Going Green....

I LOVE this time of the year!! I think most people do. I love the windows open, the fresh air coming in, the sound of mowers, the birds singing....my mother used to call me "Pollyanna". It just puts me in a good mood. Picking out flowers, this year with Chelsea, -we had a great time looking at all the colors and choosing what to get.

This is my work area...to start planting.

The day was a little cool so working in the yard was just perfect to "go green".

Larry plants the flowers on the bridge (did a great job!) and I do pots.

Then in the afternoon, a different kind of "going green" came about....my neighbor invited me to a "BeadforLife" party. Bead for life is a non-profit organization providing impoverished Ugandan women an opportunity to lift their families out of poverty by making beaded jewelry out of recycled paper. Around the world people partner with the beaders to sell their wares and educate others on ways to end extreme poverty. One out of every 5 people alive struggle to survive on less than $1 a day. After paying the beaders for their work, -all net proceeds are invested in programs to fight poverty. It works this way, if you choose to help, they send you a consignment of beads for a week. In that week you show the beads to as many people as you can, take them to work, show your friends, have parties. All proceeds go back to Uganda.

In this case the woman shown is the beader. She was supporting 6 people in her family as well as a husband who had a recent leg amputation. She was doing manual labor, exhausted at the end of each day and barely making any money. When she was introduced to this program, the beaders taught her how to make the beads, yet she struggled to do it. They found that her eyesight was poor so they got her glasses. She then was able to work more easily, sitting all day and able to provide food and shelter for her family.

Here are examples of the colorful jewelry...bracelets are $5.00, necklaces $20 and bags of beads $15.

One more "going green" weekend project was Mother Earth....Chelsea making baby food. She is really into it, purchased a food mill/processor on the Internet and is here making carrots to freeze. I was amazed at all her effort...good old Gerber's was too easy for me!!

A lot of work....

The rest of the weekend was just nice visiting the girls...here are some favorite pics...Bailey got a haircut...fun to hear her tell about it...ha!

She took this picture of her family...

Miss Emma sleeping, while we...

shopped.

-and last but not least,...Emma woke up smiling!!!!

Bailey spelling her name....poor quality light and sound, sorry! Grandpa asked her if she wants him to go shopping with her, she was polite and answered "yes"...he had previously asked her the same question to which she replied..."oh no." (our laugh for the day)