enough!

A funny thing happened this month since declaring a No Buy July. Nothing came in, but a lot went (and is still going) out!

I suppose being more careful not to bring in unnecessary items caused me to start looking around more carefully at what was already in my home. Last year around this time, I read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (I highly recommend it!) and followed her direction which resulted in a much less cluttered home and a decent credit on my income taxes from the donations so I was a little surprised how easy it was to fill the back of my Jeep again this month. Some items were ones I'd set aside previously to try and sell, but didn't have any luck with... I didn't try all that hard. lol  No more waiting! Out they went.

Happily, all kitchen-related items now fit easily in my kitchen cabinets aside from my dehydrator that is simply too big to fit into any of my cabinets. No more basement overflow! I even moved the holiday plates I keep an eye out for throughout the year (secondhand of course!) to use for cookie plates for friends/neighbors at Christmas to a newly-emptied cabinet. That will make it quick to check to see if I need more or not. So far, I've gone through my kitchen and also shredded old paperwork, keeping only what's absolutely necessary.

This time around, I'm not following the konmari order, but I am sorting all of each category at one time. I also did a major overhaul if my yarn stash. It feels good to let go! It's interesting though how or minds adjust to the new level of stuff in our lives and suddenly what once felt like an acceptable amount is now too much. Enough is a constantly shifting goal. 😊

seeking personal independence

Happy 4th of July, everyone! I hope you all have a fun and safe holiday! For my non-US residents reading this, happy Monday! ;-)

If you've been here long, you know I love challenging myself and this month is no different. Along with my yearlong goals, I decided to up the ante this month with a:

Well, not entirely NO buy. I'll still be buying necessities like food (it's cherry season!) and gas and Reilly is getting his teeth cleaned in a couple weeks (totally counts as necessity in my book) which won't be cheap, but outside of that and regular monthly bills, there shall be no spending! Not only will I be paying a significant amount to the vet (health is always more important than money!), but I'm still saving for a few home repairs (ugh, always) and my budget needs a tune up. We're now halfway through the year. (How did that happen?!) It's a good time to reexamine that budget and be sure I'm still on track to getting where I want to be. Where do I want to be? I want more freedom! Good time of year to take a closer look at this, being the month the US celebrates our independence! I'll be busier with work too so why not take full advantage of that extra income by socking away as much as possible? :-)

This means no thrift store browsing this month! I've been finding plenty of secondhand clothing to repurpose and have a stack to work with. Any crafting time I carve out certainly won't be lacking in supplies. I'm still planning a trip or two to my favorite thrift store, but only for dropping off donations. ;-) Time to clear out the few items that made it to the basement the past year. I have an urge to clean out cabinets and closets as well, to cull the extraneous and no longer loved. Funny how not bringing things in gives me an urge to move things out. lol I'm hoping to make some real progress this month! My first goal is earning enough at my second job to cover Reilly's upcoming vet visit. :-)

Totally worth it. :-)

June craftiness

Are you looking for yarny crafts? Move along, nothing to see here...

This lazy guy? He turned 14 this month. Happy birthday, Xander!

Seriously, I don't think I've even touched any yarn this month. I have been sewing though and made another fun project bag using a thrifted skirt and man's shirt. No before pic on this one. You'll have to use your imagination. ;-)

There was plenty more sewing in June, but first, how about a little craftiness in the kitchen?

My black raspberry plants have been producing  an incredible amount of berries! I even got to pick most of them myself. I had some furry helpers after a few days. ;-)

One day's bounty!

Combined with some overripe organic nectarines.

The BEST cobbler I've ever made!

With the help in picking (and eating), it took me a few days, but I finally have enough for another cobbler. I hope the yellow raspberry canes I planted this year do as well as these in year two!


Early in June, we got a short heat wave. Gus handles heat about as well as I do so I tried my hand at some remedies without having to crank the a/c. First, I tried a damp washcloth. That worked pretty well, but we needed something for walks once it really heats up.

I picked up a package of SoilMoist from my local feed & seed store and got to work with my sewing machine. =) I'd seen plenty of neck coolers for people, why not for dogs?

I tried out the standard collar type first.Then ventured out with a bib style that would provide more surface contact. After searching, I saw some commercial ones of this style, but even using barely any crystals in mine, it still seemed too heavy for my little guy. A bigger dog would likely do very well with this style though. I'll stick with the collars for Gus. I always bring cold water on our walks (in a doggie-friendly water bottle of course) and he gets multiple opportunities to cool off, but I'm hoping these will make him more comfortable. He loves his walks so much, I'd hate to have to keep him in when it heats up.

These are super simple to make! When I make some more, I'll take some pictures for a quick tutorial if anyone is interested in making some for their own furry kids. Just let me know in the comments and I'll write one up. =) I keep a couple in a container with water in the fridge so they're ready to go when needed. DO NOT leave these on your dog unattended. The crystals, if ingested, can cause problems and no one wants that!

That wasn't all my sewing though! I pulled another shirt and skirt (in this case two skirts) combo from my thrifted clothing and got to work on a new library tote.

The white cotton skirt was originally cut and sewn on the bias. This was my first project with such a light bias cut fabric and boy is there a learning curve! I figured it out though and I LOVE the result!

What else has come off my sewing table this month? Another baby gift! The first was so fun (the pink/purple one I shared last month), I headed back to the stash for some greys and yellows and made a second:

This time, I used a solid piece for the back since I wasn't using pre-cut strips. I liked the grey/yellow combo so much...

I made a wall hanging for my little dinette. =) I'll likely make a couple of place mats to match.

That wasn't all my sewing though! With the heat upon us, Gus wasn't the only one getting hot on walks. Ashley Nickels also has the Sew a Reversible Sun Hat class on creativebug. Both the bib class and this one come with printable patterns. I dug around in the stash and found a couple of fabrics I wanted to use and got to work on my first ever fabric hat:

Cutting was easy, the piecing together of curves less so. LOL With a bit more practice, that'll get easier. I already want to make another!

I LOVE it!! I usually wear it reversed to the lighter side so it reflects more of the sun, but I wear it almost every morning on our walks so it's getting a ton of use. Works great for keeping the sun (and sweat) out of my eyes and so far it's washing up nicely. I just wash and hang it on my clothesline to dry, giving the brim a quick press to smooth things back out before putting it back to use the next morning.

So that's it for this month. Until next month, craft what makes you happy!

May craftiness

Another month has passed and the poncho that will not end is still... unfinished. I had high hopes, but I swear this thing is shrinking.

Plus, I didn't work on it much. ;-) Most of the finished objects for this pattern on Ravelry have been knit with 21-22 repeats of the pattern. The above has 21 completed repeats and even stretched, it's a good 10" from being long enough! This is why I don't knit sweaters often - they take forever! I do love how the two yarns are playing off each other and I know once finished and has had a nice bath and tumble in the dryer, it will be lovely and soft, but I have to admit... I am fighting the urge to frog this thing! I'm wondering if this yarn might be better in a different project. We'll see...

With the poncho on ice, I have started another knitting project that I can actually see progress on:

Socks! I looked and it's been a year and a half since I finished a pair of fingering weight socks. It's about time for another pair, yes? I'm not working on them often, but I can at least see some progress. ;-)

With my knitting mojo waning, I turned from the knitting needles to the sharper needle of my sewing machine. Now here, I can definitely see real progress! I started with a little something destined to be gifted to a little someone:

Over Mother's Day weekend, Amazon offered a deal for a full year of access to Creativebug classes for $25. I've taken classes from Craftsy, CreativeLive and other sites, but had been curious about Creativebug. I haven't been disappointed! I followed along with the videos (and printed pattern) and created this adorable bib. The first was so much fun, I've now made a second, but you'll see that in my June update along with more sewing from a different Creativebug class. :-)

Not too impressive for an entire month, huh? This is why it's a hobby. I do what and how much I want, when I want. No pressure. I do seem to be on a sewing kick now though so next month's post may have lots of fun stuff!

Until then, craft what makes you happy! I know I will. :-)

a vegan egg??

So, awhile ago I picked up a package of Follow Your Heart's Vegan Egg from my local co-op. I've been mostly sticking to minimally processed foods in an effort to avoid anything that results in trash and clean up my diet in the process. I've been doing pretty well, but I really wanted to try this out so I finally caved and bought one.

 

The outside of the package is easily recyclable, but inside, the powdered product is packaged in a plastic bag (of course). I have been making tofu scrambles for years and have been happy with the results, but I'd heard good things about this new(ish) product and my curiously got the better of me. I finally tried the Vegan Egg out this morning, making up a scrambled "egg" to go along with my hash browns and cantaloupe. Was it worth the plastic I'll now have to toss? Sadly, no. Let's be honest, it would have to be pretty darn amazing to be worth the plastic, but anyway...

First, this product is far from cheap. Beyond the high price however is the product itself. Sure, it's plant-based and cholesterol free, but how does it taste? The cooking time is much longer than my usual scramble (seriously, it seemed to take forever!) and the resulting "egg" was rather disappointing. The texture is a bit odd, the flavor is bland - I only added minimal seasoning as I didn't want to add much to cover up the taste of the actual product. Granted, it's been quite awhile since I've had chicken eggs, but I do know, I won't be buying this again. Curiosity satisfied, it's back to bulk bin shopping and no trash for me. :-)

As more and more of the population adopts a plant-based diet, food scientists have been working hard to develop vegan replacements for those animal-based favorites. One can purchase vegan burgers and hot dogs, ice cream, cheeses and just about anything else you might desire. Often though, the simple alternatives are the best in both flavor and nutrition. I make a yummy vegan mac and cheese from scratch and my black bean burgers rock! But I'm also more than happy making foods less familiar to me.

So, you may wonder... Is tofu scramble just like scrambled eggs? Nope, I'm not gonna lie, but it makes me happy in more ways than one. By shopping from the bulk section (my co-op carries bulk tofu!), I avoid the trash and it doesn't require any chicken servitude. Yes, there are less inhumane sources of eggs (stick with free-range, local eggs if you must!), but hens do age and stop laying. Then what? Not many people will keep old hens who are no longer "earning their keep" until they pass naturally. We all know where they eventually end up... the same place as non-productive milk cows. :-( And what becomes of the majority of the roosters hatched? It's not just the hens I'm concerned about. I decided to stop eating meat when I was around 11 or 12, but I still consumed plenty of dairy and eggs. Was my environmental impact lessened in comparison to my meat-eating days? Absolutely! Every positive change is worth making even if we aren't yet ready to go all the way! These days, I have a much better understanding of the egg and dairy industries, so it's all plant-based for me. :-)

There are tons of tofu scramble recipes out there - just do a quick Google search and you'll find more than you'd ever have time to try. Here's the one I found years ago and still enjoy using. Most of this guy's YouTube videos are mechanical or musical in nature, but this is a great, basic tofu scramble recipe (seasoned with a sprinkling of humor):

If you aren't already eating a plant-based diet, be adventurous and try some vegan alternatives to your old favorites. You just might be pleasantly surprised! :-)

The Great British Sewing Bee is back!

This is one of my favorite shows! Season 4 is showing now on BBC2, but if, like me, you're in the US and don't have access, head over to YouTube to catch up with this season. :-)

Here are links to the first episodes:

Episode 1 - Basic construction

Episode 2 - Children's week

Episode 3 - Lingerie week

"I'm built for comfort, not speed."

No backstabbing or snarkiness, just lots of good stitchy fun. :-)

homemade vegan mozzarella!

So what's a girl to do when she wants some cheesy goodness without dairy and also avoiding the plastic waste from packaged vegan cheese? Make her own, of course! Added bonus of course is there's no extra additives either. =)

I tried a vegan cream cheese once. It didn't go well. This time, I decided to try a mozzarella-like cheese and used the recipe here: vegan mozzarella!

It got even stretchier when it cooled a bit. I poured the leftovers into a glass dish and popped it into the fridge. While it did firm up more once cooled, it wasn't firm enough to slice or shred, but it did make a yummy grilled cheese!

Next time, I'll probably remelt the cheese before putting it on the bread to get more even coverage and be sure it is completely melted. Still, yummy. =) I'll have to try this recipe out on a pizza soon!

I can't vouch for how it would do in a microwave since I don't own one.