This post contains affiliate links. Shortly after Christmas, a reader wrote to me about a shopaholic relative who decided to spend $1500 on one of her children right after Christmas. This relative lives on a fixed income and the reader knew that the relative was unable to afford the purchases (she was charging everything). She…
I cut and dried oregano from the garden. I also harvested beets and lemons. I dug and planted more tiny bushes started by tip layering in new spots in the garden. I cut roses from the garden before pruning the rose bushes. I juiced lemons from the garden and made a double batch of lemonade. We enjoyed…
I cut roses from the garden to enjoy inside. I worked in the garden all week pruning, fertilizing, and planting. I sowed seeds for poppies, spinach, larkspur, Swiss chard, green onions, nasturtiums, Bells of Ireland, and snow peas in the garden. I dug several more bushes that I started by tip layering and transplanted them…
I worked pruning, weeding, and tidying the garden. I cut branches from the garden to enjoy inside. I picked more Meyer lemons from our trees. I dug and transplanted several new “bushes” from one place in the garden to another where I am starting a hedge. These only have one rooted stem, but it is…
My most important goal for 2018: Have a healthy pregnancy and deliver a healthy baby in late spring! Garden Goals: 1. Take out dead our peach tree and replace it. We may take out both peach trees in the back, as the other appears to be dying as well. I learned in…
This post contains affiliate links. This year, our grocery budget is $200 a month (down from an average of $300 a month last year). Our income in 2017 was half what it was in 2016. We also increased our expenses significantly in 2017, as we added life insurance, we had some hospital bills, and we…
I spent all week working in the garden each day, tidying it for planting. I pulled out dead plants, pulled weeds, spread manure. and pruned. I planted seeds in the garden for beets, green onions, snow peas, Armenian cucumbers, spinach, and lettuce in the garden. I began my birthday gift list for 2018, starting with…
Welcome to our home! In the urns by the front door, I added some free Christmas tree trimmings and free pinecones. Many places that sell Christmas trees will give free Christmas tree trimmings if you ask. I hung some wreaths I bought several years ago. This year, I added the two lanterns by the door….
I put up a few more decorations that I already had. The frost that was predicted earlier this month never came, but a frost was again forecast for this week. There were still some green tomatoes in the garden, so we brought them in. We also enjoyed eating garden tomatoes that we had picked green…
My five-year-old daughter has been wanting a polka dot skirt. She knew I had this fabric, and asked that I make her a skirt from it. Because she is still small, I just cut one piece of fabric from selvage to selvage. I sewed the side seam together with a French seam. I ironed 1/4…
This post contains affiliate links. My per person budget for members of my immediate family is usually between $10 to $20 per person, including gifts that go in their stockings. While I make many gifts for pennies, I also purchase items from garage sales, and I look for low-cost items that my family members will love…
I made button bobby pins for my eldest a few years ago, as she puts her hair up every day. Her younger sisters often ask her to style their hair for them (you can see some of the styles she does from her Pinterest board). This year, one of my younger daughters asked for some…