I recently viewed a video on Facebook of a supermarket that creates no waste.  All of the containers are reusable and you simply fill, use, wash, repeat!


I was recently in Bulk Barn near my home here in Ontario and noticed a sign I hadn't seen before.


You see the Bulk Barn is already doing this whole thing and I never clued in!!!  So in case you're interested they have a page devoted to how it works.
BULK BARN Reusable-Container-Program

Kudos to the Bulk Barn for stepping up the no-waste game.



Here's where you can find one near you:

FIND A BULK BARN

UPDATE:  We have settled into a comfortable clothing number for us.  It's definitely more than 33 pieces but we've eliminated all the seasonal Rubbermaids in storage which gives us more storage space for everything else we love to do!!



On February 1st my husband and I embarked on the 333 Clothing Challenge.  The premise is to condense your clothes to 33 items for 3 months.  It took some sorting and a lot of purging but we both managed to pare our clothes down to 33 items.

Now, in the spirit of full disclosure... my 33 items does not include my shoes.  I figure this is my first shot at this and I'm taking some leniency on this issue.

This is the after shot of my closet.  My husband and I actually share a closet that's only 3 feet wide so it's nice to have some spare room in my 1.5 feet section!  I should have taken a before pic but just picture it packed and overflowing and you pretty much get the idea.

Stuff can be a burden.  You have to find space for it, you have to clean it, you have to move it, you keep collecting it.  It's amazing how the amount of stuff you own seems to grow to fit the space you have, and even then it usually maxes out your real estate and you are either struggling to live around it or you're constantly moving it around.  I'm pretty sick of stuff.


2017 is my year to purge my crap.  The stuff that I have some odd sentimental attachment to and feel I can release to someone who would ACTUALLY enjoy/use it.  I still love the person who gave it to me.... I just don't have use for the gift anymore.  I don't feel like this is a statement on our friendship/relationship.  If someone was sick and tired of a gift I had given them I HOPE they would turf it out of their life and recycle it into someone else's who needs it.



To be clear... I'm NOT a hoarder.  I don't need an intervention or a team of helpers.  I just need to make it a priority.  I need to be more brutal in my evaluating process.  I know this because every year I attempt to purge and the following year the same crap is kicking around the house.... why did I let this item make the cut last year?  What value did I see in it?  Was I high?  What was I thinking?

This year I'm going to be more brutal with my process, less sentimental.  I'm no longer looking at it as losing things, I choose to look at it as liberating myself from things I don't need.

Item #1....
my waffle maker.

Do not let the title fool you.  I'm not having a good time.

We recently had a water holding tank installed here in the woods because of bad water in a well that was running dry.  For the first time in years I was going to be able to drink the water that comes out of my tap.  But with all things, few things go according to plan. The tank was finished mid December and I think we've had running water for approx. 8 days since.  I don't really want to talk about it.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to me.

If this ever happens to you you will need the following:
Your therapist on speed dial.
A decent sized bucket for putting water in the back of the toilet.
An outhouse if possible
A large pot for boiling water for dishes/ sponge baths. (The kettle doesn't cut it)
A crap ton of water jugs to fill at a good friends place or outdoor water tap. Preferably the type with a spigot. You can put them on counters for brushing teeth/cooking/etc.
A wagon for moving these half ton jugs once they are full.
Patience and a sense of humour.

Some other helpful items are:
A large bucket you can stand in while sponge bathing.  All that water that you used to clean yourself can now get scooped into the back of the toilet to flush it when it really needs it.

Small tub on your counter with water in it to soak dishes before you get around to doing them.  It makes the actual act of washing them easier and prevents the waste of people trying to rinse them off one at a time.

Small cups in the bathroom for brushing teeth.  You put a bit of water in the cup and keep dipping your toothbrush to get it wet/rinse it off.

A large bottle of merlot.  Just because.

This whole experience has me thinking about places that don't have clean water, places that are in drought and have to conserve every drop they have.  We really do waste a lot of water. It's also amazing how little water you need if you're disciplined about how you use it and re-use it.

Unless you live under a rock I'm sure you've heard of the fight at Standing Rock. The protest to stop an oil pipeline that would threaten the clean water source for a huge population including the
Standing Rock Sioux near Lake Oahe.  The pipeline is slated to run a mere 800m away from their Territory.
Now everyone knows how important water is, but I don't think people realize the logistics of not having clean drinking water. An experience like this reminds me how important it is to keep our water protected and safe.  We can't live without it.

My husband and I took a trip to The Enchanted Forest Studio for the Westport Studio Tour.  Our friend David R. Maracle was playing and showing his sculptures.

The house, built by photographer Brian Mantrop, was simply amazing and I had to share some pictures.  He built it from the ground up using tons of recycled and repurposed materials.


Faithful dog guards the apple basket.


The house is 4 levels, the main floor living area, office area, and two bedrooms.

There are amazing outbuildings on the property that serve as studio's and sheds.


Kathy Cashman's studio, she makes amazing clothing!



The front porch of the main house, including a stone seating area for your morning coffee....



 The main living area, tons of windows let in natural light.


 The amazing woodwork comprising the ceiling on the main level.


If you ever get a chance to visit this amazing place I promise you won't be disappointed!

I remember when suet cakes were less than a dollar each.  I realize I sound like some old woman complaining about the price of gas, but seriously!
If you are cheap like me here are a few easy steps to feed those ravenous winged creatures outside.  The ones who even now are making enough noise to wake the dead because my suet is chilling in the fridge...

All you need is some fat ~ I use bacon fat.  I never throw out bacon drippings, it's something I learned from my grandmother and I could never shake it. I let them cool a bit and spoon them into a mason jar that is always in the back of my fridge.

Where were we?  Right, suet for pig-birds.

3/4 cup bacon fat (approx.)
1/2 cup peanut butter (anything you have, they are NOT picky)

~Melt these together.  (I often just use the big fry pan I used for the bacon, that way I only have to wash it once.)

6 cups wild bird seed (approx.)

~Mix in enough wild bird seed to fill the pan but you can still see a fine layer of liquid over the top.


Use a big spoon to put into containers.

I kept all my old suet containers so I just re-use those.

If you don't have anything that shape you could cut off the bottoms of old milk cartons and fill those. They are waxed and pop out easy once the suet is chilled.

When looking online for a recipe with more precise amounts I came across this one:

Suet Cake

• 2 parts melted fat (bacon fat, suet, or lard)
• 2 parts yellow cornmeal
• 1 part peanut butter

We have two dogs that don't respect the "Don't sleep on my bed" rule, OR the "don't drink out of the toilet" rule, or the "don't chew up my lego" rule.  For that reason we found it necessary to put a piece of plywood across the bottom of the stairs to keep them from sneaking up.


The problem with a piece of plywood is that it typically doesn't stay standing by itself so I had to prop a chair beside the plywood, beside the staircase.  You get the idea.  A lot of crap at the bottom of the stairs and everytime I wanted to go up or down I had to hop this fence of assorted "stuff". It got irritating. Anyone who visited over the summer can tell you how hideous it looked.

I figured it was time to make something more permanent.  It took a few pieces of 1"x6" and two hinges but I finally have a permanent "keep off my bed" gate!

It only took a few hours

I got the original idea from this website:  http://www.remodelaholic.com/2012/09/diy-barn-door-baby-for-stairs/

The plans were for a baby gate but I used the general idea, scrapped the closing mechanism, and voila! When we installed it we tilted it slightly so it always swings closed.  The cats have actually figured out how to push it open and run through before it closes on their tails.

It's FREEZING.  Like minus 30 degrees freezing. So last night I whipped this up for the front door where it seemed we had some cold air leaking in. Probably because the wind was at 100 km/hour.


SO simple... just some left-over polar fleece stuffed with foam, fibrefill and marbles to make it heavy and hug the floor. It probably took about 10 min to make. The cat slept at the front door this morning for the first time.... ever.

Today was Chili Sauce day. It's not a favorite day for my family but it's one of those necessary days every year.  Tomorrow is Chili Sauce Day Take 2.  Also not popular.

This morning I dragged my faithful family to the farm down the road to pick roma tomatoes.  We picked 1 bushel... well three of us did, the other one wandered around looking for bugs and avoiding any manual labour.

Said bug hunter redeemed himself by spending an hour chopping onions, peppers, and helping me skin what seemed like a million little red lava bombs.

All for this....

Here's how to make your own!

Steph's Chili Sauce (adapted from Cindy's!)
6 onions chopped
1/2 bushel tomatoes
3 green peppers chopped
3 red peppers chopped
4 cups vinegar
2 cups white sugar
2 cups brown sugar
8 gloves garlic, smashed
1/4 cup pickling spice

I always blanch my tomatoes and remove the skin.  Then I dump it all into a huge stock pot, bring it to a boil, reduce and simmer until you have about 1/2 left. (a few hours).  Can it in jars.  We eat it all winter with nacho chips, or sometimes it's my base for pasta!  Love it!!

I have a new kitchen table!! I'm so excited! 

For a long time we have had a round white table that was a hand-me-down from our neighbors from 4 years ago. We also have a hand-me-down table from some good friends that I actually stole out of the dining area for my sewing machine.  So we were stuck with the round white table that only seats 4 and the one leg kept falling off which made dinner more exciting because you never knew when that puppy was going to start to tilt! 

Anyway.  I looked into new tables and I have got to tell you, I'm not sure what these people are thinking.  Slapping 4 legs onto a piece of laminated particle board should NOT cost me in the hundreds of dollars.  Maybe it's just me.  SO enter Super Husband.  I made my little drawing, dragged him to Home Hardware, and went to work.  (I know, I'm a little demanding).  I was a LITTLE worried about this unsupervised activity.  Compounded by the fact that the boys were helping with it.  Here are some of the things that flew threw my mind during my more doubtful moments....



I should never have doubted.  This is my NEW table and I'm in love with it!  It seats 8!  We have already had people over for dinner which has not happened in a long time!


We spent $70 on wood but I got my table AND a storage bench which I still need to take a picture of.  Take THAT, overpriced particle board with legs, I don't think so!

For those wondering I kept the white table of doom and put it in the greenhouse to hold my pots and trays.  If I come up with a more creative use for it I will let you know.

OK, maybe not bliss. More like, "stink I'm glad that's done!".  I just finished our budget for 2013.  Yes I realize it's Feb.  Yes, I realize I'm late, but let's look at the bright side, I don't have to do it again until Feb 2014!!  Silver Lining Baby!



If you are interested in doing a budget for the year and discovering where your money disappears to in a puff of smoke... trust me it's not ACTUALLY flying out the front door every time you open it like your Dad used to tell you. And now that the Canadian money is all plastic it really DOESN'T grow on trees!!

Anyway.  A few great resources for budget starting:

Dave Ramsey has got some great downloadable forms to use: http://www.daveramsey.com/tools/budget-forms/

I LOVE Gail!!  She doesn't sugar-coat it!! :
Here is an article on how to go about doing  a budget: http://www.gailvazoxlade.com/resources/guide_to_building_budget.html
Here are a bunch of online forms etc. to help you:
http://www.gailvazoxlade.com/resources.html

Good Luck! 

My husband found me a new compost bucket!  I'm pretty excited about not having to use the bucket with a pie plate stuck on the top.  Don't get me wrong, it worked, just not well.  So after a month of looking....

my circa 1960's ice bucket/ compost bucket...

From Organizing Junkie's Pinterest Page!

I just recently discovered "I'm an Organizing Junkie!"  I love stalking this site!  I have a bit of a clutter problem at the moment and I'm trying to tackle it one room at a time.  I just recently repainted and reorganized my room, I will post some pics.  If you read the post from yesterday about my apple crates, stay tuned, I will post pictures when I figure out how I'm going to incorporate them into my organizational plan!

Here is the organizing junkie's Pinterest page!  I love pictures and I love being organized... this site is  Nirvana!

I have been meaning to make ketchup for quite some time.  I ran out the other day and since necessity is the mother of invention, I was gave it a shot.

I got my recipe here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Ketchup-Catsup-Recipe/

I didn't have any allspice but other than that I followed the recipe (my agave nectar wasn't blue, it was Light Madhava).  I really liked it and more importantly I put it in an old ketchup bottle, threw it in the fridge, and the kids didn't notice a difference.  Bonus.

I like the fact there is no corn syrup in it, I can pronounce all the ingredients, and I can control how much sugar/salt it contains!

We have a new composter for our kitchen waste!!  So exciting!  We have two other composting systems, both of which we built ourselves.  The first is for dog waste.... it consists of a buried garbage can with the bottom cut out and a lid.  We fill it up with the obvious items and sometimes add the ashes from our fire pit to keep the smell down and dry it out.  It works.
Our final composter is for yard stuff and consists of some skids we got for free, nailed together into a square box for anything that doesn't fit the other two!

My friend Wendy sent this to me and I have to say I'm lovin it... try it out, it works, and we can all use more bags to lug our mommy stuff around in, I mean really.

Here it is..
You might be asking yourself... where do you get a shower curtain that big.... well, I'm glad you asked.  It's actually a canvas painting tarp that we got at the hardware store.  I had to cut in half and sew it back together to make it skinny and long, instead of a huge square.  Then I added big grommets to the top to put hooks through.  The poles are obviously from the property and we had the rope lying around.  Overall I think the whole thing cost about $20.

Well the back window of our pick-up cap is finally fixed.  I'm not going to point any fingers but SOMEBODY was driving the truck with the window up and smashed it out.  The sound could be heard for miles and was akin to a grenade going off.  Needless to say.... no more window.

We looked into buying a replacement window.... and looked at the guy at Truck World as if he had just lost his mind.....  You want HOW MUCH for a piece of glass?  Did you blow it yourself?

We looked at getting a new cap on Kijiji (where we found our current one) and found some nice deals but I would have to REPAINT, and WASTE the one we have.... that seemed pretty wrong.

SO..... we made one.  Perfect...it is not.  Functional... yes.  Funky.... FOR SURE!

Pictures....ok:

In process....

Glue is drying....


Installed and painted.

I don't know how long it will last, but for now it works.