Flora Friday

August 4(for) Green Acres Challenge

These monthly challenges are your opportunity to cultivate your own acres. They are designed to challenge your creativity, test your will power, and pull your awareness to the footstep you are leaving behind.

By participating in these challenges and sharing them with others you are spreading the message. Over time, those around us will be making better choices as well. The goal is not to change how you live your life, but rather think about the implications of those choices and tweek them for the best outcome.

AUGUST CHALLENGE: NATURAL INSECT REPELLENT 

Summer is winding down and for most of us our thoughts are starting to turn toward a new school year. But while you start to engage in all the flurry that comes with a new school year, it is more important than ever to think about protecting your body and your home against mosquitoes.

Believe it or not mosquitoes carry the highest amount of the West Nile virus in early fall, increasing the rate of the disease in August and into September.  Are you prepared?  In Texas alone, 71 cases have already been reported out of the 113 total cases in the U.S.  The data is pretty convincing.

On the other hand, protecting yourself with repellents that are full of chemicals could potentially lead to as many cases of illness as well.  DEET (N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide) being the number one chemical perpetrator causing major neurological damage if absorbed into the body.  Without going into the details of the dangers of DEET, here is an excerpt from a 2004 article from Natural News.  

Even the EPA says that DEET should not be frequently used -- in other words, they're saying it's okay to poison yourself just a little bit, but not too much. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than one application of DEET per day for children. Once again, this is a position that says it's okay to poison your children just a little bit. The Duke University Medical Center has concluded through laboratory rat studies that long-term use of DEET kills brain neurons.

So there has to be a balance between protecting yourself and what exactly it is you expose yourself to.  This month's challenge is about finding that balance.  Start with the following tips to limit the amount of mosquitoes around your home, and later this month I'll post a few recipes for natural repellent for your body and your yard. 

1. I know you've heard it a thousand times, but it's true.  Standing water breeds mosquitoes.  Heed this advice and walk around your home with fresh eyes.  Better yet, ask a family member or neighbor to walk with you and spot every place there could be standing water.  Bird baths, low areas that collect water from sprinklers or rain, saucers from potted plants on the porch.  Even cracks in concrete can hold water.  Dry these areas.  

2.  Feeding times are at dawn and dusk, which is when a green minded person is typically watering the garden.  Adjust your schedule or wear longer, cotton clothes.  Make repellents that are natural and avoid heavy perfumes or soaps on your body. 

3.  Arm your yard and yourself with the right scents.  Mosquitoes are driven by scent. An attractive scent, such as perfumes and laundry soaps attract them to you.  Same goes for scented flowers that you may have planted in your yard or garden.  However, many herbs such as rosemary, mint, and especially lavender will repel mosquitoes because they can't stand the smell.  Mix in these herbs in pots on your porch or around your garden beds.  Any place you or your family may be interacting at these times of day.  

4.  Be diligent about what your city or town is doing to protect the citizens.  Dallas for example is spraying neighborhoods at night by driving big trucks down the street with arms on each side spraying chemicals in the air.  There is no doubt the spray is full of DEET.  Educate yourself and be sure you and your pets are indoors when they spray and for several hours afterwards.  

There is still time to enjoy what's left of summer, but do so diligently.  

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Excited about the challenge and want to spread the message? Grab a 4(for) green acres project badge for your blog by using this code to let others know you're growing your own greener acres. I've added the badge to the sidebar as well.






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July Chronicle

I never thought I would say that I'm happy this month is over, but I'm happy this month is over.  It started off in the thoroughs of our second business and the pace never faltered.  Although the list this month isn't exciting, there was always something going on.

• I wasn't home much through the 4th.  Late nights and early mornings, but we had a good year.  I woke on the 5th and cleaned house and then headed to the casino for a little entertainment.
• We planned on hosting a fireworks party, but it got rained out, I'm happy to say.  
• Checked out the lake again and found a few potentials.
• Took my favorite girls to the farm for a picnic and to ride the ranger around.
• I booked our excursions for Alaska.  When first asked what my grandmother would like to do in port her response was bungee jumping...and she was dead serious.  
• Found a new local Thai restaurant.
• Took friends out for dinner and celebrated the purchase of their first home. 
• Had a pool party.
• Spent a lot of time cleaning and preparing for travel this month. 
• Road trip to Nebraska to spend time with parents and my brother. 
• While on said road trip, I tubed with my mom. 
• Took an Alt Summit class.  Very impressed with this resource.
• Had my six month check up at the dentist.  I passed.  No cavities.  
• I did not host a July 4(for) Green Acres challenge this month.  I was just too exhausted to get it pulled together.  
• I did start several projects, but my favorite were making friendship bracelets.
• This sweet girl, who stayed with us at the beginning of month, sent her mom to to stay with us at the end of the month! We had a great visit.
• I started training someone at the office to take over my position.  I'm working on number 12 on this list.
• Movies: People Like Us
• In the garden - I'm doing my best to keep everything from roasting in the sun.  My garden is about finished for the summer, but I'm already thinking about what I'll be planting for the fall.  

Road Trip || Through the Great Plains to Home

{Sign reminiscent of a road trip to Colorado}

Last weekend we drove home.  That is, I mean, to my parents house in Nebraska which will always be home in my heart.  The trip is about 14 hours, give or take.  We decided to road trip it because, let's face it, TSA is a nightmare and who really wants to be seen naked or groped by a stranger?  With a little extra time on our hands we hit the road for the back country and avoided all interstates.  I have a yearning to see the belly of this country before it completely surrenders to Wal-Mart and Dollar General.  

{windmill museum somewhere in Oklahoma}

We started out heading west first and then North.  This took us through the cotton fields of Texas, the oil fields of Oklahoma, the plains of Kansas, and finally the sand hills of Nebraska.  This country is beautiful.  Despite the drought, which we heard about on every stop, the friendliness of the people and the slower way of life makes me question living in the burbs.  There seems to be a secret I'm missing out on here.

{vintage washing machine}

We leisurely meandered through lazy little towns, some vibrant and others on the verge of extinction.  We practiced our one finger wave. We stopped at the old Nocona Boot Factory, antique shops in Oklahoma, and sped on past the multiple CAFO's in Kansas.  I'm sorry to say this Kansans, but the western half of your state stinks.  

With the convenience of technology, we read up on every point of interest on my iPad.  Driving for us is also an education.  I look forward to sharing some of our finds in the next few weeks.

{Wauneta Roller Mills}

After resting our heads in Garden City, Kansas, again smelling like everything but a garden, we finished the trip and started to see familiar points of interest from my childhood as we rolled into Nebraska.

We met my parents for lunch at the stock yards.  Strange place for a cafe, I know, and after being repulsed by the CAFO's already, I opted for a non-beef option.  A side note of plea:  Eat beef that isn't manufactured in a feedlot. 

{Lake McConaughy}

My parents were the reason for our road trip.  Although I've been back to Nebraska on several different occasions, I hadn't been to my hometown or spent time alone with my parents in quite some time.  They recently purchased a 1985 Cheetah boat and we decided to camp at Lake McConaughy on the beach.  Already avid campers, they set up the Montana right in the sand, 10 feet from the water.  The perfect place to rest and catch up.     

The boat is in phenomenal shape.  Almost as if it hasn't been touched.  I almost thought I need to be wearing one of these just to ride in it.

My parents have gotten adventurous with age.  My mom and I ended up tubing!  Yes, my 50 something mother got on a tube, behind the boat.  I have the coolest mom ever.  No doubt her grandchildren will feel the same. 

My parents were not the only family I wanted to see while I was in the area.  I also had plans to visit my brother and my two favorite boys.  It's hard watching his family grow from a distance and I cherish the time I do get to spend with them.

Preston is a fan of John Deere so when I found this bike in April I knew he would love it.  Aunts are supposed to spoil their nephews, right?  This is his first bike and I don't think he's gotten off of it since I gave it to him. 

Tucker boy is walking and talking, and I'm amazed at how much he has grown.  He defiantly loves his daddy, and so do I. 

A farmers job is never ending, and so during our visit we headed out to help my brother do a little irrigating.  Ok I just took a bunch of photos and watched him work, but I think he was still happy I was there. 

{oreo cow}

Unfortunately the trip had to come to an end.  I'd had about all the sand I could handle and work, house chores, and my cats were anxiously awaiting my return.  The drive home didn't go without adventure however. 

{Dodge City, Kansas}

{Turner Falls, Oklahoma}

We stopped in Dodge City, Kansas and Turner Falls, Oklahoma.  Two very interesting places to visit if you ever get the chance.  I want to leave you with a quote cc sent to me the other day.  Although it speaks of international travel, it's relevant to road tripping because I do believe that we are slowly moving away from the heart of our fundamental values.  Convenience and bulk buying have taken over our culture and in a way, has made us forget what a simplistic life looks like.  And by simple, I mean full of value, close to home.  I encourage anyone to get out of the airport, and off the interstate to see what we are founded on.  It may just change your perspective.

I beg young people to travel. If you don’t have a passport, get one. Take a summer, get a backpack and go to Delhi, go to Saigon, go to Bangkok, go to Kenya. Have your mind blown. Eat interesting food. Dig some interesting people. Have an adventure. Be careful. Come back and you’re going to see your country differently, you’re going to see your president differently, no matter who it is. Music, culture, food, water. Your showers will become shorter. You’re going to get a sense of what globalization looks like. It’s not what Tom Friedman writes about; I’m sorry. You’re going to see that global climate change is very real. And that for some people, their day consists of walking 12 miles for four buckets of water. And so there are lessons that you can’t get out of a book that are waiting for you at the other end of that flight. A lot of people—Americans and Europeans—come back and go, Ohhhhh. And the light bulb goes on.

–Henry Rollins