Green and Thrifty

Happy spring roses. The price of one rose bush equals many years of spring happiness. Now that is a good investment.

I have been racking my brain for evidence of greenish thriftiness here at Chez Blueday. It has been quite a week, with The Boy leaving home, and me renouncing cups of tea for greater health. So mostly I have been sad, eating comfort food, and keep having accidental naps due to lack of caffeine.

Here is this week's short list:

Saving electricity. Turns out that none of the tea substitutes I have tried so far are inducing me to jump up and put the kettle on every hour, on the hour as has been my wont. So, savings there, on electricity, and wear and tear on the kettle.

Drinking water. We always drink water, when not drinking tea, so this is not new, but this week as the dental hygienist was examining Rosy's teeth she complimented Rosy's strong white teeth, and hazarded a guess that she did not drink soft drinks, sports drinks or lots of fruit juice. The hygienist said she is seeing more and more children with damage to their teeth from acid, sugary drinks. So savings all round here. Savings from not buying bottled drinks, savings lots of plastic from landfill, and savings on dental bills. Unfortunately, water doesn't magically straighten teeth, and we still spend rather too much time at the orthodontist..

This week I made up a bottle of Kevin's home made window washer, and discovered that it works brilliantly, without that nasty Windex smell. I substituted methylated spirits for the rubbing alcohol, because it is much cheaper, and I had some in the cupboard. The recipe is a solution of 45% water, 45% methylated spirits and 10% ammonia. I found that Kevin's mirror/window washing method works brilliantly too, although I had to spray-rub with a wet-cloth-spray-squeedgee, instead of his spray-squeedgee, mostly because I imagine Kevin's bedroom mirror doesn't have any small children licking it, or wiping their hands on it after dinner, or seeing if they can write their names on it in spit..

As I consigned last week's roses to the compost this morning, I saved the petals for pot pourri. They are drying on the kitchen bench, delightful to stir around with the fingers to make the kitchen smell rosy.

The Girl has been home studying for exams this week, and she and I have been determinedly eating all the leftovers that are in little pots in the fridge for lunch. I also cooked up some manky pears and wrinkly apples to make stewed fruit for my gluten-free breakfasts. Tonight I will be making potato cakes from equally wrinkly and sprouty potatoes.

A very dear friend came to visit and commiserate about children who unkindly leave home. She brought a beautiful little spring bouquet from her garden. It made me so happy, and reminded me that my granny always took a tiny, perfect little nosegay whenever she visited a friend, and how it only takes a few flowers, and is something I should remember to do.. especially in spring!

Posy brought some lovely, lovely pets home today. There were mealworms left over from a science project at school, so now all of Grade 3 have little tubs of bran containing several mealworms. They will apparently take a whole month to eat this bran (the meal worms, that is, not Grade 3), and they also perform entertaining acrobatics when you pick them up, and sometimes amusingly shed their skin. So, looking for a very cheap and alternative pet for the children? Try mealworms..

Eating and sharing from the garden this week: lemons, lettuce, parsley, artichokes, rocket.

What green and thrifty projects have you been up to at your place this week?