www.freecycle.org

I loves me some free stuff! I was sooo going to make a diaper sprayer out of an old kitchen sprayer and some plumbing fittings, but I figured I would throw it out to the FreeCycle world and see what turned up. Low and behold someone had one they didn't need!! This is the one I ended up getting, and it is sooo awesome, though a hair leakey.

FreeCycle is the ultimate in taking what you have and making what you need. You have treasures in your home that collect dust, and giving them to someone who can use them is a great karma generator so that you can get things like diaper sprayers!! It is giving, not selling, so instead of recieving money for your goods, you recieve good will and a providing universe. Can't get better than that!

Recycle, le crecy, leccery, clerecy, roller skates?

I heart Bowdoinham. We have the greatest recycling program EVER. For a family of five, we fill up an 8gal bag of trash every 3-4 days. Once a week we take out the bathroom trash (a plastic shopping bag), but every week we fill up 2-3 18gal recycling bags plus cardboard, burnable sensitive papers, and of course the bottles and cans that slowly build up. Not too shabby. Despite the wonderful curbside pick up, I neglected to actually bring the bags to the curb for the past few weeks. Just as well, we needed an outing.

I loaded up the family van with about eight bags of paper, plastic, and aluminum in addition to a TON of cardboard. I think there is a secret cardboard breeding program in my basement. We moved about a year and a half ago, are pretty much completely unpacked, yet the cardboard keeps multiplying. Where does it all come from?? Maybe there is an exchange program between the dryer and the cardboard alternate universe: a sock for a box. Sounds like a Seuss book. Back to the packing- it was the kind of cramming that you need to secure the children first, then make no hope for escape by topping them with boxes of boxes and more boxes. Should we have been in an accident, they would have needed the jaws of life just to remove the cardboard.

I think the Recycle Barn likes it when my boys come with me. They are such a treat there. Molly stays put on my back, so she's pretty agreeable wherever she goes. I don't know if it's the delight in helping Mommy, the warehouse atmosphere and fork lifts or the thrill of getting to look through discarded toys in the thrift shop area, but they are always on their best behavior. They helped me carry in bags (some bigger than Royal) and boxes and after their jobs were done I got to hear the delighted squeals of joy after saying, "Thank you, you may go look at toys now!"

What better reward is there to a clever child than getting to find a treasure amongst rubble? Sterling discovered a boat of some sort, but it was Royal that really hit the jackpot. Fisher Price roller skates and a beaten police helmet!! He has had them on since we came home yesterday. He's slept with them, put them on to go across the room, taken them off to play, put them back on to go down the hallway, taken them off for a bath, put them back on to go to the bedroom, taken them off to sleep with them again. He's worn them with clothes, with jammies, barefooted, with slippers, and of course butt naked. (More Suess for you) One child's trash is this child's treasure. If he can fall in love with baking pans, imagine the pure adoration for ready made awesomeness??

Feels good at only 8000 calories, but 0 fat!!

Ahhh, the joys of rice!! My dear neighbor has a horrid back and asked if I could make a ricebag for her- of course!! A little scrap fabric (a pocket hopeful for slings I used to make, but the geometric design made my eyes woogie and was always a hair off) and some rice from the cupboard and you have a whole lotta love for her boo-boo!!

Here's what you can do:

1. Be poor and always have a crack load of rice on hand.


2. The scrap fabric started off as two 12"x20" pieces. You could very likely use an old t-shirt, which would give it some cozy softness, but I happened to have two identical scraps that were lovely to boot.


3. Serge or sew down one long side, across the bottom, and back up the other long side, leaving one short side open.


4. Flip and iron. Turn in the open end now so you don't have to deal with rice and irons. Top stitch the closed short end (because that is how the open end will be secured and I'm a symetrical kind o' gal).


5. Measure the center point (keeping in mind the 1/4" you will lose from top stitching the two ends) and make three even guide lines for top stitching the four sections of rice, pinning them at the edges. I would give you the measurements for the lines, but it depends on the fabric you chose, and if you can't measure even lines then step away from the sewing machine. Filling the sections with rice will distort the fabric enough that getting an even line pinned might be hard if you don't start them off before pouring the rice.


6. Measure roughly 2C rice into the first section, pin on the line, then pin a second line, keeping the rice as far down as you can get it so it won't slip into your sewing line.


7. Repeat for all sections, ending with pinning and top stitching the final opening.

I make little 1/4C ricebags for my kids and (hopefully) craft shows, and I heat up a set of ten for 30sec. in the microwave (before we chose to live microwaveless). For a big one like this, I would think to start it at maybe 2 1/2 minutes?? Or in the oven maybe at 200 for 5 minutes?? I don't want to be burning down your house or making you some risotto in a sack, so use your best judgement, aim low, and work up to a decent time.

If it's broken, it can't really break a whole lot more so you might as well take it apart...

The saga of my wiper blade begins a few months ago when it was feeling a little unmotivated. It would think about making an effort to get up and wipe my windshield, but it wouldn't quite make it. Fretting an electronic problem, I called my trusty mechanic (Stillwell's Auto Repair, 207-729-3453, 25 Fisher Rd, Bowdoinham, ME- they ROCK) and they of course said to come on by. I really need to make them some cookies soon, says she, thinking out loud. As suspected by the gentleman on the phone, he pulls out a socket wrench and tightens the nut attaching the wiper mechanism and voila, it works. No charge.

Now, when the blade is making the lazy effort to perform it's assigned task all I need to do is tighten the nut. Argh, but here's where the plot thickens. It was just loose enough this time so the stinker was misaligned and the passenger side ran into the driver's side and crunched the blade. Why, other that the obvious answer of Murphy's Law, is it always the driver's side that gets fudged?? Do the forces of the universe not know one of the key elements of driving is seeing the road?

So, I got to play mechanic today while my two youngest babies were sleeping. I took off both blades, put the good one on the driver's side, took the whole stinkin' passenger's side mechanism off so I didn't have to drive around with a sock on it, potentially scratching my windshield, and said a prayer that it didn't rain, snow, sleet, or otherwise melt enough to require frequent washing of my windshield.

Dreading spending flipping $30 on a single blade (and then usually another $30 because once you put on a good one, the other one decides to keel over which results in repeating this whole process and duplicating a trip to the store for what you should have gotten two of the first time around) I remembered to take it apart and see how it worked, and Ah-HAH! The blade itself wasn't ripped, only the metal casing. Well, not casing, exactly: there are two metal strips that sort of snap inside of the grooves of the blade holding into the frame. A little brute force and some pliers and I bent it all back into shape and reassembled it!! Now, if this works, I just saved myself moola. If that isn't the best kind of Valentine's Day present, I don't know what is. Save the flowers, honey, give me a refurbished wiper blade.

The lost art of Salespeople

Rant time...

Rarely do I shop for myself. I am currently going through my meager clothing assortment and getting rid of everything I don't love. My goal is to be able to reach into the closet in a half awake state (me, not the closet) and pull out anything and be happy having it on. I'm down to about two pairs of pants and ten or so shirts. Sad, but where do I go that I need the latest and greatest fashion trend? The washer doesn't care, neither do my children.

Anywho, I needed to return some boots at L.L. Bean that my darling mother in law bought for me. They just didn't fit- years of walking around barefoot or in sad floppies have distorted my poor peds to this ghastly width that protests most footwear. Combine that with a solid instep and I'm sure you can see my struggle in the shoe department, hence the floppies. So I return the boots and get a massive store credit that I am required to spend on myself per the instructions of my mother in law. She knows me too well by now and needs to place restrictions on me like that so I don't go buying my children things with my gift money.

The first salesperson I approached (problem #1) of course wanted to talk to Molly, who was sitting happily on my back in a wrap, but spent way too much energy making sure she was secure. Yesh, I'm going to tie on my child so that she is teetering and unsafe while I shop. DUH! When I give a salesperson my situation (i.e. "I returned some boots because my instep was too high and I need to be able to slip them on with one or zero hands because I have three children.") I expect a recommendation because, well, they know what they have better than I do. Nope. (problem #2) I got a wishy-washy nod in the direction of marked down boots. I understand that it's the end of the season and there isn't a whole lot left, but COME ON! Know you stock.

Alas, I went to look at other shoes, thinking perhaps I could get something to replace the shoes that I bought six years ago and have been slowly beating to death. That salesperson was about as helpful as the first. Her pen ran out so she had to get a new one, it took forever to get the shoes I requested, then she just drops them off and runs so when they don't fit she isn't there to replace the size!! (problems #3, 4, 5) ACK! Keep in mind that I mentioned I have three children: #1 is at school, #3 is on my back safely, #2 is being entertained by my husband who thought for sure I would have something by the time he came back to the department. Nope, again.

Enough is enough, people!! You see a harried woman who is CLEAR on what she needs and is all but waving her money in your face, you should hop to it and give me a little service!! I'm going back to the store because I have a credit and I'm buying a COAT this time. I heart L.L. Bean, but I hate, hate, hate when I don't get the service a neglected mother needs.

Cheap Soup For You

I think soups have an inferiority complex. Like being on the appetizer list made them not as grand, so they started throwing all this fancy shmancy stuff in there to beef them up. Pish posh. Soup is a cheap date and there is nothing wrong with that. It's like dissing a B-movie because it had corny special effects. The simplicity and ingenuity to accomplish the finished product is part of the charm.

I like single ingredient soups like carrot and sweet potato. But my heart truly belongs to a picked chicken carcas boiled to perfection with a few choice ingredients. The second coming of last night's dinner: a lovely chicken soup with carrots, onion, shredded cabbage (thanks, Mom, for the tip), a dash of curry, corriander, and SALT. mmm... salt. (author smacks lips and wipes drool)

Nothing beats a good, cheap soup. Forget the fancy ingredients, go for the leftovers, "almost gone bad"s, and enjoy!

Happy Hearts Day...

What does one do with children on a snowy day with school canceled and no money?? You make Valentines that you can't mail out anyway because the weather is so bad you can't go to the Post Office. ;)

I knew I wanted to send out the V cards with Sterling's school pictures (OMGoodness, he could be the LifeTouch poster child) and a homemade touch would be the most economical choice. I was pondering construction paper, but eh. It doesn't have the quality I'm looking for in a card anymore. Fine for purely child-made projects, but not this time. Upon searching the depths of the art cupboard, I found origami paper and it grew from there...

On the inside I wrote, "Our Love For You Grows Everyday," and other variations on that theme. The train of thought for you to enjoy:

• Lets use some origami paper!
• Sterling; "I want to make some snowflakes, too!"
• Me: "Why don't you use this paper (holding up the blue scallop designed paper, only upside down from what you see in the picture) because it looks like water..."
• Sterling: "WHEN SNOWFLAKES MELT YOU GET WATER!!!"
• Sterling: "Actually, when you flip it, it looks like a farm field."
• That's when the plan came together...

Inspired by the paper and my clever child. Royal was just happy to draw on his nakedness and cut our scrap paper. Crafts are still require too much organization for him. One day...

The rules of my blog, a.k.a. "The I Wants"

I want to make things that are useful. I want to not spend money doing so. I want to preserve the original idea behind crafts (in my opinion) which is to take what you have and cleverly turn it into things you need. I want to involve my children and pass on this ingenuity. I want them to see a broken something or other and think of all the things it could be turned into. I want to see an angel food cake pan and think, "Robot!"