I am still making Christmas gifts. I finished another pair of earrings this afternoon. I like how these turned out. The design is a Celtic cross inside a heart.
How about you? Are you working on any Christmas gifts this week?
It's the beginning of a new month, which means I've been grocery shopping. I did pick up some raisins for adding to chutney. The good news is I only spent 60 cents on the small amount of raisins. I also discovered that our wild plum tree has fruit this year, which I can also use in the chutney. I have an apple on a tree in the garden and all of the spices that I need. I'm just waiting for the onions (Cash & Carry in a week) so I can make a small batch of the spicy condiment.
Yesterday was Senior Discount Day at Fred Meyer. I did get myself up and out early and that paid off. I found gallons of skim milk on markdown for $1.19 each. I bought 6 gallons of the skim at that price and 4 gallons of whole milk at the regular price. The skim milk is not adequate for one of my daughters (due to her history of an eating disorder), so I'll be mixing some whole milk into each gallon of skim. I can use skim milk as it is in cooking, however. While at Fred Meyer, I also found ground beef on sale. With my discount, it was $1.69/lb. I only had enough in the budget to buy 3 pounds, but 3 is better than none. Besides, I still have about 6 pounds of ground beef in the freezer from last spring.
Our blackberry freezer is now full, so any blackberries that come into our house have been baked into pies or made into more jam. It does appear that we are nearing the end of blackberry foraging for this season. Fortunately, our garden is continuing to produce.
We saved ourselves a small fortune on plumbing work last week. An interior part in the faucet in the bathtub cracked and the water could not be shut off at the tap. We had to shut our water off at the street overnight. The following morning, we were able to pick up the piece that we needed at a plumbing supply and my husband replaced the broken bit.
We went without any tap water for an evening and the following morning. However, we did still have water. A couple of years ago, I mentioned that I store water in empty plastic juice and 2-liter soda bottles in our garage fridge. I keep 3 1/2 gallons of water at all times, just for this sort of emergency. 2-liter soda bottles and 64 oz juice bottles fit in the door pockets of our spare fridge perfectly. As the water that I had stored was over a year old, I followed the CDC's recommendations for killing bacteria:
"Boiling can be used as a pathogen reduction method that should kill all pathogens. Water should be brought to a rolling boil for 1 minute. At altitudes greater than 6,562 feet (greater than 2000 meters), you should boil water for 3 minutes." (cdc.gov)
3 1/2 gallons is not enough for bathing or laundering clothing, but it was enough for sponge baths, washing hands, and drinking. There are a variety of reasons that any of us could lose our water supply temporarily. Keeping some extra water on hand can be as simple as washing out a 2-liter soda bottle and refilling with tap water, then storing in a refrigerator.
That's what's new around here. What's new in your area?
