Dressed Like a Lady: Appearances Do Count

Dressed Like A Lady - A Challenge for Us This Week

I watched a marathon of several episodes of the six seasons of Downton Abby at the end of December.  I love much about this series: witty repartee, outstanding actors and actresses, beautiful English countryside, gorgeous costuming, and a real live look at history as it was. 

One of the things I noted in several of the last episodes I watched related to the dress of the Ladies of the manor.  I thought,"I could be well dressed, too, if I had a lady's maid!"  Well I can be well dressed without a lady's maid if I just pay attention to the things I noticed while watching the program.

They planned ahead what they would wear the next day.  When the Dowager lady Grantham discovered she'd be having a caller the next day she told her lady's maid Danke that she'd wear something else instead of the dress chosen.  I was less concerned with what was said  after that because I was too busy going "Huh! She'd planned her wardrobe already!" 

A couple of years ago I was desperate to make my wardrobe 'do' for another season when I found myself in tight finances.  One way I insured I didn't wear the same thing over and over again was to take some time to set up an outfit complete with accessories.   I still do this. I base these outfits upon known weather, plans, etc. I always  have one or two outfits for the unexpected things that might come up.  I set up both dressy and casual outfits so I'm always prepared.  The bonus for doing this: I save plenty of time in getting dressed instead of standing there pulling on a dozen things and discarding them.  I also save money.  I found that I wore more of my wardrobe more often and if I find something is seldom used, I soon remove it and place in a giveaway/donation bag.

Eating On A Tight Budget: Mother Hubbard Challenge - Others Join the Challenge

L.E. said...

Very interesting challenge. I live in a fairly high COLA city, but thankfully we have Aldi. I could do this challenge only because we don't eat meat, and because of Aldi. Our Aldi has handheld baskets available for free so I wouldn't need the quarter for the cart.

By us, per pound, potatoes are the cheapest food there is. Aldi sells even cheaper potatoes than I buy.

Meals:
All Breakfasts: fried potatoes and 8 eggs over the course of the 7 breakfasts.

Lunches:
PB & J - 5 days a week, with a banana on the side
Omelette using eggs and milk, and 1/3 zucchini & cheese; 1 piece toast per person - 1 day
spaghetti with red sauce (no zucchini) - 1 day

Dinners:
Baked potato with butter, and broccoli and melted shredded cheese on top (5 days.) If still hungry can have a second baked potato with butter. 2 days have beets on the side, and 3 days add some black beans for added protein. If don't want the black beans, can either add to the lunch omelette or to spaghetti sauce.
Spaghetti with red sauce, with 1/3 chopped zucchini added (2 days)


Food available for snacks:
1 large banana
a few slices of bread for toast
likely some potatoes
glass of milk

In My Home This Week: I Got Sunshine!

In my home this week...

...I thought I'd do something a little bit different and just share a few random thoughts.  Okay?

...I am watching as my calendar begins to fill up for the last of the month.  I am always amused by these times when the calendar fills and how the days all seem to fall together.  And then I'll go for weeks without any sort of an engagement or appointment at all. 

... I read an interesting passage in my Bible, in Leviticus this past week. It spoke of the Sabbath of rest for farmland.  I know that we often see fields here in the South uncultivated for a year or so after cotton is grown on it but I don't know any farmer that adheres to the Sabbath rest for the farmland.  I would be interested to see how the Sabbath rest would work for a field, because the promise is that if you do this, the sixth year of harvest will be so large and so abundant you will have enough food until harvest time in the eighth year...with foods leftover to toss away!  Now that is abundance!  Wouldn't that be awesome?

...My celery, romaine and cabbage are all doing very well in the pot of soil. I am sure the warm air and sunshine in the mornings is doing them a world of good.  I have three more romaine root ends I hope to set in a pot this next week.  And in Georgia, it's time to plant green peas.  Peas don't seem to mind frost or cold here.  Parsley would do well this time of year, as well, and lettuce but it does need to be protected from frosts.  I have lettuce seed somewhere...Gracious I need to get busy and start planting so I don't miss out on good homegrown foods!

Frugal Friday: Getting Things Done!

I purposely turned  one jar over on it's side so you could see how thick the yogurt turned out.  It's so good!  Not tart, which is something I dislike about many store bought yogurts, nor does it have gelatin or cornstarch to thicken it.  It's just yogurt and milk.  It will keep up to a month unopened and for one week once opened.  I can use this too to make the next batch of yogurt.

Saturday:  Bitter cold with sharp winds today.  John went out this afternoon to insure the pump house light bulb was working so we could plug it in tonight.  It took a few minutes to discover why the light work. The outlet ground switch had to be reset.  So glad he took time to discover that in daylight instead of struggling in the dark to find out what was wrong.

Leftovers today.  My refrigerator is so full I can barely move anything.  I'm not sure just why it's burgeoning.  I've neither done that much cooking nor did I purchase that much fresh produce this last week but  there is the fridge, filled to capacity.  Made for an easy no cook meal...twice!

Interesting reading this morning on blogs and in one of my vintage magazines. 

After the sun appeared this morning, I opened the curtains on the sunny side of the house.  I left them closed on the shady side due to the bitter north wind blowing.   But later in the afternoon, when the sun shone fully on those windows I opened curtains and shades to let in that natural warmth.

I've sworn off coffee for a short time...There are loads of tea bags in the house and I'm finding I enjoy hot tea well enough.  Nice to use some of this particular stash.

I had not received a Shutterfly calendar though I received notice well before Christmas that it was being shipped out.  I contacted customer service and was told they considered it lost at this point so were reprinting and resending at no additional cost to me.  I surely do appreciate that customer service!

I received some free samples of cat food.  Misu is definitely liking that stuff but I don't know that I'll buy it...It should have come with some coupons, lol! 

Washed a full load of dishes last night after dark.

Coffee Chat: ALL the Possibilities!

I am very much a New Year's glass FULL sort of woman and every thing, absolutely every thing is possible.  My Katie, whom I love for her quiet wisdom, tends to be more realistic.  She is prone to remind everyone who spouts off their resolutions that they will be the same person on New Year's day that they are on New Year's Eve.  She's got her point.  We aren't changing a thing if we're so caught up in talking or writing or daydreaming about changes that we aren't doing them.  I've learned to prefer action over day dreams.  I've seen my youngest daughter's wisdom in her too too truthful statement. 

It was action that pushed us last year to get so much accomplished to improve our home.  The decluttering, organizing, refurbishing, sacrificing wants for carpeting and tile and shed, putting in the labor to slowly put in a few feet of mulched flower bed each month, etc. were all positive changes.  I looked about my home on New Year's day this year and said to John, "I LIKE our house now..."  I didn't hate it before, but this past year I learned to move beyond just being grateful for it, and appreciating it, to really LIKING it.  What's more the house itself seems to recognize this fact, though you may think I'm silly for saying so.  There is an atmosphere and energy connected with homes and ours most certainly has responded to the care we put into it this past year and has become a peaceful, positive, upbeat place.

What helped us along this past year, I believe, was my adherence to the sound advice on a scrap of paper torn from a magazine at an unknown point which came to earth one morning as I moved a stack of papers.  "Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can."  It was a motivator for me all year long.  Every time I got discouraged or wanted to quit, thought I couldn't do something because I hadn't any money, I'd say those words over to myself and get busy.  More got done last year than I believed possible.  And so this year, I've looked and looked for an inspiration phrase to motivate me as that one did last year. I have, at this point, most assuredly 'started'.   It's continuing this journey that interests me most. 

January Challenge II: Organize the Kitchen

It hits me every single January: the desire to clean hard, declutter, and organize.  This year it's not nearly as big a task as in the past, thanks to the fruit basket turnover of the whole house late last year.  BUT, there's always room for improvement.  I stumbled upon this calendar for decluttering on Pinterest. 

I am fortunate that I don't need to do a lot of work anyway, but  I love that this is broken down into daily tasks, so the job of organizing is never overwhelming. Yes, I know that I've started a week late on posting this but some days the 'task' is to read about her recommendations and suggestions on organizing and storage.  That's not hard duty and you can quickly catch up to date just by following the suggestions.

And this does tie in with the USE IT UP challenge.  I definitely found some things to USE and some that I need to use up!

Because I am ahead of the game, I was able to sort out my spices today, as well as the dish cupboard, under the sink, and one bank of cabinets where we keep things like snacks, cooking oils and such, and tea/pastas.  Honestly, I did most of this during commercials while I watched The Kitchen on Food channel.