I am sorry wordpress…

I do not like you

You may think I am a bad blogger, and it is probably a little true, but in reality I am just unhappy with wordpress. Maybe it’s 5 years of using blogger but I just dislike this program! Yes it’s fancy and my blog looks GREAT, but it takes me way longer to post..

So I’m moving back to my old blog. ARGH! Call me Fickle McFickleson if you want, but at least I keep going back to the same thing!

visit me here:

http://sustainable-shire.blogspot.com

I’ve been going on adventures! And I am training for a triathlon! Woohoo!

A gift, a hike and some homegrown veggies.

I just wanted to post quickly about some of the highlights of my week. Last Sunday (the 8th) I got to give my friend Amanda the clock I’d embroidered for her baby’s room, and she loved it! Actually I got many comments about how nice it was. It truly felt wonderful to give something that was completely out of my head, no pattern or anything. It is like I’m sharing a little piece of me with the little guy!

This week I ate my first bit of greens from the garden! These Osaka purple mustard greens went into some vegan mac-and-cheez.

And here are a couple of quick snaps from our hike in Lake Houston Park yesterday.

Russell loves this bridge:

I love this shot:

And this one:

Alright that enough for today! I also need to show you my updated work space but I’d like to tidy up a bit, and the awwwweeesssoooommmeee Corelle dishes Russell scored for me at an estate sale. We love Corelle and have been looking for a set for awhile. Russell found a 26 peice set for $20 that looks just like these guys.

But I’ll leave you with this sage bit of advice that I looked up last night after scoring on some awesome thrift store jeans.

If you have a zipper on your jeans that won’t stay up, an easy fix it to loop a rubber band through the zipper and then around the button before you button the pants. Quick, easy and almost free!

Productivity!

My goodness I have been getting a lot done. The office space is looking amazing!! I still have a lot of decluttering to do but we put up some shelves, magnetic strips for scissors and tins, and a thread holder and its all coming out well. Also these past two days my mom and sister came to visit and we tackled the bedroom. I still have a lot lot lot to do in there but a lot of the first coat is done and most importantly the DRY WALL is done so that there are no more hideous cracks, hooray!!!!!

I realized when I started working on the drywall that I was sort of setting myself up for failure by saying “I want this to be perfect perfect.” This is an old house (80 years old this year!), and it’s drywall has been through a lot (settling then leveling).  So the fact is that with the skill, time, and money I have, I can repair cracked drywall pretty well, but not  replace all of the drywall, which is what would be necessary if I wanted the room to really look ‘perfect’. And basically, I don’t care if it’s perfect perfect after all. I want it to be beautiful, cozy and romantic. Like a cottagey bed and breakfast, not a brand new house in the suburbs.

After deciding that it was much easier to proceed. Yesterday we cleaned, and I repaired all the drywall cracks. Today we sanded the joint compound and did the first coat of primer on the wood work/ trim and most of the first coat on the walls… I have to do the filling in up at the top and on the still-wet joint compound later tonight. Either tomorrow morning before work or this weekend I will do the second coat of paint. This weekend I’ll put the enamel on the wood work. Then on to duvet cover, curtains, and bedside table /lamp  acquisition!

Before pictures:

This is the corner I wake up to looking at every morning.

It’s hard to see just how stained and ugly that woodwork is.

That entire corner cracked after we leveled the house.

Ugly door!

After drywall repair and cleaning on Monday, Tuesday AM pictures:

After the primer on the woodwork, and most of the first coat of paint:

Ugly door is significantly less ugly!

Corner I look at every morning already looks much nicer.

Woodwork less disturbing even though only primer has been added.

You can still see a lot of seams in the wall from the dry wall tape. I’m OK with that. It looks so much better than it did.

28 day organization challenge day 2 PLAN

These are the questions from Organizing Junkie for today, the goal is to plan the space.

1. What do I want the purpose of my room or area to be?

The purpose of this area is to serve as the brain of my house and also my life. It is (as is the kitchen and the garden) an outlet for my creative pursuits, but it is mostly a place where I plan, process information, process paperwork, and keep things together. It is also where I store all of my books besides cookbooks and all of my home office supplies (paper, tape, pens), craft supplies and paperwork. I’d also like it to be a fun-looking, beautiful place that’s enjoyable to spend time in.
2. What do I need in or near the room to serve that purpose?

I need my filing cabinet, book shelf, and space for my craft supplies.  I would like to put up some shelves, find some ways to organize my supplies, and also find a big white board/cork board that I can use as a brain dump. I think I may have an old corkboard in a garage somewhere. Must research.
3. What can I remove from the room?

On the wall, I don’t need a calendar as I have my main calendar else where in the house, and I can use the calendar on my computer. There is some junk mail, my Halloween costume from last year, some unused craft supplies and craft books, and laundry here as well as some general trash.
4. What problems do I see with the room?

It serves a lot of functions for me, so it seems like it’s extra important to not introduce anything into the space that isn’t part of the functions it does serve (i.e. no dirty laundry, trash, etc) My mind is also in a lot of places at once so I tend to be working on a couple projects at a time (paying bills, reading a magazine, doodling an embroidery design). Need to find a way to sort through those. Also since a lot of my craft supplies don’t have a “home” they end up tossed on the desk or shoved somewhere else. That needs to be fixed.

This is an example of stuff just getting shoved into a place because it doesn’t have a “home”.

5. What organizational tools might solve those problems?

A small trash basket, possibly a tiered inbox to keep active projects straight, and of course, organizational solutions for my craft supplies.
6. What habits need to change to solve the organizational problems?

I need to focus on one task at a time (don’t start a magazine until my bills are paid and put away), and also I really need to develop a craft list so as to not start too many crafts at once, lose interest, start another, etc. Unfinished business really irks me!
7. What kind of a budget do I have to create the organized room of my dreams?

Close to nothin’. We’re renovating our house and trying to save up an emergency fund, so I’ll be using a lot of creativity on this
8. What kind of a timeline is necessary to organize the room? (28 days!)

I think 28 days should be good. I always see it as an afternoon project but I think giving myself the full month will give me some time to really think myself through it. I am also starting to remodel our bedroom this month so this way I can do both projects and not be completely overwhelmed.

9. What is my plan of action?

Remove everything from this space that doesn’t need to be here. Sort craft supplies and determine what is needed to contain everything neatly. Put up shelves and find some sort of white board/cork board. Clean out filing cabinet of old old old papers and start filing away important documents. Make a spreadsheet of craft projects I want to complete and post it on my board.

10. Who can I ask to help me with this?  (working with a friend can be fun, productive and encouraging)

I have a lot of great friends, a supportive mom and sister and a wonderful husband! But I think I can conquer this on my own. I know I can call in back up if needed.

28 day organization challenge!

I’ve had “organize my craft/office/work space” on my to-do list for too long, it just never gets done! So when I saw Organizing Junkie’s February Challenge of 28 days to organize, step by step, one space, I knew it would be an awesome option for me!

This is my half of our “office” which was a dining room, until we closed off the door to the kitchen (we needed a place in the kitchen for our fridge, it’s a small small house!) I feel completely lucky to have such a LARGE space to spread out. I have room for all my craft supplies, my sewing table (my sewing machine drops down into the table), my computer, my filing cabinet, and a bookshelf! Unfortunately it’s currently a huge huge huge mess. I use this space mostly for using the computer, as I work at a craft store and can get away with doing crafts while I am at work. I also pay bills here, sort mail, listen to music, invent, create, plan my garden, and write my blog.

Enough talk! Here is what I’m starting with:

This is where I sit most of the time. I also sit in the papasan chair when I knit or do embroidery, or when I read.

This is pretty close to the actual color of the room. I just painted and love the green.

I love the precarious look of the basket. I also love to play the ukulele.

I will post my “after” pictures and any little tid-bits I learn during the process.

Master bedroom makeover: the plan

There are a lot of things that really need to be done on the house. Really much more important than making over the master bedroom, actually. I need to paint the woodwork on the backside and sides of the house, we need to move the dang clothes washer out of the kitchen and paint the unfinished shelves in there, I need to organize my workspace, and paint the living room, and get a tub-shower combination instead of the slightly scary shower we have. But what I feel is the most pressing issue right now is to redo the master bedroom.

Maybe it’s because my mom insisted I read It’s All Too Much and Peter Walsh discusses the master bedroom as being the heart of the home. Maybe it’s because it’s the last thing I see before I go to bed and first thing when I wake up. Maybe it’s because I think it will make my marriage, which is easily the most wonderful part of my life, even more peaceful and romantic. Maybe it’s because it seems like out of all the things that should take precedence before kids come along, having a mom-and-dad sanctuary seems like the most vital and most overlooked.

Maybe when it comes down to it, I’m just tired of looking at the horrible paint job (peach walls + turquoise ceiling + gray woodwork) that attempted to cover an even worse dry wall repair job (I did this in the office, and while a temporary fix to keep a room functional, it is never meant to last forever). Maybe I’m sick of the dirty, dull look of the 4 scratched and stained doors and 3 window sills… and I’m tired of the reject curtains made from batik twin sheets and mismatched blankets on the bed. Anyway, it’s a big job, to say the least. And unlike the room re-do’s I’ve done so far, I realized something last night. I don’t want to do a quick, cheap job just to make this room functional. It is, technically, functional. I want to make it NICE. As much as it will never happen, I want to make it close to perfect, even if it takes awhile. Because it’s a really important place.

So I decided last night around 1 AM that this weekend I will be exodusing our bed, dresser, and clothes to the spare bedroom (another good reason to do this before we have kids, as that room will become a nursery in time) this weekend, and get started on the joint compound + sanding + wood putty party that will take up my spare time for the next few weeks at least.

I have a rough to-do list for the room:

1. Repair dry wall, including bad joint job on the ceiling by previous residents, all separation of walls due to leveling, and any ripples, rips, cracks, or seams in the drywall.

2. Repair any holes, cracks, etc in window sills. Remove doors and sand them outside.

3. Prime, everything.

4. Paint walls and ceiling. After almost a year of peach and turquoise I’m really leaning towards an unbleached cotton color.

5. Paint woodwork and doors.

6. Sew curtains and a duvet cover. Buy new sheets and a nice big low pile rug for under the bed.

7. Frame photos of Russell and I from the last 7 years and hang them properly in matching frames (at least painted a matching color).

8. Find bedside tables and lamps (may be a long term goal).

9. Caulk and seal windows.

10. Move everything back in.

I’m guessing it will take me at least a month, maybe even the whole season, depending on how meticulous I get. I want to keep it all under $300, if at all possible. Considering we have plenty of joint compound and at least one coat of primer, I figure we’ll need to buy some more brushes, 1 more can of primer, 3 cans of paint, a couple new sandpapers for my sander (maybe more), wood putty, sheets, material (new or used) for the duvet cover and curtains, picture frames and possibly bedside tables and lamps (used only, have to be the right ones).

$300 sounds like a lot, but I know it can go very very quickly if you don’t pay attention.

I’m excited and nervous. But mostly excited.

Garage sale finds and emergency menu plan!

Yesterdays soup in the pressure cooker before cooking

Oh my I am sorry I am posting this out of order, but I wanted to go ahead and post my garage sale finds before “thrifty thursday” and something came up that means I need to plan meals a little sooner this week!

First off my garage sale finds included a simple knit skirt I can’t wait to alter, a bag of buttons, 2 CDs (one is called THE BEST dance album in THE WORLD… ever!) and a Heart record. All in all we spent $5.

This is the skirt with a sweater someone left at work for 2 months so I claimed. The sweater is soo comfy and the sleeves are long enough for me (which I am obviously demonstrating by pulling them up to my elbows in the pic, real smart). The only weird thing is that it is embroidered with SBS. If you’re wondering what I’m planning to do with the skirt all you have to do is look at the cover of this book. Sorry for the godzilla-stomping-on-japanese-village pose I’ve got goin’ there. I was having trouble doing the self-taken photo thing because my dogs were outside driving me NUTS.

These are the buttons.

Second is the “Emergency Meal Plan!” I just volunteered to cover my coworker tomorrow who is stuck in NYC (poor her!! ) So my schedule will be working til late 3 of the next 4 days, and on the other day I still will be working til 5-ish. Don’t feel bad because I really don’t have to go in early at all, but it is hard to get anything done before work sometimes — especially since I’ve been riding the bus lately (go me!).

My goal is to make it the rest of the week without eating out, and only using what we have on hand (i.e. not stopping at Kroger for refried beans in a can and spanish rice in a box). I feel very inspired by this as Katie, my bloggy partner in tightwaddery would always do things like this. (Yes, she stopped blogging ) Tonight I am making pizza, so I will try to make twice as much as usual for 2 nights of meals/2 days of lunches. I also am planning the lentil patties on Thursday dinner + Friday lunch, as I’ll have a little more time for prep. Wednesday night I think I’ll make some nontomatoey pasta. This might sound weird but we eat plenty of tomatoey pasta, plus after 2 nights of pizza, I’m sure we’ll be ready for something else. Probably macaroni and nutritional yeast, with some fresh broccoli. That sounds DELICIOUS actually! Especially with some yum yum crumbs! On Friday night I’m going to make stir fry with lots of cabbage! I love stir fry with tofu and cabbage but try to only make it on the weekend since my husband has to stand in front of 100 teenagers all day and can’t be expected to hold in the amount of gas cabbage delivers. I will make it with the maple mustard stir fry sauce from The Short Cut Vegetarian by Lorna Sass (a book that is made for folks who don’t get home til late late) and white rice. Yumyumyumyumyumyumyum. I also love Emmy’s cabbage and bean curd recipe, it is so good!

Alright! I was worried I’d have to spend the rest of the day cooking. Looks like I’m pretty much set until I need to start the pizza dough (around 3:30). I think I’ll toodle down to the thrift stores for a gander, then do some organizing of the craft room.

Menu math

I added up the price of several ingredients for a soup I was planning on making while I was recording all my purchases after grocery shopping on Thursday. It consisted of 1 pound of lentils (I actually used less because it needed to fit in my pressure cooker – do more pressure cooking is on my tightwad list), 1 large sweet potato, 1 onion, 2 tsp salt and various herbs and spices. The whole thing (including the price of a whole canister of salt $0.39, but we’ll assume that takes into account the spices) made a big pressure cooker full of soup for $2.21. I also made a batch of pretzel bread and steamed some frozen spinach — I am not sure how much that cost, but this post is about the soup anyway.

Truthfully I overly spiced the soup, by like A LOT. I think I added too much pepper. Anyway, it was OK for a bowl. And we both agreed it would be OK for tomorrow’s lunch, but after that I’m going to make burger patties with the rest – I will add rice and bread crumbs and lightly pan fry them and we’ll have those for dinner on Wednesday and lunch on Thursday. Then I realized that that $2.21 is stretching over the course of 4 meals. Of course, the bread and spinach were not free, but still the over-all cost of the meal is very, very low. Like, digging in the bottom of your purse for money for the parking meter low. That’s pretty impressive.

Yum yum crumbs!

I’ve mentioned I’m re-reading the Tightwad Gazette. This is the first time I’ve tried this tip. It’s on page 872. In fact, I don’t even ever remember seeing it. I should mention I’ve read the TWGZ 3 times. And started re-reading it countless more. This is the first time that I’ve read it from back to front. And the first time I’ve been keeping track on a little scrap of paper tips I want try. They vary in time to execute of course. The installation of an attic fan is going to take a lot longer than the toasting of some leftover bread crumbs in olive oil (with a bit of salt and garlic) to make a perfectly yummy Parmesan replacement.  I’ll keep you updated on what else I do. Should I post my list of tips to try?

Getting back to frugal…

As I’ve mentioned, I am re-reading the Tightwad Gazette from the back to the front. It was so cool to go through all the Success Stories! One thing I realized is an untapped source of frugality that I have totally been slacking on is garage and estate sales. These were so fun when we first got married! Since moving to Houston and into our house there have been many last minute purchases that could have been a lot less had we gotten them at garage and estate sales. Instead we got them at IKEA mostly! Also on Craigslist, which is good, but not cheap enough.

Examples:

IKEA Malm bed and mattress, hardly used, Craigslist: $300 Had to do minor repairs on the slats already

IKEA Lillberg sofa, Craigslist: $100 I’d really like to replace this with something more comfortable/ beautiful

IKEA Malm dresser: $150

IKEA bookshelves, 2: $50 (total)

IKEA chairs for our kitchen table, 2: $50 (total) one has already broken

Not to mention a number of smaller things, shelves, tools and light fixtures and such, that we might have been able to score for cheaper had we been visiting yard sales regularly.

So I’m pretty excited about starting up the yard sale adventure again. Even if it means waking up early on Saturdays.