Katy Wolk-Stanley, a nurse in Portland, Oregon, knows how to suck all the marrow out of the bones of life while keeping her cash firmly in her wallet. Her blog, The Non-Consumer Advocate, has been generating no small amount of press as of late, and for good reason. Wolk-Stanley relays the experiences she and her family undergo trying to be conscientious consumers, or even non-consumers, when the occasion merits it. Her motto “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without” is a credo I couldn’t support more fervently. 

My post this week is up over at Design Sponge. Come check it out and learn about growing fresh air. 

This month’s Small Measure Can-Do Jam Giveaway is Cyn, over at River Dog Prints. Congratulations! 

Allow me to introduce you to Jenna Woginrich. Calling Vermont home, Jenna shares her successes, failures, triumphs, and travails on her highly recommended blog, Cold Antler Farm. It’s a rich, candid read, showcasing some incredible talent, vim, and vigor. It’s also pretty funny. I’m a big fan of funny. Here she is with her Huskies Jazz and Annie. And her very Annie Hall hat. 
Jenna’s book, Made From Scratch, is an honest account of one woman’s quest to seek out a more self-sufficient living. She moved to a remote setting in Idaho and got busy raising chickens, keeping bees, knitting, and so, so much more. Ultimately re-locating to Vermont, Jenna continues to gather up tools in her homesteading belt, chronicling them on Cold Antler Farm. She’s also a regular contributor to Mother Earth News.  Most recently, with the help of some blog readers (she put out a call for willing and able bodies on her blog and folks came! How cool is that?!), she erected some secure fencing for her sheep, bought a pick-up truck (in which she sings Iron & Wine songs, aloud), and ruminated on the physical and mental toll that homesteading can exact on a body. 
In many ways, we’re kindred spirits. I’d love to meet her in person someday, maybe sit around a fire pit and share a hard cider or two while she plays tunes on her guitar (or fiddle!). ‘Til then, I’m content to follow her on Cold Antler Farm, where she opens her life up to a loyal readership, and makes you feel like she’d be pleased to meet you, anytime.