Harvest Lane Cottage

Emily, Michael, and Amy... yes they hug without being told! Dear Reader, Hello! Perhaps this is your first time to visit Harvest Lane Cottage. Welcome! Each week I try to keep track of some of the thrifty and frugal things that I do around here to use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without . My family has gone through some really hard times and lived to tell about it. I hope that my posts will encourage you that you can do this thing called life with hope , a can do spirit, and a whole lot of prayer and hope in Jesus Christ. If you're new to Harvest Lane Cottage, you may want to know more about me . I hope by the time you've been around for a bit, you'll also want to know more about my Lord, Jesus Christ . This was a very busy week at the cottage. My husband remodeled our house by washing windows! Seriously, it looks like a brand new place! My part was washing curtains. I had already washed the insides of the windows a week or so ago. Last week we pain...

Wishing for a little more of this lovely stuff that we enjoyed in November. Hello! Another week has passed so quickly. My thrifty project this week has been cleaning and organizing. ~smile~ I didn't finish nearly as much as I would like. I still need to wash some curtains, clean some woodwork, wash walls... oh no! Never mind. I didn't say all that. My husband reads my blog! Working and driving so much over the last several months really took up my time. Cleaning was one of those things that really suffered. Here's what my thrifty week looked like. ~ I reviewed a free copy of Ruth Soukup's book,  Living Well Spending Less.  ~ Although I don't usually pay for my review books and DVDs, the company expects that I will actually write and publish the review. ~smile~ Therefore, I always feel like I've settled a debt when I hit publish. There's a list of books and movies in my sidebar that I'll be doing reviews on in the near future. . ~ I received a...

It's been cold... really... truly... cold. As I write, it's warmer in Zurich, Switzerland! Don't ask me why, it just showed up on weather.com. ~smile~  It's only 9 degrees here and 34 degrees in Zurich! Even the wood stove is having troubles keeping up. We're piling on lots of blankets, and I've been making tea and soup like a crazy woman!  I've started back with Trim Healthy Mama again, so everything that I eat has to fit into the Satisfying, Energizing, or Fuel Pull category.  Most importantly, it has to fit in the delicious and affordable category, too. ~smile~ Here's my thrifty week: ~ New Year's vacation visiting family about 4 hours away, seeing our old hometown, the Kansas State Capital building, some beautiful architecture and blessed open countryside. Thanks to low gas prices and staying with family, the whole trip only cost us about a hundred dollars for a three day vacation. Thank you God; thank you family! ~ I made a simple sou...

The heart of being frugal is using things that you already have to make do. Make do and mend is an old saying that goes back at least until World War II and maybe even further back. According to the Oxford Dictionary : "Make do and mend means: Manage   with and   repair   the   possessions   one   already   has rather than   buying   replacements :  the austerity of the war years taught her to make do and mend". Make Do and Mend was a pamphlet issued during World War II by the British Ministry of Information.  It included tips on mending, re-purposing and reusing old clothing.  It was a time of extreme rationing and shortages. Nowadays, I find that I, as well as many others, have little money to spend for clothing.  My primary way of clothing my family is through purchases at thrift shops and yard sales. Clothing is often found for a tiny fraction of the original purchase price, and it'...

Happy... new year... new start... fresh leaf... do over... resolution... fresh start... new day... begin again... forgive and forget... goal setting... new vision... new provision... healthy eating... exercising... cleaning... organizing... Bible reading.... Whatever the new year means to you, I pray that you will seek God in a new and more committed way.  His mercies are new every morning.  New can happen any morning, any moment with God.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Every day is your new day.  Every day is my new day. Every day is the Lord's new day. Let's seize it. Blessings,  Laura