2011 Year Review

This has been an interesting year for us.  In many ways it's been better than the years in the past.  We managed to stay in one place for almost one full year.  That may not seem like much, but with all the moving we've done since leaving my ex, that's actually pretty good.  We're in a place that isn't perfect for us, but it will work.  We've learned to cook healthier, eat healthier, and shop more wisely, though we haven't been as good as we could be.  I've been building up a small list of recipes I know my family likes and home cooked meals made from scratch or from very few premade additives are becoming more common.  We're making progress.

On the homeschooling front, it may not seem like we did much this year in a lot of ways.  The year started off with a bang.  We did tons of arts and crafts, but as time went on we slowed down.  The summer was full of a lot of nothingness and idol time.  Thankfully, the fall picked up with the co-op.  We got to see just how smart the kids really were, and how good they are at what they can do.  Bunny Boo proved (finally) that she can read and is actually pretty good at it (when she's got the right motivation.  She's been reading Meet Marie-Grace from the American Girl collection.  She got the doll and book series from her grandmother for Christmas.  Link (as my older son has requested to be called on this blog) has shown that he's already learning some good reading skills and can already read a little bit here and there.  The littlest one is finally learning to talk and apparently has quite a bit to say.  They've all come a lot farther than I'd realized, and have grown so much too! Looking back at the past year, it's hard to think how much smaller they all were.

We didn't make a huge move towards sustainability this year, but we have been forced to make a few changes.  Given that we're without a car for the time being we've learned to do as much of our grocery shopping in bulk as possible.  As a result, we've cut back on grocery trips a good deal.  There's far fewer needs to run out for some last minute items forgotten.  Thanks to slippers for everyone under the tree this year and wonderful afghans sent by my aunt, we've also decided to keep the house cooler than usual this winter.  We're probably going to keep the house as warm as we can bear again this summer, since that worked out fairly well for us last summer.  We're looking for other ways to save on electricity too, but that's going to be hard with Chesh and his forgetfulness.  He has a bad habit of leaving the closet light on, as well as every single light in the kitchen.

Financially, we've made some progress on the debt-free thing without intending to.  Without having a car payment, we're going to be that much better off every month.  Living where we are now, rent is cheaper and water is included.  That means we're saving a good deal every month.  Unfortunately, Chesh is also out of work again, but I'll be employed as a nanny during the first half of the year.  That should buy him some time to find a new job and to keep pulling us that much farther out of debt.  The debt collectors from my past have finally tracked me down, so I've got all the contact with them I need in order to start working off my past debts.  This will put us in good standing when we finally decide to buy a home of our own.  I know the debts from my past can't technically hurt me any right now, unless I go for a line of credit somewhere, but it's better to have them all paid off and taken care of.  You never know when you might need your credit in good standing in the future, especially as many jobs do credit checks now.  I can't wait to have some of this consolidated and behind me.  Thankfully, moving to this place was our first step.

Overall it's been a wild ride of a year.  It's had it's ups and downs.  It's been interesting, that's for sure.  We've had to keep on our toes, but as a result, we've gotten a lot accomplished.  I can honestly say I hope the new year brings in better luck than this passing year, but I'm not too upset about the year we're leaving behind.  The challenges only helped us all grow.

Sustainability Tip: Thermal Curtains

As we were moving some stuff to our new house last night, I made note of something my downstairs neighbors have done that just got under my skin.  They have foil up over the windows of one of their rooms downstairs.  Now, I have to admit, after living in this military town I see foil over the windows and think one thing, drug houses.  It's a common trait around here, but I didn't think our neighbors were that sort of people.  As it turns out, they're not, thankfully!  They're just using it as a quick-fix way to keep the sun from over-heating their game room.  This came with the additional warning that those front rooms get hot during the summer.

I started thinking about this whole thing.  It's winter, so I'm not too worried about keeping our house cool.  Yes, during the day Texas homes tend to get warm regardless of the time of year, though there are plenty of cool, rainy days too.  When I was in our apartment, though it was cool outside, it wasn't terribly cool inside even without heat, but it definitely wasn't a comfortable temperature for taking off coats and settling in.  We're definitely going to need heat in the winter, and air conditioning in the summer is a must all across Texas.  Of course, heating in winter and cooling in summer can get quite expensive and I don't know how well these homes are insulated.  We've already been informed that the boys room will likely have a tendency to get quite hot in the summer, so this is something I need to think about.  How can I afford to keep my family comfortable without spending a fortune on our electricity bill.

About a year ago I found the perfect solution.  There are some thermally insulated curtains for sale at most places you can buy household goods.  They do come with the down side of not allowing light through, but for napping children, or rooms you're not in at the time, these are perfect.  Yes, they won't help too much when you have them drawn away to let light in, but again, you can retain all the benefits of heating or cooling at night instead of dealing with drafty windows.

This is more than a benefit to creating comfort for our climate controlled lives.  This is also a huge thing for sustainability!  The less you have to make use of your heater or AC, the less electricity your house is consuming.  If you're running off strictly solar or wind energy, this may not be that big of a deal for anything but your wallet, but if you're running off of standard energy sources, you're doing your small part to benefit the environment and the world around you.

However, on the side of the wallet, these curtains are expensive, running a minimum of $60 per set for your average drape curtains.  I've been able to find a tie-up shade variety for $40, but that's still expensive for most families budgets.  I do have to say, there is a huge advantage to the tie-up kind, aside from the reduced cost.  Tie-up shades can still cover half the window even when they're opened   While they may not be trapping the heat or cool air so much at that rate, they are still performing the function of reducing the light that enters the room turning the space into a virtual oven in the summer.  The early darkness in the winter allows for much earlier use of the curtains during the day to trap in the heat, especially if you're in a further northern area that gets more cold than we do here in Texas.

Another advantage to these curtains is that, aside from the thermal insulation part, there are many varieties and colors available on the market.  While they may be pricey, they can match the decor of almost any room, so if having a home that's aesthetically pleasing is important to you, this is also a great benefit!  You can pick a style that really works for your home!

For those of you, like me, who would love to do this for their family, but simply don't have the money to spend on expensive curtains, you can always make the investment a room at a time.  Start with the rooms that need the benefit of these insulated curtains the most.  In my case it would be the boys' room, but there was one place I lived where the first choice would likely be the front entry way and living room.  This will give you the biggest benefit on controlling the climate in your house early on.  I would also avoid the area the thermostat is located until last as that will effect how regularly your heat or air conditioning comes on, which is a benefit, but could leave you with hot or cold spaces in your home.  Of course, in the winter that may be ideal if you prefer to sleep in a cool room, or if you spend very little time in the rooms you're not taking the time to insulate first.

While this investment may sound like a lot of money, in the long run it will definitely help save on your heating and air conditioning bill, and as a result, save on the resources that provide those services.  If you own your own home, this also comes with the benefit of only having to be done once, unless you decide to redecorate and the curtains no longer match to your liking.  For those of us who are in apartment spaces it can be a lot more tricky, especially as the number of windows you have in each room may change if you decide to move.

However, if you're so inclined and know how to sew, insulated curtains can be made just as easily as anything else!  Simply purchase some insulating material (often found in the home and garden section from what I've heard, but you may need to ask) and sew it on the inside of the curtains you already have!  You can also make your own curtains complete with insulating material.  This may be more cost effective for your family and allows for greater variety in color, texture, and shape.  Just avoid sheer drapes as they would show the insulating material below.  If you really want sheer drapes, you can always put insulated drapes over the sheer ones and simply pull them back when not in use.  Of course, I have no idea how well these would work for blocking out the heat as this would also require blocking out the light, but in colder climates this could be a good fix for the crafty people out there.

When trying to keep out cold and reduce drafts, here's a couple more things to think about.  Any place the air can seep through, there's a good chance it will.  A good way to minimize drafts is to attach the curtain to the wall on either side of the window.  Tacking the curtain down with tacks or nails just looks tacky and could damage the curtains, but there are alternatives, especially if you're in your own home and don't need to worry about removing things from the walls.  The first and least expensive is Velcro.  You can purchase Velcro strips at just about any craft store.  Even if you choose to sew them into the curtains, you'll want the ones with the sticky back to attach to the wall.  Another alternative, which may be more expensive would be the use of magnets.  Pretty much anything that will hold the curtain as closely to the wall as possible is needed.  This will minimize the draft allowed through when the drapes are in use.  Another thought is the length of the curtains.  A short curtain may look nicer with your decor and window size, but floor length drapes will minimize drafts at the bottom of the window as well.  Any draft that seeps through will then have to travel down the length of the drape to the floor.  As it's warm air that rises, not cool, there's little need to worry about the draft escaping through the top of the curtain.

Something as simple as insulated curtains may not make a huge difference for your energy bill, so it may or may not be a choice that you'll quickly reap the benefits of.  In some cases, insulated curtains really can start making a big difference right away!  It all depends on your home and your circumstances.  However, every little bit helps when combating the use of fossil fuels and reducing energy consumption.  Over time, this choice will also make enough of an impact to pay for itself, and even save you money in the long run.  Obviously, better insulated homes (like those that already have insulated windows) won't see as much of a benefit here.  Very poorly insulated homes may not see a massive change either, especially as the drafts are entering from more than just the windows.  It never hurts to truly assess your home to see what other changes may need to be made in order to best conserve energy in your home, but every little bit counts for something!

Sustainability Tip: Compost

Every year families throw shocking amounts of food in the trash.  It's amazing how wasteful this country really is!  Much of that food can be recycled in other ways.  The biggest source of recyclable foods are fruits and vegetables, coffee grounds, egg shells, dry leaves, and grass clippings.  Okay, so some families don't actually collect their grass clippings and just let them break down on the grass.  There are fewer and fewer lawn mowers with huge bags attached, but cut grass is great for compost.

All you need for a compost pile is a place where you can let the compost decompose, something that shouldn't be a terribly smelly and gross process.  I've seen tons of ways to do this.  Some people choose to use a compost bin or composter.  Others choose to simply use an old trash barrel.  I've also seen compost heaps that are made up of simple wood and tarps.  They're not hard to make, and just about any family can manage one.  In truth, all you really need is a tarp below to keep the compost from mixing with the soil beneath it, making it easier to transport off and away when it's being used, and a tarp above to keep in moisture.  Of course, on this I've heard mixed reviews as well.  Keeping the compost heap directly on moist ground can attract worms and help the process along, but in Texas, that will mean endless watering of the compost heap through much of the year, so better to keep the moisture in and let the soil below get a bit dry.  Walls on the sides are helpful, but not 100% necessary in my experience.  Another useful tool is a pitchfork or some other tool to turn it.  I've seen some mixed instructions on whether to turn or not turn compost, but there are some composters, like this one, that allow for rotation without so much as opening the bin.  These make composting easy and convenient, especially if you plan to create and use a lot of compost in any given year.

What goes into compost?  Well, the easy answer is a little bit of everything.  Compost is a mix of "green" or living material, and "brown", or dried material.  A good compost heap should be at least 60-75% brown material, as that's what's best going to help the process along.  Too much green has a nasty tendency to rot.  In truth, you can compost without any green material at all!  Nature does it all the time!  However, it does kind of defeat the purpose of composting to recycle foods if you're not going to add any fruits and veggies to the mix.  It also helps to add a healthy portion of good potting soil to introduce the micro-organisms that help the process along.  Worms are only a benefit here as well.  If you find a few worms while gardening, as much as they'll be a benefit to your garden, gardens will always attract more worms.  Grab some of those wiggly ones and toss them in the area you've set aside for a compost bin!  You'll be glad you did!

 So, we're looking at making a majority of this compost heap this mysterious "brown" matter.  What constitutes "brown material" anyways?  For the most part, this is just a bit of logic, dried, brown plants will be your biggest source of brown material.  Chipped twigs or wood (much like mulch) makes excellent compost.  Dried pine needles are great as well, but can be over done.  (As a hint here, think about that live Christmas tree you just toss out every year...Silo Christmas Tree Farm recycles theirs...you could compost and recycle yours too!)  The biggest source of brown matter in any compost heap tends to be autumn leaves, which can be stored up and added all year round.  Dried plant vines, such as tomato plants, or dried stalks from sunflowers and corn are also wonderful sources of brown matter.  In a pinch you can also use newspaper, cardboard (well shredded), and even printer paper, as long as it's not colored or contains colored ink.  That means many old bills, collection notices, letters, and fliers can also be composted.  If you've got a back yard fire pit or a wood burning stove, small quantities of wood ash can be thrown in to the mix too!

What about this green matter?  While I'd love to tell you it's just as logical, it's really not.  The most common source of green matter is found in your kitchen.  Fruits and vegetables make up a majority of green matter.  Pasta, tea bags, and coffee grounds can also be used as green matters.  Dead house plants and dried up flower arrangements are wonderful sources of green matter.  Though it's not green (at least not usually!) animal manure and bird droppings compost as green matter too!  Have a caged pet?  In most cases, the entire waste of their cage can be cleaned out and dumped in the compost bin, waste, shavings, paper, and all!  Even the extra food bits that are dropped all over the cage can be composted.  It's not just furry animals either.  Rats, rabbits, Guinea pigs, and mice are commonly thought of in household pets, bird droppings can also be counted as green matter.  Typically cats and ferrets are not counted in this mix because of the litter they use, and I've read that cat droppings, dog droppings, and ferret droppings should not be composted anyway.  Grass clippings, egg shells, peanut (or other nut) shells, animal and human hair (in small quantities) and nail clippings can also be tossed right in that compost pile!  With all of that, there's an endless amount of green matter around any household.  See why maintaining the balance between green and brown is so hard?

Depending on the contents of the compost, turning regularly may be necessary, and it will change the decomposition time of the compost.  A compost composed of mostly dried leaves, for example, can break down in as little as two or three weeks!  A compost heavily composed of stockier brown matter, like twigs and wood, will obviously take longer.  Whole trees eventually compost themselves in nature, but that can take tens of years to happen, which is why smaller pieces leads to quicker composting time.

The "care and feeding" of your compost heap is also quite simple.  First and foremost, make sure your compost stays moist.  You don't want it good and wet, but thoroughly moist.  Compost allowed to stay too wet can rot or mold.  Turning compost can help spread out the micro-organisms that break down the biodegradable material, which is especially advantageous if you keep adding to your compost pile throughout the year.  Aside from those two things, in my experience, keeping a compost is fairly simple.

One note on composting, anything chemically treated is not a good idea to compost, nor is anything that will seed.  Chemicals from the materials added to the compost bin will transfer to the compost, and then will be brought to whatever you use your compost for.  Would you really want commercial grade pesticides or gasoline fumes tainting whatever food you were growing in your garden?  It certainly wouldn't be something pleasant to add to household plants.  As for anything that will seed, that's a problem when using the compost, especially with weeds.  Seeds from weeds, hay, or grass will likely take root, not something you want in your vegetable garden as it will mean more weeding and work for you.  The same goes with composting pumpkin seeds, peanuts, or any other nut, as nuts are seeds.  However roasted seeds don't seem to present this problem, and should (I won't swear to it!) be safe to use.  Meats should not go into a compost heap as they will rot instead of providing healthy compost, and if you choose to use dairy at all, limited amounts are suggested, usually best in the form of cheese or yogurt instead of straight milk.

So, now that you know how to make compost, what are you going to do with it?  There's any number of possibilities.  Obviously, if you garden, this could be a valuable source of healthy soil and nutrients for your own garden, plant or vegetable.  Compost makes a wonderful addition to potting soil for indoor and outdoor potted plants and container gardens.  I've heard straight compost can be used as a substitute for potting soil, but I haven't tried it myself.  I even knew one person who used to sprinkle it across her lawn instead of Miracle Gro or some other similar chemical fertilizer.  Compost can also be a wonderful resource for a small kitchen garden or herb garden.  As being surrounded by plants can help improve your whole household's mood, provide cleaner, purer air, and create a sense of beauty in your home, many families are finding more reasons to surround themselves with living plants, which means compost can always be useful!  And if you can't use it, there's sure to be someone else who can!  Compost may be a strange gift, but a friend who gardens may truly appreciate it, or you can always look into selling it.  Though this tactic is most often used by big composting industries, like farms, small quantities may be sold to a local home gardener in your own community, and it's always worth a try.  If nothing else, you've reduced the total waste in landfills, and have a good amount of healthy dirt to spread over the green areas around your own home.

Finally, I've known a number of families that wonder what to keep their compostable materials in until they bring it from their kitchen to their compost bin or heap.  In our house, we're simply using one of those plastic coffee canisters.  My aunt over at Craft Attic Resources and Sorting Through Life's Lessons uses (or at least used to use) a plastic bin with a zip-lock freezer bag to hold everything until it went out.  I think those are both wonderful, low-cost ways to start a kitchen compost bucket in your own home!  All it takes is some items around your house and a little creativity.  Or, if you're one of those people who prefers the look or convenience of a store-bought item, there are plenty of kitchen compost keepers on the market.  These can range in price from low-cost to expensive, but tend to have a nice enough appearance that they can be kept out on the counter top instead of hidden beneath the sink.

And if you're really interested in just what can go into your compost, here's a neat link I found as I was researching compostable items that I may not have known about for this very article.  It's called 163 Things You Can Compost!

Looking Back

Have you ever taken the time to look back on your life, just to appreciate the road that brought you to the current point in your life?  I've been doing a lot of that.  Some of it is to prevent making the same mistakes I've made in the past.  Some of it is to truly appreciate the good moments in it all.  Right now it's more in wondering how things could have been different.

For the past year I've really been working on creating a new reality in my life.  In some places that's been harder than others.  I've been trying to do little things to make a difference in the world, but some times it's not so easy.  I've lived in places with no recycling.  I've lived in places where I can't compost or line dry.  Because of this, I've had a lot of challenges when it comes to living in a more sustainable way.

It wasn't until yesterday that I really stopped to think just how off track I've gotten.  I was starting to make progress, one little step at a time.  It may not have been much, but every little bit counts, right?  I'd been making a difference in the world around me.  In some places I've lived, one step was the easiest, so I focused on that.  In other places, it was another step entirely.

Now that I'm starting to find myself on footing that I hope has become stable, I really want to try to bring all of those elements together.  At my last house, sustainability wasn't so easy to focus on, but homeschooling really took off for a while.  In the house before that, homeschooling was a challenge, but we were able to start composting and were finding other ways to be a little more sustainable.  Before that it was all focus on saving electricity in any way possible and conserving water.  I need to start bringing elements of all of those together so that I can move on to a more sustainable, happy home.

I know I can't focus on it all at once.  I need to take little steps at a time.  There's already one easy step with the ease of recycling here.  That's always a bonus.  Homeschooling should be pretty easy to swing back into, as soon as we have a place clear to work on for projects, arts and crafts, and workbooks.  I need to get back into actually knitting, rather than bumming around on the computer and doing other things when I've got a little bit of free time.  I've got plenty of yarn to make socks with, that I intended to make for the whole family, a shawl to make, and some longies for the baby.  I need to get them done so I'm one more step removed from regular consumerism.  Saving electricity is so much easier in a house with such ample natural lighting, and such a beautiful set-up to spend the afternoon sitting outside while the children play in the yard.  I'm trying to limit how many showers I take, and for how long.  More often than not I just need a quick rinse of my body.  Perhaps we can even start composting for a sustainable garden or something of the like.  It shouldn't be too difficult here.

Looking back I feel like I've really let my life get off track.  I keep doing this dance with sustainable living, and have since I was nineteen.  Every time I take a step closer it seems I just want to drift away again.  It's frustrating to look back and see all the lost opportunities in my life.  It's even more frustrating to see all the times I've blamed someone else for making it too challenging for me, instead of embracing the challenge and using that as an opportunity to try harder.

There's a lesson to be learned in all of this.  I can accept all the guidance and helpful suggestions under the sun, but that's not going to give me the answers on what I need to do.  Friends and family can all try to help.  I can receive messages from the divine about what paths are open to me, but in the end, I have to decide what path I'm going to take.  More importantly, when I decide what I want to do, I need to commit to it fully, no matter what the challenges, and start making permanent changes in my life.

Silo Christmas Tree Farm and Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday was our field trip with the local homeschoolers.  We went to Silo Christmas Tree farm and pumpkin patch, a 100 year old farm.  It was educational, fun, and a little bit long for the little ones.  That's definitely a trip I'd suggest for older kids.  Younger ones have a much shorter attention span.

Just on personal choice, I love this farm.  They've reused everything they've removed from the old farm when renovating and reused it.  Many old pieces of the house, the fences, and everything else can be found all around the farm.  They collect rain water to water their vegetable garden.  They compost, and take in Christmas trees for recycling into compost as well.  They even compost their coffee grinds!  Many of their annual flowers drop seeds and reseed themselves.  They don't chemical means of bug control.  Butterflies and moths were everywhere.  There was even a humming bird that zipped in to take a quick snack off a sage bush before flying off.  Their organic and sustainable approach to the world around them is inspirational.  They even line dry their clothing, when possible!





They grow so much more than Christmas Trees and pumpkins there.  They have a small garden in the back of their house where they grow corn, asparagus, potatoes, strawberries, red and green lettuce, radishes, and so much more.  It may not be enough to sell and sustain the farm, but it's yet another example of living sustainably for one's own family.  They had more varieties of pumpkins than I'd ever heard of as well, and two kinds of Christmas trees, Afghanistan Pine and some kind of Cyprus that's completely scentless and doesn't inflame an allergy to Christmas trees.  There was a walk through the woods where the kids learned about juniper trees, cedar, and Texas black persimmon.  There was an example shown of poison ivy and poison sumac, so kids would know what to look for.  We walked across a deer highway, which wouldn't look like much if you didn't know it was supposed to be.  Then, when approaching a patch of prickly pear cactus, we learned about what those cactus are good for.  Apparently when cooked over a fire they taste just like potato chips, only better!

The buildings on the land were gorgeous.  The farm house, painted a bright and cheery yellow with a metallic looking roof didn't look like all that much, but it had it's own simplistic beauty, complete with the classic porch swing.  Out in front of the house was a flower garden with plenty of plants to attract humming birds and butterflies.  I think the owner would have been happy to describe a few of the features of the garden and leave it like that, but my partner asked her what kinds of plants she had in the garden.  She went over a few of the names, but then when she realized that everyone was starting to take interest, she almost lit up as she started explaining what each of them were.  I was fascinated!  I just wish I could remember more of them!  That trip was more educational for the adults than I thought it would be!  My oldest son wanted to go in the house so badly.  He thought it was a pretty house.  As it turns out, they have tours every spring when they do their Easter Egg hunt!  They hide all the eggs in the Christmas trees too!  We may have to head out for that!  I think my son would love it!  I think they all would enjoy a trip like that!

The silo was huge.  I'll admit, I've never actually seen a real silo before.  I'd known they were to hold grain, but I never really understood why.  I always thought there must be some door or something at the bottom, but there isn't.  Apparently silos are for making silage, a very hearty food for dairy cattle.  They would blow up the grain to the top of the silo to drop it in.  Then they would let the grain sit and compact over time until it had turned into silage.  Unfortunately, I don't remember quite as much about that portion of the trip as I'd like.  I think one of these days I'm going to have to do some more research on silos and what they actually do.  It was actually cute, one of the owners asked the kids what they thought a silo was used for.  One of the kids said, "A house for REALLY BIG SPIDERS!"  Everyone laughed because there were some massive spider webs in there!  In the end, there were a lot of facts about that one, not-so-little silo.  I almost wish I'd had the opportunity to go on a trip like that when I was younger.  As I'm sure you can tell by the photo, that silo is anything but small!  My older sons and I were trying to catch up to the nature walk which went into the woods behind the silo, and my partner stopped us for a photo op.  To give you a good example, my older son could stand in one of those little windows and he would probably just be rubbing the top of his head on that beam!

Another topic at the farm was it's original use.  It wasn't always a Christmas Tree farm and pumpkin patch.  Once upon a time it was a dairy farm.  It was chosen for it's location, being exactly four miles from the three major towns in the area, Killeen (now known for Fort Hood), Temple, and Belton.  The farm provided milk for all of those cities, which were just towns at the time.  The family would get up at 4am every morning to milk the cows.  The milk wagon would haul the milk out to it's destination, which was a four hour trip.  Two hours would be spent delivering the milk, then the trip would return for another four hours.  By the time they got home they had just enough time to eat and milk the cows again before going to be to start it all over again.  Of course, back in those days all kids were homeschooled and the whole family worked the farm together, so it wasn't anything like dairy farms today.  Great sums of ice were transported down from the north to put in ice chests and ice boxes, but there was no way those could be used for the milk, so the milk was loaded up in the truck and insulated with hay to help keep it from spoiling.  In the winter, temperatures greatly aided this, but summers must have been rough.  Our hay ride in the back of the milk wagon gave us a pretty good idea of what it must have been like for that long haul.  Back then it would have been pulled by horses, not a tractor, but on unpaved roads and for such a long trip, I can't imagine it would have been any more gentle!

After all the educational talks were done, the games were brought out before lunch.  There was a competition to dress the farmer.  There was a duck race where the children actually had to pump water to send their duck down the shoot.  It was wonderful for the kids to learn how to use the pumps!  They got to play a beanbag toss game and Texas Washers, both games being harder than even I expected!  Even the adults had a hard time with them!  There was even a maze made up of old palates.  While the older kids had an easy time making their way through, it was perfect for the younger kids.  They were able to see over the tops of the palates to easily see where to go next.  All of the kids had a blast, and that maze seemed to be a favorite for all of them.  A bunch of them kept going back through!

After everyone was tired and all wound down from the games, it was time for lunch.  A bunch of the group headed home after the games were done, but a number of families stayed through to eat their lunch over by the pumpkins.  The kids all seemed alive with chatter about everything that had been done.  The parents seemed to be focused on their expectations, where they were met and where they weren't.  I think the parents were overall a little disappointed, but the kids definitely didn't seem it in the least!  It seemed like quite a successful trip!  There were tons of questions asked as each of the kids ate their lunches.  It seems like a few friendships were made too, at least for my own children.  They've never much been involved in a homeschooling group or organization, so we had no idea what to expect.  Overall, I think they were quite pleased with the way everything turned out.  It was a good day for all of us and we had a lot of fun.  Sitting over lunch, I had a great opportunity to see that.  It was wonderful to have the kids so involved with other kids their own age!

After lunch the families slowly started to disperse.  The children each got to pick a mini-pumpkin.  A bunch of them were over playing tether ball while waiting for the other kids to finish, something I hadn't seen since I was a kid!  They looked at all the pumpkins and asked about a million more questions.  A bunch of them went off to play on a giant stack of hay, which seemed to be the biggest hit of the day.  Isn't it amazing where kids can find fun if you just let them go?  It was wonderful to see them all playing outside in the fresh air, really enjoying being outside with no serious need for anything but the world around them and imagination.  It was really refreshing after having so many experiences with kids who don't seem to know what to do if there aren't toys, televisions, or video games within easy access.  I love getting to watch kids being the way I remember kids being when I was younger!  This was a wonderful experience and I really hope to be able to do it again in the future.  I really love this homeschool group.  The kids are all wonderful.  My family had a great time.  I think this will be a step in the right direction for us.  I just hope that as our lives carry us forward, we can continue to get involved with wonderful homeschooling events such as this one!  This definitely made my our day!

Sustainability Tip: Warm and Woolies

The weather change has once again got me thinking.  As the temperatures drop in other areas of the country, heat will start coming on.  It will seem like no time at all before our own heat comes on.  For some families, this can be a time of excess and waste of energy.  I know I'm usually guilty of that one.  I'll admit, I'm happiest when the temperature is about seventy-five.  In the summer, that's great!  I save a good deal on my electricity bill because my air conditioner isn't cranking as much as every other house on the block.  I'll be honest, in the summer I sometimes push my home temperature all the way up to eighty.  Some find it too warm, but I find the amount I save on electricity to be worth it.  In the winter, on the other hand, that's one of the worst things you can do.

When I was younger my family liked to keep the house warm.  I remember someone saying that they didn't feel right having to put on a sweater to keep warm in their own home.  They would rather be warm enough from the start.  In other people's homes I always felt quite chilly and I hated it.  I didn't see the point in keeping your home so uncomfortably cold.  It made more sense to keep warm on cold days.  I didn't realize then how many reasons there could be for this.

Keeping a house set at a cool temperature in the winter, of course, will save on your bill.  It's one way to shave off a few bucks on electricity, gas, or oil bill every winter, just as I do with my air conditioner in the summer.  That extra money can go to so many different things, towards financial freedom and living a debt free life to sustainability improvements to practical things like the grocery bill or savings.  This is a huge help to families who use oil heat, as oil can be quite expensive.

On another side of things, turning the heat down a bit in the winter will also help the environment.  No matter what you use to heat your house, there is a likelihood that it's related to some form of pollution.  Because of this use of electricity, gas, or oil, more must be produced or processed.  These facilities to produce or process that which brings us warmth produce their own impact on the environment.  Even wood burning and pellet stoves produce their own pollution.  Only those who use environmentally friendly means to heat their house, such as with solar heating, or use thermal insulation from the earth, can crank the heat however they like it without negative impact to the environment.

So remember as this year comes in, keep that thermostat turned down.  If you don't like living in a cold house, bust out the warm and woolies.  This is a perfect time to show off that cute pair of slippers you made for yourself.  What better time to pull out your favorite sweaters or sweatshirts?  Start the fashion trend of wearing a beret, hat, or even a decorative scarf or shawl in the house.  There's no reason dressing warm should make you feel like you've got to "dress like a mom".  Have fun with it.

Crafting for Cloth Diapers

Have you ever noticed that those who do crafts tend to find practical reasons for them.  The more practical the craft, the more practical the use.  Yes, there are always going to be things that are not useful as anything more than home decor, but this isn't the trend.  Why wouldn't we think the same with two natural things that fall so closely in line with each other?

For me, I'm a knitter, a breastfeeding mom that cloth diapers, co-sleeps, and attachment parents.  Obviously, some of these fall straight in line.  Cloth diapering and breastfeeding seem a common overlap.  Co-sleeping and attachment parenting is another.  However, knitting doesn't seem to fall in line with that.

What many don't think of, at least until they cloth diaper themselves, is the connection between cloth diapering and wool.  Wool is a material that is highly absorbent, yet water resistant.  It keeps warm, even when wet.  It wicks away moisture.  With the addition of a little lanolin, it is the perfect substance for diaper covers for cloth diapers.  This is where the connection is made.

Knitting, spinning, weaving, and crocheting all easily utilize wool with the purpose of turning it into fabric.  It's not surprising that many who cloth diaper would see the connection, the use, and the potential to save a lot of money by making their own.  They make soakers, little diaper covers that keep the cloth diapers from soaking through to the clothes.  They make shorties, baby sized shorts that work as diaper covers.  They make longies, knit or crocheted baby pants that also work as diaper covers.  It's a practical connection between craft and function.

I've seen these items for sale and have considered purchasing longies, shorties, or soakers for my sons.  Some of them can get quite pricey.  I've seen longies sell for $60 on etsy and e-bay.  I thought it was completely out of my league.  However, when looking at the cost of making them myself, things changed quite a bit.  I can make a pair of longies for my son at his current size for as low as $9 in yarn and a few hours of time.  I can make them in the largest size for as low as $12.  The patterns range from free to $10, generally offering different options.  Doesn't that even make a $30 pair of longies sound expensive then?  Where if I make them, I get busy work, the satisfaction of finishing and using them, and save a lot of money in the long run.  Doesn't making my own sound so much more practical?

Well, the longies, shorties, and soakers will be parading in soon.  I've got a pattern that I love and yarn on the way.  I don't know why I hadn't thought about that option when I was thinking about going back to cloth.  It would only make sense that I would pick up the needles and make them myself.  I can't wait to start rolling them out!  Not only will that help reduce my impact on the world around me, but they will be natural, not made from chemical processes.  They will give me something to be productive and keep myself busy.  Best of all, they will last for many years through many children, even if all of them aren't my own.

Taming the Jungle

Yesterday we finally got something done for the land.  The large bed of weeds that had overgrown between the mesquite tree and the crab apple tree has finally been cut back.  The small holy bushes can finally be seen.  We found ivy climbing and suffocating some of the weeds.  We're doing what we can to cut back the small forest of weeds and maintain our land.  There's still a long way to go, but progress is being made towards a healthier environment for our local plant life.

A part of me wishes we didn't have to weed our garden spaces.  It's not that I'm lazy and don't like the work of maintaining our land.  In truth, I was somewhat ambivalent about it when I worked for the landscaping company years back, but I think that was a combination of the summer heat and not feeling inspired to maintain another person's land.  However, it's a very different story.  I love the land we live on, and I love the act of maintaining it.  I just wish we didn't have to uproot the plants that willingly chose this land as their home.  It seems somehow unfair to me.  Nature allowed these plants to take root and flourish, so who am I to say that they aren't welcome?  And for what?  Because they're not pretty enough?  Because they're in the way of what I want to grow?  Because they're unpleasant, often spiny or causing some sort of skin reaction?  I wish that the yard could flourish just the way it wanted to, without our influence, to grow wild as nature intended it to be.

In the realm of productive gardens, that's just not the way things work.  We need to cultivate certain plants for a variety of reasons.  In the case of food bearing plants, we hope to support our small household with those plants.  When it comes to flowers and other elements of beauty or shade, they have their own practicality.  Sunflowers and other plants provide seeds, vital to feeding the local birds and squirrels.  Trees provide shade, offering a pleasant and needed escape from the summer's brutal heat.  Even mowing the lawn helps reduce the ticks and snakes that could be potentially harmful to our family, both human and animal.  I suppose these things aren't necessary for life, but they do improve the quality of the land around us.

So yesterday our mission was to cut back that grove of weeds.  Wild bushes, milkweed, and spiny dandelion all had taken root.  We pulled them out and cut them back, though we didn't dig up the roots as I suppose we should some day go back to do.  I know ignoring the roots only invites them to return.  We will get to that when the time is right, but for now our mission was to cut back all the unwanted growth to try and make way for that which we wanted to survive.

It felt good to work with the earth again.  I wasn't exactly digging my hands into the soil, nor was I able to bury my feet into the soft soil.  To be honest, the crumbling mulch bed beneath it all would have likely felt quite unpleasant under my feet.  Even without those happy feelings, I was able to feel like I was taking my part to care for the earth again.  As I cut further and further in I felt like an adventurer looking for a new discovery.  First I found the base of the mesquite tree.  Next I came across the holy bushes.  We even found what looks like a baby holy bush growing in the field of all that chaos.  Next I started to dig out the ivy.  There were two caterpillars hidden in all of that mess.  One was a large, fuzzy yellow one.  The other was about half the size, but the same fuzzy yellow, like a little brother.  They were both relocated to the crab apple tree where they should have plenty to eat so they may grow.  Perhaps the butterfly garden would have been smarter, but we didn't think of that.

On a sad note, there seems to be a lot of death around.  There's a dead tree in the back lot.  There's a tree that seems to be dead in the front lot.  The base of a dead cactus marks the entry way to the drive.  There's a stump of a dead peach tree on the side of the house.  Even the mesquite tree seems to be ready to release it's hold on life to be put to some other purpose.  However, even with so much death, there is life.  The cactus has regrown with a new vibrance, both from babies dropped off from the original plant, and sprouting up from the dead roots.  The peach tree seems to have growth around it's base as well.  Though the mesquite tree was dying, a plentiful number of weeds grew in the soft shade it provides.  From death there seems to be new beginnings, which gives me hope that this land will soon blossom into something vibrant and plentiful.

As I stood in that patch of weeds, debating which direction to cut away next, having visions of the wild and vibrant possibilities that section of land held, I felt connected again.  I felt like I was taking action to improve the land around me, not only in appearance, but on many other levels as well.  The land is destined to be beautiful with both garden harvest and vibrant flowers.  The soil will be improved as we compost what we can to give back vital nutrients to the earth.  The plants will do their part to cleanse the air making oxygen that is so vital to our bodies survival.  The air will smell fresh, sweet, and fragrant from the bounty of flowers.  Our carbon footprint will be altered by our reduced need for groceries from outside the home.  In general, we will be living more at peace with the land.  Everything will come to balance.  I think I'm finally finding happiness in this land.  There is no longer any doubt.  I am where I belong.

Building the Community

It may not be there yet, but I've made the first step.  A sustainable community is in the making!  Better still, it's not just a vision from my own head.  I now have others who share the vision.  We're taking the first step of the way.  We've got an idea.  Now we just have to implement it.

Not so long ago I met a really great couple.  We got along really well.  Our families are very different, yet share enough similarities to make everything work.  They have no children, but they get along really well with our three.  Her husband gets along wonderfully with my boyfriend.  They play video games together.  She and I share a lot of the same ideas and can spend forever talking.  We've got a lot of the same ideas and a lot in common.  I'm not really surprised at the way things are turning out.

It wasn't long before we talked about starting a sustainable community.  We have some great ideas.  We're talking about trying to buy up land.  We want to work with green energy.  We want to focus on sustainable living, healthy habits, and teaching the outside community how to live in a way that is healthy for their whole family (pets included!) and is good for the environment.

This is the tragic thing about today's society, we don't know how to take care of themselves and the world around them.  The standard American diet is incredibly unhealthy.  Most Americans have very low and unhealthy fitness levels.  Many of the chemicals we put in our bodies through foods, medications, and that absorb into the body through cleaning agents and soaps and inhalation.  There are allergens everywhere, but often times go unnoticed because we don't know to look.  These allergens are so integrated into our society that we just get used to the way they make us feel and think it's normal.  Many families have problems with raising their children and can use some help finding techniques that work, which is why shows and books like Super Nanny are so popular.  The same goes with pets and training.  Very few people know environmentally friendly ways to care for their home.  Fewer still know anything about green living.  It would be good for families to have a chance to learn about all of that so they can develop a sustainable life of their own.

Our goal is to set up a whole community.  We would like to have an inner community of those who follow our vision and fit with the family, and a more extended community that lives outside our small family group.  We're looking to buy a substantial amount of land, if we can, including a plot of land that already has wind power.  We've also talked about planning to buy up some of the other local land to house other families from the community.  We hope to have a holistic healing center that includes everything from natural medicines to massage therapy and energy healing (reiki and chakra therapies).  We'll add a dance studio and hopefully that will turn into a full arts and movement center, including yoga and pilates.  If we can find people who are interested in running them, we would love to have a space for martial arts in more of a "warrior's center" and a birth center, but those will have to come in time, should we find the right people.  We want to set up a homeschooling group for the children.  Group discussions for parenting classes would be wonderful.  Lessons in the proper care and training of domesticated animals would also be an option.  Finally, we'd like to have a spiritual center where we hold rituals and lessons in spirituality.  Ideally, we would also have both a men's group and a women's group so each gender could explore spirituality with people of their own gender, with celebrations and classes that bring both groups together as well.  We could hold drum circles and bonfires.  Can you tell we've got a lot of plans?

Maybe this seems like thinking big.  This is a lot for one small family tribe to accomplish, but thinking big is where it all begins.  Field of Dreams had it right with the line, "If you build it, they will come."  I've noticed with every community I've been in, once you create a home for it, interested people will come from the most unexpected places.  If there's an interest out there, this community will come together, and there's always people interested in alternative lifestyles and means of living.  It sets a good example for the rest of the community.  If we can do this, others can too!  Besides, nothing ever got accomplished by thinking small.  It truly is the dreamers that change the world.

We're only able to take small steps and make plans right now, but it feels good to have a life dream finally coming together.  I'm finally feeling like I've found my home, somewhere I can be happy.  I'm finally starting to really build my tribe.  We're going to be capable of incredible things, since we've already put our minds to it.  Now all we need to do is make it happen.

Sustainablity Tip: Plastic Eggs

So, Easter is over, and if your family is anything like mine, you've got a ton of plastic eggs floating around the house.  While families striving for sustainability would prefer something more natural, such as hard-boiled and dyed eggs or knitted or crochet wool, sometimes you end up with plastic eggs from community Easter egg hunts, church events, or from family Easters with those who don't follow sustainable habits.  In my house, there are usually more than a few eggs floating around.  Rather than toss them in the trash, here's an idea of what you can do to reuse those eggs!

There are eggs in all shapes and sizes these days, from absolutely tiny, to incredibly large.  These eggs have varying hardness levels, from your cheap dollar store special with thin walls that break easily, to seriously heavy duty shells that often come with packages containing specialty toys for the Easter season.  Whatever kind of plastic egg you have, here's a quick craft that will make use of those eggs, and provide a fun craft to your egg collecting kids!

Chick Shake!

What you need:
As many plastic Easter eggs as you would like to make
A variety of fillings (seeds, pebbles, sand, and beads all work really well to create different sounds)
Glue (craft glue works, but some may prefer something more hardcore.)
Craft paints
Glitter glue

What to do:

Fill each egg with a small amount of your filling.  Put a small amount of beads, sand, seeds, pebbles, or whatever it is you choose to fill your eggs so they are about a third of the way full.    Close your eggs and shake them to see how they sound.  You want to be careful when shaking them to be sure they don't open!  Adjust the amount and substance in each egg until you get a sound you like.

When you've gotten the sound you want, put a small amount of glue on the lip of the egg that overlaps to seal it.  I find it easier to put the glue on the outside of the inner lip.  Then I wipe off the excess glue with a rag.  Set the egg aside until the glue dries.

Once your egg is glued shut, take your craft paints and glitter glues to decorate the egg however you like!  Encourage children to make each of their eggs unique.  If your kids don't know what to paint, or aren't the imaginative sort, encourage them to paint something that reminds them of what they did on Easter or ask them who can come up with the most colorful pattern.  After all the painting is done, leave the eggs to dry.  If your kids have covered the eggs with a lot of paint or put it thickly on, you may want to let them dry overnight.

The end result?  You now have some cool musical shakers that have saved a little more plastic from ending up in a landfill!  Enjoy making music with your kids!

Sustainable Tip of the Day: Open a Window!

It's a wonderfully warm day today in the state of Texas.  The air is fresh and clean.  It's a wonderful day to be outside, enjoying the fresh air, even if it is a slightly overcast day, so why not bring some of that wonderful fresh air inside?

That's the sustainable tip of the day!  Opening a window will allow fresh air to enter your house which has tons of benefits!  Often times there's a breeze, so air circulating in the house will keep it cool.  As long as the weather is nice outside, you'll be bringing that fresh warm (or slightly cool if that's the kind of day you prefer!) air into your home.  Especially in Southern regions where the instinct is to turn on your AC the moment the heat is no longer required, opening a window to let the fresh air in can save a lot on electricity too.  The house will be cooled naturally.  Saving on electricity is better on your wallet, and better on the environment!  Better still, airing out your house can help clear out dust and stale air that has been sitting in the house all winter long.  Come summer, for many places it's much too hot to enjoy simply opening up a window, so enjoy this nice weather while it lasts!

Shade and Container Gardening

One of the things I most wanted to do this year was start a small vegetable garden.  I was willing to go with a container garden, since I knew we would be moving and didn't know what the conditions would be like.  I had looked into ideas for hanging tomato plants to make the most out of balconies, what kinds of containers I could get my hands on, and even looking into various supply places that offer rack type systems for urban gardening.  I had it all figured out in my mind once we realized what apartment complex we were intending to move into.  I would make use of every inch of that space, if possible, with money saving plants.  Better still, the greenery would help to beautify my apartment, keep nosy neighbors from being able to get too great of a view in the house, and otherwise improve my living conditions.

Here's where my brilliant plan went wrong.  We happened to get a North facing apartment.  What did this mean for my gardening?  While there are plenty of plants that enjoy growing in full shade, fruits and vegetables aren't in that number.  While there are some vegetables, like greens (lettuce, broccoli, and that kind of thing) and root vegetables (potatoes, etc) are happy to grow in the shade, they need at least some sun every day to grow at all.  Well, there goes that idea!  Now if I want a vegetable garden, I'm going to have to employ the use of grow lamps so that I can get anything to grow!  So much for sustainable living!  I wonder if my yield in vegetables would justify the expense of electricity for the grow lamps...

I'm learning day by day that this sustainable living stuff is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, especially if you don't live in the ideal conditions for it.  I've heard wonderful stories about rooftop container gardens, sustainable gardens in back yards, and so much more, but as fate would have it, I don't have the conditions for any of those things.

I guess I'm going to have to wait until we can own our own land or move to somewhere more ideal for gardening for that to happen.  It's sad that one of my sustainable living dreams is so easily knocked down because of the situation we have to be in, or at least we have to be more creative about it.  I guess at this time I need to stop and focus on other things, like living a more healthy lifestyle, producing less waste, and being as environmentally aware as possible in other respects.

An Unexpected Bonus for Sustainable Living

Today I managed to do something wonderful for water conservation and I wasn't even thinking about it at the time!  This has gotten me thinking about other ways I can conserve water, but I'll probably go into those later.  Until we own our own house, it's going to be challenging to conserve water in any other way than to restrict what we use.

As I mentioned earlier, my family has been having a problem with lice.  These are the evil kind that can't be killed by anything but the most drastic of measures.  We got a prescription from the doctor to handle this problem, so hopefully things were going to get better.  Today was supposed to be the great delousing day.  Hair was to be treated or shaved, sheets would be washed, soft toys put away until cleaned, and the lice problem would be gone.  This isn't the best way to spend a birthday, but at least we would be lice free!

Unfortunately, this didn't exactly go as planned, but what ever does around here.  Thinking it would be smart to review the information on the prescription before I attempted to use it, I flipped open the page from the pharmacy.  This had all sorts of useful information like preventing this stuff from getting in the eyes and nose and cautioning children to keep their eyes shut while the chemical was put in their hair.  All of that seemed simple enough.  That's when I get to the warning.  It seems that it is unknown whether or not it is safe to breastfeed while using this medication.  There is a possibility that the chemical could transfer through the skin and into the bloodstream, only to get into the milk and poison the baby.  While, in theory, this shouldn't be a problem, there is no evidence that this is safe to use while nursing.  Further, it is recommended that a woman does not use this chemical while nursing, from the information I've managed to find out.  I don't have enough milk stored to go a full day without nursing, so I wasn't going to take the risk.  Who could blame me?  Isn't the health of my baby more important than killing lice by chemical means?  That would mean I'd have to wait a week or more to store up enough milk for an entire day of feedings, and I didn't want to make my family suffer with these bugs for that long.  My hair was shaved and that was the end of it.

So where does the water conservation kick in?  Do you have any idea how long it takes me to shower now?  Hop in, soap up, rinse off, shave, and out.  I can be in and out of the shower in two minutes or less.  Normally it takes me at least fifteen because of washing my hair and all of that.  I've heard that taking a bath actually saves more on water than showering, but I think in my case, I can shower and use less water than I would in a bath.  It's going to save a lot of water!

This has more benefits than simply water conservation.  Of course, conserving water means that less waste water is being produced.  The state of Texas isn't exactly known for being water rich and droughts happen.  Conserving water is one more measure to reduce the chances of a shortage.  Then there's the financial benefit for my family.  For those who live in states that tenants pay their own water bill, you may not understand the benefit.  However, in Texas, or for most home owners, the water bill is just one more expense to add to the list.  It's one more bill draining family funds.  Therefore, if I'm taking quick showers and using less water, the water bill is lower and that money can be put other places, such as paying off my car or past debts to get us out of debt that much sooner.  Who knew the act of shaving my head would actually save me on money?  On top of that, I'm not using shampoo and conditioner right now, so the water has one less solution dumped into it and I save on the cost of shampoo and conditioner!  It may not be a huge expense, but every little bit counts.  After all, every penny saved is one more that can go towards creating financial freedom and stability for my family.

Of course, all of this resulted from yet another positive act for the environment, and for my family, breastfeeding.  Because I breastfeed, I'm benefiting my family and the environment in a number of ways.  Obviously, my son is benefiting from all the positive effects breastfeeding has on baby, like increased immunities, reduced chances of allergies, and the healthiest, most natural source of nutrition available to him.  I'm benefiting by losing the baby weight that much quicker.  My whole family is financially benefiting because breast milk is virtually free, or at least significantly cheaper than formula.  Unlike the popular claim, I say that breastfeeding is not actually free.  Most mothers consume more calories and have to take prenatal vitamins that they would not otherwise take due to breastfeeding, but the cost of an additional three hundred or so calories to the diet and prenatal vitamins in comparison to the exorbitant cost of formula is still relatively small.  There's the environmental benefit because more formula packaging isn't finding it's ways into landfills and dumps.  Breast milk comes in a natural and (eventually) biodegradable package.  For many families there are no bottles to clean and sterilize, which reduces energy and water consumption.  Even for families that do use bottles for pumping and storage of milk, unless they exclusively pump (which some do), they are still using less bottles and therefore consuming less water and energy to wash and sterilize those bottles and their pump than formula feeding families use.  Finally, there's this unexpected benefit of breastfeeding meaning the only way to rid myself of these lice is through shaving my head, which means for quicker showers and even less water consumption by my family!  Who knew that breastfeeding would end up saving me so much on my water bill every month?

What does this have to do with sustainable living?  A good deal, actually!  Breastfeeding, for example, reduces my dependence on outside sources of food for my family.  This effects my impact on the environment in many ways, everything from the after effects of the packaging to the transportation of the formula to the factory that created it.  I have my own self-sustaining milk production center right here!  That reduces the negative impact on the environment left from my family, which is, of course, better for the earth.  The more sustainable resources we use from local suppliers, the less of a pollution impact we have on our environment.  With water consumption, all the crud that ends up in the water has to go somewhere, even if it's just purified out.  That takes energy.  It takes energy to pump the water to our houses.  Especially in areas where water is limited during portions of the year, water is a valuable resource that shouldn't be wasted.  Saving water could mean there's more available for livestock and crops.  Saving water also means consuming less energy to transport the water to your home, which generally comes from unsustainable energy sources, like most conventional power plants.  Financial independence may not strike many as a step towards sustainable living, but financial independence, freedom from all debt, will help with sustainable living.  It means you need to earn more money to pay off bills and creditors.  In a day and age where most people past the age of retirement can't afford to live off their retirement funds, it's a benefit to be out of debt and planning for your future as soon as possible.  If nothing else, I don't want my kids to be saddled with my bills after I die!  I would like to leave them free and clear, perhaps with something to inherit, even if it is just my house or some land.  Being out of debt means no interest payments, which means more of my money stays in my pockets.  That means more savings, or more money that can be put into creating an even more sustainable home, perhaps a place with solar or wind power.  Everything cycles back to being a possibility to living more sustainably.

So in the end, it all started out as a frustration that breastfeeding prevented me from being able to save my hair, but what's a little vanity for a healthier means of living?  I think the benefits far outweigh the inconveniences in this case.  Who knew breastfeeding and the lice that would not die would end up leading my family to having so many benefits to push us further towards a sustainable lifestyle and more financial freedom?  Maybe it was meant to be!

Challenges in 2010

As of Monday this week, we are officially free and clear of our old home.  We've got everything packed up and chaotically fit like Tetris blocks in our living room.  Slowly things are being unpacked and put away.  We're starting to settle in and find our way in our new home.  We're trying to make this new, smaller apartment into a home instead of just a place where all our stuff happens to be.

Of course, moving always comes with it's challenges, but this new place comes with more than expected.  Some of the changes are good, some aren't.  For us, this will mean a lot of changes in our lives, both in an effort to work with the bad, and in a positive direction for all the good new features of this apartment.

To begin, we'll start with the good things.  The floors in this new apartment are carpeted.  This is wonderful as it helps retain the heat and prevents the cement slab floors from freezing our feet.  The place is far better insulated, so when it's cool, it stays that way longer.  When it's warm, it keeps the heat in.  There are very few windows for heat to escape from, and those are well seated and not drafty like our old home.  We're on the first floor, so we won't have the challenge of the sun beating down on the roof and causing the house to be brutally warm, though we do have some problems with the master bedroom in the mornings.  The ventilation system actually works, so we won't have the problems with trying to play with the temperature settings to keep the house tolerable in the bedrooms and living spaces at the same time.  The place is also significantly smaller, which means there's less space to heat.  Finally, right off our back patio is wilderness.  I saw a fox out there two nights ago.  Yesterday there were a pair of hawks hunting.  They flew by as close as perhaps twenty feet away!  One night last week we had a chance to meet one of our neighbors, a possum that was walking up and down the breezeway.  It feels good to be in touch with nature again and not so cut off from the environment as we used to be.

Unfortunately, this place has it's own issues.  The biggest problem I have right now is the lack of a recycling program.  I know that's easy enough to solve.  All I have to do is find the local recycling center and bring all our recycling down there, but it's so much effort!  I'll admit that I'm lazy.  Whoever lives above us is always banging about at five in the morning, keeping me awake.  There aren't many windows, so natural ventilation is difficult.  There is one window in each bedroom and the patio door in the living room.  This also means a lack of light.  Most of our windows are facing north, so that means very little light comes in, so electric lighting needs to be used in order to do just about anything in the kitchen, including homeschool activities.  Our northern facing patio is also going to be difficult to grow plants on.  Any kind of container garden I could have will need to be made of plants that grow well in the shade.  I also can't set up a drying rack in the sun so that clothing can be air dried.

A problem we had at our old place has been carried on to our new home, a lack of a washer and dryer.  While a part of this is just a convenience, it's also something that would make a huge difference here.  Having a washer and dryer would make cloth diapering so much easier, which means less disposable diapers ending up in landfills and otherwise destroying the planet.  I hope to save up to buy a nice, new Energy Star washer and dryer, since those have the least impact on the environment, probably less so than even the local laundromat.  Better still, gas would be saved in transporting the laundry!  That's something we need to work up to.

All in all, this apartment is a step in the right direction for us.  It will be easier to maintain.  It's required us to downsize the total amount of stuff we own.  Most of what we're getting rid of is going to donations of some sort, so we're not just throwing it away and leading to more excess waste.  We are taking steps to give our lives more structure and order.  This has really been a positive change for us.  Now we just need to cope with the challenges this new place brings.