Harvest Lane Cottage

Hello friends,  I wanted to jot you a quick note this morning. My season of homeschooling has come to an end. I graduated my last daughter Amy in January. I've spent the last month praying about what God wants me to do next. I recognize this as my year for redefining Laura.  I have accepted a position as a part-time secretary for a local chiropractor. He was homeschooled, so I expect he will understand as I transition into the position. After all, twenty-nine years is a long time to be out of the work place. Oh, I've worked during that time, but it has always been working for my husband in his business or helping him in other ways. My husband came to me with this position and the possibility. I felt like it was God's leading for this season.  So, hi ho hi ho, it's off to work I go. I'll write to you later.  Be blessed y'all! Hugs, Laura

I don't imagine that there are very many people who don't have at least an inkling of an idea of what The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien is about. Many people have seen the movie based on the book. I homeschooled my children, and the rule for my kids was that they could not see The Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings trilogy until they had read the corresponding books. Strangely enough, I never read any of them. My book club selected The Hobbit for their February 2020 selection. I was quickly drawn into the action. I did have pictures in my mind of some of the characters, because I had seen The Hobbit movie. Like every movie that's made from a book, the movie was just a small preview of how wonderful the actual book was. I had a bit of a concern about the spiders, but found that it was not nearly as bad as I had feared. As it turned out, I was a little let down when the book was finished. I didn't quite understand why it ended the way that it did, however it was a ve...

~~~~~ ♥♥♥ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ♥♥♥ ~~~~~  Welcome to another thrifty update from Harvest Lane Cottage. I am glad you've found me! I like to share my thrifty and frugal projects, ways of saving money, frugal cooking, and my blessings from God.  ~~~~~ ♥♥♥ ~~~~~  Hello everyone! Can you believe that we're already well into February? I've been keeping track of thrifty things we've done in the last few weeks.  I graduated my homeschooled daughter Amy at the beginning of January, and I have been busy with so many things while she is at school. I need to get myself back into a writing routine. I beg your pardon for the long wait between posts. I intend to set some time away every day for writing.   I've been sewing and knitting a lot. So far, I have only spent about $7 for cotton batting and seam binding. I am trying to sew and knit using only things that I or my daughter have on hand. That's another way to be thrifty. My ...

Colds are often an unwelcome part of winter. Battle hard with the symptoms as soon as they start. I recommend drinking lots of liquids and resting as much as possible. Here are some home remedies you might find helpful. I'm not a doctor, just a mom. These things have helped my family. You'll need to decide for your family. For the cold: echinacea and golden seal 3x day elderberry drops 3x day I cut up pieces of garlic and swallowed them like a pill a few times a day. Zinc losenges help if started the first day of the cold. Vitamin C 1000 mg/day divided morning and evening (adults) For general health/immune system: 2 T apple cider vinegar in glass of water 3x day (Bragg's) For an earache: I peel a clove of garlic and put it inside the outer hollow portion of the ear. I cover it with a bandaid to hold it in. Then we just leave it in as long as we can stand it. It works as a natural anti-biotic. We have found it helpful for my Emily's earaches. I hop...

Hello! So good of you to drop in today.   I've been thinking of things I would like to get done over the next week or so.  You know how it is. Always something to do. So, here are some things I hope to do this week. I think I'll come back here and change the items to italics as I do them just to give myself a little encouragement along the way. Planning:   menu grocery list ~ My sweet man did my Aldi shopping for me! I ordered some grocery items online for pick up at Walmart, too. They'll bring it right to my car Saturday at noon! I got $10 off my first order. You can try it too if you use this link :   http://r.wmt.co/v/laura_2516 projects ~ I've got a list of ideas and it's growing! Cooking:    wheat bread ~ Monday baked chocolate chip cookies with my eldest son jalapeno jelly - I'll have to put this off until next week.  Reading:  I need to make a service announcement here. ~giggle~ I am not going...