A little water goes a long way!

We struggle to get recycling here at the farm and at the school.  Water and Gatorade bottles abound and there are always half full bottles sitting around unclaimed!  One of the great things we do at the school is that when each class graduates they give a gift to the school - kind of a "legacy gift" so to speak.  In 2016 the class that graduated that year gave the school a water fountain that has a water bottle refill station!  It is awesome!  It also has a digital counter on it that tells us how many water bottles have been kept out of the landfill by using the water bottle refill station.  A very cool feature!

Above shows the water fountain installed.  We had a different water fountain here - one that did not refill water bottles, leaked, and didnt count the bottles kept out of the landfill either!

About every other week we announce in our daily's how many bottles have been kept out of the landfill and the kids love it (staff too).  It is exciting for them to see and hear how they are making a difference with each sip of water!

Above photo shows the digital counter and you can see that it says 1602.  That is in a very short period of time and when I checked it today just a week later (I took that photo on January 11, 2018) It now reads 2067!!!!!  More than 400 bottles kept out of the landfill in just a 7 day space of time!!  In a school with only about 400 students and staff!

I love to walk by it and see the number go up each time I go by!  We have a water bottle station in the office (water cooler style) and sometimes I purposely dont refill there - I get my steps in and I can see how our counter is doing.  

Think about how your sips of water might be able to change the world - or at least the culture in one building at a time!

Funding our dreams a dime at a time!

I am a big fan of dreams!  I like it when I hear people dreaming big!  I hear lots of dreams from kids and grown ups at the school, here at home and even in the grocery store!  Some of the kids are eloquent and passionate about their dreams and some of them are hesitant, as if they don't quite believe they are worthy of such a big dream.  I think that even those hesitant dreams are worthy of praise and push - you know - encouragement.

I have worked with a number of non-profits and sports teams over the years and they all have one thing in common - fundraising!  They all have to do fundraising all the time - for sports even in the off season.  It is never ending and all of us dream of a benefactor coming forward (think Daddy Warbucks here) to solve all of the problems that money could solve!

I am also always looking for creative ways for newlyweds and others to have a little spare change literally to help them start a new life .  Enter the "dime jar".  This is an upcycled bottle from pretty much any source that will hold a fairly large amount of change and has a hole at least large enough for a dime to fit into it!

Above shows the labels I printed to put on my newest "dime jars"  the above bottle just happens to be a Margarita mix bottle and it will hold any size change except for the half and silver dollar sizes - but pennies to quarters will fit right in!

Here you can read the label - it lets you write in the dream and a "By:" date if you choose!  That way your goal is specific and time bound!  It also makes it easier to stay the course so to speak, and to keep from robbing the bottle! 

The bottles above on the right are glass bottles that were from my oldest sons Prom - there were extras and I bought a few of them - they had the Prom motto and the dates on it but I used nail polish remover and wiped that off so I could use them for other things!  I did have to trim the labels to make them work with the rounder bottle - its both round and concave so the square label just didn't fit right - trimming worked great.

This "dime jar" is also a great way to start the new year and start making a "change" for yourself!  Drop your loose change in and it adds up fast!  What is your dream?  Write it on a jar - Even a Mason jar will work or a coffee can - and start making that dream (change) come true! 

Happy New Year!!!  Dream big!!!

A Noble Viking!

Christmas is hard for us here at the Farm since the loss of our son - and it is hard for us to find gifts for each other that are meaningful and memorable.  Sometimes we get each other a BIG gift that is for multiple events, like a birthday/Christmas - it has to last a while!

This year Christmas has been harder.  Last year we were in a fog that buffered us from the memories of Rye, the small memories like smells and songs and his favorite Christmas cookie.  This year the fog is gone and we have a time getting through each day of the "celebration time" as upright humans.

My husband this year did a ton of homework, talked to a ton of people who know me, and bought me a lifetime gift.  A gift with so much thought and love that I could hardly believe it!  I got a noble Viking!  No not the Netflix kind - this kind:

It is a Viking/Husqvarna Model 6000 from 1976.  It is completely rebuilt and is heavy duty - the friend who helped Chad buy it for me lives in Glenallen and does embroidery and sewing for a living (part of the time - hes a Jack of all trades) said it would sew anything from pantyhose (which I will NEVER do) to Carharts and leather (which I might do on the RARE instance).  Mostly I will be getting some quilting done and a lot of it!

The Hubby even said that I got it because "you haven't been naughty this year" - which means that I have been REALLY NICE! 

I hope that your year has been REALLY NICE and that your New Year isn't naughty either!  Blessings on the New Year to all.

Just a little Christmas Bite!

We do not have a love for all things Christmas lately here at the farm.  It is hard for us to get into the spirit now that we are one short and Rye is gone.  We do however have other people relying on us to put on a good face for Christmas and make it look good darn it!

We do still have some Christmas things that make us happy and one of those is Peanut Butter Balls!  I dont know why they say Christmas for us and make us happy but its chocolate, peanut butter, sugar and sea salt - how is that not a happy bite?

I might get in trouble for giving away the recipe but what the heck?  Im doing it anyway because what makes me happy will surely make other people happy and also because sharing food with other people makes me happy!

I did have a friend who is diabetic tell me that I need to include in my recipe the dose of insulin that will counteract each ball so please plan ahead if you are bent that way or have a sign ready that says that you are just in a blissful peanut butter ball coma and not a diabetic one!

Start with the peanut butter filling;

Filling:

2 C. Peanut Butter – whatever you like as far as crunchy or creamy

1 C. Butter

2 C. Powder sugar
2 Tbsp Cinnamon

Mix all together to form a stiff peanut butter dough. If your mix seems too thin add more powder sugar.  It has to be able to make a good solid ball.   I use a stand mixer and the bread hook for this part - it gets really hard to stir by hand.   Roll into 1” balls and put in the freezer for at least an hour while you melt your chocolate coating below:

1 box of Bakers semi sweet squares

1 box Bakers unsweetened chocolate squares

2 C Chocolate chips

1 oz of paraffin wax shaved - I know this seems weird but it helps make them shiny and thins the chocolate enough to keep it a nice ball coating.  If you hate the idea dont use it - all good!

Melt the above together in a double boiler – Ok – I don’t I just use a small sauce pan on the stove but….. PC and safety of your chocolate says you should use a double boiler.... just sayin.

Once its all melty and smooth get your balls out of the freezer.  

  

Drop one at a time into the melty chocolate and fish them out with a fork or slotted spoon.

 Place them immediately on a wax paper cookie sheet spaced a little apart.  If you are going to sprinkle them with salt, peanuts, candy cane chunks or anything else now is the time to do it.  I dip a few at a time and then sprinkle them so they are still able to hold onto what ever we are sprinkling on.

We have also put in a little Cayenne pepper or chili powder to the peanut butter mix or to the chocolate for a little kick.  One of our favorite versions we add smoky sea salt to the top of the balls before the chocolate hardens - its delightful!

 When your sheet is full put it in the freezer until the ball is hard again and then store in the freezer in ziplock bags!  Yum!

These are great to take for hostess gifts, or to send to school with the kids in a lunch - its a great bite of Christmas love for anyone you choose to bless with one or two - or five is good too!  Its ok to let them thaw out before you serve them - they just store best and keep their shape best when frozen.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!  Have a ball!