Ants, ants, go away, find your lunch some other way...

Does anyone have any ideas about natural ways to get rid of ants? I have heard cinnamon, I've heard cucumber, I've heard Ant and Roach killer.... that one doesn't sound so appealing, but I'm SICK of ANTS! It doesn't seem to matter how clean things are, they will still look for something to eat. Windows open are a requirement, and the ants that are coming in are coming through the screen--yes, they are that small. Soooo, I guess this is a plea for help. If anyone has any ideas, please leave me a comment and let me know. THANK YOU!

Getting the ball started...

In the past week I have made tremendous headway on numerous projects. Some by sheer determination, some because I finally sat down and wrote out a list of what needs to be done in that area (can we say the garden REALLY needs to be planted? lol) I have lived with the timer and 15 minutes at a time for a couple years now, and I'll tell you, it HAS helped.... but not nearly enough. I have really come to the conclusion this week that if you want to make progress, not only do you have to take action (even 15 minutes worth), but you also have to have a plan and know where you are going.

Take my garden for instance. I have known since probably about November what I wanted to plant, even to a point where I wanted to plant it. There are many steps to getting from a picture in my head to a beautiful, lush, productive garden. I need to get dirt, I need to turn up the sod in some areas, I need to stake off the squares (trying the square foot gardening thing this year, I'll keep you updated), determine exactly what I'm planting where, and how well they will grow in that type of soil, sun, and companion planting conditions. Now, in my defense, I am looking at this from about 3 weeks of no school, and so my sense of time is a little scewed for what I had time for in the school year. lol. But the point is the same. I could have been out later in the fall last year bringing in dirt. I could have been out earlier doing the same, or planting the areas that were done for that matter.

So my point in all this is that I HAVE A PLAN! I sat down before we went outside today. I wrote a list. Some things just needed done so that I don't have someone else come in and mow everything off because I didn't get the yard mowed. I was out for 3 hours. I got the pavers moved for the grill to sit on, I got the hostas moved after a year and half of thinking it needed done, I even started planting seeds. I also thought about my plan for getting stuff done in the house. I have one of those now too. It is so much easier to start the snowball effect when you are using your action time to productively work toward your goal instead of bouncing around not knowing what needs to be done. I'm finding it brings a sense of calm too.

Waste

I just sat down and did my budget for where the money is going to go this month. I can't honestly say I have really done or not done this before, as what I have done in the past has just been a very basic list of the bills that needed paid and left any other money unaccounted for as a grocery/whatever I need money for fund. I know how much money I am pulling out to put in my envelope system tomorrow, and even what bills I need to be able to break it down correctly. I also realize just how much money I have been wasting on things here and there.

As I look outside at the storm that is brewing I find that I'm irritated with myself because if I hadn't spent a little here and there I would have my rainbarrel by now. I look around my living room and think that I really need a declutter session on my desk and couch so I don't have to constantly spend time trying to find things that I need. That time could be an extra few minutes with my kids or an extra 15 on my homework. I also think about the carrots I threw out instead of feeding them to the worms, the apples that should have been processed by now and haven't, the research on how to do so many things in the garden that have yet to get done.

But you know what? It isn't so much that so much has been wasted. It is the potential that I have to use what would be waste in the future. I sat here and worked out my budget in maybe half an hour, wrote out checks for the month, and know where my money is going to go. Maybe in a couple of months I will even have enough saved so that by next spring I will have that rain barrel.

Where is your waste going these days?

Love, Megan

Babystepping

So I have been thinking about what all green entails lately. I have a friend looking for a wringer washer, because it will save on water from a front loader, is wanting to start canning for the year, and is just as chemical conscious as I am. Does it matter? No. I haven't been able to can before, I don't have a closeline, and I probably won't have one unless I move. Can I still look at how I can be more green than I am now? was a year ago? or five years ago? Definitely. It isn't a race, it is a collabrative effort. I live frugally out of neccessity. I can't afford every green gadget that is out, but thinking about it lately, do I really want to? 50 years ago, how many gadgets did they have? Yeah, I will pass on the newest gadget. I'll freecycle for the stuff to build a rainbarrel---when I get to it, and I will put the tomatoes I get out of the garden on a salad or let the kids eat them for the snack they want before they ever make it in the house. I'll can next year. I had a garden this year. That is better than last. Sometimes babystepping 2 green means babystepping... one thing at a time, one system at a time, one bit of effort. Over, and over, and over again.... and the persistance of the 5 minutes at a time over the course of the year, the decade, and the century add up. As flylady would say, it didn't get this way in a month and it isn't going to get better in a month either.