Shiny, Happy Worms!

Whew! Worm crisis averted! A month or so ago I noticed that my little worm commune wasn't doing so well. Their home looked "funky" for want of a better word. They looked puny and they weren't producing worm water (worm pee for those of you uneducated on worm composting).

Well, they look all shiny and happy and slippery and satisfied now. I pulled off their old cardboard covering, took out the old egg shells they hadn't finished and recirculated their bedding. Then I searched through my refrigerator for delicious worm treats. They got strawberries, apples, green beans, zucchini and other delectable foods. Then covered them with nice strips of Stillwater Newspress. I checked a week later and they seemed to be no worse, just not a lot better. Each week however, they got bigger, stronger and FASTER! Now, I will pit my speedy worms against anybody's worms.

It's amazing how attached I have become to the little guys.

Political Green-ness

I tease because I care, really.

When I was young, I was known to have quite a funky shoe collection. I was the first person in Bixby, Oklahoma with checkerboard Vans (made popular by Spiccoli in Fast Times At Ridgemont High) and wore gray, suede, fringed Pixie boots nearly every day of my senior year of high school (ala Stevie Ray Vaughan).
So when RJ shows up to work wearing some goofy-looking, flat-as-a-pancake shoe, I have to call her out. But now she has outdone herself...



And she claims that the shoemaker, Tom's, donates a pair of shoes to a needy child for every pair purchased. Okay, I can get behind that! Just click on the blog title to go to their website.

I have a vision of little Ethiopian kids running through their village wearing Republican/Democrat shoes and wondering what a "vote" is...

Size Matters!

Ha! I thought that title would catch your eye! Now that I have your attention...

Yesterday I was catching up on my Tivo'd tv (since when is "Tivo'd an adverb?) programs and caught one of my favorite new authors, Sara Gilbert on Oprah. Ms. Gilbert wrote the incredibly eye-opening book "Eat, Pray, Love". She was talking about her life, now after the book's release. The video of her walking down a tree line dirt road and her words "I just want a bigger-smaller life" really resonated with me. What she meant was that she wanted a bigger life as in bigger spiritually, bigger in family closeness, bigger in lasting friendships, bigger in awareness of the world around her while maintaining a smaller material life as in materialism.

Wow!

I had to rerun this a couple of times to let it sink in. She spoke the words that have been running around in my head for a while now. I just haven't been able to articulate them. I have been striving, needing, coasting towards something but until now, I just assumed it was a mid-life crisis.

I'm going to take the next few days to really contemplate what I have and what I want, spiritually, socially, intellectually and materially. I must admit, through circumstance, I had become less materialistic but there are a few things that I hang on to. Once, long ago, I lived in a large home, with a new luxury car, money in the bank, a closet full of clothes, a well-paying job that I traveled for and all the trappings of a happy life. In reality I was miserable - with my self, my home, my possessions, my lack of friends and my husband. Fast forward to today - I have a lovely tiny cottage that I own and can do anything I want with. I have a much more grounded sense of who I am and what I can accomplish. No outside force causing me doubt or shame (husband). I have a few, strong friendships that I value immensely and treasure and finally, I have cleaned out that closet of useless clothes and possessions that bring me no happiness. There is still work to be done but as I look back on what was, living simply suits me.

Some time ago I was having a conversation with someone about what she wanted in her life. I could see myself 15 years ago in her wishes. She said she wanted "beautiful things" and to go to "nice places" and to basically have more. I tried to explain to her that those things may make you happy in the short term, but have no lasting power. For example, I have this little red, hobnailed lamp with a funky cone shaped shade. The light from it is awful and bulbs for it are impossible to find (forget energy efficient bulbs) but this little thrift store find that cost me only $4 makes me smile every time I see it on my bookshelf. I don't know why, maybe that mental decline is setting in early but what matters is how it makes me feel. I think it's pretty. It makes me feel lucky to have found it hidden in the store and the reddish glow it gives off makes my small living room so comfy. All that for $4! What a bargain.

I challenge you to strain through your life - possessions, goals, ideals and beliefs to determine what makes your home comfy.

It really are the small, quiet things in life that last.

And always remember these lyrics from Pink Floyd "All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be".

This is brilliant!

I saw this in the Los Angeles Times today. Enjoy!

Sometimes it's just impossible to find someone who's willing to clean up dirty lots on steep slopes. Perhaps it's the hot sun or a lack of interest in a weed whacker. What's a redevelopment agency to do? Send in the goats, of course. The Times' Bob Pool has more:

The hills were alive with the sound of munching.

In fact, the only things that seemed missing Monday when a herd of goats climbed up a weed-choked lot in the Bunker Hill high-rise district were Julie Andrews and the Von Trapp family singers.

Leaders of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency hired 100 goats to nibble away thick weeds on a steep slope at the corner of 4th and Hill streets, next to the Angels Flight funicular.

Agency officials said the goats were cheaper and more environmentally friendly than two-legged brush-clearers armed with gasoline-powered weed-whackers.

And they are much more fun to watch, downtown office workers and other passersby quickly decided, as the animals fanned out over the 45-degree slope and chowed down.
Commuters emerging from the Red Line subway who came face-to-face with the goats reached for their cellphones and snapped pictures.

"My friends won't believe this unless they see it," said Vicky Bravo, a student who lives south of downtown.

Photo: Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times

Burnt to a Crisp or "How I celebrated a Green Labor day...

I finally got a big crew of friends together to celebrate the last days of summer. Everyone is so busy that it's hard to get everyone together but I accomplished it by nagging, slinging guilt and whining - things I'm REALLY good at.

We met over a Heyburn Lake State Park. It's just past Kellyville on SH66. Nice little lake, pretty smooth, clean and centrally located. I reserved the covered pavillion and rather than firing up the grill (carcinogens, you know) we decided to bring picnic lunches - Green of course!

I opted for some gorgeous, giant seedless green grapes and jumbo strawberries. Then I made this pretty awesome chopped salad and finally some luscious truffle brownies. The green part was that I took no paper or plastic that needed to be disposed of. Everything that became trash at the end of the day was sorted in "real trash" and "recycleable". Finally, we left the beach and picnic area cleaner than we found it.

We had a great time playing in the water, getting sunburned (only me) and just visiting with no sense of urgency or negativity. Good friends, kids, dogs, good food and the lake - what a nice way to end the summer!

Put the lime in the coconut...

As promised, I am passing on a tidbit of useful information that I have learned. For the past two years, I have suffered, and I do mean suffered, from dry skin and hair. Yes, it's part of growing older and yes, it's part of the sun damage from youth and yes, it's partly hereditary and diet. All of those factors are working against me definitely. I have spend many, many dollars on all sorts of lotions, potions, oils, and conditioners but none seemed to work. I had a quarter-sized spot on my left cheek that just wouldn't go away.
Finally, my good friend Subha suggested using coconut oil. WHAT?!?! It seems that in her native India, pure coconut oil is used for lots of things - cooking, moisturizing, conditioning, cleaning etc. We were at the Taj Grocery store in OKC at the time and quickly located a 3 ounce bottle for around $2. Not too much of an investment if it didn't work out.

Fast forward to 2 weeks later - I was dry skin free! The pure form of coconut oil isn't oil at all, but more of a solid. It very quickly become liquid from the warmth of your hand. I put the coconut into a very small canning jar to store it in (a great reuse of a glass jar opportunity!) and keep it in my bathroom. Also, once a week, I melt some in my hands and massage it through my hair before bed. I do wrap my head in a light towel but it really isn't oil at all. In the morning it washes right out, no residue at all just wonderful soft shiny hair.

And do I have to mention the glorious aroma? Practically everyone loves the smell of coconut so it's a win-win situation! I can tell you that you could buy pure coconut from health food stores but it is so much cheaper at an ethnic grocery. Either way, try it out, you just might become hooked!

A Thousand Apologies...

I hate excuses but sometimes that's all that will cover what's happening. So here is my list of excuses for "Why I haven't Posted in WAY too long".

1. the first 2 weeks of school are treacherous and I am swamped
2. Out of Town family celebration
3. My Schnauzer, Gracie had to be hospitalized for 3 days (she's much better now)
4. Cleaning up the aftermath of the roofing fiasco
5. Lack of inspiration

It's that last one that is bothering me the most but I think I may have beaten it. I have lots of great ideas swirling around in my ol' noggin that I will be writing about over the next few days.

I also want to give some updates on previous posts. The "30 Days of Food" post bears another look. I was cleaning out my freezer in preparation to do another day of cooking and found that I don't need to! I still have enough food to last another week or so. That means that my one-time, day-long cooking experiment actually filled my freezer (and my tummy) for over 2 MONTHS! I will definitely change some of recipes next time, I'm getting pretty tired of Spinach and Pasta Bake.

The "Stillwater Collection Center" post also deserves another plug. I have been faithfully dropping off my recycling every week and have seen my garbage pick-up reduced to less than one small bag per week. NICE! I am currently recycling paper (newspapers, mail, magazines)cardboard (food boxes, soap boxes, hair coloring boxes yikes!) tin, aluminum, glass and plastics. That covers just about all of my trash!

Finally, the "Day of The Worm" post. Sadly, my worm babies aren't fairing very well. I'm sure it's the heat and not my tender loving care. I have been giving them all sorts of tasty veggie treats and grass clippings but they just don't look "happy". If you have any ideas, I am open to any and all suggestions.

Tomorrow, I promise to write something GREEN!

Gotta have a roof over my head...

I need some support here. I have been struggling for over 3 weeks now with roof woes. First, it's my neighbor's roof. Great lady, perfect neighbor. She hired contractors to put a new roof on her house, kindly let me know when they would be working (yard sale weekend of course) then asked if they could put "part" of the refuse dumpster on my yard. No problem. I wanna be a good neighbor too. Fast forward one week - the roofers drag out the full dumpster across my yard and driveway, trenching the you-know-what out of it. Lovely. But they did come back later and spread a truck full of topsoil, so maybe it will work out.

Now, on to my roof woe. I finally decided to suck it up and have my roof repaired. What was originally going to be a 2-day project is now entering it's 3rd week. Not completely the roofers fault (he's got bad knees, drop-in guests, stomach problems, rain for the first time this summer etc) but having scaffolding across the back of my house and blocking my lovely fenced yard is becoming tiresome. When I hang out my laundry (and I do it every weekend) I must take the long way around the house and yard. Bah! I realize I am whining and I will eventually stop. Probably after I have to write the monstrous check to pay for all of this.

By the way, the picture in this post is NOT my house, but the former home of Frank (Pistol Pete) Eaton who gained fame as OSU's mascot. It's kinda sad to see it in such disrepair. Maybe I could recommend some roofers?

Finally!

I think we might be getting a small break in the heat this week. 90 degrees really feels good after a week or so of 105+ doesn't it? The only good thing I can say about the hot weather is that my grass has begun it's hibernation hopefully.

And now on to more pressing concerns - I think I may be a failure at vermiculture! That's raising composting worms for those of you new to the subject. The last 2 weeks have been pretty hard on my little buddies. Their habitat looks (sweaty) and they don't seem as cheerful as they once were. I gave them new cardboard and paper and some juicy, cold red grapes. Tonite they will get a shiny Fuji apple. Hopefully, it's just the oppressive heat and not my nurturing.

Is it really possible that I have become attached to WORMS?!?

Green with Guilt

Okay, I have a confession to make (gulp)...I'm not feeling so green lately. I know, shockin' isn't it? But I'm finding I'm not the only one.

Let me digress.

I finally decided to finish cleaning the mess from my yard sale (was it really 2 weeks ago? yikes!)and automatically dumped my signs in the GARBAGE CAN!!! Yes, they were reused computer monitor boxes and yes they were perfectly recyclable cardboard and YES I DID IT - I TRASHED WHEN I SHOULD HAVE RECYCLED! At the time I felt like it wasn't so bad, I recycle hard every day. I talk about living green-er to everyone I meet. I look for ways to live simpler and better. But I finally hit my limit. Let's blame that yard sale, huh?

Now after the naughtiness has worn off, I feel bad, really bad. Talk about green guilt. So I thought I might take a stroll around the internet to see what other guilty greenies were doing about their shame. I came upon a website called "True Green Confessions - Because Saving The World Ain't Easy". Click the blog post title for the link.

My People.

I have arrived.

Here are some statistics to further grind in my point:

•A survey by the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corp. in Atlanta recently found that 20% of Americans experienced so-called green guilt. Most felt they should do more, especially recycling.

•A Catholic priest in England is reportedly taking green confessions at environmental festivals.

•And a website recently sprouted solely for the purpose of letting the green guilty confess — anonymously.


And as I always say on New Year's day "This Year I'll just try to do better".

Cleanliness is next to Greenli-ness

I noticed the other day that my little house could use a good scrubbing. If you are one of the lucky ones that happens to to live in an antique house, you understand the different cleaning chores that old houses require. Dust just seems to ooze from the floors and walls. My wavy window panes always need a little shining and the cast iron pipes lend a bit of "deposit" to all of my sinks.

So I was searching around for some "Greener" cleaning ideas and came acros this article from the people at M.E.T. Recycle (Metropolitan Environmental Trust). Enjoy!

With food and gas prices soaring, everyone is looking for ways to cut back. There is a simple way to save money and make your home, community and the planet safer -- use natural cleaning ingredients instead of expensive and potentially hazardous products. Your home will shine! All you need are combinations of six basic ingredients - baking soda, borax, lemon juice, salt, olive oil and white vinegar. Don’t forget to use newspaper,reusable towels or old t-shirts, instead of paper products.

Mild abrasive -- Baking soda and table salt make a great abrasive for tough stains on pots and pants, sinks, counters and more. Mix into a paste with a little water, vinegar or lemon juice.
Window cleaner -- Mix equal parts of water and white vinegar in a spray bottle to clean glass, appliances and other surfaces. Add lemon juice to make a degreaser. Use full-strength vinegar to fight mold and mildew. Vinegar is also a natural deodorizer.
Stain remover -- Mix Borax with three parts water to make a paste to apply to carpet stains. Mix it with 1/4 part lemon juice to clean stainless steel and porcelain and to pretreat stains on clothes.
Wood polish -- Mix two parts of olive oil with one part lemon juice to clean unfinished wood.
Drain cleaner -- Pour 1/4 cup of baking soda into drain followed by 1 cup vinegar. Let stand for 15 minutes, flush with boiling water. Add lemon juice to deodorize.

Yard Sales aren't for sissies!

 

Ugh, I'm finally finished with the weekend's yard sale. It sure was a lot of hard work and I want to thank everyone who helped along the way. Especially Pistol Bill who came over and helped my dad put up a new fence around my yard. It was brutally hot on Saturday but they both worked up until 5:00 and the fence looks awesome! My girls (Gracie and Minnie) are in shock with all of the open space they now have to roam around in. This picture is of Gracie getting to know her doggie neighbors across the back alley.

Now, I just have to finish cleaning up the sale aftermath and figure out how to fill up my empty garage!

Reducing, Reusing and Recycling

Whew! It's finally here, YARD SALE WEEKEND! I have been stumbling over the mountain of stuff in my dining room for 2 weeks now. It will feel so good to get rid of it all, either by selling it or donating it to Habitat Restore and Elite Repeat as soon as the sale is over.

Last week, my Mom, Sister and Nephew came over and helped clean out my garage. For those of you who don't know the story - my house is over 105 years old and I bought it pretty full of furniture, artifacts and stuff, including the garage. I have gone all the way through the house but I have parcelled out the garage cleaning as my own personal treasure hunt. Every year or so, I get the urge to go spelunking and what a better place but my own garage! I have found wonderful things such as an ancient metal grinder, dozens of empty (and some not so empty) Wild Turkey bottles, all sorts of unlabeled chemicals and paints and even some random window frames, picture frames and plumbing fixtures. Yay!

But now it's time to part with some of my findings and the beneficiaries will be those early risers on Friday morning in Perkins, Oklahoma. I'm almost jealous of the wonder and awe they will feel when first seeing the mountain of minutia that has inhabited my little home for 100+ years.

Stop on by if ya get an urge!

30 Days of Food!

 

I have always tried to cook once for the whole week. It usually happens on Sundays and I try to prepare a few meals for lunch at work and some options for dinner. I just wing it for breakfast (I know, back off!). Anyway, in my endless search to simplify my life and "green" it up, I searched the good ol' internet for ideas on accomplishing a bigger cooking/prep day to possibly cover an entire month. I came across a cool book and website called "The 30 Day Gourmet". The website offers a few recipes and tips but the real goldmine find was the book. Tons of recipes, ideas, solutions, encouragement and worksheets for putting together a prep session for individuals, pairs or even groups.

So I took off work on Friday to set about my new task. I got up early, created my shopping list (the book and website have downloadable/copy pages to simplify this) and headed out to the local Piggly Wiggly. I rant on the Pig, but it is local and in order to live up to my soapbox speeches, I need to support the local economy. I also took advantage of the Stillwater Farmers Market for homegrown veggies (I bought 2 tomato plants and 1 pepper plant too). My grocery bill came to less than $60 since I had such a wonderfully stocked pantry.

The big investment has been the freezer bags and rigid freezer containers. I haven't gone "green" on those items yet. I wanted to see how this little experiment pans out first.

I put 8 pounds of chicken into the crockpot for Italian Chicken. Then set upon the cube steak for 20 servings of Swiss Steak. Finally, I started the 2 pounds of pasta and spinach for the 12 servings of baked Ziti (meatless). I chopped onions and peppers, squeezed frozen spinach and prepared labels. When it started coming together, I realized that I had not cleaned out the freezer so I quickly rearranged and fit everything in neatly. Organization is a key component of the 30 day Gourmet but it's all laid out for you, so it really is simple.

At the end of the day, I had a fully stocked freezer, meals in the frig' and even some homemade, sugarfree strawberry banana ice cream that I decided at the last minute to make.

Yay!
Click on the post title for the link to 30 Day Gourmet

The Day of the Worms

 

 

Yay! My worms finally arrived yesterday. When I got home from work, they were waiting on my porch. It's a good thing that they don't have little feet or they would have been stamping them in frustration from waiting for me all day. Luckily my wrap-around porch is mostly shady so they didn't get too hot.

They were packaged in some sort of soil (worm poo?) in a white mesh bag then in a post office box padded with newspaper. I was curious how they would arrive but they did just fine, all wiggly and wormy as soon as I dumped them in their new home. For their welcome meal they had some savory garlic stem clippings (dried), a handful of fresh Rose of Sharon leaves and finally a side of yummy zucchini bits. The instructions said to put in their munchies first, followed by worms then their cardboard packaging soaked in water.

When I checked on them this morning, they were wiggling and nibbling away!

Yay!

8 Ways to Green your Independence Day

Written by Trey Granger, courtesy of Earth911.org

The Fourth of July: summer’s most famous holiday. Fireworks, barbecues and a day off to enjoy the sunshine. But can you make America’s birthday Earth Day as well? Here’s eight steps for an eco-friendly Fourth.

1. Celebrate Outdoors

Whether you’re traveling for the three-day weekend (the Fourth is on Friday this year) or celebrating at home with family, have an outdoor celebration to minimize energy use. Better yet, check out a large gathering nearby where your personal energy use will be negligible.

2. Drink Lots of Water . . . In Large Containers

Depending on where you live, temperatures could reach triple digits on Independence Day. It’s important to stay hydrated, but plan ahead. Buy a reusable container to fill with water for your family so you won’t be buying and disposing of individual water bottles. You can also refill these containers at drinking fountains.

3. Know Before You Go

The beach may be a popular spot for your Independence Day getaway, but make sure it’s open before you head out. Use Earth 911’s sister site Beaches911.com to monitor the beach closures in your area. This will save you gas on a potential drive down the coast just to picnic in the parking lot.

4. BBQ With Propane

Wood and charcoal may seem like more natural fuel sources, but propane burns cleaner. You’ll get less smoke and you’ll have less of a challenge keeping a fire going. Make sure that you refill or recycle your propane tank once it’s empty using Earth 911.

5. Reuse Plates and Cups

If you’re celebrating at home, just use normal tableware and napkins that can be washed. At an outside celebration, pack up your disposable cups and plates and rinse them off when you get home. You can use the same set again next year, or recycle them.

6. Eco-Friendly Fireworks

Naturally something that explodes, creates lots of light and leaves a cloud of smoke also comes with pollution. Fireworks also release heavy metals like lead into the air. Of course, a Fourth of July without fireworks seems unnatural, but if you do put on a backyard show look for fireworks rich in nitrogen. These may cost a little more, but you’ll have less smoke.

7. Be Pet Cautious
Believe it or not, dog and cat ears are not made for the loud noises of fireworks. If your pets hear these noises, they might go running off. Then you’ll be using unnecessary paper for lost flyers.

If you live near a fireworks show, make sure your pets are shielded from the sound. If you lose a pet this July 4, visit Earth 911’s sister site PETS911.com to help find it.

8. July 5 is Cleanup Day

Independence Day events will produce lots of trash, much of which could probably be recycled. Head over to a nearby area this Saturday that held a July 4th celebration and pick-up some of the inevitable litter.

Father's Day Update

it occurred to me that I forgot to post my pretty nifty Father's Day gift to my Dad. I wanted to gently move my gift-giving habits into greener pastures, so I chose what I thought was pretty cool:

A solar powered fan safari hat!

Okay, it sounds kinds silly but I think he may have liked it. At least he knows that I put alot of thought into it. I can just picture him now, riding his lawnmower, cool breeze blowing in his face...

mmm, smell my hands!

 

This morning, while waiting for my CARPOOL (yeah, I said it) I decided that it was time to harvest some garlic. It was so abundant and gorgeous smelling that I just had to take a quick picture. I didn't even nearly pull all of it up so I'm taking the day off tomorrow to root around for the rest of the bulbs and clean up the garlic bed. My hands smelled of lovely garlic for hours! Yippee!

Speaking of gardening...

A couple of days ago I was staring helplessly into my over-packed, dark and gloomy garage and decided that a yard sale was imminent. So I've got one scheduled and have began the sorting and tossing process. I came across the ugly bookshelf-type thing and headed for the garbage when I had a brainstorm (I have those occasionally). I had been thinking about planting some above ground veggies and needed to come up with something to use for the bedding frame materials. Voila! The bookshelf, turned on it's side, will be an ideal framework for some baby tomato plants and other veggies that I can think of. Wow, those brainstorms kinda smart...

Even Hippies can be Green...

RJ went to the Bonnaroo Music Festival last week (Woodstock for the new kids) and took this picture that I thought you might enjoy. She reported that there were lots of recycling opportunites and everyone seemed to be attempting to be as green as possible.

It's nice to see that even the drunk, stoned and stinky can take the time to think about the enviroment!