Monday, June 13, 2022

Monday Message

"Decide as a family that there will be no vacation or holiday next year unless you have your year’s supply. Many Church members could buy a full year’s supply of the basics from what they would save by not taking a vacation. Take the vacation time and work on a family garden. Be together, and it can be just as much fun." (Vaughn J. Featherston)

This probably won't be so hard with the price of gas. Try to find free activities and things you can do close to home.

Our last vehicle fill was $57. I am very thankful we don't do a lot of driving. We should prepare for it to go higher. What would your budget look like if it does continue to climb?

With everything going higher we all need to make a plan.

Every family is different, their needs are not the same.

Here are a few things I am doing...

It is not too late to put some seeds in the ground and if you cannot then build a salad pot for your porch. I have a large pot with leaf lettuce in half and radishes on the other half. I need to thin the radishes. Either you can sit and eat what you pull or you could put them in scrambled eggs - delicious.

Try to grow what you can, waste nothing, that is our plan and cook from scratch everything we can. We had potatoes that were wrinkly and had eyes so I planted them. I have a bowl full yet that I could plant and will.

Here are potatoes that were no longer any good. I planted them and now they look really good. We need to not waste anything. Find creative uses for things.

Every year I have a hard time reaching the raspberries to pick so this year I learned a skill that was new to me. I learned how to use the weed whacker. It is hard, heavy work but I push on. I don't have the strength the younger ones do. I made a clear path behind the raspberries to help better pick. I can stand on the deck to pick and then go on the path picking from behind. Plus birds started another patch north of the house.

I planted two plum trees, two apple trees, three seedless grapes. I put leftover landscaping fabric down around to keep weeds down.

I had an asparagus garden already going and put more in another area. I already had rhubarb but planted more. We also put strawberries in this year.

I put green beans in a whole new spot. I put a wire fence piece we had leftover to help them grow up the fence and up onto the porch posts. The seed I used for these I saved from last year from the green beans I grew. I plan to do the same this year.

This is just a sampling of what I am doing

I plan to divide hostas and move them around the yard.

I planted purple pansies so the neighbor when she washes dishes has something pretty to look at.

But mostly I want our yard to feed us.

We mostly have things planted that comes back every year.

And my favorite plant I got for Mother's Day...

A bleeding heart is my very favorite of all flowers.

My plan is to water as little as possible.

I have this in a page protector so that I can write with dry erase marker to plan meals. After the sweater is finished I will have time to build a binder all on meal planning.

One thing I do is I freeze two eggs, I crack them in freezer bags and freeze. I do this with what eggs I have leftover after the month that makes room for the new ones and this way if eggs go as high as they are predicting, we will have some frozen. Now I need to tell you on frozen eggs, they turn a nasty orange color but if you let's say scramble them, they cook just as yellow and fluffy as if not frozen.

Today I picked off blossoms from the tomato plants, always makes me feel like Morticia Adams but by doing this the growth will go into the plants instead of stopping to grow the tomatoes too soon, that would give less tomatoes.

Freereadfeed is great with free books, lots are on gardening and canning and dehydrating.

I had to go in to look for arthritis Tylenol at Walmart. I am always masked up but when I got there the shelves were wiped out. Amazing. We have extra strength Tylenol but I was going to get more. Nope, there was none to get. I am thankful for what I have. So you need to think of other needs to be stocking up on.

What things do you have planned if you have to tighten your budgets more than they already are??

https://www.mintnotion.com/travel/staycation-ideas/ - here is a jumping off idea.

https://www.emilymkrause.com/blog/50-staycation-ideas-for-families-stuck-at-home

https://www.verywellfamily.com/summer-fun-ideas-kids-and-parents-3542627

Of course, give each their own little spot to plant and care for it.

I think reading a book series would be a good thing to do. Take turns reading out loud.

Google and learn all you can on canning and freezing and drying.

Involve the kids in gardening and canning.

Here is the progress on the sweater I am test knitting...

I am halfway done with the sleeves. There will be ribbing on them and then I'll block it and sew on buttons.

Missy said it is very very important to learn skills.

Gus said you better buckle up, it is going to be a bumpy ride.

16 comments:

  1. We have been watching documentaries which are educational and entertaining, too.

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  2. Is the purple blossom the potatoes you planted? It’s beautiful. I love pansies and bleeding heart also. Good you thought of an easier way to harvest your raspberries—things are definitely more challenging for us who’ve reached a certain age and can’t lift as much or don’t have as much stamina.
    Your knitting is really coming along. If I remember correctly, I got arthritis strength Tylenol off Amazon just recently, which surprised me, cuz I’d not been able to find it anywhere.
    Lord bless you and your hard work,
    Mary

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    1. Thank you yes those are the potatoes I had in the bowl I figured why not try. My sis visited Friday and brought me three starts from her bleeding hearts hers are taller then me I hope they do well here in Iowa.

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  3. HI BECKY: MI ESPOSO Y YO ESTAMOS JUBILADOS, AUNQUE EL HACE ALGUNOS TRABAJOS CADA TANTO, YA NO ES COMO ANTES, TENEMOS QUE CUIDAR LA SALUD, LOS 2 YA PASAMOS LOS 60 Y YA NO TENEMOS LAS MISMAS FUERZAS COMO ANTES, IGUALMENTE AMBOS TRABAJAMOS MUCHO EN CASA, QUISIERA PODER TENER UNA HUERTA PERO NO ES TAN FACIL ACA, TENGO UN LUGAR APROPIADO, PERO DEBO HACER CAJAS DE MADERA PARA PODER PLANTAR SEMILLAS YA QUE EL SUELO ES MUY POBRE EN MINERALES, TENGO 2 ARBOLES ENORMES CERCA Y TOMAN TODOS LOS NUTRIENTES HACIENDO QUE NADA CREZCA, TENDRE QUE PONER MANOS A LA OBRA, ACA LAS COSAS SE ESTAN PONIENDO DIFICILES, ES IMPOSIBLE PODER LLEGAR A FIN DE MES, LOS ALIMENTOS SUBEN TODAS LAS SEMANAS, NUESTRO DINERO QUE ES EL PESO, CADA VEZ VALE MENOS, AUMENTA EL DOLAR Y AUMENTA TODO. TENDREMOS QUE VOLVER A VIVIR COMO EN EL EDEN, ¿NO ES MALA IDEA VERDAD? HEMOS CUMPLIDO 44 AÑOS DE CASADOS ESTOS DIAS, FELICES DE ESTAR JUNTOS TANTOS AÑOS. DIOS TE BENDIGA RICAMENTE.

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    1. Hi our anniversary is tomorrow 48 yrs. You are right we are blessed to have each other that long we too over sixty and yes it gets harder every year to do things and who knows if we will live long enough to see these trees fruit with weather nuts like it is. Yes groceries go up about every minute it will get harder before less harder.

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  4. Debby in Kansas USAJune 14, 2022 at 5:54 AM

    Good morning Becky!
    I realized that I didn't respond last week and I wanted to tell you that your woven bag is gorgeous!! Seeing your rug took me back to my childhood when my Grandma used to crochet back porch rugs from bread bags! She liked that they cleaned your shoes and she could just hose them off. I think that was where I got my depression era mentality!

    I love how your sweater is turning out! It's beautiful! Are you happy with it?

    Like you, we're bracing for things to get worse. I'm trying to keep on top of every fridge and fresh item so nothing goes to waste. We've had so much rain that our garden plants are taking a long time to grow. But, with this sunny week, that should change. My hydrangeas have never been so beautiful. They love all the water.

    The only car trips are mandatory. No extra driving at all. Hubs is volunteering at the Food Pantry and he's walking the mile to get there and back. Fortunately it's all residential and very shady so there's not much traffic and the shade should help with the suffocating heat we're having. We're also taking advantage of our library and any freebie events in town. Our church had a Trivia night last week that was a lot of fun. Our insurance agent is having a picnic at our park so we'll go to that- and combine the trip with everything in between!! And, I must admit that our yards look great between the rain and the extra home time.

    Enough of my yammering! Give those sweet kitties an extra treat for their great advice and drink plenty of water!!

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    1. You have the right idea thanks for sharing all those ideas. The sweater is now done I am happy with it you will see it next week I learned a lot and the kittens say thanks for the extra treats.

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  5. We cancelled our trip this year. We had rented a bug van for all us to go to n.c. from Michigan. I can't imagine the gas for that.

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    1. Oh that gas is crazy prices I am afraid it will get worse a lot worse.

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  6. I had to go back to work last year because my husband got laid off during covid, and of course why would a company hire a 62-year-old when they can hire a 32-year-old for half the money? I love my job (I work at my church), but if gas gets much higher, I'm going to request working from home at least one day a week, preferably two, to save on gas. I have been stocking up for the past year or so, not as much as I'd like but something is better than nothing. We eat lots of eggs, sandwiches, pastas and soup that can be made cheaply. It's really too hot here to grow much, so I buy frozen veggies for my husband (I hate veggies). We do what we can and pray for the rest.

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    1. Good advice yes see how many days they will let you do from home some insurance companies kept people working from home and sold the buildings it saved them lots of money...right now I agree with those plants it is too hot

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  7. I am reading about so many people cancelling vacation travel and making fewer shopping excursions due to the cost of gas. We should have been doing this all along. It is wasteful of our natural resources to be burning fuel or wasting water. If it takes high prices to knock sense into our wasteful ways then I'm all for it. Anyone who grows food knows how long it takes to grow from seed to edible plant. Add in weeding, bug control, watering and you have something worth using all up. The food from the store is the same. It costs time and money to produce what we buy. We need to put a higher value on it. Don't waste these 'gifts'. By using every scrap of food or other necessities, we shop less and have more money to work with. I hope that Missy and Gus concur!

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    1. Well actually gus and Missy says it is way to hot to weed water and frolic outside right now😃

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  8. Your posts are so helpful at making me think. Thank you! I love that you planted pansies so the neighbor has something pretty to look at. Years ago I used to shop at a grocery with residential homes that were separated from the parking lot by wire fencing. One of the homeowner's planted the whole fenceline with deep purple morning glories. Everytime I pulled into that store parking lot I was grateful for the beauty I was privileged to see just because I was shopping!

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    1. Oh I bet that was pretty ..i planted morning glories for my husband he loves them climbing out there on the post that our house number is on in stained glass. When it blooms it is very pretty. I got those seed from dollar tree four packages for a dollar I hope to save their seed this year.

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