Repurposing...

So, I'm not so much into cleaning (apparently) but I am into repurposing. So, when my daughter decided she wanted an Alice in Wonderland theme to her birthday party, I went to the thrift store looking for something I could transform into a dress/pinafore.

I bought a pair of king sized muslin pillowcases with a printed design on the open end... and managed... without a pattern... to tranform one of them into a pinafore!


The dress is actually made from a t-shirt we had that never got worn, and some fabric I had from a previous project that never got done... *sigh*... Oh... and obviously we're thinking outside the box... Alice had to be pink instead of blue...

It was fun! And somehow (I guess because I wasn't fighting with a pattern) I did both the dress and the pinafore in ONE DAY! That's my kind of sewing!

Progress... or lack thereof...

OK, I just have to admit it... that after several months of this blog... with sporadic posting at best... I'm just not making any real progress toward a cleaner home. It may be slightly less toxic... but only slightly as I had given up most of my cleaners eons ago.

My biggest problem... right behind keeping up with laundry... is that I have a clutter problem. I don't have spaces for everything... and so things pile up... and drive me crazy. It's a short trip, I assure you!

I need help... maybe professional help... unless one of my 2 or 3 readers has some suggestions... I just need to figure out how to control the mounds of precious materials that come home from school, the kids' toys, the bazillion and one projects I want to work on but don't really have time for so I'm storing them until I can do them for my grandchildren...

Why isn't anyone else's house this out-of-control? I don't understand why it just seems to be me??? Or does everyone clean before people come over?

Trade offs...

So, all this talk about strawberries (I hope you wrote your representatives!) has a lot of people wondering how to afford them. Organic strawberries just aren't in many budgets! No doubt... for me organic is usually a trade off...

Here are my strategies for saving money elsewhere to justify the organic strawberries, and no doubt everyone will do it differently... it's all about where you can pinch to reduce your exposure to pesticides... it's thoughtful consumption. Anyway, I have shaved grocery dollars by not buying as much cereal (hubby and I have started eating oatmeal for breakfast... raw oatmeal... not instant... that stuff is expensive too... and too mushy for my tastes... but, I digress). I am also trying to recommit to my bread machine because a loaf of bread is over $4! Yikes!

So, if you want to buy only some of your fruits and veggies organic to save money, here's a chart that will help you decide which ones are most important to buy organic, and which don't tend to hold a lot of pesticides... so maybe those don't have to be organic.

[I meant to post the great chart I found at the above link right here, but for whatever reason it isn't in a format to do that... sorry... you'll have to follow the link and scroll down just a bit to a multicolored chart. You can print it out and carry it with you to the market.]

Strawberries and the environment

Warning: I'm on a soapbox this afternoon about pesticides in our food supply! If this doesn't interest you please skip this post... but if you feel strongly about clean food/the environment/workplace safety... then please do read on... and don't forget to make sure your voice is heard by writing to your representatives!

The State of California is under pressure to allow the use of methyl iodide on strawberry crops. California provides about 80% of the strawberries grown in the U.S., so many are affected by this decision. Despite a letter written by Nobel prize winning scientists, and the fact that other countries have already banned methyl iodide because it depletes the ozone layer, and known carcinogenic properties (it's used to induce cancer in laboratory rats for experiments), California is considering rescinding its ban on methyl iodide.


This is a travesty on multiple levels. It creates a less safe environment for agricultural workers (who will be in direct contact with methyl iodide residue - here's what the EPA says about direct contact), it makes our food supply less safe (strawberries are notorious for absorbing whatever is sprayed on them because they are so porous), and it is one of many chemicals that destroys the ozone layer.

I encourage you to write to your representatives... I wrote to mine this morning. This isn't OK, people's health and safety cannot be compromised for agri-business profits.

OK, off my soap-box now!In case you're interested in what fruits and vegetables are most important to buy organic... check out this article called "7 foods you must eat organic".