You may notice there is no dead tree in this picture. It’s gone, and along with it, Rob’s worries about it falling on our house, cars, and especially, Lovana’s bedroom! It was a significant savings, too. The loggers would not touch it, they said it was a “widow-maker” and we should get a tree service to bring it down right away. The first company wanted to charge us $1,200 to bring it down, and really weren’t very interested in the job–looked too dangerous. On Wednesday, Rob drove by a tree service working in a neighbor’s yard. He stopped and talked to them, and they drove right over and looked and quoted us $600. They told him to call on Thanksgiving to finalize plans, so he did and they came Friday and took care of it! What a blessing. The pieces are laying on the ground, but that is no problem for us! It was cheaper that way.
I did not shop for Thanksgiving. Everything was from the freezer, pantry, etc. or other people brought it. I did spend about $50 on Saturday at Grocery Outlet to get a few things I needed, including gluten-free pretzels for an upcoming 4H community service project. I will buy milk and butter if it comes on a good sale, otherwise, I’m done.
I made gluten-free stuffing with apples and water chestnuts. I figure I saved about $15 by making my own stuffing croutons instead of buying 4 boxes for gluten-free stuffing mix for about $5 per box. I got some flour sack dish towels to embroider at Walmart–10 towels for about $8. I seldom go to Walmart as it is out of my way. I was delighted that they were still very reasonable to buy there. I love to embroider on them, compared to other towels, since they wipe dishes so well. They are pretty and very useful as gifts.
I got some good bargains at JoAnn’s, but did not over-do it. I got a couple of craft kits/items to use as gifts for 50% off. I was able to use several pieces of my fabric stash I already had at home for gifts, children’s projects, etc. I still have quite a few gifts to work on. I have a bad cold today, so stayed home from work. I hope to sew a little in-between drinking tea and resting. It’s just a cold, but it’s hard to teach piano when you are having trouble talking, since that’s all I do all day when I teach:)
I cooked another squash. We were blessed with so many.
One of the things we spent a lot of time doing is working on our slash piles. Recently, we had some logging done, and the piles that remain are our responsibility. We could pay someone to burn them, but that would cost us quite a lot of money so we are attempting to do it ourselves. We are having a hard time. Rob spent a good deal of time on Friday to no avail. On Saturday, he was able to get one pile burning well, and by evening it was burned down pretty well. Pile #2 was difficult. We both worked for several hours but it would never catch.
On Sunday, we had a sick child, so stayed home from church. Our oldest daughter and husband came over when they heard burning was an activity they could join in on and we had another try at the 2nd pile. At times, we had 2 large blazes going, on 2 different parts of the pile, and we though it was going to take off. Sadly, it began to pour rain, drenching the fires. After about 4 hours, we gave up, went inside and cooked a great meal and enjoyed each others’ company. (Rob took J to the doctor today and she is fine–just a bad cold.)
We have 15 piles. There are still 14 unburned. It keeps raining. The wood is wet. We must burn them soon, so we can replant in time to save the forest deferment we have on our taxes. H-m-m-m-m. I’ll keep you posted! We have high hopes, though. We will save thousands of dollars by burning, and by paying lower taxes on the forested land.
I enjoyed watching leaves change and fall. It won’t be long until they are all down on the ground. I also loved watching the woodpecker that has now pecked out large portions of the dead tree in his search for insects. In fact, it is a little worrisome how much he has dented that tree!
We cooked many meals from scratch. Rob made this ham on the grill. It was really good. We also made crock pot meals and many recipes at 4H club. We are still eating leftovers from that!
I’ve been drinking more water instead of other drinks.
My husband found my daughter a formal dinner dress at Goodwill for $12.99. It was brand new and fit her. All we are going to have to do is choose which sweater/cape/shawl, etc. she will wear with it. There is the faux fur one I made her last year. It might work. It saved me hours and hours to not have to sew one, and quite a bit of money as well. The last one I made cost me at least $50-$60 in materials alone (which is cheaper than buying one, but still…)
We used some hazelnuts we were given and roasted them.
We were given some crab and totally enjoyed that as well. All in all, it was a pretty good week!
This week, we cooked up 2 of our huge Sweetmeat squash. There are still a lot left, but I froze 10 bags and we’ve got lots to eat besides. I also cut up a few Butternut squash into cubes and they have been used throughout the week for quick dinners.
We cooked quite a few things, including cauliflower, Swiss steak, lots of things from the 50 lbs. of potatoes I got for $10 a couple of weeks ago, and used several odds and ends that came out of the garden. It frosted pretty hard so most things are dead now, so now my menu planning will focus on using all that we preserved.
Today, I cooked pinto beans with a little Anaheim pepper, spaghetti sauce with 1/2 lb pork burger, stuffed peppers with the other 1/2 lb pork burger, and a huge batch of chili with pinto beans and hamburger. This will be the basis of our meals for the next few days.
We got baby pigs to raise for meat and to sell. If all goes well, we will be able to sell the others enough to pay for the cost of ours. We have pre-sold most of them, so it’s a matter of them growing properly, and staying healthy. We’ve only had trouble one time, ever, when a pig got tetnus and died, but that was very rare. Most of the time, it goes as planned.
I enjoyed watching a woodpecker that has decided to take up daily residence in a dead tree near our garage. He just spends hours each day hammering and pecking on that tree. It’s fun to watch.
We used the library and returned materials promptly and did not get fines this week. When we couldn’t make it, we renewed our materials on-line.
We’ve done some extra cleaning and either used up the “surprise” items we found or donated them.
I’ve been sewing on Christmas presents.
Since Rob’s job loss in September, I have deliberately decided to focus on my blessings. It’s easy to fall into feelings of self-pity, anxiety, fear of the future, anger or despair. It’s harder to focus on the overabundance that we have been blessed with, the promises of Scripture-assuring me that God will take care of us, and the every-day beauty that surrounds me. Worry will not change anything. I might as well enjoy my time right now as much as possible and not ruin this season, this day, this time with worry. Because in the end, probably at least a year from now, I will be able to look back and say, “Yes, it was hard. It was unfair, it was awful. We were blind sighted. We cried a lot. We felt betrayed by those we thought were our friends. People who said they loved us, didn’t. But, God was faithful, and we made it through!” I firmly believe this with all my heart. And, during this Thanksgiving season, I am truly blessed!
There were many green tomatoes left in the garden to find a good use for!
I have the ability to work more around my home from Thursday-Saturday each week due to my homeschool schedule and my part-time job of teaching piano lessons. This week I had the pleasure of sharing most of those days with a good friend who came to visit. She lives about 8 hours away from me and her visits are treasured.
We both love to can and preserve food. So, she picked green tomatoes from her garden, grabbed some jars, and drove over here to where gardens grow much better than where she lives, and we got to work. She spent the time when I was busy with the children visiting her relatives and friends who live around here and shopping for items she cannot get in her remote town.
We made salsa verde, zucchini relish and chow-chow, which is a mixed vegetable relish. I had quite a few green tomatoes, various peppers, cabbage, and onions from my garden. I was given lots of cauliflower last Tuesday, which is also an ingredient of chow-chow. We experimented with agave nectar instead of sugar because my friend is super-allergic to many things and she tolerates agave better than other sweeteners. The relish and the chow-chow both tasted good with that substitution.
I processed 30 quart bags of cauliflower Tuesday. A friend gave it to me. We saved out a bunch and used it for the chow-chow as well as having it for meals twice so far.
I walked on the treadmill most evenings.
I bought some netting and a ribbon for one daughter’s Halloween costume. She used it to make an overskirt to tie on over a fancy dress I made a few years ago and it fits no one at this time. It was pinned to make it work for this occasion. The youngest was a detective with a trench coat, notebook, and magnifying glass (for a while until she lost it). We didn’t want to spend much on costumes because, well, they are costumes!
I bought 50 pounds of red potatoes at Cash and Carry for a little under $10. That’s 20 cents/lb. I also chose to buy a gallon of gluten-free soy sauce for under $6. One little jar of the SanJ brand is about that much! I just keep filling my small bottle. We use it to make marinade as well, and it keeps for a long time. I got large bottles of salad dressing there as well along with a mega package of lettuce. We have still been eating tomatoes from the garden. I got 6 snap peas and put them into a stir-fry.
I started a new piano student.
We went to the library and checked out more books. More importantly, we returned our old ones before we got fines:)
I washed eggs, put them in cartons, and began cooking with them.
All in all, it was a frugal week on many levels. Some weeks are about putting more food away when it is available. There will be many other weeks where I rack my brains figuring out what exactly to cook from all of this marvelous preserved food. It’s always a project, but it is so worth it to me. Being stocked up makes a tremendous difference.
If you had asked me during the summer if my husband was in danger of losing his job, I would have laughed and said, “no way after 18 -1/2 years.” But, sadly, it happened at the end of September. I’m thankful for all we have. It’s going to come in handy before this issue is resolved, I think! He and I are still praying, thinking and wondering what the next step is. Right now, we feel at peace with waiting until it comes clear to us. He has gone to many people for advice and we’ve been advised to treat this as a death and allow ourselves enough time to work through the process of grief and mourning. Because our personal lives as a family were so enmeshed with his job as a children’s and family pastor, it has tremendously affected the entire family. The children are mourning the loss of their friends and the only place they have ever gone to church. We are grieving the loss of helping people we have cared about and helped for so many years. Because it was the decision of a very small handful of people, people are upset. They are still calling, writing, and visiting to show their support, and to talk to Rob about things, as they have done for so many years. This will taper off as they start to process this and move on with their lives. It just takes time.
Grief and mourning are not a fun or popular time of life. None of us want to do it. I don’t want to do it. I hate that I’m bursting into tears at the drop of a hat! But, if we don’t, we won’t be able to come out on the other side as healthy, whole people. One prayer I frequently have prayed through this, and other extremely difficult situations, is that I will not turn into a bitter old woman. We are praying that God will help us handle the unfair way that this was done with grace. How we handle this will affect our children’s lives forever, as well as our own. So far, we know that our actions and words have been appropriate to the best of our ability. We want to be able to hold our heads high and not be ashamed of how we acted through this. It’s not easy, but we have a great God who can help us each and every day!
The garden is winding down, but I still got a few things this week. I picked some zucchini, a few peas and pea pods, some strawberries, a few ripe tomatoes, peppers, and a lot of green tomatoes. We harvested sweetmeat squash, and have plans to can salsa verde tomorrow.
I have gained so much pleasure from these zinnias this summer. The seeds were purchased from the dollar store–4/packs for $1. Since you don’t get very many seeds per package, I bought a handful. I think I remember planting around 8 packs in my flowerbed. They grew profusely. We picked many bouquets and enjoyed looking at them outside my kitchen window. I feel like I really got my $2 worth and will miss them when it frosts.
We had a wonderful vacation at Sunriver, Oregon. My aunt kindly invited us to be her guest at her time share. We took our 3 youngest children and a friend, filling our 6-person unit with fun and laughter. Our children loved watching tv channels, as we don’t pay for cable at home. We hiked around the paths, rode the bikes that came with the unit, and the kids swam in the pool. We took sandwiches for the trip over, and cooked in the unit for the most part. Each night for dinner, we ate together with my mom and aunt. Sometimes they cooked, and sometimes we did. We got the kids a few burritos at Taco Bell, and ate out on the way home, making the trip very affordable. I took some projects with me and worked on them during my down time.
A friend thought of us and gave me a banana box of cauliflower she gleaned. We have several heads to eat fresh and froze 30 quart-sized zip-top bags full. I wrote a post about how we did it here.
I got some flour sack dish towels to embroider at Walmart–10 towels for about $8. I seldom go to Walmart as it is out of my way. I was delighted that they were still very reasonable to buy there. I love to embroider on them, compared to other towels, since they wipe dishes so well. They are pretty and very useful as gifts.
We were given some crab and totally enjoyed that as well. All in all, it was a pretty good week!
