Memorial Day Weekend...

Out came the red-white-and-blue front door decor. Out came the white jeans, red t-shirts with navy sequins, white sandals, red toes...up went the hair in a pony-tail...up with the temperatures into the 80s, on came the A/C.

And...the best part of it all? These. FRESH!

Yummy.

That's what summer means to me - fresh fruit & veggies. (I've posted some photos of my kitchen collection over on Knitnana so you can see that my life isn't just about the REAL fruit & veggies...I'm also all about collecting the collectibles! Those are shots of my kitchen, doncha know.)

I've done pretty well with my goals for this month. I could do better, of course. I'll try to come up with a few more for June.

I know what one will be: to continue to remind myself to UNplug unnecessary appliances when they're not needed - anything with a clock inside - the VCR (when not in use), the microwave, keeping the coffee pot, the toaster oven, even the computer - if I unplug them? That keeps the electrical current off (which saves pennies, but that adds up over time, you know?).

I've been doing it pretty well, but I could improve. I just remembered to reset the timer light to a later "ON" time since the time has changed and it's so much lighter later now.

And I added gas treatment to my tank - I've already seen an improvement in needing to stop at the pump - again, every little bit helps!
(((Hugs)))

Garden Time! Keep Your Fingers Crossed...

My Mom's Day gift to me...every year. I try hard to get some veggies planted - and this year, I am attempting to do something a bit different. The tomatoes are in the three round containers at the front of the "stoop" here:

Two patio tomatoes and a yellow pear tomato plant

And below, you can see the left side of the porch - with seeds planted for arugula, mesclun mix, and radish all in the trough and...

a jalapeno pepper in the top pot, and a hill of yellow crookneck squash in the large pot on the bottom...
Then on the right side of the porch:
basil and curly parsley.

There's so little sun that comes in on this porch, that I'm not sure this is a smart idea. It's sad really, as this townhouse is so wonderful otherwise, I just wish there were fewer trees in front of the house to allow for gardening - the backyard is even worse, but the trees are a necessity back there to shield us from the business district on the street below. I shouldn't complain about the trees, really...their shelter keeps the place relatively cool in summer and with the leaves off the trees in winter, the sun gets in better and I need less heat. There are always trade-offs you know?

Anyway, I'm hopeful that perhaps I'll have learned something from last year, and can have better gardening results this time around! I'll keep you posted...

May Goals! A Touch Late...

Well. May got started faster than I expected somehow, and I've been thinking of what to post about here...

GOALS! That's IT!
1. I have gotta get the veggies planted (gotta buy some first!) - I'm thinking two patio tomatoes and perhaps a pot of summer squash & patty pans...along with herbs. This weekend is Mom's Day and that's traditionally when I pick up my plants and get them in the ground. So fingers are crossed it happens this weekend!

2. Sis-in-law is having a yard sale this month, so I'm hoping to weed out a bunch of stuff to haul over and get rid of! That means sifting thru boxes, and putting prices on things, too! Not my strong suit at all - I'm much better at saying "just stuff it in here" and pushing the box into the basement or closet.

3. I'm also aiming for lower-cost, higher quality recipes for main dishes or one-pot meals this month. Hmm...one of my all-time favorites is a baked potato and I don't think I can get much less expensive, do you? But I do want to try to limit my purchasing of prepared and restaurant meals, and go with simpler, easier items to cook at home this month. Where do you find your recipes?

4. I managed, with the help of a friend (THANK YOU!) to change out most of my bulbs with compact fluorescents so that's a goal I hadn't actually written down, but has been attained this month! One crossed off! :)

So what are your plans to reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose in May? Oh...and make sure you touch base with More Grace over there in my sidebar? Friend Birdsong is finding creative ways to repurpose things and keep them out of the landfill. Just maybe she has created something you'd like to welcome into your world?
(((hugs)))