We've been trying to cut back on bottled water at our house for quite some time. There are all sorts of reasons to do this... the environment being a really big one.
We know why people love bottled water. It is is ever-so-convenient. And habits can be difficult to break.
BUT, I found something that might help. Amy's got a really great list of viable alternatives to bottled water on her blog. Including an option for people who love to drink SPARKLING water (something I never thought about).
And trust me, these things really are do-able.
The only place I'd depart from her wisdom is with regard to the Brita pitcher recommendation. If you look into Brita, you'll find that the filtering process is only marginally useful (and really only filters out chlorine taste/odors when it all comes down). So, I'd recommend an alternative. We use a PUR pitcher, which is effective for water in our particular area. But, depending on your water conditions, I'd recommend a bit of research in that area.
Thursday
America For Sale!
There's no doubt that the American dollar has seen better days. And unfortunately, it seems that the whole of America is now up for sale.
We were watching a report this morning about the possible sale of Anheiser Busch to beer giant, InBev. Also mentioned was the possible sale of the Chrysler Building. And the recent sale of the Flatiron to the Italian Sorgente Group. It's crazy how much of the U.S. may soon be sucked up by foreign enterprises.
Well, never fear.
Some of you may already know that Peef has an uncanny knack for finding simple solutions for the "big issues" in life. So, you won't be surprised when you read what his response was to all of this.
"I think we should sell our house to the Germans," he said with a wink.
We were watching a report this morning about the possible sale of Anheiser Busch to beer giant, InBev. Also mentioned was the possible sale of the Chrysler Building. And the recent sale of the Flatiron to the Italian Sorgente Group. It's crazy how much of the U.S. may soon be sucked up by foreign enterprises.
Well, never fear.
Some of you may already know that Peef has an uncanny knack for finding simple solutions for the "big issues" in life. So, you won't be surprised when you read what his response was to all of this.
"I think we should sell our house to the Germans," he said with a wink.
Wednesday
Something I Read Today: Growing Better Tomatoes
If you're interested in raising vegetables, you'll find some interesting stuff at Grow Better Veggies, a site that promotes biodynamic approaches to vegetable gardening.Their advice on growing tomatoes is really fabulous, although I'll warn you that they recommend putting a whole BUNCH of stuff into those planting holes. We stopped short of the fresh fish heads. But, we are taking a bunch of her advice to heart.
I know this post is coming a bit late for some (after all, it's mid-June), but I also know that quite a few of you haven't quite gotten your gardens underway this year, due to lots of inclement weather. Plus, with all the news about salmonella in the grocery store tomato supply, growing a few of your own might not be a bad idea at all. So, I'm sharing. If nothing else, you can stow away the good info for next year's garden!
Tuesday
Being Grateful
Yeah... the weekend was a bit tragic for us. We're still trying to get a hold of our roofer so that he can survey our damage. And, in the meantime, we're trying to dry things up. But, we're really very grateful that things aren't worse.
Surveying the damage that others in the state of Wisconsin have incurred, we can't help but feel thankful for the fact that our home is intact. The photos of some of the damage in the Lake Delton (Wisconsin Dells) area really illustrate this well. Lake Delton is a popular resort area in the Dells. During the storms this week, the lake drained into the Wisconsin River after a highway embankment failed and water poured out of the lake, essentially emptying it.
We'll be sending out thoughts and prayers to all the families who weren't so fortunate this time around. And we'll be praying that the rain holds off this week so that everyone can dry out!
Surveying the damage that others in the state of Wisconsin have incurred, we can't help but feel thankful for the fact that our home is intact. The photos of some of the damage in the Lake Delton (Wisconsin Dells) area really illustrate this well. Lake Delton is a popular resort area in the Dells. During the storms this week, the lake drained into the Wisconsin River after a highway embankment failed and water poured out of the lake, essentially emptying it.
We'll be sending out thoughts and prayers to all the families who weren't so fortunate this time around. And we'll be praying that the rain holds off this week so that everyone can dry out!
Sunday
The Terrible, Horrible, No-Good Weekend
Normally, we live for the weekends. It's the time when we can lie back a little, relax, and spend our time doing things that we truly enjoy. Unfortunately, this particular weekend had other plans for us.
We weren't looking forward to this weekend QUITE as much as we might have, in part because we planned to spend it painting our garage. For years, I told people that the garage was "quaint" or "shabby chic". But, those of you who have SEEN the garage know that it is actually a mess of chipped-up paint right now, so this is a project that has been in the works for quite some time.
Well, the painting plan was the first to go wrong. Turns out, the weather was destined to be stormy. We'd both taken off on Friday to take care of the painting prep work (scraping, sanding, etc.), so we had the day off... we'd also called the A/C man to come and inspect our central air unit for the upcoming warm season. (Yes, we do get one of those. Even here in Wisconsin.)
When the A/C guy showed up on time at 9:30am, the day was looking like it might look up. Until he gave us the bad news. We had a bad capacitor on our a/c unit -- and it would cost a bit to replace. Not only that, but the failed capacitor had everything to do with a leak in the unit, so we'd have to refill the freon (more $$ down the tubes). And we hauled out the checkbook... STRIKE ONE.
Rather than dwelling on our less-than-good luck, we decided to reclaim our time. We called up our garage painting friends and took a field trip to the LakeFront Brewery for an afternoon tour. Fun, fun... When we got done there, the sun was shining, so we grilled out (and had bison weenies!). Yay! All was right with the world.
Our hopes up, we entered into Saturday with a great deal of enthusiasm. After cleaning the house, we headed off to the farmer's market to see what we could see. Not much available yet (although there were plenty of plants there, symbolic of the bounty that is to come!), so we headed off to run a few errands. On the way home, we got caught in a serious downpour that left us sitting in the car in the yard, watching the rain, for about a half-hour after arriving home. No big deal. Or so we thought.
Turns out that nasty, monsoon-like down-pour, had wreaked some havoc on the house. We found water streaming down one wall of the basement. And down the wall in one of our closets. After some investigation, we determined that the water was emanating from the roof. Peef was Very Brave and he got into the (tiny) crawl space in our eaves and hunted around for the source of our grief. Sure enough, there was a problem with the roofing in a section of the eaves. BLEH. STRIKE TWO (complete with photo).
Peef called out to Lo, who was sitting in the closet with a flashlight pointed into the crawlspace. "Can you run and get a bucket?"
So, Lo tromped down into the basement to retrieve an appropriate water-collecting device. On her way down, she stopped short of the last step. Water was rising slowly against the bottom step in the basement. The sewer drain had backed up. STRIKE THREE (we've spared you the photo). She held her screams to a minimum as she hopped OVER the water to retrieve the bucket for Peef. Running up the stairs, she tossed him the bucket and ran back downstairs to see what she could do about the water.
A bunch of mopping, some rags, and a few nervous breakdowns later, we had at least some of the water under control. Now, it was time to wait things out. As the storm receded, so did the water in the basement. Thank goodness. We'll be having someone out to look at that once Monday rolls around. The roof is another story. Looks like we'll be calling our ne'er-do-well roofer for another go-round. Hurrah for us!
Sunday has come and (almost) gone. But the rain hasn't (and the forecast seems to indicate that we're going to be dealing with storms all week). So, we've been faithfully emptying our bucket, changing our rags, and waiting. The power was out for about 3 hours today, which curtailed some of our activity. STRIKE FOUR? (God, isn't that enough?) Maybe. But, there is still enough light to read, so Lo is working on "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" (Kingsolver) and Peef is managing to get some of the studying for his accounting exam done, despite all the craziness.
Maybe tonight the rain will stop. Maybe.
We're crossing our fingers.
We weren't looking forward to this weekend QUITE as much as we might have, in part because we planned to spend it painting our garage. For years, I told people that the garage was "quaint" or "shabby chic". But, those of you who have SEEN the garage know that it is actually a mess of chipped-up paint right now, so this is a project that has been in the works for quite some time.
Well, the painting plan was the first to go wrong. Turns out, the weather was destined to be stormy. We'd both taken off on Friday to take care of the painting prep work (scraping, sanding, etc.), so we had the day off... we'd also called the A/C man to come and inspect our central air unit for the upcoming warm season. (Yes, we do get one of those. Even here in Wisconsin.)
When the A/C guy showed up on time at 9:30am, the day was looking like it might look up. Until he gave us the bad news. We had a bad capacitor on our a/c unit -- and it would cost a bit to replace. Not only that, but the failed capacitor had everything to do with a leak in the unit, so we'd have to refill the freon (more $$ down the tubes). And we hauled out the checkbook... STRIKE ONE.
Rather than dwelling on our less-than-good luck, we decided to reclaim our time. We called up our garage painting friends and took a field trip to the LakeFront Brewery for an afternoon tour. Fun, fun... When we got done there, the sun was shining, so we grilled out (and had bison weenies!). Yay! All was right with the world.
Our hopes up, we entered into Saturday with a great deal of enthusiasm. After cleaning the house, we headed off to the farmer's market to see what we could see. Not much available yet (although there were plenty of plants there, symbolic of the bounty that is to come!), so we headed off to run a few errands. On the way home, we got caught in a serious downpour that left us sitting in the car in the yard, watching the rain, for about a half-hour after arriving home. No big deal. Or so we thought.
Turns out that nasty, monsoon-like down-pour, had wreaked some havoc on the house. We found water streaming down one wall of the basement. And down the wall in one of our closets. After some investigation, we determined that the water was emanating from the roof. Peef was Very Brave and he got into the (tiny) crawl space in our eaves and hunted around for the source of our grief. Sure enough, there was a problem with the roofing in a section of the eaves. BLEH. STRIKE TWO (complete with photo).
Peef called out to Lo, who was sitting in the closet with a flashlight pointed into the crawlspace. "Can you run and get a bucket?"So, Lo tromped down into the basement to retrieve an appropriate water-collecting device. On her way down, she stopped short of the last step. Water was rising slowly against the bottom step in the basement. The sewer drain had backed up. STRIKE THREE (we've spared you the photo). She held her screams to a minimum as she hopped OVER the water to retrieve the bucket for Peef. Running up the stairs, she tossed him the bucket and ran back downstairs to see what she could do about the water.
A bunch of mopping, some rags, and a few nervous breakdowns later, we had at least some of the water under control. Now, it was time to wait things out. As the storm receded, so did the water in the basement. Thank goodness. We'll be having someone out to look at that once Monday rolls around. The roof is another story. Looks like we'll be calling our ne'er-do-well roofer for another go-round. Hurrah for us!
Sunday has come and (almost) gone. But the rain hasn't (and the forecast seems to indicate that we're going to be dealing with storms all week). So, we've been faithfully emptying our bucket, changing our rags, and waiting. The power was out for about 3 hours today, which curtailed some of our activity. STRIKE FOUR? (God, isn't that enough?) Maybe. But, there is still enough light to read, so Lo is working on "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" (Kingsolver) and Peef is managing to get some of the studying for his accounting exam done, despite all the craziness.
Maybe tonight the rain will stop. Maybe.
We're crossing our fingers.
Thursday
CSA Season Has Arrived!
We are exceedingly pleased to announce that we did decide on a CSA to join for 2008. And today was our second pick-up. Yes, our second... since Paul stole the camera and escaped to Los Angeles, we couldn't get pictures of our first "harvest". Plus, the excitement was diminished a bit since he was out of town. So, today was the first pick-up that we could enjoy together.
And what a feast! This week's share includes:
Lettuce (Flashy Trout's Back and Italienischer) Asparagus Rhubarb Spinach Arugula Garlic Chives Sorrel Small red radishes Red Kale
The farm we chose this year is called LotFotL (an acronym for: Living off the Fat of the Land). And you can read more about them online.
And what a feast! This week's share includes:
The farm we chose this year is called LotFotL (an acronym for: Living off the Fat of the Land). And you can read more about them online.
Tuesday
The pictures have arrived!
Paul got back from Los Angeles yesterday... and he brought the digital camera back with him, safe and sound. He was a bit jet lagged when he got back, but he's finally had the time to download some photos.
What that means is that you can now see all the pictures of our fabulous yard projects! CLICK HERE or just look below.
Aren't you excited??
If that doesn't flip your lid, you can always check out the pictures of last night's dinner (lamb burgers with a side of grilled asparagus)!
What that means is that you can now see all the pictures of our fabulous yard projects! CLICK HERE or just look below.
Aren't you excited??
If that doesn't flip your lid, you can always check out the pictures of last night's dinner (lamb burgers with a side of grilled asparagus)!
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