My tiny propagated Christmas cactus is about to bloom!
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I put aside a few minutes to make free phone calls to my U.S. senators and congresswoman to leave messages encouraging them to do “everything in your power and then some” to fight against Trump and Musk. It is wholly unacceptable for the richest people on our planet to victimize our most vulnerable. I am so horrified to be an American right now.
Click HERE to find the contact information for your senator.
Click HERE to find the contact information for your congressperson.
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I also made free phone calls to the corporate departments of Target and Costco to give feedback on whether they kept (Costco) or eliminated (Target) their “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs. I was extremely polite and hopefully these calls can balance out the awful phone calls these operators are likely receiving on a daily basis.
Click HERE for Costco’s contact information.
Click HERE for Target’s contact information.
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I took my daughter to the credit union to get more papers notarized for free. This saved her around $10. This is me, once again encouraging you to put your money in a member owned credit union instead of a corporately owned bank.
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I got another notice for a 7 A.M. to 10 A.M. “Peak Times Rebate” electricity event, so I unplugged a couple of vampire energy devices and turned off a small light we normally keep on before going to bed. There’s not much else to minimize during these early hours, as the thermostat is already set to 64°F and I ain’t going lower! I saved a massive 46¢ during the last “event.”
I was curious how our electricity usage compares to other households, so I went to the Portland General Electric website to find this information. This graph shows our electricity usage being less than an “efficient similar home,” except in the summer when we use window air conditioners to ensure the house is cooled down to a livable temperature.
For reference we live in a 1914 2000-ish square-foot uninsulated house. Cute, but drafty.
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I didn’t spend 290 million dollars to buy myself into an unelected federal government position.
{ 88 comments… read them below or add one }
Katy, thank you! For your phone calls, your advocacy, and your willingness to post so regularly.
I guess I should have saved my #6 on FFT for this post. Finding a lot of incredible, truthful, factual writers and journalists posting on Substack, BlueSky, even Facebook. So far, I’m subscribing for free. I don’t get all the content, but it leaves money for me to donate to worthy organizations.
1. I have been making the Resist.bot text messages via my phone daily. The choice is always snail mail, email, etc. I choose email because it is free to me.
2. I have called and emailed my reps almost every day. I will surely end up on a reeducation list some day. Send me a cake with a file in it?
3. I wrote to AARP, my credit union and attempted to reach Bank of America to ask what they are doing to safeguard our privacy, Social Security, and money, respectively. AARP sent me back a strong text that gave me hope. So did my credit union. I couldn’t find the BofA email anywhere so I reached out to them on Threads. No response yet.
4. I think I mentioned before that we run our appliances up to 4 pm or after 9 to get a better rate on PG&E. We have also turned the thermostat down to 66. It is cold, but we are wearing socks, hoodies, hats, and using our electric blanket to warm up the bed at night, just for a little while.
5. I just spent $180 on a nuc (“nuke”) of bees (that’s a queen and 10K bees), which is pricier than I would like, but these bees are bred locally so they are more likely to survive the summers and winters than the ones I had before. Local bees are always better. I paid with my CC but will pay it off later in the month with my eBay sales.
Your #2 made me laugh. Thank you. I feel like it’s either laugh or cry right now.
Julia, you may have a lot of us as your cellmates, given how your #2 may play out.
They gotta find us first, then hope like Hades they can haul us in. Hauling in a good portion of the Commentariat is not good PR.
Julia,
I will likely be an inmate right along side you, but my sister is a fabulous baker. I’ll have her send us a cake with a shiv in it.
Thank you for making those calls and encouraging others to do likewise. I’ve sent emails to my representatives. Our president and his allies are such an embarrassment for our country. He has no idea how to be kind, compassionate or neighborly. I mean why, why would he pick a fight with Canada?? Sheesh! Forget what they did for us on 9/11 and fighting fires in California alongside firefighters from Mexico. I think we can forget ever asking to borrow a cup of maple syrup now from our neighbors to the north.
@Cathy, if you wanted maple syrup, I would gladly let you borrow. Most Canadians know that our fight isn’t against regular Americans, it is against the Pumpkin-head and the Oligarchs who have taken over your nation. Canadians have many friends who are Americans, we get the difference between the people and the (appalling to us) Government.
We are, however, being pulled together in ways I have never seen. Canadians are REALLY mad. It is changing how we purchase, and where we plan our holidays.
1. I also called my senator. And increased my giving to an international humanitarian organization.
2. I picked up 2 different lots of free food from Buy Nothing. And a free coffee table from FB marketplace that I will sell. I keep listing on FB marketplace and ebay, both for my own income and things I’m selling for my son.
3. I looked in my storage tub of picture frames and found one the size and color my son’s family needed. I also looked in my storage tub of curtains and found a set also needed by my son’s family.
4. I had our city water people out yesterday for a free look at where our small water leak might be. They didn’t definitively find it but I did learn some things.
5. I have earned my first hours at our local timebank. It’s a very exciting way to receive help and skilled services (like electrician or appliance repair) outside of the cash economy.
Kara, your comment inspired me to research international humanitarian NGOs to whom I can send money. Thank you!
My son, who’s applying to law school, wrote an essay for his application about how great it was to take part in Hong Kong’s 2019 demonstrations for freedom blah blah in America we take liberty for granted. He asked me to proofread it, which I did, while sourly thinking about the current administration. I hate every single thing about it and their smug fat faces. Every day the news makes me want to cry. And so few people seem to care.
Uh, that’s all I got except that I’ve been reading B. Seebohm Rountree’s books about British labor/the poor around 1900 for free online. When I said I liked weird books, I meant it.
My fervent wish is for everyone who voted for the white slug to suffer the most. Better half has friends who think all their problems are due to Clinton/Obama/Biden. News flash for them – it doesn’t matter who is in office when you a) can’t manage your money and b) your wife can’t keep a job, in a field where workers are in short supply. When you’ve been fired from every business in the area that employs those with your skills, the problem is you, not who is in the White House.
Amen!!!
Well said Selena!
I would also send come-to-Jesus realizations to the one third of Americans who DID NOT VOTE. (Harris got about a third of voters; the bully a third; 34% did not vote).
And to those who thought a woman and/or a person of color should not be president and didn’t vote on that criteria, think shame upon yourself.
This always drives me crazy. My grandmother and her sisters fought so I could have a vote. My mother couldn’t buy a house(1969) without my dad being on the mortgage. I chose to have my daughter at 19. I would do it again in a second. But it was my choice. I refuse to go back to the way it was. Not only for me but for my daughters and future granddaughters. I am calling and emailing almost everyday.
Marybeth- Truth!!!
@Heidi Louise, you are soooo right.
Selena, I understand your anger toward people who voted for the orange one, but I think we have to make room for the fact that so many of them were suckered in by misinformation and disinformation. It certainly begs the question as to why people are so easily misled. That said, if people are losing their jobs no matter who’s in the White House then, yeah, it’s probably them.
cathy, personally, I think you’re being too kind to those who voted for the Orange One. The folks I know who voted for him fully believed then and now in his proposals – and are cheering him and his cronies on. It’s appalling to me.
Maybe? I’m not saying they don’t believe that the proposals are the way to go. I’m saying I think most of them were played. I’m not one to wish pain and suffering on everyday Americans, though I guarantee plenty (most?) of the folks who voted for the buffoon will suffer from what’s going on now. Not that they’ll admit that it’s the fault of anyone other than Dems or Biden.
@cathy – not buying it. They weren’t suckered, they think it is flat out true (I am being nice). Haitians eating cats? War on Christmas? Economy is tanking? From what source are these people getting their information? Someone else’s fault that you did not get an education or have a marketable (read: make more than minimum wage) skill? Drink bleach or ingest de-wormer to battle COVID-19? I would not be surprised if some think you can get pregnant from a toilet seat. The most perplexing thing is that those who loudly proclaim to be christian think the white slug is christian. Organized religion was already tanking, the white slug is accelerating it.
Totally agree. Every one has access to good accurate information. Its how they choose to use it.
Have a relative that still insists that nobody wants to work anymore. When I ask who these people are she says well, not you. And Believes the egg shortage was caused by Biden.
I know she lives in a red state, but no excuse
Sadly, we were great friends until her Trump ism reared its head
Cathy,
I totally agree that those who voted for The Orange One will suffer along with the rest of us, and that they will blame it on Dems/liberals, Biden, Obama, the pandemic, or anything else they can dream up. They will complain that fruits and vegetables are rotting in the fields, because there’s no one interested in picking it all. They’ll complain when Social Security and Medicare goes away, but probably applaud when Medicaid is no more (because those people should GET A JOB. Huge eye roll.). I got into an argument with my Trump-loving nephew when he insisted Biden was the cause of the current inflation. Have we forgotten we were in a global pandemic not so long ago?? Sheesh.
Liz B., if your nephew thinks Biden caused the current inflation, wait till he gets a load of what we’re going to see from now on.
I have also been calling my senators and congressperson daily – even though they are all 3 orange menace boot lickers — I am using the “5Calls” app, its super easy , free, and they even give you a script if you want to use it! (they have a website as well https://5calls.org/ )
I am so disheartened and scared of what has been going on in our country – I feel like calling is one thing I CAN do…as I refuse to stand by and do nothing but worry & complain.
Cheryl,
Thank you for your efforts. Let’s keep on keeping on!
That’s what I’ve been using as well. It’s nice that they provide scripts for a variety of issues. My understanding is that legislators pay a lot more attention to phone calls than to written communication. My legislators are very blue, but I call anyway.
I had not previously heard of 5Calls. Thank you for sharing!!!
I also called some of my “blue” friends and told them about it. We’re going to be calling a LOT.
Tell your red friends too. I am. We don’t agree on everything but we are able to talk to eachother about it. They agree with some and should be able to help if they want to. I am going out with some friends tonight and will be bringing it up. I may lose some friends. I have planety.
Thanks for the link.
Cheryl, I too thank you for the 5Calls link. Let’s keep the heat on our representatives, even if we’re turning it down at home.
Jill A, A Marie, Anon, Fru-Gal Lisa, Li — and all the commentariat: We are the small and mighty and we must rise up to the challenge set before us and do the next needed thing!! I encourage all to share with friends and keep calling!
Thank you for this link!! I have forwarded to all my contacts!
1. Deposited my freelance writing check, all twenty bucks of it, in my credit union account.
2. Brown bagged all my work lunches. Better to bring stuff from home than to get ripped off in the teacher’s lounge vending machines, which just upped the prices to $1.35 a can for soda pop and $3 for bags of chips. Individual-sized, not family- sized, chips, and not too many chips in the bag at that. Good grief!
3. Goodwill Industries in my area put out a plea for shoes. So I donated some sneakers I never wear, and received a coupon for 20% off. Cleaning out closets, so I will likely have more to give….and will get coupons for those donations, too.
4. Negotiated the price for hiring laborers to do some moving and yardwork (stuff I physically cannot do). Got a cash discount and a senior discount.
5. Sending Valentine’s greeting cards obtained very, very cheaply (real greeting cards: most were a dime, some were a quarter and no, they were not the kind the kiddies hand out at school.). Bought them at a thrift shop more than a year ago. When it was nowhere near February. If I don’t have enough, I also got some red note cards, blank inside, after Xmas on sale at another shop.
Fru-gal Lisa,
$20 in your pocket/bank account is nothing to sneeze at! Yay you for doing that freelance job.
I’m always on the lookout for cards of all kinds when I go thrifting or yard-saling. I recently scored $2 cards from an online seller – I realize, not as good as deals you’ve found, or dollar store prices – but these had unique designs that I really like. We have a friends wedding and another friends retirement coming up, plus birthdays, so it was a good time to stock up.
1. Made coffee at home even though I drive by my favorite coffee place twice to feed my sister’s cats.
2. Made a tuna and cheese hot dish but fancied it up with Italian seasoned bread crumbs. Dinner plus lunch for two for under $5, or $1.25 serving
3. Remembered to turn down heat before going to bed.
4. Didn’t turn it up again and put slippers on feet to work from home
5. Didn’t have lawyer fees as I resisted tearing down a neighbor’s Trump flag on the next block over.
I thought this was about 5 Frugal things. Not 5 things about politics.
There is no division between politics and daily life.
Katy: the personal is political as we used to say in the 80s.
AMEN, Katy, Amen!
Maybe but I don’t see any posts except those supporting liberal politics
I support politicians and policy that care about human rights. It’s not my fault that they’re all considered “liberal.”
Pretty hard to be frugal when President Jerkoff eliminates your job, and ridiculous tariffs, only approved by Pumpkinhead cronies, jacks up your cost of living. But don’t worry, Susan, all the immigrant, gay, trans, disabled people you blame for the nation’s troubles are getting punished.
Our library offers free notary services if you call ahead! And passport photos! I love the library.
I don’t have any reps to call, as I don’t live in the US but I’m cheering al of you who fight for democracy! Also thinking of switching to a local email provider instead of googlemail.
FFT birthday edition:
1. I treated myself to a skin cleaning at the local beautician, I paid using a coupon I got at the village christmas raffle and money my grandma gave me for my birthday
2. I resisted buying sushi and instead made shrimp pasta at home, using up ingredients from the fridge and freezer
3. I resisted going to the thrift shop to get new jeans and instead patched a pair that was lingering in my “repair” pile
4. Afternoon little adventure to the local sauna by the lake: after getting nice and toasty I swam in the lake, which is at 6 dec Celsius. The sauna place also provides hot and cold drinks. My friend paid for me as a birthday gift
5. I went out to eat with friends as a birthday party, they all kindly split the bill and invited me. Also got treats: potted flowers, chocolate, delicious flavored green tea and homemade walnut oil, which tastes and smells AMAZING. The best part however was catching up with my friends who live in different cities.
Happy birthday!
6 degrees C = 42.8 degrees F, for all us Americans who don’t understand celsius or centigrade or whatever it’s called.
Happy Birthday Claire, and thank you for joining us in solidarity as we try to save our Democracy!
Thank you Marie and Cheryl for the birthday wishes and Lisa for the temperature conversion! It’s in degrees Celsius, the zero of that temperature scale is where water freezes, 100 degrees for boiling water, hence the centigrade scale
Thank you all for calling and emailing your representatives and senators. Mine are the same party as my believes but it helps to ask them to get a move on it and protest louder. I have been telling all my friends to please do the same.
I love the PGE rebates. Last one I earned $3.37. Since I am over 80 and live alone I don’t have to worry about anyone being cold or hungry. I get up at 5 turn the heat on until 7 (that was the hous today) and then spend until 10 in a warm bed reading. Love the library as most of you. Also thanks for all the book suggestions from you all.
I have to say that I have followed you for a number of years. I am not always frugal but when I’m not and making a decision your voice is in my head! It helps.
Marydru, your morning routine sounds lovely.
Brisbane, Australia, Horrified, grief stricken, for all my American sistas! The power that has been given to the unelected to delve deeply into government files, and to do as they will with regard to government spending defies belief. It’s like watching Monty Python, an exercise in craziness, but we don’t get to leave the cinema, laughing! I keep hoping that , soon, normal programmes will be resumed,
Thank you Coral, well said.
1. Neighbors moved and left a pile of mostly junk but I did rescue a hand held mixer, a one burner hot plate, 2 new rubber mats for under dog bowls, 2 large mirrors, a clean cat litter box, a new in box stand for two dog bowls. Some I’ll keep some I’ll sell.
2. Made chicken fried rice for dinner. All ingredients were already here.
3. Found a dime!
4. I’m currently wear 10 year old sweater pants and a fleece pullover that’s probably also 10 years old.
5. Dehydrated 3 bags of shredded carrots I bought on clearance. I use them in stews and also to top dress my Guinea pigs food.
I also called our 2 Oregon senators. Every voice is needed for this tragedy.
After speaking with a friend, I put a credit freeze on all 3 credit bureau’s. His thought is Musk tinkering in all of our business could be dangerous.
On a lighter note, I made tomato vegetable soup. Cleaned out the crisper drawer and not a canned good was opened. Even used the 4 wrinkled mushrooms. Now have soup for 3 days
And made a loaf of peasant bread to accompany the soup.
No#5
Thank you for the suggestion of the credit freeze, that’s a great idea.
This s$&*show with DOGE prompted me to finally do the credit freeze at all 3 agencies. Took me maybe 15 min maximum. AARP suggests going through FTC.gov to find the (legitimate) links to all three – so that is what I did.
And you do realize 25 year white supremacist boy (birds of a feather) actually CHANGED code in the system? Ladies (I used to hate it when umpires called us ladies during a game – no ladies on this field thank-you-very-much), time to go into a freeze. Meaning all those banks, credit card companies and those similarly situated won’t be sending us mail.
AND speaking of mail – postal workers dumped the current offer. There will be a push to privatize. Meaning ANOTHER round of calls to any federal congress peep. Remember, the pukes under Bush II made the postal system fund 75% of retirement health care funds each year. Remember the late 1980s and “over funded pension plans” – that were robbed blind by buyers? Think about how much money is sitting in the postal service fund for retirement – which any grifter/thief will deem over funded. https://ips-dc.org/how-congress-manufactured-a-postal-crisis-and-how-to-fix-it/
1. Snowy and icy out today so stayed put.
2. I cut an hour out for myself to read my library book with a cat in my lap.
3. I made DH a breakfast for lunch to use up some leftovers. I’m trying to have a no spend and no food waste month.
4. Washing out food storage bags and aluminum foil so I can use them multiple times, watering plants with yesterday’s tea kettle water, bought candy canes at 75% off and using one in my tea to give it a peppermint kick, making all meals, coffee and tea at home and reading library books.
5. I’m here on the sidelines cheering on the Congress men and women who are trying their hardest to get answers on why Musk is in charge.
Your #2 sounds heavenly!
Thanks for the reminder to take time out for ourselves (and our loved ones – furry and human).
Lea
Had a no-waste cooking day and turned a bowl of nectarines that would not soften up into a pan of mixed fruit baked oatmeal after cooking the peeled, diced fruit in a saucepan with some ginger, vanilla and brown sugar. Threw in a chopped apple and a handful of frozen raspberries. It is so good.
Washed my wool house slippers and let them dry on the garden bench on a sunny, breezy day, line dried some bath mats and towels, used an empty cat litter bag to clean up the back yard, and refilled reusable K-cups with discounted coffee.
We bank at locally owned banks. Which do not charge for notarizing documents. So sad some areas don’t have locally owned banks and it is NOT because of “regulations”. While my father is still at a locally owned bank, the shareholders of his prior bank – of which all but one inherited their stock – sold out. They deserved to pay the capital gains tax.
I think about all the brave young American men & women who fought and died fighting fascism in WW2. I think they would be horrified by the events of the last few weeks.
Amen. PBS has been airing WWII stuff alot lately, for good reason!
Thank you, Katy, for the Congressional contact info. It’s not hard to make a phone call. I intend to do just that first thing tomorrow morn.
Thank you Katy, for posting this information. I have been calling my senators in hopes I will be listened to, even though I am in Florida. An unelected, unvetted official having access to our private information, the governments treasury computers and pay systems is an a national security issue, and should be a concern to all americans regardless of party.
I am respectful, concise and to the point. I call every day. Lets do this.
Patricia
I am in Florida as well Patricia- thank you for calling and let’s keep it up!
As a dane I am happy that you didn’t buy Greenland 🙂
Kirsten, solidarity to our friends in Denmark. And we hope to do as good a job keeping Trump from buying Greenland as we trust Denmark will do.
Thank you for posting information on contacting your representatives/I plan to do so today- we have to do something-
I am going to redouble my efforts to only buy used or locally- tired of giving the oligarchs my money. I find so much comfort from your blog, Katy, please keep up the good work
Thank you fir your advocacy and for encouraging others to do the same.
I have been writing and writing – but it feels like I am spitting in the wind, especially to my barely disguised MAGA congressman.
I have often thought that it is a matter of time before the pendulum swings the other way – so my hope is that this unbearable awfulness and advocacy from concerned citizens will at some point contribute to positive change. In the meantime it is unbelievably painful.
I will also be calling my reps. I had been sticking my head in the sand since the election. I’m backing to cursing at the TV.
1. My spendy daughter has mentioned interest in frugality as protest. She’s not interested in participating in this economy. I’m also going to increase efforts to buy used or locally as Tracy mentioned above
2. I needed a day out by myself. I went to an estate sale and Goodwill. I found a couple Christmas gifts and several items to sell on Ebay. I also found a few more driveway markers. Many of mine are broken and I was struggling to stay on the driveway with the snow thrower this winter.
3. I listed a large decorative mirror on Facebook marketplace.
4. I picked up a couple deli pizzas at Fresh Thyme market. They were BOGO. One pizza was dinner for DD#3 and I last night.
5. I binge watched an entire season of Surface on Apple TV yesterday in anticipation of cancelling my subscription in a few days.
We come here for your frugal tips, not your politics. Stop.
Nope.
@Angie – suggest you do some historical reading re: politics and money. Start with the US but make sure you read about Germany and Russia.
Huh, I come for the frugal tips and the lessons about how politics affect prices. And the community of like minded folk. Who all seem to be pretty political.
Angie: Are you happy with what’s happening in this country
I come for both. It’s so refreshing to find a frugality blogger who isn’t a Christian nationalist!
Nothing and no one is holding you hostage here against your will…..
Thank you for the reminder on the Capitol switchboard. As we say in campaign land, all gas, no breaks!
1. Had a lovely girls night out last night. Took public transportation there and back and avoided uber fees
2. Did a youtube workout at home to supplement my gym workouts
3. I remembered to take the chicken out of the freezer, which saves dinner and sets us up for a lovely night in
4. That lovely night in involves streaming TV and sitting on the couch, both already paid for (anyone else watching Severance??)
5. I did not give a 19 year old permissions to rewrite government tax data!
FTFT, Non Illegitimi Carborundum (very dubious Latin for “Don’t let the b@$%@&ds grind you down”) Edition:
(1) I too have called my Senators, and I need to call my Congressman as well, since I live in a contentious swing district and he’s already knuckled in to the MAGAts on one key vote. (I’m starting to think he may be a DINO.) Thanks again to Cheryl for the 5Calls link.
(2) While I’m not stockpiling food the way DH and I did before Y2K (which some of you young’uns may be too young to remember!), I did grab a few extra canned goods at Ollie’s this morning.
(3) And though Ollie’s was completely out of ice melter (which I need), I was delighted to find a rack of Ferry-Morse garden seeds (most non-GMO and many USDA organic) priced at a fraction of retail. Since my greens planted in large containers with fire-pit covers as deer protection did so well last year, I’m planning to do a few more veg the same way this year–especially as, one way and another, we can expect a spike in the price of veg.
(4) In the basement, I just found an old 10# plastic jug of ice melter whose contents had solidified (as they tend to do after a while). I bashed the jug repeatedly on the pavement outside to break up the lumps. Then I emptied the lumps onto the worst icy patches on NDN’s and my driveways and sidewalks, and broke these up with a rubber-headed mallet. With every bash and whack, I chanted the name of an unfavorite political figure. This will not, of course, get the scalawags out of DC any sooner, but it was good exercise and made me feel better. I’m calling this “Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do, Let’s Throw the Rascals Out!”
(5) And I’ve done nothing this week to enrich Elon Musk, Schmeff Schmezos, or Mark Zuckerberg.
I LOVE YOUR CHANT and hope the actual chant was a bit less PG-13!
@Katy (and @A. Marie) – we both know it was no where near PG-13. I get the .22 out for some therapy.
I love your chant too. I added my own words to the last part.
1. I’ve begun writing political letters – Canadian, so much of what I get to do is directed at encouraging our elected representatives to continue to keep Climate at the forefront, and not cave to the Oil and Gas and LNG lobbyists who are chanting ‘drill baby drill’ in the misguided belief that the way to deal with a bully is to cave to his demands for more power from Canada.
Also working on the fentanyl issue from the position of the poison drug supply – Why is alcohol legal and encouraged, and other drugs illegal? “Moms Stop the Harm” is one of the organizations I support and amplify. We have lost more people in my province to the poisoned drug supply than we have to COVID – and yet the number of government dollars spent on addressing the issue is miniscule in comparison. (Huff! Ok, off the soap box)
2. Sending a few dollars to organizations I support who are working toward issues that are close to my heart.
Also set up automatic donations to the local Member of Parliament who will run for the federal election when it is called (This is expected in the early spring, depending on when the Canadian federal government ‘falls’ [when it loses support of parlement by not getting enough votes to pass a particular kind of bill]. This will happen, once one of the other parties withdraws support. The Tariff War with the USA has changed when that will likely happen, however we ARE going to be going to the polls in the first half of this year). Our local guy is in a minority party, and he has done a decent job both the way he votes and the way he helps his constituents. I sure don’t want the nasty Trump-like other party to get a foothold here, particularly as I suspect I know who is going to run and he is a…n unpleasant fellow.
3. I got a call from the hydro people, telling me that the hydro pole on my property (but owned by the hydro company) will be replaced before I go on my holiday in April. I think they would have liked to come out this week but we have an unseasonal foot of snow on the ground that isn’t going away, as it is unseasonably still below freezing.
Anyway, the frugal thing about the pole replacement is that I don’t have to pay for it! YAY.
4. I have not driven anywhere nor purchased anything for 6 days. My mom broke her leg walking to the store in the snow, 30+ years ago, and I am taking her experience to heart – no need to go anywhere until it is truly safe. (We don’t have the infrastructure to plow roads nor deal with snow).
I am walking – with snowshoes – to the sheep and down the quiet road, but mostly at home reading and cooking with what we have
5. I am actually slogging through what is in the fridge, as I cook, and hope to get my frugal act together – finding the back of the fridge is wondrously rare!. I have too many condiments so that is causing me to visit my dry pantry to see what I have that can pair with what is in the fridge. I love the challenge!
6. Still sorting seeds so I don’t overbuy.
7. Cooking up more squash out of the never ending storage. Dry black beans soaking and will instant pot tomorrow (these are the cook-forever beans that I just bought, but they clearly are old so need a lot of pressure to soften). I am going to pull some Tofu out of the freezer and cook it in the air fryer. Yum
Just went through my seed stash also. Only need carrot seeds this year.
I have wrote SO MANY letters to my congress(men) (all men right now). They don’t care (and have replied so), but it makes me feel better. The organization that I work with for cancer research saw the website go black a couple weeks ago. I just am not doing good.