6footsix

we have parkas!

daisy mae and i are really excited that we got parkas for christmas.  funny thing is, mom tried to make them for us first out of socks!  when we were puppies, we visited our grandma in the mountains of new mexico.  mom made really warm sweaters for us out of socks and it worked because we were so small.  she tried to do it again this year but it was not quite the success it was when we were small. 

 

here i am modeling mom's creation.

thank goodness for petsmart

build or fix something today

Today is Black Friday when everyone goes to the malls for the sales. 

Here is another idea 

Why don't you spend some time repairing what you have or making something with your own hands. Homemade things make wonderful gifts from the heart and fixing stuff means it isn't going to the dump and you save. 

This is really good if you are a kid. Show 'em how creative you are! Zula and Daisy Mae would do it if they could, but you can't imagine how dangerous they are with power tools.

(image is cc geishaboy500)

the cheapest way to save energy

We're all facing living with a bit less these days. Giving up some things may be hard, but others are easy and will save more than money. 

It is easy to give up burning money - let's see how.

It may not seem sexy, but the cheapest way to save energy and lower carbon emissions is conservation.  Some types of conservation are very easy.  Unplug things that use electricity around your home when you aren't using them.  TVs, stereos, PCs, set top boxes, game consoles.  You can plug them into power strips to make it easy and this may save more than a hundred dollars a year for most of you if you are serious - and lots of carbon too!

It is wrong to burn money, but this is exactly what you are doing when you aren't switching your stuff off when it isn't being used.

This is something where you kids can lead the way!  Set the example.  Make sure things are switched off on power strips when they aren't in use.  You can read about what California is doing and write to the people who run your state and the country and ask them why they don't do the same things.  Figure out how much you can save and maybe you can even make a deal with your parents and get some of the savings for making it happen.  You can start now! 

You might even find better things to do with your time when the TV is off.  Zula and Daisy Mae like to run and bark.  You may not bark as well, but running, playing games and riding your bike is a lot more fun than sitting in front of a TV.  

But even if you stay inside, remember to unplug things off when they aren't being used.

White roofs, not lighting the sky up at night, fixing air ducts ... There are thousands of other things that can be done and California is leading the nation on energy efficiency - the US could cut make huge cuts in energy use and carbon emissions if it adopted California's policies.  The power companies have good incentives to promote savings - check out the plans from Southern California Edison.

We all have to use energy and cut our green house emissions, but if we are smart about it we don't have to suffer and can justify the important things.

game consoles use waaaaay too much energy

Hey kids - here is a place where you can make a real difference! 

Big game consoles like the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 use a lot of power. The National Resources Defense Council says these games use about as much power as two refrigerators! (here is a paper for those of you who want to learn about it)... about 150 watts.

Let's see how much 150 watts is...

Daisy-Mae says energy is power something uses times how long it is on.  If  you just leave the game on, you use 8760 hours in a year times 150 watts for a total of 1,314,000 watt-hours of energy. The electric company sells energy in kilowatt-hours (1000 watts in a kiloatt), so this is 1314 kilowatt hours. Where Daisy-Mae and Zula live electricity is about 14 cents a kilowatt-hour, so this is over $180 a year! Not only are you wasting money, but a lot of carbon is being emitted.

This is definitely not cool.

These games have idle modes, but they use almost as much power as when you are playing a game.  You can set them for auto-shutdown, but you have to do that as they don't come that way.  Leaving it plugged in and idling is almost as expensive as using it around the clock. 

Better yet just unplug them when you aren't playing!  

Tell all of your friends about this and kids can lead the way and save a lot of energy.  Maybe you can make a deal with your parents that they will pay you something for making sure your game console is unplugged when it isn't being used.   

Here's another suggestion.  Games are nice, but you won't get strong playing computer games.  A Wii might be cool, but try playing something real.  Play fetch with your dog, race your bike with friends, run, play some football, shoot some hoops, or play some volleyball.  Not only is it more fun than a game, you'll get stronger and look better than kids who just sit around indoors.  

stayin' active

Hey kids, this is Zula!

A lot of you are in places that are getting colder this time of the year. It is very easy to be lazy and stay indoors with the  TV and computer games.

Daisy Mae and I are really active.  We love to be outside running around and playing.  Guess what?  You'll love it too if you give it a try.  Maybe even your parents will too, but you may have to encourage them. 

You can get involved in a sport at school or through a club.  Our mom Colleen loves volleyball and it is great for those of you who want to get super quick.  But she loves about every other sport too.

It doesn't mater if you are good or not.  There are sports you can play with others and your gym teacher or someone at a club with help you find people who are as good as you and maybe a little better so you'll get better.  There are sports where it is just you.  Like running and biking and anything you want to make up. It is up to you if they're going to be with other people.  There are some people who love to compete and some who hate it, but if you don''t like to compete you shouldn't let that stop you from having fun.

Have you ever counted the good reasons for playing and getting really active?  Most of all you'll have fu, but you'll feel better and sleep better.  That may even make you do better in school too!  If you eat well too you won't get fat. If you are fat now, you'll lose it and look great. Kids are good at lists and you can probably think of more.

One of the best parts is getting better at something.  If you haven't biked in a long time it may be hard to even go a mile.  But work at it and you'll feel yourself getting better. Maybe not every day, but probably every week.   See how well you can throw a ball with your friends or just go out and shoot hoops.  You need to try a lot of things and find something you love.  Mom loves beach volleyball and Daisy Mae and I are really proud of her.  Dogs  can't play it, but we can run faster and she likes to chase me. I think chases me makes her faster and it makes us smile and laugh.  Daisy Mae is more my speed, but running with mom is most excellent.

If I can get my mom extra active, you can too.    Just think how much better your town would be if the adults spent some of their time walking or biking to get around rather than just driving.  Maybe kids and dogs can team up and get them active too!

Send me mail if you have a plan!

admiring the milky way

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson go on a camping trip in the mountains.  They set up their tent, cook dinner, have a long talk by the fire until it is just embers and finally go to bed.  A few hours later Holmes wakes his old friend.

"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see"

Watson replies. "I see the beautiful heavens.  The Milky Way is brilliant tonight and there are thousands of visible stars.  The moon hasn't risen so it is very dark.  You can clearly see a planet there.  If you want to just look at the sky you can say we will probably have a beautiful morning as there isn't a cloud to be seen and it is unlikely a storm could move in quickly.  And if you want to be religious or philosophical you are awed by the hugeness of all of it and our tiny insignificance...  Thank you for asking my friend, what does it tell you?"

Holmes is silent for nearly minute as he soaks in the view, then he speaks. "Watson you idiot, someone has stolen our tent."

paw prints

(this is a guest post from a friend of zula and daisy mae)

zula and daisy mae happen to be great. they are so talented and help run the colleen's business, navigate for her, and keep her happy and smiling.

kids, do you have a dog? have you played frisbee with her? can he outrun you? who wins at hide and seek? how far can you throw a ball and have her catch it? do you take your dog for a walk every day? remember to clean up after them is you do!

go out and play with your dog. it is much more fun than a computer game or watching tv and both of you will get stronger and faster!

dogs can be so silly at times. do you have any silly dog stories? zula and daisy mae aren't great readers, but they really like a good story!

the photo is of dog paw prints. have you ever looked at your foot prints and your dog's paw prints when you are both walking in sand? give it a try and look at how different they are when you are running.

if you have had enough math in school to figure out areas and volumes you can figure out how many grains of sand there are in one of the beach volleyball courts colleen plays in. here is how you do it.

sometimes kids save the day

this is a little piece of fiction by an anonymous author.  thank you!

                              Sometimes Kids Save the Day

When Mom was laid off Chris and I felt like we couldn't do anything.  Dad's business is pretty bad too.  They never talk about it, but you can tell they are worried. They tried to cheer us up by saying that Mom could work with Dad, but we knew it was bad.

My name is Robin and this is how kids saved the day.

Right after Mom lost her job we were at the gas station but Mom could only buy a half tank.  I wanted to help and started to bug Chris.  Then Chris and I figured out we could use our bikes and shop for her.

We rode our bikes to the McCafferty's Farm Stand and Pick Your Own.  Its a pretty long ride and there is a really big hill.  Chris and I got covered with dust and our muscles ached.  My bike has a basket and we used grey tape and a cardboard box on Chris'.  Between us we had $17 and you get more when you pick yourself. When Mom and Dad got home we were working on the corn and the beans and tomatoes and other things were all ready for them to cook.

Dad was smiling and Mom was crying a bit. Not sad tears, but happy ones.

They paid us back and  later on Chris and I rode out again with some money and picked more stuff.  I think we've made 8 trips.  They asked us to do some  errands and Chris got a real bike basket.  It made us real proud cause they trusted us.

Two days ago when we went to McCafferty's there was only grandma McCafferty there and she was tired.  We knew the how to do things and when a man came we showed him how to pick the right peaches without hurting the tree.  She wasn't upset at all and told us it was like when her kids were young.  She gave us a yucky hug, but she liked us. She told us they had tons more celery and broccoli than she could sell and that we could have what we could pick.  She told us we earned it by helping out, which was pretty sweet.  I hate broccoli and celery, but Mom likes it a lot and Dad eats celery with peanut butter.  With peanut butter it is ok, but not by itself. Mom has been putting some of the things we pick in the freezer for later on.

We're too young for real jobs, but we help a lot.  And we get a chance to teach adults things which is really sweet! The McCafferty's like us and make sure we get a lot for our money.  Our parents are teaching us how to help cook stuff.  Most of our friends just know about microwaves and the refrigerator.

Chris and I are getting a lot stronger too.  This is really good as I'm trying out for some sports this year.

Chris read that those curly light bulbs help and so does turning off things like the TV when you aren't watching.

Next year we're going to plant a garden.  And Dad and Mom treat us like we were a lot older now.

a story starring zula and daisy mae

This is by Sukie who loves animals and gardening.

Are there any kids who can help draw pictures to go along with this? Have you ever grown radishes? It is easy and they grow fast like kids do. Ask your parents if you can help with the garden or maybe even start a little one of your own. If you are in an apartment maybe there is a community garden nearby.

Daisy Mae has a daisy behind her ear and is digging a row through the soil with soil erupting behind her.

Zula, with a Zorro style "Z" on her watches until Daisy Mae stops.

"Why did you stop, Daisy Mae?"

"Look at these things in the ground, Zula? They are long and thin like a worm or a snake but they aren't animals!"

"Those are roots, Daisy Mae! They are probably from that pretty lilac bush over there. Roots help plants drink and they hold soil in place so wind and rain won't wash it all away. All plants have them."

"Even the radishes we are planting, Zula?"

"Yes, Daisy Mae! Better than that: the radishes themselves are part of the roots, so this treat we are planting for Colleen and her friends will be hiding until we pull them up."

"Hiding? Hiding? Oh, no! Zula where did we put our bone?"

Can you help Daisy Mae and Zula learn more about planting and roots while they look for their lost hidden bone?

Where do dogs hide bones?

What do you like best about gardening? Help teach Daisy Mae and Zula about gardens!

kid's corner

kid's are really important members of my team. i want to hear your ideas. you can send your stories, photos, drawings and links to my email address and i'll put em up.

my pups zula and daisy mae are on the team and they'll have their own columns. they don't type well, so i'll do that for them, but they have important things to say. so be on the lookout for A Closer Look with Daisy Mae and Small Steps with Zula.

i'll handle the stuff that is high up, the pups work on the ground and you kids can help us with everything in between. we'll make a great team!

i'll tell you who is who later. do you know what kind of dogs they are? for now these are just some photos, but they want to introduce themselves. one of them is not a good driver. the other is my official co-pilot.

and here is a tip for the future. if you only want to look at stuff for kids you can choose the kid's category far down on the right hand side of the page. the same if you want to see either of the pups.

so long for now!  we'll see you again real soon.  arf arf!