Brace yourself she's gonna blow!

 Sorry folks!  I just can't take it anymore.  Yes gas is up; though not as high as it got under our last administration.  Inflation is up 4.2%.  It got up to over 9% under our last administration.  I'm not going to say that somehow inflation under a republican president is better than under a Democrat president.  Inflation is inflation.  What I am going to say is that Mainstream media was silent about it under our last administration.  Now you see nothing but news segments on how people are struggling under the weight of higher prices.  News flash news guys; folks have been dealing with higher prices since the Covid years.  Technically the U.S has been dealing with higher prices since we went off the gold standard in 1971, but that's another vent for another day.  I have to be careful and not go off into a tangent while getting to the point of this post.

You can be a victim of inflation, or you can win over it.  You can at least live with it.  If we ever become like Venezuela it will be a problem, until then: I move on.  Let me throw in this caveat;  I've also been stunned and dismayed by the price increases; especially beef.  However, I feel better able to cope with it because of how I manage my kitchen.

"But I can't have chickens or a garden where I live".  I totally understand that.  We didn't always have these things; especially not at the level we have now.  So while raising chickens or growing a big garden is helpful; it doesn't have to mean you're helpless.  Plus, we still have to buy feed for these chickens.  That's an expense someone without chickens doesn't have.  

Many of those individuals covered by news stories are your everyday citizens that have no idea how to shop, cook, bake, plan.   Their shopping trips have always been just put what they normally buy in the buggy, and see what the total is when they ring it up.  I can imagine it's a bit of sticker shock to see the end total going up.  The skills of basic home economics have been lost for the most part.  Not completely, thankfully, but it's not in the majority as it was " Back in the day".  Home economics was taught in school when I was a student, as well as something you learned at home. Kitchens are now statement pieces more than an actual working kitchen.  I say all those people talking about how it's cheaper to eat out than cook at home are WRONG!  So wrong.  I heard one fellow say he could eat out for $30 a day, and that was better than cooking at home.  THAT"S $900 a month for one person!  That's more than we pay for everything; groceries, pets, chickens, toiletries, paper goods.

My kitchen stays crazy.  Why?  I don't consider myself a slob.  No my kitchen is a place of projects.  I may have loaded the dishwasher, but I have sourdough starter on the counter.  I'm in the middle of making yogurt.  I'm making bread, cookies, ice cream bars, etc.  There's always something going on in my kitchen.  It's quiet at night, well except if I've just finished canning something or the dehydrator is running. You don't have to have a canner or dehydrator.  My point is your kitchen needs to become a working kitchen.  You don't have to make the same things I do.  Make what your family loves, but make it yourself!  Make what you can.  It's healthier and way cheaper!  Store bought convenience food needs to go the way of the DODO.  My microwave reheats my coffee.  That's it, just about.  I use boxes of pasta.  That's it.  No other boxes come into this house.  I make our convenience foods.  That comes in the form of making a double batch of something and freezing half.  I have recipes on my recipes page for some of these things for interested readers.  I need to update it!  My point is; make your kitchen work!

Okay, so even I have things I have to buy at the store.  My garden, and chickens only cover so much, and let me say the following is how I have always shopped and saved.  I did use coupons extensively for a while, but found what I was buying could be made at home cheaper and wasn't really a healthy option.  For the things I have to get at the store I do two things:  Shop sales, and know my best price for items not usually on sale.  There's a young woman I met through our area's Nextdoor site.  She's come over for strawberry plants among other things.  Her daughter crochet a chicken for me.  It sits in my greenhouse.  She contacted me out of the blue the other day and told me she was getting ready to get groceries, and could hear my voice saying CHECK THE SALES!  She said that advice has saved her HUNDREDS of dollars over that last few months.  I love to hear that.   BTW her strawberries are doing well and she is growing Brussel Sprouts which I've been unable to do.  Kudos to her!

Stocking up when items are on sale is vitally important.   Sales run in seasons and in a rotation.  Stocking up for about 6 weeks seems to be the sweet spot.  Within that sweet spot is seasonal produce, and holidays.  For example; The 4th of July just passed( HAPPY 250TH), and with it are sales on things like:  Condiments, MEAT, cheese, etc.  Things Barbeque related.  Thanksgiving and Christmas bring on things that are baking and cooking related.  During these sales whether rotational or seasonal, stock up for at least 6 weeks.  If you have the money, put extra back in case of tight funds during a month.  If you get in the habit of shopping sales, you will never pay full price again.  Yes, sale prices have increased too, but I'm still paying less than what I would have normally.  Within this tip, know your prices and who has the best price on something.  If you're aware of what something costs; you're better able to judge a sale on whether it's good or not.  Plus you'll know who has the best price on items that don't usually go on sale.

Stocking up when an items is the low bar when it comes to winning at the grocery shopping game, but I will add this:  stocking up a pantry for at least 6 months for your family needs to be the end goal.  This is not a prepper pantry of rice and beans.  This is a pantry of items your family eats anyway.  I understand these things can't be done with fresh fruits and veggies, but if you have the other things stocked, you can use what grocery funds are available for fresh produce in an emergency.  I don't care what income level you live at; this statement holds true.  Unless you're Elon Musk of Jeff Bezos; plan for 6 months.  Back in the beginning of May I tightened the grocery belt to save as much as possible in order to pay the man that was finishing the She Shed.  So we got him paid the end of May.  Then hubby had an ER visit.  He had a bad respiratory infection, and nothing else was open, and he needed help.  His ER Bill ended up being around $2200.  This was self pay.  If we had filed insurance; our bill would have been closer to $6000( per the statement).  When we had insurance, our deductible was $4000 or $ 6000 (Can't remember exactly).  Then they would pay 80%.  So it could have been the same or more.  It wasn't less for sure, but we would have paid premiums that month for the privilege of paying what we did.  Insurance is another vent, but I digress.  Now we have this ER Payment, and we're trying to rebuild our savings after the She Shed project.  Both May and June; I cut our grocery bill down to what we absolutely had to buy.  I've been seriously stringent.  The garden coming in helped some, but we've only now started to get things like tomatoes and peppers.  Used the very last potatoes last night.  Thankful for the volunteers who came up in spring and produced these wonderful red potatoes.  So I'm off to the grocery store to use up the last of my grocery budget for July $178.  Potatoes are on the list!  My point is; the pantry saw us through very tight times over the last 2 months.  It's seen us through my husband being out of work after back surgery, and prior to his surgery when he was only able to work part time.  It saw us through him not able to work full time hours due to Covid restrictions.  It's provided food for our daughter and her family as well as boxes for people in need.  My point is a pantry is vital.

  

So grocery update.  I came home with $16.90 left in grocery money for the month of July.  We were blessed with some great deals:  Chicken wings for $1.25 lb, Split chicken breast for .99 lb, Chicken thighs for $1.15 lb, and ground beef for $3.86 lb. They were markdowns!  I had my list and stuck to it, adjusting only for the markdown meats.  I knew the prices of what was on my list ahead of time, including what was on sale.  I didn't stock up on anything this go around.  I will have to do some of that next month, but we're good for the rest of the month, and even longer if needed.  

Well It's done! She Shed Move in Day!

 Finally, finally, finally my workshop aka She Shed is done.  I prefer workshop as this is really what it is.  This is a place for me to work for my Etsy shop as well as sew for household needs.  A She Shed seems to me to be a place for a woman to have down time. It's my hope that this will not be a place to relax in the general sense of the word, but to rather be productive and therefore less stressed about keeping up with the Etsy shop among other things.   Below is the view from my sewing desk.  The windchime is a gift from my sweet daughter.

This picture is from when they were delivering it and setting it up weeks before it was done.  This is just to show what the outside looks like. 

 Over the past few days I've been moving all of my sewing and doll stuff from the house and into the workshop.  The shop itself is 10x20 and, at first, I would've told you that was way more than I needed.  Um.  Yeah, I was wrong.  I've literally used every square inch of available space to rehome all that I had tucked in nooks and crannies around the house.  My final problem was a place to put the fabric that didn't fit in the armoire.  We'd spent so much on the purchase and renovation of this building; I didn't want to add anything else if I could help it.  The windows all round are a blessing for light to work by, but were a hindrance when it came to finding something to work with for fabric storage.  I need a lot of additional fabric storage apparently. 😬

In the video you see a laundry basket currently holding some of the fabric needing storage, but that isn't all of it.  Still working on finding a place for that and I'll have everything moved.  I'm happy to say I worked for a couple of hours in the workshop yesterday and added a few pieces to my Etsy inventory.  Re organizing the house now that we have space to put everything is going to be a process, but one I welcome.  

 

Not For The Hype! My reasons for keeping a pantry.

 Good morning all.  I just wanted to drop in and address the hype about food prices.  I watch a lot of Youtube.  It's where I hear podcasts, news clips, learn skills, and fun.  However, one of the things that seems to be everywhere in my feed is either news stories about how awful the prices are, coming food shortages, and other apocalyptic videos.  I find it interesting that there weren't that many news stories about food prices last administration.  I complained then, and I complain now.  Doesn't matter who's in office.  To put it quite bluntly, while fuel prices, and Iran are causing problems with our food prices, many of the problems lie in ordinary problems that hit suppliers on a regular basis: drought, bad harvest, supply line issues, wars in other countries(not just Iran), etc..  A big problem is inflation.  Like I said no one said anything last administration when prices jumped due to inflation of 9%.  When the powers that be say 2% inflation is what they're shooting for; that means they're okay with prices increasing by 2% every year.  Add to that the droughts, bad harvest, etc., and you can have quite a problem.  Do I want us to be in Iran.  No, but I don't want them to have a nuclear weapon either.  So we choose the lesser of two evils.  

Life happens, good and bad.  Everything can be rocking along until WHAM!  Everything breaks all at once.  The breadwinner gets sick or laid off, or heaven forbid, dies.  Even small things like forgetting to record a transaction in my checking account ( done that one), or forgetting about a bill that's due ( done that one too) can wreck havoc with the budget.  These things are the main driver for my keeping a pantry.  I'm not battening down the hatches due to food shortages or Armageddon.  I keep a pantry to pull from in times when money is tight.  Early in my daughter's marriage; she would shop from my pantry when the need arose.  I was glad to have it.  She doesn't really need it now ( she's a big wig now), but I was happy to help when I could.  

Another advantage of having a pantry means that I've stocked up when items go on sale.  That means I've only paid sale price for the items; not the everyday price.  Sales are circular in that they will repeat every 6 weeks, usually.  There are some items that never go on sale, but those I have to buy regularly.  I always make sure I"m getting the best price for that item. Whether on sale or the best over all price; I always try to keep a large supply on hand for times when I can't get to the store for whatever reason.   This last month was an example of how I choose to only shop for must haves and opted to pull from the pantry.  Worth it, not only because I got to be creative, and learn new things; but I also was able to sock more away to help in paying for the new workshop for my Etsy store. 

While prices at the store are rising, no mistake; we can be victims or overcomers.  I choose to be an overcomer.  That means I will not only shop sales, and stock up.  It also means I will learn what skills I need in order to NOT be at the mercy of whatever is happening in stores.  My grocery budget has grown with inflation, but it hasn't hit AS HARD as it normally would have because I keep a pantry, cook from scratch, bake from scratch, grow a garden, render fat, etc.  I can't afford to pay someone or some company to do the work for "my convenience".  Rather my grocery list is ingredients that I buy in bulk.  It's cheaper to put those ingredients together for my own "convenience".  Meat, milk, cream, butter, flour, sugar, spices(not spice mixes), etc.  While these may be skills not everyone has; they are skills everyone has access to learn.  There's nothing unique about what I do.  Everything I know I learned through my experiences ( by doing), questions, and internet.  

I will throw this caveat in.  I've gotten too lax with having the ability to pick up my groceries (or have them delivered!).  As a result I'm missing out on markdowns. Many of those markdowns are meat, dairy ,fruit, etc that I normally buy.  I'm getting back to that.  THAT is my tweak to my budget.  Markdowns are your friend!  They aren't expired.  They're close to the sell by date.  So freeze it if it's milk, meat, bread,or anything not canned.  Canned food, BTW, is fine up to 6 months past sell by date.  

How you avoid being at the mercy of whoever is in charge in this country is easy; regardless of your political affiliation.  Get out of debt, save(any amount is better than none), keep a pantry, cook /bake from scratch, budget, live within your means.  If you have a credit card, close it to further transactions and start paying it off.  Get out of debt any way you can( that's legal!).  We drive beater cars: 1998 Chevy S10, 2004 Honda Accord.  They're paid off, and covered by Liability only insurance.  We keep them maintained, and will do so as long as possible before we buy another "New to us" car.  

Frugality isn't just a way to choose to live.  It's a weapon to protect your family from decisions other people want to make regarding your purse!  It might not protect us from everything, but it gives us a great head start.

A Reward For Sticking To My Guns! (Recipe too)

 I almost did it guys!  I almost gave in and shopped a sale!  WHEW!  Close call.  So far this month, counting chicken feed, pet food, cleaning, etc; my total has been $309.  I may have to buy more flour, and maybe some cheese, but technically could do without cheese.  Breakfast options are limited with no flour when you have someone who can't have eggs!  So, yeah, flour.  

Anyway!  I had my cart full of stuff ( my online cart) when I asked myself " Do I really need all of this?".  I had Cheese, Flour,(okay, okay.  No too bad)Perdue chicken thighs (cause they were .99 lb Duh!), Body Armor drinks( slipping), Breyers Ice cream (not looking good), and Outshine bars!  I could have justified these purchases with either a "It's on sale", or a "I need to get up an order big enough to pick up for free!".  As I asked myself that question; I couldn't say I did need them.  They were  nice.  Would have been a nice splurge.  They were a decent price ( for today's prices).  I originally told myself the frozen treats were in lieu of baking.  I thought it would be a nice summer change from cookies.  

Then I wondered; can I make these at home?  I have a popsicle mold, but they alway turned out hard; not the nice slushy biteable straight from the freezer bars.  So I went to Chat GPT.  I know!  I've been sucked in!  He has been handy though.  I told him what I was wanting to do and he helped me out.  So rather than have you dip your toe into Chat GPT for this; I will share the recipe for fruit bars and Fudge pops!

FRUIT BARS( STRAWBERRY)

1 Lb of strawberries

1/3 cup sugar

pinch of salt

2 TBS corn syrup

1 TBS Lemon juice

Wash and hull your strawberries.  No need to cut them up.  Place berries in a bowl.  Add the sugar and salt then let sit for 15 minutes for it to release it's juices.  Add the corn syrup, and lemon juice.  I use an immersion blender to blend it in the bowl, but if you have a standard blender that will do fine.  Try not to add additional water.  If you have do, add a Tbs of water at a time.  Just enough to make it blend well.  Don't use more than 4 Tbs of water.  They will be harder the more water you use, so if you don't need it, don't use it!  I used no water with the immersion blender.  Once blended, I poured the mixture into my popsicle molds to freeze.  It made 7 Outshine bar size bars, and they were WONDERFUL!  I used strawberries from my garden that I had in the freezer.  Chat calculated my cost (using organic non GMO corn syrup) at .6 a bar!  He said even using store bought berries it would be cheaper than buying the box of Outshine Bars.

Then I moved on to Fudge Bars!  These turned out equally marvelous.  At this rate I won't need to buy frozen treats at all!

Fudge Bars

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp corn syrup
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• vanilla + salt

Put the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, pinch of salt into a saucepan.  Whisk it together.  On Medium heat, gradually add in the milk and cream, whisking as you go.  Keep stirring until it starts to thicken.  Once thick (it will look like a thick gravy consistency) remove from heat and et cool 15 minutes.  Then add vanilla dn stir in.  Pour into popsicle mold and freeze.

This is the mold I have and I like it!

popsicle mold

I ended up buying NOTHING!  I walked away.  Still need flour and cheese, but I'll grab them later.  Now I've added new recipes that put power in my hands, because it's one less thing I have to buy from the grocery store in order to treat my family.  

So what does my grocery list basically consist of?

Meat, milk, butter, sour cream, cheese, flour, some frozen vegetables, some fresh or frozen fruit, onions, potatoes, some condiments, oats, cream, sugar, raw honey, yeast, cocoa powder, coconut oil, nuts, some spices, tea, lemon juice, pet food, chicken feed, vinegar and baking soda for cleaning along with dish soap, laundry and dishwasher soap, toiletries, toilet paper,   These aren't all bought each month, but rather part of a master list I pull from.   Some of these items I put together to make our "convenience food".  Some of the fruits and veggies I don't buy because I grow them.  Of course our hens give us eggs.  There's a method to my madness that works for my families needs.

I've had many people tell me it takes too much time and effort.  My response is that we all will work for somebody.  We can work for an employer or we can work for ourselves.  I choose the later.  

A tale of 5 Uh 6 kittens!

 Morning all.  Before I begin my tale, I wanted to just show you what joined me yesterday evening.

"What do you want to do.  I don't know.  What do you want to do?".  Comment if you know where that line comes from.  That's a vulture sitting on our deck.  He's been hanging around here for a few weeks now.  I think all the new construction took away his house.  He's decided we're the hip place to be.  

So now onto my saga.  We have a colony of feral cats that live in our back yard.  They've been here for years.  We've tried everything we can to trap them, lure them, etc. to get them fixed, but success has been hit or miss.  The colony was down to three females.  There's a grey male that keeps coming around, but he doesn't live here.  He just knows it's easy picking.  I think he belongs to someone, but they haven't fixed him.  So we deal.  Nature seems to keep the colony small.  I don't say that to sound cruel.  My dream is that they would trust me so that I can get them fixed as well as the kittens and them live happily ever after.  That isn't the case, and the places the mother cats choose is less than stellar.  Case in point.  A few days ago I noticed kitten cries coming from what I thought was the new duct work under our house.  Not cool ( pun intended).  They would cry and then it would stop.  Then it picked up again under our house over by the front door.  Good news, they weren't in the duct work.  Bad news is I can't get to them.  The crying continued for 3 days.  At first I thought the mother was coming in to them, but soon realized she was absent.  I called a friend of mine who lives close by and he, bless his heart, crawled under the house and retrieved 5 kittens aged 2- 3 weeks.  The eyes were opened, but they weren't walking very well.  I left them outside for 2 hours until dark to see if mom would show.  She didn't, so I brought them in.  They stayed with me while I looked for a rescue that could take them.  I found a wonderful rescue called Whiskers on Wahoo; a non profit rescue.  Please follow them on facebook.  She's full to the gills, but knew this was an urgent situation.  We met at a halfway mark between our homes yesterday afternoon.  WHEW!  Crisis averted! 

During the evening I kept hearing what sounded like a faint cry.  Not enough to be for sure.  Then last night around 10 PM( because it couldn't be at a decent hour) I heard a stronger cry and knew one was left behind!  I have to say I'm very proud of myself.  I had no choice but to get into the crawl space myself.  Crawled all the way across to the other side of the house and found this little one crying and alone.  I grabbed it and brought it into the house.  I contacted the rescue and we met again around 11:30 at night to reunite this little one with it's siblings.  I was 12:15 am getting home and into bed.  Woke up at 6:30.  Needless to say, under my house is now sealed off to any wanna be mama cats that think that's just a dandy place!

I thought I'd include a few shots of "The North 40" garden.  This is the garden to the side of my driveway.  The last picture is of the bean trellis my dad built years ago.  Some of the joints broke and had to be replaced.  I tried to keep as much of his work as possible.  Very happy with the result.  It's not in the North 40.  It's in the South 40 which is the garden in the backyard.

Oh The Humanity!

 Morning all!  How's everything?  Doing well here.  Making progress.  Making progress.  Each day is another step closer to having everything planted.  The soon to be new workshop is coming right along.  All that's left to do is sand the spackle, paint, and lay the flooring.  Going to pick that up once they're ready for it..  

I had a not so minor complaint with the guy who did the mudding of the walls.  It's been addressed and I'm assured it won't happen again.  It still breaks my heart though.  Here in Ga; we're in an Extreme Drought.  Droughts and Gardening can be tricky.  Last week we got rain and I managed to squirrel away multiple buckets stored in the greenhouse and a 30 gallon rubber trash can full sitting next to the house.  Well between the house and greenhouse.  The guy that did the tape and putty put his motorize mixer thingy in my 30 gallons of rain water to clean it!  To add insult to injury he dumped all of that saved water out when he left.  I messaged the contractor (nice man).  Told him what happened, and nicely asked if he could spread the word to his guys to please not use any water in containers out there as this is for the garden.  I was heart sick.  Now I'm scrambling to use things like water caught in a bucket while showering, dish water, and bath water.  Bath water is a workout as it's hauling heavy buckets of water to the garden.  If my ancestors could haul water; I can!  We have rain, hopefully, next week, but it doesn't look like much, and may fizzle if it keeps the same patterns as in the recent past.  So time to be creative! 

As for the garden, each day I'm putting plants in.  Doing as much as I can to use every nook and cranny I can find.  I'm even utilizing the chain link fence.   Gardening can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be.  I try to keep my costs to a minimum.  Utilizing my own dirt for raised beds or opting for  inground when needed.  I save my seeds from year to year so buying seeds is rare.  My chickens provide compost and manure for fertilizer.  I use manual tools rather than tillers or other items that require gas and maintenance.  Anything I have to buy is covered by the plant sale I hold each year.  This has allowed me to add a few things I normally wouldn't have been able to purchase: 4x8 galvanized raised beds; potting soil for starting seeds, pots, etc..  Although in a pinch I've used my own dirt, empty yogurt, or sour cream containers, and foraged cinder blocks.  Even with the help of a plant sale to fund my garden; I still make a point of making do with what's available at the time.  I'm currently in the process of spreading 2 loads of wood chips in the walkways of my garden and in the chicken coop.  cardboard on the bottom topped with wood chips in my walkways suppresses weeds and keeps the soil around my plants cooler.  It also holds moisture which is a must this year.  I can get these free wood chips by being on a list with a tree service; Chipdrop.com, or going to the landfill and loading up the truck.  This time a tree service brought 2 loads and so I have a mountain to bring down.  

On the kitchen front ,I'm still making due with what's on hand.  I need to get in the kitchen and make up some bread, granola, and chocolate syrup.  The chocolate syrup will be used to make yogurt pops.  I have some yogurt I need to use.  Last month, before I knew my she shed would be ready so soon, I purchased a silicone popsicle mold.  I love it!  A few days ago I made pineapple yogurt pops.  I'm thinking this is going to be my stand by for desserts this summer.  I have strawberries coming in currently an so think I'm making some strawberry pops today as well.  I can make them and then remove them from the mold, put in a freezer bag, and back into the freezer.  This way I can do a variety of popsicles.  

WELL JUST DARN!

This is the view now from my garden to the left side of my driveway.  While it used to be pasture, the back of the pasture held these wonderful old but healthy hardwoods.   Now they've been pulled up by the roots to make way for 150 townhomes!  Every single one.  They've cut trees up to our property line in the backyard.  I used to could lay in bed at night and look out my window into the backyard and see fireflies so thick it was like lights on a Christmas tree.  Not any more.  I'm told the developer has to replant in the 35 foot buffer between existing homes and the new development, but how long until they grow to make up for this monstracity?  This makes me sad, and all I can say to all of you people fleeing your blue cities for greener pastures in red states lie ours; In this case, crapping on your new town by voting how you always have, isn't going to help.  And keep your mitts off my chickens!  If you don't want to hear chickens I suggest you stay in the city.

Starting off my day with a "Use up" philosophy

 Good morning!  I hope everyone is doing well.  Plant sale is over, after shoppers have come and gone, and now I will be rushing (after my coffee of course) to get as much planted today as possible because we have rain in the forecast for tomorrow.  Not a great amount last I checked, but seeing as how we're in an extreme drought; I gotta make adjustments as necessary to succeed.  In addition to planting, I've been collecting rain water, when it does come, to help during the dry times.  When we put gutters on the house, we asked that the down spout would come down into a rain barrel.  It's been great over the years, but I really need extra barrels for overflow.  It's on the list.  Until then I scoop the water into other barrels to allow for rain to refill the main one.  So all in all, garden is top of the list today.

Planning meals for today is a "use up" kind of day.  This mornings breakfast was some french toast made with a half a loaf of sandwich bread that I needed to use up.  When the french toast was done, I had a good amount of the egg milk mixture left.  I added baking powder, a little more salt, flour, and oil to turn it into pancake batter.  Cooked up the pancakes as well and my family can choose what they prefer.  I have enough pancake syrup made for today's breakfast but will need to make another batch to restock the fridge.  What pancakes and french toast are left over can be frozen for later breakfasts.  These recipes use eggs too so that's wonderful.  We're getting about 15 a day from our chickens. 

Lunch will just be hubby and I and I have some leftover taco/burrito filling.  I'll make up a batch of flour tortillas.  We'll use those for lunch then freeze them for another meal.  I have cooked chicken in the fridge and think I'm going to make chicken and dumplings for dinner.  I have two chicken thighs left over from making the Buffalo Chicken thighs the other night, and need to start doing something with that pork loin.  I may cook 3 lbs of it in the crock pot as chalupas and can use the flour tortillas I make today to go with it.  Hmm.  That's an idea.  

"Using up" is a wonderful traditional old fashioned way the food budget was managed.  It's not poor mouthing.  It's smart.  Not wasting is a wonderful thing to do.  Below is a Dump cobbler I made to use up some canned pineapple that would expire soon( it's good for at least 6 months after sell by date.  Just sayin).  The recipe is easy.  1 stick melted butter in a 9x13 pan.  1 cup sugar, 1 cup self rising flour, 1 cup milk.  Mix it all together and pour in the pan now coated with melted butter.  our a can of whatever canned fruit you desire.  Bake 350 for 20-25 min. 

What was it Benjamin Franklin said?  "A penny saved is a penny earned".  He was right, but I'd argue it's even more than a penny earned now because that penny is a penny earned untaxed.

Can you think of things in your pantry or fridge that needs to be used up?  

Hello again!

 Well it's been a while.  Yep!  I can't say illness was the only culprit.  When your hubby is gone for weeks at a time; when he's home you just want to spend time with him.  At least I do.  However, while I would prefer flowers, each time he's come home since before Christmas, he's brought home to me some type of respiratory illness.  The first was Flu A before Christmas.  The second time was just a normal seasonal cold, but this last time was RSV!  Luckily no pneumonia or sinus infection, but the worst coughing I've experienced and I've had covid twice!  I ended up pulling an intercostal rib muscle and having a slight amount of bleeding in my eye from coughing!  It hurt every time I had to cough.  Which was often.  

Finally recovered and the plant sale was this past weekend.  I'm happy to say our gardening costs are covered, and a lot of folks got their plants for half of what they would have paid at even Wally world.  We met some wonderful neighbors and had a great time.  Got a little sun, and it was a lot of work, but worth it.  This is the 4th year we've done this and plan on doing it again next year.        

Now to get our plants into the ground.  Wasn't planning on having a garden this year, but then realized I needed to at least plant something for having the seeds for next years sale.  Then drought, war, pestilence, etc and I thought it prudent to throw some more things in the garden.  I have a friend who has a little farm stand.  She's offered to let me sell some herbs there from the garden.  So I'm tucking them into any corner I can find.  Every little bit helps!  

Another help is this!  This is my future, sooner rather than later, sewing workshop!  Now full disclosure here.  We had to pull some from our small retirement funds ( but we're retired so...)to buy this but we're cash flowing the inside finish.  That means some tight belts here.  WORTH IT!  Not only will this finally give me a place to work, but it will also add value to our property.  My poor but sweet hubby stood on one too many needles and said YES YOU CAN HAVE A SHE SHED!  Also in a pinch, this, finished, can become living space if needed.  

This workshop will allow me to do things like this:  This is the before and after of a 1967 Little Miss Fussy doll.  The white spots all over her face are from battery corrosion.  She's been cleaned completely and the new outfit she's wearing is made by me.  That's what else I will do in this shop: sew for my Etsy shop and home.  The last doll is an outfit I've made and sold in my shop.

So as a result of cash flowing this and desiring have this done and paid for as fast as possible; I've given myself a pantry challenge.  Right now my grocery list for May is Milk, potatoes, heavy cream, and chicken feed!  I've stepped up my kitchen activities and quit slacking.  Got my pantry organized yesterday and discovered a lot of things I"d forgotten I had.  Need to use those up.  I pulled a large package of chicken thighs and a whole pork loin out of the freezer and put them in the fridge to thaw and use this week.  Those chicken thighs, roasted crisp will be a great alternative to wings with hot sauce and butter to coat them. That pork roast can be ground for ground sausage, or sliced for pork chops or stir fry.  Baking has stepped up as well.  We have strawberries coming in and still have some from last year.  I think we'll eat the fresh ones, and I'm going to make jam from the ones frozen from last year.  I'm excited to face this challenge, and stretch my frugal muscles!           

Well Just Darn!

 Good morning!  So about 2/3rd's of the US is either going to experience, or is experiencing this massive winter storm.  I wish you all God Speed!  We are in the Major impact zone for Georgia.  So we could get up to an inch of ice.  For those of you unfamiliar with an ice storm.  That's bad.  This isn't the joke of southerners panicking over a dusting of snow.  This is a one inch coating of ice on everything and it's very dangerous.  Anything 1/2 inch or greater brings on serious power outages, trees down, impossible roads.  Oh yay!  

So I've been battening down the hatches and getting things squared away.  While I do have my two strapping young sons here.  DH is out of town.  I wish he were here, if only for the company and moral support.  He's keeping in touch, and quite honestly; even if he tried to get here; with a 2000 mile long winter storm between us and him; I don't see him getting a flight.  

I've done all I can to prepare, with a few more small things to do today.  I DID NOT want to get into the craziness at the grocery stores.  Diva had to go by there and she said she had to go to three stores to find one loaf of bread.  She said everything was cleaned out.  Instead I've stayed home and made bread, granola, hamburger buns, BBQ Sauce( to go with some cooked pork in the freezer), and 2 batches of cookies.  Today I'll make up some meals that can be reheated on my camp stove.  

Speaking of camp stoves!  I had resigned myself to cook anything I needed on the outdoor grill, but then I imagined what that would be like in the middle of freezing rain.  UGH!  BRR! I figured so close to the event, the chances of finding propane cannisters for a camp stove would be zero.  Still, I got on Walmart's website.  They had 2 packs for $32.99.  I thought GOOD GRIEF!  They had to be shipped and would be there in 2 days.  Too much for no guarantee of arriving in time.  I called a local hardware store(Howard Brothers for you locals) to see if they topped off propane tanks for grills.  They did.  So I then asked them if they had adapters to convert grill propane tanks for use with a camp stove.  I was told they had sold out.  I wasn't surprised to hear that with it being 2 days before the event.  I then asked him if by chance they had any 16 ounce propane cannisters for a camp stove.  I even said "I know this is a shot in the dark, but".  He actually had some, but told me I needed to get there soon.  He'd had 8 cases the day before, but had sold out and what he had left was on the self.   I was a mile and a half away.  I was there lickedy split.  Went in and he showed me where they were.  Want to hazard a guess as to how much two cannisters were at this local hardware store?  Mind you these were the same Coleman brand cannisters.  Two cannisters were still $12 and some change.  It never dawned on them to raise their prices due to demand.  They just provided a service for their customers, and charged what they were already priced.  Walmart raised their price due to demand.  It's sad to say, because my son works for them, and they gave him a job when he couldn't get one.  I have to say, this is disappointing.  Now one could say they increased the price because of shipping.  That's what I thought until a friend told me he had seen them pull a pallet of these cannisters out at a local Walmart and they were priced the same as the ones online; $32.99.   Needless to say, they sold out, regardless.  😒

If you're in the path of this thing, were caught off guard, but are needing to grab something or use something you have to get through; Here are a few tips I've gleaned through this experience.

1)  If you have hurricane lamps, they will generate a good amount of heat in addition to light.  This is, however, when used in a closed off room such as a bedroom.  

2)  Think outside the box for items you think you need.  For example:  I have an elderly dog who won't be able to go down the steps on her own if they're covered in ice.  I feel bad I was late realizing this.  In my defense, she does fine when there isn't ice.  I'll be needing to go up and down steps too in order to see to our chickens.  So I need salt to melt the ice.  No way to find rock salt or ice melt now, but what I did find was canning salt: 2 bags around 3 or 4 pounds each.  I need 4 D batteries for one camp lantern, but could only find two.  I don't think I'll need them, but if the batteries currently die, I can still use the lamp if I put two new batteries in to replace two dead.  It won't work as long, but it will work some.  It isn't urgent to have these, but it will be nice to have.   I need to stretch the propane I have in my camp stove cannisters, so I'm making things :Coffee, meals, etc. ahead of time so I only have to reheat it on my camp stove; not cook from the beginning.

3)  So you couldn't find groceries at the store?  That sucks, I know, but that means you can go home and use the time you do have to make up meals, snacks, whatever with what you have on hand.  It's work, but it solves the problem.  That's what I spent yesterday doing.  I'll do more today if I have the time. 

4)  If you think a power outage is possible, wash clothes, run the dishwasher, everyone shower, and anything else you think you'll need to have taken care of before the outage hits.  

I'm hearing the first pitter patters of precipitation.  It's my reminder that I need to run fill up my truck just in case later gas stations are on the fritz.  Then I'll come back and situate the chickens as best I can.  Still have some indoor things to do.  Prayers for everyone going through this right now.  I figure if we're prepared it will only be rain.  That would be fine with me!

TOTALLY DOING AGAIN!

 Hello my friends!  I hope you had a great Christmas and new year!   Ours was definitely non traditional and less than stellar with DH having the flu, but we're still very grateful for all our blessings.  

I'm finally back to doing stuff and it feels good.  I've dabbled in the garden, but haven't done anything like I normally do.  

Today was the first time I felt home steady!  I worked in the garden cleaning up beds the really should have been cleaned up in the fall.  Don't Judge!  

I also started some seeds for my plant sale in April.  I'll have the date and time soon, but just know it will be a Saturday April.  I started Sage, Cilantro, Parsley, German Thyme, and Spinach.  I also potted Strawberry plants!  It felt great!

All those things were wonderful, but the big deal; the great find, was what I did to a whole Turkey purchased around Thanksgiving.  I got the turkey for .47 lb.  I like roasted turkey when it's first out of the oven, but after that it's so so.  I also like using turkey in chicken recipes, but we mainly use ground turkey when it comes to our main use of the bird.  The cheapest 85/15 ground turkey I've found is at Aldi for about $2 lb.  So my process today was to grind what turkey meat I could with y meat grinder, then cook the rest, debone, and use the bones for broth.  I got 4 pounds of ground turkey.  I've yet to see how much cooked meat I'll have, but I should end up with 8 quarts of bone broth.  The cost for my Turkey was $6.58.  The 4 lbs of ground turkey alone made this a great return on my money.  That's $1.65 per pound verses the $2 lb I normally spend.  The rest of this bird could be considered free!  Adding the other cooked meat and broth and you're talking serious money.  I have another turkey to do this too as well.  So this is going to be something foremost in my mind next Thanksgiving.  That is significant savings!  

Now I know not everyone has a meat grinder.  Mine is an attachment to my kitchen Aid mixer.  It's more than paid for itself, but it isn't a huge expense.  If you don't have or want a meat grinder, no worries!  Just cooking a whole turkey and using the meat and bone broth is also a significant savings.  So I highly recommend this to all!

Oh!  Update on the microwave.  I just got a call from our handyman/friend, and he will be here tomorrow to install a set of cabinets and a range hood!  Yay!

Okay.  I can't let you go without another cat pic!

I can't live without it ! Can I?

 Merry Christmas and Happy New year everyone!  DH and I are finally emerging from the joy that was Flu "A".  I had "something" during the course of caring for DH, but I've been told it probably wasn't the flu.  More than likely what I had was an immune response to the flu being around me at the level it was.  When DH had been sick about 5 days, I began to have a cough.  It wasn't too bad until a week after his onset of symptoms.  Mostly I've dealt with the cough, some sneezing, and a very low fever for one day.  Now he and I both are dealing with the cough, but other than that; are on the mend.  Our Christmas was a small affair.  DH was sick on his birthday, but doing some better by Christmas.  Illness kept us from being able to visit my mom for Christmas as well as being able to see our daughter and her family over the holidays.  We've rescheduled both.  Just as the Grinch learned; Christmas still came.  Jesus was still born in a stable!  Doesn't matter if we celebrate on the 25th or in January.  It's something we celebrate 365 days a year!

  

So as we we're starting to emerge from the flu fun; we anticipated a gift we bought ourselves:  a new over the range microwave.  We purchased it about 3 weeks ago.  It was supposed to be installed yesterday.  We opted to pay to have it installed because I couldn't find a way to remove the old one.  In case you're wondering if we needed a new microwave, well....

So...yeah.  What you can't see it the door is also cracked completely in two places.  The inner working still worked, but I felt like I was getting brain cancer every time I used it.  We had this on our list, but since we cash flow everything, it wasn't a priority, until it became one by getting this bad.  Anyway, there's a reason I couldn't figure out how to remove the old one.  When the man came to install the microwave yesterday; he discovered the person that installed the microwave initially had indeed sealed this thing in.  He could find no access point to remove the microwave.  He left the microwave with us.  We were given a refund on the installation, and called our awesome, fabulous, wonderful handyman, Jerry to see if he could help.  Well we texted him.  As I was waiting for his response, he showed up in our driveway!  He came in to look at the problem to see if he could figure it out.  He did, and was able to remove the old microwave.  Once removed, he didn't have time to put in the new one.  It would have to be added to his schedule.  This guy is so incredibly busy and it's all from word of mouth.  His customers are the ones who have advertised for him.  So I'm willing to wait.  While we wait, we began looking at options other than an over the range microwave.  We began to think it might be better to not have to deal with this in another few years when a new one dies.  Instead we're looking at replacing the microwave with cabinets and a range hood.  Then we would get just a small countertop microwave.  Or would we? 

Wow this has been a long post!  Thanks for hanging in if you did!  

So to the crux of my story.  I've gone 20 hours so far without a microwave.  It's been an eye opener!  I use it to tell time, defrost something quick, heat my coffee, heat up leftovers, timer for baking, and even warm milk for the kitten.  I'm having to reprogram myself to function without it, and it's like trying to function with one hand tied behind my back.  There's a part of me that says I can relearn the skills that would enable me to function without a microwave.  There's another part of me that says "forget that!  get a new one!".  Getting a counter top microwave will take up precious space on my already limited counter space counter.  With a clock, timer, and coffee warmer ( I wanted one anyway): I feel I could function without a microwave.  I would have to change some cooking routines, but I do like the idea of fewer appliances.  

So what do you think?  Should I try to live without it?  Am I nuts?  Wait don't answer that one!  😁

Let me know what you think!  

UPDATE!  Nope!  If only for heating the rice heating pad!

Sickness in the House!

 Merry Christmas all!  

Ours is rather unorthodox this year.  Many of our traditions are being temporarily set aside due to illness.  Yes we found out, rather personally, that the worst flu this year is Flu A, and it's running ramapant through the U.S.  

DH returned home from a tour a week ago yesterday.  He was home two days and said that Thursday "I have this cough".  Fast forward to today and my poor man has been miserably sick ever since.  Woke up Friday morning with a temp of 99.2.  Same the next day, and then it hit.  Three days of 101+ temps.  Add to that no sleep due to excessive coughing, and aches everywhere.  

Fortunately we have a wonderful, great, fabulous doctor.  How great?  I texted his office after hours on Friday hoping he might see it over the weekend.  He called me soon after.  Gave instructions for DH's care and said "Keep me posted".  He had told us to get one of the flu covid test at the store and test him.  Well DH has Flu A.  This is the flu that is putting more folks in the hospital and even in the ground.  So we have a Nebulizer and and O2 concentrator that we bought during the Covid craziness for our oldest son.  Haven't had to use the O2 concentrator, but I made sure I had it ready.  Hubby's O2 kept dancing around the 90 mark.  Yesterday Morning our Doctor called in a chest Xray to a local imaging center, and off we went.  It was normal thankfully.  No pneumonia.  

So I have droned on about this for a reason, really.  

DH and I don't have insurance.  He's retired now, but too early for Medicare.  As a result we cash flow or save up for Medical things.  In this case, we had no Dr visit.  We weren't required to come in for him to tell us something we already knew.  When we got to the imaging center I told the nice lady behind the desk that we weren't filing insurance, and would be paying in full that day.  Our bill was $100.  That's it.  She told me that had I filed insurance; the bill would have been more like $500.  Insurance would have paid $300, leaving us owing $200.  In our case, had this been last year with the insurance we had then.  Our bill would have been $500, and we would have owed $500 because we had to meet our deductible first.  All of this expense doesn't even count the premium we paid with each pay check for the privilege of paying more for Doctor visits.  Now why would this be the case; over charging patients with insurance?  Because when you have insurance and pay your bill by their rules, you're paying for three other patients that didn't pay their bill. 

INSURANCE IS A SCAM!  There I said it.  It is.  Many of the problems in our healthcare system can be laid at the feet of the insurance industry.  Doctors decisions are based on what insurance will and won't cover.  "Pathways" which are a series of doctors orders that are printed up ahead of time for a doctors signature.  Those "Pathways" aren't created by doctors, but by insurance companies.  I had a cardiac pathway when I had my Heart attack 7 years ago.  It was that pathway that told them I should be on a statin to lower my total cholesterol lower than the 146 it was at that time.  Did ya know that total cholesterol less than 150 increases "All cause Mortality"?  That means in increases my chance of dying sooner over all.  Yet the pathway told them to put me on a statin they wanted it lower.  

Our primary physician doesn't file insurance, though we could have used the receipt from paying his bill and file it ourselves.   That is when we had insurance.  Did you know you can do that? You can go in to a medical establishment and tell them you're self pay.  Pay your bill.  Get a receipt, and file it with your insurance company for a reimbursement.  It can go towards your deductible and after that is met, go for reimbursement.  People just assume it's either self pay or insurance, but you can use them together.  Not as great as not paying a premium, but better than playing the game by only their rules.

Because our doctor doesn't file insurance, his decisions are based solely on what's best for each patient.  It's been the best decision we've made.  

We hadn't used the insurance we paid premiums for in about 5 years.  We just held it in case of a hospital stay and paid cash for everything.  I was great, and much cheaper.  Now we don't have insurance, pay no premium, and cash flow everything.  

Okay.  Now that I'm done venting about that!  Cute Kitten pictures for the holidays"

FINALLY!

 Today is the day I finally got into the kitchen to handle some kitchen business!

About a month ago we had 14 roosters processed.  The plan had been to do it ourselves, but my dh had an unexpectedly long tour and it needed to be done.  So we paid to have them processed.  Can't say I was sad to do it, but it wasn't a cost effective way to raise meat chickens.  However, once we figured in the cost of a lessoned learned; we broke even.  For the past month I've had these boys taking up space in the freezer.  Last week I used up my last quart of home canned chicken bone broth.  It was time.  This will be an on going process, but one that is totally worth it.  Even with the expense of paying to have them processed; the cost of my hoe canned bone broth is cheaper than buying it from the store.  I took our two rooster and placed them in my good size crock pot.  They barely fit.  They had to cook a bit before I could lay the lid flat.  I went ahead and added some celery, onion, salt, carrots, and vinegar.  I covered the whole bit up to the top of the crock pot; covering the birds.  I let them cook over night.  Next day I removed the meat, strain off the broth, and put the bones, veggies, and everything but the meat back into the crock pot.  I added more water to the top of the crock pot, a little more salt and a little more vinegar and let this slow cook for 2 days.  I just strained it off and am now canning 6 quarts of bone broth.  No artificial anything.  This is the stuff colds and flu remedy's are made of!  I had put the first broth into the fridge to keep until the second run was ready.  The first broth had gelled so nice.  This is the collagen we need and people pay big bucks for in a powder.  Save your money!  I will keep doing this until I've gone through all the birds, then I will move on to the two turkeys I found on sale for .57lb.  The deboned meat will go into the freezer or be canned if I'm so industrious.  Chicken or turkey, I can use it in any poultry recipe.  You don't have to grow your own poultry to do this.  Whenever you cook a whole chicken, make use of those bones as well.  This same process can be done with any bone in meat.  Beef broth, ham broth, chicken broth; are all things I can store( freezer or pantry)and not have to purchase from the store.  It requires limited hands on work.  It's, I believe, one of the easiest things to make to save at the store.  Bone broth can allow less meat to be used in a recipe because the broth will add taste and nutrients to meals. 

My second kitchen task; well second and third I guess.  Is to dehydrate!  I bought 5 bunches of celery before Thanksgiving while they were on sale for like .98 each.  I dehydrated all 5.  Do you know that once dehydrated all 5 bunches fit in 1 quart jar?! 

 Crazy!  If you don't have a dehydrator, chopping and freezing is an option too.   Now my dehydrator is full of garlic harvested this year from my garden.  

The dehydrator is full, but it barely looks like I made a dent in the harvested garlic.  This will also be a process until I get through all the garlic.  Once dried I plan to pulse it into garlic powder in my blender.  Voila!  Organic garlic powder for the cost of energy used to dehydrate it.  This comes back every year.  

Homemade pizza is on the menu for tonight, and probably some bread for general use.  My work in the kitchen, home, and garden saves us money, and allows us to eat better to boot.  

10 years ago, before I left my job to come home permanently, a co-worker asked if I thought I'd be bored.  I told her I would have plenty to do.  My job as a homemaker is not one of soap operas and bon bons.  It's a  job.  As it should be.  Make no mistake.  We all work for someone.  We can work for an employer or work for ourselves.  I choose to work for myself, my husband, and my family.  

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I'm not ready!

 Sneaky little thing, the Holiday season.  Normally I'm ready to go.  I can face it's arrival with a smile because I've already started my Christmas shopping.  I laugh at delivery dates because I know I've had ample time to have my gifts arrive.  I feel sorry for those poor souls running around last minute to get their gifts for loved ones.  That is until this year.   This year, I'm a poor soul running around.  I haven't even started.  Well, okay, I do have one grandsons gift.  I bought it in the beginning of the year.  I also have two very small gits; one for DH and one for our youngest son.  The bulk of my Christmas shopping is still to be done.  It starts tomorrow.  However, I will need all my wits to get everything before the Christmas Holiday.

Dh and I set a budget each year; for ourselves and for what we get for family.  We don't use credit cards.  Not even with the intention of paying it off next month. Once we paid those bad boys off, we said never again.  "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions" said 18th century writer Samuel Johnson.  Truer words were never spoken.  Especially when it comes to credit cards.  Well, and me.  It's so easy to get out of budget during the Christmas season.  Gifts, paper, ribbon, food, tape, stamps, cards, employee parties, etc., all can throw you off budget.  Balances can become more than can be paid off in a month.  Then what follows is tax season.  Not a good combination.  Before you know it, that balance thought to be paid off in January is still there come next December.  

This year, for us, is going to require some leg work; old fashioned Christmas shopping at brick and mortar stores.  I can get somethings online tomorrow, but the rest won't have time to make it.  I won't have more Christmas money budgeted until the middle of the month.  So the other half of the shopping plan will be after that.  The benefit of that is the closer to Christmas the lower prices tend to go as stores try to move inventory.  It's a gamble, but I look forward to the challenge.

Homemade gifts are also part of that budget/plan.  Everyone from the mail man to my siblings will receive a homemade gift from me.  Usually in the form of a baked good or candy(my butter toffee).  If I have enough time while DH is away, I might be able to make our traditional Pj's for Christmas eve.  One year I decided not to give Pj's on Christmas eve.  I thought the kids were tired of it and already knew what the gift was anyway.  I was wrong.  They missed not having the Pj's on Christmas eve.  So I've gone back to it.  If I don't have time, I'll need to buy them, but if I can make them from fabric on hand, I can save that bit.  I may end up buying the t shirt tops, and making the pants.  

So we'll see what I can get done.  Sewing will be my major project while DH is away.  The most important part that I hope is taken away from this post is please, please, please

A)  Have a budget, even if it's tiny, to work with for the Christmas season.  Homemade gifts are awesome!  I have recipes on my pages for "how to's", playdough, and other treats.  Google is a great resource too!

B)  DON'T USE A CREDIT CARD!  Even if you have and follow a budget, don't do it.  Don't put yourself there.  If you can't afford gifts for your entire family, let them know and focus just on you, your spouse, and your own kids.  

***The pictures are pictures of present and past fur babies in our home.  The top is current.  That's stitch.  Next is Wolly.  We lost him 12 years ago.  I miss him every day, and last is Nermal.  We had her for 22 years until 7 years ago.  Now we have 2 dogs and 4 cats in our little house because apparently we're nuts!  Happy Thanksgiving!  Love to all!

Discombobulated!

 It's been a while.  Sorry, again.  No this time it is literally time that has gotten away with me.  You see DH has left his full time nursing job to partially retire.  I say partially because he's actually taken another position as a professional wrestler!  I still shake my head at that one.  So my routine is kind of up in the air at the moment as I refigure our schedule.  I had the routine down pat.  Monday through Friday it was up to make his breakfast and lunch while he would get in a morning workout.  Then off to work he'd go( hi ho, hi ho).  While he was gone to work I'd had some project I'd work on: garden, baking, house, sewing, errands.  Then I'd have wrapped the project up and be settling down for the day by the time he got home.  All I'd need to do is fix dinner and my day was done.  Weekends were a slow start as we'd enjoy coffee together in the morning.  Maybe we'd work on something at the house together if needed, but often times we'd go out, mostly to antique stores, or just for a drive.  

                                    

Now that schedule is up ended and we're both trying to navigate this new routine.  It hasn't really become a routine yet, and not sure if it will while he's touring.  Yes.  He tours.  So I have one routine when he's home and one routine when he's gone.  I get a lot done while he's gone.  Not because he doesn't help when he's home, but because I want to just spend time with him when he's home.  Plus when he's home I have to stop what I'm working on for meals and such.  Contrary to what one may think, I do skip meals if I'm engrossed in something.  I may stop and grab a piece of fruit or cheese if I'm getting hungry, but not stop what I'm doing.  With hubby home; I have to actually stop and figure out a lunch.  It's a worth while trade off.  I miss him when he's gone, and that's another reason I get so much accomplished.  When he's gone I work to make the time pass.  

So needless to say Being out of my routine has thrown other things out of a routine; Blogging, baking.  Even calling my mother!  I know!  See, you're in good company.  I usually call her once a week at least.  I did finally get a chance to call her yesterday.  I said "did you forget me"?  To which she replied " almost, but not quite".  In my defense, DH and I went up to her house last week for a breakfast with her and my other siblings.  

So I'd love to be able to share some frugal tidbit I've been working on, but I'm too scatter brained to think of something.  Right now we're cleaning things up to put up Christmas decor.  I've got my tree up, just not decorated.  That will come Thanksgiving night.  Then the rest of my Christmas decor will follow.  

One thing I can do is share some links to previous posts about preparing for the holidays.  So here ya go!  

Christmas in hard times.

Crafty stuff 

Working within a budget