MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING

My Mother once told me "I am happiest when I am making something out of nothing." That statement really hit home with me, make something out of nothing. Today in our throw away world, we throw out more than we save. If you don’t believe me, just look at the garbage we throw out every week.

So this is Party Project #4. Make something out of nothing. You may use things that you would normally just throw away. Things that don't have a value or things you get free from someone, to recycle or rebuild into something else. The 'something' must be useful and cannot cost you a penny.

This project is to make something, not to just pick up something free and count it as a project. You must MAKE SOMETHING out of NOTHING !!!!!

You can make up to 10 items. Each item must be a different project. For example, if you are making flower boxes you can only make one, if you are making vases only one will be accepted.

Points will be disclosed at my January 2010 party.

HOW GREEN ARE YOU?

This is for people attending my party in January.

Did you know if you use just 10 plastic grocery sacks each week that in one year that totals more than 500 bags? Sometimes my total is well over 10 per week. I thought ‘what a waste of energy’, so I decided to get greener. What I did was buy three ‘green’ bags to carry items, I spent less than $1 each for them and they are actually pretty cool. They don’t break like the cheap plastic sacks and they hold much more than a plastic sack does. They have a square bottom so they stand up straight, unlike the plastic sacks that tip over and spill your items all over your car.

HINT: After you use the bags for shopping, immediately place them back in your car, then you will have them ready next time you need them.

So here is party project number three. This competition starts today, November 12, 2009.

Buy and use ‘green bags’. You can buy them almost everywhere. Keep track on a calendar how many times you use them. But you can only count three times each week.

If you don’t like the green bag idea, then recycle your plastic bags. You will also get points for this but not as many as using green bags. You must document this too.

You have about seven weeks until the next party. So make each week count. Points will be disclosed at the party.

January Party Project 2

This is for people attending my party in January.

Project 2 Oct 15th.

Name three games you think would be fun at my next party. These should be games we haven't played before. Remember, it will be January - so plan accordingly. You must explain in detail how the game will be played. I usually have 8 activities or games at my party so the games shouldn't take too much time.

You have until the 15th of November to send the three games to me. So give it some thought and good luck.

Points will be revealed at the end of the party in January. You will receive points for each game you submit, (limit 3 games) even if I don't use your game at the party.

AMMON FARMERS MARKET

Today I was invited to join the Ammon Farmers Market as they sold their goods at the Idaho Falls Harvest Festival.
Here are a few pictures I took of my booth.
More pictures and information on my blog: www.gardeninglifestyle.blogspot.com

Pam’s January Birthday Party

Okay, so a few of you wanted to begin the points process early. So here is my idea. Every 10 days a new project will be listed on my pix a day blog. This way you can find more ways to earn points for my party. Most of the points can be earned from the day I post until my next birthday party in early January. But some of the projects won’t have any points.

I will always let you know if there is a limit or not on each project. Its okay if you don't want to participate. But believe me, it will not only be worth it for points, but also good for environment. Some of these projects will help someone else too. I have decided to do this so you will have about three months to earn points, not just one week. Most of the projects are easy and will not take up very much time.

Here is a new twist. I will keep the point values a secret until the end of the party.

Project 1, October 5, 2009

Collect empty paper towel rolls and empty toilet paper rolls, (these are the brown holders for the paper).

You may ONLY collect them from your household. You may not collect them from neighbors, friends, relatives or organizations. AGAIN, COLLECT ONLY THOSE USED IN YOUR HOME.

I will use these in my garden next Spring. I will trim them to 2" wide and plant seeds in them. I plan to plant pumpkins, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, zucchini, pepper and tomato starts in them. So I need quite a few.

You may collect these until my party which is in January 2010. THERE IS NO LIMIT !!!!!
Any questions? Please use the comment box.

This is a sample of what I have collected.

This is a drop in the bucket of what I need.

Thanks for your help.

MY, WHAT BIG EYES YOU HAVE !!!!!

I decided to dig potatoes today. It is going to rain and snow tomorrow, and I wanted to dig them before it got too muddy. hahaha !!!! I dug two hills and here are three potatoes from those hills. They are huge. I made a large pot of potato soup with them....what else?????

What a busy day, I picked more of my produce. Below are some gourds I picked, I love these and will plant more next year.

Below are some of the cantalope I picked today, I was happy with the harvest. I only wish they tasted a little sweeter.

Here is a picture of most of the squash and pumpkins I picked today. The light green ones are pumpkins. I love them they usually have a light green stripe on them and are very smooth.

What my Mother would call the last rose of Summer. This is about the only flower I have after a very hard freeze last night.

Okay, why do I have a picture of a plum? I had a volunteer tree growing right in the middle of my flower garden. I thought it might be a Stanley Plum Tree, but it didn't ever blossom or have plums on it. So I just waited. I was tempted to just cut it down, cause it shades lots of flowers in the area. It is about 10 feet tall. This year I happen to notice it had a few green things on it. It looked like round plums, but I wasn't sure. Well, a few days ago, I noticed the 'plums' were getting ripe and I picked one. It is a wonderful sweet tasting plum, I dare say better than the Stanley Plum. Anyway, now I have to move the tree-not chop it down. I will look forward to many more sweet plums from that tree.

I know it's late, but I salvaged some small ears of corn tonight. It is a little old, and kind of small, but good just the same. I froze it on the cob and looking forward to trying some this week.

The moon was very pretty tonight. I love this setting. It looks like Fall is here, reality sets in that Summer is really gone.

I remember something my Mother used to say after a busy Summer and Fall. "I'm going to enjoy my Winters more." After this week and how full it was with harvesting crops and canning vegetables. I truly understand what She meant. I will use this Winter to reflect on this year and to plan for a better next year.

TIME TO HARVEST

This is a squash called Delicata, it is a Summer squash, good flavor but kind of dry. This is about half of what I have picked this year.This is a picture of Sweet Meat Squash still in the garden. I picked about 40 from this double row. (25 plants)

Here is a picture of Autumn Gold Pumpkins, the kindergarden children will pick these in a few weeks.

This is one side of my Pumpkin Garden. It is a good view of the Indian Corn and the pumpkins.

This is a Blue Moon Pumpkin.

This is a Sweet Meat Squash.

This is a white pumpkin..

Here is my entire harvest of Sweet Meat Squash. A good crop this year. Last year I only picked five.

WHAT A PARTY !!!!!!!

First of all, thanks to everyone that came to my BIRTHDAY PARTY !!!!!!

The weather was pretty bad, it was rainy, muddy, windy and cold. But in spite of that everyone had a great time. Especially me.

There is not a better way to spend a BIRTHDAY than with family and friends !!!!! So next year, everyone plan on attending, you will really enjoy it.

Thanks to everyone for bringing food; we had soup, bread, salad from the garden, bread rolls, and Chantelle made a Tres Leche Cake. Thanks Chantelle it was yummy !!!!!

Thanks also for all the gifts, especially the homemade ones !!!! Thanks for the thought behind each and every gift.

At the end of the evening we had some fun with skits. Bryant and Missy’s skit was soooooo funny. We captured all of the skits on tape. So any of you that missed it can get a copy from one of us.

Thanks for all of you for commenting on my blogs too. Hopefully you will continue to check out my blogs. I should have more time to blog these days.

Here are a few pictures of some of the activities.

Sorry for all the pictures, but I needed to show you how much fun we had !!!!!!!

See you next year.