BLAH what a long time since I have been here

I have loads of excuses but it does not matter much I have neglected this blog and I am sorry to those who have been looking forward to listening to me babble on

I have been fairly good at my greenish living not great not super dedicated but more comfortable with the things I have adopted to make them habits

of course for the new year I made resolutions ...I do not recommend them but I make them every year anyways

I have the usual resolutions

loose weight

excersise more

read more to expand my mind

and of course

live greener


I think I learned a lot of things from my endevors over the last year my gardening mostly will be better and more well planned out

I started my seeds the other day ...well some of the seeds

So far I planted

Sage

and Basil

lots of sage and basil

I have goals GRAND goals again this year ...they will be tempered though (for a short period of time LOL) with caution and I will do my best to plan only things that COULD actually happen

Things I want again this year would be

The big garden ..probably not 200 tomatoe plants but definately a big garden

I really want the Passive Solar hot water heater really really bad

I also want us to cut our wood for heat ahead of time using already fallen or already dead trees this can be done fairly easily if I can inspire my boys well enough

I want to have my yard cleaned up nice and get rid of excess clutter outside (we have tons of junk but this is a WHOLE other post)

I also want our water problem fixed (rusty well water we need a certain kind of filter the 2 we ave are not cutting it)

On the good side

I have spent the winter working on decluttering the inside of the house

not as clean as it could be ...but definately a step in the right direction

many of my indoor plants survived which is a great thing the banana tree is growing the lime stick is looking more like a bush with leaves and actually has flower buds on it!!

we stayed pretty warm this year our little wood fireplace did a great job on the super coldest of days we had to use the gas fireplace but it was not too bad

So I will try my best to come up with a few interesting things to post here and there to keep up with my simple goals

It is still deep winter here so the only thing that happens now is starting seeds and garden planning the real work starts when it warms up

sometime the second week of June!!

We have all been sick here

Along with the baby who came down with a funky staph infection and then gave it to me we have had some issues with the boys school and sports and holiday preparations things have gotten quite behind here.

Also since it is winter time there is not much to talk about gardenings wise
the house plants I brought in the from garden are almost all dead (except the lime tree and bannana tree) they jsut cannot tolerate the dry air with the dramatic temperature changes that happen with wood heat

Our wood stove is going strong and heats the house quite nicely

Our first really serious cold snap is going on right now our current noon time temperature is negative 4 degrees with some nasty wind chills

Our chickens and pigs (the 2 that are left) are surviving alright outside the 2 pigs need to be slaughtered but I have a strange feeling that might have to wait till March because if things keep going this way it will be too cold to do the job outside

The chickens have not started laying eggs yet but they are happy to be inside the shelter of the hen house We have to get a timed light out there for them so they will lay eggs daily (currently not enough light to encourage them to lay)

Thanksgiving went marvelously we had far too much food but it was a great day with tons of leftovers that are now long gone

Nik had his 4th birthday on December 3rd with a small party that weekend

and now we are preparing for Christmas

I wish I had more money right now I found these great Christmas lights that use less energy than the old ones these are huge LED lights but this year they are just out of our budget

Another reason I have not been on here much is

I forgot my password

very embarassing

I am also working on getting cub scouts and boy scouts going strong again in our area

I need to get a new picture taken of our land the leaves on that tree are LONG gone it is now bare with a good 6 inches of snow on the ground

and I never did get around to planting my bulbs

I wonder if I can plant garlic in the spring?? hmmm something new to look into

Gas prices have plummeted

They are lower now than they have been in 3 years ($1.75 last time I checked earlier today)

The scary thing about the price drop is that people will go back to thier old habits

if they can afford them

along with the drop in gas prices has come a serious un ease about our economy and a fear

I hear it all over when i talk to others

they are afraid to make purchase

they are afraid to get comfortable

in a way this is good because that fear that we could loose it ALL could be the spark that brings about a REAL change

ok that is my thought for the day

oh and the diet is not going well I am terrible at trying to change how I eat and even worse at keeping up with it

I should just keep moving more and wait for the food changes till after the holidays so I do not get depressed everytime I eat

The Snow lay on the ground...

The wood we collected is not "seasoned" it is too green to burn so it needs to be cut and stacked

our chain saw broke so Dave wants a chain saw for christmas

I have high blood pressure and am super fat (254lbs at last appointment)so I put myself on a strict eating and excersise plan to not only loose some weight but also to lower my BP

which sucks cause I am ..well a picky eater

I do not eat many vegetables ...or fruits ...at all

I am terrible

I know my portion sizes are out of control and I know what a real portion is so I started there by decreasing the size of the food I put on my plate

I already cut out (for the most part) soda instead of having several a day I have one every few days

I need to seriously watch my salt intake most of the foods I do eat are loaded with salt

it is not good for any of us to eat that way so I get to find out new ways to make our favorites

things like Mac and Cheese

my kids LOVE the Velvetta style Mac and cheese

LOVE IT

I checked the sodium in one half cup and it is

1110 g

HOLY CRAP

that is a LOT of salt

42% of your daily intake

so that is my goal for now

How is this green? ..well better food less packaging and all that jazz more local (which is next to impossible with the snow all over)

I am looking at Sparks people and joined there they have recipies with the break downs of nutritional values on them that is a really cool FREE resource

being green is not so easy

Summer is WAY over we are now (at least in my area) back to winter weather

it is cold and snowy with freezing temps and well being green in this is not easy

We need heat ..well we have it we use fallen trees for our wood stove and when it is really cold we use the gas fireplace to take the chill off and we bake a lot and of course wear lots of warm clothes

the water pipes leading from the well into the house are above ground (a serious design flaw) and they tend to freeze at night so some mornings when it is cold we wake up to no water till we thaw that pipe

in order to get the pipe to not freeze we will leave the water running at night so the pipe does not freeze

THAT is not very green

I want to save water and I have been working on it I remind myself to not leave the water running while we brush our teeth (my boys are better at this than I am)

we conserve when we flush (most of the time)

not all of us shower every day and those who do take shorter showers

we use cold water to wash our clothes

we use the dishwasher for dishes (uses less water than I could hand washing) and well we do our best

and what more could be asked of us

I am getting lazy about this are'nt I??

I have not been on here in a long time because of so many things going on
It is full fledged crafting season around here I make things as gifts for Christmas and for fun when I am not gardening

I also do not really feel like I have much to say that fits my topic I mean I cannot really talk about gardening anymore because the garden is gone ..and even with the indoor plants which have been getting attacked by several different varieties of pests I have little gardening to do ... this has led to a bit of sadness on my part I miss it ..I feel like I did not do enough but it was a good start.

I guess I could talk about some seasonal things happening here

Alex is still trying to get G Force going at the school .he finds himself very busy though with the school play and the assorted sports he is in

Amd then We have Cub Scouts going on for my Zach I am the Den leader for the tigers and wolfs(combined den it is a small pack) I am working with my little guys to make things and of course to Do a Good Turn (Do a good deed every day) So I am busy with my little guys getting things ready for that

Of course I have been getting other things ready for the holidays and I should do a post about getting ready for Thanksgiving I love Thanksgiving more than any other holiday (until another holiday comes along at Christmas I love Christmas too)

I have a few crafts on the burner now

First I am making a rag rug out of old blue jeans

I am also working on some draft dogers long tubes of fabric stuffed with old socks to lay in front of doors

I bought some clear glass and plastic Christmas ornaments to paint with glow in the dark paint to hang outside

and we are researching a new hot water heater as well as some on demand water heaters for two tubs and kitchen sink

We need more wood cut

AND

I have been doing the ultimate post garden Green activity

DE CLUTTERING

laugh if you will but we have so much stuff I need to get rid of it

I have made a couple trips to Good Will

I have sold some things on E-bay (right now I have a lawn tractor on there and it SOLD I am so excited mommy now has some money for Christmas!)

I have made a nice little notebook to keep track of what I am doing and plans I have for Christmas and Thanksgiving It helps keep track of things like gift ideas Christmas card list menu plans grocery lists gifts for assorted people and places to buy them things i see on ads etc really handy this is the 3rd year I have done this and every year I do it better and it makes the holidays less insane

The holiday time for me is VERY busy

we have

Thanksgiving

Then Niks Birthday (he will be 4 on December 3rd)

Then Mine and Dave's wedding anniversary (December 16Th will mark 13 years married)

and Then Christmas eve with my hubby and kids

Christmas Day with my in laws (who drive 3 hours here and leave the same day! to drive home to their dogs)

and THEN

this year

My friend from Texas is driving up here with her family to stay for a week or so for a visit this will be the first time she and I have met face to face we have been buddies for 4 years LOL

I have been working hard with the kids and cleaning

and I have been dealing with some problems

Quentin cannot drink cows milk ..or soy milk (we have tried) he gets horrible diarrhea from them so I still nurse him regularly (I cannot pump milk it does not work for me)

I it turns out have lactose intolerance as well I get so sick if I have milk without taking a Lactaid pill

So that is what I have been doing here lately

On Fridays my girlfriend and I go out on a play date with our 3 kids who are home we go to lunch and go grocery shopping AND we make a stop at Good Will to drop off boxes from our houses to declutter things

we encourage each other to get things organized and cleaned up it helps to have a partner in it!!

I am so sick of this !!

First off I am ill (I have a cold) and so are my kids

but that is not what I am sick of

I am sick of this Election nonsense!

I am sick of the phone calls from people on both sides begging me to volunteer or hang signs in my yard. I live on a rural highway maybe 20 cars pass my house a day and most of them are my neighbors going back and forth! I mean COME ON PEOPLE

I am really sick of the phone calls from automated machines with someone bad mouthing one candidate or another telling me who to vote for

if you like abortion rights vote for ____

if you think abortion is murder vote for ____

if you want middle class mid west values represented for you vote for____

I really find it funny that come election time every damn yahoo who wants to win the popularity pagent thinks he is middle class with midwestern values

what a CROCK

I am lower middle class and I can tell you this

because I am lower middle class I do not have the TIME to run for office

I am too damn busy trying to keep everything going in the direction it needs to

SO

to all those running for office

you want my vote??

sure you can have it

just come rebuild my garage

or clean my yard

or put up a fence I can't afford to

RESHINGLE MY DAMN ROOF!!!

get me some windows that will keep out the drafts (they do not even have to be new I am not that picky!)

get me a high efficeincy fridge that does not leak water out of the bottom

build me a good mobile chicken tractor that will keep what is left of my hens alive through winter

you want my vote do those things and I will then

look at your record

consider what you have done

and then perhaps you can have it

untill then

STOP CALLING MY HOUSE !!!!