Menu Monday

 A new week of menus are here and soon I will be doing up the menu for the month of April. My goodness almost done three months of this year. Time is speeding right on by.

Monday

Wraps to use up some items in the fridge and fridge freezer. I will make a salad to go with.

Tuesday

One of the bags of frozen leftover chicken from Sunday. Since it is supposed to be cooler with some snow I will make a casserole. Served with the remains of the salad from yesterday.

Wednesday

Beef Vegetable Soup, and ham salad sandwiches.

Thursday

Any leftover casserole from Tuesday.

Friday 

Tuna Noodle Casserole.

Saturday

The bag of leftover pork roast made into a stir fry. Served over rice.

Sunday 

Roast Beef, roasted potatoes, and roasted carrots.

There are a few ideas percolating in my mind for next month. With Kris being home I want to visit and be able to send food home with him to give him a bit of help.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 It has been cloudy for most of the day. In fact the sun just came out from behind dense cloud cover 30 minutes or so ago. I am not sure how long the sun will be out, or if the sun will show its face tomorrow. We could be getting a bit more snow over the next week so it looks as if winter is not really relaxing its grip on the prairies of Canada. I am still hopeful that the weather will be decent for Kris to get home for Easter. 

My back withstood the hard wooden pews at Mass. I am always surprised when we arrive at the church. Lots of vehicles surround it, but upon entering there is hardly anyone there. Come time for Eucharist the line seems to be never ending. Today the school children did the readings, collection, and were the choir. Did an excellent job each and every one of them.

Now in case the lady who asked about a flimsy was and not check my response to her, I am going to answer it here. A flimsy is what quilters call the quilt top before "sandwiching" it with batting and a back and quilting it all together. Not sure why it is called a flimsy, other than in comparison to a quilt, it is flimsy and easily folded and put aside until ready for the next steps.

I am going to pull out some of my frugal books this week and see what else can be added to my frugal habits. I am really happy with how much we are saving by using cleaning rags, cloth napkins and my lady cloths. I am finding that a little bit here and there can add up to big savings over the entire year. Perhaps making some reusable cloth towels for the kitchen would be a great idea. I would still keep some paper towels for messy tasks. 

I am also thinking of making some more of my own cleaners. The orange and vinegar mixture works on a few things, but there are areas that could use a more potent cleaner. I have a book titled Green Up Your Cleanup  and another titled Baking soda, Banana Peels, Baby Oil and Beyond and it is time to make some use of them for cleaning mixtures.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday Round Up

 I am hoping that this is still working, and I may just be doing lots of editing to make sure of that.

It seems to be working. So I will tell you all the story about my leaving the Fiber Friends meeting. The meeting was wonderful, I even learned a few new cast on techniques as well as a new bind of one. I will need to practice those before I use them. The trouble began as I entered the parking lot to leave.

Imagine this rather rounded 70 year old woman walking toward her car and wondering if she had misplaced it. Instead she finds it parked beside two rather large trucks. One truck, the one on the passenger side was there when she had arrived, the other spot had been occupied by an SUV much the same size as hers. Now however this huge monstrosity was parked in its place. To make matters worse this monstrosity was only 6" away from the driver's side of her vehicle.

Yes, she probably could have gone back into the hotel and asked the desk to find the owner, and in hindsight that probably would have been the best thing to do. Or she could have gone in and asked to use the phone, called her husband to pick her up and left the vehicle there until the morning.... 

Was either of those what she chose to do? Nope. Instead after some rather choice words leaving her mouth, she decided to enter through the passenger door, crawl across the center arm rest/can holder, and storage drawer and wiggle her way into the driver's seat. 

She made it after twisting her body in ways that it hadn't been twisted in years and carefully backed out of the space.

Once home she checked (in the dark) to see if the other driver had scratched her car. Really couldn't see too much. Went in and told her husband what had occurred. 

Calmed down a bit by doing some more knitting and then realized her legs were a bit sore. By the middle of the night or rather early morning unable to sleep due to pain, she moved out of the bedroom, took a pain med, and tried to sleep on the chesterfield. Finally falling asleep only to dream about being chased down by huge trucks.

The next morning she went shopping and by the end had such a sore back that it became a problem putting groceries away. 

My back is fine now. Thank heavens.

Now on to what I managed to accomplish as far as projects this week.

Flimsy is made, it needs some ironing.

Ornaments are done as well. These are just a few of them. The others are in a small box. On the back of those who are married is the spouses name. 

Hope to have more finished by the end of the month. 

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

This Is A Test

 Can I post once again using Edge as my Browser? I guess I can now.

Fiber Friends

 I had a great time at the meeting. The ladies were very welcoming. I will probably attend while the weather is good. What I went through when I left was not fun. Hopefully fill you all in on that nasty adventure at another time.

Friday Catch-up

 

Quick post as I am on my phone. The computer is not allowing me to post. 

This is the grocery shop from today. Hopefully I can get blogger to work once again.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

 Thrifty and Frugal

Another Thursday has arrived this month. It is hard to believe we are on the third one this month. Once again the days are slipping by very quickly. 

So what frugal things have I been up to this past week.

1.  Using up some Cricut supplies, glitter and clear plastic ornaments to make an item for the silent auction.

2.  Added $100.00 to the savings envelope.

3.  The micro computer I ordered was on sale for $100.00 off and free delivery.

4.  Mended a pair of Harvey' pj bottoms.

5.  Used up a ball of yarn knitting the border for the rug, and it was a ball that I have had for years.

6.  I am now up to 14 no spend days so far this month.

7.  Baked bread and baked buns. 

Then of course there were the usual hanging as much as possible on the lines downstairs, combining errands, using up leftovers from the fridge and fridge freezer, as well as walking for my daily exercise. 

Tonight I am attending a "Fiber Friends" get together to see what it is like. I will probably not get a visit with all of you today, but will do so first thing in the morning if I miss you. I am not always comfortable being around strangers but we shall see how things work tonight.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Midweek Ramble

 A beautiful day today, and we should be having a couple more. Then a bit of a change with lower temperatures and perhaps some snow. 

This week has been one of getting things done around the house, and working on my various projects. I also found something out. My old laptop is of no earthly use in the sewing/craft room. It is just too slow even with the WIFI booster. So I will be using the new one for various crafts that I need a computer for. Not a bad thing, but it means unplugging and plugging in again at my desk when anything is completed. I am almost tempted to purchase a cheap monitor and use the old mini computer until it is no longer useable in there. That could be a bit more of crawling around on the floor to get power packs plugged in than I really care to do. 

This I can say with complete honesty, I need to actually use my Cricut more often as it seems to be that when I don't there is a whole new learning curve. So one month perhaps a project will be making some cards for birthday's, Thank you, Christmas and a few other paper crafts. I should try my hand at doing some embossing with it as well.

I am actually quite happy with how my projects are going this month. I finished the flimsy, have almost finished the ornaments, finished the totes, wove the rug, and am working hard on getting the pieces done to finally finish the rug. All I have left is knitting the next sized mittens, starting to weave the scarves (gift for Kurt and Kris for Christmas) and sewing the rug together. Hope to get a few more of these done before the end of the month. There should be pictures on Saturday to share what I have managed to get done.

Changed a few more email addresses and I plan on doing something about setting up something using Harvey's name for our trip in August. 

Still need to let our travel agent know we need to communicate through a different email address as well. I will probably do so next week.

Enjoying the fact that the weather is changing, and I am completing more things around the house as far as decluttering and organizing goes. I have even managed to clear some items out from under my bed, socks and dishcloths for right now. I hope to put together a few more items for the silent auction from that container as well. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 It actually turned into a very lovely day. Snow is melting and we are in the low double digits. I hope this means that we are finally going to get spring weather. 

I am surprised that with this weather I am once again feeling exhausted. I wonder if it is because I have been moving pretty steadily around the house today, getting household tasks completed, and working on projects. Harvey always says "No rest for the wicked" and I guess in this case wicked could mean wanting to get things done. 

My new mini computer came yesterday evening and it is now on the top of the fake fireplace. I am waiting until Kris comes home and he can set it up. 

Still having trouble with photos from my phone and this phone does not have a cord to use on the computer. So I am emailing and copying to the picture folder. A bit more work, but at least I can manage to get the pictures off. 

Now, I thought I should probably explain about my talking re a condo purchase in the city. Eventually we thought we would move to the city our youngest son lives in. That is where my specialist lives, there is public transportation, and shopping is relatively close no matter where you live. 

We do not own a condo as of yet and more and more we are thinking we could purchase a small one story home for less. The main reason being the fact that one needs to pay a condo fee ranging in price from $400 to $700 a month. That means we would be paying anywhere from $4800 to $8400 in condo fees (or HOA fees). On top of that there are property taxes of anywhere from the least expensive at $2500 to the most expensive of $4500 a year. That is a rather large chunk of money from our savings disappearing each year. Yours truly is shocked at the total cost of what a condo or even an apartment in the city costs. I think we will be staying here for a very long time and hopefully able to make the trip in to see my specialist when necessary. If it ever comes to the point we can't travel the two hours, I am going to see if my doctor here can do the necessary tests. 

Work was done in the sewing/craft room tidying up and putting things away. After the other household tasks were completed I started work on the next project I want crossed off my list. Made good progress on that by getting the first two steps completed. Only two more steps to go, one of which might take a bit longer than a day to complete. This project is also getting some more of my craft supplies used up. Makes more room in that sewing/craft room. Could be working in there again very soon. It is getting easier and easier to move around and find items.

The fridge freezer is getting to the point where I can organize things in there a bit better. My freezer has an upper drawer and then two baskets underneath. The upper drawer is where I freeze things like soup or extra meals, as well as keep frozen veggies, and ice cream. The bottom two drawers are what really needs organizing and using up. Slowly but surely those are getting much easier to find those leftover roast bits and other such items. There is still a great deal in there though and I am working my way through all. Simplifying my storage in there is my purpose for the next while. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

 

Brrr, another cold but sunny day. Other than going out and getting Harvey's prescriptions for the next month I have stayed home and worked around the house. I still have laundry to fold, and perhaps a bit of putting away in the sewing/craft room, but for the most part tasks are done for today.

So what are we eating this week.

Monday

Leftover jambalaya from Saturday. 

Tuesday

One package of leftover pork roast from Sunday. I was going to make a stir fry, but I think some pulled pork in BBQ sauce in wraps would hit the spot and use up some wraps and frozen veggies like peppers and celery. 

Wednesday

I have one Chicken Parma, and one Broccoli stuffed chicken so will get those out of the freezer as well. Probably served with sliced cucumber and some frozen carrots.

Thursday

I hope there is enough of the pulled pork from Wednesday to serve on open faced bread slices covered with melted cheese, or perhaps I will make some buns and serve. 

Friday

Potato soup, and egg salad or scrambled egg sandwiches. 

Saturday

Homemade pizza. I will see how the dough I made and froze works. If it does I will make some more to put in the larger chest freezer. 

Sunday

Roast chicken, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots.

Everyone have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

The day once again started of a bit cloudy and pretty darn cold, but it has warmed up a bit and the sun is shining. We are in for a couple of days of cold weather and then a warm up until the end of the month. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the nice weather will last until Kris has been home for Easter, and Kurt gets off on his journey with his students to France and the visits to the Canadian beach, and graveyards of our fallen hero's.

Me, well the next few days being cold I will be staying home, working on the usual household tasks, and of course my projects. 

I should, in fact, finish the flimsy tomorrow and perhaps even get all the necessary items together to work on the ornaments. Those will be another item to add to the silent auction. The more that we have to bid on, the less likely we will need to pay for anything like the Friday night meal or the Saturday larger meal and rental of the building. 

There is also hope that I will be finished the rug for Kris before he comes home. I am about halfway finished the one border. 

Still I have many projects (well a number of them) on my list that I haven't even started yet......

The mini computer for my television has been ordered. Kris looked at the specs I sent him and said it would work perfectly for what I want. I also told him about my email problem and he is going to see if he can fix that as well. Hmm, I think I should have told him about the pictures on Gallery problem as well. Oh well I can manage with the old digital camera just fine for the next while though the camera on the phone takes much better photos. 

Work continues on the decluttering front and my hope to have a much simpler life by the time I am done. Perhaps by doing so we will be able to stay in our home longer as in looking at what the monthly condo fees are and the property taxes on said condos we would actually go through our cash reserves quite quickly..... I think it might be less expensive to rent an apartment in the city.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

 

I actually got a few projects down to the finish line or completed this week. As well as making some soup that we can eat for a few meals.

First off I used the leftover brisket and made a Vegetable, Barley Beef Soup.

This used up the broccoli in the crisper. While I am not sure I like this soup with broccoli, it at least used up something from the crisper as well as a couple of carrots.

I did sew the rug together and got it measured for the border or borders. Not done yet, but I see the end in sight to this project.

The four totes are sewn for the silent auction this summer. I may break down and do up a denim one later.

The first of the 2 1/2 inch strips have been added to the embroidered blocks and I have started pinning on the next two strips. Hope to get those done tomorrow and perhaps even begin to sew them all together. 

This week also saw me chopping and freezing celery and green peppers before they went bad. This is definitely going to be either use it or freeze it year so there is no waste. Groceries and the cost to get them are just to expensive to waste anything. 

I had to change the menu for tonight, but it does involve using up, or starting to use up some more items in the fridge freezer. There should be enough left from this meal to make us another meal, but we will see.

Hubby is busy putting together a set of shelves to use with the grow lights. He managed to find some on Facebook Marketplace for less than what it would cost to make them. He does need to paint the shelves though so as to make them a bit more waterproof. 

I hope to have some more finished projects this week and that would mean more checked off my project/goal list for the month.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

A Simple Life

 

Life is so much easier now that I am moving closer and closer to a simpler way of living. 

I have always cooked most of my meals from scratch, not so much when we first married, but as my experience at the stove grew so did my scratch cooking. Now it is more just the way I do things. Today I will be making pancakes for our supper and as usual there will be no pancake mix used. I don't think I have ever tasted pancakes from a mix, I know my mom always made hers from scratch as well. 

Moving away from mixes, not only gives me control over the ingredients, but works out to be less expensive than cookie mixes, muffin mixes, cake mixes, and pie crust mixes. Mind you the way flour and sugar are increasing in price that could perhaps change. 

Decluttering is making room in my life for those things I love and passing on those that we no longer need to others who just might. Seeing empty spaces in my closet and drawers makes me happy. It also makes me wonder, why I ever gathered so many things to wear and why I have held onto things that no longer fit or suit the lifestyle I now live. 

I am now able to organize things a bit more. There is loads more to do but I am slowly getting there. Using things up in my craft/sewing room has been an eyeopener. I never realized how much I had gathered over the years. Right now I figure I will be able to be occupied with this for a number of years. The stash will make some lovely gifts over the next few years for sure.

I am hopeful that we will keep moving in this direction which gives us more time to spend together as a family, to enjoy our hobbies more, in fact to perhaps add a hobby or two that will come in useful in the future. 

It will give us time to go out and forage in the summer and fall, something we did in the past, but it has gone by the wayside as we filled our days with busyness and work. 

Life is meant to be enjoyed not rushed through. As we age and the years pass with what seems to be speed, this becomes even more important. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

Thrifty and Frugal

The snow arrived at about 6:35 am. At times it was so heavy I could not see clearly down the hill to the gas station in the valley right below. Poor Harvey couldn't check out gas prices today and I was in a bit of a rush while out so didn't check for him. The wind has picked up now and the snow is blowing around. Should be some lovely drifts tomorrow.

So what thrifty and frugal things have I been up to this week.

1.  Adding vegetable scraps to the bag in the freezer. Hope to make veggie stock very soon.

2.  Baked bread and have a loaf in the freezer.

3.  Working on projects to use up all those bits and bobs of fabric and yarn.

4.  Paid the bills online (including the extra car insurance, just had to make up a nickname so I could tell the difference between policies).

5.  Darned a pair of my socks.

6.  Continued the decluttering.

7.  Either using leftovers for another meal or freezing them for use later on.

8.  My exercise has been walking around the house.

9.  Used saved water to water the inside plants. 

10.  As usual hung two loads on the lines downstairs.

11.  Downloaded some more free reading material onto my ereader.

I did go out and do some errands today before the worst of the storm hit. I got our allowances which will be handed out on the 15th and picked up a few items at the grocery. I also picked up the mail and we got a few more necessary forms for our taxes. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening (or late afternoon).

God bless.

 

Midweek And Actually Staying Calm

Hello fellow bloggers. Here it is the middle of the second week of the month of March. Amazing. 

I think I should probably make something clear. In trying to clear up my fridge freezer, I am really not running low on food. I have an upright meat freezer downstairs, and a chest freezer which I use for baking, ready meals, broths, veggies and fruits. 

When I talk about trying to clear out my fridge freezer, it is to use up such items as leftover bags of roast chicken, roast beef, roast ham and roast pork. I usually package those roast leftovers up into meal sized bags to be used to make many more meals. I will be making a roast pork, a roast chicken and a roast beef this month and so will be bagging up the leftovers and putting those into the fridge freezer. I don't think the fridge freezer will ever be truly empty. 

I thought I would get two totes done today, but actually only managed one. Piecing together interfacing took much more time than I thought, and then cutting all the interfacing for all the totes took up a bit of time as well. 

Also, I had to spend some time on the phone getting back into my SaskEnergy account. For some reason I was not being allowed in and not getting notified as to what our bill for the past month is. Everything is great now there, if only I could get the pictures from my phone Gallery to the computer..... Sighs, will continue to work on that. 

I woke up to snow on the ground this morning, just a dusting, which melted away during the afternoon. Tonight the temperature will drop, and the forecast is calling for snow. 

Friday should be good so I will head out early and get the banking done and the one bill paid that needs to be paid in person for some odd reason. I first got this insurance online and paid for it online for two years so I can not for the life of me figure out what has changed. 

Off to visit you all.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 While the sun is out, it really is not as warm as previous days, and of course snow will be coming. 

I spent most of today after tasks working on my projects. The rug is ready to be sewn, but I am making some knitted sides as the stripes are not matching up quite the way I would like and so the sewing together will be slightly different than I had hoped. 

My embroidered blocks are done and ready to be fashioned into a flimsy sometime very soon. 

I next got all the parts, except for the interfacing, ready to sew the totes together.

I will need to sew some of the pieces of interfacing together in order to use up the smaller bits of interfacing. There are 4 totes to be fashioned over the next few days. 

I never shared what I purchased for the pantry this past week. Mainly because my darn phone is not allowing me to upload the photos to my gallery on the computer. Meaning I had to find the old digital camera and get it up and running once again. 

This time I picked up some cans of pineapple and 2 bottles of sauce. One bottle is plum sauce and the other is honey garlic. 

Harvey has put together his grow lights, and is working on the shelving unit. Today we got our new doorbell, and that is installed now as well. 

Me, well I have been checking out Amazon for a wagon. I think I just might have found the one I will purchase. It is a bit expensive, but will carry enough from the grocery store that I would purchase. The only problem I can foresee is that one place I shop at is quite a distance away. But perhaps I can arrange it so that on that occasion I drive once a month to pick up all that I need. 

I have also been checking out a new mini computer for the television as the one I have on there now can not be updated any longer, and the software on it is not supported. Soon I may not be able to use it at all. Probably order this item first as there is still ice and snow on the ground, and then Kris can install it for me once he gets home for Easter. I will use the money in my savings envelope for this purpose as there is still time to save for our trip and for the family reunion. 

My fridge freezer is emptying nicely. However what with the pork roast this Sunday I will be adding to it once again. Most of what is in there now are carcasses for bone broth, a couple of stuffed chicken for a meal, two pieces of salmon fillets, a package of frozen brisket and some frozen chopped veggies. There are lots of frozen veggie packages as well. I would enjoy getting it totally empty and by the end of the next couple of weeks that will be within reach. 

Now I just need to remember to use things up in there in good order. The same can be said for the meals in the chest freezer as well. Having ready made meals is great and very frugal, but if you don't use them it can be a problem.

Now I am off to start supper where I will be using up some leftovers from the fridge. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

 It is hard to know what type of meals to cook during this month of up and down temperatures. I still plan on trying to clear out the fridge freezer and perhaps some of the bone broths I have in the downstairs chest freezer. The more I can clear out the better. Our meat freezer is getting pretty low and I hope we can get some good meat sales very soon. I may break down and just purchase whatever as I don't think prices are going to be very good considering the cost to transport them.

Monday

Leftover chicken taco meat, tortillas, and the fixings to put on top.

Tuesday

Leftover chili, I think this time I will serve it over pasta with some cheese on top.

Wednesday

I brought up a container of leftover stew. Probably served over slices of bread, either sour dough (bought to see if we like it) or homemade.

Thursday

Mexican soup using up the last of the frozen brisket. The leftovers will be frozen and used at another time. With some kept out for another meal. Probably grilled cheese sandwiches will be served with.

Friday

Pancakes with syrup and/or jam from the canning cupboard.

Saturday

Leftover Mexican soup, and tuna melts.

Sunday

Pork roast, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots.

So there you have my meals. I will have cleared out a bit from the leftovers, I have lots of chicken and turkey carcasses that will need to be made into broth. Hopefully I can get those cleared out an upcoming week.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Melting, Rain, Snow Typical Spring

We are having typical prairie spring weather. Today we have had a bit of freezing in the morning, some sunshine this afternoon, and now the rain is starting to fall. Then later in the week we will be back to dropping temperatures and snow. Pretty much our usual start to spring, though many years we would be in the midst of a snow storm right now. I suppose this could be March coming in like a lamb, but I sure hope it doesn't go out like a lion.

I was looking out the window last night at about 7 and thought I would share one of our sunsets with you all. I am loving the longer days we are finally having. 

I am still having a terrible time trying to download pictures from the gallery on my phone to the gallery on the computer. Hmmm, perhaps it is time to make a visit up to Regina and get Kris to perhaps figure out what the heck is happening. Strange things for sure and I have made a couple of password changes, and I will have to phone one company in about a week to see why I can not log into my account. They changed things and have locked me out it seems.

There is a gas station just down the hill in the valley below us and Harvey has taken to using his binoculars to check out the price per liter of fuel each day. Today the price is $1.45.9 per liter so in the two weeks since the Iran bombing started our price has gone up $0.21 a liter. I am pretty sure things will get worse before they get better. I think we might be happy to have the grow lights for some veggie starters this spring, and fresh veggies in the winter. 

Laughingly (well perhaps not laughingly) I told Harvey I was thinking that having a wagon to pull my groceries home might be an excellent idea if the prices for fuel keep on going up. It would perhaps save a trip with the car. Probably, much more frugal and great exercise in the long run. I have mentioned that before and Harvey has just laughed it off. Not so this time. I really think some of my frugal ideas could actually be rubbing off on him.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

 

This Will Suit Me Perfectly

 

Thanks for posting this Juhli. I am a mystery/true crime nut for novels and this challenge will be loads of fun. I can actually get into this one.

The day has passed by and I am not even tired. Can it be that whatever virus or bacteria I managed to pick up has worked its way through my system? I certainly hope so. I do not like feeling so exhausted by midafternoon that I just can not function properly. 

Once again my movement towards simplicity has been one of decluttering and organizing. Perhaps more decluttering than organizing, and perhaps more using up than decluttering. 

One thing I am beginning to realize is that we collect more "stuff" then we really need or in fact want. Or perhaps that is the problem, at the time the items appeared in our homes we actually wanted them, but didn't need them. 

In a way I didn't realize at the time, we were actually trying to keep up with the neighbours... At times I believe we fall back into that mindset. Not as often now, but the urge is still there. One needs to remember that nothing is simple if it adds "stuff" to your life.

Harvey informed me today that he ordered grow lights and I wondered why..... Turns out he was thinking that we could possibly grow our own lettuce, radish and onion during the winter months and save a bit of cash doing so. Kris does this every year and in fact his set up even grows tomatoes and peppers. He says the cost of running the lights is minimal really, so perhaps things will work out and we will manage to save on produce over the those cold winter months. I don't think that is moving towards a simpler life, but perhaps towards a more frugal life. And having Harvey even thinking in a frugal manner is perhaps a big plus. I really think taking him shopping was a major eye opener for him. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Shopping and Realizing Prices Really Are Hitting Highs

 So I went shopping yesterday and could have cried over how much prices are going up over all. 

Definitely more than last time I went shopping and way more than last year at this time. Still I did manage to get lots on sale (though sale price was the regular price even just a few months ago).

So here is my shopping, and yes I did purchase a small roast beef which was on sale, but one of the reasons I almost cried.

One of two pictures of my shopping. It seems like getting pictures from my phone to blogger is getting a bit more difficult.

I think I might need Kris to get things working properly once again, or find my silly camera which seems to have disappeared in the house. 

Life seems to be getting slightly complicated rather than simplified. 

Off to get supper completed, a visit with all of you and then work on a project or two.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

Thrifty and Frugal

Since I have not been feeling that well, things are really being used up around here. My fridge freezer is slowly dropping, and the crisper was getting pretty darn empty here. 

I did go shopping today, and rested a great deal once home. I wanted to get out and get that done as we are being told we were going to be getting freezing rain later today. That after snow.... I made it home before any real snow started.

1.  Meals have been made this past week with what we have on hand in the fridge, freezers, pantry, and cold room (that's where we have our potatoes).

2.  Harvey made more wine for the summer.

3.  A picture frame was made from his bit of lumber downstairs. 

4.  My electric bill has dropped by $5.00 as I am using appliances to cook more, and making sure lights are off in rooms not in use.

5.  Mended a pair of boxers, darned a pair of socks, and fixed a hem on a pair of pants.

6.  Working on making more from scratch and getting meals into the freezer by making larger batches. 

7.  Trying to find reusable K-cups that will fit my machine. I also looked a machines that use both the cups and a pot. 

8.  Put $75.00 into my savings envelope.

9.  Added $5.35 to the coin jars.

10.  Doing the regular frugal and thrifty things like hanging clothing on the lines downstairs, using up craft supplies, and making sure the doors are using the draft dodgers.

Still tired, and I even had a bit of a sleep after shopping. I then spent the rest of the day working on projects, doing a tiny bit of decluttering, and walking when I needed to. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Midweek, Not At All Calm

 I really hate not being 100% and becoming so exhausted by mid afternoon I can hardly stay awake. I try to get most, if not all my household tasks done in the morning, but sometimes I just can't. The strange thing is my fitness watch tells me I am getting an excellent sleep in some regards, and sleeping most of the night (think that's out a bit as I know one night I was awake and reading from about 3 to 4 am and the watch said I was sleeping). 

The haircut today really did almost do me in. By the time I drove into our driveway (Harvey always goes first and then walks home) I could feel the urge to close my eyes washing over. Heaven help me when I go shopping tomorrow morning, I could be tired before I even get any work completed around the house. 

If this keeps up I will be visiting my doctor very soon. I will give myself another week to see what happens. 

Enough of the pity party, I am sure you are all getting a bit bored with that.

Right now I am just working on getting a few extra meals into the freezer downstairs. Just in case there comes a time when I really do not feel much like cooking anything. So far this week I have added pie crusts, and potato soup to the mix. I hope to add a chicken meal later in the week along with some chili. Most of the meals are extra from meals I have cooked. Keeping things simple and using up the bits and bobs in the fridge freezer. I just might try my hand at getting a few pizza crusts into the freezer as well. I also managed to dice up the mini peppers and get them frozen as well.

I think I have enough warp on the loom to get the second half of the rug made. I only have 100 rows left to do and I should be okay. Tonight I will sit and finish the first outside corner of the quilt block. I see an end in sight for that project right now, except I have a number of blocks left after this one to fashion into quilts as well. Going to be doing embroidered quilt blocks for awhile I think.

Off to take something for my fever (it seems to have appeared once again after missing all day), and put together the leftover pork into a meal. Thinking of warming the meat up, making mashed potatoes, and a gravy of some kind to put over the meat... Then raw veggies and dip as another side.

Will see how many I can manage to visit tonight both before and after supper.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 

Still working on getting rid of whatever I have managed to catch. I am coughing, sneezing, feverish and by the time the mid afternoon rolls around, I just want to sleep. I do know that if I fall asleep in the afternoon, I will not be able to sleep at night. So I sit and work slowly on projects in the afternoons. At least something is getting done.

Most days I can manage to get the basics done around the house, and since I am trying to use up the bits and bobs in the fridge freezer, I am able to put together pretty basic meals, which Harvey enjoys. Me, well I am surviving on toast and tea. 

Tomorrow we need to go out for our haircuts and since we have waited for three weeks, I am hoping that at least I will not be coughing.... Keep your fingers crossed for me. 

Our weather is going to change as well. Next week is supposed to be back to winter with up to at least 30 cm of snow, or about 12 inches. Winter is sticking around for a bit longer. Of course as is usual with snow the temperatures are not that far below freezing.

Off to see how many of you I can visit before I need to rest my eyes. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.