yes, I am in my garden or the greenhouse every day after work. being as I winter sow my perennials I am out there potting something up or seeding something. Maybe I am organizing or cleaning. It is such a great way to physically, mentally relax for me. although, my 10 yr old is starting to resent it a little. so I have to be careful with her.. and to not be too selfish with my time and make sure I am taking time for her also. I think her little hormones are starting to kick in with the snottyness and My mom is the meanest thing on earth. boys are so easy! I already went thru this with my oldest two girls. anyway, I am heading out there in a few minutes, I found seeds in a bubble mailer I forgot to sow. I am potting up plants that have spread too much and am going to try to sell them when I have my garage/craft sale. I can never get enough time out there. I am going to say that God gave me the gift of a green thumb and I am going to use that gift to glorify Him.

Great news! Hope the swallows get down to nesting in the other box now! I don't have all my bluebird boxes facing the same direction either, I have two that face north, two that face east and three that face northeast, however the height of all of them are pretty much the same. Five of them face open land/yard and two of them have open land on one side of them and the yard on the other. It really is amazing how much you can learn here though even when you have been doing it for awhile, this will only be my third year hosting bluebird, if they nest that is. LOL! Donna

I missed this first go round too. I think there is good, classic jewelry that will never go out of style. I also like stylish costume jewelry but not the stuff made to look like the "real thing", like fake diamonds, rubies, etc. I love unique necklaces. I'm talking costume jewelry for necklaces. I wear earrings most days, but not always. Most always wear my wedding ring diamond set - although there are times when I will wear a plain wide wedding band. Always wear one other ring on my right hand. I have an emerald cut 3 stone ring that I most often wear but occasionally will change it up. My dad recently gave me three rings that belonged to my mother and one is a gorgeous london blue topaz that I have worn several times. I never wear a watch and don't wear bracelets that often - other than my charm bracelet. I do like an earring on some men, but it depends on the man. And one earring only. tina

How did a question about wasting turn into a slam-fest? Everyone does things that are wasteful as well as conservative. I still have old lightbulbs that have not burned out yet, and CFLs in the ones that have. I have a plasma TV, a new microwave, a jacuzzi and a crockpot. The crockpot is used around 1-2 times a month and I love it in those instances. I drive a truck, don't have a clothesline and use my air conditioner. I recycle religiously. I conserve water, pick up trash in parking lots, give anything away that could possibly be used again, use freecycle and drag my scrap paper from work home (with my boss's permission)for my daughter to color on. I turn off lights if I'm not in the room. I turn off the water when I brush my teeth. I also fly back to my homestate of Hawaii 2600 miles away(and fly my daughter back) using tons of jet fuel. Before we throw stones at our neighbors try googling Al Gore's house and George Bush's house for a shocking comparison of energy waste/conservancy. It just goes to show we all make choices. Acknowledging that we are making a choice when we expend/reduce energy use is the first step towards using less. That person who uses old bulbs and a crockpot may recycle everything, drive 50 miles a month in a tiny car and not use plastic. As a side note, I grew up 30 miles from the nearest town, where we didn't have a Wal-mart/Kmart/Costco or anything similar. Due to bad roads it took over an hour to get there, once we made the 1/2 hour trip down our 4wd road to get to the highway. We had catchment tanks for water, and the water went right down the sink and onto the trees on the side, outhouses, solar and kerosene for light. I got my clothes from the "free box" at our local co-op, and we bought our food in bulk. We had no refrigerator/freezer/television/radio/appliances except for a gas stove, and that was used by ten or so people in a community kitchen. The shower was a hose attached to a tree. When we got hot water, it was from a paloma, and we took "Navy" showers. (Some habits die hard, I still take 5 minute showers and turn the water off when shaving, etc). Our homes were made out of recycled lumber and bamboo, with every scrap used. We'd go to town once a week for supplies, and we'd carpool with neighbors to get there. You may be imagining someone living like this pre- 1950. I'm 30. I've lived in San Diego for two years now and enjoy having air conditioning. I think that frugality is only as good as quality of life. Awareness and compassion for why people are living the lives they choose is essential. When people tease me for saving every last drop of water I remind them the mentality I grew up with...When you are constantly conscious that the water you are using can be depleted and there is no way to get a water truck to fill the tank up you use a lot less! Sorry.... I just grew up more frugal than most people could ever imagine, so the argument about bulbs, etc. is just silly to me. Try using a kerosene lantern at night to do anything. We got everything done during daylight hours, believe me! Wear them until they're standing on their own, then wash clothes by hand, wring them out with a foot powered wringer. Don't use any pesticides, herbicides, anything not organic. Wash your hair with fresh Awapuhi ginger. Live in harmony with the bugs around you... misquitoes, cockroaches (we'd call them B-52 bombers), you name it- and the way we killed them was with our feet and hands. This was in the rainforest, with 100' trees, 1-2' vines, giant tree ferns. There was mold. On everything. So, after venting! The waste I see every day (personal pet peeves): 1. Watering giant lawns that no one ever sits on 2. Private swimming pools 3. Eating food out of season 4. Throwing away plastic containers