A Profusion of Purple & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  The picking of the tender vegetables inspired some meals.  I cooked the last of the okra, along with some of our home canned crowder peas and sauteed collards.  Being we hadn't had a frost yet,  J suggested I put the collards in the freezer for a half hour or so, and we do think they sweetened up a bit.  Disappointed with the rutabagas we're growing, I bought one in the local grocery store, and cooked it up with some of our potatoes.  In the mood for something sweet, I baked a batch of brownies, which used our eggs, homemade vanilla and pantry items.  Late in the week, we did have our first freeze.  Before it, I picked a bouquet, and took photos of all the blooms I saw, in case I might need to look at them before there are blooms again.  I hope you enjoy them.

Warm and cold weather clothes and sheets were switched out.  This is crunch time for holiday soap making, so I've been making batches of soap.  They'll have just enough curing time to be ready for an annual show I do the first weekend in December.  On a gray, drizzly day, I made a pot of vegetable soup.  The majority of the veggies were grown here, with a little bit of store bought thrown in.  Some leftover okra, collards, crowder peas, potatoes & rutabagas went into the pot, along with canned and fresh homegrown vegi's.  For one breakfast, I scrambled our eggs with a few small tomatoes.  I've been trying to use up the pumpkin butter I made for the hayride.   I've added it to my oatmeal, and enjoyed it on toast.  Another day, I added a bit of vanilla and coconut palm sugar to my homemade yogurt, spooned on some pumpkin butter, added pecans and homemade granola.  This was good!  I used a promo code to get 10% off a Christmas gift.

Laundry was done with homemade soap, on a drizzly day, because hampers were full, so two loads went into the dryer with a large wool dryer ball, instead of hanging them outdoors.  I'm thankful to have a dryer to use when needed.  Water collected from the bathtub leak and warm up water was used in the washer, as well as being used other times to top off the humidifier on the woodstove and the pups water bowl.  I visited a friend, and we went to Aldi's & a new Lidl store (similar to Aldi's).  Aldi's price on produce was better,  I got pomegranates for .69 and cranberries for .69.  They also had walnuts for 4.49/lb, which I thought was a good price.  Lidl had organic butter for 4.89, which is the cheapest I've seen this year, so I got two to add to the freezer.  My friend gifted me with a dozen eggs, two types of homemade bread, and a tart pan.  We'd been talking about a particular German dessert my husband was wanting, and I can use the pan for this.  My husband was stationed in Germany in the military, and he gave me a wish list when I went to Lidl's.  I found a few of the bakery items he requested, which pleased him, and which we both enjoyed.  I brought collards, rutabaga & lettuce to share.

can you find the bumblebee?

After the rain, I was able to hang a load of laundry on the line.  With a hard freeze predicted, I spent a good part of Friday in the garden, harvesting any remaining tender produce.  There was more than I thought.  I picked almost 5 gals of lima beans, plus a small amount of butter peas.  There were also several small eggplant, peppers and a tromboncino squash.  I harvested a basket of swiss chard, some dill, oregano, 4 goji berries, and a small amount of potatoes.  I transplanted the celery (grown from a grocery store end) in with the lettuce, and covered it all for the cold temps.  The chickens got ugly chard leaves, and a few tiny tomatoes.  Eggplant cubes were roasted and frozen, to enjoy on pizzas and such.

On Saturday, I met a friend at a local pottery.  They were having an event that included hearth cooking, dyeing with plants, blacksmithing & weaving on a loom.  I found it very interesting.  They were doing a lot of cooking, but we didn't stay long enough to sample anything.  The woman who was dyeing spoke with us for a bit, and I learned a little more about dyeing with lichens.  I purchased a hook from the blacksmith, as well as a glass garden cloche made in Williamsburg.  I love living in this area, where the old time crafts are still practiced.  Though the blacksmith did discount the hook $2 for some reason, the purchases were not especially frugal.  I know if these artisans are to make a living here, they need people to support their work.  Investing in this community and handmade products are things that are very worthwhile to me.  I shared some lima beans. 

On Sunday, I blanched and froze several meals worth of lima beans, and also blanched and froze strips of sweet red peppers.  J pickled a quart jar of green peppers, and he and I vacuum sealed the walnuts into pint jars.  A purchase of supplements was bought through ebates and with a 15% off promo code.  This coming weekend will be the annual Seagrove Celebration.  I'll be working Fri-Sun at a couple of venues helping with this.  I also agreed to work 7 mornings at one of my occasional jobs, basically every day I wasn't taking someone to an appointment or was otherwise committed between now and the end of the month.  Now where did I leave my roller skates?  I think I may need them.  Be well, friends.