Midweek Blues

 I don't feel very calm right now. In almost exactly three weeks we will be on our cruise. Trying to get as much done as humanly possible which is going sort of okay. 

However the more I do, the more my body tells me I just might be doing too much. I am pretty much one big ache right now. Dandelion salve to be rubbed in tonight.

It rained off and on today, so one would think I had a restful day. Nope, not at all.  There were two items I did not get completed and those were harvesting the garden fully and picking chokecherries. I did get beans picked and frozen, the Eggplant Parma made, herbs dehydrated, some hand sewing, and more decluttering of the sewing/craft room. Pictures to appear on Saturday. Those are up again tomorrow. If the forecasted rain does not fall. 

I do have lots that I could complete inside if trips outside are not available. I have green peppers to dehydrate, a sewing/craft room to continue decluttering (and finding more unfinished projects, oh dear). I could also clean the fridge, stove and oven. Baking a loaf of bread is always a possibility as well. 

There are the fire pit blankets to get done, and work on the knitted child's blanket as well. 

Oh, and I should really write a letter to a friend across the pond. 

No rest for the wicked I guess. 

Off to do some of that knitting and enjoy a well deserved glass of wine.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits

 I did not post a menu plan for this week, mainly because I don't know how well I will be able to follow it. Take today for instance. Harvey and I went and picked plums and crabapples this morning after a 2 hour shopping trip. Came back after picking and I divided up the meat to put in the freezer in meal sized portions. 

Then of course I swept the floors, ironed, mended (fixed a small burn hole from fire sparks) in Harvey's favourite Saskatchewan Roughrider shirt, washed the plums, still have the crabapples to scrub up, pinned the binding on the fire pit blankets to hand sew tomorrow or the next day, and did a few rows of knitting.

Still to do is pick the beans (probably wait until tomorrow), pick the chokecherries and get them washed as well. 

I am just so tired and my back is a constant ache right now. So tonight I am ordering a pizza and calling it good. 

Tomorrow will be the processing of the various berries, fruits, and I will make Parma for the freezer as well. Then there are the beans to pick, I noticed more tomatoes are ready, and who knows how many cucumbers are hiding on me. Must dehydrate more herbs as well. 

I see another tiring day ahead. 

Everybody have a wonderful day. 

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

 

A great many things have been happening here on the old homestead. 

Between a neighbour moving, leaving us as the oldies on the block, and trying to get a number of carried over projects done, I have been inside most of the week. Well early mornings I am out in the garden picking, which means part of some days are spent processing the harvest (or using the gleanings in that day's meals). 

Slowly but surely getting things on the road to completion and perhaps even getting some new projects started. We shall see.

Today I blanched and froze tomatoes and decided to dehydrate the skins, grind and put that in a glass jar. I am really into the let's not waste anything mindset right now. Peelings and such are getting thrown in the garden and will be worked into the soil in the fall. 

I even managed to get the two fire pit blankets put together. Tomorrow I will start the quilting, and hopefully get the binding done and the two totally finished by the middle of the week. I am not holding my breath though.

I also got my 2 ounce tins (50 or so of them) and I am thinking of making my salves and such to sell... We shall see.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Frugal Friday

 

It has been a quiet week here and lots of little frugal things are taking place.

1.  We were well under budget for the month of July which makes me very happy. We did spend a bit on our vacation at Riding Mountain National Park, but thanks to a friend we did not have to pay the fee to stay in the park for the week. 

2.  Baked one loaf of bread this week.

3.  Using up the produced picked from the garden so far. However I now have a glut of tomatoes and so will probably be blanching, peeling and freezing tomorrow.

4.  Made lavender lotion bars, and man those smell just lovely. Should have enough to last the winter.

5.  Still have not bought gas (will probably do so this week) which is a big savings right now.

6.  Using up some 2" strips making the second fire pit blanket. 

7.  Using up yarn knitting blankets for Kurt's friends (and the family I seem to have adopted). 

I am planning on doing some bartering with the neighbour. Tomatoes, cukes and perhaps some peppers in exchange for crabapples, plums and apples. Hope they go for that.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Thursday

 

Days are rolling into each other, and it is getting hard for this olden mind to remember anything thrifty I have done over the past week. 

Most of my thrifty moves are also frugal moves, so I think I might change the title of my Thursday posts. Any ideas?? All are greatly appreciated. 

With that in mind this will be more of a "what I accomplished today" post. At least until I figure out what I will blog about.

Once again it is really warm out, but I managed to get out and harvest more lavender, and some pole beans. 

I pinned together the strips for the denim fire pit blanket and hope to get the sets of two at least sewn tonight, and the sets of two pinned together into sets of four to be sewn tomorrow morning. 

Cherries are once again on sale at our Co-op and I am thinking of purchasing enough to make some cherry liqueur for Christmas. I am also thinking of trying my hand at making Irish Cream.... We shall see if that comes to pass. 

My knitting is coming along, I should be able to at least finish this second blanket this month and start a third. That will take care of the girls of Kurt's friends.

I have a couple of other blankets that are a bit more involved and I will actually need to purchase yarn for at least one of these. One of Kurt's friends is Jewish (well actually two are) and I thought I would knit a Jewish prayer shawl for him, and he has another friend that is Muslim and he thought it would be a great idea if I could incorporate something from her faith in the blanket he would like to give her..... Man, I may never get to knitting for myself for awhile. 

Still knitting and sewing for others makes me happy, and being able to give something to those that helped Kurt through difficult times is awesome. Using up some yarn in my stash is even better....

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Midweek

 I have spent lots of time staying home and trying to get as much done this month as humanly possible.

This week I finished one of the blankets for the girls of Kurt's friends. Little girls like sparkle, or at least I hope they do.

I have started the second blanket. Still sparkly, but in shades of gold and brown. I will need to add a contrast colour in order to make it large enough and I found a shades of brown, cream and orange that should work. 

I did make the lavender salve but didn't get a picture before putting it away. Bad thing it is the same colour as the dandelion salve. Must make labels for it.

I started my oregano infused oil.

In a couple of weeks I will be turning this oil into salve as well. I also found a recipe for sage infused oil which can also be made into a salve for cuts and bruises. I will probably start that right after the oregano infused oil is ready. Should be able to get that made before we leave on our cruise.

Instead of making sachets with this harvest of dried lavender, I made lotion bars. Perfect to rub on dried hands and cracked heels this winter. I will be harvesting more lavender tomorrow so those sachets are still going to be made.

I have an overabundance of green peppers right now, so the four that were in the fridge have been dehydrated.

I know I will be adding to this as the harvest season progresses.

I have been picking in the garden as well. No pictures of the tomatoes or beans but here are cukes, peppers, and another rather large eggplant.

I will need to get out early tomorrow to harvest the lavender, and more from the garden. I see there are some more beans that need picking, and those chokecherries at the end of the street are now ripe. 

Today I spent sometime researching our ship and what the weather could be like when we are on our cruise. I think I just might add an umbrella to the packing. September is Alaska's rainy month.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits

 

Well our cruise is all set up. We actually booked our excursions and paid our gratuities. Now we only have to take money with us to buy whatever souvenirs we decide to purchase, or any little treats we decide to buy while we are in port.

Busy harvesting the garden. I love being able to extend meals with fresh produce. Tomorrow I am going to dice up some peppers and dehydrate them for the winter. I also plan on making some lotion bars to use up the dried lavender rather than make the sachets right now. There is lots to harvest out there yet.

I did finish one blanket for one of the young girls, only two more and then one for the Dad. Hopefully I can get them done before Kurt comes home at Thanksgiving. Then I will work on some more for Kurt's friends who helped him through his difficult time. 

Slowly but surely I am getting the sewing/craft room in order. Still lots to do in there, but spending a bit of time each day putting items in their proper place is making a difference. Also the using things up is really helping as well. 

We got some rain today, but now along with high temperatures, the feel like temperature is higher yet. I went for a short walk and before I even reached the halfway point I was dripping sweat. Definitely going for a walk in the evening right now is out of the question.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.