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Save the Frogs Day and Greening Playfully

See the link below; today is Save the Frogs Day.

http://savethefrogs.com/day/index.html

Frogs are near and dear to my heart; my mother and I loved them, read about them, collected figurines of them, embroidered them, you name it. I raised tadpoles in school, and looked for them in various ponds. We had the related animal, small toads, all over in Southern Illinois years ago. Frogs are beautiful, and do a lot of good, and very little harm.

These are beautiful, windy days to play outside. Now is the time to make kites and fly them. I once made a beautiful kite with a Geisha on it; I had just visited the Japanese Community in San Franciso, and was entranced by the beautiful Kimono clad images and lavish wigs. My second grade teacher was scandalized and made me tear it up in front of her. From then on, my kites were generic. Dad and I made hexagon kites, as he did in Europe when he was small. We flew them in the local kite flying competition and one a ribbon here and there, until one year I won in every catagory and took home a small trophy.

These were the days we didn't need expensive toys, a jump rope, some chalk for making a hopscotch board, a handful of jacks, a few holly hocks to make dolls. Tomorrow is May Day, and we were big on weaving baskets out of long grassses or paper, and filling them with violets and ground ivy flowers. Before my allergies got me, I loved dandelions and clover flowers, and golden rod. Often with our mothers' help, we pressed flowers between sheets of wax paper to make book marks, coasters, and book covers.

My friends and I played "Barbies" under the cool shade of the huge oak trees in our yards, but our dishes were often flat leaves and acorn caps. We liked to make dolls out of these and out of cornhusks, too. There were still cornfields around our houses when we were very little, and we used to gather stubble, left over ears, and husks. The whole neighborhood, boys and girls, sat down one afternoon in an impromptu doll making session. We made corn cob dolls with cornsilk hair. We wrapped scraps around them from clothes, and used magic markers to draw faces. We loved making cornhusk dolls, too, and often saved little seeds and rocks to make small gifts.

There were certain dry twigs we collected that had sap in them that turned to natural chewing gum. We also loved to chew mint, which grew wild in some of our yards. We had trees and hills which were nice for games, especially tag and hide and seek. We also played a lot of Pioneer Days and Anne of Green Gables incorporating tree stumps and small groves of trees and bushes for houses and settings.

We had our own restaurants, where we sometimes had real snacks, and homemade popsicles on the menu, but we liked our fantasy parties as well. My mudpie recipe was a hit; I used the requisite dirt and water in equal parts, but added an egg. This was the suggestion of another of my gradeschool teachers, the more light-hearted sister of the aforesaid Geisha hater. This gave the mud dough the consistency of brownies. I used to pour them into large Mississippi clam shells and other shells we picked up on trips, and I would decorate them with violets, marigolds, and other small flowers.

Then, I laid them on display at the foot of the driveway. They were magnificent.

I hope you all have a magnificent day, and encourage your children and your adult friends, to play "green," and put away the Droid phones, and PSPs, and Gameboys, if only for a day.

May Day and Mother Earth

Today is another beautiful day. Days like this that are cool and sunny remind me of how great it was to be little, and to be outside. Living green comes natural to kids. One of our favorite days was Clean Up day, where we spent all day outside raking and picking up litter, pulling weeds, etc. We saw birds and all kinds of exciting insects, and competed with who could make their little corner of the school look best. There was always ice cream in little dixie cups with wooden spoons later on the cool, wooden floor of the Gym.

A lot of those little things, just picking up loose papers, replanting a tree or plant here and their, rescuing a caterpillar, are ways of living Green that don't cramp anyone's style. I'm glad to stay kids still plant things in paper cups at school, and bring them home to nurture and to grow. We are currently caring for a jade plant, and learning about these, and cacti, and various succulents. I love to save the seeds of things and to try to plant them; we've had luck with pumpkins, my favorite plants, and I'm interested to know of anyone else's experience with growing them.

I'm good at rescuing poinsettias after the season; once there was one sitting on the side walk right in front of me. I got it to grow and stay alive for quite some time. Granted, there is a difference between hoarding and saving things, but I'd rather work with what I have and try to save it and keep it rather than waste money and time. I've wondered at the contradiction of our time; we are called The Throw Away Society, yet also accuse people of "hoarding" quite freely. Big Brother must truly live, because what people keep in the privacy of their own homes has now becomet he stuff of reality TV. One used to need a search warrant to conduct these activities, now we just need T-VO. Sorry, if I didn't spell it correctly; I don't have one!

Ah well; to each his/her own. Here are a couple more tips. Found a wonderful Blog out of Lyon on French cooking and culture that I'm following. Go out and smell the roses! Till next time, adieu.

Tips for Living Green:

1. Teach children to respect animals and wildlife. If they have a favorite stuffed animal, like an elephant, have them study elephants and their evolution, their role in literature and culture, where they live. The more familiar we are with something like this, and the more we come to love it, the less likely we are to abuse it or ignore it. Do the same with human culture. Encourage children to learn bout people from around the world by having them read folk tales, literature, listening to music, participating in ethnic crafts, collecting ethnic artifacts. Folk Dolls and foreign dolls are a good way to introduce all children to different cultures. Those with their own collections should learn about them and then go on the road, offering to display and lecture on them.

2. Volunteer when you can at community cleanups, book fairs, botanical centers, museums of all types, libraries, Earth Day celebrations. Teach children not to waste, but to share and to trade where possible. See the onsite community areas for barter.

3. When re-gifting and homemade gifts are good. Teach the spirit of gift giving and holidays; commercialism has been an issue since the first Christmas. Read Christmas and holiday stories and lore to see how such greed and commercialism are combated through the last two millennia. Also, you can see how people celebrated in historical times of economic adversity like War, Depression, and famine. You might be surprised at how happy and meaningful some of these celebrations can be.

4. Weddings; tips for economical weddings. I Had a Civil ceremony and church wedding for under $2500. Tell how.

5. Coupons and sales; some of us have raised using these to an art. I say, use them, but in all things moderation. I like to keep a file for them, or to subscribe to websites of stores I like. Read the fine print, and don't buy it just because you have the coupon. Always think of your use for it, long and short term.

First Blog

For everyone who loves and follows Dr.E's Doll Museum Blog, here is a blog for living green on any income level. I call in "Middle Income" because it is geared at those in the Middle Income range, but there are ideas for everyone. I always welcome suggestions. We are family friendly, and give tips for entertainment and personal enrichment as well. For those who love hobbies, there are tips for "green hobbies" and even for collecting and dolls. After all, what are collectors but master recyclers? Please read below:

1. Yard waste and leaves are good mulch; there are various methods to create mulch with them. If you live by ravines as I do, you can rake them to the edge of the ravine to mulch the flowers and plants there and to help build protection against erosion. There are also many craft ideas for yard clippings and leaves including but not limited to:
a. hot gluing twigs to make trees for doll houses nad miniature scenes
b. natural wreathes
c. ornaments from leaf prints, with a stamp made from leaves or from pencil rubbings made from the leave itself, ornaments from seed pods, or dolls and small items including baskets made from woven leaves and grasses, decorated with seeds and small rocks
d. mud pie recipes and mud pies
e. mud clays
f. Luther Burbank experiments for kids who may want to pot a few wild plants, even weeds, and create a garden to observe what they do when they grow.
g. Starbucks gives away bags of coffee grounds for use by gardeners. Take them! They are really great
h. Natural pest control: I buy dried blood at Wal-Mart or local garden centers; it keeps away squirrels who love to dig and also provides good fertilizer.

2. Eat home; pay attention to leftovers and casseroles. Recipes are cheap over the Internet, and are in all kinds of magazines, including The Radish, which is given away. Look for heirloom recipes your parents had, even grandparents and great grandparents, and practice and be creative. The American Women’s Cook Book, The magazines like Everyday Food, PBS cooking shows, Mr. Food, Martha Stewart, and Julia Child are great sources to look. The Discovery Shop and thrift stores are wonderful places to look for vintage and antique cook books, so are yard sales and antique stores, library book sales, book stores and book store chains, catalogs. Many of these are on sale before they are even out of print, including Edward R. Hamilton Books and Amazon and Alibris.

3 Invest in a good library on how to books and books on going green; don’t over look free government publications and consumer reports. Many books and magazines on these subjects can also be found at library sales, and library cafes, where they cost as little as a dime. You can also recycle your old magazines by bringing back the ones you have read and do not need any more.

4. As a family hobby, review pioneer crafts including soap making and butter making. Try making jam or jelly and using canning jars. If you are lucky and have your mother’s or grandmothers’ glass fridge containers nad storage boxes, check to see if they are lead free and use them.

5. If you have wedding china, are getting married and getting china, just like china, use it. Most may need to be washed by hand, but check time honored manufacturers like Palzgraf and Noritake, Johnson Brothers Stoke on Trent. They are often dishwasher save. Take them out even on non special occasions. You cans save money by rethinking dishes on supermarket stamp premiums; there are beautiful patterns including traditional Haviland and blue willow which will go on sale for one to two dollars per pieced at the end of the promotion. Look at thrift stores and estate sales; check to see newer peaces to see if they are only decorative use or dishwasher/microwave save.


These are just a few tips; more to sprout up soon!