Yard work!

At spring's first hint of mild weather I sprinted to the home improvement store for gardening supplies.

Having no clue how to plant grass, I was motivated by the germinating seedlings on the north-side of the yard. I will not mow red dirt this summer.

After two trips to the store our yard started to take shape. Six Leyland Cypresses line the ridge of our back bank, and will hopefully provide a natural privacy screen in a few years. I also got a new hose attachment, more grass seed (it says it's drought resistant - we'll see), a container, mulch, potting soil and flowers.

The most instant gratification is on our front porch. I was scared to plant an azalea bush in the yard (after all, shrubbery is very permanent in my mind), so I planted it in a large container. I then put phlox and some other light purple flower in the bed lining the porch.

I still have a list of things, but the weather turned on me.

I want to get Brad a grill so we have a reason to go out on the patio. I also want to get a forsythia bush to hide the utility boxes in our front yard. The biggest to-do are trees. I want shade trees: one on the south and at least one on the west (back). Bumps recommended a certain kind of cherry tree, and I've also been looking at magnolias. 

I'll post photos soon.

Just say no to shopping bags

That’s my new mantra heading into the spring.

Recent stories describe the insane quantities of plastic bags consumers use and how they are almost impossible to get rid of (according to the Environmental Protection Agency, plastic bags can take 1,000 years to decompose).

So even if you reuse the mountains of bags as trash can liners or to dispose of cat waste as we do, they still end up in a hole where they’ll live well after I’m gone.

This week I jumped on the canvas bag bandwagon.

The only stores in Statesville where I’ve seen the canvas bags are Wal-Mart on Highway 21 and Bi-Lo on East Broad Street. They hang by the registers and are fairly reasonable (Wal-Mart’s are $1 each).

The bags have a square base and easily hold what three plastic bags would hold. A full-cart shopping trip last weekend resulted in five canvas bags – the same trip would have resulted in at least 10 plastic bags.

The bags also have a much longer handle, making it easier to throw a few on your shoulders with your purse. That is especially nice when you’re carrying groceries alone and don’t want to make multiple trips or cut off circulation to your fingers.

Even though stores sell them, it is obvious that the retail world is not ready for canvas bags.

The first bags I purchased were scanned by the cashier and tucked neatly in a plastic bag without hesitation. When I asked to use the bags, she looked puzzled.

I now go through self-checkouts. It’s not to avoid the cashiers, but so the cashiers can avoid me. Having worked at a Wal-Mart to pay my way through college, I remember an items-per-minute statistic kept for each cashier. It takes longer to prepare each bag, meaning less items scanned. I don’t want my canvas bags to skew a cashier’s stats.

At some stores I refuse a bag altogether. One cashier yelled down the row of registers to the door greeter, “HEY! This girl doesn’t want a bag. She paid for this stuff!” A bookstore in Charlotte asked repeatedly if I wanted a bag for two small books, and a drugstore cashier was stumped when I refused a bag for a greeting card and photos.

But despite the quizzical looks, just saying no is easier than it first seemed. Keep canvas bags in your trunk, and politely refuse bags when you don’t need them.

If not for an environmental perspective, try them out of your hatred of picking up groceries after your plastic bag rips open.

He finally got his French doors

Brad and I enjoy home improvement shows - especially the house flipping ones. It seemed they all did the same thing: Travertine, granite countertops, hardwood floors and French doors.

No, no, no, and yes. Well, sort of.

Our refrigerator is about to die. Since it looks as if it were born in the '70s, we decided to replace it rather than try to have it repaired.

The store we bought it from had a very nice deal: 18 months no interest, free delivery and free haul away/recycling.

They deliver our new French door fridge on Wednesday. The freezer is on the bottom as a drawer, and the refrigerator doors open out like the French doors from the flip shows. I can actually fit a baking sheet or casserole dish in my new fridge!

This will come in handy during the Brad Norman March Challenge.