MORE LOVE THAN MONEY

Hello dear friends!  Hurray!  We finally got some rain!  The birds are merrily chirping outside my window as I write this.  I'm sure the farmers are saying a prayer of thankfulness.  Never have I seen such a dry spring .   The ground was so dry before the rain we needed a jackhammer to break the soil.  And that is only a small exaggeration!  In spite of the weather,  the garden is growing and this week we will be able to harvest the first of our lettuce and I spied one small cauliflower that is ripe for the pickings.  Of course, we are still gathering asparagus almost daily. I tell you, if you want to make friends, just plant yourself a nice plot of asparagus.  We've been spreading goodwill throughout the village with our gifts of free asparagus.  Besides the friendships, it has netted us free plants.  Just yesterday a friend swapped a bushel basketful of irises for some.  Not that we really needed anymore irises (but hey, who can turn down free plants?), here's a picture of one of several large clusters we have planted around the place:

If you want to make a big impact on your landscape, plant in large clusters.  When I was a beginner gardener, I would plant many different plants because I wanted them all, the results ended up looking a bit like a tossed salad.  Over the years I have learned that it is much more awe inspiring to see a field of daffodils (or irises) then many varieties of plants.  It is times like this, that I wish I were a better photographer for you all. But to be truthful, there is no camera that could capture the serenity of the birds singing, the church bells chiming in the distance, the lilacs wafting, and the feel of the sun on your face.  I guess you will just have to climb in your cars and pay me a visit! I couldn't bear to let the irises that toppled over to go to waste, so I brought them inside.  The made a rather ginormous bouquet, I had to use a crock for the vase because I don't have a vase big enough, but that's OK because I like rustic, as you can plainly see.

I've been rearranging this room to meet out needs.  It has to do duty as a sitting room, music room and sewing room.  Oh!  And also my dressing room, as it is the only room with enough wall space for the linen cupboard that houses my wardrobe. Speaking of which, I finally got around to painting said linen cupboard.  It was green and yellow before. Ugh! 

I'm still not satisfied with it.  Looks too plain and not primitive enough for my likings. I cannot abide perfection in furniture or people.  I'll probably sand it a bit and apply some antiquing rub  to it.  BTW, please ignore the broom in the corner!  When you have corgis the broom is seldom put away!

Living in a tiny house can certainly present some challenges.   Just yesterday Ran bought both a watermelon and a large jug of juice.  How to fit that into our apartment-sized refrigerator was a puzzler.  One creative way I save space in the fridge is to make lemonade syrup instead of having a large pitcher of lemonade.  You just add 1/4 cup of the syrup to 3/4 cup of cold water and you have lemonade. It's good added to iced tea also,

Old-Fashioned Lemonade Syrup

1 1/2 C. sugar
1 1/2 C. water
1 tablespoon of lemon rind, finely grated
1 1/2 C. lemon juice (6-7 med. lemons)

In a small saucepan stir together the sugar, water and rind,  Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring often.  Remove from the heat and let cool.  Stir in the lemon juice.  Transfer to a quart jar and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.

Another painting project that I completed recently, was to paint a bench that I purchased at a garage sale for $15. 

For some  reason I'm attracted to red for garden structures, which is odd since red is my least favorite color.  But it does contrast beautifully with my white garden, which is starting to bloom.

First the bleeding hearts and the anemones, followed shortly by the lupines and lilies and ending  with the bridal phlox in August.  Oh!  Speaking of white flowers, here's a picture of Beauty of Moscow.

Since we are spending so much time outdoors, it was only reasonable to do some campfire cookery.  Saves on fuel and doesn't heat the house up.  Plus it's a fun inexpensive little adventure.  Make everyday fun!

This is the classic campfire tin-foil packets of potatoes, carrots, onions, hamburg and salt and pepper  wrapped in tin foil and roasted in the coals. Only we used a Dutch oven instead of making packets.  When we were kids, we would make up those packets and camp out in the backyard.  We were ones for camping and I'm sure our parents didn't mind that we were only a few steps from the house.  It was nice wholesome fun!

Speaking of adventures, regular readers to this blog might recall our Christmas morning adventure when we came across a pile of free lumber.  Well, we finally got around to using it up by making a mixed lumber wall in our back room.  This is the room that houses our woodstove and we spend most of the winter in this room.

This one a project that was way out of Ran's comfort zone as he like to make everything plumb and perfect.  Sticking up random boards without regard to how level they were and whether they butted exactly was pretty nerve wracking for him, but we ove how it turned out.  We even made a light fixture from an old farm funnel and parts that I picked up at an estate sale.  I always head straight to the workshop at estate sales.  Never can resist old hardware and as a result I always have those odd parts needed whenever we do a project like this.

Ran also used some pallets to make a table with a piece of zinc that we found thrown out in the vacant lot nearby.  He also made a workbench from some of the pallets.  Free pallets are a good thing.  If nothing else, you can always burn them for fuel.

Another little project we finished recently was making this stick fence from dead branches that we collected from our walks this winter

It's hard to get enough that are suitable, but maybe this year, we'll get enough to continue along the next side.  BTW, that's my rhubarb going to seed.  Three plants is too much, but I think its flowers are just as pretty as astilbe.  The yellow flowers are woad, an herb used in dying things blue.

All this to say, that if you do things with great love, you need very little money.  I must finish this post quickly because my computer froze at the end of the above paragraph and I borrowed Ran's to finish up.

Hugs
Jane

P.S........

First, I must tell Shirley Elliot that I accidentally deleted her comment.  Sorry!  I didn't want you to feel hurt when your comment didn't show up.  Thank you very much for the kind words!

The second thing is that I completely forgot to write about our "new" room we decorated with reclaimed wood from our Christmas foray.  SO I guess I will definitely need to write one more post!

Hope everyone is having a peaceful Memorial Day.  Our little village held the nicest service for the veterans.  It is so lovely to live in a place where people still respect and are thankful to our veterans for their service.  We even had prayers.  Imagine that in this politically correct times!

SPRING AT LAST!

Hello dear friends!  It has been such a long time since I last wrote, that I had quite forgotten how to post on here.  I hope that you all are having a lovely Memorial Day weekend.  It is downright hot here.   And dry.  Just a few short weeks ago we were wondering if spring would ever arrive; the leaves on the trees were so slow to bud.  But all it took was a gust of warm weather and we are right back on track. 

Ran has been working very hard to get the garden "in".  Every day I waffle between loving or loathing my flowerbeds.  At this very moment my beloved lilacs are in bloom so I am feeling kindly toward them, but when the weeds take over and it's hot, well then, I would be quite content to plow them under.  A gardener's heart is a fickle thing!  BTW, if you can plant only one bush in your garden, I would highly recommend it be a Beauty of Moscow lilac. Now that is a thing of beauty!  And a true lilac scent to boot.  Unfortunately no picture I could take would ever do it justice, you'll just  have to Google it if you are curious.

Well!  Since we last met I have had quite a time of it and all I want to say is that I am overjoyed to close the door on Spring 2016!  Fortunately, the love of my dear husband and sons and the concern and care of some very dear friends have made the journey easier.  Life is too short to go about feeling sad and gloomy.  Forgive those that have done you wrong or at the very least file those thoughts away in the back of the cabinet.  Who was it that said living well is the best revenge? 

In between the trials and tribulation, or LIFE, I've  been canning like mad.  Mainly meat; hamburg, breakfast sausage and chicken breasts.  To can the hamburg, I form the  meat into patties the size to fit into a wide-mouthed canning jar.  Use the canning ring to make them the perfect size. You want them to be on the thinnish side to ensure that they will be heated through when canning.  Then I brown them and place them in a 350 degree oven until just done and just slightly pinkish in the center.  Next stack the patties into a clean sterilized jar (4-5 for pints 8-10 for quarts).  Pour about 1/2 inch of boiling water into the jars (this keeps them really moist), wipe done the rims, place the lids and caps on and process for 90 minutes under 10 pounds of pressure. (Always check the weight of the pressure needed for your area).  Breakfast sausage can be made up the same way.   For the chicken breasts, I just cube them into 1 inch pieces and pack them raw into jars.  Process for the same amount of time and pressure.  Oh!  Also when cold packing thing to pressure can, always start with hot but not boiling water in your canner or you jars might crack. Gently bring the water to a boil after putting the jars in. Now when we want a super quick meal, we just open a can of hamburgers, heat them in the toaster oven until heated through (about 15 minutes) and have a nice burger in less time than you can say "fast food!  No defrosting required.  No freezer aftertaste either.  I'd say that canning brings out the flavor of the beef.  I impressed myself! Ha!

This brings me to one of my thriftiest of thrift tips.  When you find a good sale on something that you use often, figure out how much you use in a year and buy a year's supply.  Try to never pay full price for anything, if you can help it.  We like to have burgers about twice a month, so I canned 24 pints.  Last week we discovered a shampoo that we really liked that was on clearance sale, so we bought enough to last a year.  It may be a bit of an expenditure up front, but once you have it, you can strike that item off your shopping list.  Always budget for these types of things.  Almost every month has some staple on sale. 

Of course my thriftiest tip is to start a garden.  Learn to garden, can, cook and bake from scratch, do simple repair work,  and forage.  That will see you through tough times.  You'd be surprised at how little money you really need if you are clever.

Yesterday we held our "annual" garage sale.  I never intended for it to be an annual event, but each passing year I find that I want less and less, so every year we hold a sale to get rid of things.  It was another success, selling out within three hours.  Some hints for a successful garage sale:

1.  Hold you sale during a busy time for your area.  Some towns have city-wide sales days, and many have some sort of festival during the summer. It's pretty obvious that  you get the most traffic when the most people are in town

2.  Price things cheaply.  If your intention is to get rid of things, then price them accordingly.  If you want to recoup your money then selling on Etsy or Ebay is a better bet.  People that go to garage sales are looking for a bargain.

3.  Clean your items.  Nothing is worst than a bunch of grimy things. Besides a clean item indicates a well-cared for item.

4.  Take advantage of free advertising.  Advertise your sale on Craigs list and on garage sale websites. Put up notices on community bulletin boards.

5.  Make your signs visible.  Use brightly colored poster board and write the address in big block letters so people driving past can read it from within their car as the drive past.  Big arrows pointing the salers in the direction of your sale help too.

6.  Lead with your best.  Place the most desirable items closest to the street so those driving past can see them.  Big sellers in our area are nice wooden furniture and antiques, cute household items such as lamps and decorative items.  I will and know a lot of people that will just drive past if all I see is a lot of baby things and toys,  also a lot of plastic cups, stained clothing  and old electronics.    It's best to just throw those things out.  It just cheapens the look of your sale and no one ever buys those things anyway.

7.   Be friendly but don't pester the buyers.  When to a few the past weekend where the people were pointing out every item they had for sale.  Buyers like to talk about the weather but they don't want to be harangued .

8.  Clearly price everything.  Personally, I never buy from sales that don't have the prices marked.  I always get the feeling that the seller is eyeing you up to see how much they think they can get out of you. You don't have to price everything individually either,  you can have a sign that states all clothes are $1.00 or books are 50 cents.  BTW, if you have a lot of items such as books, you can always have a bargain such as books 50 cent each or 3/$1.  That gives buyers an incentive to haul away more.

9.  Have lots of change on hand.  No one wants to be held up while the seller tries to find change for that $20.  Have at least $100 in fives and ones on hands and lots of quarters, dimes and nickles.

10.  Make it a fun atmosphere.  Hang banners, play quiet music, be friendly.  Give out free cookies if you bake.  Let the curious have a peek of your gardens.  The nicest compliment I got on Saturday was a young woman that said that my sale was so relaxing that she could spend all day there (and she did spend about an hour).  The longer the customers stay the more likely they are to buy something.  Plus shy customers seem happier when they are part of a crowd.  Having a lot of customers just makes your sale look like a success.

THRIFTY THINGS WE DID THE PAST FEW WEEKS

Bought a car.  A combination of research and haggling netted us a $3000 savings on the next lowest price car in our area.

Harvested pounds and pounds of asparagus.

Swapped some of our asparagus for plants.

Canned hamburgers, sausage patties and chicken breasts. Hamburg was purchased at $2.37/ lb, Jimmy Dean sausage 99cents/lb, and boneless, skinless chicken breast for 99 cents/ lb.

Started our garden from plants started from seeds saved from last year.

Held a garage sale.

Sewed an apron from fabric from an old skirt.

Knitted a hat and mittens from the yarn stash.

Found several items on our "shopping" list at garage sales.

Bought an old bench at an estate sale for $15 and painted it Chinese red for my garden. Now it's a focal part of my garden. (I have Chinese style lanterns hanging near it. Pretty!)

Bought a Japanese maple tree on sale for our garden ($14).

"Vacationed" out at our shed/guest cottage several times.

Hung the laundry outside to dry many, many times.

And countless little things such as clicking the lights off when leaving the room, going without instead of running to the store,  reusing the dishwater to water the flowers, etc.  Little things that don't seem like much, but add up to substantial savings when the accumulate.


Well!  I've prattled on here quite a while.  I hope that you all are doing well and enjoying life!

Hugs
Jane












 

THANK YOU

I want to thank all of you wonderful people that took the time to leave me sweet messages of encouragement.   I am humbled and feel so very blessed.  All the glory goes to God if this blog has touched you in some manner.  I'll leave the comment section open so if you have  questions about any of the posts you can reach me or if you'd just like to drop by from time to time to say hello.  As a side note:  Remember a few weeks back that I wrote about having a bad bout of arthritis?  Well, I upped my dosage of turmeric to two capsules and it improved greatly.  Now I can climb stairs once again without wincing.   Just something for you to consider doing if you have that problem.

A big heartfelt thank you hug,
Jane

BEING REAL

It's important to me to be "real".  In this blog, I've shared with you my struggles with my faith and weight loss, the depression I go through during the holidays,  and my failures with day to day life.  I'm not perfect, never said I was.  I was hoping that it might help someone else going through the same things, but perhaps that was vanity on my part, the thought that I could be helpful.   Every Sunday evening before I write this blog, I ask God to give me the words to help others and give me a sign that I'm on the right track.

And it is kind of funny, that every time I think about quitting, someone new will leave a comment or one of my old friends will leave me a sweet  message and I remember how nice those out there in cyberspace can be. I've met quite a few great people via this blog, some that will be friends forever.  That's the one reason, I'll never regret creating this blog. But every once in a while, I get a snarky comment that makes me question the entire point of blogging.  Usually they start out "I don't mean to judge, but..." You know, this makes me question the wisdom of laying it all out there for anyone to read.  Sometimes it's something as innocent as a post about Christmas decorations or the price of chicken legs ,heck  one  gal even wanted to argue (basically calling me a liar) with me about last winter (2014) being cold although the record would agree with me. You just never know what people will judge you upon.   And this may sound petty (hey I'm not perfect) but it really bothers me that those making the commenters usually don't have blogs for me to read and "judge" them upon.  Not that I would because I am a firm believer in letting people lead their own lives and if you ever met the diverse collection of people that I call friends, you'd understand that.  Long story short,  the last "I don't mean to judge" comment was the final straw, and I've decided that there will be one less blog out there for those that judge to judge.  I'll leave this blog up, so those that have recipes and patterns saved can use it, but I won't be posting anymore.   Thank you to all those that have left kind comments over the years, I'll continue to  visit  yours.

God Bless!
Jane

PS:  For those that read this post, thanks for letting me get this off my chest.
 

SWAN SONG

Hello dear friends! Did you remember to set your clocks ahead?  Guess daylight savings time is one sure sign of spring.   But the most exciting one for us is the return of the swans. Sorry the pictures are not very good, in advance.  I keep thinking of what my dear blogging friend, Andrea could have done with this opportunity, she takes such lovely pictures of birds and flowers, unfortunately, I am not a photographer. You'll have to zoom in on the picture if you want to get a good look at them.

There were perhaps  several hundred this time in the farmer's field.( One year there were so many that the ground was completely white with swans for acres and acres) I tried to get as close as I could, but when I got within a hundred feet of them they became skittish and started to take flight.

 

Here's another  picture of them to show you how many there were.  All the white areas are swans.

Here's what I couldn't believe; that no one even slowed down to look at them except for Ran and myself.  Everyone just sped past, completely oblivious to the miracle that was taking place right under their very noses,  an opportunity so rare that only a few people get to experience in their lifetime.  I believe that I live an enchanted life, but perhaps it is only that I take the time to enjoy what is there; a star-filled night, the warmth of the sun on my face, an baby's long eyelashes, the taste of the good earth from freshly-dug potatoes.  Everyone is always so busy with their lists and chores that it seems to me they miss the wonderful world that has been created for us. So many people think that they must spend money to find pleasure, when the truth is the very best things in life are free. The old saying is true. So many people think they must be busy, busy, busy all the time.  As Ran and I held hands and silently gazed over a field of swans, I knew that no cruise or diamond ring would ever compare to that moment and no completion of a task would ever be as important .  I'm sure that if I get to Heaven, there will be fields of swans,  this was just a glimpse of Heaven.  It is well with my soul.

Be still and know that I am God
~ Psalms 46:10 ~


THRIFTY THINGS WE DID THIS WEEK

Ran built this kindling bin from free pallets:

We'll probably paint it once the weather warms up, if we can find any reasonably priced "mistints" at the hardware store.  Otherwise, we'll let it weather to a natural grey color. Had to laugh, we are known around the neighborhood for our love of free pallets.   Yesterday our two elderly neighbors stopped us on our walk to tell us they spied some pallets.  Now even the neighbors are on the lookout for us!

Got half a dozen free pallets for firewood and projects.

While out for our daily walks, we bring back branches and sticks that have broken off the trees this winter.  Our kindling bin is just about full from doing this and plus we have found some larger branches in the neighborhood that are excellent firewood.

Since cabbage is priced so lowly as we approach St. Pat's Day, I made a huge batch of vegetable cabbage soup, the only thing I needed to buy was the cabbage and celery, everything else came from the pantry.  I'm doing the cabbage soup diet this week to jump start my dieting.  I've been on a plateau for weeks. It always works for me.

Brought in the dried hydrangeas from the bush trimmings to decorate with.  You know I wouldn't spend good money on flowers but I still wanted some sort of flower arrangement.

Fortunately for me, I love primitive decorating and dried hydrangeas suit that style.

We started our seeds.  Most came from seeds we saved.

Went to t he doctor's and got a glowing report on my health.  Good health is so vital to having a good life.  Little things like daily walks,   abstaining from junk food, and spending part of each day in quiet contemplation can do so much to help you obtain it and they all are free!

Finished one sampler and began another from supplies I had on hand.  One will be a Christmas present.  It's never too early to start thinking about Christmas presents, especially when you make your own gifts.

Packed away my heavy winter clothes and started getting out my spring ones.  Hope springs eternal!  I never bring out everything at once, that way, when I get bored with my wardrobe, I just have to "shop" in my attic for something new.


That's about it for this week.  I will be taking a blogging break for a while, unless something truly remarkable happens that I want to share in the meantime.  Hope you all have a lovely spring!

Hugs
Jane





 

MARCH COMES IN LIKE A LION

Hello dear friends!  Sorry I missed you last week.   Just had a bad bout of arthritis that left me too tired to do much plus it was a pretty uninspiring week just sitting about, trying not to bend my knee. Ha!  You never realize what a valuable joint a knee is until you can't use it, especially climbing stairs.  And I have to say walking about like Grandpa McCoy (from the TV show The Real McCoys) does nothing for making you feel attractive and feminine.  Oh well!  It's just part of growing old and when you consider the alternative, a small price to pay!


March came in like a lion around here.  We've had several snowstorms, and it looks more like Christmas now than it did in December.  But that's to be expected for March.   We awoke to snow fog this morning.  So pretty! 

Even in March, I never tire of the beauty of winter.  The cold, yes, but the snow, never.  Sure beats mud season!

CREATIVITY AND THRIFT

While I was abed, I unraveled a sweater that I bought at the winter clearance sale at our local thrift store for seventeen cents.  Pretty gray marled lambswool and enough to knit a shrug  from a free pattern I've been saving for several years.  It reminded me that while I could just go out and buy some yarn and purchase a pattern on Ravelry, how much more enjoyable it is to take something from what I have on hand and  make it into something pretty and useful.  How much more fun it is to "discover" a pretty item of clothing at a thrift store or garage sale and make it into a uniquely-my-own-style outfit, rather than just ordering out of a catalog.  How much more satisfying a meal made from what is on hand is compared to just shopping for what I feel like making.  How our home is furnished in manner that is all our own, with it's revamped and homemade pieces, rather than just copying everything out of  the Pottery Barn catalog.   It's not just the frugality of it, it's the creative process that gives us so much pleasure.  I often wonder if I had all the money in the world, would I be any happier than I am now, in my  little cottage, filled with handmade furnishing and hand-sewn samplers, wearing my thrifted and homemade outfits and eating  a bowl of soup made from vegetables from our own garden and leftovers from the night before?  I doubt it.

I learned the connection between thrift and creativity the second day as a married woman.  I wanted to make something special for my husband for our first meal in our new home, but all we had in the house was some eggs, milk, flour, butter, bread and some homemade jam my mother-in-law had given us.  So what's to do?   I made a Dutch Pancake.   More elegant than scrambled eggs and toast.  Dutch pancakes rate right up there with potato soup and potato pancakes as the ultimate nothings-in-the-house-and-there's- one- more-day-until-payday meal. I lost my recipe, but I found the directions here.
I made mine in a cast iron skillet and served it with the jam over the top.  

LEARN SOMETHING NEW

We endeavor to learn something new every week.  Last week, we watched Victorian Bakers  and learned how bakers made bread in the 1820s.  I wasn't aware that they didn't have yeast back then.   The bakery was located next to the brewery and they used the leftover yeast  at the bottom of the keg when bottling the beer  to bake bread.  Since Ran had just made a batch of beer, we happened to have the yeast, so we gave it a try, using ancient grains, such as, spelt, quinoa, rye and oats.  It made a beautiful loaf with a slightly sour dough flavor.  Very good!  And lovely too.

Just goes to show you, even an old dog can learn a new trick!  Unfortunately, (or fortunately) Ran only makes one batch of beer a year, so we'll have to wait until next year to have another loaf.

THRIFTY MEALS

This past week, chicken legs with the thighs attached were on sale for thirty-nine cents a pound when you buy ten pounds.  That's an offer too hard to pass up!   So I cut up the chicken and separated the legs from the thighs. I also removed the skin, as I don't care for it.  Threw all the skin and the thighs in a big pot and boiled them until the meat was cooked.  Strained the broth and culled all the meat from the bones.  This made two very full quarts bags of chicken meat to be used for casseroles. The broth was refrigerated and the fat was skimmed off to be used in soap making.  Got about 3/4 of a quart.  The broth was frozen and is enough for two good sized potfuls of soup.  I cooked the legs in a teriyaki sauce and served them with some stir-fried vegetables and some fried rice that I had in the freezer.  There was enough for two meals plus plenty for snacking on.  This week my dear blogging friend April wrote about Cheesy Chicken Hashbrown Casserole and since I had all the ingredients except for the hash browns, I made that, (I cut the recipe in half) which was plenty for two meals.  With the other bag of chicken, I'll probably make chicken enchiladas or maybe chicken and dumplings, again it will make enough for two meals,  That combined with the broth which should make at least four meals of soup, out of that $3.90 purchase, I  will get  ten meals plus the fat for soapmaking. And that is how we only spend $150 a month on groceries.

THRIFTY THING WE DID THIS WEEK

Bought chicken for 39 cents/lb.

Baked bread from the yeast leftover when bottling beer.

Ran plowed out a couple of neighbors and they paid him. (He just did it out of the goodness of his heart, but they insisted on paying him)

I cross-stitched a sampler from materials I had.  Now I need to find a frame for it.

Unraveled a thrifted sweater for the yarn.

Watched several movies for free on YouTube.

Bought 4 yards of homespun fabric for an apron for $1/yard on Etsy.

Enjoyed the beauty of my Christmas cacti.  These plants were bought at the after-Christmas sale for $1 or less each.  They give me so much joy and I think they are just as pretty, if not more so, than costly orchids that are all the rage these days.

And they're a lot easier to care for, just give them a drink whenever you think about it and set them in a sunny window.  Pick off the blossoms as they die.  That's it. They bloom several times throughout the year so I never buy cut flowers in the fall and winter.

Bought some craft bins at a thrift store and am now spending my spare time organizing all my embroidery floss.   What a tangled mess!  Why is it that no matter how many skeins of floss you have, they are never the ones you need for your next project?

So what exciting things have you been up to this week?  Hope this coming week is filled with joy!  Sending you all an extra big hug because I missed last week!

Jane