The Big White Farmhouse | intentional living, little by little

July 19, 2021

No.544: Homemaking Notes on a Monday // Vol.12

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The weather outside is //

As I look outside my window // I see the hens are out looking for bugs. They are so fun to watch.

As I look around the house // I am happy to see a few small home projects completed. Last week, I turned one little corner into a computer desk area and I think it will be perfect for homeschooling as well.

In the garden // I’m feeling frustrated. This is the month where my garden should be full to bursting and it’s not. My squash and zucchini fell to disease right before they started producing and my tomatoes are taking forever to grow. My cherry tomatoes are more like marbles! I only have a handful of healthy looking corn. On the plus side: my watermelon and pumpkin plants are doing great! (Ironic since those are two of my family’s least favorite from the garden.)

On this week’s to-do list //

– surprise the kids with sundaes for National Ice Cream Day (today!)
– continue adding a few more small business favorites to my new Shop tab
– freeze corn donuts for the hens
– browse around for a desk lamp
– gather materials to sew a grocery bag holder
– decide on a high school Spanish curriculum
– complete this week’s challenge from A Working Pantry (I’m thinking beans?)

Currently reading //

Fiction: Hinds’ Feet in High Places by Hannah Hurnard and a new book from Netgalley
Religious: The Devotion to the Sacred Heart by Fr. John Croiset, SJ (almost done!) and The Catholic Guide to Miracles by Adam Blai

Thinking about // this post about recovering the lost art of analog living. Her entire “Recovering the Lost Art” series is great and I loved what she wrote about “old-fashioned” blogging too: “In the good ‘ole days of blogging, people read blogs the way they did a favourite print magazine. We savoured them–enjoyed them–rather than just skimming for a quick tip before bouncing off…Blogging back then was genuine, non-salesy, thought-provoking, down-to-earth, artful if sometimes unpolished.” This inspires me to create a cozy, homey reading experience here at the BWF. I also need to comment more on the blogs I read! I’ve become a lazy lurker and I need to change that.

On the menu this week //
Monday: Refrigerator Cleanout Night
Tuesday: chicken shawarma fries with Mediterranean salsa and garlic sauce
Wednesday: hot dogs and brats on the grill
Thursday: one skillet cheesy chili mac
Friday: bean and cheese burritos

July 16, 2021

No.543: Three Months Without Amazon Prime // How It’s Going So Far

Back in April, I canceled the Amazon Prime subscription I have had for over ten years. I don’t think I could come up with a more first world problem, but I’ll be honest and admit that I was a little nervous! When we’d mention our plan to friends, they would gasp and whisper, Oh, I could never do that. Their comments gave me pause: would I miss the convenience? Would my kids miss the streaming service? Would I miss the little perks included? Three months later, I can happily answer with an emphatic NO.

I always like to read books where people do something extreme and then share what they learned. Cancelling a store subscription is most definitely not extreme, but in today’s world, it is unpopular! Here are a few of my thoughts:

THERE ARE OTHER AWESOME BUSINESSES OUT THERE

Like it or not, my knee-jerk reaction to buying anything online was always Amazon. I believed that they were the only company to ship quickly and that trying to find what I needed elsewhere was just too much work. Three months in and I can confidently tell you that those excuses have all been proven false. An example: my family likes the electrolyte tablets from the company, Nuun. I used to pop a box into my cart on Amazon without a second thought, but this time I asked the groundbreaking question: Do they ship from their own website? Yes, yes they do. This search took all of two minutes! Once on their website, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were having a sale (#frugalaccomplishment) and I received my order within two days.

OUR KIDS DO NOT NEED FREE REIN TO ALL.THE.SHOWS

One of our issues with streaming shows, even within the “Kids” area, was that my children would inevitably stumble on something questionable. Sometime last year, my then three-year-old clicked on a (seemingly innocent) animated monster truck show about counting. Within minutes, I heard the creepy voice of one of the characters and came into the living room to see a demon truck telling the others how bad he was. I mean, what?! It was a wakeup call.

With the removal of Prime, we are without cable and any streaming services (not even Netflix!), but my kids don’t seem to feel deprived. Here’s what we’re doing instead: I’ve been joking with Mark that we’re bringing our kids back to the ’90s. The kids made a big wishlist and then every payday, I purchase a brand new DVD from the list. It’s always a big surprise! And here’s the ’90s childhood part: we watch the heck out of that movie for the next two weeks! I like that they are losing the constant need for something brand new, the obsession with instant gratification. Less choices also means less of a desire to stare at the screen all day too.

WE’RE SAVING MONEY

I wouldn’t consider myself an impulse shopper, but I always felt like it was just too easy to buy a little bit here and there on Amazon. Those purchases add up! Without Prime, you have to spend a minimum of $25 to qualify for free shipping, so it’s made me more intentional about what I’m actually buying.

In summary, we aren’t anti-Amazon and have actually used their website a few times since. (Ironically for books, which was the Amazon’s OG product line.) But there is life outside of Prime and I don’t miss it one bit!

July 13, 2021

No.542: A List of July’s Frugal Accomplishments

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. – J.R.R. Tolkien

+ We’ve been interested in solar generators as another piece of our power outage solution plan, but always thought it was out of our price range. Thankfully, I stumbled on a Youtube video with an affordable solution! The generator is a GoPower Plus and while there were rumblings that you could find them on clearance at Walmart, I ended up finding mine on ebay. (Amazon has the same one, but it’s more than I paid.) The solar charger was also on clearance at Harbor Freight. (P.S. This one system will obviously not be able to power much, but it’s a start!)

+ I gave my hair a trim.

+ We had an ant infestation in the garage, so I whipped up some simple homemade ant killer: equal parts baking soda and powdered sugar in the cap of an empty pasta sauce jar. I also sprinkled cinnamon to deter any more from entering.

+ A handful of apples were bruised and starting to go bad, so the kids and I made cinnamon sugar apple chips in the dehydrator. Here’s the recipe:

Cinnamon Sugar Apple Chips
4 apples
a big squirt of lemon juice
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Peel and core the apples, then cut into thin slices.
Mix together the remaining ingredients and then toss in the sliced apples, coating evenly.
Place on the dehydrator trays and dry at 145° for 6 hours.

+ I made carrot top pesto using carrots from my garden.

+ I purchased a book online and reused the mailer later for something I sold on ebay. Love free shipping materials!

GARDEN SAVINGS:
+ As of this writing, we have picked strawberries, lettuce, peas, bunch onions, carrots and red potatoes from our garden. Using current prices from the grocery and local farm stores, I’m estimating that we have saved about $105 so far!

+ More exciting news: our hens have started laying! We have collected 32 eggs so far and at $5 a dozen (per our local farm), we’ve saved almost $15.

Previous Frugal Accomplishments

2019: JULY // AUGUST // SEPTEMBER // OCTOBER // NOVEMBER
2020: JANUARY // FEBRUARY // APRIL // MAY // JUNE // JULY

2021: WINTER // SPRING

July 9, 2021

No.541: Five Good Things // No.06

This post contains affiliate links.

1 // NEW EMERGENCY CANDLES

We’re always on the lookout for items to add to our power outage supplies and recently bought a bunch of emergency candles from Lehmans. (Have you ever browsed that website? I have a huge wish list!) These taper candles are dripless, smokeless, odorless, and supposedly burn for 12 hours. The candlemaker is Sunshine Candle Works.

2 // A “POOR MAN’S BERKEY”

This ZeroWater pitcher was recommended to me as a “poor man’s Berkey” and since the price was right, I went for it! We’ve had it for a few months now and I’m pleased so far. The water tastes great and since we’re on well water, the filter doesn’t have to work as hard and will (hopefully) last us a long time.

3 // A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA FOR CARE PACKAGES

How cool are these printables from Skip to My Lou? Sometimes we need a little snail mail inspiration and this is a great solution.

4 // KEEPING COOL ON HOT DAYS

This was another purchase for possible summer power outages, but these cooling towels have also proven helpful for just ordinary hot days! You dip the towel (which is long and narrow like a scarf) in water, wring it out and it claims to stay cool for up to three hours. Great for keeping cool while mowing the lawn or working in the garden.

5 // MORTGAGE PAYOFF CALCULATOR

I’ve been super motivated to pay off our mortgage and love to use Dave Ramsey’s calculator for motivation. You can easily manipulate numbers to see how an extra payment will affect the longevity of the loan. I especially love seeing how much interest I can decrease!