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Friday, October 31, 2008

Blog Feature

Happy Halloween,

If you have a chance, please check out the Photographers of Etsy post on new work.

Thank you, Pam, for including my Snowy Fence in this beautiful collection. I am so grateful to be a part of this talented and helpful team.

Peace, Judi

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Saving The Planet With Little Dents – Update

On August 9 I encouraged everyone to not only turn off but also to unplug appliances and electronic devices not in use at that moment to help save some money and the planet.

Since that time, some have asked for an update of what my personal results have been, so here goes:

2007 2008
MONTH KWH BILL KWH BILL COMMENT
July 250 $49.65 265 $61.41
August 303 $58.18 211 $50.21 Dent chg 9th
September 262 $51.18 110 $29.27 Fridge 26th

OK, the data above which so nicely fits in a table in Word, or even into tab-created columns, is a mishmosh; so here’s the detail in words. In August, I began turning off and unplugging anything I could that was using electricity when I wasn’t using it. Last year, usage went up for the month of August by 53 KWH (kilowatt hours) over usage in July. This year, it was almost the reverse. August went down by 54 KWH over July usage. The net difference from last year to this was a savings of 92 KWH.

I haven’t checked out the weather bureau to see if this August was a lot cooler than last August, but I don’t believe that would have made this much of a difference - I don’t use air conditioning in my home, and usually only use one window fan, at night, and it has a thermostat built in so doesn’t run all night long most nights.

On to September! I purchased a new Energy Star rated refrigerator on tax free weekend (8/18) which was delivered on 8/26. My old refrigerator, goddess bless it, had been a refurbished model that I know I had purchased prior to 1987. Although it will take many years to recoup the purchase price in energy $$ savings, I am happy to note that the carbon footprint of my home has been reduced by this amount. My usage was reduced by 152 KWH for the same month – yeah!!

Just one more thing: the local energy company I purchase electricity from is NSTAR. During the summer they offered the opportunity to sign up to have either part or all of your electricity generated using wind-power. I chose to go with 100% green generation. There is an additional cost for this (it’s about 3 cents per KWH), but hopefully as more customers choose this option that will turn around (pun intended!)

We can all make a dent – hope you’ve been inspired by reading about what I’ve done recently to make some changes yourself.

Peace to all, Judi

Monday, October 27, 2008

A Great Big Thank You

I have been featured in this blog today:
The Art of Craft

I hope you'll go visit it and give it some love.

Thank you, PastPerfect for this opportunity. Please visit this amazing shop, another member of the Photographers of Etsy; you're sure to find something you can't live without!!

Peace, Judi

Friday, October 24, 2008

Day 049 - 10/23/2008 UFO now WIP

7 weeks done in Project 365!

I started this project a few years ago now. I had put it away for a long time as I am not happy with how one of the chenille yarns is behaving - already worming! But I've decided I need to finish this UFO (UnFinished Object).

To that end, I've put the pieces and yarns out on the futon in the guest room where I will see it everytime I walk by the door. So I am now considering it a WIP - Work In Progress.

For those that are familiar with Kaffe Fassett's Jack's Back Stripe in his Glorious Knits book, you will see I have done something different here than what the pattern called for. In the book, Kaffe directs you to start at one cuff and finish at the other, all in one piece for sleeves and body.

Since the original yarns were no longer available, I had to go for similar colors in yarns of my own choosing. SInce I figured I'd either forget which ones I had used, or run out before I got there, and the colors are supposed to be symetrical, I am knitting from each cuff towards the middle and will then graft the two pieces together. I had to do some charting (using Excel as my "graph paper") to make sure the points in the design were facing the proper way on each piece - hope I got it right, but if not it will still be beautiful, if I do say so myself.

I'll address the worming later, it's too far back to frog stitch. May have to keep a crochet hook always in the pocket for fixing on the fly!

I'll post again when I've made more progress.

Peace, Judi

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Day 048 - 10/22/2008 J and M Dinner

Delicious salmon cakes and raw pesto with zucchini (recipe by Ginger) - yummy. Best of all, daughter J cooked and I didn't have to.
After this meal, we attended the Sustainable Arlington Committee meeting and learned more about what the town in doing in all areas of sustainability. More on that another time.
I'll also post here the links to these recipes when I have a chance to look that up - check back here in a couple of days if you are interested.

For the raw pesto with zucchini go here: whatwouldgingerdo.blogspot.com/2008/10/veganmofo-day-4-ch...

Edit 10/24: for the salmon patties go here: The salmon patties were originally posted by Karen, you can find the recipe here:http://ohboykarencooks.blogspot.com/2008/10/quick-and-easy-salmon-patties.html

Thank you, Ginger and Karen for these delicious dishes, and thanks, Jenn, for serving them.

Peace, Judi

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Bleeping Fun

One fact I didn't reveal in my recent tag reply was that although I don't practice an organized religion, I do consider myself a spiritual being. Some of my favorite teachers are Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle, Suze Orman (yes, she is), Dr. Joe Dispenza, and Wayne Dyer to name a few.

A few years ago now, I participated in a mind-body weight loss program run by Dr. Herbert Benson of the Mind-Body Medical Institute. Just after the program ended, in one of the follow-up newsletters we were told of a film about to be released called "What the Bleep Do We Know". Although I had just completed that program, I was blown away by this film.

In a style akin to a PBS documentary, mixed with a fictional tale, and interspersed with cartoon characters to help you visualize the concepts, the true meaning of the mind-body connection was shot home by this movie (at least for me.) I walked around the town where the theater was for many minutes knowing I was in a new place - mentally - not yet ready to drive or even speak with anyone. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

So in my email today came the latest issue of the Bleeping Herald, the e-newsletter from the makers of the film. Cameron Day, a remote energy worker, has written an article for this issue which you can read here. Fascinating! I hope you'll check out both the article and the film - and with an open mind.

Peace.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Day 041 - 10/15/2008 By The Door TTV

This lovely pumpkin was shot using my Canon DSLR through the viewfinder of an Anscoflex II giving this dusty, scratchy, vintage feel and the square format. If you're intrigued to learn more about TTV, check out Russ Morris' site here: http://www.russmorris.com/ttv/

Peace, Judi

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

I've Been Tagged

I've been "tagged" – a great way to introduce yourself to other bloggers. Handicrafts (JMcGuinness) tagged my blog, so now it's my turn to tag a few other bloggers.

Here are the rules:
Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
Share seven facts about yourself on your blog – some random, some weird.
Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.


Here are my seven random facts:
1. I do not eat meat or poultry and do my best to avoid dairy (milk) products.
2. “Eat, Pray, Love” by Liz Gilbert is my all-time favorite book.
3. I knit almost every day.
4. When the last company I worked for full-time offered a voluntary severance package, I took it because I was totally burned out and didn’t want to be that important anymore.
5. My car is a Toyota Prius named Ruby.
6. I have two daughters in their 30’s.
7. Can’t believe I left this to the last – I’m a chocoholic!

Here are the seven people I’m tagging:
Random Lunacy
ARA133Photography
Arty Allsorts
Eagles Wing (wingsofhealing)
High Desert Diva
Jennifer Dennis Potter
The View Up Here

Best of luck and have fun!

Peace, Judi

Monday, October 13, 2008

Radiance is Missing




Don't know what happened to photo from a couple of days ago - it's still on Flickr and visible to all. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure.

Day 038 - 10/12/2008 Light And Water

Afternoon light streaming through the trees onto the slow moving brook. Many layers with the bubbles, light on top, rocks and sediment below.

Would love your comments on this one. Thanks.

Peace, Judi

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Day 037 - 10/11/2008 Ed Gerhard

Ed Gerhard, extraordinary guitarist, during intermission at his concert at The Music Emporium in Lexington, MA, 10/11/2008. A fabulous show. My sister, our friend, Eileen, and I (the self-proclaimed "Ed Heads") were all in attendance.
BTW, on the right is the back of Ed's lovely wife, Kelli.

Ed will be performing in March, 2009, at the Regent Theatre in Arlington as part of a fundraiser for Raising the Blues, a group that helps the patients at the Shriner's Burn Centers by getting music to them.

Please check out Ed's site to find out when he'll be playing near you.

See you in March!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Day 036 - 10/10/2008 Radiance - and more

I've been involved in a Flickr group called Project 365 for 36 days now. Each day you post one photo to the group and at the end of a year you'll have a daily record of what was going on in your life.

I've decided that anytime it is a well composed photo, suitable for sharing with more of the world than just Flickr, I'm going to send it out here to the blog. I may even send some of the first thirty five shots here if they seem suitable for sharing!

I hope you enjoy seeing some of my take on the world.

Peace, Judi

EDIT:

On another note relating to Flickr, my note card image, Two Little Trees, was included here by Mickie as an idea for a holiday card. It is available in my shop here, hope you'll take a look. Thanks, Mickie.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Voting

I want to thank singer/songwriter Pat Wictor for sending several links in his recent email newsletter that can be of assistance in helping to decide how to vote in the upcoming presidential election.

Here is an excerpt from his newsletter including those links:

"On the Issues: http://www.ontheissues.org Issue-by-issue breakdown of speeches, writings, and votes by all the candidates for President (including the independents), as well as candidates for Congress.

ProCon.org http://2008election.procon.org/ Also an issue-by-issue breakdown, with a different methodology and sources. It highlights how candidates' issue positions have evolved (flip-flopped, in electionese) over time.

FactCheck http://www.factcheck.org/ Dispassionate debunking of rumors, half-truths, and fabrications peddled by the candidates and their allies.

The Living Room Candidate http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/ A collection of election-year commercials, curated by the Museum of the Moving Image, with brief summaries, from 2008 back to 1952.

More good resources to research the candidates: http://smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/preslinksnov.html

The Reading Odyssey: http://www.readingodyssey.com/ "

Please check out Pat's site for information about his tour dates and music, I highly recommend a listen.

If you haven't registered yet, please go do so and then get out and vote on November 4th.

Peace to all.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

10/01/2008 Rotary cutter for a cause

Happy October,


I was fabric shopping with my daughter and needed a rotary cutter for myself. I spied this one and decided to buy it because a portion of the proceeds will be donated to a nationally recognized breast cancer research organization, in fact they will be giving no less than $30,000 this year. In the past, Fiskars has already donated $100,000 for breast cancer research.
Please do your part, whether buying a product such as this, or making a donation on your own, to help erradicate breast cancer - especially during October - breast cancer awareness month.

Peace, Judi