Harvest Lane Cottage

Here's a peek into my thrifty week: ~ We enjoyed a four day vacation at Beaver Lake in Arkansas for the price of food, gas, and supplies thanks to the generosity of some volunteers that helped Joplin after the tornado.  We ate lots of sandwiches and ate out twice. ~  I shopped for my veggies at our local Aldi store.  The selection is usually very good and fresh.  The prices are always lower than our local Wal-Mart. I always try to buy my groceries there prior to going to Wal-Mart. ~ We found homes for our kittens thereby eliminating the need for kitten food and making some new families happy. ~ I printed out some weekly planner homeschooling sheets for the kids. That's about it. Today is my son's birthday. We're having a family party with homemade fried chicken tonight.  Happy 14th birthday Michael!  Laura Happy at Home and at the Lake ~~~~~ May I suggest? A Thrifty Week #11 ~~~~~ Shared: Strut Your Stuff Saturda...

King by R. J. Larson Books of the Infinite #3 I've just come home from a long weekend at the lake.  When I wasn't in or on the water, I was often found  reading this fantastic book.  I received King from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review. (For the government man.) ~smile~ My thoughts: Prophet and Judge were such magnificent stories, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the latest novel in the  Books of the Infinite series, King by R.J. Larson. Time seemed to stand still as I lost myself in these pages.   The emotions, struggles and intrigue woven into the personal lives of the prophet Ela, Kien, Akabe, and Caitria are magnified as their stories and futures intertwine into one.  King 's ancient setting was a welcome respite from the twentieth century.  ~smile~  I love Christian allegories, and Larson is a master storyteller.  This is the best book series I've read in ages.  As I finished the last sentence...

It's a very short list this week because of our vacation at Beaver Lake in Arkansas.  We had a terrific time.  I'm also posting this late.  The trip itself was very thrifty because we stayed at a friend's lake house. Here's this week's thrifty activity: ~ I hemmed a pair of jeans for my mister that had gotten ragged around the hem. ~ I made laundry detergent again. ~ I took boiled eggs, mayo, and homemade bread on our trip to the lake.  Our first meal was egg salad sandwiches. Blessings, Laura Happy at Home ~and~ at the Lake! Shared at: Cozy Book Hop -Share Your up Thursday  - Think Tank Thursdays - Serving Joyfully - Thriving at Home - Mom's the Word - Mix it Up Monday - Modest Mondays - A Mama's Story - Mumtopia

Who is Jesus? It's the one question that everyone must answer. The factual answer is easy.  Jesus is the one and only begotten son of Jehovah God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Creator of the Universe, and your Creator.   Jesus was sent to Earth to live a life clean from sin so that he could take the punishment for all sin, yours, mine, everyone's. These are the facts, the unchanging truth.   So, that's who Jesus is to the world. Who is Jesus to you? Is he your Savior?  The one who suffered for you so that you can be clean before God? Is He your Lord?  Your boss? Is He your Healer? Your friend? Are you waiting to come to Jesus because you feel dirty or unworthy?  So was I.  We come to Him dirty, and He washes us clean.  He makes all things new, even our hearts and minds. Have you met Jesus? Would you like to? He has completely changed my life, who I am, how I live. I am forgiven for all the b...

Amy Lane Photography "For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. " Psalm 149:4 The last few years have humbled me a lot. We've come from being able to go and do and buy much of what we wanted, whether with cash or credit, to going and doing without and buying mostly necessities. It's a hard thing not to be able to take your children to a free zoo day because you cannot put enough gasoline in the car to get there and back. It was our life for a long time. So many of the things that people are worried about losing because of the economy, we've already lost...401K...house...vehicles, good credit. It started with a boss who decided that my husband's pay should be cut in half and he should work twice as hard. It continued with a business that we started using our house as collateral. Don't do that. It's stupid. Why didn't we see that? The business failed, we lost all that we had of m...

  Carthage, Missouri Courthouse at Night Just last evening, I was feeling overwhelmed by some problems and agitated.  I couldn't even settle down and decide where I wanted to go for dinner for date night with hubby. We bought a soda and went to sit down at the square in our little town.  The businesses were closed, and there was very little traffic. It was amazingly quiet, right in the middle of our town.  The weather was perfect, and peace slowly washed over me. Blessed quiet.  It can be amazingly soothing. God told us to be still for a very good reason.  We need it. Blessings, Laura ~~~~~ May I suggest? Anxious or Depressed? ~~~~~ 

Hi Y'all! It's been a relaxing week here at the cottage.  Mister has been home on a two week vacation!  Wow!  The first one in twenty-five years!  We've been busy about the house sprucing things up, relaxing, watching some movies, getting caught up on paperwork and such. Here is my thrifty week: ~ I patched five pairs of jeans, two for each son and one for my daughter.  I spent $1.98 for thread versus about $100 for new jeans. ~ I hemmed a pair of jeans that were looking a bit frayed for my husband.  They'll look nice for awhile longer. ~ I made easy peasy laundry soap.  RECIPE ~ I filled up my IBC root beer bottle  with dish soap.  It has a little olive oil pour spout in it that makes my dish soap last a long time. ~ I cut up some old t-shirts for cleaning rags.  My husband had snuck my rag bag out to his shed and was using the ones I had. ~ I pared apples from our tree for an apple pie.   Hubby made it and i...

Girl Reading     Alfred Émile Léopold Stevens  May 11, 1823 – August 24, 1906 I've been reading! I'm hoping Trim Healthy Mama will help me look as lovely as the lady in the painting!  What?  A girl can dream!

“In the mornings, Laura and Mary helped Ma wash the dishes and make the beds.  After this was done, Ma began the work that belonged to that day.  Each day had its own proper work.  Ma would say:  ’Wash on Monday, Iron on Tuesday, Mend on Wednesday, Churn on Thursday, Clean on Friday, Bake on Saturday, Rest on Sunday.’ ” ~ Little House in the Big Woods Laura Ingalls Wilder Have you been influenced by a teacher?  Pamela Higgs was my 4th and 5th grade teacher at McCarter Elementary in Topeka, Kansas.  It was right around the time of the American Bicentennial.   Mrs. Higgs had a love for for children and a love for handcrafts.  She taught our class the basics of macrame, quilling, embroidery, hand sewing, and other crafts.  She also brought in people to demonstrate old-time crafts such as making butter, quilting, and spinning.   My love of reading was encouraged as she read to us after lunch every day....

Michael, 13, took out a stone mailbox on his bike tonight.  Knocked it down like a tornado.  Flattened Michael, too.  Amy got help for him.  A man driving by called us.  911, sheriff, ambulance etc.  Lowell was headed to Mt. Vernon, but he turned around and drove like crazy to get to Michael.  They refused the ambulance but drove to the hospital for x-rays and a CT scan.  (We watched a program about Tigers earlier today that showed a tiger getting a CT scan. I'm a home school mom, but this is taking field trips and hands-on learning way too far!) PRAISE GOD! No broken bones, no internal injuries.  Just some cuts, scrapes, bruises, and sore muscles. SCORE:   MAILBOX  0    MICHAEL  1 Update:  Michael is still quite sore.  He's taking meds to help with the pain and inflammation.   It turns out that the mailbox wasn't flattened, just destroyed.  A couple of feet of the base are stil...

Good day dear readers! I've missed a bit with my thrifty week series over the summer.  Since it's been such a popular series, and it keeps me thinking thrifty thoughts, here's my thrifty and frugal week: ~I made homemade bread and rolls. ~  I went to a bag sale at the thrift store brought clothes for my children, school supplies, and a nice gravy boat for me. Yes!  I stuffed all of this into one standard sized brown paper bag! If it were an olympic sport, I'd be in.  I roll and calculate and stuff until beads of perspiration dot my forehead!  Go for the gold Sister! ~ The next day we went yard saling.  We found a waffle maker, some Legos, and more clothes for my girls.  Emily was proud to say that from head to toe she spent only $1 on a really cute blouse, skirt, and new shoes for Sunday!  Go girl! ~ This was week three of the big eat down.  I've been doing my best to use up what we have in the fridge, freezer, and c...

Drying Clothes by Helen Allingham 1848 – 1926 "It may be put down as a positive rule,  whether among the rich or the poor, whether in a palace or in a cottage, that the wife who would be happy,  and make her home happy and permanently beautiful, must work with her hands at the housewifely tasks which the days in turn bring to her."  J.R. Miller   Home-making p. 63 ~~~~~ May I suggest? It's All Worth It ~~~~~ Shared: Spring Party

Recently, my husband, Lowell ,  and I were talking about building a house someday.  He had sketched out a floor plan that he likes. "Oh I want to show you a kitchen I like. I pinned it on Pinterest ." I said. I showed him; he liked it.  Since we were bonding over Pinterest, I showed him this library. Suddenly, the beauty of Pinterest was revealed to my husband when he saw this. I thought to myself, maybe we should do this next weekend.  My husband, however, is a make it happen sort of man . We clicked through the pin to get to the original source, Lily & Thistle , and found that the correct recipe is 1/4 cup vinegar to 3/4 cup canola oil. I brought him a rag and the ingredients, and he promptly got to work on our table first.  It looked better, but no major difference.  The next thing I knew, our nightstands were setting on top of our dining table!  Our tables are old, but they look so much better. Laura Happy at Home ...