Out with the old...

It's no secret that I love my Monster Truck. I've blogged about it before so I wont bore you again.

Hubby (I love him too!)for Christmas, bought me parts for my beloved truck. He fixed my interior handle that had broke and left me to roll the window down and open the door using the exterior handle. Not too bad of a problem except for when the windows freeze up, which is common in the winter, so I'd have to exit across the passenger side door. That isn't too bad either, I just got curious look at the gas station.

And the grill was messed up with my deer encounter and when I turned on my brights, I would be coon shining in the trees.

This is how you straighten a bumper.

These are the old parts.

I'm not the only one in the family who does outside work in jammies.

Ta Da! You can see where the duct tape was holding the old light in place.

Other than the little dent in the hood (where the buck hit with his antler), its as good as new!


I adore him and am so lucky he loves me.









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No, we didn't get a cat, the girl has another pet sitting job and took this picture with my camera.
"Hi Spooky!"



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I'm so proud of myself, I did my first successful link at the top!

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Q: For all you bloggers out there that are way smarter than me. I just got a Gurneys seed catalog in the mail and there is a $20 no strings coupon. Do you know if there is any thing weird with their seed? Chemically altered or what not? I like free but not if there are health risks. If you know, please let me know. Thanks bunches!

Monster Truck Fan

I have read subtle and not so subtle anti SUV blogs, so risking judgement, I am admitting I own one of those giant, gas guzzlers. Please hear me out. I live in a semi rural area, on a dirt road, I haul bales of straw, grain and bedding for the care of my girls (chickens). With my sister and her kids, and me and mine, that's 7 people I transport on a regular basis. Occasionally a Grandma too! I have driven loads of parents on field trips and half a troop of Brownies. Any time I can carpool I do.

My family camps as the majority of our family vacations. Some times tent, sometimes family cabin, but mostly we pull our vintage 1964 Avion Camper that we lovingly restored. A little car wouldn't do. Most hotels aren't earth friendly.

I sell my stuff at several arts & craft shows a year and everything fits inside and still has seating for me and 2 kids.

For the most part it's usually just me and my family of 4. Do I feel guilty? no. I average about 6,000 miles per year, way less than most. When I do have to go somewhere, I fit other errands in the trip. I have a clothesline and on warm sunny days you'll see my undies out flapping in the breeze. At least half of my family's clothing is bought used through garage sales or thrift shops. Reducing manufacturing and packaging. I pack my family their lunches. No juice pouches for this family. I use reusable containers (garage sale purchases). Did you know the lunch trays at school are foam and everything including the plastic utensils gets pitched?

Until the temp in the house gets hotter than 85 is only when I turn on the air conditioning. On the crisp fall mornings I won't turn on the heat, I'll just bake something. We grow and process quite a bit of our own food. I make most of our foods from scratch, reducing packaging and landfill waste.

Our Vehicles were all purchased used. Is a used, low mileage, driven till it dies, gas guzzler vehicle worse for the planet than a new, driven a lot, replaced frequently hybrid?

I hit a huge deer last winter during a night time rain storm, some vehicle damage but I am sure if I hit that deer in a little car, it would have come in the windshield and my son and I probably would have been hurt not just scared. I feel safe in that car.

Bottom line for me is there are very few people in this country who live off the grid doing everything right for the planet. But there are a lot of us out there who do what we can to reduce our imprint in many different ways. Some of us just do it while driving a monster truck.