101 little things that tell you you're self-sufficientish

[Stonehead]

No livestock, brewing or vege gardens here, I'm looking for the little things - the smells, sounds, feelings, sights, tastes, etc.

1. The busyness of bees. Since our bees died, the croft has been much less active and happening.
2. The bubbling of fermenting alcohol.
3. The smell of yeasty bread (not the baking smell, but the fermenting smell).
4. The background scent of onions and garlic hanging in their strings.
5. The smell of vinegar and spices in September and October.
6. The smell of brine when you open up your bacon vat to check its progress.
7. The cackle of a hen that's just laid the world's biggest, boldest, bestest egg! (Every hen lays this one every day.)
9. The smell of new mown grass/hay.
10. The rich earthy aromas of decay when you turn the compost heap.
11. The sizzle and snap of burning wood.
12. The smell of limewash.
13. The smell of just-turned loam.
14. The feel of just-turned loam at the end of summer, when it's warm all the way through.
15. The smell and feel of a freshly pulled carrot.

I could continue, but it must be someone else's turn...

[2steps]

16. Tons of tomatoes ripening on the window sills after the plants got blight
17. Rows of delicious jams and chutneys that make you smile everytime you open the larder
18. seedlings on the window sill waiting to go out

[Martin]

19)during a power cut, you look out at your wind turbine, grin, and switch the lights on!
20)You then wander off to have your solar heated bath!
Sorry! - couldn't resist it!

[dibnah]

21) the pain in your back
22) the excitement of the first seedling
23) the understanding of your environment

[Han&Matt]

24. spotting the subtle change in the seasons two weeks before everyone else (who wait for the temperature to change..)
25. realising it has been weeks since you last bought anything to eat from a shop
26. perspective and humility
27. fear of those who don't understand....!

[shiney]

28. Looking at the greenhouse that needs cleaning out after the tomatoes have been picked!

29. Going into the garden and finding that the rocket you thought had been totally scoffed by the snails is alive and kicking. It was a real bonus to add it to the salad last night.

[Andy Hamilton]

Inspired thread..

30. The musty smell of charity shops
31. The number of clothes that become allotment clothes after being ripped, stained and generally used for more than just looking ok.
32. The obsession with the weather forecast, getting anyoned if anyone speaks through the countryfile weather forecast as it is the best.
33. The taste of the first pea
34. The constant mud in the hallway
35. Spotting the difference between the tiny little flies that live in the compost.
36. Smiling back at the 'bad boys' who are actually taking the pi** as you have mud on your face, and not caring.

[Stonehead]

37. The shlop, shlop of boots in mud after two days of the steadiest rain in three years.
38. The squeals of delight when your pigs realise you have new straw for them.
39. Watching your boys graze the vegetable patch as they play.
40. Realising that you're the stinky minger in the queue in the post office.
41. Laughing quietly to yourself when the two boys in front of you in the queue each accuse the other of being the stinker!
42. The whik, whik, whik of a stone being used to whet the scythe.
43. The juicy crunch as you bite into the first ripe apple of the season.
44. The taste, feel and smell of warm blackberry juices running down your chin as you eat more than you pick.
45. The smell of "super soup" at it nears the end of six hours preparation and cooking, and you've just come in from an hour's hard work in mud up to your knees with rain bucketing down.

[Cheezy]

46. The regular bollocking you get from the OH, due to the piles of horded gear that nobody else wanted like: radiators,stone,bricks,wood,plastic,tiles,glass,metal,sinks,motors,copper pipe,old wire,light switches,washing machine parts ad infinitum all of which will become useful at sometime as yet unspecified with your next project. Or become essential just after you dispose of them due to the constant badgering.

[den_the_cat]

47. that lovely feeling when you stretch your feet and wriggle your toes after taking your boots off

48. the smell of fresh herbs when you open the back door

49. the realisation one summer night that that you've gone a week without switching the TV on and haven't missed it at all

[Millymollymandy]

50. You are the only person on the Brittany forums who is happy when it rains!

51. Spending quality time with the hens.

52. You get really excited when someone delivers you a load of old jam jars.

[Wombat]

53. boiling eggs on the sloar cooker
54. The smell of bread baking in the backyard, coming from the solar oven
55. The soft bloop, bloop (short "oo") noise in the garage as your batteries charge up.
56. Watering the veggies without turning on the reticulated water
57. Making a meal of mostly home produce
58. The smell of the orange blossom in the backyard
59. The taste of home made lemon cordial

[Shirley]

60. Knowing that if you are stuck you can log onto www.selfsufficientish.com and ask fellow Isher's for advice.

[Andy Hamilton]

a couple of cycling ones inspiered by this morning to start with

61. The feeling of smugness as you cycle to or from work past the massive jams on the road.
62. The feeling of smugness as you cycle back from the allotment at 8am after doing an hour or two of work past the massive jams on the road.


63. The sound of pet gerbil munching up your cardboard waste ready for the compost or mulch.

[2steps]

64. stained fingertips from sending the morning destalking elderberries

65. the reasuring feeling you get when walking through the park etc and being able to reconise plants and know what you could use them for and their benefits

66. the slight smugness that none else around you has a clue re the above point