A New Year & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  On Christmas Eve, I harvested broccoli and lettuce.  I made salad to bring to a dinner we were attending at friend's.  Knowing I'd want to be able to relax on Christmas, I vacuumed and mopped the house, and cleaned the chicken coop.  Crossing those things off my list felt good.  On Christmas morning, J made omelets.  For dinner, I made baked ziti, with our tomatoes, garlic and herbs in the sauce.  We also enjoyed bread given to us on Christmas Eve.  As the ziti was baking, we began working on our jigsaw puzzle.  It's been fun entertainment several nights.  I received a few books as gifts, always welcome, but especially during these short days of winter.   Bluebird houses were gifted to me by M, and I'm pretty excited about them.  We need all the pest help we can get.  He made these with predator guards, which is most excellent, as squirrels have chewed the holes bigger, and snakes have made their way into the ones we have already.

With many nights in the teens forecast early last week, I harvested lots of kale, collards, lettuce, broccoli, four beets and swiss chard.  I steamed the swiss chard and beet greens to go with quinoa and yellow squash.  It's the first time I tried this dish with canned squash, and it was fine.  With the squash being much softer than fresh, you barely notice it at all.  I may double up on the squash next time, to use up more of the canned squash.   The collards were frozen, and some of the lettuce shared.  For a little over an hour on Friday, we were without power.  Though it's quiet here as a rule, without the hum of the computer, ceiling fan, and intermittent clicking on and off of the refrigerator and freezer, there was total quiet.  I pulled a chair up to the wood stove, and enjoyed a bit of reading while it lasted.

There haven't been a lot of frugal happenings going on.  I've stayed at home as much as possible, and have been working on paperwork in various forms... some bookkeeping for the guys, the pile at my computer, a stack of magazines sorted through and ready for passing on.  I did purchase 1/2 off gift wrap on the 26th.  At the grocery store, I bought only a gallon of milk.  At the discount grocery, I bought only a .50 pack of  those party squawkers that unroll when you blow them, just in case we're actually awake for the New Year.  I sent out a few cards that Lesley created for New Years.  I'm especially fond of the back side of these.

Like much of the country, it's especially cold here, with very low double digits forecast most nights this week.  As we're often a few degrees colder than forecast, I expect we may see single digits at least one night.  J & I hauled more leaves to the chicken coop, giving them a deeper layer on the floor for warmth.  The bird feeders are being kept full, and water added to the bird baths.  I bought a very soft and fuzzy bed for our farm cat a few weeks ago at Big Lots.  When I step into the shed, I often find her enjoying it.   I'm happy to be joining in with the Frugal Accomplishments community at The Prudent Homemaker today.  May the coming year bring good things for us all.  Happy New Year!