It's HERE!

Our new sectional was delivered this morning. It's our first major investment piece, built to last but expensive. It's our splurge from DH's bonus, but still... spending that much makes me want to amp up my frugal-ness, at least for a while. :)

Here are some frugal ideas:

• Don't buy new until you've used the old. We have several pieces that we've bought but not put together yet. A couple bookshelves, my bistro set that I got for $5 (Thank God for Canadian Tire Money), mini-blinds that need to be installed, painting that needs to be done (just some touch-ups here and there). So the house doesn't get anything else, at least until we've put together and used these things. And yes, we're working on it - I put together  my new desk chair on the weekend.
• Eat out of the freezer. I'm all stocked up, I buy a club pack or two of the meat that's half price most weeks, so I have lots in the freezer. Last night I made Frittata, because I already had everything I needed for it.
• Do a project, for 'something to do'. There's not much in the way of entertainment where I live, at least not that I'm interested in. Movies, restaurants, and shopping is 95% of it. Next time we're 'bored' and looking for something to do, time to work on a project! Build that bookshelf, clean the fish tank, work on setting up the guest room (currently storage room).
• Watch the movies you have. We're into movies, and we like to buy new ones a fair bit, but there's a medium-sized pile of movies we haven't watched since we bought them. We need to watch them before we buy more.

What are your frugal ideas?

So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Have great day!

Valerie :D

Playing Ketchup

No tomatoes here! 'Playing ketchup'  'playing catch-up'. It's what I've been calling it since... high school. If I needed to catch up in a class (because of a trip or whatever, usually a concert band event) I'd write 'ketchup' in my agenda. And I still use that term today :)

Life happens, we get busy, and then the city decides to 'clean' the water mains resulting in lack of useable water.... and the dishes and other chores pile up. Time for ketchup!

Saturday is usually laundry day over here (because our electric rates get jacked up when you WANT to use electricity... but that's another story). So today, I decided I need to get things done.

Having a messy kitchen stresses me out. Weird, but true. So today, after breakfast (where I actually had to wash a pan before I could make pancakes :S) I put on a load of laundry and started in on the dishes.

I try to strategize when I do dishes, do you do that? I did the two china plates first, then I did my hard plastic cutting board, so I could 'protect' the china from other things piling on too much pressure with the cutting board. I like to clean the 'cleaner' things first, so I purposefully left the spaghetti sauce pan until right before I wanted to change the water in the sink. Because I had so many dishes to do, I used my large cutting boards to kind of make the walls of my drying rack higher (putting them right on the sides) and I even put a bunch of oven safe stuff in the oven to dry (then I turn on the oven at the lowest heat setting, just for 15 minutes or so, then turn it off again and leave it closed - speed dry!). I piled the plastic things high in the rack, playing tetris as I went and fitting in as much as I could. Eventually I had to stop and clear off part of the counter, so I could lay out some dish towels for the rest of the dishes (I had a LOT). Plus I flipped the laundry a couple times in there, also...

When I was finally done the dishes (except for two of the mason jars I picked up at a yard sale that need to be bleached), I took the coffee maker and coffeepot apart, wiped them down cleaned them out, put them back together, and it's now on it's second vinegar water cycle. Decided I should use the hot vinegar water for something, so I'm filling those two jars with it and will probably go clean the bathroom sinks with more of it.

This was an accomplishment for me, and it probably took less than an hour an a half to get it all done. I even called DH upstairs to see what I did and he was sweet enough to be impressed and give me some praise :)

The laundry just beeped at me. I'm going to go fold the laundry, use up the hot vinegar water for something productive, start a plain water cycle in the coffeemaker, to rinse it out, and start a new load of laundry. Then I can relax, until I get beeped at again!


So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Have great day!

Valerie :D

Rhubarb anyone?

In my world summer equals rhubarb and blueberries. We've always had a rhubarb patch and blueberries grow wild around here, so .... :)

Yesterday was a little cool, so I decided it was a good day to bake! I made the first rhubarb pie of the season.... Mmmmm hello, summer!

I guess I was in the mood to experiment. Instead of following the recipe exactly, I decided to check how much rhubarb actually fits in a pie. (I love my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, but the pies always seem to be full to overflowing.) Guess what? 2 to 2 1/2 cups fits nicely in a Tenderflake crust - not the 6 cups called for in the recipe! (Yes, I cheat, but it's yummy and fast!) Made a note of THAT. Next time, I think I'll divide the whole recipe down to 1/3 or 1/2 of what it says. Last night I only changed the rhubarb. Turned out well, DH had no complaints! :D

While I was experimenting, and since I had picked more rhubarb, I decided to try making rhubarb stew in the crock cooker! Now I've been eating this since I was knee high to a grasshopper, and I've only ever made it in the microwave - not good, I know! (Plus it's boiled over in the microwave too many times.) My sister found a good stovetop recipe that she uses. So I coarsely chopped the rest of the rhubarb, put about 1/2 cup of water in the bottom of the crock, and poured some sugar over the top (no measurements... sorry). If you haven't had this before, you'll need way more sugar than I do, you can add to taste at the end, or in your bowl even. Crocked it on low for 2 hours, opening to stir a few times (I was pretty paranoid about it burning or something). And it turned out perfect! It was more liquidy than normal, so next time I'll put in less water, but it doesn't effect the taste - rhubarb stew is very forgiving.

I've been keeping an eye on the blueberry bushes in the backyard (heck yeah!) and neighbourhood... soon!

So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Have great day!

Valerie :D

Summer Fun!

The weather is beautiful, and I'm slipping into a more relaxed routine. Yay!

We 'baby-sat' a dog for 2 weeks while friends were in Finland, and because she's a little... excitable,  I kept all the 'extra' doors closed. One great habit I established was LEAVING my home office and closing the door for my lunch break and when I'm done for the day. Doesn't sound like much, but I used to spend my 'lunches' on facebook. And while I do still go on facebook several times a day, I also need to get off my butt, because I sit a LOT (for work and for play, then there's driving, watching tv...)

Anyways. I've found taking a real lunch break is beneficial to me. Getting up, standing for a bit, and getting one or two things done around the house is great. I've been getting outside, starting to do a little gardening.

I've also started doing 'spa dishes' again. I have two pairs of cotton gloves. (One I got for about $4 at a drug store, the other about $1.50 at a dollar store.) I take my rings off, put on hand cream, put on the cotton gloves, then put on the rubber gloves and do the dishes! It's great for the skin (especially with the heat of the water amplifying things) and if I do it consistently, it should save me some money on rubber gloves - My one fingernail always seems to wear a hole... now with the extra layer, the gloves should last longer. Taking care of myself, taking care of my family, and being frugal!

How is your journey towards balance going?


So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Have great day!

Valerie :D

Selfish, In a Good Way

I'm adding myself back into the equation!

No I don't think the world revolves around me, but it was my birthday on Thursday, so what better month to be nice to myself?

This is not having a spa day and letting the kitchen pile up. This is taking a little time for hobbies and taking care of myself. Too often, I put myself last, and while I shouldn't be first, I should be in the top three.

My ideas for the month are simple things like actually making an appointment with the eye doctor because I've been noticing things getting a little blurry; getting a haircut (trim) because it's been a while and the split ends are bugging me. And fun things, like actually taking time to scrapbook at home and working through the learning to sew book I have.

Even practical things like knocking out a bunch of home small things I've been procrastinating on (I know I'll feel so much better as each is done); figuring out some systems for my new position at work; and staying caught up on the dishes.

...

There! I just got up for 5 minutes (less, actually) and got the bananas that were past their prime (WELL past) peeled and into the freezer. It's nice not to have to look at them ;)

These are the kind of small things that I don't bother doing and then every time I walk into that room I get bombarded with all the little things that need to be done. This month, I'm doing them!


So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Have great day!

Valerie :D

A Clear Space

I mentioned last time that  I was focusing on finding balance this year. And step one is a clear desk. Well, today, it's clear! I took about an hour this morning and put things away, decluttered, dusted, filed, dusted,... And now I have some nice space surrounding me.

It really is a big change. The plan is to keep it clear, and put things away as I'm done with them. The really big factor to all this is keeping a list of things I need to do and putting the object away, instead of plopping the object on my desk as a 'reminder'. And then following through with taking care of the things on my list. (That's the kicker!)

I've been trying to figure out how to establish routines when my schedule is so odd... it can make your head spin, if you're not careful. Night shift, day shift, DH having days off when I still have to work, crazy Mondays, laundry marathons based on hydro rates.... erg! So no straight-up, you-always-do-this-on-Tuesday-at-10am-type routines. Balance.

Balance..... balance.... wherefore art thou, balance? I am seeking you. :D

I need to stop thinking of my life as a calendar, and try and think more as a pie-chart. I'm going to work on that and see how it goes... a pie chart visual of my day in balance. :D


So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Have great day!

Valerie :D

Finding Balance

It's January, and many people are making resolutions. I'm not making a resolution per se, but I'd like to  take this time to reflect and set some goals.

My main goal for 2012 is Finding Balance. And that's a huge undertaking, but I have a whole year (actually the rest of my life) to work on it. Balance isn't a destination. It's a journey. You can never really be done. It's something to consider everyday. If I have a wonderfully balanced day today, that does not guarantee me a balanced day tomorrow.

I need to seek this balance so I can love the life I have and live the life I love.

So my overall goal for the year is to find balance - between work, home, DH, and play. For January I'm working on clearing my desk (by Friday) and keeping it clear. I spend a LOT of time here at my desk, so having clear space really will make a clear mind :)

Today I have worked on clearing my desk, started a goals binder/control journal/thingy-whats-it and I do see progress, and that's always a good thing.

So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Have great day!

Valerie :D