Ours require paying attention. We can water Saturday, Monday or Wednesday. That’s hard because that’s not how the settings on my sprinkler timer works. I can schedule for every day, every other day or every third day. Doesn’t quite work.

I guess it will be nice to get moved and not have to worry about the sprinklers here. Just have to find out what the restrictions are in the new area, because they will exist.

I like how they’re doing it where my sister lives better. They just restrict the time of day. I could wish for a time of watering limit too or even a number of days per week restriction there, just to really emphasize the need to cut back, but at the same time it makes sense to say “only water when it’s not all going to evaporate immediately because it’s really miserably hot and windy out.”

A combination of the two would be good in other words. Limit time of day, length of watering and how often each week but not days of the week. I could program that pretty well into my system.

I can’t help but suspect that the restrictions are so simple where my sister lives because there are so many relatively new developments, all with Homeowner’s Associations, which typically have rules about how green a lawn must be kept. I’m sure they don’t like it when homeowners can’t keep up due to restrictions, so I can picture them campaigning to make it easier to keep having those perfect green lawns.

Personally, I still want either rocks or native plants in my front yard. Much more interesting than lawns. And then fewer worries on keeping the front watered on schedule, just have to deal with the back.

1. Try to get the kids outside early and late in the day.

I have a lot of sympathy for them wanting to be inside during the hottest parts of the hottest days. Who wouldn’t prefer that?

But even on the days that it breaks 100 degrees F around here there are times that they’ll willingly play outside. Rather than let them turn on the TV first thing in the morning, as they would love to do, I boot the kids outside to play. They can come inside when it really starts to warm up. Then I do it again when the day cools off sufficiently.

This also has the advantage of limiting the need for sunscreen. My kids generally aren’t out in the most powerful of the sun’s rays, so I don’t have to apply sunscreen to them so often.

2. Make homemade popsicles.

Sure the store has cheap ones, but they’re often little more than sugar water.

I prefer to make my popsicles from smoothies, but you could use regular juice or pudding if you prefer.

3. Hit the library.

Hot days are great for spending at the library. Get some new books for your kids to read while not having to run the air conditioning in your own home. The library’s there, after all!

4. Combine lawn watering with running through the sprinklers.

We have water restrictions starting up in our area, which means watering only on certain days and only after 6 p.m. and before 10 a.m. and only for 10 minutes per section on timed sprinklers.

On hot enough days, 6 p.m. is still plenty hot enough for running through sprinklers!

And of course there are always local swimming pools, beaches and so forth if you want to cool off during other parts of the day.

5. Crafts!

Within certain age ranges, it’s easy to come up with kids’ craft ideas. My kids love saving magazines and other things that might otherwise go into the recycle bin for a path through their crafting table first. Saves me a lot not having to buy everything they craft with, and the reuse is a great habit.

As kid get older, they may have particular ideas about what they will be willing to do, but if you find something they really enjoy making, try to encourage it.

6. Have friends over.

It won’t necessarily help to keep the kids cool, but having friends over certainly helps with the boredom factor. I always tell mine no TV or computer time with friends over.

7. Know when to give in on TV and computer time.

Really, it’s not the end of the world if kids watch a bit more TV or spend more time playing on the computer during the summer. What matters is that they get enough activity overall.

But with all our efforts to conserve water around here, I was really excited to get our bill over the weekend.

We used just 16 units of water for this two month period. That’s down from 19 units for the same time frame last year. Pretty good, especially considering that average residential usage in our area I’ve seen quoted as 30 units per month.

I won’t say our lawn is thanking us for our efforts, but that’s been done in as much by gophers as by lack of water, I think. We have one really pretty weed with purple flowers that I hope continues to spread.

The garden, which I will truly miss when we move, has been one of our big outdoor water changes. The ugly watering solution really seems to be helping us cut down on how much water that needs.

Overall, I hope we can do so well wherever we end up living when we move. I just had to share my delight at seeing how well we’re doing, though.

It’s not so hard using the things I froze because they were on a good sale. It’s using up the chicken bones and such that I saved for soup that is a bit challenging. Not exactly the right weather for that to be a popular meal.

I could move it, I suppose, but I’d rather use it up and have to restock than deal with trying to keep things cold during the drive up.

Nice thing is, it means I will know what’s in there and not be wondering later on what that mystery package in the back of the freezer is. It’s good to clean things out sometimes anyhow.

We still haven’t found the house we’ll be moving into, but I’m doing a bit of packing every day so it won’t be such a chore when the time comes. There are always things you don’t need to have out all the time.

The nice thing is that we have a lot of boxes to reuse. Many are from a previous move of ours, and in between were loaned to one of my sisters for her move. It’s nice that they’re still in good enough shape to be used for this. We also have a few boxes that my mother had from other things.

Packing materials will mostly be old newspapers, which I have my mother and my inlaws saving up for us. Why buy bubble wrap and such when we can get the newspaper for free?

This whole process will no doubt also be a reminder of how much stuff we have that is only rarely used. Most of it I really don’t mind, especially the various antique dishes from my great aunt and grandmother.

It should be interesting to see how little we can spend on moving supplies.

We’ve been working slowly on cleaning out the garage before, but now it’s urgent. Why move anything we don’t have to?

We’re also wanting to get rid of about half the kids’ toys. They have so many that never, ever get played with. That’s how it is with the usual excess resulting from birthday presents and holidays.

I’m looking forward to having all this stuff gone, even if by some chance we get to stay here.

Now he’s landed a better one, but we have to move for it, just a couple hours north of where we are now.

I’m happy and sad about it. Happy that he got a better job with room for advancement. Sad that we have to move, which means leaving friends, family and even my garden.

We’re hoping to hand the garden down to someone who will care for it. We have a few friends who have admired it, and the containers could possibly be moved. We’re also letting a few friends know in case they want to change where they’re renting. We’re also going to try potting some of the tomatoes to take along with us.

As I told my husband, we can keep in touch with friends and family, but losing the garden we’ve put so much work into really stings. Especially since we can’t start another one for the summer, although we may be able to do something for fall.

These next several weeks will be really busy for me. They want my husband to start on June 22, so he’ll be spending weeknights at my sister’s house, who lives about an hour from the new job. Better than driving 2 or more hours to get home, sleep and leave again, hardly seeing anyone.

I’ll be packing and researching places to rent while he’s gone, so that we can minimize this whole mess.

I’ll post when I can, and hope that we can get internet service quickly in the new place!

There’s still a slim chance we won’t move. If the local job he applied for wants him and calls this week, all these plans will change. Best of all, the local job might be at a location with an express bus stop practically at its front door. But for now we have to assume that we’re going.

Just read this article by Johann Hari on whether we could be the generation that runs out of fish. Ouch.

Then try Tree Hugger’s article on 10 fish you shouldn’t be eating.

The problem is quite simply overfishing. Too bad the solution isn’t so simple, as there’s too many big businesses relying on heavy fishing to survive, and they keep managing to keep the quotas too high for the stability of the population, and will no doubt fight the closures that need to happen.

Even though such moves would keep their businesses running for a longer time.

It’s one of the biggest problems we have, that so many people don’t want to take the steps necessary to preserve, well, anything, until it’s just about too late. We see this time and again. Pesticides and fertilizers and dead zones in the ocean and pollution and plastics, and, and, and….

It doesn’t stop.

These are the things that go beyond saying “well, I just won’t buy any.” That’s not good enough. Someone else will buy it. It’s not even enough for one government to say “stop.” That helps one area, one country, but more needs to be done.

As Johann Hari says in his article, at least 30% of the ocean needs to be closed to fishing, with strict quotas in the remaining 70%. That would take some incredible policing, but it’s what needs doing if we want fish in the ocean.

Really, it’s good for us. Even if you’re lucky enough to not have to cut back, it’s probably good for your family too.

1. More time playing as a family at home.

Family game nights have long been a good idea. When you don’t have the money to spend on going to the movies or taking vacations, they’re a good way to still have some family fun.

Games can be active too. Tag, hide and seek and so forth don’t have to just be for the kids.

2. You find out just how great deals can be at thrift stores.

This has been gaining in popularity as more people realize that great clothes and other things are available for low prices through thrift stores.

This can also help if you have kids who are really into trendy clothes. You probably won’t get the most trendy stuff, but you can often find the right names at thrift stores. If you find clothes that are clearly barely worn or even still have their tags on them, it’s a lesson on how much people can waste just on wardrobe.

There’s no rule saying kids have to have the trendiest clothes, after all. That can be a painful lesson for some people, especially if all their friends are really trendy, but it’s a great lesson to learn.

3. Gardening is good for you.

Especially organic gardening. Once things are going, you can earn back your investment in fresh, better than from the grocery store produce. Plus you get exercise working in the garden.

Try to get the whole family involved. My kids have an absolute obsession with planting seeds, most of which don’t come up because they start forgetting to water them.

Besides, it’s fun telling kids that yes, they may snack off the tomato vines, beans or peas. Having kids beg for something healthy is great.

Plus you can give great lessons in sharing by having the kids give the excess to neighbors.

4. Doing it yourself encourages creativity.

Whether it’s sewing, knitting, home repair, cooking, making play dough or other such things, it’s good to know how to do it yourself. Making things builds an appreciation for them. Kids especially love the feeling of knowing that they made something by themselves.

For example, I’ve promised my daughter that I’ll teach her some basic sewing this year. Not the sewing with yarn kits that she has done with her grand mother, real sewing. She’s really excited by the notion, especially since we might just haul out the sewing machine once we’ve done some basic hand sewing. It doesn’t really save money compared to thrift store shopping, but for the pride of  “I made that!” it can’t be beat.

5. Simpler family outings can be a good thing.

Most of our family outings involve hiking, a wonderful free activity. It also helps to build an appreciation for nature. If you aren’t good at naming plants, try checking out a local nature guide from the library. You might be amazed at what grows wild in your area.

6. You can save a lot of money.

Some ways to cut back will cost extra at first, such as starting a garden, but in the long run should pay off.

It’s not always easy to cut back, but both financially and environmentally speaking it’s often a great choice. Keep in mind the differences between frugal, cheap and green, so that you can focus on which matters most to you.

Of course, you can use commercials as teaching moments, and help your kids to learn how to cope with advertising. They’re going to be dealing with it their entire lives, after all. They should know how to be skeptical and how to recognize needs versus wants.

Not an easy lesson for any of us. But very, very important.

On the other hand, you can help your kids pick more than the usual fare. You can avoid the over marketed popular kids shows that sell tons of plastic junk toys of the starring characters.

My kids enjoy  a lot of the usual shows, but channels such as The Discovery Channel and Planet Green really get their attention well too.

Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego Go have their good points, as they encourage kids to think about the environment. However, they also sell an awful lot of plastic junk, so it’s a bit of a toss up with shows like that. I’m much more fond of PBS shows for my kids, such as Curious George, Arthur and It’s a Big, Big World for them. Fewer commercials, even between shows, and it always seems like far fewer toys available for them.

It really is amazing just how much kids pick up from television. Some of it’s good, but other parts not so much. Help them pick  great shows when they do watch TV.