Decluttering: Office & Media Supplies

The next category on the Pick Up Limes 30 Days to Minimalism challenge was one I knew was going to be a lot smaller for me than the previous.  This is because I had already been doing some decluttering on this category during the last year.

Magazines | Manuals

Over a year ago I looked at all the magazines I was keeping (which I had told myself I was collecting) and decided to get rid of them all.  I large proportion I donated but the rest got recycled and I realised I really wasn't rereading them and, therefore checking them was pointless.  That meant I didn't have any magazines to get rid of in this case.  I also get rid of the manuals of products when I get rid of the product, so nothing here either.  However, I did notice that I had a lot of old programmes for old shows and properties that I visited when I was a child.  I never look at these either and they don't bring back any real memories so I decided to get rid of them.  Stored with these were some old posters I hadn't used in years (and forgot I had) and some little things.  They are all leaving my possession as well.

Notebooks | Textbook

Textbooks are another category that I had gotten rid of a while ago, probably one the third move it did where the idea of packing them up and moving them yet again was just not appealling.  The big problem with scientific textbooks is that they date incredibly quickly.  Lucky I was still able to donate these, but if I had kept them any long they wouldn't have been useable for anyone else.  All the notebooks I am keeping as I do genuinely use these.  I just won't buy anymore until I'm down to my last one.  

CDs | DVDs | Books

I went through all my CDs and DVDs when I first packed them up before they were transported to my parents house.  Right now I've reduced them to a size I am happy with, but I think this will decrease even further in the future as I'm not really getting the opportunity to listen to or watch them at the moment.  This kind of makes keeping them a bit pointless.

Books are a different matter.  I have been holding onto books from my childhood and books I've already read for a while.  So it was time to say goodbye.  A number of my children books have gone to my niece and nephew as they are the classics (Wind in the Willows and the Little Princess), but I have to admit I couldn't quite bring myself to get rid of The Hobbit.  The rest has made their way to a charity shop.

Old / Unused Electronics

These I cull full on a regular basis didn't find anything here.

Receipts | Bills | Documents

All of these I have been keeping in this metal filing box for years.  It's big, heavy and allows me to hoard more paperwork then I actually need.  So I decided to challenge myself to getting all the paperwork I need into a smaller plastic file.  I turns out I've been holding onto paperwork which is a lot older than I actually need and receipts for products which are well past the warranty date.  It actually ended up being pretty easy to downsize all my paperwork.  Kind of wish I'd done it a lot earlier.

Stationary Supplies

This is one area where I am definitely a hoarder.  I don't know what it is about this category, but I just like to buy and store it. In 2016 I told myself I wasn't allowed to buy anymore pens until I used up the ones I have - I still haven't gotten through them all yet.  After they're all gone I'm going to be using fountain pens instead to help reduce my waste.  So I pulled out my stationary box and went through everything that wasn't a notebook or pen and found a whole load of envelopes, containers, labels, plastic wallets, and mini cardboard boxes which I never used.  These have all gone now as I don't remember the last time I actually used one.  If I need any again in the future they will be easy enough to find. 

I don't have any products to go through from the General Household Items category (apart from two towels but I'm keeping both of those) as I left everything like that when I moved.  It's definitely a category to keep an eye on in the future though.

And so that's a few more boxes gone through and a few more items less.  Things should be a lot easier when I have to move them all again.

Natural Contraception

I first started taking contraception when I was 16 years old.  It wasn't to do with any activity of mine but because my period still hadn't started properly and the doctor advised this was the best thing to do.  At the time there was no suggestion of this being PCOS or of any other way of dealing with this.

Since then I have tried practically every form of contraception available (except for the implant) and, whilst they have all had the contraception affect required, they all have had other negative impacts.  These impacts have ranged from mood swings and an increase in feelings of anger and aggression, to an increase in my migraines and very tender breasts.  Now I'm using the NuvaRing and this has definitely been the best form of contraception I've used so far with no side effects that I have noticed.  However, after going through all the other issues with previous products I have been wondering if there was another, more natural way of doing this.

After doing some research online to see what was out there and came across Victoria who set up FemmeHead and has been using the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) for a few years with success.  Intrigued I watched her YouTube videos, read her blog, and started to do my own research on the method.  In a nutshell FAM is a way of tracking your menstrual cycle by charting body signals such as changes in you body temperature and vaginal fluid.  You can then use this to predict when you are ovulating every month and, therefore, when you are most fertile.  During this ' unsafe' period (if you don't want to get pregnant) you then use alternative methods of contraception.

As I have PCOS I did wonder if this method would be suitable and effective for me, but after some look into this it seems that the initial answer is yes as your body will still give signals as to when you're ovulating.  It is all about learning about these signals and what they mean for you body.  I will do more research into this, but it hasn't to me off giving this method a go.

To help me get started I have decided to order the FemmeHead Chart Your Cycle course and have started working through this.  I am also reading Toni Weschler's book Taking Charge of Your Fertility (secondhand of course).  I have already started charting my cycle, as recommended by the course, to give me more data to work with whilst I'm learning about this method.  I'm also still using the NuvaRing whilst I'm charting my cycle for now, just while I get my head around it. However, once this round of contraception is over I should know enough about FAM to use it from then on.  It'll also give me an interesting look at what happens as my body gets of hormonal contraception.  Though, as the NuvaRing is more location specific rather then one goes through your blood stream, I'm not necessarily expecting to see a large change.

Should be interesting! ☺

Have you tried FAM or another forms of more natural contraception.  If so let me know which and how you're finding it. 

Book Review: Inglorious

I should probably point out that I’m a little bit behind with this book as it came out in 2015, but as the issues it covers are still relevant today it seemed still a worthwhile book to read.  And it was.

The author, Mark Avery, used to work for the RSPB and was involved in the talks between NGOs and the shooting community (predominantly grouse shooting) on the issue of raptor persecution, which failed to have any results.  Now that he’s retired from the RSPB he is less effected by the need for diplomacy and is able to give a more blunt look at the effects of grouse shooting on our countryside.  Whilst this book is mainly about the persecution of hen harriers, especially on grouse shooting estates, it does look at the other impacts this one activity with all its upkeep has one the local environment.  

To be blunt, I have been against hunting my whole life and feel that it seems a very unpleasant way of having 'fun'.  As I’ve gotten older I’ve also become aware of the negative impact this sport is having on the surrounding environment, and the knock on effect this is having on our society as well.  I like to have a well formed argument in my head about the decisions I make and the opinions I have and this seemed like a good place to start when it comes to my ideas about grouse shooting.

The book itself feels more like reading a blog then a usual book, but this makes it very easy to read despite all the facts that come out of it.  It starts with details about hen harriers, OES through a very quick introduction to grouse shooting, and then goes over the various battles between those in conservation and those in shooting community. It ends with a hopeful idea of how all this would end with a future, fake interview with an ex- gamekeeper.  Most interesting for me was to find about the various studies that had occurred on this subject, especially the two Langholm Moor studies on the effects of hen harriers on grouse population size as well as the effect of diversionary feeding of the hen harriers, and the report by the League Against Cruel Sports based on an analysis by Sheffield Hallam University and Cormack Economics on the real financial benefits of grouse shooting.

This book hasn’t changed my mind on grouse shooting as a past time, obviously, but it has definitely helped me solidify my opinions on the activity and why I dislike it.  It has also helped to widen the holes in the arguments provided by the grouse shooting estates as to why this should be allowed to continue.

Firstly their argument that it has conservation value, especially for some wader species.  However, this looks a bit bland when you compare it to the illegal raptor removal, the legal other predator removal (including large numbers of foxes and stoats), the legal culling of hares as an additional tick carries, and the destruction and burning of habitats to produces ones most suitable for red grouse.  The pros most definitely do not out way the cons, and other work can be done to help sustain the numbers of waders we already have without needing to go to these extremes.


The second argument is that they bring needed finances to the areas in which they are located.  This is undoubtedly true, however so does tourism and the chance to see hen harriers and golden eagles would definitely be a draw to many people willing to put money into their journey.  As the analysis by Sheffield Hallam University and Cormack Economics showed it appears that the grouse shooting estates have overstated the actual size of this financial gain (possibly by as much as four times the actual figure).  When this is taken along with the fact that our taxes help pay for a good proportion of the upkeep through subsidies, the cost of the clean up after increased flooding (for which there is a connection with the destruction of peat bogs on grouse shooting estates), and the additional cost that will come from climate change (not helped here by the destruction of, again, peat bogs releasing large amounts of carbon normally stored here) the benefits are pretty small.


At the end of the day it is difficult to see grouse shooting as anything more then just an activity enjoyed by the very (rich) few and which has lead to the reduction or even loss of an number of species, the destruction of vital habitats with some negative impacts on the surrounding communities, and the loss of some amazing landscapes to the general public as a whole.  It may be enjoyable for those who get to do it, but Mark Avery can see no real benefit to it and neither can I.  Definitely a book worth reading.

Project Use Up update #2 and Other Products

So this month went a lot better then I thought it was going to and I promised myself by actually finished a few items (with one little accident).  The items I finished were roll overs from last year, so I'm glad to finally get them done.  I've decided to just chuck the items once they're done, after taking a photo, as I don't really have anywhere to store them this time.

The first item was the Neal's Yard lipstick in Persimmon.  It was almost finished at the end of last month, but it was still very satisfying to finish it by the end of the first week of February.  This is a good lipstick, was easy to put on, was moisturising, and came off my lips pretty evenly.  It didn't last very long, but the colour was nice though not one I would normally choose.  Neal's Yard is cruelty free, but as I'm downsizing I won't buy this again.

The second item I finished was the Pacifica Transcendent Concentrated Concealer in Light.  I probably could have classed this as finished last month but there seemed to be a lot still in there.  I pushed the stopper into the container (I couldn't pull it out as I normally would) and managed to get another month out of it.  It was a nice concealer and it covered well, but I prefer thicker concealers and this was definitely too little for me.  It also went into the fine lines around my eyes.  Pacifica is a cruelty free brand.  I'll now be starting on my NYX correcting concealer.

The last item that is being moved out of my makeup is the one item that I had a little accident with and that's the Jane Iredale blusher in Barely Rose.  The accident happened when I was putting my makeup on Thursday and watched it slip off my lap (I was putting my makeup on on my bed) and land on the floor........face down.  I tried to see if I could salvage any of it, but it wasn't possible.  On the plus side I didn't have as much product as I thought I had, but it is still a little upsetting.  Jane Iredale is a cruelty free brand and some of their products are vegan (and the website will tell you which).  

Now lets move onto the other products.  We all know the drill for the Barbara Day eye primer by now.  This seems to be never ending and it will probably be another couple of years before this is done.  It's basically doing its job though, so I can't complain.

The Living Nature eye pencil in Midnight is moving along at a snails pace.  It's a nice pencil and is easy to put on, but doesn't necessarily have the best staying power so I set it with eye shadow. 

The lipstick I've been concentrating on since I finished the Neal's Yard one is the Gosh Velvet matte in Plum.  This has pretty good staying power so I don't have to reapply it very often.  Even so, I have managed to make quite a dent in it and, you never know, I might even get it finished by the end of next month (when you wish upon a star). I have also used the Gosh lipstick in Rose to add a bit of variety, but not enough to make any noticeable difference.  I haven't even touched the MUA lipstick in Raven yet. Haven't quite built the nerve.

The Pacifica perfume in Island Vanilla is also moving along at a snails pace, but I'm pretty sure it'll be done by the end of the year.  The scent definitely doesn't last all day and I'm thinking about taking it with me to reapply during the day to keep it going and to help use it up.

I've finally been remembering to actually use my Argan Oil Hair Treatment, but as I only need about one pump at a time it really not moved very much at all.

The soap at my work really dries out my hands so that's been a good reason to keep my hand cream in my bag to use.  Because of this I've actually managed to use quite a lot of this this month and will probably get this finished by the next update.  I'm not usually a rose scent person, but this is quite a delicate scent and I actually quite like it.  I've left my Neutrogena hand cream at my parents for now (hence it's not in the photo) but I think I'll be starting on that soon.

Lastly, the Burts Bees Hand Salve.  I've finally gotten round to using this as well, but as with the Hair Treatment the difference is not very obvious at the moment.

The other product I'm getting rid of this month is the Barry M Wet Set Quick Dry Topcoat.  I've had this topcoat for quite a while and it's done a really good job, especially for the price of it.  It is meant to be clear, but got a little discoloured from one of the nail varnishes I was using up.  As I no longer have any nail varnish I no longer need this and it has finally started to get a little bit gloppy, but only a little bit.  Barry M is a cruelty free brand, but not a whole lot of chemicals free.