Clutter, Stuff and Hoarding

It's resolution time and I bet along with loosing weight, exercising more and quitting smoking that organizing is one of the top five resolutions people make at this time of year.

New Years signifies the end of something, and beginning again with a clean slate. A clear calendar with no mistakes. January 1st can be a great starting line, a start date for things you have always wanted to do.

An organized home is not something taught in school. Organizing and the ability to discern clutter from usable goods is a life skill usually passed down from parents or other mentors in your life. If you had neither of these and from infancy you have always managed to keep everything well organize and shiny clean then you are a freak of nature and probably anything I say will be of little use to you. But read on if you wish.

...for me to claim ownership of something I simply must love it or love it's usefulness

Organizing is finding a place for everything and putting everything in it's place. Easier said than done but do-able. When I was younger I certainly was not the best housekeeper. Over time I have amassed tips and techniques that have slowly but surely transformed my home.

The main thing I needed to master was defining clutter. Is clutter something superfluous or something usable? Could I have clutter and still have organization. I believe the answer is yes and no. Clutter is a group of items gathered with no or little purpose. Clutter neither brings me usefulness nor enjoyment. That is not to say that anything without a purpose is clutter. Certainly not but for me to claim ownership of something I simply must love it or love it's usefulness.

Using the above definition we can classify clutter as just stuff. Our modern society loves stuff. Big stuff. Little stuff. Expensive stuff. Cheap stuff. In fact we love our stuff so much our economy is kept afloat by our continued desire to amass stuff.

When our desire to claim ownership grossly exceeds our need we call it hoarding. Hoarding is a growing phenomenon, something that happens behind closed doors, away from prying eyes. It is something I think everyone suffers from to a certain extent. We buy and buy and buy, getting rid of things we bought a year ago to make room for the stuff we bought today. The only difference between us and diagnosed hoarders is that hoarders never get rid of anything and just continue to add to the pile.

When I hear stories of compulsive hoarders I am struck by the poignancy of their plight. These people are just doing what the last century of marketing told us to do. Their homes with floor to ceiling piles of clothes never worn and gifts never given away is really a reflection of each and every one of us. We are a society of hoarders, collectors, and stuff savers.

Somehow we think this makes us affluent. Somewhere along the line we told ourselves this makes us the envy of the world.

One of the biggest lessons I have learned on this road to simplicity is that these things, these materials make us no better at our jobs or our relationships. They provide us with no more comfort than a rock. In fact these things only further our sheltering from those around us. Like protective padding, this stuff is really just cluttering up our heads even more than they do our homes.

Give you one guess what I am doing Jan 1st...

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year

What an extrodinarily busy time for us. We were unable to complete our 12 Days of Christmas celebrations as we planned mainly because my children were both enrolled in a day camp program at the local museum. For Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday by the time we got home from camp and picking up my husband from work it was just enough to get dinner on the table and do a bit of housework before the kids got started on their bed time routine. And by Thursday it was Christmas Eve.

We still plan to do the Solstice activities I had planned, and a few others things as the Christmas season comes to a close.

We are beginning to look ahead now at what promises to be a very eventful year for us. Namely we plan to buy our first home in the spring. I am holding out for a country property and the more acerage the better in my opinion. In this area, a reasonably priced piece of land is as much of a pipe dream as a wish for total world peace. But like all lofty goals, remote possibility of success is a poor excuse for not trying, so we shall see what the future has in store for us.

I hope everyone out there is having a wonderful holiday season full of family, friends and the odd treat or two...or three!

Christmas Continues

Things have been just rolling along. And there is only a few more days left.

For anyone just dying to know here's what we have done the last few days as part of our 12 days of Christmas.

On the 5th Day (Thursday) we attended a Christmas party at my husband's work. The kids received a Kinderegg and a Barrel O' Monkey's game to share. I thought it was sweet that they thought of the kids that way. My husband just started his job there and it's a small but growing company. It will be nice to have some faces to put to names when he talks to me about his day.

On the 6th Day we went to the movies to see Disney's new A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey. We rarely get to the movies and this was such a treat for us. The script was very close to the original story and my husband and I enjoyed it very much. It was scary at some points... I mean really it's a tale of a man haunted by four ghosts on Christmas Eve who are trying to scare him into being a nicer person, it's not your typical Christmas movie. But then again my children sing songs from Nightmare Before Christmas and try to pass them of as Christmas carols. 'Kidnap the Santy Clause, chomp him into bits, kidnap the Santy Claus and find out how he ticks" I kid you not. These are my children, encouraged by my third child, my husband.

On the 7th day of Christmas we went to my sister's house for our Christmas dinner and gift exchange with extended family. I presented my finished quilt to my 1 yr old nephew. He kept wrapping himself in it. He is still sleeping in his crib but he will already have a nice twin size quilt for when he gets his big boy bed.

And today, for the 8th day we went to the mall (Ahhh!) and allowed our kids to use their gift certificates from their aunt. We got there a bit after opening, went it and go out just as the crowd was thickening. It was close but we had a good time.

The next few days are going to be crazy busy but hopefully we will have enough time to continue with our 12 days celebrations.

12 Days of Christmas: Day 3 and 4

On the third day of Christmas my family and me... constructed a house made of gingerbread!

I set it up, piling the icing in place and holding it until it stuck then I let them go for it. Turned out very festive as always.



For the icing I used 1 cup of shortening, put it in the mixer and mixed until spread out around the bowl. Then I added 1/2 a cup of icing sugar at a time, and stopped when the icing was thick enough to hold the gingerbread together, but smooth enough to pipe from a piping bag. Cheap, quick and easy! Why do people pay for ready made icing at the bulk store?

On the fourth day of Christmas, my parents gave to me... something new and fun too!

There was some confusion this morning when the kids came downstairs and found our hollow book empty. That is until they realized there were two presents under the tree which obviously could not fit in the book. Their squeals of delight were priceless. It's like we got to experience Christmas morning a bit early! My husband and I were listening from our room as the kids screamed. He looked over at me and said "You are such a great mom." and made my heart melt.

My daughter received a book on Fairy mythology and my son received a book about pirates complete with fold out ship and paper masts, sails, crew and canons. It took a while and some patience to get everything worked out so he could play... I am so thankful this gift did not take up 45 minutes from my Christmas morning. I think I made the right choice for their early gifts.

On the Second Day of Christmas...

On the Second Day of Christmas my family and me...

made paper garland!



An oldie but a goodie!

On the first day of Christmas...

The Christmas season has officially started at our house. This morning the kids awoke up to find our little hollow book titled "The Twelve Days of Christmas". In the book was a little note which read:

One the first day of Christmas my family and me... brought home our Christmas Tree!

And here it is!




After a long line of mishaps we finally got it up, balanced and decorated. We discovered at home and after we paid, that the base of the tree was warped and curvy which made it difficult to centre it and secure the pins that hold it in place. The trouble was so bad I nearly swore off real trees for good, and I was preparing myself to drive to the nearest department store to buy the most artifical tree I could find, just to be done with it.

We had to reposition it numerous times and for a while thought we had done well until we started to put the decorations up and one bump sent it tipping over. We lost one ornament in the fray.

In the end my husband had to bring in his saw, we undecorated the tree in haste and ended up cutting off another four inches to get to a nice straight part... but now I have some lovely cedar boughs to decorate the shelves around my house. It smells so nice in here.

We decided on a real tree three years ago after learning that artificial trees release a toxin into the air as it breaks down over time. This toxin is not good for the Earth and neither is the petrol-based process used to manufacture the fake plastic tree to begin with. If you live in an area of the world where evergreens are abundant and tree farms abound (like my neck of the woods) then a real tree is a local solution that quickly returns to the earth in less than a year after the last Christmas light is packed away. I have the remnants of three trees at the tree line along the back of our rental property, the first one can no longer be found, and the other two are mere shadows almost returned to the earth.

Once we get our land, we'd like to buy a potted tree to give it a try. It would be small, maybe a table top size but we could plant it in the yard in spring when it thaws (probably storing it in the greenhouse until then). But we'll deal with that when we get there... hopefully next Christmas.



Here's a picture of the outside of our house with my tomato cage tree, my berry wreath, the two willow trees that I plan to use for my peas and beans in the spring. I am all about multi-purposing to save space, money and minimize our consumption.

Barn Cats

We have a barn cat. No barn but we have a cat for it once we get one. Theodora was discovered with her head deep inside an empty can in our recycling box. I caved and fed the mangy thing. She was skinny and malnurished that day with a soar under her front arm. She ate a large bowlful of the kibble we presented her and then threw it up. That was just the beginning.



Theodora

We contacted both the Humane Society and the SPCA but given how many homeless cats are out there, we decided to foster her until her family claimed her. She had to belong to someone, we reasoned. She was declawed, which meant she was probably fixed as well. Weeks passed and no one claimed her, although we did get two phone calls for a similar cat but both people said their cats had claws. She's been with us for two months and I am afraid to say we are stuck with her.

I started letting her outside. Since she has been keeping to the back laundry room exclusively, huddled on a top shelf, out of range of our other three cats who all have claws. She is somewhat out numbered, but she's also a bit of a freak. She draws attention to herself when anyone walks by and begins hissing and striking the offending intruder as if she has not yet realized she is without claws. Like a bully victim she is relentlessly teased by the other three and Theodora has not figured out that by being such a spaz she has placed a target on her back.

I haven't the heart to take her to the SPCA. She has bit me numerous times, while I was trying to feed her no less. It doesn't hurt but it leaves a mark. And it makes me wonder why I bother. But she keeps coming back, scratching at the door wanting to be let in. I can't see why. I know she would do well in a place with no other animals who could taunt her the way mine do but that action would require decision and then follow through, two things I have been lax on doing lately.

She is here now. And would make a dandy barn cat. She's a mouser too. I often see her stalking in the backyard which makes me think there is hope for her yet.

We are exceeding our maximum pet allowance now at our rental house and I am just hoping that we aren't discovered before we move in the spring. I have made a vow to take in no more strays, no matter how desperate I am for ball of fur that actually loves me. Of course it wouldn't surprise you to learn that a week ago while on a walk a furry white canine stray began to follow us. Without it's owner in sight, all I could think to do was cry.

The 12 Days of Christmas

Too often at Christmas time there is a mad dash to the Big Day, like the finish line in a big race. You can't wait to get there and the anticipation builds until you can think of nothing else. Everything else pales in comparison to Christmas morning when all present wrappings are ripped to shreds and before you know it the day has come and gone. I am ashamed to admit this was my house one year.

At a time when our kids where just old enough to know the drill, to understand there would be another present and then another, our house played host to a flurry of excitement and then I was hit by the inevitable let down. That's it? I had spent months shopping, planning, baking, decorating, wrapping (and working to pay for it all) for an hour of frenzied mayhem? There had to be a better way.

Over the years we have scaled down the gifts, and the festive engagements. We have simplified our Christmas and started our own anti-consumer Christmas. We still buy presents but we no longer compare ourselves to the standard on television commercials and talk shows. We keep it simple by not going overboard.

This year, my family and I are starting a new Christmas Tradition, actually it's an old Christmas tradition with a new twist. Traditionally the Twelve Days of Christmas begin on Christmas eve and continue until January 5. This orthodox way of observing Christmas does not necessarily fly anymore. By New Year's Day Christmas is a faint memory and prolonging the festive season when people are back to work and kids back to school just doesn't seem right, at least not in North America anyway.

We are starting our 12 Days of Christmas on Dec. 13. On the first day we will buy our real tree and decorate it. But the second day, and each day after will be a surprise. Each morning the kids will wake up not knowing what Christmas activity we will be doing. It may be making Christmas cookies, going to the movies, making a craft, observing winter solstice in a special way or even receiving a small gift.



To reveal our special activities I created a book, a hollow book that when opened will reveal that days surprise. I made up special cards that we will place in the book each night after the kids go to bed. When they wake up they can open the book and find out what we are going to do.



Each card is made out of acid free, scrapbooking grade paper and stickers so that I can scrapbook each day using the card and any pictures I took. It does take time to plan and create but it's a tradition I can see us doing every year. It prolongs the merriment of the season by creating a surprise every day instead of all on one day.

Trimming a Tomato Tree

What do you make when you have a tomato cage, a spent pot of Mums and two lengths of artificial Christmas garland? A Christmas tree of course! Isn't it obvious?

Well okay maybe not that obvious. Look what I have been cooking up this afternoon.



I really wanted to change up my outside decorations for Christmas this year but I did not want to spend a mint. I started thinking about what I had lying around. I always have too much garland and not enough places to put it so I was conjuring images of a wood tripod thing to go on top of my many planters. Then it hit me. I have over twenty tomato cages in my shed. So here is what I did.





I would say these pots are about 10 or 12 inches wide and my cages when inverted sit just inside the lip. I was able to push them down far enough that they are nice and secure. And then I wrapped around the garland, using the wires in the branches to hide the metal of the cage as well as to insure nothing moves. After a bit of fluffing it turned out rather nice. I even fooled my neighbour who was quite impressed when I told her it was a tomato cage.

I used two lengths of garland. And I would recommend taking the cage off the pot, making the tree and then placing the cage tree back on the pot. It just makes it easier to turn around and fluff when you don't have to worry about the heavy pot.

In the stores I see trees like this for $50 and up but even if I had bought each piece (instead of scavenging the house) it would have only cost me $10 to $15 for the garland, $2 for the cage and $7 for the pot. But since I only use the pot and cage in summer, the real cost would be the garland and lights which only come out at Christmas. All in all, a good frugal creation if I do say so myself.

Book: Unplug the Christmas Machine

Unplug the Christmas Machine, by Jo Robinson



I read this book for the first time two years ago. Recommended by the Frugal Zealot Amy Dacyczyn in her book The Tightwad Gazette, I finally did a search at my local library and was delighted to discover a copy. A very old copy and one that probably has not left the shelves in quite some time.

After reading it I was even more baffled as to why this book wasn't being handed out for free to everyone who wanted a copy. This book talks about the conscience decision by industry and marketing professionals to commercialize Christmas. This commercialization was only exacerbated by the advent of the credit card and then the Two-Income family.

Snow outside our house last December

Step by step this book will guide readers through the process of scaling down Christmas and making the holiday season less about gifts and more about family and traditions. Check your library but if it doesn't have a copy buy it. I don't usually recommend spending money but this time is an exception. And do it before you get your Christmas shopping underway.

Simplicity: aka doing things the hard way

I guess you could say I like doing things the hard way. I make bread. I cook nearly every meal from scratch. I make many homemade Christmas gifts each year. If we need something I am always thinking of how to make it rather than buy it. That's doing things the hard way. And when things are going as planned it really doesn't feel hard or difficult at all.

I have been doing these things for so long I hardly notice it. Now that I am an established cook and baker it takes no time at all for me to whip up a batch of muffins. Bread making has been such a regular part of my routine that I hardly notice how different it is.

I suppose when a new baker looks at a recipe for bread and they see total preparation time 2 1/2 hours, a novice would be scared off. That is A LOT of time to make something that is readily available down the road at the supermarket. Most people laugh, close the recipe book (or click off the website) and say forget it then reach for their car keys.

The simple life is not simple because it takes time to nurture and time to grow. I am not even close to being as self sufficient as I want to be. My efforts are never ending. While I can make bread in a morning between home school lessons with my kids, I still struggle with other things I wish to learn like quilting, soap making, organization and the dreaded vegetable garden. But I try. I keep going thinking one day these things will become second nature like my work in the kitchen. These things will have become so much of a routine that I won't notice that other people buy their soap or vegetables.

And sometimes life gets crazy. My efforts become more of a hindrance and I need to back off a bit. After a stressful week recently I reluctantly gave myself permission to buy some pre-made dinner items. No one is standing over my shoulder telling me I have to make everything from scratch or that I have to do everything the self sufficient way. So I eased up on my self-imposed limitations and bought some convenience. I used some prepackaged food and used my dryer to expedite a few loads of laundry. When I did this I feared I was allowing myself to take the easy way. I was worried I would become use to Easy Street and become lax in other areas that I once thought were important to simplicity.

Apparently I had no need to worry. That stressful week has passed. I am back to doing things the hard way; making bread and hanging up my clothes on the drying racks. I am just as frugally minded as I ever was and it feels good. I learned a valuable lesson. Simplicity is what you make of it. There is no authority on what is or is not self sufficient.

There will probably be many more stressful weeks in my future. Stressful weeks that force me to eat the odd meal at a fast food restaurant or feed my family from a box. I may end up taking the easy way for sanity's sake but in the end I will always find myself coming home again.

Rail Fence Quilt Sneak Peak

I am working delegently on a new quilt that I intend to give my nephew for Christmas. He is 18 months old and I hardly get to see him but I think of him often while I am working on my quilt... er...I mean his quilt. I picked out the fabric months ago and have been just giddy looking at them.

I am not quite done the quilt but I wanted to share a sneak peak of what it will look like in the end.



First each colour was cut in to 1 1/2 inch strips. And sewn together lengthwise, using a 1/4 inch seam. After pressing, I cut 7 1/2 inch squares from the strips.





When side by side, one block is horizontal while the other is vertical.



Placed in a pattern like this you create the Rail Fence Quilt Pattern. I am finding this pattern very easy for a newbie quilter like me.

Using 7 1/2 inch blocks, I need 9 sewn together (side by side) to make a row (width of the quilt). I will need 10 or 11 of these rows and in the end I will sew them together to finish the quilt top.

Passing on the Passion

Photo taken by Sophia. I had put some books and yarn up for display for the 'students' to see.

I held a workshop at my house yesterday, sharing my passion for spinning with a small group of homeschoolers who wanted to learn. I taught them a bit about sheep, wool and the each got to use a drop spindle. I forgot to take pictures (silly me) but the day was a success. I am forever fascinated at how young people got straight ahead not caring if they make mistakes, not worrying about goofing up. By the end of the session all children had made good progress.

Despite being filled wall to wall with people, the house was almost completely silent as everyone concentrated hard. No one spoke. They all sat, concentrating with eyes on their drop spindles trying to work out the complexities of spinning. Once a person becomes better at eye/hand coordination spinning can be quite relaxing and enjoyable. For me there is nothing quite like working something with your hands and then enjoying the finished product. Whether it be bread, yarn, a newly sewn garment, something toiled over passionately can be worth more than gold.

Daily Bread

It occurred to me that I have never posted by bread recipe. It's an odd thing considering I endeavor to make bread at least once a week. Bread is a true staple around here. I somehow manage to incorporate homemade dough into just about everything.



I learned to make bread from my grandmother, affectionately called Nanny. I suppose it's an old Newfoundland tradition brought over from Europe to call your grandmother Nanny. I can't tell you how many times someone has assumed when I said Nanny they thought I meant a care provider Nanny. I guess in these parts Nannies are reserved for well to do families, something we are certainly not. But I digress.

My Nanny is such a sweet woman. She has made it her life purpose to take care of people. The eldest of five children, she was a care provider at an early age. When she married she had one son, my father. Considering her maternal instinct is so strong, you would image she would have more children but like me (who also has a strong maternal instinct) that was not to be.

Much of my homemaking prowess is due to her tutelage. We bonded early on and she often remarks how I have surpassed her in some ways. The bread I make it very different from the bread she taught me to make but the principles remain the same. The way I knit is very different from the way she knits. The recipes I cook are often things she would never desire to learn. But that's not the point. She planted a seed in me and allowed it to flourish. She never scoffed at my efforts or discouraged my desire to learn more. She has supported my desire to stay home and seems to understand my need to make my home for a living.

Whenever I make bread, my hands wrist deep in flour and water, the sticky dough clinging to my fingers, I think of my Nanny and wish I could just drive across town to bring her a loaf. She lives two and a half hours a way now and we can no longer connect as readily as we used to. But the knowledge is still there and the connection will never fade.



White Bread

2 cups of warm water
3 tsp of dry active yeast

Place the above together in a bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix:

6 cups of flour
4 tbsp of margarine or butter
2 Tbsp of sugar
2 tsp of salt

Mix with hands while adding in water/yeast mixture. Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl with your fingers to release all flour. Turn and knead until dough pulls together in a nice round mound. Knead for five minutes then place in the oven with light on.

Let rise for 30 minutes.

Knead again. Let rise in oven with light on again for 30 minutes.

Form into loaves. I make long baguette like loaves for my bread but you can also use bread pans as well. If you are making baguette loaves make sure to cut diagonal slits along the formed dough before the final rise.

Let rise once more in formed loaves then bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 20 minutes for baguettes, 30 minutes for bread pans. Let cool for 10 minutes...Enjoy!

Cupcakes

These cupcakes are so far from being within 100 Miles that they are almost from another planet.. but not quite. Part of our ability to do this 100 Mile thing is knowing that there will be certain exceptions and for us Halloween and even Christmas just wouldn't be the same without a few (note I said few) treats.



These are just standard cupcakes with my world famous icing, or let's just say famous at my house. I use a piping bag and different tips but for the most part it's pretty simple.


Whipped Icing Recipe


1/2 cup of shortening
1/4 cup of boiling water
2 to 3 cups of confectioner's sugar

In a bowl place your shortening and begin to whip with a hand held or stand mixer. Add the hot water a tablespoon at a time. The shortening should be getting a bit fluffier. After about 5 to 7 minutes of whipping add your sugar one 1/2 cup at a time. Alternate between sugar and tablespoon of water until your desired consistency is met. For more detailed piping/decorating go for a more stiff icing (ie: one with more sugar) if you want more of a whipped consistency use less sugar but a bit more water.



I used a basket tip for the Mummy's wrapping and made uneven lines to make them looked wrapped. The legs of the spiders are just mint licorice, since my children refused to use grape, which in my opinion would have been closer to black but these turned out okay as well.

Happy Halloweeen!

Quilted Table Runner

I tried a new block pattern, the Pinwheel pattern. It is pretty easy to assemble. Each triangle is cut from a square and then those triangles are mismatched with a contrasting colour and sewed together.



I have a few more pieces to put together to make another runner but I have a feeling I won't get to it before the end of this harvest season. As it is I have two twin sized quilts and two wall hangings I wish to get done before Christmas. And I also have my son's Halloween costume to complete but my sewing machine decided to keel over while I was doing the hem of my daughter's costume. Of all the times for my sewing machine to die it had to be when I am most busy and gearing up for the holidays.

I have a vision for my quilts. Eventually I would like a quilt done up for all seasons (harvest, Christmas, Spring, Winter etc) so that my quilt rack will always have something current and decorative. We are always snuggling up on the couch with my quilts but when we are not using them they are on display. Quilts are wonderful. They provide a use while being viewed as a piece of art as well.

100 Mile Diet: Week Two

We are heading into our third week on the 100 Mile Diet. I don't believe the reality of the diet has hit us yet. We are still making our way through our stash of former pantry items albeit not as quickly as we would have before. But at this point we don't feel deprived or like we are missing out.

Truth be told I feel spoiled. I have been cooking wholesome food, with raw ingredients and the tastes are excellent. The difference was greatly noticed when over the weekend we caved and bought a bag of chips, 100 Mile chips mind you, made just on the edge of our allowed buffer but potatoes soaked in fat nonetheless. You can't get any more unwholesome and junk foodie than that. To be honest, I don't think I have ever noticed how much they resemble cardboard. They had no taste, a weird texture and my stomach became sick later on that night. That's not to say I won't ever buy another bag of chips again (I probably will) but I will say I will think awfully hard about whether it is worth it.

Another pleasant surprise is the weight I have lost. I have dropped 6 lbs since starting this diet that isn't a diet. Results obviously are not typical. I am larger to begin with and have struggled with my weight all my life so I am not surprised I have lost so much so soon. We'll see if the trend keeps up... or down, in this case.

My son struggles the most. He seems to have not grasped the concept completely. Luckily he's pretty good about eating what is put in front of him, whether it's Washington apples or Ontario apples, he eats them cause he's hungry.

We've had lots of discussions about food being fuel. If you put refined sugar in your gas tank your car will not run, if you put refined sugar in your body you will have a similar reaction. We told the kids just like with your car needs a certain type of fuel so does your body. I think my daughter is a complete convert and my son talks more about fat contents of food than any other 6 year old boy I know.

Blog Action Day "Climate Change"

Today is Blog Action Day, a day when bloggers all around the world are focusing their thoughts and their words on Climate Change.

Climate Change is real. It is happening and we are not as helpless as many would think. We can make changes to alleviate the strain we have put on the earth. With all the back and forth arguing about whether or not Climate Change is real or even mankind driven it is easy to get bogged down in the details. I liken the banter to arguing whether the house is on fire. "Is the house on fire? If so what is the proper course of action? How can we put the fire out without destroying the items inside (aka our way of life)? What about the structure (economy)? How can we be sure the entire building won't collaspe?
Truth is we don't know anything for sure but if we look at all the scenarios what is worse?

Option A: If Climate Change doesn't exist and we do nothing, then no loss, no gain

Option B: If Climate Change doesn't exist and we do something thinking it exists then we have strengthened our sustainability, our alternative energy source infrastructure and made the world a better place regardless if it was necessary.

Option C: If Climate Change does exist and we do something then we could possible overt disaster by minimizing damage and bettering the planet at the same time.

Option D: If Climate Change does exist and we do nothing... oh crap!

I once had a heated discussion with someone about developed nations and their ability
to derive enough energy from renewable resources (ie: Solar, wind etc). His argument was that it would be impossible to generate enough power from these alternatives to supply everyone with enough power. I strongly disagreed.

I have been dreaming of living off grid for years and have done enough research to know that utilizing power completely from solar and wind energy is very do-able. The only caveat? We may not be able to consume the amount of electricity at our current rate.

My argument to him was I do not plan to have a dish washer, I can wash by hand. I will most likely live without a clothes dryer I can hang anything on the line, even indoors during winter. I can use solar cookers and outdoor ovens. I can use a wood cook stove or choose more meals that require no energy to heat. By doing all these things I can live without any need for damaging energy sources. It can be done. The question is whether or not our current society is ready to give up these luxuries for the sake of the planet?

The thing is Climate Change is not something that can be tackled by one person, or a group of people. Climate change is something that must be tackled because of a genuine acceptance by the public at large of how our way of life is affecting the planet.

Here are a few things everyone could be doing to offset our affect on the planet and halt climate change.

- plant a garden, even a small one, to reduce the number of miles our food travels from field to plate.

- line dry whenever possible and avoid using the dryer. Buy a drying rack or a retractable clothes line for inside during winter or rainy days.

- buy second hand whenever possible and pass on anything you don't need to someone who will use it.

- Think long term when making purchases. Buy items that will last, even if it costs a bit more. In the end it will save cheaply produced items from finding their way to the landfill within a year or two.

- Walk, ride your bike or carpool to work and school. Make a conscience choice to drive less. Combine outtings and plan one day a week when the car stays at home.

- Teach children that taking care of toys and being gentle with them so they don't break is something they can do for the environment.

- Avoid plastic (since it is derived from fossil fuels), seek out items made of natural materials like wood, wool and cotton. Our even glass because it lasts longer than plastic.

- Find out what your municipality accepts for recycling. You might be surprised at how much can go in the blue bin.

- Refuse plastic shopping bags and carry your purchases or use reusable cloth bags every time you go to the store.

- Use cloth diapers, cloth napkins, rags to clean up spills instead of paper towel.

- look around your home for ways that you can effect change.

- speak up! Let others know you are thinking about the environment. Think of ways your hobby, activity, sport, or group can become more earth friendly. My spinning group began asking everyone to bring their own mug, plate and utensils so that we didn't have to use paper/Styrofoam plates for our meals.

To read other blog posts on Blog Action Day check out their website!

Giving Thanks

This time of year is so magical. It is the time when the crops are in, stored away for winter. It's the time when people come in from outside and spend more and more time beside one another.

I have always had reverence for autumn but this year for some reason my wonder is so much more pronounced. I have put more up for winter than I ever had in years passed. I have canned more, blanched more and prepared more than ever. It feels good to have a stocked freezer and pantry.

I am more thankful for what we have now that we have pared down our lifestyle. I am grateful for the time we have. I am aware of the many blessings in my life today. I can not say things are really all that different from the way they were last year. We still live in the same house. We still hang in the same circles and we still enjoy (endure?) the same level of income.

I feel my new found gratitude is rooted in my increasing self-sufficiency. I have more control over our successes and failures than ever before. I am finding my true self, (my authentic self if you will allow me to be entirely cliched).

For all these things I am giving thanks.

The 100 Mile Diet

Has everyone heard of the 100 Mile Diet? When I first heard of it a little more than a year ago I thought it was another crazy scheme to loose weight, you know something like the cabbage soup diet or grapefruit diet. Turns out the authors of the book, Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, meant DIET in the traditional sense, the make up of what we eat.



You'd be surprised at the amount of food that, although grown right down the road, is being brought in from other provinces or states, even other countries. My family and I, well actually I mostly, have been shopping the last year with this in mind. I noticed a massive display of strawberries in my regular market. It was the height of strawberry season here so naturally I thought I can enjoy a summer delicacy without much guilt yet when I looked at the package I noticed all plastic clam shell packages had been imported from California. There is a fairly large berry farm right down the road and I knew their fruit, picked fresh from the plant was sweeter, redder and would last longer.

It angered me to think that my local grocery could not support our local farmers, save the environment and our taste buds. Locally picked produce is so much better when picked in it's prime and eaten shortly after. Even my 9 year old daughter notices the difference between store bought strawberries and the ones we pick ourselves from the field.

I have known for a long time that I wanted to exert more control over where my food comes from. I am a locavore at heart but have fallen short of actually sourcing out all the local food until recently. My resistance to actually taking on the diet is purely financial. If money was no object it certainly would be nice to rely solely on the food produced locally but let's be honest, local food and local farmers can not compete with the large agribusinesses who's profit margins matter more than animal well being. Local food is expensive and my inner tightwad has been sabotaging my efforts to live completely from food produced here.

On some things I have had to swallow back my Ebenezer tendencies but in others I just can't. I can not see paying $5 for a dozen eggs even if they are organic (in my house local trumps organic considering how many hoops small farmers must jump through around here to get an official designation).

I came up with a plan, not an excuse but something my family and I can better live with while making the transition. We're calling it A Whole Lot of Local. It's a combination of Whole foods (foods closest to it's original source, without processing) with a lot of Local. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot... 75 per cent local is a number I have in my head but we will see how the winter goes.

We kissed Tim Horton's goodbye with one last shabang. We've been traveling around checking out farms and farmers markets sourcing out our food. Even my daughter has reminded my son that we can't go to McDonald's "because it's not a 100 Miles"... he thinks the diet means we have to walk a hundred miles before we can eat anything, got to love kid logic.

Certain things we will allow. Sugar, for the time being while I source out conversions to honey or maple syrup sweetened recipes. Black tea for my husband, who has also promised to give herbals another try. Yeast for my baking, and a small amount of lemon juice for canning. We plan to treat ourselves with a box of clementines at Christmas like the pioneers. There will be other exceptions I am sure but let's face it, so much of the world economy is driven by international trade that many places in Canada that would have produced flour or yeast have migrated down south. One of the points of this diet is to keep what we have alive and thriving here in Ontario and perhaps encourage more producers to give it a go here as well.

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to give local eating a try. An entire meal can be prepared using only locally sourced ingredients. Even if most people don't think an entirely local diet is not for them, making small local purchases can go along way to help the bigger picture.

Happy Thanksgiving Canadian readers!

Apple Harvest

We went apple picking at a local farm and truly enjoyed ourselves. My husband found this lovely gem among all the apples we picked (a bushel) and presented it to me. "I must have picked this one for you." He can be so sweet.

I usually make 10 apple pies and 10 apple crisps and put them in the freezer unbaked. We bake and eat them throughout the winter. Last year we barely got through them all so I think I will only make a few of each. But I still wanted to pick a whole bushel with a plan to store the rest.

Since I have a rather large sack of potatoes in my back room (our pantry) that space is a 'no-go' for my apples. Apples and Potatoes don't get along well, you see, and I would hate to have rapidly ripening bushel. So I stashed them in my linen closet up stairs. The hideaway gets no light and there is no nearby furnace vents which keeps the spot relatively cool. We have no basement and the temperatures in our attic vary so greatly I would not trust anything to survive up there.



There are a few things to worry about with apples: Bruises and close contact with other apples. These two things can wreak havoc on an apple harvest. To combat this apples must be sorted. Any fruit with breaks in the skin, bruises or soft bits should be used for pies right away. All reasonably 'perfect' apples can be wrapped in newspaper (not the coloured paper) and placed in a container. The apples are kept from touching each other so if one does decide to decline, apples sitting around it won't degrade as well.




Apples should stay firm for a good three to four months if stored like this.

Setting the Twist

There is one important step to spinning that often gets forgotten. It's called setting the twist.



Once in a skein, yarn must be soaked in warm/hot water for a few minutes before being dried. Now you can't just wring out your wool like you would while hand washing clothes. Here are a few rules for handling wool:

Treat your wool gently.

Never pour water over your wool, just place the wool in the water.

Do not twist, or wring out wool.

And please do not put your wool in the washing machine.


To dry your wool after it's been soaking, use a towel to roll the wool in while squeezing out the access water.




You have two options when drying. You could either hang your wet skein and attached a heavy weight to the bottom to stretch the skein out. You can do this by attaching a heavy can or draping something over the bottom to pull on the yarn. Alternatively you could also just hang the skein and add no weight which would provide a different look altogether for your yarn.



I use our indoor drying rack to dry my skeins. It works well. After a bit of manipulation I have found a good way to pull my skeins down giving it a bit of stretch.

Apple Pie!

So here is the apple pie I made with our foraged apples... I came up a bit short since the apples were smaller than usual so I just pulled a few from the fridge. Apple pie is pretty easy.

The crust is 1 cup of shortening, 2 cups of flour, a dash of salt, and enough cold water to make it moist enough to roll out.

The filling is just apples, a bit of sugar, cinnamon, all spice and voila!

Now... for a bit more pizazz here's a few hints to make it memorable.

- add extras to the apple filling like coconut, walnuts, almonds. Adds some nice new flavours.

- use canape cutters to cut out small hearts, pumpkins, leaves etc from the top of the pie crust. The hole makes a great vent from steam and the cut out pieces make nice decorations on top.

- apple pies can be frozen before cooking. Just wrap in plastic wrap and tin foil and place in freezer. When ready to bake let it de-thaw for a few hours on the counter and then bake as normal. I always make a few apple pies and apple crisps at this time of year and freeze them. Nothing tastes better than fresh apple pie in January!

Enjoy apple season! One of my favourite times of year!

Foraging

The idea of foraging for food is an old one, but one that is almost frowned upon nowadays. Somehow our society has equated foraging with scavenging or dumpster diving. While pockets of people are still passing on these age-old skills a lot of people without a mentor to guide them are hesitant to start.

What plants are edible? What if I mistake a poisonous plant or berry? Some people are sure that the work they expel while hunting down food is too much, especially when a supermarket, just down the street, is filled to the rafters.

While intrigued with foraging, I am one of those who does not have a mentor and so it was one of the things on the bottom of my skills-to-learn list but I did know I wanted to learn.



The kids and I got a crash course yesterday when meeting up with friends to hike a local trail. Right at the start of the trail I spotted two trees with bright red apples on the branches. The trees were hidden by smaller trees and bushes all around. Looking from the trail you would not have noticed there were apple trees without looking up.

My daughter was sure they were "crappy apples" but I didn't think so. After our walk the kids were hungry but I didn't have anything besides water, so I joked about them climbing the apple tree for a snack. And they did! My daughter was the first one to bite in and she said they tasted so sweet!

We spent nearly an hour picking apples by any means necessary. Both of the trees were so densely covered with neighbouring plants one trunk could not be accessed. Left to their own devices the trees have grown gnarly, and their branches were high. There were thorn bushes as well but getting threw that was half the fun.



The kids climbed as far as they could, they began using sticks to nudge apples from the spots and eventually when all that were in reach were gathered they began throwing the sticks and collecting whatever fell.

We gathered enough for an apple pie, I am sure. Even though some are a bit scabby it will peel and the fruit inside is quite sweet. In the end, it was such a good day and I was so happy coming home with my backpack full of 'found' apples that I felt closer to self-sufficiency.

The Deceitful Nature of Tomatoes

Tomatoes look so unassuming on the outside. Their harvest is usually plentiful leading the harvester to image a plethora of wonderful products to make. Don't be deceived my friend, nothing is as great a disappointment as the deceitful tomato.

In order to prepare tomatoes for anything really, they must be peeled. The best way to peel a tomato is by cutting an X in the bottom and then blanching (boiling) them for 2 minutes before plunging them in cold, cold water. This process makes the skins loose and easy to peel...it also makes them slippery, slushy and that's not the half of it.



After they are peeled they must be seeded. The ideal tomato variety for canning is the Roma tomato also known as Paste Tomato. Roma tomatoes have far less seeds and juice than other varieties but still be prepared to lose half their bulk once peeled and seeded.

A large basket of tomatoes can quickly turn into barely enough to complete a recipe. I planted 24 seedlings this year and have harvested about about 25lbs. The first harvest last weekend garnered 2 freezer bags of diced tomatoes (for chili)..yup you heard me TWO!

I have another full basket here that I hope will be enough for a few jars of salsa, but I doubt it. I will need to find another source but given the massive amounts of rain received this year such a feat may be easier said than done.

Harvest Time II : Preserving your crops

Summer's bounty is all well and good but what do you do with all that sustenance once it's brought in from the elements. Scientists say that food emzymes begin to break down the minute items are detached from their mother plant. Food can decline quickly if not stored properly.



Certain foods can hold their own if conditions are right. Potatoes, rutabaga, and apples** can all 'over winter' well enough in cold storage but what to do with the rest.

I like freezing a certain amount. I preserve by canning when I can. Storing canned items takes no extra electricity to sit on a shelf, not like frozen food that needs a near constant supply of energy to stay frozen. But you can not can everything. And so freezing becomes a great advantage in our day and age.

Almost all food can be frozen but most need to be put through a process called BLANCHING, a quick boil process that stops the emzymes from progressing and subsequently spoiling food. Without blanching a certain food's texture will become... well let's just say undesirable and leave it at that.



Blanching and freezing the harvest seems to be this long hidden secret. A secret that forces everyone who is not 'in the know' to buy commercially frozen produce at astronomically high prices, never knowing how much they are being ripped off. It doesn't take much time either, and when you think about it, it saves oodles of time in mid-winter when making a soup and all you have to do is pull these frozen garden delights from the freezer all washed, sliced and ready to go.



Blanching works well for lots of foods. My favourites are carrots, corn, brocoli, cauliflower, and sometimes tomatoes.

Here's how to blanch: wash and cut your vegetables while having a pot of water coming to a boil on the stove. Once the pot reaches a rolling boil, fill it with your vegetables and start the timer. It usually takes 2 to 4 minutes depending on what you are blanching. Time varies depending on the variety of produce so make sure you check below. At the end of the allotted time, drain veggies in a strainer and then submerge in ice cold water to stop the cooking process. Once the veggies are cool to the touch, you can pull them out of the water, let them dry for a few minutes and then pack in freezer bags or storage containers. Freeze right away.

Blanched veggies are good for soups, stews, casseroles, and as steamed side dishes. And researches say that frozen veggies are so similar to their fresh state that they contain the same amount of nutrients as those found in fresh veggies. And compared to how much food needs to be altered to can it, that's a pretty good deal. They should be consumed in 1 year.

Here's a list of various food that can be frozen and their blanching times.

Asparagus: small 2 minutes/ medium 3 minutes/ large 4 minutes

Beans (Green and Wax): cut 2 to 3 minutes/ whole 3 to 4 minutes

Beans (Lima): small 2 minutes/ Large 4 minutes

Brocoli: small to medium 3 minutes/ large 4 minutes

Carrots: 2 to 3 minutes

Cauliflower: 4 minutes

Corn (Cut, whole kernel or cream style): 4 minutes

Corn on the Cob: small 7 minutes/ large 11 minutes

Parsnips: 2 minutes

Peas: 2 minutes

Rutabaga (turnip): Blanching not required

Summer Squash (Zucchini): 3 minutes best for soups

Winter Squash (Pumpkin): Bake at 350F for 40 to 60 minutes. Boil 15 to 20 minutes. Steam 30 to 60 minutes. Cool in refrigerator.

Tomato (Whole or diced): cut an X on the bottom, scald for 1 to 2 minutes because it helps to remove the peel.



** Apples and Potatoes should never be stored over winter in the same room as each other... apparently apples don't like their earthly cousin (the pomme de terre, literally translated as apple of the earth). Actually apples omit a gas as they continue to ripen which causes potatoes to spoil.

Harvest Time

Even the worst gardens have triumphs and here's mine. My carrots and tomatoes arrived with great abundance. I felt rather giddy digging out my carrots, not caring that most were smaller than my smallest finger. No matter. What ever they lacked in size they made up for in quantity. I am not sure why I was so surprised at their success. I planted parsnips last year and had a bumper crop. My soil here must be good for root vegetables.




My tomatoes also prospered, despite a bit of blight from overcrowding (my fault) and far too much rain (Mother Nature's oversight). I spent the summer on constant suspense thinking at any moment we could get word that we would have to vacate our rental house while my husband was still finishing up school. Such a turn of events would have us homeless and nearly penniless so needless to say my mind was elsewhere... what's Gaia's excuse?

Because of our external woes, I found myself lacking "umph' in a lot of projects around here. My flower beds are completely over run with weeds, and my vegetable garden did not fare much better, although anything which gave us sustenance seemed to get more attention than things that survive purely on looks (do you see any parallels here?).

But all's well that ends well. My husband graduated school two weeks ago and started work at his new job yesterday. We have been permitted to stay another year which gives us more than enough time to shop around for our homestead (yet another step in the right direction). And I now have oodles of tomatoes to make salsa.



My garden is a parallel to my life it seems. This summer started off with a future of uncertainty, about the same time that my brocoli, cauliflower and lettuce were eaten by unknown sources (without my permission). Now that everything has panned out for us off the 'homestead' it seems our homestead has been generous enough to provide a few delights as well.

Just goes to show, happiness is truly homemade.

My new pal

We adopted a cat today from the SPCA. He's a sweet guy with beautiful markings. I am so glad we stopped in to the shelter on Friday. He's fitting in rather well.

The shelter staff named him Regal and so we tried to come up with a equally royal name. Julius, Ceasar, Henry, Prince, Rex all came to mind but then it hit me. Augustus. It is August after all.

So he seems to be all settled in. Although he has been sneezing an awful lot... the shelter staff told me it's the kitty version of the common cold and should clear up on it's own. Poor guy...perhaps we should name him Sneezer Augustus instead.

My New Purse

My cat peed on my purse a few weeks ago. Since my tom cat, Ash died, our two intact females have been drawing a lot of attention from the other tom's who were previously not allowed to step foot in our yard. Even though our two females never venture outside, they howl and mark their territory every time they go into heat. We have found surprises on the floor, in laundry baskets of dirty clothes and baskets of clean clothes and my personal favourite IN MY SHOES!

We had our kitten's fixed a few days ago but not before they claimed their latest victim...my purse! I have been looking for a nice messenger bag style purse, something a little larger than my previous one. With two kids with water bottles, crayons, bandaids, snacks and of course my wallet I need lots of room.

So I made this one....





I like how the straps are tied at the top which I can make long or short depending, I like that I could choose my fabric, my colours and style. I also liked that it cost me less than $5 when the cheapest store bought one I found that I liked was $24.

The Genreal Store

I am constantly amazed at how far we have veered from our origins. There was a time in our history, and not so distant history, when people knew the owners of the shops and the workers behind the counter. There was a time when if you bought something and it was defective you could bring it back no questions asked because the person who you bought it from remembered you. Such service would be hard to find these days and so it is always something worth noticing.

On my way home from my spinning guild meeting, I stopped at a farm stand to buy corn and check out some of their other locally grown produce. I ended up leaving with 5lbs of potatoes, a couple green peppers and a dozen ears of corn. As I was searching, a teen-aged girl offer to keep my peppers near the register until I was ready. Then when I picked out my potatoes, both her and her younger sister where there ready with a bag to put my potatoes in. They laughed at their readiness but I thanked them warmly. It is not everyday you find such great service and I walked away knowing I would be back.

I have always wondered, when leaving a big box or smaller chain store, how difficult it would be for the person behind the counter to just smile. I don't care about having a meaningful conversation or even any kind of conversation at all but it would be nice to feel like my presence in the store is something less than a burden. I always leave those bigger stores with a 'how dare I' feeling, like I should have just stayed home so these workers would not have to serve me.

At this farm stand, I felt the complete opposite. They were happy to see me, glad for my business, why I might go so far as calling them grateful. Yes, that's it! Grateful. The young ladies working at this stand felt a greater connection to their family's livelihood. That connection, the no middleman approach, promotes true emotions and feelings where often in our day and age there is none.

These true, deliberate encounters that happen every day along road sides and at farmers markets, or even online (from small businesses) are coming back in vogue. We are craving these face to face, name to name exchanges. And who can blame us, after so many years of big business calling all the shots, we've realized that we wanted something more. Patronizing family businesses, local farmers and people we know is one simple way every one can choose the live more consciously.

In a Pickle

Not much goes into pickles. You need pickling cucumbers, some spices, vinegar and water. Oh yes the water... I made a mistake on that one since I hadn't read the directions clearly enough to realise only soft water would do. By the time I had read this it was too late and I was already reeking with dill. Apparently hard water makes the liquid in jars darken and do not make the best pickle. While trying to figure out if I should start over, I asked my husband, "Well what would the pioneers have used?" Of course they would have used hard water since most well water is hard water. So I plunged ahead.

I bought my pickling cucumbers at the market that morning from a lovely stand that gave my daughter a gooseberry. It was like a grape she said, only mushier. I will have to patronize them more often.



This year I used the Bernardin dill pickle mix, since it was my first time making pickles. Next year I will make my spice water from scratch. Of course since I was using a mix, I ran out of spice water before I ran out of cucumbers. I guess my conservative estimate of 5lbs a basket was not quite so conservative. In steps my amazing neighbour who happened to stop by moments before. Mix box in hand, she went to the store for me. I was planning to give her some jars anyway but her help sealed the deal.

Surprisingly, pickles are fairly easy. I read both the instructions in the box and the ones in my book looking for the way in which I cook the cucumbers. Turns out you don't, the spice water reacts with the cucumbers making them soak up the spice and soften. With no long cooking times like with jam, pickles are an easy starter for anyone looking for a way in with the canning world.

We tried some tonight, some thin slices on our burgers. My son, a picky pickle eater was the first to try. I knew I had met approval when he started groaning loudly as he chewed... you know the kind of groan that means absolute delight. I was so pleased.