One Day in Cape May

Last month we took an impromptu trip to one of our favorite places, Cape May NJ. We left pretty late as it was a last minute decision to go, but it was a ridiculously gorgeous day and once there, we went right to the beach! It’s about an hour and a half drive so it was really relaxing to swim and lay out.

Congress Hall is a favorite of ours when we stay in the area, but it’s also great to pop in and see how it’s decorated or for a bathroom break.

We walked around town and popped into a few shops, but then made our way down to Sunset Beach. We love the weird gem shop there and that there is a sunken ship still visible. We even got to see a flag ceremony with muscat salute! It’s also known for it’s sunsets, of course.

On our way back into town we stopped at the Animal Outreach Of Cape May. It was too late for it to be open, but we got to see a few kitties.

On the way back north, we stopped at Big Wave Burritos. It was pretty tasty! I was happy to try a few local spots this trip that we hadn’t before. Earlier in the day we also got a nice coffee at Out There Coffee.

I’m so glad that we live so close to Cape May now and it makes for easy day trips to one of our favorite places! One day in this town is plenty to see and do a lot and I highly suggest a visit if you are close by.

Do you have a near by getaway that you love to revisit again and again.

October Theme | Hello My Name Is...

For the next few months, I want to pick a theme for each months worth of content of this blog. I’m hoping that this will give some insight into who I am and why I share my life and thoughts here at Mad Cat Quilts.

Since October is the five year anniversary of this blog, I thought a good theme for this month was about me! Me is a subject I always talk about here and also never talk about here. I thought the five year mark might be a good time to actually introduce myself.

People always ask about my name and yes, it’s Mo. Real name and what I preferred to be called!

I love cats and have three at the moment. I plan on a more in depth introduction of them soon.

I make quilts and hand sew every detail of the quilts I make.
Or I should say that I did. I’m on hiatus from quilting at the moment, but I still consider quilting to be part of my identity.

My work is also very important to me. I’m a manager at a farm to table restaurant and the service industry is my career.

I lived in Brooklyn, NY, for 15 years and in some ways I consider my self more a New Yorker than I New Jerseyan.

I’m attempting to live a slower and more midnful lifes. I’m on a zero waste, plastic free journey. Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it drives my family and friends crazy, but it makes me feel happy more than not.

Our 6 year wedding anniversary is coming up and I’m excited for it! It comes in the same month as my 40th birthday.

I love living by the beach.

So that’s a little bit about me. Let me know if you have any other questions for me!
For the rest of October I plan to post more of my ideas and opinions on things, as well as more about me.

September Plant Update

September has become one of my favorite months since moving to the beach. Local’s Summer, changing of the season, back to school, and slower living, are part of why I love it. I also really love my plant observations during this month.

We went to some new beaches, new parks, got to forrest bathe and hang out in the back yard.

Higbees Beach, Cape May, NJ

We brought these plants all the way from Brooklyn and September is their time to shine.

I’m not sure what these little flowers are but they are pretty neat!

The bees are still doing the good work this month.

Our raspberries were briefly infested with these little bugs.

Our morning glories are happy.

Exploring some local parks.

Clematis at night.

More night blooms.

What month of the year is your favorite for plant observations?

Zero Waste vs. Low Impact Movement

I use the terms Zero Waste, Low/No Waste, and Low Impact Movement a lot these days.

In 2017 I started my zero waste journey. Zero Waste is the goal, mindful practice is the action. When I use the term Zero Waste, that is my ultimate goal, but Less Waste would be a more  accurate description of my evolving lifestyle.

I wanted to take some time and explain these terms. I have done some research on them, but these definitions are mostly what I understand them as and how I use them.

Zero Waste
According to the Zero Waste International Alliance the definition of zero waste goes like this:

“Zero Waste is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use.
Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them.
Implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health.”

This definition is geared towards big business as well as every day life. The idea is to create systems so that all aspects of industry that are circular, both in production and product, and do not end in landfills or the ocean. For individuals this means changing day to day life before the corporations come around. Living a Zero Waste lifestyle does not mean that one will not generate a single piece of trash, which is of course, impossible, but it means to strive to create as little trash as possible, to seek alternatives avenues that might not generate waste. Zero Wasters consider all sorts of waste when trying to reduce; plastic, water, food, fuel, and all sorts of more traditional trash.

In short, being Zero Waste means trying to live up to the impossible task of generating zero waste of any kind by making mindful decisions in everyday life.

Low/No/Less Waste
This is a more gentle term, a less harsh way to state the above lifestyle but follows the same principles. Whatever they call themselves, one of the tenants that most Low Wasters follow a Low Waste Inverted Pyramid. Remembering to Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot, can help to keep Low Waste.

In more recent times, as we see that recycling is not a sustainable solution, recycle and rot would be in the opposite spots on the inverted pyramid.

Low Impact Movement
This term was recently created by a Zero Waste Youtuber Sustainably Vegan. She felt that the term Zero Waste was confining bc it is technically unachievable, zero wasters had become judgmental and that it only explored a small portion of all the ways to reduce ones impact on the environment and global community. By creating the Low Impact Movement, she created a lifestyle movement to incorporate low impact mindfulness in all aspects of daily life from reducing your trash, going no plastic, ditching disposables, reducing your carbon footprint, vaganism, activism, etc…. The Low Impact Movement also emphesizes social action and activism. Their motto is “We strive for a LOW environmental impact through a HIGH social impact.”.

TL:DR
Zero Waste - Controversial term used for and by companies and individuals who are trying to reduce waste in all aspects of production and life.
Low/No/Less Waste - Similar to Zero Waste but less rigid and more practical.
Low Impact Movement - A more inclusive, all incompassing term for reducing ones environmental impact.
Zero/Low/No/Less Waster - Someone who practices a Zero/Low/No/Less Waste lifestyle.
Low Impacter - Someone who takes part in the Low Waste Movement.

I hope these definitions are helpful! Please let me know any questions or comments you might have in the comments!

Something Nice: Rainbow Mug Collection

Every once in a while you have to start a new collection!

Drinking my coffee out of this one this morning.

Off Season: gARTen, Asbury Park

On the main street (but not Main Street) of our town, tucked in a lot, beyond a fence, besides an ice cream shop, it the gARTen. Truth be told, I don't know too much about it but I think it's an amazing thing to have in one's town!! I'm not sure who is behind this amazing open air junk art gallery display but I salute them! 

This garden isn't open all the time, I don't know the hours, but that almost makes it more magical. You'll be walking along and see that it's open and pop in as an unexpected treat! The garden is always different, pieces added, pieces missing, and constantly in a state of entropy. At night, it's illuminated by blacklight!

I love that someone (or several someone) is creating these objects and I love that they are made from trash that might otherwise end up in the landfill or even worse in the ocean and on the beach, just a few blocks away. 

The other day my husband mentioned that he read that this art project was in danger so we decided to head over and check it out. Hopefully it won't be for the last time. 

This art project reminds me a lot of my childhood and early education. Being homeschooled and then going to an alternative education school, we were always making the most of the supplies we had and making things out of "junk".  

We are so lucky to have a an art space like this in our town. These unique spaces should thrive in young cities like ours. We should work to preserve them!

Do you have a unique place like this in your town or city?

August Plant Update

August was summer's bounty and did not disappoint. So many flowers, fruits, storms, veggies, and sun!! We've gotten to go to the beach, parks, and explore our own backyard. 

Summer storms.

Butterfly bush.

On our butterfly trek we saw thee delicate flowers. Anyone know what they are?

No filter!! Bright bright orange!

All the sun flowers. 

Found one!

Huge mushroom!!

The mushrooms near us have been bananas! We have seen so many huge mushrooms making huge fairy rings. Have you had a lot of mushrooms where you live?

What were your plant observations this month?

Something Nice

When friends park their house in your driveway. 

What's something nice your feeling this week?

In Search of Milkweed

We are already thinking about and planning our next year's garden. One big focus we have is attracting more pollinators! We are starting to gather seeds from friends, buying them off the internet, and seeking them out around where we live. 

We recently set out to find some milkweed near us. It was too early for us to gather seeds, but we had fun spotting the plant! We plan to go back later in the Summer or early Fall to see if we can view more butterflies!

Monarch caterpillar!

Snail on snail!

Cicada!

What are some of your favorite pollinator attractors? Is anyone else planning their 2019 garden?

Plastic Free July Wrap Up: Plastic Audit

In 2017 I started my zero waste journey. Zero Waste is the goal, mindful practice is the action. When I use the term Zero Waste, that is my ultimate goal, but Less Waste would be a more  accurate description of my evolving lifestyle.

Now that I have gone all the way through my second Plastic Free July, let's take a look back at what my goals were and how I carried them out!

- Audit my trash for the month of July. I have done this before while I was starting out along my ZW journey, and I do it every once in a while to see where I'm at. This month, I plan to mostly audit our recycling. 
I kept all my plastic trash separate this month, even items that can be recycled. I also brought plastic waste that was generated outside the house, home with me. It came out to one full paper grocery bag for the whole month. 
The biggest plastic waste I had this month were items that I already had but cleaned up and had to throw away or recycle. This contained several recyclable plastic containers, like berry boxes and a flax milk box. There were also a few reusable containers that cracked or broke and I could recycle. We ate out in July and even if we asked we sometimes got condiment containers. We also had a food in a paper boat, but it had a plastic lining. We choose to get milkshake from a place with paper cups, but they changed from waxed to plastic lined so those were waste. 
The items I had the most of when I went back through the bag were plastic bags!! Not grocery bags, of course, but some berry bags, cat litter bags, chip bags, bird seed bags, cheese plastic, etc ... These will all get recycled at a local drop off point. 

I HATE fruit stickers.

We also had a few pens, we are working through allllll the pens we have so we don't buy new. And we went through a weedwacker wire. Is there a none plastic alternative for this?

- Take the time to recycle the items that are difficult to recycle. We are donating clothes, dropping off our electronics, bringing our plastic bags to drop off centers, and other annoying tasks this month. We still accumulate some of these items, so disposing of them properly is super important. 
We did so well with this goal! We recycled plastic bags, electronics, dropped off clothes for donation and books to the library! It felt great to send these items to their proper places and get them out of our house!

- Focus on building our garden for this year and years to come! We recently (finally) planted our front bed and now we are hooked! We cannot wait to create more avenues for us to grow our own food and rely less on conventional, and often plastic packed, fruit and veg. 
Our garden is going nuts! One of our favorite things to eat in the summer is cherry and grape tomatoes but we don't eat them often bc they are hard to find without plastic. This Summer, bc or our garden, we are tomato rich!! It's felt amazing to grow our own food this July and we can't wait to garden more and more! 

- Utilize local farmer's markets! Summer is the best time for fresh fruits and veggies and I want to eat them all! The farmer's market is a great to get them, plastic free!
Partly bc we have grown our own food, we didn't got to the farmers markets too much in July. But we did have a few great visit to get corn and other Summer goodies. 

- Continue to refuse disposable plastics like straws, plastic bags, plastic cups and coffee cups, single use plastic containers, etc... and get better at it!! The more you practice, the easier it becomes!
We did a great job with this in July! Re refused like crazy and made strides to not accept plastic that sometimes slips thru the cracks. We also went out of our comfort zone and got many items in our own containers!

- Preach! Mostly, I try not to be too preachy about my Zero Waste journey, but PFJ is the perfect time to let people know about the horrors of disposable plastics, give them some insight into my lifestyle and ideals, and to hopefully spark them to think to these ideas!
I think I did more of this this month. And it was good!! We have a few restaurants who know us and ask us questions and help us out. I also talked about my drive for a plastic free lifestyle with family and friends. I posted stories and instas and talked to a lot of people on social media!

Overall, I'm sure happy with Plastic Free July. It wasn't entirely plastic free, but it was a great eye opener and a great step forward!

How was your Plastic Free July? Share your triumphs and fails in the comments!

Whitesbog Revisited

This is our third year going to the Whitesbog Blueberry Festival and it's one of our favorite June events!! This year was much cooler and cloudy than previous years. It was really nice to do some exploring, eating and observing when it wasn't a million degrees. 

We also saw this amazing dog!! How cute and tough is he?

I love to visit and revisit the places we love around NJ. It's so great to see an area in all different weather. Where are your favorite places to visit in your state?

June Plant Update

A little late but here are my plant observations for June!

Lots of flowers!! Veggie garden is started! Replated roses! Farmers markets! What do June plants look like where you live?

These little light green plants popped up in our blueberry bushes all in a clump? What are they?

This weird fungus also appeared! Can anyone help us identify it? 

It was a great month for plants! Love living this plant life!

Beach Walk | No 1 | Video!

Who else has a morning walk routine? I hope you all enjoy seeing one of my beach walks. If so, please subscribe to my channel. comment, or give a thumbs up! 

Where is your favorite place to walk?

Tattoo Story: Anchor

It might be an unofficial goal for 2018 (and every year) but I would love to get more tattoos this year. Actually, I think about my next tattoos constantly. Does everyone feel like this?

In honor of my future tattoos, I thought I would take a look back at my current tattoos. I hope I can remember in what order I got them! 

Getting your first tattoo is so odd bc you have no idea what to expect!! It did not go as I was thinking but one thing was for sure, I loved it! This tattoo was not at all how I expected it to come out. I had had ideas of what it would look like, but it working with another person on art is always a surprise! My artist was Ryoko and she was working at Brooklyn Tattoo at the time. 

I always get asked if I intend to put color on my tattoos, but I do not! I love my thin black and grey line work. I hope that all my tattoos are semmetrical, so this tattoo is on my left forearm, and  I have another one of the opposite arm. 

What is the story behind your tattoos? 

Shelfie 007

What, you don't have a shelf full of droids?

Youtube | What I Ate | No. 2 (Video!!)

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Post a link to your youtube below!

April Plant Update

Finally!! Flowers in my plant update!! This update is all about flowers, in fact. From the beginning of the month, with snow covered buds, to the end of the month when many trees and flowers are in full bloom, here are some pretty plant observations. 

Can anyone tell me what these flowers are?

This crocus was hanging on for dear life. 

Finally the magnolias are blooming. 

Same tree...

...different day. 

This apartment/tree set up always reminds me of Nola. 

Yessssss. 

What's blooming in your neck of the woods?

The Thrifting Bug

When I was younger thrifting was one of my favorite activities. I never stopped thrifting but I did slow down quite a bit. But recently, I've caught the bug again. 

Now that I only buy second hand clothes, I find myself stopping by the local thrift shops quite often. I also keep an eye out for rummage sales, yard sales, etc... I still try not to buy too much, but sometimes I find treasures I can't resist. 

I try to have a mental list of what items I'm looking for; I love to get shoes, clothing with great fabrics, lovely homewares, vintage toys, and more. But I try to only buy what I need and will use. What do you look for when thrifting? 

Zero Waste - Foraging for Firewood

In 2017 I started my zero waste journey. Zero Waste is the goal, mindful practice is the action. When I use the term Zero Waste, that is my ultimate goal, but Less Waste and Low Impact would be a more  accurate description of my evolving lifestyle. 

You may remember that when we moved to NJ we got a fire pit. It's one of the first household things we really wanted! I can't say it's our most used house hold item but when we do use it, we love it! 

One reason that we werren't using it too often was bc I hated buying firewood at the store. We mostly found it at big box stores, wrapped in plastic (!!) and who knows where it came from! We had seen many places where wood was for sale on the side of the road, but the idea of having to walk up and knock on a stranger's door always stopped us from getting it that way. Buying it locally online would mean buying a cord, which is way too much for our little fire pit.  

Right now we just have piles of firewood in various places in the yard, as it gets to be fire season, we will chop and organize our stash. 

Then one day we started picking up sticks, and logs and fallen branches. And as our stick pile grew and grew and as we started oooohing and ahhing when we saw a pile of discarded tree limbs on the side of the road, we realized that this was a viable way to gather wood for our fire. Now where ever we go we usually come home with a large stick or two. That person walking around the neighborhood dragging a large dead tree branch? That's me. We stick wood in our car, in our bags, carry it on our shoulders. Now that we have a large stick collection, we are just waiting for the weather to be nice enough to have a fire!

We realized that we like the mindful act of seeking out something useful when we are out, without buying anything. There have been some big wind storms lately, many trees lost limbs. It was a field day for us, and we liked the idea that instead of going to the local dump (and then who knows where? We don't have a compost or mulch pick program in our town), this debris would be used for something. We are happy to put to use something that most consider solely waste.

Right now, we are only collecting fire wood casually but it got us thinking that this might be an affordable, zero waste, way to cut down on the none renewable resources we consume. If we were to install a wood stove to offset gas-heat usage, could we gather enough sticks to help heat our house?     

We're still in the research phase of this possible new plan but we are kind of excited to see where it might lead. Does anyone out there have any advice on wood stoves, firewood or foraging? Do you forage for anything in your neighborhood?

What I Ate in a Day (Video!!)

Oh boy, ya'll. I may not be getting the hang of this youtube stuff, I may have posted this video a week later than I intended, but I think I have the BUG. And now I have a partner in crime, audionightlight!! Check out this sweet song he made me: 

Subscribe to my channel if you like these videos so far and let's see where this crazy train takes us. 

If your new to youtube, or been doing it for a while, please post your channel in the comments!