Midweek, Not At All Calm

 I really hate not being 100% and becoming so exhausted by mid afternoon I can hardly stay awake. I try to get most, if not all my household tasks done in the morning, but sometimes I just can't. The strange thing is my fitness watch tells me I am getting an excellent sleep in some regards, and sleeping most of the night (think that's out a bit as I know one night I was awake and reading from about 3 to 4 am and the watch said I was sleeping). 

The haircut today really did almost do me in. By the time I drove into our driveway (Harvey always goes first and then walks home) I could feel the urge to close my eyes washing over. Heaven help me when I go shopping tomorrow morning, I could be tired before I even get any work completed around the house. 

If this keeps up I will be visiting my doctor very soon. I will give myself another week to see what happens. 

Enough of the pity party, I am sure you are all getting a bit bored with that.

Right now I am just working on getting a few extra meals into the freezer downstairs. Just in case there comes a time when I really do not feel much like cooking anything. So far this week I have added pie crusts, and potato soup to the mix. I hope to add a chicken meal later in the week along with some chili. Most of the meals are extra from meals I have cooked. Keeping things simple and using up the bits and bobs in the fridge freezer. I just might try my hand at getting a few pizza crusts into the freezer as well. I also managed to dice up the mini peppers and get them frozen as well.

I think I have enough warp on the loom to get the second half of the rug made. I only have 100 rows left to do and I should be okay. Tonight I will sit and finish the first outside corner of the quilt block. I see an end in sight for that project right now, except I have a number of blocks left after this one to fashion into quilts as well. Going to be doing embroidered quilt blocks for awhile I think.

Off to take something for my fever (it seems to have appeared once again after missing all day), and put together the leftover pork into a meal. Thinking of warming the meat up, making mashed potatoes, and a gravy of some kind to put over the meat... Then raw veggies and dip as another side.

Will see how many I can manage to visit tonight both before and after supper.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 

Still working on getting rid of whatever I have managed to catch. I am coughing, sneezing, feverish and by the time the mid afternoon rolls around, I just want to sleep. I do know that if I fall asleep in the afternoon, I will not be able to sleep at night. So I sit and work slowly on projects in the afternoons. At least something is getting done.

Most days I can manage to get the basics done around the house, and since I am trying to use up the bits and bobs in the fridge freezer, I am able to put together pretty basic meals, which Harvey enjoys. Me, well I am surviving on toast and tea. 

Tomorrow we need to go out for our haircuts and since we have waited for three weeks, I am hoping that at least I will not be coughing.... Keep your fingers crossed for me. 

Our weather is going to change as well. Next week is supposed to be back to winter with up to at least 30 cm of snow, or about 12 inches. Winter is sticking around for a bit longer. Of course as is usual with snow the temperatures are not that far below freezing.

Off to see how many of you I can visit before I need to rest my eyes. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tired and Feverish

 

Taking a day off in order to get a bit more rest. See you all tomorrow.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Moving Towards Simplicity

 

Part of my movement towards simplicity is to use what I have and only replace things when absolutely necessary. 

One of the items I am replacing is many of the plastic containers I used for freezing. Lots of them were stained, getting to the point where they were extremely brittle and just getting past the best time to be using them. Now I am not getting rid of them all, I will keep those that are still in good form, but my molds will be used a great deal more and really do make storage a bit simpler. 

I will need to replace my 15 year old broom very soon as it is not doing the job it is intended for any longer. I found that out when trying to sweep up the kitty litter. I will hold off on replacing my dirty clothes basket for a bit longer, as it is still functional even though there is a large crack at the top. 

Collecting glass and plastic jars to use for storage, mainly so I can reclaim my canning jars. 

Simplicity to me also means making the most of what I have. So I am hunting down recipes to use beans, lentils, and peas. All are great sources of protein and can be used instead of meat for that purpose. I seem to have lots of beans in storage for some reason. We will never become totally vegan, but having meals that are vegetarian based will help keep our costs down and is a very simple way to do so.  

Simplicity also means knowing what is in my food, so I am cooking more from scratch, using whole ingredients. I don't think I will ever totally remove processed food from the pantry, but by making more with whole ingredients will keep our meals simple and filling. 

Repairing, making and just taking the time to slow down and breathe while doing so enables me to have prayer or meditation time. By organizing my day and routine I am finding life moving just a touch slower. That makes me wonder if getting more organized would be even better.... But would that enable me to stop and watch the birds at the feeder as I tidied the hall, or watch the children come home from school when the buses drop them off. 

Moving towards simplicity is also helping with the budget. Since I have gotten way more involved in working towards this, I am discovering that staying within or under budget is much easier. No longer worrying about keeping up with the neighbours really does simplify and save money, time and effort. 

While our life will never be completely simplified, I am enjoying the journey to where we will actually end up once done. Simplifying has also enabled us to take the trips we do (even though I, in my frugal mindset, sometimes think about replacing the money....).

Everybody have a wonderful, relaxing, and simple evening.

God bless. 

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

  Thrifty and Frugal

As this day draws to a close, it is time to try and remember the ways that I have been thrifty and frugal over the past week.

The usual frugal and thrifty happenings went on even with Bob here, which at times was a bit difficult.

1.  I washed some empty glass jars that I will be using for storage. I even did some clear plastic ones like the peanut butter jars. So while nothing new is entering the house, I am using items Harvey used to toss to store food. Kind of shocking to him.

2.  Harvey is using some of his lumber downstairs to make a couple of picture frames. One will be for something he made puzzle wise and one will be for me and my cross stitch picture (if I ever get the angel done). 

3.  Mended the tablecloth (the one Bob decided he should claw a hole in), a pair of eldest son's boxers, and a seam on a pillow case. 

4.  Found $0.35 in the washing machine and that is now in the change jars. 

5.  So far have had 20 no spend days this month and keeping my fingers crossed that we can finish of this month with two more.

6.  Planned the projects for next month and made sure that what I have planned will use up things from my stashes. 

7.  Once again made sure to combine errands so as to not waste fuel. 

8.  Saved water for watering the few inside plants I have.

9.  Saved the small container that the cherry tomatoes came in. I think it will make a wonderful starter container for plants. 

10.  Doing more big batch cooking and using the molds to freeze. Once frozen I am using my Food Saver to extend the length of time the meals can be stored.

11.  Went through the fridge freezer and planned meals to use up the bits and bobs next month. Should end up with a fairly clean fridge freezer very soon.

I was asked what yellow stickers were, and that is what people call marked down items in the grocery store. I think it is because in most cases a yellow tag with the new price is used.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Midweek

 

Bob has left the building and I have begun to clean a few of the areas that got a bit messy while he was visiting. Funnily enough he did not want to leave with them. It will be strange not to have him mewling at night and me going to sleep on the couch to keep him quiet. 

I did not let Kevin and Nancy all the things that Bob kind of destroyed during his visit. What good would it do other than make them feel bad? So nothing mentioned. Any way's I really like my pink keyboard.😊 

Middle of the last week of this month. My goodness, soon we will be into the last month of the first quarter of the year. My list of project plans is growing, even if I haven't written them down. My mind is spinning with ideas to use up my various stashes and ideas for gifts later on. Must stop that as I will never complete them all. I need to concentrate on just a few every month. 

Simplifying life is moving along. Really right now most of what is happening is decluttering and organizing. My organization is using what I have and trying not to bring extra items into the house to make things "match". I do have some rolls of wrapping paper that I can cover things with if I do want to "beautify" things. I may do so after things are tidy and well organized, but I really do not have to. 

I have been working on a few ways to save a bit more but still enjoy our current way of life. 

I am going to talk to Kurt and Kris and perhaps get Harvey a smarter TV for his mancave. I really would like to rid ourselves of our Max TV (what our tv is in Saskatchewan) and go with more streaming options which would more than likely work out to be less expensive in the long run. Saving money on television would be just awesome. There are lots of free streaming services as well that I believe he would love to take advantage of. He was looking at televisions when we were shopping. This is our only entertainment so spending a bit is worthwhile. 

There is also more room downstairs for some drying lines and I think I will get Harvey to put them up. Last spring, summer and fall the weather was so very strange I didn't get to use the outside lines as much as I would have liked. By having some more lines downstairs I could still manage to dry more without the use of the dryer on those rainy days, and last year it always seemed to rain on laundry day.

Pretty sure I will think of more ways to save as the days head into spring.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless. 

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 While I did have a wonderful sleep last night, for some reason I am extremely tired right now. It could be because the sun never really came out today until just a short while ago, and it will be disappearing in about an hour or so. I do notice the sun sticking around longer in the evenings.

So far no call about picking Bob up today, so I think he will be with us for another day. I do hope he gets picked up at some point tomorrow as that is the last day I have wet food for him, and man does he love his wet food first thing (actually he only licks the gravy out of the mix). 

I forgot to clear Harvey's jean pockets out and of course this time there was some change in one pocket. The change fell out and one of the coins got stuck in a small area of the washer. Yesterday he couldn't seem to remove it, and I was very worried we would need to phone someone. Today he managed to get the coin out and now the agitator will be able to move freely. 

I have decided that a great way to stretch meat, especially with stir fry is to add more veggies to the mix. So along with the usual veggies, I have added more mushrooms, more peppers, more celery, and some cabbage. Should make a great amount to be eaten tonight and later on. I plan on using my mold or molds to get some frozen for one hopefully two ready meals. Freezing this in the molds and popping them and use my Food Saver to keep them fresh. 

I think I will add some frozen corn so as to add a bit more colour to the mixture. 

I got two more fronts done on the totes I want to make, the sewing machine was out to do some mending, and I thought may as well get those done as well. I managed another 30 rows of weaving as well. 

Tonight I hope to get more of the embroidery completed. I have come to the conclusion I will not complete my project list this month, but I can push to be closer to being done and that is what I am going to try for.

Off to get the meat in the wok and then the rice warmed up in the microwave. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.