Kill-A-Watt

Our electric bill has gotten out of control, so we are taking drastic measures. We can access our electric usage for the last 18 months. Using this number we have come up with an average monthly usage of 2948.9 KWH per month or a daily average of 98.2 KWH. WOW! This is way too high. With the skyrocketing costs of electricity these days it won't be long until our electric bill exceeds our mortgage payment. Not acceptable.

I have been doing a lot of research and learning ways to cut down on our electric usage. Keep in mind that we have a 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath house. We have 3 deep freezers and 2 refrigerator/freezers, plus the house is all-electric. That means water heater, stove, central air and heat, and most importantly, well pump. We also have a milking parlor, Bob's workshop, doe barn, chicken coop, brooder house, and now a buck barn. All have lights and/or fans. The milking parlor also has my radio and a small refrigerator.

After getting our newest electric bill, I decided that it was time for us to conserve. This is an old house that has very few updates, so conserving electricity without some major overhauls is going to be interesting.

The first thing that we did was turn off the refrigerator in the milking parlor. It was running way too hard in this 100º heat, so we turned it off for the summer. We also cut the breakers to the outbuildings, unless we are out there. We had lights and fans running even when no one was out there, which was a pure waste. The next thing I did was to defrost and clean out the 3 freezers. By defrosting and organizing, we were able to condense them to 2 freezers (not counting the refrigerator/freezers). We will keep the third one empty and unplugged until fall (hunting season and we will butcher the hog). One key to help a freezer to run more efficiently is to keep it full. When we have an empty space in the freezer, we place a plastic bottle full of water in that spot. Once frozen it will keep the temperature in the freezer from fluctuating. It costs more to run an empty freezer than it does a full one! It also uses just as much electricity to run a full load of clothes in the washer as it does a partial load.

We also did the standard things to make our house more energy efficient. We do not run air conditioning until the house is over 85º, and then we are only running energy efficient room air conditioners. Our central air unit is nearly 30 years old and is far from efficient! We also changed out all the incandescent bulbs to the new compact flourescent bulbs.

I am doing a daily reading of our electric meter to help us pinpoint where our electricity is going and help reduce usage. We have gone from an average of 98.2 KWH per day to 78.2 just by the few changes we have made. My goal is to keep our average use below 75 per day during the warm months, and cut that to below 50 per day for the cold months.

One other thing that we did was buy a nifty gadget called a Kill-A-Watt moniter. This handy dandy device plugs into any wall outlet, then you plug in your appliance. You can set it according to your electric rate (the rate that your electric company is currently charging you) and find out how much your appliance is costing you to run each hour, day, week, month, and year. By using this you can actually show the kids how much money they waste by leaving on a lamp or a fan; and it is interesting to find out which appliances cost you money even when they are turned off.

1 Tree + 1 Roof = 4 Holes

We have been praying for rain. After such a wet spring, we have had a long dry summer so far. Thursday night it looked like our prayers were to be answered. There was a cool front moving in and it was bringing rain with it.

Unfortunately, it brought some severe wind with it as well. Our old split oak tree finally turned loose. God has been bringing this tree down for us one piece at a time. It withstood the winds of Hurricane Rita, it held it's own during Hurricane Ike....although it did lose a few branches. But this summer wind storm was too much for it to bear. Here is a picture of it the day after Hurricane Ike. It lost some branches, but you get an idea of it's size, and proximity to the house.

The noise it made when it hit the house was horrifying. Bob got up on the roof to evaluate the damage.The power was out, and stayed out for about 13 hours. The next day we were able to begin the process of cleaning off the roof and evaluating what we need to do.
It is nothing short of a miracle that more damage was not done, and no one was injured. Here's the view from the roof.

The goats are happy to help with the clean up duty...but this is gonna take a chain saw.

The Toe Must Go On....and other projects

Okay, first I want to thank all of the well-wishers that wrote me about my toe. I appreciate the good thoughts. :) The toe is coming along...and doesn't hurt unless I try to put it in a shoe or bend it in any way. Needless to say, that leaves me barefoot and looking for projects indoors. It has changed to a lovely purple now, and as you can tell I am very whiney.

Yesterday we started working on freezers. Oh my. What a job. We have 2 refrigerator/freezers and 3 deep freezers. I started with the freezer from our kitchen fridge. It gets the most abuse. Bekah and I worked all day to empty it, scrub it out....and filled it with misc. items from the deep freezers that need to be used soon. It's so much more organized now! And empty!

Today we started on the dog's freezer. We raw feed our dogs, so we have a freezer designated for the dog food. It's never on my priority list for cleaning...until today. I can't recall defrosting it in....at least 2 years! That stack in the corner is milk that has been set aside for soap making....other than that...it's all chunks of ice that has built up. What a mess! It's in the process of the big thaw now.
I'm sure the dogs won't notice any difference in the quality of the meat....but at least I'll have this project done! The pigs are getting of milkcicles today!

Ouch!

This morning I was gathering a load of laundry and turned quickly and stepped into a wall that sticks out in the bathroom, hitting my little toe full force against the corner of the wall. OUCH! My toes are goofy looking enough, I sure didn't need to break this one! Oh well, at least it gives me an excuse to sit down and spend more time at the computer. When did I get to be so accident prone?

Stormy Fun, Miracles, and a Harvest Update!

Late evening Wednesday we began having thunderstorms that continued all through the night. Thursday morning it was still a bit rainy, but most of the bad storms had passed. I got up and started my morning chores and halfway through milking we lost power. No power at our house also means no water, since our well pump runs on electricity. Ususally, if a storm knocks out power we are only off for an hour or so. This time the electric company was saying that so many folks were without power, it would probably be 24 hours before they restored it!

I try to stay prepared for such emergencies. We have a 55 gallon water barrel that we keep ready, we have a gravity water filter, and have a creek running through our property (for lugging water to animals). We also have a ground pit for campfire cooking, my "outdoor kitchen" propane grill, and of course Bob's smoker/grill. So cooking food and drinking water are usually not an issue.

Since the temperatures have been in the mid-90's all week, I knew we would never be able to sleep in the house that night, so Rebekah and I decided to set up the tent to let it air out. I figured it would be much cooler in the tent than in the stuffy house. We got the tent up, built a make-shift canopy (our canopy got broken during a storm a few months ago but we still had the frame), and cracked open the monopoly game!

Miracle #1
We've had temperatures in the mid 90's all week. This IS east Texas in the middle of June. The humidity is high and so are the temps. But THAT day, the day we had no fans or air conditioning.....our high was 73º. The Lord blessed us all day with cool breezes and overcast sky!

Mom, Rebekah, and I shopped in the morning (the stores in town still had electricity), and then things heated up with a serious game of Monopoly. We played for at least 5 hours.

Miracle #2 Our power was restored that evening!!


I have to admit, I have seriously neglected our poor garden. Our pitiful cold weather plants were left to die in this east Texas heat. Our peas are toast. I mercifully ended the suffering of the beets, we got 3 that developed a bulb....the rest were struggling to survive....
The baby carrots did REALLY well, especially considering the lack of care I have given them! We harvested 1#11oz of the tastiest baby carrots you've ever sunk your teeth into!

Our asparagus is still holding strong, we have 3 ears of corn developing.....and a LOT of potatoes. I think it's high time to get things tilled, get some goat poop in there....and plant some melons and cucumbers!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is mom's birthday! I won't say how old she is...

But she looks pretty good for 70 doesn't she?

My Little Girl...

Yea, I know...she's nearly 18....but she is still my sweet, innocent, darling, firstborn daughter. After 2 boys I could not wait to put pink on something! As a baby Stephanie was always dressed in matching shoes, socks, dresses, and a bow or headband on her head. The poor baby was bald until she was 2. Then when she was 2 her older brothers talked her into playing "barber shop" and shaved her head.

Today my little girl started working at a "real job". I say a real job because now she is working for a paycheck. She is a very hard worker, and has been working since ... well pretty much since she could walk. As a toddler she worked hard at having temper fits and making messes. As a young student she worked hard to learn to read and write....and despite the fact that she hates math, she worked hard to learn. As a young lady she worked hard to help me with housework and learned to sew. Over the last few years she has helped with milking goats, doing laundry, cleaning the house, and has always maintained a B+ average (that math gets her every time!). As a teenager/nearly adult she has continued working hard at her studies, helps with barn chores, household chores, having temper fits...but at least now she cleans up messes!


Today she started working at Sonic Drive In. My favorite fast food. I couldn't be more proud! I wanted to document her accomplishment by getting a picture of her standing proudly in her brand new uniform.

As with anything having to do with Stephanie....it's not a snapshot, it's an event.

First she had the giggles....Then she had to yell at her sister.....Then she had to fix her hair....Don't let that smile fool you, she wants to kill me. I keep taking pictures of her. Pictures when she's "not ready".....
But just LOOK at how cute she is in her uniform! *sniff* *sniff* My little girl is growing up!