Recycle your Christmas tree for next year!!!

First off....if anyone knows WHY some of my friggin photos are posting sideways and HOW I can fix that , it would be much appreciated!!!!  Since Blogger's editing page changed I've had tons of trouble and is one reason I rarely post!!!!  UPDATE: Here is one possible answer:  http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=3dadabf526cdd529&hl=en

Ok, back to fun.  Here is our 2010 tree:

For Christmas 2009, we  bought our very first LIVE tree.  It was gorgeous and glorious and OUTRAGEOUSLY priced.  I promised my husband that to get our money's worth,  I would SOMEHOW recycle it to get 2 Christmases out of the thang.  And that I did!  After we un-decorated it, I hung it from our clothes line outside.  There it stayed all year long-through all kinds of weather.  We hung some peanut butter/birdseed pine cones in it last summer and the birdies really dug it!  After Thanksgiving, when it was time to trim the tree I -not so simply,but it can be done!!!- did the following:

Donned a pair of gloves and pulled ALL those niggling needles off:

Pruned off half the branches:

Spray painted it green.   If you're not into that, nix the paint and you can later burn the tree in your wood stove or what ev:

Threw on some tinsel and lights and VOILA!!!!!  The perfect ornament hanger!

We are now in the process of un-decorating it for the last time-Epiphany has passed- and I will then launch our tree into the woods of our back yard and return it to the earth.  Of course, I'm regretting painting it-there really was no need.

IT'S EARTH DAY!!! Celebrate your Mother..

WELCOME CRAFTY CROW and SPIFFY SPOTLIGHTS READERS!!!!!

We've been gaining about 5 minutes of daylight each night since the equinox. It's still light when we go to bed now. Soon we'll be experiencing those bright Alaskan nights .....One of the bummers about there being no real darkness in the summer is that I can't adorn our deck with all sorts of pretty fairy lights and candles when we hang out or entertain. The top of our garage will someday house 2 more stories but for now Huz did a great job setting up a temporary deck. We have a great table and umbrella which would be perfect for hanging beaded votives....Oh, I have tons of ideas..but it's just not a reality here.


But for those of you living in a place where you can experience warm dark, I've got a very cool idea for groovy mood lighting in honor of Earth Day.

Recycled Pop Bottle Luminaries:

This is a gorgeous luminary for both inside and out. Make a bunch for a party on a summer's night. Perfect to line your railing or your walk. Beats the whole sand and candle in the paper bag thing. You can use a real beeswax tea light or one of those LED faux tea lights.

All you need is:
2 pop bottles
scissors
"glass" paint
sponge brush
tea light


There will be 3 pieces nested together for this luminary.


Here's what you do:


1. Leaving the base of the pop bottle intact, cut out a fun wavy design that measures about 1/3 of the way up the bottle. The bottom 1/3 is now separated from the rest of the bottle.

2. Put bottom aside for now. Or have kiddos start painting it.

3. Using the top portion of the bottle, cut off the neck part and discard. This rounded top portion of the bottle will now be the BOTTOM of this piece. Make sure the hole you have just created is big enough to handle heat and flame from the tea light.

4. Now cut wavy pattern on the new "top" portion of bottle.



5. Repeat step #1 with 2nd bottle, but this wavy design should reach over 3/4 the way up the bottle.

6. Paint your 3 pieces in any way you like. Lo and I first dabbed on the glass paint and then found it fun to use our fingers to spread it and make designs. We also just let some of the paint drip on it Jackson Pollock style.

(It was sunny and 50 degrees outside today!!! T-shirt-for-the-hearty time!)

7. When dry just nestle to 2 bases into each other, put in your light and nestle the 3rd piece on top of that.
Now make about 20 more and throw a party for whatever!








*You've GOT to check out these beautiful pop bottle plastic butterflies-PERFECT if you still have leftover glass paint and bottles!

HAVE A WONDERFUL EARTH DAY!!!!!

Searching for the ....oh, I can't even find the word I need

It's been hard to find the time (a desire) to blog this past week or so. From what I read on other blogs, many people are either excited with new signs of spring, or they are feeling the February blahs. For me it's the blahs. Not in the sense of feeling down or blue, just not motivated and inspired like I felt over the holidays. I guess it's par for the course this time of year. The after-the-holidays cool down so to speak, getting sick of winter-ish themes to explore with Lo, while at the same time still loving getting out and playing in the snow. The weather this past week has been glorious-cloudless blue skies and bright regenerating sunshine. Perfect for going on runs, honing our skate skiing skills, Nordic skiing, and birdwatching.

Yesturday getting a nice snowstorm with 6 inches of powder down in the valleybut only 1.5 here. We need MORE!!! It's much need for re-establishing our snow slides in the yard. Today, again with the blazing sun and 5 degrees! Oooooh, my vitamin D.

I've a bunch ideas swirling in my head but just lack the organization and focus to make them reality. So far, we've been decorating some old cans from the recycling bin to use for herb starts and we plan on trying out other eco friendly ideas for veggie and flower starts.

I'm trying to get excited about our up coming growing season, but's that's summer and I know our spring is SOOOOO far off. Lo's been interested in both birds and volcanoes lately. Oh, and then there's germs. And bacterium. And the difference between them...poor kiddo was sick with a fever for 2 days-thus the interest. So I'm digging around for info on that and dreaming up fun ideas. Or trying to. I found a list of the birds known to frequent our neck of the woods and we've been checking off the ones we're seeing around the house. We've been watching our bird friends at the feeder as well. Right now there's been a TON of Redpolls out there!

(so cute the way they fluff up in the cold)

Lo's getting used to the "real" binoculars and loves watching out our big windows. So do these guys:

I'd like to make a photo mosaic of all the birds we tally. I've spent a lot of time online looking for the perfect birdfeeders to make to compliment what we already have, as well as volcano info and activities that are on Lo's level. This morning Huz and I introduced Lo to the Dutch Oven. Fun was had by all! Well, me and Huz. Lo...not so much. Especially after last night's garlicy pizza.

I think a part of my stagnation this past week or so is that there is SO much info online and elsewhere to mull over that I get over-saturated and go into shut off mode.

(Lo discovered a fun way to lay out her clothes for the next day!)

I've been spending more personal time playing with my camera, re-visiting my old photo mags and books, and perusing the net for inspiration. PBase and PixiPort are great places to see some really spectacular work. I've also been making a lot more time for reading. I LOVE to read and after having the leisure to read (and finish!) The Red Tent(AMAZING book) on my vacation, I just can't get enough. I just finished Rabbit Run by Updike and I've now I've got The Alchemist and The Story of Lucy Gault going simultaneously. I'll blog more about books at a later time.

(We've been enjoying the game Fairy Finds-a cooperative game where kids try to help the fairies build a fairy ring with objects found in the forest before the troll can steal them away. And the litle findings are so cute! Dew drops, blue birds, acorns, and toadstools.)

I just need the time and focus to pull all of this jumble out of my head and get a coherent timeline going. When I think of this I'm re-minded of when I wake up in the morning to discover that the cats have gotten into my yarn and COMPLETELY unraveled a ball-dragged it through the house, and entertwined it through everything likie a spider web. That mess is like my brain. And I have to painstakingly(after swearing at the cat's) gather it all up and roll it into a nice tight ball again. Ahhh, life with ADD. Never a dull moment. And I have a TON to write about that.....

(The car wash with the tri-colored soap-always a favorite.)

Our Advent calander

After years of using the same old shoddy plastic and cardboard store bought Advent calender(yes, we re-used it every year by pouring melted chocolate into the little molds in each window!), I decided it was time for a change. For a couple years I envisioned making some sort of big spiral with pockets in it, kind of along the lines of the Advent Spiral but just haven't been able to get ti quite right. I would still like to make it a reality some day. For now, I've got this funky calender that I found about year ago from Martha Stewart, made with various boxes. Eco-friendly. Re-usable. The kids alternate opening that day's box each night-a good lesson for Lo in delayed gratification and patience! Inside the boxes they usually find a little chocolate, a gemstone, a special trinket, or a "coupon" for special events like going for a horse & carriage ride in Anchorage. Uncommon Grace has a large and wonderful list of ideas to include in an advent calender!

Down. Defeated. Do not pass go, do not collect...

It's a SWELL day for Alaska.

The results of yesterday’s 2008 Primary Election are basically in. Not officially...but pretty much.

Hey great! Predator control-It’s still ok to shoot wolves and grizzlies from the air or by "land and shoot" even if there is inadequate data to prove the necessity for it. It’s ok to hand over these animals on a silver platter to please the ever increasing numbers of hunters. It’s still ok to shoot wolf pups in their dens. How sporting. Never mind finding them homes within Alaskan zoos or conservation centers.

Clean water, schlean water. It’s ok with everyone to leave Bristol Bay’s commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries- and many other Alaskan waters- wide open for the inevitable toxic chemical contamination from mining. So what if the indigenous people who have subsisted off of the salmon in Bristol Bay for 10,000 years loose one of their main food sources? Salmon are disappearing everywhere else but let’s not bother to protect the Bay that produces Alaska’s largest salmon run. Get ‘em while you can folks! Order them up fresh from New Sagaya while they last.

It’s ok to keep our elections nice-n-dirty. Give those big money special interest groups all the power. Let’s not bother holding politicians accountable to their constituents. Let’ em continue to serve the Man. It's ok.

Even with the ongoing, humiliating, widespread investigation by The U.S. Department of Justice of Alaskan lawmakers' official actions in relation to the oil industry, fisheries, and private corrections industry, even though Senator Ted Stevens has been indicted for 7 corruption counts, EVEN with all that disgrace, Alaskans have voted him back in. It’s ok, Man, he gives us tons of pork!

And good ole’, friendly, older than dirt like Uncle Ted, Don Young who spent... billions now? of his campaign money on lawyers and won’t tell us why…
BACK IN the running!
And good on ya! to the 65.5ish % of voters who decided to sit this one out. Something better to do?

~Leaves to flush head down toilet…..

THE ALAKSA OCEANS FESTIVAL

In keeping time with our renewed and revitalized commitment to Green Living, we headed down to a fitting event yesturday. With more than 35,000 miles of coastline and some of the world's most biologically diverse marine waters, Alaska plays an important role in the health of the world's oceans. Each year this is celebrated at the Alaska Oceans Festival.

Held in a park strip in downtown Anchorage, thousands of Alaskans are educated and entertained by over 20 marine and environmentally related organizations, prominent community leaders, guest speakers(Alexandra Cousteau-Jacques's grandaughter) and a variety of entertainers. This fun and informative festival is instrumental in raising public awareness about Alaska marine issues. Plus, it's a bit of a hippy fest! A get together of like minded people who are in the minority in this state. We've attended the last 2 and had a great time there yesturday. Lo got to jump in the Bouncy House, make a sting ray print,

and get her face painted. Neither of the kids was interested in mounting the Bucking Bronco Salmon but I know Dea would have liked to climb REI's climbing wall. It was pretty expensive to do it and I'm proud that she decided to donate the money, instead, to some great wildlife and enviro organizations. We all came home with a bunch of politically or environmentally vocal bumper stickers! I've dedicated one of my car's back side windows to be my personal public billboard.

This one gets a spot on my rear window though.

It really hit home with both me and Huz. I'm tired of being looked down upon as one who is a reprobate, pitiable, or deprived of spiritual rights somehow because I'm a liberal and/or not an adhearent to any one particular religion.

After our stay at the fest we headed on over to the Alaska Zoo for our friend's wedding reception. After finishing dinner in the zoo's greenhouse Dea and I ran down the trails to the bathroom. Actually, I chased her with my camera snapping away. When finished with our business, I chased her back up the trails but stopped in my tracks when I saw the wolves. Unaware, Dea ran giggling on but I walked quietly over to the fence where about 7 beautiful wolves stood considering me. What magnificent animals! It was the first time I had ever been so close. I could have reached over and touched them. Evening in the zoo after it is closed to the public is an amazing time. Quiet, but all the animals are up and alert. I spoke quietly to them about their handsomeness and dignity and how it was a shame they were captive. Many of the zoo's animals are rescued. Some are rehabilitated and released but some are there to stay due to extent of their injuries. But then there are the ones who have been captured and placed in a jail for us all to gawk at. And that is upsetting. I'm waiting and hoping the zoo will go "all rescue". I do see the imporatnce of the education in viewing wildlife but not at the expense of a healthy animal's freedom. A zoo can have a lot to offer... Our working philosophy has been to boycott ours in protest to show our kids that we don't approve of animals in captivity. But I'm thinking of recinding that. There is a lot to be learned by going there and discussing the benefits of rehabing hurt animals as well as discussing the ethics of capturing and jailing animals. I'd rather expose them to real life and have some great dialogue than to censor it.

I was struck by the playfulness and tenderness of those wolves- a couple of them wimpered and kind of semi-bowed at me in that submissive playful way that dogs do, reminding me of my own Malamute. They had such a wise yet puckish look in their eyes. I told them we(Alaskans) were aiming for finally getting our voices heard in August when it is time to vote down the arial wolf hunting that has been established. The last two wolves playfought as they watched me and then turned to trot off together. I left to go and talk to the ravens-they are such wisened and whimsical creatures. But that's for another time. Whoops! I missed the toast to the couple!

No such thing as GLOBAL WARMING! Nah..

Well, from what I've seen and heard from other blogs and comments, We're not the only ones "re-visiting" winter!





On a totally different note, I just posted a meme but it posted under yesturday's post. What gives with that?! Is it because I started writing it yesturday? I'm new to the blogging thing and still learning... Anyone know how I can post an older entry on the day that I'm actually posting? Am I even making sense?!?!?

OI!



Ima Geek