Going green

Going green is a subject that is on the top of my priority list. I have become aware of my carbon footprint and once one is aware, then this knowledge nags us until we do something about it.

Needless to say, I am nagged a lot. I know I am not doing enough. We all must continually find new ways to recycle, and find new ways to reduce our use of fossil fuels.

My biggest areas of offense are the use of plastic bags and plastic bottled water. Each time I use these items that awareness I spoke of starts to nag away at me. It says, "Mary, this water bottle will still be here thousands of years from now". So far I have managed to cut down by refilling that bottle with chilled water from our faucet.

Another thing that we're doing is that we are slowly replacing our light bulbs with led home lighting. Little by little our house is becoming more energy efficient.

Have you found some unique ways to lessen your carbon footprint? Share it with us. I look forward to hearing from you.

We're getting a new puppy

Those of you who read my blogs regularly know that our precious Cocker Spaniel Gabby had to be put down last winter. Not only my husband and I have been mourning her, but our grandchildren have as well. How precious is that? They have such tender caring hearts.

Our grand kids have been asking when we're going to get a new dog, and we've decided that we're ready to now. We must get our yard ready for our new family member, however. I've been getting aluminum fence installation quotes because we want to keep our new pet safe and our back yard doesn't have a fence. We don't want to lose the openness that our yard has by putting up a privacy fence. An aluminum fence seems to be just what we need.

You can be sure that I'll be posting pictures of our newest family member in the near future.

What I'm reading now....

One of my favorite authors is James Patterson. I have read and enjoyed many of his books. One of his ongoing characters is Alex Cross, a multi-faceted young man whose love of family and love of what is right and good in the world keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. I ordered "Pop Goes The Weasel" from Amazon books and since I started it, can hardly put it down.

Our "main man" Alex Cross's fiance is kidnapped while on a family vacation, supposedly by the Weasel, a mass murderer who kills for sport. I am on tender hooks waiting for our hero to rescue said damsel, though so far there aren't any leads to her where abouts.

Will he find her in time? Will they get married? Is the Weasel the only killer in this story? You have to pick up your own copy and find out for yourself. A great read!

Our grandson's graduation

Yes, I know, school isn't out for a few months, though I want to plan ahead for a graduation gift for our grandson. He has worked very hard to get through school and we are so very proud of him.

I've been looking at luggage for him and have found some great sales going on. I even found a close out sale for close to 80% off. Now that is some bargain. I plan to give this company a call and find out more about the items for sale.

Gosh, it seems just like yesterday when I was graduating from High School. Well, that yesterday was 50 years ago. Time sure does fly!

What I'm reading now....

I just finished "The Bone Garden" by Tess Garritsen. I hadn't read anything by this author before, but our daughter Wendi gave us the book and said she knew we'd enjoy it. Gary read it first and raved about it so I had it waiting for me to read after I finished the 1400+ paged "And Ladies of the Club".

In "The Bone Garden" the author starts out telling her story taking place in the 1800s. Then she switches to the present and begins to develop that part of the story. Throughout the book she takes us back and forth bring both time period's happenings together and by the end has neatly tied them together, and wrapped them with a bright red bow. I didn't enjoy this back and forth process and grew a bit weary with it. However, I must say that once I was done, I felt that it was a book I would highly recommend. How did Ms Garritsen manage that? The sign of a gifted author perhaps? Husband Gary has since read many of her other books and has enjoyed them all.

I'm currently reading "Mary, Mary" by James Patterson. Once I finish it I'll go back to Ms Garritsen and see what else she has up her literary sleeve. Stay tuned.

Looking for ways to save money....

Aren't we all looking for ways to save some money? Today on Oprah a woman claims to have saved over $200 a month on her energy bill, just by unplugging her appliances. She claims that things that are turned off are still pulling electricity, and proved it by lowing her power bill from $286 to $86 a month. I don't know about you, but I'm going to give that a try.

Another big thing is changing all of our light bulbs to led light bulb. They use a lot less energy and last for many, many years.

I do believe that LED lights need to be recycled rather than just thrown away. That is something we need to look into. Find out where you can take yours in your community.

We're in this thing together and every little bit of savings helps so much more than we realize.

Creative expression....

One of my favorite means of creative expression is sculpting. I generally get out a chunk of clay and start working away letting the clay show me what it wants to become. The hours fly by when I'm working with clay and before I know it, morning has turned into night and my husband is home wondering where his dinner is. =) I'm fortunate to have a very patient and understanding husband who will, in that instance, start dinner or order pizza so I can keep working. I'm blessed!

Over the weekend my husband was working away out in the garage. I didn't know what he was doing until he brought in a table for me to use when I sculpt. It has a round top that is mounted on a flange with bearings that enable the table top to turn as I work. My husband put his creative talents to work to aid me in expressing myself creatively. What a team. Don't you think?