Today`s walk 05/20/2016

Today`s Walk.

We decided to do something different than our usual walk in town or at the community center. This was a budget friendly way for us to do something together. Today`s adventure was a small hike at Stockton State park. Umber Ridge Trail.

Outside temperature was 68 degrees. We are not experienced, so this was a perfect beginners Trail for the both of us. A 1.75 mile walk on natural surface with slight slopes, and some great views of the lake.

It travels through a area with large oaks and hickory trees. At one point we had to climb over a tree after a previous storm placed it across the trail. 

We heard some wildlife and observed two armadillos chasing each other. Wonder what they were up to. Today motivates me to look more into trails around me and to explore!!

LED Light Bulbs 2

I don`t like shopping at all, but when we went to Walmart today i found these 3 Led light bulbs each. So with these i got a step closer to were i want to be reducing my monthly spending These lights are only 1.2 watt. And with my two other 3 watt bulbs i am saving now 53 watts instead of my old curly bulb's.

.

They don`t give out a lot of light but that's okay for our use in the living-room. I guess Walmart is discontinuing selling this brand. But i have seen them at Sutherlands.....

cars and trucks / gallons and miles

We got this Chevy S10 two years ago. Its a nice little truck, and never let us down. Because of my work i have to drive an hour a day. So this was adding up and eating a great chunk out of our budget. So i found some people at work that drive the same way at least 3 days a week. This helped putting 77 dollars back in my pocket a month. my wife decided to o back to school last autumn. So we went looking around having only a small budget to spent. Something that would not break the bank spending it on gas.We came across this Saturn Twin cap. It had a lot of mileage. We did some research and discovered that it had a wonderful gas-mileage. (( 34 miles a gallon/ 24 miles a gallon for the truck.)) So with her school and this little car we found a way to keep our budget in check

solor and windpower

We do not have a lot of extra money to spend, off course we would like solar panels, windmills and other technologies to warm, heat or power up our house. Our house is a little bigger then we need. But it's also nice not to feel cramped up. We still like to be somewhat green and try to save were we can. One good way is to use sun and wind power by drying clothes outside. The weather here in Missouri gives us the opportunity to dry 80% of our laundry outside. It's around $0.25 cents for a load using our dryer. We have 4 loads a week. In a year we can save $ 42 dollars by just using a clothes line, by saving 382 Kwh a year And i know it will cost some effort. But i can enjoy a little extra time being outside.

When one of our cats was killed by a unleashed dog here in town we got browny. He was a male until the Veterinary got a hold of him Now he is "IT" It still thinks he have to rule the pack.  A couple of days after he lost his balls he jumped out of a tree seven foot high. I guess it did not bother him (IT) that much. And is always arguing with with our other cat Callie. Today they were growling and crying through a window.

Snow and sleet~

Snow and sleet makes for … ~Slick~.

We can`t complain this winter. Temperatures have been very mild. This decreased the use of natural gas for our furnace in the basement. Mother nature reminded us that it is still winter, and surprised us with two inches of snow, followed by a nice layer of sleet. This followed by a steady frost. It is like having concrete every-were. Slick concrete. So when I got out to feed the chickens I almost hit the dirt (snow) and spilled some of this high prized chicken food. I guess beside the birds, the cat is eating it. 

Our chickens have not seen any snow, and did not know what to think. 

Two stayed inside, playing chicken I guess.

Maybe they will come out tomorrow to eat.

LED light bulbs

I got my first LED light today for inside the house, I placed it in one of our ceiling fans. It claims to use only 2 watt instead of our 10-13 watt fluorescent light bulbs. They are prized pretty high, but according to the package last around 5000 hours more than a fluorescent bulb. I figured to change out seven light bulbs. My savings will be around 28 dollars on electricity a year. 

	Fluorescent light bulb     (13Watt)	LED light bulb (2 Watt)
Prize:	$5.60	$6.97
Life span	8000 hours	15000 hours
Cost per light bulb 1000 hours + electricity cost (0.11kwh)	$2.13	$0.68