Our Family Hayride & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello friends.  It's beginning to feel like fall here.  Living with a metal roof in the woods brings the crack of acorns as they hit this time of year.  The shop is also clad in metal, so whether indoors or outdoors, there is nature's music to accompany our days.  The orchids, which I began care taking after my Mom passed, were brought inside a few weeks ago, when nights in the 40's were forecast.  When visiting the discount store recently, I purchased coconut fiber blocks $6/10.  I moistened the first block, more than half of which is left for the future.  While topping off the pots, I noticed several of the orchids had buds!  I haven't had great success in getting them to rebloom, and I'm pretty excited.  I fed them with orchid fertilizer, and will wait to see if they actually bloom.  In the past, when they were in the great room with the woodstove, the buds often dropped off.  Now that they're in my studio, a cooler and moister environment, I'm hoping for happy, beautiful blooms.

I harvested tomatoes, eggplant and lima beans.  Holey collard, chard and kale leaves were picked and given to the chickens, along with sour gum fruits.  I was happily surprised several weeks ago to learn that I had been nominated in the running for best massage therapist in the county.  In the 22 years I have been doing bodywork, my practice has shifted many times.  As I've mentioned here, almost all the work I do these days is with Hospice employees, so there are not that many people that I see now.  Imagine my surprise, when on Sunday evening, a friend let me know that, amazingly, I had won!  I have always felt honored to do this work, and having this confirmation, which lets me know I have made a difference here, is a lovely thing.

A new recipe, Shipwreck Casserole, was tried, which uses items one would most likely have on hand in the pantry.  We thought it was tasty.  Last Sunday, my sister applied the Hairprint mixtures to my hair, which was quite a messy and time-consuming process.  We knew that going in, though.  It gave pretty good coverage, enough for me to want to continue with it.   They instruct you not to use products with quaternium, which is in the majority of hair products.  I found less expensive, "non-quat"  alternatives to their shampoo and conditioner, for 1/4 to 1/3 of the price.  I continue saving drip water from the bathtub, and use it to water plants, water for the pups, for the humidifier on the woodstove, and flushing the toilet.

My sister and I had a thrift day last week.  I found out Goodwill offers a 10% discount to 55 and older on Mondays.  We didn't go on a Monday, but good to know.  I found a cute set of flannel sheets for $4.99, summer shirts for .50 & $1.99, and 3 shirts for J to layer under his work clothes in the cold weather @ $2.99 and 3.99.  One night, I made pasta for dinner, with our tomatoes, herbs and garlic.  I used a Tractor Supply 10% off coupon to buy dog and cat food.  We are blessed to have regular orders in our metal goods shop.  We ship some of the items by Fedex, as they are less than half the cost of USPS for our items.  I was delighted to see the Fedex truck arrive for a delivery for J's shop, which saved me an hours drive to drop my order off.

There have been two frugal fails recently at Harris Teeter.  The first time, the cashier didn't know the code for the organic pear we bought, and another cashier gave her a code for it.  When we got home, we realized we'd been charged for the wrong type of pear, so did not get the sale price.  This week, I bought 2 pomegranates, because of a sale sign that said 10/$10.  When I got home, I realized I'd been charged $3.49 a piece, a $5 difference!  Both stores are a good hour away, and not in areas we go often, so I guess the lesson, which I've forgotten, is to always check receipts before I drive away.  I really like the variety offered, but the mistakes, not so much.

We had our family hayride on Saturday, which was a lovely, enjoyable day.  I made pumpkin mashed potatoes, lentils with maple syrup, cornbread and pumpkin butter, and pumpkin pie cupcakes, using our potatoes, pumpkin, eggs, thyme, and home ground corn and wheat.  For munchies before the hayride, J made maple popcorn, we had cold and hot apple cider, and a cheese and fruit plate.  Guests brought green bean casserole, wild rice and pumpkin pie.  We were offered the leftover green bean casserole, and had a good amount of our leftovers, which will feed us for two or more days.  Eggplant was shared with family members, as well as a bar of my fall soap, some hair products I no longer need, and Thanksgiving decorations I won't use.  I cut bouquets from flowers and fall leaves in the yard. 

I had hoped Sunday would be an easy going day, but it was not to be.  The first hard frost is forecast, so J & I scrambled to pick all the tender vegetables in the garden.  We picked all the okra and tomatoes, and J pulled up all the plants.  Also picked were hot and sweet peppers, eggplant, lima beans, basil and lettuce.  I covered the remaining lettuce with row cover.  I gathered and prepared some of our rutabagas.  I was very disappointed to find they had white flesh and tasted more like turnips, which I don't care for.  I grew bloody dock from seed in the late summer, because it did fantastic last winter along the path to our house.  On Sunday, I planted all the seedlings in the ground, and covered them with pine straw I gathered.  This week promises to be a busy one, with commitments every day this week that will take me from home for part of the day.  I'm excited about an event I'm attending Saturday, on Elderhood. Many wishes for a week that brings you good things, and maybe some excitement of the good kind too.