with an icebox, the ice sits at the top and a pan below collects water. We had a spigot to let it out the bottom. My mom was sure glad to get a refrigerator and then we had icecream. Every night my father had a bowl of vanilla icecream.

Hmmm. cool. Was the icebox made of metal or wood? How was it insulated? How bg was it and how much room was there for foods? Did it work more like a freezer or a fridge?

Today:
-I am still changing out the finished dehydrated apples
-adding sliced tomatoes to newly empty dehydrator shelves
-pulling sprouts out from cut tomatoes and putting into fridge for later
-using rainwater on fruit trees
-stirring compost a little with an old chair leg
-put out food for Giles, the black feral cat
-make dinner caprese salad from garden tomatoes and basil, with garden fennel, chives and garlic
-applies diatomaceous earth to outdoor kitchen floor and counter, and also in indoor areas when I have been seeing them ants

Oh - I see you are tending to a feral cat! My Mom does a great deal of this where she lives in Oregon. I tell people she has become the "cool version of the crazy cat lady." She feeds feral cats that are near her home, and she has found little patches of them in other parts of the city where she lives.

Anyway, I wanted to post to mention that some areas will have a reduced rate for spaying/neutering/getting vaccinations for an obviously feral cat. My Mom will set aside a little money and then use borrowed live traps to get the cat. She then takes them in to the local Humane Society and has the resultant surgery done. My mother could not afford to pay full price, and it is heartbreaking to see these animals when they have to care for kittens or wind up with a bad disease.
So, another frugal tip - you can check to see if you can get these animals preventive care for free or cheap in your area!

Oh, and a side note - my Mom has great stories about accidentally live trapping her housecats.

I've worked out vouchers and such and even have a resource for the trap and neuter process - but i am exhausted from cat rearing at this time. I've been bottle feeding babies and raising kittens for the last few months and don't have the energy left for organizing the feral thing. It's on my long term list.

Jilly needs a break from saving feline lives.

Great idea for a post, though! Thank you!

I will start a post soon about exactly how to get cheap and free neuters. It's a huge issue around here, and in many places in the world. Trapping and killing does not work (besides being barbaric), since nature abhors a vacuum. Only trapping/spaying/releasing decreases kitten populations.

Jilly, the icebox was white enamel metal and I don't know if it was insulated. It was about 4 feet tall. Neither like freezer or fridge. Like today's camping chests.

Susan, I am going to have to keep my eyes open for one of those. They sound nice, with the pan and spigot. Convenient. I think it would be nicer in an outdoor kitchen than plastic coolers. I like white enamel stuff.

Right now i am actually trying to use up everything in my fridge, since I will be camping in july and august and wish to turn the house off. So everything has to be eaten, brought with me in a cooler, or preserved in some way.

On the days I come back home (a night or two each week to check on things), I'd rather just use something like an icebox instead of turning the fridge off and on.

Yesterday was a good homestead day. I did some gardening with grey water and rain water (running low and waiting for the monsoons to restock the barrels). Picked my first tomato from my own vines!

Did some indoor painting in the studio with VOC free paint.

Organized clothes on multihangers to make my space more organized, and made a donation bag of clothes I don't wear.

Bottled dehydrated apples and tomatoes, dehydrated grapes and strawberries.

Picked wild grapes to taste by the creek (ick - not ready for eating!).

Emptied kitchen wastes to compost. Urine to compost. Stirred with a stick.

Did some reading about permaculture techniques.

Drank my mint kvass!

Broke down my electricity bill to determine where the biggest expenses were and make plans on where to save more watts.

Took a nice cool splash bath.

Today:

dehydrating grapes in sunshine
drying tomatoes in sunshine
stirred my homemade apple cider vinegar batch
watered with grey water
urine and kitchen scraps to compost
experimenting with baby oil as a bug repellent and other natural remedies

Tonite:
cut more tomatoes to dry
use more rainwater on fruit trees and garden
read more on permaculture
walk to CVS and use extra care bucks on sales items (free shopping!)
bag up aluminum and put in car to sell for scrap
use the wonder wash to clean toilet cloths
do more organizing in pantry and closet area of studio