Rump

Posted on October 26, 2021February 16, 2023 by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

Rump (2013) by Liesl Shurtliff

Rumpelstiltskin had never been a fairy tale I’d paid much attention to, but in my 20s I read a hilarious books of six short stories by Vivian van Velde called The Rumpelstilskin Problem. I adapted it into a short play for the class I was teaching at the time, and so this tale has been on my radar ever since. Rump was published in 2013, but I only just found it. I think I read two chapters the first night, and then the second night I stayed up waaaay too late so I could finish the whole thing.

In this story of Rumpelstiltskin, ‘Rump’ is an extremely sympathetic character, given only half a name and seemingly trapped by circumstances and fate. But as Rump finally comes into his inner power at the end of the story, we see the strength and courage he has in creating his own destiny.

I was surprised that the author was able to incorporate all the elements of the well-known tale in ways that flowed with the story. There are so many bizarre elements to Rumpelstiltskin, so Shurtliff’s cleverness in getting these to connect with Rump were truly impressive. The book was a page-turner, for sure, and such a pleasure to read. But it actually wasn’t until the Afterword by the author that I cried. Names have been on my mind these past years, and her words really touched me.

I’m so eager to read the other three books in this fairy tale series!

More Composting Confessions

Posted on October 26, 2021February 20, 2023 by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

Back in January, I finally started our family’s composting system. I was super excited! As mentioned in this post, I had had attempts at compost before, but frequent moves and lack of composting knowledge led to a lot of ‘learning experiences’ that never quite worked.

I started composting with much enthusiasm. I LOVED that the food scraps were going into composting bins and eventually back into the earth, instead of into landfill spaces where food emits harmful greenhouse gases as it breaks down. Recycling food? I couldn’t believe I hadn’t given this more of a chance before! I LOVED having the excuse to ‘have to’ go outside every day to empty our kitchen compost. A nice opportunity to take a breath, get outside, and feel like I was taking helpful steps for our planet.

Weeks went by, and soon the bins were full. All three of them. Like, maybe it wasn’t even weeks. They filled up fast, and it was a huge wake-up call as to how much food we used to throw in the trash. Albeit scraps and peels, but still. And then I got discouraged. I wanted progress. I wanted to see SOMEthing happening. And it felt like it wasn’t. We’d maxed out the bins and nothing was happening!

I was saddened each time we threw a peel away in the trash instead of our compost, as I tried to figure out what was going on. I wish I could give a timeline here of how and when things happened, but I’ve forgotten.

What I will say though, is that the compost needed time to start its process. And I grew impatient too quickly. It also needed more attention. I was happy to throw stuff in there, but I must admit that I otherwise neglected it. eeps.

So, when I finally started checking in more regularly and turning the pile and giving it water, it ‘miraculously’ started looking better. It was incredible! I became addicted. I don’t think a pile needs to be turned more than once a week (?), and perhaps it shouldn’t be, but I found myself going out there far more often to spend time with the compost. I marveled at this beautiful, dark mixture that had been created from our food waste. Wow! It’s probably a good thing we don’t have a lot of visitors right now, because I have become very proud of this compost heap. I would probably be dragging people outside to show off this incredible compost.

Now, I’ve backed off a bit. I’m not as obsessed as I was a few months ago, but I tend to the compost regularly, and I’m still in awe of it. Mixing the compost has become sort of a meditation for me. I enjoy it more than I thought I would have.

Ok, some tips. And I’m sure to learn more as I continue:

–I dedicated a pair of gardening gloves to wear while I was turning the compost, and that was a game-changer.

–I also dedicated a small gardening rake-y looking tool to turn the mixture.

–I regularly water the compost to keep it damp.

–I say Yay! to bugs. Maybe not all, I don’t know yet which are good and which are harmful. But the ones in there this summer were wonderful! They did a lot of work in there. And there were a LOT of them.

–I started taking note of which ‘compostable’ items break down easily and which need some help. The plastic-y-looking compostable produce bags from our natural food store break down beautifully! It’s incredible. The brown bag the potatoes come in that says it’s compostable is still there… Now I cut/break more things into pieces first.

–I started two new bins! We have full bins, and I am surprised how quickly the matter breaks down, but we had two bins in the garage with broken bits. Since they weren’t going to be used for their original purpose and probably couldn’t be donated, I figured this was a good chance to use them!

I’m learning as I go, and I’ll continue to post as I learn for any other intimidated newbies out there!

Bunnies from Upcycled Spools

Posted on October 26, 2021February 20, 2023 by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

I saw this idea years back and fell in love with it! How darling are these bunnies!

The idea couldn’t be simpler:

–Use an empty spool (If you don’t sew, ask friends/neighbors/family/Freecycle, etc. If you DO sew, you have PLENTY of these.)

–Wrap a small piece of decorative paper around. (Scraps of paper, upcycled magazines or catalogs, old maps, damaged books, etc.)

–Draw a bunny face.

–Add ears (I don’t love the thought of people buying new pipe cleaners for these, but we had some on hand (I un-do old projects from the kids to reuse these). You could also use paper clips, as seen in one bunny above. Get creative! I’m sure this is a great opportunity for reuse!

–We happened to have pom-poms on hand as well (from old projects, etc.), but you could also make bunny tails from crumpled scrap paper or any number of upcycled items.

I LOVE that these reuse spools!!

I LOVE that these are a homemade decoration instead of a store-bought one (New, store-bought items have transportation, manufacturing, packaging waste, financial cost, afterlife of the items, and more to consider.)

I LOVE that my kids can be involved in making these! My daughter made a collection of these this year, and my 3-year old made at least a couple of them too! (see below)

Upcycled spool bunnies could make a super-cute gift as well! Even a ‘kit’ to make these would be a fun little spring present!

Mashed Potatoes – Instant Pot

Posted on October 25, 2021 by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

Recipe link

Oh, wow. I know mashed potatoes are one of those straight-forward, basic recipes, but much like hard-boiled eggs, I’ve always been intimidated by these. Until…

These Instant Pot mashed potatoes are divine! The peeling is a bit time-consuming, but other than that, these are crazy easy and crazy good. To be honest, we have been out of sour cream the last couple times we made these and substituted with cream cheese…so, I’m sure that’s ramped up the awesome factor quite a bit. We also add a bit of rosemary and thyme. Maybe 1/2 tsp of rosemary and 1/4 of thyme? (That’s a guess.)

I know potatoes aren’t the height of healthy eating, but sometimes on a random humdrum day, these can really make a fun snack or addition to a meal. I always feel like it’s Thanksgiving when I eat these, because that’s just how infrequently I used to have mashed potatoes. This recipe is changing that very rapidly though…

Clothes Hangers and Wake-Up Calls

Posted on October 25, 2021September 24, 2023 by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

WHyyyyyy?! Why another one?

I’m an over-thinker by nature, and as an environmentalist and a parent, this tendency has been ramped up way more than I could have imagined. Being conscious of what we’re buying, where it has come from, what it’s afterlife will be—it’s exhausting. Seriously, over half of my “clutter” is just odds and ends of what most other people would easily call ‘trash’ that I just feel obligated to keep and find a use for so I don’t have to throw it in a landfill. And one of those collections in the garage is plastic FREAKIN hangers! I’m not even talking about the ones that are everyday, ‘closet’ hangers (that’s a whole other post). No, these are the hangers that stores attach to new shirts, underwear, socks. And I mean ‘attach.’ Have you every tried getting a new set of underwear off these ridiculous plastic hangers? argh!

Being on a clean-out phase where I’m trying to make peace with the fact that I simply cannot make a project out of every bit of waste from our lives, I thought I’d start with those silly, tangly, plastic store hangers. But first…. First, I needed to do a little research because, well, that’s what I do. And I’m dismayed, because, Yes, obviously this is a major problem. It makes my heart sink thinking about all these ‘throw-away’ hangers, even those teeny tiny hook ones that come on socks. I know that resting the weight of the world’s plastic problem on my shoulders is not helpful here, but I must vent or cry or whatever it is I’m trying to do here. The world- the ‘system’- has been set up for wastefulness. And it sucks. Many go along blindly, just keeping their homes Pinterest-perfect, tossing anything that’s no longer needed. And, I get it. I do. But a wake-up call is coming. For ALL of us. Not just the ones who stay up nights, tossing and turning, trying to figure out what to do with old CD cases and plastic hangers, but anyone on this planet. Because the horribly wasteful, negligent systems we have in place right now to keep people in this never-ending cycle of buying and spending and consuming and tossing–these systems aren’t working. The planet needs us to wake the heck up.

And the really tough part is, it’s not just plastic hangers or straws or floss containers. It’s everything! There’s SO MUCH STUFF. And, in a way, it’s not really our faults, because this is so much bigger than any of us. It’s not on me or you to save the world of these major problems…. But, then again, Yes. Yes, it absolutely is. We need to take a stand. We need to let companies know what we’re thinking and that we don’t like their practices. We need to seek out the companies that ARE doing conscious, good, sustainable practices. They are out there, and never has it been easier to find them and support them. We need to re-prioritize. Most people I know have way more money than they need. I am absolutely aware this isn’t the case everywhere. But those who have money can be making smarter choices. Buying less stuff at higher prices to support the change-makers who need to charge more to do it ‘right.’

We can do this! Bags, straws, hangers. These sound like small steps for a much, much bigger problem. But these are the steps that matter. The wake-up calls all of us need to look around us and start to question how our stuff got to us and what’s to become of it when we’re done.