Today is the two year anniversary of the beginning of our major home remodeling project. In 2015, we remodeled our main floor which is the living room, dining room, kitchen, and sun room. It was a big undertaking. It all started with our 13-year old dog having an accident on the very old, very gross […]
I live in the city and I want chickens. Not for dinner, but in my backyard. I live in a small mid-western city that does not allow the backyard birds. I am hoping to change this soon. I have oodles of friends who live outside the city limits and are enjoying their feathered friends. Not […]
Packing lunch is usually healthier than buying lunch in a cafeteria, restaurant, sandwich shop, or a fast food joint. And bringing lunch from home is almost always cheaper. But it is not always greener. Convenience is king when racing around in the morning and trying to get yourself and the family out the door. The […]
By late July, most people are over their gardening frenzy for the year. According to a friend of my husband who manages a local greenhouse, most plants are purchased before Mother’s Day. The peak being Mother’s Day itself, then it slowly tapers off until the July 4th holiday. After that, people are pretty set until […]
I always have the best intentions. I have guilt when I throw organic matter in the trash. In my renewed conviction to compost my kitchen scraps this summer, I dug this lovely container out from under the sink. I had heaps of scraps from cutting up vegetables from the garden in order to freeze them. […]
Today in my garden while watering, I came across this big guy attached to the underside of a leaf near the top of one of my tomato plants. I had never seen this creature before. I thought it could be a monarch butterfly caterpillar, but it seemed too big and not stripey enough. I posted […]
July in the mid-west is hot. Not just hot, but humid. (Say it with a long drawn out “h” because that is how it feels.) So humid. Here in the middle of Illinois not many people live without air-conditioning. Why am I torturing my family with this medieval atmosphere? My husband and I actually like […]
Every month I get a special delivery brought to my front door. It saves me time and money for the staples that I know we will need every month. I like it especially for big bulky items. I was buying dog food from a local big box store, but the store discontinued the exact food […]
In our small city, the way we recycle has evolved through the years. It used to be a paid curb-side pick-up, once a week, in small 10-gallon tubs, and certain items had to be separated: glass, plastic, metal, and paper. The tubs for the program were free, or borrowed rather, but each household had to […]
List 10 Ways…