Tips for A Green And Frugal Holyday Season

1. This photo of a Christmas tree is made available through Dover dot com. They give free photo samples every week and they can be seasonal and cultural. They have a lot of Celtic designs available.

2. I am reusing Christmas bags for gift wrapping...making sure they still look like new. If the name tag is used I just cut it off and make a new one or use a stick on one.

3. I am also using new Christmas bags, tins, and boxes that I had left over from last year or bought at the after Christmas sales when things can be found for up to 75% off which is really nice when you like pretty things.

4. My kitchen is open for making food gifts too. This year I am planning on making Chocolate Truffles rolled in cocoa and powdered sugar. A rich and tasteful gift. One that I would like to receive too.

5. We are reusing our small "Charlie Brownish" artificial Christmas tree this year and decorating it with ornaments that I realized are mostly gifts or were bought on vacations. These give our Holidays memories and warmth we appreciate.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Peaceful Green

A Moment

A Healthy Forest

Cypress Marsh
Near the Savannah

Recycling Down Throws

Using small down comforters or throws as pillows is a good way to recycle the material and put it to good use.

Just roll it up as if rolling up a sleeping bag and insert into a pillowcase. That's it!

It conforms to your body just like the expensive, squishy down pillows at the department stores.

It's warm, soft, comfortable, conforming and washable and is a good way to make use of the extra blankets sitting in the linen closet.

This would not be safe to use for babies because it would be too soft and they may not be able to breath if they are laying on their stomach or roll over onto their stomach.

A Shrimp in the Hand is Worth Two in the Sea

This haul was much bigger with plenty of

shrimp to clean and put in the freezer.

Sometimes we separate the shrimp by size.

This makes for some special meals when

the freezer bag is full of large and extra large

shrimp.

These we use to fry or make a nice saute' with pasta.

My Jeep Wrangler is Cheaper Than Smoking!

I quit smoking nine years ago on October 16 and this is my reward!!! A cute '99 Jeep Wrangler! We added up how much money I've saved and it really is quite a large amount and we didn't even account for the huge increase in the cost of cigarettes since that day.
It's a lot of fun to zip around in my new toy and I'm grateful for my healthier lungs and sinuses since quitting smoking. I used to stay sick with bronchitis and/or a sinus infection. I like to think that I've cleaned up my internal environment and think I deserve a Nobel Prize. But, I will settle for my Jeep!

elle's Green Earth...The Savannah River

Spanish moss decorates Cypress trees on the banks of the Savannah River
Many different kinds of creatures survive and thrive in and around this water fixture including;
Alligators
Sturgeon (which are illegal to catch as they go through here to their spawning grounds.)
Beaver
Assorted small fish
Turtles
Eels

Cruising the Savannah River Looking for Alligator

Unfortunately, the two alligators made it into the water before the camera could capture them. They looked to be about eight feet long and were resting in the reeds by the knobby kneed Cypress trees.

elle's Green Earth