Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 

So my filters for my K-cup came this afternoon and I just had to try one out. Not too sure if these will really work as they should, seems like grounds got a bit all over. It was easy to rinse the holder out though. It could also be that I put too much coffee in. I did purchase the wrong size so will need to cut them down before using. Must remember to get the short size and not the tall size. Also I have to purchase a stronger coffee and some jars to keep said coffee in (though I could use quart canning jars for that purpose). 

The day has been spent doing bits and pieces around the house. It seems like I just can not really focus on one task the last few days, and I really need to do that in order to get things done before the colder weather hits. 

I am even having trouble focusing my mind on what I want to say. So I apologize now for the rambling post I am composing. I can't even blame the weather as it is an absolutely fall day.

I did manage to rouse myself enough to pick all the tomatoes off the patio tomato on the deck, but that was the extent of my gardening today. Since most are green it will be awhile before I can really do anything with them. Perhaps tomorrow I will feel up to attacking the tomatoes in the garden once again. Surely there are some more ripe ones to pick. 

I managed to do a bit of mending, swept the floors, vacuumed all the small area rugs and runners, and did a bit of knitting. I should really have worked on the embroidery, but just did not feel up to that today. My fingers seem to have a mind of their own and not want to do what I require for the fine detail on the embroidery. 

Another flashlight was located, and batteries changed. I can now find my way to the lantern if the power goes out in the evening. I do think we will need a few more (perhaps 4 more) and every room except the bathroom will have their own. 

Harvey has managed to get the carport mostly finished. He even mowed the front lawn, got all his tools put away, and sprayed the dang Hallowe'en bugs that have once again tried to take over the yard and house. 

Every time I look out our dining room window may frugal heart hurts. Our new neighbour to the west of us has let all the lovely apples fall to the ground and rot. Since I do not know her, I can't go and pick any of the fruit. I can just imagine she did the same with the plums and the crab apples. What a waste!!!

Off to visit with all of you and then get supper ready. Thank heavens supper is warmed up leftovers.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Menu Monday

 Wow, this month is just whizzing by once again. It won't be too long before the arrival of much colder temperatures.

On with this weeks eating.

Monday

Leftover Jambalaya from Saturday. I will cut up some tomatoes as a side.

Tuesday

I made a casserole on Sunday with some leftover ham and the cauliflower that needed using. So we will finish that off tonight.

Wednesday

Chicken vegetable soup, and I think I will make tuna salad sandwiches. I have lots of tuna in the pantry and that needs to be cycled through as well.

Thursday

Going to use up a package of frozen leftover roast beef. Probably made into a stroganoff type meal served over mashed potatoes. I will make some carrots as a side dish.

Friday

Fish fillets, rice, green beans and once again some sliced tomatoes.

Saturday

This will be leftovers from Thursday's meal. This time served over noodles.

Sunday

Roast Pork, roast potatoes, roasted carrots and green beans.

Next month I am going to try and get a few more meatless meals into the rotation once again. Figure on stretching the meat dishes as much as possible as well. 

I am always surprised at how well so many of you do stretching a dollar, so very inspiring for me.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Weekly Roundup

 

It has been a busy week here on the old homestead. I have been not only doing the household tasks, but also helping Harvey with the carport set up. That is done for awhile as we are getting lots of rain, and the cement footings need to harden and season before we anchor the posts down and put the roof on. I would say at least another two weeks of work need to be done before we can say it is completed.

Then there was a problem with the plumbing that Hubby did on the bath/shower. He used regular steel joints instead of stainless steel and that caused rust to flow out of the taps.... I had thought I would need to turn into plumber's apprentice but Harvey managed to do so on his own.

That gave me time to do a few more harvesting tasks.

So today I dehydrated onions and lavender.

The lavender is for eldest and I hope to get another three trays done tomorrow.

The onions have been ground down to make onion powder.

Other dehydrating took place as well. I did the sage, oregano, thyme, parsley, and probably what is the last of the basil. 

Then I moved on to dehydrating jalapeno peppers.

I also dried more goji berries.

Lots more ripening that will need picking.

I made chili sauce and salsa (didn't get a picture of the salsa before I put it away).

Oops made an error I did get a picture of the salsa.

What I didn't get was the 5 pint bags of frozen tomatoes I also processed.

When I wasn't processing garden harvest, I was knitting, or refashioning some of my clothing. I managed to change two of my dresses into skirts, and one top. Plus some of the clothing had already been taken apart to be used as fabric for other projects.

I visited a friend in the hospital, did the shockingly high cost grocery shop (hope not to have to do another until the beginning of October). I also paid the middle of the month bills, and did a bit of sorting in the sewing/craft room (more work needs doing). 

Pretty sure next week will be much the same as this week, minus the carport, and plumbing.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

Thrifty and Frugal

I have closely been watching prices rising, mostly because of the cost of fuel to ship things. I am also noticing more and more Canadian goods on shelves, which is a very good thing. There are times that I wish I lived in a bigger center with more choice, but I will continue to save costs grocery wise where and how I can.

So far the thrifty and frugal things I am doing is making the most of the harvest. I have frozen carrots, and beans. Dehydrated herbs, scraps from onions (ground to make onion powder), and have started to freeze tomatoes (the skins will be dehydrated to make tomato powder). I have made pickled onions, relish, Cowboy candy, salsa, and chili sauce. The way the tomatoes are coming in I will need to find something else to can with those as well. I even froze some corn on the cob!!!

Soon I will be making pumpkin puree as well. I will also be dehydrating lavender leaves. 

Life is just one big harvest right now.

I am using the appliances to cook more of our food, and hope to get used to doing that a great deal more. 

I made a great many ready meals for the freezer and am going to be making a few more. These are in tinfoil containers that I can throw into the toaster oven to reheat.

I am only purchasing meat that is on sale, and trying to stock up on canned meat that is on sale as well. 

I purchased a make your own K-cup and will soon give up purchasing the ready made ones. I need one more plus the paper filters so I can make some ahead and store in airtight containers to save time.

I refashioned one dress into a skirt, and the other dress into a top and skirt (it was a very long dress). 

Walking for exercise and watching what I eat so as to keep up the weight loss.

Not turning on the heat as of yet. It isn't that cold when I get up in the morning that my robe and slippers won't keep me toasty.

Mending some seams and hems, fixed a few buttons, and patched a pair of Harvey's work pants. 

Hung clothes on the lines.

The air conditioning hasn't come on in a couple of days which is great.

That is pretty much all I can remember right now. I will share pictures of the garden processing perhaps tomorrow.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

 

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 

Life since we got back from our trip has been trying to get the garden in, processing, catching up on household tasks, and a few appointments. The appointments will end the beginning of October I hope. 

My CT scan came back with a few concerns for me. Now the nodules in my lungs have not grown, so they are now considering them scarring from previous infections. 

But the scan showed a growth on my adrenal gland and the start of stenosis of the liver (Fatty Liver Disease). I believe and so does my doctor that the liver is from me putting on quite a bit of weight over the last couple of years. So I am trying hard to lose some weight and had actually lost 8 pounds from the last time my weight was taken about 2 months ago. Not a large amount, but a start. 

The one that really scared me was the growth on my adrenal gland. Turns out the radiologist and the doctor both tell me it is not cancerous, but rather something that usually happens with age. I was worried because my Mom died of adrenal cancer which is not common. The doctor told me that this type of cancer is not passed down, and she gave me a list of symptoms that I should watch for. She also told me if I become concerned I should call and see her. She would then make me another appointment for a more localized scan. 

I do feel more at ease now, but will keep an eye on my overall health for sure.

We were home for about a week, perhaps a week and a half when I got the news my Mom's youngest sister had died. So as the funeral was early morning, we headed off the night before. Spent one night in a hotel, and then went to the funeral. I was glad that we were able to attend as I got to see many of my cousins, and my 99 year old sister of my Mom. She is the last of the 4 girls left. I also got to see my Mom's youngest sister's daughter, the one who is very close to the same age as me. She is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, and had a mastectomy not too long ago. 

Now we have been home for about another week and things are almost back to normal. Well, as normal as they are for this time of year. We almost had a frost a few days ago, which has speeded up the garden harvest, though with Harvey working on building the new carport, and me helping things are not where I would like them to be. 

I have made many ready meals that are in the freezer, and there are a few more (mostly soups) that I need to get done. That will be after the chili sauce and tomato freezing. I might actually try to can some tomatoes this year. 

Shopping was done today, and I really hope that I will not have to do another until October. My goodness prices of certain items have really risen. Trying to stock up on baking supplies, canned meats, and pasta right now. Pasta, since I can purchase Canadian made is still relatively inexpensive. Canned meats on the other hand have really risen, and baking supplies are getting very hard to find other than flour, sugars, and the very basics. Cocoa seems to have disappeared for now.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless. 

Back to Regular Posts Menu Monday

 Monday

Pork Cutlets, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas and a tossed salad.

Tuesday

Smoked Chicken Sausages, tossed salad from Monday, fried leftover potatoes with onions.

Wednesday

Steak in Mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes, corn.

Thursday

Soup and sandwiches. I will probably make grilled cheese and a Japanese noodle package of soup.

Friday

Fish fillets, fries, and coleslaw.

Saturday

Jambalaya using shrimp and garlic coil sausage. Leftover coleslaw. 

Sunday 

A package of ham from the fridge freezer warmed up, scalloped potatoes, and carrots. This will probably be made into a casserole and there should be enough leftover for a meal in the next week.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Questions About Our Trip Answered

 I have been asked many questions about our trip, how we liked it, how Viking treated us, and is the ship like the pictures one sees online.

Even though we did not get the full cruise experience, we loved our trip. Viking did whatever they possibly could to make the experience wonderful. They added free excursions, gave us a rebate on our trip,  rebate excursions that we could not take due to the level of the river, gave us a rebate on other items we paid ahead for as well. They added special meals, and onboard entertainment as well. 

I will say that when we do our next cruise it will definitely be with Viking. Perhaps not a river cruise, but they do lots of ocean cruises as well. I believe that will be our next holiday. 

There were two places for meals and we usually used the main dining room for our breakfast, and then the other more casual place for our afternoon and evening meals. They served pretty much the same items for those meals, plus the more casual eating establishment had things like hamburgers or panni sandwiches. 

There was a coffee area just outside the lounge where one could get coffee or tea or hot chocolate whenever one wished. There was also a selection of freshly baked goodies to choose from. 

As far as the computer center, there was two computers one could use, but the WIFI was awesome throughout the trip. There was an excellent if small library and many games to choose from if one wanted to play cards, scrabble or even do a puzzle.

The lounge was open all day and in the evenings a piano/singer to entertain us when no extra entertainment was brought in. 

On many cruises the shopping overtakes many areas. Viking has a very small area of shopping. Like one or two racks of shirts and jackets and just a small amount of jewelry. That is a big plus as no one accosts you to purchase things. 

Our room was a bit smaller than we thought it would be, but with the outside balcony was okay. There are bigger suites, but since you really are not in them for very long size is not really a problem. There was also storage space under the beds for our suitcases. 

Laundry is available, but on a river cruise is usually paid for. This time however they were willing to do laundry for nothing if one chose to use this. We didn't but a lady we met did take advantage of the service. 

The sundeck of our ship was not as well set out as another Viking ship that parked near us. While we had lots of covered chairs and lounges as well as shuffleboard and a putting green, the ship that parked beside us had pretty much the same plus a small pool. Mind you considering the heat we faced I am not sure a pool would give us any cooling properties. Harvey and I did take advantage of the walking track early and would on the days we did not have an excursion sit under the shade. 

All in all, I would definitely recommend Viking cruises to all who read my blog. Oh and if you have ever seen an ad where there are two people on the steps walking down them.... Definitely true, those steps are a plus for your voyage.

However do not take a river voyage in the middle of summer. I would do so in the spring or late fall.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.