My husband and I are realists (pessimists?) when it comes to planting tomatoes. After a few years of trial & error, we now stick with planting the smaller grape & cherry tomatoes. The harvest is always plentiful, even when the warm weather is not, giving our green thumbs a real ego boost. This summer was a disappointing one in the gardening department. Cool weather meant later crops and smaller harvests. As signs of fall start to appear, most gardeners are moaning about all their green tomatoes hanging on the vines: "Tomatoes have everyone feeling blue, rather than seeing red. Several times a day, someone asks me despondently why they don't Keep Reading
Frugal Living 101: Leave a legacy
This is last in a five part guest post series by Kari Patterson. You can catch up by reading the first, second, third and fourth installment. ******************************* I’m usually not mindful, as I pull out the scissors and get on my Sunday paper game-face, that what I’m doing might impact generations to come. I suspect I’m not alone. To be “thinking of the future” for many of us means considering if we have enough toilet paper to get through the month. Sad, but true. But we do want to leave a legacy, right? For our children, grandchildren, for those in our sphere of influence who watch the way we live. Don’t we all want to leave the world Keep Reading
Picking Peaches
Picking Peaches When I was a kid, my parents took us peach picking every year. The picking was easy which made the stopping difficult. I can remember filling more boxes than the back of our van could hold. Each of us rode home itchy and sticky, with heavy boxes full of peaches on our laps. Ah, the memories. Well, the peach doesn't fall far from the tree. Now it's my turn to drag my kids out to the peach orchards. And just like my parents before me, we pick too many. Sometimes too much of a good thing is still a good thing. This past weekend, my husband and I joined forces with my sister's family to pick Suncrest peaches at a local orchard. Last Keep Reading
Frugal Living 101: Give Generously
This is fourth in a five part guest post series by Kari Patterson. You can catch up by reading the first, second and third installment. ******************************* We all visit this site with a common goal, right? To save money. We check the site and cut the coupons and shop the sales and roll the Cat to reduce our overall spending and save the money we’ve worked so hard to earn. But then what? We save money, but what exactly is the purpose of that goal? There are many lofty goals with regard to saving, but perhaps the greatest goal, and the essence of Frugal Living NW, is to save our dollars so we are freed to give generously. Why Keep Reading
Frugal Living 101: Spend Wisely
This is third in a five part guest post series by Kari Patterson. You can catch up by reading the first and second installment. ******************************* I love good exhaustion. You know the feeling, right? That satisfied exhaustion that follows a day full of expending our energy on worthwhile things. It’s like the elation of finishing a long, hard run. Spent, in the best sense of the word. The second component of the Frugal Living NW mission is to Spend Wisely, and I love this because it reminds me that the goal of frugal living isn’t merely to not spend. That’s silly. That’s like saying that my goal for the day is to expend as little Keep Reading
Guest Post: Deals for mamas-to-be
This is a guest post by Gretchen, who lives just outside of Portland with her husband, Dominic, and soon-to-be little one who is due in October. You can follow their journey towards parenthood at That Mama Gretchen. Stop by to place a guess on baby's gender and birthday! *************************** Preparing for baby on a budget is no easy task! When I found out I was expecting in early 2010 I immediately started dreaming of everything baby related. I signed up for virtually every pregnancy newsletter and found myself bombarded with e-mails shouting, "Buy this if you want to have a happy baby!" and, "You must have this to survive parenthood!" My, Keep Reading
Frugal Living 101: Why coupon?
This is the first in a five-part guest post series by Kari Patterson. Kari is a pastor's wifey, ministry mommy, writer, runner, blogger, reader and frugal living enthusiast. She enjoys green tea, line-dried laundry and Alexander McCall Smith novels. Her musings can be found at karipatterson.com. ************************ Have you ever found yourself quickly flipping past the front page of the Sunday paper, eager to pull out the latest coupon insert and scope out the week’s hottest deals? I often forget that the Sunday newspaper is actually a vehicle for carrying news, not just the Albertson’s doubles or the golden nugget $10 off $50 from Safeway. Keep Reading