~Just for Fun~

For the record I'll admit it....I have a slight magazine fetish. I get a lot of great ideas from them. Remember the Community Treasure Chest I started back in May 09', that was started after I read about it in a magazine. A year and a half later and we still have 2 totes in continuous circulation. It is a really cool way to recycle, re-purpose, and re-use while bonding with friends, neighbors, and/or co-workers. I posted here about as well if you are a new reader and would like to learn more about it.
Several months ago I read an article in Mary Jane Farm magazine about a group of ladies called the "Dining Divas". They meet once a month alternating homes bringing together local, organic, homemade food. Immediately I was inspired! Instead of doing it at home I decided to start something at my work place. This was the beginning of the "X-Rayted Dining Divas" named so as I work in the radiology department. Every month we pick a theme such as: Mexican, Soups/Salads, Chili/Crock Pot cook-off and I post a sign up with different categories: appetizer, main dish, dessert, paper products etc. So far every monthly luncheon has proven to be a success. Hope I inspire someone to do the same. Would love to hear what fun activities you do at your workplace!

Another GREAT thing my department is doing is sponsoring the man my old farmer friend and I deliver weekly groceries as our "Christmas Family". I am SO excited to get all the goodies (blankets, boots, matches, lighters, lanterns etc) gathered and delivered on Christmas day. I will definitely take some pictures and post about it here!

Community Treasure Chest Rant

So if you haven't started the tote thing in your community...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

If you have no idea what I'm talking about read here or I mentioned a bit about it on the bottom of this post.

The above picture shows goodies that I received from 2 totes this summer. Free & clear!! Imagine that? 2 pr of crocks, leather shoes for Momma, cookbooks (can't have enough of them, can you?), several pair of earrings for Flower Girl (just in time for school), magazines (even 1 for Maine Man), recyclable grocery totes, chain lube & wire, LL bean shirt for moi, and shorts for my girl.

So here is my tally of what I have obtained while doing this tote thing since May 09'

Keep in mind I am involved in 3

3 pr of shoes

12 pr of earrings

7 books

1 pr of curtains

5 pr of jeans/pants/capris

knot tying book/kit

1 hat

5 shirts

3 vases

1 necklace

1 dvd

1 book on cd

1 scarf

3 candles

1 pampered chef dish set

gameboy w/ 5 games

candle holder, decorative jars, Christmas cards, recyclable bags, chain lube & more.....

All with virtually no work involved. Many of the items above were not necessarily for me but I knew someone who could use them. For example the curtains went on the kids "fort" windows, the unused x-mas cards I gave to my MIL, the crocks I passed on to my niece.

If you are frugal, resourceful, looking to recycle I encourage you to start one up. I shared this idea with a co-worker who is involved in her town's recycling committee, come fall they are planning to go town-wide with this project.

It has been a fun experience and I hope that it continues on. I will admit there are times when I have received the totes and there was a whole lot of junk in them. The circulation of the totes have slowed down a bit over the summer. Me the rule maker has been involved in breaking the rules. I had 1 tote well over a week... but gardens, camping, life got in the way. Excuses.

I hope this post inspires just one of you to start one up, in your workplace, church, your neighborhood.


*Side note: For obvious reasons from here on out I have decided to refer to my daughter as Flower Girl(FG) and my boy as Country Boy(CB).

Spring Fishing

What is a dad to do when he is home alone with his boy on a warm spring day? Updates

• Animals: Returned "Romeo" a boar we borrowed. He arrived on April 1st and returned home this past Sunday. We think he did his job, he at least gets an "A" for effort. We are hoping our two sows will be having piglets in July/August. Not ideal timing. Next time around we will plan for spring piglets rather then fall.
• We hope to get our electric fencing up within the next couple weeks and get some cattle out in the pasture.
• Broilers are really close to freezer camp. Maine Man has almost completed the plucker. He just needs to attach motor. Pictures and post to follow.
• We have babies! One of our does had a litter. Not sure how many? I'd say at least 4 by the picture. I did not want to disrupt them so I just put my camera in the hole of the box and snapped away until I caught a glimpse of them.
  

• Garden is coming along. We have lots more planting to be had over the next few weeks. The greenhouse is another project that needs to be done. Not sure when we will have the time. One of MM's buddies gave him plastic for it. Only problem is that it is 3 feet too short in width. Not sure what we are going to do with that. Too bad it wasn't too short in length instead. That would have been an easy fix.

• Food: I have been doing a little experimenting (imagine that!) with raw milk. This week I made butter for a first. Skimmed 1 gallon, end result about 2 tablespoons. It was very tasty. Note to self: don't bother unless you have a milking cow in your backyard an an abundance of cream. I also attempted to make yogurt. Bought the culture at the natural food store and incubated it using a crock pot with water. Did not come out very well. Consistency was good but it seemed a bit tart. Not sure what I did wrong. I never buy plain yogurt, just flavored so it could have been that? Will experiment again sometime!
• With some of that milk I had to use up I also made this grape nut pudding recipe. It is at the bottom of that post. MM ate it up in no time. If you are looking for a really good chocolate cake recipe with peanut butter frosting this is what I made for Leah's birthday. I made it for the first time last year for MM's birthday, it is now a family favorite!
• Leah has been cooking up a storm. She nearly killed me school vacation week. I think I gained 10lbs and had a bad case of dish pan hands. Damn I need a dish washer! It is the top of my I NEED list! This past weekend she made some really yummy peanut butter balls and she plans to post the recipe sometime soon on her blog.

• Community Treasure Chest aka the "tote" from here on out. That adventure has REALLY taken off. I started with one tote in circulation but others wanted to join along so I started a second. It has been SUCH A SUCCESS! My buddy Miki is starting a third except she is putting a little twist on it making it a couples tote. I have received great feedback from the members. Everyone so far has been happy with the goodies they have scored. SO VERY excited at the responses! I think I may have even inspired a women I work to put one together with some of her friends. If you haven't considered getting one of these started in your neck of the woods I suggest you get on it.

Community Treasure Chest

In the most recent copy of Countryside & Small Stock Journal I read an article that really caught my eye and caused me to get REALLY excited! It was titled, "Save money, recycle and make new friends with a Community Treasure Chest!" by Sandy Coates.

I will do the article no justice so if you are really interested I suggest you go and buy a copy of the magazine or see if you can get the article on-line. I may even be really nice and mail you a copy of the article if you are one of the first few to respond and request. (only have a couple stamps and d@#! they are getting expensive :) )

Here is the short version.
You get a group of people that are in a reasonable geographical region (a neighborhood, close by towns, workplace) I contacted friends from 4 local towns. The suggested amount is 10 people and that is what I stuck with. The coordinator puts together a tote (a 28 gallon is what the author suggests). You place a few clean, decent items in that you would like to get rid of together (books, household goods, purses, shoes, clothing). Along with the tote you attach a notebook. In the notebook I included the "rules" which I will post below, a list of the members in order if circulation. For example the tote started with me: Kim, Jackie, Sarah, Bobbie..... You get the picture or am I confusing you?
Each person has the task of receiving the tote, taking what they want then placing at least one item in the tote, then passing it on to the next person asap.
In the notebook you also include a list of the members and their contact information ( I included phone #'s and e-mail). Lastly, there is a classified section in the notebook that is used to let people know if you have any bigger items you have for free or sale and/or write in something you may be looking for.


For anyone that may be interested in doing this here are the rules.

1. You are welcome to take as many items from the chest as you may find useful. Please share the contents with family and friends. They are free.

2. Try to contribute at least one item per cycle. This can be a household item, clothing or shoes. These must be clean and in good condition. You are welcome to contribute as much as the chest will easily hold.

3. Please keep the chest moving. Pass it on to the next person promptly, preferably within 3 days. Make sure you call the monitor (coordinator) when you have passed it on.

4. When the chest has made a full cycle and returned to you, please remove any of your previously donated items and pass them onto charity. This will allow room for new items.

5. No soiled, tattered or bulky clothing or rags, no heavy items such as books, appliances, cleansers or paint. Please advertise these in the ad section of the notebook. (I think books are ok just not a set of encyclopedias or such)

6. Food must be sealed and within the package's expiration dates. Other food items can be advertised in the notebook.

7. Please keep the chest neat and tidy, refold items after looking at them.

8. The attached notebook contains members' names, phone numbers and chest rules, with the remainder of the notebook devoted to classified ads. Use it as much as you want. Please mark out any old ads that are no longer applicable. Remember to include your name and contact number or e-mail with your ad. Please make sure the notebook remains with the chest.

Sandy ends the article saying, "Now over three years strong, our Community Treasure Chest has been a continued source of entertainment and resourcefulness. Through our chest we have helped each other save money, save resources and save the environment. We have secretly helped families in need who have been too proud to take public handouts but in the privacy of their own home have found within the chest a little something to get them through. Best of all, we have become better acquainted with our friends and neighbors. it seems the treasure chest has over-flowed into other aspects of our lives. Like worldly goods passed on in the chest, we too have something to offer, something to pass on; to be admired and cherished. The greatest treasure our chest holds is the friendships and sense of community it has helped create."


We currently have 1 tote in circulation in it's first cycle. There were others interested so I decided to get another group started and hope to have that tote in circulation this week. We are already up to 6 members in this group. That allows room for 4 others to join along if you are interested. I know you locals read my blog....Miki? Kimberly? Susan? Claudine? Marie? If your interested give me a call of I would LOVE if you left me a comment here. You do not have to be a blogger to comment.! Hint, hint! Lastly, THANKS to Sandy for the GREAT article and WONDERFUL idea. I look forward to this adventure and will update our progress here from time to time.