The Big White Farmhouse

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.

We are officially on summer break and…I’m tired, ha!  Some of the causes of my fatigue are things outside of my control, but I’m also guilty of living like this:

Feeling overwhelmed?  Let’s add a little more to my plate!  Clearly, that’s not sustainable and leads to burnout every single time.  At 40 years old, you’d think I’d start to learn my lesson!

Anyway, in a moment of clarity, I sat down and made some intentions for the summer months.  To everything there is a season, right?  For this season, I hope to stifle the overwhelm with intentional goals, keeping focused on the most important parts and saying no to all the rest.

• Take Care of Myself // I’ve fallen off of all the wagons for about six weeks now.  Emotional eating isn’t doing me any favors, so I’m getting back on track with vitamins, lots of water, a daily walk and getting lots of protein in my diet.
• Around the House // My poor house gets so neglected during busy seasons.  We don’t live in squalor or anything, but I certainly don’t have time for things like scrubbing the baseboards.  This summer, I plan to deep clean all the things and keep decluttering as I go.
• Control the Things I Can Control // My goals: doing little side hustles to pay off debt faster, finding inexpensive/free fun for the kids, finishing projects and taking each day as it comes.
• Planning and Prepwork // In May, I made a list of thirty-one easy dinners and worked off of the list for the month.  It was one afternoon of work for a month of ease – one less thing I had to think about every day!  This summer, I’m taking that idea and running with it; what can I pre-plan or prepare now to make my life easier this fall?
• REST

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

1. A new dishwasher! // We’ve been without a dishwasher for almost two years now (I’ll spare you my passionate planned obsolescence rant) and even though this is definitely a first-world problem, I am thrilled to get some housekeeping help.  We saved our pennies, did a lot of research, bought it during the Memorial Day sale, and even saved $270 by doing the installation ourselves.  Praying this one will last more than six months.
2. New ferns for the front porch. // This was my slightly unconventional, belated Mother’s Day gift.  They are so easy to grow and have a big impact.  Love them.
3. A good blood pressure reading. // Since being diagnosed with pre pre-eclampsia while pregnant with my youngest eight years ago, I’ve struggled with elevated blood pressure.  Nothing terribly concerning, but I’ve never been in the normal range.  This week on a whim, I pulled out my home monitor and lo and behold, my numbers are in the green!  I was shocked.
4. Home projects on a rainy day. // I’m back to stripping the textured walls, this time in another hallway.
5. Not having to turn the air conditioning on yet. // I try to prolong this sweet middle period between heat and A/C as long as possible – I love the financial savings in our electric bill!  Sadly, the forecast predicts temperatures in the 90s soon, so the end is near…

Frugal Accomplishments //

• spent $100 worth of dog food on Chewy and got a $30 gift card for my next purchase
• made chicken broth from the carcass of a whole bird we made for dinner the night before
• made vanilla granola so my kids would finish a new brand of yogurt that they didn’t really like
• made another batch of beef tallow (slowly making a dent in the deep freezer!)
• air-dried a few loads of laundry on drying racks
• made applesauce muffins with applesauce I found in the back of the pantry
• reused a box and bubble wrap to package a resale order
• sold three books, two wine glasses, a DVD, a dress and two homeschool art DVDs and after fees, I made $42.01

This Week in the Liturgical Year //

May 29 was the Solemnity of the Ascension.

Reading //

• Sweet Tea and Sacraments: Flannery O’Connor, the American South, and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition from Raleigh Adams at Front Porch Republic // “…O’Connor’s fiction also speaks to something more immediate: the loss of a rooted, religiously serious culture, and the dangers that come when Christianity is reduced to either cultural heritage or feel-good sentimentality. O’Connor’s fiction challenges the comfortable Christianity of both her time and ours, and in doing so, her vision of grace, disruption, and tradition has much to say to a world where faith is increasingly privatized, disconnected from place, and stripped of its moral demands.”
• Wilhelm Roepke: The Well-Ordered House from Ralph Ancil at The Imaginative Conservative // Thought provoking.

New Additions to The List // 

• The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century: A Comprehensive World History by Robert Royal
• Franz Jägerstätter: Letters and Writings from Prison edited by Erna Putz

Watching/Listening //

• Lectures 4-6 of The Life and Teachings of St. Augustine from The Pursuit of Wisdom at Ave Maria University

Loving //

• Everydollar // There are tons of budgeting websites/apps out there, but I returned to this free one to visually determine how to juggle multiple goals at the same time (ie. debt payoff, long-term savings, and short-term “sinking fund” type goals).  Love that it does all the math for me while I manipulate the numbers!
• Soul Gardening Journal // A lovely surprise in my mailbox.

from the archives…

WEEK TWENTY-TWO 2024 // Little Moments of Delight pt.3

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.

Summer break is here!  Ironically, this week was also a hectic blur of appointments and extracurricular activities and celebrations.  No rest for the weary yet!  Add in another fox attack (down to just nine hens now) and a mid-week sickness (I finally caught the cold/sore throat thing going around) and I had to dig deep to keep overwhelm at bay and peace at the forefront.  Seeking out and jotting down the little moments of delight always helps.

Here’s my list: Listening to birds chirping in the early morning.  Eating the first strawberries of the season from our garden.  Finding a much anticipated letter in the mailbox.  Temperatures dipping back into the 60s/70s.  Receiving great results from the kids’ standardized testing.  Tons of blooms on the hydrangea bushes.  Taking a walk on a breezy day.  Making another tiny dent on the debt – 20.6% is now paid off!

(Previous little moments lists: part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, part six and part seven.)

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

1. A Confirmation! // My third son received the sacrament of Confirmation and chose St. Francis Xavier as his saint. A very joyful evening.
2. An afternoon nap. // A rare luxury!  The extra rest definitely helped me recuperate more quickly.
3. More rain. // I’ll have my work cut out for me battling the weeds, but my plants look fantastic.
4. Fruit on the trees! // We started our food forest back in 2022/2023 and it’s finally starting to pay off!  We have apples, peaches, plums, cherries and even grapes growing.
5. The opportunity to support a good cause. // My family’s jiu jitsu gym had a Memorial Day fundraiser for the We Defy Foundation, which provides “combat veterans coping with military connected disabilities a long term means to overcome their challenges through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and fitness training.”  Veteran support is a very important cause to us so we jumped at the chance to donate some of our farm’s offerings for the silent auction.  So exciting to watch the bids grow for such a great organization.

Frugal Accomplishments //

• saved, baked and crushed egg shells to give to my chickens (a homemade version of this) and to use with my tomato plants
• used up five packets of older seeds in the garden
• used a coupon code to buy a graduation card on etsy
• propagated my hydrangeas to fill a bare spot in the front flower bed (we’ll see if it works!)
• sold three pieces of clothing and two books and after fees, made $23.89!

This Week in the Liturgical Year //

May 22 was the Optional Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious.  This is the saint that I got from the Saint Name Generator on New Year’s so I’m excited to learn about her.

To Read: A Life of Heroic Humility and Obedience from Pope Saint John Paul II

To Copy in the Commonplace Book: “Deeply rooted in the love of Christ, Rita found in her faith unshakeable strength to be a woman of peace in every situation.”

To Add to the Library: St. Rita of Cascia: Saint of the Impossible by Joseph Sicardo

To Bake: Tradition associates figs with St. Rita, so this would be a good time to make Fig Tarts or homemade Fig Newtons

Reading //

• For such a time as this. Cheap and Cheerful. from Annabel at The Bluebirds are Nesting on the Farm // “Everyone is stressed. Everyone has tightened their budgets. To me it feels like there is a lot of pressure on us all. I have always had the theme of feathering our nests. Making our homes a safe and happy sanctuary from the world and a place to escape stress rather than a place that causes it! Now happily many things that are just lovely, that brighten spirits and make us feel a little bit more comfy are really easy to do and don’t necessarily cost anything at all.”  So many good ideas here.

New Additions to The List // 

• The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories by J. L. Heilbron
• Only the Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation by Josef Pieper
• Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper by Brant Pitre
• The Fourth Cup: Unveiling the Mystery of the Last Supper and the Cross by Scott Hahn

Watching/Listening //

• Episode 2 of The Commentaries: The Confessions of St. Augustine

Loving //

• 10 Ways to Embrace Underconsumption Core- The 1940s Way! from Real Vintage Dolls House

from the archives…

WEEK TWENTY-ONE 2024 // The Work of Our Hands

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.

I recently came across the $27.40 Rule.  Basically, if you save $27.40 every day, you would have saved $10,001 in one year.  That’s a lot of money!  I thought this would be a fun challenge to try for Make It Do May.  What do the frugal accomplishments that I prioritize each week save me?  Is the effort worth it?  I was about to find out!

The rule says to save $27.40 each day, which would total $191.80 for the week.  Since every day is different and my productivity ebbs and flows, I decided to focus on the weekly number.  My goal: for every frugal accomplishment I complete, I’ll tally the money saved and see if I can do enough to total $191.80.  So for example:

• if I wanted this item but put it back on the shelf: I’ll have saved $x
• I could have purchased an item at the grocery store, but made it at home with ingredients I already have instead: I saved $x
• if I bought something online (a need not a want!) but found a coupon code: I saved $x
• I put the A/C thermostat up a degree: I’ll have saved approximately $x

See below for more details, but to sum up the week: I saved $423 and even made $72 reselling unneeded items from around the house.  Those little, seemingly insignificant frugal tasks do add up!

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

1. Our last First Communion in the family. // Our littlest guy received his First Communion on Mother’s Day – what a blessing!
2. Standardized testing is done. // I hate this homeschooling requirement and think it’s a terrible way to see a child’s progress, but we do what we have to do to stay in the county’s good graces. The kids did great.
3. “Look at those grays!  I love it!” // Words spoken to me in complete love and sincerity from my husband.  He was about to leave for work and I walked him to his car.  The early morning sunlight must have hit my bedhead just so, highlighting those pesky reminders of my aging body.  His words were so happy and loving that I couldn’t help but smile.  I can’t wait to grow old with that man.
4. Decluttering all the things! // I’m on a roll and nothing is safe, ha!  This week, I tackled a lot of old paperwork, let go of a few books and started on my master closet.  The schoolroom and kids’ clothes are next!
5. A Make It Do May update. // We’ve reached the midpoint of the month so time to check in on our progress.  As of today, we’ve paid off 11.8% of the debt!  A satisfactory start.

Frugal Accomplishments //

• shredded more junk mail for the chickens nesting boxes (I avoided having to buy a pack of pine shavings, saving me $8.49)
• added to my compost pile, adding new material and turning the entire mixture (will be saving approximately $0.85 in organic garden soil)
• made tallow from beef fat in the freezer (a 14oz. jar retails for $20)
• ripped out (and then stapled together to make a DIY notepad) the unused pages of a half-used notebook (saved about $0.50)
• air-dried six loads of laundry on drying racks (saved approximately $2.70)
• wanted to pick up a special sauce at the grocery store, but decided to use what we already had at home instead (saved $4.69)
• made two loaves of banana bread using six overripe bananas (avoided wasting $0.81 in fruit)
• made sure my husband had a lunch so he wouldn’t have to eat out at work (saved $30)
• “dry cleaned” my son’s First Communion suit at home with these Woolite cloths (saved $11)
• reused a big padded envelope, a box and packing material to mail resale orders (saved $7)
• made vanilla granola (makes the equivalent of two bags, saving $10.98)
• used a free sample Tide pod to wash a load of laundry (saved $0.40)
• thought about buying eggs from a farmer friend but ultimately decided to make do with what we had (saved $5.75)
• made a big batch of marinara sauce in the slow cooker (saved about $20)
• avoided a full grocery store trip, only buying a few essentials like milk, freezer bags and coffee (saved $300)
• sold a pair of shorts, a DVD, a mousetrap contraption, a video game, two Christmas ornaments, a wool sweater (in May!), a purse with two matching zipper pouches and a Lego set and after fees, made $72.48!

This Week in the Liturgical Year //

May 15 was the Optional Memorial of St. Isidore the Farmer.

To Read: St. Isidore the Farmer and Rogation Days

To Pray: Novena to St. Isidore

 

 

Reading //

• When Innovation Runs Out: The Vindication of Maintenance from Joshua Pauling at Front Porch Republic // “Vinsel and Russell offer some additional questions and principles for practicing this maintenance mindset as an ‘antidote to the Innovation Delusion’ (158). They suggest adopting ‘a new habit when you walk around, or think about your work, your community, and your personal life: Ask yourself, What is good here? And how can I maintain that goodness? How can I preserve and extend that which is valuable?'”  Definitely adding the book featured to my TBR.
• Why I’ll Always Send Flowers for a Miscarriage from Grace Emily Stark at Verily // “I now know that was exactly why those flowers we received in the wake of our miscarriage were such a perfect gift—they were a recognition, and therefore a validation, of our very real grief. We had after all experienced the death of our child, and those flowers spoke to that reality in a way that nothing else seemed to. As simple a gesture as they may have seemed by those who sent them, those flowers were the recognition of the traumatic card we’d been dealt, and the permission that recognition gave me to grieve started me on the path to eventual healing. Even if I didn’t realize it myself at the time.”
• It Started With My Forearms from Going Godward // “To be clear, I don’t think the physical aging process should rob women of their whimsy; if anything she should lean hard into the enchanted parts of herself, the creative parts, and live. I think the creativity that can come after youth has the potential to be deeper and richer than anything that might have been produced by a 20 year old.”
• Internet Overexposure Syndrome from Katherine Dee at Comment // Thought-provoking.

New Additions to The List // 

• On Wealth and Poverty by St. John Chrysostom
• A Light in the Heavens: Great Encyclical Letters Of Pope Leo XIII
• The Innovation Delusion: How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most by Lee Vinsel and Andrew L. Russell

Watching/Listening //

• Lesson 3 of the Who is God? How Can We Know Him? course from Aquinas 101 at the Thomistic Institute (I’m watching these as I read the corresponding section in Aquinas’s Shorter Summa – very helpful!)
• Lectures 1-3 of The Life and Teachings of St. Augustine from The Pursuit of Wisdom at Ave Maria University
• Episode 1 of The Commentaries: The Confessions of St. Augustine (I’ll be listening to these as I work through the Confessions.)

from the archives…

WEEK TWENTY 2024 // The Stars Always Shine