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Monday, April 6, 2015

SWEET BRIAR JOURNAL: THE LITTLE THINGS

Hello dear friends!  Hope you had a wonderful Easter!   Ours started out stormy and gray and rather gloomy, but by noon the sun came out and the birds rejoiced.  I think there was an Easter message in the weather.  Because there were travel advisories, we stayed home and listened to several very good sermons on the TV.  So the silver lining is that I might have missed those messages if the weather would have been cooperative.  At last the ice has melted from the lake.  Today as I was driving along the  shoreline (on the way to the dentist. Yuk!) it was the prettiest turquoise color and the gentlest of waves, and if I wasn't wearing a winter coat, it might have felt like the nicest of Spring days.  Soon the Spring-y weather will be here! 

In the meantime, we are amusing ourselves by Spring cleaning the house.  A sparkling clean house is one of the nicest luxuries.  And the only cost is for soap!  We finally had a warm enough day to wash our windows.  Oh my!  What a difference that made to our outlook, both figuratively and literally!  Taking care of our home is such a privilege,  something we do cheerfully because we know how blessed we are to have a home.  It is a very humble little place.  Less than 1000 square feet and it is furnished in used and handmade furniture, but to us, no castle can compare.  We love to find thrifty ways to make it our own.  One thing we did this week is to hang an old ladder from the ceiling in our dining room  and hang my collection of antique baskets.
We also decorated it with  trimmings from our grape vines.  The old ladder is the top half of an old orchard ladder that we bought for $1 at an estate sale.  Might not be everyone's cup of tea, but for us, it brings  great pleasure.  That's the thing, when decorating, just do what your family likes and don't worry about what others think.  The more you love your home, the more likely that you will stay home, ergo spend less time out spending money!

Another free fun thing is stargazing.  We watched the lunar eclipse this week.


There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf.
~Albert Schweitzer~

On the practical side,  we are trying to cut back on our utilities costs.  We have managed to get our heating bill down quite a bit by using our wood stove and many other things that I wrote about here, but our electricity bill has been going up. Mainly because the cost per wattage is going up, so we are taking more steps to cut our usage.  This week we bought a power strip with a switch for the TV, cable box, and stereo area.  At night we turn it off.  We also unplug our computers at night.  We are trying to do all of our baking on one day a week (we have and electric oven)  rather than heating it several times a week.  We are also using candles and oil lamps in the evening.  That's more for just setting a serene mood than for any actual savings.  During garage sales season, I always buy candles, which you can get for 10-25 cents, remelt them and pour into pretty teacups that I also buy at the garage sales.  You can buy pre-made wicks from the craft stores.  These candles also make nice little extra gifts. 

We are always endeavoring to bring our grocery bill down.  One thing we did this week was to make a ham and egg pie from Easter dinner leftovers and the sales-priced  eggs.

Ham and Egg Pie

1 1/2 C. diced ham
1 C. onions
1 small head broccoli  (separated into small heads and parboiled)
1 1/2 C. cubed potatoes (parboiled or use leftover ones)
1 - 1 1/2 C. cubed cheese
1 tbsp. mustard
6 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
pie crust for a two crust pie

Fit the crust into the bottom of a pie pan.  Combine the ham, onions, broccoli, potatoes, cheese and mustard and put into the pie shell.  Make  6 small wells in the filling and crack an egg into each of the wells.  Gently fit the top crust on so not to break the eggs, making sure to cut vents into it before placing on top.  At this point I like to spread some soften butter on my top crust and sprinkle it with some herbs but that is optional.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. 

I always make a large batch of pie crusts and freeze them.  Then I just have to defrost the crust when I want to bake a pie.  My recipe for large batch pie crust can be found here. With any leftover I make  mini pizza pies that I keep in the freezer for son Jamie to snack on. My mother would always bake up the scraps and make little  pies for me to enjoy with tea for my dolls.  A little thing, but a wonderful memory!

So you see, not everything has to be a large thing.  Saving a penny here, a penny there, adds up too.  The main thing is to just start.  Challenge yourself to see what ways you can cut costs this week.

Here's our thrift accomplishments for this week:

 I made old fashioned fudge from pantry staples rather than buy Easter candy.
We trimmed our grape vines and used the trimmings to make wreaths for the doors.
Made a ham and egg pie with Easter leftovers and cheap eggs, which were the lost leaders this week.
Combined a sale, a discounted item and a coupon to buy a pair of muck boots for 1/2 the price.
Made a cupboard from some old headboards, wood scraps, and salvaged materials for our guest/storage cottage.
As usual, heated the house with wood, dried our laundry on racks, ate out of the pantry, etc.

22 comments:

  1. Lovely post, Jane! Doesn't it feel great to begin spring cleaning. I've not done windows yet, but they are on my list. Love the baskets, did you make them? We had a great Resurrection Day service. Have a great week!

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    1. Hello! I have made baskets in the past, but these are antiques that I didn't want to get broken. There's nothing like a good spring cleaning! Even though we try to keep everything neat and tidy, it is shocking how dirty things get over the winter, especially since we use wood to heat our home.

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  2. Thanks for the recipe, Jane. It does sound good. I really like the ladder with hanging baskets. It must add such warmth to the room and you get to enjoy their simple beauty too.

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    1. Hi Sandra! The pie is an oldie but a goodie. Tastes good cold too. Glad you had a nice Easter!

      Jane

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  3. Dear Jane,

    I've done something similar with my baskets! I just hung up a couple of branches and made hooks out of clothes hangers for them. It does help to get things elevated. Now where to put all my jars and bags of herbs? Living in a small house does truly get one's creative juices going!

    Here's hoping for some visible flowers and grass for you, seen out of your shiny windows.

    Love

    Marqueta

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    1. Oh! I love the idea of using branches, Marqueta! I might have to steal that idea from you. I think both of us would love to have a nice Tasha Tudor pantry. I keep all my jars in a make-do pantry from the tiny closet under the stairs. Not ideal but will do.

      We're supposed to get warmer weather this week, so hopefully something will start sprouting soon. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy your blog! Keep the pictures coming!

      Love
      Jane

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  4. Hi Jane. I think your grapevine and baskets decorating is very modern.

    I often think of how I can't afford to have an ocean front home, yet we all can afford a sky- topped home! Yes the sky is beautiful! (Although there are so many lights at night near my home, we miss out on a lot...I have to go visit my kids to see a really good night sky).

    Our fuel bills were cut by putting in new insulation in our attics (2 of them, split level home).
    I always appreciate a smaller home when it is very cold outside and I am grateful to afford heat!

    I have to do lots of window cleaning this spring....winter was very hard on the windows. It does feel good to a homemaker to have clean windows. Andrea

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    1. That's a wonderful way to think of it, Andrea! We have really good nighttime viewing here, but only because there is no industry in these parts. Our state park has made an area for stargazing for the city folks.

      It has been too cold to wash our windows for the last 6 months, so you can imagine how dirty they were! Yikes!

      Jane

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  5. dear jane,
    love the idea with the ladder!! it looks wonderful with your old basket.thanks for giving the recipe.
    have a nice week,
    hugs regina

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    1. Thanks Regina! Hope you are enjoying your week also!

      Hugs
      Jane

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  6. ✿ه° Gostei do post e amei a receita.
    Ótima quinta-feira com tudo de bom!!!

    Bom restinho de semana!
    ✿╯Beijinhos do Brasil.
    ╰✿╮

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    1. Obrigado meu querido amigo brasileiro! Espero que você tenha uma boa semana e tirar muitas fotografias de amor!

      Jane

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  7. That ladder looks so perfect in your cottage! And it serves a purpose as well, very nice.
    Thanks for all the tips, my friend. We are eating much less meat nowadays, and feeling better too.
    We can never see much of the sky from our cottage as there are way too many tall trees! There is only one little circular opening in the middle...our Son In Law says it looks like being inside a volcano made of trees! So we always miss the lunar eclipses and comets etc...so thanks for sharing the photo of it :-)
    Blessings and love~ Lisa

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    1. A volcano of trees sounds lovely, Lisa! Did you get any of those storms last night? I guess the thunder was quite loud, but the advantage of being deaf is that I slept right through them. Ran tells me Georgie was restless, though.

      Love

      Jane

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  8. Thank you for the pie recipe. It was a hit at my house last night! My husband was happy to take a piece in his lunch. I received cheers when I told my children that this pie will replace my quiche. We have lots of eggs this time of year so I love to use them up. Yes, I do store some in my cellar (slathered in lard & packed in salt in a large pickle jug).
    Blessings,
    Leslie

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    1. Oh, I'm so glad you like it Leslie! That's so interesting about storing your eggs. I've heard of using waterglass to store them, but where do you find that? I've also read that pioneers used to make sausage and fry it up, then layer it with lard and salt the same as you do for your eggs. I don't know if I'd be brave enough to try it, though. I think I'll stick to canning. Ha!

      Have a nice weekend!
      Jane

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  9. ♭♫ه° ·.

    Bom fim de semana!
    Beijinhos.
    Brasil.
    ه°·✿
    ·.ه✿✿ミ

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  10. Just caught up on your blog posts, I loved the pictures of the blue ice in the lake, how pretty! I love your baskets hanging from the ladder, that is so pretty. Your thrifted finds are so inspiring, as are your tips for frugal living, your home does seem like it would be a cozy pleasant place to be,a nd yo are right staying home does save money, every time we leave with the family on an outing it is amazing the money that can get spent! I love the feeling of a good spring cleaning, Hope you have a wonderful weekend! :)

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    1. Thanks April! I used to say that we when the family was home, we couldn't back out of the driveway for less than $100, April. Benn inspired by your 40 bags challenge, the attic alone could net at least double that!

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  11. What a happy little home you have. Big isn't better. So glad to have found your blog!

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    1. Glad you did too, Karen! Love your mustard color scarf. My blogging friend Regina just finished knitting a mustard colored scarf, I feel like I'm missing out! If I live to be 120, I'll never get to all the projects I would like to knit. Can you believe people actually get bored?

      Jane

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