I’ve been wanting to decorate for xmas/solstice this year. Some years we do and some we don’t but I’m feeling the urge and have been checking out a lot of great low waste decoration ideas.
Madfit is doing blogmas for workouts! 24 days of at home workouts. I love her simple style and short vids.
Really cool portraits revolving around a personal uniform.
I always need more tips to cure winter blues.
It’s that time of year where all the cats want to curl up in front of the radiator. Good thing we have a mat for that.
On My Mind On Friday Morning
Since I’m trying to post about house and home this month, here are a few of my favorite YouTube sites on the same topic. Whether it’s tiny homes, sustainable living, or thrifted living, I love them all.
Here’s an update on the neon art space in Asbury Park, NJ.
Bodega Possum.
Check out these gorgeous dogs being celebrated.
Lots of new Items added to Mad Cat Market insta in the last few weeks. Check it out and I would love to hear suggestions, wish lists, or comments! We’re closed for the holiday weekend, but I’ll have a big update on Monday 11/26. Thanks!
On My Mind on Friday Morning
I want to streamline and reduce waste in my dishwashing routine so I’ve been looking for a tub or pan to use in my sink to conserve water. Something like this, this, or maybe this.
I love that a “Cat Grandpa” is raising awareness for special needs shelter cats!
Some rare jellies were recently found nearby where we live.
I’m ready for a nap right now.
Thinking about a tub for better dishwashing is really just a stop gap until we finally finish our kitchen reno (which we started well over a year ago). Once we install the two compartment sink we bought second hand I won’t need it! I can’t wait!
But at the moment this sink looks like this:
On My Mind On Friday Morning
I love to watch videos about motivation, organization, ways improve your life, or lifestyle! Three channels I watch are AmyTV, MichelleB, and Sustainably Vegan. All three of these channels are helpful in different ways and I love watching all their videos!
Some info on sustainable choices.
Check your local grocery store or Target to drop off those pesky plastic bags.
This article about where to retire on the cheap was interesting.
5This week, I’ve been taking over my works instagram! It’s been soooo fun so far! Check it out at the Talula’s Pizza Instagram!
On My Mind on Friday Morning
We have so many radishes in our garden! They are starting to split and we have decided to pickle them! Here are a few that look good, like above (1, 2, 3)
We struggle with having a partially grass lawn, perhaps clover is the answer.
Cool Levi's guide here.
Goats in strange places.
Here is our bed of radishes:
On My Mind on Friday Morning
I've been watching a million thrift hauls lately! The next best thing to thrifting is seeing what other people thrift! I love to see what thrifting looks like in different parts of the country and the world. Some of my favorites are B Jones Style (my current favorite!), By Chloe Wen (her thrift challenges are awesome!), Gently Thrifty Mama (love her hauls!).
Coffee, coffee, coffee.
A new Buffy? What do we think? A new Roswell? Definitely not!
Love the beach, hate crowds; come to NJ.
Our garden is going nuts! Herbs! Peppers! Tomatoes!
Who else is gardening this Summer? What are your most prolific crops?
On My Mind On Friday Morning
I posted a link to the official Plastic Free July website yesterday, but take a closer look at their resource page.
Banning plastic that causes waste and pollution might be a great long term plan, but there are consequences that have to be addressed.
How did I miss BullyPalooza?
I dogear!
I posted on my insta story, but ACV and my new shampoo bar are my current favorite thing!! My hair is soooo soft after!!
On My Mind On Friday Morning
A home improvement I'd love to do before next Winter is to install a wood stove for added heat and comfort. Some are very fancy, but I'm looking for something simple (1,2).
Did you know that Catitecture (architecture and interior design for cats) was a thing!?! The video at the end is a must watch.
Even huge corporations see that there are alternatives to plastic straws, and more people are asking for them. (this link contains a disturbing video link, please be aware).
Speaking of fires.
Here's a sneak peak of the furniture we picked up from my grandma's house this week. It was my dad's bedroom set growing up in the 50s and 60s, then my grandma use it in her bedroom for many years. Now it's ours.
You can see it got made our own, with toys and plants quickly taking up residency. Don't mind the roll of paper towels, they are still one bad anti-zero waste habit we have.
On My Mind On Friday Morning
We are redecorating our kitchen and looking for a new sink. I like this one, but it's sooo pricy. I also like this and this. Hopefully we will find one second hand. Does anyone know any eco friendly or sustainable sink brands?
Last month we stayed in a hotel that allows cats and dogs, but I'd like to stay where they have a cat as a mascot!
I'm sure I'm not the only one that loves looking at abandoned theme parks.
RIP Stephen Hawking.
More advice, please!! Irving, our newest rescue, is really having a hard time adjusting. Do any readers have tricks for a new cat fitting in?
On My Mind On Friday Morning
A friend recently asked me for my first or easy zero waste swaps, so I thought it would be nice to round up a few of those here:
One easy thing we started doing was using cloth napkins. It's far cheaper and easier than buying paper napkins or, as we used to use, paper towels.
I try to always to bring my reusable coffee cup when I know I'm going to be getting a coffee out. If I forget I get the coffee to stay.
One easy swap I made was to stop using plastic bags for produce at the supermarket. I either do not place my veggies in a bag at all (this works well for broccoli, lettuce, kale...) or I bring a mesh or fabric bag (for mushrooms, grapes, etc...).
United by Blue had a pop shop on the Asbury Park Boardwalk one Summer, I hope they come back!
A little history of NJ and Singer sewing machines.
More reasons to drink more coffee.
I have posted my first ever video on youtube! It's short and silly!
On My MInd On Friday Morning
I have been watching A TON of "What I Eat in a Day" videos. Some are better than others, but I love them (my husband hates allll of them). Currently I'm really enjoying Caitlin Shoemaker (she has so many interesting recipes and process), Veggikins (she lives in NYC but it's fun to see what she eats when she travels, too), and Kate Flowers (Ohio vegan).
Loved this little video about recycling in Kenya.
A village of cats in Taiwan.
A mated pair of bald eagles are now my neighbors!!
After a bunch of failed attempts to get second hand jeans, I broke down and bought a pair of Jeans from Everlane. I was excited to try this sustainable company I've heard so much about and plan to do a full review soon.
On My Mind on Friday Morning
It was cool to see famous surfer Kelly Slater was surfing in NJ last month.
I am always looking for more places in the house for plants, and for the right plants for those places.
I would say that since we started being more mindful about waste we have greatly reduced our garbage. But we may have increased our recycling. Here's a good article about recycling different items.
Although I've been trying to avoid bread (or bc of it??) I've been craving buttered rolls. Or hard rolls with butter as we New Jerseyans call them.
OMMOFM Update: We planted all our blueberry bushes well before the frost and they look great and seem to be doing well!! We still haven't devised a way to keep the birds and squirrels away next Summer, but we have a little time for that.
One friend, who has only native plants in her garden said we should just let them have the berries! She said she has a cherry tree and she does just that!
On My Mind On Friday Morning
Time for another edition of one line movie reviews:
Blade Runner 2049 - A really good sequel, made years later, but in the same universe.
John Wick 2 - Never saw the first one. I think I'd like that better.
LoudQUIETLoud - The Pixies were even weirder than you thought.
Who else is ready to build a house in the woods with this??
Speaking of people's houses, I've noticed a lot of articles about celebs from NJ. I liked this one.
Maybe we should all just move in with Ed Begley Jr.
Starting this post with fire and ending with rainbows! Here are some rainbows thrown from the prism I moved this week. I'm in need of more rainbows now that the weather is getting colder.
On My Mind On Friday Morning
I've been wanting to cook and make things that I no longer want to buy in the store bc of plastic or wasteful packaging. One thing that I still buy even though it's quite bad in both packaging and added ingredients is blue cheese dressing (but I love it!!). I've been collecting recipes to make my own (1, 2, 3)
I would consider this job if I spoke more (any) French!
If you are thinking of applying to the job above, you might want to think about personal space.
Here is an article about homesteading closer to home.
We bought these blueberry bushes in June, and now there are almost planted!
Anyone have any good tricks for keeping the birds and squirrels from eating your berries? We have until next summer to figure it out!
On My Mind On Friday Morning
I need to get back into the quilting rhythm so this On My Mind... is all about some quilting inspiration. Although I failed at my madcatquiltsbom2017, I want to get back into sewing new blocks each month:
1. I've really been wanting to do some drunkard's path blocks. Shown above is one from SloStudio but I also love this one from Twiggy and Opal.
2. These angled 1/4 log cabins wouldn't be a new block for me but I'm inspired by the ones the Lilac Cat is working on.
3. Of course, just after I decide to give up on the Honey Pot Bee, I love both of September's blocks.
Here's a good post on working in a small sewing space.
And here is an article for being productive in the space you have.
I loved seeing the progression and the finish of this amazing lighthouse quilt by Sew Slowly!
One of my goals for the Fall and Autumn cleaning is to reorganize my fabric. Here's the before:
Hopefully the after will come soon! For now, I'm really not sure what to do with all this fabric. I don't want to purchase any new storage and the cardboard boxes don't not work. But they don't work well, either. Not to mention this isn't all my fabric, of course! This is just what managed to stay on the shelves. My husband and I have some days off together coming up and we plan on doing some stash busting projects, so that will be a great motivation to go thru all this. Any tips or tricks for No Waste/No Consumption stash organization?
On My Mind On Friday Morning
I'm trying hard to live a less wasteful life (more on that on the blog soon) and here are some of the websites I've begun following lately for inspiration: Litterless (love this one and only wished she posted more often!), Going Zero Waste (This has some good tips for starting out, but sometimes doesn't explain concepts fully), Fairdare (combines many aspects of a website that I like, sustainability, pretty pics, memade capsule wardrobe, etc...).
And speaking of wardrobes this was an interesting quick article on sustainable fabrics.
It really boggles my mind that the prehistoric horseshoe crabs is used constantly in everyday medicine. This practice might be putting them at risk.
I'm loving this tree map of Brooklyn and NYC. I wish it had been around while I lived there!
Two weeks ago, we got out raised bed finished! My husband did all the hard work and I just helped move it to it's home spot. Now we have to fill it up and plant!
I know we are well behind for planting a garden this year, but I'm still looking for suggestions of what to plant. Especially some late yield crops! Any thoughts?
On My Mind On Friday Morning
I really liked this color chart for food groups.
Now that April weather is in full swing, shouldn't we all learn from the Japanese tradition of flower viewing?
I really love this post by Tu-Na Quilts. I think having a "what I learned" section is a great idea and I plan to try this in the future!
In another interesting quilt post Sew Slowly talks about her switch to organic fabric.
Since going to swim at the health club, my hair has been a terror. The pool is saline, but also contains chemicals. I've taken to not washing it at all when I don't have to so that it can produce some good oils. I was thinking about oiling it as well. I found this article which has given me some ideas. Any readers struggle with this? Give me your suggestions!
On My Mind On Friday Morning
We watched some good movies in Feb and some not so good here are a few one line movie reviews:
The Dressmaker - Tried too hard to be weird. But lovely imagery.
Self/Less - I like action adventure movies and Ryan Reynolds. If you do, too, this is a good one.
A Dangerous Method - Interesting and thought provoking, but disturbing,
Here's a gentleman who knows how to live. And about sweaters.
I love this article from Reading My Tea Leaves. I am the choir that Erin is preaching to.
Here's a fascinating video on zero waste living (this and the above link kinda form a theme).
I want this year to be my Year of the Porch. I'm working at fixing up and cleaning the front porch and spending some quality time out there. Here's a pic I took this morning:
As you can see there's quite a lot to be done. But it's a small space.
Here is a bit of a porch wish list:
Clean up, sweep
Wipe down table
Get better chairs (2)
More plants
Use coral collection on windowsills
Cat window cage?!
Hang string lights
Trim bushes
More plants and more plants....
Are any of my readers porch people (or stoop people)? Any tips or suggestions for making the most of the porch life?
On My Mind On Friday Morning
The Rio Olympic Stadiums, only 6 months after the event.
I know these are not uplifting images and idea, but I was saddened to see the damage by tornados in NOLA, and then stumbled upon the wreckages of some olympic stadiums (Rio and Athens). The thing that they have in common are that the images struck me as tragic and stunning. My heart goes out to those in New Orleans, once again struck by natures force.
This is a short and interesting article about Beyonce's pregnancy photos. I know we have bigger problems to worry about. But sometimes it's just nice to gaze at Bey.
I missed out on Hari-Kuyo this year, but Kathy's Quilts didn't! I'll be ready next year.
A brief article of how marine biologists and fishermen worked together to identify marine life, back in the day. Having just asked many questions of species actions and origins myself, this felt timely.
My BFF is studying to be a nutritionalist and has been sending me warnings and encuragements. Below is a really neat little anti inflammatory diet pyramid. I feel good that I eat similar and well most of the time!
How does your diet fit with this chart?
On My Mind On Friday Morning
I've been watching a bunch of movies lately, here are some one line reviews:
Elvis & Nixon - I'm not sure if this movie was completely fabricated, but I hope it wasn't.
Kill Your Darlings - Interesting and enough to make me want to start researching and reading the Beats again.
Star Trek Beyond - I loved the original reboot, but man, it's time to give it up.
I'd love a chance to live on this historic house boat. I wonder how the cats would like it?
I'm gonna be honest, this article was way too wordy for me, so I didn't read it. But I can't stop looking at the pictures of Lili Taylor bird watching!! She's one of my favorite actresses and adorable.
An old item, but a great message from Vivian Westwood.
This little succulent is growing like mad. I'm thrilled bc it was near death about a year ago. Are there any succulent enthusiasts out there?
January 7th.
January 27th
Here's a heartening update on Sunny's Bar in Brooklyn, which I previously spotlighted here.