From the archives: A Natural History Treasure

First posted August 2007

(Update, September 2012:  Yes, Natural Science Through the Seasons has been reprinted!) 

(Update, December 2010: Thanks to Ann at A Holy Experience for continuing to post the nature calendars on her blog--and welcome to visitors coming from HE!]

For all the would-be Miss Stacys out there...

I bought a book this spring from someone in our local homeschool group, and it turned out to be such a treasure for anyone doing nature study that I have to tell you about it. The only problem might be getting a copy: there are only seven right now on Abebooks, so it seems a bit scarce. But once you know it's out there, you might find some other copies floating around, especially if you're in Canada.

The book is Natural Science Through the Seasons: 100 Teaching Units, by J.A. (James Arthur) Partridge. It was published by MacMillan in 1946 and 1955 as a year-long teacher's resource. Each month has a variety of activities that might be suited to what's growing or hatching during that time (at least in Ontario). Each month has a sample day-by-day calendar with natural things to look for that you can build up "on your blackboard" (or on a regular calendar, for homeschoolers). Each unit has suggested activities, divided into those that are especially suitable for younger and older grades. There are experiments, questions, little verses to learn (or maybe to use for copywork), charts for identifying evergreens, and more things to draw on the blackboard.

And then each one also has a reading list, including suitable pages from Anna Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study; books such as Parker's Golden Treasury of Natural History and Dorothy Shuttlesworth's Exploring Nature with Your Child; and books by other authors whose books are still available: the D'Aulaires, Milicent Selsam, and Roger Tory Peterson. How cool is that?

Keep your eyes open! (The book has a green spine with red printing, it's 9 x 6 inches, and it's over 500 pages long.)

Blue lake and rocky shore (End-of-summer 10x10 Wardrobe Challenge)

(The 10 x 10 Wardrobe Challenge was originally created by Stylebee)

Lawren Harris, Lake Simcoe

I didn't intend to base this mini-challenge on a painting. But when I was uploading the clothes photos to Blogger, every other photo I've taken or downloaded came up for viewing as well, and there was this beautiful but nameless and painter-less painting of birches I had saved awhile back.

You have to know something about 20th century Canadian painters to realize what a needle in a haystack "birches near water" is. I image-searched through Tom Thompson, A.J. Casson, and Emily Carr before I remembered that I had been looking for Lawren Harris paintings last year. Oh right.

So...blues and greens, quiet woods, and the splashing water of Lake Simcoe.  Land of the silver birch, home of the beaver. Ten end-of summer pieces of clothing. Ten outfits. Ten days.

(I'm not sure what I'll be doing on some of those days, so I'll add notes later on.)

The clothes

Navy cotton sleeveless dress

Navy cropped floral-textured pants

Navy shorts

Green skirt

Vanilla top and cami (count as two)

Navy and grey striped tank top

Green and blue print top

Lightweight navy pullover

Long blue cardigan

The outfits

Thursday Evening: Old Car Night (sort of a date with Mr. Fixit)

Print top, green skirt.

Friday:
Navy pullover, navy shorts

Saturday: Errands, groceries.

Navy pullover, navy cropped pants

Sunday: Church. 

The fall-in-the mud green skirt and vanilla top.

Monday: Trip to Toronto for the Tiny Wardrobe Tour

Green skirt, print top, blue cardigan

Update: the weather seemed too up-and-down for this outfit, so I wore some things that could easily be layered and un-layered instead.

Tuesday: 

Striped top, navy shorts, blue cardigan

Wednesday: 

Print top, navy cropped pants

Thursday: 

Vanilla top and cami, navy cropped pants

Friday: Labour Day Weekend!

Striped top, navy shorts

Saturday: 

Vanilla cami, navy cropped pants, blue cardigan

Bonus Sunday: 

Navy dress and scarf

Accessories

Bead necklace

Fabric slip-on shoes

And maybe this scarf?

Tiny Muddy Waiting Room Hodgepodge

1. Did you watch the solar eclipse? Your thoughts? Sun Chips, Moon Pies, Starburst candies, a Blue Moon beer, a Sunkist orange, or a Milky Way candy bar...what's your favorite eclipse related snack on this list?

I did not exactly watch the eclipse. For most of that morning and part of the afternoon, we were on a wild goose chase trying to get an immunization that Lydia needs for school. The injection is routinely given in middle school and used to be optional, but it is now required by the public school board, so we decided to get that taken care of, along with a mountain of other things, before school starts.

Short version: a call to a pharmacy that also has a walk-in clinic informed us that we could go to that clinic and get the shot there. (The clinic was closed when I phoned, that's why I didn't call there first.) When we got to the clinic, they refused to do it, I think because she was out of the usual age range, and told us to go to the public health office. The nurse at the public health office was sympathetic, but said that they don't usually do those shots on site and we would need to go to a walk-in clinic. When I said that we had already been to a walk-in clinic, she suggested we go to another one. So we did, and we sat the typical clinic wait in the waiting room and then in the examining room, at which point a doctor came in, asked what we were there for. She approved our request and then disappeared down the hall to rummage in the refrigerator, so to speak. She came back and said they would have to order the serum and they'd call us when it came in. So that was that.

A couple of hamburgers later, because nobody had had any lunch, most of the eclipse was over. Some of the burger employees went running outside while we were eating our fries. I assume they had something to view it with and weren't doing a Marge Simpson.

Oh, as far as the cosmic treats go...the favourite around here would probably be a Vachon 1/2 Moon. We used to call them Lune Moons when we were kids, because the bilingual packaging confused us.

2. What are you 'over the moon' about these days? What's something you enjoy doing every 'once in a blue moon'?

Not sure about those today.

3. Tell us about something in the realm of science that interests you. How do you feed that interest?

Library books, mostly! I like reading about new discoveries in neuroscience that relate to how we learn, remember and make sense of what's around us.

4. What are a few things you remember about going back to school as a child?

We were given almost everything by the teacher, on the first day. A pack of crayons, pencils, notebooks, maybe a ruler. Later on, I think ballpoint pens. Everything was stamped with the name of the county board of education.

But you had to buy your own pencil case.

Image found here

We didn't have glue sticks in those days. When we needed to glue things, the caddies with rubber-tipped bottles of Lepage's glue were passed around. 

Image found here

Before that, we had Paste, the kind the bad kids liked to eat.

Image found on Ebay (listing expired)

5. I've seen several versions of this around the net so let's make one of our own...share with us five words that touch your soul and briefly tell us why.

How about thirteen?

A quote from The Complete Plain Words, by Sir Ernest Gowers:

"...we can turn to Shakespeare, and from the innumerable examples that offer themselves choose the lines 'Kissing with golden face the meadows green, / Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchymy' which, as a description of what the rising sun does to meadows and rivers on a 'glorious morning,' must be as effective a use of thirteen words as could be found in all English literature."

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

OK, on to the tiny muddy part.

On Monday I will be taking a bus to Toronto for Courtney Carver's Tiny Wardrobe Tour. Once in a blue moon I like to go to the city, but it has to be a very blue moon indeed. 

Since the time of the summer t-shirts and shorts is quickly coming to an end, and since (unlike last year) it doesn't look like Septenber will be unseasonably hot, I figure I will be packing them away in just a couple of weeks. I had thought about winding up the summer with a 10x10 Wardrobe Challenge like I did last spring (choose ten pieces, wear them for ten days), to get extra mileage out of the most summery things.

Yesterday I had somewhere nice to go in the afternoon, and I pulled on my green skirt, vanilla-coloured cami and top set, a necklace I had just thrifted, and put everything I needed in a purple tote bag, including an umbrella because it had just stopped raining.

Did you pay attention to that last bit?

I was on my way to the bus, thinking what a nice outfit that was, that I had never worn those pieces together and I liked them, and that I should really do that 10x10 challenge, when I slipped on the mud outside our building.

Other than a slightly sprained wrist and a large amount of injury to my pride, I wasn't hurt, but I did need to go back in the building, back up the elevator, dump all my clothes and the tote bag into a dishpan that was conveniently sitting in the bathtub, find Outfit #2 and Bag #2 very quickly, and head back out the door. I knew I had missed that bus, but Mr. Fixit was also leaving right at that time, so he gave me a ride downtown.

Later I washed everything, and, happily, all the mud stains seem to be gone. My arm still hurts a little.

I'm sure there was a lesson in there somewhere. I'm just not sure what it was. "Have such a small wardrobe that if you have a major malfunction it's obvious which backup clothes you should grab?" "If Woolite doesn't take mud stains out of skirts, try.regular laundry detergent?" "If you're going to slip in mud, make sure you do it right outside of your own building, and make sure nobody sees you going back up the elevator with dirt all over your backside?" And the most obvious one: "Stop worrying about what you're wearing."

But as for the 10x10 Challenge...I might still do that.

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

From the archives: Churchill and magnanimity

First posted July 2011

Seen in the New York Times Book Review: Harry V. Jaffa's review of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (translated by Robert C. Bartlett and Susan D. Collins, The University of Chicago Press).

"Some time in the 1920s, the Conservative statesman F. E. Smith — Lord Birkenhead — gave a copy of the “Nicomachean Ethics” to his close friend Winston Churchill. He did so saying there were those who thought this was the greatest book of all time. Churchill returned it some weeks later, saying it was all very interesting, but he had already thought most of it out for himself. But it is the very genius of Aristotle — as it is of every great teacher — to make you think he is uncovering your own thought in his. In Churchill’s case, it is also probable that the classical tradition informed more of his upbringing, at home and at school, than he realized.

"In 1946, in a letter to the philosopher Karl Löwith, Leo Strauss mentioned how difficult it had been for him to understand Aristotle’s account of magnanimity, greatness of soul, in Book 4 of the “Ethics.”

"The difficulty was resolved when he came to realize that Churchill was a perfect example of that virtue. So Churchill helped Leo Strauss understand Aristotle! That is perfectly consistent with Aristotle’s telling us it does not matter whether one describes a virtue or someone characterized by that virtue. Where the “Ethics” stands among the greatest of all great books perhaps no one can say. That Aristotle’s text, which explores the basis of the best way of human life, belongs on any list of such books is indisputable."

Back to the Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Do your actions match your words? Elaborate.

Does anybody ever do everything the way they want to and say to? I know St. Paul had a problem with that.

But probably yes, more or less, because I hesitate to blather about things I haven't tried myself. Like parenting boys.

2. Sick as a dog, go to the dogs, dog days of summer, dog tired, it's a dog's life, every dog has it's day, can't teach an old dog new tricks...now doggone it which saying could most recently be applied to your life?

An old dog, new tricks: I am looking at furthering my own education in the near future. I am not worried about the course content as much as I am about handling assignments online. If that sounds funny, considering that I have done other computer tasks like formatting books, just figure that every "old dog" has her particular cyber-bogeys.

3. Your favorite book featuring a dog in the storyline? What makes it a favorite?

I couldn't choose between

a) Mine for Keeps and Spring Begins in March, by Jean Little. Who wouldn't want a Westie after reading those?

b) the Mitford books, even if I can't imagine owning a dog as big as that.

c) The Ark, by Margot Benary-Isbert. Lots of dogs in that one.

4. What's something you hope to one day have the confidence to do?

Take a plane across the ocean. So far I've only gone as far as Texas.

5. August 16th is National Tell a Joke Day. So tell us a joke.

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Billy Bob Joe Penny.
Billy Bob Joe Penny who?
Seriously, how many Billy Bob Joe Pennys do you know?

(From Knock-Knock Jokes for Kids, by Rob Elliott.)

6. Insert your own random thought here.

The other night I had a dream that I was chasing three people through our apartment parking garage...I'm not sure whether I thought they were villains or whether I was just trying to get an interview with them. I woke up suddenly and thought, "I know who they are! They're the three women from A Wrinkle in Time, and the three weird sisters from The Prydain Chronicles. They can't fool me." I was hoping I would get the better of them or at least find them in the next dream, but they didn't reappear. I was disappointed, especially because my dreams aren't usually that archetypal (or even coherent).

The other funny thing about that dream is that one of the mysterious people was wearing the same grey poncho I bought recently. So I thought maybe I was trying to catch up with myself.

Which is what I seem to be doing a lot of lately, anyway.

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

When we get clouds (#2)...

...sometimes we get hot-air balloons too.

Preview of my fall Project 333 page

"Perfection is highly overrated and you are working with pieces you love, so it will be hard to pick the wrong items." ~~ Courtney Carver

Who's counting?

I've gone back and forth on the question of whether to set a number limit on clothes. Thoughtful people have pointed out that it's more important to have a functional wardrobe, one that meets your needs and that you're happy with, than to limit yourself to a predetermined amount of clothes; or not to wear something nice that you own just because it's not in this season's capsule. 

Clothes from last spring's 10x10 Challenge

Still the questions keep coming. How do some minimalists manage even less than 33 items, jewelry and sunglasses included? Is resistance to fewer clothes a fear of being stripped down of my protective layers, in the same way that I want to turn the radio on when the room is too quiet?  Is my problem that I need to let go of too-comfortable excess? Or just that I can't decide on pink over green? 

I'm still working on those.

Life as it is

I try to stay honest about my typical day and week, and say no to clothes from some other life (one in which I'm taller, younger, and dress up for work). I admire Downton-Abbey-style vintage hats, but they would be a bit odd to wear around the apartment. I also don't have any real use for a new travel satchel, although I enjoy thinking that I'd like to pack clothes and go somewhere more often. I'll probably be away overnight just once during the fall, for a weekend retreat on Lake Erie.

“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

Inspiration this fall: 

Rainstorm Over the Sea (1824-28), by John Constable

Scattered Showers, by Canadian artist Jean Jewer

The fall page is now posted here.

A Treehouse summer quiz: Answers

1. The last thing Mr. Fixit fixed was

a) Mama Squirrel's favourite Charlotte Mason souvenir pen that needed refilling
b) a little RCA Victor transistor radio that Grandpa Squirrel gave him for his birthday

He worked on both of these: the radio works fine, but the pen won't click. (We need another size refill.)

2. This week Lydia reached what milestone?

a) She got her first driver's license

It took visits to three different testing offices, due to crowds and cutbacks; but when she finally got to write the test, she aced it.

3. Who/what does Mama Squirrel have a ticket to hear in Toronto at the end of August?

b) Courtney Carver on The Tiny Wardrobe Tour

4. Lydia's school robotics team was one of 150 local individuals and groups that received awards from a Member of Parliament at an open-air ceremony this week. When they got to the 125th award, what happened?

c) A thunderstorm drenched everyone

5. Better late than never: which Star Trek series are we finally getting around to watching?

a) Deep Space Nine. DECEMBER UPDATE: We are still watching this...up to the third season now.

6. Who made Mr. Fixit's birthday cake?

a) Mr. Fixit (second one, for a family party)
b) Mama Squirrel (first one)

7. The high school course Lydia is most looking forward to in fall is:

c) enriched drama

8. Which of these things did come with us when we moved?

a) a complete set of Three Stooges DVDs
c) a coffee mug shaped like a Polaroid camera

9. Where does Mr. Fixit make hamburgers now?

b) around the back of the building.

UPDATE: when I wrote this in the summer, b) was the correct answer. After they put away the communal barbecues for the season, we bought a little electric grill that can be used on the balcony or even in the kitchen. So that's right too.

10. Why can't The Apprentice take the ferry to the Toronto Islands this summer?

a) flooding
b) nasty mosquitoes

Both: the water from the flooding caused a rise in virus-laden mosquitoes. Maybe next year?

A Treehouse summer quiz

By way of catching up, here's a quiz for you to take about the new Treehouse and the Squirrels who do or don't live here now. See how many of these you can guess right. Answers will be posted soon.

1. The last thing Mr. Fixit fixed was

a) Mama Squirrel's favourite Charlotte Mason souvenir pen that needed refilling
b) a little RCA Victor transistor radio that Grandpa Squirrel gave him for his birthday
c) Muffin's leaking water bottle

2. This week Lydia reached what milestone?

a) She got her first driver's license
b) All her wisdom teeth came through at once
c) She got a job teaching swimming to small children

3. Who/what does Mama Squirrel have a ticket to hear in Toronto at the end of August?

a) Coldplay
b) Courtney Carver on The Tiny Wardrobe Tour
c) The Prime Minister of Canada

4. Lydia's school robotics team was one of 150 local individuals and groups that received awards from a Member of Parliament at an open-air ceremony this week. When they got to the 125th award, what happened?

a) They passed out popsicles to everyone
b) They called a break for everyone to do some Swedish Drill
c) A thunderstorm drenched everyone

5. Better late than never: which Star Trek series are we finally getting around to watching?

a) Deep Space Nine
b) Enterprise
c) Voyager

6. Who made Mr. Fixit's birthday cake?

a) Mr. Fixit
b) Mama Squirrel
c) He didn't have one because he hates cake

7. The high school course Lydia is most looking forward to in fall is:

a) co-op accounting
b) accelerated biology
c) enriched drama

8. Which of these things did come with us when we moved?

a) a complete set of Three Stooges DVDs
b) a vintage toboggan which we are using as wall art in our bedroom
c) a coffee mug shaped like a Polaroid camera
d) A and B
e) A and C

9. Where does Mr. Fixit make hamburgers now?

a) in the bathroom with the fan going
b) around the back of the building
c) on the balcony

10. Why can't The Apprentice take the ferry to the Toronto Islands this summer?

a) flooding
b) nasty mosquitoes
c) they doubled the fare
d) she is not in Toronto anyway, she's touring Scotland

Mr. Fixit's birthday present

Recycled iron owl made in India, sold at Ten Thousand Villages.

When we get clouds here

...we really get clouds.

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Sauerkraut and Marshmallow Bananas

1. Growing up, were you close to your grandparents? Tell us one or two specific things you remember about them.

I've written about my mother's parents before, here and here. The biggest thing was that they were always there. They were a dependable, constant, steady presence. That doesn't mean they couldn't come up with surprises ("we're renting out our house for the winter and going to Florida this year"), but their there-ness never changed, even through hard things. A lot of things remind me of them, including the bags of marshmallow bananas at the discount store.

2. What's an item you were attached to as a child? What happened to it?

My father's typewriter?

My dolls, including a Crissy I got for my birthday when I was six. I should have taken better care of her over the years, but she and some other toys were put into a storage area that was abused by a family cat, and let's just say that almost everything in there had to be put to the curb. That was years ago, and I didn't expect to have another Crissy...then Lydia, the Squirreling formerly known as Dollygirl, was given her own vintage Crissy, and I had fun reconstructing some 1970's clothes for her.

3. When you look out your window, do you see the forest or the trees (literally and figuratively)? Explain.

The whole deal. We're on the fifteenth floor.

4. Do you like sour candies? Which of the 'sour' foods listed below would you say is your favorite?

grapefruit, Greek yogurt, tart cherries, lemons, limes, sauerkraut, buttermilk, or kumquats 

Have you ever eaten a kumquat? What's your favorite dish containing one of the sour foods on the list?

Sauerkraut is a staple around here. We go back and forth between the fine-cut Bavarian style and a coarser Polish type. They're both good.

Lemons? Lemonade. Buttermilk? Pancakes. The rest are good too.

But I haven't eaten a kumquat in years.

5. July 1st marked the mid point of 2017. In fifteen words or less, tell us how it's going so far.

Fifteen or less?

One two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve fourteen fifteen home. (I didn't have to cheat there because we don't have a thirteenth floor.)

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

Thrifting with Mama Squirrel

Do you know the verse in Ecclesiastes 11 that says to cast your bread on the waters, and that after many days you will find it again? It's a strange metaphor with different possible contexts (including sowing seeds), but what it implies is a releasing, a non-clutching attitude towards whatever it is. And there's a promise that in the letting go, there will someday be a return.

I think that happened today, somewhat. I have been slowly collecting a bag of thrift store donations ever since we moved, and today I added a few more things I'd been holding onto. A maxi dress, because I'm not as tall as I think I am. An extra pair of pants. A set of salad spoons I kept thinking we'd use but we didn't. A shirt I bought last year but which always felt like someone else's. With storage at a premium here, there's no room for things that I just wish I used. Giving them away means admitting, somewhat, that I make mistakes on things. Well, of course I do. But cutting them loose means the final farewell. No more chance to redeem those particular less-than-brilliant moments.

So off we went, dropped off our bagful of donations, and had a look around the store. Our looking is somewhat limited these days: we don't need more furniture. We don't need a waffle maker or a coffee pot. We don't need toys or children's books.

I do need fall shoes, so I looked at all those, but didn't see anything workable. I browsed through the dresses (nothing) and skirts (nothing). In what used to be the dollar-deal section, now renamed 75% Off, I found one long-sleeved pink top I liked.

Okay, one nice find is a good enough return for a short trip. I headed towards the checkouts, back through the "boutique" of women's clothes. And that's where I found it, hanging with some sweaters in the middle of everything. A DKNY Cozy sweater, the real thing, in like-new condition. It even fits.

How can I explain why this is so good? Let's just say...it's a useful piece of clothing that's fun to play around with. I had a couple of previously-thrifted imitation versions, but one was too tight and the other developed nasty holes in all the wrong places.  Yay, I get to try again!

It was totally worth giving up the salad spoons.

Less. More. The right to fry onions.

What more can be said about more vs. less stuff?

I remember a vintage Mad Magazine parody of home renovations, where weekend handyman projects involved turning an extra bathroom into a messy closet, and a knotty pine rec room into an attractive cement-walled basement. Perhaps satires of minimalism (if they don't already exist) will feature trendoids Upsizing, knocking around in Giant Over-sized Houses.

Some people object to the term "minimalism," preferring "intentional" or "conscious" over a word suggesting a cold, unreal sort of asceticism. Others object to hyper-romantic notions that small is necessarily better. Sometimes a family's needs change. A couple I saw in a video had lived in a tiny house for a year, but decided to give it up when they had a baby. They wanted to give her some floor space for crawling and toddling.

One writer complained that cooking caramelized onions for three hours in a tiny apartment created an indelible reek in everything she owned, including her bra. Comments on that story were largely unsympathetic, tending mostly towards "so don't cook onions for three hours." She did make the important point, though, that small-space living isn't always glamourous or fun, and it isn't for everyone.

For those who make a deliberate, conscious choice to live smaller, or with fewer possessions or clothes, does the romance rub off faster than the smell of the onions?

Or is the secret more in adapting? We live in a generous-sized apartment, with an eat-in kitchen and enough floor space for several (hypothetical) crawling babies. I probably wouldn't cook caramelized onions here, although we have baked cabbage rolls without too much olfactory distress. (To be honest, I didn't caramelize onions in our house either.) But we don't let garbage or laundry sit around too long, we wipe down damp things, and we clean the guinea pig's cage fairly often. We do have a kitchen vent fan, and a pretty good cross-draft when the balcony door is open, but why push your luck?

And in the end, we're not talking about onions at all, are we? We're talking about the things we feel entitled to do and have, never mind the consequences to us or those around us. Or to human beings half a world away who pick our coffee beans and sew our t-shirts.

Hey, where did that come from?

Because just as small spaces have inconvenient, less fun limitations, other intentional-conscious-minimalist decisions have their downsides too. If you buy expensive fair-trade organic coffee, you're probably going to drink less of it. If you wear 33 clothing items for three months, you may be fed up with your two or three pairs of shoes long before the season is over.

But you are getting less caffeine, and saving money on shoes. And saving time and energy spent figuring out which shoes to wear. And maybe putting money back into a people-helping coffee business, or the local store that sells it. Does that give you new resolve to stick with it?

You make the choice, you make a change, or at worst, you accept the situation you're in and try to find its good points. Maybe the tiny place where you can't fry onions is allowing you to live in a great city for awhile. Or letting you live on a smaller income. Or keeping you from having to own a lawn mower and a snow blower.  Maybe you have a bigger place, but having a tiny wardrobe or less stuff will allow you to share a smaller room and closet with your husband, and open up a bedroom for a parent, adult offspring, or friend to move in. (My grandparents did that for my aunt and uncle, and their toddler. Years later, the same aunt and uncle used their own basement as a granny flat for my grandparents.)

It's not about the adjectives. It's not about the fun-honeymoon side or the later second-thoughts side of choices. Everything may have advantages and disadvantages. So don't let either the fads or the critics blow away your decisions.

Frugal Finds and Fixes: When summer kicks in

The Big Picture: Mr. Fixit is our Treehouse money watcher. His report is that moving to this apartment was a good financial choice. Our electric bill is lower, the water bill is included in the rent, and we don't have to plan for a new furnace.

The dining table can also be a workbench.

Food, not always very frugal but staying even: We have less money "invested" in food now, because we have less storage space for it. On the negative side, I would say that, as a smaller family with members who have various eating habits, we waste more food than we did when five people all ate the same dinner at the same time. (A big pot of soup is not always practical.) We still try to eat up leftovers for lunch, and we try to pick out the on-sale thing if possible.

Media and entertainment: Radio, library DVD's, and whatever incarnation of television Mr. Fixit is trying out. That's been mostly Netflix for the last while. I find it funny when one of my moved-out daughters says, "I just watched an old movie on Netflix," and it's the same one we watched. Which isn't really a coincidence, since I guess everyone out there gets the same new additions.

Critter entertainment: Muffin has been cavorting with shapes folded out of newspaper. He likes the old paper cup/paper hat thing (the same shape I was using to line the compost pail), because he can a) hide under it b) walk across the floor under it and think that nobody can see him, and c) chew a hole in the side and peek out when he gets bored with that.

Thrifting and yardsaling:

One local church always has a rummage sale on Canada Day, and we usually go. This year I paid a total of fifty cents for two things: a package of tiny candles (hard to find!) for our Christmas angel-chimes decoration, and a game in a tin called Shut the Box. It was missing its dice, but that was no problem. 

The only trouble with the candle for the angel chimes is that I can't quite remember if they made the cut when we downsized and packed to move. We had a big pile of "maybes," and I'm not sure if the chime went into the bins or to the thrift store (possibly for lack of candles). I'm not hauling out the bins to check, so I guess we'll find out at Christmas.

In any case, I have a little pack of candles for a quarter. And a game that we played several times over the weekend.

Thrifted grey blazer for the fall. Less than ten dollars, unless you add in the wound to my pride by the cashier. (I'm not a senior citizen yet).

Denim-blue cotton top, same trip.

Like-new grey corduroy pants for fall. Best find of the week at $2.

This and that: Half price flower baskets from Walmart. We bought two for the balcony.

Books finished in the first half of 2017: Minimalism and Ecumenism

This year's January-June reading was neatly divided in half: "We'd like to move" and "We're moving." Pile of online mysteries = anxiety because things weren't happening fast enough. Pile of downsizing and simplifying books = looking for HELP when things started to happen faster than we'd thought. 

You might think, from this list, that I never look at Charlotte Mason's books, much less the Bible or certain other things that I go back to a lot. I do; it's just that I don't find myself coming to the last page of those very often, so they don't end up on a GoodReads list (where I've been tracking books).

Christian Thought and Faith; Philosophy

Freedom of Simplicity
Foster, Richard J.

The Spirit of the Disciplines : Understanding How God Changes Lives
Willard, Dallas

The Pilgrim's Progress (re-read)
Bunyan, John

C. S. Lewis's Dangerous Idea: In Defense of the Argument from Reason
Reppert, Victor

Restoring Beauty: The Good, the True, and the Beautiful in the Writings of C.S. Lewis
Markos, Louis

The Ecumenism of Beauty
Verdon, Timothy

Only the Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation
Pieper, Josef

The Arts and the Christian Imagination: Essays on Art, Literature, and Aesthetics
Kilby, Clyde S.

Mere Motherhood: Morning times, nursery rhymes, and my journey toward sanctification
Rollins, Cindy

The Power Of Generosity
Toycen, Dave

Minimalism, Organizing, and Lifestyle

Shelter for the Spirit: How to Make Your Home a Haven in a Hectic World
Moran, Victoria

This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live
Warnick, Melody

Simple Matters: Living with Less and Ending Up with More
Boyle, Erin

Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life by Reducing Your Waste
Johnson, Bea

The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own
Becker, Joshua

Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life
Blanke, Gail

Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman (re-read)
Ortlund, Anne

Gift from the Sea (re-read)
Lindbergh, Anne Morrow

Things to Wear

The Wardrobe Wakeup: Your Guide to Looking Fabulous at Any Age
Johnson, Lois Joy

How to Get Dressed: A Costume Designer's Secrets for Making Your Clothes Look, Fit, and Feel Amazing
Freer, Alison

Magnifeco: Your Head-to-Toe Guide to Ethical Fashion and Non-toxic Beauty
Black, Kate

Homemaking, Food, and Decorating

The Gentle Art of Hospitality: Warm Touches of Welcome and Grace
Ellis, Alda

Making Home: Adapting Our Homes and Our Lives to Settle in Place
Astyk, Sharon

Private Places
Wilson, Judith

Downsizing Your Home with Style
Ward, Lauri

New Cottage Style: A Sunset Design Guide

Survival Food Handbook
Groene, Janet

Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two
Hensperger, Beth

History

A History of England
Arnold-Forster, H.O.

Romances and Mysteries

Fletchers End
Stevenson, D.E.

Vittoria Cottage (Drumberley Book 1)
Stevenson, D.E.

The Yellow Room
Rinehart, Mary Roberts

Brat Farrar
Tey, Josephine

A Shilling for Candles (Inspector Alan Grant, #2)
Tey, Josephine

The Franchise Affair (Inspector Alan Grant, #3)
Tey, Josephine

To Love and Be Wise (Inspector Alan Grant, #4)
Tey, Josephine

Dead Man's Folly
Christie, Agatha

Other Stories

An Old Fashioned Girl
Alcott, Louisa May

The Spartan Twins
Perkins, Lucy Fitch
(I'm not sure how they ended up in there.)

The Dean's Watch
Goudge, Elizabeth

Wise Blood
O'Connor, Flannery

Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel, #1)
Willis, Connie

Blackout (All Clear, #1)
Willis, Connie

All Clear (All Clear, #2)
Willis, Connie

Poetry

The Sighting (Wheaton Literary Series)
Shaw, Luci

Books about Books

Books for Living
Schwalbe, Will

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Liberty and Laundry

From our Hodgepodge Hostess: "Happy July 4th Hodgepodgers! And if you're joining in from outside the US of A, then happy Tuesday! Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then jump back here tomorrow to share answers with all your friends and neighbors."

1. When and where were the best fireworks you've ever seen? Speaking of fireworks...do you know your hot buttons? The things people can say and/do to set you off? When was the last time someone pushed one of your hot buttons?

The best fireworks I ever saw were two years ago, in Toronto, at the end of the Pan-Am Games. The second-best were a few nights ago, for Canada's 150th Birthday, from our multiple-stories-up balcony. We could see fireworks all over the city, near and far, from little backyard displays to the mega-blastoff from the downtown city hall. There were fireworks here on Victoria Day too, but not like this.

OK. Hot buttons. How about just a mildly warm button? I got asked a couple of days ago if I wanted a senior's discount at a Salvation Army thrift store. Minimum age sixty. (Mr. Fixit's reaction: "I would have taken it." Thanks, sweetie.)

2. Have you hosted any outdoor summer parties this year? Attended any? What makes for a great outdoor party?

I was invited to a backyard reunion last month, but we got rained out; I'm hoping to make the rain date later this month.

3. What does freedom mean to you?

Freedom of thought, if it actually exists. Charlotte Mason said that we are not perfectly free to think or say exactly what we like, though, because our duties of love and justice override "freedom." Mrs. Lynde may be proud of speaking her mind, but if others have to pick up the broken pieces behind her, that's not freedom, it's encroachment. Committing to love someone or to treat them with respect means back-burnering your own freedoms: the freedom to be pushy, rude, mean, or negligent. Recognizing an authority means not exercising any right you have to act entirely on your own. Still, you have the liberty to make those choices.

4. July is National Cell Phone Courtesy month...what annoys you most about people's cell phone habits?

I don't have a phone, so I'm not a good one to judge. 

Probably the obvious things, like having loud conversations in public places.

5. What's your current summer anthem?

You can find the link to this cool Stalag 13 model here.

Not an anthem, but an earworm: Mr. Fixit is re-watching as many episodes of Hogan's Heroes as he can find (between all the other things he does), so that theme song has been playing nonstop.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

Lydia is still looking for a summer job. It's not easy being a teenager and trying to slot yourself into employment, especially when it's only for a few weeks. The first summer job I had was at seventeen, when I was hired as a kitchen helper AND laundress at a summer camp for adults with special needs. The AND there was a big problem; multitasking between those two jobs would have kerfuffled anyone, much less a teenager trying to please the directors, the cook, the other kitchen staff, the counselors, and the middle-aged guest who was afraid to allow his prized rock-band t-shirt off his back and out of his sight. His intuition was probably justified, because every time I got a load of laundry in, I was called back to the kitchen to chop onions or wash more dishes. The unwashed and unsorted camper laundry got piled up so high that they finally gave up and let every cabin do its own for the rest of the summer.  I did get the rock-band shirt back to its owner, so I wasn't a complete laundry failure.

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

That's the way it always goes

I realized that my online-library copy of Organize Tomorrow Today expires tomorrow. So I'm reading it today.