Wednesday, September 22, 2010

fall

Its time to start this again. Life is winding down in some areas and gearing up in others.

The kiddo is in 2nd grade and has a new responsibility of making sure homework is written down and completed, none of this pre-printed stuff. So we are thrust into the world of "did you do your homework?". Joy.


I'm also tightening the budget more and looking for alternate ways of doing things. One that surprised me was getting rid of shampoo and conditioner. Replace the shampoo with Baking Soda and use a Vinegar/water mix for the conditioner. I used it this morning. I have to say, my hair feels clean is soft. And no, it doesn't smell. Both of these options are very inexpensive so I'm going to stick with them for a while and see. Tim won't do it.. But maybe I can convince the kiddo to do it. She is partial to the smelly conditioners. I'll be posting on how that goes over the next week or so since its going to be a long term experiment.


I've also been trying to do something with my tomatoes. Since I'm not a huge fan of eating them and Tim can only eat so many, I have resorted to freezing them. I'd love to learn to can them but that will have to wait. It’s a process I've read about but haven't been able to put it into practice. I need some tools too. So for now, I have several bags of frozen tomatoes. The oregano came in quite nice this year and I've that drying. The Rosemary not so much but it’s the first year. My poor pepper plants just wouldn't grow. I got 2 green ones and a red one that fell off early and didn't get a chance to change. :( I will try again next year.. Maybe onions too. But I need to research that one first to see what is involved.


There just hasn't been enough time to go the farmer's markets with Events and family things going on every weekend. I wanted to get some more berries to freeze but I missed it. But Damn, I will get to Blackman Farms next week for apples. That is a must. I'm also looking for a good deal on pork and beef raised locally. That can freeze and since we don't eat the meat as often we did, it could last quite a while.