When...

When King Cakes start appearing....
and fig trees begin to show the tiniest points of green...

and hard green plums appear on the Loquats...

and the Japanese Magnolia puts out it's tentative blossoms...

even a few citrus trees are forming their heady luscious fragrant blossoms...

and the Mulberries are unfurling the beginnings of their large leaves...

Spring is here in Louisiana....but.....
everyone knows that until the tall reserved pecans bud green you can't be sure the warm weather is here to stay.

Eliminating Clutter-Paper

*Note: Four babies died yesterday. The rest of them, all 22 are expected to make it. The trip in the mail all the way from Iowa to Louisiana was hard on them. :(

Eliminating paper clutter- ughh- The worst of all clutter. The hardest as well! How do you know what to get rid of and what to keep? I'm writing about this to maybe inspire me to do it today :).

It's a process of: eliminating the unnecessary, taking care of the important and organizing, filing and storing what's necessary

I have read that you should have a spot to sit down that is specially designated for taking care of bills and paperwork. In a small house this is not possible. Some rooms have to do double duty. All of my paperwork is done at the computer or kitchen table. Everything is stored in either my holding basket or my small closet where I keep my files.

First Step: Eliminate paper clutter at it's source. Call companies that send out catalogs and brochures and ask them to take you off of their mailing list. You'll eliminate clutter and you'll help curb the destruction of trees to produce these catalogs. Remove yourself from all the mailing lists that you are aware of. Instead opt for e-mail notification of new products or sales you might be interested in.

If you have decided to live debt free and rid yourself of credit cards, freeze your credit report. It can be unfrozen if you need to have your credit checked. This helps eliminate credit card offers.

Next: Have shredder handy (small ones are inexpensive). Sort and open mail daily. Immediately if possible. Throw away all junk mail and envelopes and offers. Shred any sensitive material such as credit card offers and anything with personal info on it. Plain non-waxy paper may be shredded and used in compost and bedding for small animals such as chickens.


Then: Put all papers in a holding area. I put papers I am not handling immediately in a holding basket. Every week to two weeks I go through the basket.



Types of Paper:


Business: Contracts, Receipts, back-up disc, license


All business contracts are filed in a folder marked as such and all dates are marked in my daily calender, Receipts are filed in a simple folder marked receipts, my business disc is backed up each time I record in quickbooks and is filed with my other important discs. License renewals are taken care of at the begining of the year then filed as such.


Personal: bills, investment and bank statements,


A binder with pockets is perfect for holding monthly bills. Pay as many bills as you can on-line and write down the confirmation number in your checkbook record. If it is a bill you claim on your taxes, print a paid receipt.


All investment statements can be hole punched an stored in the binder until a new one comes in. Then store them in a file folder.

You can balance your checkbook weekly on-line. When my statements come in compare them if you have a question. Remove any checks used for tax receipts and file them with the appropriate information. Then file the statements together.



Important Documents: birth certificate, marriage license, immunization records for children, titles, insurance-car and house, bonds, wills

Keep all together in a folder. That way in case of a hurricane or emergency, simply grab the folder and run.

Taxes: Any receipts or papers to be used for taxes

Most people keep all receipts because they do not know which receipts they should keep. Throw away: groceries, fast food, small purchases. Keep: large purchases and any receipts needed for taxes-medical, business expenses, charitible giving etc.. You can also scan receipts and store them on a disc. This is nice since heat sensitive receipts fade.

Children: Artwork, report cards, awards

Keep exceptional drawings, writings, or artwork, end of year report cards, exceptional certificates. (I don't keep perfect attendance, I did keep Tera's certificate for the highest science score on the leap test - who says girls arn't good in science?) Then keep each child's work in a box marked with their name.

Warranties: File warranties and owners manuals along with purchase receipts in a large binder. Slip them in clear pockets and put them in the binder. Once a year remove any that you do not have anymore.

Do not create too many files. It gets too tedious. For example: Do not create, electric bills, gas bills, insurance bills, - Just create, Paid Bills. They can be separated easily at the end of the year for any you might need for taxes.

At the end of the year, put everything (except your children's artwork and warranties) in a box, mark it "2008", put your tax return info on top and put them in a closet or attic. Yer dun!!!

Eliminating Clutter-Collecting

When I first got married. I had room for everything. Collecting consisted of getting the things I needed! As you know, After being married for a while it's a matter of, "How did all of this get in my house?"

It just seems as if clutter sneaks up on you. With a small house it's very important for everything to have a place. This makes it much easier to quickly clean. Having everything neatly in place also makes finding something a breeze.

I know clutter is a problem for most everyone. So, I thought you might enjoy reading about my stratagies for defeating clutter. I must say it is a daily thought process. The things that I find get out of control quickly are: Paper, clothing, and collections. I'll start with collections.

There are so many things I like. I love china, tea cups, tea pots, milk ware, pyrex, trays, books, shoes... hmm old hats, flower pots, plants, nature items (nests, feathers, dead locusts, shells, turtle shell), magazines...and other things. Anyway, when After being married for a while, I found that I had a mix match of a lot of things and no where to put them. My collection needed to be pared down.

So how was I to accomplish this? I picked my most favorite things, and gave away everything else to people who admired them. Do I miss them. No, I don't. I thought I would, but I don't!


I now only actively collect nature items, old pyrex bowls and books. I kept my teapots and milkware, but I do not actively collect them. I do not buy anything new except books. I buy used books and pyrex bowls (from thrift stores). The nature items? They're free. I just go outside!! When I am finished with a magazine, I pass it on. If there is an article I really love, I tear it out and keep them in a separate file.

I chose old pyrex bowls because I love their color and they are so useful (see pic). When I have extra company or parties, hey I just use my decor, the pyrex bowls! I collect books because I love them. They are useful and beautiful. The nature items? I just love to look at and touch them.

Things you can do to eliminate collection clutter:

Decide what you really love

Do not keep anything because "It might be valuble one day."

Do not keep items only because someone gave it to you (Unless it is important. I kept a candy dish owned by my grandmother, but I did give away a crystal candy dish given to me by a past co-worker)

If you're not sure about something. Put it in the attic or away for awhile and see if you can live without it. If in three months you don't miss it. Get rid of it.

Finding What We Have Lost - Growing your own food.

My lunch from the garden (pre-washed)


My Grandmother grew all the food for her family when she was raising her 8 children. Very few staples were purchased from "town". It's just two generations since, and our families are now far removed from this way of life. Sometimes I wonder, could I survive if there were not little packages of food on a grocery shelf? How did we lose this skill in these few years?

Well I'm not going to wander off into the woods to test my ability. I have a feeling the adventure would quickly turn into a rescue search. I am going to attempt to do what my grandmother did, grow all the veggies and fruit for my family. We'll have to learn to eat what is in season. My mother said that in the summer they couldn't open preserved items, that was for the winter. They had to eat what was currently ripe.

Here it is my first meal from my new potager. A salad! I grew it myself -buttons bursting-. I planted a salad mix and this is the results. Most of the lettuce is still small, so I thinned out the ones that were too close. This is those that I thinned and the the few larger leaves I found. It was enough salad for myself and my daughter. It was yummier than any other lettuce I have ever had :-)!

It was actually quite simple to grow, and the lettuce will keep producing new leaves as long as you leave the roots in the ground. This can even be done in a box with drainage on a patio. Just choose seed for a loose leaf variety of lettuce. Sprinkle the seeds on the prepared garden or patio container soil. Dust with a light layer of soil. Water well and soon you'll have lettuce popping up! Oh yeah, most veggies need lots of sunlight, lettuce does too. When they are about an inch tall, thin them to about an inch apart. You can eat all the little lettuce you thin. When the lettuce is larger, just pinch or snip off the larger leaves and the lettuce will continue to grow new leaves. Lettuce prefers cooler temperatures. Hot weather makes the lettuce bitter. So in our gulf coast area you must grow lettuce in the winter.

I'll be posting as different veggies are ready to harvest. Learning to stagger the harvest and keep something either preserved or ready to pick is going to be a challenge, but finding the lost skill of feeding yourself will be plenty rewarding!