A Bit of Yellow Cheer & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  Last week, I made suet, kefir, and yogurt.  I added the tbs. or two of seeds in the bottom on my bread bag to a jar I save for bird suet.  The usual washing of ziploc bags, saving warm up water, composting and shredding happened.  Chickweed and various other greens were gathered and given to the chickens. Two loads of laundry were done with homemade soap and hung on the line.  There have continued to be lovely sales in both my online shops, and there was even a neighbor that had bought soap from me a year ago to drive up and buy 5 more.  Ebay is another story entirely, but I'll take the others as a good thing.

I suggested to J that we have a simple Valentine's Day this year, instead of going to an expensive restaurant as usual.  J made a simple dinner of cheese ravioli, a salad, and bread we warmed from the freezer.  I made a German cherry cake, which included our eggs and vanilla, and home ground cornmeal.  We were thankful we didn't have plans to go out, because one of our pups kept us up most of Tuesday night, and J began coming down with the flu Wednesday evening.  We ate our dinner by candlelight, and worked on our latest jigsaw puzzle for a little while.  I used frozen sweet cherries for the dessert, and froze six cubes of cherry juice for smoothies.  We're both taking homemade elderberry syrup, Emergen-C, and I'm dosing up on homemade fire cider to ward it off (J is allergic to ginger & turmeric, so can't take it).  The next day, I made another batch of immune support soup using one of our littlest pumpkins and a multitude of homestead vegetables and broth.

A friend read of my struggle with sewing the scrub pants, and offered to help with the top.  She came over and gave me lots of tips, lovely quilting needles and helped me a good long while, then gave instructions so that I could finish.  I finished it on Friday.  It's a little wonky, but I'm quite happy with it.  My massage clients have their head in a face cradle, so maybe they won't notice :o).  I'm a little nervous about throwing it in the wash, but hopefully it will play nice.  One tiny butternut squash was getting soft, so I cut it up and gave it to the chickens.  I used the remainder of cushaw squash in two loaves of "pumpkin" walnut bread, and froze one.  I went through swagbucks, to get 3% cash back on a small purchase.

Darn it, by Friday evening it was obvious I was getting sick with the flu too.  It's the longest the both of us have sat or laid around since we've known each other.  Lots of liquids, naps, reading and natural remedies will hopefully soon have us good as new.  Windows were opened for fresh air.  The scotch broom and daffodils have begun blooming.  J brought me a daffodil on Saturday, the only time he was outside all day. Can spring be too far behind, with this bit of yellow cheer?  There is always hope of good things to come.  Be well, friends.