My
One Small Change for January was to get rid of things in creative ways and use things up. (See my first post on this topic
here.) How did I do? I still own too much, but I am making good progress and will continue to work on this. One category that I focused on was craft supplies. I have pulled most of my supplies out of storage, organized them, made them as accessible as possible, and picked out my next few projects for both knitting (earflap hat for dad, wristwarmers to sell, rip out and re-knit a sweater for me) and sewing (finish reusable menstrual pads, bloomers, hem pants, pajama bottoms). I also have a sewing date scheduled for tomorrow and have been working on expanding the weekly knitting group I am a part of because I think adding a social component to crafting is both enjoyable and a good motivator.
In honor of last month's Small Change, I have a giveaway to offer to one lucky reader who likes sending mail: an assorted pack of cards, stationery, envelopes, and stickers. I will mail anywhere in the US. Please post a comment by Feb 11th the end of February (I am extending the contest) if you are interested in being eligible for the prize. Be sure to post your email address in the comment, so I can contact you. Or you can email it to me at beccamonstr [at] hotmail [dot] com.
I went back and forth on which small change to implement for February. After some deliberation, I decided that this month I will only purchase meat, eggs and dairy that are locally produced. I have already been trying to make a larger portion of my diet come from local sources, but I have not done very well with these food categories. Specifically, this month I plan to buy local meat from at least one source, and find a reasonably priced place to purchase local
yogurt and eggs. I also plan to attend the monthly
winter farmers' market this weekend and check out the
natural food store in town that I have not been to so I can compare prices and selection to the other stores.
Posts
I post this comment, of course, at the risk of winning a package of stuff that already adorns our lovely apartment. That being said, I was just curious as to where those railroad tracks in the photograph are located.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Dan
sending and receiving snail mail is such a rarity these days. i do love taking the time to make this effort as i personally adore finding handwritten treasures in my mailbox! perhaps some new stationary would be the kick in the bum i need to make that happen. ;) thanks for the opportunity!
ReplyDeleteI found your blog through the small change project which I am participating in even though I have no blog.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your blog and have bookmarked it to read daily.
Please consider me for the give-a-way
God bless,
Helen(grammea)
grammea22@verizon.net
Interestingly, almost all the meat, eggs, and dairy I eat are produced locally. However, this time of year, I have a terrible time with produce! I've been working on freezing berries during the summer, but my frozen green beans weren't so hot. Maybe that will be my "small change" for the summer... Freeze more!
ReplyDeleteStill... salad greens? Cukes and green peppers... Gonna be hard to put those up!
I'm fairly sure that Chobani yogurt is local to you- the company is based in New Berlin, NY and their website says that they use milk from local dairies. Although it's not quite local to me, I like the idea of supporting the farms in the hometown!
Good for you, Heather. It definitely takes more work to make some of these changes, and I have to remember that it really is a LUXURY to have the time and money to do them.
ReplyDeleteYou are right - some veggies you just can't get locally at certain times of the year. But part of eating more locally is eating more in season too. In my opinion, winter salads should look and taste different than summer salads - greens like kale and spinach can be cold hardy and even taste better when it's cold (we just tasted some raw baby kale straight out of my dad's hoophouse and some friends commented that it was the best kale they'd ever tasted). And then when summer rolls around and I get fresh garden tomatoes and cukes, they taste that much better after not having had them for a while.
You're right about Chobani - it is local, and good. However, I find Greek yogurt too thick for some purposes. I prefer a thinner yogurt for breakfast with granola, for example.