entire driveway is a skating rink so I'm sure that won't last long.

6. Community food systems- While I haven't actually done this- I'm planning to go to a series of events sponsored by a local organization that promotes local foods and permaculture. 7. Eat the food- Hm, let's see. There was a lovely beef veggie soup of local ingredients, all from stores. Except for milk, eggs and citrus fruit/juice. We've been pretty self sufficient.

It's been a while since I made yogurt but I may be trying that out again in the near future. V is now on his third course of antibiotics trying to kick a sinus infection. He's now on a 2 week course of antibiotics (Levaquin) that are almost guaranteed to shred his guts, hence the yogurt. Hopefully this round will do the trick though. He's been fighting this since just before the start of the year and a month of living with him living with the off and on "ice pick through the face" pain is getting really old. And of course, all three times he has been to the doctor I have had to coerce him to go... sigh... men.