Lets Get Outside

Many of you know that the Poo and I spend as much time as possible outdoors. We fly kites and play baseball and kickball. We play red light green light and garden with veggies and flowers. We go for walks and go play at the park. She loves to be active and Papi and I encourage that as much as we can. Even if it is just coloring with sidewalk chalk. When Papi is not at work he joins us in our outdoor adventures and loves it just as much as she and I do. But even we run out of things to keep us outside and that is why I really have enjoyed reading a new book Lynette from Crazed Mind lent to us. 15 Minutes Outside : 365 ways to get out of the house and connect with your kids by Rebecca P. Cohen is a wonderful book packed with ideas to get you and your kids outside and moving no matter the weather. Rebecca shares her story of how she got the idea to get her kids out everyday and took a leap of faith to change jobs after 15 years.

In this book she has ideas for every month of the year and all kinds of weather. There are tips to get your kids imaginations going as well as their bodies. She has put in the tricks she has found to make things easier and quicker to get out no matter the weather and how to stay warm in winter and cool in summer. Some of the ideas are super simple and tons of fun, some require a little more planning but are worth the effort it takes to get outside. One of the ideas I really liked was create your own drive in. In the evening, get some lawn chairs or blankets set up, pop your popcorn and head out with your laptop or portable dvd player and enjoy a movie night outside with your family. Simple but not something I would have thought of on my own and a great way to have a nice family evening. I have really enjoyed reading this book and think the ideas are wonderful and enjoyable for all ages. I would recommend you check out Rebecca's website at www.rebeccaplants.com/outdoorliving.asp.

This is a review of this book. I recieved no compensation for this. Lynette recieved a copy of this book for review purposes and all opinons are my own.

Garden Dreams

Well, as I said earlier in the week I am posting photos of we what are going to try to put in the garden. We got a new layer of snow last night and early this morning but it is melting off now. Unfortunately during the thaw one of our water pipes busted so I had to go shut off the water. Won't Papi be surprised when he gets home.

Still, trying to look on the bright side... we never did lose water during all these days of extreme cold. I don't think one day will kill us and it is inside by the water heater so he won't even have to crawl under the house to fix it.

Back to the garden, thawing means possibly tilling if we can get the tiller going this weekend. In the hopes that I get to start tilling this month, the Poo and I have gone through all of our sale seeds and decided how the main garden will go. Mind you the most expensive seed pack we have bought cost us 10 cents. most we got on sale at 20 packs for a dollar, some were 10 packs for a dollar. Pretty cheap groceries. The last 2 years we have watered with city water which can get a little costly. the first year we had no rain and it raised our water bill by 50 dollars a month for 4 months. This year we are going to try to get a submersible pump and holding tank and see if we can use our well, since we are lucky enough to have one that is 135 feet deep even though they hit water at 30 feet.

We will also have a melon garden that is separate from the vegetables that will include cantaloupe, watermelon, canary melon, pumpkins, and acorn squash.

We have our salad mix of veggies that will be in the raised bed I am working on and the main garden that will host all of our staple veggies such as tomatoes, squash, corn, green beans, peas, cabbage, and beans( pinto, black eyed, lima, etc..).

Hopefully we are not taking on too much, but we have done nearly this much with me working 12 hour shifts and Papi working 6 days a week. I think with me being home full time we will be able to accomplish this. It is going to be a lot of work and a lot of fun. The Poo takes great pride in her gardening abilities and loves nothing more than to wander through the garden picking veggies and eating them right there! What can be better than fresh tomatoes still warm from the sun? Not much if you ask my girl.

We will have different varieties of the same vegetables as we do every year, however this year we have found three different types of cabbage we will grow. Last years cabbage were HUGE. We could quarter on head and cook the quarter and still have leftovers. That's a big cabbage. As always, we are going to plant enough to be able to share with our dear friends. Nothing says I love you like baskets of fresh veggies or a call saying" Come pick what you want! "

We will update with photos as we get progress made.

Snow Day

Well, after 75 degrees on Saturday we reached a high of 23 degrees here today! Woohoo! I know its colder other places but this just doesn't happen here. We have what looks like snow but upon closer inspection is really a sleet, ice and snow mix. Very crunchy and not fun to play in at all. I have to say when I got up this morning I very excitedly went to the door because I had heard it start last night. I am from a more northern place in Texas so I wanted to build a snowman and make snow angels. Unfortunately the Poo still has a nasty cough and I could not drag her out on 25 mile per hour winds to play(much to her dismay).
So instead we decided to have a snow day. What is a snow day you ask? Well, I will tell you. For us, we decided silly string would be great fun.



We even attempted to ambush the Papa when he came home from work but our string wouldn't spray. The can I left attached to the front door for him miraculously worked great. Talk about karma!
Our poor dogs could not find a good place to hide as we chased each other with silly string through the house. Neither of us were aiming at them but you could not have convinced them of that fact. Also, since our house is old and drafty(like the windows are wide open drafty) we decided to bake to keep the house warmer. The Poo loves to mix and add ingredients so that was lots of fun for her. We even put together a princess puzzle and wore our princess power rings.
Loads of fun for a little princess. We managed to make a large bread pudding with dulce de leche to put on top, a cinnamon swirl bread, chocolate chip cookies, and baked spaghetti with garlic bread.
Not a bad day at all. She had a good time and I got some cleaning done.
Most importantly we stayed WARM!!

Dryer lint! Who knew?

Having a small child and trying to be frugal leads a person to look at things differently. That being said, here are some of the uses I have found for dryer lint. We seem to produce an enormous amount of lint in the winter time and it seems silly to throw it out when it can be used. Remember that it is very flammable and you do not want to have it near fire or electrical equipment.

Dryer Lint Clay (2 versions)
3 cups lint
2 cups water
1 cup flour
3 drops vegetable oil
scented oil if you choose
Tear 3 cups of lint into small pieces and place in a saucepan. Cover with about 2 cups of water and slowly stir in 1 cup of flour. Add a few drops of vegetable oil,and scented oil. Stir constantly, over low heat, until mixture is smooth and binds together. Pour onto sheets of newspaper, parchment or waxed paper to cool. Use to sculpt models, cover forms, or pack into small molds such as candy molds. Allow your creation to dry fully, which can take anywhere from 3 to 7 days, depending on the size. Paint and decorate to finish.

HOMEMADE Lint Clay

Ingredients::
2 cups firmly packed dryer lint
1/3 cup warm water
6 tablespoons white glue
1 tablespoon clear dish washing liquid
Food coloring

Directions:
Put lint into a mixing bowl.
Add the other ingredients.
Mix thoroughly. When you can no longer mix, knead with hands until of a uniform texture.

Shape and model, or fill molds with it.


Dryer Lint Faux Paper Mache
2 cups water
3 cups lint
2/3 cup flour
Combine 2 cups of water with 3 cups of dryer lint in a large saucepan. Stir in 2/3 cup of flour until well mixed. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until pulp holds together enough to form peaks. Pour onto newspaper, parchment or waxed paper to cool. If not using immediately, store in an airtight container; pulp will keep for about 3 days. Spread mixture over the object that you are using as the paper mache mold - a bowl, box, bottle or balloon, for instance. Allow to air dry, which may take up to a week. Sand rough edges and decorate as desired.

Dryer lint paper

Ingredients:
a blender
warm water
scraps of old paper torn into small pieces
dryer lint (add to paper mix- do not use alone)
a plain wooden picture frame (8"x10")
a piece of window screen material (12"x14" or larger)
a staple gun or waterproof glue
two large plastic dish pans or baby bathtubs
clean rags (at least 15"x15" square)
old newspapers
a rolling pin
metal shears to cut the screen
Optional: spray starch, iron

Directions:

Place torn scraps of paper , some dryer lint and warm water into a large pan to soak until
saturated and soft (the resulting paper pulp mixture is called "slurry").
Scoop out one cup of slurry, put into blender and add water to fill
blender. (If you want pure white paper, add 1/4 cup chlorine bleach at this
point.) Blend for a few seconds until it's smooth and mushy. Pour paper mush
into large tub. Repeat several times until there's about 5 inches of mushy
water in the tub.
You can also add food coloring to tint your paper or add other organic materials such as dried flowers and leaves to give your paper more texture.

Line plant pots with dryer lint, then add potting soil and plants. The lint keeps the soil in, but lets the water out.

Use dryer lint as a kind of indoor mulch to help conserve moisture for your indoor tropical plants. Just spread the dryer lint on the surface of the plant soil; water the plant as usual.

Conserve moisture in outdoor container plants, or around the base of small specimen plants, by mulching with dryer lint.

Build a better bird's nest or guinea pig's bed. Leave some lint on a wall and birds may grab it and use it for a nest. Throw some lint in with the guinea pig's shavings for good snuggling.

Hang a mesh bag like (the ones onions come in) from a tree in your yard or on your porch. Stuff lint into the bag. The birds and squirrels will love using it for bedding and nesting material.

Add it to a pet cage with shredded paper as litter. We use it in our rabbit cage and it really helps absorb smells.


Take enough lint to stuff a small pillow and add a couple of tbs. or so of catnip (depending on potency of the kitty weed). Be sure to sew up the pillow tightly, as Fluffy is going to go crazy! Stimulate the catnip by rubbing the pillow vigorously between your palms. Toss it to kitty and watch the fun.

You can use dryer lint to insulate door cracks by making a door sock and filling it with dryer lint.

If you are really crafty you can spin it into new yarn and make sweaters, socks, or a scarf if you like. It is clean fabric after all :)

You can also use it as a fire starter for your grill, fire place or campfires. You can either stuff it into empty toilet paper rolls or pack it into cardboard egg cartons and cover with a little melted wax. After it hardens you can break it apart and use it to start you fire with.

We compost and dryer lint is a great addition to the compost tumblers I made.(That is another post) Just add grass clippings, a little dirt, veggie skins, coffee grounds, fruit peels, dryer lint, shredded paper- whatever you have available. It makes great dirt!

Hope you enjoyed reading. Even if you never reuse dryer lint, it is interesting to know how many ways you can reuse it.

The deed is done

Well, its done. I wasn't sure I could do it but I managed. Last night I told my sister our mother has cancer and she has to start chemo next week. I have been sick about it for days. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to say. She took it about like I had thought she would, as most people would. She was crushed and shocked.
It is a life changing event for everyone involved. My mom is going to have to move in with us while she goes through chemo and radiation for the next several months. I will have to drive her to the treatment center 5 days a week and then go to her house to care for her animals every day. I am hoping my employer will be willing to work with me so that I can keep my job. I really can not afford to lose the insurance on my daughter and myself. Also, I am trying to figure out how we can spend more money on gas and groceries while bringing in less money due to me not working.
What worries me the most is that I will not be able to physically hold up to the task. Some of you know that I have active Lyme disease. It has wrecked my body. I have fought very hard over the last year to regain strength and stamina, but I am not where I should be. What if I get sick? What if I just can not hold up to it? How do I explain to a 3 year old about her grandmother's illness? She will be seeing my mom everyday as she goes through treatment. If anyone has any ideas please feel free to share.
There are a thousand what if's going through me right now. All I know is we will make it work somehow just because we have to. Thanks for listening. Love ya

OOPSIE!!

Well as everyone here knows the cold weather has struck. I brought in my ivy that Kevin got me last week. I know it was a little late as I lost a few leaves but it is recouping nicely. Well, I went to get something out of the car a minute ago and easily got sidetracked as I am prone to do. My handsome kitty came up and wanted love and when I was petting him I SAW it. Emma's plant. Tropical plant.
The story goes that when we go to a store, if she behaves very well she will get a "comprise" as she calls it. We usually keep it under a dollar. Just a little something to let her know she did a good job.
Anyway, a few months ago we had to get groceries, lots of them because I had pretty much let us run out of everything. So armed with my circulars and coupons we set out to find the best deals. Some here in town, some at walmart , piggly wiggly going out of business, and heb. You see how taxing this can be for a child of 2 at the time. 4 stores, 1 comprise. Heb was our last stop. As we walking in the door they had a plant stand as most grocery stores do. Her little face lit up. We had been planting the garden and fruit trees all week. She saw the plants and said "thats it momma, thats my comprise!". So we get over to them and they are pathetic. Wilted and dry and dying off. They are marked 1 dollar each and she quickly found 4 she wanted.One even had pink dots on the leaves, perfect for a princess she tells me. I concede she went to 4 stores and she could have all of them. However, when we go to check out I ask if they are on sale due to the poor condition. The nice lady at the register tells me they are not but she would call the manager to see what we could do. He comes and we got them all for a buck. All summer she has watered her plants with her watering can and I, the forgetful momma has let them freeze.
Well all is not lost I hope. 2 of them look ok, the other 2 not so great. But the one with the pink dots will make it I think. So we are now on the mission of repotting them in hopes that it will help to get more dirt around the roots as they are root bound.
On another note, Poo is feeling a bit better. I however feel like my legs are made of jello thats not quite set yet but at least I have quit shivering and shaking so bad. Please pray for the princess plants. Love ya