Why is this the Ghetto?

Well I suppose technically it's not. We live in a very inner-city neighborhood. The kind of neighborhood who either everyone knows about because they "used" to live here or never heard of because they don't drive this far into the city. We hear ambulances and fire trucks screeching by about 5 times a week. Fourth of July and New Year's Eve are very festive around here. When a certain NBA team wins the National Championship (again) it's also very festive. The car honking and yelling last past midnight and people just walk around right in the middle of the street. Guys wearing white wife beaters with baggy khaki pants walk around the park with their pit bulls. There are car accidents at the corner all the time because for some reason that pesky telephone pole is just in the wrong place. When you hear the tires squeal and the crash you go outside to see if everyone is ok. But when you hear CRACK, CRACK, CRACK and then the tires squeal you don't go outside. We have our choice of several bus routes all within easy walking distance. The "bad side of town" YMCA is only two miles from our house. The only year we signed our daughter up for soccer there, a fight broke out on the next field over. Yup, apparently 3 year olds playing soccer inspired the fight. Trash blows around in our yard all the time. Occasionally it's because the dog knocked over the trash can but usually it's just the usual trash that's blowing around. Once when we were picking up the trash we found a driver's license and some other cards belonging to a lady whose purse had been stolen. Apparently the thief ditched the unwanted cards in our bush as they were driving by. She was glad to get those cards back.
BUT, our neighborhood is a Conservation District just a few blocks down from a Historic District (where the house price easily jumps up 100,000 or more). This was a ritzy neighborhood 50 years ago and there are rumors it is going to see a renaissance. There are lovely tree-lined streets because the trees have had time to grow. Every house looks different (no box houses as we like to call them). Except for some duplexes behind us only one family has moved into the neighborhood since we did 6 years ago. There are houses for sale but none are sitting empty. We know our neighbors. Once when our dog got in a fight with the neighbor dog a neighbor from across the street came over to help us. During a hot summer drought we spotted a grass fire across the street and my husband ran over and quickly stomped it out. There are young couples, elderly people, families with kids, retired folks. A bat colony has a home around here somewhere. An old fat skunk has been smart enough to find a good home (and plenty of food) for himself without being much of a pest. We have a pair of cardinals that make our backyard home and someone even has a rooster although I haven't figured out which house it is yet (I've got it narrowed down to four). When we were buying our house we had a few people tell us we were making a mistake. "You're going to buy a house there?" But we have been here 6 years now and overall we like it. So what do you think? Is this the ghetto? Well.....

mmmm soap!

OK, so I made toothsoap. Yes that's right I said soap. If you are brave enough to try it here is the recipe. I have found it to taste a wee bit soapy - but really it is not that bad. Perhaps the recipe needs some tweaking.

5 TBSP coconut oil (solid below 76F, so ours is always liquid)
1 TBSP Dr Bronner's castile soap (I used peppermint but you can also use baby which has no scent)
Orange essential oil
Peppermint esential oil (if you didn't use peppermint soap)
Water (1 TBSP or more as needed)
Natural sugar substitute (I used purevia)

Mix all the ingredients together. Add in a little water at a time until it is the right consistency for toothpaste. It will be a little runny. I did not need to use the water since in our house the coconut oil is liquid (we keep our thermostat set at 80 in the summer). But I may have to add some in the winter. I used about 25 drops of the orange essential oil. Add in the sugar sub until it tastes ok. I ended up using 4 individual sticks of the purevia. Don't taste it too many times in a row or it will burn your mouth. Put it in a clean soap dispenser or a small plastic squirt bottle.
There it is.
Clean your teeth with no fluoride and no sodium lauryl sulfate. Or you could just use baking soda :o)

Watch where you're looking!

A few weeks ago my daughter told me to "watch where you're looking". I chuckled a little because I know she meant to say "watch where you're going" But after I thought about it a little bit I think what she actually said is better advice. Yes, we should all watch where we're looking. When I am looking at my sweet child's face am I thinking about the grocery list, or the dishes in the sink, or the pile of projects that gets bigger and bigger? When I read her a story am I just thinking how quickly I can get done so I can move on to the next chore on my list? I am so guilty of not watching where I'm looking. In these days that I am trying to be productive, get projects done, find ways to save money and check off my whole checklist for the day I don't want to miss the moments flying by. I am trying. Please God, help me to watch where I am looking. Help me to burn the ordinary extraordinary in my memories and see you in everything.

This is a project I did a while back for my mom as a housewarming gift. An old piece of wood became the inspiration for a welcoming sign. I added a hanger to the back and used a wood burning tool (around 10 bucks at Hobby Lobby or Michael's)to burn the design. At first I was annoyed because the wood grain was rough and so the tool didn't always go exactly the way I wanted it to. But after it was done the roughness of it made it look really good. It was easy and fun especially when the wood caught fire and I had to blow it out! Whew! Good times!

Bird Food

So I always think of good things to write about when I am away from the computer. Then when I get in front of the computer it's like I have temporary amnesia. I cannot think of a darn thing to write. But it has been a little while since I wrote and I need to keep up with it. I have been working on some projects and I plan to post them on here. So be patient.
Our grapes this year are bigger and tastier than last year. They are still small by grape standards but we are pleased that they have increased in size. They are also much sweeter. Last year they were just a wee bit tart (insert pucker lips here). We still have to buy our grapes at the store but I am happy to say that the birds have found our grapes and are eating them up! Cheapest bird food ever. Also my son made a really cool bird house at church camp and we found the perfect place to put it up. It is partially hidden by some bushes which are right outside of a bedroom window. Hopefully the birds will feel it's a good place for a home and we will be able to watch them from the window. Our cat is no longer an issue since she decided to get hit by a car and break her leg. She is now a gimpy kitty and we don't let her out. The birds, lizards and snakes in our yard all breathed a sigh of relief. Actually we think the birds were the ones driving the car! Anyway,I plan to make some bird feeders out of old coke bottles and a bird bath out of some terracotta pots. I am going to have to figure out how to have a nice landscape for the birds without giving them a free for all in our garden. That will require some research.......

Preparations

Lately my visions of the future have not been very positive. There are too many wheels being set into motion and very quickly. I hate to be pessimistic but I am not the only one who is thinking that way. I also think it is interesting how so many people are suddenly interested in simple/frugal living, re-fashioning, re-using, gardening and keeping chickens. It is just too much to be a coincidence. It also seems many of them are believers.
My daughter is named after a woman in the Bible who is described as being "beautiful and intelligent". She was also very prepared. When David was coming with an army of 400 men to kill her husband and all his men she whipped out 200 loaves of bread, 2 bottles of wine, 5 sheep that were ready to be cooked, a bushel of grain that had been cooked, 100 raisin cakes, and 200 cakes of pressed figs to give to David. Wow! Now that is really prepared!
So pondering this I have come to the conclusion that I am not being paranoid or fearful or even pessimistic. The holy spirit is prompting us and saying "better get ready". I know a wonderful christian woman who lives in Missouri and has been preparing for a while now. She has been stockpiling food and supplies and is even getting a windmill put up on her land. She says when she finds a good blanket at a garage sale or thrift store she gets it because she thinks someday someone will need a blanket and she will go to her storage and get them a blanket. I am not as prepared as she is. In fact, I feel a little frustrated that it seems our ability to get prepared is hampered. For one thing we live smack dab in the middle of the city. I am not sure how productive we can make our yard and even if we do are we more vulnerable to theft because we are more obvious? My first instinct is to get the heck out of the city and move way out in the country where we are not so "see"able. But maybe God is putting His thumb over us to keep us right here so that we will be the helpers when he calls on us. I am not sure but either way I feel a great stirring in my heart to get prepared. These things are actually fun and interesting to me anyway. I am bent towards using resources wisely and finding new ways to use something. And I love the thrill of finding a real bargain. It has been taught to me from an early age by my mom and Girl Scouting. I like being crafty and I feel very satisfied when I make something new out of something old. I also like being prepared. Enjoyable as it is I still feel a sense of urgency about it. And I sense that others do as well. Lord help us all to have strength and endurance for the times that lie ahead. Give us discernment that we might make good preparations and be ready for the tasks you have planned for us.
(This photo is from the vegetable garden at Epcot. Just one more reason we should move to Disney World!)

Too much squash?

The squash casserole in the pic by the way is delicious. I found the recipe when I had way too many squash to know what to do with. So I searched by ingredient on a recipe site. It has been a hit with everyone who has tasted it. (At least they acted like it anyway). I have tweaked it slightly by leaving out one egg and the butter and eye-balling the rest of the squash. Don't worry about measuring it! Just get a big bag of squash and add in enough peppers, onions, cornbread and cheese until it looks right. And you might want to put half in a dish to freeze for later.
http://easy.betterrecipes.com/moms-squash-casserole.html