Julie's Rants 2012

What's the Buzz?

2012-01-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

Since it's almost the end of January I figured it was time to pop in and give some progress updates.

I was looking for something one day and came across the public library web site. There I noticed an interesting, and free, class. It met several of my lofty criteria: I wasn't doing anything then, it's only a month long, and it's something I know nothing about but like might to try. The class was Introduction to Beekeeping!

For the last month once a week I've been trekking down to the library and learning about queens, workers, and lazy boy drones. Drones like to sit around the house all day and eat all the food, don't do a lick of work, and leave the toilet seat up. But you want to know about the stinging.

Of course there's the low ~~high~~ probability of getting stung...if I don't take precautions. Things like wearing the big white suit and getting the neighbors to gossip about what I am doing. All in all it was a good class. I will be getting a hive going but not for a few months. This means there will be no honey this year but that's o.k.

I haven't seen any more classes on the library schedule that I want to take but that's o.k., too. I've decided to learn German on my own. That's for a post 18 months from now. Yes, I have a post planned for 18 months from now. And you thought you were organized.

Now you are also probably wondering about the garden. Here's the latest pics.

Winter Honeysuckle

Lavender

Atomic Red Carrots

Kale

Sorrel

Mignonette Bronze lettuce

Green Onions

Cabbage...or Cauliflower...oops

Leaf lettuce

Radishes

Spinach

Collard Greens

Found growing in the yard. Must've dropped a few seeds.

Swiss Chard

Micro Greens in back and more lettuce in front.

Last but not least. An easy way to personalize your tea. This is hot Rooibos tea with honey and frozen cranberries.

Auf Wiedersehen!

First Planting Day

2012-01-03T22:09:00.000-08:00

In my journey to become a halfway decent gardener I decided to make a plan. I sat down with all my wonderful seeds and cataloged them in which order to grow them. This is serious grown up gardening. I planned and plotted on the calendar and looked up last frost dates.

So todayish was the day to start planting things for the 8-10 week mark. I have added a little extra time for some things because my plants are always pokey. I don't know why and a lot of the time I think I would be a natural at Bonzai gardening. I'm great at growing things in miniature. Except the year before when I had the stupendous season of tomatoes.

Yes, gardening is hard. I won't lie. The ads you see on t.v. are all lying. Don't be fooled. It is not easy and if I had to survive on only my garden I would get to eat one meal per week.

But this year will be different! This year I will have glorious blog entries of mammoth vegetables. They won't even fit into the picture frame they will be so huge! All because I have a plan this year.

First up I started 3 seeds indoors. Calendula, eggplant, and orange bell peppers.

I'm planting these in my compost mixture with the rabbit poo mixed in. And no, it doesn't smell. It looks like this...

Afterwards, I spent another hour planting, raking, and watering these lettuce, mustard greens, and carrot seeds.

According to my master plan I don't have to plant anything else until the middle of February. By then all these seeds should probably have reached their maximum growth and I'll be watering them with my tears of failure.

~The Pessimistic Gardener

Preparing For 2012

2011-12-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I started thinking about the new year coming up. It's easy to notice all the stores practically bulldozing holiday items out and replacing them with every exercise gadget or tool out there. Lucky for me I don't even need to worry about those aisles. Have I been to "boot camp?" No. But I do jog and I do enough physical labor around this homestead that it's complete loo loo in the head to think I will drive to a gym.

I was thinking all the usual things yesterday. I'll have to change the banner. I'll have to write a post. What direction is this going anyway? That was the big question I thought about all day today.

In the mean time here's a pic of something I built on Monday. It's a BBQ/fire pit. I copied it from a picture I saw in Mother Earth News magazine. I know it's not worthy of BHG but where it lacks beauty it prospers in functionality.

Thank you for looking at that. In case you're wondering about the bits in the rest of the pic, there's some other rocks I own on the left. In the back is one of the garden beds with black shade cloth to keep out deer and naughty dogs, and then some bits and pieces of garden tools.

Back to the big question about the new year and what direction to go in. I had deep deep thoughts on that subject. Without going into detail, I think we all have people in our lives that we try to please and it never really happens. No matter what we do it will never be enough. So I've decided that I won't endlessly try to please someone when they really have no intention of ever resolving things. Take what you want out of that.

The next big thing for the new year is not only for me, but an appeal to all of you. 2012 is going to be a big year. I'm talking really big. One for the history books. There's so many things happening right now and it's going to become even crazier in 2012 as many things sort of converge at the same time. There's also that pesky end of the world prediction. I don't put any faith into it but it's still there.

My goal is to be a prolific journal writer for 2012 (and hopefully blogger). I believe the year 2012 is going to be studied immensely in the future (that whole end of the world thing) and there'll be much interest in what us "ordinary" people were doing and what we thought about those things.

This could be a chance to set the record straight and prove we weren't all getting ready for the Mayan countdown, though I know some of you are. It can also be a challenge to add something great to your life and one day others will read about it, too.

I hope to see you all in 2012 and look forward to creating, crafting, gardening, and building many, many new things.

~Julie

Do The Bad Guys Like Your Hair?

2011-10-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

About 2 months ago we all decided that it was now Fall, even though our local temps were still...well, melting the skin off our bodies. I decided I would do some Fall decorating. On my head.

I was curious. I'd never been a redhead. I was fascinated with the look of vintage curls. (Did blondes really have more fun?) Would it go with my skin tone? Would it make me look older or younger? Why don't I like my natural color?

The last question is easy to answer. As a child I had blonde hair. Sun bleached, wonderful blonde hair. Then it started to change to brown. Not chestnut or some other exotic word for brown. Just brown. Boring brown. Blah brown. I hated it. Since then I've changed that color ~~hundreds~~ numerous times. But I had never been a redhead.

The color choice was easy. I didn't want bright red for this first adventure. I wanted something red but safe. So I chose burgundy. It's red but also brown.

Now I must explain this pic. I'm not standing there ridiculously posing by pointing at nothing. I took this for my Facebook profile pic to interact with my cover photo on Facebook Timeline. Which is something you'll never see because none of you will go set up your Timeline. A little irritating... But I digress.

Since the color change Rowan has made a point of saying to me almost every day, "You still have red hair." She doesn't like it. She's the only one who doesn't like it. We frequently have conversations about it. Like this morning before school.

"You still have red hair."

"Yes, Rowan. I like it."

"Did you ask everyone?"

"Yes." Not really.

"Even the bad guys?"

"I don't know any bad guys. But if I did I wouldn't ask if they liked my hair." Maybe I would.

"Satan's a bad guy. You could ask him."

"I definitely won't be asking if Satan likes my hair. What color do you think it should be?"

"Blonde."

"I might do that in the Spring."

"Well, until then you could just make it brown." She said brown. She has no idea how hard I've tried to get away from brown. Devil child.

"Oh look. Your bus is here."

The Trip Back To Normal

2011-09-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

I was reminded the other day that my blog was suffering from cobwebs. This is true. The blog has become a place of squalor and dank dark corners. It was the pretty new dress that now sits in the back of the closet untouched.

Another friend pointed out the positive, "Hey, at least you know you have readers that pay attention."

Until this afternoon I hadn't had a trigger event. A trigger event (I made that up) is when something happens and I feel compelled to write a post.

Basically this summer was the worst summer in recorded history for us. There's others that will dispute this and say it was actually the best summer they'd ever had. Experiences are relative.

At this house we spent the first 4 weeks battling a stomach virus which would not go away. It would pretend to go away and then sneak back in during the night. Kind of like that one relative that always out stays their welcome. After that we had a couple weeks reprieve and then Jace came down with pneumonia. It was bad enough that the doctor wanted him to go check into the local hospital. Being a man ~~chicken~~ he refused. He was then forced to endure MY nursing. He hates that. It means he will get well by my sheer force of will power. That and I make him take his medicine on time, not at any-ole-time like he would do.

There you have it. We were worn down by plagues and disappointment. We didn't get to enjoy any summer vacation plans or swimming lessons. ( Believe me, if your kid has a tummy virus, you won't enroll them in swimming lessons.) By the last week of summer we were begging to be released from all this torment. We prayed daily that somehow school would start earlier and we would feel like things had changed.

Finally the day arrived. The first day of school! Rowan showed her excitement by getting up at midnight and putting her clothes on to make sure she wasn't late. We are now into week two of school. She loves it. I love it, too. We are enjoying our time away from each other since we spent the summer in quarantine. This year has brought something new. It's all day school. It feels a little odd. I felt myself wondering, "what am I supposed to do with all this time?"

I have found an answer to that question. Get other women with that same dazed look to do things together. It's brilliant. I have found one woman who enjoys going to see movies and her husband doesn't go to movies. I have another friend who likes to try different places to eat. Another friend likes to go to farms and yarn shops. Another friend is giddy with delight that she can do something with someone her own age. Really, you should see her face when we talk about meeting. Big grin, sparkly eyes, and giggling. The list goes on but suffice to say I have become very busy and actually need a planner to keep track of all the activities.

Today, though, really let me know that we are out of summer and back into a regular routine. We are in fall. Rowan came home today and I looked at her. I asked, "Didn't you wear that dress to school yesterday?" She replied, "Yes, but I like it so much I wanted to wear it again." Uh huh. (Her Father let her wear it)

Things are back to normal.

Avocado Ice Cream

2011-06-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

In case you've become weary of the old standby flavors of ice cream, I thought I would share a recipe I found for Avocado Ice Cream. You can get this recipe and other ice cream recipes from the June-July issue of MaryJanes Farm.

MaryJane's Avocado Ice Cream
Prep Time: 15 minutes Makes: 3 cups

1 large avocado, peeled and diced
1 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1. Combine avocado, half-and-half, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a blender. Puree until completely smooth.
2. Pour mixture into a 2-quart baking dish.
3. Cover and freeze until firm, about 4 hours. (Can be transferred to an air-tight container and kept in a freezer for up to one month.)
4. Before serving, let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Use an ice-cream or watermelon scoop to serve. Top with fresh fruit or mango salsa.

This tastes mostly like lemon sherbet. And if you're wondering about pairing it with watermelon like the picture, DO IT. It tastes amazing!

Old Folks Didn't Have the "Green Thing"

2011-06-28T19:43:00.000-07:00

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. The former generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store.

The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over.

So they really were recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building.

They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind.

They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts - wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.

Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right, they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house - not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a

handkerchief, not a screen the size of the state of Montana .

In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you.

When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right, they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water.

They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances.

And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old folks were just because they didn't have the green thing back then?

~Author Unknown~

Intermission

2011-06-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

No, the Rapture didn't take me. According to a poll taken, most people were too busy to be raptured. I was one of them.

In fact, I was so busy I wasn't able to blog. Or read other blogs (guilty look.)

I'm getting to the end of the remodel and I've decided to let half the garden go. I had to sit down and make a list of things I wanted to do and things I wanted done. Both of those lists are so long that they can't possibly fit into my little list of time available. I hacked and chopped projects off my list that were requiring lots of time but no results, like 50% of the garden.

I have a little more catching up to do. I'm working on some business logo changes and all the behind the scenes stuff it involves. I'm also working on SOOO many other things ~~filing my nails~~ and I'm looking forward to finding some time to write about them.

Thanks for your patience. The above picture is my new logo without the business name. Because a business named Intermission might be silly.

All Raptured Up

2011-05-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

I know it's been awhile since my last post. Nothing has really compelled me to blog. Until...word broke out on the Facebook about Rapture 2011.

This got me thinking. What is the proper etiquette for such an event?

Sara is wondering if she needs to clean her floors. Now I'm wondering if I should do that, too. What else am I missing?

Do I leave out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk the night before?

If I'm not chosen, do I get coal in my stocking?

What's the right Rapture outfit?

Are there any Rapture sales going on at the mall?

Did Kate and Will get married before the Rapture on purpose?

I want to go to this craft show on Saturday and it doesn't end till 7 p.m. but the Rapture is supposed to happen at 6 p.m.

Is it 6 p.m. Eastern time or Pacific? Because if it's Eastern then I can stay for the whole craft show.

If it's Eastern time, is it fair for people in California to have a heads up warning?

Should I have a pinata at my Rapture party?

What's the perfect Rapture gift for that person who has everything?

Maybe you've picked up on my sarcasm and that just maybe I don't believe this will be happening. I have a few reasons why I believe to not believe.

The remodel isn't done yet. If I do get Raptured up I'll be in serious insurance hell for not finishing it.

I'm scheduled to work the following day and I don't get that lucky to think I'll be getting out of going to work. If any of my coworkers get the Rapture I'm gonna be so mad because it'll leave more work for me.

I don't think there's enough Prozac in existence for dealing with millions of people disappearing.

So if the Rapture does come then I hope you enjoyed this last post and it was nice knowing you. If it doesn't come then we'll move on to some captivating posts about gardening.

Pondering...

2011-04-14T05:38:00.000-07:00

Lately I haven't been blogging. The season of Spring brings many, many activities, and especially so this year.

Instead of blogging I've been living vicariously through all of your blogs. Some of you are very serious writers and some of you have a natural talent for letting words flow, especially if it's something funny. Some of you are complete freaks. That's what I like about the blogging world. Too many times we can get in a rut with our thinking but the blog world opens the eyes and shows the big picture. And how not to take life so seriously.

Since we had our vacation it's been a struggle to get back into the swing of things. I'm reticent to do exactly that. It feels like I'm losing my grasp on nature. On vacation it wasn't about being inside, it was all about being outside in the woods, the sun, the snow. Once home it's all about getting things done in the house. Waking up for school, doing the dishes, doing the laundry, making beds, back to real jobs, back to hobby businesses. There's less and less time spent outside.

I'm mourning this loss. I sit outside and read under trees until the sounds of lawnmowers drown out the sounds of birds and the dog shepherding the cat for the millionth time today.

We've planted the garden but it doesn't seem to be doing as well as last years. Maybe our heart isn't in it as much. We did figure out that we need to keep planting something every week. I started more seedlings yesterday. Jace planted more rows of corn and microgreens. I planted peppers, cilantro, and basil. The tomatoes are "waking up" and starting to stretch upwards. One plant already has a baby tomato. If things keep growing it looks like we'll have a nice crop of watermelon and canteloupe.

On the inside of the house we have the kitchen/masterbath remodel in progress. We (I) am moving things to other rooms, consolidating, throwing things out. It looks like we have an official start date for the last week of April. We know the contractor and he has this great business practice of starting a job and working on it till it's actually completely finished before starting a job for someone else. This makes him very sought after. Of course I'll have some pics for you to see when we're getting underway and the finished work.

So that's about it for now. We're getting by, although reluctantly. Time keeps marching forward. Summer will be here and it'll be time for swimming lessons and harvesting.

Yosemite National Park

2011-03-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

The other week we skipped town and went on vacation. This was no small secret. I managed to keep it quiet for 7 months. Because as we all know my blog caters to the more criminal element. I knew you'd all be dying to break into my house knowing I was gone. In the end this could have actually helped...

I came up with clever plans to save money. We shared the car ride with a friend and her daughter who also wanted to explore out West. We only thought about finding an orphanage a few times to drop off the yammering chatterbox in the back seat who wanted to know, "are we there yet?"

We stayed in a budget hotel. I had joined their hotel club discount program and reserved the room 7 months in advance. We shared the hotel with a friendly bunch from some logging company. By friendly, I mean they would all open their room doors any time any noise or other door happened to open. We figured they were thinking some bombshell model was just strolling the halls hoping to find some guy from a logging company she could shack up with on first sight. We played tricks on them by opening our door just to see how many of them would open their door. Then we would shut our door and laugh hysterically, because we're grownups.

Rowan really enjoyed getting to see "big snow." We took her to ski one day. She was very frustrated, but determined. She whined and complained and didn't listen to the ski teacher. Somehow she made progress and by the end of the day she was zooming at 1 mph with a smile as big as Texas. I, on the other hand, had mastered the bunny slope and made the stupid mistake to go down the "more difficult" trail. I made it down...eventually. My friend learned how to snowboard but couldn't turn. They are henceforth to be known as the Bullet for their straight-shot-speed-of-light technique down the slope.

This was the only bear we saw, thankfully.

We spent a lot of time hiking. Pictures truly can't capture the rare beauty. A picture can't grasp all the sounds and smells that surround you in that moment.

Pictures can tell a story. Like the one about a 5 year old who was whining and had to be carried part of the way. She was our bear repellant, but she really did so well. One day she hiked 5 miles. And she slept like a rock!

One day out hiking around, this cute little kitty came out of the woods, silently. We never heard a thing. One minute it wasn't there and the next it was right in front of us. Rowan had to be held back as she insisted she wanted to pet the "nice kitty." I was nervously trying to take a picture and figuring out what I would do in case it attacked us. In the end, it never even looked at us. It was hunting after something else. It slowly stalked and disappeared back into the woods, never making a sound.

We came home and have since learned that the park was hit by a horrendous snow storm and the whole place was shut down.

We also came home to a flooded kitchen and master bathroom. So if you guys had broken in maybe you could've turned off the water coming out of the pipe under the kitchen sink. My time is now spent dealing with this inconvenience. In the next few ~~weeks~~ months, we'll be having a quarter of the house gutted from floor to ceiling and replaced.

But my mind and my heart are still here...

Code Class Is Killing Me

2011-03-09T18:53:00.000-08:00

Remember when the weather was all yucky and we were in the middle of that thing called winter? Well, I was really bored and reading my email. Between the intriguing mail about finding local forklift operators and meeting my true love Nigerian prince, I had an email for a code class. It was from a known source.

I vaguely remember reading it, thinking it couldn't be that hard if it was free. It would probably reinforce my use of the strike through symbols that people ~~love to see so much~~. Especially ~~repeatedly~~. I think there may be a strike through anonymous group for those ~~who can't help themselves from using it~~. All. The. Time. ~~Stop it~~.

Last week I received my "Welcome to this unbelievably beginner class. It's so easy that we're teaching it in kindergarten." I clicked the sign in link and put my little registration info and password in. How hard could this be?

The window (or is it a screen?) opened up with the course curriculum. Holy. Cow. I have homework. And Tests?!

This week I'm to read through 2 lessons, do my homework (with or without the extra credit), and take a short quiz if I'm "feelin lucky." I am not. Why, do you ask?

6 hours after starting the Introduction page. You read that right. Six hours after working on the introduction page I was hopelessly stuck. I wrote the instructorbot. No reply. The husband was no help. "Oh you'll figure it out." It's like a bad dream where everyone speaks calculus and you keep saying, "I haven't even taken addition yet." But when you say it it just sounds like, "sllf''s sojfoa ffd! lol fjkepp, right?"

The problem was I had two files that I needed to use but I couldn't get them open. I looked for a program to open them but they all wanted $29.95 to do that for me. I had just about given up when I was reading a review for the updated browser I'm using. In the comments someone said they didn't know why they had posted that baby screen shot, it wasn't necessary.

Hold up. I don't have that baby screen shot on my puter. Where is it? So I reread and found it was in the Tools section. Just like a...hmmm...I was going to say just like a man to leave the tools in the toolbox, but around here the man leaves his tools all over the house.

I open the toolbox and then drag and drop those two files and like magic they open up. I was so humbly thankful. This means that part of my class will not be spent taking a sledge hammer to the computer. I also had visions of throwing it out the window.

My lessons and homework this week have to do with learning HTML and CSS, which is not nearly as fun as CSI. I'm currently working on my homework which consists of

3 paragraphs

and must include

the HTML and CSS stuff the lessons covered.

Basically, this blog works as a great editor to see if the tags I write are in the right place and the web page will look right. You'll be seeing some experimentation and little bleebloop tech stuff. You know, like strike throughs, bullet points, paragraphs, and highlighted sections in big fonts with emphasis.

Thanks for putting up with it. I hope it will eventually improve the look of my page. Unless of course you happen to see my Nigerian prince on a forklift. Please send him my way and I'll just pay someone to fix my page with the inheritance money.

The Obligatory Spring Post

2011-03-01T21:09:00.000-08:00

I know you are probably wondering how No Poo is going. Well, let me tell you...I caved! I caved like a big...thing that caves. Let me take you back. Last Friday I did the baking soda wash and I got my ratio wrong and used too much (I think) baking soda. The hair was icky. I had to be somewhere Saturday and no way was I going without good hair. So I washed with shampoo...It felt so wrong and so right at the same time. Herbal Essences was telling me what a failure I was. I was telling it to shut up and lather or I'd be switching to its' arch rival Garnier.

An interesting development is noting that I haven't had to wash my hair since. That's weird. 4 days. Smells good. Looks good. Oh, I will wash it. I will try not using shampoo again. We'll catch up on this later.

Someone has decided that their true name is now She-Ra, Princess of Power...mmm hmm.

That's a gun holster in case you're wondering.

We're also eagerly anticipating spring. We're working hard (me, not so much) at tilling the soil and getting the gardens ready. Here's what we found the other day...

Total throw up. These are grubs. What you can't tell in the pics is that they are 3 inches long and fatter than your finger.

Obviously I asked Jace if he wanted to become a locavore. Rowan just screamed like a little girl. What a sissy. I was standing many yards away using the zoom lens.

Spring is here. And it's a big, fat worm.

Homestead Debacle and More No Poo Hair

2011-02-22T18:08:00.000-08:00

A comment from yesterday's post asked if I knew about the scandalous debacle about trademarking Urban Homesteader and Urban Homesteading. I do know about this such debacle. I will try to keep this short.

A family in California wants to trademark the words "urban homesteader" and "urban homesteading." Right now, as I understand it, they hold a supplemental trademark. This means they have a certain amount of time to prove that their use of the words is exclusive to only them. Meaning, all of us other urban homesteaders don't use those words. This is ridiculous. I wrote that it was a fluid and everchanging movement and trying to narrow it down so finitely is a disservice and rather insulting to the rest of us.

Yesterday was the day many, maybe thousands, of people peppered Facebook, Twitter, and their blogs with those words. One part was to post your visitor tally prior to your post and then after your post. My visitor tally for yesterday was 112. You'll be surprised to hear that once again 90% of the visitors were actually looking at the post about henna in my hair.

The other thing I was trying to accomplish with my post was to not specifically say why I was writing the post that way. I wanted it to look commonplace and not give exclusivity to the trademark seeking louts. For me, if I wrote it saying, "I'm writing this because of that family," then it gives them exclusivity and wouldn't show generic usage.

So if I get a letter in the mail saying I should stop using those words I will show it to you.

Today was Day 2 of No Poo Hair. I'm doing rather well. Last night I washed my hair with conditioner only. Here's my pic. I wore it up today because I just do that a lot anyway. It looks and feels fine. I'm not surprised. I have a feeling the real test of sticking it out is in another day or two.

Of No Poo Hair and Homesteading

2011-02-21T10:51:00.000-08:00

First off I want to mention the visitor counter. I installed it long after this blog was rolling. My official visitor count as of right now is 5,761. When I track my stats, an overwhelming amount of visitors appear on days I blog about my hair. I'm talking over 1,200 people have read about me using henna in my hair. Just thought I'd mention that little factoid.

Today at my little urban homestead I will again be talking about what I've done to my hair. I hope Blogger's servers are prepared to handle the incoming traffic of my hair groupies.

Thanks to the internet and the library (ancient way people research things), I've been able to expand my efforts in urban homesteading without fear of horrible consequences, i.e. losing a limb. There are so many involved in this that it creates a wealth of information, free for anyone who wants to learn. It's an interesting movement that is fluid and ever evolving. With so many people participating there could never be a finite location or singular ownership of the idea. The things I've managed to conquer: productive gardens my family can use as a source of food (in winter we would starve, but I'm working on it), a real compost pile, crocheting wearable items, making household bath and beauty products, cooking and eating better, exercising, canning, and giving back to others in the urban homestead movement without a price tag attached.

On to the hair. I know you're asking what I'm talking about. No Poo Hair? Some of you may know about this and have even contemplated it, maybe even tried it. The No Shampoo Method is to use alternatives to shampoo to wash your hair and still come out with clean, managable hair.

I have tried several different recipes, some from videos off Youtube, and all of them had failed me. I ended up with what I call "sticky hair syndrome." This will make the hair look and feel like you have never washed your hair, sticks together, and is uncombable. It's disgusting. I was depressed thinking I wouldn't be able to go the distance in this urban homesteading project.

Well, last night I decided to try again but I cut down the traditional No Poo recipe...a lot. The traditional recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of baking soda per cup of water. Generally, people need 2 cups of this to get all of the hair wet. I opted for putting 1 teaspoon of baking soda in 2 cups of water (16 oz.). I made a total solution of 2 teaspoons baking soda to 32 oz. of water, since I have long hair. I poured it onto my dry hair and made sure it all got wet.

The apple cider vinegar rinse I use is 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar to 20 oz. of water. I rinsed my hair 3 times with this solution. The apple cider vinegar acts as a conditioner for me.

Lastly, I rinsed 3 times with only water. I just had to wait for it to dry....

Here's my result for day 1 of No Poo Hair. My hair feels like it usually does when washed with shampoo and conditioner. I'm very happy with the results. I've read the stronger baking soda solution is good for people with curly hair and the weaker solution is more appropriate for people with straight hair.

I'll keep you updated and include any variations I might add, such as any other natural conditioners or essential oil usage. I hope you found this urban homesteading project useful.

Cost Saving Tip and Homemade Arthritis Ointment

2011-02-17T19:28:00.000-08:00

Even though that title sounds incredibly boring, there's two important pieces of information I want to pass on.

Last week I decided we needed some more vegetable storage space. The crisper box wasn't cutting it since we've increased our vegetable and fruit buying. The stuff just won't fit. Instead of being a good homemaker vegetable lady and storing the vegetables cut up and in prim and proper bags, I just threw them in the fridge. Well, as so often happens, I'd get lazy and not feel creative in my cooking. By the end of a week those vegetables were looking pretty sad, if not angry and threatening to riot. So in the compost they would go.

One day I thought if I got an extra storage bin then maybe those vegetables would last a little longer. It turns out that's true. I bought vegetables last week and they are still looking fresh as daisies. This is going to save me a lot of money.

Now for the homemade arthritis ointment. It might be good on aches and pains, too. Starting last fall I noticed some twangs in my knuckles. It wasn't enough to limit my activities. Just a gnawing soreness. It's persisting through the winter. I decided to research for some home cures.

I came across this recipe: 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. I put it into the jar and stirred and stirred and stirred some more. It did not want to blend. I still applied some and it really did work. I left it alone for an hour and when I came back it looks like it's starting to blend on its own. Oh sure, you'll have a little vinegar smell (very little) but the soreness is all gone! This recipe will give you 2 ounces.

Good Prevails Over Evil Part 2

2011-02-15T18:37:00.000-08:00

And Justice was served! And apparently it tastes like Jello...

If you follow this blog then you'll remember my rant about this picture. Or rather, the comment one "lady" left about it. You'll remember that I only posted it to try and win a subscription to a magazine and I was feeling iffy about entering it.

Well, today I received an email saying this photo would be in their slideshow. And. It. WON in its' category! Vindication is Mine!!! What did Rowan say about it winning? "Bo-ring" hmmph. I say you gotta grab victory wherever you can.

Apparently they also like my foot because this picture is in the slideshow, too. It didn't win in it's category. I don't mind.

Because Good Always Prevails Over Evil and Other Spring Fairytales

2011-02-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

Last week we received snow. I know many of the people up North were sitting on the edge of their seats wondering if the stupid people down South would be able to survive. Much like the times when we Southern people sit around and laugh about the poor folks up north who are sweltering when it hits 80 degrees. Thankfully, we did survive and we didn't have to do anything drastic like interact with the crazy neighbors because we never lost our internet. Score 1 for good over evil.

An update to my last post: The therapist has declared that Rowan is normal! The words were, "She's normal and very happy." In fact, it seems just the act of everyone noticing what her social skills are has made her more sociable and less anxious. We'll continue seeing the therapist but only every other week, and frankly I think they are going to cut us loose after the next session. The down side? We finally get the top of the line health insurance and this is the best diagnosis they can give us? She's normal? C'mon. Score 2 for good over evil.

We are all eagerly anticipating spring right now. Things are abuzz with energy. There are plans for gardens and projects are being mapped out. The arm wrestling over who gets which garden beds are complete. The seeds are ready. It's like the revving of engines at the Indy 500 before the flag. Spring conquers winter. Score 3 for good over evil.

I lost a blog follower. I think he was from South America. He's been replaced by Cheeseboy. Hop to his blog if you get a chance. He's like the Activity Director on the cool kids' cruise ship. Score 4 for good over evil.

I wish I had a great ending for this post, but I don't....

Fretting and Baloney (bologna)

2011-01-24T20:56:00.000-08:00

It's been a week here. I could say it's been SO busy but that's not really true. It's been the usual. I work on the weekends now. This is not MY business. It's the job I won't ever talk about because I'd like to keep it and I wouldn't do something dumb like post it in my Facebook profile and then bash someone about eating Jello. Because, Dude, someone could read that and not like it and forward it to that company and then said person could lose their job. I am not that kind of person...on most days.

It has been a week, though. I've been fretting about Rowan. What I am about to tell you is strictly confidential, which is why I'm blabbing it all over the internet. There's a reason to my madness. I'm not particularly worried about her being accepted into some ivy league college, so if this comes back to haunt her, I don't think it will matter much.

Rowan has an issue that we are dealing with head on and with all the force of a hurricane. If you know me, then you know when something hits my radar it is addressed swiftly and with full power, resources, and determination.

She's having adjustment issues (in awesome shrink talk). To preschool. Think about that. If I don't tackle this now then she is doomed to become an outcast. Forever to walk on the fringe of society.

Well, maybe it's not that gloomy. The reason to my madness is that it should be discussed. I think we are all aware of things being swept under a rug and not spoken about. At our house I need to make sure this is not a secret issue, in all things I do. And since blogging is one of the things I do, this will now be a part of it. We will not call it Rowan's Mental Health. So where does this story begin?

Last year Rowan went to a Pre-K 3 class and all was well. She knew everyone's name. She was on top of all the social goings-on of the other 3 and 4 year olds. She even did imaginary play at home with these kids. Reenacting classroom scenes, doing problem solving by asking her ghost friends. This year is different.

This year, we are now in January, a full semester into school, and Rowan cannot tell us anyone she goes to school with this year. I thought at the beginning of a school year it might take a little while to learn the new kids' names. However, the time has long passed for that. Be nice, I did notice before the winter break that this was happening.

We were planning on discussing this with the teacher at the next parent-teacher conference but then we had a little nudge to do something more. Mostly, Rowan wanting to go to the restroom All. The. Time. We thought she might have a bladder infection, etc. We took her to the doctor to have the physical part checked out. All o.k. So now we are dealing with the psychological.

Today I did 3 things. 1) I enrolled her into gymnastics. A group activity with other kids not in her classroom. Also, an activity I think she might like as it involves jumping on things like furniture. We watched youtube videos of spectacular gymnastic feats this evening to inspire her to Olympic greatness. We did not watch youtube blooper videos of gymnastic fails.

2) We had a parent-teacher conference. There were some nagging questions I had. Like, how did Rowan come home with great social skills on her report card yet have no knowledge of who she went to school with. The teacher gave me the usual "she has no problems in class." Then I took my glasses off. This is my last straw sign. I was determined to keep my cool and not blame the teacher. I actually need her on our side. I explained that sometimes there are other children who are problems in the classroom and they require so much attention that the good children start falling through the cracks. The teacher liked this idea. She also suggested that while most kids are already forming cliques, Rowan doesn't have an interest in that and wants to be friends with everyone. I suggested Rowan has too many choices and it's making her crazy. I also suggested we do this: The teacher keep on working on her squeaky wheel problem students but stop giving Rowan too many choices for activities. Give her two choices. The teacher likes this and also participating in our next step.

3) Counseling. This is such a dirty word, isn't it. I am determined not to think so. I am determined to get Rowan through this now and not deal with who knows what when she is a teenager. What's the counseling for? Because I, nor Jace, went to Super Duper Parent School and we've reached a brick wall on what to do. We also know there are answers and skills to help us. We don't think she'll need medication, she's often remarked as being a very good child in public. We think she'll, and us, will get some skills for coping and interacting with others and making friends.

What I'm afraid of? We'll all end up in counseling. Jace and I both grew up in homes that we are now repeating life problems, though less. What I'm hopeful for? Like I really have to say. A healthy, happy child.

Got any suggestions? Please let me know. As always, thanks for "listening" to my blog.

~Julie

How A Bike Rack Tried To Kill Me

2011-01-20T15:13:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post this earlier but I was afflicted by an upset tummy. I have noticed this happening more and more and seems to coincide with the days I get up to get Rowan off to school. This is part of my reasoning for wanting to homeschool. I think my body is rebelling and saying, "You did the school thing growing up and now I'm not getting up early anymore! I will make you pay for getting me up too early." And it has. Lucky for me Jace is getting her up tomorrow. I don't suppose I could homeschool only on days that I have to get up with her.

Speaking of bad attitudes about school, Rowan was sent home a sort of test. It has come to the teacher's attention that many of the kids can identify every letter of the alphabet and numbers and colors...when they are at home, but not in the classroom. Rowan is one of these. Our conversation at the last parent teacher conference consisted of the teacher saying she might not be cut out for school and should probably find a nice career in prison. She could only identify 5 letters and 3 colors. At home it's a different story. She can identify 24 of 26 letters, she can count to 30 and knows all her colors, she's doing kindergarten level math, and we've started working on reading. A classical example of not being able to test under pressure.

Now to the bike rack. In this weekly stroke of genius, I thought I should get a bike rack. This is to help me get my bike to town so that I can spend hours and hours of riding with a gentle breeze through my hair and sunshine on my face.

My first obstacle was finding the darn thing. I finally found one at Walmart. It listed my car as acceptable for using this rack. And no assembly! Oh, how hard could this be?

I opened it. So far so good. I managed to make it look like it did in the picture. Then I got tangled in the straps. All I could think was Jace was going to come home to find me bound up in this rack thing unable to move. I finally managed to get untangled and get the thing outside.

Once outside I did manage to put the bike rack onto the car fairly easily. But then I had it too high, then too low. That back window wiper thingy kept getting in my way.

Now that I had the bike rack on the car, I had to put the bike on it. I had to lift the bike. Hahahahahaha. I'm a going to have to practice that. I finally had to wait for Jace to get home to help me figure it out. But we managed to get it strapped down and I drove around a little to see if it was stable. It's still on there. I'll let you know if I'm actually going to be able to manage to use it in town or if I'm going to just drive around looking cool like I might ride my bike somewhere.

Triple J Farms... Mui Romantico

2011-01-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

I'm posting to plug Triple J Farms blog. I noticed they were following me...like the person who finally looked at my blog in Alaska...not to mention the 2 people in South America. I was really stressing about Alaska since Sarah Palin lives there and I thought maybe she might be The One.

I'm supporting Triple J Farms because it's THE most romantic, real blog I've seen in a long time. I followed them before reading any posts, only because of their description line. It might seem kitsche, or frivolous. It says, down home and honest to me. It appeals to my Live Better motto. I hope you follow them...

Making Butter....mmm

2011-01-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

Today I made butter. I feel very Modern Pioneer. That's a catchy name. I just made it up.

Food is starting to become a real hot button issue. People are beginning to not like overprocessed items or chemicals in their food. I know I don't. As I've become more educated about the things in food, I'm also learning how to change some of the things in my kitchen. One thing I'm changing is butter. It's really easy to make and we don't usually eat food drowning in it.

To make butter you will need heavy cream, a mixer of some sort, and salt is optional. I used a food processor and 32 ounces of heavy cream for this batch. I've also used one of those small food choppers to make smaller amounts.

Simply pour the heavy cream (salt) into your mixer and push the on button. It will take 5-10 minutes of mixing. It will first become whipped cream. Then it will become really whipped cream.

When it becomes butter you'll know it. It'll suddenly "seize" and look like scrambled eggs sitting in some water. That water is buttermilk, which can be saved but I pour mine out.

You'll want to rinse the butter in cool water to make sure all the buttermilk is gone. This step will help the butter last longer.

I packed the butter in a small container and pressed down to get all the water out. This recipe made 1 lb. 2 oz. of real butter.

It's yummy. It's fresh. I know what's in it. I'll be switching to organic cream next. You can also use the cream from goat's milk, though it'll be harder to find. Other options would be to add honey, garlic, or herbs.

No Impact...Day 7 & 8

2011-01-10T07:32:00.000-08:00

Day 7 is a pretty short post. The challenge was Giving Back. I was supposed to be volunteering my time (or good manners) and give back to the community or open the door for people or walk old ladies across the street. I had to work all day (read up at 4 a.m. and not home till 7:15 p.m. then to sleep to repeat the next day), so I didn't really do all those things.

I'm actually not very comfortable getting into great detail about how I do give back. Oh sure, I have a blog that screams "Look At Me!" but when talking about charitable contributions I don't want to post "Look at what a good person I am. I am great. I am fantastic. Blah blah blah." And maybe it's just silly. I'm going to list the four things I do but that's it. No further explanation.

I donate to my local Women's Shelter
I donate to my local Food Bank
I started a community Trade Day
I send money to Yosemite Conservancy

Day 8 EcoSabbath. Today was supposed to be a day of reflection. To reflect on the past week. To enjoy family and friends. I went to work. I reflected on the past week, but it was more a sense of relief that I made it through the week. Relief that I could go back to my "regular" way of life. That I could be low/no impact on my own terms and not under pressure.

I'm making some permanent changes and I'll write about those in regular posts. Something like how a bike rack tried to kill me.

Here's something I know you've been waiting for. A picture of my trash for the entire week.

Just over 4 cups. I could probably have recycled some of this down even further.

Isn't this a cute picture? This was the one and only thing I regret about doing this experiment. Not the jello, not the picture. What I regret is that I posted the picture. I had mixed feelings about doing that because it opens the floodgates to strangers. I posted the pic on the Yes! Magazine Facebook page for a chance to win a year's subscribtion.

One person felt it was their duty to point out the evils of jello.

"Cynthia Koons- Is this JELLO???? Do you know how they make the stuff??? They have animal bones/carcasses shipped from South America and then boil them off for the gelatin, the people who work in the factories are prone to getting anthrax on their skin!

January 6 at 6:09pm · LikeUnlike"

She really likes the "?" key. You can also read my nice, yet polite way of saying, "Hey, I don't know you and thanks for being a jerk!" if you go to the Facebook page.

The truth is that it's boiled off for collagen, not gelatin, smarty pants. Only the strictest vegetarians avoid gelatin and it's already in numerous foods that we all eat. My family is not vegetarian.

Basically, I could've done without that comment, as the experiment was hard enough as is. I was hoping this would've been a completely positive experience, but as the saying goes, "there's one in every crowd."

No Impact...Day 6

2011-01-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

Today's challenge was water. I had big plans for this one. I had even practiced last week.

This is bathtub laundry. See Rowan's doll? She's waving at you.

We had great fun stomping all over it. We even used a natural laundry soap. In the end it was a real pain. Maybe if I only had a few items to wash every day this would work better. So maybe what we should cut down on is how many outfits a 5 year old should wear in one day. Just sayin.

Although I won't be giving up my washer, I do have serious plans about the dryer. I did in fact buy a laundry umbrella last summer. Once it's installed then it will dramatically cut down on the use of the dryer. That'll be a huge energy savings.

Back to the challenge. Today was bill paying day. Today I just happened to pay the water bill. This time I took a good look at it. I noticed something really great. The No Impact information states that "The average American uses 1,189 gallons of water per day." My water bill says we use 175 gallons per day. And that's for 3 people! So that's around 58.3 gallons per day for me compared to 1,189 gallons for the average American? Yeah, I'm not cutting out my washing machine.

I can very happily say that we aren't watering our yard or washing our cars on a regular basis. Bath time is always a shared event. Rowan, very often likes to dress as a mermaid and jump in.

One weird thing I did today was weigh my mail. On Fridays I go through the mail and pull out what we really need. There's never much that needs our actual attention sooner than once a week. Today I weighed the mail we really needed versus the mail we don't. My results are 1.5 ounces of useful mail and 13.6 ounces of junk. That has a lot of implications. I'm receiving 13 times more stuff than I need. The mail carrier is carrying 13 times more stuff than he needs to. He's using more gas, etc. etc. than is 13 times necessary.

Basically it was a low eventful day. I did do my first canning project, which will be another post next week. Tomorrow's challenge is Giving Back. I'll be working at my real job for the weekend so I won't be volunteering time for any organizations in town as suggested. I'm not sure I'll have anything to post, but you never how things will turn out.

No Impact...Day 5

2011-01-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

OMG! This thing is lasting forever.

Today's challenge was Energy. I didn't drive anywhere so this specifically meant No Electricity...for me. Since the 2 ~~wimps~~ non players can't play like a big girl I have to leave some electricity on. Specifically I left the clocks plugged in and the fridge on.

I did use some electricity for work, which is allowed. I just couldn't rationalize doing some things and calling them work related. I'm also doing this post because I don't have solar power to hook up my computer to. Otherwise, unless it's business or related to this challenge I cut myself off from all other websites till Monday. Just shoot me now. I do get to check Facebook since that's where I'm receiving some instructions on this experiment and I have a business page and I'm really trying to rationalize it.

Jace is starting to take a little bit of pleasure in all my imposed suffering. Take today. He made coffee with the coffee pot, and he shared. Very nice of him. Afterwards he said, "you can turn off the coffee, I know the electricity is burning you." snicker snicker snicker.

Tonight, he knows I can't watch a movie or turn on a light unless he does it for himself and I can share since I'm in the house. He has figured out that he gets to choose what movie will be on. So unless I want to sit in almost dark then I will be watching Blazing Saddles...again...for the 254th time. The reason I say almost dark is because I have some oil lamps that will be used for reading and navigating in the dark.

The only anxious things that have happened today are getting this post in because I want to really give the no electricity thing a try tonight. It's been a very relaxing day not having anything distracting me. The other thing was getting dinner ready before the sun sets. This meant I had to start cooking by 4 pm. It's now almost 5 and I am just waiting for the turnip casserole stuffing cheesy thing I made to finish cooking. We're also having the pan sausage and a salad of greens all from the farmer's market.

Tonight I will truly be going over to the dark side... Tomorrow's challenge: Water...I think

No Impact...Day 4

2011-01-06T06:39:00.000-08:00

I got in late last night and didn't want to mess with posting, so here's yesterday's post and there will be another post later before the sun goes down...you'll see.

As promised, here is my bike. It's a very laid back ladies' bike. I feel a bit like the evil neighbor on the Wizard of Oz when I ride it. I want another basket in the front. Actually, I wish my little dog would ride in the basket on the back. That would be cool.

Day 4's challenge was Food. Specifically to only buy food that is produced locally. I did well with this. With careful planning, I can easily make this work for my family. My farmer's market is open on Tuesdays, so I planned ahead for this challenge by buying food on Tuesday. There's other local/natural food sources close to where I work that I could practice planning and using more for increased efficiency in this area.

These were the things I found at the market and will eat. There were some other things that didn't appeal to me.

Starting from the left: Spinach, Blackberry Preserves, Local Honey, Turnip, Tomatoes.

Grass fed pork pan sausage, Bison Meat, Carrots, Garlic.

Broccoli, Swiss Chard, Collard Greens, Pecans, and Eggs.

I don't have a local source for milk yet and that's something we aren't going to give up. Looks like I'll be doing some more investigating. I found there's really an abundance of local food if I take the time to look around. The grocery store really "blinds" you to all the other possibilities out there for food sources.

The last thing I did was go to the local meetup I organized. I brought my own cup and they were happy to prepare my mocha and put it in there. We don't grow coffee locally but I thought I was doing pretty good by buying from a local business, that offered it's space for the meetup, and I used my own cup. I also have my own silverware in my purse now. That really made me aware of how much I hate using restaurant utensils. I think I will continue this practice.

The meetup was very successful. I found out there's a lot of people that are very resourceful in my town. There's a couple that want to grow a garden on their roof and see if they can get other buildings to join in. Another family is partially solar and collects all their rain water. One man has learned and lives low impact and only lives one street away from me.

Things we accomplished was getting to know each other and making a plan for the next meetup. We're going to do a trade day. We'll promote it and invite people to bring their items they don't use, but are still in good condition, that they would like to trade or give away. Everyone really liked this idea. It keeps it in the community and out of the landfill. I like Goodwill and Salvation Army but you never know where your stuff goes. I'd like to try this as a step before I drop things off for donation. We'll also have a small amount of time to bring up "Needs." This will address things people need or need to have done and what they are willing to trade for it or the possibility that someone might have the item in need to lend or give.

Day 5's challenge is energy. I'll have another post before the sun goes down!

No Impact..Day 3

2011-01-04T18:50:00.000-08:00

I knew a few days ago I would not be able to do this particular challenge as well as I would've liked. The timing was all wrong and so was the weather. Today's challenge was Transportation and Take Action.

I was thwarted in the transportation part because today was Market Day and the weather was out to get me. Let me write you a picture...

I have mentioned that I live in the country. Eight miles exactly from the edge of town. Those eight miles are a dangerous, trecherous journey of hills, narrow shoulders, and drivers who think they're in the General Lee.

Let's add to this that it was raining and I'm new at riding my bike in traffic again. I had visions of wiping out and sliding through intersections. Plus, it was freaking cold just standing still. I wasn't about to add wind speed.

Most of you also know that I have a booth at the local farmer's market. This requires me to drag a 6 foot folding table around, not to mention all my fabulous wares that I sell. In my ignorance I just couldn't fathom how I would strap a 6 foot table to my bike without looking like an airplane and thus causing other drivers to crash into each other from staring at me thus making me lose control and go sliding through the intersection.

Taking public transportation was out of the question also because of the table issue and there doesn't seem to be any public transportation either. I did succeed at the lowest level of participation, which was to group all errands together on one day and drive the shortest, most efficient route. Yea me. And since I rode my bike to the store the other day, I'm going to count that. I will also try to get a pic of my bike up tomorrow.

The other part of the challenge was Take Action. It suggests taking part in their approved choices of organizations and notifying your congressman or senator about unclean air and water. I did not like these choices. I made up my own choice.

Part of the purpose of this whole experiment is learning to make things better in your own community. So shouldn't that be where you participate, at your local community level? I organized my own event for tomorrow evening. I thought it might be very helpful to have people meet who are doing the No Impact Week, already living their life by these standards, or those who need a few tips and a little encouragement to make that transition of less wasteful/more resourceful. I contacted the owner of a well known coffeehouse/live music/people ride their bikes place. He saw me and said, "I know you! I buy your stuff at the market." So I've got free meeting space once a week if I want. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tomorrow's challenge: Food

No Impact..Day 2

2011-01-03T16:31:00.000-08:00

I have made it through day 2 so here I am to report. Today's challenge was trash. The goal was to make no NEW trash. Old trash is ok. Not really and what is old trash anyway? Actually I made some old trash.

The day started off with me failing. To make no new trash means I'm not supposed to use Kleenex. I cannot quite wrap my mind around a handkerchief at this time. I remember so many old geezers back when I was a kid using those things, including my dad, and it always grossed me out. Especially if they whipped it out and offered it to someone else to use in a gesture of kindness. "Oh here's a handkerchief that has slime all over it, please, let's share germs." Gag.

Once I was awake I was amazed at how absentminded I was about the trash can. I had to start really thinking about what I was doing. As the day progressed I became a pro at using things that didn't need to go in the trash. By this evening I'm no longer making trash. Not so much for the 2 ~~cheaters~~ non-players at the house.

Something else I had to deal with was food. So that I wouldn't have any food trash, I had to pay more attention to how much food was prepared. I basically ate like a pig today so I wouldn't have to throw anything away.

The old trash I mentioned is from Spring Cleaning. Yes, I know it's January. I just feel a need to get rid of things and clear up some space. Some of it had to be thrown away because I'm not educated enough to know how to repurpose or recycle Nyquil from 2009.

Most things went into one of two boxes. The first was the box of things that are in the wrong place and I need to put them back where they belong. The other box is things that are still good and I will give them away or trade them. This is another topic I will start addressing tomorrow.

Tomorrow's challenge: Transportation

Hideous Mind Blowing Terrors...or 7 Days of Posts

2011-01-02T15:39:00.000-08:00

If you follow with even the slightest smidge of interest then you know I am participating in No Impact Week. It's a 7 day countdown of reducing waste and consumption. It's not an all or nothing, just adapted to fit my life right now. One part of the project is to blog about how it's going, the good and the bad, and to post every day. So this I will be doing.

Today's challenge is Consumption. Starting today I'm not to buy anything new except food. It's ok for me to buy second hand or thrift stores. I can also get an item through trade or gifting.

Jace and Rowan are not "official" participants, which means they get to cheat whenever they want. Like today. I planned to take my bike with me to the store and Jace was tuning it up a little and says I need a grease gun. Except I can't buy one, I remind him. So he might bring home a grease gun...thing. I will try to make him wait till next week when this is over. I'm pretty certain the bike will hold up for a week without it.

I did go to the store by van and by bike. This is a compromise I have worked out. I live 8 miles from the edge of town. The roads are little more hilly than I can manage with my weak chicken legs. I decided to park at the edge of town and ride my bike to the store and back.

I did buy only food and as luck would have it I found a couple of freebie cards and a $25 gift card to the grocery store in my wallet that I had forgotten about. Score!

My evaluation of today is that shopping was more of an experience for me. I wasn't negotiating for a parking place. In fact, I got to park closest to the door, practically in the store. I also would never have gotten the chance to speak to the ~~bum~~ nice gentlemen who wanted to know if he could buy my bike.

Tomorrow's challenge: Trash

Cuz I hafta post this everywhere...

2010-12-30T14:10:00.000-08:00

Building 2011

2010-12-26T22:11:00.000-08:00

Look at what she did. Can you believe it? She changed the background. Again. I would never have chosen this one. I like the old one. And up at the top. She's already put 2011. Who does she think she is? Probably rubbing my nose into how organized she is. Oh look at the line underneath. 40. She is so old. What's that last part mean? Live better? (squiggly lines squiggly lines...picture fade...)

The other day I was talking to Jace and we were discussing everything that happened this past year. It's been a great year. I don't remember having accomplished so much "quality" stuff in any other year. Then the other, other day I talked to a friend about it and we both agreed it had been a pretty phenomenal year for her, too.

Here's a recap:

Planted a spring garden and had tomatoes coming out my ears.
Started running. Ran in a 5k and didn't die or come in last.
Started knitting and crocheting and crafting on anything that didn't move.
Helped start a business. I'm still in business. Volunteered at a craft show.
Read more than 12 books. A few of them changed my life and sent me on new journeys.
And lots of other things I can't think of right now because it's late.

Now it's the end of the year and what most people want to do is come up with their New Year's Resolutions. This is a bad plan. Oh sure, the idea seems good but it's usually done without much forethought. Something quick and broadstroked, like...I'm going to give up sweets, or lose a million pounds. People mean well but it's not thought out. The idea or resolution just seems to hang there in midair.

A person should also ask themselves why. Why am I giving up sweets? Why am I losing a million pounds?

I sat down and thought about the past year. I asked myself what could I do this next year that builds on what I've already accomplished? How will I live better? And that's why I put that in the blog description up at the top, to be a reminder to me, and maybe you, to stay on track and do things that help me live better.

Living better, for me, is not about having more money. It's about learning new things, taking on new challenges, working hard to keep my family strong.

Some things I'll be working on:

Read 12 books
Making a sock. I could say "pair of socks" but I figure if I can make one then I can make the other and then it just sounds redundant.
Plant a bigger spring garden
Consume less. Of everything.
Eating much healthier. Working towards eliminating processed food. Giving up soda.
Learn more about nutrition, the food I eat and where it comes from.
Learn to can my own food.
See how long we can go without a microwave.
Remake a piece of clothing.

That's my rough list. Hopefully I've made you rethink how you want to build your 2011.

I'm looking forward to blogging another year of successes, mishaps, and miracles in 2011. Hope to see you there.

Let's Kick It...

2010-12-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

Alright..let's kick it...It's time for a post. And it's time for pics. Most people are wishing for snow or have snow or miserable rain or weather they don't want right now.

The other week we had a freeze. Since I'm the only daring (dumb) person to try growing tomatoes I had a unique challenge. How to ripen green tomatoes. I decided to try this method...use a cardboard box with an apple in the middle and cover with newspaper. We'll come back to the results at the end.

I saw this place in passing one day. I was curious. How does a community garden work? Beyond the obvious. You hear about these things...mostly in California. Does it work anywhere else?

This is Thor Warhound....Actually I believe his name is Reggie. He's the gaurd dog at this community garden in Austin. He's very sweet and pretty much wants to entertain you and make sure you don't leave the garden.

I spent most of my time talking with one gardener. She had no idea I was coming that day. She was a gracious host, refused to be photographed, and informed me to my fill of how the garden works.

The beds were somewhat thought out. I liked all of them. It was a work in progress and all were bountiful gardens.

These beds had been set up specially for people who could not garden low to the ground.

This garden was the envy of all. I want to copy it. It was absolutely gorgeous. Very...bonzai to a garden I would like to have. If I could do this for about 8 beds I would be happy...An excellent example of companion planting. It also resembled a nice salad bar and I really want to just pick some leaves and eat it.

Why all the pvc arches? I want to say it's for covering the plants when it freezes or is too hot.

Eggplant

There's a total of 70 plots for this garden. This pic is beans with a bean pole or teepee.

Lettuces and greens

Broccoli

Flowers

Chard

Tomatoes

Lettuce

And then I went to my car and cried...Not really, but c'mon...how do they do it?

As the "Accidental Gardener" that I am, here's how the cardboard box ripening has worked out. Everything is turning red and ripe! I've managed to save most of my tomato crop from the freeze. They don't smell the same as sun ripened but the taste is satisfactory compared to store bought. Some of these are Black Krim which accounts for the darker color and also red with green coloring.

Repost from Just Another Mommy Blog

2010-12-10T17:40:00.000-08:00

Occasionaly I come across a post that makes me want to grab my pitch fork or torch and join a disgruntled mob. I usually come to my senses when realizing I'd have to walk 15 miles to get to the disgruntled mob or drive to the disgruntled mob in my minivan filled with pitchforks and torches.

This post from Just Another Mommy Blog had me right there...

Craft Riot Part 2 and The Plague

2010-11-30T08:07:00.000-08:00

Alright, after an unplanned illness by Rowan, which includes reams of toilet paper, a running faucet for a nose, non stop cough, and needing to pee every 5 seconds, I'm back. I had the Mother Guilt where I thought if she didn't stop the coughing I was going to put her outside with the dog, but then thought they'd make a movie on the Lifetime channel about a woman who would do that, played either by Valerie Bertinelli or Shannon Dougherty, and was now on the run from the sheriff...Instead, Rowan was taken to the doctor and got to pee in a cup. She also stole the entire Advil coupon display. Her dad is taking it back today.

Above is the one pic I did a terrible job at researching. I forgot to find out who it is and the name of her shop. I highly regret this and if anyone can comment and let me know I would be very thankful. I can tell you this is the one booth I bought something from. She makes all kinds of jewelry from scrabble tiles.

I couldn't resist this ring. I think this is why I forgot all the pertinent information necessary for this post.
*EDIT* I have been saved a crafter's death. The booth above belongs to AmeliaBeth. Thanks to Craftiness' wife for being so knowledgeable of the Austin craft scene.

Now this booth was fascinating to me. This is Reigruche Studio. The artist is Alejandra Grunauer. She makes jewelry by crocheting metal...Shut it! Is that even possible? Wonderfully delicate, intricate looking pieces.

" I love painting and making jewelry for myself and for other people. After getting my BFA in Studio Art- Painting (as well as continuing to learn new things on my own/other artists), I thought I'd spread the love around some more...Colors, textures, and patterns evoke feelings, memories, and moods. Upcycling, reconfiguring, and recontextualizing is fabulous. There's nothing like combining all sorts of art disciplines and crafts in order to create interesting frameable/wearable art."

My last picture is of Bailey Tucker. This experience is all her fault. Not really, she was my contact person for volunteering. Her booth was Lovely Lotus Designs. She makes really cool fabric flowers.

"I am a Seamstress and Fiber Artist from Austin, Texas. I love being able to make what I imagine. I have been an avid crafter all my life. My grandmother taught me how to sew, weave and spin wool when I was a child. I was taught by her that I could make anything, and boy did we...Since then I have taken a variety of Art History and Studio Classes ranging from Sculpture, Painting, Ceramics, Drawing and Photography. It brings me so much joy to be able to do what I love and have others love what i do!...I have been sewing seriously for about 9 years and over the last few years I have been dyeing and embellishing my own fabric. I love exploring with colors and textures. I am inspired by working in my organic garden beds, the forest, music and all my crafty friends here in Austin."

Some other things I liked were from Swish Productions, Funky Finds, Devil Girl Design, and the Fold.

If you want to see what my shop is up to come visit Natural Julie. It's a small collection of things I sell at the farmer's market. I'm adding more items when the plague is fully gone from the house.

Craft Riot and New Changes

2010-11-26T12:25:00.000-08:00

After a few months of trying, and not succeeding, to write on 2 different blogs, I've decided to consolidate all my personal and business activities here. On the tabs bar you'll notice a new Product Line tab. I'll post pics and descriptions of products I'm making. It will also give you, reader, the chance to order. I'm not quite to the point of having all that set up. Currently there are candles cooking and I need to pay attention to those. I'll also be keeping the MadCityChicks.com site up and will make necessary changes there, too.

Now that all that boring stuff is out of the way, here's what I did last Sunday. I had volunteered some time to help work on whatever was needed at Craft Riot! This is an annual event held by EtsyAustin crafters.

I arrived early so I could spend some time looking around. La-La's had one of the most eye catching displays. It was original and you have to admit they got stationed with really great back lighting.

When you meet you can see why she does this. She's extremely passionate about her craft and it shows in her work.

"Inspired by my late grandma I started sewing November of 2007 and I enjoyed it so much that now I just can't stop. I love mixing new and used fabrics to create all kinds of things ranging from clothing and accessories to home decor. Recently I have ventured into the world of knits which is very exciting, but the list does not end there, and since I don't have the typical slim build my goal is to eventually offer cute but classy fashion for other girls with the same fitting challenges. In the meanwhile as I sew my way there I hope that you are able to enjoy some of the fruits of my labor."

One of my next stops was talking to Debbie of Debbie Carroll Designs.

"I've been artsy all my life and finally found a great way to channel some of that creativity!I love anything vintage, and that includes not only the variety of vintage beads, findings and other goodies I use in my work, but extends to clothing, furniture and other "junque". I love playing with shapes, colors and using unexpected pairings to keep my jewelry fresh & hopefully, a little bit different!"

She's also very open to talking about the climate of the craft world and gives very helpful advice to newcomers (me).

I like less ostentatious jewelry and her's had that perfect bit of flair without being overwhelming.

I had fun talking with Becka of Baby Bolt Striking Kidswear. Her creations made me giggle by catching me off guard. It's not your usual teddy bear on a baby blue background.

"In addition to BabyBolt's crazy-cute clothes, you'll also find plenty of functional items to make life easier for parents and kiddos. Pacifier Bibs keep drool in check and the pacifier nearby. Crayon Rolls keep your little artist's tools on hand whether inspiration strikes at a restaurant, car trip, or the doctor's office. New-Baby Gift Sets, available in custom combinations, are the perfect, stress-free gifts that will stand out at any baby shower. "

I'm going to do a part 2 to this topic. I realized I have a little too much for one post.

I posted over THERE..not HERE

2010-11-18T17:53:00.000-08:00

I wrote a post over at Mad City Chicks tonight. Since most of it would be duplicate I decided to just link to it and then we'll just say we're all caught up.

2 Sentence Update

2010-11-16T18:19:00.000-08:00

I survived the race. I hope to do an update on Thursday.

Pre-Race Ramblings

2010-11-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

Well, as we all know, since I've been drilling it relentlessly into everyone, tomorrow is race day. Tonight is when I get to feel nervous and fret. I've decided to make a list of all the worst things I can come up with and maybe it'll help me have courage ~~not be a sissy~~.

* I don't know what you're supposed to eat the night before a race, but I'm betting it's not powdered doughnuts and milk.

* I've never actually run...outside...on the ground...where people are staring at me.

* What if it's uphill and downhill? Or a squirrelly pebble that I slip on.

* What if I run 10 steps and feel completely exhausted and have to walk the rest of the way? And people are staring.

* What if something itches in a spot that it's not ladylike to scratch in public? And it starts right when I start the race.

* What if I have to use the restroom? I'll look so stupid stopping and ducking into a skid-o-can.

* What if I don't get enough water? Does one fall to the side when fainting? Hopefully not onto my face.

* Lastly, I really hope my running does not resemble something that looks like a seizure and people send the paramedics out to rescue that poor lady having a fit. Hurry or she'll swallow her tongue!

Update On Life At the Homestead

2010-11-04T17:28:00.000-07:00

O.k. here's where I'm at with the running in preparation for the big race on Sunday. Today I ran the 5k in 52 minutes and 50 seconds. Yes, it is slower than my last 2 times. It's still faster than a turtle and under an hour. I ran slower just to make sure I wasn't overdoing it and beginning to loathe this running thing. It also makes me feel sick and want to jump off the roof of the house and end it all when I run too fast. There's lots of rocks here so I would probably do myself in...easily. One more run tomorrow, rest on Saturday, race on Sunday.

After the race we'll scrape my body off the ground and we'll have a few hours to rest and do some other things before heading to the Celtic festival. I finished everyone's costumes and I'm looking forward to drinking some Guinness and letting Jace say things like, "wench, grog, I can throw a telephone pole further than that..."

At the house I've been busy working in the garden and I'm really trying to get it in gear for winter. I've got some nice green things coming up. I don't remember what I planted a few weeks ago. The tomatos are putting tomatos out everywhere and I'm just waiting for them to ripen. Next week I hope to fill in another raised garden and get lettuce, spinach, or onions planted. I'm not sure...

Today I cooked another pumpkin by steaming it. I definitely think this is the way to go. Lots quicker. My next big project will be learning how to can. Can you say "botulism?"

The Neighbor's Painted Plywood Cut-Out Treasure

2010-10-31T06:44:00.000-07:00

A couple of posts ago there was a comment left. I decided to get the picture proof to show you. So this is for Will who said about country neighbors, "the slavering curs guarding their garden gnome and painted plywood cut-out "treasure.""

This is obviously some sort of Halloween display. Want to know where it's located? Right across the street. Everytime I look out the door I get to see this. I think someone's been watching too much Shark Week.

And guess who else gets to see this? Rowan. 5 year old Rowan. Man eating sharks that come out of the ground...right next to her own front yard.

The Good The Bad And The Ugly...Day 2

2010-10-29T18:06:00.000-07:00

The Good is that I made it back onto the dreadmill for another 5k. I managed to shave off almost 3 minutes from yesterday's time. The little training books say I'm supposed to take a day off now. I guess I'l be back running on Sunday. I can say that my friend said pain is weakness leaving the body. I really thought the pain would be in my stomach, since that's where the weakness is. For me it' in the hip and outter leg areas. I'm using an all natural remedy to see if it helps.

The Bad was not heard from today. I know that this is their surgery day. I didn't expect to get a phone call. They won't be happy on Monday.

The Ugly was 07:13 this morning. Thank you Rowan. 07:14 she starts nagging to take a bath. 07:14:30 Rowan is being told how I haven't even had coffee and she's already nagging me and we aren't taking no freaking bath till after I get some coffee. 07:15 BooHooHoo as she runs to her room. I'm thinking the voodoo doll won't work as well when they are slobbery wet with self -entitled tears.

She returns within a minute, composed, and ready to join in family participation.

The Good and the Bad...Day 1

2010-10-28T20:14:00.000-07:00

Right now I'm chronicling two events for you. For now they'll be called the Good and the Bad. They could randomly switch places but I hope the Good doesn't become the Bad because that will probably mean I've injured myself.

The Good is that I registered to run in the Race for the Cure. The logo on the right will take you to the donation page for me, if you feel like doing that sort of thing. When you go over there you'll notice that a big fat $0 has been raised. I think they should have put the $30 I paid to register as counting towards the goal but whatever. You'll also notice they take donations as low as $5, which I might have to contribute because I'm not going in with a big fat $0.

This is my first official race. It's a 5k, or 3.11 miles. I've actually run this distance several times by accident. For some reason I thought a 5k was 3.67 miles. I'm an overachiever. So if you donate rest assured that I can actually ~~win~~ finish the darn thing. I've never actually done the running thing outside either. I run on my treadmill in the security of my home. Don't you live in the country? Yes, I live in the country. If I were to go running out by my house, I'd be running. Running for my life! The Dumb People think living in the country = I need to own 3 or 4 big, hopefully ferocious dogs to guard my land. Because that's what a bunch of women joggers do, case out the joint to get their hands on your broken-down-lawn-ornament El Camino in the front yard. Please.

Today I ran a 5k and my time was 50 minutes and 6 seconds. I'll be running tomorrow and let you know how much I've improved. Rowan also thinks I should not run this race because, "I might get hot so it's not a good idea."

The Bad is my nose. Here's where I'm at now. Had the appointment cleared and ready to go and then the radiology place calls and says they aren't in network, even though they told the doctor's nurse they were. Now they're not.

I call the nurse back today and she's all, "huh?" And it's so weird because yesterday everything was fine. O.k. she's calling the radiology place back and then she'll call me back. She calls back and tells me they are out of network and I should call my insurance to try and find out who's in network.

I call my insurance who says the radiology place is out of network. I ask well who is in network closest to my house so I don't have to drive 70 miles to the one place that I know is in network but trying to avoid because of the 70 mile freaking trip. He tells me the closest place is the 70 mile one. Then he reads me my coverage, "unless the facility is further than 30 miles from the residence." AHA! The For Sure facility is 35 miles one way from my driveway, residence, so I should get the upgrade to use to the original facility I wanted that's right in my town.

He tells me that my town is only 24 miles from the 70 Mile facility. I tell him but my house is 35 miles from the 70 Mile facility and he just said anything over 30 miles from a person's residence. He's not sure because it's done from Google maps....Apparently it's 24 miles if I go off road, through the woods, streams, and cattle ranches instead driving on a state approved highway.

So now I'm waiting till Google decides where I live and which facility I'm supposed to use. So instead of going to the facility by my house for a 5 minute procedure this morning, I'm still waiting to find out how to use my coverage I've paid all year for...

To Be Continued....

Warning: It's Gonna Get All Bloggy Up In Here

2010-10-27T19:43:00.000-07:00

I spend a LOT of time reading other people's blogs and then whining that I don't have time to write. Or there's nothing as interesting happening around here. Face it, some of you can play a sweet tune with your words all strung together and fittin so nice.

Luckily for me I have been blessed ~~dumped~~ with a couple topics I'll be excessively blogging about starting tomorrow.

I'm getting a nose job. Not what you think and the red tape hoops will be many. The aggravation will be large. Expect to see lots of !#$$%%$ and cursing several generations of someone's family for any perceived slights. You'll understand when I write about my love for insurance.

I'm registered to run in an actual race...with other people that run, like for real. I'm hoping there will be at least one person pushing their 50 pound stroller with their 3 year old and then I'm guarranteed not to come in last.

I hope to see you soon with progress in these 2 fortuitous subjects.

Decorating the Living Room

2010-10-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

For most of us there is a mystique about decorating. At least I like to think there is and I'm not the only ~~bozo~~ challenged person when it comes to decorating. When I look in magazines or on blogs it seems like a very hard task and I will have to buy a lot of new stuff because my stuff doesn't look anything like the picture.

I was inspired by Shiny Red Houses to do something, which I didn't do, except in my head. She said to take everything out of the room. I didn't do this because where was I going to put it? And I would definitely be bringing the couch back in. But I did mentally take everything out and save only the things I liked and started imagining them in different places.

Next I had to come up with a color theme. I didn't have a color theme. Or I thought I didn't have a color theme. You're supposed to have 3 main colors and then accent with 1 or 2 other colors. They said this on BHG so you know it's true.

I started taking pictures of the things I did like and weren't going to be going anywhere.

Notice anything? All my favorite stuff has 3 colors with 2 accent colors. Red, tan, and brown with accents of black and little bit of green. In fact, this blog's background has those colors. So if you're having trouble with colors, they are probably already all around you.

Now I could make a plan of attack. This included wearing new ankle boots and pretending I had tons of money.

Something you hear on all the shows is how things "tie" together. One thing that can really tie a room together is the rug. This is the one thing I knew I should spend money on because it would get the most use, I would have it awhile ~~really really long time~~ and need to like it..a lot. I like it because it has my colors and also has floral patterns with nice square ocd shapes. This rug totally works for me! Not to mention that it's soft as a baby's butt. There's serious chastisement for putting shoes on it.

Something else I knew would change a look is throw pillows on the couch. When I brought these home Jace said, "oh god, you brought home more pillows." Pillows tend to breed like rabbits around here. I don't know why I think just the right pillow will bring me pure happiness, but I've got about 20 pillows that will all attest they thought they were THE ONE. I had the brown pillow already. I bought a 2 pack of the solid red pillows and a 2 pack of the pillows with squares. Each 2 pack was $12.

Here are the remaining things I bought. I needed a picture frame because I had a new picture to display. The mirror tray is actualy a mirror that hangs on a wall. It was on clearance for $7. I left the hardware on the back so I can hang it later on if I want. I have a soft ottoman so for now I'll use it as a hard surface to set things on like those candles. I got the candles and glass holders on clearance for $.48 each. My other most favorite purchase was this blanket throw. It's super soft and the colors are gorgeous. I could've made this but by the time I finish it would be next summer and no one wants a blanket in the summer. I need it now.

Isn't she cute? I'm going to eat her up. It has the total "aww" factor because she's sticking her tongue out. I let her pick out her clothes because I remember the horrendous outfits in my school pictures that were picked out by not me.

Here is the result of my hard work. $150. I was having unclean thoughts about the chair in my bedroom. Mostly that I wanted to move it to the living room. I'm still looking for the perfect slip cover for it and the ottoman. For now we will just have to live with it. There's other furniture on the other side of the room and I can say that the rug really did tie it all together. It created a smooth transition all the way across the room. There's a couple of other things that I will do/add to the room soon. I need bookshelves as you will see there is no t.v. in this room. Shelves are kind of like pillows in this house. They keep showing up...everywhere.

I am really happy with my results. I love the colors. It reminds me of really good pasta sauce and fried food. It makes me feel cozy. So thank you BHG and blogosphere for helping me understand decorating and figuring out I already had most of the stuff I needed.

The Fake Grandparent, i.e. Not the Same Dad I Grew Up With

2010-10-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

It has come to my attention that there's some funny business going on around here.

For this school year, my Father has volunteered to pick up Rowan once a week from school. He lives right around the corner from her school. So it didn't bother me when he said he was going to need a booster seat for the Papa truck, the pink one, not the brown one. Pink seat, not pink truck. His truck is silver.

Now, he comes to see me at the farmer's market every week. It's a mixed blessing. It's good to converse but not about putting the old ladies in his apartment complex into slavery crocheting hats for me. It's also not good to come see me and let everyone know he's arrived by hitting the metal pole with his truck. Don't worry, the truck barely goes over 5 miles an hour...downhill. He is the slowest driver on Earth.

I thought it was cute that he came to see Rowan and they would do a little handshake and she would say, "I love you Papa." And he would say, "oh that's nice." My dad does not say I love you to anyone. And he gave her money. I know. Shock and Awe. The dude didn't run his air conditioner ALL SUMMER. AT. ALL. In Texas.

Anyway, Jace casually mentions this final nail in the coffin evidence to me. He went to pick up Rowan, who by some unseen force is sitting on the floor quietly coloring and my dad is reading a magazine. But on the counter there is a small plate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut into perfect little squares. With no crusts....Let it sink in. I may need therapy for this. For you see, growing up with my dad was not crustless square tea sandwiches. The sandwich was made with both ends of the bread. The whole sandwich was a big crust. What is this guy doing?

I'll tell you what he's doing. He's turned into a semi-sweet old guy with a secret handshake and secret tea parties. It's very sweet to see Rowan get excited that she'll get to see Papa. I have a slight smile on my face that she has this relationship, but I'm left to ponder why he didn't do these things when I was growing up. And I have acceptance that that's how the parent-grandparent transition works. I will probably do the same.

But crustless sandwiches? Really, dad...

Henna My Hair

2010-10-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

So....

The other day there were these gray hairs peeking out at me. What to do?

I saw a lady with raging red hair and it was beautiful. Not for me but still an awesome color. I told her. That led to a conversation and my journey into henna.

The only really bad review I found was something about all your hair falling out preceeded by the sounds "sizzle and pop." That was hardly going to deter me. I need something way worse like "head fell off."

Now where to get it. The flaming red haired lady told me she had to order it off Amazon because they don't sell it at the Sally's anymore. Fine, I look on Amazon for 2 days before finally deciding. I order.

Two days later I'm in the local health food geek store and what do I see...the same henna hair color I had ordered from Amazon...cheaper. So you know what I did. I bought some more. This time I had a chance to really study the box and make an informed decision. The store had several brands of natural hair coloring, who knew?

This is the brand that I chose but I picked Swedish Blonde. Turns out henna comes in a variety of colors.

Now you're asking how does it work? The short version is that it's temporary, coats the hair with this new color instead of stripping the old color and replacing it with a new color through chemicals.

I'm not sure about the old stories of henna. Like the sizzle pop stories. The brand I bought has been making it for 10 years and almost all of the ingredients are from organic farming. It's made mostly of essential oils and plant extracts.

I asked Jace what he thought. He asked if I was from Sweden. He said I didn't really look like the girl on the box, and for that matter he didn't resemble the guy on the box with a cinnamon bun on his head. All this means is he likes it. What do you think?

*on a side note: I've been busy crafting stuff for a festival which is why the posts are not here so much.

Scum-Sucking Carnies

2010-10-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

We've been reading a book with Rowan every night about a carnival. Mainly it's a story to teach kids not to blow their money on the games and have fun going on the rides. Lucky for me I found an ad for a carnival in a neighboring town and I opened my big mouth and said we should go.

I did think this was a pretty good carnival. I was also spying on the arts and crafts booths to get ideas for an upcoming festival I'll have a booth at. In case you're not aware, you do not take pictures of other people's art and crafts tables unless you want to get beat up. You also do not blatantly take notes or sketches. You hold your phone just right and pretend you are texting and receiving a really funny text from your friend and snap the pic quick, then continue chuckling as you pretend you are texting them back while walking away.

There's was lots of carnival food. And lots of long lines. I did wait in one line for the funnel cake. It was huge. It was worth the wait. Next time we'll take a 5 pound bag of sugar and just give Rowan a spoon.

Next and mostly there were the rides. I buy the bracelet for unlimited rides. When I grew up I didn't get an unlimited ride bracelet. I also didn't get funnel cake. By God I will not let Rowan live a life of torture!

So that I could do all that sneaking around the craft booths, Jace got an unlimited ride bracelet, too. And that's where we should have stopped. But part of the book we've been reading was about the games. So I coached them both about how this was going to go down. Let Rowan lose or win a dinky prize and we walk away. Right? Easy plan.

We walked up to the balloon game. A cigarette smoking, half toothless grin, twinkle in his eye carnie knew just what to do. We paid for 3 darts. Rowan threw her's at the balloon but it landed on the ground. Jace took the other two and popped the balloons. The carnie gave him another dart "on him" and Jace missed. I said to stop. The carnie smoothed talked him a few more times but was talking so fast and LYING to a little girl about which was the large size prize...We lost $15 at that dumb game. He convinced Rowan she was getting the giant prize and then handed her a medium one. Then I was mad. Jace took Rowan on some more rides and was thinking it might be good idea to stay on the ride till the next day when I would be in a better mood. I fumed and hoped the carnie's trailor would explode in a ball of flame that night.

I have 2 more festivals coming up. One will not have a carnival and I will have a great time. One will have a carnival but I will eat my money before I give it to any scum-sucking carnie running a ~~scam~~ game.

Mah Bling!...or how to repurpose a hubcap

2010-09-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

The other day on Facebook this guy posted his pics of artwork using hubcaps. He said he had some extras and I could have one or a billion if I wanted. I told him one would be fine. I already knew what I would do with it.

During the creative process I usually do things from ending to beginning..i.e...all wrong. You can look in my craft hallway and see the half dead projects strewn about like a once loved stuffed animal, now relegated to the back of the closet.

I have learned that I do best with short projects, i.e. instant gratification, and I must start them and work till I finish. It's not uncommon for me to have 5-10 projects swirling in my head, all waiting to take the number one place. By the way, my laundry is swirling in the dryer and way past done. Blog, laundry, blog, laundry? You see the kind of pressure I'm under.

Today I went to Hobby Lobby and got my supplies. Two bags of glass beads/pebbles/gems and a tube of glue. Is it the right glue? Probably not. It says it will work on glass and plastic and the surface of Mars but it generally means that I have the wrong kind and will forge ahead anyway. Total cost for my project: $10 and one donated hubcap.

I got to work right away, after I played with the other things I got at Hobby Lobby. It was easy, not necessarily fast, but I was done in under 2 hours. I managed not to glue most of myself together and the pebbles seem to be securely attached.

I now have a new bling hubcap. I almost wish I had four of them and could really put them on my car and pimp out my ride. But Jace says he won't ride with me in the gangsta van. But Rowan would...if I painted the van Barbie pink.

Anyway, here's my original vision of how to repurpose a hubcap. Glue glass pebbles to it, seat it like a paver stone and voila! a new stepping stone in the garden.

Sharks are the new...

2010-09-29T02:30:00.001-07:00

Sharks are the new...
Originally uploaded by valkyrieh116

Summary

2010-09-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

Summer is out. It's so last season. Fall is in.

This week I’m working more on hats because there’s a show on Wednesday and another in 3 weeks.

I’m thinking a lot about our vacation. It’s still a long way away (5 ½ months) but it gives my brain something to think about (obsess).

Today I thought I should look for my skis to make sure I still had them and some unnamed husband hadn’t given them to Goodwill. I can’t tell you the number of times he told me I should get rid of them. I have an emotional attachment to them I suppose. They represent happy times and it’s one of those sports that haven’t killed me nor makes me want to kill myself after doing it.

I have found the skis and poles and I know where the boots are at. I’m pretty sure I know where they are.

Bo, the puppy, is still a puppy if not twice the size he was. And I think he’s one of those dogs with….gas. There’s been some nose wrinkling smells and I’m not sure where they are coming from, but Bo always seems to be around. Onslo is not a stinky dog in that way. That’s because he’s wound so tight nothing could escape from his behind. They are getting along great except for the bed and they both want the same bed. Also, Bo has this thing about biting Onslo’s collar and Onslo doesn’t think this is a fun game. So there’s some yapping and I think Onslo would really like to punch Bo in the face sometimes. For the most part they happily coexist and play. But isn’t that what we all aspire to?

Museum Day..aka UT Parking: Fail

2010-09-19T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today we found out it was Free Museum Day! There were 30 museums participating so there were lots of choices. We were very choosy because a) we would have to drive into The City b) The City has lots of people. There's a reason we live in the country. But I decided we should visit one of these museums..today..when everyone else was going to visit them. We immediately decided not to go to the children's museum because of all the children that would be there. If you've taken your kid to any McD's playground, you know what I'm talkin bout. There were lots of great choices but we chose the one with dinosaur and other dead animal bones.

We had a really terrible time trying to find parking. In fact we gave up and went to eat lunch. Apparently UT decided to have a broken gate into the parking garage. All the surrounding parking was reserved for permit F20, whatever that means. Some brave folks had thought that since it was Sunday and an event OPEN TO THE PUBLIC on a SUNDAY that it would be ok to park there. Well, I'm sure they'll be happy when they get back to their car and find that $50 ticket on their windshield (scam for increased revenue).

After eating we decided to make one last go round and we found the only spot available for 2 miles. Rowan charged up the steps in her purple, pink, orange outfit with matching purple, pink, orange shoes and started barking orders like "line up here. Blah blah blah."

Inside we proceeded to look...in the gift shop where all the best fossils are. We moseyed around, Rowan bounced off the walls looking at all these dinosaurs, and I took pics of all the bones of things.

I liked this one..

Me with the parking situation mentioned above...

I found these dead butterflies pinned to a board very pretty.

Here's Rowan sitting in a boat watching a video about fish but I think she was saying something like, "hi, you come here often?" She was not watching the fish video...

After this Mom had to be driven to the nearest place of calm and quiet..for icecream. Here is where Rowan showed her fashion sense by choosing icecream that matches her outfit...she's a weirdo.

Join us for our next thrilling family day when we...stay at home and watch the grass grow!

And Lame-O Was Her Name-O...

2010-09-17T15:59:00.000-07:00

I looked at the date of my last post and wondered where the time went. It seems like I have been very busy and yet not really doing anything. Folks, this basically does sum it up. Busy doing nothing.

I've been busy with trying to keep a clean shirt on everyone's back, cleaning house, bills, shopping, dogs, and school stuff. And allergies. Lots of allergies right now. Allergies are bad in that they make you throw things like brownies and icecream into your grocery cart. They make you want to just sit around and read magazines or sit and watch Facebook and bet on who will post something next.

I'm also glad because there's no drama going on. It's peaceful. Not that there's ever drama going on. I just tend to like things to be very lame and quiet.

I did decide to start planning a vacation. I want to go back to Yosemite in the spring. We'd like to move there. I asked Jace if he had been looking for a house for us. He said he found a real nice Gremlin that sleeps 3...

Exorcism at the Mall

2010-09-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the mall. This was a bad idea after all. We didn't choose to go to the mall. It's where the Apple store is located. We didn't want to go to the Apple store but someone who's name starts with Rowan messed up Daddy's gigi (iTouch) and we had to get the doohickey that plugs into the thingamajig fixed.

At first we thought this would be a fun day out. We have an outlet mall in our town but not a mall. We drove to the mall without incidence except for that car from New York who was driving 55 (obviously lost). Then we walked into the mall and transformed the rest of our day.

It was big. It was shiny and twinkly. It was loud. Things had changed since the last time we were in a mall. It felt like a big circus was going on. There was entertaining things everywhere for kids. Candy machines, bungy corded trampolines, choo choo trains.

We had to find the restroom by the food court, also. A must with a little kid. I think all the restaurants were handing out free samples. We could have not paid for any food that day because of all the free samples they were giving. And those kids didn't care if they gave one sample or 10. But after you take your kid to the same bathroom three different times you kind of get tired of the same guy trying to push the Chinese food.

We did get the gigi fixed and that was worth the trip but the meltdown by Rowan was not. Let me tell you, she came home a hot mess. All that attention grabbing glitz was too much for her. She was overstimulated. She was crying at the drop of a hat. Her nerves were so raw she threw up all over herself. Daddy hosed her down, wrapped her up, and told her sweet things. And then she was fine. And then she was crying. And then she went to bed.

Suffice to say it will be a long time before we take her back there. A note about the pic above. Rowan has reached an age, which I had heard about, where she no longer wishes to have her picture taken except in a few instances. Apparently she feels more like the paparazzi is after her. She is starting to feel a need for her privacy. Even though she doesn't understand this whole blog thing and the internet, I'm going to work hard to respect her feelings.

Pets...

2010-09-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

I think I can safely say that most of us have been ridiculously busy this summer. I started my new business with my friends and it is still something I can have a passion for even after 107 degrees and a tornado warning. It is fun to watch it grow and shape into something more than I ever thought it could be.

Some of us were mad scientists creating horrors too scary to look at. Rowan found out that she loves to craft something, anything right next to mom and dad. All t.v. watching has become pretty much non existent. She also has some gymnastic talent I'm contemplating. Most 4 year olds aren't doing back flips off the bed, right? She is. All she needs is a balance beam.

This one of those rare, I can't believe the pic came out this good, moments. I used a lot of zoom and stood far, far away. No one wants to kill it because it's a momma spider. We've also seen her in action and she is a professional killer. One false move and it's all over. Mostly, she's very pretty big huge and we're too chicken to squish her. She keeps out all the big insects, so she can stay put in my book.

This is the momma spider's 13 trillion eggs in there.

She will probably release them as I'm trying to leave for work in the dark.

This way I can get to work looking like I have

lice or will be practicing for my role in a B horror movie.

I understand their part but I still get the heebie jeebies. Moving on...

Out in the Garden there are lots of rocks and little nooks and corners to gather in or ponder big questions. We let strange cats come on over, too. They don't stick around for too long. It gets too hot, there's no food. Nag

Now, we're approaching the pets that belong to us. Here are the goldfish. Happy as a fish can be. There isn't a butterfly swimming with them. Rowan got a hold of some butterfly stickers and decorated the tank.

Mostly this post is about Him. Him is named Onslo. Onslo is a chiweenie. When you google pics of chiweenies they are varied as night and day. I like to think he has a forever baby look on his face.

He had been getting a little more gamey lately. He seemed depressed. There's not a lot of White Fang gangs he could run with.

So Jace said, "I'll allow that we need another dog to keep Onslo company." I heard, "Julie you can go get another dog any kind you want."

So unbeknownst to us all: He can train fast, loves to sleep, only wants to pee on paper, and takes his important business outside. He's also showing his manlyness in getting to keep all his toys. I'll be posting lots of pics here and on Facebook.

Rantings of An Allergy Head

2010-08-21T20:30:00.000-07:00

Today I was miserable. I am still miserable, but somewhat more bearable. Jace will probably not agree with that. I have taken my medicine and Rowan is fast asleep dreaming of karate chopping ninjas while being Princess Aurora on her My Little Pony.

I worked today and was asked to stop by the Super Grocery Store on my way home. You know the store I'm talking bout. The one who's entire parking lot plus store is bigger than some towns in Texas. You (I) debate whether you (I) have enough water for the journey from the car to the store. Can you (I) make it across the vast wasteland?

Once in the store I find my items easily. People stare at me and give me a wide birth. Doesn't everyone look like this after being woken up at midnight because their (my) nose was swelling shut and my eyes were soon to follow. Rescue tactics taken and I was back in bed till 4. Beep beep. Beep beep. Yes, Satan's sunrise. I am up making coffee to throw in my eyes. I can make it through work. It's only 12 hours.

Back at the store. I was buying things from the organic/healthfood aisle. I was probably not the healthful picture perfect spokesmodel for said products. My hideousness probably chose someone's lifelong path down the road to drivethru's.

I decided to take the scenic route home. It gives me time to ramble in my head about what I would like to put in a post. So here's my rambles:

* Tomorrow is the day before school starts. I am giddy with delight. More than Rowan. As a parent you know what this means. The real vacation is starting for the next week. Those delightful hours when the cherubs are nagging someone else. The twilight time before all the intense school activities begin. This week is golden.

* I'm hoping to get the bedroom trim and doors painted. Rowan scribbled on them and they are not art nor do they have any resemblance to Jesus or other miracle figures.

* My one friend, that I have told you is a pirate, made her first paddling journey today. Training for a pirate ship? I've decided my other friend is an assassin. Details coming...

* When I got home I found out about the dog's bad deeds for the day. Do not be surprised if my bedroom has no carpet by this time next week.

* I have 14 granny squares done.

* I can't do anymore with Flylady till my allergies are better. I may have to go see the ENT...my favorite doctor ever! She will put me on steroids. Steroids make me happy and sing "The Hills are alive with the sound of music." Then I will clean house...and plot laundry room takeover plans.

Sticker Season

2010-08-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

I know it's a pretty bad picture. I am probably one of the last people on earth who doesn't own one of the fancier, newest, latest, and greatest cameras. I always use my phone and hence some blurry pics. I think you can see the little spikes on this teeny tiny ball of fun, though.

Every July and August we look forward to this great event we call Sticker Season. It causes all kinds of whoops and yelps of pain. If you ever want to see a person walking normally and then suddenly stop, fall, or hop around while yelling "ow!", then you should C'mon Down to Texas!

Since we are lucky enough to own property in the country it gives us a VERY BIG yard. The problem with VERY BIG yards in the country is the upkeep. There's lots of mowing..and rocks...and the heat. The Stickers have figured us out. By this time of the summer we are sick of mowing. It's too hot. We're busy. We don't care. The "grass" is dying anyway. It's not even really grass. Then the Stickers appear.

They are tiny, hard, and barbed. They attach themselves to everything. They jump onto you like little hitch hikers. They anxiously await to jump off of you onto your carpet or your brand new bathroom rugs that took you 5 years to get a new one. Ahem.. They are the main reason you are taking out all the carpet in your house. Not that the carpet is nicknamed Flea Bag Rag. It's to keep out the little ambushers. They mock your vacuum cleaner. That weak thing! They will only be forcefully evicted having to use fingers, tweezers, and scissors.

I also do something terrible because of the Stickers. I eat them. No I don't. I just thought that would shock you. I park my car on the lawn very close to the front door. This way I don't have to walk far. I just don't like the way it looks. Not many people in the country see your car in your yard anyway. Unless it's a yard ornament.

Speaking of yard ornaments, I have a neighbor way down at the other end who has a hedgerow of cactus. That's not unusual, I have my own cactus. However, he takes the time to make smiley faces in the big "leaves." So when I drive to town and pass his house there's all these smiling cactus looking at me. He's an artist. We call him Mr. T. He looks like Mr. T. His dog look likes Mr. T., too. He's a nice guy.

Today I'm going to see another plant, maybe. Feeling a little lazy. I might hop over to the Lavender Festival. I'm betting they don't have stickers.

A Day In the Life of a Mad Scientist

2010-08-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

Today I'm updating you on what a "typical" day is around here. Since I started this other business I've learned that if your (my) business is successful you (me) will have tons of work to do. I've also learned a lot about the packaging supply business, publicity, and working with other business owners. So right now I spend a lot of time working on recipes and converting recipes using that thing called Math that I swore I would never need and didn't know why I needed to learn it in school. In college I graduated with a 4.0 in that math junk, which means I can do math in my head and I don't need all my fingers and toes.

I'm getting better with the hats. I'm making some more difficult ones and stockpiling some for a craft show.

At the market these are my two ~~minions~~ assistants. They work cheap, but then again they run off and play and don't do a whole lot of work. Just in case, yes she is missing a tooth. And no, it's not from eating candy and snocones.

School will be starting soon. The Cuteness wanted these shoes. She loves her some bling and if it's pink...I can just see her walking into school with the Saturday Night Fever theme playing.

In the garden, things are pretty much done. The summer heat is beating everything down. I did want to show you the variety in tomatos I have. The one on the left is a Black Krim and the one on the right is some kind of Zebra Stripe (I don't really know because when my friend told me I wasn't really listening and it sounded all blah blah blah to me)

These were some surprise carrots. We didn't think they had grown but here they are.

Finally, while everyone else's tomatos are long gone, here's a pic from my garden today. All the green dots are new tomatos. I'm hoping they all make it but unless it rains it's not too promising.

Then there were tomatos...and soap

2010-08-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

Now that tomato season has essentially passed around here, my tomatos are coming in. And in and in and in. Here a pic of one days harvest. The bottom ones are the Black Krim variety. The Roma tomato plant is still acting wild and is now starting to "walk" across the ground...dragging tomatos with it along the way. It's kind of interesting.

A few weeks ago I signed up to help with some free goodies for a craft fair. This was also my lesson in learning to make soap from Jace. I wanted to wear a haz mat suit but it's not really needed.

I took lots of very detailed notes with pictures. We poured out the soap in our make shift soap molds. We don't have real ones because if you look them up on ebay you'll see they cost about $60 for 3 pieces of wood.

After the soap had dried for a few days we took it out of the molds and cut it. I used a pastry tool I found at the store for $3 instead of a "soap cutter," which looks the same at twice the price. Cut easy and smoothe.

I took the soap and wrapped it in wax paper to help protect it for the rest of its' journey to the craft fair.

I secured it with jute twine and included a business card and a paper with a list of ingredients.

And then I did it to a few more bars.....

Till hours later I had all 50 bars done. Tomorrow I'll drop off these bars of natural heaven and I can get back to my laundry umbrella hole of doom...

Hats

2010-07-29T14:22:00.001-07:00

How is everyone doing? I’m busy. I decided to start yet another project. This one has a good cause. I’m making hats to help a one year old little girl with cancer. I’m still working on setting things up. The basic premise is to make hats and sell them at the farmers markets and on Etsy. The proceeds will go to help care for the little girl’s expenses or donated for research.

Here’s a pic of the original hat made for the little girl. It has a locket to hold a picture of her mom and dad.

Today we did the photo shoot for our theme picture. Afterwards, I had to take many pictures of Rowan’s other stuffed animals.

When you see the teddy bear pic to the side it should mean it’s set up and ready to link to the Etsy shop.

Short Post

2010-07-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

Right now is the busy part of my week and I'm hoping to not be around at all tomorrow. I wanted to post a couple of pics from earlier this week. I was driving and missed my turn ~~on purpose~~ accidentally and ended up at the Goodwill. I figured I could either turn around and exit or maybe there was a reason I ended up there. I decided to go in and take a look around...

Hello Mama! Look at these. $7 for both. Oh sure, there's some tiny imperfections but they are staying outside in the garden. Awesome awesome awesome happy dance.

This is a partial victory. I saw these dishes last month as a full set. I hemmed and hawed because of the price and skipped them even though I loved them. This time the set was gone and only these 4 plates managed to escape and hide, waiting for their real mom to find them. Though I wish I had the whole set, I can be happy with just a pinch of their cuteness.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Journey of Crochet...

2010-07-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Crochet is one those skills I wanted to work on. I got my opportunity when I saw Vickie Howell's blog with a free pattern for a hat. I had to make that hat. It's rated easy, which usually means easy for someone with a master's degree in crochet. However, it really was easy. And fast. I made this over the weekend. Get Out! Yes, I did it over the weekend. She even gives you a video to learn how to do that puff stitch. I used a different yarn than she did. I used a 100% wool yarn. What better yarn to use on these chilly 100 degree summer days. And now I have my winter hat.

This is my hat model. She's cute. You can write to her at... the women's prison. She's in for a stint of writing bad checks. Not really. I can say this about her since she said my practice crochet was so incredibly horrible that there really was no hope for me.

This is the practice crochet I was learning with Saturday morning. It's a square...It's supposed to be a square. Are you done laughing? I'm posting this because I want you to see that you too can go from this blue square to making that great hat in just a few hours.

I have a long history of crocheting really bad. In fact, years and years ago I made this koozy thing. It's my very first piece. It's like it has magical powers. Anytime it's brought out it causes hysterical laughter from all in the room. I'm actually not allowed to get rid of it because of everyone's love of its' patheticness.

I'll keep working at it. If anyone else makes this hat I would love to see how it turns out.

Knitting Class

2010-07-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took the plunge and went to a knitting class. I'd been meaning to go for over a month now but just hadn't been able to schedule it. I also arrived on time. I hate being late.

It was a small class. About every age and skill was there. Most of them were crocheters. Apparently knitters can mix with crocheters and no fights will break out. Some knew how to do both. Shut..up. Is that even allowed?

I was mostly impressed with the 16 year old knitter. She was like pro-am or something. She was all "yeah, I thought it looked like fun so I started last week and now I'm making this sweater off the top of my head and it'll be done tonight." She didn't really say that. That was how it sounded in my head, though. She was doing like this speed knitting thing. Apparently there's also a Guiness Book of World Records fastest knitter in the world category. You can see her on YouTube.

I stuck it out and studiously concentrated on my knitting pattern, plodding through. Guess what? I actually got better. I learned some technique tips from the 16 year old and since I didn't have the distractions from home I could actually focus better.

This class was free at Hobby Lobby. If you are interested or broke, get thee behind to a class in your area. It's worth it even if you're just getting out of the summer heat.

*The picture is from Wikicommons.(A basket of yarn, from http://www.pixelverve.com/raen/2004/07/mini-stash-addition.html {{cc-by-sa-2.0}})

Craft, Inc.

2010-07-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

If you're thinking of going into business for yourself, I would recommend this handy little book. I just ordered mine. I've been borrowing one from a friend and have been dying to scribble and underline all over it.

It's packed full of relative useful information. It's good business sense for any field but mainly relates to crafting businesses. It covers brick and mortar, your online site and blog, and Etsy or related type sales. Haven't a clue about a business plan? There's an outline. I've reached the part about creating a press kit, which sounds like big important words. This little book is going to walk me right through it.

There's some additional stories from other startups and their mistakes and successes. The back has 2 full pages of internet resources. At 160 pages it's an easy read. "Craft, Inc. is the ultimate guide to turning what you do for fun into what you do for money."

Writer's Block and Rain

2010-07-11T07:03:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been a whole lot going on this last week. I came to blogger a few times, sat down, stared at the screen, and nothing. I couldn't think of enough to put a post together. Upon reflection, it makes me kind of happy. I had writer's block. This is an evil bestowed upon real writers, of which I haven't considered myself.

Most of the nothingness of the week revolved around rain. It rained almost every day. It did stop for 2 days and then started right back up. Jace said, "Oh good, I thought that drought would never end." This is a joke. Because there's this weird thinking about rain around here. There's never enough. We could have a Noahdic rain and it still wouldn't be enough. Jace says they're something like crack addics. "All I need is one more inch and I'd be happy." And they say inch, eench. And they never let it go. We're under flash flood watches and people are still completely ingrained to complain that they only need one more eench.

This is my trophy! The first tomato. It's a regular/big size tomato. The pic just makes it look small. I picked it because it was starting to turn red and all the rain was making it get some little hairline splits. I put it in a paper bag for a couple of days to ripen it up, making sure I checked it everyday to not let it over ripen. We'll eat it today. The consensus is that it's a Roma tomato. Interesting because we don't have any Roma seeds. Maybe there was one in the carrot seed packet?

Another project we did during the Great Rain was making animals with fuzzy sticks. Or if you're old and decrepit, pipe cleaners. This project was Rowan's business mind come to life. Right now I pay her in snow cones for helping me at the farmers market. Now she has decided she wants to move up in the corporation to product development and sales. I guess the menial labor has inspired her to make something she can get real cash for.

The problem with this idea is that none of us are particularly talented at making animals out of fuzzy sticks. The above pic is Jace's rendition of a giraffe... We like to refer to him as croco-giraffe because he kind of has a gator head. Also his head is on the same end as the tail.

Here, I made a flower. Apparently I do not know that a flower is not an animal. I was therefore not following instructions.

Here's the final collection of a giraffe, mouse, spider, snake, and flower.

My last topic for why I wasn't blogging is because I had a tummy bug. I thought it was due to stress but could have been bubonic plague, ebola, or food poisoning. Jace did the good husband thing by throwing medicine at me and ducking for cover, hoping I wouldn't stampede him in one of my 1.000 trips to...the toilet paper origami station. I'm back on the mend and managed toast and hot cocoa today with no subsequent episodes. In my misery I managed to write this post in my head and a couple others. Hopefully next week will be more blogeriffic!

Radical Homemaker

2010-07-04T05:28:00.000-07:00

Today I'm passing on to you an article about Radical Homemakers which I found through reading Shiny Red Houses, one of the queens of homemaking.

It's something I knew was going on but hadn't put a name to it. This is something I've obviously been doing if you've been reading me for awhile. Maybe my motives are different than other women in doing this. I get the whole being greener and stop being a consumerist, but it's something else...

Skills. I recently woke up in a midlife crisis. However, my crisis is realizing I'm...39 and don't know how to do some things. How could I reach this age and not know how to do some of life's most obvious things? You do not want to eat my gravy. I really suck at making it. But that is because I didn't learn how to make it. Jace had to teach me how to make mashed potatos.

That's part of the consumerist society thing. Buying it already done for you. But now I want to know how to do it all myself. I have a feeling it's going to get more important down the road...oh in about 6 months. There's some nasty little tax things that are going to happen. Something else a lot of people don't seem to know anything about. I figure if I know how to do a lot of this house stuff then maybe we won't be throwing a full time paycheck towards these taxes.

There's also a sense of fulfillment when you have skills. You don't feel like a bumbling idiot. You know more about starting a lawn mower than a tanning bed. You know how to pick a melon. You know that the chicken of the sea isn't really a chicken...

If you can, read the above mentioned article to know where you fit in, if not just to know the name of the movement going on. There's going to be a lot more radical homemakers popping up all around you. I'm going to keep on learning some "new" skills and I'll pass on those adventures to you. Because you know the first time I try to make bread it's going to end up looking like road kill. Plus, Rowan always spices up that homemaking equation into something resembling a complete disaster or total miracle.

Friday Catch Up

2010-07-02T05:20:00.001-07:00

Is it Friday already? The time flew by but I can say I did get done what needed to be done. Right now we seem to be getting a huge amount of rain which limits my time out in the garden. There's not much to do in it anyway. Just wait for things to grow. Some things tend to grow a lot more than others... Like this tomato plant. I think it's a Black Krim, though I can't be sure because it's in the carrot patch. I didn't plant it. It just showed up one day and it looks like my other Black Krim tomatos. It's gotten a little out of control and I got it a chair to sit in.

Here's one of the tomatos it's growing. This one is bigger than a baseball.

Here's some other tomatos peeking out on another plant. I call these Lowe's tomatos because I can't remember what kind I bought, but I do know I bought it at Lowe's. It has 12 tomatos on it.

This is another tomato plant. (I do have 28) This one has evidence of my garden enemy, the tomato horn worm. You can see this as some parts look like little twigs because some big fat worm/catepillar ate the rest. Gardening does require feeding some bugs, which is why I planted so many.

Here's the sunflower harvest. The big one is the size of a car steering wheel. I got the seeds out of them, soaked in 1:3 salt water and baked at 200 till they were dry. I have a half gallon of seeds to eat now. Not bad for 2 plants.

One of my goals on my days away from the blog world was to have fun. Rowan and I went to the park and got on this 3 person tire swing. This is a pic of her while we're swinging and I'm trying to get a pic while only holding one chain. She's laughing at me trying not to fall off.

The other day a friend made some homemade hot fudge sauce and insisted that I ~~put on a ton of weight~~ try it.

So here is exactly what I think of that hot fudge sauce! I also had a dream that my boss sent me a text message saying that Dolly Parton was killed in a plane crash in Europe so I would have to go into work. That was really weird since my job has nothing to do with airlines, Europe, country music stars, or Dolly Parton. And I want to say that I have nothing against Dolly Parton, either. Maybe I better lay off the sauce.

My Simple Little Hobbies...a pondering

2010-06-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Reader,

I hate going for more than a few days without blogging to you. I know it's trivial and you'd rather not read quite so much of me some days. I, too, feel the same about you. We do tend to blather and prattle on and on sometimes. However, there's a little sad spot I feel for some when I have seen weeks, or even months go by without a post from you.

This evening I'm thinking of all the pictures I have to post and yet not the time. My "enjoyable" hobbies are sucking the life out of me! I love each one and find it hard to put one down to take up another. But tonight I'm going to put the blog down and not think about it for a few days. I need to get caught up.

While I take this few days break I will be planning a spectacular gardening harvest post. Until I'm back, pencil me in for Friday, write yourself an amazing post on your blog, or get someone like How To Homemaker to do a guestblog, and take a break yourself. We deserve it.

Julie

Things I did while being bedridden

2010-06-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

Frankly, I hate being sick. This time I have been told I have bronchitis. This disease is supposed to last around 3 weeks. My patience has lasted about 3 seconds. While I know I'm supposed to be a good girl and stay in bed, sort of like the women of long ago who would take to their sick bed and not emerge for a month later. I am simply incapable of such...solitude...reflective...stagnation. So instead I stay semi in bed but come up with very creative things to do while here. Hence, I'm competing against myself. So here's the list of winners:

The strawberry jam festival which I sneaked into the kitchen to perform. Please hop over to read that blog. It's a new business in its' infancy that can use all the views and follows it deserves. I lurve it.
I found this in the garden. As you might have read in the past I like to give my things odd names to remember them by. This is a squash. My first squash. A pesticide free squash. So it's name is PestiSquash. I thought he looked kind of like a goose. Without the head..wings..and feet of course. Oh...sneaking back into the house. Don't want to be seen wondering about looking too healthy.
I spent some quality time with my new bff, Youtube. I always thought it was bizarre videos of people looking to get famous, injuring themselves, making their baby laugh, dressing up their animals in outfits, or getting disgusting shots of their girlfriends working out to wii. But I also found a lot of instructional videos for people with an ounce of brain and semi crafting ability. I learned how to make this hairbow for Rowan. This one is unusual because it's sooo normal. The ones I make her are pretty over the top. Think cowboy hats with feathers and giant pink butterflies heading out on Rowan's head for a Rose Bowl Parade float.

Another project I read about and decided to take on was making homemade washcloths. These are made with 100% cotton and the one in your bathroom is probably 100% cotton. So they work the same. These will make great little gifts. They're very fast to make and will be sold with Mad City Chicks stuff. If you want some go over there and email them an order.

And since our day wouldn't be complete without my everblooming bff, Rowan. She's helping in the kitchen with her new apron. Drinking strawberry juice flavored with Stevia (tastes like strawberry koolaid). Notice the black mark on her arm....and the black and white paper on the counter, and the black marks on the counter.... Sharpie..permanent..marker.

*Thank you for my new followers (Leeanna). Marnie...I think the apple cider vinegar had the intended purpose since I wash my clothes in the rinse cycle with white vinegar. Hair was ultra soft and easily combed through. I was glad I was stuck in all weekend away from neighbors because of apple cider smell. Having problems with getting a good toothpaste recipe. Baking soda has sodium, so adding salt doesn't help. Adding liquid Stevia extract was a gagfest. Any more ideas?

Dumb Button...why won't you work??

2010-06-22T18:21:00.000-07:00

You'll notice there's blog changes. I needed a new "outfit." I'm also trying to learn how to put buttons on my blog. This is going extremely ~~horrible~~ marvelous. It looks like the only way I will get a button on here is with a hammer. A real hammer. So if anyone knows a simple, and I mean simpler than all the google links, way to add a button let me know.

A Life of Luxury...

2010-06-17T17:13:00.001-07:00

After the glorious day at the Farmers Market I decided to become deathly ill. Any illness I contract is quite deadly because it means one thing: I have to stay in bed. I hate staying in bed when I know there are a milliondee-twenty things I could be doing. And it's sunny.

I usually stare hopelessly at the ceiling counting the dust bunnies that live up there, and watching my life pass before me. I also did something that I, myself hate to do: I took a nap. That's right. I said it. Nap. I know other people enjoy, even love their naps, but I hate losing that time when I could be doing something really important. It's that whole midlife crisis thing of feeling that time is running out.

As of now I am still stuck in bed. End of day 2. Everything below the neck feels fine. It's the throat. The best part of this illness is that it's taken my voice. No talky talky. Unless I want the feeling of swallowing razor blades. So there's no voice when I try to talk and it feels like barbed wire and glass when I do try. It reminds me of someone who's playing a really bad recorder, flute or reed instrument. Squeak squeak.

Since I'm feeling better today, I decided to try and be a little more productive while watching movies all day. I watched one movie called International. It's about an interpol agent exposing the evil banking industry and blam blam blam, lots of shooting. I also watched Confessions of a Shopaholic. I felt a little woozily during that one and don't remember much.

I made what I will call a Scarflar. You make it by first messing up a project and then doing something to try and save it. So I messed up on this scarf and just decided to end it and start over on a different one. Instead of unraveling it I sewed a daisy button on one side and it buttons to the other side. Fold the top down and tuck in to whatever you're wearing instead of wrapping a long scarf around you.

Another plus about laying around in bed/house is that sometimes a beauty consultant will come around and give you a free makeover. Can you believe I got this fabulous look for free?! She knows just how I like my makeup.

Until next time, I'll be eating popsicles and watching more movies. I know the pic above looks a little wonky but I don't have the energy to fix it. So..meh.. whatever...

My Secret Life

2010-06-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I wrote in a post about working on a top secret project. Today was the first day of trying out that project. This is what I've been working on and committing giant science experiments about....

I've joined a farmer's market. It's actually my two friends and I. One of them would say I've gone over to the dark side but at least there are cookies and they are organic. The other one broke her leg and is at home being a pirate and growing chickens.

But let me tell you about today. It was stupendously great. And boy was I nervous. And it was hot. Somehow we managed not to melt into little puddles, probably due to the lemonade lady parked next to us.

We met quite a few very nice people. The other vendors also came over and wished us great success and talked very passionately about mint.

So why did we jump into this farmer market business? There was something we kept running into. People saying how they would love homemade products but didn't have time to make them. We decided we weren't busy enough with work and family and started making some of these products ourselves. We told a few people about it but mostly kept it to ourselves. The ones we did tell perked up very interested and asked lots of questions. Then it was time to "put up or shut up."

Well, we did and it was a very nice success. We had many, many sales and raked in a ton of dough and I'm sitting on a beach in Mexico with my retirement money writing this. Not really. But we did have success. The customers were very interested and curious and pleasantly surprised to see us. I think we made the market more interesting. Kind of craft fair meets farmers market. People also liked that we handed out flyers with small bios, why we were doing this, and a list of resources we use. (It made us look all professional)

So now I can post that I am a part of Mad City Chicks. You can go visit the blog and read about our adventures in product making and markets we go to. We're also on Twitter and Etsy, though we aren't selling anything on Etsy, yet.

Next product? Toothpaste!!!

2010-06-12T15:11:00.001-07:00

Revised-Seal-copy
Originally uploaded by julie felton

No Kung-Fu!

2010-06-12T14:40:00.001-07:00

Photo0667
Originally uploaded by julie felton

Seaworld

2010-06-11T14:13:00.001-07:00

The other day we went to Seaworld. Jace's daughter is visiting from Missouri and this is the best ~~cheapest~~ thing we could come up with. I thought getting a fun pass and passing it on to my friend later would be a great idea until we entered the park and they fingerprint you to keep you from doing just such a thing. So unless Jace's daughter leaves her finger here then I will just have to let it gather dust until she comes down again.

Here we see the ride of terror in the background and couple of pictures of people that are seen more and more frequently as our bad eating habits catch up to us.

This is epic fail. This scares people. Do not ride your scooter while wearing your bathing suit.

Here's Rowan getting onto the Ride O'Terror. It moves about 2 miles per hour. The line to get on moves about -.0000001 miles per hour.

The guy in the blue shirt could not have moved any slower if he was asleep. You think I'm exagerating? There was less than 20 people in line and it took Rowan an hour to go through this ride. I was the smart one who did not get in line for this misery. I think Jace is going to file a complaint about this. I think the guy was angry because he had to work the ride all by himself and he let everyone know. People were begging to be let off this ride. I would've jumped.

There were a lot of kids who looked happy like Rowan. It was in the low 90's with high humidity. Mostly people were running from one shady spot to the next. We decided it was time to go to the water park area. Blessed relief. Jace bought "cokecon candy," as Rowan calls it. Then they left it sitting there till it was a rock hard deflated mass of sugar. Yum!

This is a group of girls that were standing in front of me blocking my view of the wave pool. They only like other girls...in that special way.

After I rode the roller coaster I took Rowan to the restroom and saw this sign. I'm guessing it's for the diabetics or heroin junkies. Don't shoot up in the bathroom. Go to the First Aid station.

We saw the Azul show last. We love this show. We missed Shamu's show time and told Rowan he went on vacation. Azul is way better. There's dolphins, beluga whales, acrobats, and birds. She really wanted her picture taken with the parrot acrobat lady.

Though I paint a grim picture of Seaworld, I really like to go there. These are just the quirky things that happen when we are there. I rode a roller coaster and wore my new bathing suit. I think I looked pretty good and no one screamed, "Shamu's escaped, Eek!"

We finished off the night with more sugar. This is my favorite ice cream place. Baskin Robbins, or Robbin Baskets as Rowan calls it. We think Rowan needs therapy because she asked us approximately 123 times if we were really stopping for ice cream on the way home. "Aagh! Rowan stop nagging us. You are having a big mouth and making bad choices!" *Sigh* Good times.

The Leftovers

2010-06-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post earlier but something unfortunate happened. Rowan "lost" my cable I use to post pics on here. I know, I know, I told you she is well behaved and she is. She's also many other things. Inquisitive ~~demon child~~ and curious, and focused on many things ~~senile~~ . I have tired of this game of hide and seek..oh about the time when she was 1 and managed to hide the car keys behind the kickboard on a book case. Yeah, who does that? I gave up and purchased a new one which I will keep staple gunned to my head so I will know where it is at all times. I can just tell everyone I am a cyborg mom, which might be kinda fun.

I wanted to post pictures of our 2 sunflowers. They finally bloomed. The small one is around 6 feet tall and the big one is around 9 feet. They've been very beneficial with getting bees and butterflies to come hang out at our garden. It's also been a great flower to teach Rowan about flowers because it's so freaking huge.

The flower is bigger than my head. The leaves are bigger than my head.

I finally picked one of our ears of corn. It's gorgeous. Tastes a little sweet. I foresee fights over who gets the last ear of corn.

This is my update to the Hobby Lobby disaster. This was one of the patterns I was getting. I made Rowan her first apron. Awww..how adorable. Now get to work, Cinderella! She loves it and it was done with scraps from other projects. She matches the curtains and throw pillows. How very Scarlett O'Hara.

This is my other project I just finished. It's a throw pillow that I like to call a journey pillow. It's done using a blank throw pillow I bought at Walmart. I used felt for some pieces and left over fabric for other pieces. There's also a couple of buttons on there. The pillow basically tells a story about me and my two friends and how we are all tied together. It shows things we've done and things we're doing now. I can add things to it as time goes on. It's the most meaningful throw pillow in the house. I hope it inspires you to make your own journey pillow or quilt. Something I read in a crafting book is that it's not about making something perfect, it's about making it yourself and it has meaning.

I'm Gonna Beat Your Kid Senseless..

2010-05-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

That's right. At least that's what one woman in Hobby Lobby would like to think...Shall we start the story?

I was in Hobby Lobby the other day. Almost innocently. They were having a sale on McCall's patterns for $$1.99. Now c'mon, how can I pass that up? For all you non-sewing people these patterns usually run $11.95-$18.95 per pattern.

Even if I don't sew that often, I might. And then when I wanted to I wouldn't have a pattern and then the anguish would set in. I need patterns!

So I'm in Hobby Lobby quietly looking through the McCall's book trying to decide which patterns to pick out of 1000 pages. I found 4 and I'm writing the numbers down. Minding. My. Own. Business.

"If You Don't Behave And Shutup That Lady Over There Is Going To Beat You Senseless!" "!!"... Pause for dramatic effect...However, there was no pause for dramatic effect in the store before my mouth opened...and I looked the lady right in the eye and said nice and loud, "NO." Also throw in the raised eyebrows and the sister slang. And that "lady" then gave ME a dirty look.

I'm sorry, have I completely lost my mind? There are sooo many things wrong with that situation. I thought I would've gotten over it but it still riles me so now I'm blogging it. And now the rant...

Dear Crazy Lady at Hobby Lobby. What is wrong with you? You are a lame parent. Lame lame lame. You are in Hobby Lobby. You have one kid between you and your friend and you still can't control them. I have one kid who would walk across fire if I told them to (and I don't beat them). And you dain to say that I will beat them senseless? I should beat you senseless for trying to make me look like the big mean disciplinarian when I'm minding my own business and I've never even met you or your kid. Your kid, who I was silently wishing would shut up because their lazy parent has never taught them to behave in public. Me, silently wishing, because I learned how to behave in public. I'm mad. Mad, because you are a perfect example of everything that is wrong with kids and parenting these days. Placating, political correctness, afraid to parent, simply don't know how to parent. Me wishing that Candance was there with me, because she knows the evils children will commit. AND you gave me a dirty look? Because I won't conspire with you?

It makes me sad. I wish I could have had the conversation I had with another young mother with that lady. This young mother was lamenting how her housework was in shambles and there wasn't time for her to exercise. I asked what her kids were doing. She said they were in gymnastics and this and that. I said again, "What..are..your..kids..doing?" She didn't understand. So I told her that her household was a business and there was no way she could run it herself. There's a line I take from Shiny Red Houses: You have to do work. It's stuff we don't like to do, that's why it's called work. I told the young mother you make the kids work for you and the gymnastics and other stuff follows. Everything else is a priveledge, not a right. That includes everything except food, shelter, and clothing.

I can say at the end of that conversation the young mother said I had opened her eyes and she realized she was letting her kids live a vacation life and was not preparing them for real life. She said, "how will they know how to wash clothes or clean the floor if I do it for them all the time."

By now you're thinking, "oh poor Rowan..." Well, poor Rowan my foot. Rowan is a spoiled brat. I can prove this as we are night time potty training her and she gets a candy or toy for any night she doesn't pee in her bed. Her aunt just gave her one of those annoying stuffed animals you can change back into a pillow that you order off t.v. We are constantly bombarded with people telling us how happy she is. Her parents love her. They love her enough to try to teach her right, so we don't pass the buck in Hobby Lobby. Rowan is 4 1/2 and she washed the laundry today...

My Organic Life

2010-05-26T05:49:00.000-07:00

For awhile I’ve been thinking about doing a post about all the organic stuff I’m learning in a sort of concise way. Becoming organic does not happen overnight. Neither does spelling the word organic because I always spell it “orgainic" and have to edit.

One of the first things I did was bottled water. I think we all did. We thought we looked so cute with that healthy little bottle while holding our keys and cell phone. Some of us have switched to holding a coffee cup from Lotsabucks. Mine was out of convenience because there’s issues with our water out here. It’s killed a number of coffee pots. So I refuse to drink it because I figure it will kill me sooner or later. We also got huge piles of plastic bottles. We’re doing our part and recycling plastic. Then we got tired of recycling plastic and switched to the giant reusable bottles and got some of those metal bottles to carry around. We also collected cans but then we stopped buying all that soda so no more cans. But the last time I looked it was like $.50 a pound and if it goes higher I might have to raid some of those recycle bins.

There’s some films I have watched. I’ve gotten Jace to watch 2 of them. Most important is Food, Inc. If you watch only one food related film watch this one. There are lots of people out there telling you, you can make a difference but you need to buy their book or machine and they are giving you the same information you find in these movies. What I like about Food, Inc is they tell you how you can make a difference in your own life and others’ simply by eating. When you buy food at the store, the store keeps an inventory of products sold. Based on what customers are buying that’s what they will sell. If you’re choosing healthier or organic items then your store WILL carry it. You don’t have to be a stereotype activist to make change happen.

King Corn was the next film I saw. I believe it was made before Food, Inc but along the same lines. This time you’re taken along from the actual growing of corn to where it goes and how it gets there. I have to say that I find it disturbing when they talk about feeding genetically modified corn to cows, the cows have to take medicine because they get ulcers, then we consume products with corn and cow, and how many over the counter medicines are there for upset tummy and acid reducers? Do you see the connection I see?

Now, we can talk about high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS. Remember the ad that tells you it’s o.k. if it’s in moderation? Have you looked at the ingredients in your food lately? It’s in almost everything . How are you supposed to have it in moderation? Do you know the rate of diabetes in this country? Do you know what the studies show about sterility in hamsters in their third generation after GMS? I am definitely working on cutting that out of our house. And once again big companies are listening. In fact they are listening a lot. I almost feel sorry for all the farmers who have everything riding on their government subsidized corn. There’s a handmade/homemade, organic/natural bandwagon and everyone is jumping onto it.

A typical days worth of juicing for me.

Another movie, book, website, is The Gerson Miracle. This one will tell you about juicing everything and all the supplements, etc, etc. They also have claims that it’s a cure for cancer and every other disease. The only down side is that little part at the end…coffee enemas. I’m just not that strong of a person. Can I tell a difference in my body from juicing? A little. I’m not tired in the middle of the afternoon, but I still managed to lose my shoes today.

The last show I can recommend is the Future of Food. It makes one worry that one day we’ll have to garden in sterilized greenhouses while we wear our white suits because the terminator gene may be floating around in the outside air.

Other small changes we’ve made: We switched to organic eggs bought directly from the chicken growing person farmer. Last week we made the switch to organic milk. I’m buying more from the farmer’s market. I’m watching my grocery store’s organic selection slowly growing. If I’m not buying processed food then I can use that money on organic or natural foods and spend the same amount of money.

So how can you make the change? Switch one item on your grocery list to organic. When you’re happy with that then switch another item. It’s been a few months over here and I still have a long way to go but I’m happy with what I’m seeing so far.

Transfortarium

2010-05-23T12:49:00.001-07:00

I love writing a blog because I can make up my own words. I understand the need for spelling and punctuation, but there would probably be more writers if there were fewer English teachers with red pens. Now that I'm all grown up I can misspell and grammatical error to my heart's content. I made up the word transfortarium today because it encompasses two different things both mental and physical. The transfor part is for transformation.

We moved into this house in the winter of 2007. We bought it in the spring of 2008 right before the big real estate crash so we never got to cash in on the sweet tax incentives. Still a little bitter about that, but I ramble... So, since the spring of 2008 when the house became "mine" my proverbial wings started to come forth and want to fly. By flying I mean creativity, an air of excitement, and sometimes charging forth blindly with no plan. That has been my mental transformation. The physical transformation is the house. It houses all my experiments and ideas. It doesn't question me. It just finds a corner to put my latest supplies. It makes me work hard for what I want...stupid rock infested ground. And I am happy for it because it's my safe haven away from the world.

Did you know I own a piece of art? Well, I do. I finally put it up in my ~~evil lair~~ craft hallway. I like it because in one way it feels calm and serene and in another way the girl appears to be waiting for something. A quiet expectancy.

Here's something I did because I'm cheap. I bought this unfinished wood rod for $.99, attached a loop of twine to both ends of a shelf, slid rolls of ribbon through and slipped the rod through the pieces of twine. Easy fix to ribbon everywhere. I like crafting but I cannot do it in chaos.

On my way home from the store I somehow ended up at a yard sale where I found these two items for a total of $2.50. I attached a board to the studs in the wall and then mounted the rack onto it. There are actually rows in it that fit mason size jars. This gets my buttons and what nots out of the way. The other, super out-of-date coat rack I hung on its' side for now and those pegs are just the right size to put ribbon rolls on or hang other odds and ends.

You might think this is a piece of art and you might be right and wrong. I think it does have an artistic concept but it is actually a mason bee house. It was a gift that I have not yet put up. Apparently the little holes are for mason bees which are not supposed to sting you but will help with your garden. I have a feeling mine will attract Africanized honey bees.

Or I can do this with it...

The last part of my made up word is tarium. As in sanitarium. For you young ones out there, a sanitarium was where they put the crazy people before it was politically incorrect to lock up the weirdos and pervs of society. Now they are just medicated and allowed to run amok and I'm pretty sure they keep ending up as my neighbors.

For my word transfortarium it's kind of like this sunflower. Sometimes I look up at it and think, "this is crazy, it's out of control." But it, too, is just growing. Spreading its' proverbial wings. Physically we water and nuture it, waiting for the bloom. Just like my own transformation.

Things I Found Today

2010-05-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

I went outside today to look at the wildflowers and plants. They've changed from blues and pinks to yellows and orange. There was also this wild beast that was obviously waiting to eat me up.

Peeking out of one of the squash plants was one of its' flowers with the morning dew.

I decided to go shopping at thrift stores today. I normally don't get very lucky but today was different. I found this beautiful white bill organizer with little black numbers for the days. I think it looks great on my black dresser. The drawer has different size dividers so we'll probably use it as storage for keys and phones. The most interesting part about it was what I found inside. There was a receipt for Schlotzky's from 2007 and a to do list with one of the items saying "check immigration status." I'm sure there's a great story about that.

I stopped in at my most favorite consignment shop, Bada Bling. I hit the $1 sale rack and came out with this shirt, a plain white button down shirt, and some black pants. All in perfect condition.

Not on the dollar rack but still very cool and I couldn't pass up were these shoes. They're Nine West and the sizing was weird. They said 4 1/2 but were really 6 1/2. I consider myself lucky because I usually don't find shoes in my size. Apparently women who wear a size 8 love to get rid of their shoes.

Yes! I am an official owner of a pair of overalls. That makes me a real farmer. But these have sparkly things so I may be disqualified from farmer status. I'm definitely going to wear these a lot and I know they are considered very unstylish or chic. But when have I gone with the flow of what is stylish and chic?

Lastly, I found this gorgeous plaque/tile hanging thing with a chicken. I had to get it for my friend the pirate. I call her a pirate because she broke her foot or leg or something and it's much more interesting sounding than klutz. She is also raising some chickens so it fits her.

The Party's Over

2010-05-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

This is all that is left of Rowan's party yesterday. After everyone left I realised...

I DIDN'T TAKE ANY PICTURES!!! OMG!!! WE SUCK... Jace says we were busy being good hosts. The party was great and that Tinker Bell jumper was perfect. Everyone loves those things.

Last night after everyone left, Jace, Rowan and I had a private jumping party. And then we slept. The good kind of sleep from playing all day. Today I'm putting the house back together and letting Rowan wear the balloons like a dress.

I also didn't take pictures because I was distracted. I was at this thing during the day. It's the Renegade Craft Fair. I learned a lot. I got to make my own button and I bought a gardening calendar for Texas. My friend says I have great restraint. (she was buying one of everything)

I did manage to take a picture of the table before the party and before I finished decorating. I had actually done this the night before because I thought I was uber-organized, except for the picture taking.

I did receive a hostess gift. These are knitting needles from Craftiness. I believe she said they were blood wood. If I'm wrong I'm sure she'll leave a comment.

Very soon, maybe even as you read this, you will start seeing some new links for sites and blogs. These all relate to the "Top Secret" project that is evolving over the summer. The goal is for September but I have a feeling we'll be starting sooner.

2010-05-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

This week I've been busy with a top secret project and my friend says I can't tell anyone about it because then someone might find out about it. I can tell you that Jace knows and he's excited. It will take most of the summer to get all the details worked out and if it goes ahead as planned then I will tell you. Speaking of going ahead...

I spend a lot of money on bandaids...*sigh*

Hello Corn!!! I love you. Please don't get eaten to smithereens like the lettuce.

Here's the new tomato bed. I used scrap wood and Jace put it together. We filled it with humus, compost and mulch. Today it poured rain. That's like the perfect storm.

Here's a patty pan squash blooming. I think that's what it's called.

Tomorrow is the big party. We're having it rain or shine. Everything is bought, set up, or confirmed for pickup. Can't wait to get pictures! I will feel dead tired tomorrow night.

Renegade Craft Fair

2010-05-14T15:27:00.001-07:00

Sometimes a Princess Loses Her Crown

2010-05-08T08:21:00.000-07:00

This week has been full of activity and has just flown by. I've been busy playing homesteader/farmer girl, but a catastrophic event took place...

Rowan has great teeth except for one. She's always had great dental checkups, except for biting the dentist. She also had one tooth that was a dud, meaning it was prone to cavities and a big fat pain. Along the way we switched dentists to one she didn't like to bite and it was decided she should get a crown for that tooth since it was going to be 3 or 4 years before she lost it naturally.

She got her crown. A nice, pretty (expensive) crown. It was white on the front so she didn't look like that Jaws character from the old James Bond movie. Did I mention it was expensive? Unfortunately, she did something, we don't know what, and the crown disappeared. Let me tell you it is very unsettling to be sitting around and have your child come up to you with a snaggly grin.

I took her to the dentist on Tuesday so she could miss school, again, and make out with the stuffed animals there. Miss Dr. Dentist said there was no choice but to pull it. We just had to decide how to pull it. Take the liquid medicine and sit around for an hour or get the gas and a shot and pull it 10 minutes later.

Since I am not above bribing Rowan I said, "Rowan can you take the nose medicine (gas) and get your tooth fixed so we can go buy you any toy you want?"

It totally worked. Ten minutes later she was out of there and telling me how her lip was getting bigger and all tingly. We went to Walmart and I was prepared to shell out some serious dough, but I got extremely lucky and she firmly decided she wanted the $20 inflatable swimming pool. It's an awesome pool. It's like laying in a bathtub outside. In fact, there's room for 2 adult people and a child people to lay in it like a bathtub. I know what you're thinking. It's hick. I don't care. I can lay in it and stare at my garden. The sunflower is 6 feet tall and the corn is getting ready to pollinate. Sometimes this is all the rejuvenation a person needs.

This week strawberries were on sale. I wasn't going to pass it up. I bought 4 pounds which is not all that much. I cut up and froze most of them.

I also wanted to try making a pie from scratch. So here's my homemade pie crust with some strawberries.

And here's the finished pie. This morning we ate strawberry pie for breakfast. It was good...

My 100th Post

2010-05-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

I noticed the other day that my next post was going to be the 100th post. So woo-hoo for me. The blog continues to change and grow and I'm not sure what direction it's going in so we'll see when we get there.

Today I decided I would make my own vanilla extract. It's incredibly simple and it's something I was kind of surprised with, since I figured it must be very difficult if it costs so much in the store.

The very hard part was finding a whole vanilla bean. I had to go over to the health food store to find it. It cost me $5.89. I need to learn how to grow this, or find some unsupecting fool that I can buy it from.

The next part was to buy some vodka. I did not think this out well enough. If you see a minivan with an obvious mom-looking person drive up and park outside the liquor store at noon, and come out with a bottle in a paper bag, what are you thinking? You're thinking she's making a hurried stop to get the afternoon drunk on by the time the soaps start and before the kids get home from school. At least this is what I think the people standing outside the laundromat were thinking of me. But as you see in the picture I only bought the smallest bottle for $2.19. For that price you know it's got to be quality stuff. And it's named Crystal Palace even though the bottle is plastic.

I knew I needed a container that I could close tightly, so I decided to just use the bottle the vanilla bean is in. I added 3 tablespoons of vodka to the jar, closed it up tight, put it in a paper bag and put it up in a cabinet. It's supposed to be ready in 4 weeks. I only put it in the bag to shield it from light and the recipe didn't say to do that. I figure when I buy it at the store it's in a colored bottle and that is usually to keep a product from degrading due to light exposure. We'll see what happens in a month.

A developing topic is the dog. Onslo. He's 2 years old now. He's a small dog. I've said before that the cat is bigger than him, and she is. She's also very adept at teasing him. She'll sashay close to him waving her tail back and forth. Outside he can't reach her at the end of his lead. So it makes him crazy. She knows it. He won't try to get her when they are both inside. Only outside.

Yesterday I was walking Onslo up and down the street and the cat kept running back and forth and he was desperately trying to get to her and yanking my arm all over the place. We got back and sat on the front steps. At one point he got his head stuck in the railing because he was trying to see what she was doing. I'm thinking we're going to have to saw the railing to get his head out. But we managed to squeeze it back through somehow and we came inside.

Then the fun started. He had a seizure. He's done this before. Overstimulation thanks to the cat. She's going to kill him. So I sat with him wrapped in a towel on my lap, which makes him feel more secure and relax faster. Jace went outside and yelled at the cat which I'm sure sounded like "*&%^$!! blah blah blahblah blah!! Kiki!"

From now on I will have to put the cat in the house before I walk the dog. Thanks useless cat. Oh well, she only has one good eye so she is probably messed up in the head, too. (She came to us with only one good eye, by the way.)

Anyway, thank you everyone for following the blog or reading it. Write if you have suggestions or experiments you would like me to try, within reason, and I'll try to do it. Have a great day Y'all!

Aquaponics

2010-04-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

This is the aquaponics post! I finally (not really) finished the set-up.

Aquaponics is very interesting to me because we are always, or almost always, under, or going to be under, water restrictions. We were having a severe drought and at one point Death Valley received more rain than we did here.

I'm not going to get into all the scientific information because it would probably put us both to sleep. Let's just suffice to say that aquaponics is recycling water. If you are recycling water, then you are using less water.

This was the beginning set-up. See the fish that are still alive? I've changed a few things. First, the plants on top are not there now. I had them in dirt and dirt is not to be used. You can use things like pebbles, aquarium gravel, or vermiculite. I also added a longer hose to the pump.

I decided I needed to build a structure out of PVC to hold the plant light. These are the two things you need to glue PVC together. Easy to use, wear some rubber kitchen gloves, and do this outside.

This is what I built. If the experiment fails, I now have a stand alone clothes rack or a walker if I put a couple of wheels on the bottom. That's pathetically awesome that I can make my own elderly/disabled equipment.

Now here it is in action. The plant light is attached securely with 22 gauge wire. There's a screen over the tank so no problems with the light falling into the tank and making fish fingers.

This is the final product so far. Let me take you through the process. Fish get fed and then they poop. Ammonia builds up in the water and (good) bacteria hanging around the gravel on the bottom convert it to nutrient rich water, which is also toxic to the fish. The water is pumped out through the tubing attached to the pump into the plant pot, or grow bed. The plant filters the water and then the water drains back into the tank as clean water.

So you've lost a minimal amount of water and you don't have to dig around in dirt. Win win.

Backyard Aquaponics is a good place to see some bigger set-ups. If mine works then I'll be either moving to a big one outside or have several small ones inside to produce vegetables year round.

All supplies were obtained at Walmart and Lowe's for around $50. I think it could work for one of those science fair projects, too. I'll post updates.

Homemade

2010-04-28T18:31:00.001-07:00

Today I checked out this book from the public library. I skimmed through it at the time and thought it could be useful. When I got home and took a good look at it...Wow! This is a great book. While loading the dishwasher Jace asks, "oh yeah, does it have a dishwasher soap recipe?" "Why yes it does. And we have everything for it." So we tried it. 1 Tablespoon Washing Soda and 1 Tablespoon Borax. Worked. Washing Soda, Borax, and vinegar are my new best friends. This book has recipes for foods, beauty products, home remedies, pet care, cleaning products and gardening. It can be found on Amazon by typing the word "Homemade" in the search box. I will be getting this book.

The fun of doing things yourself is that you get to ~~cuss a lot~~ feel proud of your accomplishments. With Rowan's party coming up I figured I should build a screen type thing in front of the compost pile or the little vermin will no doubt want to play in it. It has child drawing magnetic powers.

I highly recommend drawing out plans on paper first. The second thing I usually do is sleep on it. Not the paper, just think over your plans.

And by some dumb stroke of luck your finished product will look exactly like your drawing. I will get teased about how OCD this picture is.

Here is Rowan convalescing on her last day home with strep throat. I'm an evil mother who made her get fresh air. The next day we kicked her out of the house and made her go to school.

Here we are playing "let's have the same hair style."

Another homemade thing happening is Jace made soap. It's still in the drying (curing) stage. We have 17 bars of soap now. A couple of lucky peeps here are going to get to test some soap for us. Jace is really happy about his soap...but he's gonna be in a LOT of trouble if he doesn't quit bugging me with the WifiTouchpad app! Ahem.. (big trouble Jace)

Here is a picture of a sunflower we're growing. It's now over 3 feet tall. It's taller than Rowan, which boggles her mind. She's amazed. Jace tells her he's going to feed her to the sunflower if she gets in trouble one more time. I think it's supposed to grow to 6 feet tall.

(I'm still setting up the aquaponics so I'm postponing that post a little longer.)

How Hard Is It To Get Fish?

2010-04-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

I’ve been working on my latest project called aquaponics. One of the components of aquaponics is fish. I’m making a small system with only a 10 gallon aquarium. I needed some goldfish because they’re cheap and I might not be very good at keeping fish alive. So how hard is it to get fish?

It was a bright, clear, beautiful day. I had my list of things to buy. I needed an aquarium, a pump, fish, and a plant. I had looked on Craigslist but no luck. I was going to have to rely on…the retail world.”

My first stop was Goodwill. I didn’t have any luck there and I noticed that they have gone way up in price. Things aren’t such a bargain there. I know this is not true at all Goodwill stores. Time to move on.

Next stop is Walmart. They have everything I need. However, the bargain hunting side of my personality kicked in and I just wanted to look at one more place. This is where the day goes downhill.

I went to PetSmart. Not smart. Oh, they have everything one needs to set up an aquarium and fish. But they won’t sell it to you. The prices were just about the same as Walmart and I decided to just get the stuff at Petsmart since I was there. I picked out the aquarium, pump, and fish food. Now I just needed to get the fish. I ask the girl for 20 goldfish. Her reply, “I can’t sell you fish if you’re just setting up a tank.” *silence* And she had that tone in her voice. The I’m-in-high-school-and-I-know-it-all tone. Did she ask if I had fish before? Did she ask if I had a pond? Did she ask if I had the dechlorinating drops that “makes the water safe for fish immediately?” No. She didn’t ask any background questions. She just assumed. They won’t be getting my business again. Thanks PetSmart, for not selling me a pet.

Good thing I didn’t tell her they weren’t going to be pets, but farm animals. I’m hungry. Think I’ll stop at Chik-fil-a. It’s a new one and I’ve never been there before…

First red flag. There’s workers standing beside the intercom to take your order in the drive-thru. I give my order to the girl and she professionally calls it in over her headset. I ask her if I can drive around the car in front me because I can see the person reading off a list of orders. She tells me, “No, they’ll be done is just a second.” O.k. I wait patiently. Another high-school student comes up to my car. “Can you please pull around this car in front of you.” “I asked the girl that and she told me no.” “Oh, it’s o.k. It’s all good.” No it’s not all good. In fact, it’s getting real not good.

The line is finally moving and I’m at the window now. First, they charge me the wrong amount. They have 2 more girls standing outside the drive-thru window to pass things to the car because…the person inside can’t reach out the window 2 feet? The girl says, “here’s your sweet tea.” “I didn’t order sweet tea.” “You didn’t order blah blah blah?” “No, I didn’t.” I can hear metal gears grinding to a halt in my head. I realize their smooth assembly line had just turned into a traffic jam with like ten cars tangled in a car wreck.

All of a sudden the girls are walking away from the window to other cars and the manager is screaming out the window at them and they aren’t listening. And he can’t hand me my food 2 feet away. Because that is thinking outside the box. Apparently, I was supposed to drive around that stupid car way back at ordering and now every order from that point on is messed up. I did ask.

I finally get my food. This is after I tell the girl that this is my first visit here. It’s made quite an impression and I’ll be sure to tell everyone I know. She hands me my food and coupons for some free food and says, “ok. Thank you.” It’s in that weird voice of “why are you still here?” I say, “drinks. Where’s my drinks? Y’all aren’t making this any better.” Got my drinks. Drive off shaking my head. Thanks Chik-fil-a.

Now I’m headed back to Walmart because I haven’t forgotten about the smug little twit at PetSmart. I’m going to go to Walmart, where they don’t care what you’re doing with fish as long as they can sell you something. And I’m going to show her. This will be quick. Run in. Get fish. Back in car. No, no, no.

“Can I get 20 goldfish please.” “Well, the vendor is putting fish in the tank right now and they will have to acclimate. So, I can’t sell you any fish right now.” *silence* “I can’t buy fish anywhere in this town.”

Back in the car. I’ll stop by the fancy pet shop. They’re out of goldfish. What a surprise. I’m depressed. I’m going home. Everyone is against me. Jace calls. He’s in town and will give Walmart another try. Here’s his version of the story.

“I want to get 20 goldfish.” Guy walks over to the tank, dumps the fish out of the bags, and puts 20 in a bag for him. No questions asked. No acclimating bull talk. Is this a guy thing? Ugh!

I’m back at the house getting the tank ready and my hero comes home having vanquished the enemies and brings me fish. I acclimate them and set them loose. And guess what? They didn’t die. They’ve been alive all weekend. So in your face PetSmart girl.

Next time I’ll tell you about the aquaponics setup.

Strep Throat and Other Diseases of the Mind

2010-04-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

It’s been a difficult few days around here. Rowan is sick. The doctor confirmed that it is strep throat. And if you know Rowan then you know that she is not the typical sick child. She is amazingly…energetic, except for every 4 hours when the Tylenol or Motrin wears off. (please don’t write and tell me Motrin is every 6 hours. I know. Blogs are not always completely factual)

Rowan and I went to CVS and picked up her medicine. She literally jumped around the store. Boing boing boing. While I tell the employees that she is deathly ill and highly contagious, please do not get near her. Boing boing boing. (I also bought 10 cans of tuna fish because it’s on sale for .49!)

I called my Dad to let him know we won’t be having lunch tomorrow. And if he gets sick in the near future it’s because he came over on Sunday. He probably hung up and asked himself, “why is she doing this to me? Every time I go over there I get sick from that child.”

We’re home now and she can’t go to school till Thursday. What will I do with all that time? A) Go out of my mind because she’s going to drive me crazy. B) Do housework. C) Mow the yard, again. D) Watch hours and hours of The Office. E) Come up with new projects. F) Drive my friends crazy.

Now you’re asking yourself what other diseases of the mind is she talking about? Soap and candles. Whenever Jace goes to a farmer’s market or craft fair he brings home these. And he says they are for me. But they’re not. He brought home one that has cornmeal in it and the label says, “for those that like it a little rough in the bath.” Hmmm…

We read a book about making your own bath soap. Glycerin soap is really easy. You can get everything at Hobby Lobby. It is another area I don’t really have an interest in, though.

An activity that I do like is mowing. Something about being outside and all the grass is uniform in length. Orderly. Anyway, if you remember there are rocks in my yard. Some of them stick out of the ground just enough to hurt a lawn mower. So that and the past week’s rain caused the untimely death of our lawn mower. Maybe just the rain…

Off we went to Walmart, where I got…a self-propelled mower. I love these. I had one before. They are heaven. (I had a picture but I was having blogging issues this morning thanks to probably not getting enough sleep because of the diseased Snoreblatt) Let me put it this way…You start it up, put it in drive, and just walk behind it. The motor will drown out any annoying noises, like “Mommy get me this. Mommy get me that. Mommy mommy mommy.”

I will get at least an hour of “quiet time” while mowing, which I will definitely need during this trying week.

Miss Organization

2010-04-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

Keeping up with things in my neck of the woods is a tireless job. Or tiresome, daunting, but someone's gotta do it.

* Googled and found that people are using 1/4 cup of white vinegar in the rinse cycle for fabric softener. You know I did it. It works. Freaky! I noticed a very teeny tiny faint whisp of vinegar smell when the wash was done. Or maybe my brain just said there was a tiny smell. Anyway, no vinegar smell after the dryer. I think the heat dissipates it. Awesomely strange. Try it. You know you want to. So far Jace isn't scared of my experiments because I haven't tried to make our own toilet paper.

* Rowan's party is almost through the preparation stages. The Disney Princess and Pirate Ship invitations are filled out, because she had to have both. The Spongebob Squarepants ice cream cake is ordered. I am making copies of a flier tomorrow because you know there's at least 50 people invited. At least 50. Invitations go out Sunday. I still need to reserve a jumper thingy-ma-bob. One week before the party I will write out a food list and purchase said food. On party day Jace will pick up the cake or he will get to be a pinata.

* Medusa and Lucifer are being good neighbors...this week. No new sheds at the other neighbors.

* Hello, my name is Julie and I'm a podcast junkie. Radio? What's radio? I have so many podcasts to catch up on.

Making Your Own Laundry Soap

2010-04-11T16:09:00.001-07:00

First, I just want to say a few words about experimenting. I've been doing a few experiments around the house, which you know about if you've been reading this blog. Most of these have changed our lives here, and hopefully for the better, if not just differently. I've been learning some new skills and I'm trying to keep cobwebs from collecting on my brain.

We're experimenting with new gardening methods. We did the t.v. experiment and haven't died. We've been switching to more organic/natural/nutritious foods. We stopped bringing soda into the house.

My friend is waiting for me to show up in an Amish hat but that would totally ruin my hair. She also thinks I'll start making those solid color sack dresses. I don't think the Amish have iTouches so it really won't work for me.

I wanted to try making my own laundry soap. After a bit of Google I had a recipe and a plan. I thought I would have trouble finding the ingredients but they were all at the local grocery store in the laundry aisle. 1 bar of Zote laundry soap ($.89). 1 box of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda ($3.17). 1 box of 20 mule team Borax ($3.54). Total cost for these items is $7.60.

The first step was to grate 1/3 of the Zote bar. This is easy because it's actually pretty soft. Smells nice, too. Since I only used 1/3 this makes our cost for one batch $.30. This is then added to 6 cups of water and heated till the soap melts.

Next, I added 1/2 cup of the Washing Soda and 1/2 cup of the Borax and stirred til it dissolved. (1/2 cup of Washing Soda is 4.2 ounces which equals $.25, and 1/2 cup of Borax is 3.5 ounces which equals $.18.)

Once dissolved I removed from heat and added mixture to 4 cups of hot water in the container and stirred some more. Lastly I stirred in 1 gallon and 6 cups of water. All done. This took me 18 minutes from start to finish. Total amount is 2 gallons. It makes 64 loads of soap at 1/2 cup soap per load. Total cost per 2 gallon batch/64 loads= $.73. Total cost per load of laundry $.01.

The soap needs to sit overnight to "gel." It doesn't completely gel and actually has an egg drop soup consistency. I read that the ingredients can be changed up to reach the preferred consistency. Later we added .5 oz of lemon essential oil, although it smells great by itself.

We washed 3 loads of laundry with it today and I wore a shirt washed with it. 1) The kitchen did not blow up when I made it. 2) The clothes did not disintegrate when washed with it. 3) My skin did not burn off and I did not go blind wearing a shirt washed in it. No rash either.

I definitely encourage you to try some new things, even if your friends make fun of you. It's fun and it's NOT permanent. I did research on canning but I decided I don't trust myself enough to not give us all botulism. Just wait and see what I do if the HOA approves of residents having chickens!

Hints of the next post..

2010-04-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

I just ran out of time. I wanted to put up a post. At the time there wasn't enough information. As usual, the information starts running in a landslide and then I have too much information to put in under my dwindling time constraints. So here's a few snippets that will be expanded on:

* The neighbor's shed mysteriously disappeared into the night. They got rid of it. I hope they'll replace it with something more brilliant. I mean that sarcastically. Otherwise subject matter lags.

* The other new neighbors, Medusa and Lucifer, have been approached by the local HOA. The old man said he lets the dogs run loose because he's right there to get them. Mr. HOA says, "I don't think so. There's too many kids and you never know when one will turn (the dog, not the kid). They have to be on a lead or fenced in. Told you I was gonna win this.

* Finally, I have told Rowan she will be getting a party. We were going to have one before last year and let's just say there was some poor planning and it didn't happen. So this year I'm in charge. I decided this an hour ago and I already have the whole thing mapped out in my head. I've got price quotes, furniture placement, guest list, supplies, food, cakes, and fun. Total fun, right?

Homemade Granola Bars

2010-04-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

I found a very nice recipe for these. I, of course did not have all the right ingredients and made substitutions. I didn't have peanuts but I did have pecans. I also did not have wheat germ. I still think it will come out o.k. Joyfulabode.com

Things are growing...

2010-04-04T18:45:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I feel like things take forever and no progress is made. Ever so slowly are our steps taken. Last October my Dad moved down here and Rowan was very shy around him. To the point of being rude. I thought perhaps she would always be distant towards him. We went to lunch the other day and I caught this pic. Her first time walking with him and holding his hand. So maybe that connection is growing.

Dad still continues to stress me out. For example...while riding in the car he talks about how he drove around looking for our old house and just couldn't find it. He tried on several occasions. Maybe 4. He still couldn't find it. Maybe it's not there. Oh alright Father! We'll drive by so you can see it does exist because I like to tell you about made up houses I pretended to live in. Sheesh. We drive by. Oh look, I'm not lying. This is where I get any OCD tendencies.

Here is Onslo my sweet, slightly neurotic, chiweenie. Tiny. Manageable. Runs like the wind. This is what happens to you if you stay still long enough. Rowan will come and cover you with dish towels and put you to bed. His patience is growing.

These are pics of the garden growing. Beans and peas.

Microgreens

Corn, sunflowers, and lettuce.

Water feature.

Squash.

The end to this wonderul post. I went outside this morning. Think of cool air, birds softly chirping. The cat walking with me. The grass heavy with last night's rain and getting the edges of my pants wet. The wildflowers will not last much longer. The grass gets tall. They'll get mowed. I collected these beauties. Then I heard the neighbor yelling F this and F that. My understanding that they are morons is growing.

Pic of the Neighbor's Shed

2010-03-30T21:14:00.001-07:00

O.k. I had to put it up. It just makes me laugh. This is the shed they put together (very efficiently) yesterday. And because they didn't attach it to the ground or any kind of foundation, when the wind came whipping through it picked it right up and dumped it upside down.

This evening when we left, they were burning some tiki torches...very close to their house.

The Day Hike

2010-03-29T18:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went on a day hike with my 2 friends. It was probably the most perfect day ever to take a hike. I figured the best way to get over my dog experience was to march into the wilderness and maybe run into an alligator or mountain lion.

We had beautiful wild flowers in full bloom. The colors were so vivid and bright.

This is a picture of my friend and I. Notice this is the beginning of the hike since we are both smiling. Eightish miles later...not so much.

We talked about how an alligator would probably snatch us off this road. And if we had a small dog it would use it's leash for floss.

We also discussed all our doomsday scenarios and how bad the world is. We were going to go home immediately and build bomb shelters and/or run away into the woods so no one could tattoo bar codes or insert microchips in us. I'm pretty sure my other friend is wondering if she'll visit us in the nut house or just forget she ever knew us.

This is another picture of my friend....hee hee

We found this beautiful bright green swamp. Is that algae bloom or sulfanagens?

Here's some strange wildlife. They were bending over and crawling around taking pictures of flowers.

These are some leaf cutter ants. My friend informed me that they are actually farmer ants. We watched them from up in a tree come down the trunk and leave a leaf pile where other ants would come and pick up a leaf and go back to their nest. Repeat. There were also some guard/soldier ants with big pinchers scouting the surrounding area. We were very careful of these.

So that was my big day hike. I'm hoping we'll all go to Big Bend National Park in June.