#or she buys them secondhand but it’s all from like 5 seasons ago

[quillkiller]

rita skeeter & womanhood

anyone else ever think about rita skeeters fucked up relationship with femininity and womanhood as if it’s a costume she wears but it just doesn’t fit quite right :/

[saltyslack-toast]

#Knock The Book 2: The Devil All the Time

WELL, I MADE IT TO THE 2nd BOOK REVIEW OF MINE, MEANS THAT I’M A PASSIONATE AND PERSISTENT BITCH, PERIODT. No actually I’m just bored and got really nothing to do, so here I am making judgmental, invalid and uncritical book review just to ease my guilt for doing nothing at home (just so my mom see me working through my laptop).

Okay The Devil All the Time is actually my first English book. The story of how I got this book as a matter of fact is quite irritating and funny at the same time. My uni friend, she saw this book in a modest book bazaar near her hometown. She was reading the title and the word ‘devil’ just remind her of me, she bought it and just gave it straight to me…... I’m sad but like thankful???

It’s a secondhand and hardcover book but I don’t really mind, considering the fact that the quality is still very nice though, except the worn spots stained all over the cover that make the book looks very old. My friend bought this only for RP 25.000, yes dude you’re not misread this shit, it was THAT CHEAP (whoever sell and own this book before me, I really appreciate it). Although if you want to buy the new one, you can get this book for USD 26.95 which converted in rupiah would be RP 407.500, yeah its cost pretty fancy for broke students like us and I don’t know if the book’s supposed to be available in your local bookstore but I think you can find it in worldwide shipping online store like amazon or any other shop perhaps. The book’s cover illustrate a dying white mutt hanging on the ‘log’ and bunch of cross everywhere, the cover is actually make sense when you read the book. It published in 2011 by doubleday in United States of America. The Author is Donald Ray Pollock, and you can find the sum information about his background written on the cover, but based form the book’s cover you can also check his website in donaldraypollock.com but when I checked, I’m not sure if it’s really his website since it just like pest control website (LMAOO I HAD NO IDEA FR). Anyway,

Let’s go breaking down the book!

“… Too much religion could be as bad as too little, maybe even worse, but moderation was just not in her husband’s nature”

The whole story in this book, basically give you portraits regarding the life of lunatics in the time after WWII. Nope, there is no sums up about the events happened in that moment so chill y’all non-historical enthusiast bitches. This book gonna give you a bizarre experience reading it, the first 10 pages of this book was already psychedelic, I assure that shit. Have you watched Games of Thrones series on HBO? It’s chilling right how Ned Stark, the protagonist of the main series died in the first season???? EXACTLY that was the vibes u got after reading the first chapter and get crazier every time u read forward. By the way, this book embodied 7 chapters and 55 sub-chapters, the chapter in odd and even numbers has 2 different main focuses on each characteristic exist, here I sum it up for you:

On the odd numbers chapters (1, 3, and so on), the central story of these chapters is circling among the family of Willard Russel, his Mom Emma and Uncle Earskell and also those 2 insane peeps Roy Laferty and Theodore. Willard Russel used to be a navy army and a bit skeptical dealing with religion issues just like his uncle, but his mom has always been a devoted worshiper. Willard married to the beautiful and kind-hearted women named Charlotte and they was given a son named Arvin Eugene Russel, everything was normal until Charlotte got sick and Willard gone crazy praying to god for his wife’s recovery and poor little Arvin has to suffer the predicament by his own self. Their stories always give me religious-fanaticism-gloomy vibes (is that even make sense??). Don’t even get me started with the life stories of the two brutes-ass man, Roy Laferty and Theodore they were used to be ‘preacher’ in Emma and young Willard’s Church. Nothing I could say further because it’s gonna be a major spoiler for you, but their stories really giving you insights of how frustration and fanaticism allow people to do something beyond their common sense.

“You remember what I told you the other day?” He asked Arvin

“About the boys on the bus?,”

“Well, that’s what I meant, you just got to pick the right time”

On the even numbers chapters (2, 4, and so on), the main tales is pertaining on the journey of Handerson couple, Carl and Sandy. They were like the Bonnie and Clyde but sad and exploitative version in this book. Carl is a ‘photographer’ and sandy working as a waitress in a café called Wooden Spoon (Which the place where Charlotte used to work as a waitress and the place she met Willard for the first time as well). During summertime they got this ‘ritual’ ((but not in a religious way)) where they drive to different states and give a ride to the hitchhikers found on the way, then Carl forcefully offer them to fuck Sandy for free (HIS OWN WIFE) while he took pictures of them fucking and after that Carl kill them and take all the money those hitchhikers got in their pocket (dude I can’t even judge anything). But to be honest, I’m not a fan of these two characters because they were all so ANNOYING to death. And then there is Bodecker Lee who’s a police and also Sandy’s brother, ok that’s it, I’m not gonna give you any spoilers.

“… He went down the street and sat on a bench in a park the rest of the day thinking about killing himself instead. Something broke in him that day. For the first time he could see that his whole life added up to absolutely nothing…”

You might be confused since there are quite a lot of keen characters in this book but there’s a point where all these bitches are relating to each other, so chill y’all impatient gripe-ass. Overall, the flow of the story is undoubtedly interesting for you to keep going throughout the whole story, because every phase gonna make you wondering about next things happened to them. But, the transitions among every chapters is quite uncomfortable for me, because sometimes when the story has reached its climax there is no resolutions coming to solve the problem immediately, and you’re faced to read the new chapter with a whole different setting and characters so it’s kind of ruining the vibes and emotions the book has made me, but again this just my personal preference so please don’t judge (while everything I did right now is judging inaccurately).

“He realized that he would never preach again, but that was all right. He’d never been much good at it anyway. Most people just wanted to hear the cripple play”

However, what I like the most from this book is the deepening of every character exists is so fascinating, even for just the side or supporting character (for god sake I’m sorry idk what to called a character that isn’t the main one), for example a bus driver in Meade, Ohio which Willard talked to when he was on the way home after the war ended, the narration wrapped and portraits the driver’s life perfectly without make us bored, and there’s still a bunch of interesting narration about the life of the side characters in this book that also as odds and intriguing as the main character’s background (jesus, everything happened and everyone in this book is just so strange and peculiar I swear to god). The story finished in a most tragic-beautiful but still gloomy way, even though it’s quite predictable but still a very good closing for me personally. To be noted, on the way to the end of the story, there will be emerge another asshole priest character named Preston Teagardin, ready to shake you up until you finish the book. But still, let’s said this particular ‘last minute character’ has proving that the author is paying so much attention of how the story ended isn’t leaving any 'rush-made' impression (this shit might confused you I’m sorry my English hasn’t got any better *sorry hand sign* *sorry hand sign* *sorry hand sign*). # hashtag attention to the detail bro.

Holy crap, that’s the first time I’m almost able to cut all the bullshit I intend to bring it up here.

This book is one of my top 5 books that you have to read once in a life time (although I haven’t discover the other four, omg im sorry y’all). Little information for you that the first time I read this book (yeah I read it for quite few times) is when the campaign of presidential election era, which in Indonesia the religious are pretty sentimental issues, some of the people in my country suddenly became those annoying fanatical preachers, man I can’t stand it. And this book is just precisely relating to that condition and I get to know at least a glance of what the heck odds things happened in their minds, since you know fanaticism and stupidity doesn’t hit only on particular group of religions, race, gender or anything, we can all be stupid and brainless (especially me because I basically have no brain). There probably quite many scenes that is pretty disturbing to read (I don’t know if people could be triggered by it???? But I guess so) so yeah a bit warning. Overall, I genuinely recommend this book for you guys because every element in this book is almost perfect, the storylines, bold characters, and the RARE AND STRANGE AND SENSITIVE topic promote by the author in this novel is totally a BOOM. Don’t worry reading this book not going to give you those agnostic and atheist vibes HAHA chill I still consider myself a devoted Muslim tho (hashtag masyaallah ukthi).

By the way before I wrapped it up, I hear that this book will be made into a netflix film. WELL, of course I’m excited because the casts are so amazing, and I love Netflix adaptation and I enjoy watch movies as much as I read books (again, unnecessary information of mine *sorry hand sign*). I found that the release date is postponed from the origin plan in 15th May (which is three days ago from I posted this on my page) due to I don’t know perhaps corona because that bitch has ruined everyone in the world’s schedule, but for real I can’t find the exact information regarding to the updated release date, so while you wait the film to launch, why don’t you just go read the book first? I assure you this one not gonna give you any disappointment.

I think that would be it for this 2nd rubbish book review of mine. Although, I think I made a little progressive from the first one (OR MAYBE NOT???? I’M SORRY Y’ALL) but of course there’s still much deficiency I served. Still, I hope my writing get better in the process of making this whole novel of reviewing book inaccurately. To be honest, I wrote this shit not for getting any engagements or audience but for my own satisfied HAHA. So yeah I’m literally comfortable writing for nothing. But bitch guess what I’m just gonna keep going, until I could professionally writing and make it for a living? Well, amen for that.

Xiao, See you in Advance!

[lightsandlostbells]

Skam España episode 2 reaction

After the first three episodes, Skam España has slid more into of the original storyline, although there are still some places where it keeps diverging. But you can always count on a squad power walk.

Episode 2

Clip 1 - Pizza solves problems

Eva is just chilling, eating snacks, thinking about her lying, two-timing, conniving boyfriend. Well, potentially lying and two-timing and conniving. She composes a text, saying that she thought she saw him on the bus with Inés, then backtracks and deletes the Inés part.

Jorge ignores her question and is like, hey, you alone? He rings the doorbell within a minute of her text, so either he was already in the neighborhood or he got to her place faster than Even in Skam season 3, episode 7.

And he brought a pizza! He got there so fast that I don’t think it could be a deflecting-suspicion pizza, but I guess it could hypothetically be a guilt-pizza. Most likely it’s just a pizza-pizza.

He has the decency to ask her about the meeting with the girls, which is nice, but he comes across as being maybe a little overly friendly? Like I could definitely see where he was on his best boyfriend behavior so Eva doesn’t ask more questions about him on the bus. But Eva does ask him, and he says he was just coming back from Lucas’ house on the bus. He says he was alone and Eva doesn’t push him to admit otherwise. I mean ... we know Jorge is up to something, but hypothetically he could have just happened to get on the same bus as Inés and engaged in awkward small talk. It could have been an Isak-and-Even-in-S3.2 situation, with less flirtation.

Jorge is like, whenever I’m in you’re neighborhood, I head over to you. I see you and I have to get close. Yeah, that would explain why you cheated on Inés, I guess!

I feel like Jorge is really nice and friendly but makes a lot of promises he can’t keep and uses his charm to get away with it.

They seem to be having a good time, except Eva looks down to see his phone, just sitting there on the counter, being all tempting. Her hand creeps toward it just a fraction at the very end.

Clip 2 - Reese’s are the best

Viri is trying to encourage the girls to sell stuff like T-shirts and hats to fund their trip. All due respect, Viri, but I would want to see those designs of those before you start manufacturing.

She also turns down an offer of a snack saying that it’s fattening. Eva is fine with getting fat. Nora says they didn’t have these snacks in Wisconsin. Cris is like, I thought you had everything in Wisconsin? Nora’s like, we had peanut butter and pancakes and Reese’s. Everyone is in agreement over Reese’s being delicious, which they are. Although I would have loved if Nora was like, “We had bratwurst and cheese curds.”

Fun fact: every Memorial Day weekend, Madison, Wisconsin hosts Brat Fest, the world’s largest festival of bratwurst. I feel like Nora needs to tell all of her friends about this in a detailed scene.

Anyway, Viri is not interested in this Wisconsin food talk and you can see her trying to interject before finally bursting out and asking the girls what they think of her plan to sell stuff. They’re all like, eh. Probably thinking about Reese’s.

Eva sees Jorge and trots off to kiss him. We move away from her POV for a moment, getting the girls’ opinions on Jorge. Cris would fuck him. Thanks for letting us know, Cris.

Clip 3 - Enter P-Cris

Yeah, I don’t know how much profit you’re going to make selling pens, Viri, unless they’re really fancy fountain pens or you’re selling them in a big pack.

Viri “forgot” to invite Amira to the group, not good, Viri. Amira is like, your pens plan is dumb and Viri is like well OBVIOUSLY we had this binding agreement yesterday to go ahead.

Lmao, Penetrator Chris is introduced because the girls are calling for girl Cris across the room and he just happens to be there? It’s not as funny as Eva hunting him down and bringing him to the girls’ bathroom, but I mean, the man saw an opportunity and took advantage of it.

P-Cris is pretty cute in a boy band sort of way. He doesn’t even introduce himself to the other girls gaping at him, he’s all about Eva.

The girls detected sizzling chemistry between them, leap on that opportunity and tell Eva to get him to invite the group to his party this weekend right then and there. (Viri’s delivery is really funny here, lmao.)

Viri is like ALEJANDRO WILL BE THERE and Nora is like, who’s that? Because she has the audacity to not know The Cutest Boy in School. They show her pictures of Alejandro. Is Alejandro like a legit model or something? One of those pictures is a straight-up Blue Steel from a photoshoot.

Girl Cris is the one to like all of his IG pics for Eva, not Amira. And she’s the one who seems more actively egging on Eva to flirt. Amira wants to go to the party but she’s not the instigator.

Viri gives Amira a high-five so I mean, progress? A smidge?

Clip 4 - Stalker!

Jorge and Lucas are talking about buying DJ equipment. Jorge mentions that he doesn’t have the money for good equipment, but he doesn’t want to buy secondhand or cheap equipment in case it breaks. It’s mentioned that he might need a job to pay for the equipment. So perhaps this is motivation for whatever shady shit Jorge will be doing? Or it’s connected to it in a way. He needs money.

Anyway, Eva isn’t super involved in this conversation, so she’s pretty pleased when boy Cris texts her and calls her a stalker. When she is asked for her input, she goes with “Lucas is right,” whether she was actually paying attention or just that she knows that “Lucas is right” is usually true and will therefore make it seem like she’s paying attention.

The way Lucas looks at Jorge is always so warm and fond.

Cris invites Eva to the party and she’s like “What party?” as if this is Brand New Information. Cris flirts with Eva, saying he’ll throw party for her. She is clearly pleased by this attention, as opposed to her boyfriend being wrapped up in a conversation with his friend.

Lucas and Jorge are seriously going on about this. What if they end up DJing at one of these Penetrator parties? Lucas says he wants to learn how to DJ and Jorge says he’ll teach him, which I’m sure will be a thrilling experience for Lucas. Cue Lucas playing 20 pining love songs in a row.

Eva is on the fence about going to Cris’ party when Jorge is just like “Lucas, you want to do something this weekend?” Eva is startled by this. The camera zooms in on her face, similar to that scene in the last episode, so I think it’s definitely an artistic choice. I thought it was decently executed here so as to communicate her surprise.

Lucas is like, sure, we could get a beer. Don’t pretend his heart didn’t flutter when Jorge asked.

He also says they can’t drink at his house, because of bad vibes, “the usual,” which is certainly his mom’s condition and maybe his parents fighting. Jorge knows about this situation well enough to know that it’s typical at Lucas’ home.

Jorge also asks Eva if she wants to do something, too. And she’s honest with him, mostly! There’s a party at Cris’, she and the girls were invited (well, that’s a fib, she was the only ones specifically invited, but technically Cris did say she could bring whoever like five seconds ago …) She just leaves out that, you know, she flirted with Cris to get her and her squad into this party. I mean, this does drive home how shady Eva herself was being. Jorge and all the Jonases are keeping secrets, but here’s Eva having some of her own, even when she’s being fairly honest. 

Jorge and Lucas think Cris and his pals suck. Lucas says those guys don’t think about anything but hooking up with girls and Jorge is all, “That’s like all of us,” and Lucas is like AHAHAHA what a totally relatable comment! His laugh is so awkward, lol. Like AHAHAHAA kill me.

But the boys realize that a party is a party and agree to go. I mean, time to check out Cris’ big-ass house.

The way this is shot makes Jorge and Lucas all bunched together and facing together, while Eva is separated from them by a backpack with more space between them.

However, they still seem really close! In the original, in this scene Eva was listening to the boys make fun of her and her friends and the russ concept, while she was texting Chris. This is so much more benign! Sure, the boys are wrapped up in their own conversation, but they do ask for her input, and they invite her to their plans, and this whole conversation is so much more light-hearted. Jorge even seems to be a little satisfied when Eva mentions the other girls were invited, like maybe he’s proud of her for having friends. It’s quite sweet to see, but it also downplays Eva’s irritation with her boyfriend and how the boys could make her feel like shit. So they’re going to have to really sell me on the inevitable fractures in the group.

Clip 5 - Party time at Cris’ big-ass house

Eva is waiting at the metro and texting Jorge. He says they’ll show up to the party at 21:00 because being the first to arrive is lame. He also has low battery - convenient!

The other girls show up, then Viri. Viri is really dressed up like a Barbie, the girls are happy, it’s cute! Then Viri has to make it awkward by mentioning Amira’s “Bible” prevents her from drinking. Amira corrects her patiently.

Nora makes it a little less awkward by saying she also doesn’t drink, though Eva and Cris laugh their asses off at her explanation because it’s such a mom thing to say.

Also Viri brought some alcohol from home, which doesn’t really mean anything in itself since it’s so common, except in connection with Vilde’s home life with her mom, it makes you wonder if it’s deliberate. Like Viri wants to get some of the booze out of the house, or there’s so much of it her mom won’t miss it. 

The girls are very cute and excited as they walk to the party. It’s a fun sequence! The power walk/party entrance has a lot of stylized editing that’s different from what we usually see in a Skam remake, like zooms on each of the girls as they step through the door, but I adored that series of choppy zooms on Cris as he’s checking out Eva. It’s so ridiculous, but so fitting for Skam’s resident unabashed fuckboy.

It is kind of funny to me that they made sure to mention Cris’ big house, but the party seems to be confined to a rave in the basement.

Viri is beside herself when she sees Alejandro, like she’s reminded of his hotness all over again. This girl legit malfunctions around him.

Viri sees Lara, mysterious Lara who just transferred from Red Herring Academy! Eva seems way too happy when Viri runs over to her, like isn’t she worried about what happened with Lara, that Inés told her Eva’s sordid past?

So Eva doesn’t forget the dinner with Jorge and her mom, as in the original, but Jorge is supposed to come to the party and he’s running late and probably going to bail completely. Basically, Eva’s not the one at fault here.

Clip 6 - More of the party

Yeah, I really don’t see the point in breaking up the clips like this. Plenty of scenes and events in the original were spread over a longer period of time, but within one clip.

Is Alejandro checking out Nora already or is Cris looking at Eva in that one shot? Or both?

Lol, I love Nora getting a call from her cousin in Madison. There’s like a seven-hour time difference. Please please keep dropping Wisconsin references.

As soon as Nora’s gone, boy Cris makes a move. He plops down and makes it clear he was waiting for a chance to talk to Eva alone. He does this smooth move where he “can’t hear her” so he puts his arm around her to get closer. She tells him she has a boyfriend and he’s like, pfffft, truly not a setback!

Cris leaves, Eva checks her phone. Jorge said he’d be there but he is emphatically not. Jorge, we were rooting for you!

Inés shows up, just in time to see that Eva is all alone like a friendless loser, of course. She starts talking to Alejandro, who turns his attention away from Viri to Inés. Viri gets crestfallen and shuffles away.

Clip 7 - Viri fulfills her dream

Eva is still waiting for Jorge’s ass to show up. Sigh.

The music from the trailer plays as Viri is back to talking to Alejandro, although he seems more closed off (arms crossed). The other girls are watching and creating their own soap opera version of Viri and Alejandro’s conversation. Cris accurately nails Viri’s thirst; Amira perfectly embodies Alejandro’s indifference.

Her boyfriend nowhere to be found, Eva gets to dance with the girls, at least, and all is well until she gets too into her movies and knocks into Inés. Inés is ready for a fight, but the other girls defend Eva. Eva, however, backs down and says she needs to be more careful, and Inés agrees with her. Somehow I think they’re talking about being careful with something other than overly vigorous dancing, like, IDK, boyfriends.

Inés walks off and the other girls wonder what her deal is. Cris is ready to thrown down but Eva sharply wants them to drop it.

Eva wants to leave even though Inés is also headed out. Mood, killed, certainly not helping that her purse appears to have been drenched in whiskey. However, girl Cris herds the girls away for some good news, which is that Viri is making out with Alejandro in a closet/cupboard/pantry thing. The girls cheer and applaud, Cris yells at them to get a room, but Alejandro and Viri don’t really notice, lol. Now that’s some dedication to making out.

So we didn’t get Amira defending Viri against Inés in this version! Instead, we have the girls defending Eva against Inés, of course not knowing the full story of their friendship breakup. In particular, Cris was ready to bust a skull. But that was a big moment in the Sana-Vilde relationship, so you have to wonder if we’ll get a similar moment later where Viri realizes that Amira is fully ride or die. 

I wonder if Inés left because that girl told her Alejandro was taken, since it seemed like perhaps Inés wanted to get with him? Or if it had something to do with Jorge?

General Comments/Social Media:

This episode was way more in line with the original episode 4, which is where we are after condensing three episodes into the first. We had the party with the power walk, Eva and Cris’ flirtation, etc. though there were still variations in tone and some other plot points that were different.

On social media, Lara leaves the trip group chat without comment, so I think it’s safe to say Inés got to her. The two of them are shown in pics together. Viri was partying with Lara on IG on Saturday, so whatever happened can’t be THAT bad. I guess Lara doesn’t like Eva but Viri’s fine in her eyes.

Apparently the text messages between Eva and Cris have some loaded vibes where Cris uses language associated with sexual harassment and assault. Not against Eva, but like “I’ll let you sexually harass me.” Like he comes across as a dude who’s just ignorant about the topic and privileged. Cris was fucking JAZZED about Eva coming to the party, too, like he had no chill. I mean, Eva is a beautiful girl with excellent bangs, so I understand.

Cris posted this video on IG of soap being sliced and like, sometimes I don’t get the weird shit people post but I felt instantly at peace watching that soap being diced.

There’s a text about Eva binging a TV show and betraying Jorge by watching it all, and it has 11 episodes, so that could very well be a reference to OG Skam S1. LEARN FROM EVA’S MISTAKES, EVA.

There were quite a few pictures and IG stories from the party, which was good of the social media team to recreate the feel of a real party.

I’m not Spanish so feel free to correct me on anything!

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

[thesteveyates]

This week i was down at the yard one evening when i happened to bump into Chris the boss who was slinging the next boat due to go down the slip.  Chris was just back from an early season sail with some of his university students : his main job being a university lecturer at the maritime college.    It was that kind of evening when neither of us were in a rush to get stuff done so, like the old seadogs we pretend to be, we had a good ‘gam’ about stuff that we were doing.

We both come at our sailing from completely different backgrounds and experiences of boats : mine being very much ‘IOR’ but also with a few years knocking around a boatyard.        Chris probably has even more ocean miles that i do, is definitely as experienced a long distance sailor and is far better a boatman and all round fixer of boat problems.

For some reason we got to talking about simple boat designs and came around to ‘Bolger-boxes‘, we don’t have any of the late Phil Bolger’s designs in the yard although we had been talking about simple-but-functional boats which lots of the craft in the yard are…..rather than the pretty and the conventional.            Chris actually knew of a Bolger design that he was very enthusiastic about but one which doesn’t feature in my book of Bolger‘s designs….one that he thought might interest me.  I’ll come back to the actual boat in a moment…the thrust of our conversation being along the lines of the difficulty of finding larger boats (than mine) that are offshore capable and will lie upright in a creek or on the beach.  Chris, like me, is a great believer in being able to do that, in fact it has been Chris’s knowledge of the west-country rivers that has opened up many of the great little shallow anchorages to me and WABI”’

The ‘Bolger-box‘ that Chris mentioned  by the way is a cat-yawl design called ‘Romp’ and it’s one i’d never heard of nor ever knowingly seen a picture of : there aren’t even that many photographs of the design on the internet.  Here’s the boat (below) that our man was talking about, and yes it’s one that could get my enthusiasm running and yes, it’s definitely an oddball one.

Firstly, i can exactly imagine this one sitting comfortably on the firm sand/mud of Ruan creek , or anywhere else for that matter, i can easily imagine taking her across to France and then parking her on the mud far up one of the Brittanny rivers and i bet she would be a comfortable boat to live aboard and voyage with.  I don’t reckon she would be a good upwind boat in the channel as, if anything, she looks like a little barge…..in fact i want to go very ‘left-field’ here and suggest that she might even be better with leeboards just like a real barge.

As with the boats that Chris and me were talking about this one holds the same practical and functional appeal as my little boat does.  Aside from a couple of mentions in Bolger related websites i haven’t found out much more yet about the design or the few that have been built.

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Today, that one wasn’t really what i came to talk about as this post is ‘one for the weekend‘, that is , the series in which i highlight boats that are on the market through Ebay and which i think are worth a look at.

About a year ago my own decision making about boats was almost exactly hanging between ‘proper’ offshore and ocean going boats , classic cruiser-racers say and the much more specialised boats geared towards shallow draft and drying out.  It should be pretty obvious which way i have gone with that now but a year ago i was on the verge of buying this boat just before my knee became a real problem.

This is the actual boat we went to see down at Portland marina/boatyard and spent the morning aboard having a very thorough examination of.  She was already on the brokerage at a fair price although the owner really wanted to get rid of her and at that stage had put her up for auction on Ebay…..which was when i picked up on her. I covered the boat briefly once before, for those that don’t remember it’s a ‘Javelin’ half tonner to the older IOR rule and had been a competitive racer briefly and then a very capable cruiser-racer.  I was very tempted to make an offer on the Javelin as i thought her crude race boat interior would be easily converted into a much more comfortable boat for a couple and to be honest, this is the kind of boat that i grew up with in the ISORA circuit.

I thought then, and still think now, that the Javelin would have been a competent and fairly quick cruiser-racer for genuine offshore cruising although the compromise would have been her inability to dry out easily and i think i would have been nervous about trying to dry her out on beaching legs.

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What actually happened here is that my knee needed a more urgent rebuild and i couldn’t take the Javelin project any further at that time.  I happen to think that she would have made a very capable cruiser almost along the same lines as Free-Range sailing’s ‘Mirrool’…the limitation with the Javelin being the 5 foot draft.

The first reason i am highlighting the Javelin half-tonner again today is that i still happen to believe a 30 foot ,early GRP boat would make an excellent long term cruising boat for a young couple….again just like Troy and Pascale’s ‘Mirrool’.  The Javelin is slightly more extreme a boat with her fin keel rather than the semi-long keel and i suspect both a bit quicker and a bit wetter a sailing boat in a breeze upwind.

The second reason i am highlighting the Javelin today is that there is one for sale/Auction on Ebay right now and it’s a boat that i have actually seen out sailing.  Its a slightly strange coincidence but when i was passing Lymington one evening on the ‘Inanda’ trip there was an evening race in that end of the Solent and the Javelin was one of the boats that came past me…..i was a bit too busy dodging weekend racing  yachties to get photographs.

Anyway, here she is and a very low starting cost.   When she came past me her sails looked good and flat , she looked very balanced and well behaved too. I had a quick look through the sale details, obviously the 2 Javelin’s are very different boats, the one i saw had a very new looking engine but would have needed new sails and an interior rebuild….the current one on Ebay has very nice looking sails, very high quality deck gear and a conventional looking cruiser-racer interior…..the downside if anything might be the old engine although i haven’t seen it so can’t comment on that.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Javelin-30-Sailing-Yacht-Boat-Fin-Keel-1974/264274947404?hash=item3d8803ad4c:g:5FsAAOSwkDtcMdDI

Not related but this is where i fetched up that evening.

One for the project shed then.

Back to the boatyard then and two sailors having a good gam about boats.  Something i have often said here on the blog is that up until about 20 years ago i had a very narrow view of boats and an equally limited ‘type’ experience.  I was a bit like a stick of rock  (except fatter) ….if you’d sliced me across the middle you would have found the letters ‘IOR’ running right through the middle !.   It wasn’t until i left professional sailing behind completely that i discovered that there were ‘other’ boats out there and that some of them were far more functional craft than the race dinosaurs that i sailed.

Chris, as i have said, has a much more broad base of past experience than i do and he has sailed far more different kinds of boats than i have….at one point i was enthusing about a ‘Freedom’ design in the yard …..and he immediately told me about a passage that he’d recently done in one and how good that one was off the wind.

While we were chatting away i noticed the alloy mast of an obviously small boat on the other side of the reed-beds just around the next bend in the river and clearly coming upriver on the evening tide.

Chris said that it was a group of lads who had rescued an old and basic sailing boat and were enthusiastically trying to get it sailing again.  More enthusiasm and less cash was the impression i got from Chris….and good for them too.  There are so many small potentially viable project boats out there that just need a lot of enthusiasm, some work and some money, not much….that would make great little boats at low cost.

Chris used two expressions that were so memorable that i’m going to repeat them here : ‘run what you brung’ which is a bikers expression , basically meaning sail with what you have and don’t waste time wishing you had something better, second : “Its all valid“…in terms of boats…..the boat might not be pretty or a great marque but it can still give you as much adventure as you can handle.  I was once a kind of boat snob but today i see where Chris is going with that idea : that it doesn’t really matter what you own, it’s the adventure, and i think the process of learning that’s important.

I really admire that kind of approach as it reminds me of my first boat, a very bad East German Folkboat and then the  boat that an old ‘Whitbread‘ mate of mine and his brother owned between them …a rough secondhand Achilles 24.     Both boats were very secondhand ,rough and  worth very little,  and both of them taught us stacks about the basics of going to sea in small craft   We can then  both then trace our sailing stories up to a kind of pinnacle that took us right round the world under sail via the great capes and in  the longest fully crewed yacht race that existed back then.   Most of us in that crew came from a background of sailing small and not-great boats and anyone that was useful had some key skill to offer that they’d had to learn from running those boats.

Some time during that race i had to splice up big rope to wire halyards and i only knew how to do that because i’d had to learn that technique for my folkboat….likewise when we blew the head out of the blast reacher it was Sam who hand sewed the head ring back in place because he’d learnt that aboard his Achilles.  As i remember it he watched me splice and i helped him with the sail……a couple of years later and i was doing a similar sail repair myself just from having it seen done once : in medicine we have an expression “see one, do one, teach one” !

So, i’m going to make a point here.               I honestly think that not having a big budget for a new boat and/or taking on a project boat at some point in our sailing lives (preferably early on) makes us much better sailors ultimately.    That’s because we have to do what countless generations of sailors (not yachtsmen) have had to do and that is improvise : make and mend is the sailors expression.   I might be slightly weird but i happen to think that having a not great boat early on also teaches a lot about basic seamanship especially if that little boat has to be sailed nearly everywhere.

So, here is the point of the pointy end today….

Right now on Ebay there are several viable project boats coming and going, here is just one of them and exactly the kind of thing i would be looking for if i was just coming into the game with a few hundred pounds in my pocket and maybe the chance to put a few hundred more into the boat.  It certainly doesn’t have to be THE boat, in fact it’s probably better if the first one is on the rough side : then you won’t worry too much about learning the basic skills on it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Listang25-sailing-boat/382888835082?hash=item5925f3f80a:g:pA0AAOSwN0hcqeIv

Lets say you were a young sailor who was looking for their first boat, or maybe someone who was on a very tight budget but wanted to go cruising.  A project boat like this could teach you every stage of getting a boat on the water if you just decided to do as much of it as you could yourself.   Learning how to do a simple GRP repair or just sorting the mast out and stepping it with maybe a mate to help….it can be done…  or maybe building a basic electrical system out of a 12 volt battery, a PV panel and some wiring.   It’s all useful stuff for the day you really have to repair something in the southern ocean or out on a long cruise where there are no marinas and boatyards.

Ok, so the Listang isn’t the prettiest of boats and it’s pretty far down the project slope except that it’s got a hull/deck , keel and mast, some sails and gear.  Right now it’s only one of 3 or 4 just on Ebay and of course they appear and disappear every week.  This week there is a complete hull for £50…you couldn’t build a new hull for that….or how about a Sadler 25 that’s been sat in a field for 5 years ?…..there is one on the site right now.

I reckon that if you could get that little boat on the water with very little hard cash spent but with some hours work done and basic skills learnt ….that you would know far more about boats and your little boat specifically than the wealthy but incompetent couple on their brand new 40 footer with all the toys and a still wet day-skipper certificate.

One for the creek, one for the shed and one for the weekend. This week i was down at the yard one evening when i happened to bump into Chris the boss who was slinging the next boat due to go down the slip. 

[interiorstarweb]

The Easiest House Plants & The Best Faux Plants I’ve Found

This post is going to be full of photos, because I think they do most of the work in making a case for a house full of greenery. But like, easy greenery. That isn’t stressful and that doesn’t remind you of that emoji of dollar signs with wings. Because when things die repeatedly, it can GET YOU DOWN. Ask me how I know. The point is that I TRULY AND DEEPLY BELIEVE that nearly every single room in a home can benefit from greenery – it adds a splash of life and a gorgeous and vibrant texture.

So if you’ve got some low light spots that just don’t allow anything real to live, and you’re hunting for a good convincing fake that will never die, well, I’ve gotcha covered. And if you’re looking for real plants you literally would have to try hard to kill… trust me, I’m well versed at killing plants, so I’m only going to list the truly hardy stuff.

chair / lamp / blinds / cork board project

Exhibit A is this herb that will never die on my desk. That’s right, it’s fake. And I bought it at Michaels with a 50% off coupon (total spent: $7.50). I loved the soft texture and the tiny little feathery branches it has – and here’s one of my tips. I saw it in person. So I could poke it and prod it and judge if the color was too blue-green or too yellow or whatever. And it convinced me. It’s just as delicate as a real asparagus fern or an herb from the garden. But it’s from Michael’s and I paid for it once and it’ll last forevermore.

Also, never buy a real asparagus fern. They die spectacular guilt-inducing deaths. At least for me. On the other hand, I have some other real plants that are SURVIVORS. Put them in matching outfits and call them Destiny’s Child. They are all over five years old. Some might even be a full decade old! And here’s the curveball: I completely neglect them. They’re called Pothos and they just need a little water and seem completely unpicky about sunlight amount, which tends to be key for me.

lamps / word art project / sideboard: secondhand find

You can even clip off the long droopy legs (?!?!?!) – clearly I am not one of those green thumbs who knows all the plant terms – and then you can put them in water TO MAKE MORE FREE PLANTS (more on that here). So they’re high on the hardy and hard-to-kill list for me if you want some real greenery. And real house plants have all sorts of benefits like cleaning the air, and making humans feel happier (that’s legit backed by science, which is pretty amazing for something that you can buy for under $5).

Jumping back over to the dark side (aka: fake plants), I fancy myself a faux plant diva, in that I DO NOT PLAY AROUND. If something looks fake, I keep it moving. I have sent back faux plants I’ve bought online for not being good enough. And if someone messages me and says “hey how is the Ikea faux fiddle leaf fig?” I will very honestly say “I’ve seen it in person, and I don’t love it – from far away it looks ok, but I’ve seen other fake figs up close that look more full and real for around the same price or even less.”

bench / baskets / wall color: Spare White / trim color: Extra White

For example, I have loved these $39 faux fiddle leaf figs from Target (seen above and below), although I’m adamant that they need to be feathered out a bit. Just gently pull their branches apart so they’re less smushed vertically. Real fiddle leaf figs have leaves that are almost parallel to the ground, so doing that helps with the realism. And adding a bigger planter or basket for them to sit in makes them look a lot more convincing and proportionate.

see all room sources (and paint colors) here

We have these faux figs at the beach house and the duplex, which are vacant for many weeks at a time (so real plants aren’t really an option except maybe for some succulents that I might add) and I also have one in our living room above. I kept trying to get real figs to live in that corner of our living room and it’s just too dark. I probably killed three before I faced the music that it was “faux or nothing” in that spot.

It’s also really nice to have one up in the bedroom between the windows since the sun shines further into the room, but doesn’t really hit that spot on the floor much, so real plants kept getting stick-like after a while there. They were trying to grow towards the light so they’d end up looking really long and floppy as they basically dove in slow motion towards the window.

see all room sources (and paint colors) here

But let’s bounce back to real – and SUPER EASY – greenery for a second. These branches have been in two bouquets I have received in the last few years – and they are like mutant plants from Planet Neverdie. From a decent amount of googling I believe that they’re called Ruscus (specifically Isreili Ruscus I think) and THEY LAST FOR MONTHS! If I’m wrong, someone who is a plant expert DM me the name because we all need to know what these are.

Saying they last for months sounds like I’m exaggerating and you might think, ok maybe one month… but I have had them last for OVER THREE MONTHS! I do not do a thing except put them in water and watch all the other flowers and cuttings around them die as they live on for literally a full season or more. I probably change the water once a month if I remember.

see all room sources (and paint colors) here

These are the same thing in the photo below. Just really great greenery that’s real long-lasting, but REALLY LOW MAINTENANCE.

see all room sources (and paint colors) here

Oh and see that big faux fiddle leaf fig in the background of the photo above? That’s from Target a while back when they made these tall ones as part of the Opalhouse collection. I hope they bring them back because they’re GOOD. Like my-mom-has-watered-them good. If you’re looking for a big fiddle leaf fig like that one, I’ve seen this one in person too, and it’s great.

basket: no longer sold / wheely plant stand / chair / media cabinet: secondhand find

Sidenote: I get asked all the time if you put something into a larger pot, how should you deal with the extra space between the small original pot and the larger planter or basket you use. I have three ways I deal with it:

1) I leave it – real potted plants might be placed in a larger basket and there’s no shame in that game, it looks fine

2) I add dried moss from a garden center – you can get a whole bag of it for cheap and just shove it in there (see my picture below)

3) You could also add something smooth and pretty like white or black river rocks in there – I’ve seen this look great

You might be wondering, but where can she keep a real fiddle leaf fig alive? And the answer, after living in our house nearly six years, is: One. Freasking. Corner.

Yup, just one spot, in the corner of the office, gets enough light to keep a real one happy. So you can see it here in the background of this picture. I find the fiddle leaf fig to be a SUPER EASY PLANT to keep alive. BUT YOU NEED ENOUGH LIGHT. So like, 99% of my house = not enough light. So it would die in literally every other corner. I have killed MANY.

chair / lamp / blinds / cork board project?

This corner though, equals enough light, so this thing is older than my four year old. All I do is completely ignore it, except for dumping one big glass of water into its soil every 9-10 days or so. When the leaves look droopy I dump the water on it and it perks right up. That’s it. But again: super sunny is the key to the equation. Otherwise, don’t mess with real fiddle leaf figs.

I also REALLY love real eucalyptus, and I grab it when I’m across town at Trader Joe’s (they have THE BEST GREENERY and it’s SO CHEAP!). It smells great and it lasts a nice long time – you can even dry it and have it forever, although I find that it can start to fall apart and it gets sort of a dusty-gray tone after a while. So fresh is my jam over dried (I also just discovered there are Etsy shops that will send it to you fresh). And in some spots where I want the look, but zero maintenance (aka: the beach house & the duplex) I’m a big fan of these $5 Ikea fakers. Yup, that’s a fake stem from Ikea in that “vase” below:

side table | top art | bottom art | vase | lamp | baskets | pink pillow | blue pillow

I put the word vase in quotes, because the container from the photo above and below is actually a marble utensil holder, and I love it so much for faux stems since it’s not great at holding actual water, but it looks amazing with a good fake stem or branch. I’ve bought like three of them to use as vases around the beach house and our own house – and I may or may not have picked up two more for the duplex. Hey, when it’s love, it’s love.

chandeliers / pendant lights / hood / butcher block counters

And yes, that stem in the photo above is another Ikea faker. The one key to those is not to bunch too many together. They actually look a lot more convincing and like real eucalyptus if they’re splayed out and not too crowded together if that makes sense.

Bouncing back to the real plant realm, aloe (along with other succulents) can be extra easy. It literally needs nothing more than a tiny splash of water once every two weeks or so. I love the little pink pot this guy is in (from Ikea a while back – but here’s a similar one) because between the greenery and the cute pot, it definitely cheers things up. Plus aloe is known to be one of the better air purifying plants. Score.

blinds / glass canisters / cabinet hardware

Meanwhile in our completely window-less and natural-light-less laundry room, we have a faux succulent. They’re usually some of the best fake options since they can look extremely real for some reason (maybe it’s the thick rubber-y leaves that real succulents have?). I’ve had this faux one for probably a decade (found it at HomeGoods forever ago) but these two look similar and have good ratings.

backsplash tiling project / shelf above laundry project

This one below is another HomeGoods find from eight or so years ago. Yup, it’s as old as my oldest child and still going strong. One tip I have for you is to hit a garden center and buy a pot you love (maybe an understated concrete one, or even a bright colorful one that makes you smile) and then hit a store like Michael’s and grab a few succulent stems that you can “plant” in the pot. You can even use real dirt. Literally nobody will be able to tell the difference – especially if you pick the succulents out in person and grab only the most real looking options.

gray dresser / stenciled mirror / capiz chandlier

That’s actually what I did here, with another pink pot from Ikea – I took these little faux succulents from Michaels a few years back and just shoved them in there. It’s very convincing, and I love that they’re next to my ceramic succulent candle (from Anthro ages ago). Do I love plants or do I love plants?

Also, I get the “how do you dust them” question a lot, so my favorite method is actually just a feather duster. I do it before I vacuum like twice a year when I remember, and it just tosses some dust on the floor and I vacuum it up. I figure every single item you put on any surface of your home needs dusting, so it’s not really a big deal to run a feather duster over a real plant, or a fake one.

I haven’t really talked much about faux flowers and it’s because I think they’re harder to find when it comes to being truly eye-trickingly-realistic. Sometimes they’re gelled into that fake water but something about a few of the ones I’ve seen isn’t really quite convincing. Which is why I lean towards completely opaque pots for the ones I end up getting. It just feels more like these could be real cut flowers and leaves in this vase to my eye. I got these at Target maybe six months ago, and I love the bright color they add. Wish they still sold them for my fellow pink lovers out there.

This is the laundry room at the beach house, and as I’ve mentioned, since we’re not there for weeks on end, we don’t have any real plants there, but that orchid on the top shelf is an Ikea find (so cheap! And I dropped it into a larger white Ikea pot just to balance it out a little).

find all sources and paint colors for this room here

There’s also a faux Ikea plant on that first laundry shelf – it’s this one – and I have another one at home in the guest room (seen below). They’re convincing – especially in larger pots – and the price is pretty great.

find all sources & paint colors for this room here

Actually, the one above is this one with the whiter little buds on the edges, and I loved plopping it into a pretty textured pot from HomeGoods. Half the fun of plants = pretty pots.

To go back to the faux flowers thing, and how it’s hard to find something colorful that looks real (even the Ikea orchid from our beach house laundry room = white), I do LOVE these happy yellow ginkgo leaves. They’re from Crate & Barrel a while ago, but they brought them back once, so I’m hoping they come back again soon.

find all sources & paint colors for this room here

They’re just a nice way to add color and texture – they feel very spring/summer to me.

Here they are upstairs in the bonus room too. They’re versatile because a burst of happy color looks nice pretty much anywhere.

find all sources & paint colors for this room here

One other sort of abstract way to bring greenery into your house is with the use of some really cool art or even a wallpaper. This leafy mural we hung at the duplex definitely makes the room feel green and alive (you can see how we hung it here).

mural / white ceiling fan / stain color: Special Walnut

Simple art can also add that outside/green element to a room that might have less than stellar views – and you never have to water it. These large framed prints are from West Elm a while back, but I’ve seen similar stuff on Etsy (you know I love these and they also have them with a white background).

Oh yeah and that potted fern above? Fake from Target around a year ago. This one is the current version they make, and it’s well rated too.

Let’s bounce back into the real greenery realm again, because I feel like I need to tip my hat to the old “free cuttings” category. Many months of the year, there’s free greenery at your disposal if you just walk outside with a clipper. These cuttings are from the bushes right in front of our house, and I steal from them pretty much every season except for winter when they go dormant.

And whenever I stage houses, you know I love going outside and bringing some 100% free clippings into each room to make it feel alive and just plain welcoming (you can read alllll about house staging and my other tips here – I loved writing that post).

Here’s a shot of some other “real greenery” we have embraced on a seasonal basis. We love grabbing fresh holiday garlands from Trader Joe’s (they’re super cheap and last around a month – at least that was our experience this past holiday season). We just tapped two small nails into the corner of the molding to hold this one up over the sink. And you know while I was at TJ’s I had to grab some fresh eucalyptus too.

find all sources and paint colors for this room here

We also string up a fresh garland around the front door (actually it takes two to span that area, so I wire them together with green floral wire, and once again we just hung them over two small nails on the corner of the trim). But what’s worth mentioning is that in this photo, the wreath is also real – I make one out of fresh magnolia leaves every winter at a Wine & Wreath event that I go to with my favorite ladies – but the five foot bushes on either side of the door are faux.

lantern / string lights / door mat / house color & door color info here

I feel like that’s worth noting, because they’re so convincing they can literally be right in front of a real garland and next to a huge magnolia wreath and they hold their own. We actually bought these three foot versions of those front porch bushes first – and loved them. After over a year of use there was no fading or damage to them through rain and snow. So when we painted the house white and wanted something taller next to the door after removing the portico, we upgraded to the 5′ versions and sent the three foot ones to the beach house.

find all source and paint color info for this picture here

The pots above are from Home Depot (just in store – can’t find them online) and the copper porch pots from the photo before the one above are a DIY project – more on them here.

I’ll leave you with one last real outdoor plant that has been deliciously low maintenance for us – at least here in our climate. Those big $12 ferns that Home Depot and Kroger sell in the parking lot…. we buy a few each year in the spring. And they last all the way until the very end of the year when it gets below freezing. There is literally nothing easier than plopping our annual fern friend into a few of the large pots we have out back – I don’t even have to touch dirt. And they just do their thing for nearly a year.

So there you have it, an exhaustive rundown of easy green stuff that hopefully won’t stress you out like… say… all of the other green stuff I have tried and then failed at and then decided not to list here because IT’S JUST TOO EMOTIONAL FOR ME, OK?!

Also, it occurred to me that as much as John has special eyes for light bulbs, maybe I have special plant eyes. Because nobody ogles the green stuff like I do.

Love ya, plants. Mean it.

P.S. There were SO MANY pictures of our house, the beach house, and the duplex in this post, so if you have paint color or source questions, here’s where to find info about our house, here’s info about the beach house, and we’re just starting to get duplex info together here.

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post The Easiest House Plants & The Best Faux Plants I’ve Found appeared first on Young House Love.

The Easiest House Plants & The Best Faux Plants I’ve Found published first on https://novaformmattressreview.tumblr.com/

[rkolunen]

SUNSET HOME & GARDEN

The Zero-Waste Home

See how a family manages to produce only two handfuls of trash per year

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Meet the Johnsons

On trash day in Mill Valley, California, the Johnson home has no garbage. Nothing. There is a hefty compost bin and a teeny recycling bin—one that Béa Johnson is embarrassed exists at all. “So much recycling really goes to waste, so you need to try to reduce that too.”

Garbage, though, is something that happens rarely in this modern, minimalistically decorated house. That’s by day-to-day intention—to live simpler and lighter on the planet. Their quest started three years ago when Béa and husband Scott downsized from a 3,000-square-foot home to their current 1,400 square feet. But it had been on Béa’s mind ever since she’d nannied for a family that lost everything in a fire. Béa decided she wanted to truly love and use and know everything she kept in her home. “Even down to the vegetable peeler,” she says.

Béa documents her zero-waste lifestyle in her blog, The Zero Waste Home.

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Less is more

“When we started getting rid of things, it was kind of addictive,” she continues. “In a recession, people are inclined to keep things, but I feel the opposite. The less I have, the richer I feel. Stuff weighs you down.”

Even life memories and heirlooms. Béa says, “Photos are a good way to keep the memory of something without keeping it because of emotional attachment or the guilt of letting it go.” Put another way: Hang onto the photo of your grandmother in her fur coat, but if you never wear the coat, it’s just taking up space in your closet.

Scott and Béa still have “vices.” Makeup has been hard to purge for Béa, and English muffins for Scott—both come with some nonrecyclable packaging.

“We don’t do everything right,” she says. “We do have garbage. We do fly overseas to see my family in France once a year.” Despite the regressions, the way the family lives makes others at least sit up and take notice: Béa says one neighbor visited, remarking that the house is “futuristic and alien-like,” opening cupboards and asking, “Where’s all your stuff?”

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Kitchen

The kitchen looks eerily unlived in, yet Béa cooks every day.

What’s missing?

Packaging in the pantry: The Johnsons go to the grocery store with their own jars and buy bulk snacks and other pantry supplies. “Some of the kids’ friends came over recently and said, ‘You have no food here,’ ” says Béa. “They didn’t recognize this as food since there weren’t any boxes.”

Packaging in the fridge: The family shops with glass jars, fabric bags, and canvas totes, and returns containers for a deposit. Even cheese and meat go in jars. Cheese is purchased when it is cut, to avoid plastic wrap.

Packaging in the freezer: Béa buys loaves of bread by the dozen from her grocer, carrying them in a pillowcase, which she then transfers to her freezer.

Cluttered drawers: Cooking equipment is kept to a minimum and is multipurpose, like a cheese grater doubling as a zester.

Paper towels: Clean up is done with microfiber cloths. “People are really attached to paper towels,” Béa says. “But they’re the easiest thing to give up.”

Try it

The natural-foods aisle is great for dry-good staples and refillable shampoo, conditioner, and Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap.

To use glass jars, ensure that your store has a scale to measure their tare (empty) weight.

Tips for wine: Scout for best local sources. Near San Jose, Guglielmo Winery offers refillable bottles for red wine.

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Living room

The living room has only what they need: a sofa, a video player, blankets, and pillows.

What’s missing?

A single-use couch: The sectional couch here expands to a queen bed; pieces separate for extra seats; and a mirror-top tray turns seating into a table. To buy something similar, Google “adjustable sectional sofa.”

Books: All come from the library.

Photos, art: Memories get stale when photos are displayed for too long, Béa says. To keep the past fresh, albums come out yearly around the holidays. As for art, she hasn’t found anything she likes and can afford, although Béa sees the living wall as an ever-changing art piece.

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Playroom

In the playroom there are four bins of toys. The rule is simple: If the boys want something new to them, it needs to fit in the bins.

What’s missing?

Lots of toys: If the boys outgrow something, it’s donated, sold, or re-gifted. Béa and Scott encourage friends and family to give gifts of expe­rience rather than things. This year, their 10-year-old’s birthday gifts included a weekend of skiing and gift certificates to a climbing gym and the local ice cream shop.

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Bathroom

One medicine cabinet in the bathroom holds toiletries for the entire family.

What’s missing?

Makeup case: Béa uses only four beauty products: face powder, eye cream, mascara, and eyeliner.

Trash can: The family uses no Q-tips, cotton balls, or tissue (handkerchiefs sub in here). Toilet paper rolls come wrapped in paper, not plastic.

Try it

To eliminate packaging, Béa mixes her own multi-purpose cleaner: 11/2 tsp. castile soap, 3 tsp. white vinegar, and 4 cups water.

The family orders their compostable toothbrushes from an Australian company (environmentaltoothbrush.com).

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Closets

The house closets are enviable for their lack of clutter. Shopping is done only twice a year at a thrift store and replaces items that are stained, worn, or outgrown.

What’s missing?

A bulging wardrobe: Everyone has a set number of items. For example, Béa caps out at 6 pairs of shoes, 7 tops, 7 pants, and 2 skirts (1 also wearable as a top). Same idea goes for Scott and the couple’s 9- and 10-year-old boys (each has 7 casual tops, 1 dress shirt, 4 bottoms, 3 pairs of shoes, and 1 pair of PJs per season).

Shopping bags and shoe boxes: Secondhand items are preferred over new. Last April, for example, Béa spent only $40 replenishing clothes for her whole family (she even found nice $1 Abercrombie & Fitch tees for the boys).

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Really? No waste?

Béa and Scott Johnson answer some questions about how their household works.

Q/ Do you have a car?

A/ We have two cars, which we’ve had since before we started this lifestyle. Scott needs one for his job, and I need something once a week for errands. There’s no Zipcar in Mill Valley.

Q/ Do you have a TV?

A/ We do, for movies, but no television channels. We rent through Netflix—either online or by mail. In the return envelope, I put back that little strip of plastic that is intended to be thrown away. I’ve contacted Netflix, encouraging them to find another way.

Scott: I thought I’d miss sports TV—like ESPN or college football—but I’ve figured out it’s all online and we can stream it. If the cable company did à la carte, we’d be set.

Q/ Do you get junk mail?

A/ I’ve done dmachoice.org to get off direct mail lists like credit card applications, and there’s catalogchoice.org for catalogs. For first-class mail and third-class marked “address return requested,” you can write “refuse” on the envelope. For other third-class, you must track the sender down via phone or email and tell them to take you off their list. Every time I get something, I tackle it right away.

Q/ What about when your kids are sick?

A/ Though we have a neti pot [for flushing nasal passages with saline], sometimes we do have to buy medication. It’s less wasteful to purchase a small bottle, and the containers are recyclable. Instead of Band-Aids, we mostly use peroxide, then gauze and paper tape.

Q/ Living like this must take a lot of time.

A/ I save time. While other people are zigzagging the aisles of the grocery store, I shop the perimeter. The deli and cheese departments take extra time with my jars, but then I shop the bulk-foods aisle for all dry goods. I do the farmers’ market for produce. And I go to malls only occasionally, for shoes.

Sunset readers have been commenting up a storm on our Zero-waste home story. Béa Johnson has responded to some of your comments on our blog--check out more of Béa's take on living simply.

https://www.sunset.com/home/natural-home/zero-waste-home-0111#zero-waste-dining-room-0111