Picky Eater

We have some of David's mom's cookbooks, like this Campbell Soup one. I was thumbing through it tonight, when I found a page she'd marked and made notes on. This is note made me laugh out loud! David says he remembers eating it and that she was right - he didn't like it! Guess I won't be making this one any time soon. :)

Just Say No

Step one in the great Living With Less project is to be more deliberate in bringing items into the house. Reasonably easy to do while shopping, but what about the "free" stuff handed to you at various events? This weekend, David and I attended an RV show. The first 100 people through the door were gifted with free RV toilet paper. While in line, we decided we didn't really need nor want RV toilet paper to use in our imaginary RV, so I said no thank you to the t.p. man. He kind of looked at me funny, but we went on. One of the RV salesmen offered me a yard stick. Again, no thank you. "But it's autographed!" he protested while he still held out the yard stick to me. Smile, repeat no thank you! While we walked through the junk being peddled between the RV and boat section, a woman stuck out her hand with a small packet. "Would you like a sample of Scentsy!" It wasn't a question so much as an assumption. "No thank you!" She looked a little taken aback, as if shocked that I wasn't interested in a sample. Had I not been paying attention, I would have come home with RV toilet paper, a yard stick, and a Scentsy packet. I don't need any of those things, but they would have been mine to dispose of in some way, or to keep around cluttering up the place.

Today three boxes of housewares, a bag of clothes, and four coats made their way to an organization where hopefully they will be used by someone who needs them more than I do. One of my favorite declutter/minimalist type blogs is http://www.365lessthings.com/. Every week, she gives suggestions for mini-tasks like cleaning out your glovebox or pen drawer. Right up my alley!

Fun Filled Family Christmas

Christmas at my Aunt Connie's was delayed by cold and flu bugs, so we got together for chili and other yummies last Saturday. John and Connie's house is one of my favorite places.
Downstairs my Uncle John has a "train room." He's spent lots of time getting everything just right and it is so cool!
Little Ryan loves to watch Thomas go round the track - he may become a train guy too! We had a great time with lots of good food.

Kitchen Art

Use it up

Wear it out

Make it do

Or do without

I learned that little poem in a Culture of the Ozarks class, and I am always proud of myself when I can put it to use. I had wanted a rack to display my four old rolling pins, but hadn't seen one. At least I hadn't seen one that would hold four or more and didn't have a heart at the top. Recently, I was struck by inspiration. I already had the wire rack and it was hanging in the same spot with pictures and such clipped to it with clothes pins. I realized that I might be able to use it for the rolling pins and voila! Here it is:

The rolling pins are tied to it with simple twine. I like thinking about the women who wore the paint off the handles with many years of use.

The Anti-Minimalist Closet

Riley's been front and center of the blog long enough - so long that he even got on the computer himself and left a comment! He is SO smart! So...welcome to my cleaned out holiday closet. :)Every year as I unpack Christmas, I vow to pack it back up nicely and more organized. By the time I put it away, my goal is to get it back in the closet as quickly as possible. But this year I stuck to my plans. I bought shiny new plastic containers, and retired the mismatched cardboard boxes to the recycling center.
I did the same thing with the fall decorations when there were only blue lids. :( Oh well.
I put my label maker to work and can now look forward to decorating next year with boxes that are organized by room. Silly, but it makes me happy!