Seven Things Week 21

I can't believe this is week 21. Lots of stuff leaving my house and even more when I finish going through my kitchen cupboards.
This week is kitchen stuff again.
* 8 Terra cotta bowls
* 4 water bottles
* 2 sippy cups

See you all next year and have a Happy and safe New Year!!

December 25..

This is supposed to be a happy time of year. Families getting together, good food, sharing. Celebrating Jesus birth.
All I am seeing is stress and tension. Fighting about where to go, when to go, who to have over, how much to spend on gifts, what gift to get someone. STRESS.
This shouldn't be a time of stress. It is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus--even though he wasn't even born on this day.
I know there are a lot of people that don't believe in God, or Jesus. But they still have the stress of celebrating this day. WHY???
My brother and SIL are muslim and they don't celebrate either. yet we are the odd ones in the family. I also have two brothers married to Japanese women and they are shinto. They don't believe in God or Jesus, yet they celebrate this day. But we are the odd ones!!
About 8 years or so ago, we quit celebrating December 25th in the mainstream way. We haven't had a tree all these years. We haven't exchanged gifts in the traditional way.
We are the odd ones out. The non conformists. And no matter what we say to our families about this day, they are still horrified that we don't have a tree and we don't decorate the house and we don't buy piles and piles and piles of gifts!
We celebrate Jesus' birth because that is what the day is supposed to be about.
But it has turned into this huge commercial, competitive thing that has overtaken the true meaning of the day. I find it disturbing, to say the least.
When we want to buy a toy or something for the kids--we do. We don't need to wait til December 25th to give them a bunch of toys!
We don't need a day to remember the birth of Jesus, we remember His birth all year long.

Seven Things Week 20

Kitchen stuff this week.
* 4 white saucers
* 7 white cups
* 2 white placemats.

Another boring week of seven things, but as usual I am glad to be passing it along and decluttering my kitchen some more!

Seven Things Week 19

Nothing exciting this week either.
*Five towels and a hand towel and two washcloths.
I have so many towels that I thought it was time to declutter them.

This is my cloud.
Go here to make your own.
http://www.snapshirts.com/
and go to the lower right where it says "bloggers"

Seven Things Week 18

Kitchen stuff again this week. I can hardly believe all the extra stuff I had around here.
* Food dehydrator--rarely used
* 2 cake pans with lids
* wok
* Pressure cooker
* 2 small fry pans
* One pot
* Chicken cooker thing
So that's it for this week. Vietnam Vets are coming the 20th to pick up some bags and boxes. I have a soft spot for Vietnam Vets.

Kilowatt update

I received the electric bill today and thought I would update and find a new Reddy Kilowatt image.
So for November I kilowatt usage went down!! YAY!!
But I'm pretty sure it won't stay down with winter here and electric baseboard heat.
Novembers usage was 1006, down from 1010 last statement.
I'm still going to try to reduce, by how much remains to be seen throughout the winter but it will be interesting to watch.

Seven Things Week 17

Kitchen stuff this week.
* 4 Rubbermaid containers with lids
* 4 glass bowls
* yellow funnel
* strainer
* glass candy dish
* 7 Rubbermaid bowls with lids.
I'm glad to be rid of all of these extras and stuff I haven't used in ages. Less clutter in my kitchen.
There was a lady on E bay getting rid of her YARN (gasp) !!! I'm just not ready to be able to do that yet. I use a lot of my yarn still and I don't buy much new yarn anymore.

My Aunt...........

Today is my Aunts birthday. Except she died in May of 2004. She is the aunt that took care of my Grandma. (see August 15 post)
We were very close all throughout my life. We had a lot in common too. Crocheting was one of our common interests and she is the aunt who got me started on making my own wood crochet hooks. We passed books back and forth too.
Ever since Grandma moved out to be with my aunt, I would fly out to visit them every 3 months. I would stay for 6 days. We always had fun and I got to see my Grandma too.
Then in April of 2003 my aunt broke her knee and I drove out with my two puppies and stayed a month to take care of Grandma and my Aunt.
I am greatful for that month.
The last time I saw my aunt and grandma I flew out when I was 18 weeks pregnant with my son. I had a good visit not knowing it would be the last time I ever saw my aunt.
I miss her everyday. Everyday I think about her. Wishing she were here again, knowing it's not possible. I just still feel an empty spot in my life without my aunt.
I wonder if it will ever go away???
I have some stuff from my aunt that I brought home when I stayed the month. These are items I don't need, they are more knicknack type things. But with the Seven things project, I am finding them hard to let go.
Maybe one day I can...................

Seven Things Week 16

I'm early this week. My seven things this week come from the closet again!
* 3 sweatshirts
* 3 denim shirts
* 1 pair jean capris
* 1 pair white shorts
* 1 pink/white stripped shirt
* 1 gray sports bra
* 1 navy blue with flowers skirt

These are all things I haven't worn in ages and that don't fit me anymore. Again--it's time to find a new home for them all. And I am glad to be rid of them.

Seven Things Week 15

Nothing too exciting this week.
*Analon Pots and pans.
*2 fry pans
*3 pots
*3 covers
These were husbands pots when we got married and we used them for a while along with my Revereware. We bought new pots and pans about a year ago and we found these when we were cleaning out the garage.
So off they go to a new home.

Happy Veterans Day!

Today is Veterans Day. I am thankful to the men and women who serve and have served in the armed forces.
I am former Army and my Husband is former Navy. He is a vet of the first Gulf war. Our experiences were vastly different serving for many reasons. He went to the Naval Academy and I was enlisted. He served longer than me. He is a Veteran of a war, I am not. He was Navy, I was Army. It makes for an interesting day when Army and Navy play their annual football game!
So, thankyou Veterans.

Seven Things Week 14

This weeks seven is from the bins in the shed that I recently went through!
* TWELVE pair of jeans.
These are jeans of all sizes. Skinny jeans and not so skinny jeans that I know I will never wear again--ever.
As it is each week, I am glad to get these out of my house so that maybe someone else can get some use out of them now.
I have also been thinking about my new clothes purchases. I need absolutely nothing and I won't need any new clothes for quite a while. I have several pair of jeans and some dress pants and plenty of sweaters and blouses. And I won't even get started on shoes, I am so embarrased. I am trying not to buy anymore new things now. And for a while to come. I need nothing as far as the house is concerned either. No new dishes, towels, furnishings, candles, knickknacks, rugs, sheets, BOOKS, clothes, toys, paper, pens, music, etc. I need nothing new to add to my house or self. Yes, it is possible to have too much, way too much.
I need absolutely nothing...............

Reddy Kilowatt is back!!

Well, I received my November bill for my Electricity.
WOW!! It is 1010---down from 1210 of last month. I know part of that is still the airconditioner usage. But I have been making an effort to not consume so much. I wonder if it's really helping??
It will be interesting to track this for a year.

Curbside Recycling!! Another bonus.

I love that we can put usable stuff out by the end of our driveway! Today we did some more yard cleaning and I went through more bins.
Husband put these three toys out there and within one hour someone came to the door and asked about them. They have a day care and these items would be perfect for that they said!! Yay. I said take them please! And the family did.
I like the feeling of giving someone else a chance to use my sons outgrown toys.

Seven Things Week 13.

The Hip Hammock. What can I say about it. I didn't use it much but I really liked it and I am finding it difficult to give it up. I wonder if that is because I have to face the fact that my little boy is growing up? He is no longer that little baby who depended on me for everything. I am sad about this item leaving my house.
The rest of the stuff going is clothes. Nothing exciting at all. Nothing I want to keep anymore and glad it can maybe be useful to someone else. Plus it means I have another empty bin!!
* My Hip Hammock.
* 8 sweatshirts.
* 4 pair of sweatpants.
* Red Wind breaker.
* Green winter jacket.
* Blue fall jacket. This one is hard to give up too. It is from my Aunt but it is just too big for me.
That's it for this week. I am happy to see the clothing go to someone else who can use it and then I have more space in my house!

Doe a deer, a female deer.

This morning I woke up a few minutes before my son did. One of the dogs started barking very loudly. Not her normal "there's the neighbors dog" type of bark. It was light enough out that I could see this huge Doe in the yard, just outside the fence. It was beautiful and I quickly tried to take a picture but the deer moved too fast to snap one.
We used to get a lot of deer in the yard before we got all the dogs and fenced in a lot of the yard. They used to sleep in the pines out back and sometimes eat the apples off our trees.
We see a lot of wildlife around here and it's pretty cool. Several times I have seen wild turkeys. Of course we have the usual animals as well. Racoons, fox (that eat hapless chickens)and a ton of birds, lots of rabbits and squirrels.
I am thankful I live where I live.

Starry skies..............

I think one of the advantages I like most about living out in the country is being able to see the stars in the sky at night. On a crisp fall night with a clear sky and no city lights to interfere. It is magnificient. It is so peaceful and beautiful. Hubby even bought me a telescope a few years ago to search the skies at night.
It is one of the most enjoyable activities for me.

Rabbits!!

Another Saturday of yard work. This time it was fun. Husband decided he needed to trim yet more branches off the trees, to make it easier for him to mow. Mowing takes quite a while on the hilly, holey land. It's almost three acres! (more on that in a minute)
So with all the branches, we created a habitat for the Rabbits that live around us. There are a lot of Rabbits. I like them, hubby not so much. It will be interesting trying to protect my garden next year.
Now, as we were tidying up all the branches, I ask hubby if we can finally fence in the rest of the land. he says "sure", then we proceed to walk the property line!! WOW! We have almost 2/3rds of an acre that is just sitting there. The only catch is, the soil is CLAY. Not too good for much of anything. So hubby thought a pond might be fitting for that part of our property. I am in agreement, along with some more trees if we can find some that will grow there. We had apple trees in that area and they didn't do so well. They were moved 2 years ago and are thriving now.
Another fun and interesting morning, and I learned something new about our land and property lines.

Seven Things Week 12

Nothing overly exciting this week. I'm cleaning out the laundry room and found a few things. And back to the closets, actually it was bins I have clothes in. I am finally going through some of them as time permits.
* Mouse pad, with Bunnies on it. Brand new, I didn't like it.
* Green dresser skirt, a cloth doily type thing to put on top of the dresser.
* One beige dress blouse.
* Two white turtlenecks. How many do I really need?
* Black and white dress slacks--don't fit anymore.
* One box of powder bleach, never opened.
* Two bottles of Clorox 2--never used
* Two Downy balls--pictured.
The clothes I am glad to be passing on. I'm weary of holding on to all of them.
The laundry stuff? Well, lets just say that I cannot use them in my front load washer. On July 4 of this year I had a bad laundry "incident" with adding too much Clorox 2 along with a bit too much HE laundry soap. It was very unfortunate and yet comical at the same time. It was just like on TV where soap is exploding out of the washer. Yes, it really was that bad. I had to go to the laundromat and wash my towels several times to get all of the soap out and that was after spraying them with the hose outside! So, I am giving away the laundry products that are not compatable with HE washers.
I'm finding it a bit difficult to let go of some useless, yet sentimental items that are cluttering up my space. I'm sure I will find a way in the coming months to let most of it go. I know I am not the only one with this issue, otherwise our homes wouldn't be so cluttered!!!

The swing

Today is yard cleaning day. We have already made a trip to the dump--the part of the dump that takes demolition/redecorating stuff.
We also have a swing like this one except ours is much, much more weathered.
Since we now have a play yard where the swing used to be, and we haven't used the swing in years, we decided to let someone else have it. So, we put it to the curb. One couple already stopped and I thought they were going to take it, but alas, they didn't.
I will update when the swing has found anew home.
UPDATE: The swing is GONE! I think it took less than three hours. We love the curbside recycling. We have put shelves, cabinets desks, chairs and bed frames out there and people have always taken it all. Most everything we put out there is in very good shape.

Seven Things Week 11

Wow, it's been Eleven weeks already!! The VietNam vets came yesterday to pick up a load of stuff. It felt good to say goodbye to it all.
Lots of household stuff this time.
*Two pictures shown here. I have had these forever and haven't hung them in at least 12 years. They are kinda neat pictures, with different textures and they are done in browns. I always liked them.
*A hummingbird candle that I never used.
*A matching set of green bathroom rugs in very good condition.
*Muffin Pan that I never used anymore.
*Four burner covers I never used. They have hummingbirds on them.
*Box of unopened stationary.
*Package of 8 baby shower Thank you's. I never used them.
*Cannon 35 mm camera.
I find myself wondering what and where I can declutter next. My closets look reasonably good. The kitchen drawers are looking less cluttered as well as the shelves above my cupboards.
I need to tackle my rolltop desk and a "bar" storage cabinet my husband made. I still need to go through a bunch of clothes bins as well. Clothes I haven't worn in ages. You know the clothes, the ones where you keep because someday they will eventually fit again!! Well, I've decided that they need to go too. Let someone else get some use out of them instead of taking up space in my home.

A bonus Seven Things

Really only two things though.
* Childs shopping cart--son kept using this for a chair/ladder/climbing cart. Time for it to go
* Leap Frog learning table-- son has outgrown this long ago. He had lots of fun with it. Time for some other child to get some use out of it.
We gave both of these items to the church nursery.

Seven Things week 10

Sorry for the crappy picture. You can even see the Border collie on the floor!! That's Maddie. She is almost 12 now. Great dog too!
Back to the closet for this weeks seven. I went through two bins and two shelves.
This weeks stuff is all things that I haven't used in ages that was just taking up precious space in my closet.
* One set of burgundy Flannel sheets. Too hot for me and DH. They are almost brand new.
* Brown leather purse
* Black canvas type shoulder back pack. Too small for me since having my son and I have a bigger one I like better. This is very gently used.
* Small, very small white canvas bag. The very small says it all.
* Jean skirt-- wore it a few times, it's too short for me.
* Long sleeve blue shirt, sorta dressy/casual
* Blue hoodie shirt--never wore it
* One pair of jeans--too small
* Three VHS tapes--cartoon type
My closet looks a little neater. My husband wonders why he doesn't have more room though!!
Next project before it gets too cold are my clothes bins out in the shed. I have a habit of hanging on to clothes for some reason. No more!! It's time to let the clothes go now. And I am excited to do it!!

Seven Things week 9

Nothing too exciting this week.
*Safety kit for blinds, pictured
*Green polo shirt
*Pair of leather sandals
*Four Veggie tales placemats
*Eleven (yes eleven!!) Dog bowls
*Eight leather and various other dog leashes and collars
The safety kit I just happened across and I have never used it, maybe someone else can.
The dog stuff--let me explain. Two years ago, we inherited THREE dogs. That is on top of the THREE dogs we already had! But this was a special circumstance. These were my Dear Aunts dogs and she had died suddenly. So my dear husband drove from Minnesota to Maryland in one weekend to pick up these special dogs. Luckily the dogs knew all of us. They came with dog bowls, toys and lots of collars and leashes. We weeded through what was going to work for us and put the rest in the closet in a bag. I am finally getting around to finding a new home for them all. The bowls--well, they came with bowls too, but a lot of the bowls were from me too. But, now they each have two Stainless bowls . And we only have one of the dogs with us now. Sadly, two of them nipped at my son and we found new homes for them.

The dreaded Kilowatt update

The picture is Reddy Kilowatt, from the electric company. He's been around for a while.
I received the dreaded Electric bill today. Again I was absolutely stumped. We used a whopping 1210 kWh!! Down from the 1981 of last month. Granted we only used the air conditioner a couple of times during the billing period, but that's a huge drop in usage IMO.
It was however, up 10 kWh from last year at the same time.
I'm still going to watch my usage and continue to track and post about the dreaded electric bill!!
I think this might be something I continue to track throughout the year. I can make it a companion journal along with my Seven things project!

Seven Things week 8

My seven things this week is a bunch of different stuff. I was looking for a specific needlepoint to work on and found some other stuff to find a new home for! Yay!
So, the picture is of two of my needlepoints that I bought about 8 years ago and never worked on them. They are unopened.
*Two needlepoints, a Sun Signs and Moon Signs
* One Crewel picture, "Trading post" that I never worked on but thought I might like to try Crewel
* Six sippy cups of various types. Trying to find one that my son would like.
*Black Cardigan sweater
*Brand new Diaper bag. I bought it and thought I liked it but didn't really like it and never used it
*One crochet book--Making Scarves. I have a scarf pattern or two that I really like. Hopefully someone else will find this book useful
*One crochet booklet--Doilies--need I say more??
I know I say it almost every week, but this has been a wonderful project for me. I haven't had too many problems finding stuff and parting with it so far. As the months go by, I may find it more difficult to part with stuff--I'm hoping not though.
I have cleaned out a few places in the house that haven't been touched in years and that has been good too. Surprising sometimes what I have found.
Occassionally I've taken a trip down memory lane too, which is always fun!
So, thanks again Jenny, for steering me toward this project and helping me along the way. It's just been the perfect project for me right now in my life!!

Seven Things week 7

The seven for this week come from the kitchen.

*Cheeseboard/dome--in 12 years we have never used this, time for it to have a new home.
* Nacho plate--again never used.
* 2 plastic measuring cups
* 3 spatulas
* pastry sandwhich maker
* melon baller
* honey spoon--never used
* Stir Fry book--I used it once.
Daughter brought 3 pair of pants and 5 shirts over, but I am not counting those. She is happy to declutter too and I think she will be bringing more stuff over periodically, which is good, because she has clutter too.
I like that this stuff can be used by people who need it. That is my hope anyway.

Seven Things Week 6

I am excited about this project. It's been just the thing I need to get this extra/unused stuff out of my house. Thank you Jenny for pointing me in the direction of the Seven Things project!!
This week was easy. I'm posting early because my daughter was over tonight and that means I found a new home for a bunch of things!! I'm glad she can use this stuff. Some of it she asked specifically if I had, like the knives, cutting board and pitcher. "Of course", I told her, I have those items!!!
So here's my list for this week
*George Foreman Grill. Rarely used and daughter will use it. It even had all the parts!
*Pizza peel-never used
*2 sharp knives-extra around the house
*Pitcher for water--extra one around the house
*cutting board- extra one
*Remote for the tv we gave daughter, also gave her our entertainment center
*aluminum veggie tale water bottle
*wicker silverware/napkin holder--I really like it I just haven't used it in 3 years!
The last two items daughter didn't take. They will go in the box the Vets are collecting in October.

Seven Things week 5

My seven this week come from my dresser drawers that I cleaned out! Now my whole dresser is done. YAY.
*This organizer has been sitting on my bedroom shelves since I bought it because I just had to have it--yet I never once used it.
*Childrens Dyson vacuum. I am hoping there is another child that will enjoy this vacuum
*2 bras, 4 sports bras
*6 pair wool socks. My feet used to get so cold in the winter that I bought LOTS of wool socks. It's time to thin out the herd now.
*3 T shirt type pajamas
*3 pair of shorts
All in all my Seven Things project is coming along very well. It has motivated me to clean things that haven't been touched in years and to declutter!
A few updates.
I am still working on my compost pile.
I found a solution, thanks to a friend, Stephanie, for my recipe dilemma. I bought a huge 3 ring binder and protective covers and organized and sorted and put together my own recipe book! It was the perfect solution for me.
My kilowatt usage--I am so upset with this months bill! It was 1981 kWts!! Versus the 1481 the last billing month. I was absolutely shocked and dismayed when I opened the bill. I thought I had been making a serious effort to cut back and then this bill arrived. My husband says it's because of the air conditioner and that the electric company does an estimation and rarely eyeballs our meter.
So, I am curious to see what it will be next billing cycle!

Recipes...

Have you ever tried to declutter your recipes?? I'm trying to do that. I have them written on notebook paper, recipe cards, scraps of paper and pages ripped out of the recipe books you get at the grocery store check out aisles. (I've found some good recipes from those little recipe books)
So, I have all these stored in a decorative bowl, a shoe box and a recipe card holder.
I don't want to type them all up on the computer. I want to keep the original recipes because that helps me search for them!!! The old, food spattered recipes are easily recognizable!! Sad in a way. I might just keep my current system. The recipe books are actually on a small bookshelf, so they are doing good how they are!

On the decluttering my home front--I got the rest of my dresser drawers cleaned out. Interesting stuff found there!

Seven Things week 4

I went to my closet for this week.
*SEVEN pair of shoes. Most of them are like new, hardly worn. They don't fit anymore.
*One set of Queen sheets. Light purple. Haven't used them in eons.
*3 tank tops, blue, magenta and purple
*Two jackets. A green raincoat and a blue Columbia windbreaker.
* TWELVE T-shirts all in great shape. Mostly hummingbird and Old Navy t shirts.
* 5 pair of shorts
* Boxed Bible trivia game--never opened. We bought it at Half Price Books and never played it.
I've been busy this week decluttering. I did 3 of my dresser drawers, part of my walk in closet, the top of my dresser, the top of the yarn cabinet my husband made me. ( it had lots of books on top of it)
I also cleaned out my "broom closet". It also holds my vacuum and miscellaneous other stuff. It's actually neat now and organized!
Hubby also made a pine bar that we use in the dining area for storage. I tackled the top of that this week also. One day I'll do the inside of it. But I am happy with the decluttering I have done so far!
I am really liking this "Seven Things" project. It's been just the thing I have needed to actually go through my house and find a new home for the things I am not using anymore!!

The compost pile and a wood chipper

The top picture is of the "new" compost pile. The one I have been working on.
The second picture is of the "old" compost pile, the one that was my husbands.
I still have some work to do on it but it takes a while. I am enjoying working with the dirt, and mixing it all up, etc.
We also figured out where we will be putting the garden! I am looking forward to that too. I plan on doing some tomatoes and herbs to start with.
We bought a wood chipper/shredder yesterday. It was the guys first ever listing on Craigslist. We got a good deal on it too. It will be great for all the branches we have now and the pruning hubby will be doing. It also shreds leaves and pine needles for the compost pile. It's not a good idea to put a lot of pine needles in the compost, unless they are shredded. So this will work out great!!

A face on a tree

This is the tree my husband hung my engagement ring from 12 yrs ago.
Today we put this face on the tree. My cousin had it on her tree but sadly she had to cut her tree down. She sent me the face and we finally put it on the tree. My husband assured me it would not harm the tree.

Seven Things--a bonus!

I have a Monday bonus seven things! I am excited.
My daughter took TEN things from my home that she can use. YAY!!
*Spatula
*Measuring spoon
*Can opener
*Ice cream scoop
*Metal whisk
*TWO pizza cutters
* Grapefruit knife
*Veggie brush
* Stadium blanket.
The stadium blanket is from hubby's work. He has been working some night shifts and his company picnic was Friday. Everyone received a stadium blanket. Yes, it's nice but how many blankets can I really have?? My Daughter will find it useful!!
I know they are only small things but they were items I had many duplicates of and I'm just glad to find a good home for these items. :)

Seven Things week 3

I found my seven things this week. Seems I am concentrating on the kitchen area! That's ok, we combined two households so we have a lot of duplicates, and some stuff we just never use. Kind of a crappy picture but it gives you an idea of what the stuff looks like.
*Mr Coffee Iced Tea maker. I really liked this and used it a lot, but not in the last year or so. I use the cold brew bags and they are just as good.
*White 2 piece Hummingbird candle holder. I bought this about 8 years ago. I had a candle sitting in it but never used it. Time for it to quit collecting dust here.
* Two angel food cake pans. I used them a lot when we were first married. Not so much the last few years. And who needs two of them anyway??
* A vegetable serving tray with a cover and bowls. I used this rarely and it too was just collecting dust and cluttering up my kitchen.
* A big white serving bowl thingy. Never once used it.
* Glass chip and dip bowl. Again--we never used it once.
*Four books, nothing special. I got all four of them for a dollar. Never read them.
So that's my list for this week. I'm sure next week I will have more kitchen items to find a new home for. My cupboards are looking good and a lot of this stuff was on top of my cupboards.
I'm glad to give them a new home and give someone else a chance to use this stuff.

Seven Things week 2

Here are my seven for this week.
*Mr Coffee coffee maker. DH took it to work. Neither of us drink coffee. My mom bought this for us for when we have company. We used it two or three times.
*A rice and veggie steamer that we have had for at least 12 yrs. I used it once. Time to go!!
* Round wood chip and dip thing from Crate and Barrel. We received this for our weeding from friends and used it exactly NEVER.
*Ice cream scoop, whisk, Marinade measuring cup. Never used the marinade cup and the scoop and whisk are one of many.
* 3 Hummingbird suncatchers. I have many of these and it's time to get rid of some of them.
*Log house night light. I bought this when we were first married and it's been collecting dust for all these yrs.
Not a whole lot that is sentimental, but I'm glad to be passing it all on.

The compost pile

I didn't know I already had a compost pile. Actually, it's my husbands compost pile. He started it 14 years ago. We have been married 12 yrs.
I always knew he threw the lawn clippings and leaves, and sawdust and ashes back behind the garage. I just never paid much attention to it ever.
Until now. Earlier this summer we added another shed to our yard. We put this one out behind the garage. Where the "pile" is. Hubby has never turned this pile until this summer..
So I decided I wanted a compost pile. I took over the duties and have been adding food scraps and I have been out there turning the pile. It smells like it should--earthy.
As I'm turning this mess that the husband created, I come across green lawn clippings--deep inside the bowels of the pile. So I am out there each day turning and mixing and getting the big pieces of wood and branches out.
It's a lot of work but oddly, I am enjoying it all.
I am hoping for a "steaming" compost pile this winter. I don't believe it ever steamed when the old man had control of it!
I am also looking forward to having less trash to put out every week.

My Grandma

Today my dear Grandma would have been 98 years old. She died of natural causes in January of 2005, a half a year before her 96th birthday. I miss her very much. We were always very close.
The past 10 yrs or so of her life she had Alzheimers and Dementia. It was hard to see my sweet Grandma going down hill. Little things in the beginning. Then bigger things.
My mom went to her house every six weeks. We lived about 7 hrs from Grandma. Grandma wasn't keeping her tiny house clean, or herself, or her refrigerator and food. She wasn't paying her bills either or car insurance. She had a couple of car accidents where thankfully no one was injured.
Then in 1999 she moved out to my dear Aunts house. I used to go visit them every 3 months for a week. I did that for 5 years. It was sad to see my grandma not remember who I was. All my life grandma had been there for me.
The last time I saw my sweet grandma was July of 2004. I have lots of pictures of her with me and DH and my son. She didn't remember who any of us were and I cried a lot that trip.
So, when Grandma died, I got her ashes. I still have them. DH needs to build a box for them so they aren't in the heavy cardboard box from the mortuary.
I have such very good memories of my sweet Grandma. I'm glad I have the memories, they will live forever.
This is a great book if you are dealing with anyone with Alzheimers or Dementia. It helped me to understand and cope with how my Grandma was behaving.
The 36-Hour Day : A Family Guide to Caring for Persons With Alzheimer Disease, Related Dementing Illnesses, and Memory Loss in Later Life by Nancy L. Mace and Peter V. Rabins

Wood Crochet hooks and yarn

I love wood crochet hooks and I love yarn.
About five years ago I was visiting my Aunt and she and her husband were making wood crochet hooks! So I came home and told dh that I wanted to make wood crochet hooks. DH turns pens on the lathe and he helped to turn some hooks, I did the rest of the work. Creating the hook, sanding, waxing the hooks. It gave me great pleasure to create wood hooks and to work beside my husband in his shop. I have made about 100 or so wood hooks and I have some in various stages of doneness. And I have given a bunch of them away too, to fellow crocheters. It is still fun to find a new wood that we haven't used yet on a pen or hook.
DH even bought me a mini lathe and gave me my own space out in his shop.
Last week I spent a few minutes out there and worked on a hook--it felt great. I haven't been out to the shop to work on anything since I was pregnant with my boy.
Now, about my yarn. I collect yarn. It's an obsession with me. I found some wonderful Lion brand Homespun baby yarn at the dollar store in the spring of 2005. I bought about 48 skeins of it. Then I sent dh to buy more, then I went back to buy more!! I was embarassed to be buying so much yarn, but at a dollar it was a steal!! I ended up buying about 300 dollars worth of yarn at the dollar store.
So, what did I do with all that yarn? Well, I made baby blankets for women on a message board I belong to. And I made some memorial blankets for women that had lost their babies born too soon. And I made blankets for the hospital. And I ran out of yarn! But I found a place online that sells it inexpensively with virtually free shipping. So I ordered a bunch. And DH won some on E-bay.
Guess what? I only have some white and some yellow skeins left. I am finally done making blankets 18 months later. I am burned out with crocheting baby blankets now.
Time to move on to those needlepoint chair covers for my mom. I have completed two of them and have two left. I'm hoping to finish them by spring.

The log house

No, it's not a cabin--it's a house. And I live in it. Though I have to admit for the first 2 yrs of our marriage we used a wood stove to heat the place. Then we got a gas stove.
I grew up in the third largest city in my state. When I got married, I moved out to the country--and I really did not like it. It took me a good year to get used to living out in the middle of nowhere. But now, I wouldn't and couldn't live anywhere else. We even contemplated moving and decided we couldn't. I'm glad to stay here.
My house has 2 loft bedrooms that Dh closed off for the kiddos. Master bedroom and bath, office, kitchen, living room another bathroom/laundry room. No basement, no linen closet. But it's home, my home and I like it .
We've done a lot with the almost 3 acres we live on. Lot's of trees and plants and flowers planted. We tried a veggie garden and the soil is so sandy that nothing grew well. We'd have to haul in a ton of black dirt to get a good garden.
We have a lot of birds and wildlife living around here too, and that's great for bird watchers like me.
My two new goals besides the weekly seven are to make a great compost pile and cut back on my kilowatt usage. The house used about 1480 kWt last month and I want to lower that if I can!

Seven Things

I started this blog because I want to keep track of Seven things (http://seven-things.blogspot.com//) each week.
It's a community project to declutter your living space. I am excited to be decluttering my house.
I have my first seven items to find a new home for.
The first week.
I have:
* a 3 piece bamboo steamer ( mostly steamed veggies with it) I tried to give it to SIL but she was not interested. I already have a smaller one that is more suitable for my family
*2 glass vases. I kept a small one and a big one. Don't need anymore than that
*3 plastic drinking cups
*2 ice trays I was going to use to freeze DS homemade food
* 1 stand up grater--the type you can also use to measure--never used it
So, I will deliver them to Family services in hopes someone else can use them.

I also starting composting today and already have a bunch of stuff in the pail! Mostly old potatoes.