Frosty Morning Walks & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  With temps in the teens, I put extra suet out for the birds, and gave extra scratch to the chickens in the evenings.  We also left the heat lamp on for the chickens some nights.  Morning walks with the pups have been frosty most days.  Eggs were boiled for us and the pups.  Another kitchen drawer was cleaned.  One of the things in my husband's current diet is green onions, but only the green parts.  I dehydrated the white portions, to put in the pantry.  J wasn't using kale as quickly as we thought he would, so I found a recipe that used some, along with mushrooms, which I bought last week and needed using too.  Cold days make me think of warm chores, so I caught up on my ironing.  Paper and cardboard from the shredder went in to the compost bin.  The new boots arrived, and will work well.   I need to seal them before hiking, but wore them for a night on the town, and they were comfortable and warm.  Happy!

After working in town, I picked up a few things at the discount grocery.  While at Walgreens to drop off orders for Fedex, I used a $5 reward and purchased a 6 pack of large kleenex boxes marked down to $4.49.  I also got BOGO almonds.  Tractor Supply had sent a 10% off coupon, so I stocked up on chicken feed and cat food using that.  I got groceries at Aldi's, including 8 cans of organic beans @ .89.  I got more olive oil while there, as it's the cheapest I've found lately, at .15/oz.  J had the idea to ask the owner of the restaurant where they usually eat lunch, to see if I might be able to purchase it in bulk through his supplier.  I hope that pans out.  It's such a heavy item, shipping it is cost prohibitive.

Staying on track, I cleaned another drawer in the kitchen island, a catch all or junk drawer..  I was embarrassed to find a few Christmas cards from 10 years ago, which means it hadn't been totally cleaned since we moved in the house.  It often houses garden catalogs, and those had been removed, but not the other items.  I started to beat myself up about it, then decided to pat my back for doing it now.  The chickens continue to lay well, and I was able to share a dozen with a friend.  While there, she gave me a beautiful piece of jewelry a local artist made, one that was her Mom's, but not her style.  While walking to the chickens, I noticed two lettuce plants in an area we planted last spring, which hadn't been there before.  I transplanted them with the other lettuce, so they could be covered with row cover on cold nights.  A pan of dried egg shells was crushed, to be added to the compost bin.

The parsley I dug and brought into the house seems to be thriving.  We had a bit of a warm spell, with highs in the 60's.  As it wasn't supposed to last long, and I had a bit of cabin fever, I cleaned up one of the flower beds.  Three heaping wheelbarrow fulls of prunings and downed sticks were dumped at the edge of our woods.  It's a start.  Needing to use the squash we grew last year, I cut up three butternut squash, and two spaghetti squash.   I baked a butternut squash crumble with half, and froze the remainder.  J ate some spaghetti squash, and the remainder was frozen.  I checked on the garlic, and it's coming along nicely, with more than half up now.  While doing that, I walked past the asparagus bed, which reminded me that should be the next bed cleaned up.  Always plenty to do around here, that's for sure.

We bought postage stamps before the price went up, both for J's business and our personal use.  Between dropping off soap, and meeting a friend, I had a few minutes, and went into a nearby thrift store.  My computer monitor, which was bought used around 8 years ago, was starting to act up.  I had been looking online, but found one there for $10, which works great.  I've been wanting to work on organizing the bathroom closet.  It's one of the things I would have designed differently, in hindsight, as it's a narrow, deep closet, so difficult to get to things.  I found a long thin basket with handles for $2, which corralled a good amount of things.  I still need one more basket to get it finished, but there's progress.  Several things were thrown away, and a small bag of things, such as samples I've never used, will be donated.  Are you cleaning and decluttering too?  I've read there's a big uptick in thrift store donations, due to Marie Kondo.  Have a great week, friends.

Small Signs of Spring & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  Last week, I learned teeny, tiny chicken eggs are called fairy eggs.  For a dinner, I made a pasta meal, which used our canned tomatoes and summer squash, and fresh rosemary.  I pulled our frozen okra out of the freezer for a dinner, and made kale salad with our kale, to have with leftover quiche.  I sent another email to swagbucks, as points from our vacation in September have still not been credited.  After an out of town appointment, I went by a nearby Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.  The majority of what I bought was fruits and vegetables, as J is needing quite a bit to start on his allergy protocol.  I had hoped to find it all at TJ's, but there were several things I had to buy at Whole Foods.  Happily, I found out at my appointment that eggs are OK on occasion for me.  Whew!  On my way to the appointment, I dropped off an order at the Fedex site.

On Wednesday, the last part came, J hooked it up, and we had water at the kitchen faucet again.   Hooray!  I paid our propane bill online to save a stamp, and in time to get a discount, saving $3.04.  Two dozen eggs were shared.  I froze homemade bread that we weren't going to eat right now.  Several more sweet potatoes were dehydrated for pup treats.  I picked ones that had bad spots, so what was good could still be used.  The ugly bits went into the compost.  Eggs have been gathered from the chickens daily.  Ziploc bags were washed for reuse. Candles were used most nights while eating dinner.  I sold two items on ebay.  Not much, but every little bit helps.  I'm staying on track, doing small kitchen chores while waiting.  One of the crispers was cleaned, and a bit more of the fridge wiped down.  Having been inspired by these small changes, I cleaned and organized another kitchen drawer. 

I pulled another box of my friend's antiques from the shed, this time metal items.  I worked on three items to list on ebay, and got everything done except figuring shipping, which I plan to do on Saturday, and list them on Sunday.  A few paperwork and tax chores were crossed off the to do list.  One item was mended.  My sister and I met for dinner.  Nothing frugal there, other than we both brought home leftovers.  It's just wonderful to spend time together.  I've been having pain in one of my feet, and learning about foot health.  I first heard a podcast with Katy Bowman, then found one of her books in the library.  One thing I've learned is that you want a toe box that is big enough for your toes to fit comfortably, not squished.  Just stopping using some of my footwear has already made a big change in how my foot feels.  I really needed something better to hike in, and ordered a pair of $200 boots that between their markdown and a 20% off code, were $40, with free shipping and returns.  I really hope they work well.  I've begun doing some of the exercises too.  Here's to healthy feet, and remaining mobile for many more years.

There have been a few signs that spring is coming.  I've noticed leaf buds on a number of plants, and saw several daffodil buds this week.  The broom by the road has begun blooming.  The next two nights will be in the teens, so I expect that will slow things down a bit.  I did get to list the items on ebay.  I assisted J in working on our new painting system, and we finished it Saturday evening.  On Sunday, we painted 6 orders, and all came out well.  This will be a major improvement for our little business.   I hope all those affected by the winter storms are staying safe and warm.  Be well, friends. 

The Littlest Egg & Frugal Accomplishments

mini egg with chicken gifts from a friend

Hello, friends.  On Monday, all the boxes collected over Christmas were taken out of the house, and  the tree needles vacuumed up.  I glued two ornaments that needed mending, before packing them away.  Two loads of laundry were done, and hung on the line.  Books were requested from the library.   I made an online purchase, using a 20% off coupon and 6% cash back.  Our kitchen faucet had been leaking intermittently, and totally failed the other day.  As he did with the shower head recently, J checked with the manufacturer, this time Moen, and they are sending us a new cartridge plus another needed part for free.  It pays to ask, and it's great to have a handy husband!  Well, it turned out we need yet another part, which they are also sending.  It's now been 9 days without a working kitchen sink.  Soon, I hope.

sunrise

It's so nice to notice the days getting longer.  2200 swagbucks points were redeemed for a $25 amazon GC.  With amazon and a few other places, you can redeem the first GC a month for 2200, instead of 2500 points.  I often forget to mention it, but I continue to get a few points on swagbucks daily, and shop through them if they offer cash back equal or better than ebates.  It adds up, and it's always nice to receive free gift cards.  Here's my referral link, if you'd like to check them out:  http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Lauriel8.  I've enjoyed taking morning and evening walks with the pups, and gathering lichens to create with. J found a tuft of usnea, which got added to the tincture jar.

After work in town, I picked up library books.  At Walgreens, I used a $1.25 coupon for Kleenex, got leggings marked down to $2.99 and half gallons of 100% juice 2/$5, found wrapping paper I could use all year at 70% off, used a $5 reward, and received another $7 in rewards.  Gathering eggs one day, I found the smallest chicken egg I've ever seen.  It was 1 1/8" long, and the cutest thing.  I suppose it was one of our youngest chickens first egg, but not sure.  Two more items were listed on ebay.  I did all the preliminary stuff... cleaning, photos, research, then figured shipping for a third item, but it came up as $50 shipping (!), so I'll need to see if I can figure out if any smaller box will work.  Otherwise, it will be donated.  Most of these items are glass, and either vintage or antique, so I pack them really well for shipping, which adds to the bulk.  Trying to come up with boxes that are in such a wide variety of shapes and sizes is sometimes challenging.  Update:  I did find a smaller box, which also weighed less, and shipping now comes in at about $20.  Still may be too high to sell, but it's worth a try.

With J's initial dietary changes, yeast bread is off the list.  I found a recipe for naan without yeast, which was decent.  We enjoyed it with vegetable soup, which used jars of our tomatoes, vegetable broth, summer squash, and frozen okra, along with other pantry items.  With temps going into the low 20's, I harvested some carrots, kale, three rutabagas, collards and parsley.  I also dug up two parsley, potted them and brought them in the house to see if I could continue to harvest them indoors these next few months.  I recently came up with an idea that is working well for me.  There are a few kitchen chores, like bringing eggs to a boil, and heating milk to temp for yogurt that require me to not stray far.  I've decided during these times, I'd pick a small cleaning/reorganizing/decluttering chore to do.  So far, I've cleaned a kitchen drawer, which now opens easily again... imagine that, and the drawer at the bottom of my stove.  While it was out, I vacuumed underneath the stove, which is an area that doesn't get near enough attention.  It feels good to be accomplishing these little bits.

sunset

Another day, I used the time waiting for yogurt milk to come to temp to clean the racks in the dishwasher.  After cleaning the dishwasher not long ago, it made me smile every time I opened it.  But the racks still needed attention, so that task is now taken care of.  Though my photos don't do them justice, there have been some lovely sunrises and sunsets, with lots of pretty pinks.  On Saturday, I made two pans of roasted root vegetables.   I used the older, store bought carrots. But, the potatoes, sweet potatoes, rutabagas and beets were grown here, as well as fresh thyme and rosemary.  We kept enough out to have as leftovers, and the rest went into the freezer.  While we both can eat eggs, we made omelets Sunday morning, and quiche for dinner.  Good thing we're not having cholesterol checks this week!  Wishing you peace this week, friends.

A New Year & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  Here's to a fresh new year, full of joy, peace and harmony.  On New Years Eve, I cooked two of our bags of okra.  I tried a new recipe for sweet & spicy cauliflower, as I'd recently had some that was wonderful.  This recipe wasn't quite there, but I have two more recipes to try. On New Years Day, I harvested collards, and prepared them along with black eyed peas.  I hadn't ground any corn, so we had sweet potatoes instead of the traditional cornbread. We had a couple of warm days in the upper 60's.  We didn't need heat one night, and opened windows for fresh air.  While the wood stove was cooled off, J took advantage, and cleaned it and the stovepipe out.  I had gone to Big Lots with a $10 off $50 coupon, hoping to stock up on olive oil for soap making.  They did not have what I needed, so I bought one bottle of olive oil and a jar of olives.  I went across the road to Aldi's, and got a better deal on olive oil.  I typically buy tins of olive oil, but have not found any sales this year, and used up all I had stocked up.

Laundry was dried on the line.  Hand washed clothing was caught up, and hung on the line.  Needing to replenish a supplement, I took advantage of a 15% off sale, and went through ebates for an additional 6%.  I made lentil soup, using one of the jars of lentils I recently canned.  Salad was made to go along, as well as bread, which used the last of the wheat I had ground.  The bread was an oops, as J is trying some changes to relieve his allergies, and yeast is a no no right now.  It's a little interesting, with the dietary changes we're both trying to adhere to, but hopefully, it will be worth it in the long run.  All veggie scraps were added to the broth bag.  I used the wood stove to help melt oils for soap making, and to make suet for the birds.  I received an offer on amazon to do a review of an item I recently purchased, for a $3 gift card.  I received the GC the next day.  I'm missing points on swagbucks, and wrote them again, at the 90 day mark, as they requested.  Hopefully, the third time will be the charm.

mended tear in a nightgown

As of Saturday night we still have not taken down our tree.  The house needs some serious love, which I'll hopefully get to in the coming days.  Last week, I did manage to mend several items, paint an order, get holes drilled in a canister lid, photos taken, and listed in my shop.  I worked on three ebay orders,vintage/antique items from my friends.  On Friday, I cleaned them up, did research, and measured them.  On Saturday, I took photos.  On Sunday, I hope to find perfect boxes to estimate shipping, and get them listed.  We took our GD out for dinner Friday night, as her b'day was Saturday.  It was a nice evening, though wasn't frugal except for the dessert they gave her.  On Saturday, I made pasta for dinner, with homemade pesto I had frozen last summer.  In rummaging through the freezer, I found a bag of rolls from 2016 that I originally bought marked down. On top of that, the bag had split, so I decided it would be best for the chickens.  They're loving it.  If you've never seen chickens run for bread, it's pretty hilarious. 

happy lavender

I got the ebay items listed.  We continue to get orders in our shop, and J is working on a project to make our products even better, and make the painting easier on me, not to mention healthier than many coats of spray paint.  I'll share more when it's in place.  I made bread, started in the bread machine and cooked in the oven.  The maitake tincture was ready, so I strained it, and added the frozen mushroom decoction to make some powerful medicine.  It came right on time, as I've been fighting some respiratory stuff.  I requested a free sample of stevia.  I finally took the tree down, then J helped me put Christmas in the attic.  For some reason, this year was more chaotic than usual, and though I intended to decorate, not much more than our card holder and a pillow made it out of the boxes.  But, there the boxes sat ever since, adding to the chaos that comes with the holidays.  I feel like I can breathe in my studio again, now that it's all back in the attic.  I learned not to leave the boxes in the house through the holidays again.  Now to get the rest of the house in order.  Have a great week, friends. 

Birthday Bargains & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  I hope all those who celebrate had a Merry Christmas.  Last week, I made yogurt, and some more healthy cookies.  These were coconut carrot, and not very wonderful.  The molasses ones have all been eaten, and I'm sure these will be too.  I saw a recipe for dessert bars that are sugar free, sweetened only with dates.  That will be the next one I try.  I enjoyed listening to free holiday music online.  For Christmas, M told me he'd really appreciate it if I mended a huge rip in a pair of his overalls, so I did that on Christmas Eve.  We also shared a dozen eggs, a clementine, in addition to one small gift, and he joined us for dinner.  J roasted a chicken for Christmas dinner.  I made a potato dish (patatas bravas) using our potatoes, and my Grandmother's stuffing (vegi version), using our onion and herbs.  I made a salad for myself, as the guys didn't want one, and used homemade Thousand Island dressing.

winter greens with garlic rows beyond

The only "work" I did on Christmas was cooking.  The day after, I was back at work painting several orders.  No complaints here, and we actually got another order on Christmas Day.  I wondered if it was someone's gift to herself, or from another, or just a coincidence.  The pups have been getting our eggs  and yogurt in their morning meal, and sweet potatoes in their evening meal.  They often get chopped greens and stems too.  I harvested winter greens for a salad, and gathered some for the chickens too.  Our garlic is beginning to poke up through the leaf mulch.   J received Good King Henry seeds for Christmas, which he'd been wanting to try.  They require cold stratification to germinate, so he went ahead and planted them in the ground.  Have you tried this green?

The pink amaryllis bloomed.  Though they're all pretty, this one does not look like the bright pink one on the label.  Oh well.   J wanted to have chicken and noodles with the leftover Christmas chicken and broth, so I made mushroom gravy with a bag of the foraged maitakes I had frozen to have over my noodles.  Yum!  As Christmas fell on my usual massage day, my day was switched to Friday.  I took advantage of being in town on a Friday, and visited the RSPCA thrift store.  I found a huge pottery pot for $10, which will be perfect for one of the lemons or avocados.  I do try and support local pottery, but the last time I got one a bit smaller than this, it was $65.  So, this one is a much appreciated bargain.  When our GD was here last weekend, she used beads and floss to make a friendship bracelet.  I found lots and lots of beads at the thrift shop, picked through them, and got 8 packets for from .10 to .50 ea.  This will be part of her birthday, which is later this week.  I then headed to the discount grocery, got my favorite organic blueberry cranberry juice for $1 ea., and found her a tie dye kit for $2.50, another birthday present.

The weekend was again filled with road trips, one to celebrate a milestone birthday, and the other, a holiday get together to enjoy a meal with extended family near the coast.  It was nice meeting new members of the extended family, and seeing so many loved ones, but I'm really thankful to be spending the next several days here, enjoying the cozy comforts of home.  There is cooking to do, laundry to catch up on, batches of soap to fill in empty spots on the shelf, cups of tea to drink, and much more on my to do list.  Wishing you a warm and cozy week, friends.  Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  Though our plan was to decorate our tree Sunday evening, the limbs had not relaxed downward by then, so we had to wait.  It hadn't changed much by Tuesday, but we decided to hang the lights, to see if the weight would help the limbs come down.  It did, and we decorated it on Thursday.  I've really been enjoying watching the This Is Us series.  I made colcannon using our potatoes.  The hens have been laying again, and I've been collecting from 3 to 6 eggs a day, which is wonderful.  My gray hair continues to grow out, saving me about $100 a month in hair coloring.  I'm embracing my inner grandmother :o).  It's a bit odd looking right now, but a nice compliment last week encouraged me.  Though not frugal for us, a neighbor had me buy he and a friend tickets for a concert we were attending, and he ended up not being able to go.  It was very last minute, not to mention the holidays, and we contacted a number of people before we found someone who could use the tickets, which he said to just pass on to someone.  The concert was wonderful, and we found a place right across the street to have a good and inexpensive dinner beforehand.  It was a lovely date night.

Our kale was used in a gnocchi dish, which we enjoyed.  Vegi reubens were made for lunch from tempeh and sauerkraut that was given to me, and homemade Thousand Island.  I ground whole wheat, in anticipation of holiday baking.  I've been trying to figure out how to abide by the no sugar suggestion, and still have cookies, as I'm a firm believer that life should have some sweetness.  My usual sucanat didn't make the cut, but raw honey and stevia are acceptable.  I didn't, however, have any recipes that use them.  I remembered a molasses cookie recipe given to me years ago.  I'm not sure if molasses is acceptable, and the office is closed through the holidays, so I just went with it.  They will be OK with a cup of tea, but they seemed better in the 80's :o).  Thankfully, J is a big molasses fan, and will help eat them.

During the week, I made yogurt, and hung laundry on the line.  A few presents were wrapped on Tuesday and Wednesday.  On Thursday, it was my main focus.  It was a very rainy day, which made it easy.  I finished all the ribbons on Friday, and joined a friend for lunch to celebrate the solstice.  That night, I enjoyed free streaming of Paul Winter's Winter Solstice Celebration.  It's on my bucket list to someday attend a live event of his at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC.  I donated several books to a little free library.  I gathered chickweed and lettuce from the garden, and we enjoyed a salad with vegetable soup, which used our okra, corn and squash, along with pantry items.  The weekend was full of celebrations, first my family, then J's.  We picked up our GD early Sunday, so she could attend the family gathering, and brought her home with us for the night.  There wasn't much time, but she made a friendship bracelet while here, besides our usual walk and egg collecting.  Wishing you holidays filled with peace and joy, friends. 

Late Autumn Days& Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  Though it seems winter came early here this year, we have the last few days of autumn to enjoy, before the winter solstice.  We received another couple of inches of snow on Monday.  Lots of rain since then has cleared it all away.  Unsafe roads changed my massage schedule during the week.  Most times we have wintry precip in this area, there is black ice to deal with.  After work, errands were done, including a thrift store run, where I found an outfit for our GD, a canister I'll turn into a compost crock, and a planter that I'll use for an amaryllis I'm gifting.  I picked up some wine for gifts, and as I was half way there, I went to the co-op I belong to, for produce, organic jam sweetened with fruit juice (on sale for $2.99), and a couple of vegan things to try.  I tried a plant-based cream cheese, which as a first impression with jam on an english muffin, didn't seem much like cream cheese.  The real test will be on a bagel.  I did recently find a creamer that works for me in my morning Chai rooibos tea.  I'm navigating the suggested diet changes (caffeine and sugar free, and modified vegan), trying to find products and recipes that work for me.  It's a little tough to be doing it this time of year.  If you have recipe or product suggestions to share, I'm all ears.

I placed several online orders, after checking with ebates and swagbucks for the best cash back.  I managed to hang two loads of laundry on the line during the week, but it's been so damp, both had to be finished off in the dryer, but at least it saved more than half the usual drying time.  It's been a real challenge to paint our online shop orders.  On Monday, J's shop was closed due to the storm, so I primed four stands in his shop.  Another day, I was able to get a coat of finish paint on outdoors, which is where I usually paint them.  Things should be drying up by Sunday, and I hope to finish painting then.  The orders keep coming in, of which I'm so grateful.  The lettuce, chard and celery were covered with row cover before nights in the 20's.  All looked good when uncovered, except the chard was sitting under water from all the snow and rain.  I created some spots for the water to run with my boot heel, but I need to go out there with a shovel and work on it some more.

We headed to town on Saturday, for our Christmas tree and a couple of other quick stops.  While stopping at Lowe's for a plant saucer for the olive tree I bought recently, I noticed all bulbs were 75% off.  I found two types of alliums, one a fragrant one, and bought those as well, at 35 bulbs for $7.47.  When we went to get our tree, we noticed a significant increase in price.  I've bought a tree from these folks for many years, but they priced themselves out of our range, with almost all at $55 to $60. There was also a "+$5" on every tag, which we could only figure meant they now charged extra to trim and put in a mesh bag.  We headed back to Lowe's, just a couple blocks away, and between the trees being marked 25% off, and J's military discount, we got one for $30 and change.  As much as I try to support the little guy, this was more doable this year.

Our evening meals were eaten by candlelight all week.  There are also three sets of twinkly lights in our main room, which add to the cozy feeling.  The amaryllis I purchased for gifts were all potted up.  I hoed a little ditch near the chard, to let the water run off.  We are going to try to catch the comet that should be visible tonight.  I'm off to plant bulbs, get Christmas down from the attic, pack up gifts to ship, and paint Berkey stands.  I see that The Prudent Homemaker has posted her week of Frugal Accomplishments, so I'll end here, and do the same.  She has redone her website, and it's looking beautiful.  Wishing you a week of seasonal joys, friends.