03.14.10
Posted in Country Living, Environment, Green Living at 1:20 am by Administrator
One of my first post on this blog pointed out that the Canadian Geese were on the move and fall was on the way. Well, today I saw the Geese flying again, this time northbound. They picked a beautiful 70 degree sunny day to fly over and they were just beautiful.
I think everyone in the USA is looking forward to spring this year after all the snow, ice and storms of one kind or another. We are certainly ready for our normal warm spring weather in Central Alabama. It is near. I’ve been seeing robins and red-winged blackbirds already.
We are ready in other ways as well. Our gardens are tilled and we’re waiting for the last frost to come and go in order to set out the plants and plant the seeds. We have one garden just for corn and the other for all our other favorite vegetables. Last year the birds really helped out by enjoying the bugs and other insects on the plants. It seemed the change was welcomed from the winter’s seeds at the birdfeeders. This helped us as we did not have to use chemicals to rid the plants of the insects. Hopefully, the birds will be here this spring and summer as well. This type of help we can handle!
Spring also is a special time as it comes not long after the New Year when many people
made their resolutions to work toward during the year. By spring, many of us have already forgotten or dropped the efforts to keep our resolutions. Spring helps us revisit the newness of the year as we watch nature bud out and bloom all around us. We again set goals and begin working toward meeting them. Albeit, these goals usually have to do with getting outside, shaping up the flower beds, tidying up after winter or just enjoying the sunshine.
I have two goals for the spring. One is to successfully raise the twenty-four baby chicks I received last week from my brother for my birthday. That will keep me very busy, at least according to my Raising Chickens book. It has already been lots of fun just watching them adjust to the wonder of new life.
One of my other goals for the spring is to set out new shrubs that will outline my backyard. The birds seem to sometimes need more cover from our dogs as well as the weather. Before buying I will search my issues of Birds and Blooms to make sure I purchase shrubs that have berries and that will attract the most birds as well as offer the needed cover. There will be more goals to complete as well but these will be the big ones, so I’ll take it as it comes after completing these two.
Another good reminder that spring brings with it is Easter; a time when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Of course this symbolizes new life, not just in nature but for all those who believe. It is a time when it seems that the whole earth including, humans, animals, and plants take time out to acknowledge this miracle in their own colorful way.
It just takes one look toward the sky to see the Geese, or the budding daffodils, new leaves on the trees, the sweet smells in the air, to experience this very special time of the year. To me it’s even better than Christmas.
So go ahead and make some spring goals and plans. It’s the best time for us green people to get our hands in the dirt. How fun is that? Spring is in the air!
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12.02.09
Posted in Country Living, Environment, Green Living, Uncategorized at 6:12 pm by Administrator
Nothing went to waste at Grandpa’s and Grandma’s. Even ashes from the fireplace and wood stove were used for different purposes like making soap, using in the garden, around flower beds and other uses. With just a little research, we can find ways to still use ashes today. They help in composting and growing tomatoes, just to name a couple. In those days, ‘junk’ mail was rare but when it came it was reused somehow. The spare paper, especially postcards, was used to make quilt patterns or other patterns. Sometimes, the back of a letter was used to write new letters to family living away. There were usually few left-overs after a meal. But when there were, it became the main course for the next meal. Food scraps were given to the dogs or hogs when they had them to feed. When their clothing became too worn or not the right size, the buttons, zippers, lace, etc., were taken off for reuse and the material left was used to make quilt pieces. Sometimes Grandma could resize the item for another family member to wear.
It was a hard life for them by today’s standards. But they knew no other way of living so for them, it was normal. Most of their neighbors lived the same way. Many would think that their life span was probably shorter due to such harsh living, but Grandma was almost 80 and Grandpa was almost 87 when they died. Both were born in 1889. They saw many new things come about in the name of progress during their lifetime, but used very few of them. Everything from radio, telephone, television, automobiles, airplanes, and the list goes on until 1976 when Grandpa died.
I’m not advocating that we return to their way of living, however quaint and sweet it seemed. Obviously, that was two generations back. But, we can learn from their work ethic and do the best we can with what we have. Just remembering to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Reenergize what we can rather than adding to the landfills will help the earth and our carbon footprints tremendously. We can contact those sending us ‘junk’ mail and ask to be taken off their mailing lists. Reduce where ever we can. We can also make a plan and carry it out for recycling plastics, glass, metals, paper, cardboard, and electronics. We can teach our children and grandchildren. We can work toward only throwing away what we have to, after finding no other way to reuse or recycle. All of us can stand to reduce the “things” in our lives that we buy and really don’t need, learning to be content with what we have. This list is just a start of things we can do to reduce our carbon footprints. It can be added to in countless ways if we put our minds to it.
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11.25.09
Posted in Country Living, Environment, Green Living at 5:05 pm by Administrator
Clean Energy Sources
(Part 2 of 3)
My grandparent’s main source of energy was the fire wood that was grown and cut off the land they lived on. One fireplace warmed the whole house, or at least as far as the heat would go. The kids in the back bedroom learned to unwrap themselves from a stack of quilts (made by Grandma) and get up quickly, dress and rush to the fireplace to stay warm. The fireplace was in my grandparent’s bedroom which doubled as a living room. So everyone congregated there for physical and emotional warmth. Much fellowship with family and friends went on in that dual purpose room around that fireplace.
My Grandma cooked on a wood stove and canned many jars of vegetables, fruits, jams, jellies, peppers, soups and other foods every summer for use during the winter. Some of the best smelling and tasting foods came from that kitchen. Yet the only electricity she used in the kitchen was from the light string that was sometimes pulled to turn on the electric light bulb hanging from the ceiling. She cooked three good meals every day on that wood stove. The warmth of the stove added cozy heat to the house in the winter, but smothering heat in the summer when all the canning was going on. There was no central air. She did all this without a blender, electric can opener, electric coffee pot, electric chopper, mixer or any of the other electrical gadgets we now find in our kitchens. Dishes were washed by hand with hot water heated on the stove as the stove was cooling down from the cooking of the meal. Dishwashers were unheard of. The electrical usage consisted of five light bulbs that hung from the ceiling in each room with a string to pull to turn them on and off. The house was not wired with electrical plug outlets in the walls because there was no need for them, no TV’s, stereos, computers, etc.
The water was drawn one bucket at a time by hand from the well that was located a few feet from the kitchen door. An inside bucket of water set on a cabinet and held the drinking water. This bucket kept a dipper hanging on the side for everyone to use to drink the fresh, good tasting well water. They lived without indoor plumbing of any kind.
They bathed themselves the same way with the hand drawn water from the well. The water was warmed on the stove and poured into a large metal wash tub which was placed in one of the back bedrooms for privacy when in use. The bath water was used by more than one person and then reused again in whatever way Grandma needed it, vegetable and flower watering or other uses about the household. Laundry was washed outside in a large wash tub and hung on the clothesline to dry. If the work clothes were extremely dirty, they were washed in a big black cast iron pot that was heated over a wood fire. The soap added to the boiling water and stirring with an old broom handle did the job well most of the time.
I know by now you are wondering about the bathroom facilities. Well, the old “Out House” was behind the house and a good little distance down a sloping path and far enough away so as not to interfere with the well water. And yes, the previous year’s Sears catalog was a commodity in that out house, along with other catalogs that were reused.
So energy sources included fire wood, water from the well and five light bulbs they used very little because they pretty much went to bed not long after the sun set. Do add the muscle and pure human strength and energy as it took that to do what today’s modern appliances and conveniences offer us.
This all adds up to a very small carbon footprint compared to today’s usage. And they did not even know they were green living heroes!
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Posted in Country Living, Environment, Green Living at 4:53 pm by Administrator
Simple Lifestyle
Having moved back to my rural childhood home eleven years ago, I’ve had plenty of time walking about the place to remember the lives of my grandparents. They were very kind and simple living people. Today we would call their lifestyle ‘green’.
Well in fact, they were living green before people even heard of living green and were doing it quiet well. Their carbon footprint while bringing up eleven children was very small. Both Grandma and Grandpa were hard working people. I guess when your livelihood depends on your quality, quantity, and production of goods and food, a strong work ethic just develops without much thinking about it, just doing.
At some point every day they found time during the daylight hours to sit beside their respective window and read the Good Book, the Bible, from which they learned their ways of living. From this book, they learned and became our example for loving God, family, our neighbor, and our country. Also our example for working, sharing, saving, reducing, reusing, and recycling. They were our example for learning not to covet other’s things but, “be content with such things as ye have,” (Hebrews 13:5). They were our example for honesty and integrity.
Grandpa and Grandma were not only accustomed to hard work but life with few conveniences. Neither ever learned to drive a car nor did they own one for the older kids to drive them about. The family did a lot of walking or riding in the horse (mule) drawn wagon. For necessary items that had to be bought, they would wait until the peddler came around or caught a ride to town with a neighbor. Eventually, after some of the older boys were grown and bought vehicles, they would ride about with them to visit family.
My Grandpa tended his fields and vegetable garden with a mule and plow so he never used a tractor. As far as meat to eat, Grandpa had a smoke-house where he cured hams and other meats and preserved it until needed for a meal. He also had chickens for meat and eggs and a few cows, keeping at least one for milking. He dug out a space under the house that was easy to get to for a place to keep the harvested crops like potatoes and others in a cool, dry, and dark place so it would last as long into the winter as possible. Grandma’s part of the food preparation was harvesting, canning and cooking.
When the meal was ready, we would sit on home made benches along side the table that Grandpa built. Then he would say grace, teaching us not only to be content with what we have but also be grateful. “Oh Lord, forgive our sins, accept our thanks for these and all our blessings, we ask for Christ’s sake, Amen.” It was always the same, and always enough.
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