The Intentional Thrifter: It's a coverup

This is only partly a thrifting story. Just warning you upfront.

Over the past year I've acquired and dis-acquired several third-layer pieces: cardigans, jackets, and, most recently, a cozy shrug that matched our carpet. I don't mind walking on beige, but in my mostly-grey-and-navy closet it was a sore thumb. So it's going back to the thrift store, along with a shiny silver jacket (big non-removable shoulder pads made it look too '80's-scary) and a limp, dishwatery cardigan.

What did I replace them all with? Something expensive? Something thrifted? Something handmade? None of those.  On a get-some-fresh-air walk to the discount store, I browsed their clearance rack, and came home with a bunch of bananas and this half-price reversible poncho/cape/ruana. It had tassels on the corners, but I trimmed them off. My only complaint is that it already seems to be an electromagnet for loose hairs. It's a good thing we don't have a cat.

What do you do with a navy and grey poncho/cape/ruana, minus tassels??

First of all, you pull out your discount-store navy turtleneck, a thrifted wine-coloured shirt, and a thrifted grey cowlneck sweater.

You add the best (thrifted) scarves you have that were just waiting for something grey or navy.

Then you watch all the You-tube videos you can find, and start wrapping.

I think that covers it.

Here's a brain statistic for you

"Use it or lose it appears to be quite true when applied to the brain work of learning. Researchers find that children who are deprived of sensory stimulation develop brains that are 20-30 percent smaller than normal for their age. Although much remains to be learned about the neurological growth of the brain, some scholars believe that people quite literally build their own minds throughout life by actively constructing the mental structures that connect and organize isolated bits of information." ~~ Barkley, Major & Cross, Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty

From the archives: What violence kills

From a post in November 2015

I read an interesting blog post recently: Simone Weil and Homer, by David Beardsley, on the Circe Institute blog. This is the part that struck me:

"By not making the clear connection to the one war, however, she made a clear connection to all War; to the eternal process that is inevitable when one country, one sect, one person, seeks domination.

"She also describes those moments of love that do break through the 'monotonous desolation:' hospitable, filial, brotherly, conjugal, even the friendship that can occur between mortal enemies such as Achilles and Priam.  'These moments of grace,' she says, 'are rare in the Iliad, but they are enough to make us feel with sharp regret what it is that violence has killed and will kill again.'”

Six Weeks Till Christmas: Stop, Look, and Listen

In just under six weeks, those of us who observe Christmas will find it upon us again. The season of Advent begins on December 2nd.

I chose that word "observe" deliberately. Its roots mean "to watch." Sometimes it means to comment, sometimes it means to watch silently. Sometimes it also means to follow a rite, or respond to a rule. There's a distinction between being an observant child and an observant Christian.

The subway warning "Mind the Gap" implies both observing a physical reality and heeding the cautions of those who are concerned with our safety. It includes a verb, something we're supposed to do, even if that's only keeping our eyes open.  As that other childhood rule said, "Stop, Look, and Listen." We passively observe the days, months, years flying past, and there's nothing we can do about that. Even if we watch attentively, it doesn't slow them down. But we also observe by doing something to mark the seasons. To say that we've noticed, whether it's by marking a Calendar of Firsts or by addressing a stack of Christmas cards.

The Jewish world has just celebrated its New Year; and in the church year, the long season of post-Pentecost, post-everything-else is drawing to a close. In our part of the world, the days are getting shorter and the sky is often grey with threats of snow.  Of course the stores have jumped ahead with Christmas, but in our private (or communal) calendars, we can choose not to turn the page just yet.

What do you do in these last pre-Advent days? How do you observe them? Do you try to catch up, make up for lost time? Or are you preparing madly for December? 

Hard question for the day

"Human beings perceive life in its physical, social, and political dimensions as having evolved in steps and stages, not as being assembled and constructed from distinct pieces according to a specific design or blueprint. Sequence and consequence are intimately connected in the human mind; can one let go of sequence and maintain the notion of consequence, let alone accountability?" ~~ Ursula M. Franklin, The Real World of Technology (revised edition, 1999)

The Intentional Thrifter: Winter is coming

Last week I shuffled a few things out of my closet and back to the thrift store. The had-pity-on-it-for-$2.50 purple suede skirt: it was just too heavy, literally. Last winter's grey cardigan: also too heavy for the places I find myself, and I've discovered I like sweaters a bit shorter and with more shape. A top that was too tight, a couple of other things that weren't working...back where they came from.

In return I picked out a grey wool midi skirt (all my other skirts are short). Wool skirts don't come my way often, so I'm happy about that. It makes me feel Charlotte-Mason-approved.

I also found a cardigan and a sort-of-houndstooth blazer, after my most recent thrift shift. The cardigan was sorted with the "outerwear," but it's just medium-heavy. It buttons only at the bottom, giving it some drape and shape.

 I added a extra hook and eye to close it near the top.

There are no labels in it at all, so its story is a mystery.

I noticed the blazer earlier, but was going to give it a pass because I thought it was too long. Then I ran into a friend who happened to be shopping, and she said, "Hey! I saw a jacket over there that you should try on." (I have helpful friends.) So I did, and it came home. I snipped out its yucky bare-foam shoulder pads, and it's good otherwise.

Here it is with a top and leggings.

With a grey dress and scarf:

And with a sweater dress.

So: six out, three in. Ready for winter.

A Quick Book Review: Decluttering at the Speed of Life

Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff, by Dana K. White (Amazon link)

If you want to hear an original and practical voice in the clutter of decluttering books, check this one out. One reason it resonated with me is that Mr. Fixit and I followed very similar methods when we downsized, so we know they can work!

One example: think of your house (or apartment), clothes closet, purse shelf, and dinner-knife compartment as a collection of big and small containers. Each one is designed to hold just so much stuff, no more; so we should keep no more than the container allows. Sounds like a no-brainer, but how many times do we try to keep it all, or to bring in more, rather than working with the space we have? Most of us recognize this reality when we pack a suitcase: it's only so big, we can't take all those shoes plus a hairdryer plus presents for the relatives. But we're often not as careful when it comes to home spaces.

In the past year, for example, I have turned down free drinking glasses, because I knew all our designated drinking glass space was taken, and I did not want to give something else up so that we could have more drinking glasses.  But at some point we might decide we don't need as many coffee mugs and we do want more drinking glasses. It's all about choices.

Mr. Fixit's half of our bedroom closet is mostly storage cubes and shelves for things he uses. He has very few hanging clothes, so that's fine with him; or he can hang things in the hall closet. But my side is all hangers.

I was happy to be able to fit in as many bookcases as we did into our apartment space. That is (not counting Lydia's room and Mr. Fixit's closet shelves), exactly three: two in the dining area and one in the bedroom. I do have a small space in another cupboard for university textbooks, and we often have books living on the coffee table. But that's it! There are no good places to put more bookshelves, and the ones we have are pretty full. If I started bringing home piles of books from the thrift store, I would soon have a problem. So respecting the limits of our space helps us stay with "enough" and not "too much."

Check out Decluttering at the Speed of Life for more uncluttered decluttering talk.

Quote for All Saints' Day

"With this magnificent God positioned among us, Jesus brings the assurance that our universe is a perfectly safe place for us to be." ~~ Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy (italics his)

The Intentional Thrifter: Before and after

Remember this coat? It wasn't bad, but it needed freshening up. (I also removed the shoulder pads.)

Before photo.

After photo.

There's still a place in the world for neighbourhood dry cleaners.

From the archives: What CM teachers really need

First posted October 2013; part of a series.
 
We have principles, tools, and a whole world to explore.
It means that we can stop worrying what the lady at church thinks.
It also means that we have a greater understanding and purpose when we do choose learning materials.

So what does one need for teaching?  (Also here)

One or more persons, also known as children (also here)

The principle of authority, used wisely

The principle of obedience, taught well

The respect due to the personality of children

Three educational instruments--the atmosphere of environment, the discipline of habit (also here), and the 
presentation of living ideas (also here)

All the knowledge that is proper to children, communicated in well-chosen language

A vast number of things and thoughts: so we train him upon physical exercises, nature lore, handicrafts, science and art, and upon many living books (also here), for we know that our business is not to teach him all about anything, but to help him to make valid as many as may be of "those first-born affinities that fit our new existence to existing things."

The way of the will

The way of reason (also here)

The Divine Spirit who has constant access to their spirits; their Continual Helper in all the interests, duties and joys of life.

~~ Charlotte Mason, "20 Principles," found in Towards a Philosophy of Education and elsewhere

The Intentional Thrifter: When you find what you need

I have been looking for a white shirt for awhile. I was being picky: it couldn't be too menswear-looking, but it couldn't be frilly either. This cotton shirt fit the requirements: hidden buttons, no pockets, mostly cotton. One easy fix required: a loose button.

Same shirt with a pullover. 

Same shirt with a jacket.

The other thing I needed and found: a coat. This one has a zip-out lining, and it's a nice colour. It won't work for long hikes in freezing weather, but it should be okay for everyday ins and outs. Fix required: it needs cleaning. 

One book to use for a class project.

Thrifting: what would I do without it?

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?

From the archives: "The Planet of Bad Thinkers"

First posted October 2012. Lydia was in Grade Six, and this was one day's work.

Hymns

Basic Bible Studies, by Francis Schaeffer: God’s Grace, part 2 (page 23)

After the man (Adam sinned), he tried to cover himself with the works of his own hands (how?). God took this away and gave him a covering of what? So this shows that people could not come to God by their own good works, but by what? (page 24) Look up Genesis 4:3-5. How does God ask Adam and Eve (and their children) to worship him? What picture does this give us of the promised Messiah?

The Hobbit chp 8: Flies and Spiders (continue)

FRENCH: Continue Le voyage de Monsieur Perrichon

Minds on Math 8, page 76 and 77.   Application problems for fractions

Science biography: Albert Einstein, chapter 4.

Write Source 2000:  Last week we read about the "Planet of Bad Thinkers," a place where the inhabitants never set goals, never ask questions, ignore evidence, believe whatever they read, and so on.  We tried to turn those ideas around to list ways of "Becoming a Better Thinker."  Section 309 describes how your mind circles around from simple to more complex tasks while you work on a project.  Section 310 shows a chart of thinking "moves" from simple (observing, gathering) through more complex (rethinking, evaluating).  Choose a real or imaginary problem similar to the examples in section 308 (How can I...Should I...Is doing this activity worthwhile...I've got to convince my parents that...), and try to come up with a solution by tracing your way through the chart.  OR choose a picture book or children's story from our shelf, and show how the main character tries to solve a problem by using this kind of thinking process.

Put the books down and go for a walk.

Folk songs
Canadian history, using Story of Canada: World War II
Copywork
Poems:  Robert Frost, You Come Too

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.

There is nothing new about decluttering

Our local paper has a story today about the latest celebrity declutterer. She's said to be different from (list of other clutter experts) because she doesn't turn it into a spiritual exercise. Two paragraphs later, she's extolled as a "guru" who promotes "healing." Sigh. You can't have it both ways.

(This same expert boasts that she's so paper-free, she owns only two pieces of paper, both official documents.)

Do we use our stuff, or does it use us? It's not a new question (Ecclesiastes 5:13, for one). Does what we want, or what we spend on getting it, or how we store it, cause stress, create hazards, or strain relationships? If this didn't seem like a bigger problem than the occasional Mount Laundry, the newspapers wouldn't be running decluttering stories.

Let's invoke some reality. There are life situations that, by their nature, involve some clutter.  It may not be pathological at all, more just about having a hard time keeping on top of the material stuff when there are other demands. Clutter-free counters are less important than making sure everyone can get at what they need. Small people who can't reach up, or any people who can't reach down, or who need visual reminders to take their vitamins or whatever, take priority over empty spaces.

The bigger problems seem to be the amount of stuff (expensive or cheap, new or thrifted, keepable or trashable) that comes into our homes; making the best use of it while we allow it space in our lives; and then letting go when its value is gone. That last is more of a problem than you'd think. I read an article recently with low-clutter gift suggestions for children, many of them paper (ironically). One was a cardboard playhouse that could easily be recycled when its time was over. Great idea, but at our house a few years ago, give-it-up time would have been never. When everything receives equal emotional investment, decluttering is not an option. (I had a cardboard house as a small child, and remember hours of neighbourhood tea parties and other goings-on inside it; but I wasn't consulted about its ultimate disposal. That may be the difference between parents in 1970 and 2010.)

So maybe the tritest slogan is also the truest: don't spend your energy loving things that can't love you back, or that may even be imprisoning you. (Textbook case: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, "The Won't-Pick-Up-Toys Cure." Bible case: camels and needles' eyes.) If your stuff is working for you, even if it's a mess, just clean it up when you get time. But if it's moved into neutral or negative, look at it with a sterner eye. You don't owe your things a thing,

The Intentional Thrifter: Neglected skirt to new scarf, and two books

I noticed the floral-textured skirt earlier this month. A pretty colour, I thought, but no way I'm wearing a size 24.

Nobody else bought it either, and today was its last 75% off call, putting the price down to a dollar. I looked at it one last time and thought "circle scarf."

I brought the skirt home and cut off the top third (including the zipper). That's it. It's not a fabric that's apt to fray, but I might hem the cut edge just to keep things nice. The photo makes it look very purple, but it's really more burgundy-toned.

I also found a couple of books. Everyone should have a copy of On Writing Well around, really! This is a replacement: our previous one was water-warped and didn't come with us when we moved.

The Intentional Thrifter: classic to frivolous

I have a so-so relationship with button-up shirts. I think it's a hangover from Girl Guide uniforms of the 1970's. They never seem to fit right (too tight, too long, or both), or they're too crisp and menswear for me.

I found this blue and white pinstriped shirt yesterday, and brought it home in spite of my no-shop rule. My rationale: if you do find a classic that doesn't give you flashbacks, it's worth breaking the rules for.

I forgot to post about this top that I found a couple of weeks ago. It's fast fashion. It's synthetic. It's shiny. It's not made to last. But it is fun for dressing up.

It reminds me of one of my favourite Tom Thomson paintings.

Tom Thomson, "Nocturne, Algonquin Park, 1915"

It also goes quite well with this scarf.

So, both tops are hanging out in my closet for this fall.

Take an AO Challenge!

Have you been following the weekly challenges this fall on the Archipelago blog? Here is Number Five.

Bad dwarves, card games, and Sunday thoughts

The Apprentice is here for the weekend, and she brought a card game that she thrifted (that's my girl). If you've played Mille Bornes, it's a bit like that: you're either a good dwarf miner, or a bad dwarf saboteur, and only you know which type of card you've gotten. The object is to build a path of cards towards three other mystery cards, two rocks and one gold (again you don't know which is which, although there are opportunities to find out). If you can guess who's acting like a friendly dwarf or a saboteur, you can either try to help them or stymie them; but they might be bluffing. If the good dwarves get to the gold, they share it; if the saboteurs keep them away, they keep it themselves. Simple, right? Kids could play this; you don't even have to be able to read.

Here's the thought: sometimes making good choices is about discernment, trying to figure out what the saboteurs are in our lives and squashing them.  (I said what, not who.) What are the positive and negative factors? You can waste a lot of time trying to tell one from the other, and sometimes the saboteurs are going to win even if you slow them down with broken-pickaxe cards. 

The other approach is to keep going with our own tasks (building the road to the goal/gold). You take the good with the bad, extend grace whenever possible, and realize that, in real life, good and evil can switch places. Or what began as evil, God can turn to...gold. You might be better using your turn to put down a path card instead of strewing broken-pickaxes around.

It won't help anyone win the card game, but it might help with the bigger story.

Frugal finds and fixes, and some letting go

Fixing: Besides fixing the jean buttons yesterday, I'm trying to cure a bad case of salt stains that afflicted my old-but-otherwise-okay winter boots. I gave them a spa morning on the balcony, with repeated vinegar-water spraying and wiping, and it did help quite a lot. I may give them a return appointment if tomorrow's sunny again.

Fun find: Another mostly-there craft pad of punchouts and boxes.

I like printed bits and pieces for gift tags and card making.

Money well spent: A doorbell for the apartment, ordered online. Beats listening for people politely tapping. You can even change the ringer from ding-dong to tunes, if you're in the mood.

Still blessedly free, more or less: Radio stations. Watching monarch butterflies migrate past the balcony on September evenings. Wearing fall clothes you already have but that it's been too hot to wear since May.

Letting things go: I do make thrifting mistakes, or end up with too much the same, or trade up to something I like better or that's a better fit. So I'm filling a bag with clothes and books to re-donate.

The Intentional Thrifter buys some un-mom jeans

I finally decided that my thrifted-two-years-ago lone pair of blue jeans were getting too baggy and worn, so today I took a look through the thrift-store jeans rack. Two pairs looked like possibilities, and only one of those fit. Happily, that pair had this week's coloured discount tag, so the final price was a dollar fifty.

 

One of the two waist buttons came off in the fitting room. The other button, bizarrely, appeared to have been resewn, but backwards. I fixed them both when I got home. The jeans are in good shape otherwise. They're a skinny cut, ankle length, not baggy. Yay.

Here comes the "good reasons to thrift" part of this story. These jeans are from the same Canadian designer as the grey suit I posted about earlier this year. Jeans on her website are listed at about $150 Canadian (U.S.$115). That's a little bit scary, K-Mart Shoppers. I mean, these are pretty nice jeans, and I was happy to find them, but I don't know that you'd look at them and think they had been hand-sewn by elves or something. They are made in Canada, not overseas, so that may partly account for the high price. And some people just like to shop in boutiques and have the money to do so...and, apparently, to pass them on to the MCC thrift store when the buttons get loose.

Well, I send them my unbaggy and sincere thanks.

From the archives: How Charlotte Mason might have taught a lesson on ecosystems and biogeography

First posted September 2014. Lydia was in Grade 8.

Subject: Ecosystems and Biogeography.

Group: Science. Class III. Time: 30 minutes. By Mama Squirrel.
Book used:  Exploring The World Around You, by Gary Parker.

Objects.
I. To increase the student's knowledge of biotic and abiotic factors.
II. To show how all living things are connected to each other.
III. To give some account of the different biogeographic realms, using Australian marsupials as an example.

By way of introduction, I would ask the student to tell me the meaning of an ecosystem, and, for any ecosystem, name some of the things included; for instance, in an aquarium, we would have particular plants, animals, but also factors such as light and temperature. (Don't forget the tiny organisms that we can't see unaided.)  We can label any of these factors as either biotic or abiotic.  How do the different "factors" interact with each other? (Example: plants releasing oxygen for the animals to use.)
  
I would have her read orally from Exploring The World Around You, page 11, the paragraph about the interaction in an aquarium ecosystem.
  
Then, after narration, I would show a map of the six (original) major biogeographic realms: Palearctic, Nearctic, Neotropical, Ethiopian, Oriental, Australian.  Recently this map has been updated.  I would give the student a printout of the updated map, and read from the accompanying article.  "Our study is a long overdue update of one of the most fundamental maps in natural sciences," lead author of the new research in Science, Ben Holt, said in a press release. "For the first time since Wallace's attempt we are finally able to provide a broad description of the natural world based on incredibly detailed information for thousands of vertebrate species."  
  
After narration, we could talk about why scientists believe it to be important to divide the biogeographic realms more accurately, and what has allowed them to do that. Something hard to think about: would creationists and evolutionists think about biogeography somewhat differently?  As an example of a creationist approach, we would read the rest of the chapter, about Australian marsupials. 

Adapted from Class Notes, as printed in various Parents' Reviews.

From the comments on the original post:
"This is wonderful! And the question follows - how can the homeschooling mother find the information needed to teach these kinds of lessons to her students, and how is she able to do that in the minimal time she has available while also managing a bustling household. Is it wishful thinking for us?"

My response:
"I don't try to teach every lesson this way; I do try to beef up some chapters or lessons, like this one, that seem like they could benefit from a "CM touch." While I don't have a really bustling homeschool these days, I am (obviously) not a scientist or geographer, so I think that should be reassuring! Mostly I just read through the lesson carefully, look for narration points or places where you could include map work etc. In this case, the book (written a few years ago) included a small map of the biogeographic divisions. When I looked online for a better map, I came across the updated information and thought it should be included in the lesson."

Wear your closet: not purple today

A final entry in Encircled's #wearyourcloset challenge. The "blouse" is my Encircled Chrysalis Cardi, which I have to admit I do not wear often, so it fits the challenge! The suit came from a thrift store, and the necklace is a thrifted scarf clip.

Quote for the day: Frye on the power of practical decision

"It follows that such a cliche as 'teaching the student to think for himself' is not a simple conception either...In real thinking we first study a given subject long enough to enable its laws and categories to take possession of our minds, after which we may move around inside the subject with some freedom. There is no real thought outside such disciplines...Of course a thinker should be able to return to society with an enormously heightened power of practical decision, but by that time he has lost interest in thinking for himself." ~~ Northrop Frye, "The Critical Discipline," an address to the Fellows of Sections I and II of the Royal Society of Canada, June 1960, included in his book On Education 

Poetic thought for the day: "Until we recognize a grandeur"

"Not with the mean and vulgar works of man,
But with high objects, with enduring things--
With life and nature, purifying thus
The elements of feeling and of thought,
And sanctifying, by such discipline,
Both pain and fear, until we recognize
A grandeur in the beatings of the heart." ~~ William Wordsworth, The Prelude, Book I

Wear your closet: unbuttoned

I usually wear cardigans either buttoned up or hanging loose. But Encircled's week of use-what-you-have reminded me that belts work too.

Cardigan thrifted earlier this year, put on hold till fall.

#wearyourcloset

Quote for the day: Tellers of our own story

"Christians are going to have to become better tellers of our own story. Young people are not going to be argued into Christian chastity or browbeaten by moralistic maxims. Beauty and goodness, embodied in great art and fiction, and in the lives of ordinary Christians, married and single, is the only thing that stands a chance.

"If we don't do it, the culture will do it for us." ~~ Rod Dreher, The Benedict Option

Wear your closet: turn it around

One way to stretch a small wardrobe: wear things backwards. It works more often than you'd think.

Sweater dress, thrifted yesterday to replace my older dark green sweater dress that was pilling.

Turned backwards and pulled up a little, with leggings. Easy.

#wearyourcloset

Quote for the day: Travels with St. Luke

"As they walked, Luke kept them informed of the history of the area, pointing out where Octavian and Antony had met Brutus and Cassius in  battle.

"How is it that a physician knows so much about history?' Silas asked.

Luke smiled at him. 'An educated man should know about many things. And besides, history is the most fascinating of subjects. Have you never read Thucydides' history?'

Silas frowned. 'I never heard of him.'

Luke shook his head. 'What a bunch of dolts I am forced to travel with! One of the most famous Greeks of all time and you have never heard of him!"

Timothy spoke up. 'I know who he is. I read his history in school.'

'Ah,' smiled Luke, 'all is not lost! Here we have an educated young man. Now tell me, Timothy, have you also read anything by Xenophon?'

'Only his Anabasis.'

'Then you are in luck. I have a copy of Memorabilia. You will have to read it. It is marvelous.'

And so as the four men approached the city of Philippi, Luke and Timothy were lost in a conversation about history and philosophy. Paul silently contemplated the great challenge that lay before him, and Silas complained about the blisters that were developing on his feet." ~~ Lydia, Seller of Purple, by Robert W. Faid (1984)

The Intentional Thrifter: Find and replace; wearing your closet

I am trying not to add extra clothes to my closet, but this plum-coloured sweater dress is a replacement for another dress that had gotten very pilled. So that's okay.

I'm still looking for belts and shoes, but haven't seen any that I like or that fit. It might take awhile.

I've thrifted some books recently, but they're mostly for gifts and I don't want to spill any secrets. Things I did not buy today, although it was close: a photo book about midcentury modern style; a boxed set of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books; a paperback copy of Watership Down (I might still pick that up at the end of the week). 

The Encircled.ca (or .com) clothing company is doing a Wear Your Closet challenge this week, through their Instagram page. You pick seven items of clothing you "never wear," spend the week seeing if you can find ways to wear them, and post photos to Instagram. Encircled also sends you styling hints during the week. (If you still don't like the seven items after all that, you have permission to give up and give them away.) Am I participating? Not officially, because I have already thinned out the things I doubted I'd wear again.

But this week's return to sweater-weather, combined with the Encircled challenge, reminded me to try new things. I've already worn a new-to-me sweater with a grey skirt I picked up in April but didn't wear much; and layered a slightly-too-short denim shirtdress with a top and leggings. Today I noticed that an old favourite pullover goes very well (in a cheerfully-clashing sort of way) with the last scarf I bought, and that's what I wore to sort books.

So that's how I'm wearing my closet.

Quote for the day: First, last, and Wordsworth

"Any temptation I might have to say 'this is my last word on the subject' is checked by the realization that it is probably also my first word. For I find myself constantly returning to the assumptions and intuitions of my earliest critical approaches...I suspect that every critical or creative effort in words is a beginning, a reconstructed creation myth. Its model, for those in my field, is Wordsworth's last work, published after his death at eighty, and bearing the title of 'Prelude.'" ~~ Northrop Frye, preface to On Education (1988)

From the archives: Serious Times (book review)

First posted September 2011

"God calls us to live large on the very stage we find ourselves.  God has placed us in this very situation to infuse it with meaning and significance.  This enables us to live for Christ now rather than waiting for a set of circumstances we imagine will allow us to serve him in the future.  This simple but profound attitude has marked many of the great lives...."

The best book I've read lately...really the best...is Serious Times: Making Your Life Matter in an Urgent Day, by James Emery White, published in 2004.

I'm not sure if I'd ever read anything by Dr. White before.  I didn't go looking for him.  The book turned up in a pile of "religious non-fiction" I was pricing at the thrift store.  I liked the look of it and decided to buy it myself.

The Amazon reviews are pretty right on.  To say it's an entertaining book (as someone there said) might sound like you were doing it an injustice (I mean, the title is Serious Times); but it is written in an engaging and readable style.  Good thought stuff, good faith stuff, good life stuff.  I especially liked the chapter on "Developing Our Minds."  Here's a quote from that chapter:

"Beyond engaging various fields of thought, it is critical to be able to think about our faith in relation to its significance.  In dialogue with the world, the deepest question regarding the Christian faith is 'So what?'  This simple question gets to the heart of not only thinking Christianly but communicating Christianity itself....The Christian mind must understand the significance [of the resurrection] in order to offer it to the world.  If we cannot, we will have lost our place in the most critical of conversations--indeed, the only conversation that matters."

This one is a keeper.  I'd like to figure out a way to use it for an adult Sunday School class.  It would also be a great addition to a highschool worldview course.

One more quote:

"By nature we tend to adapt, to conform, to our surroundings.  There are only two forces shaping us: one is the world and the other is the will of God.  If we are to avoid becoming in the surrounding culture, we must take a stand.  That stand comes through the renewing of our minds....Taken into prayer, ideas become real, life-changing, dynamic.  Then, and only then, they change my life."

Quote for the day: Northrop Frye on the subversive career of an English teacher

 

"At his trial Socrates compared himself to a midwife, using what for that male-oriented society was a deliberately vulgar metaphor. Perhaps the teacher of literature today might be called a kind of drug pusher. He hovers furtively on the outskirts of social organization, dodging possessive parents, evading drill sergeant educators and snoopy politicians, passing over the squares, disguising himself from anyone who might get at the source of his income. If society really understood what he was doing, there would be many who would make things as uncomfortable as they could for him, though luckily malice and stupidity usually go together. When no one is looking, he distributes products that are guaranteed to expand the mind, and are quite capable of blowing it as well. But if Canada ever becomes as famous in cultural history as the Athens of Socrates, it will be largely because, in spite of indifference or philistinism or even contempt, he has persisted in the immortal task granted only to teachers, the task of corrupting its youth." ~~ Northrop Frye, keynote address to the Ontario Council of Teachers of English, October 30, 1980. Published in Indirections 6 (Winter 1981). Republished in Frye's book On Education.

The last Wednesday Hodgepodge, and Mama Squirrel's summer reading list

I have not Wednesday-Hodgepodged for awhile, but I'm glad I didn't miss this one: it's the last-ever Hodgepodge. (First time we participated: July 2015.)

1. What has been the highlight of your summer so far? (It's still summer, people!)

That would be the trip to the U.S. in July, which was a sort of working holiday, retreat and reunion all at once. Some of our family also had a nice one-day holiday on Lake Huron.

2. What do you wish you'd done more of this summer? Less of?

Eaten more peaches: the ones we had were amazing.

I spent half the summer finishing a spring-term online course, and then a couple more weeks working on a writing project. So I could say I wish I'd done less work, but I really don't wish that, because Things Got Done.

 3. Something you're looking forward to on your September calendar?

My fall term online course, Designing Curriculum for Adult Learners, starts today. (So I'm procrastinating by answering the Hodgepodge.)

 4. Best/favorite book you've read this summer?

In June, I finished two education textbooks, a book of Denise Levertov's poetry, and the business book Scrum, which I'm still pondering.

Here are my four favourite books from July, August, and the first few days in September (because it's still summer):

Ulin, David
The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time

Walsh, Peter
Let It Go (about decluttering)

White, James Emery
A Mind for God

Willis, Connie
To Say Nothing of the Dog

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Our family has now been online for twenty years. Definitely a life-changing decision, to dial up that first connection. Our two youngest cannot remember life any other way. It's been good, bad, strange, useful, productive, time-wasting, annoying, and amazing by turns. Right now it means that I have to go and work on my online class.


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

Quote for the day: And that's all there is to say about that.

"I do not know of anything except the arts and the sciences that can tell us anything about reality." ~~ Northrop Frye, preface to On Education (1988)

The Intentional Thrifter had good intentions today

I knew I shouldn't even have gone into the thrift store clothing section today. I am in a no-clothes-buying season right now. But I did, and there it was: a sort of snakeskin-print grey and blue-grey cotton tunic sweater. I'll make room, okay?

I took a whole bag of books in to the store, and came out with one (plus the sweater): Northrop Frye, On Education.

Am I the only one who finds it funny that the cover shows a tree and a bitten apple? In this case, the fall was caused by listening to the snakeskin.