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  1. hwillm1977

    What did you get???

    I got a beautiful mixing bowl, some nice measuring cups and spoons, and a bracelet made from recycled antique spoons... We also paid our last mortgage payment on December 3rd, so finally really owning this house was our big Christmas present :) It was a great Christmas... it's the first year...
  2. hwillm1977

    Original Home Salvage (image heavy)

    lol... it might be easier/cheaper to just tear that down and start from scratch. We live in an 1883 farmhouse that had no running water or electricity when we moved in 3 years ago... there are still holes in walls, and peeling ceilings here, but there is electricity, plumbing and insulation...
  3. hwillm1977

    What are you having for your Christmas meal this year?

    The dip sounds great... I think I'm going to do that instead of the actual appetizers, one less step... although I'd have to serve with sweet and sour sauce too cause I LOVE dipping the crab rangoons in the sweet and sour.
  4. hwillm1977

    What are you having for your Christmas meal this year?

    Us too! We love doing a bunch of appetizers at Christmas because we have turkey at hubby's family on Christmas Eve, and on Boxing day with my family. This year I'm making spring rolls, crab rangoons (my favourite!), potstickers, and our main meal will be brown rice and a ginger-leek chicken...
  5. hwillm1977

    Help reducing grocery bill?

    I LOVE those links too... I'm going through so I can make my mom a basket of jar mixes for Christmas. I hadn't gotten her anything yet and she's so hard to buy for, but she loves homemade things. :) YAY! The links are definitely favourited here. Thanks Marianne
  6. hwillm1977

    Painting cabinets in a trailer/mobile home...

    Yep... I lived in a 1970 mobile home and painted my cabinets with melamine paint. I didn't have to touch it up once in the four years I lived there, I also painted the countertop with the same paint (different colour) and that needed touching up about once a year, but that was because I got...
  7. hwillm1977

    Homeschooling and manual skills?

    My dad did this too... although I'm in my early 30's... before I was allowed to go for my license I had to change and rotate the tires on the car, change the oil, replace fuses, etc... small things but 'no daughter of his would be stranded with a flat tire' :) He also taught me basic wiring...
  8. hwillm1977

    How much do you pay per kWh?

    That's our options, power or no power... there's only one utility in our province... the rate is 10.3cents/KWh, but that's not including the $12.95 they charge monthly for having the power hooked up to your house, and the tax on our power usage and the monthly fee is 13% :)
  9. hwillm1977

    I have a dream....but little to no money

    DEFINITELY do this... hubby had an old student loan (here in canada, even once the account is closed and goes to collections you are still charged interest every month until it's paid off) that he owed $2700. It was in collections, they called all the time... really awful. He said he wanted...
  10. hwillm1977

    I have a dream....but little to no money

    Hubby and I didn't have a lot of money to buy a house either. We bought a trailer in a park first, it needed updates and we paid it off in three years and sold it for more than we bought it for. We used that money as a down payment on a house that we found someone willing to 'rent-to-own' to...
  11. hwillm1977

    Mobile AKA Manufactured Homes

    Both my parents and I have lived in them... but we lived in parks (I don't know why that makes a difference, but I can tell you about our experience owning/living in them) I lived in a 1970 model trailer 12x60, three bedroom one bath. It was all I could afford to buy at the time and it's how I...
  12. hwillm1977

    New Forum Sections - Toolshed, Gardening, Lifestock

    That's wonderful... Although I'm a member of backyardherds, I'm on dial-up internet so one forum is all I basically check in a day and it's almost always this one so having info on livestock here makes it more centralized and a lot easier for me... ditto for gardening :) Thanks!
  13. hwillm1977

    Cooking on a wood stove

    My grandmother had one in her summer cottage, it's what she cooked on exclusively there. I remember roasts tasting wonderful, and her baking was always fabulous. We're looking at buying a farmhouse now that has one in it and I can't wait to learn how to do it. We use the top of our normal...
  14. hwillm1977

    What's the price of turkeys in your area?

    I'm in Canada, so it's not our Thanksgiving... A butterball frozen turkey here is about $4.39/pound now... fresh is more like $6.49/pound
  15. hwillm1977

    So I get some spending money!!! Help me pick.

    Personally I would want to spend it on kitchen stuff... I LOVE kitchen stuff. But then my rational side would take over and I would probably end up paying down debts instead. We're making the last payment on our house in December and it's going to feel fantastic in January to not have a...
  16. hwillm1977

    need homemade SOFT butter receipe

    We have a piece of pottery called a french butter dish... it keeps the butter at room temperature, submerged in water so it doen't go rancid but stays at room temperature. Change the water every few days and keep the butter full and it's great :) Also don't leave in direct sunlight or the...
  17. hwillm1977

    great website!

    I love it! I've got a few new projects for winter now... this is the first year we're going to put up a Christmas tree and have our own Christmas celebration at home so I'd like to make a bunch of ornaments. I thought of making popcorn and cranberry garlands until hubby pointed out the dogs...
  18. hwillm1977

    Random and intentional acts of kindness

    It's funny, I listed 'One Random Act of Kindness' on Ebay just two days ago... we were in the process buying our dream farm but had to wait for me to go back to work to qualify for the mortgage... well I'm laid off instead of returning to work from maternity leave... so the bank won't give us a...
  19. hwillm1977

    Made me a bit mad----

    Maybe that's a good idea for a farmer's market booth... 'from scratch baking' made easy :)
  20. hwillm1977

    $80 organic turkey....and

    lol... I can't buy a 3 pound chicken for $8 organic or not :)
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