My new supermarket

Well you gotta love it - the first Platinum LEED certified supermarket in the U.S., in Maine nonetheless, is called -

Drumroll please - HANNAFORD!!! how great is that:-) Its very exciting and its a pretty supermarket too, Hmmm, almost makes you want to move to Maine, or not.

posting courtesy of JetsonGreen

Aqua Camping

I saw this and my mind went wild. How hilarious is this form of camping, only in Holland, those crazy Dutch! What got me wildly excited was the thought of this thing popping up in U.S. locations - The Hudson, The Charles, The Potomac (god forbid, they might shoot it out of the water), The Mississippi (maybe they already have these there), The St. Lawrence (brrr), The Rio Grande, The Port of L.A..(they would be insta-trendy then)..just too funny to think about. I think that this is a fabulous concept and would be so much fun, floating down a river with little Gimley aboard.

Amazing Make-Over

I follow a blog called The Lettered Cottage, Layla Palmer. They are working on their house and have, what I think, is the best before and after project in their kitchen. You know it didn't cost a ton as the big $$$ items are the same, appliances, countertops etc... So its amazing what you can do for little $ that makes a HUGE impact - Check it Out.

BEFORE

AFTER

Grrrr

Just like they do hotel reviews and how a bad hotel can ruin your vacation...a bad campground can be just as bad or worse because because you aren't as private, you just haven't sunk as much into it as a hotel room.

A group of us went camping this weekend to Calaveras County in the Sierra Nevada Mountains just south of where we live now. Its gorgeous up there and in Alpine County near Lake Alpine. And we really did have a blast, we went to a concert and a hung out at Lake Alpine, plus its always fun to hang near the camp fire with great friends and good drinks!

I have found that the best campsites are in National Forests and Monuments....privately owned sites are terrible. Though we did have a good one in the Eastern Sierra's. This past weekend we stayed at the most squished campsite with barely enough elbow room to swing a cat. It was riddled with bees, the bathrooms weren't cleaned all weekend and we were nickel and dimed the whole way, even paying quarters for the shower!!! These private sites squish so many people into a tiny site to make so much money, its worth it to take the risk and go for a first come and first serve site at a public site and its cheaper.

I guess its a pot luck as to how good the site is and I searched the internet for a good RV review site but to no avail. Oh well, the weekend was still fun, just lesson learned, go early and secure a good site, its worth it!

Water, Water, Water

We all know we facing a water shortage, near crisis worldwide and even in the U.S. Unfortunately, until there is no water coming out of the faucet, we all have a hard time comprehending the notion that water is finite and exhaustible. Since we had the issue with the burst pipe and had to empty out the cistern it drew from, the cistern has not replenished itself. Just the mere act of turning on a faucet and nothing comes gives you an image of what it would be like to have  no water, though you know there is water at another faucet, what if there wasn't!!

I know on the East Coast, this is a hard concept to fathom after all the rain you have had, but it is a reality, aquifers are depleting across the country. Groundwater levels are at an all time low in the west and reservoirs are still low nationwide. Check out John Stewart on our Water Shortage and potential conservation and alternative options.