Alas, I cannot afford a house

Well, that's not technically true. According to Coldwell Banker, there are houses available where I live for under $5000, which I probably could afford if I could get a mortgage, too. But, I'm talking about a specific house here, this house:This house is for sale. I like the aesthetics of this house: its roof, its chimneys, its tall windows. Sure the house has its problems (graffiti, a lack of glass in the windows), but for me that's half the charm. The potential of what something could be given a little love and a lot of work is very appealing. I think that's how I developed my nature as a pack-rat. Someday, those piles of clothing I never wear could be remade into something hip and cool. Likewise for the stack of magazines and catalogs. And I actually do have a plan for the phonebooks: slice them into strips and spin them into a "yarn" and then weave or crochet them into baskets (see the link here that I found through whipup.net). I'm convinced that my problem is that my space is not arranged in a way that is conducive to crafting and not that I have way too much stuff.

Incidentally, as I was taking the above photos, I got into a conversation with a man who knew a bit about the house. He thought I might be taking photos "to show to my husband back in Oregon or something." Um, no. I laughed and told him that I just liked the way it looked but if I did have a husband in Oregon, I absolutely would show him the pictures, and the man seemed to understand that and stayed to chat for a little while.

But in the end, I have a roof and walls and I can afford them (and can mostly find the time to do the most necessary cleaning), so that's something. Meanwhile, I will probably have dreams about this house.

P.S. Note the new link in the sidebar to threadbanger. Finally, a crafty site with a bit of an edge to add to my collection.

Ack!

There aren't any posts for August, yet. I must remedy this situation. Trouble is, I have no photos, either. I must remember to keep charged batteries in my camera at all moments.
Thus, this picture comes from Wikimedia Commons and is by André Karwath. Copyright information and details here.

I've been up to quite a bit in August. I froze a quantity of blackberries to match the strawberries. I also froze 12 ears of corn and 4 quarts of tomatoes. Despite my valiant efforts on the local front to prepare for winter, the lack of lemons and the perfect cheeses is going to put an end to this experiment soon. I'll still make the effort, but as with my experiment with vegetarianism, it will be incomplete. The important thing for me is the spirit of the endeavor and not keeping precisely to the letter. For instance, a friend pointed out an article in the New York Times that claims that apples produced and sold in Britain have the same carbon footprint as apples imported from New Zealand (there is efficiency in mass production). However, for me there is more to it than just carbon footprint. There is the selfish reason: fresh apples that haven't been abused by shipping are tastier. And my other reason: I think it makes more sense to support farmers who grow a diverse range of crops rather than ones who produce large quantities of one thing. I have no evidence for this statement, but I believe that growing a diverse range of crops protects our food supply (and our farmers) from the effects of pests and disease. So, I will continue to buy my produce at the farmer's market (as long as I can afford it), but maybe I will feel less bad about buying that lemon.