We hung sheets out on the clothesline on a cold but sunny day, and they dried just fine. We hung the heavier items indoors, on drying racks (they also dried just fine).
The mattress pad on our bed has been in need of replacement...for a while. I've been looking for one at Goodwill, but I haven't seen any that were the right size. This week, an acquaintance of mine posted one for sale on a local Facebook sale page - queen size for $5. It's like brand new, and nicer than any I've ever seen - the top is terrycloth, instead of that typical heat-quilted fiber that we have had in the past.
Toward the end of this week we had some warm weather. I raked back another section of mulch and spread rabbit droppings on our garden. I still have to dig them into the soil, but we're a little closer to being ready to garden in the spring. I had some lovely helpers!
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| The portion to the right has been dug-in, on the left, I still need to dig. |
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| Two of our silkie hens (Marigold and Finch), looking for sprouts beneath the picnic table. |
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| Prince - our lavender silkie rooster. |
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| Some of our hens in the garden, helping with "pre-raking". |
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| It makes me laugh that we let them out, and they go into a fenced enclosure. |
Last Sunday, we spent a little time packaging up snacks, carrots and celery, etc. for school and work lunches. It makes it really easy to grab and go when we have some items prepped ahead of time, and that makes it that much easier to *not* make excuses and go out for lunch.
Husband has been paying the Monopoly game at Safeway. So far, he's won a bottle of aspirin, a container of salt, quite a few coupons, and we are, like many people, just one ticket away from all sorts of big prizes. Meanwhile, yay for salt and aspirin!
When I re-filled the suet feeder (those cubes of bird seed) at work, I kept the throwaway tray. I use them as molds to make our own suet cakes for the feeder at our home.
I made an owl pop for Daughter for Valentine's Day. I got the candy mold, sticks, baggies...and even the melts for free - they were going to be thrown away. I used some white chocolate chips to make the area around the eyes stand out a little. This was a very easy mini project!
I made some quick/easy valentines for Daughter to give at school. We could have just picked up a pack at Dollar Tree, but this gave me a creative outlet, and used some supplies we had on hand at home. I was given a bag of stickers a couple months ago, many of them were perfect for this project.
The weather was cold enough early in the week - it is February, after all - that we used our wood stove to keep the house warm. We get our wood free for the taking/cutting/stacking, it really saves us a lot!
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| We keep damaged pallets (untreated) out of the landfill, and... |
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| ...they help us keep our house warm. |
We keep a lidded enamel pot on our kitchen counter for peels, scraps, etc., which we then feed to our chickens as treats. It cuts down on waste and they really enjoy the variety. They were especially happy for canteloupe seeds and peels this week - chickens really like melons!
I mended two sweaters and a stuffed animal chicken that needed minor repairs, and I mended a seam on my most favorite pair of shoes.
On our town errand day, we picked up our free Friday download from King Sooper (a Chobani 'flip' yogurt). Since we were near Harbor Freight, we stopped in and got some freebie flashlights and a power strip that we had coupons for, and we converted a Starbucks card I won at Christmas and a paper Starbucks card that Husband got from Kelloggs points program into two $10 all-season Starbucks cards. We're not really coffee people, but these make nice thank-you gifts for teachers. When we got home from town, these two magazines were in the mailbox for me. I get magazine subscriptions free through Mercury Magazines. There were some great grocery deals this week - I'll share those on Monday's menu plan post.
How was your week? What did you do to spend less, save more and make do?
Sounds like a great week to me!
ReplyDeleteI miss having chickens and ducks. We do throw our "scraps" out for the birds. We have quite a collection that show up. Especially this time of year.
Love the Valentine's Day cards.
Thanks! I do love having chickens. We tried ducks, and they are sweet, but I always felt bad for them, since we didn't have a proper pond setup. I bet the birds love you!
DeleteBy the end of the week I have forgotten everything we did to save money! One thing though is that we restocked our gas gift cards and earned 3x fuel rewards. By the end of the week the gas tank was low enough to fill up and get all 20 gallons saving 85 cents per gallon. We have enough gas cards on hand now to see us through 2-3 months of gas purchases. We will be on 60% disability in a few weeks and every little thing that s stockpiled will help until Bill can work full time again.
ReplyDeleteI know y'all will make it work while Bill is recuperating, and it sounds like you'll have the discounted fuel to get him to and from appointments! You continue to be in my thoughts. :)
DeleteA frugal story-In November I bought a half gallon of buttermilk. When it expired in December I put 1/4 cup in a clean quart jar and filled it up with a few days expired whole milk. I put it on top of the fridge for 36 hours and then put it in the refrigerator. It is now about 2 months old and still sweet and good. I have used about 2/3 of it and will soon make another batch using 1/4 cup of that. I had no idea it would keep so well. I am sure I would have used it up long ago if not for the long hospital stay and not cooking at home for about 3 weeks. The original half gallon did get used completely long after it's date, I just had to shake it up. I am thrilled to realize that I can always have buttermilk on hand. I do not think the vinegar and milk trick works at all the same in baking now that I have been using real buttermilk regularly. Baked goods are just better and moister with the real thing.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right, regarding the vinegar-milk thing. I'm not baking as much as I was, but I do love having buttermilk on hand. Thanks for sharing your process!
DeleteIs it just me I thought Valentine cards exchanged at school were done by the child and included a small candy?
ReplyDeleteWell, other kids brought cards they bought at the store...that they had signed. I 'kinda' made these (those are stickers, it's not like I was painting all those wee images), and she still signed them, so it's more or less the same thing, in my mind. Some students did include a small candy - we sent supplies for the class party. :)
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