A Green Fire

I read a post last week about recycling plastic water bottles, 2 liter bottles, and milk jugs into planters.  This seemed like such an easy project, I just had to try it.

I cut the top third of a plastic water bottle off, then put a little bit of cloth in the mouth of it to act as a wick, and a holder for the dirt.  I put my dirt on top of that, stuck my plant in and I was done with that part.

I put water in the bottom half, sat the top half into it, and I was finished.  It was that easy.  The great thing about a water bottle repurposed this way, it fits on my extremely narrow window sill.

I’ll take pics of the next ones I make.  I think this will be a great way to reuse these bottles, start herbs, and put pretty growing flowers all over the house.  Another great thing about this is, I will KNOW when the plant needs water, I will be able to see the water level at all times.

Sunday was another laundry day. Today temps were in the high 70’s and windy. It was a perfect line drying kind of day. I washed three loads, and hung them all out to dry. The wind blew so hard, I could hear the sheets flapping in the wind from in the house.

It got to be long enough that the sheets should be dry, so I went out to check. One of my sheets had flown off the line. That’s unusual but as windy as it was today, not completely unexpected. I did use six pins. I figured the pins snapped off the sheet just before it went flying and I looked in the yard to pick them up. Hmm, no pins.

I picked the sheet up and ALL the pins were still attached! I could not believe it. Crazy.

After I rehung the sheet, I came in to plan supper. Sunday is a great time to cook a BIG something so I can eat it tonight, and lunch all week. Hmm.

I decided on gumbo, from scratch. Now, I have made gumbo many, many times from a box. You know those gumbo boxes at the store and you just add the meat and maybe some okra and tomatoes?

Today I made the roux first and then added all the other stuff that goes in. I peeled and deveined the shrimp. This gumbo also has sausage in it. I debated about chicken, but that seemed a bit much. I mean, this is just for me. Maybe, if it turns out ok and I later make it for a crowd, I’ll put more in next time. One thing about making gumbo from scratch—it is TIME CONSUMING. The roux took over 20 minutes of low low heat and stirring. There are other steps before too. After the combo of other stuff and the roux, it has to cook for 2 HOURS. I’m not even counting the time it took me to devein the shrimp. This is such a weekend meal. No way would I want to do all this one night after work.

I’m excited about learning to cook from scratch though. I hope to learn to make more dishes this way, and less from a box.