Saturday Roundup

 I will start this post with a picture of our sunrise this morning. It heralded a lovely, if cold sunny day.

I love the quiet mornings when I can gaze out our front window and see the sky lighten.

Kris called today and his cough is much worse, no vomiting today (well I guess a bit this morning) but he is drinking plenty of liquids, eating soup and resting as much as he is able. However, it seems his boiler has decided not to produce hot water for his taps. I am just hopeful that the heating portion of the boiler continues to work. He phoned the company he leases it from and the earliest they can come to fix it is Monday between 10 am and 2 pm. So this could mean he won't be able to get here until Tuesday depending on how long it takes to fix the problem. Poor guy, sicker than he has been in a very long time and boiler problems to top it all off. 

So here are a few pictures of the projects I have actually managed to complete in the last little while.

I finished number 7 embroidered block and I started number 8. Getting a bit ahead for those projects next month.

The balls of reclaimed yarn from the various sweaters I took apart. There is more underneath these top balls.

Now what could be in this bag?

Could it be 60 pairs of mitts for Kurt to deliver to his school? Of course.

My scraps of flannelette cut into squares to be used in the bathroom by me. I can now rid the collection of some rather worn cloths. 

I made two smallish toys for Kris's Eiko, but got them wrapped before taking a picture. I used some felt, stuffing I had, and some catnip to make two bright yellow gingerbread men for her to toss around. 

Started a wreath to use some decorations that we will not be using on the tree. I still need to do a bit of work on it so no picture as of yet. 

Here is a picture of the other snowperson in the hallway.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

 

Life Is Actually Getting Much Simpler

 

I have to say that this year Christmas preparation seems to have been so much easier than other years. 

Perhaps it is because there was no rush to complete things this week before Christmas, whereas other years I would be working on one or two gifts done before our sons arrived home. This year all is done and while I could perhaps make them each one more item (a pickle to hang on their trees) I will save that for next year. 

The list of projects is finished as well, and what hasn't been baked by tomorrow is not at all important for our holiday celebration. 

I kept things simple this year, one small, skinny tree decorated. Some decor scattered through the house (with plans for next year). A bit of baking but I did not really go overboard on this. A menu plan that while tweaked, will be easily done with appliances and the stove top. 

The house is fairly clean. I restocked the coffee and the toilet paper. Pulled a few items from the hall pantry and put them in the kitchen pantry to make sure I had the kitchen pantry stocked up. 

Little things that make life so much simpler.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

 Thrifty and Frugal

Another thrifty and frugal week has passed by. The only perhaps nonfrugal/thrifty thing I did was my shopping this week. Still I only bought the items on my list and the total cost was not as bad as I had anticipated it becoming. I am also very hopeful that I will not be heading out shopping again before the new year. 

So here are my thrifty and frugal wins for the week.

1.  Using appliances more for cooking this past week and I will hopefully continue to do so in the coming weeks.

2.  Baking bread and trying to get ahead on this before our sons come home for the holiday.

3.  Used up many of the leftovers in the fridge and will continue to do so.

4.  There were small amounts of jam in jars in the fridge so I made Thumbprint cookies to clear those out.

5.  Making yogurt today which should see me through at least another week. After that is gone it will be toast, oatmeal or muffins until I go shopping in the new year. 

6.  Watered plants using saved water.

7.  Found thirty cents on the floor in the basement which was added to the change jars. 

8.  Did some tweaking of the menu for when Kurt and Kris arrive a bit earlier than thought. Most of the tweaked recipes will be cooked via electric roaster, top of stove, microwave, or toaster oven. Hopefully saving on the power bill. 

9.  We had three lovely sunny days and with the drapes open in the living room the furnace did not cut in as much. This saves on natural gas and electric.

10.  Made some more bathroom cloths from leftover bits of flannel. The edges need to be sewn and will do that tomorrow. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Midweek Update

 Another quiet beginning to the week. Not really because I have nothing to do, because I do, but more weather related. 

While we are getting nothing in comparison to places a bit further north, the freezing rain began about 2 hours ago, making me so glad that I did my shopping yesterday. No reason to head out and be on the roads with all those crazy drivers. 

Kris, up in Regina has been getting lots of rain. I hear the roads are sheer ice, like skating rinks. I will be phoning him later when I am sure he is home safe and sound.

Kurt, in Drumheller, is in the midst of a blizzard and so I will be checking in with him later as well.

I just want my family to be safe and sound.

I have been doing a bit of baking (bread) and working on projects. The list for this month is slowly being completed. Pictures to follow on Saturday. I may even be able to get a few other projects that aren't on my list. Super good.

Finished the Minimalism book, and realized that by living a frugal life, decluttering and organizing I have actually been doing many of the recommended things in this book. The book also states that a person only needs to follow this kind of lifestyle in the way that suits them. I do know there is no way I could ever get rid of the pictures I have displayed as is talked about in one chapter. My life while not one of minimalism, it will be a more simple one as I declutter more and more. Learning to enjoy the quiet times and the times with my family.

Here is a shot of this mornings sunrise, which did not stick around for very long.

Don't mind the reflections in the window.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 

Getting ready for the next winter storm to hit. Hopefully not as hard as has been forecast. So far we have not had the rain that was predicted, so that is a good thing. Yet tomorrow more light rain is predicted. 

Streets were very sloppy earlier today, but from above freezing temperatures we have dropped to below freezing so what was water is now beginning to freeze into ice. 

I went out shopping today and now should be able to stay home during the Christmas week. I did purchase bread, but I think I will need to bake a few loaves and put them in the freezer. Kurt and Kris will be arriving a bit earlier than I thought so more bread will be needed and the menu will need a bit of a tweak on a couple of days. 

Really thought that if I got out early enough the stores would be reasonably easy to get around in. Hmmm, I think everybody had the same idea as all places were relatively crowded. I tried to stay as far away from people as possible mainly because of the flu and colds that are circulating around. I don't want to be ill over the holidays and miss spending time with the sons or extended family. 

This was our sunrise this morning. It did not happen until almost 9 am. Also if you notice over the last few days our snow has started to melt. Don't worry, according to our weather people we are going to get more. Perhaps a great deal more in some areas before Christmas. The ridge of ice in the middle of the road has since been picked up. 

After shopping, since I managed to get most of the daily to do list completed I got to roll up the reclaimed yarn into balls. I hope to get the pieces of the 4th sweater done today and tomorrow take apart the last sweater and begin the process of winding that yarn into balls. 

Off to set the table, wash and soak the rice. We are having a stir fry to use up the leftover pork from Sunday. Gradually using things up from the fridge freezer. 

My challenge is to use up all that I can in the fridge freezer and the chest freezer over the month of January. So much food, and it needs to be used. Perhaps even have couple of weeks to start the month off where I do not have to shop at all (fresh items and dairy exempt). Just need to figure out how to go about one of those, it is something I have never done before.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Menu Monday

 

The next two weeks I am trying to clear a few things out of the fridge freezer and after moving things around yesterday in my meat freezer I think I better plan on eating that down a bit. I would like to have a January where we use very little of the grocery budget. I think I can manage to go with dairy, fruit, and veggies with the occasional stock pile item replacement. 

Most of the meals except for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be me using things up in the way of the many leftovers there still are in the freezer and the ready made meals in the larger freezer. 

I plan on shopping tomorrow so that I will not have to enter a store during the busy time leading up to Christmas. I am actually going to try and freeze milk in containers this time around. Should keep me out of the stores a bit longer.

So here are my menus for this week.

Monday

Leftover small sausage casserole.

Tuesday

Leftover pork made into a stir fry served over rice.

Wednesday

Lentil curry, over rice (I will make extra on Tuesday). Cooked frozen broccoli.

Thursday

Hot dogs, baked beans and perhaps the remainder of the mini hashbrowns.

Friday

Perogies, fried onions and sour cream.

Saturday

The last of the lentil curry or perhaps some pea soup and egg salad sandwiches.

Sunday

Chicken stuffed with broccoli and cheese, mashed potatoes, peas.

That will clear a bit out of the fridge freezer and make room for the leftovers from the upcoming week and Christmas. 

I asked Harvey if instead of a tossed salad I could make a coleslaw as the salad for Christmas dinner, mainly because the cabbage would last in the fridge from shopping this week until that meal. He said go for it. The sons should be quite okay with that as well. 

I have enough yogurt making supplies to make another batch of Greek style yogurt and when that runs out I will have toast, muffins, cinnamon buns, or oatmeal for my breakfasts. 

Pretty sure we will not starve if I keep out of the stores for the next while (would like to manage until after the new year). 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Rambling Thoughts

 

As the week ends here on the old homestead, I am reminded of days of yore when the boys were young, home and yours truly was driving for hockey practice or games. Things have certainly changed from those days and I am constantly surprised at the weather I used to drive through in order to get them to games or practices. Then again I think about the friends we made, the joy of watching them both play and how young both we and our sons were.

Today was actually a pretty nice day even with the wind chill and the next two days are supposed to be just gorgeous. That leading up to some rather nasty weather the week before the holiday. In fact we are supposed to get (according to the long range forecast) rain and lots of snow midweek. not at all what we want to see in the week before travel home begins for the holiday.

I worked on various projects today and while nothing was completed I am more than happy what was accomplished. I am not going to rush things, more take a slow and work towards an end goal of using up items or recycling what I already have. 

Over the last little while I have sort of pushed aside using my appliances to do my cooking for me (other than the yogurt maker and bread machine) and so I have decided that it is time to pull out all those appliances and use them to make our meals. Most of my menu plan can be done with an appliance or on the stove top. Time to see if during this winter I can cut our power bill by using those appliances to make our suppers. 

Moving things around in the upright freezer I noticed that I have way more in the way of main dish meats than I thought I had. Heaven only knows what is in the chest freezer. So now it is time to use things up and save on grocery costs. I work so hard in saving on other ways that this way with rising costs sometimes get pushed aside. Clearing out the freezers will be a great way to begin the savings for the new year. 

Life is getting simpler and more frugal, but I need to pay more attention.

The Third Sunday of Advent candle has been lit. 

The third candle of Advent is lit during the third week of Advent  and is often referred to as the Shepherd Candle. This candle  represents the joy that comes with the arrival of Jesus Christ.  The color of this candle is traditionally pink, which signifies joy  and celebration, contrasting with the purple candles that  represent hope, peace, and love during the other weeks of  Advent.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.