A Finished Project or Two

The other day I showed you some fabric I was working with. Here's the finished project. Sheila figured it out - a table runner. Some time ago (ahem) I won a jelly roll (fabric strips) from French General. These are from the Maison de Garance colleciton. The warm reds and browns are so pretty, although they are not the colours I usually gravitate to. With the leftovers I cut out an apple wedge shape and made a basket of apples to sit on the buffet cabinet. They won't attract fruit flies.
 

You may notice the new header. That marks a huge accomplishment for me. Not creating the header, although that's taxing enough. But the reason I discovered I was way over on my picture limit for Blogger/WebPicasa was because I could no longer change my header. 

Since then, at the beginning of June, I've been deleting and re-sizing photos. The work is not nearly done, but I've deleted enough to allow me to redo the header. 

Several of you suggested I pay Google the $5 monthly fee they charge for more storage. Being stubborn and frugal, and realizing that if when photos are re-sized they cost nothing to upload, I decided to take the time to go that route. My photos are stored on my computer, not online. I do not want to pay $5 per month ad infinitum et ultra to upload photos. I try to keep ongoing costs to the minimum. So, although there are blank spots a-plenty in the blog archives, I'll keep puttering away at it. 

If you want to avoid going over your storage amount, just resize your photos.

Here's what Google says:

Free storage limits

Photos up to 800 x 800 pixels and videos up to 15 minutes won't count towards your free storage.

Automatic resizing

All photos uploaded over the free size limit will count towards your 1 GB of free storage. When you reach your storage limit, any new photos you upload to Picasa Web larger than the free size limit will be automatically resized to 800 pixels (on their longest edge).

Note: If you reach your storage limit when uploading from the Picasa desktop software, you'll only be able upload at free storage sizes. Larger uploads will not be automatically resized to the free storage limit.

 

And a few baby photos just for fun. Little Misses A and S bring a lot of joy into our lives. Little Miss A's parents are going on away for a couple of weeks, leaving her behind. I'll have her on the weekends, beginning tomorrow morning. Tea parties (aka pouring water all over everything), Ball Kick - Nana, visits to the park, and lots of cuddles and books will be the order of the day.

Back to the photos - I'm curious about how many bloggers do pay Google to be able to upload photos to blogs. Do you or don't you?

A Birthday and What to Do with an Abundance of Tomatoes

Today is our youngest daughter's birthday. Last year at this time she and her husband were heading off to Europe. Now she's set aside travel for study and they have moved across the Strait of Georgia, much closer than Europe. I love this photo, taken on our family camping trip at the end of August. Happy Birthday, darling girl, we love you tons. You bring much joy into our lives.

On another note, the tomato harvest continues. I discovered an easy way to freeze them for sauces and soups. I fill a rimmed baking sheet with halved tomatoes, removing only the cores. Chop one or two onions, scatter them over the tomatoes. Strew a little fresh or dried oregano on top. Drizzle with olive oil, just a little on each tomato. Salt and pepper to taste. Then roast at 400 degrees for at least a couple of hours. The tomatoes will give up their juices and if you check them after an hour, you'll see them swimming. Continue baking until most of the juice has evaporated. This is not an exact science. The smell will be wonderful.

Here are the tomatoes after 2 hours - they could go a bit longer for more caramelizing. But I needed to get dinner finished with, so out they came.
 

I divide them up into 1-1/2 cup amounts (more or less) and freeze them. I like to freeze them in glass rather than plastic. I try to avoid plastic when possible, and this way, they can be defrosted in the microwave, if needed. Thawed, they are the base for soup (just simmer in stock and puree, add a little cream and season), and sauces.

Tell me, what tricks do you have for storing up an abundance of tomatoes?

Frugal Luxuries Giveaway

I was recently introduced to Tracey McBride's books by another blogger - Clarice at Storybook Woods. Tracey has a blog (or two) and she's hosting a giveaway of her books. So click on over and see what's there. Frugal living has been a lifestyle for us for many years, and it's been a great thing especially in these months since my husband lost his job. Although we don't have the same income we used to, our lifestyle has changed very little because of practicing frugality.

Frugal living does not mean life is without beauty. Living a beautiful, rich, fulfilling life is part of living frugally. It's all about attitude. Living frugally is great for the planet and great for the bank account. And it helps me to focus on what's really important in my life - the love of family and friends, my faith, the beauty of creation, a sense of purpose throughout the day. These are the things that make my world go round. How about you?