Well, it has been busy around here again. Between chasing the boy for scouts and marching band, we are also starting to think about the holiday season. And we have started a new learning experience toward self sufficiency. We have started home brewing.
I know it sounds just a bit nuts, but it is one of those things that if they economy really does tank completely, we will have something available that we will not have to buy. The ingredients aren't that expensive and it is more learning the process than having vast quantities of beer and wine around the house. It will get used eventually. And it is kinda fun. Now we just have to see how it turns out.
I have also been trying to use up all of the yarn I have hanging around the house. I have made something like 25 hats in the last few weeks and several scarves to go with them. These will probably be Christmas gifts for friends and family. They didn't cost much, look nice and are actually useful. Much better than giving a gift that will just collect dust or take up space in a closet until a yard sale happens. I still have lots of yarn left, most of them small or partial skeins, so I may just make hats until I run out of yarn and donate them to a homeless shelter or something. At least it gives me something to do and gets rid of some of the "stuff" hanging around the house.
I also recently completed an afghan for my sister-in-law. She was the last one in the family to get one and I felt really bad about it taking so long to get one made for her. So it is an especially nice one. I got some really expensive yarn from a clearance rack for about $1.50 a skein. So I made a $70 (retail price for the yarn) afghan for about $18 dollars. I thought that was a very good deal on a very nice, soft, cuddly blanket.
Being "crafty" gives me a lot of satisfaction. Handmade gifts seem to be appreciated, they are less expensive than the store-bought versions, and it gives me something to do.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Making Diapers
Well, it looks like i will be back in the diaper making business. My husband's nephew is going to have a baby in the spring. They are so excited. They have been married for 9 years and had given up being able to get pregnant. Now that they are, they don't know what to do with themselves.
They don't have a lot of money so we are going to do whatever we can to help them out. Cloth diapers will help a long way to saving them a lot of money, so that is what I am going to do.
I had made up a bunch, like 2 dozen, for a friend of ours who became a grandpa last Spring. They use a lot of disposables too, but now that Max has grown some, the diapers I made for him fit now. I think they are going to pass them back to us after he has outgrown them so Greg and Brandy can use them as well.
I like making the diapers. It only takes about half an hour to put one together and the materials aren't that expensive. Maybe $2.50 each. But the fact that it can be used over and over is a major plus on the money side. 20 diapers at $2.50 each is about $50. So if you figure that the baby can use each size for about 4-5 months, that is a big savings over disposables. Disposables might be only 36 cents (or so) each, but if you change your baby 5-6 times a day or more, that is $2.16 a day in something you are going to throw away. You can invest the $2.50 each in cloth diapers, and in less than a month, they have paid for themselves. And the cloth diapers are just too cute.
They don't have a lot of money so we are going to do whatever we can to help them out. Cloth diapers will help a long way to saving them a lot of money, so that is what I am going to do.
I had made up a bunch, like 2 dozen, for a friend of ours who became a grandpa last Spring. They use a lot of disposables too, but now that Max has grown some, the diapers I made for him fit now. I think they are going to pass them back to us after he has outgrown them so Greg and Brandy can use them as well.
I like making the diapers. It only takes about half an hour to put one together and the materials aren't that expensive. Maybe $2.50 each. But the fact that it can be used over and over is a major plus on the money side. 20 diapers at $2.50 each is about $50. So if you figure that the baby can use each size for about 4-5 months, that is a big savings over disposables. Disposables might be only 36 cents (or so) each, but if you change your baby 5-6 times a day or more, that is $2.16 a day in something you are going to throw away. You can invest the $2.50 each in cloth diapers, and in less than a month, they have paid for themselves. And the cloth diapers are just too cute.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
The daily grind
There is still an awful lot of stuff going on here. Both of the kids are back in school, only one of which is still here, and it seems I STILL have some house cleaning to do from all of the renovations we have done in the last month. The laundry is finally caught back up and the dishes are getting done every day.
Today, I got the joy of sitting in the doctor's office for three hours with an IV stuck in my arm and had to give them large sums for the privilege. But in a day or two, I will not hurt so much. But it is looking like I will be having surgery on my wrist at some point before the end of the year. Won't that be fun?
And to top everything off, my husband's uncle is in a coma and has hung on almost 48 hours longer than the Hospice folks said he would. So, the black suits and dresses have been dry cleaned and are ready to be packed for a quick trip to Fort Worth any day.
We were given a bag of tomatoes and jalapenos yesterday, so I made salsa and I dried the majority of the peppers. Not really sure what I will do with them. We don't eat a lot of jalapenos, but I am sure I will find some use for them, sooner or later.
I guess it is a good thing that , along with everything else, I have some easy meals either canned or frozen. I do not feel like cooking tonight.
Today, I got the joy of sitting in the doctor's office for three hours with an IV stuck in my arm and had to give them large sums for the privilege. But in a day or two, I will not hurt so much. But it is looking like I will be having surgery on my wrist at some point before the end of the year. Won't that be fun?
And to top everything off, my husband's uncle is in a coma and has hung on almost 48 hours longer than the Hospice folks said he would. So, the black suits and dresses have been dry cleaned and are ready to be packed for a quick trip to Fort Worth any day.
We were given a bag of tomatoes and jalapenos yesterday, so I made salsa and I dried the majority of the peppers. Not really sure what I will do with them. We don't eat a lot of jalapenos, but I am sure I will find some use for them, sooner or later.
I guess it is a good thing that , along with everything else, I have some easy meals either canned or frozen. I do not feel like cooking tonight.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
July was crazy
OK, So I have been a little lax in the blogging department lately. I have been rather busy canning, chasing my kids around, wrecking my truck, and putting in a wood floor. My house is still trashed from having to move everything out of the den to lay the floor and I just can't seem to make myself want to put everything away now that the floor is finished. *sigh*
And we have been eating out a lot. We have had company stay over so we go out instead of cooking and that has been really expensive. So we are going to have to really buckle down and focus on the money thing again. I canned enough food so that we will not have to go to the store too much, except for things like sugar and milk, but I just don't want to start using that stuff yet for some reason. Maybe I am just so sick of looking at it all that I don't want to dig through the jars to find something for dinner. It is, after all, stacked up in boxes in the bedroom waiting for a permanent home. Something else I have to do.
This is the last weekend that my sweet, little, bald-headed baby girl will be living at home. She moves into her college dorm on the 22nd. I have a feeling that I will be torn between very sad and relieved that we have finished our job raising her. It just won't be the same without her here making little noises and "Kramer-ing" out of her bedroom. Very Sad.
Band practice started last week for the boy. He has to get fitted for his uniform today. He is really thrilled about that. But that is part of it. Football games in the sleet. Or thunderstorms. Or hot and humid. In a wool uniform. Parades. Contests. Ahhh, those were the days. I remember them fondly.
After school starts back, things will settle back down to some semblance of normal.
Hopefully.
And we have been eating out a lot. We have had company stay over so we go out instead of cooking and that has been really expensive. So we are going to have to really buckle down and focus on the money thing again. I canned enough food so that we will not have to go to the store too much, except for things like sugar and milk, but I just don't want to start using that stuff yet for some reason. Maybe I am just so sick of looking at it all that I don't want to dig through the jars to find something for dinner. It is, after all, stacked up in boxes in the bedroom waiting for a permanent home. Something else I have to do.
This is the last weekend that my sweet, little, bald-headed baby girl will be living at home. She moves into her college dorm on the 22nd. I have a feeling that I will be torn between very sad and relieved that we have finished our job raising her. It just won't be the same without her here making little noises and "Kramer-ing" out of her bedroom. Very Sad.
Band practice started last week for the boy. He has to get fitted for his uniform today. He is really thrilled about that. But that is part of it. Football games in the sleet. Or thunderstorms. Or hot and humid. In a wool uniform. Parades. Contests. Ahhh, those were the days. I remember them fondly.
After school starts back, things will settle back down to some semblance of normal.
Hopefully.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
July 4th in all of its Glory
Well, the 4th is finally over and a very chaotic weekend it was. The gang, all 14 of them, descended upon our house for the holiday. That is approximately 100sf per person in our small house. And it necessitated a lot of cleaning. Fortunately, my husband was off of work on Friday, so he and the kids were cleaning dervishes.
My son had spent the week moving everything out of his room and painting. It was a major redecoration of his personal space that involved getting rid of all of his furniture except 1 bookcase. He wanted to add a small sofa so we picked one out when we picked out the paint color. Since he had finished painting Thursday night, we went Friday morning to actually buy it. It had sold the day before. Crushed! So we spent the next 3 hours driving to every furniture store in town looking for a different one. We finally, finally found one almost identical to the one he had picked out, and it was even cheaper than the one he wanted. It wouldn't fit in the truck with the bed cover on, so for 25$ they delivered it. It wouldn't fit through his 28 inch door frame. He was crushed. Again. So back out to find something smaller. He settled for a recliner instead. We got it home and in place with about 30 minutes to spare.
The first night we had dinner for 11. Home made pizza. It went over very well. The baby had his own dinner. So after we cleaned up the kitchen, we had games for the adults. Until around 3 am. It was a very long day for me.
On Saturday, we had 3 more arrive. That made our 14. Dinner on the grill. And games. And several empty wine bottles. It rained so no fireworks, sadly, but I don't think we missed them. We were all too busy to notice. And we needed the rain.
Early Sunday, 4 of our party had to leave. They were getting ready to drive to Florida for a vacation on Monday and had to get packed. So the remaining wife and I went to Big Lots for some light shopping while the husbands and a couple of the kids (teens really) played a game. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, she found some furniture that they had been looking for much cheaper (like 75% off) than they would normally be able to buy it. We called the husbands for advice (interrupting the game) and they agreed to join us in the parking lot to load the furniture. Hilarity ensued. Queen sized mattress and box springs, twin mattress, and a click clack sofa most of which was on top of a minivan. We put the twin mattress in the back of the truck and we all drove back to our house. Several trips to the dollar store to get bungee cords and tie down straps. And it all managed to get attached to the van for the three hour drive home. That evening, the wife, the daughter, the baby, and the boyfriend/fiance left leaving us with 7.
My hubby had taken Monday off for the holiday as well, so we enjoyed some more visiting time. I still had a box of tomatoes to do something with so I ran them through the blender and started adding things to it and cooked it down. 5 Quarts of spaghetti sauce. The last 3 finally had to leave around 3pm. They didn't want to be carrying mattresses down the interstate after dark. Then the daughter left to spend the night with a friend. Finally a quiet evening.
Almost too quiet.
My son had spent the week moving everything out of his room and painting. It was a major redecoration of his personal space that involved getting rid of all of his furniture except 1 bookcase. He wanted to add a small sofa so we picked one out when we picked out the paint color. Since he had finished painting Thursday night, we went Friday morning to actually buy it. It had sold the day before. Crushed! So we spent the next 3 hours driving to every furniture store in town looking for a different one. We finally, finally found one almost identical to the one he had picked out, and it was even cheaper than the one he wanted. It wouldn't fit in the truck with the bed cover on, so for 25$ they delivered it. It wouldn't fit through his 28 inch door frame. He was crushed. Again. So back out to find something smaller. He settled for a recliner instead. We got it home and in place with about 30 minutes to spare.
The first night we had dinner for 11. Home made pizza. It went over very well. The baby had his own dinner. So after we cleaned up the kitchen, we had games for the adults. Until around 3 am. It was a very long day for me.
On Saturday, we had 3 more arrive. That made our 14. Dinner on the grill. And games. And several empty wine bottles. It rained so no fireworks, sadly, but I don't think we missed them. We were all too busy to notice. And we needed the rain.
Early Sunday, 4 of our party had to leave. They were getting ready to drive to Florida for a vacation on Monday and had to get packed. So the remaining wife and I went to Big Lots for some light shopping while the husbands and a couple of the kids (teens really) played a game. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, she found some furniture that they had been looking for much cheaper (like 75% off) than they would normally be able to buy it. We called the husbands for advice (interrupting the game) and they agreed to join us in the parking lot to load the furniture. Hilarity ensued. Queen sized mattress and box springs, twin mattress, and a click clack sofa most of which was on top of a minivan. We put the twin mattress in the back of the truck and we all drove back to our house. Several trips to the dollar store to get bungee cords and tie down straps. And it all managed to get attached to the van for the three hour drive home. That evening, the wife, the daughter, the baby, and the boyfriend/fiance left leaving us with 7.
My hubby had taken Monday off for the holiday as well, so we enjoyed some more visiting time. I still had a box of tomatoes to do something with so I ran them through the blender and started adding things to it and cooked it down. 5 Quarts of spaghetti sauce. The last 3 finally had to leave around 3pm. They didn't want to be carrying mattresses down the interstate after dark. Then the daughter left to spend the night with a friend. Finally a quiet evening.
Almost too quiet.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Jars, Jars, everywhere...
It is canning time again. I think I have mentioned that already, but I mention it again because it has really started up now. Yesterday I canned blueberries. Today I am canning beans. Tomorrow I may can tomatoes. This is the time of year to stock up for the winter.
So far this month I have canned beef, chicken, beans, cherries, blueberries, and now beans. I hope to do a lot more beans, corn, peas, carrots, and whatever else I can find to put in a jar.
I have dried potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, peppers, strawberries, and made fruit leather and jerky. So far. I hope to do some more jerky and vegetables. I might dry some more fruit this year as well.
With the cost of food steadily rising, and no end in site, it can only be a good thing to be prepared. And I actually have fun putting everything away for a rainy day. We never know when the power will go out, or if my husband will lose his job. These are all things that having a supply of food in the house will help with. We won'd have to worry about having enough to eat. And since I am growing part of this myself, it is costing us only the seeds. That is a much better way to ensure you are eating healthy and not getting a bunch of preservatives in your food.
My biggest problem is where to store everything. If I try to can, dry, or freeze everything we will need for a year, I just won't have enough space, even using all of the closets, to put everything. A year's worth of food takes up a lot of room.
Since I try to find things when they are on sale and stock up, maybe I should look for another one of those diy cabinets with the doors on it. The one I have now, that I am using as a sewing storage/food pantry, is already full. And it is only mid June. By August, I will have jars, bags, and shelves overflowing.
But it is always better to be prepared than to be caught unaware.
So far this month I have canned beef, chicken, beans, cherries, blueberries, and now beans. I hope to do a lot more beans, corn, peas, carrots, and whatever else I can find to put in a jar.
I have dried potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, peppers, strawberries, and made fruit leather and jerky. So far. I hope to do some more jerky and vegetables. I might dry some more fruit this year as well.
With the cost of food steadily rising, and no end in site, it can only be a good thing to be prepared. And I actually have fun putting everything away for a rainy day. We never know when the power will go out, or if my husband will lose his job. These are all things that having a supply of food in the house will help with. We won'd have to worry about having enough to eat. And since I am growing part of this myself, it is costing us only the seeds. That is a much better way to ensure you are eating healthy and not getting a bunch of preservatives in your food.
My biggest problem is where to store everything. If I try to can, dry, or freeze everything we will need for a year, I just won't have enough space, even using all of the closets, to put everything. A year's worth of food takes up a lot of room.
Since I try to find things when they are on sale and stock up, maybe I should look for another one of those diy cabinets with the doors on it. The one I have now, that I am using as a sewing storage/food pantry, is already full. And it is only mid June. By August, I will have jars, bags, and shelves overflowing.
But it is always better to be prepared than to be caught unaware.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Grandma's Attic...so to speak
We are back from the Ridge after getting my daughter's college orientation completed. It is an exciting time for her. She turned 18 last week and can now officially be considered an adult. I am just getting old. It will be hard to let her go, but she has her wings now and I have to let her fly.
We also spent some time with my mother helping her clean up in my grandmother's house. 50 years worth of accumulated "stuff" sitting, for the last 10 years, in an empty house. It is amazing just how much daily clutter sits in random cupboards and drawers. I think we found about 30 pairs of scissors.
It was actually very sad to be in her house. It seems so much smaller than when I was a child. And there wasn't the warm sunlight streaming in that I always loved when I was a kid. Maybe it was because it was just so...empty feeling. It wasn't like going to Grandma's House. It was like rummaging through some stranger's house, trying to find things of value. I just kept shaking my head, wondering why Grandma would keep some of the things she did. Just how many rolls of electrical tape did she need anyway?
We didn't have enough room to take everything that needed to be taken from the house. We will probably just need to rent a trailer and load it up to bring it home. There is going to have to be some serious work done on the house before it is habitable again. The ice storm in January really did a number on it. I am not really sure the structure is worth saving anymore. There is just so much damage to the roof, a piece of the ceiling collapsed in the living room, the add-on that housed the hot water heater is open to the elements now, and all of the outbuildings have either fallen in or are about to. Regardless, if there is anything in it that needs to be saved, it will have to be removed soon or it will be lost forever.
Needless to say, I had a difficult weekend.
We also spent some time with my mother helping her clean up in my grandmother's house. 50 years worth of accumulated "stuff" sitting, for the last 10 years, in an empty house. It is amazing just how much daily clutter sits in random cupboards and drawers. I think we found about 30 pairs of scissors.
It was actually very sad to be in her house. It seems so much smaller than when I was a child. And there wasn't the warm sunlight streaming in that I always loved when I was a kid. Maybe it was because it was just so...empty feeling. It wasn't like going to Grandma's House. It was like rummaging through some stranger's house, trying to find things of value. I just kept shaking my head, wondering why Grandma would keep some of the things she did. Just how many rolls of electrical tape did she need anyway?
We didn't have enough room to take everything that needed to be taken from the house. We will probably just need to rent a trailer and load it up to bring it home. There is going to have to be some serious work done on the house before it is habitable again. The ice storm in January really did a number on it. I am not really sure the structure is worth saving anymore. There is just so much damage to the roof, a piece of the ceiling collapsed in the living room, the add-on that housed the hot water heater is open to the elements now, and all of the outbuildings have either fallen in or are about to. Regardless, if there is anything in it that needs to be saved, it will have to be removed soon or it will be lost forever.
Needless to say, I had a difficult weekend.
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