The Thousand Word Project – Wrinkled

 

Update On Getting Rid of 365 Things

 

You may recall that this year I challenged myself (and anyone who wanted to join me) to get rid of 365 things.  I’ve kept working on that goal even though I’ve failed at posting any further updates till now. :-) 

For some reason, I started at 365 and have been counting down.  I think it would have been easier to count up, but - Oh well.  I started this week at 141 things left to get rid of.  Since there are 162 days left this year I’m ahead of schedule, which is very gratifying.  Plus it gives me a buffer for weeks when I might not be able to make much progress.  If I’d counted every item individually I’m sure I would have been past my goal by now.  But, I was intentionally under counting some things in order to make it harder on myself and more effective.

The worst weeks were two different weeks when I only managed to get rid of one item.  I think I was sick part of one of those weeks and the other one was the week we tried to go on vacation.  (I say “tried” because we ended up coming home early.  Long story.)  The best week so far was a few weeks ago when I got rid of 27 things!  That was satisfying indeed.  I also had two different weeks in which I discarded 24 items. That really helped me catch up.

Just for interest I’ll list some items here that I’ve either thrown away or donated (or will be donating).  These are not necessarily the total amounts of these items I’ve gotten rid of.  I haven’t added up totals for categories (as yet) and maybe won’t.  These are just numbers taken from random weeks – in other words, I got rid of this number of whatever it is in one week – not all total.  I hope that makes sense.

1 sun catcher
1 spice carousel (in the way and seldom used)
1 bag of orange peels (from the fridge. They were being saved for making candied orange peels, but I realized it wasn’t going to happen and gave myself permission to throw them away, and to count them. ;-)
1 bed skirt
1 bed coverlet
2 packages of trim (sewing type trim)
1 jug fancy fabric scraps
1 tea kettle
1 old garden hose segment with sprinkler attached (Yeah. That was sitting out in one of the gardens. What? Don’t ask.)
1 bag candy :-)
1 catalogue (Well, it was a quilting catalogue that I especially liked – Hancock’s of Paducah – and I wanted to keep it!)
3 shirts
1 string (It was a string of considerable substance and color and it hadn’t been used in all the time it was stored and it was cut in an unlikely segment.  Huh.  Sorry, some of you just won’t understand that.  I think it’s a genetic thing. :-)
1 container of old feta cheese (Because it was given to me and I kept thinking I’d use it, but it was getting strong and a little weird and finally I just decided to pitch it.)
1 computer chair
4 garments
1 corn syrup (Found on its side in the back of the pantry. It had leaked. Ugh.)
1 dead plant (don’t ask – Not donated, don’t worry.)
1 package stale pancake mix (It was given to us, but my husband makes them from scratch.  What can I say?)
1 frying pan
"1 useless gadget" (That’s actually what I wrote in my record. I don’t even know what it was. LOL)
12+ various food items (things I wasn’t going to use)
1 item décor
6 jars old food (These were mostly things my family has been carrying around for years that ended up in my store room.  They were old.  Yes, they should have been used, but that’s how it goes sometimes when you home can food and can’t stand to use it up too quickly, but don’t use it quickly enough.  Blah.  I want to try to break that trend for my own part. :-)
1 plastic container
2 batches of bows (See photo below.  Confession time – I have a weakness for gift bows.  I use them on both wrapped packages and on gift bags.  Well, I didn’t really know how many I had until I decided to sort and reduce the gift wrap collection which involved more than one box.  Ahem!  I realized I have a problem that has to stop!  Yeeps. :-o)

These photos in this post were taken on my cell phone, hence the poor quality.

So, this is my mid-year update on this challenge.  There may not be another one till the end of the year.  We’ll see.  If you want to tell us about your efforts please leave a message.  If you’ve blogged about it yourself leave a link too, please.

Evening Song – We Gather Together

 

Romans 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Australian Memories – Dingoes

 

These dingoes were at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane.  They are beautiful animals.

“Enough photos already!”

Banana Brownies

This was originally published in August 2009.  This recipe can be altered a number of ways as the note at the bottom indicates.

Banana Brownies

Mix together:

2/3 C. sugar

1/2 C. flour (all purpose or whole wheat)

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla or almond flavor

2/3 C. mashed, over ripe bananas

1/4 C. cocoa powder

1 egg lightly beaten

Pour into a greased 8x8 inch pan. Bake 20-30 minutes at 350F. Cool 5 minutes and remove from pan to a wire rack to continue cooling.
----------------------------

With white flour these brownies will be more like cake, but with whole wheat they are heavier like true brownies should be, and healthier like true brownies usually are not. :-) 

There are some great ways to dress up or vary this recipe as well. Sprinkle nuts, chocolate chips, or drained maraschino cherries on top and gently push into the batter in the pan before baking. Once I left out the cocoa powder and added spices instead to make a banana spice cake. To do this measure the spices you want (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.) into a 1/4 C. measuring cup. Add enough flour to make up the difference and add in place of the cocoa. Be sure to use vanilla extract for this change, and nuts are a nice addition. You could also add some orange zest for an interesting flavor. (I wonder what this variation would taste like made with canned pumpkin instead of the bananas. Hmmmm.) Also you could try using other flour mixtures for a healthier brownie - 1/4 C. oat flour plus 1/4 C. whole wheat, etc. (Not all flours respond the same in recipes, so remember to make appropriate alterations accordingly.)

The Burden of Israel – by Annie Johnson Flint

This poem seemed appropriate for today.

Zechariah 12:2  Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all
the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against
Judah and against Jerusalem.

Zechariah 8:13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were
a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah,
and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall
be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.

The Burden of Israel

Behold, thou art a burden, O house of Israel,
A curse among the nations wherever thou dost dwell,
They hate thee and they fear thee as all the world can tell.

Thou art a fire, O Jacob, among the forest leaves;
A flame of fear devouring, a torch among the sheaves;
A trouble to the countries, for which the whole earth grieves.

A thorn art thou, O Judah, a terror to the lands,
Sharp stone and rock of stumbling that cuts the meddler's hands,
A snare to the oppressor who binds thee with his bands.

Thou art a cup of trembling, Jerusalem, today;
The mighty men are gathered, the battle in array,
The Gentile hosts assembled, that God may have His way.

A joy unto the nations, O Judah, thou shalt be,
When out of all the countries the Lord hath gathered thee,
And thou shalt be a blessing from sea to farthest sea.

By Annie Johnson Flint

 

Evening Song – Man of Sorrows what A Name