Unbought Delicacies: Use it up January!

Wednesday, 30 December 2009

Use it up January!

I have resolved that the new month, January, will be Use It Up - this means no more buying of wool, fabric, other things, until I've got through various stashes and collections I already have. It will run to food as well - I need to clear the smaller freezer and defrost it as I have a whole pig coming this month, so need a clean and empty freezer for it to go in, along with all the resulting bacon, sausages, etc. There are various things in the store and larder too that need sorting through and using up, so that's on the list too. This will all hopefully make it easier when I come to De-clutter February - best laid plans of mice and men, and all that, though. I'll see how I go, but I'm looking forward to delving into some bags and boxes to find things I haven't seen for some time LOL
As a taster, I've started a stashbusting jumper, pictured above, using up all odds of chunky-ish wool hanging around. It's going to be very warm, not to mention colourful! :)
Here's to less "stuff" in the New Year!

7 comments:

Willow said...: Love this idea - I desperately need to empty the freezer too - goodness knows what's lurking there! A great time to clear out some cupboards and bits & bobs in the garage too - we need more space!

Willow x; 30 December 2009 at 22:20
rebntel said...: Yaaay! Me too! I have to use some of the stuff up that I have had in boxes for years. I want to get ahead for next christmas too.; 30 December 2009 at 22:21
rebntel said...: ......Oh and I have a freezer I need to empty and replace.....I will call meals my lurking meals. Will make do with what I have.....bits and bobs!; 30 December 2009 at 22:22
Kath said...: I really love this idea!
In fact I was thinking of making a very similar post myself - I have so many half opened packets of rice and pasta, and lots of bathroom products that need to be used up.
Here's to 'use it up January'! Looking forward to continuing on this blogging journey with you, I've really enjoyed reading your posts, thank you for all the inspiartion you have given me.
Kath xx; 30 December 2009 at 22:42
a.rogue (Alice) said...: Good idea - while I am at it I will get really ambitious (and disciplined?) and have finish-the-projects January at the same time, which is part of why there is so much wool and fabric in my bins to start with!
Thanks for the nudge!
Alice; 31 December 2009 at 04:11
Julie said...: very timely post! Thanks for the idea - will def be putting that in to practice. It fits in with a plan to deal with some U.F.Os ( unfinished objects/projects)just like A.Rogue; 31 December 2009 at 08:47
Spirit of Old said...: Just a little note to wish you and yours a very happy new year :); 31 December 2009 at 18:46

I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my window sill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things- old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

~ Grace Noll Crowell

Ideas for handmade gifts

Small knitteds - gloves, scarves, hot water bottle covers, hats, tea cosies, phone covers, little toys,,cushion covers, bags. Some of these can be felted/fulled for extra interest.
Edibles - chutneys and jams, pickles, nice teas in a vintage/retro tin, sweeties, toffees, mustard, home made wine and liqueurs, home dried fruits, ketchups.
For the home - trimmed tea towels, handknitted dishcloths, quilted wallhangings, small samplers, restored picture frames, pot pourri, lavender bags, covered coathangers, little scented bags for hanging on handles, framed photos of family,etc you've taken yourself, pincushion,needle book, scissor keeper, book of promises (eg babysitting, 1 hour's housework, the ironing, etc)
Bathtime - homemade soap, bath oils, bath salts, knitted washcloths, herbal bags for the bath, hand sewn toilet bags, trimmed hand towels, homemade lotions and potions packed in pretty jars and bottles.
For the garden - home saved seed in handmade decorated packets; homemade handcream, exfoliating soap, wheat bag for those digger's aches and pains!

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.
Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;
he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.

Harlan Hubbard, Shantyboat: A River Way of Life

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Wednesday, 30 December 2009

Use it up January!

7 comments: