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One Hundred Dollars a Month

I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.


one hundred dollars a month

One Hundred Dollars a Month – Mavis’ Weekly Highlights 5/30/2020

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By Mavis Butterfield on · 8 Comments

Hello and Happy Saturday!

On the agenda for today:

  • Paint Garage Window Frame
  • Plant Round 2 of Radish and Cilantro Seeds
  • Finish Drawing Out Tulip Patterns
  • Dye Red and Green Wool
  • Plan Out Next Weeks To-Do List

Nothing too exciting… 😉 How about YOU? Anything interesting on your to-do list for today?

Have a great Saturday everyone,

♥ Mavis & Lucy

Recipes and General Nonsense From this Past Week

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Slowing Down

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By Mavis Butterfield on · 13 Comments

It’s been a L A Z Y week for me here on the coast of Maine and I haven’t gotten a whole lot done. 😉 And you know what? It has been kind of nice. The slow, hot and humid days of summer are here and while I know I can’t loaf around everyday, it has felt nice to take a week off from my usual routine of getting up around 5 am to cut wool, water the garden, plant/paint/make something and then go about my day.

On Monday morning, The Girl I went for a walk and it was still chilly enough to wear a coat. The last few days though, have been in the upper 80’s and I’ve been out there in shorts and a tank top watching the snail races and and looking for heart shaped rocks on the beach with Miss Lucy Puggle.

Slowing down can be a good thing every once in a while, and it’s something I need to remind myself to do more a little more often.

“Life isn’t long enough to do all you could accomplish. And what a privilege even to be alive. In spite of all the pollutions and horrors, how beautiful this world is. Supposing you only saw the stars once every year. Think what you would think. The wonder of it!”
~ Tasha Tudor

Wishing you the best of weekends,

~Mavis

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Rhubarb Almond Coffee Cake

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By Mavis Butterfield on · 3 Comments

Rhubarb season has arrived here in Maine and I am so excited to have my own giant rhubarb plant {soon to be patch} growing in the backyard. I have a boatload of rhubarb recipes I want to try this summer {last week I made a rhubarb and cherry cobbler} and yesterday I whipped up this rhubarb almond coffee cake. It turned out so good, I just had to share.

This coffee cake was the perfect treat to enjoy with my cup of tea this morning as I watched the little birdies in the garden and puttered around the yard. This recipe makes not one, but 2 coffee cakes so you can enjoy one now, and freeze or give away the second one to a friend or neighbor.

So if you’ve got a bunch of rhubarb and are looking for a new recipe to try, give this one a go. It’s a super easy to make and we both loved it!

Happy baking,

~Mavis

Ingredients for Coffee Cake

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk {I used 2%}
1 ½ cups rhubarb, chopped
½ cup almonds, finely chopped

Ingredients for Topping

⅓ cup white sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
¼ cup almonds, finely chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9 inch round pans and set aside.

In a large bowl mix together the brown sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla together until nice and smooth. In a small bowl mix the flour, baking soda and salt together and then add to flour mixture to the brown sugar mixture alternately with the milk. Beat until smooth. The batter will be thick! Stir in the rhubarb and almonds and then pour into buttered pans.

In a small microwavable bowl, melt the butter. Add the sugar and almonds to the melted butter and stir together with a fork until you have a nice crumbly texture.  Sprinkle evenly over the top.  Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the coffee cake comes out clean. Let coffee cake cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

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The HH Makes a Birdhouse!

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By Mavis Butterfield on · 11 Comments

Back at the old house {the beautiful red colonial with the ginormous yard {and black flies and ticks galore}} I had asked the HH if he would make me a bird house for the backyard. I had found a picture of online? at a shop? I don’t remember… all I knew was that I wanted him to make a birdhouse exactly like the one I had found.

So after grumbling for a bit… he made one! 🙂

I totally forgot to measure everything to share a proper tutorial with you, but here are all the bits he cut out for the project {so you can nag your husband to make one for you too}.

He had actually made the birdhouse for the last house we lived it as sort of a mini version of the old red cape style house we had. But for some reason or another, I never got around to painting the house red to match ours.

And when we moved to Maine, instead of leaving it behind, I brought it along. And I’m so glad I did because I finally got around to painting that bird house yesterday and what do you know…

It’s looks PERFECT in it’s new spot. A white house, with a white picket fence and a sweet little bird house high up on a pole. Now all it needs is a little vine wreath in the gable and some vines growing up the pole. And maybe some tall sunflowers behind it as well.

The backyard, it’s starting to come along and I couldn’t be happier.

Wishing you the best of Wednesdays,

~Mavis

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Mavis Butterfield Etsy