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)

Sleep Talkin Princess

Mostly she says unintelligible things. Or she shouts to her brother to "Stop it!", "Get out of my ROOOOOMMMMMM!!!!", "Stop it!!!!!"
But occasionally she says things like "I have two. I have two legs." and "I have a green one at home. It looks just like it."
These are only the ones that I hear after she crawls into bed with us and I am awake enough to remember. Perhaps I should start recording her?

Why is this the Ghetto?

Well I suppose technically it's not. We live in a very inner-city neighborhood. The kind of neighborhood who either everyone knows about because they "used" to live here or never heard of because they don't drive this far into the city. We hear ambulances and fire trucks screeching by about 5 times a week. Fourth of July and New Year's Eve are very festive around here. When a certain NBA team wins the National Championship (again) it's also very festive. The car honking and yelling last past midnight and people just walk around right in the middle of the street. Guys wearing white wife beaters with baggy khaki pants walk around the park with their pit bulls. There are car accidents at the corner all the time because for some reason that pesky telephone pole is just in the wrong place. When you hear the tires squeal and the crash you go outside to see if everyone is ok. But when you hear CRACK, CRACK, CRACK and then the tires squeal you don't go outside. We have our choice of several bus routes all within easy walking distance. The "bad side of town" YMCA is only two miles from our house. The only year we signed our daughter up for soccer there, a fight broke out on the next field over. Yup, apparently 3 year olds playing soccer inspired the fight. Trash blows around in our yard all the time. Occasionally it's because the dog knocked over the trash can but usually it's just the usual trash that's blowing around. Once when we were picking up the trash we found a driver's license and some other cards belonging to a lady whose purse had been stolen. Apparently the thief ditched the unwanted cards in our bush as they were driving by. She was glad to get those cards back.
BUT, our neighborhood is a Conservation District just a few blocks down from a Historic District (where the house price easily jumps up 100,000 or more). This was a ritzy neighborhood 50 years ago and there are rumors it is going to see a renaissance. There are lovely tree-lined streets because the trees have had time to grow. Every house looks different (no box houses as we like to call them). Except for some duplexes behind us only one family has moved into the neighborhood since we did 6 years ago. There are houses for sale but none are sitting empty. We know our neighbors. Once when our dog got in a fight with the neighbor dog a neighbor from across the street came over to help us. During a hot summer drought we spotted a grass fire across the street and my husband ran over and quickly stomped it out. There are young couples, elderly people, families with kids, retired folks. A bat colony has a home around here somewhere. An old fat skunk has been smart enough to find a good home (and plenty of food) for himself without being much of a pest. We have a pair of cardinals that make our backyard home and someone even has a rooster although I haven't figured out which house it is yet (I've got it narrowed down to four). When we were buying our house we had a few people tell us we were making a mistake. "You're going to buy a house there?" But we have been here 6 years now and overall we like it. So what do you think? Is this the ghetto? Well.....

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)

Watch where you're looking!

A few weeks ago my daughter told me to "watch where you're looking". I chuckled a little because I know she meant to say "watch where you're going" But after I thought about it a little bit I think what she actually said is better advice. Yes, we should all watch where we're looking. When I am looking at my sweet child's face am I thinking about the grocery list, or the dishes in the sink, or the pile of projects that gets bigger and bigger? When I read her a story am I just thinking how quickly I can get done so I can move on to the next chore on my list? I am so guilty of not watching where I'm looking. In these days that I am trying to be productive, get projects done, find ways to save money and check off my whole checklist for the day I don't want to miss the moments flying by. I am trying. Please God, help me to watch where I am looking. Help me to burn the ordinary extraordinary in my memories and see you in everything.

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!

Bird Food

So I always think of good things to write about when I am away from the computer. Then when I get in front of the computer it's like I have temporary amnesia. I cannot think of a darn thing to write. But it has been a little while since I wrote and I need to keep up with it. I have been working on some projects and I plan to post them on here. So be patient.
Our grapes this year are bigger and tastier than last year. They are still small by grape standards but we are pleased that they have increased in size. They are also much sweeter. Last year they were just a wee bit tart (insert pucker lips here). We still have to buy our grapes at the store but I am happy to say that the birds have found our grapes and are eating them up! Cheapest bird food ever. Also my son made a really cool bird house at church camp and we found the perfect place to put it up. It is partially hidden by some bushes which are right outside of a bedroom window. Hopefully the birds will feel it's a good place for a home and we will be able to watch them from the window. Our cat is no longer an issue since she decided to get hit by a car and break her leg. She is now a gimpy kitty and we don't let her out. The birds, lizards and snakes in our yard all breathed a sigh of relief. Actually we think the birds were the ones driving the car! Anyway,I plan to make some bird feeders out of old coke bottles and a bird bath out of some terracotta pots. I am going to have to figure out how to have a nice landscape for the birds without giving them a free for all in our garden. That will require some research.......