Frugal Friday Wrap Up

 

   Hello all my beautiful friends!  Steven will be here tomorrow, so I decided to write this post a day early and get it up.  I know I will be too tired tomorrow evening to do so. Having him here with me is wonderful though and I so enjoy our special time together. 😊

   This week has been a very busy one and I forgot to write things down daily that I got accomplished.  Therefore, this post will be a list of the things that I can remember.  Hopefully I have included most things.  I did have a good nap earlier after pushing myself way too hard yesterday in the garden.  Was it worth it???  Yes!!!  I got so much done between seeding things in, transplanting and getting buckets full of compost to where they were needed.  I am super sore today and was encouraged by my husband to take it easy today.  I am more than happy to take his advice. 😁

   So here is my list...

~Remember all those strawberries that I had cut up?  Well they are now divided up between 3 storage containers and are in the freezer.

~Speaking of strawberries, I have been harvested some of our own from the garden.  They are absolutely delicious!

~We bought 1  1/2 cubic yards of compost in bulk from Jeff's place of work for $28.00.  Jaysn picked it up for us since he had our truck and was returning it to us anyway.  That compost has been making its way all over our yard .  

~Those 2 huge bags of spinach were taken care of by doing the following.  I gave some of the fresh spinach to Shannon and we had 2 big spinach salads.  I also blanched and froze 3 packages of it.  Two of the packages were chopped up so they could be used in a spinach artichoke dip and the other will be used when I make Kalua Pig.

~I made a simple applesauce cake.  It is so easy and one of our favorites.  It is a great way to use up canned or fresh applesauce.  This time I used canned applesauce and I will say I like it with our homemade applesauce better.  Both are really good, but there is a bit more appley flavor with my homemade stuff.  Judging by all the apples on our apple tree right now, I will hopefully be able to make a bunch of homemade applesauce again this year.  Last year was NOT a good year for our apples, so I was only able to make one batch.

~I had a family pack of chicken drumsticks.  I divided the chicken into some for making Jeff favorite baked chicken and put the rest into a crockpot with some water to cover them and some chicken bouillon.  The baked off chicken was served the first night with mashed potatoes and some sliced up crisp apples.  We still had some drumsticks left over and those made 2 more meals for Jeff.  The chicken in the crockpot was left to cook overnight.  The next morning, I took the broth and refrigerated it separately from the chicken legs.  Later that day, I took the meat off the bones and froze a portion of it and then put the rest back in with the concentrated broth, some water, carrots (left over from our camping trip), some diced onion (from our onion harvest last year that I had processed and froze) and celery,  I simmered that all together for about 30 minutes and then added in some "misfit noodles" (leftover dry pasta from packages that only had a bit left in them).  That made another 2 meals for us.

~I've been picking flowers out of my garden and making small bouquets and putting those in vases.  I love how my home is filled with the sweet scent of roses.

~Jeff put compost onto the front garden in areas where I wanted to grow even more food.  He mixed it in well with the dirt and dug it about 13 inches down. 

~I planted two types of bush beans , flowers, the rest of the squash plants that I had started in the greenhouse. more tomato starts and transplanted some basil into the garden beds as well as potted some more up in a larger pot.  I want to see where the basil does the best.

~More hair detangler spray was made with a sample sized hair conditioner and warm water all mixed together in a leftover spray bottle that used to hold leave on hair conditioning spray.  I am making my own with just the cost of the water.

~For Father's Day, we used a Safeway gift card to buy 2 frozen pizzas (I also had a digital coupon to make them cheaper), some sushi and a large iced tea.  I had the sushi on the way home (I had not had breakfast or lunch and was really hungry by 2 p.m.) and we cooked up the pizzas once we got home.  We then watched the movie "Avitar, the Way of the Water" while we ate our pizza.

~We bought a nice stepladder for $10 at a yard sale.  I have been asking Jeff for one for about 6 months now and I told him I would find one at a yard sale.  I finally did!  This will live in the pantry so I can reach things on the higher shelves.

~Dollar Tree had some of the Goli brand vitamins so I bought 2 bottles of them.  These are usually pretty spendy!  I also got 2 bottles of foot powder (Jeff goes through a lot of this in the Summer), some cotton rounds that he uses to clean his cpap mask, and some more garden seeds.

~We found a brand new with tags large hummingbird feeder at Goodwill when they brought the new bins out to restock the shelves.  I bought it and put it aside as a gift for someone who loves feeding hummingbirds.

~The laundry was hung out to dry about part of the week when my back could handle it.

~I mixed up more cinnamon sugar.  I needed this to sprinkle on top of the applesauce cake.

~Another years worth of my Tuscan Herb Salt was made with herbs from the garden.  My mother requests this as her Christmas gift every year, so I keep her supplied.

~We bought Jeff's cpap machine outright which will save us all kinds of money in the long run instead of renting it.

~Jeff used some of our stored gas in our gas cans that we keep here to fill up his car.  We wanted to make sure to rotate the gas in the gas cans, so we will be refilling them once more.

~Now that I have rediscovered the joys of napping, I am trying to get a few in a week.  They are a frugal luxury that cannot be beat! 😉

   Well that is all I can remember at the moment.  It has been a great week for me thus far and I have gotten a lot done.  I have pushed myself further physically than I would have thought I could (which led to a 3 hour nap the following day) and Jeff and I sat down and made a list of our financial goals for the year.  Seeing those goals in writing really helps motivate me to stay home more and spend less.  It also forces me to get more creative, and that is a challenge that I gladly take on.  Now I need to get off the computer for awhile and take care of my floors which are filthy between the cats shedding and us tracking stuff in from the gardens. 

Two HUGE Bags of Spinach and Camping Trip

 

   We took a family camping trip last weekend down at a campground on the shores of a dam.  It's about a 1 1/2 hour drive from our home and is just lovely!  Heather had booked us 2 campsites right across from each other.  She and Chris put us up in their tent trailer in the shadiest spot and we parked the boat there too.  The other site was a corner spot and had nice areas for tents (we set up two large ones for sleeping and 1 screened in shade tent).  We also had a nice large area around the firepit too.  We got there on Friday afternoon and had time for some of the family to get out and do some fishing.  The rest of us, except for Jeff (he took a much needed nap), all went kayaking and swimming.  All was going well until a snake came swimming by and then I was out of the water!  That was followed by a thunderstorm and a rather stern reminder to my Steven that I was in charge and yes, he was going to get out of the water and follow me up to the truck.  I had to tell him what could happen to him from the lightening and then he high tailed it up with me.

   Saturday morning I got up early with Chris and he and I went out fishing, just the two of us.  It was a free fishing day in Idaho, so I did not have to buy a license.  I caught one fish, while Chris was pulling them in right and left. 😖  It was all good though because the scenery was breathtaking, I practiced my rather rusty casting skills, and spending one on one time with my son Chris was priceless.   The remainder of the day was spent playing with the grandkids, taking a nap and roasting sausages and hot dogs over the fire, followed by a second round of making s'mores.  We all hated to have to pack up and leave on Sunday, but it was an amazing and much needed time away from the "world" and electronic devices (other than Steven's tablet which they brought to keep him amused on the trip down and back).  It was so much so, that we are planning to do another camping trip here soon closer to home. 😊

   Now, for a side note...on the way down to our camp site, we stopped to get gas in a little town and the library was having a plant sale.  I found both large comfrey and lemon balm plants, so I bought them and they sat outside the tent trailer, right next to the solar light stake that I had set up next to the tent trailer steps.  Well wouldn't you know it, I found an FFA plant sale in the little town where Chris and Heather used to live.  They were having a 50% off sale and I found some ornamental plants there that were just lovely, including a nice hanging basket.  My kids just laughed at me for buying plants on the way to the camping trip but didn't blink an eye when I told them I bought more on the way home.  Yes, I am a bit plant crazy!

    When we arrived home we found 3 cats who desperately wanted out attention despite being spoiled rotten by Shannon while we were gone for 3 days.  They were underfoot the whole time while we got things unloaded and put away.  I noticed that our spinach was starting to go to bolt, so I made a mental note to get it picked Monday.  I was way too exhausted to try to do it Sunday evening.  Both Jeff and I were in bed by 7 p.m. that night.

   Monday came and I was busy doing multiple loads of laundry and later finally got around to picking all the spinach.  I ended up with 2 huge grocery bags full after doing all the washing and patting the leaves dry.  Jeff worked on doing weeding while I finished that and did some watering.

   Tuesday was a crash day for me, so not much got done at all.

   Wednesday, Jeff got the kitchen all cleaned up.  The dishwasher is not fixed yet, and I do not know when it will  be.  Handwashing is not Jeff's favorite thing to do, but he did it while I worked on cutting up 3 1/2 pounds of strawberries and getting them tossed with some sugar.  I'm still debating on if I want to make them into jam or freeze them in smaller containers to use over pancakes, waffles and strawberry shortcake.  I guess I should decide that tonight and get whatever it is done.

 

  Today, Thursday, I did more laundry, spent some time weeding,  and explored our town's little convenience store, which also has booths for people who want to rent them out to sell things.  I had a nice chat with Heather, and got some money out of the bank to have on hand here and also advised her to do the same.  I then got a spinach and cheese lasagna all made and popped it in the oven.  Oh my goodness, our house if smelling divine!

   I had better get this post finished.  I have Steven here on Friday and I need all my energy to keep up with him. :)  I love having him here and it is something that I look forward to every Friday during the Summer months.

   

We've Been Busy and Prayers Needed

 

   I know that it has been a few weeks since my last post.  There has been a lot going on and both Jeff and I have been going and going strong.  I have also been completely thrown for a loop with my sister Leonie's declining health and a horrible scare we had with her.  Not that all is bad, there have also been some wonderful things going on in our family as well.

   First off, my sweet sister Leonie is in need of prayer.  She has to be medically evacuated from Tahiti to France as her heart was having some serious issues and her cancer is progressing rather rapidly. 😭 She needs a bone marrow transplant and the two donors that matched her were not able to donate after all.  One had passed away, and the other had recently had covid and the flu, which made that one ineligible.  My sister needs a donor with the blood type O or O+.  From what I understand, the bone marrow transplant is the last line of treatment that can possibly save her.  The thought of losing my sister has been weighing heavily upon me.  She and I need to have more time together to make up for all those many years apart.  I love her beyond words and even as I am typing this, I am a complete mess with tears flowing down my face.  Please keep her in your prayers and thoughts.

   Now switching gears and trying to pull myself out of going down a teary path any further...

   Bradley has been busy playing baseball with his team and is now in tournament play.  So far they have won their first game in the tournament and play again tonight.  Jeff and I have been going to as many of his games as possible.  We have watched as his entire team as grown and gotten better. We love seeing how they encourage and cheer each other on...I think that is the best part.  

   Isaiah had his dance recital the other night and it was wonderful!  His Grandma Tammy is his dance teacher.  Isaiah is taking tap from her and the progress that he and the other kids in his class really showed.  Our son Jaysn ran the sound for the recital, Max (Tammy's oldest grandson) took pictures, Grandma Sandra (Heather's grandmother) did alterations of the costumes, Bruce (Heather's dad) supervised the boys backstage, and Macie (Tammy's oldest granddaughter) helped with the younger dancers and was also in the recital.  She is also a very talented dancer herself.  It really was a family affair.  LOL!

   Steven had his school play a few days before the recital.  He had practiced and was so excited about it.  Then came the day of the recital and he absolutely froze and shut down when he saw about 500 people there to watch.  He is high functioning on the autism spectrum and I instantly realized what was happening.  He refused to do the play and tried to shut everything off around him by getting as small as he possibly could.  We all left before the play started and it took awhile to get him calmed down enough where he was not trying to hide from the world.  He finally came out of it and was back to his happy self once he felt secure again.  We are very proud of him for trying something scary.  It did not work out this time, but maybe with a much smaller group of people watching, he might be able to handle it.  If he can, wonderful, if not, that is okay too.

   Jeff and I have both been busy in the gardens also.  The weeds have been going bananas and the Spring crops need to be harvested today as the heat is making them bolt.  Jeff brought home a truckload of topsoil for us to use in the raised beds to hill up the rapidly growing potatoes and also add more soil to the strawberry, rhubarb and asparagus beds.  My sweet neighbor across the street gave me some terra cotta planters, along with some that hook over railings that you can grow flowers in.  I am giving her a cherry tomato plant.  I think I will also run over some of the pok choi that I harvest today to her.  She loves it and I have lots and lots of it.  We still had some dirt left over, so Jeff is taking it, along with our truck, to Jaysn and Rachel.  Jeff and Rachel built some raised beds together for Rachel to plant it.  The dirt will help to partially fill the planters so that they will not have to buy as much more.  They will be using our truck for about a week to get things done that they need to also.

   Our Josh is off for a month of training in Texas, leaving Lauren at home with Tate and Peyton.  Tate has been having a rough time of it lately.  He is 2 years old now and given that there have been so many changes in his life with the recent move and having huge emotions and not knowing how to express them with words has led to typical 2 year old meltdowns.  This is a new thing for both Josh and Lauren to deal with since up to this point, he has been such an easy child.  Luckily for all of us, Lauren is an extremely patient mother who can diffuse and redirect his attention.  Peyton continues to be a very happy little girl and is close to crawling.  I think when her daddy gets back from his training that she will be all over the house and into everything! 😉  We can't wait to see them when they all come up in August for a visit!

   Anyway, it is starting to get hot outside and I need to get the laundry hung out to dry.  I have a very long "to do" list this week and am praying that I can get it all done.  This week we concentrate on the gardens and next week on the house, along with some more work and planting in the gardens.  Be blessed my friends and remember to make your home a safe and nurturing place in this world that seems to have gone mad.  Much love to you all!

   

Gardening Season and New Front Steps Build have been keeping us busy!

 

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. 😊

   

   

   

   

   

Lists...

 

   Some days my "want to do" list has to be replaced with my more realistic "what I can do" list.  Some days, like yesterday, my list consists of making a quick dinner and throwing the rest of the roasted chicken carcus into the crockpot to cook on low overnight to be made into bone broth.  It was a very high pain day and took all my energy just to move.  I finally started coming out of my flare in the early evening and was able to help Jeff get some shade cloth up over part of the greenhouse roof.  It was getting way too hot in there and literally "cooked" my Walla Walla Sweet onion starts.  Jeff is getting me some more starts today on his way home.

   My list today consisted of potting up my rosemary plants, repotting some tomato plants that I bought over the weekend, into bigger pots, and potting up some pretty Hulahoop petunias into two different pretty planters.  Also on the list was turning that delicious bone broth into some chicken noodle soup.  I threw in some of the mixed veggies that I had dehydrated to see if they would rehydrate well and they did!  Yay!  I had some of the soup for lunch and we will most likely have some for dinner tonight.  It is so good that I really don't mind having it again so soon. 😉

   I already have my list for tomorrow started.  I want to get my stacking planter filled and then seed in lettuce seeds of all kinds of varieties.  I'm thinking that I may keep this more in a partially shaded area because the weather here is very strange right now.  We have been having summer like temperatures, but it will be doing a drastic drop by this Thursday and then stay there for a bit.  I held off planting the lettuce because I did not want it to bolt in the heat. I did however put my spinach, bok choi, napa cabbage, and radish seed in because by the time they germinate and start coming up, the weather will be more Spring like.

   Jeff has been working on the front porch and steps that he is building, but took a break last night from it.  I think it was well needed.  He had been overthinking how to build it and was getting really frustrated with himself.  I went out there Sunday afternoon, looked at it, and came up with a easy building plan based on math for the rise on the steps.  Usually Jeff is the math guy, but in his desire to adjust the rise to work better for me, he got into his head way too much.  He was also exhausted and hot by this time, so he was not thinking clearly.  Monday was a long and tiring day at work for him and he was still exhausted from the weekend working out in the hot sun.  Yes, my man needed the break.  I am sure he will be back at it again after he comes home from work.  I will give credit where credit is due though, it was Jeff who originally taught me how to measure for and build steps.  Those years of him being a carpenter had me learning a lot from him.

   My neighbor with the little yappy and annoying dog is out looking for and yelling for him.  I am praying she finds him.  We have a rather large fox that has been making the rounds and hunting up here.  I have seen it right in the road in front of my house and it was stalking my other neighbor's dog also.  Luckily, they came out and say what was happening so now their dogs do not go out without them.  I worry about my Ginny cat, but she seems to stick to the backyard here, unless we are out in the front yard, and I keep the gates closed to deter the fox.

   Well, I was up by 5:45 this morning, so I think I am going to go and have a bit of a rest for awhile.  Be blessed my friends!

   

   

   

   

A Sort of Weekly Wrap Up Post

   

   Over the last weekend, we were able to see my nephew Cade, who is a senior in high school, and his Jazz band perform.  He had the biggest cheering section there with his parents and brother, two sets of grandparents, two uncles, one auntie, a cousin and his cousin's wife and child.  I saw him lean over to his friend and later found out that he told them that the group of us was his bloodline.  LOL!  It also turns out that one of the girls in the band had lived in Oakesdale for years.  Oakesdale is the next town over from us going north and we know many of the same people.  She was totally delightful, and we had a nice visit with her also.  It really is such a small world!

   

   We all had a wonderful time together, sharing meals, hugs, and having some great talks.  I really do miss having that time with my baby brother, the world's best sister in law, and my two nephews.  Eli had so much to tell me and so did Cade.  Cade and I especially have this super tight bond and can visit for hours, never getting bored or repeating the same subject.  Yes, we are both chatterboxes.  LOL!  My brother Eric and my son Chris seemed to have some great talks too. It was so hard to say goodbye to them on Sunday morning.  Our time together was way too short, but we crammed a lot into it.

   Christie brought over a huge black garbage bag full of clothes that Eli had outgrown over the years that are still in excellent shape for my grandboys here.  Bradley may be able to fit into some now and will grow into others. Eli is very skinny, just like Bradley.  None of the clothing will fit Isaiah as he inherited the "Duerr" barrel chest and body.  After Bradly has outgrown the clothing, if they are still in good shape, they will be passed down to Steven, who is also very skinny.  Yes, this is the way we do things in our family and I sure do appreciate it.

   The weather really warmed up this week and I have been enjoying sitting out on the back porch and on the bench in the backyard where Ginny cat and I enjoy some cuddle time. Jeff and I have even been able to have dinner out there. Laundry is being hung out on the line to dry and I have been trimming plants back.  My hydrangeas are now done and I have a hanging fuchsia plant that I got for $10 since it got nipped by the frost.  I cut it back and it is recovering nicely. The greenhouse is opened up during the day so the heat does not build up in there and I will be starting seeds this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Jeff will be working on building our front porch and stairs so we can once again use the front door. 😉

   Jeff and I headed over to Potlatch on Wednesday night to watch Bradley's baseball game.  I packed us a nice little dinner and took some drinks with us.  We took Jeff's car over, since it uses less gas.  Oh my hips are paying for that.  I have no idea why, but every time I ride in Jeff's car and have to get in and out of it, I hurt my hips.  Was it worth it though...absolutely!  Getting to spend time with our family and watch my grandson play ball is a privilege that I do not take lightly.  I had some aluminum baking trays with the plastic lids that I gave to Heather for her Cinnamon Roll baking side hustle, along with some latex garden gloves for her.  I am actively cleaning out thing that I am not using, or in the case of the gloves, cannot use because I am allergic to latex.

   Jaysn and Rachel are borrowing our truck at the moment.  While dropping it off on Sunday, I spied some of the half whiskey barrel planters that Rachel was getting rid of.  I asked her if I could have them to grown potatoes in.  She was more than happy to give them to me and will be bringing them over when they return our truck on Sunday.

   Thursday was a day at home for me and I tried to make the most of it despite the back and joint pain I was having.  I washed two loads of laundry and hung it out to dry on the laundry line.  That wiped me out for awhile, so I took some time to have some brunch.  I had a bowl of the pasta salad that I had made the day before.  I then ran down to the post office to get the mail and stopped by Uncle Bob's son's house to let him know there was a relator up at the house who was having trouble getting into the garage to view it.  While there, I spotted a large oval mirror that he was putting out for a yard sale and I bought it on the spot.  I had been looking for one and this one was from Uncle Bob's house.  I got it for $10 and was very happy with that price.

   Later that afternoon, I went down to our commodities distribution and was able to visit with several friends that I had not seen in quite awhile.  We shared hugs and one of them, who had recently lost her husband, looked at me and told me she had something to tell me.  She told me to treasure all the moments that Jeff and I had together.  I gave her a hug and promised her that I do and would continue to do so.  I came home from there with a full heart and lots of groceries including fresh fruits and veggies, canned goods, lots of cereals, powdered milk, pancake mix, baked goods, small bags of chips, rice, beans, split peas, and frozen fish, a huge pork loin, teriyaki chicken, ground beef and sausages, peas, and shrimp.  I also got some HBA items.  My freezers are once again packed full.  Since I was worn out from everything, I grabbed a pizza out of the freezer for dinner and had a Blue Hawaii frozen wine drink that I found from last summer in my freezer.

   Jeff got paid Friday morning, so I ordered more supplements that we use on a regular basis from Vitacost.  I had a coupon for 20% off and I got free shipping.  That really helps since it was a big order.  My friend Carol's sister shared her obituary on Facebook, and it really helped me understand why Carol was the beautiful and feisty person that I loved so very much.  God laid on my heart to pray for healing of hurts on the heart of another friend.  I do not know what the circumstances are of why she is hurting so much, she has not even shared that she is hurting, but God knows.  I messaged her and she thanked me because she is going through a lot at the moment.  Please, if God lays someone on your heart to pray for, do it.  

   My big job for the day was getting the tomato plants and the squash plants going.  As I opened packages of seeds and labeled pots, all was going well until I open a package of Grey Zucchini squash seeds from Ferry-Morse.  There was exactly one, yes that is right, one seed in the package. UGH!  I got out some other seeds from a different company and finished getting all those seeds potted up and watered in.  Everything went into the greenhouse.  I then contacted Ferry-Morse about the problem and they were very helpful.  They sent me a link to a form to fill out and will be sending me a replacement package.  Apparently, the machine that packages their seeds has had a few glitches and I was not the only person who contacted them.

   And so went my week.  I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful week and is enjoying this weekend.  Cheers!