Sunday, March 27, 2016

We Can Finally Lay Down

After 27 hours of being awake, traveling by plane or waiting in airports we are finally relaxing. We will be having a get together with the others on our tour, but it should be an early night.

Hopefully I will have some pictures for you all very soon.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Menu Monday

The last week, or should I say partial week before we leave on holiday.

Monday

Clean out the fridge.... There are a couple of items that we need gone from here.

Tuesday

Pork chops, coleslaw, and asparagus, perhaps some rice.

Wednesday

Spaghetti, and meat sauce. I was going to make garlic bread, but on thinking about it there would be lots left over and I want as little as possible in the fridge. I will finish off the coleslaw for this meal.

Thursday

Baked spaghetti, and broccoli. There will be leftovers, but we will take them up to Kris when we leave.

Friday

We are on the road and beginning our adventure.

So I will be cleaning out all perishables from the fridge over the week. Think I will divide them between my BFF and Kris. I do not want to come home to a stinky fridge.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Sunday Ramblings

Palm Sunday, the day we begin to read the Passion at Mass. We will read this once again on Good Friday.

Father Brian does things a bit differently than the priests that preceded him in the parish. We had no procession into the church proper waving palms, the blessing of the palms did not include him walking up and down the aisles of the church sprinkling Holy Water, and he did not give a homily after the reading of the Passion. Each year things seem to change a bit more.

We set up the basement of the church with chairs and and spent a bit of money adding screens and speakers so we can transmit the Mass downstairs. This is for the overflow that people think is occurring. We have a great many Filipinos in our community and for some very strange reason they seem to want to stand at the back of the church on the steps leading from the front doors. Father Brian thought if we had a place in the basement, where the young ones could play this would stop. It doesn't seem like it will. Today was the first day of the overflow (as Father calls it, I don't understand this considering there is lots of room in the church proper still) and gazing at the back of the church and the front entrance I noticed it crowded with our Filipino parishioners. Hmmm, I don't think this is going to work until we can convince them that the basement is actually part of the church proper.

I will be missing the Tridium in our Parish this year as we will be traveling. I am hoping to be able to attend Good Friday in Regina, and Easter Vigil in Spain, it all depends on timing. I really do hate missing the most important celebration in my Church's calendar, but I am sure God will forgive me.

We are getting more and more excited about our journey. Harvey has been doing research into the cities we will be visiting. He is going to keep me informed of what he learns (at least I hope he is). Both of us are excited about seeing Fatima on this trip. I wonder if I will have that same unworldly experience that I had when I saw Pope John Paul II at World Youth Day in Toronto. Things got so very quiet and all I could see or hear was Pope John Paul II. There was a feeling of utter peace as he drove by.

The remainder of the day after Mass has been spent doing a bit of extra cleaning, knitting, and watching Call The Midwife. I actually finished Season 4, which leaves me one more season to watch. I am pretty sure that I can finish it before we leave.

Tomorrow will be a busy one. I have my regular household chores, as well as extra cleaning. I am bound and determined to have the house spotless when we leave. I want to come home to a clean house and I want to leave a clean house for my friend who will be looking after our cat.

Everyone have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Saturday Roundup

I mentioned yesterday that our weather had changed once again.

This is what I woke up to yesterday morning. By the afternoon the sun was out and the snow melted completely away. I am hoping that this is the last of winter's blast, but I have a feeling we will be seeing more, just hope we are gone when it arrives.

I spent some time in the craft/sewing room making some drawstring bags.

There is no way on God's green earth that we could ever get the airplane pillows back in the included bags, so I made one for each pillow. Then I thought about trying to wrangle out the earphones from the bottom of the carry on and decided to make a bag for them as well. Next I thought about Harvey's camera battery charger and my cord and adapter and decided that a bag could be useful for those as well. I wonder if I should stop thinking.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Friday, March 18, 2016

Frugal Friday

It's Friday and the middle of March. We got snow again overnight and colder temperatures. However, the snow melted for the most part, and now we will have mud once again. I would much rather struggle through mud to the mail box, then struggle over ice.

My five frugal things for this week.

1.  Used some stock from the freezer, some frozen beans, frozen carrots, frozen tomatoes and a couple of potatoes to make a lovely soup for supper tonight.

2.  Using up all the thread on the bobbins I wind for sewing the quilt blocks.

3.  Used up the leftover yarn making a Christmas gift. (I am now one gift done for the year).

4.  Made a couple of loaves of bread this week. However my bread machine could be on its last legs. I may have to start using my KitchenAid machine.

5.  Used up all the bits and pieces from the vegetable crisper.

I could also say that I managed to stay out of the stores for 4 days this week (tomorrow will be number 5). This is probably the best frugal happening here this week.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Thursday Tid Bits

It was a regular Thursday here at the old homestead. Nothing too exciting happening, but still getting things done.

I managed to get 5 more blocks sewn, leaving me only 4 to do tomorrow. I will actually have completed them all well before we leave. I think on Saturday I will sew up the bags for our blow up plane pillows, and then perhaps iron all the blocks and plan on how I am going to arrange them. Should be interesting to say the least. I have an idea, but I am not sure it will work and will need to draw it out.

We are getting lots of short flurries of snow. Nothing sticking as of yet, but I am beginning to wonder what I am going to wake up to in the morning. Hopefully this crazy weather ends very soon.

I am continuing with my Little House on the Prairie TV marathon. I am almost finished the last season with only 6 episodes left to watch. I am hopeful that by Sunday I can move on and watch the two seasons of Call the Midwife I need to bring me up to date.

Last night at about 3 am I woke up to find about 1/3 of my body hanging off the edge of the bed. I leave it to all of you to figure out which one third was missing support. I gave Harvey a slight push to get him over to his side of the bed. To my great surprise he tapped my hand as if to say "Bad Jackie." Thinking he was asleep I gave him another gentle push.... He did it again. I was almost ready to give him the old heave ho push when he rolled over and onto his side of the bed, thus allowing me to gain support for that 1/3 of my body. I honestly thought he was sleeping until I heard him giggling under his breath!!! Brat was wide awake.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Mid Month Update

Time for my mid month update on goals and decluttering.

1.  Finish the quilt even if it bores me to no end.  Done

2.  Make the quilt blocks necessary to start my bed quilt.  Working on.

3.  Make a packing list for our trip.  Done

4.  Have 14 no spend days before we leave on our trip.  I am up to 12 no spend days as of today. I should be able to meet this goal very soon.

Project declutter has only had 5 items leaving the house. However, I have wrangled together all the cords in my computer desk into a large zip lock (I need Kris to go through them and help me chose what I need to keep and what I can rid the house of). I went through the paper drawer and managed to get rid of some old computer paper, some old duotangs that were no longer usable, and some cards I never realized we had from many Christmas's ago. I also managed to clean the bottom of the hall closet. Gave it a good sweeping and a lovely scrubbing down.

I do hope to get a few more items out of the house and things a bit more organized before we leave. After all who wants someone coming into an unorganized house to look after their cat.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Thrifty Tuesday

I spent most of the day in the sewing room making more quilt blocks. I have enough of the toile to go around one more block, but I need to make three more of each of those blocks. What to do????

I had an old burgundy coloured sheet and cut that into two inch strips and will use that to finish off those blocks. After all there is burgundy in the blocks and in the butterflies (my curtains are also a burgundy colour. Saved money on fabric and recycled something into something new and usable. I just have to figure out where to place them in the quilt top.

I figure if I continue to make 5 blocks a day I should be finished by the weekend. Perhaps I can even get the blocks arranged and sewn. One less thing to do when we get back and another unfinished project almost completed.

I am also using up some of the yarn from my cowl by making another one. This one will be a gift for a friend next Christmas. Puts me ahead of the game.

Another friend (blogging and Facebook) had a picture of a cross stitched sampler she made her son. Kurt would love it as it has his favorite Lovecraft character on it. Margie was nice enough to send me a copy of the pattern, so guess what Kurt will be getting for Christmas...... Thank you so much again Margie.

We have some blow up neck pillows and bags to put them in for our plane trip. Well, it is a struggle to get those silly pillows back into those itty, bitty bags so I found some fabric in my stash and will be making some larger bags to hold them. As they will be draw string I also found some cord to use. The tiny bags will be used for something else. Perhaps some jewelry bags to put in my luggage.

Nothing is going to go to waste around here for the next little while. I am going to use up everything that I possibly can. Now just to find some recipes that call for chili sauce.....

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, March 14, 2016

Menu Monday

I just looked at the calendar and we are in to the middle of the month already. Wow, time is flying and soon we will be as well. I only have two weeks of menus left to post this month!!

Monday

I am pulling some leftover roast beef from the fridge freezer when I get home. Hot beef sandwiches, homemade fries, and coleslaw sound really good to me.

Tuesday

Hotdogs, baked beans and perhaps the leftover coleslaw if there is any.


Wednesday

Pulling out the leftover pork and I am very tempted to make some pulled pork and serve it on buns or biscuits.

Thursday

Clean out the fridge night. Pretty sure there will be a few leftovers from previous meals that we will need to clean up.

Friday

Soup and sandwiches. I have some broth in the freezer to use up, just have to add bits and pieces and I should get a lovely veggie soup. Along with grilled cheese sandwiches this will make a filling meal.

Saturday

Stew and I hope dumplings this time around. Not Hubby's favorite (the dumplings) but they are mine.

Sunday

I had thought of a roast but would not be able to use it up before we leave so I am making a sausage casserole instead. There will be leftovers, but we can eat them for lunches.

Everyone have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Sunday Ramblings

Christ said "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone." Not one of us has not behaved badly at one time or another if we are honest with our selves. Yet we compare ourselves to others and this leads to harsh judgement of others or perhaps self loathing.

We need to become more compassionate and forgiving. We should be less concerned about fairness and more concerned with forgiveness and the joy of simply being.

We need to become a community rather than judges of each others behavior. More encompassing rather than excluding. More loving rather than disliking, and most of all accepting of the differences that make life worth living.

I promised some pictures of the finished blocks for my butterfly quilt. I am using a series of 4 different blocks and will need 9 of each. I just hope I have enough of the strips I am using to get all of them done. While I have more of the cream that I can cut into the 2" strips, I do not have any more of the toile (probably spelled that incorrectly) fabric.



My corners are a bit out in some cases, but I think my template cutting the squares might have slipped once in awhile. It is not too noticeable unless a person looks closely, so I can live with it. I need 9 of each block and this will take awhile. Especially when I say I will sub for a day or the portion of a day. I only like to sew when it is light outside as my sewing/craft room lighting leaves a great deal to be desired.

I also finished my cowl.





Basic black, with some sparkle. I have enough yarn to knit another one for my BFF and will give it to her as a gift for looking after our cat while we are gone.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.





Saturday, March 12, 2016

Saturday Roundup

It has been a gloomy day and I am missing the sun we had over the last few days. Missing it so much as I just can not seem to get warm. It is tempting to turn up the heat, but I am holding off on that as a last resort. Instead, I am bundled up and planning on having a nice warm drink curled up in my chair.

To make matters even worse the computer seems to be acting up again. Hence no pictures of how far I have gotten on my projects.

I spent most of the late morning and all of the afternoon in the sewing room and managed to finish off 4 complete blocks of my butterfly quilt. I have two blocks partially finished as well. So things are moving along quite nicely. I am hoping to accomplish the same amount of work tomorrow as after laying out the completed blocks I will need at least 36 to get the size top I want before adding sides and binding. I am now up to almost 14 blocks done. Lots more to do.

My knitted cowl is almost finished. It is nice to be able to have two projects going. One for the day and one for the evening. I feel very productive for a change.

I will try and upload pictures of everything tomorrow morning. It seems as if I have fewer computer problems earlier in the day. Wish me luck!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Friday, March 11, 2016

Frugal Friday

Well it is time to list my frugal five for the week. I always seem to list the same 5 things over and over. Hopefully this time I have some new things to list.

1.   When I used the oven for cooking our supper I also roasted veggies to go along with our meal. Saved electric, and time doing so.

2.   Used up some of the cheaper embroidery floss working on the quilt top.

3.   Packed my lunch for my one day of work. Lunch consisted of leftovers so I managed to clean out the fridge a bit.

4.   Found a Fuel up to Win ticket while I was taking my walk one morning. Added the stickers to the ones on my game card. (in order to get a ticket you have to spend at least $25 so finding one for free saves me some cash.

5.   Using up, wearing out and making do.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. God bless.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Thursday Tid Bits

It was a beautiful day here on the prairies of Saskatchewan. The sun was shining, almost all the snow has disappeared (except where the sun is unable to reach) and the mud is drying up. I managed to get two lovely walks in today. One slightly shorter than the other but I still managed two.

I finished the embroidery project last night.

I only have the empty box left and that will have to wait until I know who I am giving it to. Then the babies name and birthday will be embroidered, the blocks cut, slashing added, sandwiching and quilting done as well. Whew am I glad to finally be finished as much as I possibly could.

Today I pulled out all the materials necessary to work on the quilt blocks for our bed. We really need a nice quilt as the denim one I have on there now does not really suit at all (it is warm though). I got the bobbins wound, and the machine threaded. Tomorrow after I finish cleaning the church (a group of us ladies will be doing it as well as some grade 8 students) I am going to start working on blocks once again. Sure hope I manage to get all the blocks done in a couple of weeks.

I have also started a knitting project to keep my hands busy during the evenings. I am hoping to get a lacy cowl made before we leave on our trip. I figure it is an easy way to add some dress up factor to what I plan on bringing with me.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Thrifty Tuesday

Today has been a quiet on on the old homestead.

Household chores were done, the unfinished chores from yesterday were completed as well. I even managed to do a bit of extra cleaning before calling it quits and settling in for some Little House on the Prairie episodes and work on my embroidery.

As far as thrift goes I worked yesterday so that brought money in instead of money out via spending. Today I received a phone call asking if I could sub next Monday as well. It is only for the morning, but once again it is money in rather than money out.

Cooking supper tonight I decided to try cooking rice along with the pork chops in the oven. While the rice did not turn out the best it was edible and I learned that in my case the best way to cook rice is with my rice cooker.

I have some leftover rice so will make rice pudding for our dessert tomorrow. I do love a good rice pudding.

No driving, lots of walking and I even managed to visit a friend for a free cup of coffee.

We did get our power bill today and while high, not as high as it could be. It seems that my running around turning down the heat, turning off lights, and doing those things consistently is making a bit of a difference. In fact Harvey read the meter and once again our power supplier is over estimating our usage. Hope to keep that up the rest of the month, that could mean a lower bill next month. Good thing cause our holiday could end up being pretty expensive all told.

All in all an enjoyable and thrifty day.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, March 7, 2016

Menu Monday

March came in like a lamb and I do hope it leaves the same way. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Monday

I am working today and since I was booked late last week decided to leave the menu for today as is.

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and the leftover salad should hit the spot just perfectly. I can also make up the meatloaf, put it in the oven and carry on with a few other household tasks.

Tuesday

Pork chops in a mushroom gravy, egg noodles, and carrots. This is another oven meal, but as I am trying to figure out the new oven temperature wise, and I need to use up fridge items this is the way it goes for a bit.

Wednesday

There has been a package of dry ribs languishing in the freezer for awhile now. I am using these up and adding another partial bag of puff pastry appetizers to get them out of the freezer. Serving them with some raw cut up veggies.

Thursday

Clean out the fridge night. If there is nothing really left I will make some soup and have sandwiches with.

Friday

German dumplings, diced boiled potatoes, and lots of fried onions. Not the healthiest of meals but comfort food on what is supposed to be the coldest day this week.

Saturday

Chicken drumsticks baked in the oven, rice and brussel sprouts.

Sunday

Roast pork, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots (or perhaps broccoli, cauliflower mixed). Depending on what cooked veg I pick there may be some veggies and dip as well.

Lunches will be the usual leftovers or sandwiches. In my case I sometimes just have some toast and peanut butter (don't really like peanut butter, but we have a great deal to use up and Harvey does not seem to be helping).

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Sunday Ramblings

Today our Gospel reading was the Prodigal Son. Father Brian said that we were to focus on the father and his forgiveness of his son. That both sons were separated from their father physically (in one case), emotionally and spiritually much like we are separated from God at times. We need to focus on how God loves us and always will love us.

I took a few pictures of my stock up shopping.

I got all this material for at least 50% off. The first one is a knit fabric that I plan on making another skirt from. The second is a cotton that just may become a dress for summer, and the third is a stretch corduroy that eventually will turn into a jacket and skirt. The thread was all buy one get one free. Not too bad for my first stop.

My next stop was Micheal's and I managed to get all these balls of yarn for $1.00 each. Should keep me out of trouble for awhile. The embroidery floss was full price, but considering I can not buy DMC floss here in town, and Coates is twice as expensive here I did manage to save a bit.

Pork chops and chicken divided up into meal sized portions and vacuum sealed for the freezer.

A whole pork loin cut into three roasts and a rather large beef roast made into two roasts. Sealed in Zip Lock bags and ready for the freezer.

I seem to have missed taking a picture of the ground meat, sausages, and salmon that were portioned out into meal sized vacuum bags. Oh well, perhaps I will keep the camera a bit handier next time.

The dratted embroidered quilt. I have managed to get a bit more done. I still have the eye of the rabbit to back stitch and the back stitching on the yellow ribbons but I do see an end in sight. I am so thankful that a few more days of work should see it all finished and put away until I get a name to embroider in one block.

I picked up a day of subbing this week so this project may take a bit longer than I hoped. Yet it will be completed and I can move on to something else.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.






Saturday, March 5, 2016

Saturday Roundup

Just a very quick post tonight.

We went into Regina today for a big stock up shop at various stores in the city. Managed to get pretty much everything on my list. I did not get shredded cheese however so will need to buy that, milk, and some fruit here tomorrow. Hoping to keep the cost down so I don't go too over budget on food.

The best thing about the trip today was learning that Kris managed to dodge the latest round of layoffs at his place of employment. We are hoping that this is the last and he will be safe for a very long time.

Tomorrow I hope to post some pictures of my stock up on yarn, and fabric (honestly I didn't buy that much). Perhaps even a picture of how far I have gotten on that dratted embroidered quilt.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Friday, March 4, 2016

Frugal Friday

I have been racking my brain for five frugal things I have done this week and just may have come up with a few.

1.  Walked every morning and afternoon.

2.   Had free coffee at a friends.

3.   Used two coupons to pick up items for our trip.

4.   The usual frugal making of bread, cooking meals from scratch as much as possible, turning the heat down in our bedroom during the day and opening the drapes and blinds in the south facing windows during the day to use the light of the sun to heat the front half of the house.

5.   Making a list for our stock up shopping trip tomorrow. I even listed the places (stores) we need to visit in order to get everything.

6.   Found $2.10 while out walking. Money put in my savings jars immediately upon returning home.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Things are slowly getting more spring like here in the southeast corner of my province. This morning we heard the sound of a woodpecker in the trees behind us. Harvey went to get his camera, but by the time he returned Mr. Woodpecker had decided it was time to leave. We have never heard a woodpecker this early in the season, and we have not seen any robins yet (they are the first to usually arrive). Our weather has been so strange this winter I think even the animals and birds are a bit confused.

I paid my 6 months visit to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned and found out I have some areas of concern. Now the dental hygienist is talking about dental implants!!!! Scary thought, but one I suppose we need to talk over. As Harvey says he can not make the call, but he wants me to have a quality of life if anything happens. Guess we will need to put money aside for this purpose as well. Just trying to figure out why these things happen after retirement.

Our travel itinerary was in so on the way home from the dentist I managed to nip in and pick that up as well. In three weeks we will be on our way, so looking forward to the time to just be with no cooking and no bed making. Those things alone make taking a trip worthwhile.

Still working away at my embroidery project, but I do see an end in sight. It will be nice to set it aside and work on my quilt blocks until we leave.

This Saturday we will be heading up to Regina for some shopping. Harvey wants to get a wine kit or two, and I have a list made up for Micheal's, Home Outfitters, Fabric Land, and of course Costco. We will be picking Kris up and make it a day of bonding and a lovely meal out at the end.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless. 

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Sharing A Recipe

A little bit ago (think about the end of last week) I decided it was time to use some of those dried cherries I had in the pantry.

At first I thought I might make a cherry loaf or two, then I came across a recipe for Oatmeal Raisin cookies. My brainstorm was to sub the dried cherries for the raisins.

These are wonderful, moist and chewy. The tartness of the cherries is just perfect with the sweetness of the cookie.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3 cups oatmeal
1 cup flour
1 cup dried cherries (or raisins, chocolate chips or chopped nuts)

Heat oven to 375 F. In a large bowl, beat all ingredients except oats, flour and cherries with electric mixer on medium speed, or with a spoon, until well blended. Stir in oats, flour and cherries.

On ungreased baking sheets, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2" apart.

Bake 9-11 minutes or until light brown. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on racks completely.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we are.

Everybody have a wonderful evening,

God bless.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

An Update and New Goals

First, I would like to say that I am not too happy with my goal accomplishments last month.

1.   Finish the red coat.  Done

2.   Finish the embroidered quilt up to the name (since I don't know who will be gifted this).  Still working on this.

3.   18 No Spend days.   Done, in fact I managed to exceed my goal by 3 days.

4.   Work on more quilt squares.  Not even looked at.

5.   Work on rug. (Just a few more rounds should see it done.)   Same as number 4.

Things just did not go my way this month. I ran out of one shade of yellow for the quilt and had to search numerous stores to find it. The embroidery is taking much longer than I thought it would. I also had to stop for a couple of days in order to get the birthday gift done for Harvey's sister.

Project declutter continued in February (had to edit as for some unknown reason I typed January). I did manage to remove another 115 items from my home. Things are being pared down nicely. I will continue with this project monthly. Who knows what my home will look like by the end of this year.

Now on to the goals for this month.


1.  Finish the quilt even if it bores me to no end.

2.  Make the quilt blocks necessary to start my bed quilt.

3.  Make a packing list for our trip.

4.  Have 14 no spend days before we leave on our trip.

There you have it a very pared down goals list. Sure hope I can manage to finish it in 24 days.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.