365 Simplicity Project

These heirloom, organic seeds are going in the dirt today. Check...

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 09:55:00 -0500

These heirloom, organic seeds are going in the dirt today. Check out www.sproutrobot.com, www.sustainableseedco.com, and www.appalachianseeds.com to source your open-pollinated seeds. Don’t know the difference between hybrids and open-pollinators? Check out www.primalseeds.org/hybrid.htm for a great, quick & dirty synopsis. All we’re growing this year are heirloom varieties.

Currently reading.

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 09:47:01 -0500

Currently reading.

Some seriously Wild Food Art, for your Sunday viewing pleasure,...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:16:43 -0500

Some seriously Wild Food Art, for your Sunday viewing pleasure, via pbsparents tumblr page. Bon Appetit!

Preparing the work area for the self-watering container project:...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:05:58 -0500

Preparing the work area for the self-watering container project: I think I may need a hole saw adaptor for my drill, but I don’t have one. A Home Depot run may be in my immediate future.

Today’s adventure: Buck Jones. Organic Soil. The mommy...

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:26:51 -0500

Today’s adventure:
Buck Jones. Organic Soil. The mommy trolley pulled up with two boys and hoped to leave with a bunch of dirt for our self-watering pickle bucket containers. Turns out, it’s half the cost to buy it loose as bagged. We’ll be back with our buckets in a few days when the buckets are assembled. I won anyway because I got to run around the nursery with my two boys. (Note: Second boy not pictured as he was lashed to my body.)

The Next Day. My yogurt experiment: More than nine hours later,...

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:05:07 -0500

The Next Day.
My yogurt experiment: More than nine hours later, three of the seven are on their way to being yogurt. The four that set least have only milk & yogurt culture. The other three are sweetened one each with brown sugar, honey, and stevia, since plain yogurt is pretty tart. The one that looks firmest (and tastes really yummy!) is the honey one. I feel like a mad scientist. I’m resetting the timer and letting them go another 9 hours. Guess I’ll have to run to the store today to get some more materials for my wacky yogurt lab. In the meantime, firm up, little yogurts; I want to eat you!

Later in the day… It may not be obvious, as the day has...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:58:58 -0500

Later in the day…
It may not be obvious, as the day has turned moderately cloudy today, but the entire mulched area I’ve been watching for full sun looks as though it will receive it. Almost seven hours later, the sun would be hitting this area if it was shining full force. We may have a winner, but I do have an oak tree canopy that may cause too much shade once spring brings out it’s foliage. I’ll keep an eye on it on the next sunny day we have around here to try to determine where it might fall.

Yogurt maker just arrived. I calculate we spend $4-10 per week...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:27:41 -0500

Yogurt maker just arrived. I calculate we spend $4-10 per week on yogurt. This machine costs $40 and has reusable glass containers. We’re saving money and eating healthier, cleaner food. We’re no longer throwing 6-8 plastic tubs into the recycle bin every month. Yogurt is a staple in our household.

Watching the sun to see how many hours my pickle bucket...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:21:10 -0500

Watching the sun to see how many hours my pickle bucket containers will have in the spot I’ve chosen. Eight hours is ideal, but I don’t know if there’s anywhere on my property that I will have full sun. This spot seems likeliest, so I’m taking pictures and making notes on a sunny day where the light and shadows are obvious.

Organic Heirloom Seeds arrive: arugula, collards, seven...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:17:59 -0500

Organic Heirloom Seeds arrive: arugula, collards, seven varieties of tomatoes.

Chair Search, Part 1: Craigslistin'

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 07:16:23 -0400

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Craigslist is like the wild west. Every time I venture into that virtual marketplace of random used goods, I feel like everyone there is whooping it up, riding wild-eyed galloping horses, kicking up dust with six-shooters drawn all around me. To coin a phrase, ” You just never know what you’re gonna get.” This is not to say that the occasional frustration or colorful experience is not all part and parcel of the deal; it’s actually part of the thrill of the hunt. Case in point, I’ll share with you Monday’s Craigslist adventure…

Being on a budget, I’ve been scouring CL for the last couple of months in search of a small club chair to put into Caden’s new big boy room. I wanted something that was relatively new, well-manufactured, and obviously in very good shape if it was going to go in my little boy’s room for story time and night time snuggling. I also wanted a light oatmeal or cream color and I wanted clean lines (not one of these wingbacked numbers from the 80’s which for some reason are plen-tee-ful on CL.)

I’d been browsing periodically when suddenly this club chair - which appeared to meet my requirements - pops up in my search:

It looked like it might work. It was listed for $95 dollars, too, which was doable, so I called the owner and set up a time to meet. We loaded up the baby, took the back seat out of the van, and Chris and I set off hopefully to pick up the new chair.

When we arrived, I had some misgivings. The multicolored (mid-project?) siding on the house was partially falling down and the garage doors were both askew at weird angles to reveal a space chock full of furniture and appliances and all manner of other busy business. As I got out and made my way up the driveway, I was startled by a large 5” PVC pipe coming out of the garage to the driveway which loudly dispensed what looked like greywater of some kind.

“Nevermind,” I thought, wanting to give the benefit of the doubt. “Don’t judge a book by its cover…” and I kept going up to a small, colorful, and crowded second story porch to the front door where I met met an attractive blonde woman who never introduced herself but who shook my outstretched hand nonetheless. She ushered me through the open front door to see the chair which had been placed in the front foyer for inspection. When I walked in, it was obvious that the picture I had seen was not an accurate representation of the actual chair. It was a deep brown color and it was in less pristine condition than the ad had suggested. It had several stains and the cushions were askew in a way that didn’t seem fixable - the padding had slipped inside the fabric.

When I asked about the chair’s age and manufacturer, the owner told me that not only was there no clue about the maker on the chair, but that this had been a hand-me-down item from her parents who had left all their furniture behind in favor of a fresh start when they retired to their new condo in Boca Raton. She said the chair was maybe six years old, but it seemed like it might have been much older. As I inspected the chair, the woman was casually telling me all about her husband’s work and why the house was in such an uproar and about the renovations they had undertaken and about her several dogs - one of which was a chihuahua who was losing its tiny mind behind a nearby door - and about how her son would soon be in college and once he was, how he’d be living in this house while she and her husband moved to Costa Rica because her man could do his consulting work from anywhere in the world. While she was talking, I was willing my nose to accurately ascertain if the animal smell was coming directly from the chair itself or whether it was sort of just hanging in the air inside the whole house.

I decided I needed backup, so I excused myself from the woman, made my way past the porch full of wind chimes, candles, plants, and a four foot buddha statue to pow-wow with Chris who was waiting with the sleeping baby in the car. This is how he set me straight:

ME: “Honey, can you come up and take a look at this chair? I’m not sure about it and I need your opinion.”

HIM: “Well, what’re you thinking?”

ME: “It’s darker than I thought, and… well, I can’t tell if it’s the house or the chair that smells like animals.”

HIM: “Um, no. I don’t need to see the chair. You’ve just told me all I need to know right there, babe.”

ME: “What do you mean?”

HIM: “It doesn’t really matter if it’s the chair that stinks or if it’s the house that stinks, does it? You said it smells like dog, so yeah. That’s a no.”

Sometimes it takes a third party perspective to snap me out of my wild-eyed and hopeful Craigslist hunter mode. There hadn’t been many possibilities and I’d been looking soooo long that I just really wanted it to work, but he was totally right. If it wasn’t immediately apparent that this was a clean, well-kept chair, I should’ve just moved on and chalked it up to a wasted trip. Thank goodness he was there with me.

So anyway, I thanked the woman for her time and for dragging her chair into her half-finished foyer for me, but told her that the chair wasn’t going to work for us, which was totally true…

- - -

Stay tuned for Chair Search, Part 2, coming soon to a computer screen near you, where I venture into downtown Atlanta with a 16 month old in tow. Awesome!

Spring Spruce Up! Our Outdoor Play Space Makeover

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 22:42:00 -0400

Here’s what I imagine our neighbors have been thinking of us since we scored and (somewhat painfully) reconstructed our kids’ secondhand play equipment last summer:

“Wow. That’s an ugly playset you have there!”

“Why yes, yes it is. Thanks for noticing. We like to put our least attractive assets right in view of our neighbors whenever possible, so this works out just great.”

“What are you thinking putting that thing up in your backyard? Is it safe?”

“Well, we’re thinking that our kids are high energy balls of fire that could rival natural disasters. We’re thinking they need a constructive place to run off all that naturally occurring energy. And yes, the darned thing is solid as a rock or we wouldn’t have even considered allowing our children on it… “

For the record, this conversation NEVER happened; no, it’s just my paranoid version of what I think people might be thinking about us. In truth, our neighbors are all extremely nice people who would never come out and say the things that I’d hate for them to be thinking. That said, I’m thrilled to no end that we’ve spiffed our little eyesore up and become a tad more presentable to the neighborhood at large.

Can you blame me? Here’s our “before” picture of the swinging back yard bench:

(Yes, I almost forgot to get the before in all its glory… still learning.)

And the “before” of the ever-so-lovely playset:

Ugh, right?! Pretty rough.

So after living with this nonsense since last July (which is when Chris heroically reconstructed the playset through feats of engineering and sheer physical strength that I shall not go into here), I’ve been staring at this thing through our kitchen window. All through last fall, all through the winter, and into the beginning of this spring, it’s been out there looking like this. And if you know me, this sort of thing - no matter how functional - bothers me. Visual dissonance is not something I can tuck away in that portion of my brain marked “Don’t worry about it until it’s time to worry about it” because it is fresh every. single. time. I look out the window. I’m crazy like that, I know, but it’s hardwired. There’s really not anything I can do with myself when I get like that except make change. And change in this case looked like mulling over paint possibilities all through Georgia’s coldest months. Every breakfast, lunch, and dinner… there was the playset. Every snack, every trip through on the way to the garage… there was the playset. Every trip to the mudroom for shoes or a coat… there was the darn playset! It would not leave me alone, I tell you.

And while it was mocking me through the panes of the kitchen window, I was quietly plotting against it. I was designing it anew in my head. I had big plans for it, but I couldn’t let anyone or anything in on it lest my plans all fall to pieces in the debate over rainbow colored this-or-that which would have been sure to occur had my daughter been anywhere near the conversation.

When I finally decided on the color, I was pleased with myself. I had mulled over about a hundred different possible combinations including one or both of the outdoor pieces. In some combinations, they were different color schemes from each other. In other combinations, they were the same. But in all of them, because I had been influenced by the wishes of my six year old, I had far too many colors to work with, period. It started to feel frustrating because nothing was clicking! I wasn’t sure what I thought it should look like, which is actually quite unusual for me.

Then, finally, in a moment of clarity — maybe it was the fresh air and exercise that cleared my head as the weather started to warm so delightfully and we spent more time outdoors, I’m not sure — Bingo! I had it. Though the wood was sturdy and solid on both pieces, it was hard to see them that way since they were both so faded and had been through so many different kinds of sunlight and weather. I tried to imagine what they had looked like as new, what they would’ve looked like together, and what they would’ve looked like if we’d purchased them from a higher-end retailer (to us, at least) like Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel or the like, rather than having inherited the one and come into the other secondhand. That’s when it dawned on me: Chocolate Brown. Not only would it not be so loud as the stark white that the bench had been sporting, but it would blend beautifully with our wooded lot, it would create a visual partnership between the two pieces, and hopefully weather somewhat naturally, thus creating less work in the repainting-down-the-line category. So I took myself off to Home Depot to investigate paint colors, knowing I wanted a color a bit more dramatic than the stardard cedar colors of most playsets and also that the paint itself had to be really, really durable to stand up to the use that these two pieces would see at the hands (and butts and feet!) of us and our kids.

I ended up choosing a paint that was a paint and primer in one, which I have never used before, but which I highly recommend. I chose Behr’s Premium Ultra Plus Paint and Primer in One in a color called “Sweet Molasses”. The paint associate encouraged me to go with semi-gloss because he said it was harder wearing than the more matte versions of the same paint. In any case, this stuff was like magic. One coat was all it took to prime and paint and completely cover the surface of whatever I painted, regardless of what color it had been before. (Hello, white bench! One coat to makeover glory!)

Here’s the final result - the “after” picture of the playset:

And the pièce de résistance - the “after” picture of the new and improved bench:

All told, this little makeover of our backyard play space breaks down this way in terms of dollars and cents:

Paint + Primer in one from Home Depot: $36/can (I used the entire can.)

Flexible silicone paintbrush for detail work: $6

Two indoor/outdoor bench pillows from Home Depot: $12/each

Two medium modern metal + glass lanterns from Pier 1: $10/each

Two garden hooks to hang lanterns from Home Depot: $4/each

Decorative solar light owl from HomeGoods: $15

All told, my investment for this project came to right at $110. Its impact on the space both visually and in terms of how much we’re now using the area is HUGE. The kids are super excited about it and my brain is no longer sending out little mental hate telegrams to the ugly backyard play area. (That’s worth at least $100, if not many times that amount.) We’re really enjoying our backyard makeover and I know it’s only going to see more use as the world begins to blossom and the weather continues to warm.

The Saga Continues...

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:48:00 -0500

Just because I’ve been a bad blogger does not mean, believe it or not, that nothing has been happening around here on the “simplifying and organizing” front. It’s been a mixed bag for the last month, but we do have some big news, so keep reading…

Just now, I returned from dropping an entire van load of things to the thrift including, (but not limited to):

a set of two matching chairs
a corner curio unit
about a dozen outdoor screens
a large box full of glassware and sundries
an infant high chair
a cd player/radio/alarm unit
a holiday wreath and hanger
a basket of pet toys and accoutrements
an 18x24 poppy painting
some lumber

…and a number of other odds and ends I can’t quite remember.

If you’ll recall, my last trip to the thrift included many multiple bags full of things like clothes and toys and shoes, so we’re moving right along in terms of “getting rid of.” But none of that is the big news.

We’ve been in the process, if you’ll also recall, of repurposing multiple rooms in our home to new uses: My studio becoming my husband’s man cave. The room off our master transforming from the baby nursery to my new studio. The husband’s old office space becoming the big boy room for our little boy.

So what’s happening with all that, you ask? You’ll be pleased to know that my new studio space is complete and my old studio space is ready for Chris to move his things there. This feels like a major accomplishment! The only thing that remains to be done in my new space is that I’ll need to make curtains for my bookcases to cover all the varied art supplies that they house. I’ve already purchased the rods and the fabric; it’s just a matter of somehow, some way making the time to do the actual sewing of a couple of simple panels. This feels easier said than done, as my time has been at a premium lately, but I know that the room will feel much cleaner when those panels are neatly creating a hidden storage space for all the stuff on the shelves.

Yes, we’re moving right along, but in the process, we’re discovering that we need “holding space” both for things that we’re getting rid of and for things that are moving to a new home in our house. The garage has been the holding space of choice for the larger items and the guest room has been the holding space of choice for the smaller items… and can I tell you? It’s driving me CRAZY. I’m not fond of the resulting disorganization and clutter, so today I put my big girl panties on and faced the garage and its mountain of recyclables and discardables that has been waiting for attention; its years-old screens and piles of thirftables that have been collecting there since the beginning of January as we move room by room through the house; its boxes and boxes that needed to be broken down and recycled; its table and chairs that STILL haven’t sold (FIRE sale on that set for anyone that’s interested - contact me!); its odds-and-ends furniture pieces that I maybekindasorta (but not really) wanted to list on Craigslist to see if I could get a few bucks out of them. And all this makes no mention of the guest room, which I have yet to face. That’s the small stuff and it will have to wait until I find my other pair of panties.

One thing I’m VERY proud of is our mud room. This past month it went from being a disorganized eyesore to being possibly the most organized and efficient room in the house. Pictures to come.

Another project I’m proud of is our craft closet, which this month became a reality. I’d been thinking of it for months, but once Valentine’s came and went and we had new papers and punches and scissors and string to create these —

— I became more motivated than ever to organize and properly store all our family craft supplies so that they were easy to find and accessible when we had new ideas. (I’m thinking of writing a blog entry on how we made these. Caia really enjoyed herself!)

And the last project I’m proud of is in Caia’s room. She’s a little artist, but her supplies were just all over her desk and always looked messy. In addition, she had one of those bin-style toy organizers that, when full, also looks like a big mess. In short, her room never really looked clean, even when it was. Instead of continuing on that way, we decided to get busy and get organized in there. We removed all her books from a small two-shelf bookcase she already had, scooting it into her art area to contain all her papers and crayons and markers, completed artwork, and other supplies. We also removed the existing bin-style toy unit and bought a new 9-cubby shelf thingamabob which could house both her books and her toys in a neater, more fun way, and give her a little display space for her favorite things on top. It’s got several of these adorable fabric drawers, courtesy of our local Target store, which Caia could not be more enchanted with:

So why has it taken me so long to blog? This past little bit of time, as winter is both hanging on and letting go and the world is finally beginning to warm up and shine again, is frankly the hardest month of the year for me. February: my nemesis. But actually, that’s not been as much of a challenge as the fact that I had a sudden and full blown case of acute urticaria vasculitis, which in laymen’s terms means a severe case of incredibly itchy hives all over my body. I have not been able to sleep because of it and that’s put a major dent in my productivity. But that’s not all! No, that’s not all. Two weeks after I started with all the insane skin-me-please-because-that’d-be-preferable-to-this itching, I caught the nastiest bug of the season and was sick with fever, chills, exhaustion, nausea and more. And it seemed to drag on forever! Yep, kindergarten strikes again. But even that’s not the whole reason that I’ve not been blogging. Want to know what is?

The last and most exciting piece of my non-blogging confessional is this: we’re expecting! Yes, that’s right. Our third child is due to join our world in early September and we couldn’t be more thrilled about it. We’ll be having another home birth and have already seen our beloved midwife once. I’m due to go back to see her for my second visit at 14 weeks this coming Monday. It’s at that appointment that we’ll hear the heartbeat. Can I tell you how anxious I am for Monday to hurry up already?! In the meantime, I’ve been very tired, I look as though I’ve gained eight or ten pounds in my midsection (even though I haven’t gained an ounce yet!), and my pants are starting to feel a tiny bit snug. Despite the usual symptoms of early pregnancy, as I feel this little life growing inside of me each week, I’m beside myself with joy that we’ve been so blessed with another amazing child.

So there you have it. The saga of the last month. It’s been a wild one, but we’ve made it through. I can’t thank my sweet, supportive husband enough for stepping up and allowing me to rest and recover through all of the weirdness of the last month. I’m hoping to be back at this blogging thing with vigor, but the last month once again proved to me that rules were meant to be bent and even occasionally broken, so I’m going to take it easy on myself if I don’t hit the mark 100% of the time. I’m thinking I may need to blog once a week or so and do our thrifting drop off in weekly trips. Getting rid of seven things each week is not a big deal, but blogging about one for every day has proven to be a challenge, so it’s looking like it’s time to evaluate and evolve the original plan. What about you? Have you had a period in your life that turned wild? How did you deal with it? Were you able to keep yourself in balance through it? What coping skills worked for you?

Thanks, dear friends, for hanging in there with me. I’m glad you’re here. And if you have suggestions about a new schedule for the seven things per week (or anything else about this project, for that matter), I’m all ears. Talk to you soon.

Love,

Christine

Week Three Roundup

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:42:05 -0500

I never know what’s going to come up next in this process, but I’m enjoying the bends and turns that pursuing our values produces. This week I did things a little differently, dedicating my time to ferreting out the little things from closets and playrooms that just didn’t need to be here anymore. That gave me three bags of things to work with and another two large items that needed no bag at all, like this cute little walker/ride-on toy:

My favorite part of dropping off these things at the thrift today was the huge smile on the delivery bay worker’s face when I handed him a stuffed animal nearly as large as he was (I wish I had a picture of it - and him with it!) I always wonder if the guys who help you unload your car there get first pick of things that come in? I imagined him taking the giant fluffy stuffed animal to a squealing, bouncy, little boy or girl at home - Daddy the Hero arrives triumphant after a long day at work. That’s my little daydream about it, anyway. Here are the three bags of toys, ready to go:

A few weeks ago, I had begun the daunting task of cleaning, purging, and reorganizing my closet. In the nearly three years that we’ve lived in our house, I’ve gone through this process with my closet at least three times and still, I’m embarrassed to tell you, I haven’t come up with a system that’s worked for me to truly feel in control of that closet. I think it may be that I just flat out have had too many things crammed into a space which, admittedly, is more than adequate for a fairly extensive wardrobe. Now that I’ve pared down, I’m finding that I enjoy both my clothes and my closet so much more!

I found three bags worth of clothing, shoes, and jewelry that could go. In one of these bags is three pairs of practically new shoes. In another is a box full of jewelry. The rest are clothes that are either no longer practical, the wrong size, or simply not a style I wear any more. Some of them were quite beautiful and/or expensive at one time, but now that matters less than the fact that I just don’t wear them. The expense of a few of these pieces is what’s kept me from purging them before now, but something has shifted and I’m seeing them for what they are: old energy, unable to contribute to the life that I’m living here and now. It felt so nice to fill up my van and then empty it of that old energy today.

Last pictures of the whole “take”, before the little trip to the thrift:

This project is gaining momentum! As I loaded up and left to donate these things, I mentioned to Christopher Thomas how good having exactly this much space back in our house felt to me. I can practically visualize the space that these items used to take up in our home - invisible outlines where now there is openness. It’s funny how I don’t feel a lack at all as I get rid of them. In fact, I’m feeling richer all the time. The further along I get with this project, the more I’m finding that “space” is more valuable and luxurious to me than most of this stuff. Oh, paradox! :-)

On to week four…

Knowing What You Need

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:37:42 -0500

“I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.”

— Oliver Wendell Holmes

Earlier in the week, at her request, Caia’s closet was cleared of about 60% of what was shoved in it. When it was all said and done, I was left with even more stuff to trash, donate, rehome or sell, (two full laundry baskets, to be exact) plus a very large box of stuff that belonged more in the playroom than her closet. But. The playroom wasn’t ready for more stuff. It desperately needed less stuff. As the reality of this project has gotten underway, the order of things in a space as large as our entire house has proven to be all shaken and stirred. Oh, the things you can’t fully anticipate when you start something like this… !

So this weekend was spent working on our “playroom”. It’s a misnomer in a way, as the room is dedicated to our family’s library and music space as well as the children’s playthings. (Playroom denotes train tables and wall murals and exclusive kid space in my mind, but this is not what ours is like at all.) We have a wall unit that houses our books with cabinets built in that house the children’s toys. The bottom half of the unit is dedicated to the children; the top half is split between adult interests. We have a lot of books. In this room, we also have a large toy box and a large doll house. We have a guitar, Congas and an Ivory Coast Djembe. We also have a few random larger play items that don’t fit in the cabinet or toy box.

The challenge was that we decided to move all the dress up costumes into the playroom. It meant cleaning out the toy box to repurpose it for the clothing, which meant getting rid of large portions of what was in the toy box. (See how this works? Clean one thing out, only to find that it leads to three more projects!) We also went through all the children’s books and reorganized them, prioritized and culled through lots of toys, and reconfigured the room a little. In all, we had three large bags of toys to purge, a full trash can of random stuff, and a couple of larger, “space hog” items that rarely enjoy use. All of it goes.

The other items that were pulled from the playroom were craft-related. One of our large closets will be dedicated to craft supplies, coloring books, and board games. These are all common activities in our household, so it makes sense that we dedicate space for them. I’m excited by the idea of this closet, but if you were to catch a glimpse of what it looks like right now, you’d understand when I say that I’m not looking forward to the cleaning of it.

It’s hard to believe that we’re getting rid of so much and not missing any of it. It brings into sharp focus what’s really important: People, free time, connections, creativity, good food, art, health, rest…

So little of that has anything to do with money or with stuff. If it does, and I have a confession to make - I bought some new Calphalon cooking utensils this week so I won’t scratch up our new Calphalon pots and pans - it’s more about supporting a pre-existing interest than about having something for the sake of having it. I walked into the store where I bought the cooking utensils and thought, wow, there was a day when I would have wanted to buy all kinds of things here, but now all I want is the thing I need. Knowing what you need, though, takes a bit of time. We had to go through a phase in our lives where we collected lots of things that we might, maybe, someday have a use for…? before we knew what we actually used and needed on a regular basis. That’s the simplicity on the other side of complexity that is such valuable knowledge.

sign image by Cozy Cottage, Loveland, Colorado

Week Two Roundup

Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:11:00 -0500

This week has been quite unusual with all the snow and the subsequent schedule juggling, but I managed to get all my posts in despite the fact that both my six year old and my one year old were basically hanging on me like monkeys for days on end while we were trapped atop our frozen, beautiful hill. It’s been a challenge keeping them both entertained and although I did post all my items, I have yet to actually help several of them exit the premises. Here’s where it all stands for the week:

Item 1, Week 2: Baby Walker

This item went to my little nephew, who will hopefully enjoy it as much as my Caden.

Item 2, Week 2: Large Wicker Basket

This item will be dropped at the thrift.

Item 3, Week 2: Wooden Doll Cradle

This item was rehomed to a high school friend of mine whom I met just earlier today to make the transfer. What a small, small, connected world we live in that literally 15+ years after the last time I saw her, I could end up conversing in the parking lot of a Pizza Hut with someone I haven’t seen since high school! What a different scene, too - picture dueling minivans packed with two kids apiece and all the accompanying gear. How times have changed since homeroom!

Item 4, Week 2: Mission Style Rocking Chair

This item was listed on Craigslist, but hasn’t sold yet. Keeping my fingers crossed on it since I really don’t want to lower the price on this one.

Item 5, Week 2: Duvet Set

Just listed! Someone take this off my hands, please, perhaps with the blue lamp below as well? First $30 makes it yours.

Item 6, Week 2: Blue Lamp

Just listed! Could this be yours for only $10?

Item 7, Week 2: Room Divider/Screen

Just listed! This’ll head off to the thrift unless someone pipes up to save it from its fate…

Thanks so much to those of you who’ve been following along for the past two weeks as this thing has gotten underway. Right now I’m not sure whether it’s a handful or more who’ve been reading, but to those of you who’ve made comments and left feedback, please know that hearing from you really does help me to keep making progress on this project. I’m grateful that you’re here. So, what do you think so far? Do you have any questions?

Item 7, Week 2: Room Divider/Screen

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 23:45:25 -0500

I’m not sure why I’m so attached to this thing other than it’s been with me ever since my best girlfriend from college gave it to me. She was moving out of her quaint bungalow duplex in Athens and clearing out her stuff. That was 1996 or 1997. I’ve been lugging this thing around ever since, if you can believe that. I love her and I love it because of that, not to mention that it’s an interesting decor piece in the right situation. I think I’ve dressed it and used it in about three dozen different ways in the time it’s been with me - room divider, privacy screen, decor base for a corner, storage coverall, holiday card display, etc., etc.

All that said, it’s time for it to go find a new home, so let me know if you’re interested. I’ve always thought it could be repainted to match a different color palette…

Yes, this last one is an odd shot. I was trying to crop out the piece of furniture on the right side of the room, but still show you the entire screen:

Could you use this item in your home or business? My yoga or massage people, perhaps?

Item 6, Week 2: Blue Lamp

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 23:38:06 -0500

It’s a bit older, but perfectly serviceable and it could, perhaps, go with the blue duvet set for an additional $10. Anyone interested?

Item 5, Week 2: Duvet Set

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 23:37:50 -0500

I’d love to give this lovely contemporary duvet set to someone who might use it. I purchased it in late 2009/early 2010 after my mother-in-law gifted us with a lovely new warm down comforter for Christmas, but I’d never owned a European-style duvet set before and I discovered that I like a more tailored bed. I’m kind of picky about my bed linens and this just wasn’t quite giving me what I wanted to see day in and day out.

Although it says it’s a king, the bed it’s on in these pictures is a queen and I think it fits the queen much better than the larger size bed. We only used this set for literally a couple of weeks, so it’s practically brand new. I still love the pattern and had a little debate with myself over whether or not I was ready to let this go.

I’d like to get $30 or so for the duvet set and in case there’s any confusion, the down comforter and pillows do not come with the duvet set itself. Let me know if you’re interested. If you share this aesthetic, it’s an awfully cute steal.

Item 4, Week 2: Mission Style Rocking Chair

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:27:00 -0500

This chair was given to me before the birth of my first child. It’s large and very comfortable, even accommodating large men easily. (Hear that, new dads?) When it saw use, I would rock in it with a pillow behind my back and occasionally a stool or footrest. Before I received it, I had visions of late night feeding and soothing and cuddling in a chair like it, but when the baby finally arrived, I found I didn’t use it that much. I loved the simple Mission style of it, however, and have kept it in our guest room as an extra comfy seat for visitors to relax in. It’s time for it to go, however, and I’m selling it for $90.

It has no stains, tears, scratches or other problems, save for one small, nonstructural wooden peg that is missing to cover a screw on one of the armrests - see first picture. I’ve made accomodations for this one minor thing in the price, however, and hope that you’ll find that for the quality and style of this piece, the price is more than fair. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about it and of course help you load it or possibly even deliver within reason. It’s practically new and in impeccable condition. Please let me know if this is an item you’d like to acquire for your very own!

Here’s the Craigslist ad for this item:

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/bab/2158831936.html