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Showing posts from August, 2011

Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books

Recently NPR published the "Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books" list (Harry Potter not included-he will be part of the children's/young adult list).  And as I was perusing it I realized I had only read a few of the books, but I had seen quite a few of the movies.  As someone who works at a library I think this is a HUGE problem.  So I think this will begin my quest to "catch-up" on all the great literature I have missed. Let's check out what I HAVE read.   1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 7. Fahrenheit 451 13. Animal Farm (although not since I was in school) 39. War of the Worlds (Again, when I was in school) 40. The Chronicles of Amber (I've read the first 2 of this series) 46. The Silmarillion (attempted, but never finished) 70. The Time Traveler's Wife What I have seen:  1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 11. The Princess Bride (One of m

Why can't girls just be girls?

I recently came across this on the Babble Blog about a new line of Lingerie for Girls . While I understand that every little girl wants to look like her Mama I can't help but wonder when will                                   This                                         Become This?                                                               What kind of message are we sending young girls if to look beautiful and dress-up they must where something that doesn't cover them up?  That shows off their bodies in such a way that they are taught that this sort of dress is the only way to be beautiful from the time they are 4 years old? According to Scholastic.com the Image-Esteem connection can be made as early as 3-4 years of age.  They state that " Although forming one's self-concept is a lifelong process, how the child feels about himself in the early years (positive or negative) can set a pattern for the rest of his life."   That being said t

Brilliant Ideas

As I was reading Beth Terry's post about her Plastic Free Garden  and perusing her blog she mentioned some things that seem to me to be the world's BEST ideas that I have never ever heard about and I just wanted to share them.   1. Car share service 2. Suistainably Managed forests 3. Tool-lending Library 4. Eco-Friendly Toothbrushes 5. The fact that she can have this little plastic waste in 4 months If only all of these things were available in my area :-(

Ipomoea-Ace of Spades

Above you will see my Sweet Potato Vine when it was just a baby.  It was cute and tiny and didn't even reach the sides of the hanging container I had put it in.  Now it is HUGE!  Despite the fact that it does not receive as much water as some of its plant friends nearer to the water spout it is doing surprisingly well.   Of course it can only ever live alone as it will overtake any plant friends it would have in its container with it.  The tubers are edible but I have my doubts that they will be very good...I'll let you know at the end of the season.   And of course, the tubers you don't eat you use to start new plants next spring!   I love perrenials!

My amazing yard sale finds!

All of this...for $7. A baby oil lamp A tall glass apothecary jar Sweet gold lantern A big swirly lamp A fun leopard print baby lamp. An old wooden filing cabinet A complete Killer Bunnies game (this game is hilarious) A cool glass/bud vase Set of four mini mug/shot glasses Cool Glasses

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

Today is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!  So in order to celebrate I made chocolate chip cookies (of course).  But of course we couldn't just make any chocolate chip cookies we made chocolate chip cookies garden style...with zucchini!   I got the recipe from Right@Home and personally I think they're delicious!   All it takes is the following ingredients:  2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 sticks of butter 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla (which I forgot...oops) 2 eggs 2 cups shredded zucchini (this took one medium sized zucchini from the Farmers' Market) 1 cup old-fashioned oats 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips And of course you could always add chopped walnuts I just didn't because I'm sharing them with my coworkers.   I added more chocolate chips because they're CHOCOLATE CHIP cookies so obviously they should have more than just a few chips.   I had to add more flour because the first batch of cookie

The Great Potato Experiment

As you all know I worked for a year and a half at the Community Garden Project, Grow Food, Grow Hope. And when you work at a community garden people are always asking for gardening advice or trying to give their own; and in my adventures I was always hearing about different ways to grow potatoes. Even recently I have heard tell of interesting potato growing schemes such as a "Potato Bed" .   Well the idea that you could grow potatoes in very small spaces was very intriguing to me because what better way to supplement your diet with things you grow yourself than potatoes?!   So way back at the beginning of the gardening season I found some seed potatoes and some potatoes that were growing eyes and I decided to conduct the Great Potato Growing Experiment.   I planted seed potatoes in containers-one that was meant to simulate growing in actual earth-(although it wasn't very deep) and the other in a 4 quart pot.  I also planted some extra potatoes that wer

Vermicomposter How-to

Here it is! The moment you've all been waiting for: how to make a vermicomposter out of an old dresser drawer.  The dresser drawers I had painted the drawers because I had planned to plant in them.  But I realized that this would be the perfect for some worms: small (I have a low amount of waste), easy to drill holes in, easy to move/keep inside.   The drill was all I needed to get started.  Thanks Megan for sharing the cost of the drill! Above you can see the drawer side, I drilled quarter inch holes every few inches along the sides with even more on the bottom-about one every inch.   I popped the bottom out of one of the other drawers to use as a lid.  Originally I had bought hinges but it actually leaves a gap that is great for air flow so I think instead I'm going to find some sort of latch for the sides...just in case my kitty gets curious.   A few copies of the Wilmington News Journal soaked in water made beds for my new friends