Ever since I was pregnant with Pres, and went through the craziest nesting phase and HAD to completely stock my freezer, I've had more and more interest in canning. That summer I decided to can Granny's sweet pickles, and had quite a few jars canned, but I was too scared to eat them. Somehow, they just didn't look right. I'm really anal about food safety. Anything that might remotely cause me to vomit, I stay far away from!
My freezer is starting to fill, and I love it! I made 6 pints of strawberry jam that I have yet to try, but it better taste darn good after burning myself in the process! I made 5 pints of hot cinnamon applesuace with red hot candies, only to forget that my mouth swells up badly when I eat hot cinnamon. After trying it, and suffering the consequences, I've decided that I must give it away. Now once I get some more sweet corn, I plan to go crazy! Nothing beats fresh corn-off-the-cob! I'm supposed to pick up some tomatoes from my grandpa tomorrow to juice, but now I'm getting scared of actually canning! I just know it won't work... But, the thought of having all of that good tomato juice is too irresistable! That, and I'm really trying to reduce my grocery bill, and using free, locally grown produce also helps in the green dept. We'll see how it goes!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Boy, oh boy!
Had you told me 4 years ago that boys were really different from girls, I would have told you that I hate stereotypes (and I still do). Now that I've had my sweet Preston for 4 years, I can abolutely tell you that boys simply are different from girls. Nature definitely wins in the nature vs. nurture debate! Today, we had one of those "boy" moments.
Mr. P had been acting up in Aldi, and when we got home, he yelled at Sis, so he got sent to his room. Angrily swinging his blinds, it came back and went straight through the window! I heard glass break, and run upstairs to find him sitting on his bed in disbelief. Me, nearly hyperventilating, scared that he might have cut himself badly (no cuts at all, PHEW!), didn't know what to do. He finished time out downstairs while I cleaned up all of the glass. Luckily, my father-in-law stopped by later on and was able to remove the rest of the glass from the crossbars, and is coming back tomorrow to put the new pane in. I seriously don't know what we'd do without him and his handywork! Christopher sure didn't get his fixing genes! He wanted to get a pane of plexiglass to put in instead of real glass. Sure, we're replacing them come spring, but we plan on selling the old ones (add points to my green ticker!), and really, who wants a 6-pane window with 1 plexiglass pane?
Somehow after today, I don't envision this as our last broken window incident...
Mr. P had been acting up in Aldi, and when we got home, he yelled at Sis, so he got sent to his room. Angrily swinging his blinds, it came back and went straight through the window! I heard glass break, and run upstairs to find him sitting on his bed in disbelief. Me, nearly hyperventilating, scared that he might have cut himself badly (no cuts at all, PHEW!), didn't know what to do. He finished time out downstairs while I cleaned up all of the glass. Luckily, my father-in-law stopped by later on and was able to remove the rest of the glass from the crossbars, and is coming back tomorrow to put the new pane in. I seriously don't know what we'd do without him and his handywork! Christopher sure didn't get his fixing genes! He wanted to get a pane of plexiglass to put in instead of real glass. Sure, we're replacing them come spring, but we plan on selling the old ones (add points to my green ticker!), and really, who wants a 6-pane window with 1 plexiglass pane?
Somehow after today, I don't envision this as our last broken window incident...
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Living Like Ed
You may have seen the show, "Living With Ed" on Planet Green (ch. 286 on Dtv), but have you read the book, "Living Like Ed?" If you've thought about living a more eco-friendly life, but didn't know where to start, or you just want to spur your greenness even more, this is a must-read! I picked it up Friday and I have already finished it. I just couldn't stop reading!
All weekend long I have been telling my husband all about different things we can be doing. Trying to push the hybrid when his car dies, renting solar panels, installing a wind turbine, buying TerraPasses to offset our carbon emissions (especially for his commute). He's not so into the eco-friendly movement like I am, so he wasn't too enthused to hear me talking about it all weekend! So he tells me today that what we really need to do, is to dig a moat around our house, install a paddlewheel, and a turbine to blow wind to turn the paddlewheel, and generate our own hydroelectric power. Insert stron sarcasm here! I told him to grab his shovel!
Seriously, though, pick up this book! You don't even have to have a lot of money to spend doing green things. Many tips in the book are free or at very low cost. It's worth everyone doing something small. Every little bit counts!
All weekend long I have been telling my husband all about different things we can be doing. Trying to push the hybrid when his car dies, renting solar panels, installing a wind turbine, buying TerraPasses to offset our carbon emissions (especially for his commute). He's not so into the eco-friendly movement like I am, so he wasn't too enthused to hear me talking about it all weekend! So he tells me today that what we really need to do, is to dig a moat around our house, install a paddlewheel, and a turbine to blow wind to turn the paddlewheel, and generate our own hydroelectric power. Insert stron sarcasm here! I told him to grab his shovel!
Seriously, though, pick up this book! You don't even have to have a lot of money to spend doing green things. Many tips in the book are free or at very low cost. It's worth everyone doing something small. Every little bit counts!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
So much for the solar panels!
We're getting a new roof in about a month, thanks to a good pelting from 1 1/4 inch hail that left holes in our shingles. So I figured this would be the perfect time to install solar panels on our house! I did the research, figured out our KWH usage, figured out what kind of system we needed, and presented the price tag to my husband. That didn't go over too well! After a little math of his own, he figured out that this system wouldn't pay for itself for 11 years! Who knows if we'll even be in this house in 11 years! We bought it knowing we'd need a bigger one if the future. So it looks like the solar panels are out. But, he did agree to a solar tube for our main bathroom, that is pitch black in the middle of the day. I didn't even need to talk him into that one! Now I'm trying to talk him into a solar powered attic fan to keep our electricity bills down during the summer. He wants to get an electric attic fan. Always thinking economically, not ecologically!
Saved from the trash!
Thanks to my husband being green, something he's not really into, he saved our trash can from heading to the trash itself! And I didn't even play a part! In fact, I figured we'd have to get a new trash can. The wheel had completely broken in half, and as big as it is, it couldn't function without the wheel- especially pulling it 100 ft down the driveway! So he found two old wheels from something in our shed, and fixed the trash can! I didn't even know he was so handy! He tries to be, but this is the guy that has NO clue how to use the grill! I'm impressed!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Eco the Ecosaver fish
I seriously had to laugh when I read what was on the fish pool warmer in my in-law's pool the other day. On the side it says ECO. On the other side, Eco the Ecosaver pool warmer. As I read the instructions, I had to make a puppet and goofy voice to my son. "Hi! My name is Eco, the Ecosaver fish, although I'm not very ecological. I'm made of non-biodegradable plastic/vinyl that cannot be recycled, and I secrete isopropyl alcohol, which is toxic, just to warm this pool. The sun does an even better job, but nonetheless, I'm in the water."
Why would they name this fish Eco the Ecosaver when it is far from ecological? Vinyl, isopropyl alcohol, and a very heavy, but small weight that wouldn't surprise me if it was lead. I don't even know if this thing even makes a difference in the pool temperature! I did point it out to my mother in-law today that it contained a toxic chemical. I doubt the fish comes out, though. I guess we're swimming in a bunch of chlorine, too. I'm so glad we don't have a pool.
Why would they name this fish Eco the Ecosaver when it is far from ecological? Vinyl, isopropyl alcohol, and a very heavy, but small weight that wouldn't surprise me if it was lead. I don't even know if this thing even makes a difference in the pool temperature! I did point it out to my mother in-law today that it contained a toxic chemical. I doubt the fish comes out, though. I guess we're swimming in a bunch of chlorine, too. I'm so glad we don't have a pool.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Where's the oil?
Raising gas prices are on everyone's mind right now. I look at the sign each day when I go to town to see what the new rate is. I almost choked when I saw it say $4.15! My husband drives 180 miles round-trip to St. Louis, 4 days a week, plus my driving, so you can imagine what we pay each month when the gas bill comes.
But did you know, that there is more oil under Wyoming and Colorado than there is in the middle east? There's also an abundance in Alaska, and off the coast of the U.S., but what is being done with this oil? Nothing! Do you know WHY nothing is being done? Well, it seems that the Democrats, in their efforts to be "green," are not allowing any of these natural resources to be tapped into, for fear of what it might do to the natural ecosystem in those areas. Measures to initiate legislation allowing stateside drilling cannot even make it to the floor of Congress because the Dems won't allow it. How unbelievably SAD is that? Here, the Dems sit back and blame the Bush administration for the possible recession, the rising oil prices, when there's a simple thing that they could do to help solve this. If they would just allow drilling in the U.S., think of the jobs that would be created! Scouting for oil would create jobs. Building the equipment to drill would create jobs. Once the equipment is built, more jobs would be created to drill, refine, and run the operations. And these aren't mediocre, minimum wage paying jobs, they are good paying jobs with benefits that many people are in need of these days. It would take about 10 years before we would be able to be using American oil if we started now, but doesn't it make more sense to start now, and have our own supply of oil ready for when the middle east runs out, or worse yet, (and a strong possibility) cuts us off completely, leaving us high and dry? We need our own source of oil, and not be so dependent on other countries, especially countries in which we don't have the best relations!
So right now, we have an election nearing, and the Dems are bashing the Bush admin., trying to really make it seem like that's the reason we're in the state we're in. But really, if the Democrats would just entertain the thought of stateside drilling, and what it would do for OUR economy (not just for our supply, but also for other nations), we'd be on the right track to fixing our slowing economy. THEY are the reason there are less jobs. THEY are the reason we're paying $4+ for a gallon of gas. And THEY want to put another one of them in the office of the President? Doesn't make much sense.
So seriously think about who you want to serve as our leader for the next 4-8 years. Do we want a Republican that is going to help create jobs in our country and fix our economy, or do we want a Democrat that is going to finally push us into a full recession? No offense to Obama, he's a great guy, but really, it's not about charm and charisma, it's about our country and its citizens.
And please get used to political schpiels! I didn't get my degree in Political Science for nothing! And if my strong political affiliation isn't obvious from this, maybe next time I'll lean even farther to the right!
But did you know, that there is more oil under Wyoming and Colorado than there is in the middle east? There's also an abundance in Alaska, and off the coast of the U.S., but what is being done with this oil? Nothing! Do you know WHY nothing is being done? Well, it seems that the Democrats, in their efforts to be "green," are not allowing any of these natural resources to be tapped into, for fear of what it might do to the natural ecosystem in those areas. Measures to initiate legislation allowing stateside drilling cannot even make it to the floor of Congress because the Dems won't allow it. How unbelievably SAD is that? Here, the Dems sit back and blame the Bush administration for the possible recession, the rising oil prices, when there's a simple thing that they could do to help solve this. If they would just allow drilling in the U.S., think of the jobs that would be created! Scouting for oil would create jobs. Building the equipment to drill would create jobs. Once the equipment is built, more jobs would be created to drill, refine, and run the operations. And these aren't mediocre, minimum wage paying jobs, they are good paying jobs with benefits that many people are in need of these days. It would take about 10 years before we would be able to be using American oil if we started now, but doesn't it make more sense to start now, and have our own supply of oil ready for when the middle east runs out, or worse yet, (and a strong possibility) cuts us off completely, leaving us high and dry? We need our own source of oil, and not be so dependent on other countries, especially countries in which we don't have the best relations!
So right now, we have an election nearing, and the Dems are bashing the Bush admin., trying to really make it seem like that's the reason we're in the state we're in. But really, if the Democrats would just entertain the thought of stateside drilling, and what it would do for OUR economy (not just for our supply, but also for other nations), we'd be on the right track to fixing our slowing economy. THEY are the reason there are less jobs. THEY are the reason we're paying $4+ for a gallon of gas. And THEY want to put another one of them in the office of the President? Doesn't make much sense.
So seriously think about who you want to serve as our leader for the next 4-8 years. Do we want a Republican that is going to help create jobs in our country and fix our economy, or do we want a Democrat that is going to finally push us into a full recession? No offense to Obama, he's a great guy, but really, it's not about charm and charisma, it's about our country and its citizens.
And please get used to political schpiels! I didn't get my degree in Political Science for nothing! And if my strong political affiliation isn't obvious from this, maybe next time I'll lean even farther to the right!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The Rambler
Time to ramble on about anything, everything, and nothing at all.
I'm still trying to figure out why my son was so sick a few weeks ago. No official diagnosis, but we do know, it was NOT strep! So we were back today for more bloodwork to see if his C- reactive protein levels had gone down since the antibiotics. We won't know the results until tomorrow, though. And now my husband has started inquiring about Kawasaki disease, since he'd been researching it after his cousin's son was diagnosed. It turns out that Mr. P has had all of the symptoms, including the skin peeling from his hands and feet- something key to KD. The possible complications from this are pretty serious heart conditions, so now I have to call and inquire about this tomorrow to see if we need an ECG to rule out any problems. It would put my fears to rest. I feel at this point that I need some diagnosis other than "bacterial infection," especially when the NP we saw today looked back at his labs and the ped's notes, and her face was shocked to see how sick he was. It really stinks to worry about your child!
You know what I could be doing right now? Well, not exactly right now, since it's 11:30 p.m., but I could be sitting on the beach in Panama City Beach, FL. My in-laws are on their annual vaca to PCB, a trip we usually make with them. This year, my ever-so-foreseeing husband has decided that he rather likes the money sitting in the bank from our house sale, and wants to put every penny of it toward the future. It is a smart move, I agree, but come on! We were offered an almost free vaca, and we had to say no. He doesn't have any vaca days at work until next month, but still, the kids and I have went with them without him before when he couldn't go! So yeah, Friday, the day they left, i was pretty frustrated and grouchy at what he had turned down, and I let him know about it! So now, I'm on a mission to take the kids to Chicago before school starts, and again around Christmas when the husband wants to go. WTG Amtrak with a $42 trip to Chi-town for me and the kids!
I'm still trying to figure out why my son was so sick a few weeks ago. No official diagnosis, but we do know, it was NOT strep! So we were back today for more bloodwork to see if his C- reactive protein levels had gone down since the antibiotics. We won't know the results until tomorrow, though. And now my husband has started inquiring about Kawasaki disease, since he'd been researching it after his cousin's son was diagnosed. It turns out that Mr. P has had all of the symptoms, including the skin peeling from his hands and feet- something key to KD. The possible complications from this are pretty serious heart conditions, so now I have to call and inquire about this tomorrow to see if we need an ECG to rule out any problems. It would put my fears to rest. I feel at this point that I need some diagnosis other than "bacterial infection," especially when the NP we saw today looked back at his labs and the ped's notes, and her face was shocked to see how sick he was. It really stinks to worry about your child!
You know what I could be doing right now? Well, not exactly right now, since it's 11:30 p.m., but I could be sitting on the beach in Panama City Beach, FL. My in-laws are on their annual vaca to PCB, a trip we usually make with them. This year, my ever-so-foreseeing husband has decided that he rather likes the money sitting in the bank from our house sale, and wants to put every penny of it toward the future. It is a smart move, I agree, but come on! We were offered an almost free vaca, and we had to say no. He doesn't have any vaca days at work until next month, but still, the kids and I have went with them without him before when he couldn't go! So yeah, Friday, the day they left, i was pretty frustrated and grouchy at what he had turned down, and I let him know about it! So now, I'm on a mission to take the kids to Chicago before school starts, and again around Christmas when the husband wants to go. WTG Amtrak with a $42 trip to Chi-town for me and the kids!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
The Garden
OK, I digress. I am not a great gardener! I will commend myself for at least keeping everything alive! That alone is a great accomplishment considering the countless numbers of house and potted plants that I have killed in the past few years- just ask my husband!
I don't know if it's the fact that it's organic and hasn't had any type of fertilizer, the seeds I used, or the fact that it gets very little sun living in the middle of the jungle, a.k.a. our backyard. I look at my neighbor's garden that is very lush and thriving. Then I look at mine and think, "This looks like crap!" My radishes have grown to be about 2 feet tall, with no radish to show. My tomatoes keep falling off the vine. My lettuce never did make a head, and just kept vining out, but it is delicious and so far, is the only thing that has been productive! My sweet corn just can't catch a break from the weather! Two weeks ago we went out and had to stake up every stalk after the rain completely flattened it. Then last night we got a nasty storm that left our yard looking like a tornado had went through with all of the branches strewn about, and the 20+ ft. branch that fell from the sycamore. Again, the corn was flattened, stakes and all. That, combined with the rabbits that came in through a hole in the fence and went to town on the corn, it doesn't look very promising. But I'm not giving up! I might have to go to the farmer's market to get enough to can, but I'm taking whatever grows and loving it!
I don't know if it's the fact that it's organic and hasn't had any type of fertilizer, the seeds I used, or the fact that it gets very little sun living in the middle of the jungle, a.k.a. our backyard. I look at my neighbor's garden that is very lush and thriving. Then I look at mine and think, "This looks like crap!" My radishes have grown to be about 2 feet tall, with no radish to show. My tomatoes keep falling off the vine. My lettuce never did make a head, and just kept vining out, but it is delicious and so far, is the only thing that has been productive! My sweet corn just can't catch a break from the weather! Two weeks ago we went out and had to stake up every stalk after the rain completely flattened it. Then last night we got a nasty storm that left our yard looking like a tornado had went through with all of the branches strewn about, and the 20+ ft. branch that fell from the sycamore. Again, the corn was flattened, stakes and all. That, combined with the rabbits that came in through a hole in the fence and went to town on the corn, it doesn't look very promising. But I'm not giving up! I might have to go to the farmer's market to get enough to can, but I'm taking whatever grows and loving it!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
The Simple Life
I took my daughter and her cousin to see Kit Kittredge, An American Girl today. My daughter is a die-hard American Girl fan- you should see our collection! Moreover, she's a die-hard Kit fan, with her light blond hair cut exactly like Kit's, and she also has the doll. The movie was beyond excellent! If you haven't read the Kit book series yet, I recommend doing so before seeing the movie- it makes much more sense that way.
I left the movie longing for simpler times, when things weren't so hectic, when life didn't revolve around the media, cars, cell phones, and high-tech gadgets. What happened? Other than cars, that have made life easier, the others have just caused things to be so hectic. Do we really need to be in contact at all times? Do we really need a wide screen, high definition plasma tv? Do we really need a Playstation 2 and a Nintendo DS? NO! I think I'll re-vamp our summer plans and revert back to simpler times- no tv, no DS, just pure imagination. Let's see how the kids feel about that!
Seriously, after this past week, I could use a simple life. Turns out that my son didn't have scarlet fever, but what looks like a staph infection that almost landed him in the hospital after his labs came back. Luckily some super-strong antibiotics have started to get him healthy again, although it's been 10 days since the fever started and he's still not his normal self. So we've been back and forth between the dr. 3 different times, each resulting in a 60 mi. round trip. Then this week, I have to tote Kate back and forth to the woods every day for Girl Scout camp. But tomorrow, we're making homemade applesauce to freeze, so for a little while, I can pretend I'm living in the 1930's.
I left the movie longing for simpler times, when things weren't so hectic, when life didn't revolve around the media, cars, cell phones, and high-tech gadgets. What happened? Other than cars, that have made life easier, the others have just caused things to be so hectic. Do we really need to be in contact at all times? Do we really need a wide screen, high definition plasma tv? Do we really need a Playstation 2 and a Nintendo DS? NO! I think I'll re-vamp our summer plans and revert back to simpler times- no tv, no DS, just pure imagination. Let's see how the kids feel about that!
Seriously, after this past week, I could use a simple life. Turns out that my son didn't have scarlet fever, but what looks like a staph infection that almost landed him in the hospital after his labs came back. Luckily some super-strong antibiotics have started to get him healthy again, although it's been 10 days since the fever started and he's still not his normal self. So we've been back and forth between the dr. 3 different times, each resulting in a 60 mi. round trip. Then this week, I have to tote Kate back and forth to the woods every day for Girl Scout camp. But tomorrow, we're making homemade applesauce to freeze, so for a little while, I can pretend I'm living in the 1930's.
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