Green Post #2

Here are some more green tips.  Isn't this a cute little frog?  I may have to use him again.

4.  We keep our heat set at 65 all the time but it feels more like 60 in this old house.  We also keep unused rooms closed and close the vents in those rooms.  The door in our entry that we never use is quite drafty so I took a bunch of plastic bags and forced them with a knife into the spaces where the cold air was coming in and it really helped.  Our windows aren't too bad considering their age.  We wear sweaters and keep lots of blankets in our coldest room-the TV room.

5. Here are some ways we conserve water; saving water from the dehumidifier for watering outdoor plants, collecting rain water off the garage in large tubs for watering, showers instead of baths, full dishwasher loads, full laundry loads, used dish water for indoor plants, and a big water saver is not flushing unless necessary.  You know the old saying, "If it's yellow..let it mellow..." Our toilet uses 1.6 gallons per flush so that adds up.  

6.  We water our lawn from the lake but last year didn't even do that.  The lawn seems to do better when we just leave it alone.  It bugs me that people in the southwest waste all that water on a green lawn when they shouldn't even have grass.  Vegas is probably the worst offender.  

More later!  

A Nice Story

I have a nice story to share with you that came from Becky today.  Becky emailed that she had found something in her home that she had been searching for for many years.  She said it was all because of me and that I had to call her right after school.  She also mentioned that she had been crying happy tears all morning.  Well, needless to say I was curious and called her during my first break.  

Becky was going through items to donate to the thrift store and way back in a cupboard came to a box of sewing supplies and inside was a button box that had a white cardboard jewelry box inside.  She only opened it because she thought there might be some pretty vintage buttons inside.  The jewelry box appeared to be empty and she was going to throw it but decided to look under the cotton layer first.  There were the wedding bands that she received from her parents when she was barely 20 years old.  She stopped wearing them when she was expecting as they didn't fit anymore.  They had been missing for 30 years! She had almost given up any hope of finding them.  I'm so happy that I played a part in finding them for her, although the main credit goes to Becky's generosity and tidiness!   Don't you like a happy story?

PS

She will not be donating them to the Bargain Bazaar.  ;)

Sunday Ramblings

I took this picture earlier this winter.  It's a female cardinal.  The male was attacking his image this morning on the handle of our French door in the TV room again.  I would love to capture that on video sometime but that would be hard to do unless he's on a schedule.

This week in the workroom, a coworker was talking about making an omelette in your waffle iron.  She said you just mix up your eggs and whatever you want in your omelette and pour it into the iron.  She got the idea from a guest on the Rachel Ray show.  I might try that sometime.

Yesterday, I worked from 9:30-4:30 at the Bargain Bazaar.  There were about 7 of us working and we really had a lot of fun.  Liz and I priced most of the day.  She's one of our 5 managers. Yes, 5!  Kind of a lot but they're all really great.  There are a ton of items coming in.   That day someone brought in a nice Little Tykes Kitchen set and a neat Barbie house that folds up into a carrier.  Right away, I'm thinking of all the nieces who might like those items but I can't start buying everything I think someone might like or I'm going to be in trouble.  If there is anything in particular you are looking for you should let me know so that I can keep my eyes open for you.  For example, if I see any Paula figurines I know they will be appreciated by Shari if I pick them up.  So, just let me know.  I plan to set up a blog for the store and maybe you will be able to shop from some of my photos.  There's a pink Texasware bowl that is priced at $10 and probably worth at least twice that.  Most of our items are cheap in the kitchen but we are going to price antiques/collectibles accordingly.  We have to pay the rent after all.

We went to Whiskey Creek the other night with friends and enjoyed that new restaurant.  I had the bacon wrapped shrimp which was very yummy along with a baked sweet potato and grilled veggies.  Dan liked his ribs.  They serve up a lot of food as most dinners come with 2 sides.

I can't think of anything else to write about. Enjoy your day!

One more photo...last weekend it was very cold we had sundogs.  Here's a picture.  Doesn't it make you feel cold?

Still more of Becky's

The sunroom is so pretty.  Some shadows but you get the idea.

Close-up of another pretty hutch.

The guest room.

Becky knows how to create a vignette! (That's French for a pretty grouping.)

That's it!  Thank you for letting me blog your lovely home.  Now get over to my house and work your magic over here!

More of Becky's

A Cozy Home

I had coffee at Becky's the other day and she let me snap photo's to my heart's content.  Isn't this a cute collection of birdhouses.  I love the rustic touch.
Annette admiring Becky's hutch in the sunroom.  Annette has the coziest cutest log home that you can imagine and maybe I will have some interior shots of her home someday.  Hint-hint...

This is the chair that I sat in for awhile.  It's called a "slipper chair" I believe.
Someone from Morris painted this bicycle in the sunroom and Becky added the basket for a cool 3 dimensional touch/
I covet this red dresser or whatever you call it.  In a good way you know or else it would be a sin.

Happy Birthday???

You may have noticed that I have missed a few birthdays.   I decided in October that I was not going to post birthday photo's anymore.  I did a pretty good job the first year-(I think!), but I did miss a couple and then I felt guilty and sometimes I had a little trouble locating a photo so I decided that I would let the birthday posts go.  I may mention a birthday but that will probably be it.  Maybe the green posts will make up for it???  Yeah, right...   Well, Happy Birthday to all of you in 2008!!

2008 Resolutions

Dan and I generally don't make a big deal out of New Year Resolutions but we have already made some changes that I consider to be "earth friendly."  I thought my blog would be a good place to share some of those changes with you.  Here are a few to get started and more will follow now and then as I have some nifty green images to use.

1. Reduce plastic shopping bags.  I purchased 3 Trader Joes bags and keep them in my car.  When I do get the plastic bags, we re-use them for kitty litter, trash bags, or donate them to the library, humane society or the new thrift store.

2.  Stop buying styrofoam products-they are evil. When I have leftovers at a restaurant I request a bag if it's appropriate.

3. We drive Dan's car whenever possible as it gets 35 mph compared to my measly 18.  

Okay, that's it for now.  Feel free to chip in with your own suggestions.  We're starting to recycle more but I'll save that for another post.

Ahhh... Friday

Dan is on his way home, in fact I think I heard him just pull in. I have Norah Jones playing and am working on my first glass of chardonnay.  I have the oven warming up for dinner.  I am preparing an Italian meal this evening..Di Giornio supreme rising crust frozen pizza.  Yes,  I work all day and cook too.

I stayed a little late at school today cleaning science trays.  We were dissecting owl pellets and identifying tiny little mouse bones, doesn't that sound like fun?  It really is.  Go to kidwings.com and you can try it yourself without getting your fingers dirty.  Then Mary, Shirley and I spent some time gabbing about the thrift store.  We're going to work tomorrow morning and I plan to bring my camera so I can snap some pictures to blog later.  I stopped in yesterday with some of the items that Pam and Jen donated over my lunch hour and there were about 10 people in there working like busy little bees.  I gathered about 4 more bags of my own various things and have them in my truck ready to go.  It does feel good to reduce clutter.

Shari will be happy to hear that Dan reminded me that FNL is on tonight and it's a new episode, something about a tornado so it should be exciting.   I am looking forward to watching more of season one this weekend too.  Did anyone watch The Apprentice last night?  I didn't watch last season because they were in LA and I was bored with the whole thing, well, they brought it back to NYC and are using celebrities and Omarosa, who is a "reality celebrity."  Gene Simmons rocked last night and Omarosa was a big pain as usual and should have been fired but of course they didn't fire her because she makes things interesting since everyone hates her so expect her to stick around for awhile.  I think she is jealous of the real celebrities.

Time to put the pizza in.  Have a great weekend!

Taking down the tree?

I know many of you have your tree down already but I think I will be leaving ours up awhile longer to add a little cheerfulness to January.  This is the first year the tree has been in this corner and I like it there.  I did take off most of the Christmasy type ornaments and eventually I'll be down to just the lights.  One year, I kept it up through the end of February and had a Valentine's tree.  I don't think I'll carry it that far this year but you never know.

My car said it was 10 degrees on the way home today but it felt colder than that.  The thaw is going to feel good this weekend.  I remember 6 or 7 years ago when we had a long stretch of 

-20 to  -30 below and thought 0 degrees would actually feel warm and it DID!  Does anyone else recall that? Dealing with the cold is a badge of honor we can wear in Mn but that doesn't mean that we won't whine about it.

   I might have some fun interior pictures for you in a couple of days if I get permission from the owner.... Stay tuned!

Happy New Year!!

I made chicken pot pie (nice warm comfort food for January) and had a little fun with the extra crust.  I've been cooking a lot in the last couple of days and have lots of leftovers for school lunches such as lasagna, shepherd's pie, and chicken noodle soup.

It has been so cold today.  We spent a good chunk of last evening and today watching season 1 of Friday Night Lights.  Dan and I both like the program as Shari predicted we would.  Dan was starting to watch season 2 this year so it's fun to go back and catch up.  Whenever the writers strike ends we'll be caught up. I also collected enough items to fill another box for the thrift store, a small dent.  How did you spend your first day of 2008?

A Little Smith Choir

Christmas Songs 1

More Smith Christmas

Deb & Tim

Ted & Pam

Warren, Ted, Matthew

Alex & Tina

Smith Christmas

We had a great time last weekend celebrating Christmas with the Smith Family.  Everyone was great about posing and I got some great shots and cute videos of the kids too.