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!

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 7/25/25

 

~Jeff made a second compost bin with some of the pallets that we have here.  He also dug out the top layer of the other bin, put that on the bottom of the new bin, and now we can reach and use all the rich compost that is at the bottom of the old bin.  Oh how I love that man of mine and how handy he is!

~We harvested 6 gallon sized bags full of lettuce from the garden before it went bitter and to bolt.  I gave some of it away.

~Our tomato plants are blessings us each day with ripe and juicy little bursts of sunshine.  There is nothing like a warm from the sun tomato fresh out of the garden to eat.

~The raspberries continue to produce for us.  I have frozen a lot, given some away, snacked on them fresh like crazy, made 4 quarts of raspberry vodka and have more to go out and pick tonight.

~The blueberries have produced more this year than ever before.  I am enjoying them too.  Dinner Wednesday night was smoked breakfast sausages and pancakes, plan for Jeff and blueberry for me, with homemade syrup.

~We picked up fruit and a bottle of wine from the Farmer's Market on Saturday.  We also went to a few yard sales where I bought Bath and Body Works body sprays, a really cool puzzle/model (will be a gift), and 3 seasons of Last Man Standing on DVD.  Steven was given a toy glider that has its own motor.  He was thrilled! 

~Jeff and I hit a sale at Bath and Body works.  It was their semiannual sale.  I also had a coupon for a free product since it is my birthday month.  I walked out with a body spray and 2 yummy smelling liquid soaps for the kitchen and bathroom.  We bought these days before the yard sales where I found the other body sprays.  I am now set for years!

~I made homemade Fettuccini Alfredo since I had everything I needed on hand, and it is a favorite with Jeff and I.  It made 2 meals for each of us.  

~Green salads have been on the menu also.  Jeff and I each enjoy making them the way we want.  

~Jeff grilled up some sausages on the outdoor grill and I made homemade Sweet Potato Fries in the Air Fryer.  They were so good.  Jeff cooked up extra sausages and they have been a blessing with my fibro flares.

~Jeff worked on the pop up tent trailer.  Some of the hydraulic lifts were not working right so he built braces for the roof.

~One especially hot night, when I really did not want to cook, I quickly threw together cheese quesadillas and served them with salsa.  They were really good and so easy and quick to make.

~Steven helped me measure all the drawers and cabinets in the trailer so that I could find containers that were mouse proof that would fit in each of them.  I want to be able to store things in the trailer so that we are ready to go at a moment's notice. 

~We spent Friday afternoon at our town's swimming pool.  It is only $2 for a day pass per person.  The water felt amazing and I got to visit with some of my old students who now have families of their own.

Polar Vortex, Frozen Pipes and Incoming Freezing Rain

 

   My poor birdbath has been through the ringer.  First we had a Polar Vortex that left the water in it frozen solid and then the snow came, lots of snow.  Now we are expecting freezing rain, right in time for the afternoon/evening commute.  Just lovely....not!

   We had the Polar Vortex cause us to have below zero temperatures here on the Idaho/Washington Palouse.  Many people had water pipes that froze and burst.  Luckily, we just had the hot water pipes going to our master bathroom freeze.  The cold water pipe still worked though.  Thank goodness the pipes in the rest of the house were okay and we have a second bathroom that we had hot water in so we could still shower.  The kitchen hot water also remained working.  Yesterday the hot water pipes to our master bathroom finally thawed out so I was able to use the shower in there this morning.

   During the Polar Vortex, we were going through 2 bags of wood pellets a day to keep the house warm.  We did plan ahead and bought a Buddy Heater in case we lost power.  We also have our generator if needed.  Even with Jeff home for 10 days, we did not get a lot done because we spent most of our time cuddled up under cozy throws and blankets near the pellet stove keeping warm.  Jeff also had a sinus infection (which he finally went to the doctor for), so he was not feeling all that great before he got his meds.  

   Jeff is back at work today and will also work tomorrow, then start his new work schedule next week.  He will be working 3 days one week and 2 days the next, rinse and repeat. 😉  We are still waiting to hear from Social Security on his claim, but we do know that they are processing it.  We planned ahead, so financially we will be fine if it is delayed a bit.  Since we are also doing a "no spend January" other than needed things, it is saving us a lot of money.  We are eating out of the pantry and the freezers for the most part, just supplementing here and there for some fresh fruit, veggies and a few other items.  I'm glad we are because 1 1/2 bags of groceries the other day was $70, and we did not get that much!  The only meat we bought was some salad shrimp, and those were marked down.  I divided that package up into 3 smaller portions and froze them to use in salads.  Each portion is about $1.10 this way.  

   Earlier this week, we had our friend Roni, who is like a sister and is also our kids "other mother", up for dinner.  I made some lemon chicken pasta with chicken that our Chris and Heather grew and processed.  She brought a nice bottle of wine.  Both the wine and the dinner were really good, but the company was even better.  We talked for hours and laughed about so many things. 😆  She is one of those friends that you can always pick right back up where you left off, no matter how long it may be between visits.  Hopefully we can make those visits happen more often though...we have all missed each other.

    I had better get going, Chris just called and I need to talk with him.  He has a lot going on and just needs to talk.  Poor guy is so busy and just exhausted.  Be blessed all.

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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Happy Frugal Cinco de Mayo!

 

   Happy Cinco de Mayo!  I love this holiday for its traditions and for its delicious foods.  I also really like being able to stock up on staples used in Hispanic cooking.  I found salsa and tortillas on sale at Safeway and got the maximum allowed.  Oh, and I cannot forget the cheese I got on sale too.  One can never have enough cheese in this house.  Jeff eats cheese almost every day so we go through a lot of it.  I only buy cheese when it is on sale. 

   It has been a busy week for me despite having to take time to rest.  I was able to get all the seed potatoes chitted  and they will soon be ready for planting out.  I did some cooking, worked in the garden and got a lot of housework done.  Jeff and I put a shade cloth up over part of the roof of the greenhouse and it has made a huge difference in there.  We have some of the shade cloth left over and will be using that to shade one of the raised garden beds when needed.  I learned how to and gave my hanai sister Shannon's little dog Casey her shots for diabetes since I will be taking care of her and the rest of the fur babies coming up here soon when Shannon goes to her daughter's college graduation. 

   My grandmother's hope chest is now put in a place of honor in the living room.  It is HUGE.  I can only imagine what my sweet Grandma put in there over the years leading up to her getting married.  I am sure there was the beautiful hand crocheted bed coverlet that her mother made for her.  I have that coverlet and it will be making its way back into the hope chest once more.  Also going into the chest will be wool blankets and some precious to me quilts.  I'm still debating about what to do with the rug that my great grandmother designed and made.  My mother had it on top on the cedar chest in her home protecting the top of it.  I remember that rug being on the floor next to my mother's bed in other homes.  If I remember correctly, the rug was made for my mother as part of her wedding gift from her grandmother who passed away before my mother got married.  I have surmised that my great grandmother knew that she would not be around to see my mother get married, so she made the rug years in advance.  My grandmother had a matching one, but sadly it got ruined after my grandmother passed away and was left in her home.  I wish my mother and I had thought about getting it when my mother was advised by one of her new stepbrothers to come and get anything that belonged to my grandmother's side of the family before it was sold off.  We all really liked and respected him.  He was watching out for us and was so good to my grandfather.  

   I've continued to try to stock up on things that we need and food.  I made a trip into Pullman on Thursday to get the sale priced cheese, salsa and tortillas.  After I got those at Safeway, I headed over to Grocery Outlet.  I came upon a awesome sale on canned luncheon meat (think Spam) for .99 a can!  Now Jeff loves this stuff and it stores forever, so I bought a flat of it.  I had not seen that low of a price for about 3 years now.  When deals like this come around, you bet I buy a lot of the item!  I think God was smiling on me because I also found my favorite Ace brand Guava "cider" in the adult beverage section. 😎  I had this down in Las Vegas and feel in love with it.  I had been unable to find it anywhere up here since then, but now Grocery Outlet is carrying it.  They lady I spoke to in charge of the ordering for that section said she just ordered more of it and is looking for different flavors also.  Cue the happy dance on my part.  Yes, it's the little things like that in life that can make me smile.  It reminds me of home in Hawaii and the carefree days on the beaches there where my stress would just melt away while watching the waves in the ocean.

   My son Josh called and told me that he had some news that would make me very happy.  I immediately blurted out "you guys are pregnant", which was then greeted with a chorus of "no" from both Josh and Lauren followed by "why would you even think that?" from Josh.  LOL!  They have both previously said they were done having kids after Peyton was born because they felt their little family was complete.  My reply to Josh was "well you said it was something that would make me very happy and grandbabies make me happy".  Anyway, it was not that, but that Josh was not picked to deploy to a place we had previously invaded.  He really wanted to go and get his deployment done while the kids were little since he had not been eligible to deploy for 8 years based on his previous jobs.  Now that he is eligible once again, he is itching to go.  Now, this is that part where I share with you all that Jeff and I have been praying that he not be deployed, especially with how much of a tinder box our world as a whole is right now.  Jeff has specifically been praying that Josh would be considered "too valuable" to deploy, just as one of his uncles and grandfathers had been.  Apparently, Josh is needed at this new base to get the troops there back in line again and trained well.  They are talking about moving him to a new group to lead them now also.  Thank you God, from a very grateful mom and dad, for your protection over our son.

   Speaking of kids and grandkids, I finally got some prints ordered from Walgreens of all the grandkids and kids.  I found a half off digital coupon code that really brought the price down.  I have a large collage frame that I will be putting the pictures in. I really wanted some updated pictures of the family to look at. Now to find the walls space for it! 

   Oh, I finally got the results of my echocardiogram.  It showed no abnormalities!  Another answer to prayer.  I was amazed at how much stress left my body when, after months of trying to figure out if I had a leaking heart valve, I finally have my answer and it was such good news!  My PTSD related to all things medical, had reared its ugly head during this time as I thought back to my childhood with heart issues and all the tests, blood draws, and painful shots I had for years, most of it done alone.  Despite having gone through therapy, I don't think that fear will ever leave me.  Some things go so deep and there are still others, that are yet to be dealt with as they are much too painful.  Those things are kept in a sealed up "boxes" in my mind.  Anyway, I don't want to dwell on those painful things, I just want to celebrate the prayers that have been answered and God's provision for our family. 😊

   

   

   

   

   

Christmas Postponed and Thoughts on Grieving

 

   Our Christmas was, and still is, postponed.  Uncle Bob's funeral was on the 21st of December.  I was feeling healthy going into it and had a wonderful time sharing memories of our beloved friend.  So much laughter, so many hugs, and so much good food and fellowship!  Later that night I started to cough and by the next morning I had a raging fever.  It was a rough week to say the least and I lost weight due to not eating much of anything.  It is a little over a week later and this is the first time that I am feeling semi normal again.  I know it will take me at least  another week or so to feel back to what is my "normal" though.

   I am not the only one in the family that got sick.  Isaiah, Heather, Chris, Rachel, Jaysn, Jeff and now Bradley and his Grandma Tammy have been or are now sick.  This thing is NOT fun and seems to affect everyone a bit differently.  The one thing it has in common though is that it zaps the strength right out of you.

   Gone were the family Christmas parties, going to see our hanai son Ben in concert, and having people over.  No Christmas baking was done, Steven did not come over for some special cookie making time, and no Christmas cards were sent out.  Everything same to a screeching halt.

   What it has done is given me time to rest and time to process some rather complex feelings that I have about loss.  You see, we lost Jeff's mother about 3 months ago and, given that she had cut us out of her life a few years previously, I did not grieve her loss then.  Now we have lost Uncle Bob, and his loss is one that I am feeling deeply.  There will be no more visits, no more hugs, no more sharing stories and me telling Bob that he has to apologize for blowing up at someone (which he would greatly regret after the fact).  There will be no more finding Jeff over there helping Bob with a project.  No more sitting in the shade in his front yard.  No more Bob telling us how much he prays for our boys.  Uncle Bob and Aunt Norma were there for our boys and loved them unconditionally, even when my mother-in-law turned her back on us, and in doing that, also cut us off from Jeff's father.  They, along with my parents, were the grandparents that my kids depended on, needed and were so deeply loved by.  Uncle Bob and Aunt Norma were great friends/family to Jeff and I also.  I will forever be grateful for all that they invested and poured their love into our lives.  We love and miss them beyond words.

   Jeff and I have talked about how different we feel our loss of Bob and Norma compared to the loss of his mother.  Jeff reassured me when I was feeling somewhat conflicted about why I had not grieved the loss of his mother when she passed away, that given the circumstances, that we had done our grieving when she first cut us off for good.  That cut us both to the core and it was a "death" of our relationship with them.  We would no longer be allowed in their lives.  It did not make sense then and it still does not make sense.  I will never understand how they could do that to our children and to their own son.  It was cruel, evil and twisted.  It honestly put me into therapy where both Jeff and I could hash out those feelings of betrayal, hurt, anger and sadness.  At this point I am just numb to Jeff's mother's passing.  It is what it, whereas Bob's passing is raw, and comes with a deep sense of loss of someone who was so very special to us and whom we loved with every fiber of our being.

   So today, as I am still feeling the aftermath of the flu and of all those emotions of losing Uncle Bob, I am trying to return to some sense of normalcy.  I baked 2 loaves of bread and cooked up half a package of maple flavored thick cut bacon.  I saved the grease from the bacon, just like my mother always did and still does to this day.  I can hear her in my ear saying there is so much flavor in there and not to waste a bit of it. ~Smile~  Life goes on and we take lessons learned with us.  Some were devastating, but others were amazing!  Family is not always about blood, but is formed by those amazing bonds, shared memories and love.  How blessed were we that we got to have 30 years of love and friendship with Uncle Bob and 28 with Aunt Norma.  I choose to focus on that thought and rejoice that Uncle Bob and Aunt Norma are together once more, right where they both wanted to be. And yes, at some point our family will gather together for a late Christmas celebration once everyone is feeling better.  After all, the greatest gifts are the love and being together with family for both Jeff and I.  

   

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 9/23/22

   This is going to be in list form since I was horrible about trying to keep track of what I was doing each day.  Major Fibro Fog due to high stress levels just took me down yet again and I am slowly rebuilding my stamina.  This is something I have learned that I cannot rush or it is a "one step forward two steps back" kind of thing.  I'm trying to keep my sleep schedule semi normal, but there are still nights that despite taking medication to help calm me, I still have a multilane freeway going on in my mind.  Such is life and I cannot stress about the fact that it just happens, or it makes it worse.  This is NOT a "feel sorry for me" post, just the opposite.  It is an acceptance of what my life is and it feels good to finally be able to not put more pressure upon myself.  😊 It has taken me a long time to finally get to this point (many, many years) and I am proud of myself for finally getting here.  Yes, I still get frustrated at what I cannot do, but I no longer beat myself up about it.  There is always going to be stresses in life, but I no longer add to it by feeling guilty about that stress affecting me...does that make sense?

   Anyway, that is not what this post is really about is it?  😉 It's about how we have been trying to save money and live a frugal life.  Is it just me or has anyone else noticed how much grocery prices are jumping up more and more quickly?  Oh my goodness, I was shocked at my bill at Winco the other day.  I paid at least twice what I did for the same items just a few months ago!  Not only that, but my coffee, the Winco house brand, not only went up in price by $2 a can, but they also shrank the can.  Seriously, I kid you not!  I am trying to get ahead of the holidays and stock up on things that we need for those celebrations, along with getting all the gifts for the grandkids.  Anyone else doing this?  Anyway, onto the frugal doings...

~I found some Sesame Street board books for our little grandson Tate.  He loves Sesame Street!  I found the books at the Dollar Tree.

~I stocked up on 40 pounds of flour.  It was cheaper to get it in the 10 pound bags than any other way.  I got them all emptied into washed out food grade buckets with tight fitting lids that I had previously gotten free from Safeway.

~Jeff and I picked all the pears off the trees.  We got a bucket full this year, which is more than we have gotten in previous years.

~I went to Jeff's work for a free BBQ lunch and also got some beautiful robin egg blue paint for half price to paint our front door with.

~I sent some tomatoes to work with Jeff for our friend Dee.  I have an abundance of tomatoes and I wanted to bless her.

~The green larger tomatoes were all picked since the bugs were starting to really get to them with the weather getting colder at night.  They will slowly ripen here in the house.

~Blackberries, blackberries, blackberries!  Oh we have so many!  Jeff and I have both been picking them like crazy.  Most of them are being frozen for me to make jams/jellies, pies and syrups.  I have also been gorging myself on them fresh!

~We finally used up the last of our Montana Huckleberry potatoes.  They were delicious!  We did find that they are not good "keepers" for storage, so we know that we will need to grow some additional good "keeper" type next years also.

~We skipped the county fair this year, even if it was free to get into.  One of the customers that came into the store Jeff works at said that he spent $400 😬at the fair for food and rides.  He also said it was so crowded and they waited for an hour per ride.  Now Jeff and I do not do the rides, but I also do not do huge crowds!  It will send me into a panic attack, and nobody needs that.

~I froze some over-ripe bananas to use later for bread.

~More loaves of my homemade bread were made and quickly consumed.

~I have been planning meals around what we have and needs used up in the fridge and freezer.  Some of the meals we have had were a Sloppy Joe noodle casserole, Little Smokies sausages in the BBQ sauce, grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, broccoli cheese soup and pulled pork sandwiches.  I served these with side dishes of carrot sticks, sauteed squash from our garden, sliced crisp apples, green beans, and coleslaw.

~Kitty TV once again entertained my indoor cats.  I love YouTube and apparently, they do too. 😉

~My dear friend/sistah Roni (also known as my boys "other mother" and I am know as the same for her girls) came over for a girls' night.  We had soup and she brought carrot cake and macaroons for dessert.  Delicious and so good to have some time to just sit. relax and catch up on each other's lives.

~We have been waiting for the new "Rise of Gru" Minion movie to come out on one of our streaming services and it finally did!  Jeff and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

~Jeff fashioned a blackberry picking container out of an old coffee can and a bracket.  He hangs it on the fence as he picks.  Genius I tell ya!

~They had lots of leftover frozen burgers and chips at Jeff's work so they have been BBQing burgers for lunch for the employees and having them bring home some of the chips.

~I thought the microphone on my computer had pooped out on me and tried for hours to figure it how to fix it.  I talked to Josh about it and he offered me his old Macbook to use so we could still do facetimes with Tate.  I did finally figure it out and restored my computer's microphone, but Josh still wants me to bring home the Macbook just in case.

      So that is what we have been up to.  The garden is still producing more cherry tomatoes, squash and blackberries.  The acorn squash continues to grown and I am still praying we get some before the frost hits here.  Jeff has been working on winterizing our house, hot tub and buying more wood pellets to heat with. I've been puttering around and slowly changing out the pictures and flowers over to Fall themed ones.  Soon the new rug will go down in the living room after this (hopefully) last heat wave we are due to be getting starting today.  I am happy for the slower pace of Fall and the shorter days and longer nights.  It just makes me feel more comfy cozy. 😊Be blessedf my sweet friends!