Late January & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  As I was gathering soaps to restock one of the galleries, I decided to try using some of the paper I recently thrifted to gussy up my Rose soap.  With these, the Lavender soaps in a pretty blue paper and the Garden soap in floral fabric, I think it will make for a cheerful Valentine's display.  On Sunday, J hung the three new bluebird houses M made.  We noticed one of the older houses had some recent damage to the entrance hole, so M made a guard for that one too.  I'm hoping several bluebird families enjoy their new digs this year.  I made a broccoli cheddar quinoa bake, using our broccoli and eggs.  We finished some leftovers with it.  We've enjoyed two salads with the last of our lettuce.  Though it was under cover, the single digit temps pretty much did in the lettuce.  I'll soon be starting some again.  Our patch of winter salad greens didn't do much this year, but I gathered all I could, then mixed them with what was left of a bag of kale I had harvested, and prepared a winter salad another night.  I'm joining in with Brandy's Frugal Accomplishments today. 

I learned of the show Victoria, and found the first year was free to Prime members.  I've been enjoying the series a great deal so far.  I ended up staying home on Tuesday, instead of working in town.  Besides painting an order, I had two to pack and ship.  I knew I would be getting a delivery of soap supplies, and sent the packages on their way when I got my delivery.  An hour's driving saved is a lovely thing.  I was determined to tackle the pile of ironing, and finished it after working a few hours a couple of days.  I rarely listen to podcasts, but save links to interesting sounding ones for days I'm doing mindless tasks, such as soap wrapping and ironing.  Last week, I listened to this.   I found it interesting, and it gave me some things to think about.  If you enjoy any amusing or uplifting podcasts, please share.  I made suet, yogurt and kefir, washed plastic bags for reuse, composted, shredded paper and used warm up water for house plants and the humidifier.

My sweet sister has a birthday coming up, and mentioned she could use a draft dodger for her closet door.  She has a dachshund and loves all things dachshund, so I attempted one for her draft dodger.  My thinking was "how hard could it be to sew a tube?"  With my rudimentary sewing skills, it was a little bit of a challenge.  But I persevered, and came up with something I hope will be useful and cheerful.  I noticed the loose threads on his chinny chin chin after I took the photos, so looked him over and did a few hand stitches here and there before packing him up.  After bringing her presents to our lunch date, I headed towards home to run several errands.  I found a canister at the SPCA thrift shop that will be turned into a compost crock.  They have the nicest people working there, and the best prices.  They're only open on Fridays and Saturdays, so I try to stop by there if I happen to be in town those days.  I redeemed a 15% off coupon for a 40# bag of  sunflower seed at Tractor Supply.

Aldi's was also on my list of stops.  Avocados were .49 and garlic was 3/.79, so both were picked up.  I splurged and got a bouquet for $3.99.  I lean towards wilder bouquets, and found a pretty one with a sprig of goldenrod in it.  J & I went through all our seeds over the weekend, and we only need a few things.  I put several hours into cleaning, researching, photographing and listing some items on ebay.  After 7 days, only one item sold, and my profit will be $1.12.  Sheesh.  I did use recycled items to ship it.  I had a girlfriend day on Saturday, meeting one for lunch then heading to meet another at a vintage emporium.  It was our first time there, and it was rather underwhelming, which of course saved us both money.  Two different aspects of our rainwater system had broken recently.  Some breaks from the freeze emptied out the tanks that supply our household water.  J fixed both over the weekend, and we are collecting rain again.  By the time I got home on Saturday, my respiratory junk was returning.  I decided to make an immune boosting soup on Sunday, which consisted of vegis in every color of the rainbow,  crowder peas, & herbs, most of which were grown here, and a jar of vegi broth which included reishi.  Wishing you a healthy and happy week!