The Wrapping Battle

I keep trying. Wrapping paper, to me, resembles a single use plastic bag. That is, wrapping paper is a waste of money and creates massive amounts of trash destined for landfills. Almost none of it is recycled or recyclable. Very little can be burned in a fireplace due to the chemical content. Unless it comes from a thrift store or the dollar aisle, wrapping paper is not cost effective, either.

My family disagrees. This year, they took pleasure in making a mess of any wrapping paper they could. Their goal: prevent mom from saving big sheets of paper for reuse.

the chaos after opening gifts

the chaos after opening gifts

Well, I did what I could.

garbage, below salvaged tissue for reuse, above

garbage, below
salvaged tissue for reuse, above

Given the sizable stacks of gifts, I can’t feel too bad. The stack of reusable tissue is almost as big as the bag destined for the garbage bin. I also managed to set aside this collection.

cute box filled with gift bags

cute box filled with gift bags

Despite the family’s efforts to undermine my green goals, I managed to save more than we threw away. And that, my bloggy friends, is itself a gift.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

‘Tis the Wrapping Season again

Ah, yes. It’s time to remind myself (as if I needed the reminder) of my personal rule: No New Wrapping Papers. I give in on ribbons, invisible tape, and a few other basics. But as for wrapping paper, I dig in my heels.

Wrapping paper is:

  • rarely recycled
  • even more rarely recyclable
  • not suitable for fireplaces
  • wasteful (as in it fills the garbage bin)
  • a waste of money

I am lenient on the  re-use of gift bags – key word, re-use. I stuff the aforementioned bags with reused and reusable tissue. Sometimes we even decorate a plain bag with small scraps of re-purposed wrapping paper.

Keep sending the old fashioned snail mail holiday cards! Besides enjoying them, we reuse many cards as gift tags. I cut circles out of cards to make decorative tops for canned goods (pickles and jams, especially).

My family still gives me a hard time when I carefully unwrap big packages in order to re-use portions of the paper. That doesn’t stop me from doing it.

I ran into a dilemma yesterday. What about buying wrapping paper at a thrift store? Well, that kind of purchase doesn’t waste as much money, and the purchase price often goes toward a good cause. However, gift wrap purchased elsewhere is still rarely recycled or recyclable, and still not suitable for fireplaces. It’ll still fill the garbage bin, too. I decided not to buy it.

Readers, can you help me expand on the environmentally sound wrapping wisdom? Comment if you can.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Scary Credentials

Chuck has a collection of lanyards and credentials from special events he’s attended for his job. He is often the one pulling cords, making sure the satellite uplink will work, and in general, preventing chaos. Sometimes his special events are Packer games at Lambeau Field, golf tournaments at Whistling Straits, or political campaign events. In 2012, the security folks for both parties knew him by name.

In the theme of Halloween, he came home with a scary credential.for an upcoming event.

My gardening glove is masquerading as a paperweight.

My gardening glove is masquerading as a paperweight.

Can you read it? He’s working at the November Republican Debate. Scary? My reaction was a shudder and a very loud “Ew!”

It’s sure to be a shiver and shudder type of event. Frankly, I’d rather watch Jeopardy. At least the contestants on Jeopardy demonstrate common sense and intelligence.

And I’d better stop right there. Readers, would you work an event like this if you had the chance? Or would you run, screaming, in the other direction? If you had a choice, that is.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

I try. Really. I try.

We have a small football pool at work. We call it “Wings” because when all is done, we’ll go out together for wings, and the winner will not have to pay. So far, I’m only in the running for the longest losing streak.

It’s a good thing I’m doing better in the home picks. The irony here is that I’m tied for the lead with (wait for it) the rabbit. The rabbit “picks” based on the team name – the mascot, mainly. Bunny prefers teams with names/mascots that are friendly to (you guessed it) rabbits. Packers play the Vikings? Packers, of course. Seahawks play the 49ers? San Francisco. Falcons play the Eagles? That one is difficult. No rabbit in her right mind would like an eagle or a falcon. For that matter, no rabbit would truly enjoy NFL football. So what is my pet rabbit doing in the family football pool? Never mind. Don’t ask.

I spent time on this beautiful day with no Packer game tending to the fall garden chores. Took down tie strips from the tomatoes, pulled up tomato and pepper plants, stashed the tomato support poles next to the storage shed. Tripped over a board, skinned one knee, and now the other knee and ankle are throbbing. Took ibuprofen. Held ice pack on joints.

To top it all off, laundry is still thundering through its cycles. I managed to combine everything into four loads, and I enlisted Amigo in helping move loads from washer to dryer. With his help, I might actually be done by the time he throws his own laundry in on Monday.

Time to look forward. To really prep for Monday, I should check my emails and grade tests and quizzes online. Should. I’ll give it my best effort, though. I try. You know I really try.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Observations from a fall day in 2006

Here’s what I said on an autumn day nine years ago. Photo credit goes to La Petite. She was already talented with a camera back then.

Things I can do now until the cold weather strikes:
*Clean the bunny litter boxes outside with the hose
*Take small amounts of easily digestible compost out to the bin
*Shake rugs out on the deck in my stocking feet
*Take out garbage and recycling without a coat or jacket
*Rake leaves (a simple pleasure)

I can’t:
*Harvest from the garden, the last frost did it in
*Sit out on the backyard swing, it’s just a bit too cold to enjoy
*Leave the windows open, because the heat is on

But I can enjoy:
*Coffee or tea or hot spiced apple cider in a favorite mug
*A wood fire blazing in the fireplace
*NFL or college football on television
*leaves falling outside as I read a book in the cozy, warm den

Know what, readers? Not much has changed. I now compost through the winter with a second bin closer to the house. I still carry the bunny boxes outside, and after I empty them in the compost or in the garden, I rinse them with water from the rain barrels instead of using the hose. It’s windy enough today that I don’t feel the need to rake leaves, but I don’t mind the chore. I pile the leaves, like the biodegradable litter, on top of the raised beds. No wonder my tomatoes grow so tall!

Readers, how about you? Do your fall chores stay the same each year? Or differ greatly?

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Encore: Autumn Garden Chores

Was this really only two years ago? So much has happened since then. I was looking forward to spring, not knowing what awaited me. I still look forward to spring – as soon as I can get the tomatoes indoors for the fall harvest.

I’m looking forward to spring. I know, it’s not even winter yet, but autumn is the season when I pull apart the fading foliage of my garden and take steps to prepare for next spring. Chuck got into the thick of it this year. Take a look.

Straw bales and repurposed boards

Straw bales and repurposed boards

Another Angle

Another Angle

Rather Awesome, I'd say.

Rather Awesome, I’d say.

Yesterday and today I took to the task of harvesting all tomatoes that could ripen indoors. The herb pots are already inside. Next, I pulled all the tomato plants and tossed them on the brush pile at the back of our yard.

We’re adding leftover potting soils to the new patch as I deal with most of the containers. If weather permits, I will dig out compost from the base of the brush pile and from the base of the compost bin and fill in what I can of the new patch. It’s going to be a raised bed, built inside the repurposed lumber that Chuck assembled so nicely. Whatever I don’t fill this fall, we’ll build up next spring.

It’s another experiment: straw bale gardening. As long as we were expanding the once-triangular plot, we decided to try the bales. A year from now, when the growing season is done, the straw-based soil will become compost for the future. Planning ahead, we are.

But stay tuned, folks. There are still piles and piles of green tomatoes ripening indoors. I’m sure there will be stories.

So, readers, what kind of autumn tasks have fallen your way? Leaves? Lawns?

 

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Baking the Opponent – leftovers

Actual conversation at the O.K. Chorale – as I measured out ingredients for a half batch of Mississippi Mud Cake for Eating the Opponent, St. Louis —

Me: I’m going to have a lot of marshmallows leftover. Do you know what that means?

Amigo: S’mores?

Me: Rhubarb upside down cake.

Chuck: I was thinking Rice Krispie bars.

Me: We don’t have any Rice Krispies.

Chuck: I can fix that. Amigo, add Rice Krispies to the shopping list.

Yep, they were preparing the grocery list, and they added the key ingredient for the bars. I might have enough for the rhubarb upside down cake, too. It was a large bag of marshmallows to begin with. This might be the last rhubarb harvest, so it would feel good to make something good with it.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Random Shopping – it’s what we do.

I went to the Farmers’ Market alone on Saturday because Chuck was dealing with the stone guys – the contractors finishing up our backyard patio. I came home with all this.

Full disclosure: the squash cost $1 apiece.

Full disclosure: the squash cost $1 apiece.

Yesterday I picked a couple of big bowls full of tomatoes, too. Oh, I forgot – carrots and parsnips and one stray turnip (no pics, sorry).

And there are more on shelves in the other room.

And there are more on shelves in the other room.

Then we visited the neighborhood meat market for a few things. We hadn’t had a real grocery trip for more than two weeks, so we needed a significant number of staples. Armed with three bags of meats and other local specialties, we started home and drove right past our street to follow the signs across the bridge and around the block to a garage sale.

And OF COURSE we found some awesome buys. I quietly mentioned to Chuck that I would buy a few specific items if they weren’t, well, overpriced. He went right to work.

Chuck: We’re interested in a few of your big ticket items, and we’d like to make an offer.

Sale guy: You mean like a bundle? What do you think this is, American Pickers?

Chuck: No, you don’t have the beard.

Both laugh.

Chuck: We’ll offer $13 for the whole bundle.

Sale guy: I need to go inside and ask the “boss”.

Chuck: Make it $15.

We paid $13 for a sturdy cart with drawer for the garage, a new-in-package blanket throw, and a big box of kitchen utensils.

Saving money is exhausting. It’s a good thing I could relax and watch NFL football on Sunday.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Awareness? I’ll show you Awareness.

Every year in October I see the NFL all decked out in pink accessories and it bugs me. Bugs me no end. I could post an encore, but instead I’ll show you awareness and take it up a notch and recognize the real heroes here, and they’re not the guys with pink Gatorade towels.

The real heroes are the women who faced breast cancer straight on and won.

Women like this

Women like this

Women who’ve beat breast cancer and women who have tried are the real heroes, the real role models, the real people to put on a pedestal. That pedestal doesn’t have to be pink, either.

Awareness? Bah, humbug. That’s just another excuse to throw pink around a football field. It’s time to put the money where it makes a real difference: let’s see the NFL donating directly to organizations that fund research, testing, and research.

 

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

To Market, To Market – the Meat Market, that is

Saturday’s usual downtown farmers’ market took a week off while the downtown held the fall festival we call Octoberfest. I dropped Amigo at his barbershop chorus’ booth where he volunteered as food prep, wrapping hot dog and hamburger buns in napkins. As we arrived, the guys already on site were singing “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” to a young woman who had just bought a hamburger.

I left to the tune of “On, Wisconsin” played by the nearby polka band, and Chuck and I stopped at the neighborhood meat market. We love this place. We can wander back to the butcher’s counter and discuss our Eating the Opponent menus and ask for their advice. We came home with this.

Saturday Market

Saturday Market

Okay, I admit it. We didn’t just buy meat. We bought the meat for KC style chili, I picked up a container of hot beef and two mini-lasagnas for those days when I don’t have time or energy to cook. The bread, a good nuts & twigs variety, was day-old and on clearance. What else? Oh, ham salad for Chuck – he just had a tooth pulled, and he’s eating soft and smooth whenever he can.

No fresh vegetables – at least not from this market. My living room and dining room are full of tomatoes in various stages of ripeness. I predict salads and BLTs and anything else that uses tomatoes on our menus this week.

Okay, readers. Do you have a creative way to use tomatoes? I’ll take suggestions.

 

Share and Enjoy !

Shares