My Clutter Mantras

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Deborah Lee

I am in the process of digging out of a mound of clutter. It’s often hard to figure out what to throw away. As I mentioned in my previous post, Facing Clutter,  I’m one of those people who can pick up any item and come up with a minimum of 3 ways to use it. 

I have one thing on my side that really helps. Over the years I’ve compiled a few mantras to push my mind into making a decision. These are just simple statements that I say to myself when have an item in question.  They really help me put things in perspective.

  1. Do you use it? Do you love it? Does it make you money?
    I got this one from organizing guru Julie Morganstern. Many times this is all I need to get rid of something, but I often need more help.

  2. If you got rid of it today and needed it later what is the worst that can happen?
    This came from organizing expert Barbara Hemphill who focuses on organizing papers. I’ll ask myself this question if the first one fails. Usually the worst that can happen is that I have to buy a new one. This has come back to haunt me a few times, but for the most part it doesn’t really matter.

  3. What is the cost of keeping it?
    This is my own mantra and sometimes I go straight to it. The costs I look at are losses in energy, time, space, relationships, creativity, peace of mind, or money. If all of the others fail, then this will usually make things very clear.

If I decide to get rid of it then I place it in the trash can, recycling bin, or a donation box. Going through the process makes this part a lot easier

If I have decided to keep it, then I have the additional task of determining where it goes. I make every effort to keep it out of a box of miscellaneous stuff. At the very least I will put it in a container that is sorted by category.

By the time I get to this point I start to see whether my systems are working for me or failing me. With my mind freed up a bit I can figure out how to improve things. It’s still difficult, but as with most of life, it’s a process.

Deborah

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Facing Clutter: Tips and Techniques from the Trenches

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Deborah Lee


It’s probably bold of me to write this considering that I’m living in piles of clutter right now. I’m braving it for two reasons.

First, I know I’m not alone. If people weren’t struggling with clutter, then there wouldn’t be so many books, websites, TV shows, consultants, etc. making money off the problem.

Second, I know that experience is valuable even if mastery hasn’t been obtained. Any naturally neat person can write a book. However they often don’t comprehend what the world looks like from the eyes those who don’t come by those skills easily.

When you’ve lived your life moving clutter around, you figure out some things along the way.  So even though I’m not there yet, here are some of the things that have moved me in the right direction.

Keep a donation box handy
I keep a box that is always ready to accept a thrift store donation. When I see something I don’t need anymore it goes in there. When it is full I document it for my taxes and donate it to the thrift store.

Know how you are wired
There are a ton of organization systems available out there and plenty of advice being handed out. Most of that is coming from people who are naturally neat and who are much more linear thinkers. If those things are working for you, then you are probably one of those types of thinkers.

For those of us who find this to be a struggle it is helpful to know that there are other ways.  The more right brained person doesn’t think in lines. We think in seemingly random clumps. Well, maybe constellations is a better word. It’s what makes us so good at brainstorming. We make connections and see the potential in everything. We can pick up pretty much anything and figure out a minimum of 3 ways to use it. It’s a blessing and a curse.

If you fit into this category, then filing cabinets do not work. It is out of sight and out of mind. A more visual filing system is better. That’s why you hear of people with piles of papers on their desk yet they know where everything is. The books  Organizing for the Creative Person and Organizing from the Right Side of the Brain teach some interesting things about how organizing is different for creative types.

Focus on maintaining (and maybe a little more)
This is a new one for me. I got so overwhelmed with the clutter because I wanted it all gone. I was trapped in an all or nothing cycle which usually ended up as nothing. It was actually paralyzing me from doing anything. I decided I should first make an effort to maintain it and prevent it from getting worse.My approach has been do what is necessary to maintain things and maybe a few steps more more. This helped me take the pressure off and get out of the all or nothing mindset. It also opened the door for me to create some systems.

Go with your current habits
I learned this one from organizing expert Julie Morganstern. She says that if you already have a habit of leaving something in a spot, don’t try to go against your habits, just create a better way to organize that spot. For me that meant putting a coat tree next to the arm of the couch and putting a shoe shelf in the bathroom.

Understand your limitations
Are you working, homeschooling, driving kids this way and that, dealing with health problems, active in church, involved in projects in the community, etc.? All of these things take a piece of you in the form of time and energy. We need to weigh these things in our lives.

When I took a part time job my home suffered. I had no idea how much I was actually getting done. Every little thing we do takes something from us. We may have to give up something to have the resources we need to focus on our home.

Determine your acceptable level of clutter
Figure out what level of clean you can accept as a minimum for your lifestyle. Some people work all day, have no kids at home and want their house to look like something in a magazine. Others use theirs 24/7 and are always working on projects that require stuff to be front and center.  Make your focus about getting your home to the level that you and your family need in order to feel at peace.

Again, I’m not the poster child for an organized home, but these are some things that keep it from being worse than it is. I can admit it because I know I’m not alone in this.

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Make Your Own Bonemeal

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Deborah Lee

Found this great note on Facebook. It was interesting to me because I’ve got this goal to use every part of a chicken or turkey with nothing thrown away. Bonemeal is an excellent garden amendment and can be used as an ingredient in homemade dog food or as a calcium supplement for dogs.


Making Bonemeal For Your Garden

by Village Herbalist on Sunday, June 26, 2011 at 12:08pm ·

Making bonemeal for your garden helps control the quality of the bone meal, making it from the anti-biotic and hormone free bones from your dinner. This can be done with any type of bones.

To do this, place the bones into a cooking pot and cover them with water. Add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar per quart of water. Bring this to a boil until  cooked down to the last bits of water, then simmer that off too. This all breaks down the constituents of bone and makes them soft enough to break. Now, place the bones into a baking dish and bake in the oven on low heat until they are dry and brittle. Cool, put into a plastic bag, wrap that in a dish towel, put that into another plastic bag. Either hit this bag against some cement or a rock, or just take a hammer to the bag. This can be stored in a can for use when needed.

Mix the bone meal into the soil around your herbs or into the soil before planting.   It’s a good source of phosphorus, which helps with root system growth, for better flower, fruit and seed development, and vitamin content. Also a source of nitrogen, which is a general herb growth promoter and helps the herbs ability to make proteins. Nitrogen tends to give strength and vigor to sickly, spindly herbs.

 

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Recipe Review: 100% Whole Wheat Biscuits

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Deborah Lee

I found this recipe on a blog called 100 Days of Real Food. The blogger is writing about her commitment to have her family go 100 days without eating any processed food. I have only tried this recipe but I plan to explore it more.

Her blog post with her recipe is below. Keep reading after the recipe for my review of the recipe with some troubles and fixes I experienced.

Recipe: Super Easy Whole Wheat Biscuits
from 100 Days of Real Food
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/04/08/super-easy-recipe-whole-wheat-biscuits/

There are so many reasons why I love these biscuits. First of all, they are super easy to make and no special equipment (like a rolling pin or biscuit cutter) is needed. It takes no more than 15 or 20 minutes to make them from mixing the dough to pulling them out of the oven. Then once they are done they are moist and flaky and so tasty (c’mon, look at the picture – you know you want one!). And the best part is that they freeze and reheat beautifully (I just throw the frozen biscuits in the toaster oven on the bake setting). So make a big batch, freeze a bunch in a gallon zip lock freezer bag, and then the next time you want to add a biscuit to your breakfast, lunch or dinner they are ready to go. It honestly couldn’t be easier…so go ahead and throw away that refrigerated tube of dough you bought from the grocery store!

Whole Wheat Biscuits

    • 2 cups whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur’s white whole wheat organic flour)
    • 4 teaspoons baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ¼ cup cold unsalted butter
    • 1 cup milk (any kind)

In a medium sized bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well with whisk or fork. Cut the ½ stick butter into little pea sized pieces and then mix the pieces into the flour mixture. Using a fork, try to mash the butter pieces as you mix it together with the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs. It is okay if the outcome just looks like the same pea sized pieces of butter covered with flour. Then pour in the milk and mix it all together. Knead the dough with your hands 8 to 10 times and then turn out onto a counter or cutting board. Pat it out flat with your hands until the dough is a somewhat even ¾-inch thickness (sprinkle with a little flour if necessary). Turn a drinking glass upside down and cut out biscuit rounds. I have also used shaped cookie cutters (like a heart or star) if you have little ones helping you! Then put them on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 10 – 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Yield: 8 – 10 biscuits (depending on the size that you cut them)

Redneck Review

I was very happy to find this recipe. I have been wanting to start making whole wheat biscuits for a while. The comments on her blog all raved about the recipe, so I gave it a shot.

I used soft white wheat which is better for non-yeast baking. It is sometimes labeled as pastry flour. I grind the wheat myself in my flour mill.

I ran into some difficulty the first time I made the biscuits. I followed the recipe, but the dough was way too wet to roll out.  I decided to make them as drop biscuits. They were awesome tasting although a little crumbly. I made them this way about 3 times with good results

Later I wanted to see if I could find out what went wrong. I looked on the blogs comments, but no one else seemed to have the problem. I determined that since I milled my flour immediately before mixing that it had a lot more air in it than flour that had been in transit and sitting on shelves.

The next time I made them I packed the flour into the cup fairly tightly. This time I got the true consistency of biscuit dough. I pressed it out and cut out biscuits. They were good, but drier and not as pretty as in the picture. However, I have never really mastered the art of rolled biscuits and still need some practice.  I am going to work on making adjustments to the flour, but I may still use the drop method and skip the rolling out and cutting steps.

If you are using store bought flour you should be able to followe her recipe directly. If you want to try them as drop biscuits. Try lightly spooning the flour into the measuring cup rather than scooping directly from the canister.

All in all I would say it is an excellent recipe and well worth trying.

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Foolish Father Goes Viral

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Deborah Lee

I’ve been thinking a lot about this video that has been floating around where a dad lamblasts his daughter for a derogatory letter she posted on a supposedly hidden from him FB page. He really goes after her. He tells her off and ends up shooting her laptop several times. 

I’m not justifying the girls letter. She was wrong to do it and truly seems to be ungrateful for what she’s been given. She is also young in need of guidance.

The father, on the other hand, is supposed to be the mature adult who is to be a model of upright behavior for his daughter. To go on this long rant and publicly humiliate his daughter is going to do nothing but drive her away from understanding the truth about her actions and words. She is going to run from maturity rather than grow into it.

This is not about discipline it is about revenge and being the winner. It is not becoming of a father and reveals a lack of character on his part. The father needs to take responsibility for his own actions in this. If she is so spoiled, then who was the one who did the spoiling.

Now that he has shamed her in front of the whole country how can she ever trust him to be the father who loves and protects her when she needs it most. These wounds will run very deep. This relationship may never be mended.

Deborah

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Doomsday Preppers: New TV Show

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Deborah Lee

Last Tuesday, February 7, 2012, a new show premiered on the National Geographic channel. It’s called Doomsday Preppers. A pilot episode was filmed in 2011 and received good reviews so they decided to run the show.

In the pilot episode they looked at 4 families of preppers.  Preppers are people who are preparing for an upcoming major disaster, economic meltdown, war or other event that might possibly change the way we live and cause resources to be scarce.

They show the efforts each family is taking and at the end give analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. The efforts of each family lines up with their belief in the likelihood of a potential event. In this episode the featured families were concerned about a coronal mass ejection, hyperinflation/economic meltdown, or nuclear threat.

There were some pretty innovative ideas in the pilot episode. One guy in the Phoenix suburbs had turned his pool into an aquaponic greenhouse combined with a chicken coop on the shallow end and a tilapia fish pond in the deep end. Another had created a wood gasification system to run his truck and act as a back-up generator.

Most families wouldn’t go to these extremes, but we all could learn a few lessons from the prepper world. In the real world, unforeseen events do occur. We’ve seen enough of earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and tsunamis in the last few years to know that we need to have some level of preparedness and some basic planning. History teaches us  that we’ve had it pretty darn easy in the good ol’ US of A. I think we’ve been lulled into a place of complacency.

I remember watching one of those shows where two families switch wives for two weeks. A trendy west coast city couple switched with a homeschool family in remote Iowa who homesteaded and practiced preparedness. The city wife said something to the effect that she lives in the city. She will always have food. How naive. Cities will be the first place food runs out. I think most of us would say that she is mistaken, but our actions show that we don’t really believe it. So, I guess it’s not just complacency, but really denial.

I think the new show is interesting although I disagree with a couple of things. The preppers are putting themselves at risk by revealing their locations and resources on national television.  If something does happen then their security will be at risk. The other thing I’ve noticed is how every time they weigh the odds, the show says that all of the scenarios are unlikely to happen. I think some of them are very likely–particularly a financial meltdown.

If you have an interest in learning more check out Doomsday Preppers on Tuesdays 9pm ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel. I don’t have cable and they don’t appear to have full episodes of this series on the National Geographic site, so I watched on YouTube. Below are some videos of the show.

I’d love to hear what you think.

Deborah

The pilot episode from YouTube user Offline922

Bullets, Lots of Bullets Feb 7, 2012. Video and audio could be better, but this is the only one I could find at the time of this posting.

Another episode, I Hope I am Crazy, aired on Feb 7, 2012. This has David Sarti, a very funny prepper I have followed on YouTube for a few years.

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100% Whole Wheat Buns

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Deborah Lee

In the last few years I’ve been trying to make lifestyle changes that help my family be more healthy and more self-sufficient. One of those has been making our own whole wheat bread. It is definitely an art. My first stage was to get my basic recipes using the bread machine. Future goals are doing it without the bread machine and learning how to use sourdough starter.

One of the basic recipes that I have found is for hamburger and hot dog buns.  We really like them.  If you aren’t quite ready to go 100% whole grain, then you can substitute all purpose flour for one or two cups of the whole wheat flour.

100% Whole Wheat Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns
Bread Machine Recipe

Ingredients:Hot Dog Buns

  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 egg
  • 3 cups whole wheat flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1/4 cup sugar, honey, or other sweetener (do not use artificial sweeteners)
  • 3 teaspoons yeast
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (optional, but will help the bread to rise)

Directions:

  1. Place all ingredients in bread machine pan in the order listed and run it through your bread machine on the dough setting.
  2. When dough cycle has finished. Place the dough onto a floured counter and shape into a roll.
  3. Divide dough and shape according to your needs. A good rule of thumb is 8 pieces for hamburger buns and 12 for hot dogs.
  4. Place on greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in warm oven 10 to 15 minutes until almost doubled.
  5. Turn oven to 400°F  and bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. Cool on racks.

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Homemade Laundry Detergent

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Deborah Lee

I showed up at the church craft night a couple of weeks ago with boxes of old-timey cleaning stuff and a grater. Invariably, someone asked me what project I was working on. When I said I’m making my own laundry detergent there were some puzzled looks and the hesitant “Oh, OK.”

For me, there were several reasons to seek out this kind of project–cost, allergies, and because I like making stuff. There are a ton of recipes online. I used the one from the video below.

The results have been great. Gary is a real believer. I put two wet towels in the dryer and forgot to turn it on. Sadly, I do things like this a lot. In the past he would re-wash in the major name brand and the smell wouldn’t come out. This time it came out completely. Plus, it doesn’t have all of those smells we are always reacting to in detergents.

Here are the recipes. We have only used the dry version.

Laundry Detergent

Ingredients
2 cups of Borax
2 cups of Washing Soda
1 bar of a pure soap, grated  (Ivory, Fels Naphtha, Castille, etc.)

For Dry

  • Mix the ingredients together in a container. 
  • Use 1 tablespoon in a front loading washer or 2 tablespoons for a top loader.
  • You may need to make adjustments based on your type of water. 

For Liquid

  • Put grated soap in a pot. Cover with water and melt over low heat.
  • Put washing soda and borax in a 5 gallon bucket.
  • Add some hot water and mix to dissolve.
  • Add the melted soap and stir until mixed.
  • Top off the bucket with water. 
  • Use 1/2 cup for a front loader and 1 cup for a top loader.
  • Adjust according to your type of water.

I used the Fels Naphtha as the bar soap. This is a laundry bar that I heard about online. It is larger than the other bars, so I didn’t use the whole bar.

I was able to find everything at the grocery store. All of the Wal-Mart stores I’ve been to lately have all three ingredients, but are often sold out. I’ve been to several stores in St. Louis and Alabams. They are in the laundry section usually on a bottom shelf. ACE hardware has everything online and lets you order online and have it delivered free to one of their stores.

Credit goes to Kim at www.homestead-acres.com for her video on making dry and liquid laundry detergent.

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“How to Raise a Musical Child” Resources

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Deborah Lee

Saturday, March 26, 2011 I will speak at the Greater St. Louis Area Home Educators Expo. The title of my presentation is “How to Raise a Musical Child When You Don’t Feel Very Musical”.

One thing I want to communicate is that music applies to all of life, music is part of being human, and we can find ways to create a musical home. I’ve written much about this on another blog www.ourmusicalhome.

It saddens me how music has become so passive and how family musical life–which was so vibrant in the past–has largely been lost.  The advent of recorded music has changed us. We can now listen to symphony orchestras on demand. We can hear music from across the ages on our cell phones. We have gained greater access, but the down side is that our relationship to music has become passive and it often times nothing more than filler.

In many ways there is too much music.  I am in a restaurant as I write this. There is music in the background. In some ways it is a distraction. In other ways it is being taken for granted.

Many people only experience music as passive listeners. They never know the joys of making music. So many people don’t realize the role music plays in history and in life or that music is a skill that can be developed.  These are things I will touch on in my presentation.

Below are the resources from my presentation. It is just an overview of some basic ideas I’ve been pondering.  I would love to get feedback from those at the seminar and those who read the material. Just add your thoughts in the comment section.

How to Raise a Musical Child When You Don’t Feel Very Musical 
Seminar Materials  

PowerPoint Slides  

Article Handouts

Books Mentioned

Freebies

Video: Mike Huckabee Art and Music Education

Deborah

P.S. We are considering creating a curriculum or other resources to help homeschooling families build musical knowledge and understanding.  We would love to hear your ideas. Please post them in the comments section.

P.P.S. If you would like to get updates as more homeschool music information becomes available please subscribe here. You must respond to a confirmation email for the updates to become active.


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What Would Ma Ingalls Do?

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Deborah Lee

The real Pa and Ma Ingalls -- Charles and Caroline.

If your experience with Laura Ingalls and her family is limited to the 1970′s TV show, then you might miss the meaning of my title. The TV show focused on relationships and people, but left out a lot of the richness and difficulties the real Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about her life on the frontier.

In the books Laura writes about what their family does to survive. It chronicles how they live, get their food, worship, deal with hardships and more. In the books Ma is making bread, doing laundry by hand, making cheese from rennet made fresh from a slaughtered calf, sewing by hand, making do with what she has because the closest store is an overnight trip, and so much more.

The more I think about how we get things and even how we do things to gain a simpler life, the more I realize how dependent we are on manufactured goods. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad thing. Manufacturing is productivity and it is what keeps our economy strong. I like having the convenience of tools and ingredients that make life easier and more interesting.

I also see things from another perspective. In July 2006, St. Louis had a weather event that spawned many low level cyclonic winds called gustnadoes. A large part of St. Louis was without power. Many areas were without power for several weeks. For us it was 3 days with the heat index around 115 degrees each day.

Those three days taught me a lot. I realized that it was relaxing to shut off the electronics for a while. I ended up getting a lot done around the house. I was even canning watermelon rind pickles. I had them soaking prior to the outage and needed to get them canned. I used  a flash light to see if they had reached transparency.

I also learned that freezing produce from your garden makes it more vulnerable. We had lots of fruit and vegetables in the deep freezer and eventually they started to thaw.  It was at that point I decided to switch from freezing to canning.

A few years later I started to think about canning. Canning requires you to buy lids. What if lids become unavailable?  How will I preserve my food. Because of this realization I started exploring other food preservation methods such as fermenting and dehydrating. I still haven’t really incorporated these techniques. I’ve just been reading up. I plan to dehydrate a lot of food this year. I’m going to experiment with the electric dehydrator, in the oven and sun drying.

When I think about what Ma Ingalls would do, I think of what I would do if some breakdown in our system prevented me from getting what I needed. This can be a manufactured item or a food item that is not available locally. 

For example, what if I can’t get yeast to make my bread. Commercial yeast is a fairly new invention, after all. How did people do it before? They either used a starter or they didn’t make that type of bread. Thinking on these things colors my decisions. I’m not going to quit using store bought yeast, and I’m not going to ditch my bread machine. I’m just going to make sure I have the knowledge, skills, and enough experience to make a change if necessary.

I think most Americans take for granted as necessities things that most people didn’t have access to 100 years ago–electricity, hot water, air conditioning, bananas, citrus fruits, individual communion cups, refrigerators, washing machines, fresh vegetables during the winter, olive oil, shampoo, toilet paper or even indoor toilets. The list can go on and on.

Thinking about these types of things has made me see other vulnerabilities like the fact that the Wal-Mart store near our house sells 65% of its inventory everyday and that we live near a major fault line-the New Madrid fault. Our city had laws requiring buildings made of brick because of devastating fires in the 19th century.  It’s the completely wrong building material to if you are going to be hit by earthquakes.  I’m not being a Chicken Little, it is just realistic to look at the fact that people go through hard things and they can happen suddenly.

It’s not just the vulnerabilities, but the desire to have more simplicity and to find creative ways to use what I have around me. It is more work, but it is the kind of work that energizes me.

I’m not giving up the world of modern conveniences, I’m just looking at things differently with an eye toward the past. When I think of what Ma Ingalls would do, I also think of how my grandparents lived. They didn’t have a lot of these things either.  As I ponder these things I am finding a richness in remembering them and in finding a slower way of living.

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