Cat Mom's Latest

Well...last weekends Lowe's trip was a SUCCESS. Combined with a trip to target, we got EVERYTHING needed to organize our 'storage garage.' Yes...in a 1 bedroom apartment we have a garage/storage area. My lovely has 6 bikes,and I have six tons of grad school/prof. resources. We did a GIANT purge of things we didn't need and it felt FABULOUS. And, it looks SANE now. If you would like tips on small space organizing . . . Lemme know.

I balanced the 'domestic'/'earthy' feel of organizing and buying plants by walking around Lowe's/Target with a PALM PILOT 'to buy' list. When I found what we needed, I deleted it from the list. NO paper wasted in making a list, losing it, and making a second list.

RE: The container planting/where the materials came from.
Watering can = from India. It was metal. Plastic option probably made in USA, but of the 'evil' plastic. Oblong pot for herbs = made in Italy. Material is clay. I'm curious as to what differences I will find, if any, from a more 'crunchy'/local gardening store.

Planting summary:
- 2 pots seeded basil
- 1 pot seeded cilantro
- 1 herb pot w/ already grown Basil, already grown peppermint, and hopefully to grow cilantro
- 1 pot orange flower K. liked.
We currently have everything inside, by windows. Will post pictures soon.

Hugs to Scotland

Hugs to my brother in Scotland. Video is a bit long, but the "hug" campaign in Scotland last year.

Outside of the Box, Inside the Container (Gardening)

Yes yes...i'm going to 'container' garden. I bought a basil plant, an evergreen plant, and a 'nameless red plant'.(At farmer's market.) Trip to Lowe's is in a few minutes to buy pots, soil, and misc. items. May buy a few more herbs and tomato plant paraphernalia. LOL....yes, it's called 'outside the box' because I have no garden. I live in an upper level floor apartment. BUT, there is an upper deck 'garden' area. (Garden in the loosest sense of the word...sadly, it's trashed out.)

SO, i'm going to pot INSIDE containers, and place the containers in one of the nicer corners of the roof. The real question is: If I garden in a container from Lowe's that was made in CHINA....with LOCAL plants, and non-local potting soil......is my food still locally grown?

I know....i know...i should go to a local gardening center rather than Lowe's....but I need to also look for storage. ARGH

I'm breaking the buy nothing challenge, but it is for intentional purposes of sanity and necessity!

Silliness

BUY LESS and SAVE MONEY!

Ok, so we're saving for a wedding. A simple wedding, but a wedding in the Northeast....WHEW. Expensive.

So, Crunchy Chicken's challenge (http://crunchychicken.blogspot.com) to BUY NOTHING IN APRIL gave me an excuse/motivation to take my spending habits to the next level.

Yesterday's GRAND accomplishment was going into Target and buying NOTHING but 2 bottles of vitamins. I even refused a bag. I know....NOTHING ELSE. 2 bottles of vitamins. I was sad. Seriously...this is what 27 years of commercialism has done to me. Think about it...how many times do you go on a MALL SPLURGE/shopping trip and feel BUMMED OUT b/c you didn't buy anything. Now, given...often we NEED to find something for work/school and are sad b/c it's naught to be found.

But, I felt sad b/c I didn't have anything shiny to take home with me. Seriously. Now, our subsequent drive through the city, walk in the park, perusal of a flea market, and trip to the coffee shop HELPED. A Lot. But, I think we might all be Target bbbbbrainwashed. :-)

Also, I have to say that the bag refusing is getting more habitual. But, the area that slaughtered me this week was buying snacks when commuting between work-sites. This week I not only had my usual am/pm commute....>I had mid day commutes thru the city. I just didn't have the time/energy to plan for snacks/drinks.....and WHEW. Me and WAWA were as thick as thieves last week. BLWERJEWLKRJ.

OK.....I know I still need to post about my early exposure to 'Reduce/Recycle/Reuse'...but I'm a procrastinator. !!!

What if i Don't have a cloth bag?

Today I asked for "paper only." (Again, this grocery I was at offers paper, but puts them INSIDE the plastic bags for handles.) DOUBLE the waste. This is the second mainstream chain grocery store I have seen do this.

Learning from my Acme debacle, I specifically said "paper ONLY, please." I watched the guy willingly comply, but b/c he has a setup designed to hold 5 plastic bags at a time....using the paper separately seemed to add an extra step for him.

I certainly felt better about 2 paper bags, as opposed to 2 paper and 2 plastic. Really...just psyche yourself up and turn into a PLASTIC BAG REFUSER!!!

(i did take 1 from the WAWA (aka Philly gas/sundry store to hold trash in my car.) AIGH......plastic trash bag habit......now what do ppl do about that???

**liz**

Saturday Savings

OH no...What will i do today? I can't/won't go shopping for entertainment b/c
I'm taking the "buy nothing in april" challenge.

On the agenda:
- a happy walk
- farmer's market visit
- Boooo hoooo cleaning
- Letting my cats entertain me

Goal:
- TAKE MY 2nd CLOTH BAG TO MY CAR so I have TWO not ONE to fill up at the store. (Old habits die hard.) But, as Dawn said, YIPPEE we are all trying.

Group Project:
Here's a fun question:
- What memories do you have about teachers/parents teaching you about environmentally friendly behavior? Did your parents 'model' or 'harass' you to recycle?

I'll post mine ASAP in the comments section or as another entry!

Happy Saturday, mis amigos.

UPdate in a CLOTH BAG

yes, yes my friends...I'm blogging on here now, instead of myspace. The End.

As for the update: Oh, the hilarity of 2 cats, 1 fiance, and 1 slp/cat mom. In a 1 bedroom apartment in urbania. I say urbania b/c we are not in the suburbs, but on the outskirts of the city. VERY, TRULY< completely, urban...but not in the middle of downtown Philly.

Wedding plans are not finalized or even on paper yet, but we have quite a few general ideas. I'm calling the priest today, and hoping to get all that squared away ASAP. YIPPPEEEE.

And, on to the next thing: My ventures as a HIPPY. Yes, this is nothing new but time + an 'almost husband' + concern/care for my world = Hippy.
I'm in a flexitarian/semi-vegetarian phase, as far as food goes. Almost NO red meat/chicken and if I do, it's only once or twice a week. YUMMY, and so inspired by my sweet friend ALICE.

The main 2 changes for the month of April are 1) cloth bags and 2) BUY NOTHING CHALLENGE. (See the previous entry.) Yes, i'm turning into a plastic bag refuser. This is EASY as pie at CVS, WAWA, when i have a small purchase. Even target isn't too difficult, although I usually fill up 1 big canvas bag and then go plastic for 2-3 bags. I found this impossible though at ACME (think kroger in texas). I asked for paper only one day, and I got paper bags set into plastic bags and ended up wasting TWICE as much. These lower end, super speedy operations REALLY don't handle well canvas bags. SO, I'm still picking and choosing my battles.

I have to say though, Using my big red bag is WAY easier to carry upstairs by the time I park, walk into the lobby, go up the elevator, and eventually to my 11th floor apartment. THe cashier at Target pointed out "OH, it's less bags...that would be easier to carry." Funny the comments/looks ppl don't or do make.

Oh, and my book pic for the month I am just starting: Affluenza

Watch out guys...I may end up moving to Illinois and working on a farm.(Just kidding, although Kevin's fam. does own farm there!!!!!!!!!)

**hugs***
ms. liz.