tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21476249993818211372024-03-13T23:13:16.102-07:00Creative Minimalism and Simple LivingCREATIVE MINIMALISM AND SIMPLE LIVING Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-24939406912984255722024-03-07T23:19:00.000-08:002024-03-07T23:25:04.995-08:00New book The Whimsical Minimalist!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQFjSPTrL-762-RcBxDPDTcxtDrfclMuzP5kPbcQi1k3R_gGWKLCRnfuwOrt7lVfG3cucG_OPT5Ysp7O5vOU-YA0y1C4goJ_cMdXUT5B4UuyA_G6rCKoKxkqkRXw4HQpqg6PALQ-smiIsm7qYrTFTUDxzyvQiHuDJUy09ZTbka3Mo1hdsygIUXbZS2kYw/s1500/81hXK4C74AL._SL1500_.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="943" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQFjSPTrL-762-RcBxDPDTcxtDrfclMuzP5kPbcQi1k3R_gGWKLCRnfuwOrt7lVfG3cucG_OPT5Ysp7O5vOU-YA0y1C4goJ_cMdXUT5B4UuyA_G6rCKoKxkqkRXw4HQpqg6PALQ-smiIsm7qYrTFTUDxzyvQiHuDJUy09ZTbka3Mo1hdsygIUXbZS2kYw/w402-h640/81hXK4C74AL._SL1500_.jpeg" width="402" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>I have some news - I wrote and published <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CXF53H4S/ref=sr_1_1?crid=D7F5C8KSYAW5&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sAfAUhVhcQNjMfgfiI7l58JWxeEqcNgjqXcEiTfYRIAfPup7lg06O4sRilF-Y-qzfRuM1W7cOR7kZK1nPW0Qq0fhJ4wb4o4n7PfNgLc8LKLYtdrRCLVLGmfZfsAvN1r0cKwFpmpq8VY-UbtK5pljTwQJYK6cGMExxrOt_h4S6bg9wns3MeQqxdXLVlu_-IE3ysx7hfJBcUCPgWa3bwz1cBXwgBJw_tQqmGJDby9rSvU.5sjt_KyvwB5GKru2zWBAv-25Fga1PnxmSfDI2myOwiw&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+whimsical+minimalist+book&qid=1709876883&sprefix=the+whimsical+minimalist+book%2Caps%2C229&sr=8-1" target="_blank">a book about whimsical minimalism</a> which talks about how creative people can benefit from functional minimalism while embracing all the color and print and detail they wish. The book is a total of 134 pages, and contains photographs. It is available in Kindle e-book and soon also as a paperback and hardcover. Here is first chapter for you :) </p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: SignPainter; font-size: 20px; text-align: center;">What is whimsical minimalist style</span><span style="font-family: SignPainter; font-size: 20px; text-align: center;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: SignPainter; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 24px; min-height: 15px; text-align: center;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: SignPainter; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 24px; min-height: 15px; text-align: center;"><br /></p>
<p style="color: #3c3c3e; font-family: "DIN Condensed"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 65px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 78px; text-align: center;"><span style="letter-spacing: 2.6px;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: SignPainter; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 24px; text-align: center;">The Story Book Runaways</p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">If you are anything like me, you often feel like you are on one hand very drawn to minimalism and on the other hand you feel like a fraud - you not only have a bit too much stuff, you are a bit too much. Too enthusiastic, too imaginative, too loud, too talkative, too colorful, too all over the place! Just a bit strange. </p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">You look at all the minimalist sites and YouTube channels and all you see is these very self-composed people, the men in their black T-shirts and black jeans and the women in their beige clothes and beige decor. You have tried to be like that too, but it’s just not you. These minimalism advocates tell you it’s okay to love color, but it’s nowhere to be seen. </p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">I have absolutely nothing against the typical ”zen” minimalist style and neutral colors and the simple, even austere style, but if you browse the internet you easily get the impression that minimalists are supposed to look like this and that’s it. You may start thinking that minimalism is not for you, even though in actuality it may be of great benefit. Or you may feel like a fraud if you talk about your desire for minimalism, because you just do not fit the mould. </p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">If you want to replace this ubiquitous stark minimalist idea with something else, just think about a travelling gypsy caravan, a nomad tribe in their yurts, or a circus performer living in her trailer! All of these would be bursting with color and detail, yet contain very little stuff in actual numbers, as they are small spaces that need to be mobile. They are visually interesting, yet there is no extra stuff. What is there, is loved and used and taken care of.</p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">Perhaps the strangest way I have been described by another person was this: ”I suspect Vappu is not real at all. I think she ran away from a story book.” If you, too, are a story book runaway, who at the same time craves simplicity, read on!</p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: SignPainter; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 24px; text-align: center;">Breaking the bust and boom cycle of acquiring and decluttering</p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">If you are convinced that you want to become more minimalist, you may buy into it so much that you go out and replace all your clothes with beige and grey or black and white, or you feel almost guilty for having art on your walls and decorative items that serve no other purpose beyond being visually pleasing to you. </p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">But this is confusing a minimalist aesthetic with minimalist lifestyle. Minimalist aesthetic takes the look and style to extreme simplicity. Minimalist lifestyle aims to eliminate all that distracts you from your core values and goals in life or just complicates your everyday existence, and to remove anything that is excess to your essential needs and most life affirming habits. There is the struggle of creatives and their arts and crafts materials and tools we all know, and it is easy to conclude that minimalism is just not for you, because you are a creative person. Whimsy, creativity and artistry seem to be directly opposed to minimalism in most cases. Creative minimalists usually seem to be writers, who only need their laptop and a rug to sit on, if that. Or they go to a cool nearby café to write, needing no special place to practice their craft.</p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">The truth is, minimalism is just the tool to bring sense and serenity and peace to your life, so that your creativity can flourish and you don’t get overwhelmed and paralysed. You can have an interesting style and a home with personality, without owning a lot of stuff. If you have neurodiversity, like ADHD, or any illness that causes fatigue, minimalism is definitely for you. Each and every thing in our lives vies for our attention. Every time our eye sees an item, even if we have almost become blind to it, it subconsciously demands attention. You know that all the stuff needs work, taking care of, moving around, maneuvering about, cleaning, and at some point perhaps moving or disposing of, even if you are not actively doing anything about it right now. It is like a permanent visual to-do -list coming at you from every nook and corner. Since many creative people also have some sort of neurodiversity or are at least hyper sensitive, they can gain a lot of benefit from decluttering and minimizing their possessions and simplifying their lives. </p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">Yet creatives are often the very people who need all kinds of supplies, who love to look at and touch beautiful things, who create many new things. It seems like an impossibility to live a fulfilling, exciting, abundant, beautiful, creative, yet minimalist and simple life! I know, I have lived with the struggle all my life.</p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">If you feel like you are trapped in a cycle of minimising and decluttering and then starting to re-buy and re-clutter again after a while, only to get overwhelmed and sick of the excess stuff again, I suspect you are trying to ”do” minimalism in a way that is not natural to you. You are drawn to the idea of a very simple life, unencumbered by possessions, and you do love it. The problem is, you also love your hobbies and you love to entertain, you want to show appreciation for your children’s creations, you want your home to feel comfortable and inviting. You think colors are magical and you just can not live without color. You have an appreciation for curious, intriguing objects. You may live in a small space, which is much harder to make look minimalist, because the same amount of stuff just fills the space much sooner. You may feel like looking at a photograph of the sweater your mom knit is not the same as holding the sweater, and you would be right. It is not the same. Your mom’s hands touched the sweater’s every stitch, but she didn’t touch a single pixel on your screen. You are not only visual, but sensory as well. You love different fabric textures, wool and velvet, sheepskin and bare wood darkened by time. The patina of a lived life is beautiful to you and you much prefer it to shiny newness. </p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">It is easy to fall in love with an idea, and jump right in. All or nothing is easier than moderation. So we go back and forth between a bit too little and a bit too much to the detriment of our well being, our finances and the earth’s resources.</p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">There is an emotional aspect to all of this. Stuff is not just stuff, no matter how we try to convince ourselves of it. We have inherent likes and dislikes, preferences for colors, textures and shapes. We have ideals and dreams. Our clothes immediately tell a story to everyone we meet, and our home should be the place where we can feel most like our selves, rest and be creative. The things we own should be a natural extension of ourselves, and a best we don’t have to think about them much at all and can focus on other things. They let life flow through with ease instead of being a blockade and insurmountable burden. </p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">Essentially, each thing has two aspects of sustainability: First there are the item’s inherent qualities that determine it’s longevity and sustainability, the materials used and workmanship and so on. Then there is you. Or more accurately, your relationship with the thing. In order for an item to have longevity in your life, it needs to align with your personal tastes and preferences for the long term. And for this alignment to happen, you need to know yourself, otherwise it is just hit-and-miss.</p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">If you are a minimalist at heart, but not a fan of a stark minimalist aesthetic, read on! Let’s explore what it means to live a minimalist lifestyle as a creative person who loves beautiful things, has a whimsical sense of style, and a home (and closet) to prove it.</p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">When you really sit down, think about who you are, what you like, what you value, what matters to you, what brings you joy, and on the flip side what causes you overwhelm and anxiety, and you decide which of these things you want to embrace, and which you don’t like about yourself and want to change, you can start a journey towards sustainable, creative life of enough, of just right, of whimsical minimalism. It is not only practical, but also beautiful. </p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">We will get to the practical tips later, but first of all, I want you to write down your story with stuff. You can use bullet points with single sentences, or a timeline, or write it into a story. How did you end up here? What triggers your desire for less, or for more? When have you been the happiest and most content in your life and why? What kind of spaces and aesthetics do you admire and where do you feel most comfortable? What kinds of everyday things do you gravitate to? What do you imagine doing, after your home is decluttered, simple enough so that is a breeze to take care of, and beautiful so that you feel a sense of joy and serenity there?</p><div><br /></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-28416168191962092082023-10-31T03:03:00.000-07:002023-10-31T03:03:39.875-07:00No Spend Month - or actually two months- first check-in<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMWek5FK7J9YF8oAVU1UbU9welXvtpJZK7UzJHifclSBon3m-3shAPkYjruGpDUV0lWPdmizBgnjtBGN6maddsSTwTUDhlK_xNnaSSw77VYSwK0ryGc-NvsgM6IoqODPC4m9AYQR0b3Yr-XrgUTh9adZ2aX3XvbzuGRCx5CqR-_K169tgQcpy7BlJZ5k/s4032/IMG_3554.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMWek5FK7J9YF8oAVU1UbU9welXvtpJZK7UzJHifclSBon3m-3shAPkYjruGpDUV0lWPdmizBgnjtBGN6maddsSTwTUDhlK_xNnaSSw77VYSwK0ryGc-NvsgM6IoqODPC4m9AYQR0b3Yr-XrgUTh9adZ2aX3XvbzuGRCx5CqR-_K169tgQcpy7BlJZ5k/w480-h640/IMG_3554.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><i>I finally attached the last bits of trim in the foyer and DD's room. </i><p></p><p>I'm on a self-imposed spending freeze, which I already started at the beginning of the month and will continue until at least until the beginning of December. This means I will buy absolutely nothing except for the necessities, meaning groceries (and necessary meds), as I think I have enough hygiene and cleaning products so that I won't need to buy any of those.</p><p>I'm doing this to gain control over my impulsive habits and reset my finances. After these two months I will continue with a budget and wishlist /waiting list system. I'm seriously considering getting rid of my credit card and only having a debit card, but I haven't decided yet. Why do I need a credit card? If my aim is to pay it off in full each month, I can just save beforehand instead. We don't have the kind of credit rating system here, and I am not going to get any loans either. The only use for a CC is to spend money I don't have yet. Which is stupid. I need some kind of card for online shopping, but Visa Electron works just fine for that. </p><p>I'm writing down every expense, though I pretty much know how much I need for necessities each month on average. I wrote about it in my post about a budget. </p><div>If I notice a need or a want, I will write it down, but I will not buy anything. I have a couple of birthdays coming up, but I already have the gifts. For Christmas I also have most of the gifts ready. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>What I spent in October:</b></div><p>Electricity - 92,09 e</p><p>Phone/internet - 30,99 e</p><p>Property tax, payment 2/2 - 248,05 e</p><p>Insurance - 43,52 e</p><p>Garbage collection - 39,44 e</p><p>Church donation - 100 e</p><p>Food - 229,80 e</p><p>Cat food - 114,78 e</p><p>Gas - 174,70 e</p><p>Blood test for me - 38 e</p><p>Meds - 82,97 e</p><p>Misc. household and hygiene- 96,18 e</p><p><br /></p><p>Gifts plus non-essentials - 230,85 e</p><p><br /></p><p>Total bills /fixed payments 554,09 e</p><p>Total other necessities 736,43 e</p><p><b>All necessities, total 1290,52 e</b></p><p>Total gifts and non-necessities 230,85 e</p><p><b>Monthly total = 1521,37 e </b></p><p>I had 1612,78 e income so I had 91,41 e left.</p><p><br /></p><p>Notes: </p><p>* My car battery needed to be replaced, but DD's dad went and bought one and changed it for me, and didn't want me to pay back. That would have been around 100 euros, perhaps a little bit more, if I had to take my car to the shop for it. </p><p>* I didn't count the flea market sales as income, only reliable income. I actually made a lot of money this month from selling stuff online and at the fleamarket.</p><p>*I spent more on cat food and gas than I thought, as I made two orders of cat food and filled the tank twice. Next month both categories will probably be much lower. </p><p>* Miscellaneous household stuff included plumbing cleaning stuff to fix a drainage problem (its did get fixed), wire and staples we had run out of and needed, as well as silica cat litter to finally put in the car as a de-humidifier (been meaning to do this for years) and a one liter bottle of shower oil for DD that doesn't make her skin dry out and get itchy, which cost 29,50 e. The previous bottle was empty so had to buy another, and the one liter bottle is 40% cheaper than buying it in the smaller bottles. Besides, the large bottle is a pump bottle which is convenient. </p><p>*Non-essentials include one ice latte (5,60 e) when my sister and her girls invited me to Helsinki with them, to look for things for their new homes. Also, in the very beginning of the month, before I decided on the no-buy, I ordered trims for DD's skirt and on that order I also got an antique white linen table runner, which cost 32 euros, and I also bought six more old silver plated goblets for my church to use as communion cups. I had bought the same ones before, and we needed more. </p><p>*Obviously the coming months I don't have to pay the property tax, but the electricity bill will be a little higher in winter months.</p><p>*We spent quite little on food this month. I don't eat as much due to the Crohn's flare, and also I've been eating stuff that I had bought in bulk previously, like nuts and dried fruit. Then I eat bananas every day, some other fruit, lactose free dairy products like Greek yoghurt with honey, cheese, and some eggs, meat, fish and chicken with veggies. That's about it. I also didn't buy / make food for church this month. So this is not a typical month for groceries. I did buy DD a sushi box once, which cost 9,90. Our usual thing has been to get sushi with a "resq" app, from restaurants selling leftovers for cheap. You can get a box of 12 pieces of sushi for 4 euros. But you can't choose what kind of sushi you want, and usually I let DD pick her favorites and I eat the ones she doesn't like that much. I'm not eating rice at the moment so that won't work, but I guess I could just eat the toppings of her rejects :D </p><p>As I'd allocated like 450 euros for groceries I'm really surprised that we only spent like half of that!</p><p>*The meds I bought are for three months or so, but unfortunately I have other meds I take. The most expensive is around 500 e per year, and I buy it once a year since it is not subsidized by the state, like most meds are (and then you can only buy for three months at the time at at most). I don't have to buy it all at once, but frankly, I don't have a great trust on the supply chain anymore, and secondly, the drug I take is "controversial" so that many doctors prescribing it have been stripped from their ability to treat patients with this disease. I'm always so thankful when I get another year's prescription from my doc and if I'm ever asked about who is treating me for this illness, I refuse to answer. I've tried the other type of medication everyone is supposed to use for this illness, many times actually, and it makes me crazy sick. Of course the doctors don't believe that. </p><p>Which brings me to the fact that even though we have a state subsidized health care, I mostly go to a private doctor and as I don't have, and can not get, and insurance, I pay for it myself. DD has a good insurance we took before she was born, which has been great. </p><p>The amount of times the state health care has been utterly incompetent is astounding. Of course there are some good experiences too. Just one example is when I got sick with Addison's disease and finally went into Addison's crisis, I was taken to the hospital for IV drip overnight but they sent me home in the morning and told me to take an antacid. I was throwing up so much that liquids didn't stay in anymore. I was able to get a private appointment with a senior doctor who is super respected in endocrinology and wrote /edited the endocrinology text book for med school and stuff. He diagnosed Addison's and gave a prescription for hydrocortisone. After that, the hospital doctors were like, oh okay. </p><p>But I digress again!</p><p>I'm curious to see a few more months so I can calculate a true average on how much we spend on necessities. If this month is an accurate example, I should be able to manage well with the 1600 euros. But really there is not that much slack, and I need to have a buffer for emergencies. If I had to pay for the new car battery, I would already have used every single cent and perhaps gone over. I do have savings, but they are not as liquid as cash, and I would like to keep them for real emergencies, and hopefully for "retirement" whatever that may be in my case. So I need to have a separate cash buffer for things like car trouble. The thing with a cash buffer has been that I have ended up spending it (thus my savings are not in cash). This spending freeze is meant to train my self discipline in sticking with a budget. I'm quite happy with the first month! So on to the next... </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-80801359473043554522023-10-19T02:23:00.001-07:002023-10-19T02:23:30.895-07:00Making sourdough bread and saving money<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gzl7nQUiDi8mpL-QPohToYsiYn72i7koQbbLVWHuQLTJIXdEvmayIz4xrMYcpvHoz4bvq6LF1XZGQadcF3jhWsk1K4V-bL_TaBlQuwvnCvyfBjNeWXCWBzla77CzCbHr7W12Wk2PGq1C-ulUk_lbJLpLnqY_6Q8TLkCI5dHDZn4HqpzmzQGnx7VPOHw/s4032/IMG_3520.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gzl7nQUiDi8mpL-QPohToYsiYn72i7koQbbLVWHuQLTJIXdEvmayIz4xrMYcpvHoz4bvq6LF1XZGQadcF3jhWsk1K4V-bL_TaBlQuwvnCvyfBjNeWXCWBzla77CzCbHr7W12Wk2PGq1C-ulUk_lbJLpLnqY_6Q8TLkCI5dHDZn4HqpzmzQGnx7VPOHw/w480-h640/IMG_3520.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQfysqwVWlJZghdxmpJqyjj09peUAFIFOIOXFpcvgFXTIGa9pkvdp3Wfeht0b3YBIQDDSfegKPIOKniw0sVvxtreF5GidYxKICJcpWeyris-SsEdfPob6bWn29YHBU-VjHGwPWiULunQm1jaSa9AoHIQb6Vd6006kCEK_4v6J73JyQZoeiU_KrKCyQ5K0/s4032/IMG_3521.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQfysqwVWlJZghdxmpJqyjj09peUAFIFOIOXFpcvgFXTIGa9pkvdp3Wfeht0b3YBIQDDSfegKPIOKniw0sVvxtreF5GidYxKICJcpWeyris-SsEdfPob6bWn29YHBU-VjHGwPWiULunQm1jaSa9AoHIQb6Vd6006kCEK_4v6J73JyQZoeiU_KrKCyQ5K0/w480-h640/IMG_3521.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDUn9kznFzPL0BeofX9y4h1uFSJt7melGNsKF4YsOogl2B8ceQ57FFhtDrOmST3LEUXfJXwmENvRi_kV3Veq6A_QQfM5FWOUwLYAdLcF7lfcgW_rfSeffrb8txxWK19O9qC3lM0ti7fPpKZSLpTAT-8DbyEbU-z9FuBD8D4yJpDyn4yuV615DyYHRweaE/s4032/IMG_3522.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDUn9kznFzPL0BeofX9y4h1uFSJt7melGNsKF4YsOogl2B8ceQ57FFhtDrOmST3LEUXfJXwmENvRi_kV3Veq6A_QQfM5FWOUwLYAdLcF7lfcgW_rfSeffrb8txxWK19O9qC3lM0ti7fPpKZSLpTAT-8DbyEbU-z9FuBD8D4yJpDyn4yuV615DyYHRweaE/w480-h640/IMG_3522.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span><i> This is my first sourdough bread. It's not too pretty, but was well received anyway</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><p></p><p><i><br /></i>Bread is getting very expensive! Of course, so is everything else, but baking your own bread can help significantly with the grocery bill. I saw a blog post in a <a href="https://rahabalanssi.fi/kuinka-paljon-ruuan-hinta-on-oikeasti-noussut/" target="_blank">Finnish financial blog</a> about food prices. According to her research, the grain products have increased 45% in price this year, and 57% since 2019. The official numbers are lower, of course. </p><p>I started to bake my own bread more after deciding to get a stand mixer, which I had thought about for a long time. Is it just a a big, heavy, expensive piece of clutter? Or will it really make a difference in how much I bake? I found a KitchenAid stand mixer at an online flea market and bought it, maybe four or so years ago, and never looked back. It did indeed make baking anything that needs kneading so much easier! Now that the joints in my hands are arthritic, I definitely could not do proper kneading by hand. </p><p>Recently I got some sourdough starter from a pastor family in another church, and learned to make sourdough bread. DD has a sensitive stomach, and I was thinking that yeast free bread might suit her better. I don't currently eat bread at all due to Crohn's disease flare, but I decided to just train myself in self discipline when being around freshly baked, delicious bread! After this flare settles, I may try eating some sourdough bread, and maybe my stomach can handle it..</p><p>Sourdough bread doesn't require kneading, but the elasticity and stretchiness comes from the sourdough starter doing its job. You can gently stretch and fold the dough occasionally, but it is not absolutely necessary. </p><p>Baking your own sourdough bread is not difficult, but it does take time. This slow process is what allows the carbohydrates to break down, so your stomach doesn't have to do all that work! </p><p>I haven't actually calculated before how much you can save by baking your own bread, but many breads now cost more than 10 euros per kilo. You can get some for less and I never usually bought the most expensive breads, except this malted rye specialty bread that DD likes and it's not available as a cheaper version. (I could make my own though!) But let's say that you eat a variety of breads from the cheapest ones to the more expensive ones, and spend 8 euros per kilo on average. You can buy a kilo of organic flour for around two euros at the cheapest. You can choose to support a smaller brand if you want to make sure the farmer gets more profit out of the sale, and spend a bit more. Of course, non-organic would be cheaper still. When I buy bread from the store, I buy non-organic, as there are lots more varieties available and the price isn't as ridiculous, but when I bake, I buy organic flour. </p><p>Flour price has of course gone up a lot too, but out of a kilo of flour you get more than a kilo of bread, obviously, since you put water in it too. For sourdough bread, you literally only need water, flour and a bit of salt, that's it. Well, you need the starter, but you can make the starter yourself from just flour and water, so it has the same ingredients. So, let's say you can get 1,5 kilos of bread out of a kilo of flour. <b>So for 8 euros you would get six kilos of bread instead of one! </b>That is a significant difference and if you have a large family that eats a lot of bread, it might be worthwhile to start baking. Also, if you bake with sourdough, it is healthier that a bread baked with yeast. </p><p>Using non-organic flour that costs about 1 euro per kilo, you would get 12 kilos of bread instead of one!</p><p>Then you spend a little on electricity to bake it, but in cold weather that also benefits you with additional heat. Or if you have a wood fired oven and a source of free wood, then that doesn't cost you anything extra. My wood stove technically has an oven, but due to how it is connected to the chimney, the oven part doesn't get hot enough for baking. I can use the stove just fine, and the oven could be used to warm up foods, but sadly no baking there. I could bake in the fireplace though, in a pinch! </p><p>Have you tried making sourdough bread? </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-6156605510442706292023-10-17T10:08:00.001-07:002023-10-17T10:08:41.466-07:0010 day Flea market sale outcome<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuiIP31pnetL3CTO3n-N_oPWhqE8r0ztz4MVHaIDuBnO_ULGVSyiTWKzDFliokJrzsKAM5RECh6ZEVaWf2iDTD2SsawvxCpcNsBq7vfGzFlUzu8f-bJ97UxieS5zY8vNn4orV3bSjwFSJdeLFGxGhvkybYrXCx8I5_dVngUuynSk37b3B-YO80khwHkZ0/s4032/IMG_3345.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuiIP31pnetL3CTO3n-N_oPWhqE8r0ztz4MVHaIDuBnO_ULGVSyiTWKzDFliokJrzsKAM5RECh6ZEVaWf2iDTD2SsawvxCpcNsBq7vfGzFlUzu8f-bJ97UxieS5zY8vNn4orV3bSjwFSJdeLFGxGhvkybYrXCx8I5_dVngUuynSk37b3B-YO80khwHkZ0/w480-h640/IMG_3345.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWov1mO_hpchM9hZ_w5ez7m8a-9YzsjxT7eXd7Q3lFCEY9Uk4eIHt0TWva5-nYWuORlYo4klMELtUQ-7Yj0FFx0MmkHfJgccyxBSjAn6TpuVknVZ6WToR9bS6lyYNLfP2K9ZciICf9XA6T8vokThcR5TDO1SQqyKct6KyLtZ3DZyo6LnL8r0od6kNLnVY/s4032/IMG_3347.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWov1mO_hpchM9hZ_w5ez7m8a-9YzsjxT7eXd7Q3lFCEY9Uk4eIHt0TWva5-nYWuORlYo4klMELtUQ-7Yj0FFx0MmkHfJgccyxBSjAn6TpuVknVZ6WToR9bS6lyYNLfP2K9ZciICf9XA6T8vokThcR5TDO1SQqyKct6KyLtZ3DZyo6LnL8r0od6kNLnVY/w480-h640/IMG_3347.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span><i> I sold a bag of wool batts for spinning for 24 euros and the spindle for 8 euros.</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><p></p><p><i><br /></i>I decided to make myself book a flea market spot and go through the hassle, to remind myself how hard it is to get rid of stuff, and how much money is spent on a bit of this and a bit of that. How many items do I need to sell to make a 100 euros? </p><p>During the 10 day period I made 590 euros after the 49 euro fee plus 5% commission they take. I spent maybe around 15 euros extra for gas to go there so that would reduce the profit to 575 euros. I tried to combine the trips to the flea market with other errands and it wasn't that far. </p><p>The cheapest item was 1 euro and the most expensive was 45 euros (which was a brand new, still in package Fiskars axe I had got as a gift but already had the exact same one). I sold 85 items in total, so on average I made about 6,75 euros per item. I didn't take time so I don't how many hours I spent sorting and pricing and taking the things there. Anyway, I feel like it was definitely worth it. </p><p>That being said, I don't really feel like ever doing this again. Going forward, I will keep a donations bag like I used to, which will get donated once it is full. For a flea market to be worth it, you have to have quite a bit of stuff to sell, as the table itself costs money. I made nice hang tags for the clothes and some other stuff, on some things I just put the price sticker on. So all that pricing, getting the sticker sheets from the flea market, making the hang tags and attaching everything to the items took time. Oh, and wrapping the delicate items so they won't break. I also went to the flea market a few times to take more stuff as things sold and freed up space, and to put things back nicely. People just leave clothes in a rumply pile.. </p><p>I was pondering about doing another 10 day round, but I would have had to wait five weeks with all the stuff in my house, in my way. Finally I said, no way! If I had lots of extra space out of sight, then perhaps. I figured that I wouldn't make as much money from the second round, and it just wasn't worth it to keep all this stuff at my home for five more weeks and do all the work pricing and packing and hauling it.. I loaded up everything in my car and I will take it to the donations place tomorrow. All in all, I probably decluttered 15 Ikea bags full of stuff, some of it being the fabrics I gave away previously. </p><p>What I have learned from the few times I have sold at flea markets, is to price low in the beginning. Price things at least 25% lower than you would ideally like to get from them. Price the items so that you yourself would see them as a good find! Not what is the top price you could imagine getting for them. You might get that if you sell online and have the time to wait for someone willing to pay that much, but at a fleamarket with very limited time, you are not very likely to sell items at top price. </p><p>If you price the things lower, you are going to sell more, thus making more money in one go. I made more money during the 4-day period I had everything -50%, than during the first 6 days at my initial price. </p><p>I have a few more items I want to sell, but I'm doing it online. </p><p>This definitely motivated me to get back on the decluttered life, and a reminder not to let stuff creep in! </p><p>***</p><p>I just came back from the donation center. DD wanted to do something, so I asked if she was up for a drive there and back. She could check the free book section while I unloaded the bags and boxes.</p><p>It really is a weight off my shoulders -and my car :D Tomorrow I will take out some recycling and trash, mail a package, be home for a pick-up of another thing I sold, and hopefully vacuum clean a bit! My carpets are full of cat hair, yo. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-40745538775599691132023-10-17T00:33:00.000-07:002023-10-17T00:33:23.597-07:00Lead test swabbing our dishes lead to easier decluttering in the kitchen!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8EGg0asRFhyphenhyphenJKnIN-LH3JtyUdo55yif0iBz9L-lwDjJpf0ztXSxPZOWpn6xnqDZ_zkcVj2XgmFGFbeW3YfNI-KUS_8zPXemMnqlrwYUYsjbf0uiexrXeryoyvEVf7cLwsy_yApvix-rn6GOSvSPkfWrYbexSX7lnhbIPgoiPBv01FETkXIjmDyQx_EM4/s4032/IMG_3371.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8EGg0asRFhyphenhyphenJKnIN-LH3JtyUdo55yif0iBz9L-lwDjJpf0ztXSxPZOWpn6xnqDZ_zkcVj2XgmFGFbeW3YfNI-KUS_8zPXemMnqlrwYUYsjbf0uiexrXeryoyvEVf7cLwsy_yApvix-rn6GOSvSPkfWrYbexSX7lnhbIPgoiPBv01FETkXIjmDyQx_EM4/w480-h640/IMG_3371.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2xSiwFHr515cr7f5oxtu5tORmn-o6pksQB28iWFpguZgml31MjZIjZxr_3Z5Py4XKJvNdfChFhYzIT4XdO3Meje0BiqB4Y6S3c2p2ofkk-AHTQ5Xc5MPMrqP403LawoDSbVB_-srnMDr_wIeLJuaFRKBLi8qpl-JLTplHJGtZewhu0hWFbPNRADYS9eQ/s4032/IMG_3413.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2xSiwFHr515cr7f5oxtu5tORmn-o6pksQB28iWFpguZgml31MjZIjZxr_3Z5Py4XKJvNdfChFhYzIT4XdO3Meje0BiqB4Y6S3c2p2ofkk-AHTQ5Xc5MPMrqP403LawoDSbVB_-srnMDr_wIeLJuaFRKBLi8qpl-JLTplHJGtZewhu0hWFbPNRADYS9eQ/w480-h640/IMG_3413.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br />Yes, I'd read about lead in old dishes before and got rid of any suspicious ones, as we had just had the toxic mold debacle and I was still very sick. But I forgot. I honestly, totally, forgot! Now, I accidentally bought two 180 year-old antique plates from the flea market. I mean I meant to buy them, but they were in such a super condition it would never have occurred to me that they were <i>that </i>old. At home I was curious about these plates and googled the text on the back and that is when I found out they were nearly 200 year old English transfer ware plates. The design was pretty rare, and in the green color way so rare that I could not find one picture of the same ones, no matter what search word I used, nor with google lens. <p></p><p>But I also found out that they were lead glazed. Okayyyyh, so not for eating out of then. Would make a pretty wall plate, perhaps. But I'd only need one. Could try to sell them. Anyway, this made me research more about the lead in dishes, and whaddya know, I stumbled upon the same articles I now remembered from ten years ago! <i>Sigh. </i></p><p>I read about a simple test swab you could do at home, that would not tell you specific amounts, but it would show if the item was leaching lead or not, and if it was leaching just a little, or a lot, which you could tell by how strong a color change there would be in the swab. </p><p>I had 60 swabs and decided to test the dishes we were using, plates, bowls, cups, mixing bowls and such. Then I would test the antiques I had that were for when we had guests over, or just when there was a special need for something we didn't use every day. I also tested the antique plates I knew for sure had lots of lead in them, for reference and to see that the swabs gave accurate results. On some dishes I repeated the test with a second swab. </p><p>So the results so far is that all my antique and vintage items leached lead :( But also some of the newer items did, for example the coffee cups I'd got for when I have guests over. Our church women's group meets at our house, so there is a regular need for more dishes and utensils than just the two of us would need. </p><p>Besides lead, the colors used can leach into the food, like cadmium, chrome, and cobalt. They are also highly toxic. So white dishes are the safest. I cringe when I think that we were eating from some colorful antique plates for a while there! Even before I did the test, I removed the colorful ones from our use, but turns out the white dinner plates ones also leached lead in my test. </p><p>Our bowls that we use for everything, for soups, cereal, pasta, porridge, rice based foods.. they were bought new and test negative. Our cups / mugs are from the same series, as are our small plates. I also learned that Ikea stopped using any lead in their glazes in 2010, so any new(ish) dishes from Ikea are safe. Because you know, while lead in dishes is regulated now, ever since the 1970's or 1980's depending on the country, it is not completely banned. </p><p>Also, any red clay dishes that have been low-fired, have more lead in them, as the higher the firing temperature, the more of the lead is destroyed in the process. So those lovely, old rustic earthenware pieces should be used for decoration only, or maybe as a fruit bowl because you will peel the fruit anyway. Though my mind starts to question, would the lead leach into the fruit skins and get in my hands when I peel them and then from my hands end up somewhere it shouldn't.. I don't know. If I and DD didn't have health issues as is, I would probably care a little less. After all, lead is already everywhere in the ground where our food is grown, and so on. Still, there is no safe amount established for lead. Even a little is poisonous. And it cumulates in our bodies. So, if there is some place where I can reduce or eliminate our exposure, I should, right? </p><p>Right now, we don't have dinner plates. The small plates and bowls can do for now, until I decide what plates to get. I'm thinking about Ikea Arv plates that are discontinued now, but I can find them secondhand if I wait a little. They have the pretty vintage farmhouse style with a scalloped edge, but are still quite simple. Or if I decide to go for the series we have already, then that is Iittala / Arabia 24h. I really love the utter simplicity of them, but they also pair well with more ornate pieces. The color is not stark white, so the new plates should at least have the same ivory shade. I'm on a shopping ban, but if I can find dinner plates for us second hand for cheap, then I will buy those. </p><p>I think I'm going to keep a few of my favorite plates though, either to hang on the kitchen wall, or to use as a serving plate with cupcakes, or so that I put a napkin underneath what I'm serving. That would be three or four plates. I also have a lovely wonky antique ironstone cake stand, which I may keep. The cake could be put on top of a cake paper. </p><p>Do you use vintage / antique dishes? </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-13566994856818421542023-10-14T01:53:00.003-07:002023-10-14T01:56:22.494-07:00A peek into my student apartment in 1998 and pondering about the reasons behind my sliding into cluttered life again<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFKsGEk5L_hOg2krQryacjWEunf1f0MxshiRGDEvcBha4_1whbsUnaFo7N2mJzR7kRoDr2MWQA1gq_pAAfmooY4P3sUmXT2fUT-xgmbBK7yx4pegNgMnjo9x3cL_-uMkNW6YrfCKBXkHa_qI500GoxeymjrVQYU4qQ2fUnSaIkvazkdv4lDYCnmjwwoTM/s4032/IMG_3508.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFKsGEk5L_hOg2krQryacjWEunf1f0MxshiRGDEvcBha4_1whbsUnaFo7N2mJzR7kRoDr2MWQA1gq_pAAfmooY4P3sUmXT2fUT-xgmbBK7yx4pegNgMnjo9x3cL_-uMkNW6YrfCKBXkHa_qI500GoxeymjrVQYU4qQ2fUnSaIkvazkdv4lDYCnmjwwoTM/w480-h640/IMG_3508.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <i>My beloved cat, the year is 1998 or 1999 and I kept my </i></span></span></span></span></span></span><i>apartment super minimal.</i><div><br />After my recent "enough is enough!" -moment sparked by my need to urgently reduce my fabric stash to make room for what I was actually doing now, painting - I went through the whole house like a whirlwind.<p></p><p>So, why was my house starting to feel way too cluttered? I identified a few reasons:</p><p>-I had to bring home the leftovers from my business, lots of fabrics and some other things like rolls of wallpaper. I have donated a ton of fabrics before, but there was quite a bit. And you know, there are still some at a previous retailer's basement! </p><p>-After being on my own, alone with DD in an old house and the coronavirus and lastly the energy crisis fear mongering made me feel insecure. What if something happens? I need to be prepared! Yes, to an extent. But I also have family and neighbors close by, and the limits of my house and my closets are<i> limits, </i>not guidelines. </p><p>- I had overly optimistic ideas about how much produce I would be drying, freezing and preparing in other ways, resulting in too many items related to all that, relative to my restricted storage space. </p><p>-I got a bit too excited about decorating my house as the renovation progressed. DD hates a white, stark home, we wanted it to be cozy here. But cozy doesn't have to be cluttered and hard to clean. </p><p>-My weight changed yet again, leading to having to get new clothes, and still wanting to hold on to some I really liked and were quite new (some are now being used by DD and rest are donated), also not wearing some of my own print clothes but nor wanting to get rid of them, because you know, they are unique and maybe I will want to wear them again later.. Also they were a little bit small. But indecision struck and I kept them until now. (Now my Crohn's disease is in an acute phase again and I had to go on a specific diet for it.. so I may end up losing weight again. But luckily my dresses and tops and even skirts will probably work even if I lost up to 15 kilos. DD can wear many of my clothes even though she is 3 sizes smaller.)</p><p>-Starting to paint again, even though I had almost given up hope at one point that I would ever get back to it. This lead to having art stuff around, and also thinking about things as potential props for paintings. Oh no! Here is where I got in trouble, but also it made me remember why I love minimalism, ever since 2010! Or actually even before that. My student apartment was super minimal, in 1998! I have this picture I took after decluttering my apartment. It's a bit too stark for my current taste (and for DD's taste) but I loved it then! I remember decluttering my sieve, and then having to buy one again after noticing it was impossible to drain rice with just using a kettle lid, and spaghetti was a bit slippery too :D </p><p>After moving together with my husband, I couldn't stay that minimal, but got back to it later when I noticed myself being really overwhelmed and unhappy with so much stuff, and I got my husband onboard simplifying.</p><p>Anyway, what happened now, is that I thought, and rightly so, that our old house suits a quirky, artistic decor. And DD hates white walls, and likes wallpaper. </p><p>And I happened to stumble upon some pretty rare, cool antiques. I thought I could use them as props for painting, maybe keep some, and sell the rest. What I got wrong, was to forget that the walls don't stretch and the space is what it is, and that I hate cleaning and I have a very low clutter threshold. I just can't cope with it. I also forgot that I hate having extra stuff lying around, or even neatly corralled into a cabinet, just waiting to leave my house. I really, really hate it! So before digging myself deeper into that hole, I promptly put a stop on it. I decided to try and sell the items, but if it is not getting sold in a relatively short time, I would just donate all of it and call it a lesson learned. It seems I need quite many lessons before I learn (sigh).</p><p>I still think our old house suits the style we have going on here, but a few special decor items and artworks make a much bigger impression if they are let to stand out instead of hidden among a lot of things happening everywhere. Also, wallpaper and art on walls adds color and quirk and coziness without adding things to move around and clean. </p><p>I have been going through everything, the art and craft supplies, the food pantry, the dishes, the linens, the clothes and shoes, the bathroom products, the office supplies, everything. I still need to go through tools, and take another look at the pantry. Then there are a couple of bags in the attic spaces (which are mostly empty, some old paintings are stored there) which have my old business place decor which needs to be donated. </p><p>Garden stuff is still a work in progress, I need to go through the tiny shed. Thankfully it is small and doesn't house that much junk. And I already got rid of a bunch of stuff that was there, when I noticed I wasn't going to need them. So it's more than half way done already.</p><p>I have a spot at a fleamarket currently, and I have another spot reserved next month, if I can stand the bags of stuff around until then. I need to clear out this spot on Monday evening and I will decide then whether to cancel the second one and take everything to a donation place, or to keep it around and do the pricing stuff for a second spot, which is the most time consuming thing in this fleamarket selling. It's at the end of the month, so it means I would have to keep the stuff for a few more weeks. On one hand, time goes by really quickly, and I could price everything and pile the bags in a place where they are not in my way too much, or even the car some time before actually taking them to the flea market. On the other hand I would love to have all the extra clutter out of my house as soon as possible! Making myself sell at the fleamarket is kind of a way to pay a penance, eh. And to remind myself that while it is super easy to bring home stuff, getting rid of it is another kind of hassle! </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-52758203218227897652023-10-10T02:53:00.001-07:002023-10-18T02:43:27.473-07:00Starting a monthly budget to keep myself accountable<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4s6K2qiQ2Q4fx2Yt61UG64_LYBVyQjJRF2SiErZ5MAf5Ef8mZs4UN957N_ptI-ICEaCx7hOXBOtzKBeCinGPSeQ-zm0PXCUu8MFH0I_NCLbTlP7Xpi9TkXiVxlOcODuEtPRyzUABMXuxGNZqfXWleS7TjW4KDuIi_-mX6RAHtL_XqMG44ZR6DDpShJlQ/s3780/BBBAF230-1F71-45AC-8E95-DBE25F6D03D5.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3780" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4s6K2qiQ2Q4fx2Yt61UG64_LYBVyQjJRF2SiErZ5MAf5Ef8mZs4UN957N_ptI-ICEaCx7hOXBOtzKBeCinGPSeQ-zm0PXCUu8MFH0I_NCLbTlP7Xpi9TkXiVxlOcODuEtPRyzUABMXuxGNZqfXWleS7TjW4KDuIi_-mX6RAHtL_XqMG44ZR6DDpShJlQ/w512-h640/BBBAF230-1F71-45AC-8E95-DBE25F6D03D5.jpeg" width="512" /></a></div><i><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span>I want to feel relaxed in my home, and with my finances! </i><p></p><p><i><br /></i>Oh boy, I have tried budgeting so many times, and I have kept it up as long as I was able to keep it under control, to what I was happy with. But I always ended up failing my goals and gave up, not wanting to see my failures in black and white! </p><p>So I want to try to do it here, at least for six months or so. Until I learn better habits with my money. </p><p>My monthly fixed expenses are (on average):</p><p>House insurance - 45 e</p><p>Phone and internet - 30 e</p><p>Electricity (includes heating) 140 e</p><p>Property tax - 40 e</p><p>Water - 75 e</p><p>Trash pick up - 20 </p><p>Donation to my church - 100 e</p><p>Car insurance and other car related costs- 70e</p><p>This comes to 485 e per month, on average. </p><p>On top of this, we spend about 550 euros on food including cat food, toilet paper etc., and 80 euros on gas.</p><p>Then there are some medicine (one of my meds is really expensive!) and doctor bills, vitamins, personal hygiene products and household cleaning items I get at specialty stores as things I use are as non-toxic and natural as possible, while still working well for their intended purpose. I also make some of my cleaning products with simple vinegar, baking soda and essential oils, and dilute bought ones with water. But I need to budget about 150 euros for all these, as I am not quite sure how much it will end up being per month.</p><p>So all in all, I can expect to spend 1300 euros on necessities each month.</p><p>My reliable income at the moment is about 1600 euros. On top of this there is occasional income from selling my art and what I get when my pattern book is borrowed from the libraries, plus any flea market sales. </p><p>So this tells me I pretty much have 300 euros per month out of my fixed income for any extra expenses, gifts, clothing, home decor, gardening. The extras I get should go to savings, an emergency fund for the next six months. I'm well set up for painting, as I recently got new paints, mediums, brushes and canvases.</p><p>After six months I will revaluate and perhaps will start putting half of the extras to the emergency fund and half to my "hobbies" account - which is basically for anything that is not a necessity. Like, you know, rose bushes and tulip bulbs. </p><p>I usually have donated a lot, and I still donate (just gave away another 3 large bags of fabrics to friends) but since I'm on my own, I have to think about money a bit more carefully and I also try to sell things I no longer want. I just booked a flea market table and have gone through a lot of items, pricing and labeling. I'm making myself do this as a little bit of a lesson, to remind myself what a hassle it is to get rid of things, and how much money is wasted with an attitude of 10 euros here and 20 there, no big deal.. but it adds up, whaddyaknow. It's like I have brain damage in the area that should be able to process this simple math. So, even if I'm never able to grasp this basic financial math, at least my dislike of clutter, and the trouble it takes to get rid of it, should make me run away from bringing any more stuff to my home. </p><p>Food is getting really expensive. The electricity was crazy last winter, and I now got a 24 month contract for 8,8 cents/ kWh, which is quite reasonable. I don't trust at all the coming winter is going to be any better necessarily, so I decided to free myself from having to follow the electricity price daily and even hourly. </p><p>There is not that much I can do about food. Due to a Crohn's flare I need to eat in a specific way. DD is very picky about what she eats, having sensory issues about the textures of foods, as well as a sensitive stomach. I try not to waste food, so I will freeze leftovers if I know we well not be able to finish them before they go bad. I chop all kinds of fruit into pieces to freeze for smoothies, whatever is cheap, and whatever is in danger of not getting eaten fresh. </p><p>I cut my own and DD's hair so that is a big saving. The shampoo and conditioner we use are pretty expensive natural ones, but I don't have to wash my hair very often. I use very little make-up, basically I only need four items. </p><p>The places I have spent the most are our garden (though this has been a hobby, not just consuming, and I imagine that a nice garden raises the property value as well), home decor after the renovation was finished, and clothing. I prefer to own fewer clothes that are good quality and that I really love, I don't care what brand they are and don't want any visible labels, but I do see a danger of going overboard there and I have done so before. Our limited storage space for clothes is good for keeping this under control though. We only have one rack and one small cabinet to share. Most of my clothes are on the rack, most of DD's are in the cabinet. </p><p>I'm trying to sell our large antique cabinet that housed miscellaneous stuff, as it has become unnecessary after I decluttered. It's lovely cabinet, but it takes up so much space from our small living room which doubles -or triples- as my painting studio and office. It wouldn't matter so much otherwise, but I host our church' women's group at our place, and our living room is just too crowded. I can't get rid of any of the four easy chairs, or people would not have anywhere to sit. We need to borrow the kitchen armchairs as it is... </p><p>Things that are on a to buy-list? Well, I do need reading glasses at some point. I can manage without still, but I notice that my sight is not the the same as it used to be. My sewing machine is at the shop, which will cost some, but I plan to sell it after I get it back. I have another machine that used to belong to my mom, and grandma before that, and I really like that machine. I just recently got it back from loan. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-50029873444589350382023-09-28T01:58:00.003-07:002023-09-28T02:09:07.469-07:00Creative minimalist?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXDrpBhRnV3gbhvWNoljmQvgIFNeC7jt0frFxjHJFV9INKezbdZphSee7_vXBtZy0LiQfE2FVWkY0mq_8ttVyvjg2fKrpGAlyv0Hpwp07gYhTX9m0usyhno93BXLfthX3UqPGOGaMMPISWpuz2v-lUeV0egi7A7qECdlKUaCTca15h2BrdpAuJZ-uQV6g/s4032/IMG_2506.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXDrpBhRnV3gbhvWNoljmQvgIFNeC7jt0frFxjHJFV9INKezbdZphSee7_vXBtZy0LiQfE2FVWkY0mq_8ttVyvjg2fKrpGAlyv0Hpwp07gYhTX9m0usyhno93BXLfthX3UqPGOGaMMPISWpuz2v-lUeV0egi7A7qECdlKUaCTca15h2BrdpAuJZ-uQV6g/w480-h640/IMG_2506.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihfXKh7xdqLZRin5UIf2QJoJsN1idBsnSDbUKdT8QkoE4CxKyNSlkLeAI3zmVUflCLVSM8LmxUQQaqliHrIgtD_cUa6rhTnNjvJI0s9ouryz67Mig65fyo6uRZw6Yp98kucJ_Hua3AZ4XxgM9BS5wbeYVjUvQF08C0Fp2ZG68uZGVfm7zp9P8qoZig4bY/s3780/9B0DDDCE-391E-461A-8E5E-FEA1A53B5E1D.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqyAp2AINANllzyDKu78I8LkZ2TREwWvK1xniyU8hqz7o8rm-GMWZHwjtPprdbr4goVLj_69r7zTWgB5ZpFVbfYjgurS9_XB-57G7vYXLgbC488u7yjlxj6r9wN5DXBlakPzQcFsPpuCDABp-Lon33fLy77hkCCCTugibB59Nn7VvPdhG36RskhnxT6Y/s4032/IMG_3341.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqyAp2AINANllzyDKu78I8LkZ2TREwWvK1xniyU8hqz7o8rm-GMWZHwjtPprdbr4goVLj_69r7zTWgB5ZpFVbfYjgurS9_XB-57G7vYXLgbC488u7yjlxj6r9wN5DXBlakPzQcFsPpuCDABp-Lon33fLy77hkCCCTugibB59Nn7VvPdhG36RskhnxT6Y/w480-h640/IMG_3341.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmOlS710oWmLYD5GWeT1CwAwnBkvnPxzgCAFltEUerCwCzO8L5vKg30cnlH0ceahvgBU1nTZtce8-xyhcLqke3M9ckedZRDTF1_XaOQlp1t8g2Pgmp6mGkMAwOLqZu9xB0EskWrin-pFTdkXbQg2cgx26DMQAIHd8iM3XL0nP3y5hE9XiMVw4cERq2-0Y/s4032/IMG_3347.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmOlS710oWmLYD5GWeT1CwAwnBkvnPxzgCAFltEUerCwCzO8L5vKg30cnlH0ceahvgBU1nTZtce8-xyhcLqke3M9ckedZRDTF1_XaOQlp1t8g2Pgmp6mGkMAwOLqZu9xB0EskWrin-pFTdkXbQg2cgx26DMQAIHd8iM3XL0nP3y5hE9XiMVw4cERq2-0Y/w480-h640/IMG_3347.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br />You guys know that I'm a creative person. I delve in-depth into making vintage style toys, creating print fabrics, making my own pattern for sewing, knitting out of my imagination, and of course I was trained as a painter, a visual artist. I love colors, I really like old things, the sterile white minimalist cube thing is so not for me. Except the time when I was pregnant and nauseous and everything felt icky, I dreamed of living in a sterile white cube. But I digress.<p></p><p>I have struggled with my creativity as opposed to my desire and need for simplicity and minimalism, and also my faith. How do I create art for the lory of God? I know I'm supposed to do everything for his glory. How is me making art helping his Kingdom? Isn't it just useless? Yet I enjoyed looking at art myself, and I enjoyed well crafted furniture and thoughtfully made, functional kitchen ware, things that made my life easier, or more beautiful somehow. </p><p>I recently had a breakthrough in the second dilemma, of how do I create art for the glory of God? I kept thinking.. everything you do, do it as unto the Lord. And I suddenly had the desire to paint pictures of people living for God. And they could be doing anything - everything to His glory. And suddenly the ideas are endless, and I notice that my painting style has changed from hectic to slow and peaceful. I take longer to finish a painting, but I don't exhaust myself so that I get totally put off by the idea of starting a new one. </p><p>The other issue, is of course that most creative efforts require materials. Supplies of all kinds, and sometimes a significant amount of space. Even when I was creating fabric prints, I still used physical paintings and drawings for most of them. Our last few moves have been done with one van. Sometimes it was a small van, sometimes large. We had 20-40 moving boxes rented. I'v heard of people with the same size family moving with 200 boxes and two trips with a large truck. So ever since I had a lightbulb moment, the year my daughter was born in 2008, while reading Karen Kingston's Clear your clutter with feng shui, we have been quite okay. But one thing I struggled with was fabrics - and recently mostly because I quit my company's own shop and all the leftovers came to live in my house. I had a big sale and I donated lots of fabrics, but it seems like they never end! But it was not only those fabrics, as I realized yesterday while going through them. I had many fabrics that I had bought without a specific project that I was going to use them for. Some of them had moved twice with me. During this time, my daughter grew from a child to a teenager and her dressing style and color preferences changed. And MY dressing style has changed. I had lots of colorful jerseys that I had no use for, if I was going to be honest. </p><p>So now I have packed up five large bags of fabrics that are going to leave the house and I'm still going to take another look. I cleared a big space in the upstairs room that houses my sewing machine and ironing board, and that can now be used to store my empty canvases, which are actually being used. Or, as it now seems, I may actually be able to get rid of this huge, very lovely antique cabinet that is used for storage in the living room, and I could store my extra canvases here, at least most of them, and I may have room for a guest bed upstairs! I would like that. I recently had a friend stay over a night and I gave my bed for her to use, because we have no proper guest bed. DD's friends sleep on the floor on a mattress that is usually on top of her mattress. I borrowed that one and slept in the middle of the sewing room floor when I had an overnight guest.</p><p>In case you were wondering, this house is only 71 m2/ 756 square feet, or 89 m2 / 958 square feet if you count the un-heated foyer and the low spaces under the ceiling. In Finland, the official count get cut off at 160 cm or 5'3" height. As far as rooms, there is the cold foyer which gets freezing in the winter, but it has our chest freezer, and it has a low cabinet in front of the window that stores shoes and some things like a extension cable roll and a hammock. It also has a small bench that opens up and I store larger tools there. </p><p>The entrance hall has doors on every side and only has a coat rack / shelf for hats and scarves, and a large basket where DD keeps her hats, mittens, scarves, and usually drops her jacket there too. Our vacuum cleaner is currently there too. Then there is kitchen, which has a large farmhouse table and four chairs currently. Only two fit on each side, because the legs are a bit towards the center instead of at the corners, and our chairs are 60 cm wide, but we like the comfy chairs too much to change them. I would rather get a new (old) table. There is an extra chair beside an antique cabinet that came from my childhood home and used to be in mom's childhood home. My bedroom is officially an alcove, as it is so small. It has a window and door to the entrance hall, and open doorway to the living room. It has my bed and one antique cabinet, and since it doesn't fit a bedside table, I put a small rattan shelf on the wall to function as a night stand. </p><p>The living room then, of boy. A bookshelf, two large and two small easy chairs /arm chairs, a large and small antique cabinet, my vintage computer desk and chair, my easel and chair and a small chest of drawer for paints and to double as my palette, and in front of one window a narrow sideboard, so that my monstera can get enough light. And there is the fireplace, and each wall has either window or a doorway. </p><p>DD's room is also a bit difficult to decorate due to the low sloped ceiling, but she has a mattress on the floor as bed, which is not optional, but the only way to get a bed up the narrow stairs if to get something that can be assembled in place, and we haven't gotten around to deciding what kind of bed would be best. She also has a secondhand Ikea Leksvik desk, desk chair that her dad bought which is an expensive Herman Miller, a low easy chair, a small low Ikea bookshelf and a low stack of drawers from Muji. </p><p>The second, or actually first upstairs room is a walk-through, and has a small antique desk for sewing and a chair. The desk is actually a bit low, and I have noticed my back getting sore when I sew in front of it. It also has an old cabinet which was first bought for DD but she didn't like. The doors and drawers don't open and close properly and the shelving on top was not a good fit for books. It just fits under the low ceiling and so I kept it for my own sewing stuff. In the winter the drawers close a bit easier when the wood contracts.. It's not perfect for works for now and as I don't need to open and close it daily, I can't be bothered to get rid of it and find a new one right now. I also have an antique ironing board I re-covered. The laundry / dressing room that used to be an indoor sauna, has the washing machine, a rack and a vintage cabinet to store both of our clothes and personal care products. </p><p>All in all, everything else is spacious and under control, but the fabrics have taken up an unreasonable amount of space, which became unsustainable after I started painting actively again. Preferably the house had one extra room, or the upstairs room could be either my bedroom (it can't because DD goes through kit to her own room) or painting studio (it's too low, and I really prefer to paint downstairs anyway). </p><p>But it is what it is, and as a long time simplifier I know that the best solution is to get rid of stuff. The stuff I don't use or need, but I'm keeping either because I spent a lot of money on it, or I think I might use it sometime in the future, though I haven't used it in many years. </p><p>In order to get rid of the large cabinet, I really just need to cull stuff from it, and everywhere else so that the stuff there that I want to keep, fits elsewhere. It is a general storage mesh mash, it has some art supplies there, a memory box, office supplies and important papers, planned gifts, some too small clothes or maybe-donatables, a couple of preparedness items like a water purifier, a bag of extra hygiene products like DD's toothpaste that I buy in bulk, and it also had an unused small Fiskars axe I got when I already had the same exact one.. oh and my things for winding yarn to a ball.. It has been like a big catch-all! (I did decide to give away my last spinning wool and spindle as I have not used them in many, many years. I sold my spinning wheel and carder over ten years ago but held on to just bit of the supplies.. just in case.. they fit in my allotted knitting supply space.. alas, I do not use them. If I were to ever spin again, I would want to do it with a wheel anyway. </p><p>In addition to the obvious craft stuff that I need to cull, I identified a few other things I needed to go through, and this is still in process:</p><p>-Sadly, the larger one of my monstera plants. It was growing all over the place in the living room and I just had no other space to put it either. I donated it to a good new home yesterday. </p><p>-Dishes and kitchenware</p><p>-Tools and renovation supplies now that the renovation is done (a couple of small things I still should do, and I do have to keep basic tools)</p><p>-Clothing, though there is not much excess there. Mostly T-shirts I made form my own fabrics but haven't worn now in a long time. I got tired of the prints and also shifted to wearing mostly woven fabrics. Worn out ones were cut into painting rags, also useful for cleaning out cat puke.</p><p>-Also any personal care products and food stuffs that have expired and I know we are not going to use. I'm having a Crohn's disease flare-up and there is a bunch of cereal that is just sitting there taking space, I can't eat it and DD just eats one kind of cereal now. I'm also thinking that I don't have to keep THAT much dry fruit, nuts, rice and tomato sauce at home, and I could use some of that space to store glass bottles and jars I use for homemade rhubarb juice and apple puree and such. I also maybe have too many of the glass jars and could get rid of some. They do work for freezing as well though and I have used them to freeze soup and sauce as well as fruit and berry puree. </p><p><b>Anyway, an excess of supplies actually often stifles creativity. For me, it's the exhaustive amount of choices that makes my eyes glaze and my brain freeze, as well as a guilty feeling of having so much stuff that I <i>should</i> be using - which creates pressure which makes me run from the whole thing! </b></p><p>I find myself enjoying a sewing project much more when it is planned and intentional, not " I really should make sometime out of this, oh well, I guess I can make a tunic out of it" - and the tunic ends up being not loved, not worn, so I was essentially just transforming supply clutter into clothing clutter. </p><p>Restricting myself on purpose gives me boundaries, which in fact give me freedom. The possibilities lie in my mind, not in the huge hoard of supplies, which just end up feeling like a burden.</p><p>It has happened that I get excited about a small project, order the supplies, and it takes so long to get them that I'm over the whole thing before they ever arrive! In that case, I just need to move on. Find a new user for the supplies. Remember to next time think a little bit longer and harder whether this is really worth it, really something I want to do and spend money and time and space on. Sometimes I do a small project or learn a new skill ( hello porcelain painting) but don't love it, so I don't have to continue doing it, even if I do have supplies left. I could have signed top for another year of porcelain painting (can't do that at home because it needs the high heating ceramics oven) but then I would have spent more money on something I already realized I didn't enjoy that much, and I didn't want to have those painted items around. I'm not sure the dishes are safe for everyday use, as the color is on top of the glaze! Initially I took the course because I wanted to decorate some white zellige tiles for my kitchen, but I changed my mind and decided to just install white ones, if anything. </p><p>As far as the money spent, there are two ways to handle it. Either sell try to sell the stuff, and get some of the money back, but get to work for it too, or donate it and just think about being able to donate money too, so why not the stuff? Try to find a good place to donate, if you don't have friends who want and need it. Or, if you already gave so many fabrics to your friends who sew and wanted them, that they have no more room in <i>their </i>storage. I don't want to create a clutter problem to others, either. When I give something to a friend, I always tell they are free to share it to others too, or if they end up not needing it, to donate it to someone else. </p><p>With canvases, I order mine from abroad as I want ones primed for pool paints, or just sized and I will prime them myself, and this kind is not really available here. I used to make mine from scratch but that takes too much time and space and it's messy to cook your own primer! So I gave it up and spend a bit more on ready or half-ready canvases. I can't paint of cheap ones, or use cheap paints, it just takes away from the intentionality and wish to do everything well and as unto the Lord! </p><p>So, what do I store in the cabinet in my bedroom? Well, you will have to stay tuned for another episode of Cat's Meow, because this post is getting long and rambling, and that is whole (a bit embarrassing) story on its own! </p><p>Oh, and should you want to check it out, my artist website is <a href="https://www.vappurechardt.com" target="_blank">vappurechardt.com </a> :) </p><p>I do sell my paintings and ship the all over the world, and I do take commissions. Ask for availability if interested! </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-28710483391899569322023-09-25T11:35:00.000-07:002023-09-25T11:35:00.352-07:00Oh no, I need a round of de-cluttering! <p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjme28rPIp-G61Nu2LVow1O3dems_UXwaK-K4scjzzGaXssN3YGDdMvpn7J3tHLUJSLPbR7evMY4E-65a19pJ8oTxQ16QFyoS62iLkRnFUcrDWhwkQJQm0MhKgoZUcIYN3oN3ROvCcEHpKOhbUDMN9LBPv3eBIHLC8phW0HRx2vGfqOmTUr9SCgVLBLjho/s4032/IMG_3299.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjme28rPIp-G61Nu2LVow1O3dems_UXwaK-K4scjzzGaXssN3YGDdMvpn7J3tHLUJSLPbR7evMY4E-65a19pJ8oTxQ16QFyoS62iLkRnFUcrDWhwkQJQm0MhKgoZUcIYN3oN3ROvCcEHpKOhbUDMN9LBPv3eBIHLC8phW0HRx2vGfqOmTUr9SCgVLBLjho/w480-h640/IMG_3299.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Hello there! I see that it has again been way too long since I posted. The renovation is done, and I finally started painting again, I mean art works. Problem is, I didn't really think I was going to start doing that again when I bought the house, so now I have my painting easel and all that stuff in the living room. As well as my desk with the computer, a cupboard full of fabrics, a larger cupboard for storing different kinds of things (there is no built in in storage in this house besides some in the kitchen). And we currently have four arm chairs, a bookshelf and a narrow sideboard in front of the window as well, there is a doorway or a window in every wall, and the fireplace. <p></p><p>Upstairs room is really too low and small for a painting studio, and I have my sewing table there. Plus more fabric storage, which I want to reduce further. I mean, I sew but not THAT much. That one cupboard should be enough space to hold all my fabrics and yarn too. There is an old cabinet upstairs that holds sewing thread and other paraphernalia that goes with sewing. And a cute antique ironing board. </p><p>My daughter's room is under control, she is such a natural minimalist! She told me she hates having around stuff she doesn't need, or doesn't know if she will ever need. I was like, oh I <i>know</i>!!!</p><p>I do know. I like to bake and generally just do stuff at home, but I want my surroundings to be tidy and clean, and I don't want excess stuff to be in the way. How many mixing bowls, baking pans and vintage dishes do we need? Turns out, the pretty antique dishes I've collected from flea markets probably have lead and maybe cadmium and other heavy metals in them, so they are definitely not to be used every day for food, preferably never since I have complicated illnesses, and DD certainly doesn't need any toxins that we can avoid.. sigh. I could put a couple of them on the wall, maybe. But will it look clutter, as we already have art and photos and wallpaper... I bake for church about once every three weeks, and host a women's group every few weeks. Then I like to have enough bowls so that I don't need to wash my baking bowls to be able to serve salad and chips from them, you know. I just baked two banana cakes, and I put them in the oven at the same time using rectangular baking pans, so I need two of those. And two large round pie dishes, though often I also just use a baking sheet. I use my small copper kettle every day to heat milk for my coffee, and it is good for melting butter too. Kettles and sauté pans - I have five different sized kettles and only one sauce pan. I could use another, actually. I had to throw away one old one as the coating was peeling off of it, yuck. </p><p>I had a bit too many dry food stuffs stuffed in my cupboard, but I've been using them up and won't buy any fresh ones before they are almost gone. I gave away a bunch of dried fruit that we do eat but I'd bought so many that I realized the best-by date would come and go way before we could eat them all. This way I also have more room to store the glass jars I use for apple sauce, jam, dried herbs and stuff. When they are empty, I mean. </p><p>And the fabric piles frustrate me. I gave away ten large bags to charity and friends already. I think I may just need to give away more. When DD wanted a skirt, of course I didn't have suitable fabric for it, so I had to buy it. That's how it goes. Yarn I don't have that much, luckily. I knitted a sweater for DD but it turned out way too big. I'm not sure if I will give it away or unravel it.. </p><p>Clothes are not bad either. DD has started to wear some of mine as well, and I'm happy that we can share some clothes, even though she is quite a bit smaller than I am. She also got a few pairs of my old jeans that were too small for me. I have bought new clothes during the last couple of years, good quality things that mostly are not very size specific, blouses, dresses, and a few A-line or wide, calf length skirts that can be cinched with a belt should the need arise. I started to wear nicer clothes every day, even though I don't have a work that requires certain attire. I just felt like a slob wearing sweat pants most of the time! I still wear sweats or other comfy pants at home, but I usually wear a pretty tunic on top, so I can go for a quick errand not looking like a hobo. We still have very limited space for clothing storage so I can't hold on to things we don't wear. I try to not get suckered into buying so-so items, even if they are really cheap. And if I buy something that is not just right, I should just return it. </p><p>But if I see something I really like, I will get it even if it's a bit pricey, because I know I will wear it a lot, and possibly my DD will wear it too. </p><p>I also have amassed a collection. Yes, a collection, of hair clips! My hair has grown past waist since I quit cutting it almost three years ago, and I just got carried away with the hair clips. Oh no, I don't know what went into me. I have more than two dozen, to go with any color clothes. Of course just one gold colored one would go with everything. I also have a few head scarves. Those are really not a problem though, even though I do not need any more, and I could cull a few. </p><p>Bedding and towels are minimal, I'm happy with the amount we have. Same with cosmetics. We found the perfect shampoo and conditioner that suits both DD and myself and it's such a relief not to have to think about what to get and then buy something that is terrible. I just buy the same things again when we start to run out, and the same goes for deodorant, cleanser, moisturizer. Ah, the simplicity! </p><p>Oh, and I feel like the garden is running me over, it is super lush but the weeds and grass grow like crazy too. I hate mowing the lawn and then it gets too long and is even harder to mow. Parts of my garden are just left wild. Good for the bees and butterflies and other critters for sure... I didn't quite realize how much work the garden would be, and how big this really is for one person to care for. One person who is not very energetic and accomplishing, but more the type to sit around with a cup of coffee or tea and read. I love flowers so much and it has been fun growing grapes and Thai eggplant and super delicious strawberries... And they grow huge and spread and now I am giving away strawberry plants to my neighbors. And the dahlias are so gorgeous, but as soon as the frosts come, I will need to dig out the tubers and dry them and store them. I also need to empty the terracotta pots that have summer plants in them. Roses and mint are perennial and can either stay in the pots or I will replant them in the ground to make sure they survive. </p><p>But I digress! I was talking about needing to de-clutter. Yes, the fabric stash needs serious culling, and the dishes need some too. I should also take a look at my renovation supplies and tools and organize them and get rid of anything I will not need, and figure out where to store them so that they are out of sight but easily accessible. </p><p>Also I will have to take a critical look at every single knick-knack. I don't have that many, but the house is small! I have a large monstera plant that is growing all over the place. I would love to have more room for it! </p><p>And where to put my empty canvases? Upstairs, perhaps, if I get rid of the fabrics. </p><p>See, I almost have a plan. And I have a fleamarket space booked too in a couple of weeks, to get me motivated to do this. </p><p>And then I solemnly swear to get back on track. I will mostly only replace broken things, and think super carefully if I get anything new. If something breaks or wear out or empties or someone else needs it, I will think long and hard if it needs replacing or if I can just do without. If I notice a need, I will write it down in a list. Like: DD needs warm winter boots. I need a new tunic, never have enough for a wash cycle. </p><p>A whole bunch of pictures to follow - but let me ask you, what is your current situation? Is life simple enough, have you been able to keep the simplicity you attained or have you had lapses? If so, when and how did it happen?</p><p>After I get back on track, I should make another post with pictures. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0QCtmJC87TkvP24VajuUxE9Ikt1Y2fMg3rT-1PYVygRiJArPMbGf7e8fC3hXth46enp4dSykp5lVDgY1giU9o5iaNnNVAc1LuCUW785cRyz3mkhzSNR3vLW9UnDnYfGulynKD1YC05pvBgYO_5v8y5j9gsguYQCc27pJ0JoA5_FSkQGLGQA_gR5NHv2s/s4032/IMG_3275.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0QCtmJC87TkvP24VajuUxE9Ikt1Y2fMg3rT-1PYVygRiJArPMbGf7e8fC3hXth46enp4dSykp5lVDgY1giU9o5iaNnNVAc1LuCUW785cRyz3mkhzSNR3vLW9UnDnYfGulynKD1YC05pvBgYO_5v8y5j9gsguYQCc27pJ0JoA5_FSkQGLGQA_gR5NHv2s/w480-h640/IMG_3275.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIrgLUl7hR6aG2DMMh5-kMP7PXRzK5mLyCa9aDIpbRe0qC3OskRmCaAKTQ7V2q7UGOhZNyOE7WoGaOErcW0s2F4b-ru24Di9NIrlFb_v2e0bqncBD7vp6Ir4oS_vMcTFn824b3FSi9qfSRUY9o4hj5n1t4JWRjI6cGjjZgToBAGv1QhCfWPg8VyERWUbM/s4032/IMG_3271.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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And a rant about crazy electricity prices. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABMJo8YeOECdkqaLphORdcyk0rNrupdt6r7h2_qEIGVvKH8Z0FhEMidEexwVzreR7npT9yoZ64UzbCM78N-9vhEtFo9ijIGMO2LXHaiju-tI-im70m_1ybAsTnXTeFf7AlMjog-3m5i5Pnrlo9gr1jERkjBqnA9iAfliJjeBLp1oKWmeT3No6BrBL/s2016/IMG_0836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABMJo8YeOECdkqaLphORdcyk0rNrupdt6r7h2_qEIGVvKH8Z0FhEMidEexwVzreR7npT9yoZ64UzbCM78N-9vhEtFo9ijIGMO2LXHaiju-tI-im70m_1ybAsTnXTeFf7AlMjog-3m5i5Pnrlo9gr1jERkjBqnA9iAfliJjeBLp1oKWmeT3No6BrBL/w480-h640/IMG_0836.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4CshGfhXANUxR5D1952GslEbF5weoY223WkH_hNSLOsKEwU-mECiv5kCg9bN5wMBIEhGT4iOr7GRmsUoRI7QWy0Oj3TgtGT3Phyi6opQueIPYhyLnpMw46IP9kSU8w3KN93rAzT9QDWI-WjZIHfxqyuMIEPdiFWddAtinlwuE-TNKleaH_SPrPLJl/s2016/IMG_0796.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4CshGfhXANUxR5D1952GslEbF5weoY223WkH_hNSLOsKEwU-mECiv5kCg9bN5wMBIEhGT4iOr7GRmsUoRI7QWy0Oj3TgtGT3Phyi6opQueIPYhyLnpMw46IP9kSU8w3KN93rAzT9QDWI-WjZIHfxqyuMIEPdiFWddAtinlwuE-TNKleaH_SPrPLJl/w480-h640/IMG_0796.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjADvdhx-0r1jIr1fBUbpQZ-wPLmhU0Dpo-hUKKqYe2v84npae3kHMYi6_RC8z1VrPgjnKGO3-HXkNKYDDjR_7toayb-02TCHYJigRLWc36jauSKoA6YmpxUJI2lWQgbvDUeLB4A2rvrfstDUsYfHUDqCpRq96gLfVE5PdiVvyL7s_PGC6ZqLNfAOSU/s1800/42702D84-4066-4B4C-B0CC-58D286540ACD.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjADvdhx-0r1jIr1fBUbpQZ-wPLmhU0Dpo-hUKKqYe2v84npae3kHMYi6_RC8z1VrPgjnKGO3-HXkNKYDDjR_7toayb-02TCHYJigRLWc36jauSKoA6YmpxUJI2lWQgbvDUeLB4A2rvrfstDUsYfHUDqCpRq96gLfVE5PdiVvyL7s_PGC6ZqLNfAOSU/w512-h640/42702D84-4066-4B4C-B0CC-58D286540ACD.JPG" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidCh_0LRYvPMa6OQl-nN8oFc7MeInyWIRFd48Xg7Eua5DXAEqQ-oB5a5GWHEDE79IFlxN-Cu74QwCrlDbpqO7JS5_AwPJZZebapFL97t5yqu3lFhTeMjaxmVeJxkSJ7qcQiH1e_WEUMvkaoUK0MaDa06AGowIZ5P6Ymyyt8tVBQQJYCOOxBouzA8tb/s2016/IMG_0777.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidCh_0LRYvPMa6OQl-nN8oFc7MeInyWIRFd48Xg7Eua5DXAEqQ-oB5a5GWHEDE79IFlxN-Cu74QwCrlDbpqO7JS5_AwPJZZebapFL97t5yqu3lFhTeMjaxmVeJxkSJ7qcQiH1e_WEUMvkaoUK0MaDa06AGowIZ5P6Ymyyt8tVBQQJYCOOxBouzA8tb/w480-h640/IMG_0777.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh063u6r_LsiphyA8JviOoNlpIx2jyIiQwBBD7TqXnnUrC5Q34dXMSMXN3JENYexB63BdObC36SuABXbeBpOrNaRkAAAxSJFVZpyyb9apX8EIzPGC5RLM1To31NTSSkjhLh2L-5pMkTQCK-Z-M7ounIye9-N1tpFRC5O0tjS7uDdHCcDalXCKqjN0u7/s2016/IMG_0833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh063u6r_LsiphyA8JviOoNlpIx2jyIiQwBBD7TqXnnUrC5Q34dXMSMXN3JENYexB63BdObC36SuABXbeBpOrNaRkAAAxSJFVZpyyb9apX8EIzPGC5RLM1To31NTSSkjhLh2L-5pMkTQCK-Z-M7ounIye9-N1tpFRC5O0tjS7uDdHCcDalXCKqjN0u7/w480-h640/IMG_0833.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>It has been a long, slow process for sure. We have lived in this house for over two years. A big reason it is STILL not finished, in addition to the fact that I needed to save money and also rest in-between projects) is that my reno guy got very sick, and then it has been super difficult to find workers. I now have a new reno company, but they are very busy and it is still taking a long time, as they have been able to spare me a day or two here, and a half a day there.. We are still missing quite a bit of electricals, a new thick door in between the cold foyer and warm entrance hall, which has not come yet and I don't know when it will come as apparently the company had a machine break and could not finish my door. And yea, I hear getting replacement parts for things can be difficult. I am also having insulation added under the roof, as well as ventilation holes. </p><p>Which brings me to the hot (eh, pun not intended) topic du jour, namely THE PRICE OF ELECTRICITY.<br />Is it out of control in your neck of the woods as well?<br /><br />Last spring and summer our officials were telling us that we have enough production capacity, there is no risk of running out, etcetera. Nothing was done to get reserve capacity ready. The reserve capacity we have even now, is not brought online. The price of electricity for many people is between 30-50 cents per kWh and now they dug up a technical upper price cap from under some rock and announced it is 400 cents, or 4 euros, per kWh. And that we had actually already been pretty close to the price getting out of hand and surging to the upper limit. And pretty much that we should all live in cold and dark, not shower too often, and forgo morning coffee because rolling blackouts loom. <br /><br />I for one, would much rather welcome rolling blackouts than have peoples lives be destroyed by bankruptcy due to not being able to pay their electricity bills. <br /><br />My old contract was under 5 cents per kWh, and many people still have these cheap contracts. Mine ended in October, and I pay +- 30 cents, but it changes monthly and I don't know what it is going to be exactly during the winter months. February is expected to be the most expensive one. This contract ends in mid April and I am hoping to get a better one then. If not I will just get something with a 2-week cancellation time, so when / if the prices go down I can switch to a cheaper one. Or will they stop offering affordable fixed contracts altogether? That could very well be the case, as there is so much uncertainty and craziness. <br /><br />So, what to do with 6 to 7 times higher electricity price? First of all, I am so happy that I thought about these things when buying the little house. It is small, so less to heat. It has a fireplace that retains heat. And I have the wood stove now, and a sauna in the garden that is heated with wood. I even have a source of free firewood (the price of which has doubled in two years here in the Southern part of the country at least!) if I can get it cut down and brought home. For which I just suggested a deal to my reno guys, who both heat with wood. It goes like this: They get free firewood as long as they bring me some too. <br />When it gets to freezing temps, like it is now, I have to burn wood every morning and evening to keep the house steadily warm. When it gets to really low temps, I will need to just burn more wood each time. <br />And burn some in the woodstove as well. <br />Then I may have to use the radiators some, if it gets extremely cold, but I try to avoid that as long as possible. <br /><br />It is a lot of work, but if I were to just blast the electric heaters, my bill would be over 1500 euros per month at the price I am paying now per kWh. I still need to have the bathroom area heated with the electric underfloor heating, and my daughter uses an electric radiator in her room upstairs. I'm just telling her not to keep tropical temperatures there. Now, our electricity use is very low for a single family house. It was a little over 10000 kWh per year, when I calculated 12 months, and that included winter months when I got tired of burning wood and just heated with the radiators, so with being consistent with heating mostly with wood throughout the whole winter I could easily lower that by some thousands of kWh! I'm taking it as a challenge to see how low we can get to this winter. The summers are not a problem, as majority of the electricity goes to just heating. Last summer our lowest monthly bill was 42 euros with the old cheap contract. What I am not going to do though, is tell my teenage daughter she can't take showers. Okay, so keep them short, but by all means, do wash yourself! I still mostly bathe in the bathtub, but it is pretty small, and I never fill it to the brim, so it has not been an issue, as is obvious from the low energy use during the summer months. <br /><br />I have high hopes though that the extra insulation will lower our need for heating, be it electricity or wood. It will be very interesting to see. This will be done the week before Christmas, so it's effect will be fully seen in January's bill.<br /><br />A lot of people are very desperate and very angry. The cost of production of electricity has not gone up, and the electrical companies are making a killing. I just hope it's only figurative, and that people are not going to freeze to death this winter! There have been some political decisions made to compensate for the high bills with tax paybacks and social security handouts, but a lot of people will not be helped by them, or the help is too little too late. I for one will not benefit anything from those decisions. </p><p>But as more and more people have their old cheap contracts end and are forced on the 700-1000% more expensive contracts, the discontent and outrage will grow in proportion. So how are the powers that be going to fix this? There seems to be no effort nor will to do anything. It is like - dare I say it - it is planned this way.<br /><br />Meanwhile, I take this as another job. It does take some work to carry in the firewood, light it up, watch the coals and remember to close the chimney plate at the right time... but if by doing this I save, say 800 euros per month during the cold months, then it is definitely worth my time and effort. It also necessitates a slow lifestyle. You have to bet at home to watch the fire, and this takes hours every day. It would be more difficult to do this if I was working outside of home. <br /><br />I am so thankful that I CAN pay my bills and we will get through this winter just fine. <br />Even so, come Lord Jesus! <br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /></p>Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-2775105160892322392022-11-11T05:52:00.000-08:002022-11-11T05:52:40.953-08:00The Worst Blogger Award<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuFtk1yOHxp588Rp3gzrbuhCD9LQXmTYx2QbStUUbSs54ilIK8yVYErebI70sRE-Rig61iZDEtJWFgHUh6Wqv4NGqlf3ld-QRgqtbCdtTIwTC_G-u7craKYG_1_wMq5DUXdH4_L2SPXVf5TNs0Lbu6lHs2NkxHFSHVcKn4HuhSIZ4coUQUTgqlNju/s2016/IMG_9324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1504" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuFtk1yOHxp588Rp3gzrbuhCD9LQXmTYx2QbStUUbSs54ilIK8yVYErebI70sRE-Rig61iZDEtJWFgHUh6Wqv4NGqlf3ld-QRgqtbCdtTIwTC_G-u7craKYG_1_wMq5DUXdH4_L2SPXVf5TNs0Lbu6lHs2NkxHFSHVcKn4HuhSIZ4coUQUTgqlNju/w478-h640/IMG_9324.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YqLt8w2crovJ5sQ4JON2xYiaKXVBmgOZwnKbq_AcIVzEGwHeNw2v_rQb_B2LfzJ8JZd_efk_xPPloineUQSrbpiGIXt2UFS_A--qR3HiOKh5la-H-U9S-fr2NuOQ9m3TEh0EOnMjzH2ikB-VwFkYEAgzk1K6zibAVA0skKTE8tEyNX_4e_DpVgtR/w512-h640/7C3F8D70-F699-45E7-8A24-F1F001316BFF.JPG" width="512" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1B3uQbUw3eOYc7YUna_SmRg27To9ggMr7CztRuZMqB_Ao6bxBOnavvR4g0eUk8QLLpymUBQgNafFxBn5cJ8O6bnY7c2FYSGecna4eZOPFV5zVHY7sBk-BRfoHf0zQYBU5M4ZECiLiOkE0b9ZPZGv33qTsnl7jWQqnf0R-AiVrSsfWP1C-TFX8J9EK/s1280/0FC18ADB-41BD-4184-A3E9-38F1E3BA19B3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1B3uQbUw3eOYc7YUna_SmRg27To9ggMr7CztRuZMqB_Ao6bxBOnavvR4g0eUk8QLLpymUBQgNafFxBn5cJ8O6bnY7c2FYSGecna4eZOPFV5zVHY7sBk-BRfoHf0zQYBU5M4ZECiLiOkE0b9ZPZGv33qTsnl7jWQqnf0R-AiVrSsfWP1C-TFX8J9EK/w512-h640/0FC18ADB-41BD-4184-A3E9-38F1E3BA19B3.JPG" width="512" /></a></div><br /><br />I totally deserve it! I have not posted at all this year. <br /><br />My father passed away in January, and shortly after also my uncle. It was a shock, and it has made me feel so lonely! My dad was the person who I felt would always be there to help me any way he could, without counting the favors. Having now lost both my parents and my marriage, it has been a struggle at times. <br /><br />I am happy though about having moved to where my sister and her family live. <br />I am happy about having this little house to live in with my sweet daughter and our two fluffball cats. <br />The garden has been a source of joy, I was so excited about my little grapevine making tiny little sweet grapes, about the tomatillos that I at first thought were Thai eggplants, about the newly planted apple trees and a cherry tree making fruit the first summer, the many many gorgeous flowers blooming all the way from early spring to late autumn! <br /><br />I have occasionally been very frustrated and tired of the renovation, mostly because it is very hard to get anyone to come and help out. Last summer I was sure I would have plenty of time to get everything finished before Indiana's birthday, but now I will be happy if this will be wrapped up before Christmas. It has been going on for over two years, so I am really looking forward to being done with the renovations! Obviously there well be things to do still, but those will not affect our living space and will be so much easier. Some painting outside, and adding insulation and ventilation underneath the roof come to mind... I am dreaming of a greenhouse as well, I have collected lots of old bricks and some old windows, and now I just need to find someone to help me build it. It would have been so nice to have it ready for the next growing season, but I have decided to be content with finishing the interiors, then I will rest, and think about a new project in the spring, Lord willing! <br /><br />I have trouble with my joints, it has gotten worse and now I finally went to the doctor. There is some inflammatory condition as my fingers swell up when I do something heavy, like carry bricks or dig in the garden. I am waiting for the test results, and depending on what is the cause, there may be some relief. But this is another thing I need to consider - my hands are not holding up so well and if I overwork them, I will ruin them faster. Even just holding a book or a phone is painful at times... <br /><br />Right now I am finishing up the winter preparations in the garden, I have put up protections around the fruit trees and berry bushes so that the bunnies will not eat them, like they did last winter, and I still need to rake some leaves and put some frost protections to the most vulnerable plants. And clean the front of the house of some garbage that needs to be taken to the garbage recycling center. I have done some trips there already, so thankfully it is not that much that is left! <br /><br />Inside the house we are just missing some moldings and baseboards and one door that was supposed to be delivered already but there are machinery problems at the factory. The door will be put in between the cold foyer and the warm entrance hall, to keep the heat from escaping. The current door is super flimsy, and with these electricity prices, the new door is worth the investment. <br />Oh, and there are lots of electricals to be installed still. <br /><br />I did the wallpapering, some baseboards and trims, clay plaster walls, painting ceilings and trims and some floors, ripping out some of the old materials and three silly narrow inconvenient built-in closets.. oh and helped with installing the lovely antique woodstove. <br /><br />I am hoping for a mild winter this year, for sure! My electricity contract expired and I am lucky that I got a business contract, so my electricity "only" doubled as of month ago. I am also glad that our house is small, and that we have a fireplace and now a woodstove in the kitchen as well. I mean, if there is going to be rolling black-outs, I will still be having my morning coffee! <br />Our total electricity use has been about 10 000 kWh per year, but I know it can be lower with using more wood for heat, as heating the electric radiators is taking most electricity by far. The difference in electricity use between a summer month and a cold winter month can be five-fold. I have an endless source of free firewood at our woodsy lot, but really not the strength and means to cut down the trees and haul them home. Perhaps I could manage some young, thin trunks, if there was no other way. So far I have bought my firewood and also I took some from my dad's house that we sold this summer, and I need to cut some leftover lumber to firewood size whenever we get a dry, sunny day... So anyway, I'm good for this winter. <br /><br />I will share some pictures of the finished interiors when everything is done and I have managed to organize our belongings as well. Right now there are still so many tools and supplies laying about, and things waiting to be designated a place. I promise though that it won't be a year before I post again!<br /><br /><br /><br />Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-38121923349757811782021-12-07T01:56:00.003-08:002021-12-07T01:56:30.800-08:00A little peek to our little house<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvSTjhFMdhUydnMFMaYAnF1nw_Gr4lm0s1wOegwMMS6mUPcvgr1ALG_PJxzfU1odeE5QLbn-SuijKVHDITk6HwRs503qKp7ktFanaASueABDqeeLp1LsiY0zfsRkaRqGeBrlWLJ9wasD38zHbjangnYsS3k5o1MWe4eYoeguN5NcdPTx0y0fyKg7uV=s2016" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvSTjhFMdhUydnMFMaYAnF1nw_Gr4lm0s1wOegwMMS6mUPcvgr1ALG_PJxzfU1odeE5QLbn-SuijKVHDITk6HwRs503qKp7ktFanaASueABDqeeLp1LsiY0zfsRkaRqGeBrlWLJ9wasD38zHbjangnYsS3k5o1MWe4eYoeguN5NcdPTx0y0fyKg7uV=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvMCW5GAnLLLjdon-ZLcSZtDG-N8R1-6bSGso9_kmjCqu3wylVzRszCkW8EgFamqvEAbCps5M5lseGingtW4YlhrIHNeFLi9lxmTEvw3N_RMKDMY8tyu_0TmzF0XveRY6XGYtcY7JIsFVF-ui_LcaIgedVqmfNgonBWW23wfhpyCdTSbz3PO3Pdadf=s2016" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1504" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvMCW5GAnLLLjdon-ZLcSZtDG-N8R1-6bSGso9_kmjCqu3wylVzRszCkW8EgFamqvEAbCps5M5lseGingtW4YlhrIHNeFLi9lxmTEvw3N_RMKDMY8tyu_0TmzF0XveRY6XGYtcY7JIsFVF-ui_LcaIgedVqmfNgonBWW23wfhpyCdTSbz3PO3Pdadf=w478-h640" width="478" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpaF5IoUXF38wia6xYn77DBrYO1bm_RG4QToVDHqWj6EGNJPvuZg4fJDQXylDWgGea6OuBpKT8D_h6MJN1yXT8W3C6uXDx1qFzEe3XhRZZ-nUvLJ2n9dN-ZHFBAJ4yrVLREMoSuzo-ksSd2KDOt4GbiqAJVHx4NQpmJVXbidiWWHmSKqbRm309KVYL=s2016" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1504" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpaF5IoUXF38wia6xYn77DBrYO1bm_RG4QToVDHqWj6EGNJPvuZg4fJDQXylDWgGea6OuBpKT8D_h6MJN1yXT8W3C6uXDx1qFzEe3XhRZZ-nUvLJ2n9dN-ZHFBAJ4yrVLREMoSuzo-ksSd2KDOt4GbiqAJVHx4NQpmJVXbidiWWHmSKqbRm309KVYL=w478-h640" width="478" /></a></div><br /><p></p><br />So there you go, some photos of our home! I see I'm missing overall pictures of most areas, because it just hasn't been tidy enough to take sweeping pictures of the living room and so on! There always seems to be some pile of random misplaced stuff or another - and huge piles during renovation projects - so I need to make and effort to finally organize the rest of it! If you look carefully you will see some wallpaper remnants on the log walls and there will continue to be things to do in the house. I'm not aiming for "perfection" in that sense - an old house should look like an old house, and it's okay to have small projects waiting and obviously so. It's the disorganized things that get on my nerves.<br /><br />I've used old things in the renovation, kitchen cabinets from the 50's and the cast iron bathtub. They were cheap and they look like they belong here. I don't mind having things from different decades, it's how houses sort of evolve organically. I have original floor planks, windows from the 80's, kitchen from the 50's, some antique furniture and our couch is 70's design. I don't want to live in a museum, and I also don't like all modern everything. Cost and aesthetics are both important but functionality is above all. The kitchen now finally has the moldings.<br /><br />I'll post more pictures later when I get around taking some.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p>I will also make a separate post about the garden as I have tons of pictures. I think the garden, especially flowers, are my weak spot! I'm already looking at flowers to plant in the spring. I still have lots of space left in the garden! <br /><br />I am very thankful for this blessing of a house that is now our home. <br />When we moved in and lived in the middle of a chaos on multiple fronts, Indiana said that this is the most cozy home she has ever lived in. And that she doesn't want to have white walls ever again 😄 I personally have nothing against white walls, but as it is, there are no white walls in the house, though most are light. The clay and stucco walls are tinted with natural pigments and then there are the old wallpapers and now some bare logs visible.<br /><br />The chimney is going to be cleaned today and I will ask about installing a wood stove in the kitchen, which I would like to do.<br />I think I will paint this old ladder today and do finishing work on the sweater I knit and finally got done yesterday. <br /><br />Then there is organizing the upstairs sewing room that is waiting to be done and two large paintings need a storage place but the larger one doesn't really fit anywhere. It's too large to go up the stairs even. The persistent bronchitis I have has been slowing down my effort to get everything in order for Christmas, but there is still plenty of time. Which reminds me that I still haven't put the lights on our little cone shaped outdoor Christmas tree. Maybe I can do that today as well.</p><p>***</p><p>And here are some before-photos taken before we moved in. The house was built in 1935 and the kitchen was from the 70's and the bathroom addition was built in 1991. There was some smelly plastic (toilet freshener, yuck!) and water damaged particle board and broken tiles and so on. The kitchen window would not open because it was blocked by a too-long low cabinet. The bathroom did not have modern water sealing, the electric floor heating broke after we'd just moved in and burned the plastic flooring on top and the bathroom was really cold last winter.. The water heater broke, and when a new one was installed, the guy broke the toilet. So yeah, there were some things that needed fixing 😅 All in all the house had been taken good care of, it's just that things break when they get old. <br />Well, the electrical work was really weird. It's been replaced in the kitchen and the bathroom addition now, but still needs replacing elsewhere as it's not that safe. The radiators are new but made after old models. <br /><br />I got rid of the indoor electric sauna and turned it into a walk-in closet with the washing machine there as well. I decided to also get a dish washer. <br /><br />The living room floor planks were in a really rough condition underneath the layers, but I love them so much now! </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJ84-8qdhoEC0RicKYjsyyjZxvxGqPZN_wVEAnuFQgHj2mc9w_4cHjkVvss_W7f8eV0VU2q4Czt2iE1WZzgNHftyokCJK7HQQjmJIloR4_lskh_oOfo23JgqBdlnizsSjeDpI9wiuaO1uph4XQSZ840bbBNJxIRgj2hdkknD_U02KBTgwekfC0AytU=s2016" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1504" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJ84-8qdhoEC0RicKYjsyyjZxvxGqPZN_wVEAnuFQgHj2mc9w_4cHjkVvss_W7f8eV0VU2q4Czt2iE1WZzgNHftyokCJK7HQQjmJIloR4_lskh_oOfo23JgqBdlnizsSjeDpI9wiuaO1uph4XQSZ840bbBNJxIRgj2hdkknD_U02KBTgwekfC0AytU=w478-h640" width="478" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C6zkWmPLLnI/YXZ0dRzNqBI/AAAAAAAAJPY/hc6wQN73broPxvgwEcZCyAHe4CcIe1PAQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/IMG_6379%2B-%2BCopy.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DQIewCxcrcI/YXZ0dVZeDqI/AAAAAAAAJPc/P-oV7_z0E7QePXwYAqH19FBLSa7xGPP2QCLcBGAsYHQ/s2016/IMG_6570%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DQIewCxcrcI/YXZ0dVZeDqI/AAAAAAAAJPc/P-oV7_z0E7QePXwYAqH19FBLSa7xGPP2QCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/IMG_6570%2B-%2BCopy.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EJCzBxbTyho/YXZ0diAu7wI/AAAAAAAAJPk/Nr4YVwn3bL8CfV36Sm4XsHe8C1XiRbvVACLcBGAsYHQ/s2016/IMG_6988%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; 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"><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UvmqcYeajVY/YXZ0eh8WERI/AAAAAAAAJPo/Ni3xbbmLUBsjX_ZtQRDvWXnJc2ELNSKjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/IMG_7126%2B-%2BCopy.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-usleEddddog/YXZ0eq4_SlI/AAAAAAAAJPs/pwRGQcfkk-4tVmTi6rMSZ6d9JoCJoTEZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1512/IMG_7142%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="1512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-usleEddddog/YXZ0eq4_SlI/AAAAAAAAJPs/pwRGQcfkk-4tVmTi6rMSZ6d9JoCJoTEZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/IMG_7142%2B-%2BCopy.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VEgt2vxEf9w/YXZ0emAD36I/AAAAAAAAJPw/rOOd6TPgcvgKbnQCSlRYG4av6CzAR-YmgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2016/IMG_7159%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VEgt2vxEf9w/YXZ0emAD36I/AAAAAAAAJPw/rOOd6TPgcvgKbnQCSlRYG4av6CzAR-YmgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/IMG_7159%2B-%2BCopy.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eF2bT-QIX4M/YXZ0wo4_knI/AAAAAAAAJQE/ldQqpGg8ScAg-X72gXjWN0En2tZPmpFfQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/b47ee7a1-18bd-4e91-a379-b3925395c99c.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eF2bT-QIX4M/YXZ0wo4_knI/AAAAAAAAJQE/ldQqpGg8ScAg-X72gXjWN0En2tZPmpFfQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/b47ee7a1-18bd-4e91-a379-b3925395c99c.JPG"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5wdWMFtvpLo/YXZ0wqxpqdI/AAAAAAAAJQI/kuvGF9jEi9EwBV61_GtKEXhVvPxJ2MhjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2016/IMG_7644.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5wdWMFtvpLo/YXZ0wqxpqdI/AAAAAAAAJQI/kuvGF9jEi9EwBV61_GtKEXhVvPxJ2MhjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/IMG_7644.jpg"/></a></div>Today is the official first day of our homeschool for the 7th grade. We homeschooled the 6th grade, and are now returning to it.<br>My homeschool philosophy acknowledges that children naturally love to learn. They will learn anything they are interested in learning and have motivation for. <br>Different learning methods suit different children. In homeschool we can use many methods and try different things. We can concentrate on English this month, and math and chemistry the next, if we so choose. So I don't want to have strict schedules to follow.
We will spend more time on things that Indiana is interested in, and go through quicker the ones that she doesn't care about so much. <br>I think that it's sensible to emphasize learning languages and basic math, and other skills that useful in life like tech, finances, renovation and gardening. The things that you can easily look up from the internet nowadays, are not going to be memorized for a test. We'll read though history, religion, geology and biology etc. and discuss things and Indy can do some of the workbook exercises. In general, I think discussing things are a better way to internalize things. <br>We will not do tests, as I don't think they are useful. They are a way in state school for the teacher to give grades, but I don't think there is a benefit to the student, quite the opposite. Children start to study for tests, not in order to learn. This often reduces motivation and makes children dislike school. Again, all children are different learners and have different skills and interests, but homeschool makes it possible to facilitate learning that suits my child and her particular situation. <br><br>So what is the plan for the rest of the fall (and beyond, as I have quite many projects in my mind!)? <br><br><b>ART</b> - this is her thing. I'm a painter, visual artist and print designer by profession and I could see by the time she was 8 years old that she is more talented than I am. Her drawing skills are awe inspiring and she has an ability to make stick figures convey emotion.She has taught herself to animate and make and edit videos, and she has a sense of rhythm and drama. So my job here is mainly to get her supplies, and recently she has also started to paint small paintings on canvases as well using acrylic paints.<br><br><b>MUSIC</b> - Singing at church, finding music to fit her animations and videos, going to a homeschooling friend's place to play instruments (the mother is a musician). Later making her own song with the help of my brother, who makes electronic music.<br><br><b>SPORTS</b> - BMX biking and regular biking, walking, stretching exercises. Swimming in the summer. Horseback riding. Playing games.<br><br><b>CRAFTS</b> - Technical crafts and woodworking will be doing small renovation and building projects with me. How to make traditional stucco plastering, tiling, wall painting? What are differences between natural materials and non-natural materials? Building a leaf compost, painting a storage shed, building a small greenhouse and so on. Sewing an oversized hoodie and other clothing for herself, and knitting something that she wants to knit in textile crafts. <br><br><b>HOME ECONOMICS</b> - We will cook and bake together at least once a week, she can do laundry and be in charge of cleaning her own room and help out in other things. She will practise lighting the fireplace properly, how to store food properly and do dishes. Regular house work.<br><br><b>MATH, CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS</b> - Her father will be in charge of these and we have the school books for these. I'm thinking that we should schedule a ste time for these. During sixth grade Indy mostly just didi the math by herself, as it was still quite easy. Chemisty and Physics are new subjects. <br><br><b>SWEDISH</b> - Indy likes to learn using an app called Duolingo. Her cousins and a new homeschooling friend family are Swedish speaking, so that is good practice. Last year she read two comics books as well and we will try to find something interesting for her to read now too. We also have the school book and exercise book for her to use.<br><br><b>ENGLISH</b> - Indiana learned English by herself by watching kids' programs in English, mainly Pokémon. She now reads whole novels in English and speaks and writes very well. She doesn't need teaching on this really, she can just continue learning the way she has been learning it all along. I will buy her books and she can write about them. She speaks English with some friends who do not speak Finnish. <br><br><b>FINNISH </b>- Native language. We have school books for these, and reading and writing will be part of the Finnish language studies.<br><br><b>BIOLOGY, GEOLOGY, HISTORY, RELIGION, SOCIAL STUDIES</b> - We will read books and watch videos, go to church and Bible study group and discuss things. We will learn gardening, about plants and planting, wild edible plants, forestry, different composting methods, and whatever we learn by reading the school books. I want to give Indiana basic financial education as well, so we will watch some videos about money and how the financial world works. What is money and how does it come into being? Few people actually know that! <br><br>It seems likely that Indy will work in the art and media field when she grows up, as that is where her talent and interest is. She can spend a lot of time on drawing, animating and making videos. For work practice she can do pattern design for my company, for example.<br>She has also started to to study <b>HEBREW</b> with the Duolingo app, so we will continue that.<br><br>I will post pictures and write about our homeschool here with the proper tag so the homeschooling posts are easy to find.<br><br>To sum it up, our homeschool is a mix of unschooling or freeschooling and traditional homeschooling, as fits us. Subjects are learned in different ways.I will make an effort to regularly meet with other homeschooling families and have enough social activity with people of different ages. <br><br>Here is an <a href="https://www.epm.org/blog/2021/Oct/25/destructive-assumption-heaven?fbclid=IwAR3JEmACjMP_XKuO4n85li1-GuCo19C0Z09v2C1AUCmNe3g-NGL-106XS4c" target="_blank"><b>article</b></a> that I gave for her to read for English and Religion. After she has read it, we will discuss it. Today we will also visit the police station to get her a new passport, and then open a bank account, for which she needs the passport. We'll go first to her dad's, have pizza there for lunch, and then go together to the police station. We can tie these things to social /civic studies and talk about the function of the police, and I have plans to teach her about finances and the monetary system. This is something that I think is sorely missing from the state school. Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-61376566307126772602021-10-25T01:06:00.013-07:002021-12-06T23:42:22.541-08:00A little bit of prepping for a cold, dark winter<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-StCDkANHvB0/YXLD1y1RmvI/AAAAAAAAJPA/CxYpHyHYDvMcM4uTfeqSDtleXfxDVv42ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1512/IMG_7519.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="1512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-StCDkANHvB0/YXLD1y1RmvI/AAAAAAAAJPA/CxYpHyHYDvMcM4uTfeqSDtleXfxDVv42ACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/IMG_7519.jpg" width="600" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HBdBWtx0Ni8/YXLErBwhtiI/AAAAAAAAJPQ/0kNVmnStlmgqQIddcyc1txFT0mkcl_D0wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_6225.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HBdBWtx0Ni8/YXLErBwhtiI/AAAAAAAAJPQ/0kNVmnStlmgqQIddcyc1txFT0mkcl_D0wCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/IMG_6225.jpg" width="600" /></a></div>I lit a fire in the fireplace and heated water for a large mug of coffee. I just came downstairs after sewing a patch on Indy's denim jacket , which she'd been asking me to do. Upstairs consists of two small rooms, the first one is for painting and sewing, and the second is Indy's room. <br />Downstais is a large kitchen and a living room the same size, a small alcove where I sleep, entrance hall, toilet, bathroom and now a small laundry /dressing room, which used to be a sauna. We have a 100 years old log sauna in the garden with no running water or electricity. The house itself was built in 1935 from logs as well and it used to be a farmhouse.<br /><br />I peeled off the layers of particle board and plastic. The old floor planks are each one unique, and beautiful with their imperfections. How many feet have touched them, I wonder? This one wide plank had been badly hacked, apparently to fit under the subsequent flooring. I sanded and sanded some more, and it still stands out, but I love it. The finishing isn't even, but I don't mind. I only had a couple of weeks to fix the floors before we moved in! <br /><br />The bathroom addition was built 30 years ago and I'm just about finished renovating it now. It is beautiful with stucco, Moroccan tiles and an old bathtub and vintage or vintage style elements. <br />I will post before and after pictures of the house soon!<br /><br />I still have some work to do in the garden before winter comes. I should protect the fruit trees and berry bushes I planted, and I have some spring flower bulbs to plant still. In the middle of the dark and cold of the winter, I have the springtime with all the flowers to wait for.<br />I have planned to build a small greenhouse from old windows, and grow more edibles next year. I grew some potatoes, herbs, tomatoes, and bell peppers this year. And we got some raspberries and blueberries, even though it was the first year. There were already some redcurrant and blackcurrant bushes and a red gooseberry bush, which made tons of berries, so I froze a lot too. I only have small freezer in my fridge-freezer combo, so I need to get a bigger freezer. <br />As the world seems to get crazier by the day now, I have relaxed my standards of storing, or not storing things. Living in a house alone with my daughter it makes sense anyway. The stores are not too far away, but what if they deny access to the stores close by us, because I won't get the c-vaxx? I don't want to drive to a store all the time because I run out of things. Obviously we don't have tons of room for extra stuff in this small house, and with only a small shed for firewood and a few gardening things, I still won't turn into a hoarder. <br /> I like to keep firewood, batteries, instant coffee (because even a zombie apocalypse is more survivable with coffee, I tell you!), dry yeast, flour, baking chocolate, nuts, dried fruit, cooking oil, some water, things like that. Extra wool blankets for super cold nights. I have electric radiators, but so far this fall only Indiana keeps hers on. I light the fireplace and at night I snuggle under multiple wool blankets. And I wear wool socks, because the floors are cold. Perhaps we need more rugs.<br /><br />I still want to dig a well for water, I used too much water this past summer because it was scorching hot for weeks on end and I had little fruit trees and things to water. And I want to install a wood stove in the kitchen, that is next on my wish list for the house. We do have a firepit outside, so I can make my coffee there if we lose electricity this winter! <br /><br />I do not miss our old city at all. We still attend the same church, as it is only a 40 minute drive from us. We also attend a Bible study here in our new hometown so we have made new local Christian friends. I'm also making friends with local homeschooling families, so that we have more of a social life. For a long time Indy was too sick to have the energy to really do much, but she is much better now and gets bored and lonely if we just stay at home too much.<br /><br />As I read through my old posts, I saw myself talking years ago that the world seemed to have gone mad. If I would have to say something to my old self at the time, I would say: "You've seen nothing yet, so buckle up!" As it happened, both my personal life and the world in general was since sucked ever deeper in a vortex of crazy.<br /> I see scared people all around me. Believers are scared, non-believers are scared. People are either scared of a virus and dying, or they are scared of being stripped of their rights, God-given liberties and bodily autonomy. I would be in that latter category, except I'm not scared. I'm definitely not scared of dying. I know that every second, every breath, is at the hand of my Lord. There have been some very dark moments when I wished I could just die. And I knew that I wouldn't, because I would not die one second before it is my appointed time. To be honest, I've had moments when I worried a little about my financial security. Sometimes it's more difficult to trust God in the small details, as if he would think them too small to attend to! It is not so. Some people feel like we shouldn't bother God with petty details, but I have to admit I've prayed for a parking spot when I have been running late, say, to Indy's doctor's appointment. In a moment of exhaustion, frustration with myself (why didn't we leave earlier?) it has not seemed a petty detail, as I've had tears in my eyes, like it was almost the last drop that I could possibly take. But he is a God who cares about every detail of my life. He wants me to talk to him about everything, the good and the bad, big and small. And God has a sense of humor. He does, did you know that? He sometimes makes me laugh. Like the time when I was first alone with Indy, a little over seven years ago. I was thinking about money, how to support myself. In little over two weeks' time I found eight coins on the ground. It seemed like every time I went outside, I would saw a coin on the side of the road, on the woodsy path next to our house, under the grocery store packing area. As I picked Indy from her pre-school and we went to the supermarket nearby, she said: "You are probably going to find money again mom". "Probably not, you don't just find money on the ground every day" I replied. And less than a minute later I found another coin and we laughed. After the eight coins, I said to God: "Okay, I trust that you will take care of us, you can even drop money from the sky if needed!". <br /><br />Having gone through soul crushing times, having lost a lot, at some point you just get over fear. You survived all that, and you are still here. You survived even though you felt you wouldn't, couldn't possibly go on another day. And you surrender it all to God, little by little. And it is not that you don't care about anything anymore. No, it's that you care more freely, without fear of loss. You start to live one day at a time and life becomes simpler, lighter. <br /><br />Don't let hardships turn you angry and bitter and self-pitying. Surrender to God, trust in him, as he is forever good, forever omnipotent, always gracious, infinitely just, he is perfect love and finally, he is holy, holy, holy!Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-62675958232937818472021-10-22T05:30:00.001-07:002021-10-22T05:47:51.912-07:00Why Christians can't boast about their good works<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yImX91DfM4g/YXKytGHZKAI/AAAAAAAAJO4/VMbGNaZHioAFckaZwlHsHqyB2ZhLNb_EgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1536/kaivaa2.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1536" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yImX91DfM4g/YXKytGHZKAI/AAAAAAAAJO4/VMbGNaZHioAFckaZwlHsHqyB2ZhLNb_EgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/kaivaa2.jpg"/></a></div>The answer: They don't have any.<br />
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It's all God's work. All the good that I do is actually not me, it's God working through me.<br />
How can I make this claim? Well, besides that it's scriptural, from my own experience.<br />
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You see, I used to be a lying, stealing, cheating, envying, gossiping, hating, coveting, lusting, blaspheming, idolatring, vile person.<br />
And I used to think I was a pretty good person. I hadn't killed anyone or cheated on my husband or anything like that. I didn't think I was half bad.<br />
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Then I came to know God, and He showed me my wickedness. It was like a torch light aimed straight into the depths of my soul and my darkest secrets. The Holy Spirit in me condemned my sin. That's what he does. He condemns sin and glorifies Jesus Christ. Suddenly I was sickened with myself and I repented. And from then on my conscience was transformed and it would not let me sin like that any more. And whenever I sin anyway, the torch light shines on it and I have to repent. It is the in-dwelling Holy Spirit, that will start to work on us, peeling away evil and giving us a pure heart that wants to do God's will that is written in our hearts. If you ask God to do that for you, to start transforming you to the person you were meant to be, beware. He WILL do it. And it WILL hurt. But then you can repent and be forgiven, and it's glorious!<br />
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The Scriptures say "There are none good, no, not one."<br />
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So you say that atheists and people from other religions do good works too. Yes, they do. I used to do some good works. A morsel here and there. But I was mostly selfish. And then I would congratulate myself on a tiny good deed. But what I did not, and people do not realize is that all those good works are from God's grace and they wrongfully take the credit. If it wasn't for God's grace restraining us, people would be so evil that I think we would have all taken each other out a long time ago.<br />
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(Just look at Syria. Look at Egypt. Look at Pakistan.. Need I go on? It's delusional think that we are going towards a new enlightened humanity that is capable of all good and becoming god-like. It's scary to think what the Bible says about the restrainer of evil: It will be taken away at the very end of times and humanity is allowed to reach full depravity for a short while. )<br />
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I've been watching a lot of sermons and teaching on youtube. In one of them the pastor told people who thought they were "pretty good people" to think about having ALL OF THEIR THOUGHTS AND ACTS from their whole life span displayed publicly with the data projector to the wall in the front stage. Would anybody be willing to do that? Even knowing that all the other people in the room were sinners just like he was?<br />
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Ah, we are such rebellious people.<br />
We want to be good.<br />
We want to be God.<br />
But our god is what we think about the most.<br />
What consumes us the most.<br />
We fight against the light that would show us our true condition.<br />
It is against our sinful nature to humble ourselves in front of our Lord.<br />
We hate that which would set us free.<br />
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There are really only two religions in this world : One of Grace, and one of Works. Only true Christianity does not ask for your good works. No, even more than that: It tells your good works are rubbish. Dirty rags. You can not please God with your works. But oh how we want TO BE ABLE TO SAVE OURSELVES. We want to work our own salvation. Thus, all the other religions in the world are based on something you do to gain eternal life or enlightenment or whatever.<br />
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No, the good that I do is Jesus Christ working through me, a vile person who was saved. My desire to do good was given to me as a gift. What we are asked to do is "the will of my Father" in Jesus' words. The will of His Father is that we believe in Him whom the Father sent for us.<br />
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That's it- that's the work that we are asked to do. Believe in Him. He will do the rest.<br />
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Jesus Christ saved me from myself.<br />
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<br />Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-3649976153464342482021-10-22T05:04:00.002-07:002021-10-22T05:52:20.427-07:00Hello, anybody out there?<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RmUBU69xUHY/YXKk3JfxHcI/AAAAAAAAJOY/qB600IhgmIofwPHxOCsLkRq--r20YIRLgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_7278.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RmUBU69xUHY/YXKk3JfxHcI/AAAAAAAAJOY/qB600IhgmIofwPHxOCsLkRq--r20YIRLgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/IMG_7278.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0PoZMDxJnOU/YXKk-GrReeI/AAAAAAAAJOc/JIAx0vlkW5IRnfkmSqWyWhoceRDtOj-8wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2016/IMG_7706.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0PoZMDxJnOU/YXKk-GrReeI/AAAAAAAAJOc/JIAx0vlkW5IRnfkmSqWyWhoceRDtOj-8wCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/IMG_7706.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o2RHCgZ4F4c/YXKlGcfB6II/AAAAAAAAJOg/v4xDHnoQ1WgYHtPOoAnTjV7sJ8ApDZZpQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1512/IMG_7574.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="1512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o2RHCgZ4F4c/YXKlGcfB6II/AAAAAAAAJOg/v4xDHnoQ1WgYHtPOoAnTjV7sJ8ApDZZpQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/IMG_7574.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v0DbtqHUByU/YXKlKtdv0MI/AAAAAAAAJOo/1RHV7qX4OVYDnNb74-U93MIwl_3qR-uiQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/PHOTO-2020-08-03-19-41-18.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v0DbtqHUByU/YXKlKtdv0MI/AAAAAAAAJOo/1RHV7qX4OVYDnNb74-U93MIwl_3qR-uiQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/PHOTO-2020-08-03-19-41-18.jpg"/></a></div>Hi, it's me, Cat's Meow. <br>I was going to start a new blog for keeping track of my daughter's homeschool, when I saw that my old posts were back. Not published, but visible to me. <br>I read through them and started missing blogging!<br><br>My daughter is now nearly 13 years old, a beautiful, intelligent, kind soul with ever deepening faith which has been tried and tested. Life has not been The Cat's Meow, for sure.<br>I will talk some more about everything, but for now I will let you know that we moved to another city with Indy, a small old city by the coast where my sister's family lives. I bought a small house of 63 square meters / 680 sqft. Or by my calculations, 71 square meters /760 sqft. We moved here with two of our four cats. The other two stayed with Indy's dad, who also decided to move to this city and lives downtown, about 4 kilometers/ 2,5 miles from us. They get to see each other as much as they want, but she wants to live with me. I was firm on the fact that none of this is her fault and I will not force her to travel between two homes. No. And luckily she is now old enough to have a legal right to pretty much decide by herself, so her dad accepted it, moved close to us, and he has actually said he is happy with this arrangement. He says he sometimes misses us but generally he likes living by himself. <br><br> We are still married, even though divorce was filed for the second time. Neither of us has somebody else now, and even though initially I told him I was going to get a divorce, I then decided to wait and see, let him carry the consequences of his actions for once, and maybe, maybe he could prove to me that he really has changed and that I could trust him again. <br><br>I'm not sure I ever can though, as he broke my trust over and over. At the end I felt like my sense of reality was getting compromised. I was a wreck, and I decided that I can't live like this, and I am not going to give this kind of example to my girl, that this is okay and this is what marriage is like, and you just take any abuse and forgive and stay. And I realized that I CAN forgive and still NOT stay. I do forgive, but I can not trust. <br><br>Just recently Indy wanted to know what happened. I'd told her some basics, and said that she can always ask more when she is ready to hear. I promised again that I will always be honest. She has the right to know why this happened to her family. She was okay with us moving out after the initial shock. But then we became sick, it was at the time the c-virus hit Finland. She didn't recover and started getting more and more symptoms, which is why I started to homeschool her. She was too sick to attend school, yet the doctor at the hospital told me basically that there is nothing wrong with her and she needs to go to school and activate herself. When I was homeschooling her, and I knew that she wanted to move to live closer to her cousins, I thought, why not? Why pay high rent in the city, when the only reason we were staying was her school, and now she is not attending? So I bought our little house and we moved a year ago. <br><br>I've been renovating and gardening, I have my small business of designing and selling fabrics (see our webpage at <a href="https://hellin.fi/" target="_blank">hellin.fi</a> ) and I'm getting back to painting fine art as well. I just sold an old painting, and I noticed that after a long time being into print design, I miss painting. I published a pattern book as well, that was a fun project. The book is sold out but when I have money I'm planning on a second edition. Also I wanted to translate it to English, as I already have the patterns in English. <br>But we'll see. <br><br>So, I guess I have done a lot of things, objectively thinking, as I've also struggled with physical ailments, when I was fainting sometimes multiple times a day, extreme fatigue and things like that. Not to mention depression, anxiety, sometimes pure, unadultered desperation. Have you ever cried form a place so deep that the tears came out as screams? I was asking, how will I ever survive this? How will I ever have the strength to go on, to take care of my daughter, to be a stable, comforting mother to her in her sufferings? I have wished I could just give up. But because of her, I couldn't and I can't. <br><br>I cried out to my Lord to just hold on to me, to keep my head above the dark murky waters that were pulling me down so hard. Just keep me close, keep Indiana close. Let your will happen in our lives, Lord, I accept it, but just hold on to us. Let me praise you Lord, let me feel your joy and peace when I have none! If I must go on living, let me live ever closer to you Jesus! <br><br>So, I will try this blogging thing again. I will be writing about homeschooling, renovating, simple living, faith.. Things I used to write about, but also keep track of what we do for school. Indy has her own non-public homeschool blog where she posts things she does, things like essays from books she read and her drawings and animations, so I won't be sharing those here. Well, maybe some of her photos and artwork, as she is amazingly talented! <br>The photo of me at the beach, wearing a hooded denim jacket, was taken by her, by the way. I'm telling you she is more talented than I am at drawing, she has an ability to make stick figures convey emotions! But more about everything later. I hope to see you around!Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-67910231339453478492016-10-07T00:35:00.001-07:002021-10-22T05:05:38.778-07:00Long time.. what's going on..<br />
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Hey there my dear readers! I wrote a two-part guest post at Weecos blog, about my simplicity journey, and you can read it here if you want to -<br />
<a href="http://www.sustainablelifestyleblog.com/home/my-journey-from-chaos-through-minimalism-to-enough-ism-part-1/" target="_blank">Part one</a><br /><a href="http://www.sustainablelifestyleblog.com/home/my-journey-from-chaos-through-minimalism-to-enough-ism-part-2/" target="_blank">Part two</a><br />
<br />Though I didn't really like the added stock photo of a messy table with things to get rid of.. because I would have liked all of the photos to have been mine (it's not like I didn't have any messy photos..) this one just sticks out, but oh well..<br /><br />Life is rolling along, I was really busy in July filling orders, and in August preparing for the Design Market. After that was over, it's been nice to have time to work on my print patterns, sew things just for fun -like things for Indi and myself, and gifts. And just take it easy for a while. As you can see, the autumn is here, the wool sock season began weeks ago for me!<br /><br /><br />I got rid of some excess furniture after re-doing my work space. One huge desk, three arm chairs, one drawer thing, one antique coffee table (that was always going to my sister's house, but it just got stuck at our place) and one low side table are gone. The low side table and flowery arm chair never quite found their place so they were given to friends. When we moved here, I really wanted to make this place a cozy home for us, and I also used decorating as a distraction, I think. But all the things I got were vintage, not new stuff, and I also gave away and sold what I didn't want after all /anymore so it didn't stay at our home or storage for long. I'm keeping the drawing table with the top that can be lifted up, as I'be been drawing on large papers and it's definitely useful. And there is a corner in our living room where it fits nicely.<br /><br />Also having, well, a few cats, made me realize that I really don't want fabric upholstered furniture anymore. Leather is much easier, so those are the ones that we kept. My husband has asthma and I think he was relieved when I wanted to get rid of the fabric covered furniture.<br />
<br />We painted one wall in my studio with magnetic paint (only a part of it, as it's really expensive and you need a thick layer for the magnets to actually stick!) and chalkboard paint. So I can put up stuff easily and take it away easily too. I like that. The old picture wall above my desk in the studio started to feel stuffy, and of course there were a bunch of nails, and they are never at the right spot if you want to put up something different. I also like to put up To Do-lists, and things that are not meant to stay for long.<br /><br />So, that's mostly it - normal life, and I like that the best! Indi has school for four hours a day and no afternoon activity, so she is with me quite much. Her friends come over to play with our cats and sew. She has one friend with whom she goes to sing in a church choir and that's her only hobby outside of home at the moment. Well, she does go pokémon hunting with her dad, and cousins sometimes. :)<br />I work, some designing and pattern making, some sewing, print design, packaging and shipping orders, things like that. The best part is designing.. but I would not like to do it under pressure. I'm happy with the amount of work at the moment, as I have my limits both time- and health-wise.<br /><br />I'm still amazed at the work God has done and is doing in our lives and in our hearts. I trust Him with our future too.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-37450078862594039952016-05-12T00:00:00.003-07:002021-10-22T05:06:46.280-07:00Learning to run a home-based small indie business -simply.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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First of all, I'm not going to turn this into a sewing blog or an entrepreneur blog. I'm not going to use this blog to sell things. So I started a <a href="http://hellinblog.hellinsinua.fi/" target="_blank">new blog </a>for my indie business at my website. I'm going to write and post pictures there about the life and inspiration behind HELLIN, post about new clothes, sales, events and things like that. So this blog will stay all about simple, slow and meaningful living, in all it's aspects. Sometimes the topics and pictures may cross over, as my life is one whole, and not clearly separated into sections! <br />You can make requests for topics, and if I feel like I can write about it, I will do so :) Simple food, simple clothes, simple home, simple child-raising, simple entrepreneurship - ah yes, that's a topic for my current post ;)<br /><br />At first sight running a business sounds everything but simple. On the other hand, being "self-employed" has been on the wish list of many simple living/minimalism advocates for years.<br /><br />How about making STUFF and SELLING it, how is that simple?<br />
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People running a business are efficient, energetic, well organized, driven, ambitious, focused, goal setter go-getters. Right?<br />Yet, I'm none of those things.<br />Ambition can be a good thing. Goal setting can be great for some people, the go-getters. For me, setting goals is trouble, as it will only make me discouraged. I get tired of just thinking about "what to accomplish in 5 years".<br />What works for me is concentrating on NOW - the moment and day at hand. Perhaps the week ahead.<br />There may be an event a few weeks or months ahead, that I have to prepare for.<br /><br />Right now this means that today I will sew a tunic that was ordered yesterday, if I don't have that size ready (which I think I don't but will check first). I will probably do a little bit more of organizing in my studio, as I gave away the antique architect's cabinet. It was not used enough to deserve it's place here, and it was way too big for a decorative element, as gorgeous as it was.<br /><br />That's my immediate to-do list. Then there's getting the new blog started. This is something that I will do when I have time and feel like it. <br />Yesterday I wrote the English version of my website hellinsinua.fi and published it.<br />On my long-term to-do list is making clothes and designing new ones, mainly for a huge Design Market event that is part of a Helsinki Design Week and draws about 25 000 visitors. That's in early September, so there is my summer job! In addition to being with Indi, that is.<br /><br />Meanwhile I try to make something new for my shops now as well, and I ordered postcards from some of my photos, to sell and to put in orders as gifts.<br /><br />But now, today, it's just One Tunic.<br /><br />It has helped me to hear facts from more experienced people, who started a clothing company from scratch. They tell me it realistically takes 3-5 years to actually start making money. That much time and work, and no certainty! Before I would have just given up easily, given up because nobody could tell me what would happen. Will it take off or fall flat? Now, I don't think about it. I do what I can and should do today. There's always tons of work to do if you are an entrepreneur, the work is endless and I have to set the limits. MY limits, what I'm comfortable with. Nobody else can tell me how much time I should put into it, or how high I should aim.<br /><br />Usually businesses aim to grow big. Bigger also means more responsibilities, more work, more organizational skills needed, more stress, more things needing urgent attention. More problems to solve.<br />Big is not my goal at all. If I had to say something, as obviously I am hoping to make more money with this than what I'm spending on it, I would say that approximately one sale per day would be fantastic. That would be 365 pieces of clothing sold in a year. Some of it may be wholesale orders, a lot of it may be sold in an event during a couple of days, and some months I may get an order once or twice a week. A 1000 pieces would probably be my upper limit, depending on what kind of items the number would consist of. If it was mostly scarves and beanies, I could do more than that, but if it was dresses, leggings and jackets, it might be too much.<br />
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I expect this first year to be a major learning process. I expect to make mistakes - and I doubt it will stop after the first year, but at least I will learn something new all the time.<br />
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So this is my super simple One Day At A Time -Business Model haha!!!<br /><br />So, how does a simple living advocate decide to sell things, and actual real objects, not just e-books or other non-physical things?<br /><br />This is something I have thought about a lot. Making things has always been part of who I am. I sewed my first soft toy, a pig I designed myself after I was inspired by a pig in a children's book, when I was four years old. With my mom. I enjoy making things with my hands, creating visible, tangible things. Things to see or touch or both.<br />Someone may object to making clothes because we have a lot of second hand clothes available. Isn't the world flooded with clothes already? Yet we don't have that many truly ecological and ethical brands. There are some, but they don't fit everyone's tastes and lifestyles.<br /><br />I think a mix of second hand shopping and buying new things from ethical brands is a great combination. I tend to buy shoes and jeans and some outerwear secondhand. I have bought some underwear from an indie business (but plan to also make my own). I have some clothes from a Finnish company, most of it bought second hand, but I also already re-sold a lot of it, because I tend to grab my own designs to wear these days. And I should like them best, shouldn't I? There are some things I don't make myself, like most knitwear, so those are bought from others.<br /><br />I figured the world can deal with more ethical indie brands, those are not the problem! People need to work. People still need things, like new clothes from time to time.<br />Hey, in the Bible Paul made and sold tents, and Lydia sold fancy purple dyed fabrics! If being a maker and seller of THINGS was not below them, it certainly is not below me!<br /><br />As images of God, we are creative beings. Not all of us want to create physical things or visual things. But I do. So I do it, but I don't stress about it. It will succeed if I give it my best, what I can at the given moment considering my health and time limitations, if the Lord wills so. I don't have to worry about it.<br /><br />Maybe some day I will write a book or start a counseling business for closet organizing or home and life de-cluttering, who knows :)<br />
Maybe I will just keep that here in my blog as a hobby.<br />
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At the moment I have some health issues going on again. It could be a bad case of allergies or a Epstein-Barr reactivation. I went to the doctor once and they gave me antibiotics because my throat and glands are so swollen, but the strep test was negative (which I was almost certain it would be, because this looks and feels different from strep) so I will have to the doctor again.<br /><br />Good practice for taking it easy and slowly, as my body will set the limits. If I have to sleep, I will sleep. That web page or new design can wait. Those leggings I'm making for Indi can wait. The T-shirts for my husband can wait (except I promised Indi that she can draw on them with fabric markers and she keeps asking about it). This and that, can wait.<br />
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One day, one order. That's all I ask of myself today, and all the other stuff I may get done is just a bonus. <br />The sun shines, and my windows are freshly washed.<br />God is Good.<br />
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<br /><br />Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-90440931659520945232016-03-26T04:26:00.001-07:002021-10-22T05:08:05.824-07:00Life right now<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I decided to just post some pictures today and tell some random stuff about what has been going on. I guess the pictures sum it up: cats, food, making clothes. Well, there is a lot of My Little Ponies -watching, and working on my computer, and taking photos.. There are friends over, Indi and her friend making cat clothes (they have a shop and the proceeds will go to buying a kitten for Indi's friend, they say. Their only customers so far are Valo and Savi, who only have to pay 5 cents for the clothes, out of their donations jar.. :D )<br />
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I'm still as lazy cook as ever, but I find I bake more in the bigger kitchen. And since I often take care of the food for Sunday church meeting, it's a good initiative to bake. I've made, lemon pie, blueberry pie, mint chocolate meringue cake, and for salty baked stuff a smoked reindeer, leek and goat cheese quiche with lingonberries.. Hmm, it seems I make more sweet stuff :D <br />
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Yesterday I made a super easy pizza and we had iced smoothie sticks (smoothie-cicles?) that I made from left over smoothie. My husband was on a conference trip and I made too much even though I tried to make it for just Indi and me.. <br />
She eats too much sweets and I still try to get in healthy stuff in there too. Today I made banana pancakes for lunch. Okay, now I'm sounding like I spend a lot of time in the kitchen whipping up awesome food, which I really don't. And after Indi goes to bed we watch a movie and eat chips and candy, so I'm not really all that healthy eater! :D<br />
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There is a local organic food group that I just ordered from for the first time. Several small producers offer their food stuff straight to the groups and we cut the middle hand and get fresh organic eggs, fish and all kinds of stuff from there.<br />
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I eat gluten free and Indi has milk protein allergy so that affects our grocery shopping and cooking and baking. When I bake I usually always make it gluten free and dairy free, but sometimes only lactose free if I know for sure Indi isn't going to eat it anyway. Like that quiche with leek..<br />
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The news cat-wise is hidden in the pictures! Somehow one thing led to another, and we are having a third cat - well a foster girl who is going to have kittens, and after that she will become ours. Her name is Cupcake but she is called Namu (which means candy, or sweet). She is the owner of the aquamarine eyes and golden stripy fur.<br />
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Indi is being a good model for me, and she wants to be paid in chocolate or candy. She doesn't want money, so that is what I pay her with.<br />
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I would love to design my own fabrics, I may do a small test run.. (The prints in the clothes here are not my own but by other Finnish designers: Outi Santaniemi and Leena Renko and Nosh Organics -ETA: I have designed and made the clothes, just not the fabrics :D ) <br />
I also want to continue making solid colored things that are easy to combine. I changed my official website to a Finnish domain https://hellinsinua.fi and put a web shop there too. But there are more things in Etsy, and Etsy is having a remodel so I've been working on my own website and looking into the new Etsy as well.<br />
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I've started to wear mostly my own brand and plan to make Indi's clothes from now on as well. She still only wants to wear leggings and jersey tops and tunics anyway so that's perfect since that's what I'm making!<br />
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I don't know if this thing will take flight or not. I'm not stressing about it. I'm giving it my best shot without letting it consume my whole life, and if it ends up being just an expensive hobby, then so be it!<br />
There's a reason to celebrate too, the divorce that was filed for a year ago was now aborted since it was not confirmed in six months' time after the first six month consideration period.<br />
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After last year, I'm quite happy with the way things are right now. Things looked compeletely impossible for a while there, then better, then even worse, then terrible... until better again. It has truly been a testing time for me.<br />
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But how amazing is my Lord and God, who truly lives since eternity and into eternity, whom saves my soul and comforts me in spirit and works all things for His glory in the end!<br />
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Happy Passover, dear readers <3 p=""><br />
(Painting: Green Beginnings)<br />
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</3><br />
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<br />Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-1912566452696638242016-02-02T08:28:00.001-08:002021-10-22T05:09:17.742-07:00New year, new tricks<br />
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I will post some photos from our recent holiday trip to Israel soon.<br />
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But now just a quick update. My Etsy shop <a href="http://hellinsinua.etsy.com/" target="_blank">HELLINsinua</a> is active again and I've been making clothes - but it will take 3-4 weeks for me to get the labels and hang tags I've ordered, and get things photographed for the shop. I'm really looking forward to getting it properly running. I'm enjoying drawing patterns and sewing.<br />
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*HELLIN = Superlative form of hellä ( gentle -the gentlest) .<br />
Instructive plural form of hellä.<br />
First-person singular indicative present form of helliä (I'm being gentle).<br />
First-person singular indicative past form of helliä. (I was being gentle)*<br />
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Hellin is also a Finnish Sami woman's name running in my family.<br />
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Also, one of my paintings had ended up in <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/inside-a-helsinki-haven-1453909555" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal</a> which was pretty cool. I found out about it because someone saw my painting and name on WSJ and contacted me about available works. <br />
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It has been really cold and snowy here, but now kind of wet and sloshy.<br />
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In 10 days we will also get a new kitten!!!<br />
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So stay tuned :D<br />
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<br />Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-652279771800124942015-12-18T13:33:00.001-08:002021-10-22T05:10:42.025-07:00Enjoying every day, little, normal, simple things<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm apologizing again - sorry for leaving you with so little explanation.<br />
The time to wrap up the year is at hand - and man, am I relieved it is so. Bye bye 2015, it was terrible with you! Welcome sweet 2016!<br />
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So, my husband came back. He does not want to divorce and he feels terrible about everything.<br />So I forgive him, like one who knows how much she has been forgiven. Like one who knows none of this was for nothing, none of it, not one single tear or pang of pain was for nothing, nor did it go unnoticed. I have no anger or bitterness even for those who wished that he would leave me.<br /><br />What was meant to crush, has only made us stronger, because we have come closer to the Lord.<br /><br />One who has been made free by faith in Christ, is indeed free. I'm not concerned at all about what people are thinking or talking about.<br />So I have got a glimpse of what it feels like to die to yourself daily.. It makes you free. It's not about losing your personality, it's about losing your ego, your pride. I know I still have a lot to learn.<br />I'm praying for freedom from the bondages of sin and self, and the cages of pride and idolatry for all those who seek, and all those who think they see but are blind.<br /><br />So during the past several weeks there have been birthday parties and Christmas preparations, going on dates with my husband, sewing a lot, just living life for a moment, instead of just surviving day to day.<br /><br />Indi has been sick though, there is a problem in the school building. She needs to have drains put in her ears, she has some hearing loss and she has been sick with a cough and constantly snotty nose almost from the beginning of school. I'm not sure what will happen with the school as we still don't know what exactly is wrong with the building and what can or will be done about it. It's something I'm praying about.<br /><br />I'm glad she will have almost 4 weeks off from school, as we are taking one extra week and traveling to Israel again.<br /><br />Why have I not posted sooner? I have been overwhelmed I guess. My husband coming back. It happened so quickly. Just like everything else.<br />
<br />I am so touched when you comment here and let me know you are waiting to hear from my little corner of the world.<br />Tomorrow we will have the school Christmas church and Indi will get her first report card (which they get only twice a year) and on Sunday we have a Christmas celebration at the congregation we go to (a small Baptist congregation I've been going to for a while) and I can't wait to sing all my favorite Christmas songs!<br /><br />I sing from the bottom of my heart, Hallelujah!<br /><br /><br />Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-50391253436059834602015-10-29T05:16:00.002-07:002021-10-22T05:11:14.426-07:00After the storm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, this terrible year is going to have a happy ending after all.<br />
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It is possible to heal from anything.<br />
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It is possible to forgive.<br />
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After being beaten down by the worst storm and having felt like bucketfuls of icy water were poured on your heart, gripped by the cold<br />
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after giving it all to Christ<br />
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because there is nothing you can say or do<br />
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One day you walk by the seaside and the sun is shining on the sprinkles of star dust<br />
that just fell on your hair<br />
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And you know for sure there is someone watching over you.<br />
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<br />Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-9052226196159297002015-10-23T03:13:00.001-07:002021-10-22T05:12:50.302-07:00The "how to keep things simple when you lose 55 pounds in six months" post<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just wear a superhero outfit every day!!<br />
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***<br />
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No, seriously. That is a pressure suit I got from a physiotherapist (and a corset belt to help my lower back stay in position) because of the Ehlers- Danlos syndrome.<br />
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Well.<br />
Sometimes I when I get a glimpse of myself at the mirror I freak out a little bit. After Indi was born I got used to having a curvy, soft, feminine body. I would have liked to drop the baby weight, but it didn't come off naturally and I refused to starve myself. It just wasn't that important. Indi liked that I was "soft and warm". When I met my husband I was not skinny. He never even hinted at preferring me skinnier, curvier, with long hair, short hair, no hair. He always just said I was beautiful.<br />
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Never ever did I think I'd be in this situation where the weight just keeps coming off. I eat chocolate and cheese in the evening, and tried to calculate how many calories I need to eat to keep a certain weight. It just keeps coming off. Frankly, I'm bony. I can't eat that much. I don't even exercise so you'd think it would be easy to eat sufficiently . I try to choose higher calorie versions when I eat. I put a lot of butter on my bread when I eat it. In the end, I still just don't care about eating, and even less about cooking or making any effort on that front. I should have a 1500 calorie meal delivered to my door daily haha.<br />
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Legging, wool/cotton leggings, knit pants<br />
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Tops and tunics in wool, cotton, organic velour, linen/cotton mix and merino/cotton mix</div>
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T-shirts and tops<br />
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Knit dress in cotton<br />
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Knit dress in merino wool /cotton<br />
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Mom's old 70's dress<br />
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Merino wool jersey dress that I think works over-sized<br />
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Cardigans and my cowgirl-plaid flannel shirt :)<br />
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I started buying new pants when the old ones didn't stay up anymore. Then the new ones didn't stay up and I got a couple of belts. Some of my old tops and sweaters still work, at least at home, and over sized is in style right now, isn't it ;)<br />
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As I still work from home, being simple and comfy with clothes continues to be very easy. We don't have a laundry machine as ours broke while moving, and I never got a new one. I use the laundry room once a week (it's possible to use more often as needed) and I find this works really well for us.<br />
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I still hate going to shops and malls, so I buy from the internet. I recently discovered a truly Finnish brand (most of the supposedly Finnish brands don't actually MAKE the clothes in Finland, or even the fabrics.. it's just basically designed here). <br />
The great thing is that all their clothes are jersey knits, cotton for summer and merino wool/cotton or merino wool for winter. So they are comfortable, and warm. They are expensive, as is anything made in Finland, materials and labor are so costly here (which is why hardly anything is made here anymore) but there are always sales, and often you can find something second-hand. The brand has only existed since 2010 and I hope they do well and stick around! I don't think they are shipping abroad, but all you Finnish people, I'm talking about <a href="http://www.kaino.fi/" target="_blank">Kaino</a><br />
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I still love Toast too, and will check out their sales. Otherwise it's so expensive. The same with untouched world, the New Zealand brand of ethical merino wool clothing. Both they are oh so soft, and durable, and warm... I could live in merino wool for most of the year. Right now they are having a sale as the summer season is staring there :D<br /><br />Doing over your whole wardrobe - eh. But I have also gotten a few freebies and bought a many pieces secondhand.<br />
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I have more than I used to have in a long time, because I've kept the oversize tops and whatever works as an oversized "look". Most dresses and pants just look pitiful now, as they are supposed to fit well, so I can't wear those and I've gotten rid of most of them. I'm keeping some in-between sizes for now, in case I can get back to a more normal weight.<br />
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But I would say that the core of my wardrobe consists of leggings and other stretchy pants, and jersey tops and tunics. They are comfy and a few kilos off or on won't matter. I have a couple of nicer dresses that fit okay (the one with the belt is my mom's old from the early seventies), and a jeans skirt and a corduroy skirt, corduroy pants and four pairs of jeans, one skinny black and one faded blue with front patch pockets and wider legs that actually need a belt to stay up already - and two dark skinny stretch jeans that need a belt also already so I notice I don't often choose to wear them.. I have a few cardigans as most of the time I'm either wearing a cardigan or a wool tunic. I only wear wool socks, and in the summer I don't wear socks at all.<br />
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With shoes, I'm at eight pairs of shoes (one summer, one in-between season, one sneakers, one pair of unlined leather boots, one pair of Lappland boots (worn sooo much, I bought them while we lived at my dad's house after the mold craziness) and also one pair of sheepskin lined leather boots. And a pair of Crocs in a more stylish design than the original one. They are great for the beach and to just slip on. And a pair of Nokia wellies.<br />
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I don't need stuffed closets and junky drawers and dried out cosmetics in my life. But after catching lice twice last winter, and several nightly nose bleeds, last night Indi coughing so much she threw up... I've realized the usefulness of having a few extra clothes, sheets, towels and even outer wear!<br />
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So simplicity is having enough to last until laundry day, and to take us through surprises and accidents.<br />
It's accepting that I'm this way now and I need clothes that stay up and don't show my belly button when I bow down... It's taking an opportunity to support a domestic, ethical brand and wear clothes I feel good in.<br />
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If you find yourself in a total wardrobe malfunction, just start with the basics, a core of stuff you definitely wear weekly and daily, be it jeans or sweat pants or a suit. You can always add stuff later when you see what works for your new body / life.<br />
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I'm off to eat some chocolate or something now. :D<br />
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<br />Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-46930459980272008782015-10-03T00:13:00.001-07:002021-10-22T05:12:32.502-07:00Water and Light - my little exhibition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here are some images from my exhibit of photographs and paintings (mostly aquarelles but also two acrylic paintings on canvas).<br />
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It is at the church we live next to (And where Indi goes to afternoon club), for this month. We had 110 refugees stay there in September. A few guys helped me hang the exhibit, making sure the lines are straight, and giving opinions about which goes next to which piece! One guy spoke English and translated to the others.Some of them already knew a little bit of Finnish.<br />
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They were moved to a new location yesterday, but I'm glad that they saw the photos, they asked if they were from Finland. Yes! The winters may look terrible, but rest of the year we have some pretty decent days too, and look, flowers too! :)<br />Honestly, the refugee situation has suddenly blown up and makes for a lot of heated discussion. The economy in Finland is bad too, which makes a lot of people say we have no money to take in so many refugees. Also the tensions between different cultures. It's a complicated situation.<br /><br />I have thought about it a lot, and as a Christian I feel like I only have one option, love each person without reservation and prejudice. Who knows, maybe some of the muslims will be touched by the kindness and be open to the gospel of Jesus Christ.<br />
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Anyway, back to the show! You may recognize many of the photos! They are printed on aluminum. It's kind of new technique, I like how they look and feel but I'm not sure about the durability.<br />
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My guests for the opening made me read the poem I had written that was the inspiration for the exhibition. I also hung it on the wall, none of the pieces have names so it gives something that relates to what I was feeling when doing this. A tiny bit of it.<br />
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I don't feel like I'm though with the theme at all. I want to paint some more on canvas, more water colors... of course take photos too, but that is just something I always do. Always carry my camera in my bag!<br />
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I'm already thinking about my next post which will hopefully be about practical matters, simplicity in material world and how it makes my mess of a life more manageable right now -just as it has ever since I discovered it as a way of living.<br />
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<br />Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2147624999381821137.post-20609477266680847632015-09-27T08:01:00.003-07:002021-10-22T05:15:56.053-07:00What makes a simple day in a complicated life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><br />At first when I was alone for a night, for a weekend, I didn't know what to with myself. The nights are still difficult. I have trouble falling asleep. Even going to bed alone.<br /><br />Then I was sick again for a few weeks, just in time for the start of school for Indi. I had promised to have a small exhibition, which I really wanted to work on.<br /><br />I have. But not forcing myself. I had to create a comfortable atmosphere first, have all the stuff ready at hand. So that beginning work was easy. There is plenty of space, I can leave stuff to dry and continue later. Practical is simple.<br />
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On friday night I had women from church over. We had fun, we played a role play (with lots of trying to kill each other at a dinner party, how Christian of us :D ) and we ate and talked. We had planned to pray for everybody's needs, but time just flew and it was time for everyone to leave before we got to that!<br />
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I don't have a dish washer, so the next day I did the dishes by hand. The first time I had a pile like that in like, ten years. But it's simpler for us not buy a dish washer for the two of us.<br />
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I do our laundry at the laundry room, again, it's simpler than to buy a new machine to replace the broken one. I like booking the laundry room once a week, and there is a drying room where I hang it to dry and in the evening everything is ready to be picked up.<br /><br />Now that I'm better again, I may walk to the beach for a moment and run some errands. Today I picked up some secondhand clothes and then went to a flea market. Indi has been wanting Pet Shop toys and I got her four. I also bought some other useful -and not really that useful- stuff. Hand towels? Useful. Woolen babushka scarf? Absolutely useful. Tin coffee box? Weeeell.. I'm using it, okay?<br />
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Never mind the raccoon.<br />
But who could resist that face? I couldn't.<br />
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I'm not going to turn into a hoarder, mind you. I suddenly needed clothes several sizes smaller, so I've gotten some freebies and bought some second hand and I'm giving and selling away some. We had very little dishes because we never had guests over at old small apartment, so I've bought some dishes. Some furniture I've bought and some sold away.<br />
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Sometimes I just need to do something to distract myself with.. But I have stuff to do, paint, sew, clean the apartment, read, write, take photos.. and I still spend a lot of time with Indi. So I'm never bored at least. I want to do what I love to do, what I have studied to do, and what I think I can do best. I am thinking of ways I could make more money.. but God is my provider, so I'm not worried.<br />
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It's simple for me to work from home.<br />
It's simple to live in a place where I can walk to get groceries, and the beach is 500 meters away (like 1/3 mile). It's simple that we now live on the first floor and Indi has started to go out by herself, and that we live close to the school.<br />
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Getting finally diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and starting to make sense of why I was never just quite okay, even a s a child, makes my life simpler, because it helps me understand why I have collected so many illnesses and why I am like I am, and just accept it. It also makes it easier to get check-ups and treatment for different stuff, because it can affect pretty much any part of the body. I just had an ultra sound of my heart, I had minor mitral valve prolapse, which is pretty common and not dangerous, but because of the EDS they will monitor it every few years so it doesn't get worse.<br />
I have heart pain and irregular heart beat but I put it down to extreme stress, because my body just won't quiet down! <br />Sometimes it's enough of a job that I just survive to take care of daughter.<br />
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Living simply becomes an afterthought when you just try to simply live... Everything superfluous naturally falls away as you are stripped bare. On the other hand, you don't stress out about your kid wanting to hoard cardboard boxes, or buy Pet Shop toys. But I still find it easier to keep mental clarity in a simple, aesthetically pleasing environment.<br />
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It's simple to live for God, because then you only have to care about what He thinks. When you have fear of the Lord, there is nothing more left to fear. And fear of the Lord does not feel like fear, because "in perfect love there is no fear" as the Bible says. So it feels like love. As simple as that.<br /><br /><br />
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<br />Vappuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037052581038901436noreply@blogger.com8