In between trips to the library and the swimming pool, and all of the other fun things you have planned for your children’s summer, there is a lot of time at home. Whether your children have summer off school, school through the summer (like mine) and have afternoons off, or it’s winter where you…
Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. French study: In order to make my Skype conversations with friends in France easier, I am studying French every day, since it has been 17 years since I spoke French every day in Switzerland and France. 1. Read or listen to the Book of Mormon in French…
Note: My camera died last week. All images on this post are from years past. I cut the first of the zinnias from the garden. I recently read that cutting the first zinnias and dahlias helps them to branch out to make more. I do this same thing on bushes and trees but didn’t know…
The most frugal thing I did last week was also the most exciting to me! First, a little background. I don’t spend a lot of time on the phone. I used to, but somewhere in between child 2 and 3 (when my oldest was 3) talking on the phone became rather difficult. I got…
I skipped my trip to Sam’s Club last month, since there was a .49 a pound pasta sale at Smith’s. That is a price that only comes around a couple of times a year, so I went there to buy that, milk (which was on sale for lower than Sam’s price), men’s deodorant, and…
This post contains affiliate links. I picked peaches from our Early Elberta peach tree. Normally I don’t harvest these until July, but they are ripe early. They are huge! We sliced them and ate them every day last week. One morning I made puffed pancakes and topped them with peaches, and another morning I made…
With temperatures of 109º to 112º this week, I need to get the garden work done in the early morning hours when it’s cooler (around 85º). The garden has many plants that have gone to seed, and I have a lot to collect over several weeks as they ripen. Garden: 1. Collect lettuce seeds…
This post contains affiliate links. I picked the last of the blackberries and the alpine strawberries. The rest of both of these are burning on the vine now in our 112º (44º) heat. The alpine strawberries will start flowering again in October when the temperatures cool down again (in a cooler climate, they would produce…
I deadheaded all of the sunburnt roses last week. The photo above is what it looked like before I cut them; you can see some already quite brown from the sun. You can see my bolted lettuce there, too; I picked some seeds from those last week and I will pick more this week…
Note: This post contains affiliate links. I picked blackberries, apples, apricots, white strawberries, and figs. This is the most blackberries we have ever harvested in a year; it is about double what we have had in a good year in the past. Already I am topping this year’s new canes at 4 feet, to encourage…
I turned 3 pairs of torn jeans into shorts for the girls. I collected alpine strawberry and nasturtium seeds from the garden. I cut flowers from the garden to enjoy inside. I picked apricots, figs, blackberries, apples,and alpine strawberries, and cut grapes from the garden. I cut lettuce, lavender, and parsley from the garden. We…
I spent several hours in the garden this morning, picking fruit. I picked Mission figs, Royal apricots, Apache blackberries, Red Flame Grapes, Dorsett Golden Apples, and white alpine strawberries. Tonight I’ll pick more apricots and blackberries, towards the end of the day when the sun is going down. I love the fruit we receive from…