Here's my new favorite slogan.

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without"

I wonder how this will go over with my teenagers?


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I've hit the point where I am *ready* to move. Patience is not my strong point, and I'm ready to make this transition. Of course, all logic tells me that moving now doesn't make sense. Still.....

So I've decided to focus on getting READY to move. I've been cleaning out cupboards & drawers and putting tons of stuff on Freecycle and I'm reasonably pleased with the results. We have WAY too much stuff and I'm glad to rid myself of it. It's funny to me how I spent so many years of my life with the objective of having more stuff. Now I've reached a point where I want it all to go away. Anything that doesn't add value to my life and support my priorities is going. With few exceptions*, it's easy to tell the difference.

*Potential Exceptions:

The 55 gallon aquarium. I do love cichlids and have been keeping them on and off for over 10 years. But the aquarium takes up a lot of space. Bill has always been the maintenance guy and his time is scarce these days. We could probably get a little cash from it, so I'm thinking it needs to go ahead and go.

The antique dining room suite. It's a table that seats 8 with the leaf, a buffet and china cabinet. It's the only thing we bought when we moved to Michigan and I love it. It's held up reasonably well through kids and animals. BUT...it's big. Again, probably worth some $ if we sold it. I'm undecided on this one.

The 60" TV & sound system. I could sell it right now and not think twice about it. Unfortunately there are other folks in my family who are quite attached to it. It's great for video games (especially the Wii Fit games) and I have to admit that watching a great movie on it ROCKS. And I do those things fewer than once a month. Others do it more often, so I'll defer this one to the people who care.

Books. Oh, the joy of books! I love to be surrounded by books! And......I've got way too many and need to let some of them go. My goal is to cut my collection by half. This will be hard.

Meanwhile, back on the farm........

It's been the wettest spring in SE Michigan history so much has gone undone. My eggplant seedlings aren't in the ground yet and my oyster mushrooms aren't done. Sprouts in the raised bed are coming in and BOY do I wish I had documented what I put where! A few more weeks should help me identify what's there - details, details.

The Lion's Mane mushrooms are ROCKING but there's a problem. The humidity tent is impacting growth. I took it off and the mushrooms are drying out. Maybe I should put them outside? The fruit is supposed to taste like lobster when you cook it in butter, so I'm really excited to keep it going until I've got enough to do some sort of creamy pasta with it.

I'm going to visit Bill at the REAL farm tonight, so stay tuned for pictures of piggies, chickens and green, growing things!