Menu Plan Monday

 

A new week and even though the temperatures will warm up a bit, it is still winter here in the southeast corner of Saskatchewan. We did get a bit of melting today, but this will not last long at all. Mother Nature just loves to tease us prairie dwellers.

So what are we eating this week?

Monday

Spaghetti and meat sauce along with a salad. I am going to make enough of the spaghetti and sauce to make a few tinfoil meals for later (baked spaghetti is awesome).

Tuesday

Leftover pork made into our favourite stir fry meal. There will be enough left over for another meal this week. I will make some rice to add to the leftover rice in the fridge. Probably try and use up some more salad as well. I will freeze what is left of the stir fry for meals later on.

Wednesday

Soup and sandwiches. I think I will pull out some chicken broth and make some chicken veg soup and probably some salmon salad sandwiches (need to use up some of those tins in the freezer).

Thursday

Small sausage casserole. Lots of veggies in this meal already.

Friday

Glace, potatoes and eggs. 

Saturday

Leftover small sausage casserole.

Sunday

Steak (bought on sale many weeks ago) in mushroom soup. I will make mashed potatoes and probably some coleslaw.

So that is my menu for the upcoming week. I have gone through my fridge freezer and there will be lots of meal in the month of March to use the older bits and bobs up. 

I was asked what I did with what was frozen in the molds. I pop the blocks out and either use my Food Saver or zip lock bags to store the items. That way I can use the molds once again. I also did not bring these into my home until the plastic containers I used for freezing were getting old and not suitable any longer. I will still be using a few plastic containers until they get to the point of being kind of yucky.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Questions

 

I have been asked about the molds I have been speaking about, the past while and thought I would share the ones I have purchased over the past year.

The ones directly in the front of the picture are very small ice cube trays. Each section holds approximately 2 teaspoons. 

The yellow ones each have 4 sections and each section holds two cups if filled totally. I use these to the 1 cup mark for things like the lentil taco mixture I made. 

The longer blue/turquoise ones hold 4 cups. I have not used them as of yet, but figure they will be excellent to use for broths when I make bone broth from carcasses or roast and ham bones. 

The turquoise ones at the very back are the ones I use most often. They also hold 4 cups but usually I only fill them to the 2 or 3 cup measure. Perfect for a soup meal for the two of us with a bit leftover for a lunch. 

I would really like to get a few more for summer sauce making days. So much easier to freeze, pop out and put in a bag.

Got my new keyboard and mouse. Loving the ease of typing now.

Yep, it's pink and I love it!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Weekly Roundup

 

No real projects completed, instead this has been a week of trying to keep ahead of a cat that likes to cause problems, and doing a bit of cooking ahead for meals later on.

I am really liking the molds as they make freezing and preparing for the chest freezer so much easier. I think that this will be an awesome way to prepare items for future meals.

Mushroom soup was made (yes finally got on sale mushrooms) and frozen in those molds. Popped out and they now reside in my chest freezer.

Gathering the ingredients to make the lentil taco filling.

Cooking that filling.

Freezing that filling.

Popping the extra hamburger soup portions and the red lentil taco filling out. Getting them ready for the chest freezer. In the bag are the prepared pork loin and few chicken breasts I managed to purchase in my grocery shop this biweekly visit.

Next week it will be Sweet and Sour meatballs and probably another soup or two.

This isn't to say I haven't been working on my various crafty projects. I have but not a great deal to show any progress on them. Part of the reason is Bob. He is taking up more of my time than I ever thought a cat could. 

I have broken down and ordered a new keyboard for use with the computer. I had wanted to hold out a while longer, but I am tired of posts disappearing every so often.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Friday Shopping and Wow

Harvey took me shopping this afternoon, and now he gets to see how much prices have risen since the last time he shopped with me. Let's say about 5 or so years ago. I think he was a bit flabbergasted by costs. He also got to watch me put items back on the shelf because there was no way on God's green earth I was going to pay that asking price.

I did manage to get a few items at a decent sale price, but many of the items we needed were just not discounted very much at all.

As for the items I added to the pantry for $10.00 I managed to get 3 cans of mandarins for $1.50 each and three cans of evaporated milk to use in baking for $1.27 each. Hoping to get some canned meats and more canned fruit next time. It was a bit less than the amount, but anything more would have put me over the pantry shopping limit.

While checking out the beef roasts, I got into a conversation with a beef rancher. He told me that they had sold all their steers and only kept the heifers, mainly because they were worried about the lack of moisture on the pastures. He said beef prices are going to probably get much higher over the next while. I have also noticed that once prices go up, the very rarely come down. I so wish that we had yellow stickers, or some of the ways that easterners in bigger centers have to save. Heck our youngest son can sometimes take advantage of yellow sticker meat as well.

I have added some tins of salmon and tuna to the bag that will be donated to the Food Bank here at the end of lent. Next time I go shopping in two weeks, I will pick up some pasta and pasta sauce. I am trying to put together enough to perhaps feed a couple of families. Thinking some treats closer to the end of Lent would be a nice addition.

Changed my mind on supper tonight. As we have lots of softening potatoes in storage, I am going to use up my homemade perogy and then next week use up more of the softer potatoes to make a batch or two for the freezer downstairs.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

 Thrifty and Frugal

The sun is shining and while we are once again back in the deep freeze, I am happy to say that I have been keeping busy around the old homestead. 

My shopping list is ready to go, and I believe that as the day goes by I will be using more bits and bobs up and getting the fridge cleared out a bit more. Getting meals into the freezer to be used this spring when we are busy in the yard is a priority right now. One that sees me using up those bits and bobs as well as leftovers from other meals. 

So how have I been frugal and thrifty this week around the house? And have I added a new thrifty/frugal measure to my plans?

1.  Found $0.20 in the basement beside the washer and dryer. That went in the change jars.

2.  Emptied the bottom of my purse and added another $8.55 to the change jars.

3.  Added $100.00 to the savings envelope.

4.  Paid bills on line once again and will continue to do that with as many bills as possible.

5.  Used my cash back on my Visa to pay the groceries from two weeks ago. 

6.  Collecting veggie scraps and freezing them to make veggie stock. Never done this before so I hope it works out. I use lots of veggie stock in my recipes.

7.  Made the grocery list using flyers and looking online for coupons.....

8.  Still using bits and bobs from my craft stashes to make things to either give away, for gifts or for the family auction raising money for the next get together.

9.  Hanging what I can on the lines downstairs.

10. Drapes open to take advantage of the solar heating.

11. Getting some new recipes that don't use meat to try.

So a couple of new things going on, lots of old, tried and true. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Midweek Ramblings

 I should also be saying stay calm it's almost the end of the month and I have many more projects to try and at least start, not perhaps finish. As usual this month like most, I have listed more projects than I can actually get done. Why won't I ever learn.

The storm came through last night and into mid afternoon today. Once the snow stopped and the sun came out, Harvey got the snowblower and set to work. Now we just need the city to do a better job of cleaning the street.

I don't like driving on these messy, icy roads (it did rain before the snow came) and so Harvey has said he will take me shopping on Friday and take me to pay any bills that need to be paid in person. There are just two and one is right near Walmart, the other is on the way either to or from that area of the city.

Slowly getting some meals in the large chest freezer. Yesterday it was Cream of Mushroom Soup, today it will be at least one meal of Red Lentil Curry. I may make some Lentil Taco filling first thing tomorrow morning, and then later Hamburger Soup and I think some either BBQ meatballs or Sweet and Sour meatballs. I want to be prepared for spring and yard work, or even a day I just do not feel like cooking. It saves us ordering in or going out.

It is Ash Wednesday today and since the roads are all but impassible, this will be the first year we have not gone to the church. I do believe we will be forgiven though, as we age things are becoming a bit more difficult. Our driveway, which really isn't long or convoluted, used to take perhaps 20 minutes or less to clear. Now Harvey gets about halfway and needs to rest before finishing it off. Today the driveway took him about 1 1/2 hours to clear, and getting the truck into the driveway over the 2 1/2 foot drifts was a job in and of itself. 

The beginning of Lent already and I am unsure what I will do for the season this year. Leaning towards getting some donations each day for the Food Bank. I have heard they are running low once again.

I was asked what Saskatoons are. Hmmm, they are the cousins of blueberries. Not quite as good in my opinion, but Harvey and other southern Canadian prairie people love them. They grow wild or can be planted. Those that are planted are a bit larger and a bit juicier. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

The storm we are supposed to get today still has not arrived. Well at least the snow and rain haven't. It is however, very windy and the temperature is hovering around freezing. 

I was a bit concerned that one of our payments on Harv's Visa had not gone through. At least according to his bill which we printed off so as to be able to pay it off totally once the travel insurance is put on it. He is also going to have a hunk of money back to use on the card the next time we pay. 

I used my cash back this month and it paid for my last grocery shop. Love that when it happens. In these tougher economic times every little bit helps.

All through Covid and the years after, the one price I could count on not changing was the cost per pound for bananas. Well when I went shopping almost two weeks ago the cost had risen $0.07 a pound. Now that was quite a shock. An inexpensive (relatively) fruit is no longer quite the buy, and Harvey loves his bananas. 

I am hoping that very soon we will be producing not only cherries in our yard, but pears and haskaps. Not sure if we will ever get the mini grape sized kiwi, but I can hope. 

I also hope to be able to plant a few more fruit bearing plants. Would love some raspberry bushes, and some saskatoons or even grapes. Grapes would be perfection really. 

Just a few new food ideas that will continue to grow each and every year. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

 This month is moving along so very quickly.

Monday

A container of Chicken Stew from the fridge freezer.

Tuesday

Leftover brisket made into Pulled BBQ Brisket served with some coleslaw.

Wednesday

Lentil Curry and rice.

Thursday

Hamburger soup and sandwiches. This will use up the remains of the cabbage.

Friday

Salmon Fillets, leftover rice, peas/carrot mixture.tu

Saturday

Cabbage Bread

Sunday

Pork Roast, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots, salad.

Since we are moving back into some cold snowy weather, I am hopeful of getting a bit of batch cooking done. There will be Hamburger Soup to freeze, Lentil Curry to freeze, and I hope to get some Cream of Mushroom and perhaps some Potato soups done as well.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

I have had another fairly quiet day here on the old homestead. One in which for the first time ever I am trying to cook a beef brisket in my electric roaster. We have always smoked them before. I hope it is tender enough to eat.

The loom is once again set up for the next half of the rug. I really hope there is enough warp left to actually complete it and if not I may be doing the rug in three pieces. Not that Kris would mind either way, he will just be happy to have a rug in front of his door. I will be happy just to get it completed and a new project warped. 

Bob is getting a bit better in the behaviour portion. He is no longer scratching at things he shouldn't, and as far as jumping onto things he shouldn't all we now have to do is say "No" in a rather loud voice and he quickly gets down. 

Next up will be working on trying to get him not to move his water bowl around causing it to run into the mat, and under said mat which affects our flooring (not in a nice way as it is laminate).

As far as his night time behaviour, it is getting very much better. I have some toys that are keeping him awake during the day for longer periods and that is enabling us to get much better sleep. Okay, me much better sleep, as Harvey can sleep pretty much through anything less than an explosion right by his ear (could be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much).

I said I would not be going shopping earlier this week, but we have some nasty weather coming in and I am kind of on the fence right now. Especially since I will need to purchase some onions in order to make a few meals and some of the soups. I could use my allowance to purchase the onions and leave my credit card at home. I could also purchase some milk and that would probably do us for at least another week or week and a half. I will probably do that and hold off on the bigger shop until early the next week. 

There is a gentle rhythm to my days which I am really enjoying. Mornings are spent getting those tasks completed necessary for the smooth running of our small homestead, afternoons are spent working on projects, extra cleaning (things I do monthly and perhaps twice a year), baking and enjoying the changing weather (well at least the nice weather). 

Computer work is fitted in where I can, and the same could be said about watching Youtubers. 

One thing I have noticed with catsitting Bob is that my to do lists have gotten a bit longer.....

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Weekly Round-up

 I actually have a few pictures of projects either finished, just started, or on the way to being completed soon I hope.

Ten pairs of small mitts finished and put away.

I have started number 9 block for the first quilt. Hopefully I can get this up to a flimsy by next month.

The first half of the rug waiting to be wet blocked, and threads worked in.

Loom almost ready to start the second half of the rug.

The leftover tomato paste ready to be frozen and then popped into a bag in the fridge freezer.

Nothing really spectacular finished, but I am happy with what I have managed. 

I am hoping next week to get the embroidery almost finished, the rug moving along, and perhaps a tote or two sewn up. I will also be making some batches of soup for the freezer downstairs and trying to use up more of the various broths I have frozen. I think I will be able to get more done as the weather is supposed to go back to being snowy and a bit cooler overall. 

As far as soups to be made, I plan on Cream of Mushroom,  Hamburger/cabbage/veggie soup, Potato soup and perhaps even some Cream of Celery Soup. Probably made over a couple of days so as to be able to freeze in the molds.

I will need to do some baking as well. Bread is getting low, and we will need some cookies or cake for desserts. I may also make some muffins for breakfasts and snacking.

I do have to go out on Tuesday to pay our insurance off. Thought about shopping but opened the fridge and thought no darn way. I might run out of a few things before Friday, but I am sure I can find some substitutions for anything I need. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Towards A Simpler Life

 

 It seems as if all the various books, blogs, and vloggers that I have been checking out, that say they are Simple Living adherents seem to say the same thing. One must spend loads of time decluttering and organizing the remainder. 

Now I can see the decluttering, but when I watch many of them begin the organizing portion, I see them out purchasing items to organize with. In many cases these people have gotten rid of organizing items to begin with. In other cases I noticed that they just wanted a more "matching" way to organize. 

Isn't that just adding more "stuff" in your home? Wouldn't it have been simpler to just keep what you used in the first place? If you wanted matches organizers, perhaps covering them with wrapping paper would have made a much better choice?

I have had the same storage and organizers for years. Some are getting pretty worn, but until they no longer serve the purpose I purchased them for, they will continue to be used. I have patterns stored in binders of all different colours, but I covered them with wrapping paper and put a homemade label on them as to what is inside the covers. 

I had bought some boxes made of heavy cardboard years ago and those hold my embroidery threads, machine embroidery threads, serger/overlocker threads, small triangle patches, 2 1/2 inch fabric strips, some yarn, some transfer patterns, projects I inherited from my Mom, zippers, bias binding, sewing needles, pins, and items that are used on each of my sewing machines. All have a homemade label and I can see at a glance what needs to be used and where to locate the item. 

I want to leave a smaller footprint on the earth, to me that is simplicity. Time to sit on the deck and listen to the birds. Watch the garden as I hang clothes out on the lines. Plant food or flowers and herbs that can give us joy. 

To me living simply is using what you have, learning to look after what you have, and not accumulating more just to organize what you already have.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Thrifty And Frugal Thursdays

 Thrifty and Frugal

Once again the sun is shining and heating the front half of the house. No furnace coming on and going off. Got to love that.

What frugal and thrifty things have been happening here on the old homestead?

1.  Leftovers are being used for lunches, new meals this week, and some is even being frozen for a meal later on.

2.  Clearing out items in the fridge freezer. I am hoping to clear out a few items from this area over the next while. 

3.  Got some free veggies, milk and cream from Bob's parents. Free is good, and lots will be used making soups, casseroles and desserts. In fact lots have been used already.

4.  Removed the buttons from some well worn shirts and cut what fabric that could be used from those same shirts.

5.  Found $6 plus in coins in the bottom of my purse. I added that to the various coin jars.

6.  Walking for free exercise.

7. Number 10 no spend day so far this month. 

8.  Pulling yarn from my stash for the next size mittens, and other weaving projects.

10.  Turning off lights, watching water usage, making sure the dishwasher is full, and washing full loads of laundry.

11.  Finally Harvey is using the cloth napkins I made instead of pulling off some paper towel. Money saved!!!

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Midweek

 It has been sunny and very warm here today. I am hoping that most of the ice will disappear from around our home. I would love to be able to get around a bit before the snow comes back the middle of next week. Quite a bit is forecast to fall so we will be back to seeing a white covering over everything.

I have not gone out today as I have once again been trying to get things done around the house and online. There were a couple of contracts I needed to renew if I wanted the early discount. Still even though I renewed my costs will be higher for the next two years, but lower than if I had not went into a contract. Canada has the highest internet and wireless costs in the world. I so wish our phones only cost $60.00 a month for the two of them, or that our internet was half the cost like so many. Oh well we do what we have to do. 

Bob wants outside, and there is no way we can allow him out. He is not very happy with us at this point in time. I am going to see if I can find all of Shania and Eiko's toys and see if I can get his mind off of "outside". Hopefully tire him out a little bit as well. 

With costs rising I am going to be going over our budget and see where costs can be cut. Of course there are lots of costs not coming in as of yet, which means I won't have a good idea of totals for a bit yet. The things I can begin to control right now are groceries, cleaning supplies, water costs, electrical costs, and heating costs. Days as sunny as today are wonderful as the drapes are open and I am taking advantage of the solar heat through our south facing windows. No furnace cutting in as of yet. 

Water wise I will need to see if there are ways of saving on that as well. 

Working on having more no spend days in the month as well. The longer I stay out of stores the better for our chequing account, I also want to cut down on the number of cheques we write as the cost of those is eyewatering. 

Right now I feel that the main way to save on rising costs is groceries. Isn't that the usual way us frugal people try first. We shop the sales, look for markdowns, and begin to purchase store brand items. However some store brand items just do not taste very good at all.

We have all become great at stretching meals out from very little and making our own breads as well as growing what veggies we can to add to our menus. 

This year because we are going away in the middle of the summer, Harvey says he is not going to plant as big a garden. I do believe there will be potatoes, carrots, corn, some pumpkins, tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers. I am not too sure if there will be any peppers and probably no eggplant this year. We will make do with whatever we can harvest and grow.

What ways are you going to use or have been using to keep your costs down?

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 

We really need to figure out a way to cut Bob's claws. He likes to dig them into whatever portion of one's anatomy he comes in contact with. He has also now ripped the tablecloth as he stumbled when trying to get on the table. I hope we can manage to do that very soon. I know it will take the two of us as Bob is a very large cat.

At least Bob has allowed me to work on my weaving, and get a bit of knitting done as well (that is when he decided he just had to climb on my knees and proceed to grab the yarn or dig his mighty claws into my leg and arm). Still it is nice to have a cat in the house for a bit. However Harvey and I wonder if Bob's escapades are the reason his brother wished us good luck as Nancy and he left for their trip to the airport.

I found a new casserole recipe for the leftover chicken to try tonight. We have every single ingredient which is awesome. No substitutions this time at all. I am hopeful that this recipe will give us enough for two meals. I plan on cooking it in the toaster oven as well. There isn't many veggies in it other than onions, green pepper and tomatoes so I plan on adding some celery and mushrooms to the mix. Got to get those veggies in the diet. This will also use up some to the things Nancy brought to clear out their fridge. 

This week the weather is going to be just lovely, but as I knew what would happen, by the middle of next week the temperature drops slightly from above freezing temperatures to temperatures slightly lower and lots of snow. In fact 5 days of snow is forecasted to appear. Winter is coming back and probably coming back for until at least mid March or even later. I do doubt we will get the -40C temperatures, but I have a feeling more snow and ice will be arriving.

Decluttering has taken a back seat for awhile. I want to clear out my stashes right now. There are items in those stashes that have probably been there for years and it is time to use them or give them away. 

I am also thinking that some batch cooking could be a great idea for those snowy days that are coming. I have started a list and will be adding to it as time goes by. Pretty sure I could use up some pork as well as the beef.

I have some black beans that need using as well as some ham broth. There are dried beans that could and should be cooked up and frozen as well. I really need to get some baked beans made as well (adding that to the list). When the weather gets nasty it is good to have things to do so you don't miss going out and about. I also need to use those molds I purchased a bit more as well. I want more pull meals out of the freezer as spring approaches so that we can work in the yard without having to stop and cook.

Harvey had to repair a picture frame today. Bob decided to lick my barefoot as I was dusting them. Startled me so much I jumped and dropped the photo. Fixed and back on the wall.

Off to get together all the necessary ingredients for the casserole and set the table. I will visit you all a bit later.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God Bless.

Menu Monday

 

A new week has arrived, and with this new week new challenges. Like a stuck spacebar. Not to happy about this as it is Bob's fault. I was having a drink and he jumped up and knocked said drink over. I am hoping that the spacebar starts working correctly very soon.

Monday

Chicken Soup and egg salad sandwiches. Or rather buns.

Tuesday

Leftover chicken made into a casserole.

Wednesday

Homemade pizza using up some various meats in the fridge.

Thursday

Leftover Chicken casserole.

Friday

Fish sticks, onion rings, coleslaw.

Saturday

Leftover Pizza  and probably a salad.

Sunday

Beef brisket, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies and the remains of the salad from the night before.

Bob is here visiting and is quite a bit more needy than we were told. He has already dumped a drink on my desk and caused a few problems there. He has not had his claws clipped and managed to give me a lovely scratch. Tried to bite me numerous times when I have been petting him. He has also taken over my chair.... 

Here is Bob, enjoying my chair.

While he is the same colour as Shania, he definitely does not have her lovely temperament. It could be a rough 15 or so days.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

While I am not feeling 100% I am feeling much better. I am not sure what is wrong with me, but perhaps this old body just needs more rest then I have been giving it over the last while. I did sleep very well last night and I hope that the same happens tonight. 

Tomorrow our small visitor arrives. Nancy (my brother-in-law's wife) will be coming over to drop off Bob the cat. This does mean I will need to straighten the hallway before he arrives and once here will need to find a place for his bed, and scratching post. It really will be lovely to have a cat around for a bit. Looking forward to hopefully getting cuddles and pets in. She says he is very affectionate. 

It has been a fairly quiet day. We did go out to church today and I had to go out later and get Harvey's prescriptions filled. Well the ones for his blood pressure and his anti-depressant. The eye drops will last until after his next appointment with the optometrist. 

Other than those few outdoor things (picked up the mail as well) I have stuck close to home and worked on things like to do lists, looking up recipes, working on projects, and taking things fairly easy. 

Spent a bit of time looking up solar generator things on Amazon. Most need to have the purchase of the solar panels separate from the generator. I do think that is how we would go though if we did the generator thing. It is much less expensive than the gas powered and would actually work in the case of a power outage that lasted a great deal of time. I think we would need a couple of them though. One for the fridge and stove upstairs (and perhaps the computer and printer) and one for the basement freezers and washer/dryer. We face south so charging would not be a problem. 

Still working on using more small appliances to do my cooking. The electric bill did go down a tad this month, but I would love it to go down a bit more. 

I removed the buttons from Harvey's shirts.

Cut up the shirts into useable fabric. That will more than likely be used to make some totes eventually. 

I will pull out the pants to have the zippers and buttons removed tomorrow and those cut down into useable fabric as well. Little things being completed each day. 

The first half of the rug is off the loom and I will continue with warping again tomorrow. My back starts to hurt if I work on that phase for too long. I should also perhaps get the last pair of mittens almost completed as well. 

Little by slow little I am getting projects crossed off my list for the month. Of course there will be a few things carried over, but I hope to finish those next month. Will I add things? More than likely.

Today our sermon at church was letting our light shine, that just saying one is Christian is not enough..... 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

What's With Frugal YouTubers Suddenly Prepping?

 As part of my resting today, I watched some of my favourite YouTube channels and saw something very interesting happening. So many of them have decided to figure out how to prepare for the worst possible scenario's. 

Now as a frugal person I have always tried to prepare for storms, rising prices and any other small challenge that could come my way. The way I see it, if the worst possible happens we probably won't be here to see the results. 

Since these people profess to be frugal, shouldn't they have prepared for those small things already? I do know some have a pantry, but many of them seem to purchase items that need to be frozen (power outages or hacking of the power grid would take those full freezers out right away). 

The cash on hand I think is a great idea, and one that I do just in case. However saying to go to your corner store to purchase groceries if big stores suffer a computer shutdown, won't work in many cases. We have one corner store here in my city, and they no longer sticker price their groceries or cleaning supplies. Most places have gone to the run the barcode and get the selling price. Even our 7-11 stores have moved to this method. No electricity would also mean the stores coolers would no longer work and food would spoil quickly. 

None of them mention getting a generator to run their electric appliances. Some even talk about using their phones to watch movies they have downloaded if the internet goes down. Hmmm, how would they recharge their phones, laptops or tablets with now electric. Yes, if they fill the vehicle with gas they could in fact use the running vehicle to recharge things. Still gas would run out fairly quickly with the constant recharging of phones and such. 

Lately I have been purchasing more canned goods, and making sure I have propane for cooking on my camp stove or on the BBQ. Not many of the YouTubers I watch even mentioned that. They do mention candles and solar powered lanterns and such. They even speak about stocking up on batteries. Yet not many mention purchasing canned goods. Lots of canned meat and veggies to be had for the pantry, and my next $10.00 pantry spend will probably be canned potatoes and canned fruit, if I can get a good deal. 

So do you think one should prepare for the worst possible scenario? Or just prepare for the smaller happenings that we are used to?

Off to get some more sleep as I have been coughing, sneezing, and dang cold. Will try and visit you all, but the way I am feeling that might have to wait until tomorrow.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Not Feeling Well

 The day started out wonderfully. Lots of energy, got lots done. Even managed to get out for a little bit.

Now however all I want to do is sleep (and I still have to get supper on the table as well as wait for a text). I am queasy, and just feeling slightly blah. I am hoping to hold out until after supper, and at least get the yogurt chilling and later draining. But I wonder if that will happen. Maybe the chilling, but not sure about the draining. 

I wonder if I managed to pick something up while shopping yesterday. Mind you if it is a touch of something like the flu, I don't think it would have shown up in a day. Maybe it is just that I had a very restless sleep last night, and since I don't nap (if I do my sleep at night is very bad) the tiredness is catching up with me.

This has been the worst year for me feeling blah in a very long time. I hope this is the last of whatever I seem to be catching. As Harvey says perhaps I should not run so fast (LOL).

There is always tomorrow to continue on my decluttering and getting the sewing/craft room straightened out even more.

Off to visit with some of you and then get supper started.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

Thrifty and Frugal

I have really been trying to cut back on spending so far this year. Mainly because the trip we have planned for August is a bit more expensive than we thought it would be. Still I am not going to try and reclaim that money. Rather I will save where and how I can.

Frugal happenings around the old homestead have been more or less the usual for what I have been doing. 

I am continuing to use up all that I can and not purchasing things I do not need.

I actually managed to extend my shopping for groceries by four days, which is awesome. Still prices are rising and getting great deals are few and far between.

Making what I can from scratch, finding simple joys in making those things I need and saving for home improvements and the garden (what we call the backyard here) are making my life very enjoyable. Keeping things as simple as I possibly can.

Today I went shopping, and of course picked up my $10.00 for the pantry. I think next time it will be some canned fruit.

I managed to get 4 cans each of tuna and mushrooms to add to the collection.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

 

Midweek Ramblings

 I have a feeling that this month is going to whiz right by. I have so much to accomplish and I know there is not enough month to get it all done. 

I thought for a change I would share my project goals for the month with you once again. It has been awhile since I did so.

So here goes,

1.  Weave the rug for Kris.

2.  Embroider the last of the blocks for a quilt.

3.  Sew the totes for the Silent Auction.

4.  Make the ornaments for the Silent Auction.

5.  Knit mittens.

6.  Cut the buttons off of the shirts Harvey got rid of that are not decent enough to donate.

7.  Separate the usable fabric from those shirts.

Things are taking a bit longer than I thought they would so I am slightly worried that not all will be done this month. I will however try my best to get most done. 

Tomorrow we will go and pay off the trip, and I will go shopping. This means that not as much will be accomplished around the house other than the usual household tasks. I have been lucky enough to find large enough bits and bobs to make the smallest size mitts however and that is helping me to use things up nicely. Slowly but surely things are being cleared out of my stashes and that is an excellent thing. No matter how long things take I will get my stashes down to something easily handled.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 The weather has turned for the next while, we have melting and Harvey went for a drive to pick up more ice melt. We know that this will not last for very long, been through it many, many times. 

Yes, I did get my machine back and it works wonderfully. They even gave me a package of very expensive chrome needles to use. I told Harv that I would probably take my machines there to be serviced when needed. I think the next one to go will be my embroidery machine. Then the overlocker/serger will make the trip. I could probably get the less costly Brother machine done here in the city. I need decent machines for sure considering the mending and sewing that I do.

I tried the machine out on some mending that Kris needed done and everything was great. 

Last night and today, I went over the monthly menu and got things worked out. Just a few simple changes were necessary. Anything left from the meal tonight will be frozen for later on, or we will eat it two days in a row and not have any soup and sandwich night this week. No problem at all. 

My back is kind of kinky today. Not sure if it is because I have been trying to get lots of work done today, or if the change in air pressure is causing the problem. Perhaps it can even be because of the change in mattresses. Tonight I plan on using my heating pad and resting while knitting and listening/watching TV. 

I am almost finished the first half of Kris's rug and can hopefully start the second half and perhaps I can get the second half done quickly. I think once again I put much too much on my list to try and complete. We shall see what I manage.

Off to get supper in the oven. Try and visit all of you once again after folding the mountain of laundry.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

 

Home Sweet Home

 

The roads were great if a bit blowy on our way home today and I am glad we did not come home yesterday. I believe the roads would have been icy and snow covered.

However, we got into Estevan, pulled in the driveway and started to remove the items from the back of the car. I started to walk towards the sidewalk beside our vehicle shelter and started to slide!!! I managed to keep my balance, warned Harvey and made my way slowly down the path. This was actually the iciest part of our trip (well there was one fairly icy patch in Regina). 

Once all was inside, Harvey went out and sprinkled ice melt and then later went out to chip away at it. We definitely need more ice melt as the bag I purchased is now gone. Hope we can find some. 

No menu plan today as I need to do a bit of tweaking on it since we were gone and I just pulled whatever out of the fridge freezer to have for supper tonight. 

It has been snowing off and on since we got home, and between that and the icy roads in the city (and of course grocery shopping parking lots) I am going to give a few more days before I head out and pick up what we need. I also hope that we will have better sales as well. Good sales are few and far between and the new sale will start on Thursday. Flyers will come out today and tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed. 

Supper is almost ready. I will try and catch up with all of you a bit later tonight and tomorrow morning. I probably have lots of reading to do.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.