Archive for November, 2004
November 26th, 2004 - Epicurean Simplicity by Stephanie Mills
This is the first book review I’m writing before I finish the book. No, it’s not that this is the best one I’ve read and I can’t wait to write about it. Rather, it’s because of a very annoying aspect of the book and a realization I had.
Mills is a writer, a lover of words, and goodness does that show! I skip over paragraphs at a time as she expounds upon the wonders of nature. I find these passages incredibly boring! My favorite book is The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery (of Anne of Green Gables fame). The main character loves a series of nature books, and passages from them are included. I have always, but once, skipped these sections. And it’s my favorite book! (Once, I forced myself to read them. I was right. They were boring and over the top.) So I’ve thinking about why I don’t like such passages. It strikes me as odd because I really love nature. Then it struck me: I like simple things, not fancy descriptions of nature. It fits with so many other aspects of my life.
In general, I think Mills’ simplicity story gets lost in the descriptions of natural wonders. The book is written as a year-in-the-life-of, organized as a journey through the seasons, although she frequently describes past events in the course of each season. She is not a die-hard simplist. She uses her car quite a bit–although she worries about the use. She gardens–but reluctantly and not very well. In that way, she’s probably a lot more like most of us, rather than the books by those who are 110% simplists and have lifestyles that most of us can only aspire to or glean a few useful tips. Mills lives in the country and does freelance writing, so she’s not like me–city/full time job. But her’s just isn’t that radical of a lifestyle.
Find our more about Epicurean Simplicity at Amazon.
November 26th, 2004 - Extreme Simplicity: Homesteading in the City by Christopher and Dolores Lynn Nyerges
While most other autobiographical books about living simply involved moving to the country, the Nyerges live in LA. Granted, they live in a more rural-set area of LA, but nonetheless, they don’t live in the country. They are, however, able to keep chickens and geese, forage for wild edible plants (in the lot behind them which is a wilderness area), and few other things that would be more typical of rural settings. I was expecting it to be about someone on even less property than I have–maybe even a townhouse with almost no yard or an apartment. It’s not…I’d say what they do would be difficult to implement for most *city* dwellers, myself included! I live in a city of 60,000. There’s only one “wilderness” area nearby and it’s a pretty small, private area. I don’t think I could forage there. My lot isn’t big enough for chickens (neighbors too close), which aren’t allowed anyway.
Wish I had some ready sources of wood chips and grass clippings. I really want the latter for mulching my garden. For $20, I can get a permit to use the city’s grass and yard waste recycling (most people use it to drop off, but some of use pick up). But I can’t use that on the vegetable garden for we have no idea if pesticides/herbicides have been used. So we’ll get some woodchips there, but even those are a little iffy. More certain than grass. Can’t use our own grass clippings because A) we have dogs and B) we have a composting mower that cuts the grass really fine so we NEVER bag the clippings.
All in all, another enjoyable read, with lots of ideas generated.
Find our more about Extreme Simplicity at Amazon.
November 26th, 2004 - Buy Nothing Day
I’m participating in Posted in General | No Comments »
November 22nd, 2004 - Actual hourly wage
I’m not paid on an hourly basis; I’m salaried. I just figured out my adjusted hourly wage (a la Your Money Or Your Life). This factors in (on the money side) clothing, commute, and taxes (except property) (except taxes, this isn’t a whole lot as I live simply already so commute by foot or bike and don’t buy much clothing. I didn’t figure lunch because I brown bag it and actually eat more at home I think since I can have a glass of milk and anything else I want) and (on the hours side) lunch break, commute, decompression, and work at home (this adds 40 hours a month I reckon, but I was generous on decompression).
It’s 2/3rds of my stated hourly wage. Not bad. But not so great either!
Directions for computing your real hourly wage.
November 22nd, 2004 - DMA Do not mail list
Costs $5 to get your name off snail mailing lists online! So I will have to print it out later. Need to mail three–me, my husband, and my maiden name.
November 22nd, 2004 - Growing Vegetables at Home
Growing Vegetables at Home (PDF)
Around page 15 or so, when you get to the alphabetical list of veggies, it lists some varieties that do well in WI. I need this in planning my garden. Which, by the way, I completely plotted (on paper) last night and this morning. I had so much fun, I was disappointed to be finished! LOL
Some other publications from Extension. These have a lot more info that the overall publication does, including the plant’s history!
- Growing Beans and Peas in Wisconsin (PDF)
- Growing Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, and Other Cole Crops in Wisconsin (PDF)
- Growing Carrots, Beets, Radishes, and Other Root Crops in Wisconsin (PDF)
- Growing Onions, Garlic, Leeks, and Other Alliums in Wisconsin (PDF)
- Growing Pumpkins and Other Vine Crops in Wisconsin (PDF)
- Growing Salad Greens in Wisconsin (PDF)
- Growing Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplants in Wisconsin (PDF)
- Home-Grown Tomatoes for Wisconsin (PDF)
- Vegetable Cultivars and Planting Guide for Wisconsin Gardens-2004 (PDF)
- Growing Currants, Gooseberries and Elderberries in Wisconsin (PDF) I should read this next spring–we have 4 currant bushes and one gooseberry (I detest gooseberries, but they were here already)
Other publications, not on plants
November 22nd, 2004 - Soil Lab
For $15, I can get my garden soil analyzed.
November 22nd, 2004 - The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczn
The frugality bible. I’ve owned this book for years and read it at least three times (the first was reading copies that belonged to a friend) if not 4. I’m probably going to pick it up again.
Find our more about The Complete Tightwad Gazette at Amazon.
November 22nd, 2004 - Living the Simple Life by Elaine St. James
100 chapters (each is only a few pages long, and it’s a short, fat book) covering everything from saying no to men’s wardrobes (her husband gave her info for that one). I think this is the book where I got the idea to not wash towels as often. A delightful little book that is an easy read but covers a lot of ground.
Find our more about Living the Simple Life at Amazon.
November 20th, 2004 - Bountiful Gardens
Bountiful Gardens sells seeds recommended by the biointensive gardening books. They are open pollination, non-hybrid, often heirloom. I wonder which, if any, are appropriate for Wisconsin? They don’t mention growing seasons.
They also sell the books (How To Grow More Vegetables,Fruit, Nuts, Berries, Grains and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine).
November 20th, 2004 - growing chickpeas
Wow. Maybe I can grow my own chick peas (garbanzo beans). I love humus. I have a recipe from my Gramma that I ate over the last week for lunch. I was so delicious I went and bought more cans of chick peas. I forgot until reading this page that you can buy them dry, just like other peas and beans. I shall have to see if our stores carry them. I’m sure it would be cheaper than the canned, rehydrated ones, evev if I do get them at th Bargain Bin (scratch and dent store).
Shmi, one of our catsm is asleep on my lap. Luckily, I can type one-handed, for she insisted on sitting on my left hand.
November 20th, 2004 - The Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs
This was one of the first ones I started reading. An excellent book that sent me to check out the journal she publishes. Ask an online group for rec’s on it, and it was panned. I’d thought the same from the website–seemed like a lot of money for not much content.
On the other hand, the book is chock full of good ideas, stories, resources, inspriation. I marked lots of pages for other books to read, websites to visit, ideas to implement.
Find our more about The Simple Living Guide at Amazon.
November 20th, 2004 - Living Simply with Children by Marie Sherlock
I left this one to the last of of a batch of library books, because we don’t have children yet. Finally read it this weekend. This is the first one I’ve thought “I have to buy this so I can refer to it all the time.” If you couldn’t tell, this one gets the highest marks of approval.
It validated a lot of things we already planned to do, but also gave me other ideas of further ways to keep up the simple life. The book also frequently addresses how to pass on these values to our children.
The last chapter was on Christmas (and other holidays). Very apro pos (spelling?) for this time of year. If I hadn’t already done so, it would have given me the impetus to reduce my gift-giving list. One my Dad’s side, I have just one family of relatives with just three kids. They had no other relatives, as their father was an only child. So our families always exchanged gifts. This has continued through our adulthood. Two of my cousins are now married (have been for years) and have children; their spouses all have extended families as well. So they aren’t hurting anymore for relatives and gifts at Christmas time. I still have a small family, but I’m not hurting for gifts at Christmas time, for I don’t really care if I get any. And shopping and mailing gifts to these relatives nearly doubled my list–and truly mine. My husband didn’t agree with continuing to give them gifts, so it came out of my personal spending money, not the family budget.
I no longer got much joy out of exchanging gifts. I rarely see, talk with, or mail these relatives, although I do think about them often. So I know little about their lives and what they might truly appreciate as gifts. And they know little about what I would appreciate. For years, I’ve been wanting to quit the exchange. I was going to last year…but found a cool gift in the summer that I didn’t have to mail. So this year, I said I had to do it. I composed a nice email explaining that I have simplified my holiday, and as part of that we’d decided to exchange fewer gifts. As I expected, they, too, were happy to stop the exchanges! I think my aunt is disappointed, but she can always still send me a gift if she wants to; I wouldn’t mail it back to her. ;-)
So our list is pared down to
- parents (4)
- brother (1)
- niece (1, 11 years old)
- sister (1), 9 years old)
- each other (2)
- my grandparents (2)
And everything’s taken care of except I need to send my parents a check for Grandma’s present, make some goodies to send to Grandpa, and buy for each other. We haven’t decided how much to spend, but it’s probably going to be about $15, as we’ll have $30 in the budget after the niece’s present is paid for (my mother-in-law is picking it out). That’s the most we’ve had to spend since we got married. One year, I spent only $2. I paid $1 for a book at a church sale, and put a $1 raffle ticket in for a basket of gift certificates and other “men’s stuff.” And I won! Eric received about $50 of things for my $1. That was the greatest. (Oh, wait. Eric spent more than $15 last year, although it was in the budget. He found the perfect item, and it cost a little more, but it was perfect and I was utterly delighted by it.)
Find our more about Living Simply with Children at Amazon.
November 19th, 2004 - “The Garden Of Simplicity” By Duane Elgin
Elgin’s article describes ten types of simplicity. I think they may be useful in my book reviews. Below is the list of names he uses, with a short description of my own. The article describes them more fully, of course.
- Choiceful Simplicity; living mindfully, deliberately
- Commercial Simplicity; buying sustainable products
- Compassionate Simplicity; live simply so others can simply live
- Ecological Simplicity; environment awareness
- Elegant Simplicity; contrasted with commercialism (hard for me to understand this one)
- Frugal Simplicity; cutting back spending, becoming financially independent
- Natural Simplicity; living in the wilderness? Not sure on this one
- Political Simplicity; community and communication towards a more sustainable way of life for the world
- Soulful Simplicity; connecting spiritually to the world
- Uncluttered Simplicity; FlyLady!
November 19th, 2004 - Simply Your Life: A Step-by-Step Guide to Better Living by Odette Pollar
(formerly titled Take Back Your Life)
As a book I read later on (these reviews are not in chronological order of the books being read. Rather, I’m now going over books to return to the library because I’m done with them), this one had little new information so I did not finish it. More along the lines of simplifying the things you do (organization, moving, paperwork, getting things done around the house, than simplifying your life as a whole). Elgin’s Uncluttered Simplicity. I find FlyLady much more fun and interesting (and free!).
Each chapter has some introductory material, things to consider, action steps, and tips. I think it might be a good book for a group to work with, particularly if new to the idea.
Find our more about Simply Your Life at Amazon (under the old name).
November 19th, 2004 - The Plain Reader: Essays on Making a Simple Life edited by Scott Savage
I didn’t like this book, and read very little of it. Two major drawbacks:
- A strong Scriptural reason behind the essays. While I’m Catholic, I do not like being preached to, particularly out of a different religious background. It was much, much to strong for me in this book.
- The editor makes it clear in the forward that he’s a Luddite, to the extreme. I prefer to come at simplicity from the view of critically thinking about technology and which ones to use and to what extent. His attitude was more “It’s all bad.” Most (all?) of the authors were attendees as The Second Luddite Conference (the first being the one in which the original Luddites destroyed looms in England). While my husband likes to say I’m a Luddite, I am quite far from being one.
Now, if you are within either of these persuasions, the book may be perfect for you. But it wasn’t what I was seeking.
Find our more about The Plain Reader at Amazon.
November 19th, 2004 - EarthStar
EarthStar is a website I want to explore more; the couple were featured in the Choosing Simplicity book. … Well, I’ve explored it. They have some interesting articles, but are a bit extreme for me (I’m not interested in biogenics). I am interested in trying their bread recipes.
November 19th, 2004 - Simple Living: One Couple’s Search for a Better Life by Frank Levering and Wanda Urbanska
Another book I loved. This is Wanda and Frank’s story of their move from Hollywood (he was a screenwriter, she a journalist) to the family orchard in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s not a story of tips on how to be frugal or what to do in the new life to spend less money (I like those stories, too). More of a tale of how their inner lives changed as their outer lives did. How they came to love this new life and can’t quite imagine how they managed to live the other one.
Thanks to my friend Jeanne, who had this checked out and checked it back in so I could check it out! (She’s a librarian.)
Find our more about Simple Living: at Amazon.
November 19th, 2004 - Choosing Simplicity by Linda Breen Pierce
Back in the late 80s or early 90s, Linda was just like me–starting to read about voluntary simplicity. And, like me, she wanted to read about real people living these lives. Unlike me, she found very few of them. So she started up The Pierce Simplicity Study, a 3-year study involving surveys and inperson interviews of 211 people who had simpler lives. They ranged from people who had always done it to people who had given up high powered careers. From people homesteading to people living in the city. All kinds of simplicity and all kinds of people. The book is their stories. I love this book.
The Simplicity Resource Guide is her website. She also wrote a second book, Simplicity Lessons: A 12-Step Guide to Living Simply.
Find our more about Choosing Simplicity at Amazon.
November 19th, 2004 - The Joy of Simple Living by Jeff Davidson
subtitled “Over 1500 simple ways to make your life easy and content–at home and at work”
A lot of info…and it’s all tips, one after the other after the other. I was bored after the first few chapters. It’s way too much to read straight through. Might be a good refernce book for “I want to simplify X. How might I do that?” It covers everything–finances, taxes, technology, chores, clutter, paperwork, getting up in the morning, buying groceries, and 1492 other topics.
Big drawback: Recommends lots of things to buy. Definitely not a financial simplicity book (except in those sections). For example, simplifying a party involves stocking up on all sorts of things you might happen to need. How about hosting a popcorn and movie night instead? Organizing your clutter involves buying storage boxes. How about tossing it out?
There is, however, a great list of what fruits and veggies are in season month by month (page 297). I plan to copy this and use it in seeking out cheaper fruits and veggies. I tend to buy bananas and apples and only something else if the price catches my eye as something low. This might also be the book that suggested I don’t have to wash my towels every single week. Never thought of that before!