How I Named This Blog 'Cottage Economy'

Some wonder why I named this blog Cottage Economy and where did that come from. Well, it comes from a book by the same title, written in 1833 by William Cobbett. Mr. Cobbett concerns himself with how poor laborers families in England and other countries can improve their lot by doing many things for themselves, by conserving their resources and in so doing give themselves a leg up.

In his introduction he gives us this definition of 'economy':

3. ECONOMY means management, and nothing more; and it is generally applied to the affairs of a house and
family, which affairs are an object of the greatest importance, whether as relating to individuals or to a nation.
A nation is made powerful and to be honoured in the world, not so much by the number of its people as by the ability and character of that people; and the ability and character of a people depend, in a great measure, upon the economy of the several families, which, all taken together, make up the nation. There never yet was, and never will be, a nation permanently great, consisting, for the greater part, of wretched and miserable families.

I love this book, so many wise things in it. It's been awhile so I'm going to re-read it. I've just discovered that you can download a free digital edition of it in quite a few different formats here.


But if you would like to own a real paper and board copy of
William Cobbett's Cottage Economy, there are several
different editions available.

Bit by Bit (Time Management)

Well, they say Life is what happens to you when  you are making other plans. Rather I think it's what happens when I get distracted from my goals. After more than 12 month hiatus I am working hard to get things back in shape around here. I'm still working full time, but I have managed to make all of the financial goals I've had and will become debt free around January of 2012.

A few days ago I realized that I had been majorly procrastinating in several areas. So I made up my mind that every day I would spend 15 minutes working on four areas of my life; my kitchen, my garden, decluttering the junk all over the house and my desk, paperwork and business affairs. So far I have mostly accomplished this for 10 days now (I did have a couple days where I didn't get all four done). (edit June 21, 2011 I have now been doing this for 23 days in a row and have begun another blog to chronicle this journey in living color. Come along for the ride at My Journey from CHAOS to Organized)

The result has been remarkable. The kitchen is clean and tidy which makes cooking healthy food and cleaning up after a breeze. The gardens beds are slowly appearing from under a forest of weeds and jungle of rubbish. I vow not to plant too much until I am home from vacation in September. By then things should be quite cleared up and ready to plant. My desk has slowly appeared from under piles of paperwork and filing. I had been slacking a bit about paying bills, losing them in the piles but am back on track now. And slowly boxes and piles are disappearing from the living room and studio.

I can't wait till I've kept it up for two or three months, it will be amazing. On another note, I recently refurbished a resin garden fairy and returned her to greeting duty by the front gate.

Refurbished Garden Fairy

I wrote an article with step by step photos if you'd like to read it go here: Refurbish Your Garden Art