Bob loves you! And we love Bob.

Very well said yet again. And I may be first for the second time in 2 weeks which says something about my use of the web at work....
Anyway, I seem to survive with 4 plates (but 8 glasses...hmmm...do I drink more than I eat?) But I only buy coffee mugs that I love and got rid of all the ones I got for free with random company logos on them. I say splurge on some gorgeous handcrafted plates from some designer on etsy and you will be much happier.

Bob is so sweet! What a cutie pie!

Why don't you put those twelve plates in your yard sale bag NOW and go out and buy some plates this weekend? I bought my favorite set of Pfaltzgraff dishes ten years ago (Tea Rose) and I smile every night when I set the table. It's definately worth it!

Have a great weekend, sweetie. Oh, and happy Flag Day tomorrow!! ;o)

And as far as the fart goes; did you forget your Vicks Vapor Rub?

My single life hangup has been cooking as though I still have other people, including a ravenous teenager, at home. I finally managed, just yesterday, to make a reasonable amount of potato salad, and not the potato-salad-for-53-people I usually make. Now if I can get a handle on the lasagna, I'll be home free!
And that sweetie, Bob. My Chloe hasn't been seen by the cleaning lady since she was a tiny kitten. I have no idea where she goes to hide, this isn't a big house, but she just disappears. Then half an hour after the evil vacuum lady is gone, she emerges from wherever she was and wants to be petted. She'll take affection, but it has to be on her terms, which sounds like Bob, doesn't it? Love those kitties.

I know my dog loves me because she doesn't really see the point of food. :) And I totally will stay put as long as she's willing snuggle with me (she's not really a lap dog, she wants to be next to me, not on me usually), so I totally get the Bob thing.

Bob loves you. Just as I am sure that my spooky girl cat Sin (pronounced Shin) its Celtic anyway loves me as well despite the fact that she will occasionally run away from me.
I think maybe you should splurge and get rid of the plates you hate. Find something you like at a store or online and go ahead and order it. Yes you will be buying something non essential but if you really need to justify it maybe you could use the plates to get rid of some frustration and accidentally on purpose drop a few. Ok not the best solution with cats around. Maybe you could ask for them for a holiday present or B-day present. Have a good weekend.

I only have 8 plates and I am of the happy homemaker sort (as you well know). 12 plates are definitely not required!!!

xo

For some crazy reason when I was engaged I registered for a bunch of stuff you are "supposed" to register for but I personally have no need. With the exception of one crystal wine glass that has been broken I can set a formal table for eight. My table, even with the leaf can probably only seat six comfortably. Not only that. The wine glasses I own I don't like. I LOVE my iced beverage glasses (probably cause you can get a lot in there unlike my wine glasses). I had a hutch they all sat in and collected dust. I sold the hutch which made my dining room that much bigger. Now all my china resides in bags made to keep china in my pantry. We are not very formal people around my house and I told hubby we should probably just reduce to four place settings (with his kids we have four people in the family) and use them on random nights like Thursday or Sunday even if we are having hot dogs. I am not at the point of selling the extra china. My point is I bought in to the idea you needed china service for twelve like the previous generation. I am thirty six almost thirty seven, will not have children of my own and in six short years will have no children under the age of eighteen in my household. Hubby and I plan to run away (read travel) and I don't imagine china packs well.

Sorry so long. LOVE your blog! Bob rocks too! My dog BJ loves to sit next to me all the time.

Totally agree with you on the plates and company. Company is for visiting time with, not washing dishes time. Paper plates for all! Love Bob. When a non-lap kitty decides to become a lap kitty even for a short time, that's when it's ok to call in late for work! I know, I've done it!!!! (shh, don't tell the boss!)

I have a Bob. His name is Hootie. Hootie is a scaredy cat too, LOL!
.

Cats are the best. I love the little critters!

My husband and I eloped so we never registered. There's just the 8 of us (us plus 6 cats) so we don't need a huge amount of china, serving stuff, etc. We do enjoy having others over for dinner and we especially enjoy using one set of china bc it's from his late beloved Grandma (we received another set of Avon - ! - china, the Cape Cod collection from like the 70s & 80s). It was her set when she married. Grandma's china has all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings attached to it and I know my husband likes having it and being reminded of her whenever we use it. That's so much better than any china we could have bought.

My shy cat who lives under my bed and won't let anyone except me touch her quacks instead of meows.

There must be some sort of crazy purging/cleaning/paring down thing going on in the Universe. I just freecycled a patio table and 2 chairs I bought off of Craigslist because my plan for them never came through. I've also been cleaning closets, shelves, file cabinets, etc. getting rid of things. My husband asked me what was going on. I told him I was just trying to be honest with myself about what I would wear, keep, fix up, etc. It feels really good not to have the "stuff" laying around looking at me, taunting me every day when I come home! BUT, don't ask me to give up my dishes! I have 5 sets and can't make myself part with any of them. You never know when you want to set a certain mood - casual - fancy - inbetween. Gotta always be prepared.

Last year I moved from Maine to Seattle, and I sold everything I owned before I left, except for twelve boxes, two suitcases and my three cats.

It was pretty liberating, and when I get my apartment, I decided I wasn't going to buy a bunch of stuff I never used again. So, I bought two plates , bowls, and deep plates, a set of silverware and three cooking knives. I have one pot and one pan.

Because I don't use anything else. It has been fantastic. Now if I could only get that mindset with books.

Walmart exists because people buy crap they don't need because it makes them feel good.

xoxox

Go Armondo!

Eric

OMG you are like the smartest woman ever!!!

I blame Martha for my desire to have dishes in sets of 12 (at least 12, right, along with the chargers and the salad plates and the soup bowls and the butter dish and the teacups and saucers?!?). It never even occurred to me to buy just 4 dishes I absolutely loved instead of getting a whole set of 12. That's just crazy talk! And who needs 12 teacups and 12 saucers to go with the 12 dinner plates on a regular basis, anyway?

But thinking about how much more time I'd have if I didn't wait to run the dishwasher until all of the dishes were dirty, and instead just washed them after each use, and about all of the extra space I'd have in the kitchen to breathe and think...wow. Just wow.

Your post today totally made me think of this tidbit I read on the web a million years ago (amazing that I could find it again!):

"Once when I was visiting Allen in his apartment he asked me if I would like some coffee. Having said "yes" he presented me with a metal bowl with coffee in it. The bowl seemed strange and I nursed the coffee to cool it down. Soon he started asking, "Are you finished with that, man?" I would say "no, not yet" and after awhile I started to feel uncomfortable because the bowl seemed important to him. When I finally said "yes" he grabbed the bowl away - threw the remaining coffee in the sink and sat down with the bowl for his breakfast cereal. I was using his only bowl."

That was photographer Larry Keenan talking about Beat poet Allen Ginsberg.

I guess we don't have to be that minimalist....but somehow it does sound liberating! I am also into cutting back these days (my method is selling anything I find in my closet on eBay) and it feels great!

Thanks for an awesome blog :)

If I were you, I'd get four pretty dishes...and then one extra special, different, frickin' gorgeous plate just for you.

Owning less dishes has been good for me, since I'm the type that will postpone doing dishes until they are all dirty, no matter how many there are.

Ah... That was exactly what I needed to talk me out of a stupid purchase today. Good luck to everybody out there bit by the simplify/liberation bug.

Azaleas have very shallow, fine roots, so peat moss mixed into the soil around them keeps it light and fluffy.

CAP wrote: "I guess you just start where you are"

I try to change what I can. I vote. I gave up watching television years ago. I try to read at least 10 books a year on various subjects, mostly art and travel and biographies. I have been changing the lightbulbs in my home to the energy-efficient ones. I cut out all unnessessary driving to conserve gas, and I drive a fuel-efficient small car (not a huge gas-eating monster). My possessions are few. My needs are also few. I cut up all my credit cards and paid them off and told them to go to hell. I don't own any guns, jewelry, fur coats (unlike most persons). Best times - spent at a neighborhood cookout, listening to a baseball game, petting the cats, baking bread, creating knitted art, leading my bi-weekly SnB group meetings.

The older I get, the simpler something is the better. I don't have a cell phone, or other electronic toys. I love the sound of silence, birds chirping, rain on the roof.

Now, most people think I am crazy, insane, strange, etc. So be it; it's THEIR problem. I like me just the way I am.

Thanks for sharing!

I am totally in agrement with you, Laurie - - you need to have things in your home that you LOVE, not just stuff you 'make do' with. Go out and buy your 4 pretty plates, and be happy! :-)

And Bob is such a sweetie! My new little girl, Squeak, got her name because she does not meow - - she 'squeaks' at us, and at Carmichael. So cute . . .

Bob is so cute. I've never heard a cat chirp. One of mine squeaks though, we call her a squeaky toy.

Oh, and? Enjoy your weekend!

Miracle Gro peat moss is awesome
and would explain mutant zukes from hell!

I spent lots of last week on holiday with my girlfriends trying to explain that I hadn't bought anything yet because I hadn't seen anything I really loved. It is quite liberating to stop thinking that you have to buy things to act as memories.

D'oh! Why didn't I think of that? Twelve place settings is ridiculous for my family, yet that's what we have (minus a few broken bowls and salad plates). At least it's from Target and I love it. (And got most of it on sale.)

Plus my wedding "china" (actually plain old stoneware) that I never unpacked during and after three moves, plus those ubiquitous rice-grain plates and bowls for Chinese take-out. That I never use.

Time for another trip to unload on Goodwill.

Thank you, Laurie, for being a continuing inspiration.

Oh! Bob is awesome, of course. Cats completely rule. But would they mind if you posted some more puppy pics?

My previously-feral-kitten (now 14 yr old cat) also chirps. Is this common with kittens who lacked early socialization? I know they have other characteristics such as bonding with only one person. I will have to look this up.

When I lived alone I had 4 plates and I always put the clean plate on the bottom so I'd cycle through them and they'd all get equally banged up. I was waiting to buy the big matching dish set when I got married -- but we eloped, he already had dishes and they're pyrex so they'll never break. Works for me!

Don't want to throw a wrench in your non-consumerism but Pfaltzgraff is having a fantastic online sale with free shipping. You could have pretty dishes in a matter of days.

Love Bob. Too many allergies at my house or I'd have lots of kitties. Thanks for sharing Bob!

Also love your "essay" on the plates. In a similar vein I was thinking of getting rid of my china because it has platinum bands and "can't" go in the DW (thank heaven I have one!). A friend said: why not just put it in there? What are you saving it for? Well, duh. So, now I do. And I use it and I like it and if all the platinum washes off, so what?

Thanks for being so eloquent and organized about stuff that's bouncing around somewhere in my brain but coming from you makes sense and helps me take action. Bet you didn't know you're part cyber-therapist!!

Be sure not to have another Garage Sale/Purge and sell your plates until you are out of the No-Buy year, because you won't be able to get new plates until then. Somehow, I am guessing that for you, new plates would be "nonessential" when paper works just fine, thankyouverymuch. :)

Gotta love Bob.

Yes, ditch those dishes! For the past 17 years, my utensils have been kept on the kitchen counter in an ugly brown pot my honey picked up at a garage sale. A few months ago I switched 'em over to a gorgeous hand-painted container given to me by one of my closest friends. Immediate energy shift! Just think of how much better your food will taste on pretty, non-chipped plates.

regarding part 2 of your post -- i've been going through a major downsizing phase for the past many months (starting last november, and it has ebbed and flowed since then, recently taking on new force).

last weekend i sold my car to my kid brother, so now i am completely free -- car-free and, i suppose, care-free, too.

my mother actually emailed me asking if i was okay -- she wanted to make sure this crazy downsizing wasn't some kind of a sign. apparently she was worried i was preparing for death, giving all my things away so that my loved ones would have less of my shit to deal with after i'm gone. which, while a noble sentiment (and definitely something i do plan to do when i am old and gray, vs the oh-so-common hoarding that crazy old ladies tend to do), i'm certainly not planning on offing myself.

Oh, and one of my cats trills, one of them wahs.

A few posts down in Google Reader from yours was a mention of this book: Buying In: The Secret Relationship Between What We Buy and Who We Are. Good for you for opting out of this craziness and figuring out what your own personal just right looks like.

Aaaaawwwww, that last lovey bit made my heart go all soft.

When I got married a hundred years ago, we registered for and got pretty Noritake stuff. When I moved out four years later (so...96 years ago) I got the china.

The kitties at my house get their gushy food on pretty china every night.

Love ya Bob!

One of my cats chirps, too! I love it. And no, your insights do not seem mundane. I need to eat off of my pretty plates. What am I waiting for?

Life without cats? Not as much fun. My cat Mango brings me joy every day. In return, I give him skritches on the top of his little head and tuna fish. It's a win/win relationship! Regarding downsizing - it is a better world when our possessions are NOT in possesion of us! Happy Friday the 13th - Lucky 13!

Wow. The bolts are hitting you at such a fabulous time of your life. Wait. No. It's cool at ANY age, eh?
I'm getting them here on my end of Septembertime and it's always a validation and a satisfaction and cause for celebration for choosing Grownupedness. Yay, all of us.

Go Laurie Go!! Get those dishes down girl! Put them in the sack!{I'm channeling Devo this afternoon-crack. that. whip. break your mama's back... go forward, move ahead!} If you want to keep to your "no purchases" thing, then only put 10 of them in the sack(including the chipped one). Saving out a couple would at least give the appearance that you aren't totally insane(like that Allen Ginsburg guy, I mean coffee in a bowl?). There is such a thing as a happy medium.

Or, if you want to take out a loan against the money you'll make from the sale of the lovely Ikea dishes, go down to a thrift shop and find some funky, fun dishes(we use salad plates mostly at our house) and get a handful. You'd probably only spend $5 or so and it would go to a charity rather than a corporation. Having 3 kids who do their own cooking and food prep, I would rather buy a plate for 50 cents and toss it when it breaks than to have them drop something from a "set" that must be preserved at all costs(not that we have a nice set-just that I'd rather not have an attachment to dishes).

Anyway, rambling on about dishes a bit too long now. LOVE the Bob.

Molly

Another great post - keep the rambly doodads coming!

My cutlery drawer is pretty sparse; I only own 3 knives. So on occasion I've asked company to bring a few extra knives with them (or plates, before I got some extras). No one seems to mind. However, I do have about 20 wine glasses.... Priorities! :)

I think I'm on the spend less bandwagon, but for a different reason... I'm planning to experience buying a new car this fall. Means I'll need to spend a good chunk each month on a car rather than the nonessentials.
I have a plate deal, too. I've got a sweet set of china (some old-dead-lady's wedding china) that I got at a yard sale for $25. The whole set! $25! I completely love it and use it every day, but everyone that knows I use good china every day says "oh, you should have an every day set of dishes so you don't ruin the china!" Why? I'm 25, I live alone, and I have the smallest imaginable kitchen. If my kitchen were smaller no cooking would take place. That being said, I've only got room for one set of dishes. I've got nice china. I love it. I don't NEED an every day set. Especially since the only emotional attachment to the china is that it's pretty. It wasn't my grandma's and I didn't buy it new.
I agree w/ you. You don't need to have anything in particular - only what makes you happy!

I have 12 plates too. And there are only 2 of us humans around here. And most of what I eat comes out of a take out container anyway. So I hear you on the plates.

But, I used to give dinner parties every month or so. (Back when I had a dining room.) So maybe instead of getting rid of the plates you should start having more parties!

Hurrah CAP! Your plate experience sends me back 12 years ago when I was single and using my Grandma's butt-ugly brown plates and other hand-me down cups, dishes, etc. I went out and bought the daily used things that I liked. And now, even though I have enough to set a table for 8 - I keep most of it tucked away in cupboard and only have out the the things needed everyday. It is easy when there is company to pull out the extra dishes, bowls, cups and glasses. But now I'm enchancted by your idea of having 4 BEAUTIFUL plates because there is never enough beauty in our lives and WHO said that everything has to match?

Forgive me if this has already been said, but don't forget that there is no law saying all your plates have to MATCH, either.

My dinner plates are various random beauties I picked up at thrift shops while waiting for my mom(she loves thrift shops). They are all patterns/colours that particularly called out to me, and they were very inexpensive (bonus!). And I can use whichever one strikes my fancy.

The thing that gets me is how long it takes for these very simple revelations to come to me-- like you with the plates, I'll suddenly I'll realize that for all of my life I've been thinking I have to do something a certain way-- maybe because that was the way my mom did it, or whatever. Then suddenly, the clouds part, I hear angels singing and Ta Da! I realize that I can do it the way that I want to. It always amazes me when these "brilliant" ideas come to me-- Life can be so much simpler if we actually think about what we're doing. (duh)
And I have learned at the ripe old age of 50, that sometimes it's more important to spend more money on something that will make you smile everyday rather than something that you tolerate because it was cheaper and more sensible. I have coffee mugs that I bought myself about 15 years ago for about twice what I normally would have paid, and I enjoy them everyday-- You just have to figure out which things are really going to make you smile, but that usually hard to do.

I thought you had to have 16 place settings! And, for the record, if you had a dishwasher, you would use all your dishes, just to fill up the dishwasher, because you have to run it everyone once in a while to excercise the gaskets or else they dry out and leak. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

my chloe chirps, too! she also greets me at the door with "mama" and answers my questions with "yeah" -- so cute! my family thought i was nuts and spending too much time with my cats (like theres such a thing) when i told them chloe said those words until they heard her say them! LOL

ive gotten to the point where i justuse styrofoam - bad for the environment, yes i know. but i seldomly eat at home. however i was washing the kitty dishes and realized their dishes are gold embossed oneida dishes. talk about spoiled LOL

Not relevant to anything on the blog today, but I thought it would make you laugh: In yesterday's New York Times crossword puzzle, 11 down was a six-letter word for "San Fernando Valley Community".

It was "Encino" (but not adjacent)!

Aw, Bob is a cutie. And I have to add to the litany of "strang" cat sounds - my Lily chirps too; Mary trills and also talks like a monkey (meh-ah-ah-aow!)

For all you eco-minded folks out there, peat moss, kick ass as it is at retaining water, is sadly being over-harvested from peat bogs so much so that it is starting to become threatened (what - you knew it had to come from somewhere, right?) Don't get me wrong, I have some in my cubbard too (admittedly purchased a while ago), and it does do a really good job at holding water and making soil less dense. I do know that coir is now being used as a peat substitute in some situations (like coir pots instead of peat pots for seedlings, and to use as linings for hanging baskets for instance). I don't know if it is equivalent to peat moss for water retention though. (Coir by the way is made from coconut husks so is presumably more sustainable.)

PS Not judging anyone for using peat moss! I have some as I said! Just passing on a little food for thought. :)

Peat moss is not usually recommended as mulch because it absorbs water - it will even suck water from the soil and can dry out your plants. If it gets dry it is hard to soak it again. Mixing it into the soil will help keep it from forming a crust.

It can make the soil a little more acid and it doesn't add nutrients.

Pumpkins and azaleas both like acidic soil.

Most peat moss is actually spagnum moss, because peat is the decayed material dug out of bogs. It isn't considered a sustainable material because it takes many many years to form. But nowadays they grow spagnum moss for harvest so we can all have it for a soil amendment and to line baskets.

Forgive me if this is TMI.

Please tell us that even if replacement dishes are in the non-essential category, you at least put the chipped plate on the bottom so you don't use a blemished plate every day. You do deserve better than that.

Great post! You might want to look at the the books written by Karen Kingston (she has written a few books on Feng Shui and clutter clearing). I found them very inspirational when I was going through a big declutter/un-spending spree a while back.

LOL! We love Bob!
My husband was almost late for work today too...because he couldn't bear to make our kitties get off his folded bath towel when he got out of the shower. Too much kitty love!
I hear you on the plate issue. I've been thinking about the masses of dishes on our counter (there's only TWO of us!) and wondering what might happen if, when we moved, I just left two of everyone out for regular use??

"I want my home and my life to have just what I need and love."

Amen to that.

Oh, and I'm completely with you on the no-buying-nonessentials thing.

Gardening tip/trick: instead of buying peat moss, use a completely recyclable mulch from stuff you already have around the house: cardboard and tin foil. Wrap the foil around a piece of cardboard (tape it to the cardboard if you're going to worry about it). Punch holes through foil and cardboard (pencil, screwdrive, knitting needles are all about the right size) for ventilation and water. Use to cover the soil at the base of your plants. Easy peasy. Retains moisture, deters weeds & pests, completely recyclable (the cardboard is compostable for the gardening advanced group) at the end of the growing season. No purchase necessary.

When I got married, I never registered for china, because I just knew that it would go unused. I got beautiful white porcelain dishes instead. I use them for everyday AND entertaining, because food looks great on white plates (like the fancy restaurants all know), and they are sturdy and easy to clean! My family and friends told me I would regret not getting fancy china for those "special occasions." I asked one of those friends if she has ever used her china in 5 years of marriage, and she said once, and only because she felt bad she hadn't upwrapped all of the china yet!

I get "sick" about once a month.. which is just "awful". So I spend the day at home getting kitty snuggles ;) Best medicine there is.

I call it Traveling Light. I have never liked having stuff around that I don't use...clothes, kitchen stuff, whatever - not used, I get rid of it and I tend to be very selective about new stuff. I like "good" things of substantial material that both function well and are aesthetically pleasing. For myself, buying that way, it seems I need less as the tools, implements, dishes, clothes serve their purpose and are pleasing to me for a longer time than "junk". I happen to like a fairly "spare" and uncluttered look to my home so that works also. I live in an older small cabin-type ranch house without a lot of closet or storage space which helps also... I do the same in the garage - good tools, organized - just what I need. It is very freeing to not have to keep track of a lot of stuff.

Oh, my 18 pound orange marmalade cat is named Bob also...

Laurie -

My mom got all her plates at thrift stores, junk shops and antique stores for years. Each one a different floral pattern that she liked, and when the table was set, it had a very pretty shabby-chic look to it. Some stop-the-consuming types feel that buying used stuff does not really count since it falls in the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle category.

In an effort to cut down on my own consuming, I have pledged to throw away all catalogs without even looking at them (!). It is both harder and easier than I thought. On one hand, I have to give myself a little speach - "there isn't anything in here you can't do without for 6 more months", and on the other hand, I feel a (ridiculous) small sense of victory.

I am working my way through all my stuff. My goal is to physically touch every single thing I own and make a conscious choice about whether to keep it. So far I have only made it through the bathroom (bye-bye old, dried out makeup and hair clips I never use), but I shall keep plugging away.

Thanks for the inspiration! I feel strangely exhilerated about cleaning, purging, being more conscious.

Deb

Bob looks kind of like he was asking you to play hooky today. Like he was saying "stay home, and play with The Cat" (meaning, just play with him, and not those silly Other Cats)

Hi Laurie. I was going to wait until I was totally finished, but I can't wait. I LOVE YOU. omg. Seriously, two days ago I stumbled into your blog somehow and I *had* to go all the way to the beginning and immediately start reading the whole thing, beginning to end. We have so much in common, girl. Not clones or anything scary like that, but damn. I grew up between Louisiana and Florida mostly, but there was some Mississippi and South Carolina and even some Texas in there, too. We moved yearly at least, often much more. We're blonde. We have impulse control issues, definite eccentricities, love our "me" time, and tend to blurt things out that nobody, even ourselves, could have possibly expected to hear. Um, if you decide to do some counter-stalking, be advised that I also have a Mr. X, but I'm still married to him. His online handle is misterx, that's why. There are soooo many other things, reading through your blog there have been times I have felt myself mouthing the words that were about to come next. Scary! Anyway, I just needed to blurt that out, even though I'm only at May of 2007 right now. By the time I shut down my shop this evening and go home, I imagine I will be all caught up. I'm fighting off a serious knitting urge now, damn you. It's so ill-advised for so many reasons. One, I learned to crochet first, so knitting is just something my hands don't feel like they want to do. My hands end up in gnarled awkward claws from the effort of not trying to make the knitting turn into crocheting. Plus I don't need another thing that requires me sitting on my ass, I have enough ass hobbies as it is. Also, I need to have surgery soon for a ruptured disc in my neck so looking down at work in my hands is a stupid thing to be doing to my neck. Nevertheless, I am not sure I can fight off this urge to go to Michael's and find some soy wool yarn and and...I could wear my neckbrace and do it, right? That would save the neck. No! Bad idea! Must...resist....augh.

~Melanie

peat moss is generally not renewable though, so stuff like cocoa bean mulch is better (and smells better too).

That sort o' whispery sound you hear? It's WILD APPLAUSE (gets kind o' thin floating over the mountans and all). I'm inspired and I'm going to put a lot of the extra dishes downstairs (that's Step 1 - Step 2 will see them out the door). See, in this house, we have PETS. Yeah, cats too, but that's not what I mean. I have a Pet Plate, two Pet Cups, and about four Pet Bowls (I LOVE Me some bowls). They don't mostly match anything else, except one plate/bowl/cup combination from a local artist-potter, which are my Most Favoritest Pets. The DH has Pet Dishes too, and we each have a Pet Knife and Pet Spoons (I have Pet Forks, he's not so fussy). I'm putting all the non-pet stuff downstairs (accessible if folks stop by but not IN OUR WAY 99.9% of the time!) I'm having my Favorite Beverage (cold-brew iced tea mixed with Country Time instant pretend lemonade) in my Pet Cup. OH - and my Precious Pampered Treasured Sacred Daughter of Bast says she thinks Bob is waaaaay coooool and hopes he doesn't mind her Adoring Him From Afar.

D'oh! To late to be first saying azaleas like acid soil and peat tends to acidify the soil...
Anyway, I don't think we've had one cat that "meows." They've all made noises that cannot be described as "meow" - pathetic little kitten mewlings, howls, wails, p-rups, mrups, whines. Have to say that Nutmeg, our current younger cat, is the best cat I've had for ages. I'd go out for half the morning and when I got back she'd run to me howling and jumping up on her back legs to say hello. LOL. She also just happens to appear when I wander around the garden. Miss my pudding tat.

I know what you mean about Bob loving you. It because he knows you love him.

I have a cat who was born on our farm and has lived inside ever since with her mother and brother who are both affectionate cats. For seven years Guinevere hated all humans including me (channeling her feral father I think), then suddenly one day she sat on my lap for all of three seconds. I nearly died with joy!!! Each time she sat on my lap after that she sat a bit longer. Now Guinevere sits there for as long as I'm sitting down. Sometimes she sits on the back of the lounge chair and smooches up against my face, purring all the time. I'm still the only human she sits on or smooches so I know she loves me. What made her change her mind I don't know, but I'm glad she did.

Amen sistah! It feels reallly good to back down and go simple.

I gotcha all beat. I have 12 bowls, 10 salad plates, 10 mugs (not counting the company logo/pithy sayings mugs) and 16 dinner plates. My problem is that I'm a hoarder. I bought the first set of 8 because they were reasonably priced at Linens n' Things and they went PERFECTLY with the granite tile in my kitchen. Problem was, they were cheaply made and chipped worse than a buffalo.....get it?....chip....buffalo.....buffalo chip....never mind. THEN I found out how the evil manufacturers getcha. They run a style for about 6 months and then discontinue it. Enter the perfectionist housekeeper type "I can't replace the two dinner plates that just broke! I have to get another set!" I'll teach the evil manufacturers! By God I will! I'll......get another set. Up to now I haven't been able to get rid of the matches-my-countertop-perfectly-uneven-numbered set out of principle. It's really ridiculous that I'd end up overstacking my cabinets with potentially deadly earthquake volleys because my Martha Stewart/dysfunctional pride won't let it go. Cripes sakes! We just a family of 3!

I'm inspired! I truly am! I'm going to go home tonight, get rid of one set (donation) and keep the other ::grin:: Alice Waters would be proud!

Hey Laurie--I want to give you a big wild round of applause from Alaska for the plates post. And in case you didn't know, it's so much easier de-cluttering those kinds of things when you're single. You and I are just about the same age and I've been married for 19 years to a good man who has firm objections to decluttering stuff that might possibly be "his." He owns it, it's his, he must keep it until his hearse arrives. At which time, most of the stuff in our house, garage and shed will disapper in a massive sale.

So I'm still battling the very large oak china hutch filled with Franciscanware Desert Rose (ours and his since-departed Gram's), crystal champagne flutes from England, leaded crystal water glasses, and much, much more. On Thansgiving day he moved to get the chipped-up everyday Corelle out of the kitchen cupboard and I chose that moment to pronounce: "If these dishes don't get used at least once a year they're leaving this house for good!" He promptly set the table with Gram's plates. Heck, I don't even like pink roses, but that's what I'm stuck with. Ah well, at least he carved the turkey, helped make the meal, assisted the toddler at the table, and helped do the dishes...

When I lived alone, I bought one each of 4 place settings that I liked. They all went together, more or less, and I found them charming in their unmatchiness.

As a long-single person, I've lived with only 4 place settings (that's a plate, salad plate, and bowl, not all the extras) for probably close to 20 years. Before that, I was keeping kosher so had 2 sets for 4. When I was married back in the dark ages, we did the whole-hog thing - registered for and got a full service for 12, full setting of sterling silver for 16, copper kitchen stuff including the full Revereware deal (it was the Caphalon equivalent at the time.) Total waste - when the marriage ended a year later, I left it all with him gleefully.

But I do have pretty dessert plates and a set of 4 small plates that are green grapeleaves that I dearly love, and I can set a very pretty table with my bargain-basement lavender plates, some grapevine design napkins from CostPlus, and the green plates on top.

I'm so glad that you are not only minimizing the crap in your life, but that you're sharing how positive it is for you and influencing others to do the same. There has been a shift away from consumerism over the past 4-5 months, and it's only going to grow.

It's like shopping and endless TV and celebrity culture is our "bread and circuses." You can't just eat chocolate and junk food and soda, or your body totally rebels - and gets really gross. It's as though consuming (goods, foods, media) to excess is finally beginning to feel like that one-bite-too-many of something like radiation-proof Twinkies. Our psyches are beginning to wake up and say, "I don't think this is all that good for me in the long run." Consuming is akin to cancer - endless growth in the amount of stuff we have becomes poisonous, just like overactive growth in our cells does.

Moderation, knowing what you need and how much of it, is really listening to your inner needs, not what's projected to you by your surroundings. And listening to our best inner self helps us grow toward being that better self every time we recognize it.

So much yadayada to just say, "Girlfriend, you got it goin' on."

My eldest cat chirps, my middle diva girl meows and chats (meaning I can say anything and she answers, esp around meal times), and my youngest yodels, urffs, and purrs like a chainsaw.

I have a lot of plates but right now I am rotating two I found at Goodwill, a Japanese brand that is just so pretty and cheerful.

I've been slowly going thru things to declutter by giving them away, taking to Goodwill, gotta a consignment bag I'm working on filling (losing 40 pounds makes going thru the closet rather fun), and I've been able to breeze thru stores just getting the things on my list.

Books - never. Still collecting them by the bookcase full. Ever since I was a young'un and discovered Agatha Christie for the first time, I promised someday when I was all grown-up and had a home of my own, I'd have a library, just like the one the bodies are found in or the detective has. Every wall covered in books. My living room is now my library. 12 bookcases and working on more. Books are really my only vice.

I'm afraid we're from the opposite camp - cupboards and drawers FULL of dishes and silverware. But it's all pretty cheap stuff; remnants from my Noritake set of 4 I bought when we first married; most of my set of 8 Mikasa stoneware I love, bought about 10 years later; a cheapo set of Blue Willow from Safeway, or wherever; totally cheap stoneware I had when I was single. A totally random shelf of coffee mugs. And LOTS of extra teaspoons and salad forks, because we go through them so fast. If something breaks, it's no big deal, though I do hate it when one of the Mikasa set goes, because it's my favorite.

But we do own a dishwasher, and only run it about twice a week. It's always full, so less energy is used; though since the Marital Unit, who does all dishes (I do all cooking) prewashes everything by hand, maybe not.

We do have partial sets of Good Wineglasses, and some serving pieces, but no Good Dishes, per se. I love lots of patterns, and noticed that blue is a perennial color in china, so everything we have has blue in it, and mix/matches fairly well. When we had our countertops replaced, I picked blue Formica. I want to turn the rest white or leave it in natural wood tones, so it has that classic feel to it.

Anyway, I might purge a few of the true mismatches - especially the mugs. But husband is 6'5" with huge wingspan and flailing elbows; and I have very cluttered/messy countertops. So natural atttrition seems to be taking care of the overstock, 1 piece at a time.

My mother was moaning a few months back that she no longer had a complete service setting for 40. She counted only service for 32. She didn't notice my stunned`silence. She hasn't needed service for 32 (let alone 40) since I don't know when or even, if ever. But she really felt the loss of not having it. Go figure.

I have a funky setting for 4 that I adore and use daily (well, not all four, there are only two of us most of the time). I also have over 41 coffee cups and I have no excuse for that. :-)

Bob looks just like my kitty cat! She bites if I try to pet her and she's not in the mood, or if I do it wrong. But she loves to be petted.
I hate all my plates that I will have when I move to my own apt, but they were free, so until I have more money they will have to do. I'm working on having less right now. I am only taking one fork to my apartment..... just kidding.
Also, I wanted to say that I love reading your blog because it gives me a glimpse into life in Los Angeles, life of a normal person, not some teenage partyer LA stereotype person. This is good because I'm moving to LA and try to read about it all the time :) I like knitting as well, but crocheting is easier for me. Anyway, thanks for writing a blog!

Just so you know, peat is not a great choice for the eco concious.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1525/is_n3_v78/ai_13695256
A much greener choice is Coir.
http://www.greenlivingonline.com/HomeGarden/giving-up-peat-moss-for-coconut-coir/

just my 2 cents

maybe just maybe it's sinking in that we are over consuming and it's just not going to be sustainable and it's not making us happy ("the one with the most toys when you die wins" a bumper sticker I've seen) Factor in that we're going to start paying more for everything connected to oil and everyone looks around and goes "what am I blowing my money on?" and "do I really need this stuff?" One of the best things my parents taught me was it's better to spend more and buy one thing of quality that's going to last than a bunch of cheap things that won't (and maybe this would get manufacturing back in North America). The best thing they taught,"If you can't pay cash, you can't afford it"

Read "Happiness is an Inside Job" by Sylvia Boorstein ... great truthful book. Indeed it is the American way to think the things we buy hold our happiness.

Hi Mizz Purl. I found this outdoor potting soil thats rocking my world...its got bits of water absorbing polymer (the stuff that makes disposible diapers so absorbant)that make the container grown plants not dry out so fast. I know Miracle Gro makes a similar product because I tried it before but its not as good as this one by Premier Pro-Mix.
Another good way to help your dry soil is compost. Peat is becoming endangered, by the way, due to over harvesting in the peat bogs. Who would think of something we mix into dirt as becoming and endangered substance? I have big guilt because I built raised beds and filled them with a peat and sand based bagged "soil".
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s314639.htm
Mix your peat, compost, or container potting soil with polymer crystals into the garden soil so that it doesn't just blow away when it gets dry. The plants need that moisture at the roots not the surface.
Also, mulch works wonders for dry gardens. Hope you enjoy this WWKIP day and happy gardening.

Wow. I thought I had the only cats that chirp! It's such a weird sound, isn't it?

I just got done reading your book (I'm behind in this knitting/cat thing, but catching up), and now I'd like to thank you for bringing me some good laughs with your story. I'm glad everything worked out so well for you.

Now I have to go explain to my cats that they are not unique in the universe.... ;)

laurie, I'm coming in late (as usual...)

But I think you need to be the agent of kharma for Mrs. Lee. She gives you zucchini plants - you give her zucchini. LOTS of zucchini.

Sorta like when my inlaws gave me lots of yard sale acrylic oddball yarn (as in drips and drabs of other people's projects). I made 'em sweaters. Double-stranded, bulky knit random-stripe sweaters.

Oh, now there's a story! I said I was going to knit the FIL a sweater, and he started about all the stuff he had in his drawers and I said I didn't want to see what he had in his drawers and now I tell people he dropped his drawers in front of us all to show us how much he's got.

Fun times. (with the right attitude, but it's work sometimes!)

Oh, Laurie, you make me laugh! We have a cat named Precious Kitty, but everyone calls her pigeon because she sounds just like one when she purrs. She has a heart murmur so maybe that's why she makes such loud, obnoxious noises. Trust me, she loves no one but herself and her eyes are purely demonic. She makes Lucifer (the cat on Cinderella) look positively charming. ha ha She is lordess of our domain and even has the dogs under her spell. (They're petrified of her!)

Wish you'd send me your ugly plates... lol... when we have the family here for thanksgiving, we have to scrounge for enough plates... and I've NEVER had twelve of anything that matches... including chipped stuff. ha ha

I'm off to the yarn shop!

I have this feng shui-ie type rule when it comes to stuff - or maybe it has nothing to do with feng shui at all - in any case...

Rule #1: Buy only what you LOVE.
Need is not essential - LOVE is not negotiable - LIKE is not sufficient.

Rule #2: What comes in - must go out.
A strict 1:1 exchange and what goes out must be of equal significance - therefore, new vase <> old sour cream container.

We are in the midst of a "clear out, clean up, get rid of " phase in our house, too. I have not been well for the past few years, and it is amazing how fast the junk (stuff) piles up!! I understand the keeping of a box or two of things that are loaded with memories (GOOD ONES of course), but other than that, if it hasn't been used in a year, out it goes!! Enforcing that is a little harder, though. My 22 yr.old is very helpful with this, the 16 yr. old, not so much. But, by golly, before winter I had better be able to get 2 cars into my 2-car garage!! We have been on a quest to stop buying anything that is not absolutely neccessary ,too. Maybe everybody got poor (see recession) at the same time!! We just all noticed the pinch at the same time!!
Chin up (or chins, in my case), we'll make it!!
Bob is a sweetie pie!!! A very special boy!!!

Or... how about a dinner party for 11? What time shall Bossy pop over?

Saw a good news - sorta - item in the paper today. It's gotten so expensive to transport goods from China that some companies are bringing their factories back over here! But the cost of raw materials is also rising, and the dollar is weak; so everything is still going to cost more. Still - YAY for US jobs! - helps the balance of trade, too!

You know, if you keep coming up with this good advice you're going to need to change the name of this blog to "Wise Aunt Purl"

Most anything will work for mulch, but I think the best is hay. Just put it about six inches deep and replenish it when it compacts thinner. Add more every year as the bottom adds to the soil.

Love your craziness!!
Bob is a beauty and I totally understand you not moving until he decided to get down. I have a cat like that, and then I have a cat that thinks that Mom's lap belongs only to HIM!!! LOL
Have a good one.

Judy

I LOVED your plate revelation. Made such perfect sense.

Aww, I've actually been late for work because I'm enjoying doggy play time with Oscar. Some days I can't bear to make him go back inside. I would like to declutter like you, but I think I'm just not ready to let go of my stuff yet. Even the clothes in the closet that don't fit are hard to let go... Sigh....

has anyone else had to Google images the names of the dining sets mentioned in the comments to see what people are using? ...maybe I'm just weird...

Awwww Bob!!!
(I'll stop before he gets scared of his fame)

Thanks for being a fellow declutter Laurie! It shows the rest of us that yes, you can get rid of those shirts with no sentimental value. See? Didn't hurt Aunt Purl one bit! And look how nice her living room looks! (It does!) You've stopped me from buying more unnecessary silverware. Well, stopped until new roommate moves in and it turns out I will need more, but I'm holding off until that happens. There's also extra motivation to go through my clothes too (whine whine wine?).

I love your writing and your insights !

Great post - sorry for the late comment...Better late to the party than never, I supppose.

Secret confession - I use paper plates every day b/c I hate to unload the dishwasher. Bad habit but boy it is nice to just chuck the plate in the trash after every meal!

I went thru a similar plate thing..since moving out after college, I realized that I had been using these hideous plates that my stepmonster, er, stepmother, had foisted off on me. They were some nice name brand but in a horrible 1970's shades-of-brown rooster motif that I seriously hated. And I mindlessly used them for YEARS. And finally, one day, I realized that...drumroll...I could buy new plates. Earthshattering, I know. Boy, habits can be really strong and keep us in our patterns, can't they???

I rescued a cat for a few days (years ago) and the cat said 'milk'...it was very wonderful. It was a smidge more like 'meeeooook', but it made us all stop and look. Great posts on getting conscious about why-buy. I was thinking of it over the week-end as I stood in line at Ross with one thing I didn't need and two things I did. arghghgh...bought the don't need anyway and knew it and know it. Ah well, something for the next garage sale.

oh...Bob is gorgeous.