Provident Living–July

Several accomplishments this month! 

First we harvested from our dwarf peach trees for the first time and got about 20 pounds of little peaches.  We gave some away as personal housewarming or hostess gifts and have eaten lots of these delightful little goodies putting them in the fridge to prolong their freshness and keep them from ripening too quickly.  They make good peach crisp too.  We were very happy to have these because with two exceptions they have been our only fresh fruit all month. 

Having purchased hot dogs and hamburger on sale I was able to feed my visiting family totaling 19 people for a Sunday grill out on our deck for under $5.  I also provided lemonade, baked beans, pretzel jello and a green salad with homemade dressing while asking other family members to bring chips, buns and a watermelon to share.  This combination kept me within my family’s budget while feeding so many.
Short on time I decided to purchase some bread.  I bought the manager’s special for .49 per loaf.
I accepted a small box of pint jars as well as a bag of yeast.
The weather has been very cooperative for hanging one to two loads of laundry outdoors for drying during the weeks we’ve been home.
As a family member moved we were invited to dismantle some utilitarian shelving which is somewhat of a painstaking task.  We were able to dismantle and rebuild two 8 foot heavy duty shelving units to add to our basement and move some current 4 foot shelving units to other areas of the basement and garage giving us dry vertical storage space and increasing our food storage capacity.  These are very useful in our “dungeon” and help define its open space while lending it more efficient and more organized… just what the Dr. ordered.  Even though the basement is not finished it is living space to us in this small house.  Besides its obvious uses for storage, laundry and work space it serves as a study/office and a place for crafts and sewing.
I canned two baskets of peaches.
I made dishwasher detergent… it’s the only thing that mixes well with our hard water and the dishwasher.
I continued using and making vinegar citrus cleaner.
I used a coupon and bought some flag shirts for me and my daughter as well as several items on clearance.  I came home with a bag full of brand new clothing for just a few dollars.

I used a coupon and went to an Omnimax movie about butterflies on a date with my husband.  FREE!
My husband got rid of his 20 + year old light jacket that he LOVED, purchasing a $90 coat from the GAP Clearance Center for just $10 as its replacement.  He REALLY needed to have something better to wear into work.
I bought my son some new clothes for his birthday on clearance… he’s growing like a WEED at almost 11 years of age.
Love to read… bought a whole pile of books by authors I know and love including books on my wish list for just $1 a piece.  Summer reading here I come!!!  I bought a Wii fit balance board for just $25 at the same place the same day.
I helped my daughter find used copies of her summer reading books that she has to annotate.  My other daughter got her summer reading out of the library.
I canned one bushel of cucumbers making 43 quarts of dill pickles.

We used our dishwasher warranty for needed repairs of resealing it and a new soap dispenser.
I made red beans and rice into a soup version because we were running low on red beans and I couldn’t think of another bean that would add to that recipe well.  Very tasty.
I made a crab pasta casserole that was very tasty with .50 pasta shells and imitation crab I bought for under $2 per pound.
Mmmmm!  Ribs on the grill with homemade marinade and dinosaur sauce… a real treat having bought them several months back when they were under 1.99 per pound.
I’m also proud of the job we did on our bathroom.  After nearly 16 years of service our bathroom has received a much needed overhaul.  We wanted to leave its bones and salvage whatever we could but it really needed some help.  Rick scraped every spec of paint off of the walls and the shower ceiling.  Hot bleach water followed by a bleach pen worked miracles on the tile.  We scraped off the old caulk.  Rick found a video on the internet that taught him how to properly put in new caulking (which is great now, by the way) and CLR cleaned the metal rods and such that needed help.  We did purchase a new shower head ring, a new set of curtain rods (the old ones were rusting 17 years ago when we bought the house so they were really bad now) and a new vent.  We also purchased a replacement glass lamp as one of the two was cracked and broken.  We bought a pale blue kitchen and bathroom paint called “Seaside” and the trim is a leftover kitchen and bathroom white.  And I worked magic making a purchase for a new shower curtain and window curtain.  Of course the cost of everything has sky rocketed in the past 15 years.  The cost of the one bucket of paint needed for my bathroom was over $30.  It’s the good stuff.  It has a warranty against mildew and mold for a long time… very important!  But the last time I did my bathroom my entire budget for paint, curtains, hardware and everything had to be done on $30.  I considered it an accomplishment at the time.  This time I had a little more to work with.  At $150 I could replace the rusted vent and rods and broken glass while getting a fresh coat of paint and new curtains.
I remade the fabric window blind with existing materials and a few snips and scraps.  Free!
Utilizing ideas from a book “The Handmade Home” which I received as a birthday gift, I gave some old nearly useless rags new life by up-cycling them into new and beautiful matching bathmats.

I absolutely could not find a shower curtain I liked.  I am picky!  I know what I like where my home is concerned and I have a certain style of comfort and beauty that I like to maintain.  I had wanted to buy two shower curtains so I could make matching window curtains and not have to do any work for a shower curtain this time.  I guess not too many people have bathroom windows.  I found some on line but they were expensive before I paid shipping even.  So I decided to use my trick from last time 15 years ago when my budget was so tight.  But this time I got better quality because I could.  My trick was to find a beautiful set of full sized sheets.  I LOVE Shabby Chic so that is what I went after!  They contain the color blue in them… important since the tile is blue and white.  This high quality 100% cotton sheet set with a 250 thread count was so different from working with the 50/50 100 thread count that I’d found in my price range the last time.  This sheet was longer so at the top I made a big fold and stitched it together so it formed a pretty valence at the top of the curtain.  I did some decorative stitching in blue over the sheets original thread stitching.  Then I measured out the spacing and made button holes at the top for the shower hooks and I was done with the shower curtain.  Next I ripped open two pillow cases.  I ironed and stitched a hem in each one, made some necessary thread snips on the sides before ironing and stitching the sides.  Then I utilized the pillow cases original stitching at the opening and formed a casing for the rod.  Then I added the same decorative scallop stitch in blue that I’d used on the valence of the shower curtain.  I snipped the long edge of the fitted sheet and cut out fabric for a valence.  I was able to rip the elastic out… usable for another project, and keep the machine stitched hem.  After a few ironed folds and some more stitches I added the same decorative blue scallop stitch to the top by the casing of the valence and there I had the curtains I wanted.  The window shade was left in blue and white.  It is double layered for more privacy and though faded after nearly 16 years of use just has a muted blue and white gingham pattern that was still totally fine.  I didn’t have anything to replace it with that I liked better so I snipped off the old ties and used scraps from the sides of the fitted sheet again to sew and attach a fresh set of matching shade ties.  $40 for a matching shower curtain, window curtains, window shade and bath mats.  It renders perfect!
Now I am dreaming up possibilities for the blank canvas of a wooden table I pulled from a friend’s mother’s basement five years ago when I helped her clean the house out to get ready to sell it.  It is a vintage wooden table painted pink in the 1950’s with one fold down leaf and a missing leaf on the other side.  The table has character and is waiting to be rediscovered.  I pulled it from my garage last week where I’ve been storing it.  I needed it to help serve the party of 17 out on my deck but I covered that chipping peeling piece of furniture with a very long table cloth.  Only its legs were sticking out.  That table doesn’t want to remain hidden however… it’s got personality and is waiting for its next life.