Frugal Friday Wrap Up a Day Early 2/19/26

 

     Isn't God the most amazing artist?  I woke up really early this morning and was greeted with this beautiful sunrise.  I quickly grabbed my phone and took picture after picture trying to capture the awesomeness of it all.  Truely breath taking don't you think?

   I know this post is technically a day early, with this being Thursday and not Friday, but my husband is off at work today and I find that since he is home on Fridays, I have not gotten around to posting much.  I'm not saying that having him home on Fridays is a bad thing, quite the opposite.  I really enjoy spending time with my husband and I don't want to ever take away from my first priority which will always be my family.  I know that everyone who reads this will understand.  

   

   Our son Chris took myself and one of his friends fishing last week.  His friend Jim is 90 years old and is the person that sold Chris's boat to him (and gave him a great deal on it).  I had been looking forward to this day for a long time.  Yes, it was cold, but the sun was out and it felt glorious on my face.  The sun reflected off the ripples in the water and reminded me of the days I would spend at the beach growing up in Hawaii.  I felt totally at peace and I even caught the first, and the largest fish of the day.  Chris took it home, filleted it out for me, and it is now in his freezer awaiting my drive over to pick it up and to drop off some things for him.  The whole day was just what I needed since I had been struggling with SAD due to there having been way too many gray days leading up to it.  Jim and Chris were wonderful company and my heart was filled to the brim with calm and love.

   While I was out fishing with Chris, Bradly, our oldest grandson who will be 14 in 2 weeks, came over to spend the day with Gpa (my husband) and change the struts out on the car that he will soon be gifted.  We had made this promise to both Bradley and Isaiah, that when Gpa retired fully, that they would get the car.  Originally, they were going to have to share the car, but then Aunt Helen gifted her car to the boys before she died.  Isaiah has decided he wants Aunt Helen's car, which made Bradley very happy since he wanted my husband's car.  The boys live out in the country and needed a way to get to and from work.  The deal we made with the boys had been that when we gifted them the car, that they were going to have to work to pay at least part of their car insure (on their parent's plan) and their own gas.  I know my oldest 2 grandsons well and that they would be more than willing to do this to have a car of their own.  So, Jeff and Bradley got the struts changed out and spent the rest of the day having pizza and watching movies before they set out to buy a Valentine's gift for me that I had seen and picked out earlier that morning.  This leads us to a list of some of the other frugal doings over the past few weeks...

~Jeff bought me a one-of-a-kind gorgeous antique stained glass hanging lamp.  It has metal work on it over each lower panel of glass that depicts a lake scene, complete with the shorelines, pine trees and a little cabin at either sunrise at either sunrise or sunset.  Each panel's glass is unique.  It originally was $295 but Jeff walked away at first and she brought the price down to $200.  Jeff rewired it for me and it is now hanging in our living room.

~We have been searching for a recliner that would actually fit my hubby and his extra-long legs. ;)  This search has been going on for months now since his recliner that he did have at that point was so low to the ground, making it hard for him to get up and out of, and was too short for his legs.  We even (gulp), looked at furniture stores, but the one that came closest to fitting him cost over $1000.  That was not something we could afford.  On a hunch, I asked my husband if we could go to the grand reopening of a thrift store near us and guess what we found...yes, the perfect sized recliner for my hubby (and his long legs) that is also the right height for him to get up out of easily.  All in, we paid a little over $100 for it.  That was a savings of $1100 over what the other one at the furniture store would have cost and it fit him even better!

~Our neighbor was gifted 2 apple pies and she gave one of them to us.  It is delicious!

~Our pellet stove control panel went out (luckily, we do have a furnace as a back up source of heat).  Jeff had me go on line and order a new control panel for it.  Cost was $382 after taxes and shipping.  It sure beats the cost of a new pellet stove and Jeff can install the new control panel himself.  Savings over $2000 for the lower end priced pellet stoves.

~I have been trying to cook more from our freezer and pantry.  A few of the meals I have made lately are a rich elk burger soup that used a Bear Creek Beef soup mix along with a pound of cooked elk burger.  So delicious on a cold day!  Homemade Fettuccini Alfredo using linguini noodles since I was out of fettuccini, along with the last of my half and half, and some Parmesan-Roman cheese that I had previously bought on sale and thrown in the freezer.  This is one of Jeff's favorites.  Air friend Panko breaded chicken with Colby-Jack cheese melted on top served with a green salad and rice pilaf.  A sheet pan dinner of baked Italian Sausages (served on buns) and sweet potato wedges.  This was served with homemade applesauce that I had previously made from some apples from our tree and frozen. A shrimp and cabbage Asian style salad with shrimp that I had bought on sale and thrown in the freezer. Teriyaki meatloaf made with venison burger, served with rice and green beans.

~We donated so many bags of things to the thrift store while we have been slowly going through things that we no longer need.  For each donation, we get a 20% off one item coupon.  We use the coupons on bigger ticket items.  We mostly shop on Mondays since that is Senior day and all of our items, except the half off color tags of the week, along with the new merchandise, are 20% off.  I stocked up on some nice Land's End cap sleeved dresses for the warmer months since I practically live in dresses when it is hot.  I also found a long short-sleeved dress which is also perfect for the hotter weather and works great as a beach cover up too.  Jeff found some comfy lounge pants and shirts.

~Jeff and I gave each other haircuts.  He cut mine way shorter than he normally does and I now look more and more like my mother with her short haircut.  I have to say, I kind of like it!  I have always looked like my mother when it comes to our eyes and expressions (I even sound like her), and thus also look like my great grandmother (my Tutu) in the eyes.  Now I look like her hair-wise too. :)

~Jeff got us restocked on another ton of pellets for our pellet stove.

~We took Maggie to the do-it-yourself dog wash in town.  She desperately needed a good bath!  She likes the blow dryer on the low setting there and will even come into the bathroom at home now on occasion when I am blow-drying my hair to get her turn in too.  Silly dog!

~I put away the Christmas decor and have now replaced it with Winter decor that I already have.  

~I picked up a few more classic movies and musicals on DVD.  We really enjoy these!  And yes, I got them at another thrift store.

~I made Jeff a loaf of banana bread with some over-ripe bananas that I had peeled and put in the freezer for such a time as this. ;)  Food is one of his top love-languages and boy did he feel loved!  He was making happy sounds while he was eating. 

   So there we are once again!  Oh, and by the way, my shingles are healing up nicely now and I don't think I will have any scarring at this point.  I still have some nerve thingy going on in some spots, but that is to be expected.  Be blessed and have a wonderful day!

Coming to You from Shingles' Central

😒😩😧😪😫😡

   No actual picture for this post because ain't nobody want to see my Shingles rashes.  They are all up and down my right arm and even a spot on my back.  They are ugly, painful, angry things and have brought with them their cohorts fatigue, gastrointestinal issues, and itchiness. I did go and seek medical help and am on antivirals, which do seem to be helping.  I chose not to get the vaccine for Shingles because it could make my Fibromyalgia go into a really bad flare that could last for weeks, months, or even years.  That was a chance I was not willing to take.  So...I will get through this and hopefully never have them again!

   Jeff has, as usual, been my knight in shining armor, taking off from work to get me to the only available opening to see someone at one of the clinics in our system here.  It was the furthest one from our home.  We got to the small town about an hour earlier than we thought we would.  We had left early because you never know what you are going to run into on these farming route roads.  The drive there only took us about 45 minutes.  We had not been to this particular town in years and a lot had changed.  There were some new shops open, including a thrift store, which thrilled me to no end.  We took a quick look in there and ended up getting some brand-new Fall themed fabric napkins.  We also met lots of really friendly people and one of the ladies actually makes the drive over to our little town every Sunday for church.  She is good friends with one of our dear friends and carries honey from the farm of one of my former students.  Such a small world!

   I don't know how many disaster movies Jeff and I have watched to keep my mind off the Shingles blisters.  My dear hubby knows that I am a natural disaster movie fiend.  I know, it is strange, but it relaxes me and I get a kick out of how bad some of the special effects are on the, shall we say, lower budget ones. ;)  I've taken numerous naps and have had some sleepless night.  I am finally getting my appetite back.  Jeff is going to have to make a grocery shopping trip for us tomorrow before he comes home from work since the gastrointestinal issues are keeping me homebound.  Yep, having IBS is not helping either.  

   Jeff is working another 3 days in a row week (he usually only works 2 days a week) since they are moving into the new expanded area of their store at work.  He has been really busy with that and comes home tired and sore.  I have been missing him while he is gone.  I can do the 2 days a week, no problem, but you throw in an extra day, and well, I just get to missing him so badly.  You would think I enjoy spending time with the man or something. ;)  I can also see that that extra day tends to take more of a toll on him also.  I wish he could fully retire, but there are still bills to pay, car repairs to be done, savings to get built back up and unfortunately, our social security checks alone do not stretch far enough to do it all.  Hopefully once he gets the repairs done on his little car, we can give it to our oldest grandson as promised since he will be able to legally drive within this year.  Bradley is going to have to get a job to help pay for insurance on the car and gas for it.  Hopefully he can get one at the grocery store that his uncle manages.  That will still leave us with my car and the truck.  We will also have Josh's truck here for 3 years come this late Spring, so we are going to need the space in the driveway.  

   Anyway, I wanted to check in.  Be blessed my friends and I pray you never get Shingles!