Helping the earth

I've been mulling over my impact on this earth -- my footprint, if you will. I do compost, which helps deal with paper and food scraps. I use CFL bulbs and that reduces carbon emissions in my small home. I garden organically only, so I don't contribute to the pesticide and other chemical residues that can show up in soil and water, and even the air.

Still, there's more I could be doing.

• I could make sure my aluminum is separated and taken to a recycling center
• I could take reusable tote bags with me shopping so I'm not using plastic bags to carry home my purchases
• I could garden more fervently so that I'm not supporting corporate farms
• I could buy more produce, eggs, and milk from local growers, again to not support corporate farms

What about you? What are you doing to help this earth remain clean and productive?

Technorati Tags: organic gardening,conservation

Landscaping the hillside

I have great plans for my yard and the small patch of land that lies around the back and sides of my home. It will all come to pass in time, of course, but one of the first things I need is solar landscape lighting for the areas where the big security light doesn't shine.

I've found myself wanting to head outside at night, but without proper lighting it can be a little dicey out there. See, I live next to a steep slope and the ground is pretty rocky in places. I really don't want to go out there and wind up falling in the dark amidst the brambles. So, I stay inside when I'd rather be doing something outside.

Eventually I'd love to have the whole little parcel covered with planting areas, grape vines, and fruit trees. My son-in-law even suggested putting retaining walls in the back and building that up in a sort of steps configuration, to hold the soil and make planting beds. That would take a great deal of work, but I think it could be done, given a little time and materials. Railroad ties would probably be the very thing to make the retaining walls from. The biggest obstacle to clear would be getting good soil to put behind them

Ah..so much for dreams. it's time to make a real plan, write it down on paper, and start one small step at a time.

Technorati Tags: gardening

Lifting the burden of possessions

I've backed off posting things on eBay for awhile. I'm mulling over what would really sell well. I have some fairly nice clothes that I can list, so I'll see how that goes.

Lately, though, I've been more interested in just ridding myself of extraneous items and not taking the time to list them in auctions. Probably foolish money-wise, but at some point you have to ask yourself if hanging onto things just in case you can sell them is really worth it. I mean, is it worth the space these things consume? Right now, to me, it's not.

Having already cleared out a lot of "why on earth did I keep THAT" items, I'm finding myself more at peace. My tiny house is looking more like home and less like a storage shed. I even feel renewed energy to clean and DUST! What's up with that?!

I'll tell you what's up - it's cleansing to be rid of things you no longer want, need, or use. It's satisfying to hand them over to someone else who can be blessed by them. Apparently, I was no longer being blessed by these possessions -- I was burdened. I feel like a great weight has been lifted off me. Now, I can see more clearly what other things need to go and which ones are really necessary for me to keep and use.

Technorati Tags: possessions,cleaning

Surgical nursing school

It's important to do work that you love or have a passion for. What my younger daughter does fits the bill for her perfectly. She works for an eye doctor who also has a surgical wing in his office suite.

My daughter has been working a lot lately in the surgical rooms and says she is loving it. Now, she's planning to continue her education and go into the medical field herself to become a surgical nurse. I say, Good for her!

Having worked for eye doctors the past few years, plus becoming educated in the surgical field will certainly help on her medical resume should she decide to move on to another field in the medical arena. This could really open doors for her.

She told me she didn't know why it took so long for her to decide what she really wanted to do with her life. She's just turned 23 -- I don't think she waited too long at all. I think everyone needs to take time to decide such a large issue.

Technorati Tags: school,medicine

FreeCycle

I've had a few days off and have tried to be productive. I've gotten a lot of junk out of my small house. Some of it has gone to FreeCycle  members. Other stuff will go to friends and family members who have spoken for it.

I highly recommend that you look into your local FreeCycle group. Not only can you eliminate some of the stuff in your house while not adding to the landfills, you might even find some good things others have to offer. This is not a barter group or a yard sale. it's folks giving away what they no longer need or use. I once got a dishwasher from a FreeCycle group member that needed the pump cleaned out and it worked like brand new!

I've gotten several household items that I was in need of through the years and been able to get rid of things in my house that were taking up space and gathering dust...or just plain in the way.

Follow the link up there and you can find a group in your area. If there isn't one, you could start one. This is a Yahoo group and you can adjust your settings to receive individual emails or digest emails (up to 25 posts in one). Honestly, I'd suggest individual because by the time the digest arrives, a lot of things are already spoken for.

Technorati Tags: FreeCycle

Side income

I have delved into the world of completing online surveys and reading paid emails. So far, only two companies I've tried have really been up front with the offers. They don't promise untold wealth, and their surveys do not require you to buy something.

As I go along, I'll let you know more about them. One of them is listed in the right sidebar. I'll list the other one at a later time, depending on how it actually works out. The rest are just no good at all, as far as I can tell.

No, I won't be able to retire rich doing this, but it is a little each month so that's ok, too. I can work these while I'm watching TV or in between doing household chores. They take just a few minutes to do, so it's not a lot of time out of my day sitting in front of the computer.

Technorati Tags: entrepreneurism

The early years

Have you ever sat and reminisced about your childhood? I have. I was thinking the other day how safe we were in our neighborhood. It was mostly made up of families we attended church with and went to school with. Everyone watched out for everyone else's kids while we were out playing.

I can remember riding my bike all across town, because the town was so small in those days. I remember going to the swimming pool and the skating rink with my friends, or sitting in on the free movies on Wednesday afternoons in the summer. It was a cool break from the summer heat, even though I don't think the old theater was air conditioned. Just fans blowing in the dark.

I remember that some kids had pedal cars when I was very young. I had one for awhile myself. I'm not sure what ever happened to that little car, but I'm sure it would be worth the price of a new Peg perego now! I remember having a tricycle, and my friend's tricycle being much bigger. A larger front wheel and a place for a rider to stand on the back made all the difference in our child-world status.

The beginnings of consumerism were already seeded into our little hearts back then, I think. Hopefully, I've outgrown that childish desire to have the biggest tricycle in the neighborhood.

Technorati Tags: consumerism

Home made crackers

I'm kind of a do-it-yourself person. I make my own bread and rolls. I make my own mild white cheese. And today, I made my own crackers. I'd been fooling with cracker recipes for awhile, so what I wound up with, after several failed attempts, was a recipe that sort of combines some of the other ones.

Here's the recipe, if you'd like to try it for yourself:

Home made crackers

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup neutral flavored oil (I used canola)
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• enough cold milk to make very stiff dough

I mixed it well, then patted it out very thin on a cookie sheet I'd sprayed with cooking spray. Used a pizza wheel to cut it into approximately 2 inch squares. Pierced each square three times with a fork. Lightly salted it and put it into the oven. I didn't preheat the oven. I just turned it on 350 when I put the pan in. Let it bake about 15 minutes or till it was golden brown.

When these cooled, they were light and crisp and flavorful!

Technorati Tags: crackers,cooking

Bringing in some extra money

I was reading a finance blog the other day that was offering suggestions about how to earn extra income during these tough economic times. The suggestions were all very good ones, and I'll be looking into some of them myself.

See, I'd like to free myself from my very stressful regular job, but I still need some income to pay the bills with. So, here are a few tips you might like to try:

• House sitting for folks on vacation
• Pet sitting
• Babysitting
• Lawn mowing
• Shopping service
• Housecleaning
• Secret shopper
• Affiliate links on your blog
• Selling on Ebay or Craigslist

Of course, you might even want to change careers completely and try medical assistant school, trade school for secretarial or bookkeeping, or other formalized training to help you find the job you really want.

Technorati Tags: school,training,job