This year has raced by - as in ‘Time flies when you’re having fun’. To tell the truth we were taken by surprise when we realized Two Ice Floes was coming up on its one year anniversary. On the one hand it feels like we are just getting started with where we would like to see this website go. But on the other it is hard to believe it has only been a year since we entered TIF mode with you our readers, acquaintances and new friends.
Even as we continue to discuss this initial mile marker and all its ramifications, we are both quite pleased with our efforts thus far and the path TIF has travelled during its first year. Most of all we feel fortunate to be in a place and time where such a diverse group of kind and thoughtful people can find each other to kibitz and share ideas. What we would give for the opportunity to gather all of us in the same room for a day or evening banquet in order to meet one another and have the opportunity to marvel at our unique group. Continue reading Two Ice Floes – The First Year→
In my youth I always felt sympathy for people who didn’t celebrate some or any holidays, especially those days I held dearest. Birthdays were an occasion to feel special, a “my day” event that everyone received in their own honor. As I grew older, birthdays became a mile marker to chart my accomplishments and celebrate surviving another trip around the sun.
Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, New Year’s Eve & Day, Saint Patrick’s Day, the 4th of July, Memorial Day and Labor Day are each their own event with designated themes and appropriate behavior fully expected. We even have new holidays and events which have been crafted just for us modern people such as Superbowl Sunday and Black Friday. Continue reading Rituals Known As Holidays→
It seems a bit backwards that we Cogs have spent this cold, snowy week immersed in learning about the pros and cons of solar energy. Too windy to cut wood and too wet and slippery to be outside except for chores, Cog began tackling the tricky issue of using a solar powered system as a backup power supply for our well. The devil is in the details he carefully explained. “Amps times volts equals watts.”
Gently teasing me about my status as a former urban princess, meaning one who expects to have things work at the flip of a switch and to pay someone to fix it when it breaks, Cog pointed out I came into this homesteading experience with little to no technical understanding of household systems. Electrical, plumbing and structural concepts were for the specialists, not homeowners who don’t even know that ‘amps times volts equals watts’. Continue reading Amps Times Volts Equals Watts→
