You are currently browsing the monthly archive for June, 2008.
My infamous friend Cathe made these for me a while back. I finally found my picture today while cleaning out photobucket,
Aren’t they gorgeous!?!?! I can’t use them enough. They are so thick and durable, I think these will last me a lifetime! Thank you Cathe.
You can find more of Cathe’s items here
Thank you dear Cathe for helping me once again on my knitting quest. I am still a begginer knitter. I am trying new things, learning much more, and ripping out even more. Thus, when I tend to acomplish something it is quite a thrill. This week’s acomplishment happens to be a round (yes ROUND!) dishcloth.
I picked the pattern up from here, The pretty cotton dishcloth, and have been messing around for a few months. Finally my dear mother brought me home some beautiful cotton yarn from her out of town trip and stop to JoAnns. I knew almost immediatly which pattern I wanted to do.
So yesterday on the way to Morgann’s open house, out came the needles, pattern, and yarn and into the diaper bag they went. The first rows were easy but then I was to leave two stitches on my needle and completely ignore them. uhhhh, right. My limited capacity brain could not comprehend. No comprendo amigo. I handed the stuff to Mumsie, “explain”. She looked at me with her peircing eyes, “I don’t do patterns. Call Cathe, or Kirky.” Sorry mother but where could I go to hear?
I impatiently waited til we got home, which was not too long after that since it was Euphemia’s naptime and we were still babysitting. I almost immediatly IM’d Cathe. IF there ever was such a picture of a modern Knight in shining armour (feminine version of course) this was it. With much patience Cathe explained it to me. About 15 minutes later I had it all figured out… sort of. It didn’t look right so I kept going… and going… and going… finally I finished one petal. It looked right! Whew. Better do one more to be sure I don’t forget, then I can get a good night sleep.
This morning, I made breakfast and whilst we ate it I continued working, I dare not forget!!!!
I quickly snapped a picture and smiled with pride over what I have acomplished. Things are beginning to look up. With help of dear friends I am figuring out how to do things that I have longed to do for many years!
So, for those that would like to see what I have been trying to acomplish…
Today is Morgann’s graduation. I am sure my Mother will blog about it. But it left Friday very busy.
We mostly did a lot of gardening. But I made some fresh tea as well.
I am really looking forward to my tea. It’s bought from -www.bulkherbstore.com and I was so pleased with the excellent service they provided.
In my tea is Red Raspberrt, Alfalfa, Nettle, and Peppermint. And it tastes excellent!
We then did our gardening-
This is a little decor on my part. I L.O.V.E. Pinecones. I think they add the sweetest decor’ to any garden. This is how I spruce up flower beds.
We also planted some herbs, mint (ladies, my solution to get rid of ants. We will see if it work’s or not. )
Here, I put them up by the house. You can see more of my flowerbed decor’. I don’t claim to be an expert. Nor is there a particular style of decorating. I just throw in what I like.
Upclose shot;
There’s that sod again!
This one will go in our house. We are not sure where exactly since our diningroom table already homes 2 plants and the computer desk one. Maybe on top of the bookcase by the open window. Early morning sun, afternoon shade. Perfect!
I also planted one Zucinni Squash plant. The poor lil thing looked so neglected at Walmart when I was purchasing the mint so I decided to find a home for him as well. We love zucinini around here.
He looks more perky today. 
This is our summer garden, we think those are cantelope, they are voluntary whatever they are. We’ll love em!
This is what happens when you have to work the soil a lot. I am not sure what number of fixin’ this shovel handle is on but it’s not it’s first.
But our happiest moment of the day was to find lil basil peeking from the ground. They have survived first stage. Shall they continue on to the next round? Doesn’t that just wanna make you smile! Have a wonderful weekend!
God give you a good Sunday worship!
http://www.alongfortheride.biz/contest-s/49.htm
This looks so neat and I had to share!!!!!!!!! Be sure to enter before July 31, 2008.
Good luck to you mama’s out there!
Do you have a problem with housekeeping? Do you lack the motivation and the skill to acomplish such a task? We have found the solution! Ants!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Proverbs 6:6-8 says:
“Go to the Ant, You sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise, which having no chief, officer, or ruler, prepares her food in the summer, and gathers her provision in the harvest.”
HOW true this is. Lets just examine the first part, Go to the ant, you sluggard. Well the ants have a goal and that goal is to keep you on your toes. You DO go to the ants. You look all over your carpet and any suface area’s trying to find out where they are and what exactly they are doing.
Next part, Observe her ways and be wise. Did you know how clever ants are??? They can find any nook and cranny in your home. They find any way in and it’s hard to drive them out. It is your job to outwit them!
The rest of the verse- which having no chief, officer, or ruler, prepares her food in the summer, and gathers her provision in the harvest, tells us that she has no plans on obeying your stern commands on leaving. You can broom threaten, fire threaten, Boiling water threaten, and any other forms of torture or death threaten but they are still persistant little buggers. Sigh.
So, you are probably wondering by now what has this to do with housekeeping?? Well I have excellent news for you. We are now selling these fantastic homekeeping helpers for just $1 a thousand. We will even include and extra thousand in there for free! If you have trouble keeping your kitchen spotless, you will no longer! Do you remember that drop of water still left in your glass? Well these little guys are a great reminder never to let that happen. Do you suffer from not vaccuming the floors every day? Have no fear! Within a week you will have the cleanest carpets on teh block-maybe even the whole town!
Did you forget to dry the floors in your bathroom? Leave the toilet seat up? Hamper needs to be emptied? That’s ok! These are hourly reminders of what needs to be done and you will end up with a bathroom fit for Martha Stewart!
Dishes didn’t get done last night?? Don’t worry! Your problems have ceased. I guarantee that you will never forget again once these critters have found their way on your counters.
Do you suffer from insomnia??? No longer! These wonderful ants will make sure you work so hard that you fall asleep before hitting the pillow and you will be sure to stay asleep while you think about what the morrow brings.
Did you always want to be like Daddy? Fill his shoes so to speak? Well here you go! Within 3 days I guarantee that you can have a painless bald head! While pulling your hair out you will have so many other thoughts on your mind and certain words that you dare not speak that you will never miss the pain from loosing your hair!
What did I tell you???? Doesn’t this sound like the solution for you?
We have really benefited from them… and you will too!
Tune in tomorrow to find out another solution!
Today I took Euphemia and my younger siblings to the park. I also remembered to take the camera. Warning; Many pictures ahead!
Jenna found it more fun to climb up the toys.
Lorna enjoyed sliding
Moment of acomplishment!
Ethan wanted to be all boy… so…
He kept begging me to take pictures.
Aunt and Neice…
Euphemia enjoyed the slide as well!
This scene should have been video taped. Ethan was calmly telling Lorna, “OK Lorna, Legs in, out, pull em in!”
Andra then wanted a turn…
Emma was interested in the dirt, what a sodbuster.
Jenna snapped this one of me. Now you know the real reason I took them to the park.
So we all decided to have devotion time.
Andra and Emma decided grass was better than dirt.
“I’ve been deserted!”
Group picture take 1
Group picture take 2
Take 3… We’re getting somewhere!
Direct sunlight always gives such happy expressions!!!
I hope you enjoyed our outting as much as we did!
So, I have these lovely set of chairs. I have had them for about 3 years. they need re-upholstering. I haven’t done it. Always afraid to mess something up. Well today I succumbed. You know it’s bad when your daughter can start picking at the padding. So I bought some fabric, bribed begged Mumsie for some help and turned this;
into something a little more like this;
I do have a more finished picture but I need to still upload it and it’s getting late. However, I am very pleased with the work and so is hubby!!!!!!!!
In reply to this ladies post about my comment, I am replying with a long comment of my own.
Well if we waited for perfect soil we would never get any planting done. LOL! We just need to get the soil turned enough and worked enough so that we can actually dig holes, rows, whathaveyou to actually plant the stuff. Right now if you go into the yard and pick up a shovel most of the dirt you will work for about maybe 1 hour (without soaking or anything) to get a gallon size hole. It’s hard as a rock. We do have some sandy area’s and taht is where i want to plant some things this fall. the problem is, it’s right in the sun, little shade so even with a good thick layer of mulch you still get browned leaves from the intense heat and I don’t think plants need a good California tan. 
LOVE mulching. We use left-over straw from the “local” feedbarn place and it also provides a cover crop for later on because the oat seeds tend to plant themselves. It’s so cool.
we usually get rain sometime in Oct. and January, maybe March. Those are our rain months. Usually all day drizzle and maybe 1 hour or 2 of hard rain. So a lot of our watering is from wells and such so water gets to be somewhat expensive when the droubt is here. So we use the water drop off from the cooler to soak the grounds.
I am choosing a few snapshots that I took yesterday since Saturdays are so busy for me. Enjoy!
This was our lunch. We had chicken salad with fresh spinach, pears, and carrots. Emma had prunes and plain yogurt. David enjoyed his Alqualine water and I did some Raspberry tea.
This is what I dubbed David’s bookshelf although there are some of “my” books on it. The bottom shelf consists of Louis L Amour and Zane Grey books and some picturesque books like Countryside Virginia, all about Horses and pictures, Archery, how to be a cowboy, how to tan hides, guy stuff . The top shelf holds various books. Our classic, Reader’s Digest series. Picked up at thrift stores and yard sales for a $1 or less. There are two books that I really enjoy as picture books, one is Bill Coleman’s Amish pictures, and the other is a bday gift from hubby titled, “Historic Scotland” (Home of my ancestors). He has a Germany book or 3 (His ancestors) and there are some English Literature books as well. This bookshelf sits in the livingroom for visitors to browse. We live such a dull life that visitors often look for something to do while visiting.
This is actually a doll Mumsie gave me so I could sell it on ebay. But when it was brought home Emma loved it so much that we dubbed it her first birthday gift (if I never finish her sweater I started ;))
See what I mean? She loves the thing. It’s even bigger than her! I don’t think we are going to have any trouble with her and the new little one on the way.
I tried to figure out how we could cut and save on our budget. I didn’t get to do coupon’s this week but there was a lot of good deals at the market for some fresh fruits and veggies. I didn’t buy meat at all this week as we still have some in in the freezer that need to be used up so I can defrost the thing. SO, I am going to suck it up and show my reciept. I am always in agony over showing what we bought and spent because I’d hate to think that I didn’t use good stewardship somewhere but I am not a perfect frugal wife, it’s my learning department so here goes;
Ezekial Bread (GF for David and I) $2.99
4 Dannon natural yogurt, coffee, .70= $2.80 (we split this and mix it with plain yogurt)
2 Mountian high yogurt $4.99
Padrino’s tortilla chips 1.99
SB cereal- Corn checks $2.50
2 Dill Relish $3 (they only come in those teensy bottles that you pay a fortune for. I really should learn how to make my own. Recipe’s anyone? we dislike sweet relish)
2 SB soup veggie *for soupy joes* $1.78 (2 meals for both of us)
Tree top applesauce, natural, $2.49 (no apples on sale for us to make fresh for Emma)
Wolfgang Chicken stock- $2.49
2 Asian Pears $2
Banana’s .79 lb- $2.22
Broccoli $1 lb- $1.54 (4 meals)
Grapefruit- $1
2 Spinach Bunches- $2
White peaches $1lb- $1.20
Total 34.38
Savings $5.49
Now if we saved $5.50 a week that brings us too $286 a year. Saweet! And when you calculate it all it ends up being about $1.64 a meal for each person. AND that is just all the food. Not all of that will be used this week.
I Didn’t need any necessities this week, like toilet paper, cleaners, etc. We are still using a 6 pack of Viva paper towels that we bought last year. We have only used 2 rolls so far. I just finished our toilet cleaner. Mamacita has garlic and some other veggies from her garden for us. (I hope to snag her over next year so she can help and show me what to plant and do). I did put $20 of gas in the car. We are now at a full tank.
$100 of David’s check is going into the mortage payment ($120 a week helps us meet the payment at the end of the month)
Next week I will need more of the cleaners as such so I am keeping an eye out for coupons. Hope to try the Walgreens strategy.
Some of this weeks menu will be
Breakfasts:
Eggs, grits, oats, fuit, etc.
Lunches; always leftovers
Dinners; Chicken salad, chicken soup, baked chicken, taco’s, taco salad, soupy joes, shephers pie, London Broil in the crocpot, bbq sandwhiches
When you write all that down… It is so satisfactory.
Well, thanks for peeking in!
Life is good when…
1. You can enjoy a fresh early morning walk
2. A sweet note dropped in the mail to remind you, you are thought of
3. You are given the chance to bless someone.
4. Your daughters smiles at you.
5. Your husband brings you chocolate.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Close your eyes. Take a deep breath, and then type the first five things you think of when you think of summer
1. Harvesting tomatoes
2. Cool water, swimming season
3. Vacation time. Getting to see family and friends and recieving family and friends
4. New fly swatters
5. Lemonade.
Just a short post to clear something up. I have NO problem saying Chicken Breasts. In the store when I am asking for some I quite often use that term so the poor butchers know what I am talking about. But I got into the habit when I was quite young and growing up in my parent’s weird house of saying, Chicken chests. My mother said it, “was out of respect for the dead chicken”. But I know she didn’t give a hoot one way or another whether a chicken, a animal, needed any respect at all… especially when you were going to devour it soon later. When I met my husband and he learned our new term he added a more old fashion word, bosom. So now we had Chicken chests and chicken bosoms. If that wasn’t enough for a “respectful” chicken… our british neighbor went into Albertsons asking for some, “Chicken Boobs or whatever those breast’s are called”. Man how I would have loved to have heard that one!
So anyway. Now you know another quirk of our family.
Did I have you laughing?
Happy Tuesday to you. This morning I made some baby food. It was pretty simple and only took maybe 10 minutes at max. I did it between flipping pancakes and Emma gave her taste approval.
I blended 1/4 cup of Strawberry Yogurt and 2 Banana’s up. Easy as pie. I wish I could have done 1/8 cup yogurt and used fresh strawberries but I didn’t have any. That is what I would really recommened. I made about 2 large baby food jars and enough left over for breakfast as well. Mind you, don’t over blend cause it ends up more like a smoothie.
I also made some Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes.
Recipe for GF Pancakes
1 cup of boiling water
1/2 cup of cornmeal
Stir constantly;
Add 3/4 cup of milk (we like fresh goats milk )
Stir until smooth.
Stir in;
1/2 cup cooked pumpkin (or blended and cooked butternut squash)
1 TBSP honey or sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 TBSP oil
mix in:
1 cup of Rice Flour (or whole wheat flour if you are not GF)
2 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
Stir until ingrediants are combined. Cook.
Voila, a lovely and easy breakfast. I managed to get this on the table by 7am and I was up at 6:15am
Since I am in the sharing mood, My sister Braelyn took some Family photo’s over the weekend. This was a snapshot of one of them. Isn’t she good? 17 yr old girl. Love her too!
Hubby and I have been looking at the idea of doing vegetarian meals. We have NOTHING against meat and rather enjoy it but think that the more “green” approach is something to look into, health wise. It has been a interesting research study. We also have to stay GF. That is more important. So that leaves us with a lot of rice and potatoes. So I have been trying to expan my horizons. I would like to stay away from Soy as well. I have been given some VERY helpful advice and I am looking into a few things. This will not be a overnight decision and application. It may be more 1 day all vegetarian dishes for 1 week. Then moving to 2. Until we reach the point where we know what we need to eat to get the right calories and protien til where we are satisfied. It would be so much easier if we lived where we could have crops all year long. A greenhouse would be lovely but we have no room for one. Such decisions take massive amounts of planning, researching and putting into practice.
For those that read this blog and are vegetarians, any information is useful and appreciated. Thank you.
Now to end the day, Emma is learning about tomatoes;
My Dearest one,
This will be quite a long post. I recommend reading it either tonight or tomorrow morning before Church.
I want to start this part 1 out by listing 50 things I love about you, as appose to 10 things I hate about you. (the movie dear )
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I love your Christian attitude and heart.
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I love the memories we share and the smile that comes to your eyes
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I love the way you smile when you come home from work.
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I love to watch you cuddle with Emma
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I love to hear you play the piano, even when you stumble.
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I love the emphasis you make on family devotions
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I love the fact that you continue to pray for meals even when we are rushed for time.
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I love when you look words up in the dictionary. I know it sounds like I tease you to death about it, and I do but you just wouldn’t be you without doing it.
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I love the way you choose to dress and the way you make sure your hair is always combed.
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I love the way you work hard (but I wouldn’t mind it if you took a few breaks now and then )
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I love your dreams about gardening and living on a farm
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I love the way you gently correct me
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I love the fact that I wake up and you are tucked away in your study reading God’s word or writting down thoughts.
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I love the way you honor both sets of your parents
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I love the way you take care of things and teach me to be a good stewart of the things God has given us.
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I love the way you read the Psalms to Emma
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I love the way you laugh over Jerry Lewis
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I love the way you ponder over things
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I love the way you are more anxious to read a story then sit infront of the TV
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I love the way you like to see our house run.
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I love the way you say, “we need to talk”
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I love it when you cook
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I love you when you let me sleep in even though it means you’ll be making your own lunch and breakfast on workdays because I am just exhausted.
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I love how you very little complain.
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i love your encouraging notes I find
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I love your eagerness to find toads and lizards
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I love the way you be neighborly without being a doormat
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I love how you stand up for what is right and just
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I love the sort of books you read and when you want to share what you are learning with me
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I love you, body, mind and soul
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I love your admiration of fine and good women, noble and true
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I love the way you learn from the patriarchs
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I love the fact that I can usually just come and talk to you.
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I love the way you search for healthy alternitives
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I love the way you support my sewing but remind me of the priorities
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I love the way you write your letters
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I love the fact that you take time to write me
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I love the fact that you don’t rush into decisions
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I love to watch you shave.
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I love your quietness
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I love your pet names for Emma
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I love it when you call me, Hopin’
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I love your gentleness and giving spirit
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I love the fact that you do things even when you don’t want too
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I love it that we debate but walk away smiling at each other
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I love it that you are the provider and protector of our family
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I love the way you firmly but lovingly disclipine our child
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I love watching you with Emma on any occasion, the father pride just beems from your face
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I love your old fashion gentlmaness about you but most of all…
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I love you, with every breadth, depth and hight.. if God chose, I shall but love thee better after death.
Because i know how much you love this poem;
Tell me not, Sweet, I am unkind
For, from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast, and quiet mind,
To war and arms I fly.
For, from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast, and quiet mind,
To war and arms I fly.
True, a new mistress now I chase,
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith- embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.
Yet this unconstancy is such
As you too shall adore;
For, I could not love thee, Dear, so much,
Loved I not honour more.
Since we have been living more frugaly lately and since you “made” me promise not to use our cash to get you something, Euphemia and I came up with a scheme and it was quite enjoyable.
What we first did was count all the change in the house. It added up to something like $1.60? Euphemia then pick-pocketed all the change from your pocket and even managed a dollar bill. What a clever lil 8 month girl she is. We then took all the empty bottles and can’s to the recycling center. That gave us $5.80 there. We now had about $9 and some change. We then took that infamous picture the other day of your socks…
Emma took it into her head to find those perfect pair of wool socks that you love so much. Cotton just won’t do and since I have not learned the technique of knitting with four needles (how daunting that sounds!) we decided that it was much cheaper and better for the poor widow woman, that stayed up all night knitting these specially for you, if we purchased them. Oh wait, that would have been a few decades ago… never mind, we went to the small shop around the corner.
Emma picked these out for you…
I am not sure which she is more happy about… the left over change at her feet or the fact that you have some socks, or the fact I pulled out the camera… but whatever the reason.. we love you!
Happy Father’s Day to the bestest husband and father in the world!
Your darlings…
With the price of gas going up almost daily a lot of us are trying to find way to penny pinch. I hope my friend Cathe will do a blog on some of the ways she manages money. But here are some of the ways we find to save a few extra dollars…
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have a errand day. This saves gas and time that could be used elswhere.
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scedule a day aside to make your own baby food (recipes forthcoming)
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Stock up when there are sales. Chicken is especially nice. If chicken chests are on sale get enough for three weeks (how ever much you eat chicken triple. ) use that freezer space.
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Freeze meals. I know this sounds silly but it cuts out those rush meals when you throw you hands up and say, “Lets order Pizza”. If you budget for those special occasions wonderful!
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Recycle. Don’t throw bottles and can’s away. Get a rubbermaid tote, trashcan, whatever and start recycling. 5c a can and 5 cents a bottle add up FAST. Especially if you buy bottled water and drink soda often.
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Fill up when you need gas. The price of gas goes up, not down. Instead of putting $10 in there, fill up. Budget so you can do this it really does save alot in the long run.
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Check your Sunday paper for coupons. If you don’t get a sunday paper see if your neighbor is through with theirs. My neighbor only reads the obits or the letters to the editor. She usually will give me the ads and coupons. Although we only live in a town that has two grocery stores sometimes you still can find walgreen ads that have certain items that are cheap.
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Buy store brand instead of name brand. There are certain things we enjoy so much better than store brand but for the most part they taste about the same. No one is going to scruntinize what brand you have. We do prefer name brand chips though.
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Watch electricity. If no one is in a room, close the door, turn the lights off, etc. Let the cool air stay where there is more activity. I usually don’t turn our cooler on until after 12pm. It gets up to 90 in here but with the window’s open and stuff to keep me busy with and cold water I usually don’t notice.
- We don’t have a regular trash service. With only two people we would never use enough trash to warrant a monthly bill. Is this so for your family? We have 3 trash cans that my husband takes to the dump about 1 every 3-4 months. OR, split the cost with a neighbor. Most elderly have plenty of room in their garbage container for yours as well. If you are on friendly terms with your neighbor see about working a plan with them. Most are quiet open to it as it could help cut their expenses as well.
- Plant a garden. Its great activity for the children. Family time. It doesn’t have to be big. It cuts time away from the TV and saves you $$. Plant small and grow larger. Pea’s, green beans, carrots and tomatoes are always good and usually pretty easy to grow. Butternut Squash is a good subsitute fro pumpkin. Saves more $$ on canned or frozen veggies. And taste 10 times better.
- Make a menu. See what’s on sale. See what you can make with it. Make a shopping list and menu and hit the stores.
- Carry cash. It’s harder to spend more when you are limited to cash only. For some reason it gets me in the mindset of limiting what I buy to only what is on my shopping list and only what I need.
These are just few idea’s. If you have others please feel free to leave me a comment or drop a line. I am always on the lookout for more idea’s.
Do you remmeber all the lettuce we had? It all went to seed. Well, some, most of it was eaten by what hubby calls white flies. I guess they suck the juice out of the lettuce til it dies. Anyway, it was my job to cut the stalks of the lettuce that was going to seed so hubby could compost it. He grabbed the camera. I nervously chopped all that lettuce. I say nervously becuase there were two, read that, 2! yellow jackets buzzing around and I know that they are mean critters. I was also very sad. All that lettuce we couldn’t use.
That white scarf on my head. We dubbed that my head-covering. I wear dresses/skirts 90% of the time. When my neck it out very badly and I haven’t been able to see the chiropracter I cannot put my hair up or back without a severe headache following. So I resort to those hankies. Hair is out of my face and I am happy. But people often mistake the dress and the kercheif as a headcovering. Now I see no reason to correct them unless they ask. After all, it is covering my head. But then I am often asked, “Do you believe it’s biblical to cover your head?” I can point out the verse in Corinthians about a woman’s hair being her covering. But I do confess that the idea of a “real” headcovering has always been intriguing to me. I like the idea of a daily, minutly reminder of whose authority I am under. But I confess. I am a bit cautious of my looks and do not think I could brave the “looks” and stares I could/would get from wearing one (as if just plain wearing dresses doesn’t do it. lol) I wear dresses/skirts mainly because i like them. I feel very feminine in them. They are much cooler than pants. But I do own a few pairs of pants. But my sister in law has a way of wearing shorts, capri’s, pants, short dresses and always looks so feminine. I have tried to imitate her wardrobe but it doesn’t have the same effect on me.
Do you know what this is? Can you guess?
It’s not rasberries. Still guessing????
….?
It’s homegrown beets and zuccini blended up. Emma enjoyed it very much as did hubby. Since I was doing a cleanse that day and had eaten fruit and veggies mainly all day, more was just not appealing. Her diaper was much more colorful this morning.
Today is tuesday. I shall be very busy sewing, taking care of the house and etc.
It is not even 8am and i have managed a good 1/2 hour walk. Special breakfast (eggs AND muffins), getting babygirl fed, got hubby’s lunch, took laundry down, had devotion time. The day is looking bright. Top of the morning to you.
This was actually suppose to be posted last week but life has a way of creeping by you, ya know?
So this week’s question was;
Name three people who had a personal (as in person to person) influence in your life and what that influece was.
This one is NOT going to be easy to write. Everyone to a certain degree makes some sort of influence in your life.
I would have to first say my Mother. She impacted me daily on her giving spirit, the times I would accidently walk in her quiet time and see her on the bed reading her worn Bible that she had since highschool (?). I remember the days when she would read to us from Elsie Dinsmore and while I really disliked Elsie I always wanted to read stories to MY children just like Mumsie did one day. When the years flew by other traits came out from my mother that I wanted to posess. Her biblical way of handling issues. The way she would agonize over a difficult decision because was it the best for her family? Was this what God wanted? They way she was a submissive wife. How she would chide me for not speaking respectfully of my Daddy. And so much more. As children we would always say, “I’m never going to be as harsh as Mommy! I’m going to be better!” But how little we knew of the parenting that takes so much out of us. My mother has a meek and quiet spirit but she knows her Bible well. I can always go to her for a biblical question even when I don’t put the question right because she just hand’s out scripture. It’s comforting.
My other influence would probably be my Mother-in-Law. I have never ever ever heard one bad thing about my mother-in-law. I have never heard her bad mouth anyone. Her love for her family is a sweet devotion but she does not hang so tight to them all. She does not mind handing out advice… Take it or leave it, it’s up to you. She has a way of frugality but you would never ever know. She is such a hard worker. Over 65 and still works from sun up to sun down. A retired school teacher (a sweet one) that never retired, just exchanged her priorities. She bakes, garden’s, helps her husband (pastor), clean a very large home, and still find’s time to visit those who are less fortunate about having family visitors. She is my influence as a Prov. 31 woman. No doubt.
The third influence is a hard one. I am not surrounded by those who love to visit me, nor do I seek out company. I would have to say the third person that influenced my life that I know would be my SIL, Sharine. As her husband went through boughts of depression as well she can understand the ”trouble, sorrows we’ve seen”. She can offer biblical advice and she is sooo active in making sure that the community recieves the gospel of Christ. Actually, her father’s story is a wonderful tale that I would love to share someday… Her love for her husband is so evident while her devotion and time for her children is always there. She has such well mannered children that talk so easily to us grown ups. And if I may be so biased, I know that they love their Aunt Challice. Humble pie inserted and eaten. What she has influenced me most would probably be her devotion to God that spills over into her family.
So I have a spiritual influence, a Prov. 31 influence, and a Christian (ie. spread God’s word to those) influence.
And one, hardworking hubby, he is replacing a fuel pump on my in-laws car…
Say, HI! Sweetie…
The element of surprise…
Then there was… The star of the show!
Watering Can! Yep, that’s right, watering cans now have a new and unique look that makes everyone wanna go out and buy 10. The best news is yet to come, you will receieve free juice in the process (well unprocesses juice of a sort). So go and get your new watering cans at any local grocery store!
Yes, that is my watering bottle for my indoor and sometimes outdoor plants. Since most watering cans that you can buy cost an arm and a leg we improvised and found more than one use for our empty juice bottles. One is actually our out of town water jug as well. Keeps nice and cool if you fill it 1/4 way of water, freeze, then when you leave fill the rest up with water. It usually stays cool our whole trip when we see the chiropracter. That’s about 4 hours! Back to my plants, they enjoy these water bottles cause sometimes they also recieve the leftover drops of juice or even the smell of apple juice on their soil. And my indoor plants look so healthy I’d like to think it was my improved watering can. Amazing what you can find to acomplish on a tight budget.
This is my kitchen window. That is my gift from Mamacita (Mother-in-law). I had two but one I tried transplanting to a bigger pot and it died… outdoors too. Sigh. Such persnickity little plants. This one looks about pooped but it has looked that way for almost a year now. Amazing lil guys. Love my aloe vera. I can forget to water it for 2 weeks and it will still look fresh and green. Well, as fresh as I can make it.
Have a wonderful weekend!
No, no pictures of pansies, but they are my favorite flower. I recieved a lovely what I call, “Thought packages” in the mail friday. Since it was the weekend I didn’t get to do much on the computer but I want to share what was in my “Thought package”. Thank you dear friend. You know who you are.
Seeds! And to bring comfort on a rainy day (when you can’t be out in your garden) Chocolate. And not just any chocolate, STARBUCKS! Chocolate. YUMMY! How sweet and thoughtful those dear to us are. Not because of what they do for us but because of who they are.
