A Fresh New Year & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  While in our local small town, I checked into Dollar General, and got a roll of wrapping paper 1/2 off.  It's a nice large roll, so should last a good while.  More and more, I'm using pretty boxes and fabric wraps for J's presents, but still use wrapping paper for others.  While J was out of town working, I pulled okra and veggie patties from the freezer, to have with leftover sweet potato.  The credit card bill came in for our new workshop supplies, and I paid it immediately, so there would be no interest.  Laundry was hung on the line, and yogurt was made.  After washing one of J's merino wool sweaters, I noticed three small holes, and mended them with the darning feature on my sewing machine.  I love that feature!  I also mended the hems of a pair of around the house pants, while I was there.  I scrubbed the bamboo cutting board with baking soda and homemade thieves vinegar, to remove the onion smell.  It worked really well, and the fruit I cut no longer tastes like onion, a definite plus.  

On a raw, cold day, I gathered all of the jars of medicinal tinctures from this year, and strained and bottled them.  While pulling them out of the pantry, I also found the jar of mint honey I'd made, and have been enjoying a spoonful of it as a simple tea.  Our potatoes in storage are fading.  I had to compost a few, and made a pot of mashed potatoes.  J asked for mushroom gravy, so I tried it with one of the home canned jars of mushrooms, instead of fresh, and it turned out great.  That's good to know.   A full bin of shredded paper and cardboard were emptied into the compost bin.  Kale was harvested for a farro pilaf, which also used our onions, garlic and homemade broth.  The onion experiment this year, of braiding them as garlic is often done, has been a success.  I've been pulling the ones that start sprouting, and the braids have stayed together, probably because there was a strand of twine among them.  There have been just a few I've had to compost, but for the most part, I'm keeping up with them.  It seems to work better than having them all together in a basket, and I'd do them this way again.

The pilaf recipe I mentioned was surprisingly wasteful, the directions saying to cut up carrots, celery and a 1/2 onion to cook the pilaf in, along with a quart of broth (in this case, homemade).  It then instructs you to drain the pilaf when cooked, and discard the vegetables.  The recipe was from a well known magazine.  Of course, I wasn't going to waste perfectly good food, so kept it all, and used the broth and vegetables as a base for soup a couple of days later.  I'd been waiting for a good time to make a Vitacost purchase.  One morning, I received a code for 20% off vitamins and supplements, and went through swagbucks to get another 8% back.  That was definitely worth the wait.  The pocket calendar I bought for this year didn't come with a plastic sleeve.  It would never make it two years in my pocketbook, so I used some heavy plastic, and sewed one.  I was wanting a clear cover, but if the plastic doesn't hold up, I'll probably end up sewing a fabric cover.  J & I started a jigsaw puzzle on New Years Eve, which has been fun.  

For New Years Day, I decided to make Earth Goddess soap, an old favorite that I haven't made in 9 or so years.  It has a warm, earthy scent I just love.  Whenever I make a batch of soap, it requires pouring it into the mold quickly, when it's at that point.  This means there's always a bit of soap remaining in the pot, so instead of wasting it, or sending it down the drain, which is not so good for our septic system, I scrape it and often make little soap balls with it.  We use the soap balls at the bathroom sink, and I recently used some of the Earth Goddess ones.  Yup, soap is perfectly good to use for years, decades even.  I knew when I caught the scent that I wanted to make more, and it seemed a fitting endeavor for the first day of the New Year.  That the old soap still smells so nice this many years later is a testament, I believe, to the quality of natural essential oils used for scent.  I expect the years would not be as kind to manmade fragrance oils.  

More positive happenings on New Years day included shop orders, and the nicest message from a man who was so impressed with the quality of the shaving brush and soap sample his wife gave him from my shop, he featured them on his YouTube channel.  What a lovely surprise to receive such positive feedback and encouragement, just as this new year begins.  I intended to sew some masks months ago, but then was given three handmade masks by a friend, so never got around to it.  No more than I go out, three has been enough for me.  But, they've all been washed numerous times, and I don't know how much longer they'll hold up.  The first one I made was with some of my avocado dyed fabric.  The pattern was adult size, and was way too big for me, but fits J well.  I already had a kids pattern, so made it with the same fabric.  It fits me much better. I decided to make two more, this time using some of my eco-print fabric.  One of these will be going to my GD.  I still have to adjust the ear loops, and put the knots inside.  Next, I hope to make some hair scrunchies.  Over the weekend, I helped J pull wire for the new workshop, he installed the electric panel, finished putting up all the corner boards, and did the door trim.  All in all, a fine start to the new year.  May 2021 be kinder to us all.