Boy, Kirk & Robert...looks like you both hit the JACKPOT..Miscellaneous assortment of mail and parcels piled in the aisle of a baggage car and requiring removal before the mail in the stalls can be "worked"...that's RR lingo! LOL! Looks like you've both kept that train a-rollin'! kirk...your blue bottle tree looks BEAUTIFUL in the snow even w/that "orange thing-y" hanging in it! LOL! Good to see JT pics, too! Looks like Campbell had a bear-able time! robert...nice salvagable stash, too! (>even though the pkg suffered a head-on collision! Kirk, maybe ? you can post & link this to nmmexico's original "Junk Train 2011 has left the station!" thread...so that your post here w/pics doesn't get lost on down the line...more RR lingo! This is GREAT fun! Jeanne S.

Thanks Marlene, This is my first try at coordinating an event on GW. Max

I'm like Josh, my pots and pans (unless they are unusually nasty) are wiped clean and go in the dishwasher. We have not problem running it once a day. When I am here by myself, I just don't cook as much and once every two or three days. I have noticed a distinct decrease in common winter viral sickness since I got a dishwasher. I don't use the sanitary cycle, however, and find just getting them extra clean seems to be sufficient. I also don't use the dry cycle. I do use the energy booster on the unit, as our hot water tank is not kept at a high temperature. The dishes are hot enough one just has to open the door a crack and they air dry in minutes instead of running a heating element half an hour. BTW, we also have an energy efficient hot water tank. It's encased in ceramic and only heats up once a day on the off-hours. All my lights are flourescent or CFLs and I've been using the CFLs many years before they were mainstream. The old ones were ring shaped and tapered down to the standard base. Bizarre and also quite expensive. One major thing I do is to actually use my window coverings and windows. We do not have Central air. I realise this is not an option for everyone and there are certainly situations where they are needed and justified. Only not in a rural area and a big old stone house. Our house stays cool inside with the blinds drawn in summer and warms up from passive gain when I open the blinds on sunny winter days. I religiously go around each dusk and pull the blinds down to keep heat from escaping and shall soon be making window quilts for even more energy savings. Those electronics I use infrequently are plugged into fused outlets with switches on them. Anymore most of these devices have an instant-on feature. IOW, they are never really turned off, even if you turn them off. I'm not that impatient, so I turn the outlets off to them until I use them. I've switched to cold water laundry for most washes as well unless there is a specific reason to need hot water. And as much food as I can get locally or grow myself, I do. Also buy as many products as I can in bulk packaging. There is no reason on earth I need a new pump bottle of window cleaner each time I run out, or hand soap, or dishwashing liquid, or olive oil, or vegetable oil ad infinitum. So many people are afraid to even talk about these things for being considered goody-two-shoes. It's not that I think I am so great for doing this, I just firstly think it's the right thing to do and secondly need to be thrifty on things within my power to be thrifty on. It's the way I set aside my little mad money to spend on things I really want. I can imagine the culture shock of a family who had to make the transition to all these things. My parents were married in the depression and I've had conservation drummed into me since forever. My parents weren't afraid of buying new or nice things, but they wasted very little and took good care of what they did have. I was poor when I was married and that's an understatement. I did things this way because I had to. And then when I had options I found no reason to really change and it's just something I've always done...even when I worked outside the home, even when I was raising kids.

Well, Kathy, this time your package arrived MUCH FASTER! I have to say I was mislead by the weight of the box, thinking, there couldn't be much in there, LOL!!! Of course, the kids were trying to claim everything I pulled out of there. So here's what was in my Easter basket: Easter window decoration - yep, they took that one Easter egg candles - yeah, that one too, LOL Shamrock ornament - uh, huh, you guessed it Garden gloves - I had to draw the line there, too big for them anyway Floral blank notes cards Sharpie permanent marker - perfect for labeling my wintersowing containers! Garden windchimes - The kids are still trying to talk me out of these! Before I list the seeds, I just want to say how much I appreciate you taking the time to type of all of the information on everything you sent, Kathy. That is so helpful! Lime Basil Dark Opal Basil German Chamomile Victoria Rhubarb - I can't wait to try this one! Purple Tomatillo - won't that make the coolest looking salsa? Tomatillo - org Jimmy Nardello Italian Sweet Pepper - Yeah, can't wait to grow this one! Yellow Star Hot Pepper - B.C. sent me the same one with your order, LOL Radish 'Violet De Gourney' Rapini - okay I'm going to have to look this one up, can't believe you found a veggie that I'm not familiar with : ) Thai Yellow Egg Eggplant Strawberry Spinach - also new to me Tomatoes - Egg, Early Girl, Mountain Princess (I have 80 different kinds of tomatoes, and you sent me three I didn't have, Yippee!) Muskmelon, Little Sweetie Sunflower, Dwarf Sunspot - Think I'll let the kids plant this one Kabloona Calendula - sounds very pretty Thai Red Roselle - sounds beautiful, going to have to look this one up too! What a awesome variety of seeds!!! Kathy, thank you so much for everything you picked out for me. I love it ALL!!! Bonnie