Day 69: Why the heck do I own so many vases?

So far on my 100 days of decluttering on facebook I have given away 8 vases.  Eight. And you know what?  A quick glance around my living room reveals at least 4 more.  I had no idea that I had a thing for vases.

And the weird part is that I don't even know where most of them came from.  Stuff just kinda shows up and moves in, right?

Before this journey began, I don't think I gave much thought to what I brought into my home. Sure, I discouraged my husband from bringing home mostly broken furniture he found at the dump, and I only bought things that I thought were sort of pretty (at the moment, anyways) but I didn't really think "Hey, Kelly, do you actually need 12 vases?"  Nope, I don't remember ever asking myself that.

But I don't need 12 vases.  In fact, truth be told, I don't really need any vases.  I could put flowers in a pitcher or a mason jar.  Mason jars are minimalist workhorses. They can hold flowers, or candles, or pens, or pickled beets....talk about a multitasker!

But I digress.  My point, I suppose, is that I  am realizing that I need to start asking more questions about the items I bring home. Like "Do I need this?"  "Do I already own something that could fulfill this purpose?" "If I was moving across country and only had a couple days to pack, would I pack this item?" 

"Is this item more valuable than the otherwise empty space it will take up?"  Because space is beautiful and empty surfaces are a beckoning to play and create and share ourselves with one another.

And the big one:  "Is there something more valuable my money could go towards?"   Like, you know, food for the hungry? Or a card for a neighbour who needs to know I'm thinking of them?  Or a couple Pumpkin Spice Lattes for me and a friend while the conversation oscillates casually between the trivial and the heart-cries in that way that can only happen over a hot drink with a good friend? 

I'm actually going to keep a couple vases.  There is nothing wrong with owning something pretty to plunk your flowers in.  But I'm going to stop buying vases.  And, more importantly, I'm going to ask a lot more questions of the stuff I bring home.  I'm going to be a better curator of our possessions, because rooms with less stuff have more room for people and life and laughter.

And I'm going to treat a good friend to a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

We are doing one small thing (almost) every day for a year to create a simpler, quieter, more intentional life. Take a moment to read all About Us, check out The Rules of our year long project and sign up for our RSS feed or "like" us on facebook so that you can follow our journey to radical simplicity!

Announcing The October Challenge: Sermon on the Mount Month

Each month we encourage you to join us in our pursuit of radical simplicity by doing one small thing with us for a whole month.

The October challenge is to read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5,6 & 7) every single day for 31 days.

Why?  This summer our church studied the Sermon on the Mount.  Our pastor encouraged us to read it every week all summer.  Although, truth be told, I didn't actually read it every single week, I did read it a lot.  And I was stuck by 2 things: First, that these passages are so very relevant to the journey that our family is on. If you want a manifesto for a simple, radical, authentic life you will find it in the Sermon on the Mount.  And secondly, that it never gets old.  There is so much in these chapters to change us and guide us and move our hearts that it never seems to get stale.

The timing is on purpose here.  By the end of October most of us will be thinking about the holidays.  Our pinterest boards will be filling up with ideas, our schedules will be filling up with events and parties and commitments, and what I want more than anything for our family this Christmas is that we would know what it is that Christ wants for his birthday.  That we would seek to give these red letter words their rightful authority in our lives.  That it would be more than advice or ancient wisdom, but the earth shattering truth of a God who was willing to love until it cost him everything this life can offer.

So, will you join me?  Starting next Monday, will you find the time to read these three chapters of Matthew every day for 31 days?

If so, feel free to use this banner to share the challenge on your own blog.  Just cut and paste the code below:

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In unrelated news:  Our family is currently fighting off an illness, catching up on laundry and life after having weekend guests, and preparing for 31 days to Savour the Season  (my October blog series that starts on my other blog next week.) Plus, we have a new puppy!  Soooo....all that to say that posts might be a wee bit sparse this week while we are busy juggling life in general. Please be patient, I promise I haven't gone anywhere!

Day 62: Vigilant Composting

The Task: To become zealous composters.

The Why:  We've been composting for years.  In fact, Luke loves compost.  As in, he's been at peoples houses and noticed that they were about to throw out a bunch of rotten fruit and asked if he could take it home with him.  Seriously, it's a little embarrassing.  The idea that we can turn kitchen waste into black gold for our garden appeals to our trash-to-treasure hearts.

But honestly, in our own kitchen, we get kinda lazy about it sometimes.  If we fill the compost bin in the middle of meal preparation, we just start throwing the rest of the compost in the garbage. I'm not the kind of avid composter who picks banana peels out of the garbage if my two year old gets confused about what bin it should go in.  Or at least I wasn't, until today.

The Benefits of Composting:

• It creates good, nutrient dense soil for the garden for free! Hooray!
• Compost actually helps to detoxify the soil.  That is something our world could use a little more of!
•  It diverts kitchen waste from landfills. (I used to wonder about this. Doesn't the compost just break down at the landfill?  Does it matter where you put the things that will biodegrade anyways?   But it does matter, because the landfill doesn't create the right conditions for composting. This site explains it far better than I can.)
• It saves fuel.  Twenty seven percent of the trash being trucked to landfills is food waste and yard scraps. Then that waste gets shoveled around at the landfill.  Imagine what a difference it could make if everyone with a backyard started composting their vegetable scraps instead of throwing them in the trash?
• It saves money. Where we live we pay a two dollar fee per bag to dispose of garbage.  This is on top of the municipal taxes we pay that fund the garbage disposal site. Less garbage = more money in our pockets.

The How: So, as of today I am the kind of person who picks banana peels out of the trash.  We toss all of our veggie and grain scraps (as well as things like dryer lint, facial tissues, tea bags and coffee grounds) into a pail under the kitchen sink.  Each evening (and sometimes more often!) we take the compost out to the big 3 section compost bin I built a few years ago while Luke was at work and I was looking to overcome my fear of power tools.

We never ever compost meat or dairy or anything cooked in animal fat.  I know many people do, but that just encourages a whole host of other issue, such as slower decomposition and maggots. Ick!  I'm pretty sure that if there were maggots in my compost heap I would have to cry and/or vomit and/or move.  Just kidding.... sort of.

We don't obsess over the ratio of nitrogen rich and carbon rich materials, we just put compost in the bin as it becomes available, give it a little turn with the pitchfork now and then, and it always breaks down beautifully.  We periodically switch which section we throw our scraps in to give another section a chance to break down into happy soil.

The Verdict:  I know that there is nothing glamourous about a heap of rotting produce, but I can't help but love our compost pile.  I can't believe we've been so lackadaisical about it, it's such a beautiful thing!

We are doing one small thing (almost) every day for a year to create a simpler, quieter, more intentional life. Take a moment to read all About Us, check out The Rules of our year long project and sign up for our RSS feed or "like" us on facebook so that you can follow our journey to radical simplicity!

How is Eat Your Pantry Month Going?

We are two-thirds of the way through the month and two-thirds of the way through our Eat Your Pantry Challenge. If you're doing the challenge at your house, I'd love to know how it's going!

Today I thought I'd share some of the best, worse and funniest ways this month's challenge has affected our dinner hour.

Most kid-pleasing pantry recipe:  Lentil and Brown Rice Tacos. I used to make these all the time but kinda forgot about them. I am so glad that this challenge reminded me of this dish, because my kids love it and I'm pretty sure it is the cheapest thing I could possibly feed them. 

Most likely to convert me into a bean-eater: We tried this recipe. Oh. My. Goodness. Maybe it's the bacon, maybe it's the quarter cup of minced garlic in it, but this recipe made me temporarily forget that I hate beans. And my bacon-and-garlic-lovin' family devoured it.

Most awkward pantry moment:  I invited guests over for Sesame Chicken so that I could use up the sesame seeds I had in the pantry.  In all the last minute busyness to get dinner served I forgot to toast the sesame seeds and add them to the sesame chicken.  So we had not-so-sesame chicken.  And the sesame seeds are still in my pantry.  I guess we'll have to try again....

Biggest Eat-Your-Pantry Month cheat:  We used red kidney beans as bingo tokens.  That might honestly be the only thing they are good for. Did I mention that I hate beans?...

 How is Eat Your Pantry Month going at your house?  Have you reached into the far corners of your dried goods and discovered some fabulous new recipes?  Please share in the comments below!

Day 59: A Simpler Approach to Seasonal Decorating

When it comes to simpler living, Ma Ingalls is my hero.  I know she wasn't a minimalist on purpose, and that she is at least a little bit fictionalized, and that her life was oftentimes very difficult, but when my girls and I cuddle together on the couch to read from the Little House series we sigh and swoon at the beautiful simplicity of the life they lived. 

My 4 year old would be thrilled to spend her days playing barefoot in plum creek with a homemade bonnet swaying on it's strings down her back.

So as silly as this may sound, sometimes along this journey to a simpler life, I ask myself what Ma Ingalls would have done.  I've stood in my kitchen holding single task kitchen tools asking myself "Would Ma Ingalls own this?"

And lately I've been contemplating how Ma Ingalls celebrated the seasons.  In fact, how anybody celebrated the seasons before pinterest, and magazines, and entire aisles in Walmart devoted to seasonal decor.

I live in a place that has four distinct, beautiful, humbling seasons. The notion that I would need to store boxes full of manufactured decorations in order to savour these seasons is starting to seem a little bit ridiculous to me. It seems especially odd as autumn approaches, a season marked by contentment and thankfulness.

The rhythmn of the year is a beautiful thing, and it is only natural that we would want our homes filled with the sights and smells and festivity of the seasons.  But the fact is that there is nothing in those seasonal aisles at Walmart that will make the season more meaningful for our families.  Nothing. There, I said it.

So instead of decorating for autumn this year, I am letting autumn permeate our home.  The pumpkins waiting to be turned into pie, the sunflowers from the yard, the apple pie jam we will make and cool in jars on the counter top.  The lovely braided garlic from the Farmer's Market that will be disappearing a little with each stew and pot pie we enjoy together.

I have a wire wreath form that I will be adorning with seasonal foliage, and I might splurge on a scented candle if I find I have a spot to enjoy it.  But aside from a few small items, our goal is that most of our seasonal decorations would be consumable or compostable.  

The Verdict:  I feel like a weight has lifted.  I don't need to craft a fall mantlescape or create a charming porch vignette.  My seasonal decorating can happen organically, as I find a place to perch our winter squash until it is time to make soup or fill our house with the scent of autumn while I heat apple cider on the stove.

I like to think that Ma Ingalls would approve...

We are doing one small thing (almost) every day for a year to create a simpler, quieter, more intentional life. Take a moment to read all About Us, check out The Rules of our year long project and sign up for our RSS feed or "like" us on facebook so that you can follow our journey to radical simplicity!