Monday Message

"We encourage members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings. We ask that you be wise, and do not go to extremes. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve." (All is Safely Gathered In)

We are in a bad heat wave here this week and each time we are to be done with it, they extend it another day, so now it goes through tomorrow (as you read this it will be two weeks ago).

Boy is it hot!

I can tell you what I did before it got here, as we had some notice it was coming. I did laundry and ran the dishwasher so I would not have to use it during peak times. I cooked up two pounds of hamburger and took some out for hamburger gravy. I put taco seasoning in the rest for smashed tacos and other things like soft shell tacos too, things that would only require the microwave. Also, I've been wanting to try this mac and cheese recipe. I made a double batch, we love it! I have it in the fridge and scoop out what is needed and microwave it. I chose this recipe as I had everything it took to make it and always have these things on hand...

This recipe I clipped from a magazine that I got free from library creative kids spring 2004.

Mac and Cheese (it calls to bake it I chose not to)

2 c. dry macaroni, this you cook in your water with salt like you would normally

When done, drain and add:

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1/8 tsp pepper

2 1/2 c. milk I used powdered milk i mixed to make amt needed

3 c. shredded American cheese - I started to shred it and gave up as my cheese was soft and just cut it into pieces

I stirred all together, heating until the cheese melted.

I doubled this to have it through the heatwave. If you have kids, this would be so easy to just heat in the microwave when needed.

I also wanted it a bit thicker so made a slurry of more flour and water till it was just right.

My husband does not like mac and cheese but loved this. It says you can add cheddar cheese to make up half the cheese but I won't be doing that as I think it is perfect just how I did it, plus, I have American cheese on hand and cheddar cost more so I save it for other things.

I also froze juice into popsicles.

I made bread up.

Chopped up a salad and had it ready to use as well.

Along that line, the lettuce I used I got from saving the bottoms and putting them in water and here is what they did. You can see my little strawberry plants are growing in the pot on the right. This works for an extra bit of lettuce, you can do this with celery as well.

I tried to do things that would not heat the house up at this time.

It has been rotten weather but we are getting through it.

I put a new project on the big loom and this shows the struggles of getting it tied on plus the yarn I am using is from that yarn haul thirty years ago.

Then I used that ball winder and used these two skeins of yarn and wound them into balls.

I measured off warp using this yarn and warped up the small loom.

So these are both ready to work on now and I will tell you lots of work went into getting these warped and to this point.

Meet Norman the squirrel eating breakfast - our youngest named all of the squirrels Norman :p

Keep building your storage - things are still going up, I find this incredible.

https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/100-frugal-fun-summer-activities/ here are some fun frugal things for the summer.

Missy says keep building your storage, prices aren't nice right now but keep at it and be kind - it is more needed now than ever.

Tippy Longstockings says keep building those skills! Vacuum seal food you have to keep it from going stale is a good skill, so is dehydrating and canning and freezing!

Monday Message

"The counsel to have a year’s supply of basic food, clothing, and commodities was given fifty years ago and has been repeated many times since. Every father and mother are the family’s storekeepers. They should store whatever their own family would like to have in the case of an emergency … [and] God will sustain us through our trials." (James E. Faust)

This week I worked on a stitchery. A young girl from church made me a card that is hanging on the refrigerator.  

So I thought it might be fun for her if I made it into a stitchery in the same colors and gave it back.

The stars she drew on the front of the card I included in the final.

She was really surprised and so was her mom.

It was a very nice break as stitchery is very soothing to me.

https://colonialpatterns.com/content/PDFs/easy-embroidery-stitch-guide.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOopSk1CTJpzj65Y7K5dDemzvE9xbGybBnTzYeq9yWTRz11kVEIDN

https://albertametis.com/app/uploads/2021/08/Embroidery-Booklet-August-9.pdf

These are helpful if you are wanting to embroider.

I saved our kids' artwork and made them into stitcheries. I did one version into pillows for the kids and another into pictures for our wall of the same as their pillows.

Notice I used the colors that the kids used, just like I did for my young friend.

Here are the ones I made for us from our kids' artwork.

The one with a leaf was not her artwork but shows she gave us this talk when she was little that I made into a stitchery. We have the originals of all these.

The one with a big bird was one where Sarah wrote and drew in her school journal and the teacher wrote what her letters meant. "We went to the ocean to play that day and there were Seagulls on the beach." She must have felt they were very big...too cute!

I then wanted to tea stain ours. To do this, I heated a cup of water and put four cheap tea bags into this and let them steep. Then covered a cookie sheet with tinfoil and laid the stitchery on it. Then I took the tea bags and kind of pounced all around on the stitchery dipping in the tea water as needed till it was like I wanted, then I baked it in our oven at the lowest setting for about twelve min or till dry.

To get their artwork on the muslin, I held it up on a window (or if you have a light box) and traced off their pictures.

Then like I said, I used the colors they used.

This is a very inexpensive project to do...embroidery is a very inexpensive skill to have.

We noticed today the gas prices are creeping up again. Not a good thing for sure. We notice the town three miles from us usually has gas 20 cents cheaper than our town even though it's the same chain.

They are talking that prices will continue to climb, also not good.

So be working on your storage and your skill building.

That said, about skills - our bathroom faucet broke this week. We worked hard to try and repair it for about 3/4th of the day but it couldn't be repaired so my husband went on Facebook marketplace and found a faucet for fifteen dollars, where in a store they were running $80 and $179 - wow! When did they get so high? But we replaced the one that was unrepairable and it took the rest of the day.

I also wanted to show you how the ball winder I got from goodwill works.

I want to encourage you to stock up on only what you eat now and do it wisely. Just pick up a little extra when you go to the store - just do the best you can.

I want to encourage you to build a skill.

I want to encourage you that when something breaks, try to make the repair yourself if you can. It will save money. Clearly there will be things you cannot. But if you can try, it will help.

Missy says try hard to be as frugal as you can.

Tippy Longstockings says don't wear yourself out and rest often. Learn on YouTube what you need to then attempt the repair, then rest. She is a growing girlie and needs lots of rest.

Monday Message

"Concerning clothing, we should anticipate future needs, such as extra work clothes and clothes that would supply warmth during winter months when there may be shortages or lack of heating fuel. Leather and bolts of cloth could be stored, particularly for families with younger children who will outgrow and perhaps outwear their present clothes." (President Ezra Taft Benson)

"Can or bottle fruit and vegetables from your gardens and orchards. Learn how to preserve food through drying and possibly freezing. Make your storage a part of your budget. Store seeds and have sufficient tools on hand to do the job." (President Ezra Taft Benson)

This week (at the time I'm writing this) we celebrated our 52nd wedding anniversary.

I have done some yard work which is hard for sure.

The garden is doing well. We have been getting rain every few days for now. The garden loves rain water best.

I still am getting some asparagus - yum!

Those little volunteer peach trees are doing really good. I would love an orchard in our yard. I have apple trees, peach trees, and plum trees.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWRr_h9g0aM - this will inspire you to redo some things you are not wearing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu0zPpUeXng - she shows some helpful things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ2_N1NCzho - interesting to hear her story. I remember winter was coming. I found some fabric scraps from a yard sale in a free box. I had no pattern but I made a coat and wore it, so I did what i could with what I found.

It is amazing the things that we can learn. We can do so much!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwLSBPKK4k4 - has some good tips here.

https://matchymatchysewingclub.com/ - this has a few free downloadable patterns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaIV_2YBjeg - here is how to vacuum seal in the canister, which I like doing a lot because you can save glass containers and seal food in them. Any jars you get nowadays the lid has the rubber in the lid, so a spaghetti sauce jar works great to store dry food in and seal.

Since you can grow celery from putting the bottom in water, I thought I would try it with romaine lettuce - sure enough, you can! The one on the right you can see is just now growing. The one on left is so pretty.

I made more bread this week.

How are you coming on your skills and your storage? Let us know in the comments below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXR6EFH_nTQ - I love this gal, she helps you understand storage.

Keep working on all frugal things and your storage and your skills and teach others, especially your kids. We will be in this for quite a while yet.

Missy says find inexpensive things. You can fix for your family, go to the library and check out frugal cookbooks to help you.

Tippy Longstockings says we can learn so much so keep working on skill building.

Monday Message

"I wish to urge again the importance of self-reliance on the part of every individual Church member and family. None of us knows when a catastrophe might strike. Sickness, injury, unemployment may affect any of us. We have a great welfare program with facilities for such things as grain storage in various areas. It is important that we do this. But the best place to have some food set aside is within our homes, together with a little money in savings. The best welfare program is our own welfare program. Five or six cans of wheat in the home are better than a bushel in the welfare granary." (President Gordon B. Hinckley)

This week we have been having hot weather but so far the garden is doing okay. I weeded it this morning while we were still cool. The asparagus is starting to finish, I only got three. The raspberries will be next. They are starting to turn.

The young men came to learn about the telescope my husband built. They got to look at the stars and planets so I made them cookies of stars and planets. I know it is hard to see but the cart we have it on was a free "by the side of the road" find.

I have the first harvest of rhubarb chopped and in the freezer and then made two batches of strawberry rhubarb jam.

After my success of growing strawberries from seed (they were doing so well, I had planted them but within the hour they were eaten) I thought I would try again, only this time I will wait to plant when they are way bigger and totally protected. I thought I would tell you how to get the seed...

What I do is peel the strawberry skin very thin. I lay it down on a plate, cut-side down, and leave it for three or four days. Then I rub the top of the skin with my finger. If you look closely at the picture, you see dark flecks like pepper - those are the seeds. I rub them till all seeds are off and I plant them. The skins stick hard and fast to the plate so it's easy to do. I just run the plate and the now seedless-skins in the dishwasher.  If you hand it to a kid, they can eat those skins like fruit leather but they wash off.

The other thing I did last year was I put the peach pits from our peaches into three holes in the backyard. Well I was weed-whacking and I noticed nothing so I took the markers down but when I got to the third one, I thought there were peach trees but I couldn't be sure. Our neighbor brought us tiny ones all those years ago which the tree we have now is from. Well, I asked him to come and check. He came and checked and confirmed they were peach trees! I am so excited! I put two out front and have three going out back which I can divide further in a while. The apple seeds I planted and grew, I put out back as well but rabbits ate them this winter, but they both have shoots - so this year I'll do more protection.

For someone who hates gardening with a passion, I sure seem to be doing a lot of it!

I do like having our yard give us food. So think how you can plant food that will keep giving you food.

They are saying prices are to go way up over the next two months...

Both cats are horrified by that news.

I put in a grocery order and one thing that said out of stock was a 25-pound bag of flour. Usually when Walmart doesn't have something in stock they ship it, but this time it said ITEM NO LONGER AVAILABLE  Nothing about getting it soon or temporary - nope! And someone else remarked the shelves again at Walmart were empty where the flour usually is. This could just be temporary but I think we should take notice that some things are getting harder to get.

So just keep working on your storage - no reason to panic. We just keep working on it. Get your basics in.

Keep working on those skills. No matter where you are in the world, pick up extra items when you go to the store and work on building your skills. Things are hard for everyone right now.

Our town had their town-wide yard sales this last weekend. We went to a few. My husband got a router for five dollars (his died). We just missed getting a wood planer. With my five dollars, I found sewing books that were 25 cents each.

And I got ten sewing magazines a dime each.

Then I got some cooking magazines for free.

We have a wheelbarrow that we got years ago from a yard sale for five dollars but we could no longer fix the tire and the wood was getting rough but the bucket is okay. Well, there was a wheelbarrow for free! It was good except the bucket had rusted through from cement that they left (so people be sure to wash those out!) but we got it and will trade out the bucket part and it will be like a new one. So that was good! We also got a nice free grill, it just needs a good clean..

Even though I wasn't really going to go, we did, and I am glad that we did! So don't rule out yard sales or thrift stores. I did go to four thrift stores in the last little bit and found nothing - it was kind of creepy for me to find nothing. Remember when I said patterns went up? Well now they had none and remember that I complained about yarn prices at the thrift store? Now there was none. So either I have to quit complaining or things are getting worse but I say, if you can, still try to haunt them. Also, hang onto what you have and remake, reuse - that sort of thing.

Just a side note - I totaled the books I got for four dollars pictured above. They came to $401.67!

I think it is fair to say I couldn't have gotten the cheapest book for the four dollars I spent.

Was it worth it? I would definitely say so. There were a lot of others but I had a limit and got the ones that were of interest or that will further my skills.

Missy says we can do this so don't be afraid, it may be hard but we can do it!

Tippy Longstockings says be kind to others, it is badly needed and we will all get through this time.

Monday Message

"Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to ‘prepare every needful thing’ (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we may care for ourselves and our neighbors, and support bishops as they care for others." (All is Safely Gathered In pamphlet)

I hope this finds you all well.

With more of everything going up in price we need to find ways to do for less.

My husband had a doctor appointment on a Tuesday and Goodwill was right by there as they share a parking lot. So I went there while he went to the doctor.

I found two rolls of fabric for $1.90 each after senior discount and I found a jumbo ball winder. You use it to turn your skeins of yarn into a cake of yarn as I show here with a small ball winder.

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2017/07/monday-message_24.html 

I have wanted a jumbo winder for a while but they are so costly

Here is the one i found at goodwill $4.92 after senior discount.  Mind you it just happened to be their senior discount day what a blessing.

It wasn't totally assembled, that took me an hour and a half as all I had to go by was a picture on the internet, no directions. I needed to put that wooden cone in place and attach the part at the bottom left corner. It was the cone that I had issues getting it in place, it went together like a puzzle. I needed to lift the post part which then let me slide it on. So this picture is of it all in place. That baggie in the pic has another belt and extra two of the screw things in the bottom left corner. I am guessing it came to be at Goodwill because they couldn't figure out how it went either. I thank them all for keeping the parts together. I NEVER EVER thought I would see one at Goodwill.

You just never can tell what you will find, so keep looking at thrift stores for items you need, this is a big way to do with less.

But you need to know your prices, different people price these things. For example, they had yarn acrylic for $4.80 a skein. This is not a good price. It was the same price the two rolls of fabric cost before senior discount.

I washed up the fabric and cut two dresses pictured here with my four-legged pattern weight.

I also had enough to cut two bodices and sleeves to be made into two peplum tops. Also sleeves I will put on an opposite-colored bodice. I have printed fabric to use for the peplum.

The camera could not get an accurate color of the fabric, but if you look at the close-up of the two flowers, that is the true color of the fabrics.

One skein of the yarn they had priced equaled the two dresses and two tops. So watch your prices.

One time I saw umbrellas, they were asking more money than the dollar store right next door. We need to be wise stewards of our money because things will be worse before they get better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLoeipbn7FY - worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTlD4QqCouk - this is helpful. I used to yard sale all summer, getting school clothes and winter clothes and Christmas gifts for the kids. Getting school supplies was always a huge expense so picking up parts of the list all summer helps a lot.

Time to be learning those skills or brushing up on ones you have. The kids will be home for the summer, have them learn with you.

I was always so impressed with a family who adopted lots of kids - she taught each of them to make bread by hand and they each took turns baking the bread and did the best job I ever saw. Those kids now have kids and I am sure that skill helped them so much in their lives.

So make these skills a fun thing and not only will you learn but so will they.

Life is so very hard, these skills will help them so much more than handing them some money to throw at a problem. It will help them to look at problems in different ways, to figure it out, which is the best of gifts.

We are all going to have to look at things differently to solve what we are facing.

Missy says nothing is ever so bad that it can't get worse so we need to be ready for whatever comes.

Tippy Longstockings says do the best you can, we will all get through this!