Contrast of color

Eco-Tip:  To enhance your green lifestyle consider green apps to add to your smart phone to give you the encouragement and the boost you need to keep on the right track.  Consider an app called GoodGuide.  It's an app that can help you make better choices at the grocery store.  For this and other tips on going green visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.

Happy Earth Day

Today is Earth Day and it's one of my favorite times of the year.  Earth Day is a great day to start a spring cleaning of your habits that aren't good for the planet or yourself.  I like to use this time to revamp the way I think and the way I do things from the previous 12 months and make a complete overhaul of my thinking and habits for the good of the planet and myself.  

Last year I started adding green books to my book shelf and while doing that I found that most of the eco-friendly, planet-happy books were actually based on all the same thing, living better for the planet.  The last few weeks I add two more books to my shelf and in lieu of Earth Day here is my 2013 Green List of Books to add to your shelf as well.

South North South 2013 Green List of Books

1.  Organic Housekeeping by Ellen Sandbeck:  Longing for a kinder, gentler world? As the old saying goes, everything begins at home, and odds are, if you live in the all-American household, the air inside is more toxic than the air outside, even if you live in the most polluted of cities. You regularly handle the filthiest object in your home -- the kitchen sponge -- and put the same chemicals on your face that are used in brake fluid and antifreeze.  Buy your copy HERE!

2.  Super Natural Home by Beth Greer:  The straightforward, solutions-based approach of Super Natural Home—complete with quizzes to help identify and correct potential toxic hot zones—speaks directly to what environment-conscious consumers really need: ultra-practical advice on what they can do right now to limit exposure to the poisons that are endangering them and their children. At a time when impeccable scientific research points to an alarming correlation between common chemical compounds and cancers, allergies, psychiatric disorders, and birth defects, among other serious health concerns, Super Natural Home gives consumers the tools to start protecting themselves and their families.  Buy our copy HERE!

3.  Green Living by Environmental Magazine (E Magazine):  With advice on everything from planet-friendly cosmetics to home-based renewable energy, and straight talk on hemp, hybrids and hair coloring, Green Living is the ideal reference for both the neophyte and the experienced environmentalist.  Buy your copy HERE!  Find out more about E Magazine HERE!

4. Complete Guide to Natural Home Remedies by National Geographic:  Peppermint, lemon juice, rosemary, and turmeric. Yoga, deep breathing, meditation, and social engagement. From herbs and foods to bodywork and lifetime habits, along with ginger, pomegranate, acupressure, and more. These are the healing ways of yesteryear, and they still work today. Now they join forces in this beautiful, practical book, packed with the power of nature and the ease of finding remedies on hand.  Buy your copy HERE!   

5.  Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening by Fern Marshall Bradley, Barbara W. Ellis, and Ellen Phillips:  Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening has been the go-to resource for gardeners for more than 50 years—and the best tool novices can buy to start applying organic methods to their fruit and vegetable crops, herbs, trees and shrubs, perennials, annuals, and lawns. This thoroughly revised and updated version highlights new organic pest controls, new fertilizer products, improved gardening techniques, the latest organic soil practices, and new trends in garden design.  Buy your copy HERE!

And don't forget to plant a tree today to honor our dear Mother Earth!

To read more about what you can do to observe Earth Day read more from my Examiner.com pages at Oregon Green Living Examiner and Little Rock Green Living Examiner.   And be sure to notice the Eco-Tips at the bottom of each post here at South North South to help you go green and live a more eco-friendly lifestyle.

Eco-Tip:  Today is Earth Day, go green in a more subtle way by simply beginning a recycling habit within your own home.  Small changes can lead to big benefits over time.  For this and other tips on going green visit The Earth and Me Go Green.

  

Mount Angel Abbey in St. Benedictine, Oregon

Mount Angel Abbey is a community of Benedictine Monks founded in 1882 from the Abbey of Engelberg in Switzerland. We maintain a monastic tradition that has been a vital part of the Roman Catholic Church for more than 1500 years. Responding to God's call to holiness and preferring nothing whatever to Christ, we dedicate ourselves, under a Rule and an abbot to a life of prayer and work. We strive to support one another in community, to serve God, the Church, and the larger society. We do this as we celebrate the Holy Eucharist together, pray the Liturgy of the Hours five times daily in choir, and devote ourselves to reading and silence. (source)

Unfortunately we got to the Abbey when the museum was closed, but it is open every day from 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.-5 p.m.  Also during the year the abbey has other tourist events such as the Arts and Wine Festival and the Bach Festival too.  Information about them can be found on their site or by clicking the links below.

7th Annual Festival of Arts and Wine .... and Beer!

Saturday, June 29, 2013 1-5 PM

42nd Annual Abbey Bach Festival

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, July 24, 25 and 26, 2013

While we were out and about in Mount Angel we took advantage of the town's other sites too.  

The Glockenspiel Restaurant in Mount Angel.

The decorative Mount Angel Police Department.

The shaped trees at the Mount Angel Sausage Company.

The main fountain in city center.

The lone tree.

Eco-Tip:  Be sure and turn your computer off at night when not in use.  Powering down your laptop and desktop at night can save you about 40 watts of power.  For this and other tips on going green visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.

Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn, Oregon

On Saturday, April 13, 2013, we took a drive up to Woodburn, Oregon, which is about 45 minutes north of where we live in the Willamette Valley, to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival.  It was a great day too.  The sun was out most of our visit, but the rain slowly moved in as we were leaving.  The tulips were beautiful!

This post is very photo-heavy.

  

I rained on us on the way up to the Tulip Festival, but when we got there, to our happiness, the sun was shining bright.

The sun hitting the different colors was such a cheerful sight.

  

Skylar just loved the rainbow colored ones over the solid color lines of the tulips.

There was a small patch of the tulips mixed in the multicolored ones that were a u-pick group.  We picked about 20 stems and they look just lovely in our house now.  See the bottom of the post to see our stems from the u-pick field.

The wooden shoes were such fun to try and walk in.  

Some of the walking paths were covered in filbert shells.  This is one idea that I will be incorporating into my own garden.

The steam tractors were out for the day too.

The rain started rolling in as we walked back toward the entrance of the tulip fields.

It started sprinkling on us a little as we made our way through the beautiful flowers.

I found a red rose among the white ones.

The pink John Deere was a hit with all of us.

Skylar got in a quick ride on the Wood Shoe Kid's Train before the rain started coming down harder.

As we were leaving, the food carts began closing their windows and Jeff was a bit bummed that the Bratwurst stand was closed. :-(

  

The display of wooden shoes in the gift shop.

It was a great day!

  

And now we have tulips to enjoy for a week or two.

Eco-Tip:  When considering a trip with your family take one called a "Stay-cation" instead.  A "Stay-cation" is a vacation that is close to home, or right in your own town.  These "Stay-cations" are getting more and more popular over the years and help save a family a lot of money.  It also helps you take advantage of the wonderful sights and places in your own area too.  For this and other tips on going green visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.