Weekly Roundup

 I was asked about our Thanksgiving here in Canada and I must admit to not knowing a great deal about how and why our date is in October. I did know a few tidbits about our holiday in this country.

The first Thanksgiving in Canada was held by Sir Martin Frobisher in 1587 while in Nunavet. It was done in thanksgiving for a safe journey and the sailors ate hard tack, peas and the other items have slipped my mind.

Then in 1606, Samuel de Champlain held a series of "thanksgiving feasts" in New France.

Loyalists who left the United States and immigrated to Canada continued to practice the Thanksgiving they were used to.

In my reading our Thanksgiving changed every year and in fact one year many, many moons ago Parliament decided that December 6th would be a great day to celebrate. 

In 1957, the second Monday of the month of October was chosen as the permanent day, mostly because harvest was done by this time.

But even before Europeans started celebrating Thanksgiving our First Nations people had been celebrating something similar for many years.

Now that I have bored you all with Thanksgiving tidbits, on to what I have accomplished this month.

Pumpkins were processed over a couple of days. Just too many for me to do all at once, and there are yet more to do.

My collection of pots that seemed to add up after the puree processing and tomato processing. 

Some baby corn cobs that Harvey picked and we ate last night. They actually look pretty large here, but the biggest one was
about 3 inches. Sure were sweet though.

Weaving has begun. This colour is off as it is a very dark purple. 

I got to work on the embroidery once again. Sorry for the wrinkles. 

The bag of 15 toques left with Kurt and I am now working on some more. Pictures once I have more done.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

  Thrifty and Frugal

Once again it is time to remember the thrifty and frugal things I have done this week. 

Of course the usual things are being done, clothes dried on the lines downstairs, full wash loads that are done in cold water and if not at least rinsed in cold. 

I am now starting to save dishes that must be handwashed to be done only once. That should save a bit on the water bill, or at least I so hope.

I did darn some socks this week.

When I used the oven I made sure it was full.

I have been using the many appliances I own for cooking a bit more. 

Saving crusts once again this time in the fridge freezer.

Washing the glass jars as they empty. These will be used to store what seems to be an inordinate amount of spices and herbs I have managed to collect. 

Processing tomatoes and pumpkins, which will be continuing through the coming week. 

Still using up the orphan yarn skeins and balls making toques. Once those are all done (need to make 25 or 35 more) I think I will be making some multicoloured blankets, or perhaps some funky shawls. 

Kurt brought me some of his old, well loved clothing and I will be cutting those up and saving any bits that I can like buttons. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 

Another overcast and dang cold day (cold for this time of year). We managed to stay above freezing overnight, but the feel like temperatures for last night and the coming two nights are well below the freezing mark. 

I spent the day getting 5 smallish pumpkins processed and hope to get another 3 done tomorrow. We have haircut appointments in the afternoon so these will be started first thing in the morning. I think I will also process some of the ripe tomatoes, or at least get them ready to be frozen when we get home from said haircuts. 

Other than the garden processing, I have just been doing work that is usually done on Tuesdays and realizing I really need to get some canned mushrooms the next time I go shopping. Hopefully those will be on sale. 

I got Kris's room cleaned up though he is pretty good about keeping the room fairly tidy. I do need to get into Kurt's room at some point this week and make sure his is neat and tidy. There is a rug I made years ago down there that I should probably repair. I just have to figure out how I am going to do that. 

There will be a bit of spending done this week, hopefully just one day (haircuts) and I hope to get some baking other than bread done as well. I brought up some rhubarb to use, and I would like to get some cherry muffins done as well. I think that both of those baked items could be done in my toaster oven. Leaving the regular oven for bread and pumpkin processing. 

We are out for a birthday celebration on Saturday which will mean getting fuel earlier than I wanted to. But we get a meal and spend time with some of the family once again. Looking forward to seeing a nephew that we haven't seen in probably 20 years. This nephew is also Kris's Godfather and the son of the birthday girl. 

October is slipping past on wings as every month previously has. We still need more yard clean up and winterizing of the house. November will be here before we know it and then comes Christmas prep. Yikes, the year is passing by too quickly. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

 

The house is quiet once again. Both Kurt and Kris left for their respective homes this morning. Both probably hit snow about 20 minutes from here, Kris more than likely hit even more snow once he got to the city. We, fortunately, only got rain. Lots of rain and lower temperatures which could cause some freezing overnight. Now a pretty dense fog is moving in so there will not be a nice sunset here.

I can now go back to cooking for two once again. Going to be difficult for awhile as I rev things up to cook for 4 (two whom eat enough for probably 4) and now have to try and cut back. I also have lots of bits of salad leftover as well. 

So here are my menus for this week. We are invited to a birthday celebration that includes dinner on Saturday so the menu will of course change once again.

Monday

The leftover filling from my stuffed cabbage and ground meat buns made into a casserole. Served with the leftover yellow beans from yesterday's supper.

Tuesday

Leftover turkey made into a casserole, serving with sliced cuke and sliced tomatoes. Should be enough left for another meal this week.

Wednesday

Soup and sandwiches. Kurt gave me the idea to make some of my processed pumpkin puree into a soup. Should make a very nice change. Sandwich wise I think I might make some tuna melts.

Thursday

Leftovers from Tuesday, and I will serve them with mixed veggies.

Friday

Lazy Perogy Casserole, with fried onions, and sour cream.

Saturday

Out at the birthday celebration. 

Sunday

I will make what I had planned for Saturday. Spaghetti and meat sauce. I will try and make a marinated salad for this meal. The roast meal will be made on Monday.

Surprisingly there was not that much meat leftover from the turkey. I got a freezer medium bag for each of the sons, a freezer medium bag for us, plus a bag containing the legs and wings for us as well. This really surprised me and makes me wonder if the listed weight was wrong. Might have to pick up an even larger one for Christmas this year. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Friday Weekly Roundup

 

I haven't really managed to get much done on projects this week so once again no pictures. 

Instead I have been busy baking bread, baking buns, freezing leftovers, and getting ready for our Thanksgiving dinner. Add in a few necessary appointments, bill payments, and a bit of gardening processing and the week has been pretty full.

This isn't to say I haven't been doing work on projects, I have. Just not able to spend as much time as I wanted on them. I think that I just may be looking forward to the cold weather and staying at home more and working on all those projects.

More organizing and tidying of the sewing/craft room has taken place. I managed to get a whiteboard up in there and have listed the projects I had set aside, some new ones and many smaller ones. I do have to make some labels for a couple of containers next which will be put on the project list, as well as cutting strips and getting more weaving ideas down as well. 

Life, while perhaps not as slowed down as I would like it, is at least a bit more relaxed. Well at least as relaxed as I can possibly be at this stage. Decluttering is removing items from the house that no longer serve a purpose, or I can no longer use. Tidying the sewing/craft room is allowing me to see how much I actually have to work with, baking and cooking are filling my freezer with wonderful meals, Kurt and Kris will be home this weekend, as will our grandkitty. Life is good and I know we will all be okay.

This weekend we will dump baskets and pull things out from the larger planters. Not sure if we will store away and cover the deck furniture, but we will definitely be making a start on getting ready for the winter months. The garden is coming to an end, and I am continuing to process what I can when I can. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursdays

 Thrifty and Frugal

I am trying my best to be both thrifty and frugal, but think I could be falling behind on this due to some pretty large expenditures this month and next month. Heck from now until the end of the year there are some pretty big expenditures. 

Also, since I turn 71 this year my RRSP's here in Canada have to be turned into RIFF's. I really was not paying attention or I would have moved a few more into my Tax Free Savings Account. Just goes to show one that "You snooze, you lose" is quite true. 

Our furnace still has not been turned on. Instead I have been turning on my electric fireplace to take the chill off the front rooms in the morning. By the time an hour goes by the temperature has risen and I can turn it off.

I was surprised by the air conditioner coming on a few times. Finally realized it was because the oven was on getting pumpkins processed, bread baked and pies made. I will open some windows tomorrow when I bake the birthday cake, and cookies. That should help keep the air from coming on.

Hanging as much as possible on the lines downstairs. 

Washing only full loads in the clothes washer, and in the dishwasher.

Eating leftovers for my lunches.

Saving all meal leftovers to use in another meal or two if possible. 

Still using up yarn and embroidery floss.

Working on finding out what needs to be repaired before winter hits. 

Using as many appliances to cook as possible.

Still researching meatless meals online. 

Did not purchase birthday cards for Kurt and Kris. They usually just take their birthday money out and throw away the card. So I saved quite a bit today.

Still combining as many errands as possible.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless. 

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 So, I was slowly getting better, until this morning. Woke up and my back is killing me. Not because I have done too much, rather because of the upcoming weather.

While the next couple of days are going to be just lovely, the Weather Network is forecasting snow starting Saturday night, Sunday and even part of Monday for my area and for Kris's city as well. Kurt will have even more snow fall on his town/city (I never know what to call Drumheller). It is a good thing that I really hope to have any outside errands done by Thursday, I can then stay home and rest my back as much as possible before the visit begins.

This also means that I can no longer put off getting things done outside. I will need to do a bit each day and hopefully when our sons are home I can get them to help with the clean up of flowers and furniture. Though the deck furniture might need to wait until everything dries once again before being covered and stacked.

I have been working in 15 minute bits and then changing position. That could mean moving from standing to sitting, sitting to walking and doing a few stretches as well. 

I have also been going over our budget to see where cuts can be made. As long as the stock market is going crazy we will be losing finances. This means we will need to get creative on meals, driving, water, power, and energy (natural gas). Most will not be hard to cut back a bit on, but considering winter is arriving and we are never sure about the weather or temperatures the heating portion of my planned frugality could definitely take a hit. One thing I do know is that even more appliance cooking will be taking place, the oven will be filled completely as will the dishwasher and washer. I may even hang a bit more on the lines downstairs if at all possible. 

Supper tonight is soup and grilled sandwiches. I only used about 1/2 the cauliflower, so there will be another recipe to use the remainder this week. Just not sure what.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.