Gardening As I Can

Spring has been very slow to arrive here in the eastern midwest. I've been quite eager to get things planted in my yard, as it's my first full spring in my new little house. However, it has been too cold and rainy to allow for much gardening at all.

In lieu of planting outdoors, I've started several herbs and a few other plants in temporary pots and kept them next to the window in my bedroom. It has worked pretty well, although the frequent cloudy days have meant less sun exposure than I'd wish. My primary concern is the fact that my cats like to nosh on the leaves and so I have quite the time trying to keep the frisky felines away from my seedlings.

Annelids!

I'm very excited, as I've just put together a proper and well-designed vermicomposting system and populated it with about 100 worms so far. It just occurred to me that I could include pictures, so maybe I'll get some of those.

Decoration

If there is one area of life that doesn't come naturally to me, it's interior design. [Well, lots of things don't come naturally to me, but interior design is the one relevant to this post.] It is not very easy for me to make a room attractive, especially when I'm limited by so many practical concerns, including budget (all-important) and the fact that I have a resident energetic and messy preschooler. However, I'm beginning to make inroads into an understanding of how to make my home both functional and beautiful.

Part of the issue is my own personal aesthetic, which trends toward the utterly classic. Yesterday, I was being teased by Candace, who is both friend and sister (-in-law-once-removed-ish), about my preference for neutrals. "That's right," I joked. "I've got to make sure those beiges aren't too light or too dark!" It's not quite as bad as all that, but even so, there's a bit of reality under the humor. The problem is, I really prefer to work with a lighter and more restrained pallet. I would rather have my walls, floors, and furniture be pale neutrals, and allow my wall art and shelved curiosities to take center stage. And as I work on decorating my little cottage, I've come to realize that the old adage, "Be yourself," is as most cliches because there is good reasoned truth behind it. Your home is where you have to live, and it should reflect you. If, like me, you recoil at most trends, and any professional decorator would break out in hives just looking at pictures of your house,well, it doesn't matter as long as you like it.

Here are some elements that I, being me, plan to incorporate in my new home:

• Neutrals - I really do better with furniture that is in whites and softly cool-toned off-whites, or light wood such as pine or white oak. It's what I liked when I was 13, and I haven't changed. Any attempts to branch out of this have resulted in expensive purchases that I found I didn't actually like. Same for walls, floors, etc. Exception: I don't mind a more ornate area rug or accent rug, and I might be able to handle a border or even mild wall-paper on some walls. But the latter is not certain.
• Owls - Owls are my favorite bird, owing to an old family tradition that would take too long to explain, and I've collected them since high school. I have a sizable collection, and I'm always looking to add to it. Owls are enjoying a boost from a current popularity trend, so it makes it easier to acquire owl-themed household items, but as with all trends, it's fated soon to pass.
• Blue - My favorite color, ever since I was old enough to have a favorite color. Blue can serve as both a neutral and as an accent or theme color. I own plenty of blue stuff, and I hope to find a rug that has plenty of blue. It's so versatile, but moderation and variety in its usage prevents rooms from feeling too cold if there is a lot of blue.
• Maps - Maps have fascinated me all my life, and I now possess several antique maps that I am planning to have matted and framed professionally, so that I can put them up in my front room.
• Natural - I may be or of the least hippie members of my family, but I still have an affinity for natural materials rather than synthetic, so I use a lot of woods, rattan/reed baskets, and nature-inspired art or fixtures.
• Jungle - Hey, a few really cool jungle-themed items can really make a room, right?
• Books - I own too many books, and while I am always culling my collection, I still seem to be being constantly overwhelmed by numerous tomes. Despite my scale-back efforts, I will always need to incorporate BOOKSHELVES into my home design.

We'll see how it all works out.

Tip for Cat Owners: Pine Pellets

This blog has been on hiatus for more than four months, but we are still devoted to seeking and then sharing the simple pleasures of life.This post relates to two of the simplest of pleasures: owning (and caring for) pets and saving money. I enjoy both of those activities!

As a cat owner and cat lover, I've spent a fair amount of money over the years buying the kitty cat necessities: food, litter, litter boxes and scoops, catnip and toys... I started out with the standard clay-based litter, and while it was functional, it didn't neutralize odors, it scattered and spread dust everywhere, and it created a lot of trash. I know that clay is a natural material, but it didn't seem useful to put a bunch of dirty clay in the landfill. I switched to silicon crystal litter, and while it was quite expensive by comparison, it absorbed odors much better than clay, it didn't have much dust, and it produced less waste because less of it was required to be effective and it lasted twice as long per unit as clay litter. Still, I didn't like sending all those bags of tiny rocks into the landfill to fester in nitrogenous waste. And even more than that, I didn't like spending top dollar on something for my cats to poop on.

One day, while shopping at the local grocery mart, I decided to take the plunge and try something completely new and different: plant-based litter. While more expensive than clay, it is far cheaper (~$5 for 10 lbs) than crystal litter. The pine pellets are resource-efficient: in addition to being 100% natural and biodegradable, they are formed from the waste product (sawdust) of another industry (lumber). Perfect!

I bought a few bags and found that I loved the effect: pellets absorb odors as well as the crystal (I don't have quantitative data, as I don't own a smell-o-scope; I'm just judging from my own olfactory experiences) and when stirred to activate or increase absorbency, they emit a pleasant "pine fresh" odor. I was happy with my choice and worked on switching over completely to the new litter system. And then... while researching pine litter on the internet, I read that the "pine pellet cat litter" is actually sold very cheaply in bulk at feed stores because it has been used as horse stall bedding for ages, and has just recently been adapted, remarketed and sold (with significant price increase, of course) as cat litter.

I live in a small town in a rural area, so at the next opportunity, I took myself off to the local farm supply superstore and picked up two bags of pine pellets, each bag $5 for 40 lbs. While not everyone would find it practical to stock up on 80 lbs of pine-scented cat litter (I know, for example, that there are apartment-dwellers who wouldn't have a place to put it), there are probably feed and farm supply stores that carry smaller denominations that still provide the benefit of bulk pricing.

I'm happy with my purchase. And I'm thinking about putting the post-usage sawdust in my compost, where it is likely to not only biodegrade (nature has microbiotic organisms who exist to break down nitrogenous waste) but also to keep away critters who have been messing up my bin but may be dissuaded by the scent of feline urine. I'll keep you posted.