Green and Thrifty





While walking home from my hair appointment I asked myself, "Why is that large, white fluffy dog sitting on that front lawn in the rain?" The answer turned out to be that the large fluffy dog was actually a tiny cow, or more probably, a calf (I am not an expert on cows, although I do know it is calf season), contentedly chewing its cud in the gentle rain. I was quite thrilled at this revelation that it is clearly possible to keep a cow in the suburbs, and went home to tell Rosy, "We could get a cow." Except we don't have any grass at our new place. But I would plant grass if a cow was coming to stay..

The next morning I took Benson-the-enthusiastic-cowherd-puppy to say hello to the cow, and snapped this photo. No, I hadn't been imagining it, cows in the suburbs are a thing. Until this morning, when it was gone. Maybe it was just having a little holiday. Maybe it is now snacking on the back lawn.. who knows? What I do know is that our local, independent book shop has a new section - small animal husbandry. Chooks, pigs and goats feature prominently. Apparently goats are the new puppy. So just chew on this idea - maybe if you have a lot of lawn, you could get a lovely calf instead of a ride-on mower.

This week I have been on school holidays and I took lots of naps. Naps are both green and thrifty due to not being able to spend any money when you are asleep. Likewise, lying on the couch uses very few non-renewable resources. So win-win. Let us fight climate change with naps.

When I woke up I sliced up the last few kiwi fruit from my neighbour's garden, and popped them in the dryer to add to my morning muesli.

In the spirit of last week's gardening post about cadging garden plants from friends, I drank tea while strolling around and admiring the gardens of three separate friends this week. It is my favourite way to spend time with friends, strolling in their gardens. I came home with a bag of lettuce, homegrown lettuce and mustard-green seedlings for my new vegie garden, and a promise of a thyme plant (originally from my old garden, donated to a friend, now being offered back) and some iris bulbs (also originally from my old garden). So lovely to see plants travelling all over the neighbourhood like this!

When I haven't been napping or strolling in gardens and drinking tea, I have been helping one of my lovely friends lay floorboards in her upstairs room. Really, we have been lackeys for the person who actually knew what he was doing, but it has been an excellent experience in upskilling. I have a blister on my thumb, which means I must have been doing some serious work with a hammer.



I took Posy for a lightning quick trip to the op-shop between appointments because she wanted summer dresses. We found two in ten minutes, for $6, which is my kind of shopping trip. I also found this tea tin, which is perfectly beautiful  and now full of chammomile tea, perfect for bedtime, because, see above, sleep is good for for the planet, and also for me. I am a much nicer person with nine hours' sleep a night, so sweet dreams:)

Tell me about your green and thrifty week. Did you get to nap?

PS, My blog links are back! I did nothing except procrastinate (one of my best talents). And here they are. Life is full of mystery and wonder..

Comments

Bek said…
I sadly had no naps this week. I oversight I plan to remedy sometime today. Hmm what did I do green and thrifty. I reused old plastic bottles to protect my tomato seedlings just planted out. I have used them for a few years now, protecting seedlings and giving them a use not just recycling. That's about it for me.
Fernglade Farm said…
Hi Jo,

Thanks for the laughs! The country trains are my favourite place to nap. The gentle rocking of the carriage, the slightly over warm atmosphere and the delightful feeling of letting the world flash past the windows. Plus the chairs are way comfy! Hey, curious minds want to know how you feel about the skin on kiwi fruit? I have two NZ friends who tell me different things. One says eat the skin, and the other is repulsed by the concept. I wash them and then eat the skins with the fruit, but clearly this is an important and divisive issue! :-)! Who would have thought that the skin on fruit could provoke such intense feelings? Kiwi fruit would probably grow quite well in your part of the world.

Cheers

Chris

Anonymous said…
What a pretty tin!

Yes, I have been napping too. I love an afternoon nap. And a post-breakfast early-morning nap. They are especially decadent, when you get up early and then go back to sleep.

Problem with a goat is they will eat everything - and your grass may not be as attractive to the goat as the washing flapping in the breeze. My mum lost her tea towels to a back yard goat!!! With the price of beef currently, raising a cow may be a financially wise choice of "pet".
Jo said…
Bek, excellent little mini-greenhouses! I loved the pictures on your post. Fingers crossed our baby tomatoes will make it in this dicey spring weather.

Chris, oh, it would be lovely to nap on a train! I am signing up to a lobby group to get passenger trains back in Tasmania!

I actually don't like fresh kiwi fruit at all, skin or no skin, although Rosy is a big fan. She likes hers peeled. But I like it dried in my muesli - a little burst of tart-sweet. And for drying, I peel it.

Lucinda, ooh, yes, I like getting up for a cup of tea then hopping back into bed with it, and a book, and maybe another little nap:) Life's most wonderfully feel-good pleasures.. and so thrifty.

Yes, cows in the backyard are the new super funds:)
GretchenJoanna said…
Did you hear ? in California cows are practically becoming illegal because of their "emissions." The dairy industry will have to go elsewhere. But some people have rigged up contraptions on the backs of their animals to capture the gases for generating power. Here is a big research topic for you, Jo!
Love your idea of naps saving money and the environment! You gave me a little giggle this afternoon.
Jo said…
Gretchen Joanna, it is going on the list. Maybe after my nap.. of course, it is cows generating all those greenhouse gases. Notice that cars and airlines aren't being made illegal.

Jayne, it's completely true. If we all stopped driving all over the place and buying things and have naps instead, carbon emissions will collapse around us..
Fernglade Farm said…
Hi Jo,

A rail journey between Launceston and Hobart or across the north of the island would be quite delightful, wouldn't it? I wish you the best for your worthy goal. Think of the naps that could be enjoyed too whilst on that train trip!

Chris
Judy said…
I love Green and Thrifty! And as always you have such beautiful furnishings in your house that it makes me more determined to never buy anything new again.
Judy
Jo said…
Chris, who was the idiot who took the trains out of Tasmania?? Really, what were they thinking?

Judy, that tea tin was calling me.. honestly, sometimes I find myself looking in shop windows thinking, "Ooh, that would be nice." But nothing is as nice as my $3 tea tin:)

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