Summer Moments & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  I hope this finds you well, and enjoying these midsummer days, or winter, if you're in other parts of the world.  Our garden wonder of the week is the tromboncino squash, which is going gangbusters. I've shared several, and have been cooking with it almost every day, using it in "zucchini" bread twice,  pasta sauce, a dish with tomatoes and corn, and zucchini tots for the first time, which we liked.  I wanted to report back on the winter squash ice cream mentioned last week.  It was rather bland, tasting mostly like the pumpkin spices.  I would like to try it again with a more mature squash, as I bet it would give it more flavor.  It wasn't bad necessarily, just not as flavorful as I'd hoped.

I picked concord grapes & juiced and canned them.  I may make them into jam at another time.   The skins and seeds were dehydrated for bird suet.  I offered concord grapes to a friend.  After a good visit, she left with grapes, a variety of squash, and pears, and I was gifted several things for myself and my granddaughter.  I filled out requests for free dog and cat food.  We enjoyed our first watermelon.  It was the best one we've had this year.  The chickens enjoyed pecking the rinds.  While in town for work, I picked up a few things at the grocery store, & used my own bags, saving .15; also stopped by the library, and asked about zoo passes.  I received a free pass for 2, and plan on taking my granddaughter next week, which is a nice savings.

Well, at this point, both J & I have both been rained on in the outdoor shower.  Though there was no rain when we started our showers, by the end we got rained on.  Thankfully, they were just light rains.  I'm happy to report though J has shared the shower with a snake at one point, I have only shared it with bugs :o).  We were using the outdoor shower again because we hired someone to finish the sheetrock in the bathroom redo.  Because J did more of the sheetrock work than he had thought when he first gave us the quote, he knocked $50 off the original price.  I gave him a couple of bars of soap, as he and his wife use and love them, which may not have hurt the final cost either.  We lost power Weds. evening during a thunderstorm for about 3 hours.  We'd already had dinner, and ended up just going to bed.  J has been painting and doing trim work, and it won't be long before the project is done.  Being J is a metal fabricator, I asked if he could create a basin out of copper, to go with the sink.  We had extra pieces of the granite we used for the sink counter, and he suggested we use some of it for the piece at the shower floor, then use some of the same granite used in the shower around the sink, so both areas would have some of each, tying them together.  I think I reported when I bought the granite that it was purchased at less than 10% of list price through ebay.  It's still a construction zone around here, but we're getting there.

One day, I harvested basil, made a double batch of pesto, and froze it.  I continue to harvest marigolds, with plans to dye the bottom sheet for our bed cover.  Swagbucks points were redeemed for a $25 amazon gift card.  We enjoyed an evening out with friends, and some delightful wine paid for with gift cards.  This new to us wine was delicious, helps support veterans, and our price was several dollars cheaper than the listed price, all bonuses in my book.  We picked up an inexpensive meal to have on the outdoor porch, enjoyed the wine, and were serenaded with free music.  A lovely summer's eve, for sure.  A fellow chicken lover friend gifted me the Fresh Eggs Daily book.  Reading it, I was reminded how good herbs are to use in the coop.   I cut back lemon balm, catnip, oregano and chocolate mint.  These were put in nest boxes and scattered on the floor.  We'll have our granddaughter a few days, and enjoy some summer fun.  Plans include time at the Kid Zone of our local zoo, which includes several water features, home grown watermelon, and homemade ice cream.  Summer will be dwindling before we know it.  We plan to enjoy it while it lasts.  Wishing you a most enjoyable week!