Welcome to Bugs and Brooms!

Have you seen this little gem: http://www.gardeners.com/Kitchen%20Compost%20Crock/13006,default,pd.html?  This is a kitchen composter that is supposed to stop the stink often associated with indoor compost.  I must admit, I have been considering a fancy composter to cut back on the odor especially since morning sickness has caused me to ‘turn up my nose’ to composting. 

I currently just use a large bowl with a lid that we collect all of our scraps in and then take the bowl out to the main compost bin when it is full.  But, after months of endless scrap collection my bowl is, well, disgusting!  I have washed and washed and used vinegar and baking soda and, I am sure you get the point.

I am starting to handle the morning sickness a little better but I just can’t bear to open that bowl!  Poor hubby has to deal with all of the scraps when he comes home from work and that also grosses me out since scraps often sit around all day waiting to be added to the ‘bowl’.  Anyway, I will continue to investigate the kitchen composters on the market and may ask for one as my Christmas present - I will keep you posted (or composted..)! 

Tags: Gardening, Green Living, Simple Living by
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As most of you know, we live ‘out’.  I don’t really consider us very rural since we do have neighbors around (though none that we can see) and a great park just down the road for Lake Monroe.  But my critter stories have revealed that we are not living in a downtown or suburban location.

Several evenings over the past week or so have given us a touch of nature.  We have been spending time in the garden each afternoon weeding and watering (I know, lots of rain until recently and now we are having the drag the water hose to the garden to make sure our veggies survive the heat) and just checking on the progress of our plantings (good news to report later on).  When the mosquitoes overtake us, I bring DD indoors and start getting her ready for bed.  DH has interrupted our routine several nights!  He comes tiptoeing into the house, whispering urgently for us to follow him back outside.  These adventures have given us some great scenes of deer crossing our fields as they leave one area of dense woods for another.  We have had to put up some ‘protection’ for our garden in the form of garden stakes and caution tape, in an effort to keep our lovely deer from munching on our tender vegetables.  We have already had a couple of corn and bean plants meet an early demise thanks to our foragers. 

But the other night was something extra special.  I had just gotten DD out of the tub and was rocking her and telling her stories while she cuddled for warmth under the oversized towel.  DH came in the house in his usual navy seal approach.  I resisted his pleas to go outside again because DD was naked and the mosquitoes truly love her (I mean LOVE).  But he was practically pleading and I caved.  I wrapped DD tightly in the towel hoping that no skin was exposed.  When we got outside we were treated to an incredible display of youth!  Two fawn (twins) were chasing each other in circles while their ever watchful mother observed and snacked on the newly mowed hay!  The two deer were jumping high into the air and running at top speed while throwing their heels high into the air!  It was beautiful to watch these young, spotted animals play so happily!  And they, and their mother, didn’t seem to care that we were watching.  And this play lasted a good 10 minutes!  What a wonderful priviledge to see something so wild and free and right out our front door.

DH and I have seen plenty of wildlife in our travels (especially when we lived in Colorado - mule deer were everywhere and you didn’t have to drive very far to see Elk and Big Horn Sheep).  But DD is young and her nature observations have been limited to zoos and nature preserves.  At least until we moved here. 

I am so thankful that she can experience this environment and learn to appreciate it at such a young age.  What a wonderful way to teach her to appreciate her world and to care for it - she sees it thriving and she wants to jump in and enjoy the fun.  She would have just ran over and joined in the game of chase that these little fawn were playing.  I hope that she always has the opportunity to see nature at its best and purest.  I hope she has a lifetime of watching nature and the world around her in all of its beauty.  I hope that she will always want to jump from my arms and run to play with the deer….

Tags: 'Farm life', Family and Friends, Gardening, Parenting, Simple Living, nature by
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I have been more than a little remiss about keeping up with my own No Trash Challenge.  It is not that I have totally blown the plan but I certainly had a couple of weeks that were not worth of discussing (or I was just too embarrassed to admit to the carnage)! 

The main problem that I faced was the preparation for our yard sale and the subsequent cleaning out that ensued.  I won’t bore you with all of the details but it wasn’t pretty!  And the sad thing is, when the yard sale only brought a grand total of 4 customers over 2 days, we gave up.  We packed the clothes back up and took them to Goodwill.  I had a gazillion books that I had accumulated over the years and we donated those to the Monroe County Public Library.  And there are still things in the garage that need to be taken to Goodwill or other charities or given away to friends and family.  But, we have made a significant impact on our clutter and just have a few more things to go through before we can claim victory!

So, I haven’t been able to get down to one container every 2 months but I am still managing one per month (with the exception of the yard sale, clutter clear out, garage organizing garbage).  But I am still determined to do better and we are working on other improvements in our waste generation such as our compost bin.  No longer does our food waste go in the trash - we now have a large container next to the kitchen sink that is used to collect all scraps (with the exception of meat - we try to keep it out of the compost to prevent rodents from moving in).  We are still working to reduce our packaging by buying in bulk, not using plastic bags for every single item, and by reusing as many containers as possible (laundry and dishwashing, etc.).  We have also converted to bar soap for shampoo and bath which will eliminate those plastic containers that we have routinely purchased for personal hygiene.  And DH got a new, double-edge, safety razor for Father’s Day (though back ordered so it didn’t arrive until last week) that will last the rest of his life and only requires the blade to be changed once in a blue moon.

Anyway, that is our update.  I will start doing monthly posts on this instead of weekly (which hasn’t happened in a while anyway)!  And I am still planning on some cool prize drawing for those that are participating so jump in if you want to give it a try!  There are several other posts on ways that we have cut back on our trash that you can read about - just see the links on the Challenge post!

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It has been a few days since my last post.  I have been struggling with time management for the past week: trying to entertain DD, keep my house going, work in time for homeschool, chores, fun.  Blogging is a great way for me to stop for a few minutes and get my thoughts down on paper.  I have started a list of topics that I want to write about but the list gets longer instead of shorter.  I work to try to balance my responsibilities to family and still have a few moments in the day to come here and write about things that are happening in my life and/or things that are important to me.  I have not found the balance, yet.

So why can others seem to manage this so well and still maintain their homes, families, etc.?  And some do so under enormous stress and family crisis.  How can I squeeze in 20 minutes (or less) to blog, read my blogroll, clean house, do laundry, cook, play with DD, instruct DD, spend time with DH, take care of pets, etc., etc., etc.?  This morning, I spent 2 hours (that’s right, 2 hours!) of my day reading blog posts and making a few simple comments.  Yes, it has been a few days since I checked-in with my favorite writers but still - 2 hours?  Good grief!  And that was before DD woke up - there is no way I could have spent 2 hours on the computer while she was awake.  Of course, I didn’t get anything else accomplished and, trust me, there is plenty to do around here.

But what do I really want to accomplish each day?  I want to spend time with my daughter, maintain my home so that it is comfortable (no, not spotless or ready for the next cover-shoot of Martha Stewart Living - have you seen my house?).  But I also want to learn about how I can improve our lives, improve the world around us, and take steps to do that - and that, takes time.  I want to spend time in my garden, preserving food, learning to knit and sew, and I want to have time to read!  I love to read but I seem to only be able to read a paragragh at a time (usually when I sneak away to the potty)!

What about the computer?  Well, there is email to check, blogs to read, posts to write.  Maybe the weather, the news, etc. (though I rarely look at either of these).  Then there is the phone.  I am not a big talker - at least not over the phone, but there are days when I haven’t spoken with friends in ages that I spend too much time on the phone.  My daughter is quick to remind me that it is time to ‘get off’ when she tries to take the phone away from me, covers my mouth with her small hand, or, as a last resort, starts whining (that eventually leads to crying if I don’t respond quickly enough).

The technology age was supposed to make life more simple for all - give us more time to do the things  that we really wanted like spend time with family.  But I don’t think it has worked that way.  Yes, we can stay in ‘touch’ with friends and family that are far away much easier than the previous generation but do we spend so much time staying in touch and updated that we lose sight of the real purpose?  I know, at least for me, my computer and telephone are not much better than the television for many others.  I spend too much time on it reading the latest on peak oil and climate change when that time (at least for me) should be spent reading to my daughter or playing hide and seek.  Yes - I do do all of those things now (I spend countless hours reading books with DD as well as many other wonderful things).  Probably more than most since I stay home.  But does that fact make it ok that I take advantage of the few spare moments that I can grab to ‘play’ on the computer or catch up on the happenings of friends in family?  Well, probably.  I mean simplifying your life also means building new relationships and nurturing old.  But I am struggling with this - a lot.  Should I spend my spare time posting to my own blog about things that are important to me or reading other’s blogs?  Not to mention all of the other things that consume my day.

I know that many of you have found that balance that I am seeking and I am sure it will come to me in time.  I look at Green Bean and her eloquent posts about simple things like benches and I am reminded that time doesn’t stand still for anyone.  I can spend hours writing words on my computer that may or may not be read by anyone but that time does give me some sense of pleasure.  I marvel at Crunchy’s ability to balance her life and find time for posting very serious, inspiring, educational, and entertaining information in the midst of her hectic life.  And I hope to find that balance for myself - soon. 

This was actually a post about 2 topics: blogging being very time consuming, and the not too time saving technology that has transformed our lives.  Any suggestions that you have for how I can find balance my own desires to be the best wife and mother that I can be and still post meaningful information on my own blog would be greatly appreciated.  Time is precious.  We only have so much.  I want to spend each moment living my life to the fullest.  When I am gone from this earth, I don’t think people will remember me for my blogs or anything really.  But I hope my friends and family will know that I loved them and that I tried to use my time wisely to be the best person I could be - my computer certainly won’t know that I am gone. 

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A while back, Crunchy Chicken wrote a post about a magic deodorant.  I was impressed with her praise of this miracle product and did a little research to check on the toxicity.  It was listed on The Environmental Working Groups Cosmetics Database with a score of 0.  I also checked the individual ingredients and found that they all had a low level of health concern.  Ok - passed my test for an acceptable purchase.

Now, Crunchy gave this little rock so much praise that I was more than a little skeptical.  I personally do not wear any deodorant.  Yes, I know.  You are thinking ‘Ugh! That is so gross!’.  But not for me.  I have never been a big sweater and just haven’t had the need for it.  I might have used deodorant 10 times in my whole life!  Hopefully I don’t actually have BO and people are just too kind to mention it (but my loving, supportive, and often too honest family would have definitely let me know)!  So why would I purchase one of these crystal gems?  Well, my non-sweating gift is made up for by my dear DH.  He is a large man, 6′3″ 210lbs.  He plays basketball with more than a little passion and spends a lot of time outside doing garden work, yard work, or just tinkering with his tools!  He comes inside on a regular basis looking like he just stepped out of the shower - but not smelling very fresh.  His sweat mixes with his unsafe and unhealthy deodorant to make a nice yellow stain on ALL of his undershirts.  I have yet to soak or wash them enough to remove the truly disgusting tinge.  Maybe it is because I don’t use bleach products of any kind?  Too bad.  He will just have to live with the stains.  But I digress…

So, in hopes of helping DH convert to a more healthy underarm smell coveruper (made up word), I picked up the Crystal Rock at one of our local organic grocers.  I had been trying to get DH to convert to something more healthy for a while but I just couldn’t convince him to dab on a little moist baking soda each morning.  He needed something more foulsmell-proof (made-up word)!  Last week, after careful scrutiny and examination of the new rock, he took the plunge!  And the results were more than I ever dreamed of…

HE LOVED IT!  LOVES IT!  Raves about it on a non-stop basis!  Calls it the ‘magic ball’; ‘his little miracle crystal’!  It is too funny to see a grown man get so excited about deo!  He says that he can’t even tell it is there - no odor, no film, no nothing!  He wants me to replace all of his personal care products with the rock (of course, they don’t make rock shampoo, soap, or toothpaste but I am searching)!  And I am thrilled that I might be able to get those nasty stains out of his shirts without worrying that they will only come back the next time he wears it!  And it was just in time for the Keep Yer Cool Challenge since our thermostat is set at 80!  Ye-haw!

His next test of his new best friend will be to use it on his sweaty feet - but that seems to only be a problem for him in the winter (I don’t know - he is just plain weird).  Ah - my man smells great (or at least he doesn’t stink)! 

And another benefit of this little crystal, cost.  We are going to save some money since this gem will last much longer than a regular stick of deodorant!

Thanks for trying out my experiments R - I am proud of you and thrilled that you love the Crystal Rock Deodorant!  Maybe I will give it a try too, just to fit it!  Now, on to getting rid of those underarm stains once and for all…..

Tags: Family and Friends, Gardening, Health, Money Matters by
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If you live in the mid-west, you have probably had your share of rainfall for the year!  I am certainly tired of seeing nothing but dark skies and dreary days.  Honestly, it is having an affect on my personality.  I think I may even be suffering from SAD!  And, no doubt, thousands of others that have been rained on this year have probably had to seek professional help to get through these dreadful days!  But the numerous days that I have experienced serious cabin fever and felt like building the family ark are nothing, and I do mean absolutely nothing, compared to many folks that have truly suffered from this bizarre weather season.

I have nothing to complain about really (well, I did want to be gathering some veggies from my garden at this point as opposed to just getting the thing planted).  I haven’t lost any personal belongings and I have suffered no flood damage although the van almost fell victim to water damage when DH took it to work one day and his parking lot flooded!  Thank goodness DD risked sacrificed his shoes, socks, and pants up to his knees to save the thing.  I am certainly thankful for so much.  We have been spared from the damaging storms and rain while others around us have lost so much.  But I am sick of it!!  Will it ever be sunny for more than 20 minutes?  Ok.  I am exaggerating but not by a whole lot!  We went to the lake (Lake Monroe) yesterday while there was a break in the water falling from the sky, and it was still flooded.  The beach is closed and the water is now completely covering the parking lots.  The estimates, at this point, are that the waters will not recede enough to see the beach until late August - and that is with no more rain!

And here is the real troublesome point of all of this rain.  My family and friends in the southeast have not had a good rain in months!  The ground there is hard and cracked and crops have died due to extensive draught for several years running.  Last year, my sister had to buy hay to feed her horses and cattle from several states away!  And the cost was unbelievable.  The draught continues for these areas and many farms are suffering as are many of the farms here in Indiana.  All of this rain has delayed planting or required replanting due to wash-out or rot.  In a twisted way, it is a good thing that we have just planted our garden - maybe we waited long enough and will have some crops flourish - that is, if the amount of rain we get returns to ‘normal’.

And for my friends and family in the south - I wish there was some way that I could bottle this stuff up for you and bring it your way.  You would think that we could engineer some great process to redirect all of this water.   It is sad that most of the rainfall is going to runoff, picking up contaminants along the way, and then polluting the bodies of water downstream.  Can’t we come up with something to quickly remove the flood waters and reduce the impact on the environment caused by all of the run-off?  And once we ‘collect’ all of the excess, why can’t we get it where it is needed?  Didn’t we send people to the moon for goodness sakes? 

It doesn’t seem to matter where we live these days.  Everyone is being impacted by mother nature.  Floods, draught, earthquakes, wild-fires, melting ice-caps, tornados.  If you aren’t sure about global warming, just look around you.  It may not be evident by the actual temperatures in your neck of the woods, but I think the earth is trying to tell us something.  Are you listening?  It sure has my attention.

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I am thrilled to report that our garden has been planted!!  It was no easy task and DD made it almost impossible to complete, but we did it!  We have 10 beautiful rows of vegetables and herbs!  Putting all of those little seeds in the ground was so much fun!  That is where I have been the past few days - tilling and planting!

It was hard to keep DD from stepping on our newly buried treasure and she kept laying down and rolling in the dirt!  She is a little tomboy!  She loved playing with the dirt and holding the seeds!

Our garden is not very big but it should give the three of us plenty of food to put away for the winter!  But planting is just one of the many milestones or gardening.  Here are the challenges that we will be facing:

• Rain - I don’t think it will ever stop raining here.  I have plans ready to start building our ark!
• I don’t have a green thumb - actually, it is BLACK.  Hopefully DH has some growing skills in him!
• Rain!
• Critters - in addition to the ones I have already posted about, we also have a ton of deer, raccoons, wild turkeys, and other great creatures that we will have to keep out of the garden - somehow.
• Did I mention rain?
• Other pests that I am clueless about.  I am sure I will have more to post on that later.
• DD - She loves the garden but I am afraid she will want to ‘help’ a little too much!  She is really bad about ‘picking’ flowers.  I am hoping that we can make the garden a great little classroom for her as we have with most things we do inside and out.  She is a sponge at this age and it is fun to watch her explore and learn!  I just hope we will have something to harvest at the end of the season.
• Rain - it has started raining again!  I hope it doesn’t wash our little garden away - or the little seeds that we planted.  It is coming down really hard!  Good grief!  Where did I put those ark materials?

And those are just the few I can think of right now.  We definitely have our work cut out for us.  I think our summer will be spent tending the garden but the payoff will be worth it if we can just get something to grow.

Here is a list of all our veggies that we planted:

Herbs:

• Sweet Basil
• Parsley
• Chives
• Cilantro
• Thyme
• Marjoram
• Sage

Veggies:

• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Onions
• Carrots
• Tomatoes
• Green and Red Peppers
• Kale
• Broccoli
• Jalapenos
• Peas
• Chard
• Cantaloupe
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• Squash
• Beans
• Corn

We are also going to pick up some tomato plants at the Farmer’s Market to add to our seed tomatoes.  Just in case.  And I have some lavender and dill that I want to plant on the edge of the garden.

We weren’t really sure about the design that we used and this is certainly a learning process for us.  We did some research online and found some ideas but we will see if they will work for us. 

I can’t wait to reap the fruits (or veggies) of our labor!  Yummy!

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Last month I posted the banner for Green Bean Dreams’ Be A Bookworm Challenge!  The challenge ran through the month of May but is back by popular demand!  Of course, I love to read so this is right up my ally!  In May, I read Affluenza (HIGHLY recommended) and Voluntary Simplicity (good but on the philosophical side of simple living).  With the challenge continuing through June, I have selected Against the Grain and Living Simply with Children as my choices. 

If it has been a while since you cracked the binder of a book, visit your library and check out something to read (preferably something from list Green Bean has put together but ANYTHING to get your mind thinking).  And I am not talking about those old magazines that you may have stacked up in a basket in the bathroom - you know, those that are there to provide a little entertainment when nature calls.  And for you guys, sports magazines and online articles do not count!  I mean, get a BOOK!

If this challenge is too difficult for you or reading just isn’t much fun and you can’t even open the first page without drifting off to sleep, then check out the audio version of the book you choose (not available for all selections) or, if that too is more than you can manage, how about getting a video version?  Definitely not in the same category as the REAL thing but you might learn something and be inspired to look a little more deeply into the subject.  This was the case for DH!  He isn’t much of a reader - he likes to tinker more than anything.  So, after I read Affluenza, I checked out the VHS version that PBS created and made him watch it.  The video was less than an hour and he made it through without complaining - I think it even got him more on board with my No Trash Challenge and other attempts to change our lifestyle to a greener, more simple approach.  But we have a LONG way to go and reading a few of the books Green Bean recommends is a step in the right direction.

Here are a few of the books recommended:

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Most of the country has planted their garden by this time of year.  The far northern areas are the exception since spring arrives much later.  I have been anxiously awaiting the day when we can plant our seeds and seedlings and start tending our garden.  Unfortunately, weather and mechanical problems have hindered our progress.

Old timers here in southern Indiana have told us not to plant until after May 10th so I was hoping to get something in the ground that week.  Now, the end of May is only a few days away and our plowed ground is still empty of the veggies that I dream of harvesting. 

First, our tiller is not functioning.  DH took it to a local machine shop and it is supposed to be ready today.  And, even more of a problem, is the never ending rain!  It seems to rain at least 5 days out of every week!  That doesn’t leave much time for the ground to dry out and friends have commented about their tomato plants turning black from too much rain!  They are going to have to start over - at some point!

So, our tiller will be ready today (hopefully) but it is supposed to rain today and tomorrow.  I am beginning to wonder if we will ever get our veggies in the ground and I think we will have to start with plants instead of seeds at this point (at least for most of our vegetables). 

Eventually, we will get to plant something - at least I hope.  In the meantime, we will keep dreaming about our harvest and abundant supply of canned, frozen, and dried foods that will sustain us through the year. 

And so, we wait….

See an update at The Garden is Planted!

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Monday evening we had a man come to plow our garden!  It was so exciting to watch the discs run through the soil and turn over the home of our future vegetables!  My grandparents had gardens for years and I ‘worked’ in them when I was younger.  My parents had a garden for many years as well but it has been a long time since they raised any vegetables.  But even with those genetics in my system, I have concluded that I have a BLACK thumb.

I have attempted to raise numerous varaties of in-door plants and outdoor flowers throughout the years and they have all met an untimely death!  I must say that I have felt helpless watching my geraniums, peace lillies, and spider plants give up - they have either wilted away, dried up, or just croaked for, sometimes, no apparent reason - at least not to me!

So with such a bad personal history of growing plants, I am more than concerned about my attempts at our first REAL garden!  We have seeded a few plants inside since spring is late to settle in Indiana.  We have been told by some local people that we shouldn’t plant ANYTHING in the ground until the middle of May.  They say that there is a good chance for a late frost before the middle of the month.  So, we wait.  Anxiously looking forward to the day that we can put our little plants into the dirt.

The actual plowing only took about 20 minutes but we all stood around and watched the process.  DD and I collected small rocks that she stored inside her shoes and an empty popsicle holder (she ate the popsicle earlier).  When the work was done, DD couldn’t wait to start exploring this new territory.  She immediately removed her shoes (after I just emptied them of rocks and made her put them on her feet) and ran around in the soft, dark soil just like it was a new amusement park!  She was so excited and kept yelling ‘my garden, my garden’!  And DD and I were excited too.

We surveyed the area and decided that we needed to remove the few clumps of grass (DH mowed just before the plow arrived) and rocks as soon as we could - not this night.  It was already getting late and we were all very hungry!

Over dinner at the neighborhood restaurant (taco buffet), we discussed our new project and how best to design the layout.  Being new to the full-size garden, we are somewhat clueless but ready to get our hands dirty (and feet in the case of DD). 

Yesterday, we hit the garden with the racks.  It was a pleasure to work in the soil and clean-it up in preparation of the tilling that will be done next week.  Our tiller is in NC and we will be picking it up over the weekend when we visit our parent’s for Mother’s Day.  We are also planning to get our wheel barrow and some other miscellaneous garden tools.  If you are wondering why we have these tools since we never have had our own garden, most of these belonged to my grandparents.  We bought their house a couple of years ago and it came with an assortment of accessories including items in the shed that my mom, aunt, and uncles did not need or want (lucky for us)!

Anyway, the garden is plowed and we are one step closer to raising the food that will sustain us through next winter (or at least we hope)…..

Garden Woes

The Garden is Planted!

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