Article Archives
Voluntary Simplicity & Simple Living
- What is the Difference Between Simple Living & Voluntary Simplicity?
- What Voluntary Simplicity Is NOT
- Thoughts About Voluntary Simplicity
- Why We Chose Voluntary Simplicity — Sometimes There Is No Tomorrow
- There Is No One Way To Do Simple Living Right
- A Simplicity Anyone Can Live With
- Learning To Slow Down
- Organizing, Decluttering & Purging
- Downshifting To A Simpler Life
- Being Happy In An Unhappy World
- Accepting Responsibility For Your Actions
- Rethinking Multitasking & The Myth of Quality Time
- How To Stop Procrastinating
- Yes You CAN Learn To Do It Yourself
- Our Journey To A Debt Free Life
- Our Simpler Country Lifestyle
- Decluttering and Purging
- A Sense of Balance
- When Voluntary Simplicity "Works"
- When You Give The Gift Of A Smile
- Practicing the Golden Rule
- Achieving a Simpler Life — Step 1: Track Your Spending
- How You Choose to Spend Your Time
- A Closer Look
- Appreciating the "Now" of My Life
- Making the Most of Those Lifestyle Challenges
- Leaving Your Comfort Zone & Taking That First Step
- Have Necessities Become Luxuries Because of the Recession?
- The Biggest Obstacle to a Simpler, Truly Fulfilling Life
- Some Thoughts About Raising Free Range Chickens
- Overcoming the Paralysis of Too Much Analysis
- Valuing the Ordinary
- Less "Stuff" Doesn't Equal Happiness Either
- 9 Simple Things We Do To Protect Our Environment
- Discovering Your "Enough"
- Seeing the Sunshine and a Happier You
- A Challenge That Can Change Your Life
- Keeping a Photograph... Purging the Item
Frugality
- Don't Confuse Playing at Frugality With Living Frugally
- How Much Does It Cost to Feed YOUR Family?
- Some Thoughts About Grocery Shopping & Sensible Frugality
- Does Frugality Mean You Shouldn't Have Nice Things?
- Why I Don't Play the Coupon Game
- What's in My Refrigerator?
- What's in My Pantry?
- 7 Grocery Shopping Strategies That Work For Me
- What True Frugality Is... and What It Is Not
- Being Sensible About Frugality
- The Wood-Burning Cook Stove In My Kitchen
- Cooking & Baking with a Wood Stove
- An Amazing Natural Wood Stove Cleaner and Polisher
- Stretching Ground Beef in a Recipe
- How Much Are You Spending For Groceries?
- How Much Are You Spending For Groceries Now?
- New Government Guidelines for the Average Cost of Food at Home
- How Can I Stay Motivated?
- Sometimes You Should Complain
- Credit Cards Aren't The Enemy
- Getting Out Of Debt — Know Why You Buy
- Getting More For Your Money — 4 Tips For Buying Produce
- Are Buyer's Clubs A Frugal Choice?
- Homemade Laundry Detergent
- Electric Rates, Appliances, & Costs
- Trying To Keep Heating Costs Down
- Why We Got Rid of Our Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
- Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
- Elderly Vehicles, Emergency Funds, and a Panic-Free Crisis
- Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder
- Frugality for the Birds?
- The High Cost of Veterinary Care
- Frugality Without Deprivation
- Real Advice for the Current Economic Situation
- Energy Conservation & Convenience
Inspirational Life Quotes
- There Are Only Two Ways To Live Your Life
- In Any Moment of Decision...
- If You Love What You Are Doing...
- Happiness Is... Not
- Not From the Power of Possession...
- The Question Is Not What You Look At...
- The Rewards Of The Simple Life
- Don't Wait Until Everything Is Just Right
- The First Day of Spring?
- If We Had No Winter...
- What Comes First in Your Life, the Compass or the Clock?
- A Definition of Happiness
- Cares Will Drop Off Like Autumn Leaves
- Nobody Trips Over Mountains
- Being Rushed Along with the Rush
- Success Is Simple
- Enjoy the Little Things
- This Is My Symphony
- You Can't Force Simplicity
- Involve Me...
- Precious as Autumn Sunshine
- When I Hear "Life is Hard"...
- Happiness... and Harmony
- For Our Overburdened Spirits
- Don't Miss Your Share of Happiness
- We Tend To Forget That Happiness...
- ... Maybe Your Soul Has Never Been in Bloom
- The Future Lies Before You
- Thinking Done in Solitude
- Peace Amid the Storm
- The Definition of Success
- "Going Out, I Found, Was Really Going In"
- You Have Succeeded in Life When...
- The Best Things in Life
- Happiness Comes From Within
- Happiness Is As A Butterfly...
- 'Tis Easy Enough To Be Pleasant...
- Realizing What You Already Have
- With An Open & Grateful Heart
- What Is A Home?
- A Road Less Traveled By
- "Kindness Is Like Snow"
- It Is the Time for Home
- The Realization of How Much You Already Have
- An Old New England Proverb
- A Friend Is...
- Seeming To Do Is Not Doing
Personal
- I'm Hoping They're Wrong
- Some Things My Statistics Tell Me About You
- For One of Us It Is a Totally Relaxing Experience
- My Knitted "Feather & Fan" Afghans
- A Mock Cable Fisherman Knit Afghan
- All-Over Basket Weave Knit Afghan
- The Importance of Learning To Care
- Digging Eight Quarts of Dandelions
- One Year Ago Today...
- An Intangible Something Has Been Lost
- After the Storm — Day 3
- Can You Tell I'm Really, Really, REALLY Looking Forward to Spring?
- It's a Blizzard Out There
- My Brush With Politics
- A Stove By Any Other Name
- Playing the "Let's Blame Anna" Game
- I Think It Would Be the Noise
- I Know There Must Be a Logical Explanation
- Things Could Be a Whole Lot Worse
- Our Absolutely Amazing Fall
- When I Woke Up This Morning...
- Thoughts on the No Poo Movement
- Five Reasons I Know Spring is Here
- An Exercise in Perseverance
- I'm Sorry But I Can't Hear You
- The Reality of Dial-Up Over a Phone Line That Has Been Left to Deterioriate for 36 Years
- A Reasonable Dial Tone
- Will the Squeaking Wheel Finally Get Some Grease?
- A Downside to Our Rural Life
- Does the Electric Company Really Need My Social Security Number?
- The Vet, the Economy & Our Ferocious Dog
- Yesterday Was Not a Good Mail Day
- The Joys of Rural Mail Delivery
- What Are the Odds?
- Life is Getting Back to Normal
- Still Hanging In There
- It Was a Very Long Night
- 14 Things Unique To Me
- Grapevines & Weaving Baskets
- A Little Too Close For Comfort
- My Husband's Solution To My Creative Chaos
- The Town Clerk's Mistake
- Lost On The Schoolbus
- I'm So Glad Today Is Friday
- Irradiating The Food Supply
- The Mystery Of Duck Duck Goose
- Our Uninvited Midnight Visitor
- Farewell, Old House
- It's The Simple Things That Count
- A Mother's Thoughtfulness
- Special Words & Etc.
- It's Cold Out There
- When Should You Get Involved?
- A Plethora of Mushrooms
- No Old Bold Mushroom Hunters
- Our Austrian Mushroom-Hunting Friend Has Survived Another Year
- Too Many Crackers Late At Night
- A Whiny Dryer Can't Be Good
- The Pig in Our Garden
- Want To Talk Bird About It?
- How To Teach a Bird To Talk
- I Have a Confession to Make
- Oh No... Not Yet!
- Not Really What I Wanted To See This Morning
- I Hope She Didn't Try to Eat Them
- Accidents Can Happen to Everybody
- Setting the Record Straight
- What We Don't Say
- What Do YOU See?
- Upgrades, Databases, Error Messages & Murphy's Law
Doing It Ourselves
- Our Garden Paths
- This Is Our Stone Path
- Not Compromising Our Scruples
- Our Experimental 100% Leaf Mold Gardens
- A Temporary Chaos
- Somewhat More Intimidating Than the Usual Do-It-Yourself Project
- What Our Finished Compost Looks Like
- A Truckload of Logs — Our Winter Firewood Supply
- Our Load of Logs — A Progress Report
- 196 Little Seedlings
- More Leaf Mold in the Making — It's Starting To Heat Up
- My Winter Herb Garden
- Saving Tomato Seeds
- Nature's Free Mulch
- How We Make Compost
- Composting in a Garbage Can
- Our Hand Dug Backyard Pond
- Digging A Pond — Progress Report
- Firewood — Saving $250+ Per Cord
- Our Handmade Soap
- How To Make Natural Body Powder
- Removing An Enormous Tree Stump, or How We Saved $576
- We Should Have Wondered Where All Those Rocks Came From!
- Visual Proof That Nothing is Impossible
Food Related Favorites
- The Easiest Boiled Frosting Ever
- Peanut Butter Cookies with a Great Peanut Taste
- There's No Meat in Our Favorite Meatballs
- Gluten-Free, Egg-Free, Sugar-Free, Soy-Free Oatmeal Cookies
- The Easiest Crackers I've Ever Made
- How I Make Rivels, Couscous Size
- Corn and Chicken Soup with Rivels
- How I Make Garlic Powder
- How To Make Italian Seasoning Mix
- Chocolate Pudding From Scratch
- Banana Pudding Without a Mix
- The Petite French Lady's Italian Minestrone Soup
- Roasted Chickpeas (Garbanzos)
- 9 Tips For Baking Better Cookies
- Making Powdered Sugar
- Turn One Stick Of Butter Into Two
- Maple Syrup From Potatoes
- Freezing Apples For Pies
- Egg Free, Milk Free, Vegan Cakes
- Mix In The Pan Chocolate Cake
- Yes, It's Really That Easy...
- Making Your Own Cake Mix
- Lightning Cake — A Quick & Easy Yellow Cake Recipe
- Making Onion Rings From Scratch
- Shelf Life of Staples in Your Pantry
- Easy To Peel Hard Boiled Eggs
- Homemade Egg Noodles
- Making Homemade Ketchup
- Effortless Way To Clean Oven Racks
- Quick & Easy Homemade Ice Cream
- Our Favorite Homemade Yogurt
- All Natural Watermelon Popsicles
- Coleslaw -- Is It Part of Your Thanksgiving Tradition?
- How To Make a GMO Free Light Corn Syrup Substitute
- My Favorite Recipe for Divinity Fudge
- Making Gingerbread Boys
- Pineapple, Banana, Celery & Chicken Salad
More Favorite Recipes
- Our Favorite Blueberry Cake
- Our Favorite Cucumber Refrigerator Relish
- My Husband's Favorite Sticky Buns
- Our Two Favorite Blueberry Yogurt Smoothies
- Old-Fashioned Molasses Drop Cookies
- Barley, Bean, Chickpea & Vegetable Soup
- Our Favorite Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
- Oatmeal Apple Crisp
- Oatmeal Raisin Nut Cookies
- A Snickerdoodle-Like Molasses Cookie
- Applesauce Spice Cake
- My Mom's Gingerbread
- Easy Pickled Carrots
- Champion Sponge Cake
- Whole Wheat Raisin Bread
- Banana Nut Bread Made With Organic White Whole Wheat Flour
- Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread
- Streusel-Filled Coffee Cake
- Cheesy Herb Potato Sticks
- American Chop Suey
- Quick One-Dish Spanish Rice
- How To Make Sweet Pickles One Jar At A Time
- Dill Refrigerator Pickles
- Frozen Cookie Balls
- Three Fruit Smoothie
- Breakfast Fruit Smoothie
- Waffles Made With Yeast
Other Reader Favorites
- New England's Dark Day — May 19, 1780
- How To Season Cast Iron Cookware
- Produce, E. Coli, Bacteria & You
- My Favorite Kitchen Gadgets
- Small Appliances — Extravagant or...?
- Natural Tarnish Removers
- Rose Petal Beads
- One Test of a Good Cook, Circa 1880
- How To Do Laundry, Circa 1880
- How To Take a Bath, Circa 1884
Making Bread
- Bread Maker Honey Wheat Bread
- By Request — My Oatmeal Bread Recipe
- Baking Bread at Higher Altitudes
- Kneading The Dough
- How Do I Tell When Bread Dough Has Risen Enough?
- When Bread Tastes Too Yeasty
- Making Hamburger & Hot Dog Buns
- Ice Box Butter Buns
- How To Make Teddy Bear Rolls
- How To Shape Crescent Rolls
- Save Money On Buying Yeast
Get Organized
- Accomplishing What Needs To Be Done... Efficiently, Quickly, and With As Little Stress As Possible
- How To Get Organized
- Quick Cleaning The Living Room
- Waking Up To A Clean Kitchen
- Washing Dishes Made Easy
- Organizing Recipes
- How I'm Organizing My Recipes
Soy Allergy
- Making Extruded Pasta From Scratch
- Learning How To Eat Again When You Have A Soy Allergy
- Living With A Soy Allergy
- Why I Avoid Soy
- Can You Trust Allergen Labeling?
- Allergic Reactions, Cross Contamination, and Bulk Food Bins
- Make Your Own Soy-Free Mayonnaise
- Making Soy-Free Soft Butter Spread
- Is It Possible To Have a Soy-Free Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner?
- My Soy-Free Recipes
Hostas
- What Do Hostas Look Like When They First Come Up in the Spring?
- The Hostas in My Gardens
- Harvesting Hosta Seeds
- Hostas From Seed
- My Hosta Seedlings
- Streaked Hosta Seedlings
- Do Hostas Seed Themselves?
- How I Divide A Hosta
- Cherry Berry
- Christmas Tree
- Fire and Ice
- Gold Standard
- Golden Tiara
- Great Expectations
- Ground Master
- Guacamole
- Halcyon
- Honeybells
- June
- June And Its Seedling
- Krossa Regal
- Lancifolia
- Patriot
- Queen Josephine
- Regal Splendor
- Shade Fanfare
- So Sweet
- Sum and Substance
- Summer Joy
- Tattoo
- Tokudama Aureonebulosa
- Twilight
- Undulata Albomarginata
- Undulata Univittata
- Can You Help Me Identify This Hosta?
Wildflowers
- Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
- Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema atrorubens)
- How To Plant Jack-in-the-Pulpit Seeds
- Bluebead Lily or Yellow Clintonia (Clintonia borealis)
- Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)
- Canadian Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense)
- Starflower (Trientalis borealis)
- Fringed Polygala (Polygala paucifolia)
- Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)
- Red Trillium (Trillium erectum)
- Foam Flower (Tiarella cordifolia)
- Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
- Hepatica americana
- Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum)
- Alpine Columbine (Aquilegia alpina)
- Red Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
- Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora)
In My Garden
- Cobweb Houseleek (Sempervivum arachnoideum)
- The Same Celery Plants, Year After Year
- Common Sage (Salvia officinalis)
- Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis odorata)
- Common Primrose
- Sempervivum 'Purdy's 70-40'
- Sempervivum tectorum 'Oddity'
- Oddity With Tubes or Oddity With Blades?
- Micro Tom, the "Smallest Tomato Plant in the World"
- Growing Hollyhocks the Easy Way
- Our Traveling Orange Day Lilies
- What Do Bleeding Hearts Look Like When They First Come Up in the Spring?
- Pretty in Pink... and Yellow, and White, and Blue
- It's Almost Time To Plant the Tomatoes
- Golden Glow (Rudbeckia laciniata hortensia)
- What Does Bee Balm Look Like in the Spring?
- Inexpensive "Cold Frames" -- Our Solution to Our Short Growing Season
- Pulmonaria — Lungwort
- Bleeding Heart Seeds?
- Primroses In The Snow
- Bee Balm
- Bleeding Heart
- Common Foxglove
- Feverfew
- Heucheras From Seed
- Hens and Chickens
- Sempervivum Flowers & Growing Sempervivum From Seed
- The Destruction of My Sempervivums
- When "Have a Nice Day" Just Wasn't Enough
- One of Nature's Small Miracles
- Heuchera
- Still Loving My Hollyhocks
- Lamb's Ear
- Leopard's Bane
- Looking For Blooms
- Money Plant
- Orange Day Lily
- Oriental Poppy
- Spiderwort
- What's Flowering Now?
- How To Save Tomato Seeds For Planting Next Year
- How I Grow My Winter Herb Garden
- Growing & Harvesting Garlic
Enjoying Nature
- And That's a Warning We Take Very Seriously!
- Something Else My Father Taught Me
- Just Bee-Cause
- Old Mr. Toad
- There's a Bear in Our Bird Feeder
- What Has Happened to All the Birds?
- I'm Sure There's a Story in There Somewhere
- Wolf Spiders
- Eastern Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor)
- Little Acorn... Mighty Oak?
- Tricolored Orange-Belted Bumble Bee
- How To Tell If a Frog is Male or Female
- Is It a Frog, a Bullfrog, or a Toad?
- How Bees Collect Pollen
- Why Bumblebees Buzz
- Remembering Summer
- Tiny Toads
- Frog, Bullfrog, or Toad?
- Eastern American Toad (Bufo americanus americanus)
- First Toads Of The Spring
- When Wild Turkeys Come to Visit
Simple Treasures
- Ford China Company Antique Pitcher & Bowl
- Two Little Teapots, One Is Fiestaware, One Is... Not
- The Mister & the Missus
- J.&G. Meakin Ironstone China Pitcher
- “Neu Deel Cookin Ware”
- Swan's Down Cake Pan
- Pure Food Sanitary Cooking Ware
- Antique Stoneware Rolling Pin
- My 1902 Antique Baby Nurser
- Welded Metal Garden Dogs
Household Hints & Info
- Solving the Natural Peanut Butter Oil Separation Problem
- Crockpots, Slow Cooking Dried Beans & Phytohaemagglutinin
- An Easier Way To Separate an Egg
- Freezing Batter for Quick & Easy Muffins Anytime
- How Long Should Food Be Left in the Freezer?
- Another Green Cleaning Solution That Really Works
- A "Green" & Natural Method for Cleaning Stainless Steel
- How To Freeze Cakes — Frosted or Unfrosted
- Olive Oil & Trans-Fats
- Measuring Techniques
- Quinoa — Eating More Whole Grains
- Tips For Removing Garlic Odor
- Cleaning With Vinegar
- Frozen Basil That Doesn't Turn Black
- One Piece Kitchen Utensils
- Measuring Ingredients
- Olive Oil
- Salt
- Peppercorns
- Allspice
- Equivalent Measures
- Dehydrating Fruits
Miscellaneous
- Freezing Raw Tomatoes?
- Produce and Pesticide Residue — the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15
- Some Thoughts on Avoiding GMOs
- When Christmas Isn't So Merry
- A Recipe for a Natural Cough Syrup
- What Will Ten Dollars Buy Where You Live?
- Don't Touch That Shopping Cart!
- Are Your Hands Clean Enough?
- Do You Still Want To Shake Hands?
- The Year Without a Summer — 1816
- A Little Book About Law & Life, Circa 1881
- What Did Things Cost in 1872?
- What Did Things Cost in 1860?
- Prices from the 1899 Sears, Roebuck Grocery Lists
- "Any Citizen of the United States Has the Recognized Right of Paying His Respects to the President"
- Hulled Corn or Samp — What It Is & How To Make It
- Harvard Healthy Eating Pyramid — An Alternative to the USDA's Food Guide Pyramid
- How "Normal, Thin People" Eat
- How To Make Salt Beads & Salt Clay
- Common Sense, Good Hygiene & the Flu Pandemic
- When Organic Isn't All It's Cracked Up To Be
- High Fructose Corn Syrup -- The Debate Goes On
- It Just Doesn't Stop Growing...
- My Own Garden Tomatoes On Christmas Day
- Real Poison Ivy Relief
- Energy Efficient Countertop Ovens
- What $25 Worth Of Strawberries Looks Like
- Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act — More Harm Than Good?
- Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act — A Reprieve
Written by Shirley
... I appreciate your support.
