We've taken a number of steps this winter to assure the health of the fish in the system.

I spent the day in the greenhouse yesterday, cleaning up the aquaponics system. It is amazing to have plants growing lushly in November and finding lots of ripe peppers and tomatoes. They do seem to love the environment in there.

Some other items weren't doing as well. We have a lot of humidity in the greenhouse as a result of the aquaponics system. I knew this was likely to happen as our winters are more wet than cold, typically. A lot of the cleaning was removing the bottom leaves that were decaying, as well as the salad greens that were beyond their prime.

We use paper everywhere... paper towels, paper napkins, toilet paper, kleenex. The list goes on and on and unfortunately, all that paper isn't really sustainable. This last spring we watched a documentary about rain forests being cut down and replaced by forests of trees to make our paper products. It's still forest, you might say. However, the needs of these trees are very different from what was cut down. And, the result is water shortages and contamination for those living in the area.

A couple weeks ago I finally invested in some of those cloth reusable bags for grocery shopping. Now I just have to get into the habit of using them. I remember as a kid my mom using those and using them for everything. I figure they will come in handy for just about anything and save me from the depths of plastic bags.

Then yesterday I finally cleaned out or recycle bin and brought it inside to encourage me to recycle. We get a newspaper every day so that will come in handy. Will see how little I can make my garbage :-)

Tada!As continuing part of really cool dressers for kids, I post the dresser that Jeff just repainted for my two new grandbabies! It was Marie's childhood (and prolly adulthood for a while) dresser. The previous owners had left it in the weather room of our house in Clintonville. We had repainted it cream and teal? if I remember right. SO here it is, on at least its third life now suitable for a handsome boy and a lovely girl.