Strawberry season finally began. Unfortunately, with our very odd weather this spring, the strawberries are difficult to find in the field and not as plentiful as usual. We did manage to find enough to freeze - I make a triple berry jam that is to die for. Unfortunately, the strawberries come in well before the raspberries and blueberries. So, I take the leaves off of the strawberries and freeze them. Once all of the berries are in, the fun of jam begins.
Celery was on sale at our grocery store again this week. I picked up 2 pounds - sliced it, and then flash froze it on a pan. This way, they are individually frozen. Once they are frozen, I slide them into a big freezer bag. When I need them for soups this fall and winter, I'll be able to pull out the exact amount that I need.
The farmer's markets around us are up and running again. We have picked up eggs, milk, zucchini, green beans, kale, and other wonderful goodies that were just picked that morning. I know I'm eating healthier! I love this time of year!
Our electric company has switched us to a smart meter. I loved my old time of use meter. I knew when electricity cost me less, and I used it accordingly.
I have been a little slow to warm to my smart meter. The rules seem a little different than they were with a smart meter, and the electric company has not been great about letting us know when the highest, or peak rates, are in effect.
However, over the last month, I've discovered a few nifty little features:
It has a "see my usage" function, that allows me to track my bill for the current month.
It lets me know when high demand days are coming up. On those days, if I keep my usage low, we save extra money. Tomorrow is going to be a high demand day. We already have plans to turn the a/c up higher than normal during the day in order to cut costs. I have aI f load of laundry I'm going to run first thing in the morning, and then I'm going to hang it outside before I go to work.
I planted a boatload of flowers in pots over the last month. I love the pop of color on the porch. Instead of watering the plants with water from the faucet, I've been leaving a bucket in a corner of the shower while I shower in the morning, and once I get finished, I water the plants with it.
A while back, I bought a tote bag. I've been sewing extra badges from the girl scouts onto it. I finally finished sewing the last of the badges on this past week. Since I've been the leader of the troop for the last 7 years, it's a wonderful way to look back on all that we have done together over the last few years.
I finally got back into the library habit. We've been going once a week! We have now watched all of the episodes of Grimm that are available on DVD, and we are now working our way through Downton Abbey.
I have begun cleaning out under the stairs going down to the basement. It's where we store all of our camping stuff. We sorted all of our tents, aired them out, and made certain that all of the tents have all of their pieces. They are all in one large bin now, as are all of the sleeping bags. I've been purchasing the big bins at the rate of one a week. We'll be getting another bin this weekend, and our mess kits, camp stoves, and other assorted gear will be going into that bin. I'm hoping this corrals everything that's down there, but I suspect I'm going to need at least one more bin to get it all under control.
With the start of summer vacation, daughter is beginning to work her way through her assignments for her AP classes. One of her assignments is to disassemble something and put it back together again in a different way. Right now, I have the mess from an old keyboard all over the living room floor. keys, screws, and screwdrivers (10 so far, she's stripped 9 of them....) Okay, so no money was saved there...
What have you accomplished lately?
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