Notes From a Small Town

Earth Day Resolution

Earth Day came...and went. However, I have been thinking about our SECOND annual Earth Day resolution for quite some time. Here's last year's. We've mostly stuck to it, although, someone (cough, Joey, cough) has a bit of a problem with the quality of the recycled toilet paper. This year's discussion went something like this:

Me: "So, it's time for our Earth Day Resolution."
Joey: "Huh?"

Oh, my poor husband. He tries so hard and we work so well together, but we are really both "idea" kind of people and we tend to fall short on the everyday details and following through with projects. (Which is probably why I have lots of fabric and patterns and ten half-finished projects stashed around the house). But, I love this idea - a conscious decision to continue on this environmentally-friendly path...one change at a time. So, I've decided to work on eliminating as much plastic from our food shopping, as possible.

We already bring cloth bags, though we do utilize some of the plastic ones for bathroom garbage (another resolution for another time). I've just ordered some lightweight mesh bags for produce and to choose dry goods from the bins at our local natural food store. Found here on Etsy. I know that I could make these. But, I haven't and it's been a year since I've been thinking about them. (Please see the above note about being short on the follow through...)

Along with making a tangible change, I was also directed to this book by a friend. I'm a few chapters into it and already it is making me think. I love that. Especially, since it's not what I was expecting from the introductory chapters. Another little change, hopefully for the better.

Wrapped up in mama-made love

I greatly admire all of those women (and dads, working moms, etc.) who can juggle the kids, provide home-cooked healthy food, sew most of the family's wardrobe, sustain a wonderful marriage, grow a home business while the kids sleep - and still manage to produce healthy, well-adjusted homeschooled kids. Whew! I'm not there yet, but I'm pretty happy with the stuff I do manage to do well. Which means that every once in a while, my kids get some mama-made goodness. 

 

Pajama pants. My absolute favorite thing to sew. They sew up fast and make me feel like I can/do provide for my family a la Ma Ingalls. (It's this pattern, found a few years ago). I've used tracing paper and made numerous pants. Thank goodness my oldest son enjoys picking out fabric - bright orange and busy. His favorite.

And, since it's one of the few items that actually gets finished around here...why not wear them as pants? with shoes. outside.

 

Those are Christmas Eve pajamas - still going. Not too bad for a thrifted flannel sheet. (I made the pants one size bigger and tacked at the bottom...next year they should still be in one piece).

Since there are two boys in the family now, my littlest one has also been included in this new pajama pants tradition. (How I love sewing for two - so much fun)! I traced a pair of his regular pants and this time, remembered to make the waist a bit wider so the elastic could stretch.

A quick side note: how do those mamas of multiples get a picture with both of the kids together? Clean and in the same pair of pants at the same time? I'm perplexed. Formal portraits aside, the pants fit him and I love seeing him wearing them. Oh, yes, pajama pants - they make me feel good.

(Apparently, I neglect sweeping up after breakfast in favor of sewing pajama pants. Sigh.)

Harvest

While our gardening has taken, uh, a sabbatical, we checked out our local options and were happily surprised at what we found. This year we decided to join our local CSA, an urban phenomenon. The Tampa Bay area has plenty of protected wildlife areas, but urban farms? Not likely. We were thrilled when we found a little one trying to bring fresh organic veggies to the city-dwellers. Our first share:

 

Lots of lettuce and "summer" veggies. (The pumpkin, alas, was not grown here, that is store-bought). We've been eating lots of salads and making some food for Calum, based on this book, with those fresh veggies. I'm determined this time to try and retain my little veggie lover (thankfully, now that Ronan is four, he is a little more open to all those great veggies he used to devour). In the meantime, mealtimes are a source of laughter, warm feelings and lots of after-dinner clean-up.

 

Happy Monday!

black gold

It is hot around these parts - and has been for quite some time. It's great weather for swimming and playing indoors, and, as I've recently discovered, for creating compost.

We are city-suburban dwellers and I was a wee bit skeptical of the whole composting idea. My current backyard is the size of a postage stamp. Well, maybe the size of a small porch? It's small and I wasn't sure I was crunchy granola enough to have an open compost. The idea seemed more plausible after reading about it on Enviromom. And, then, we got a composter for Christmas. (Oh, yes, we are those people).

And now, it has totally changed my life and how I look at leftover food. It's a bit embarrassing to go over to other people's houses since I want to take the leftovers home with me - not to eat - but to throw in my compost. 

And, now, we are gearing up for the Florida growing season and our raised bed has been moved for more sunlight acquisition and the boys spent a few hours on Saturday filling it up with black gold. Compost, that is.

(Feel free to notice the sandy soil that usually accompanies our tropical Florida landscape)

I know there are a bunch of you who also compost. What is your preferred method?

cloth diaper update

When we decided that we were going to follow through on our plan to cloth diaper, I scoured the Internet for information on what type to buy, how to use them, which ones are a good value, etc. Everything was so personal - much like slings and wraps and other baby carriers. It was a bit overwhelming and a tad frustrating to see such conflicting opinions.

But, opinions are just that - one person's experience. So, here is ours (so far):

I love the bumgenius 3.0. They are easy to use, have only leaked once (and that's when it was already very, very wet) and take up a very short time in the dryer. We do not get much sun in our tiny backyard, so line-drying isn't really an option right now. The velcro is a bit annoying since it catches on everything if he is not wearing pants, but it does make a close fit, so that is nice.

I have been less impressed with the all-in-one organic cotton one from bumgenius. They stained very easily and we've had a couple of blowouts. They also take a long time to dry, so I usually hang them in our room to finish air-drying. However, I love the snap closure. But, I probably wouldn't recommend these for everyday use. 

We have a few prefolds and some covers to test drive in the next few months (he's still a bit small for those). Overall, I am thrilled that we made the jump to cloth diapers - we're mostly using the 3.0s at night since they are so absorbent. Gotta love those baby steps!

Do you experienced, cloth diaper moms have any other recommendations?

new schedule

With all the new (and happy) changes around here, I'm having a hard time keeping up daily with the blog. I'm really enjoying connecting with everyone and taking notice of the everyday wonderful things in my life, but I'm finding that I can't keep up my former posting schedule. And, it's kind of stressing me out, which is the exact opposite of why I have this blog. So, I thought about it and decided to focus on posting every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (at least until I start sleeping for more than 2 hours at a time). Thanks for understanding!

And, speaking of a completely different schedule - we have a new laundry schedule - one that includes a load of cloth diapers every other day. I must admit that this was something we always meant to do with Ronan, but somehow as new parents we never followed through, or it was just easier to buy the disposables since the cloth diaper options seemed so overwhelming.

But, this time I was prepared for my inability to choose following Calum's birth. I bought a bunch - ahead of time - in preparation. I figured that if I had already bought them and washed them, the guilt of spending the money would force my hand.

If you can look past my screaming baby, who is apparently already voicing his displeasure over having to pose for so many pictures, you will notice the bulky blue cloth diaper. I bought a bunch of the bumGenius 3.0 and I have to say this was far easier than I ever imagined. It all seemed so scary (toilet swishing), but so far all we do is a cold rinse followed by a hot wash and done!

I have a few pre-folds for when he is a bit bigger and we have three of the bumGenius all-in-ones (my hubby's favorite). But, for the cost, I think the pocket diapers are the way to go.

We are still using disposables at night (for the time being) and I'm not sure how it will work once he starts solid food since the changing table is not in the bathroom. But, I am not going to worry about it just yet. Right now, I'm trying to find some pants that don't make his butt look so big!

Earth Day Resolution

(The mini-square foot garden we planted this year with a tall zucchini plant and some lettuce sprouts)

Every year, Earth Day passes through our household without much thought. (I know, I know - you all throw lavish parties with cloth napkins and pass out small buckets of your own compost)!

Since I have seemingly found the time to consider such a day, I've decided that this is a "holiday" that we should recognize. (Full Disclosure: other than Christmas - which I love - I'm not really into the traditional holiday fan fair. We celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving with excitement, but I think that's because it's close to Ronan's birthday and Christmas. Easter is fun, but it's more spiritual for me, and don't even get me started on Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day).

I have been keenly aware that Earth Day could be a way to capture all of our "green" living in one place and to celebrate the things that we do and to ponder what other changes we can make - as a family. Plus, now it is close to Calum's birthday and I like the idea of creating some of our own traditions. 

This year, I want to make an Earth Day resolution. For us, it will be just like a New Year's Resolution (uggh, another holiday), but this one will revolve around something we will do in the coming year to live more environmentally-friendly.

For us, green, organic living has been a slow and steady process and we are always trying to make choices that reflect this lifestyle. But, it doesn't always work and we don't always follow through with our ideas. I think that as long as we are making progress, it's okay to stumble a bit.

Here are some things that I think might be great ideas for our resolution: buy a Terrapass (we did this one year and it was great...other carbon-neutral sites can be found here (non-profit) and here). Also, what if your resolution was to read a book about a new environmental concept? Personally, I'd like to put this one on my list. Or, to watch this video?

After very little debate, we decided that our family Earth Day resolution will be to buy recycled toilet paper. It's not a huge leap, but it's one that over time will become part of our background in green living. Why? I read this article last month and something about it stuck with me.

We are a one-income family and so this may not be an every time addition. I'm going to aim for every other toilet paper purchase to be a recycled one. Eventually, we will incorporate it into the everyday, but for today - at least we are making a little bit of progress. Besides, I already have some ideas for next years' resolution.

Cloth Napkins

In an attempt to reduce our garbage consumption (and to save money), I have been buying fewer paper towels.  We've been using tee towels to dry our hands and to dry the fruits and veggies after washing them. Unfortunately, we're still using paper towels to accompany our meals. And, since my husband works from home, and Ronan and I eat at home for most meals, that means a lot of paper towels.

Many years ago, I had bought some cloth napkins for special occasions. I have two of those left and they are in pretty sorry shape. Still, two is better than none and the brief thought crossed my mind, "I should go buy some more cloth napkins."

I do believe that is the least frugal thought I've had in a while. I have a sewing machine. I have scrap fabric in my stash. Why not do it myself?

These were remarkably easy to make and I didn't even use a pattern or strict measurements (sometimes a complete downfall to the actual completion of one of my projects). I guesstimated on size and cut two and sewed them together (right sides together) as if sewing a pillow. I left a hole to flip out the finished product and made a straight stitch 1/4 of an inch from the edge to give it a finished look.

All of these fabrics are 100% cotton - a leftover skirt fabric and some unused quilt backing. They took hardly anytime at all and have created the base for our ever-expanding cloth napkin collection. Of course, they still only last a day or two, but I am currently in the process of raiding my stash...

Transforming trash into home organization

So, what do you when your kid is at his grandparents' house and you have some spare time? Go out to dinner with your spouse? Knit until your hearts content? Finish up that Language album that needs to be done? (Um, oh, yes, check on that one).

Or, do you decide to organize the art area and paint those old Clementine boxes?

Yep.

These boxes are being repurposed for art storage in the glass cabinet. And, the cylinder? An old raisins container that will hold a handmade alphabet roll. The final blue box is a striderite box (goodness knows I have a ton of those around the house). That will hold some handmade sandpaper letters. I used some acrylic paints that I had on hand.

My hubby and I did have a great time pursuing our own interests last night - something we rarely get to do, although we did enjoy a nice time together as well. And, I did knit to my hearts' content, but I would probably attribute that to the pregnancy insomnia and an uncertain anxiousness about actually finishing my first handknit blanket.

Alas, we are off to the semi-local yarn store anyway...I am itching to make a baby hat.  Pregnancy knitting has hit hard.

I've really got to finish that blanket.

Happy Valentine's Day!