Flowerbed view

Here are a few photos of the flowerbed..it's amazing what a little rain and warm temperature will do...

$9.25 and $3.85

This past week the numbers 9.25 and 3.85 have been permanently grafted into my brain cells...

• $9.25 because that is how much evil Ticketmasters levied PER ticket as a "convenience" charge when I purchased Coldplay tickets!
• $3.85 because that is how much a gallon of gas cost, Ouch!

Eagle sighting...

This afternoon, on the way back from Afton State Park I saw an American Bald Eagle flying above our van as it was being chased by half dozen or so small birds.

Garden update

Yesterday I took the day off and helped do a few things around the vegetable garden. Theresa has been working hard on the garden and it's starting to look nice...we put more peat moss and leaves onto the garden and then I dug up the soil in order to loosen it up (saw lots of worms). We need the peat moss because our soil has a lot of clay and can get real hard! Theresa has already dumped one compost bin of compost onto the garden this spring.

Vegetables in:

• cabbage
• broccoli
• tomato plants
  
• basil

We are using blood meal to add nutrients as well as a rabbit repellent around the our vegetables.

House Wrens are back...

Just saw and heard a pair of House Wrens this morning in our back yard. These song birds are one of my favorites as they have a pretty song and will sing throughout the day. Our neighbor has a birdhouse that has attracted a nesting pair for a number of years.

Interesting ideas from Living Green Expo

I attended the Living Green Expo a few weeks ago and was happy to see a large turnout and many, many vendors exhibiting. Sadly, I had to rush thru the expo as number 2 and 3 were complaining -- remember to go w/o kids next year ;)

I did however see a few items that I though were great ideas. First, FreEner-G is a startup company which, according to their Web site, is a 'first-of-its-kind solar electricity leasing' to residents. The goal is to help homeowners 'avoid the significant up-front cost of owning and eliminate the responsibility of maintaining' solar panels and batteries to run the system. I think this is a great idea as not many people have $20k to $40k to install solar panels. I put my name down to have an evaluation done...Also, visit trusyguides.com to get a solar panels 101 education...

The second is the sale of rain barrels from refurbished food containers. Located in Minneapolis, Verde Strategies, is selling the barrels to $60 not +$125 that I have seen. I've been thinking about getting one of these for sometime now...

Single stream recycling

Just saw a program about the pros/cons in regards to single stream recycling. The idea of single stream recycling is that residents can mix ALL their recyclables (paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, cans) together for pick up. The sorting of material is done at the factory. Some pros include increase recycling participation, more types of paper products collected and reduced collection cost. Because the materials are all mixed together there is an increase in contamination which actually results in the items being throw away! Ouch! Definitely not what I want.

You can view the video from this page...it is Real format.

More free music

Get it while you can...Nine Inch Nail is giving away their latest CD, The Slip, as a free download.

Weekend full of events...

Besides the usual kids stuff, I'll try to attend these events:

• Free Comic Book Day at The Source
  on Saturday, May 3rd
• This is the 6th year of Free Comic Book Day and is a great way to learn what comics are out there as well as to reintroduce yourself to this ever changing and exciting genre.
  
• Attend the Living Green Expo at the State Fair grounds
  
• The expo is "is a free, annual event that provides information and products to help Minnesotans improve the environmental and social impacts of their day-to-day living." Try to get more green ideas...
  
• Bring a few items to my local Earth Day Recycling Day
• Attend Iron Man
  
• A site dedicated to Iron Man