Ok, so when i do something I like to go all-out. I feel really excited and optimistic about our new pursuit.
Today, I decided that I didn't need to wash stuff in hot/warm water, so i just washed in cold. They got just as clean (go figure) so I am going to mostly wash in cold now.
Last week I was hanging up laundry (have I mentioned I love to do this? it makes me feel all pioneering or something, especially when wearing emmett on my back while doing it, which is always) and our next-door neighbor offered me a really nice clothes-drying rack. Its much nicer than the ones you can see in stores now. Its all wood. Anyway, I had never even spoken to this woman because i had heard she was kind of grouchy. Well, long story short: if I had never been hanging up my laundry, she never would have offered me this thing that i've wanted, and i wouldn't have found out she is actually nice! how horrible, since we have shared a fence for 8 months!
This post has some pictures of our garden, as promised. It was just planted last weekend. I can't wait to watch it grow. That is our Earth Machine composter in the back. You can get them for $35 from metro (that's $50 cheaper than retail). they are cool.
Did i mention that we also have a worm bin in our garage? We started it last summer. They only eat about 1/4 the kitchen scraps we make, but they are doing ok. Elsie likes watching it. I think their poop (or "castings" as they like to call it) are almost ready for harvest.
Ok, here is the part where i get a little weird. last year i had talked to jay about using cloth "wipes" for ourselves instead of toilet paper. He was not into it--that's an understatement. Yesterday someone posted a blog comment about "family paper". i had no idea what this meant, until i realized its this idea about cloth toilet paper, basically.
So i decided that even if jay doesn't want to, at least elsie and i can and we can reduce our TP useage. so i cut up a t-shirt that was so old i couldn't even give it to goodwill and i made some. at least for pee, why not? i can throw them in with the cloth diapers when i wash them. everyone says they are softer and make you feel cleaner...
Today i also decided to go ahead and organize my scary recipe drawer. I pulled out an old shoebox i have been saving for something and i'm in the process of sorting them out. it is such a disaster in there.
on the downsizing side, i sorted out a big bag of stuffed animals (someone said these breed in the night, i think its true!) to get rid of. i also put boxes out for someone to take on the craigslist free ads. i think you can actually move around in our garage now, which is really nice.
