Quick Tip: Photograph Your Mags

Once again my trusty digital camera is proving itself to be the best decluttering tool ever. Not only does it allow me to avoid having paper copies of photos, but it's also great for snapping shots of sentimental items before you purge them, for those who prefer to keep a reminder of special items. Now I've found another use for my camera.

Over the last few years I've gone from keeping every issue of every magazine I ever subscribed to, to a single stack of Domino mags plus a few random issues. I was quickly able to purge eight more mags today by using a quick tip I picked up at Hei Astrid: take a digital photo of the pages that inspire you, then purge the magazine.

I've scanned inspirational pages in the past, but it took forever. And patience is not my strong suit. Taking a quick pic or two is much, much faster. Though the picture quality isn't as great as a scan, it's perfectly fine for a simple inspiration reminder.

Tips:

1. Be honest, how often do you refer to old magazines anyway? If it's seldom to never, keep the inspiration you like and purge the rest.
   
   
2. Shoot twice: If you're not the world's best photographer (like me), take a couple shots of each page to ensure you end up with at least one great one. Keep the best shot of each page and delete the rest.
   
   
3. Download your pics and check them before you get rid of the magazine.
   
   
4. Be ruthless about which pages you'll really want to see again and only shoot those.
   
   
5. Try again: If at first you can't bring yourself to purge some issues, cut yourself some slack and try again later. (Provided you have a place to keep them, of course, and they're not piled on your floor or something. No hoarding kiddies!) This is worked for me with everything but my preciousssss Dominos....I know it's stupid, but I can't quite let them go yet.

My Kitchen: Then and Now

Once upon a time, when I first toured my house the kitchen looked like this. On a good note, it was larger then most kitchens in the 1940s and 50s houses in my neighborhood and had plenty of counter space. The design was also something I could live with until I had the funds to fix it up. On the downside it was rather, meh, and each of the appliances were different colors.

The kitchen also has the only room for eating space in the house, and as you can see it doesn't leave much space to squeeze a table in.

This is what my kitchen looks like today, courtesy of some paint and two new appliances that match the stove.

The most recent updates we've made is to paint the ugly blue and off-white fake tile backsplash a lovely white. Scroll back up to the first picture to see the before (go ahead, I'll wait) and I think you'll agree that the white is a vast improvement.

This view is also much improved, thanks to a recent hallway makeover, which added shoe storage and more hooks, and brought the blue color of the kitchen into the staircase, which serves as the only "coat closet" in min hus. We also removed a bi-fold door which was never used to block off the basement. It's amazing how much more open this area feels now.

Of course I have grand dreams of a kitchen renovation that would include new countertops, a slight layout change and a pantry, but until then it's nice to have a kitchen that makes me smile.

Review: The New Normal: An Agenda for Responsible Living

I became engrossed in David Wann's The New Normal: An Agenda for Responsible Living after discovering it in the library's new display.

In The New Normal, Wann debunks our current, unsustainable way of life and proposes a new way of living, a way that involves saving the planetary resources that sustain us and a way that just might make her happier.

Wann discusses how we got ourselves in this mess and highlights how unsustainable our current way of living is. He's realistic about the scope of the needed solutions, and points out that unfortunately, saving ourselves isn't going to be a simple matter of changing a few lightbulbs and using reusable bags. Not that those things aren't important, but it's going to take more than that. A lot more.

Perhaps what most impressed me about this book is how Wann manages to set an optimistic tone about the necessary changes. This new way of life will look much different, yes, but those differences may also make it what we've been searching for all along.

Environmentalists and wannabe environmentalists who have done more reading of our current climate crisis and how to solve it may not find Wann's book as enlightening as I did. For readers at the beginning of their self-education in green living, like me, or someone who wants to review these issues, I highly recommend The New Normal. Reading this book helped renew my resolve to complete even minor actions, such as recycling, changing lightbulbs, carrying reusuable bags at all times, etc. Even better, I now feel inspired to take further steps toward a greener way of life.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Additional steps I want to take since reading The New Normal

1. Support local farmer's by shopping at the Farmer's Market often. I struggle with this. First, I hate going places before noon on Saturday (yes, I realize that's sad). Second, I'm cheap and often prices at the farmer's market are much higher than at the grocery store. I'm not saying it's not worth it, it's just something I struggle with. Also, our local markets have limited variety of fruits and veggies.
   
   
2. Spend a portion of our weekly food budget on organic food in addition to growing more food.
   
   
3. Buy local beer and wine whenever possible.
   
   
4. Get involved in local government, attend meetings, keep informed and express my opinions. I haven't made time for this, and I should.
   
   
5. Eat meatless one day a week
   
   
6. Install a clothesline outside

Use It or Lose It Update

my medicine cabinet is already looking pretty minimal

My Use It or Lose It Challenge is going fairly well so far. Just seeing the picture of my messy bathroom cabinet was enough inspiration for me to do some decluttering and lose a few duplicates products and toss others that were almost empty, but I was apparently never going to finish.

I say fairly well instead of great because, confession time, I caved on the whole not-going-to-the-library idea. A book (Simple Prosperity) that I had placed on hold was ready for pick up and, as usual, once I was in the library it was impossible for me to leave with only one book. I find it hard to feel too badly about this though, because (1) I didn't purchase anything new and (2) I can't ever think of reading more books as a bad thing, and I borrowed non-fiction for heaven's sake, and (3) I've already decluttered quite a few books (details coming soon). So I'm scrapping the whole no-library part of the challenge, although I still plan to make a concentrated effort to read the unread books in my collection.

I also bought a bar of honey soap at the farmer's market yesterday, but I don't feel bad about that either since it was benefiting a farmer instead of a box store chain.

More importantly, we also avoided a large purchase. Yesterday we spent a good deal of time discussing changing the queen bed that is currently in the office/spare room. The existing bed is sitting on the floor because we don't have a bed frame for it, and we've thought about replacing it with a new daybed, complete with trundle, that would take up less space. But what would that extra space be used for?

We shopped online at every outlet we could think of, but I didn't really love any of the daybed options. After talking to my mom who raved about how comfortable the current mattress set is, I decided it was silly to buy a new bed frame, mattresses, sheets, etc. just to make the office look more spacious. So instead we're going to buy a simple metal frame for the existing mattress and call it a day. This result isn't necessarily because of the challenge per se, but all the decluttering I've done over the last few years, along with trying to avoid unnecessary purchases, makes the idea of buying something new that might not get much use very painful, especially when there's an alternative solution.

How My Garden Grows: Veggie Watch

I've spent a good part of my mini-break of pottering in the garden, so it seemed like a good time to give you a tour.

We're entering zinnia season around here, and I can't wait!

I wasn't expecting this bunch of brown-eyed susans, are they volunteers? That's what I love about gardening, there are always surprises.

Mallow vine grown from seed; a new one for me. It's not really growing like a vine, but I like it .

This time of year though, I'm more excited about the vegetable garden. Veggie watch 2011 is on!

The zucchini are are off! We've already harvested three and eaten two. I'm a bit nervous about them though, because this is usually around the time when a fungus or something attacks them and they shrivel up and die. Maybe this year will be different.

I'm still anxiously awaiting my first ripe tomato and cucumber.

But the really, really special moment this week was when we spotted the very rare, very fleeting.....

Pig Flower!!

You can't find these just anywhere!

Now you know why my cat mint is always flatter than a pancake.

Mini-Break

Time to kick back and enjoy, just like Piggy!

Tonight marks the start of my five day mini-break from work, wahoo! There's nothing like the beginning of a break, when there is nothing but work-free possibilities ahead. I really, really need this break.

We're not planning to go anywhere, at least not anywhere far, but there are several things ideas I have for how to while away the hours:

• Tackle a DIY project or two. There's plenty to choose from. My original proposal to the boyfriend was to spend two days working and three days relaxing and having fun, but at this point point I'm leaning more towards more fun and less work. We'll see.
  
• Go swimming
• Grill out
• Take long bike rides
• Read a lot
• Write a blog post or five. I've got a backlog of ideas and they just keep coming!
• Make these painted glass bottles
• Sell the books and media I've decluttered
• Learn how to propagate lavender. You can never have too much!
• Try more green cleaning and personal care recipes. After my success with this simple, cheap and green homemade dishwasher detergent powder from Bonzai Aphrodite I'm anxious to try a few more. I might try this alternative dishwasher detergent recipe for starters. Anyone have other recommendations?

What are your weekend plans?

Bedroom Fan Update: Let It Shine, Let It Shine

Since this 2008 post on the new bedroom ceiling fan is one of the more popular ones on this blog, I figure it's only fair to provide an update now that my major complaint is resolved. In case you aren't familiar with the post (and really, who is?) after a long search in 2008 we found a ceiling fan that looked great, but didn't put out enough light to read or even say, get ready in the morning by. And that was with using the max wattage the fixture allows, 40W bulbs. The only possible solution was to find 60W equivalent CFLs. We searched everywhere, and the Boyfriend even ordered CFL bulbs online, but nothing fit in the small space allotted in this fixture.

Until finally, a mere three years later our problems were solved by micro-mini bright white 13W CFLs in bright white, which are equivalent to 60W incandescents. We picked them up here, but I've started seeing them in all the home improvement stores now.

Bam! Now it's so bright I almost have to wear shades. And as a bonus, the three new bulbs use slightly less power than just one of the old ones. So if your ceiling fan light isn't cutting it, or my original post gave you qualms about this fab fan, fear no more.