Our County Fair

Well it's that time of year for County Fairs to pop up. This year my daughter will be entering 5 photographs to be judged. I love going to the county fair. The Livestock shows and the homemade items are always a join to see. It reminds me of my younger years when I was in 4H. My love of sewing, cooking and farming started then. Mom learned had to Can vegetables and fruits. I learned how to sew, knit and all kinds of handwork.
In today world these fair are not doing so well. The participation is down and the visitor numbers are falling. Our county seems to be falling to the saga of Farmers selling property, mostly due to Rising taxes. Our farmers are having a hard time even sell their crops in the local area. Trying to maintain a farm and pay the rising county and operating costs are driving them out out the area. They are giving into the contractors, selling for high amounts and relocation to other states. Or just retiring the farming business.
In a county that once was a thriving Farming community, it has change quite a bit in the 15 years we have lived here. The trip to the fairgrounds, once a country drive has turned into a drive with New homes and very little farmland. Oh the Days of the past have gone. there is little one can do to stop this madness. With this economy this is the outcome in today society.
We will continue to go and try to support the County Fair. If you live in an area that has one, try to go, this a truly a Green thing to do. Support our young farmers and learn more about the life on a farm. I really miss farming.

photos courtesy of
Howard County Fair Website.

take a trip to the site(link above)
for times and shows

Completion of the VSR Project.

Now that the Vintage sewing room is competed, it is time to share the numbers. This green project started in April 2010. It took about three months to complete. We had a Budget of 6500.00, most projects calling for a complete room redesign fall in the range of 5,000-10,000. This room called for a new flooring, new closet, some painting designs(one being a mural), a new window covering and not to forget the items needed to make it a sewing room. Of course all had to be Green smart and Healthy for the Home environment.
As you will see the breakdown of cost reflects the things we could do and the thing we had to sub out. Even with the setback cause by my broken arm, we were still able to do the things planed for us to do. It just took a little longer. After each percentage amount will be a note on how the items were done.

Painting was 29% of the budget.
1. We did the room wall painting using a Zero VOC paint.
Repaired and painted all the floor moldings, plus we needed to add shoe molding.
2. a Muralist did a one wall 3D mural as well as some items on a second wall. She used Zero to Low VOC paints. Some paints, due to the color, could not be Zero VOCs.

16% of the budget went toward the flooring.
1.We did all the work on the flooring. From ordering, Picking up the flooring at the warehouse to the install.
To include Tearing out carpet and disposal, sanding, repairing sub-floor and the install of the Striated bamboo flooring and underlayment.
Doing this saved us over 50% on the cost of having it done by a contractor.

The largest percentage 53% went to the closet remake.
1. Hubby and I did the tear out,repairs and painting.
2. Closet America did the install of the Custom designed Closet.
3. We purchased, picked up and installed the Tri- Mirrored sliding Closet doors ourselves.
4. We will also do the framing of the closet door ourselves.

That left about 2% for things like;
A wall photo I purchase from a blogger friend Robin from Israel. Her site is Around the Island.

I decided not to get the new window treatment, due to it was not within the budget. Then Hubby gifted the new blind/shade to me. I was very please with that.

Overall I stayed under budget for this Green project. I am very happy with it and will start working on my quilts and vintage items soon. I have a new Icon(shown above) that will be used for showcasing of items I am working on. Be on the lookout for this icon.
You can also view the project from start to finish. Note that the link(below) will take you to a page that begins with the most recent. Could I suggest you go to the bottom of the page and work up.
Here is your link to the VSR Green Project.

As with all projects there are a few details to finish. We still need to finish the Framing around the closet door and the molding on the closet wall. These will get done in the next few weeks.

Shades for the Solarium

Our solarium is getting Insulated shades . We ordered some Hunter Douglas Honeycomb insulated shades. Our Solarium can get pretty hot in the summer. Deciding to put shades on the large windows and doors was hard. Wanting to have some light yet be able to control the room temperature.

For years we have wanted to do something to control the heat. We had an air conditioner in a window. That was very expensive and even on a auto setting it ran most of the time. We took it out one Winter and never put it back. I just put up with the summer heat. It would get 80-90 in there. Now that we use it more, we need to do something.

I think I will love these shades. These shades open from the top and bottom. Have a glide mechanism, so no cords hanging around. They are called Duette Architella Honeycomb Shades. The shades are a Greenguard Certified product. The UV protection is 99% and the shades have a R-value of 7.8 with a 3.5 R-value window. Can reduce your energy expense by 50%. Over all it has one of the highest ratings in the Window Coverings industry.

Our Shades....

My Green Project Update

I love to quilt, on the left is one of my quilt tops. The Vintage Sewing Room will be great for displaying them.

Now an update on the room. We purchase the flooring. It was great that the warehouse is close to us. We will not have to pay shipping. Went with the Synergy Floating Strand Bamboo as shown here....

you can click on to enlarge

The maker is Teragren. It is consider a green product and is a Premiere brand. Synergy is also FloorScore®-certified, one of the most rigorous air quality standards in the world. FloorScore® ensures the quality of indoor air for high performance schools and offices and meets stringent standards for 78 volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Now it ensures the same high quality of air for you.
We called the Teragren Company to make sure we bought from an authorized dealer, so not to void the warranty. Since we are installing it our selves, we need to make sure the warranty would still be in good standing. The company stated that the warranty only applies if purchased from an Authorized dealer. So, be careful when ordering on line. Make sure they are aurthorize to sell the product. You can get it cheap but sometimes that is not a wise decision.
Hubby will be picking it up tomorrow. It will need to acclimate to the room for 48 hours. We will be installing it ourselves. It is a floating floor and I have installed plenty of them. This is a glueless self locking system flooring. Very easy to install. There is even an installation guide on line at the Teragren site. The bamboo flooring we chose is hard not soft bamboo. You can read more about this kind of bamboo Flooring in the link below.

The paint has been purchased. We went with " Filtered Sunlight" by Benjamin Moore. Chose the Natura line because it is a no VOC paint.

Our closet has been ripped out and tomorrow the project manager for Closet of America comes. We will go through our plan and set a date for the install.

We are moving along just great. Staying within my budget is so hard but I am determined to do it. I will post the budget and cost at the end of the project. For now I will tell you I am at the half way point for the budget. One more big ticket item is in the works. Then I will have a better feeling for what else I can do in the room.


Teragren Strand bamboo flooring

My Green Project--Visitors

We have been busy planning and now we are in the starting mode.
Yesterday we had three visitors. The first one was the Muralist, Monica. I met her at a home show, loved her work. We talked about having a mural of a fifties store front, looking out onto the street from inside my store. I love that idea! I so love the time period, it will be a joy to walk in and go back in time to a more easy way of life.
Discussed the paint color with her. Decided on a Beige tone, The Color is called Filtered sunlight. It will be the Natura Paint by Benjamin Moore. The paint was No VOCs. Monica will be using paints with No VOCs also. I will start painting the walls this weekend.
Next was the Closet Folks. We went with Closet America, because they have a very good Warranty and are highly Recommended. All there products are made in is USA in our area. The hardware they use is from Germany, Germany makes very good hardware. We have a lot of German made furniture in our home. We have had them for over twenty year with no hardware problems . The closet design was great. The 3D look really made a good impression. The price was well within our budget. The Project manager will be coming next week, to go over the initial plan. I noticed last night we will have to change a few things.
Flooring was the final appointment of the day. The company is Luna, a Family owned company. In business for over 50 years started in Chicago, still Chicago based . The company has its own installers and a Life time warranty on installation. The price was within our budget. We still have not decided on this company. On Saturday we will be looking at the Dansk Exotic Bamboo flooring. We will make our decision then. My concern is the company has only been in this area for a year. Mostly home-based through representatives, if the rep decides to leave the company then what do we do with the Life time warranty? We really need to get this flooring done first. Off to see the Dansk flooring at other locatations.
Moving right along, getting excited about this Green Project.

Wordless Wednesday-What Is It?

Interested in Wordless Wednesday visit

Wordless Wednesday Headquarter
To link up

What is it?
Hint it will be used all summer long, and It is a very Green product...
I said too much!
Your Turn

Have a Sunny Day today, the wind is blowing and the Mr Sun is feeding our solar panels at 4.9 KWH, meter going backwards and the house is being powered by the sun only now.
I will tell you on Friday, right here on this blog. Stay tune... Who will get it right?

My Vintage Sewing Room Project.

My Grandmother was a Seamstress. I remember going to her home and she would be working in the sewing room. She had her business in her home. Now the house is gone however the memories are still with me. I really think that is why I love sewing. My dream was to have a area where I could bring back that feeling of old. Being a little girl and young teen visiting Granny's home was a great time in my life. My Granny has been gone from this earth for over twenty years now. I have so much of her things from cloths to tools.
The paint has been selected and tomorrow I will be talking to the Muralist and closet designer. Stay tune for my Very Green Vintage Sewing Room updates.

Getting on the Green Train

Ed Begley is the reason I got on the Green Train. I began watching his show in 2007. After a couple years, started to rethink how I was living. Made some small changes with just a few things, like Housecleaning items and Household items. Then I started carrying my own bags for shopping. Looking at the food I was purchasing, how was it grown? Today we have a whole house solar system and a couple rain barrels. Every decision I make has a underlined question, Is it a green choice? Thought I would introduce you to Ed. This video running time is 3 minutes


Here is a link to viewing some of his "Living With ED" series.