Look at this lovely base, all cafe-au-lait brown with those playful yet sophisticated space age swirls.
I had gone to a local thrift shop to drop off some goods and spotted it from afar…as I closed in, another woman picked it up and gave it a lengthy inspection…then returned it to the shelf! Mine. Mine. Mine.
The shade is standard and boring but for the time being suits it better than anything else I can come up with.
Stopped by the Salvation Army thrift store in town and picked up 2 little things: a very small pottery bud vase in browns for $.59 and a mosaic tiled dish in lovely light greens for $.49 reminiscent of one my parents had.
I recall being fascinated by the tiny square tiles. Ours was far better made, with a metal lip, but eventually the tiles loosened and I think it didn’t make the move from my childhood home.
To be honest, I try to avoid bringing home stuff whose purpose is merely to sit around. The 2011 goal of minimalism is impeded by such treasures 
While visiting my brother to fetch a wee telephone table for my daughter to use as a netbook desk, I stopped in at a Mennonite Relief thrift shop in Waterloo and came home with this lamp shade.
It’s in great shape but I don’t have a base yet for it. I’m hoping to find some cheap tacky rubbed brass look lamp with a good shape, spray it silver and place it in my grey back room as a punch of colour.
These are moist and last well. Great for school lunches, and so fast to prepare you can make them in the morning.
Orange and choc chip muffins
This photo shows a variation of the above recipe, using 1/4 cup marmalade and 1/4 brown sugar (instead of 1/2 cup brown sugar) 2 tbsps frozen orange juice (thawed but undiluted) and 1/2 cup chocolate chips (instead of the white choc chips)
I use a steam mop and love it, but would like more cloths for the head, as I have a few old towels and t-shirts saved expressly for such purposes, so looked into making some at home.
Loads of patterns and ideas like the one above - mostly for swiffers but all adaptable to steam mops – can be found here.
I just used a cloth from the dollar store when I had a swiffer wet jet (and I refilled the bottles with vinegar and water) but prefer my steam mop.
So today I cut out three layers of old washcloths and sweatshirts, using the original cloth as a template. I sewed them together and put strips of velcro along the underside, just like on the original. When my camera batteries recharge, I’ll post a pic!
Often people get rid of faded black clothing, preferring a sharper, newer looking, solid black colour. If the clothing is otherwise in good shape, consider redying it black.
e-How ‘s guide to dying black items.
Home baked bread is wonderful, cost efficient but MESSY to make. So I was very excited to find out about “5 minute bread.” No kneading, no mess!
This is a very helpful step by step with pics guide.
So I tried it out. Yesterday I made the dough.
An old tupperware storage container is what I'll use for now, til I come up with a non-plastic container of suitable size that I can seal tightly.
water, yeast and salt added
Mixing in the flour to make loose, wet, sticky dough
risen dough in the fridge
The mixing tool of choice is apparently a Danish dough whisk.
Today I took a grapefruit sized ball of dough out and shaped it following the instructions, and let it rest for 40 mins or so. Then into the oven for 30 mins.
The results:
resting dough
baking on parchment paper as they advise (which stuck, so I'll be using flour or cornmeal in the future)
the finished bread!
This is a great recipe, and I will be sticking to it, but reducing the salt a little for my next batch. I think I’ll be getting 4 to 5 loaves out of each batch. I’m happy!
You know how the ends of a brick of cheddar get hard and dark if exposed to air? Or how when you put out a tray of cheese, the leftover bits are greasy and unappealing?
I save them all in a container I keep in my freezer door, and when there’s enough, I bake this cheese bread. Ordinarily, it would be a fairly costly bread, but since I make it with cheese that would have been otherwise tossed (and thus is “free”), it’s quite thrifty!
Here’s the recipe.
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour 2 loaf pans.
Step 2: Chop 1 onion and saute in 3 tbsp of butter or bacon fat til lightly browned.
Step 3: Chop cheese finely (the size of corn kernels.)
Step 4: Mix 5 cups flour, 1 cup oatmeal, 2 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp baking powder, 1/2 tbsp salt, 2 tbsp oregano, 1 tbsp mustard, 3 cups cheese in large bowl.
Step 4: Add sauted onions, 3 cups milk and 2 eggs to dry ingredients, and mix just til flour is absorbed.
Step 5: Spoon into loaf pans and bake 45 mins.
I play with this recipe and change the ingredients somewhat, adding sun dried tomatoes or black olives, or using all flour and no oatmeal. It’s fairly forgiving as long as you keep the basic proportions correct.
Umbrellas are a bit like goldfish. They enter our lives but briefly.
It always bothered me to toss the entire works when just the hinge of a spine was broken, but I didn’t know what else to do with it. So I googled.
If the stretcher’s hingey bit has broken, try mending it with a bit of wire.
Taryn Zychal makes cool dog raincoats from umbrella fabric. You can donate yours to her.
After some thought, I found a use for my dead umbrella’s fabric.
The handles on some of my shopping bags had been damaged by the dog chewing on them, and they were uncomfortable sweat-inducing handles to start with. I wrapped electrical tape around the rough spots, then wound bias-cut lengths of the stretchy fabric from the umbrella tightly round the handles, tucking in rough edges and using a few stitches to tack down the end.
I’m an advocate of resuable bags, but so many are shoddily made. It pleased my green conscience to repair damaged bags and make them even better than they were.
In the belief that a uncrowded surrounding contributes to clarity and serenity of mind, I have set myself a goal, to eliminate 100 things from my home by passing them along to others.
Good old Freecycle. Mainly thanks to it, I have sent 12 things – some teacups, a chair, a plastic thermos, a set of sheets, etc – to new homes. Eighty- eight to go.
Update:
As of Jan 16 — 20 good, useful items shared and 80 to go!
Jan 27: 33 gone!
The idea came from a fellow participant of the 2011 Happiness Project. There is a project toolbox which helps you break down that abstract concept of happiness into more concrete goals you can achieve.
