Wimmins Work

Really what I mean is taking care of a household.
Since December I have been working on a stained glass piece. This is the first one I have ever done and just like me I didn't pick a simple pattern. The glass I chose to learn to cut is thick and textured on both sides and doesn't cut or break easily. (just like me?) I feel like it took me a long time and I got frustrated with it over and over again. Many pieces had to be re-done because the cuts were wrong or they broke. Some pieces I gave up on and let their imperfections be part of the work. Now that it is almost done I am beginning to feel a sense of accomplishment. I still have to smooth out the lines and apply zinc to the outside (which I still need to learn how to do). It occurred to me that keeping house was much like making art. It does take some skill, some creativity, some willingness to make mistakes and learn. You have to be willing to work with the mistakes and blemishes. It takes time. Yes, women's work is a lot like art. I pour myself into it and ultimately hope there will be a masterpiece.

Frugalities

Are you frugal enough for the frugal club?
Well I certainly consider myself to be frugal. I am certainly more frugal than many people. And I am not as frugal as some. I marvel at people who will pay $10.00 a gallon for raw milk and consider themselves to be frugal. Soooo.... let me get this straight. They do less to the milk and charge you more for it? I don't get it. I think it would make a lot more sense if it was like a pick-your-own farm. You go milk the cow and then get the gallon for $1-$2. Yeah, it's supposed to be better for you but I am not entirely convinced of that. Plus, my husband, who grew up on a dairy farm and drank raw milk his entire childhood, just gags thinking about it so it's really not an option for us anyway. But also there are the people who email me about how much everything costs and bemoaning the increase of gas and food prices and they just don't know how they're going to make it. They send the email from their iphone. Or the family on foodstamps who barely make ends meet and yet their pantry is perpetually full of absolute junk food. I don't get it. One lady complained to me about how her car was "so old it has a cd player AND a tape deck".
I answered that my car has only a tape deck. I could have further added that it has over 100,000 miles on it, roll down windows (which I actually happen to like) and the tape deck/radio doesn't even work. I don't think she would have got it. I make my own laundry soap and I reuse all sorts of things that would (should?) go in the trash.
BUT....... I buy shredded cheese (gasp!)
Yeah, I do. I don't like to shred cheese. It takes a long time. It's messy. I like my knuckles to be intact. I don't see what the big deal is to pay $1.00 more for the cheese to be shredded. It's worth it to me.
I also buy boneless skinless chicken breasts (gasp!)
Yeah, I do. I don't like to cut up raw chicken. I want to touch it as little as possible. When I have bought a whole raw chicken and cut it up, it looked like the victim of some awful crime. Trust me, it wasn't pretty little legs, quarters, wings and breasts. The nasty foam that boiled up in the pot made me want to gag. I don't like to do it. Yes, the price is much higher. But it's worth it to me.
I also turn up my nose at store made brownies, cupcakes or cookies. How can you possibly pass that off as dessert? Blech! I like the homemade stuff - it's worth it to me.
So I guess that is what it comes down to. What's it worth to you?
(This is what Clyde the Beagle thinks about paying for grated cheese and boneless, skinless chicken breasts)

mmmm soap!

OK, so I made toothsoap. Yes that's right I said soap. If you are brave enough to try it here is the recipe. I have found it to taste a wee bit soapy - but really it is not that bad. Perhaps the recipe needs some tweaking.

5 TBSP coconut oil (solid below 76F, so ours is always liquid)
1 TBSP Dr Bronner's castile soap (I used peppermint but you can also use baby which has no scent)
Orange essential oil
Peppermint esential oil (if you didn't use peppermint soap)
Water (1 TBSP or more as needed)
Natural sugar substitute (I used purevia)

Mix all the ingredients together. Add in a little water at a time until it is the right consistency for toothpaste. It will be a little runny. I did not need to use the water since in our house the coconut oil is liquid (we keep our thermostat set at 80 in the summer). But I may have to add some in the winter. I used about 25 drops of the orange essential oil. Add in the sugar sub until it tastes ok. I ended up using 4 individual sticks of the purevia. Don't taste it too many times in a row or it will burn your mouth. Put it in a clean soap dispenser or a small plastic squirt bottle.
There it is.
Clean your teeth with no fluoride and no sodium lauryl sulfate. Or you could just use baking soda :o)

This is a project I did a while back for my mom as a housewarming gift. An old piece of wood became the inspiration for a welcoming sign. I added a hanger to the back and used a wood burning tool (around 10 bucks at Hobby Lobby or Michael's)to burn the design. At first I was annoyed because the wood grain was rough and so the tool didn't always go exactly the way I wanted it to. But after it was done the roughness of it made it look really good. It was easy and fun especially when the wood caught fire and I had to blow it out! Whew! Good times!