Author: Laura Lee Carter

A New Way Of Cleaning Your Clothes

/ Laura Lee Carter / 2 Comments

Please note: I have chosen to participate in a campaign for Proctor and Gamble. I received free samples and will receive a fee for posting here, however the opinions expressed are my own. I am in no way affiliated with P&G, and do not earn a commission or percent of sales.

Great innovation means more than just creating something new – it means improving our lives. Our latest adventure is building a passive solar home in a rural area. We plan to use a natural source of energy, thus we plan to reinvent the way we warm and cool our home.

Procter & Gamble has recently reinvented the process of cleaning our clothes with Tide Pods and Gain Slings. These revolutionary new laundry pacs provide excellent cleaning and freshness, with minimal time and effort.

Tide podsTide Pods deliver maximum laundry cleaning with great design, performance and convenience. Their cleaning power delivers the stain fighting clean I need to look my best. Having one product that cleans, brightens and fights stains makes doing laundry so much easier.

Gain slingsI have always loved the fragrance of GAIN.  Now there are Gain flings! These offer a great long-lasting scent experience, thanks to a 3-in-1 benefit; Gain detergent with the added cleaning power of OxiBoost and the odor fighting power of Febreze in a convenient, pre-measured pac.

Gain Flings come in three different scents. Not only are the pacs easy to use, but thanks to their great smell, I know I can fill my world with an awesome scent, so important especially in the summer!

Like any household cleaning products, it is essential that you keep these laundry pacs away from children. Be sure to seal the pacs up and then store them far from pets and kids.

As a member of The bLink Marketing Network, I participated in this sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Proctor & Gamble. The opinions and text are all mine.

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Happy Summer Solstice!

/ Laura Lee Carter / 4 Comments


IMGP3754This summer the solstice begins on June 21st at 12:38 P.M. EDT, Father’s Day!        The summer solstice heralds the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. I hope you can spend time outdoors this weekend, enjoying the longest day of the year!

IMGP3722This morning we took a drive up to the new home we’re having built in the foothills west of here. Our kitchen cabinets just went in this week! This color is called Hargrove Cinnamon, and the wood is birch. Lovely huh? I can’t wait to cook my first meal here!

IMGP3725The house is really taking shape now! The view from the kitchen sink island is seen above, an amazing perspective on the Spanish Peaks!

Gives a whole new meaning to ‘open concept’ huh?

IMGP3733We followed County Road 520 south on our way back to Walsenburg (a long, winding dirt road) and saw yellow Plains Greenthread (or Navajo Tea) EVERYWHERE!

IMGP3746Mixed in occasionally with the Greenthread are some very healthy looking native Lupine specimens!

IMGP3742Here’s your very own Lupine bouquet.   HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE!

How did I end up here, feeling so fortunate?

It’s a long story, one I can now share with you in my new memoir!

Sharing difficult times with a life partner

/ Laura Lee Carter / 2 Comments

Rasta Mike and LauraI had an insight this morning. I have most certainly experienced more difficult times in my life than this past year and a half; struggling through the process of leaving our old home, past lives and dear friends behind to build in this new, rural setting.

A number of tough times in my twenties, thirties and forties come to mind, but I have never struggled like this while sharing my life with a partner. Now I know it is both easier and harder to struggle with major life challenges while intimately involved with someone else.

It is easier for the most obvious reason. With the right partner you can experience understanding, encouragement and support in your darkest hours. This is an amazing benefit to someone like me who has spent most of my adult life living alone.

The hard part is when both of you get down at the same time, what I call “Who stole the bright side.” It is so essential that we work together and not push each other away with guilt or blame when things get tough.

IMGP2959So glad we have each other to turn to. I cannot imagine this experience without Mike’s loving support and caring. This is “sustainable living” at its most basic, and Rasta our little dog helps immensely too… comedy relief is ESSENTIAL!

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The trials and tribulations of building a custom home in rural Colorado…

/ Laura Lee Carter / 4 Comments

IMGP3715So we’re back with our original builder, who is supposedly finishing our home. Two weeks later he hasn’t even begun to finish tiling our small home.

Excruciatingly slow progress!  And please don’t say hire someone else. There is no one else available around here! We were supposed to be in there by now, one year after we moved here to build. We did our research and chose the best builder we could find here, so WTF?

Please note the steam coming out of my ears at this point….  In the meantime, I am trying very hard to stay zen about my circumstances, as my husband awaits possible neurosurgery, and our home does not move forward.

IMGP3698Because of all the extra rainfall we have received here (over 10 inches since the middle of April!), the wildflowers are going WILD up near our new home!

IMGP3696Especially these yellow flowers called Plains Greenthread (or Navajo Tea), but we also have Indian Paintbrush, Lupines and a couple Penstemons around.

IMGP3706Just had to share these amazing fields! Who knows when they’ll be like this again…

Click on photos for full-size views, and follow us on TWITTER!

A Study of Walsenburg Colorado

/ Laura Lee Carter / 6 Comments

I’m in a holding pattern right now, waiting to see if Mike will need neck surgery. He is still in terrible pain 24/7. The house we are having built is moving along now, with new charcoal gray tile being installed throughout to absorb the sun’s heat in the winter.

I am waiting, waiting to see how things turn out.

Walsenburg city limits signIn the meantime I have been taking my morning walks around Walsenburg, thinking about its history and the families who have lived here forever. After one year of living in this small town 50 miles north of the New Mexico border, I have a much better sense of who lives here.

The City of Walsenburg traces its history back about 150 years when it was first established as La Plaza de los Leones, named after the Leon family on the north side of the Cuchara River. In 1870, Fred Walsen settled nearby and opened up a large mercantile, making the town a place that  attracted German settlers.

coal tailingsAfter Walsen assisted in the incorporation of the town, he was honored by formally naming the new town “Walsenburg”. In 1876, Walsen opened the area’s first coal mine, and coal was king here for nearly a century.

Called the “city built on coal,” an estimated 500 million tons of coal were mined here, bringing the total county population to its peak of over 17,000 in the 1930s.  But as our country began to switch to other forms of energy, Walsenburg’s population fell precipitously to the present number of around 3,000 people.

Many of the families here have a long history of calling this place home. Many of the homes here were built in the the early 1900s. The rental we presently live in is well over 100 years old, the oldest abode I have ever lived in.

On my walks I see a town that has certainly seen better days, but there is still much pride in ownership here. This town and county needs more gainful employment, and I hope that will be arriving soon!