Shhhh.....

All is quiet here this morning, nothing is moving,well except for myself and the cat who has crawled back into her little tent for a few more minutes of sleep. There are no cars moving either!!!

Today Harvey's family descends in earnest upon us. I am a bit worried about a couple of items. One that no one has said what they are bringing to share and two Harv's family is very conservative in nature. Some of the younger generation have become more Liberal or even NDP in thinking, me well I teeter between those two and everybody knows that.

Sure hope that politics does not enter any discussions today.

Now that I have vented a small amount, off to get ready for the day.

Everybody have a wonderful Christmas celebration.

God bless.

Christmas Wishes

Wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas. May the peace and joy of the season be with you all.

God bless.

Three More Days

It is hard to believe that Christmas is only three days away. I am at a point in my knitting where I realize that unless I stay awake for a full 24 hours it is just not going to be finished. Perhaps in time for New Years!

The snow has been coming down for most of the day and I am loving the wonderful white coat that the outside is wearing. Pretty sure though that some of the family is not liking this weather at all. Roads are not nice to drive on, especially after the bit of a melt we had yesterday.

On my early morning walk I actually slipped!! No injury, but it woke me up to the fact that I have to be a bit more careful. I am not telling Harvey as he would be upset and want me to use the treadmill instead. That can wait for those really cold days we are sure to receive later this winter.

Kurt and Kris have gone to watch Star Wars and the house seems very quiet. Kurt will be leaving on the 27th to visit friends for a week, Kris will be staying a bit longer. I guess I should be glad that they still love to come home and spend time with the parental units, but I do miss them terribly when they are both gone.

We got our third Christmas card today. I am beginning to wonder if the expense of sending cards is worth it. Perhaps this is just an off year and more cards will be arriving in the next couple of days. I do love keeping in touch, but Facebook seems to have taken over in that area. I think perhaps one more year and then I will just send ecards like everyone else.

Slowly but surely the house is being cleaned for the influx of company. I am hoping to get most of it finished tomorrow and just have a few touch ups on Christmas Day. Thank heavens for tall sons that can reach those corners that I can no longer manage. I am afraid the day is past for me to climb on the top of the fridge to clean the far corner of the top. My arms just are not long enough to reach that one small spot and I am certain if any of the men in my life came upstairs to see me sitting on top would be sure to give me what for. I am not even positive that once up I could make my way down. It's not easy for me to realize that I can no longer do things I found very easy to do even a couple of years ago. Aging is not for the faint of heart!!!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

I had a bit of a change in last weeks menu. I just switched today's meal with that day.

Monday

Bacon Wrapped Fillets, baked potatoes, coleslaw and green beans.

Tuesday

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots. Perhaps the leftover slaw.

Wednesday

Leftover pork roast (stir fry), and rice.

Thursday

Slow Cooker Beef Stew, and fresh bread.

Friday

Lasagna, and garlic bread.

Saturday

Roast turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, cranberries, stuffing, salad, and gravy.

Sunday

Leftover Turkey made into hot sandwiches, served with homemade fries and the leftover salad.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Are They Really Lost?

I have been reading on a few blogs how all the old ways to save money are slowly being eroded. Fewer, and fewer people are following the old ways. For some reason the phrase "old ways" does not sit well with me. I think I would rather call them the thrifty or frugal ways of our parents and grandparents.

Cooking from scratch being one that is mentioned often. While I don't grind my own flour, or mill my own sugar cane I do cook from scratch almost every single day. I have even started to make my own bread, using a bread machine of course (bit lazy when it comes to kneading). I would really like to make my own pasta and that is something I am going to look into next year.

The fact is most of the people I know do cook from scratch for the most part. We all get help with things like pasta, crackers, and pudding mixes from time to time, but really the people I talk to find mixes to be extremely expensive and some of them don't taste the best.

I have noticed on the other hand fewer, and fewer people planting gardens. Yes they can be a great deal of work, but fresh food is beyond compare. Even if it is just a few tomato plants in containers money is saved. Kurt and Kris both use container gardening and pick plenty of tomatoes, peppers, and even lettuce during the growing season. I have been trying to convince them to grow a cucumber plant or two as well.

Over the years our garden has not only given us great satisfaction, but saved us money over the summer and well into the winter.

Preserving the bounty from our gardens can take many forms. Canning, jam making, freezing and dehydrating to name just a few. I learned how to do many of these from my mother. She in turn learned from her mother and trial and error (especially the freezing). I don't like to waste and so all my garden produce is either frozen, canned or dehydrated for use in the winter. Any fruit that I am lucky enough to get I make into jam or pie filling.

My sister, on the other hand, does not garden and often tells me that preserving food is a waste of time and effort. Hmmm, and she is the one married to a farmer.

I have always mended our clothing. Putting in a new zipper, sewing on a button or two, darning socks, patching pants, redoing a hem, and fixing a seam are second nature to me. Extending the life of our clothing was something that came in very handy during Harvey's job loss when we were first married. I continue to do so each and every week.

Sewing your own clothing can be a bit more expensive than buying the inexpensive items in say Walmart or Target, but the quality can not be beat. I know of very few people that sew their own clothing any longer. I usually save money doing so by using the pattern over and over again, buying the fabric on sale, and refashioning clothing items I already own.

So do you think these thrifty, frugal ways are lost? Or is there a whole new generation just waiting to learn frugality?

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Frugal Friday

Overall, this has not been a frugal week as far as spending goes. However a few frugal endeavors did take place.

Along with the regular frugal habits I have tried my best to add a few new ones.

Many of our meals were leftovers from other meals on previous days. This not only saved me having to cook, but cleaned out the fridge as well.

I managed to get all the scrap material cut into usable quilt squares, and the remainder of the pieces either put in bags to use for stuffing or smaller yet quilt squares. Some did get thrown out, mind you into the recycle bin.....

I managed to get a walk in every day. However this morning Harvey gave me a bit of grief. You see when I walk it is still dark out, and he is a bit afraid of me getting hit by a car. His response to my telling him I walk on the sidewalks and very carefully check for on coming traffic when crossing the road is not one I would repeat. Since I won't change the time of my walk he decided to buy me this.

Yep, I will be walking in the morning with a bright yellow toque. It is better than the reflective vest he said he was going to buy. Better yet, he purchased it with his pocket money.

I cut out some patterns to sew and replace articles that I had to remove from my wardrobe due to shrinkage. I refuse to say that I grew in ways that no one wants to grow.

Made a shopping list and stuck to it.

Reading free or very inexpensive books picked up at yard and rummage sales.

So while spending I still managed to save a little bit.

Kurt (our oldest) messaged me on Facebook and said he probably would not make it home tomorrow as all the sweets and cookies his students have brought him have caused him a few umm problems. He figures it might be safer to drive the 9 hours on Sunday. So I will be putting off our first family meal of the Christmas season until Monday when both of the boys are home.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Mid Month Update.... Just A Bit Late

I am a bit late with my mid month update.

1.   Get the tree up and decorated.  Done

2.   Make a quilt for the ladies gift for our family party.   Done

3.   Get the Christmas baking done.   Done

4.   Cut out sewing patterns.   Done

5.   Continue decluttering project.   Working on this continually.

6.   Make up my monthly calendars and daily to do list pages.   Done.

7.   Work on embroidery.   Put aside until the sweater is finished.

8.   Start some of those unfinished sewing projects.   These will be started after Christmas (I hope).

9.  Get the gifts wrapped.   Done

10.  Try for 18 no spend days.   Working on it. I am at 9 no spend days, today would be 10.

11.  Knit a sweater for me to wear for our family Christmas party.   Working on this every night even if only for an hour or so.

So things are slowly being completed, and hopefully a few more will be completed by the time the end of the month rolls around.

I have added another 27 items to the pile of items that have left or are leaving the house. Getting very close to that 750 mark.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.