Musings of a Muffin: Kickin' It Old School

I sometimes think I was born in another generation. While I do loove my iPhone and Kindle and the internet entirely too much, I also really enjoy some "spinster" or "housewifey" tasks too. I love to bake and crochet (thanks to Katie!). I'd prefer to read over watching the tv and browsing the web. I love the satisfaction of a clean house, and I honestly don't mind doing the laundry. And I would looove to learn to sew. (I'd probably make an awesome housewife if I didn't get cabin fever so easily and am currently desperately craving a career on my own.)

But back to the point, lately I've been feeling like we have too much unnecessary crap and that we spend too much money on the dumbest things. (I mean do I really need another pair of shoes? Or another kitchen-y gadget?) Also, we had a garage sale at Mom's house and it is insane how much unnecessary stuff we have! So, I've been on a quest to attempt to live more simply and more "green."

There is such a movement to be "green" right now, which I love. But the commercial world has also gotten a hold of the green movement, and there's a lot of expensive, earth friendly products out there. I've been digging sites that show how to be friendly to mother earth while not spending a fortune. (www.frugallygreen.blogspot.com)

So, on my quest, I've set out to do a few things that will make life cheaper and hopefully hug the earth a little too...

Here's a few things on the list of to dos:
- Bake a loaf of "sandwich" bread. I found a recipe to bake a loaf of bread that I'm planning to try. (I'll try and post pictures later.) Jeremi packs sandwiches pretty regularly and the cost of things like bread is beginning to escalate. Plus, as mentioned, I already love to bake.
- Make curtains and curtain rods. Curtain rods are so stupidly expensive! Who really needs to spend $30 on a rod to hang something on? So I found a site that shows how to turn pvc pipe into curtain rods.
- Make my own dishwasher powder and laundry detergent. I found some cool "recipes" for washing powders, as they say. Although, the laundry detergent is a recipe for liquid detergent. Again, these things cost so much and if I can make them inexpensively and more "greenly," why not at least give it a try?
- Crochet some reuseable swiffer "socks." It's so wasteful to keep buying those cloths for the swiffer... (Though FYI, they are great for doggie hair!) Plus I'd be hugging earth by being less wasteful.

A few earth friendly things we already do...
- Use reusable bags at the grocery store. I've always hated the plastic bags anyway, plus I try to buy some fun reusable ones, like my Steelers bags. :)
- Reuse the plastic bags we do get as much as we can. We don't always remember to bring a bag, so when we do end up with plastic ones, I try to put them to good use.
- Mow the lawn with a reel mower. This one is my favorite. We bought a new, updated version of the older motor-less mowers that use cutting blades to cut the grass. It's so much quieter and earth friendly. I don't stink like gasoline afterwards and it doesn't spray grass in my face.
- Make my own dog treats. They're so easy to make. Plus, Caesar doesn't care if I forget about the time and burn them a little! And at least I know what he's eating.
- Try to set the thermostat a little higher and not blast the air. Our house stays pretty cool despite the 90 degree weather here. So, I try to make use of the ceiling fans and not run the air so much.
- Recycle

And finally, some things I want to do in the future to make use of what we have...
- I'd love to have a clothes line in the yard! It makes sense to utilize the sunlight to help dry clothes instead of wasting energy on the washer. But as a renter, we haven't jumped on this one and I'm putting off asking the landlord...
- I really want to learn to compost. It's supposedly really easy and getting fertile soil for plants would be great! I feel like I missed the boat on this one though, so might save it for next year.
- Plant more "useful" plants. While I love flowers as much as the next girl, it's nice to plant things that have a purpose and provide some grub. This year we grew sweet potato leaves and tomatoes (only one of my six plants survived the move). I also experimented with radishes and spinach that are still maturing, but we'll see how that goes. I've love to plant more next year, especially now that we have the space to do so.
- I think it'd be fun (Yes, I used the word fun to describe...) to have a rain barrel! Seems like a great way to make sure of the water nature already provides.

Anyway, you get the point. Saving money and saving mother earth...

Update-y things/What's been going on:
- We had a garage sale at Mom's as I mentioned. Got rid of stuff and made a little mulah too!
- Been starting the job search since I'm not optimistic about getting off the ABSN waiting list...
- Been canoeing a few times so far this year and already debating on when we can go again...
- Been DIYing a lot of stuff around the house. Dyed our new couch slip cover purple. Made a trunk coffee table. Jeremi (and his dad) made a bed frame that will house lots of storage stuffs. Made shelves.

What I thought while typing this: As usual, I think about my terrible punctuation.
What I want to bake next: Sandwich bread and Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Favorite new song: Take me the way I am by Ingrid Michaelson
What I'm reading: Getting ready to start Road to Terabithia
What I've been craving lately: Fried Chicken and Popcorn. Not necessarily together. Jeremi makes me popcorn on the stove the ol' fashioned way. (Yes, he's that wonderful.)
What I'm looking forward to: the Hillsville flea market, the St. James art festival, a possibly visit from Katie :)

Here's a few pics of what's been going on in our lives...