Frugal Friday Wrap 6/25/21

   

  Late posting again...the heat is on here and it is making me melt.  I am thankful for a home that is staying coollish thanks to the swamp cooler.  My heart goes out to everyone who is having trouble with this heat and has no way to cool down.

Weekend:

~Jeff had to work on Saturday until 2 p.m..  Once he got home we made a trip into town to pick up things like kitty litter, bananas and a few other items.  I found grapes on sale at Walmart for .98 a pound!  We did notice that there were lots of gaps on the food shelves including huge ones in produce and dairy.  Hopefully this is not going to become the new "normal" for awhile.

~Rite Aid had their plants all marked down to 75% off.  I found some rather scraggly looking tomato plants and bought them.  I figured $1 for 4 plants was worth the risk.  We also bought 8 sweet pepper plants at another place.  The price of peppers had been outrageous lately so I wanted to try and grow some of our own.

~I harvested most of the spinach and planted the scraggly tomatoes in their place.  They are looking so good now and seem to love it.  I knew they just needed some TLC. 😉 

~The  pepper plants were planted in the front garden raised bed and seem to like it there also.

~Oh I found a 24 pack of Yoplait yogurt at the Grocery Outlet for $1.97.  Snacks and breakfasts for me!

~The strawberries are doing well and each day I seem to be able to harvest more and more.  YUM!

~For Father's Day I marinated some venison steaks in red wine and herb salts and served that with cheesy julienned potatoes and a salad made from kale and spinach from the garden.  Jeff had his salad with homemade croutons and thousand island dressing while I made a strawberry and spinach salad with homemade dressing.  It was all so delicious!

~We watched several movies on the Disney Channel.

~We talked to all the boys on Father's Day.  How did Jeff and I get so blessed to be their  dad and mom? 💓

~We put a lattice trellis up over the radishes and some of the lettuce hoping to keep them from burning in the hot sun.

Monday:

~Sheets were washed and hung out on the line to dry.  Jeff was a sweetheart and made the beds with the freshly washed and dried sheets in the evening while I was out doing the watering in the gardens.

~I harvested more strawberries from the garden.

~Venison burgers and corn on the cob, along with salad from the garden, for dinner.  Rhubarb cake was dessert.

~I've been reading my "Cooking with Stored Foods" cookbook to get more ideas to use with my food storage items.  No, I am not Mormon, but I am prudent and believe in food security after having gone through some very rough times in the past.

~Later in the day I harvested a bunch of radishes and snacked on those.

~It has been over a year since I went to our town library.  I went down today and found two interesting books to read.

Tuesday:

~Leftovers for lunch.

~I harvested lettuce and more strawberries from the garden.

~I spent some time watching gardening videos on how to increase my yield of tomatoes and peppers.

~The squash plants got a leaf trimming so the bees can find the flowers more easily.

~It is hard for me to remember to drink water and I really have to force myself to do so.  Grapes however, I love!  They are loaded with lots of juice so I make a deal with myself that I can eat those IF I will drink water after doing so.  I know, it may seem silly, but I had to find a way to actually get myself to drink more water.

~The temperatures are climbing higher and higher.  It was 90F out on the covered back porch even with the blinds blocking the sun at 2 p.m..  I have started closing up the house earlier and earlier before the temperatures get too hot so that it remains cooler in the house for a longer period of time before I have to turn on the swamp cooler.  I am also taking cooler showers mid-day to help cool my core body temperature down and I let my hair dry naturally.  We are supposed to be up in the 100's this weekend.  UGH!

~I used to love reading Laine's Letters and printed off a bunch of them.  I'm going back to reread them once more because I found them calming, inspiring and it helped me to appreciate all that I have been blessed with and not fretting about the budget so much.

Wednesday:

~It was cloudy and overcast, so it kept the temps down into the 80's.  Since it was a bit cooler, Jeff and I decided to go to our oldest two grandsons PeeWee game in the evening.  When I had Heather ask Isaiah if we could come or not (I knew he would be excited!) he replied "Why would I ever say no?"  Oh how I love that kiddo!

~I picked more roses and greenery from the garden and made 2 flower arrangements.

~The citrus mint was trimmed back from the newer Clematis plants.  I took all the trimmings and dried the leaves for tea.

~I made chicken meatballs in BBQ sauce and homemade mac and cheese for dinner.  A definite hubby pleaser. 😋 It may not be the healthiest of meals but dang is it good.

~I got the hot tub all filled back up with water (the level went down due to evaporation) and the chemicals refilled also.  With the heat coming I know that we will be using it kind of like a plunge pool to cool off in.

~I was able to help a few friends that are going through a rough time...sometimes all you need to do is be there to listen and love them.

~We had some very happy grandsons, Isaiah and Bradley, to have their Grammie and G-pa at the game.  They won!  Is there anything better than hugs and "I love yous" from your grandkids?  I think not. 💗

Thursday:

~I cleaned out the refrigerator and the pantry.  I was able to consolidate a lot of things so there is more room in the pantry now.

~Strawberries were picked, sliced and frozen for future toppings for pound cake, pancakes and waffles.

~I also picked most of the radishes that we left in the garden and got those topped and stems off so they are ready to add to salads.

~The laundry was done and most (except for Jeff's work shirts) was hung out on the line to dry.  Jeff's shirts dry really quickly in the dryer so very little energy used there.  I dry them in there because they need to be wrinkle free.

~Jeff took leftovers for lunch.

~The mint I dried the previous day was all packaged up and ready to give to someone for tea.

~We got commodities today and I am so very thankful!  In addition to the food (I only got about half of what they had since many of the items were not ones that we would use (canned ravioli, canned carrots) or items that we already had a surplus of, so I left them for someone who would, they gave out $40 gift cards to local grocery stores.  I have only seen them do this one time in the past and that was in the Christmas baskets that we gave out years ago when I was running this community blessing.  Such a huge surprise and one that was much appreciated and will help us tremendously!

~While in the garden this morning, I was able to see that the Cos lettuce is doing very well under the shade of the zucchini leaves. YAY!!!

~I was so tired and hot after going to get commodities and working in the yard that I just pulled a homemade frozen meal out of the freezer to heat up for dinner.  Chicken fajita and rice served with salad from the garden is what is for dinner.

~I have one of the whole chickens we got from commodities thawing in the freezer.  This will be cooked up Friday in the crockpot so I can make various meals, including soup that I will freeze for a future meal when it is cooler.

Friday:

~I harvested more lettuce and strawberries from the garden.

~Two hours were spent trying to get my health insurance stuff all uploaded and documented.  UGH!  Very stressful and my body reacted accordingly.

~The bathroom rugs and towels were washed and hung out on the line to dry.

~Two more loaves of bread were made.  I also cut up a loaf of sourdough bread and stuck it in the refrigerator so it will not go bad in this heat.

~The chicken was cooked in the crockpot until it fell off the bones.  Serving this with mashed potatoes and a big green salad.

~I had to take Patchy cat to the vet...yes, I drove because Jeff was at work and the kids are either at work or out of town.  At least I had my free Kitty Carrier to take her in so she would not be roaming the car the whole time.  The HomeoPet seemed to be working but it got worse again today so we went.  Turns out she does have a urinary tract infection and stones (big ones) that will have to be removed surgically.  Her surgery is set for Tuesday. 😢  Another hit to the finances, but we had no choice...she is our fur baby.

~I brought in both of the fans from the garage and am using them to help circulate the cooler air in the house.

   Here's to staying out of the heat for the rest of this coming week!