About Me

Life is learning. Life is change. Life is good. Life doesn't have to cost a lot. I want to make my life greener, healthier, and thriftier. And I want to enjoy doing it!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Finally Getting Somewhere

After almost four months of forced inactivity (illness, injury, house guest) I feel like I'm finally starting to make a little progress.  I've rescheduled all my job search workshops, I'm getting out for a long walk almost every day, and my workroom is coming together beautifully.  I have the fabric ready to lay out and cut for the curtains, and nearly all the organizing is done ... only two more shelves to go.  Then some art pieces will be hung up, and I will be a very happy camper.

Even the sweaters are moving along nicely!  The pink hoodie is almost completely sewn together, and the camel short-sleeved v-neck pullover is half-sewn and awaiting its neckband.  After that, the green shell will get sewn together and neckbanded, and then the cream/wine/forest cardigan will get sewn together and its shawl collar and i-cord ties knitted on.


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I've been thinking a lot about money lately.  Not surprising, since Big Guy was just laid off again.  Today I emptied my piggy bank and rolled up what I could, and was very pleased, when I added up all the finished rolls, to find I have $200 to deposit into my savings account tomorrow.  (I don't deposit loose coins, just whatever can be rolled.)  This makes up for a third of FatBrat's vet bill, so I'll have that money back in savings quite a bit sooner than I thought.

As the years go by, I find Big Guy's attitudes towards money more and more aggravating and worrisome.  For example, he has no problem at all spending hundreds of dollars he doesn't have on the truck ... but even though he's been the only one driving my car for the last few months, he refuses to chip in a penny for the insurance because "it's not his car".    Well, the insurance expires next month, and if he wants to drive it after that, he'll have to insure it, because I can't afford to.

It just really, really bothers me that he's always taken debt for granted; his view is that everyone has debt, everyone lives and dies with debt, and his debt load is not a big deal.  He actually doesn't mind having thousands of dollars in credit card debt plus a ten-thousand-dollar overdraft!  It completely baffles me that he's never given a second's though to who will get stuck paying that off if he dies ... or maybe it ties into his ongoing conviction that his income is his alone to do whatever he likes with, while my income is "ours" and should all go into maintaining the household.  And people wonder why he doesn't know I have a savings account!


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This year's gardening is off to a somewhat slow start.  The tomato seedlings are doing well, and all the varied flower seeds daughter P planted have sprouted nicely.  However, when I went looking for my stash of veggie and herb seeds, they were nowhere to be found.  It turns out Big Guy tossed them all because he thought seeds over a year old were no good.  Cue his red face when P pointed out that all the flower seeds she'd planted were at least eight to ten years old ...

So I'll be seed shopping tomorrow.  Sigh.  I plan to get green beans, zucchini, pumpkin, pickling cucumbers, parsley, oregano, tarragon, dill, thyme, garlic chive, sweet basil, mint, and spearmint.  If the price is right, I'd also like to pick up a few raspberry canes and some lavender.

The apple tree and the plum tree blossomed lavishly, and we had a few nice dry semi-sunny days, so I'm hoping everything got pollinated and we'll have a good fruit crop.  There are a few flowers on the cherry tree and none on the pear tree, but we didn't expect fruit from those two for two or three more years anyway.


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Is it cheating or stealing to scan/copy knitting patterns from library books?



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