ninadelamorte

So....where to start?

Well how about the main reason I've been away so long?

Well as many of you know I'm planning on moving to Portland. I thought I would be there by now actually but packing up a house you've lived in for 15 years takes way longer then I expected. So I'm still in Florida. Very broke and living totally off the grid. That is to say for the past 3 months I've been living without power!

Very interesting experience. I've read nearly every Terry Pratchett book (The ones with the witches are my favorites!), I've learned how to cook amazing meals using a propane grill, charcoal grill and a wonderful little fire pit. Cooking over actual fire is my favorite and I've been making some amazing lentil soup.

I've discovered that light weight clothes are the best thing to wear since they are much easier to wash by hand. (I have a fabulous glass and wood washboard I inherited from my great Aunt that I've been putting to good use!)

I've been doing a bit of sewing on my great grandmother's treadle Singer sewing machine.


I've discovered that the best thing to buy when it comes to candles are the ones they sell for menorahs. Plain white about 4 inches high and they burn for about 3 hours each. Usually all I need for the night and they are very cheap. I also finally found a use for an old oil lamp I'd forgotten I even had.

Showering has been an experience best enjoyed later in the day after the sun has warmed the pipes all day. Florida summer was a lot like living in hell when you have no ac or even a fan. So cold showers were actually a blessing and I've always enjoyed them any way.

But enough about that, I could write a book about everything I learned about living without electricity in an age of computer lifestyles!

The ever so adorable Dewees stayed for much longer then expected. We had 9 full days of fun and yummy cooking. She was not put off by the lack of electricity. I missed the hell out of her when she finally left and I moped around for days. Unfortunately we took no pictures do to lack of a working camera.

Damn hurricanes fucked me a bit. My fault really I had totally forgotten that I had a bit of a leak in the roof above my bedroom. I was reminded at 3am during one of the storms. When the ceiling started to fall in. Luckily I had already switched rooms and was using that room for the packed boxes and junk to get rid of before the move. Good thing my son was still up and screamed the roof is leaking loud enough to startle my ass awake. Fun times.... fortunately the damage was minimal and cost less then $100 to fix.

I have to admit that, though I've missed keeping up with quite a few of the wonderful friends I've made on this site, after about 2 weeks of no internet and I no longer cared. I enjoy having free time to work on some writing, some artwork and all the damn packing!

Sadly I suck though and I've not written a single letter to any of my SG penpals or anyone else. But I have become quite proficient in doing crossword puzzles and I can royally kick ass in Scrabble and Monopoly.

I'm sure there's more to add here but I've so much to catch up to and my internet access is limited til I move. Plus it's going to be dark in a few hours and I need to make dinner before I lose the light. I hate trying to cook in the dark.