Today was the annual neighborhood yard sale and I"m proud to say I only spent .50! And the purchase was a hand-made pottery bowl -- TOTALLY worth it. To be honest, I also bought a food dehydrator from a friend that was technically going to be sold in the yard sale, but that transaction took place outside the parameters of the yard sale, so it doesn't count. My first dehydration project will be the Lion's Mane & Oyster mushrooms, but I'm sure over the summer I'll have tons more to dry. Kale chips, anyone?

Walking around the neighborhood today, there were a couple of times when I stopped to ponder whether I had the MASSIVE amounts of stuff that these people seemed to have. One family had at least 10 dining room chairs for sale. How do you have that many chairs to sell and still have enough to seat your family? Then there was card table after card table of .... junk. Crap. Shit. I don't think I have MUCH of that kind of thing. I don't really do knick-knacks or anything, really, that isn't functional. Very few things in my house don't serve a purpose. Which makes my mantra of "If I don't use it or love it, it goes" quite a bit easier to comply with.

I've got about 4 boxes of kitchen stuff that I'll be taking to a newly single woman a few towns over tomorrow. I am even parting with one of the sets of Pyrex mixing bowls (yes, just ONE of the sets). It's taken me 6 years to be willing to part with them because, frankly there are few things in life I love more than Pyrex. Melamine is a close second, but isn't quite as functional. If it's the Amish Farmer pattern, I'm positively in love. Sad, I know. Especially since up until a year ago, I didn't really cook at all.

The Amish Farmer has a history with me: It's the pattern my grandmother had. We have never been a big family for passing things down, but I ended up with one. Recently, I started to notice them everywhere I go and decided that it would be fun to build a full collection around that bowl and then pass them on to my girls. I've gotten a few more bowls at the Thrift Store and commitments from family members to get theirs when they are done with them (you heard that, Peg!). One friend happened to have a couple that she was willing to part with. I know that MY grandmother didn't use them, but SOMEONE'S grandmother did!

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The house has really gotten away from me since Bill has been staying at the farm full time. I just got the yard cut for the first time last week. There was enough dog hair in the corners of my house that I'm surprised Maxx & Ezra aren't bald. Laundry is never completely done. I know it's silly and no one really cares but it bothers me for people to come in my house when it's messy. It also impacts my frame of mind. Not that I am very good at relaxing at all, but I really can't relax if the house is dirty. Hopefully getting rid of some of the extra stuff will help.


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I applied for Food Assistance (formerly known as "food stamps"). The process was WAY easier than I remember it being. I did the application online and got a call from a worker the next day for a phone interview. I have a few verifying documents to send it and then we'll know if we qualify for anything. Yes, it feels weird. I know there are so many other folks who are worse off than we are. Hopefully, we will work out way out of qualifying for anything within a year but in the meantime, I'm going to take advantage of the help to ensure we are able to continue to eat FOOD rather than food-like substances.

Which moves us to food & farming stuff.........

I got a nice bag of goodies from the farm on Thursday....some mushrooms (to add to my collection), kale, a few onions, leeks, bok choi. I started a new crock of Kim Chi today with the bok choi and leeks (added carrots, ginger, garlic & red pepper). This time I left the chunks big since I was recently told that "people expect big chunks" rather than the shredded version I did last time. I'm experimenting with how much fermented food I have to eat before I can lay off the probiotics, but I haven't found the magic number yet.

Made some buttermilk dill salad dressing with the last of the buttermilk. Stuck the eggplant plants in some dirt. Tomorrow's plan is to dive in to soap making. ..I've put it off long enough. I'm down to 2 bars of commercially produced soap and I hope to not have to buy any more. Tallow, shea butter & coconut oil are the basic ingredients. I found some nice molds that will make the bars pretty, but let's hope they don't smell like rancid meat.

I'm toying with an idea I read in this blog: I'd like to get rid of our garbage cans and replace them with bins for recycling & compost. We do reasonably well with both but every week when I take down 2 garbage tanks to go to the landfill, I wonder how much of it should have gone to one of the tanks. I would guess 50%. I'm not sure how do do the bathroom garbage -- maybe I"ll start with the kitchen?

Speaking of compost, the counter top compost crock that I bought is too small. It's going to the above-mentioned person who is getting my extra crap...er, useful kitchen ware. It will be replaced with a plastic bucket that has a larger capacity and allows more air flow to cut down on the slimy, smelly anaerobic process that happens with the fancy-schmancy crock from Bed, Bath &Beyond. The bin doesn't look as pretty on my counter, but since I'm committed (COMMITTED, you hear me?) to severely limiting anything new coming in to this house, it'll have to do. Frankly, I think it will work better than the current plan.

Still managing to hold my anxiety about moving at bay. Today I was working in the yard and had a fleeting moment of melancholy. I like our yard (when it's mowed!). I love this house. I wish we could afford to stay here, frankly. But we would both have to go back to work in ECA to do that and this is just not something we are willing to do. There's a cute little place out there with enough room to grow some yummy stuff, have some chickens & goats. Close enough for A to stay in her current school & me to stay connected with the people I've come to love. And without having to sell our souls, right?

Please, god, tell me that's right.