The light was falling
on the cob sculptures and they looked absolutely awesome
so here are two pictures, the kiwi and the fantail. Thanks a million Carrie!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
WWOOFER 50
Mauve was 49 and Gary was Wwoofer number 50! A nice, round number to start off the 2007/2008 summer season.Gary had a lot of tree planting and agricultural experience and kindly offered to tidy up around the trees. Wal hired a big scrub cutter for 2 days and Gary swished grass and weeds clearing out around small trees to give them light. We took advantage of the short grass and spent the following long weekend laying out trailerloads of carpet to keep the weeds down.
Mauve cleaned up some woodwork which was splattered with clay, did a heap of weeding helping me clear out the winter greens from the vege patch, and sanded a huge slab of macrocarpa for our bathroom benchtop.
Gary helped Ami bake and Mauve hit it off with Shannah and we really enjoyed the pleasant company of our first wwoofers for the season.
Thanks to Gary and Mauve for startingoff the Trees for Travellers season as well with planting 4 trees taking the number up to 59.
and the weekend finsihed with pizza dough made and baked in the pizza oven by a professional baker (Gary!) ...so yummy we couldn't move when we were finished.
ORCHARD
We were offered two lambs so Wal spent 2 weeks finishing off a lot of fencing around the place and we got the orchard planted and protected, and put the lambs in to keep the grass down. We have 15 trees in the orchard including walnut, lemon, plum, apricot,apple, pear and hazelnuts.KITCHEN CABINET
I scored a cabinet at a garage sale for $20. It was a hideous thing painted with a brown paint to look like stain...but... we discovered underneath it was heart rimu. Wal scraped back one end and the grain is absolutely beautiful. he took off the hardboard on the back and replaced it with tongue and groove. It looks a million dollars now and saved a lot of cabinet work as it fitted exactly into the wall we had intended to be a shelved wall in the kitchen.
GIB
Most of the wall gib is done, except for spots where the plumber is required. The ceiling gib is likewise and now the scotia (edging between ceiling and wall) is done in most room's except our bedroom.Not a very exciting photo BUT it does show something is finished. Gib and scotia.
Next steps will be gibstopping/plastering then painting!
SHOP! SHOP! SHOP!
This was a speech I gave last week at Toastmasters.
Shop till you drop! Retail therapy! A night on the town! Buy now pay later! 15 months interest free! SALE on now! Two for the price of 1!
Consumer society, we've got it made…....but wait, more shopping = more goods = more packaging = More landfill….shopping till you drop is not good for the environment…......but wait.....
Tonight I am going to sell you some ideas for shopping with a difference. In fact, I am going to tell you to shop… shop with your head, shop with your heart and shop with your wallet and you can make a difference…. That is to say YOU and YOU and YOU can make a difference….For the environment and for the world.
A recent survey stated that most Kiwis want to shop, recycle and plant their way through the climate change problem. So here are some tips on different approaches to shopping for the planet.
Buy New Zealand made, especially food which makes up a large portion of our weekly expenditure. Instead of this pasta, made in Italy, buy this flour milled in Ashburton available by internet order and make your own pasta. It tastes great and reduces the carbon miles generated by products having to be transported from the other side of the world. It also supports our local economy, providing jobs which flows on to stronger local communities.
Buy organic.Areas of opportunity for organic farming include improved consumer health and producer health, sustainability, organic food branding, regional employment, recognition of consumer demand and economic benefits. Support the growth of the domestic organic sector by being one of those consumers demanding organic products.
Shop at Trade Aid and support an income generating venture in a developing country or take out a Child Sponsorship and welcome another child into your home. Buy a family in Africa a goat or a well! Support a charity. Change to Fair Trade tea or coffee and support local organic ventures where the farmer receives a fair price for their labour instead of being exploited by a multi-national company.
If the world were a village and there were a 100 people in the village only 1 would own their own home. In New Zealand we are among the world’s richest people. So let’s shop with our hearts and share our wealth with those less fortunate.
Shop to reduce carbon emissions by choosing energy efficient appliances such as ecobulbs or a 5 star fridge or dishwasher. An ecobulb, though more cosly initially, will save you money on energy usage over the term of their life.
In a recent Eco-bulb campaign at Shell service stations over 800,000 eco-bulbs were sold. This equates to over $100 million of energy savings and could reduce the carbon dioxide equivalent of taking more than 65,000 cars off the road.
Buy services instead of products. For example, instead of buying a toilet bag for someone give them a voucher for a professional massage. Goods often come from overseas and have a high carbon footprint, whereas a service is provided by a person locally which incurs a lower carbon footprint and provides employment in the local economy.
Buy it back. Instead of this (hold up white notepaper) buy this ( hold up recycled paper) Buying recycled goods help close the loop. Resources flow from virgin materials to goods to recycling to recycled goods and back into the market. This uses resources efficiently and keeps stuff out of the landfill.
Find a bargain. Check out the 2nd hand shops or auction center. Scrounge around at the Silver Shed or the Crow’s Nest. Go garage saling. Shop at Save Mart. ..and don't miss the church fair. It really is lots of fun finding that bargain.
So, you can shop to your hearts content….or shop with your heart..shop with your head and let your money do the talking… for the good of the environment and for community wellbeing, both local and international. I believe in putting my money where my mouth is….shop green and save the world...oh, and remember.....take your shopping bag with you.
Shop till you drop! Retail therapy! A night on the town! Buy now pay later! 15 months interest free! SALE on now! Two for the price of 1!
Consumer society, we've got it made…....but wait, more shopping = more goods = more packaging = More landfill….shopping till you drop is not good for the environment…......but wait.....
Tonight I am going to sell you some ideas for shopping with a difference. In fact, I am going to tell you to shop… shop with your head, shop with your heart and shop with your wallet and you can make a difference…. That is to say YOU and YOU and YOU can make a difference….For the environment and for the world.
A recent survey stated that most Kiwis want to shop, recycle and plant their way through the climate change problem. So here are some tips on different approaches to shopping for the planet.
Buy New Zealand made, especially food which makes up a large portion of our weekly expenditure. Instead of this pasta, made in Italy, buy this flour milled in Ashburton available by internet order and make your own pasta. It tastes great and reduces the carbon miles generated by products having to be transported from the other side of the world. It also supports our local economy, providing jobs which flows on to stronger local communities.
Buy organic.Areas of opportunity for organic farming include improved consumer health and producer health, sustainability, organic food branding, regional employment, recognition of consumer demand and economic benefits. Support the growth of the domestic organic sector by being one of those consumers demanding organic products.
Shop at Trade Aid and support an income generating venture in a developing country or take out a Child Sponsorship and welcome another child into your home. Buy a family in Africa a goat or a well! Support a charity. Change to Fair Trade tea or coffee and support local organic ventures where the farmer receives a fair price for their labour instead of being exploited by a multi-national company.
If the world were a village and there were a 100 people in the village only 1 would own their own home. In New Zealand we are among the world’s richest people. So let’s shop with our hearts and share our wealth with those less fortunate.
Shop to reduce carbon emissions by choosing energy efficient appliances such as ecobulbs or a 5 star fridge or dishwasher. An ecobulb, though more cosly initially, will save you money on energy usage over the term of their life.
In a recent Eco-bulb campaign at Shell service stations over 800,000 eco-bulbs were sold. This equates to over $100 million of energy savings and could reduce the carbon dioxide equivalent of taking more than 65,000 cars off the road.
Buy services instead of products. For example, instead of buying a toilet bag for someone give them a voucher for a professional massage. Goods often come from overseas and have a high carbon footprint, whereas a service is provided by a person locally which incurs a lower carbon footprint and provides employment in the local economy.
Buy it back. Instead of this (hold up white notepaper) buy this ( hold up recycled paper) Buying recycled goods help close the loop. Resources flow from virgin materials to goods to recycling to recycled goods and back into the market. This uses resources efficiently and keeps stuff out of the landfill.
Find a bargain. Check out the 2nd hand shops or auction center. Scrounge around at the Silver Shed or the Crow’s Nest. Go garage saling. Shop at Save Mart. ..and don't miss the church fair. It really is lots of fun finding that bargain.
So, you can shop to your hearts content….or shop with your heart..shop with your head and let your money do the talking… for the good of the environment and for community wellbeing, both local and international. I believe in putting my money where my mouth is….shop green and save the world...oh, and remember.....take your shopping bag with you.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
ZERO WASTE ADVISOR
That's me! Rusty. In May I got a fulltime job at Timaru District Council. Unfortunately, it is a 35 minute drive (45 km) from Waimate but I have got a car pool each way, so philosphically I can cope (just!) with the mileage..........anyway, the job is my dream job....it was made for me! My job is varied , interesting, exciting, and gives me a real buzz- especially when I set up a waste exchange. That is finding something 1 business is throwing out which another business can use-thereby saving it from the landfill. I also get to teach in kindies and schools about Zero Waste and recycling, take groups on tour around on fantastic Materials Recycling Facility and work with businesses on waste management and coming up-other sustainability issues. I have a great co-worker on the same wavelength as me and the day at work just flies............When I put the kids to bed I count down....10,9,8,7,6,5,4, "3-2-1-Zero Waste"-and turn the light out!
SPRING IS SPRUNG
Spring is sprung, the grass is riz. I wonder where the birdies iz...
totally unoriginal, my mother used to say it.
Our magnificent magnolia ( or mongolia tree as I once called it when I was losing my English in Japan) has blossomed. Thank you Beth and Mac for this special treat.
and we are wondering what travellers and friends-to-be are going to pop out of the woodwork this year.
Mark 21 today
We seem to be gathering 21sts. When Mark arrived and we found out it was his 21st in a week he had to stay. Mark came to Toastmasters and a friend there had a birthday on the same day. She made a cake and brought it in for morning tea to celebrate. The girls enjoyed art lessons with mark each day after school and we enjoyed his lovely company. Particularly memorable was a family picnic at KNottingly Park and playing in the autumn leaves.
ALAN
Alan stayed at our place killing time until the snows arrived and he could go skiing. As he was a great help and fitted in with the family so well we were secretly praying for a warm winter and delayed start to the ski season. Notwithstanding, after 4 weeks here he went skiing and then off to the States. Alan helped Wal instal the two back doors, put up most of the Terra Lana natural woolen insulation and helped line out the house with gib board. Absolutely heaps in other words...not to mention falling voctim to the Chinese Checker mania!
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