2011 tips for living better.... for less....there is such an thing?

Hum...reading Mother Earth News Magazine...well, let's see, this one guy who has fussy kids that won't eat veggies on their pizza...he purees them in the tomato paste, spreads it on the pizza and then adds the cheese...kids get the nurtition of the veggies and never even know they ate them.

Right at the moment we are using that new "shrinky dink" type window sealer to help with the air drafts over winter around the windows and over them...and this new stuff is nice...you can't even see it on the windows...and therefore...make sure you wash the windows before putting it on them. With that, it makes our windows equal to" triple" pane sealed. Triple paned windows are expensive to buy these days.

Another idea that I liked was taking pieces of  used ror broken granite and putting them on top your wood stove and around its sides before going to bed..it absorbs the heat and gives it off into the room better...... if the stove slowly dies down during the night. My dad the day we got our wood stove..had us line it inside with extra brick on bottom and sides for the same purpose...more heat and less fuel useage...less wear and tear on the stove itself also. I found that my self-made logs were just as easily rolled up and used at once as to ait and let them dry after roolling them. I used some of the new "bricks" they have out made from presto log type material...or saw dust.  I used one month's newspaper logs in one 24 hour session with about 12 bricks to keep an contiuous fire...the bricks were bought by my son for us...and we used half newspaper and half bricks...in 24 hours both were consumed.  He paid I think he said $8 for 12 bricks. It was though quite an toasty fire for the effort though. We brought up the house temperature about 15 degrees.For those of you in an windy area...I have heard to use bales of hay wrapped in plastic tarps first from the bottom of the ground and around one side, up and over.. and the whole works next to the side of the house real close...for extra outside insulation...esp om the north side.  When it warms up its simply an matter of if you kep tit dry enough.... using it for the animals... or for mulch in the garden.  Hay "furniture" is really coming into it's own also these days...esp in barns.... covered with sofa covers, pillows and top layered with throw covers for extra Holdiay rooms for an crowd. Most barns also have an source of heat...but you can get ahold of those overhead infra--red heaters also. Of course..separate the animals and thier pens.. from this little extra " entertainment room" with an fake ply-wood wall and hay bales up against it also for the decor. I saw one where they laid down Hay seats on the flooring and had Hay built up in the back like an sofa...and used an huge tablecloth also in bright checked colors...laid plain colored blankets over it angeled off with toss pillows. An buffet table and these area's with an tree work wonders for the kids to play in while the formal preparations are going on. Just keep them dresssed warm and turn on those overhead lights and give them an assortment of trucks and loaders and construction type toys to play with...wooden blocks.

2011 tips or tips for 2011 Shirley? Lol

But I do really understand where you're coming from!

OK..where my posting go to...electric company finally is getting an bit of competition as two solar companies, one from california is offering  leasing solar panels from them. Plan is in one..no inital up front money....$25 per month...15 years....3.2 killowatt system..., they come out and install, guarantee and insures the panels...on an $70  electric fee..it amounts to about $40 less per month...immediate savings are at least $5 per month...owner gets to collect the $6,000 state tax credit for energy...and pays the company the first year $2,974. If the ower sells the house, the new owners can pick up off the lease... or else return the system. Better then nothing. One company, Solar City is already in several others states, the other Imagine Energy is Portland based, but works with Solar City.