Category: Recycle, Reuse

Examples of recycling or reusing items

Christmas Decorating What’s Old Is New Again

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I got up today just like any other day. Cleaned a litter box for the cat-room fixed a cup of coffee and sat down to check emails and other such things I do first thing every morning. I had been working on some Christmas decorations, taking old stuff and reworking it to make it look new or better this year. I have collected Christmas memorabilia over thirty years so I have plenty to work with. I started donating a lot of it a few years ago. So now I have hodge podge of different items to work with.

We are not putting up a tree this year since our kids are grown and will not be home for Christmas. We invited our neighbors for Thanksgiving after they offered to give us a turkey and said their kids and grandkids cannot be there for the holidays. We cooked the turkey and side dishes and they brought a desert. They enjoyed it so much they asked us to join them for Christmas.  They said they will cook the meal and we can bring desert this time. Much better than being alone for both us and them. 

Without having a tree this year, I decided I still wanted to at least have an advent wreath and started with that. The base is still like new, but the trimmings were all shot. We had fresh greenery on it last time and that of course had to be thrown away. I had to order new candles and they are not here yet, but I found a decorative gold plate that I had picked up a few years a go at a thrift shop and had not used yet. It was made to hold candles, not for food, so I set the candle base on it. I also found a mini nativity and used in the center along with a couple angels from the tree ornaments. I did not want to add any greenery until I added the advent candles, so I cleaned the space I planned to set it up.

Once I got a small bookcase cleaned off, I had a perfect place for it. I added a cloth placemat in Christmas colors with poinsettias on it and placed the advent wreath on it. Then I found a Santa kneeling over Baby Jesus praying and added it on one side, next I found a Christmas candle and small plate holder for the other side.  It looked good enough to me that I decided the Advent wreath did not need any more décor.

Now for the rest of our living room. First, I have a wreath made from a harp, that I picked up in a thrift shop and had used the past few years. The ribbon, greenery and bow were fading quite a bit, so I took them off and looked for things to redo the harp. A large bow that still looks new added to the top in the same colors as the harp. Then some bells and French horn ornaments hung from the center of the bow, so it had a musical theme. I am happy with that, so I hung it on the front door.

 Another child’s wreath I found again at a thrift shop but had not used yet, I worked on adding ornaments to replace what was missing when I got it. I have worked on it and it looks okay, so I hung it on the kid’s old bedroom door. I am not sure what else I might want to do with it, so I decided to sleep on it and work on it more today.  So back to when I got up today.

After I sat down with my coffee and checked emails etc. I decided to check on a crafter’s group I recently joined to see if I could get some ideas of what else I might try on the kid wreath. It is basically a train track with a small train on the track. There were a few tiny, scattered decorations like a snowman and some gift packages.  I added some bells at the top and a couple ornaments with my kid’s pictures from when they were little. 

Looking for other wreaths that might be child oriented, I came across one that was white and had bright red cardinals on it. It was very pretty, and I immediately thought about how cardinals at Christmas time had always brought back images of my Grandfather. He loved cardinals and always had bird feeders for them in winter. Such a pleasant memory for this time of year. I might look for some odds and ends to do one similar next year.

After looking at other wreaths for inspiration I dug through more of the old stuff and rearrange it on the wreath until I was happy with it and went to find my glue gun. My son had borrowed it and he said it quit working the last time he used it. I decided to work on some other decorations and before I knew it my son came in with a new glue gun, bigger and better than the one I had before. It was time to finish that last wreath and get it hung up. I love it and sent a picture to my oldest son who will not be home for Christmas. He really liked.

I will probably keep this wreath the way it is and maybe he will end up with it someday when he has kids. Any way the Christmas decorating is done for this year other than adding the candles to my Advent wreath. Unfortunately, the Advent candles I ordered did not come on time due to the pandemic. The post office is so short handed with workers being sick or quarantined. Christmas will come on time regardless of this year’s pandemic. It will be a little different this year, but we will make the most of it Just like Mary and Joseph made the most of it that first Christmas so long ago. I hope you are able to do the same.

Merry Christmas to all…

From our house to yours.

Windowsill Herb Gardening For Winter Time Cold Weather

What is your favorite herb?

Now that cold weather has settled in and outside gardening is done, I am starting on gardening inside. I grow herbs as well as vegetable, fruits and flowers. Mint is my most prolific herb. The largest crop is peppermint, but I also have chocolate mint. The chocolate mint is my nephews favorite as well as a friends grand daughter. I generally dry quite a bit of both to use in winter for tea. My sons always loved the taste and it seemed to settle their stomachs during flu season. This year I am also using mint in my windowsill garden, just because I like to use fresh mint occasionally in a drink or as a garnish.

Peppermint starts with one Chocolate mint start.

I also love to grow creeping rosemary and use it in cooking. It is a great ground cover in between other herbs, except it dies off every winter. I usually dry what is left when it dies out, this year I have decided to try transplanting it for indoors, adding it to another windowsill garden. I have not tried growing it inside before, but if it does not live long I can still dry it and add it to my herb bottles.

Creeping Rosemary with a little Peppermint plant on the side,

Today I managed to transplant several starts in between other things that needed done. I will do a few more over the next week or two. I have a box full of tea or coffee cups that my yongest son and I picked up at secondhand bargain shop a few years ago. I plant starts in them every year. Sometimes I give them as gifts to beginning gardeners. Maybe the peppermint will be Christmas presents this year. It does seem to be the flavor for the season.

Walking onions are another herb I have never tried indoors, so that might be another one of my next experiments. The stems are much like chives and can be used in place of chives until they begin sprouting little onion bulbs on top. They then fall over and plant themselves for the following year. I do have enough to try one inside so I can eat it on a baked potato now and then.

Do any of you have a favorite herb that you grow or might like to start growing? If so please mention it in the comments.

How to Stuff a Scarecrow to Last Through Rain & Snow

All Weather Scarecrow

I my early days of doing scarecrows, I stuffed them with straw. Where we live it rains several days in October. Occasionally it snows at least once by the end of the month. My scarecrows were smelly and starting to rot by the first of November. Often the clothes were not worth keeping more than a year or two. Last year I decided to try something different.

I was cleaning out my craft stuff and deciding what I want to use for that season. I have always crocheted and knitted a lot. Several years ago, I discovered that I could crochet with plastic grocery bags. I made a play rug for my youngest son for him to use with his cars and monster trucks. It looked like parking lots or tracks and he loved it. I also made beach bags and reusable grocery totes. I have always been big on recycling. I had saved a great deal of bags and my arthritis in my hands was making it hard to crochet the plastic. So, I was trying to decide how much I might use soon and if I should store the rest in my shed.

Suddenly I remembered stuffing an outside cushion with it so I could leave it out on rainy days. I dawned on me that it should work with my scarecrow. I started with a pair of jeans my son had outgrown. He had a growth spurt, suddenly taller than me. I put some big rubber bands on the ankles so the bags would not fall out and stuffed legs full and then the top part. I arranged the legs where I want hi to sit and got some old boots to stuff the ankles into, hiding the rubber banded area.

Next, I started the second step. I placed a large flannel shirt where I wanted it to sit on the pants and stuffed the body up to the sleeves, so it was full enough to sit up. I stuffed half of the sleeves from inside the neck then finished filling up the body enough that the neck hole stayed open. Finally, I stuffed the sleeves the rest of the way from the wrist opening so it was easy to place the arms the way I wanted them, bending a little at the elbow. I took a pair of work gloves and stuffed on bag in each. I buttoned the sleeve openings so the bags would not come out too easily and pull the gloves up over the wrists.

Final touch was to place a pumpkin on the neck opening, I used and old decorative pumpkin that we revived a few years before by painting it silver with splatters of black. Arrange his arms and legs however you want them and add a hat. I used and old gardening hat that was easiest to find this year, but I will probably hunt threw all the old stuff from years of drama club and see if I can find a straw hat. The best thing about this scarecrow is nothing purchased, just old stuff I would have been donating soon and it held up so well in the rain and a light snow, that I was able to re-use everything this year.

If you have any tips you have uses to create your own scarecrow, please share in the comments below and also share a picture if you have one.

More October Fun Memories

A new “Square Crow”

My youngest son was born a few days before Halloween. He loved costumes and we often bought him a costume that could double as pajamas in his youngest years. Knowing he would outgrow his costume we decided to let him get more use out of it and continue wearing it at bedtime until he outgrew it. If it was still wearable after that we added it to a tub of old costumes and decorations.

As he got older, he began creating his own costumes. We would go to rummage sales and thrift shops all summer long, picking up something her and another there. Usually by September we started putting things together. Sometimes a little paint, maybe some hot glue and a little sewing here and there. Eventually it turned into the costume he pictured in his head.

Then we would start on decorating the front of the house for Trick or Treaters. We did that the same way we did the costumes. Getting out the tub of last year’s things and combining our new rummage and thrift store finds we would start putting everything together. Something new and a little different each year.

Last year he turned 18 and he didn’t need any help with a costume. He pretty much had what he needed and did his own thing. I got out the old tub of stuff and a lot of things were not in good enough shape to use. So, I cleaned it out and was looking over what was left. My niece had posted a picture of her and her brother with that first “Square Crow” and I decided to make a new one.

We had several pair of outgrown jeans, that I was getting ready to donate, so I picked a pair I thought looked good for this project. I had a lot of plastic bags which I save and usually crochet into things like beach bags. I began stuffing the legs and then added a flannel shirt. Instead of a real pumpkin I had an artificial one. It had been getting shabby, so I had painted it the previous year. Added some gardeners gloves the same as the original. Then used an old pair of boots for the feet. I didn’t get a picture of the boots, but you get the general idea. By day it was just a friendly fall decoration, but at night it had a spooky twist.

Please feel free to add any of your favorite October fun memories in the comment section.

Christine

My Old Rocker

Love this old Cracker Barrel rocking chair. Cracker Barrel was a special place for my sons. The year they were baptized, a couple of our church friends took us to eat at Cracker Barrel. It was the first time for the boys to eat there, and they were hooked. One of their favorite things besides how much they love the food, is the old-fashioned rockers and checker games outside on the porch. Both boys would play checkers while waiting for our table. After that they insisted on my husband taking us every year on Mother’s Day. A few years later, we switched to my birthday which is a month earlier. Mother’s Day was getting to be too crowded. The last time my son, Charles was home on leave, he took us there. It brought back pleasant memories for all of us.

A couple years before Young Charles left for boot camp, I was browsing through my favorite used furniture store. I found an old white Cracker Barrel rocking chair and I could not resist getting it. I had been wanting a wooden rocker for some time and this one was perfect. My boys and everyone of my cats love that old rocker.

Late at night after everyone else was in bed, I would turn off the all the lights and one of my boys ended up in it, telling me all about whatever is on their mind. Something about rocking in the dark is good for the soul.  When it was not one of my boys, it was my cat. Yes, my cat has learned how to make the chair rock. Now that Charles is gone, he left his cat with me until he can have a home of his own. She has taken his place on the rocker late at night and shown our newest kitten how great the old rocker is and how to make it rock.

A Work in Progress

Our Back Yard

The Early Years

Our back yard is a work in progress, ever changing to meet our needs at the time. When our youngest son was born, we had a chain link fence put in around the immediate part of the backyard. That was 22 years ago. We wanted a safe place for him to play. The sidewalk from what was then the back door, to the shed at the back of the yard, divided the yard in half. We divided each side in half and eventually had crumb rubber put in two areas. The first area was a section at the back by the shed. We had bought a large swing set for his first birthday and set it up there. Knowing boys, we knew he would need to have a soft landing. The other was just off what was soon to be the porch so if he fell running out the door, he would have a soft landing there too. The crumb rubber was made from old tires that were put through a giant shredder. We got the crumb rubber from a company in town where my husband worked for a year or two.

The old porch built when our boys were toddlers

Our next change was to put patio doors in where the windows facing the back yard were. Once the doors were put in, we had to build a porch. Since we were doing a lot of remodeling, we built it smaller that we would have liked to and intended to add to it someday after we were done with the rest of the house. By that time, we had our second boy and foster children off and on for a few years. The back doors made it so much easier to take the kids outside to play. We ended up changing what had been the door on the side of the house, to a window. For a long time, we used the old steps where the door had been, as a catchall for supplies we were using for whatever project we were working on at the time. Now I am slowly but surely turning them into a rock garden. That will be a future story.

Resent Years

Patio Begins 2019

We had found some used pavers the previous year to use on the area just off our back porch. In searching for more pavers to cover a little more of that area, we found a large quantity of a different type of paver and decided to purchase them for creating a patio in another area. So, we delayed finishing the porch area and, as you will see, it is a good thing we did, since we had to tear out the porch and build a little bit larger one, leaving some extra pavers for that area.

Clean up begins

My husband enlisted the help of one of my older son’s friends. It was a lot of hard work, but they got the pavers laid by the end of summer. Several bricks from a former project had to be removed in order to  get this patio done and with the back porch rotting out we had to delay the clean up and getting the yard in order so we could get some usable up in place of the rotted porch before winter. Late this summer we finally got the clean-up done. My neighbors new how hard we were working on this area, but they had not seen it yet. They were also making some changes in their back yard to make it more friendly for their young grandchildren. They donated their adult size swing so they could replace it with one for the kids.

I went in to get my husband to come take a look at it and a porch glider they were getting rid of. He helped them bring the glider over and got it on the porch. It will need a little work refurbishing, but it is perfectly usable for now, so maybe by next we will get that done. We next brought the swing over and set it up on our patio. I added cushions they also donated, and I love it. It is very comfy and perfect for our back yard. I am very happy with the progress.

As of September 11, 2020 – Note our friendly little squirrel on the fence

Finishing the Back Porch

2020 Rebuild

Last year our back porch started rotting through and we had to tear it out. We got it started and put down something temporary so our dogs could get in and out without problems during the winter months. My youngest son helped his dad get the frame finished and put it in place. It was too heavy for me to help.

This spring we were able to get it almost finished with the help of our friend Robert Alford. I was amazed at how fast the two of them got it finished. We bought the railings used, from someone on an online sales group, to use on our front porch. Since there was enough left, we decided to add it to the back so the match. We try to use recycled materials as much as possible. We are planning on wrapping the railings around the front, just up to the step this fall. We weren’t sure if wanted to do that at first. After using as is all summer, we both think it would be helpful for those days we overdo it, to have the railing to pull our tired bodies up the stairs.

Memories of The Farm

Obadiah and Gracie Purple

The Grands

In a previous post I spoke of how many generations in my memory have passed on their love of nature.  My Grandmother Grace was the daughter of my great grands that owned the greenhouse. By the time I was born they were farmers. In our yearly trips to visit Indiana, where most of our relatives lived, we would stay on the farm with them. I was very young then and do not remember everything, but the memories of the love of nature and how to take care of the land and the animals was imprinted on me. My uncle and his kids lived across the street from my grandparents. Uncle was a hard worker and helped Grandpa with the farm work. He was quite a character. He had a nickname for everyone and joked around and laughed a lot. If you crossed him it was another thing, he could be profoundly serious, but I remember the joking fun side of him. Grandmas name was Grace Violet. I think all her siblings had a flower name for first or middle name as her parents had the green house and loved flowers. My uncles nickname for her was Gracie Purple.

I think the nickname game started with my Grandfather. He had a nickname for the first daughter of his three children. I have no idea how or why he chose our nicknames and they did not sound at all like our real names. Mine was Penelope. My older cousin was Deke and my younger cousin was Phoebe. I do not remember Grandpa calling me by my real name, but I did not care. I kind of liked my nickname and it made me feel special. For some reason I called him Obadiah. I was so young when I chose that name for him, that I have no idea why, but I called him that until he died and still do.

The Farmer’s Wife

Grace on the right with Dad’s mother

Grandpa and Uncle planted and acre of the farm in a garden for Grandma to put up food for the winter. Most of my memories of her are in the kitchen cooking the next meal and cleaning whatever food from the garden that would be canned or frozen that day. Grandpa went to work at a factory during the day and did farm work when he got home, grandma always had a big meal prepared for him when he got home. While he was gone, she might be cleaning a bushel of corn on the cob and preparing it for the freezer. Sometimes it was green beans to be canned or cucumbers being turned into pickles. In the middle of all that she also baked pies and cobblers from scratch. Mince meat pie for Thanksgiving if we happened to visit that time of year was not my favorite but her berry cobblers were the best I have ever tasted. I asked one time if she would give me the recipe, but she said she did not have a recipe. She just made it.  Grandma often shooed us all out of the kitchen while she cooked. I vaguely remember a table where I would sit and draw pictures and watch her so I could see how she did things. If I were quiet and did not get in her way, she would let me sit there.  She even gave me one of her knick-knacks to try and draw. Grandma saved all the scraps from the garden and dinner when she was done for the evening. Nothing ever went to waste. They raised hogs, so all that went out to slop the hogs as she called it. Her days were long and busy on the farm.

The Farmer’s Strength Yet Gentle Nature

Obadiah

Grandpa had an office where he went to work on stuff. I don’ know much about that but I think it was mostly paperwork for the farm and doing taxes. The one thing I do remember is how he had papered the walls. Every wall was papered with newspaper articles. I do not remember what the articles were about, but I do remember thinking it was fascinating I enjoyed looking at the articles. We were not allowed in there unless Grandpa invited us, so I did not see it often. I also remember him taking me with him to do the evening chores after dinner. He had a dog named Mickey and his dog went with him anytime he was outside. Grandpa showed me the moon and said there was a circle around the moon and that meant it was going to rain. He showed me lots of things, but I always remember the moon and I think of him anytime I am outside at night and look up at the sky checking what the moon might be saying that night. We went back to bring the cows back from grazing in the fields to the barn for the night. I did not know much about cows before spending time with Grandpa. All I knew was that cows made milk and hamburger. Grandpa would call his cows by name and Mickey would help steer them toward the barn. To me they seemed more like a pet than a food source. They would come to him when he called their name and he would pet them like a big old dog. It was so obvious that Grandpa loved his animals.

What I learned from this second generation of nature lover ancestors is that if you take care of the land and the animals, they take care of you. I have tried my best to take the lessons from the Great Grands and the Grands and apply them to my life wherever possible.

Our Front Porch Project

Before

In our efforts to go a little bit greener we have tried to reuse as many materials as we can find and blend that with new for the rest. One of these projects was our front porch. We bought an older fixer upper home and the front porch was more of a front step, and the wood was beginning to fall apart making it unsafe. We tore it out and began with the new materials. This was a three-year process, as we were also working on other projects needing done.

First year

The first year my sons helped to build the larger porch area with a small step in front and on the side. My oldest was taking a carpentry class at the local career center as part of his high school class and wanted to try his hand at this project. So, my husband showed him the plan and let him do much of the work, with my youngest helping to get tools out in the morning and putting them up at the end of the day. This ended up as a nice usable porch as it was, so we stopped there and finished up our yard work, gardening and preparing for winter.

Buy sell site find

Year two I found a small wooden porch for sale on one of the local buy sell sites. It was the perfect size to add to the front of our porch replacing the temporary small step we had made the previous year. My oldest son went and picked it up and helped me put it in place.  My husband was dealing with cancer during these years and my son was graduating high school and preparing for entering the military, so we did not get any more done that year, but still it was much nicer than the original we had started with.

The third year my oldest son was gone to follow his calling, serving in the military and getting further education in his chosen field. Thankfully, my husband was done with cancer treatments and on the road to recovery. So, we found some weathered porch railings, again on one of the local buy sell groups and added them to the porch. My youngest son was now old enough to be a big help with this. We had thought about staining or painting the porch, but other projects needed finished. I love my front porch the way it is, being able to sit outside enjoying nicer days. Chatting with my neighbors who also love porch sitting makes staying at home during this pandemic much more pleasant.

Gardening & Recycling 2020

Here is my latest example of gardening and recycling. I walked around my yard this spring finding things that were hidden behind Lilacs and Trumpet Vines and other such things, that more than doubled since they were first planted. All these plants were starts from other plants I already had growing in other areas. At the very bottom of the picture you will see Chocolate Mint. I can’t really remember how long ago I planted it. We have lived here about 29 years and I generally plant one or two new things each year. Mostly I just get starts from old plants Or friends and neighbors sharing starts, only buying one or two new plants and maybe a few for my vegetable garden.

The Chocolate Mint could be a blog in itself. My boys were young when I started growing it. They were fascinated with the idea of playing outside and just picking a leaf or two off of it to chew on for a bit. Freshening their breath and tasting enough like the candy that Dad let them have a bite of once in awhile. I was fascinated with the idea that two little boys could be happy with something natural with no sugar. I had enough to harvest the second year and would dry it to make tea or add to my “Feel Better Tea” all winter. My oldest son had friends over a lot. I made a big pot of Chocolate Mint tea and poured to over ice for me. One of the friends asked if he could taste it. I of course told him he could and if he liked it, he could have as much as he wanted. I think he drank at least half of it and next time he came over he wanted me to make it again. He is grown now and I haven’t seen him for a bit. Someday I will have to ask him if he would like a start of it. My son is grown now, in the Navy and I rarely get to see him. He tells me that when he gets his own place someday, he wants starts of all his favorite tea ingredients.

The pot on the very top sitting on the cart has a volunteer Weeping Cherry Tree in the center. I have the loveliest huge Weeping Cherry in my front yard. We have four lots on the edge of town. Most of the neighbors have the same. When we moved here we thought it was like living in the country only there were very few trees on our property, no wild flowers, flower or vegetable gardens either. So we planted our own. The Weeping Cherry Tree was the first tree we planted. It has already lived longer than they are supposed to. It bloomed either on Easter or my birthday (April First) every year until recently. It was struck by lighting two years ago and we had someone cut all the dead out, that was mostly high up in the top of it. I noticed a little more dead limbs this year and my younger son trimmed the lower limbs. Still a few I need to get trimmed. I mentioned that to my Sailor son a few weeks ago and he said he would love it if I would save some seeds for him so he can have a baby tree from his favorite old tree. There was a rain storm shortly after and all the blooms where blown away, so when I later found this volunteer baby tree I immediately found a place to transplant it. The plants in the center of that pot had died and I hadn’t looked for anything to replace them yet, so the baby tree landed there. I wasn’t really sure how it would do, but I wasn’t losing anything but a little time which I enjoyed anyway. To my surprise it is doing very well and my son is happy about getting a baby tree instead of just a few seeds. I hope to get another volunteer next year in case my old tree ever dies I will plant another.

The cart was donated to me many years ago when my sisters two girls were moving out of a trailer and had a big rummage sale along with the small town yearly festival and rummage. I can’t remember which of the two it belonged to. I showed up early to help my sister who had a booth on the main street with the festival and the girls whose trailer was just a couple blocks away. A lot of stuff was sold that day, but the cart was still there and they offered it to me. It had been white but was mostly rust colored when I brought it home. I cleaned it up and dusted the rusty places with a light green spray paint. I liked how it turned out. We have a long wooden fence all the way down the side of our driveway. It was so plain looking that I decided to plant a couple Lilacs and two Trumpet Vines in between. I set that old cart by the fence along with several other things trying to dress up that fence the best that I could. That was probably about ten years ago. The Lilacs and the Trumpet Vines now cover the fence in a large area. I dug that old cart out and placed in front of my living room window and started piling on bits and pieces of pots and plants that were buried here and there behind other growing things. Most of the green paint has worn off and the rust is showing through here and there, but I like it the way it is. May need a little more paint in the future, but I will worry about that when the time comes.