It's Too Hot to Wear a Bra and Frugal Friday Wrap Up (the Fried Brain edition) 7/30/2021

    

         106 F in the shade on the back porch!

                                😲

      It's hot folks...like "no way am I going to wear a bra" hot!  It's also smoky out there due to all the wildfires.  I tried being outside when it was just 90F and picked some squash and raspberries, but only lasted about 10 minutes before I had to come back inside.  I can't use the swamp cooler due to how high the heat is and the smoke, so I took a lukewarm shower, put on a very lightweight and cool loose dress and am sitting here in the living room with the fan on me debating on if I can hold out much longer before turning on the AC unit.  The AC unit only cools the living room so I may be sleeping out here tonight.  The heat has friend my brain so this frugal weekly wrap up is going to be totally incomplete.  It is what it is:

~I've picked squash, raspberries, swiss chard and the first of the beans this week along with a few tomatoes from the garden.

~Most of the raspberries were frozen.

~I blanched and froze the swiss chard.

~More bread was made.

~I cooked up an entire chicken in the crockpot ad turned about 1/3 of it into a soup to serve over rice or on it's own (3 meals right there) and the rest of it will make it's way into a Caesar Salad, chicken salad sandwiches and something else.

~I have the bottoms of some green onions in water so let the roots get longer and then I will plant them in the garden.

~Four large red bell peppers were cut up and frozen.

~I made a big bowl of tuna pasta salad that served us for 2 meals.

~Bath and Body Works sent me a coupon for a free lotion.

~I found a really cute outfit for Tate on clearance at Old Navy for $1.99

~We got to Facetime with Josh.

~I finished up a bag of fish sticks for dinner one night and served it with rice, beans from the garden, carrot sticks and squash.  I did make extra rice while I was at it.

~We skipped commodities this month because the freezer is still so packed and I could not fit anything else in there.  Not a bad problem to have.

~We took the oldest two grandboys, Bradley and Isaiah, up to our town's pool on Monday.  It is only $2 a person!

~I was able to hang the laundry out one day this week when the air was clear enough.

~I made iced coffee for a morning drink instead of hot coffee.  YUM!

~I had made my famous Mac and Cheese for Isaiah's birthday party.  It all got eaten!

~Isaiah and Bradley picked raspberries and took some home for their mom.

~Jeff has been picking things up from the store on his way home if we need them.  I have been staying home for the most part.

~I gave Jeff a much needed haircut.

~I dehydrated some kale.

   Our town is having it's town wide yard sale tomorrow and many people set up early (as in tonight).  Jeff and I may go out and see if there is anything we want or need this evening or, if I get up in time tomorrow before the heat gets too bad, I may wander out then.  I am looking for a smaller dehydrator to replace my one that just broke.  Hopefully either I will find one, or Jeremy will run across one at an auction and pick it up for me.  Be blessed!

    

Birthdays, Sleepovers and Here We Go Again

   

   This past Sunday we celebrated Isaiah's birthday!  It was such a fun time with the family all together.  Isaiah requested my homemade ooey gooey Macaroni and Cheese to go along with the amazing steak sandwiches that his mom and dad made.  Done! 😀  After the party, both Isaiah and Bradley came home with Jeff and I.  They were perfectly content to play outside in the cooler evening air with the old Tonka trucks and things.  They scooped up the fallen apples and dumped them in the compost pile for us and then went wild on the raspberries picking and eating them.  The next day we took them up to our town's pool for a nice cool off swim and boy did that feel good!  They were totally exhausted when we returned them to Heather.  Grammie and G-pa were also exhausted, but oh it was so worth it and we loved having them here!  We were having way to much fun and I forgot to take pictures sadly.

   

   So remember how I mentioned that I was worried about the Delta variant and had been stocking up like crazy again in case we had shut downs or high case rates?  Well folks, my inner nudgings served me well again.  I have been looking at the cases once again climbing.  In the previous 2 week period we had 18 total new cases in our county...in the past few days we have had 14 cases!  The college students have not even come back yet!  The county next to us in Idaho is in the "red", meaning super high transmission and case rates.  The CDC is ramping up it's warnings and our governor announced today that all teachers, staff and students would be back to wearing masks again in the classrooms even if they are fully vaccinated. He is also calling for Universal Masking in all public places.  UGH!  While I understand the "why" behind this, it still is upsetting because:

a.  Wearing a mask in the heat we have here is a recipe for disaster for myself and many others.

b.  Our schools in this side of the state do not have AC and the classrooms get super hot when we have this kind of weather.

c.  This is causing even more resistance to people getting the vaccine because we were told that if we got it and we would not have to wear masks anymore (and yes, I realize this is a very fluid situation and we are all learning on the fly...just stating what I am hearing on the news and in my community).

d.  I am worried about my grandkids who are too young to get the vaccine, and about other family members who, for their own personal reasons, have chosen not to get vaccinated.

    Due to the rapidly increasing rates of this variant, I am also seeing the need to limit my possible exposure to it even though I am fully vaccinated.  Jeff's job now involves lots of contact with customers so that puts us both at higher risk and he works in Idaho, a state that is very resistant to wearing the masks to begin with and even more so in the northern part of the state.  I fully expect another run at the stores on things like toilet paper and canned goods as people panic buy again.  There is already limited inventory on some items and for that and other reasons, I am so glad I continued to stock up on things that we use on a regular basis.   Yes, I really feel like "here we go again!". 

   

   

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 7/23/21

 

   Late again...such is life with me. 😉  At times the week seemed to fly by and, at other times, it seemed to drag on.  It was a busy week for sure with both lots of work in the garden and doing some stocking up shopping several times.  Every time I go to the store, the prices keep going up on most items so when there is a good sale, I buy it and put it in the pantry or freezer.  Jeff and I had planned on participating in our town wide yard sale on the 31st of this month to make some more money and stash that away in savings but we then realized that he will be working that day and it is supposed to be 97F.  So there goes that idea since I can't do the sale by myself in that kind of heat.  I will list some of the "better" items online on Facebook Marketplace.  Now onto the frugal doings:

Weekend:

~Jeff and I did the shopping and combined sales and coupons at Safeway.  We were able to stock up on 4 boxes of Cheerios, a spiral bound notebook, two 1.5 quart sized containers of ice cream, toothpaste, and 2 bags of bagels.  This came to a little over $13 including Idaho sales tax.  We had a gift card making it all completely free!

~We bought a 50 pound bag of flour, some avocados, pluots, creamer, crackers, bananas, a cucumber, hamburger and hamburger buns at Winco.  I'm stocking up on flour before the prices go up again.

~The air quality improved a bit where we live so we were able to shut of the AC and use the swamp cooler at times.

~I love watching Frugal Money Saver's YouTube channel.  She has some great tips on saving money in this video and I learned a few things I was not aware of: Frugal Living! Ways To Spend Less Amid Rising Costs! - YouTube  Be sure to check her out!

~Steven came to spend the night on Saturday.  Jeff picked up frozen pizzas so that I did not have to cook.  Between a big day the day before, being woke up at 6 a.m. by one of our new neighbors mowing his lawn (this guy has to be on Santa's naughty list) and then having screeching kids (more new neighbors) 2 houses away from me carrying on, I was not able to get much sleep and that threw me into a major Fibro flare.

~I was able to get some blueberries and raspberries picked.

~Steven helped me water the front and side gardens and spot the squash that we plan on picking for his mommy to take home.

~We watched Toy Story 4 with Steven on Saturday night.  We love that movies and Steven picked it out.

~I had a brand new package of color crayons and a Paw Patrol color book waiting here for Steven.  He was thrilled!

~We hit two thrift stores over the weekend.  I found a brand new casserole/ceramic Dutch oven at Goodwill along with a Fall ornament that was half price.  I also used a 20% off coupon on the casserole dish.  The second one we went to had a book on making all kinds of homemade items that we use on a regular basis for .99 and a few other items that I picked up.  I spent a total of $4 at that store. I figured that I wanted to learn to make even more things here at home and not have to buy so much premade stuff.

~We had leftover pizza for dinner on Sunday night.

Monday (in a Fibro flare so taking things easy):

~I harvested squash, tomatoes, blueberries and raspberries from the garden.

~Washed and froze the blueberries and raspberries.

~I cooked up some ground venison and added finely diced squash from the garden along with some diced red and green peppers that I had previously frozen.  I also added a handful of crush corn flakes to bulk things up a bit and then added a large can of sloppy joe sauce to that.  Jeff loves sloppy joes and it makes for a quick and easy dinner since I already have hamburger buns to put it on.  Adding the veggies also gives it a much needed nutritional boost.

Tuesday:

~I pulled some  homemade chicken fajita filling out of the freezer to have as part of our dinner.  I needed quick and easy plus I need more room in the freezer for all the fruit I am getting out of the garden at the moment. 😉

~I harvested more squash and a tomato out of the garden.  I also trimmed up the tomato, bean and squash plants.

~I watered the gardens in the morning when it was cooler since the forecast was calling for storms later with dry lightening and winds.

~We got a much needed break from the heat and the smoke so I enjoyed my time out on the back porch.  I have missed being able to be out there with my coffee in the mornings.

~I was really craving shrimp scampi so I made the shrimp part and served it with squash instead of noodles.  I love it even more this way!

Wednesday:

~We got some much needed rain overnight!  It completely filled up the rain barrel and buckets that I had out in the yard.  YES!  It was one of those heavy downpours that we have not seen in ages and it deeply watered everything.  No need to water tonight.

~I trimmed up the cucumber plants to the bees could get to the flowers more easily.  I also rearranged the vines so they would not take over the beans.  I did the same thing with the cantaloupe plants.

~While checking on the pole beans (which are not doing well at all), I noticed that I have some volunteer ground cherries growing. Bonus!  I love these things but was unable to locate any plants this year and have never had luck starting plants from seeds.

~I picked more blueberries.  One of the plants had been loaded but the heat has been taking it's toll and I have lost about half of the berries to that.

~Leftovers will be on the menu tonight so I can clean out the fridge.

~I uploaded coupons onto my Safeway card.

~Jeff and I headed in to do the grocery shopping in the evening and shopped the sales.  I did find the peach iced tea mix at Grocery Outlet that my #2 grandson Isaiah loves so I picked him up 2 canisters of it and another one for me. I also found chicken flavored rice mixes for .50 each.  I bought some because they are great to just add a can of chicken to make a main dish and serve with a side of veggies or fruit.  I have days when this is about all I can handle making.

~I harvested a bunch of kale to dehydrate and got it all washed and loaded onto the trays of my smaller dehydrator.  The dehydrator started smoking and melting the plastic bottom.  YIKES!  Turned that off and threw away the bottom of the dehydrator but kept the trays and top.  I then went out to the garage and got my old Harvest Master dehydrator with the held together by duct tape top and got that all washed up.

Thursday:

~I transferred all the kale from the broken dehydrator's  trays to the Harvest Master trays and got that going.

~I picked another 1 1/2 quarts of raspberries.

~I also picked 2 more squash from the garden.

~I checked on the summer apple tree and it looks like I will be making applesauce within a week or so and then canning a bunch of it. 😋

~Dinner was meatloaf (with some liquid smoke added to give it a different flavor profile), au gratin potatoes and green beans.  Quick, easy and I had everything needed in the pantry and freezer.

~Trying to find more ideas for frugal meals using things I have an overabundance of in the pantry that needs to be used up ASAP.

~Jeff made a "plug" to go in the floor of Jaysn and RAchel's subfloor in a hole so they can lay new flooring over it.

~I froze 3 quarts of raspberries.

Friday:

~Jeff dropped off some tools for Jaysn and Rachel to use on their floors this weekend.  They live about 4 miles from where he works.

~I picked blueberries and some raspberries from the garden.

~The air was blissfully clear today so I was able to hang the sheets out to dry after I washed them.

~Dinner tonight was a quick throw together meal of chicken flavored rice, canned chicken and some zucchini.  I know, not very creative but yummy and filling and I was tired after doing  3 loads of laundry and a few other projects.

~The cats enjoyed the drained water from the canned chicken.

~I got the dehydrated kale all packaged up and stored away.

~We used some of the water from the rain barrel to water one of the pear trees at the top of our backyard where the hose would not reach.  Jeff hauled it up there in a big bucket.

   I again want to urge people to stock up on things while you can.  Do your research to find out what crops have been affected by weather, political unrest in other countries and also look into other things that are in short supply and are a long way off in being replenished for various reasons.  Jeff and I will continue to build our pantry, HBA and even buy Christmas gifts for the grandkids now so that we have them on hand.  Covid cases are again going up in so many areas, including ours.  That, along with the fires in the Pacific Northwest are causing all kinds of issues and will continue to do so.  My stockpiles are not just for us and our family, they are to help friends and others, even strangers, who find themselves in need.  Be blessed!

 

Zucchini Casserole Recipe

 

  Here is my favorite squash casserole recipe.  You can use a combination of yellow squash along with the zucchini or just use either as they are interchangeable in this recipe.

3 medium zucchini

1 sleeve of crackers (can use saltines or Ritz type crackers)

1/4 stick of butter

1 egg

1/2 cup milk 

1/2 a medium diced onion

1 cup cheese

1 Tablespoon sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Wash and cut the squash.  Parboil the onions and the squash until the zucchini is tender.  Drain and mash, adding the butter at this point.  Add the sleeve of crackers that you have crushed well.  Beat egg into milk and add the sugar, salt and pepper. Add the shredded cheese and mix in. Pour into a greased baking dish.  Bake 1 hour at 325 F.

A Smokey Frugal Friday Wrap Up 7/16/21

 

  Fire season is continuing around here and the smoke filled air has made it hard to breath at times.  We have been taking advantage of the few moments where the wind has blown the smoke away from our home and given us moments of clearer air.  We are under a Hazardous Air Quality Warning and have been for the past week.  The only "upside" to this has been that the children who moved into our neighborhood were inside for the most part so I did not hear their constant screeching all day.  Now I understand that children can be loud and all, but these kids honestly screech at the top of their lungs all day and their mother does not appear to do anything to stop them or try to quiet them down a bit.  UGH!  

   I was not good about keeping a running list again this week.  I was busy getting a lot done and by the time the evening came around, I was honestly just too worn out to do a whole lot.  I really should learn to just copy down my daily list that I put up on the white board each day before I erase it at night and get the next day's list up.  I arranged a surprise for Jeff this week and had Isaiah come and spend the night with us on Wednesday. 😁  It was one of those last minute ideas and I do love having each of the grandkids come over for special one on one time with us.  Isaiah was a HUGE help in the garden and in the house the next day when Jeff  was at work.  He and I work really well as a team and we decided that he needed to be my helper again soon and every year from now on when we process cherries. 😉  Now onto the savings and the pictures that follow at then end of the post:

~Jeff and I had some really easy and great meals this week.  Everything was from the garden and/or freezer and pantry.

~We did do some shopping earlier in the week and found some free items and even some money maker deals combining sales and coupons.  

~We made a donation at Goodwill and I ran in to see what they had while Jeff went out to his place of work to get the right part to fix our kitchen sink drain (yes, it is now finally fixed).  I found 2 brand new dresses there and since it was a Monday, we got 20% off everything we bought since we are "old".  LOL!  I am saving the 20% off coupon we got for donating for another time when it is not a Monday.

~Over the weekend, we made a trip up to CouerD'Alene, Idaho and had lunch at Olive Garden.  We did their soup, salad and bread stick special.  So good!

~We also did some shopping up there and found a really nice soft fleece throw for Isaiah for his upcoming birthday (it was on his list), a olive oil dispenser jar, and a planner for me at TJ MAXX and Ross.

~We harvested more raspberries, cherries, blueberries, and squash from the garden.  Most of the raspberries were frozen.

~Isaiah helped me pit the second bag full of cherries (I had already done the first bag earlier in the week) and we now have 40 cups of frozen sweet cherries all from our tree.

~Isaiah and I picked a little over 2 quarts of raspberries on Thursday morning and sent them home with him so Heather could make a raspberry pie.

~Isaiah also helped me prune the leaves on the squash plants so the bees could find the flowers more easily.  He is such a huge help and loves being able to be out in the garden.

~More bread and croutons were made.

~I made my favorite squash casserole with some of the first squash from the garden.

~We watched some movies on Disney Plus and some HGTV shows.

~I have been having trouble with my eyes and spent 3 hours finding an eye doctor that could get me in within 2 months.  Luckily it will only be a $10 co-pay.  My old eye doctor's office does not take my new health insurance unfortunately.

~When Heather, Chris and Bradley came over to pick up Isaiah, I sent them home with 4 pounds of butter (I have a ton in my freezer and she uses lots of butter in her side business of making cinnamon rolls), 2 quarts of raspberries, some frozen pitted cherries, a big bag full of fresh cherries, a new shirt for Heather, and some of my favorite summer sandals that I can no longer wear.  Heather and I wear the same size shoes.  In the Fall we will go through my shoes again and she can have any of the colder weather shoes that don't work for me anymore that she wants.  My arthritis is getting so much worse in one of my feet and is making is super painful to wear many of my shoes now.

~I made a detailed shopping list that will net me free items with sales and coupons combined when we go shopping on Monday.  Please, if you are reading this, stock up on things that are made from grains (cereals, flour, pastas, etc.) while you can.  With the severe drought in my area coupled with the wildfires, the wheat harvest, along with other grains and legumes is being hit hard. It is 1/3 of what it normally is at the moment and could go lower than that according to our local farmers. Then there is the flooding in the Midwest which is greatly affecting crops there.  Produce is also being wiped out in California due to water shortages and the drought.  If you find fresh produce on sale that you can freeze or dehydrate, do it now!

~My garden is doing really well and we have been enjoying fresh greens and the first of the tomatoes.

~I picked up a free body mist from Bath and Body Works.  Into the gift stash it goes!

Now for some of the pictures:

   So that's it for for now.  Praying for everyone in the lines of these fires and bad weather hitting us all.  Please keep the firefighters and other first responders and their families in your prayers...they are literally laying their lives on the lines for all of us every single day and every day I hear about the tragic loss of at least one of them it seems.

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 7/9/21

 

      Good Saturday Morning!  We have smoke filled skies here from all the wildfires around us but I refuse to let that and some other things get me down. 😊  I had a good chuckle this morning when I found out that my grandson Isaiah specifically requested Grammie's homemade macaroni and cheese as part of his birthday dinner.  It is one of his favorites and only Grammie makes it the way he likes it (I am going to have to teach him how to make it).  When he requested homemade macaroni and cheese, Heather told him that is not something she is good at making...he told her "I know that, I meant Grammie's homemade mac and cheese".  LOL!  Now Heather is an amazing cook and her baked good are out of this world good, but apparently her mac and cheese is not up to Isaiah's standards. 😁  So yes, Isaiah, Grammie will be more than happy to make homemade mac and cheese for your birthday party!  Onto the frugal doings for the week:

Weekend:

~Jeff picked a bunch of cherries off our tree.  This is the tree that we had to cut way back in an effort to save it.  I think the loaded cherries are it's way of saying "Thank you".🍒

~We returned an item that did not work to Goodwill and used the instore credit to buy a new bra (yes, brand spanking new) and a blue Fiesta ware bowl.  Found the bra online... retails for $45.99!

~We had been blessed with a Safeway gift card that I thought was for $40...turned out to be for $50.  We went shopping there to stock up on some sale items and I also had uploaded a digital coupon for a free 3 pack of paper towels.  They were out of the corn on the cob, so I got a raincheck for that.  Once I got home I realized that the Colgate toothpaste rang up at 3 for a total of $1.03.  Gotta love combining sales with digital coupons.  Since I used my gift card, I still got everything for free and I have a nice balance left on the gift card to boot!

~We also stopped by the Dollar Tree so I could pick up a scrub brush with a handle so I can scrub the living room rug down and let it dry before storing it for the warmer months.  We did pick up a few other needed items while were there also like their version of Pepto Bismol, witchhazel facial wipes, and more aluminum free antiperspirant.  

~I picked more raspberries from our bushes.

~We watched the first two Beverly Hills Cop dvds.  

Monday:

~Jeff and I picked another 2 huge bowls full of cherries.

~I cooked burgers for dinner and made a jalapeno and cream cheese spread for my burger.  Just mince up some jalapeno slices and mix with some softened cream cheese.  Easy and so good!  I learned this from our Heather.

~More raspberries were picked.

~I sorted through 2 dresser drawers and found a bag full of things to donate.

Tuesday:

~My cousin Jeremy came over to pick cherries and to pick up the comic books that I had bought for him last week.  I also sent him home with 3 jars of natural peanut butter that Jeff decided he was not a fan of since they did not contain sugar.  Jeremy, being the amazingly generous cousin that he is, brought treats for Jeff and I...  three kinds of specialty Harry and David's popcorn and some delicious cookies.  Yes, he spoils us!

~Jeremy also helped me come up with a solution to trying to host the July family birthday celebrations at our home.  He suggested we just wait until August to do July, August and September birthdays all at once.  Between everyone's busy schedules and now a funeral and celebration of life ceremony that Jeff and I will be going to, it just got way too crazy to try and fit anything else in that would work for everyone.  That really helps take the stress level way down.  I am so thankful that he came up with that wonderful solution and I feel so blessed to have him in our lives.

~I had leftovers for lunch.

~I picked more strawberries and raspberries.

~Some of the strawberries were cut up and frozen.

~I made a chicken alfredo for dinner with things we had on hand and some things from the garden.  Lots leftover.

~I gave some of our cherries to our neighbors.

Wednesday:

~Yellow squash, strawberries and raspberries harvested.

~Leftovers for lunch.

~Worked on my points programs for a bit.

~We had high temperatures and strong winds here.  It brought in smoke from various fires and blew dust around.  I closed up the house and took refuge in my living room with one of the fans blowing for a good part of the day until I had to also turn on the AC in there.

~I pitted and froze 12 cups of sweet cherries.  I also froze a quart sized bag of raspberries.

~Leftovers for dinner.

Thursday:

~It was my birthday and Jeff and I have an agreement that I don't have to do anything I don't want to on my birthday. 😁  Therefore I did absolutely nothing and once Jeff got home I asked him to just relax with me...the clogged up drain in the kitchen could wait another day.  The water had gone down but it took hours to do so.  He will tackle that on Friday.

~Jeff brought home Panda Express food for dinner.  It was really good and it cost a lot less than going out for dinner.  It was what I wanted because I honestly just felt like being home.

~All the boys called to wish me a Happy Birthday and so did my parents.  I got lots of beautiful birthday wishes from friends, family and my hanai kids via Facebook also. 

~We arranged for Steven's first sleepover at Grammie and G-pa's house next Saturday.  Jeff will pick him up after he gets off work at 2 p.m. that day and ring him home.  I think we will make pizza for dinner since I know he loves that and he like to help cook. 😁

Friday:

~I woke up in a lot of pain (dang Fibro) and in a funk.  I had nightmares and today is also my beloved grandmother's birthday.  I realized that I am just 5 years younger now than she was when she passed away.  We were extremely close and I still mourn her loss and always will. So on that note, I will be kind to myself today, take things slow and try to remember all the good times my grandmother and I shared.

~I had coffee out on the screened in porch while it was still cool enough to do so.  We are under a heat watch starting tomorrow so I am trying to enjoy the cooler temperatures while I can.  I really do love our screened in porch. 😃

~Later in the day I felt a "nudge" on my heart to NOT let Fibromyagia take as much away from me as it has.  I know that nudge was from my Grandma because it was one of those "Debbie, get out there and live your life to the fullest" messages which is exactly what my Grandma would have said.  Since I was feeling strong and mentally awake, I decided to drive myself into town to do the shopping.  For most people I realize this is a ??? moment and normal.  For me, this is not normal.  I usually do not trust myself to drive.  Today I did.  Yay me!  After 3 stops at the stores though I was totally worn out and so sore...but I did it!

~I stopped at the thrift store and found a cute board book for my youngest grandson Tate (it's about piggies), some magazines, a decorating book, 2 new bras (super soft and comfy and since I only wear my bras once and then wash them, I needed more) and a beautiful dish.

~My new health insurance made my prescriptions free!  Gotta love that!

~I picked up some things at Walmart including a huge red bucket to store toys in.  Grammie's new rule will be that the grandboys get to pick which toys they want to keep to play with here and they must fit in the basket.  I have way too many toys for them and most are never played with.

~Grocery Outlet had some amazing deals like 4 boxed of Triscuits for $2.97.  We go through these like crazy here!  I also picked up some pork loin roasts, apricots, reduced priced salad kits (quick and easy), more chips and some cookies for Jeff and stuff to make homemade Taco Bell Crunch Wraps.  Oh, I almost forgot, I found turkey bacon for $1.47 a package and got 2 of those and threw them in the freezer for BLT's once my tomatoes from the garden are ripe.

~I picked more raspberries from the garden.

~We received a coupon for a free product at Bath and Body Works, a free Lego magazine for Bradley and Isaiah, and a free Parents magazine  that will go to Rachel.

   Jeff is currently working on fixing the kitchen sink plumbing.  We had a clog in it and he had to take all the pipes out to clean them, remove the garbage disposal and clean that, snake the drain and is now putting everything back together again.  It's a good thing he has lots of experience doing this over the years. 😉

I would hate to think what a plumber would have cost us.  YIKES!  Hopefully the smoky skies will clear a bit so we can get outside and pick raspberries and the rest of the cherries today.  I also have to check and see if my zucchini and yellow squash that I have been watching are ready to harvest today.  I like to pick them when they get to a certain size, no bigger or smaller.  Be blessed all!

A Friend's Facebook Post Got Me Thinking

 

   A sweet friend shared a Facebook post about forgiving and forgetting as in the context of someone having hurt you deeply.  While I understand where my friend is coming from, I would have to disagree to a point.  Hear me out on this please...

   If the person who hurt you deeply is genuinely sorry for doing so and asks for your forgiveness, then it is up to you whether to accept their apology.  Depending on the circumstances that caused that hurt, sometimes things can be mended and you can move forward and put it behind you.  Other times, you can choose to forgive, but the relationship has been damaged and you move forward more cautiously.  Still other times, the damage that was done is so hurtful that you have to protect yourself and cut this person out of your life.  In these circumstances, you can choose to forgive but it may be more for you than for this person, so that the anger and hurt does not eat you alive.

   I think many of us have sadly been in the last situation at least once in our lives, if not more.  I know I have and as hard as it was, I am thankful that I am now "wiser" about knowing when to "cut bait and run".  I may forgive the person (in time), but I will not forget and that is not a bad thing from my point of view.  We all need to learn to set healthy boundaries for ourselves and learn from past experiences.  What is that saying...the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior?  If someone consistently shows you who they really are...believe them...good or bad.

   I recently shared about the person who came into my home threatening me, my son and my husband.  This person invaded the sanctity of my home, my refuge and safe place, and left me rattled and scared.  This same person showed up at our door 2 weeks later to "apologize" and Jeff met him at the door and would not let him in our home.  Jeff stayed calm and would not let him off the hook for his behavior because the "sorry" was always followed by some excuse and he slipped up and let Jeff know that he was apologizing because he father found out what happened  (he got mad about something nice his father said about our family and told him what he had done, jealousy is an awful thing) and he needed to "save face" at that point.  He ended the conversation with saying he hoped that we could all be friends in the future, but if not, he would understand.  I think he realized that he not only burnt the proverbial bridge but blew the thing to smithereens. Now, in this case, I can look back and see other red flags, even though Jeff and I had gone out of our way for years to be kind and supportive of this man.  Am I going to hold a grudge against this man, nope...not worth the energy.  Am I ever going to trust him again...nope...he has shown me his true self and I do not want to be part of his drama.  I will be cordial with him, but I will not go out of my way to help him ever again.  I've been down that road before and I can now clearly see the game playing and trying to pit people against each other.  Not going to play that toxic and twisted game...no sir!

   Jeff set some very strong boundaries with this man and he now knows NOT to come and attack me and if he has any concerns or issues to come directly to Jeff.  Jeff told him, in no uncertain terms, he would never act that way towards me again.  The man got the message loud and clear.  Like I stated previously,  Jeff kept very calm but he would not let him off the hook.  I am so very grateful for my hubby and the way he handled things.

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 7/2/21

 

    Here it is the end of another week already and we are into July!  I can't believe how the days just seems to whiz by.  With the heatwave we have been having, it already feels like the end of Summer.  I have a huge fear of what it is going to be like if the temperatures continue to stay really high.  

  An update of that tumble I took...Well I apparently did more damage to myself than I first thought.  I really screwed up my back, hip, foot and my abdominal muscles are hurting as well.  No hernia thank God.  I'm spending lots of time in my recliner and can tell that gardening is going to be much harder for awhile.  To that end, Jeff has stepped in to take over the watering duties for the most part.  He rigged up the sprinkler on a platform between some of the raised garden beds to just be able to turn on and let run..  I am still sneaking out there and finding the places the sprinkler missed in the morning and hand watering those. 😉  I know it will just take some time to heal and I will have to be super careful about not overdoing it.  I learned that the hard way today when I almost passed out from pain in the garden while harvesting some things.  Yes, I am extremely stubborn and I too wonder about my common sense at times.

   So this frugal wrap up is going to be a list and not broken down by days because I again forgot to keep track over the week.  There was just too much going on between Patchy's surgery and now recovery, the heatwave that left me sick, my tumble down the stairs and now being in  Fibro flare.  Such is life though and we just keep chugging on:

~ I have been doing my best to try and come up with different and fun meals and making sure I have leftovers for Jeff to take to work with him.  I had some fully cooked and grill chicken breasts slices that I added some mozzarella cheese and smoked ham slices to for quick and easy version of chicken cordon blue sandwiches (see top picture at beginning of this post).  I made enough so Jeff could take some to work the next day also.

~Chris and Heather also had us over for dinner earlier in the week and it was delicious as usual.  Chris grilled some chicken and we made sliders with the cut up chicken and some cheese on Heather's homemade rolls.  YUMMO!

~Shannon brought over her extra AC unit for us to use, along with a huge fan since I got heat exhaustion earlier in the week.  That was super scary and I am so thankful that she realized what was going on with me and took immediate action.  We have had people and their pets dying from heat related illnesses due to the 100+ temperatures we had earlier in the week.  When the temperatures are cooler we use the swamp cooler but use the AC at the hottest part of the day when the swamp cooler can't keep up.

~I've been harvesting lettuce, strawberries, raspberries, cherries and even a yellow squash from the garden this week.

~The laundry line went back into service at the end of the week when the temperatures dropped down into the 80's in the morning.  Until then I just could not even be out in the heat.

~We have been eating lots of salads with lettuce from the garden.  I have been adding fruit to mine also.

~I did some back to back baking making 2 loaves of bread, some chocolate chip muffins and baking some potatoes.

~I will be using some of the potatoes to make corned beef hash for dinner tonight...it just sounded really good and I have everything I need to make it on hand.  We will have this with a salad of course.

~Jeff and I have been enjoying watching old seasons of "Design Star" on the Roku.  It is so fun to see how creative people can be and why they make the choices they do.

~I was able to SKYPE with Josh, Lauren and Tate today and got a HUGE smile out of that little guy!  He is six months old and is already learning how to feed himself with a spoon.  Food is a huge motivator for that kid...he loves to eat! 😄

~Jeff had been taking my car during the hottest times earlier this week since it has AC but switched back to his little car now that temps are in the 90's when he gets off work and because the price of gas jumped 20 cents in one day earlier this week.  It is expected to continue to go up and up and we already have pretty high gas prices.

~ Costco has the microfiber sheets that I love on sale right now for about $14.98 (I think) a set for queen sized sheets.  Heather picked me up two sets when she went there a few days ago.  I have been looking for those sheets at a good price for about 2 years now.

~ Lauren told me how quickly the prices of bread are going up in their area which got me to thinking that I should have Jeff pick up 2 more 1 pound bags of yeast on his way home from work, along with a gallon of milk (we needed more).  Last time bread prices went up yeast was really hard to find since more people started making their own bread.  I had just opened my last bag of what I had stocked up on previously earlier in the week.

~Jeff got the HUGE 50 pound bag of flour divided up into the food safe buckets.  I'm curious to see what the prices on flour are now since I have not had to buy any for awhile.  The bag he divided up had been bought a few months ago.

~Goodwill has been a very lucky place for us lately.  We found canning jars and lids, small glass jars and cannisters (perfect for homemade spice mixes and for giving those mixes as gifts), lots of things Jeff needed for the car, the Beverly Hills Cop trilogy on DVD (some of our favorites), a few more clothing items and a cast iron skillet.  Of course we used coupons, other discounts and such to get the best prices possible.

~We also stumbled upon some vintage comic books that were in pristine condition with cardboard and plastic bags around them at another thrift store.  I quickly called my cousin Jeremy because he is making a living selling things on Ebay and some comic books are very collectible and go for outrageous prices.  He looked them up online and had me buy them for him.  He will be paying us back for them and hopefully they will make him a good amount of cash!  In this family we all keep an eye out for things that the rest of the family needs for personal or business use.

   Well I guess that about wraps things up from here.  I know there are more things but as per usual, I cannot remember them at the moment.  Plus, I still have time to sneak in a nap before Jeff gets home later and after a very restless night, I am in desperate need of one.  Stay safe, pray for all those that have been affected by the horrible fires and for our firefighters also.