Sunday, June 28, 2020

Never Ignore that Inkling or Gut Feeling...

 


  I have had a deep inkling or gut feeling that we needed to deeply stock our pantry and get ready for another "crisis" type situation.  Jeff has learned to trust my gut feelings, but even he thought I might be going a bit overboard.  Now I know my feelings were spot on after learning some new information within the last day or two.

   Covid-19 cases are on the rise across our world again and some areas of the USA are being hit hard once more.  Every day there are more and more cases being reported publically in our area.  I learned on Friday that there are many other cases that have been confirmed but not reported officially.  I also learned, through friends in the medical field, that letters are being sent out to doctors and hospitals in our area to prepare for an influx of patients and that elective surgeries may soon be put back on hold to "free up" beds for Covid-19 patients and medical staff again.  I am now wondering if that could be the reason Jeff's surgery was moved up a week at the last minute.  I know our surgeon pretty well and that he will do everything he can to make sure his patients get the surgeries they need ASAP.  He has gone to bat and fought for us numerous times with the health insurance companies.

   There is also a more dangerous strain of Covid-19 that has recently surfaced that is more infectious and increases the viral load due to their actually being more "spikes" in the crown so it can attach itself more easily.  This, along with all the civil unrest, rioting and people gathering in large groups with the weather getting warmer, is a recipe for another huge spike in cases.

   The rioting and looting has also caused a problem with our food delivery system.  Truckers are starting to refuse to go into areas where they cannot be protected by the police.  The good police are being attacked not only by rioters, but also by the politicians in the communities that they serve in.  Those politicians are thinking about being reelected and NOT about public safety.  Good police officers, who want the bad ones weeded out, are being punished and being villified for something that they themselves want to see changed.  They are just as angry about the unjust killings that have happened, but also upset when due process in not served, and other good officers, who had to make that heartbreaking desicion to save their own lives when they are at risk of being killed, are being villified and railroaded.  This painting all cops as "bad" has got to stop.  The majority of them are hardworking people who became police officers to serve and protect their communities.  I know many amazing officers, starting with my own son Chris.  

   Personally, I think that things are going to be worse than they were during our first "stay home, stay safe" mandates.  Then, we were only dealing with the virus, now we have civil unrest on top of it all making this a possibly explosive situation in so many ways.  My advice to myself, as well as to everyone else is get prepared.  Plant more stuff in your gardens or potted plants on your deck or patio so you have less trips to the grocery store for fresh produce.  Stock up on non perishables and shelf stable milks and meats.  Get flour, yeast, sugar, salt and anything else you might need to make your own breads.  Make sure you have a stock of toilet paper BEFORE there is a run on the stores again and if you can find hand sanitizer, get it now.  Please mask up every single time you are out and about (it is a mandate to do so in our state at the moment).  Do not gather in large crowded areas even if your county says you can...you are putting yourself at high risk if you do.  

   Jeff and I have been so careful about trying to protect ourselves and about stocking up on things we need.  He just got his Covid-19 test today to clear him for his knee replacement surgery on Tuesday.  Our oldest son Jaysn will be driving us to the hospital and also picking me up that afternoon from the hospital and taking me home.  He will be wearing a mask even in the car to further protect us.   The next day Rachel will be helping us and hopefully, we will be able to take Jeff home that day.  They are also pitching in to help with the yard while Jeff is laid up.  We really could not do this without them.

   Hopefully we have got most everything we need on hand for the next month.  I know the kids or my friends and neighbors are more than willing to help us out IF we find that we are in need of something, but I am hoping we will not need that help.  I have a few more meals to make ahead of time this weekend and put in the freezer for days when I am in a huge flare and can't do much either.  I just have to make sure that Monday, I rest as to not be in a flare on Tuesday.

   Be safe, get prepared and please please try to limit your exposure as much as possible!

   

Saturday, June 27, 2020

Frugal Friday Wrap 6/20-/6/26 2020





   Well folks, Jeff's surgery date has been moved up to this coming Tuesday, June 30th!  It has been  a whirlwind of activity around here trying to get things done since we just found out about the change late Thursday afternoon.  UGH!  I am so glad he is going to have it done this coming week though because things, they are a changing.  My next blog post will be all about that.  Anyway, that being said, I don't think I will be doing a Frugal Friday Wrap up for this coming week.  I will be busy with being at the hospital with Jeff and then taking care of him once we get him home.  I am desperately afraid all of this will throw me into an even bigger flare since I will be doing all the daily chores that he usually takes care of to keep this house running as smoothly as possible.  Onto the savings for this week.


Weekend:
~We got what I hope was the last of our stock up before Jeff's surgery done.
~I found two ground cherry plants at the nursery and bought them.  I grew up eating this wonderful fruit in Hawaii.  My oldest two grandboys love them too and call them "Grammie's Hawaii Fruit".
~We refilled the propane tank for the BBQ grill.
~My parents are giving away their huge BBQ grill.  This is super fancy but just too hard for my father to move around anymore, so they bought a lighter one.  Hopefully Chris will have room in his truck to bring it back for us after they head over for a visit this week.
~We will offer our BBQ grill to a friend and if they do not want it, we will sell it cheap.
~Father's Day, we picked up some food at Panda Express (Jeff's choice) and picnicked in the car under a shady tree.  I still had a bunch of my food left, so I brought it home and had it for dinner later that night.
~I made a homemade version of Chik Fil A's sauce...it was really good!
~We found a perfect gift for Lauren at Marshall's and I picked up one of their huge tote bags for .99.  it will be perfect for hauling towels and things in when we go to the beach or transporting things back and forth to the kids.  I picked one with a fun flamingo on it because it was so bright and cheery.
~We returned an item of clothing to Goodwill that did not fit and got in store credit for it.  Jeff found a pair of pants that were $9.99 that he needed (he had been looking for a pair like them for about 6 months and finally found some).  Between the in store credit and a 20% off coupon we got when donating some items, his pants came out to $5.  He was happy!

Monday:
~We stayed home and worked on projects around the house.  Jeff got mulch around the plants in the front garden and helped me plant the ground cherries.  We then watered everything in well.
~We also did a deep soaking watering on the other gardens since Tuesday was going to be a scorcher of a day.
~I made some pork chops and rice casserole.  It is one of our favorites.  I made sure to make enough for at least two meals so we could have some again later in the week.
~Josh blessed us with Disney + so we can now enjoy that also for entertainment.
~I picked a bowl full of strawberries from the garden.
~The sheets were washed and hung out on the line to dry.  Oh they smelled so good when I crawled into bed.

Tuesday:
~Jeff got the HUGE 50 pound bag of flour we bought into airtight buckets and containers so it would not get "buggy".
~He and I worked on organizing the pantry again.  It had become a dumping ground full of bags of shelf stable groceries that we had not put away.
~I used a Sterilite 3 drawer container and organized our extra spices, baking supplies and bagged coffees into that.  It is much easier now to find them then to try to look way back on the lower pantry shelves.
~I picked some green onions out of the garden and used them, along with some dill from the garden, to make a huge tuna pasta salad.  It is one of our favorites and so good on a hot day.  Caesar enjoyed the oil from the tuna over the top of his dog food.
~I also cut up two cucumbers into slices so that I would grab those as a snack instead of junk food.  Well, that is the plan at least.
~Jeff realized that we were almost out of the smaller coffee filters for our coffee maker so he stopped at the grocery store on his way to work in the evening to pick some up.  Hopefully that is that last trip we have to make to a store for about a month.
~I did get a bag of food items ready to go down to our town's little free food pantry.  These are easy to make items that I thought other people might like and are not things that we usually eat on a regular basis.
~The swamp cooler is running for most of the day now.  It just got too hot too soon and I literally got sick from the hot temperatures outside.  I usually switch it over to just vent the cool air in at night but it was still too hot to do that tonight.
~Our governor announced that starting this Friday, it will be mandatory for everyone in this state to wear a mask if they are inside a business or around people where it is hard to social distance.  We may have to pick up a few more masks since we have 4 here right now along with the one Jeff has for work.  They have to be washed after every use so I want to get a few more of the kind Jeff has for work for him anyway.

Wednesday:
~I unfortunately had a massive and very painful Fibro flare which had me in bed for most of the day.  Luckily we had leftovers in the fridge, so that is what we had for lunch and dinner.
~I was able to pick a few strawberries from the garden.
~Jeff got more weeding done and mowed that lawn.

Thursday:
~I chatted with my mom and she is making us a few more masks and will send them in the mail to us.
~Jeff went down to our town's commodities giveaway.  We got about $200 worth of food again.  his turned out to be an even bigger blessing than we could have imagined...more on that next.
~The surgeon's office called and they want to move Jeff's surgery date up to next Tuesday!  This is a big blessing because Covid-19 cases are on the rise again and the sooner we can get it done, the less chance of them having to cancel again.
~Jeff grilled some sausages for dinner.
~We watered the gardens and hanging baskets when it got cooler in the evening.
~I dumped out Caesar's bucket of water outside onto the flower beds and got him some fresh stuff.

Friday:
~We had a long day of running around doing all the preop stuff for Jeff's now moved forward surgery.  Leftovers for dinner saved the day!
~I watered the gardens in the evening.
~I found some hummus marked down at Safeway.  I love hummus.


   If you are inclined to pray for Jeff or send good thoughts, we both would really appreciate them.  Help that we had lined up for the original week of his surgery is not available so we have been scrambling.  Luckily Jaysn and Rachel have really gone out of their way to help us and I am so very appreciative of them.  Be blessed and please also pray for Becky's husband Rob, at Beckyathome, who is having hip replacement surgery on Monday.  Tis the season for replacing body parts at our ages. ;)













Monday, June 22, 2020

Self Imposed Surgery Prep Quarentine in Effect Here

   



   We have entered the 2 week period leading up to Jeff's total knee replacement surgery and therefor are doing a 2 week modified quarentine.  Jeff still has to go to work, but he really only works with two people for very limited time periods and they all wear masks.  Most of the time he is alone in his truck making deliveries throughout the night.  He is really good about making sure that he keeps his hands and his truck sanitized for his own protection and has been doing this all along.

   Jeff has his pre-op walk through this coming Friday and then will have to get a Covid-19 test about 6 days before surgery and then will have a "quick test" done right before surgery again.  Covid-19 cases are on the rise in our state and in our county (although we have not been slammed like some of the counties around us) so it is a day by day waiting game on whether I will even be allowed to be there with him before and after his surgery.

   We finished getting the last minute items this past Sunday so I think we are set for the most part.  We are going to have some medications that were not in just mailed to us to take less of a chance of possible exposure to the virus.  The propane tank is now refilled, I got the last of the garden plants I wanted and they are now planted in the garden.  Jeff got the mulching of the front garden done today and I hope it will help things along. It has not been a good year so far for the garden and I am praying that next year will be much better after a layer of our homemade compost from this year is added into the garden beds next Spring, along with all the woodchips we have been using as mulch break down over the Winter.  The bigger weeds that I can't pull up and the ones I am allergic too have now been pulled out by my hero hubby.  That was a huge job all by itself.

   The pantry and freezers, along with the fridge, are stocked with only one "casualty" happening.  A sausage rope fell out of the freezer in the garage and Jeff missed seeing it.  I found it very warm laying on the floor in there today.  Luckily, it was one I got at the Dollar Tree, so it is not a huge monetary loss by any means.  I even stocked up on some "treats" to help us get through the boredom of having to be home so much.

   Things like TP, laundry detergent, dishwashing soap, toothpaste, etc. are all topped off as are bags of cat food, dog food and kitty litter.  We planned for two months worth of needs, just in case.  The fur babies are not sure if we are having a feast or if something is up at the moment, so they follow us around the house suspiciously. 😉

   We are going to take this time to get the house in order and work on some projects we have here before Jeff's surgery.  There are rooms to be reclaimed after becoming more like storage units.  They need to be purged and organized, which Jeff is amazing at.  We promised Bradley and Isaiah that we would get the top bunk bed, which is now used to store extra blankets and things, all cleaned off so they don't have to share the bottom full sized bunk bed any more when they come to stay with us.  We would like to be able to do a sleep over with all three of the grandsons here in the near future so Steven will have to share that bottom bunk with someone.  He has done sleep overs at his cousins house before, so it is not a new thing for him.  Plus, they all wear each other out and sleep very soundly this way.  Bonus!

    I'm digging out board games, playing cards, etc. to have on hand for Jeff and I to play while he recovers and can't move around much.  Josh is also gifting us Disney + so we can watch that channel too and enjoy all the old movies and new one that they have to offer.  That should be fun!

   These next two weeks will be busy getting the last minute things done around here and then we get into the surgery and recovery phase.  I am so glad that Jeff is finally going to be able to get this done.  It is desperately needed.

   

   

   

   



   

Friday, June 19, 2020

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 6/14-6/19 2020

Parsley and dill from the garden.
   








   Another week down and just a few more to go before Jeff finally gets to have his knee replacement surgery.  We started the countdown with a full physical and bloodwork for him this week (and bloodwork for me which I have once a year due to my thyroid issues).  We also did the last big stock up making sure we have everything here that we need for the fur babies for the next 2 months so we do not run out while Jeff recovers.  I don't want the kids to have to make grocery runs for us either.  Oh, totally off subject, but before I forget, a dear friend that works at one of the bigger hospitals told me that they are running humidifiers in the hospitals because it helps to make the Covid-19 virus particles "drop out of the air" because the moisture makes them heavy.  If it cannot stay airborne, there is less chance of getting infected since it enters your body through the mucus membranes. Our swamp cooler is perfect for this and she urged us to have our kids all run humidifiers in their homes also.   I just wanted to pass that info on since Covid-19 is ramping up again in some areas and I want all my friends to be safe. 😘 Now, onto the frugal doings...



Zuppa Toscana and bread.




Weekend:
~I made a huge pot of Zuppa Toscana using kale from our garden, free potatoes, marked down chicken Italian sausage, brother from the Dollar Tree, a free onion, and some spices and half n half I had on hand.  So good!
~We found marked down French bread for .39 a loaf at Walmart.  I got two loaves. I also found a marked down cooked chicken in the deli for $2.69.
~There was a double pack of pork roast marked down at Winco so I picked it up and froze it for future meals.
~I made pancakes and put some of the strawberries I had cut up on Friday on top of them....YUMMY!

Pancakes and sliced strawberries.





Monday:
~Lunch was leftover Zuppa Toscana with a few sliced of the French bread.
~Dinner was some of the chicken I got from the deli, baked potatoes and some sugar snap peas along with a handful of cherries.
~I made 2 more loaves of homemade sandwich bread.
~I stuck the potted plants out in the rain to get a good soaking.
~I did not finish my coffee in the morning so I put it in the refrigerator while I took a nap and had it cold later.

Salad with lettuce from our garden, chicken, tomatoes, avocados.


Tuesday:
~I made a huge salad with lettuce from our garden, some of the deli chicken, an avocado, tomato and some caramelized onion dressing. Perfect lunch!
~Jeff and I made a list of all the things we needed to pick up and do on Thursday so we did not forget things yet again. 😉
~Our Imperfect Foods order came in today.  I forgot to skip it so they automatically filled it for me with things they thought I would want. It was delivered a day earlier than normal.  I'm glad we were home.
~Jeff did the hot tub maintenance.
~Leftover soup again for me for dinner and Jeff had chicken and garlic toast.

Marked down chicken from the deli.


Wednesday:
~I harvested strawberries, dill and parsley from the garden.
~The parsley and dill were dehydrated for future use.
~I gave some rhubarb from our garden to my hanai sister.
~It rained so Jeff and I did not need to water the garden.
~Coupons were uploaded to my Safeway card.

Dehydrated parsley and dill from our garden.


Thursday:
~Jeff and I both had our doctor's appointments and had back to back appointments so that we could save time and gas money.
~We found a deli chicken marked way down to $2.57 so I bought it and stuck it in the freezer for later.
~We shopped the sales and stocked up on a few items that we needed.
~All cards for birthdays, Father's Day, etc, bought at the Dollar Tree.
~I harvested more strawberries from the garden.
~Jeff and I picked up dinner off the budget menu at Jack in the Box on our way home from out doctors appointments and shopping.  We had not eaten all day since I had a fasting bloodwork and we got up right before having to leave for our doctors appointments.
~We Skyped with Josh and Lauren and they shared the gender or our newest grandbaby who is due in December. :)  I can't share that yet though since it is their news to share with friends first. 😉

Mint from our garden.


Friday:
~I pulled a homemade turkey enchilada dinner out of the freezer for dinner.  I also cooked up a pot of cilantro lime rice since I had cilantro that needed to be used. It made for a much easier day for Jeff and I.
~With it getting hotter, I pulled the blinds down on the screened in porch and it really helped with the heat.
~The mint plants are going nuts so I harvested a bunch of mint and got it dehydrating for citrus mint tea during the colder months.  I love it and so does Rachel. I plan on doing a lot more batches of this since we have tons and tones of mint.
~We took Caesar for a short walk.
~Jeff got the soaker hose snaked through the raspberry and blackberry patches.
~We cleaned out my car and found all kinds of stuff in there that had been "missing".
~We had ice cream sandwiches for dessert.  I bought them a 24 pack on sale for $6.99 which makes each sandwich about .29 each.  Very cheap treat and so good at the end of a hot day.

Cilantro Lime rice and homemade turkey enchiladas.







   Not a whole lot more going on around here.  We are doing our best to get the gardens ready (which means lots of weeding and hopefully mulching this weekend) for the heat.  The plan at this point is to stay home this weekend, work in the gardens and watch some movies.  Sunday we will BBQ here for Jeff for Father's Day.  I hope you all have a great weekend!


   

   













Sunday, June 14, 2020

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 6/6-6/12 2020





   Again a little late.  I spent most of Saturday in bed. It was just one of those times when I needed to rest.  Such is life but overall, Life is good!

Weekend:
~Jeff and I went on a short hike in a beautiful cedar forest that we happened upon while on a drive.
~We watched some movies here at home.
~We dropped off some donations at Goodwill and found a few things there including an old cookbook that was put together years ago by the Athletic Booster Association of our local high school.  The first page I opened up to had a recipe submitted by our dear Aunt Norma (neighbor) who just passed away recently.  Upon going through the cookbook, I found that most of the people that I knew that had shared recipes have passed away.  Some of the recipes are ones that I remember those dear people cooking and bringing to potlucks at church.  Such wonderful memories of some special people. One of the clothing items that I bought did not fit (the dressing rooms were closed due to covid-19) so I will be taking that back for in store credit.  We used a 20% off coupon for the highest priced item (shorts for Jeff) and got another 20% off coupon for our donation.
~Jeff and I used our Starbucks gift card to get 2 drinks while we were at Safeway.  I was shocked when it came to over $10 for both drinks!

Monday:
~I thawed out some of the sliced cooked turkey that I had in the freezer and made a nice turkey and apple salad.  We had that on reduced priced crescent rolls along with the leftover homemade potato salad for lunch.
~I cooked up a pound of hamburger in the oven in one big square and cut that down into hamburger patties.  Quick, easy and very little mess. We had a few of the burgers for dinner and saved the rest for later in the week.
~Two more loaves of homemade bread were made. (Piggy backed with the hamburgers that were baked).
~I hung a few things out to dry on the laundry line.
~Josh and Chris both called me on the phone.  Both shared some troubling information and it hurt my heart for them and the other people involved.  I made a decision to pray about it and not let my worries get the best of me. Yes, I am slowly learning.
~I popped a lemon juice ice cube out of the container in the freezer and had that in my large glass of water.  Refreshing and loaded with vitamin C.
~The library called and they are sending me some videos I requested.

Tuesday:
~It was a cold and rainy day so I pulled some homemade turkey noodle soup out of the freezer so we could heat it up and have it for dinner.
~I also used some sweet hamburger buns that need to be used up and made those into toast to go with the soup.

Wednesday:
~Some movies I requested from the library came in.
~Lunch and dinner were all leftovers and snacky type stuff.
~I made myself a Maitai.
~Jeff got the outdoor bamboo blinds up and what a difference they make on the back porch!
~Jeff also helped me get the rest of the squash plants in the garden.
~I harvested my first strawberries for the year....so good!

Thursday:
~Jeff got the lawn mowed before the next storm system comes in and put the grass clippings on the compost bin.
~Snacky stuff again for a late lunch.
~I made an iced coffee drink using coffee, half and half cream and a bit of vanilla creamer.  Delicious and refreshing way to start the day!
~I wanted some cereal but the milk had gone bad.  I used half and half with some water in place of milk.  It was really good.

Friday:
~I harvested kale and some strawberries from the garden.
~I cut up a package of store bought strawberries and mixed them with some sugar.  After the masticate for a bit, I repackaged them into individual portions to use on shortcakes or ice cream and froze them.
~I made 2 pints of rhubarb infused vodka and a half pint of homemade vanilla with the beans my sister brought me from her garden in Tahiti.
~I refilled the kitchen and guest bathroom hand soap containers with one of the refill packs from the Dollar store.  It came out to .25 cents a refill for each container.
~Jeff and I tightened up our chopping list for things that we needed to get before his surgery since we need to be careful about exposure for him right now and so we won't have to go out after his surgery.  Basically we are trying ot prepare for 2 months out at this point.
~I ran outside just before the rain hit and harvested some more dill and lettuce from the garden.











   I hope you all have had a great weekend!



Monday, June 8, 2020

I've Been Keeping a Secret




    Our Josh and Lauren are expecting a baby!!!!!







   We are thrilled for them!  I have been "sitting" on this secret for awhile now abiding by their wishes to keep the wonderful news within the family for a bit.  They just made the big announcement to friends and coworkers so we can finally share too.  They will find out (hopefully) at their next appointment if they are having a son or a daughter.  Grammie here had been buying stuff for either a boy or a girl because well...I am Grammie and that is what Grammies do.  LOL!

   

Sunday, June 7, 2020

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 5/30-6/5 2020





Saturday:
~I harvested a bunch of rhubarb along with some lettuce and spinach from the garden.
~I finally got around to cutting Jeff's hair.
~Jeff and I both were very tempted to just order something from the tavern for lunch but we stuck to our plan of not buying much at all and rummaged through the fridge and pantry to make lunch here instead.
~Jeff "wrapped" our cars with tarps, cardboard and blankets because the weather forecasters said we were going to have huge hail with a storm that came in.  He was trying to protect them from damage.  Luckily we did not get the hail and the wind did not cause any damage to our gardens or trees that we can see so far.  Friends in towns near us were not as lucky and had trees and branches taking out fences, blocking roads and falling on their rooftops.
~I had 2 bags of lemons that needed to be used up ASAP.  I juiced them all and put the juice into a ice cube looking tray thing used to freeze homemade baby food.  I will pop the cubes out and store them in a freezer bag to use for cooking and in drinks.
~Jeff watched a movie on YouTube while I worked on my computer.

Sunday:
~We had a family birthday and anniversary party at Jaysn and Rachel's.  Of course it was potluck style. :)  Our birthday gift to Steven was a cookie making and decorating kit complete with a cookie cutter that cuts our multiple animal shaped cookies at one time.  We also got him frosting, sprinkles, raisins (he loves raisins) and a sugar cookie mix.  He is really into making things in the kitchen with Rachel and loves to decorate cookies and cupcakes.  For Jeremy, we did a Mojito starter kit.  He said no gifts so we gave him a lemon mint plant from our garden.  He loved it!
~I cut up the last of the Romaine lettuce that we bought and added spinach and some baby lettuce from our garden to it.
~We stopped at the Dollar Tree and picked up some medications and food items there.

Monday:
~Jeff and I worked on a menu plan for the week together using things we have here on hand and planning around leftovers to remake into other meals.
~Lunch was a huge salad with ham, cheese, homemade croutons, tomatoes, etc.
~Two more loaves of homemade bread were made today.
~For an afternoon snack I had some homebrewed iced tea and some old fashioned popcorn with a lemon and chili seasoning mix to flavor it.
~Dinner was chili over rice along with a cut up pear.  Both the chili and the rice were free to us.
~I used our hot tub before I went to bed to help calm and sooth my hurting muscles.

Tuesday:
~Bad fibro flare day for me so Jeff cooked up some beer battered fish and we had that with leftover rice.
~I spent a lot of time in bed watching YouTube videos.

Wednesday:
~Our phone service was acting up and we needed to talk to the surgeon's office who is doing Jeff's knee replacement.  We drove over there and got appointments made for his surgery, preop, physical and also got an appointment at our doctor's office for my bloodwork.
~We stopped and picked up Jeff's paycheck at his work (same town) and then deposited that in the bank in another town.
~We got the grocery shopping done and also picked up a few more plants at the building supply store.  I tried to get the pots that had multiple plants in them instead of just one.  We got zucchini, butternut, and acorn squash plants.  Rachel loves butternut so I wanted to get some of that going here for her.
~We did end up picking up dinner at the Chinese food deli at one of the grocery stores.  The portions are huge so I saved half of mine for another meal.
~We found some great mark downs on hamburger, pansit noodles, veggie bullion cubes, French bread and donuts.
~Since I am up until the early morning hours anyway, I got a bunch of laundry done.

Thursday:
~I got up much earlier than planned (bad dreams) and got the potted and hanging plants watered and the two front gardens watered.
~I moved two pots filled with Columbine plants to the back porch stairs to pretty it up there.  I love being surrounded by flowering plants. 💗
~The little finches really enjoy sitting in our flowering plum tree that is near the back porch and carrying on all kinds of conversations.  They provide the cats and myself with so much entertainment.
~Rachel and Steven came out in the afternoon for a much awaited visit.  We got out his toys, took a tour of the gardens to show him all the baby berries, apples, pears and all the flowers and then had a snack of cheese and crackers.  It was so much fun and he got to play with his buddy Caesar again. :)
~Dinner was leftovers.
~I worked on my points programs for a bit.
~I harvested the rest of the spinach and the radishes from the garden and made a lovely salad with them.

Friday:
~After another really rough night sleep wise, I took most of the late morning and early afternoon to just rest and read out on the back porch.
~I cooked up a whole package of bacon in the oven.  Most of it was refrigerated for another meal.
~I saved the bacon grease in a mug in the refrigerator to use to fry up potatoes.
~While the oven was hot, I baked up 10 potatoes and made a bacon/ranch baked potato salad.
~I also boiled up some rotini pasta and made a tuna and broccoli pasta salad.
~I kept the bottoms of the green onion that I chopped up for the salads and put them in a short glass with some water.  They will be planted out in the garden in a few days after they grow more roots.
















Thursday, June 4, 2020

Things Keep Getting Crazier and Crazier



   Things just seem to be getting crazier and more out of hand in the world lately.  We are still dealing with the whole Covid-19 mess and waiting and watching as things slowly reopen.  We knew there would be a uptick in cases when this happened and tried to be prepared for it.  However, we never imagined the amount of civil unrest there would be after a man was murdered by police officers and the justified anger and outrage that followed that.  I respect the peaceful protestors but the agitators that try to come in and take advantage of grieving communities and people just piss me off.  Civilians and law enforcement, along with firefighters and National Guard troops are being killed or hurt.  My son Chris was put on notice to be ready to go up north if the protest got out of control there.  Thank God the peaceful protestors and some armed citizens got together and protected their community from rioters and looters while still being able to express their sadness and their call for much needed changes.  Word got out and the agitators avoided that town all together.

   I suspect within the next few weeks we will see a huge rise in Covid-19 cases.  Between the protests (which are understandable), rioting (this makes me so angry), and people who are not taking this Covid-19 stuff seriously and partying in large groups, we will have another big mess on our hands.  This is NOT a good situation for any of us.

   Jeff has his upcoming knee replacement surgery next month.  We need to keep him as healthy as possible so it is not delayed and we are praying that the hospitals will not have to stop doing these surgeries again so that they can keep beds open for a possible onslaught of Covid-19 patients.  At this point, I can go and be there with him since they are allowing one visitor per patient.  Things may change however.  We still do not know if he will have to stay there overnight or not.  We will find out more about that at his pre-op and it will also depend on how he does after his surgery.  

  Due to the uncertainty with all this going on, it is more important than ever for us, and for everyone else for that matter, to make sure we are prepared for whatever may come our way.  We have bought more plants for the garden since bugs got to some of ours that we had planted out.  I got more squash that is the longer storing type along with summer squash varieties.    Our Rachel really enjoys butternut squash, so I picked up some of those to grow to share with her.  I'm a huge acorn squash fan, so those came home with me also.  Zucchini plants also found there way here and will be planted out soon since the yellow squash plants took a huge hit already from the bugs.  

   I continue to stock the pantry and freezers.  My hope is to have 6 months worth of food and HBA products, along with pet food and supplies put in before Jeff has his surgery.  We had hoped to finish doing all this about a week before his surgery, but I am thinking we may have to do it sooner just to be on the safe side.  Our doctor's office has also piggybacked our appointments for Jeff's pre-op and my bloodwork back to back so that we can be in the same room and just get it all done at the same time.  I can get my prescriptions mailed to me, which is a good thing if things get worse or Jeff is unable to drive for awhile after surgery.  I can also just have my kids pick them up and run them out to me (if the Covid thing is not too bad).  We are trying to prepare for the slight possibility of Jeff not being able to return to work within a month's time, along with possibility of things being shut down once again due to nasty virus.  

   You know, I do worry.  I have family and friends who live in the areas where the rioting is happening.  Some of them are afraid to go out at night because of what is happening in their own neighborhoods.  Some of them work in the areas where it is occurring.  Some have already lost things due to the looting.  I cannot even imagine how scary this must be for people who are not prepared to shelter in their homes and have the food and things they need there already.  I continue to encourage people to please get prepared, if you are not already, for any possibility.  How many of us could have seen any of this coming back in October or November of last year?

   Be bless, be prepared and please stay safe.