Free in July

Here is my list of what I got FREE during the month of July.
Publix tortilla chips: $2.58
6 Kraft Sandwich Shop mayo: $11.94
4 half-gallons Smart Balance milk: $14.36
French's mustard: $1.87
2 12-pk Coke: $9.98
3 jars Musselman's applesauce: $7.17
2 cans Lindsay olives: $4.38
Mayfield ice cream: $5.29
Milky Way candy bar: 89 cents
4 jars spices: $4
5 blocks Philly cream cheese: $7.56
Publix hot dogs: $2.19
Crest toothpaste: $4.79
3 soap pumps: $ 5.37
Gillette Fusion ProGlide razor: $10.99
2 Olay Gentle Foaming face wash: $11.98
2 Neutrogena spray sunscreen: $19.98
10-pack pencils: $1.99
Taco Bell Sparkling Limeade: $1.69
McDonald's smoothie: $2.29
Einstein's bagel with shmear: $2.49
2 Einstein's bagels: $2
4 5x7 prints: $4

Total: $134.31

Easy Dill Pickles

We have a bumper crop of cucumbers this year, all from three little seeds my neighbor gave me a few months ago. I poked them into the soil at my feet when he gave them to me, and then I forgot all about them. They were truly ignored. I was busy with a wedding and guests and renovating two bedrooms. I didn't have time to think about struggling little cucumber seeds by the garage.

Then one day I happened to see a large jumble of leaves crawling across the remains of the woodpile. Weeds...big weeds. I need to pull them, I thought. Was I ever surprised to see little cucumbers peaking through the leaves! Soon they ripened, and their brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and 12th cousins have been ripening ever since. We have too many!

Last week I tried making refrigerator dill pickles. That used up a tiny portion of our supply, which was a good thing. We allowed them to marinade for a week, then we tasted them. They are good, but the spices need a bit of adjusting. Today I made more. They are sitting in a crock until tomorrow, when I will get them into jars and in the refrigerator. Refrigerator dill pickles are very simple to make and a good way to use up lots of cucumbers.

Thrifty Finds

It's almost too hot for garage saling now. Almost, I said, but not quite. Heather and I hit the road early this time, and stopped at Einstein's Bagels for our free treat. We had to do a bit more driving than usual, but we found enough sales to keep us happy.

My haul:
A third pizza stone, this one includes the rack. New, never opened box, until we used it tonight for veggie pizza; $2. I have enough pizza stones now to keep the pizza coming for my crew.

A blue metal wastebasket with lighthouse design for our hall bath. 50 cents. Price tag on the bottom says $30! Who would pay $30 for a trash receptacle? Only someone who lives on a street called Highborn, I think.

A cute little apothecary jar, 50 cents.

A blonde wood desk organizer. I envision painting it white to go with the desk we don't have, and finally being able to organize The Professor's desk clutter.

That was it for me, a small haul, but it makes me happy.

Painted Pedestal Bowl

I finished a quick little project, except it wasn't all that quick. I found this lathe-turned wood bowl at an estate sale a month or so ago. In the before picture you can see that the finish is in really bad shape. The wood has a number of cracks in it, and, except for the pretty silhouette, there isn't much to recommend it.

After sanding, filling in the cracks with wood filler, and sanding again, I primed it, then spray painted it black. It took me forever to get it painted because I did it in the HOT garage, where, between coats, I kept forgetting about it. But it's finally finished and I'm very pleased with it.

July 4th

One of our family traditions has become a patio party for friends on or near July 4th. This year we decided to have a backyard BBQ, or perhaps I should say a backyard "cookout", on July 3rd. We have plenty of room on our patio, so we invited lots of friends. We had 27 attend. We grilled burgers and dogs, and baked a pork roast. Our friends brought various side dishes.The patio from above, before our guests arrived. I didn't get any photos after guests arrived; I was too busy!

The welcome wall pocket on the front porch.

Heather found a cute vintage patriotic print for the table by the front door. She also made all the pleated fan shapes we used in our centerpieces. To trim them, she created folded stars and added more vintage prints and star garland. They turned out so cute!

I made the red, white and blue table runners for our party last year.

River rocks and clear glass marbles anchor the fans. Heather glued the fans to painted paint stirring sticks.

Thrifted votive holders tied with polka dot ribbons.

I made patriotic cupcakes using an old jello cake recipe. When I discovered I didn't have white cake mix, I used coconut cake with raspberry jello. They were very good, except to the coconut-haters in the family.