Margaret Arnold • June 28, 2025
Next Needed Thing: Grandpa's Summer Visits

My spring and summer to-do lists fondly remind me of my father. When my husband and I started caring for our long-time family home and 30 acres, spring's excitement came with overwhelming feelings. Early there with four young children ages six months to five years, I found myself in tears facing all that needed to be done, including a large pasture that needed mowing. My dad — a master gardener and hobby farmer — saw my tears and what was needed and stepped in. This began a 15-year summer routine to help with pasture mowing.

 

Our family fondly remembers those early summer mornings when Grandpa arrived in his little tan truck, sometimes before 7 a.m. We'd chat over coffee at my kitchen table (youngest daughter remembering him sitting in "my chair"), then off he'd go to mow his adopted pasture.


He loved to mow and, like everything our energetic father did, approached it as if he were running out of time. Oldest son recalls: "I'd bring him lemonade, and he'd drink most of it quickly. Then, without stopping, he'd throw the almost empty cup back at me and keep mowing." Oldest daughter added: "He was so focused that when we delivered lemonade, I was scared he might run me over."


... SPRING'S EXCITEMENT CAME WITH AN OVERWHELMING FEELING ...

After completing the work, he'd leave quickly — grass clippings and dust covering his clothes, face, and sunglasses (“definitely his sunglasses,” added youngest son) — rushing to his own farm projects and leaving my mother to clean up my grass clipping mess!

 

Those summer mornings evolved over the years: young children on summer vacation waking to hear and see Grandpa mowing outside, then later, young adults heading to summer jobs greeting him on their way out.


Through his example, our father taught me to approach overwhelming projects with a "next needed thing" mindset. He didn't let big tasks overwhelm him but tackled them with vigor and purpose. He also taught me to see the benefits: "Margaret, if you keep this pasture mowed, the good clover grasses will emerge." And they did.

 

While we no longer have that large property, each spring as I prepare our home for summer enjoyment, I think of our dad and how much he loved these projects. As his abilities declined and he could no longer care for his farm or help with our pasture, he sadly told me, "Margaret, I'm sorry I won't be able to mow for you anymore." I assured him it was okay, but we miss him, those visits, and the example he set for all of us.

 

Next Needed Thing Reflection

  • Break down the spring and summer gardening chores and spread them over weeks rather than a few days and only take on what you can care for
  • Check, gather and prepare all the tools and supplies you need
  • Make lists of items to be resupplied before shopping to not over purchase (remember what you purchase or duplicate, you must store)
  • Chunk the work based on high-energy times (and the weather to determine if you are outside or inside with your projects)


Silverish Simplicity Links

  • Use a fabric wine bottle tote to hold hand gardening tools (see picture)
  • Make tools from recycled materials – I collect different size plastic containers to hold and scoop smaller and more manageable quantities of grass seed, fertilizer and mulch – from yogurt containers to five gallon buckets
  • Check first and collect and return good potting containers to your garden center for repurposing
  • Pop in a few nasturtium flower seeds mid-summer in your container pots for new growth and color
  • Next year adopt a “No Mow May” to support pollinators (a recent early June trip to Germany showed that the “No Mow” is very serious and went well into June)


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Past Blogs

Maple syrup bottles on the counter with holiday decor.

The Wisdom and Challenge of Simplicity

By Margaret Arnold • January 1, 2026
As I go about my Silverish Simplicity days, I've started mentally categorizing my activities and intentions. Is this a lightbulb moment? Is this extreme? Is this an add-on to an existing idea? Since this is the time of year to look back while looking ahead, I'm sharing a few ideas in the categories below with the warning, dear readers, that they aren't for everyone—but no doubt there is wisdom and a challenge in each of them. Epiphanies After more than five years of downsizing and living more simply, I continue to have epiphanies as I go about my day. They come suddenly and are ideas I can't wait to try. Most challenge me to reduce, reuse, or repurpose and lean towards quality. One recent example: splitting and gifting a gallon of Saint John's Abbey Maple Syrup (one of 24 gallons bottled last season) won in a silent auction. With handmade tags added to glass bottles I had been collecting, this small-batch, limited production liquid gold became perfect gifts for my children (all who have visited the sugar shack) and a few hostesses. Extremes Some things I do to help the environment or save money would make my own family roll their eyes. Toilet paper, for instance. I save dryer lint in empty toilet paper rolls to create fire starters for outdoor bonfires. Saving dryer lint was a trick I learned from a friend way before I was Silverish Simplicity. I added the empty toilet paper roll for a more contained starter (and to keep the lint out of sight). An extra: I challenge myself to use only three perforated squares rather than grabbing half the roll. The cost savings and septic system benefits are real. I won’t go into any greater detail! ... I continue to have epiphanies as i go about my day ...
Christmas tree with white lights in front of a window, indoors.

A Season of Foraging, Layering and Reflection

By Margaret Arnold • December 6, 2025
Five years ago, during the Covid season, my children came home to find tables of sorted items, empty storage closets, and the beginning of a life of simplicity and repurposing. Today, that simplicity—downsizing, repurposing, purchasing quality—continues. It's my go-to, my reset, my happy place. This fall and winter seasons have been busy, so here are some Silverish Simplicity insights: Foraging – For several years now, I've foraged for my own fall and winter outdoor planter decorations: pines, dogwood, sumac, birch. This year was especially fun with the discovery of hard-to-find bittersweet and cutting down our own small balsam fir for the holidays. Best of all, I shared the love of foraging with my daughter and her husband. Layering – I heard about "layering" Christmas décor rather than completely switching out your home, and it matched my intentions perfectly. This year I added touches of the holidays here and there without removing any existing décor. In the process, more than two totes of Christmas decorations moved on to family or Goodwill. With three children purchasing new homes this year, it was the perfect time to pass along items that matched their interests—from prints and books to snowmen and ornaments. It's fun to visit their homes and see these items being used, so it wasn't a complete farewell. ... A perfect time to pass along items that matched their interests ...
Laura Ingalls Wilder Book Collection

Stories in Small Moments: Essays and Simple Living

By Margaret Arnold • October 11, 2025
After nearly 30 blog posts about simple living, I continue to find enjoyment in downsizing and being intentional. This summer reinforced my commitment to simplicity in two ways: first, letting things move on—including my 55-year collection of Laura Ingalls Wilder books to my son's fiancée, a teacher, with whom I discovered a shared love of the series; and secondly, using groceries wisely, experimenting with what's on hand and increasing freezing techniques rather than waste (more on that later). This intentional approach extends to reading, one of life's simplest pleasures. Some of my best memories and connections to people are through reading. Laura Ingalls Wilder's books read in the early 1970s remind me of home upstairs in the girls’ “dormitory” bedroom. The Sound of Music on a family road trip in a GMC motorhome in 1976 gave me moments of escape alongside five siblings. Kate DiCamillo, Gary Paulsen and the Harry Potter series remind me of my children as emerging readers and their well-worn books. Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig and Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner connect me to an early book club of serious readers and friends I still cherish today. This intentional approach extends to reading ...