We're going on a worm hunt...

we're gonna catch a big one...

A couple weeks back with all the rain came a whole bunch of worms in puddles.  We had great fun walking around the neighborhood collecting worms out of those puddles.  We promptly put them in our raised planter boxes and let them get to work.

The accidental urban girl's Tuesday guide to thrifty and natural living

on Wednesday...(fell asleep with the kids last night)

We all know this but I'm just going to go ahead and say it again: The Library!  We go about once a month in the winter and much  more often in the summer.  When I calculate the  monetary benefit we receive from going to the library I get somewhere between $500 and $800 (depending on the calculator used).  I've belonged to libraries where if they didn't have a book I wanted they would order it for me.  But most libraries will do an interlibrary loan for you.  This is often free but never more than a dollar or two.  Mostly we just like to go and find what we find.  Kids books, craft books and cook books top the list of most common barrows.  But we've also been known to barrow anything from that newest popular read to books on tape and music CDs.  Most libraries also  have programs for children and adults.  We've belonged to libraries that had theater, lamas and chicken programs for children and interesting lectures on art and health for adults.   At the very least most libraries have reading hour for kids once or twice a week.  

Quick garden make over

The garden by our front walk has been an unsightly eyesore since we moved in.  Twenty years ago someone laid down a layer of rocks and planted ivy.  I'm pretty sure it hasn't been touched since.  If the ivy ever climbed the wall it had long since fallen down.  It was a mass of dirty, leafy, ugly, brownness.  I've slowly been ripping it all out, one trash barrel at a time.  Yesterday I came across a pile of free iris plants.  This was exactly what I'd been waiting for.  It took the girls and I about three hours to pull out the rest of the ivy and all the rocks.  I laid down one bag of dirt and planted my new plants.  I do love a good inexpensive project.  All it cost me was three hours of my time and a bag of dirt.

They should perk up in a day or two with some water.

The accidental urban girl's Tuesday guide to thrifty and natural living

Saving water...

Colorado is the first place I've ever lived where I've had to pay for water.  I've always lived places with well water or where the cost of water was such a pittance it was included in the rent.  But here we have to pay for water and may I say it ain't cheap!   We've tried to curb our water usage.  We take fewer showers.  But while I've hoped and prayed and strived to make less laundry it just keeps coming.  Drat!

I know it's a silly thing to get stuck on but I'm not looking forward to paying for all that extra water to keep our garden green.  We have a southern exposure and it is hot and DRY here in the summer.  I've made it a bit of a game to think of ways to save water for our plants.  So far I've come up with two things.  The first is saving the rinse water from the dishes.  The second is showering standing in this giant green bucket you see above.  We have seventeen pots of plants on our upper deck that will need watering.  It's only a few paces from the upstairs bathroom so using shower water makes sense right?  I'll get back to you on whether it actually works or not.  I'm not sure Phil will go for it.  Does anyone out there have any other ideas for me?

Painting and drawing with children

 It was another rainy day here.  In between wet, muddy adventures we took time to do some art.   We all sat down together with paints, crayons and pencils and came up with some pretty great stuff.  Hoping to make drawing a part of our regular summer routine once school is out.   Love this entry on the Camp Creek blog, on teaching kids to draw.  

The accidental urban girl's Tuesday guide to thrifty and natural living

Bulk shopping...

It can save you a ton on grocery bills.  Bulk stores generally carry dry goods.  We buy our whole grains, flours, dried fruits, nuts and beans, among other dry goods at our local bulk store.  Between shopping once a month or so at a bulk foods store and shopping weekly at our local farmers market, we break the need to shop weekly at the grocery store.   The less I go into the grocery store, the more we save.  I have a tendency to pick up 'extras' when I grocery shop.  I find we eat more healthfully when shopping this way too.  (Quick note:  I often find the bulk section at traditional grocery stores to be more expensive than actual 'bulk food stores'.  Compare prices!)

Another nice thing about buying in bulk is that you don't have to pay for the exorbitant layers of packaging. Therefore, said packaging doesn't end up in a landfill.  I like to take my own containers when I can so as not to end up with extra bags.  Most of the above jars were actually a wedding gift from Target of all places.  But jars from peanut butter, honey and pasta sauce work just as well.

One might think buying in bulk like this adds too much extra time to cooking.  It can, but the money it saves, the health benefits of eating whole grains and unprocessed foods and the lack of packaging all make it worth it in my mind.  There are also a few tricks to it.  Prepare things ahead of time and in larger quantities.  Then they can be frozen and defrosted at will.  A crock pot is also a great friend. You can put things in before you leave for the day and come home to dinner already cooked.   Prepared beans and rice both can be frozen and reheated as needed.  I cook mine in big batches and freeze in small quantities.  A tip for cooking beans faster: add kombu(seaweed) to the simmering beans.  Remember to cook fully before adding any salt or seasonings.  Sometimes that can inhibit the amount of water the beans soak up and leave you with hard beans. Yuck!

Once you go into a bulk store the possibilities are endless.  You'll find interesting things to try every time you go in.  Do keep in mind that prices change each month on various items.  Once you've been going for a while you'll know when something is a good deal and can stock up that month.  

After the rain...

come the puddles.