Well, I'm at it again (still). Today my mom, my kids and I took a day trip to Ikea. We live near Harrisburg, PA, so the closest Ikea was in Baltimore - you can see why we made a serious trip out of this!

BTW, this was the first time we've been to an Ikea since my youngest was potty trained - there are few things more exciting than walking into Ikea, signing your kids over to the playroom folks, and getting to shop without having to scold, chase or restrain anyone!

Part of my never-ending quest for the Silence of Mary is to find alternative, energy independent solutions for daily living, so I wandered through the store, letting the different products jog my imagination. I knew I wanted to get a new drying rack, but beyond that I just wanted to see what was there. In the first 15 minutes, I found some outdoor living items - nothing too fancy, but there were solar powered outdoor lights there. I had only ever seen the kind that are mounted on stakes that you stick in the ground, but these new ones are so cool! They came out with strings of tiny party lanterns that are solar powered, and the cords are pretty long. I guess they're meant for outdoor parties and stuff like that, but I looked at those and thought "That's a lot easier than mounting solar panels for lighting!".

I bought one to test - not terribly bright, but it will provide some backup lighting in the hallways and in places where people really shouldn't use candles. And the best part is that for about $20 a room, I can put basic solar lighting in the SOM houses! All I have to do is make sure that the end of the cord with the solar cell is near a window during the day, and we have free light every night!

Lets live free for free people!