Category: Musings

  • Be Kind to Mother Earth [and Your Wallet Too!]

    home made laundry soap

     

    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……

  • It’s Goslings! It’s Spring – Really Spring!

    gray wolf productions goslings

    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?

  • Friends share

    gray wolf productions kittens 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.]

     

     

    gray wolf productions kittens

     

    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.

  • Pets: why I love them

    cats in a bath tub

    Some of you know that I lost both of my pets last Fall – one died of old age and the other tragically.  I was a mess and I was depressed….for a long time…

    When I was ready – I adopted two kittens – thinking that two would not make me the source of all fun ;) and yup that was the correct thing to do.

    The female kitten [Sassy black ]was about 3 1/2 months and the male [Smokie gray] about 2 1/2 months when I adopted them in late December.

    After getting over being sick and then getting adjusted to a  new place they have taken over my house! 

    Including the bath tub

    And I am not depressed!!

  • Friends: online and in real life

    girl scouts 1950's

     

     

    NYC girl scouts circa early 1950's – some of whom I am still in contact with

    I recently had a birthday…

    Starting over the weekend, many friends on Facebook wished me a happy birthday. 

    [FYI – Facebook posts the date of your birth if you want it to show.  Twitter and other sites do not.]

    Some of those on Facebook I have met in real life [or IRL as we say] – but most I have never met – or rather – I should say have not yet met.  I am sure I will meet many in the future as we have a lot in common.

    Some of my non-social media friends wonder why I call my online friends – friends!  Well to me they are friends.

    They were there for me in my depression when my pets died and in my joy when I announced that my son was getting married. 

    They are ardent supporters of my writing and my thoughts about politics and life – and they sometimes enjoy my videos and photographs [and even my knitting projects ]

    So – what is a friend?

    I have friends I see every day, I have friends from years ago that I stay in contact with via phone and visits, and some with whom I am in contact only via email or online.  And of course, my online-only friends.

    Is there a difference in these friends?  Yes.  For those from the far ago pasts, and even my not-so-far-ago pasts – we may have different points of view and events on life now – but we once shared a history and that can't be discarded. 

    Those histories forge a bond of friendship.  And the social media friends? We are creating our own history and forging a different kind of friendship…

    But to me – they are all friends!

     

    Comments? Thank you!

  • Kittens: the sequel

    And probably the last on this kitten condo for a while…it's fun for me to watch but I do not wish to bore anyone

     

    Comments? thank you

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