The Big White Farmhouse

intentional living, little by little

No.461: Last Week at the Farmhouse // A New Cocoa Station, A Birthday & A New Website!

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I have been spending way too much time cycling through the news the last few weeks, so I took another break and it was just what I needed.  I felt happier and more motivated.  My husband told me the short version of anything important that I may have missed (surprise: it wasn’t much) and that was good enough.  Highly recommend.

My two oldest boys are done with work for the winter months, so I thought I’d try stripping their smelly farm clothes.  I used a recipe that only needed three ingredients: Borax, powdered Tide detergent and Super Washing Soda.  (I found two out of three at my grocery store, but did have to order the Washing Soda online.)  The instructions were super easy and oh.my.word.  The results were so good and SO gross.  I’m planning to do all of our workout clothes next.

Project of the week: a cocoa station for the kitchen! It was a huge success with the kids and has been in daily use.  Doesn’t everything just look better in a glass jar?  Right now I put out our Polish Pottery mugs, but I’ll swap them out with Christmas ones in a few weeks.  

My oldest turned 14 this week and requested a pan of my blueberry peach cobbler all to himself.  An odd choice for November, but I aim to please!  I kept sneaking glances at him throughout the week and I just cannot believe that that squishy little baby who made me a mother is now this tall, handsome teenager.  The days are long, but the years are so very short.    
We lost power for over three hours during a big wind storm and I spent the afternoon keeping our new fireplace going.  I don’t want to brag, but I’m practically a pioneer woman now, ha!  

Last but not least: after almost ten years of blogging, I finally migrated over to a self-hosted website!  I still have so much to learn and lots of posts to tweak, but am so excited about the change.  

No.460: The Wednesday Five #13

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Happy Wednesday!

A QUOTE

Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence. I am not remotely interested in just being good. —  Vince Lombardi

First team meeting as Packers coach (1959), reported in Chuck Carlson, Game of My Life: 25 Stories of Packers Football (2004), p. 149

Obviously, this quote was about football, but I found it inspiring in the context of the spiritual life.  Every day, we have the opportunity to become a little bit holier, to love others a little bit deeper, to live our vocations a little bit better.  We strive.  (This video is on the same wavelength and worth a listen.)

TWO SOUPS FOR CHILLY DAYS

I love fall/winter because I can stretch my dollar a little bit further with soup!  They usually only require a small amount of meat and a lot of vegetables or beans, which helps me feed my crew.  I have recently made the two soups below and love them because they are delicious and they make a lot.  There’s usually plenty for dinner the first night and I’ll have the leftovers for lunch.

A RECOMMENDATION

I got this hair dryer/curler from my parents (at the recommendation of my sister!) for my birthday and I am obsessed!  My hair has a weird wave thing going and I usually have to blow dry and then use some of sort of curler or straightener to look presentable.  But this gadget does both things at once!  It saves so much time and is so easy.  I love it.

THREE BOOKS ON MY NIGHTSTAND

A MOMENT OF HAPPINESS

After years and years, I’m finally almost finished with my “Winter” cross-stitch!  I keep this project tucked away for most of the year and usually pull it out for a few weeks in January.  It’s been a fun little tradition, but I’m ready to start something new.  I got started now in November and can see the finish line!

No.459: What I Decluttered // November 2020

Month #14 for my 1,000 Item Declutter Challenge!  Here are the ground rules:
  1. Only spend 10 minutes at one time and only in one specific area.  
  2. Monday through Wednesday, seek out items that we no longer need and make a pile.  Then Thursday through Saturday, make a plan for how to deal with them.  (This has worked so well and avoided that dreaded box of “what should I do with these?” items.)
  3. Possible places to find new homes for items: Ebay/Poshmark, Facebook Marketplace, Trash Nothing website or the local Buy Nothing Facebook group and as a last resort, Goodwill

I feel a responsibility for the things I have and want to be intentional with how I dispose of them.  Questions I asked myself: If it’s here, what purpose does it serve?  Can I use it up?  Can I enjoy it vs. keeping it tucked away in drawers and boxes?  And if not, can I let it go to someone who may need it more?

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WHAT I DECLUTTERED THIS MONTH

  • 3 books.
  • One tile sample.
  • 9 pieces of Sophie’s outgrown clothing from last year.
  • 20 pieces of my clothing.  With the changing of the seasons, I went through my closet and dresser again and weeded out the unnecessary/unworn/worn-to-shreds items.  I sold most things on Poshmark/eBay, threw out a handful of really old and stained t-shirts, and sent the rest to Goodwill.
  • One open bag of Pull-Ups.  We only used a few of these when P was potty-training and I felt bad throwing 20+ of them away.  I posted them on my local Buy Nothing Project Facebook group and had someone interested in minutes!  
  • 9 empty egg cartons.  Brought these to the farm where my son works so they could reuse them.
  • 4 empty paper jewelry boxes.  You know the box that holds the nicer box that holds the piece of jewelry?  Why do I still have those?  Into the recycling bin.  
  • 1 decorative bowl.
  • 16 baby girl clothes, 2 swaddle blankets, two hair accessories, a rattle, a lovey and a baby comb.  A woman from my local Buy Nothing Project group made me aware of a young pregnant mother, due in January and in need of baby supplies.  I’ve already given most of Sophie’s baby clothes away, but I did find a few more things in the bin to pass along.  Mamas have to stick together!
  • One teacher guide. Sold on ebay.
  • 3 Halloween treat bags.  These were Star Wars themed bags that my biggest boys used years ago.  I surprisingly found a buyer for them on ebay!
  • One Halloween cat headband.
  • 2 broken disc drives.  Why we still have these in a drawer is beyond me…
  • One pillow insert.
  • 2 tea towels.  We used these to literal shreds!
  • 10 magazines.  My dad passes on magazines to us after he’s done with them and I finally browsed through the stack.  Into the recycling bin.
  • 2 DVDs. Sold on ebay.
  • One guitar tuner.
  • One broken phone charger.
  • A baby stroller and car seat.  Since we haven’t had any new babies in our house for years (which is a little sad…), it felt silly to keep these in the garage when someone could use them right now.  We gave the stroller to someone on Trash Nothing and while the car seat still has a little time before “expiring,” the new owners could also bring it to Target for a trade-in deal on a brand new one.
  • One pair of toddler snow pants, a fleece jacket, and a button-down shirt.
  • 11 dry markers.
  • One DVD case.  
Items decluttered this month: 116
Money made this month: $70.73

Total items decluttered so far: 903
Total money made so far: $1,258.13

P.S. To “count,” the item had to physically leave my house.  So while I have listed a handful of things online, those aren’t counted until they have sold.

No.458: Five Good Things // No.04

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1 // SMILE’S PRID HOMEOPATHIC DRAWING SALVE
I’ve been meaning to share this homeopathic salve for months.  We use it most often for bug bite relief but it also supposedly works on blisters, splinters and ingrown hairs.  And a little goes a long way!  A good one to keep in your medicine cabinet.   

2 // A WAY TO USE UP A BOX OF CHEERIOS
We had a box of plain Cheerios in the back of the pantry that was nearing its expiration date.  Since no one was very keen to eat them, I searched for a way to use them up.   Enter No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheerio Bars!  It’s a super easy recipe and needs only three ingredients, although we drizzled the top with melted milk chocolate because we’re sugarholics.  A yummy treat.   

3 // THIS PRAYER WHEN LIFE FEELS DARK AND SCARY

I found this prayer recently and will keep it on hand for the times I feel overwhelmed and worried.

4 // A CREATIVE WHO RECREATES AMERICAN GIRL DRESSES
By the wonder of the Internet, I stumbled on a really cool series on the blog, Stars + Field: The Kirsten Project!    The research and attention to detail on her finished pieces are just incredible.  I’m selfishly hoping that she moves on to Samantha (the American Girl doll I had as a kid) next.   


5 // A BOOK FOR BEGINNER READERS
I’ve mentioned this little book on the blog before, but since we recently pulled it off the shelf again, I thought I’d share it again.  We’ve used ABC See, Hear, Do: Learn to Read 55 Words for speech practice (for my son with a speech delay) and for learning letter sounds and it’s a big hit for both.  Highly recommend.  

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