Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Pocket Change

Without frugality none can be rich, and with it very few would be poor. ~Samuel Johnson

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Day 50: Laundry Update

I was about right, over 4 weeks we did approximately 30 loads of laundry. That equals about 7 loads a week, including a couple of extra loads since someone barfed a couple of times. And the dryer vs. clothes line was a close call too, with the clothesline winning by a clothespin. I am going to try to work harder on the clothesline usage, but I still refuse to line dry socks and undies and hubbie's work clothes. ( I can't remember if I told you, but drying his uniforms in the dryer means I don't have to iron them, which saves me from buying a ironing board. Yes, I will admit it, I haven't owned one in almost 10 years. I do have an iron someone was kind enough to buy for me, I do use it in emergencies, I just put down a thick towel and iron right on the floor.)

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Pocket Change


Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.

~Albert Einstein

Thursday, February 10, 2011

30 Bag Failure

Well, I didn't get to my goal of getting rid of 30 bags of junk in 30 days. And I couldn't stop myself from de-junking the kids's stuff either. BUT I did get rid of about 15 bags of my stuff and about 6 bags of the kids' stuff. Don't freak out when you hear that, they were not huge bags, we were not over run with junk like someone on Hoarder's. I often wonder if my house breathes a sigh of relief when I purge stuff. Like, "Oh, I feel soooo much better without all that extra weight!"

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Pocket Change

I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still can do something;
and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
~Helen Keller

Monday, February 07, 2011

Levi Strauss

Saw on the news today that the Levi Strauss Company is encouraging people to NOT wash their jeans.

(see www.marcgunther.com/2010/11/04/dont-wash-your-jeans/ )

How odd, since I was recently thinking about this, but not to that extreme. I was just wanting the kids to to wear their jeans 2 or 3 times, not just once. If you think that's extreme, check out this guy www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/924787--student-wears-unwashed-jeans-for-15-months .

Just when I was running out of room in my freezer, now I find I could be using it for killing the stink off of jeans? Really? I think I will just Frebreeze them, thank you. And still wash them after 3 wearings, thank you.

Saturday, February 05, 2011

Count Your Eggs

Here is a link to a very nice egg production chart from Homestead Revival http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/ . I had a hard time downloading it, but it is worth the effort if you're serious about keeping records.




Thursday, February 03, 2011

Year of the Rabbit

Today is the beginning of the Chinese New Year, this year being the Year of the Rabbit. Hopefully this means we will be our year to shine in the rabbit business!




The next year of the Rooster is 2017, but the year of the Goat or Sheep is not until 2015.

Does that mean I hold off getting a milking goat until 2015? hmmmm.. . . .

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

2 Lbs. of Burger and a Box of Noodles

On Tuesday we had the start of a huge storm hit us. I was worried about the power going out, so I started cooking early in the morning, just in case we lost power, so we would have cooked food, although maybe not piping hot. I took the last 2 pounds of hamburger and 1 pound of elbow noodles and made a small pot of chili, some taco filling, 1 large serving of goulash, a pasta salad, and some macaroni and cheese. Along with the four loaves of bread I made on Monday, we were set for the storm of the century. All we got was some ice and a little snow. And it mainly melted by Wednesday.

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Rainbow Glasses


013 Originally uploaded by pafish6

Crafts for the kiddos: So easy, I don't know why we don't do this more often! We use food coloring and some small jars or vases. That's it. Very good lesson to teach color blending. As long as the kids are careful with the food coloring, older kids may be able to do this on their own. After we lay out newspaper to prevent counter stains, we fill the jars almost to the top with water. Food coloring is added one drop at a time, letting the food coloring mix on it's own. (No swishing the bottle to mix the colors!) You can see in the picture, all the pretty swirling of colors. Once there is a single color in a jar, another color can be added to make a new color.


These will last indefinatley if capped closed. Best kept in a sunny window out of little one's hands, but where the sun can shine thru.



Pocket Change

Energy and persistence conquer all things
~Benjamin Franklin