Tidying

I was all set to start on my to do list last Monday when it hit me-- the sudden, overwhelming urge to tidy.

I didn't, alas, have the urge to clean. There is a distinct difference between tidying and cleaning. Tidying is putting things in order, eliminating the clutter hotspots in the house. Cleaning is the scrubbing, the dusting, the vacuuming and mopping.

The house has several clutter hotspots. One of them is my office, which becomes what my mother would call "The Pilot Room". You know, pilot here, pilot there. I hadn't tidied the office since Mama de la Casa's visit and that disorder made it all too easy to just throw stuff in there that I didn't know what to do with. The room was virtually impassable.

The office was the worst, but there were other areas: the hall tree where mail had piled into an eight inch tall stack, the "landing spot"-- the kitchen counter where I leave my purse and lunch bag when I get home from work, the bedroom dresser which became a clothes' magnet. I systematically worked through them all and others. I stopped to admire my work when I had cleared each area and then immediately jumped into the next. I finished, but the tidying energy was still strong.

So I treated myself to a Netflix show (not, as you may image, Marie Kondo's show) as I sorted through the endless stack of filing, putting papers into their designated folders. I pulled old bills and outdated paperwork for the shredding pile.

At the end of the day, I wandered from room to room, reveling in the neatness of the house. Gretchen Rubin says "Outer order leads to inner calm". I concur. A day was a worthwhile investment to have a space that is tidy and organized and my psyche enjoys the results.

I have never been able to figure out what brings on these moods. Is it a feeling of "Enough is Enough"? Was the Moon in Virgo? Was I subconsciously avoiding working on a more important project? I don't know. I just know that I am grateful to have had the chance to take advantage of the mood and reap its benefits.

Success at last!

I love butternut squash. I love it in soups, roasted, mashed, in salads. I save the seeds and roast them to sprinkle on salads or to eat as a snack. It's my favorite winter vegetable.

For nearly 20 years I have tried, unsuccessfully, to grow my own. Some years, the plants were sickly and failed to set fruit, while other years they thrived until they were suddenly stricken with some disease or infestation. I stopped planting multiples and confined myself to one plant.

One year, the plant flourished and set fruit, several miniature green squashes. Success was within my grasp! And then I went away for a week and when I came back, the plant was dead, the little squashes shriveled and gnawed on. When I pulled the plant out of the ground, it came away easily. Gophers had eaten the roots, probably even as I was getting into my car to hit the road for vacation. I was utterly discouraged and gave up on growing my own butternut squash.

This year, I decided to try again. I expected it would follow the same path of failure, but much to my surprise, this beauty survived to maturity. I checked on it every day, cautiously allowing myself to hope.

This weekend I harvested the lone squash. It is perfectly healthy, feeling heavy for its size, smooth and symmetrical. These squash last a long time, so I am leaning toward cooking it for Thanksgiving dinner, perhaps roasting it with a spiced maple syrup glaze. I will save the seeds and roast some of them, but will save a few for next season. My hope has been renewed, maybe next year I'll double my harvest and get two squash!

The Shredder

A few weeks ago, the paper shredder I've had for years stopped working. Well, that's not entirely true. It would work just fine in reverse, but when I fed it paper to shred it didn't respond at all. I cleared the paper out as best as I could, but when I switched it on, it remained unresponsive.

Since it still ran in reverse, Man of the House suggested turning it upside down. That, unsurprisingly, didn't work at all. I had had the shredder for 15 years, so it was probably time for a new one. I set the shredder aside and started the search for its replacement.

I began working toward one of my 2020 goals a few months early. For the next year (and perhaps permanently going forward) I will be making most of my purchases on the secondary market. With the exception of a few things such as underwear and shoes, I will search for what I need at thrift stores, garage sales and on-line second hand venues.

So I made the rounds of my favorite local thrift stores. I found a few options, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to buy any of them. I went home to take a final look at my shredder.

With a fine gauge crochet hook I fished out bits of paper from the teeth of the shredder. Some of them were jammed in tightly and it took some effort to fish them loose. I would occasionally run the shredder, but it still didn't start.

Finally, I got one last bit of paper out and when I flipped the switch the shredder roared back to life. I fed it papers and it chewed through them as always. I was back in business.

This experience makes me more interested in learning how to repair and maintain the appliances I have. Yes, I could have picked up a good shredder at the thrift store, but it is even better to not make the purchase at all. One day the shredder will be dead for good, but the longer I can keep it out of the landfill, the better.

Fourth Quarter

This is my favorite time of the year. The summer heat (not that we had much this year) is cooling down and the light grows softer and more golden in the afternoons. In the morning, I feel a refreshing crispness in the air.The farmers' market is still full of peppers, eggplant and basil, but there are also the first winter  squashes. The abundance is intoxicating and I revel in all the dishes I can make.

After the pleasures of summer, it is a delight to feel a renewed call to discipline and planning. The rest of the year will be busy, with a cascade of holidays, so I get out my beloved Filofax and start planning so that everything will get done. I dream of projects to bring to fruition and revive plans that had been set aside to pursue summer activities.

This year, I am aided by an unexpected change. For the foreseeable future I will be working four days a week instead of five, with (of course) a corresponding cut in pay. It's a sacrifice, to be sure, but I see potential:  additional time and energy to work on the projects that bring me joy and satisfaction.

One of those projects is to revive La Dama de la Casa. I now have Mondays off so I plan to write a blog post that day. I will continue to focus on simple living and the joys of making, as well as some philosophy and unexpected topics. A few years ago a friend urged me to write about my wide range of enthusiasms so I will finally take her up on it. I hope you find my ramblings interesting and inspiring.

Eating during Wartime

This weekend I attended the opening reception at our local agricultural museum for an exhibit on the role food and agriculture played during the World Wars. I saw this poster, which dates from World War I and was instantly struck by how timely the advice was. It could have easily been written this week by Michael Pollan or a devoted locavore or even La Dama de la Casa!

These are all excellent points. Even in peacetime, it is important that we treat what nourishes us with respect and care.

So I came home and inspired by the example of the wartime damas de las casas, I made  yummy pork fried rice with leftovers and local veggies, topped with a sprinkling of chopped green onions from my backyard herb garden.

Duster Socks

 

I recently ran out of the cloths that attach to my floor duster. I had recently scored five skeins of my favorite cotton yarn and decided to knit up a few replacements. I modified a pattern I found on line.

The new "socks" grab plenty of the dust, cat hair and flotsam and jetsam that accumulates on my hardwood floors. When I'm done, the socks go into the wash to be cleaned for the next cleaning day.

Whenever possible, I prefer things that don't leave La Casa once they've arrived. Food, for example. I hate to throw away anything edible. Any veggies that are too tired for soup go into the compost bin to become soil for next year's veggies. I develop meal plans that use up all the meat products we buy.

I didn't use many duster cloths and I know that it won't make a significant difference in the landfills if there are a few fewer.  It is more a mindset shift to go to reusable cloths. And I like having a quick and easy knitting project!

Produce Exchange

Several years ago, I was intrigued by a flyer in Santa Barbara for a produce exchange. Not long after, I read an article in the newspaper about a local produce exchange. I was warmly welcomed into the group and began sharing veggies and herbs from La Casa.

During the growing season, we meet once or twice a month at a member's house. It's like the fishes and loaves-- it seems like members leave with more than they brought! We discuss gardening issues, share announcements of gardening events, and then share the bounty of our gardens. Several times a year we have a potluck, usually built around a theme. Last weekend, members of the group met to make dozens and dozens of tamales for the holidays.

It's a great way to supplement the produce I don't grow in a manageable quantity. Through the generosity of my fellow exchangers, I've learned new gardening techniques and tried fruits and veggies I had never tried before. It's a wonderful way to build community and share the excess (especially herbs) that might end up in the compost bin.

In our last meeting, a member brought lots of Granny Smith apples grown on her property. I have been longing to make apple pie and this was a great opportunity to stock up on lots of pie-worthy apples.  La Casa is going to smell heavenly on a chilly autumn night!