Sunday reading

A sponge fermenting overnight for today's bread

Homemade pasta recipe
How to make fresh produce last when you only shop once a month
What is the grain to glass trend?
Shake the wintertime blues: move
How to make beeswax candles
7 things you can make instead of buying
Homegrown popcorn
Hibernot (a sponsored section of The Guardian website on getting outside in the winter0

Sunday reading

What are you up to today? Our plan is brewing another batch of beer, and I'm keeping a close eye on my first ever ginger beer plant which smells spicy and looks bubbly.

Cool things I found this week for you to enjoy over a cuppa:

Grow your own tea

Maintaining a minimalistic wardrobe

3 reasons to use a compost tumbler

Blogging and the internet

Easy chocolate cookies recipe

An afternoon snooze might benefit your health

Portrait of a craft historian

Sunday reading

Hello all! I've not been around much, it's been a rather hectic month. I shall be back at greater length in December because I have three weeks off over Christmas! (Yes! So looking forward to having a decent break.)

In the meantime, please enjoy:

10 Things I Gained When I Gave Up All My Stuff 
The First 5 Most Frustrating Things About Simplicity (plus solutions) 
You don’t need whiskers to do that.
Giving: Fewer gifts, more thought
Introducing the 2014 Unclutterer Holiday Gift Giving Guide 
How to Make a Dish Towel Apron

Sunday reading and acorn coffee

 
So. Acorn coffee.

I think you could say it's an acquired taste. And I don't intend to acquire it. I know it's free, but I'll stick to water.

It's not bitter. It's just not particularly pleasant.

Next time I forage for acorns, I'll go for acorn flour, which from other blogs seems to impart a nice nuttiness to pancakes and other bakes.

A simple guide to thrifty vegetable gardening
How to make herbal steams for colds and congestion
The Latte Factor: 8 ways we often overspend
Life in a tiny apartment - cloth napkins
How to store fresh fruits and vegetables
I made shoes!

Beer update and Sunday reading

I know we're all about the freshly made, but this post comes to you pre-prepared. While you are reading this, I will be brewing about 20 litres of ale.

After the beer had fermented for two weeks, we racked it off the dead yeast and sediment into a clean bucket and left it for a week to clarify. Then we bottled it.

26 bottles standing on the wall, 26 bottles standing on the wall, and if one brown bottle should accidentally get opened and drunk...

The last batch is now sitting in the depths of our basement and will age there for some time. The ale should be ready to drink rather sooner, but we're also more than doubling the volume that we will brew. It's essentially the same amount of work whether you make 5 litres or 25 litres.

Meanwhile, some reading for you:

What happens when you leave a city slicker family in the forest?

Seven things every first-time gardener should know

Nine lies that keep our schedule overwhelmed

A little uncluttering goes a long way

Eleven ways to live a happier life

Will mayors one day rule the world?

Cheap cuts - how to buy beef

Hops are the herbs of beer - the growth of local harvest groups

Cold and wet and rainy day

“Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards.” - Vladimir Nabokov

It's a cold, wet, grey, miserable day. And I've got a headache. Oh poor me.

Definitely time for a piping hot cup of tea and catching up on some reading.

The lies your mind tells you to prevent life changes 
Scientists sniffing out the Western allergy epidemic
Installing a bee hive - a nervous beginner's experience 
7 tips to speed up decluttering
Organising tips from outer space
Homemade naturally sweet marshmallow recipe
Homemade sandwich bags
Hospital Food Standards: did medieval hospitals do it better?

Sunday reading - The Moneyless Manifesto

I am utterly delighted to discover that Mark Boyle's The Moneyless Manifesto can be read online for free! I forgo many of the books I want to read on the basis that it is (a) money I can't afford to spend and (b) more clutter on my shelves (and alas, I have yet to find an English-language library in Brussels.) Free and online is an immediate solution.

Mark has lived several years without money, and in his book proposes a move towards a 'gift economy' where we don't exchange goods or services on the basis of a set value, but rather provide each other with what we need just because we need it and each other to survive and thrive. I particularly love the story of a free festival organised in Bristol - food, booze, workshops and a huge party all organised for free, with everyone contributing what they can and want to make from foraged or salvaged or borrowed things. No money involved at all. It's a seriously cool idea.

Read it here.

My moneyless slippers

Some other bits and bobs I have enjoyed reading this week:

How to mend your jeans
Menu planning

Stressed by the daily commute? Try 'canuting' - and travel by canoe
Slow parenting?
Make your own deodorising disks
Be a clutter detective
Don't waste a moment