On New Year's Eve, our dryer died. Well, the heater in the dryer died. We "got it fixed" a few days later, but it ended up being more dead after the fact. We have not fixed it since (note that the date today is March 8th). Why, you ask? Lovey is lazy. I could throw tantrums and get really pissy (and sometimes I do, but I keep it to myself), but instead, I am trying to embrace the use of a drying rack (or 3). For the most part, I actually like using them a lot. It keeps our electric bill down a bit and it adds a little bit of humidity to the air in the house, which is welcomed here in Colorado. I do curse them often and they are being held up by duct tape to make them last as long as possible. I do hope we buy a new dryer at some point in this Spring, but basically to use to do the annoying things like sheets, blankets, towels. But once the warmer weather is officially here, I definitely plan to make the most out of a laundry line in the backyard.
This is just one of the changes that I/We are making in our house. I'm sick of spending money on wasteful things or things that won't last a week. I am becoming very determined to make everything I can myself. That's a lot of stuff. Trying to remind myself to start small, and that I'll actually stick to this if I don't overwhelm myself.
Satya and I made our first loaf of bread from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day today and boy it's good. So good that it's already almost all gone. I have another batch of dough in the fridge ready to go later, and I think we'll make up two more batches of dough--white boule and whole wheat sandwich this afternoon. I also want to make up some bread bags, inspired by SouleMama. Will be a good starter sewing project for me (I am determined to get my sew on this spring!).
Another good starter sewing project I plan to take on soon is reusable "ziplocks". I hate using plastic sandwich bags and I hate throwing them out. I recently ordered some reusable sandwich bags here. They're cute, but I know I can make them. I'd like to add a magnetic strip rather than use velcro, so that they are a bit easier for Satya to use.
We are starting a garden this spring! I am so excited! It's going to be a wonderful family project, and I know Satya will love playing in the dirt and helping. Of course I have no clue as to where to start when it comes to gardening. Lovey does know, but again, see statement earlier about being lazy. I need to remind myself to start small this year and learn as much as I can before I decide to take on every herb, veggie and flower imaginable. I do plan to can as well. Another fun thing! Oh the plans!
I just got the book Make your Place by Raleigh Briggs. I love it. Out with the "eco-friendly wallet sucking" products to clean the home and In with using basic household essentials. Love it. Also a lot of other great information, including how to start a garden, so I have my bedtime reading ready!
So why all this change, you ask? Well first of all, duh, it's the cool thing to do, right? No really, we all have to do what we can to live a more sustainable and purposeful life. I would love to be hardcore about it, but I am just going to start out realistically ( a new way of life for me!) I think that working on the new Petite Purls Issue, our "Green" issue (due out next week, we hope!), has really made me aware of what we do and what we can improve on. Also, I have a little guilt going because I've dropped a good chunk of change on new crafty things and toys for Satya. They are all wonderful and beautiful and I plan to share them with you in a post very soon. And lastly, Satya just got accepted to our #1 choice Montessori preschool. We are so very excited! But we are going to be so very poor for the next few years (once she's in first grade, it's a free charter school up til 12th grade if we decide to keep her there the whole time. Middle school is called Farm School--they tend to animals like llamas (!) and garden and cook lunch for the whole school. How cool is that?!?!) So I've become obsessed (since Friday when we officially said yes to enrollment) with how we can save money. I do 90% of our meals from scratch and plan to get a deep freeze for the garage for more options and shelving for the garage for our canned goods. Plans plans plans. Let me know your best money saving tips, I'd love to hear how you use your creativity in this way.
Ok, I was going to babble a little more, but my child is covered in paint. Heh. Talk about being creative. You should see her outfit.
Will be back soon, I hope. I really want to come visit the blog more often, and snap a pic or two.
