Around the Homestead, A Movie, & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  I meant to mention the frugal things we did for our Charlottesville trip.   We brought a jug of our filtered rainwater with us, with my refillable bottle, as well as apples, peanuts, juice and a banana.  We drink a lot of water, and don't care for the (chlorine, etc.) taste of "city water", and prefer not to use plastic bottles.  On the way, we stopped at a pie shop that we'd heard raves about.  We each got a piece of pie, and bought a couple of large fried apples pies for the next morning's breakfast.  Our air bnb host provided some things for breakfast, and we did have oatmeal the morning before we left, but the bread and oats weren't organic, and we're spoiled by our girl's fresh eggs, so it wasn't really what we wanted to eat.  Leftovers from a dinner were brought home.  I worked one of my occasional jobs Tuesday and Wednesday, and brought the leftovers for lunch one day.  I made Swagbucks goal most days.  I wrote them about points not received, and received them the next day.  Here's a peek of the kitchen at Monticello.

I believe I mentioned that our elder rooster was demoted of his position in the hierarchy by one of the younger ones not long ago.  Whether he was sick, or just gave up, we don't know, but he died just before we got home from Charlottesville.  He was an excellent rooster, and will be missed.  A batch of hummus was made for lunches from pantry items.  Eggs were boiled.  Last week, somehow J cultivated (killed) two out of three of the swiss chard plants I've been babying since last summer.  They were almost big enough to start harvesting from :o(.  I planted seeds for some weeks ago.  There are 3 scraggly ones remaining, and I found a toad sitting in the dirt of one of the pots!  Though they were not a great deal, I bought 2 containers with 6 plants at Lowes, so we'll have some chard before too long.  Every year, it seems there are some things it is challenging to grow, so sometimes it's just easier to roll with the punches.  I picked up a few things at Aldi's, and found a loaf of organic bread with a $2 coupon on it.  I've really been wanting to make asparagus soup, but it takes 2# of asparagus.  I'm usually harvesting only 2 or 3 spears a day, so don't have enough at one time.  I saw asparagus at Aldi's for $1.39/#, and bought two, as well as Baby Bella mushrooms .89/8 oz.

I've been closing up the windows mid-morning, when it starts to heat up, then opening them when it cools in the evening.  Most days, we've been doing without A/C, but some days, after J has been working hard outdoors all day, he wants it on a bit to cool down.  A few months ago, J changed from the disc service to streaming on Netflix.  It seemed there was much less selection for the type of things we watch, and neither one of us found much that interested us, so he changed back to getting discs.  The first one received was On Our Way To School, which had been on my queue several months ago.  It really is amazing to see what some children endure to go to school.  How much we take for granted in this country.  Though I try to be mindful and grateful, I still take so much for granted of the blessings I have just living in this country.  This movie was a good reminder.

On Friday, we accomplished much in the gardens.  I planted the swiss chard plants, and seeded lettuce in two beds.  The winter sown columbine and rose campion were planted in patches here and there.  I hope some will make it.  J planted seeds of cucumber, summer squash, butternut squash and watermelon.  Several years ago, I bought a mixed container from a local nursery, which overwintered indoors.  All that remained in it were some ferns, so they were planted in the bed we're creating near our outdoor shower.  I planted nasturtium seeds in several places, and a row of Hopi dye sunflower.  Every day, I pick some cat brier tips for our salads.  Homemade Thousand Island dressing was made.  I found a penny on the ground, a nickel in the laundry (I take possession of any laundry money :o), and a sweet bird's nest on one of my walks.  Three loads of laundry were washed and hung outdoors.  Before they were fully dry, there was some misty rain, so I ran them through the dryer for a few minutes each.

I received ebates funds of $16.75, and placed an order through them earning 2% back.  We're finding lots of volunteer tomatoes in places we added our compost to.  While J was weeding one of the potato beds, he found a fairly large tomato plant, quite a bit larger than the ones we've been growing from seed.  Hopefully, it will give us tomatoes a few weeks earlier!  I made a butternut squash crumble using our squash, parsley and thyme.  All the vegi broth bags were pulled from the freezers, and simmered on Saturday afternoon, with a couple pieces of reishi mushroom added to each pot.  At night, they were strained, and left on low on the smallest burner overnight. I will can it up today.  J got a scoop of mulch, and added it to several beds.  Each of the rhubarb containers has a plant with at least one leave so far.  The houseplants, along with plant stands, saucers and such were moved out of the house to their summer quarters, shortly before a rain.  Between the honeysuckle and fringe trees blooming, the breeze brings sweet scents.  Wishing you a sweet and lovely Mother's Day.