Taking Care of Pennies

A few years ago the phrase "take care of the ounces and the pounds will take care of themselves" was drilled into my head as a reminder to keep backpacking weight down. Last week I checked out a book called the Tightwad Gazette (vol 1.) which lists all kinds of inventive ways to save money. All I can think of is a re-phrase of the above saying, "take care of the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves."

I always find myself spending money on little things. Eating out, fast food, baubles, craft supplies, fancy type groceries which we end up throwing away. It's usually a couple dollars here, a couple dollars there. Those "oh, it's just a dollar" purchases add up. I just read an account of a woman who washes and reuses aluminum foil. Seriously. She claims that two boxes lasted her several years. Same with Ziploc bags. I think saving money must be all about questioning assumptions and looking at things through a lens of history.

Take, for example, toilet paper. I can hardly imagine giving up toilet paper, but it really is a recent invention which means that it must be nonessential for survival. I know such a suggestion may be shocking to modern people, but why not cut up some cloths and stick them in a basket behind the toilet and just use those. After you use one you would just put it in a designated hamper not to be used again until it's been washed with hot water. Some people are already doing this...I can't help but reflect that when camping I've been known to carry around a pee rag (bandana) that I wipe with whenever I pee. I wonder how much money it would save to institute such a system at home.


I just might be crazy enough to do it. And maybe the Ziploc bag washing thing too.

Pecan Pie? Heck Yes!!!

Yep, it sure is pecan season. We've been suffering a terrible drought all year, but that hasn't stopped our Texas pecan trees from producing nuts. Oliver and I picked a sack of pecans last weekend. Some of the lucky ones have already been cracked and turned into pecan pie.

Pomegranate

First pomegranate eaten this autumn!

Beginning

Beginning a new project is a thrill. A cheap, easy thrill. I am quick to begin projects, but slow to end. Case in point. Check out this cute apron I just finished:

This "easy" classified McCall's apron was a year and a few months in the making. It sat, and sat, and sat. In a dark, dusty closet it sat. With other discarded, incomplete projects it sat mournfully for a whole year. And three months. And then I pulled it out of the darkness and onto the ironing board where I massaged it, marked it, put it all together, and brought it to life. It only took about an hour to finish. This project has given hope to other neglected projects.

This is a baby "blanket". As you can see, it's only about cat size right now.
This has been in the works since about July and has been shoved into the drawer
under my coffee table. The cat is clearly pleading with me to get it done.

This is the Jane Eyre shawl I blogged about before. In September. Haven't worked
on it this month yet. It's essentially half a shawl.

This mitered hanging towel is only about 10 rows away from being finished.
So why isn't it? This I cannot say.

A shawl I started to crochet for a nursing home charity. We'll see if a sweet
elderly lady ever lays her hands on this baby.

A granny square blanket I just started last Saturday. It's coming along, but when
I take into account my poor history with blankets I have to sense the inevitable
abandonment that is to come.

The half square triangles quilt which has not progressed
beyond this point in the past several months.

I'm starting to view my unfinished projects as monstrosities. I feel like I'm Toy Story's Sid and these are my deformed, half constructed toys which may forever remain undone. The memory of these projects did not, however, keep me from starting a new project this morning. Behold, the Dean Street hat! Oh the thrill!

Here's to new beginnings!

Mexican Coke - A benefit of living close to the border. Made
with real sugar.

I'm am feeling truly lighthearted today. I want to write a thousand pages, and yet I'm afraid to write one. Fear of jinxes. Instead I will make a vague list about the things that have me all a-flutter and a-whirl. What's on my mind:

1. Clothesline
2. Chicken coop
3. Fig tree
4. Vegetable garden
5. Bird house
6. Paint colors
7. Mourning doves
8. Sunspot kitties
9. Climbing confederate jasmine
10. Christmas wreaths
11. New hanging knit hand-towels
12. I should finish my half-square triangles quilt
13. Picnic table
14. Cigarette-free air
15. Freedom
16. Family
17. Small town roots
18. Medina County, Texas

The River Empires and some Exotics

River Empires
I have a new favorite band which I can't stop listening to. It combines most of my favorites: indie, folk, banjo, fiddle, poetic intelligent lyrics, beauty. This song first caught my ear as I was walking through some dappled light from shaky tree leaves as I was walking across my apartment complex, and the title and sound just perfectly matched what I was seeing! The shadows looked sparkly! But I will say that I enjoy the ENTIRE ALBUM, which is rare.

Exotics
I also tried out a new thing just now. I told one of the girls I work with the other day that I found these instructions for washing your hair with baking soda and apple cider vinegar. She said, "Oh, RS, you're always trying all these exotic things!" Yep, that baking soda is some exotic stuff. It's magical. I love talking to this co-worker because it keeps me from thinking I'm too normal. I told her another time that I wish I had some venison because I really wanted some chicken fried deer steaks. She told me, "you eat deer?!?!" HAHAHA. Yes. Delicioso and lacking in essential preservatives, antibiotics and hormones. We live in South Texas. I didn't know anyone didn't eat deer. We also take the deer's head and hang it on the wall, but that's a different story.

But anyway. Baking soda. So I just tried the instructions from the Simplemom website (sorry, too lazy to link). I suppose I won't know whether or not the method is effective for a couple of weeks. There is evidently a withdrawal period where your hair goes all freaky because it's used to having all of its oils stripped when you use regular shampoo and compensates by producing extra oil. I don't imagine extra oil can hurt my hair too much since it's pretty dry naturally. I'll report back on this crucial issue.

Here's another exotic idea that I stumbled upon from the same website. Washing your face with olive oil. I've tried this a couple of times so far and am quite impressed. It makes your skin look all luminous and glowing. The greatest part is that there are absolutely no pesky pregnancy hormones involved. It also has not led to any increase in pimples.

Encouraging Reflection
It's been quite an odyssey, but I'm slowly becoming a Catholic. The torturous pace is definitely not self-imposed. All would-be converts have to take eight months of religious education classes before they can be baptized and received into the Church. There are about 15 of us in the class, which is quite an admirable number. Every aspect of the Church which I researched with a critical eye has made plain why-didn't-I-think-of-this-before sense in accordance with not only what I've learned in the Bible, but also with what I understand of life. These are the things I love most so far:

1. Steadfastness and refusal to compromise its morality in the face of secular pressure.
2. It is consistent logically with the world and its own teachings. No contradiction.
3. Teaching authority which ensures that what I'm learning is reliable.
4. The Church teaches compassion and self-donative love as noble works.
5. It's teachings about the meaning of marriage and openness to life.
6. Never thought I would say this, but the Rosary has proven to be vehicle of grace.
7. REALLY never thought I'd say this, but the communion of saints. None of us are truly alone and without help!
8. I would say the Eucharist, but I'm not allowed to receive it yet.
9. I would say confession/reconciliation but I'm not allowed to do that yet either.
10. The lack of that strange "accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior" business with its weird emphasis on individuality. We're meant to work together, not separate!

Check out this blog if you don't believe me, the author is a former Atheist who has some interesting insights on so many topics.

New toy

So far we've found nearly $5 in coins. This morning we went metal detecting in the yard of an old house that recently got torn down. All we found was a buried toy car, a folded license plate, some pull tabs, a belt buckle, and a Peter Piper Pizza token. We didn't stay out too long because I got too whiney from waking up at 4 something AM. Oliver would be happy to verify this fact. I think this hobby will be more fun when we both have detectors, because so far I just follow the man around with a shovel and wait to dig. I will also probably have more fun the moment I find jewelry or silver coins. The tricky thing is that the tone for gold is very similar to the tone for pull tabs and bottle caps. Eenteresting.