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.