Recycle your Christmas tree

The City of Chicago has a free Christmas tree recycling program. They have several drop-off locations throughout the city, the closest to Pilsen being Sheridan Park near UIC. We borrow a generous friend's car, wrap our tree in a piece of thick plastic to contain most of the needles, and drop it off at the park (we bring the plastic home to reuse). This year the collections run from Jan. 1- Jan. 17. The trees are turned into mulch, which is distributed for free to tree recyclers.

Terrariums

The frost finally did come to kill my balcony garden (December 2 or 3 I think). In the meantime, I've been enjoying the green my houseplants offer inside, as well as becoming more and more enthusiastic about terrariums. I made two really awesome terrariums at the end of November after seeing some on Etsy.

Last spring the university was clearing out an old biology lab, so I brought home a bunch of cool glassware like this huge 2.8 L flask, not knowing exactly what I'd do with it but knowing that it was very cool. A terrarium seemed like the perfect use for it.

I had the great fortune to get some moss from an intro bio lab at school that was going to be discarded at the end of the week, so I used that. They probably got it from Carolina Biological Supply. I was thrilled to get such thick, lush moss because you just don't see moss like that in Chicago outside of the Garfield Park Conservatory!

First I laid down a layer of small rocks (collected from the shore of Lake Michigan in the fall), with a few larger ones mixed in.

Then I put down a small amount of sphagnum moss that I took from a potted plant...

...and then covered that with a layer of potting mix. I used a Cacti and Succulent Soil Mix that I had.

Then I started adding the moss. Sometimes it was a squeeze to fit the chunks of moss through the flask opening.

The sides of the flask were dirty when I finished, so I took a rag and chopstick to wipe around the inside.

Having gained some confidence using the flask with a relatively large opening, I decided to try a large bottle.

This bottle shows layers more nicely than the flask, so I layered different rock sizes.

I made a paper funnel out of junk mail that I used to help direct where the little pebbles landed. This is key if you want nice layers.

Then I added a layer of potting mix (again, using the funnel to keep it from going all over the place. When I was ready to add the moss, I used chopsticks get the moss into the jar and move it into the desired place.

Now I just need to find the photos of the finished terrariums! More about moss and terrariums in the near future.

Still no frost on my plants

My lettuce and everything else looks the same as I left it on Tuesday night. I think they'll make it into December. Weird, huh?

Cold frame

In September my handy husband built me a cold frame out of an old window frame.

Last weekend (Oct 31) I moved some of my plants inside. I'm hoping that my prickly pear and sedums will survive the winter, but it's harder to get container plants through the winter. The cold frame should help.

CTA bus route changes

The new year brought changes to some bus routes, including two that I frequent as a car-free Chicagoan. As far as I'm concerned, one changed for the worse and one for the better.

The Bad:
The Roosevelt bus (#12) no longer goes all the way to Museum Campus. The #146 is now the only bus serving Museum Campus. As someone who frequents the Field Museum (I work there sometimes), this is disappointing. I must admit that I noticed the vast majority of passengers got off at the Roosevelt train station and many times I was the only person on the bus between Michigan Avenue and Museum Campus (or vice versa), but I also tended to travel at odd times (middle of the day, after 8 pm). It seems a shame to make the Museum Campus less accessible by public transportation. Now to get 2.5 miles to the museums, I have to take 2 from school (UIC) and 3 from home instead of 1 bus from school or 2 from home... or do I?

The Good:
The 18th Street bus (#18) now goes north on Halsted and across Roosevelt to the Red/Orange/Green line station instead of south on Roosvelt and across Cermak to the Red line station. At first I wasn't sure about this change, but Matt pointed out that now we can easily do our grocery shopping on the bus! We can take the #18 directly to the Dominicks and Whole Foods at Roosevelt & Canal. This bus is far and away the most convenient to our apartment.

Additionally, I can take the bus to UIC on days when it is too snowy/icy/cold/windy for me to want to bike. Before this route change, it was more worthwhile for me to either walk or bike than wait around to change buses. I took the bus* to and from school today and I have to say that I was quite pleased.

Finally, this #18 will now drop me off as close to Museum Campus as the #12 will. On nice days I'll gladly walk the last few blocks to the museum (though it's a bit of a hike to the planetarium). If it's too crummy to walk, I can pick up the #146 to take me the rest of the way.

Now they just need to change the #18 schedule so it runs later in the evening (or even all day, every day!) instead of just rush hour and weekends.


*Last year I would've biked on a day like today, but with the snow plowing budget cuts I didn't want to deal with the slushy streets on my bike.

I really do like biking in the winter

Today was the first day that I rode my bike since last week when my pedal fell off. It was a nice, clear day and in spite of the cold it reconfirmed for me that I really do like biking in the winter. It's kind of a fun challenge to bike across the snow, too, though in general I wish they were plowing the streets this year like they did last year.

Well that explains a lot

I biked to school on Wednesday (like I always do) and stayed late to finish up some things for Thursday. I'd barely left campus and crossed Roosevelt when my left pedal felt weird... almost soft. The next thing I know it's gone. It just fell off! So I pulled over and went back to retrieve it. I couldn't figure out how to put it back on in the dark and cold, so I just walked home with my bike.

It was above freezing for most of the day so much of the snow melted, but then it cooled off quickly and whatever was on the ground was refrozen by 9:30 pm when I left school. Once I turned (walked) onto the side street near our apartment, I almost slipped on black ice in the middle of the road. I'm almost sure I would've wiped out on my bike if I'd been riding. That same day, Hyde Park cyclist-blogger Jennifer posted news from the Chicagoist that Chicago will plow and salt side streets less often as a budget-cutting measure. She's right that this is bad news for cyclists.

I haven't had time or motivation to figure out how to put my pedal back on since it's mostly been dark and very cold when I've been home for the past 2 days. In spite of the fact that I ride my bike 5+ days per week (but not far), I'm pretty clueless about bike repair. That will have to change.

first sticking snow

We were away for Thanksgiving and got back yesterday evening, so today was my first day this winter biking to work in the snow and ice. I've got my system for keeping warm pretty well worked out, and if anything I tend to overdress and get hot.

This morning when I biked to school it was about 23° F. Here's what I wore.
Bottom:
-jeans
-lightweight wool blend hiking socks
-sneakers
-Gore-tex rain pants

Top:
-tshirt
-wool sweater
-fleece jacket
-waterproof/windproof outer shell jacket
-fleece earband under my helmet
-wool scarf
-Thinsulate leather gloves (they cut the wind but aren't super warm)

When it gets colder I switch to my warmer items. I haven't bought any of these items specifically for biking (except the helmet). I cope with cold by layering, so I've got layers galore. My favorite and most useful winter layers, especially for biking, are my rain pants and my silk long underwear (I haven't worn them yet this year).

I'm happy with how my snow tires worked on my bike and I felt secure even on the slippery patches.

Sorry for the slow posting! I'll try to post more frequently.