Today a coworker sent me information about a brand new website that helps connect neighbors in a really cool way. It is called Household Network. It is a place where you sign in and create and account of things you are willing to lend out to people. The idea is if you need a ladder for a project and your neighbor has a ladder they are willing to lend, you can contact them. What a concept, instead of buying something we may only need one time, we borrow it from someone who already has it. I personally think it is great and I have signed up and created a network near our property upstate. I haven’t listed things we have to lend yet, I have to be up there to take inventory first, but I hope this catches on. Who knows, maybe the next time you need a punch bowl for that big super bowl party you are planning, you can borrow it instead of buying a new one which will then take up space in your cabinet for the next 10 years.

This weekend we stayed local which was a nice change. I had time to replant a few plants that had outgrown their pots and managed to do it without killing them. M&I put up his space invaders wall decals. They look fabulous! Much better on the wall then in a pile on his desk. Sunday I tackled a sewing project. It is little lunch sack. It took just about all day. I purchased a pattern and used scraps of fabric I had accumulated over the years. It turned out ok.. I am not the best at sewing so there are a few things I wish I had been able to do better. I may go back and try to fix it… I may not. M put together a space for me to work on my jewelry so now the pressure is on. All in all it was nice to get a few of these lingering projects out of the way so they aren’t taunting us any more.

Whoooohooo! This year not only are we done with our taxes on time, we are done so early we were able to file them already. I can’t tell you how happy this makes me. For the last two years we didn’t plan so well and we were forced to wait in line at the post office in Manhattan for hours. Even the fact that we owe the government more money can’t dampen my joy.

I am trying to get a little Etsy shop set up. I make jewelry and I have too much stuff accumulated to give it all away, much in the same way my husband does not need another scarf. Besides, wouldn’t it be nice to make enough to fund my habit, I mean hobby? This tutorial from Photojojo (a great site for geeky crafty information if you haven’t already checked it out) is very timely. via

This post over at Apartment Therapy makes me sad. I have been a long time reader of Apartment Therapy and even attended their first get together here in NY. Lately I have been feeling more like I am reading one of those fashion magazines that tells me what Katie Holmes is buying for her home. I don’t want to get preachy here (isn’t this always the point where people always get preachy) but if you have money from a tax refund or rebate, pay off your bills. If you don’t have bills you are doing great already but we can always do more so why not invest it. And if it is really burning a hole in your pocket, consider donating it to those who really could use a helping hand. Please don’t go and buy bamboo towels just because you have a few extra dollars. Or buy them because you really need them. Ok. I am done being preachy. I hope I didn’t scare any of my faithful readers away. Back to your regularly scheduled programing.

If you have been reading for a while, you have heard me talk about ReadyMade on my blog before. We are going to be constructing a ReadyMade modular similar to the one pictured here this summer. I only hope we look this cool standing in front of it. Well if you haven’t had a chance to check them out, you are in luck. You can get the full current issue online here along with a few back issues. This month’s focus is reducing, reusing and recycling and this is a test run to see if there is interest in an online only version. With all the magazines I get piling up at home, I would definitely be interested.

We are so close to getting electricity I can almost feel the shock. M is going up Thursday with his uncle to put up the box. The Friday an inspector is coming and he will then pass on the word to Central Hudson that we are ready for electricity. YEAH! This is a major step forward. The next step will be using the electricity to power our tools and make our ReadyMade shed (get ready Grandpa!) Well once we have a place to sleep we are going to need a place to do our business. Now comes the poopy talk. We are trying to decided the best way to set up an outhouse of sorts. Although we will have electric, we still won’t have water. What option does this leave us? A composting toilet will do the trick nicely. No water, no electricity and if and when we have a more traditional bathroom set up, we can always move it to one of the more remote areas of our 18 acres.

The last few times we have worked upstate we have stayed with our friend’s parents. It has been a lifesaver. We work all day Saturday get dirty and then head over to there place for shower, dinner, dessert and bed. We get great conversation (usually with some wine), a terrific meal (this week is was lasagna), and dessert. This week it was chocolate oatmeal bars, and home-made biscotti. Then in the morning there is breakfast. And if all that wasn’t enough, we get sandwiches and cookies for the road! Thank goodness we are working so hard.

This weekend M&I were upstate working. Some weekends I come home Sunday feeling like we have worked worked worked, but didn’t get anywhere. This weekend was different. I think we are coming to the realization that small victories are the best. Not every project needs to be done perfectly. We were able to look at pieces and see beauty instead of taking in the whole and seeing a god awful mess. We realized if we can quickly get a project done, have the benefit of it and have time for other things. In the end we are going to have a bunch of things that aren’t entirely perfect, but are functional. These things are not without their own beauty. Apparently without knowing it we have become practitioners of wabi-sabi. Wabi-sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is the beauty of things modest and humble. It is the beauty of things unconventional. M suggested we call our land Camp Wabi-Sabi. I like it.