We're talking gardening, bargain shopping and pantry building and how we utilize all three to keep us fed and cared for without breaking the bank!
So, how did we do this week?
(pictured: the flowers I planted in our tractor tires! They didn't all come up but the ones that did are showing off!)
In the garden: it's sad, it's really, really sad! We have a few things trying to hang on, but if we don't get some rain, it's all over for our 'deck stacked against it' garden for this growing season.
As of this writing, it has rained all around us, but the road we live on has only gotten light sprinkles.
I harvested the last of the elderberry flowers, more mullein flowers and echinacea flowers. They are currently air drying spread out on trays under a ceiling fan.
I also harvested several bay leaves and set them to start drying on a tray under a ceiling fan. I did another harvesting of moringa too.
I cut most all of my herbs back as they have been struggling in the heat. When they grow back, hopefully they will be in better shape. In the meantime, I'm trying to keep them watered.In the kitchen: Hubby pan-fried these squash slices one day. Oh my, they were delicious!
One meal we had this week from our pantry was:
meatloaf, pan-fried in butter pears, green peas. pickled beets and cucumber salad.
Another meal we had was corned beef, cabbage, cucumber salad and cornbread. The cabbage came from our garden.
A family from church went fishing and caught more fish than they wanted so shared with us and another family. We brought ours home, hubby cleaned and dressed them, and I cooked them up. They were delicious!
One more meal we had ... fried chicken gizzards, rice, made from scratch gravy, cucumber salad and pickled beets.
Do you notice a common theme ... cucumber salad and pickled beets. Both are favorites of ours when the weather gets so hot. They are nice and cold since both live continually in the refrigerator until eaten all up! On a sad note, I've been keeping the cucumber salad going by adding to and refreshing it after each meal. Alas, we are all out of cucumbers now so will have to wait until more comes our way. We have a few plants planted but, well, you know the story, the hot, humid and dry weather is preventing them from doing what they should be doing which is give us cucumbers!
Thrifting, Bargain, and/or Loss Leader Shopping at the Grocery Store, farmers market, etc:
We spent a little less than $22 this week on groceries which included a ham on clearance, marked down banana's and marked down chicken gizzards (we cooked these for a meal the day we purchased them). I needed some half and half so added that too the cart which brought the total to the above-mentioned amount.
In other news:
I watched this video on helping control asthma by using natural means. Since this is a condition that a member of our family deals with, I'm always researching and trying to find helps that could work. This video is in line with my ongoing research, but the thing that made it stand out for me was that the author explained the process of what happens during an asthma attack and then recommended herbs to help each of those processes.
Click HERE to read what I've been up to in the sewing/creating world this week! I posted an 'it's the 25th of the month week' post this week ... pssst ... it's about Christmas!
My granddaughter and I are reading book 2, The Reptile room in the Series of Unfortunate Events and are almost ready for book 3. We have had discussions and shared giggles on books 1 and now in book 2 of this series. Look out book #3, we're on our way!
Hubby and I have enjoyed watching the Olympic trials and subsequent team choosing's in the evenings. We are looking forward to watching the Olympics later this month.
While at the library picking up The Reptile Room, I also picked up Crow Mary by Kathleen Grissom. This author was recommended by someone who has similar reading interests as I do, and I have not been disappointed. This book has been captivating and hard to put down. I also picked up Glory Over Everything by the same author and started it as soon as I finished Crow Mary.
Lately, I seem to be gravitating towards books who are about people that weather prolonged hard times. In my opinion, Crow Mary by Kathleen Grissom was one such book. If you know of any, I love to have your recommendations.
My teaching notes on Lesson 2 from the 'Three Self's' series I'm teaching to a young wives Bible class has been posted over on From This Heart of Mine for any ladies who would like to follow along.
That's it for me this week, what has your week looked like?
mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry
She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
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Happy July, Patsy! Praying weather will be kinder this month. I lost the geraniums to heat and grasshoppers. Our daylily "walk" to the front steps looks... sad; they're blooming, but I inadvertently overwatered in the heat so all the foliage is pale yellow. Our many lilac shrubs are hanging in there, as is the lavender. The Russian sage, not so much. AZ's monsoon season has arrived. Areas around us have been getting rain. We've had sprinkles. One good, brief downpour yesterday afternoon. LOVE those tractor tire beds of zinnias! Such cheerful flowers! And so glad you could harvest squash and plums. Good of your neighbors to share their fish.
ReplyDeleteBalance was the motto for June in regards to our budget--we offset the cost of materials for outdoor projects with saving $$ from our grocery budget and putting off other purchases until later in the year after determining the need is not yet that great. I stock up on basics (on sale) for this very reason. Even undies, socks and tees. Our son who lives nearby has been sick, so what was planned for the 4th of July has been prepped and stored in the freezer. The 99 cent lb. country style pork ribs went into the crock pot to make pulled pork, about 7 lbs. worth, with only a small amount of bones, gleaning almost 3 cups of strained broth with very little fat to skim off.
I'm spending very little time online. A GOOD thing. Just getting busier inside and out, but well paced. --Elise
Geraniums are really resilient. Remove the yellow leaves, cut them back, give them some fertilizer if you haven't lately and they will probably recover.
DeleteElise, I hope your son is feeling better and that your family has been able to have a get together.
DeleteI too, stock up on basics when we find them on sale or clearance. It's how we stay ahead of the game!
I too, am purposefully spending less time online, especially in the realm of social media. It's actually kind of nice!
Bummer! I had hoped that you had gotten the rain I had seen in your area. We live in a place that rain often skips too but we did get 3/4 of an inch Friday night. I'm sad about your garden.
ReplyDeleteWe received horrible news about an old friend. I won't relay the details but in the future if I feel something is not right I am going to do more than send a text even if it means driving there and knocking on the door . This was a hard lesson but we were not the only ones who did not understand what was going on. Still not an excuse.
My power chair arrived Friday. Hubby unpacked it and I tried it out after waiting for him to stop riding it around the house. :). I was disappointed to find that the arms on the chair hit me wrong and caused pain. Hubby said it's okay we will just send it back. He called the company and the man he talked to asked why we needed to return it and then offered parts to modify the arms. Hubby asked if they could use our credit card number they had on file and the answer was no charge. This company is American owned and made and every part is repairable by the customer. If we ever need a part they send it out and are able to repair it ourselves. This is unheard of these days and exactly why we gave them our business. Sadly we had to leave the new chair at home for the time we will be gone but the parts will be in our mail when we return. Otherwise I believe it will be a wonderful help to us.
Lana, I'm sorry about your friend. When I have those uneasy feelings about someone, I immediately start praying and then trying to reach out to them.
DeleteIt sounds like your power chair is going to make your life easier.
As of this writing, we still haven't had any rain ... the grass is crunchy when you walk across it and the actual temp today is 99 with the 'feel like' temp of 109 degrees.
a good book that i enjoyed reading was "the four winds" by kristin hannah. it's a story about the families who dealt with life during the dust bowl. i enjoy many of her writings, she does a lot of research for her historical fiction. i've been pretty busy this summer trying to keep everything alive in the garden too. between the slugs in our wet spring and the dry spells now it's really been a battle, but we're gaining i hope. keep up the good work. bonnie in southern pa.
ReplyDeleteBonnie, I have read 'The Four Winds' and found it to be one of those books that I just couldn't put down!
DeleteI think many of us have fought hard for our gardens this year ... it has not been an easy year for gardening in our area!
Hard to believe it's July already. Hubby's birthday is this week on the 4th. He's requested his favorite carrot cake with cream cheese icing so I will be baking that tomorrow. This week found us working in the garden and harvesting more basil and more radishes. We are now on daily squash bug patrol, inspecting the underside of leaves for eggs and trimming them off. The came very early this year. Usually they appear sometime in August.Also Japanese beetles have made their invasion as well. We amended some of the soil and replanted radishes and more carrots. The Kiwanis club always has a blueberry sale and we picked up our order and froze 30 pounds and left a couple of pounds out for eating and baking. Did a lot of cardmaking for July birthdays. Practiced watercoloring techniques, watched some watercoloring tutorials on Youtube. Continued to embroider on tea towels in the evenings. Reading the 6th volume of the Bregdan Chronicles. Ginny Dye has the 21st volume coming out this fall. We use our library extensively. The have now started putting on the return slip how much you saved by using the library over buying the book. I have also read "The Four Winds" and enjoyed the read. The next book I have to read is "From the White House to Amish". It's a true story of a man who worked in the White House during the Eisenhower Administration and had also worked at the CIA and left everything behind. He then joined the Amish. It looks to be a very interesting story. Cookie
ReplyDeleteCookie, happy belated birthday to your hubby!
DeleteOne of the things I want to do this summer is learn watercolor painting. I have gathered all the needed supplies and ready to start. Do you have any Youtube channels on watercoloring to suggest that you've found to be helpful? I'm definitely a beginner!
I actually have "From the Whitehouse to Amish" in my personal library but haven't read it yet. You've inspired me to pull it off the shelf and read it!
I keep looking for the Bregdan Chronicles, maybe one day Libby or our local library will make them available.
Aren't blueberries delicious! I'm glad you were able to add some to your pantry.
I wanted to add that "The Four Winds" was a book I recently read and thought it was a great description of the dust bowl/depression era from a woman's perspective. I checked it out from the library and decided to purchase it to have in my collection of books. Definitely a weather prolonging hard times book.
ReplyDeleteCheryl, I too own a copy!
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