Yesterday we received over an inch of rain. Oh. Happy New Year! In America! Sorry, keep forgetting things like that. The social niceties! Anyway we got over an inch -there is so much water in the ground and so little evaporation at this time of year.When spring comes we will be in great shape! Manu and Molly racing in for dinner. 
Thought I would show you another unsightly angle. 
Nothing I can do about this one – that mess is all thanks to Mother Nature. Why nature was designated female I have no idea. The ancient ones are to blame for that. Her fickleness? The fact that she does not like to tidy up. Her wild growth in all directions. Or maybe it is her vulnerability to mankind’s whims.
Anyway the water troughs are full. Thank you Mrs.
My cows are soaked and in a mood because no- one cleaned out their INdoors while I was away. I am coming – I will start today Tia and Del.
They can’t get new straw until I have some of the proverbial cleaned out. I might bring the tractor through for the concrete pad. Nothing is draining this year.
This time last year we were -17c I was in New Zealand drinking coffee at the beach with my sister.
Let’s look at today’s weather.
Remember weather and climate are not the same thing. The changes in weather are symptoms, if you like, of the climate changing. And there have been many contributing factors to the changes in our climate. We are only in charge of our own contribution. But there are things we can do. Pollution is a word we cannot ignore. You and I have cut down on single use plastic and unnecessary gasoline consumption (the two things I know I can personally contribute) – live small and thoughtfully, I work to heal the land with small scale farming. I have made definite changes this year – I will never use a plastic toothbrush again. Or Saran Wrap – we call it Gladwrap in NZ – ( we never had it as kids so it is not a hardship for me) or paper towels – once again – pretty easy.
I find – for me – it is easy to nominate concrete changes I can make – concrete is a massive contributor to warming up an area. I never buy prepackaged vegetables for instance – for a number of reasons but that useless plastic tray is one of them.
Now, I know how hard it is to be the only one in your household who cares. But don’t worry about preaching to them or changing them – we do what you/I can do. Make our own quiet changes. Let’s be the change we want to see.
Anyway – help me. What else can I easily adapt into my routine of thoughtful plastic use. It does not have to be a big change. Remember the hummingbird. Be the hummingbird.
Much love.
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
59 responses to “UNSIGHTLY ANGLE”
All of our food waste other than meat, bones, and oils go into the worm farm. Paper, cardboard, egg cartons, leaves, every organic item in it goes the worms eat it all, The big BUT, Plastic, solutions are needed. Good Post! Thanks.
Hullo Jacques. That’s excellent- I used to have a worm farm but the chickens got jealous. The plastic is multi use though / you will probably have it for years. What solutions do you use?
We limit our purchases, the packaging is a problem, plus those plastics used are mostly not re-recyclable. Unfortunately, most of it goes in the blue bin. Our water is not the best which means we must purchase drinking water, we buy 5-gallon (19 L) R.O. water and use reusable thermoses or aluminum bottles. Plastic waste is a real challenge for my wife and me.
More mud! How on earth anything stays clean there is a mystery! hohoho
Mine is in repairing or doing without or doing differently.
A set of blinds broke. I’m in the process of restringing them. Sure, I could pop over and spend $30 for a new set, but then the old ones would go to the land fill.
I think more people should visit land fills on a regular basis. “Out of sight, out of mind” tends to get our species in a pickle or worse.
I love this post. Love them all actually, but very much appreciated the reminder to make the changes we can. We use a lot of bees wrap. And like many of your readers I am a jar fiend. love jars. we are helped in northern italy by reliable community recycling. when the recycling and composting are done, we have hardly any trash. And we also have lots of markets and vendors, as you know, who put things in your bags instead of in plastic…it’s a help. Just thought I’d toss this in for New Years. A quote a saw on a friend’s newsletter which I love: “If the only prayer you say throughout your life is “Thank You,” then that will be enough.” ― Elie Wiesel
Thank you for the thought-provoking post! I recently started using wraps and bags from etee in place of saran wrap and quart-size plastic storage bags: they’re a lot like bees wrap, with added sustainably-sourced tree resins to “wax” the paper. So far, so good! Not cheap, but once they do finally wear out I can toss them on the compost. http://www.shopetee.com
Every little thing we can do helps! Happy New Year to you xx
I do struggle with being alone in a household that refuses to recognize the need to recycle. I do take the husband’s newspapers to be recycled, as he simply refuses to read online. Our newspaper publisher has forced the issue by publishing only online on Tuesday and Saturday. I’m sure it is a sign of things to come, hopefully. I also get the feeling that I’m the laughing stock of Walmart, as I seem to be famous for bringing my own bags. In the meantime, I do volunteer at the local animal shelter, and would love to hear any ideas on using anything other than plastic grocery bags for disposing of dog waste on our walks with the pups. It breaks my heart to think of how many bags of dog waste are being “preserved” in the landfills.
There are compostable poop bags and small garbage bags. I buy the big ones on amazon But the shelter is probably looking for free .. hmm
Hi Cee. I’ve been away from the blogosphere for a whike si I have missed your posts. Did you cone home for Christmas? We didnt have the amount of rain you have had but on tge day it poured in Raumati. And how is our favourite Pig?
Lying down and using my iPad. – fingers on wrong keys. Sorry!
Happy New Year Celi! I’m with you on plastics … I take my own bags with me to the supermarket, and other outlets. How I wish veg would no longer be packaged in plastic and all the other items that are wrapped in such! Maybe one day