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Thursday, October 29, 2009

Drying catnip and other fun activities!

Hi everyone!
Today I finally got the pipe fixed in my backyard sprinkler system! The first guy never showed up on Tuesday. The second guy was awesome...got here tis morning, and had er done in about 20 minutes! He will be back to change out my timer and some other gadgets around the pump area. I am still digging out sprinklers that had become buried under the lawn, and changing out some for all new...cleaning the ones I can. It will be such a relief to have it all working properly again!

Just before the sprinkler guy came, I had trimmed my new catnip herb that my friend had given me for my birthday...and I had a thought that I would like to make some homemade cat toys for her cats with the dried stuff! I looked online for instructions. One site said you can place them in a paperbag in a dark, cool place...I didn't have a bag, so I rolled them in papertowels, labeled them, and will just wait a few months now. I will look for some tough, yet soft...mouse-like fur to sew some toys out of and stuff with fluff and catnip! Should be fun!

I met my son, daughter, Mom and brother for lunch at a wonderful deli here. It was great being with all of them. Then we took my son looking for new shoes...poor guy hurt one foot somehow and is limping around. He feels it is getting better, doesn't look swollen...and wants to wait to see an MD. He was wearing some inexpensive thong type sandals every day...so I wanted to help him find something a bit more supportive, yet stylish for his ultra-cool self! Of course, he found two great pair at the grooviest store in the world, Journeys!

Then I made three pizzas (2 for his house/family), and 1 for my house. I made them a cheese pizza with marinara sauce, and a BBQ chicken pizza with Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce, chicken and sauteed onions on top! Ours turned out real well (we had the BBQ chicken one also)...so I hope both of his did too. I delivered them to his house ready to go into the oven.

I had baked the chicken (dry) in the crock pot all day...then just cut it up for the pizzas! Worked out well.

Mom came over to eat with us. We watched a DVD of "Keeping Up Appearances" episodes...while we ate. We loved that series so much on BBC...and we found this tape of 5 shows at the library.

You know, I found this really great website called Hillbilly Housewife, on my blogger pal, Mary's website, Pokeberry Hill. Suzanne, the creator of Hillbilly Housewife, has all sorts of inexpensive and fun recipes....and lots of other stuff as well. It is worth having a look at if you are into living frugally. I also recieve her newsletter each week, and it is a lot of fun as well.

I did discover another neat site called Old Fashioned Living, and am looking forward ot exploring it tonight. It has a bunch of tabs along the top that let you navigate through easily...there is a craft section... and I am interested in finding some really awesome things to make for Christmas gifts. I am thinking of something embroidered...I miss the days when I used to do more of it, and also another needle art called candlewicking.

Why does life have to move from easy days of fun...to solid work and worry...and one more thing to do every waking minute of each day. I am ready to move to a slower pace of living...I'm just not sure how I can pull it off. I seriously don't think I would mind being poorer, and living a more oldfashioned lifestyle.

The question is...can it be done these days???

10 comments:

Teri said...

Phew, I'm tired just reading all about your activities. Very productive!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

People certainly do it Julie. I have a friend that lives very frugally and is quite happy and creative. It is all a mind set.

Unknown said...

Hi Julie
Mmm, not sure about your last question, but there is definitely a middle ground.

It looks like you are doing lots of fun stuff. Christmas is not far away, and I too should also be thinking of finding or making some gifts :) Will definitely check out those links (thanks for posting them)

Have a lovely weekend, Ev

Claude said...

Sounds like you're thoroughly enjoying your time off... good for you!

As far as living more frugally, it's really not that hard as long as you think of it as living simply. Figure out what you spend on a particular subject, and see if you can't think of a way to do the same thing cheaper. And find out what you can do without... for me, it was the cable television, since I only watched tv 1 day a week, and the land line of the phone, because I honestly hadn't actually answered the thing in over a year... The computer is turned off when nobody is at home, and the AC/heater is turned way down when nobody is at home. And laundry is done in cold water, at night when the electric rates are lower, and most clothes are hung to dry all summer rather than use the dryer.

After a while, you just begin to do these things naturally...

Julie said...

Good tips Claude! Thanks! I was just telling my husband how I intend to live while I am off. I think it will be fun...and a challenge!

Thanks for all of your comments, everyone...I really appreciat ethem!

Teri- yes...I am considering other areas within the company...great minds think alike!!! LOLOL! Thanks!!!

soulbrush said...

love hearing about your close knit family life, and you are such a great mom and gran. now you still take it easy and enjoy your kitchen and your goodies, and don't worry about work stress yet. huggles from souly b.

mr_subjunctive said...

(I'm off-topic, but couldn't figure out where else to ask: I was wondering if you would mind me using the two Philodendron pictures from your Yard Sweep post. I'd be happy to link back and give you credit for the photography.)

Julie said...

Mr. Subjective...no problem...you don't even have to link back to me...who cares??? No biggy! Have fun!!!! Thanks for stopping by!

Ezhilan said...

You seems to be doing a lot of interesting activities. Our attitudes and our mindset are some of the factors which influence our happiness and satisfaction considerably. I think we need not have many material things and spend much to be happy.

MrBrownThumb said...

It is really nice of you to think about making a gift out of a gift given to you.

Have a Happy Halloween