The Return of Light and Frugal Accomplishments

Once again, I'm joining in with The Prudent Homemaker's Frugal Accomplishments.  Last week, I made Waldorf salad with a mix of store bought and root cellar apples, using celery from our hoophouse.  Some jars of crowder peas did not seal, so I made bean dip using our garlic and for a portion of the olives, finished up some olive bruschetta topping in the fridge.  Composted fruit and vegi scraps, and saved egg shells which I dry and crush, to either add to the compost or the garden.  Made yogurt and kefir, a pasta dish using homemade bread crumbs, and collards and rice using our collards and homemade broth.  Made brownies with our eggs.

rhubarb is up

I worked on my taxes several long days, and they are ready to take to the accountant this week...yippee!  Picked up a few things at Walgreens, and got their 20% senior (still feels strange, but 55+) discount.  Picked up a book at the library, and requested one from another branch.  Used a $1.50 coupon for the organic bread I buy.  I bought another #10 can of sliced olives at the discount store, to can in smaller batches, and picked up 3 cans of organic fire roasted tomatoes while there.  I stopped at the natural grocery shop a few doors away, and got a 10% discount on the few things I picked up, for showing a card I bought to support a local school group.  While running errands, I came out of Walgreens to find a totally dead car.  No warning, no lights left on, just dead. SO was working several towns away, and suggested I call the dealership where I bought the car in January.  Sure enough, they sent someone to jumpstart my battery, only to find there was a loose cable. I immediately drove to the car parts store a few blocks away, and had them check the car.  The battery is in great condition, and he tightened the cable, as the first man had no tools and only hand-tightened it.  A frugal ending, for sure.  I am pondering how to show my appreciation to the dealership... baked goods and a thank you card, I believe.  I am also pondering getting AAA, which I had some years back, but canceled during the "poor as churchmice years".

 I raked leaves off a couple of flower beds.  A day or two later, the first hellabore bloomed! Continue to make toilet tissue tube and dryer lint fire starters.  I've not been hanging clothes on the line much lately, due to cold and wet weather, so have more dryer lint than usual.  I also save candle ends and drips of wax to use as fire starters as well.

A few years ago, I was given a case of sample boxes of beautiful linen stationery papers, which contain different colored papers.  The larger sheets have been used for printing my shaving instructions for the old fashioned shaving sets sold in my shop.  There are shorter, fancy edged sheets, and it recently occurred to me that I could cut those up to use for the thank you notes I include in my online sales, so I did that.  Planted seeds of eggplant, several varieties of tomatoes and peppers, and lots of tomatoes are up.  The return of light and life are apparent.  Yesterday, I watched a bat fly over our garden for several minutes, a hummingbird buzzed me twice, and a bird landed in my hair... I know spring is near when the birds begin landing in my hair :o).  I quickly made up some hummingbird food and hung the feeder.  Though it seems early, hopefully I'll soon be rewarded with a sighting.  I opened several windows to let fresh air through the house, and we enjoyed our first "pond sit" of 2015.  There's a bit of a sigh of relief with being able to enjoy the outdoors once again.