We are planning on once again going to the Greeley Moonlight Bike Ride tomorrow evening. We hope you’ll join us at the Police Department on 10th Street. At 7:30 they will begin with live music and then we’ll get started on the ride about 8:45 or 9pm. There will be frozen yogurt and other free food! It’s really fun! Completely FREE!!
You can check out the article from the Greeley Tribune here. They say lights and helmets are required, but they are not really that hardcore on enforcing that rule. Some people just brought flashlights and held them or just strapped them on the bike with duct tape. Really, it’s pretty bright with that many people and the police shutting down the roads. So, don’t worry about it too much.
I took my nephew Dawson to his first rock concert the other night. We went to the Mayhem Festival and saw Slip Knot, Slayer, Anthrax and a whole host of other bands. It was at the “Comfort Dental Amphitheatre” which is kind of an odd name especially for a hard rock concert. It used to be called Fiddlers Green, which was a much less corporate sounding experience. Crazy, but that’s how it goes.
Dawson
Anthrax Playing the Side Stage
It rained a little bit and since it is an outdoor venue we had brought some ponchos with us that really helped keep us comfortable.
In this second installment of “Why we’re still working in Colorado” we come to the conclusion that this month we are working to pay taxes AKA impuestos. No, not property taxes in Puerto Rico that we just paid. Those came in the mail this week and were a whopping $37.97 for the year! That’s awesome for 4 acres of land in Rincón with two structures on it! No, that we could handle quite easily even while we are living in Puerto Rico with limited income.
CRIM statement in the mail- Paid via Internet
In comparison, the property taxes on just our own residence in Colorado is nearly $800 a year, but that’s divided and escrowed into our mortgage payment, so we don’t have to worry too much about that once the house is rented out here too. And as for our income taxes, for the most part they are being withheld from our paychecks so we don’t have to worry too much about that either (the money’s gone before we even see it).
So, what we’re really working for this month are the taxes on the property we sold at the end of May. We really have no idea how much those will be. We are assuming they will be capital gains taxes on the amount we made over what we paid for it in 2009. So it will be the long-term variety and not the short-term type which I think saves us quite a bit.
But we are bracing for the worst when tax time comes around, and hoping for the best. In either case, this month’s labor is not as functional or even visible as last month’s intentional working to put on a new roof in Puerto Rico. But, sadly taxes and death are the only guarantees in life, so we might as well acknowledge and plan for them.
We put down a mixture of dryland wildflower seeds when we re-did our front yard flower garden area. We saw quite a variety of wildflowers the first year, but this year, there has been one clear dominator: flax. It is very pretty when it is in bloom; little periwinkle flowers steal the show. They are super-hardy and don’t need much water at all to survive. We see them growing wild around here in Colorado all the time.
Close up of flax flowers
When the knock-out flower show is done, they turn into little ball seed pods and we noticed they were littering the flax seeds all over our driveway.
Flax Flowers in Bloom
This is what a flax plant looks like when its seeds are ready to be harvested
The small flax seeds reside in this tiny little pod
So we decided that instead of letting them all fall, that we would harvest a few of them. First, pick a plant that is ready to drop its seeds. Then cut it down with scissors or a knife (it’s a tough plant). Next, shake it vigorously over a sheet or some other type of drop cloth. (A towel would work, but it might get the little seeds stuck in the terry cloth material.) Check out this video for a demonstration:
A cut bunch of flax
Once you have all the seeds and other things shaken out of the bunch, pour it into a bowl. Then use a sifter or a colander to separate out the seeds from the leaves and pods that also shook into the mix.
Mixture after shaking the plant out
Sifting
Flax seeds after sifting -with a few other things still, but pretty good
Flax seed is very high in Omega-3 fatty acids which is great for your heart and brain. Some studies have shown flax seed helps prevent and/or treat cancer, stroke, diabetes and heart disease. It’s also a great food in general and can be added to everything from cereal and bread to chili and meatloaf. Additionally, it’s a great additive to your chicken’s food to help increase the omega-3’s in your chicken’s eggs.
I gave the chickens a few to try and saved the rest for us
