Rather uneventful day!

I took the second class in the WSU Extension Service "Tools for Resourceful Living" series tonight. Tonight was "Productive Vegetable Gardening in Small Spaces- Planning Raised Beds and Containers". It is always nice to know when you are or are not doing things correctly.
The "facilitator" was a King County Master gardener, former biology teacher, professor and pretty good speaker. I like these classes but whatever happened to recess???



And I made an apple crisp to celebrate the apple harvest! I got almost two bags off my little apple tree and the neighbors branches that hang over the fence!






And finally, got a great pic of a bee enjoying the borage!

Challenge update

Sharon's Independence Days Challenge:

Plant something: Garlic, Beets, icicle radishes

Prep something: currently installing a window on the south wall of my kitchen- it should let in more light and help warm the kitchen

Harvest something: Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers

Manage something:not this week

Cook Something New:Blackberry fritters

Work on Local Food Systems: Participated in NW Bloggers picnic

Reuse, reduce, recycle or repair or Compost something: reusing 6 X 4’S for my window project

Learn a skill: nope

CRUNCHY DOMESTIC GODDESS’ 5 MINUTE SHOWER CHALLENGE : One day this week I stayed in the shower for 10 minutes due to a sore shoulder. The water massage blasted it. I felt so guilty I didn't shower the next day.

CRUNCHY CHICKENS' SWEATY BUTT-CRACK CHALLENGE: No A/C. Nope. No way.

MELINDA'S GROWING CHALLENGE: Borage is in full bloom, the flowers do not taste like honey they taste like cucumber! I didn't realize how big the plant would get- next year it will get it's own spot not share with my huckleberries. Gave the broccoli some liquid gold.

JENNIFER'S STOP THE LEAKS CHALLENGE: Caulked the windows. Adding a duo-pane window to the kitchen on the southern wall, hoping to help warm the kitchen and give some light, too

NW BLOGGERS MEET

Well I can report that I now know what Crunchy Chicken, Melinda, The Shiba guyz, the shiba guyz's shibas, Laura from the (not so)Urban hennery look like. And I met a few I had never had the honor of reading their blogs before -Michael Fagin, a couple of jenifers, a few more.
Everyone had a great time, eating the local foods- We talked about our gardens, and discussed canning. We watched in awe of a guy who practicing walking a tight rope( later he was practicing throwing knives) and when another guy decided it was time to sunbathe in his speedo, it was time to say buhbye. Thanks to Melinda and the crunchster for spearheading this. And thanks to Melinda for the name tags, which were seeded paper. The food was great- Jennifer brought carrotcake with the best icing on it, Shiba guyz brought great local cheese. I brought refrigerator pickles and some dandelion fritters! All in all a good time for everyone.

S-T-R-I-K-E!!!

Well it must be fall, because every three years or so I find myself on the strike line again!Oh well- employment was too nice of a luxury. LOL. Good thing I got a lot of projects to do at home for awhile, before I got to go out and find a real job!

Gas saving tip o' the day

Before- my trunk runneth over LOSE 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 talents...). 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!

How to insulate a window for under $2

Jennifer's "Stop the Leaks" challenge has me all pumped up. So lets start with window insulation. First seal all cracks and leaks with caulking. This is easy to do. Just watch this video:

If you dont have dou-pane windows, you are losing a lot of heat through your windows. Storm windows - the answer? Not necessarily,First they are expensive. Second, not easy to put up (especially 2nd and 3rd story windows). 3rd, if you rent, it will be like pulling teeth to get your landlord to pay for them.Install NEW Dou-pane or Tri-pane Windows? Got a loan. So what's a guy to do? Well for a couple of bucks, you can get a Shrink & Seal Window Kit. They are available at most home improvement stores. They are easy to install. The only tools you need are a box cutter. And a hair dryer. I know most of you gals and a few guys already know how to handle one of those. Even Bald Rob has a hair dryer. I used to have hair! and I need one to dry stinky dinky binky after his bath. It is easy as pie. You simply put the double backed tape around the frame and then spread out the plastic sheet and put around the frame. Then when the film is tight take the dryer and heat the film, this should take out any wrinkles. All this and it only costs about $2 per window. The savings on your fuel bill will be higher. And more than pay for the film kits. When I lived in Ye olde mobile home, I had storm windows but the large picture window was missing the storm window. So I used these kits because those windows were something else drafty. My current house has duo-pane windows except one which will get this treatment this winter.
This video will give you the idea, but remember most kits are for the interior. But the idea is the same. I have never seen this particular product from 3M.

Yet another challenge!

Jennifer at Tiny Old House Blog is posting a challenge. the "Stop the Leaks" challenge, encouraging everyone to seal and insulate their home. With natural gas and heating oil prices (even electricity as I have) being what they are, it is probably a good idea to seal and insulate where ever you can! And she will be going about this month by month, and wants some company!
So I encourage anyone who reads this here blog to mosey on over to THE TINY OLD HOUSE and sign up! Even renters can help seal up their units! This would be especially prudent if the Crunchy Chick poses another my ass feels like an ice cube challenge this winter!