Indoor Goals

We have done many things to make a smaller footprint & live healthier. Here is a list of things we still need to work on:

1. Put stove & microwave on power strips.

2. Put bedroom TV on power strip.

3. Eat more raw "living" foods.

4. Buy more bulk foods & eliminate plastic packaging.

5. Learn to sew insulated window quilts.

6. Grow micro greens indoors in the cold months.

7. Change all bathroom lights to compact flourescents.

8. Learn to make soap.

9. Learn to make shaving cream.

10. Cancel the cable & use internet TV like Hulu.com

Things we have already implemented:

1. Most lights have compact flourescents.

2. We recycle everything we possibly can.

3. Use battery alarm clocks in bedroom.

4. No cordless phones or cell phones in the bedroom.(the last two are to eliminate low-level electromagnetic waves)

5. Hang clothes to dry.

6. Shop at thrift stores for clothes.

7. Vegetarian diet.

8. Grow much of our food.

9. Instead of throwing away things we've printed & are done with, use the back side of the paper.

10. Refill ink cartridges. (black seems to work better than the color cartridges)

11. Freecycle to give & receive, Craigslist to buy used items.

12. Put in a low-flow shower head. At the farm we have one that you can turn off the flow while soaping up for even more savings.

13. Unplug the electric toothbrush until it needs charging. It only takes an hour to charge. Why waste electricity having it plugged in all the time.

14. Make our own toothpaste, deodorant, laundry detergent, shampoo.

These are just partial lists. I'm sure I'll think of more later!

Making Toothpaste

A lot of people are out of work or close to it right now. There are some things that you use everyday that can be made for pennies. One of them is toothpaste. No, it doesn't contain fluoride, but that is a great thing! Do a Google search sometime or check out this website about fluoride.
http://preventdisease.com/home/tips79.shtml
The initial cost for the essential oils is high but they last a long time. Always use sea salt & try to find baking soda without aluminum at a health food store. This recipe is for a smaller size jar (see pic). Baby food jars would work great.

Toothpaste

Baking soda base
Sea salt (couple of pinches)
Tea tree oil-20 drops
Peppermint-20 drops
(or other flavor you like better)

Fill jar 1/2 full with baking soda. Add salt & essential oils.
Stir, then add more baking soda & stir again.
Just wet your toothbrush & dip into jar.

We have been using this for years & no cavities. It is all natural & frugal. Think of all the money you will save & your health will be better too.

Crafts & Dogs

Last night I got started knitting a dishcloth. I had to watch YouTube videos & read & re-read instructions but I figured it out. So now I have half a dishcloth & I finished crocheting a scarf out of angora yarn. When I saw angora yarn in the store I had to buy it. You see I am thinking of raising angora rabbits when we move to the farm. Alpaca yarn is great too but Steve says "No alpacas". I guess I'll stick to the smaller breed animals for now. So chickens & rabbits & our cat & maybe a couple dogs. We found a website on skijoring. It's the sport where dogs pull you while on cross country skis. It would be so much fun to do that! So maybe a sled dog like the ones we saw in Alaska a few years ago...This was taken after a sled dog ride in Alyeska.

These are sled dogs at the Iditarod race waiting their turn to get out & race.
They're in a truck made especially for hauling them.

This is a video of Steve driving the sled while I am the passenger filming. As you can see, it didn't last long. The others are the trainer in the red jacket & 2 women in front of us.

Okay...I'll get busy!

Just hanging out today at home. It's still very cold here. Five below temp with windchill factor at 14 below. Good day to be at home. Steve is in Utah where it is warmer than here. It's close to 40 degrees in Salt Lake City. He said people are walking around with short sleeved shirts on. He is skiing Alta today & it is 38 degrees. Blue sky. Spring skiing.
Slept in today which should give me plenty of energy to get some things done I've wanted to do. Sewing has been put off for a while. My daughter gave me some jeans she doesn't wear anymore a while ago, so I will attempt to make the bell bottoms smaller so they match the kind I wear. Hopefully that will work out cause the jeans are like new.
I also need to start planning the garden for this spring. It will be time to start seeds before long. I have already ordered most of what I need but I need to decide where to plant what. I am rotating everything so not to deplete the nutrients in the soil. Corn, especially takes a lot out of the soil. That's why most farmers used to rotate crops (soybeans one year, corn the next). Now with corn prices (can you say ethanol) are so much higher, a lot of farmers are planting corn every year & using more synthetic chemicals (and genetically modified seed) on their soil. It's a shame that our food supply is so altered. GM crops have not gone through the testing needed to find out if they are harmful to humans & animals. I consider us (humans) a huge experiment. All the corn syrup added to processed food is more than likely genetically modified (unless you buy organic). Everything has a form of corn syrup in it. It is cheap to produce. Big agribusiness has lots of money & power. Do you actually think that they have our best interests at heart? Doubt it. We all know how greed can control things. Just look at the economy. Greed got us to where we are now. Okay. Enough of that.Figuring how to knit again is also on my list for this weekend. I bought some yarn yesterday & will watch some You Tube videos to refresh my memory. It's one of those things that disappeared after the accident. My friend Pat taught me how on a ski trip a couple years ago. I love the stuff she makes & picture myself doing all sorts of cute things for future grandchildren. I have a lot of trouble now following directions so hopefully watching a video will help.
Enough typing... need to get busy!

Natural Medicine

In today's mail was a newsletter from my mentor, my teacher Dr. Karyn Mitchell. She is the person who got me interested in eating raw foods & studying to be a naturopathic doctor. Sometimes our paths cross with people who make a profound difference in our lives. I was halfway healthy eater with asthma & allergies. I was shopping at a local health food store & saw a flier on a presentation about eating raw foods. Something clicked. I went back home & started to research raw foods. The library even had a couple books on the subject. I met Karyn a couple days later at the store with a room full of people, some who had already started eating raw & others like me who were curious to hear how it could help us. Karyn & her husband Steve talked to us for a couple hours. Then they juiced carrots. Organic carrots. We all got a cup full. I can tell you that I felt instant energy while drinking it. No kidding. My body really needed the nutrients in that carrot juice.

That was in the spring of 2003. I weaned myself off meat & dairy in a matter of a couple weeks (took a little longer for my husband) and within a month was off of asthma meds I took twice a day. No more allergy meds either. I bought a new bike. I hadn't ridden in years due to the asthma. I rode 1200 miles from June to October. I could breathe again. Why didn't my physician talk to me about changing the way I ate? The more I thought about it the less I respected allopathic doctors. This led me to study natural medicine. Growing herbs, making tinctures, helping people with their diets, that's what I like to do.

Now...go back in time to July 2, 2008. Steve & I were in a car accident. A drunk driver hit us going between 50-60 mph while we were stopped at a toll booth. Very traumatic, very life altering. We are both still being treated for neck injuries. I was treated for post tramatic stress disorder & am doing much better (except for snowy roads, or tollways with lots of traffic). I am still being treated for a brain injury (Executive Function) that keeps me from concentrating, doing more than one thing at a time (I was the Great Multi-tasker), spelling things right & words don't always come to me like they should. My thought process was screwed up. I started to call the grocery store I've shopped at for years the name of a store that has been out of business for a long time. I was calling my husband Steve the name of my ex in conversation. The doctor said those memories from long ago are the strongest. Sometimes (due to seeing Steve unconscious in the car & thinking he was gone) I think he isn't with me anymore. It just comes over me sometimes. Very strong. I think with time that will all get better. (I hope so anyway). Anyway, I have not been able to study anymore. I was supposed to be interning right now. Starting a practice in the spring. Opening a practice in Wisconsin was the plan. A way to make our move & provide for ourselves until the woodworking business got started. Don't get me wrong. I am very thankful we are still here & able to do most things we were used to doing. Things just change. I look forward to the day I can start studying again. If not, something else or someone else will cross my path & change my life again. Then I will be able to think that the accident happened for a reason.

Back to the newsletter...
Here is a recipe for a smoothie.

The Mitchell Organic Smoothie
(for two)

1 Granny Smith apple or 1 pear
3 stalks of celery
1 avocado (add last)
2 small heads of Romaine lettuce (or 1 large)
or 2-3 cups any greens including collards, kale, chard, sprouts
or spinach (avoid if you have kidney challenges)
1 tablespoon raw ginger (avoid if you have high blood pressure)
2 cups purified water
10 bite size carrots or 3 larger cut into pieces

Blend until smooth.

For additional nutrition you can add 2 T each of the following:
ground cinnamon, ground raw flax, sesame seeds, dried Barlean's or Nitro Greens, iodine rich dried dulse, kelp or nori
alfalfa powder & glutamine or carnitine powderThink Spring!

Brrrrr!

I just heard it is 25 below & minus 45 windchill! Wish I was up at the farm all tucked in by the wood stove with nowhere to go. As it is, I'll get ready for work, hope the roads are okay & get on with the day. Steve left this morning for Utah to ski with his brothers so this weekend I will be planning next year's garden, doing some sewing & watching chick flicks.Here is Steve (the oldest) with his brothers Joe & Bill & sister Wendy.

Name the Golf Cart

So we bought this golf cart from our old neighbors.
It's electric & we would love to put solar panels
on top someday. How cool would that be?
We use it to carry stuff all over the farm. It's even been airborne. (Don't ask)
We have yet to come up with a name for it.
It's a girl (okay, how do I know that? I just do).
Our truck is a guy (Earl). He needs a companion.
Please help us think of a name.
Thanks!