Gardening ~ Cooking ~ Frugality
Live from Zone 7b in New Jersey

  • Midyear Assessment

    Midyear Assessment

    Jumping off the daily treadmill for a minute to think about how I’m meeting my goals (or not). Here are the goals I put in my New Year’s post: I’ve had a change of heart regarding groceries. I’m not doing Costco anymore or worrying about food prices too much. I just don’t have time to…

  • State of Abeyance

    State of Abeyance

    I’m feeling torn in different directions. There are two situations happening right now in which I’m approaching a crossroads.  It could be that nothing changes, or everything could change. Sorry to be vague. If anything actually happens, then I’ll be able to explain. On top of that, the change of seasons is happening and I…

  • Too Stupid to Live

    Too Stupid to Live

    Made it to the weekend, and I wanted to do something fun and summery Saturday, but I woke up feeling a bit sick so I didn’t make any plans. It evolved into a “clean all the things” and GSD (get shit done) kind of day. Laundry, cleaning the dog and cat food areas, cleaning the…

  • Vacation Notes

    Vacation Notes

    Please excuse my detailed description of our vacation. It was one I’d like to remember. I had been a little down on the idea of a family vacation, but this one proved me wrong. Everyone got along, I slept well, and everyone did a decent job of cleaning up after themselves. I think it helped…

  • Chlorine Dreams

    Chlorine Dreams

    My only focus this week was making it to 5 pm Friday, when my vacation officially began. I didn’t do much during the week besides work, do some cleaning in the wake of Aspen the foster puppy, and run some errands. And work in the garden. More beans, peppers and onions this week. Friday night…

  • Not All Athletes Wear Shoes

    Not All Athletes Wear Shoes

    This sentiment was on someone’s shirt at Saturday’s swim meet. Yes, here’s to water sports! Here’s to any sport where you can have a five-minute open swim for spectators in the middle of the match! I didn’t know this was a thing, and was disappointed I didn’t have my bathing suit on. I would have…

  • Hazy Shade of Summer

    Hazy Shade of Summer

    This was a rough week. There were a couple of days where I felt like I used to when I had infants… like the routine was never-ending and I wouldn’t have even a second to just breathe and think. Just a stream of things to do and then collapse into bed. That’s probably because 8-week-old…

  • Surprise Puppies

    Surprise Puppies

    Got a text from the foster puppy coordinator asking if we could take two puppies today, instead of next weekend. Next thing we knew, F and I were picking up Aspen and Cedar (sister and brother) and bringing them home. We weren’t quite prepared but they are so adorable and I’m glad it happened! Cedar…

  • Cooked

    Cooked

    We survived, barely, three days of the mercury hitting 101 degrees, plus more days in the 90s. I shudder to think of the next electric bill. I still tried to go outside as much as I could, but only in the mornings and evenings. In the middle of the day, I only ventured outside to…

  • Admire My Beans

    Admire My Beans

    Many thanks to the Collingswood Civic Collective for sponsoring the House and Garden Tour yesterday! My friend K and I visited all six gardens and one house. It was so inspiring to see the amazing spaces people have created — some large, some small. My personal favorite was probably Dan’s (of Front Yard Food NJ).…