A Few Happy Places & Frugal Accomplishments

Merry Monday!  I'm delighted to be joining in with Frugal Accomplishments.  Last week, I made a lemon zucchini bread with our zucchini and eggs.  While searching for zucchini in the freezer, I found a bag from 2012.  Oops!  I decided to let the chickens make eggs from that bag, and used one from last summer's garden for the bread.  Made yogurt and kefir.  Put the pasta water on the wood stove to preheat.  Made pasta sauce with our tomatoes, garlic and herbs.  Went through ebates for an online purchase, and used a coupon code, saving 13% on the total.  Received my first Real Simple magazine, free through Recyclebank.

I washed throw rugs with homemade laundry soap, and hung them on the line to dry.  Enjoyed a library book.  Found red and white quinoa on sale for $2.99/lb. at Aldi's and got a lb., though I wished I had gotten more once back home.  Was able to fill my car up for $1.55/gal while I was in town.  Ran errands while I was in town.  Cooked up a pot of small sweet potatoes for the pups.  Gathered chickweed & gave it to the chickens, along with one of the squash/gourd crosses from last summer.  J & I watched all the Super bowl commercials online one night, & we both felt it was a major waste of time.  It's quite sad if that's the best today's creative minds have to offer.

I made tomato rice loaf with our tomatoes, garlic, homemade bread crumbs and kefir.  Warmed up an assortment of leftovers to go with it, so they wouldn't go to waste.  Had an overabundance of milk, so made some dark chocolate pudding from scratch.  Cleaned up my soap scraps, adding them to a mason jar to make into soap gel.  Dehydrated a batch of sweet potatoes for pup treats.  The last bit of the gallon of milk went sour, so I warmed it up, put in a handful of dried nettles, and gave it to the chickens.  The last Netflix disc arrived of this season's Downton Abbey.  I'm so glad the show ended on a happy note.  I'll miss many of the characters and their stories.

I heated water on the woodstove, for coffee and for the chickens.  The temperature is getting colder, so I warmed a little half & half on the woodstove, crumbled up a handful of nettles and a slice of bread, mixed some kefir in, and gave it to the chickens, along with throwing them cracked corn.  We used a heat lamp in the coop last night.  It's kept up near the ceiling, far away from the straw and where the chickens could bump it, but adds a little warmth to their coop.  Gathered carrots from the garden, and grated some for the pups dinner.  As usual, ends went in the broth bag.  The grinder is set up in my new pantry, & I ground wheat.  I realized I need a step stool, as it is taller than me in this new location, and it's important to see how much grain is in the hopper at first, so it does not jam.  Ask me how I know :o).  I saw some beautiful handmade step stools, very reasonably priced, at the local senior center's gift shop some months ago, so plan on stopping by there soon.

I baked 2 of our winter squash, and made soup with them, using some of our rosemary and home canned broth.  The chickens got the seeds and innards, and I put the skins in the veggie broth bag.  I ran back to Aldi's, & bought 5 more lbs. of quinoa, onions 3#/.98, and an orchid for $9.99.  While in town, I borrowed books from the library, then dropped off 3 boxes of items and a huge bag of clothes at Goodwill.  Colored my hair at home.   Made a yummy balsamic herb vinaigrette with pantry ingredients.  Dry canned the quinoa.  J bought us tickets for a Valentine's dinner dance, complete with rumba lessons, which should be interesting.  We're always up for a good adventure!  Be well, friends!

I'll leave you with a few of my recent happy places:

This blog of Sophie Isobel Asher- beauty on many levels
Dyeing Inspiration- making art from life-  Being There with India Flint.
Cori Lee Marvin's art, especially this piece
More lovely art by Lucy Campbell