My daughter brought home some leftover greenery and two roses for me from a floral arranging class she took because she knew I would like it. She also brought home an arrangement that we enjoyed on the table all week. She learned how to make a simple arrangement and a boutonniere. The woman who taught said…
I made a triple batch of laundry soap. I reconfirmed that we don’t need to buy any school supplies this year (except printer paper, and I’m good for a while). I thought I might need one thing, but my son informed me that we had 4 or 5 of them in the drawer. I collected…
I picked five baskets of figs from my Mission fig tree. I canned rosemary fig jam. I used the water from rinsing figs to water potted garden plants. I also collected water from the air conditioner drip and used it to water potted plants. I picked tomatoes from the garden. I also cut rosemary, garlic chives,…
I’ve been seeking new ways to save money all month, as our finances are particularly tight at the current time with a lower income, increasing expenses, and an emergency trip to the hospital earlier this month. I have found that if I look closely, there’s always another way or two to save money in addition…
We harvested grapes, peaches, tomatoes, chives, basil, chocolate mint, New Zealand Spinach, arugula (which had self-seeded!) and apples from the garden. I made a turkey salad (aka chicken salad, but with turkey I cooked last week) using apple and grapes from the garden, a few pecans, two stalks of celery, and some homemade Greek yogurt…
We harvested red and green seedless grapes, peaches, tomatoes, and apples from the garden. I cut chocolate mint for a large batch of herbal tea. I went to the Joann’s on the 3rd of July to buy a few items on sale, including some broadcloth in black, white, and navy at 50% off at $2.49 a yard…
Pavlova with peaches and blackberries from the garden (that I froze) and the strawberries I bought on sale and froze earlier this year. Recipe here. I picked more apples from our tree and canned applesauce, using resuable canning lids. (I shared a few photos on Instagram). I harvested Swiss chard, basil, garlic chives, chocolate mint,…
It’s incredibly hot here this week. We started on Sunday with a high of 112º, and the thermometer just kept going up. I picked tomatoes and basil from the garden for a caprese salad. I cooked a ham, which we sliced for sandwiches using my meat slicer. I cut grapes from the garden, which we…
I cut flowers from the garden for the house and put them in some garage sale vases. I picked the last of the blackberries from the garden. I picked apples, lettuce, basil, tomatoes , and three zucchini from the garden. I cut and dried parsley from the garden. I sowed seeds in the garden for zinnias and…
I cut flowers from the garden for the house for several arrangements. I picked 1 basketful of figs, two and a half colanders full of blackberries, and apples from the garden. We’ve never had such a large blackberry harvest. I will be covering our bushes with sheets every year from now on to protect…
I harvested 3 colanders full of blackberries and 6 baskets full of Mission figs from the garden. I canned fig jam with figs from the garden. I froze blackberries and figs to use late in the year. I harvested New Zealand Spinach, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, garlic chives, oregano, lemon verbena, and a couple of tiny bell…
I cut flowers from the garden for the entry table. I put them in a $2 urn that I bought a couple of weeks ago at a garage sale (the mirror is the $20 mirror I bought at a garage sale the first Saturday in April; my dad recently hung it for me on a…