::tidbits of green:: from the RYD home front!

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Hello everyone!

How are ya? I know, I know…. long time no blog! What gives?!

With the end of Summer so near we’ve been sulking up a every last bit of the sunshine and I took a little impromptu bloggy break.  The weather has been extraordinarily HOT …today’s temp reached 110 degrees. Our clothesline was gettin’ all the action today.   Seriously, wish we had a solar oven, right about now.

It’s on our wish list and what’s funny is our town is known for having the most sun in the nation… 300 days of sunshine through out the year!

A little known fact we definitely need to take advantage of.

I’ve also been busy getting our outbuilding fit for homeschooling and so far so good… I will post separately on that subject soon. Definitely an amazing transformation going on and I’m beyond thrilled to begin our adventure.

Anyhoo… here are some tidbits  taking place at the RYD home front…

My grandma always told me… save your pickle juice and pickle hard boiled eggs!

Since we have green beans coming out of our ears so we put a few from some salvaged juice from 2 jars of Bubbies pickles!

Pickled green beans here we come.

can’t wait to fill up some reused glass jars with fresh dried herbs from our garden

:: parsley AND :: basil 2 kinds of each!

using the sunshine to dry our laundry… haven’t used our dryer much this summer!

Clean sheets and towels…ahhh!

Been busy makin’ all things homemade  (dry skin salve, deodorant, and toothpaste) including a few other things…

…deets to come!!!!

Mmm, lunch lately… easy peasy & perfect in this summer heat.

with apple slices + almond butter = Mmmm!

an Ani Phyo recipe!

a little love, a little laughter, a little a little … won’t you?

the fair is in town… a really big DEAL around here… we’ve already gone 2x!

Ah, the last of our beautiful Summer desert sunsets… feeling the autumnal shift lately at certain times of the day…

i heart autumn

<3

Change  is comin’ on for us and I feel it.

another fun highlight:  waiting on pickles that are wildly fermenting

( a NO vinegar recipe)… just a few more days!

& so you know the garden is fairing well and I hope to bring you an update on that soon too!

The last few days of August are going to be busy- busy.

I may be absent … but I’ll be back– promise! 

p.s. stomach yuck is just about gone! phew!

What have you been up to?!!

the {upcycled & recycled} yay—> for freecycle!!

Well, hello there.

Happy Friday!

On Wednesday afternoon a Freecycle alert came through my inbox for a jogging stroller with two seats…

— it was like the stars lined up… we’d been talking about the need for one recently. Then boom BAM out of the sky… came a message, and I took full advantage of it.  It doesn’t get any better than  F R E E!!

I hurriedly answered the message in hopes that we’d soon be the new owner of a 2 seater jogging stroller. I’m not much of a runner BUT that’s the other funny part… because recently I’ve been thinking about putting on some running shoes, like my friend  Steph at Peachy Green who ran 17 miles the other day! What?! what?!!

To say the least, it was meant to be.  As soon as it was home the boys were eager and excited to go for a ride. The stroller is in fair-GOOD condition. One wheel had a tiny bend in it but it was nothing the hub couldn’t straighten out with a few tugs & pulls. No major fading anywhere or nasty smoke odor. Straps weren’t mucky and could still buckle. Handle bars a little worn in one spot but it’s pretty obvious, the persons, who owned before us; used it a lot for jogging. No big. Nothing a little handkerchief couldn’t fix!

Other than a little dust it’s in pretty much great working condition (at least, for us anyway!). & who needs Febreeze?! Not this green mama.

Non Toxic Odor Eliminator

Mix equal parts of vinegar (good for removing odor) and water

+ added in some essential oils for extra germ fighting and cleaning

- 2 drops of tea tree oil (all antibacterial & antifungal)

- 1 drop of peppermint oil

- 1 drop of clove oil

The peppermint is pretty over powering but the fragrance ended up being on the woodsy side.

Love a little aromatherapy.

It really didn’t matter what the solution smelled like; I was just going for CLEAN and non toxic. Besides that, it was mostly what I had on hand. LOL!

After dousing and wiping the stroller down, I then took some baking soda and sprinkled some on in both seats and a little on the cover. I let it sit until dry in the HOT morning sun and then wiped/whacked some of the baking soda/dust out with a towel.

The stroller was good to go and smelt so fresh and so clean, clean!

Kicking dirt to the curb with a handy bottle of vinegar and essential oils is eco RAD.

I like it just plain too but variety is the spice of life and I felt like upping the ante a bit!

Anywho, if you haven’t yet heard of Freecycle…

…you may want to learn more about it’s awesomeness…

The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,834 groups with 7,341,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them’s good people).

Membership is free.

changing the world one gift at a time

Get your Freecycle on!!

The boys love their new stroller!

Hope you have a lovely end to your week and enjoy your weekend!

tah-tah!  for now.

the {upcycled & recycled} a new dress a day, flip flops, oh my!

Happy Friday!

We made it…woo-hoo!

Here are a few links for your {upcycled & recycled} reading pleasure…

365 days, 365 items of clothing, 365 dollars.... follow Marisa on her journey, at New Dress a Day a blog dedicated to turning thrift store dresses into fashionable ones for one year! What a sewing genius, if you ask me and what an excellent goal.  She’s got some RAD skills, yo! I admire what she’s doing and her lovely talents.

In the summer, you can usually catch me sportin’ a pair of sandals or flip flops or sometimes barefooted in the garden. I HEART the company Simple Shoes. They make eco fashionable footwear and I want to score a pair of Flippee’s! Don’t they have a fabu collection of shoes?! A few pairs are on my wish list. LOVE!

I’m really diggin’ these cutesy upcycled caps … I want the “Clark” version…but they’re SOLD OUT! boo. Guess, I’ll have to settle for this one, instead!

and last but certainly not least…an Independence Day craft idea for your tots. Sparkless Sparklers! yay!!

That’s all for this week, folks

Hve a wonderfl start to your holiday weekend.

the {upcycled & recycled} Recycled Crafts @CraftGossip!

TGIF!

We’ve been crafting during the hottest parts of the day usually between 1-3pm. It really just depends on nap, lunch, what were doing at the time… etc.

Really quickly…

Did you know, it’s National Pollinator’s week?

buzz, buzz!

On Wednesday we made a bee using construction paper and also purchased beeswax from the local honey guy.

Later that evening I made a salve from the beeswax. Even the local beekeeper believes in upcycling!

Anywho!

Thought you’d like to know about a fun site called Craft Gossip which features some pretty groovy Recycled Crafts...

A few fun upcycled inspirations…

-    A bunch of pretty designs made from recycled paper tubes

-     Recycle plastic bags into super cute iron on images

-     How to make a new credenza from an old dresser

-    An oh so pretty new spin on a classic recycling project-tinted jar votives

What have you been up to this week?

Any fun crafting???

C’mon spill!! Love hearing your thoughts.

Have a great weekend!

the {upcycled & recycled} 365 Ways to Go Green!

Hi everyone!

Hope you all have a great weekend. TGIF!

I’m sure many of you, like myself, have wondered what to do with an item… as in how to reduce, reuse and recycle it!

you know; commit an eco action and feel like a planet saving hero…right? Right!

Today’s,  planet saving hero, is a friend of mine; whom I had pleasure of meeting on twitter.

His name is Mike, otherwise known as Canarsie BK across the web … he’s down to earth… AND

he’s determined to show you just how easy it is to go green… all year long.

His non intimidating sustainable acts prove eco friendly can be simple & fun.

Be sure to follow Mike’s journey and get an eco glimpse of his 365′in ways filled with plenty of fantastic 3R’s (green) ideas.

Today, he uses a tea bag to clean tiles... check it out!

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