Earth Day 2009 - My Pledge

On this Earth Day, let's think about how we can make a difference in our environment. I am talking about our own "personal" environments. Many people immediately visualize the great outdoors and wilderness when the word "environment" is used. Here are a few of the relevant definitions from Wikipedia's dictionary: (#1 is what I am referring to here)

1. The surroundings of & influences on a particular item of interest (or particular person?)


2. The natural world or ecosystem


3. A particular political or social setting, arena or condition

I feel that each person or family can make a huge difference just by taking small steps. There is a wealth of information out there to help us make our "personal environment" a much better place to be in. Imagine if all of us start improving our individual spaces, it can & will domino into improving the health and well-being of the #2 definition above: The natural world & ecosystem!

I found a great site from the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency that has a list of items that you can pledge to do in your own life that can have a big impact. My pledge is listed below:

To help protect the environment, I pledge to:

• Use less water! Take showers instead of baths, fix leaks, and turn off the tap when brushing your teeth. And buy efficient fixtures by looking for the WaterSense label.
  


• Save electricity! Do a home energy audit, get programmable thermostats, buy Energy Star products, turn stuff off when you’re done, and change your bulbs to compact fluorescents.
  


• Reduce, reuse, recycle! Try to find products with less packaging, take reusable bags on shopping trips, creatively reuse other products, and recycle what's left.
  


• Use chemicals safely! Read pesticide labels carefully. Lock up pesticides, paints, and cleaners where kids can't reach them.
  


• Spread the word! Teach others where you work or go to school. Share online by commenting on our blog, or sharing your photos and videos. Encourage people to Pick 5 for the Environment!

Pledged Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009.

Make your own pledge by visiting http://www.epa.gov/pick5/

I encourage everyone to do what they can on this Earth Day to make our "environments" better places to grow & thrive in!

Critter Corner - Porkchop

I can't believe it is 95 degrees today! We got a brief little dose of Spring for a couple of very short weeks & now we are in the nineties! I'm not ready for the heat. I still have winter clothes and space heaters out and about. I had to run out early this morning and make sure my little herblings and veggies had a drink before the temperature soared. Just 5 days ago, there was frost on my windshield when I left for work.

I had promised an introduction to my little punky Porkchop and am finally getting around to it (mostly because I'm sitting in the cool living room this afternoon waiting for the sun to go down before going back outside to the garden..also because he is sitting on my lap at the moment, helping me with the laptop.)

Porkchop (aka Punkers, Punkydoodles, Porklet, etc.) is my 3-legged, blind in 1 eye baby. My vet calls him my little trauma kitty because he also has flea allergy dermatitis and a penchant for fighting with another of my cats, Badger (when he isn't snuggling with him).

At the same time, he is the biggest baby and gets very upset when he can't wallow around in my lap and drool. He is such a charmer, he greets me at the door when I come in, usually with one of his toys. He loves several of the toys that I have made him, especially those with our catnip. It drives him nuts!! It's like kitty crack. I have plans to put these kitty toys and our catnip on our site for sale in the very near future. Porkchop wants to share his favorites with the feline world.

Punkers is a cuddler and sleeps on top of me (or even the hubby at times) every night. Which brings to mind his latest nickname - Chunkapunk. When we had him neutered his weight tripled (at least). It's funny, because he is the most active & spastic cat we have. He gets to cruising up and down the tiled hallway at full speed in his little, lopsided galloping gait! His only clue that he isn't the same as the other furfaces is the fact that he can't leap to the top of the kitty tree in a single bound! Hubby made him a custom one so he can reach the top and rule from his perch near the ceiling anyway. And even though he is one of the smallest (except in poundage) of the critters in our home, Punky definitely rules!

Please spay and neuter your pets. I support the NSAL and their many programs to help end the pet overpopulation problem. Please click here for more information. SPAY-USA - a program of the North Shore Animal League

Tea, I must have Tea....

Planting and life in the garden has been keeping myself and the hubby really busy these last few weeks. Spring has sprung around here & we're outside until dark or after just about every night. I am almost ready to launch our etsy store and start offering several of our herb-based products on our website. It is amazing the amount of time involved trying to get a website up and running that is actually easy to use and get around. Details, details....

Most evenings I enjoy a cup of tea to help unwind & decide on the next day's TO-DO list. I LOVE tea and I really like to experiment and try different blends. I was so surprised and thrilled to have my name drawn as a winner of a Tea Sampler from Sarah at Herbs from the Labyrinth. My prize included 15 of her different hand-blended teas that have such awesome names as Moontime Tea, Lover's Tea, Spring in My Step, FemininiTea, Dandy Lion Tea, Hush-A-Bye, Strong As Nails, SereniTea, SmarTea, DigestiviTea, Nursing Mother Tea, Endo-Liver Tea, Love Your Liver Tea, and Mid-Summer Tea. I'm finding that so far my favorite is the Lover's Tea - YUM.. (photo below is from her website)



If you haven't heard about this fun & very knowledgeable group of herbal enthusiasts/entrepreneurs, you must check out their weekly contest that is running through May. Each week, each of the 10 blogs holds a drawing for a wonderful item made by one of the other participants. I believe this week's prize is being offered by Aquarian Bath. Go check it out and have fun exploring some really neat blogs & websites. You may get lucky like I did & have a wonderful new product to try and enjoy.

Herbs from the Labyrinth
Patti’s Potions
PrairieLand Herbs
Aquarian Bath
The Rosemary House
Natures Gift
Torchsong Studio
The Essential Herbal
Garden Chick
SunRose Aromatics

Lovely Lavender!

These beauties are living the good life. I had originally planted them (temporarily) in a gladiola bed just until we had finished the larger herb garden where I had planned to do a hedge of lavender as an outline for my working garden. BUT, they decided on their own that they wanted to stay put and take over the glads' home. I can't argue with them since they are so extremely happy and prolific.

Even though I am very allergic to bees (and any other bugs for that matter), I am really happy to see so many more out and about this year than over the last few. The crisis with the honeybees and the Colony Collapse Syndrome hit our area in a big way. The almond growers were really hurting as they depend on these tireless little workers to pollinate thousands of acres of almonds in our valley. On a much smaller front, our little gardens benefit greatly from the attention and wouldn't be able to survive without them. Somehow it seems that all is starting to right itself in our corner of the world when Spring finally arrives and you hear the unmistakable buzzing from your posies!
I will be harvesting some of the lavender this weekend, especially the English variety which is a little behind these beauties. I am playing with some different recipes and concotions based on the use of both fresh and dried lavender. By the end of the weekend, I will have projects strung all over the house in various stages of drying and curing. I am getting the feeling that Michael thinks I'm a mad scientist sometimes..poor guy really didn't know what he was getting into!

Earth Hour 2009 - Turn Out the Lights..

EARTH HOUR

Well, the hubby and I have big plans tonight...We're going to sit in the dark!

Yes, we paid our power bill and yes, we are choosing to turn off the electricity in our home for an hour or more.... We're taking part in a global event to show our support and commitment to saving our planet. (It doesn't hurt that we are including a bottle of wine, some cheese & crackers, and a nighttime stroll in the plan.) Being environmentally friendly and conscious of our carbon footprint can still be romantic!

This is the 3rd year in a row that millions of people worldwide will be turning off their lights & other non-essential electronics for an hour tonight to celebrate Earth Hour. Individuals as well as companies and international landmarks will take part by flicking the switch from 8:30pm to 9:30pm local times this evening. Even the famous Las Vegas Strip will be dark (on the outside) for this hour, including the huge "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. This will be a first as the only time this is ever done is for a minute when a local star dies, never for an entire hour. Huzzah!

Sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, this event started in Australia and is celebrating it's third year with more participation each year. From the website:

In December 2009 world leaders meet in Copenhagen to agree on a post-Kyoto policy for tackling climate change. One billion people voting with their light switch during Earth Hour will create a powerful mandate for our leaders to take strong and decisive action on climate change in Copenhagen.

With the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote, Vote Earth is a global call to action for every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet.

While too many people still don't really think that 1 person or 1 family can really make a difference on a global level, it is amazing when events like this occur to see that EACH INDIVIDUAL really DOES count. We're talking BILLIONS of people choosing to do something as simple as flicking off a light switch for one hour. It's a start folks...