My Birthday Wish List

I don't really enjoy my birthday and receiving gifts without giving something in return makes me uncomfortable, but I do have some items for my birthday wishlist this year.

None of these are really reasonable gifts that I expect to receive, but they are on my list for the next year, even if I have to buy them for myself:

1. A Greenhouse $1000-$2000- Since these are like a thousand bucks, I know that this is the most unrealistic of my dream items. I already have a small rolling shelf greenhouse that doesn't meet my needs. All I really want is a permanent structure that I can run heat and electricity to for my winter greens and seedlings. alternately, a sunroom porch off of the back of my house would also serve the same purpose, but since they run about 25K, I think even the greenhouse is more realistic.

2. Food Dehydrator $50-$75- My poor old Ronco electic dehydrator has seen it's last trays of dried food goodness. I want one of those compact square jobbies with like a dozen shelves. I also found a cool solar dryer that you hang in the sun, but I can only use that one on warm days; and there are a dearth of those in Utah from October-May.

3. Sky Scout $200- This is the coolest thing ever and it was also on my Christmas list. It's a pocket GPS astronomy lab. It knows where on Earth you are, and it can tell you everything about any star, planet or sun you point it at. They use these at the Salt Lake Astronomical Society Star Parties and they are awesome for fledgling astronomers.

We love heading into the desert to see the Persieds, Geminids and Aquarids meteor showers and this would be a great tool to use out there since the sky is like velvet pinpricked with a thousand pins of light.

4. Snowshoes $200- I have always wanted to snowshoe and have taken several intro courses but I haven't invested in the proper gear to keep me moving throughout the winter. My neighbor, Gin snowshoes and cuts and hauls her own firewood by toboggan (mine, which I lend her) but she is kind of strange and an alcoholic, so she has never invited me along even though I have shown significant interest.

I think it would be neat to break your own trail and get some exercise, even when the weather is uncooperative. I would love to trek to remote locations to practice and refine my wildlife and scenery photography skills.

5. A pocketknife- I know that this seems like the ultimate lesbian wish, but I've never been the wallet-in-the-back-pocket on a chain with a pocketknife carrying kind of girl. With all of the gardening and homesteading that we do, i often find myself searching for anything with a remotely dull blade to assist me in my chores.

6. Black Leather Driving Gloves- someone, who shall remain nameless (me), lost ONE of my cashmere lined gloves this winter. Do you know how irritating it is to have one warm, supple, butter-soft Italian leather glove? Take my (and Ghandi's) advice: if you lose one shoe or glove, take off the other one and throw it away with the lost one so that the man who finds it can at least use them both.

So there it is, my birthday 2010 wish list. I doubt anyone spends much time reading this anymore, as infrequently as I post, but at least my list is there for me to see.