The View

the view from the window

I'm joining in with Frugal Accomplishments on The Prudent Homemaker.  Made potato soup with our potatoes & parsley; made pumpkin soup with our pumpkin.  Picked all the tomatoes, basil, some spearmint and chickweed before frost, froze some basil in olive oil and spearmint in water- both in ice cube trays.  Made pesto with our basil and garlic, juiced our passionfruit and froze the juice, until I decide what I want to do with it.

Bought some sale items, new reading glasses and Thanksgiving cards at a 20% off day at Walgreens.  At the discount store, bought organic garbanzo beans for .40/can, organic agave nectar for $2/ bottle, organic whole tomatoes .60 for 28 oz. (even though we grow our own tomatoes, after not having enough to can in 2013, I buy them whenever I find especially good sales), a bottle of Nature's Way elderberry syrup for 1.50 (I also grow these, & make my own syrup, but thought this was an excellent buy, and you never know what next year will bring)

The usual drying laundry on the line, washing out plastic bags, bringing my own bags to the grocery store (saves .05 per bag, though I'd do it anyway), composting, harvesting rainwater, running all my errands while I'm in town.

Bought 4 apple trees locally, all cedar rust and fire blight resistant, which is a huge problem here.  I hope we have better results with these trees.   I also bought a fig I'd never heard of, an Italian Golden Honey Fig.  All seem to be settling in nicely.

I took down the hummingbird feeders, and made my first batch of suet for the season.  I've not always been able to afford the black oil sunflower seeds, but I've always managed to make suet for the birds.  The recipe is forgiving, and you'll see some of my variations in the link.

A friend of my Mom's sent me this quote after her passing.  I came across it again recently, after losing my Dad, and it gave me comfort.

Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room. Nothing has happened. Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity. What is this death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner. All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before. How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!                        -Henry Scott Holland

A Perfectly Peachy Pig

Suet is a major attraction at the bird feeders here. I've made my own for a long while. This recipe was in my local paper, recommended to attract bluebirds. I see a rare bluebird, but other birds seem to love it at least as much.

Winter Pudding Recipe (for birds)

2 quarts water

1 cup margarine

4 cups grits (not instant)

1 cup peanut butter

Raisins and peanut hearts are optional

In a large saucepan, bring water and margarine to a boil. Slowly add grits, stirring and cooking until mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat and add peanut butter, raisins, etc. Mix together well, then place in feeders. Freeze the remainder.

It's a bit soft at first, so I put it in a deep cookie sheet, and put in freezer or fridge until stiff. Then cut it in thirds longways, and fourths the other way, ending up with a dozen pieces. As I've been known to say, use what you've got. Various nut butters work well, including almond and cashew butter, and tahini. I use vegi shortening instead of margarine. I think any fat would work. Substitutions I've made to the raisins include dried rose hips and poke berries, dried pineapple, and apricots. This winter, I've been snipping up tomatoes I dehydrated a couple of summers ago. I use whatever needs to be used up most.

J and I worked on some metal art over the weekend. One was a pig sculpture. I painted the spots. J fabricated it, and did the remainder of the painting.