Patrick Morgan

It's not the end of the day yet, so I feel a bit weird recording that I didn't buy anything today, but my plan when I leave here is to go right home and do house work.

My breakfast was a local ingredient scramble.

I cut down my screen time by reading a book over lunch and I intend to do more of the same when I get home.

I think that, with the exception of one item purchase, I had a successful EcoChallenge and I think I can continue on with some of these habits, though eating local foods may get harder as the cold dark season progresses. In spring I think I'll be ready to join a CSA!

I was at a conference all day today, which reduced my screen time compared to a regular work day. 

I did buy one new thing, but I'm not counting it - it was a pair of shoelaces because I broke one on my way to work.

I slipped on one of my challenges this weekend. I wasn't supposed to buy anything new other than food. Well, I had a pass to the Columbia Sporting Store that expires this week and I didn't have a rain coat. So now I have a rain coat.
Everything else went well. I had three guests over night Friday/Saturday and I made breakfast for everyone using local ingredients.

Gratitude is not one of my challenges, but I am feeling a lot of gratitude right now and they tie into my challenges:

1) Access to fresh foods, including many locally sourced from local farmers and bakers.
2) Books!
3) The return of the rain and the beautiful, luminous green along side the colors of the fall leaves.
4) Knowing that I do not have a huge amount of stuff, but I definitely have enough.

Cutting back on screen time has given me more time to read! Old fashioned books! I think most of us have a pile of them on our nightstands that we intend to get to.

I did jump online yesterday to do some Duolingo exercises, but kept lots of time for my off-line reading, too.

My other challenges: went to New Seasons yesterday mostly for vegetables, but I also bought some tea in bulk and some coffee from the bins.

I had no problem not buying anything yesterday, other than food.

My breakfast was locally made bread and my dinner was a sauté with ingredients I bought at the local farmers market on Tuesday.

Local ingredients, cheap and easy. I went home to make dinner last night and I was exhausted. I ended up making this impromptu mean with local kale, eggs, onions, potato, and Tillamook cheddar with a little Bob's Red Mill whole wheat flour, a bit of salt, pepper and red pepper flakes topped with Sriracha.

Not buying stuff has been really easy. I have had to stop myself a few times thinking 'Oh, I should buy some..." but all I've purchased since the challenge started has been food.

And two of my challenges work well together - buying from a farmers market and eating locally sourced meals. The produce in the markets is getting more scarce, but leafy greens, roots, eggs, etc. are still around!