Author: Wendy
Wednesday Chat #11
Hello, everyone. I trust you’re having a wonderful week.
Here are this week’s questions. As ever, make sure to head on over to Everyday Ruralty to join the linkup yourself or read answers to these questions from other bloggers. [Read more…]
Simplicity: Fun Family Activities
When I was trying to think of what I wanted to write about today, a couple of things kept entering my mind. They all have to do with our current family situation, which I’m not going to go into here. What I decided to go with ideas for free (or cheap), simple family activities. The list definitely won’t be all inclusive, and it may or may not include things that work in every town. But they’re things our family does for fun, and hopefully at least some of them will inspire you to slow down and find something simple to do today. [Read more…]
DIY Cloth Book for Babies and Toddlers
I mentioned on Tuesday that we celebrated Small Fry’s birthday recently. I, of course, made him a gift instead of buying him one, and I wanted to share here all about it. I’d seen around the web recently the idea of fabric books for little ones, and some of them are specifically designed for toddlers to work on their fine motor skills. I wanted to make one of those. (This one is much better than the one I made, but I’m pretty pleased with mine nonetheless.) [Read more…]
Wednesday Chat #10
Well, it’s Wednesday afternoon here on the West Coast, and that means it’s time for another Wednesday Chat. As ever, thanks to Patrice at Everyday Ruralty for hosting and providing questions. [Read more…]
Two
A certain little boy in our family had a birthday last week. That’s right – Small Fry is now officially 2!
This little guy is a real treat to know. He has his moments, like any of us, but as a rule he’s a wonderful child. He loves fuzzy critters of all kinds. Whenever we’re out walking and he sees someone with a dog, he always stops to point it out to us. His favorite place to be is outside – he doesn’t care where outside, just out in nature! He doesn’t seem to mind whether or not he wears clothes, but he adores his shoes. He would probably wear them to bed if I’d let him! But as much as he loves his shoes, he’s also perfectly happy to go out without them if it means he can get out of the house. He prefers vegetables to meat, but he does like chicken and fish when we give it to him. I don’t think he’s ever met a fruit he didn’t like! He also likes his sweets, though, so we have to be careful with them. He’s been known to turn into a bit of a monster baby if someone has ice cream and he doesn’t! [Read more…]
Simplicity: Living in a Smaller Space
In case you hadn’t noticed yet, it’s summer! I don’t know about where you live, but where we live, it’s been really hot, too. Miserably hot. The kind of hot that reminds me why I don’t really care for summer and makes me look forward to the fall. The fact that our house (apparently) wasn’t built to handle the heat just makes that even worse. You see, the top floor of the house is where the main living areas are. The lower level just has the kids’ playroom, one bedroom, a “half” bathroom, and the laundry area. The top floor is absolutely unbearable in the summertime. We just dealt with it last year, but this year we decided we weren’t interested in doing that. (The windows all open sideways, not up and down, so putting an air conditioner in is very tricky. Especially since it’s the second floor, not the first.)
So on July 1st, we moved most of our stuff – the stuff we need every single day, anyway – to the lower level of our home. Will gave up his office so that we could put our bed in the bedroom. The playroom is now the kids’ “everything” room, which really isn’t a big deal; most kids have only one room for sleeping and playing in anyway. The only times we go upstairs are early in the morning before it gets too hot and when we’re cooking or bathing.
We’ve done this partially to keep our sanity and partially as an experiment: Can we live in a smaller space than we currently have? The answer has been a resounding “Yes!” Why are we using this time as an experiment like this? Because Will has his mind set on us living in a “tiny house.” He’s been very interested in the tiny house movement for years, but we were never sure it was logistically possible – or feasible – with children. Now we know that, within reason of course, it is. He’s gone out and priced tiny houses, and depending on where you live, they’re really not so “tiny.” The one he’s looking at is 18×24 feet with a loft. That’s about the amount of space we’ve been living in the past two weeks.
We knew that in order to pull it off, we’d have to simplify even further than we already have. We’ve moved some of the boys’ toys to Will’s office at the church, and they play with those toys when they’re stuck there late on Wednesday nights while Will talks to his dad. A lot of Small Fry’s outgrown clothes are going either to our new nephew or the consignment store. Come fall, almost all of the quilts I’ve made over the years are going to go to a social service agency that can get them to families in need. Same with our extra bedsheets. The kitchen is probably the main “problem” area, but since we’re not planning to move for a few more months (or longer…), I’m not ready to think about that yet.
Until we did this, I was always kind of averse to the idea of tiny house living (I don’t expect that we’ll live in a huge house forever, but a tiny one?). There are times when I’m still unsure, but I know in my mind now that it is possible for us.
Have you ever done anything like this? Tried living in just a portion of your house?
How do you keep your house cool and livable in the summer?
Blessings,
Wendy
Wednesday Chat #9
Yes, yes, it’s Thursday. That’s okay :). Depending on the week, you might start seeing these on Wednesdays or Thursdays, but I’ll still call them “Wednesday Chats” for simplicity’s sake.
Remember to head over to Everyday Ruralty to read more answers to these fun questions!
Do you like cucumbers? Is there a favorite way you prepare them?
Oh, yes! I’ve never met a cucumber I didn’t like . . . well, except the ones that end up bitter. I don’t like those at all. As for preparation, I just like them raw. Sliced on their own or chopped in a salad, it doesn’t matter. When I was a kid, my mom used to soak them in vinegar so they had an *almost* pickled flavor, but not the same as pickles – more like tart cucumbers than pickles. I’ve never tried that, even though I kinda like it, so it’s been years since it’s I’ve had them that way.
How good a housekeeper are you?
On a scale of 1-5, probably a 3. Given a choice I’ll do anything besides housework. On the other hand, I hate clutter and messes, so I do my best to keep things tidy.
Please finish this: To spend a day _____ would be amazing!
Hm. This is hard for me. I suppose . . .
To spend a day playing on Santa Monica beach would be amazing!
(We got to do this for just a few hours when we were on vacation last year. I would love to go back!)
How do you handle times when you are “down” and “blue” (depressed)?
I just kind of hole up and ignore everyone. It’s not the healthiest way of dealing with it, I know, but it works for me. Fortunately those feelings don’t come around too often.
Have you started using essential oils since they have become so popular?
Nope. They’re a bit out of my price range.
Now it’s your turn! Leave me a comment with an answer to one (or more) of these questions.
Blessings,
Wendy
Simplicity: Lessons from Macaroni Salad
When I first started this series, one of the things I talked about was how “Simplicity is NOT taking the easy way out.” I want to share with you a lesson I learned this past week based on that theme, and then I’ll share a recipe at the end.
Have you seen those boxed “Simply Pasta Salad” kits in the grocery store? I’d seen them lots of times over the years, but never tried one. One night recently, we were having grilled burgers for dinner, and I wanted a quick, easy, won’t-heat-up-the-kitchen side. Pasta salad seemed like just the ticket. Unfortunately, it was already nearing time to start cooking, so I didn’t have time to make a macaroni salad from scratch and none of my family likes the Reser’s stuff that the deli carries. So I decided to try the box kit. They were on sale for $.99 that day, so I picked up four of them – some for now, some for later.
The concept is simple. Inside the box, you’ll find a packet of dressing powder which you mix with oil and water, and a bag of pasta, which you need to cook. Mix the two items together, and voila! Pasta salad. It was really quick to put together, but it wasn’t great in the flavor department. The dressing was really oily and honestly, pretty bland. The pasta was fine; it was just corkscrew pasta, not unlike what I would be likely to use for my from-scratch pasta salad (my grandma’s recipe). There were no add-ins. I suppose that could be considered my fault – there’s nothing on the instructions that says “don’t add anything to this, it’s perfect as-is.”
As we were eating the second batch of it (with my in-laws over for dinner), I was thinking about how “ho-hum” this salad was, and how I should have just made macaroni salad from “scratch.” It takes more work, but the result is so far superior that it’s worth it. And to me, that’s what simplicity is all about. It’s not about taking shortcuts so you can have more down time. It’s about making the thing you do worth the time and energy so that they’re more enjoyable.
My Grandmother’s Macaroni Salad
(I don’t have the exact proportions anymore, so I’m doing this out of my head. My grandma passed away in 2001, so I can’t just get a new copy of the recipe from her, but I’ve made this enough over the years to know it.)
3 8-oz bags of small pasta – your choice on the shape
You can find these on the Mexican food aisle of the grocery store; you could just use 24 ounces of pasta from “traditional” means, but I like the small bags for this recipe.
1 cucumber, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
6 hard boiled eggs, chopped
4-6 sweet or dill pickles, chopped
8 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch cubes
Dressing:
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise – store bought or homemade, whichever you prefer
2-4 tablespoons mustard
1-2 tablespoons white vinegar
Relish, optional
Cook pasta according to package directions.
Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
When pasta is cooked, drain the water and rinse with cold water until you can work with it with your hands. Combine pasta, vegetables, eggs, and cheese in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss to combine. I find that my hands are the best tools for this job. It’s messy, but effective.
Eat immediately or chill before eating. (It should be pretty cold already since you rinsed the pasta.) Refrigerate leftovers.
I think my favorite part about this recipe is that it’s so incredibly versatile. Don’t like cucumbers or bell peppers? Use carrots and celery instead. Don’t like vegetables at all? Add more eggs and cheese. Not in the mood for macaroni salad? Substitute potatoes for the pasta, and now you have potato salad. The cheese cubes add a little something special, too, in the midst of the soft pasta and crunchy vegetables. It’s a texture right in the middle. Yum.
I’ll never buy “Simply Pasta Salad” kits again!
Blessings,
Wendy