The kiddo has a vaccine appointment!! T-4 days (Tuesday). Frustratingly, Washington has had a pretty terrible rollout for the kids’ vaccines and the supply is really low for now. While some other states started giving out shots the day of approval, only a smattering were given out in Washington a day later, and the systems can’t keep up. You’d think we’d have figured it out almost a year after giving out vaccines, but no.

But – he does have an appointment for Tuesday! Which is so close but also feels like counting down to Christmas when you were a kid. Even at six years old, he is counting down til shot day. What a world we live in right now that has kids excited for their shots.

A quick note also, to hold space for the families with kiddos under 5 who have to wait longer yet for their children to be protected. No, this isn’t “over” yet with this group of vaccinations, and I’m thinking about you all this week. The same is true for all those around the world who are still waiting for their vaccines. Until we protect the whole world, this isn’t over anywhere.

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Friday’s Frugal Five

1. I took advantage of some beautiful sunny weather over the weekend and fully cleaned out the chicken run. The straw/manure mix I then took straight out to the garden beds and mulched them with the awesome compost. Even outside of the egg laying, chickens are pretty dang awesome for the compost they produce.

With a single clean out of the run, I had enough to cover all the garden beds that are laying fallow over winter or have been freshly planted for spring (garlic and onions). Soil degradation and the need for more and more synthetic fertilizer is a really big problem for our global food supply, but at least in my little urban farm, I’m building up the soil naturally.

(If you want to be freaked out this morning, look up peak nitrogen. We talked about it a lot when I was in grad school for sustainable food and agriculture back in 2013-2014, and the situation has only gotten a whole lot worse in the intervening years.)

2. Halloween was Sunday, and it was a lovely day. We’ve had a couple years in a row of dry weather, and we’re getting spoiled. When I think of Halloweens growing up, lots of rain and blowing wind come to mind.

Our greater neighborhood goes all out for the holiday, with full on “haunted house” tours set up under pop up tents and hot apple cider for the adults, plus a number of folks handing out candy while hanging out around bonfires in their front yards.

We know many of our neighbors (and know that the vast majority are vaccinated, too) so Halloween is a mobile neighborhood party as much as an event just for the kids. The kiddo had a fabulous time, announcing that it was “one of the best days ever.” We may still be stuck in the time of Covid, but there are good days here too.

3. Lately I’ve been more involved in my local Buy Nothing group, both gifting and receiving. A neighbor I knew posted about new underwear that she decided she didn’t like but had already pulled the tags off the pack. With my forever extending clothes buying ban, I said I would love them.

When I went over to pick them up, she and her daughter came outside to chat for a bit, and we laughed about me picking up “used underwear” as another friend stopped by. “Don’t worry, she doesn’t need your money!” Laughed the one I was picking the underwear up from (who is also in Women’s Personal Finance).

We talked about how she’s done this before and people have sent her private messages, but never have they publicly said they wanted underwear off Buy Nothing. To that I told her I would be blogging about it. Not too many years ago, I would never have considered “hand me down” underwear, even never worn. Now? They go through the wash like everything else, right? What a weird hang up we have.

Opting out of the disposable, fast fashion, clothes buying complex has me looking at things very differently. We waste so, so much on a finite planet. Will we ever change in a big way before it’s too late? (And no, this isn’t about underwear exactly, but all of it. From the single consumer to the giant trillion dollar companies that don’t seem to mind that they’re making record profits as the world burns.)

4. This was another week of a number of meals with foraged and grown ingredients. One night had a side of crispy baked kale and radish greens, our regular go-to. I don’t like radishes, but with the speed they grow, I’m now considering growing some just for the greens. The ones we ate this week were with the friends who have their own “community garden” patch in our front yard.

The kiddo and I also made banana walnut muffins with some of the black walnuts we foraged a while back. I clearly need a better way to crack and get at the nutmeat though, so if you’ve done this, let me know if you’ve got a technique worth trying.

We also made a pork and bean soup with garden carrots and garlic and the last of the garden zucchini. It was delicious, cheap, and easy, and a good recipe to work with what vegetables we had on hand, including a bunch of wilting green onions. Note to self: grow a lot more green onions. We eat a lot of them, and the garden can’t keep up yet.

5. The kiddo and I popped into a local thrift store and were able to find him and awesome winter jacket that almost matched one of my husband’s (for $5.99). We also picked him up a Minecraft shirt and a “new” pair of sweatpants.

On our way out, the kiddo spotted a stuffed Appa, from The Last Airbender. He loves the show, and was thrilled to find the toy. With the student discount he got from the cashier after charming them, he paid $4 after tax for his new toy, a 90% discount from a brand new one, plus a new toy didn’t need to be made. He happily paid with his new money and took his new friend to go through the wash before playing with him all evening.

Exercise Update

Friday I was back on the elliptical for a 45 minute work out at the end of the day before going home from work. Sunday began with a half hour run, and then I shoveled and moved the heavy straw/manure compost from the chicken coop to the garden. That took me a good hour and a half, and I was a lot more tired and sore than I expected to be. Definitely a good workout. And then we went trick or treating in the evening.

Monday was a slower recovery day, and then I was back on the elliptical for a half hour on Tuesday. Wednesday was a long walk, and then Friday I went for another half hour run. I’m still taking it slow with walk breaks (and wearing the brace), but it’s good to be back running.

Happy November! How are you all holding up?