His and Hers

I love the layout of my kitchen--a nice big pantry, no corner cabinets, and good counter space.  From the time we moved in, I set up the area to the left of the stove as my baking area, and to the right of the stove is the cooking area.  With my husband and my various food issues, it has now evolved into his area to the left and mine to the right.  Functionally it still works as the baking and cooking areas, but the baking along with a few cooking tasks are not allowed to stray to cooking area.  

His side:

My side:

We had to take down the shelf in the lower cabinet, so the wire ones are filling in.  I use the glass baking dishes for roasting my sweet potatoes and winter squashes, so they get constant use and needed to be easy for me to access.

The three small skillets on the shelf get used everyday, so I wanted them easy to reach as well.  

To differentiate on the utensils, the white ones go on his side.

 And the colorful ones go on my side.  A quilter has to have the color, you know.

Lots of vegetable shopping means I need good knives.  I found this knife rack at Target and have loved it.

 His, hers, and they all lived happily ever after.

Taking Stock

Next up on the "organized home tour":  the Pantry


There are a lot of beautiful pantries out there in Organized Land.  Matching containers, nifty labels, and stylish spaces abound.  My pantry is all about function.  I want it orderly and clean-- items easy to find and easy to reach.  When I make out my grocery list, I want to see quickly what needs to be restocked.  Clear containers are a must.  Baskets must be sturdy and easy to clean.  Pretty?  Meh.  Hard-working and well-stocked?  Oh, yeah.  


Here's the tour:

Organizational Style

Back when I was fulfilling the parental requirement of one year of college before I could get married, I had to take a situational ethics class.  One of our class exercises was to say whether we would want a neat house or a clean house.  Much to the annoyance of my teacher, I insisted on both.  Now, having a few years of adult life under my belt, I would say a neat house, because a neat house is easier to keep clean--and I still come away with both accomplished.
:-)
  
Having children, and especially home schooling, made me realize the necessity of organizing to keep myself sane.  And now there are so many resources for organizing--from blogs to IKEA--that my little organizing heart is can easily find solutions for any need.
  
As I have been reading links to different organizing blogs, I have seen that there is organizing, and what I will call prettyfying.  Now, it is my belief that bringing together function and beauty is the ideal combination, but blog reading has shown me that sometimes making a space pretty can actually make it less functional.  And for me, organizing is all about the function.  In fact, if a space is functioning well, sometimes the prettyfying can fall down on my to-do list for a good while.


Since there have been a slate of "see my organized room" posts around, I thought I would do a few of my own.  


First up:  the Laundry Room


I have a little laundry room.  

When working with a small room, it is important to make all the space count.  There is probably only a half inch of space between the laundry room door and the dryer door when it is open.  

I found a small clothes rack at Target, and because it is metal, it has held up so much better than the wooden ones.

 Ahhh, elfa...my favorite.  Cleaning supplies are "grab quick" ready in the top basket, with supplies that are too tall for my cabinets in the bottom basket.  

 All the other laundry/household necessities are in the cabinets.  Baskets help keep smaller items contained

And, of course, a quilt.  I only have two for this space right now (summer and fall), with plans to have at least one for each season.  Since the fall quilt is my favorite of the two, it stays up most of the year.


It is functional, it is neat, and it has a little bit of pretty in there.  Works for me. :-)  
  

Blessings

Spring is here!  What a blessing the winter rains have been after the awful heat and dryness of last year.  We are still behind in our rainfall, but the winter rains have been wonderful.  Everything looks so green and healthy.  Everyone is raving about the beautiful wildflowers.  Our crepe myrtles look the best they ever have, and the cherry sage bloomed like crazy.  The honey bees are busy, busy.  I'm so glad to see them back again.  

May you flourish this springtime as well!  Blessings!

Organic vs. Conventional

While I didn't head down the organic path kicking and screaming, it was with a hefty amount of skepticism.  There have been so many "health" trends come and go, I pretty much ignore whatever is the latest and greatest health "discovery" these days.  And I know that the term "organic" is thrown around rather loosely.  So why do I buy organic?


Just because a product was grown organically doesn't mean it is chemical free.  It should mean, though, that the chemicals used are naturally, rather than synthetically, based.  Consequently they should work more in line with the plants natural processes.  Also, the theory behind growing organic is to use fewer chemical rather than more, thus exposing us to fewer chemicals.  In principle, organic should mean working with nature to make nature flourish, which I believe is central to the way God created things to work.  So, on that basis, I support the movement toward growing food organically.  


That being said, buying organic is not always practical or affordable, so this past year I have been working through balancing the organic and the conventional.  Here is where I have landed:


If what I am buying cannot be peeled, I try to buy organic as much as possible.  This means all my greens; flours, grains, and cereals for my husband; and canned products.  Whatever fresh produce I can, I buy at my local farmers' market.  


If it is something I can peel, I buy organic when I can, but will go conventional if the organic doesn't look good or isn't available.


If it is a root crop (potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes), I buy conventional.  The exception to that being carrots because the ones at my local farmers' market taste so much better than what I get at the store. I also have found that organic dried fruit tends to spoil much more quickly than conventional, so I generally buy conventional.  


Beef I buy from a local ranch, eggs I get at the farmers' market, and chicken I still buy conventionally because I only like thighs, and I haven't found a practical way to go local or organic there. 


I would say that, overall, my diet is about 60/40 to 70/30 organic to conventional, and I am satisfied with that.  My plan for the coming year is to just keep a steady course, and after that, we shall see.  

The Two Year Mark

This month it is two years since the beginning of my big diet adventure.  How I eat and what I eat are so completely different from before.  I have lost 30 pounds (which makes it way more fun to shop for clothes), and my overall health and energy are so much better.  It has been a rather expensive process, as well, but not more so than trying to manage the issues with medications.  


To make sure I keep my various foods in balance, I have a pretty strict diet rotation.  What I lose in flexibility, I make up for with ease of planning.  Here is my current food list:


Proteins:  Beef, chicken, eggs, and goat's milk kefir


Starches:  Potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and acorn squash


Greens:  Chard, kale, spinach, romaine, and bibb lettuce


Veggies:  Broccoli, asparagus, green beans, carrots, onions, and bell pepper


Fruits:  Apple, pears, nectarines (summer), canned peaches (winter), plums (summer), frozen blueberries (being tested), and golden raisins


Sugars:  Maple syrup and honey


Misc.:  Coconut milk, canola oil, sea salt (non-iodized), most herbs and spices, vanilla (homemade), arrowroot starch, cocoa powder, and unsweetened baking chocolate


Snacks:  Pumpkin custard and chocolate pudding


While it is limited, there is still enough variety that my meals aren't boring.  There are things I miss, but only now and then.  Though I still hope to be able to add foods back over time, if that is not the case, I am content with things as they are.  It is really a small price to pay to feel so much better.


Things I am so thankful to have had in this journey:  the internet; my local farmer's market; the local ranch where I get my beef; Sprouts, Whole Foods, and my local grocery store; and most of all, my dear husband for his encouragement and patience in the ups and downs of this process.  


This journey has also led me into the world of the organic.  At this point, I am now evaluating where buying organic is worth the money to me and where it is not, but more on that thought in the next post.  


  

Declaring Victory

The Challenge:


A group quilt project, meaning block sizes will not be consistent.


A difficult pattern--odd shapes, biased edges.


The Goal:


Put all the blocks together to make the top.


This was definitely a stretching project for my whole quilting group.  The blocks themselves were not only difficult, but the pattern was created where the blocks joined each other so all the pieces had to go together just so.  The first step was sewing strips together, and, as with any group quilt, there is going to be various seam widths, creating different sized units. My job was to mark the stripped units for cutting the actual pattern pieces which were kite-shaped.  I then supervised the placing of the pieces for the blocks so the pattern would come together.  Once the blocks and edge units were made, I volunteered to put the top together.  Could I make it happen?

I named this project Match Point--both in the sense of a game as well as trying to actually get the points to match.  It was definitely back and forth, but for the most part it went together pretty well. 


A miss 

A hit.

Success.