New Goals for a New Year!

I am a list maker.  I have quite a few daily and weekly lists on the refrigerator to help me manage my life. One of the lists I make this time of year is a list of goals I would like to accomplish during the year.  While this list isn't posted on the refrigerator, it is written down and I review it four or five times during the year to see if I am on track to accomplish each goal.

This list usually includes things I can do or learn to do that will help me in my journey to live a frugal and self reliant life (preferably without using electricity).  Last year I had two major self reliant goals:

• Make my own vinegar (You can see how I did that here.)
• Make my own cooking oil (Santa gave me a Piteba oil press for Christmas. I am working on setting it up now. I will post about how to make your own cooking oil soon!)

This year I have three frugal and self reliant goals to accomplish. I think this may be a bit aggressive but I am going to try!

• Grow my own popping corn. We love popcorn at our house and we purchase a lot of microwave popcorn.  This is not sustainable without grocery stores and electricity. I want to grow and dry my own so I can pop it over a fire. Popping corn also makes great cornmeal when you grind it. I am not an expert on growing corn so we will see how it goes this summer. Completing this goal will mean there can be two additional items I can cross off the list of what I must purchase at the store.
• Make my own vegetable rennet. I use vegetable rennet now to make cheese but the rennet is in the form of processed tablets that I purchase. This isn't self sustaining either. I want to try to gather my own and make cheese from it. I know it is possible but I have no idea how to do it! This will require some research!
• Make soap from wood ashes. I have been making my own soap for 20 years. We don't purchase any from the store. However, all my soap is made with commercial lye purchased over the Internet. I am a novice soap maker when it comes to using wood ashes. This winter I am saving all the ashes from the fireplace to make soap next spring.

I also want to complete my journey to convert to all non-electric appliances.  To do that I need:

• A hand crank blender.(There are lots of times I would like to use my blender but I don't because it is electric. Usually I place the ingredients in a jar and shake it or beat it with a whisk or hand crank egg beaters. I would like a hand crank blender so I can have the convenience of a blender anytime I want to use it.)
• A carpet sweeper. (Currently I use a broom and/or pick up the carpet and take it outside to shake and beat it. I try to keep the vacuum cleaner use to once a month. Sometimes I make it and sometimes I don't. I believe a carpet sweeper will greatly improve this situation.)
• To fix up my treadle sewing machine. (I need a new belt, some new needles and the machine needs some general conditioning and cleaning. Yes, I can piece quilts by hand but that takes a very long time. Sometimes I enjoy doing it, and sometimes I want to complete the quilt at a faster pace. The treadle machine will greatly help here. In addition, I have some new outfits I would like to make this year and I really don't want to use the electric sewing machine. Once I fix up the treadle machine, I can save the electric sewing machine for when I need fancy stitching or have a need to replace a zipper.) 

I am very excited about completing my new goals! Since I don't know how to complete them all, I will start doing some research soon.  I will be posting periodic updates on these goals throughout the year. Follow along and we can learn how to do them together!