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Keeping busy

January 1st, 2017 at 08:59 pm

Happy New Year to all of you! Hope 2017 is a happy and prosperous year for all of us.

Last week I posted a photo of our table and tree and received some very lovely comments. I appreciate the comments and feedback and the fact so many of you take the time to read my ramblings and even comment on them. I posted the same photo on Facebook and I had to laugh when my pastor wanted to know if we had new dining room furniture. I guess the tablecloth and Christmas runner made everything look different. He has been to my home before and eaten with us. I have told DH repeatedly that moving stuff around and changing linens give things a different look.

This has been a busy week for me. Partially because DH has been under the weather so he hasn't wanted to do too much. He is getting better so that is good, but I used the time to clean and declutter. We took a bunch of stuff to a thrift store to donate this week. Some of it was hard to part with -- I hate getting rid of kitchen items, but I have run out of room and these are items I haven't used. It is crazy to keep them. I tend to use the same things over and over again. Only one item did I purchase new and that was several years ago -- everything else was bought used so I didn't have a ton of money in them. But they are useless if they are just in the cabinets taking up space.

Since I'm on the cleaning kick, I'm trying to do the same thing in my pantry and fridge and freezer. I want to make sure I use stuff before it either goes bad or gets freezer burn. Right now the fridge is starting to look a bit bare, but that is OK. It is by choice and not because I haven't been shopping. Years ago, and I might have mentioned in a past blog, there was a columnist for the Chicago Tribune named Mike Royko. He wrote a column where every week he would go grocery shopping and he and the kids would eat all the easy to fix foods and leave the other stuff. So, he made a new rule, they had to eat everything before going to the store. I'm sure he exaggerated a bit, but it was funny when he said they had to get creative with some of the stuff, like an onion, flour and some water. He said it also encouraged his sons to find friends or their families who could cook or learn themselves.

My newest vice has been crocheting and knitting on a loom. I joined a group of ladies at church and they taught me to knit on a loom and we make hats to donate. We make small hats to give to hospitals for preemies, and then we make bigger hats and donate them to schools and organizations. I also crocheted a scarf to go along with a hat and donated it to one of our places for the homeless. I encouraged my friends on Facebook to do the same because I thought they might be useful in the winter. I am struggling a little bit with the crocheting because I am not allowing myself to go crazy on buying yarn. My church has some yarn that was donated and I used a bunch of it to make the hats, but I refuse to use that yarn for stuff for myself. I did buy some yarn and crocheted a cover for a throw pillow. My mom sewed the pillow covering a number of years ago, but it was looking pretty downtrodden so I thought crocheting a new cover would be nice. I finished it and it does look pretty nice. But of course I have part of a skein of yarn, so I have been looking for little things to make that can use up the yarn. I made myself some Swiffer broom covers out of some of the leftover yarn. I am now making dish cloths. I have been experimenting with different patterns to see what I like best. As I tell DH, it keeps me off the streets and out of trouble!

Guess I better get back to cleaning. I think taking care of one's belongings is a good way to save money, don't you?

4 Responses to “Keeping busy”

  1. CB in the City Says:
    1483309582

    I know I've mentioned the Royko article, too! It made a lasting impression on me!

  2. snafu Says:
    1483313597

    Sending Best Wishes for the New Year. Hope DH has recovered. It's horrid to be ill while everyone is in celebratory mode enjoying friends, special foods and entertainment.
    Wonderful of you to donate items no longer used or needed to a Thrift so that someone else can enjoy using those kitchen tools.

    My late SIL belonged to a group that knitted and crocheted hats for hospitalized babies and women undergoing chemo. She used the leftover bits for small items like wonderful round, scrubbies, knit-like cell phone covers with a big button as closure, cute multi colored, light weight slippers whose toes were always a dark color and are treasured by we whose climate demands we wear warm boot and must bring, easily toted footwear that easily stuffs into a parka pocket.

    Goodwill has a system to recycle textiles and in dropping off a bag for recycle, I noticed they had a section for yarn, patterns and fabric waiting someone's sewing skills.

  3. rob62521 Says:
    1483315828

    Thanks, Snafu, for the info! I appreciate the extra ideas a lot!

    CB, I miss Royko! I didn't always agree with him, but he made an interesting read.

  4. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1483375764

    I need to do better about using up what we have before going shopping. Although, our fridge is looking a bit barer than normal.

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