A new Personal Grocery Challenge for October and Frugal Meals Lately

 

      I have decided that due to Covid-19 cases being so high in my area and the fact that I really want to save money, I will be challenging myself for the month of October to keep my grocery bill under $200 and that includes paper goods and pet needs.  This should help keep me out of the stores, and to be honest, with prices going up, I am really not seeing many good deals anyway.  Anyone want to join me challenging yourself to a certain grocery budget that you set for your own family?  I would love to see how you do and get some encouragement to keep me on track also. 😃

   I know that I have not been really consistent with my blog posting lately.  There is a lot going on here in my little world including adjusting to new meds.  I was finally approved for the pregabalin and I think it may be helping with the pain, although I am still in the early days of trying it.  I am sleeping better once I actually fall asleep, but I am still some kind of strange night owl type person.  Praying that changes too.  I am also dealing with some really complex feeling due to the death of one of my former pastors who some people are eulogizing like he himself was God when I know the truth about this man and his cult like behavior and abuses of people.  This is also a man who was saying that Covid-19 was just like the flu and that taking the vaccine was a part of government control, etc..  Now I will say that mandating the vaccine is something that I do not agree with, but I also believe that we all have a responsibility to not only have the wisdom to help protect ourselves and our loved one from this horrible virus, but also have to compassion to help protect others around us also.  I am vaccinated, as are most of my family.  I do have family and friends that are not, and that is their choice and I do not think that they should be forced to get the vaccine.  Back to my point...this pastor just died from Covid-19 and from what I can ascertain from their own sermons and the words that came out of their mouths, they tried to cover up that he had it to begin with to their own congregation and now are trying to make sure that anyone outside their church does not know that he died from it.  Someone on staff there, that I personally know, did tell another mutual friend of ours what he died from and when she shared that info online, she got all kinds of backlash and quickly took down her post about his passing.  I am wondering how long it will be before they take down the videos where you can see him struggling with it before he "was out of town".  Anyway, there is a huge part of me that wants to scream to the people that I love and are still deceived by this man that they have been duped by a wolf in sheep's clothing (my personal opinion of this man based on things he said and did to both my family and to many other families) and also recognizing that they really are mourning the death of a person that they genuinely loved and believed in.  Only time will tell if they come to realize what was really going on now that they are out from under his daily influence.

   Anyway, I wanted to share some of the meals that we have had within the past few months.  It is just a small sampling of what we have been eating.  I continue to try and use the produce from our gardens and make the most of what we have and get several meals out of things.  Here we go!

Cantaloupe (we are not starting to get our own cantaloupe out of the garden) and blackberries (also from our garden).

Pork roast with potatoes and carrots along with a side of tortellini salad. 

Tomato (from our garden) and cheese melt on homemade bread.

Lemon Chicken Pasta with produce from our garden.

Burgers with fried potatoes and squash from the garden. The tomato on the burger is also from our garden.

Teriyaki noodles with leftover teriyaki steaks and veggies from the garden.

Tamale pie from pantry and freezer items.

Homemade pancakes to feed the hungry grandboys!

Spicy sausage and potato hash.

Homemade blackberry syrup with some of the blackberries from our garden.

Open face avocado and tomato sandwich with tomatoes from our garden.

Tuna pasta salad with cherry tomatoes from the garden.

Swedish meatballs over egg noodles and a side of fresh from the orchard apple slices.

Homemade cheesy potato and veggie chowder.

Beer brats, roasted russet and sweet potato hash and a side of crisp apple slices.

Homemade cheese lasagna.

Homemade deli style Krab salad and avocado on the side.

Cheesy chicken and rice bake with a side of cantaloupe from our garden.

   Well I am off to get a nice hickory smoked pork loin roast in the oven, along with potatoes and carrots.  I already got a feta cheese, cucumber, squash and tomato salad made with all the produce coming out of our garden.  The pork roast is a pretty large one so it will be made into other meals too.  Be blessed my friends, stay safe and enjoy this beautiful Fall weather!

Preparing for the Winter Ahead

    

   I realize that we are just inching into Fall, but I have been trying to think ahead to Winter and making sure that I am as prepared as I can be.  The Winter weather forecast for my area is calling for higher than normal precipitation levels with our "normal" for the most part temperatures.  This translates into snow...lots and lots of snow.

   I live in a very rural small farming community and our power does go down due to heavy snow taking down trees that fall onto power lines or ice on the power lines.  We also get snowed in with the roads shutting down.  Jeff and I both understand that this is just a part of being able to live in our beautiful little town where life is slower...just the way we like it.  However, it does present some problems so this is what we have done to prepare for this Winter so far:

~We have a generator that we bought last year.  This will be used to run the pellet stove to keep us warm and also to keep the freezers going so they don't thaw out.  I still need to get the fuel bought for the generator and Jeff needs to show me how to hook it up and use it so I can do that myself if he is not home and power is out for an extended period of time.

~Jeff will have a winter weather overnight and safety bag with him.  This way if he is stuck in town near his job, he can just head to Jaysn and Rachel's house that is only 4 miles from his work.  They have a guest room he can use and Steven will be thrilled to have his G-pa spend the night.

~Jeff will also have emergency supplies in his car in case he gets stuck on the side of the road.  Thick socks, coveralls, a flashlight, food, water, a nice wool hat and gloves will be in his car in a "to go" bag.  This way if he takes the truck or my car to work instead, he will have them with him.

~We got new all season tires on my car, his car and the truck already has great tires on it.  Jeff has had most of the work done on his car now that needs to be done.

~We have a propane grill and a full propane tank so I can cook outside if needed.

~Most of my prescriptions are filled with a 3 month supply and I can get them and the other ones mailed to me if needed.

~We have a nice pantry but I do need to buy more water.  That is the only thing we are low on.  If the power goes down for an extended time, our town's water supply will go down too because the pumps will not work.

~We make sure that we have lots of food for the fur babies on hand.  They are part of the family and I want them to be safe, happy and well fed.

~Jeff and I both have lots of winter weather type clothing, so we are good to go there.

~We also have lots of blankets to cuddle under.  Jeff had wanted me to get rid of some, but I said no.  If we have the grandkids here and the power goes out, I need to make sure that there are enough blankets for everyone to have multiple layers.  I also keep extra hats and gloves on hand for them too.

~We have car chargers so we can keep our cell phones charged up if the power is out in the house.

~Jeff is buying a snow blower from work to make keeping the driveway cleared easier.  It is something that we have been wanting to add for years.

~There is a good stash of candles and batteries for our flashlights in hand here.  You have to have light with the days getting shorter and the nights getting longer.

~I do need to buy more baby wipes and dry shampoo in case we have no power.  No power means no hot water, but we still need to keep clean.  

~When I hear that a storm is coming our way, I make sure to bake up lots of bread, muffins and things like that.  I want easy and quick things that do not need to be cooked on hand.

~I will fully admit that I do get bored easily, so I have lots of books, movies (if the power is still on) to watch, and games here at home to play.

~My HBA items are stocked up and I will just pick up a few more to replace what I will use this Fall before the snows come.

~We got the feather bed into the dry cleaners and once it is home it will go on the guest bed.  It really keeps me warm and I love to sink into it.  I also need to dig out my feather comforter and get that put in a duvet cover.  I tell you, between the two of those things, it is sheer bliss to go to sleep in that bed.

A Frugal Brain Foggy Day

    

    Tate's expression above expresses is exactly how his Grammie feels today.  He is so cute and I love this silly look on his face. 😁

           

   Today is a major brain fog day.  I get these kind of days sometimes, but today is a particularly bad one.  Not sure if it is just because I am wiped out or because of the gabapentin that I started on last night.  Could be either and only time will tell.  Because of this, there are things on my "to do" list for today that are not going to get done.  I had planned on making applesauce but I really don't trust myself with a knife today.  I did cut open a acorn squash and oh my goodness, that was scary!  So here is what I am attempting to do today that does not take much thinking (or using a knife).  

~I washed all the bathroom rugs and bath mats and hung them out to dry on the laundry line.  It is a cloudy but warmish and windy day so they should dry rather quickly.  I try to do this at least once a month.

~I have Italian sausage and the acorn squash sharing a cookie sheet divided by separate aluminum foil liners in the oven cooking.  Both needed to be baked and this is a good way to do it and save electricity.

~More money saving videos were watched on YouTube.  I seem to glean something new or am reminded of something that I used to do, but stopped doing for whatever reason, each time I watch these.

~The water that was collected in the rain bucket was used to water some of the potted plants in the back yard.

~The cats and I enjoyed some time on the back screened in porch.  I know that our time is going to come to an end soon being able to use this other room that we enjoy so much so we are taking full advantage of it.

~I cleaned out the refrigerator and found some things that needed to be used up ASAP.  This is something that I really do need to do more often. The refrigerator was cleaned out a little at a time since I kept forgetting to get back to it and was getting very distracted.

~I redeemed my points at Mypoints for a $10 Walmart gift card.

~I did some surveys at Swagbucks and earned enough to cash in for a $25 Walmart gift card.

~More clean masks were loaded up into my purse.  Jeff and I forgot to grab some when we went out yesterday and thank goodness I had 2 in my purse.  Those are now in the laundry, so I had to "refill" my purse once again.

~Jeff called from work to let me know that he had accidently run over his phone.  I told him to bring it home and if the sim card was not damaged, we could just put that in my old phone that is the same model.  If not, we will have to get it switched over through the company.  Luckily we did keep my old phone.

~I made a huge lasagna for dinner.  It is a favorite around here and is one of Jeff's favorites.  I used some of the parsley from the garden in the cheese mixture and also put some leftover red wine I had in the refrigerator into the sauce.

~Chris called and we had a really nice visit.  He gave me an update on some friends and relatives that are dealing with Covid and other health issues.  It sounds like the ones with Covid are starting to finally feel better, praise God!

   That is about it for my frugal day.  The plan for tonight is to take things easy, enjoy the lasagna and watch a few TV shows.  I'm hoping that I can fall asleep earlier tonight since I am totally wiped out.  Take care and God bless!

   

Cha Cha Cha Changes

 

   It is another day with more changes happening in my little world.  I had a telemedicine appointment with my doctor today to go over my bloodwork results.  Well...to say my cholesterol levels are a bit elevated would be an understatement.  Those suckers are high!  So onto statin meds I go along with another supplement and after being turned down by my insurance company to go on pregabalin, we are now going to try the gabapentin and hope that I will not have bad side effects from it.  If I do, then we can try to get approval once again for the pregabalin.   I have been warned that the statins themselves can have some side effects, as can the gabapentin...this could get interesting. *  I just found out how expensive my meds are going to be...thank God for GoodRX.com coupons to help bring the price way down even after insurance.

   This past weekend Jeff and I ran up to Spokane to pick up a part for our pellet stove.  While we were up there, there was a shooting a few blocks from where we were.  YIKES!  We also ran into instance after instance of people not wearing masks and no enforcement of the governor's mandate to do so.  There were so many rude people who kept crowding around me even though they could see that I was wearing a mask, which should signal to them that I have concerns about staying healthy.  Trader Joes was a madhouse, as was Marshall's.  The only place people were even slightly considerate was the ARC thrift store, where I did find some lovely treasures.

   Yesterday we went to Moscow, Idaho in the afternoon since I was having a panic attack and needed to get out for a bit.  I think my panic attack was brought on by several things like the shooting in Spokane, covid-19 cases going through the roof with our high school on virtual learning for 2 weeks due to so many students and staff having it (40% of the students were out with it the previous week), family and friends having covid-19 with several struggling and some having to be hospitalized, and knowing that it is hitting the kids in our area pretty hard.  :(  It is sad, scary and in many cases, very preventable.

   Anyway, we went to Moscow and I saw first hand the shortages and price hikes on food once more.  Dollar Tree had very little food on their shelves and the prices at Winco have gone up steeply on some items, while remaining constant on others.  I only found 1 food item and none of the other things I was looking for while at Dollar Tree.  We did stop at Goodwill and Jeff found a brand new car seat cover for his car and a battery powered tool there.  He likes to have multiples of his battery powered tools so he can use one while the other is still charging.  Honestly, I have no problem with him buying tools he needs because he really does use them a lot.  

   Fall is definitely in the air, even though we are having a warm spell here in the day right now.  Jeff ended up breaking the weld on one of the wire connections on the pellet stove when he was installing the new part and was so frustrated with himself.  Luckily for us, he knows how to do welding and our amazing neighbors had a wire welder in their shop that they let us borrow.  Jeff got it all fixed and running and I sent him up with a large container of freshly picked blackberries from our garden as a thank you.  They were so happy to have been given the blackberries and we are very grateful to them for their generosity in letting us use their tools.

   My days are filled with spending time in the gardens trying to coax the last of the produce to ripen before the killing frost comes.  I have had to cover up the pepper and cantaloupe bed several times now, along with the front tomato plants.  The side bed with tomato plants has some natural protection, but I know the time will come soon where it too will either be hit hard or I will have to begin covering it up also.  I'm also enjoying being able to hang sheets out on the line to dry now that the rain knocked the smoke from the wildfires out of the sky.

   Our evenings are now mostly spent with the fire going in the pellet stove and the cats curled up and snuggled in on our laps.  The lap quilts that my mom made us are in constant use now and I have started to have a cup of evening herbal tea once more.  It is a nice routine to be getting back into after the long and busy days of Summer.  Our ROKU had been acting up, so I set it back to factory settings and we are once again able to get things to load and our YouTube channel is also working.  Jeff is happy to be able to watch his bowling...I know he was missing it. ;)

   I'd better go and check the blackberries and see if there is a bunch ready to pick or if I should wait another day.  If they are ready, I shall pick them, if not, I'll water them deeply and try to pick tomorrow.  Be blessed, stay safe and healthy and enjoy the beauty that is Fall!

Let's Chat Shall We

 

   Oh my goodness, you might want to grab a nice hot cup of coffee for this one.  I have so much to say and share and this is my outlet to do so. 😀  Don't say I did not warn you all.

   Yesterday I had to go and get my bloodwork done for the year so I could refill my medications.  I chose to go to the small town office instead of the bigger office that is connected to one of the hospitals (my doctor practices out of both).  I am so glad I chose that option as they spaced out the appointments at the small office to try to limit contact among the patients.  My doctor, who is a wonderful and caring man, and I had a long talk about many things including my health and the pandemic and how it is affecting the care of patients in the hospitals.

  A. My health...we are going to try my on gabapentin since my pain levels are getting to the point where it is making me nauseous.  He said there is absolutely no reason for me to have to feel that way and we are now in the process of trying to get approval from the insurance company to try that.  If they will not approve it, there is another medication in the same "family" that we will try.  He also wrote all my other medications for 3 month at a time refills.  He and I both agreed that it would help with my anxiety levels to not have to go out so much and, because I am higher risk even though I am vaccinated, it would help to keep my safer since there would be less possibility of exposure this way.  We also agreed that I can schedule a bone density test when things calm down since I would like to avoid being at any of the hospitals for any reason right now.

   B. Our hospitals in our area are extremely strained at the moment.  Since we are right on the Washington/Idaho border and Northern Idaho hospitals are in crisis care mode, they are sending a lot of their patients to Washington.  This, upon the heavy load we have with our own patient levels, is causing problems.  Apparently our largest hospital, located in Pullman, has converted at least part of the maternity ward into a covid care unit.  Patients that would normally go to Pullman are now going to Colfax for care, causing that hospital to fill up quickly.  I could see the strain of my doctor's face as he talked about it and he said it was only going to get worse for awhile.  He is very worried about the way things are going.

   C.  We talked about my 4 year old grandson Steven who has been exposed multiple times to this virus through daycare and is once again at home on quarantine for 14 days because 2 more kids at his daycare tested positive for the virus and Steven was in direct contact with them.  He has to quarantine, but his parents, do not unless he ends up with symptoms.  They are now trying to juggle who stays home on what day since they both have lots of commitments at work at the moment.

   D.  I also learned that all of his patients that were vaccinated, who did get breakthrough cases of covid, had mild cases and some were even asymptomatic and some only learned they had it when they were routinely tested because they were awaiting surgery or were being admitted to the hospital for other reasons.  My doctor is a gerontologist, so most of his patients are elderly and high risk for this.  And yes, it is funny that I chose him as my doctor, but my body acts and feels old, so there ya go!  Plus, he knows about fibromyalgia, and many doctors around here do not.  I feel blessed to have him.

*  Please keep the doctors, nurses, cnas and other medical staff in your prayers.  They are dealing with so much right now and their stress levels are through the roof.  Thank you.

   After leaving my appointment, I decided to just drive in and pick up my prescriptions.  I had 2 that needed to be handed over in person and 2 that were called in.  Yes, I drove...this turns out to be a bad decision later in the day.  My doctors office is a 1/2 hour drive north on country roads. So I drove there and then back home to pick up a few things before heading in to deal with my prescriptions.  Now where I shop is 1/2 an hour's drive south.  So before I have even headed into town to shop, I have been driving for an hour total.  So I head into town and I am feeling a bit tired and already know that I will be paying for this later...but I am stubborn and just want to get this done, so I stupidly do it anyway.  Upon my arrival at Walmart, it is a madhouse with so many people doing walk ins for the vaccines.  The pharmacist is the one who has to administer them so she has to keep stopping filling prescriptions in order to do so.  I am told to come back in half an hour to pick up my meds, so I go to the Grocery Outlet to pick up some things there and look for cottage cheese since I want to make lasagna this weekend.  No cottage cheese to be found and I notice that some of the prices are going up and there are lots of gaps in the produce area.

   I finish up there and head back to Walmart only to be told that it is going to be another 7 minutes before my meds are ready...ok, I have some shopping to do there anyway, so I go and try to pick up the things that are on my list there.  No cottage cheese and the dairy area is almost empty.  No green onions and lots of gaps in produce with much of it looking really sad.  Lunchmeat is looking very empty and limited but prices have shot up.  Sports drinks...good luck with that!  I did manage to snag the last canister of Gatorade sports drink mix though.  Supplements are cut in half from what they usually have and what they do is in short supply.  I again head back to the pharmacy and am told again that I need to wait.  This was 25 minutes after they told me 7 more minutes.  They were slammed with those walk ins and only 3 people working so I understood that they were stressed, but at this point, so am I.  The lady that I was dealing with does not speak English well at all, so our communication was also difficult.  I ended up just paying out of pocket for one of my prescriptions since I could not get her to understand that I just wanted it sent to me once they were able to fill it under the insurance.  UGH!  (I am still waiting for the gabapentin to be approved)  I went to check out and the self check out machines were having issues and rejecting debit cards.  I had to run mine twice and some people could not get theirs's to work at all at the other machines.  I am so frazzled that I left my groceries there and had to go back to grab them.  I unload the groceries into my car and feel like I am missing something.  I look at the cart to see my cane in it.  UGH!  I go and grab that.  So by this time I am so sore, tired and frustrated that I decide to just grab dinner on the way home.  I pick up Chinese food from the deli and finally also locate some cottage cheese at this 3rd store.  It is way overpriced, but I get it anyway.  

   By the time I arrive home, I can barely walk and my whole body is screaming at me.  I unload the car and put away the groceries and settle into my recliner.  Jeff gets home, we eat and visit via facetime with Josh, Lauren and Tate, and then I head to bed to lay down.  I am exhausted, in tears and hurting so badly, but I can't sleep.  Yes, I way overdid it yet again and no, I will never learn.

   So here we are, the next day, and I am still in huge amounts of pain.  I did manage to finally get some sleep and now have laundry going.  The cats and I are out on the back porch watching the squirrels as they are busy getting ready for the cold months ahead.  I can literally see the weather changing minute to minute.  Today is a day of transition weather wise.  I have so much to do out in the garden and am praying that I can get to at least some of it later.  I also need to remember to cover up the tomatoes and the cantaloupe and pepper bed later tonight just in case of frost.  There are more berries to be picked and frozen, apples to pick, squash and tomatoes to be harvested, applesauce to be made and swiss chard and kale to be harvested and processed.  They may have to wait until tomorrow and I will pray for no frost.

   There is so much more I want to say but my back, neck and shoulders are telling me I need to go and lay down again.  So I shall listen to my body and do so.  Be blessed all!

   

Getting Ready for the Colder Weather

        Fall, my favorite season of the year!!!

   Sunday was Jeff's only day off this weekend so we made the most of it.  He got the air conditioner taken out of the window and everything cleaned up.  He also worked on the pellet stove and we will give it a the run later in the week when things cool down further. 

   While Jeff worked on that, I got busy on getting the laundry caught up.  I also made two loaves of bread, a spaghetti skillet dinner from scratch and a squash casserole.  I then froze a gallon of blackberries, picked from our garden, to take over to my mother when we go see her for Thanksgiving.  Her bushes did not do as well as mine did and I want to make sure she gets some to make jam with.

   Other ways that we have been getting ready for the colder weather is by making more herb salts with herbs from our garden.  I'm going to make a variety of flavors this year, sage salt, lemon thyme salt, basil salt, as well as Tuscan herb salt.  Some of these will go into my spice cupboard, and others will be used for gifts.  I also need to dry more oregano and basil.  

   More apples have been picked, with even more on the tree, that need to be made into applesauce and canned.  I have run out of space in my two large freezers which are stuffed with berries, applesauce, pureed squash and other things that I have picked up and put away.  The pantry continues to be stocked and a list compiled of things that I find that I am low on.  I will pick those things up as I find them.

   This week blankets and quilts will be gone through and washed and then dried and folded, ready for layering on our beds as needed.  The Fall decorations will be brought out and I will start decorating our home for my favorite season.  I already have a scented candle out and have been enjoying it.  There is just something so special about the changing of the seasons and I intend to enjoy it to the fullest.

I Took a Much Needed Break

 

   The picture above is from last year, but it is the same thing that is going on in my home for the past few weeks, with  yet more to come.  Apples, apples, everywhere.  What I am not making into applesauce from our tree, I have been getting from the local apple orchard for eating fresh.  We took Bradley and Isaiah up last weekend to pick apples for us and for their family since they had spent the Friday night with us.  I've also bee trying to keep up with the glut of fresh blackberries, squash and tomatoes that are coming out of the garden at the moment.  I must admit that I am failing miserably at it though.  So much produce, so little energy to deal with it all.

   Today I did make it out into the garden, despite being exhausted and sore from picking a gallon of blackberries yesterday, to harvest herbs to make my homemade herb salt.  I love this stuff and I use it as gifts too!  I also picked more apples off our tree, the ones that I could reach (I do not do ladders), to make yet another batch of applesauce tomorrow while Jeff is at work.  The herb salt is now going in the dehydrator and I have meatballs in mushroom sauce going in the crockpot for dinner.  I will just boil up some noodles and quickly stir fry some fresh green beans to go with them for dinner.  The kitchen is a disaster so Jeff will clean that tonight so I can bake bread tomorrow also.

   I'm currently sitting out on the back porch and there is the combination of smoke from the wildfires and the damp from the incoming rain (praise God for rain!).  The sky is getting darker and darker and the outside temperature is quickly dropping.  I am LOVING this.  Hopefully the rain will knock the smoke from the sky and put out any fire starts along with any ongoing fires.

   Today is the funeral of the former fire chief in Colfax, WA who our Chris got his fire training under.  Chief Krouse was an amazing man who helped so many young men and women get their starts as firefighters and EMTs.  After he retired, he continued to volunteer as a firefighter until his death of a heart attack while pulling line on a fire.  It was his 4th call that day.  His fellow firefighters and EMTs tried to save him, but they sadly could not.  He did go out the way he wanted though...fighting fires and helping in his community.  Our Chris is at the funeral, sitting with some of the men and women from his original crew that he worked with at the start.  Chris is now the interim fire chief for his local community and is taking this hard.  There is an outpouring of love and respect from all over the state and from other states as well.  Our governor even ordered that flags across the state be flown at half mast for Chief Krouse for his life long service.  Many firefighters and EMTs across our state and others got their starts under this remarkable and caring man.  Our family and community owe this man so much!

   The covid-19 numbers in our area continue to climb and Northern Idaho is in crisis care mode now.  The national guard, Pentagon and other agencies, along with a call for volunteers, have been called in to help.  Conference rooms have been turned into covid units at one of the hospitals about an hour north of us and even that is filling up quickly.  New federal and state mandates and restrictions are now in place in Washington state also and we are seeing events being cancelled right and left.  The day before the newest mandates were announced, I did a HUGE stock up shopping trip.  And yes, I wore my mask the entire time!  It's not just covid causing issues and shortages, but supply issues as well, so I wanted to get the things I needed while they were still there and before more panic buying occurs.  Luckily I have been stocking up all along, but they were still some holes in my pantry and HBA cabinets that needed to be filled.  The last thing on my list is to go and get bloodwork done so I can get refills on al my meds and hopefully they will do a 3 month supply for me on one of them and then just send the the one they can only refill monthly through the mail once more.  My prescriptions are totally covered under my health insurance so I don't need to worry about paying for them out of pocket.

   My task this upcoming week is to organize the pantry once more and continue to harvest and process the fruit and veggies from our garden.  Hopefully I can also get in to get that bloodwork done ASAP also.  The weather is cooling way down to more Fall-like temperatures, so that is a huge blessing when I am trying to get things done.  Regulating my body temperature is a HUGE problem for me with Fibro and the cooler temps do help with that.  Jeff will also be picking up some items that I did not find or forgot to add to my cart when I was out earlier in the week, so that will also help.

   I'm going to head inside and check on dinner in the crockpot and on the herb salt that is going in the dehydrator.  I think I will also lay down for a bit as I am really sore at the moment.  Be blessed, stay safe and stay healthy!