Menu Monday

 

Moving into the fall already. 

Monday

Leftover pork stir fry, and leftover rice. 

Tuesday

Tuna pasta salad.

Wednesday

Leftover tuna pasta salad.

Thursday

Smoked sausage, creamed potatoes, mixed veggies.

Friday

Glace as our youngest son Kris should be home at some point tonight and this is one of his favourite meatless meals.

Saturday

Hamburgers, coleslaw (or tossed salad) and fries.

Sunday

Roast chicken, creamed potatoes, salad (well any that remains) and peas/carrots.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

 

Another week has passed by and things are slowly getting completed.

This week I have been busy dehydrating, and freezing. I forgot to take pictures of the tomatoes I froze, but I did remember to take at least one picture of the apple pie filling I made.

I now have 6 of these containers in the large freezer to be used during the winter. Each container will make 2 crisps, which we prefer over apple pies.

One day was spent in Regina with a friend shopping. These next pictures are of my deals at the fabric store and Michael's. I did use a coupon at Michael's and so managed to get 30% off one full price item.

Michael's first.

The yarn was on sale for 50% off, the wax pellets were bought using that coupon, the threads were full price as was the Cricut blade and silicon mold. Still these will be used to make Christmas gifts at a much lower cost than purchasing them from the store itself. 

Next is my purchases from Fabricland. All fabric was on sale, and there was even a discount given on the thread.

The blue and white  polka dot fabric at the top will be used to make a long sleeve knit tunic top, the black paisley and flowered fabric will make a dress. The fabrics across the bottom will be used to make masks for Kurt's students and the beeswax wraps. I stocked up on embroidery thread for my machine and picked up a few more regular threads. The batting at the top will join the other batting I have bought for those quilts running around my head.

I also bought a new ereader since my old one no longer works. This one holds at least 6,000 books so even with all the books from the old ereader downloaded on to it, I have lots of room for even more books. Harvey is happy as that means I won't be buying any. Of course this will not stop me from going to the library.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Frugal Friday

 

Another week has gone by and it is time to list my frugal endeavors. Which of course are pretty much the same week in and week out.

1.  I am using up bits of leftover fabric making (well cutting out) the masks for Kurt and his students. 

2.  Saved a total of $6.59 on my groceries. I did save lots on the fabric and other items I bought on my girl's shopping trip. I will post those savings tomorrow, as well as pictures of what I purchased.

3.  Bought a few items to stock up for winter. The pantry is filling up nicely.

4.  Baked bread.

5. Opened the windows at night so the poor air conditioner gets a bit of a rest.

6.  Made apple pie filling from the apples my neighbour gave me.

So as you can all see pretty much the usual week here on the old homestead.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday

 

The usual thrifty happenings here. It is really hard to find something new to post but here goes.

I have collected a few seeds from plants in the garden.

Watered with rain water (however we could use a nice soaking rain to fill it up once again).

Pulled out fabric from the stash to make those masks for Kurt's students. I may have to purchase a few more meters to make sure I have enough. That's okay as the fabric store is having a big sale until the end of the month.

Almost finished making the extra filters from the blue shop cloth we purchased a few months ago. I think I will end up with almost 300 of them. As more and more stores are choosing to make masks mandatory these will sure come in handy.

Using up the bits and bobs in the fridge with great regularity.

Tomorrow my friend and I are heading into the city. She needs a break from things at home (another one of her sons is getting a divorce and she is stressed), so we are having a girls day.

Of course stock up shopping will be done, and I have my list and coupons all ready. Shhh, I have a feeling my stock up will be mostly crafting supplies this time around. Perhaps the purchase of another newer ereader as well.

We will meet up with Kris for supper so I will get a bit of a visit in as well.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

Another week has zipped right on by. I am finding it difficult to know where the weeks have gone. Soon it will be time to get ready for the winter (started that already) and once again those of us who live in colder climes will be stuck in the house.

Monday

Leftover sausage casserole and a tossed salad.

Tuesday

Stuffed Chicken, rice and the remains of the tossed salad.

Wednesday

I will be gone so Harvey will have to fend for himself.

Thursday

Smoked Sausage, creamed potatoes, cucumber slices (still using cukes from the garden, sliced tomatoes from the garden as well.

Friday

Fish and chips. Perhaps some coleslaw as well if I can find a decent price on cabbage.

Saturday

Leftover pork made into a stir fry and rice.

Sunday

Roast ham, mashed potatoes, and beans from the garden.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

 

Sunday Ramblings

 I am busy listening to the Conservative Party leadership election. While I am not really a capital C conservative, I do have some conservative tendencies, I also have some Liberal and New Democratic tendencies as well. I am one of those dreaded swing voters and people should remember us as a big part of the tapestry that makes up Canada.

I have been spending lots of time out in the garden getting things harvested and processed for the winter. I am surprised that our tomatoes are coming in so quickly. I am going to start freezing them next week. The rutabaga should be dug out this week, and the potatoes and onions the week after. 

Dehydrating should also be finished within the next few weeks, which is much earlier than usual. I think the heat has had much to do with things being ready so early in the various pots. Garden wise it is later than usual.

I learned this evening that the provincial government in the the province that our oldest son teaches is not giving out many masks to their students. I think I will make a bundle to give to Kurt to hand out to his students if they need them, I have the fabric and may as well put it to good use. Keeping our son and his students healthy seems like a really good use of my talents. If I have fabric leftover, perhaps I will make some for the school I worked in before retiring.

Still working on the knitted Christmas gift, but once that is finished the rest of my Christmas gift plans will move right along. Projects need to be completed, and my use it up of fabric and yarn in my stashes needs to be a continuing effort on my part. Mainly because I wish to simplify my life. This is an ongoing challenge in my life.

Everyone have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Frugal Friday

 It is easy to be frugal when it is blistering hot outside. However, the air conditioning runs steady so the electrical bill will more than likely be exceedingly high this month (or next as we already paid August's bill).

1.  Once again all clothing and towels were put on the line to dry.

2.  Froze more beans for use over the winter. Also lots of dehydrating of herbs done as well.

3.  Used up all the leftovers in the fridge this week and even some of the bags of frozen meat from the fridge freezer.

4.  Got a bag full of free plums from the neighbour. Harvey loves these plums and has made great headway in eating them.

5.  My grocery bill was the lowest it has been in ages (mind you no meat was purchased) and I even managed to save $16.73 with all the sale items I bought.

6.  Got a few canned goods for the pantry stock up.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

And The Heat Just Doesn't Quit

 Today we reached 37.4 C and I think that while tomorrow might be a bit cooler at 34 C this heat wave is going to continue for awhile yet.

I went for my walk very early this morning and once home headed out to the garden. I picked more beans and gave them to another neighbour, picked a few tomatoes, and watered all the plants.

The rest of the day has been spent staying cool in the house. I did go for another short walk this evening and enjoyed the cloud cover and the slight breeze. 

Off to do some knitting as I am getting very close to finishing the back of the sweater I am knitting.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday (and Menu Monday)

 

I haven't been on for awhile mainly because it has been pretty boring around the old homestead. Seems as if things are continuing much the same as usual, nothing really new has been happening. 

Well, other than the heat wave we are now under. This means most gardening events take place in the early morning. I now have enough beans frozen to last us through the winter. 

I am continuing to dehydrate herbs, but with the heat this is slow going.

Continuing to pick beans as well, and giving them away. I am not going to waste what we are lucky enough to have.

Menus are constantly changing due to the heat. I don't want to raise the house temperature and cause the air conditioner to work overtime.

I have spent a bit of time online collecting a few coupons to use when shopping. Every little bit helps out, especially as prices are continuing to rise. No one knows where or when this will stop.

I have been making a few extra filters for my masks. Harvey managed to acquire some of those blue shop towels and considering what we know about this virus will probably come in handy. I want to make sure our sons have some as well. If I place them just right I can get 6 out of one shop towel.

I did a couple of small mending jobs on some pants mainly buttons and fixing a hem.

Now on to what I should have posted yesterday.

Monday

Cold plate using a package of frozen ham from the fridge freezer. I added coleslaw, a cucumber salad and some sliced garden tomatoes. There are a few slices of ham left and I have an idea of how to use them in this heat.

Tuesday 

Sloppy Joes and cucumber salad.

Wednesday

Those leftover slices of ham will be made into ham salad, served on buns from the freezer and coleslaw.

Thursday

Leftover roast beef, creamed potatoes, green beans (garden) and a salad of some type. 

Friday

Scrambled eggs on toast. In other words breakfast for supper.

Saturday

It is supposed to cool down a bit so perhaps a sausage casserole using up potatoes, carrots and a small package of pork sausages.

Sunday

This is supposed to be roast night, but temperatures are going back up. I have lots of chicken thighs so these might be made instead, or I could make a main dish salad out of a package of leftover roast ham (one ham gives us lots of bags of leftovers). I guess I will just have to wait and see.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Frugal Friday

 

Frugal happenings around the old homestead were varied. 

1.  Eating lots of veggies from the garden. I have made pickles and frozen beans as well for the winter months.

2.  Used only one day to do all my errands and pay my bills.

3.  Saved $48.75 shopping for my groceries (sale prices and coupons).

4.  Used rain water to water my plants.

5.  Dried more herbs for the next year.

6.  Been doing a great job using leftovers up.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday Tidbits

It has been a week of harvesting the garden. Mostly beans and cucumbers but a few tomatoes, and green peppers have come into the house as well. 

So far I have 14 quarts of dills done, and 6 pints of hamburger dills. The green peppers were made into stuffed peppers for a few meals (one meal of which we have already consumed). 

We have had a few meals with green beans as one of the veggies and the rest have been blanched and put in the freezer.

Harvey says there are a couple of fairly large rutabagas out there as well so those will be cooked up for one of our side veggies this coming week. I am thinking roasted. The others will be waxed (if I figure out how to do so) and stored in the basement cold room for the winter. This is something I want to try instead of freezing them this year.

We have been lucky enough to get some rain over the last week and rain barrel is getting full once again. I should be able to water my pots and baskets for another couple of weeks. Things grow so much better with rain water.

I have been dehydrating as well and will continue tomorrow. The basil needs to be picked, and the same can be said for the parsley. I am hoping to do some more thyme, sage and oregano late next week.

Bread has been baked, but no sweets so that will need to be done before the end of the week as well. 

I enjoy this time of year even though it is busy. I love knowing that I am adding to the stores for the winter months.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

 

Thrifty Tuesday

 

Another week has gone by and I am slowly getting used to this new format. I still have problems, but they are becoming fewer each time I use it.

Frugal happenings this week are....

I mended Harvey's sweater. He wanted to keep the hole as he thought it gave the sweater character so I just made sure it wouldn't lose any more stitches.

Fixed a hem on a curtain.

Used up another one of the larger hotel soaps.

Working very hard on using up all food stuffs.

Enjoying the meteor showers from our deck.

Watching free tv using Netflix that our youngest son bought us for Christmas one year and still makes the payments on every month.

Everybody have a wonderful evening

God bless.

Menu Monday

 Into the second week of the month already. Harvest is coming fast and furious. Helps out with the budget and means not as many fresh veggies need to be bought.

Monday

I did use ground beef, but made stuffed peppers. In fact there were enough peppers that I made extra and froze them. These will be a welcome addition to meals when I have my surgery and don't feel up to cooking.

Tuesday

I plan on using up one of the bags of frozen leftover pork roast. I think I will make pork hash as I have potatoes and onions to use up.

Wednesday

Soup and Sandwich night. There is some frozen homemade tomato soup that needs using before our tomatoes start coming in. I think grilled cheese sandwiches will be perfect with this.

Thursday

Clean out the fridge night. Should be lots of hash leftover and as I am running errands this day a no cook night sounds perfect.

Friday

Salmon patties, salad and rice.

Saturday

I will pull a package of leftover roast beef out and make hot beef sandwiches, fries and leftover salad.

Sunday

Ribs, salad and tin foil potatoes. Hoping that Harvey will do the ribs on the BBQ.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

It has been awhile since I did a post on a Sunday, but I thought I better get back in the swing of things once again.

Mass is still be live streamed from the diocese, but we are having Masses in the church. Only a certain number can attend and both Harvey and I feel that many of our older (not saying we aren't up there in age) need the community much more than we do.  I do get to go into the church and pray after my daily walk and drop our tithe off at the office every week or so. 

Still we are looking forward to having our church community back together for worship once again.

The weather has cooled down a bit which is very welcome when working in the garden. Beans, cucumbers, and green peppers are coming fast and furious. I just hope I can keep up with everything.

I get to go and visit the dentist tomorrow afternoon. Not my favourite place to go, but as I want to keep my teeth I do so. Not sure what the protocol is so perhaps I will give them a call in the morning and find out.

Harvey's Christmas gift is slowly being knit. I really want to finish it this month so that I can work on Kurt and Kris. I am not sure what they need, if anything. I think they are tired of quilts and knitted blankets, so will need to think of other things. Perhaps BBQ aprons, or new oven mitts or even beeswax wraps. I actually have everything I need for those items.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

 

Frugal Friday

 Another week of the summer gone. One can certainly feel that fall is just around the corner. There are a few trees in the city changing colour much too early. 

Now what frugal things have I been up to this week.

1.  Saved $18.02 grocery shopping this week and managed to add a few items to the pantry stores.

2.  Picked produce from the garden. Lots of beans and cucumbers. I have made dills from some of the cukes, and frozen three bags of beans for the winter (we had three meals with fresh beans as a side dish).

3.  Hung all clothing on the lines to dry this week.

4.  We got some rain this week and it filled the rain barrel once again so I have been able to water my plants with rain water.

5.  It is once again cooling off at night so the air conditioner is off at night and windows wide open.

6.  Under budget for the month (I was over budget on groceries, cleaning supplies, paper products, and OTC meds. We may have to relook at this budget line for next year if this continues).

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Thursday Tidbits

Even the old blogger is giving me problems tonight..... So very quick post. Perhaps just pictures of my day.

Harvest has started slowly, but I am sure things will pick up. The only thing I am worried about is the Butternut squash. I can't seem to find any fruit, and the plants are taking over the garden.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Why??????

Why is it that the anti-maskers seem to think those who feel wearing a mask is the right thing to do are bullying them. 

I believe wearing a mask when out and about in situations where you can not control social distancing is another good way to stop the spread of the virus. I won't stop you from not wearing a mask, but I would appreciate not getting the snide remarks, or rolling eyes. I not only do this for me, I do it for those who feel they do not need to wear one. Just another layer of protection for the both of us.

Yet I go on line and see post after post from anti-mask people saying they are being bullied, and posting things that make no sense at all (and have actually in many cases been proven wrong). 

These same posts usually go on to say we are being controlled by our government, that we are sheeple and can't think for ourselves. That we are cowards and are afraid of something not even as infectious as the flu (right, many more deaths in a matter of months than a years worth of flu cases).

Why can't people just do what they feel is right? Protecting each other is something we should all do.

Oh, and lots of the posts are from relatives on Harvey's side of the family. One of whom is our goddaughter, who seems to believe every crazy theory out there, and her parents. One parent works in an office and swears she will never wear a mask. What happens if it is mandated by our provincial government....going to quit her job. I rather doubt it as she is the chief wage earner in the family.

Be kind to each other as we navigate this world we find ourselves in.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday

Before I start my post for tonight I want to tell you all that we were under a tornado watch for a little while before supper. Everything is good, and the hail was not bad, just a few small bits for a short period of time. 

I am going to try and upload a picture/video. Hope it works.

I can't do the video sorry.

So what thriftiness was practiced on the old homestead this week?

I have been watching free television on my android box again. 

Eating fresh beans, and cucumbers from the garden.

Used up lots of little balls and orphan skeins of yarn knitting those 13 pairs of mitts for Kurt to take to school.

Started to use up more yarn from my stash knitting Harvey's Christmas sweater.

Collected another old sheet to use as backing for any quilt I decide to make (I have quite a collection of these now).

Mended a small hole in a pillow case.

Saved the elastics and twist ties from various bags from my shopping late last week.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

Kris left at around 11 this morning and because of traffic and construction slow downs took a bit longer than usual to make it back to Regina. It was nice to have him and his cat Eiko home for more than a day.

A new month and the last month of the summer. Not surprising my menu changed a bit today.

Monday

Lots of leftovers so we had a clean out the fridge night.

Tuesday

Leftover chicken warmed up. Serving this with the inevitable cucumber slices, rice, and some fresh garden beans.

Wednesday

Leftover ham and scalloped potatoes. I will make a salad to go along with this.

Thursday

Perhaps another clean out the fridge night, if there isn't enough leftover we will have hot dogs, the remains of the salad, and cucumber slices.

Friday

Fish Fillets, rice and mixed veggies as well as, you guessed cucumber slices.

Saturday

Leftover beef from a package in the freezer. I think I just might make a Margarite roll, served with mushrooms and a salad or raw veggies.

Sunday

Roast pork, roasted potatoes (though creamed potatoes sound really good) and roasted carrots.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Frugal Friday (a day late)

A day late here as I ended up getting things ready for Kris and Eiko to arrive. Poor cat is hiding lots as she can not for the life of her figure out why she gets the run of the upstairs.

 

Still having a bit of trouble figuring things out in this new format, but I am slowly getting there. 

1.  Washing hung on the lines to dry, even the towels, sheets and rags.

2.  Using the rain barrel for watering my plants. Hoping for more rain soon to fill it.

3.  Shopping more with coupons and managed to save $21.32 through coupon use and sale prices.

4.  Used up much of the orphan skein/balls of yarn knitting mittens.

5.  Pulled more yarn and a pattern to start the Christmas gifts.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.