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I Say Tomato

May 8, 2018 by Diana Prichard 3 Comments

Potentially shaping up as one for the record books — and not in a good way — the 2009 tomato season is upon us. Here, the season is just winding up, but already I’ve had my first few mouthfuls of flavor-packed, garden-fresh goodness.

Unfortunately, the first few mouthfuls may prove half the crop. While we’re not being hammered by the late blight that has been relentlessly claiming crops on the east coast, Mother Nature has not been our friend here either. The summer has been cool and in our region dry — even despite what seems like every third day rains.

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Patio Time!

February 14, 2018 by Amy L. Leave a Comment

I hope you’ll join me as I ponder some of my favorite things about summer! In no particular order: popsicles, hikes, beach time, ice cream cones, beautiful sunsets, bike riding, vitamin d (for some of us on the rainy west coast we find ourselves pretty much sun-drunk on a sunny day), and wait for it – patio time! While I could easily write a post about any of the wonderful things listed above I’ll save those for another time, and instead focus on patios and patio decoration.

I received an email from the lovely ladies at Gallant & Jones sharing their gorgeous deck chairs and I knew I had to post about them. From there, I thought we could look at patios more generally too!

I’ll confess I don’t have a patio. Well we do but it’s about 5 feet by 4 feet and rarely gets sun, so some of this post is just me daydreaming about the future. It’s fun to imagine just what our futures might look like, even as it relates to how we’ll decorate. The older I get the more I realize that what’s most important for me when it comes to decorating and entertaining.

First and foremost I want our future patio to be cozy, bright and inviting. So that means some deck chairs like the ones from Gallant and Jones, some candles like the ones above from Silk n Lights Designs to ward off bugs, and some cute cushions – I love these monogrammed ones from Tater Babies. If we truly want to get lux – it’d be nice to have some heat lamps, a sweet little table with seating for guests, and if we’re dreaming here – I’ll take a gazebo and a little man-made lake too.

I’d love to hear your dreams for your perfect patio – what you would include, and how you would accessorize?

A Sweet Surprise

July 5, 2017 by Rebecca Hadfield 6 Comments

There’s no denying it – America has a sweet tooth. According to the National Confectioners Association, retail sales of chocolate, candy and gum amount to approximately $28 billion dollars annually. All of that sweetness, however, comes wrapped up in a problem. Because candy-wrappers are usually made up of mixed materials, they are generally not recyclable.

The hybrid of paper, plastic and metal that is responsible for keeping your treats fresh and tasty also prevents them from being conventionally recycled. As a result, millions of candy-wrappers end up in our landfills and eco-systems each and every year. Without avenues to recycle the wrappers, we can either choose to reduce waste by buying bulk candy (or candy with more recycling-friendly packaging such as paper or foil) or we can upcycle the empty wrappers into new, usable goods. Here are some Etsy sellers who are doing just that!

Tracy’s passion for upcycling candy and snack packaging came after a recent vacation to the Croatian Islands. She was so taken by the beautiful and colourful designs on some chip bags, that she packed the empty bags in her luggage and brought them back to her Seattle home. It didn’t take long before Tracy found a creative way to use her “souvenirs”. Clever quilt blocks made from the hoarded chip bags were followed by a mini-wallet, which ultimately became the inspiration for her line of accessories. “After making the Croatian chip wallet, I thought about all the chip bags, soda wrappers, candy bar wrappers & coffee bags that get tossed into the garbage,” says Tracy. And so, Squiggle Chick Designs was born.

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