Frugal Friday

Ahh, the end of what used to be our work week, now that we are retired things are so very different.

1.  Opening windows in the late evening so that the house cools down overnight. It also keeps the air conditioning from running all night long.

2.  Using the rain barrel to water our plants this week. Hopefully we will be getting more rain soon and the rain barrel will fill up once more.

3.  Harvey has been eating raw onions from the garden. He says he plans on planting a few more.

4.  Used the gift card we got when buying our new vehicle to do a bit of a stock up on meat.

5.  Managed to find coupons to use the next time I am shopping online. Even got a booklet of high discounts in the mail this week. Mostly for cleaning supplies, but considering I am stocking up this is just great.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Thursday Tidbits

The days seem to slip by with regularity. Nothing too exciting happens around here, which I suppose is not the worst of things. I can at least plan my days and the self isolation of the past few months has not affected me or Harvey as much as it has some people. Mind you, now that the weather is nicer this could change.

I am trying to get used to our new vehicle. Our last one had the same bells and whistles for the most part, but this one seems to have even more, and they are situated in the strangest places. It also seems to be a bit more computerized. I am sure we will get the hang of everything over the next little while, but for now I am slightly intimidated by all these buttons.

I sewed up 6 masks today and tomorrow I will thread the elastic through. Then, move on to Harvey's masks and at least get them trimmed and the machine threaded. Just perhaps I will get a couple sewn as well. Not too many days are left in the month for me to reach all of my goals. The making of at least 21 masks was one of those goals. Up to 14 right now. 

Slowly, but surely I am getting ready for the next wave of the virus. Pretty sure that is going to happen, I just do not know how bad it will be or if it will even be as bad as this first wave. I have begun to stock up a little bit. Truth to tell if we do not get the second wave, I will be happy and not have to worry about stocking up for the sometimes terrible winter weather we are prone to get. I will share my stock up items with you very soon.

We are opening up a bit here. In a couple of weeks the library here should open up. It will be nice to be able to visit and pick up free reading material once again. Not one to head to the gym for a workout, the library is much more my speed.

In doing my daily news reading (I try and stay away from things that raise my blood pressure) I read that businesses are having a very hard time getting employees to come back to work. It seems, like many of us, they are nervous and worried about infection. There have been a few outbreaks since reopening started and there is one in my province. It is closer to the Alberta side of the province, but since Kurt has to travel quite close to this area I am a bit concerned. 

Then, we have some outspoken folks who want the international border opened up. As far as I am concerned (and Harvey as well) keeping the border closed until things settle down is a good idea. We sure do not want Covid-19  brought into Canada from the northern states (or from Texas, Florida, or Arizona) and I am pretty sure our neighbours to the south do not want to us to bring the virus down to some states that are finally beginning to lower their infection rate.

Off to work on my knitting. Hopefully pictures of finished projects will grace the page when next I post (well perhaps they will grace the page on Friday).

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday

Well we are now the proud owners of a new vehicle. Just a year before we planned, but the deal was so good.

First we got a pretty good trade in allowance on the old vehicle. In fact it was more than we were first quoted. Then we got it at the employee price, so even more cash off. To top it off we have 0% financing for 36 months so our savings will not be depleted. In fact we can continue to earn interest on it. Lastly I got a $250.00 gift card to my favorite grocery store which I plan on using to stock up on some meat. No money out of pocket. Got to love it when everything comes together and you can save.

Now the only problem is gathering the courage to drive the darn thing. It is all push button and nothing is where it was in our old vehicle, even though this new one is the same model. Scary.

Other thrifty happenings here have been mending clothing to extend it's life, cutting some rags out of old towel, and the usual saving of plastic bags to be used again for other purposes.

Oh yes, and our visitor is sticking around.

Such a tiny thing. I just hope it does not eat it's way through my garden.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

I am home once again and using my regular laptop computer instead of the tablet. I find it very difficult to edit on the tablet, so hopefully this is a much more readable post.

I went to Costco this morning for a bit of a stock up on the items I usually purchase there (and of course found some others that are way less expensive). Missed a few though as they seem to move things around an awful lot. Still I was in and out in less than an hour and managed to make it home in a decent amount of time. 

I am not going to leave Harvey at home by himself any more. He is easily bored, and will go out and spend money. 

This time it was dealing on a new vehicle (well we do need one). He actually got a fairly good deal on it, and it is one I pointed out to him as something I liked. We head to the dealership tomorrow and do the paperwork. I just hope it does not take too long.

Our oldest son Kurt will be home the beginning of July for a week or so. Hopefully surgery for me will not take place until later in the month. Kris says he will drive home on the weekend and spend a bit of time bonding with his brother, and hopefully setting up a computer on my television. Harvey says perhaps he would like one for Christmas to do the same thing...... Actually a very good idea since we no longer have loads of channels to choose from. I will need to do a bit of saving over the next few months.

Kris and I watched our Archdiocesan online Mass this morning. Special blessings for the fathers in our lives. I really enjoy this as I am staying away from the Masses at the church until after my surgery. I definitely need to stay healthy, I am wearing a mask when out and about. 

Speaking of masks. Kris loves his Minion masks and filters. This week I will work on Kurt's skulls and some superhero type. Then I will move on to more masks for Harvey. I may even get a few more made for me. Preparing for that second wave.

 Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Frugal Friday

I am up at Kris's once again and plan on being here a few nights. I wanted to make sure he is not doing too much. Actually he is hobbling around not too badly and is managing a few of the more mundane household tasks. We even managed a bit of grocery shopping this afternoon.

Me, well I have got the dusting done, the vacuuming (it will need to be done again before I leave), the kitchen more or less cleaned, and the kitchen floor washed. Tomorrow it is bathroom, stove, microwave, and hopefully the sheets. Plus some disinfecting.

Now on to the frugal happenings around my own home this past week.

1.  Walked for frugal exercise.

2.  Worked on  projects and managed to even finish a couple of my goals for this month. Hopefully a few more will be completed before the end of the month.

3. All  clothes  were dried on the outside lines.

4.  Windows were opened to cool off the house on the days that there was a nice breeze.

5.  Only spent money on one day this week and combined errands to save wear and tear on the vehicle.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday

It is really warm here today so my walk took place later in the day when things cooled off. 

I have been using food up, nothing is getting wasted if I can help it. Leftovers are being used for lunches or remade into something else. In other words a brand new meal. Planning helps with that a great deal.

Since I took my walk later in the day I spent some time in the sewing room. I only have a hem left to do and another project for this month is completed.

We have a new pet (though Harvey insists that it isn't a pet at all). A baby bush bunny has decided that it likes our yard and comes out for a visit every so often. I took it out a bowl of water and some small pieces of carrot. Harvey said that it could stay in the yard as it is much safer for it. I know that it will hop away very soon but for now I am enjoying watching it and keeping it out of the garden.

Elastics were saved from various bundles of fresh produce this week, as well as the plastic bags from groceries. While I no longer use them to dispose of kitty litter, I take them up to Kris so that he has them for his kitty litter disposal.

On those cooler days the windows have been left opened up in order to cool the house.

One of my many times darned socks has hit the rag bag. I think I will cut this one up for use in the garden.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Menu Monday

Weeks are slipping by amazingly quickly considering how slowly but surely things are opening up in my province. The far north of the province is still having problems getting Covid-19 under control. There were 18 new cases in my province and 13 of them could be traced to a wake and funeral in what is called the far north. Two cases are of people who reside in another province but managed to get tested here and one case they are still tracing. Physical distancing people. We still need to practice physical distancing!!

Here are my menus for this week. Things could change a bit as I am heading up to Kris's a bit early. I figure just in case the surgical wait list calls I should be home to take that call. I can't see them calling on the weekends. 

Monday

Hamburgers and salad.

Tuesday

Leftover Roast beef from Sunday Dinner. Pretty sure I will make a casserole and try and cook it in my electric roaster (might have to cook it a bit longer). Served with salad.

Wednesday

Finish up that leftover roast casserole.  Served with another salad.

Thursday

I wonder if I could talk Harvey into take out for a date night type of thing. Pretty sure he would be willing as he could have the leftovers while I was gone.

Friday

Harvey will fend for himself.

Saturday

Harvey will fend for himself.

Sunday

Smoked Pork Steak, pasta, and salad.

Another week gone by. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. God bless.