Tag: changes

Posted on

Planet Lady is Conscious

Thanks to Roman May

I’ve become really conscious of my impact on the environment since I watched a couple of documentaries on the impact of people on the planet. I really worry about the state that we’re going to leave this place for our kids and also how quickly the planet’s resources have been degraded just in the last century or so. I know it’s all part of modernization but I worry about whether or not we’re being really short-sighted when it comes to our energy and our carbon footprints. I went online the other day and looked into http://www.electriccompaniestexas.net to find out who in my area had the best record of giving back to planet-related causes and I think I’m going to make a switch. I’ve been making small but meaningful changes in my life to try and reduce my carbon footprint, personally, like switching to organic produce and turning off the heat when I’m able to burn a wood fire in my fireplace. I try to take it back to the 19th century, that’s what I say, because they knew what they were doing when it came to not hurting the planet for their own good. I don’t want to become a crazy hippie about it all, you know, with dreads and chaining myself to trees and whatnot, but I need to make sure I’m doing my part where I can and not just expecting other people to pick up my slack. It’s important to me to be a good citizen of the earth and I’m trying to make small changes in my every day life to do just that without totally changing the way I live. I like to think some of my efforts will have an impact on my friends and coworkers but who knows. Sometimes you just have to do what you know is right and hope other people follow suit. There’s nothing you can do to make others better people and that’s something you have to accept early on or you’ll drive yourself crazy!

Posted on

The Bunk Bed has arrived

For a long time, I waited patiently to find just the right Bunk Bed for my two son’s who share a room. There is a five year difference in ages, but they are really close and call one another best friends. Now that they both have to share a room, it means organization and also planning for storage space, going on in that said room. So far there hasn’t been any big arguments, but I expect to hear some in the future. They do get on one another’s nerves every now and then. It’s bound to happen in a room that size.

To make matters a bit more cramped, they have moved in a full drum set. This, along with all the other musical instruments and such, takes up a great deal of space. My guys decided that they wanted a new set of bunk beds, since the one they had was rather bulky and took up a lot of wall and floor space that they need.

I told my guys that I wanted to get them beds with enough room left over for their desks and computer things. Then I began some looking for what I thought would be a serviceable piece of furniture and not just a bed. I found is called the Empire Loft, and it will be perfect in the room. With both in the room, they both will have their own space while doing work and homework.

Posted on

A corkboard wall

After realizing that the large cork board that is hanging next to my desk isn’t big enough for any kind of organization near my computer and telephone. I think I might want to cover this wall in cork board. I’m unsure just yet though.

When my oldest daughter was a teenager, I hung the self adhesive kind and discovered that the only problem with her cork board that I put up, was that it was totally impossible to take it off the wall easily. Okay, I’ll admit to being “kind” about saying easily. I had to use a chisel and even then, bits and pieces were left. I ended up sanding the part of the wall that I had covered. It only was a 3’x3′ patch of wall, but it seemed a whole lot bigger than that while trying to get all the cork off the wall.

I can’t remember where I saw it recently, but there is a new kind of cork board that won’t hurt the walls once it is time to remove it. If I can figure out where I saw it, I’m gong to by it for this 3ft. wall beside my desk. It will make my life much easier.

Posted on

Digging up the beds

While going out to the mail box this morning, I stood in the middle of my front yard and took a good hard and long look at my flower beds. They are pretty, but I need a change. I know I’ve been planing my flower beds all winter, but truth be known I went for all perennials, since I have loads of annuals in the gardens.

After looking at some of my annual beds, I’ve decided they look tired and need a whole new look. Without even really giving it a thought, I went straight to the garage and grabbed a shovel.

For the rest of the morning, and even into the early afternoon, I dug up plants and transplanted them in every available space, until I refresh my soil, build up some beds and then put the plants and herbs back, in a different look and order. To say that I’ll ever be satisfied with my gardens and that they will remain the same for at least three years running, is never going to happen. I’m still not finished up digging up and rearranging beds, but got a good start today. If it hadn’t started raining, I would have stayed outside longer.

Posted on

Home improvement with young adults

Deciding what colors to paint the living room, has been a challenge for me. The room is only 13’x13″ and I want to make it look bigger using paint color and mirrors and lighting from the windows. My son is trying to help me decide on the colors and other planning, but he is color blind. Yes, he was tested and indeed he is color blind. Some people call it colored blind, so this is the same thing. However, despite of his troubles with certain colors and shades, he is one excellent-judge of them, and then mixing various colors together, that one wouldn’t think would work for wall.

We’re both leaning to a deep terracotta. I call it, baked pumpkin pie…the top, before it is cut into. White trim and ceiling. and a deep blue. The only way I can describe it, is in the old big boxes of crayons that Crayola made. After they changed the original colors and shades, I stopped buying the big pack. The color blue was the original Midnight Blue. Forest Green was another awesome shade.

So tomorrow we’ll be paint or at least some sample cans if there are any available. I love home improving, especially when one of my kids have a creative streak. I welcome their input. I also like the fact that they help me find bargains and who doesn’t like to save money?

 

 

 

 

Posted on

Gardening and weather woes

Never have I been so uncertain about the weather as I am this year. I realize that it is odd all over and various states are getting pounded with elements they aren’t used to, but even my body and older age creeping in, doesn’t change the fact that I used to be able to tell what the weather was going to do, just by how my body felt. Now, it isn’t like that. I’m getting kind of tired of my joints and such, hurt on wonderful sunny days, and are better on dismal and cold rainy days. What is up with that?

My gardens and perennial plants don’t act they know how to react to the weather either. My sage and parsley of all things are growing at an incredible rate of speed, along with some other plants and even a small tree I have outside.

We had frost last night and it was cold and windy. I would welcome back the 80 degree, with a warm breeze weather we had in March, compared to this. So would my plants in the garden.

Posted on

The cost of solar panels

My daughter and her family are moving into a very large home this coming week. Because of the size, she and her husband will be looking into solar panel costs. I believe with this house, in our climate, this would be totally ideal for them, if they decided to use solar panels in their home. I’m hoping that they will eventually be putting them in.

Because of the fact that this home is so big, and my daughter’s husband bites off more than he can chew, I’m sure he has not given the price of heating and cooling a thought. He is out for looks and size, since he is that kind of a guy…what one owns and the more of it, to him is what counts. My daughter on the other hand has been raised with solar energy in our homes that we had while she was growing up. She is the one that makes sure the bills get paid and is also the one in that family that worries.

The home has five bedrooms with attached baths, not to name the other numerous rooms in the house, that have to be heated or air cooled. I’m going to tell her to continue showing her husband the pros and of course some of the cons, ( but there aren’t that many cons) to using solar panels. It’s would help with money matters and also be some piece of mind for my daughter. I believe in solar energy, and it might be a solution to a major heating and cooling problem that I know my daughter and her family are going to have in the future.

Posted on

Picking out paint colors

Thinking I knew exactly the color I wanted to paint my bathroom and having all of it planned out, was a mistake. I have changed my mind twice in one month. This for me is a hard decision to make, as when I paint, I change EVERYTHING. From towel, face cloth, hand towel color. Shower curtain color and patterns, liner color, liner and shower hook color, and the rugs and tank and seat cover for the toilet.

I buy new tooth brush holders, and also even match the Dixie cups to my theme. SO, I have to make sure I know EXACTLY what I want. I’m not really OCD about it, but I figure if I’m changing something that will last a few years, I want to do it right. Besides, usually after that amount of time, the towels get worn, and of course the rugs and other accessories to. It also is time for a change.

Once again I am undecided, but at least I have the flooring sorta picked out. 😉

 

Posted on

Mom and Me

Guest post of the week by Brittany Booker

Mom and I haven’t always had the easiest relationship but things are getting better. After dad died I think we both realized we didn’t want things to end that way between us and I think we were both just pretty tired of butting heads. Now that she finally moved into a new house I’m trying to become a bigger part of her life and be the supported daughter if she wants me to be. I helped her find a good moving company in town and I went to www.satellitestarinternet.com/ before she even moved in to make sure she would have Internet access at the new house. She even called me last week to go furniture shopping with her which I thought was a huge improvement for us! I’m really excited about how things are going with mom and I hope in just a couple more months we will have the kind of relationship that a lot of my friends have their mothers. I’ve always been jealous of that and now I can have it myself.

Posted on

Crazy weather

The telephone woke me up at 5:30 this morning. It was to tell me that the kid’s school had a two hour delay because of the fog. I didn’t expect fog, since it had just snowed the day before yesterday.

After I turned on the news, I let the dog outside to do his business, it literally felt like Spring out doors. It was raining and foggy, yes it was that, but the porch thermometer read 52 degrees. This is January! I couldn’t believe it.

I sat with my tea watching the news and weather report and indeed it was about 52 degrees. All of a sudden, I saw lightening, then heard the thunder. I jumped, since it startled me and spilled my tea all over the sofa. I had to get stain remover today when I went into town. The weather report said that the temps were supposed to drop drastically and we were going to have snow. I stocked up on some items we use a lot of, just in case. Also more lamp oil and candles. Things like that, which come in so handy if the power goes out. I spent way too much money today, but just in case items seem to cost more when not planned. It is snowing now and the temperature dropped steady every hour today.