Does it ever confuse you why green living can be so complicated? Some practices are almost a deterrent from incorporating this into our lifestyles. I have found that I desire to use green practices, but not at the cost of sacrificing my simple life practices. But there is one good thing that keeps me from feeling guilty, simple living often incorporates green living by its essence. Having less, means less garbage, less waste, less cleaning products to care for stuff, less time to care for stuff, less stuff to replace, etc. But how can you do more when you are already struggling to incorporate my simple living practices into your life?

Be thoughtful before you purchase an item. Do you need it? How will it affect the environment and now and in the future? Will there be continuing resources to purchase with using the product? Is there an environmentally friendly way to do this? Some products are now environmentally friendly due to companies making it easy for you. Refillable items, sold in recycled easily disposable items that are poured into a permanently re-usable dispenser are a great example of this. Technology companies often offer an easy method to recycle items such as ink cartridges and batteries by including prepaid envelopes to send the old and empty containers back to them in.

Wash your clothes in cold water only. This completely eliminates the heating of water. I have not found any significant difference in the cleanliness or stain removal of our clothing. I have not used warm or hot water for years. Once you get into this practice, if you have to purchase a new washer, you can often save money by purchasing a model that has fewer options. Additionally, with cold water I have noticed that I can use significantly less detergent to clean a load of laundry.

If at all possible, try carpooling for different activities. Even if you can’t use this practice every day, try finding ways to incorporate carpooling one or two days per week. You will save money, and be able save the environment at the same time. When you can’t carpool, consider sharing errands with a friend or neighbor. If you and a friend both have a designated errand day, that fall on different days, call each other the night before to ask if the other needs anything. This will help eliminate the need for you to make an extra trip out for some forgotten, but needed item for you AND your friend. This saves, time, gas, and emissions!

There are lots of ways to being incorporating green practices into your life style in a simple way. As with other simple living practices, don’t wait, and get started today, with just one idea that you can change this month!

These are my thoughts.

Leslie Valeska

~Contributing Writer~

Leslie Valeska is the lucky wife of Thomas.  With children ranging in ages from 4-16, she has had a lot of time to learn and experience much of the fine art of homemaking.  

For FREE daily tips and a FREE E-zine on simple and frugal living visit her blog Journey to Simplicity. Need a source of encouragement, inspiration, and support on your journey to Godly womanhood? Visit Simple Journey Ministries (she has a FREE E-zine too!) Of course, don’t forget to visit the Simple Journey Bookstore!

Little House and the Big Garden posted these great pictures of their new greenhouse, go check it out!   They did a good job, and I know it will be a blessing to their family.   I am definitely showing this post to my own husband for a little "inspiration" .  The greenhouse that a friend "donated to my cause" was in such bad repair that it wasn't worth salvaging, which was very disappointing.  Perhaps we just might find room for one of these somewhere in our new yard. 

There is a link in the post to the book they got the plans from for my fellow book-lovers, too! 

Blessings,

Catherine

Kristin Hoffman homesteads with her family in the hills of East Tennessee and blogs about alternative energy, family farming, and home schooling with her husband at www.solarfamilyfarm.com. She can also be found cooking in the kitchen with her homemade apple cider vinegar.

The secretary at the school in our town, invited us to a wonderful event her church was doing.  They  called it the Apple and Pumpkin Festival.  From 11-3 they had pumpkins for the kids, a moon bounce, games, prizes, crafts, pony rides, food, face painting, and clowns making balloon animals.  And get this...it was all FREE!!!!!!!! I'm sure it cost a pretty penny to put it all together.  They had a booth  where they were giving out free gas cards.   Who wouldn't jump on that one right?  Well when you went over to get your gas card they asked if they could ask you a few questions.  Now if any of you have seen the Kirk Cameron evangelism videos on God tube, you know what they asked.  Are you a good person? Have you ever lied?  Stolen?  If you were to stand before a judge would you be found guilty of these crimes?  Would you go to heaven or hell based on that?  I can't remember the whole spin but it was a great, non threatning way for them to talk to people, see where they are coming from and share the gospel with them.    They also had some people walking around with some great optical illusion tricks that went right into sharing the gospel.  I think that church is doing a superb job with fullfilling the great commission.  My girlfriend and her two kids met us there and we made a day of it.  The kids never got bored and they had a blast.  Here are some pics of our day.

THE NEXT TIGER WOODS!

KALEIGH AND BLAKE WITH CHARLIE BROWN

PARKER"S PONY RIDE

FACE PAINTING

BLAKE GOT A STRIKE!

PARKER IN THE MOON BOUNCE

As many of you know, I love to read.  But this time I feel like I have gotten myself in way over my head.  You see I started a book from my friend over the weekend called 90 minutes in Heaven by Don Piper.  My friend said it was an awesome book that really changed her view of worship.  So far, so good.  I'm a little more than half way done with it.  Then over the weekend I purchased Little Pilgrim's Progress by Helen Taylor,  for my daughter.  We spend time everynight after her younger brothers go to bed reading.  I think we both cherish the time together.  So I figured, what better story to experience together than this.   Well it is so good that I find myself reading ahead a couple chapters.  I want to ponder and pray about our discussion of the book as we read it.  I have to point out the analogies throughout the book and guide her as to what the true meaning behind the story is.  I think she is starting to catch on.  Then I began a bible study this Monday.  The book we are doing is The 4:8 Principle by Tommy Newberry.    We have devoted ourselves to two chapters a week.  So I have three books that I have to keep up on all at the same time.  Four really......if you count the daily Bible readings that I do through Word of Life.   Wish me luck.   I'm gonna go see if I can finish at least the Don Piper book tonight.  It is very doable if I stop blogging and get to reading.    

'Tis the season for falling leaves; so it's a great time to build a compost bin if you don't have one (or more) already.  Here is a great website with plans for several different versions.

Hope you are enjoying the cooler weather and having a wonderful Autumn gardening season! 

I actually have 2 gardens right now .  The Spring/Summer garden still has peppers producing, tomatoes making a comeback, and 3 Eden's Gem melons that are getting bigger every day .

We planted the Fall/Winter garden at our "new" house, (which we still haven't gotten to move into), a few weeks ago.  It's doing great thus far; we have squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, brocolli, cauliflower, carrots, spinach, chard, mustard, beets, onions, all flourishing in the cooler days of Fall here in Texas.  We got the pathways lined with newspaper and a layer of hay last weekend, and I hope to spread some mulch in the planting beds this weekend, too.  It still has a temporary fence, which is quite a sight; but so far, it has deterred the deer. 

OK, that's a brief update from here.  How are your gardens growing?  Anyone here grow things in a greenhouse during the colder months?

Blessings,

Catherine

I just got back from a marvelous weekend up in the mountains of New Hampshire.  It is a time that I look forward to so very much.  It is a time to get away from the never-ending responsibilities homemaker, wife and homeschooler, a time to get alone with God and hear from Him, a time to gather with Godly women who share their lives, tears, laughs and needs.  This year a dear friend joined me for the retreat.  It was her first time and I believe, she too, fell in love with Berea. 

The theme was Living Water.   But those who drink the living water I give will never be thirsty  again.  It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.   God even sent us some of his water in the form of rain Friday night and Saturday night.  He did however give us just enough time on Saturday morning and afternoon to enjoy all that he created in the nature outdoors.  I was able to take a hike and sit by my bubbling brook.  I found this last place last year and I LOVE it.  It is so peaceful and allows me to really feel close to God.  I also did the rock wall and rang the bell at the top.  I have a scrape on my elbo to remind me of my experience.

Our speaker, Renee Swoop, was fabulous!  What a speaker.  She is funny and down to earth.  She is someone I could really relate to.  She spoke openly and honestly about struggles she has faced in her walk with the Lord.  The Lord used her to speak to women's hearts and at least 7 women accepted Jesus as their Savior.  She has a major role in a wonderful ministry called Proverbs 31.  I can't wait to check out her website.

As always the after dinner program was a hoot.  We had two special performances.  One by Camp Berea's own bell choir.  LOL!  The staff had service bells that they would tap with whatever song was playing at the time.  They had routines and moves and were just hilrious to watch.  Our second surprise was a comedian from California.  She was a young Christian mom who used her experiences to make us laugh.  Hey Tanya....wanna come over for some quackadillas?!?!?  My girlfriend Tanya thought her mom's mispronouncion of words was so hilarious she was crying.....for like two minutes....the comedian was already on a completely new topic and there's Tanya.... STILL laughing about the quackadillas.   Gotta love that girl!

Any way I hope to have some pictures up once my Berea babes email themto me cause I FORGOT MY CAMERA!!!!!  Hint Hint......You have got to see some of the outfits that we had with the whole Living Water theme.  They were GREAT!  I did not dress up this year.  I know I'm boring.  But hey 4 out 0f 5 years isn't too bad as far as statistics go.   

My daughter did three years of girlscouts and really enjoyed it up until recently.  My kids are funny they get bored with doing the same things year after year and that is what was beginning to happen with girls scouts.  So Kaleigh decided to move on and try something new.  She is again doing horseback riding lessons with another homeschool friend, continues to go into the public school for art, as well as takes a homewchool writing class.   She has Sunday school class and youth group on Thursdays.

My son attended Kindergarten in the public school, my daughter attended 2nd grade and my other son did preschool.  Now my two boys go to music in the public school.  They go to Sunday school on Sundays, Youth group on Thursdays, and take a class at the Mystic Aquarium for homeschoolers on Fridays.  Are they not getting enough socialization????

The reason I am asking this question is because we signed up our son for cub scouts and he will cling to his father, cry and not participate at the meetings.  Where is this coming from?  Is it a result of homeschooling?  He doesn't have these problems in the other settings....but then again....his parents aren't around to use as a crutch in these other settings either.  We just drop and go.  When I try to talk to him about it he says .....Cubscouts is boring and he just wants to be with his siblings.  I am all for the family, obviously, because I homeschool.  In fact I want my kids to have such a tight bond that peer pressure and some of the stupid things that today's youth are caught up in,  they don't desire.

There are tons of homeschoolers here, so I guess I'm asking for your opinions and experiences.   I am encouraged to know many grown adults who were homeschooled their entire lives.  They have graduated from college and are quite normal.  They are not freaks that don't know how to live in the real world as mom mom likes to tell me.  She thinks I am screwing my kids up.  Hahahaha.  No more than she screwed me up I suppose....LOL!

Anyway, what are your thoughts on the whole cub scouts antics? 

Connie