A hundred uses for that

Did you ever have to do one of those tests of creativity, like "Can you list ten uses for a flowerpot besides growing flowers?" Or paper clips, or rubber bands. Being Squirrels, with a bit of packrat wired in, we like to store things up. Being more minimalistic Squirrels in a small nest, we like things that are multifunctional. And if things don't come with extra functions, we find them some.

Fall hall decorations:

Fake flower arrangement, bought on clearance at Michael's five years ago. Wire basket, thrifted last spring. Pinecone things, from a dollar store two years ago. Paper-covered can, decorated by a Squirreling many years ago. Wooden cottage (behind the pot), from Mr. Fixit's childhood.

I thrifted a new-with-tags-but-several-years-old scarf, which came with a detachable chain necklace. There's a You-tube video still online that shows all the things you can do with it: wear the whole thing together, pop the chain off and just wear the scarf, turn the scarf into a belt, or wear the chain as a necklace or a bracelet. All that for two dollars. Fashion critic Mr. Fixit gave a "meh" to the whole-works look, but he liked the necklace by itself. (He also fixed one of the strands of chain that had somehow gotten broken.) 

And that's the point: you may own a whole-thing item you don't like, or can't use, or that doesn't work in the way you used to use it; but maybe you can use half of it, or turn it backwards or inside-out. One person's junk...but what about your own "junk?" Is there a way to re-use what you already have? Do you have to go buy an extra new whatsit, or do you already have one and just not notice? (Try searching "things to make with Lego," if you want to see real creativity.)

I sewed several of these weighted device-holders four years ago, as Christmas gifts. They are also handy to hold greeting cards, postcards, or small books. 

Recently I wanted to display a small plate, but couldn't think how to make it stand up. Device-propper to the rescue, disguised with a doily.

Side view:

Basket with wooden base, thrifted a year ago 

What we used it for last Christmas

What we used it for this month, for Thanksgiving (I lined the bottom with waxed paper and then coloured paper)

So...what are ten new ways to use a flowerpot?

October Project 333 update, with numbers this time

Project 333, October-December 2018: Tiny Warm Version

#project333

As the days get colder, the clothes basics change. September staples bring October shivers.

Plus, I'm aware that my current "happy wardrobe" is not exactly a tiny wardrobe. Courtney Carver is the first to say that her numbers may not be your numbers, but still there's a difference between "33, everything" and "60+, not counting anything except clothes." I can't imagine counting sunglasses as an item (although Courtney does),  and I also don't find that scarves and belts cause decision fatigue; but it doesn't seem fair to say you're playing the game if you ignore all the rules.

So if I had to map out a core of autumn basics, I'd probably choose these, as the most multi-purpose and multi-weather things I own. 

Read the rest of the page here.

Why they call it fall (photos)

 

The Essential is Invisible: Notes from the L'Harmas Retreat, October 2016

"What is a rite?" asked the little prince. "Those also are actions too often neglected," said the fox. "They are what make one day different from other days, one hour from other hours. There is a rite, for example, among my hunters. Every Thursday they dance with the village girls. So Thursday is a wonderful day for me! I can take a walk as far as the vineyards. But if the hunters danced at just any time, every day would be like every other day, and I should never have any vacation at all." ~~ Antoine de Saint Exupéry, The Little Prince

My autumn rite for the last four years has been to attend the L'Harmas Retreat, a Charlotte Mason-inspired weekend held in Kingsville, Ontario. It is created by the combined vision and work of a local C.M. learning community and a team of parents/educators/inspirers from several far-flung places. This year's insect mascot, if you can't guess from these photos, was the ladybug.

Kingsville is near Point Pelee, on the shores of Lake Erie. Because I went early this year, there was more time to explore. I found out that you can pick up small seashells on the beach there; at Lake Huron, a place I know better, we just find pebbles. Every place is a little bit different.

What made this event different from any of the others? Among other things, the chance to spend work and play time with a few special ladybug friends, who moved various mountains to be able to get there. And even more fluttered in for the retreat on Friday and Saturday. New friends are good. Old friends are good too.

An "harmas" is an old French term for ground that looks fallow, worthless, unworkable; but upon close inspection is rich with life. The L'Harmas retreat began with small, seemingly insignificant ideas and objects: a piece of paper and a ruler; a collection of needlework made by a grandmother; a simple song; thoughts on going to sleep. We were encouraged to look (or listen) again, and we saw a folded box, a wartime treasure, a child's growing trust in a parent who sang to her. We allowed the ideas to grow, and imagined more boxes of other sizes; a Beethoven symphony; a greenhouse full of plant and insect life working in harmony. 

One thread that came up several times was the idea that a "Charlotte Mason education" encompasses the physical aspects of our lives, the  intellectual or emotional aspects, and also the spiritual aspects. Many times more than one of those is at work at the same time, for instance during a paper-folding exercise that develops not only mathematical sense and manual dexterity, but encourages habits of character such as patience, attention, and accuracy.  When discussing those parts of our  personhood, or as Mason and John Bunyan called them, the Mansoul, we may find it convenient to separate the strands, and focus, for example, on how a child's intellectual needs can best be met through living books and narration. But in practice, just as we offer whole and living food at meals, we don't need to be as aware of those categories. We read or we sing or we look at the patch of ground, and our needs are met simultaneously and most enjoyably. Analysis, necessary at certain times, gives way to synthetic thinking, whole-person learning. As Louisa Thomsen Brits says about the Danish word hygge, "‘Hygge  is a way of acknowledging the sacred in the secular, of giving something ordinary a special context, spirit and warmth, and taking time to make it extraordinary.'" 

We were allowed to see some of the work that comes out of the busy minds and hands of the local C.M. learning community, through their insect paintings and the gifts they made for retreat guests. There was a reminder of the global community through a display of soaps and oils crafted in Indonesia. My own part in this ladybugs' picnic was to talk about the patch of ground where I do most of my own exploring and cultivating, and to invite others to come and join in that experience as well. 

So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near--
"Ah," said the fox, "I shall cry."  "It is your own fault," said the little prince. "I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you . . .""Yes, that is so," said the fox."But now you are going to cry!" said the little prince."Yes, that is so," said the fox."Then it has done you no good at all!""It has done me good," said the fox, "because of the color of the wheat fields."

(Thank you to the friends who kindly offered me a place in their vehicle when it was time to "fly away home.")

Let's do coffee coasters (Do-Vember #6) (Updated with photo)

Do-Vember

Are you a little bit jet-lagged with the North American time change this weekend?

Would a cup of coffee help?

Would a coffee-cup-shaped coaster be a nice go-along?

Today's Pinterest project is the coaster pattern from Repeat Crafter Me.  I didn't have any coffee-coloured yarn, so I used camouflage brown/green, which was probably not the best choice. I also got the handle a bit higher up on the side than I think was intended, but then cups do come in all shapes and sizes.

Overall impression: quick and easy, but not amazing. I think it would look better with another row of coffee.

Add caption

A little autumn atmosphere (photos)

I like to move holiday decorations around in the house, sometimes even during the same holiday. We use a lot of the same things every year, but they end up in different places. At Thanksgiving I had a few dollar-store pinecone-leaf-ribbon things in a bowl and on the table. I don't usually go out of my way to buy things like that, but I was planning on using them later for something quite different. Which turned out to be impractical, but I still did find another use for them (see below).

The Thanksgiving decoration in the entryway was our two scarecrows, fake leaves someone gave us, and wooden canisters from a yard sale. (Real leaves are nice too, but they get crumbly.)

Today I changed it around for an end-of-October mood. We still have the scarecrows, but I added an oil lamp and the pinecone decorations in a flat basket, along with a (real) green and orange gourd.  What do you think?

(The rust-coloured doily was made by an awesome thread-crocheter that some of you know. You should consider this a hint.)

Thanksgiving weekend (photos)

Wednesday Hodgepodge: My Turn

Our Hodgepodge Hostess is taking a break this week, so I've borrowed these questions from a Hodgepodge of October 2014.

1. Elizabeth Lawrence is quoted as saying, 'Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn." So have you done just that? And what did you leave undone in order to do so?

Fall never seems like a time to be sitting still (especially if you're a squirrel), and you can't see leaves turning colour from moment to moment the way you can watch snow falling; so no,  I don't usually sit on the back deck just to watch the colours of the trees.  But we used to attend church in a place surrounded by trees, and the meeting hall there had large windows all around, so  the seasons or weather, the trees and sky became a background for worship. I always thought that beat any stained glass.

2. Since we're talking turning...what's one thing you feel you're doing 'every time you turn around'?

At one time it would have been laundry, but that's much less than it used to be. How about...celebrating another birthday or holiday? Not that those are bad things, but time seems to go by so quickly, it seems that you're just getting into summer and then suddenly it's Thanksgiving.

3. How hard is it for you to 'turn the other cheek?'

I don't know, it would really depend on what, who, why.

4. When did you last turn a drawer, your car, a room, or your entire house upside down looking for something? Did you find it?

A piece of identification I needed to get some other piece of identification. I found it nicely filed away, which shows you that sometimes the obvious place is not the first place you look

5. 'One good turn deserves another'...were you most recently on the giving or receiving end of that sentiment?

"Good turns" make me think of Brownies. I don't usually think of it in terms of giving and returning, though--I think helping someone is better if you just do it.

(sorry the link for the photo is unavailable)

6. Red, yellow, and orange are the colors of fall. Also the colors of fruit. If you were permitted only one color of fruit in your diet, which would you choose? This question isn't as easy as it sounds, at least not for me.

You're right, hard question. Red or yellow apples? Yellow bananas or plums? Orange oranges? Red plums and grapes and strawberries and raspberries? It looks like red's ahead.

7. The Hunt for Red October, October Sky, Halloween...which 'October' film is your favorite?



The National Film Board of Canada's "Morning on the Lièvre."

(A bonus, even though it's not a movie: Mark O'Connor's "Fall" from his American Seasons

8. Insert your own random thought here.

A place where my random thoughts go, especially when I'm scrolling through the Treehouse archives.



The regular Wednesday Hodgepodge will return next week at From This Side of the Pond.

First day of fall: how can we not like this Google Doodle?

I've never posted a GIF here before, but there's always a first time. Today's Google Doodle seemed made for Dewey's Treehouse. Happy Fall!

The last tomatoes, maybe

In apple butter time

See our apple butter photos here.

The HeadGirl at The Common Room posted a link to a Crockpot apple butter recipe (plus a nice photo of her peeled apples waiting to get cut up). (Here's the recipe she used.) Cents to Get Debt Free posted a recipe for it last year too.

I mentioned that the HG might like the Apple Butter Pie we've posted about here.

And then I noticed that there's an Apple Butter Cake Roll linked at the Penny Pinching Party.

It's definitely that time of year.