Carrots for Boomer

Winter Wonderland

We made it! I had a great flight with the kids - thanks to a bag full of snacks and surprises. We are now hanging at the farm. Here are a couple of pictures from our day in the snow. Mina was delighted that Grandpa got out the big sleigh and took us for a ride. Miles enjoyed the sleighride so much that he felt asleep! It feels great to be back at my childhood home, and sharing it with my own children. The winter only adds an extra bit of magic to that experience.

Cat Power's Jukebox

If you want to preview Cat Power's new album, check it out: Rolling Stone link re: Cat Power.

Amazon's Seventh Generation Subscribe and Save 20% off deal!

Until January 31st, 2008 Amazon is offering 20% off Seventh Generation products when you purchase them through their "subscribe and save" program. Through this program you buy by the case and pick your interval of delivery.

I LOVE seventh generation products! We've been using a number of them for years with great pleasure and satisfaction. I also love it when our shopping dollars benefit the environment!

Given that the orders are by the case, and hopefully there is little additional packaging,  we aren't feeling as bad about "subscribe and save" as compared to Amazon Fresh. Plus this is motivating us away from Costco! Rich was against the requirement to pay for the privilege to shop at Costco. Membership fees are the number one line item on Costco's balance sheet.

Amazon's deal on Seventh Generation

The Hype Machine

We're Last.fm fans but have  just discovered another great music site called "The Hype Machine." This is pretty fun.  The HypeM searches the web for updated blogs with mp3 files and makes them all available and free for you.

Instead of the last.fm service where you listen to a "radio" of artists similar to the one you searched, you listen to only the artist-of-interest.  Just go on their page, type in an artist (i.e. Cat Power) and hit play!  Last. fm is a great way to get exposed to new bands but HypeM is a great way to discover more about bands you already love!

A weekend of self-care

Last week was tough. Mina brought home a nasty tummy bug from preschool. Miles was hit the hardest, and was completely out of sorts. Being sick is one thing but that added to teething, you have an almost inconsolable child. As my ears can attest, I've never heard him cry as much as he did Wednesday through Friday. He mastered the art of saying "up" with the most desperate look in his sweet face. Thankfully, he's now on the mend but at the start of the weekend , my body (back) and spirit were 100% rattled.

This weekend, to recover, i was drawn to yoga and quiet-time reading. I read "You Grow Girl" from cover to cover, and retreated for some extra TLC at my favourite Yoga Centers studio. I attend their classes weekly but felt drawn to an extra dose of opening and meditation.

My knight-in-shining-armour, Richard, made a special trip to Kirkland's Hoffman's Bakery. I **LOVE** their carrot cake. Mina was quick to note that the carrots on top were not real, and i was quick to take a savouring bite. 

A little bit of pampering is a really nice thing... I don't think that i want this weekend to end!

Edward Burtynsky

Pour yourself a cup of tea, and take a minute to flip through the website of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. WOW.

About a month ago, we also watched a film, Manufactured Landscapes, which documented his work. For that experience, brew up a whole pot of tea while you sip and stare. You'll see our world in a whole new view.

Sweet Life Cycles

This is Mina using her great grandmother's rolling pin. My Dad suspects that it was made by my grandfather.

Great Gobs of Goo Recipe

Ingredients:
8 ounces of non-toxic white glue
Non-toxic acrylic paint
Water
Borax laundry detergent
Airtight container

1. Combine the glue, 4-5 tablespoons of acrylic paint, and 3/4 cup of water.
2. In a separate bowl mix together 1 tablespoon borax and 1/4 cup of water.
3. Pour the borax mixture into the glue mixture and stir until a blobforms. Don't worry if the blob looks a little stringy; it will smooth out on its own.
4. Remove the blob from the mixture, press it into a ball, and placeit in the container.
5. Make another batch of the borax and water and pour it into theremaining glue mixture, forming another blob.
6. repeat this process until all of the glue mixture is gone.

This stuff is for playing with, not eating!!!!!!

Here is a similar recipe that uses food colouring,
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/trythis/try1.html

My friend Deb shared this stuff with me. I think it is the best thing ever! Mina has been baking up batches of goo muffins and cookies lately.

I LOVE WO' POP

This is what i'm listening to at the moment:

KEXP WO' POP

I can't think of anything better than a fire, glass of tea and this show playing in the background. Actually, wine would be a good alternate to tea. Richard is at my side, naturally.

Bisphenol A

Plastics have been a hot topic in the news and in our house as of late. For us, it all started with the lead-related recalls for children's toys and has spread into water bottles, plastic dining wear and food storage. Mina can now list off the grades of plastic and whether they are good or bad. We've cleaned house and are looking for alternatives.

Here are a couple of helpful sites:

Healthy Toys

Non-Toxic Kids

Omar and BisA

Wikipedia

and a Globe and Mail article from Sunday's paper that Jenny told me to check out.

The great water bottle debate makes my head spin! Recently, MEC (the Canadian equivalent of REI) pulled all the Nalgene polycarbonate products (the hard and colourful water bottles, not the soft white ones) off their shelves because of the concern with Bisphenol A. The FDA still says that there is no concern, and so they are still stocked at REI. Just in case, Santa brought all of us Siggs. Even with the Siggs, we have concerns over the epoxy and the aluminium. The clear choice is glass, but that just isn't practical for most people, especially those with little children.

...on a related note,

Yeah to China for banning plastic bags!

Counting the days till the new Cat Power album

Cat Power has a new album, Jukebox, coming out later this month. I can't wait.

As of late, Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) has been traveling to some of the poorest parts of the world, and spreading the word for a charity called "charity". Chan has been traveling with charity's founder Scott Harrison. This video and his photographs are 100% worth checking out. His bottled "water" is worth buying, preferably without the actual bottle!

Take the Polar Bear Quiz

My somewhat timid daughter, Mina, is really into the world of bears, sharks, tigers and whales lately. As a result, i've  been reading a lot about these topics. Sometimes i wonder if i ever learned this stuff. Or, have i just replaced that knowledge with something more 'daily'. Perhaps i skipped sharks and went straight to the Laura Ingalls Wilder...

I've always loved science and the natural world. So this stage is rather fun. Did you know that you can tell a whale by its spout?

Yesterday we went to a "Call of the Wild" nature talk through the city's recreation department. It was lead by a passionate naturalist who had a great way of talking with her hands, and who had a great selection of educational games for young children. As a result of this talk, today we talked a lot about animals and their use of the five senses.

So test your animal knowledge, try the quiz  polar bear here.   Having watched the Planet Earth series gives you a little leg up...

what a bummer...

It is a bummer when you are really hungry, and your "vegetarian garden pizza" arrives with chicken!

 

Happy Friday!

Phoenix Green Dragon Pearl Jasmine Tea

Yesterday, Rich took this picture of my favourite tea unwinding.

Phoenix Green Dragon Pearl tea is a hand-rolled Jasmine (green) tea. It is a special treat when we hit our favourite tea shop, The TeaCup, in Queen Anne. That and the chocolate ginger biscotti...

Pet worms! aka. Worm Composting Bins

Yesterday, we met the worm lady in the Costco parking lot to make the exchange for four bags of worms. Today, we set up our worm bin as well as one at the school. I'm thankful for the extra motivation to set one up at home. However, to really maximize all of our vegetable/fruit/paper recycling options, Rich is going to make a couple more bins. His "build-for-Annie" list now includes: more worm bins, a cold frame and a soil sifter. For now, we are using an old city recycling bin as our worm composting bin.

These pictures are from up at the school. As you can tell, the kids are rather involved in this new adventure. Mina was rather excited to see the baby worms and "feed" them. As always, Miles was rather happy to dig in the dirt.

Here are a couple of great hand-outs:

Kitchen Waste Composting with Worms

E-Z Worm Composting Bin

The Burt Behind Burt's Bees...

I love Burt's Bees products. We started using them when Mina was a baby. Their baby products smell exactly how a freshly bathed baby should smell. Based on changes on the shelf, I was starting to wonder if the company was in some transitional state.

I read an article in the Times today -- Can Burt’s Bees Turn Clorox Green? -- that explained everything, and then some. In addition, it explained the new "Clorox Green" display that we saw at Fred Meyer yesterday.

What is next? Will Dr. Bronner sell out to J&J? (Dr. Bronner makes the best soap/cleaner that i've ever used).

Books for the Gardener in You

It is the dead of winter, but i'm celebrating the fact that my first spring bulbs are already up and about to bloom! Too add to that delight, two new gardening catalogues have already come to the house. Mina and i need some "catalogue time" to get circling our favourites and dreaming of the summer's garden. I used to do this with my Dad!

On that note, my sister-in-law Heather gave me a great book recommendation that i thought i would share with you:

You Grow Girl by Toronto-based Gayla Trail. I think that this book is a great overview for anyone getting started with gardening. There are some smart tips, creative ideas, etc. It is even available through the King County Library system! I can't wait to try her Peppermint Foot Scrub!

Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhof. We are going to be spending part of our Saturday setting up a worm bin at home and at the school. This should be quite the interesting activity! We've been thinking about a worm bin for about the last five years. Most recently, we met a guy with a cool display at the Burke Museum's Bug Day in September. He made it sound easy, rewarding and fun. I'll keep you posted on that fact...

The guy from Seattle Tilth gave Mina this cool tattoo! It says compost and has worms on it.

A while ago, i was talking to someone about the creative outlet of gardening. They asked me if gardening was a poem or a painting. I had to say both. What do you think?

van Gogh Girls.

Green Resolution #15 from 2007

We made a list back in 2007 of things to tackle to make the Richardson-Lander lifestyle a little more green. Number 15 on the list was to "shop more at the farmer's markets/CSA." In the summer, we had a good ritual of getting to the local markets and also grew a bunch of great stuff in our own garden. That being said, we wanted to make a year-round commitment that supported local organic agriculture.

Our recent toying with Amazon Fresh made us review how we spend our grocery funds, and who they benefit, so decided to sign up with a CSA again. I'm also currently reading Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" which is only backing up all this thinking.

We 've previously had memberships with two other CSAs in the Seattle area. One had horrible customer service. The other didn't have a network of organic farmers so even during the prime summer the produce wasn't very varied. We ate a lot of chard that summer, but were inspired to get into community gardening at a pea patch. And then to gardening in our backyard, once we actually had one!

Today was box number one with Full Circle Farm. The box was packed full of great produce and recipes! The kids enjoyed the adventure of picking it up, and opening it to discover what was inside.

The produce is great and all organic. I toured this farm in the spring as part of my efforts with the student garden at the elementary school. It is a beautiful spot. At this time of the year, a chunk of the produce is not grown on the farm or in the Northwest but we are happy to support the farmers and the practice of trying to eat locally. I'm excited to watch the box change over the seasons. If i'm lucky, a little of the farmers' green thumbs might even be left inside the box!

I look forward to making our footprint list for 2008.

Think globally, eat locally...