I harvested Indian snake cucumbers, okra, lemon verbena, oregano, peppermint, and green onions from my garden.
My daughter bought a pair of jeans on sale. A lot of the new styles come unhemmed with a raw edge now. I taught her how to hem her jeans.
I made peach cobbler from scratch using canned peaches, and made homemade whipped cream to go with it.
I went with my parents to three indoor garage sales and a few outside ones. One of them was a moving sale with two families. I spent $10 and bought so many things, including: a thick garden kneeling pad for $1 (this kind sells for $45 at the nursery); a set of silverplated serving tongs (something I have long wanted) and a 10″ glass pie dish with a silverplated stand ($5); some metal pie weights, which are something I have wanted and needed for years; a pair of kitchen tongs for $0.25, a wooden spatula, a beautiful mug with a strainer and lid which is perfect for making loose herbal teas from my garden, a foam exercise roller ($1), a mostly full box of the exact sticky traps for bugs that I was going to buy more of this week (that are $25 new but were just part of my $10 total with everything); a black and white tin mixing pallette for painting that is the kind I’ve wanted to own my whole life; some small paintbrushes; a pretty vintage tin; and some disposable containers with lids that I can use to gift food or to send friends home with leftovers.
An another sale, I bought a dress ($1) that I plan to turn into a skirt, and a blouse ($2) that is many sizes larger. It’s a loose blouse, and I’m debating making it over to fit me versus turning it into a skirt (the easier option). It’s 100% cotton with an embroidered bottom edge.
One of the sales was inside a senior center. There were people there giving out small bags of food to everyone. I took home celery, peaches, oranges, onions, and sweet potatoes.
I started a rose plant by tip layering it into a pot of soil. I discovered while doing it that it had already started a plant on its own earlier this year when I accidentally buried a cane near the walkway. I have another one of the same kind growing in another small pot that I am also tip layering. These are groundcover roses that spread far with long, tiny canes. I lost some other groundcover roses this year in the heat; these will be planted where those perished. They’re an old kind that is no longer under patent, so they can be legally propagated.
I started a star jasmine plant the same way, and discovered two more that had started on their own from buried stems. I will be digging those out this fall to grow in the free pots I posted about a couple of weeks ago.
There was an accident in my house and a table was broken, along with a flowerpot and a vase that were on top of it. I was looking for another table to replace in on Facebook Marketplace. I found one I liked, but it was almost double what I wanted to spend.
Later, I realized we had a small table in another room that could go in that spot, so it was moved there without having to buy anything.
I went to the library and checked out four cookbooks. I was doing a scavenger hunt with my boys that the library had set up. We ended up right next to the cookbook section, so I ended up choosing a few.
What did you do to save money last week?
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I saw an exquisite very tall rose plant in bloom today so your comments on tip layering is of great interest to me.
I will have to ask a neighbour if I can have a snippet of his/her beautiful rose to start.
At last we are getting rain here so that will save money on the watering.
i bought a photo album that matches my other ones — this should be the last one I need. I asked if there was a discount code and was told no but they gave me one anyway.
I am renegotiating my natural gas and electricity plans as my 5 year plans expire at the end of this month.
I have been watching old British television shows on YouTube as free entertainment. And I’ve been watching some of the free programs on CBC Gem.
I had a medical procedure on my knee today — painful but free.
I went to the farmers market last week — the local strawberries were divine.
I have had zero success with rooting rose cuttings.
I am hoping tip layering will be easier. What I watched was a video that said to choose a stem growing close to the ground, bend it so it slightly breaks, and then bury that bent part in the ground for several months. It is supposed to form new roots at that spot. After 4 to 5 months, you should have roots and be able to cut it off.
We shall see!
One of my husbands coworkers a few years ago said that his rose bushes were getting too large and asked if we wanted some thinnings so hubby said sure.He just took a shovel and dug down on each plant to get some roots and stuck them in a plastic bag for us.We planted them immediately when we got home and watered well and a few years later we now have a beautiful red rose hedge all along our driveway.I don’t know what they are called but they look just like the ones that you buy in flower shops.People are always commenting on our beautiful roses.I actually caught a woman one time very early in the morning trying to dig up one of my bushes ! I told her look you don’t have to steal just ask.
Most roses are grafted, so your must have had something grown on its own root stock. I have some own-root roses and I prefer them that way; they perform much better here.
I try only to buy roses on their own roots. That way if there is at a lot of die-back because of sub-zero weather, they will come back. “Anonymous’s” comments are very interesting.
Hi Brandy
What a wonderful bounty from the garage sales, that sounds very satisfying. The peach cobbler looked delicious, such a refreshing hot weather treat. I made a cherry sundae this week with the last bag of cherries from the freezer.
I baked two courgette loaf cakes with lime icing, one has been frozen.
I made another batch of bread and butter cucumber pickles and gave a jar to a relative.
We ate celery, tomatoes, cucumber, courgettes, runner beans, potatoes and green bell peppers from the garden. I have started using the lifted and dried shallots.
We had a bulk delivery of seed compost and mushroom compost, we are long term customers and delivery is free.
My husband has taken lots of plant cuttings, mainly salvia and penstemon varieties. We will use these next year for our garden, for gifts and donations to fundraising. It’s one of our best money savers.
I bought flower seeds for autumn sowing. I researched the prices online and plumped for the cheapest company which I know to be reliable.
Good luck to all in money saving, beautifying endeavours.
I brought home organic garlic, onions, broccoli, cabbage, celery, butternut squash, tomatoes, plums, peaches, grapes, cilantro, apples, zucchini, cucumbers, red peppers, green beans, kale and raspberries from our recent road trip. The friends we visited live on an acreage in a triplex they built and share with other family members. They kindly told us to help ourselves in the garden before we left. No need to grocery shop for awhile. They have 9 full freezers plus dehydrated and jarred food. I imagine their electric bill is quite high-but it is shared by the 5 adults that live there. We weren’t too close to the fires in BC but it was still smoky of course.
I was lucky enough to see 2 bears-almost hitting one that ran out right in front of me. We visited Nakusp hot springs which were really just warm. They have a caribou maternity pen there and a cougar and bear had been spotted on the trail cam-no doubt looking for their next meal!!
We went to several thrift shops and I bought 2 shirts and a dress for under $15. I also picked up a new bathing suit on sale at Walmart.
We used credit card pts from my husbands surgery to pay for 2 nights hotel which was great-one even had free breakfast. My husband has up to 7 free physio sessions pd by Alberta healthcare and he went to the first one yesterday. The physio said he is ahead of the curve, gave him some exercises and told him to return next Monday. He is starting to sleep better as the pain lessens in the night.
We have another road trip planned in 10 days to visit friends. Then we both return to work Sept 1-although my husband has been collecting employment insurance during the summer as there is no school work for him.
My friend called yesterday-they will be away for a few days in Oct and again in Nov and could we stay there with the 4 boys. That will be more funds in the travel budget. Wishing everyone a lovely week.
We are just trying to keep our plants alive in this drought and heat! It’s been so hard this year. So many of our ornamental have died back and I only hope they reappear when the rains come.
We found a new blackberry spot and picked tons and tons of them. I plan to make some jam as well as eat fresh. There was a wild plum tree next to it which we plan to go back for soon, when they are a bit riper. It was a nice time with my children plus some free food!
I have been sick a little, but we got back to doing some homeschooling today. It was nice to get back to the routine, and made me feel a little better.
We have been eating so many green beans from our garden! That and lettuce. We are STILL waiting for our first tomatoes to ripen, but I can see a few just starting to colour.
I made an apron with my daughter, and we are going to make a bonnet too – like Laura Ingalls Wilder. I am using only supplies I have on hand. My children are getting interested in historical clothing, so I looked up a free book online: The Medieval Tailor’s Assistant. They want to make some kind of tunic-like thing first, so I need to look through it and pick something easy to start with. I am thankful for reenactors at museums sharing their expertise with me!
I started my new full time job at a nonprofit. It has a somewhat better salary than where I worked before, free medical and dental insurance, and this insurance covers much better than my Medicare plan. I also have a generous vacation leave plan. The draw back is that it is an hour and half drive one way from my home but I have a Corolla and I try to get gas at the cheapest station. It costs $10 a day in gas. I pack both my lunch and breakfast. I fix my dinner/supper on Sunday evening and eat that for Monday, Tuesday, make a mackerel or salmon or tuna fish salad, and eat that as a sandwich Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I am eating my canned vegetables and this past week ate beets, green beans, pickles, sauerkraut, along with fresh tomatoes, and watermelon. I am only eating canned mustard and turnip greens bc I don’t know how much all fresh greens are affected with that parasite. I just don’t want to get sick and I have a sensitive stomach. I am still eating fresh dandelion greens from my yard.
I will be able to retire in four years from my job in education. My husband and I are now in the planning stages of moving to Florida when that happens. We have developed a loose plan at the moment on what we wish to accomplish within the next four years so that when we move, we will be debt free or as close as possible. We currently travel to the area we are interested in moving to about every 6-8 weeks in order to get a feel of what it will be like as we are moving to a tourist area. We do not plan to live directly on the beach, but there are many lovely areas that are within 30 minutes that the cost of living would be lower so now we are just trying to decide where the most benefical place would be for us. Because we travel frequently, we use the Chevron app to fuel our vehicles and we fuel up every Tuesday because it is double points day. After so many points, we get 50 cents a gallon off of fuel, which we use when we travel as fuel is more expensive in that area than where we currently live. We also have learned how to pack efficiently, bring plenty of snacks and drinks, find hotels that offer free breakfast and I use an app that gives me points to book our hotels and the points add up which gives me a free night once or twice a year. The beach is free, so that is where we spend most of our time when we go and we don’t go to the tourist places that cost a lot of money. We love to be able to travel on a budget because it allows us to travel more often.
Sent in for $12 in Menards rebates
Used points at Mcalister’s for a sandwich
Sams sent a flyer with a code for free pizza with delivery order. I need a few things so this will be nice to use.
Went to a leadership training. Debated about not doing it, but it paid $25 an hour.
Read and returned library books. School and work start next week, so of course, my entire hold list came available 😂 (Seriously. I have 7 at home and three more to pick up)
Chopped and froze some squash and zucchini before it went bad.
Hubby repaired our outside spigot so it’s not leaking.
This week is deep cleaning the house week because I probably won’t have time until Christmas break. I have some donations that need dropped off to get out of the house.
Ordered underwear and socks during our state’s tax free weekend, thus saving sales tax. Bought winter socks in bulk, enough to last 1 or 2 years or more. Between the bulk discount and not having sales tax, plus free shipping, I got my socks for under $2 a pair. Similar deal on underwear, although only a few pairs.
Reorganized kitchen storage, using old desk calendar pages for drawer lining. Matched the storage container lids and bottoms; what didn’t have a mate, got donated. No.more mess! No more time wasted rummaging through the clutter.
Carefully cut open a bulk bag of 48 rolls of toilet tissue on one end, and am (re)using the bag as an indoor trash can liner.
Installed LED floodlight bulbs into outdoor fixtures. This will use a tiny amount of electricity but will shine very bright. I had bought the bulbs at Ollie’s Outlet so they were really inexpensive.
Used a coupon for a free carwash.
Plastic lawn sprinkler broke, so I am trying to repair an old metal Sunbeam Rain King sprinkler instead of buying another one. Also got some tape designed to patch up leaks and will try to mend old water hoses.
More bulk buying: Bought the dog a box of dog biscuits — 7 pounds if them! More than 250 in a box. Should last all winter. Thankfully he finally decided he liked them at first turning up his nose.
Could you share the name of the tape you are using to repair the water hose? Our hose and connector hose have a leak. Thanks.
What a lot of wonderful things you found this week!
I’m continuing my purge of the house and garage. I re-gifted a stroller that we didn’t end up needing. We sent our son home with everything he needed for his new office as an intern therapist. All found for free on fb marketplace, buy nothing, or in our own home. Our son left with us a bunch of outgrown kids things that I will sell and give them the money.
I donated extra cucumbers to the food bank again. I’m thankful it is so close to my house.
We didn’t need to run the portable AC this weekend, the warm weather that was forecast didn’t come in quite as warm.
We used the water from the kids water table to water our garden.
It’s been a good, simple week. I’m thankful.
Hello, frugal friends! Brandy , it looks like you hit the jackpot at the garage sales. Garage sales and thrift stores are things I plan on trying out soon as my pillowcase project now needs more fabric. I have used up all my stash and was able to make 52 pillowcases for foster care kids. My goal is to make a total of 100, but that is going to be pricey if I have to buy fabric at the stores. This past week I canned 6 pints of tomato sauce and 10 pints of a tomato, onion, celery soup/casserole base mix. I finished off a box of Rice Chex I had bought on sale at Christmas time and put the remaining crumbs into my homemade bread crumb jar. I saved the wax paper lining to use when I cut up meat. I was able to cut free flowers at the CSA I belong to. My neighbor and I split the membership fee. I cut and dried basil and parsley from the garden. I read library books. We were able to turn off the A/C for 3 days. I dehydrated the tomato skins from my canning and turned it into tomato powder. I cooked and then dehydrated black beans for future use. By doing this I can have beans ready in 10 minutes and save the space of multiple cans. I learned this from Rosered Homestead youtube channel. Look up “fast beans.” Mr. Fix It and I have been doing a date day where we volunteer at the rescue mission then stop and have an early dinner at an Italian restaurant on the way home. We get there early and choose from the senior menu. Their food is excellent and the senior size portions are smaller but still enough for leftovers for lunch the next day. We used our military discount for purchases at Lowes and Home Depot. I transplanted marigolds from my garden instead pf buying more at the store. These self seed every year and I always have more than I want from the volunteers. And they always seem to pop up in the most random of places. I only bought a few loss leaders this past week at the grocery store. We are eating from the garden and pantries. I look forward to reading everyone’s comments.
Marley, you could check local thrift stores for sheets and use those to make pillowcases. A good king sized flat sheet has a LOT of material in and they are usually pretty cheap because they have no matching bits. Even kids sheets are good. Not as much material but a cute print instead. I did this for my girls many years ago when they were smaller. I’d buy a 2nd had sheet and use it for pillow cases or with a plain (aka cheap) bottom sheet so they could have a “fancy” bed at a cheaper cost to broke single Mom me!
Thanks! I will start looking for some sheets!
A tree blew over during a storm one night last week, covering my sidewalk, car and blocking one side of the road. I got a tree services company to get it off the road. Later in the day they cut it into pieces and hauled the branches away and left a stack of logs for firewood in my driveway. I swept up sawdust and sticks from the road and sidewalk. I posted an ad for free firewood on FaceBook and it was picked up by the neighbor who has sboveled snow for me for the last two winters for free. He was delighted.
The car has a couple of dhiscreet dents, and the plastic cover of camera equipment for backing up is shattered.
The tree snervices were $500, can be paid at the end of the month and can be reimbursed by a govt loan program. The car is not worth making a claim.
The man who cuts my grass was on vacation last week, so I have one less week to pay for.
I’m working on a new budget to start in September. It includes spreading out my electricity, heating and lawn mowing through the year as if they were annual expenses. This will make my cash flow much more easily.
Elizabeth M.
Sorry to hear about the tree. Glad you were not hurt by the falling tree. Can you elaborate on name of government loan program?
SHARP, Senior Home Adaptation and Repair Program. It is an Alberta program with low interest loans that don’t have to be paid until you leave your home.
What treasures you found this week! I am curious about the sugared rose petals – they look so elegant on that book page! Sorry for the furniture loss, but glad you found a just right to fill in. Respectfully, you read more calm this week – I hope you are.
I collected rain water to fill my rain can.
An unexpected trip to the mall that was decorated in many pythos – I asked security (they happened to be passing by) if I could pinch one plant and they said sure. Roots are starting on it.
I have 3 small garden privet shrubs that have self started, I will keep them where they are until spring and then move them for more privacy hedging. I have a spot that we need to block sound and has poor soil – to much avail, nothing I have spent money on has grown there, so I am hoping these will take.
This month there has been so much pivoting and my side hustles are dwindling. It stinks, but I realize after this month pivoting should calm down and I can refocus back into earning some extra cash. I have a journal I make notes regarding money (to see if there is a trend) and made note that August will not be a month for extra income. Makes it easier to plan for next year.
Hope all have a calm and fruitful week!
What a good yard sale haul. You have the best luck finding things on your list. Your pictures are beautiful as always. That peach cobbler looks yummy. I glad you got some free vegetables. My friend sets up at a farmers market and she told me that the crowds are not there this year. She said that some of the vendors were talking that people just don’t have the money to spend. I can understand that. I know I have changed what I buy. This week we ate out of the freezer and only bought some milk and ice cream. We had a back to school bash Sunday after church. The church provided the meal and a water slide. Everyone brought desserts, homemade ice cream and ice cream toppings. I made brownies and banana nut bread. We continue to walk every morning.
Excellent finds!
A friend whose husband had been an amazing horticulturalist asked us if we wanted some of his terracotta pots. There were some lovely ones, as well as saucers, and she let me take some volunteer plants. I plan to go over with a trowel and clippers to get some more. He had rare and amazing plants, but they aren’t being kept up because of a broken sprinkler system that hasn’t been repaired, so I want to make sure I save some of them.
There’s a wood shop nearby and we filled up containers with lovely soft wood shavings that we’ll use for mulch in the back yard, under the clothesline.I’ve bene transplanting and taking cuttings for my plant sale in October so that the plants will be established.
Happy week to all.
Wow, what fantastic garage sale finds! I don’t think I’ve ever had a day that good!
Went to the beauty school today and got my hair cut and (clear) colored. My last haircut was three years ago so it had gotten quite long. I kept it very fairly long which required a complicated layer cut. I’m so happy with how it turned out and saved approx $250 vs a regular salon.
On the way home, I stopped at the good nail beauty supply store which sells name brand polish, etc 50% off. It also saved on gas as I don’t normally go to this part of town.
A friend was unexpectedly in town for a few hours so we met up in a restaurant. First time I eaten out in years and their prices were less than expected.
Got 3 books from the library, one I’d been waiting on for some time and forgotten about. Been reading lots of recipes online about freezer meals to stock up on end of summer items while in season. I use the free copy me that app to organize my recipes, meal planning, and grocery list.
I picked up my rx glasses, but the rx will need to be redone. The optician said they’d do new lenses for free, so booked a re-visit with my optometrist. I got my temporary crown and will finally get the permanent one in two weeks. I cracked this tooth two days before thanksgiving, so I’m glad the finish line is near. Dental insurance is challenging, but with diligence, got most of it covered.
Last day of heatwave so was able to turn off the ac when I got home today.
Been eating out of the freezer. I drink mostly water and fill my own bottles locally using my own cooler.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week.
Remember the old Chinese curse? May you live in interesting times? Well, our times really got interesting this week!
We had to have our tankless hot water heater replaced (16 years old) . After hearing that, our clothes washer decided that it was time to retire with no more fixes “fixing” it! Again, about 16 years old so the new one is being delivered today. Then, we had been planning on getting our electrical circuit breaker boxes upgraded and when they were looked at, the push button type that they were are now actually illegal to sell/install any more because they are a real fire hazard! Apparently, we have been keeping our guardian angel busy protecting the 13 of us over these past 33 years! 😱😱
The cost for the new upgraded panels is more than either of our first 2 houses cost but we are grateful to be able to have resources to move around to get this done without a looming debt. We will have to stay in a hotel Wednesday night while they are in progress because the power will be off. Hopefully, they will be finished on Thursday. If not, another night in a hotel! They will have generators going specifically to keep our freezers and fridge going.
So this week will be challenging to say the least.
Just after I wrote this up, a huge thunderstorm system started through and knocked out our power. A giant tree from our neighbor”s fell and has blocked or alley in back of our houses . This morning , we are still without power.
Interesting days, these are!
Gardenpat in Ohio
Garden Pat, there must be some kind of epidemic with appliances as our washer of 17 years and our refrigerator of 16 years conspired to die within days of each other. Thankfully we have smaller versions of each to tide us over until the new appliances arrive in 2 weeks. Like you, we are blessed to have lived financially wisely and have assets to shuffle to cover the costs. I know it’s bad when Mr. Fix It says “Time for a new one!”
This comment is for a couple of weeks. A friend who is a farmer had extra zucchini and cucumbers. Since I volunteer at a food bank I volunteered to pick them up and deliver to the food bank. Over the last three weeks the DH and I have delivered almost 1,000 pounds of produce. She also gave me two boxes of pickling cucumbers. With those I made 30 jars of garlic dill pickles.
We picked all of our cabbage. Made coleslaw, chow mein, and unstuffed cabbage rolls. Picked/dug garlic, two hills of potatoes, green beans three times, a few cherry tomatoes, zucchini, onions as needed and basil oregano and thyme as needed. This is pretty good considering we lost carrots, beets, lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower to either rabbits and/or marmots.
I live in Eastern Washington, not far from the Spokane complex fires. We have had unhealthy, smoky air for the last 10 days. It has made gardening relatively impossible as we can’t work outside. It also made our food and clothing bank extremely busy. I work exclusively in the food bank, and we have had people come who lost everything and others who have taken in eight or nine extra people.
I made zucchini blueberry bread, garlic green beans twice, coleslaw, granola, fried zucchini, sausage, rosemary roasted potatoes with our rosemary, potatoes and garlic.
My DIL and son had their third child on July 19th. Another little girl. Now they have a 3 1/2 year old, a 2 year old and a newborn. I am going down every other week to help them.
Hope everyone has a great week.
Congratulations, Nancy, on your new granddaughter 💖 May she be blessed! I love reading about all your garden ventures and harvests 😊
Wonderful garage sale finds, Brandy!
Our biggest frugal efforts have been just staying at home. Most weekends we have been staying in and doing a couple of household projects, then spending the afternoon at the pool, coming in to cook dinner & play a board game. Our summer is in full swing with triple digits each day, so options are fairly limited to either staying indoors in the AC or being in the pool. We have been cooking and eating almost all meals at home. I bought pork butt at .77 cents/lb and cooked it in my slow cooker – we ate dinner on it for almost a week! We bake our own bread instead of purchasing at the store. For sweet treats I have baked banana chocolate chip bread and made homemade ice cream. I did my own manicure/pedicure at home. We went out to dinner for my husband’s birthday and used gift cards we had saved.
We did have a couple of very nice “curb finds” recently. On my husband’s way home from work one evening, someone had set out a fairly new Roomba vacuum with a lot of accessories. He brought it home, set up the app and mapped our space, and it works great! It seems to vacuum as well as our upright. We have indoor cats (they do not mind it) and I would typically vacuum at least once daily, so this is a very nice time and effort saver for us. Not long after that, someone in our building set multiple unopened packages of name brand bathroom tissue in the “free” spot by the garbage chute. I’m not sure why anyone would dispose of or could not use perfectly good bathroom tissue, but it came home with me. Oddly, this is the second time we have gotten unopened, name brand bathroom tissue from this spot.
I hope everyone has a great week!
Wow! How nice!
Well done on all your amazing purchases, you always have a good eye for a bargain and sensibly buy what you need and not what you want.
I unbelievably bought 6 new tops in a sale, I paid less than what 2 would have cost. Most of my summer tops are 10+ years old.
The garden is stressed from the heat and dry conditions. I have done my Autumn pruning to help with that. My rhubarb plants are growing remarkably well, this will be my third cutting this year.
I will be sowing seeds for Autumn and winter crops to help supplement our food shopping . We are expecting food prices to rise and there to be shortages due to the extremes in weather.
Your garden goodies look wonderful Brandy.
This week-
*Hosted a family gathering at our home for several days. Meal planning and generous dishes brought by guest made it so much easier to manage.
*Have been harvesting tomatoes, lettuce, cukes, basil, and peppers from our garden.
*Put 3 bags of corn in the freezer from fresh on the cob.
*Found sugar at a rummage sale that I can use for my hummingbird feeders.
*Gave my daughter and son-in-law a small anniversary gift in person a few weeks later when I saw them rather then mailing it.
*Reconstructed a yard fence ourselves.
*Found a “new” pair of sketcher tennis shoes at a rummage sale as part of a bag sale for a couple dollars.
*DH and I have been riding our bicycles in our neighborhood-great exercise and nice to chat with others.
*DH is helping a friend build a small storage shed.
*Found cucumbers at a road side produce stand near this beautiful large vegetable garden. I was able to make 3 quarts of refrigerator pickles for much less than buying sweet pickles at the grocery store.
*Hung laundry outside on our clothes line.
Have a great week everyone and so enjoy learning from everyone.
What wonderful garage sale finds. Those Star Jasmine will look spectacular in those planters you posted about a few weeks ago. I have to overwinter my Jasmine inside but during the summer I am able to put the two large planters by our front door and I just love the smell entering and exiting our home.
So very thankful for the items coming out of the garden right now. We’re curing hundreds of yellow and red onions & heads of garlic. We’ve collected, cooked and shared zucchini, basil, cilantro, lettuce, and green beans…. it’s the year of the green beans.
Sold, shared and eaten many eggs from our hens. Still fermenting their food to reduce waste and sharing garden excess with them as well. I collected thousands of poppy seeds for next year, I’m hoping to do an entire field of them, that field will otherwise rest next year.
Was mindful to clear out garden space and make way for another planting of arugula, lettuce, & spinach.
Have a wonderful week!
I was on a tour with my elderly friend to a place where there were wonderful flowers blooming. Annuals, I think. I told to my son: take a photo of those and I´ll search it via internet (plant.id or similar) and we know what it is, maybe next year I´ll buy a plant… Meanwhile my friend (a retired agronomist) quitely took couple of blooms which were already almost “done” (took them to dry seeds for next year). I was humbled by her practical wisdom.
Loved to read details about your findings on garage sales. I had to search at least 3 different items via internet to undestand what these were! Loved to see pictures another time. Great learning.
What luck you had at the sales! There is a large church in the next town that holds a Fall Bazaar every September where I often find many things for us to use and to sell in my antique booth. They have baked goods and also sell lunch (usually a couple of kinds of soup and cornbread.) My parents usually go with us and we have loads of fun. Your story has reminded me to put it on my calendar. The outdoor drama I performed in all summer ended last week and I am enjoying catching up on many things at home – primarily cleaning out things I have intended to put in my booth but have gotten behind with. But, I am not sitting on my laurels in the theatre department, either. I auditioned for and got a role in “Once Upon a Mattress.” I will play Queen Aggravain – one of my bucket list roles – which will be such fun. This is the production I mentioned in the spring where I was hoping to connect the people needed to secure set pieces and maybe the use of costumes from the local university. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen. Turns out there is some rule that prohibits public universities giving items to non-profits. I hate to think the university threw all of their set pieces away but there’s nothing to be done but move forward. At any rate, there are set pieces from another production with this theatre company that will work and they are renting some costume pieces from various sources (for a very reasonable price.) Creativity is a needed in theatre in more ways than one! I am glad that this job is in another town 10 minutes closer to me than my summer job and the gas there is currently 20 cents/gallon cheaper and there are fewer rehearsals so fewer trips. It all adds up. I did another round of planting greens in my garden – lettuce, kale and Swiss chard. I am cleaning out our food storage – after 7 weeks of my husband and sons mostly cooking supper for themselves, I need to get a handle on what we have and don’t have to avoid spending money unnecessarily. I have been reading articles on Substack by a nutritionist named Victor who writes extensively about nutrition for women as well as skin care. He provides all the data behind his recommendations and I have learned a lot about what works, what is essential for health and what are myths, how to interpret lab work more carefully, etc. I have always been interested in such things but times and knowledge change and it is good to keep learning. I have taken careful notes on what products are actually helpful so as to avoid wasting money and to avoid cluttering up my bathroom and pantry with unnecessary items. My youngest son said no to a camping trip that would have been for one might only and was almost 3 hours away. He decided it was not worth our time or gas money that could be saved for a longer trip or one where he could get a ride with someone else (not available this time.) Very mature of him! Even with my crazy schedule, we have been able to keep up with our landscaping jobs for neighbors which helps pad everyone’s wallet a bit. My older son is saving for a vehicle and my younger son is saving for a computer to teach himself more coding. All good goals. Enjoy your week, all!
Congratulations!
Thank you!
By the way, Brandy, I love the photo of the bougainvillea. Unfortunately I had one but had to give it to someone who had a sunroom as it just wasn’t getting enough sun here. I bought 4 baskets of peaches — on sale for $4.99 each reduced from $9.99. I am deciding whether to make pies, crisps, jam or simply freeze some. I will enjoy as many as I can for eating right away. I got a cauliflower for $2.99 each — I’ve seen them for $4.99 per pound. It is huge! I bought a family pack (about 5 pounds) of chicken thighs for $3.49 per pound. That will be about $1.50 for each thigh and they are big… We have just had 4 days of rain. I will not have to spend money on watering the trees for a while.The sky is blue, the air incredibly fresh — a very welcome change after we had terrible smoke from Washington State and B.C.
I have been going nonstop with the garden, yard work, house chores and dealing with just about every appliance we own breaking!! That said, if you had to choose one book to read and no more for the rest of your life, then you must absolutely read, “Elegy In Blue” by Mark Helprin. I have never read a more brilliantly written, thoughtful book that speaks to the human condition in a way that is in league with all the great classics and, perhaps, beyond.
It has been hot and dry here in middle Georgia. Although plenty of storms have moved through and given us cloud cover and thunder, there’s been very little rain accompanying them in my area. Storms have hit in other areas instead.
This month I decided to spend the bulk of my time going through my pantry and freezer and organizing them both. This is my second pantry/freezer challenge this year which I began because I felt I had so much extra in the house for just one person. I’ve had some wonderful meal planning ideas pop into my head as I’ve worked and I’ve jotted those down. Next week, now that the organization is finished I plan to spend time making freezer meals and doing some canning with a dried beans, making pie filling with frozen fruits or jellies.
It seems every time I turn around another repair is required on one or the other of the cars. I’ve about made up my mind what my next vehicle will be since I’m apparently just biding time until that purchase is necessary. I’ve decided to look into a mid-sized SUV so I have some hauling capacity as well as a passenger vehicle. I’ve discussed this with my mechanical son and son-in-law and all have given the exact same advice about model and make. I know exactly what I plan to spend. Now to just make up my mind how I shall determine where that money will be coming from. In the meantime, I am working diligently at paying off the credit card debt from last major car repair and hubby’s last medical bill on his last day of life.
Persistence paid off when I finally FINALLY got a refund from a bank credit card that was in my late husband’s name. Mind you all they demanded five times I bring my now deceased husband in to deal with the matter, even though they had a death certificate on file. I’ll be using that refund to partially repay that last medical bill which is a bonus amount to bring the balance down further.
Mostly I have been at home, making do with what I have and it’s been quite all right with me to do so. After the last five months it feels rather nice to just be at home attending to the household matters for a change. It’s given me plenty of time to look at my home and needs objectively and really determine where I shall spend time and effort in making improvements. Some work I can easily do myself. Some work will require some materials but not anything outrageous. And some work will require hiring a professional or at least some heavy lifting laborer to help. But it all looks quite doable. In the meantime, I’m just resting myself before I start on the next phase of life as a widow…
I can’t be the only reader wondering about that accident in your home! Trust everyone is okay.
Somehow, a table was knocked over. No one is certain of what exactly happened, but I know a ball was underneath it that they were trying to get out. The way they describe it, though, the table jumped out at them. So I don’t really know. It was a small table with unstable legs.
This reminds me of The Berenstain bears and , “The Truth”. I am glad you found another table that works 🙂
All I can say for certainty is that the table broke after my children had a ball in the house . . . 🤭😂
The joys of growing older continue to bless me or perhaps curse me. After struggling with severe headaches for a week , I ended up at my first of FOUR emergency room visits last week. I’m sure there is no savings in those visits , and I will work with financial aide in a few weeks. It took 4 doctors to miss diagnosing me with shingles. My eyes were swollen shut and still are. Apparently the wet cornflake looking lesions hanging all over my face were no indication. I’m extremely angry. The pain and financial loss were debilitating. On the bright side , I’ve had 2 CAT scans , X-rays and more blood work than imaginable. I lost 20 pounds in 10 days. I’ve gone back today for more pain pills and hope to mend quickly. Being basically blind , I had to request the family send my daughter home from her summer trip early. Like an angel, she has quickly got the house under control, makes sure I’m hydrated and clean and fresh. My pharmacist has my meds filled in 3 minutes and I’m so blessed to have them on my support team. Now I just have to reinforce my nonexistent team. I’m so down and out. This pain left me vomiting for 20 hours. M just so tired and feeling the pain come back . If you pray, please send me a bunch.