Pocket Change

How many observe Christ's birthday! How few His precepts! O 'tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments~Benjamin Franklin

Vinegar Update

So far the vinegars aren't doing much. One jar of apple peelings is more advanced than the others, but I don't know why. One jar of grape vinegar is really gross and the other one is barely doing anything. Am pretty sure my biggest problem is that my house is too cool. So I have started to keep a rice heating pad inbetween the jars. I'll give it another couple of weeks and let you know.

God Provides

When our food budget got cut at the beginning of October, I was in panic. Stupid me, I should have known that God would have provided. I am sorry God.

My head was thinking I needed money, dollars and cents, moola, whatever you call it, in order for my family to eat.

Stupid me. I am sorry God. I will try harder to trust you.

Here is a run down on some of what He provided.

I want you to notice, no, PAY ATTENTION, to how God worked it out so well.

free pizza from the food bank

2 bottles of pop from a neighbor, leftover from his party

(so evidentally even God says pop and pizza must go together)

free knife from Sam's Club, to cut up

a WHOLE deer a friend shot and didn't need/want

(don't get your knickers in a knot about him shooting something he didn't want, it was a doe and God put it in his head that we needed it.)

pound of bacon and a huge spiral cut ham

to go with all those potatoes that were on sale

mac and cheese from the food bank

to go with the fancy bratwurst found on clearance

buckets of apples to go with anything

and a box full of food from the foodbank. The people at this food bank organize the food so can make a meal out of it all. Like tuna to go with the tuna helper, sloppy joe mix to go with the hamburger.

I could go on, but you get the picture. I love it when a menu comes together. Thank you God!

Pocket Change

Thought this was fitting for Election Day.

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally. ~
Abraham Lincoln

Best Blogs of the Month

Found some new blogs, thought I'd share them with you. Check them out!

Canning Granny
http://canninggranny.blogspot.com/

Homestead Revival

http://www.homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/

Thrifty Texas Penny

http://www.thriftytexaspenny.com/search/label/%245.00%20dinners

Potatoes

Well, the price of potatoes finally fell, it had hit a high of $6.99 for 10 pounds! Thankfully, they were on sale this week, $1.98 for 10 pounds. So, of course, I bought 20 pounds. Now to fit them into a bunch of meals! Am thinking of:

Mashed Potatoes

Fried Potatoes

Hash Browns

Potato Yeast Rolls

Perogies filled with Mashed Potatoes (new one for me to try)

Baked Potatoes with Toppings

Cubed Potatoes in Foil (on the grill)

Potato Soup or Chowder

Potato Salad

Scalloped Potatoes

French Fries with Chili and Cheese

Latkes (another new recipe to try)

Current prices of what I consider necessary carbs for us work out to be:

potatoes 20 cents a pound

ramen noodles 18 cents each

brown rice 64 cents a pound

pasta $1 a pound

wild rice $3.54 a pound

Ok, wild rice is not necessary, but I was appalled by the price. And most of us here do not like ramen noodles, but I was surprised that they went up 6 cents since I last bought them.

Since potatoes are the cheapest this month, that's what we're eating. (I am relieved, because I have not beena fan of pasta lately.)

Am open to any cheap potato recipes if you have them!

Day 300

Today is day 300 in my 22nd year of living frugal to the extreme. I know that sounds a bit extreme in itself. Can't decide how to celebrate this remarkable milestone, but I'm sure I'll figure out something.

Maybe I'll go pick apples.

Recycled Blue Jeans

I don't know why I am fascinated with bluejeans. Is it because I went to parochial schools all my life, you know, wearing uniforms and skirts and dresses? Who knows, all I know is I consider denim a most important invention.

I love to find old jeans, usually at garage sales and such, and turn them into quilts.

Anywho, I have plans for sewing a new "pattern" this winter. It is a rag rug, although the directions I found are for a small rug, something like 24" by 36". I plan on making a much larger rug, maybe 48" by 60". It's hard to tell you exact directions because I really don't follow directions, I make them up as I go. Here is a video of what the original looks like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIHHiHfuUZI&feature=BFa&list=SPA0D6118192E6C16D&lf=list_related

Looks easy, now I have to find the time. That's the hard part.

Washing Soda

As soon as I need to heat up the stove for something else more important (i.e. cookies, bread, roast etc.) I am going to try this baking soda-into-washing soda experiment.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5859235_make-washing-soda.html

Now, there is another site, http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/tipstricks/ht/How-To-Convert-Baking-Soda-To-Washing-Soda.htm

I usually don't trust ehow or about.com, so this truly is an experiement. Both sites vary in the directions, and how do you really know if you baked the soda long enough? It's not like it will change colors or look different. Hmmm . . . .will let you know.

Semi-Whole Wheat Bread-ABM Style

Promised you my Bread recipe a while back, so here it is. It's funny how just a little whole wheat flour makes this such a different bread than the french bread I made earlier.

1 1/4 cups water, slightly warmer than room temperature
1 TBS. butter
1 egg
2 TBS sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. yeast

Proof the yeast with the water and sugar for about 5 minutes. Then add everything to your breadmaker. Set on Dough cycle. After the dough cycle is complete, divide the dough in half and put each half in a greased loaf pan. Cover with clean towel and let rise until doubled (about 45 minutes.) Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

Odd

I find it funny how many people it takes at Wally's World to give me back 8 cents in coupon overage.

Pocket Change

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
~Helen Keller

Just Have to Share

I suppose everyone has their favorite blogs, websites, or what-not that they like to frequent, but I have to share mine. When I say share, I mean You-Simply-Have-To-Go-There. Now.

They are:

Clover Lane

http://www.memoriesoncloverlane.com/

Thy Hand Hath Provided

http://www.thyhandhathprovided.com/

Not in any particular order, but I find myself reading these before I even check my FB. (sorry friends and family!) I have been following them for a while and they never disappoint me with their recipes and words of wisdom. Thank you Sarah and Jane!

Ruth 2:7

And she said , I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came , and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.

I am reading the book of Ruth, it seemed appropriate for all my apple picking lately. I pray that I could be strong like Ruth, and wise like Naomi. Please help me Lord!

Bagels

Thought I'd try to make bagels again, since the kids go through, like, 50 bagels a month. (No joke.)

Used the breadmaker to mix/rise the dough. The first batch I hand shaped the bagels, really poorly, the next batch I cut them out like a biscuit and then poked a hole in them and shaped just a bit.

I think they taste really nice, we like ours toasted with butter, sorry, cheap margarine, or toasted with a sausage patty in the middle. The first batch I put onion powder in the mix, but I need to add more next time, it wasn't very onion-y tasting. Same with the second batch, which I flavored with garlic salt. But I am happy with the results and most importantly, the kids gave them (and me) their approval, so I will be making these again. Yes! another cheap recipe conquered!

silly me! I forgot to post the recipe. I got it straight from Food.com

http://www.food.com/recipe/bagels-364034

$107 a Month?

Budget got cut again, our food money for the month is now $107 a month for the 6 of us. We will be heading to the food bank for sure this month! I am very grateful three of the kids are able to eat breakfast and lunch for free at school, so maybe this is do-able. As you can see, I am trying to talk myself into this. We have plenty of the following, (although I am not sure how to coordinate all of it into something edible for a whole month)

• 31 jars of spaghetti sauce


• 21 jars of peanut butter



• grape jelly

• 25 cans of refried beans



• apple butter, apple slices (frozen)



• flour and baking items like yeast, baking soda and baking powder



• eggs



• white rice (don't judge, it was really on sale)



• a variety of mushroom soup and chicken broth

There is a variety of other canned things I have, but mainly just odds and ends really. I priced out a bunch of things at Wally's World and then at our local store, so I am up to date on the current prices of most things we need, but just don't know what to buy. Other than meat, of course, which would probably just take up the whole $107 right there. Not much else to say about this.

Addiction

I was driving my daughter to work (she pays for the gas) and I interrupted her (bad momma!) to say. . . . . "Ohhhhh, look, an apple tree! Look at all those apples on the ground. I wonder. . . ."

Daughter, in her infinite teenaged wisdom,

Rolls. Her. Eyes.

I think I have an new addiction.

Is there an Apples Anonymous?

Maybe I could stop cold turkey.

I saw 2 walnut trees and a chesnut tree that seemed to need some cleaning up. . . .

Pocket Change

People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.
~Helen Keller

About Them Apples. . . .last part I promise!

I promise, this will be the last you hear about apples. Well, at least until next year!

Ended up with:

12 quart bags of frozen apple slices

apple butter

apple cake

baked apple delight

apple butter pumpkin pie

apple butter bread

apple pectin

and apple cider vinegar.

There was also alot of pieces of apples I gave the rabbits and the dog (yes, we have a weird dog, he loves fruits and vegetables more than milkbones)

And the chickens got the few rotten ones. So I am very grateful that my neighbors planted that apple tree~thank you T&E!

Semi-Homemade Wax Paper

Now this really isn't made from scratch, but with all the cereal the kids eat, I just use the plastic liners the cereal comes in for wax paper.

As you can see, I let the boxes pile up a bit too much.

Just take the liners out, shake out the last bits and crumbs (save for the chickens if you have them!) Then cut the bottom off of the bag, and then cut a straight line up the side seam.

Voila' !

Instant wax paper for no-bake cookies or what ever you use wax paper for.

Note: make sure you don't just stuff the un-cut bags somewhere, thinking you'll get to them someday. You won't have it when you need it and . . . it will only draw pantry moths. Don't ask how I know.

Fallen Leaves

Oh, how I love leaves! Ever think how many uses a leaf has?

1. Science project: see how many different kinds your kids can collect and identify


2. Art project: put a leaf under a sheet of paper and make an imprint with a crayon


3. P.E. exercise: rake into a pile, move onto a tarp, and then. . . JUMP!


4. After extensive jumping, the leaves will be crunched, shredded, and ready for the compost pile or garden.(which is why you put the leaves on a tarp in the first place, it's SOOOOOO much easier to move to the garden!)


5. If you can get bagged leaves, save a bag or two to add to the chicken coop in the middle of the winter. Chickens love to rummage thru a pile of leaves, it sure does keep them occupied in the cold weather!

Evidently, dogs like to jump in leaf piles also. Ours spent hours running, diving, and eventually pushing the leaves off the tarp.

Cheap Bread

Used to have a day old bread store fairly close to me, but I guess it caught on fire one night and so it is no more. Found this really cheap and easy bread recipe, it takes no oil or eggs and still makes a nice sandwich bread that the kids will eat. No, make that devour. I made one recipe (which is two loaves) the other night for supper to go along with spaghetti and they had both loaves gone by bedtime. So here is the recipe:

French Bread Using a Bread Machine
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
4 cups bread flour
1 1/3 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon clover honey (or any type you prefer)
1 1/2 cups water

Add ingredients in the order listed to your bread machine, set the machine on dough cycle.

After the machine does all the work, take the dough out and divide in half. Take one half and DO NOT KNEAD. Resist the urge! Just tuck under one long end, like you were going to roll a long pumpkin roll. Set it in a loaf pan and let it rise for about 45 minutes. (I heat up a small coffee cup of hot water in the microwave and create a nice warm place for the loaves to rise right in the microwave. That way, no matter how many times the kids open and shut the kitchen door letting in the cold air, my bread will rise.)

After rising for about 45 minutes, Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 18 minutes.

Cool until you can cut it, if you can wait that long.

Of course, you could just leave it all in the bread maker, but I find it easier to cut in smaller loaves. Just set the breadmaker on light or regular loaf.

Enjoy!

oops! I messed up. these pictures aren't my French Bread, they are from my Semi-Whole Wheat Bread. I'll post that recipe soon, I promise!

About Them Apples. . . .part III

Ok, enough with the apples! just joking, I am very grateful for them. My next project is to make cider vinegar. I have tried this before, but let it set for too long and it just turned into a big mess.

First, I took a large jar and sterilized it with hot water.

Next, the apple peelings and cores were set, not pressed, into the jar, leaving room for air pockets.

I then added a very, very tiny pinch of bread yeast.

I let it set on the counter for a day, uncovered.

(Note here: there will be fruit flies. think of them as tiny bees, bringing their own kind of pollen (yeast found naturally in the air). Sounds gross, but just think of how sourdough bread needs wild yeast from the air.)

After a day of setting out, I gave it a jiggle to let the fruit flies fly away. Gave it a good stir, getting as much air in it as possible.

Covered with piece of t-shirt tied on with a rubberband.

Set it next to the grape vinegar experiment on the counter where it's a bit dark, but still warm from the breadmaker that's next to them.

Now I let it sit.
Will let you know how it turns out!

About Them Apples. . .part II

Planned on just throwing the apple scraps to the chickens, but just couldn't do it. So after freezing about a dozen quart bags of apple slices for apple pie or such later, I focused my attention on making pectin. Not the white granulated kind, but the liquid kind. Hopefully I can get enough pectin to use for the grape jelly.

I took a boatload of apple peelings and cores and cooked them on low for the WHOLE day. I added water occasionally, just enough to keep it from burning. I stirred it often and by the end of the day I had very little to work with. After cooling, I strained it thru an old t-shirt. It turned out to leave me 3.75 cups of pectin. Since I wasn't ready to use it right now, I froze it and I will have to boil it down for about 8 minutes when I need it.

All the directions I can find say to use about 1 cup boiled down pectin per 1 quart of berries/fruit. I will update you on if this works. So far I am not convinced this is worth the effort, due to the fact I didn't get a whole lot of pectin, but I am glad I at least know how to do this, you know, in case that strange granulated stuff ever goes missing from the store.

About Them Apples. . . .

I was talking to my neighbor last week and he said I could have all the apples on his tree. Cool! I spent a couple of days picking them, trying to process them as I picked, but I was soon overloaded with apples. I don't know what kind they are, but they seemed a bit tart, like a Granny Smith. I am so excited! Now I am off to the kitchen, see you in a couple of days!

About Those Grapes. . .

I was talking with my neighbor the other day and he said he would be picking his grapes soon. He has a nice arbor and wanted to make grape juice out of them. But. . . .the very next day his wife came over and told me I could have them all. Cool! So the not-so-little one and I picked a box full of them and I spent the day/night cooking them down to make juice. I will probably freeze the juice until I have time to make jelly later.

I was going to throw the scraps out to the chickens, but. . . well you know me, couldn't I use them for something?

Smack on the head! What was I thinking!

Vinegar!

Well, I haven't actually tried this before, but, hey, it couldn't hurt to try. Not much on the internet as far as directions go, but I figure it can't be much different than apple cider vinegar.

So, I filled the jars almost full with grape peels, seeds, leftover pulp.

Added sterilized lukewarm water, just to the top of the peels.

Added a tiny, tiny pinch of bread yeast.

Let it sit uncovered for a day, stirring a couple of times to incorporate air.

Covered it with a piece of old t-shirt tied on with a rubberband.

Put it on the counter where I have a warm, dark place.

Now I wait. I think about 8 weeks should be enough time. I might stir it a couple of times, but other than that, I just hope not to forget out it! Update in 8 weeks.

side note: I guess I could have picked out all the grape seeds and then pressed them to make grape seed oil, but. . . . . I found grape seed oil at Wally's World, 24 oz. for $3.69, so I didn't think that picking out all the seeds would have been a good use of my time, would you?

Yellow Mayo

I made mayonnaise this morning with some of the little eggs the new ladies laid this week.I have been letting them graze in the yard as much as possible the past couple of weeks and let me tell you what, those egg yolks are SOOOO orange! So orange, in fact, that the mayonnaise turned yellow. That's no yolk, I mean joke! Maybe I can convince you to try making some, just think of all the preservatives you won't be eating!

Please ignore my messy counter.
I did add some paprika, like I usually do, but. . . .

A store bought, white hamburger bun. . . .

Hamburger bun with homemade mayo. Not convinced?

Store mayo on the right, homemade on the left. Enough said, here is the recipe.

1 whole egg (pastured egg of course!)

1/2 ts. dry mustard

pinch of sea salt

2 TBS white vinegar or lemon juice

dash paprika

1 cup vegetable oil ( or 1/4 cup olive oil and 3/4 cup canola oil)

Add egg, mustard, salt, vinegar, paprika and 1/4 cup oil in blender and blend on medium for 2 minutes.

Scrap down the inside of blender.

Slowly (the slower the better) add/blend the rest of the oil.

That's it.

I usually use lemon juice and no olive oil.

I am impatient and cheat when adding the oil. I use a funnel lined with a coffee filter that I put a very, very tiny pin hole in. I then pour all of the oil in the funnel, set the funnel in the blender lid hole, and let it drip thru the filter while I walk away.

Enjoy!

Seed Saver

Hello. My name is Me and I have a confession.

I am a seed hoarder.

Hidden away in the depths of a corner cupboard, you will find. . .

poppy seeds from my mother's old house (she moved 7 years ago)

dill seeds from my grandpa (at least 15 years old)

and. . . wait for it. . .

a packet of turnip seeds found in my grandma's junk drawer dated

1972.

Anyone want to start a support group? I have seeds. . . . .

Planning The Next Garden

Well, it's that time of year for me. Tired of this year's garden's mishaps and ready plan next year's garden.

This year's garden produced about 2 dozen green peppers, just enough field corn to save for seed for next year's crop, 1 very small cucumber that I just threw to the chickens, and so many cherry tomatoes that I just ended up turning the chickens into the garden to eat them all. A few onions, parsley,chives, thyme, and oregano, alot of dill, 1 small pumpkin for decoration only, and 1 acorn squash.

Goals for next year's garden:

organize my herb garden better

grow field corn for the chickens (and for decorations) with squash and beans, I think this is called the "three sisters"

sunflowers for seed for the chickens and rabbits

grow more carrots

can enough tomatoes to last til next year

What goals do you have for next year's garden?

Pardon My Mess

Please excuse my mess of a blog lately, I am trying some new fonts and what-not. I am having trouble with spacing, so my posts seem extremely long also. I promise I will find what I like soon and get back to blogging.

Quick Thoughts

Was browning some sausage crumbles in my cast iron skillet and found my mind wandering. I wonder how much energy I save every time I use them?

• 
  
  
  Cast iron skillets browns meat on level 3, other skillets I have to turn it up to 5 or 6.



• 
  
  
  Cast iron skillets can be turned off before the food is totally done, the pan stays heated in for a long time.



• 
  
  
  Cast iron skillets can be wiped clean and doesn't have to be washed with water every time you use it.

As obsessed as I am with saving cents, I don't have time to figure this all out. I must be saving something. Ok, back to supper. Homemade pizza and breadsticks tonight!

Gggrrrrrrr!!!!

I try really, really hard to be organized. I am not.

I have a desk sized calendar that I hang on the wall, it has plenty of room to write everything on.

I try to find a free or really cheap daytimer that fits in my purse and work very long and hard at not losing it and writing everything in it.

Nothing works.

Sometimes it is my fault.

Sometimes it is my family's fault.

I try not to lay blame on others and just move on.

This time, it is not my fault.

I broke down and spent $2 on a purse sized daytimer at one of those dollar stores. I don't know what came over me, it was a pretty bright green and the right size and I splurged.

I spent days writing in my daytimer, (thank goodness in pencil) planning, counting out rabbit gestation periods, egg hatching dates, birthdays, parent teacher meeting dates, etc, etc.

And then I saw it. In very tiny, very light print, the month of April 2012 said that Easter is on the 24th.

Wait, wasn't Easter on April 24th this year?

Look it up.

I'll wait for you.

Seriously, go look.

I'm still waiting.

Yes, yes it was. So what? ?. . . .

Soooo. . . April 24, 2012 is on a Tuesday. According to my daytimer, Easter this coming year is on a Tuesday.

Maybe this doesn't seem like much of a misprint to you, but I plan alot of bunny breeding around Easter's date. When I first saw this mistake, I just thought that Easter was just the Sunday before the 24th. I was in the van on a 10 hour trip, so there was no way for me to check, D's cell phone calendar didn't say when Easter was, so I just went ahead with the assumption that Easter was on the 22nd. After surviving a 10 hour ride with three kids, a flat tire, a very scary almost accident, I forgot to look Easter 2012 up on the computer when I got home.

Ok, maybe this is my fault.

At least I realized this all before I started breeding rabbits 2 weeks late, missing Easter.

I need an industrial sized eraser.

I am not buying it at the dollar store.

Bunny Update

Got a call about my bunnies today, the man should be here Thursday to get the last 8. I will be keeping 1 to breed in the spring. I am glad/sad to see them go. Glad because they are eating me out of house and home, and sad because they are such cute, friendly things. For some reason this litter got out twice, but would hop right up to me so I could catch them fairly easily.

I still have 6 New Zealand kits left, but I'm not going to sell them for awhile. My youngest should be getting into 4H this fall, and will need one or two for the fair. For some reason, my New Zealands and Jake the dog are rarely very photogenic, so please excuse my lame photos of them.

Self-Seeding Tomatoes

As much as I tried, the garden didn't get started this year. But the heritage cherry tomato seeds I bought a couple of years ago are still self seeding themselves and took over the entire garden this year. Too bad the lettuce I grew in the herb garden tasted like tissue paper. I could have had salads for the whole neighborhood.

In Limbo

Due to a bunch of things happening all at once, I quit my job.

Scary.

Then I ended up at the store.

Where I found a ten pound bag of potatoes.

$6.99

Yes, that's right, $6.99 for a ten pound bag of taters.

More Scary.

A couple of days later I was back at the store and found the egg section practically empty. Thinking there had been a sale on eggs, I scanned the prices.

$2.39

Yes, that's right, $2.39 for a dozen of large eggs.

Not scary.

What?

Because I got this today.

It's the first egg from the new hens, small in comparison to the old girls' eggs, but . . . .


it's hope.

Hope that maybe I can sell all of my extra eggs quickly and things will be alright.

D even said someone at his work is already asking about eggs.

Am I "counting my eggs before their hatched?"

Day 241: Back to Posting

Well, it's back to school time, so maybe I can start blogging again!

About The Puff Tails. . .

I haven't said much about my rabbits here, but I raise New Zealand Whites and some mixed breeds, called San Juans. I didn't breed the rabbits as planned this spring, due to the fact I needed to get the barn built before I added any new rabbits. But now it is up and the twitch-whiskers are slowly moving into their new home.

My only first generation NZ doe died this spring, so I am starting all over again with my original pair of NZ. Iscicle (I know, I spelled that wrong, but I mis-spelled it on her nest box with permanent marker, so it is what it is) looked like she would have a boatload of babies this time around, but she only had 6. I might even have a buyer for them all. I have to call the lady to see if she is still interested.

The San Juans faired a bit better, with one doe raising 8, then losing the next litter of 8, and another doe raising 4, and now raising the next litter of 8. What's better, is that I sold all of the first litters already and have 3, yes three, buyers lined up for the next batch.

So far, I have the rabbits two cages high on the north side of the barn, and still have to move the bucks in on the south side of the barn. I had planned on enclosing the ends of the barn in, each end with a door and 2 windows, but need to change that so I can take advantage of the natural ventilation that is occurring from the wind that blows up the mountain, right thru the barn. I'm thinking of something like the end with the wooden lattice work here:

picture courtesy of Steven Sumrall Sr.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1388714874#!/media/set/?set=p.165628700175471&type=1

Am soooo excited about this barn! Thank you Dad! Love you

Free Food

A couple of years ago I heard that the big city near us offered free lunches for the kids during the summer. It was too far to drive to make it worthwhile.

This summer I found out our little town was being offered also. We missed a couple of days, but the days we went, the food was good and surprise, surprise, the food was offered to adults also. The biggest surprise is that each family is given a bag of groceries on Fridays.

I hope they do this again next year, it was a good reason to go to the park and play with friends.

Finally!

Coupons, coupons, coupons. I have been trying very hard to get this coupon thing to work. I haven't done too bad, a few free things here and there, but overall, I was beginning to think it just wasn't going to ever work out like on Extreme Couponers.

But . . . . .

Wait, wrong picture. I did not have a coupon for a kitten, but we did get her for free.

Someone is a photo hog.
Alright, Delilah the Cat! Move! I'm trying to talk about couponing here, not how cute kittens are.

Now for the low down. Most of this not edible, but hey, clean toilets for free is something!

28 candy bars (mysteriously, 4 are already missing) (Oh, and these are for our upcoming vacation, 10 hours one way in a van. I use anything I can to make it thru that.)

6 ct. bag of scrubby sponges

2 small bags of candy

1 jar of peanuts

1 box of toasted oats cereal

4 pounds of sugar

bag of chocolate chips

2 -2 liters of Mt. Dew

12 ct. box of microwave popcorn

2 small bags of chips

2 cans of fancy shaving cream

1 bottle of hairspray

1 bottle of fancy liquid body soap

bag of birthday ballons

1 toothbrush

2 rolls of bandage tape

bottle of Swiffer mop cleaner liquid

box of Swiffer mop pads

Airwick automatic spray dispenser

Airwick refill for the dispenser

11 bottles of Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner

3 bottles Lysol cleaner with bleach

8 bottles Lysol counter spray

I think that's it. For a total value of about $126.00.

$126.00

I came home with $6 in my pocket.

Let me rephrase that.

The store gave me $6 to take this all home.

I didn't pay a cent for any of this.
Thank you Lord!

Egg Cartons

These cartons are cute, but too pricey for me.

http://www.eggcartons.com/Ovotherm-Glass-Clear-Starpack-6-Egg-Carton-w_Label/productinfo/OVP-6SP/

Pocket Change

When the well’s dry, they know the worth of water.- Benjamin Franklin

I'm a Winner!

Entered a store drawing and won $25 gift certificate. Cool.

Spent it on hamburger mostly, on sale of course.

Peanut Butter

Got 16 oz. jars of peanut butter for 92 cents a piece. Best price on pb in about a year. Could only get 5 of them, but that should keep us for a month or so. I already have about 2 dozen other jars on the shelf, so didn't fret about only being able to get 5 jars at this time.

Now I have got to find some recipes that use pb that doesn't involve jelly and bread.

Pocket Change

Frugality – Prudent economy; that careful management of anything valuable which expends nothing unnecessarily, and applies what is used to a profitable purpose; thrift; — opposed to extravagance.



from Copyright © 2011 PickTheBrain Motivation and Self Improvement

Epiphany

Every once in a while a person has an epiphany. I had one a couple of years ago when I realized that because I don't have enough garden space for all the tomatoes my family needs for the entire year, that is not a failure. If we use 100 tomatoes a year and only grow 50, that means we have to buy only 50, not 100.

That was a huge step for me, getting my head past the fact that I can't do something 100%, only 50%. (which is a failing grade on the school grading scale.) I had to look at it differently, seeing that I can cut out 50% of the tomatoes I have to buy at the store.

Now I came to another epiphany, courtesy of Leigh from 5 Acres & A Dream, here at

http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/2011/06/economics-of-food-self-sufficiency.html

In a nutshell, Leigh says,
"For the homesteader, the questions about raising one's own food should be personal and ethical, not financial and economical. "

Wow.

Just read the article and you'll see what I mean.

RIP PollyAnna

PollyAnna was always the first at the feeder.

And always the photo hog.

The lightest-colored of the bunch of Red Stars, she was the easiest to spot.

My favorite hen PollyAnna, has passed away. She was a Red Star mix, just 2 years old. She has been acting poorly off and on since spring, not laying any eggs and losing weight, but usually bouncing back after a couple of days on cider vinegar water. I know when she is not well, she doesn't leave my side when I am in the yard. Yesterday, she came out of the coop, but went back in after a bit. I thought maybe it was just cooler in there, seeing as it was in the low 90's yesterday.

But I found her this morning. So sad.

Update On the New Chickens

I haven't posted much about the new chicks. I am enjoying them so very much! As a whole, they have moved outdoors now and have learned to fly up into the nest boxes. Individually, I have learned that each breed is truly very different. All the research I did on breed characteristics was in vain, none of them have turned out what I thought.

The 5 Barred Rocks are much bigger than the rest at this stage (2 1/2 months old.)

The Golden Comets are very much more outgoing than the rest, they were the first to fly, first to greet me at the gate, and the first to investigate a bug or new green leaf.

The Rhode Island Reds follow right behind the Red Stars, but will not let me pet them as easily.

The 2 White Leghorns are so very pretty, so white, they remind me of a white dove. They even seem graceful in a way.

Lastly, the Welsummers hens remind me of red-tailed hawks, very stand-offish, not to be petted(please excuse the bad photo, they are not photogenic either.).

I am at odds what to do with the extra rooster. I bought a Welsummer rooster (above)in hopes to hatch out some Welsummer eggs next spring, but I also got a Rhode Island Rooster, either as a mistake from the hatchery, or maybe the hatchery thought the one extra chick they always throw in there should be a Rhode Island Red roo to go along with the RIR hens I bought. Either/Or, I think 30 hens shared by 2 roos is a decent ratio, but do I really need an extra roo? Maybe hatch out RIR chicks to sell next spring? I went to a garage sale and ran into a lady who is looking for a RIR rooster, so maybe I will sell him to her.

These new hens should start laying in late September. My hens usually average out to .75 eggs a day, so I could find myself easily swimming (or drowning) in 20 eggs a day. Note to self: quit procrastinating and find egg cartons!

Growing Up

It's sort of a sad/happy day when you realize the little chicks have stopped "peeping" and are now clucking. But no peeping means they are just that much closer to suprising you with their first egg. Whoo Hoo!

Summer Break

Due to the extreme busy-ness of our lives in the past couple of weeks, I have been forced to take a break from blogging. I promise as soon as I get a day off (HA!) I will be writing some more. I am having withdrawals from blogging, writing in my head, so hopefully I get a vacation day soon. Enjoy your summer and please enjoy these photos of possible upcoming posts.