Browsing category: Simple Living

One In, One Out vs. Purging for a Reason

Reader question… “A friend told me that I should always purge an item if I buy something similar, even if the item to be purged is still in good condition or if I am still using or wearing it…”

How Much Does It Cost to Feed YOUR Family? — Updated for 2017

How much does it cost to feed YOUR family compared to these 2017 government guidelines? The guidelines are given for four levels of spending… thrifty, low-cost, moderate, and liberal.

Accomplishing What Needs To Be Done… Efficiently, Quickly, and With As Little Stress As Possible

Eventually just about everybody comes to the realization that housework is never ending and involves drudgery, tedium, and getting your hands dirty.

A Prickly Situation

After years and years of no porcupines, this fall we kept seeing two… a smaller female and a very large male. Usually they would be waddling around in the meadow.

Things I Have Learned About Cooking & Baking with a Wood Stove

I have found that it’s really a continual learning process, because cooking or baking with wood requires a different rhythm and a different timing than cooking with gas or electricity.

The Wood-Burning Cook Stove In My Kitchen

The centerpiece of my kitchen is our wood-burning cook stove. It’s a big stove, standing over five feet high and almost three and a half feet wide. It has an oven, a warming oven, a solid copper water reservoir with a tap, and a large cook top surface with six lids.

Where Did the Summer Months Go?

We’ve been busy. We spent several weeks cleaning up the incredible mess that the road crew left after their unwelcome tree-cutting and trimming rampage early this spring.

The Apple Trees in Our Meadow… Heirloom or Wild?

There are apple trees in our meadow… fourteen large trees spaced out in a long uneven row that runs almost the entire length of the meadow. There were apple trees here when we bought this land, and I can remember picking apples from these trees when I was a child…

Don’t Confuse Playing at Frugality With Living Frugally

Extreme frugality is like a crash diet… it’s unhealthy and almost impossible to live with long-term… AND it will set up feelings of deprivation that will almost certainly end in a bout of spending…

Making Living Green a Habit

This list will keep growing because there will always be more we can do… but living green is a habit that gets easier and easier…