Mercury, arsenic, and lead - oh my!

Need one more reason why we need to develop green energy for the U.S.? Environmental Spill Disaster Devastates Tennessee. Approximately 500 million gallons of coal ash sludge has broken through a holding pond at a coal-fired plant.

read more | digg story

Easy Turkey Chili

Yum, nothing says hearty-winter meal quite like chili!  Here is a tasty and easy recipe I use, making it in a crock pot, which cooks in the flavor, nice and slow.  This is a double batch.  We eat half over several days, and I freeze the other half.  It makes a great, easy meal for a party.  I've served this straight out of the crockpot at a party putting onions, shredded cheese, sour cream, and crackers on the side as a "build-your-own chili bar."  It was a real hit!

Here's what you need:

2 pounds ground turkey

4 (10.75 oz) cans tomato soup (or just purchase the BIG size, 55oz. which is usually cheaper and then I use the whole thing).

4 (15 oz) kidney beans, drained

2 (15 oz) black beans, drained

1 medium yellow onion

1/4 cup chili powder

2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 pinches ground black pepper 

As with all my cooking, I use organic with as many ingredients as I can.

1.)  Brown turkey in skillet until cooked evenly, drain.

2.) Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and mix well.

3.) Cover and cook in the slower cooker on the 6 or 8 hour setting.

Serve with freshly shredded sharp or medium cheddar cheese, sour cream (or organic plain yogurt as a substitute),  and crackers.

The recipe also includes onion.  I like to brown the onion right before serving and add it in, mixing it up in the chili.  Or, you can simply cut it and serve it on the side to add on top, or cut and throw in the chili at the beginning, prior to slow cooking.

Enjoy!

Snow, Rain, Snow

The weather has been so strange here.  We have record amounts of snow in December.  I don't mind the snow, I just hate the freezing cold - like a cold weather warning of -20 degrees with the wind chill.    Even though we've had a lot of snow, we've still had some super cold days.  The opposite happened over Christmas.  It was chilly on Christmas day, and then got progressively warmer.  It got into the mid 40's, the snow started melted, a dense fog rolled in, and then it began to rain.  In some spots of the yard, the snow was melting away completely.  In the front yard, we can now see a flower bed that has been covered since early December.  Last night the temperature dropped and we got several more inches of snow overnight.  It took Tim and I an hour to clear the driveway this morning.  Some spots had drifted to 2 or more feet, which our little snow blower just can't get through.  So between me shoveling and Tim snow blowing we got it done.  I'm glad some of the rain melted the snow away because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to lift the snow on top the huge pile accumulating at the bottom of our driveway.  Here is a picture that shows how the snow melted away from the flower bed, but is a gigantic pile at the end of the driveway.  If I were to be standing behind the big pile, you'd probably only see my face, the pile is about 4 feet tall.  I'm interested in what the rest of the winter will bring!

Snowshoeing

Today we went snowshoeing at the Ledgeview Nature Center in Chilton.  It was a nice day for it.  The sun wasn't out, but it was warm and not snowing or raining.  We went to the Ledgeview Nature Center this past summer for an annual event they have called the Fall Harvest Fest.  We decided to go back since we saw on their website that they have snowshoeing.  We enjoyed our time!  We were out there for about 1 hour and it was fun!  Toward the end I was getting pretty tired, realizing that we were going mostly uphill was mentally defeating!  I'm looking forward to getting out on the snowshoes again.  We got our WI state park pass for Christmas from my Mom and Dad like I asked, so we hope to get to a park where we go snowshowing, and attempt to bring the dogs with us. Snowshoeing is fun!  I've lived in Wisconsin my whole life and have always complained about the winter.  I figured I'd better find a reason to enjoy winter, and I think snowshoeing is it! -L

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

To our friends and family and blog visitors -  MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

We hope for a happy holiday time with family and friends, and a peaceful 2009!

"You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist." -Indira Gandhi

Delicious Shrimp Dip

Ready for a tasty, calorically sinful shrimp dip recipe?  Try this (makes a BIG party sized batch):

Mix together until smooth and creamy:

24oz. cream cheese (lowfat is what I use)

1 - 6oz. can tiny shrimp with liquid

2 - 6oz. cans tiny shrimp, liquid drained

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion

1 fresh lemon squeezed

Refrigerate.

Serve on whole wheat crackers, or your favorite cracker.

Say "yum!"

The World's Largest Dump: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

I know that I've posted on this before, but I think it's so important for people to understand this.  Here's the story: Floating in the Pacific ocean is a massive island of trash. Now, researchers have decided to map the size, content, and density of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

read more | digg story

A simple idea...

Although some people might describe me as a little on-edge (admitedly I have been in the past!!!), I truly feel that over the past couple of years I have just calmed down. I think most of this is thanks to Tim, who is the yin to my yang! For my level of anxiety, Tim has just that much calmness! I think it's finally rubbing off :) I feel more relaxed. I was just thinking how many people I know are caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. They aren't "done with their shopping", they have so many parties to attend, they dropped $200 on gifts for ONE child...and all of it sounds like work, rather than fun. How miserable, living your life caught up in the expectations of everyone else. My mindset is that we should just keep it simple. Life doesn't need to be complicated and stressful. Let's volunteer ourselves for Simplicity! We should live our lives in a deliberate fashion, in which we make educated choices that are based on what is best for not only us, but for the people around us and the environment! The more simple we are, the better off things will be - at least for me. I don't need to spend a lot of money to feel happy. I don't need to be stretched in several directions in one time, meeting the demands of everyone but myself. I will take life at the pace it delivers, always trying to remember that life is best when it's SIMPLE! -L

Subway Reefs

Subway Reefs - what? I just read an article at NY Times about how we are destroying cold water reefs, which are necessary reefs for sealife reproduction and habitat. Here us humans go destroying things again....but wait?!?! We have a solution. It might sound weird, but what if we sink a bunch of old subway rail cars in the ocean, giving back the sealife a habitat. Apparently after some scientific study the state of Delaware decided to drop 48 old rail cars in to the ocean. I'm being a skeptic about this, but I think that there are probably chemicals galore on these subway cars from paint, etc. But, who am I to judge this to be a bad idea? I'm not a scientist afterall. Well, now Delaware has another problem since they dumped these rail cars into the ocean - growing pains. The good news is that the sealife is actually increasing! However, the area where the rail cars are has a growing traffic problem with fisherpeople. Commercial fishers are are dragging nets across, and their nets are tangling with local anglers who are MAD! Surprisingly, someone must have asked some questions about the asbestos found in the old rail cars. State and Federal officals state that asbestos is not a threat to marine life, and has to be airborne to pose a threat to us innocent humans. Yes, and haven't they also said that DDT was safe, only to change their minds after our countries symbol, the eagle, starting dying off at a rapid pace - directly related to DDT? Yuk! I am so disgusted by the idea of dropping human junk into the ocean. Although the ocean DID need repair, is this really the most reasonable solution? I have an idea, let's put all our old cars, ships, airplanes, buses, and other forms of public transportation in the ocean too. Then we can watch the poison take over the sealife, while we continue to consume it and wonder why we are dying of cancer and other diseases.

I hope you can sense my sarcasm here, I'm feel a bit cheeky today! :) But seriously, doesn't this just seem absurd?! Funny thing is, the place this is all taking place is appropriately called "Slaughter Beach, Del."

Due North!

Tim and I just returned from a little escape to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  I have been to the U.P. before, but wasn't there long enough, nor was I quite mature enough to understand the true beauty that the U.P. has.  Where we went was a very northern area of the U.P. - the Keweenaw Peninsula.  It was just amazing!  Pretty much the entire time we were there it was snowing, but it was a light, gentle snow fall - lake effect.  The peninsula has Lake Superior on the west, north, and east side.  We spent time outdoor snowshoeing as well as spending time in the Houghton/Hancock area.  My favorite areas that we visited was the north west and north east side of the peninsula.  It was so beautiful!  Since the population is smaller, taking in the scenery was easy...we didn't have to fight for a picture, and we rarely crossed paths with other people on the road. When we did, they were locals and usually raised their hand to wave.  Some day, when we achieve our dream of having a homestead, we would like to make it in the northwoods (WI or MI).  The Keweenaw Peninsula was surely a fit for our goals. To the right are some pictures from our travels of the Lake Superior area.  Our trip was the perfect scenery of snow, trees, water, and peace.  -L

Getting excited about what we don't know!

Hi everyone!  It seems like a lot of the eco websites and blogs I read are a lot of doom and gloom.  There is no doubt in my mind that we are doing bad things to this planet, but we have to remain hopeful for improving our ways, as well as remain hopeful for that which we do not know.  I was recently reading the December issue of National Geographic and they had a snippet about some of the fieldwork that is being done by scientists, archeologists, and the like.   I read about a group of scientists on the island Vanuatu (which is in the South Pacific).  Over 5-months 150 scientists went over the island studying species.  Over 10,000 species were found, 2,000 of them may be completely new to science.  It is quoted by French mollusk expert Phillippe Couchet that "80 percent of the world's species remain to be discovered."  What an amazing thing to think about since most of the animals, plant life, etc. we hear about are going extinct!  Hopefully we can continue to discover WITHOUT harming natural habitats.    Reading that article made me hopeful for what our future here on earth holds.

In effort to be green...

Funny story about this weekend.  It was an extended weekend due to the Thanksgiving holiday.  So, we had to keep ourselves busy.  One project for Tim was to add insulation to our attic.  It's currently insulated, but no as up to par as it should be.  The insulation up there is something from the 60's.  We decided we would get "Green Fiber" which can be blown in, or dropped in by hand in selected areas.  It's completely recycled material...basically looked like pocket lint.  Why didn't I think of that?  Anyhow, I was taking a shower.  I heard Tim up in the attic and a big noise, but thought nothing of it.  Well, Tim knocked on the bathroom door to inform me that his foot slipped and that it when careening into the attic floor, which happened to be the ceiling in our kitchen.   I looked on the floor, there was a pile of the old insulation on the floor.  Then I looked to the ceiling, where there wasn't a clear break, but obviously sustained some damage due to his foot slipping.  Thankfully, he didn't come crashing through the ceiling, but the work that came next would have been pretty much the same.  Since the ceiling was cracked Tim had to cut it out and replace the hole with drywall.  Nothing like looking at the ceiling in your kitchen and seeing right into the attic!  As an after thought I should have taken a picture of the damage, but all I have is a picture of the drywall replaced, taped, and putty.  Now Tim has a week long project of finishing off the ceiling.  Funny!  It's laughable now, but neither of us were very enthused about it in the first place.

Whatever happened to anti-litter campaigns?

I have a recollection of some anti-litter campaigns, maybe in the 80's?   Maybe some of you readers remember.  I specifically have this memory about  learning about cutting the plastic of six-pack beer or soda rings so that they six-pack rings don't get washed out to waterways and strangle birds and fish.  Seems like I haven't even seen those plastic six-pack rings in ages.  I also haven't seen many environmental campaigns as of late, including anything about not littering.  

Lately I feel like I've had this extra awareness about what littering does to the environment.  I have the benefit of working on the East River, where I watch fish, waterfowl, woodchucks, squirrels and some feral cats enjoy the environment.  However I wonder how much they are enjoying the environment since I also have watched plastic bags, balls, shoes, and a Labatt Blue cooler float up and down the river for the past year and a half since I've worked at my window.   At home, we live on the Fox River, where we've had deli containers, balls, styrofoam, toys, and other junk wash up on our shoreline.  Yesterday on the East River I saw a dead goose float by...maybe it was a natural death.  

Today, I was more disturbed.   I had a half day at work and I decided to take the dogs for a walk mid-afternoon down our road which parallels the Fox River.  About halfway through our walk I heard some fluttering from above.  I looked up and gasped.   I saw a bird's nest and hanging from the bird's nest was a blue jay, completely wrapped up on fishing line which was wrapped around it's head.  It was flapping it's wings, but couldn't go anywhere because it was  being strangled by the line.  I looked like a bird had made a nest in spring, partially with fishing line instead of grass.  The blue jay was by the nest and an unfortunate comedy of errors took place.  I didn't know what to do.  I'm not sure if somehow cutting it down would allow it to survive?  It was in a tree in someone's yard and they are people I don't know.  I continued on the walk just a little more and turned around to go home and call the village offices.  Upon calling the village, I explained the situation and she transferred me to the police department.  They said they would send someone out.  I'm not exactly sure what they ended up doing, but I did see the police drive by.    If some idiot wouldn't have littered fishing line behind, this situation never would have happened.  

In present time humans are littering in ways beyond the obvious.  An obvious way of littering is leaving your trash behind, or throwing something out the car window.  We can see the result of this.  Now, we even litter in ways we are unable to see (and have been for a long time).   We recently watched a PBS special about a nonprofit that treats sea lions and seals  that are left to die on the California coastline.  They have researched these animals that are coming in with similar problems like seizures and brain damage and have found that all that exhibit this behavior have a levels of an acid (that develops by chain reaction) which is essentially caused by fertilizer and sewage that flows into the ocean from area rivers, mostly along the shores where the seals lives.  It is just absurd that although fertilizers are clearly deemed as hazardous chemicals continue to be legal, consumed by people, and dumped all over the environment.  

I wonder what it will take for people to realize this planet is not invincible. For people to realize, this is not OUR planet...we share it will all kinds.    

Winter - On the Fox

It's here!  A shot of our backyard upon waking up this morning.  We didn't even know snow was in the forecast.  This is the first snow of the year that's stuck, just 3-4 inches.  What a beautiful surprise.  Outside it was warm, 32 degrees, and so silent.  Peaceful.

Go Further

Go Further is a movie that was made in 2003 starring Woody Harrelson.  Tim and I just completed watching it.   The movie is a documentary focused on the idea that a single person can make large-scale change.  Basically, Woody and some friends rode their bicycles followed by a biofueled bus down the west cost from Washington through Oregon and California and stopped at local colleges along the way to raise awareness about the environment.  Although it wasn't a big learning experience for me, it was great to see people who have positive mindsets about how to save our environment.  Some of the topics explored were paper, meat, milk, renewable energy, vericomposting and organic farming.  The whole trip they ate following a raw food diet (yum, lots of fresh veggies and fruits!)  I found much about their eating to be inspiring.  I mean really, some of the food we consume we can't even pronounce the ingredients on the label!  And supposedly 2/3 of all the food on the shelves at the grocery store has some sort of genetically modified ingredient(s)...and it's not even required by law to label them saying so.  Scary!    In the Extras of the DVD,  Woody read a poem that he wrote that I think is nicely done.    The poem is too long to post here, but here is an excerpt:

Thoughts from Within by Woody Harrelson:

..."I sit on the grass under a tree 

dreaming of the way things used to be 

Pre-Industrial Revolution 

which of course is before the rivers and oceans, and skies were polluted 

before Parkinson's, and mad cows 

and all the convoluted cacophony of bad ideas 

like skyscrapers, and tree paper, and earth rapers 

like Monsanto and Dupont had their way 

as they continue to today. 

This was Pre-us 

back when the buffalo roamed 

and the Indian's home 

was the forest, and God was nature 

and heaven was here and now 

Can you imagine clean water, food, and air 

living in community with animals and people who care?"

...

On spending...

So, we all know the economy is in the pits. Lately, I've been hearing the media pushing people to get out, start spending for the holiday season, and give the economy the boost it needs. Although I understand the reasoning for this, I'm not sure it's quite the final answer. I do know I won't be "playing along." Each day, I am surrounded by people who believe that the holiday is about gift giving, and gift giving means spending money. I just think that if we will be spending money this holiday season, we should be aware of where and how we are spending it. First off, if you believe that shopping will give the economy a boost, please SHOP LOCAL! This doesn't mean driving to your nearest wal-mart. This means supporting the shop who's owner lives on your block. If you want to gift a tool, instead of going to wal-mart, go to Bob's Hardware. Bob lives in your town, and therefore you are supporting your local economy. Or, what about gifting a used-item? I know, this is absoultely absurd!! Heaven forbid we RECYCLE rather than demand for greater production of cheap plastic crap (equaling greater consumption of energy, resources, etc.). If you know someone who likes teacups and saucers, would it be wrong to find unique one at the local thrift shop rather than buying one from Macy's that is just like the other 500,000 teacups being sold at Macy's all over the country? Personally, I would prefer the unique one that shows, "this made me think of you!" Here is a last idea. What about instead of buying gifts for people, decide with them use the same amount of money to donate to your favorite cause. That way you avoid spending $20 on a crappy gift for them and they avoid spending $20 on a crappy gift for you. This year at work my department (3 of us) are chipping in $10 each to purchase hats, mittens, and scarves at Goodwill that we will donate to underprivledged kids who don't have these needed goods for the winter months.  I'm glad we are doing this rather than a secret santa type of thing.  What's the point of basically trading up money for something you probably don't want from someone that doesn't really know you? I just don't understand. If you do have to participate in a a secret santa, what about donating the $ to some special cause (like a local society that raises money for children) under the secret santa's name?

This holiday season we are limiting our spending and we are staying local with our purchasing. Between Tim and I, we will chose to spend time together rather than buy a gift for each other. This is always nice, and more memorable.

I recently learned about an initiative that a group in the UK has. A coliation group in the US called AdBusters also has run a similar thing. It's called Buy Nothing Day. Although this is an interesting campaign, it's not practical. Today, we live in a mode of ease and immediacy. I can't imagine the buy-in for Buy Nothing Day is very good.

What are you doing for the holiday gift giving? I think it's hard to break out of the excessive gift giving rut, but a few of us can help break the cycle. This year Tim and I have 1 thing on our list. A year pass to the Wisconsin State Park system. -L

Learning about Permaculture

As Tim and I continue to realize our dreams of someday having a large property where we can be mostly self-sufficent, we have been researching many things, as well as learning them by doing them. We have several reference book about homesteading, country living, gardening, land management, and so on. Through the reading and research I've recently been introducted to the term "permaculture." One of my goals for the next months will be learn more about permaculture. What is permaculture? Well, in a nutshell I guess you could describe it as the design of ecological landscapes that produce food. Emphasis is placed on multi-use plants, cultural practices such as sheet mulching and trellising, and the integration of animals to recycle nutrients and graze weeds. However, permaculture entails much more than just food production. Energy-efficient buildings, waste water treatment, recycling, and land stewardship in general are other important components of permaculture. The key is sustanability and harmony with the land. You could call it earth ethics. We hope that someday we will be able to practice the type of land management that is suitable not only for the earth, but for us! Right now, we do it on a small scale...consider it practice!

Seasons-a-changin'

We sit here helplessly as winter ushers itself in.  Only a few remnants of fall remain and that's the wet leaves on the ground and a few trees that franticly hang on to their last brightly colored leaves.  We have done the majority of the work to get prepared for winter, including pulling the garden out, bringing in all the patio furniture and we still have some pots to bring in.  Strangely, I have 1 geranium that refuses to let go, it's hanging on with 30 degree weather and frost, I can't believe it!  Tim is outside winterizing his motorcycle and the lawn tractor.  Friday night and Saturday we had snow, but nothing stuck.  Now, there is a flurry coming down again. Although I truly love the first winter snowfall that sticks to the ground, I hope we have a mild winter, at least not one with the amount of snow we had last year!  -L

Fall On Your Knees

I'm not exactly sure how to describe the feeling, but it is always heartwarming to finish a good book.   I just finished reading a well written story called "Fall On Your Knees" by Ann-Marie MacDonald.  This is the book that I started on our Minnesota trip and wanted to finish it during that trip too...that obviously didn't happen since it's two weeks later. :)   The book was wonderful, in my opinion.  The author developed characters that were engaging and real.  The story has many twists and turns, all within 5 generations of one family.  All the way to the end, secrets are revealed and as the reader, I felt more and more involved.  This isn't the kind of book you can read a little of here and there.  You have to sit down, and read large chunks at a time, it reads like an epic novel.   If you are interested in reading stories about the human condition, family ties, and tragedy, I would highly recommend this one.  It is 500+ pages of small text, so be ready for a commitment to it!  

Last Chance for Survival!

Over lunch while surfing the web I ran across an brief write up about Axolotl, the "Mexican water monster." Although I have never heard of this creature, I was sad to find out that it is salamander that is close to extinction. Due to human disruption in the axolotl's natural environment, it is predicted that in five years this salamander will be extinct. In further research, I learned that the International Union for Conservation of Nature recently put out their 2008 Red List. A list of endangered species around the world. Some species you may be familiar with like the African Elephant or the Tasmanian Devil. Many of the extinctions are noted to be due to human interference. Others might be due to disease within the species community. The list is long, but here is a link that includes a much shortened list including pictures and a brief description of the species. The full list is 1,642,189 species. To the right is a picture of the Axolotl...what a happy looking guy! Although I believe that some extinction is likely inevitable, I also have to ask: what are we doing to this planet?

Making Clothing Detergent

For the past year or so we've been buying earth friendly, chemical-free detergent for washing our clothing.   At first, it took a little getting used to because there was some sort of temptation over the synthetic fragrances like "Cool Breeze", when washing clothes.  Once I got over not having fake scents on my clothing, I realized that the eco-friendly detergents were just fine.  The brands that we've purchased that have worked have been Seventh Generation or Ecos detergent powder (cheaper than liquid). They are non-toxic, biodegradable, contain no chlorine, artificial fragrances, or dyes.  At around $8 for a box, I felt it was kinda pricey.  I decided that after using up the last bunch, I would make my own.  We feel that whenever possible, we should be using products that are as natural (from the earth) as possible.  So, instead of using a synthetic fragrance with a lot of words we can't pronounce in it, why not just use an essential oil, which is plant derived, non-chemical?  So, for the first time I made our own clothing detergent.   I am very happy with the final product!  It took just a little bit of work and it's great!  The first ingredient for the detergent is baking soda, which is a very safe product used in many "green" cleaning products.  It has been used for ages in cleaning and baking!  The second ingredient for the detergent is borax. Borax, although sounding a bit scary, is a naturally occurring mineral in the earth.   Borax is bad if you eat it, but safe for cleaning. It softens, disinfects, and deodorizes.  The third and final ingredient is castile soap.  Castile Soap is a soap that is made exclusively from vegetable oil.  I used Dr. Bronners Magic All-One Hemp Lavender Pure Castile Soap (organic).  It's vegetable base is Hemp oil and it is all natural and organic.  Since my detergent is a powder, I had to grate the soap to make it from bar to powdered form.    The differences are clear!  

Here is the list of ingredients from Dr. Bronner's Soap: Saponified Organic Coconut, Organic Palm & Organic Olive Oils (w/Retained Glycerin), Water, Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Lavandin Extract, Organic Lavender Oil, Salt, Citric Acid, Vitamin E

Compare that to a soap that is touted to be the most "simple", Ivory Bar: Sodium Tallowate and/or Sodium Palmitate, Water, Sodium Cocoate and/or Palm Kernelate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Glycerin, Sodium Chloride, Fragrance, Coconut and/or Palm Kernel Acid, Tallow Acid, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Yellow 10, Green 3.

Compare that now to yet another soap, Irish Spring Bar: SOAP, SODIUM TALLOWATE, SODIUM COCOATE, SODIUM PALM KERNELATE, WATER, STEARIC ACID, COCONUT ACID, PALM KERNEL ACID, GLYCERIN, FRAGRANCE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, TITANIUM DIOXIDE, PENTASODIUM PENTETATE, BHT, D&C GREEN 8, FD&C GREEN 3

Here is the detergent recipe if you are interested in trying it out.  I have been satisfied with it!  The clothes come out fresh smelling, wrinkle free, and clean!

1.) In large bowl, grate down 1 bar of Dr. Bronner's Castile Bar Soap (I picked Lavender scent, but the clothes come out fresh, but not smelling distinctly of lavender.)

2.) Add 2 cups Baking Soda.

3.) Add 1 cup Borax.

Mix well.  Store in plastic bag that can be sealed and reused for the next batch.  I use about 1/4 cup per Large load of laundry.  It will not make bubbles in the laundry, but it will clean it!  I have stopped using laundry sheets in the dryer, and the clothes have been coming out wrinkle and static free!  Enjoy!

Sour Cream Apple Pie

One of my coworkers has too many apples on his hands so he brought in a large amount of HUGE Macintosh apples.  I brought a bunch home and dehydrated the majority of them, but still had a few left over.  I decided to make the following pie with what I happened to have on hand, it was good!  Below is the altered recipe. I lowered the sugar, used egg beaters, used whole wheat flour and more apples than the original recipe.  The altered recipe goes as follows:

Amish Sour Cream Apple Pie

INGREDIENTS

1 cup sour cream 

1 egg (I used egg beaters)

½ cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

3-4 cups diced apples (your preference to peel or not peel)

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

CRUMB TOPPING

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1 Beat sour cream and egg together.

2 Add flour, sugar, salt and vanilla.

3 Mix until smooth.

4 Stir in apples.

5 Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

6 Mix the crumb topping ingredients until crumbly.

7 Remove pie from oven and spread with crumb topping.

8 Bake 20 more minutes.

Our Vacation Photos

Since we have so many vacation photos,  I figured I'd post them online so all can see.  Please visit our Minnesota Photo site for the opportunity to see most of the photos we took.   minnesotareitz.shutterfly.com  Enjoy!  Here are a few of my favorites as teasers! 

Day Eight - Goodbye Minnesota, Hello Wisconsin!

On Saturday, we packed up on were on the road by 9am.  We were sad to be leaving our vacation, but we had a great time!  The place we stayed was a fine retreat while we weren't on the road.  The 8 state parks we visited were great!  Here is the list in order of visit.

1. Crow Wing State Park
2. Itasca State Park
3. Lake Bemidji State Park
4. Mille Lacs Kathio State Park
5. Carlos Lake State Park
6. Glacial Lakes State Park
7. Charles Lindberg State Park
8. Buffalo River State Park

We are pretty sure we visited more State Parks in Minnesota than what we've visited in Wisconsin!  We feel one of our plans will be to get a Yearly Permit for WI State Parks in 2009 and start going to those.  I can't say enough about how much I learned visiting the Minnesota state parks as well are how enjoyable it was to be outside, getting exercise, and being able to do so with our dogs.

One of the things we enjoyed most about our vacation is that the places we visited felt like there were reserved just for us!  We rarely saw other people in the parks, and all other places were not crowded.  We visited many nice antique shops and 2 used book stores.  We also got a sense of local personality and flair at local restaurants (non-chain).  Since over the past 3 married years, and year prior to being married we've done some good regional traveling (and Honduras for honeymoon) we plan to get a wall map of the U.S. so we can start pinning where we have been.  Each trip we take we bank more great memories and learn more about how we like to travel and what we like to do.  We are blessed to have each other, our dogs, a reliable car that gets us around, and the financial ability to do our traveling (although we are frugal about it!).  I'm already thinking about where we could go next!

Day Seven - Minnesota Trip

Friday was the final day of our trip where we are actually vacationing, rather than traveling home.   It's also Tim's Birthday!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM! We hit our last State Park (#8) on our way to our final destination - Fargo, ND!  The State Park we visited was Buffalo River State Park.  We really enjoyed this park, it ranked at the top of both Tim and my favorite's list.  This is the first park where there was no lake, just river.  We did a mile walk or so with the dogs on an interpretive trail, learning about the geography of the river.  The other unique feature about this park is the prairie, which we didn't really see too much of in past parks.  It was interesting driving out toward Fargo because we watched the land flatten out right before us!  We spent an hour or more at the park and then hit the road again to North Dakota.  

I have never been this far west by car before, so it was cool to be able to travel to both Minnesota and North Dakota during our trip.  We crossed the Red River of the North into Fargo and drove out to West Fargo (yes, Fargo is actually big enough to have a WEST Fargo!).  Here we went to Bonanzaville!  I guess this whole time I misunderstood what a Bonanza was.  I thought it had something to do with the Wild wild west, but a bonanza is actually a farm that is over 3,000 acres.  We toured a museum where we learned about the history of the bonanzas in Cass County, North Dakota and then toured many of the preserved buildings from that time.  We were the only ones there, so it was pretty cool to have the entire place to ourselves!  We learned a lot about how the railroad was an important part of farming back then.  We also found out that Fargo, ND is named after the Fargo of Wells & Fargo.  The history was remarkable.  I love imagining how life would have been back then.  What a different time from now for folks of all walks of life!  It was interesting to learn some of how women kept the home back then.  We spent several hours at Bonanzaville and were really hungry afterwards so we drove into Fargo headed toward our next destination when we stumbled across a restaurant called Space Aliens, Bar and Grill.  Fargo is indeed a strange place now that I've seen this.  We decided to eat there.  It was like a TGIFriday's with a space theme.  Food was great too!  We left with our bellies full to the Fargo Walk of Fame.  Can you imagine on even exists?  Well, it does, it's on display at the visitors center.  Musicians like Metallica to celebrities like Dr. Ruth have their signatures on the Fargo Walk of Fame.  It's probably as close as we'll get to seeing the Hollywood one, so I  was satisfied :)  

We left to take the dogs down to the city park by the Red River of the North.  We haven't figured out why yet, but the river was severely flooded.  It didn't look like the surrounding neighborhoods were affected, but at least half the park was underwater.  We walked the dogs around for a while and looked at the flooded area.  Since it was a long day and we had about a 2 hour trip back we went on our way.  We left going through Moorhead, MN which is just across the river from Fargo.  That night we had dinner at the rental and watched one of my favorite movies that I haven't seen in a long time - What's Eating Gilbert Grape?  It was a great trip, ending all too soon!  

Day Six – Minnesota Trip

Our vacation is coming to an end too soon.  I am surely not ready to leave in 2 days.  Today was another fun day!  We visited three more state parks in the area.  First we headed to Carlos Lake State Park.  The fall colors are disappearing now, but the park was still beautiful.  We are feeling all the additional exercise we’ve had in the past days in our legs now.  When we were walking, I just didn’t feel as “robust” about it.  Since we’ve had more exercise than usual over the past 4-5 days, it doesn’t surprise me that we are feeling this way! 

After Carlos Lake State Park we went into Alexandria, MN.  We went through the downtown area which seems to be thriving.  We got lunch and then had enough time to check out a used book store (which of course we found 3 books!) and also stopped at a large antique store.  We left and went on our way to Glacial Lakes Park.  Along the way we noticed an extreme change in geography.  We went from flat roads, lined with hardwoods and pines and sandy soil to rolling hills, black top soil, and more farm field than trees.  We learned at Glacial Lakes State Park that we were in an area that was created by glaciers that came down out of the north a hundreds of thousands of years ago.  I learned the difference between a kettle and a kame and how they were created.   Although the lesson was interesting, this park was just okay.  We left, got ice cream cones from Dairy Queen (circa 1956) in Starbuck, MN and headed to our third stop, Charles Lindberg State Park.

 Along the way we went through Sauk Centre, MN where we saw a clock shop.  As many know, we have a cuckoo clock and Tim has found himself interested in cuckoo’s since we bought that one (on our 1 year anniversary oddly) so we quick stopped  at this clock shop.  Upon entering we found the clockmaker/repairman and a room full of clocks, clock parts, tools, etc.  We talked to the clock man for some time and found out that some of the clocks he handcarved, one was selling for $10,000! (It was about the size of a grandfather clock.) He took us into another room with many more clocks…it was his living room, the shop was part of his house.  It was interesting to talk to him, however we didn’t buy.  We went on our way to Lindberg State Park where we hiked some more and saw Lindberg’s home.  We were pretty tired, so we came back to the rental had dinner and are watching “The Office.”  Tomorrow will be the final adventures of our trip – we are going out to Fargo! 

Day Five – Minnesota Trip

Today, October 15^th is our 3 year Wedding Anniversary!  We started the day at The Shanty, which is a coffee shop in Pillager about 10 minutes down the road.  Since we were supposed to but don’t have access to the internet at our rental, we thought we should probably get over to the coffee house for free Wi-Fi to check e-mail.  We got breakfast there and sat on the comfy couches and got caught up on e-mail and posted some Day 1 – 3 on this blog.  Afterwards, we drove out to Mille Lacs Kathio State Park where we walked through areas where archeologists have recovered Indian villages and homesteads from the 1800’s.  We also saw the Rum River. 

The morning was cold and overcast so we were moving quickly on our walk to stay warm.  We headed out to Crosby, where much antique shopping was to be had.  I think on two blocks there were about 6 antique shops.  We were in 4, since the other two were open.  Although we didn’t find anything to buy, as always the antiquing was interesting!  By then we had worked up a heck of an appetite, so we headed back toward the rental and ate at Poncho and Lefty’s, a tex-mex, Mexican style restaurant.  The food was very good.  We took a moment to go to Crow Wing State Park down the road since we already had our $5 day pass and then went back to the rental.  We fed the dogs and went for a walk down the dead-end road our rental is on.  Since we’ve been doing so much activity outside, we came back to relax.  We watched the final presidential debate and will be in bed soon.  The dogs are completely sacked out.  Maybe, just maybe they will sleep in tomorrow. On Day 5 we plan to go to 2 or 3 more State Parks.  I’m pumped! 

Day Four - Minnesota Trip

On Day Four (postdated) we spent the most rewarding $5 ever, and we’re going to do it again!  A daily pass to the State Park system in MN is $5 and on Day 4 we went to two wonderful State Parks.  We left our rental around 8am and headed north to Itasca State Park.  Since State Parks allow dogs, they came with (in fact, they were with us the majority of the trip except yesterday). I had never heard of Itasca until I read about it in our travel book I am borrowing from the library.  Itasca State Park is home of the headwaters of the Mississippi River.  The park is a massive 32,690 acres (2^nd largest in MN).  We spent a while walking around and observing the humble beginnings of the Mississippi River.  There was a part that is about 8 feet across where you can walk down steps and walk right through the Mississippi River.  If it wasn’t so cold out, we would have done it, but we reached down and put our hands in the water and it was to cold to be walking through barefoot!  After leaving the headwaters, we took a 10-mile Wilderness drive. I’ve uploaded a video so you can take the drive with us.  It’s a minute of footage from the drive. (Find it below, turn volume down since the sound is WIND mostly.)  Along the way we stopped and took a one-mile walk out to a bay area of Lake Itasca.  The walk was serene and calming.  The leaves were bright to our eyes and crunching under our feet.  The air was cool and crisp.   After walking back and getting back in the car we finished the 10-mile Wilderness drive, stopping along the way to see the largest white pine in Minnesota. 

We spent a lot of time at Itasca State Park, so we had to get on our way to our next stop…Bemidji.  Now, the reason we ended up in Bemidji is because I wanted to go since I heard of it when we were in Red Wing a few months ago.  I thought Bemidji was a funny name and worth checking out J  We turned the GPS to “shortest distance” rather than “fastest route” and took a very scenic tour of the countryside on the way to Bemidji.  I think on day four we saw more bald eagles than ever before. We made our way into Bemidji, quick stopping for lunch, and then heading to Bemidji State Park.  Bemidji as a community didn’t seem very impressive; however we were just driving through.  We got to Bemidji State Park which lies on the north shore of Lake Bemidji.  We got a map of the park and the lady at the park office recommended that we take the “bog walk.”  I am so glad she did, it was a great hike.  We parked and headed out on what we thought was going to be hike one-mile each direction.  It seemed like we had been walking for sometime before reaching the bog, so we looked at the map again, realizing it was 2-miles in and 2-miles out.  The trail we were on was an interpretive trail, meaning that it was designed to be educational.  We learned about the history and geography of the area we were walking through.  Besides the scenery being magnificent, I believe the educational experience was even greater (at least for me).  We continued on our trip and reached the tamarack bog and finally Bog Lake.  The bog was wonderful and we saw many unique flora features, including the carnivorous Pitcher Plant (picture on right).  By the end of Day 4 I felt so impressed by the State Parks in Minnesota I wanted to see more.  I can’t believe that it was only $5 to help support this magnificent park system where we got fresh air, exercise, and a learning experience - all this and we got to have our dogs with us!  By Day 4 we’ve seen 3 Minnesota State Parks.  What a great day it was!  Upon getting home we were tired and so were the dogs.  The moment I hit the pillow and shut my eyes, I was out.

Also on Tuesday, my bestfriend Jen and her husband Don welcomed their baby daughter into the world!  I totally had a sneaking suspicion that she would have the baby while we are gone, and sure enough, that’s how it happened.  Congrats to Jen and Don!  We can’t wait to see them and baby when we get home!

Day Three - Minnesota Trip

Day 3 (post dated) - Monday we went to Little Falls, MN. It was about 30 minute drive South of where we are staying. Little Falls is the home of Charles Lindberg. We didn’t explore much about that; we were busier doing other things. First we say an outdoor mural painted on the side of an old building. Then we headed to a local antique shop. We found a couple of cool things there and everything over $10 was 20% off. After the antique shop we went to Maple Grove Park. It is a park next to the falls, which is actually an operating dam. Since I was expecting natural falls, it was a bit  disappointing, but beautiful fall foliage nonetheless. We then traveled just south of Little Falls to an area off the beaten path. The place was called Blanchard Dam. Supposedly you can find incredible rare and expensive rocks there so we went looking. We didn’t find any of the rare rocks, but it was beautiful! Both damns are on the Mississippi river. We have encountered the Mississippi river many times along the trip. It is quite winding up here in North central Minnesota. After this we grabbed a bit to eat at a place called Royal diner (wouldn’t recommend it) and then headed over to the Pine Grove Zoo. By now the weather had improved a bit. It was raining all morning and now the rain had stopped and the sun was coming out. At the zoo, we were the only people there! It was great! All the animals were active and we got to see some animals in action or up close more than most zoos. Although the zoo was small, I think it was one of the best times I’ve had at a zoo. We spent a good amount of time by two bears that were playing and very photogenic! 

After the zoo we went back home, picked up the dogs, and went to our first State Park on the tour. Crow Wing State Park. We went back to an area where they had a historical trail. It was a learning experience I didn’t expect. Where we were standing was once an Indian village and then became a major hub in historic Minnesota. The town was called Crow Wing.  The place we were was where the Crow Wing River met up with the Mississippi River. There was a combination of Pine forest, hardwood forest and prairie in this small area. We walked around for a while and then checked out different areas of the park including the Chippewa lookout. Wow! We are definitely here during the right time of the year. The views are spectacular!

Day Two - Minnesota Trip

Day Two (postdated) - The morning started out early with the dogs waking up. Of course, once they were up, I couldn’t fall back asleep! I feel that this is a sign of age…I don’t have the sleeping habits nearly like I used too. Seems like I’m more of an early riser now. I stayed up and put together breakfast. At the rental, we are supposed to have Wi-Fi, but no network is being found on the computer. The recipe for the breakfast casserole is on the internet, so without access I was doing it on a whim. I thought it turned out tasty, but I must have had the cook temperature not quite right because it took forever! We called the owner (who happens to live across the street) and she came down, but the Wi-Fi situation hasn’t been fixed yet. (I’ve post dated this blog.) Monday she’ll be calling the provider to see what can be done.

In the meantime we drove into Baxter and found a Starbucks where it said they had Wi-Fi. After ordering a drink we found out that we actually had to buy a gift card for a minimum of $5, register it with Starbucks, register it with AT&T and then we get 2hours of Wi-Fi at Starbucks free each day. After this whole ordeal, we found out that Culvers offers Wi-Fi for free. Damn! But, the good news is that I managed to get online and copy/paste the recipes I had planned from the net to a word .doc. It has been raining on an off all day so we decided to stop at the Tourism Center and pickup some tourist stuff.

  Then we visited an antique shop in Pillager. We didn’t find anything of interest to buy, but we did get a good story about the store. The owner saw me taking a picture of the outside and asked why. “For our vacation album.” She explained to me that we were standing in the oldest building in Pillager, built in the early 1900’s. Some of the shelving in it was original. It was interesting to think of the history of the building, and that some of the “antiques” she was selling may have been sold in that same store as new items. Today we lay low as the Packer game was on and it’s raining quite heavy now. Seems that the rain will keep up through tomorrow and then let up. Sounds like I might have the opportunity to read more of my book! Time to make dinner. –L

Day One - Minnesota Trip

Day One (postdated) was a day of travels. We started out at 7:20 a.m. leaving home. About 3 hours later we arrived at Roxie and Doug’s. We were just there 2 weeks ago. It’s a little funny how patterns of seeing people tends to be either feast of famine. You know, how you don’t see someone for a year, and then the next month you see them repeatedly? Strange how that happens. We were just stopping there to drop off our mouse, Alice. Someone had to take care of her for the week and they didn’t mind. We stayed for about 1 hour to run the dogs around and also steal some yummies out of their garden! Carrots and an onion, and a large jar of freshly pressed apple cider. Delish!

We set off for the rest of our ride, about 4 hours or so to our final destination. Pillager, MN. Prior to this trip, we had never heard of it, but it seemed like a nice place to go so we booked a vacation rental for a week during our anniversary and Tim’s birthday. The drive seemed long…and a bit frustrating. The road we were on was a highway with stop lights. Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but they’d get you going up to 60mph for about 3 miles and then there would be stoplights. Probably not very good for the gas mileage. We arrived finally to our home for the week, a small stucco home on 40 acres.

During the ride up, the tree colors seemed to be transforming from greens to reds, oranges and yellows right before our eyes. It was very beautiful most of the time except where there where patches of conifers or what looked to be some sort of oak tree that was neither green nor leafless, but some mundane shade of tan/brown. Later in the day the rain came in. Since we were tired from traveling all day, we went to the grocery store to stock up (I pre-planned some meals) and just decided on a low effort meal for the evening. Pizza. When we arrived back we ate and got comfortable on the couch with a movie. Tim fell asleep around 8:30. I stayed up and watched the movie (“88 Minutes”, it was horrible). I was a bit restless so I stayed up and read for a while. My goal is to finish this book and start and possibly finish another by the end of our vacation. This book has about 300 more pages, so to start and finish another after this may be a bit lofty goal. We’ll see. By 11, the bed was too comfortable so off to sleep I went. –L

Real Patriots Don't Spend

While scanning through the most recent issue of Time magazine I stumbled across a "commentary" titled Real Patriots Don't Spend. Since Tim and I try to be as thrifty as possible, I was immediately interested in the article. Without becoming zealous or political, I'd just like to say that I think this article makes a brillant point! Click Here.

Homesteading...away from home!

It is officially fall here in Wisconsin. Blue skys, sunny days, but blustery with a temperature hanging in the 60's during the day. Perfect in my opinion! Last weekend was probably the last chance to do some unoffical camping. As you know, we've had a few staycations this summer, camping in the backyard. This time we took it offbase, and went to visit family in Western Wisconsin. We were really looking forward to it since they have something similar to our dream property. I believe it's 80 acres that they have. It's part farmed/open area, part forest/treed area. They have groomed trails throughout the property and ponds with wildlife. We camped by one of the small ponds. The dogs absolutely loved exploring the property, and so did Tim and I! We walked the trails several times and got a good tour of the property, describing much of the work that went into creating it and developing it to the way it was today. We also fully enjoyed the garden! A little bit to a lot of just about everything was growing! They have an area of fruit trees, grape vines, turkeys, and they even bee keep!! Wow, Tim and I were in heaven, dreaming of our own real homestead we plan to have someday. We came away with many practical ideas!

Roxie and Doug were very helpful in sharing a lot of what and how they do things on their organic homestead. We were really spoiled, eating several wholesome meals while we were there. We were only there from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, but it felt like we accomplished so much more. Not only was it great to visit and learn so much about homesteading, but also to see family! Also, Roxie sent us home with fresh foods from the garden that we helped pick. Tomatoes (which we made 4 jars of sauce with), carrots, jalapenos, raspberries, and eggplant. We have been eating well this entire past week, cooking together the tomatoes, eggplant, and carrots, and serving it over bulgar, or whole wheat pasta. Yum! Since we have quite a few eggplant, I'm also going to try something new. I found a recipe for "Eggplant Meatballs", so I'm going to give it a whirl tonight. I'll post the recipe if it's anything worth sharing.

It was a great weekend away and we look forward to visiting again! It was helpful to understand their homestead so we can help plan ours. -L

Going Wild at the Weidner Center!

A while back I "splurged" and bought 2 tickets to a show at the local performing arts center in Green Bay  (Weidner Center).  I did this without consulting Tim, which is something neither of us do.  The tickets were $45 a piece and I wanted to surprise Tim with the show that I decided to go to.  Well, I had the hardest time keeping the secret, even only 4 hours into it!  I couldn't stand it, so I played the guessing game with Tim and made him narrow it down for himself.  He figured it out eventually since this is an unlikely thing to see at a performing arts center.  Well, if you've seen the picture below, you've probably already figured it out.  We went to see Jack Hanna!!!  

I'm sure that I've been watching his show since a young kid and being that both Tim and I love nature and animals, what a perfect show!  Well, it was great!  Prior to the show we briefly 

met Jack, which was not something we expected.  In the picture Jack and Tim and talking and I'm trying hard to look good for the camera.  Haha!   Our seats were in the 5th row, so we had a great view.   Jack's show was entertaining as well as a learning experience.  Of course there were lots of parents with their kids, but I don't think the kids could have gotten nearly as much out of the show as an adult. Not to mention....$45 for a 3 year old to sit and eat cherrios and fuss the whole time except for when there was an animal on stage?!  Dang! Between showing some very cool animals including two-toed sloth, albino wallaby, python and cheetah, Jack showed his favorite clips from some of his shows, talked about wildlife conservation, and showed a video of him with his wife and 2 daughters coming upon a family of mountain gorillas (very endangered).    He also showed a blooper reel, including an episode with David Letterman where Jack was milking a goat and squirted the milk all over Letterman's pants.  It was a good show, and worth the$45 per ticket splurge!  Jack has two shows on TV, Jack Hanna's Animal Adventure's and Jack Hanna's Into the Wild....shows that are meant for educating kids, but is equally as good for adults!   -L

Are you registered? Now you don't have to be!

Hello everyone! Prior to today visitors would have to sign up and log in to leave comments on the blog. It seems that maybe this has turned people away from leaving comments. The comment function is now open to all visitors of the site. We hope that you will leave yours. Thanks as always for visiting!! -L

Canning Pic's

Here are pictures from our canning experience so far!

Huge stock pot of cut up tomatoes!  All these make....

6 pints of yummy tangy tomato sauce!

Dehydrating Apple Slices.  First we had to peel them all and then we sliced them.  

Here they are soaking in lemon juice and then getting loaded onto the dehydrator.

All the peels from the apples!

  

Canning Tomatoes

We now have 8 jars of home canned tomato sauce. This year was our first attempt at canning, and I have to say that so far it has gone really well! We decided to can for a few reasons. 1.) Saves money. We'll probably get another 8 jars once the tomatoes are done ripenening. So let's just say that in the store a jar of sauce costs around $2.50 (or even more expensive if you buy organic). If we get 16 jars, that's a savings of $40. Doesn't sounds like a lot, but the more you can, the more you save! 2.) Convenience. So many times we wonder what to make for dinner that isn't going to be a lot of work after a long day. Now, we can pop open a jar and have "fresh" tomato sauce for pasta, pizza, etc. 3.) Organic! Who knows what's in some of the stuff you buy at the store. Preservatives. Pesticides. When you are putting your own tomatoes into the sauce, you know exactly what you are putting in. Just plain 'ol yummy tomatoes! 4.) Local. Imagine the amount of energy it takes to get a jar of Ragu on the shelf at the store? First the tomatoes have to be picked, then transported to the Ragu factory (energy). Then, they have to go through an entire huge process to be made with machines, etc. (energy). The sauce has to be put into jars with more machines, and then the jars have to be labeled (more energy). The labels were made from trees which were cut down, shipped, processed, printed on with ink (chemicals) and then have to be stuck with some sort of glue onto the jar (energy, resources). Then the jars of sauce have to be driven around the country to get to their destination. More energy. You get my point. Our tomatoes grew from a packet a seeds that cost $1.50. They grew from water, sun, and nutrients in the dirt. The energy it took to make them was physical labor on our part and a bit of stovetop time. And, after we use the sauce, we get to save the jar and reuse it! What an efficent process! Maybe I'm a geek, but that get's me excited.

Tonight, we try Apple Butter. More updates to come...and pictures too!

-L

About books!

Tim and I love books!  We enjoy reading both fiction and nonfiction and our book shelves show this.  I have to admit to even having some what of an addiction to buying books.  I look at the amount of books we have an wonder how I will ever get through them all?! (maybe winter?)  I do have to say however, that we are "smart" book shoppers.  Rarely do I spend full price on a book, or even CLOSE to the cover price!  Most of the books we have (including best sellers from favorite authors) are hardcovers and cost a mere 99 cents!  Now when you read a book that you didn't really like, you can't feel guilty about spending the money on it.  You can't really go wrong since the book only cost a dollar!  Here is where I get to make a plug for the place that we get the majority of our books from.  :)  Goodwill.  Have you visited your local Goodwill lately?  We are so lucky to have a Goodwill down the road (in Darboy) that has a "GoodBooks" department.  It's like a small bookstore in there!  You can find anything from cook books, to travel guides, to kids books, to best sellers.  The majority of the books are at least 1/2 price from the cover price.  They have both hardcover and paperback.  Where you'll find me is in the clearance section.  In the clearance section - all paperbacks are 49 cents, all hardcovers are 99 cents.  Fiction to nonfiction, best sellers to obscure.  I have seen plenty of really stupid books in that section, but if you just spend some time, you can find a variety that may fit the type of book you like to read.  So, before you go and buy a book online or spend full price at a store like Barnes and Noble...try Goodwill!  By purchasing, you are recycling a book that someone else didn't want AND giving money to an organization that helps your community!  Oh, and you walk away with a something to read!  It's a great thing all around!

Your brain on happiness!

Have you ever had to do something that you were just dreading? You say things to yourself like "this is going to be horrible" or "I wish I didn't have to." Then as it turns out, it was a horrible as you suspected? I can be blamed of this type of behavior or thoughts just as much as the next person. I have often enjoyed learning about human psychology and I recently stumbled across an interesting article about the placebo effect. "Your Brain Is A Pharmacy" at utne.com brings up the idea that you will believe what you are told, and therefore react appropriately. In a study Utne references, participants were given two glasses of wine. The glasses had the same wine in them. The drinkers were told that one glass had a more expensive wine than in the other glass. The wine that the participants were told was more expensive taste better to them. Are you surprised? We really are very complex as humans, but yet it is so simple to talk yourself or be persuaded into believing something is a certain way. Do you think you could change the way you feel just by how you think?

Ripening

It's hard to believe that Labor Day is almost here, signaling that summer is coming to an end. I have some bitterness toward this since like most summers, I feel like it was just so short! This year, however, I believe there is some truth to it. Our winter lasted longer than usual, flowers came up late, and grass didn't need to be cut. I did get my garden in around the same time I did last year...right before Memorial Day. Last year, I had tomatoes like you wouldn't believe. So this year I scaled back by one plant, and grew from seed all one type of tomato. I grew them inside and transplanted them at a healthy size. I read that this tomato that I picked (can't recall the kind) was excellent for canning. They all would come in around the same time so that canning could all be done in large amounts rather than a little here little there. Since this is my first attempt at canning, I am looking forward to it!

I really should start keeping a garden diary, because I am pretty sure that by end of August I had tons of tomatoes last year. This year....none. They are there on the vine, and they look great, just one problem - they are all green! Just this week did we notice a few tinting to red. Maybe this is my motivational push to diary the garden! As we continue to try new vegetables, new types, and different styles of gardening, I'd better get my act together.

I am happy to report that the zucchini are done for the year and provided us with much good eatin' for winter. The Green Beans are still pushing some new ones out, but their flavor is becoming less desirable. I think it was just too hot for them the last few weeks. I'm surprised they even hung on this long! The broccoli is faithfully regenerating itself and giving us a little more now and again.

I'm not sure if I will do broccoli again next year. Seems like they take a lot of space for not a lot given back. We will easily eat through the broccoli I've been able to freeze. Maybe next year I will do eggplant or another type of squash in its place.

The good news about summer coming to an end is that my favorite season, fall, is on it's way!! That means time to harvest apples (going to try some dehydrating this year) and that yummy acorn squash will be in the stores soon. It also means soon I will be counting down to our annual anniversary trip!

I'm hoping that in the next week these stubborn tomotes will ripen up. I'm looking forward to the canning and recipes I've found. More updates on that when I start! -L

Red Wing Continued...

Our weekend in Red Wing was a short 2-nights, 3 days.    On day two we did some of the best vacation exploring that we could have done.  We also had more physical activity in 12 hours than cumulatively in the last 30 days!  The morning started out by going to a State Park just 1/2 mile down the road.  We checked in at the ranger office and then followed her suggestion to head up to the bluff were there was a beautiful overlook and some trails.  We spent some time at the overlook which was indeed beautiful and then took a brief walk on the bluff trail.  Since we were on the trail for some time and we were going down down down on steps, we decided it to be best to turn around and head back up before we went too far down.  After we reached the top we drove back down to an area not in the park, but just down the road.  It was called the boardwalk, you can see why in the picture.  It was so cool.  It was about a mile out to the cove it took us too and it was a pretty cool walk!  There were cool frogs, unknown wildflowers, and some beautiful, huge trees! When we got to the cove, it was a light colored sandy beach with a slight tide coming in.  There were several boats out on Lake Pepin, be we were the only ones on the beach.  It was fun!  We took the mile hike back and then headed into Red Wing.  

We were a bit disappointed by the shopping and dining choices in Red Wing.  The shops all had tourist prices on their product, and the dining areas were all kitschy overpriced cafe and coffee shops.  We decided to eat at a pub - hey, we are from Wisconsin!  The food was good and hit the spot after all our activity in the morning.  At the Staghead - I enjoyed an excellent burger topped with Gorgonzola cheese and with a tasty chipotle sauce on it.  Tim and his mom 

enjoy a local bottled beer with their meal.  After eating, we went to the old Pottery Place, where Red Wing Pottery was made.  It was renovated into guess what?  Shops.  Mostly antique shops, and a shoe store.  We found a fun retro cookie jar for $7 at the antique shop and then we moved on to the Red Wing pottery shop.  We watched while some of the potters made product to be sold in the store.  They had some very nice stuff! By the end of all this shopping we were ready to relax.  We went down by the waterfront where the historic train station was and many boats were going up and down the river.  We found a shady spot and relaxed.  Later that afternoon we enjoyed "Pork in the Park" by the church and then headed back to the rental house for more adventure.

After we relaxed for a short time, we went for yet another adventure on the bikes!  This time we went a different direction and ended up by a cemetery.  We spent a little time looking at some of the gravestones in the new part of the cemetery.  Then we decided to move.  Although we though the cemetery was small, we hadn't yet found out that it went back into a whole other stretch of cemetery, which was very historic.  We winded back to the oldest part which had a sectioned off area.  There was a historic plaque that described the people buried there as the settlers of Old Frontenac.  Many of the gravestones in the area had birthdates from the early 1800's.  It was so cool.  My imagination ran wild thinking about what the people were like, what kind of clothes they wore, what they did to survive.  

We left and headed back to the home.  That night we also encountered 3 deer that we watched for some time and also went on the swings by the nearby park.  It was a blast!  

On this vacation I learned how fun it can be to explore - off the beaten path!  More importantly, sometimes you can find the coolest things...if you are just willing to go on a whim.  I doubt I would have been able to find many of these experiences we h

ad by searching the internet, or looking at a library book.  It was a great vacation!  Thanks for reading what I have to share. -L

Red Wing, MN

Hello everyone!  I apologize for the delay between posts, I have missed posting greatly, but like it often can, life got in the way!  There just has been too much to do in early August and then last Friday - Sunday we were in Red Wing, Minnesota.  We went out there with Tim's Mom for the 150th Anniversary of the church/school she used to teach at.  My Mom, bless her heart, came to our home and watched our three dogs for the weekend.  

Red Wing, MN is a historic town, best known for Red Wing Pottery and Red Wing shoes (that's a lot of things to be famous for this size of town!).  As we normally do, we found a vacation rental home.  We very much enjoy staying at vacation homes over hotels.  First, it's much easier to do with dogs (which we didn't bring this time) but also it tends to be more relaxing, homey, and sometimes more cost effective since you can buy grocery rather than eat out all the time like you might have to if you stay at a hotel.  There are countless benefits, but my favorite is being in a home rather than a large, noisy hotel.

The vacation home was in a historic village called Frontenac,  about 10 miles south of Red Wing.  Frontenac has all gravel roads,

 historic homes, and is on the high bluffs overlooking Lake Pepin (part of the Mississippi River).  Some of the homes closer to the bluff have been there since the 1800's.  One had an amazing old stone fence around the property.  On the first night we stayed home to have dinner.   We also discovered there were some bicycles in the small shed outside.  There were 2 adult bikes and 2 larger kid bikes.  Since we were 3 adults, we faced a bit of a

 predicament.  It didn't take long to determine that Tim's Mom would be on the kid bike!  Since this was a fairly odd site to see, I was laughing so hard!  After we all tested out our bikes, we it the road and found our way around a portion of the town.  Since you wouldn't drive through the town to get anywhere, there wasn't any traffic except for a golf cart.  We made our way to the bluff where we discovered a beautiful view.  We viewed Lake Pepin from the bluff, looking all the way across to the Wisconsin bluff across the way.  It was a beautiful sight.  It was the first of many beautiful sights we had that weekend.  On Saturday, we did the best exploring...the off-the-beaten-path type.  I'll share more about that next post. Above is a picture from the bluff.  Here is a photo of the living room of our vacation rental.  So comfy! Enjoy!  To be Continued. -L  

Rain Barrels

Hi everyone!!

Just wanted to offer a more in depth writing on the rain barrels I made.  I acquired three 55 gallon drums from a place that does business with my company.  It was nice that the barrels were free, but they came from a place that does uniform cleaning and as such had a fair amount of thick detergent left in them.  This added an hour or two to the amount of time it took to prepare the barrels because they needed to be cleaned out.

After the barrels were clean, it was time to put in the spigots.  Basically I went to the Home Depot and said I wanted to put a spigot in a barrel.  Stan (the plumbing guy) said, "Well, this is what you need."  The part that fits into the barrel is threaded on the end in the barrel and has a female end on the outside. The particular barrels I used made things a little more difficult.  My barrels have no removable cover, and are completely sealed on the top, except for two bung holes.  If I had chosen to cut the tops off, or had removable lids, it would have been much easier to affix the spigot because a nut and rubber washer would have held it on sufficiently.

First I drilled a hole that was appropriately sized for the treads.  Then I used a liberal amount of two part epoxy on the treads and on the barrel where the fitting would attach.  After letting the epoxy set up for a few hours, I put in a bushing that fit the female end and then screwed in a pipe bib for the spigot.

The next step was to cut a hole in the top where the downspout would enter the barrel.  I used a chunk of downspout and traced the outside of it with a marker. Then I drilled two pilot holes and cut the piece out with a saber saw.

After this was done, it was time to get the barrels in place outside.  I used some cement blocks that were in my basement to raise each of the barrels high enough to fit a watering can underneath.  I detached the downspouts and cut them shorter and added a few elbows to get the downspouts to fit into the barrel.

All in all, it took about 6 or 7 hours to get the project done, but the reward was nice.  After the first rainfall, the barrels were all full!!  (and none of them fell over)

I additional problem I didn't foresee is that the barrels get full and the extra water needs to go somewhere.  I drilled a bunch of holes around the top, but when the water gets up there, it shoots out and sort of makes a mess of the surrounding landscape.  I haven't fixed mine yet, but the same fitting as was used for the spigot can be used near the top with some pipe attached to run the excess water down on the ground.

Have fun saving water!!

Tim