Thriving In My Thrifty Week–July 20, 2020

Every day, Rob has been walking and doing his physical therapy exercises. He is getting a little bored of walking around and around the block near our house, so we’ve been venturing out to other areas. One day, we drove over to the coast and walked on a concrete trail at South Beach State Park. We started at the South Jetty, walked over to the campground and scenic boardwalk viewpoint, and back to the jetty. We are still looking for places that are relatively flat, and smooth, as he is still in the middle of the 6-week “be careful” phase after his surgery. He is easily walking around 2 miles at a time now.

Lovana had the day off, so we picked her up and took her along. It was nice to spend some time with her. Her job is just as busy as it was pre-Covid, in the little coffee/crepe shop. They had a time period, at first, where business was very slow, but now, it’s picked back up, due to the added orders coming in from Uber Eats and Grubhub, coupled with the fact that people can come in and eat at tables that are distanced from each other.

I got my first canner-load of beans this morning, and every one sealed! That makes it a very good morning for me:). I also got my first dill pickles canned–just 4 pints, but it’s a great start. Rob eats a lot of pickles, so I’m hoping to get lots more.

I keep doing yard and garden work at every opportunity. The weeks keep growing, produce needs harvesting, and we did some tilling and transplanting where crops were finished.

I’ve been picking berries and freezing them and now have many, many baggies in the freezers. I was able to freeze 3 baggies of green beans this morning, as well, from what wouldn’t fit into the canner load. We’ve been eating lettuce daily, as well, and the zucchini is trying to take over my fridge! I’ve been sharing, both with the relatives, and also with my neighbor over the fence…I wonder if she would notice if there were zucchini scattered over her yard one morning–maybe the boys would think they grew there……..or not. Actually, I think I’ll shred some up and freeze the baggies.

It’s been pretty hot, for our area–upper 80’s and low 90’s. I dug out some squirt guns and water balloons, and the kids, small and large, had a nice afternoon getting wet.

Those kiddie pools have come in handy since last summer when we bought them! They ended up using buckets, milk jugs, bowls that had berries in them for a snack, and a plastic water pitcher when they felt the squirt guns weren’t enough! Lots of fun for everyone:)

10 thoughts on “Thriving In My Thrifty Week–July 20, 2020”

    1. They had so much fun that Jake, when he was unexpectedly over here for a couple of hours, wanted to do it all again right away! I convinced him to wait until another day, since he will be here the next 3 days and will have more time to “get unky wet!”

  1. I’ve been reading about Rob’s recovery and he seems to be doing so well! I’m sure his doctor will be very pleased with his progress. Your garden is doing very well, too, thanks to all your hard work. It’s good to see the kids enjoying the summer weather. Hope all continues to be well with you and yours, Becky. Take care.

  2. Everything looks wonderful!!! And I can see sunflowers in one of the pictures too!!! I hope you have many more canners full of your garden’s bounty! I can’t believe y’all are still wearing sweatshirts! It is so hot here in Georgia that I have put heavier curtains on the windows and then took cardboard boxes and cut them open and shoved them in between the windows and the blinds! The air conditioner runs constantly! I’m scared to see what my electricity bill is going to be this month!!! Hope you all have a fantastic week!

    1. The sweatshirts were on at the beach, where, despite the beautiful scenery, it was in the 60’s and there was a very brisk breeze blowing. After being 90 over here in the valley, that felt freezing:). I actually love being cool. I have to confess that we are so used to the cool that we positively wilt in the upper 80’s, lower 90’s and run the air. Don’t laugh too loud:). Which is why I can’t really get watermelon here, and the okra are not doing much, but I picked another huge bowl of lettuce again today.

  3. Love the post here and also read your comment on The Prudent Homemaker. Well done on all the walking — both of you! And that photo of you two at the beach just says ‘Joy’ to me.

    And now canning season starts, right? I haven’t been able to can the last several years due to my chronic fatigue. But I am able to use my dehydrator and also freezer. I’ve been dehydrating frozen veggies for the first time. I just have this feeling like I really want to stock my pantry up. I call it my Squirrel Brain — squirrel away the food.

    My garden is a little hit and miss – something got to my green beans. Also something has been nibbling on my peas. It looks like I might get tomatoes this year though.

    1. I’ve got so much to can and freeze! I always get excited at this time of year, because I truly enjoy preserving. I got the beans and pickles put away today, and am ready to see if I can get another canner full of beans in the morning.

      I used to dry more food than I do now. If the freezer keeps filling at this rate, I may need to try that again.

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