Monthly Archives: July 2021

Further minimizing…

Posted in decluttering, home stuff, minimalism, simplicity, Uncategorized, White space by

So, as you know I’ve been going thru more things and getting rid of more things. Sometimes hidden or just in a box or vintage suitcase in my case. I’ve also sold some Waldorf toys.

First off, a few miscellaneous.

So random things in the Heywood, nobody has used. The two candle holders are Hearth and Home and they were cute but they take a small candle and I generally never have them. The glass is probably my son’s but it hasn’t been used so it’s going. ( update, B said it was his from some trip to LOng beach and he didnt care).The hurricane top was because I bought 2 for when power went out and then I bought a spare top. Who knows when I’ll need that so it’s going. The pyrex is going because I have too many.

The Waldorf things include:

Goose girl, oak tree and pond with bridge.

That kangaroo and baby retail for $40.

Both of these sets I sold for $100. Ostheimer toys are all out of stock everywhere and very desirable. But they only took up room in my Heywood drawer so I’m glad that they are going to a good home with young children.

So what have I discovered? Getting rid of things and clearing any space feels great and opens up that space. Even if it’s only one or two things. I love space more than things.

Minimalism is certainly a journey as is decluttering. I think there is a point where it feels just right but I still have things to get rid of. It’s really layers of things and when I get to the next layer, things I didn’t see before, are more visible and I don’t care about them anymore.

Case in point. I bought an Instant Pot airfryer about 2 years ago, maybe 18 months. We had lots of fun with it the first 6 months and then slowly nobody wanted to get it out and use it. If we had a choice we used our toaster oven, which we love. ( Breville). So I decided to donate it and now it’s in the pile to get dropped off at Goodwill. That opens up that whole area under the Heywood. I don’t have anything in there at the moment and plan to only put something there if it fits and the space works.

The thing about decluttering is just start and then just keep going. Little by little, inch by inch, row by row….

Happy 4th of July!

Posted in budgets, cooking, Credit cards, Flylady, pets, pets,cats,dogs,, Uncategorized, Walking by

There are some great articles over at the Washington Post about 4th of July and it’s meaning to Black Americans. Quite fascinating. Plus the whole connection of slavery tied to our independence day. Definitely worth reading. There’s also a couple of good articles on Republican assholes trying to block any Critical theory information being taught in schools. Suppressing knowledge ,it seems, is what Republicans do best. At least most of the Confederate statues have been removed from public lands. Having such constant reminders of slavery and oppression must have been so hard for so long for Black Americans.

anyway,I have the digital subscription and it’s totally worth the price, if you want the news that is informative and FACT based.

We did a nice walk this morning although there were a few clouds so it seemed quite muggy. Generally, our humidity is quite low so the heat isn’t quite as oppressive. Tomorrow is Monday, so it’s a no walk day but being a holiday, we may walk anyway.

This week is the Flylady kitchen zone. I’ll start on that later after breakfast. We’re getting so many eggs from the girls, I can’t give the eggs away quick enough. So this morning I scrambled a dozen but since there’s another 2 dozen in the fridge. It’s still overwhelming. Still, there’s nothing like your own fresh eggs.

I need to do July’s budget. Our water bill came in thru the roof. But hopefully next month will decrease a little. Then I had an unexpected dental copay that I thought I’d paid for. It’s these things that throw my budget. Plus, I had an unauthorized purchase on my Visa so I had to cancel that and I have 2 bills I know of on that card so now I have to call and put them on a different card till I get the replacement which they said would be 10 days or so. What a pain.

No appts this week which is so great!! Last week I had my eye doctor appt and that went well. No change with the macular pucker.

I’ve sold a few more Waldorf toys to the lady who bought the others on Ebay. She has young children and I’m glad they are going to where they will be loved. I also gave my son a whole box of Waldorf toys to give his boss who has a young child. I didn’t want to deal with listing any of those. So more stuff gone that was just in boxes. i don’t have tons of clutter anymore but there seems to always be misc stuff that needs to be dealt with like the Waldorf toys. I am keeping most of the little wood animals as I think they are cute and I do put them out. Right now I have out the 2 bunnies, the frog prince and another frog. Why frogs?? Because right now they are croaking ALL night long in our pond. It’s frog mating time and boy, can they be noisy.

It’s too hot to BBQ so I ‘m not sure what we’ll do for 4th of July celebration. Maybe a big salad.

I leave you with the kitties…

Guster ( Gus) on the left, next is Smudgerton, Bean, and cherry blossom also known as Hissy Princess.

Mamakat is still totally neurotic about yowling at the kitties. I’m ready to give her to the ASPCA.( almost).

Friday things…

Posted in cooking, home improvement, home stuff by

We’re headed into 4th if July weekend. I-80 has been crazy busy but we pretty much stay home on holiday weekends. I do plan on going to the pool tomorrow but early so I’m hoping most of the traffic will be gone.

We had turkey burgers on the BBQ last night and it was hot out so it made it challenging to cook. They were ok. B had a Beyond burger. Tonight I plan on using the Ooni and make 2 pizzas. i think we’ll just need to move one of the patio umbrellas so there’s more shade.

The kitchen shelves are now up and look good. The brackets are from Signature hardware it you’re looking.

So everything that was on the restaurant shelves is on these shelves and in the Heywood. I do like the drawer for utensils as we only have the one other drawer, so that’s nice. Underneath has my Vitamix, and my big jars(gallon) of flour and rice. Plus, I’m using the cabinet that was in my office area and was empty except for a few items. For now it’s a good alternative to the Ikea pantry.

Oh, the boy kitties are now neutered and so the only one left is the little girl kitty. They don’t have any openings for girls right now so that’ll be something to stay on top of. You have to check their website daily for appts. But everyone(except little Cherry) has shots and fixed. Hurray!!!

Our temperatures are fairly normal here in the mid 90’s. July is always hot and so is August. Hopefully, not too many over 100 degree days. I shudder to think of the electric bill. We have been line drying clothes since it’s too hot to use the dryer. I do put the clothes in the dryer for a fluff cycle but that’s not hot.

Today B is going to do another dump run. I think this is our 6th this year. We had one free one and then the others we’ve paid for. Today it’s a bunch of old carpet that was on the floor of the barn, old fencing and misc. I cleaned out the freezer so there’s a bunch of food stuff to go in a bag. I got tired of looking at 1/4 bags of frozen veggies that have been in there for a year.

Well, that’s a wrap up.

Project: Cooking thru my cookbooks or else.

Posted in cooking, Cooking thru my cookbooks,, project cooking thru my cookbooks by

These both are keepers. I’ve used both for multiple recipes. They are both excellent for vegetarian cooking. The “Expanding Light Cookbook” has the recipe for millet patties which is superb. I make those and serve with their recipe for “golden gravy’ which uses nutritional yeast. If you’re ever visiting N. Ca you can go to Ananda and there is a store and I think they have food also for sale. They have many yoga retreats as well as meditation. It continues to be a thriving community based on Yogananda’s philosophy. Being that it started in the late 60’s early 70’s that is saying something. Back in the day, Barclay was their rep for food service so he went out their maybe once every month or so.

These two are also keepers. Nigel Slater is a wonderful writer with a great sense of humor. His cooking(British) isn’t really my style, but I love reading about how and why he cooks. He and his partner bought this wonderful old house with a garden and some of these recipes are about using garden produce. They are beautiful books worth taking down and having a peruse thru on rainy afternoons. I suppose if I was moving they would go but for now they can claim a spot on my cookbook shelf.