grateful for keeping house...

i've recently felt really grateful for our home and the bit of rhythm i have found in trying to keep up with it..

+ i've learned that a quick sweep in our main spaces keeps clean floors for a lot longer in the rest of the house {less tracking of pet hair and dirt from being outside}

+ having an empty dishwasher to start the day really is super helpful when trying to keep the dirty dishes from stacking up

+ and fully completing a load of laundry {yes, start to finish - like put away the clothes "finish"} saves me from having several clean baskets just waiting around the house

how about you? any good home tips that seem to just work lately?

need some inspiration? try one of these links:

A good and quick read: 

10 Ways I Keep My House Neat with The Happiest Home

A quick/simple cleaning schedule we are considering for our postpartum period: 

How to Clean Your House in 20 Minutes a Day for 30 Days with Apartment Therapy

Game. Changer. Just leave spaces like you weren't there: 

Leave No Trace with Zen Habits

{our little summer garden 2016}

hi there! i decided it was time for a little garden + growing update of sorts!

as you know there’s much going on around here… so my husband and i decided that one place we could slow things down (to make it more manageable) was the garden. i’m not standing the heat super well with being a human incubator and all, so a little lighter load outdoors has been pleasant for me this summer.

here’s what is going + growing these days…

+ we decided with the history of our mini farm (car maintenance as well as a dairy cow farm) that we would change our initial “in ground garden” plans to raised bed garden plans. this allows us to know that the dirt doesn’t have any harsh chemicals as one can never really be sure when you’re talking about farmed and well used land.

+ we have built three brand-new raised garden beds in a sunny place in our yard! one is filled with growing tomatoes, peppers and lettuce. a second is getting filled with quality dirt as we find it for cheap. and the third is our composting bed this year. 

+we have begun to use a compost tumbler to mostly compost veggie/produce/plant scraps so that we can add them to one open raised bed each year. this will allow us to compost and not attract various animals (with extremely fresh food scraps) so near to our growing produce and laying flock of chickens. we will be able to have one open raised bed each year to rotate our soil and keep things vibrant and replenished as needed.

we hope to add a bit more to the overall structure this summer and upcoming fall. but we are going to take it easy with just doing what we can. however, we figured if most of the structure is in place for next spring planting that will be much easier for us as we won’t be starting from scratch like we did this past spring. 

how about you? any good planting?

*i added this post to Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop #66 - go check out all the fun posts sharing about homesteading and simple living!

around these parts :: November Homestead Happenings

hello folks!

oh my, ohio has been enjoying a truly lovely fall. just these past few weeks we’ve been spoiled with great morning light, warm afternoons and sunsets to die for! of course a few rainy days and chilly dips in temperatures are to be expected but we really are getting outside as much we can to take advantage of it all.

this means a few great happenings around our new place.

moving the chickens and settling in…

oh yes, the girls are at our new house and they just love it! we are still keeping them in their run during the day and closing up their coop at night. but they are laying well and eating/drinking normally. this makes me think they have successfully made the transition. we hope to start encouraging a more free range lifestyle now they they seem to be settled and we have a good estimation of possible predators around our new property. 

plans for planting some garlic…

i'm starting to dream up my new garden plans basically any free moment i have to think (shower, waiting for the tea kettle to boil...) and just the other day my husband reminded me that we could easily start some garlic without any huge garden plans set. so we've picked up the materials and i'm hoping to get them planted before thanksgiving!

general settling of spaces in our new house…

we are s l o w l y getting things settled into our new house. each day i think i put away one little pile or find places for a box full of stuff. we had a totally clean dining room for dinner on monday night and we felt so spoiled! it is happening... and i can't wait for this place to feel like our home. 

our new {old farm} house

hello again!

it was so good to take a break. with all our moving and packing, organizing and finding the new normals... well, i just needed some time to have one less thing to feel responsible for.  thanks for all of you coming back to read this post today :)

so it is true. we are moved in and finding the rhythm of our days in our new to us house. we've been eating in our dining room just thinking about how many other people have eaten a homemade meal in our home over the year. our house was built in 1894 and it is just stunning.

stunning as in i pinch myself or yell "i can't believe we live here" basically every time i walk up our new staircase. {yes, stairs}

so here's the scoop with our newly purchased home... we weren't really looking it just came up and we jumped! for about a year now we've known what our criteria would be for a little homestead... thinking it would be a little out of town, at least five acres and either very cheap so we could fix it up or something that we could live in right away {while we finish fixing it up}.

it popped up on our local real estate page and when my husband said "we might need to act fast" i knew that we were in for some excitement. we saw it the second day it was on the market, got pre-approved for our home loan and put in an offer the next day. i think we started calling family after our offer was accepted... saying "guess what, we are buying a house and no we weren't really looking"... i guess sometimes you just know. and friends, we just knew.

so i guess that's all for this morning. i'll be back to posting little updates and maybe even a few last photos of our first home - the one we are still doing a few odd jobs to before it becomes someone else's treasured place. we will miss it, but we are excited for our new adventure.

have a happy Monday morning!

* i've added this post to Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop! ::click here:: to head over and check out all the great information and stories from other bloggers! Thanks to all the hosts and bloggers for sharing in the fun!

around these parts {taking a few days off}

hello friends!

guess what!? something very exciting is going on around these parts!

my husband and i officially purchased a mini farm!

well, it is an old house with barns and five acres of land. but soon it will be our dream mini farm. {soon is a relative term here when we've been declaring things like forever home}

the house has loads of character. just enough land for what we want to grow. and the property is a short drive to our village, family, friends and professional work.

we couldn't be more excited. and after just a few days of moving/cleaning/searching-the-barns-for-treasures i realized i couldn't wait to say something here.

and after a few days of all that work i also realized i need to spend a few days away from the blog because we still have much to do to settle in {and we are a few days away from our new internet connection as well}

so, i'll be sure to say 'hello' again soon. and soon this time will mean early November!

Current Room Tour {Our Living Room - The First House Edition}

I often mention projects + work that we have worked on around our home. We've been busy bees over the past few years - sanding, painting, laying new flooring, clearing clutter and organizing spaces... our first purchased home is shaping up nicely. We are reaching the vision we had when we first purchased this sweet little home. I think it is having the flooring in the main spaces completed.

Today I thought I would share about a room that I really love to spend time in... our living room.

this is the room that is typically clean... clean enough for me to meditate or read

or for my husband and I  to settle in and watch a movie

I really love the accent wall behind our fireplace and putting little vases of flowers on the mantel.

This room is being lived in + very much loved. In fact, I might head over to the couch and read a bit right now...

*this particular series on my blog is to show what rooms currently look like in our house... as in using my iPhone to quickly snap a few photos of a mostly {HOPEFULLY!} clean but probably in-progress or fairly-tidy room.

Current Room Tour {Our Music Room - The First House Edition}

I often mention projects + work that we have done around our first purchased home. We've been busy bees over the past few seasons - sanding, remodeling, laying new flooring, clearing clutter and organizing  spaces... I decided that sharing what rooms currently look like might be a fun way to share spaces in our home.

We live in a four bedroom home. As we don't have four people living in our home we decided to dedicate our extra bedrooms for various purposes that we love. We have a study, a studio space and a music room.

I love how our music room is shaping up! I mean... chevron wall...

I love that my husband painted that wall just because we decided it would be fun. And when I asked how I could help him he only requested for me to go make cookies. Yes, I knew that was my cue to get out of the way.

Happy Wednesday, friends!


*this particular series on my blog is to show what rooms currently look like in our house... as in using my iPhone to quickly snap a few photos of a mostly {HOPEFULLY!} clean but probably in-progress room.

how i created a short term food supply

hello there. today i thought i'd share a bit about how i spent several months figuring out how to create a short term supply of food.

{Are you not familiar with this idea? Please don't jump to super scary thoughts of an underground shelter and canned beans stacked from floor to ceiling... are you looking for a good place to start? read this pretty low key two-page pdf :: link here}

i was inspired to prepare in this way when i considered all my family's work and thoughts that made our emergency savings and get-out-of-debt plan such a success thus far. i realized something that would help us with this emergency preparedness would also be a basic food supply.

now i don't know if we're exactly prepared for some crazy out of the norm long term event {i.e. a zombie world take over - i know that my husband and i will both hold out to be saved by Brad Pitt} however, if it became difficult for us to afford groceries or one of us became very ill the family could make do with what is in our food storage and general food storage plan.

our short term storage also has been a great resource when we are just low on groceries or time when cooking a late night dinner - why not pull out that can of black beans for a protein? then you can replace it with a newer can the next time they go on sale at the store!

A Few Important Ideas that Worked for Me:

+ shopping slowly
now, i know the need can strike at anytime for the use of a food storage, however i found it most manageable when i broke down the shopping into small amounts. partly due to spending constraints, but also because i like to purchase bulk items at specific places. so i started by consider what i'd like to have in my storage and then only putting a few of those items on my shopping list when i knew that i could purchase a little more than the list of what we needed to eat for the week.

+only buy what will work for my cooking
i figured if it was something we wouldn't want to eat we would live without it. like i didn't purchase dried eggs or dried milk. it just wasn't something i was willing to say - yes i will cook with this. instead i put foods on the list i was comfortable with and planned meals with the ingredients that i thought would keep well for our storage plan. and i purchased items that didn't confuse me while reading the ingredient lists.

+use my canning stash to supplement
i enjoy canning food - jams, ketchups, salsa, tomato sauces, dill veggies - so in those went to my supply. and i planned meals or snacks with those items.

+labeling my storage space
i really believe in good labeling when it comes to food storage. i selected one cabinet to hold our extra food items and made a simple list {about 6 pages long} to state what is on each shelf and their expiration dates. this way we can eat food {and quickly replace it} before it goes bad. if there is more than we can manage we also can donate canned goods to a local food shelter before it expires so at least someone can eat it. i also use a highlighter to cross out items that we eat. that way i know quickly what we have and what we don't have on the shelf.  i like knowing what we had in the past so i don't have to go back through and re-brainstorm the initial list of what should go on these shelves.

Inspired? Want to consider making your own food storage plan? Try some of these resources for more tips, hints, and helpful ideas:

Detailed run down of how to start your 3 month food supply {with Valerie of Prepared LDS Family blog} - be sure to read the comments for a few more helpful suggestions

Pantry Shopping List + Key Points List to get you started when considering your short term food supply {with Crystal at Everyday Food Storage}

Ways to look at your 3 month supply as a "working supply of food storage" {with Shelle at Preparedness Mama}

Check out this post with a great 3 Month Planning Graphic {with Tammy from Simply Preparing}

* i've added this post to Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop! ::click here:: to head over and check out all the great information and stories from other bloggers! Thanks to all the hosts and bloggers for sharing in the fun!

Thoughts + Resources from a Newbie Chicken Farmer

i really love having chickens.  it is almost embarrassing. everyone i know asks about our chickens/their coop and i talk about "the girls" almost as much as i talk about my dog. they are just fun and do sort of silly things. i love that very soon they will take care of our family's egg needs {this fall our flock of eight hens should begin to lay more than enough eggs for us to eat + share}.

i've been talking about getting chickens for a few years now. sometimes just the 'oh won't it be so fun to go collect our own eggs?' or the joke about what my chicken call would sound like {i think the chickadee inspired call: 'chicken-feed-feed-feed-feed' or the 'winner winner chicken dinner' with victory dance have been the front runners for a year or so now}.

but as i got more serious about raising our own flock {for the eggs, compost turning and garden pest control} i began to read, interact with chickens/their caretakers and dream.

so today i wanted to share a few insights + resources that helped me get chickens into our backyard...

+ get to know a few hens {or even a rooster}

i was able to "practice" raising hens for about a year before we got our own chicks. this was so helpful as it gave me just a little bit of experience and actual animals to keep healthy. the school where i teach has a very lovely garden and we decided to add just a few layers, a coop and an awesome run for the hens. the children have responsibilities to share in caring for the chickens. these truly loved hens provide eggs for when we make snacks and prepare real food with the students. so the fact that this small flock of three wasn't solely my responsibility made it easier for me to take on tasks without being overwhelmed. maybe you have a neighbor or friend who might need chicken sitters when they go on vacation or there is a local farm that asks for volunteers. you might gain experience and free eggs!

+get to know a few people who know chickens

this is pretty basic but i saved so many tidbits of information over the years from friends, neighbors, co-workers who have their own flocks - or did in the past. it is also great to have these resources when you come up against something {illness, strange behavior, etc} and you need to ask a more experienced farmer. 

+find a few favorite chicken raising websites  {click to go directly to the site}

here are some of my favorite websites...

BackYard Chickens

the forum on this site helped me a lot with coop training for my littles and identifying a broody hen at my school. so much information here and a pretty active online community.

The Chicken Chick

there were a few special posts about chicks + brooders that helped when we were hatching eggs at school... but there is lots of knowledge to gain from this chick's site.

+start reading

i checked out many homesteading, gardening, livestock books over the past few years from our local library. these are two of my favorite chicken books that i recommend over and over...

Keeping Chickens with Ashley English

this book is from her Homemade Living series and it really helped me begin to focus my plans for raising chickens, such as selecting breeds that i would enjoy and also do well in our climate. 

Free-Range Chicken Gardens: How to Create a Beautiful, Chicken-Friendly Yard by Jessi Bloom and photos by Kate Baldwin

this book has super fantastic photos that makes you want ALL the free-range chicken backyards. i found it very inspiring and it was actually a fun book to share with my students as we were waiting for our eggs to hatch {think seven year old girls making bookmarks for all their favorite coops + breeds}. 

+ be prepared to keep learning

as with pretty much all things i think there is a lot of to learn as we go. like we had a skunk interested in our coop + run recently. we did some quick research + double checked for any weak spots in our run. nothing has happened and we think we are in the clear for a bit... but not everything you will know from other resources before you have actual chickens. i think i have to learn about what happens here, in our yard, as the seasons pass. 

any other favorite chicken books or tips? want to gush about how cute my little chicks used to be? {these photos were from early May when i was playing around with my camera - because, well, baby chicks!} leave me a comment below! i'd love to talk chickens with you! and i hope to share more about my backyard chicken raising in the future here on the blog.


* i've added this post to Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop! ::click here:: to head over and check out all the great information and stories from other bloggers! Thanks to all the hosts and bloggers for sharing in the fun!

How to Make a Declutter Challenge Easy

so here i am. about to start a third round of a minimalist game. i've found that i make more decisions when i can see my list of items grow and know that i'm making space for a clutter-free life. i figured the final 30 or so days of my summer break from teaching would be the perfect time to let go of more stuff.

i know keeping a home is more than decluttering all the time. but right now decluttering seems to be what just a few more spaces of mine needs. i truly look forward to having so many usable and loved spaces in our home.

so to kick off a new 30 day declutter challenge i thought i would remind myself and share with you a few things that we all can do to make getting rid of unnecessary things easier...

- just start. i actually just stepped away from my computer and found five things to get rid of. took less than 15 minutes to come right back here. five items, on the list. done.

- keep a running list. and an open donate container. to keep it easier to rid my home of an item at any time i just mark my amount of items on a list and then take them straight to the proper container. trash can, recycling bin, or donate container {i typically reuse cardboard boxes or paper bags}

- get in the mindset. the "liberate usable space" mindset. i took the last few days to consider places or categories of stuff that need to be addressed around our homestead. here is a little list i have ready for when i am in need of locating unneeded items:

places

 :: garage storage-shelf :: 

 :: desk ::

 :: studio closet ::

 :: under the bed storage ::

:: laundry closet ::

categories

:: bed sheets ::

:: bathroom towels ::

:: kitchen towels ::

:: toiletries ::

:: cleaning supplies :: 

 - want more tips + thoughts? click ::here:: for my first 30 days complete + click ::here and here:: for thoughts about my second round of a minimalist game.

may the most cherished + useful things stay... and here's to hoping one day all my shelves will be as organized as my canned pantry... good luck to us all!

**I just added this post to "Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop #11" - check it out and learn something new! Click::here:: 

garden + homestead update {july 2015}

so you may remember that i had big - big dreams for my garden this summer. well, it is interesting when real life happens and how much work just one or two of your {other} big visions take...

this summer we've focused our extra time and energy on a few home projects and our lovely little chickens.

this means i haven't moved our garden beds to a sunnier spot yet. nor have i planted them. i'm dedicating more of my food growth/prep time to canning and using up {or putting up} what our great CSA brings us. we were early adopters of one of our local CSAs and man after a few years of working out what to supply they are bringing the veggies I tell you!

so as to what we've actually done this summer with our garden plans... our coop is perfect! my husband out did himself this time and i love how it has turned out. we even cleared a little portion of our back yard to place the girls back in a mostly shady area that we think they really enjoy {think low branches for roosting and pine needles for scratching}. we are into a great little routine with our girls and they've decided that i am the source of food and my husband is the source of loud, unpredictable noises - such as mowing the lawn, or general wood-maker/saw sounds. it is pretty great. i love the chickens just as much as i thought i would.

we have a few finishing touches to put on the coop + run. so i'll just have to promise a super tour sometime soon.

as for what's next... i'm thinking about canning up local tomatoes, hoping for the time to make roasted red pepper ketchup and then maybe even making a year's worth of salsa.

how about you, enjoying summer's bounty? what are you growing? canning?


*I'm happy to also note that I just added this blog post to the {Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop #10} click ::here:: to check out some of the great posts featured on this link up!

sew lovely::a few significant stitches

i had gotten into a bit of a sewing rut. where many other things always seemed more important of a task and i just didn't get out my machine.

plenty of little project ideas, and even all the materials to do them.

but yesterday. that was the day. the day to put a few stitches on the studio curtains. 

short. simple. needed.

needed for me. and for those windows.

how about you? any good stitches lately? 

cleaners i like to make at home

Oh summer! My perfect season for a serious cleaning around the house. 

During the month of June I was able to organize and deep clean many spaces in our home {as well as a huge declutter!}. 

All of my work made me want to share some of my favorite resources + links of cleaners I like to make at home...

My favorite home cleaners to make {from Young House Love}

the DIY foaming hand soap recipe I use {thanks Katie from Wellness Mama!}

a super podcast from Pure Green Magazine 'Detox Your Cleaning with Authors of Homemade Cleaners'... I actually tried a few of the tips/recipes the very day I listened. Very inspiring!

Put on some good tunes, grab a rag and get to it friends! I've been seriously digging some 

Pokey LaFarge this summer - be prepared to dance while dusting :)

Happy Cleaning!


**I'm happy to also note that I just added this blog post to the {Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop #8} click ::here:: to check out some of the great posts featured on this link up! Thanks Tracy for hosting!

life in a studio space, my studio space {it's a process}

good morning, friends! things are humming along in the studio! i am happily {well, most of the time} sorting, finding, grouping, repairing, and all the more as i work thru the layers, containers and drawers of materials in my studio space.

once we decided we were going to dedicate a space for sewing + creating in our home i realized that i needed to work on a huge overhaul of materials. finding ways to organize and showcase what i have and all the tools i love to make with. this of course has forced me to actually find what all i own. oh my. i have very many things that could live in the studio.

so far my favorite organizational system has been moving our cash register cabinet from the study to the studio. it has so many little compartment and drawers which are just perfect for various treasures. i had loved it in the study to hold many small office supplies {staples, paperclips, etc} - and i'm saving places in these drawers for many of those items at this time too. my husband found this gem on an auction - the previous owner had already painted + updated it's look. i would love it in the original condition probably just as much as i love it green. it serves us so well.

i'm finding that just walking by this "in progress space" makes me smile. the room is so inviting - even if heading thru the doorway means i should find a home for a third spool of twine.

thankful to call this space my studio.

have a lovely monday!

Keeping Up with the Throwing Out of Clutter

Simplifying my life has been something I've been working on for a few years. I'm feeling more in control of my clutter and craziness every month. And actually completing a few larger efforts has really put me in the driver's seat.

However, some days it still feels unsurmountable. I feel as if I will always be participating in some major overhaul of freeing stuff. I really want to get to a place where things are manageable. Where everything has a place in our home.


What I'm trying:

asking the question - 'Does it bring me joy?': I find that often I have useful things that just are no longer needed now that I'm no longer interested in something or that I have doubles of tools. This makes it easy and I can simply select the one that I will keep. More of one thing doesn't make me happier. Being surrounded by useful, beautiful and important items brings me happiness.

decluttering 'by category' - which may not always link up to 'by room': If I'm working on something and I have everything that I need I try to assess what is extra and cut from there. Or if I'm putting away laundry and I have a stack of t-shirts then I can see how abundant this one specific category is... it is pretty easy to admit that I don't need thirty t-shirts to wear around the house.


Things that are working right now:

cherishing the progress: I've recently noticed how happy I feel in specific rooms ... they are so livable and open. These are rooms that we've done a major overhaul together - my husband and I - where we both had some say in what went and what stayed. Rooms that we set the way we wanted to and only allowed back the items that we truly loved and valued.

continuing the process: Each day I keep my eye out to grab things that I just plain don't need/want for example when I try on something to wear that I thought I truly loved and realize it doesn't wear nicely anymore I place it in my donate bag right away.

Now that it is summer break I've started a second minimalist game. This time I'm just cutting clutter from my life, work included, not just in our home. I think it will allow me to breathe a little more easily when it is time to return back to school in the fall. So far I'm really enjoying it! How about you, any plans to cut the extras? What is working for you?

Around these parts {nowhere to be expected}

A little spring holiday - that was what we decided we needed. To run away from it all. We both had vacation days scheduled, no need to head in for work.

Made some plans for the pets - a few friends and family members taking care of our four-legged roommates.

Us, the tent, our gear, + the car - no major plans, a few possible destinations, just get out-of-dodge...

So when we got out of the house... we found ourselves in our old town. {Let's just stop for dinner and a coffee} Favorite brewery, throwing darts, teasing + laughing. Nowhere to be expected. Why not just stay the night?


And just like that - our needed holiday was over. We jumped in the car and went right back to dodge. One night away was all it took.

And friends, that is how we ended up with a construction zone in our guest bathroom. Starting the project that we hadn't planned. A whole week's worth of time... that's right, nowhere to be expected.

We may just up + leave dodge for one more night... we'll see how the tile work goes.

Happy Spring Break.

life in a studio space, my studio space {just the beginning}

Let's have one of those moments. Where we both hold + drink something warm {cup of black coffee for me, thanks} and relish the fact that there is so much good in our lives. Like you and your good health, maybe the lovely weekend you recently had, or your joyous little one that is growing faster than anyone can believe.

To our little chit-chat I'd bring the news - we are working on a little crafting space for me! In my home! I'm over the moon excited and can't wait to give you a little tour. Some time soon, I promise.

I've been a busy gal - painting, washing the new hardwood floors, filling up shelves, dreaming of decor and organizing crafting goodies.

My husband, of course, has done most of the hard work. He made + hung the shelves, laid the actual flooring, and rolled coats + coats of paint {yes, even primer, to cover up the sunshine yellow that I insisted on for the cheery guest bedroom that it was before}. 

So, of course, we should raise our mugs to him. {thanks, j. you are the tops. and i love that you aren't afraid of trying some crazy paint colors + plans in our home... cue the music room's chevron wall or the teal paint behind the fireplace}

I've always dreamt of having a large space to make. A place where I can leave work in-progress and not worry about clearing the table for dinner. I may not get to keep this room forever, and if we ever move we might not be able to dedicate this much space for a little craft area. But right now it feels perfect, and it is just getting started. 

I'm so glad we could meet up to share some happiness today. Happy Wednesday to you!

30 Days of Declutter {Completed}

I am so thankful to write this post! We've survived {triumphantly} our month of the minimalist game. Yes 30 days of declutter. And declutter we did. 

Both myself and my husband decided to take on this challenge. Over 30 days we removed 960 unneeded items from our home. Wow. And it feels great! 

We are really noticing a difference in our house. Especially certain - mostly often used - spaces. We found it easy to identify items to remove from those common places. There is still more work, organizing and letting go to do but much has also been accomplished. We plan to take a little break while we are working on a studio space for me. But we will revisit the idea of maybe returning to the declutter challenge or something that might work for a more daily/weekly routine.

A few things that worked for us during our 30 day overhaul:

Leaving out a container for donations

Having a "catch all" bag or box in a central location was very helpful to aide in quick decisions. If I noticed something during daily life it made it so simple to quickly say goodbye and place it in the box. {We kept a running list to tally up our number to make sure we were on top of the challenge amount each day. We kept that in an obvious space as well.}

Virtual yard sale

My husband belongs to a local virtual yard sale group which allowed us to make a few bucks on some items that I had a hard time letting go. Nice, working items that we just didn't need. {I wanted to know that it was going to be used. Since I had hopes of using those things.} It wasn't a ton of money but it was a nice perk to grow our savings while slimming down our clutter.

Quick drop offs to Good Will

We did a quick trip to our local Good Will Donation Center twice or so a week in order to not have any second thoughts and to keep our pile of goods to a manageable amount. 

Setting a time to bulk declutter 

Two times during our month we got behind {typically during the work week} on our tally. When this happened we decided to dedicate some time on the weekend to get rid of many, many items {one day we completed the goal of finding 100 items to leave our home}.

Short bursts of declutter

Of course, there is the flip side - such as doing a quick walk through the house - finding ten items and then moving on for the day. 

Asking the hard questions

+Would I buy this again? (As inspired by this Pure Green Magazine Podcast)

+Can I find a replacement for this?

+Do I have time to fix this right now?

+Do I love and use this regularly?

+How many copies of this do I need?

It was amazing how as the month grew I would find myself picking up things thinking 'this is not worth the clutter it makes in our home' or 'I would rather be one item closer to my goal than keep this'. It was invigorating!

So, how about you? Any tips for declutter and managing the madness that we may unnecessarily keep in our homes?

Homegrown: Garden Dreaming

It may come as no surprise. But I've been doing a bit of garden dreaming these past few days. Making 'Garden Resolutions' and considering a schedule for this year. Last year I had a poor garden display. Partly my {lack of} doing, partly lack of sun, partly who knows...

In 2015, I'm moving on and hoping for a better year. I'm claiming a fresh start and making a few Garden Resolutions {as inspired by this post}

2015 Garden Resolutions

::grow fewer types of produce and more of what we actually eat {such as}::

• tomatoes
• peppers
• onions
• lettuce, spinach
• zucchini
• cucumbers
• potatoes
• sweet potatoes
• carrots
• garlic
• herbs: basil, thyme, bay, cilantro, rosemary, sage

::spend time on our food or garden everyday {cooking, prepping, menu planning, gardening, etc.}::

::grow flowers::

::make plans for chickens {and possibly carry out those plans - I've been just dying for a few layers}::

::plant a fruit tree::

::find ways that work for us to preserve some of our mushroom harvest::

I'm using January to read some gardening books, lay out my garden plan, and consider the year's schedule + flow. How about you, up to some garden dreaming? I'd love to hear about it. Just comment below!