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4th of July Traditions on the Columbia!

In my river neighborhood, there are several 4th of July traditions.

One fun one is the fire boat spraying people on their decks and boats [and I missed getting pictures ] Wait til next year!

Another tradition is a boat named Luscious making a round trip with a very large American flag on the mast – along with 2 more normal sized flags.

And a tradition for this [and most of our potlucks] are:

Human visitors from Hayden Island. [Dinghy is easier than driving I-5!]

And the ever present food-seeking ducks.

I hope your holiday was fun for you, your families and friends!

07/05/2011
Ah kittens!

When she is not being a moving land-mine, Sassy lies around buddha or panda style.

She is still a kitten but grew fast and only now is she stretching and fitting into her large body and learning how to maneuver it.

Kind of like watching children grow and learn what they can do with their bodies

07/01/2011
Product Packaging Insanity!

Subtitled: Homage to our strange rules for packaging items and sports behaviors!

I recently went to a large membership store to buy a few things – among them a new shower head and eggs.

When I got home, I decided to install the new shower head and so proceeded to try and open the packaging. After I can't recall how much time and almost a few bloody fingers, I managed with scissors, a screwdriver and muscle to open the plastic packaging wide enough to get all the parts out.

There was no way i was going to try to open more of that package! The photo above shows my destruction of the plastic!

Mind you, the shower head itself is not fragile – nor is the tubing that connects it to the water outlet. It's all made to move as it is a hand held!

I remembered that I also bought eggs – 18 of them – and they came in a soft cardboard container!

Do I really need to make the comments I am of thinking

It reminded me of comments my son made when an usher once were told us to stop talking at a Legg-Mason tennis match.

We stopped talking – but on the way home he, a smart early teen at the time, asked why one had to be so silent at tennis matches when the players were swinging at a self-tossed ball that really did not hurt that much if it hit you and yet we were encouraged to yell and cheer at baseball games when a ball was coming at the batter very fast and could do serious damage if it hit him.

Ah life is odd and interesting, isn't it

04/27/2011
Be Kind to Mother Earth [and Your Wallet Too!]

Changing some cleansers, using fewer utilities, and smarter shopping can help reduce your footprint on the planet and it sure will save you money too!

Gas prices are high, electric bills are high, heating bills are high, food costs are high…etc…etc..etc…

Earth Day comes once a year but you can celebrate it 365 days a year…and while celebrating the Earth – you can save enough money to buy yourself something nice [and useful of course ]

Here are some things I do that you might consider for your home. And I've even gotten some friends to also reduce their electric consumptions when they found out how low my bill is compared to theirs. [Comparing utility usage is a neighborly thing to do.]

Wash and rinse clothes in cold water – I can't remember the last time I washed with warm or hot water – and yes my clothes are very clean.

Make you own laundry detergent. Use the ingredients in the photo – Borax, Fels Naptha and Washing Soda. It's easy to make, it's fun to make and it washes better than store-bought stuff. [Even in my very cold winter water.]

Use vinegar as an all purposes cleanser. I wash my floors with vinegar – and – nope – there is no odor.

Hang clothes out to dry or hang them inside as often as you are able to do so. Sun dried clothing has a great fresh smell – and it sure beats the one from machine additives.

Unplug most of your small kitchen appliances when not using – do you really need all those reminders of what time it is?

Unplug the TV set. That instant on means it's always on – even when it's off.

Run your dishwasher only when it is full. You can make your own dishwasher detergent but I've had problems with it not getting glasses clean.

Do as many errands as you can in one car trip and plan out your route.

Better – start carpooling with pals for those shopping excursions.

And even though I've added light bulbs – please turn yours off when you leave a room [unless of course someone else is in that room

Turn down the thermostat and add a layer of clothing.

All the above will save you on your utility bills too!

Put the green back on the planet and in your wallet.

How do YOU save the planet and save money??

Thank you for your comments……

04/22/2011
It’s Goslings! It’s Spring – Really Spring!

When you live in Portland – winter can be yukky wet [at least for me] and it's not great when winter weather keeps on into Spring.

BUT – when you see the first few batches of goslings – you sort of forget the yukky stuff and start counting babies. This is a neighborhood activity and we worry when some disappear and are happy when all of them make it to goose-adulthood!

Geese are very protective parents and you'll see one telling another to stay away from "MY" babies!

Next should come the baby mallards but they seem not to have produced many in the last few years. And they are not great parents

What makes it REALLY Spring for you?

04/18/2011
Friends share

The bed these two are in is a one cat kind of thing…and they both easily fit into it when they were "newer" [they were 2 and 3 months old when I adopted them.]

Now that they are 5 and 6 months old – they have grown and the bed has not….but when it's windy out there – they both hop into it.

03/21/2011