tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829507635405797812009-11-09T17:26:45.364-06:00Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-87288391100638908772009-11-04T21:37:00.009-06:002009-11-04T23:22:14.168-06:00

Dear Green Across Texas blog,I know it's been a while since I've written. It's not you - it's me. I've thought about you often in my absence and so much has happened. I'll catch you up with some pictures...picked blackberries - made wine - made freezer jam...yummmhomemade chicken stockorganic produce at the Coppell Farmer's Marketfancy composting system designed by Shinermanbest winery everlocal

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-89245908875753445192009-08-22T00:56:00.004-05:002009-08-22T01:48:08.779-05:00

I smell like patchouli. No offense intended for anyone who also smells like it and enjoys that smell, but I do not. My first memory of this smell is from Fry St Fair my freshman year at UNT. I was walking by that old house next to Lucky Lou's, only when it was just a beer store before it was a bar. They had random shit strewn around the yard and the smell of patchouli was coming out of the house

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-25777893581794461412009-07-29T19:45:00.004-05:002009-07-29T20:32:29.615-05:00

We had a HUGE storm after Shinerman fixed the clothesline and one pole ended up a few feet away, but nothing broke and the line itself actually stayed connected. I'm just glad that there weren't any clothes on it! He fixed it again and it's been serving us well since then. We haven't used the dryer since May! So, I think we're doing very well for this year's Clothesline Challenge.I left you

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-25551249910198930812009-06-08T22:38:00.006-05:002009-07-29T19:46:18.135-05:00

For a little over a year now we've been getting our produce from an organic produce co-op. This whole time we've been splitting it with another couple. Recently, they decided to no longer get their portion and instead see how they fare at the Cupboard (GREAT local store). Oh by the way, the Cupboard has fresh LOCAL pastured chicken eggs. yummy!!I decided that, rather than trying to find someone

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-33438982389072928612009-05-28T22:51:00.004-05:002009-05-31T23:51:53.879-05:00

The littlest man's birthday is coming up. I've been thinking about what we would do for several months now. So many factors have to be considered: ThemeVenueCostGreennessAnd of course it must all make my son happy, sigh...The man finally decided on a pirate (yea! no Thomas!) theme. I toyed with having it at a local park; it would have been free, but it would have been on a first come basis. So

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-30002554848390309292009-05-27T22:19:00.002-05:002009-05-27T22:25:18.041-05:00

Just wanted to pop in and let you know we are a go for line drying! Shinerman fixed the clothesline by adding some braces to each post. We've already done quite a few loads. It's a good thing, we were running out of clothes! I stopped by Gift of Green's blog and there are a bunch of folks signed up for the Clothesline Challenge. You should sign up, c'mon, you know you want to - no pressure :)

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-73036299720793972662009-05-20T21:58:00.007-05:002009-05-27T22:17:03.467-05:00

The last couple of days have been gorgeous! Unfortunately, the clothesline is out of commission again. Shinerman had it fixed for a couple of loads of laundry before the rain knocked it out. We're hoping the ground will dry up enough to really fix it later this week, 2x4 braces may be in our future. For a few months now I've been doing a knitting night with my much more crafty friends. I decided

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-44091848555324304402009-05-07T23:50:00.006-05:002009-05-08T00:25:32.930-05:00

The new clothesline challenge for this summer has begun!We began drying our clothes outside last spring; read about the ghetto-fabness and then the sweet clothesline that followed. We've cut our electric bill by about 2o% and we no longer have to run the clothes over and over in the dryer to get them dry - so annoying. But, with all this rain the last few weeks - the clothesline is out of

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-85634380886105872092009-05-02T00:04:00.005-05:002009-05-02T01:24:42.802-05:00

Tonight the littlest man asked for pancakes for dinner. I did this randomly last week and the look on his face was priceless. He was so excited. So when he asked for it tonight, I figured I can get dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow out of the way. I essentially use the buttermilk pancake recipe out of the Joy of Cooking. I love this book, I got it for the first Christmas after Shinerman and I

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-80469503042173686912009-04-22T22:17:00.005-05:002009-05-08T00:21:06.081-05:00

I've been pretty stoked about Earth Day this year. What would we do, I wondered. Last year I took the day off and the littlest man and I went to the Arboretum. Maybe we could do something more giving this year, clean up litter maybe? But, alas, work had to take over the day this year. Too much to do and too many other days taken off; plus, I had to go to the Dr about a weird rash on my back - boo

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-36258070049748572342009-04-15T22:10:00.006-05:002009-04-15T23:06:55.472-05:00

Every year for Easter we go to Houston to visit Shinerman's family. It's a weekend of fun and eating way too much. Usually it means we bring a ton of 'stuff' back, too. But I guess my and my sister-in-laws frustration with the overflowing Easter baskets got through. There were no Easter baskets, just some crafts. Which is even better, because then they are creating something themselves. I think

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-79620666087634580132009-04-15T22:09:00.001-05:002009-04-15T22:09:34.253-05:00

I'm testing the mobile post feature

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-75624215172877456982009-04-09T22:19:00.006-05:002009-04-10T00:39:36.831-05:00

Where does the time go? I told myself that I would post more than just once this week and I can't believe a week has already passed by! This week has been pretty crazy with work, I had a big deadline and and short week - because I'm taking tomorrow off!! oh, yeah!Anywho...I didn't just do work business, but home business, too. Our outside fridge's freezer is now home to jars of black beans,

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-48054458871246892392009-04-01T21:47:00.003-05:002009-04-01T23:50:00.986-05:00

I had a couple of requests to talk about my laundry detergent, so I decided to focus on the money aspect in this post. With the economy like it is I know everyone is trying to save where they can. Be forewarned - I am not a math person, there is a reason I write for a living, so do not expect all of the numbers below to be 100% correct. Thank you for your understanding.I've been making my own

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-33833621608958534722009-03-25T22:29:00.003-05:002009-03-25T22:47:53.710-05:00

The Denton County Dems are hosting a climate change discussion Saturday March 28 from 9-12. Dr. La Point, Biology Professor from UNT, will be leading the discussion of issues and an overview legislation.

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-25624345241919265022009-03-25T21:52:00.003-05:002009-03-25T22:27:11.321-05:00

This upcoming Saturday is Earth Hour. Earth Hour started in Sydney in 2007, last year it had spread across the globe, and this year looks even bigger. All it takes is turning off your lights at 8:30pm local time for an hour. And don't forget to let the folks at Earth Hour know you're on board! Turning off your lights will not just save energy, but will let our leaders know that we care about our

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-37037487416809722552009-03-11T12:10:00.001-05:002009-03-11T12:20:11.391-05:00

I am super excited! We've been trying to cut back our grocery bill here at the Green H. January's bill was outrageous! But I don't want to cut back on the quality, I told Shinerman I refuse to compromise on that. That was essentially the end of that argument. But, we DO need to watch the amount we spend. Especially in these times when it seems the economy is falling down around our ears. No

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-33224063629353691292009-03-10T22:26:00.003-05:002009-03-10T22:43:28.351-05:00

According to the DRC, the Denton Municiple Electric will be explaining the GreenSense energy rebate program this Saturday . The DME reps will be at the South Branch library at 1pm. Go, Learn, and save some GREEN!

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-31589272984227466072009-03-06T23:19:00.004-06:002009-03-06T23:56:46.020-06:00

Starting this weekend the Colleyville Eco House will be having open house hours. The house will be certified LEED-H Gold, Energy Star, and a list of others certifications and acronyms. The house is enormous. Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about such a huge house but it does have something I'm really looking at in a new house. A huge open kitchen that can accommodate large groups. I would say

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-12758042660817169422009-02-25T21:50:00.004-06:002009-02-25T23:05:02.518-06:00

So a friend of mine who read my last post (and didn't leave a comment) said she's worried I've become an angry hippie. She thinks I need some yoga, which isn't a bad idea anyways! All kidding aside...I do get angry sometimes reading about how big corporations and the government are just messing with our food and other things my son comes into contact with on a daily basis. I was reading today

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-53744948931532037842009-02-12T22:42:00.007-06:002009-02-12T23:52:38.839-06:00

So, a few weeks ago on a bulletin board the question went around "what can't you stand". I didn't think about it again until tonight while watching TV. I've noticed that I have a problem watching all those ads that are trying to sell us things we don't need and are horrible for the us and/or the environment. (This includes a stupid ad on Facebookfor Tide that won't go away) What set me off

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-25209281324573835702009-01-28T23:14:00.005-06:002009-01-29T00:16:07.717-06:00

I've posted about High Fructose Corn Syrup before - here and here. Now it's come out that in many cases it is contaminated with Mercury. You heard that, MERCURY! This contaminated Mercury was found in 31% of the random products tested by The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and 45% of the straight HFCS samples tested by an FDA researcher - in 2005. But this research wasn't published by

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-13234321217881464292009-01-23T14:45:00.004-06:002009-01-23T14:53:30.154-06:00

I've liked will.i.am for a while now - everytime I hear him speak it's about important things and he actually has something to say. Here's a new song and video he's done - I really like it and hope you do, too!PS I got the video code from Grist.org - a site I cannot recommend strong enough!

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-65286411085885814092009-01-15T00:28:00.002-06:002009-01-15T11:07:44.326-06:00

The Denton Municiple Electric has begun GreenSense program and is giving rebates to residents who make energy-saving improvements to their homes. So, now's the time to install those solar panals you've been eyeing. But if that still isn't in your budget even after up to a $15,000 rebate, you can also get rebates on programmable thermostats, solar screens, and even insulation. The energy rebates

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882950763540579781.post-47014280816022414352009-01-14T21:36:00.005-06:002009-01-14T22:39:57.282-06:00

A few weeks ago when the Green H went to the Denton landfill to recycle our glass, we noticed the HUGE container for the electronic recyclables was missing. In its place was a sign informing us that the City of Denton would soon be charging for taking in TVs and monitors, $15 to be exact. Shinerman said he was surprised it took so long, that it was overflowing the last time he was there. They

Maxine from Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05782441499193897910noreply@blogger.com0