I learned a new word the other day: Grandmacore. If you aren't familiar with it, it's basically someone who does things grandmothers are usually known for like crocheting, knitting, baking, sewing, gardening, and stuff like that.  My DH looked at me and said that fit me to a "T."

I have a quirky sense of humor and read a columnist who has a webpage called Sean from the South. He wrote a column about  missing glass bottles amongst other things and I would have to agree. I remember all those wonderful glass bottles food and other items came in. Granted, shampoo probably shouldn't be in a glass bottle, but other stuff, well, in my opinion, should. I remember drinking soda pop and returning the bottles. My mom used glass mayo jars for canning because we had them. I know I latch onto glass jars of stuff I buy and reuse them because I like things in glass. You probably remember an email that was shared years ago about this lady at the checkout who was told by the young cashier she didn't understand recycling and the older lady talked about returning glass bottles so they could be refilled, reusing paper bags, and things like that. 

In my full grandmacore mode, I also have a button jar. I have cut off buttons off of clothes that are worn out or so badly damaged and kept the buttons. It is handy to have those extra buttons. I have been crocheting little gift card envelopes and I pulled buttons out of the jar today to sew on to them for the flap. I was thinking of a gal I worked with a number of years ago. The button on her khakis came off and I suggested we find a needle and thread to sew it back on and she said no, she'd just throw them away. I was shocked. I asked if she knew how to sew and she had no desire. I offered to sew the button on and was turned down. 

But many of these grandmacore things do save money. I reuse bottles and jars. I wash  my plastic bags and foil to reuse. I crochet and sew things. For example, I found some curtain panels at a thrift store for a room we are finishing in the basement. They are too long, but I will shorten and hem them so I will have curtains for around $5. 

Last year we planted tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and radishes and we enjoyed these fresh vegetables when they were available. We had a rhubarb plant and I used it to make a crumble as well as to make some jams and jellies, and we had both  mulberry trees and wild black raspberries and I picked those and made jam. We have a black walnut tree and I used those for some of my baking. I planted some herbs and dried them in the fall so I would have them to use this winter and spring.  Last fall I planned ahead, expanding our garden. We planted a couple of strawberry plants, two blueberry plants, some asparagus, and some garlic. Sure, these items cost money initially, but I'm hoping to be successful and getting some of this food in the coming years. I've concluded gardens are forward thinkers since blueberries and asparagus aren't supposed to yield a harvest right away. 

Since I mentioned baking with the nuts,  I've been baking our sandwich bread for over 7 months. My husband teases me how much please I get making a loaf of bread and then filling the house with the wonderul aroma of baking bread. Speaking of the oven, I went all out and bought a toaster oven so I could bake smaller things without heating up the big oven and having a large enery pull. I bake dog biscuits for our pups because they like them and it although we buy some commercial ones, the ones I bake are cheaper. I have to move the oven to the island to use it, but it is worth it. I'd like to explore making a solar oven this summer when the sun is overhead and hot. And we are discussing making a rain barrel to save money when we water the garden that we are increasing. 

I remember a friend talking about his mom and how she washed dishes in just a small amount of water in the sink. I asked him what he meant by a small amount of water and he said you know, less than half full of water. I'm thinking she was smart...didn't use a lot of the precious resource of water and still got things clean. She was frugal and as a result had a decent savings. Truly in grandmacore mode!

So, are you buying into the grandmacore? 

A few years ago I read about making a sourdough starter. It seemed easy enough...flour, water, and time. I named my starter Sammy and I've kept him going ever since. I've made sour dough loaves and used the extra or discard for other things and even given away discard. Then the bane of my existence...I was looking at Pinterest and it showed an easy recipe for sourdough sandwich bread that looked far less crusty than normal sourdough. I kept thinking, it won't rise without yeast, but figured I could try and if nothing else, redo the dough and add yeast. Much to my surprise, it did rise and made a beautiful loaf of bread. It just takes longer to rise and one has to make sure the starter is bubbly and ready to go. But it pleased me. My husband teases me and calls me his Prairie Woman since I'm baking bread and trying things like this.

Well, it goes beyond that as well...I'm always trying to figure out ways to reuse things. I tease about Pinterest being the banke of my existence, but I do get some good ideas from the stuff on there. Most work; a few do not. I'm working on making my own Pine Sol. We have pine trees and vinegar is cheap. Hope it works! 

I planted strawberries and blueberies  for next year and years beyond and I read where coffee grounds are good for the soil. Our soil is very clay like, so I have been adding it to other places as well as I have added sand, hoping it improves the quality of the soil. 

My husband's late wife was quite the crafter and in the basement are a lot of things. I've never mod podged stuff before, but a few YouTube videos showed me how, and I have been using material I have to decorate plastic containers of things. The other day I sent cookies with the grandson back to school in a coffee container. I save all the plastic things we get and reuse them. I sent cake home with my husband's daughter the other day in containers that were for something else and she laughed and said she liked my frugal ways. 

I had a doctor's appointment Friday and since we had to drive to town 40 minutes away, we decided to do some other errands to make it worth our while. We thought we'd get a quick lunch at a local chain restaurant. We were shocked...a sandwich, chips, and drink for each of us was over $30 before tip! So today after church we had vegetable soup I made the other day and put in the Crockpot to heat and some bread I had made for lunch. Far less than $30 and probably far better for us too. 

I was going to include a photo of the bread, but whenever I try to post a photo, I get an error message.

My post from last week asking about stocking up had some great replies. The sad thing is, I guess there was a run on toilet paper and paper towels because local stores had signs limiting these products. I wan't suggesting people hoard, just be prepared. 

It's amazing that half of 2024 is passed and tomorrow is the 4th of July. Not a lot planned as far as celebrating, but will enjoy the freedom of living in the United States and having the benefits of that.

Glad the markets were good today and saw an increase in my retirement accounts.

Things are starting to even out as far as money and expenses. I'm living in a small town instead of a larger town and learning new places to shop. One store in a neighboring town gives 5% off on Wednesdays for senior citizens so I am often taking advantage of that. I still shop at Aldi, although I have to plan my trip since there isn't one nearby, the closest being between 35 miles away. But it makes me more mindful of what I'm buying. But I continue to cook a lot of things from scratch. I have made and canned chicken broth, and made rhubarb and berry jam and rhubarb jelly. It's kind of nice to see the jars starting to build up in the pantry.

Instead of buying store bought bread, I am baking bread to use. I feel like it is saving money since it isn't getting wasted. I had a little left of a loaf and made my own croutons for a salad and they were a lot better than one the store bought ones. 

My garden isn't going to town like I had hoped. We had extreme heat and although I water, since we have had little rain, it is surviving, but not thriving. We received a little rain this morning and we are supposed to receive some rain overnight. I hope it comes to pass. 

If you have big plans for July the 4th, hope you stay healthy!