Little Girl with a Blue Ribbon in Her Hair Clutching Her Dolls

Is it the problem or the cure?

When I get all stressed out I start cleaning. When Mr. Honeysuckle gets stressed out he starts pulling weeds. We go at it with a vengeance. We've been thinking all these years"Oh, those dust balls"....or "Oh, those darned coffee weeds"... When it dawned on me the other day, the Good Lord put those things there for our therapy. They aren't the problem, but wuite simply, the cure.

And on another note, this goes along with the scripture, 1Th 5:18 "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

So when we think things are burdens, or problems, start to think differently about them. Hard work can be very theraputic. Maybe they are actually the cure for whatever ails us.

Frugal???

It hit me the other day that when I donate clothing, linens, dishes, etc. to the local charity organizations or charity box, that sometimes they throw away things when they have too much. Being the sort of person who is pretty particular when it comes to not wasting things, this has me disturbed. I can be fairly compulsive when it comes to not throwing away things when I can find a way to re-use, or recycle. Personally I'm finding it harder and harder to give things to someone when I am unsure the items will be actually used or thrown away. What is the point, if they somehow end up in the landfill anyway, or burned, buried or what have you?

This has made me more mindful of finding ways to use items, and frankly-finding ways NOT to make purchases if not really necessary.


I find I can no longer selfishly "declutter" or "simplify" without being mindful of the consequences if it ends up in the wrong hands.



In my Vintage Sewing & Craft lessons I talked about how even making crafts (frugally of course) can require collecting things (being a packrat....LOL), keeping things we would normally throw away, re-using items, etc., instead of buying a lot of supplies to make them.


Everything comes with a price.



So what do we do?


We either want to be frugal, yes, even compulsive at times to REALLY waste not/want not.

FOR EXAMPLE:




Here's an old article I saved. Hopefully it will be of use to you, if not discard with care....lol

Recycling socks
Making use of old socks
A wave of nostalgia struck me when shopping for socks the other day; memories from my childhood of my mother darning socks that had holes in them. Aside from that memory, I can't remember the last time I've heard of anyone darning or patching socks. I guess it's because of the price of socks these days - the ones I bought were just over a dollar a pair.
It's great they are so cheap, but the materials socks are made from these days aren't particularly environmentally friendly, usually being a polyester and cotton mix. Polyester is a product made from crude oil and mainstream cotton production requires enormous amounts of water and pesticides. Added to that, because of the polyester content, when you throw a sock away, it takes many years to break down in the environment.
I get through about 7 pairs of socks a year I guess, so over my lifetime, that translates to hundreds of pairs of castoff socks - now multiple that by millions of people doing the same and it amounts to a huge pile.
Given this waste, we need to do more with our old socks rather than trashing them; so here's a few tips:
- I use them as cleaning and polishing rags. They can be particularly handy in hard to clean areas such as blinds and under appliances by slipping your hand into the sock and using it that way.
- Good as whyteboard erasers
- The elasticity makes them great for tying up trees to stakes. After a storm, a couple of small trees in our yard went askew and I used a couple of old long socks to set them straight again. 6 months later and the socks are still holding up to the weight.
- Use them as shoe protectors when storing shoes or traveling
- Outdoor soap on a rope. Probably not the most presentable idea for the home, but great for the shed and garden. Put a bar of soap into a long sock and tie it to an outside tap. After working in the garden, run water over the sock/soap bag, rub it and it will lather up. Great for removing grease from hands!
- Long socks can be cut at the ankle and used as leg or arm warmers
- Have problems with odd socks? It's a well known fact that washing machines and driers steal them. Keep plain colored odd socks in good condition to one side and no doubt over time you'll get some matching pairs.
- Place delicates in them before washing instead of using a delicates bag
- Tie a few together to use as a pull toy for your dog
- When painting, slip an old sock over your shoes to prevent paid from splattering them.
- Socks can be used on some dryers as lint catchers - save money on buying lint bags
- There's all sorts of toys you can make from old socks, including the popular sock puppet enjoyed by generators of young kids. Here's a couple of other toy ideas - sock monkey - sock doll
- Use as insulation for cans and bottles of cold drinks - also helps to soak up condensation on can or bottle
- Handwarmers and fingerless mittens. Cut off the toes and cut a slit for your thumbs.
- If you have babies just learning to crawl, cut the toes off (the sock of course) and slip the sock tube over your baby's knees to help protect them.
- Fill up old long socks with sand or rice, sew the end and use as door snakes to prevent drafts.
- Keep a couple of old socks hand to use as gloves when needing to reach into yucky areas
To get more from a pair of socks, I buy the same style and color. As socks tend to wear unevenly and you'll often end up with a good one and a bad one and by buying the same type, you'll wind up with spares that you can pair.
By the way, who said that wearing matching socks was law? Throw caution to the wind and make a fashion and consumption statement by wearing unmatched socks!
Do you have a handy tips for ways to use old socks? Please add them below!By the way, if you're looking to buy socks that are more environmentally friendly - organic cotton and hemp blends are worth checking into. They are a good deal more expensive, but better wearing from what I've read.
Michael Bloch


Green Living Tips.com

Dog Days of Summer

Share your own thoughts and folklore on this subject.

Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies"

Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813

Enjoying The Last of Summer

The sun lay like a friendly arm across her shoulder. ~Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings~ South Moon Under

Favorite Summer Things:
Watermelon
Picking blueberries
Blueberry Pie
Fresh Pears
Watching fireworks in the summer sky
Swimming in the creek
The smell of suntan lotion
Wearing my hair in a ponytail
That rosy glow from getting some sunshine and fresh air
Sandals
Walking in the warm sand on the beach.
Fishing at sundown
Fresh vegetables from the garden
Bar-b-Ques
Watching fireflies
Listening to the Whipporwills
Hearing the crickets chirping on a warm summer evening…

By all these lovely tokens
September days are here
With summer's best of weather
And autumn's best of cheer.
Author Unknown

Rainy Day Ideas

Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain. ~Author Unknown

Things to do on a rainy day:
With a cup of tea in hand, sit on the porch and watch the rain.
Curl up with a good book
Clean out your underwear drawer.
Wash your windows, and watch the rain through the clean windowpanes.
De-clutter your magazines, then sit down with and cut out pretty pictures for a collage.
Lie on the bed, and listen to the pitter patter of the raindrops on the roof.
Bake some cookies, brew a pot of coffee, and sit down by the window, watch the rain and enjoy some quiet time.
Grab an umbrella and go walking in the rain.
Buy a pair of pretty rubber boots and go sloshing through the mud puddles.
Walk on the beach after a rain and gather seashells.
My son's favorite activity is to look for arrowheads after a hard rain.
My friend Lety's daughter loves to place tin cans upside down on the stoop and hear the rain drops hitting them.
Catch some rainwater for rinsing your hair.
Set your houseplants on the sidewalk for a nice drink of rainwater.

Go Pamper Yourself!

http://honeysucklebeauty.blogspot.com/

Wednesday Mending

Isn't she precious?

Declaration of Independence

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html