WHINING

Once in a while I just need to whine.

This time each year I consistently go into my whining phase about POWER so I might as well get it out publicly.

We live, as we termed it in Alaska, in the BUSH. Rural, limited access, the boonies, off the grid, however you want to say it. Here we are unplugged from the luxuries of the civilized world (malls and freeways and coffee shops...luxuries????) and left to our own devices, EXCEPT we do have the luxury of electricity from our small summer store from June through mid-September. For a marginal cost of $240!!!!! for 24-7 electricity, I can sew and iron to my heart's content whenever I feel like it. We do have our own generator, and we do have a battery bank, but they are for limited uses of power, especially with the price of fuel so high these days.

Need I tell you what recently happened? Yes, we've been cut off. Now I have to get my mental watts calculator out and add up power uses as to what I'm able to do. It's that iron, with its 1700 watts of megapower sucking up the generator's capacity that is my main problem.Never again (this fall) can I sew and press all in the same sitting (except when OUR generator is running...maybe every other day), so I have to rethink the whole process. Sewing sessions are for when our battery bank is on, and that system can only handle so much usage...music and lights on at the same time while I'm quilting? Not possible...it's one or the other. I do my planning and cutting and design work and handwork during "dead" times, and save up other projects for energy times. The piles are waiting. And dyeing???? Its the perfect activity on a no-power day, but then there may be a wait for the washing machine and dryer.

So I have to rethink my patterns of work during this time of the year and also when we return in April. That's where the whining comes in. Thankfully it doesn't last long as I realize the whining itself only takes away from doing what I most love to do...CREATE! And, on the positive side, I guess I'm now approaching quilting with an effort to reduce my carbon footprint on the planet, so that's a good thing too!