No Grocery Month

So I am going to try a little experiment courtesy of my friend, Erin. She had read about a challenge where you don't buy groceries for a month, as a way to both save some cash and clean out your pantry a bit. (Come on, we all have those boxes that get further and further into the dark recesses of the cupboard than are found years later.) So I am going to give it a whirl. Now, the good thing about trying this now, is my garden is overflowing with lettuce and a few tomatoes are starting to ripen, I should have squash, corn and beans before all is said and done as well. This is good, because I don't know that I could go a month without fresh produce, the temptation might be to much for me.

I am concerned that I am setting the bar to high with the month timeline, but hey we should always aim high, right!I don't have milk right now or eggs so it may be a semi-vegan month unintentionally. Does grocery shopping at Mom's count? Hmmm, that is something to ponder......

I Resolve to .....

You got it, I am a big fan of the New Year's resolution! Do I always follow through? Well, I spent years resolving to lose weight and not procrastinate, let's just say, ummmm - still a struggle. Still, I am a firm believer in goals. Okay, so in general, I am an extremely goal oriented person. The only times I truly struggle with depression like issues is when I have no goals. So I am always trying to set up goals for my life. I look at the NY's Res as short term goals and sometimes jump start goals. I actually started my vegetarianism as a New Year's resolution. (Just hit the three year anniversary of that decision, yip yip!) So I have three resolutions this year. One health and consumer related and two are purposeful pursuits of favorite hobbies, that I often let slide by the wayside.

1st one, I have given up soda of any kind for the year. This means no more vanilla Coke habit. Granted, I have never been one of those, I have pop everyday at every meal and for daytime pick-me-ups, but I have been drinking more and more of it. For the longest time I wouldn't drink any soda at all, but it had crept back into habit. Soda has no real value and is wasted funds at this time, so out it goes (for at least a year, then I will re-assess.)

Goal number two: Read one book a week. Reading has been a passion of mine since before I could read myself. I have always loved the written word and the various places it can take you. I have often said, if I could find a job that all I had to do is read, I would do it in a heartbeat. (Now no comments on becoming a book editor, or critic - I said all I had to do was read, not anything else!) The problem is I am often unintentional about my reading time and then I have no time or energy. I recently realized for someone who proclaims a love of reading, I was not reading enough, I couldn't even be trusted to read the monthly book club selection (luckily that is not a requirement for the book club, I love my book club!) So a book a week, granted if I don't complete the book of the week, I may substitute with a reading of Green Eggs and Ham, hey, it's a book!

Goal number three: Letter writing - I love getting them, I love sending them, and I want to have that personal connection with my friends, so I plan on sending out a card or a letter to a friend or family member once a week. In the past, I have selected a person to send a letter a week - a friend doing a year of voluntary service in Africa, a friend doing a year vs in Seattle, a friend going through a year of chemotherapy. I even connected with an older woman at my church after a chance encounter where she talked with me about her continual struggle with grief of the lose of her husband. I made a continual effort over many months to send her thinking of you cards. Now, I am not giving this examples as a way of patting my own back, but as examples of a simple action that can have an impact. Everyone of these people appreciated the letters and I was able to forge bonds by this purposeful act. Emails and Facebook (while I LOVE LOVE LOVE them) don't have the same power as receiving a card or letter handwritten. There is a certain magic in that.

So there you go, a much longer post then I intended on my goals for the year. I plan on posted about the books, so perhaps my posting will increase. FYI, for the first week (being all of two days) I read a guilty pleasure book - Mary Higgins Clark Take my Heart. Watch for my next post about Luke Dempsey's book on birding - a subtle Eco lover book.

Tomato Leaves

So recently a friend of mine mentioned that she had purchased a soy candle that was tomato leaf scent. I told her I don't think I had ever bothered to smell tomato leaves. So I recently decided to take a whiff...oh wonderful. I am reminded of the simple pleasures nature has to offer yet again. This is a photo of my slowly ripening hearty cherry tomato plant. I love the smell. To twist a common adage, take time to stop and smell the tomato leaves today...you won't be disappointed.

Sunflowers

I had some beautiful, humongous sunflowers in my garden They were chock full of buds. I was hoping for several more weeks of beauty. Then I return from visiting a friend to find the towering plants all on the ground. There had been a sudden downpour, the second in a week, and apparently it was too much for the stalks and they broke. sigh. So I cut out the some of the blossoms and I have two vases in my house to at least extend the blossoms for a few days. I also saved the once that were fully seeded. I will try to save them for next year. I have decided to up the sunflower planting over all next year. I do love them.

Garden Update

As of today everything is officially planted. The garden looks great and weed free.* We shall see how long it last.


*I did leave some weeds around the volunteer sunflowers. I was going to pull them, in fact was in the process of pulling them, when I noticed Rose was relaxing in her "jungle" paradise of those weeds. Since then I have noticed her hanging out there quite a bit, so I have decided to leave them there. FYI, Rose is one of the ferals I have TNRed (grammar?) She has taken up permanent residence on my porch and surrounding area. She was Porch Kitty until I broke done and named her. She is fully an outdoor cat, but if anyone wanted her for an indoor kitty, she is forever trying to come inside. I should post of photo of her in the sunflowers but I don't have one. Sad. Well, this post took a major side trip. Tee Hee. By the way, as of this post, Rose is the lovely cat featured as my profile photo.

Delay in Construction

So I am delaying compost bin construction. I decided instead to use the last bit of my break to visit a dear friend in Goshen, Indiana. Plus, I am a bit intimidated about the bin. So I may enlist the services of my Daddo. He is handy with a hammer. I figured I completed my June goal on March 28th, so I can extend the timing of the March goal. My new time frame is Earth Day. (April 22nd for the those who may be a bit unaware.) Musing on Goshen: it is a lovely town. I heard on the news though it is one of the hardest hit areas in the nation of job losses right now. They are at about 19%, Yikes! I tried to help the local trade a bit though. I went to a local bookstore called "Books for Good" They collect used books from people, libraries, etc, and then donate them to various literacy programs around the world. They have recently ventured in to selling some of the books here to try and raise funds. They had a special of buy $30 and receive a free tote. Okay, so me in a bookstore easily equals $30. Yet another bag to take when shopping. Then today I went to a large fair trade store and used my own bag. As a special treat, if you bring your own bag during the month of April you get a piece of dark chocolate. Yeah, fun. We also visited a local potter were I purchased a cool olive oil dispenser. Whew, that is a lot of shopping .... I am done with that for now.....and I think I am done rambling for now as well.