sincerely yours, dena

Ocassionally, we order take out for the office from Cosi. They serve their sandwiches in plastic trays that to my surprise are made of non-recyclable materials. Well, shame on them. I launched my 2 prong attack, 1 - spreading the news thru the office that we will no longer order from them due to their environmental irresponsibility and 2 - do something with the trays we already have. Office lawns were born.

A little dirt, grass seed and water with the occasionally “mow” with scissors does the job. I’ve heard rumors that if you throw a little vodka on it the grass will not grow so tall and fall over. Little vodka for me, a little for the grass, a little for me….

I’ve found a new home in cyberspace where the neighbors are super friendly and creatifiic! Country Living Magazine’s website allows you to register within their forums, ask questions and get inspired. Need convincing… just check out Little Girls’ D-Ring Ribbon Belt Apron by Sommer Designs

Current forums include:

• Antiques & Collectibles
• Decorating
• Home Improvements
• Women Entrepreneurs
• Crafts & Simple Projects
• Gardening
• Outdoor Living
• Recipes & Entertaining

My parents and I are rummage sale junkies. Whatever you want to call it, tag sale, rummage sale, garage sale whatever…. to me it’s all goodness waiting for me to pillage thru. Over labor day we scored the mother load of mismatched tea cups. After a little slave labor (my father), a drill that was also purchased at a garage sale, a wood dowel and a screw - we had a bird feeder/bath that the british would be proud of.

Note: when drilling, put a little motor oil or oil on the drill bit, it can get really hot and either ruin the bit or your tea cup. Go slow and be patient.

The next time you see an interesting piece of driftwood floating along the beach, grab it, take it home and stick it straight into the ground (hammering may be needed). This piece of lost wood found itself as a purposefull contribution to my parents garden.

My parents have a knack for using vintage farm house pieces and incorporating it with the outdoors. Here’s a little mini tour of their “Great Outdoors.” The coolest piece is the antique beer tap that they have converted into an outdoor planter. It’s fun to switch out the tappers with new ones that we find on ebay.com. We use only Wisconsin brewed beers OF COURSE!

Over Labor Day I got to spend some quality time with the parental units at their lake home. People always ask where I get my skills from, well, a look at my parents cabin won’t leave you asking anymore.

There is a deer/bear/chipmunk/etc population that has a hankering for garden veggies. Therefore my parents had to fortify the goods with a sturdy and tall garden fence.

My cherry tomato plant is out of control. It’s got to be at least 6 feet tall. My issue is that the local gardening store doesn’t have taller tomato stakes. So I’m stuck adding height by weaving bamboo U stakes at the top. If anyone else has a homegrown solution, i’m all ears.

Ever wonder why your carrots you planted come out tinny tiny? Or what happens if you ignore the space requirements of an inch and plant your carrots right on top of each other. Ah hah, now you do, you get itsy bitsy carrots. Consider yourself warned.

Put a smaller jar in a pretty strainer and use it for a table display. My hubby bought me these roses just because he likes me.

No need for decorations when you have a back drop like this one. We enjoyed an afternoon BBQ at our friend’s relatives who live right on Lake Champlain. Not only was the food to die for (smoked pork ribs, potato salad and wine OH MY!) the fresh cut roses where enough to put me over the edge… do you think they would adopt me?