We are the Canaries in the mine, will you be next ?

 

The other day I was overcome with the amount of perfume a woman was wearing in a store, and I wrote this blog post titled Scents and Sensibility, describing how badly it affected me.  It wasn’t that I didn’t like her scent, it was the rash it caused on my face.  It struck a nerve, with many readers writing in to say that they too suffer from problems, allergies, and rashes from household cleaners, perfume, and chemical additives.

Those of us who suffer these allergies, and problems are merely the canaries in the mine.  We are the early warning signals that there is something wrong in the environment, in our food, in our every day world. Consider us the sentinels.

 

Miners used to lower a canary down into a pit to see if they became sick from toxic gases.  That would allow them a chance to leave, or put on respirators.  I first read about the practice in a Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairies book, and it has stayed with me since.  We are the canaries, and the mine is the environment that everyone is living in.

Go down the cleaning aisle, notice how strong the scent is, if it doesn’t bother you, consider yourself very fortunate.  Like many people I am affected by the mere waft of household cleaners in the air surrounding the aisle.  In fact when I worked at my retail job, I had to ask special permission to be excused from stocking any shelves in the Housewares area, because it caused my allergies, and a rash on my face to be so aggravated that I had to leave the store.

I can’t use any commercial cleaners that you purchase from the store, I can’t eat certain foods, and can’t use most lotions, makeup, and soaps that you might not even consider a problem.  This is a sudden turn of events, my life wasn’t this complicated a few years ago.  But apparently years of working in a greenhouse, and chemical exposure has resulted in my developing a severe chemical sensitivity.

 

Be aware of what you are using to clean your house, try a more natural approach, there are many premade solutions on the market that are more healthy, or you can make your own.  Look into skin saving shampoos, and conditioners that contain less harmful ingredients.

Laurie from When the bough breaks is linking up with me and you might like to see what she has to say also.  If you suffer from environmental allergies feel free to let us know what you have to do to cope with them.

 

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

The Reduce Food Wastage challenge “REFUSE”

 

I did something today that I really hate doing, and I don’t like myself for having to do it.  I threw out what was once perfectly good food, because I let it sit in the fridge too long.  It was a week old, it had to go, but I missed so many opportunities to save it, and that’s what I don’t like about myself. 

So I am starting a Reduce food wastage challenge  or “Refuse” for short,  and I encourage you to join in.  We can all check back in a week, and see if we managed to reduce the amount of food we waste.  And take a moment to join in on the poll on my sidebar, it’s anonymous, no one is going to know who you are, so make your answers count.

Everywhere you look it’s all about being thrifty, saving money, doing without, reducing our impact on the environment, and cutting back on the amount of food that we throw away.

According to information on the internet, over 40% of food is thrown out daily, being of a frugal mindset, that is staggering. Forty percent daily, how much do you throw out? Be honest with yourself, be truthful.  And please, don’t be sanctimonious about this, I am being as honest as possible, and I expect you to also.  Not all of us have dogs, and chickens, or hogs to feed this food to. There is no way every last crumb is being eaten before it’s spoilt, in any household, anyone who is telling you that, isn’t telling the entire truth.

There are hundreds of blogs out there telling you how to use up that last bit of cereal in the box, or those wasted veggie peels that can be made into soup stock.  But how many of us actually manage to do this? And how much time do they have to spend trying to accomplish this?

I follow the two days, two hour rule on food.  Never keep leftovers for longer then two days without using them up, or freezing them, and never leave food out on the counter for longer then two hours.

Due to my severe allergies, I can’t eat any food that might contain mould spores, and old leftover food might be a culprit. 

Sometimes food gets ignored, forgotten, and just plain, “I can’t face eating left overs any more.”  That last slice of too salty pizza, those few spoonful's of soup that are left over, it’s not a lot of food, it’s just that it is food, and it’s getting thrown out.

So for those of us that don’t have dogs, or chickens to eat the leftovers, what do you do?  How do you feel about having to throw out the food? If you have any ideas or tips on how to use up leftovers leave us a hints?

And if you are a food waster, will you take up the challenge, and try to limit your food wastage for a week?  I am curious and wondering just how I will do.  Let’s talk about it again in a week, say we meet here April the 5th.  I will tell you how I did, and you can tell me.

 

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

 

And just out of curiosity, did you notice that all the photos represent edible plants?

[But always check with a expert before ingesting any wild mushrooms, I don’t know if that one is edible or not.]

Where did YOU put the boat?

 

 

 

We were at the lake the other day watching swans, ducks, and the geese. 

They were a little spooked when we were there, and we were wondering why.

 

 

Looked like a bit of a squabble was going on.

 

 

They were looking everywhere for something.

Now we know. 

They misplaced their boat.

 

 

And they couldn’t find it, so they started to blame each other.

 

 

No one thought to look in the most obvious place.

 

The shore.

 

 

Silly goose!

 

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

Pinterest you are making me fat

 

 

I love to collect recipes, simple, delicious, healthy recipes for food that I might make someday and lovely sugar and fat laden recipes for deserts that I know I will never make, ever…well maybe?   But Pinterest you are causing me problems, your gorgeous photos, and mouth-watering deserts, are making me fat.  After all if I can’t immediately whip up a batch of lemon meringue cupcakes with marzipan frosting at 10:00 at night, I have to have something to make up for it don’t I?  So that half empty bag of stale potato chips is the switch. 

Or at 6:30 in the morning when I come across a photo of waffles, and whipping cream with dew fresh raspberries trickled down the side, swimming in a puddle of raspberry coulis, and I know that I am never going to pull that one off in this lifetime, what do I want to eat? Well it isn’t my boring plain rice cereal, and yogurt that’s for sure.

Here I sit at my computer with a ever growing pile of printed out recipes, beef and barley soup, chipotle glazed chicken with sweet potatoes…quinoa salad with dried blueberries, lime, cilantro, and crème fraiche. 

Some I make, and they are delish, some I just drool over, but still I collect them and each day the pile grows higher. 

Pinterest you are costing me a fortune in printer toner, and paper, quit it! 

No don’t….I haven’t the heart to stop you, keep those recipes coming.

 

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

Scents, and sensibility

 

The cashier hands me my change, I grab my grocery bags, and breathing shallowly, start to navigate the narrow aisle out the door to freedom, and fresh air.  Unfortunately walking in front of me is the woman who is causing me grief unknowingly.  Her perfume is wafting everywhere, my face is burning, and it makes me upset how one person can affect so many without knowing it.

It’s all about scents, and sensibility if you have environmental allergies, and perfume is a big offender.  The cleaning solutions aisle, air fresheners, perfume, they all ignite a problem in those of us with those kind of allergies.  It’s everywhere, and it stinks.

Most people hardly think they would be a problem when they sprayed on that perfume, cologne, or aftershave which is horrific for those of us trapped in a elevator with the over indulgers. 

A few weeks ago a resident of my parents apartment building insisted on spraying the elevator with Febreeze to cover up the strong smell of a 3rd floor smoker.  So bad that for a week I had to take the stairs, instead of the elevator. Eventually they stopped, but the smell still lingers…and it burns my skin.

Going into a public washroom with it’s fake air fresheners can trigger a problem, walking into a heavily scented retail store, candles, potpourri, all culprits.  And the worst, is the woman or man who decides to douse themselves in scent before leaving the house.

Even in the doctors office waiting room there is difficulty, makes me wonder if anyone considers those sitting around them anymore.  Stuck in the room for ages, with all those conflicting aromas is torture, and I have been forced to go outside in many cases in order to weather the storm.

Maybe the next time you are standing in the line up you could forgo the heavy perfumes. My nose, and my allergic body would really thank you.

I love perfume, unfortunately it really bothers me, as does any highly scented, or toxic smell.  But I do appreciate those who use a light hand in applying their scents in public. 

Do you have any problems with other people wearing too much scent?  Or is it just those of us with chemical sensitivities?

 

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

Fresh air frugalista–or what I did yesterday that made me so happy

 

It’s hardly earth shattering, but oh it was so good to do, and it smelled totally wonderfully breath catching freshened with spring scented air.  Yes, I’ve turned into a fresh air frugalista, and started to use that clothesline that the former owners left us.  You can’t beat the cost, FREE a few minutes of fresh air to hang the laundry, and a few hours of watching it gently twirl out there in the backyard and the laundry is air dried and fragrant, ready to be gathered up and inhaled. Makes me wonder why more of us don’t do this, think of the electricity and money we would save.

The weather was more suited to the young, or those who thought to insulate themselves properly when I went out to hang up the laundry.  Nippy, as in nip it in the bud if you thought the disappearing snow would hasten the spring like temperatures.  I have forgotten how cold, wet fingers can get while they hang up clothes fresh from the washer, but it was worth it.  The afternoon was sunny, and delightful, still with underlying cool, but a slight breeze.

You can tell it’s spring that’s coming along, there are kids playing in the driveways, sounds of laughter and skateboards, warbles of birdsong caught on a sunbeam.  Neighbours are stirring from their winter dens, rakes are taken out of hibernation, and hello’s are exchanged.

I haven’t hung up laundry on a line since I was very young….but I have not forgotten how to do it.  Sheets doubled over so they don’t hang on the grass, and always allocate 3 of the new eco friendly bamboo clothespins per sheet.  Socks doubled up, two per pin, shirts hung upside down, pants from the waistband, it’s all coming back to me now.  And skivvies, well nothing would convince me to hang them outside, not for all the fresh air in the world, it’s inside with those babies.

The scent, the glorious fresh air, no chemical in the world can duplicate the smell of line dried laundry scent.  I’ve missed that for so many years, we haven’t had a laundry line for decades. 

It’s spring, it’s sunny, it’s warming up soon.  We’re hoping that all of the snow will disappear from the lawn, and my husband can finish raking those last little snow covered patches it certainly needs a good working over.  We took 38 black plastic bags of yard waste to the dump, during their yard waste recycling period, it was originally a big bump in the backyard, but fir needles and branches will take forever to breakdown, and we have yet to build a proper composter.  Some day soon I hope to have some sort of system that will accommodate our yard waste. 

I’ve planted my hardier bulbs in pots for now, some dahlia, a fern, a peony, two colors of bleeding heart.  Of course I need some containers around the house for color.  They go outside during the sunny days, and perch inside the garage on the potting bench situated in the window on snowy days. 

Happy Sunday.

 Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

It`s done when it catches on fire…right?

 

 

It’s not every day that someone gets to ask her husband this question, “it’s done when it catches on fire …. right?  I couldn’t resist asking if the chicken thighs I was barbequing were supposed to be on fire.  After all they were burning away like little chicken lanterns.

 

 

A few of the things on our list of dreams we had before we moved up here was having a house of our own, a cat, and a BBQ.   We had the cat, we now have the house, and a few days ago we got the BBQ.  We were not allowed to have BBQ’s in our condo down in White Rock, and now I understand why.

Seduced by smoking wafts of delicious scents, and perfectly grilled food cooked for us by friends we figured how hard could it be to cook on a grill, after all if they could do it so could we.

 

 

It’s not that hard, but you do have to pay attention, and maybe the heat was a little too high. How did I determine that?  The smoke billowing across the backyard, and the flames that were trying desperately to escape through the lid.

 

 

I guess that you can’t juggle trying to cook dinner in the kitchen, and a BBQ out on the deck, since my chicken seemed to catch on fire rather quickly.  Good thing I looked up when I did, and guess who’s getting a fire extinguisher?

 

 

Flare up’s are so pretty when the sun is going down, kind of like having your very own mini lanterns, or those fire pits that are all the rage out here.

Regardless of how charbroiled, every blackened morsel of our first BBQ’d chicken was absolutely delicious.

 

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

Why I won’t be planning a garden for my new home

 

 

 

I had great plans when we moved in here in February, they involved raised beds, fences, walkways, a pond, and structures galore.  A cat play area for Bootsie, a herb garden just behind the kitchen door, and trellis to hide us from the neighbours.  There I was out pacing off the garden beds in the snow, and trying to discover what lay under all of that white stuff.

 

 

I couldn’t wait, I had itchy green thumbs, plans were made, books were consulted, images were saved on Pinterest.  I stockpiled bulbs, and seeds, purchasing them during the minus zero weather, and snow storms of the early months of pre spring.  I stalked the roadside peering into bushes for signs of winter releasing it’s grip, and allowing buds to form.

And then one day I looked out into the back yard, and realized that the sun had come around the side of the house, and it was sunny there instead of the shade I had thought we would have all summer.

 

 

That was the day I decided not to plan my garden for our new home…yet.  That was the day I decided to wait for a full year, to see if the sun crept into crevices, turned corners, or if the wind howled through bushes. To see where the smoke from the BBQ winds it’s way down through the patio, because we won’t be sitting there.  To find out if there are wasps, and mosquitoes that would hang out by a pond, and where the perfect place to hear the birds sing is.  To find out where our natural pathways take us through the garden, those shortcuts that everyone would be taking whether or not there was a trail available.

 

 

Here is a list of reasons why I am waiting.

1. It’s overwhelming:

With so many other projects to be done, I just can’t concentrate on planning a worthwhile garden this summer.  We need to paint inside, make some changes, and just get settled.

2. I have a different climate:

Planting up here is completely different then our last home, it’s drier, colder, and hotter.  Xeriscaping gardening is the way to go.  This winter was apparently a very easy one, with little snow, but it is lingering.  What will a harsher winter do to all of my plants?  Where will we pile all of the snow, will it be on the garden beds I might plan out.

3. It’s very expensive:

Soil, gravel, structures, all of these cost money, a lot of money.  We just moved, we need a chance to store up some allocated funds so that the job can be done properly.

4. I only want to make major changes once:

If I take my time to plan and think this through we can always fine tune small details later, but if we make a mistake and place a bed in the wrong place, it’s a lot of work to change it.

5: I need to know where the sun hits, and for how long it stays:

It’s only March, and already the sun is filling the entire back yard, but will it continue all summer?

 

 

So although it might seem that my plans are put on hold indefinitely they are not.  I will still continue to garden, plan, and observe.  I will just take my time, and the wait will be worth it,

 

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

What if spring threw a party, and Snow-one came

 

 

 

Yesterday was the first official morning of spring.  Spring wanted to celebrate, so she threw a party, but snow-one came.  There was over a inch of beautiful fluffy white stuff covering the ground, the skies were dark, and gloomy.  It certainly wasn’t very spring like weather at all, and we were disappointed.

 

 

But that was the morning, and by afternoon the snow was gone, spring was happy, the skies were gloriously bright and sunny. Even when we went for a walk the wind was kind, the birds were chirping, and the skies were bright and blue.

 

 

That spring, she sure knows how to celebrate with style.

 

 

And the best part?  The snow encouraged a entire flock of tiny quail to run around our front yard, and search for food.

 

 

They ran right past my office window, what a change from the newspaper guy walking by.  Talk about adorable, but I didn’t get a photo, maybe next time.

 

 

I have high hopes for spring, what about you?

 

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

Farewell Winter, welcome spring

 

 

This is Allie, next door kitty from where we used to live.

 

Farewell winter, you nasty snow breathing beast, hello gentle spring.  Goodbye harsh winds, and frost covered bare branches. 

 

 

How are you new green grass, soft breezes and sunshine?

 

 

Days of daffodils, fields of crocus and new calves.

 

 

Soft white snow drops shyly peeking under a bush.

 

 

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams