Boy have I been BUSY lately. I am finishing my dissertation and have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off (although I here chickens don't really do that....). Anyway, between finishing writing, meeting with professors, copying 228 pages 4 times over to hand out to committee members I feel like I am about to burst!
Luckily I am about done and can finally take a breather. It kind of sucks because between DH being out of town thanks to the Navy, by best friend under the weather, and being 35 wks pregnant there isn't a whole lot I can do to relax. No celebratory glass of wine or beer, (ok, pre-pregnancy it was many glasses!), no nice dinner out (yet), and I certainly don't feel like a shopping spree being this preggo!
One thing that has helped me relax is gardening and being outside. Lucky for me, it has been gorgeous, sunny and in the 70's here and I got to just sit at our local park and absorb nature for awhile. Just hearing the birds and being able to just "be".
It appears that, especially in the morning or evening,
The birds have no agenda
No plans to draw
No place to rush off to
They seem only to be concerned with singing.
In the midst of all this, it is nice to know that I don't need a shopping splurge, or some other material "reward". Many in this position would possibly buy a new car or a new wardrobe, but just enjoying the time to reflect and be seemed to relax me a lot more than anything I could buy. I am sure when DH gets back into town a small party or dinner out will be in order (and wonderful!), and I can't say if I wasn't ridiculously pregnant some new clothes wouldn't be nice. But at least for a now, I am content with my accomplishment alone.
And speaking of accomplishments, almost all my seeds have sprouted! I actually had to transfer the beans and seeds to larger containers already and all of my other veggies seem to be sprouting fine. Only the cantelopes seem to be struggling but if even the tomatos and beans survive I will be thrilled! Maybe I won't kill it all this year....
Monday, April 2, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
I honestly don't know how you do it!
I salute you all gardeners and farmers....I don't know how you do it!
The cats ate the flowers, the birds ate my sprouting sunflower seeds, and my tomatos and cantelopes have yet to even sprout.
On the bright side however, the green beans and peas are coming up as well as my broccoli so hopefully I can keep those alive...I may need to get some plants or new seeds for the tomatos and cantelopes though.
I wish more people would garden. I really have an appreciation for gardeners and especially farmers whose livlihood depends on this stuff. Just getting stuff to sprout seems hard enough and then keeping it alive and fruitful...what a task! I think if more people tried it, they would be more willing to shell out the money for organic after appreciating how much work goes into it. We would probably not be so wasteful either....
The cats ate the flowers, the birds ate my sprouting sunflower seeds, and my tomatos and cantelopes have yet to even sprout.
On the bright side however, the green beans and peas are coming up as well as my broccoli so hopefully I can keep those alive...I may need to get some plants or new seeds for the tomatos and cantelopes though.
I wish more people would garden. I really have an appreciation for gardeners and especially farmers whose livlihood depends on this stuff. Just getting stuff to sprout seems hard enough and then keeping it alive and fruitful...what a task! I think if more people tried it, they would be more willing to shell out the money for organic after appreciating how much work goes into it. We would probably not be so wasteful either....
Sunday, March 18, 2007
My Victory Garden
There has been a lot of talk in the simple living world about "Victory Gardens". They were encouraged during WWII to conserve resources, and now many are starting them for similar reasons.
Anywho, mine has been started!
Now keep in mind I have a black thumb...all veggie gardens to date have produced a few puny veggies and promptly thrown up and died. But I did alot more research this year and plan to care for it much more diligently so I will hopefully meet with some success. At least its fun trying.
Here is what I have started:
Sunflowers (for seed - one of DH's favorites)
Bell Peppers
Cherry Tomatoes
Oregon Spring Tomatoes (an early variety)
Peas
Pole Beans
Cantelope
Broccoli
What's even better is that the Sunflowers, Bell Peppers, and Beans were FREE courtesy of the folks at Green, Blue, Brown and the rest of the seeds were on sale for 10 cents a pack at the local hardware store ...they were last years seeds but if even 25% of them sprout I will be inundated with plants! Including containers and dirt, my entire garden cost me 15 bucks.
These first seedlings are really an experiment, I want to see what sprouts and does well first before I plant more. What does ok will be transferred to larger containers and more will be planted after I move at the mid-May (sucks moving during growing season!) Luckily here in the south we have a long growing season and I can get away with planting later in the season as we can grow into October easily.
I also welcome anyone's advice about keep these things alive!
Anywho, mine has been started!
Now keep in mind I have a black thumb...all veggie gardens to date have produced a few puny veggies and promptly thrown up and died. But I did alot more research this year and plan to care for it much more diligently so I will hopefully meet with some success. At least its fun trying.
Here is what I have started:
Sunflowers (for seed - one of DH's favorites)
Bell Peppers
Cherry Tomatoes
Oregon Spring Tomatoes (an early variety)
Peas
Pole Beans
Cantelope
Broccoli
What's even better is that the Sunflowers, Bell Peppers, and Beans were FREE courtesy of the folks at Green, Blue, Brown and the rest of the seeds were on sale for 10 cents a pack at the local hardware store ...they were last years seeds but if even 25% of them sprout I will be inundated with plants! Including containers and dirt, my entire garden cost me 15 bucks.
These first seedlings are really an experiment, I want to see what sprouts and does well first before I plant more. What does ok will be transferred to larger containers and more will be planted after I move at the mid-May (sucks moving during growing season!) Luckily here in the south we have a long growing season and I can get away with planting later in the season as we can grow into October easily.
I also welcome anyone's advice about keep these things alive!
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Simple living cures for the "blahs"
I have found more and more that it is NOT the big-ticket items that make me happy.
I went through sort of a "funk", frustrated with frugality, frustrated with being fat and pregnant and just plain bored being stuck at home all day with not a whole lot to do (yet).
However, I honestly could not think of anything I wanted to splurge on that would have made me feel any better.
Plasma screen TV? No way, I don't even care to watch much TV and could care less about that.
Expensive clothes? Ok, I did get a pricey new pair of much needed shoes but I they are very good quality will last a very long time compared to the cheapo ones that wore out within months. They make my feet feel better but did nothing for my boredom/funk.
New car? Nope, I love my little compact with the peeling off bumper-stickers, it serves me so well and no stress about finances because of it!
What else to people even spend money on these days? I honestly couldn't think of anything.
What ended up making me feel better was:
going out to dinner with my best friend,
enjoying the gorgeous weather we have been having by taking walks by the river,
hearing my baby's heartbeat in the Drs office,
listening to and laughing at my husband explain to me how he "needs" a jet-powered beer cooler (some homemade contraption he found plans for on the internet...i hope he's kidding! LOL)
None of these were expensive, needed financing. All were environmentally sustainable (as long as my dear husband doesn't really try to build a jet-powered beer cooler!) and simple.
I honestly have enough....so what on earth are people going into all this debt for?
I went through sort of a "funk", frustrated with frugality, frustrated with being fat and pregnant and just plain bored being stuck at home all day with not a whole lot to do (yet).
However, I honestly could not think of anything I wanted to splurge on that would have made me feel any better.
Plasma screen TV? No way, I don't even care to watch much TV and could care less about that.
Expensive clothes? Ok, I did get a pricey new pair of much needed shoes but I they are very good quality will last a very long time compared to the cheapo ones that wore out within months. They make my feet feel better but did nothing for my boredom/funk.
New car? Nope, I love my little compact with the peeling off bumper-stickers, it serves me so well and no stress about finances because of it!
What else to people even spend money on these days? I honestly couldn't think of anything.
What ended up making me feel better was:
going out to dinner with my best friend,
enjoying the gorgeous weather we have been having by taking walks by the river,
hearing my baby's heartbeat in the Drs office,
listening to and laughing at my husband explain to me how he "needs" a jet-powered beer cooler (some homemade contraption he found plans for on the internet...i hope he's kidding! LOL)
None of these were expensive, needed financing. All were environmentally sustainable (as long as my dear husband doesn't really try to build a jet-powered beer cooler!) and simple.
I honestly have enough....so what on earth are people going into all this debt for?
Saturday, March 10, 2007
sustainablity....how do you do this again?
Firstly, I want to thank everyone for their suggestions on forming a simple hobby. I have some herbs planted, but my darling cats have already eaten the flowers!
I have also picked up knitting....again. I actually picked it up awhile ago, but in the rush to finish off my labwork it fell by the wayside. I am in the middle of some potholders for our kitchen and we will see how those go.
I have had the pleasure of spending most of the week in Norfolk with my husband. It has been so long dealing with being apart and now it is finally happening in a matter of weeks that we will be together in the same household again. However, this does bring something up....
When we are together we tend to do two things that aren't exactly great for simplifying your life:
1.) we tend to eat out a lot. Part of the reason is that being my husband lives essentially like a bachelor, keeping food in his house besides beer is a foreign concept to him.
2.) we tend to shop more. Sometimes its because we have waited to purchase something until the other can be there but still...we need to find some more frugal and simple activities!
This isn't easy at the moment. He lives in an apartment complex at the moment and it gets boring. We read a lot, I knit, but you can easily go stir crazy and sometimes we just want to get out. As far as eating out is concerned, until I am up here full time there is no way my husband will actually grocery shop for himself, that is pretty much up to me.
In a few weeks, a lot of habits will be changing drastically or even eliminated. I am blessed that my husband is very open to all the changes towards simple living and reduced consumption. He is also impressed with all of the progress I have made on my own and it will hopefully inspire him a little.
In addition, we are finally buying our own home, with a yard and garage so we can both "piddle" around, garden, and make further progress towards sustainablity. We plan to buy a very very small previously owned home. There is the garden of course, but we are going to work towards making this small house as energy efficient as possible. Since I will be around all the time we can make simple meals from scratch, eliminate fast and packaged food from our diets, and take the time to live a little more slowly and deliberately. We are really looking forward to it! I welcome any suggestions and changes that others have made towards more sustainable living!
I have also picked up knitting....again. I actually picked it up awhile ago, but in the rush to finish off my labwork it fell by the wayside. I am in the middle of some potholders for our kitchen and we will see how those go.
I have had the pleasure of spending most of the week in Norfolk with my husband. It has been so long dealing with being apart and now it is finally happening in a matter of weeks that we will be together in the same household again. However, this does bring something up....
When we are together we tend to do two things that aren't exactly great for simplifying your life:
1.) we tend to eat out a lot. Part of the reason is that being my husband lives essentially like a bachelor, keeping food in his house besides beer is a foreign concept to him.
2.) we tend to shop more. Sometimes its because we have waited to purchase something until the other can be there but still...we need to find some more frugal and simple activities!
This isn't easy at the moment. He lives in an apartment complex at the moment and it gets boring. We read a lot, I knit, but you can easily go stir crazy and sometimes we just want to get out. As far as eating out is concerned, until I am up here full time there is no way my husband will actually grocery shop for himself, that is pretty much up to me.
In a few weeks, a lot of habits will be changing drastically or even eliminated. I am blessed that my husband is very open to all the changes towards simple living and reduced consumption. He is also impressed with all of the progress I have made on my own and it will hopefully inspire him a little.
In addition, we are finally buying our own home, with a yard and garage so we can both "piddle" around, garden, and make further progress towards sustainablity. We plan to buy a very very small previously owned home. There is the garden of course, but we are going to work towards making this small house as energy efficient as possible. Since I will be around all the time we can make simple meals from scratch, eliminate fast and packaged food from our diets, and take the time to live a little more slowly and deliberately. We are really looking forward to it! I welcome any suggestions and changes that others have made towards more sustainable living!
Saturday, March 3, 2007
simple hobbies
Half-time last week and now full-time, I am officially working at home to finish writing my disserattion. Professional writers, I don't know how you do it! Personally, I am going a bit stir-crazy.
Its not even being at home all day....its that I really have trouble having nothing to do but write all day everyday. I have always been able to break up the day between experiments, papers, and literature research, but now all I have to do is write...write....and write some more.
This has led to some temptations as far as consumerism....I find myself wanting to go out and just wander around the shops just to get out of the house and have a change of pace. Not that window shopping is at all bad, but with me I KNOW it will lead me to buying something I don't need, and probably don't even really want. So...I need a frugal, simple-living-friendly hobby to break up the day. I have decluttered, purged, cleaned, and organized to death. Physical activities are out...I am 31 weeks pregnant and getting downright uncomfortable. A walk a day is enough for me. I certainly read enough all day working on the dissertation, so what else can i do? And how can I avoid having to buy a whole bunch of stuff to do it?
I do have some seeds from last year still laying around...I may start an indoor herb garden...provided the cats don't eat it! This would provide herbs for a lot of my cooking endeavors (I love to cook), and make the house smell and look better and help me to hone my gardening skills for the coming spring/summer. I am open to any and all suggestions though...hopefully without having to buy and accumulate lots of stuff...
Interesting, so often when people are bored and unhappy, all the commercials say if we just buy something (whether it be an "adventrous" SUV, a new cell phone, or even soda!) our lives will suredly be more exciting and interesting. Luckiily, I do not feel any of that! Off to plant some basil.....
Its not even being at home all day....its that I really have trouble having nothing to do but write all day everyday. I have always been able to break up the day between experiments, papers, and literature research, but now all I have to do is write...write....and write some more.
This has led to some temptations as far as consumerism....I find myself wanting to go out and just wander around the shops just to get out of the house and have a change of pace. Not that window shopping is at all bad, but with me I KNOW it will lead me to buying something I don't need, and probably don't even really want. So...I need a frugal, simple-living-friendly hobby to break up the day. I have decluttered, purged, cleaned, and organized to death. Physical activities are out...I am 31 weeks pregnant and getting downright uncomfortable. A walk a day is enough for me. I certainly read enough all day working on the dissertation, so what else can i do? And how can I avoid having to buy a whole bunch of stuff to do it?
I do have some seeds from last year still laying around...I may start an indoor herb garden...provided the cats don't eat it! This would provide herbs for a lot of my cooking endeavors (I love to cook), and make the house smell and look better and help me to hone my gardening skills for the coming spring/summer. I am open to any and all suggestions though...hopefully without having to buy and accumulate lots of stuff...
Interesting, so often when people are bored and unhappy, all the commercials say if we just buy something (whether it be an "adventrous" SUV, a new cell phone, or even soda!) our lives will suredly be more exciting and interesting. Luckiily, I do not feel any of that! Off to plant some basil.....
Sunday, February 25, 2007
to sell = to distract = to sell more.....fast living=expensive living
Besides the patchwork clothes, the hemp jewelery and all of my organic endeavors...another reason some people label me a "hippy" is that I am a bit of a conspiracy theorist. Probably not a good thing, but sometimes my brain goes places I don't expect.
On that note, I thought about a possible "conspiracy" the other night. I had a couple of choices on how to spend that evening.
1. Watch TV - there were a couple of interesting/amusing programs on and I could have used a good laugh after a rough day.
2. Bake muffins for the week's breakfast, organize a bit to determine exactly what else I need (truly NEED) around what's in the pantry so I don't overbuy/consume.
I'm not saying I couldn't do both, but for me at least, a couple of shows often turns into a couple of hours and before I know it its time for bed....but what's so great about choice #2?
Baking would allow me to use up what's already in the pantry and fridge which would otherwise spoil. The added benefit is I have a healthy homemade breakfast all week without having to buy any packaged cereal or other convenience food.
Planning for the week also helps me to buy much less than I normally would for the week, consuming less resources in the long run.
Now I know the purpose of TV and commercials is mainly to make money and get us to buy more stuff. But could it be that in addition to wanting us to buy the shiny cars and body sprays, they would also prefer us to be distracted from more simple tasks so that we thus need to go out and buy more things in order to save time wasted in front of the Boob Tube? That certainly does make them more money when advertising frozen dinners and fast food chains...coincidence?
Fast living = expensive living, both financially and environmentally. We zip along in our car instead of walking, we discard something that could be fixed in favor of buying new to save time, do the drive-through rather than have a homemade meal, buy produce rather than grow some of our own.
Life these days demands a faster pace. Even in my academic work, with on-line publishing and grant applications, everyone expects more results, faster, cram more into your days and weekends to keep up with our competitors at other universities. Certainly the same is true in other professions. However on top of these increased time demands, many (I am guilty of this too) spend a lot of the free time they do have catching up on their favorite shows, the latest news about the hot star at the moment, ect. Again, we all need our ways to relax but it all leads to more expensive and not-so-green living. And to be honest, I got a lot more satisfaction and relaxation from my freshly baked apple-cinnamon muffins and not being so rushed for a quick bite every morning, and peace of mine from being organize, then from the few laughs I get from some of the shows I watch.
Don't misunderstand me - life is full of distractions, of course I am here playing on the internet instead of doing other things....but what if we all slowed down just a little? What if instead of watching that hour long show, or *gasp* blogging, or reading the latest tabloid we took an hour or so for a bit of planning, making something from scratch, learnign a new useful skill, repairing a broken item rather than running out to the store?
On that note, I thought about a possible "conspiracy" the other night. I had a couple of choices on how to spend that evening.
1. Watch TV - there were a couple of interesting/amusing programs on and I could have used a good laugh after a rough day.
2. Bake muffins for the week's breakfast, organize a bit to determine exactly what else I need (truly NEED) around what's in the pantry so I don't overbuy/consume.
I'm not saying I couldn't do both, but for me at least, a couple of shows often turns into a couple of hours and before I know it its time for bed....but what's so great about choice #2?
Baking would allow me to use up what's already in the pantry and fridge which would otherwise spoil. The added benefit is I have a healthy homemade breakfast all week without having to buy any packaged cereal or other convenience food.
Planning for the week also helps me to buy much less than I normally would for the week, consuming less resources in the long run.
Now I know the purpose of TV and commercials is mainly to make money and get us to buy more stuff. But could it be that in addition to wanting us to buy the shiny cars and body sprays, they would also prefer us to be distracted from more simple tasks so that we thus need to go out and buy more things in order to save time wasted in front of the Boob Tube? That certainly does make them more money when advertising frozen dinners and fast food chains...coincidence?
Fast living = expensive living, both financially and environmentally. We zip along in our car instead of walking, we discard something that could be fixed in favor of buying new to save time, do the drive-through rather than have a homemade meal, buy produce rather than grow some of our own.
Life these days demands a faster pace. Even in my academic work, with on-line publishing and grant applications, everyone expects more results, faster, cram more into your days and weekends to keep up with our competitors at other universities. Certainly the same is true in other professions. However on top of these increased time demands, many (I am guilty of this too) spend a lot of the free time they do have catching up on their favorite shows, the latest news about the hot star at the moment, ect. Again, we all need our ways to relax but it all leads to more expensive and not-so-green living. And to be honest, I got a lot more satisfaction and relaxation from my freshly baked apple-cinnamon muffins and not being so rushed for a quick bite every morning, and peace of mine from being organize, then from the few laughs I get from some of the shows I watch.
Don't misunderstand me - life is full of distractions, of course I am here playing on the internet instead of doing other things....but what if we all slowed down just a little? What if instead of watching that hour long show, or *gasp* blogging, or reading the latest tabloid we took an hour or so for a bit of planning, making something from scratch, learnign a new useful skill, repairing a broken item rather than running out to the store?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)