bee creative

Create a Connection - Reviewing goals

Create a Connection asks us to look at our goals that we made at the beginning of the year.  My goals are actually listed in the side bar.   This prompt makes it a great time for me to review my list and to add a feature to it that I’d started on, more pictures of course!

Here’s my list:

1. Read something that is good for my heart and soul. Doing pretty good on this one.  I’ve read lots of inspiring things on blogs that make me think and have led me to act and create.  One of my favorites is Wish Jar.  Very inspiring!  I’m just about finished reading A Place of my Own by Michael Pollan.  It’s a great book about his process of building a small building.  I’m inspired to build my own, but I want to make it out of straw bale or cob.    I’ll be adding Silent Spring by Rachel Carson to my list next.
2. Walk or do yoga.  I’m doing really well on the walking (I walk by this wonderful field everyday on my way to work).  My family is going to get sick of my saying this, but selling my car was one of the best things I’ve ever done, in so many ways.  I’m loosing weight and becoming healthier.  By walking I feel more connected to my community and have made new friends.  I’m not as consistent in the yoga department.  I took classes for about 4 years and it’s enough a part of my life that I do little stretches through out the day, but I’m not good about doing yoga on a regular basis.  I’m working on it.
3. Eat good food.  I’m happy with this goal too.  My mom and dad gave me a crock-pot this year and I’ve been using it a lot to cook up a batch of something or another that I can freeze in small portions.  It makes it so much easier to make good choices at the end of a workday when I’m tired.  I’ve started making my own yogurt on a regular basis and am going to start making my own butter.  I’m also very interested in making my own cheese.  And the garden (more pictures in Smile) is starting to provide more and more yummy stuff.
4. Find something beautiful in the day. I’m pretty good with this one too.  Walking helps a lot with this one as does working with children.  It’s those odd days that don’t go well that I need this reminder.  That’s where the walking comes in.  If I walk enough, I can let go of what is bothering me and find the beautiful part of the day.
5. Create something. I’ve been participating in Inspire Me Thursday and Wardrobe Refashion where the goal is to create and share on a weekly basis.  It helps me structure my time so that I really do move forward on my projects instead of just dreaming about what I want to make.  And because I’m having so much fun, I’m creating more and trying new projects. 
6. Journal.  I’ve been journaling since I was 11 or 12 years old with more or less regularity.  This year I really am feeling good about my journaling.   Two things have helped me with this goal, giving myself permission to type (using Bee Creative as a place to journal!) and exploring prompts from some of the blogs/websites I’ve found.  Sunday Scribblings has been a wonderful prompt to write more about a variety of things.  Also, I love the journal prompt that has been added to Inspire Me Thursday. 
7. Connect with someone.  It made me smile when I discovered Create a Connection.   Starting Bee Creative and exploring the world of blogs has created such wonderful opportunities and is such an amazing process.  One connection leads to another and my life is becoming all the richer for it.  One connection that is shaping my life a lot and that helped me with working towards other goals I’ve had has been through The Riot for Austerity, 90% Reduction.  Where I’m falling down a little, is in connecting with some of the individuals in my life.  I have friends that I’m not as good at staying in touch with.  Days go by so fast and it’s easy to forget how long it’s been since a connection has been made. 
8. Spend time with the dogs.  Well this one is pretty easy.  They do a pretty good job of making sure they have my attention.  I was really thinking at the beginning of the year that I needed to get Lola (the Chihuahua) out more.  Walking the two dogs together was a disaster and Lola is impossible on a leash.  After talking to my vet, I’ve decided that what we’re doing right now is just fine.  Briar goes for a morning walk for me (it’s her quality time….) and Lola gets as much play time in the yard as she wants when I’m home.  They are healthy, happy, and mostly well behaved.    : )
9. Find a quiet space.  This one is really important to me.  My days are noisy and active as I spend them one-year-old children and I really don’t feel like doing much at the end of the day on a regular basis.  Having a quiet space is really important for regrouping.  A lot of times now, I don’t listen to the news in the evening, sometimes I don’t listen to any music.  Last night I had the doors open and listened to the rain.
10. Take a picture every day.  Entirely too successful here… Going to start sharing some of the photos in the sidebar in a photo album (Smile)! 

Create a Connection- What's for dinner?

Here’s my contribution to a Create a Connection prompt.  The request was to share a recipe and write about why we chose it.  I decided to share what I made for dinner tonight. I’m trying to meet a goal of 70% of my food being local, 25% bulk, and 5% out of season or imported.  I was a little off on this tonight, but close (60%, 30%, and 10%). My favorite way to cook is pretty spontaneous.  This is how dinner went tonight:

“Dinner…okay, what do I want to eat.  Got to finish up that fresh pasta.  Okay, cook some of that.  Gosh fresh pasta cooks up fast.  Hmm…Maybe I’ll fry up some of that bacon I got from the deli  Hmmm…a vegetable would be good.  Peas, I’ve got peas to eat.  Okay, turn everything off, let the heat from the pans finish cooking the pasta and bacon.  Go get peas from the garden.  Hey there are strawberries to pick too. .   Oh that will be good with that ice cream I brought home yesterday.  Pasta's done. Pour on a little olive oil.  Grind a little pepper. Okay, put the peas in the pasta water that I saved.  Yep, just a dunking is enough.   Scoop them out.  Hmm…still needs something.  Oh yeah, cream sauce.  I’ll just pour a tiny bit of that cream I got to try making butter (got to do that on Saturday) in the pan I cooked the bacon in and heat it just the littlest bit.  Ooh, a little cheese too.  Mix it all together.  Still needs something.  Ah, sprinkle some walnuts on.  Yummm! 

Strawberries and vanilla ice cream for desert.  It doesn’t get any better than this!”

The final ingredient list:

Fresh pasta, locally made
Peas from the garden
Local cheese
Just a touch of olive oil
Fresh ground pepper
Italian bacon  (not pancetta-something else)
Local cream
Walnuts

Local ice cream
Strawberries from the garden

Airing my dirty laundry...reflections on week 3 of 90%

My rambling mind got to thinking that if my washing machine uses 41 gallons of water a load (what the water calculator for my city uses as a figure and I can’t find a better average for the model I have) and I do two loads of clothing a week, that’s 82 galloons of water.   Which is an average of 11 gallons of water a day.  Ugh!  So I thought, what if I washed my day’s laundry by hand.  How much water would that take?  And no electricity used.  Hmmm…. 

The results?  About 4 gallons of water by the time I washed and rinsed.   Nice arm work out too.  Problem was, I wasn’t able to really wring out my clothes as well as I should have and it took forever for them to dry.  So of course they acquired that nice musty “took to long to dry” smell (dried indoors as it was raining last week).  Not a good solution for this time of the year for me.  I think I gave away my salad spinner too soon.  I read somewhere that they could be used for “spinning” the water out of a sweater.

The next meander my mind took was, what about the type of fabric used for clothing?   What takes the longest to dry?  Jeans, of course.   I’ve actually been moving away from wearing jeans for several months now, after I read the statistics on pesticides in cotton.  I’ve been planning on making my own pants out of hemp or organic cotton, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.  Right now it’s skirts and knee length leggings for early summer, which do dry quickly.   I need to consider how fast drying the types of materials I’m using for making clothes (or buying) are.  A lot of the quick dry fabrics are petroleum based…. 

My plan is to try hand washing again and practice that wringing.  I’ll choose clothing items that I know will dry faster and hand wash on days that I think will allow for quick drying.  I’m going to aim for one load a week in the washer (towels mostly).    We’ll see how that goes.

Inspire Me Thursday-Connect

Here's my Inspire Me Thursday project for this week.  The challenge was to create a piece of art that expresses what we are connected to.  My project does this on several layers.

This is what I started with:  a collage I made, a barrette that I've had forever, and some glass that I cut, stacked and then had my mother fuse for me.

The collage started as a photo of my garden that I tweaked on the computer.  I added the text for a Robert Frost poem, "The Silken Tent," and some pieces of paper from an old magazine.  I also added some iridescent paint.  And then I cut it up and made a paper chain.  It didn't really do a lot for me so I took it apart.  I had the glass on my table because I had started to glue other pieces of glass I had done to old plastic barrettes.   So I thought, hmm... and glued the paper to the back of the amber glass.    This is what it looks like now:

What I like about this is it's connections forged by heat and glue, connections of old and new, connections of family and friends (the glass was scraps from a family friend), connections of image and text, connections of my visions and ideas and another artist's (the poem), and a connection for containing my hair!

Here's a little piece of the poem:  "But strictly held by none, is loosely bound/By countless silken ties of love and thought,/To everything on earth the compass round...."

 

Inspire Me Thursday-Journal

This weeks Inspire Me Thursday Journal entry:

"Fifteen minutes of slightly edited rambling about what I feel connected to… ideas, the environment and people.   Generally I think more about creating connections than about what I am connected to myself. My day revolves around creating connections with the children I work with, with parents, with my co-workers.  It’s part of care giving and teaching and raising children.  I think that when connections are created, an understanding is created.  I’m thinking of pen pals and exchange students and “sister cities.” I’m thinking of the power of the “web.”  I think the more we connect the stronger we become.  Connections create community.  Hopefully communities of people that care about peace, understanding, and respect.  I believe the more we are connected to the environment, the more we will care about the impact we have.  The more we will try to live lightly on the earth.  The more connected we are, the more we will realize we are a part of the planet Earth, not separate from it."

Inspire Me Thursday-Wood

The prompt for Inspire Me Thursday this week was to use wood, work on wood, something pertaining to wood.  I have several pieces of unfinished furniture that I've had for years that I have planned to do something with and just haven't gotten around to. So I decided this was the "kick in the pants" I needed. I decided however, to start small, and even at that it's going to take me a little longer to finish.  So here's a work in progress:

This is a little chest of drawers that I picked up at a garage sale.  I painted the front of the drawers quite awhile ago, but then stopped there.  I decided to start covering the drawers as a test for moving up to the bigger pieces of furniture (one of which is the book case this is sitting on, the other is a 3 drawer bed stand type cabinet).  For both of the drawers I've finished I applied a transfer with gel medium.  The water lily drawer is edged with water color pencils and the other drawer is edged with a chalk stamp pad.  The red polk-a-dots are a oil pastel (I'm wondering if I'll replace these when I've used them up, probably not the best environmentally).  I'm going to try different ideas on the remaining drawers.  Just haven't decided what yet.   I liked using the water color pencils to edge the sides of the box.  Probably will try that again.   I also need to consider how to keep the drawers looking fairly coordinated so that it doesn't look too patchy.

90% Emissions Reduction, Reflections on week 2

Can’t resist a few notes from the garden, it’s my favorite time of the year!  The strawberries and raspberries are coming!  I love them….  Picked my first handful of sugar snap peas.  Love them….  Noticed that the potatoes in my hugelkultur are twice the size of the other potatoes I planted at the same time.  I am so curious to see what type of productivity I’ll have.  If it turns out as I think it will, I’m planning on building more hugelkultur’s next year.  I haven’t had to water the garden yet, but then again I usually don’t until July.  One of my neighbors was kind and said that it wasn’t a jungle I had, but a meadow garden.  Well, the bees like it. 

Here's my breakdown for the week(goals in parentheses): 

Transportation (goal 50 gallons per year):  My A+ category.  Looked at three wheel bikes.  Would make grocery shopping much easier and they make me smile, but I suspect a trailer would be more practical.    Broke things down more, I figure 1 gallon a month for bus gas mileage. 

Electricity (90 KWH per month):  Looked at some more of the figures, did some math.  I’m down 30 KWH from last year during this month.  Last month was 70 KWH less than the year before.   So at least I’m using less than last year.  I’m guessing it’s light bulbs, less cooking in the evening, a different printer, and one appliance I’ve been able to replace that uses less electricity.  Over last two months have consistently used 10 KWH a day.  So what uses 7 KWH a day that I can unplug?

Heating energy (100 Therms a mth): Sweet!  Looked at this again and figured out that during the coldest month of the year I used 86 Therms of gas.  In better shape here than I thought, good thing I wasn’t a math major!  Still need to look at keeping my pipes from freezing. 

Garbage (.45 a day): Cancelled the two catalogues I still get on a regular basis.  Discovered I could do it via email.  Took reusable containers to the grocery store for my bulk items, rather than use the plastic/paper bags they provide.  Still researching and thinking about the dog waste issue.

Got to thinking about my practice of buying compost and potting soil in bags.  I have really rocky soil and have tended to build raised beds and then filled them in.  I’ve been trying to move away from this, but it’s challenging. 

Water (11.5 gallons a day, extra 1.5 for dogs): Did a good job of thinking what water I could use as grey water (such as rinsing lettuce over a bowl to catch the water).  Got the information for switching from a flat meter for my water usage to a measured meter.   

Consumer goods ($1000 a year):  Purchased photo paper and CD’s to back up photos, still well within allowance. 

Food (goal of 70% local 25% bulk, 5% not local):  Grand totals for last two weeks are 72% local, 17% bulk, 11% non local.  I’ve been refining my food goals.

I don’t have a problem with buying foods that are processed locally at the moment and am including them in the bulk or local (local bread made with locally ground flour, local sausage, locally roasted coffee).  Also I will consider any peaches or cherries from the eastern edge of Washington as local if they are being sold at the Farmer’s market, or items from the south end of British Columbia-basically if I could drive there and back in a day.  First choice is always organic, but if I can’t find local and organic, I will pick local over organic for most foods. 

I’m going to do some research on making dog food.  It’s only practical if I can make a week’s worth at a time. 

My non-local purchases were:  salmon from Alaska, an organic avocado, butter and organic cottage cheese from Oregon.  I can get local cottage cheese (only available at the coop though so requires planning ahead).  Checked at the coop and there is no organic butter to be found yet, so I’ll have to make my own for it to be local.  Organic butter is important to me.  No local salmon yet.   That leaves the avocado.  I’m going to savor every single bite….

Inspire Me Thursday-Journal

Inspire Me Thursday's journal prompt for this week was:

"I would…if I could

What would you do if you had no limits, no boundaries, no obstacles, nothing to stand in your way?  What would you do if you could, and what, dear soul, is stopping you?"

My answer:  "I would be home more.  What holds me back?  The need for a regular paycheck, fear of failure, the need for security…."

I would love to work from home, but still haven't figured out how that would work.

My discovery with this piece?  That the nice thing about collage is that if you do something you don't like, it's pretty easy to cover it up!

Consumerism on my mind

This is the first purchase I made after deciding to join the 90% Riot for Austerity.  I was at the farmer’s market and it caught my eye.  I walked around looking at everything, buying the vegetables I needed and it lingered there, in my mind.  I made the mistake of walking by it again.  And that was the all it took, I added it to my collection of mugs.  Yes, it’s a collection.  I have way more mugs than I need.  And it's an addiction I'm trying to break.

In general, I do like to buy things that are locally made and handcrafted.  I don’t tend to feel too guilty about these purchases.  I like knowing that I’m supporting a local artist, who are mostly trying to make a living doing something that they love.  And most of the things I get are, if not necessary, at least useful.   Also, I decided quite a while ago that it’s alright to want beautiful things in my life. I think it is human nature to want to embellish our lives.  I think it feeds our souls.  And I think it can be done ethically.  So if I see something that I fall in love with, I’m okay with getting it as long as it’s a meaningful purchase in some way.

What I do struggle with is my own desire to make things and try selling them.  I make a lot of things, more than my family or I can use really.  So selling them makes sense.  The extra income helps me out quite a bit (or lets me indulge occasionally in something I love).  And yet, I’m encouraging consumerism by making something for people to buy.  I struggle with this.

I'm thinking that I have to be kind to myself.  If I’m creating something that is useful, that is made with recycled goods (or is respectful of our environment), and if I sell it locally and someone finds it appealing enough to buy, then maybe I’m not just supporting consumerism, but helping someone embellish their lives just a little bit.   I've found that some people don't trust their ability to make things or just plain don't enjoy the process.  Isn't it better to give them the opportunity to buy something from some one local rather than "made in______?"  I'm hoping that I"m not rationalizing this, but I think it is okay.  But I have to stop buying mugs.  Really. 

Here’s my report card for 90%: 

Transportation:  Successfully completed (90%).  My parents did have to give the dogs and I a ride to the vet for their yearly check up though.  My parents have been very supportive of my deciding to become car-less. 

Electricity:  Needs improvement. Didn’t use the dryer, but I didn’t do less than I’ve been doing.

Heating and cooking energy: Successfully completed (90%).  This is mostly because I didn’t feel like eating this week, so it was mostly food I didn’t have to cook much (salads, locally made bread, cheese).  And since it’s that time of the year, no heating or cooling necessary.   

Garbage:  Successfully completed, but working towards more improvement (90%).  Did research on composting the dog’s contribution to the garbage (which is over half of my garbage).  Also put the numbers for the two catalogs that come in the mail regularly in my purse.  Will call.

Water:  Shows effort (50%).  Did a good job of thinking about what water I could use as gray water (such as rinsing lettuce over a bowl to catch the water).  Got the information for switching from a flat meter for my water usage to a measured meter.   

Consumer goods:  Successfully completed (90%).  Bought 5 yards of material, a wire basket, and a tablecloth at a garage sale.   Grand total, 10 dollars.   

Food:  Needs improvement.  This wasn’t the best week.  I didn’t buy much, but I did buy 2 or 3 prepared foods rather than making them myself.  They were made locally (from the grocery store bakery/deli), but I’m sure the ingredients weren’t local.  Off to a much better start this week. 

Inspire Me Thursday-World travelers

The topic for Inspire Me Thursday this week was "World travelers."  This was a tough one for me in some ways.  Too many thoughts and choices floating around in my head.

The first thing I thought of was my brothers-they have gypsy souls.  I long to be more of a gypsy but something holds me back.  Or maybe I just don't feel as compelled to travel as others in my family do, too content where I am most of the time.

The second thought was this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson.  I'd just recently wrote it on my cloth sneakers. 

Then I thought about what images I would want to use for a piece about traveling and decided I needed some pictures of my globe.  Since I went off and left my camera at work, I decided to use the camera on my computer.  Thirty pictures later, I had three that I really liked and then I had to choose.  Choosing is always a challenge for me.

By the time I was finished, I really hadn't created what I thought I would when I started.  I was thinking something colorful and ethnic.  Something about the romance of traveling.  It really became more a reflection on traveling.  I started thinking more about what place traveling should have in our lives.  About life in general and what I want out of mine.  What a trip indeed.