The week always seems to change so much than I what I plan. I ended up spending a whole day going through the girls’ cold-weather clothing, which I hadn’t planned. They won’t need it for a couple more weeks, but now we’re ready. I ended up with no time to sew or prune, but I…
I stayed home all week except for Saturday, when I left to go garage sale shopping with my mom (she drove). We hit up a couple of community garage sales as well as a rummage sale. I went with a list of needed items and Christmas gift ideas. I found several books for the children that…
A major goal of mine for this month is to make as much room as possible in our freezers for turkeys and hams in November and December. The trouble is, they are all full right now. (What a blessing!) While I don’t intend to completely empty them, I do want to make plenty of room for at…
Saturday night I felt like I was coming down with a slight cold, and by Sunday I felt very tired. It took until around Friday before I started to feel better. I pretty much shelved my list of goals for the week. Since I was resting, though, I decided to read. I read 5 books…
I have two speaking engagements coming up in October. These events are free to attend. I’ll be speaking later this month (here in Las Vegas) on Eating for .40 a Day. If you’re interested, I’d love to see you there! This first class is the long version. If you want details about how we’ve cut…
On Monday, a friend of mine brought over pear baby food that a neighbor had given to her. I’ll be able to use it for Ivory in the upcoming months when she is ready for food. She also brought over strawberries and some lettuce that she had been given from someone who does some grocery…
The beginning of last week started out so well. I canned 27 quarts of pears in one day, while the children were awake, and after school was done for the day. I thought the rest of the week would go really smoothly, but it didn’t. I still didn’t get sewing done, but I did can 20 pints…
It’s been a hot week, requiring us to still run the a/c both day and night (I tried turning it off and opening the windows at night, but it was 81º in the house at 10:30 p.m. and it was just a bit too hot, even under the fan). However, it made for a pleasant,…
No one want to hear that they’re wrong, but it happens to all of us. We find out what we once believed simply isn’t, and it’s not always easy to let go. Finding out that you’re wrong and graciously accepting it, however, has the potential to save you a lot of money. I’ve had 3…
Completed pillow from last week’s goals is on the left. The pillow was made from unbleached muslin that I got for free from my grandmother’s stash. The stuffing was part of an old bed pillow. The pillow cover was made from drop cloth, and I hand-embroidered a red “S” on it. I printed out the…
I made pickles this week using the Armenian cucumbers from my garden. No, they’re not a “pickling” type of cucumber, but I used them anyway. They’re rather long; some were 18-22″! The seed cavity is large. I scooped out the seeds and gave them to a friend of mine who has chickens, along with some…
I went out to my garden on Monday night, and found evidence of hornworm caterpillars on the tomatoes and I saw grape-leaf skeletonizers on the grapes. I decided to take care of this problem first, instead of pruning the trees first. By the time I was done ripping out the tomato plants (I had been…