One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1153 of 2143 - I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

Victoria, B.C. Flowers, Flowers and More Flowers…

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 9, 2014 · 12 Comments

The flowers… they were EVERYWHERE. Seriously, if you are looking for ways to spruce up your window boxes, garden planters or just need some landscaping ideas, Victoria B. C. is the place to go.

It was not humanly possible to walk down a street there and not see flowers.

Total flower porn.

Did I just say that? 😉

This planter with pink geraniums was one of my favorites. Does anyone know what those tiny white flowers are? I am totally going to plant this combo next year.

Victoria should be named the flower capital of the world!!

I’ve been a lot of places and I have never seen so many flowers. To say it was lovely would be a total understatement. 🙂 Mavis

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The Health Benefits of Spices

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 9, 2014 · 3 Comments

Everyone knows they are supposed to eat their veggies, but did you know that “spicing up” your food also packs a nutritional punch? Spices act as powerful antioxidants {according to nutritionist, Nick Rose, they are even more powerful antioxidants than blueberries and acai berries}. So, next time you add a little dash of this or that for flavor, you can basically pat yourself on the back for improving your overall health.

Since “variety is the spice of life” {pun intended}, it’s important to use a wide array of spices to get the most nutritional bang for your buck. Each spice provides different health benefits.

Cinnamon has one of the highest antioxidant properties. It has been shown to improve blood sugar regulation, prevent/treat diabetes, improve circulation, and lower inflammation–just to name a few. Plus, it’s pretty darn tasty, so adding it into your oatmeal, coffee, tea, etc. isn’t really that difficult.

Chili peppers contain capsaicin, which has been shown to reduce pain {which is ironic, because depending on your tolerance to hot, they can be quite painful going down} and help to suppress your appetite.

Cumin is a great source of iron and has antibacterial properties. Tumeric has such powerful antioxidant properties it has been shown to help fight/prevent cancer. Ginger can help with upset stomach and fight inflammation, so if you have arthritis or general soreness, adding ginger to your daily regiment may help.

Rosemary has antifungal and antibacterial properties. Sage helps with memory {maybe that’s why they call someone a wise sage?} and can help with sore throats. Saffron will cost you a small fortune, but it is great for fighting depression and PMS. Parsley has also been shown to slow down or inhibit breast cancer growth.

As an added bonus, adding spices to your food can help you decrease your overall salt intake. It’s win-win.

So, I guess Hippocrates was right, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

~Mavis

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Seattle Chicken Coop and Urban Farm Tour 2014

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 9, 2014 · 2 Comments

If you live in the Seattle and LOVE chickens and gardens, then you’ll want to stop by the Seattle Chicken Coop & Urban Farm Tour this coming Saturday, July 12th between 10 am – 4 pm.

The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird and I have been touring local farms and chicken coops since 2009 and every year we have a blast seeing all the creative and unique designs people come up with. We have already purchased our tickets for this years events and plan on taking oodles of photos for all of you that cannot make it.

The tour is self guided so you can go at your own pace {my favorite part}. We typically pack a cooler and make a day of it. Don’t be afraid to embrace your inner-nerd and do the same. 🙂

Seattle Tilth’s Chicken Coop & Urban Farm Tour

Individuals = $12

Seattle Tilth members or bicyclists = $10
Youth {ages 4-15} = $5
Groups/Family {3-6 people} = $35
Groups/Family, Seattle Tilth members or group of bicyclists = $30
Ages 3 and under = Free

If you are in the area and you have some extra time this Saturday, GO! You won’t be disappointed. Oh, and if inspiration strikes as a result, make sure to send me your pictures of your new chicken coop masterpieces.

~Mavis

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12 Goals for the New Year – Week 28 of 52

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 9, 2014 · 12 Comments

I came up with 12 goals I’d like to accomplish this year with the hopes of being able to cross one off my list per month to make them more manageable. I thought a great way to hold myself accountable to the things I want to accomplish this year would be to do a weekly update.

After all, we all need a little help staying motivated sometimes. Here’s how I am doing so far:

1. ~~Clean, de-clutter and organize my entire home in 30 days or less~~. – So far this year I have cleaned my closet, organized my kitchen, decluttered my bathroom, organized my office, gutted the garage, and tackled the laundry room. So far this week The Girl and I have gone through all shoes and tossed the really junky ones and stuffed the others in a bag for the Goodwill.

Also on our list for this week is cleaning out the bathroom cupboards again. We did this about 6 months ago but it’s time to do it again. How does all that stuff get in there anyway?

2. Fit into the same jeans I wore 8 years ago when we moved into our house. We got some serious mileage in on our pedometers when we were in Victoria over the weekend. One day we walked 11 miles. Wowza. Who knew walking around town looking for pastries and tea shops could be such a workout!

3. ~~Travel.~~ So far this year The Girl and I have been to Boston, London, Paris, Portland, Oregon Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia and now Victoria B.C.

What’s next on our list? Nothing. 🙁 Unless of course you count the HH and The Girl’s road trip to college at the end of the summer. That one will be a doozy for sure. 3,000 miles? Umm yeah, I’ll be sitting that one out. {I’ll tell you more about that one later}.

4. Send my daughter to college without having a nervous breakdown thus spending a week in bed sobbing. At this point I’m too busy getting her ready for college like making sure she has quarters so she can do her own laundry, and working on other projects so I just don’t have any time to worry. So basically, stay busy and it will all work out. Right? Right. 🙂

5. Get 3 new teeth. – I’m suppose to go back to the oral surgeon later this week to see if I can finally get the green light to make an appointment with the dentist to get some teeth. Wish me luck! 😉

6. ~~Pay off my car~~. Done!

7. ~~Finish this primitive folk art rug I started 4 years ago~~. Finished! It took me 6 months but I’m done. 🙂 I started another rug, it has a turkey on it so I’m hoping to get it done in time to set out for Thanksgiving. We’ll see.

I also started my first ever cross stitch and I think I’m either

A. going to go blind trying to finish it or

B. Just stop altogether. To say cross stitching is time consuming would be a HUGE understatement. 😉

8. Do something together as a family ever Sunday. The Girl and I were out of town this past weekend but word on the street was Monkey Boy and the HH had a great time driving around town and eating BBQ.

9. ~~Secret Plan #1~~ – Done! – I’ll tell you about it at the end of the month.

10. Secret Plan #2 Making progress.

11. Secret Plan #3

12. Convince the HH we should buy a Salt Box Style House in Colonial Williamsburg. Our 20th anniversary is coming up and I keep hinting…. we’ll see how it all pans out. 😉

13. Spend at least 1 hour a day working in my garden. I am totally diggin’ the weather here in Western Washington lately and was able to get quite a few things planted this past week. Green beans are up and we’ve been picking raspberries like mad. Life is good!

So there you have it, my goals for the new year.

How about YOU? How are your 2014 goals coming along?

~Mavis

P.S. YES, I know I wrote down 13 goals. I’m fairly certain I won’t be able to attain one of them. {gee, I wonder which one?} But I wanted to add it in there anyway because I believe in miracles.

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