A Nature Shelf! {week 1, February 2013}

A new month, although not an entirely new look!

We are still enjoying the delights of snow-season here in the mid Atlantic region, so just a bit of a shuffle, and a clean board. The Fairies are so enjoying their snug, warm house, I don't want to disturb things too much.

And what about you? How are you bringing a little of your outside environment into your home? Feel free to share; I'd love to hear from you!

Upcycling Sunday!

Upcycling, def. the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value.

Wikipedia.org

I have really been on a roll this past couple of weeks; sorting, selling, Freecycling, gifting and trashing. After my initial sweep through the house, about a month ago, I am now going back and having a more thorough sort. This means going through closets, boxes and making harder choices.

And one of the things I'm finding about this second sweep, is that I am making huge messes in the house. There are just piles of things all over the place; stuff to sort, things to donate, or sell, or organize. I keep telling myself that once this is all done, our home will be better for it, but it's not exactly an easy, or quick, process.

One of the things that I consistently hear (from My Good Man!) when I suggest getting things out of the house, is the age old argument that "we might need it someday", to which I generally retort "well when we do, the one that we're keeping will be so out of style/too old/cheaper to buy again". I've generally disregarded that whole argument.

Until last week, when I had real first hand experience of this very issue. We received a VitaMIx as a holiday/birthday gift from family (a kithcen item that we have been hankering for, for quite some time). So out went our dependable, but now obsolete blender.

Two days later, our lovely new VitaMix started to make horrible sounds while blending, accompanied by a strong burning smell. Not good.

So back to the VitaMix company it went, and we suddenly found ourselves without a blender! At least My Good Man had the decency not to tease me for my cut throat "get it out of here" attitude!

And a quick update on my 2013 in 2013 project ... I'm currently at 533 items out of the house, via sale, gift, donate or trash, leaving just 1480 items more before the year is out. Not too shabby!


And how is your Upcycling/donating/organizing going? Feel free to share; I'd love to hear from you!

Food Waste Friday! Better ... Finally!

I just love The Frugal Girl blog. Really - just love!

Each week (well - most weeks) she blogs about her food waste, a kind of public declaration, aimed to reduce her own food waste. And she invites the rest of us to join her!


I've had a run of really disastrous Food Waste weeks,really just disastrous. But, it gave me the opportunity to clear out my fridge and take a closer look at my grocery shopping and meal planning.

And, as a result, I'm pleased to announce that I had a minimal food waste week! Yay!

I lost half a fresh pineapple, which went fizzy and fermented really quickly, and an avocado which was just so yucky and mushy when I cut into it that I couldn't bear even adding it to a smoothie. So out they both went.

And of course, I realized that I didn't take photos of my food waste, so instead you get a shot of my fridge and my two Little Ones (who are magically drawn to the fridge whenever they hear the door open ;-)

Now I just have to maintain my minimal food waste ... oh, the pressure!


How was your food waste this week? Feel free to share; I'd love to hear from you!