Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Spooky Tuesday

Have a wonderful Halloween where every you are.

God bless.

Monday, October 30, 2017

Menu Monday

Cold, snowy day. Well not really snowy, just a few flakes floating to the ground every so often.

Monday

Cream of Mushroom soup along with salmon sandwiches.

Tuesday

Leftover pork roast made into a casserole or perhaps a stir fry filled with lots of veggies. Served over rice of course if I do make a stir fry. If I make a casserole I shall make a salad.

Wednesday

Leftover turkey shredded in BBQ sauce served on buns along with the leftover potatoes from Sunday cubed and fried with onions, and green beans. Or I might make a casserole as those seem a bit more filling on the cold dark days of winter. Leftover salad if I make the shredded turkey meal.

Thursday

Leftover pork casserole or stir fry.

Friday

Lazy perogies.

Saturday

Probably leftover turkey from Wednesday.... Or if Harvey goes to the football game something quick and easy like eggs on toast.

Sunday

Roast Ham, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.





Sunday, October 29, 2017

Sunday Ramblings

The skies have been grey, and the wind howling around the house today. The perfect type of day to stay close to home and as I always say "putz" around. This picture does not show how dark the sky really was. An inky, ominous black which I am pretty sure is going to bring some kind of precipitation overnight if not before.

I managed to finish my cross stitch late last night and I plan on washing it and perhaps ironing it the beginning of the week (more like wash Monday and iron on Tuesday). This has given me the afternoon to knit Christmas gifts. I finished the last pair of mittens for the men in my life and have started on the scrubby washcloths. In fact I have one done and am 1/4 of the way through the second (hope to have that one done by tonight). This means only two more to do and then I can start on the dishcloths for Kurt, when we stopped there on our way back from our mini vacation I notice he was in desperate need of some new ones.

My knitting basket is slowly going down, and by the time I finish Christmas gift knitting will be empty. Feels pretty darn good, but I do know it won't stay empty for long. I hope to remember to take pictures of all my finished projects to share with all of you.

Sewing will be happening very soon. I have soup bowl cozies, pj bottoms, and a quilt to make in the next month. I will be starting with the easy ones first and working up to the quilt (or I may change my mind and make him some soup bowl cozies instead). Hope to have all finished by the middle of November. Sure would be nice not to be working up until a couple of days before Christmas.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.





Saturday, October 28, 2017

Friday Night Football

So, we made the trek 200 or so kms to watch the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Montreal Alouettes. It was a wonderful game, and our team won.

However the quarterback for the Montreal team was at one point a Roughrider and well loved by all in this province. While the fans booed the Montreal team, when Darian Durant came on the field he was given a standing ovation. He led us to the Grey Cup a few years back, and this was the first time returning to Saskatchewan. Our Fan Club (which is pretty much the whole province) had a slide show before the game showing highlights of his career with us. It was a wonderful tribute to a very good player and wonderful person.

So now I will share some pictures of the game copied from various news sources.

Darian Durant throwing his first pass in the new Mosaic stadium.

We won and that made it much easier to stand the chilliness of the night.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Thursday, October 26, 2017

Thursday Tid Bits

Well, as usual the forecasted storm did not hit here. Instead it moved farther north in the province with the vast majority of the snow hitting north of Regina. We did have lots of cold wind though as well as cold temperatures. Time to get the winter coats, hats, mitts and scarves out and perhaps get the snow blower serviced as well.

Still I had a curl up at home day, which was probably just what I needed. After the basic to do list was finished, and the fridge cleaning done. I settled down with a book for an hour or so. My friend called and I bundled up to join her for a cup of coffee and a natter. Her husband just had shoulder surgery a week ago and is not the ideal patient and it is wearing on her. She needed a break and I gave her one by coming for coffee.

Then it was home, dishes, and pull out the cross stitch. Back stitching seems to make me cross eyed and so I can only manage an hour or two of working on it. 

I then decided to make some plans on how I can cut the grocery bill over the next little while.

Here is what I have tentatively planned...

1.  Buy seasonal fresh veggies, and frozen veggies (peas, corn and beans since those did not grow well in the garden this year). If a good sale comes up for Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, or broccoli then it can be bought.

2.  Make sure all fruit is used up, if it gets a bit old dehydrate it for use in cookies, or as a healthy snack.

3.  Use less meat in my recipes. Lately I have been doing so and Harvey hasn't really noticed.

4.  Try my hand at making my own bagels (I love having a bagel for lunch every so often) and English muffins (another treat that both Harvey and I love).

5.  Add a soup and sandwich supper to the menu rotation at least every two weeks (every week would be better, but I need to gradually do this so Harvey gets used to it). 

6. Use the slow cooker more often. A person can buy less expensive cuts of meat and have them turn out fork tender.

7.  Continue with either fish, or meatless meals every Friday. This is something I have done ever since we got married 41 years ago. 

I am hoping this helps with the budget as things are getting more expensive every week, and if Mr. Trump has his way and gets rid of NAFTA things will be even higher in price (fruit and veggies during the winter). We want to save for our next trip, this time it will be to Greece or Italy, or perhaps both at the same time. Just have to wait and see how much we can save.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Is Winter Arriving?

Today I did my errands mainly because we could be heading into some wild weather overnight and tomorrow.

The weather pundits are predicting rain turning to snow overnight and continuing into tomorrow. While there is not supposed to be a great accumulation of the white stuff, I would much rather stay off the roads until those around me finally realize they can't drive like Mario racing around a track. We always seem to have a few accidents with the first snowfall, and I would much rather be snug and dry at home.

So, because it is a home day I am going to do a bit of decluttering, list a few more items on the garage sale sites, do some extra cleaning, and of course work on my various projects. As well as hope that the weather improves for us to travel to the city to watch the football game.

I have finished two of three pairs of mitts this week, and have gotten a good start on the third pair. I am hoping to be finished most of the knitting portion of Christmas gifts by the end of next week. Then I will move on to the quilt and the pj bottoms. I may even try to sew a set of soup bowl holders..... As long as I keep plugging away things will be finished before time for a change.

Thought I would share a picture of the Doubles playing Family Feud at my family reunion. The reason I picked the name "Doubles" is because we are doubly related. My Mom and their Mom (Aunt Isabel) were sisters, and my Dad and their Dad (Uncle Sam) were brothers.


As far as cousins go we have always been very close. Aunt Isabel and Uncle Sam had four boys and so my sister and I were always treated like daughters when we went to visit. Funny thing was we won the whole thing and thus supposedly have the bragging rights until the next reunion. Considering this one was 20 years after the last one we could have bragging rights for a very long time.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Thrifty Tuesday

It has been very quiet around the old homestead for the past while. Probably because it has been cold and gloomy, not really conducive to doing work outside. Instead I have been busy with things in the house, and impatiently waiting for the furnace people to come and finish off the job they began a year ago. 

I spent some time mending, one item was Harvey's favorite snuggle quilt. It is back in the living room once again just waiting for him to cover up with it in the morning.

I also removed some buttons from one of Harvey's favorite shirts and cut said shirt into usable quilting squares. One of his t-shirts was only suitable to be made into rags.

Slicing 4 rather thick slices of leftover roast beef thinly I made a stir fry (well my type of use it up stir fry concoctions). There are three slices left from this bag for Harvey to have roast beef sandwiches for a couple of days. 

I am using up leftover yarn from other projects to knit mitts for Kurt, Kris and Harvey for Christmas. Hopefully this uses up more of my stash of leftover yarn balls. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, October 23, 2017

Menu Monday

My supper is cooking already, and all of a sudden I realized I had not posted this weeks menus!!

Things might get switched around a little this week as I want to keep the fridge fairly empty, and we have another football game to attend on Friday (oh how I wish we could bring in a picnic lunch, but all spectators are allowed to bring in is 1 liter of water in a sealed bottle).

Monday

Spaghetti and meat sauce (using a bit less ground meat than I usually do).

Tuesday

Leftover roast beef made into a stir fry. Stir fries seem to stretch very little meat and we get to eat loads of veggies. Served with rice.

Wednesday

Baked spaghetti, and garlic bread.

Thursday

The leftover stir fry from Tuesday along with the leftover rice.

Friday

Football, so we will be eating out.

Saturday

The leftover baked Spaghetti. The fridge should be nice and clean by now.

Sunday

Roast Pork, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots and raw veggies. 

No meatless meals this week, but I am hoping to introduce a soup and sandwich night to the rotation beginning next month. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.



Sunday, October 22, 2017

Sunday Ramblings

Another day that started out sunny and calm, but by the time we left Mass the wind had come up and the rain was beginning.

Kind of cut my walk down a great deal, it isn't much fun walking with a cold winter type wind blowing that rain into your face.

Mass was very long today (as it has been every Sunday since Father B left). It seems that Father A likes having a captive audience and no place that he has to be present to preside at another Mass. I find it difficult to concentrate on the message in the homily (today's message had nothing to do with the readings) when things are repeated over and over. Harvey asked if Father thought we were all a bit slow....

The message to day was about how in every Mass we ask God to forgive our sins, much like we do when we go to confession. That we need to prepare ourselves for this part of Mass by thinking of our sins and asking for forgiveness. That it isn't just the sins we do that need to be thought about, but the sins of omission as well.... "For what I have done and what I have failed to do".

The rest of the day has been quiet. I finished the basic cross stitch and have started back stitching. This may take awhile!!

Tonight, well I plan on finishing off the first mitt of the second pair and perhaps even casting on the second. Here's to getting as much as possible finished in the next month or so.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Gloomy Saturday

I think that winter is slowly coming. Today was nice and sunny with a bit of a breeze when I went for my morning walk. However, by the time I went to take our vehicle in for it's oil change and any other service it needed the wind had picked up and the sky was grey. The wind was actually very cold, I may have to get my winter coat out a bit earlier than I expected.

Even though the day was gloomy I still managed to get a project completed. Sure it was the baptismal cloths for the church and not something Christmassy or sewing for myself, but it was still completed. Twelve cloths ready to take to the church tomorrow.

It was also the perfect day to start the one day a week soup and sandwich supper. First off I baked a loaf of bread. Nothing like sandwiches made with fresh bread.


Then later in the afternoon I started the pot of soup. Tonight the offering was Spicy Moroccan Lentil Soup.

Totally meatless and smelled wonderful.

To make matters even better Harvey really enjoyed this. Especially with the dollop of sour cream on top. There is enough residing in my freezer for another meal at the beginning of next month and was very inexpensive to make. I served the soup with egg salad sandwiches.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Friday, October 20, 2017

Frugal Friday

As far as frugality went, this week was much like all others.

1.  Baked bread twice this week, only a loaf at a time though.

2.  Used up the leftovers in the fridge for either sides at supper or for lunches.

3.  Used coupons on sale items to make may grocery spending even less. 

4.  Started knitting mitts for Christmas gift giving out of yarn leftover from other projects.

5.  Opened windows when it got too warm, closed windows when it started to cool off.

6.  Heating only on during the coldest of evenings and early mornings.

7.  Working on cutting down meat consumption. I am going to try for one meatless meal and one soup and sandwich meal a week. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Squishy Goodness

Needles, heat and bond binding, embroidery stabilizer (three different kinds), and two skeins of scrubby yarn (those are to make Kurt and Kris scrubby washcloths). I always need needles and stabilizer.

Some nice creamy white ponte de roma to make a winter dress.

Some black (yes this is black though why it looks brown if beyond me) sweater knit. I am hoping I have enough for another dress.

Enough of this teal, gold, brown and black challis to make a long sleeved winter top.

Yarn to knit two prayer shawls, dish cloths, and some dark green mitts (the colour of our Saskatchewan Roughrider football team). 

I just might be a bit busy over the next little while what with Christmas gift making, knitting for the church, and sewing myself some new winter clothing.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.





Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Thrifty Tuesday

It has been a fairly thrifty week here on the old homestead.

We did our stock up shop (well most of it) and I used coupons to get the best deals I possibly could. The meat we bought will last for a few months, longer if I continue my newest thrifty practice of using less when making our meals and adding a soup/sandwich night to each week.

I also found an old robe of mine that was in excellent condition. The only thing wrong with it was the belt was missing. I went into the fabric stash and found some soft pink strips I had cut from leftover fabric from another project. There was just enough to make a new belt. Voila, a robe that I can once again wear with no expenditure of cash.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, October 16, 2017

Menu Monday

Mid October and since Kris is home the menu has been switched around a little bit. Just moved two meals around so we could try the hot sauce he raves about.

Monday

Chicken wings in hot sauce, rice and leftover raw veggies and dip from yesterday.

Tuesday

Turkey Tetrazzini, coleslaw.

Wednesday

Pork chops, mashed potatoes, peas/carrots.

Thursday

Leftover Tetrazzini and coleslaw.

Friday

Maple glazed trout, rice, and beans.

Saturday

Lentil soup (not sure if I will make sandwiches)

Sunday

Roast Beef, roast potatoes, carrots and cucumber salad.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Sunday Ramblings

After a very chilly evening of football it was lovely to get home and thaw out. Of course because we were in the big city (well big to us at any rate) we did our prewinter stock up (though I did miss a few stores as Harvey did not sleep well the night before).

Yesterday evening was spent portioning and packaging chicken, beef and pork.

All was done before I called it a night and went to sleep.

This morning I managed to portion the fish. We bought some lovely, large fillets of salmon and trout.


Now after a pick up of a few items from my favorite grocery store here in town (they are having a 10 for 10 sale, though some items are 5 for 10 or 2 for 10) we will be set in the meat and staples department for at least three months (must buy a turkey for Christmas though).

I still have my fabric haul to photograph and put away, but that can wait until tomorrow. I am having too much fun gazing at it and caressing  I mean touching everything. I even bought some new stabilizers for my embroidery machine as I am wanting to add a few touches to any winter dresses I sew this year (perhaps even a skirt or two will be embellished).

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Movement Has Happened

No movement on the venting of the furnace however, just the movement of fall/winter clothing into the closets.

Once again I just moved everything over, and as I dress, I will evaluate all items on whether they fit or if I feel they suit the lifestyle I now enjoy. Hopefully a few more items will be put into the donation bag over the coming days.

I am still working on those same knitting and cross stitch projects, but I can actually see an end in sight and soon will be able to start on the Christmas knitting and sewing.

Off to have some herbal tea, and more knitting time.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Thrifty Tuesday

Today I made my stock up lists for groceries, paper goods, cleaning supplies, yarn, fabric and notions. It is always best to make a list and stick to it. I have also gathered together all my coupons with a few more to print off.

I shopped at home first for our meals and managed to stay out of the store for yet another day. I love days when this happens.

I used up more of the leftover items from our Thanksgiving meal to stretch out the servings of our dinner.

All in all another thrifty and frugal day.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, October 9, 2017

Menu Monday

Kurt and Kris both left this morning. Each of them has some leftover turkey, some cookies and a loaf of bread. Kurt got some plum jam as well in his care package (Kris got his just after I made it). Now I get to use things up in the fridge.

First to go was the turkey carcass. I made stock with it today.

Monday

Turkey noodle soup with grilled cheese sandwiches.

Tuesday

Smoked sausages, leftover mashed potatoes and carrots. Think I will slice up the cucumber as well.

Wednesday

Leftover ham made into a casserole.

Thursday

Clean out the fridge (leftover casserole).

Friday

We will be eating at the football game.

Saturday

Home from the city, after a day's stocking up. I think supper will be Chicken, but don't hold me to it.

Sunday

Hamburgers, homemade fries, and coleslaw.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Sunday, October 8, 2017

Just A Quick One

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate this weekend.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Saturday, October 7, 2017

A Bit Of Quiet

It is quiet around here right now, actually considering the boys are home it has been pretty quiet all day. 

Kris went out for a drive this afternoon and then joined his Dad downstairs to watch the Saskatchewan Roughriders win their game this afternoon. Kurt on the other hand went to the gym for his usual workout. I managed to get all the cookies made while they were either out or watching the game. 

Supper was very easy as Kurt and Kris pooled their cash and bought us a pizza. They figure with me cooking a big meal tomorrow I should have a night off from cooking.

Now the two of them are bonding at the movies, Harvey is watching another football game and me. Well I was knitting and will continue with that once my post is finished. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Friday, October 6, 2017

Frugal Friday

This week has been very quiet overall. The weekend won't be. Kris should be home within 30 minutes and Kurt should be home by any time around 10 pm. Things will get noisy and cooking and dish washing will take over much of my day until Monday.

What did I do this week that was frugal?

1.  Made a grocery list and stuck to it (missed a few items so hopefully I won't need to run to the store to pick them up).

2.  Used up all leftovers in the fridge.

3.  My hobbies have seen me using up some of my stash of yarn or fabric.

4.  Bought Kris and Kurt birthday presents on sale and did not even reach the budget amount for this.

5.  Had 4 no spend days so far this month and two allowable spend days. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Thursday Tid Bits

I am so looking forward to this holiday weekend, both of our sons will be home for a few days. The house will be full of noise and laughter once again. Tomorrow I will spend baking cookies and pies. I need to make my home smell like Thanksgiving all weekend long.

Looking at all the lovely fall pictures on Facebook and various blogs I thought I would share some fall colour with all of you. While we do not get the brilliant reds and oranges that other places get, we do get lovely shades of yellow.

Most fields turn a lovely shade of golden yellow and combines go non stop to get the crops off.

Sometimes drilling rigs are surrounded by the bright yellows and burnt oranges of fall.


Once in awhile we are lucky enough to get lots of colour in the park near us, perhaps even a touch of  red. Or as close to red as we seem to get.

Most of our trees have lost all their leaves now. The cherry trees in our backyard are still standing proudly green along with the elms down the street. These are the last trees to change colour every year. In fact sometimes the leaves don't start to fall until the first snowfall.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.







Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Budget, Goals and Project Declutter Update

We were over budget because of holidays last month. Actually we overspent our entire vacation budget. The good thing to note is that if we hadn't had the two family reunions we would have been well under budget. Now we know that when family reunions take place we must budget a bit more. Live and learn I say.

The areas we were over were electric, television, health expenses, and computer/electronics as well as vacation.

We were under budget for natural gas, landline phone, cell phones, vehicle fuel and maintenance, house maintenance, yard and garden, groceries, charity, other (where we put expenses that don't fit in the other categories), entertainment, clothing, hobbies, and my allowance. Not too bad really as prices seem to be going up each and every month.

Still over all we are under budget for the year and hope to finish off the year with extra money in the account.

On the plus side all our investments seem to be holding their own or making a little bit so our full financial picture looks very good.

We even managed to give Kurt and Kris some extra cash. We plan on doing this every so often as we would like to see them enjoy a part of their inheritance while we still can.

Goal wise, not so good. I did knit a few items but did not finish my cross stitch. I also harvested all the garden produce and processed it for winter use.

Project Declutter saw another 28 items leaving the house bringing my total to 627 items for the year. I hope to have a better month.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Thrifty Tuesday

I am being my regular thrifty self this week. Baking was all done on one day so I didn't waste energy by having to warm the oven up two days. Baking also kept the furnace from running on that cool day thus saving on natural gas usage.

I hung 3 loads of washing on the lines in the basement yesterday. While I still had to use the dryer for the towels at least I managed to get other items dry without resorting to more power usage. Sure they weren't dry until this morning, but dry without the use of electricity.

Tonight I made my meatloaf, and since I am trying very hard to cut down on our meat consumption I only used about 1/2 the usual amount of ground beef. It turned out very well and Harvey didn't notice that it wasn't as "thick" as it usually is. I think I may try individual meatloaves the next time. The extra can then be frozen for another meal later.

Still using everything up that I can, and making sure that nothing is thrown out if it can be used elsewhere. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, October 2, 2017

Menu Monday

Kris was home on the weekend and so my menus to end the week were switched around a little bit. Time to get back on track or at least as much of a track as I can.

Monday

Clean out the fridge night.

Tuesday

Hotdogs, sliced cukes and tomatoes, and pasta. There is leftover rice which I hope to make into rice pudding.

Wednesday

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas.

Thursday

Lazy Cabbage rolls served with more sliced raw veggies.

Friday

Salmon patties, rice, corn/peas mixed together.

Saturday

Sausages, baked beans, homemade fries, and coleslaw.

Sunday

Thanksgiving Dinner which will be Roast Turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, salad, cranberries, pickles, and carrots. Dessert will be Pumpkin Pies and whipped cream. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.