Wordless Wednesday

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Linking up here!

Wordless Wednesday

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Linking up here!

Happy Earth Day! Make Earth Day, Every Day!

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Wordless Wednesday

MIA

Waiting on a computer part.



Using Word Geek's laptop.



Missing my computer,
my favorites,
my photos,
and of course
Photoshop.



Hope to share with you soon.

My Great Green Goals for 2010-Part 2

Ok, so here is the actual
list of green things I would
like to accomplish in 2010!



After this cool photo of one of my housplants-"Mother of Thousands":







First of all, things to SELL:



One of our vehicles-would like to get down to one working vehicle and ride our bikes more places and have Word Geek work closer to home
Our lawnmower-no excuses this year, it is going one way or another!
Our Dryer-my Brother S. was using it, but will no longer need to use it, so time to sell it because we plan to continue to hang dry our clothes. I think I have convinced my Brother S. that hanging clothes up is pretty awesome!
Will sell other smaller items also we no longer use/need



Research and get a: children’s bike trailer/co-pilot bike/cargo trailer-looking for a replacement for the vehicle we will be selling for short distance trips



Ride bicycle or walk (currently we do walk to do some of our errand running) to ALL short distant (within our town) trips



Make more food/meals from scratch-I think this is going to be on my list every year! This is the year I want to make so many things several times on our own though! So I have a really ambitious list, we’ll see if we get to all of it…
Some specific things I want to learn how to make:
White/Wheat Bread
Pizza Crust
Cinnamon Rolls
Butter
Ice Cream
Popsicles (says Lizard Man)
Granola
Start making yogurt from scratch again (we haven't done this for quite some time, but have done it before)

Learn to can and make:
Salsa
Spaghetti Sauce
Pizza Sauce
Applesauce
Jams/Jelly



Use our dehydrators-we now have two!



Use my Crockpot to make more meals/desserts



Make and freeze more meals to eliminate convenient frozen foods from the grocery store when we are busy or don’t feel like cooking



Get rid of high fructose corn syrup foods from our diet-we have been working on this and are doing pretty good, making more meals from scratch should help!



Reduce food waste by using leftovers sooner or freezing the leftovers right away to use in soups, etc.



Make my own toothpaste



Do research on disposable razors and possibly find an alternative for them that gives just as much of a clean shave



Give even more houseplants away to friends and family



Buy or somehow make one container to collect rain water in to use for plants



Buy or somehow make containers for compost worm farms and get worms for them



Finally, add items and open My Green Etsy Shop- http://www.greenresolution.etsy.com with Recycled and Reused items!



Do research on beekeeping and see if I can place beehives safely on parent’s property-right now there are several farms around my parent's property that spray chemicals on their crops



Do research on outdoor ovens and possibly build one



Use my reusable shopping bags even more than last year-for ALL shopping trips-going to try and store them in the vehicle permanently so we don't forget them, EVER!



Plant more seedlings this year than last year



Have a garden with lots of veggies and MAINTAIN IT



Finish large compost bin that I started in 2009 to my standards



Buy, make, and use only reusable feminine products Would still like to experiment with a few different products and possibly give reviews here.



Learn how to sew better with my sewing machine and make more handmade gifts this way



Learn to crochet and make some handmade gifts this way too



And write more posts on my green blog! I have a lot of knowledge to help inspire others that I would like to share that I think in the end could help our planet.



Well, there you have it,
My Great Green Goals
for 2010!



It is an ambitious list,
indeed. We will see
how far we come around
this time next year,
exciting!



I would love to see your
green goals too, just leave
me a comment or e-mail me. ;)

My Great Green Goals for 2010-Part 1

While I did accomplish
a few more green goals
last year, I didn’t complete
nearly everything on My
Great Green Goals for 2009.







The following in bold are
the goals from last year
that I did accomplish
or partially accomplished:



Cook more meals from scratch, eat out even less than last year
We ate out twice, HUGE improvement compared to previous years.



Use my reusable shopping bags even more than last year-for ALL shopping trips
Did really well, but will put this as a goal for this year as well because we did miss using them for a few trips, going to try and store them in the vehicle permanently, I’ve heard that helps.



Line dry clothes outside in the warmer months again (we haven't done this for quite awhile)
We did awesome with this and did it ALL last year, both inside and out, and did not use the dryer once!



Keep growing more houseplant varieties
Did-still want to expand more.



Continue the transformation of our front yard that is small, into a grass-less area, planting hostas, flowers, maybe even some edible plants
We did more until we found out that the city plans to do digging in our front yard this year, so we did not finish it-as most of our work would be pointless until they get what they need done.



Buy a manual lawn mower for our backyard or use more of our backyard for garden space
Decided not to buy another lawn mower. We have a pretty small space, so we used some as garden space, hope to use even more this year!



Tune up bicycles and ride!
Did get them tuned but still need to ride...



More post definitely coming on the subject of bicycling!



Plant two more fruit trees on my parent’s property, at least one for Love Bug and one for Lizard Man
Plant a fruit tree on our property
Did not get more trees for the kids planted on my parent’s property, but we did get 4 fruit trees (2 peach and 2 apple) planted on ours!



Plant more fruit bushes on our property
Planted 2 Nanking Cherry Bushes
1 Gooseberry Bush
2 Thornless Blackberry Bushes



Plant more seedlings this year than last year
Planted some, but still room for more improvement.



Have a garden with lots of veggies and MAINTAIN IT
Did have a garden, maintained it some, but still more room for improvement here.



Build at least one compost bin to be able to make it a bit easier and alternate it with our current compost bin
Built it ½ way (to my standards anyhow) and it is currently being used, but I would like to improve upon this and build some kind of brace around part of it using old tree lumber from pruning that would otherwise be discarded/burned.



Buy more rechargeable batteries, and use for everything (except continue to buy non-rechargeable batteries for the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors)
Accomplished!



Buy, make, and use only reusable feminine products
Also, accomplished about the last half of the year. Would still like to experiment with a few different products and possible give reviews here.



Buy or sew some covers for Love Bug’s cloth diapers that are not all-in-ones, so I don’t “need” to buy china made plastic pants
Didn’t get this accomplished and this one is getting crossed off my list for now, as Love Bug was potty trained before her 2nd birthday! That is a great accomplishment for the environment anyhow as no more washing cloth diapers because she is potty trained!



Learn how to sew better and make at least a couple of gifts for the kids
I really should have put “Learn how to sew better with the sewing machine” because I skated by with this goal with a hand sewn ornament for Lizard Man and one for Love Bug. But a sewn gift for the kids none-the-less and they loved them, so that is all that really matters isn’t it!?



Make a lot more recycled items for My Etsy Shop!
While I made some, I didn’t make a lot, will and have been working on more already, just need to get them photographed and put up on Etsy.



Look for Part 2 of My Great Green Goals 2010 tomorrow!!!

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MIA

I have been missing in action and I’m sorry that I haven’t kept up on any of my blogs this summer, especially for those that came here to see what was new.

Where to begin!?

I think I’ll start off in our backyard garden.

The beans have done so well even though we have quite a bit of shade in our backyard.


Yellow Wax Beans


Lots of them!


Word Geek loves them raw because he remembers eating them at his Grammy’s home that way when he was a kid. I haven’t cooked one bean yet. Nor have any gone into our freezer. That is how fast they have disappeared around here. Healthier eating them raw anyhow.

I plan to plant so many more beans next year because I want to stock my freezer with them!!

Beans, Beans, Beans, I should have titled this post!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Cherry Blossoms!

We planted two Nanking Cherry Bushes in our backyard a couple of weeks ago and the one that Lizard Man has claimed has a few blossoms. Very exciting!

My Great Green Goals for 2009

I wrote this in January!? I had some computer issues and I never got My Great Green Goals for 2009 posted on here.

What better time to get started then on Earth Day!

I admit it.

I’m a bit of a green freak.

I’m fine with that.

:)

I created this post from a great idea on posting Great Green Goals for 2009 by Crunchy Domestic Goddess.

Ok, so this might seem like a huge list, but I too once started out small. I have been recycling and doing many green things for years. I still have lots more to do though and I love doing my part for our planet and the people that live here.

First, here are some green things I started doing in 2008:

We ate out at restaurants far less than the year before

Walked to places more, even while doing errands

Planted vegetables from seeds in late February and March

Reused plastic food containers for seedlings instead of buying new plastic pots to start seeds in

Transplanted vegetables into the garden

Began the transformation of our front yard that is small into a grass-less area

Did NOT use our lawn mower in 2008!!! Manual labor, YES!! ;)

Picked up A LOT of litter in our neighborhood and at parks

Bought reusable water bottles- SIGGS and a Camel Bak-Hydration Pack for Word Geek (because I loved the one he gave me so much!) to use instead of buying plastic water bottles

Air dried clothes in the house this past fall/this winter

Used reusable bags for grocery shopping, used them with other shopping sometimes

Composted more, ALL fruit and vegetable waste, egg shells too

Planted two fruit trees on my parents property, a peach tree for Love Bug and a cherry tree for Lizard Man

Stopped shopping at Wal-Mart in May, yah!

Used Charlie’s Soap for our laundry
Used Dr. Bronner’s for dish and hand soap

Stopped getting receipts at the ATM

Switched from kitty litter to shredded paper in our cats litter box

Received more houseplants from family and kept most of them alive!

Gave a couple of houseplants to friends

Handmade some birthday gifts and Christmas gifts

Used newspaper to wrap Christmas gifts

Made a few recycled items for My Etsy Shop!

Ok, here are my Great Green Goals for 2009!

Write more posts on my green blog! I have a lot of knowledge to help inspire others that I would like to share that I think in the end could help our planet.

Cook more meals from scratch, eat out even less than last year

Use my reusable shopping bags even more than last year-for ALL shopping trips

Line dry clothes outside in the warmer months again (we haven't done this for quite awhile)

Keep growing more houseplant varieties

Give even more houseplants away to friends and family

Use our dehydrator!

Start making yogurt from scratch again (we haven't done this for quite sometime either)

Continue the transformation of our front yard that is small, into a grass-less area, planting hostas, flowers, maybe even some edible plants

Sell our lawn mower

Buy a manual lawn mower for our backyard or use more of our backyard for garden space

Tune up bicycles and ride!

Plant two more fruit trees on my parent’s property, at least one for Love Bug and one for Lizard Man

Plant a fruit tree on our property

Plant more fruit bushes on our property

Plant more seedlings this year than last year

Have a garden with lots of veggies and MAINTAIN IT

Build at least one compost bin to be able to make it a bit easier and alternate it with our current compost bin

Buy or somehow make one container to collect rain water to use for plants

Buy more rechargeable batteries, and use for everything (except continue to buy non-rechargeable batteries for the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors)

Buy, make, and use only reusable feminine products

Buy or sew some covers for Love Bug’s cloth diapers that are not all-in-ones, so I don’t “need” to buy china made plastic pants

Learn how to sew better and make at least a couple of gifts for the kids

Make a lot more recycled items for My Etsy Shop!

And continue with everything we’ve been doing from 2008 and past years!

I hope something here inspires you to do more green things for our planet!

Look for more green posts coming soon!

Happy Earth Day!


Go green! Make it your green resolution!

Choosing a More Modern CLOTH Diaper

I’ve been using cloth diapers since Lizard Man was born in 2003. The cloth diapers I use are the flat folds and prefolds (aka-the kind maybe your mom or grandmother used) with pins and plastic pants. When Love Bug was born in 2007 I found out there are more modern cloth diapers out there. There are ones with snaps and Velcro, all in ones that you could do away with plastic pants, pocket diapers you can stuff with inserts, there are wool covers (which are more breathable) too instead of plastic pants for the more modern diapers that are not all in ones. It is pretty amazing all the great choices out there these days, but I didn’t make a grand switch even after Love Bug was born because I have quite the stash of cloth diapers from gifts and garage sales. I stuck with the cloth, pins, plastic pants I had, because I was used to it. It worked, it was still inexpensive.

I cut my hand on a drinking glass over a month ago and it is still trying to heal up. The cut is pretty bad and so I can’t put enough pressure on the pins with my wiggly 15 month old toddler fighting me to be able to use them. So we bought disposables. I’m tired of using them, they are expensive and I feel guilty knowing they are bad for the environment in more ways then just one. So I ordered some more modern cloth diapers to my stash! It was really hard to decide which ones to get because there are soooooooo many out in the market today, from plain to polka dots, from cotton to bamboo.

I decided to go with mostly AIO (All In Ones) because then I could do away with the plastic pants some, especially when out and about. I only bought 7 diapers and hopefully will be adding more to my stash soon. I bought the cute patterns since I’ve been bored with the generic white.

Here are two I bought here on Etsy:

Pink Panther Diaper-Pocket Diaper-One Size (Infant-Toddler)


The Pink Panther one has really held up well against leakage and so I’m thinking I will order some more pocket diapers. You can stuff pocket diapers to meet your needs if they need more protection during naps or at night, you can stuff more inserts in the back pocket; during the day, less inserts. The Pink Panther diaper is made from the following materials: cotton, pul, fleece, touchtape, poly_resin_snaps, microfiber.

Strawberry Shortcake Diaper-AIO (All In One)-Size Large


The Strawberry Shortcake diaper got a bit wet around the thighs when we tried it out on Love Bug, and I’m not sure if it is because I’ve got a super soaker, but usually I don’t have problems with leakage. I’ve got the timing of how often to change Love Bug down pat. The Strawberry Shortcake diaper is made from the following materials, which is different from the Pink Panther diaper and may have made a difference between non leakage and leakage: flannel, pul, cotton, microfiber, touchtape.

I’ll post more of the diapers I bought as I get them in the mail.

Let me know if you have any questions about cloth, I would be happy to answer them! I love cloth! I'm an advocate for cloth diapers!