What's a freegan?

Freeganism, according to Wikipedia, “is an anti-consumerist lifestyle whereby people employ alternative living strategies based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources.” From what I understand, people who consider themselves die-hard freegans could be seen dumpster-diving (ie. picking around in other people’s garbage), using a barter/trade system with neighbors, or foraging through land-fills. A bit radical I’d say, but what a novel idea! Now, DON’T get this wrong – you will NOT see me dumpster-diving or digging through other people’s garbage, but DO think about how much money and waste you could save if sometimes you just thought a little more like a freegan, than a consumer. I can think of a few times this year that Tim and I have been a bit freegan. Just recently Tim was able to talk to a business he works with that has 55 gallon plastic drums they are willing to get rid of. We bought spigots for the drums and now Tim will install them under the downspouts to collect rain water. Besides the cost of the spigot, the drum was free, and so is the rain water (hopefully this will put a nice dent in our water bill!). Another free thing is sharing flowers, bushes, or sapling trees with others. For instance, I have several perennial plants around the house. Once they get bigger, I would gladly divide and share for the exchange of a different plant. By doing this you can get a variety of plants in the yard without dropping money at the store on plants that aren’t established (and who knows if they will survive). These are just some ideas to recycle, share, and save money. There are lots and lots of opportunities out there. If you have any, please share on the “comments” link below.

-L

Strawberries!

To my favorite food, growing in my own garden!    If this bounty keeps up, I'll be in heaven :)

The Gardens

I want just to take a moment to share our flower and vegetable gardens with you!  Both the flowers, fruits, and vegetables are coming along nicely. Enjoy these pictures - I also plan to highlight pictures on the left side bar through the summer. Enjoy!

         

         

            

      

                        

                          

Caution: High Water

So many of you may have heard on the news, or even experienced first hand the recent rain and flooding that came with it. Thankfully up by us, the flooding hasn't been as severe as it has been in the Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, and southern parts of the state of Wisconsin.  A lot of people have had water damage in their basement, or even lost their entire homes.  

Because we live so high up on the hill, it would be near impossible to be flooded by the river. However, the river is still significantly higher than normal.  We suspect about 6 feet, which has damaged many things.  Here is a picture of our dock.  You'll see our boat is still tied to the dock. Since the boat launch across the river has been closed for the second week now, we couldn't even get the boat out if we wanted.  The launch is completely flooded.  The picture on the left shows the condition we've been dealing with as of late.  Half of the dock is underwater.  Usually the whole thing is about 3 feet above the water. 

-L

Rhubarb Sour Cream Pie

I made this tasty pie with fresh rhubarb from our backyard.  It is delicious!  Tim even liked it, though he claimed he doesn't like rhubarb.  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust 4 cups chopped fresh rhubarb 1 egg (egg beaters okay) 1 cup white sugar 1 cup sour cream (fat free okay)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour   1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS:

	Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C).
	Press the pie crust into a 9 inch pie pan. Spread rhubarb in an even layer in the bottom of the crust. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, white sugar, sour cream and 1/3 cup of flour until smooth. Pour over the rhubarb.
	In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of flour and brown sugar. Stir in melted butter until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of the pie.
	Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue to bake for 40 minutes, or until the edges have puffed, and the topping is golden. The center may still be slightly jiggly. Cool completely before slicing and serving.

The Consequence of Plastic Bags

It's probably impossible to not be aware of the green movement.  People of all ages are participating, this isn't just a youth only generational movement - everyone can make changes for the good of the earth, the population, and themselves!  I admit, we are still leaving a footprint on this earth that bigger than it needs to be, but little by little we are making changes to shrink it.  Since the US government hasn't done much to regulate environmental policies yet, we need to take responsibility ourselves.  I found out the other day that some countries have banned Plastic Bags.  The city of San Francisco recently banned plastic bags at grocery stores: SF GATE.  Click for the full story - here is an excerpt:

"People are used to getting free bags and thinking there is no real consequence to them, but there is a cost," said Jack Macy, commercial recycling coordinator for the city's Department of the Environment, which is implementing the new policy.

The 180 million plastic bags city officials estimate are handed out in the city each year end up as litter on city streets, clog storm drains, harm wildlife, and contaminate and jam machines used in recycling, Macy said.

And then there is the giant patch of plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean that scientists are monitoring, estimated to weigh 3 million tons and cover an area twice the size of Texas. The patch is about 1,000 miles west of San Francisco, but plastic dumped in the ocean here can end up there.

Wow!  So, if 180 million plastic bags are handed out each year in just San Francisco, imagine over the entire US?  Imagine over the entire world?!   If you purchase just 5 reusable bags to take grocery shopping, to the mall, etc....imagine what an impact you could have.  If you hang onto your plastic bags, don't throw them away and clog up the landfills.  Find a store locally that will recycle these bags.  Recycled plastic bags can make materials like composite boards for long lasting, sustainable building materials.   If you live in Wisconsin, Festival Foods is a location you can recycle your plastic bags.    In our house, we have about 10 reusable bags made out of cloth.  We take them grocery shopping and so forth.  We turn down plastic bags whenever possible. 

I hope you find the information available posted here compelling enough to get some reusable bags, or at the very least, choose paper over plastic.    If you are interested in getting reusable bags, go to reusablebags.com They have a nice choice of practical/usable bags and if you want something fashionable they have that too!

-L

Cora's Birthday!

Yesterday was Quigley's birthday, today is Cora's!  Since we don't really know when her birthday is, we chose June 1st, the day after Quigley's (not very original, I know).   We've had Cora for 2 years now. We don't know how old Cora is since she's from a rescue and has no history.  She can be a real handful, but she's a lover at heart (we think!).  Cora received her gift this morning, a plush elephant.  It has a squeaker in it, so we figured it would be destroyed in minutes.  The "indestructible" one we bought Quigley has officially destroyed already.  We left to run to the grocery store today, and we give Cora what we are calling her "Elephante."  Since it's her birthday, she got to go on the bed while we were gone.  We figured elephante would be destroyed, but he's perfectly in tact! As long as Boomer or Quigley don't get at elephante, hopefully he'll last!  We'll see, I give it one more day :)    -L   

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORA!

Quigley's Birthday!

Today our Quigley turned 3!  Of the 3 dogs, he is the only one we know of his actual birthday.  We got Quigley from a breeder in IL and Cora and Boomer are both rescue's.  Quigley came first, and we've had him since 8 weeks old so he has a special place in our hearts.  

We got a coupon in the mail from Petco for his birthday, so we took his spoiled butt there to get the free treats and let him pick out a toy.  The picking out a toy part wasn't as easy as suspected.  I mean, he's a dog...did he even know he was supposed to pick one out? :)  Probably not.   Basically he sniffed out all the toys on the bottom shelf.  He also gravitated some rocks for a fish tank, haha!  Finally, we just picked something out (NOT the fish rocks).  He likes what we picked out - and nonetheless, it was a nice trip to Petco!  

Since Cora's birthday is tomorrow we picked up a little toy for her to tear apart, it's a plush elephant.  If it's plush, our dogs will destroy it.  Not even the wolf sized nylabones (which as as close to indestructible as possible) last in this house!   -L  

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY QUIGLEY!

State Bird of Wisconsin

Do you know what the state bird of Wisconsin is? Most people would say the robin, which is correct...if you want to be technical about it. I'm going to argue however that for the next month or two the state bird of Wisconsin is the mosquito! I'm still healing from my mosquito encounter that took place 4 days ago. We went walking to our favorite trail in So. Brown County. The wind was strong and the bugs shouldn't be a problem, right? Well, we walked down into the lower, wooded and somewhat wet area of the trail. I was immediately swarmed by mosquitos. Since it was breezy, I thought they would let up, but no luck. Through the entire rest of our walk, the mosquitos were pelting at my arms and anywhere else they could get at (a bite on my scalp...seriously?!). It felt like I was walking through the rain as they came at me full force. I couldn't take it, I walked faster and faster to get out of my misery! Well, obviously, I got out alive - but not without the battle wounds. Dozens upon dozens of itchy mosquito bites. Somehow the dogs and Tim managed to get out without more than a bite or two. Such is my luck. Next time I go prepared...slathered in all natural bug repellent.

So, fair warning - it's offically Wisconsin state "bird" season....and these mosquitos aren't joking around! Good luck out there!

-L

Blogging for Birds!

Today, I'm blogging for birds!  

We are blessed to have a lot of unique wildlife near our house since we are on the river.  When we first moved here 3 years ago, we thought that we were seeing an eagle flying by once in a while. We came to find out that there were 2 eagles nesting together about 10 miles south of here in a nature preserve area, and indeed what we were seeing was a bald eagle.  Very Cool!  

Well, 2 new eagles have moved in!  Just a few miles up the road there is a new subdivision that was poured.  Some farmer sold off his field, so of course, concrete must be poured.   The lots are over priced and crammed together.  None have sold, to my knowledge. Well, in the process of building the subdivision, a clump of trees were left over.   This spring, a nest was built.  A really big nest!

When we first discovered the nest we saw the eagle sitting next to it on a branch.  Upon circulating the area we spotted the top of a white head in the nest.  We knew that they must have eggs, or chicks!   

I drive past them every day, but on the other side of the river. Now that there are leaves sprouting on the tress, the nest is hiding.  Sometimes I'll spy 1 eagle.  This afternoon on the way home from work, I spied two!  I picked Tim up in the drive way with the camera and we drove over to the nest. Sure enough, there they were, both of them sitting there, about 15 feet from their next.  What stoic, beautiful birds!  Enjoy these pictures.

-L