Retirement

I know that I said I would sub at the schools as an aide, and I know the need is desperate, there are too few subs out there, but I am getting tired of being called at the last minute to fill in. Hey even subs need a bit more notice then "Hey can you come in to work...." "When do you need me?" "Like right now!" Hmmm, makes you wonder.

I am becoming more and more enamored of the idea of full retirement each and everyday. It isn't like we need the money I make, more a boy its nice to have that bit extra. After all it usually pays the satellite bill, landline bill and even my mobile bill, but that could be paid out of retirement funds just as well.

I enjoy being able to curl up with a book and read all day if I so choose, or sit in my recliner and knit the day away.

I have a feeling that this will be the first and last year that I will be subbing.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

Take care.

Menus November 25 to December 1

A bit late with this, but better late then never.

Sunday

Chili and toast

Monday

Meatloaf, mashed potato cakes (using up those leftover mashed potatoes), green beans.

Tuesday

Using up the leftover Chicken a la King on some baking powder biscuits leftover from breakfast today.

Wednesday

Leftover Roast beef made into a stew with potatoes, carrots, peas and onions.

Thursday

Leftover Chili on Pasta and a salad.

Friday

We get to go to a Christmas party with a free dinner. Free is always good.

Saturday

Leftover stew with dumplings.

Trying to keep the fridge as clean as possible and still serve well balanced meals. I think I am doing okay for the most part..... It doesn't help when you have a major carnivore to cook for or when you no longer work and take leftovers for lunch. I kind of skip lunch many days when I am not working.

I am hoping to get more inventive with my meals very soon. I am sure most of my readers find my meals very boring.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Car Trip Today

Kurt made it home last night at about 7:30 so we were a hungry bunch of people gathering around the supper table. We haven't eaten that late in years. Turns out he had forgotten about the time change and could not figure out where he lost an hour on his watch.

That's right we are heading on a trip. Of course the trip is only to Regina where we will pick up Kris, do some shopping, pick up the prize we won in the Hospital's of Regina draw, eat supper and drop Kurt off at the airport. Sure hope the weather cooperates with us.

Hopefully I will have some nice surprises to show all of you tomorrow.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Saving To Get What We Need

Over the years Harvey has often wondered why I try to save as much as I possibly can. When we paid off the mortgage on our house 15 years early he started to get an inkling.

Now that he is retired and looks at our financial portfolio he is usually pleasantly surprised. Over the years we managed to put a tidy sum away. Which as it happens is a very good thing.

We live in a province where some winters we can get 2 feet of snow in one blizzard and this last storm a couple of weeks ago almost did us in. We (as I continued to point out to Harvey) are not getting any younger and body parts are starting to ache a bit more after usage.

Today, off he went to look at snowblowers (after all we have our own version of Black Friday in Canada now and don't have to fight the huge lines). He found just what he was looking for at Sears.

We are now the proud owners of a beauty just like this one. Once Kurt gets back with the truck Harvey will go and pick it up (most likely in the morning).

This was a big chunk of change, but he managed to get $300.00 off and the money we will save down the road on medical bills will be priceless.

These types of purchases are why we are frugal. It is so we can spend money where we really need to and make our lives just a bit easier.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Wishing

Here is wishing all my American friends a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

I Should Have Known

The weather has been wonderful this past week. So nice in fact that it tempted me to go outside without a coat or with coat unzipped..... Not a good idea.

The night before last I slept for a grand total of perhaps 3 hours, had a lovely tickle (not) in my throat, and bouts of prolonged sneezing. Hmmm, that should have tipped me off as well.

While I did sleep much better last night I woke up with a lovely cold, no cough as of yet but stuffed nose, runny nose and slight sinus headache.

 This is where I want to be....

But this is what I will be doing instead.

Cleaning the paper monster off my computer desk so it looks like this (hopefully)

It never will but one can live in perpetual hope.

Folding the laundry that dried on my lines in the basement.

 

Christmas is coming quickly and I need to get started baking.

And tonight I need to chair the parish council meeting. Like all of you busy people I do not have time to be sick. 

Off to tend the home fires and keep right on frugaling (is that a word) away.

Everybody have a wonderful day. God bless.

Menus For The Upcoming Week Nov. 18 to Nov. 24

It is that time of the week again.

Here are my menus for the upcoming week.

Sunday
Ham, mashed potatoes (this has already been changed to egg noodles), brussel sprouts, and the leftover salad from last night. The leftover ham will be packaged up to use in other meals.

Monday
Fish Fillets, salad and oven fries.

Tuesday
Breakfast for supper, we will be having pancakes. I have a meeting so this is quick and filling.

Wednesday
Meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and green or yellow beans. Have a meeting tonight as well so clean up will be quick and I may need comfort food tonight. : )

Thursday
Chicken A La King on toast.

Friday
Leftovers if there are any or Glace, fried eggs and onions.

Saturday
We will be gone so supper will be out. Not at all frugal, but since we will be with our sons, absolutely priceless.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Giving A Quick Lesson

I have used Sashay yarn to knit scarves for awhile now and was quite surprised when I made a quick trip to WalMart to pick up a new seam ripper or two (I really have a problem with breakage) to run into some older ladies who were just discovering it for the first time.

It seems they had just come from a craft sale we have here every year where a woman was selling these scarves for anywhere from $30 to $40 and decided to give it a try on their own. They told me they loved the scarves but just couldn't afford to buy them at that price. I quite agreed with them way to high a price. Even the sale price of $20 the seller had listed a few at is over 3 times what it would cost to make one yourself.

None of them knew how to start them so out came my glasses, and I started to show these lovely ladies how to go about knitting with this yarn. One of the ladies needed to buy the right sized needles so she handed them to me. I proceeded to show them how to use the yarn and how to cast on the stitches they needed. I even did a couple of rows to show them it got easier as a person went along.

I handed everything back to the lady and glanced up to see a crowd of 15 ladies watching.

As I waved goodbye and wondered to the front of the store and the checkout I noticed many of the group getting their own yarn and needles.

Guess I gave my first knitting class ever without even knowing it.

Here is hoping that one of the ladies end up with a scarf like one of these.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Not Everything Is Roses

 Well we are entering a new phase of our married life.

Harvey has managed to do all the little things around the house that need to be done and now he is starting to do some of the things I usually do. Hmmm, not a good idea. This is going to take some getting used to, that plus the fact that when he is bored he goes shopping.

Sure, most of the time he buys things we need, or have talked about getting some time in the future, but not now.

This leads to arguments and frustration on my part.

This retirement gig is not going as smoothly as I would wish.

Hopefully things will smooth out once again and life will continue along as much as it ever did.

Everyone have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Working On The To Do List

The past few days I have been busy in the sewing room and at the office desk.

For the first time in many, many years I actually have time to do this.

Almost done now, just a couple more to do. I have a great feeling of accomplishment as I look at this pile of cards. Postage will cost, but I have at least kept in contact with a few of my Dad's brothers and sisters as well as Harvey's family.

I have also made a few items. First off was an embroidered fleece scarf. I used some leftover fleece from Kurt and Kris's Christmas gifts last year. The picture did not turn out, but I wore it to work today and got lots of compliments on it. I will try and get a better picture tomorrow and post it.

I also made some booties to go with the robe I made a few months ago.

While they are nothing fancy, they keep my feet toasty warm and cost me pennies to make. Now those 15 year old slippers that should not still be seeing the light of day can be gotten rid of. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

My OCD Kicking In

To stay on track during my day I make lists of what I have to do. I love seeing things stroked off as they are accomplished.

I decided that maybe this would be a good thing to do for all the unfinished projects, and projects that I need to have done by Christmas.... So I made a list and posted it in my sewing/craft room.

This picture is not too clear, but you get the idea.

Every time I complete a project it will get erased. I managed to erase one today. I got the spare room curtains done. So that project was erased from the board.

Still lots more to do and not much time to get everything done by Christmas. Keep your fingers crossed.

I also need to post my menus (at least the main courses for the week).

Sunday

Roast Beef, roast potatoes, carrots and gravy. The leftovers were packaged up to use in another meal later on.

Monday

Baked Spaghetti, using up the leftover spaghetti and meat sauce from Saturday. Made a salad to go along with it.

Tuesday

Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs (these got put aside last week), rice, and the remaining salad from Monday night.

Wednesday

Smoked Sausage, sauerkraut, and baked beans.

Thursday

Leftover frozen Pork made into a casserole

Friday

Fish Fillets, oven fries and coleslaw

Saturday

Leftover Smorg.....if there isn't  enough left, well I will make Chicken Cordon Bleu along with mashed potatoes and beets.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Remembrance Day

Remembering those who fought to keep our countries free, especially my uncles Sam, Dave, Arnold and Albert.

May we never forget!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

The Perfect Day To.....

Today was the perfect day to stay at home and get some projects completed....

The reason being.....

Or this one.....

We got about 13 or so inches of snow overnight and spent much of the morning working our way to a clean driveway and front entrance. Once that was done, it was time to relax and get caught up on a few projects that I have been putting off.

I have said before that one of the ways I save money is to make many of my gifts for Christmas and birthdays. Today was perfect to get another two Christmas gifts made and ready to go.

A friend of mine was going to throw out some red and silver Christmas tree balls,. of course I spoke right up and took them home with me.  These were brand new and still in the boxes. My friend said that they were not what she needed and rather than spend the time taking them back she would just toss them. Hmmm, no way was I going to let that happen.

So today I got everything ready on the table.

I started two wreaths and got them finished in about an hour and a half.

Two more lovely gifts to give to others for a fraction of what they would cost to buy. My cost was some time, a few glue sticks, some burned fingers (I really need to watch what I am doing when I have a glue gun in my hand), grape vine wreaths bought on sale, and the gift of some red and silver balls. My total cost was about $3.00 each, which would be about an eighth of what it would cost to buy each of them in the store.

The snow is starting to fall once again, so I am looking forward to another day of getting projects done.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saving Money and Having Fun Doing It

One of the other ways I manage to save a little bit of cash is to make my own decor.

A few years ago I made drapery for the school I worked at and one of the perks of the job (along with making some ready cash) was that I got to keep the leftover fabric to use for other projects.

This past week I pulled the fabric (or at least some of it) out and decided it was time to do something. I have wanted to make new drapery for our hall since we repainted this spring and this is what I came up with.

Notice the slight brown line just above the hem? I pulled out the stabilizer and some brown embroidery thread and added a bit to them.

Here is a close up of the embroidery.

 

 So for very little cost (the cost of the thread only) and a bit of time at my sewing machine, I managed to get drapes for our hall way. Total cost......$3.59. Not bad at all considering when pricing them out I figured I would have spent ten times that amount!!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Harvey's New Hobby

Harvey has a new hobby this year.

Last Christmas our youngest son, Kris, gave him a wine making kit and all the paraphernalia to make wine. So this year has been spent making wine. We have now gotten an extremely extensive wine cellar. From red to white, lounge liquors such as Mojitos, and Pina Colada. Of course our over abundance of Evan's Cherries were used to make a fruit wine.

I now see that they have kits to make Port..........

I think it is time he quit making wine for awhile.

To tell the truth, neither of us are big wine drinkers. Many of these will go as gifts to others and the ones we do keep, well making them is quite frugal and it keeps Harvey occupied. That in itself is one reason I am happy!!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sharing Some Photos

I thought that I would share some photos of items I brought back from my Dads place. Some of these have been in the family for years and I am very bad at letting things go. After all I did grow up seeing these everyday.

My Grandma would crochet for hours and I found lots of her handiwork in my Dads house.

There was no way I was going to let all her hard work end up being used by people who didn't care about the effort that went in to making all these doilies. After all my grad and wedding gifts were doilies made by her. I am sure that I will find a place for all of these.

Then when my parents first started buying and running hotels and motels (I was 18 at the time they started doing this) they found this hidden in a back room of the first motel they ran.

Harvey has done some research on this type of cash register and while they were mostly used in Barber shops who knows..... perhaps there was a barber shop beside the hotel or even in the hotel itself at one time. It needs some tender loving care, but I am sure Harvey can get it spic and span once again.

My great grandparents on my grandmother's side ran a dry goods store in a small town in the middle of Saskatchewan. This beauty used to sit in a corner of the shop when my great uncle took over.

This piece not only played records but recorded them as well. Harvey says that it isn't working right now, but he is going to go over it carefully and see if he can get it working once again.

We managed to pick up a few more pieces, mostly pictures though. Our oldest Kurt is very in to tracing our heritage and he wants to put everything into a book for the family.

Looking at these pieces kind of grounds me and lets me know where we came from.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Weekly Menu November 4th to November 10

Sunday
Stir Fry using up leftover pork. Served over rice.

Monday
Leftover Ham Pasties

Tuesday
Sweet and Sour ribs served over leftover rice.

Wednesday
Leftover Stir Fry served over noodles

Thursday
Oven Baked Steaks in Mushroom Sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans and a salad

Friday
Salmon Casserole and leftover salad

Saturday
Spaghetti and meat sauce served with cole slaw.

So there are my menus for the next week. I needed to start using things up that were prepackaged in the freezer and this was the best of all possible solutions.  It also helps with the grocery shopping. I am shopping at home before I even think of going to the grocery store. What could be more frugal or money saving.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Using Up Those Leftovers

Today I used up some packaged leftover ham from a couple of weeks ago.

When I make a meal from leftovers I always try to make a new and different one. Sure there are leftovers from this meal, but they are usually something I can either heat up for another supper or have for lunch.

Tonight I made Ham Pasties from a Company's Coming Cookbook. I really like these cookbooks as the ingredients are things that I already have in my freezer or pantry.

Here is a picture of my filling.

So yummy with chunks of leftover ham, tiny diced potatoes, lots of onion, curry, and cheese.

Here they are ready to go into the oven.

Baked for about 25 minutes and they come out looking like this.

We each had two for supper and the remaining four have been put in a container to eat at another time.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Looks Like Winter Is Here

This morning I woke up to a vista of white. Not the good white, fluffy type of snow, rather the heavy wet type.

This is a picture of one of the entrances to a highway just out of town. Believe me the snow was much higher piled up around the city where it could not blow away or melt from a constant stream of traffic.

I made the slow (and I mean slow) journey to work as I got called in by an aide who was ill. Cars were slipping and sliding all over in this the first major snow fall of the winter. You would think that people living here would slow down and take their time getting from place to place. Really do a few minutes make that much difference.

Guess not. Here is a picture from an intersection just up the road from us.

Looks like these guys are going to be a bit later than they planned. All because they couldn't slow down and take road conditions into account.

I am home now and don't plan on leaving for any reason (well I guess I will be going to church). Heck this gives me just the excuse I need to work around the house.

Everyone have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Where Is The Year Going!!

Where has this year gone?

One would have thought that since both Harvey and I retired the days would have stretched endlessly. I am finding that this is not true in the least. I seem to be as busy as ever.

Not only am I cooking more from scratch, I am also volunteering more. These two things seem to take up a great deal of my time and energy. I still sub at the schools as well so those days interrupt my plans a great deal.

Take today for instance.....

I got a call from one of the schools asking if I would come in right away. Of course I said yes as it was to help out a woman that I have a great deal of respect for. However this did cause me to fall behind in other plans. Sure hope I can catch up tomorrow.

Christmas is just around the corner. I am not in the least ready for its arrival and will be spending lots of time getting ready.

I have my challenges for the next year in place, and I am going to work hard at trying to keep them. Some I have already shared with all of you, but I have a few surprises in store and plan on sharing them in later posts.

Everybody have a wonderful evening,.

God bless.