Frugal Accomplishments and General Goings-On

It has been a busy week, but somewhat quiet, which was nice.  Here are some things we did! :)

Taffy.

Husband had some errands in town and stopped to pick up a load of free wood that we'll burn this winter in our wood stove.  We have to cut it to length, then it will be ready to go.

I canned another batch of green beans (two quarts, five 24 oz. jars) and made several more sheets of peach fruit leather.  I also picked our first cucumber of the season!  Sunday evening, I picked six cherry tomatoes!  One has been nibbled by a grasshopper, but the others are fine.

Bachelor buttons.

Some of the seeds I planted for fall are sprouting a bit, and there are happy flowers throughout the flower beds.  It will be a while before the flower beds are filled in the way I want them to be, but we are making progress.

Marigolds, bachelor buttons, cosmos, weeds and more.

Wild asters with a caterpillar.  I looked it up - it is a species of owlet moth.

Forget-me-nots (I was given the seed for my birthday) and wild tansy.

Now that Daughter is in school, I am available to do more subbing at the library.  I worked seven hours this week.

I made a double batch of liquid laundry soap and hung our clothes to dry.  Mostly, I hung them in the basement on racks, because they days I was washing laundry were overcast with intermittent rain.  It's nice to have an indoor option for rainy days and winter months.

My friend came for a visit and brought me some lacto-fermented vegetables - they are SO good!  We spent the morning together - did some visiting, dug yucca plants for a school project, planted a sedum plant, brought some stuff from the shed...and I gave her a hair cut.  It was fun to catch up a bit and have some time together, even if we were doing my chores.

I grew these rainbow coleus from seed this year.  They have been outdoors,
so there is a little wind damage, but they will fill in soon enough.

Daughter's new school utilizes parent involvement to enrich the educational program.  The current expedition is about Western Expansion, the pioneers and Colorado history.  On Friday, I took a wash tub, a wash board, some homemade soap, clotheslines and clothes pins, river stones, yucca root and old towels so the 4th graders could get a better sense of what it would have been like to do laundry as a pioneer.  We filled a container near the water source (our pond) and the students hauled buckets of water to the wash tub, then washed and wrung towels, then hung them to dry.  We used stones to crush the fibers of yucca roots to make soap, much like pioneers did when they ran low on lye soaps.  It was fun, and hopefully educational.

I am also volunteering a couple of mornings each week at Daughter's school to help student increase their reading rate, fluency and comprehension.  It's really rewarding and gives me a chance to get to know the school a little better.  I'm in the process of signing up as a nutrition services substitute as well.  I would be able to cover absences/sick days for the regular nutrition services workers.  It is a paid sub position, so it would help offset some of our school-related expenses (fuel driving to and from school, for example).

Another aspect of Daughter's school that I like is that Fridays are half-days.  It means we have a weekday afternoon together!  This week we went fishing and caught 5 rainbow trout in about 2 1/2 hours!  We used grasshoppers for bait.  We caught the grasshoppers out in the field the night before.  Nice!  Husband smoked the trout on the charcoal grill, and they were very, very good.  We ate three and I removed the meat from the other two.  I froze that meat for another time.

Fresh fish!

Freshly smoked.

The little chicks are growing nicely.  We are playing with names like Morning Glory, Pop Tart, Muffin and Omlette, but nothing is really 'sticking'.   I'm sure it will happen when the time is right.  Pepper, our little bunny, is growing well too.  She is a cuddle bug, and likes to be held and petted.  I would like to train her for tricks or agility, but she shows no interest in such things.  Snuggling may very well be her super power....if so, I guess I'll just make her a cape and be done with it, hee hee.  Daughter is training her to wear a harness, which she does not seem to mind one bit, once it's on her.

The three of us attended a Maker Space Safety class at the library - it is a pre-requisite for using the 3-d printers, laser cutters, audio-video equipment, sewing machines, serger, vinyl cutter, etc.  I also took daughter to a math tutoring program at the library on a different day.  Both programs were free and available to the public.  There are many amazing resources our library offers.

How was your week?  What helped you to spend less, save more and make do?

Mid-August Frugality, Gardening and Fun!

It has been a busy week, and I did a poor job of taking photos.  I just have a few to share.

I picked green beans every 2-3 days, and I was able to pressure-can my first batch this week!  I put up two quarts and five 24oz. jars.  The 24oz. jars are new to me, but I really like the size for our family - it's the perfect amount of green beans for us.  So, on that note, I posted on Facebook (locally) that I was looking for more jars of this size, and a friend of mine had 14 of them for me!  I brought her wide mouth quarts, which she prefers - win-win!

I also harvested kale, zucchini (lots of zucchini!) and peaches!  I shared some zucchini with a friend who did not garden this year.  We ate some of the kale (and will have more this coming week) and we enjoyed some fresh peaches.  I also put up a batch of peach jam and another batch of peach-almond jam.  I used the remaining peaches to make some fruit leather.  We will be harvesting more peaches and green beans this week.

Our fruit leather was difficult to remove from the trays.
I will try a thin coat of oil next time.

I planted some seeds for fall - mostly beets, radishes and lettuces.  I am patiently watching our cucumbers grow, and less-patiently watching my tomatoes stay green.  C'mon, yall!  It's time to ripen, pretty please?

I was able to get fresh pineapples for 77 cents each this week!  Husband found coupons for Nature Valley Granola bars, and after the coupons doubled at the store, the granola bars were money-makers.  I purchased four boxes, and self-check rewarded with me four pennies and a Catalina coupon for $2 off my next purchase at Safeway.  Woo hoo!

I joined the local gardening club a few weeks ago, and this past weekend they had a brunch.  It was a pot luck affair, with the club providing beverages and meat.  I took some deviled eggs that I made with eggs from our hens.  I garnished them with chives and borage flowers - they were quite pretty.  I filled the center of the plate with dilled green beans and carrots.  I also took some fruit-oat bars.  For fruit I used apricots and peaches from our trees.  I wanted to take things I had grown, at least in part!  The brunch was really nice, and the people were very welcoming and friendly.  There were lots of door prizes - more door prizes than there were attendees, so many of us went home with more than one item.  I'm now the proud owner of a cute turtle planter and a new (to me) variety of sedum.  One of the members of the club told me that this type of sedum spreads well, which is good news to me!

Before many of the spectators had arrived.  The stadium was about 60% full for the
game - plenty of fans, but it did not feel crowded.

We went to a professional baseball game.  It was a lot of fun!  Husband found a great price on tickets, and each ticket included some credit for food at the park.  We also took water and snacks from home.  It was fun, we were in the shade, and best, the Rockies won!  Rain was a possibility, so I picked up three rain ponchos at Dollar Tree.  It did not rain, so I exchanged them for 200 ct. boxes of facial tissue, since that will be more useful for us in everyday situations.

How was your week?  What did you do to spend less, save more and make do?

Back to School Week Savings, Blessings and Fun!

If you read my weekly update last week, I want to thank you for indulging my whining.  I'm doing much better, and I appreciate your grace!

Daughter started school!  I did OK - I was almost back to the car when I started crying, so she didn't see me.  She was a trooper, and did just fine.  I subbed at the library that morning, which was good, because it kept me busy and kept my mind off missing her.  The people I work with are so good.  I was there for 4 hours, and the first two, they had me scheduled in the work room, with a box of tissues.  I did cry, a little, but part of it was being so appreciative of such thoughtful people, who gave me hugs and agreed that it really is hard that first day.  I am so proud to know these fine folks.

A lady whose daughters attend the same charter school as Daughter handed down some uniform shirts her daughters had outgrown.  She is a friend of mine...and I guess we are family, in a way - her dog is Taffy's brother!  Some of the shirts fit Daughter now, and some will require a bit of growing, so I have them sorted accordingly.  I did a little spot cleaning and a bit of mending and they are just fine for school!

Daughter has a binder and planner that will go back and forth each day for school, and she needs a tote or backpack to transport them in.  We have several different tote bags around, but a backpack distributes the weight more evenly on her frame.  We were looking at backpacks at the store, but I remembered that we had this one:

We got it at the Goodwill Outlet store, for about 80 cents...back in the spring.  It is a really nice backpack - heavy duty, and the pockets on either side are nice for snacks and such.  It had a small cut hole in it...which is why it has that cute kitty cat embroidered patch on the front.  It's iron-on, but it wasn't sticking well to the nylon, so it is sewn on too.  I used a discount coupon at Michael's and paid $1 for the patch.  Less than $2 for a really well-made backpack is a great deal!

There were just two full school days this first week, and Daughter took her lunch both days.  We had an insulated tote at home that she decided would be just right.  I picked up two re-freezable ice packs so that we can rotate them - back-up seems like a good idea.  We already had a stainless steel thermos and all of the containers for sandwiches, sides, snacks, etc. are things we had on hand.  Daughter picked out a water bottle that has a screw-on snack container.  It is BPA free and it was just a dollar.  I put about an inch of water in it the night before, screw on the snack container (so it doesn't swell funny and keep the container from fitting properly) and freeze it overnight.  In the morning, I add snacks to the bottom, fill the rest of the upper part with water, and her water is still cold at morning snack.  She really likes it.  Our lunch gear cost sits at $3.  Grandma and Grandpa were kind enough to pick up a couple more of the lunch totes (we got them when we were visiting a while back) and they will send them in the next goodie box.

My friend had handed down a bag containing several thermoses - they are stainless, double walled, and really keep things cold.  The decals on the outside were scraped in places, and some were for characters my daughter either doesn't know or doesn't care for, so I took a stainless steel scouring pad and cleaned off the decals on one a long time ago, and I did another this week.  Husband did the remaining two with mineral spirits.

Basket o' Snacks - we have something similar in the fridge with melon cubes,
string cheese, etc.

As for food, she is pretty easy to please.  She helped me make a list of foods that would be good for lunches, and they are all things that we make/eat pretty regularly.  This past week she took sandwiches, carrots and celery, fresh fruit, string cheese (we got 12-packs for 1.99 after sale/coupon!) pretzels, trail mix, whole grain crackers and water.  The time for lunch is just 20 minutes, so taking lunch from home gives her more eating time, because she's not waiting in line for her food.  I think she will eat these foods more readily, and I won't have issues with keeping the same budget we already have for groceries ($180 a month for 2 adults and 1 child).

When we stopped our subscription (years ago!) they never
came for the box, so now it is by my garden, holding hand
tools, a knife for cutting zucchini or lettuce, and plastic
bags to bring in the produce.

In the garden, I've been picking zucchini, green beans, peas (just a few), kale and zucchini (the veg. so nice I picked it twice! har har).  The tomatoes seem to think that they don't need to turn red until Christmas.  I'm hoping they change their minds soon!  I was letting the arugula go to seed, but I lost my patience with the harlequin bugs that kept coming for it.  I was squishing about a half dozen a day, but the weather got hotter and drier, and suddenly, I was finding 12-18 on the plants every morning.  So, I pulled them and fed the plants (and the resident harlequin bugs) to the chickens.  Hopefully, the arugula won't change the flavor of their eggs.

I enjoyed the flowers in our flower beds.  I picked a few for inside the house, but mostly, I've just enjoyed them outside.  We've also been enjoying all the birds at our feeding station!  It is working very nicely as a gathering place for birds, and that lets us observe them through the day.  However, when I took this photo, they all flew into the trees.

I checked the orchard, and we have peaches, pears and apples forming.  No huge crops, but we had late frosts that took many of the blossoms.  We will need to net the trees soon, lest the birds and deer have a feast the day before they are ripe!

Kohl's sent me a post card for $10 off a $10 purchase.  Daughter found these towels that she just loved!  They were in the kitchen part of the household section, but she wants to have them for hand towels in the bathroom - fine with me!  I also picked up this cold drink cup that was on clearance.  The total was $9.98, so our cost was zero out of pocket.

I didn't do much grocery shopping this past week, but I did pick up a few items.  Milk was 1.99 a gallon, leaf lettuces were .50/head (I am between crops right now), and I got a huge cantaloupe for .75!  I also picked up a few peaches for .69/lb and some red tomatoes (hello, tomato plants?) and jalapenos for .59/lb.  Avocados were 3/$1, so I bought three.  We also went to the bread outlet and stocked up on different types of bread.

I made a batch of little pancakes, froze them individually, and then put them into a container so I can pull out 2-3 for Daughter's breakfast a couple of mornings a week.  She eats them with some ginger-peach fruit butter that I made and canned, along with some ham for protein.  It's a nice 'treat' breakfast.  I made potato salad this week, Husband brought home some chicken from Popeye's.  On Tuesdays, it is $1.09 for 2 pieces. I can't make decent fried chicken, so this is an occasional treat.  We ate zucchini, peas, kale and green beans from the garden.  I made guacamole and salsa on the night we had taco salad, and we grilled teriyaki beef for another night's supper.  We had leftovers for dinner a time or two as well, and I made something similar to minestrone with garden produce and some odds and ends from the fridge.

I called my mom to wish her a happy birthday.  I sent a card as well, but a phone call is always nice for catching up!  We also talked after school started - Grandma & Grandpa wanted to know how their grand baby had done on her first day!

I expressed Taffy's glands and then gave her a bath.  I trimmed bunny toenails (sharp!) and Tallulah spent the week acclimating to the bunny barn.  Tallulah is our cat.  Since she can't read, I will just tell you.  We have had that cat since she was about 6 weeks old, and she's never been quite right in the head.  She's a spayed female...who sprays.  We had relegated her to the basement, but she began spraying down there, too, so we made some security improvements to the bunny barn, and moved her there.  She was not happy the first day - outside is a big new world for her - but she has adjusted quite well and seems to be very happy out there.  The barn is 3-sided, with a gate along the entire east side.  The gate has cyclone fence over it, so she is safe.  We added a strip of siding and some wire mesh along the top of that east side, so there is more shade, but still very good ventilation.  When I go out to check or tend the bunnies, she greets me with lots of love and affection...when she lived in the house, I barely got the time of day from her, so this seems to be an improvement in her disposition.  Hopefully, it will work out.  Despite her tendency to be a hot mess of a cat, we do love our Tallulah Mae.

We sold some more items that we no longer need or want, using some local facebook pages for advertising.  I had some things that I really like that I was holding onto, even though I didn't have the 'right' space for them.  I sold my butcher block table, for example.  I really liked that table.  It worked really well as an island in the two kitchens previous to the one we have now, but it just doesn't fit anywhere here.  I'm a little embarrassed that it took me so long to...let go...but I'm just glad I finally managed it.   I used a small portion of those funds to purchase a 'spot bot' - it's a small carpet cleaner that can be used to spot clean, and it also has an attachment for corners and small spaces.  I will use it for spot cleaning and stairs.

And...um...

Look who we found at the feed store!

How was your week?  What did you do to spend less, save more and make do?  Leave me a comment, won't you please?

Our Last Week of Summer

Hello, Dearies!!

Can I just say something?  This past week has been a week when I am grateful that, for us, frugality is more or less a habit.  I am glad that I didn't have to put mental energy toward checking prices, making do, saving more, because for me, this last week was a rough week.

Before I turn this into a pity party, I want to say that we are very, very fortunate.  We are healthy, we have all we need and more, and best of all, we have one another.  Still...there is a lot of change happening around here right now, and in general, I am not a huge fan of change.  Several of the changes are really not mine to discuss, so I won't mention them...those of you that know me personally are aware of those.  So my partial list includes helping Daughter get ready to start school away from home.  She is excited, and I am too, but it's going to be different, and she and I are used to spending nearly all our time together.  I know we will both be fine, but it will be an adjustment.

MEH.

I have also been watching as the high-voltage power lines that we fought to the best of our ability were installed in our community.  We learned of a neighbor's passing, and saw the 'for sale' signs go up on that property, and learned that at least two more properties here will be changing hands in the next little while.  I helped a friend move, too.  She did not move 'away-away', but further away, and in a direction I don't often get to go.  One of my chickens died.

You know...I think it's the number of changes that's getting to me, not the individual changes themselves.  The end result is that I'm whiny and I want chocolate and soda.  Do they make chocolate soda?

OK...now that I have that out there, I will admit that I didn't make good notes this week.  I will say that we still watched for items on sale and bought things as we needed them.  Our Costco card expired at the end of the month, so we made a last cheese-and-dried-seaweed run, hee hee.  We accepted some fridge and freezer items from my friend that was moving, which was very nice of her, and I stocked up on string cheese and trail mix, both of which were on sale and had coupons to go with.

The friend that moved is downsizing some.  She blessed me with a bag of clothing, an office chair I am using in my craft area, a couple of area rugs and some plant cuttings, among other things.  We borrowed books and media from the library, and I subbed for a few hours one day too.  We sold some items we no longer needed on a local Freecycle page.

I put out some 'wanted' posts on those same Freecycle pages and I have gotten all the uniform items that Daughter will need for school.  I have the size she wears now and the next size up.  I was able to get 12 polo shirts, a sweatshirt, a hoodie and a knit sweater, all with the school logo already embroidered on them, for a total of $24.  Since it costs over $7 per item to get the logo embroidered on, I am very, very happy to have gotten these!  The students can wear slacks, jeans, skirts or shorts (there are specifics about length and not having holes, etc.), and she has those items on hand, so I think we are set for school.

We have been having smoothies lots of days at lunchtime.  This is helping me use the prolific kale from our garden, along with some frozen fruit that has been in my freezer for....um....a while.  The frozen texture and temperature is really nice on a hot day.  Saturday night, Daughter planned and helped cook supper.  She got the recipes from a book she borrowed from the library.  We had herbed chicken, mashed potatoes with parsley and garlic, glazed carrots and a peach cake.  She helped a lot and did a great job!  She helped gather ingredients, including fresh herbs from the garden.

The garden is producing lots of green tomatoes.  I've told them it's fine if they want to start ripening now, but so far, they are staying green.  We are getting lots of kale, and we picked our first zucchini this week.  The green beans are coming in too, and I expect to be canning green beans in another week or so.  My lettuce is bolting (to be fair, it is August), so I'm pulling some each morning for the chickens and will re-plant this week.  I am so happy in my garden this summer....everything is growing well and I feel like I'm supplementing our food supply with good, fresh, healthy foods.  Oh, and there are carrots!  I like to wait and pick them after first frost, but I think we will have a nice supply of them for fall/winter.  It's so fun to grow our own!  Cucumbers are forming too, and the herbs are all doing well.

I cleaned out our bunny barn this week, and it looks really good.  It has me motivated to get to the other two sections soon, because it's so nice to have it clean and orderly.  It wasn't terrible, but it was dusty - the pressure washer made everything look really nice.  Oh...and before I forget...we have finished our summer reading programs, so we returned the baby bunnies to the gentleman we 'rented' them from...with the exception of the little runt.  She is Daughter's new little friend, and she's a very sweet little snuggle bug.  I'm hoping we can train her to do a few tricks for next year's programs.

Mrs. Patmore was shorn not long after this photo was taken - now, she looks like a lamb!

Mrs. Hughes was also shorn.  There to the right, you can see little Pepper in the cage next door.

Well, that sums up my week.  Thanks for letting me whine a bit at the beginning.  I hope your week has gone well.  What did you do to spend less, save more and make do?  Leave me a comment so I can learn!

This Week's Garden, Summer Fun and Savings!

Do you ever enter those online drawings and giveaways that are on some of the bigger blogs out there?  Once in a while, I enter one.  Recently, I was contacted because I had won a prize package (one of five) from Milford Valley Chicken.  We won 25 boxes of chicken entrees - two servings per package.  This is the first half of our prize.  They were kind enough to send it in two installments, so that we will have enough freezer space.  This was delivered to us in a styrofoam cooler, which we can re-use, and it was packed with dry ice.  True to form, we were as happy about the packing as the prize, and spent much of the morning of delivery pretending we were mad scientists!  Thank you, Milford Valley Chicken!

We had rooted some trees back in the spring and planted them along the south side of our property.  They are a fast-growing poplar variety...but...they were just sitting there, doing nothing.  We removed them and replaced them with some of the sprouts that were growing around our white poplar tree.  We had transplanted one of these at the same time that we planted the sprouts, and it has already grown about a foot!  We are hoping these will adjust well and grow in their new locations, and so far, they look very good.  One of them shocked badly and did not recuperate, so we replaced it with another sprout.  The 'mother' tree has a lot of them!

I started finding lots of little plants growing outside my big flower bed, mostly blanket flower.  I transplanted those into the flower bed along the front of the house, where we still have places to fill in.  I also moved some wild geranium, goldenrod and silver mound from the big flower bed, to help spread things out just a bit.  The changes we're making are coming along slowly but surely!

My friend helped her mom clean out some extra items, and she brought me two twin-size sets of flannel sheets for Daughter's bed.  These will be great for winter!  In addition, that same friend is moving.  In the process of packing she has given me some things that she no longer needs.  I have many new (to me) clothes that are both cute and fun, along with some towels and a norwex polish cloth.  I tried the cloth on the mirrors and they look very good - I hope to do some windows this coming week.

We went to the marsh and did some summertime exploring.  It was fun, and the bee tree smelled heavenly.  We watched the bees come and go for a while, and walked around the pond a bit.  It was a nice way to get out in nature for a little while.

The honeybees live in here!

I completed a survey on Pinecone Research, and I did my last two bunny programs for summer reading this week.  We will have some chicken programs in September for National Chicken Month!

A couple weeks ago I cleaned Daughter's bedroom window, then re-stained and sealed the frame.  We had a wood blind in that window, but it was not working properly.  I was unable to repair it, but I salvaged some parts from it, and replaced a tilter wand mechanism in one of our bedroom blinds with the one from the broken blind (our mechanism had stripped out and a replacement was $12 plus shipping).  Daughter said she didn't want a new/replacement blind.  She also had a set of blue curtains, but asked for a cafe' style curtain, to let in more light.  I altered one of the curtains to make the cafe' curtain for her room, and used a curtain rod we had on hand.  She is happy with the new setup, and likes having a single curtain that pulls to one side.  The single curtain was also her idea - she likes that it lets in more light even when the curtain is closed.  I like it because this fabric is kind of slippery to work with, and I didn't have to worry about matching length.

I just noticed that I have the curtain on backward....I'll fix that! 

I was able to get some second-hand uniform shirts for daughter for the start of school.  This saved us a lot!  We went through the house and treasure-hunted many of her school supplies, along with a backpack.  We picked up the remaining school supply items for about $11, and that includes a few extras of a couple of items, which I will keep at home in case they are needed later in the year.

You may be wondering about that last paragraph, because we have been using a virtual school for her education.  We (very) recently learned that the local school for expeditionary learning, a charter school in our area, had a space for her.  We have been on the waiting list.  This feels like a big, big change.  I am excited, but it's bittersweet.  She and I spend nearly all our waking hours together....even when I sub at the library, I frequently take her with me.

There are big changes coming for us, and I will be asking y'all for ideas.  In fact, I asked this on facebook, but if you don't follow on facebook, can you tell me about some cold lunches that you'd suggest that are healthy, quick-to-eat, and frugal?  Leave them in the comments, won't you please?  Thank you!

Our across-the-road neighbors had some out of town company this week, and they have a daughter the same age as ours!   The girls got to play together a couple of times, and have decided to become pen pals!  I'm especially excited - I think it will be a great opportunity for them to become better friends, as well as learning more about one another where they each live and more.

I belong to a local freecycle page on facebook.  On errand day, we included some freecycle pick-ups and got Daughter a Spirograph and a pair of shoes.  Taffy got a doggie coat, and I got some outdoor plant pots and two cutting boards.  We were able to freecycle a table that we no longer needed.

The garden continues to do well.  The tomato plants are getting really large - I'm having to tie the one nearest the gate just so I can get in.  I'm using their 'shade' to my advantage by planting lettuces beneath them where it's cooler and they don't bolt.  The green beans are blooming a lot and the cucumbers and squashes are starting to run.  Though our gardens are small, we are getting enough to eat our fill of fresh things.  It seems that just as we are getting tired of one vegetable, another starts to come in.  At this point, I'm planning and starting some fall plants - radishes, lettuces, a second planting of peas and possibly some brussels sprouts.

Hello, future pesto!

How was your week?  What's new in your world?  What have you done to spend less, save more and make do?

Another Week of Summer Fun and Savings!

The peas in my garden are still producing (it has been a fairly cool summer with cool nights and, for us, a lot of rain) and have gotten taller than me.  I tied them to the fence this week, because some of them were pretty loosely attached.  While I had the yarn out I also tied the tomatoes, cucumbers and sunflowers, just to keep things in their places.  I did a bit of weeding and picked some herbs to dry for winter.  When herbs are dried the volume decreases significantly, but this is the second time I have picked oregano, so it is accumulating.  There was a lot of lemon balm, so I steeped some in water (for a lemony drink), and put some in vinegar for making dressings and marinades, and finally, a little in some vodka for lemon extract....I hope.  I will be picking the first zucchini very soon and I am starting to find some wee little green beans on the plants.  I hope to can some for winter - if the season continues like it has, that should not be a problem.

Husband has been sharing his birthday freebies with us!  A couple of times, we have made a plan, picked up his free meals from 2-3 places, then gone to the park for a family feast!  It's been really fun.

I picked flowers from around the yard for indoor bouquets.  I also pulled some lettuces (mostly curly endive) that were bolting and fed them to the chickens.

I booked travel for Daughter and I to go visit the mainland grandparents!  Southwest had some fantastic deals, we got a great price on a rental car, and when it's all said and done, it was pretty much break-even to driving there, except we don't have two days travel each direction.  Not driving 1,000+ miles?  I'll take that!

We went into Big Lots the other day and they had little pocket size 'Skinny Girl' liquid stevia for $1 each.  Each one is 50 servings.  It was a 20% off day, so we bought a couple.  We really like it, so we went back and stocked up!  One day this week I made green smoothies out of kale and lettuces from our garden, peaches and cherries I'd frozen from our trees and two squirts of that stevia.  They tasted good, and it fed the three of us for about 4 cents total!

There was a patch behind our barn that had things in it - a sled, a small wagon, some logs, etc.  We moved all that and mowed the very tall grass.  Once the clippings dried, we raked them up to use as 'straw' in our henhouse and to use as a cover for grass seed we used to patch some bare spots in our yard.  We moved the wood to the firewood pile, put the wagon in the barn and moved the sled (it is easy to move) to a place that was already mowed.  It's much tidier back there, and will be a lot easier to maintain.  We discovered a lovely friend in the straw...see her, near the bottom of the photo?  Sorry, but she's a little camera-shy.  We have since seen her out basking on the straw three times!

Near the henhouse, Husband cut down some rogue trees that were spindly and over-crowded.  The hens will still have shade, but a little more light, which is a good thing.  Since I have borrowed half of their run for protected garden space, this will help the garden plants too.

This wee garden is quite full...and now, a little brighter!

I had 3 dozen extra eggs that I was able to sell.  It has been just enough to fund their food this summer.  My hens are actually money makers, because of the library programs, so we get to have fresh eggs as a bonus!  I keep hearing about the high cost of eggs, and I wonder if more people will consider a small flock.  I know several families with 2-3 hens who get enough eggs to meet their needs, plus they have all the fun of having chickens.

This has nothing to do with frugality or summer fun, but I am wanting to get some quail.  I like the eggs...and I like quail, very much.  I'll be researching that the next few months and as we get the barn cleaned out, I hope to use the 'stuff on hand' to make an appropriate space for them.  I know a man who raises them, so I can get stock from him....if you have any experience and/or suggestions, please leave them in the comments!

We took a day-trip and went fishing.  Daughter caught her first-ever all-by-herself fish!  She set the hook herself and landed it too!  She is very happy!  She insisted she would clean it herself, so she watched me clean the one that Husband caught....and then decided that she might try that another time.  (wink!)

Several months ago, Taffy had a urinary tract infection.  We caught it early, I was pretty sure that was the problem, but even though we were proactive, it was still about $90 for the test, office visit, antibiotic, etc.  She started to show signs of a UTI last week, so I looked up home remedies and treatments.  We are giving her cranberries and apple cider vinegar and she is getting better!  I do not like the idea of her taking antibiotics, even semi-regularly, if she is able to heal on her own and have stronger immunity.  We will certainly take her to the vet if she needs to go, but we are encouraged that the home remedies are helping, because in the long run, we think it makes for a healthier pup!  In the midst of all this, I gave her a bath and grooming as well. :)

Now, lets talk a moment about getting apple cider vinegar into a dog.  I can tell you with much certainty that full strength ACV in an oral syringe is not the way to go.  Then again, if you want yourself, your spouse and your dog to smell like vinegar, it works great.  We had much better luck with a tablespoon of ACV mixed with about a tablespoon of peanut butter.  The first time I offered this to Taffy was the day after the oral syringe incident (ahem), and bless her heart, she took a lick, ran to the living room and laid down facing the kitchen.  She returned a few minutes later and took a few more tentative licks, then finished the peanut butter/ACV mixture.  Poor doggy.  Luckily for us, peanut butter trumps the vinegar.

We had sunny-rainy days when there were beautiful rainbows, and we have done a bit of bird watching at our newly assembled bird feeding station.

Just today, I went to the afternoon session of the local garden club's free garden tours.  I decided to join the garden club - it is only $14 a year for the whole family and I met some very nice people.  I look forward to learning and sharing and making new friends.

One of the shrubs on display on the garden tour.

I grow this at home, and I was so happy to learn/confirm that it is tansy!  

We had milk that needed using, so I made this chocolate pudding.  Yum!

What about you?  Did you have a good week?  What did you do to spend less, save more and make do?  Feel free to share in the comments!