Heres Janie Parrish

Anyone who doesn’t know or understand the Benefits of Solar Power Energy really needs to at the very least check out the Solar FAQs at Nextgeneration-ae.com, which I have enjoyed reading and learning so much about Renewable Energy and other “green” related information lately. There is so much information out there, the majority can be found on the Internet with little or no effort to locate. We have been dealing with energy issues for decades now, I know there has been a lot done to move forward and help with the energy crisis, but it just doesn’t seem to be going fast enough.

With the cost of fuel increasing, and it is increasing once again, it is getting harder for my parent’s farm to be making enough money to pay for the fuel they need to run the tractors to tend the farm. They are currently growing enough crops to feed their livestock, assuming that the weather cooperates they won’t have to buy too much winter feed.

Dad’s thinking about putting in a windmill and some solar panels to try to generate some of his own energy to cut down on electricity costs. It’s hard to find ways to conserve energy when you are running a farm! I’ve been reading articles on the Internet about how different plants like algae can be used to create bio fuel instead of using corn (which I think is a great idea) and how many areas of the country are looking into wind farms and solar farms, too. I think that all of these areas are good investments into the energy futures of the country.

There is so much more to becoming as green as possible than recycling our household waste, even though that is a great way to help the situation. We are lucky in that we are provided recycling bins that the local Waste Control trucks come and pick up each week from the curb of your residence, at no extra charge mind you. I mean it can’t get much easier than that, which makes me crazy when I see so many neighbors not using them. Makes me wonder what else do they expect to help keep our Mother Earth healthy for us all.

Times have certainly changed with all that the Internet brings to us. I can’t imagine having kids and then having to deal with the task of talking with them about the subject of sex. My mother really never gave me “the talk” she basically left it up to my older sisters to tell me what I needed to know, that and junior high health class.

My friends and I had all kinds of ideas in our heads that we all had heard rumors of back in the day. None of us had a clue and had no where to turn for good quality information concerning our curiosity of nature’s human sexual behavior. There was no way any of us were going to ask our health teacher any questions that were burning in our immature brains at that point.

I remember starting my period during school and I had to go to the nurse’s office to get the appropriate sanitary napkins to use until I went home. That evening when my mother came home from work, I worked up the courage to tell her that I had finally started my cycle. Her response to me was “Well it’s about time!” and she brought me into her room, gave me a pamphlet about the subject and sent me upstairs to have my sisters fill me in with any details or questions. I was totally freaked out at her reaction and felt very foolish.

Too bad we didn’t have the Internet back then. There are good informational sites out there such as HealthGuru.com that would have helped us so much back then. All we had we the library to turn to, and we didn’t use it to our advantage when it came to this subject that was such a taboo back then.

It’s most unfortunate that I was one of the people that was not given a green thumb at all. It doesn’t matter if it is an outside plant or and inside plant, I fear they are doomed. My mom had the best green thumb in the neighborhood with all of her beautiful window boxes that adorned many of the lower level windows back at the house that we all grew up in. All of her friends and neighbors always took the time and complimented her on how see keep these wonderful window boxes looking their best each and every year.

I was given two lovely Oak Leaf Window Boxes a few years back as a birthday gift and I still am not having any luck with those darned things no matter how hard I try and no matter what I do or plant in them. It’s gotten to the point where they are now in the garage ready to put up for sale at one of our yard sales that we will be holding come next spring, I just give up. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings that gave me this gift but I just can’t deal with the thought of trying anymore. Wish my mom was still around to help me though.

We are in the planning stages of throwing a bridal shower for one of the gals at work. What a fun and exciting event this is going to be. We have all gone to a bridal shower at some point where the planning left a lot to be desired, so we have all had a say so in what we want to do and what we don’t want to happen and do this time around. It has become a group effort all the way around, and we are having fun with it. A positive thing to focus on during these stressful times.

One tool that has come in handy once again, is the website Celebrations.com, where they have a wonderful amount of bridal shower ideas and planning tools that we have decided to put into place. Not only do they assist with bridal showers, but all other types of party and celebrations that can be used all year around. We have used this site before for birthdays, graduations, baby showers, here at work and know that we can always look to them for great ideas that have always turned out quite well.

We want to have several games for the party that are new and unique and FUN and they have several that we have chosen, my favorite being called “Favorite Memories” which entails everyone to email one of  their favorite memory of the bride or groom. We will then print out the memories and cut them into strips; making sure they are anonymous and don’t have the sender’s name on it. At the party one of us will read each one out loud to the bride and have her guess which one of us sent what memory.  At the end, we will present the bride with a nice booklet that has all the memories written or printed out and pasted in neatly, which will be a nice keepsake and something that we all want to help put together and decorate for the occasion.

Considering how much time we love to spend outdoors in the back and side yard I thought that I would look into purchasing some rain chains to put out there. Right now they would be a perfect addition since we have been getting a ton of rain. I know how badly we need the rain since we didn’t get much snow this winter and without the snow it definitely makes a difference to the much needed water that we all rely on during the hot summer months. We have had a few summers that we had local mandatory water restrictions put in place by the city and that really sucked.

Anyway I really like the look of some of the garden rain chains that I’ve seen in some people’s properties. I’ve been taking a look around online to see if I can find some copper rain chains since I have been getting into copper these past couple of years and I really like the look of it. So far this one really catches my eye, but I’m going to take my time until I find the perfect one.

umbrella rain