4 Rochester

The kids have been making us a little crazy lately, so we decided to try doing something new today. We went to visit the Cumming Nature Center in Honeoye Falls. Our plan was several-fold: It’s an hour drive away — farther than we’d usually go for a hike in the woods, but this ate up...

It’s not easy to find time to tend the garden with two little ones. Or do any singular activity, for that matter. They like to be involved. Our backyard, tiny as it is, is now strewn with kids toys. The turtle sand box, basketball hoop, water table, little slide and see-saw. I love it, honestly...

I love my compost bins, tucked away behind the garage. It’s so quiet and private back there (a big thing in a city backyard) and smells of leaves and rain and the forest. I finally got around to screening my compost. Oh, what beautiful stuff. It’s not such good work for my back, but good...

We (finally) hear and talk a lot about global warming and carbon footprints. But it all seems very vague and nebulous. I know my impact on the earth is larger than I’d like it to be. I know, as a society, we’re living way out of balance. But what exactly do we need to do [...]

My herb garden is growing. The blog article I posted a link to the other day reminded me that I do like growing herbs. They’re very satisfying - easy to grow and offering an almost immediate harvest. So far, we’ve eaten asparagus and rhubarb from our garden this year. Maybe I should make...

You know that poem, Anyway, usually attributed to Mother Theresa? People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true...

You know that poem, Anyway, usually attributed to Mother Theresa? People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true...

We’re finally getting back into composting. We’ve had a pile behind the garage since we moved in. For a couple of years I collected vegetable scraps and had them in a chicken-wire bin, but that went by the wayside, too. We still put leaves and yard trimmings back there, but have otherwise...

I admit I get most of my national news from The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and what Kevin shares with me from our local newspaper, the Democrat & Chronicle. (He reads the paper, tells me what he apparently thinks I need to know, then recycles it.) But I’m still aware of things going on...

Why does being green have to be so damn difficult and expensive? It seems every other person is “going green” yet it still costs more to do things that are healthy for your family and the planet. I fell in love with the Swiffer WetJet a few months ago. I got a “green” recipe for...