Daring Rescue

Daring Turtle Rescue

A turtle crossing a four lane road in Austin, Texas was rescued by a man in Honda Accord. I was turning left from Manchaca to Davis when I notice something  large in inside south bound lane crossing Manchaca, a Turtle.   I paniced in the left turn lane next to the turtle.  Suddenly  a dark colored Accord, going south,  stopped and a tall, bald man stopped in front of the turtle.   He  picked up the turtle and  ran across three lanes, moving north,  to deposited the turtle on the other side of the road. I stayed in the left turn lane waving to on coming traffic hoping no one would rear end the good Samaritan's car. Two cars swung by hooking not knowing of this daring rescue.    I’m glad I witnessed it. Thank you, and I’m sure the turtle thanks you too.

A real hero does  the right thing even when no one is looking.

stock photo Bob Moul May 4

Plan A Family Day

How to plan a Family Day

Like most families sometimes all our circles are moving in different directions. I decided to insist on time to reconnect regularly. I have two teenagers and a husband with a crazy schedule so I planned the day around dad. In the morning I made a family favorite dish that required a dose of cheese and heating up to be table ready. We lingered over dinner laughing and talking over how things were and any changes. The days have been loooong and hot so we took advantage of the cooler afternoon with a walk. I chose an area close to home and not too busy. We actually had the trails to our selves. I got to hold hands and ask serious questions. Through the long walk Mom and Dad got a little alone time with each boy and we connected as a family. I feel like our batteries were recharged and we are in sync again. I little undivided attention is all we needed.

Does DIY Laundry Soap Work?

Week Three: DIY Laundry Soap; Does it work?

I used a dry method to make laundry soap with borax, washing soda and a bar of Ivory soap. I like not having a huge bucket around the house so this appealed to me. The soap is easier to handle because it is concentrated. I washed several stained work shirts. I know lots of us have made the soap so I wanted to show how well the powder cleaned my clothes.

I found the powder left behind a fresh, clean smell. It took out some fresh stains but not the old ones but neither did my commercial soap. Washing my work shirts with bleach was much better. Colored and whites are clean and have a great smell with no artificial odors. I give the natural laundry soap a big thumbs up.

Ingredients:
Arm &; Hammer Washing Soda $3.54
20 Mule Team Borax $3.54
Bar of Ivory Soap $?

Mix one cup of each and a grated bar of soap. Wash with 3 tablespoons and bleach if needed.

Natural Whitening
Vinegar
Lemon juice
Sun drying

What not to do if some one breaks a bone.

House Park Broken Bones

Well, we got the call yesterday at about 5:30. My son broke his arm at House Skate Park. Another mom there with her younger kids brought him Brackenridge. I can not thank her enough; I was there a long 25, 30 minutes later. The break was bad; his wrist bones were crossed one almost coming out of the skin. The Doctor who usually handles these cases grimaced, "That is ugly.” True to heart my boy asked about his board before he got on the ambulance to move from Brackenridge to Dell Children’s Hospital so I hope this is the least of injuries to come. The staff at both hospitals were supeior making the best of a bad situation.

I learned a few things from this tragedy. First, I could not have stopped it. I can try to insure his safety by getting a promise that he will never skate alone. Second, I will find him the coolest helmet; but I can’t make him wear it. Finally, if someone is injured do not give them food or drink. This might be nice but if they need to go into surgery it can be very dangerous. Any food or drink can come up into the lungs while the patient is under anesthesia. And always grab a sweater on the way to the hospital.


Love you all. No skating for at least 6-8 weeks

Week Two Recycled Dish Towels

Recycled Dish Towels

I make batches of fun dish towels from fabric scraps. I used old clothes to clean up around my house for years. I would leave old t-shirts under the counter to clean up spills but I still used sponges to clean the dishes. I make dish towels that are easy to make and are great replacement for sponges. Look here for easy instructions to make your own

Della Badart

Texas is Buring

Good Bless Texas Families dealing with these awful fires. Let us all be there to support them in this time of stress. Please let the weather conditions change and pray for our hard working firemen.

One Step to more money, time & better health

I like to share recycling ideas; I am pretty extreme.  I hope by seeing some of my habits people can pick a few they can live with to make a better world.

Shopping List saves money, gas and time

I create my shopping list from the items  on hand and recipes for two weeks of meals. This way I rarely have wasted food and I save time and money. I buy all the ingredients to prepare dishes and I post my grocery list/menu on the fridge so my family can pull out a dinner without wrecking another meal.

I also carry this main list to the farmers market so I bring home what I need to complete meals not something that will rot. I will shop for perishables milk, fruit and on those trips I’ll pick up fresh fish or seafood.

This means less trip to the store, more planed healthy meals. It doesn't just save money it's good for you too. 

I suggest you plug in your family standards.  For example we eat pizza every Friday.  Two days done.  I have a few simple meals my kids and husband can make on hand. This helps if I am late, busy or tired.  Also, balance fresh with frozen, pickled or canned.  I hvae a few meals I can make double spagehtti sauce  to use with our version of sloppy joes.  I just pop the extra sauce in the freezer.  The key is planning. 
Real Simple has an awesome Take Back Dinner Challenge that is usper helpful.

The secret to dealing with a teenager

Good School Day

I just had a pleasant morning getting my teenager off to school. Taking myself out of the equation was the answer. I set the alarm for 7:30 as I went to drop his brother. On returning I knocked, said good morning, asked if he’d like me to make him some breakfast and gave consequences for not being ready on time. In this case I would keep his skateboard for one day over the weekend. I made breakfast and every 15 minutes I shouted out time left. Before deadline he was ready to go. Love it!

No threats, cursing, throwing or whinning.  Oh yea, all that bad behavior was mine.  Left a bad taste in my mouth.  Mostly my teenage did what he wanted laughed at my freaking out and we usually rushed to school. No cool conversation just nagging.  YUK.  Specific request, more specific consequences and  matter of fact points.  Why didn't someone tell me it could be this easy!

Recycling at Home

Over the next year I will be sharing home recycling ideas every week. On My Arts site
http://badartworld.blogspot.com I will share my pre-cycle and recycle arts and crafts projects.
I am continually creating and I am recycling obsessed. While I don’t expect most people to adopt all my practices for recycling and pre-cycling I hope one can read to lift ideas to fit their lifestyle. These sites are complementary because they help me with work, family and life in general. In all aspects, no matter how small my part is I am always concerned with creating a better world. If we all do just a little we could accomplish a lot.

One step parental advice

If you have a child of any age you need to check out Circle of Moms. I just read the best article there dealing with smart mouth teens. The article was right on target with wonderful advice. The site allows moms to ask question and give advice. It gives perspective on many topics and the valuable experience of others. It also helps moms connect in the real world. Circle is a good resouce for any mom or dad.

Last Day of Summer Fun

Deep Eddy Austin, Texas  Ausgust 21, 2011

We spent the day at Deep Eddie a popular watering hole in Austin, Texas. I had a great day with my boys. One fished off the pier most of the day in a mad competition of catch and release with a friend. I swam with my youngest son. We went for a walk and got to see an awesome game of Kayak Polo. That was an exciting high energy competition. My youngest a runner, avid swimmer and biker thought he'd love to try it. A cool Dad walked us through the rules and I know we'll be back to catch a game if not jump in a kayak. Well, tired we’re ready as we’ll ever be for the first day of school. Here’s to school. God Bless you all and I wish everyone a great year.

Skating and the San Marcos Library

I just love San Marcos Library. It is a open building with lots of comfy chairs and wonderful displays. I spent my time with magazines I like to look at but don’t purchase. The smaller branches in Austin don’t have as many subscriptions as they once did. I took a group of boys to the skate board park that shares the same parking lot as the library. The boys had a great skate session and enjoyed an empty park for an hour before the locals showed up. The park is larger than Austin’s Mabel Davis and has lots of street features. I will take the boys to this skate park again knowing I can enjoy this jewel of library.

http://www.ci.san-marcos.tx.us/departments/library/index.html

Recycle Hockey Jersey Baskets

Recently I was given a bundle of hockey jerseys that had been used to make quilts. Chris Wenz, of Over the Top Quilting Studio, apologized for the mess. I’m sure she was thinking what will she do with that. I spent the summer cutting a large bag jerseys into yarn. The rough, polyester fabrics turned out to be perfect for baskets. The colors are bright and bold while and the fabric is thick and durable.

All the handmade crochet rag rugs and baskets are projects of love. I like unusable fabric with no life. When fabrics are cut into strips the colors and textures change and have a new depth. The baskets show how even the must unexpected material can have a second life.

Barton Creek Farmers Market

I like to supplement my shopping at the local Farmer’s Market. I go with a pocket full of small bill and my shopping bag. I picked up okra, egg plant, natural cleaners and breakfast on a recent trip. Further, it’s a great place to find unique gifts. Bird feeders, by Dan Baker, caught my attention for birthday gifts. You can see Dan’s work on face book. Barton Creek has a tiny but extra special petting zoo too. Bunnies and chicks were my favs. Well, I’ll see you are the market.

What I needed

This song is just what I needed this morning. It's a very cool take on a Cars tune Check it out.
badart

Cheap Levis?

My two boys are either growing out of or ripping the knees out of their jeans so I began to supplement them by shopping online. I have a collection of jeans at my eBay shop I hope might help you too. I add sizes and styles often sign up for the newsletter to get up dates. I live in Levis in the winter so I tend to lean toward them in my shop. I’ll have more winter styles soon.

Library

When the temperature hits 105 the library is a hot place to be. Yesterday we went to the library a usual trip for my family. It was full of activity. There were kids yelping as usual but the young men 18 to 25 sitting along side families were awesome. There were way more Dads than usual and just a great buzz. Almost every chair was taken and my favorite spot, sitting in front of a section on the floor was the seat of choice. There is always an up side so if our heat spell popularizes the library as a place to be seen than bravo.

At a time when local government is cutting back we need to be sure we keep our most important assets strong.

Apathy

Apathy

America is in a crazy dance where our political system is broken. I believe it is broken due to voter apathy. Most registered voters are too busy even if interested they don’t read, listen and know all the options available. What has happened is the extremes run the party. These people have a vested interest in the out comes because it affects their pocket books or values. These extremist make a lot of noise or work clandestinely. Because they make a lot of noise or have power they control the debate that trickles down to the majority. The majority is you and I; the busy people who assume we have elected reasonable people to make good and decent decision to run our country. Obviously we were wrong.

The problem with the majorities rational thought is we have been negligent in our attention; we have failed the system. 40.9 percent of registered voters voted in the last election. The extremist run the system and this has gotten America in to this ridiculous situation. Rational people can do not make up their minds about a situation before all options are available. Anyone so ridged that they have made up their minds before the debate has started is childish and ignorant. I am pointing my fingers in every direction. I have no dog in this fight. The Democrats, Republicans and especially the Tea Party followers are wrong. The Majorities have blindly given up to special interest, hooligans and extremist on all sides.

All sides are at fault. When it comes to the debt all parties need to sacrifice. Elected officials who can THINK and make decisions with out throwing out ridged ultimatums should be encouraged. Those who have lined themselves up with extreme few points with out considering the American People should not be reelected. I am asking you to call or write the most extreme politicians and tell them what you think. Tell them to consider what is best for our country not their reelection. And those who can THINK and Deliver without holding the other side hostage will win along with the American people.

Watch one less silly video on line or skip a rerun on the tub. Let’s take back the system from the extremist who think all or nothing. 40.0 percent voted to make this majority in the house; therefore less than half of reasonable people stood up to be counted. We, the majority, don’t have to march on Washington but we do have to do something. Write or call NOW and VOTE in the next election. Register and take the time to find logical people without grand allegiances to party, corporate power or their own power grab and let’s put them in office. Let’s take the system away from the folks who make the most noise. They are the minority. Get out of the shadows and be heard. It is not too late.



http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-tea-party-politicians

http://www.house.gov/

http://www.senate.gov/

Austin with No Air Conditioner

Austin is fabulous however with no AC it is miserable. My air conditioner motor blew out on the 4th of July! Yea! I’m so blessed to have only had two nights without air. I can not even imagine living before air conditioning. And Victorian dress may have been lovely if you live in a cooler climate but there are precious few months Texas women would be fresh in all that material. Well, if I did not have fans I would not have gotten the few hours of sleep I managed. Today I wake up refreshed and God Bless Air Conditioning! I’ll fall in love with Austin all over again.

Farmer's Market Jewels

The best part of having a plan and a budget for grocery shopping is specialty shopping. That includes stores focused on organic, bulk shopping centers and farmer’s markets. A recent trip to he Austin Farmer’s Market in Sunset Valley I bought some mushrooms, peaches and had a great breakfast. I did enjoy the beautiful jewelry of Found Fusion and a silk screen artist Racecar. I love the energy and the fresh organic foods at the market.