One

You’ve never been Boo’d? Oh, you’re gonna love this!  This is a great Halloween tradition and it’s never too late to start a new tradition!  With the need for localization during this day and time, Boo’ing your neighbor is one of the best ways to strengthen the ties within your neighborhood.

The basic idea consists of putting together a little basket of different Halloween treats for one of your neighbors, and then they do the same thing for a different neighbor and so on… and so on… and so on.

The fun begins with a Boo-Gram!  A boo-gram is a note, more often than not; it’s a poem that you leave on your neighbor’s door with a big BOO! sign, treats for the family members and a bucket or a basket for them to prepare for the neighbor of their choice.  The sign is placed outside of the home to inform your neighbors that you have already been hit, if many people participate, by Halloween you will begin to see Boo signs lined up and down the streets of your neighborhood!

Once you get Boo’d, you must then Boo two other neighbors, just to keep the chain going.  This is always great fun for the kids when they get to chose which house gets Boo’d or if they get to ring the doorbell, leave the goodies and then run away!

If you are not very poetic, you can borrow one of my poems to start you out!

The treats are for you to enjoy as you wish
This game is quite simple: there’s very little risk

Pick two of your neighbors to pass on the BOO
Fill up their baskets with a goodie or two

Keep the BOO in your yard to proudly display
That you have been tagged this Halloween day.

You have 24 hours to join in the fun
Once two baskets are delivered the game has begun

At the end of the game you’ll finally see true
The BOO’s in yards of those that got BOO’d just like you!

This should be started no later than the middle of the month, so it may be too late to start this tradition for Halloween this year, but how about a Gobble Gram for Thanksgiving!!

Often I have thought about living on my own tropical island away from the hustle and bustle of the everyday constrictions of living within a society. However, the cost of being able to purchase my very own island; far outweighs dream.

Richie Sowa, a carpenter, eco-pioneer and artist from Britain, shared this same dream of mine.  The difference is he followed his dream, and built his very own tropical island paradise!  In 1998, Richie began collecting plastic bottles off the coast of Mexico and built an island structure using the bottles to keep the island afloat!

His completely self-sustaining island consists of a two story home, a solar oven, a self-composting toilet and his own food garden!  Well, here watch this video and see for yourself:

Wow!  I become more and more impressed every time I watch the video.  What a great way to leave your mark on the world…by not leaving a mark on the world…

~Wind

I have some unfortunate news! I’m sorry to say that Today.com is no longer going to be part of the EntreCard program.  I will be taking down my widget and no longer accepting advertisements, however, I may be keeping my account to participate in the market place at EntreCard.

I enjoyed my brief time with EntreCard and met some really wonderful bloggers through the network, but change is a big part of life and we should embrace it and move on, I hope that you remember my blog and continue to visit on regular basis.  I do want to thank my top droppers for the month of March and send each of them 10 extra EntreCard credits!

Hot shit Form
Picture to People
Tech Blog
Computer Aid
Back 2 School 4 Grown-ups
Life in the Fat Lane
Sadie Skinny
Susans Home
Amy Lilley Designs
Flitting on Fiction

Thanks so much for visiting ONE and I hope that you continue to return! I will be taking down my widget on April 3, 2009 so please leave a comment and I will add you to the list of blogs to continue to visit!

~Wind

UPDATE:  I have just learned that Today.com has changed their minds and we are allowed  to keep our widgets up! (Thanks Melanie!) So…ahem… cancel all of this post except for the many thanks that I sent out to my readers!

Ducks, chickens and other birds that are hatched during the spring season, remind us of the promise of new life during this time of year. Therefore, ducks have always been a symbolization of the Spring Equinox and Easter. It is during this time that most people color these symbols of life with vibrant colors and hide them from our children, then we laugh as they run around the yard like maniacs, looking for eggs that later they refuse to eat because they don’t like the ‘yellow stuff’!

But this guy really has the right idea! In honor of the Spring Equinox, what better way to celebrate than to put your duck in your truck and head on off to work!?!

I really couldn’t help but share this video!  So, personally this year, for the Easter holiday, I think we should pick up a duck, take it to work and give it to our bosses in celebration!

Enjoy!

~Wind

This was the first month that I joined Entrecard and I have to say, “What a blast!” I have found more blogs and made more friends in the last month of writing for “One” than I have to date!

I enjoy dropping every morning and reading all the new and wonderful articles from some really great people! I look forward to it…maybe I’m a little ill! lol The following list are the top droppers that have visited my site during the month of February, you have raised my traffic by threefold and have made my days a little brighter! I thank you, thank you, and thank you!! To each of these sites I’ve sent 10 extra EC’s; enjoy!

Picture to People Hot Graphic Effects
Silver Sachet
Diet Secrets Online
Exchange of Realities
Forced Green
Juice and Smoothie Recipes
60 Were Enough
The Esoterical Journey
Stitching Life Together
Juliana’s Lair

~Wind

Ok…I admit it; I can’t stand to shave my legs! I abhor the razor burn that it leaves and up until now, the only other choice out there was the “environmentally unfriendly” chemicals that just conveniently “dissolve” the hair from your body! Slightly disturbing to say the least!

So, I went out and tried that new product, Smooth Away, and WOW I love this thing! No razor burn, no freaky chemicals just really smooth, hairless legs without the ick!

The object is to “buff” away the hair with a pad that is covered in superfine crystals; it also exfoliates your skin, leaving it extra smooth!

That being said, check out the link to Smooth Away for yourself, it’s environmentally friendly and much cheaper than the razors on today’s market!

~Wind

Let’s face it, bread is getting expensive…and there really is nothing better than the taste and the smell of freshly baked bread! So, with a ditch effort to enjoy freshly baked bread and save money, I found this recipe in Mother Earth News, it seemed like a really great idea. I haven’t tried it out yet, but I figured I’d pass it along, we can all go out and bake bread and gather back here with the results of our experience!

The article said that the master recipe below makes enough bread for many loaves; you take what you need each day for baking and leave the rest in the refrigerator for weeks! Apparently, dough that is high in moisture, pre-mixed and pre-risen will keep well in the refrigerator!

The Master Recipe

3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tbls granulated yeast (1 1/2 packet)
1 1/2 tbls coarse kosher salt or sea salt
6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour
cornmeal for the pizza peel

Heat the water until it is just a little bit warmer than body temperature.
Add yeast, salt and water in a 5 quart bowl preferrably one with a resealable lid. (if it doesn’t all dissolve, that’s ok)
Measure the flour by placing in a measuring cup and level gently with a knife, don’t pat it down.
Mix flour into yeast, salt and water mixture with a wooden spoon, food processor with a dough attachment or a heavy-duty stand mixer with a dough hook, until it is moist. DO NOT KNEAD YOUR BREAD MIXTURE! (strange but true).

Cover loosely and allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse; this process should take a couple of hours.

Place in refrigerator and allow to cool for at least 3 hours before baking.

When you are ready to bake your bread, use a pizza peel (a long-handled board) for easy sliding to and from the baking stone. Sprinkle the pizza peel with cornmeal to prevent the dough from sticking to the peel. Sprinkle the dough with flour and cut off a piece that is about the size of a grapefruit with a serrated knife.

Take the dough ball and stretch each “corner” to the underneath of the ball, rotating about a quarter inch as you go. Only complete one rotation. Be sure to keep extra flour on hand to sprinkle the ball so that it doesn’t stick to your hands. Place the ball on the pizza peel and let it sit uncovered for about 40 minutes. About 20 minutes before you’re ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees with the baking stone on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray on a different shelf in the oven (this will later hold water).

Dust the top of the ball with flour and cut the top of the loaf 1/4 inch deep across the top. Slide the loaf off of the pizza peel onto the baking stone and pour about one cup of hot water into the empty broiler tray. The broiler tray will permeate steam through the bread.

Bake for about 30 mins. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate the remaining dough until ready to bake next time within the next two weeks.

There are many variations that you can add to The Master Recipe, but I think I’ll play it safe and try this one first! Let me know how it goes!

Happy Baking!

~Wind

I’m very pleased to announce that a few short days ago, this blog was nominated by the Garden Gnome at Mom’s Cafe Home Cooking for the Lemonade Award! This award is given to blogs that show great attitude and/or gratitude. I feel so honored to have been thought of for such an wonderful award!

I stop by Mom’s Cafe on a regular basis for the easy to follow recipe’s coupled with great photo’s and entertaining stories that come with each of the recipes! Feel free to stop by Mom’s Cafe and see for yourself, I wouldn’t steer you wrong!

Here are the instructions I was given for the Lemonade Award:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate 10 blogs that show attitude and/or gratitude.
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they have received this award by commenting on a post.
5. Nominate your favorites and link to this blog.

My nominations for this award are as follows:

1. Focus Organic
2. Forced Green
3. Goal For The Green
4. Green Not Mean
5. Living Well - Naturally
6. My Library
7. Passionate Green
8. Stitching Life Together
9. Treasure Nature
10. The Daily Planet

Each one of these above blogs are visited by me each and every day. There are many more I could add on this list but the rules only allow for 10. Take a little time and visit these nominees. I’m sure you will find them as informative and interesting as I do!

Many thanks to Mom’s Cafe for the nomination, it is much appreciated!

~Wind

Most of us silly human creatures consider Friday the Thirteenth to be bad luck! Why is that? How did the number thirteen and Friday, a simple day of the week, come to be associated with fear? I mean seriously, most of the skyscrapers don’t even have a 13th floor! However, in the scientific world, just because you call the 13th floor the 14th floor…face it; it’s still the 13th floor, no matter how many times you count them!

The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, (the word alone, freaks me out!), a combination of two Greek words, paraskevi; which means Friday and dekatreis; which means thirteen. Take the two words, add them together with the word phobia, and you are now afraid of Friday the Thirteenth!

It is said however, that the number 13 was considered unlucky long before the day Friday became doomed. Some say that the superstition of “Unlucky” number thirteen derives from an earlier superstition that having 13 people sit down for dinner would result in the death of one of the diners, like in the Last Supper. There are also the Wall Street superstitions that originate from a stockbroker from Boston, Thomas Lawson. In 1907 he published a novel entitled Friday the Thirteenth, which portrayed an evil business man who attempted to crash the stock market on the unluckiest day of the month, the 13th!

If you ask me, it’s all just silly! I will spend my day, talking to black cats under ladders, in a room filled to the brim with spilled salt, and let you know tomorrow morning how my day went!

Good Luck!!

~Wind

I’m not sure about you, but if you are anything like me, there is nothing like fresh salsa and tortilla chips for a mid-day snack!

Fresh salsa made straight from your garden, is absolutely delicious and simple to make!

Here’s a quick and simple recipe for my favorite afternoon snack:

2 cloves of garlic chopped fine
1 small red onion
2 tsp of lime juice
2 tbls of fresh cilantro
2 cups of chopped tomatoes
1/8 cup of water
salt and pepper to taste

If you want to go all the way; buy some corn tortillas, cut into triangles and fry them up in some safflower oil, and you have fresh chips as well!

~Wind