Olde Fashioned (frugal) Girl

Okay, maybe not frugal enough to make business cards from a cereal box, (however I reserve the right to change my mind!) but I do LOVE a deal.

In Vancouver I subscribed to all sorts of coupon and sample sale mailing lists; Groupon, I Love Sample Sales, Gap Sprize, amongst others. I collect Airmiles like a fiend. Because of my fiendishness, last year when money was tight at Christmas I was able to send out gift certificates for clothing and movies that otherwise we would not have been able to afford. I currently have my eye on a new espresso machine (that would retail for around $1000) since I have well-loved my current machine into a place where it no longer loves me back ;) and that doesn't help anyone make it through the day unscathed!

For all of the ways I thought moving to Rossland would save us money (having an herb garden has definitely saved me some coin) I was still worried that moving to a small town would hamper some of my frugality. My fears have been abated and I have found some great deals already in Rossland. They have a local coupon book filled with great frugal finds, everything from 2 for 1 golf rounds at Redstone to 2 for 1 lattes at the Alpine Grind, and at $20 it encourages buying local while having the potential to save a family hundreds of dollars on things we would be buying anyway.

After employing the uber frugal Menu Plan Monday method, I take my grocery list to our new grocery store, Ferraro Foods. They have a "Moo Card" and for every 10 jugs of milk we get one free. That is some cheap (as in inexpensive) milk, and being Island Farms it's not cheap (as in gross) milk either! Their Ferraro's websavers are great too.

The 11th item free seems to be a theme here in Rossland. At Tails, when we buy 10 bags we get the 11th free, and this makes getting great dog food for our beasts is a little less expensive now too!

 Happy Saving!

Wordless Wednesday

Bear Hair, Done That.

There has been a bear in our yard almost everyday since I wrote about the bear a few weeks a go. One day I came around the side of the house to turn on the water spigot and there he was, 10 feet from me. I had startled him just as he had startled me and so he lumbered away which was nice given the alternative.

Barb had an open compost pit as many residents here in Rossland do. There seems to be some disagreement between Rosslanders as to what exactly attracts the bears, and other residents choose not to compost at all. I am a composter. I bought an easily turnable barrel style compost before we moved (since I am a beginner) and I have noticed a HUGE difference in the amount of garbage that we as a family put out since integrating it into our way of life. Garbage is collected once a week and recycling every other here in Rossland. When all the coffee grounds, fruit and veg peels, egg shells (rinsed and crushed of course) and such head into the compost it takes this family of four about a week and a half to fill one Safeway bag with garbage.

I digress, back to the bear. This composter frustrates the bear to no end and he resents having no access to what was once an once open pit for his perusal. The "animal proof" composter has been dragged all over our yard, has enormous teeth and muddy claw marks and, two nights ago after vigorously shaking and smashing the barrel the aggravated animal threw it into the street!  Later that same morning, again when I was at the water spigot, I heard Jack shouting something. I rounded the corner admonishing him for shouting only to see that he was screaming "Mom, there's a bear!" while standing several feet from one feasting on the cherries from our cherry tree. This bear did not seem perturbed in any way by my loud child, in fact all we ever saw as I ushered the kids into the house was his bear bum.

The Bear Aware  campaign has been really informative. The kids have been briefed on what to do when a bear is in the yard (talk, walk, leave the dog and go inside) and I never leave them alone outside. It is too late this year to ensure the trees do not bear (ha ha ha) fruit, next year we'll get rid of their flowers, but we do need to be more vigilant now that said fruit is ripening. After all, a fed bear is a dead bear.

Teevee or not TeeVee (continued)

This is an anniversary of sorts - we have been in Rossland for one month today. Which has also meant that we have survived one whole month without television. The kids have been doing great, but I must admit I have watched more than my fair share of movies. Exhausted and alone I had been watching a movie almost every night. Which meant I was up too late and the kids are up with the sun, so things weren't getting any better.

My sister Brandie wrote a great article the other day (after reading Life's Too Short To  Fold  Fitted Sheets: Your Ultimate Guide to Domestic Liberation) about prioritizing kids vs. cleaning. I thought it was awesome and more than well timed as I have been fighting an uphill battle to feed, clean and unpack all by my lonesome. Coupled with the late night movies in a cluttered room I was feeling like I wasn't "doing" all that I could to finish unpacking. But it is hard enough to keep a home clean and tidy when I have been settled in for years let alone when I cannot remember if what I need right now is a box somewhere.

So, instead of doing EVERYTHING and killing myself in the heat of the day, what I have settled for is a neat and orderly living room. One room. If the kids have left toys in said room they are to remove them. Under no circumstances are toys stored here, but Jack and Isla are more than welcome to bring a book (or the Leapster) and read quietly. No food either.

A miraculous a-ha moment! Just myself and my cuppa in the evening, free from encroaching mess, feeling like I am making time for me and more importantly that I deserve it. The simple act helps me dial down the crazy!

The Garden...

I have a garden. Finally. There is, with exception to the 5 tomato plants and 6 tiny miserable lettuce heads that I purchased, nothing in my garden that I planted myself. Barb planted everything else. As the season progresses it is increasingly clear she was quite the gardener, with a vision and strategy that comes only with practice. This dreamy English style garden is filled with BC wildflowers and succulents planted like a canon, the roses and lavender blooming as the peonies, poppies and Lupines fade. Thank God they are perennial.

Complaining to my mother that all of my inherited plants (of which I haven't the foggiest what most even are making weeding interesting) were wilting away prematurely, Mom informed me that I do indeed need to WATER them. Oh, right. We are not in moisture laden Vancouver anymore, Toto. Thankfully Brian Minter was back on the CBC B.C. Almanac this morning. I listened like I have never listened before gleaning some additional pertinent watering info - plants like to be watered in the early morning and preferably with a soaker hose. Good to know - I'm sure there was more but I don't intend to put the cart before the horse!

not my garden

Jack and Isla love heading out to the garden to pick things for our meals. We pull green onions, cut fresh chives, dill, sage and oregano and they are waiting with bated breath for the tomatoes to be ready. I am just trying not to kill it all.

also not my garden

PImply-faced teenager

Day 4 of having the kids all to myself here in Rossland. Things have been a bit harried. I don't handle stress well. I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve. When I was younger I fancied wrangling my wit and intellect and becoming a lawyer. I remember being a blubbering wreck at some point and thinking to myself, "Who am I kidding, breaking down in front of a judge on a regular basis is not a great way to be taken seriously.". Our high school theatre teacher, referencing the difficulty in making a career of acting, spouted "If you can do anything else - do it." I still chose acting. I would rather make an arse of myself on my own terms. I'll probably end up playing a lawyer at some point anyway!

It turns out I have been, despite my telling myself otherwise, very stressed. You could probably have guessed from my incoherent ramblings. Looking in the mirror I look like the pimply- faced teenager from the Simpsons. I also have a raging heat rash on my back to match, a delicious skin condition I had never had the pleasure of experiencing until after I pushed out two kids. Oh, and I got the MasterCard bill today. I will be heading out soon to do some returns.

I guess I'll be focusing my wit and intellect on de-cluttering and cleaning. Easier said than done with two knee-highs wanting to be fed and what-not on top of the mayhem. I know doing it myself goes a long way and costs so little, but I had been seriously considering a one time hiring of Cinderella House Cleaners to at least get the ball rolling. This must be a life lesson of some sort.

Wordless Wednesday