Come Unthrifting Again (Part Three)

OK, where were we? A couple of books down, two to go? Some school supplies sorted, some still in the box. The candles and plastic cutlery still unaccounted for...I'll take care of that tomorrow.

I'm wearing the scarf again, with a navy sweater. 

I haven't gotten to Gardner yet, but it's in the pile. 

I read through the table-setting book, and thought it was really fun, and surprisingly timeless for a 1985 book. It was a good reminder that you can use almost anything to dress up a table: baskets, cool jars, dishtowels as napkins. The fancy food in the photos motivated me to turn last night's ham into tonight's quiche, because for us, that's fancy. However...I think I'm going to pass it on now, with my thanks for the lessons.

Justine on justice

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Seeing is Believing

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party. Here we go-

  

1. Ever played the game Farkle? Are you a risk taker? In games only or also in life?

I have not played Farkle, to the best of my memory. Is Yahtzee close enough?

Everybody's idea of risk is different. I wouldn't go bungee jumping, but I did get engaged to my husband after dating for a few weeks.

2. What's your favorite thing about your yard or whatever outdoor space you may have?

The evergreens we can see from the deck.  They make it feel like we're out of the city.

Also the fact that the deck isn't fifteen floors up anymore. 

3. Tell us about the most interesting building you've seen or been in.

That's a hard one. What makes a building interesting? As in, built out of ice cubes or held up with chicken legs? Eccentrically decorated? Or historically significant? Happy or creepy?

There's a nearby historic site, a Victorian mansion that is known for its trompe l'oeil artwork on the walls. That's the best I can do right now.

4. In this current season of social distancing, what's something you've come to realize you take for granted in more ordinary times? Do you think you'll make a conscious effort to appreciate whatever that 'it' is once normal life resumes?

Having a conversation without worrying about how close.

5. Share a favorite song with a springtime flower in the lyrics somewhere.


6. Insert your own random thought here.

Trompe l''oeil: cheat the eye. How do you know whether what you're looking at is the truth or just something cleverly constructed? 

The contemporaries and rivals of Zeuxis were Timanthes, Endrocydes, Eupompus, and Parrhasius.This last, it is said, entered into a pictorial contest with Zeuxis, who represented some grapes, painted so naturally that the birds flew towards the spot where the picture was exhibited. Parrhasius, on the other hand, exhibited a curtain, drawn with such singular truthfulness, that Zeuxis, elated with the judgment which had been passed upon his work by the birds, haughtily demanded that the curtain should be drawn aside to let the picture be seen. Upon finding his mistake, with a great degree of ingenuous candour he admitted that he had been surpassed, for that whereas he himself had only deceived the birds, Parrhasius had deceived him, an artist. --Pliny the Elder, translated by John Bostock

Grapes, curtains, vases of flowers...let's not stop looking for truth.

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

Come Unthrifting Again (Part Two)

What I've been doing with the unthrifted stuff:

My serious reading for today. Very worthwhile! Discusses reasons that we really don't like to learn (but have trouble admitting it): it's hard work, and it interrupts our status quo, shakes up our beliefs! Nevertheless, we need to learn, and keep learning how to learn, especially if we claim to be educators.

This was something I found after our days of doll-sewing here were at an end. The patterns are nice, but (like the cookbook below) too many of them call for non-optional ingredients I don't have, like t-shirt ribbing. After an enjoyable walk through the photos, I decided to pass this one on to another family.

Moosewood Cooks at Home is a great cookbook full of lovely, mostly-vegetarian food, most of which I know I'll never make (even if and when shopping becomes less of a planned military maneuver).  I went through it yesterday looking for ideas, and realized that almost every recipe has something in it that my husband either can't eat or just dislikes; and after almost thirty years together I know where those boundaries can be pushed and where they can't.

So I guess that one's moving on.

Most of the markers and pens still work, so I sorted them into the spots where those things go. I think we have a lifetime supply of highlighters and plastic pencils.

Oh, and I'm wearing the shirt and the scarf.

Come Unthrifting Again (Part One)

Another random assortment of things I didn't buy this week:

Two business/education books; a doll sewing book, even though I'm very short on fabric; a cookbook I've had for a long time but hardly ever use; and an oversized book about party and picnic table settings.

An H&M scarf printed with feathers, and a dark grey cotton-linen shirt

Half a pack of votive candles, and a boxful of disposable cutlery (our kids used to use that for school lunches sometimes, but nobody here takes a lunch now, and disposable cutlery is Frowned Upon anyway)

More school-supply discards from my daughter

Now you are to imagine that I somehow managed to stuff all that into the tote bag.

Stay tuned as I sort, upcycle, re-jig, and maybe dispose of once and for all.

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Superpowers and Strangenesses

Our Hodgepodge host Joyce welcomes all contributors to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Click on the graphic to visit her at From This Side of the Pond, and leave your own answers on her Linky there (it will be up tomorrow, Wednesday).

1. Expect the unexpected on From This Side of the Pond. Here's my x-ray question...when was the last time you felt like Superman? What's your superpower? Explain.  

Online searching. For some reason I'm good at trying to think like whoever it was that wrote something up in the first place, which helps to pin down phrases they might have used, or places whatever-it-is might have got put. I think it's related to that mythical gene that makes women good at finding lost stuff at home.

2. Are you a fan of the 'superhero' type movies? If so what's your favorite? 

Without question, the 1978 Superman.

3. Have you postponed or cancelled a trip to the dentist in recent weeks, and if so when do you think you'll feel comfortable going back? How about other routine medical procedures? 

Our dentist is closed for the duration unless you break all your teeth or something. I'm not sure when we'll be back there.

4. What's something that makes you feel youthful? Something that makes you feel 'not so youthful'? Tell us why. 

Like it fine: dates with my husband.

Not so much: seeing not only my own childhood toys but my kids' toys at a nostalgia sale.

Not at all: being asked if I want seniors' discounts that apply to people ten years older than I am. Discounts, I like fine, but not because I'm looking particularly haggard today.

5. I feel compelled to include some sort of corona related question in the HP these days. What's the strangest thing you've seen in relation to the virus? Something that really struck you as odd, made you stop and think, 'Dorothy we're not in Kansas anymore?'

Last week my husband had to look for something at a store where the customers were greeted and treated like they smelled bad, from the moment they got to the door through their checkouts. When he told me about it, I said that that particular well-known chain should be smarter and not miss such an opportunity to put on a good face, make themselves the friendly place to go in a sea of snark. Even at stressful places like airport check-in lines, sometimes they make an extra effort to send a staff person around to chat with people and humanize the process (even if they're sort of screening you at the same time). Or when you get on the plane, the flight attendants sometimes liven up the safety announcements with a bit of comedy. What does it hurt?

Today we picked up some groceries at a different store near where we live. As soon as we got into the cart area, we heard a loud, extremely cheerful voice saying, "Good morning! WELCOME to our store! Enjoy your shopping!" When we were coming out with the groceries, Mr. Energizer Bunny was there again (properly distanced of course), saying "Thank you for shopping here! I hope it was a good experience!"

So which store's more likely to get our business in the future?

Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge: Young at Heart Edition.

Fashion Revolution Week 2020: Go and spread good germs

So, yes, back to the cook who quit because those above-stairs failed to consider that their actions had any impact outside their own circle. Which is not to say that not eating one's souffle is a criminal act, but only that there is cause, and it has effects. As Ray Bradbury put it, a tiny butterfly stuck to a shoe can change history. In this pandemic situation, we understand the dread of one tiny germ that can suddenly sicken or kill.

But turn it around, at least in the realm of how we use money. Reverse butterfly effect; random bursts of positive energy. Instead of worrying about small, bad mistakes, what if we counted on the ripple potential of small good "germs?" We get a small idea to show a kindness, to share with others. We spend our money or time supporting a ministry that has an impact on one person's life, and that affects a family or a village, maybe a country: who knows? I heard the story recently about a disappointing evangelistic event at which just one person accepted Christ: but he became the father of James Dobson.

Maybe the letter you write asking "who made my clothes?" will get into the hands of someone who needs just one more bit of encouragement to enact policy changes. Maybe the person who did make your clothes will take her wages and buy books that will help educate her to speak out against injustice elsewhere. Maybe an orphanage you help support through a fair-trade purchase is caring for future pastors or artists or farmers or doctors or other future bright lights and brave souls. Maybe a buying choice you make will help keep the water, the soil, or the air a little cleaner.

Where will we be by Fashion Revolution Week 2021? I don't know, but I hope it's in a place just that much better than where we find ourselves this year. Even better: let's start moving towards someday not ever having to have such a day at all.

Fashion Revolution Week 2020: Buying from the Pushcarts

Remember when I posted about a spring wardrobe inspired by this Jackie Morris illustration of briars, brambles, and birds?

Check out this scarf from Ten Thousand Villages. 

Don't you think it's a similar vibe? Maybe I'll call it the Lost Words scarf. It's probably the last  I'll ever have from Ten Thousand Villages, since the Canadian stores are shutting down soon. (They were planning to do that anyway before the pandemic.)

Our local thrift store, along with others, has started posting items for sale on Instagram, and delivering them to your door. They offered a pair of off-white wide-leg "cropped pants" in my size, and I decided to buy them. They do fit fine, in the upper parts. Only...they're not only not cropped...

they're even longer than my normal-length pants!

Yeah. So not everything is perfect.

Have I ever mentioned that I'm scared to death of hemming pants? It's not the sewing--I know that part is pretty straightforward. It's the measuring and the pinning...and the cutting. My favourite place to get things shortened is, I assume, not doing them right now. Although I could always phone and plead.

I may have to bite that bullet and do it myself. But Mr. Fixit says he will help.

Winding up tomorrow.

Fashion Revolution Week 2020: Essential?

"Essential" is very much a buzzword these days. Essential services. Essential travel. Being asked everywhere, verbally and through signs, "Is your business here essential, is this package you're mailing essential?" Biting your tongue to keep from replying, "No, I just like lining up for fun." Shopping in person these days (even at "essential" stores) has all the entertainment value of going through airport security lines the day before a holiday. Shopping by mail has its risks as well, especially if you have to return something (besides the demands to know if this package is essential, there are shipping delays). Shopping local by delivery seems to work out well if it's a small business, but those depending on it for groceries can't count on getting exactly what they asked for: sometimes not even the "essentials."

(Yet at the same time we're being encouraged to support takeout food and similar businesses that have managed to keep going. So far, at least, nobody in the A&W drive-through is asking us if those fries are "essential.")

So "essential," tiresome as it is getting to be, is at the front of our collective consciousness right now. When you apply it to clothing, what comes to mind? Magazine articles and videos listing "Fall Fashion Essentials?" "Things Every Woman Should Have in Her Closet?" "The One Piece of Clothing You Will Want to Spend Lots of Money On This Year?" Janice at The Vivienne Files pointed out some time ago that there is not one piece of clothing (including shoes) that can be called "essential" for everyone in the world. Typical or useful or common, maybe, but not essential.

Still, having that word so much in our faces allows us to muse not only on our lists of closet must-haves, but on the deeper-meaning-essential nature of our relationship with stuff, clothing, and the long and tangled supply chain that gets it to us. "Not essential," some large companies have chirped, leaving their suppliers holding the bag and the labourers employed by those suppliers out of work as well. If you want a television metaphor, we just watched an old episode of Jeeves and Wooster, where Bertie convinced several people at a house party not to eat their dinners, because each of them had someone they were trying to impress with how sad or unable to eat they were. None of the impressees noticed what was going on, but the cook quit in fury.

More tomorrow.

Wednesday Hodgepodge, on Thursday

Here are this week's questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back to This Side of the Pond (click the graphic) to share answers with the universe. Here we go-

1. What's something you resolved to do this year? Have you done it?

I am working to update something online that was long overdue for an update but kept getting back-burnered. I got the first half done this week, still have to do the rest.

2. Where do you go to find quietude?

My house is pretty much quietude, often too much so, except when Mr. Fixit is testing out stereo equipment. But if you mean real quietude, there are some good nature trails nearby.

3. A friend asked this question on her Facebook page and said I could borrow it for the Hodgepodge...you're only allowed to buy 5 things at the grocery store, and all must start with the first letter of your first name. Whatcha' buying?

All-purpose flour, apples, apricots, almonds, and allspice. I'd bake them all into a fruitcake.

4. The television show Survivor, the Gloria Gaynor song 'I Will Survive', survival mode, survival of the fittest...pick one and discuss.

When I searched for "survival quotes," this one came up at the top:  

“No. I can survive well enough on my own— if given the proper reading material.”― Sarah J. Maas, Throne of Glass

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

Cynthia gets it right about getting it right

Excerpted from a post of June 2015

Mr. Fixit and I were having a conversation about other conversations we've had with other people. One thing we've noticed is that there's an awfully big worry, in all kinds of areas, about trying to get things perfect. People want systems; commercials promise fix-alls. If you just live this way, do it that way, all your problems will be solved. There is little allowance for human variables, for weakness, sinfulness, or just realities in life. But still we get sold on the perfect way to do things.

In Jan Karon's novel These High, Green Hills, Father Tim and his wife Cynthia get lost in a cave. While waiting to get rescued, they hash out some of the issues Father Tim is having about his pending retirement from ministry. He insists, "The way things are, they're running smoothly, most of the bases are covered. I'm trying to get it right, Cynthia. I can't stop now." Cynthia responds, "Getting it absolutely right is God's job."  

Fashion Revolution Week 2020: Don't Be a Truck

"The Frank-the-Flower Clubs had a whole language of their own. The expression 'Don't be a truck' replaced, among Frank-the-Flower fans, such earlier slang as 'Don't be a dope, a jerk, a square.' Although 'Don't be a truck' is an expression that we all use today, it dates back to Phase Two of the Pea Shooter Campaign." ~~ The Pushcart War

In Jean Merrill's novel The Pushcart War, the problem with the trucks (and their drivers) wasn't just that they were dopes and jerks: they were also bullies and roadhogs. They represented big interests and the bottom line (vs. the pushcart peddlers, who represented entrepreneurship and small-is-beautiful).

"'Oh,' said Wenda Gambling. 'Well, I think that there are too many trucks and that the trucks are too big....' Before the program was off the air, over five thousand viewers had called the station to say that they agreed with Wenda Gambling. Professor Lyman Cumberly has suggested that except for Wenda Gambling's innocent remark, there might never have been a Pushcart War."

The activists at Fashion Revolution have continued to shoot "pea tacks" at the fast-fashion machine. Sometimes the trucks they aim at get pulled off the road, making room for a few more pushcarts. Some garment factories have cleaned up their treatment of workers in the past few years. Some companies are more concerned and more transparent about the links in their supply chain. Some people are writing new books to raise awareness.

Then came the pandemic.

There's nothing like a global crisis to magnify, more sharply than ever, systems that are badly broken, and people who are falling not only through medical cracks, but economic ones.

In a past year's post on this topic, I said that individual consumers feel like they have about as little power in this area as mice. Bothering big companies with form letters asking "Who made my clothes?" seems about as effective as shooting tacks at truck tires.

Of course you are welcome to join the pea shooters, and Fashion Revolution would be happy if you did. But can I propose something else that anyone can do?

Buy your apples and flowers from the pushcarts.

And don't be a truck.

Come Unthrifting With Me, Last One

Wearing one of the un-thrifted necklaces with a green t-shirt and khaki pants (and my white cardigan, it's still chilly here). If I were actually going anywhere, I might add the bag shown in the graphic, which came (like the t-shirt and the necklace) from the MCC thrift store. 

I finished Breath for the Bones; according to my Goodreads log, it only took me three years.

Here's a quote to end with. It's from a Fraggle Rock song called "Stuff Samba." Marjory the Trash Heap sings it to some Fraggles who have a big problem and no ideas for solving it. Her advice:

Don't be shy don't be lonely

Don't go falling on the floor

What you need now is only

Do the stuff you've always done

And do it do it do it do it do it like before.

Come Unthrifting With Me, Part Four

Have I made anything out of a sock, as promised? No, although my intentions were good.  In my defense, I've been trying to get some Work done today, and I did not need to amuse myself with sock crafts.

Have I made anything with yogurt? No, but we did have extra sour cream, so I made Sour Cream Muffins from this recipe at Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

I wore the not-a-dress outfit I thought of yesterday. Cross off the blazer one more time. (But I changed out of my "work clothes" later on.)

Here's the Luci Shaw quote for the day: 

"Attending implies inhabiting. This is not a spectator sport."

Come Unthrifting With Me, Part Three: Close Enough Anyway

I said I was going to make yogurt, which I haven't done for a long time.  But I don't have the stuff for it (i.e. lots of milk and/or milk powder). At this point it's honestly easier to buy a tub of yogurt. I will keep it in mind, though.

I have been glad of the week's "assignment" to read Breath for the Bones and On Purpose. They give the days a little extra...purpose. They also seem to blend together, even though one is coming from an explicitly Christian perspective and the other is not. One asks the big questions, the other fills in an answer.

I've also been grateful, in a way, that I have had to lean more heavily than ever on what's in the house, and especially what's in the closet, now that economics is starting to be an issue as much as accessibility. It's not an anxious thing, just a prudent, extra-careful thing. I see a photo of a dress I like, and I think: I have some warm-weather dresses already. Or I could put a t-shirt together with a skirt...it would look a bit like that dress, or close enough anyway. And I'm okay with that. I have enough.

Today's card-making project: just one card,  glue drying. The beads are leftovers from the Squirrelings' jewelry-making days.

Come Unthrifting With Me, Part Two

Card made from a quilt block design in Have a Natural Christmas 1986: 

Quote for the day:

"Consumed with thoughts of daily threats and finding their next meal, early humans still pondered what the stones, the trees, the animals, and the gods thought. It's extraordinary and illustrates our universal urge to transcend material circumstances and imagine a world full of meaning...Myth mitigates despair by inspiring creativity and spirituality." Paul Froese, On Purpose

Come Unthrifting With Me, Part One

This is a re-appreciation of things, and a shout-out to my favourite (currently shuttered) thrift stores. Want to see a random assortment of what I didn't buy this week?

"Have a Natural Christmas 1986." At first this seemed absolutely useless. I don't do woodworking, I don't want to make a wassail bowl, and I don't have anybody who wants a sock rabbit. However, I did find a couple of ideas that sparked other ideas.

Issue of Psychology Today: There were a couple of good articles I want to reread. Everybody's psychologizing these days.

Two necklaces I like but keep hanging where I forget to notice them

Two books I have been waiting to read: Breath for the Bones, by Luci Shaw, and On Purpose, by Paul Froese.

A pencil case full of things my daughter cleaned out

A blazer I haven't worn much, shown with a dress I've been wearing this spring

Thing Appreciation Plan

Monday: 

Shaw, 2 chapters: "Discovering the Creative Heart of God" and "Entering Into Beauty" 

"To construct a quilt is to make beauty and meaning out of life's scrappy leftovers." (p. 27)

Froese, 1 chapter

"The scientist is similar to the creative artist and business entrepreneur; each seeks to build something for humanity--something bigger than the self." (p. 8)

Sort out the pens and things, use any of them I can to make today's card and to write notes in some I've already made (a current project)

Put the blazer on over the t-shirt and jeans I'm wearing.

Tuesday: Shaw, 2 chapters

Froese, 1 chapter

Read two of the Ten Myths About the Mind

Creative wanderings: Use the Beautiful Star Wall Hanging pattern to make a card.

Wear one of the necklaces.

Wednesday: Shaw, 2 chapters

Froese, 1 chapter

Read two of the Ten Myths About the Mind

Creative wanderings: Make some yogurt. (There was a yogurt ad in Psychology Today.)

Wear the blazer again.

Thursday: Shaw, 2 chapters

Froese, 1 chapter

Read three of the Ten Myths About the Mind

Creative wanderings: Make something interesting out of a sock.

Wear the other necklace.

Friday: Shaw, 2 chapters

Froese, 1 chapter

Read three of the Ten Myths About the Mind

Creative wanderings: Make something with the yogurt.

Saturday: Shaw, 2 chapters

Froese, 1 chapter

Read "Ahead of Their Time," about kids growing up too fast

Creative wanderings: Make new coasters.

Sunday: Wear the blazer, the dress, and one of the necklaces.

Froese, last two chapters

Make something interesting to drink and serve it on the coasters.

Stay tuned for the rest of the unthrifting week.

Quote for Good Friday

"Some of us have been in trying circumstances these last months. Unsettling. Unremitting. Even, we sometimes think, unbearable. Dear God, we pray, stop this! Fix that! Bless us--and step on it!....

"I want to tell you that I started thanking Him last night--this morning at two o'clock, to be precise--for something that grieves me deeply. And I'm committed to continue thanking Him in this hard thing, no matter how desperate it might become, and I'm going to begin looking for the good in it."  ~~ Jan Karon, In This Mountain

Short On...? Carry On: Part Five, Easter Candy

We could have bought some Easter treats earlier at the store, but we didn't, and today all the grocery stores are as crazy as they're allowed to be right now. So it looks like I'm responsible for filling our household baskets.

What do we have?

250 g dark chocolate chips
300 g butterscotch chips
1 lb. (454 g) butter
1 cup milk powder
1 bag sweetened, flaked coconut

Miscellaneous things like quick oats, cocoa, eggs, milk, flour, sugar, green and multi-coloured sprinkles. Yes, I know how fortunate we are to have some of these things.

What would you do with these ingredients? If peanut butter weren't an issue here and if I needed a lot of something, I'd probably make peanut butter balls and dip them in melted chocolate chips. My grandmother might have made cocoa-oatmeal macaroons. But we need only small batches of any one thing, and I have only that one cup of milk powder, so I'm thinking half a batch of chocolate cheater fudge, half a batch of coconut candy, and a batch of butterscotch-oatmeal cookies or squares ("Scotchies"), some of which we could freeze for later.

We have to start by making the equivalent of one can sweetened condensed milk. I got this version in a "living on one income" workshop at my very first homeschool conference, twenty-five years ago.

Sweetened Condensed Milk Substitute (makes equivalent of one can)

Ingredients: 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, 1 cup milk powder, 1/3 cup boiling water

Mix in blender, let thicken a bit in the refrigerator.

Half Batch of  Canadian Living Quick Fruit and Nut Fudge, without the fruit and nuts

Half the amount of sweetened condensed milk
225 g chocolate chips (turned out to need the whole bag)
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Heat chocolate and milk mixture together until the chocolate melts (I did this in the microwave, it took only a couple of minutes). Stir in vanilla. Spoon into foil-lined pan or mini muffin cups. Top with sprinkles. Refrigerate until set, cut in squares.

Half Batch of Coconut Candy, from a recipe found at The Gold Lining Girl

Ingredients: Half Full bag of coconut (her bags must be twice as big as ours), half the amount of sweetened condensed milk. Follow the recipe at that link, cutting amounts in half. Bake candies and let cool. Optional: melt remaining chocolate chips, stretching with butterscotch chips if necessary, and partially dip the candies as shown at The Gold Lining Girl.

What's in your way? (Archives post)

First posted August 2017

"Consider the trend toward numbers in light of our relationship to God. Metrics are quantitative and not qualitative, so they measure performance, but not relationships. They tell us about the externals of religion and say nothing about the heart...metrics can record the frequency of our church attendance, the regularity of our Bible reading and the exact amount of our tithing, but they can never gauge the genuineness of any of them..." ~~ Os Guinness, Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times

"Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?" ~~ Isaiah 55:2a, English Standard Version 

I spent yesterday travelling to, around, and from Toronto. The official reason was that I had a ticket to Courtney Carver's Tiny Wardrobe Tour. I also wanted to spend time with relatives I hadn't seen for a long time, hear a lunchtime concert at a church, and maybe do a little sightseeing slash shopping. The logistics of the day all came together well (Google Maps gets you from place to place very succinctly), and the Greyhound bus got me back here before midnight.

But something was bothering me later, and it wasn't the falafel plate I had for dinner. I had been looking forward to the Tiny Wardrobe event for a long time, and of course it was nice to hear Courtney in person, with her rack of clothes behind her; so why wasn't the event quite the highlight I had expected? Earlier in the day I heard Beethoven and Mozart played in a church with wonderful acoustics. Maybe it was the "acoustics" of the evening event that made the message feel somewhat unclear. Was it the argument over seating arrangements that broke out in the front row, that seemed to sour the evening a bit? In the afternoon I spent time with family, and maybe I expected to find a similar connection with those who had bought Tiny Wardrobe tickets.Was it that I was tired from the day's travels, so of course it all felt a bit disjointed? Was I just "not feeling it," as my teenager would say?

Yes, people make too much stuff, buy too much stuff, dump too much stuff. This is something we really do need to talk about. In a world plagued with over-consumption, waste, garbage, labour injustice, consumer debt, and false promises of advertising, any message that helps us step away from the system even a little can only be a good thing. But in a month like this past one, when masses of people have lost their homes and possessions to natural disasters, any discussion of choosing to minimize can seem ludicrous. It is true that going through flood, fire or political upheaval may change your relationship with "stuff" (such as being all too aware of its impermanence), but in the short term, survival means getting enough of what you need or can pass on to others equally in need, and not worrying about the global implications of too many towels. (For those of us whose lives seem safe and "normal" for now, we might want to consider the ways that the money we plan to spend on "stuff" could be used to help others in need.)

Courtney Carver, Ann Voskamp, and others continually make the point that the goal isn't to have a simple life, or even a beautiful life, it's to have a life. A meaningful life. A good life. A life centered outside ourselves. Simplifying possessions can be a discipline that encourages more focus, less materialism. Or it can be just a numbers game, even if you pick your own number. It can be the pride of money spent for "that which is not bread," or it can equally be the boasting of money not spent. In either of those cases, the focus is on the wrong thing.

"The difference does not seem to be great; but two streams that rise within a foot of one another may water different countries and fall into different seas, and a broad divergence in practice often arises from what appears to be a small difference in conception..." ~~ Charlotte Mason, School Education 

And what is it that was keeping me from falling back to sleep? Guilt over a few small things I did buy while I was in the city? Worry about not fitting in with somebody else's minimalist program? No...I think I've come to terms with the "problem" that I like having fun with clothes, and scouting thrift shops is one way I do that without hurting our bank account and producing more waste. That's why I keep posting my own Project 333 stories. I have never done a capsule wardrobe exactly "right." But I am learning to use my own talents (such as scrounging) in ways that, maybe, can encourage others.

Maybe it was just an impossible wish that we could spend more time getting to listen to each other's stories. Not judging, or arguing about details, but seeing each other as people who have lives and stuff and needs and questions and ideas. That means relationships. That means time. We need to make more room for both. And to come back to exactly what Courtney says: if any aspect of your stuff (including clothes) is standing in the way of the important things, it's time to make a change.

So maybe the acoustics weren't so bad after all.

Short On...? Carry On, Part Four: Potato Things

Some people have written way more extensively than I ever have about ways to cook potatoes. I do not claim to be that much of a potato expert. 

Often the two of us settle for instant potato flakes. If you're buying potato flakes, look for Idahoan brand in a box, no flavouring, no additives. We have never found anything else that comes close.

But here are a few sort of different things we've done with real potatoes.

Baked Potato Soup: Mentioned here multiple times over the years. Cut the recipe in half if you have a 3 1/2 quart slow cooker, and in half again if you have an even smaller family and smaller slow cooker. Vegetable broth works as well as chicken broth; you can eyeball the amount of liquid if you're cutting the recipe.

Potato Casserole #1:  Making a potato casserole uses up as many potatoes as you have...and "potato casserole" could be as simple as cooking cut-up (sliced or chunked) potatoes in some broth or milk, and adding a little seasoning...and that could be in a pot, in the oven, or in the slow cooker.  Add some of the carrots and an onion, and you're on your way to stew.

Potato Casserole #2: If you have a boring ground-meat or vegetable casserole in the freezer, you can thaw it, maybe add a bit of extra seasoning, and top with mashed potatoes to make Shepherd's Pie.

Pizza Potatoes: cut-up potatoes, pizza sauce, pepperoni, and cheese, baked in a casserole or done in the slow cooker. Optional toppings: sliced olives, green peppers.

Mexican Potato Casserole, which we found in Company's Coming Kids: Lunches, but which is almost identical to the one on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook, and they say they got it from a church cookbook.  So it seems like one of those recipes that's made the rounds.  You coat cut-up potatoes in melted margarine and taco seasoning and bake them in a casserole; then, about ten minutes before serving, you add browned ground beef mixed with salsa and chopped peppers, and cheese on top. I just used the amounts of everything that we had on hand, including homemade taco seasoning and mild Cheddar instead of Jack cheese, but we thought it was pretty good.  (The recipe says not to peel the potatoes, but we prefer them peeled.)

Ranch-Spiced Potatoes in the Slow Cooker  This is pretty much Mexican Potato Casserole without the meat on top, and with different seasonings. You can also use homemade Sloppy Joe seasoning mix.

Perogy Casserole, Treehouse Version

Cook 15 lasagna noodles in a big potful of boiling water.
Prepare 2 cupfuls of mashed potatoes (you can use the same pot).
Grate or chop 2 ounces (at least; we like more) Cheddar cheese and mix this with the mashed potatoes; add some pepper and 1/4 tsp. onion powder. You can also add salt at this point; when I first wrote this out, we were trying to cut back on sodium.
Mix 1 cup cottage cheese with 1 egg or equivalent replacer, and another 1/4 tsp. onion powder.
Melt 1/2 cup butter or margarine  in a small skillet or pot; add 1 small onion, chopped small; cook until onion is soft.

Grease or spray a 9 x 13 inch pan; if you have one with a lid, use that; otherwise you'll have to cover the pan with foil.
Line the bottom of the pan with 1/3 of the noodles.
Cover with cottage cheese mixture.
Cover with second layer of noodles.
Cover with mashed potato mixture.
Cover with third layer of noodles.
Cover with hot cooked onions-margarine/butter mixture.
Cover the pan and bake for 30 minutes.  Let sit 10 minutes before slicing.

From the archives: John Donne on God's infinite mercy

John Donne, from Sermon preached on the Evening of Christmas Day, 1624. 

One of the most convenient hieroglyphics of God is a circle, and a circle is endless; whom God loves, he loves to the end; and not only to their own end, to their death, but to his end, and his end is, that he might love them still.... God is thy portion, says David; David does not speak so narrowly, so penuriously, as to say, God hath given thee thy portion, and thou must look for no more; but, God is thy portion, and as long as he is God, he hath more to give, and as long as thou art his, thou hast more to receive.... The sun is not weary with six thousand years shining; God cannot be weary of doing good; and therefore never say, God hath given me these and these temporal things, and I have scattered them wastefully, surely he will give me no more; these and these spiritual graces, and I have neglected them, abused them, surely he will give me no more.... God is a circle himself, and he will make thee one; go not thou about to square either circle, to bring that which is equal in itself to angles and corners, into dark and sad suspicions of God, or of thyself, that God can give, or that thou canst receive, no more mercy than thou hast had already.