The Vicky Challenge. More from Vicky's visit to the nursing home.

I was looking forward to my Vicky Challenge as last week had lots of things that came in and I knew would really give a boost to my savings!

These included all the lemons from Hilde. Lemons were $1.75 each in the supermarket. I had 44 huge lemons for free which equals a ridiculous $77 retail.  This makes me realise to use every lemon to the maximum! Thanks to Jes that also includes using the peels!
The crabs Andy caught were 2 kilos of Blue Swimmer Crabs value $44. Plus then also there is the saving of not needing other ingredients to make his dinner for two nights!
Others were 4 herb plants. Here a small pot of herbs is about $5 = $20
Op shop items I saved on = $60
Savings on buying meat from a wholesaler. $50.
I made four pizzas from scratch. The cost of the ingredients kind of meant I paid for one pizza and the other there were free saving $60.
I made all lunches =$100.
Packed the fishing day picnic = $50. (including drinks for the day)
I made four dozen fruit balls and froze them = $25
A huge potato salad cost very little to make and I gave everyone containers of it for the weekend. $20.
I made up a gift from items I had made saving $25.
All up it was a busy ad good week although I dint get any painting done!
I wrote $530 in my savings book.  Have to be happy with that!

Recently Vicky was telling us about her visit to a nursing home and the stories from the old ladies who
lived through the depression. Lots of you asked if Vicky could share more of these stories.

Canned Black Olives.

(The photos in this post are from Teri. She has been busy canning and making the most of every
 opportunity! I love seeing these! Thank you Teri!)

Peach and Nutmeg Jelly.

Over to Vicky:

I have been talking to old ladies and I do mean some of these ladies are very old, but they are living history! They have much to share if we choose to take the time to listen and to share with them as well. We can all enrich ourselves even just a tad bit from the past. And maybe some of it will seem familiar, but we can at least take heart that others have been there. 

I learned many different things from simple happiness, quiet hope to desperation to things done for sheer survival. It was a different time for sure, but I have such respect for all that lived it.

One of the biggest things I learned is that a woman can truly make a home anywhere and I think it is one of our greatest gifts. A dirty old chicken coop, an old boxcar, a little shanty or a crowded rooming house, apartment or house they all strived to do their best to turn it into some kind of home. 

They did it with very little and in very little space at times.

Ida: Ida was 13 when she married in 1929. She had her first baby at 14 then 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. Ida is a whopping 100 years old and has seen many things come and go and lived through many times of good and bad. 

Being such a young wife and mother especially during the Depression she had to grow up fast. When she got married they were gifted 2 chickens, a tablecloth, a few bed sheets, some dishes ,cooking utensils, some canned goods and $10. At 13 she felt rich! 

Ida and her husband who was 17 although young were very resourceful, they moved from here to there while her husband looked for work and finally settled into a shanty that they built from whatever they could find. To others it was crude and ugly to Ida it was their first home and beautiful and she endeavored to make it homey. They made furniture from what they could find that was free boards and fruit crates. She found a pretty teacup that the back half was broken so she put it on a shelf and only displayed the front. 

Money was hard to come by and when they could make some they did what they had to and then did all they could to make the meager amount last as long as possible and not waste anything. They were very resourceful as most were back in the day. 

Ida was given a few tomatoes and a small bag of green beans. She saved the seeds from the tomatoes and dried a handful of the beans so they could grow them the next year. They lived more on a country side so they foraged. They picked Dandelion greens, berries and nuts. They would spend hours shelling nuts and she would trade some of them. They picked apples and dried them on a bed sheet. She said it didn't matter what they looked like it was cut up and dried. They would pick wild onions for weeks because they were so small it took hundreds to fill a bag, but pick them they would and she dried the tops for flavoring and used the little tiny onions for various things. Anything edible that they could add to the table was harvested. She said food wasn't plentiful for the poor and so many people were near to starved that they would fight over trash. And although they didn't starve they were never stuffed either. When they had any money they always bought food. She served a lot of baked beans and bread or biscuits a rabbit here and there. A man they knew helped them make a wood stove and because their shanty was so drafty it was never warm and her babies were always sick with "the cold" so they stuffed newspaper in all of the cracks. When the chickens quit laying they ate them. And wasted nothing. Ida made it through and so did her family and when I asked her how she felt about this she said, "Well you just do what you have to do crying doesn't make it go away." "You usually don't find the blessings by sitting on you butt you work to deserve them." 

XOXO

Vicky

A lot of us probably wish we could ask out Grandparents questions and learn skills from them now. I learned a lot and was influenced enormously by my Grandparents but I still wish I could ask them more!  If you still have your Grandparents find out everything you can now! Write down their recipes and tips. Learn everything you can! They went through times we cannot even imagine! 

Cherry, Pear and Almond Jelly.

A lot of old time skills are extremely valuable. Life saving even in a crisis.  

Teri dries her own fruit to make my Christmas Cake!

How did you save and get ahead last week? I hope it was a good week for you! 

Fresh Salsa with home grown tomatoes, onion and garlic.

Fresh flowers from Teri's garden.

Most of the old time skills are big money savers. The more we learn the better off we are.  What did you learn from your Grandparents or maybe someone older who has taught you sometime in your life?

I had an older lady that was a big influence on me when the girls were small. Yes she taught me skills but her biggest influence was she taught common sense and wise priorities.  She also taught hard work and she was just very frugal and practical. Having people like this in our lives are such a help! 

Vicky is still visiting Ida. If you have a question you would like her to ask Ida please ask away! 

Thank you to Teri! It is beautiful to see what you have been doing! 

Have a wonderful new week! xxx