Help!!! It's the End of the Month. Panic Time

 

Deep breathing here to calm myself down. I just cannot fathom how I let the time get away from me so badly. I foresee some late nights or very early mornings in the future. I am still hopeful about getting most things completed. Perhaps not the sewing of the Christmas outfit (could be a Christmas Eve thing) but I am going to try. 

I actually went out into the community three times this week. Monday, I tried to purchase those items I couldn't find on Sunday. Managed to get everything but the Christmas ham (ham this year and not turkey I hope, could change though). Ham is not on sale next week but that is not a shopping week any way. 

Tuesday, we went for our haircuts. 

Wednesday (today) I had to go out and get our prescriptions and pick up some rub for my neck and shoulder. 

Hopefully, now I can stay home and get things done. I also hope that I don't get sick. So many in the city are getting the flu, the newest Covid infection or just really bad colds. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits

 

No pictures today as it has been pretty dreary here so I am pretty sure the lighting would have been off. I have been working on the quilt though and managed to get 3 of the 6 strips of 9-patch blocks sewn together. My neck and shoulder started giving me grief, even after resting between mad bouts of sewing and pinning. I have everything ready for another marathon sewing spree tomorrow. 

We went and got our haircuts today. Man, that is getting costly. I am so tempted to learn how to cut my own and Harvey's hair. I do love how Brook does both our hair and she always tries to fit us in as soon as she can. It was actually an enjoyable session today as I also got to talk to another one of my "girls". My goodness I love the way that they have all grown up. 

It has been snowy and blowy the past couple of days. Lots of fairly deep drifts on various corners and other points on the streets of the city. A taste of the usual prairie winter before the real winter hits. I just hope that the weather is nice so that Kurt and Kris can get home for Christmas. If Kris had more bedrooms or places to sleep, I would suggest we meet there. 

Speaking of Kris, he harvested his first lettuce this week.

A pretty darn good harvest and considering the cost of lettuce right now perhaps a pretty darn good savings.

Off to visit all of you after getting the table set for supper. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Menu Monday

 

It is a miserable, snowy, blowy day here in my corner of Saskatchewan. We are actually getting a drift across the bottom of the driveway. Hopefully things die down soon so we can dig our way out. Tomorrow, we get our haircuts so getting in and out of the driveway is a must. 

Here are this week's menus, using up what we have and stretching meals as much as we can. 

Monday

Stuffed Chicken, leftover roasted potatoes fried with onions, and the remaining salad from last night.

Tuesday

One of the bags of leftover pork from Sunday. Not sure what I will make, but probably a casserole. I will serve with another salad. 

Wednesday

Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. I will pull out the Cream of Celery soup from the freezer downstairs.

Thursday

I am going to try my hand at making BBQ meatballs. They will more than likely turn out a bit more like my Tangy Meatball recipe. Serving them with rice and the salad from Tuesday. I am going to make extra for a quick meal later in December.

Friday

Harvey will need to forage as I am pretty sure the supper for Bible study leaders will be that night. We shall see. If it isn't I will make scrambled eggs, and toast. 

Saturday

Sausage casserole, which will use up some of the carrots and give us another meal later in the upcoming week.

Sunday 

Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 I have not had the best of days. Sitting on a hard pew with no way of taking the pressure off my back is something I can't enjoy. I think I may start taking a small pillow to church just for that purpose. It would probably make it much easier to pay attention to the sermon.

Once home and after a quick breakfast/lunch I headed out shopping. Walmart was not crowded so I got everything I needed very quickly. However, I did have to search for the bacon that was on sale. 

My next stop was my grocery store. First, they did not have all the sale items I was looking for. Which means I will probably need to make another trip to get what I want... This from a person who only likes shopping once every two weeks and is terrified of bringing some disease home that could cause Harvey problems. The second problem was that all the card machines were down, and the store did not warn people as they came in. I ended up leaving my cart and running to the bank to get cash.... Always a bit of a problem as one really never knows exactly what something is going to cost. I got close though and the extra will be used for our allowances this week. The bad thing is no money back on what I purchased as there would be if I had used my Visa. 

Once home with all put away I started on my rug project. I did manage to finish off the stripe and actually get about halfway through the next. I plan on finishing that one tonight instead of knitting. I am going to have to take a break from that as it is getting heavy and lifting it from the floor has caused a problem with my shoulder. I will need to rest the shoulder a bit. I hope to get back to it soon. 

The next couple of days will be spent working on the quilt, doing Christmas cards, and perhaps trying to get a bit of baking done. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

 No pictures today of how far I have gotten on various projects. Hopefully tomorrow.

Today will be more of a roundup of a few frugal tips and tricks that we use around the Phillips Homestead.

All of us are concerned about rising costs (inflation) and perhaps a depression occurring. 

Those of us that have been frugal and thrifty are perhaps a bit more ready if things get bad, but many (I know lots of people that are still spending on extras and then complaining they have no money in the bank) are not thinking ahead to what may occur. My friend and her Hubby are in this category. Complain about rising prices, say they don't have the money but buy it any way on credit or on their line of credit with the bank. 

So, what are the frugal tips we use here on the homestead and use all the time. More will be shared later.

1.  We grow most of our own herbs and vegetables. Slowly adding various fruits to the garden and yard. 

2.  I have started to cook more meatless meals (or use very little meat as in soups).

3.  I have always cooked from scratch. Very little comes from a mix. Can't remember when I made Kraft Dinner from a box, I started making my own many years ago.

4.  I freeze, can or dehydrate all that I can.

5.  I am learning how to forage and slowly gaining experience in this area.

6.  Save bacon grease to cook with. It adds a unique flavour to whatever you cook.

7. Use your leftovers. Learning to use everything really stretches those grocery dollars.

8.  Use older fruit to make jams and jellies.

9.  Layer up rather than turn up the heat. Add blankets to the bed at night.

10.  Use bread bags, hand towels and the waxed paper like holders in cereal boxes to wrap things up. I also use beeswax covers that I made a few years ago.

11.  Mend your clothing. 

12.  Wear clothing more than one day.

13.  In warmer weather collect rainwater to use to water the gardens.

14.  Compost all that you can to add nutrients to the garden.

15.  Save your scraps from clothes to wood. You never know when and how you can reuse something.  I always remove zipper, buttons and snaps from clothing that I am going to cut up into reusable fabric or rags.

16.  Any old blankets are used as the middle of quilts. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless. 

Frugal Friday

 

I hope you all have had a lovely and frugal week. Mine has been pretty darn good as far as I can tell.

Now what frugal happenings have been going on here on the old homestead.

1.  I don't remember if I have said this before, but I found out that I could use bubble bath as handwash. Lovely as I don't have to give away or discard something that if I use it in the bath causes me problems. I also have the chance to use up a bit more of those extra tubes of hand cream. I always cut them open to get the last little bit. Winter weather is very drying to my hands.

2.  Drapes have been opened during the sunny portions of each day. Allows us to keep the lights off for a longer period of time. Also the solar heat keeps the furnace from running.

3.  No shopping this week. That means I only used the vehicle to go to Bible study this week. It also means I get to shop the pantry and fridge for meal prep.

4.  Walking outside at least twice a day for free exercise.

5.  Harvey fixed his saw yesterday. The switch had gone, so he pulled the electrical panel off and got the switch working once again. He also managed to make what he calls a hot box. This will be used on cold days to get our snowblower up and working. It was made with bits and bobs from his workroom. However he now says he is running out of materials. 

So that are the bigger things I can remember. I may have to start writing things down. 

As prices rise in the grocery area, heating, and lighting changes are going to need to happen in our budget. When Harvey gets my Excell sheets ready for next year. I will be going through them with a fine tooth comb I am sure there are areas of savings I am missing. This isn't really necessary as of yet, but I am taking this on like a game. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Thursday

 

Another thrifty week has drawn to a close. Things are moving along nicely, but I am still a bit worried about getting all done. I will try my best though.

What thrifty things have I been up to this week.

1.  Using up scraps of fabric in both the rug and the quilt. I have also been using up the odd spools of thread on the quilt (same could be said for the bobbins as well). 

2.  Using up everything I can in the fridge and fridge freezer in order to make room for the Christmas leftovers.

3.  Fixed two buttons on a shirt. Got to love those button jars at times like this.

4.  Making extra food to freeze during those busy nights coming up very soon.

5.  Enjoying free TV using my minicomputer attached to the television. 

6.  Reading a free book on my ereader. Planning to download a few more very soon.

7.  Making another bits and bobs knitted blanket.

Probably many more, but that is all I can think of right now. Still every little thrifty savings helps in the long run. Things add up over time and every little bit of thrifty happenings makes me very happy, and contented. Most times it also means a clearing out of items so decluttering happening as well.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.