Thrifty Tuesday

While the past few weeks have not been the thriftiest due to eating out once while Kris was home and Harvey talking me into purchasing my Instant Pot, things really did not get too out of hand.

I made last Sundays roast in the Instant pot and it was lovely plus everything was ready in about an hour. Next I need to test out the rice cooking function, then the slow cooking function. I do think that in the long run this appliance will be used a great deal saving us money on electrical costs.

I have also been using up all those hotel bottles of shampoo. Amazing how many hair washes one of those small bottles give you. Lotions however have gone by the wayside as I need Harvey's help to apply those. For some reason he doesn't like to smell pretty.

The best thrift this month though is that I accumulated 21 no spend days. Guess breaking a wrist is good for the budget.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

My eyes and fingers are still sort of rested and my typing is not as full of mistakes this morning so I thought I would try a post.

The last couple of weeks I have tried to stick to my menus, but things have gotten changed around some what. I am hoping to do better this week.

Monday

Leftover Turkey made into a casserole (hopefully leaving enough for another meal later in the week). 

Tuesday

Leftover beef roast thinly sliced, cooked with some onions and then put in gravy. Served over the leftover potatoes, along with mixed veggies.

Wednesday

Clean out the fridge.

Thursday

Hamburger Soup served with bread. Another test of the Instant Pot. This time in slow cook mode.

Friday

Fish fillets, home made fries and hopefully slaw made from the remaining cabbage.

Saturday

Hamburgers, beans, and leftover slaw.

Sunday

Roast Chicken, roast potatoes, and roasted carrots.

I have an appointment to see the bone specialist this afternoon. Hopefully everything is still in place and healing well.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Really I Have Been Checking

I honestly have bee checking everyone's blogs each and everyday. I just get so frustrated with one handed typing, that all I do is read.

Thought I would share a picture of what made my enforced stay in and eat bonbons worth while (all the while watching my tushie get even bigger).

I happened to glace out the widow last night and saw this rather large bird trying to land on this small twig on the tree down in the valley. At first I thought it was an eagle, but the more I looked at it's flapping wings and body, the more I thought it was something else. I called Harvey and he came up to take a look.

Turns out it was a Great Horned Owl, that sat for at least 45 minutes waiting for supper to appear below. Sorry the picture isn't better, but poor Harvey would have had to travel through knee deep snow to get closer.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

A Bit Of A Scare And Big Relief

Today I went to our hospital to get the real cast on my wrist instead of the temporary one. I walked into the room and instead of getting x-rays first, the doctor started putting a plaster cast right over the temporary one. It seems he was a bit frightened to remove the first one in case the bones slipped out of place. Then, shock of shocks he mentioned wanting me to see an orthopedic surgeon.

I left the hospital with visions of screws and pins holding my wrist together. Also wondering when I was actually going to see said specialist.

Imagine my surprise when I got a phone call from the hospital 6 hours later asking me to come back in as the specialist would like to see me.

Back to the hospital through the heavy wet snow, into the x-ray room immediately, then a short wait while the doctor was with another patient. Soon I was gazing at two sets of films. One showing exactly how much of a mess I made of my wrist (and it was really bad) and the other set showed what a good job the original doctor did in getting everything back together.

So unless I do something very stupid, there should be no need for surgery. I do need to phone the specialists office tomorrow to set up an appointment for the next time he is in town. Just wants to check and make sure things are still healing like they should.

Everyone have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

My monthly menu plan is a bit fluid at the moment. We have been sticking to it so far with a very few changes. The exception being the day I broke my wrist. It was pretty late after we got home from the ER and neither of us were in the mood to cook so Harvey stopped on the way back from picking up my script and bought fast food. Now it is back to following my plan at least as far as the meat portion is concerned.

Monday

Hot dogs and more than likely baked beans, raw veggies and dip.

Tuesday

Leftover ham from the freezer. Hopefully I can find a new casserole recipe to try.

Wednesday

Vegetable soup and egg salad sandwiches.

Thursday

Leftover stew served once again with thick slices of homemade bread.

Friday

Glace, fried eggs, onions and of course the regulation diced potatoes.

Saturday

Hamburgers, salad, and fries.

Sunday

Beef Roast and the usual trimmings.

Everyone have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

First off let me apologize for not answering your comments on my posts. Once I get use or should I say even partial use of two hands I am hoping to be back acknowledging each and every one.

I never have been the fastest typist even with two hands so all of you can imagine me hunting and pecking with one. It takes awhile with lots of mistakes to accomplish much of anything.

I thought I would share the two projects I did manage to complete before being sidelined.

This is the top that has been sitting in my sewing/craft room for almost a year. The colour is more of a grey brown than the picture shows. There are a few things I can alter the next time I make it, but overall I am very happy with the finished product.

The shawl I made to use up some more of my yarn stash. I quite like the way the colours changed using the Bernat Pop cakes. It was an inexpensive yarn purchase but it still worked up nicely.

Everyone have a lovely evening.

God bless.

A New Fur Baby

This past summer our youngest son Kris lost his companion Ray. It turned out that Raymond's unexpected weight loss was due to a tumor in his stomach and he needed to be put down. Kris was heartbroken and even though he knew that there would be another cat in his future, he needed time.

Today he sent this picture.

Over the past week he had been thinking more and more about a new fur buddy. Today he visited the Humane Society and this little darling spoke to him.

She is being spayed and he will be able to take her home in 7 to 10 days. No name as of yet, but I know he will be busy trying to find one that fits.

Everyone have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Silly Me

I have been missing in action for a couple of days. The reason being.......drum roll please.

That is a sling on my left arm, and hidden in said sling is a cast. On Wednesday I walked up the slight hill to get the mail. I am going to paraphrase here, Jackie came down, and broke her wrist, at least there was no Jill to come tumbling after as that would have probably made it worse.

It now looks like the projects planned for this month are now on hold, menus will need to be altered (at least as far as sides) and no walking for me.

Harvey has me ensconced on my recliner bringing me cups of coffee, ho chocolate and tea. The pain is becoming manageable, but I wonder if that will continue after this temporary cast is removed next Wednesday.

I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes. Typing with one hand not only takes a great deal of time, but I also find myself correcting many errors.

Everyone have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday

Another cold and blustery day. I swear we have more snow than yesterday, though much of it could have just blown around into hard drifts and banks.

I did my mending today, turned up and fixed a hem or two, sewed a ripped seam, and darned a pair of socks. 

Some of Harvey's old t-shirts have been turned into rags after cutting off the buttons. 

More of the leftover bits and bobs of yarn are slowly being added to the blanket of many colours and a skirt was cut out using fabric I have had in my stash for awhile. The extra fabric was refolded and put away for use in some other project, the scraps put in the scrap basket to be cut later. I want to try my hand at a rug that uses old knit fabric, so I may as well use this fabric as well.

Cleaning was done using dish soap or vinegar. My house smells nice and clean.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

Ahhh, another week and I am hoping that we get out of the polar vortex that has attached itself to my province over the last few days.

I did a bit of switching this week to take advantage of items that need to be used up. I am also still trying to cook once and eat twice whenever possible.

Monday

Leftover ham and scalloped potato casserole. I plan on serving this with some raw veggies and dip.

Tuesday

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans. I plan on making enough meatloaf to have later in the week as well. I sometimes wonder about those individual meatloaves, would they be something we would be able to freeze. Or would Harvey figure he needed to eat more because they are smaller...... Something to ponder.

Wednesday

Soup and egg salad sandwiches. Got to use up some more of the frozen split pea soup.

Thursday

Here is where the leftover meatloaf comes into play. I think some homemade fries and some carrots from the deep freezer will be the sides today.

Friday

Trout fillets, more homemade fries, and some coleslaw to round everything off.

Saturday

I plan on making a very large slow cooker full of stew. What we don't eat will be frozen to use later next week.

Sunday

Baked ham, mashed potatoes, and salad.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Spring Six Weeks Away????

According to the groundhog spring is 6 weeks away. Looking out our window this morning.....

This greeted my eyes. By the time the snow ended late morning, we had accumulated more than we have had for most of the winter. I have a feeling that spring will not be arriving on the prairies of Canada until well after six weeks. Pretty much normal for this area of the country. 

I kept busy inside sewing, knitting and doing cross stitch. Harvey kept busy doing some touch up painting on a wall, and racking over his wine.

In two weeks or so it will be bottling time. 

Ugg, I notice that the chairs need cleaning. I better add that to the extra cleaning list as well as giving the table a really good scrub down. 

I gathered together all the hotel and sample sized bottles of lotion.

Quite the collection! I will be working on using all these up before I start on the full sized tubes and bottles. I have put them out where I can see them and actually use them. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Frugal Friday

The weeks seem to pass with increasing speed. I don't know if it's an age thing, or if everybody is noticing the swift passage of time.

My frugal 5 for this week.

1.  Harvey patched the drywall using drywall patch we had in the basement.

2.  Harvey changed an old dart board and part of an old metal stool into a foot stool.

3.  Used a couple of coupons when shopping this week.

4.  Using up those hotel lotions and potions.

5.  Had 5 no spend days from Sunday until today.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday Tidbits

The polar vortex has arrived once again. When a person takes into account the wind chill we are back down to -27C or at times -32 C (especially at night). This means very little walking for me, just up to get the mail and back in the afternoons. 

Still there is enough to do around the house to keep me occupied and once all the household chores were completed (they can be done again, well at least the dusting as Harvey did some drywall sanding) I curled up in my chair with my knitting. This would be my 9th knitting project and while it won't be completed for a day or so it is moving along nicely. While knitting a loaf was baked and we should be good for the next three days. Homemade bread seems to last longer around here than the store bought loaves. 

One of the chores I completed this morning was packaging up the meat I bought on Wednesday into meal sized portions for the freezer. I didn't buy much just the ground beef and hotdogs that were on sale. 

This is a short month and so I am hoping to have 19 or 20 no spend days. Believe me when it is cold out it is easier just to stay in and make do with what we have in the house. 

I also want to continue to declutter and today managed to rid us of 4 more items. None of which could be sent to the second hand store, a couple went into the recycling bin (plastics) and two needed to be tossed. Slowly but surely ridding the house of unneeded "stuff".

Garden planning will be starting soon. I will need to clean the seedling pots and get the seed out to be planted. First though I need to figure out what plants I need in the garden, what herbs I plan on planting, and what vines and flowers will be planted as well. I am so looking forward to colour once again.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.