Saving Money and Weekly Update–January 15, 2018

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I took my friend, Harnet, to visit the state capitol.  We walked around the outside, and enjoyed looking around the grounds, as it was Saturday, and was not open.  The circle of flags has one for each state and 9 for the American Indian tribes in Oregon.  They were very beautiful against the blue sky.

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She has been studying government in her citizenship class and really enjoyed looking around.  One day, we hope to go when it is open so she can go inside.

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Who knew there were toys for kids to play on?  I didn’t until Saturday.  We could tell they were meant for children because of the soft, cushy pad around them.  Danait loved climbing on them.

We also took Patsy and Danait swimming at the YMCA and they had a ball.

Last week, Harnet cooked a ton of food for Eritrean Christmas (celebrated later than we do), and froze it.  Then, she packed it all up and brought it down for us to enjoy at family Sunday dinner after church.  After we had all enjoyed our meal, some friends of my sister dropped in.  The young man had seen Ethiopian food cooked on t.v. and had been dying to try it. (Eritrean food is basically the same, as the countries are very close together). So, he happily dug into the remaining food and loved it so much, he ate most of the rest of it!  I’m not sure who was happier, him or Harnet.  It’s is so fun to cook for someone who appreciates it, and he appreciated it!  She made us coffee, and he loved that, too! What remained of the food, went home with him:)

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Rob’s working on a small greenhouse for me to start seedlings in.  I will order some seeds this week so they can begin growing.  Peppers and onions take a long time to grow from seed, so I hope to get them started in the next couple of weeks.  However, this is a big project, so I’m not sure it will be done this week.  He has made great use of the long weekend and thankfully, we had good weather for him to work outside in!  I’m super excited.  I used to grow all my own starts for the garden at our old house and love being able to choose the varieties I want.

I cooked a lot.  We have weeks where no one seems hungry.  This was not one of them:)

I still have plenty of most foods on hand.  I did pick up a bit of produce, and Rob was able to grab a few items that were a great price at Grocery Outlet.  I also got my Friday freebies from Fred Meyers–2 weeks worth–a Lara bar and a bag of popcorn (popped).  I don’t anticipate needing a whole lot more for a few days, but will be going out to get ice cream for poor Lovana.  She had 2 wisdom teeth pulled today, and they had a hard time with one of them.   So, I will be getting whatever flavor(s) she wants.

We were able to use insurance for the dental work.  After not having any for most of our marriage, I’m still very grateful that we have it now.

Did your week go well?

 

 

 

26 thoughts on “Saving Money and Weekly Update–January 15, 2018”

  1. That sounds like a fun outing! I never did make it up to the state capitol when we lived in Oregon. That was so sweet of Harnet to cook all that food for you and I got a kick out of hearing about that young man enjoying it so much also. I do hope you are able to get your seeds all started in your green house. That is so nice that Rob is able to build that for you. 🙂 Be blessed!

    1. I am happy that Rob is building me that greenhouse! He did not finish today, so it will have to be worked on next weekend. There is very little time before it gets dark in the evenings, and he’s usually very tired, so…..hope it’s nice again:)

  2. How nice of Harnet to cook so much food for everyone to enjoy! And I agree — it is wonderful to cook for someone who enjoys it. 🙂 I hope Lovana feels better soon; I remember being quite sore after my wisdom teeth were removed. Ice cream was very helpful though!

  3. Ugh! Wisdom teeth! I hope she is on the mend and feeling better soon. I am having a crown replaced and started that last week.. Grateful that we still have dental insurance for 2 more years. A greenhouse! How wonderful!

    Hubby did a plumbing repair to my bathroom sink saving us $300. We bought a 9# spiral sliced ham for $5, got 8 free cans of beans, 2 free boxes of pasta and 1# rolls of sausage for .99. Beautiful strawberries were 1.29# at Aldi , 3 pk of green peppers .89,and yellow squash ,68 a pound, 5# grapefruit was 2.39. We are well stocked here after several weeks of going to buy produce there and finding the shelves empty becuase of supply issues relating to winter storms.

    1. Wow! The storm did affect things! I’m glad you are getting well stocked up again.

      I don’t like crowns, either, but they are necessary:(. I hope it goes well for you.

  4. I used to have a greenhouse and I loved it. I mostly played with flowers, planting seeds and rooting cuts. I love the smell of dirt in a closed up greenhouse. It will be a blessing for you to give your garden seeds and early start.

    1. I’m super excited. It’s not finished, but it’s well on the way. Now, I need to get that seed order in quickly, so they will be here when it does get done. It’s still early, but I don’t want to miss my window of opportunity to get those peppers planted.

  5. Looking forward to seeing the completed greenhouse. How great that you’ll be able to start plants from seeds. That should certainly stretch the gardening budget.
    Great photos of the state capitol. If you ever drive down to SF again, City Hall is amazing and free to roam around. The last time I was there, there was a free photo exhibit in the bottom level.
    Not doing much here with all the rain and still recovering from the flu. I framed out the veggie garden space that is ‘mine’ here at my apartment. It’s about 6ft X 8ft and now nicely edged on four sides. Two sides have a retaining wall and the other two sides I added 2X4s as an edge. I started going through my seed catalog this week and making notes in a notebook for some kind of garden plan this year.
    Cheers.

    1. I’m sorry you aren’t feeling well, but I’m glad you have some seed catalogs to look at while you recover! It sounds like you have a decent area to start with at your apartment. That will be handy!

      1. I now have 4 spaces – 3 community garden plots and now the one nearly at the door of my apartment. I keep thinking one of the community gardens is going to fold but it keeps being ‘the little engine that could’.
        The very fun thing is that each plot has a different microclimate and sun exposure. It will keep me busy and hopefully meeting new people. Each space is about the same size, give or take a foot here or there.

  6. What a fun trip and the Christmas meal sounds wonderful!

    I’ve always wanted a green house. Maybe some day. Most of the time I live in a mild enough climate that with a little ingenuity I could grow produce year round.

    1. This will be my 3rd one, all built by Rob. The last one was first just sticks and plastic, but then he added fiberglass. This time, he started with fiberglass. I’m super excited.

  7. That sounds like it was a very nice outing for everyone, including little Danait. I hope Lovana feels better soon. Getting wisdom teeth pulled is not fun! I was in pain and looked like a chipmunk for days! Looking forward to seeing pictures of the greenhouse once it is completed. Hope you have a wonderful week, Becky.

    1. Thank you. Lovana still feels yucky today. Poor kid. Rob worked on it again last night, but it’s still not done. It’s turning into a bigger project than he thought, but it’s looking better each day!

  8. The greenhouse is exciting. I look forward to hearing more about your seed starting. I still need to go through seeds, and see what I need this year. My husband also plans to build us a greenhouse, but I don’t expect it will happen this year. Your friendship with Harnet is a joy to read about.

    1. I am so excited. I spent quite a bit of time choosing seeds, and did 2 orders today. We are thinking of driving down to Cottage Grove on Saturday to get our Territorial Seeds, as it is only a couple of hours from here. But, it depends on whether Rob can spare the time from finishing the greenhouse. If not, we will order them. I expect to end up spending quite a bit on seeds this year, as I have used up most of what I had. Fun to have a reason to order seeds:)

  9. It has been unbelievably cold in Alabama this month, complete with ice. We do not “do” snow and ice well, and are just not equipped to handle it. So, I have hibernated. I love to try food from all over the world. That sounds so good!

    1. I’ve never been to Alabama, but I sure have a preconceived notion that it is warm there! I don’t blame you for hibernating! That’s what we did last year when we had all that unusual snow:)

  10. Everything is upside down here. Since both boys have temporarily moved back home bringing the uneaten food from their apartments with them, I decided to do a big pantry overhaul, organizing, cleaning, painting, it is a big project! They pulled everything out of one side of my laundry room, piled it up in the middle of the living room and I began painting. I picked up a case of tomatoes, twisted the wrong way and pulled my back out, bad. I spend two days in bed not moving, then two days on the couch, and now I am slowly moving.

    Becky, it is unbelievable how much food we have. It is ridiculous! (First world problems.) I have decided I will not enter a grocery store until this is at a manageable level. Of course, they will stock up out of my pantry when they move back out, but I would like to send fresh food when they leave.

    One son mentioned we are out of fresh apples, I replied, “We have canned apples, a frozen homemade apple pie in the freezer, dehydrated apples and apple jelly. Take your pick. He said, “I was wanting an apple with peanut butter.on it.” I replied, “PB & J.” No compromises.

    Jeannie @ GetMeToTheCountry.blogspot.com

    1. Go Jeannie!!! We have an awful lot of food, too. I agree with wanting to keep the food fresh. How nice that you have 2 big, hungry boys to use some of it up. Around here, they just go buy more of what it is that they want if I won’t. There’s an idea……

      1. They both have cars and money and can get want they want; however, they aren’t the problem. The big baby is my husband. He has been in the mood for, of all things, potato chips. POTATO CHIPS! Is that something any of us need to be eating? No. I am not going to the store to buy a bag of over-priced potato chips.

        Grumpy Jeannie @ GetMeToTheCountry.blogspot.com

        1. The potato chip munchies hit around here, on occasion, too:). I assume he has a car:). And some $$ :)….. Just like the boys:).

          For a couple months before Christmas, I stopped buying chips altogether. Then, a bunch came in over the holidays and we are still munching them down. After they are gone, I’m declaring a “stop-chip” again. The way we make them last a long time is to put the bag in my bedroom. I made a bag last a month, eating just 1-2 chips per day. But, that’s hard to do if I get really munch, so it’s better to not even buy them. If I put them out in the kitchen….a bag a day…gone:). So, I bought some on sale, and bring them out when I want to serve them. My aunt keeps the kids in chips on Sundays:). So, they really won’t suffer. Rob hasn’t been eating much junk food for the past few months, so he’s on board to go “chipless” for a while again.

          1. Hide them in your bedroom, how novel! No one ever looks in my underwear drawer…but what if they spilled?

            This will require some devious planning.

            Jeannie

          2. I think that’s a recipe for disaster–potato chip crumbs in your underwear……

            I just put my extras in the crack between the wall and the dresser–it’s about 8 inches wide–just right for a bag of chips or a bag of animal cracker cookies, another item that is only brought out when I want them all gone in 5 minutes. The other place I put things is out in the shop. The soda I get on sale is beginning to migrate out there. That is because I keep finding empty cans behind chairs, under pillows, and so forth out in the garage……and the pop is going, going, almost gone…..If I get them for 4 boxes for $10 or $11 it doesn’t mean I want it gone in a week!! Never a dull moment around here:)The chocolate chips live out there now, because I simply am not to be trusted with a bag of chocolate chips:). Sad, but true!

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