Score!!

Yesterday as we were coming back from our morning walk we went through the synagogue parking lot.  It looks as if they have been doing some cleaning out of their shed.  Someone had put out about a dozen large glass jars in the recycling bin.  Some of them had labels (sauerkraut) on them.  But there were no lids.  I did a little dumpster diving and was able to find four metal lids in the trash bin.  I brought four jars home and washed them.

They're great!  I've already put one to use.  I'm using it to collect my vegetable scraps in the freezer.  When the jar is full, I'll make broth.  I've been using zip-loc bags, but this is much better.  I don't know what I'll do with the other three, but I couldn't pass them up.

Month Three

This month we've had a few expenses, mostly necessary things.  Our cheap plastic electric chain saw finally gave out, so David bought a nice hand pruning saw.  It works really well.  We used it to cut down the last of our columnar apple trees.  And I'll use it this winter to prune the pear and peach trees.

We also bought a Tushy bidet for our toilet.  We love it!  It works so well and we'll be saving a ton of TP.  In fact, we like it so well we've ordered another one for the other bathroom.  We thought we'd take it to Tucson to use when we're down there.

The other things we bought were some plants.  Plants are my one weakness and result in some impulse buying.  I bought an astilbe that was half off at Ace Hardware.  It's now in the ground in our woodsy area.  And I bought six small lavender plants at the Salem Hardy Plant Society plant sale.  I had planned to buy some lavender to put among the roses, so it probably shouldn't count as an impulse buy.  Oh, yes. I also bought a dahlia at the farmers market that I fell in love with.

So I think that's it.  Not too bad.

Bread

I've been making my artisan bread for several years now.  It's very good and really easy.

So then I decided to try to make a whole wheat loaf by the same enamel pot method.  It came out really well.  It's the bread I use for toast every morning. It's so delicious!

So then I decided maybe I could make rye bread.  It also came out beautifully.

I love baking all our bread!