Throwing Away Money? aka Major Curb Shopping Score

An exerpt from an email to my husband this morning:

MAJOR score in the dumpster diving department!  THREE sturdy real estate signs, all metal!  I figure if we don't use them for our "selling it all garage sale" someday we can probably get at least $20 at the metal dealer.  Plus there was a blue stake used to hold a container for brochures.  I took the container off and threw it away (See?  I do know how to do that!) and I figure it will work nicely for additional tomato support.  

The $20 is pretty conservative, I think, as I could only lift one sign at a time.   It's not a lot, but little things add up, and anyway, it put me in a good mood this morning.

Quitting Sugar

Should I do this:

https://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/family-stopped-eating-sugar-happened-202700552.html

I can't decide.

I know from experience, that after a week or so of no sugar, I stop craving it.  No more battles of will power with chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven with the chips still gooey and soft!  (Made for us at work.  I don't make them at home.)  In many ways, that's easier.  And too much sugar makes me feel icky.

But how can I avoid sugar?  It's everywhere!  I can eat something with ketchup and here we go again, craving sugar.  (Yes, there is sugar in ketchup.)

Isn't life too short?   Can I really say "never again" to chocolate ice cream?

Moderation.  I'm going to try that for a while.  At least I'm not going to eat it on autopilot.  I've stopped eating so-so sugar, like candy I don't really love or store-bought cakes (which, frankly, are gross) and I try to just eat it on Sunday. 

Getting Ready...

.... for some Crafty Girl Time tomorrow afternoon!

So do I want to work with tile, paper, cardstock, papier mache, or cloth?

Don't Throw Away..... Old Broccoli Seeds

We tried growing broccoli, but we didn't like it.  The taste, I mean.  Usually, garden-grown is better but we must have watered too much or too little, or something.

That was two years ago.

We planted one, maybe two plants.  So we had heaps of leftover seeds.

I learned from Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World that you can grow broccoli as a micro green.  Basically you plant a whole bunch of seeds really close together, wait until they've got four or more leaves, and then cut them with shears and toss then in your salad.

The other side isn't empty--those seeds were from a packet that didn't sprout.

I highly doubt that this is worth it financially or time-wise unless having little sprouts in your salad is essential to your health and happiness BUT 1. we had the seeds already and weren't going to use them and 2. we had the pot all set up because we'd been growing windowsill chives in it prior to moving the chive growing outdoors now that it is warm.

So not much to lose.

You can do this with other seeds, as I recall from the book, but I don't remember which ones.  Anyway, it's fun and easy, and it's nice to have something growing on the windowsill.

Weekly Round Up

This week I....

... went to a baby shower for Jen S.

 Sarah was there, too.  They are both due on the same day and both having boys.

.... dropped my business card in a fish bowl at Noodles and Co a couple of weeks ago and won a free dinner!  We all enjoyed ourselves very much.

... snapped this pic of Miss Maddie.  I love how it captures just a hint of her personality.

... harvested the first tomato from our garden!

Rain Barrel Tip

Make sure you clean out your grates.  One barrel was nearly plugged with all of this:

We plan to post how much $ we saved on watering at the end of the summer.  I am always amazed and delight how often environmentally friendly = frugal.

Testing Gratitude Jars.

I ran some tests on my Gratitude Jars.  (Click here for a tutorial on how to make them.)  I thought I'd better see what they could do before I sold them at craft fairs this fall.

This is the before:

Note that you can clearly read the word "Test."

The hardest part was getting the candle in there, lit, since my candle-lighters were out of butane. After leaving a lighted candle in there for four hours, there wasn't much different.  The paint was soft, and I could leave marks in it with my fingernails, but it stayed in place.

The dishwasher, on the other hand, didn't go so well: