Independence Days Challenge update for the week of 8/31

HELLO PUMPKIN!!!

Plant: nothing
Harvest:Corn, Peach,
Preserve: Made stock from a bag of knuckle bones before giving them to the dogs.Then  froze the stock
Prepare:  Got a meat order from Blue Valley Farms Delivered and put into the freezer;
Local Foods: Got a meat order from Blue Valley Farms Delivered. Now have a full freezer
Community: Attended a potluck at the community garden celebrating Community Gardeners/Kitchen Gardens International Day!, Went to a meeting for a group hoping to start a Dog Park in Burien
Making Do (Repair, Re-use, Reduce, Recycle): Saved a butt-load of water and soda  bottles for the community gardeners to make lanterns for the annual Arts Aglow.

Trash Can Audit

You can save money with your garbage! I read this long after I went to the smallest can available in my area, but Earth 911 has a great article on doing your own garbage can audit. Saving garbage and recycling is a no brainer! It helps you save money, and be kinder to your mother earth!

DIY Wall Art

I made some art! Using Jessica Jones (How about Orange)  great tutorial I made this painting using some simple office supplies and an 8 X 10 inch canvass, and a can of spray paint

Welcome Home Buddy!

Friday night-The first night night with buddy in the house went ok.  At first Romeo had the same look that Sammy cat did when I brought Romeo home... kind of a "What did you do" look. After a little bit of jealousy, everything was fine after I convinced Romeo that he was still my #1 dog.

Saturday- took the boys out. First to Town Square park and Burien Press to meet folks, then to Kevin and Sean's "A Place for Pets"  pet store, to buy a tandem leash for them.

 Buddy takes a time out for a snooze at Westcrest Dog Park. He got along with all the dogs!

Time to go boys! Buddy and Romeo seemed to adapt to the tandem leash right away!

Buddy seemed to adapt to his new home very quickly and right now is sleeping at my feet. It was a big day for him. And I think he will be a greatt addition to the household.

Independence Days Challenge week of 8-24

A little exciting waiting for my new dog, Buddy Bucko, to join the household. A rescue who has been in foster care at AARF for most of his life, Buddy is a charmer who likes to play, likes other dogs, and loves to snuggle on the couch with his human.

Buddy Bucko and Romeo... a pair of wild Cock-a-Poo's!

Plant: nothing
Harvest: Tomatoes; zucchini; cucumbers; cauliflower
Preserve: Froze some cauliflower
Prepare:  Buddy Bucko's adoption went through, and he should be joining la familia Rob soon. On a related note--- how do you wrangle a pack of wild cocka-poos?
Local Foods: Ordered meat from Blue Valley Farms
Community: Buddy Bucko's adoption id from a local rescue
Making Do (Repair, Re-use, Reduce, Recycle):Just standard recycling, re-using, composting.

Extreme Re-Use

One of my favorite companies, Terracycle, goes to the extreme in furnishing and outfitting their office space, like this conference room- the walls are all re-purposed plastic drinking bottles. See what else they  are doing do on Earth 911's neat little report...

Searching for Life, Liberty and a few bike racks

Picture it... Burien, 2012. A hot summer day, and you find a young man (Hey it's my story and I can too be young) You find a young man just minding his own business and he comes upon a medievel setting. The 2nd annual Pie Joust world championships.
Does our hero , known only by the moniker "Captain Piehole", win? Lose? or draw.

Battle face on. Loins girded. Arrrrrrg.... lets rock!

We find our hero getting through round one, onto round two! And then it happens... Last year Captain Piehole lost his pie, and this year he got splatted right in the the ... well... er... Piehole.

Oh well there is always next year. At least my friend Brooks, won the whole thing... and never fear...Captian Piehole shall return, and join this joyous cause for life, liberty and the pursuit of bike racks!

BLOG REPOST- LOSE THAT JUNK IN YOUR TRUNK!

I bought gas yesterday - $4.00 a gallon!!! So I think it is time to re-post this from 9/5/08 how to increase some gas mileage!  
Before- my trunk runneth over LOSE THE TRUNK WEIGHT, JUMBO-I found a new way to increase the gas mileage of my vehicles. Unload your trunk. Today's cars are built for very little tolerance of weight.This is a trick from hyper milers- they will not only unload the trunk, they will take out seats and the spare tire, and other things I am just not ready to do. But I can unload the crap out of my trunk. Upon a recent inventory of my trunk, I have a bag of rocks (for landscaping), a bag of top soil, miscellaneous tools,Cans of paint, which weigh in all total approximately 160 pounds or 1 average person. "Hey fat ass, get outta my car!" Anyway with that all removed and a few items from the back seat- (Amazing how one person can get all this into one sub-compact car, but hey when you have talent...). And the next time you have a flat and don't have to spend an hour taking everything out of your trunk to get to the spare, you'll thank me.

What? You don't carry a 60 pound bag of crushed marble in your trunk?

Now it is clean ORGANIZE-

Now some folks like to put organizers in there car to keep things separate. And I have seen these things for sale at ridiculous prices! I say scaaaaaaareeeeeeew that and use what you got. You can put things in plastic grocery bags even. Me- I choose to use all the lap top bags I have. This way you can reuse an item and organize your trunk at the same time. I have also used 1 gallon plastic plant pots(for loose tools), milk crates. Anything that fits.

After- Clean and light! Yes I know it still needs vacumming!

Re-Using Mesh Produce Bags

You ever buy things like limes or avocados or even fingerling potatoes and they come in those annoying little plastic mesh bags? Well I do, and trying to find new uses for them is mind boggling.  On thing I found them useful for is to put small things in the (Commuter cup lids, jar lids even canning jar lids and rings. Then I hang it from the top rack and everything comes out clean and I dont have to search gor it in the bottom of the dishwasher.  You can also:

• Sew them up scrunchy style - they make great scrubbers for non-stick cookware
• Re-use one as a beach bag.
• Use them to Keep things straight and organized in your car on trips (like kids toys)
• Use them to put plastic produce bags in to re-use them at the store or for doggie poop bags
• Re-use them as ... produce bags! Light enough to go the job. When they get dirty stick them in the dishwasher

So does anyone out there have any re-uses for mesh bags?

2nd Hand Hound

I took off Friday to go to Second Hand Hound, in Ruston, (North Tacoma), A unique idea in Pet Supplies... A second hand store for dogs! Very green idea this... They sell all sorts of pre-owned dog gear- toy's, coats, crates leashes, collars; even life jackets for Fido!

Buddy Bucko

The reason I went all the way to Ruston was they are also very involved in the pet rescue community, and I wanted to meet a potential new dog, Buddy, a cocker mix, like Romeo.

Romeo and Buddy

So Romeo and I got in the car and traveled south, were we met the cutest little guy named Buddy Bucko. Romeo seemed to like him just fine and vice-versa. I took him and Romeo for a little walk. They performed on the leashes perfectly. So now I am filling out adoption papers for Buddy, who knows maybe soon Romeo   will have a new "little Brother"!


More to come....

Fill 'er Up!

You know sometimes inspiration just comes to you. A guy at work was getting rid of this gas tank for a hog, (Big Motorcycle) it was really dented on the top. So I cut a bigger hole in the top and a drain in the bottom, and a 2" hole on the side opposite the fill side hole. I may add a few more holes along the side and turn it into a strawberry planter in the fall. But I like the look, and I think it makes a great conversation piece in the garden

Why Didn't I Think Of That department...

The "Why Didn't I Think Of That" Department. A friend of this blog, Mudnessa, recently posted this on facebook. So Simple an idea, so handy to do. Would also work with Kid's Art Work to hang from a wall that you could simply change when needed, Or you could use it as a music holder for rehearsal times. The possibilities are endless! High Five and a tip o' the hat to whoever thought this one up!

6 Unusual Things You Can Compost

One of my favorite writers, Mary Mazzoni, of earth 911.com, wrote a slideshow presentation titled "Wow, I Can Compost That?". It is a common sense guide to things you can compost- like loofah sponges. Loofah being a plant, is a natural for composting! Also, Mary shows us we CAN compost post-it notes. And other office leftovers. So take a read and compost away!

Independence Days Challenge: Update for week of 8/3/2012

Plant: nothing
Harvest: Tomatoes; plums; peas
Preserve: Nothing
Prepare:  Not really "preparing" but am thinking of adopting another dog- and yes Romeo is all for it.
Local Foods: Farmers Market
Community: attended the farmers' market, bought some Macaroons and some soap 
Making Do (Repair, Re-use, Reduce, Recycle): Started hunting for soda bottles in the trash around town (I have no shame!) to make Romeo's Halloween Costume; decided if I become a two dog house again, better start looking for "Buddy's" costume as well.

Marshmallow Crackers

I was looking for something to satisfy my sweet tooth. Then I remembered something my mom made when I was little. Marshmallow Crackers. Similar to a smore, so easy a kid can whip up a batch in minutes.
A marshmallow cracker is simply a saltine cracker topped with peanut butter, then topped with a mini- marshamallow, then broiled in a broiler just long enough to toast the marshmallow. I decided to punch it up a bit. I did four crackers using the traditional peanut butter (I have a jar of crunchy to use up), I used Ritz crackers instead of saltines. Then I did two using a Nutella type spread, and a couple using Trader Joe's© Cookie Butter. Out of all of them the Cookie Butter was my favorite- it has a ginger taste that when warmed is intoxicating.

REPOST: A Truck Wheel BBQ

This repost comes from my old DYI Blog, dated August 2, 2009 . It involves a truck wheel (which everyone has laying around in their yard, yes?) some furniture legs from IKEA, some hardware cloth and a grill. And yes years later it is still in use! Ever wonder what to do with those old truck wheels? You know the ones sitting in your yard? Well here is one thing I made- A bbq! Here are the steps:

Find an old pick up wheel (I got mine on Free-Cycle), Pick up a package of Ikea Capita legs- the 8" legs would have been better ( I had the 6" legs sitting around). Then take the leg mounts and put them on the deep side of the truck wheel, screw the legs through the other side, pick up agrill top (mine is for a weber grill- 18") or take one off an old bbq, Use some hardware cloth (fencing) Inside the deep end for an ash catcher. And you are done! Happy BBQ'ing!

Note: You might want to add some small C-Clamps to keep the grill centered orwhat I did is put some nuts and bolts through the top of the grill to act as a stopper!