And here's the soup!

Just thought I'd help your appetite.

Here's a picture of tonight's soup.

The On-Going Pot of Soup

These are pictures of our critters.

I'm not real computer literate so the pictures wound up at the top while I mention them in my blog toward the bottom. Oh well.

From top left to right: Lady, Mita and Cuddles.

Well, I just didn't feel like slaving away at the stove today so the old standby was reincarnated.

Ingredients are as follows:

One quart of frozen left over soup from last week

One Cup of creamed corn from last night's supper

Two cooked & de-boned, de-skinned chicken thighs cut into pieces

Two quarts chicken broth from cooking the chicken thighs

A dash of black pepper

It's bubbling on the woodstove now. I'm thinking maybe I'll add some noodles.

Naw...to much effort and besides, I'm watching my waistline.

The leftover soup's ingredients don't come to mind just now. I see some celery in there (dehydrated last week with the $3 dehydrator I found at a resale shop), some chicken stock, some leftover mashed potatoes, and maybe some meat. I dunno.

So, tonight's soup pot will feed us for about three meals. One portion eaten now, one frozen and one placed in a quart jar in the frig for maybe tomorrow or the next day.

The skin and chicken scraps are fed to our dog. Her name is Lady. She seldom barks, follows her master around like a sick puppy, is playful with the abandoned kitten we've taken in and respectful of my 12-year-old cat, Mita. The kitten was about three months old when she was dropped off next door. Mita is the "orange" cat in the pictures. She's on her third life.

While waiting for the pictures to load I stirred the soup and added some lentils. They cook quickly and seem to go with just about anything.

Tomorrow we do our monthly shopping. Have decided we'll stock up on TP, tin foil,

bleach, washing soda, Borax, Fels Naptha soap bars, and a few other odds and ends. Just have the feeling prices are gonna spike and I don't like hauling in supplies in the winter.

I make our laundry soap, thus the Fels, borax and washing soda.

I've been saving the plastic mesh from bags of onions, oranges and anything else I spot it on. Most of my supply has come from other people as I don't shop that much. The mesh is cut from any other packaging material and sorted into similar sizes. Next, I cut it into strips about 3-5 inches wide and hopefully 12-18 inches long, give or take. The strips are rolled into tubes beginning with the WIDE end. As I make each roll, I tuck one end beneath my marble rolling pin. Helps keep them from unrolling. Next, take a small rubber band and twist it around the end of about three of these rolls. Bring the other ends up to the rubber band and tuck them in.

Wha-la, you have a new pot scrubber. They're cheap and do the job. They don't look like the store bought ones but, oh well. Well, think the soup's ready.

Have a great evening folks, Treesong

So You Know Who We Are

I've read several blogs and left comments at a few so now I'll introduce US - though it's just ME who will be blogging!

I'm 55, single, and living with my 65-year-old partner. He's a wonderful, wise man who's a little rough around the edges. Between the two of us we have four adult children and seven grandchildren. We don't live near any of them! Wish that we did but, for now it's either a four hour or 8 hour commute to see any of them.

We live on his SS check which is small - very small. So we know a thing or two about living on less. He likes to say we can squeeze a quarter out of a nickle. Well, maybe a dime out of a nickle...

We live 10 miles out of a small town on 10 acres in an old mobile home. Maybe to some people we'd be considered trailer trash! But, for those of you who need more info, the trailer is a 1971 Marlette, 12x60 foot with a factory built 8x20 foot addition. The addition is part of the living room and contains a wood stove. This mobile home was GIVEN to my man!!! The best kind of gift - FREE!!!! All the windows are wood framed, vinyl clad thermopane - replaced by the previous owner. The home's roof has never leaked and we're snug as a couple bugs in here. Because it's a mobile home, our taxes are lower and the land is listed as agricultureal. We have a large garden, a wood shed and a Christmas tree plantation that should be harvested this fall. A tree farmer planted part of the acreage and he helps pay the taxes every year. When the trees are harvested we get paid a final fee for each tree.

We live UNLIKE most folks. We shop for supplies about once a month; do not use a dryer though we have one, don't have cable or satellite TV, and seldom ever go anywhere. So that means we better get along with one another 'cause we're together most of the time.

This blog will be mostly about our little cost saving measures; an occassional rant regarding our lovely government's use of the taxpayer's money' and whatever else catches my attention at the time. It is, after all, my Blog.

Leave comments if you like but please leave the manure at the door. I don't bother arguing with ignorant people.