Early Spring?

The weather this week has been beautiful. Cool enough to wear long sleeves and snuggle under quilts at night, but not cold enough for hot water bottles.

Just before going away with Ess last month, I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase the Nikon 28-300 lens! It's quite a handful. I've been enjoying learning how to use it, and yes, there is a learning curve - for me, anyway. Going out into the garden has been an enjoyable way to see just what this lens can do, what my camera can do, and what I can do with them both. Lots of awful shots, but lots of learning even from those.

Here are two of our neighbours, happily roosting in the big tree in our front yard. This shot was taken this week from right under the tree (the tree is taller by far than our 2 storey house), using a tripod.

E-Readers versus Real Books

Books - a part of my life. I love them. Especially books like this:


My life has changed, in a way I'd never have predicted. I am now the owner of a Kindle. Me! Me, who loves holding onto the past, and who thought that e-readers were only for people who had forgotten how soul-satisfying it is to hold a book, people for whom the tactile part of the reading experience no longer had any meaning. I felt sorry for those people. Deep down sorry. For their ignorance in what they felt was progress, for what they were traitorously losing and destroying without even knowing they were losing or destroying anything.


My sister and her family are to blame, and I am thankful that they helped me to see that it is possible to embrace a new world without losing my grasp on the old one. Thanks, L!

So, I have a Kindle. I can carry around over 3,500 books with me wherever I go - most of which have cost me nothing at all - in my small leather backpack (*note to self for future blog post: leather bags from the Saddleback Leather Company*) - without breaking my back. I still love books; from their smell to the way it feels to turn real pages to the way they look on my shelf. Love them (especially old old ones with deliciously antique bindings).

I have this cover, in chocolate brown. Not the cheapest cover out there, but the light is great - powered by the device itself, and quite comfortable to read with in a completely dark room.


What is it then, about this thin piece of tech?

In a word - power!

The power to have access to the information I need and want, when I need and want it. It's that simple. I am finding that I can get lost in the joy of a really good e-book just as easily (if not more so) as a book with printed pages. What is more important, the information, or its packaging/method of delivery to our brain? A gorgeous and satisfying printed book is, after all, of no lasting, real use whatsoever if it does not contain ideas which have the potential to raise us to a higher level.

Technology is my servant, it does my bidding. I am not its slave. Well, that's what I'm aiming for, anyway. So many times I see people using hand held technology to connect with people and computers in far distant places, while neglecting to interact with the living breathing people right in front of them. I have been guilty of being like this... it feels fun and even exhilarating at the time, but all I was left with in the long term was a feeling of hollowed out emptiness. Not to mention the example I was setting for my children; they don't need much encouragement to fall into this trap so it's important I show the way by modelling responsible behaviour.

It is my opinion that for many people (me included), remaining the master of the various pieces of technology that surround us instead of becoming their slave, will require constant concerted efforts on our part. I do not think it is going too far or being melodramatic to say that constant watchful vigilance is vital to safeguard ourselves and our families from going down the gurgler of 'progression' and losing the link to who we really are and should be.


Some really good books I've read lately:

• The Boy Who Drew In The Mud by Zachary Harper
A series of parables/fables for adults and children alike, some in prose, some in poetic form. Magic.

• The Muirwood Trilogy by Jeff Wheeler
A fantasy story with a medieval flavour. Very well written, great story, brilliant symbolism. Reading this series has helped me listen more closely and carefully to the whisperings of intuition that come from time to time.

• The Little Hunchback Zia by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Classic short tale of a 12 year old hunchback boy who is cast out. Ends happily as you might guess. Makes good bedtime reading for older children (and for adults).

• Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
A delightful melting pot of brilliantly portrayed contrasting characters in typical Dickensian style. Also highly recommended by my whole family is the recent BBC adaptation of the same name. (We were singing "Qu'est-ce qui passe ici si tard" for weeks, and shuddering delightfully everytime someone sang or whistled the tune)

So many truly good books to chose from! I am trying to become discerning as it is more than possible to waste a lot of time trawling through less than excellent literature. Amazon (and other e-book companies) give away multitudes of free e-books if you can be bothered checking for them regularly. I have been....and have wasted lots of time. As I said, trying to become more discerning. Currently there are over 100 books in my To Read: Fiction folder, and my To Read: Non Fiction folder. All were free, from this page at Amazon which changes daily, so they tell me. A great resource, but beware! Lots of dross amongst the gold, and the sheer number of book available is overwhelming and potentially time wasting.

...........

One last thought: something I miss about holding a real book, beautiful bindings aside, is knowing how far I am through the book by the feel of the weight of pages on each side as I hold it open. It's just not the same looking at a digital percentage figure.

Moments That Matter Most

I love this video, thanks to Ess for pointing it out to me. Need some perspective? Click. Watch. Smile. Do.

Drying clothes the frugal way

I sent these photos into one of my favourite blogs a while ago, Frugal and Thriving. Click on the heading to this post to see it there.

Here's what I wrote:

One particular day the weather was good for drying clothes, but I could see that a storm was on its way - and I didn't have time to bring clothes in and out unnecessarily. Looking around the backyard I noticed a spare piece of pool fencing that had been discarded by someone at some point, which we had claimed a couple of years ago. It makes a perfect place to hang clothes up to dry!

We set it up on the balcony, as you can see. It's easy and (most importantly) quick to bring the whole thing either under shelter or inside when rain starts to threaten.

Yes, it is a rather odd feeling to see our personal laundry (albeit clean) decorating cyberspace!

Gloves Made Out Of Socks!

The other day I was sitting working at the computer feeling quite miserable, because my hands were so cold. Wearing gloves was no good, because I have a lovely Apple magic mouse which is brilliant, but which requires the warmth of bare skin to make the scrolling and navigation functions work.

The solution? Make some gloves that can roll or fold down at the top.

Criteria? They would have to be quick (I had to get back to work), and would have to be made from something I already had on hand.

So... I raided my husband's sock drawer (hooray for people who give socks as gifts year after year!) and found a lovely pair of socks perfect for my plans. A few snips later, and my hands and arms (these were mid calf socks) were toasty warm. Bliss!

Here are some instructions I put together in a spare moment; hope you can make sense of them.



I've made at least 6 or 7 pairs by now, each better than the rest. I encourage you to experiment until you find a thumb shape that works well for you. Maybe when cutting the slit for your thumb you might like to cut out a few millimetres at the sides, making it a very skinny elongated oval rather than just a slit.

Take note of the warning to ONLY use a ball point needle when sewing stretch fabrics like socks. The seam will run and look very ugly in a short time if you don't. If you really don't have access to a ball point needle and just have to make some of these wonderful gloves (glovvoks? sokkovs?) right now, then use a loose back stitch and sew the thumb in by hand.

Op shops are great places to find cheap socks to experiment on; our local thrift store sells socks for 20 cents a pair.

Good luck, and let me know in the comments how you go!

Frugal Iceblocks / Popsicles

It’s summer here, so I’ve been making iceblocks (frozen treat on a stick) for my children to snack on. Mostly we just blend up whatever fruit we have in abundance, and freeze it in an iceblock mould I was given a few years ago.

The really frugal part? I ran out of popsicle sticks, so we’ve started using well cleaned twigs from the eucalyptus tree in our front yard! We break them off in about 12cm lengths, then scrape each end on the cement to get rid of any sharp bits, before cleaning them thoroughly in hot water.

They can only be reused a few times, but that’s ok because after all, they DO grow on trees.

Having a ready supply of sticks means that I can have 20 plus iceblocks waiting in the freezer (stored in washed out mountain bread bags, or the press-seal bags that frozen berries come in), all ready for hungry people to munch on.

Some of our favourite combinations:

Pinapple and banana

Pineapple and mint

Mango, banana, strawberry

Orange juice and berries

All you need to do is to put the freshly cut up fruit into a blender and whizz till it's smooth. So simple, but such a healthy snack. SO much better than the artificial ice treats from the shop, and usually a lot cheaper.

Christmas 'Advent' Calendar 2009 mark 2

The 12 days of Christmas I prepared for my sister's family is described in the post before this one. Here is a file (56KB, pdf) you can download which consists of 4 x A4 pages, with 3 activities per page. Note that some activities are LDS specific.

If the file doesn't download successfully, try coming back to it during the Australian daytime; I think it's dependent on my computer being on.

Christmas 'Advent' Service Calendar 2009

Each day in December leading up to Christmas, we took it in turns to open a little envelope that was stuck to each calendar square. The contents of each envelope was for each family member, not just one, and each had an emphasis on serving others.

Once a week on a different day each week, we had a ‘wild card’ envelope. The activity for this day involved some kind of message to do with service, plus instructions as to where to find a hidden treat somewhere in the house.

There was no compulsion to complete each activity, it was left entirely up to the individual whether they participated or not. The treats on wild-card days however, were only for people who completed the activity on that day.



Most envelopes (template from looking at the shape of a commercial envelope, opened up) were made from a variety of Christmas wrapping papers from years past, or cut out of brightly coloured pages from magazines. The envelope for Christmas day however was made from plain brown paper, to symbolise the humble nature of the Saviour’s birth.

As the last envelope to open on the calendar was the one for Christmas day, for the remaining days until the end of December we invited the children to either catch up on activities that were set them in previous envelopes, or to simply choose an activity from the past 25 days to repeat.
The contents of the 25 envelopes were made up by me, with lots of inspiration from church magazines, and from the children themselves (though they didn’t know it!). I took into account what day of the week it was, how busy we were on particular days, and whether or not people were at school or home.

This is how we wrapped our gifts this year - cloth bags tied up with ribbon. Very easy to make, just a length of fabric sewn up 3 sides with the top edge neatened. Gift tags made from card with shiny wrapping paper scraps glued on the back. Christmas fabric is something I like to shop for just before or just after Christmas. Last year I was fortunate enough to come across a 75% off sale at Spotlight!


Here are the contents of the envelopes in our service calendar:

1. Do a good deed for someone today without them knowing it was you.

2. Take the time to catch someone doing a good job at something, and tell them they did well.

3. Choose one of the blank squares on this calendar [there were four] and, over the month, fill it with tiny words and / or pictures that express the Christmas spirit.

4. Look in the piano stool. [There was a small package for each child containing a yogurt frog. The message had to do with bounding, jumping, or leaping into action to say something nice about one of their siblings.]

5. List ten things you are grateful for.

6. Read Mark 10:43-44. Go out of your way to serve / help someone today.

7. Express gratitude to people who help you today.
• thanks • wave • phone • smile • email • thank you • nod • letter

8. Smile at someone you don’t normally talk to.

9. Read Job 42:10. Pray for your friends today. Be a true friend to someone in need.

10. Clean a window inside and outside in the loungeroom. Do a really good job. [once this was finished, there was a treat bag under the Christmas tree for each child, containing paper scissors, a glue stick, and a sweet treat. The message was about us having our work cut out for us to help our family be strong, and that Jesus Christ is the glue that binds us all together.]

11. Choose at least two of your belongings that are in good condition, to give away.

12. Ask someone in the family to give you a pair of their shoes to polish.

13. Find a scripture that is about serving or helping others. Write it out neatly and put it up on the wall in the kitchen area. •make sure it is different to everyone else’s scripture •no bigger than A4 size •decorate it if you wish.

14. Try to be a good listener today, and imagine how other people might be feeling.

15. Read Matthew 5:44. Memorize it, and try to put it into practice today.

16. Clean a chair: get all the hide-away dirt off; make it shine! [a treat followed this activity.]

17. Look for someone who seems a bit down, and encourage them. Try to help them smile.

18. Say something you are grateful for about each family member.

19. Do something you know you should do, which you have been putting off.

20. Write or draw about some of your feelings or experiences this Christmas. Put it in your journal.

21. Play a Christmas song which is about the Saviour, on an instrument of your choice. [instruments our family used included piano, glockenspiel, voice, and cd player]

22. Say only kind and positive things to and about other people today.

23. Everyone say something good that Joseph Smith has done, and how it is a blessing in our lives. [Joseph Smith’s birthday today - 23 December 1805]

24. Each child please look up and read one of these scriptures: •Alma 5:12 • 3 Nephi 20:41 • Mosiah 5:7 • Mosiah 27:25 THEN: change your bed sheets so they are nice and fresh for Christmas day.

25. Say at least one prayer today that is full of gratitude, with no requests.


I can honestly say that keeping our vision on serving others has made this one of the best Christmases I can remember. We had a sweet and peaceful spirit in our home much of the time; certainly a lot more than usual. The undercurrent of excitement approaching Christmas day was more related to what we could do for others, than what we hoped to receive for ourselves.
Now to consider what to do for this coming Christmas!

As we began opening envelopes and enjoying the feelings that came from giving of ourselves, I thought how much I’d like to share the joy with my sister and her family. All of us brainstormed ideas her family might like to do, then we put each one into a sealed envelope with the date to be opened on the outside. Because we didn’t think of doing this before December, her envelopes began on December 14. Some envelopes were attached to a small gift.

I'll post what we put in my sister's family's envelopes later, and hopefully add a picture.

The English Language

I love words. Words that create beautiful pictures in my head, words that help me to feel what someone else is feeling, to understand why and how things are, and even the shape of words and letters.

Did a quiz today on commonly confused words - thought I'd get 100%, but am still pleased with the 93% result I managed. So...are you an expert with words? Try the quiz and see!

Your result for The Commonly Confused Words Test...

English Genius

You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 93% Expert!

For the complete Answer Key, visit the blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

Take The Commonly Confused Words Test at HelloQuizzy

Dope, Soap and Hope

Click here to see a short video taken on the fly that tells the story of one man's struggle to rise above the past and to forge himself a new future. Many thanks to Zack Arias for making this movie, and for Derrick for allowing his story to be seen.

Older women with long hair

2009 was the year I decided to grow my hair long again. The year I turn 42, I am on a journey to beautiful, dignified, lovely long grey hair! I am convinced this will be a wonderful thing for me, but you know, just say I get my long hair and then don't like it, what'll I do? Shrug my shoulders and cut it all off. BUT I will know for sure that wasn't what I wanted, instead of always wondering.

Have a read here about long hair on women over 40.

Perhaps being an older woman with long hair is a type of retro-rebellion? I kinda like that!


Where I am now. Long way to go, but I am happy to be on the long-hair journey. A journey that I will take continuing to wash my locks in 50:50 bicarb (baking soda) and honey, condition it with diluted lemon juice, and give it treatments as needed with coconut oil and jojoba oil. Probably will trim it every 3 to 4 months at the hair dressers so the long layers look right.

Some more interesting reading about long hair, and about going gray gracefully:

http://www.goinggraylookinggreat.com/

http://goinggrayblog.com/

http://brightonwoman.blogspot.com/2008/08/why-i-wear-my-hair-long.html

http://brightonwoman.blogspot.com/2009/02/long-grey-beautiful.html

The Cloth Revolution!

I've just read an inspirational post over at Frugal + Urban on one mother's journey in the Cloth Revolution. It feels good writing that in capitals! It's a real movement out there, it's partly a return to old values, and partly a quest to save and improve our future.

Like that mother from Ottowa, I've also been on the journey to replace disposable items with reusable items over the past year. As I commented on the Cloth Revolution post at Frugal and Urban, most everything in our home is cloth rather than disposable except…. toilet paper. I am inspired by the description of using the cloth for no. 1’s however, that does seem do-able.

Something I've been doing lately, taking inspiration from several great repurposing blogs/sites, has been rag knitting. Must post some photos of this because words aren't enough to get across the delight that it is to take something that is no longer serviceable in its current form, and transform it into something enirely new that has a useful purpose.

The cotton knit jumper I wore last Friday is now a dishcloth! Looking in the mirror Friday evening I saw that the fabric was starting to deteriorate around the neck line, and that there were stains that wouldn't come out...so it was time to repurpose. First of all I carefully cut it into pieces: front, back, collar and sleeves, and traced each so I can make this comfy top again from other fabric. Then I started cutting a 1.5cm strip up the side of the back, and continued cutting in a spiral so that once finished, I had a long long strip of knit fabric (thin knit, by the way) and the original jumper back was completely gone. Yes I know, this would be much much easier to visualize if I had photographed the process.

I then simply knitted this 'yarn' into a simple dishcloth using size 9 needles, and voilà! A new and useful item is born. I love the luxury of being able to use a new dishcloth every time I wash up. Not that I do use a new one every time mind you, I just love it that I can if I want to.

All these fabrics with their variety of designs and purposes, create such a wonderful atmosphere of steady, simple living – I really really love it.

Rainstorm - Perpetuum Jazzile

If you have a moment, take the time to watch this video of a Slovenian choir singing a cappella what was my favourite song back in 1982. It's fairly long for a song, but worth every second.

Follow-up: Eat Stop Eat and GTD

I've been following the Eat Stop Eat regime for two weeks now, and it feels good and right for me. Measurements haven't altered much if at all, but it's too early for that so I'm not concerned not to see progress in this way (the scales are down 2 kg, though body measurements are around the same as before). I'm intending to continue fasting twice a week for the next two and a half months at least, I figure three months is a reasonable time to see how something like this goes.

What I love about fasting is that it is teaching me about the way I feel hunger, and the ways I am motivated to eat. Sometimes my desire to eat comes from habit or from emotions, and other times it is because my tummy is empty and needs nourishment. It's good to recognize the difference between the two, so that I can get a handle on what is happening rather than being controlled by it.

I love the feeling of lightness when I fast. This is not just physical, though of course my gut is emptier. It's a freeing sensation, it's liberating, not having to think about what or when to eat. I love the mental clarity that comes when I fast; I'm much more alert and seem to be able to see things more clearly. I've been drinking water as well as warm drinks of ginger and lemon tea made with grated ginger root and lemon juice.



* I've managed to put a picture here, at last! This was added on June 25th 2009 *

About GTD (Getting Things Done - see side bar for link): my folder continues to evolve around changing needs and events, and I'm really enjoying using it. At last, my planning tools reflect who I am and how I work!

The miracle of miracles is that my in tray and my desk continue to be relatively clutter free, after more than a month! Those who live with me know just how amazing this is. Usually after only a week or so, the desk can't be seen for all the stuff piled on it, and eventually it all had to be swept into a shopping bag where it would sit for months or years waiting to be gone through.

There's still one of those clutter-catcher bags waiting to be dealt with down near the bookshelf, but hey - there's only one! And I'm trying the trick of taking one or two things out of it at a time and finding places for them.

I'm not spending large amounts of time studying this way of organizing things. Once I did the initial reading, it sort of clicked and now it's just ....well, it's just working! I love things that work for me and which flow, instead of creating extra work just to keep them going. I'm still just as scatter brained as ever, but each time something shoots out of my brain at an odd angle, I now have somewhere for it to sit and incubate until I'm ready to give it a home or delegate it or throw it away.

The secret? For me it's not a Palm Pilot, it's not a computer, it's a blank piece of paper. Actually, lots of them. When something needs to be remembered I just write it down in the In Box or Calendar sections of my planning folder. Then if necessary it can be transferred to sections of the folder that represent the main categories that make up my life at the moment: Home, Work, Church, Me. Within each section I have a page for Next Tasks (things that can be done in one single step), another page for Projects (things I have committed to do that will take more than one step), and another page for Some Day / Maybe things. This is where I put things I can't do right now, but which sound interesting and which may need to sit for a while (or for ever) - but which won't be forgotten.

In order to keep this system running the only maintenance needed is to take a few minutes once a week to read through all the sheets. This way I can mark off what's been done, put new projects into the system if needed, check my calendar for upcoming events and what needs to be done to prepare for them.

I really really hope what I've described above doesn't sound complicated and like a waste of time! I know that not everyone thinks as I do, and that doing things this way won't suit every single person. Still I hope that someone will catch the vision of it, and that it will help them in their efforts to make their life more of what they want it to be.

Eat Stop Eat

Yesterday I came across the concept of intermittent fasting as a way of increasing health, and decreasing body fat if that is necessary. Have to say in my case, it is definitely necessary!

Today is my first day of fasting for health, I'm drinking water and fresh lemon juice and ginger tea. Feels good, not really hungry at all. I am used to fasting for two meals once a month, so the hardest part for many people isn't that hard for me: going without food for a day just takes adjusting the way you think. If you're thinking about how much you want food, it's going to be way too hard.

I recommend reading up about EatStopEat, try Googling it and see how many negative reviews you can find - there are almost none that you can take seriously. The Pro's are lengthy, and the Cons are about getting used to fasting and the fact that you need to do some kind of resistance training coupled with 2 x 24 hour fasts per week.

I haven't bought the book, by the way: I'm doing this based on my prior knowledge of the science behind fasting, coupled with the info I've gleaned from the internet about E.S.S. Honestly I would love to read the book, but it's US$39.99 more than I'm willing to pay right now.

The proof will be in the pudding, as they say. I currently have 10kg or 20lb of excess bodyfat that I'm happy to say goodbye to, let's see what happens as I start to implement the simple concepts of Eat Stop Eat.

I should warn you that if you click on the heading of this post you'll be taken to what looks like a hype filled page convincing you to try the newest fad. Ignore the hype, there really is more to this than you might think. The author's blog looks worth following.

Things as they really are -what is real, anyway?

What is real? Is it relative, or absolute? Something that is real to me (my faith in a higher power, for example) may not be real to someone else, and that's a perfectly valid difference between them and me. Even with differences like this, I think there are some lines that should not be crossed but which can be all too easy to cross without even knowing it, with regards to living a healthy reality.

These thoughts have come to my mind most recently because of the talk I heard yesterday by David A. Bednar. He spoke about seeing things as they really are, and of the dangers of becoming too entangled with virtual people and worlds. Amazing and sad about the man who spent countless hours going for drives, window shopping, buying a house, a dog, and in the end proposing marriage to someone he has never met other than as an avatar on his computer....doing all this for up to 14 hours a day, while his bride of 7 months watched tv in an adjoining room and felt helpless and betrayed by his behaviour.

That's an extreme case, sure. What about the forums I visit? Am I placing the online conversations and friendships I have with people I've never met, over real flesh and blood relationships? I think I did once, but no more. No more. It's just not worth it. Escape...this is probably one of the prime motivators for this type of behaviour. Seems to satisfy, but in the end it does you about as much good as reading a cookbook does for someone who's starving.

Zen To Done - simplifying your life

I'm adding a new link to my list of handy links on the side bar. It's called Zen To Done, and I'm really looking forward to reading through the posts Leo has written on how to take control of your life, and to make it as simple as possible.

Frugal and charitable

Take a look at this post over at the Simple, Green Frugal Blog: it's on being both frugal and charitable. What a small but enormously powerful concept! Even if I have nothing, I can keep all the 5 and 10 cent coins I find on the ground, and give them to worthy charities.

Here's a great post at Zen To Done which talks about ways to be frugal. Also remember to check out the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op.

I have really been enjoying reusing and repurposing everything I can recently. It's a challenge that is fun, and very satisfying.

Wow, I can see my brain again!

Just have to say that after a couple of weeks implementing as many of the GTD principles that I can cope with, life has changed!

The very best thing about my experience so far is the freedom I feel from being able to empty my head of all those little things I don't want to lose track of, but which I was losing track of anyway. They're out of the noggin, most of them, but they're in places that are easy to get to and review.

They aren't rigidly contained, the system is still fluid, and that is the most empowering thing of all for me.

Getting Things Done

When I was a child, my mum used to say that procrastination was my middle name. Here I am over 40 and the same label is still a comforable fit! Having had a weakness for notebooks, new pens and organising systems for many years now and still finding myself disorganised, I'm wary and tend to look the other way when a 'new method' intrudes upon my consciousness. Partly because I don't like the guilt factor, and partly because when I find a method I like I've tended in the past to spend more time setting up pretty folders than actually getting on with what needed doing.

DIY Planners is a great site for templates and instructions for putting together your own paper based organiser. [Click here for their beginner's guide to setting up a planner, and here for their handbook on the same topic which has a GTD bent.] It's through this site that I came across Getting Things Done, by David Allen.
Click on the link in the last sentence to download his FREE articles (you do need to register, but there's no cost) on personal productivity, written in real english with not a hint of patronisation in sight. This man is like Jamie Oliver with his Ministry of Food; he has some simple but brilliant insights, and he's willing to give a whole chunk of it away free. Just because.

So this week I've had a lovely cool and sweet smelling breeze blow through my brain as I put together a paper based organiser in the leather (*yes!*) organiser folder that someone threw away last week. Rescued it after it'd been in the rain for quite a few hours, but it still seems fine. Thank you to my anonymous neighbour (kind of hope I don't find out which neighbour it is, I think) for this fine addition to my organising efforts!

I love what I've seen so far of the GTD things because they aren't telling me what to do. They're explaining what's happening when I'm disorganised, and suggesting ways to capture and tame information, that won't strain my brain. I love the idea of the InBox, this is the first thing I've set up and it's helping me to springboard to the rest of the principles. Flexibility is so important to me in any organising effort; if I can't make it fit the way I do things, if I can't make it change from day to day or minute to minute, then I won't use it for long.