Plastic

How much of the plastic that you "purchase" do you use?

What I mean is, when an item, say lettuce, comes in a plastic container, which is becoming the norm in many grocery stores, how many of those containers do you save?  What do you do with them?  AND where do you store them all?

I have been saving them and using them for the following:

• They make nice containers for things, such as cookies, where you don't want to worry about getting a nice container back.
• I have used them for holding compost items in the fridge til I take them to the pile.
• I have used them as seed starting trays.

I know that I don't have to "buy" items in these plastic containers, but I have found that the lettuce in these containers tends to be fresher and stay longer.  Plus, they pack so much into the container it seems the greens go on forever.

I feel guilty if I don't try to use them at least once before recycling them into the garbage pick up.  So I'm looking for other ideas of how to use them.

I also try to "reuse" the coffee containers,  those are great for "hiding" things in, because I buy Folgers and those containers are red.  When I get a good deal on chocolate chips or chocolate kisses, I put them in there, that way, when I want to bake cookies, I have them!

Now, the plastic bags that grapes or oranges come in, I rinse them out and put them on the side, but I still haven't figured out what to use them for.  I already save and reuse Ziploc bags if they haven't had raw meat in them, they get used until they have holes in them.

When I forget my reusable shopping bags, and get a plastic one, I try to reuse those as well, usually in the bathrooms for the garbage cans.  Or they get used as dog poop bags.  I don't have many of those anymore though.

What types of things do you do with your plastic? AND where do you store them?

Compost

Yes, winter is "almost" here in the North Eastern part of the United States.  It is a few days away, according to the calendar, but it has felt like winter for a few weeks now.

I'm thinking about compost.  I guess, once a person begins to garden, their thoughts are never truly far away from the soil of their garden.

One of the books I took out of the library is "The Rodale Book of Composting" Deborah L. Martin and Grace Gershuny, Editors.  The copyright of the book is 1992, so while the information in it is 21 years old, I am sure there are a few things that I can glean from the book that will help me to better understand how to "grow my soil".

Did you know, there is actually a "history" of composting?  I didn't, but I'm not going to go in to that here.

I wanted to share just one topic from the book today that I found interesting and have never really given thought to. In Chapter 5, there is a section called "from trash to treasure", here is what I wanted to share:

Up to 75% of household garbage is derived from organic matter and, theoretically, can be composted.  If you include sewage sludge, the rate is even higher.  Even if the finished product were simply dumped into a landfill, composting would realize savings because the sheer bulk of the material would be reduced by almost half.  Furthermore, it would no longer pose a toxic leachate problem, requiring expensive liners and test wells.  Using the resulting compost to build healthy soil can be regarded as an added bonus.

I never really thought of this one before.  Granted the book is 20 + years old, but I always thought that any food waste in my garbage can would decompose and make soil in the landfill.  I'm wrong about that and I have to try to be a better steward of my resources.

I never thought that by composting my organic matter it would help, not only my garden, but would also help my community by lowering the cost to haul away my garbage.

I do know that my community does offer yard waste recycling.  Those pick ups are only done during the summer and fall months of the year, the rest of the time, if you put out yard waste, they just throw it into the garbage truck. 

Compost conserves energy because it supplies soil nutrients without calling on fossil fuel support.  It saves energy because it can be made on the farm and in the garden, requiring no transportation from a factory.  It saves energy because it is waste recycled via a very short route - so short as the distance from the kitchen to the backyard compost heap.  Even the organic debris of an entire city can be recycled and returned to the land without leaving the metropolitan area.  Compare this system with the one we have been following since World War II, and you begin to see not only a major root of our current solid wastes and energy problems, but a solution to those problems as well. 

And, it saves energy!  I never thought of this one either.

Before the winter weather arrived, we began our first compost pile in our yard.  I am so looking forward to using it in our garden next season.  And reading just these two paragraphs in this book has got me thinking about better ways for me to use all the organic material I can from our yard to compost it to make soil and to save money and energy.

Isn't it amazing how when you start to do one thing, so many other things open up to you?

Look for a future post about this project.

My wool blanket

 

This is our new to us, wool blanket.

 

 

 

I saw this post over at  Nutmeg and Linen and just loved the idea of putting a crochet edge on a blanket.  So, I was on a mission! 

 

 

 

After searching a few days on eBay, I came across this blanket that I felt would work perfectly in our bedroom.  The color looked nice, the size was good, it is a vintage, American made wool blanket, made by Fabrio mills in Minnesota.  The seller had good reviews, seemed honest, so I took to watching and then bidding.  I figured that if I got it and didn't like it, I could always cover and "guilt" it and no one would see an ugly, wool blanket, but a pretty first try at making a spread for the bed.

 

 

And, I won!

 

When the blanket finally arrived, I was so thrilled with it, I couldn't have been happier, the color was right, the description of it was right.  I was/am a happy camper.





The blanket arrived clean, but I threw it into the dryer for a few minutes and then threw it out on the line to make sure it was fresh.

I have since taken the satin edging off and have begun the task of blanket stitch and crochet shells for the edge.

I have to say, for a vintage blanket, it looks brand new, and it is SOFT.  Even Dear Darling commented on how soft the blanket was, while suggesting that we use it as a living room blanket instead of putting it on the bed!

Pictures to follow once I've finished.

Thrift Shopping

I don't like to shop.  And when I do, I usually go where I know, get what I need and go home.  I have never been a browser, though at home on the Internet is another story.

Anyway, I have borrowed a friends sewing machine and have been trying my hand at some basic sewing.

I found some diaper fabric made in America for $6.99 a yard at our local Joann's, which to me, doesn't seem like a bad price.  It's the same kind of material that the napkins I bought off of etsy are made of, only I don't have a serger.  So I have been practicing using the different stitches on the machine and also making hems to see which I like better.  I am considering making the napkins to give as gifts for future gift giving.

I'd also like to spruce up my own dining room, but don't really have the extra money to go out and buy all new things.

So, I was at the Salvation Army store and I was looking for a flat sheet to try to make an apron out of.  I figure a sheet is a lot of fabric and much cheaper than buying it on sale and often times flat sheets don't wear out, while fitted ones do.

Anyway, while looking for a flat sheet to make the apron, I found what I thought was a window curtain, but is really a shower curtain, and a flat sheet that almost match in color.  I am thinking about using the shower curtain, which is mostly cotton to make napkins and then use the sheet to either make a table runner for the table and the sideboard and perhaps even valances for the window.  Quite an undertaking for me.  Those two items cost me roughly $7.00.  I will have TONS of napkins.

 

 

These are the sheet and curtain I hope to do the napkins, table runners and valances out of.

 

I also found a vintage fitted sheet that looks like it was never used.  It has a nice small floral print that I will try to make the apron from.  This cost 1.99

This is the small floral print I will try to make the apron out of.

Then I went to a local antique shop because one of the stands has all kinds of old sewing stuff in it.  I got the edging and sewing thread for about $5.00.

Then I found two flannel receiving blankets for .99 cents for the two of them, and they looked brand new.  I bought them too and I am not sure what I am going to do yet, but I am sure they will turn into something handy.

 

Wish me luck with my sewing adventures.  I am sure you will see the outcome soon.

My New Coat

I wanted to tell you about my new coat.

 

I am not one to have lots of clothes.  I don't like to shop for them.  I'm short and petite.  Buying clothes means trying on TONS of things that don't fit right because I have short arms and short legs and I get frustrated and usually leave with nothing!

 

The other thing I try to look for when I do shop, are clothes Made in the USA.  ALMOST impossible!

 

Here is my new coat.



 

 

Sorry the pictures aren't that great, it's not quite that bright, more of a burgundy color. The collar is brown corduroy and the lining is red, brown and green wool.  It is removable and it is MADE IN THE USA.  It is also a vintage LL Bean barn coat that I got off of eBay.  Plus, it's a Petite.



 

 

 

 

This coat was meant to be mine.  It fit all the criteria that I was looking for.  It has very little, if any wear, and the only thing "wrong" with it is on the pocket are two spots of paint, which I figured the original owner used to distinguish their coat from someone else's. It did take some searching.

 

When I found it on eBay it was a "Best Offer" deal.  I had never done that before, but the coat was listed at $79.00 and I knew that was already a decent price, but I didn't have that in my budget.  I wanted to pay less than $50.00, I could.  I also found, while looking at the ad, this seller had had this coat on their list since October of last year, so I was hoping that they would want to get rid of it.

I offered $30.00, which I felt was fair.  Under half price, but with shipping, it would bring it below $50.00.  All they could do was say no, and make a counter offer and hopefully then I could buy it.

I was totally surprised when they accepted my offer and so happy to have gotten the coat.

But, you always have that fear when buying something sight unseen that there will be something wrong with it.

There wasn't.  It was EXACTLY as described.

When I got it, I tried it on, fit like a glove!  Took the liner out, threw that into the dryer with some laundry sheet pieces.  Put the coat into the washer and then dried it for 10 minutes in the dryer and put on the drying rack by the fire to dry the rest of the way. 

(The coat looked clean and had no smell to it, but I just felt better doing it myself.)

Since I don't buy a coat, winter or otherwise, every year, I am sure this coat is going to be with me for many years to come.  I'm very happy.

Next time you need something, try to find it in a thrift store or on eBay.  Your choices become world wide then, and you can hopefully find EXACTLY what you were looking for.  And be as happy as I am with your purchase.

Don't have one? Borrow it.

I don't have my own sewing machine,

anymore.

There, I said it.  I don't tell many people this story, but I'll share it with you.

My parents gave me a lovely Singer sewing machine when we were first married.

One year my brother made for me a lovely sewing cabinet that you could store your machine in and that opened out to work on when you sewed.  It was lovely.

I'm not much of a sewer, but I did curtain hems and made some pants for our little boy, when he was our "little" boy. 

It moved with us to the mid west and I am not sure that I sewed at all when we lived there.  But I did use the cabinet as a buffet table on several occasions.

When we were moving back east, our home is smaller here.  SO, I had to purge an awful lot of stuff.  We had too much to begin with, and we just had to purge.  I had decisions to make on some things that were very difficult and I agonized over them.  Sometimes, I still do.

About two weeks before we were to leave my very, very dear friend and neighbor and I were having a visit with one another when she mentioned that her sewing machine had broken beyond repair after many years of service and she couldn't afford to get a new one right now.  She sewed a lot, for crafts and for her grandchildren.  Plus, her daughter used it to sew.

So, after nearly no thought at all, I knew I could give her my sewing machine and cabinet and that it would be well used and loved forever.  And I made her promise, should she ever not want either anymore she had to ask her daughter if she would like them and if not, she would need to contact me so that I could help her decide what was to be done with them.

She didn't want to accept my gift.  She felt it was too much.  But she accepted because, I like to think, she knew that I wanted her to always remember me.  She had helped me through some of the most difficult situations in my life and this was just a small token of my appreciation for all she had done for me over 10 years of being neighbors.

Now, onto the borrow it.

It's been seven years since we've moved and I finally have a few jobs that I could use a sewing machine for.  I have my mothers 1955 Singer, but it needs a good going over and I haven't found anyone yet to do this job with confidence.

So, I don't want or even need to buy one.  I have my mothers.  So I asked a few of my girlfriends and one of them has graciously loaned me a spare of hers.  It's a Singer, so it wasn't hard to learn how to use and it works very nicely.

Next time you "need" something for a job to do, don't just go out and buy one, ask some friends,  ask some family.  Perhaps they have one you can borrow, or buy from them. 

Most of us have too much "stuff".  And most of us don't know what to do with all the "stuff" so it just kind of sits there, waiting, taking up space and making us feel guilty.

Propagation

I decided that I wanted to try to save a few of the plants I grew on my deck this year that did really well.

My mother often saved her geraniums from year to year by bringing them in and putting them on an easterly facing window in our basement and neglecting them.

So, I looked up some information on propagation on the Internet and here is my beginning.

I wanted to save a scented geranium, citronella.  It is the one with the more lime coloring and the other is a geranium which I think is Martha Washington.  A lovely pink.

I took cuttings from the mother plant, and used perlite/vermiculite and some potting soil.  Put the cuttings into some rooting hormone after removing the bottom most leaves from the stems and then made a small hole in the soil and put the cutting in.  Then, I watered and put a Ziploc bag, a used one, over top to act as a small green house and left them on my deck, partially shaded from the sun.

That was several weeks ago and they seem to have rooted.  If you give them a small tug, you can't pull them out of the soil.  There is some new growth, so the roots must be doing their job and I think I successfully did mine for this propagation.

By propagating your plants that you have, you can save money the following season, because you don't have to purchase new plants.  At least, that is my hope with these plants for next year.

I am not the best "indoor" plant person, so we'll see if they last the winter.

Use what you have

 

We have always tried to Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle whenever we can.

 

Meet my new planter.

 

 

 

This started out as two containers for hose on a fire truck.  They were being thrown in the trash and my dear darling asked if he could have them and was given them.

 

What to do with them?  Certainly there had to be a new purpose for these.  They do weigh a considerable amount, so they can't be moved around much.  And the corners do have small drain holes. 

 

We are always looking for new ways to grow our garden, since our yard is so steep, that we thought this would work great as.......

 

A new planter for the deck. 

 

Dear darling screwed them together and then made the base out of some wood and I painted the wood to help protect it from the weather.  We chose this spot because of the good amount of year round sun it gets.

 

 



 

 

 

Next, I put some straw in the bottom and mixed peat moss, used coffee grounds and aged compost and filled in each trough.  Then, I had some peas that I had started in a container to be transplanted into the garden that I transplanted into the top trough.

 

 

Then, in the bottom trough, I decided to try to plant some very LATE season lettuce, carrots and spinach.

 

It is all an experiment at this point. I am not really sure what will work here and what won't, but I won't know if I don't try.

As you can see, I am recycling some plastic containers from the grocery store to use as little greenhouses over the seeds that I've planted.  Which, really worked out well, because not only did they help to keep the soil moist, but we had a few evenings of temperatures into the upper 30's and these little covers helped a lot.

Plus, because this planter is a manageable size, I can just throw a tarp over it when the nights do go low enough for frost.  We will see how this planter works at helping us to extend our growing season.

What types of things do you reuse, repurpose or recycle to help you along with your life of simplicity?  I'd love to hear them.