Frugal Accomplishments and a Quick Trip

National Museum of Art

Last week, J & I visited Washington, DC.  I did not purchase anything other than food and metro tickets.  We stayed in an apartment belonging to a family member of an in law.  I paid for a nice dinner in thanks for the accommodations.  Food there is quite pricey, but we brought everything for our breakfasts and snacks, and not having to pay for lodging saved money.  All the Smithsonian museums we visited were free.  We walked 20 miles in 2 1/2 days (J's daughter wore a pedometer)!  I'm joining in today with Brandy's Frugal Accomplishments.

Just a few weeks ago, I shared my canning adventures with a failed Tattler lid.  Last week, I saw they have changed their lids due to this very thing.  Bravo!  Follow the Tattler link for more info on this. 

money plant

Fed tomato, lettuce and spinach seedlings with diluted fish fertilizer.  I typically use fresh basil, but it's too early for that, so instead I used oregano in a pasta salad, as well as some of the black olives I canned.  Weeded the asparagus.  Renewed a library book online, to insure I would not be overdue.

cherry blossoms

apple blossoms

The ants found my hummingbird feeder.  When I tried filling the ant moat with water, it leaked badly, having weathered and cracked over the years.  I repaired it with epoxy.  I cleaned up a flower bed along the driveway, and hauled 7 wheelbarrows from it, leaves and such, into the woods.

wild violets

blueberry blossoms & a butterfly

Did laundry using homemade laundry soap, and hung all but one load on the line.  Went to the Cooperative Extension's plant sale this weekend, and bought a horseradish, Fanny's fall aster, culinary sage (I seem to kill these on a regular basis), mountain mint, and sweet woodruff.  The plants were $2 and $3 each, except $5 for the horseradish.  All of these, as well as wintersown plants - zinnias, tithonia (orange torch and yellow torch), and night scented stock were planted.  There's a good chance of rain the next three days, and no frost in the 10-day forecast, so I'm hoping that was a good decision.  The tithonia seeds came from the Hospice my Dad was at.  They had bountiful flower gardens there, and yes, I did snitch a few flower heads, so I would have a good memory from his time there.  The money plant earlier in the post came from my Mom's house.  I hope they will both thrive here.  I feel that's one of the sweetest things about gardening... the memories that various plants conjure up, of friends and loved ones.  Beets and potatoes are coming up in the garden.  With the rain, I hope to soon see carrots up too.