Our Trip to Williamsburg: Day 2

Our first stop on our 2nd day of vacation was to the Colonial Williamsburg visitor's center.

First on our agenda was to buy our passes to see the sights. On our honeymoon, we had no extra money so we just did the free things. But this time we wanted to be able to take in some of the ticketed attractions so we had budgeted accordingly ahead of time.

We purchased 7 day passes for the Historic Triangle--Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown. The passes are certainly not cheap but divided over 6 days (we were only there for 6 days but our passes were for 7), the cost is very reasonable and much less expensive than purchasing tickets to see individual attractions.

We walked out of the visitor's center and headed down the path to Colonial Williamsburg.

 The walk was longer than we remembered from our previous visit. The rest of the week we took advantage of the shuttle that made a loop around the city, beginning and ending at the visitor's center. We could get on and off wherever we wanted and the longest wait at any one stop was maybe 10 minutes. We still got plenty of walking in but the shuttle rides saved a lot of time and energy! The shuttle service was free with our passes so we were tickled to make use of it!

Anyways, on our walk to the Revolutionary City, as they call it, we toured a Colonial Farmstead. I have no pictures of this which I am surprised by!

Upon entering Colonial Williamsburg, we toured the grounds at the Governor's Palace. We toured the inside of the palace later in the week.

We also took our daily selfie here.

After the tour of the gardens and grounds at the Governor's Palace, we continued walking, stopping to look in a few of the shops and touring the George Wythe house.

A note about the tours--I'm one of those people that can only take so many guided tours. But the tours we did here were very entertaining. Most were told more as a story which helped to keep my attention! Most were only 30 minutes long too.

By this time, we were hungry for lunch so we stopped at Chowning's Tavern for lunch. (I believe I have a picture of the actual building that was taken later in the week that hasn't been edited yet so I'll post it later!)

This restaurant was in Colonial Williamsburg and runs much like it would've in Colonial times. It was a fun experience to eat there.

After lunch, we walked to the nearest bus stop and took the shuttle back to the visitor's center. We spent the rest of the afternoon looking for some Washington Redskins paraphernalia at local stores and then relaxing at the hotel. We ate supper in our hotel room/suite which included a full kitchen so we could do some of our own cooking. I had brought a few freezer meals along to make cooking really easy! Our hotel also had a free hot breakfast bar every morning so most days we only ate out one time.

And thus concluded our 2nd day of vacation.

To be continued...

Reading and Eating

I started re-reading Little House In The Big Woods this past weekend and am almost finished. It is such a cozy read--charming and simple. One of my favorites! 

My plan is to read through the whole Little House series this fall/winter. It's been a long time since I read them. 

I've had a bag of butterscotch chips languishing in the freezer for some time now. They were given to us.  If they were chocolate or peanut butter chips, they would be long gone! I saw this recipe for Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies at Living Well Spending Less and decided to bake some cookies just for the fun of it. They are really yummy!

I love fall!

**I will continue my vacation posts once we get all 200+ photos edited and organized!!!**

Our Trip to Williamsburg, VA: Day 1

We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on October 2 by spending the week in Williamsburg, VA.

We honeymooned in Williamsburg ten years ago and have talked since then of going back for our 10th anniversary. About two years ago, we began actively planning and saving for our trip. The whole vacation was paid for with cash in hand-- no coming home to a credit card bill! I will share more about how we were able to do this vacation debt-free in a later post. 

I will note that this was the first time since our honeymoon that we have been away for a week by ourselves. Our longer trips over the years have been with or to visit family. 

Ok, now for the details of Day 1: 

We left for Williamsburg on Sunday, September 28. Our first stop was at Cracker Barrel a couple minutes from home. We ate at Cracker Barrel for breakfast the first morning of our honeymoon. In the spirit of recreating a memory, we both ordered Uncle Herschel platters just like we did 10 years ago. The only difference was that I couldn't completely finish my meal this time! 

Our next stop was the Virginia Welcome Center on I-85. 

We took our daily selfie here. 

The little lady at the information desk was adorable and helpful. "Have you ever taken the ferry to Williamsburg?" She asked. "Why no, we haven't," we replied. She then gave us directions to get to the ferry, explaining that it would take us across the James River and dock at Jamestown, giving us just a short trip into Williamsburg. Going this way was the same in mileage as the route we had planned and much more direct, so we went that way. 

So we drove a nice drive through the VA countryside and arrived at the ferry. The ferry ride is free and runs 7 days a week.  

If you enlarge the last two photos, you should be able to see the replicas of the ships that originally came to Jamestown. 

I will share closer shots of the ships in another post since we toured them another day. 

The ferry ride was fun and gave a unique perspective to arriving in Jamestown. 

After we docked at Jamestown, we made the short drive into Williamsburg, checked into our hotel, and then found a quick dinner before getting some rest. 

We were greeted by an anniversary card and local goodies left in our room by hotel staff. 

We needed to be rested to start our first day of sight seeing the next morning! 

To be continued...

Frugal Five

 Some frugal things we've done recently to save cash!

1) My athletic shoes were starting to come apart on the soles. My husband glued them back together so they will last a bit longer.

2) I bought a big box of dishwasher detergent in the spring and stored it under the sink. Early summer, we had a leak and water pooled under the sink. The cardboard box of detergent got very wet of course. The soap in the bottom clumped up because of getting wet. Well, I was not about to waste it! When we got to the bottom of the box, I emptied the big clumps into a recycled plastic jar and have been breaking the clumps up and using them anyways. We're getting a few more weeks out of the dishwasher detergent this way.

Note: It's a good idea to store detergent in an airtight container from now on!

3) I've been packing my lunch to take to work everyday. It's usually leftovers so saves on waste too!

4) I found a really cute knit skirt at a yard sale this summer for 50 cents. The only downside was that the skirt was a size 2X when I am more of a size large. Before putting it down, I quickly realized that I could take it in on the sides and it would fit just fine. (The elastic waist was very smooth; some are very bulky and hard to take in this way but this one was easy!) Brought it home, took the skirt in several inches on each side and I had a really comfy skirt for 50 cents! I wear it several times a week; I like it so much!

5) Instead of buying more beef ($3.49 lb.) the last few weeks, I purchased whole chickens at 95 cents per pound. Buying the cheaper meat stretches the budget just a little further. In addition, bone-in chicken means I can make my own chicken broth! I still bought some beef just not as much.

And a bonus:
We got our grass-fed/pastured meat order last week packaged in 2 big green plastic bags. These bags are about the same size as our kitchen trash bags so I saved them to use for trash. One is being used now!

How have you saved money recently? Please share in the comments so we can all learn from each other!

5 Things

This summer has been a fun and happy blur. We've been busy living life--I think about blogging but haven't done much of it in a couple of months!

So here's a quick post: 5 things going on in our lives!

1. My husband turned 40 on Saturday. We had a big party that was really fun. This was a huge celebration because when he was born, he wasn't supposed to live very long. After a few years, they said he might live until his 20's. Well, we are so happy he is 40 and lives a healthy and full life. No over the hill black doom and gloom junk here!
2. A yellow jacket stung me on the playground at work today. Ouch! It hurt for a while--just a little tender now. Thankfully, I'm not allergic. 
3. Rock, the Cherished Dog, has learned to open the door from the outside. It's a door that needs to be really pushed shut to latch completely. So we put Rock out and a little while later, he is back in the house and the door is standing open. He has his own doggy door. LOL
4. Melon--we've been eating a lot of it this summer. It is so good. I'm convinced that a  bowl of chilled cantaloupe or watermelon is the perfect accompaniment to almost any summer meal. 
5. When we bought our house 2 years ago, there was a big above ground pool in the backyard. We did not want the pool. As far as we are concerned, pools are way too much work and a liability. So we took it out immediately. Which left a big hole in the yard. (The pool was partially dug in to the ground as well so the hole was much deeper on one side than the other.)  Then we priced dirt. Whoever said, "Cheap as dirt" hasn't had to fill a pool hole recently. We finally found someone to bring us dirt and do the work for a reasonable price. It was still more than we wanted to pay but the job got done. Our "pool hole" was a great conversation piece for 2 years. "What are you going to put in that hole?"  "Wouldn't that make a good fire pit?" "You should make an herb garden." You could just plant a garden in there!" "Are you ever going to fill that hole?" Well. Now it's filled with dirt and we stand at the window admiring it! It just looks so much nicer. LOL

Before the hole was filled....

And after! Much better! Once the deck is rebuilt, which is next on the list, this dirt area will probably be made into a simple patio area as well as maybe a flower and herb garden.

What's going on in your life this summer? 

Refashion: Men's Shirt to a Ruffly Peasant Top

I'm really getting in to refashioning and reviving clothing to make something new and useable.

First, I used applique to cover a stain. Then I turned a couple pair of gaucho pants that I wasn't wearing into skirts. 

My latest refashioning project is turning one of my husband's tshirts into a ruffly peasant top for me. 

Usually by the time he gets rid of shirts, they are only fit for the rag bag. This one just didn't fit right and still was in pretty good condition. 

An advantage to this shirt was that it's a nice shade of light blue. Score for me! I snatched that thing right up and hauled it off to the sewing room! 

I used this tutorial that I had pinned a long time ago. It was pretty easy to follow and the shirt didn't take that long to make. 

I can't really tell you exactly how long it took me because I worked on it in small snippets of time--maybe about 1 hour and 15 minutes total? Longer if you count the phone call to my sister to figure out how to do the lettuce hem on my machine!

Before: 

After:

Why go shopping for new clothes when you can make something fun at home?!? 

What I Did Today

I always enjoy homemaking posts that detail what that person did in her home that day. These are not boring at all to me. In fact I often learn something new that I can put to use in my own home.

So this post is one of those-- what I did today. 

I went shopping late last week so there was meat in the refrigerator that needed to be dealt with before it went bad. I like to go ahead  and prep most meats ahead of time and then freeze them. 

So today was definitely a cooking day! 

First off, we were out of granola so I made a double batch. We don't eat much cereal-- we don't really care that much for it and it takes several bowls to fill us up! We do like homemade granola though and it's been nice to keep on hand this summer for a cooler breakfast with yogurt and fruit. We've been eating it once or twice a week for a change of pace. 

While the granola was baking, I quickly made a freezer crockpot meal-- Italian Sausages with Peppers and Onions. This meal takes just minutes to put together. It's so nice to pull out on a busy day and throw into the crockpot. 

We prefer pork sausage but Aldi only had turkey when I was shopping last week so we'll use turkey sausage this time! 

Next up was some ground beef to take care of! I made 8 hamburger patties to freeze. We'll be grilling half of these this weekend and then will have enough ready for another meal later. 

Hamburger patties are super easy to make so it may seem silly to make them  ahead. But to me it makes sense to go ahead and quickly make them up so they're ready when I need them. 

We like to eat supper within about 30 minutes of me returning home from work so any prep work I can do ahead makes supper prep and the evening go that much smoother. 

I do a load of laundry pretty much every day plus other routine homemaking tasks so those things were also completed this morning.

I also was able to hard-boil a dozen eggs and then run the dishwasher before leaving for work this afternoon.

When I made dinner tonight-- Pork and Veggies-- I doubled the recipe and froze one portion for dinner one night next week. 

Andy is working the run-off election tomorrow so after dinner, I packed a lunch for him.  

In a nutshell, that's what I did today. 

What did you do today?

Watch Dog

As I pulled into the parking space, I could sense I was being watched. 

I turned to the left and this sweet face was what I saw! 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, this pretty much sums up what Rock does all day:

Then he'll go out for a few minutes:

Then back in for maybe a little of this:

But definitely more of this:

It's good to be a dog these days!

How are you spending these early "dog days" of summer?

Refashioning: Gaucho Pants To A Skirt

 Before: Pants!

I had two pair of black knit gaucho pants that didn't fit quite right. So I hardly ever wore them.

I've been wanting some new black knit skirts for summer. One day it clicked that I could try turning these pants into skirts. 

If it didn't work I really wouldn't be out anything! 

I used this tutorial as a starting point. But basically all that was needed for this project was to cut the inside seams of the pants open and then sew them back together. Sew the two front sides to each other and then the same thing with the back pieces. (Consult the tutorial for what to with the triangle shape area from the crotch seam which if not cut and sewn straight will make a weird point/bubble in your seam!)

After: A cute skirt!

This is one of those projects that isn't perfect but I love the finished results. Now I have two black knit skirts in my closet which will be so comfy and cool for summer!

Please note: The perspective of these pictures make me look really short and wide! I'm not short and I'm doing my best to not get too wide. LOL!!! It's the direction of the camera, I guess! :-)

Coca Cola 600

On Memorial weekend, we attended the Coca Cola 600 race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. 

I had bid on and won (which means I got to pay for them, not actually won a prize!) 4 tickets to the race in a silent auction at work. One of the parents at the child development center where I work is on the pit crew for Chip Ganassi Racing. He donated these tickets. 

Anyways, I got a really good deal on the tickets and then, when he brought them to me, he had thrown two more tickets in. So we got 6 tickets instead of 4! 

We had already invited Andy's parents to go with us since they love racing and then with the 2 extra tickets, we were able to invite 2 more friends! 

It was really fun! 

This was my first race. It was an evening race and the weather was perfect! 

Our seats were pretty good--in between turns 3 and 4 and as a bonus were located in the family friendly section which turned out to be really nice-- no alcohol!

Races are LOUD! We had earplugs, of course, which helped a lot. It was really fun to see the race live rather than on TV. It's a whole different experience. 

A few years ago, a donut burger made with Krispy Kreme donuts for the bun and then a burger patty, bacon and cheese was featured on Man vs. Food. Ever since then, Andy has wanted to try the Krispy Kreme burger. 

Well, he discovered that one concession stand at the race track was selling the Krispy Kreme burger. So we made plans to get one for him. We had to walk a long long ways from our seats  to get to the concession stand and then back again but he says it was worth it! 

I tried a bite and it really was pretty good! The sweet of the donut contrasts nicely with the savory burger and of course, bacon goes well with everything! 

It was pricey as all food is at these events but it's the only item we purchased there. Race tracks allow guests to carry in small coolers so we took sandwiches,snacks and drinks from home. Plus we had tailgated before the race. The 600 is a long race so we had packed plenty of snacks and drinks! 

We're so glad our parents and friends could join us for the race! 

Yard Sale Finds

It's been a while since I shared my yard sale finds. 

Honestly, I haven't been to that many sales this year and the ones I have attended have had very little that I needed or wanted. 

We went to three nearby sales this morning and I found a few cute little treasures! 

Sale #1: 

Stuffed dog: 25 cents

Toy wagon: 50 cents

These were bought for display items for when I set up at craft shows. 

Sale #2:

This was an estate sale and had some cute vintage items!

Vintage framed picture: $1.00

Sequined clutch: 50 cents

Small rolling pin: 25 cents

A closer look at the picture:

Sale #3:

Pampered Chef pastry roller: $1.00

Football snack plate: 50 cents

Tiny Christmas cookie cutters:$1.00

I already have a P.C. pastry roller just like this one and love it! They retail new for $15-$16. I bought this one to resell. 

I am a sucker for small kitchen things like the rolling pin and cookie cutters. I don't need them but I like them. Those antique small rolling pins really work and are great for play dough--I have a textured one too!

It was a fun time this morning!

Have you found any thrifty treasures lately?

First Canning of the Season

I made a quick stop at the produce stand yesterday morning and spotted some boxes of very ripe tomatoes for $5.00  a box.

I bought two boxes as they were perfect for canning. One box weighed approximately 33 pounds so I'm estimating that I had about 65 pounds total. 

I had to wait to start canning until after work in the evening so once dinner was over, I got started. 

Even though canning plain tomatoes in their own juice is very easy, it still takes a block of time to complete. I really wanted to get both boxes canned in one evening even with knowing I would be up really late! 

So I plowed through and the last canner full was done at 12:30 am. Thankfully, I had already had time to clean up the kitchen, start the dishwasher and put a load of laundry in the washer, so I just took the jars out of the canner and went to bed! 

Final count was 25 quart of canned tomatoes-- not too bad for $10!
 

An Awesome Alterations Website

A friend brought this bridesmaid dress over on Wednesday. The shoulder strap needed to be taken up a couple of inches since the bodice was way too loose and gaping open. 

I had never attempted something like this and would've said 'no' to the request but my friend was desperate and the wedding is this Saturday! She also said she didn't care how it ended up; just so it fit! I took pity on her plight this time!

The bodice was of course fully lined requiring a lot more than just adjusting a strap! 

A quick Google search led me to this awesome tutorial at Sew For Dough. While the strap I was shortening was constructed a bit differently than the one featured in the tutorial, it was easy to follow and helped me tremendously! 

I couldn't figure out how to sew the side seams of the shoulder back together on the machine so I handstitched that part.  It ended up a little puckered on the underside but the front looks good.

Anyways, my main point of this post is to direct you to Sew for Dough if you need help with alterations. She has tons of detailed tutorials for just about any alteration project you might need to do! Lots of helpful hints for mending and knowing how to price your services if alterations are your thing and you'd like to turn it into a business too. 

I definitely prefer constructing new garments to doing alterations. We've taken Andy's suit jackets and pants to a local shop for alterations; I consider it money well-spent! But it's also nice to know how to do some myself if needed!

What about you? Do you alter everything yourself or pay for someone else to do it for you?

Embellishing A Stained Shirt

One of my shirts got a stain on the front that I couldn't get out after multiple washings. 

I don't know what the spot even was but it does look a lot like snot, doesn't it? 

This shirt was a $1 yard sale find a couple of years back so I could've just tossed it. I really like it though so I decided to try to salvage it. 

It hung in my closet for a while before I finally came up with a cute solution. 

I got a handful of pink crocheted roses for 25 cents at a yard sale last Saturday. When I got home, I realized how cute one of those roses would look sewn onto the shirt to hide the stain. 

It took only a few minutes to sew sone scrap fabric leaves and the rose to the shirt. 

I love the results and I can keep wearing this shirt!  

Frugality and resourcefulness at its finest!

On Going Back To Work

I stayed home for 8 years then this past fall I started a part-time job outside the home.

While the transition has been smooth and the job is going very well, it has still been a transition and a big change.

Most of the 8 years that I was home full-time, I also worked from home doing childcare, sewing, baking and some other odd jobs from time to time.

I am a homebody and I loved being home. I still love being home. I have never been bored at home. There is always something to do!

When I started looking for a job outside the home, we set some specific guidelines on what to look for.

1. Short commute. I didn't want to drive more than 20 minutes one way. Obviously, a shorter commute cuts down on gasoline costs and wear and tear on the car. It also saves a lot of time! My drive to work is 7-10 minutes and only uses about a gallon and a half of gas weekly. Another reason for a short commute is that while we are currently a 2-car family, in the event that we were to change back to one car, working close to home would make that situation a whole lot easier.

2. Part time. This is my frequently asked question! Why only part-time? Quick answer: I want my life back! Longer answer: I'm working because we need some extra money to supplement our income not because I have nothing to do at home. Currently, working 25 hours per week meets that need and allows me time to keep up with things at home, run errands and operate my Etsy shop. (Most days I feel like I work much harder at home than at work--LOL!) While we don't know what the future holds, our hope is that me working outside the home is more of a temporary situation than permanent.

In addition, working part-time outside the home brings in about the same income as when I was doing childcare at home for 50 hours a week. Seriously! Even though I'm not home as much, I have a lot more freedom and more concentrated time to work at home than before.

A part-time job is working really well for us right now!

3. Less responsibility. This sounds weird but hear me out. I've worked on my own for a long time. I'm an introvert and I do well by myself. However, we thought the best job would be one where I would be working with other people and assisting them rather than being in charge. My current position is a floater/substitute so I fill in and cover for other teachers as needed. I still have responsibility obviously, but I'm not doing all the planning, etc. When I leave work for the evening, I leave my job there. It's much easier for me to take time off as well.

4. W-2. Yes, on my list was a job that would provide me with a W-2!  With both of us being self-employed, tax time is a bit of a headache, not to mention that we haven't received much in the way of refunds for about 7 years. Even one W-2 will make it easier. 

5. Quality working environment. I have a degree in Early Childhood Education. I've worked in NAEYC accredited centers in the past. Once you do this, you really don't want to go back. NAEYC Accreditation means smaller child to teacher ratios, staying in ratio at all times, more experienced and educated staff, developmentally appropriate curriculum for young children and generally, just a better working environment. There are many quality centers that are not NAEYC accredited so obviously accreditation doesn't mean everything! Of the several job interviews I had, this center was the one with which I felt most comfortable and it is NAEYC too.

I'm still figuring out how to rightly balance work and home and get what is most important done. Obviously, there is simply no way I can do it all. I think I extend more grace to myself  in this area now that I am working outside the home than I did when home full-time, which is a good thing!

So, even though several years ago, I didn't see myself going back to work, I have and it's working very well for us at this time.

Five Relatively Painless Ways To Declutter

Having trouble getting started with decluttering and getting rid of stuff you know longer use? These five ways are a good place to start and depending on your attachment level, pretty painless!

1. Trash. Look around your home. Find anything that is obviously trash and throw it away. Newspapers, receipts you no longer need, junk mail, broken items. 
2. Magazines. I know we love our magazines but really, how many do we need to keep? A good rule of thumb is to keep 2 or 3 of the latest issue of each magazine to which you are subscribed. If you haven't had a chance to read a magazine that you've had 6 months or more, you probably won't. Most articles are available online now but you can also tear out something you want to keep, file it and toss the magazine. If way more magazines are coming in than are being read, it may be time to rethink your subscriptions and stop the flow!
3. Plastic containers. How many of the sour cream and yogurt containers am I actually going to use? It's ok to keep a few--I keep some to send leftovers home with friends--but be realistic. Toss the extras into the recycling bin and enjoy the extra cabinet space.
4. Partially empty personal care products. Is your shower full of partially empty bottles and your bathroom counter cluttered with all sorts of stuff that is rarely used? It's time to bite the bullet and toss, toss, toss! If it makes you feel better, commit to using some of this up before opening new bottles, but do it quickly before you lose your resolve. Have a bunch of free samples? Purge those too! Not only will your bathroom look so much nicer without all the bottles and clutter, it will be so much faster to clean. Win, win!
5. Clothing and accessories. For some this may be more difficult but it can be easy if you simply get rid of the items you haven't worn in a long time. When the seasons are changing is a great time to tackle your closet since you are changing out your clothes anyways! Are there items hanging in your closet that you haven't worn all winter? Weed them out! No need to store something you aren't wearing! The exception is dressy or formal wear that you may only wear a few times over the course of several years. I have a nice dress that I wear to weddings and other dressy occasions. Even though I use it once a year or less, I still keep it! Just make sure what you are keeping actually fits and is a piece you really will wear.

A donation box set in the closet for easy decluttering as I switch out my wardrobe for the summer. 

What are your best decluttering tips?

Marking Rags

Most of our rags are old towels and washcloths. I know the difference between the rags and our current towels and washcloths but not everyone in our household does!

So I borrowed a trick from my sister and wrote "RAG" in permanent marker on each one. 

We also have old bath towels  that have been given a new life as "dog towels". Not only are they useful for drying a wet dog, they also come in handy for car washing and big spills. I wrote "DOG" on these. 

Now there will be no question which are rags/ dog towels and which are the good ones we use everyday!

Weekend Adventures

We had a HUGE yard sale on Saturday. The weather was perfect and we had a steady stream of customers come by. 

I was selling most of the baby and kid's things I had. I recently did a pretty thorough decluttering of the house. And we also cleaned out our sheds in preparation for the sale. 

Needless to say, there were piles of treasures! 

God really blessed our efforts--we sold so much and were able to surpass our goal for the amount of money raised. 

This is what's left in our living room--

 It looks like a lot but it really is nothing! We had over double the amount of boxes to start with plus lots of bigger items. Before the sale, our living room was almost full! 

These leftovers will be going to the thrift store soon. I've freecycled some items and gave some things to a friend. I took the box of books that was left to the library. 

And as if our busy yard sale wasn't enough, our dog Rock added to the day of adventure by escaping out the back corner of our yard sometime during the sale. 

I had put him out in the fenced yard and after a while during a lull in the sale, I went to get him and  bring him out front with us. 

He was nowhere to be found. There was no sound of dog. It was very unusual especially since I had the leash in my hand and he usually comes running when he sees or hears it. 

We looked everywhere and then discovered a small opening in the fence at the back corner of the property that we thought he may have escaped through. Even though we're not sure how that big head fit through the opening!  

Anyways, to make a long story short, we searched the neighborhood, talked to everyone who was out and put up flyers with Rock's mug shot on them. 

Since Rock isn't a runner normally (and has hardly ever gotten loose!), we really weren't sure how fast he would move or really  how long he had been gone. We have a lot of woods in and behind our neighborhood plus our neighborhood is off a very busy road. So we hoped to find him before he got too far away. 

Thankfully, Rock was found after about 2 hours. He was only about 4 houses away in the woods between the 2 rows of houses. A neighbor called saying that he had seen the dog back there and could hear him thrashing around in the woods. 

We raced over and sure enough, there he was! A young neighbor offered to jump the fence to get to Rock, I handed him the leash and he got Rock out of the woods ( quite a feat with all the brambles and briars) and brought him home to us. 

Meanwhile, a friend of ours who had joined us to sell a few things was keeping our sale going. 

We are very grateful for answered prayer in bringing Rock back home, for a successful sale and perfect timing for having someone else here to help! 

Rock has slept a lot in the past few days. I think he was exhausted from the whole ordeal. We have picked lots of thorns from his fur! 

Oh, and that opening in the fence? It's been repaired. Hopefully no more adventures like this anytime soon!

Getting Rid of Laundry Soap Build-up

I loved using my own homemade laundry soap. It was easy to make, cheap and got our clothes nice and clean.

But after we moved to our current home where we have hard water, we began to notice a filmy residue beginning to build up on our laundry. This was particularly noticeable on our towels and washcloths and affected the absorbency. (I noticed the same type of thing a few years back when I was using a detergent with a built-in fabric softener.)

All we could figure out was possibly the homemade detergent with hard water was not a good combination. Has anyone else experienced this? Also, I've only tried the powdered homemade detergent so I don't know if the liquid kind would be different or not. 

For now, we've switched back to All Free and Clear. For most laundry items, just the detergent switch did away with the filmy residue. 

For the other things, namely towels, I've had to strip them using hot water, vinegar and baking soda using this method. It's very easy and has been effective. I have one small load of dishcloths that I have had to run through this stripping method a couple of times. They were the worst of all. 

The method: 

Put laundry in washing machine with HOT water and 1 cup white vinegar. Let run through entire cycle. 

Leave load in machine and wash with HOT water and 1/2 cup baking soda. 

When done, dry in the dryer. 

If filmy residue is not gone, repeat. 

This also works well for smelly towels. 

Frugal Five

Five ways I've saved money recently...

Today's packed meal: salmon cakes, leftover broccoli, mayo, applesauce, fresh veggies and  banana nut muffins.

1. Packed lunches (and a few suppers) for those times when we were not at home to eat. While we do eat out and run through the drive-thru occasionally, we save money and eat much better when we eat food from home!
2. Mended some clothes and shortened some thrifted jeans. I use this method for hemming jeans; it's easy and keeps the original hem. I'm not short but pants are almost always too long for me.
3. Made chicken broth after roasting a chicken. I look at this as almost free broth since I could just throw the bones away. Much healthier and less expensive than the canned broth from the store.
4. Requested a couple of books from the library. I love the library. Not only do I save money by getting books there but it keeps me from having to store all the books I read.
5. Gave myself a haircut. This is the second time I've cut my own hair. I got braver this time and cut some bangs. Not perfect but I think it looks ok and it is definitely frugal!

How have you saved money recently? Please share in the comments so we can all be encouraged and inspired in our frugal journeys!