Giving stuff to friends

Voila finally got around to taking pictures. These are the items in good enough shape that I figured I’d see if any friends want to claim anything before I donate it. Either way I am keen to get this stuff out the house soon. It’s all in a big box that has been living by our front door the last few weeks. It must now make space for our wedding wine which is arriving on Friday. Not sure I like the fact that we have to store 20 boxes of wine in our lounge but I do agree that it was better wine than our venue was offering. Sigh, at least I know those boxes are only temporary.

Phones :(

This weekend I spent some more time doing a further clean out of my wardrobe. I also arranged everything on the dinner table and took pictures. I am planning to send the pics to friends to see if anyone claims anything before I take it to the charity shop.

It’s also my last week on Facebook since I’ve decided to quit. I need to spend some time this week, noting down any details I want to keep (ie some birthday dates and some pictures) and then I will cut it :). I watched a video yesterday which showed some people constantly on their phone, to the extent that they were missing out on other stuff. I liked that I am not like that. My phone has no BBM, Whats App or internet access. At work and when I’m driving I leave it in my handbag and usually don’t even hear it. I refuse to pick up while driving, nothing is that urgent. I have also resisted a hands-free set, I do not want to call while I am in the car. Driving is my own time, I need it to prepare mentally for the day or to unwind. When I am out with friends my phone  also doesn’t leave my handbag. There’s not much worse after all than trying to have a conversation with someone trying to post twitter feeds while you’re busy! One of my pet peeves, if you’re talking to me please look at me and not your phone. The fact that your constantly looking makes me feel like you are not interested in me and could care less what I have to say.

Glad my boy is also not as attached to his phone. He does occassional murmer that he would like to get an iPhone so we will see how that goes. I've already made it clear I am not buying him one for his upcoming birthday (after he kept droppping hints).

The slump

Wow, this is hard. I seem to be running out of steam and feel like I’ve taken on a bit too much at the moment. I’m still keen to simplify but just don’t seem to have the time or energy! Terrible I know since one of the reasons for less clutter is more free-time! Work is insane at the moment, not just in quantity but in emotional stress. They are finally mobilising to fire my drunk/abusive/sleeping colleague but I’m taking a lot of flank from him at the moment since I am the only one in office with him. A zen zen zen zen......

Anyway I must remember to breath every now and then, I will be so much happier when he’s gone at least. Also sorting out accommodation for everyone at our wedding plus travel plans to another wedding so all a bit much. Tonight I’m busy again but Friday I will take off from everything! Have a day completely free of email (at least after work) tv, friends, weddings and cleaning. I plan to plonk down on the sofa when I get home and dive into a new book. I am actually really looking forward to that!
 
De-cluttering will continue this weekend. I also hit a stop because general clutter is out of sight so I feel better. There are still a few cupboards that I haven’t done yet. I’ve also started making a list of more stuff that needs to go. It includes our vacuum; we have a large industrial one that doesn’t fit in any of the cupboards so it sits in a corner of the lounge and has been annoying me for almost 2 years now! I will finally bite the bullet and buy a smaller one that I can pack away (my fiancés reasoning always being we don’t need to buy one, we already have one!). Nuts to that! I want it gone!

Futons and Vinegar

The box in the lounge with stuff to gift friends is starting to annoy me. I am tempted to just go and drop it all off at the charity shop as well. I have also gained a tray on my birthday. My mum was determined to get me something for my birthday and in the end since I kept saying I didn’t need anything did it rather sneakily. She bought one I thought looked pretty (which she told me was for at my parents’ house). It then didn’t fit in her suitcase when she was packing up to leave so she gifted it to me. Nicely done! It is a pretty tray though.

I understand about minimalism being hard now! I get constant questions now about our wedding registry. People are sweet to want to buy us stuff though so it’s a bit hard to refuse everything. A zen! Looks like we might be due another purge after the wedding! Most things in my life now seem to have the tagline ‘after the wedding’!

Further news about the shower gel: I added another cup of water, so now it’s almost 1L. The consistency is still gooey and the smell of the lye overpowers the essential oils. As said I’ll use it up and then try again. My boy is not convinced and still prefers his Radox. I also went ahead and bought the essential green cleaning set = white vinegar, Baking soda and Castile Soap. I have my eye on two spray bottles at home that are almost empty. When they are I plan to rinse them out well and use them for a water/vinegar mix and a castile soap cleaner.

Other minimalist news: We have decided to sell our futon. It takes up a lot of space in our small flat and gets used probably about once a year. I figure we can lend a blow-up mattress from friends for the ‘once a year’ that anyone stays over.

Day 25 and Body Wash

Tuesday night I made my first body wash! I used a bar of vegetable soap (fragrance free), a tablespoon of coconut oil, 3 cups of water and 15 drops of sweet orange essential oil.

Impressions: It took a long time for the soap to melt (it was on the boil with the water). Once finished it was very runny but I figured it would solidify a bit as it cooled down. I poured it into a plastic water bottle and it made about 750ml. I actually used the warm bottle as a hot water bottle that evening while reading (yay so nice and waaaarm). The next morning it had a slightly thicker consistency but had settled out a bit. The top part looked thicker than the layers underneath. In fact by the afternoon the top had almost solidified but a good shake got it all flowing again.

I haven’t used it in the shower yet since I figured I’d give it more time to set. I did try it to wash my hands though. I found it very slimy! I think this is mostly due to the soap I used though (it was a pure nature soap and was quite oily to begin with). The orange scent is also not discernible :(. I will try and add some more orange oil and see if this helps. Looking at the consistency I think I should have added 4 cups of water, I am not sure if I can add another cup now though.

Overall: Useable but not fantastic. I think I need a different base soap though (It for ie said Fragrance free but actually had a strong soapy smell which now completely covers my orange). Maybe I’ll check at Pick n Pay again for their soap selection (since I was so pleasantly surprised last time by their oils). I’ll have another go once I’ve used up this one, which might take a while. It is actually very cheap, the bar of soap cost me R35 and I now have 750ml body wash. I think the soap was actually too fancy though (I bought it at a specialized soap place) so it should be even cheaper if I use a different one in the future. My only other gripe: The plastic 1L bottle looks terrible in the shower.

No gifts please

My mother is staying with us at the moment which is great. We’ve been going over the wedding planning and catching up in general. The only blip is that she’s been asking about our gift registry. I am all for a no gifts wedding but she says we should have some stuff on it and not just a bank account. Since she was in the kitchen at the time she mentioned an espresso machine (I don’t drink coffee but hubby-2-b’s ears definitely perked up), blender or kitchen robot. I tried to remind her that we were cutting down and I didn’t want to just fill up the flat again with lots of stuff but she seemed a bit adamant. My mother always buys us stuff for the flat. Once a year my parents house-sit for us when we go on holiday and there are always new knives/towels/kitchen gadgets etc when we get back. I’ve had no complaints until now.

Thinking this no gifts thing for the wedding will be tricky to enforce but will still give it a go. My boy is all for just asking for cash but I am finding it all a bit tacky. I am inviting people because I want them there, not because of the gift we might receive. We have a wedding website and I wonder if it will be best to post something on there even though that also seems tacky. Agrr maybe I just quietly let family and bridal party know we aren’t expecting gifts and certainly not stuff and hope it filters through to everyone.

Sometimes I wish I could go back and start planning all over again. Try and avoid more of the crazy wedding ‘traditions’ and keep everything more low-key as I originally wanted. Weddings are such a large industry it is very difficult not to get suckered in. (I’ve mentioned before how aggressive I find the Industry). Anyway too late now and I am sure it will all be lovely, maybe in a couple of years we can have a more intimate anniversary party.

Resolutions

I’ve been reading up about resolutions and how to stick to them. Everything states that it is important to define your goals and try and set measurable ones instead of a vague ‘eat healthier’ for ie. I’ve tried to do that and here they are;

Health:

·         Drink more water – at least 3 glasses with lemon juice and 1 with Apple Cider Vinegar and Honey every day.

·         Drink less alcohol – Confine week drinking to 2 units max. Weekend limit to one unit per hour. Drink at least one non-alcoholic (water, ginger ale) for every 2 units consumed

·         Eat less refined sugar – No sugar in my tea and using Honey everywhere I can as a substitute.

·         Eat breakfast – this is a big one for me! I’ve been skipping breakfast since I was 15

·         Exercise more often – Squash once a week. Gym once a week and 2 x 30min walks each week. Try and make one of those walks up the steep incline in our neighbourhood (I want to use that as a measure, I can hardly make it up now so hopefully I will see this improving with time).

Happiness:

·         Paint more – Try for 1 hour a week

·         Read more – Also try an hour a week

·         Develop new hobbies – at the moment I am keen to try out all these essential oils

·         Watch less TV – Limit this to 3 hours a week (my guilty pleasure is Shameless 3, the American version, love this!)

·         Get a house plant – I am thinking of Lilies at the moment, they are fairly easy to keep, are pretty and help to detoxify your air. Don’t stress when it dies (they invariably do in our flat). Another alternative is Aloe which is even easier to keep alive.

Live simply:

·         Reduce chemical use – I would like to have replaced at least 80% of our cosmetics and cleaning products with non-toxic, green stuff by the end of the year. Goal to be free of all toxic chemicals by May 2014.

·         Recycle – Start with Paper, Glass and cans, none of these can end up in our normal trash anymore. Gradually work in plastic as well.

·         Declutter – Mostly done. Make it a mission to stay on top of this though.

·         Less social media - quit Facebook, I’ve already posted on my wall that I’ll be leaving at the end of August.

This weekend I tried them all out. The alcohol one went out the window. It was destined to since the whole purpose of the weekend was to sample every wine on our wedding venues list and decide which we wanted. The reading and art though were sorted. I spent quite a bit of time on both and enjoyed doing some sketches. Every time I draw I always say after, that was great I should do that more often! We also spent the whole long weekend tech-free, we didn’t even put any music on. Instead we built a fireplace, read, cycled and played board games.

Essential Oils starter kit

So excited! My new essential oils arrived over lunch at work. I couldn’t resist a sneak-peak. Here are the 6 I bought; Lavender, Lemon, Tea-tree, Eucalyptus, Sweet Orange and Peppermint. Most look very standard and are recommended by most aromatherapy sites as the basics, the only exception being the sweet orange. I love citrusy smells and if I’m saying bye-bye to my Nivea-Happy Time then I’ll want a decent replacement.

These are an early birthday gift from my boy and he says he doesn’t want me to use them until my actual birthday! Arrrgh the pain! I guess I’ll have to store them somewhere for a week or so. At least I can gather some more recipes to try out in the meantime. At the moment a peppermint or citrus body wash is top of the list, followed by deodorant.

Day 17

Last night I was absolutely kaput. I’d been to the gym and spent probably longer in the sauna than I should have. I came home, had my glass of ACV water and needed a half hour to decompress. Mrgh.

After dinner though I finally decided I really needed to tackle the kitchen cupboards. Since I knew I didn’t have much energy I decided to tackle the worst offender first, where I would see the biggest difference. This is a cupboard next to the oven where we store all our condiments and oil as well as all our plastic Tupperware. It’s also an annoying cupboard since it sits in a corner and so half of it is not directly accessible since it is behind the other cupboard in the 90 degree bend. I had to stick my whole head in there to see what was going on and it was grim. Stuff gets pushed back into this area that you can never reach. It means we are always looking for the lids to our plastic containers that have drifted into the no-go zone.

It is also very deep and when we go out and buy new sauces etc we put them in front and the rest gets pushed back which made for an interesting timeline of sorts as I started to clear them out. There were maybe 30 bottles of stuff in there. The back layer was already fluffy and gross. I’d been complaining to my guy for weeks that it smelled in there and now I know why. I also tossed all the containers that I couldn’t find matching lids to as well as an assortment of take-away containers we insist on keeping. We were left with about 6 plastic containers and 4 condiments (my new jar of coconut oil, grapeseed oil (more on that just now), chutney bottle and balsamic vinegar). I also have two vases I was trying to find a home for since they’d been living on my counter space. I used these to try and create a wall between the accessible part of the cupboard and the rest. I then explained to my boy that from now on we were not going to put anything in that space anymore.

This morning I loaded up all that plastic and cardboard (we still had the packaging for sets of glasses we’ve owned for almost 3 years!). I’ll be stopping at the recycling depot over lunch to drop them off. I’m keen to get it all done as my mother is visiting this weekend and I don’t want stacks of rubbish by our front door.

Lastly, I had an aha moment at Pick n pay last night. I’d gone in to find vinegar, soda and carrier oil (I’d been thinking of plain old vegetable). The carrier oil is for the essential oils, I had been tempted to also buy them from Faithful to Nature. Wow, Pick N Pay had so many different types of oil! I was properly impressed! Besides the usual; vegetable, canola, olive etc they had more interesting ones as well; Grapeseed (bought this one), Avocado, Apricot Kernel and Macadamia nut. It was also a lot cheaper than those listed on the faithful to nature website and careful checking of the labels showed them to contain no additives or preservatives so also pure oil. Made me realise again though that impulse buying is not good. It was good to wait a bit since Ive seen a cheaper alternative now.

Oh and since I enjoy illustrator, Ive been playing around with the design of the pretty labels to give my new products.

 

 

Day 16

Last night I went to play squash again with a friend. Or at least we tried. The courts were all full so it was back home and a vow to try again on Thursday. It was a good excuse to invite her up to look through my gift pile (nice stuff that I want to sell or give to friends). She left with two pairs of shoes, a pile of books and all my perfume (I did explain about the parabens they contained since I felt I can’t give toxic products to friends but she didn’t mind).

I then went online and ordered myself a set of essential oils and some castile soap. That should hopefully arrive sometime in the middle of next week. Lastly we went out to discuss weekend plans with friends. Friday is a public holiday here and we have rented a cottage with some friends in the winelands. Objective: Try out all the wines on our wedding venues menu, they are mostly from the area so will be fun to get bikes out and cycle from wine estate to estate. Looking forward to that. I am also taking some art projects along since I want to start drawing/painting more again. It makes me zen.

No cleaning took place, although I did drag some stuff for recycling out to the car this morning  to dump at the recycling depot on the way home. Really need to tackle the rest of the Kitchen tonight. It’s a bit of a mission so I am not looking forward to it but I’ve done most of the house now and it’s the last bit that needs doing. My boys desk area is overflowing with stuff but I won’t touch that. I am hoping with some time he will realise how cluttered it is now compared to the rest of the house.

Day 15

Spent last night clearing out the kitchen top cupboards (bottom ones tonight). All in all I was mostly organizing as I didn’t want to get rid of too many glasses. The only exception was our spice cupboard which as mentioned was filthy. I tossed some spices with best before dates way back in 2008!

Actually about 90% of the spice was out of date or unidentifiable. Now we have three glass shakers only; salt, pepper and thyme. Not too fussed since we don’t use much spice and we have some fresh Rosemary and Lavender in the communal garden thanks to some zealous former tenant (we suspect our lemon tree is also a by-product of this person).

I am also getting more excited about the prospect of replacing most of our cosmetics and household products with greener solutions.

I’ve been spending some time on an Aromatherapy website which lists lots of simple recipes. Am keen to try some out! Will start with Laundry detergent and body washes. We have a maid who comes weekly, mostly since we couldn’t settle on who’s turn it was to iron (somehow always mine). She loves bleach and Handy  Andy and VIM. I don’t think it will be very easy to convince her of the other products, I will have to phase them in gently and try and explain to her why I want to use them. This leads me to my first purchase idea in 2 weeks. I received a gift certificate from Faithful to nature it all looks amazing and they deliver by courier to you. I am planning on using it to buy some essential oils so I can start playing around (Lavender, peppermint, Tea Tree, Oregano, Lemon and Eucalyptus). I am motivating the purchase as a benefit for our health and a reduction of our spending on household cleaners.

Will keep you posted how it goes. My boy said last night that he’s a bit scared of what will be next. I wondered why and he said it’s because I was super busy wedding-wise and now that I’m mostly sorted I am super busy cleaning. He said there’s only enough of the flat left for another 3-4 days of cleaning and what then? I guess we will have to wait and see!

(Here a pretty logo I made for myself with some borrowed graphics from weddingchicks)

Day 14

So another weekend!

I’m so happy to report that the flat is looking much better and I’ve finally gotten more excited/happy about the whole process.

Friday afternoon I dropped off most stuff at a local charity shop that supports an orphanage. So good cause! I had so many boxes and bags to drop off the sales assistant was a bit surprised but happy.

Saturday morning we went hiking and I must admit it was fairly embarrassing as we went with a bunch of hard-core cyclists and runners and I was the only one struggling to get up the mountain! Phew! did make it though and vowed not to do that again anytime soon! It is shocking to realise how unfit you really are. I am, by nature, very slim but that’s not the same as fit! I think the once a week squash is just not cutting it. I’ve now added getting fitter to my list of goals for a better/happier life. Saturday afternoon I slept. I swear I passed out after all the hiking so nothing happened here.

Sunday I was home alone, my boy went cycling. I was feeling great though and got so much done! I cleaned the house, and finally finished the bathroom (it is looking quite empty now!). I also went to our local Wellness Warehouse and bought some coconut oil, apple cider vinegar and green tea as part of my healthier living plan. I then baked some blueberry muffins with coconut oil and honey instead of butter and sugar. They came out really good (even though my boy did burn half of them later! We sometimes store stuff in the oven after baking so our cat doesn’t eat them and he forgot to take them out afterwards when he made a quiche, sad face, so much effort lost).

While searching for the baking powder I also realised what a mess our spice cupboard is in so think kitchen will be the next room on my list (euw mouldy vanilla pods! and everything is sticky). Even got some studying done and loads of laundry since the weather was finally dry. Oh and also sorted out a bin for recyclables. Found a recycle depot close to work that employs disabled people to sort through it which is fantastic since it means I can keep everything for recycling in one bin and they will sort it afterwards. Having a bin for glass, cans, paper etc was not going to work for us. We don’t have the space for multiple bins and at the moment we don’t have the discipline either so this is a great alternative!

Feelings: More motivated, finding that having less is encouraging me to try other new things. Such as the recycling and greening :)

Day 11

After starting the bathroom purge (I’m not done yet!) I was wondering what products to replace everything with. I started doing some online research and found out you can make most of it yourself. There are even recipes for shampoo which include only water, baking soda and some essential oil for fragrance. Is it weird for me to doubt the effectiveness of these products? How can that work? It’s so simple. I am willing to give it a go but am also hesitant at the moment because having the wedding coming up I want my tresses looking extra lush (which is why I bought the expensive shampoo). Reckon I’m chickening out of this one. I’ve still got lots of shampoo and will stretch it until the wedding. After that though i will give this baking soda thing a try.

The other item I was reading about is coconut oil and how it has multiple uses around the home. Most interesting for me was as alternative for shaving gel. Not sure if I can get my boy to try this though. Might just nudge him to try it at least once and if no good I can still use it elsewhere. Have no idea where to get this though, it’s not something I’ve ever seen in the supermarket.

And that’s brought me to another annoying realisation. I am still purging but even while I am busy I am thinking about all the stuff I will go out and buy to replace it all with! Ok, given, probably safer stuff, but still stuff. Mrrr its fraustrating!

Bathroom stuff

 

Here’s my basket of products in our bathroom. I realised afterwards that it doesn’t even contain any of the stuff I have in the shower. It’s quite a bit. Using the skindeep database to go through it took ages and not all products were listed so now I have some question mark stuff.

I got rid of everything that scored a 5 or higher. That’s almost ¾ at the mo! Trying to think of what we really need/use all the time and what’s extra. These are, I reckon, the basics;

For him:

·         Shaving foam

·         Shower gel

·         Shampoo

For me:

·         Shampoo and conditioner

·         Shower gel

·         Face wash

·         Eyeliner + Blush

·         Moisturiser, face and body

 

I was so relieved that the super fancy, expensive shampoo and conditioner that I had bought especially to have super soft, shiny hair by the wedding fell into the 4 category so I could keep them! Our Nivea creme moisturiser also got a 4 (stays) but I was surprised that most of our other Nivea stuff failed. I thought they were an ok brand. My boys shaving cream came out a 6 so I will be looking to replace that asap (I was forbidden to throw it away without first getting him an alternative! My boy does not do shaggy).

Not sure what to do with the unknowns. Now I guess I will have to check their ingredient list separately and try and decide that way. Not sure what to do with the stuff that I trashed either. It seems a waste to throw it all away (most bottles are still quite full) and I don’t really think you can donate stuff that’s already been opened. Also, now that you know how hazardous some of it is it’s not like you want to give it to friends.

Also the whole process made me think more about the make-up I buy. I like make-up, I like the small containers and the thought of it. In reality I hardly ever wear the stuff though. I don’t wear make-up to work. If we are going out at night I will put on some eye-liner and blush and sometimes when I’ve missed some sleep and have little panda eyes I’ll put on some concealer under my eyes. So that’s 3 products. I for ie never wear lipstick! I do own 5 tubes of it though, same for eye shadow. All this is going. I have a big tin I keep all my make-up in, maybe it’s time to get rid of that as well. Maybe I can put it all in a pretty glass (which I already own!) and it will be more accessible and take up less space in the bathroom. Before I was always digging in my large tin box looking for stuff so not wasting time on that anymore seems a plus.

Feelings: Wondering if I made the de-cluttering process that much harder by looking at the environmental/chemical side of things. I know it will take a lot longer to sort out the bathroom this way but hoping it will be a less toxic environment afterwards. Also wondering where to buy fragrance free products in SA? Think I will miss my citrus scented shower gel :(