Monday, March 21, 2011

Treasures

This past Christmas I came home with quite a few treasures.

Nothing particularly fancy or expensive.  But near and dear to my heart.  It got me thinking about the other treasured items which I've already been fortunate enough to have as part of my daily existence.  So I decided to share some of those treasures with you.  Hopefully, this will be something that will prompt me to blog on a more regular basis.  At least for a while.  But enough about me...on to the treasure.

Today's treasure is simple.  A rug.  But not just any rug. One with some history.  My great (great?) grandfather was a weaver of rugs.  The "fabric" is denim that had outlived it's useful life as overalls, coveralls, etc on the family farm.  I've been surrounded by these rugs since I was a kid.  They would come out in the winter to help hold the snow, salt and just plain ick of Iowa winter out on the back porch.  My grandmother would use them in her house just about anywhere you could use a throw rug.  They're machine washable, and practically indestructible.  The loved, used and worn rugs are just as amazing as the never been used rugs.

At some point in the past 10 years my grandmother decided that each of her grandchildren needed a rug as a reminder of this man who is part of their lineage.  I was fortunate enough to end up with two that year--it's always nice when your grandma likes your boyfriend and gives him the family gift too.  :)

This past Christmas I got to choose another rug from the large rough wooden box that houses the few rugs that remain.  Here she is:

Brand spankin' new.  I'm so looking forward to adding the wear and love to this great rug, treasuring it for many, many years to come.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

It really is easy, being green

Kermit the Frog was wrong.


It's so easy to be green!

Everyone is brings their own bags into the grocery store, drug store, Target, fabric store, right?

This weekend we to it to the next level.  Produce bags.

I found these great bags on Etsy before Christmas, and bought a couple sets for gifts. AMKDesigns makes a great set of six produce bags with a pouch that holds them all together.  See?

Luckily one of my gift recipients is the guy who goes grocery shopping with me. ( See how that works?)
In addition to using the reusable produce bags, we were at a local "wholesale" fruit and veggie place.  Trying all kinds of new stuff this weekend!


What's your new eco friendly discovery?