Thursday, August 25, 2011
Homemade Dress
This is a semi-green project. I made the dress which I consider a green project BUT I bought the fabric. I am assuming the fabric is probably from China. I of course had to make Addyson's buddy Elmo a matching shirt! From now on I will do better finding organic materials, using scraps from friends or buying thrift store material. I am now inspired to make toy mice, birds etc. with my leftover material and old clothes!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Old End Table + Leftover Paint = New Side Table
I have been hunting for years for the perfect bedside tables and end tables. I never find one that I just LOVE. I have found a few that I really like but then I look at the price and say "I don't like it thaaaat much." I seem to have the best luck with hand me down furniture or "earth friendly" I like to say because it is recycled and I am saving it from a land fill. In fact that is the main reason I refuse to buy a brand new house and fill it with top of the line new furniture. Ahhh anyway... Here is my recent work in progress. I will post a photo of the finished project too. This bedside table has been painted and repainted numerous times by left over paint.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Adopt a Dog - Recycle!
As the owner of a beautiful black rescue dog I have to encourage everyone to take advantage of this special event! Zeena was black in her youth but is getting up there in age and seems to be changing into a white dog!
Right now, thousands of wonderful black animals are waiting for adoption at shelters and rescue groups nationwide.
Like all pets, black animals have many different personalities-each one unique. So you're bound to find the perfect match for you. But black dogs and cats are often overlooked for adoption.
To help them find good homes, participating animal shelters and rescue groups are offering 50% off the adoption fee for all black pets during the "Back in Black" adoption promotion from August 15-September 17, 2011.
Find a participating shelter or rescue near you: http://events.bestfriends.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Addyson snapped a picture of the first eggplant we picked! |
Addy took this photo after she watered the plants. |
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Just TRY it already! Jeez.
Our little garden has produced a great amount of basil, tomatoes and eggplant. We failed horribly with the peppers and carrots. The carrots never sprouted from the seeds and the peppers I believe got too cold. We had one sad struggling plant that produced one itty bitty pepper but it never got bigger than an inch or two. The basil however has been awesome and I have created two different pesto pasta dishes. One with basil, walnuts, garlic and olive oil and the other with basil, sunflower seeds, garlic and olive oil. Both were good but I liked the dish with walnuts better. If I was smart I would stop at the road side stands that sell pine nuts and make it the traditional way. My husband ate the pesto pasta but not Addy stating that she doesn’t like the “green stuff.” Awesome.
The second dish I made was spaghetti sauce. I was determined to keep the fact that there was an eggplant in it a secret. I figured if I mashed it up in the Cuisineart with tomatoes no one would notice. Apparently allergies and tobacco smoke don’t dull my husband’s sense of smell. He walked into the kitchen and said “I smell cucumbers.” I tried distracting and redirecting but eventually he figured out that something was in the tomato sauce that he wasn’t quite sure of (which means he won’t eat it). I admitted there was eggplant in it and he tried it. When I say he tried it I mean he got the most miniscule bit on the very tip of a fork and dabbed it hesitantly on his lips. “Oh my gosh” I exclaimed “Just put it in your mouth already!”
He made tacos. What-ev-er. I ate it and I wasn’t impressed at all it didn’t have enough spices which I should have realized while making it! I knew it was good for me and there was an eggplant from my garden in it so I ate it.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Explaining the Vegetarianism and Vegan lifestyle
I am slowly on my way to vegetarianism and it sometimes irritates my husband. I am sure I would have done it long ago if I wasn't so worried about what other people thought (stupid I know). My sister has been a vegetarian for something like twenty years and I swear people are just now getting used to it! My husband gets frustrated when he asks me to taste his chicken dish and I won't do it. It irritates him when vegans are "so picky" when they go out to eat. I am sure many people feel this same way. His theory is why not taste the chicken it is dead already and if you don't eat it I will. In addition, you don't want the chicken to have died in vain. This is how I explained it this morning and he got it. He said I should share it because it really hit home for "someone like him." So here it is. I am sure others might not agree but this helped clarify in our household.
Daron I said pretend a friend of yours stole $2000 from a single woman and her four kids. He then offers you $50 of that money. Daron says "No, I can't take that money." Your friend says "I am going to spend it anyway. You not spending it won't help the folks I stole it from."
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Beautiful Purple Eggplants
It seemed like the eggplant wasn't going to grow for the first month or two and then all of a sudden it seemed to double in size daily! Today I have four eggplants and I believe a few more will be making an appearance soon. The strawberry plants are growing but have only produced a handful of berries. I read that the second year is better for strawberry plants so we will wait and see. The two lettuce plants did great and I harvested chamomile and mint to have in tea this winter. We are lucky here because the air is so dry that it is very conducive to drying herbs.
The tomato plants have grown like crazy which is probably why the other plants seem to not have grown much. I read that you really shouldn't compare other plants to the fast growing tomato plants. We actually have one little yellow pepper on the only surviving pepper plant. I believe the cold killed them seeing that I got a little over zealous and planted way too early.
Eggplant June 2011 |
The tomato plants have grown like crazy which is probably why the other plants seem to not have grown much. I read that you really shouldn't compare other plants to the fast growing tomato plants. We actually have one little yellow pepper on the only surviving pepper plant. I believe the cold killed them seeing that I got a little over zealous and planted way too early.
Eggplant July 7, 2011 |
Little pepper with tomatoes behind. |
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