At the Cottage ~ July 28, 2023

    I had a wonderful start to the week with a visit from a dear friend.  While I see her every Sunday at church, she had not been over in a good while.  I showed her all of the projects we had done, as well as the ones in progress, since the last time she came.  The boys were so excited to show her their made over room.  I remember I loved to show company my room as a kid, too.  She was very enthusiastic about it and even tried out each of their beds, which they really delighted in.  

    It had been her birthday a couple days prior, so she kindly brought her leftover birthday cake for the boys to enjoy, which they did over the course of the next few days.  She also brought us eggs from her chickens, for which we are extremely grateful, as our chickens have gone on strike, no doubt due to the extreme heat we have been experiencing.

    I made a little gift of handmade garden-themed cards for her.  I didn't photograph those, but I did get a shot of the wrapping.  I wanted to show you how I make tags from book and magazine images in the same way I made over my journals.  The wrapping is just tissue paper, but the ribbon and tag elevate it.

    With my washer and dryer back up and running, I made good progress getting caught up on my laundry.  Trying to be extra conscious of ways to save money these days, I dried several loads on the clothesline.  It is so hot outside that the clothes feel baked in no time, and so do I.  My strategy was to use the line for things that don't take long for me to hang, like denim clothing and sheets.  The dryer was reserved for the smaller items like shirts and underthings- the things I don't want to be crisp ;)

    I've also been getting caught up on my ironing.  I used to not like ironing; I found it a bit tedious.  Now, I welcome the opportunity to slow down and take a break from my more demanding tasks.  My ironing board is upstairs in the loft where I craft so that I have quick access to it when I'm sewing.  James is not allowed upstairs yet, so I wait for his afternoon nap and then I go up to my little retreat.  

    I added some drops of lavender essential oil to my ironing spray bottle (just water) for a relaxing scent while I worked.  I like to listen to Homemaking Radio while I do this.  I have been reading Mrs. Sherman's Home Living blog since I was a teenager and aspiring homemaker.  Now she posts videos on her blog, in which she shares wonderful homemaking encouragement in the style of Titus 2.  She will often read excerpts out of novels and other books and have a gentle discussion on them, as well.  I really look forward to this as a time to recharge and get things done at the same time.

    On the subject of clothing, we went through Colton's closet and decluttered the clothes that no longer fit him. He has been doing the gut-healing diet with me for support (wonderful, wonderful man), but he started following a Keto diet back in March.  He has lost 40lbs so far!  You can imagine that his clothes were starting to look a bit frumpy, so we culled them.  I am keeping back a couple because I really like the fabric and plan to use them for sewing projects.  

    Outside, I cut the heads off of our spent sunflowers.  These came up as volunteers and John was so excited that he diligently kept them watered.  We have a six-foot fence around our garden, and the sunflowers grew taller than that!  I had to lift my hands as high up as I could reach to get a photo of the highest bloom.

    I saved the seeds and ended up with a good amount, some to keep and some to share.

    I have been trying to make more of an effort to save my kitchen scraps for the animals and the compost pile.  Sometimes I get a bit lax about it for the sake of convenience, but every bit I give to the dogs and chickens means less feed, which is expensive.  Compost, fertilizer, potting soil- that is all climbing in price, as well.  Isn't everything?  I told Colton that I'm going to get serious about my compost pile.  "Good luck," he said.  "The Bermuda grass has taken over your compost pile and it might be hard to get up."

    He was right about it being taken over.

    But I had a hunch that, being rooted in soft compost materials, it might not be so hard to pull.  Sure enough, I got it up!

    Ginger was right in the middle of it all.

    She follows us everywhere.  Here she watched from the safety of a tree while I pushed the boys on the swings.

    I do need to go through my seeds, as it's time to get some of them started.  With our special diet, we have been eating a lot of vegetables, which have to be organic on this program.  Do you know how it pains me to pay money for zucchini and kale?  Those are usually my most successful crops.  So it's time to get back to it.

    I did have some grocery savings this week, totaling $15.98.  I will take what I can get, but the sales are just not that good any more.  Most are for junk food.  As I look through the sales flyers, I just pass things up as unnecessary.  "Don't need that" or "I can make that myself" are my responses most of the time.  I've been thinking of starting a series on this.  What do you think?

    I hope everyone had a good week.  I will leave you with a verse that stood out to me this week during our family devotion time:

"I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope."

~Psalm 130:5

    Have a lovely weekend, ladies!