Menu Monday

Miserable, wet Halloween.... Perfect day to spend indoors. However, I have already been out and about. Took the vehicle in for it's regular service job, and later will be heading out to the dentist for a cleaning (sure hope they do not find anything else).

Here are the dinner menus for the next week.

Monday

Chili and toast. I plan on making a huge pot and hopefully having enough for at least three meals for Harvey and I.

Tuesday

Leftover pork roast made into a stir fry of sorts served with the leftover rice from a meal or two ago.

Wednesday

Leftover Chili served on a bed of pasta (my favorite way to have chili).

Thursday

This will either be a Clean Out the Fridge night, or a Soup and Sandwich night. It just depends on how much is available in the leftover department.

Friday

Salmon patties, mashed potatoes, peas/carrots mixed together.

Saturday

Smokies, leftover mashed potatoes fried with some onion, corn niblets.

Sunday

Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and carrots. Perhaps a salad as I will have done my shopping and have some salad fixings.

One more thing before I go.

Everyone have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

The week is ending with a bang.

First my friend has undergone her double knee replacement. I talked to her today and she seems to be doing well and the great thing is she only had to undergo partial replacements in both knees instead of a full replacement in one and a partial in the other. Hopefully this means recovery will be a bit quicker for her.

Then I learned that an old friend fell off some scaffolding 11 feet to a cement floor. He hit his head, underwent surgery for swelling and is in a medical induced coma until the swelling goes down.

This all after learning about the separations and divorces in the younger generation of the family. I really could use a bit of a respite from the action happening all around me. It's a bit hard for this old lady to take.

Harvey started working on the stairs into the basement. It is the one place he can do anything and I think he might be getting a bit tired of living with a barn in the basement. So far things are looking just great.

I started another pair of pants today and only have the casing and hemming left to do. This will be done tomorrow and I will be throwing them in the basket to be washed on Monday.

The days are cold and overcast. I think we may get snow very soon, just hoping that the children can have Halloween without having to wade through snow drifts. The nights seem to come so early now and preparations for winter need to be stepped up. We still have a few things to get accomplished before the snow falls and the winds howl.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Frugal Friday

My frugal five for the week are as follows:

1.  Using up leftover frozen meat in fridge freezer to make meals this past week. I have managed to use up 3 bags and made 6 meals (three for each of us). Got to love cooking once and eating twice.

2.  Used up some of my yarn stash knitting a sweater. Still have a ways to go so hopefully I will use up some more.

3.  Walked every day, sometimes twice a day for frugal and free exercise.

4.  Got some free Voltaren in the mail.

5.  Saved close to $22.00 at the grocery store today.

Here is an extra.

6.  Watching a free movie on the television with my Android box.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday Tid Bits

Good evening everyone. It has been another quiet day around the old homestead. The days are getting shorter and I love nothing more then being curled up with my knitting or a book in the evenings. I think my winter nesting is starting a bit earlier than usual this year.

I cut out and am half way finished a pair of pants. I just love it when everything goes just right and decided rather than push my luck I would stop with just a few more seams to do before hemming and inserting the elastic into the waist. So far I really like the way these are looking. I do hope the second pair pleases me as much.

I made my shopping list today. Scouring the flyers I found a few excellent sale items that we needed. I plan on buying a few extra of these sale items to put in the pantry. This is one area of our budget we have greater control of and the more I can cut closer to our big spend months, the better I like it.

This week I have spent most of my time using things up instead of decluttering. I am hoping to get back into declutter mode next month. Mind you I am finding that using items up is also decluttering my fridge freezer, and my fabric stash. Got to love making room to see everything!!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Since I Can't......

The title of this post is a teeny bit out, but seemed to suit. With the basement still in a state of turmoil, and the floors being slightly dusty, Hubby thought it best if I did not try and sandwich my Butterfly quilt at this time. After all the work I have put into it I wouldn't want to ruin it in any way.

Soooo, what to do.

My fall/winter wardrobe is in desperate need of some long sleeved pretty tops, and some pants. Knowing this I decided it was time to go through the rather extensive fabric stash and use some more of it up.

First up

Three tops (I am going to use the long sleeved view). Two solid polyester crepe ones and a patterned baby wale corduroy one. I figure that there may even be enough of the red crepe to make something else as well. Just not sure what as of yet.

Next

This longer tunic style top out of the khaki brown knit I have had lying around for a few years.

My next project will be this top (the greenie yellow one) to be worn with jeans and leggings. It is a bit more fitted than I like but hopefully will still look okay.

Lastly I need some pants as well. So I will be using the next pieces of fabric to make two pairs of pants. I have a simple pattern with an elastic waist so these will not take any time at all to make. I have used this pattern to make the short jacket so I know what kind of changes to make to it so the fit is right.

Well I think this will more than make up for being unable to finish my quilt. Still using up fabric before I make another trip to the big city and stock up on more.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday

Today was the beginning of the annual rummage sale at the parish. This is put on by the CWL every year at around this time. I am not a CWL member, so doing a bit of shopping there is my way of supporting them.

I managed to pick up a few items.

I found a sleeve board. Something I have often looked at in stores but never purchased due to the price being ridiculously high! I got this one for $2.00 and boy will it come in handy when ironing those set in sleeves when sewing.

A book of cross stitch patterns. These can be used for cards and small projects. Bought for $1.00

Another $1.00 saw me buying this old cookbook (well a thirty year old cookbook). I have spent a bit of time looking at the recipes and I am really going to enjoy this one. Some recipes are very frugal, while others would be a bit costly to make at this time.

Three novels to read this winter when I run out of reading material from the library or free downloads onto my ereader. These should keep me happily engrossed for awhile, all for a cost of $1.50.

Two pieces of fabric (the brown flowered piece is about 3 meters and the blue green piece is 2.5 meters). Both pieces together cost me $3.00 a steal of a deal in my books.

Lastly I picked up this.

I am hoping that this nifty little gadget will make it much easier to get chopped food off my cutting board. After all Rachel Ray uses one to great effect on her show!!

My entire haul only cost me $8.75!!

I have also been using up the bits and pieces of bagged, frozen roasted meat in the fridge freezer for our meals for the last little bit. The freezer is getting cleaned out and we are having some excellent use it up meals.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

It is the end of October already. The last full week!!! My goodness time is just flying right by.

Monday

Ham casserole or perhaps a quiche. I have lots of bits and pieces of veggies left to use up and both would fulfill that purpose.

Tuesday

There is a package of cooked pork roast in the fridge freezer that is calling out to be used this week. I am planning a stir fry of sorts. Using up those other leftover veggies (if there are any left).

Wednesday

Some of the leftover frozen turkey is going to be made into a casserole.

Thursday

Clean out the fridge.

Friday

Baked trout along with rice, and corn niblets. I will have gone shopping so a salad is in order.

Saturday

The last few smoked sausages with the leftover rice and leftover salad.

Sunday

Pork roast, roast potatoes, roast carrots and a salad.

So did you get the picture? This week it is clear out the fridge freezers to make room for new leftover packaged cooked meats. Those planned leftovers sure help out a budget and nothing goes to waste (well almost nothing).

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

My back is still giving me grief today so I have spent most of the day either sitting for a few minutes or walking around. As I said to a friend, I feel like a jack-in-the-box. Up, down and repeat. Hopefully this will disappear very soon.

The back problem made sitting through Mass more of a problem than I thought it would. I couldn't concentrate and then was asked to read the announcements (thank heavens there were none). I just had to say who the Mass was for and start the Stewardship prayer off.

Concentration was not my forte today and so I gazed around and admired the stained glass windows, not being fully there made me realize that my faith means a great deal to me. I love singing and saying the responses, listening to the homily, and distributing communion. To feel a part of a community instead of an outsider is wonderful, and I guess part of the problem I am having or had today was the feeling that while most of the community accepts and likes/loves me the few that don't seem to be taking up more and more of my energy. I believe it is time to make some changes, but I don't know what those changes will be. I will be spending some time praying this week.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Frugal Friday

This week has been not bad at all on the frugal front.

1.  This week I have had 6 no spend days.

2.  I found some carrots in the garden that I could use in my tray of roasted veggies tonight at supper.

3.  I am using some yarn from my stash to knit myself a new sweater.

4.  Kept my shopping to a minimum today.

5.  Using items up, decluttering, and reading a free to me book.

I hope all of you have had a frugal week as well.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday Tid Bits

It has been a quiet day, well at least quiet for me. This morning we received a call from the hospital asking if they could speak to Harvey. Needless to say I was a bit concerned.

It turned out that Harv's brother was in the hospital and needed an ultrasound. Our machine was fully booked today and so Vern needed to be driven to Regina for the procedure. Regina happens to be 2 and almost one half hours away. So off Harvey went.

This meant I was by myself for most of the day. Harvey did make it home in time for supper and filled me in on what this was all about. Vernon was to phone us once all tests were finished here and let us know what the problem is.

Harvey did mention that it was nice to get all caught up on the family gossip. It seems that two nephews and one niece are either separated or in the process of separating from their spouses. While there have been a couple of strange posts on Facebook, whenever this thought crossed our minds we shrugged it off as being our imaginations going overboard. Guess we should stick to our gut feelings from now on. In each case there are children involved, the niece has 4 children, one nephew 2 and the other 1. I do hope they can all part on relatively friendly terms, for the sake of the children.

Me, well I spent the day doing household tasks, working on the Christmas gift for Kurt (almost done), reading, knitting, and finding fabric to make a few new clothing items. I also walked or stood whenever my back started hurting. I even did a bit of decluttering!!! In other words a pretty lazy day where I could do things at my own speed. Love days like today.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Dark and Dreary

The last two days have been overcast, cold and windy. Yesterday actually felt colder than today and yet the temperature was higher, I think the howling wind had something to do with it.

My winter coat is out and being worn, but the cold is playing havoc with my back. I can only sit for a bit, stand for a bit and work for a bit which is causing me to fall behind in everything I planned to have done this week. I barely get the household tasks finished and doing my cross stitch for any length of time without stopping for a break is unheard of. I think it may take a bit longer than it should to complete.

I had a Parish Council meeting last night that I had to leave early because I was in so much pain. One would think someone would have called today to see how I was feeling.... Nope. More and more I am beginning to realize that the community I thought was present, really isn't. It seems that there are "favorites" and those of us who are on the outside looking in. I will get used to this eventually, but I am thinking that it is time to draw back from this smaller community and work in the larger community of my city.

I have a few tasks to complete and then I will draw back, bit by bit and enter a different phase of volunteering and giving back.

I did a bit of fabric shopping in my stash and found some fabric to make some new winter tops and either skirts or perhaps pants. I believe that will be one of my goals for next month. I really want to use up some of my stash before I buy more. I also have some new patterns I want to make up to fill in some areas of my fall/winter wardrobe that are lacking.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

As the days grow shorter my need for heartier meals seems to increase. Not that I don't seem to always cook hearty meals, I just seem to think I need to cook more. Perhaps to help with the heating of the house, or just a winter nesting instinct coming to the fore.

Monday

Sausage casserole. This contains small pork sausages, potatoes, carrots, onions, usually peas (today I used a can of mushrooms) and a can of tomato soup mixed with a soup can of water and poured over top. It is now popped in the oven and smells heavenly.

Tuesday

Spaghetti and meat sauce, served with a salad or perhaps the last of the brussel sprouts roasted along with the last of the peppers, some onion, and a potato or two.

Wednesday

Leftover beef roast made into stroganoff and served on noodles. Salad on the side.

Thursday

Leftover spaghetti and meat sauce turned into Baked Spaghetti. I will use up the remaining salad.

Friday

Perogies, onions, sour cream.

Saturday

Clean out the fridge (I have a feeling it will be the remaining stroganoff, along with various other leftovers.

Sunday

Leftover baked spaghetti (bit of a change from my monthly menu plan, but the baked spaghetti will need to go). Served with either roasted veggies, or perhaps another salad.

I have made a few changes so far this month to the menu, but this has been to use up various items either in the fridge or in the fridge freezer. Trying to clear things out so I can actually see what is in there.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

"Jesus told the disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart."

That sentence in the Gospel today struck a chord deep within me. I can always pray when things are going well, but it is very hard to pray when things are not going well. When I want to give up, or yell against a perceived injustice my prayer life takes a nose dive.

I must learn to trust the loving relationship that I have with God. That love he has for me and every other person gives me strength to say "Thy will be done" even in the hardest circumstances.

Things seem to be going from bad to worse in our parish, and I need to pray more and worry less about things that are beyond my control, but not beyond God's.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Mid Month Update

I can't believe that I did not post my monthly goals once again. I do list them on my monthly calendar so will update and list them now.

1. Finish projects.  Started, and still working on.

2. Finish 2 Christmas gifts.  I finished three gifts this month.

3.  17 no spend day.  I have reached 11 no spend days so far this month, just a few more to go.

4.  Continue with project declutter.  This is a work in progress, I seem to rid my home of a bit of clutter every week.

5.  Put garden to bed.  This should be completed in a couple of days. I can only work for so long before my back starts to kill me. Tomorrow will see the perennial bed done, and then I will move on to the smaller mixed garden. Hopefully the weather cooperates.

6.  Use up some more of my fabric stash.  Not even looked at as of yet.

So far this month I have removed another 36 items from my home. I will, hopefully be removing a few more by the end of this month.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Frugal Friday

It's been a regular frugal week around the house. It is hard to think of new frugal things accomplished this week, but I will give it a try.

1.  When dumping my containers I took snips of herbs and have them rooting in water. Free fresh herbs to add to the dried and free plants once I pot them up in the spring.

2.  I managed 5 no spend days over the last week.

3.  Stocked up on a few items to see us over the cold winter months.

4.  Reading a book I picked up at a garage sale this summer.

5.  Watching free movies using the android box. I watched Don't Breathe (don't watch it isn't that good) and now I have Deepwater Horizon playing.

6.  Used up most leftovers from other meals. Still have a few to go, but I have plans for using the rest up over the next few days.

7.  Opened drapes during the day for light and heat. Closed them once it got dark to keep heat in.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday Tid Bits

As the week draws to a close, I thought I would share a picture of the men in my life. I talk about them a lot, but it isn't too often that they are all together in one place.

I caught them all at the table on Thanksgiving. The one standing is Kris, Kurt has the orangey red t-shirt on and Harvey is at the head of the table.

It was wonderful having everyone together for a couple of days.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Cold

The weather has not been very nice at all the past week or so. It is very hard to get a garden put to bed, the cushions and chairs put away, and the back deck cleaned up when your hands turn into ice cubes as you move things.

Harvey did manage to get a few things emptied and the hoses all drained. We hope to get even more done tomorrow as it is supposed to warm up slightly. It will sure be nice to have that chore completed before we are knee deep in snow.

My best friend decided to rent some walking poles last night. I am not sure how she is going to manage them when her grip isn't that good due to arthritis and her knees are in terrible shape. In fact she has arthritis in almost every joint in her body. I do hope they work for her and it gives her a bit of relief, but I think the double knee replacement surgery she will undergo in a couple of months will do more for her overall. Just have to keep my fingers crossed.

I also learned that another friend is having her third fight against cancer. This time the cancer is in more areas, and is much more aggressive. C is a fighter though and has a wonderful outlook which will help her fight. The problem is that this time the cancer showed up again much quicker. She had her second fight only finished a couple of months ago and the chemo took more out of her this time.

On a happier note our old furnace is still working well. We are managing to keep warm and keep an eye on the calendar hoping that the new one will be put in soon.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday

Today I spent some of the morning emptying more planters (almost have the garden ready for bed) and then it started to snow and blow. Not that the snow sticks around for any length of time, but it does make it miserable to be working outside.

Before my herbs were dumped, I made some cuttings. The cuttings are sitting on my window sill in some water. Now all I need to do is wait until they root, plant them in some indoor pots and voila, fresh herbs for the winter!! Then I can plant them outside come spring. Saving myself close to $30.00.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

The house is quiet once again, both Kurt and Kris headed to their respective homes this morning.

Kris made it in his regular length of time and phoned to let us know he was at home. Kurt on the other hand has a longer drive and is driving into a snow storm. Yes, it is only the beginning of October and Alberta is already having heavy snows. Harvey did call Kurt on his cell phone (thank heavens for Bluetooth) and he had just hit the snow fall. Kurt did promise that if it got bad he would spend the night in Medicine Hat.....

Well, now that the house is back to normal, or at least as normal as it gets around here (my poor to do list did not get totally completed today, due to the sons leaving a bit later and the fact that Kurt was sleeping in the utility room) I am back to regular blogging.

Monday

Leftovers from Saturday and some of the leftover salad from our Thanksgiving meal.

Tuesday

Hamburgers, salad, and roasted brussel sprouts.

Wednesday

Leftover Turkey made into Tetrazzini.

Thursday

Soup and Sandwiches.

Friday

Fish and chips.

Saturday

Leftover Tetrazzini and salad.

Sunday

Roast Beef, roast potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Frugal Friday

This week has been fairly frugal, even our date night.

1.  Used coupons to pay for our visit to the theater last night and really enjoyed the show Sully.

2.  Used more coupons to pay for our popcorn and drinks.

3.  Had 5 no spend, no drive days this week.

4.  Used up all the leftovers in the fridge for meals this week.

5.  Did some baking this week which helped heat the house since it got very cold all of a sudden.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Just This.....

October 5th and we are getting snow.... arghhhhhh

Going out for a date night should be interesting considering we had rain before the temperatures dropped and the snow start falling.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday

I have been a good girl the last two days. No spending, using items up, and mending.

Mending wise I fixed the seam on a skirt, fixed the underwire on a bra, and sewed on a couple of missing buttons. I have a few t-shirts of Hubby's that need to be mended but will do those another day, once I figure out the best way to do so.

I am working on Kurt's Christmas gift using aida cloth I had on hand as well as embroidery floss from my stash. So far so good and I am hoping to get it finished by the end of the month. Then it will just be framing the two cross stitch pictures (his and his brother's) and I even have some old frames I can use!!!

I used up the eggplants making moussaka for supper last night and there is enough for supper tomorrow. Tonight I used up the leftover shredded cabbage to make slaw (just had to shred a couple of garden carrots to add).

I talked to my friend today and her water/recycle/garbage bill was close to $300.00, ours was only $187.00. I think our water saving ideas are starting to pay off. I wash dishes twice a day by hand, we don't continually water our lawn (the city water doesn't seem to do much anyway, we just water enough to keep it alive), use rain water to water our plants and the garden whenever possible, and unless we are doing dirty work only shower every second day. So far this seems to be working. I also only wash full loads, which means washing once a week (my friend seems to be always doing a load or two). I have tried to tell her that conserving water is more than just only using the dishwasher every second day (she still washes pots and such by hand every day) but while I have convinced her she has been unable to convince her husband.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

The first full week of October is here, and from the looks of the upcoming weather forecasts we may be wanting to eat some hearty and warm meals.

Monday

Moussaka made with the last few eggplants from the garden.

Tuesday

Hot dogs, home made fries and Cole slaw. Perhaps the leftover roasted veggies as well (if I don't eat them for lunch one day).

Wednesday

Leftover ham made into a casserole with pasta or rice (haven't quite figured that out yet). Serving some roasted Brussel sprouts.

Thursday

Clean out the fridge night.

Friday

Glace and eggs. The oldest will be home sometime tonight so I need something he can warm up.

Saturday

Smoked sausage, baked beans, pasta and because the DS's birthdays are next week birthday cake for dessert.

Sunday

Traditional Thanksgiving meal. This means roast turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, salads, and peas. The dessert will be pumpkin pie and whipped cream.  Should have lots of leftovers to send back with the sons to nibble on for the coming week. Any leftover turkey will be bagged and frozen for future usage.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

It has been a busy week on the old homestead.

Harvey pulled down a couple of walls and the ceiling in the original basement. I helped haul things up stairs once again.

Then on Friday I spent the morning and most of the afternoon making Cabbage Bread for the winter.

We now have 4 dozen of these lovely cabbage, onion and ground beef filled buns in the freezer. They make a quick meal during the winter.

I dried more green peppers, and various herb for use. Almost have the spice and herb containers filled.

Then on Saturday we made our trip to Regina to price out finishing items for the basement (floor coverings and wall coverings), do a bit of a stock up on groceries and cleaning supplies at Costco, Michael's and Fabricland. We also got to spend the day with Kris.

Kris informed us that he was offered another position at his place of employment. He now answers to another boss, the big boss of all marketing in Surrey BC. It will mean a bit of a raise and a job title. It also means we don't have to worry about him losing his job for awhile (the economy here is terrible for big machinery).

Here are a couple of pictures of my haul from Michael's and Fabricland.

First Michael's. Can anyone ever have too much yarn???? It was such a good sale that I couldn't pass it by. I have already started a simple rectangular shawl with the variegated pink yarn. I actually just went there to pick up some more embroidery floss that I needed for Kurt's Christmas gift.

Then it was off to Fabricland.

I bought some needed spools of thread (buy one get one free), some spools of embroidery thread to add to my collection, canvas upholstery material to recover the outside cushions for next year (the yellow, blue and teal fabric) and the deep purple sweater knit to make either a dress or top for the winter. I think I was fairly restrained.

Our biggest expense was grocery and cleaning supply stock up at Costco. Once again the bill was close to $600.00. I did buy quite a bit of meat and most of the cleaning supplies will last at least 4 or more months. This does save us money in the long run.

Today I have been nursing my back and hips. I can't sit for very long so I only got a small amount of cross stitching done (part of Kurt's Christmas gift), a small amount of the shawl knit, a tiny bit of reading done and supper on the table. Perhaps tomorrow will be a bit easier. I hope so as it is my big up and down the stairs day, as well as working around the house.

Looking forward to having both our sons home for Thanksgiving next week. Must remember to make a birthday cake and pies for the weekend.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.