Only a Few More Days

 

   It's only a few more days until Christmas is here.  My tree is decorated, gifts that needed to be sent out in the mail have either arrived or are on their way. Gifts for the youngest two grandkids, Tate and Peyton are safely tucked away at their home now, along with gifts for our Lauren.  Hopefully Josh's gifts will arrive in Japan soon so that he has gifts to open on Christmas too.   We have done our annual lunch and shopping trip with Bradley and Isaiah (it was so much fun).  I love spending time with the two of them!  Steven will be coming over this coming Monday, and we have a Christmas craft of painting a snowman mug (or we could use permanent markers which may be a better option and then bake it on in the oven).  If time allows, there will also be cookie making with my "King of the Sprinkles" grandson. 😋  All that is left to do now is bake the cranberry-orange bread and get Steven's gift wrapped along with the finishing details on the family gift bags for Jaysn and Rachel, and Chris and Heather.    

   Jeff has a dental appointment tomorrow and a doctor's appointment for his knee Monday.  The plan was to go and fix the damage at Jaysn and Rachel's home from the huge windstorm that hit our area on Saturday.  However, our Chris went over today and fixed the shed and the house roof for them.  He also took over a gas-powered generator to run for a few hours to keep their freezer stuff frozen and he took them a propane heater.  They have been out of power since yesterday.  Jaysn did take time off work to be there to help Chris.  Chris let Jaysn know that they were going to need a new roof soon. That is going to be a huge expense.  Luckily, Jaysn and Rachel are very good about budgeting for big expenses and paying things off as quickly as possible.  I am forever grateful that my kids are all amazing at helping one another out.  It takes a lot of pressure off of Jeff, who whether he will admit it at times, is not as young as he once was.  Things take a bit longer to fix now that he is getting older and the arthritis, degenerative disc disease, along with some other issues, make it harder on him to do what he once did for everyone.  He is still there as a wonderful guiding and teaching source though.  If he can't figure it out, there is always YouTube.  LOL!

   If I do not post again until after Christmas, I do wish everyone who reads my blog a very Merry Christmas!!!

Everybody Needs a Giggle

 

    

   I know, it has been about three months since I last posted here on my blog.  Life has been busy as usual, and to be perfectly honest, I have been dealing with some rather heavy things emotionally and just have not had it in me to post anything here.  I try to keep my spirits up, but there are some days when it is hard.  This time of year can be especially hard for those of us who are dealing with the loss of loved ones whom we have passed within the past year or even longer ago than that.  It is also hard knowing that this may be the last Christmas you have with someone you love.  And while typing this, I just got a phone call from a dear friend who is in the ER.  Depending on how things are looking, I may be heading in to see her as soon as Jeff gets home from watching our Isaiah sing at church this morning.  I did not go because I am having a Fibromyalgia flare and I knew that sitting in the hard pews or standing up for any length of time was just not possible today.  Please pray for my friend, she is dealing with so much and we love her dearly.

   Now you understand why I needed a giggle, and I found it in Mortimer, or Morty for short.  Morty is my "emotional support snail". ;)  As soon as I saw Morty in the making, I knew he must be mine.  Morty is part of a family of snails that our Heather's father Bruce carved and painted.  He is a very talented man who has rediscovered his love of carving and does amazing work.  You can see some of it on his Facebook page Gods Country Art (10) Facebook   If the link does not work, you can find it on Facebook by doing a search.  Bruce was selling some of his carvings at a local Christmas Craft Fair and I was so relieved to see my Morty still there.  No, Bruce had not named, him, but I sure did!  Some of Morty's siblings had already been sold, but there on the table was my buck toothed boy just waiting to bring me immense joy, and lots of giggles.  So yes, I happily bought him and brought him home with me.  Morty is the second carving that I have that Bruce has done.  The first one was a custom-made gift from Chris, Heather and the boys.  It is a honu (turtle) with special meaning to me.  I wish I could share it here, but there are personal reasons that I cannot.  So, everyone meet my Morty and may he bring you giggles too!

   And not to be outshone by Morty, it is our grandson Tate's birthday today.  He is now five years old!  He is our bundle of energy and way too smart for his own good at times who also has us in giggles.  One of Tate's latest escapades was when he loaded up his golf club set in the back of his little battery powered truck and drove across the cul-de-sac to the play park, unload his golf clubs, pick out just the right one and proceed to smack the golf ball hard with his driver. That kid has quite the golf swing and his accuracy rate at putting is amazing for his age.  Since his daddy is overseas at the moment, our Tate is practicing so that he can beat him when Josh gets home and takes him golfing at the course at Hill AFB.  Tate loves golfing there with his mom and dad.  Peyton likes the snacks at the snack bar.  LOL!

   Wishing you all a holiday season filled with love, joy and yes, lots of giggles too!

   

   

Mid-Month Frugal and Other Updates

 

      Jeff and I are missing our youngest grandbabies so much.  They recently got snow at their home in Utah and the kids were so excited!  They went out and made snowmen and played in the snow.  Josh said they were very happy little campers. :)  Chris and Heather invited us over for dinner last week and we had a wonderful time with them and the oldest grandboys.  We did try to get together with Jaysn, Rachel and Steven, but they were out of town at her cousin Doug's birthday.  Hopefully we will get to see them soon. 😊

     Jeff went up and closed out Helen's bank account and then headed up to Sandpoint to pay for her cremation.  His cousin very generously sent us a check to help with the expenses but we still spent over $1,000 out of our own pocket to cover her final expenses.  We will scatter her ashes up on the mountain where she wanted them.

   Jeff and I both got the crud making the rounds and are still recovering from it.  We both already had doctor's appointments scheduled for other reasons and luckily our lungs were clear.  Jeff had to get an x-ray on his knee and they found lots of arthritis there.  He now has another upcoming appointment with the orthopedist to see if he is going to need surgery since his knee has really been bothering him.  

   Now onto the frugal doings.  I am going to try to remember everything, but we all know how well my memory is.  LOL!

~I found more of the poinsettia garland at the thrift store and bought all that they had.  I also found some more Christmas decor including some old glass ornaments like I had on my childhood Christmas tree and 2 more bags of balls for Maggie.  Spoiled puppy!

~I am always on the lookout for more Christmas china.  I was so excited to find some of the Pottery Barn retired reindeer pattern dinner and salad plates.  I got the 4 salad plates for $1.99 each and the 4 dinner plates for $2.99.  

~Jeff found a pair of jeans on clearance at Walmart.  He needed a new pair for work.

~I made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce with the last of the tomatoes that had been ripening in our house.  I'm freezing it for future meals.

~Jeff and I went out to eat and we both brought home half of our lunch since the portions were so huge.  That made for 2 meals for each of us.

~Shannon was so sweet and brought us home a street taco kit from Costco on one of the days that Jeff was still feeling ill.  that made for 2 meals with leftover tortillas, salsa and cilantro lime dressing.

~I found some beautiful decorator Santa plates at. you guessed it, the thrift store for $1.99 each.  They are now hanging up in our kitchen by the sink and bring a smile to my face each time I see them.

~More bread was finally made.  It had been a long time since I made bread.  I sent one of the loaves home with Shannon as a thank you for all she does for us.  I also sent home some of the last of the tomatoes with her.

~Jeff finished off the wood trim for Shannon's new kitchen door.  Luckily, we had some extra wood here at home that he could use since they ran a bit short.

~We popped up some popcorn and watched the movie "Twister" on TV.  It was really good!

~Jeff and I both found some nice clothing at Goodwill.  I found jammie pants and some shirts.  Jeff found some slacks and a nice WSU jacket.

~Chris and Heather surprised us big time by giving us their pop up tent trailer.  We had offered to buy it in the past, but they said it needed some repairs and they did not want us to have to do them.  We had told them that we could make the repairs since most of it was replacing some flooring and dry rot.  Jeff can easily do that.  Still, they had not wanted us to have to do any of that.  Thus how surprised we were when they surprised us with such a kind and generous gift.  We are storing the trailer in their shop since it will keep it undercover.  In the Spring, we will bring it home here so Jeff can replace the flooring and we can paint the interior to give it a fresh look.  We are looking forward to many years of family camping trips and fun!

~I've been switching out the artwork on the walls with more winter and Christmas stuff.

~I went through Helen's Christmas decorations tote and found some beautiful and meaningful things in there.  One of the items was a fabric Christmas tree that Jeff's mother had made for Helen years ago.  I recognized it immediately since Jeff's mom had the same one in her home and had told me that she had made it.  I know this might sound strange, but I am finally able to appreciate things from Jeff's mother again.  There were years when I could not due to all the heartache she put Jeff, our kids and me through.  I'm still healing but am moving in the right direction.

   So that is all that I can remember right now.  My plans for this week are to get the house decorated for Christmas.  I really am needing the joy that the season brings.  It has been a rough year for us and this Christmas will be bittersweet.  There are daily reminders of our loss of my cousin Jeremy and Jeff's Aunt Helen since we have Maggie and Remmie with us.  I will say that Maggie and Remmie bring us comfort and comic relief.  I am so glad that they are now ours. I am going to try and focus on the good memories and building new ones.  Be blessed my sweet friends.

Frugal Friday Wrap Up (including the past month) 11/1/24

 

      Thank you all again for your patience with me.  Lots and lots still going on dealing with Aunt Helen's death and the aftermath of all the legal stuff that we are still dealing with.  Now I know what you may be thinking...what does the picture above have to do with frugal living...well I will tell you.  Our son Chris is receiving an award for going above and beyond in helping evacuate people and coordinating saving lives in a recent fast-moving fire.  Since he is also a firefighter, he knew exactly what to do and how to coordinate agencies.  We are so very proud of him!  Now here is where the frugal living comes in.  Chris was homeschooled as many of you know.  We lived on a small single income for many years to make this possible.  It allowed all of our boys to get the best education possible and for them to pursue their individual interests.  Chris happened to love firefighting and being an EMT.  Fast forward to today, Chris and Heather are living on a single income (his), homeschooling their boys, both are volunteer EMTs for their community and Chris is also a volunteer firefighter.  Heather helps to bring in some "fun money" by selling delicious homemade treats.  It allows them the freedom to go fishing, hunting, hiking, camping and to travel to see family when time allows.  They grew a very productive garden this year and Heather blanched a froze lots and lots of beans.  They also had tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, and all kinds of other things.  Using well-rotted chicken poop, tilled into their garden, made things grown quickly.  The chicken poop was from their chickens.    Now that is what I call frugal and I could not be more proud of them.  Oh yes, Isaiah (our grandson #2) shot a deer the other night when he and Chris went out hunting.  More meat for all of the family!

   Now here are some of the things that I have been doing over the past month in no particular order:

~Steven and I went to an estate sale here in town and I found a beautiful brand-new tote bag with a watercolor picture of a hummingbird on it.  My mother loves hummingbirds and this will be part of her Christmas gift.

~Other finds from the state sale were two cookbooks, one a local community cookbook from 1983 that has recipes in it from so many of the people that welcomes us with open arms and hearts when we first moved here, and the other a sourdough cookbook.  My other fun find was a handmade broach with a beautiful slice of agate.

~I have been going to the thrift stores and finding Christmas and Fall decor for pennies on the dollar.  Some of my finds include 2 ceramic partridges, some high-end poinsettia garland, a cute straw deer that Steven absolutely loves, and some crystal vases along with a few Christmas mugs. I also picked up a bag of tennis balls for Maggie since she loves them and destroys them pretty quickly.

~I found a brand new with tags jacket for $5.99 and used a 20% off coupon to bring the price down even further.  I found out that it retails for $100.  Score!

~Jeff and I love lamb chops, but they are so expensive.  I found 3 packages marked at half price at Safeway.  I got all they had and repacked them with my Food Saver.  These will be delicious that coming holidays!  What a treat!  I also found ground beef on sale there for $2.97 a pound so I bought 3 pounds of it and repacked it for the freezer.

~The ice built up in our upright freezer and forced the door open.  Luckily we caught it and only lost a few things from the shelves on the door.  Jeff unpacked the whole freezer and defrosted it, the repacked it all.

~We have been enjoying pears and tomatoes that we grew as they ripen up in the house.  I am freezing lots of tomatoes too!

~Jeff and I have slowly been going through Helen's belongings and found lots of unopened health related products like mouthwash, dental flossing picks, toothbrushes, etc., that we are adding to our HBA cabinet.  It is hard to be going through her things as we still are mourning her.

~I'm still cherry picking the sales at the stores to stock up our pantry.

~We have been watching lots of movies lately thanks to Paramount, Disney, Peacock and YouTube. Have you seen the prices of movie tickets at the theater lately?  Even with our senior discount, we would still be paying a lot.  I'd rather be in my recliner at home watching them.

~Jeff and I both did a major purge of our clothing that we no longer use and donated it to Goodwill.  We shop there a lot so it is easy to just drop it off there and run into the store.  On one of those trips, I found an item that has been on my wish list for over 30 years.  I found a Fenton flow blue plate.  Luckily, they had just brought out a cart of new items and I snagged that and a tiny Victorian style ring box.  Right place at the right time I would say!

~Rachel's mom moved up closer to us all.  It was so nice to see her on Friday when I stopped by with Steven.  Steven had made her a turkey decoration earlier in the day at our house.  I am looking forward to spending more time with her.

~Jeff and I met with a court advocate who helped us fill out forms that we need to be able to access Helen's account so we can use that money towards her cremation. She also called some other advocates to help us figure out if we could get some financial assistance with Helen's cremation costs. Apparently, the county she died in will give you a loan, not a grant as we had been led to believe.  Jeff and I now have to foot the bill for the rest of the cost beyond what is in her account.  We are talking close to $2000.  UGH!  We will have to put it on our credit card and then pay that off in 3 payments with Jeff's checks from work.  If he was not still working part time, this would sink us financially.

~I trimmed my bangs as they were getting too long.

~Jeff and I have been trying to mostly eat out of our pantry and freezers.  There are times however that we still grab something to eat that is ready made from the grocery store.  It is still cheaper than going out to eat.

~Maggie has been a nervous wreck since she got home from the kennel.  I ordered her some CBD oil to see it that helps calm her down.  I feel so bad for her.  I think she may have thought that we were abandoning her.

   I think I will end this post here.  With all the stress of setting Helen's affairs, trying to get ready for the cold weather months, purging the house of so many things and the weather changes, my fibromyalgia and arthritis are acting up big time.  My sleep habits have been thrown into a tizzy also.  Not a good combination.  However, life must be lived to the fullest.  I have grandkids to love on, along with our kids, friends and other family members.  I'm looking forward to getting back into some kind of routine again and having more sleepovers here with the oldest three grandboys.  Steven spent Thursday night with us and it was so much fun!  There are also upcoming fishing trips with Chris who is buying a bigger boat from a friend.  I love to go fishing, so this will be a lot of fun for all of us!  

   Be blessed my friends and I pray that there will not be any more unrest or acting out in our country with the upcoming election this Tuesday.  We experienced first-hand some shady stuff in our county with the post office in Spokane processing our ballots, and sending them out, yet only a few made it to our town, ours's were not among those few.  Our county auditor has launched a full-on investigation with the postal service over this and we were able to get replacement ballots.  Much love to you all, be safe!

Happy Holidays and New Year's Goals

 

   I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is about to have a very Happy New Year!  We had a lovely Christmas Eve day brunch with Rachel's mother and the rest of our family. We did it potluck style and had crepes with both sweet and savory fillings, sausages, fresh pineapples and both homemade huckleberry and strawberry fillings for the crepes.  It was wonderful to spend that time with our kids, grandkids and Rachel's mother who came up to spend Christmas with Jaysn, Rachel and Steven.  She has had some health challenges and I think this meant a lot to her, as it did for us!  Does that mean that Christmas is over?  Nope, we like to stretch things out around here so we are doing our family Christmas on New Year's Day in the late afternoon.  We will be doing an appetizer dinner and the sliced apples with sauces and topping again like we did for Thanksgiving.  Everyone loved that so much and asked to do it again!

   

   Jeff and I spent a quiet day at home on Christmas.  I made us a very nice Christmas dinner with ham, loaded potato casserole and green bean casserole.  All of these things are huge favorites of Jeff's and I really like them too.   Plus, I love the leftover ham!  Jeff spoiled me with a collapsible bucket cart that I can haul around the chairs, drinks, food and blankets that we will be using this Spring when Bradley and Isaiah are both playing on different baseball teams.  I got him a gift card to the bowling alley and a bag full of some of his favorite treats.

        Jeff had been hit with some kind of virus hard the day before and was still a bit weak on Friday morning, so he took both days off.  He was feeling better in the afternoon, so we ran into town.  Our first stop was at our Credit Union where we paid off our personal loan and our credit card in full!!!  Yes we did!  We still had more money left after paying those off with the retirement payoff for Jeff that we had been waiting for.  That got put away in savings.  Our teller was our hanai daughter Tiffany and she was so excited for us!  We shared hugs and got caught up on each other's lives.  On our way out, we ran into another one of our hanai kids and she got us caught up on what has been going on in her family too. :)  Such fun!

  

   Our following stops were to Walmart where we hit the after Christmas sales, got some things for the cars, a Seal a Meal for me to use to help preserve our food better and protect it from freezer burn and picked up a few grocery items including another marked down ham, some marked down salad kits and some marked down bakery items.  Safeway was another stop where I cherry picked the deals.  Our last stop was at the thrift store where all Christmas items were 75% off.  I found a few Christmas items and also got some books and magazines since it was B1G1F.  My very lucky finds there though were a Bodin Coffee Press for $2.99 and some gorgeous Haviland dessert plates for .69 each.  I was also able to finish off my gift baskets for the kids and grandkids here.

   Jeff and I spent this morning going over our budget and setting some goals for a no spend January (other than necessities) and some for the year.  Our January goals start with trying to get more organized by cleaning out our clothing closets and taking things to a local consignment store, along with some baby items that we have had here for the grandkids who have now outgrown or don't need then anymore.  Anything they do not take will be donated and will not be returning home with us. 😁  We also want to get the windshield replaced on Jeff's car.  It has horrible cracks running through it.  Our third goal is to get everything set up and in place so Jeff can semi retire and only work 3 days a week and also start drawing his Social Security.  The last goal is the most exciting one for us!

   Some of our yearlong goals include paying off our last debt (a loan taken out against my life insurance policy to pay for a surgery years ago for me), putting money away each month in a vacation fund and building up our emergency fund.  Jeff would also like to clean out the garage and reclaim that space so he can work on projects in there.  It will officially become his Man Cave. We also have a plan in place to pick one bigger thing each month to either fix, replace or add to our lives.  These are tangible assets like tools, vehicle repairs, etc..  

   As I close this out, I have the ham bone from the first ham cooking away in the crockpot with all the rest of the split pea soup ingredients.  It smells so comfy cozy in our home.  The new sheets that I bought 2 years ago on sale and put back are all washed up and ready to go on the bed.  The older sheets will be used for projects and in the garden to help protect tender plants.  Jeff hung up some family pictures for me and got the floors swept.  The next few days will be spent cooking and putting the second ham in the freezer and also freezing the ham bone for a future big batch of soup.  We will also spend our family Christmas together, something that I am really looking forward to.  Be blessed my friends, and stay prayed up and prepared for what looks like a rather rocky road ahead.

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 12/15/23

 

   Hello again!  I cannot believe that I am actually posting this on Friday.  Christmas miracles do happen indeed!  😉  It has been a really good week with only one glitch, my mother had her appendix out on Sunday.  By Thursday she was up and doing way too much despite being in pain.  Yep, I am like my mother in so many ways.

   I did not keep track daily of what all I have done, so it is going to be in list form of the things that I can remember.  We all know that my memory is not the best, but I will give it a go.  😉😁

~Jeff and I went to the thrift store in Pullman and I found the handmade basket above.  I did some research and found out that it was made by a local man down in the valley that has since passed away.  I love it and placed a metal Christmas ornament inside it along with a card containing a gift for my Jeff.  While there I also found 2 books and some craft supplies I needed to make a funny ornament for an ornament gift exchange. I can't go into detail about the ornament I made because I do have family who may be reading this and I want it to be a surprise to them also.

~ Bradley and Isaiah spent the night with us on Monday.  We had pizza, cuddled a lot and watched a Christmas movie together.  We loved having then here with us and can't wait until next month when they come again.  While here, Isaiah asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told him that I wanted more time with him and his brother Bradley this coming year.  It really is what I wanted and he and Bradley like that idea too!

~I bought the wrong sized underwear at Walmart and since they were still unopened in the package, I was able to return them and get the right size.  While there we also picked up some juice on clearance and I found my Furukaki seasoning that I use on top my rice.  They had three bottles left so Jeff told me to get all 3 since we are having a harder time finding it now.

~I made more bread and sourdough crackers this week.  Becky, my sourdough starter (doesn't everyone name their starter) is doing great and is loving her "feedings".  She expresses this through bubbling up very nicely and giving me that nice tangy fermented taste in baked goods that I make from her.

~Grocery Outlet did not disappoint when we stopped there on Tuesday.  They had pumpkin bread mixes on sale for .99 each.  I bought 3 and will be using 1 of the boxes for Christmas Eve brunch at Rachel and Jaysn's home.  They also had Beer Brats, so I picked up a package of those and we will be having them for dinner tonight.  I almost forgot, I found a 10 package of hamburger patties marked down by $4, so I picked that up also and then cooked them all up when I got home.  Some were for lunch that day and the rest went into the freezer for future meals.

~I finally got my parents and brother Fritz's Christmas gift mailed off.  I gave them some goodies to eat and a framed picture like the one you see at the top of my blog page.  They really do not want or need more "stuff" but love goodies to eat and family pictures, so that is what I got them.

~Some of the meals we had this week were grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, fruit and cheese plate for lunch for me, homemade scrapple, pancakes with homemade syrup, leftovers, fried eggs for Jeff, sandwiches for lunches for Jeff, and we did go out to the new Denny's on Tuesday night for our "date night".

~Jeff and I watched the movie "White Christmas", as we do most years.  It is one of our favorites!

~I have continued to keep the Christmas music going via YouTube.  It offers so many different winter scenes and kinds of music.  I find that playing Christmas music has the power to calm me and/or excite me about Christmas.  It also makes me extremely grateful for all that we have been blessed with.  I love listening to it while I am working on the computer, cooking or getting Christmas gifts made.

~Speaking of Christmas gifts, I have been working on making some fun and useful Christmas gifts.  I tied ribbons around some of those wonderfully scented liquid hand soaps that I love so much and using them as part of gift baskets.  Below is one I put together with a nice Christmas tea towel (also brand new but found at the thrift store for .99).

~Instead of taking naps this week, I have been sleeping in instead.  I do feel a bit guilty about doing that though since I feed Ginny and Georgie (my outdoor kitties) when I get up and spend some time with them.  Ginny is still my lovebug and Georgie is slowly warming up to me a bit more.  He is my "work in progress" kitty.  My indoor kitties are loving having more cuddle time since I am indoors most of the time now.

~I've continued to do more purging of things that we no longer want, do not use or do not fit.  We have taken bags and bags of things to donate to the thrift stores.

~Since it is the season to cuddle up more, I am finally getting around to reading some of the magazines that I bought for .25 each at, you guessed it, the thrift store.  I got an even better deal on Fridays on some others when I can get buy one get one free on magazines and books.  I looked at the retail prices on some of the magazines and was shocked to see $9.99 and $10.99 !  I'm sorry, but who in their right mind would pay that much for a single copy of a magazine?  Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that someone did so that I could get it later for .25, but still...

   Well that about wraps things up for this week.  Tonight we are going to Facetime with our grandson Tate who had his 3rd birthday yesterday!  He will be opening his gift from us while we visit with him.  Jeff was gone at bowling last night, so we waited until tonight to do it.  I still cannot believe he is 3 already....time goes way too quickly!!!

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 12/01/23

 

  Yes, I am still here.  All I can say is that life happened.  I got overwhelmed and needed to draw into myself for a bit and recover once more.  I've been keeping myself very busy when not resting.  Right now it is snowing outside, there is Celtic Christmas music playing and I have sourdough bread rising on the pellet stove to pop into the oven once it has a good rise on it.

   Decorating for Christmas has been fun this year.  I went with a Harry Potter inspired theme.  We had to buy a smaller tree that would fit on Grandma's hope chest, and luckily we found that at a thrift store.  The owl on top of the tree, along with the other birds, were all from the Dollar Tree.  The poinsettias were from an estate sale, along with the stuffed animal owls.  The cute little knomes were from Ikea, and the Dollar Tree.  The mirror behind the tree on the Wall is one I bought this Summer and used to hang in Uncle Bob and Aunt Norma's home.  On top of my teacup shelf, I created a bottle brush forest with a truck being worked on ornament.  These were picked up at a yard sale this past Summer also.

      I have been hitting Goodwill to both donate a bunch of stuff and also to shop.  One day I told Jeff that I felt like we needed to stop in...then I looked at the clock when we got there and it said 2:22.  That number is very significant to me and I knew it meant that I would be finding something very special.  Indeed I did when I found 2 copies of one of my favorite cookbooks from Hawaii, along with another one put out years later by the same organization.  The artwork on the covers is by one of my favorite artists, Peggy Hopper.  I was surrounded by her artwork as a child and finally found a print by her at another thrift store.  That was a huge find for me.  Peggy is a friend of my father's, so it makes it all the more special.  I will give the 2 copies of the book I already have as gifts to some special people who I know will treasure them.

   I also found some puzzles that I know my youngest grandchildren will love and that we will take down to them when we go to visit in May.  Other great finds at Goodwill were 2 shirts for me (not pictured), a bag full of Christmas things, a new Christmas towel, and some other books (not pictured).  At Walmart, I found some pajamas for Tate for $3 on clearance.

         On a sadder note, my cousin Amy's husband Bobby died yesterday morning.  He was baptized about a week prior, along with my cousin Amy and 2 of Bobby's cousins.  I am so very thankful that they all were.  Bobby and Amy shared 10 wonderful years together before his passing.  He was her soulmate and best friend and showed her the kind of love that everyone dreams of having in a marriage.  My heart aches for my cousin and Bobby's family.  Please keep them all in your prayers.

A Somewhat Frugal Friday Wrap Up 11/17/23

 

   I'm finally sitting down to a nice cup of apple/cranberry tea served in one of my recently thrifted mug and tiny dish in which to place my tea bag.  I love being greeted by the picture of Peyton once I get signed in...it just makes me happy and I still find myself in awe of finally getting a granddaughter to join in with our 4 grandsons. 😄 Speaking of Peyton, Grammie here has been slowly adding to my Raggedy Ann and Andy book collection to one day give to her.  I found 2 more books in the series at a used bookstore a couple of days ago.

   Jeff and I finally finished watching all the Harry Potter movies and I am now in "mourning" that the next one is not out yet. 😉 To cope with this horrible reality, I decided to do a dark academia themed Christmas this year.  I had picked up some owl stuffed toys at the yard sale Jeff and I recently went to, along with some pretty ornaments so all I needed was a smaller pre-lit Christmas tree to sit on top of my grandma's hope chest in the living room.  I found the a 4 foot tall tree at the thrift store, along with some pretty Christmas hand towels and a soft Winter themed fleece throw with chickadees on it.  Those are now washed and ready to be used.  I am hoping to start my decorating on Sunday.  At another thrift store, I found a really nice Nutcracker cookie jar.  This is the perfect gift for Heather's parents as her mother loves all things Nutcracker.  I will be giving it to her next week when we see her as an early Christmas gift so she can enjoy it through the holidays.

   I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday, so Jeff switched his day off from Tuesday to Wednesday this week.  Everything went well at my appointment and we were able to get my meds renewed and I had bloodwork done to test my thyroid levels.  After my appointment, Jeff and I headed back to another town to get my meds and then headed to Pullman to grab some lunch.  We went to a new Mexican place that we had heard good things about and were pleasantly surprised at how good the prices were for lunch.  The food was great and so was the staff.  We will be going there again.  After lunch, we headed up to the Grocery Outlet.  I have been gathering treats and things to send over to Josh in his Christmas box.  I found several things that I know he will love and I picked up another bottle of wine for $5.99 that is really good.

   This week I made another 2 loaves of bread and more sourdough crackers.  I decided to add some parmesan cheese to the cracker dough this time and still do the 2 day ferment in the refrigerator before baking them.  Oh my goodness, they are delicious!  I also made a HUGE deep casserole dish full of lasagna since I had cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese that needed to be used up.  This has fed us for 3 meals already and we will be finishing it up tonight for dinner.  Jeff and I really do not mind eating leftovers for a few days.  If I had room in my freezers, I would have frozen half of it, but alas, I do not.  Not that having full freezers is a problem, but more like a blessing.

   Onto the updates on my Josh and my sister Leonie.  Isis has apparently decided to now declare that they are going to go on the attack on all US personnel in the Persian Golf region.  Yes, that is where my Josh is.   My stress levels have gone up even higher now and I check in daily with Josh to see how he is doing. Jeff and I decided that we are going to be getting our passports and I am so glad we made that decision.  I talked to my sister yesterday and her donor has not yet decided if they want to go through with the bone marrow transplant surgery. My sister is undergoing more chemotherapy at the moment and is exhausted by it.  If the donor does decide to go through with it, then they will do it down in Tahiti, with the doctor flying in from France.  If they do not, then we hope and pray another can be found before it is too late.  I have not told my sister this yet because I wanted to wait until I had my passport in hand, but my plan is to fly down to Tahiti to be with her.  She has already offered to pay for me to come down in the past and I am hoping that she will be able to still do that for me.  If not, Jeff and I will figure out a way to pay for my airfare there and back ourselves.  My sister is stubborn and very proud and will not admit when she needs help unless it is from me or from one of her very close friends in Tahiti.  Even then,  she will try to push herself to the point of exhaustion to get things done.  She really does need someone there to keep her in check and help her.  Her good friend works full time and has already done so much for my sister.  I want to be able to give her a much needed break and step in to not only help, but just to spend time with Leonie.  I will also be able to finally meet my nephew Kealoha and his wife while enjoying the beauty of Tahiti.  The only downsides will be missing my Jeff, kids and grandkids while I am gone and also possibly running into my ex-boyfriend who also lives there, who I have been told has never gotten over me.  I have no desire to see or deal with his cheating self.  I am a very happily married woman with a wonderful family thank you.  

   Well it is getting close to the time when Jeff will be getting home from work so I had better get going.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and Thanksgiving.  We all have so much to be thankful for!

   

   

   

   

Crawling Out of my Cave to Say "HI"

 

Homemade broccoli, potato and cheese soup, along with a nice glass of wine, sure hits the spot on a cold and wet evening.  The potatoes are some that we grew in our garden, the broccoli was marked way down, and the cheese was on sale.  The boxes you see in the background are holding some of the treasure we found at an estate sale last weekend.

   Yes, I am still here.  I have had to take a break and just take care of my mental health for a bit.  I have still been doing money saving things around the house while dealing with backed up kitchen sinks, being worried about friends and family members serious health issues, and living in a constant state of stress while my baby boy Josh is in the Middle East sandwiched between 2 countries that hate the United States and have been actively attacking our military bases in the area.  

   I've made bread, sourdough crackers, and made a serious effort to eat from our pantry, fridge and freezer for the most part.  Loads upon loads of laundry have been done and I have gone through my clothing so see if there is anything that I need since so many things do not fit me or that I really do not like anymore.  This has led to a search for flannel shirts that I can wear as is or over other shirts. I have also been seeking out fun and oversized sweatshirts that make me giggle because of what they say on them.  I've taken bags of clothing, shoes, and appliances I don't use anymore to the thrift stores and have gotten 20% off one item coupons for doing so.

   Jeff and I went to an estate sale and he found a rolling rack thingy to extend his table saw when he is using larger pieces of wood for building projects.  I found big pillar Christmas candles, Christmas ornaments including some from Hawaii, 2 seasons of McHale's Army, some other DVDs, some full slips for me (I have had a horrible time finding any), and some owl mugs and stuffed animals.  Jeff and I have really gotten into the whole Harry Potter series, which we can stream here, and I want to do some of kind of old worldy library theme for this Winter after Christmas.  I think it will be fun and cozy.

   We've slowly been purging things that we no longer use, including those items that hide in the shadows under the sink.  I love seeing the progress and the opening up of space under there.  I'm starting to use a better system to make sure I rotate our food in the pantry and so far it is working out well.  

   One of my childhood friends had open heart surgery this morning and they almost lost her a couple of times according to her mother who is there with her.  She had suffered a stroke a few years back and she has some severe heart issues.  I am so thankful that she has pulled through and I pray for healing for her.  I know she has a long journey ahead of her.  She and I have reconnected and have rebuilt our friendship over the years and I would hate to lose her just as she is starting to heal emotionally from things that she is just now coming to terms with and learning to stand up for herself and set healthy boundaries.  I am so proud of her for doing those things!

   I chatted quickly with my sister this morning and she gave me some wonderful news...they found a bone marrow donor for her!  She had a doctor's appointment this morning and they are doing more testing to make sure they have everything in place and ready.  She has been told to rest as much as she can and save her energy.  My sister's heart is not the strongest anymore and I am praying that everything works out with this donor because I don't think my sister's heart can take much more chemotherapy or radiation treatments.  Jeff and I are waiting on some money to come in so that he and I can get our passports and I can be ready to fly down to be with her.

   As for our Josh, I try to keep in close contact with him on a regular basis.  Sometimes it is just a quick few lines on Facebook messenger and other times we do a video chat.   He vents to me when he needs to and other times we laugh at silly things and tease each other.  We have always had a tight bond and can both be very sarcastic....we just get each other. :)  Jeff and I are also keeping in close contact with Lauren and the grandkids and recently had a video chat with them as our now 1 year old Peyton opened up her birthday gift from us.  She loved the washable soft stuffed bunny we got for her and immediately started hugging it.  We also got Tate a indoor putting green set up since he loves golf and his daddy bought him a set of gold clubs.  When Lauren gets that all ready to set up, we are going to video chat then too.  He has no idea yet that we got it for him.  He is going to be very surprised and happy!

   Now, as a Public Service announcement, I give you this:

 Ruptured Natural Gas Pipeline Near Pullman Repaired

November 10, 2023 Evan Ellis News

The natural gas pipeline that was ruptured North of Pullman on Wednesday afternoon causing the regionwide outage has been repaired.

Williams Pipeline was able to fix the line on Thursday. The repair means that Avista Utilities can begin the relighting process which could take between three and five days. Avista is hoping to begin the relighting process today.

AVISTA RELEASES TIMELINE AND MAPS FOR NATURAL GAS SERVICE RESTORATION: Avista says almost all customers have already been shut-off in preparation for restoration of natural gas services, and Avista’s distribution system has been repressurized. Avista has released these maps for each region, along with zones which indicate the order of restoration and a window of time crews are expected to be in each zone. Relight sequencing times are based on geographic location of the infrastructure. However, critical customers, such as hospitals and medical facilities, are being prioritized.

The rupturing of the gas line affected many communities, was spread over a large area and left thousands of people without heat. They are hoping to get everything restored by this Wednesday. We have friends that have been affected by this and many businesses, including restaurants, had to shut down. Schools were also closed, including the one my grandson Steven goes to. Hopefully he will be able to go on Monday. Stores sold out of all their heaters and were scrambling to get more ordered and shipped to them. One of the hotels still has heat, but their water heaters, the swimming pool and kitchen all depend on natural gas. They slashed their prices and brought in a whole truckload of portable hot showers for their guests to use. Since there are so many without heat in our area, they were trying to do this to help the community. Here is the reality of the situation, so many people absolutely panicked. They did not have electric heater as a back up source of heat and were stumped at how they would cook for themselves. Luckily there were kind people on hand who gave them ideas like using their microwave, crockpots, air fryers and instant pots, along with gas grills (outside) to make meals. Many of the restaurants around them shut down, and they had no clue as how to cook food for themselves. Yes, this happened in the two college towns that I live near. The lesson that we should all take from this is to make sure we have an alternate source of heat or a way to power our pellet stove in my case (we have a generator and lots of gas), a way to cook if we lose power to our homes, flashlights and lanterns, extra blankets, candles, matches, canned and ready to eat foods, water, and pots that you can use on your grill or even over an open fire in your firepit or rocket stove, or have a camp stove with plenty of fuel to use.

On a more "smelly" subject, please also have an alternative way to use the bathroom because the water pressure may go way down too. We have several heavy buckets on hand and thick bags to line them with. I still need to get a foam pool noodles and cut it to fit around the edges of the bucket to make it a bit more comfortable for using in an emergency.

On that note, I will close this post out since Jeff will be home soon from work. I hope you all have a blessed weekend and stay warm and dry. My love to you all!

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