While I usually run without the aid of my digital camera, every now and then I take the camera for a walk. Below are pictures from March.
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- Dumplin’
Daily Archives: 1 April 2009
In Spring …
… it is said a young girl’s fancy turns to compost. I admit this statement may make me seem a bit less than young but I do rethink my composting every spring.
This spring, my fancy was brought back to composting while reading an article in Mother Earth News. This caused me to get out my copy of The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible by Edward C Smith. I also did some online reading about the reasonings for and production of compost.
For those who are unfamilar with compost, it is the product of controlled aerobic decomposition of organic materials. Basically, it is what happens in nature to organic materials when given enough time and air. The uses of compost are many but for the average person, it is a great addition to your soil as a fertilizer.
My compost pile – which is currently in a couple of plastic garbage containers – tend to fill up in the fall with leaves as I cover my plants and other items with the leaves off the large maple trees in my yard. Over my leach field, I have many layers of leaves and tend to turn these but never use this compost as I want to keep the leach fields covered well.
Besides leaves, you can put the following items in compost: tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells, fruit and vegetable peels. When I was first introduced to my former husband’s family, his mother “gift wrapped” her garbage. She sorted out, in a separate container, the organic matter. She did so in an attempt to keep neighborhood animals out of the garbage but I do so to put it in my compost bin. I keep a small coffee can on my kitchen counter. In it go egg shells – preferably crunched up to small pieces – and coffee grounds and tea bags. Also in it are apple cores, carrot peels and potato peels. Not in it are meat scraps.
As you get ready for your spring garden, check out the following resources for compost tips and hints.
Product Review – Arnold Multi-Grain Sandwich Thins
I admit I could never do a carb-free diet. I do, though, try to control the amount of carbs that I eat on a daily basis. I like a good sandwich for lunch, though, so am always looking for a less caloric and less carb rich alternative. Enter Arnold Multi-Grain Sandwich Thins.
Arnold Multi-Grain Sandwich Thins
I first saw this wonderful little items at Sam’s Club and bought a sixteen pack – not exactly trial size. The good news was the Sandwich Thins were a big hit at my house. We love them with sandwich meat on them. We love them with tuna or egg salad on them. I even love them with hamburgers on them.
The Sandwich Thins score bonus points with me for several reasons. First, there are 22 grams of carbohydrates in a roll. The bread I currently have in my house has 18 grams in one slice and most of my sandwiches have two slices of bread. Also, because the Sandwich Thins are multi-grain, there are five grams of dietary fiber where as my loaf of bread has less than a gram per slice. The bread in question is potato bread.
Just a precautionary note, there is sugar in the Sandwich Thins and sucralose.
I would strongly suggest that you try the Arnold Multi-Grain Sandwich Thins. My family loves them. Maybe yours will also.
The Spin Zone – NY 20th CD
A special election is always news. This year the special election to fill the NY 20th Congressional District has brought out the full force of both parties. Republicans have used this as a chance to start their renewed climb to power in NY where they were recently voted out of power in the state senate and assembly. Democrats have used this as a chance to see how far, or long, the new president’s coat tails will extend.
Now, the television ads have finally stop but the spin has begun. With more than 10,000 absentee ballots having been sent out, the approximately 65 votes separating the two candidates seem negligible. Court cases have already been heard in the case, with the state extending the time to receive military ballots to April 14th.
The GOP is spinning this election as a win, regardless of the final result. The previous incumbent, Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand who is now a US senator, handily won re-election last November by a large margin.
The Democrats are spinning the election as a win. The district is heavily Republican so any close race is a win for the democratic party.
We can expect to hear spin in every direction over the next two weeks. Hopefully, the election will be decided in that time.
