Last week was a good week, I feel that I have been making better progress on organizing our home. I am adjusting our home for change because we need different things as we grow through life.
This week is a busy week because I have a good bit of sewing to do and it seems that everything is in need of something. I am sure many of you can understand this.
One reason I have much to do is that our little cockatiel Belle is molting and prickly and needs some special attention.
She loves it when I put her in a blanket and rock her and sing to her. She also appreciates it when I massage and fluff around her prickles because they are very irritating. The prickles are the new feathers that are coming in after the molting and they are very stiff and bothersome.
Also our little dogs, Katherine, Elizabeth and Bernadette are all on special diets. I have been cooking homemade because they are getting older and all have issues. They have eaten a good quality kibble for years but that does not seem to have been good for them since all three have issues.
Katherine will be 14 years old in a few weeks, Elizabeth's birthday was yesterday and she turned 11 and Bernadette our youngest is seven years old. Katherine gets a little of her kibble occasionally because she really likes her kibble and I am trying to wean her from it.
Also, I am trying to brush their teeth now and this is very difficult to work out a schedule to do this and especially since they do not want to have their teeth brushed. They have had veterinarian teeth cleanings many times but the cleanings are so expensive now I must do all I can at home. There is a stopping point when prices get too high and they are too high now.
I did all the studying I could do until my brain could not hold anymore information on making a homemade diet for our dogs. I discussed this with our vet and they will get a check up in a few months.
We are settling in for cooler weather, we have not had our first freeze yet but close to it.
Our neighbors roof yesterday morning shows frost, his roof is normally a reddish brown color.
Another neighbors roof that is normally a medium to dark brown.
Some frosty windows as well. We doubled the blankets on our bed and the pets beds and we have been talking about how we will not take any chances this year and will drain our water pipes before a freeze.
This past February of this year there was a very bad weather system that went through the southern part of the United States and hit Texas especially bad. In the southern part of our country many people are not prepared for hard freezes. Our freezing temperatures normally do not last for very long but they can still cause busted pipes.
What most people are told to do here is drip the water faucets during a freeze and bump up the heat but the problem with this is that wastes water and runs up the heating bill. Also, the pipes can still freeze. What happened in Texas is that it froze and they had power outages and then all kinds of things happened.
Long ago many of my family did not have problems with pipes freezing because they did not have running water in their houses, they had hand wells and hauled water. Heating was done by a fireplace and or a cook stove.
I am very thankful to have lived during a time where I saw and understood how it was before we had all the conveniences we have today because now it is helping us live a more simple life.
Just last night I had been mentioning (complaining) to Charles how cold my feet were and when it was time to climb into bed he had slipped in a hot water bottle so the bed was warm for my feet. I know, awwww, that was a sweet moment.
I purchased extra hot water bottles when Charles and I started preparing for a more sustainable life. They are a way to stay warm in the winter if the power goes out or we are trying to keep the utility bill down. We have a camp stove and other ways of cooking and heating water and using hot water bottles can keep you warm. We have always used the rubber hot water bottles. You can also put cold water in them to be used to cool you down in the summer.
Part of my sewing projects are sewing quilted covers to go over our hot water bottles. I saw they sell them the last time I purchased a new hot water bottle last year. I thought that was a good idea but I had put away the bottles. Now that cold weather is here again I will sew some up for this winter. They can also be used to warm up the pets bedding before they go to bed at night.
The lemons and satsumas are still in need of a few more weeks so we keep hoping the temp stays above freezing.
Charles and I had breakfast at our planning table in the living room yesterday morning. We lit the kerosene heater and it was very cozy. We had oatmeal porridge with apples and raisins. I had warm tea and Charles had coffee.
We could just turn up the heat and be comfortable in all the rooms in the house as many people do today but we do our best to stay within a budget so there is no debt for anything.
Prices are going up on many things now and this means we must watch everything that cost us money. It adds to our electric bill every time we turn something electrical on. A clothes dryer can add many dollars to an electric bill.
This is a good time to live more like our generations before us did. All we have to do is live more simple.
Remember to not pour out the water that you have cooked vegetables in. This above is water from cooking carrots. This is vegetable broth and can be used in soups and other meals we are cooking. It can be used right away, it can be stored a couple of days in the fridge or stored in the freezer.
I made a video to go with this post, click here to view the video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udLjxGalrMk
Grandma Donna
