Early August Blessings

August has begun and life is full.  I feel so blessed!  And it is just starting.  School for our oldest is going well.  The younger two start this week.  We are looking forward to a return to the children's ministries at church later this month.  Youth group activities will begin soon as well.  Summer vacation has been wonderful, now it is time to get back to it.

I ♡ Antique Malls

I think I've mentioned before that I do not enjoy shopping.  Recently I rediscovered that isn't exactly true. I had forgotten how much I enjoy antique malls.

One lovely fall day, we spent 3 hours walking around, looking at and remembering things we had long ago. Oh, if only I knew way back then that my unwanted junk would be worth so much now!

We did bring home a few treasures. We found an upholstered ottoman,  4 mugs to match our 70's Correll,  and a couple Christmas tree ornaments. My 12 year old son used birthday money to buy a knife. And, many of the vendors gave a 30% discount for cash!

 This particular mall is 40 minutes away, near a favoriye park, making it a good day trip stop. We will be back! I have my eye on a Pyrex bowl set!

Drying Clothes and Tennis Balls

In my efforts to be frugal, I discovered a way to dry clothes without a softener sheet or adding softener to the rinse cycle.  A few years ago, we got a pair of dryer balls.  One of them ended up either lost or ripped, I can't remember. They were just OK, but really didn't help with static in the winter.  They were too light. 

Recently, I had to wash all of our down coats.  The tag said to use tennis balls to dry in the dryer.  I have done this before, no big deal, but this time it occurred to me that I could do this all the time, instead of fabric sheets. So, for the last month, I have been using 3 tennis balls in the dryer.  I also put a dry towel in there as well.

The static is no issue. The clothes are soft.  If I think of it, I sometimes put vinegar in the rinse cycle, but I don't think of it too often.  I'd like to have a dispenser.  Anyway, I thought I would write about this here in case anyone else was thinking of ditching fabric softeners. 

Purge!

'Tis the season to purge the kid's closets.  And, then go around trying to find clothes to replace some of the outgrown ones.  Thankfully, grandparents will  gift some clothes for Christmas.  And, thankfully my kids do not have crazy notions about being stylish, a perk of home education.

These overflowing bags will go to friends.  The one big bag will go to Goodwill.  Oh how I love to purge!

Late Summer Thoughts

This was a challenging summer.  The drought and heat took it's toll on all of us.  We were reminded that we are pretty much helpless without rain.  There is nothing we can do except pray and wait.  Thankfully, we got over an inch of rain this past weekend.  We are still many inches in deficit, unfortunately.  But, cooler weather and rain is in the forecast for tomorrow. 

Challenging is not always bad.  As my pastor says,"Life is hard, and hard is not bad. It's just hard."  I think part of the challenge was wanting to be carefree like the summers of my childhood.  That just isn't possible anymore.  I need to be OK with that.  Life is hard.  Hard is not bad.  It's hard. 

It wasn't a bad summer, really.  We got to do many things we enjoy.  We just didn't do as much as we planned.  All is not lost.  We have plenty of warm weather ahead of us.  Plenty of time to swim, camp, hike, grill outside, and general outside time.  Another great thing is that the bugs didn't bother us as much as usual, either, this summer. 

I suppose we are all a little wiser for this summer.  I certainly appreciate rain more than I ever imagined.  I recall being disappointed in rainy camping trips last summer. 

We learned how to keep plants alive, how to cool the house on a budget, how to rejoice over volunteer flowers when the seeds you carefully planted did not germinate.  We enjoyed a handful of green beans and a dozen cherry tomatoes!  We decided that farm markets were great, but not always in the budget. 

I think the best thing about this summer will turn out to be its end!  I am really looking forward to fall.  Perhaps healing rains will come.  Certainly the cooler air cannot stay away forever.  We hope to do a little fall camping, too.

Why I Made Bread During a Heatwave

Because, I went over budget for the birthday party, that's why!  It seems that I have a difficult time with budgeting for gatherings.  My usual method is to buy what I need with the regular grocery money (that only goes so far during a good week) and let my magical thinking process take over. 

Here's how it works.  I know that there is a celebration coming up.  I am already scrimping to get by, so I just decide to not think too much about it.  I delude myself into thinking the regular grocery money will cover all our regular needs in addition to the food, gifts, and supplies needed for 2 parties as well.  Then, I find myself rather discouraged when the items I bought exceed the resources available. 

I know the solution is to think farther in advance and to find ways to buy things or save a little money ahead of the need.  I know this.  But, I seem to be unable to put this plan into action, mostly because we are usually doing our best to stay close to budget with no extra to save. 

So, this is why I had to make bread today, during a heatwave!  I usually buy our bread from a local bakery that makes its bread from 5 ingredients, one being freshly ground flour.  It's pricey, but worth it to me, because I have one child who is a poor eater and he will eat this bread.  But he will also eat my bread.  I don't normally bake bread in the summer because it really heats up the house.  And right now, we're in a heat wave.  But you do what you have to do when you are out of bread and out of money to get more! 

The bottom line is that I need to budget better for these things.  They are not a surprise.  My children have regular birthdays.  I need to sit down and start planning right now for the next event coming up.  And I need to keep making bread in the summer!  It tastes great and is so much cheaper! 

Going Against the Grain

"Do you send your kids to camp?"  That was the question put before me last evening at a gathering of dear friends.  My first thought was the angst I feel in standing behind my choices to go against the grain.  "No, we don't have the money," is the brief answer I gave, taking the easy way out. 

It is true that we don't have the cash allocated to send our 3 children to camp for $300 a week, each.  But, if it was truly important to us, we'd find a way.  There are scholarships of $50 per child available, too. 

The real reason is that I don't have a desire to send them away for a week, even to a good church camp!  A lot of my friends do send their kids to camp and each year,and I see the frenzy it causes.  The list of things they need to bring is very long and expensive.  It causes a lot of running around to gather.  And then, there is the 3 hour round trip drive with gas to pay for. 

I know that the kids who go have a wonderful time and make great friends.  I don't look down on the decision to send their kids.  I just don't see the value in sending my own children.  It would lead to a lot of disruption and expense.  Therefore, it would not line up with my desire for a simple life. 

Besides, if we want to go camping, we want it to be as a family.  These days of having a family are quickly going to end. Our oldest is already 14!  I want to be purposeful with our time left.  I don't want our family fragmented, going in different directions.  This takes courage and commitment.  It is hard to go against the grain.  But it is good! 

Garden Progress

Compost pile getting some water.

Hollyhock patch, just waiting to sprout. 

Herb patch:  basil, chives, garlic, catnip, mint, lavender, and a lily. 

Cherry tomato seeds planted. 

Half broccoli, half red cabbage. 

Cherry tomatoes for friends, we hope. 

The whole garden area. 

Still to come.... strawberries!

Farm Market Season

Living in Indiana for most of my life, I know the growing season pretty well.  I know not to expect great things in early May.  However, last night I was a bit disappointed in the farm market.

Two weeks before there was a lot more offered, so I hoped it would always be so.  There were a couple of farmers there who used hoop houses to extend the season.  They did not seem to be there last night, so, I learned a lesson, to be more flexible.  Despite not finding more greens and vegetables, we did get some eggs and yogurt.  And it was a beautiful evening to be outside. 

I love the drive to the farm, too.  It's located in an area that I lived for 5 or so years when I was a little girl.  I used to ride my bike near the farm and fish in the creek with my dad.  I love this area that seems to be protected from urban sprawl, somehow.

We'll be back in a couple weeks to try again.  Next week the local city's farm market opens.  It's more like a festival, but still lots of vendors with great food.  I am looking forward to going.

Today we go get dirt to fill up the container garden and start seeds.  More on that later as well. 

Farm Market Time

Excuse the dark pictures, please.  It was a cloudy, cold morning!  But, we finally made it to a local farm that sells grass fed dairy products and hosts a farm market each week.  I was amazed at the variety available already in this part of the world.  Thanks in part to the "hoop" houses I saw pictures of at one farmer's stand.  We bought raw organic honey, fresh spinach, and some yogurt.

We've decided to take a look at our food budget and see exactly how much we already spend on produce, milk, other things we saw today.  We'd like to set aside that money and buy from the farmers.

And, they have CSA pick ups, too!  I think we will sign up for the one in the fall, as I don't think we can come up with an extra couple hundred bucks right now.

And it that is not enough to be excited about, they had a stand that sells the local seeds that I wanted to buy!  We got busy attacking weeds when we got home.  OK, The Mr. and Little Dude got busy.  And they drilled holes into the kiddie pool.  Now I just need some peat moss and perhaps some straw or something to put around the garden to keep the weeds down.  I am also going to go get some Weed Pharm, an organic weed killer.  The dandelions will be tamed!

What's Next?

Last year

The next big project is to get our tiny little garden space in order.  Right now it is over run by dandelions.  If only we liked dandelion creations, we have plenty of them.  Perhaps we could learn to love them, but no time to mess with it right now, so we will go ahead with our raised beds.

These are no ordinary raised beds, by the way.  They're recycled kid's toys.  We have a recycled sandbox and recycled kiddie pool.  I also have two garden box type containers that I have had for the last 17 years!  All have had to have holes drilled into the bottoms, thanks to The Mr. for doing that job.

One we left behind.

Because we rent our home, we do not want to go to the expense of building nice raised beds.  We did that once and then we had to move.  Leaving them was painful.  These recycled ones do a great job and they are portable.  

Waiting for strawberries. 

I am going to put herbs into pots along the side of the garden space, too.  We love mint, catnip, basil, cilantro, and garlic.

In the big "pool", we want to grow green beans.  We will have tomatoes in the two white boxes.  The "sandbox" will house whatever it is that my daughter wants to grow this year.

A diamond in the rough?

We grow sunflowers along the side of the area, too.  I have high hopes, but must remain realistic. There is only so much I can do with the resources I have.  But, we will give it another try.  Maybe this will be the year that I get it together. 

Folks, This Ain't Normal

I recently read a really great book called, Folks, This Ain't Normal, by Joe Salatin.  I am sure there are some great reviews out there.  I don't feel qualified to write a review of such a fine book.  All I can say is that it is a thought provoking, life changing book.  I hope that lots of people read it and have a similar response, one of action. 

The most profound part of the book for me was, that the way we are living is just not sustainable.  Cheap oil is over.  The old way is broken.  I think we are going to see big changes in the near future.  Either we are going to change the way we think about resources or we, ordinary Americans, are going to be unable to afford the life style Americans have become accustomed too.  The rich will continue to have their lifestyles.  We regular people will keep feeling the pinch and drastic changes will have to occur in order to survive. 

For me, I can already see how economics will play out.  Right now, we are eating less meat than in the past, a change based on money.  Chicken is cheap, so we eat a lot of it.  I tried tofu, but could not get it right.  It's bean curd, not meat!  I'd rather just eat less meat than eat curd. 

I'd love to get chickens, as suggested in the book, but then I'd have to move.  Chickens are not allowed in my city unless you have 2 acres. That's probably something else we need to change in our society.  Why not have chickens?  

We do have a compost heap, so we aren't sending scraps to the dump, which really irritates Mr. Salatin.  I love going out there to check on the heap.  There are lots of worms doing their thing in there. 

We're also planning a small raised bed garden for this year.  We don't have a lot of sun in our yard of giant trees.  We'll grow a few favorites though. 

The main thing that I think we need to do in response to Folks, This Ain't Normal, is to go out and meet a farmer and buy his or her food.  Not just at the famers market, but make the effort.  I remember doing this as a child with my father.  Every Saturday we'd go to a small farm at get our milk.  I loved that trip.  I also learned not to touch an electric fence during one of those visits! 

Bottom line, we all can do something to bring back normal.  All it will take is enough people willing to make these changes.  Small steps can make a difference.