Shopping, how or when, sometimes why

Courtney Carver has a new post up this week about stepping away from "shopping," however you define that. One of her audience members told her, "I couldn't do the tiny wardrobe thing. I love shopping."

Do you love shopping? Shopping, what kind of shopping? Mindless shopping? Necessary shopping? Is there a line between what used to be called "doing the marketing" and just "going shopping?" Does it matter how much money you spend? I grew up in a culture heavy on T.V. ads and giant catalogues, that did encourage recreational (or sometimes therapeutic) shopping, from making long Christmas lists to day-long mall trips, flea market jaunts, and compulsory stops at any souvenir stand. As adults, we have had our own struggles with stuff becoming too cheap, too available to us, too much flowing in and not enough reason or return on it. In the last couple of years, we have let go of a surprising number of things that were once very important to us. We stopped feeling that those things needed us to hold on to them.

And yet I feel like my childhood souvenir shopping (how many miniature canoes and postcards does one kid need?), and our middle-aged struggles with "how much," are comparatively small, when I hear the stories of other people who need to make large changes. If I say "I love shopping too," maybe that means something different to a woman who spends hundreds on a mall haul. Years ago I remember a teacher scolding our whole class for something, I can't remember what, some kind of low performance. I was very concerned and went to the teacher afterwards and asked what I could do to improve. He waved me off and said, "You're doing fine. I just wanted to worry the slackers." Did you ever notice that happening, say on an email list or in a group where you have to tell people to cut back on chatter or fix some common problem? Often you will get apologies from the ones who weren't causing the problem at all. But this shopping and stuff thing shouldn't be about comparison; it should be about figuring out your own limits, your own "enough."

I went shopping yesterday, while Mr. Fixit got Lydia started on painting the front porch. It was partly recreational and partly with intention. Also partly for exercise. I walked twenty minutes "uptown," and navigated road construction to get across a busy intersection to the shops. As I crossed a temporary walkway, an older woman walking ahead of me was startled by a loud piece of machinery and turned around so fast we almost collided. We had a nice two-minute talk about dust and roads while we got back to where we were going.

I went into Ten Thousand Villages to check out an item I'd seen online, something I want to save up for but didn't want to waste time planning for if the real-life version wasn't right. (It was. I'll be back.) I briefly scanned the promo books outside the bookstore, and they had Lila on sale, but it wasn't a day for buying books.  I noticed a "for rent" sign in the window of a bakery where I sometimes stop for coffee in an effort to avoid the insidious American franchise across the road.  The bakery won't be the first casualty of the uptown upheaval.

I crossed the dug-up road again to get to the small indoor mall. I bought one cosmetic item at the drugstore, browsed through one clothing store to see if they had any fall sweaters yet (I like to plan ahead), and then went into the grocery store where I bought a jar of Alfredo sauce for an easy-but-festive dinner, and some marked-down bakery cookies for dessert.  I didn't even look at the magazines (a place that's easy to blow money away).The cashier at the express counter was so unusually friendly that I thought I must have met her somewhere else, but she was just as cheerful to the man behind me, so I guess not.

And that was it...plus a twenty-minute walk home, enjoying people's gardens along the way, and coming home to the porch and the steps all finished, thank you Lydia. If you subtract the walking time, I was in the shops for just over half an hour.

Was that marketing, research, or entertainment? All of the above?

Does the picture change if I just go pick those things up at the superstore? (Except you can't get fair-trade gifts there. Or, probably, a copy of Lila either.)

Does it change if I decide to go uptown and spend half an hour browsing every day? (I don't; it's maybe once a month unless I have some special errand.)

Does an occasional shopping trip, with the small things I buy, actually make a difference to a struggling core area? Will the bakery hold out longer because of my occasional coffee and blueberry scone? Honestly, I don't know. Shopping isn't always a bad thing.It isn't always just about what you bring home; sometimes it's about how you're going to use those things, what they're for, where you bought them. I bought a necklace at a yard sale last month, and when I asked the woman the price, she said I could put any amount in the jar, because all the money was going to support the hospice that her mother is in. I am not going to forget that woman. I still think about what it must have felt like to sit there and keep saying that, and see the jar fill up for something good out of bad.

Sometimes I love shopping.

Wednesday Hodgepodge, on a day that is like no other day before

Notes from our Hodgepodge Hostess:  "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. See you there!"

1. It's officially summer (in the northern hemisphere anyway). Which summer month is best and why?

All of them!  In June it's coming, in July it's hanging in there, and in August it's going too fast.

2. Can you swim? How did you learn? June 27th is National Sunglasses Day. How many pair do you own?

How I learned to swim: in 1976, my parents, my sister and I drove from Ontario to Florida and back, slowly, over about two weeks. Almost every night we parked our tent trailer at a campground with a swimming pool. I had tried to learn to swim in a friend's pool at home, but had never gotten my feet off the bottom. But something about having all those days in a row to practice made the difference, and I came back knowing at least how to let go and float.

I don't own any sunglasses. I know, I'm weird. But I need prescription sunglasses and I haven't shelled out for them for a long time  

3. What characteristic do you judge most harshly in yourself? How about in others?

This is a good day, and I'm not going to think about what I don't like.

4. Robert Frost wrote the now well known poem entitled The Road Not Taken. What's a road (literal or figurative) you've always wanted to travel, and where do you hope it takes you? 

Maybe an airplane road across the ocean to travel outside North America?

Here's a different look at leaving the beaten path.

5. Popsicles-yay or nay? If you answered yay, what's your favorite flavor? 

They're okay, although a bit drippy and messy. I like banana.

6. Brexit-on a scale of 1-10 how knowledgeable are you on what's involved here? (1=very knowledgeable and 10=what's Brexit) Is this news you'll follow or is it something you think won't impact your life in any way shape or form?

My husband follows the news on this a lot more than I do, so I would give myself a 4 for at least having a clue what's going on over there.

7. Share a favorite song on your summer play list.

Our wedding song. (Does that give you a clue?) (The song starts at 00:35.)

8. Random thoughts?

I just reorganized part of my personal planner...I added some pages to slow it down. The big picture is good, but when you're always looking at a month at a time, sometimes you forget to pay proper attention to "Wednesday morning" and "Saturday afternoon." They deserve a little respect too.

Another random thought: we just finished watching the three-part miniseries To the Ends of the Earth, based on William Golding's novels about a Jane-Austen-era sea voyage to Australia. It's a terrible voyage, nasty things happen, more than once it seems like everyone's going to die; but at the end, when the main character tries to find meaning in it all, he's told bluntly that some things happened and then some other things happened, and now it's over, so move on. To me, that's a very bleak way of looking at life.

Enjoy the beginnings of summer. Eat a popsicle.

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

Simplicity quote for the day

"When decluttering is frustrating, or you regret spending too much, or you aren’t sure where this whole simplicity journey is headed, remind yourself that you aren’t creating a simple life, you are creating a life."

~~ Courtney Carver, "A Simple Life is Not the End Goal" at BeMoreWithLess

From the Archives: The Apprentice and King Arthur

First posted June 2005. The Apprentice was finishing Grade 8, using AmblesideOnline's Year 7.

This is one of the exams that I wrote this week–it’s about King Arthur, The Once and Future King. I didn’t actually interview anybody–it’s fictional.

This morning on CNN news, we go to Stonehenge for an eye-opening experience–we will broadcast on live television a conversation discussing two books in The Once and Future King series, The Sword in the Stone, and The Queen of Air and Darkness. The conversation will be between the author, T. H. White, and King Arthur, the main character of the books. Let’s go over now . . .

King Arthur: As I was saying, T. H., you’ve documented my life remarkably!

White: Why, thank you! But I must say, I have a couple of questions for you.

KA: Go ahead. I, also, must ask you some questions.

W: What was it like when Merlin turned you into things?

KA: It was most enjoyable. The room would start to spin, it would go all black for a minute, and I would be a fish–or a deer.

W: Neat! So . . .did Merlin actually move Stonehenge?

KA: I am sworn to secrecy.

W: Oh–that’s too bad. What did you learn as an animal (or bird)?

KA: I learned life lessons and morals, the value of human life. I also learned about those animals.

W: The value of human life?

KA: When I was an ant, it was so tedious, absurd, and frustrating that I now highly value my life.

W: That’s interesting! You said that you have some questions for me?

KA: Why, yes. For one, King Pellinore was much more absurd than you wrote. Most of the time, the Questing Beast chased him! And he didn’t even know it.

W: That’s not a question.

KA: A comment, I agree. Why did you make Merlin so disgusting at the beginning of the book?

W: With the owl on his shoulder? I do admit that I stretched the truth a little bit.

KA: Not a little bit. That did not happen to him.

W: Very well, I’ll keep that in mind.

KA: What is all this mixed-up history? The events which took place in these books did not happen then. What have you done?

W: Since I wrote The Once and Future King more for pleasure than to make a bestseller, I did things my own way.

KA: A final question. Is my life really as intriguing as you advertise? You truly think that?

W: King Arthur, I love the story of your life deeply. Thank you for spending this time with me. I’m so glad that you like my books.

And now, CNN weather with Bob McChang—over to you, Bob.

Saturday yard sales: "As seen on T.V.?" (Updated again)

Found for $2: a new-in-box set of Kangaroo Keepers. Commercial: "Do you have a messy purse like this? Buy the Kangaroo Keeper and your life will be perfect!"

Or something like that.

According to several You-tube reviews, the KK doesn't really live up to the commercial; it's not as big as it looks on the box, and its pockets are also small. And yes, as the reviewers note, it does have a bit of a shower curtain smell. Nobody else suggested this, but it seems to me that clear or coloured pockets instead of black ones would better keep small things from being misplaced. Some of our brains function better with a bit of colour-coding.

But for $2, I think I can find some use for these bags. They could work for toiletries, or office supplies, or crochet tools, or as travel pouches (ignoring the pockets). They do pull  closed with drawstrings, although I found you have to pull pretty hard on the larger one, and it still doesn't close completely.  But maybe they could be used for carrying snacks and lunches, inside a larger bag. I'm thinking mini ice packs stuffed into some of the small pockets.

For something where you're storing a bigger piece along with some little pieces or attachments--the KK's might work well. 

And it's probably a better idea than trying to organize your purse with them.

UPDATE:  A way to use the larger organizer: as an in-drawer keeper for hairbrushes and that sort of stuff. I think I'll use the smaller one for some pens, sticky notes, and the little notepad I use to write school "please excuse" notes.

UPDATE #2: I decided to keep my pens in their basket, and use the smaller pouch inside my tote bag. Since it has a clip on it for keys, I was able to hook it onto the bag's zipper pull. (You could also fasten a loop inside the tote bag.) The reviewers complained that the KK's weren't really big enough to organize all the stuff people carry around, and that's true; but even the smaller one is enough to hold a few basics that otherwise have to swim around inside my tote.

So there you go.

More roses (photo)

Lucky at the thrift store (photos)

Sleeveless sage-green dress, $6.00. Imaginary conversation with myself: "You just bought a green dress, or at least a cardi that is sometimes a dress." "That's true." "Why do you need another green dress?" "It's pretty. I wants it." "See, if you had just waited, you could have saved your money." "That's different." (Squelch.)

Same dress, with the circle scarf I found at a yard sale

Ann Taylor tweed jacket for $2.50. No argument there.

June roses (photos)

Quote for the Day: from The Book of Three

“Most of us are called on to perform tasks far beyond what we can do. Our capabilities seldom match our aspirations, and we are often woefully unprepared. To this extent, we are all Assistant Pig-Keepers at heart.” 

~~ Lloyd Alexander, The Book of Three

From the Archives: Ten Years Ago Today

First posted June 23, 2006

This is the last day of Treehouse classes (we still have exams next week). This week is full of finishings.

The Apprentice finished Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, Whatever Happened to Justice?, and part 2 of How to Read a Book (the part that was assigned for this year). We're still working on The Betrothed, but that's all right.

Ponytails finished Pilgrim's Progress Book II (I think she would have liked a Book III to go on to next year). We also finished the geography story about mountains we were reading. We are one chapter away from finishing the last Narnia book, but she won't let me read it to her because then we'd be done.

And I'm trying to finish typing the last Plutarch study for this year. Almost there...

And when exams are done, we will celebrate the year's achievements in school, the beans climbing up the wall, Crayons' graduation to a two-wheeler (with training wheels), our wedding anniversary, the pink roses blooming, Canada Day, and the arrival of Coffeemamma's family [an online friend who moved into our for-real town].

Quote for the day: the reason for the journey

"To journey for the sake of saving our own lives is little by little to cease to live in any sense that really matters, even to ourselves, because it is only by journeying for the world's sake--even when the world bores and sickens and scares you half to death--that little by little we start to come alive."

Frederick Buechner, The Sacred Journey

What's for supper? Fajita pie

Tonight's dinner menu: Fajita Pie, if that's what you'd call it, spinach salad, and cherries.

In my yard-saled ceramic dish, I layered chicken that was cooked with salsa; a little can of green chilies; whole wheat tortillas; a little tomato sauce; a can of Romano beans, drained and rinsed; and cottage cheese mixed with shredded cheese; not all in that exact order. I added extra Jack cheese on top. It is baking in the toaster oven right now.

A wardrobe in a mailer box? (Review of the Chrysalis Cardi by Encircled)

2018 Note: This was first posted in 2016, and things at Encircled have changed slightly since then, so I've updated the review slightly.

Website of Encircled
The Chrysalis Cardi (Canadian site)
The Chrysalis Cardi (U.S. and International)

How do you fit three four dresses or tunics, four scarves, a cocoon cardigan, a cape, a wrap, a skirt, a skort, a halter top, and a sash in a box about the size of a sheet of paper?

This is how (see photo below).  This is a Chrysalis Cardi from Encircled, a Canadian company that specializes in eco-friendly, fairly-traded, travel-friendly women's clothing. It's not just a circle scarf; it's a carefully designed and sewn loop of fabric, with six strong snaps that allow several permutations. (INFP's love permutations, potentials, and possibilities.)

This is why I bought what, for me, would normally be an out-of-my-range item of clothing (see photos below). Mr. Fixit and I have a momentous anniversary coming up soon, and I needed a dress.

This is how you can change the "Grecian tunic" dress to more of a crossover style. You can also do it one-shouldered, but that wouldn't stay on the hanger. (Addition: I forgot about the "draped dress"option, snapping two ends around your neck to make a beach or halter dress for summer. That would make it four dresses.)

This is what the dress looks like when you unsnap the snaps and let it hang loose as a circle scarf.

This is what the scarf looks like when you double it up. You can also triple it up if you're cold, or lay the whole thing out flat, fold it corner to corner, and tie it like a blanket scarf.

This photo (below) gives you the general idea of the Cocoon Cardi style. (It looks better with arms coming out of the armholes.)

This is the sash. You can also use it as a hairband or a very skinny scarf.

You can also put the big tube over yourself inside out, secure it with the sash or a belt, fold the top down over the belt, and wear it as a skirt. As someone noted on Encircled's post about that, the snaps are also in the right place to turn the skirt into a skort. (Update: someone else just posted about wearing it as a maxi. I tried it and it works.) And finally (I forgot to mention), you can snap it into a cape; wrap it into...well, a wrap; and hogtie yourself into an X-back Halter, which is one I haven't mastered yet.

Which brings me to the important part. The Encircled website (and all its attached media outlets such as Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram) is an essential resource for getting the most out of a Chrysalis Cardi. (The music from their YouTube videos is now stuck permanently in my brain; I hear it every time I snap the dress together.) Obviously you don't need hand-holding if you're ordering their reversible leggings, Dressy Sweatpants, or t-shirts, but for the multi-personality items, it's very helpful. Their online customer service is also friendly and quick. All the items are made of eco-friendly materials such as modal and bamboo, and they are sewn by cheerful Encircled contractors in Toronto. If you live in Toronto or in one of the other places where they have pop-up shops, you can go and try things on. Otherwise (like me) you will have to order online. But they do take returns.

The colours on the Encircled website come and go by seasons, and sometimes they come up as "pre-orders." It's worth signing up for their emails if you want to keep informed not only about sales and special events, but about which colours are coming up. They had a raspberry-coloured Cardi not too long ago, while I was still just thinking about whether or not I might eventually buy one; but those sold out, and I went for the green one instead. They always have their basic, top-selling colours available (like black and grey).

The Chrysalis Cardi comes in only two sizes, Petite and Regular, although most of their other clothing is traditionally sized.[UPDATE: they now have a plus-sized version too.] Although certain online friends (and one of my daughters) have referred to me as "tiny," I am, in fact, just under the height line for Regular. I decided to go with Petite because I was concerned about droopy dresses, and that worked out fine; but if you're just sort-of-petite like me, you might try a Regular for more ease on the other stylings (like the Cocoon Cardi).

Am I happy with this? Yes, definitely, which is why I'm posting this relatively rare product review. Is it as much of a bargain as buying a couple of dresses and scarves at the thrift store? Why would I go and spend that much money on one piece of clothing? Well, as I said, I had planned to buy a special dress anyway, and I liked the style(s) of dresses that the Cardi turned into. I liked the extra possibilities of the scarf. I liked the pretty colour and soft fabric. I liked that the Encircled company is Canadian and responsible and all the rest of it. Is it worth saving up some money to support small companies, when they make good products? I think so.

Disclaimer: I was not asked to write this review, or compensated in any way for writing it. All opinions are my own.

Quote for the Day: Stick with Words

"Modern society keeps drifting away from words, relying instead on images and graphics. There’s even an emoji Bible that translates verses into emoticons (http://www.bibleemoji.com/). I won’t make that shift. I’m sticking with words."

Philip Yancey, "Why I Write"

Saturday yard sales

We went to one house-clearing sale and a church parking lot sale. For under $5, I brought home:

Ceramic deep-dish pie dish (50 cents)

L.M. Montgomery novel in the Canadian Favourites edition, but someone scuffed up the cover rather badly. The Hungry Scientist Handbook.(for Mr. Fixit)

Some vintage I Can Read It All By Myself books (haven't decided just what to do with those)

A crocheting book (I read this and liked some of the patterns, but will probably send it on to the thrift store)

A literarily rewarding morning?

From the archives: Money Habits and Promises

First posted April 2006

LRJohnson's Savings Blog posted about Habits, Habits (original link goes somewhere else now). She points out:

"I did not start buying oatmeal at the same time that I stopped buying pre-made cartons of juice. Powdered milk came into my life at a different time than the concept of having a max price I’d pay for an item. (For me that’s an In My Head Price Book.) I didn’t start putting leftovers in salsa tub Tupperware at the same time I decided to buy generic or store brand for everything. TVP and bulghur and beans entered my life at different times. But all of these thrifty skills and habits accumulated, over the years, to become a low grocery bill. I incorporate a new habit every now and then, and add it to the routine."

And so on.

The Squirrels can identify with this. We have often had people ask exactly how we have managed to stay out of debt, have Mama Squirrel stay home with the Squirrelings, etc.; and it is often difficult to answer; or, to be more exact, any honest answer makes it sound more difficult than it has been. At the time we got married, we agreed to keep a running journal of our joint budget and expenses for the year, and to stick as close as possible to the amounts we had agreed on for things like clothes and groceries. We also treated Mama Squirrel's rather paltry wages as extra money but not something to be counted on--which was a good thing, because the Squirrelings started coming along very soon after that. 

Like LRJohnson, we acquired different habits of saving at different times--or changed them as we went along. There are things we do better now than we did fifteen twenty-five years ago--those are the habits we've learned. Some things we figured out ourselves or from reading; I think some of the rest are ideas we picked up from watching what our parents and other relatives did. We might not have acted on them until we got married, but they were absorbed!

Some of the habits don't seem money-related; they just involve taking care of things so that they don't have to be replaced as fast or cleaned as often. (We rarely eat meals or have drinks in the car; we don't wear shoes in the house.) We buy store brand groceries, eat leftovers, pass down clothes, go to yard sales, and use/wear/drive things until they won't work/fit/run anymore. (And we try to replace parts before tossing things--that's getting harder to do all the time, though. Most things now are made to be tossed, not fixed, and the parts cost more than the original gizmo.) There are other things we stopped doing...at one time I attempted to keep Mr. Fixit's work socks darned, but his workboots kept putting so many holes into them that I gave up. And anyway, he no longer wears workboots.

But there's one other factor that comes into it for us. Along with habits, we needed faithfulness--and we had to be committed to that from the start. Before we knew each other, and even during the year that we dated, we each had different spending patterns than we did post-wedding. We went out for more meals (and fancier ones), we bought more new clothes, we just seemed to go through more cash in general. But somehow, along with the promises we made to be faithful to each other in other ways, we both came into marriage with a feeling of "this money we have now takes care of both of us--so we have to be responsible to each other with it." No spending sprees, no "I worked for this so I should have more of it", no demands for things that the budget wouldn't allow (brand new furniture or vacation cruises), no tossing the toothpaste tube before we'd squished the last squish. I don't know that we ever even sat down and spelled all that out (definitely not the toothpaste part); it was just understood. We also knew that we weren't accountable only to each other: we were responsible to God for what he'd entrusted us with.

And that--as much as frugal habits--is what's kept us solvent.

Christmas tea in the summertime

Sometime in the late fall, our local bulk store gets in a supply of Christmas-flavoured teas. I usually buy a few to give as gifts, but sometimes we have extra left over, that we forget to drink. Or we get some as a gift ourselves, that we forget to drink.

And now it's June. What do you do with leftover peppermint or ginger tea?

Make iced tea with it. "White Christmas" from Stash Tea is awesome in a glass. But if you don't have any, you'll just have to wait until your store gets it back in stock in the fall. And then forget about it until next summer.

Wednesday Hodgepodge: From this side of the lake?

Words from the Wednesday Hodgepodge hostess: "Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then hop back here tomorrow and add your link to the party. "

1. If you could sit beside and/or jump in any lake in the whole wide world today, which lake would you choose and why? 

Georgian Bay, the "appendage" to Lake Huron. If Lake Huron is a person with a backpack, Georgian Bay is the backpack. Many childhood summers were spent at the very bottom of the pack, near the Blue Mountain ski area.

2. What's your favorite 'fruity' drink? 

Lemonade made with bottled lemon juice (but it has to be The Brand, not the generic stuff that tastes like furniture polish). Proportions: 4 cups water, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1/2 cup sugar.

3. I read a list here of thirteen things to do right now to simplify your life. (It's also here.) They were-

clean as you go, re-evaluate your relationships (cut toxic ties), unsubscribe (too many blogs and websites), de-clutter, write down your daily goals, reply to emails right away, forget multitasking, create a morning routine, re-evaluate your commitments (which hobbies and responsibilities are most important to you), say no, clean up your computer, and plan your day ahead

Which of the tasks listed do you currently find most helpful in keeping life simple? Which item on the list should you adopt in order to simplify your life this month?

I do a lot of cleaning as I go--take something up when I go up, take something down when I go down; wash the baking dishes while the muffins are in the oven. We are also trying hard to declutter. As for some of the others, I think they work for some people some of the time, at certain seasons, but they can also create stress and guilt in themselves if you just can't make them work. As various people have pointed out, things like "creating a morning routine" aren't a quick fix; they work once you've gotten into the habit, but it does take commitment to make them happen.

4. What did you do the summer after you graduated from high school? 

I graduated twice, because Ontario schools at the time had optional Grade 13. The summer after Grade 12, I washed dishes at a girls' camp in the Laurentians.  All summer. :-& The next year, I decided to do a "volunteer summer." I washed dishes for a few weeks at another camp, then took a bus to Toronto, lived in a church basement, made tofu at a soy dairy, did typing and stuffing envelopes as part of a peace project (yes, really. Isn't that what one should do the summer one graduates from high school?).

5. Are you a fan of podcasts? If so what's a favorite? 

I have trouble finding the right combination of technology and time to listen to as many as I would like. When I'm working on our laptop (the best piece of equipment for me to listen with), I'm usually busy working on something else and can't concentrate properly on the podcast. But my tablet only lets me listen for a short time, then cuts them off. I think I need to look into downloading them instead of listening online.

As far as content? Pretty much anything produced by the Circe Institute, especially the Mason Jar.

6. Do you think today's fathers have it harder, easier, or just different than fathers in the past?

No idea.

7. Tell us one way you're like your father? Or not at all like your father if that's easier?

That's a hard one. How about...we both like to talk about stuff that happened a long time ago, and people we used to know. Also, my dad is a major Brit-phile...we'd probably have a good time if we ever got to tour the U.K. together. (He's been there once, I never have.)

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

This one has been pretty random already.

My high schooler finishes her last week of classes tomorrow and then writes exams. So I guess we go into "summer vacation" mode here. She will be doing some volunteering this summer, but that does not include making tofu.

Linked from Go Jump in the Hodgepodge, at From This Side of the Pond.

Something to read today: "Who will you give it to?"

This blog post is about a year old, but still interesting because it goes deeper than many frugal or pare-down books and articles:  The Myth of Minimalism, at Revive Rethink Simplicity (a Canadian blog).

What I take from it: that no method, or system, or clean empty space, is going to solve all our problems. Particularly, as Jesus noted in Luke 11, because when our spaces (spiritual, mental, or physical) are swept clean, the old unsolved issues have a habit of coming back. Especially when the physical distractions or addictions are no longer there for a covering, what's left can seem just too empty. We turn off the T.V., but that doesn't magically make us able to talk to one another. We stop wasting time online, but then wonder what else we should be doing. We finally finish (maybe) decluttering the house; every last unused, excessive thing has been dealt with; then what?

"Minimalism is only the first step towards a life of more. More time, focus, energy, purpose, drive and love. What will drive us and where we will go is up to us.
There is no right answer or one path in life. Some of us will use our new freedom to invest more into our families and neighbourhoods. Others will take their expanded energy and bank accounts and cross an ocean to help those on the other side. None of us can do it alone, but as a community we can have a greater impact on the world. What does having less of give you more of? And who will you give it to?" ~~ "The Myth of Minimalism"

From a VIA train, on the edge of Toronto (photo post)

FASTER than fairies, 

faster than witches,

Bridges and houses, 

hedges and ditches;

And charging along 

like troops in a battle,

All through the meadows 

the horses and cattle:

All of the sights of the hill and the plain

Fly as thick as driving rain;

And ever again, in the wink of an eye,

Painted stations whistle by.

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,

All by himself and gathering brambles;

Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;

And there is the green for stringing the daisies!

Here is a cart run away in the road

Lumping along with man and load;

And here is a mill and there is a river:

Each a glimpse and gone for ever!

 ~~ "From a Railway Carriage," Robert Louis Stevenson