Calling all bread lovers!  Our neighbors are having a local foods event!

This weekend, not only is there the REALLY REALLY FREE Market, but there is also a local foods dinner!  Fancy and Delicious would like to invite you for dinner on Saturday,  July 10th. There will be a clay oven discussion at 5pm, and dinner will begin around 6 pm. There will be pizza, garden fresh salad, oven roasted veggies, and much more! The address is 153 Eaton St, and the suggested donation is $15, although whatever you can give is much appreciated.

They’re all about local food and creating a sense of community through monthly workshops, but they need your support to continue this work.  They hope to raise money for F + D to provide more reduced price shares and additional money for their free baking workshops. Please R.S.V.P to help them reduce waste at fancyanddelicious {at} gmail(.)com

Found an AWESOME article about a guy from Texas who builds with…whatever he finds!  Wine corks, broken tiles, odd shapes of plywood, a random collection of roofing material…you name it, he’ll use it!  Sort of reminds me of the wheels used in the Children’s garden on Northampton…

Check out this article to find out some of the cool stuff he’s done, and learn to think beyond decorating norms.

Spring has sprung! It is getting warmer–a perfect time for fixing windows and planning this season’s garden! This weekend there will be workshops held at 153 Eaton St. on those two subjects! Saturday, Patrick will be joining the growing list of instructors as he demonstrates how to remove windows, replace sashes and glass, and correctly reinstalling them. Whether you have a cracked window or are just interested for future reference, learn from the best!

Fixing Broken Windows
Saturday, March 21st at 3pm

In honor of springtime, Sunday will be all about gardening!  Planning, starting seeds, growing techniques.  Megan and our new greenspace coordinator Matt will be co-teaching.  Get ready to get your hands dirty as they’ll be inviting you to do some plant starting and to construct raised beds/cold frames!

Planning your Garden
Sunday, March 22nd at 3pm

As always, the workshops are FREE, hands-on, and last about an hour. Bring friends, family, neighbors, anyone who wants to learn the tricks of the trade!

This weekend, the ladies at 153 Eaton St. are offering workshops in 2D–anything you’d ever want to know about doors and drywall!  On Saturday they’ll be focusing on installing doors, fixing creaks and squeaks, and adding locks to keep out the scary boogie man!  

Doors, Doors, Doors
Saturday, March 14th at 3pm

On Sunday they’re looking to spice things up and offer a workshop on a completely separate topic–drywall installation!  This workshop will be drywalling over an existing, unnecessary door frame, but will cover even the most basic questions like what types of screws or drywall to use.

Drywall Installation
Sunday, March 15th at 3pm

As always, the workshops are FREE, hands-on, and last about an hour. Bring friends, family, neighbors, anyone who wants to learn the tricks of the trade!

Ever noticed the difference between a so-so paint job and a professional one?

This weekend, the ladies at 153 Eaton St. are bringing in a professional painter–he’s been at it for 40+ years!–to share some expert pointers on how to paint new life into your old house.  They’ll be focusing on interior painting (keep your eyes peeled for exterior painting workshops when the snow quits) and they have tons of walls for you to practice on.

Painting Like a Pro
Saturday, March 7th at 3pm
Sunday, March 8th at 3pm

As always, the workshops are FREE and hands-on. Bring friends, family, neighbors, anyone who wants to learn the tricks of the trade!

Buffalo Basics is spicing things up this weekend, and hosting two FREE workshops at 153 Eaton on two different subjects!

Saturday, February 28th at 3pm, we will be teaching how to replace subflooring in our upstairs kitchen, where a past roof leak left major damage.  If you have any water-damaged floors, common in kitchens and bathrooms, this workshop is definitely for you.

We’re still concerned about heating over at 153 Eaton, in fact even more so now that we’ve had our energy audit (thanks so much to those of you who came out Saturday!), so on Sunday, March 1st at 3pm, we will be glazing our windows. Glazing is easy, reduces heat loss from windows to half, and costs far less than completely new windows would!  We’ve got plenty of windows for practicing!
Come over this weekend, invite family and friends, and kick off March right–with the skills to replace weak flooring and keep the cold outside where it belongs!  Anybody interested in starring in some training videos?  Look at these guys!

buffalobasics {at} gmail(.)com

Did you know that Buffalo has the 2nd highest heating bills of any city in the country??

This doesn’t have to be!  Our old homes can be upgraded to improve their energy-efficiency and reduce heating costs, but we must first identify what the problems are and how they can be fixed.  A professional technician will be joining us at 153 Eaton this Saturday, February 21st, at 3pm to do just that, by conducting an energy audit, and we are psyched to invite you over for the demonstration.

The auditing demonstration should last about an hour, and will be followed up with some great info about how to finance upgrades to reduce those heating bills, as well as plenty of time for questions.  Please invite your friends and family to join us!

Warmly,
Whitney
buffalobasics {at} gmail(.)com

The ladies at BUFFALO BASICS want to invite you to their first, of many, neighborhood workshops.

Sanding Hardwood Floors

February 14th at 1pm or February 15th at 3pm (each workshop will cover the entire process, you do not need to attend both!)
At their lab/house, 153 Eaton, BFLO 14208

A few notes on workshops:

• The sanding workshop should last about an hour, but may extend longer as we want to allow plenty of hands-on experience to all attendees.
• We appreciate a registration/rsvp in advance at buffalobasics {at} gmail(.)com  but will take as many walk-ins as possible with priority given to our neighbors.
• Limit of 15 participants in each workshop.
• Please tell your friends and family to join us!

My alarm woke me up and it was dark outside.  It would be dark, in fact, for many many many more hours; I was waking up at 1am for the Inauguration Day ceremonies to get the best possible spot.  I threw on my long johns, a pair of jeans, a long sleeve under armour, a tank top, sweater, heavy fleece, wool socks, my pea coat, gloves, hat from Peru and a pair of warm boots before I hopped on the subway.  I got to the national mall around 2am…there was already a crowd of people!  For the next 10 hours it was standing room only, shifting from one foot to the next, waiting for the swearing in ceremony of the first African American president EVER to be elected in the US of A.  There was an incredible feeling of comradery in the crowd; people were from all over the world, of different ethnicities and beliefs, yet we were all united in watching this amazing historical moment unfold.  We sang classics like “Stand By Me” and chanted O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! to pass the time.   I’ll admit it was hellish to stand in the cold–I was shivering, my back and feet hurt, I was hungry–but it was all worth it because of the message I took from Obama’s speech and the inspiring call to action that I’d like to share with you now.  In his speech Obama said:

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

If we are to continue calling America our home and be proud of its place in the world, we must take an active role in making it better.  We cannot simply sit around thinking someone else will come and fix problems for us.  When Obama said this, I immediately recalled seeing something similar in an Andy Warhol exhibit.  On a plaque in the art gallery it read, “They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” Problems with the economy, the disparity of income, the dropout rates of high school students, the crime, corruption, and problems specific to Buffalo, none of them will magically disappear, and to think that they would is foolhardy.  We are the only ones who can change things because we have the power to do so.  If not us, then who?

It was a crazy few days–on my feet constantly, being awake 24+ hours, battling crowds, attending a ball–but I walked away from the inauguration ceremony with a renewed sense of action, an even greater desire to enact change.  I hope you were listening on Tuesday and heard that call for service within our communities, because with a strong team of people who seek to make things better for all, we can tackle some of the challenges we face in Buffalo and accomplish great things!

There are lots of great events coming up in September, so save the dates!

Saturday September 6: Household Hazardous Waste Collection
Location: Honeywell Plant on 80 Peabody Street in Buffalo.
Time: 9:00 am to 2:00 pm

Thursday September 11: Organizing Committee for the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) conference
Location: Buffalo Museum of Science
Time: 5:30-7pm

Thursday September 18: Business Gets Green
Location: Buffalo Museum of Science
Time: 5:30-7:30 PM

Later in the month…

September 24: Sustainability for Tomorrow – The Green Future and You
Location: Buffalo Historical Society
Time: 6 – 9 PM

September 27th: Environmental Summit: “My Environment, My Choice
Location: Wick Center, Daemen College
Time: 9-12:30
We will also be conducting a Tool Drive for the community tool lending closets.
If you have used or new tools–home improvement to lawn care to carpentry to power tools–bring them with you!
We’ll collect them all at a booth in front and load them onto the truck.
The tools will be available for community use in repairing and maintaining homes and lots.