Thrifty Things Lately at Harvest Lane Cottage #134

Thrifty Things Lately at Harvest Lane Cottage!

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Hey Y'all,

  I have just been a bit out-of-the-loop lately. Knitting and reading have been taking up some of my blogging time. It's time to turn my focus more to thrifty living again. Here are some of the ways that I've been thrifty since my thrifty post.

 God bless!
 Laura

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Here's how my family has been thrifty lately.

• We did a white elephant gift exchange with extended family for Christmas. Some gifts were very nice. Some were just gag gifts. We played Bingo to see who would choose first.

• I bought a couch off of Facebook for $100. The previous owner had moved into a new house, and it didn't fit. The money was given to me as a Christmas gift.

• We've eaten out of the freezer and cupboard.

• We used a Christmas gift of money to stock up on some supplies.

• I've decluttered and given away bags of stuff. Real estate investment!

• My daughter bought an older vehicle with a good down payment. She'll only need to finance it for a year.

• I went on my first yarn shop road trip with my friend Laura. I saved by only buying one skein of yarn at each of the shops we visited. I went home with money in my pocket. Woo hoo!

•  We pulled back on some plans and activities to give ourselves more margin in our homeschool days. It's already more peaceful.

• I borrowed the books I needed for the new book club I've joined instead of buying them.

• I took a lot of giveaway things to my knit night and invited others to do the same. I decluttered a lot, and I got a couple of new skeins of pretty sock yarn.

• I earned some money by filling out on-line surveys. They seem to be good at the start then, after I've been a member for awhile, I don't get to complete as many surveys. 

Have a terrific week,
Laura

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 Related Posts

• A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage #49
• A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage #50
• A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage #51 

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Over the Moon

On My Needles... What I'm Reading... February 7, 2019

Hi Y'all!

Winter's finally come to southern Missouruh Missouri. It's flat cold tonight—18° with a windchill of 6°. That's more than frigid enough for me thank you very much. We've had rain during this lovely freeze, therefore the schools were cancelled for cold and ice. There are a lot of kids who ride buses around here. I was thrilled this afternoon when it began to snow. There's not much accumulation yet. I'm hoping there will be more tomorrow.

So, what to do on a cold winter's night? Sit a bit in front of the fire with my sweet husband, simmer chicken veggie rice soup on the stove for supper, and soon I'll knit a bit and read a bit. After awhile, most likely there will be cocoa. My Amy and my Emily will be home soon to watch "Do You Believe?" with our friend Lily.

I finished Emily's CC Beanie hat in Garnet Heather just in time for the cold weather. I found the pom pom on Amazon in a package of twelve.

The gray hat is my son's hat. I made it for him for Christmas, but he asked me to add some length to it. I cut off the ribbing at the bottom, put it back on the needles, and I knitted another couple of inches in stockinette stitch. Now I'm knitting a two by two ribbing. I will have to search YouTube for a stretchy cast-off. 

I hope to finish it soon and get it back to him. I've not had time to work on my shawl much. Maybe when I'm done with Matthew's hat.

This month I am reading Christy by Catherine Marshall for the book club my friend Kathriann invited me to attend. I'm about a hundred pages in. I am really surprised how interesting it is. It's almost entirely based on true events experienced by Mrs. Marshall's mother, but the book is written as fiction.

Check out my too long to read Christy Winter Reading List. I actually just got a notification that yet another book not on my list has just arrived from interlibrary loan. I don't know how I'll read it all. Some will probably show up on my spring list.

What have you been up to?

Be blessed,

Laura

Amy's Frozen Snowflakes Beanie Hat 

Laura Lane

on Goodreads

2019 Finished Books

3 Fiction

HarvestLaneLaura 

on Ravelry

2019 Finished Knits

4 Hats

The Value of Home in Everyone's Life 

Between Two Shores

Light Between OceansReyna shawl in Wendy's Wonders hand-dyed fingering yarn

Copy Cat CC Beanie in Knit Picks Swish worsted wool Garnet Heather

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Related Posts:

On My Needles... What I'm Reading... January 24, 2019

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Joining with Yarn Along and Crafting On

Thursday Favorite Things

Over the Moon

Friday Feature Linky Party 
Funtastic Friday  
Create, Bake, Grow, and Gather   

On My Needles... What I'm Reading... January 30, 2019

Two of my favorites—
knitting and reading
This week:
The Value of Home in Everyone's LifeBetween Two Shores
Reyna shawl in Wendy's Wonders hand-dyed fingering yarn
Copy Cat CC Beanie in Knit Picks Swish worsted wool

Hello again!

It's so good to talk with you again. I love it when you write back to me. I try to answer as many comments as I can. I don't always answer in order, because I usually answer as I get the email notifications. 

It's been quite the busy week. I've spent time with my husband and with all of my children. I only have four, but two are out of the nest, and one little birdie spends a lot of time at university and teaching private music lessons. I cherish the time I have with my littlest birdie. Even she performs at residential care homes and has a part-time job. My nest isn't empty yet, but the day is coming.

I've been finding ways to spread my wings a bit. Y'all know that I've got a great group of ladies that I knit with once a week. I've made friends and improved my skills over the last year since I first took the scary step of visiting the group as a cancer patient. I feared that they wouldn't want to talk to me because of my condition. Instead, they welcomed me with smiles and encouragement. There are a couple gals who I'd consider knitting enablers. Well—yarn enablers!

This month I read The Light Between Oceans in preparation for visiting a book club my friend Kathriann invited me to attend. I've not discussed books with anyone like that since college forever. We just clicked, and I fit in right away. I really liked the ladies. This next month the book will be Christy. I'll probably start it in a couple of days. It's over 500 daunting pages! I want to get the audio version so that I can knit while I listen. 

Check out my very ambitious Winter Reading List. I made it before I knew about the book club, so I don't know if I'll make it or not. I plan to get audio versions of as many as I can. After all, there's only so much time for reading and so much time for knitting.

What have you been up to?

Be blessed,

Laura

Laura Lane

on Goodreads

2019 Finished Books

2 Fiction

HarvestLaneLaura 

on Ravelry

2019 Finished Knits

3 Hats

The Value of Home in Everyone's LifeBetween Two Shores

Light Between OceansReyna shawl in Wendy's Wonders hand-dyed fingering yarn
Copy Cat CC Beanie in Knit Picks Swish worsted wool

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Related Posts:

On My Needles... What I'm Reading... January 24, 2019

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Joining with Yarn Along and Crafting On

Thursday Favorite Things