Frugal Friday Wrap Up 9/30/22

      Patchy is loving the warmer days to bask in the sunshine and then cuddle up at night.  I frequently have her on my lap and Midgy right by my legs on the recliner in the evenings.  It's comforting and something that I really love about the cooler nights.  Now onto the frugal doings...

 ~We had some lovely warmer weather at the beginning of the week, along with clear skies, so I took advantage of it.  I hung the sheets, cloth napkins and sheets out to dry on the laundry line.  Oh did they ever smell good!

~Jeff and I went to 2 thrift stores and found some books for the grandkids (I love giving them special books), and a squeegee that he wanted for his car.

~Walmart had been having some amazing clearance items.  I got a long-sleeved shirt for $1 and we found a ratchet strap set for a little under $13.  I thought it would make a nice gift item since Jeff did not want at first to get it for his own truck.  We have 2 other kids with trucks.  However, in the end he decided that yes, it would be a good idea to have some for his truck since he does haul a lot of stuff around.

~Say it with me gang...more blackberries were picked!  Lots and lots more. 😉  Jeff took a 2 gallon container of them to work with him on Monday to share with his coworkers.  We try to send in special treats and even plants to share on a semi regular basis.  We have been abundantly blessed and it just feels good to share those blessings with others.

~We were very good and only bought bananas at the grocery store.  I am trying to get through the last week of the month NOT buying anything else there.

~Monday, I had a lovely phone visit with my cousin Jeremy.  He just put an offer down on a house and I am praying he gets it. It has been a long journey for him to find another home to buy after selling his home up in our area and then moving to be closer to his mother. Update:  He got it!

~My sister Leonie and I were finally able to have a nice video chat.  She is currently in New Zealand undergoing more treatment for cancer that has returned.  She is hopeful, but also shared with me some of her fears.  Overall, our chat was a very positive one though and I am so glad that we were able to actually see each other over video as we talked.  I miss her so very much!  I will be forever thankful that we did have a chance to visit when she came up here and finally met a good chunk of my family. Praying that she can make another trip up when she beats cancer again!

~So we have a beautiful calico cat (I named her Ginny), that has been hanging around our place and Shannon's next door.  She had some awful matting on her fur, so I cut the mats off and she seemed so relieved.  Both Shannon and I have been feeding her and she just wolfs down the food.  She is super affectionate, and she seems to have adopted us as her people.  I am going to have Jeff make her a warm little house, that is protected from the wind and snow, for this Winter.  That way if she continues to stay here with us, she will have a snug, warm and safe place to be since she is an outdoor cat, and my kitties are NOT fond of any other kitties in their home.  Update:  I found out who Ginny's owner is and that her name is actually Kat Kat.  Since she responds to "Ginny" and continues to hang around here, I will continue to feed her with her owner's blessing.

~I made a large container of chicken salad with lots of crunchy celery in it.  It made 2 meals for Jeff and I.  Of course I added some sliced fresh tomatoes from our garden to mine.  YUM!

~Looking at all that is happening in the world and with our economy here in the USA, Jeff and I made some changes to our money management system.  I am starting to get a little freaked out about things again....not going to lie.

~A sweet friend from Hawaii sent us a package in the mail with 2 bags of Kona coffee from their coffee farm on the Big Island and lots of other goodies.  One of the bags of coffee is for my mom and will be sent with their Christmas package.  Oh the memories of my childhood growing up in Kona just came rushing back.  Did I ever mention that my father bought a coffee farm shortly after we moved there?  He got it dirt cheap and later sold it to help buy our first nice home there.  We also lived on another coffee farm at one point.  The only safe drinking water came from a tap outside the house.  The rest of the water was rain catchment.  This was all before my brothers were born.  Once Grandma saw where we were living, she and Grandpa bought a house and rented it to my parents so that we would have a nice place to live.

~Rain, glorious rain!  We finally got some much needed deep and drenching rain on Thursday.  Oh it just made me so happy!  I stayed in my jammies and robe all day long.  Looking at the plants outside on Friday morning made me smile because I can see that they loved it too.

~Some nights I have cereal for dinner...Thursday was one of those nights. 😉  Jeff was at his bowling league and I just did not have the energy, nor the desire, to cook anything.

~Our lawn mower decided to stop working and nothing that Jeff did fixed the darn thing.  He called Jaysn to borrow their lawn mower and Jaysn said to just keep it as long as we needed it since they bought a riding one.  Our lawn needs at least one more mowing before the frost comes and kills it.

~Craving some comfort food, I made a meatball and mushroom gravy casserole.  I added a diced up Walla Walla sweet onion from our garden to it while it cooked.  I served it over rice and it was so yummy!  We had enough leftovers for several meals.  I also cooked up way more rice than we needed so that I could use some of the rice in a meal for this coming week.

   Be blessed my beautiful friends, stay safe and please, be prepared for anything that may come your way.  My heart goes out to all the people who have suffered losses from this horrible hurricane Ian.  The devastation there is just unimaginable. 😢 I have kept in touch with friends there and some of them have damage to their homes, but nothing like those in the hardest hit areas.  Please keep all the people there in your hearts and prayers.