Laura Lately ~ A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage #178

Sometimes life can be a bit of a tangle.
Don't give up! Just work it out knot by knot.

Hello everyone,

 I'm keeping this week's post simple. I'm fighting a headache again, and just needed to get it done. ~smile~ I apologize for the lack of photos. The one above is some yarn a friend gave me recently. I plan to make a pair of shorty socks with it. 

 It seems everywhere I look that I'm seeing, hearing, or reading about the anxiety folks are feeling over what could happen in the next few months. I've never been a prepper—mostly because I've not had extra to prep with. Nevertheless, I am going to try to be more intentional about doing what I can with what I've got where I am. Perhaps you're in the same situation. Just because we cannot do a lot does not mean we should not do what we can. I'm feeling convicted about that just now. 

In the Kitchen

• I stirred up a sourdough starter on Monday. I've been feeding it all week—morning and evening. I've named it Doughy. I'm learning! I hope I can make some pancakes or waffles next week sometime. I've heard it has to be a few weeks old before I can make bread.
• We enjoyed Countrytime Lemonade from a mix my husband won as part of a lemon themed gift basket. The basket also had some pretty cups and a lemon covered tablecloth. He put the black tote in his car to keep little things corralled.
• I put a baked chicken carcass in the freezer to make soup later. 
• I sliced up the last of the pork steaks and put leftover bbq sauce on it. There's enough for a couple of good sized bbq pork sandwiches later. It's awaiting a meal for two in the freezer.
• I also started a dump stew container in the freezer. I'm putting leftover veggies and such in it. It is for beef or venison stew. I used a Blue Bunny ice cream container. When it's full, I'll make an interesting soup. 

Dinners

• Saturday we ate bison burgers. They were a gift from a friend.
• Sunday My husband smoked the pork steaks that my son bought on sale for $1.99 lb. We ate corn on the cob with the pork.
• Monday I made a thrifty favorite from my kids' childhood. Tamale pie. It's a pound of hamburger made into taco meat. I added the corn from 3 cobs that were leftover and a small can of green chiles. This went into a 8x8 casserole with a batch of scratch cornbread batter poured over the top. I baked it for about 30 minutes until golden. Yum.
• Tuesday my husband and I went out for dinner. We got queso and one dinner and shared it.
• Wednesday I made chili in the crock pot. Yep. We eat chili year round here. I used one pound of hamburger, a can of diced tomatoes a friend gave me, a can of tomato sauce, an onion, and four cans of chili beans that we bought at Aldi to stock the pantry.
• Thursday my daughter, Emily, made a chicken stir-fry. My husband and I ate at a business after hours at a ribbon cutting event.
• Friday night was macaroni and tomatoes with hamburger left over from the chili Wednesday.

In the Bathroom

• I refilled our little soap dispenser with some body wash my dad gave us and topped it off with water to thin it down. I shook it up, and it is working fine.
• I squeezed every bit of toothpaste I could out of the tube for replacing it.

In the Workbasket

• I'm knitting socks for gifts. There are four men in my life and all have size 13 feet. How'd that happen? I finished knitting my daughter's Christmas socks. I just need to weave in the ends.
• I'm collecting things that need to be mended—everything from our kitten's toy mouse to my husband's suit jacket. It's about time to mend towels again, too. 

Books and Such

• I reviewed a book, Midnight's Budding Morrow, that I received free for review.
• I am now reading The Songs That Could Have Been by Amanda Wen. Click here to enter the giveaway. It's a free review book, too. 
• I am listening to a few books on Scribd including Spanish Verb Conjugation, The Art of Neighboring, Hand Made, and The Five Second Rule.
• I've listened to music and homemaking videos for free on YouTube. I especially like Mrs. Lydia Sherman and Inspired by Nikki.

Out and About

• I switched out a coffee shop meeting for a $1 iced tea at McDonald's meeting twice.
• I am still driving the 1989 Grand Marquis that a friend gave us in 2016.

Surprises

• I received a box in the mail filled with yarn in fall colors. Thank you Ellie! She included some peppermint tea (I was out) and lemonade mixes as well. It was joy-ful.
• I saw one of my little students at Walmart. I said her name, and she came right to me and hugged me and kissed my cheek. I quickly told her grandma that I was one of her teachers. It was joy-ful!

I close with a quote from a Thrifty Week post from 2016:

"I cannot stress enough how important it is to save for rainy days. I am a squirrel. I have been squirreling a little money here and there as it comes to me for years. It's been very helpful in this time of unemployment. Even if you can only save a few dollars or even a few cents, please do it. It's the only reason we've still got money after no income for two months. The other thing I had was some food in the freezer. 

Prepare while you can ladies!"

I wish you all well ladies, do what you can with what you've got where you are! 

Blessings from Harvest Lane Cottage, 

Laura

 

Hello Everyone! It Feels Like Summer!

 Hello everyone! 

I hope you are all enjoying the season whether it is summer or winter in your neck of the woods. This past week has felt more like summer to me with daytime temperatures in the nineties. The wind is whispering through the trees that bless us with their shade just as they should this time of year.

For now, enjoy a little end of week reading!

Apple Crazy Cake ~ No Butter, Eggs, Milk, or Mess! by Jes at Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth

Bacon Broccoli Cheddar Soup by me

My mending pile is growing again!

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine by me

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for The Songs That Could Have Been by Amanda Wen. 

I hope to try the Apple Crazy Cake soon. It looks delicious. Don't miss the Christmas in July  post for some great ideas to help you get ready for the holidays now. Yes now! 

Blessings,

Laura

Laura Lately ~ A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage #177

Hello everyone! Just thought I'd share a bit of my week and include the thrifty things we did. I may go back to the old way of writing my thrifty week posts, but right now, I just need to keep things simple. I hope you don't mind. Lots of crazy going on all around me, but God is helping me to keep peaceful about it all. I've told my friend, Beth, that I feel like I'm on an island of calm in the midst of a sea of turmoil and craziness. I am careful how much news I take in. If I focus too much on the "out there", I will become anxious and lose my peace. I can only do what I can do and pray about the "out there".  

So, here is my week. The photos are all from an unplanned mini road trip we took Friday afternoon.

Monday

I looked carefully at the things available for purchase at my local Aldi. I bought only enough produce to last a few days. Lately, fresh produce hasn't been used up as well as it should. But...now I'm home! I can get back to my thrifty ways bit by bit. 

I purchased a box of strawberries for $1.99. It was a sale price. I want to be sure they're good strawberries before I buy several boxes for jam.

My daughter, Emily, and I sorted through several cabinets, drawers and shelves that I had dishes and such in. Some things I kept, some went to each of my daughters, some will be sold by my husband, and some will go to the thrift store. We decided we didn't want the extra work of a yard sale. 

We also emptied a glassed cabinet in the hallway and found it perfect for our games. We hope we'll play more if they are visible. 

Burritos with leftover refried beans from Sunday's supper for lunch.

I made a roast with potatoes and carrots and onions. My dad gave me the roast when I visited a few weeks ago. 

Tuesday

We sorted through two big bags of acrylic yarn a friend gave to me. Thank you Jill! I'm keeping some for charity hats. Emily's keeping some for projects. The remainder is going to Emily's friend who crochets for therapy.  

Tuesday evening I went knitting with friends. I'm working on a sock that will be joined by another to make a gift for a man in the family. Size 13 shoes!

Burritos or sandwiches for lunch

Emily made over the leftover potatoes, carrots, and gravy into stew and added browned ground venison for the meat.

Wednesday

I went to Walmart. Gasp! I've probably only done that  a couple of times in the past year. I needed some colorful t-shirts to go with my skirts. Believe it or not, there was not one plain colored t-shirt in the store in my size! I was truly surprised and disappointed. 

I put the rest of the refried beans that Emily made Sunday night into a freezer bag and froze them. 

I ate a bowl of the stew for lunch then put the rest in a leftover plastic ice cream container. I'll add leftover veggies to it until I have enough to make a small pot of soup.

Emily helped me sort through the three big drawers that I keep bed linens in. They are now sorted by size. King sized sheets and pillow cases are now in the top drawer.  The middle drawer has the full sized sheets and pillow cases. The bottom drawer is empty save an extra mattress pad.

My husband and I went to a church rummage sale several weeks ago and bought a big box of white dishes. Emily helped me sort out the dishes. She will have a complete set of eight to begin housekeeping with when she moves out. Amy will have 12 plates, and four sets of tea cups and saucers. I've also been giving the girls the chance to keep anything that I'm discarding if they want it. 

Thursday

Amy and her Dawson rearranged our living room furniture this morning to surprise me. They removed the rug and a large ottoman. It looks much larger and more inviting. 

I needed to call the State today. While waiting over two hours on hold, I just put my phone on speaker and got to work on a pile of paperwork that has piled up on my desk long enough that some of it was dusty! I had time to read manuals for my washer and dryer and check the maintenance needed for each. I also registered a couple of things with the companies online. Then it was sort sort sort and toss toss toss many papers and outdated items. I'm sorry to say that the job is not complete, but I'm over two hours closer than I was! I also began rearranging a recipe binder. That's a job I've needed to do for a long time, too. 

Tonight I'm going to join a new Bible study at another church. I met a lady over the weekend who invited me to join her while I was in Branson. She lives in my hometown, so I said yes. Guess what they'll be studying! Elijah by Priscilla Shirer! I get another chance to go through the study and complete it. Thank you Jesus! Tonight is the first night. Update: I felt like I belonged from the moment I walked in the door. I'm going to keep going.

Friday

On Friday morning, my daughter, Emily asked me to go garage saling. I set aside my plans and went with her. Who knows how long we have until she moves to Arkansas? We got breakfast at Sonic and began driving around talking. As it turned out, neither of us really wanted to stop at sales, we just wanted to talk about some of the big decisions Emily is making right now about her future. So, it was thrifty in that we didn't buy any junk we didn't need! ~smile~ Sometimes being thrifty is in what we don't do!

After we got home, my husband came home. He had decided to take the afternoon off and wanted me to go for a car ride with him. I know. It's $4.59 a gallon here in Southwest Missouri. Not thrifty, but this time it was therapy. He just needed to get away for awhile and be quiet. We drove through back roads and found ourselves in Northwest Arkansas. We drove through some neat towns. We drove and drove and drove and ended up in Oklahoma at  Dripping Springs Waterfall! It was our first time, and it was beautiful! It was well worth the $10 car admission. 

Saturday

So here we are at Saturday again. I've just worked in the kitchen and relaxed a bit today. Now I've got chicken leg quarters (a gift from my son) boiling for chicken and dumplings. We'll use the broth and a bit of chicken tonight, but most of the chicken will be for tomorrow's dinner. 

I'd better go check on that chicken now!

I hope you've had a calm week. If the next week isn't calm, I hope you'll find a refuge of peace in Jesus. God bless you all!

Laura

♥♥♥♥♥

 Be strong and courageous, do not give in to fear.

 This is the time to get in God's word and pray. 

God is ever good and ever faithful.

I've been through many tough times in my life. 

God never lets me down. 

I can trust Him. 

You can trust Him.

Laura

Blessed to be a blessing

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Slow and Steady, I'm Working on Putting Life Back in Order!

Lowell and I had a blast at the Haygoods Show
in Branson, Missouri this past weekend.

 Hello everybody, it is so good to be done with school. Now I have the summer ahead of me and the freedom to plan my day I enjoy being a retired homeschool mom. This week I'm going to focus on doing some of the things around the house that have needed to be done since I started working in February. I have some mending that needs to be done cleaning, laundry, and ironing among other things. I plan on making my summer bucket list and posting it sometimes this week, Even though gas prices are through the roof, my husband and I visited Branson, Missouri last weekend; and,  I hope we can getaway for a weekend at least once more this summer. I also hope to go to Kansas City to visit my parents once or twice.

 There are a couple of good movies coming up this summer that I've written about recently. I also would like to go to the drive-in. We have one of two of the remaining drive ins on Route 66. If you've never been to a drive-in, it's worth seeking one out for the experience.

 My elder daughter graduated with her master's degree in social work recently. She's looking for the right entry position now. She offered to help me with some things that I've been neglecting. So this afternoon we are going to go through a dish cabinet and a couple of drawers. Slow and steady, I intend to get this place back in shape!

 Have a wonderful week friends. Check in with me at the end of the week, and I'll share some of the things I've gotten done. Hopefully, I'll have several thrifty things to share.

 God bless you all!

Laura

Happily at home again!

Harvest Lane Cottage Summer Reading List 2022

Hello dear reader!

  It is that time again. Summertime and the living is easy... or not. ~smile~ I have lots of things on my to do list this summer. My favorite way to get things done is to listen to either my Bible app or listen to books on Scribd. Still, I can't beat sitting down and relaxing with a good paperback. ~smile~

  This summer I'm planning to finish my current New Testament Chronological reading plan, finish a couple of books that I've been listening to, finish a Bible study I've been doing, and read a couple of books for review that are seconds in series of authors I enjoy. 

  First up, A Square Meal, is about  I was inspired to read this, because my husband and I have started watching the series The Food That Built America which is about how industrialized food came about in the 20th century. A Square Meal doesn't focus on the food industry but on how individuals ate and survived in the early to mid-20th century—especially during the time spanning from WWI to WWII. It also covers much of the politics of feeding the country during the Great Depression.

 A Square Meal
Jane Ziegelman & Andrew Coe
6/3 I just finished listening to this on Scribd.

  Next, The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins. I've read a bit of this book already. It made a difference in my life after reading just a couple of chapters. I saw a short video of Mel Robbins talking about the 5 Second Rule on YouTube. It's the principle of counting backwards 5...4...3...2...1 then immediately taking action. For Robbins, and for me, the first thing to use it for was to get up when the alarm goes off instead of hitting snooze. She goes into the science behind the rule, including what your brain is doing, and talks about how to use it for other things.

The 5 Second Rule
Mel Robbins
I'm reading this on Scribd.

  I began a Bible study with some church ladies a few weeks ago about Elijah. Although the time was not good for me, and I knew it, I signed up and bought the book. As expected, the exhaustion I felt each night after work made it hard for me to make it to class. I dropped out, but I still want to finish the study even if I cannot watch the videos. Good news! I was invited to another Bible study, and guess what! They're starting Elijah this Thursday! God heard the desire of my heart!

Elijah
Priscilla Shirer
This is the Bible study book that I've been using.
I'm thrilled to find another group that is doing this study.
I joined 6/9.

  Midnight's Budding Morrow is second in the Regency Wallflowers series by Carolyn Miller. I really liked the first book, Dusk's Darkest Shores, so I signed up to review it. Watch for the review later this month. 

Midnight's Budding Morrow
Carolyn Miller
Book 2 of the
Regency Wallflowers series.
I'm listening on Scribd.
Read my review of Dusk's Darkest Shores.

  The Songs That Could Have Been is second in the Sedgwick County Chronicles by Carolyn Miller. I devoured the first book, Roots of Wood and Stone, so I signed up to review it. Watch for the review later this month. 

The Songs That Could Have Been
Amanda Wen
Book 2 Sedgwick County Chronicles
Read my review of Roots of Wood and Stone.
Roots of Wood and Stone is available on Scribd.

  While I was looking for The 5 Second Rule book to share with you here, I found a game that looks like fun, so it's in my Amazon cart now waiting for my next order. I linked it below. 

  I hope that reading my list of books will give you some ideas for your summer reading list. All of these are clean books. I don't like smutty stuff. Do you have any suggestions for me? I don't expect this list will last me very long. 

Blessed to have some reading time,

Laura

~~~

If you've not tried out Scribd yet, please do! I listen to or read nearly everything on the Scribd app. The cost is just $9.99 a month with no limit on the number of books you read or listen to. I listen nearly every day. If you use my link, you can get two months free to try it, and I'll get one free. You can also earn free months by sharing Scribd with your friends after you join. 

~~~

If you click through one of my Amazon links, and you purchase anything within 24 hours, I get a small percentage at no additional cost to you. 

REVIEW When the Day Comes... Timeless Book 1 ~ Gabrielle Meyer

 

  Okay girls, this one gets five stars. This book kept my attention the entire time. I listened on audio on my Scribd app. I turned it on every time I got the chance. Whether I was doing dishes, getting ready for work, taking a break at work, drive time, you name it I used the time to listen to this book. I really enjoyed it. 

 

From the publisher:

  How will she choose, knowing all she must sacrifice?

Libby has been given a powerful gift: to live one life in 1774 Colonial Williamsburg and the other in 1914 Gilded Age New York City. When she falls asleep in one life, she wakes up in the other. While she's the same person at her core in both times, she's leading two vastly different lives.

In Colonial Williamsburg, Libby is a public printer for the House of Burgesses and the Royal Governor, trying to provide for her family and support the Patriot cause. The man she loves, Henry Montgomery, has his own secrets. As the revolution draws near, both their lives—and any hope of love—are put in jeopardy.

Libby's life in 1914 New York is filled with wealth, drawing room conversations, and bachelors. But the only work she cares about—women's suffrage—is discouraged, and her mother is intent on marrying her off to an English marquess. The growing talk of war in Europe only complicates matters.

But Libby knows she's not destined to live two lives forever. On her twenty-first birthday, she must choose one path and forfeit the other—but how can she choose when she has so much to lose in each life?

My thoughts:

 Each path, 1774 and 1914, has important things for Libby to do in it. Each one has someone who serves as a bad guy and each one has people in it that Libby dearly loves. She lives each life to its fullest while trying to avoid the traps that have been set for her by those who want to control her. 

  The part that seems strange to me is that Gabrielle Meyer was able to make this dual time novel totally believable—as though this kind of thing happens all the time. Yet there was also strong faith element, and the characters grew in their faith I love it when it shows that kind of thing. I will definitely be watching for Gabrielle Meyer's next book.

  It's a clean book, but there are a couple of scenes that are definitely PG13. I cannot tell you what they are, because that would give away a major plot detail. I can say the language is clean, and the story(ies) point the reader to God.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s  “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I use the Goodreads star system.
★               Did not like it
★★            It was okay
★★★         Liked it
★★★★      Really liked it
★★★★★   It was amazing

Join Scribd now and get 2 months free! https://www.scribd.com/g/7dxdx7