Absinthia Returns, Part 7

18th-century-style Swedish kitchen

This is part of a continuing series of email letters exchanged with my Swedish friend, Absinthia. To see the whole series, start with  Living a Simple Life.

Things to Make at Home: Kitchen Items

Here's what Absinthia has to say about saving money in the kitchen.

Hello again!

Time is the only thing we have, always. Money comes and goes, sun and rain also, but time is always there, right by your side.

Here’s how we save money in the kitchen by making things ourselves, re-using, etc.

I save whatever cartons and buckets that come when buying things like food. They are handy when freezing, and to use as pots for plants.

- margarine: I make my own margarine by whipping butter and rapeseed oil together.

- birdfood: made from leftover bread crumbs and fat from cooking

- sourdough bread: I feed the sourdough with leftover stale bread, noodles, rice etc.

- freezer containers:  cartons and buckets that come when buying foods

- dish-scrubbies (also called tawashis): crochet, plarn (yarn made from plastic bags)

- dishbrush: tie spring birchtwigs together according to old local traditions

- dishrags: knit and crochet cotton, linen, or hemp

- towels: knit cotton, linen, or hemp.  I knit them in some nice stitch, like “feather and fan” or moss stitch.

- soaptrays: crochet using plarn

- placemats and coasters: crochet  cotton, linen, hemp, or spun tarn

- napkins: sewn

- tablerunners/doilies, etc.: crochet

- cup cozies and jar cozies: crochet cotton, linen, or hemp

- flower pot covers: crochet cotton, linen, hemp, or spun tarn. I make them to go over small plastic buckets, tin cans and jars.

- curtains: crochet

- baskets: crochet

- seat covers for kitchen sofa and chairs: crochet

- stool covers: we save every little inch of yarn leftovers, spin it together, and use it to make colorful stoolcovers, chair pads etc.

- chair leg covers (saves the floor from ugly marks): crochet cotton or linen

- mats and rugs: woven and crochet tarn or spun tarn

- hotpads: crochet wool

- potholders and oven mitts: crochet wool

- dusters, crochet acrylic.  I can make them static so they “suck up the dust.” :-)

- seat covers and back covers for kitchen chairs: crochet tarn. Very cute actually ;-)

More to come: living room and bedroom.

- Absinthia

The conversation is continued here:
Absinthia Returns, Part 8

Veneta Donaldson: "The Clock"

Veneta Donaldson on a cruise, c. 1980
Here she is, 30 years later, on a cruise--no more "hither and thither," but she's still having fun.


The Clock
by Veneta Donaldson

The clock controls my busy day
And slowly ticks my life away.
It hangs upon my study wall
Not caring for my plight at all.

Inexorable tyranny
That sways the hours' destiny –
And yet without that pallid face
Time still would ply its ruthless pace.


The next poem in this series can be found here The Answer.

This is part of a series of poems by Veneta Donaldson. A brief bio and the beginning of the series can be found here: Veneta Donaldson: A Poet in the Family.