Frugal Friday Wrap Up 7/19-8/1 2019 Two Week Edition

Week 1
Friday:
~We harvested cherries, raspberries, blueberries, tomatoes, and strawberries from the garden.
~I froze 8 cups of raspberries for future baking.
~Laundry was hung on the line to dry.
~Lunch was a Caesar salad that Mom sent home with us and broiled cheese sandwiches on sourdough.
~We got a frozen pizza out for dinner.
~Jeff had found a James Bond movie on dvd at a yard sale awhile back so we watched that instead of going to the movies at a theater.

Saturday:
~We harvested more cherries, tomatoes and raspberries.
~I started some raspberry infused gin with some of the raspberries from the garden.
~Our bedding and towels were washed and then hung out on the line to dry.
~Jeff worked on making a cornhole game for Isaiah's upcoming birthday.
~I cooked up over a pound of ground venison to make taco salads and other meals with.  The weather is getting hotter and we wanted cold meals.
~Caesar got a good brushing to help keep him cooler and more comfortable.
~I watched some shows online and continued to read a book I got from the library during the hottest part of the day.
~Jeff and I had to run into town to pick up some more materials to make the cornhole game.  While there we stopped at Walmart to pick up my prescription and found some great marked down lunchmeat, cheese and bread.
~We watered the gardens in the evening when it was cooler.
~Jeff and I hot tubbed in the evening to ease those aching muscles from being overworked trying to get most of the outside stuff done before the heat climbed to the point where it would make me sick.

Sunday:
~Harvested strawberries, raspberries and a few blueberries.
~I made a layered taco enchilada casserole with the leftover taco meat, some seasonings and some flour tortillas that needed to be used up.  We had that for lunch and had enough leftover for at least one more meal.
~We watered the gardens in the evening.
~For dinner we made chicken breast sandwiches and I had mine with tomato from our garden.
~Our treat today was another cheesecake slice with fresh raspberries on the side from the garden.
~I refilled our Berkey water filter since we are going through tons of water to drink.

Monday:
~I had plans to get up early and get a bunch of things done but was awoken at 3:44 a.m. by the sounds of our neighbor's son's truck running in the driveway next to our's.  Aunt Norma had fallen again so I stayed up and prayed as the sun rose and then went back to bed when I knew she was going to be ok.
~The library had 4 movies in for me so I ran down there to get them.
~Leftovers were what we had for lunch.
~I watched several YouTube videos to get me caught up on the national news.
~My sister Leonie and I had a nice video chat today.  She lives in Tahiti and I am so blessed that we can remain close and actually see each other via video chat.
~I washed my bras and used those clip hangers that you get from the store when you buy towels or pants to hang them up to dry on our bathroom's shower curtain rod.

Tuesday:
~Jeff took Caesar in to the vet to get his teeth cleaned and to get his rabies shot.  They had to put him under to do it.  They called and said they were concerned that he might have an autoimmune disease based on his gums being badly inflamed and some things going on with his nose and ears.  I authorized a biopsy so we can hopefully get some answers and see if it is something that we can treat or if it is just something that he will have to live with.  It could also be something that will shorten his life...I am praying it is not.  We are going to have to tighten our financial belts even more to pay for this.
~The vet told us that w could moisten Caesar's dry dog food for the next 10 days instead of having to go out and buy canned dog food.  He is a big dog and it would take lots of canned dog food to fill him up.
~In that frame of mind, I looked at more budget friendly and frugal videos on YouTube since reading blogs is harder for me when I am in a fibro flare as I am now due to the heat (it drains my energy and makes it really hard to sleep or even move).
~Dinner was a rotisserie chicken that I had bought previously while it was marked down and then frozen along with some homemade potato salad using parsley and dill from our garden.
~I picked more raspberries before an evening storm rolled in.
~I watched several TV shows online.

Wednesday:
~I loaded up digital coupons on my Safeway card.
~The weather was so much cooler that I was able to go out and pick more raspberries and blueberries without dying of heatstroke.
~I spent the morning on my back porch just enjoying life and watching YouTube videos trying to learn new skills.  My fur babies joined me and napped.  They all tend to stay close to me during the day and evening.
~We got quite a bit of rain last night and it really helped fill up my rain barrel.  We will be using that water to water our fruit trees in the back yard.
~Since it rained so much last night and into the early morning hours, there is no need to water the gardens today.
~Jeff and I took a walk with Caesar.
~My hanai sister came over to pick raspberries in the afternoon.
~I made a double batch of blueberry/raspberry muffins.  Some will be going to a friend who had surgery, some went into the freezer and the rest are for us to enjoy.
~Jeff and I watched "Captain America" on dvd that I borrowed from the library.
~Dinner was a raid the fridge kind of night with each of us getting what we wanted.
~I watched several tv shows online.
~I have been having trouble with heartburn and acid reflux again (I think it is because I am eating so much fruit).  It got really bad late in the evening so I drank some apple cider vinegar and it was gone within a minute.

Thursday:
~It is Isaiah's birthday today!  Our cuddle bug is now 6 years old.  I was able to facetime with him over the computer while he was out for his special birthday lunch.
~The heat is building back up outside and I can feel the pressure in my sinuses...ouch!  I kept the house closed up for the most part trying to keep the cool air that came in overnight in the house.
~As the heat and air pressure rises, so do my pain levels.  I took a shower last night and just let my hair dry naturally.  I had planned on wetting it down this morning and styling it but that is clearly not going to happen now.  I just brushed it out and put a hat on when I had to run some muffins down to the bank for a friend who works there to take over to another friend who just had surgery.  They live just down the road from each other in the next town over.

Week 2

This week will be one running long list because there was way too much going on and I forgot to write things down each day...such is life and oh what a week it was!

~I continued to harvest raspberries, blueberries, tomatoes and got my first cucumber and zucchini out of the garden this week also.
~Black Flea Beetles attacked my side garden and I lost my kale and swiss chard to them but was able to save my tomatoes by dusting the plants with talcum powder.
~Poor Caesar.  He started to have accidents in the house and pooping black poop.  This all started when he was put on the steroids.  We had to cut back the steroid dosage and add Pepcid to his meds to try and stop the bleeding in his stomach from the steroids.  The lab results also came back and he has a benign tumor (thank God) in his mouth and also had a form of lupus that is not systemic that they think can be controlled with a topical ointment on some of the areas it has affected (his nose and ears).  He has been on soft canned dog food (which is a budget killer) because the dry dog food that was softened with water was not agreeing with him.  We take him back into the vet today (Thursday) for a follow up and hopefully will get the all clear to put him back on his regular dry dog food and be able to take him off the steroids that have been causing him such grief.
~We came home Wednesday to find 2 more huge branches from our big old cherry tree had come down.  Luckily it missed my laundry line and Caesar had been on his lower cable by the house and not under the tree.  Jeff got the branches all cut up and hauled to the driveway but sadly in the process ended up breaking his eyeglasses. 😖  He was so upset with himself.  Luckily he still had his old pair, which is close enough to his current prescription, that he was able to wear those and be able to go to work and be able to see to drive.  Yes, now those will have to be replaced and even though they were under warranty, the place he got them from is now out of business.
~I will see if any of our friends or family want the wood from the cherry tree to use in their smokers or for crafting.
~Laundry was hung out to dry whenever possible.  That translates into whenever I had the energy or Jeff was awake to do so.  It has been a bad flare week for me.
~I planted more of the green onions bottoms from the grocery store that I rooted in water into the garden.
~I used old nylons that I cut into strips to tie the slicing cucumber plants up the trellis to try and get them off the ground and trellis train them.
~I found some great deals in the marked down areas of Walmart and other stores.
~I was able to make 2 first aid kits from pencil boxes that were on sale at Walmart and first aid items from the Dollar Tree.  These will be given to our neighbors who are headed off to college this Fall.
~I froze more bags of mixed fruit (blueberries and raspberries from our garden) for double batches of muffins.  I'm thinking I may make muffins for gifts for our neighbors at Christmas.
~Jeff and I stocked up on pain meds, greeting cards, facial wipes, and a few grocery items at the Dollar Tree.
~We have been really good about not going out to eat as much and trying to eat at home even though it has been hot and my energy levels are pretty low.
~We had a yard sale over the weekend (town wide yard sale weekend) and we made over $100 just on items that we had laying around.  I decided at the last minute to do it or we would have had even more stuff to sell.  Some of the items were things that we had gotten for free while "treasure hunting" when the college students moved out in the Spring.  I set aside $60 of that towards our trip to Montana this Fall for Josh and lauren's wedding.
~Jeff found 2 shirts and a ball for Chris' hitch and I found a pair of capri length leggings at Goodwill. I live in capri length leggings in the warmer months.  One of his shirts came out to $1 (reduced color tag of the week) and the other was just $1.99.
~I cashed out our rewards points attached to our credit card and debit card accounts and took the cash option.  I had that money put directly into our savings account.
~Jeff picked up more bread on sale on Thursday morning on his way home from work.  He knew that the heat was really getting to me and did not want me to have to be making bread even though I told him I would.  Sometimes, health wise, we do have to buy things that I would normally make here at home.
~Our budget for the first 2 weeks in August is really tight due to paying off the second half of the  property taxes.  I'm making a menu based on what we have on hand here for the most part.  I do have money set aside for a family birthday party though (that money came from the yard sale profits).
~More shows and videos were watched online.
~I continue to read books and watch videos that we have borrowed from the library.
~I made a pitcher of iced tea to drink instead of drinking so much seltzer.
~The fur babies and I try to spend mornings out on the back screened in porch while it is still cool.  I have my coffee and sometimes get on the computer.  Many times though I just sit and watch the birds, our squirrel friend who entertains us with it's antics, and enjoy that cooler breezes before the heat builds up or a certain annoying neighbor comes outside and breaks the blissful and peacefulness of the morning.
~My cousin sold a clock I had on consignment at his shop.  He paid me my cut of the sale.  I put that money away so that I am not tempted to spend it.

~Our vet is amazing.  She was able to get a medication that we needed for Caesar formulated for us for $50 instead of the $500 the big pharmaceutical company wanted to charge us. It is something that he is going to need to battle his Lupus for the rest of his life.  It turns out that I taught 2 of her stepsons also. 😊