Too Close for Comfort? Not so, say many a fan of Tiny House dwellings. Why pay taxes on a home when you can simply fork over a fee for a license plate? Schaefer’s homes on wheels are great for those on the go, or those whose homes are gone…ie Hurricane Katrina victims.

Artist and architect Jay Shaefer lives in his own custom-designed, 100-square-foot home near San Francisco. Schaefer is the owner of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, and he sells plans for, and builds these little babies. The finished homes range from 50 square feet to 500 square feet, and they can be set on a trailer base on wheels.

Watch the videos about an alarming situation — 450 mountains have been destroyed and hundreds of rivers ruined by coal mining blasts that have taken place over the past few decades. What’s happening in Appalachia, impacts all of us. Take a few minutes, and take action. iLoveMountains.org

Over the river and through the woods to Michael Strizki’s solar powered home we go. He’s off the utility grid while enjoying a hot tub, wide-screen TV and full range of electrical gadgets. ENN for more.

Living environment space-challenged, or you just can’t travel without your bike? Check out these easy-to-store, easy to carry, 2-wheelers from bikefold. The Chameleon can be wrapped up in 3 minutes, just before you check-in for your flight, or check into your office.

To balance my pangs of guilt over the Newman-O’s post earlier today, let’s take a look at some valuable info that’s available about maintaining children’s healthy eating habits. Food manufacturers increasingly offer more health-conscious alternatives, so preparing and eating nutritious meals and snacks is simpler than ever.
Merilee Kern, CEO of Healthy Kids Catalog, an online source to help kids of all sizes and shapes lead a healthy lifestyle, has written:

“It’s Not Your Fault That You’re Overweight…” and “Making Healthy Choices” — For the skinny on keeping our youth fit and trim, you’ll find it here.

If you’re ready for a quick-change, try these stylish, organic jeans from of the earth for guys and dolls.

My galpal, mother of 2 toddlers, is one smart cookie. She mentioned how her rugrats don’t know from Oreos…they only know from Newman-O’s…this gave me pause… as I have to confess, one of my favorite indulgences as a kid was running home from school and having Oreos and milk…not a handful, but an entire bag of Oreos. I know, you’re probably thinking I was overweight and lonely but that wasn’t the case. When you’re one of six kids, you’re never lonely, and you’re never sure of seeing another whole bag of cookies just sitting at the kitchen table waiting to be devoured….which also makes me realize why I ran home, as opposed to sauntered…had to get their before the other five siblings.

Since I’m still a bit of a cookie monster, I had to try these alternative Oreos. I scooped up Newman’s chocolate creme filled chocolate cookies and for offtheshelfers, I think they taste pretty good, especially with a side of non-fat, grass-fed, organic milk.

My next bag will be either the Mint or Ginger-O’s, as I love both of those flavors…check the packages for more info, but the chocolate numbers are made with organic flour, organic sugar, organic cocoa, organic unsweetened chocolate…and do not contain trans-fatty acids or hydrogenated oil. For the sticklers — it does contain organic palm fruit oil — which is 50% saturated, while palm kernel oil is 86%, and Coconut Oil is 92% saturated. For ingredient details click.

Knowing that Paul Newman donates all of the royalty he receives (after taxes) to educational and charitable purposes — makes my cookie-dunking feel somehow more justifiable.

When spring finally rolls around, it will be time to plot the mowing of that unruly lawn.

Pound for pound, gas powered lawn mowers are among the biggest polluters on the planet, so it may be time to downsize to something a little more eco-friendly. High-performance, lightweight, easy-to-push, human-powered mowers can provide both valuable exercise and an efficient, quiet, lawn-mowing solution.

I happen to own a lightweight, high-performance Brill Luxus 38. You can find it and other human-powered stuff at PeoplePoweredMachines.com.

Ilse Crawford’s, The Sensual Home, is one of my most cherished books about how to care for your home. Although published several years ago, it’s a real find — beautifully laid out, and filled with useful information. I reference this treasure all the time, in part because I was raised on Ajax, Comet, Mr Clean (you get the picture). For me, Ilse’s approach illuminated eco-friendly, simple and effective ways to get things sparkling.

From her, I first learned of that magic cleaning cocktail — a heady mix of distilled white vinegar, baking soda, salt and when I really want to go wild, lemon. Today, variations of this theme are touted ubiquitously as the green solution to cleaning. If you haven’t already tried them, you should. These simple ingredients — in various combinations — really do work well for the majority of your everyday cleaning challenges.
Try your library, or pick up Sensual Home online. Once in hand, kick back and treat yourself to a relaxing read. With the right mindset, you may be inspired to clean those cobwebs out of the corners of your room and soul. Or hire someone to follow her techniques, and do it for you — very satisfying indeed.