Congratulations Clothesline Challengers!

You did it!

You were non-dryer dryers for some, all, or none (that's okay) for May, June, and July.

Some of you started at intermediate and quickly climbed to advanced.

Some of you, like me, may have had illusions of grandeur and fell from advanced to...well...lower. Tornados not withstanding.

Kelli is enjoying her peg bag courtesy of Joanie at Nini Makes.

Blue Speckled Eggs kept a very impressive running tally of her loads as did Dayna.

Green and Thrifty Mama did not make the 50% as she had hoped, but she did use her clothesline more than she had been. Congratulations!

Some lovely pictures were posted here, here (hee, hee) and here.

A few found the cure for those crunchy towels.

Did I miss a recent clothesline-related post of yours? Let me know and I will be sure to share them in my next post...

As a thanks and congratulations to you, I have a giveaway: Leslie Evans has just released her sequel to Leaf Jumpers and I can tell you that it's a beauty. Winter Trees is also authored by Carole Gerber and her talent for explaining the complexity and individuality of each tree in rhyme is really amazing. Nothing is forced and, did I mention, the illustrations are Evans-As-Usual beautiful?

All challengers are automatically entered as I promised, but if you would like to up the ante, comment on this post, after visiting Leslie's site...tell me which children's book of hers you would also like, and, if you're the lucky winner you will also receive that book along with Winter Trees. Please comment by midnight U.S. Eastern time Wednesday, August 6th. And yes, I will ship internationally. Please remember - Blogger does not automatically tell me what email address you are writing from, so please, if your post does not reveal who you are, leave some notion of how I can contact you.

***Update: Please let me clarify as my instructions seem now rather murky. If you are listed on the sidebar you do not need to comment to enter. You only need to comment if you desire a second book from Sea Dog Press. If you are not listed on the sidebar, you may enter by commenting on this post - if you please, tell me how you are saving energy in your home - you may also put yourself in the running for a second bok by, again, visiting Sea Dog Press and letting me know which children's book is your favorite. Signed, -The Management***

Congratulations! You should be very proud of yourselves!

Alphabet Summer

Slouching Mom posted her summer acrostic over at Grasshopper New Media Parents. I love acrostics, so I thought I would try my hand at creating my own based on her own "Summer with Kids" - I thought it would be fun to do mine first before reading hers to see how much our summers are similar! (If you really like acrostics, I encourage you to check out Leslie Evans' great book of summer acrostics, beautifully illustrated.) Here goes:


Acting out plays
Beach and Bay
Catching fireflies
Docks
Eating popsicles
Filling sand buckets
Giggling
Hot dogs
Ice cream trucks
Juice boxes
Kiddie pools
Late bedtimes
Meeting up with the cousins
Napping
Outdoors
Popping bubbles
Quiet moments
Reading books about summer
Sweaty faces
Too humid!
Up and at 'Em!
Visiting grandparents
Water wings
Xtra large sunflowers
Youtube!
Zero worries

New from Seadog Press - The Latest in Green Totes

Any of my regular readers are probably tired of hearing me go on and on and on ad nauseum about one of my favorite illustrators, Leslie Evans. Yeeees, she's semi-related to me and yeeees, she sends me gorgeous cards at Christmas time and even on Thanksgiving, but I think you will agree, after taking a look at her work and reading some of my reviews, that she is truly a wonderful artist.

Recently she sent me one of her latest creations and me being of the bring-my-cloth bag-where-ever-I-go type, was thrilled to receive it.



You too can order your very own Be Green, Man shopping bag directly from Leslie and when you do, tell 'er Amy sent ya.

Green Musings

Jinkies, we have a lot of catching up to do!

It just seems that with the coming of spring the opportunities for getting into the green of things are endless!

April 1st is right around the corner and that means I will be turning over a new leaf (for two months, anyway). I will be joining Mamas on the Compact where I pledge to eliminate the purchase of new items. Gulp. Anyone care to join me?

Have you heard the buzzzzzzzzz about "The Great Sunflower Project" out of San Francisco State University? My good friend Lakshmi alerted me to this site where participants can help researchers achieve their goal of increasing our understanding of where bees are doing poorly and how the pollination of our garden and wild plants are being affected.

Say project leaders: "We're hoping you will join us by planting sunflowers in your garden. Community, demonstration, and school gardens are invited to participate. We'll send you some free native sunflower (Helianthus annuus) seed and twice a month, we'd like you to time how long it takes for 5 bees to visit one flower on that sunflower. This information will give us an index of pollination that we can compare across the United States."

Win some gardening goodies from the National Gardening Association when you enter their When You Garden You Grow giveaway.

I have two great bloggy book give-aways coming up! Stay tuned for a chance to win a copy of the Holistic Moms Network's cookbook "Growing Healthy Families" and, just in time for Spring (or a little late), Leslie Evan's beautifully illustrated Spring acrostic book.

And finally, I am super excited to say that as my good friend Sue toils over my blog button, I am gearing up to give you details on "Gift of Green's Clothesline Challenge 2008"!! The challenge will begin May 1st and I hope you'll sign on for the summer! More details coming up soon!

Bloggy Giveaway - from...MOI.

Last Thursday night Sprout, Pip and I sat down before bed and re-read Autumn illustrated by the lovely Leslie Evans. I must share this book with the world. Therefore, please comment on this post by midnight Eastern time on Sunday, November, 11th and I will randomly select one winner to receive this fine book. A second winner will receive Winter, also illustrated by the owner and operator of Sea Dog Press. Yes, I will ship internationally so enter away. And remember, blogger does not automatically alert me to your email address or web address, so please make sure you leave some notion of how I can get in touch with you should you be the lucky winner.

Top Ten Green Tips for Hunkering Down

The leaves are indeed scattering as mentioned in Donald Hall's poem "The Hunkering" and the temperature here in Northern Virginia has taken a definite dip.

How are you going green in preparation for the nippy air? Here are my suggestions: ten green tips for hunkering down.

10) Use a rake instead of a leaf blower. Never mind the benefit of quiet Sunday morning unpunctuated by the roar of the blower, the smell of the gas: think about the gazillion calories (okay, 240) you can burn while raking up those rogue leaves.

9) Check cracks. No, not those cracks and get your mind out of the gutter. The cracks, for example, that allow you to see light through the CENTER of your front door. You can unplug your cellphone charger and change your lightbulbs all you want, but if freezing air is creeping in under, or through, for that matter, your doors, those other change ain't gonna do squat. So check cracks, or as Energy Star calls it: engage in some home sealing.

8) Sew up one of these bad boys. Abso-fricken-dorable. Send me your pics, you crafty mamas who I salute, envy and bow to...I'll link to or post them.

7) Now, while the weather is still decent, take those comforters out of storage, hang them over your clothesline and beat them silly. Let the fresh sunshine and crisp air liven those duvets up and then, come evening, hunker down underneath and breathe.

6) Gather ye recipes. Frequent your farmer's market. Even if yours isn't open year round, you may still have another good month to go before they close until spring. Squash, tubers, and the like are all abundant this season. Chop them up and slip them into some soup. And while you're at it, make some grilled organic cheese sandwiches to go along with it. Yum.

5) Get thee to the Library. My bloggy friends (like here and here) have been going ga-ga with fall-related book recommendations. And this just in...Winter Trees will soon be going to press. In the meantime, stick with Autumn. Nothing like hunkering down with a good book and a cup of that aforementioned soup.

4) No, I do not work for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. I wish I did though. I might get as much Pumpkin Spice coffee as I can drink. Attention Green Mountain Coffee Roasters...will blog for coffee. Indulge in some pumpkin-y coffee goodness and know that it is fair trade to book.

3) Knit, purl, or single crochet. I hate to jinx myself, but I am almost finished with my first crochet project EVER. There. I probably will now never finish the adorable hat for Green Husband. Go nuts at the wool store. I have just given you permission.

2) Walk, walk, walk, even in winter. Continue to get those 10,000 steps in during the day by taking advantage of crisp, not pea soup, weather. Take the stairs at work, park a little further away from the entrance of the shopping mall, or take a stroll around the neighborhood as the evening light fades. Hunker down but remember...you are not hibernating.

and the number one green tip for hunkering down:

1) Rumor has it that hospitals tend to see sharp increases in the number of births nine months after a crippling snow storm. Some call it an urban myth...I call it better safe than sorry. ; )

Books We Love: Leaf Jumpers

Phew! The Wanna-Greenies are back from a whirlwind tour of Massachusetts, visiting Green Nana and Green Gramps, and I've got a lot of catching up to do. I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs and to posting about the latest and greatest in greenery.

We did a lot of fun stuff while in the Bay State: The New England Aquarium, Lookout Farm, and lots and lots of walks and hikes. I also have two observations to make about the inhabitants of my former place of residence: 1) I don't care what the actual statistics are, and Starbucks can disagree with me all they want, but these people love their Dunkin' Donuts. That's all I'm sayin'. 2) These people (again with the "these people") are...um...shall we say, kind of into the team logo apparel. We are talking there must be a Red Sox hat, t-shirt, or sweatshirt for every man, woman, and child in the Bay State and they are all wearing them at once. Love that team pride!

While we were in Boston, we also had the opportunity to visit with artist and illustrator, Leslie Evans at Sea Dog Press. She is busily working on a new book called Winter Trees, published once again by Charlesbridge Press. It is a companion book to her previous award-winning tree-tise (hahaha, oh gosh, I slay myself) Leaf Jumpers. If you have not seen this book yet it, you should really make an effort to find it in your local library or bookstore as it is the perfect time of year for this perennial favorite.

Using the same hand-cut linoleum block print and watercolor technique that she used for her Acrostic series, she illustrates in autumnal colors the different leaves from our favorite trees. Along with author Carole Gerber's rhyming narration, you cannot help but want to gather up your own pile of leaves to crunch through. In the interest of full disclosure, this book happens to feature my two cousins, but hey...I'd love Leslie's work anyway!

I hope you enjoy Leaf Jumpers, no matter if autumn leaves fall in your neck of the woods or not! And who knows...Leslie, if you're reading this...maybe you'd agree to be interviewed for a future Gift of Green post!