The Joyful Hermit

The Joyful Hermit is watering the few remaining orchids and a slew of other houseplants today.  Just stepped outside the garage with the blue bucket and loaded it with the quickly melting snow.  Brought in the bucket, set it on the rug by the utility area, and await the snow in the bucket to melt.  Plants love snow water.

Once melted and room temp, some plants in their containers, such as orchids, can be set right down in the bucket of snow water.  Allow the potting medium to become saturated.  Remove the pot and plant, and repeat the process.  For large potted plants, simply dip a plastic cup (Joyful Hermit uses an old measuring cup with pouring lip), and water the plants in their pots by gently pouring water all around the soil and plant base.

Be innovative in types of basins placed under plant pots.  Joyful counted on a clay basin only to find that the moisture did seep onto the wood flooring.  Handled the slight mold but definite discoloration to the wood by moistening a paper towel with chlorine bleach water, then wiped the discolored flooring and let the sun streaming through the window complete the bleaching.  The next day I over-wiped the same area with wood polishing oil…and replaced the clay basin with a plastic plant basin found in the garage.

Today I plan to add some generic plant fertilizer into the snow water.  The plants being wintered over are looking as if they could use one last boost until spring–still some weeks away.  Now and then I also clear away any of the dried and spent blooms and leaves.  Get ready to vacuum, for it is not a neat process no matter how clever one attempts it.

For those who do not have snow to utilize for house plant watering (or in the warmer weather here), the Joyful Hermit sets out buckets and even a stainless steel pot to catch rain water.  Particularly efficacious to plants (and I drink it from stainless steel pots) is water collected during a lightning storm.

The hydrogen peroxide properties in electrical storm rain water have beneficial effects.  In fact, the healing, restorative waters at the miraculous apparition site in Lourdes, France, have been found to have high amounts of this (food-grade type) hydrogen peroxide. [Note: this is not the grade of hydrogen peroxide found in drugstores; do not drink that or use for watering houseplants.]

No snow, no rain?  Use tap water or filtered, but don’t use soft water, obviously, for plants.  The salt content is a killer.  If your water ranks high in hardness, and you are truly keeping the houseplants’ little veins close to your heart, let the tap water stand in your watering container for a day before watering the plants.  Find out water hardness from your city or township water provider.

Come spring, The Joyful Hermit is going to check with the local water department and hope to get a free rain barrel for garden watering this year.  If they are not giving these rather basic, unattractive, white barrels for free, I will take a budget risk and invest in one I’ve researched on the internet.  These barrels attach to the house downspout…and will lower what last summer’s drought heightened in budget-busting water bills.

The Joyful Hermit shops some at Big Lots.  One reason is that it is along my route from Cathedral to hermitage.  It is simple to navigate the parking lot and store.  And, I noticed that some of the food items are less expensive than at the grocery, depending upon what Big Lots has in stock.  When I shop I focus on prices, ounces, and nutrition facts.  I detach from set ways of perceiving food tastes, preparation, and appearance.  I remain open.

Detachment is a spiritual means of dying to self.  Sometimes called holy indifference, it is not a matter of disliking things of the created world, but is a matter of not being attached to or controlled by the temporal world. More, it is a love of the spiritual–of God, of truth, beauty and goodness.

The Joyful Hermit is fond of asking when tempted to be stuck in things worldly: “Is this [thing, problem] going to matter on my deathbed?”  A soul freed from being possessed by earthly possessions and desires is possessed by God and its wealth is God Himself.

Concerning what I eat, I have learned to love eating whatever food is available, healthy, and on sale.  I am reminded to be grateful for any kind of food and thankful to be alive and to eat it.  It also exposes me to foods I otherwise might never have befriended.

When I food shop at Big Lots, I target first the clearance food section.  Then I tour the other food aisles and familiarize myself with the layout.  It was on one such jaunt that I noticed MTR brand Indian cuisine.  There were boxed varieties for $2 each.  On sale at the grocery, the best price I’ve seen is $2.96 per box.  Three servings are in each box.

I purchased ten.  That adds up to $20 and is the amount needed to benefit by using my Big Lots Reward Card.  I do not have many shopping cards, but it makes sense to shop certain stores and utilize discounts.  Each time I spend $20 (and I make sure I do not spend $1 or so over), the Rewards card registers the sale; after 10 sales I get 20% off the next purchase.  I do not buy what I do not need, eat or gift. But with alert shopping, I saved 33% on the Indian food already, compared to the grocery price.

Indian food is tremendously healthy.  The turmeric in it alone is good for balancing the brain.  In one serving of Chana Masala, for example, I get 6 grams of protein, no trans fats, and only 4 grams of saturated fat.  When served with brown rice or other accompaniments, the protein can double or more. Chana Masala is mostly chick peas, high in fiber and a type of bean; add rice, wheat and cheese and we have a high-level, interactive, protein combination.

Another plus is easy preparation.  Open the pouch, place in bowl, cover, microwave, eat with rice, couscous, bread, etc.  I add cooked vegetables or dollop of sour cream.  Still hungry?  Eat some fruit.  I enjoy a clementine with this particular dish.

Include the wheat or basmati rice (bag of brown rice for $2 at Big Lots, numerous servings) and a clementine (purchased on sale in bulk at grocery), or with couscous (99-cent clearance at ALDI; 7 g protein per 1 c. serving, three servings per box) and broccoli. This averages $1-1.35 each for three meals.  Outstanding Cheapeat–plus enjoy the wealth of color, spice and nutrition.

I always save the wax liners from cereal boxes, mixes, cookies and crackers. I got this idea from a great uncle who in his prime owned an old-time, neighborhood grocery store.  Uncle Carl had lots of money-saving habits.  Living to nearly 103, he also knew a little about health and a lot about recycling.  How many useful items are just tossed out?

I use these wax liners for produce, cheese, meats, and even baked items and to clamp them off with a spring-hinge clothespin.  I get far more life and freshness from foods this way and also use them in the freezer for better, longer lasting, storage of foods.  They can be rinsed, washed, air-dried, and re-used.

I can’t recall the last time I purchased plastic baggies. Wax liners are far superior, and essentially I already paid for them in the original product they protected.  For storage, keep these wax liners inside a cupboard, flattened and wedged sideways between kitchen appliances so they stay in place. Slide one out when needed.

These wax liner bags also work very well when pulled apart to make a flat sheet of quite durable waxed paper.  These liners are heavy duty compared to the waxed paper purchased in a boxed roll.  Plus, the flattened liner can also be washed, dried and re-used.  Just roll them up like wrapping paper and rubber band so they stay compact for storage between uses.

A quick way to get the liners out of the boxes, plus make breakfast cereal much more healthy yet palatable for those young and old with a bit of sweet tooth, is to empty and mix one box of sweetened cereal with one box of unsweetened cereal.  Mix in a large container or replace in the two wax liners and clamp.

Oats cereal actually have a decent amount of protein, and by mixing a sweetened with unsweetened, no need for additional sugar. Of course, it would be all the better to simply eat the non-sugary cereal, but not everyone is in agreement on that point, at least not at some ages….But they also aren’t so quick to see the trick in mixing some healthier into the colorful sweetened variety. Top with sliced bananas or fresh berries and add milk: lactose, soy, or rice milk.

Incidentally, most grocery and discount stores (such as ALDI) carry off-brands that cost significantly less, and no one notices when the cereal is poured from a neutral container.