Recently, my husband found a gas grill sitting beside a dumpster. It looked in good shape, so he took a closer look. After giving it a once-over and learning about where it had come from (a business had had it in storage and had discarded it), he loaded it up and brought it home. Guess what, it worked perfectly, even the igniters worked!
Another day, hubby was on his way into town and saw a large bag of cow feed on the side of the road. He stopped and after examining the bag, determined that it was worth bringing home (the bag only had a small hole in it and very little had escaped the small hole.) We don't have any cattle, but hubby knows plenty of people who do, so he called one of them and asked if he wanted it. The man was happy to get it and offered to swap a bag of fertilizer for it. The cattle feed we didn't need, the fertilizer we do ... enough said!
A local chain store had a sale on chicken leg quarters, 10 lb bags for $.49/lb. That meant that each bag was $4.90 each, this is almost an unheard-of price in our area now so even though I hadn't planned to can chicken, I did! (Picture: chicken cooking for canning)
When God guides, He provides!
For such a time as this, we need to be ready to take advantage of opportunities that come our way ... especially when we pray for God's provision and guidance. (Remember, God's answers to prayer often come dressed up in WORK!)
If you find this series helpful, please share it with others. If we all do what we can to help each other whether it be through writing, sharing, teaching, coming along beside each other or any other means, the world will be a better place!
Until the next post,
I found out about a local community group and have gone along to meet like minded people. This group is currently setting up a plan to have regular working bees at different members homes. The working bees are to be productive events and so far it is mostly gardening. One lady is a herbalist and she is going to show how to harvest, dry and use those herbs in culinary and medicinal ways. They meet regularly on Friday evening for a sausage sizzle and there is a swap table. I see this group as a way to develop a sense of community as well as to build on skills. I have also become a volunteer at a local community garden. My goodness my head is exploding with all the knowledge being shared. My garden is starting to explode with lots of free perennial edible plants. I am loving this series and have been reading along.
ReplyDeleteJane, what a blessing! I am sufficiently jealous!!! Feel free to share any information you glean; I'll soak up any knowledge you want to share! Thank you for your kind words of encouragement!
DeleteWonderful finds and the grill didn't even have to be put together! (Still working on that!) Our salvage grocery stores are what fits into my opportunity category. When we find a crazy deal we need to be ready to figure out how much to buy, how much we can store and how quickly we can use it up. Sometimes we also need to get out the door and get there before deals sell out We are always looking for muffin mixes and other items that can be made easily for coffee time at small group. This week we served monkey bread from kits that cost 50 cents each and everyone raved about how good they were. I found out this week that my alternative practitioner shops at the same ones we do so we are sharing items we found and if we liked them. That is really helpful!
ReplyDeleteLana, yes, we were thrilled that the grill didn't need any assembly!!! That's great that your alternative practitioner shops at the same salvage store as you do. One of these days, when we're coming through the area, we're going to carve out some time to go there ourselves! Your deals are fantastic!
DeleteI take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way. I was in a research group that had participants who had recovered from cancer. I was given $500 worth of gardening supplies--plants, seeds, hose, gloves, fertilizer, bug soap spray, hose, four grow boxes, and lots of other stuff. We had a meeting to end this 20-year research project. The tables were filled with plants, seeds, tools, trees, so much stuff. I won a door prize. That was a great opportunity and I only got a small fraction of what the other participants chose and carried home.
ReplyDeletePractical Parsimony, that was a great opportunity!
DeleteThere is an unwritten rule of conduct in our county that perfectly good but no longer needed items are put BESIDE the dumpster so that another who wants or can use an item can easily retrieve them. We've benefitted from this swap system and so have others. We haven't acquired anything in some time now but our most recent experience with this swap system was when we arrived to find a much older man patiently waiting at his truck. When John asked if he needed help, he said "Yes, Thank you! I'd like to load this cast iron sink (a lovely farm sink!) into my truck, but if y'all need it I'll be glad to help you load it." I'd love a farmhouse sink but truly that one weighed far too much for us to even consider having and we do believe in the 'finders keepers' rule of etiquette at the unofficial swapping place as well, lol.
ReplyDeleteTerri, that's pretty much the way it is here too. That was so nice of you to let the older gentleman have the farmhouse sink. Don't be surprised if you aren't blessed with one because of your kindness!
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