Stone fruit battles- successes and failures!

Okay my peach tree looks sick and pathetic... but wait... there is a peach on it. Yay 100% crop improvement over last year!

Not mych of a Peach crop- so FAIL! However, looks like a bumper crop of Golden Plums again! SUCCESS!

Christmas Tree Alternatives

Every year the debate starts about this time- Which is better? Real or Fake? Which is more ecological, greener or cheaper. And every year I get into the fray. Well this year i have a new answer... NEITHER!
let me 'splain... I have nothing against real trees. Just that every year the news media has a story about some poor bastard whose house has burnt down. I just don't like the fire factor. So I thought I would post a few alternatives to look into:

BOTTLE TREES- what better than a tree made out of your wine bottles? Actually these have gained some popularity over the years, and can look quite festive! The Bottle Tree store has many to choose from, including a DIY kit. And I think these are good looking enough to keep around all year!

CARDBOARD TREES- These are cool as well. You can decorate them with markers, photos or what ever comes to your imagination! You can decorate one and send it to someone special, a grandparent, a son or daughter away at college, a service man, a loved one far away.

METAL TREES Yes I said metal. I have seen a few ornament trees around and they can be pricey. But I found mine (at the top of this post) at Big Lots for $10!

Of course there are natural alternatives like Living Christmas trees, the advantage being you can plant the tree after the holiday. Or how about decorating an existing house plant? Or a smelly Rosemary plant (they can look like pine trees) I have done both of these and loved the look.

Tree Saver In my Garage- Who Knew?

I was moping around one day, thinking about the amount of paper towel used in this house, not by me, but someone else who happens to live here. "Don't you know I am an "eco-blogger?" I would argue over the amount of Paper towel being used. Martin uses them to wipe the steam off the mirror.
Let me back up a bit here. I keep a roll of paper towel in the bathroom for a very good reason- the gunk I get on my hands at work needs to come of. And if I don't want to leave hand prints on my regular towels, I use the paper to wipe my hands.

Oof da... now that I said that I need to rethink my own paper towel usage.

Anyway, I was in my garage, and it hit me!-Literally- I was taking some crap off a shelf to give to Goodwill and a squeegee used for drying a car fell and hit me on the head.

"Hmmmm.... (thinks I), I could hang this next to the mirror in the bathroom then the ISO can simply wipe the mirror with the squeegee!

Guess what? It worked. Not only is Martin happily squeegeing (sp) along, but it doubles a squeegee in the shower- Less cleaning! After a shower just run the squeegee along the wall and it keeps the shower cleaner!

Now I am off to the thrift store to find some hand towels!