2023 Frugal Living Challenge

Glittering_M

Thanks @Cherryfudge . I remember my shop one didn't always smell that nice when heated either to be fair!

zaxdog

I filtered my (homegrown/dried) lavender oil today and it smells great. Made for Mr Zaxdog whose skin is starting to recover now we have tracked down his issues to dairy. 

Opened the village heritage centre this morning. It's unmanned but opened/closed by a small band of volunteers. Not too many of us due to the Highland Clearances so we all try to do a wee bit more.

YS organic peppers tonight stuffed with mix made from a tin of haggis and some chopped red onion. Think I'll make veggie rice to go with it.

Working on this winter's "crusher". I try to make one every year. Basically a very heavy crochet blanket that is big enough to cover the king sized bed. Marvelled when I saw the trend for weighted blankets that I'd been making them for years lols.

florianatwobob

@Bluegreen143 I’ve naturally dark brown wavy shoulder length hair and my first ‘natural highlights’ started to appear at 31. I’m now fast approaching 45 and still don’t have enough to make dying it worthwhile. Mine come through as bright silver (I was goldie-blonde as a child) so are fairly noticeable (to me, not so to others apparently). In summer my hair lightens in the sun and in darkest winter I periodically use a pigmented conditioner to take the shine off them a little. 

 

Glittering_M

@zaxdog the lavender oil sounds really interesting. Is it easy to do? I looked into it briefly before but was put off by some of the equipment? Or is it different to essential oils and it literally is lavender infused oil (e.g. veg?)

Love the idea of a Village heritage centre and the crusher!

zaxdog

Glittering_M said:

@zaxdog the lavender oil sounds really interesting. Is it easy to do? I looked into it briefly before but was put off by some of the equipment? Or is it different to essential oils and it literally is lavender infused oil (e.g. veg?)

Love the idea of a Village heritage centre and the crusher!

Yeah it's dried lavender added to oil. Most can be used I think but I used cold pressed Scottish rapeseed. I kept it in the still cupboard where we keep the brewing and distilling stuff. Shook it once a day for about a month then filtered through a fine sieve into a clean jar.

It's a tiny village but there is a lot happening. In addition to the centre there is a community garden and poly tunnel, a village hall that sees a load of use, a tiny outdoor bowling green and a pocket sized shop and post office. To do an actual shop is a fifty mile round trip.

The crochet blankets are just huge granny squares that I add and add to. Something to do with my hands when we are watching TV (I'm not too good at downtime).

Glittering_M

I'm not good at downtime either. I really struggle to know what to do with myself. I've tried crochet and I just can't get my head around it. I can do basic knitting though so could give something similar a go.

Thanks for explaining about the lavender oil. It sounds interesting particularly for skin issues. I'll do some more research into as it might be useful for us 

Frugaldom

Good evening, frugal friends. The weeks are flying past and I'm trying to get on top of all the gardening jobs. Planting and sowing are just starting here but we've had ground frost a couple of times recently, now it's raining again. No shortage of water, yet. I've down some onion seeds, radishes have germinated, there's an assortment of herbs and I'm now looking through seeds to see what I can sow next. The potting shed still needs tidied but the windows all got washed and it will get finished being painted as soon as the dry weather returns. Food-wise, I'm thinking we need onions, carrots, cabbage, kale, peas, garlic, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, leeks, courgettes and potatoes.  After yesterday's food shop, I'm staggered by the price increases so frugal living is being ramped up this year.

Knitted dishcloths - Mine are plain knit and made from cheap balls of cotton string, like the ones they used to sell at 3 for £1.

Midges have started hatching here so I'm hoping the bog myrtle hurries up and grows. I'd love to make essential oil but, like others, I find the essential equipment a little intimidating and expensive.

A friend was making dandelion 'honey' so I'm planning on trying that soon. The hens have started laying again so I'll be back to making lemon curd until there's fruit or berries for jam. The prices of shop-bought preserves have gone through the roof! 

KajiKita

Dandelion honey? How does that work?

KK

Glittering_M

As far as I'm aware,  legally for a sold honey to be called x honey e.g lavender honey, dandelion honey etc., 75% of the bees foraging must have come from the named plant. As bees travel up to 3 miles that is very difficult to actually determine for most non commercial bee keepers as they don't have the space. although apparently individual bees will be crop specific if they can, e.g. if they start on apple they will try and always go for apple unless there isn't any more when they will find something else. Worker bees in summer do only live for 6 weeks though. 

I wonder if what is meant is infused honey? So infusing honey with dandelion to get the flavour. I'm not sure about dandelion as I don't know what the taste is but a lavender infused honey sounds like it could be nice! 

Dandelion honey? How does that work?

KK

leftatthetrafficlights

KajiKita said:

Dandelion honey? How does that work?

KK

It's actually a dandelion syrup but is known as dandelion honey - it's an excellent vegan substitute for honey! It's made with dandelion flowers, sugar and vanilla