I am wearing my new summer pantsuit to church today! Actually I found it last fall at Deseret Industries, along with another pantsuit that I haven't hemmed up yet (an evening style, and I rarely go out in the evening. The woman who wore that suit must have been 6'4"!) I also bought a NEW pantsuit in May for our granddaughter's wedding. It was $40 at half price, and the one I am wearing today was $6 and the other one was $8. I think thrift stores are wonderful!

We are getting ready for our long trek to Salt Lake City to see my cardiologist. We've already planned what to buy for our packed lunch when we stop by Walmart today to get my prescriptions, and what time we have to leave to get there on time. We have to leave no later than nine, and Jim has to milk the cow and feed the seven bottle calves. I have to take care of my birds. Long day, but the doctor is super!

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We have had one snowstorm after another, until our long drive is completely impassable. There is more than 2 feet of snow in some places. We've been snowbound for about four or five days. I thought we would have to stay home for Christmas day.

Christmas eve was really sweet. It was just the two of us, playing Mannheim Steamroller and eating our Belgian chocolates and talking about everything. We read a devotional from a booklet Ellen Pherigo gave me about Mary and Joseph.

We don't worry too much about being snowbound. We still have enough gas for the generator for a few days, and I guess we could siphon some from the car if necessary. There's enough food for two years! Our firewood will last awhile, and there's more Jim could split if necessary. But we didn't want to miss Christmas dinner with our daughter, son-in-law and friend. They came and got us! They have a jeep with 4-wheel drive, and even then they barely made it. Then they took us to their home, switched to their car, and went to Ed's to get him. Ed is in a wheelchair, and he couldn't have gotten into their jeep, although he swore nothing would keep him from a good ham dinner. Don't think he can sprout wings, though. We had wonderful conversation and exchanged gifts. Lisa showed me pictures of my new great-grandbaby in Boise while Jim and Forrest went after Ed. All in all, it was pleasant. Then they took us all home. I thought I would have a heart attack when Forrest did a 360 degree spin in front of their house (just to scare me - it worked!) I got some beef out of the freezer we keep at Ed's. The driveway was scary going back, too. It had frozen more, but you wouldn't want to use it more than necessary.

At home we just ate a light supper of creamed tuna over biscuits because we were still full of ham and pecan pie. I started crocheting another oval rug. This one is for the kitchen, in front of the sink where we've worn through the top layer of vinyl flooring. It was a grand evening.

But all night long we listened to the whistling and roaring of the wind. Now and then the entire roof would vibrate. Jim said it was probably snow falling off, but it sounded like the wind catching it to me. It was 4 above this morning, but the wind has mellowed some and the world is filled with white diamonds and red frostbitten apples still hanging on the tree by our woodshed.

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For several years I haven't been in the mood for a tree, but this year Christmas means a lot more to me, and I am feeling much better. So a few nights ago I did the deed.

We use an artificial tree that looks quite natural. We bought it about five years ago for $35.00. We have boxes and boxes of ornaments, and they all bring back memories. I think that there are three on there that were purchased new. All the rest are homemade or thrift store finds.

Some of the balls are losing paint, but I just turn that side so it can't be seen. There's a sweet green felt heart that one daughter made when she was 16, embroidered with the word "Love." There are styrofoam eggs covered with beads and sequins. A pair of silver and white crocheted angels was a gift from a dear friend for our 25th anniversary. We have lots of glass balls and elongated shapes, garlands of tinsel, pearl and beads and even a blue rosary from a very special memorial service for a young soldier who died in the Desert Storm conflict. The fanciest garland is made of green styrofoam peanuts strung on dental floss, believe it or not.

There is a bread dough blue dove, balls made like geodesic domes out of old Christmas cards, and two cows from an old quilt that was past using. Some of the angels are from clothespins, muslin and ribbon roses. Some are tiny stuffed dolls with wings. One is almost all lace.

The store bought decorations include a beaded garland, an exquisite Jack Frost holding a snowflake that Jim bought me the first year we were married, and some glass balls bought at Target for almost nothing after Christmas.

The lights are all the tiny white ones. Two strings just about does the job, but I have several more strings just in case.

There are wreaths made of painted puzzle pieces, One brass frame holds a baby picture of our grandson who is now a Marine.

That tree is covered! It looks as nice as any designer tree at our Christmas Tree festivals, and it has tons of memories for us. Maybe this year I'll get around to making a skirt so we won't have to use an old sheet.

We have to run the lights with our generator, but otherwise you'd never know we don't have electricity. There is a crystal on the TV that changes colors, and it runs on batteries. We have a cute snowman wall hanging with a battery and six little golden lights.

With the radio on playing wonderful Christmas music, and a few goodies to munch on (Costco's Belgian chocolates) we thought we were in heaven last night.

I wish you  joyful Christmas as well!

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Does living with such a crush of media make you wonder who you are? I want to grow up to look just like ________(fill in the blank). Except I'm already 40 years older than she is and I don't have her talents. So this coming year is going to be my year to be the best I can be -- of me. I'm starting with a diet, but nothing else will depend on my losing weight unless it just happens. I'm reading "Food For Life" by Pamela M. Smith R.D. And today I decided to skip the great sale at KMart because even though I could get tons of money off with the doubled coupons, there isn't much there that I really need! I hope 2009 will be my best year ever.

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I added up my savings, and it's far from where it ought to be.There are so many temptations when you just let yourself give in. So about three weeks ago, I buckled down and started writing down every penny spent. I can see I'll have to make some adjustments. I give myself until the end of the year.

I saved MyPoints until I qualified for a Walmart $50 gift card. They sent me a Walgreen's card instead. I didn't notice it until I got to Walmart. The nearest Walgreen's is 65 miles away, but we do get up that way about once a month.

I found a great pantsuit and three-piece skirt set at the thrift store last week. It is amazing how much nicer I feel when I'm dressed up a little. The skirt set was $6.00 and the pantsuit was $8.00, and they are not outdated or flawed in any way.

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This weekend I have had Labor Day by laboring. Each day I put up a batch of corn. The third batch is processing now. Jim grew "Peaches and Cream" and I didn't want to lose a bit of it. We now have 38 pints for the winter, and have been eating it off the cob for several weeks. The parakeets even like it!

I went over my grocery budget two months in a row. We have a house guest and an orphan kitten. But I will rein myself in. Spending gets to be habit forming. There is a $25.00 rebate I want to do next week, but I think it will fit right in with our meal plans.

Steve and Annette came over today and got some more corn and some cucumbers and stuff. The weather is turning cooler and it's time to wind it up. Annette said she'll let me know when their neighbor opens up h is 5-acre potato field for gleaning. He grows test potatoes. Last year they had a funny shape, but the flavor was just fine. And if you mash them, who knows?

Tomorrow I have to do an article for the Times-News, and Wednesday I'll gather up the building permits and probates for them.

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It seems we put somehing up every day now. Today it was sauerkraut. Jim brought in three beautiful heads of cabbage. I did the slicing and he did the crushing and salting. We got seven quarts. They should be done fermenting in three days. How lucky that Fred Meyer has a coupon for Hillshire Farms ring sausage that makes it 2 for $4. By the time the sauerkraut is ready, we'll have sausage to cook with it. :-)

Yesterday it was plums. Jim juiced about enough to make 5 gallons of wine. I gave about 6-7 pounds of nice, ripe plums to a dear friend so I wouldn't have to deal with them. I also gave her zucchini and cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.

I have spent a lot of time of my current article for Ruralite Magazine, and that has put me behind. Tomorrow I have to work for the Times-News. But Friday I hope to make plum preserves and lemon curd. Jim says the raspberries are on, and I already have pie crust in the freezer, so how easy can you get. Tartlets! Yum!

I am reading "Miss Marsham's Repose" by T.H. Elliott. Those who enjoy Harry Potter stories will like it. Fascinating!

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Jim planted the garden kind of late this year, so we only have one kind of peas - snow peas. He chose them because they come on earlier than other kinds and because you don't have to shell them. I've been picking them all week. There are six large bags of snow peas in the freezer and tonight's stir-fry peas sitting on the counter. I also took a gallon to some friends of ours.

When I picked the first row for the second time, the calves were leaning on the fence begging for a treat. It was time to pull a few vines anyway. I pulled the whole row, salvaging the pea pods, and fed the vines to the calves. They're about 200 pounds now, and quite cute. They're old enough to not be afraid of us and too young to knock the fence over.

We also brought in two gigantic heads of Chinese cabbage. Some of that will go in the stir-fry, but most of it will go into Kimchi. Yum!

Last night I made a giant batch of egg rolls. We had several for supper along with some frozen berries and cream, and more of them for lunch. The rest are in the freezer. We used up all the soy sauce except the Lite. We ate on the patio, and the smell of the ground turkey and soy sauce brought all five cats to politely beg for treats. We were happy to oblige.

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It is truly canning season. In the past three weeks, I have put up 16 quarts of green beans, 25 pints of sweet pickle sticks, 5 pints of dill relish, 6 pints of dill pickles (whole), and 10 pints of sweet zucchini relish. I need to take the dill out of our dryer tonight, and put in slices of pears. It seems to be stocking up time. I got a three week supply of seafood (shrimp and fish fillets) along with some ice cream, vanilla yogurt and cheese at the grocery store, and five big boxes of tissues. I also "bought" two packets of cat food and a year's supply of Post-It's for free. It all cost $37.00. I still have $13.00 left for the two week period, and am thinking of going back to Rite Aid. They have Scott t.p. on sale at half price, plus they gave me a $5/$25 purchase, and I have $5 in Scott coupons. Since this would normally cost almost $50.00, it is quite a savings.

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We visited some friends, who fed us lunch and invited us to pick cherries. Theirs are some of the only sweet cherries in the area! We got a gallon and will go back Monday for the rest. I have visions of jam, canned cherries, and lots of fresh eating.

When we got home, another friend showed up bearing fried chicken, macaroni salad and rolls. We sat outside and watched the parakeets play. While we chatted about our lives, he put grass in the aviary and the little birds got so excited! They were actually fighting over it, even though we do this periodically. I showed him one of the two little chicks that have hatched. After Jim finished chores, we ate out there. The weather was perfect.

I ran out of blush. But the little jar it came in was so pretty, I mixed some petroleum jelly and lipstick I wasn't using anyway, and it turned out great! It will last quite awhile, until I get some money saved ahead for personal appearance stuff.

A back issue of a crochet magazine has a pattern out of granny squares for a cardigan. The design is really stylish! Theirs is in fall colors, but I have some crochet cotton in summer colors, so guess I'd better get busy. After that, I'm going to find or make a pair of slacks to go with it, though I think my jeans would work, too. I bought the cotton thread for a dollar for a bag of new skeins at a thrift store last year, wondering how I'd ever use those pretty colors.

I meant to go food shopping this week, but we have so much on hand that we may as well use up what we have.

Happy Father's Day!

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Although I am laid up with a broken ankle, I am so excited! Jim finished remodeling the chicken coop yesterday (it just needs a few tiny things) and brought home 50 parakeets in all colors and markings. I am praying hard that they will flourish in their new home. They are laying. I hope the move will not throw them off too far. They are adorable! And I could pretty well make a couple thousand dollars a year from them.

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I'll send a photo tomorrow, when they're all dry. I made next year's gifts for my friends. After I submitted the jigsaw puzzle ornaments instructions, I got inspired to make some more. I bought a puzzle for .50 at the thrift store and had all the fun of putting it together. It had 550 pieces. Then I sprayed them (gold this time!) and glued thie pieces into little wreaths to hang on the Christmas tree. I had enough ribbon left over to make bows for all 24 of them! I spent under $10.00 (just the puzzle, spray paint and glitter glue) and have gifts for 24 friends! I think that's about .40 each, and they're really pretty. And I'm READY!!! No more being late!!

My next hope is to have a really great yard sale this spring to help finance the publication of my book, "Hart Hollow Journal -- Living of $500 a month using every trick in the book." There are quite a few freebie coupons coming out tomorrow, and I will sell most of the freebies at the yard sale. Every little bit helps, and I can do it within my budget!

It's very cold here. Although it's above freezing, the west wind is howling, and even in my little office, my nose is as cold as ice!

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After four days of frequent interruptions, I finally have the tree done. We had a three-footer for years, but this year bought a six footer. I had forgotten how much work it is to get the lights on, and wasn't sure how many ornaments we had left. But it's done and it looks great!

I was looking at our menus for this week, and I realized that I hardly have to buy anything. If I concentrate on using up what we have on hand, all I need to add is salt, flour, baking powder. We're like a pair of '49'ers panning for gold. Jim grows way more than we can eat!

I made soap four days ago, and it's turning out really well. It was halfway set up before I got all the lye water in it, so it hardened really fast. Guess it's time to dig out the fragrance and color. If you save fat from the bacon and other meat and keep it clean (boil it with a couple inches of water, then chill so the solids sink to the bottom) and keep it in the fridge or refrigerator, all you need to add is a can of lye to make soap. It's about $4.50 for a can. But it makes ten pounds of soap. Let's see, if we cut that into 5 ounce bars, that makes 32 bars. Not bad compared to the dollar or more for grocery-store soap. I saw bars of plain lye soap for sale at the hardware store for $3.99 each. It had a list of things you could do with it, including bathe, shampoo, clean clothes, etc. The last thing was wash out a sassy kid's mouth. Gave me a good laugh. Anyway, this is going to be lavender soap so I can give some for Christmas gifts. Two years ago I gave some raspberry soap to Maryann, and she's been hinting for more ever since.

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I am catching up my email while the tallow melts. Today is the day I make soap (no matter how slow the tallow  melts) for my Christmas baskets. I've already made the other stuff that goes in the baskets. Because it's only three weeks till Christmas, I've chosen a recipe that sets up quickly.

I'm spending a bit on Christmas and extra dog food, so I have to make my allowance stretch until next Friday. So I'm going for three no-spending and no driving days in the next seven days.

We saw a wonderful concert last night! Time for Three are a string trio that are so totally different! I was expecting Baroque, but we got everything else. And I have never seen or heard such fast fiddling! We get the concert tickets every year in exchange for my writing critiques for each concert to put in the local newspaper. We could never afford them any other way.

Monday is my day to apply for Social Security. I am so excited! I've been waiting to get disability for many years, because I really can't earn a living due to a long list of illnesses.

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My husband put a cold frame over some lettuce that came up late (planted itself) when we started having frosts in September. We are still harvesting yummy buttercrunch lettuce! It even survived one night that was almost zero!

I will send a photo when my dog food comes in.

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Last Sunday the newspaper coupon insert had two coupons for free items. A candy bar, and a 4-lb bag of dog food. I can't resist a deal like that! I confess to being a bold dumpster diver. I met the newspaper delivery man (an old friend) at the recycling dumpster and asked if I could pull out the coupons from the Sunday papers before he pitched them out. He gave me about a dozen, and after he left, I found a few more. Today I was so disappointed to see that the dumpster had been hauled away. But there was another one, and it was already about 1/3 full. I found a BUNCH more Sunday papers with inserts! Altogether, I got 47 each of the two coupons! I had to special order the dog food from Albertson's because they never have that many bags on hand. We've already stocked up on dog food for the winter, but this kind is for little dogs. Our outdoor cats will eat it and enjoy the change! Yahoo!

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I received an unexpected check yesterday. Actually two. One was a $10 rebate for buying "free" cereal. Usually I put that in my savings, but I have been a good girl for too long. I spent some at the grocery store. They have a deal on Jello No-Bake Cheesecake mixes that is $6 for $10, with $2 off at the checkout. I rarely buy this even though I love it. But I sure did today. At $1.33 each, I got six. They will last a long time unless I fix them for church potlucks. We're definitely having one for Thanksgiving. I didn't even know they had a chocolate crust with peanut butter filling! That's how long it's been.

My computer went up in flames on Sunday. Fortunately my husband had filled out the warranty and sent it in. I called Gateway and they  are sending a box for me to ship it in. I asked how to save my files and they told me to take  out the hard drive and plug it into another computer and make a CD of them. I could not imagine doing this myself, so we took it to our internet server. For $25.00 the nice tech saved me hundreds of hours of work. I'm a journalist, and I had photos and articles on there that I couldn't afford to lose. Thank you, Lord! And my husband for taking care of that warranty.

I made a quart of bulgur wheat this week. Now we can have tabouli. We have everything else on hand -- lemons, mint, parsley, etc. Yum! The parsley has just about taken over my poor, neglected flower beds, and even after several hard freezes it still looks good. I keep drying a little more for tea. I love having parsley on hand. Buying a whole bunch is a pain, because I never use it all unless I dry the leftovers.

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The coming week is going to be clogged with have-to's, so I did some cooking ahead. It's all too tempting to want to run to the newly-established Asian Buffet. I started with Tuesday night's Halloween alternative at church. I made 27 burritos, which all disappeared. But I had beans and meat left over. ENCHILADAS :So I made tortillas Wednesday night and made 18 giant enchiladas. The sauce is easy, and way cheaper than buying it. Ditto for the tortillas. We worked on one pan of enchiladas and froze the other pan for later. TABOULI: We've been hungry for this yummy Middle Eastern salad for awhile, and I have all the ingredients on hand except for the bulgur. So I soaked some soft white wheat and sprouted it. This morning I spread some in a big jelly roll pan and dried it in the oven while we were doing morning chores and getting ready for church. I'll do the rest tomorrow. Now all I have to do is run it through the handmill and it will be bulgur. I can already taste the tabouli! The heck with politics! Good, nutritious food is never out of line. SQUASH: A large supply of winter squash begs to be used. So last night I found one that wasn't keeping very well and cut up half of that.one. Then I cut up another one. We like Kabocha-types, but they are very dry. So when I baked them (without the seeds, of course, and cut in eighths) I added an inch of water in the pan to soften and moisten them. We had some with salt and butter and a touch of Parmesan. Tonight we'll do that again with our canned ham. And tomorrow, I'll make "pumpkin soup." It's another favorite, especially with onions. BEETS: Tomorrow is my last not-so-crammed day for awhile, but I can put a few of those giant beets on to cook. They go well with lots of foods, and I have a recipe for Russian salad that uses beets, boiled eggs, sweet pickle sticks and a mayonnaise-based salad with dill in it. If I don't serve that every now and again, my husband asks for it. And once the beets are cooked, the rest takes about ten minutes. Now I have several meals ahead, and the rest of the week should go smoothly. There's another church potluck coming up next Sunday. Wonder if they would like tabouli?

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We had a wonderful 25th wedding anniversary party about a week and a half ago. Since our kids live far away, we did it ourselves. We used a fiesta theme, with giant honeycomb tissue pineapples and little Mexican piggy banks on all the tables. We hung toucans and ribbons from the ceiling, and served pie and sodas for dessert. We had planned a more elaborate party, but the flu swept through here and at least half our guests were sick and couldn't make it. One lasting reminder will always be a quilt. We asked people to sign quilt pieces, and this winter when things are miserable outside, I will stitch some rosebud blocks from a Debbie Mumm pattern and make a memory quilt to keep us warm.

Halloween Night is Hallelujah Night at our church. I made burritos (every single one got eaten) and had leftover filling. So Wednesday night I made more tortillas and some enchilada sauce. There was enough for 18 big enchiladas. We froze some and are eating some. I made the sauce extra mild this time.

Today we had to go to Twin Falls, and we love shopping at the Deseret Industries store there. We found my husband a great pair of waterproof winter boots, a DVD of one of our favorite movies, "Pay It Forward", and an embroidery hoop for me. I just gave my last one away to a friend who was in the hospital for over a week and needed something to do with her hands. She's home now, and still stitching. Anyway, the whole shebang cost $9.50. Is that cool?

A few nights ago, the coyotes started howling very close to our house. I've never heard them that close before. We worry about the animals, so we went out and Jim clapped his hands and shouted. They kept on howling. I  shined my flashlight in their direction, and they got quiet. Haven't heard them since. I guess we got the message across. Nothing against wild critters, but t hey can't eat my kitties.

Winter is closing in around us. The nights hover near zero, and the days are sunny but cold. I need to sweep the leaves off our path and into the flower beds where they can do some good. It's time to set up the kitty condo - a dog house that we put near our front door. Jim packs straw bales around it, and we line it with pillows and a wool blanket to keep the kitties warm. I'm allergic, so they can't come in the house.

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I started my Christmas list today. Usually I start in January, but I was sick then. I made a list of who, and now I'll start filling in what they get. Since I'm knitting bath mitts, I will make at least two bath baskets, plus one for us. Last year I gathered up a bunch of gifts to mail, and then didn't have the cash to mail them, so this year they'll get really light gifts. Some crocheted snowflakes come to mind. Doilies.

Three friends have called since last night to offer help for our 25th Anniversary party this Friday. Is that sweet or what?

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My hearing is better today. Lots of prayer from everyone. Never could get the doctor to call back.

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We have two trailers attached to each other. Then, on one side, there is a gap of about 12 feet and it's planted in flowers and a cherry tree and an apple tree. Then another trailer that used to be the kids' bedrooms when they were home. Right now, the leaves are dropping. Our pathway is gold and yellow! It's almost an enchanted sight! Seems a shame to sweep up all that glory. Of course, it will lose its color soon, and I'll have to. Until then, it can wait.

I took about 10 pounds of candy and prizes to church today for the Hallelujah Night party. There were some darling little mechanical pencils with bead dangles hanging on them. Found them at the dollar store last year -- two dozen for a dollar. We're hoping for a good crowd, so I took a couple hundred little candy bars, all bought with coupons, of course.

Lunch was almost ready when we got home. Breaded fish fillets and oven-fried wedges and sliced fresh peaches.

Tonight is movie night. I found a copy of "Three Amigos" at the thrift store for $2.00. That's almost as cheap as a rental!

Until later,

Coreen

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Has anyone had this problem? My doctor prescribed quinine for leg cramps. I took it for three days. This morning I woke up with a significant hearing loss. The on-call doctor had never heard of it, but it's all over the internet. It could be permanent.

Did my grocery shopping yesterday. I bought 10 pounds of chicken and froze it all, because it was .47 a pound. Right now we have to use up two pounds of thawed out hamburger and some fish fillets.

My knitted bath mitt turned out pretty well, although I wish I knew a better way to sew up the seam that wasn't so visible. Try, try again!

Jim brought in two great big cauliflower heads a bit ago. Guess what's for supper? I'll freeze one, and we'll eat the other. I am going to make stuffed peppers, and it will go nicely with that. I actually bought the peppers to make Helen Taylor's Spaghetti, an absolutely huge recipe that is so yummy. But we've had enough carbs for the week. So I'm going for the better choice.

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Yesterday was so cool! I believe I saved or made more than I spent, and considering that it was my fall clothes shopping day, that's pretty great! First off, a breakfast of free cereal! Albertson's had it on sale for $1.50 per box. I had coupons for .50 off each box. There was a rebate of $10 for 10 Nabisco/Post products. So I bought ten boxes, and we are slowly eating them. When you're in a hurry, there's nothing quicker.

Then I put up grape jelly and grape pancake syrup, eight jars each. I figure that's worth a dollar a jar, or $16.00. My husband had the juice left over from his wine making, so it only took an hour. Good wages, huh?

For lunch we had leftover crustless broccoli quiche and chopped tomatoes. Even though the frost has ended the garden except for a few things, the tomatoes keep ripening in our back room.

I had to go to town, 15 miles away. I offered to tutor a member of our church. She's a nurse from the Philippines, and has to pass a really grueling test  next Friday. I'm an English major, but her test was a challenge for me!

On the way, I stopped at Rite-Aid to return some makeup. The first two times I used it I loved it, but the third time I started itching like nobody's business. Since the ones I returned were unopened, the manager agreed to give me $30 credit. I spent it on things I had been wanting and couldn't afford. Two canned hams, pineapple, two needlework magazines (one was $10 -- what's the world coming to?) and a newspaper that had one of my articles in it....

I trade my writing skills to the community concert series for two season tickets. We love them!

After I tutored Cecelia for two hours, I went to the local thrift store. I found three really nice dressy blouses and a straight black skirt for less than $10.00. I also bought two wonderful books, a Madeleine L'Engle and a Jan Karon, and an iron nutcracker for $2.00 altogether. We grow hazelnuts, and that little device cracks them without mashing the nutmeat! Better than the two-legged nutcracker we've been using!

At Walmart I found a new pair of every day shoes, a blouse, and a six-pack of undies. I think I'm set for the winter now. Total at Walmart, $48.00.

When I came home, it was time to make supper. I was late. I had planned to make homemade noodles with ham from the little can of ham in the pantry. But it was too late, and I didn't want to stop and buy a can of mushroom soup. Instead, I used one of the new hams, some radiatore pasta, and broccoli from the garden. Then I made a cream sauce and added a couple of ounces of good cheddar. The cream sauce is really easy. Just melt three tablespoons of butter in a little sauce pan. Stir in three tablespoons of flour and 1/4 teaspoon of dry mustard. No salt in this one, because the canned ham is plenty salty. Then stir the diced ham and cheese into the sauce. Let it sit while the pasta finishes cooking. Add some chopped broccoli to the boiling pasta for the last five minutes. Then drain off the cooking water and stir in the cream sauce and ham. Since I used equal portions of ham, broccoli, pasta and sauce, it was a really nutritious meal for four. Yup, we get it for supper tonight. And the cost was very low. I only actually paid money for the pasta and the cheese, (both on hand already) and the cheese was in the markdown section so it was just over $1 a pound. I consider the ham a windfall since I returned unneeded makeup to get it.

By the way, the crocheting magazine is wonderful! I may make myself a really gorgeous sweater!

But right now I'm knitting a bath mitt out of ecru Sugar and Cream cotton yarn. The pattern was free from the Lily website. It looks very chic. I'm thinking that if I can manage to do it right, (I don't know much about knitting but this is small, and how else do you learn?) it would look terrific in a little thrift store basket with a tan towel and a few bars of lavender soap (homemade). Our eldest daughter loves that soap. In fact, she gave me the recipe a few years ago, and we try to keep each other supplied. Think Christmas! Or birthday!

Today we tried out some of our new grape pancake syrup. A great new flavor for us! Later we'll go cut up firewood and bring it home. A friend has hundred-year-old trees that are dropping branches. No one has cleaned it up since her husband died, ten years ago. It saves her $10 an hour to pay someone, and we keep our toesies warm all winter! Then I'll put some tomatoes in the oven to dry, and chop some parsley from my flower bed to dry. I'm planning to drink parsley tea all winter, since we have such a lot of it this year. After that, I hope to sit and relax and knit on my bath mitt peacefully until bedtime.

Life is good.

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The weather man says it will be 39, and we have learned to subtract five or ten degrees. We live in an old river bed, and frost settles here. The wind is howling and it's in the 40's. The garden is keeping my sweet husband busy! So far he has brought in bushels of tomatoes, eggplant, corn, plums, pears, squashes and Snack Jack pumpkins (yummy hulless seeds). Now he's aiming for the basil. I still haven't frozen pesto, and we really love it. We have finally finished juicing apples! The lovely, rose-colored juice is sealed in jars. We did tomatoes yesterday. Tomorrow it will be pesto before church and probably salsa verde after church. I think the Good Lord understands. The garden has been amazingly productive this year!

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This time of year, I get so excited about putting food by! Yesterday I finished the cucumber chunks. I never made them before. They are so good I can't stay out of them! Lots of salt and sugar, though. I also put up apple butter. Today I processed 40 pints of beets for my good friend, Laverne. Her canner wouldn't work. I think it needs the correct gasket. That one looks too small. Then Jim helped me snap green beans and we processed seven quarts of them.

The wind is blowing hard, and my asthma is kicking up. Dinner will be a simple deal, I guess.

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We have gone for years without a decent cucumber. Now our vines are blessing us with tons of cucumbers!! I have already put up 35 pints of sweet pickle sticks, and today I started brining 20 pounds of dill pickles and 10 pounds of cucumber chunks. There's still plenty to take to the gals at the courthouse who are so nice to me. I don't mind putting up extras, because there is the memory of all those cucumber-less years.

The Kosher dills are my favorites, because when I was in my 20's I used to visit a little ice cream parlor/deli combination and buy their incredible giant pickles. Some of them weighed a pound. Sometimes I ate the whole thing in one sitting. They were as good as the ice cream to me!

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