Penny Wise

Upon discovering the sad little balance in our bank account, with a week before payday, I quickly commenced a campaign of the utmost frugality. What that means dear friends, is a long day in the kitchen. There were some lovely peaches that begged for a pie. Two loaves of bread, one whole wheat sandwhich loaf and an egg bread for morning toast and jam (the jam is stocked in the basement from the summer berries). Then there came our famous Pot-O-Beans, simmering for hours on the stove.
Fortunately, we seem to have moved past the heat wave so that a hot kitchen was not too miserable.

As I cooked and baked away the day, I was reflecting on how fortunate we are. Mr. Nova has a secure job, we have a sound roof over our heads, and we are in relatively good health. So many people I know are going through some rough times right now and my heart goes out to them. I was also thinking about simple living, something I believe in but, what does it mean really? Let's see...we make most of our food from scratch, we grow a good garden, we are raising chickens, we make the most of our environment and surroundings, we reduce, re-use and recycle...
There is more to it than that, how to explain it? Well, lets just take a trip over to Wikipedia to see what it has to say about Simple Living, hey that's pretty good for a start.

We have our luxuries to be sure, we splurge on good coffee beans, organic produce and the occasional treat. We live well and I feel so blessed and grateful for my beautiful family and our little cottage.

I am also immensely grateful to have my grandmother's gorgeous old canning jars full of dried goods lining my kitchen shelves. For the lean times, these lovelies are great bounty. Treasure that needs only a little imagination and seasoning to shine, to sustain and to remind us to keep it simple.