Reducing: The Trash Report

Today is garbage day in my neighborhood.

Normally, that's not something I would post in a blog or any type of social media, except now it's significant because I've reduced my pick up service with the refuse haulers.

So the first Wednesday of every month, I have to remember to bring my can to the roadside for pick up.

Tiny Trash Recap

At the start of 2016, I decided to downsize my garbage, which was already pretty minimal to begin with, by most household standards.

The plan included composting everything that was biodegradable, and recycling everything I can.  The final piece was to get even more discerning about what I buy at the grocery store, which means taking a good hard look at packaging.  Plastic sneaks it's way into all packaging.  There is no escaping it.  Even things packaged in glass jars will have plastic on the lid in some fashion, if not made entirely of the stuff.  And unless you're harvesting your own fruit or getting it locally, chances are your fruit and other produce has a plastic sticker on it.

Enter Tiny Trash as a way to remind me constantly of my resolve to reduce my non biodegradable waste.  Tiny Trash is a plastic yogurt cup which I covered in decorative scrap paper (from end papers when I bind books for Pegana Press).

Thanks to Tiny Trash I have been diligent about reducing my plastic waste.  And that means it happened quicker than I thought it would.  My goal was to not generate more trash than this little cup could hold, and to empty it once a day.  But within the first week, I had cut that expectation in half, and before the first month was out, it would take about 4 days to fill this little container.

This has allowed me to reduce my trash pick up from weekly to just once a month. 

Here is one month's worth of trash in my can when I took it to the roadside.

It still seems kind of silly to have such a small amount picked up and I'm considering other options.  I estimate that with this approach, it could take me 6 months or longer to fill this can.

For now, it doesn't make sense to do away with pick up altogether.  They won't take recycling unless I have a trash can too, and having one, means I put things into it.  

Until I get to the point where I have minimized my possessions down to where I own nothing that could ever break and be discarded, I might need this can.  Until I stop buying things that come in packaging or with labels, I will need this can.  Until I stop receiving any mail at all, I might need my recycling bin.

glass recycle bin (left), trash can (center) w/Tiny Trash on top, mixed recycle bin (right).

I've changed how I think about waste, so I've been able to reduce what comes into and what goes out of my life.  It's glass pick up today too (every 4 weeks), but I only have one oil bottle in my bin, so there's no point.  I reduced glass, by using the bulk bins when I shop, and by giving excess jars to people I know who use them.  The mixed recycling bin usually takes two to three months to fill because it's so big.  Lately, I'm filling it faster because I'm working on getting rid of old papers, and I've replaced certain items I used to buy in plastic packaging with items that come in paper and cardboard.

The cat litter is one example.  I used to buy a brand called Swheat Scoop, a cat litter made from wheat.  until one day they changed from a paper bag packaging to plastic packaging.  They insisted that it was for the benefit of their customers, when I asked them.  I thought that was pretty funny.

So anyway, I changed brands, and now I use a brand called Ökocat that comes in a cardboard box  and is produced locally at a factory in my state.  I have it shipped directly to my house.  They have several types and I use the kind made from just wood, without anything added.  It works amazing! No smelly cat box at all, plus it clumps, and I can put it in the compost.  I tried the paper version at first, but it made Zöe and I cough, so I wrote to the company and asked about additives.  The woman that replied said that they did add something that was approved by the FDA.  OH, right.  That's the agency that has approved so many chemical food additives and pharmaceuticals that have proven to be unsafe and were later removed from the market.   I replied that I didn't have a lot of confidence in the FDA, and that I would use a different version of their product.

Anyway, the cardboard boxes can be recycled except for a little plastic strap handle fixed to the top of the box.  Not a perfect solution, but far better than a jumbo sized plastic bag.  Eventually, I'll probably come up with a sawdust version of my own, but for now this is working.

Happy Leap Year

The Peepers Are Growing Up

I went out to feed the Peepers this afternoon and they clucked at me!

Yessir, the Peepers are growing up.  They've stopped talking baby talk and are using full sentences now.  And at 13 weeks they are almost as big as their mom Ruby.

It's going to be hard to stop calling them The Peepers.  That means they will have to tell me their names, finally.  And since 4 out of 5 of them look too much alike to tell them apart at this stage, it won't be easy to know who's who!  Only Sparky stands out.

Singing to the Land

The wind comes up as the sky darkens.

I can see the moon oriented behind me, over my right shoulder and it hovers over my roof as I sit on my back porch and sing songs to the land.

"...Home, be the temple of my heart.  Home, be the body of my love.  Just like Holy Water to my lips..."

I am bundled in layer upon layer of wool against the icy breeze.  It feels like a tonic to my face, which remains exposed.

I see lights in the sky.  An airplane silently races by, flying low on the horizon far in the distance.

The wind rustles the bare cascading branches of willow and birch and the rhododendron next to me.

"...Coming to the earth.  Singing to the stars.  Change we must to live again.  Coming to the earth to the moon.  Coming to the sky to the earth.  Change we must to live again..."

Esmerelda joins me on my lap and looks out at the world from the folds of my cloak.  She purrs her song.

"...We will witness a song, we will sing.  We belong to the world.  Our Mother so divine.  We live again.  This is here, this is now, this is love that surrounds.  Change we must, change we must to live again..."

A night bird flies past.

"...Take the water to the mountain.  Cross the great divide of love.  Give to nature all you can be.  Let the Mother know your heart.  Take the water to the mountain.  Let's become alive again.  Holy water, Holy mountain.  Holy river.  Holy tree."

The chimes ring in the night, as a flurry of wind stirs them.

I do this almost every night now.  There is no greater medicine right now for me than this.

Peace.





Song lyrics by Jon Anderson

Sunshine and More Sunshine

It's a beautiful day in the South Puget Sound neck of the woods today.  Zöe and Esmerelda are both outside enjoying the sun, and I'm glad to have them with their paws in contact with the earth after such a long time indoors.  Zöe really hasn't been outdoors much since she was mysteriously attacked and not at all since the Peepers hatched out.

Esmerelda has spent the winter inside as well.  She's been suffering from a sensitivity which has had her chewing all of her fur off.  But now it is growing back and it's a relief to let her outdoors.

Buddy simply won't go there right now.  If he can see chickens through the fence, he wants nothing to do with the yard.

I'm planning on moving the flock soon, so the cats can have their whole yard back again.  I have plenty of space to make this happen, I just need more fencing.  And I need to make that happen.

Right now I've just finished prepping some more books to be bound.  I'll be working on the case bindings this after noon.  Hopefully they'll be ready to bind in tomorrow.  And then I can let them sit for a couple of weeks.

I'd love to get time to do some writing or even to just finish my zines.  I'm going to focus on making that happen too.  Also I'm eager to finish my painting.  The next step will be to add some more detail.  I'm hoping to get it finished off this month.  I have way too many things going on at the same time, and if I can get them off the to do list, I'll be much happier.

Esmerelda had a session with BodyTalk-er Sid Snider last week.  I wasn't finding time to do a session myself, and I didn't want to wait any longer.  Besides, sometimes it's better to have someone else work on family members.  It was such a relief, and Esmerelda is getting better and better.  She is back to being her ol' naughty self again.

All of my cat friends are different.  Buddy is very much like a dog in a cat suit.  Zöe is like an ancient spiritual master, and Esmerelda is fun, Fun, FUN.  She is never having more fun than when she is getting into something she knows I don't want her to be into.  If I open up a drawer or a closet and try to slip something in without any interference, she has the ability to wake from a sound sleep at the other end of the house, and be inside before I can close said drawer, closet or cupboard.  But if I invite her into one of those spaces, she wants no part of it.  What's the fun in being somewhere you're supposed to be.  This also applies to the kitchen.

If there is any food left out, she'll find it.  She will attack anything that has come into contact with food.  I've seen the remnants of her handy work--plates licked so clean they look like they've been washed, baked potatoes with only the paper thin layer of skin left.  I've seen her yank the carcass of a chicken breast out of a stock pot when it was just off the boil, and send it sailing through the air to land on the floor below.  Turn your back for a second and she seizes her opportunity.

She is pure alley cat dressed in haute coture.  Then when she lost her beautiful coat, I felt so bad for her, because I knew she had to be pretty miserable to chew most of her long fur down to the skin.

After her session, she started to get better, really fast.  I could feel her skin re-hydrating under my fingertips during the session, and her fur began to grow back right away as her skin began healing.  She was feeling so good, she of course had to start getting into things.  So a couple of days later, I found a half stick of butter on the floor, half eaten.  Of course, I knew who the culprit was.  And so I had an uneasy couple of days while that went through her system and it wasn't pretty.

But now she's back to normal.  And I kicked her out doors.  She's curled up right now on my wool cloak, in a chair on the back porch in the sunshine.

My kitchen has to remain spotless.  It's the only way to notice, if any food has been accidentally left out.  Or any plates with any sauce or food bits which might play havoc with her digestion.  I have a lock down can in my kitchen for compost, and am constantly policing the vicinity for anything that she might get into.

Literally, the other day, I was preparing some vanilla butter cream icing, and turned around to get a utensil, and turned back to find her head in the bowl.  I swear sometimes I think she'll give me a stroke.  It would be funny, if sugar wasn't toxic to cats.  But I tell you, she seems to get the biggest kick in the world out of trying to outwit me, and beat me to the draw.

So now for the flock...The Peepers are getting huge, They are about 12 weeks old, and everything has changed for the flock now.  Rocky has gotten more mellow.  He seems really proud and happy to have more chickens to protect.  Fannie who has been my non layer, has taken a real interest in them and acts like they're her offspring, which has taken some pressure off of Ruby, and allowed her a smoother transition back into the flock.  I can't wait until the Peepers are old enough to lay eggs.  It looks like we only have one cockerel in the batch, and so far that's working out with Rocky.  The cockerel is the only one of the Peepers that has a name so far.  Mike named him Sparky.

And now, some lunch and back to work.


Oh and by the way...
This is what butter looks like when it's been rolled around on the floor and chewed by a cat...Oh well, into the compost.

I'm just surprised she didn't eat it all.  I guess since there was no one to disapprove, she lost interest.

Painting Update

I did a little more work on the painting I started in December.

Here's a link to my on line painting journal.  In Blessed Mother's House

And here is a photo comparison of the work I did on December 12th, and the work I did on Wednesday February 3rd.

Wednesday was glazing day.  hee hee.

comparison before glazing on the left, and after glazing on the right.

I also learned how to get paint off of car upholstery.

I used rubbing alcohol and it came right out, even 24 hours later.

;^) 






Now after glazing, she appears much more to be La Morena.

#gettingcloser

Spring!!

The land and sky are most certainly exhibiting signs of Spring.  As a Gemini, heavily influenced by mutable, Mercurial energies, I relate to the variety that Spring has to offer not only in her moods, but in her wardrobe.  She is constantly evolving as she transitions with Nature from Winter to Summer.

You cannot pin her down.  What she offers today, will be completely different tomorrow.  The subtleties in light and temperature.  The constantly changing weather patterns.  The migration of animals.  The appearance of plants as they reawaken, stretching themselves and peering out from under the blanket of their soil beds.

Tonight in honor of burgeoning Spring, I took myself outside and sat on my back porch to watch the sky darken.

If that seems like a strange way to honor Spring, let me just explain what I mean.

My mornings always start with a whoop and a holler.  No matter how sane I want my mornings to be, fate steps in ("steps in what?" you ask...don't get me started...)

Like this morning, for instance, I poured myself the first cup of coffee for the day.  I only wanted 5 or 10 little minutes to wake up, slowly and in my own time.  I no sooner sat down when the peaceful stillness was broken by a resounding crash from the other end of the house.   

I no longer dash to see what latest drama is unfolding...why bother?  What does it change?  I ambled down the hall, and through the house, where upon reaching the room we use for a studio, I discovered the antique glass lamp shattered on the floor, with countless shards of glass spread over the carpet. 

Forty five minutes later, I was just putting the vacuum away, when I realized that the sun was well up, and I was late letting the chickens out.  The later it gets, the higher the risk of facing a very cranky rooster.  So I hustled to feed and water them, and let them out of the hen house...

Every morning is some variation on this same theme.  I can't seem to find a moment to watch the sun rise.  Chaos intervenes every time.

But at the end of the day, as the world turns away from the sun, and the light begins to fade from the sky, I can take a moment to watch that happen.  I can empty my mind of trivial thought and watch the show that Nature is putting on right before my eyes.

So this evening, I began that ritual. It is my nod to Spring.  I took my coffee outside in the evening rather than in the morning, well bundled up of course.

Here is my watching the light fade from the sky ensemble...vintage red plaid wool coat (Thank you Aunt Charlotte.  That coat is very precious), and a brown slouch felt hat given to me by my mother-in-law years ago and my favorite wool finger-less gloves made with love by my dear friend Rebbeckah.

And I watched the sky change and listened to the geese in the distance.  That time of the evening seemed just right to connect with Spring.  I don't even remember hearing any traffic noises.