Leaking Toilet Test

Are you pretty sure your toilet is leaking, but can tell for sure? Could it be condensation dripping or is there a crack? Here is a simple way to find out.

Add 10 drops of dark blue or red food coloring to the tank and leave it for one hour.

After one hour check the toilet bowl for any coloring. If colored water has lead in to the toilet bowl, then you need to replace the tank ball. 

If the colored water has lead from what seems like under the toilet where the floor and toilet meet, you need a new wax ring.


If the water is leaking from the water tank, you may see the actual water dripping or see water around the back of the toilet, but not  necessarily running from under the toilet. Carefully inspect the tank for cracks. You can empty the water out by flushing and then turning off the water at the wall. Replacing a new tank is not hard, but sometimes finding the right brand is.

Look What I Found! Strawberries

 

What a delight to grow your own strawberries. After a wet Winter and Spring, we were weeding some of our yard and got a big surprise.  It always amazes me what joy it brings to me and my children when we get to pick our own food from our property. Now, not enough for strawberry shortcake, but enough for a delightful sigh from everyone.

The Power Of The Ocean

Brookings, Oregon 2011

COOS BAY, Ore. — Oregon companies have won contracts to help develop wave power on the Oregon coast.
The World newspaper in Coos Bay reports that American Bridge Manufacturing in Reedsport and Sause Bros. in Coos Bay have won contracts related to the manufacture and deployment of wave energy-generating devices for New Jersey-based Ocean Power Technologies Inc.
After the device, called a PowerBuoy, is deployed and tested off the coast near Reedsport later this year, Ocean Power plans to construct what it says will be the first commercial-scale wave power station in the nation.
The project would consist of as many as nine additional PowerBuoys and infrastructure for a grid, subject to regulatory approvals and additional funding.
American Bridge will manufacture the subsurface floats and tow-out fixtures that are part of the PowerBuoys' mooring system.
Sause Bros. will tow the buoys from the final assembly site in Portland to Coos Bay, then position and install the buoys, mooring lines and anchors at the Reedsport site.
Oregon Iron Works of Clackamas will assemble the PowerBuoys' electronics and power take-off, and Cascade General of Portland will assemble the buoys and put them into the Columbia River for towing to the coast.
Ocean Power Technologies says its contracts so far with Oregon companies for the project total $6 million.
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Information from: The World, http://www.theworldlink.com

Earth Day 2011 Family Activities

Earth Day 2011 Family Activities

Check out this site for some great family Friendly Earth Day Activities
Take you kids to a farmer's market--
Your local farmer's market provides an opportunity to learn about food that is grown in your area. Talk to growers who are providing high quality food that has not been picked long before it is ready and shipped thousands of miles from field to supermarket. Learn about what varieties of food crops grow best in your location.
So many of us live completely separated from and unaware of where our food comes from. Reconnecting to the natural foods available to us and getting our kids to realize that good food does not necessarily come in a brightly colored boxes on a store shelf can be a worthwhile endeavor.
You may discover fresh foods that you have scarcely heard of, but don't shy away from trying something new. Many of us have never tried kale or kohlrabi, but the growers selling these wonderfully tasty and nutritious foods will often be more than happy to provide preparation advice.

Bring your fresh food home and prepare a meal as a family. You can also plant your own garden and bring your produce to your local farmer's garden. Set up a booth and teach your kids the value of money, hard work and keeping it green.

The Newest Adventure Of A Lifetime...Will You Sign Up?

 

For thousands of years,

the human race has spread out across the Earth, scaling mountains and plying the oceans, planting crops and building highways, raising skyscrapers and atmospheric CO2 levels, and observing, with tremendous and unflagging enthusiasm, the Biblical injunction to be fruitful and multiply across our world's every last nook, cranny and subdivision.

An invitation.

Earth has issues, and it's time humanity got started on a Plan B. So, starting in 2014, Virgin founder Richard Branson and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will be leading hundreds of users on one of the grandest adventures in human history: Project Virgle, the first permanent human colony on Mars.
Sign Up and Learn More Here

Newest Kinding Mission

On KIND Tuesday, April 5, give a flower (or a whole bouquet) to someone who helps keep the planet clean and green. This could be your garbage man, a neighbor who recycles, someone who takes public transportation, a local gardener, a hybrid car owner - anyone you’ve seen taking steps toward bettering our environment.

Sign Up for the Mission

A Day At The Oregon Coast