Finding Contentment

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Tylenol Recall coupon

The high cost of milk

What's going on with the country's milk? Are we having a shortage of dairy cows or something?

Today I went to Wal-mart for groceries. The name brand (Pet) milk was $6.18 a gallon! The generic milk was $4.08! I have never paid that much for milk in my life! I went home empty handed as far as milk was concerned.....

With three growing kids, we drink a lot of milk. Does anyone have any frugal ideas?

Pretty new things

I wanted to share two pretty new things I got recently. First, last Saturday hubby took me yard sale shopping. Living on unemployment doesn't leave much leftover for spending, but last week we did go to a few yard sales and boy did we get some great deals! Mark got a fishing pole for $5, and I got this set -complete with reversible comforter, 2 shams and 2 throw pillows for $10! I love the country look and the quality seems to be pretty good, too.

Then yesterday we were at a local Christian outlet store and I saw this beautiful Bible cover. I wasn't going to get because it costs $14, but Mark said I deserved something nice for a change and told me to go ahead and get it! My old Bible cover was a simple black affair, and had some staining on the back from laying it down all the time. This is more embellishment than I would normally like in a Bible cover but it is pretty and feminine and, more importantly, makes me smile every time I get my Bible out!

It was just a bug - I swear!

We have a huge Japanese beetle/June bug problem in our gardens. After racking our brains to come up with a natural solution Mark hit upon a winner a couple of weeks ago. We live in the city, so our six chickens are not free-range. But we do have a very large yard that is completely fenced in. Knowing the chickens' fondness for beetles, Mark decided to start letting them into the garden.

I have to admit I was skeptical at first. I thought they would eat more plants and veggies that they would beetles. But I was wrong! Apparently, beetles are my feathered friends' first love, because they pass up everything else to consume these flying nuisances.

We have been letting them out every day for several hours at a time. Mark stays in the basement/workshop most of the time so he can keep an ear out for predators (think stray tom cats), and we never leave the property without making sure they are secure in the coop.

So far we haven't had any problems, and the chickens seem happier than ever! It's a win - win situation. We get healthier plants and the chickens get their favorite food! Eventually, that may not be the case, but right now we literally have THOUSANDS of Japanese beetles and June bugs. As long as their population continues, I don't think the chickens will pay a bit of attention to the squash or cucumbers.

Instead, they march up and down the rows like they are on guard duty - just daring a beetle to stray into their path!

The bounty begins

The garden is starting to produce nicely. This was yesterday's bounty after I washed it. We have a lot of pickling cucumbers and green beans already, and are starting to get squash. But now I have run into a dilema. We planted a lot of green beans, peas, etc. that I had planned to can for winter.

However, with my husband's job loss weighing heavily on us, I can't spend the money for a pressure canner. I have a hot water bath canner that I purchased earlier to make strawberry jam, and I think I can use it to pickle the cucumbers and can the tomatoes since they have a high acidity level. But how do I can the beans and peas? Using a hot water bath canner doesn't destroy the bacteria in these items.

I had planned on having a pressure canner by now, but things rarely go as planned do they? Here in the city I don't even know anyone I could borrow a pressure canner from. The veggies are certainly coming in handy right now by cutting down on our grocery bill, so I praise God for that. But they will soon be producing more than we can eat at a time. We only have the tiny freezer that comes on top of our refrigerator, and I plan on freezing some squash and okra when it produces. I still have to freeze other things, too.

I don't think I even know anyone who would cook fresh green beans or peas if I gave them to them! Everyone I know gets them out of a can. And I really would like to have them for winter. Oh well. The Lord gave us the bounty of the vegetables, perhaps he will see fit to give us a way to keep them. If not, I will praise him for giving fresh garden veggies in the summer.

In the meantime, wish me luck with my first cucumber pickling session, which I have plans to do in the next few days - as soon as I get enough cucumbers.