A New Heartsease...

Create a Fast, Fun, and Frugal Herb Garden!

Instant herb garden! This 7-1/2 gallon galvanized washtub holds six herbs - rosemary, thyme, tarragon, chives, sage, and parsley - still in their original nursery pots - for an instant, no-hassle herb garden!

 

    Need an herb garden fast but don't want to go to the expense and bother of buying pots and potting soil, and re-potting, or planting your herbs out in the garden?

    Perhaps you're entertaining and want to add some instant greenery to a bare patio or balcony?

    Or, maybe you just want a spot of greenery, flowers, or some fresh herbs to cook with.

    Here are a couple of ideas for instant herb gardens that are fast, easy, and frugal. Don't want herbs? Use flowers instead.

    I'll bet you have some unused containers lying around that can be up-scaled into your own instant herb or flower gardens!

 

While round, gallon-size nursery pots (about 18-inches in circumference, 6 1/2- inches across the top, and about 6 to 7-inches tall) work best in my oblong washtub, the chives are in a square pot nestled nicely among the rounds.

 

    I originally purchased my washtub years ago for panning out blacksand from gold prospecting trips.

    Filled with ice and drinks it has functioned as a large ice bucket for beverages when hosting back garden barbecues at the Cottage.

    Here at Heartsease Haven it now holds a cook's selection of favorite herbs. Look for tubs like this at feed and farm supply stores.

    The washtub makes an attractive, waterproof cachepot preventing water from puddling on my wooden balcony deck when I water. Runoff remains in the bottom of the tub evaporating slowly and humidifying the plants. I water the herbs until a little water runs into the bottom of the tub.

    Next year, or the year after that, you may want to plant your nursery-grown herbs into larger pots or into the garden, but for this year create a no-fuss, instant herb garden to enjoy right now.

     An option for keeping your herbs in their nursery pots for several years is at season's end to remove the overgrown herbs from the pots by cutting the roots away by half and trimming the tops likewise. Return the herb to the pot and settle the soil around the roots. Water and you're good for another year, or more. Save and dry the savory trimmings for tea or flavoring your cooking.

    Purchasing herbs in gallon-size pots ensures that you have herbs to use immediately without having to wait for them to grow.

    As the herbs become more lush or at season's end harvest most of the leafy stems and dry them on a wax papered baking sheet or bind with twine and hang to dry. 

    After drying, strip the leaves off the stems and store in jars or tins for use during the winter months. You'll save money on the purchase of expensive store-bought herbs.

    Should you live in a cold-winter area, as I do, your herbs probably won't make it through the winter without protection. Simply buy new ones for another instant garden next year or see Garden Notes below for overwintering your instant herb gardens.

       

    

Here, I've created an instant mint garden using a wine tote from the supermarket. Now, my chocolate mint and spearmint are not only handy but add beauty and dimension to a plain balcony wall. This wine tote holds two, gallon-size nursery pots of mint.

 

    Wine totes from grocery stores are usually free for toting up to six bottles of store-purchased wine. I got my totes from wine-imbibing friends and used them to transport canned pantry items and bottled water when I moved. This week I turned one into a hanging mint garden.

    I prefer the sturdier vinyl totes, rather than those made from fabric. The one in the photo above came from Albertson's Market where my friends shop. Fabric totes may not work as well as or cleanly as vinyl. 

    The vinyl totes are not totally water retentive. They do slow-drip along their bottom seams. However, a slow drip is not problematic. Instead of a puddle of runoff the slow drip simply creates a small stream that runs to the edge of the balcony and off to the ground below.

    After cutting away the fabric compartments inside the tote, I added some Styrofoam packing peanuts to elevate the nursery pots to the same level as the rim of the tote and hung it up on a hook by one of the handles.

   Right now I'm enjoying the whimsy of the bubbles, bottles, and beverage glass designs on the bag. Later, I can spray paint them out or swathe the bag in garden-grade burlap or scrap material from my fabric stash.

    Instant herb or flower gardens add beauty, utility, and dimension to balconies, patios, decks, fire escapes, and porches.  Totes and bags can be hung along fences, off of railings, and stair banisters, too.

    Think "instant gardens", and consider what types of containers you might have on hand to create your own fast, fun, and frugal gardens!

 

Garden Notes: 

      If you do want to try wintering over your instant herb garden simply remove the pots from the tub or container and layer the bottom of the container with two or three layers of bubble wrap, then wrap the sides of the nursery pots in more bubble wrap to insulate the plants and replace them in the container.

    Leave the top of the pots open to the elements to prevent the growth of mold or mulch with straw or pine needles.

    Insulating your pots against the cold simulates a garden environment wherein soil insulates the plant roots from killing cold and thawing and freezing cycles in winter. It is not so much the cold that kills the roots, but the freezing and thawing.

    Wintering over only works for perennial, cold-hardy herbs such as thyme, lovage, chives, sage, tarragon, mint, oregano, burnet, etc.

    If you live in USDA Zone 5 or 6 which is safe for many cold-hardy herbs that grow in the ground, plants in pots will be subjected to Zone 3 or 4 conditions because of cold exposure to the bottom and sides of the pots, therefore the need for insulation.

    Tender herbs such as rosemary, catnip, and marjoram need to be over-wintered indoors near a sunny window. Annual herbs like basil, and biennials such as parsley and dill, may be started from seeds each spring. Parsley and dill produce edible leaves their first year and seed heads their second year.

    A small bottle of store-bought herbs can cost $8, $9, or $10, or more. A pot of herbs costs much less and by harvesting and drying the top growth you can get several bottles worth of herbs to use or gift.

Two Valance Re-Duxes - Lamp Shade and Pillowcase "Dust" Cover

Valances have more uses than simply decorating windows or sitting, un-used, on closet shelves! Think lamps and pillows, too.

    The lampshade on my bedroom reading lamp was stained and a little too contemporary for the Cottage-style look I wanted in that room.

 

Before valance addition, this lampshade had a visible water stain and the style is okay, but rather uninteresting.

 

 

    I used this valance to add interest to a plain window for a few weeks after I moved in but as I decorated my new digs it was replaced and ended up un-used on a closet shelf.

    Hmm...a stained, uninteresting shade and an unused valance...What to do?

   The answer was to put them together to create something new and stylish!

 

    Problem solved! The stain is covered up and the lampshade is now a more fitting addition to the sitting area of my bedroom. An unused valance too pretty to be stored in the closet is used in this cost-free decorating project.

 

I like the effect at night, too.

 

    I cut away the thick cotton rod pocket at the top of the valance to reduce visible bulk on the lampshade. Then, I simply draped the valance around the shade, tucking, cutting, and pinning at the back, as needed for a good fit.

    I also cut into the valance at the top of the shade to accommodate the Spider Fitter (the "spoked" metal part at the top of a lampshade) so that draped fabric wouldn't be in close contact with the light bulb. Snipping the fabric allowed it to lay neatly along the inside of the shade. 

 

By snipping the fabric it now lays along the inside of the shade, not on top of the spider fitter. Safer and tidier.

 

    Another use of unused valances are as dust covers for bed pillows, especially if you prefer a comforter on your bed rather than a bedspread that folds over the pillows.

    The valance-dust covers keep pillowcases free of dust and lint between laundering. Valances will need to be at least 20-inches long (top to bottom) and 58-inches from side to side for a full-size bed, longer for queen and king. Two valances may be sewn together for bigger beds. Or, simply sew fabric to the needed dimensions to cover pillows, keeping the pillowcases dust- and pet hair-free.

 

For Spring and Summer a lace valance even over bedspread-covered pillows still adds a bit of light styling.

 

    I usually prefer an informal style of bed covers for a "Cottage" or "Shabby Chic" look. 

 

In Autumn or Winter I use a valance that adds a warmer, cozier look while still keeping my pillowcases clean so I can "lay me down to sleep" dust and sneeze-free.

    It's fun and creative to come up with ideas to decorate your house and use something you already have in a new, frugal, and re-purposed manner.

 

Final Addition to Faux-Painted "Ship Beam" Mantle Project

 

All done! Did you guess what the last project was? Corbels!

 

    My fireplace had very little dimension or depth. Nice granite surround but little interest. So, I added a fleur de lis for interest, painted the rather mundane mantle to resemble an old ship's beam, and to add more dimension and a traditional look, I added corbels.

    After an on-line "corbel" search of hardware stores I found some I liked on Amazon. They were long enough at 27-inches, not to deep because my mantle is narrow, and not too wide. Perfect!

    The corbels are made from polyurethane and come already primed.

 

    Using black, acrylic stencil paint I added a dark accent in the carved and depressed areas of each corbel. 

 

 

    There's no obvious way to hang these. Screwing them in would be an option, as would gluing them on.

     I'm not good at screwing things in at an angle which would be the needed attachment to adhere the top of the corbels to the underside of the wooden (and hollow, I discovered) mantle. Then, I suppose they'd need to be glued to the granite. Hmm...I could see myself standing around holding the corbels in place while glue or caulk dried. Not!

    Even while simply holding them up or trying to measure (repeatedly) the corbels slipped and slid over the polished tiles.

 

 

    At Walmart, in the sewing-notions department, I found industrial-strength Velcro tabs. I purchased one package of regular thickness squares because when I'd held a corbel up to the bottom of the mantle I discovered there would be a small gap at the back edge of the top part of each corbel.

    There was no gap at the top front edges of the corbels so I also purchased a package of "low-profile" industrial strength Velcro in oval shapes. 

    The Velcro has some powerful adhesive on its two parts so there wouldn't be a lot of time to fiddle about with positioning the corbel onto the granite once the tabs were in place. Thus, careful measuring to center the corbels seemed like a good investment of time.

 

 

    The thicker, heftier Velcro tabs were mounted to fill the small gap due to the underside of the mantle being at a slight angle. The low-profile tab was mounted at the top front of the corbel where there was no gap.

 

 

    I staggered the low-profile Velcro ovals on the back of each corbel and centered one at the bottom tip which is out of the frame of the photo above.

   You can see a couple of spots where I tested my paint and stain techniques on the back of the corbel before beginning to paint. It was wasted effort because the backs of the corbels aren't primed, but are porous instead, so I just had to begin and hope for the best.

 

 

    All done and ready to hang.

    Using a wax pencil, I marked the granite exactly where the corbels were to go - centered on the tiles. The corbels narrow down along their length from top to bottom so I accounted for this in my measuring.

    I measured and marked the top of the corbel from its two sides to the side edges of the tile it was centered on. Then, I measured and marked similarly from the center point of each corbel to the edges of the tile, and last from the bottom sides of the corbel again to the edges of the tile. I drew a vertical line to connect my three dots on each side.

    Now, all I had to do was stick on the corbel within the two tapering lines and it would be on straight. Easier said than done! I had to quickly pull it off a couple of times to get the alignment absolutely correct.

    Still, it wasn't right, and by now the Velcro adhesive had clamped so tightly to the granite it wouldn't let go.

    However, the beauty of Velcro is that its fabric parts were made to pull apart. This allows for small adjustments in the how the fabrics meet. And even if the two tabs aren't perfectly centered the Velcro still holds tightly. So a minor offset where the two fabric portions meet is not an issue. Phew!

    The second corbel went a little easier as I had stronger light from the window by which to see my lines more clearly.

 

 

    You can see at the top/back of the corbel where the gap exists due to a minor tilt of the mantle bottom. Short of removing the mantle there isn't a fix for this. And besides, would an old ship's beam be straight? Not likely.

    I choose to simply see that the gap adds to the overall look of age and the implied provenance of my faux ship's beam mantle.

    Having learned by doing this project, I would suggest using the black Velcro tabs instead of white ones, like I used. Black Velcro will virtually disappear into the gaps. The thicker industrial tabs didn't quite disappear at the top edges. 

    I could have solved this problem two ways. First by buying black tabs, or by mounting the taps closer to the center of the top of the corbel. Too late for that!

    So, I solved the problem by using a knife to shove a piece of black yarn along the side of the Velcro that was visible at the top of the corbel. Problem simply and happily solved! Black cording would also have worked, but I knit so I happened to have yarn. The wee "teeth" of the Velcro hold the yarn from slipping out.

    Then, I made a comforting cup of herbal tea and sat back and admired my totally finished fireplace!

* * *

    Finished and cozy for the Holidays!

NOTES: The fireplace project - fleur de lis stencil, and paint treatment to create the mantle's "ship's beam" styling - cost nothing because between my Mom and I we had all the supplies. 

    The corbels added cost to the project. They were nearly $60 each! With tax and shipping they came to $138 for both. Still, $138 isn't too much to spend to add interest, style, provenance, and dimension to a nice, but previously bland, flat fireplace.

    Although I used basically the same paints, stain, and technique on the corbels as I'd used on mantle, there was a difference in the materials. One being polyurethane, the other being wood, so the surfaces took my techniques differently.

    The result was that the corbels emerged from my faux-painting techniques looking more like stone than the wood look I was initially going for. This bit of "project serendipity" worked as well, or better, than what I'd, in my DIY (do-it-yourself) naivety, had planned.

 

    These paints and the Minwax were used on both the mantle and the corbels (the sponge was not used on the corbels).

    Click on the link below. It will take you to the first post on this project and will list in detail the supplies and techniques used to faux-paint a blah wooden mantle to look like an old ship's beam.

http://heartseasecottage.typepad.com/gails-garden-at-heartsea/2016/11/faux-painted-ship-beam-mantle-project.html

 

 

    

 

Faux-Painted "Ship Beam" Mantle Project

 

The finished "ship's beam" mantle decorated and ready for Christmas.

 

 

    This painting by Frank Vining Smith was the inspiration for my mantle project. I decided I wanted my mantle to look like an old ship's beam weathered by wind and sea, burnt by sun and seasoned with smoke, perhaps adrift in the sea for several years before washing ashore. That was the look I wanted to create!

 

 

    Blue-taped and ready to paint, this is my mantle in its "before" condition. 

 

 

    Plain. Blah. Ho Hum. A closer look reveals the "why" of this project!

    After taping to protect the walls and granite tiles, I cleaned the mantle of grime, dust, and oil. I used Murphy's oil soap for this job and despite the name "oil soap" it cleans without residue or the need to rinse afterward.

    Murphy's is diluted with water at the rate of 1/4-cup to one gallon of water, or 1 TBS per pint.

 

 

    I dry brushed on white Zinsser waterbase primer leaving some of the original wood finish showing through. The primer usually takes about an hour to dry, however, as it was applied thinly, it was dry in about 10 minutes. 

    I wanted some of the original wood finish to show through my various layers of color hoping it would add dimension to my aging techniques.

 

 

    Next, I decided to apply dabs of black, acrylic craft paint - the kind used for stenciling. 

 

 

    To do this, I wet a small sea sponge then squeezed out all the excess water. I expressed even more water by wrapping the sponge in a clean, dry rag and squeezing some more.

    I dipped the sponge in the paint lightly, then "pounced" the sponge on a paper towel to remove a bit more paint. Then I dabbed and swiped here and there over the primer. I wanted to create the impression of knotholes, wood grain, smoke, and dried mold - many of the aspects and color effects of truly aged wood.

 

 

    After the black craft paint dried - about five minutes. I dry brushed on gray chalk paint. This muted the black for a more subtle look and added the look of bleached and aged wood.

    While the chalk paint was still damp I took a serrated "spatula" knife and chipped away some of the paint, then used the serrated side of the knife to scrape through the chalk paint and primer to create the effect of wood grain that was "opened" due to aging and expansion.

 

 

    I use the rounded tip of this knife to gouge chips into the paint for an aged look, then laid the serrated edge along the project and dragged it to create an "open-grain" look.

 

 

    Effects I created with the knife. The project is almost done but there's one more step needed to complete the look.

 

 

    To add depth and soften the paint effects and knife-aging and bring it all together, I rubbed on a thin layer of golden oak stain, immediately wiping most of it off with a second rag. 

    The stain pulled everything together softening and harmonizing the colors and techniques. It also added a feeling of depth that was lacking with only the paint layers.

    Project List:

Painter's tape

Paint brush

Serrated Knife

Small sea sponge

paper towels

rags

Zinsser Bulls Eye brand 1-2-3 Waterbase - Interior & Exterior Primer

Apple Barrel brand Multi-Surface Satin Acrylic Paint - black

DecoArt brand Americana Decor Chalky Finish Acrylic Paint - light gray

Minwax brand Penetrating Stain - Golden Oak

    This project was very frugally done. I borrowed the primer, black acrylic craft paint, and Minwax stain from my Mom. I already had the knife, sea sponges, and chalk paint left from previous projects so nothing was purchased specifically for this project.

    NOTE: The fleur de lis design on the fireplace was stenciled on several months ago - again borrowing my Mom's black craft paint and her fleur de lis stencil. This was done to add a bit of style and interest to the polished granite tiles that surround the firebox. 

    There's one more project I'll be doing in the near future to finish my fireplace redux! Can you guess what it is?

 

 

* * *

 

Cultivating My Inner Garden

I'm getting on. Time to cultivate my own garden.

--Claude Monet

 

    My new "cultivating" place is all I need to have the necessary time and space to cultivate my own inner garden.

     A place to sit, think, read, nap, journal, and ponder. A few potted flowers and herbs... 

    ...to live in harmony with the seasons, to continue embracing simplicity, to live abundantly while yet practicing elective frugality, and savoring frequent moments of grace. 

      If "gardens are a form of autobiography", as Sydney Eddison, of Horticulture magazine (August/September 1993) has stated, then I'm writing a new and adventurous chapter in my own personal autobiography.

 

* * * *

 

   

    

 

 

 

 

 

Saying Goodbye...

I

I'm closing the gate on the Cottage.

    Saying goodbye can be bittersweet. And, although saying goodbye to a place where I've spent 15 years of my life isn't easy, the time has come. 

    The Cottage is a place of abundance and comfort and I hope that new owners will find that and more just as I did. 

    I take with me all I've learned living at the Cottage, my memories, faith, experiences, and more...

    Some of my favorite lessons were outlined in previous posts - Natural Abundance, Elective Frugality, Easy Elegance, Simple Grace, and Living With Chickens.

    I loved growing my own food, preserving it, living in harmony with the Seasons, my gardens, and the surrounding land. I lived what I termed, the Cottage Lifestyle.

    Followers of this blog would often write and ask questions, such as, "I live in an apartment. I can't have chickens. I don't have a garden. How can I live the Cottage Lifestyle?"

    To these and similar questions I would answer that it's not so much about where you live, how much garden you have, or the type or style of home you occupy. The Cottage Lifestyle is a philosophy that you carry in your heart and mind. 

    And now, I get to live my own words! 

    My present circumstances in a newly purchased and lovely condo would be enviable to many people. However, I have very little garden space...a few pots of herbs and flowers, a rhubarb stashed in a found spot in a tiny landscaped patio, tarragon and lovage herbs slipped into a narrow border...

    I'll share a secret with you...I've always had a desire to be a bit of a minimalist, to chuck the majority of my possessions...all the stuff! But minimalism seemed a far reach from where I was to where I wanted to be...

     ...but not where I find myself now in a small two-bedroom condo I share with my Mom whom I've moved to my new locale...in this new place where I live, discover, and create.

    

   Related articles

The Minimalism Game: Decluttering Goes Viral

Influence

Things Learned...Living With Chickens

Things Learned...Simple Grace

Things Learned...Easy Elegance

Things Learned...Elective Frugality

 

A commercial slip cover tailored by me to fit a small love seat, old pillows with handmade covers from scrap fabric create a relaxed, cozy, look. Elective frugality is both stylish, comfortable, and easy on the pocketbook. It can also fun and creative!

    The Cottage is now in escrow. While I still own the Cottage for a few more weeks, my home is now elsewhere.

    I've learned many valuable life lessons living at the Cottage. Elective frugality is one that I take with me into my new life and for the rest of my life.

    Regardless of one's income the concept of Elective Frugality isn't about being cheap or denying life's pleasures, or resenting those who have abundant wealth. It is about learning to differentiate between needs and desires and bringing all one's "wants" into manageable reality. It is about responsible management of assets.

    The basics of Elective Frugality are about getting out of debt and staying out. Being debt-free allows one to live well within his or her economic means and have the cash for needs and reasonable wants. 

    Most economies in tech-industrial cultures are based on creating insatiable, never-ending consumption of goods by getting "consumers" to confuse needs with wants and getting then to be willing to pay unreasonably high, ongoing interest rates for items that marketers want us to see as necessities regardless of need or practicality. Credit card debt makes those that hold our debt very wealthy.

    Billions are spent on advertising campaigns and the psychology of getting us to want (and buy) what someone has to sell whether we need or even really want their products.

    Greed, sex, getting-yours-while-supplies-last, keeping up with others (the "Jones's", whoever they may be), and preying upon common insecurities are just a few of the gimmicks used by marketers.

    Advertisers propagandize and tempt us with their products in every magazine, TV show, billboard, radio show, Internet...even "telemarketing" us in our own homes. Eventually, we start believing all their hype and find ourselves in credit card debt so we can have all those wonderful, "needful" things. We are told that others will look down upon us if we aren't wearing the latest in fad labels.

    Longer work hours and less self- and family-time is the sacrifice we may have to make so we can pay big interest fees for way too much needless stuff.

    Each of us must truly decide for ourselves what is needful and desirable. It won't be the same for everyone.

    We need shelter....affordable shelter is best. Food, good healthy food, is essential. If food items can be gotten cheaper with manufacturers' coupons they're probably not good for your body.

    Utilities - gas, electric, water.

    Clothing - warm clothes for winter, cool items for summer. Once these things are taken care of we need...just a little bit more to add color and delight to life. Too much more goodies and we begin the inexorable plummet into debt.

    We really don't need more belongings than will fit in the closets, cupboards, basements and garages of our homes...things that we never use anymore but somehow cannot part with.

    Paying for storage outside the home, month by month, for an overflow of stuff is money wasted. It's also a waste of stuff sitting idly by when there are others who could use it.

    Who makes money on all those nifty storage systems - boxes, bins, off-property storage units - to house an over-abundance of stuff? Who loses money?

    I don't like being labelled a "consumer" by the marketing powers who are consuming the life's work and energy of the working population. Just who are the consumers of the population's life energy, work, and hard-earned money?

    Stepping out of the rat race into the concept of Elective Frugality will save families, relationships, money, energy, resources, and sanity.

    1. Decide to become debt-free. It may take years but is a process that is worth it. Pay down your highest-interest credit card first by making whatever extra payments you can. Pay off the next and so on. Stop buying things on credit.

    2. Rent what is affordable. Buy a home you can easily afford the mortgage on. Make extra payments so you're not paying twice in interest what the purchase price of the home actually is.

    3. Start saving for a rainy day, a reasonable vacation, and affordable luxuries.

    4. Decide what your moral, ethical, and monetary values truly are...not what advertisers tell you they should be. Whom are we enriching here? Them or ourselves.

    5. Decide what you need as opposed to what you think you want.

    6. Eat real, whole food. If it's manufactured it's enriching someone else while depleting your body. Shop the outer aisles of the market...fruits, veggies, dairy, meats, whole grains. Grow your own if you have garden space. Shop farmers markets. Join the "slow food" movement. Cook. Eat out as an occasional treat.

    7. Purchase clothing on sale, at season's end, check out consignment and thrift shops. Make your own. If you lack sewing skills, learn how. Create your own style! Re-visit the concept of hand-me-downs that are in good condition.

    8. Learn the arts of bartering and swapping. Recycle. Re-use. Re-purpose. Be creative and think outside the "consumer box".

    9. Get real. Be real. Be your own authentic self not what marketers tell you to be, buy, or value.

   10. Allow yourself a little luxury from time to time. Being cheap and stingy is small, mean, and depleting. Being Frugal is freeing. You'll have more money freed up for truly important things, such as free time and economic freedom. Elective Frugality is truly about being FREE.

    11. Have nothing in your home that is neither useful or beautiful.

    12. Don't buy every "cooker" that is marketed for yourself or as a gift to someone else. Pizza cookers, bread makers, counter top "skinny" grillers and hot chocolate makers, etc. simply take up space.

    A stove, oven, frying pan, a small and large-size sauce pot, tea kettle or coffee pot, a paring knife, serrated bread knife, a large chopping knife, sharpeners, spatula, blender, maybe a microwave, and food processor are really all that is needed to cook up great meals. Cookbooks are nice, but any recipe can be found on the Internet.

    Following are a few examples of how I implement Elective Frugality.

    I love scented, expensive soaps. I'm frugal in other areas so I occasionally treat myself to a luxury bar or three for my bath.

    Where I'm staying now I don't have the room or right conditions for a vegetable garden. I do have a pot of fresh herbs growing in a sunny spot to add savor to dishes and to make tasty herbal teas. Just growing something green or a few flowers feeds the senses in authentic, enjoyable ways.

    Instead of growing my own fruit and veggies I now go to the grocery store and a couple times a month I visit the local farmers market. Once or twice a month I go out to dinner or enjoy home delivery. Remember...frugal doesn't mean cheapness or denial.

 

Can't grow it yourself? Farmers' markets offer fresh and an often organic variety of herbs, fruits, veggies, live plants, flowers, bread, eggs, entertainment, and more.

    I have one credit card. I use it to order on line, as needed. However, I never carry a balance from month to month. Instead I pay off any and all charges at month's end. I never pay interest to anyone. Ever.

    I live easily within my means and have no debt. I have time to sit, read, go for a walk. Nor do I belong to an expensive gym or have a trainer. I lift hand weight, walk, hike, a small amount of gardening, and do yoga. There's lots of free ways to get exercise. Got a dog? You have a built in walking companion.

   When escrow closes from the sale of the Cottage - except for closing costs and realtor fees, the money is all mine as I payed off the mortgage years ago.

    My car is an older model that is payed for and kept in good running condition. I keep it clean and waxed so it looks good and I feel good driving it. I have money in the bank.

    Nor have I given up technology. I have a laptop computer, printer-scanner, Kindle, CD player, cellphone - all the technology I need to do everything I need or want to do. I just don't upgrade at every hiccup and burp of the techno-market.

    I don't pay exorbitant fees for cable or satellite TV which means I'm not stuck in ridiculous, binding contracts from these providers. In fact, I don't watch TV and recently sold mine because I was no longer using it.

 

   Technologically speaking, TV's are obsolete. For me, so is watching a lineup of way too many commercials and paying high cable and satellite fees!

    I've discovered that I can watch most shows that I like - Nat Geo, PBS, Discovery, HGTV, Animal Planet, cooking shows, and more on the Internet for free. I also subscribe to Netflix streaming and DVD's for less than $20 a month and see movies, TV shows, and documentaries, and watch it all on the computer. Best of all? Few or no commercials!

    Have you ever counted the number of commercials crammed into most TV shows?

    With my laptop I can watch shows anywhere without a TV taking up space. I can watch from my sofa, my bed, my bath even outside under a tree or on a porch. And my laptop can go with me to Internet cafe's, hotels, and even the Starbucks inside the local Target store! 

    There are many ways to get entertainment for less or for free. Community libraries and bookmobiles lend books, magazines, and DVD's for free. You can download Kindle and Nook books free from many sites...Amazon, Bookbub, and many, many more. Just look up free e-books on-line.

 

 

    Books, DVD's, even Internet access! All for free and bookmobiles come to most rural and small, urban communities.

    Thrift stores are great places to buy recent best sellers that other people have dumped. Ebay and Amazon sell used books for a fraction of the price of buying new. Look for free shipping deals, too. 

    Elective frugality has led me into being somewhat of a minimalist. I didn't intend to become so and I'll probably never be hardcore in my minimalism. By having only what I need, and some truly beautiful items that I enjoy, I spend less time cleaning and dusting and caring for needless stuff. I can also spend my money on quality instead of quantity. 

    The lessons that have come out of Elective Frugality have been life changing. They've led to a realization and   discernment of what is needful and important, and which allows me to decide for myself what is beautiful, useful, and ultimately needful.

    I need less. I want less. I have more money for important, quality items and a few luxuries.

    Another by-product of Elective Frugality is the opportunity to be creative in dress and decor using less money. Instead I've developed a satisfying sense of style that is my own and I've had so much fun doing it.

    What is your interpretation of Elective Frugality?

    How will you choose to express it?

    You can do this and you can do it any way you want to!

 

 

 

 

 

    

    

    

 

    

    

    

    

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Things Learned...Natural Abundance

Over the pantry door is a word that inspired the 15 years I lived at the Cottage.

    To successfully embrace simplicity I've practiced what I like to call a four-prong approach consisting of Natural Abundance, Elective Frugality, Easy Elegance, and Simple Grace.  I'll start with Natural Abundance.

    For me Natural Abundance was always fresh, free-range eggs from my own backyard chickens. 

 

   Fresh eggs from my Chicken Girls!

    Natural Abundance was also homegrown, organic fruit and veggies.

    The Cottage's gardens produce apples, blackberries, raspberries, mulberries, elderberries, plums, Nanking cherries, gooseberries, rhubarb, and currants. Peach and pear trees were planted that will someday yield their own succulent fruits.

 

Autumn's apple harvest of McIntosh and Rome Beauty apples.

    Cold-stored apples last nearly all Winter for fresh eating. I also canned applesauce, apple juice, and sliced apples for pies.

    I experimented with homemade cider and apple wine. Dehydrated apple sliced seasoned with nutmeg and cinnamon made for healthy, tasty snacks. 

 

Ripe Nanking cherries.

 

Blackberry-Apple Cake became an anticipated Autumn dessert made from homegrown fruit.

 

    Fresh herbs for culinary and medicinal use are grown in the Cottage's gardens.

    Some of my favorites to flavor foods are sage, French sorrel, chives, thyme, tarragon, parsley, oregano, mints, lovage, lavender, and dill.

    For medicinal purposes the gardens produced motherwort, horehound, St. John's wort, hyssop, nettle, comfrey, and yarrow.

 

A Midsummer's morning harvest of yarrow, lavender, motherwort, mints, and oregano.

    A simple, but welcome hostess gift is a pint or quart canning jar filled with clear, fresh water containing an arrangement of herbs just plucked from the garden.

 

Simple but lovely, a bouquet of edible herbs including chive flowers and rue blossoms.

 

Chives and French sorrel are favored herbs for cooking.

 

A tisane, or tea, made from the herb garden refreshes. When dried, herbal blends make nice gifts.

    Flowers for food, fragrance and to delight the senses filled the Summer gardens at the Cottage.

    Much that the Cottage gardens produced in the way of food, herbs, and flowers make great gifts either fresh or dried.

     

The beginnings of a bouquet!

    Flowers! The Cottage's gardens produced all types of lovely annual and perennial flowers. Flowers for beauty, scent, bouquets, and yes, even edible flowers, too.

 

This bouquet is made from garden and native plants growing at the Cottage.

 

A few of the edible flowers and blossoms from the Cottage's gardens are flax, nasturtiums, thyme, chives, sage, violas, and bachelor's buttons. 

    While one's own chickens, homegrown fruits and veggies, herbs, and flowers aren't necessities for living a life of Natural Abundance, they comprised things that I enjoyed while living at the Cottage.

    A naturally abundant life is comprised of simple pleasures that nourish the five senses. Rarely, do these things need to be complex or expensive.

    Wherever I find myself I plan to enjoy those things that feed my senses.

    A picnic or backyard barbecue with friends; an afternoon's cup of herbal tea on the front porch; a good book enjoyed under a tree, a cat on one's lap; taking the dog for a walk; watching the sun set or rise; sliding into crisp, clean sheets after a bubble bath; a stroll through the garden or farmer's market; an evenings walk after dinner...these are natural, sense-nourishing things  that make for a naturally abundant life and can be enjoyed whether one lives in the country, town, or city. 

    One's own gardens aren't necessary either. Public parks and gardens, arboretums, enjoying the yards and gardens, pots and window boxes of neighbors feed the yearning for natural beauty, too. 

    Now that the Cottage is up for sale, I'm finding new ways to practice Natural Abundance in my new home...sitting on the deck and listening to the chatter of squirrels, a walk along the lake, foraging for morels and potpourri materials, listening to the wind sough through the trees around the house, watching Spring's new growth emerge from the soil of the place in which I now find myself.

    I'm experimenting with the simple pleasures and Natural Abundance in this new locale that is now my home.

    Wherever one find's oneself, there are ways and means to enjoy simple, natural pleasures, to live a life of Natural Abundance and joy.

    * * * *

Something as simple as late afternoon sunlight shimmering through leaves can nourish the senses in a joyful and satisfying manner.

    

 

    

 

 

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Moving On...The Gardens

The farmer's field across the road seemed a visual extension of my own front gardens.

 

Front Garden in Spring.

 

South Front Garden in Summer.

    My goal - one of them - when living and growing myself at the Cottage was to experiment with raising most of my own food and herbal medicines.

    The food I grew consisted of fruits, vegetables, and eggs from my own Chicken Girls. Herbs were both flavoring and pharmacy.

     A typical late Summer/Autumn afternoon's harvest. Freezing, dehydrating, cold-storage, and canning were the means used to preserve foods for Winter use.

 

Canning is an enjoyable pastime that results in good things to eat all year long.

 

Un-waxed and organic, my homegrown apples were crisp and delicious and made the best canned juice ever!.

    The Kitchen Garden was the main food production area. A large raised bed, asparagus bed, strawberry bed, herb garden, and two moderate soil plots were all I needed to grow 80 percent of my food needs. 

 

Best for juice, jam, syrup, and cordial, Nanking cherries taste just like canned pie cherries.

    Berry plants thrived around the Cottage.. I harvested elderberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, currants, Nanking cherries, and strawberries.

    Four apple trees - three old enough to produce - plums, pear, mulberry, and a peach tree are also planted on the property.

    Grape vines - both red and white types - provided juice for wine, juice, and jelly.

 

These girls are curious about the grape harvest.

    Ahhh....the chickens! I came to love the sight and sound of the Girls as they pecked and scratched for bugs, and ate kitchen scraps and weeds. Their eggs, so fresh and tasty, were a welcome addition to meals.

 

Chickens can be quite tame! The Little Red Hen liked to sit on my lap.

 

 One Spring I raised my chickens from wee, fluffy "peeps"!

 

 These girls have untied my shoes and are very curious about the  shoelaces.

 

The Girls cluster behind the gate hoping I'll let them into the Kitchen Garden for a snack.

 

The Back Garden was a lovely place to sit, think, journal, read, and watch the chickens.

 

 

The Orchard Garden is a nice spot to sit, gather apples, plums, rhubarb and dill. A small peach tree awaits maturity and fruit-bearing.

Welcome to the Kitchen Garden!

 

This raised bed in the Kitchen Garden has since been replaced by a sturdy cinder block raised bed.

 

All the raised beds in the Kitchen garden have been replaced with cinder blocks.

 

A basket of lavender and lemon balm, just a few of the herbs growing in the Cottage's gardens.

 

A Summer morning's harvest of herbs for food and medicine.

 

Purple dame's rocket in bloom in the Kitchen Garden.

 

    The Cottage's gardens provided well for me. Beauty, scent, food, flowers, herbs.

    I'm often asked, "Is it hard for you to leave your lovely Cottage and its gardens?"

    To this I say that life is lived in phases and cycles. A wise person knows when it's time to move on...to close one cycle and step into another. For me, that time has come as I begin new adventures.

    We never lose what we've learned. We carry our knowledge, memories, and loves in our hearts forever.

    Each new cycle brings new learning, adventures, and passions. Nothing is lost. We are the containers of all we've done and there's room yet for all that we will do.

 

* * * * 

 

 

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Cottage Unique - Charming and Architectural Details!

Cottage Unique - Charming and Architectural Details!

    My Folk Victorian, century-old Cottage, built sometime between 1895 and 1912 - and now for sale -   has many interesting and unique architectural features. Some of these features have been restored. Others have been left for enjoyment of their vintage, weathered look.

 

Upstairs in the remolded attic are three original eyebrow windows. The wood above the windows is aromatic cedar which gently perfumes the attic on warm days.

 

The front door contains an oval, beveled glass pane with a working transom above. 

 

 

Weathered acanthus leaf detail on the back door adds Old World grace.

 

The original claw foot tub proves fascinating to my cat karma. I like a "shabby chic" look so I've left the small shelf as is.

 

This old knob is on the original back door which now leads into an added on laundry room. I love the "rust-chic" patina of age and the slightly Art Deco look of the escutcheon.

 

The acanthus leaf detail on the front door still wears some of its gold gilding because its protected by the front porch roof and a wrought iron storm door. 

 

Both the east and south gables are topped with tin and copper eave crestings. 

    All the Cottage's windows have been replaced with brand new Simonton white vinyl, double-hung (downstairs) and casement windows (upstairs) which have a lifetime guarantee for both the present owner (me), and whomever the next owner will be. The windows are double-paned with argon gas between for maximum heat and cold control.

    A new energy-efficient furnace was installed in the cellar several years ago. The Cottage has also been rewired with all new electric, upstairs and downstairs. Porch lighting and outside electrical outlets have been added, as well.

    Other interesting wood details are part of the Cottage.

 

Back door flower detail.

 

  Egg and dart molding details above doors and windows inside the Cottage.

 

 This style knob is found on most of the inner and outer doors of the Cottage.

 

Last summer new cement steps were poured and handrails added.

    The wrap-around front porch is a wonderful spot to sip a cup of tea on a cool summer morning or enjoy an iced beverage on a sultry afternoon.

    There are other interesting details that are part of the Cottage, too. Some simply have to be discovered for oneself!

 

 

 

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