This and That Around our Frugal Home

   

       We got some bad news about an extended family member whom we love dearly.  To say that I am frustrated with the medical system is an understatement at this point.  They give you bad news and then expect you to wait for up to 2 months before they can see you.  Meanwhile the disease continues to grow and spread making the person weaker and weaker and in pain with less of a chance to have a possible good outcome with treatment. My heart is just breaking for them and for their spouse and the rest of the family. 😞  I just don't understand it at all.

Update: they had a last minute cancellation and were able to get him in this morning! 

   Our grandson Isaiah had his tonsils and adenoids taken out last week and he is healing slower than they thought he would.  Poor kiddo takes after his Grammie here I am afraid.  A simple one store grocery shopping trip totally wore him out and he took a nap after getting home.  I know he will feel so much better after he heals up, but right now it is hard for him to see that.

   I just finished getting another bucket full of spinach from our garden all washed and most of it put in the dehydrator.  The ones that did not fit will be part of a nice salad to accompany our dinner.  Honestly, the gardening and preserving are keeping me really busy, even on the days when our Steven is not here.  Jeff keeps telling me that I need to slow down, but there is just too much to do and anyone who gardens knows that gardens do not wait for you to be ready, but rather need to be taken care of when the timing is right for them.  I have spinach and Boc Choi that are starting to go to bolt, so they both need to be dealt with.  I also have more spinach coming up and have tomatoes plants that need to be put in the garden.  The potatoes need to be hilled again, but I will wait for Steven to help me with that.  He was a little put off with me that I did it without him last week.  I won't be making that mistake again. 😉

   The dryer broke and Jeff is still working on getting it fixed.  Thank goodness for a gorgeous day so that I can hang out the laundry to dry!  I love my old fashioned laundry line and I can imagine the generations of families that have put it to good use!

   Last night, after Jeff got the dishwasher loaded, the garbage disposal stopped working.  It is getting power to it, but not turning.  Since the dishwasher is linked in directly with the garbage disposal, we could not get it running either.  Hopefully Jeff will be able to tear it down and fix it.  Meanwhile, I have one kitchen sink that is still working, so I can deal with it for the time being.

   This afternoon I got 3 loaves of banana bread made and saved the peels and put them in a gallon jar, along with some water, to make banana peel fertilizer.  I then made some tomato plant fertilizer using dried eggshells, Tums, and a bit of Epsom salt all powdered up.  I will add the tomato plant fertilizer on top of the roots of the tomato plants.  The banana peel fertilizer will be watered onto the roots of plants also when it is ready.  It adds potassium to plants that is much needed.  I have been taking notes and adding them to my gardening section of a large notebook that I keep on hand.  I think we all need to be looking at ways to fertilize our plants naturally since it saves us money and with all the shortages, many of us would not be able to find what we need in the stores soon.  Also, I am a huge fan of doing things as naturally as possible and limiting chemicals.

  

   My greenhouse has been such a blessing.  Most of the plants that I started from seed came up and are thriving, other than the peppers, which have not come up at all.  After I get the plants out into the garden, I will have extras, which I am sharing with my girls, Heather and Rachel.  Both of them are starting gardens at their homes and I do not want them to go out and buy plants if I have them here to share.  Heather will be starting a lot from seed, but this will give her a bit of a head start.  

   Chris went morel mushroom hunting the other day and got close to 9 pounds!  They sold 3 pounds of them already and Chris is dehydrating a pound of them for me too.  What a lovely gift!  Their whole family had gone previously and got about 10 pounds at that picking.  They sold a lot of those too and have been enjoying mushrooms every day themselves.

   So that is a glimpse of what is going on here.  We are trying to stay positive despite personal setbacks, extended family illnesses and the way the world is going downhill fast.  I want my home to be that soft landing spot for friends and family.  I still want to cook good meals and work in my garden.  I also want to preserve as much as I can from the garden.  Yes, times are hard right now and are just going to get harder, which is even more reason to do all we can to try and insulate ourselves as much as possible and stock up on what we need.  Be blessed my friends and continue to do all you can to live a frugal, yet beautiful life!