Monday, November 16, 2015

A Few Chores & Frugal Accomplishments


This week, I made kefir and yogurt.  Washed laundry with homemade laundry soap, and hung it on the line.  I got several household chores that have been on my list for some time done.  Four glass light shades were taken down and cleaned, as well as the bathroom vent.  I had a frugal fail in part.  The tiny apples  and a couple of pears we grew were languishing in the crisper drawer.  Around half of the apples were beyond good eating.  Those went to the chickens, and the remainder were cooked up, along with the pears, and turned into an especially tasty sauce.  We ate it along with our canned green beans, which I roasted, along with a pan of our potatoes & herbs.  The other long standing chore was cleaning the oven glass.  I used a hanger that I straightened out & stuck up through the bottom holes to clean the inner glass, using a citrus based cleaner first, & then glass cleaner.  It took several passes with each.  The glass that was accessible from the inside of the door was cleaned with a baking soda paste.  The glass isn't perfect, but it looks so much better.  I also organized the linen closet, which had recently become a mess.  I'm happy to cross those chores off my list.


Two friends visited, to learn about making soap.  We had an enjoyable visit, and this mini class helped me to prepare for teaching the women's homestead group this coming week.  One of the women gave me several crocheted head bands as a thank you, which I love using to keep my ears warm during cold weather. The other woman gave me some of her homegrown lavender.  I fed the pups chopped chard & tomatoes, some leftovers, & kefir with their dinner.  Pulled chickweed and holey greens for the chickens. Found some passionfruit that weren't ripe, but with a hard frost coming, I pulled them and fed them to the chickens.  A few really loved them.  I boiled eggs for us and the pups.  Found vintage porch posts on Craigslist, in great shape, and got 4 of them for less than I'd seen one selling for.  I'm happy about that!  I made good progress on a new item I'm making, sanding all the handles and cutting a groove in each with the table saw.  Next, I need to assemble them.  I want to have some ready for a show I'm doing in a few weeks.  I'll share more when I've got some finished ones to show you.


I received an ebates check in the mail.  Cut a bouquet of roses, zinnias and salvia before a freeze. J recently made a stand for our Berkey water filter, so I could fill glasses and pots without dragging it across the counter.  I'm enjoying it so much, we decided it would fit right in as a new item in our SoulSeeds shop.  You can see a thumbnail photo in the right sidebar.  I worked on getting a few things ready to list on ebay.  I cleaned them up, photographed, and researched them.  All that's left is to calculate shipping. I've been burned on more than one occasion, when I've let ebay determine shipping, so now I always find an appropriate box, pack it with shipping materials, weigh and calculate.  It's more work, but at least I know my shipping costs are covered.  These are items I'm selling for a friend, and will only receive half of the selling cost, so every bit helps.  I sweetened and bottled another jar of elderberry syrup. We've got another road trip scheduled this week. I'm not sure when I'll be posting again, but I hope to have a picture or two to share.  Be well, friends!



2 comments:

Michèle Hastings said...

The glass on our wall oven was cracked when we purchased our home. Jeff did some research and purchased a replacement online. I didn't realize that the door could be taken apart, and the glass removed (there were a couple layers of glass). Since it was apart, I took the opportunity to clean all the glass. It looked like new when we were done! Not sure I would want to dismantle it too often, just for a cleaning. Maybe others come apart more easily.

Laurie said...

Joseph took ours apart once, and swore never again! It sure was easier to clean, but pretty horrible to get back together.