Persistence, tenacity or just plain stubbornness

You remember what your parents recited, when tempted to throw in the towel  -- if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

My new shorts

About 4 years ago, I turned a pair of worn blue jeans into some summer capris.

The jeans went from this

to this

You can see in the jeans, they were already pretty worn-looking. And really, when was the last time you saw wider-legged jeans? Okay, so rather old jeans. But I could still fit into them, and for the most part they were still in decent-enough shape.

But I was no longer wearing them as jeans (maybe the very out of date wide leg?). So, I turned those jeans into "new" capris. Perfect, right? Everyone loves capris in summer. Everyone, that is, except me. Or maybe it was because they were denim capris, and kinda heavy (AKA warm) for a hot summer day. And you know what? Capris aren't the greatest look on my legs. So in a drawer they sat for 4 years.

In going through my clothing last week, I almost tossed these capris into the giveaway pile. But you know, I just wasn't ready to throw in the towel on these pants, just yet. Surely, I could get a bit more wear out of them.

And that's when I thought to at least try them as shorts. What did I have to lose, right?

One afternoon, I took the leap, and with a pair of scissors, I cut off the bottom few inches of the capris, and I now have shorts. My 2 daughters (my personal fashion experts) convinced me that rolled up hem shorts were indeed "in". After cutting off the lower part of each leg, I rolled up the edge until they hit that sweet spot on a woman's leg, where everything goes in from side to side, and legs seem to look their trimmest.

This might be it. I may have found the way to get much more wear from my very old pair of jeans. I've worn them for the last couple of days, and loved having some summer-worthy clothing. I only wish I had done this at the beginning of summer, and not towards the end. Oh well, I'm now set for next summer, right?

This quick project reminded me of the patched bed sheets of mine, which lasted several years beyond most folks tolerance for "worn out". not only did I patch those repeatedly, but when patching was no longer a viable option, I found a use for the good-condition edges of the sheet -- my daughter's summer sleep shorts. And there's still a lot of good fabric left on that sheet. (another project perhaps?)

Sometimes I think I'm just too stubborn to give up on anything. Have you ever had something that you just wouldn't give up on making useful?

Cheap and Cheerful Suppers for late August (plus our budget hot dog and marshmallow roasting skewers)

Friday

Egg fried rice, with garden cabbage, green beans, kale
Fruit salad of blueberries, nectarines, apples

Saturday (cook-out by the fire ring)

Hot dogs in homemade buns
Corn on cob
Cantaloupe
Green beans
Chips (son's girlfriend brought chips, Oreos and watermelon punch)
s'mOreos (s'mOreos are s'mores using chocolate cream Oreos, and a toasted marshmallow in between)
Punch and pink lemonade

Sunday

Black beans and rice, avocado and cheddar burritos in homemade tortillas
Fruit salad of apple, cantaloupe, blueberries and nectarines


Monday

Garden potatoes, cottage cheese and cheddar casserole
Green salad with avocado, homemade vinaigrette
Apple wedges

Tuesday

Meatballs, pasta sauce from freezer and spaghetti
Garden green beans


Wednesday 

Rice and black bean tostadas, on pan-fried corn tortillas, with garden lettuce, chopped canned tomatoes, cheese, olives, spicy 1000 Island dressing, and the crumbs from an almost empty bag of chips in the pantry (they were Mango Habanero -- very spicy, so great on these tostadas)
Apple wedges


Thursday

Egg, cheddar, green pepper (from the garden), shallot (garden) and potato (also from the garden) casserole
Sauteed beet greens and Swiss chard (from garden)
Pickled beets
Apple salad

If wood-fires are allowed in your area, cook-outs have got to be one of the top frugal summer activities. You have to make dinner anyways. You can cook a number of foods over an open fire. Sausages/hot dogs just happen to be one of the simplest to do.

No long roasting skewers? Short skewers can be adapted to using over an open fire.

20 years ago, we were given a set of 6 short skewers, designed for making kabobs on the grill. The handle is too short to comfortably hold over a fire by hand for very long (which is what you do when you're roasting a hot dog or a marshmallow, right?). Several years ago, my son and husband adapted these short skewers into long-handled ones, using 30-inch long sticks from the yard, and strong string. (First attempt was with duct tape, but duct tape softens and loosens with heat, so next try was the string, and it has held very well.) We wash and store the skewers as they are (we don't undo them every time), and they have lasted remarkably well, with occasional fixing, as needed.