Frugal finds and fixes, long-overdue update

It has been awhile since we posted a Frugal Finds and Fixes, so here is a new installment.

Our public library is subscribed to the Lynda.com video-teaching website, and I am planning on using it to improve some of my computer skills. Homeschoolers might find some of their techie courses interesting. They also offer quite a bit on photography and videography.

We had a homemade pizza night this week instead of getting takeout. Pizza dough is easy in the bread machine, and pizza is a very forgiving, use what's in the fridge kind of meal. We topped ours with mushrooms, peppers, salami, canned pasta sauce, and some mixed bits of grated cheese on top. The only bad thing about baking pizza at home is that it always sets off the smoke alarm, and even after we push the "never mind" button, it continues to hiccup for awhile. This never happens with frozen store pizza, just homemade (I think because we set the oven higher).

Tonight's dinner was sausage, ranch potatoes, frozen green beans and carrots, and blueberry muffins that I thought of at the last minute. This is nothing new, but we continue to use the toaster oven, slow cooker (s), and microwave as much as possible, turning on the big oven only when the food or the pan won't fit into anything else.  That would include cookie sheets, muffin pans, and the roaster (the handle makes it too tall).

Yesterday we dropped some of our clearing-out stuff at the thrift store, and had a look around inside. Mr. Fixit found a vintage Polaroid camera. Lydia (who was off school due to predicted bad weather that took its time appearing)* found some books. Mama Squirrel found a t-shirt for herself, and a black shirt from the dollar rack, that looked nice on Lydia but was missing a cuff button.

*When the storm finally showed up, it was a midnight thunderstorm with pouring rain. Basements were undoubtedly flooded, but, thankfully, not ours this time.

That's what button bags are for.

I also mended some leggings while I had the needle still threaded. I hate threading needles, but every time I buy needle threaders, they break. Somewhere out there, there must still be some decent ones for sale.

Finally, stay tuned over the next week or so, because it's almost time for a new Project 333 update.

Day...six. Random Epiphanies. (Last Numbers post)

January 6th: Epiphany. The visit of the Magi. Also a moment of sudden illumination.

Here are some epiphanies I've had about things, tools, clothes, clutter, and living the life.

1. I once read about an after-school tutor who travelled around with a very small box of teaching tools. It might have been a cigar box, might have been a shoebox. At any rate, he had a few little things he used over and over to help kids with reading and math. Something like, a few pieces of Lego, some stickers, a couple of little cars, some markers and index cards.  This guy was admired for his creativity and success in teaching.  So, why do we so often think we need a fancier set of tools for (you fill in the blank)? Look what Johnny Appleseed did with some seeds and a spade.

2. Don't try to clean blueberry stains from your vintage kitchen counter with baking soda. The pattern will disappear along with the blueberries.

3. Snow doesn't shovel itself. But you can feel happy about making safe places for people to walk.

4. Two days after you pay too much postage to order some used books you really wanted, you will be sent a free e-copy to review of something else that's wonderful (and 300+ pages long). Which is a good thing, undoubtedly, but also a reminder of the need for trust, patience, and not stepping ahead of God's timing.

5. I think packages of notecards or postcards make great gifts for people.  Maybe with a pen as well. Because there is nothing quite as personal as having to put the words on paper in your own handwriting. If your handwriting is like mine, it's also humbling. Not Ma Ingalls here, at all.

6. Why is shorter hair supposed to be less work? I recently got a short, layered cut, and I realized that I'm now lacking the benefits of gravity in drip-dry hairstyling. If I don't mess with it, it's a mess.  Those of you who think the shorter grass is greener should ponder before pruning.

Happy 2017! And if you're Ukrainian and/or Orthodox, Merry Christmas.

Quote for the day: Not born free?

"When God Himself gave His ten commandments to the children of Israel, He did not impose an arbitrary rule. Drawing on the principle of propriety, He expressed ten laws that, if they followed them, would lead them to treat things as they ought to be treated (Worship the Lord, honor your parents, leave the neighbors stuff alone, etc.) and, since that is how reality is structured, they could be free. Not just free from Egypt, but free to be His people who knew them and what led to their flourishing." ~~ Andrew Kern, "Writing as a Liberating Art," Circe Institute blog

Day...five. Five ways to not bring it all home with you.

Link for the day: 10 Ways To Redefine Your Purchase Process, at BeMoreWithLess.com. An extract:

"Cultivate a museum mentality. Living more simply doesn’t mean you don’t want more. The desire for more dissipates but in my experience, it doesn’t go away completely. Instead of finding gratification in the owning, find it in appreciation for the item. For instance, when you walk through a museum you can fully appreciate the art without owning it. The same goes for new clothing, gadgets and other things. When you desire, admire. Don’t acquire."

Well, I did acquire something at the antiques barn this morning (while admiring and appreciating a lot of other things I didn't want to buy). A pile of books will be going out the door here, but a few more are coming in, because they're more relevant, more needed, or just more special.

This wasn't in the greatest shape (as you can see from the spine), but it was a Charlotte Mason/PNEU standard in the upper forms (even if she got the title wrong):

 "Mr Arnold Forster has done in this volume for children and the illiterate, what Professor Green did in his Shorter History of England for somewhat more advanced students, awakening many to the fact that history is an entrancing subject of study." (Home Education) 

In the meantime, the "donate" baskets are filling up:

And the "sort these out, put away" things are getting organized.

And what does this, if anything, have to do with the number five? Besides the fact that Charlotte Mason's students read Green's History starting in the fifth form? How about five ways to have fun, enjoy and appreciate things without wanting to own them permanently?

1. Antiques barns are good for window shopping, because there are so many things there that you probably either can't afford, don't have room for, or wouldn't want even if they were free. This morning I saw (among other things) a 1962 cardboard Barbie Dream House (it's adorable, but what would I do with it?), a toy telephone I had when I was four, and some little ceramic cottages like one we were given as a wedding gift. Would I like to have a whole village of tiny cottages? The thought ran briefly through my head, but it was fairly easy to quash. One's enough.

2. Use your hunter-gatherer instincts in a way that doesn't take up permanent space. Hunt down school or hygiene supplies for mission projects, or make hats or teddy bears for charity. Or do some Google or database searching for names of forgotten things. Or get into a hobby like collecting seeds (that will go into the ground or get given to other people). Or become an expert on something gigantic, like cathedrals or the Grand Canyon.

3. Use those Charlotte Mason mental visualization skills to store up lovely things. The trend now is to say "don't keep it, take a picture of it," but as we've been told repeatedly, people now are often so busy snapping pictures of everything from breakfast to graduations that they miss "being in the moment" for them. And then they have to hope their camera or computer doesn't lose the files. Go against the trend and just look without photographing. Draw a picture or copy a quote if you really have to.

4. Take a trip to a butterfly conservatory, a rock museum, or a donkey farm, whatever suits your interests and ethics. Skip the gift shop, obviously. Small towns known for boutiques and antique shops are a riskier choice, but you can always go with just enough cash for ice cream.

5. Mr. Fixit's contribution: create an avatar and enjoy some virtual reality. I actually found this suggestion quite funny, because years ago the girls and I had Yahoo avatars on the blog, and our little people got to wear all the fun costumes and pose in front of the hundred and one background scenes. Those were the days.

Day...four. In the midst.

Previous posts in the New Year's Numbers series

Link for today: Four ways to declutter at OrganizedHome.com, includng the Four Box method. My four boxes became five, because I couldn't remember if there was a difference between "keep" and "put away," and when I remembered that "sell" was also a category, that made five.

Day...three. (Part Two)

“Is there not glory enough in living the days given to us? You should know there is adventure in simply being among those we love and the things we love, and beauty, too.” ~~ Lloyd Alexander, The Black Cauldron

So...I said I would ruminate over the past year's post-midlife-clothes-crisis closet experiment.

I don't think the success of it has been in trying to wear radically different clothes (I'm not). It's in knowing more what I'm looking for at a certain time; why I bought two pullover sweaters on my last thrifting trip, instead of, maybe, buying a pair of pants (I have enough) or a dress that I might wear once or twice. Or instead of bypassing the clothes at all and heading for the books. I was looking for a plain navy sweater, and when I found a green henley-style one as well that matched a favourite scarf, and the green sweater turned out to be a dollar-deal...it was just icing on the clothes cake. A year ago, I was pretty random about what went into the mix; now I have more of a plan.

The second benefit, ironically, is that I'm more aware now of certain clothing brands and stores I hadn't paid attention to before. Longtime shopaholics would not understand this, but if you don't go looking at clothes much, of course you don't know what's out there and how things are changing. While I was looking the other way (or was hiding out in the book store), several Canadian clothing chains went belly-up, and others came in that I'd never heard of. I also noticed (I've posted about this before) that my default places to shop (like the discount store) have taken a dive in clothing quality. The t-shirts and sweaters might not have been great before, but now they mostly look like they'd last about two washings and then be...garbage. Like we've been talking about. So the past year has been an unexpected education, in different ways.

Initially I resisted the numbers aspect of Project 333 because I didn't want to get legalistic about it. I still don't think that setting a number limit on clothes is the best plan for everyone. For me it has helped in the same way that a "desert island" game might help someone else focus on what's important to them. If I knew that I had room in my mini-closet for only a couple of dresses, what would they look like? What would I wear them for? What kind of shoes or other things would I need to wear with them? Would I need skirts too, or would pants be enough? I don't wear shorts much outside the house in the summer...so having one or two pairs is plenty for me.  I'm not as crazy about turtlenecks as I used to be; but I might try the round necklines I've always avoided. I still can't wear white, and it's not just the lights in the changing rooms. And you know what I think about black...although I caved in this Christmas and found a fake-velvet midi skirt on the dollar rack. It was headed for Lydia's closet, but she decided she didn't want it, so I wore it with sweaters over the holidays. I think I've become more open to experimentation and change, although when something is a "no," it doesn't get a second chance.
The best thing, for me, is that all this came together around the time I turned 50. Big numerals there, people. 50 is not a bad thing. 50 means you are old enough to wear what you like because you're old enough to know that you like it.

Col. Jessup: I would appreciate it if he would address me as "colonel" or "sir." I believe I've earned it.
Judge Randolph: Defense counsel will address the witness as "colonel" or "sir."
Col. Jessup: [to Judge] I don't know what...kind of unit you're running here.
Judge Randolph: And the witness will address this court as "judge" or "your honor." I'm quite certain I've earned it. Take your seat, Colonel.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the number Four...

Day...three. (Part One)

Sunday's post about One
Monday's post about Two

As Schoolhouse Rock used to say, three is a magic number. Three Squirrelings. Three meals a day. The number of a current writing project. Faith, hope and love.

Three threes make up Project 333, and by an interesting coincidence we just watched the documentary Minimalism last night. Courtney Carver, the originator of Project 333, appears in the film, talking briefly about what propelled her into a more-with-less lifestyle. I've been trying to follow a Project 333 plan for the past year, so this is a good time to think about what's working, why I'm doing this, and what's ahead.

One of the people interviewed in the documentary said that the problem isn't that our culture isn't too materialistic, it's that it's not materialistic enough. She meant that we are so surrounded with so much stuff that we don't properly appreciate any of it. In the days when children's toys were expensive and scarce, a stuffed rabbit (let's say) became a cherished possession; but now (says one confessing much experience of this particular overload), decorators show us how to hang a hundred stuffies in grape-like bunches from the ceiling. I saw a photo like that yesterday, and it made me wonder where the child fit into that picture, and if he ever really noticed the toys again once they were strung up like that. I wondered if he had one or two held-back "friends" for company down below.

Deliberately limiting the number of clothes we wear is somewhat artificial, a response to a first-world problem. But it's a step towards, maybe, a healthier relationship with "stuff." Janice at The Vivienne Files is starting a no-shop year herself.  There is a lot of freedom in saying "I have enough."

This isn't a no-shop year for me; I'm still filling in some gaps, mostly for the warm weather that will eventually arrive here (said hopefully on a dreary January day). I might even do some thrift-makeover sewing if I find something interesting to work with. But I think it's going to be a year of trying to focus in, of "use it or lose it."

To be continued...

Day...two. (On garbage restrictions and making things out of nothings)

Yesterday's post about One

The number Two has a particular significance right now in terms of Stuff. In a very few weeks, our area moves to limited garbage pickup, and we will be allowed the equivalent of two fifty-pound garbage bags per week, and garbage over the limit will have to be tagged with (you guessed it) Two-dollar bag tags. Except that the idea of a fifty-pound garbage bag seems excessive, especially since they also have a rule (quite logical) that the bag has to be able to hold whatever's inside it. Right now a limited pickup seems weird and hard to get used to, but I suppose it will be like the introduction of always having to use telephone area codes from a few years back: after awhile you can't remember what it was like just to type in a seven-digit number.

So the question is not only how we are going to be able to master the art of packing and lifting fifty-pound garbage bags (says I, who have never in my life had to weigh garbage), but (more relevant) what's going or not going inside those bags. Which comes back to the questions of what we buy, what we use, how we use it, how we dispose of it. Because if we buy a thing, at some point it, or its outsides or insides, are going to be left somewhere. And obviously, the fewer things that end up in those Two bags, the better.

For us, the main alternative is going to be the Green Bin (food waste, paper napkins, pet bedding).

The second strategy is something we already try to do: use things longer and in different ways so that we don't have to buy as many new things. I am not of the school that thinks hot-gluing dried-out pens in a wreath shape makes a pretty wall decoration (if you remember a certain book review I wrote awhile ago); but I do hang onto things and try to make them work in new ways. The photo below was our not-quite completed hall decoration this Christmas (I added some red beads to the cups later on). The inner and outer glass jar parts were bought several years ago, and the bits and pieces inside the jar were a lot of absolutely useless trimmings from old thrifted candle rings. It's sitting on one of those wicker holders you use with paper plates, surrounded with pinecones cut from more candle rings, and tied with some ribbon that came on a gift. I even had the red candle in our stash. The doily and cups were inherited from Mr. Fixit's grandma.

More to the point of this post: Where Is It Now? As of yesterday, the cups, doily, and flat basket are back in the cupboard. I stored the ribbon and pinecones...maybe we'll use them again. The jar full of trimmings is also in a cupboard. I may use it as-is next Christmas, or maybe not.

The third strategy, and one that I think we may have more trouble with, is using fewer containers that have to be disposed of. Buying refill or bulk options, things like that. I like mixing my own sloppy joe and taco seasonings (and there's no package to throw away), but it's never been under coercion. We don't shop at warehouse club stores, or buy the giant economy size (especially with just three people, one guinea pig); but we may have to double-think anything that comes in a non-recyclable box.

Will the Limit of Two make much difference to the way our Treehouse runs? I'm trying to see it as a learning opportunity rather than an annoyance...and it's not like we have a choice in the matter. So stay tuned.

Day...one.

There is no day of the year as focused on One, First, Beginning, as New Year's Day is. Well, the first day of school comes close, but it doesn't usually include that great big unsullied One.

Courtney Carver wrote a post six years ago called The Power of One, and she has revisited it on other posts since then. Why do we need so many multiples, extras, backups?, she asked. What if you limited certain possessions or activities to a one-and-only? Or, for things that come in sets, one set?

The all-commanding nature of a One can appeal to us, while still being sometimes unreachable or impractical. I can think of situations where a spare is not excess but common sense, or where it is an opportunity for giving. An extra sandwich in your lunch means the chance to share. Every little kid needs a backup pair of mittens. And, as in one of the last Mitford novels, you do not want to be buying toilet paper one roll at a time.

There's also the long-cherished idea of having an "everyday" and a "Sunday" or "special" whatever-it-is. In Josephine Tey's novel Daughter of Time, Mrs. Tinker makes a point of wearing her "blue" on important occasions. Some people will remember the "red plate" tradition, a way of honouring one person at a meal. Bringing out a "best" tablecloth or pair of earrings or bottle of something can be the way we mark a celebration.

However, the idea of One's Enough, at least in the everyday, gives us a chance to focus; even, perhaps, to value, cherish, practice loyalty, and see the uniqueness of our One Thing, like The Little Prince's rose. So with that in mind, here are some of my Ones.

1. One new handicraft this year. I was a book winner on Sew Mama Sew's Handmade Holidays posts, and sometime in the New Year I will be getting a copy of Sew Illustrated, a book of zakka embroidery projects. This is all new to me, but I'm game.

2.  One neighbourhood takeout pizza place, and one go-to Chinese restaurant. This saves us from having to keep track of all those coupons from other chains.

3. One general stream of ethnic food tradition: we lean towards Eastern European cooking rather than Indian or Tex-Mex or Japanese. Not that those other things aren't fun sometimes, but they all have their own must-haves in the fridge, in the cupboard, with the pots and pans. If I cooked Asian all the time, I'd want a rice cooker and probably a wok; if I made curry regularly, I'd need all the spices. I worry more about running out of sauerkraut than I do salsa.

4. One pair of blue jeans. For awhile I didn't have any, then I had one plus a backup pair that didn't fit quite as well. Now I'm back to one. Some people might call them mom jeans, but I don't care.

5. Related to #3, I have one favourite recipe for brownies, one for oatmeal cookies, one for rolls, and so on.

6. One husband. Because there is only one Mr. Fixit.

Over the next few days I will be posting about Two, Three and Four. Stay tuned.

"All I want for Christmas is some snow..."

Christmas things to eat

Cookies and chocolate

Fruit Pizza (for breakfast)

Napkin and cutlery bundles

Lunch, brunch, or whatever you call it. The rice cooker belongs to Ponytails. The salads and sandwiches are also guest contributions.

Heat-and-eat cabbage rolls

Persimmons (Ponytails' contribution), blueberries, blackberries, and mini oranges.

From the not-long-ago archives: Ranch-spiced Potatoes (two ways)

Recipe posted January 2015

Christmas 2016 update: I made this for Christmas Day brunch, in the slow cooker (four hours on high, cut the potatoes fairly small), and it worked fine. I also left out the sugar and cut the pepper in half.

The ranch dressing mix is from Stephanie O'Dea's book More Make it Fast, Cook it Slow, but I've cut it in half for this recipe. The mix doesn't appear on her website, and I haven't found it anywhere else, although there are lots of other ranch seasoning mixes out there. Most of them use dill, and this one doesn't, which is one reason my family likes it. If you have some other ranch or seasoning mix you like, give it a try instead.

Ranch-Spiced Potatoes

Ingredients:
6 to 8 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cubed (large dice)

1/4 cup butter or margarine

Seasonings, to total about 1/4 cup:
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. dried minced garlic or garlic powder
1 1/2 tbsp. dried minced onion, or onion flakes
1 tsp. black pepper (or less)
1 tsp. sugar (optional)
1 1/4 tsp. paprika
1 1/4 tsp. parsley flakes

Optional: sour cream

Grease a large casserole dish or pan (it doesn't have to have a lid). Put the potatoes into the pan. Melt the butter or margarine and mix in the combined seasonings. Stir into the potatoes. Bake uncovered at 400 to 425 degrees F for about 45 minutes, stirring once during cooking, and probably when you take them out to make sure they haven't stuck to the pan. You can add in some sour cream near the end of the cooking time, but we don't usually bother.

Joy to the World

Isn't this a beautiful image for God's joyful Creation?

You can read the thoughts behind this picture by Linda Richardson on Malcolm Guite's blog.

From the beginning You spoke the Word

And from creation Your song was heard

You taught the stars in the sky to sing,

Almighty Father let everything you've made

Give praises to Your holy name

Let everything on earth proclaim

Let the whole world sing

Sing hallelujah to the King

Let the whole world sing

Lift up your voices, let them ring, let them ring

(DeGarmo and Key, from their album Mission of Mercy)

Merry Christmas to you all.

In the week when Christmas comes: Christmas Eve!

Photo found here

Let every pen enfold a lamb
Sleeping warm beside its dam,
     In the week when Christmas comes.

~~ from "In the Week When Christmas Comes," by Eleanor Farjeon

In the week when Christmas comes: Friday

Let every night put forth a star
To show us where the heavens are,
     In the week when Christmas comes.

~~ from "In the Week When Christmas Comes," by Eleanor Farjeon

In the week when Christmas comes: Thursday

Let every steeple ring a bell
With a joyful tale to tell,
     In the week when Christmas comes.

~~ from "In the Week When Christmas Comes," by Eleanor Farjeon

A real-time view of three days before Christmas:

8 a.m.: Lydia has just left for school, and I have just fed Muffin a bowl of lettuce and carrots. I'm reading through the blogs on my feed, including why we need to teach arts instead of subjects at Circe, a poem by Malcolm Guite, and a pantry post from Coffee, Tea, Books, and Me. I have butter softening on the kitchen counter (for whatever I might need it for).

9:45 a.m.: Mr. Fixit has gone on his usual Thursday treasure hunting, after we both spent a few minutes clearing snow. Lydia had mentioned that we were low on some things, but I didn't see how that could be, until I checked the flour and the white sugar. Oops. Some creative compromising was required, but I do have the baking plan figured out now, and the table is  covered with pre-measured bowls of flour, raisins, and chocolate chips. There is also a loaf of stuffing bread already going in the breadmaker. (It has to dry out for a couple of days.)

12 noon: one load of in the washing macine, one in the dryer. Most of the baking dishes done. Bread out. Three kinds of sweet things and one orange-cranberry loaf out of the oven. Ingredients collected for fudge-making later.

I need some lunch and some Christmas music.

2 p.m.: Mr. Fixit came home and we got everything swept, boxed, folded, hung, dried, and/or put away. I had a bit of time to check e-mail and read Overdrive library books (I'm trying to reach my Goodreads goal).  Muffin came out of his cage for a human-visit.

4 p.m.: We decided to have an easy dinner, so there's a pan of frozen cannelloni in the oven. Mr. Fixit is going around the corner to check our mailbox, because for the second winter in a row, Canada Post refuses to bring letters to our door. While he's out, he's going to pick up Lydia at her stop and save her the walk home. She gets picked up at our house now, but the dropoff point is a few blocks away.

6:30 p.m.: Dinner is over, the fudge is made, and Lydia is studying for a last-day-before-the-holidays history test on World War II. I am still working on library books.

10 p.m.: Some people are probably watching Christmas movies. We watched an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise and tasted the fudge.

And how was your day?

In the week when Christmas comes: Wednesday

Let every doorstep have a song
Sounding the dark street along,
     In the week when Christmas comes.

~~ from "In the Week When Christmas Comes," by Eleanor Farjeon

Yes, there is a Wednesday Hodgepodge this week, and here it is.

Notes from our Hodgepodge Hostess: "Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Because nobody has anything else to do four days before Christmas, right? Of course not. Let's declare next week (Dec. 28) Christmas vacation in the Hodgepodge and come back with a fresh. In the meantime, answer today's questions on your own blog then hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party. See you there!" 

 1. What's left to be done on your Christmas to-do list?

Everything to do with food preparation. Last week I had a cold. This week I still have a cold, although it's almost gone. At some point I will just have to actually cook something. Or bribe someone else to do it for me.

2. The Hodgepodge lands on the first day of winter this year. What's your favorite thing about winter?

Is that a rhetorical question?

3. In what area of your life are you immature? Feel free to elaborate or not.

"Immature" has a bit of a negative sound, like "childish." "Childlike" is a more forgiving word. One of my favourite books recently was A Circle of Quiet, by Madeleine L'Engle, and there's a lot of discussion in that about the supposed difference (she doesn't think there is one) between children's literature and adult literature. She says, “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.”

4. What was the most (or one of the most) important lessons you learned in 2016?

How to pack a small enough carry-on bag to fit into an overhead compartment without having to shoehorn it in and out and annoy everyone else waiting to get off the plane. I think I've got that one down now.

5. It's Fried Shrimp Day...are you a fan? What's your favorite way to eat shrimp? Will there be shrimp somewhere in your holiday feastings?

There won't be shrimp in the feastings unless we go out for Chinese food and there's shrimp in the mixed-things dish. And I get to eat those, because Mr. Fixit can't.

6. What sound lulls you to sleep?

A lack of sounds.

7. What one word best describes your 2016?

Reorganization.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Time is not flying by, it's just sneaking by.

Linked from the Merry Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

In the week when Christmas comes: Tuesday

Let every hall have boughs of green,

With berries glowing in between,

     In the week when Christmas comes.

~~ from "In the Week When Christmas Comes," by Eleanor Farjeon

Mr. Fixit and I went to Giant Tiger this morning. For anyone who doesn't know, that's a Canadian discount store chain which, as I usually put it, is where you buy flip-flops. But they have groceries too, and we needed to get a few basics. Strangely enough, it's also where we find our favourite brand of frozen cabbage rolls (doesn't everyone want cabbage rolls on Christmas?). And we found a small frozen cheesecake, someone else's Christmas request...stay with me here...and we replenished the lettuce for the guinea pig, and picked up some juice and canned goods and organic rice crisp things (for company). And a small cheap floor mat for the garage, because Giant Tiger is where you find small cheap floor mats for the garage. We came out with several full bags, and feeling happy enough about it all.

We made a stop at the bank, and then dropped into a large-but-upscale chain grocery store next door, because Mr. Fixit has sometimes found holiday meat items there, and he thought it was worth having a look. If Giant Tiger is a bit, excuse the expression, lower on the food chain than the store where we usually shop (like, Walmart), this place was a few notches above. What's the difference, besides the prices? I don't know...maybe it was the huge amount of expensive chocolates and party food in your face everywhere you turned. Or the smell of the lilies in the floral department as you went out the door. Definitely a change from the discount store.

The fancy store didn't have what we were looking for, but it was no big deal, we'll find something. I was more struck by the every-day-ness of the discount store vs. the as-classy-as-a-big-city atmosphere of the other one. That kind of "classy" is a bit too demanding for me...I imagine that food (and the lilies) all standing in spotlights like movie stars, bowing and waiting for the proper amount of applause. I think I prefer every-day-ness, even at Christmas. 

In the week when Christmas comes: Monday

This is the week when Christmas comes,

     Let every pudding burst with plums,

And every tree bear dolls and drums,

     In the week when Christmas comes.

~~ from "In the Week When Christmas Comes," by Eleanor Farjeon

The gift of the longest-possible Advent: a whole week for it to be The Week When Christmas Comes.

Yes, we have snow--plenty of it, unlike last Christmas. Lydia's school was even closed one day because of bad weather.

Yes, we have decorations. It's not looking too bad.

Yes, we have things to make cookies with, although nobody's done any baking because Mama Squirrel and Mr. Fixit have been down with colds and didn't want to "share the love."

But it's still too easy to focus on what isn't, what we'd rather have, what we could have done. I think everyone has some mental version of Dickens that comes to visit over holidays..It might be just a scrap of something missing, or a major discontentment, or outright grief. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or not at today's rather blunt Vivienne Files post. Under the portrait of a glum-looking woman painted by Chagall, Janice adds this note:  "She's NOT Feeling Christmassy... Some years, you just don't..."  Is it a coincidence that the imagined character's "accent colour" is a somewhat Grinchy green?

Then I read Brenda's post "Beauty With or Without an Audience," and things made more sense. If beauty is important, then we need to make beauty, even if it goes largely unseen. Even if those who do see it rush past (like the legendary crowd in the subway who didn't stop to hear the famous violinist, although you can read the true version of that here, since we try not to do Tonypandy at the Treehouse). Sometimes we make the extra effort simply as an act of faith.

Orange butterflies and purple hymnals

Around 1973, I was in elementary school. I was also a member of our church's junior choir. The Roman Catholics were in the era of their folk/guitar mass, and over at the United Church, we kids were also singing Medical Mission Sisters songs and spirituals.Very ecumenical.

Our most-used music book was this one:

It took me awhile to find the title Folk Encounter online; all I could remember of the cover was "purple."

You-tube has helpfully provided a short medley from the much longer, now very scarce LP Folk Encounter Singalong. Enjoy.

Sniffling, Sneezing Wednesday Hodgepodge

Notes from our Hodgepodge Hostess: "Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then ski back here to share answers and some Christmas cheer. See you there!"

1. Are you more task oriented or people oriented? Elaborate.

I can go both ways. If I have a job to do, I would rather focus on getting it done rather than socializing too much over it; but not to the point where I don't have time to talk to someone...or listen to them, which is not always the same thing.

2. December 15 is National Wear Your Pearls Day...do you own/wear pearls? If you're a man answering the question, does your sweetheart own or wear pearls? Everyone share a 'pearl of wisdom' with us here today.

I have a pearl necklace my grandmother gave me, but it needs to be restrung...one of those "someday" things.

Here's a quote I found on a page about pearls: :  

“The rarest things in the world, next to a spirit of discernment, are diamonds and pearls.” ~~ Jean de la Bruyere

3. Speaking of pearls...oysters? Are you a fan or not a fan? If you answered yes, tell us your favorite way to eat oysters? If you said no, be honest-have you ever tried one or does just the idea of eating an oyster make you gag a little?

I have never had the opportunity to eat oysters, and I have no plans to eat oysters. But I have eaten squid, does that count?

Here's something that reminded me a bit of opening oysters: a handmade Flexagon Christmas Card. So cool.

4. Time Magazine has named President-elect Donald Trump Person of the Year.Let's take presidents and presidential candidates out of the mix for a minute. If a political figure had not been chosen who would you name Man or Woman of the Year for 2016?

I'm drawing a blank on this one...I don't follow sports, I don't care much about the top 40, and I think the last movie I saw at a theatre was the Lego movie. (Or Frozen, whichever came first.) The people I honour most are the unsung heroes, and if I named them, they'd be embarrassed.

5. The Pantone Color of the Year for 2017 has been announced, and it's a vibrant green aptly named-greenery. Your thoughts? Is this a color currently in your home or wardrobe? Will you add something in this shade for the new year? Click here to see the color.

Whoah. I'm all for rejuvenation and reassurance, but I'd rather have a colour that doesn't have such a lot of baggage (apparently) attached to it! It's just paint, people.

6. Today I've had too much________________________.

It's only nine in the morning, so I can't say I've had too much a) coffee, or b) screen time. I've already gone through about half a box of tissues, does that count?

7. Share a favorite lyric from a favorite Christmas carol.

The Christ-child lay on Mary's lap,
His hair was like a light.
(O weary, weary were the world,
But here is all aright.)

("The Christ-Child Lay on Mary's Lap," by G.K. Chesterton)

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

The Church Mice at Christmas, by Graham Oakley

We have most of our decorations out now. But we haven't watched anything seasonal on T.V., unless you count a ten-year-old Loreena McKennitt concert we watched last night on NetFlix, and that wasn't about Christmas either (although better than the usual nabbings and stabbings). Mr. Fixit is working on a 1968 small portable television set, and he's testing the picture out by hooking it up to a DVD of The Lucy Show. I am waiting for a last small package to arrive in the mail, thinking about the holiday food I'm not making until I'm less toxic, and deciding whether I should just go stuff my sniffles under a blanket for the rest of the day.

Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

What to do with that (some kitchen tips)

Bits and pieces...

1. If you have a few less-than-tasty apples, not rotten but lacking texture, it's easy to turn them into applesauce. Peel them, cut them up (no cores), and cook them in a slow cooker or on a low burner.  Cook till they're fairly soft, then mash them with the back of a spoon. The process by which mealy apples can be reconstituted into decent applesauce would make a great homeschool science lesson. (It's all about cells.)

2. If you have a cup of orange marmalade, you can mix it with soy sauce, ginger, and garlic to make a good cooking sauce for four pork chops. If you have half a cup, you can do two pork chops. We found the recipe in a freezer-cooking download from $5 Dinners, and it is the best orange sauce we've tried--way better than recipes using frozen orange juice. There are variations of the recipe all over the Internet, but it's basically a smaller version of this recipe on the Smucker's website (but with soy sauce instead of teriyaki sauce).

3. If you have a few small, slightly stale dinner rolls, you can slice them into thirds or quarters, spresd them with garlic butter, and toast them to go along with spaghetti or stew.

Clutter Free (Book Review)

Clutter Free: Quick and Easy Steps to Simplifying Your Space

by Kathi Lipp

Harvest House Publishers, 2015

Probably the worst time to read a decluttering book is the middle of December, and the worst place to do it is in your living room or wherever you put the majority of your Christmas decorations. Christmas, even if we don't buy lots of Stuff, is still, often, about Stuff. For our family, Stuff is the vintage collectibles that are part of our daily life, and the extra helping of them that we bring out at the holidays. Stuff is the extra Crockpot that we picked up at a yard sale in the summer, that is the same vintage and type as ours but looks nicer. We don't buy backups of every appliance (no extra toaster ovens sitting around), but we do pick up Crockpots. Stuff is the gifts that we will give each other, new or used. It's the four-pack of sticky tape I grabbed at Walmart (although I didn't buy any new giftwrap, and our stickers and cards came mostly from yard sales and charitable freebies). It's the several packages of variously-flavoured baking chips and two cans of Eagle Brand milk in the pantry; they're there, and we're going to use them. It's pretty hard to have Christmas without any extra Stuff. (I'll stop with the George Carlin intonation now.)

That said, I don't exactly identify with the shop-o-manic reader Kathi Lipp often seems to be addressing in this book. If you don't regularly go crazy at warehouse stores, or if you don't understand why she buys duplicates of things she already has at home, you may wonder what she has to say that you don't already know. 

Like the Bob Newhart "Stop It" skit she describes near the beginning, the real answer to clutter is "Don't do that." If something's going to cause financial or space problems, or otherwise make a mess of things, the sanest response is just not to do it. However, human beings don't always act sanely, and you may find yourself coping with your own or somebody else's past or present clutter problems. Lipp, being a Christian writer, would also point out that bad stewardship is a form of disobedience (and can include covetousness, dishonesty, and stealing), and that the hoarding of Stuff, which we might justify by calling it prudence, is not God's best for us. I appreciated her thought that simplicity is not all about "one size fits all." For instance, she has no problem with keeping a certain number of physical books around (whereas some clutter guides will happily assume that everything one wants to read can be gotten from the library). Lipp sees value in cultivating her interest and skill in cooking, and therefore spends time and space on that; on the other hand, as a poor seamstress, she has little use for a sewing machine. The takeaway I get from her book, rather than Newhart's stern "Stop It," is a gentler "It's Okay." It's okay to let go. It's okay not to let sharp advertising pull your dollars in the wrong direction. It's okay to say you're already okay (and don't need more).

If you need an "It's Okay" to help get things back on track, Clutter Free may speak to your heart.

The most helpful set of cleaning tips I've seen lately

A blog post about getting the thrift store smell out of things, but it's better than that. How to use saddle soap and shoe polish on leather, remove yellowing, and use suede erasers (did you know they existed?) Extending the life of things is always a good idea.

Deck the Treehouse (photos)

 

 

 

A Mitford quote for an Advent Sunday

Fiercely cold tonight. Not a soul on the street. They worked quickly. Harley toted in a bale of straw and let it loose in the window... 

They moved the figures around. That some of them were nearly two feet tall was useful in the large space. 

The Virgin Mother to the left of the empty manger, Joseph to the right. Three sheep standing, four lying in the straw, along with the old shepherd he had learned to love as he’d painted the solemn face. 

They stepped outside and looked in. 

‘Goose bumps,’ said Cynthia. 

‘Where’s th’ baby Jesus at?’ said Harley. 

‘He arrives on Christmas morning. Advent is a time of waiting.’ 

‘People’ll be lookin’ f’r th’ baby Jesus.’ 

‘And there,’ he said, happy, ‘is the whole point.’ 

~~ Jan Karon, Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good

All decorations do not come from the craft store

We live a few blocks from one of the big craft stores. The one with the weekly coupons. This time of year, the parking lot is full of cars, all the time.

So I don't feel too bad that I haven't bought anything there since Thanksgiving.

Here are a few things we have out that are just...things we have.

Dollar store tray we've had for years, plus a wood and glass bookstand (yard sale)

Books are always decorative!

A camel cushion cover, made in Israel a lot of years ago

A couple of ornaments stuck in with the basket of crocheted pinecones

Socializing toys

My grandma's bowl. Shiny wrapped candies don't cost  much.

December 6th, 1989: When the sky is falling

"On every side, wreckage. Debris hurtling into the air and then falling, falling..." 

~~ Jan Karon, Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good

In December 1989 I was young and single, about the age of our Appprentice. I was working in the high school liaison and admissions office of a local university, so very front-line, busy, lots of phone calls and people coming for tours and information.

On December 6th, we heard the news that 28 people had been shot on a college campus in Montreal. Half of them did not survive. Many of them were female engineering students. The shock of identification in our office and on the campus was immediate. This could have been here.

The Montreal massacre was a terrible demonstration of the enormous cost of  hate. In a world where one sky or another seems to be always falling, there is some measure of hope in knowing that we can use remembrance as a tool for change.

"Humanity is never so beautiful as when praying for forgiveness, or else forgiving another." ~~ Jean Paul Richter

Peace dove necklace created from bomb shell casings, at Ten Thousand Villages

Is shopping your basement like shopping your closet?

We've been looking at couches recently, after making do with a lumpy love seat since May. The mid-century styles that are popular right now are kind of fun, especially with our other (real) mid-century things. For actually sitting on, though, the ones we looked at weren't the right fit. Plus, obviously, couches are expensive.

We bought our rec room couch ten years ago, and it wasn't used terribly hard (yes, narrating is hard, but it doesn't wear couches out). So we switched them. (Thank you, Apprentice and Lydia.)

New and improved living room: