keeping the pipeline flowing

I did something major today-- I went through my sewing stash and gave away almost everything I haven't used in a year. I kept one bin's worth, but I started with more then 6 bins of fabric. I am stepping out with faith and giving stuff away to people who (I hope) will need it. I'm keeping the pipeline flowing. The giving pipeline. People have been so kind to me over the years, giving me this and that when I really needed it, I'm doing the same for others. Hopefully the blessing will return when I need it. I am not a hoarder. I am convinced that being willing to throw things away is a recessive gene. I LOVE throwing things away. It is so freeing. I hate having a house full of stuff. Over all the years I only regret one thing I tossed (a book on French handsewing). That's pretty good odds-- Dumpsters worth of stuff I've tossed and I only regret one book. Today I also listed a few things on Ebay that were so specialized that I didn't think anyone at the local Thrift store would know what they were. Next thing to tackle is the cake decorating stash. Lots of hard decisions there! Maybe we can move up north with a small Uhaul instead of a big one : )

house hunting

I'm going house hunting this week up in Minnesota. I really want to have a new place for Hodgson's Homestead. Simple living is so important to me. It is just killing me to have to go back into debt. But I'm excited to be able to choose my new urban homestead. I was pretty stupid when I picked this house twenty years ago. I've got a longer list this time then I did that time. This time I want a fairly basic house with a big garden-able yard. I want to live close to church and Randall's work, so we don't need to waste time and money on gas. AND I want a garage. I can't believe I didn't realize how important a place to store bicycles is. The last thing the lady we bought our current house said to me (twenty years ago) was "I'm so excited. I'm buying a condominium with a garage!" That should've given me a clue.

yule log

I love yule logs. This one tasted really good.

Year end totals

Just to make it official-- the total garden produce for 2010 was 761 lbs.

I wish I could set a goal to increase that for next year, but 2011 is so uncertain, because we're moving. I just hope I'll have a garden all set up and ready to go for 2012! As soon as we have our new place I'll be planning the fruit trees and fruit bushes. Those take years to get going, so I want to plant them asap.

Looking over the past year it was good in many, many ways. I feel like I got too involved with the soap business to do the garden full credit but I did get a good amount of food off of our little piece of land. The apple trees produced well. The strawberries produced enough to put some in the freezer. While it was technically on our land we did harvest wild blackberries from Sunfish and they were amazing! We got lots of beans, tomatoes, peppers, and onions from the garden. I love my garden and I love the feeling of self sufficiency it gives me. I'm hoping (SOOO MUCH) that I'll be able to find a little house with a nice spot of land that will be garden friendly.