free baby

I couldn't believe the abundance.  This baby was going to be free.  I looked in the drawers and thought that the baby already had twice as many outfits as I did.  Everyone kept giving us stuff.  I took it all hungrily.  Hey, free stuff.

I considered that maybe I needed to minimize a little bit, donate some extras.  How many sleepers does a newborn need?

Before I had a chance to cull some outfits I heard Kitson come home from work.  He had some boxes of baby clothes that had been handed down to us.  Some of the clothes were big enough for when the baby would be two years old.

How many sleepers does a newborn baby need?  Certainly not fifty!  Or maybe I could dispose of one every day to cut back on laundry?

I always feel less guilty consuming when I'm fishing from the waste stream.  Where does it all go once the thrift stores can't sell it?  If you buy anything new please buy good quality because it will live so many more lives before it ends up in the dump.

where did this stuff come from?

Today I was able to pass on some too-tight boots that I don't wear much to a friend.  Who buys shoes online?  Someone came for the shelves which we found in the garage and someone came for the extra shutters.  I feel cleansed but I know I'll feel even better when the old cupboards are out of the carport.

It turns out I don't use the juicer and I won't need a wipes warmer.  Thank goodness they were purchased/given second hand.  There is also a plastic cover for the bathtub faucet which is meant to keep kids from bumping their heads (hard).  Those can go in the donation box. When we decide what to get rid of, plastic items seem to place high on the list.

If I ruled the world there would be design laws.  Things would have to be beautiful and/or useful.



Sometimes I'm afraid that once I've gotten rid of everything I'll just buy all new stuff.

minimizing fixtures

Yesterday we started ripping the garage apart where all our junk is stored.  We've been renovating our house but we haven't added anything (except some blinds).  We've mostly been removing things like shutters, unstable shelves, excessive hooks and a kitchen cabinet.

Most of these used building supplies have been jammed in the garage where they have been out of sight, out of mind.  I've listed some of the items on a free-cycle page and already have people interested in the shelves and shutters.  Am I becoming an enabler for others to hoard?

I remember a time ten years ago.  We had a free pile outside and one neighbour took everything.  We had to prevent him from taking our plants which weren't included in the free pile.  He was later arrested after shouting from his rooftop, "I'm going to kill this entire neighbourhood!"  Hoarding leads to harder crimes.

services not products

As a result of the pregnancy I've given employment to a midwife, naturopath, chiropractor, RMT, esthetician, and a yoga teacher.  It seems excessive, especially now that I'm done work and housewifery is my main task.  The money may be spent but at least there isn't a bunch of stuff laying around.

When?

People tell me that I'll need it someday.  I'll need this thing, whatever it is.  I never seem to need it now, but one day in the future I will most certainly need it.  In the meantime I have to dust it and reach around it to get at my other things.  I think we have storage capacity for up to one year.  Anything that I'll need further in the future, I might have to rent.

How did so many get sold?

If you are interested in composting, one thing you don't need is one of these black plastic compost bins.  Our house came equipped with two of them.  What a wasp wasteland and fruit-fly frenzy!  An anaerobic mess!

Kitchen scraps had been tossed into two of these bins for who knows how long and the compost was suffocating.  Oxygen loving bacteria can't live in sealed plastic so the anaerobic (stinky) bacteria dominate.

 Compost needs to breathe and it also needs roughly 20 parts carbon (the brown stuff: leaves, newspaper, dried grass clippings...) for every 1 part nitrogen (the green stuff: kitchen scraps, slime).

We created a cylinder with chicken wire and bamboo stakes (which where previously used for deer control at our old place).  Now air can cycle through the pile.  We also layered in most of the leaves that had fallen into the backyard.

I'm not saying our method is perfect.  I can let you know how things went in the spring.  One good thing about this compost pile is it eliminates garbage.  Our kitchen scraps don't end up in black bags.  Our leaves don't need to be taken away as yard waste.  We even added failed transplants, some rotten cardboard boxes (with the tape removed) and other organic trash that could be found around the yard.  The smell is very much improved.

If anyone still feels like they would like a black composting bin, I can offer both of ours to you completely free!  I hear they are good for keeping rats out.

minimizing the number of houses

We slipped the keys through the mail opening at our old house last night.  It was a blessing/drag to have the opportunity to move the garden over a month.  Kitson dug the remaining potatoes quickly and got a touch sweaty.  I sat there pregnant and looked around.  Fields of ripe kale, chard, and tomatoes were left behind.

Just in time, our new garden is beginning to show signs of food.  The transplanted strawberries, raspberries, kale, chard, arugula, and lavender all seem to love it here.  "Irrigation," they sigh.  Next we have to figure out how to shut the darn tap off.

The last few weeks I've been admiring the beauty of the backyard.  It just seemed so lacking for food!  We're not used to landscaping but we are used to having the ability to pick something to have with dinner, if not our entire meal.

I imagine the work involved in owning more than one home.  Who wouldn't like a vacation getaway (but oh the maintenance)?  It is good to be reduced down to one home.

recycled joke

Dad used to tell me the joke about the true cost of heating with firewood.  The list looked something like this (prices from long ago):

Heat with Wood

First year costs:

2 stoves and installation $1385.
Removal of hot water baseboard and boiler $238.
Search for reputable wood dealer N/A $76.
Chain saw $210.
Ax, wedges, maul, cant hook, etc. $119.
Old truck (junk after 1st load) $595.
Newer truck $8645.
Tire chains $88.
Replace truck's rear window (twice) $310.
Fine for cutting wrong trees $500.
5-acre woodlot $4995.
Splitting machine $950.
14 cases of beer $126.
6 fifths ginger brandy $38.
Fine for littering $250.
Towing charge (brook to road) $50.
Gas, oil, files, Band-aids $97.
Doctor's fee (sawdust in eye) $45.
Medical cost for broken toe (dropped log) $128.
Safety shoes $35.
Attempt to fix burned hole in carpet $76.
New living room carpet $699.
Paint living room $110.
Taxes on woodlot $44.
Woodlot boundary dispute settlement $465.
Roof repair after chimney fire $840.
Fine for assaulting fireman $50.
Extension ladder $55.
Chimney brush $22.
Medical fee for broken leg (fell off roof) $478.
Chimney cleaning service $90.
Replace coffee table (chopped up and burned while too drunk to bring firewood up from cellar) $79.
Divorce settlement $14,500.
EXPENSES $36,388

Sale of hot water boiler system $125.
Fuel oil savings $376.
CREDITS $501.

NET COST OF FIRST YEAR WOOD BURNING OPERATION; $35,887.

My husband will be a dad in about two months.  During the last months of pregnancy it is normal for women to get the insatiable urge to clean and reorganize the house.  I've discovered the nesting instinct seems to apply to the guys too, but it extends out of the house, into the yard, and even into the forest.

The wood is stacked nicely under cover.  I'm so happy to see the results, especially since I don't want to add up the cost of the chainsaw, axe, fuel, oil, face shield with attached hard-hat and ear protection (chainsaw chaps yet to be purchased).  For added safety, we hired this guy to clean our chimney.

If this all fails I can still switch the furnace on.  It's lovely to be self-sufficient but remain on the grid.

purge before you move

A couple from Facebook came and took our queen sized guest bed for their ten-year-old. We plan to build a Murphey bed in the hut when we finish it.  It will have to be a double, we haven't enough visitors to warrant a queen.  The baby gets our old guest room.

The next day a client dropped off a box of baby stuff at my work.  When I got home there was a mystery box of more baby stuff by the door.  Another client had given us a car load of baby chairs and bouncers and all kinds of expensive plastic items.  Now we have two bassinets.

Look what happens when you give away a large item.  It creates a vacuum for abundance to fly into.  The black hole is immediately replaced with new matter.  It's called stuff because you have to stuff it to make it fit.

So much for my minimalist baby.  At least so far I've got a free baby.

minimalism or laziness?

We got the keys to our place at last!  We have ten days off work to move in and based on the last two, I'd say we need them.  We got started on painting the interior and have plenty more to do.

Painting is the cheapest, easiest renovation with the most impact.  Based on this I expect that no further renovations will be necessary.  I would like to minimize the workload so that we can get started on watching the grass grow.

Our friends stopped by to visit and they welcomed us to renovation hell.  I could tell they were eager to end the loneliness of repair despair and could use some comraderie.  Perhaps their waist-deep workload would seem shallow when they see us up to our necks.

We mentioned that we were refinishing the wood floors in our living and dining rooms.  They showed us where the same wood could be found in the other rooms under a lasagna of new laminate, old vinyl, some glue, possible asbestos, and other layers.  They thought it best if we restored the original wood. Original wood sounds good but we have other jobs to do before I can settle in to sitting and staring blankly at our brand new living room walls.

from abundance to excess

Kitson has access to a lot of left over boxes at work.  This will be handy for when it comes time to move.  He's already loading up our house with boxes.

As he assembles a box, I begin to realize that his stack of boxes are mostly size triple extra large.  If one of these boxes were full of kale chips it would be too heavy to lift.  How are we going to get rid of these boxes?

you're supposed to be packing

In the spirit of recycling, and minimizing our dependence on the money system, Kitson is getting into building with his own two hands.  He went downstairs to pack for our big move and soon I heard the buzzing of a saw from below.  What's he building in there?

At his work boxes arrive on palettes and one particular order came with an oak palette (rather than the usual pine).  He decided the wood was good quality and that he should make a coffee table out of it.  Our wicker hand-me-down coffee table has been looking a little haggard lately.

We only have five days until we get the keys to our new home, but we've got our rental until the end of September.  Packing can wait for another day.  

packing up to move

cuttings to take:
-pear
-grape (it's some sort of concord)

Plants to move:
-lavender
-raspberries
-strawberries

harvest to pick (and process):
-kale
-chard
-tomatoes
-potatoes
-pears (we've picked one box already)
-carrots
-arugula

seeds to save:
-parsley
-poppies

also:
-greenhouse
-wood pile
-gardening tools

please don't ask the city about compost

Has anyone heard of a residential greywater system in Penticton?  I know the city encourages the use of greywater in new commercial buildings, but is greywater a grey area for residences?

When folks asked if chickens were permitted in Penticton the answer was, "Geez, I don't know, lets find out!".  This led to the city asking Penticton residents how they felt, many of whom kept chickens during the war.  A population that was liberated by spam and instant potatoes saw backyard chooks as a backward step.

Chickens were soon banned, but were eventually allowed by permit only (within the confines of an eighteen month pilot project) thanks to vocal protesters.  Now we have an election coming up and the candidates will have plenty of opportunity to dodge the chicken question, since the trial period still has 15 months to go.

At any rate, we're going to start with rain water.  Who wants all that water pooling around the foundation of their house anyway?  Could rainwater feed a pond?  I'm afraid to ask about greywater.  I think I already know what the answer is.

vegan organic

Mum's granola tasted better than ours, so I started using her method.  Soaked flax acts as glue to hold soaked buckwheat together.  Also contains nuts, seeds, cinnamon, and dried fruit.  Since the granola is dehydrated rather than baked, it is considered a raw food.

I can't say we grew any part of this ourselves but I can tell you I like to eat mine with hemp milk.  We ate too much so there won't be an after photo.

how will we shut this place down

Needless to say, we are no longer planting, we are only watering and harvesting.  There is also some weeding, mowing, and chipping involved but I like to think of those activities in terms of giving the yard a haircut.  I want things to look extra tidy when we leave.   I know we will have left things better than we found them but will the next renter know it?

Will the next tenant see the rich soil, that rises like a cake?  Will they notice the fifteen hundred Red Wigglers that Kitson purchased have multiplied in the worm farm before they were set free?  Will the new gardeners see them wiggling in the compost, see the bees everywhere? (There wasn't much point in keeping a worm farm when the entire yard was full of worms.)

They might think they need to fumigate.  I'm only just getting used to the insectuary myself.  What is easier to get used to is the produce.

I'm munching on a roasted potato that came out of the ground less than an hour ago.  I was impressed by the size this year, and the soil all around it was fluffy and moist.  Our whole meal came out of the garden, save the bocconcini.

I hope another urban homesteading enthusiast can pick up where we left off.  I promise there will be lots of food if you just add water.

we took the subjects off

If anyone wants to move into a house in a 'good area' with a big garden and the best view in town, they can take over our rental.  The property manager can even help you mow the lawn, but be warned that she's trigger happy with her pesticide sprayer.  There is easily enough room for a market garden, though you might have to keep your day job. I doubt the landlord will trade for kale.

We've taken the subjects off our purchase agreement and we'll get the keys to our new home in less than three weeks.  Finally we can achieve our long-time dream of building a food forest!  This garden will be strategically designed and hopefully less messy.  We want to turn the backyard from this...

...into something that more closely resembles this:

(Photo from http://alderleaf-wilderness-college.blogspot.ca)

We've been waiting for the chance to make a long-term investment of our time and efforts to create a true permaculture garden.  We have plans for a greenhouse, a pond, fruit trees, and an outdoor living room.  I can see how renting and owning a house both have their advantages. However, it just doesn't make sense to invest in fruit trees that will one day be cut down, or dig out a pond which will later be filled in, when you're renting a property.

Oh and the house is amazing too!  It is a beautiful renovated bungalow built in 1939.  It measures only 1100 square feet which leaves more room for the yard.

the fires appear to be out

Last week a year's worth of rain came down in two minutes.  At my work the apartment above became completely flooded and some water had come through the ceiling.  The stream dripping from the light fixture was our main concern.  Luckily we are still operational at the salon but I can't say the same for the folks upstairs.

We viewed a house to purchase the next day and it appeared to be dry.  We thought it was a great time to view homes, since if they were prone to flooding, this weather would surely do the job.  The roof was seven years old.

At home I got a call from a friend, whose place had been ruined, and soon she and her daughter were staying in our rarely used guest room.  She said she felt fortunate that they had friends to go to for help, and that she had resources.  Her neighbours below had fled, since they couldn't pay rent on a construction zone and still afford a dry place to stay.  To complicate matters the landlords were poor and didn't believe insurance would cover the damage.  We made our offer on the house the day after she arrived and I felt a bit guilty about it.

She had been doing some work on farms and came with all the vegetables we couldn't grow ourselves: broccoli, cherry tomatoes, and sour cream.  We took turns cooking and it was nice to have a break from the kitchen.  Okay, I rarely make dinner, it was nice for my husband to have a break from cooking.  Now she's on a well timed week-long holiday out of cell phone range and hopefully construction is happening.

Kitson should return today from three days in the Cathedral Mountain Park with only a minimized backpack.  If he was able to catch some fish, he won't be starving.  There is a cold beer in a stream waiting for him on the way down.  When he gets back,  I will place my pile of stress into his tired arms and we can finish jumping through house purchasing hoops as a family.

minimalist baby

I admired a child's new toy.  It was so stylish.  Her mum told me that it isn't really obvious that she has kids when you visit her house.  Her kid's stuff fits into her interior design.

I said I didn't want my house to be a sea of crap, but others insisted that kids need lots of toys.  Kids get bored easily and a big pile of toys (hopefully in a separate rec-room) will keep them happy and occupied forever.

When I was young, I had a toy box, about the size of your standard hope chest, and the rule was that everything had to fit inside.  If it was full and I got something new then something old had to go.  I liked to play shoe store and set up mum's shoes on the stair case.  I also liked to use that piece of fur she had for a tail and be a squirrel.

I definitely want to minimize my judgements.  I say to each their own.  I know it will be a reality check when the baby is outside and needs a carseat if we're going to drive anywhere.  I'm sure I'll need some stuff.  But what I want to know is, how little can I get away with?

Another mum insisted that kids don't need toys at all.  She says they play with cooking pots, boxes, anything in the house that is safe.  This sounds like an affordable option.  I think we all need a few fun treasures to play with.  I obviously have a computer to play with after all.  How little can I get away with?

minimize stress by limiting the number of times you check your phone

We put an offer on a house today.  Often we've felt that we could take our food forest to the next level if we owned the land we worked on.  I'm not quite sold on the concept of home ownership, it being more maximalist, but I couldn't quite bring myself to rent a Bobcat these last three years.  To me, the removal of annoying dead stumps in the ground is an expense for the property owner.

While others are flattening their lawn, we might create waves and mountains where a dry shrub would live on the peak and lettuces can nestle in the grooves below.  We'd paint, we'd polish, we'd do laundry in the laundry room.  We'd pay hundreds of thousands to get our hands on extras like a dishwasher.

We'll get to hear back one way or the other by late tomorrow evening and I must not begin to pack just yet.  The realtor will phone us and maybe even meet us.  Although her office was small, I believe it could still do with some minimizing.

no one rides for free

It's lovely to eat food you've grown, foraged, or caught.  I'm undecided if we're living off the land when we go fishing since I know they stock the lakes around here.  Kitson told me that they don't stock them every year, just when the fish numbers dwindle.  We're suburban homesteaders, not doomsday preppers, so what's the big deal?

I never got my fishing license this year, but that won't stop me from getting out in the canoe.  I'm tired of hearing, "FER! Check your rod! FER! You've got a fish!"  I just want to read and write, or draw a picture.  It's comfy in the canoe when one end is full of pillows.

The trout tastes fantastic when we cook it at home and know where our food comes from (although I'd love to steal the trout recipe from the restaurant at Hillside Winery).  Does anyone have a good trout recipe?

you'll never believe what we purged from the house today

On Monday I went downstairs to top up my bowl of cherries, when I came across a snake sliding out of my old skate shoe.

I opened the back door and herded it outside.  Pleased with myself for getting the snake out of the house, I went upstairs.

Today we discovered the snake not only had found it's way into the basement, but that it appeared to be living there.  Kitson asked the internet what to do.  It turns out the best thing to use on a snake is a rake (and garbage can).

Somehow with the help of a rake, Kitson got the snake into a Rubbermaid bin.

We drove it out of suburbia to set it free at the bottom of Campbell Mountain.

It wiggled out of our lives forever (I hope).

seed saving

Seed saving is a big part of reducing a garden's reliance on inputs.  Seeds cost money and gardening should be cheap!  In the case of these mammoth melting sugar snap peas we didn't get to harvesting them all while they were fresh so we decided to save some peas for seeds.  Once they are good and dried out we peel away the pea pod to collect the peas contained within.

We then separate out all the little ones (chuck them into the food forest which is abundant with volunteer plants) from the larger ones (which will be planted in a more strategic way at a later date).

nasty thorns part two

This season's formal farming footwear is best displayed in pin-stripe or chevron.  Ad-hoc, I love my new socks!  We are ready to get to work.

Wheelbarrow tires are pumped and so are we.

Now that those nasty brambles have been run through the chipper, we have ourselves some fabulous mulch.  The city's newsletter arrived today and water restrictions have come into place.  Mulch helps keep the soil shaded, allowing it to retain moisture.  The living micro-organisms in the soil rely on moisture to stay alive.  

Making your own mulch saves you money and gives you the opportunity to get rid of yard waste at the same time.  It saves on the energy required to truck your store bought mulch in and haul your yard waste away on garbage day.  Mulch makes the garden beds look neat and tidy.  I love my chipper!

nasty thorns

In the spring I pruned the blackberry bush which had come back to life on our second year here.  It had recovered from being cut down to a stump (and sprayed with RoundUp) by the property manager before we moved in.  I wish that she would have pulled out the stumps from the fruit trees she had chopped down (or better yet, left the trees).  It makes for tricky mowing.  Most of the trees have come back to life, spitting out shoots everywhere.  We wonder if it is the rootstock itself that is growing back.  After three years we still haven't gotten fruit from the apples.

Finally I got around to picking up those hazardous thorns which had been left laying where they fell.  "Chop and drop" is a method for dealing with weeds in which they can be left to break down and contribute to the life of the micro-organisms in the soil.  It's all biomass!  Chop and drop mimics a forest where plants are constantly in all stages of life.  It doesn't always look pretty.

Some plants don't break down as easily and that's where the chipper comes in.  Kitson managed to get the thorns through our electric chipper without ripping an arm off (I had refused to try).  Thorns aside, chipping is very satisfying.  I prefer the chopping and styling elements of gardening to planting, maybe for the same reasons I enjoy working as a hairdresser.

I was about to show you the after picture but it looks like the camera has gone fishing!

someone take everything

Kitson sold his banjo.  We've had it seven years and no one here can play even a phrase.

He used the money to buy sunglasses.

I finally donated this painting I did in high school.  It was for the play 'Harvey' and my friend was the star.  Everyone who knew him said it was such a likeness.  Now is probably a good time to confess that I used a projector and traced his face directly onto the canvas.  The painting is enormous.  

If you are having trouble getting rid of things like this with memories attached to them, the best thing to do is to take a picture.  I can't post all the pictures because I'll be in so much trouble with all of my family and friends.  They gave us all the clutter that we didn't buy ourselves.

I don't know how to tell you guys this.

Kitson sold most of his climbing gear.  I don't know a lot about climbing but from what I was able to surmise he had gear for three techniques.

1. Boldering
Climb up a rock wall with no harness and rope, fall on a giant chunk of foam.

2. Sport
Climb up a rock wall with a harness and rope, attach your rope to bolts that have been placed by other climbers that came before you.

3. Traditional (aka trad)
Climb up a wall with a harness and rope, attach your rope to little chunks of metal (cams, nuts) that get wedged into cracks (very dangerous).

As part of our downsize, Kitson decided to part with the trad gear which had never been used.  He advertised it online and a fellow came on his motorcycle to pick it up.  He saw the other gear and started offering extra cash for the rest of it.  In the end Kitson was left with only his boldering gear and one harness (which will allow him to join other equipped sport or trad climbers).  The guy even took our slack line, which we used at least once every two years.  Somehow he attached everything to the motorcycle and rode away.







When I got home from work the next day, Kitson had spent all the money on mountain biking equipment.

the canoe

My husband told me a few years ago that he wanted a boat.  I told him it wasn't in the budget.
"But it's only $300!"  I decided that wasn't too bad and he got his boat.

People ask what kind of canoe we have.  I always tell them the kind that has a regatta '78 sticker on it.

The other sticker is in memory of my husband's cousin Neil, who is best know for being glad.

The wood trim around the fibreglass had cracked and Kitson replaced it with new wood.  We polished it up with our home made all purpose polish (half beeswax dissolved into half olive oil) which aids in waterproofing.

More recently Kitson decided the boat needed some handles.  He used some scrap rope and threaded it through some irrigation tubing that was laying in the backyard in a sorry heap.  Ta-da!

he thought the trees might be 100 years old

At the winery where my husband works, two large cherry trees stand out front.  The fruit was ready that day so we took the opportunity to glean.  I threw my water bottle in my purse and we proceeded to fill a wine box with cherries.

I was up a tree, when I saw my husband's boss' boss' boss setting up a ladder.
"Be careful!" he shouted.  He knew I was pregnant.  He was overjoyed that we were out there to pick the fruit.  The man was best known for being very rich and I enjoyed the sight of him perched on that rickety old ladder.  He was also known for working really hard and he picked the same amount as the two of us in less time.  He was there for the same reason, to enjoy it at home later.

I thought it would make a great photo op for the blog so I went down the tree for my purse.  Unfortunately, while I was up a tree the purse had filled with water.  My camera and phone floated somewhere in the purse's watery depths.

The phone came back to life after three days in a bag of rice.  I'm still waiting to try the camera.
Here are the cherries, safe at home.

What do you see?

Is it the latest shade of green?

Every year new shoots reach for the sky.  In February I cut them down.  I make the cut past the second node to encourage the right amount of fruit to grow.  Okay, I don't really know what I'm doing, but I know this farmer family that has pear trees.  Guess who harvests their hair?  

In September I pick the pairs.  Our cellar isn't really built for long term storage and the pears seem to ripen all at once.  I usually dry them with the dehydrator.  They turn into delicious candy.  Processing is a lot more work than growing in this case.

Here are our pears today.

minimize

We popped out the extension from our big table...

...and made it small.

heirloom tomatoes

The heirloom tomatoes are coming along nicely.  The cultivars included are Black Krim, Green Zebra, and Gardener's Delight.  They've been trellised up on branches that grew on site.  Using what is already available around you is part of the theory of Permaculture.  We're attempting to reduce our inputs as much as possible.

Reducing inputs can be challenging.  It always seems to be easier to shop than it is to create.  My efforts to downsize were thwarted this week when we received a free air condition that someone was getting rid of.  Hopefully keeping cooler in the July heat will make us more productive on our mini farm.  Ahhh! More stuff!

big berries and ballon blasts

The first raspberries are ripe for picking.  One berry got ripped before the photo shoot and passed out on the floor twice before the session even began.

...

In front of our house I like to position the 'free' pile.  I'm not sure if the neighbours love it, but I sure do.  Countless people have gotten treasures (or junk) from our hand-me-down stash.  Today our summer umbrella was claimed.  It didn't tilt so it was really useless in the afternoon sun, and it's far too hot to sit out mid-day.  We made the decision for the umbrella to go after I broke the umbrella stand.

I think the umbrella stand was meant to be filled with sand but I had chosen water, which had since gone putrid.  I attempted to tip the water out of its container off the edge of the deck, but it slipped through my fingers, exploding like a water balloon into the yard below, blowing itself to smithereens.

I don't usually recommend purging by method of vandalism.  I suppose I have taken a hockey stick to a perfectly good alarm clock once but that was a long time ago.

cleansing

I deleted all my emails.  Even the important ones.  I couldn't decide if there were any important ones.  What a feeling of purity!

The midwife told me that in the third trimester I would feel an insatiable desire to clean.  She didn't mention that I'd have a desire to purge.  Since I only just entered the second trimester I'm not sure there will be anything left to clean when the baby is born.

made from scratch

Tomorrow we go back to work.  We sure needed this week off to catch up on gardening, preserving, and decluttering.  We managed to get rid of fifty things and I think we must have completed fifty chores as well!  Some of our labours of love:

Fermented Beets

We had a bumper crop of beets this week, which is great because it was part of my Naturopath's prescription.  We started some ferments in jars with the lids left on slightly loose.  We dissolve 2 tbsp of sea salt into 4 cups of water and then pour the mixture over the grated beats.  Check every few days and see if the beets are tasting pickled enough (like sauerkraut).  Then chill them down in the fridge to stop the ferment.

Dried Herbs

After growing all these herbs, if you them to last longer than the life of the plant, you have to preserve them in some way.  We used our dehydrator on our two types of oregano (Italian and ...the other kind), mint, peppermint, and sage.  We made cilantro pesto since cilantro doesn't dry as well as other herbs.

Home-made Granola

Good granola is expensive!  Ours contains spelt, kamut, raisins, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, molasses, cane sugar (not a lot), and coconut oil.  I forgot to add that dash of salt!  For breakfast I just add coconut milk and some fruit.

Dry Shampoo

To be honest I've never made this before and will be testing it in the morning.  I love dry shampoo since I have long hair and I find that washing it every day dries out the ends.  For in between days I pat a little hair powder into the roots and then brush it through.  It looks clean with a matte texture.  I mixed 5 mls of baking soda with 20 mls of cornstarch and two drops of lavender oil for this test batch.  The puff will be kept in this lovely lavender pouch in between powderings.

the garden

The garden isn't what you would call minimalist.  Officially, we're taking the Permaculture approach. We're attempting to create an ecosystem.  In order to grow the plants we want and not have them become overrun with pests, we need predators for the pests.  These might be insects or birds.  Nature is naturally diverse and welcoming the diversity will yield a healthy harvest.

It's hard for me to wrap my head around leaving so many weeds.  I want to declutter... but my husband resists.
"Those? The bees love them!"
The bees apparently help pollinate our food plants.  My first reaction to all the insects was that the entire yard needed fumigating.  Parsley and catnip are so prevalent in our yard; the blossoms are beautiful, but the burrs in the autumn are nasty.

It took a long time to clear the garbage out of the yard when we moved in.  Now the garden is beginning to turn into a full blown food forest.  The soil is coming to life again.  Berries and trees that were stunted are bearing fruit again.  I think they've recovered from being hacked down to nothing before we moved in, and then sprayed down with Roundup.

We cleaned the shed as well.  I pulled everything out of the garden shed, swept away the spider webs, and raked the dirt floor.  Only half of what was in the shed could go back in.  Broken garden pots, decrepit tools, and split hoses were left out.  It's hard to see so much go to the dump.  Sometimes I call home purgatory.  It's that place between the thrift store and the dump where nothing belongs.  Finally getting rid of all that stuff feels amazing.  Now the shed looks organized when you walk in, and makes gardening more efficient.  Everything you need to garden, laid out in plain sight and in a central location.

purging paper

All my years of writing had accumulated into a pile of notepads.  Any ideas that came to me were scribbled down.  I had to harvest the pearls of wisdom from the perils of their pages.  I could find out what my former self was thinking.  I imagined her with a creative mind.

I've since heard that the mind is cyclical (has a tendency to think itself in circles).  I had my proof.  Mostly illegible, the memos contained bizarre calculations, shopping lists, and revealed obsession with shopping and taking control of my environment.

There were to-do lists.

-get tires switched
-practice finger waves
-Summerville thrift store
-find out the truth about raisins
-become the town eccentric
-get advice from mum about basting interfacing

There were lists that required lots of money.

-fly first class
-ride a limousine
-wear diamond studs
-visit vegas with the girls at work
-hire a trustworthy cleaner

There were lists that were cheaper.

-meditate
-go to the library
-build a sandcastle
-finish my sewing projects (pincushion, cape, curtains, and a dress)
-become half as clever as my mum
-practice music daily or at least once in a while
-cut garbage down to one bag a week
-grow lavender

There were some lists that fell in between.

-visit Portland
-taste wine in Oregon
-see the giant Redwoods
-get rid of entire back lawn to grow food
-join the urban agriculture association
-raise chickens

With our new cleaner lifestyle and throwing away fifty things we no longer have room for old notepads full of lists.  We can't have repeated words cluttering our cupboards or creating cobwebs in our minds.  Urban homesteading is a lot of work, which is why we need to pare down our stuff, which will create space and time.

vacation

We took a week off work and only left the house for one night.  When we arrived at Grandma's we found her on a mission to purge.  At 82 she didn't want to wait until one foot was in the grave to declutter.  Out came the photo albums, the thrift store purchases, and the gifts and art I had given to her as a child.

The hand painted 'we love grandpa' sweater didn't really fit but I took it.  Even though I had the same edition in 'grandma' at home.  Somehow the eyelet lace dress my mum had made her in 1977 didn't seem to be with us when we unpacked back at home.  I felt guilty for not taking everything she had offered, if only to get it out of her house and make it easier for her new cleaner to dust.  I was worried that if I took everything she would go on a thrift store bender and replace everything that was gone.

The rest of the week has been spent gardening and of course, purging.  Grandma's treasures went into the junk pile, minus the best photos.  My husband asked if I was going to go through the whole house again now that every corner was clean.  I suppose we could downsize even more.  No one could have accused us of being hoarders in the past but the amount of garbage and recycling that comes with downsizing is disgusting!

I like to put the piles of stuff on the side of the road in front of my house and make a sign that says, 'free'.  In this manner I'm sure we've disposed of truckloads of stuff and I like to keep things out of the money system whenever possible.  It never fails to amaze me how people can be such scavengers!  We live in a somewhat high-end neighbourhood and have the only house without a manicured lawn.  Instead we have a giant organic garden that produces food which we enjoy all year.  I worry the neighbours don't approve of my free pile but it's never lasted long enough for a complaint to be issued.  Perhaps the same neighbours are now hoarding our old junk?

diary declutter

I found a book called "Get Rid of Fifty Things" which appeared to be full of good advice.  I didn't read the book, only the title, but I've been on a mission to follow its instructions.

I also love lists and the piles of notepads need to be downsized eliminated.  I want to go digital.  What was once cluttering my home is now residing on your computer screen.  Have a nice day!

Stuff I secretly want to throw away
-piano
-printer
-table saw

The piano was picked up last week by a happy family ("Free! OMG!").  The (broken) printer has long since been recycled and the table saw is being borrowed by family for renovations.  They've been renovating for years!