Monthly Archives: August 2020

Homeschooling, kids, Saving Money

Thriving In My thrifty Week–August 31, 2020

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We just returned from a wonderful week camping at Ft. Stevens State Park. Due to Rob’s surgery and Covid, this was the first time we were able to take the camper out for a whole year! We were so glad we got to keep these reservations we made 9 months ago, and that nothing happened to cancel them.

We made up for lost time and did everything we could!

We also took along many activities for both Jake and Patsy and did an outdoor school/camp experience for them, with a focus on Lewis and Clark, as Ft. Stevens is very near to where they ended up at the Pacific.

We crabbed off the bridge in Seaside and were very surprised to get 5 keepers. We made a conscious decision to go at a time that was not perfect, so the kids would have a good experience, and …..WOW!

We went fishing at nearby Coffenbury Lake a couple of times. The fish Rob has was not a keeper, but he did get one that was. Jake loves fishing now and had fun pulling in a few little ones, which we put back.

Jake played Legos for hours. We have some that we keep in the camper and never bring into the house, so they seem like new toys to him. The kids did glow sticks every night, as usual. They played “hot and cold” with Uncle, as usual. (He hides little prizes around and they find them–). They dug for buried treasure, as usual. (Rob buried gold chocolate coins this time and made them find them outside the camper.). I read outloud for hours, as usual–this time it was about the journey of Lewis and Clark. Can you tell this is a boy that likes his routine? 🙂

Something new this time was the bike riding. One day Jake’s big sister, Caitlyn, came over and helped him “ride” on a very long bike ride. I guess she had to push about half the time, but it was fun.

Mostly, he and Patsy rode around and around the loop where we were camped, and both had a blast! My aunt had a bike she had not been riding, and gave it to Patsy. Patsy loves it so much. Rob taught her how to put on new tires and inner tubes, and once they fixed up, it worked very, very well for her. She rode it for miles, I think, because she was on it almost every day.

They dug in the sand one day. Rob did some fishing while they dug, and I stayed back and cleaned up the horrendously messy camper, a couple of cupboards and baked the cookies. Although I was offered help to bake the cookies, by that point, I had had enough help for a little bit, so Rob took them away for a little while, while I got the camper cleaned up. We never intended to leave the camper sit for an entire year, so of course, I found a few crackers that had seen better days. The kids happily fed them to the seagulls one day. Another day, we drove across the bridge to Washington State, and read road markers about Lewis and Clark’s journey. We also spent quite a bit of time playing Lewis and Clark–pretending to explore with a compass that was used more for fun than for correct direction, but…..

We went for several hikes down the trails, in fact, did a hike most days.

I took so many fun activities that we did not get them all done. They did camp fire cooking, decorated fall cookies, craft projects, plus all the outdoor fun. I still have some ideas left for next time, which is how I like it!

My sister came and picked the garden several times while I was gone, so it is in good shape.

We stayed frugal by using the foster/adoptive park pass we have, so we camped for the week for the $8 registration fee, only. We ate all meals as picnics or at the campsite, except one drive-thru at McDonald’s for a lunch the day we drove around. We always save change in a can for that purpose, and still have plenty left for another time, as Rob and I didn’t want a lot from there….just sayin’:). We’d prefer a little seafood or chowder, but since it’s Covid, we chose not to go to a restaurant so McD’s it was. The kids were happy, and we found a nice spot to sit and look out at the water while we ate, so we were happy, too. We visited a grocery store one time for a few items, but most food was brought from home, using our regular grocery budget and garden produce. It was a great week, and I’m so glad we got to go!

Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–August 23, 2020

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I had a little visitor today. I’d like to introduce you all to my grandson, Malcom. His mama is in town, visiting, with him, and Rob and I got to see him for the first time. He’s so precious and special, as all babies are. But I have to say right now, he’s by far the cutest baby I know:).

Of course, he stole Grandpa’s heart, too.

Last year, Ja’Ana got married in a private ceremony. She and her husband live in Hawaii, and now they have Malcom. At that time, she asked for privacy, and I have respected that on this blog. But now…..she’s letting Grandpa post it all over Facebook….and fair is fair….so–Whoo-Hoo–! The cute little guy that we have Facetimed with several times a week since he was born in early July has finally come to visit. Lovana actually flew to Hawaii to help J on the plane with baby–she never left the airport at all, just met J there and flew right back.

Alissa picked them up at the airport, brought them here for a visit and brunch, and then they went to Lovana’s house to hopefully get some rest. I also loved seeing Alissa–she’s been working at a camp most of the summer, so we don’t get to see her very often.

Jake wanted to make Snickerdoodles for our upcoming camping trip. Or should I say Jake wanted to eat Snickerdoodles before our upcoming trip. A few were frozen for the trip. A lot were eaten. It will be the first time we’ve been camping for an entire year, so we’ve spent quite a bit of time getting the camper ready. It’s a project. We are putting together an outdoor school/camp experience for both Patsy and Jake with lots of activities, learning and fun. What Jake remembers is decorating sugar cookies and having lots of glow sticks. So we will, plus a bunch of other fun things.

In the meanwhile, we are still preserving everything we can get our hands on. I’ve canned tomatoes, pears, 2 batches of salsa, bringing my total up to over 30 jars (I want 50, but we’ll see), 3 small batches dill pickles, one small batch of sweet pickles (the ones that take 4 days, dumping and pouring each morning and night according to the directions), dried peaches, pears and apples from the reduced produce rack at Freddies, done fruit leather, and finished the fruit cocktail. Rob went to a fruit stand that we know of and got my apples, which are ripening for applesauce. I have a lot more tomatoes to do, plus more pickles, more salsa…..you get the idea. Some days, I’ve worked for over 12 hours, but most days it’s way less than that. A little each day, and it’s stacking up. I’m gaining on it, but not quite there yet.

Rob tilled another section of the garden after I pulled up spent plants. I’ve planted cabbage, Chinese cabbage, boc choi, lettuce, spinach, cilantro, broccoli rapini, and snow peas for a fall/winter garden.

The right hand side of the compost bin in the back of the picture is ready and Rob started digging it out. Once it’s empty, that’s where our scraps and weeds will go and we will let the other side finish making its compost. It took about a year of us just dumping scraps and weeds in there for it to break down–we do nothing special to it–just pour it in there as we get it. That picture is from last spring. What a change in the garden!

It’s been an amazing gardening year, and we feel very blessed. That trellis of beans is now hiding the compost bins. I got a few beans from it at first, but then..nothing. Now, I notice lots of little blooms all over, so I have high hopes for eating beans in a week or so. We’ll see. They were not happy with the 90+ degree days last week.

I grocery shopped for the first time in about 3 weeks. I used lots of Bottle Drop money I’d been saving for quite a while, a $5 coupon I got in the mail, my last Fred Meyer rewards and got out the the store for under $40 cash. I also had several Ibotta rebates from the trip, which I’m leaving in that account for now. I got lots of groceries, and they will last for quite some time. I’ve saved some grocery money this month and will make an Azure Standard order next month with it (bulk products). It’s the easiest time of the year to save money with all the produce that’s available, plus my aunt gave us some extra lunchmeat, which has come in handy to snatch and eat when I’m so busy canning. There is some extra expense for canning supplies, but I still come out ahead since so much of what I can, freeze or dry is free or very inexpensive.

food preservation, Garden, Saving Money

thriving In My Thrifty Week–August 18, 2020

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A trip to the docks in Newport, Oregon, led to this….

A trip to the farm and garden led to this…..

So, pretty much all I’ve been doing this past week is this….

Rob’s cousin gave us 2 huge boxes of food she did not need from a gleaner’s group she belongs to. In it were 2 huge bags of broccoli, which I froze, some chicken, which I canned and lots of other yummy food, which we ate.

The peaches are from my sister’s farm. Rob helped up there several days this past couple of weeks and hauled home peaches and wild black berries more than once. My sister was given pears, and she shared with me. I have spent countless hours canning, freezing and drying produce. I’m delighted, but a bit tired, I will admit. There’s lots more to do, but I am trying to do it in small batches when ever possible. My freezers are getting stuffed, so I’ve actually turned down a couple of items lately, like blueberries and more green beans, and I canned the chicken we were given for that reason. My shelves are filling nicely out in the shop.

I’ve done a couple of batches of salsa, several small batches of pickles, lots of jam, wild blackberry and strawberry syrup, and I’m working on fruit cocktail today.

A few of the fall/winter gardening seeds have come up and some of the cabbage starts that looked so awful when I planted them look much better now. In between preserving, I’ve been trying to clean up the yard and garden a bit….it’s getting pretty weedy. But, the weeds will still be there when I’m done canning, I’m pretty sure. So, I’m not getting too worried about them:)

So, why do I do all of this? Several reasons: For one, I actually enjoy it. But, even if I didn’t, I still would preserve food. There is so much food in our area. Farmers have a bounty of crops that are available for little money. My garden is bountiful. But, during the winter, little grows, and it is so nice to be able to go out to the shop and grab what I want or need. It saves me both time and money during the winter, and I can cook so many delicious meals with the food I preserve.

During this past spring, it become apparent that things had changed in our area. The stores were having shortages, as they did everywhere else. We have chosen to not shop as often, due to Covid, and sometimes, things on my list were not there when we were. This summer, I’m preserving extra, because we ate extra last spring and I ran out of some items. I know I will enjoy the convenience of having the food right at my fingertips. Right now, in our area, farmers are selling their wares at fruit stands and farms for the same prices they did in the past, or with a slight, normal increase. With other food prices going up in the stores, that’s attractive to me.

Are you preserving anything extra this summer?

food preservation, Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My thrifty Week–August 10, 2020

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The canning is stacking up around here! This week, one of the things I did was pull the carrots. Some we ate and some were canned. Frankly, my carrot crop was small, and not impressive, but I dealt with what there was. I grew multi-colored colored carrots, for part of what I grew, and I like how they look in the jars. During a normal winter, I use between 5 and 10 pints of canned carrots, that is all. I use them for one purpose–making chicken-rice soup when I’m in a big hurry. Therefore, I don’t can them every year, but this year, I’m down to one jar left, so it’s time.

Pickles are made every few days and the tomatoes are just barely starting.

We have a peach tree in the back yard. It’s somewhat pathetic and the peaches that grow are usually eaten off by squirrels before they even ripen. The peaches are often covered with scabs. But, this year, some survived–probably 20-25 pounds and they are quite nice. I was expecting very little-none as usual, so this gave me extra peaches. I have been freezing them in slices for smoothies, gave some of the frozen ones to my sister, froze a few for a friend, and made another double batch of peach jam.

We are eating so well from the garden now.

My lettuce is really good right now, but some of it wants to bolt soon. I will be hauling some out to family members on Wednesday so it gets eaten.

Rob has been saving seeds from some of our open-pollinated flowers and vegetables to use next year. It’s his first try, but he’s become very infested in the process–so I’m on board. I’ve got a small patch of the lettuce in the center of the picture saved and will let it go to seed for him. I’ve got a huge cucumber yellowing on the vine for the same purpose, and one freaky carrot that bloomed so is being left alone to see what happens.

I’ve been working hard in the garden to pull up old bean bushes, pull the onions so they can dry, and otherwise clean up out there. One day, Rob tilled this section and I planted cabbage, some sad broccoli plants and a few seeds. The plants are not amused at the 90+ degree day we had today. I’ve ran the sprinkler daily and hauled a few watering cans full of water out to them, so they will likely survive if I keep doing it. I have plans to plant a few more fall/winter crops when I get the section where the onions were prepared.

I went to the dentist today and got a filling replaced. It had a small crack in it. They felt I could wait until after Rob recovered from surgery, but not 6 months…..I really don’t like dental work, but was glad to get it fixed before it caused problems down the road. I was able to use my insurance, so that helped ease the pain.

Rob has been helping my sister/brother-in-law on their peach farm a little over the past couple of weeks. They are in a busy time, and he’s available. While he was there today, he picked wild blackberries and we made jam this afternoon.

My aunt and sisters picked and snapped more green beans for me while I was at the dentist. Rob and I canned them this afternoon. I got 7 more quarts and 18 pints, plus 4 baggies to freeze. Thanks, guys!

Rob gathered free wood from the side of the road and made me screens to dry my onions on.

One day, while we were watching Michaela, we packed a picnic and took her up to Silver Creek Falls State Park to dip her toes in the creek, and enjoy her picnic. We are all trying to find things for the kids to do while still staying safe–so although the park was somewhat crowded, we just stayed away from people as much as we could, so we were able to find a way to social distance. We did take a walk, but it was around the parking lot and a field–we never got anywhere near the falls this time around. It was still extremely fun!

What did you do this week to save money or have an awesome week?

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Homeschooling, Saving Money, Summer Fun With Kids, Vacations

Thriving In My thrifty Week–August 2, 2020

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Way before Rob’s surgery, my sister booked a cabin at Detroit Lake and invited us to come with their family for a few days. She wanted him to have something to look forward to post-surgery. As we discussed the upcoming trip, we talked about how he would probably need help up the few stairs, a ground level room so he could lie down when needed, and maybe could or maybe could not walk the 50 feet to the lake or go out on a boat one day. What a different, and wonderful, scenario it was!

Instead of sitting in the cabin, he went down to the lake several times. While down there, he fished, helped the kids fish and swam more than once. He had no trouble on the stairs or anywhere else, but made sure to use his trekker poles and follow his hip surgery precautions at all times. One morning, he and I walked all over the tiny lake town for exercise. It was nice to have a different change of scenery.

He took some of the kids rock collecting and creek walking.

On the day my sister rented a pontoon boat, we all fished for the morning, and swam during the afternoon. We took a picnic with us to enjoy at lunch time. Michaela got a fishing license before she went on the trip, with Rob’s help. Then, of course, she wanted to fish. He helped her hook this one, and she landed it. She was SO excited.

I caught a fish, too! It was the biggest trout I’ve caught in years, well over 12 inches, and we ate it for dinner that night, along with the one Rob helped Michaela catch.

Jake’s parents have chosen to continue homeschooling next fall, and are continuing his education during the summer. So, 2 of the days we were there, he did schoolwork. His mom organized it all, and his dad and mom both worked with him at times. Uncle helped him with science projects twice. I read two entire short chapter books to him. One was school, one was for fun. He would lay in wait for me to come out to where ever he was and get me to read to him,–it was so cute and fun. He commandeered everyone he could to play air hockey and foosball in the basement game room the cabin had, and although he beat me at air hockey, I did win the foosball game:). He talked every single one of us into Yahtzee at one time or another, and even used my phone to text Grandma for her Yahtzee-winning secrets one time, and then won the game!

We took all of our food, and cooked every meal at the cabin. We had a blast, and got some rest. Which was good because……

When we got home…..yikes! I had picked the garden produce before we went and processed everything or packed it for the trip. I needed to work for 12-16 hours a couple of days to get it taken care of before we left, but nothing was neglected or forgotten, except 3 pickling cucumbers that grew too big to use while we were gone, and about 10 beans that went over the hill. I can so totally live with that!

Since I’ve been home, I’ve canned beet pickles, dill pickles, blueberry pie filling and green beans. I’ve frozen the last of the peaches, some strawberries and blueberries.

Yesterday afternoon, we had a bean-snapping/canning party at my sister’s house. My other sister is growing tons of beans and is sharing. So after virtual church, Rob and I went over to Gail’s and joined their family and my aunt, who were all snapping like crazy. We got 28 quarts done! We took our canner, used their canner, and one that Rob’s friend gave us just last week. They never use it anymore, so we gratefully accepted. Rob stood by the canners, keeping time and keeping them all at correct pressure–that was his exclusive job, and the rest of us snapped and filled jars. When I left, they were all sealed, except one, and I’m sure it did. It sure speeds things up with multiple canners and lots of help!

I’ve been working on my garden in the evenings and mornings. I’m removing old bushes, harvesting produce, and weeding. I’m getting an area ready because I plan to plant a fall garden.

We ordered some more seeds from Territorial Seed Company for fall planting. They were out of a lot of things in their on-line winter gardening catalog, but we were able to get enough. We just wanted a few things like spinach, cabbage, etc. If they didn’t have the variety I wanted, I just chose another one, figuring they all must have some merit or they wouldn’t have made it into the seed catalog in the first place! Maybe I’ll find a new favorite. We have eaten and shared so many of our vegetables this summer–much more than we usually do, so I’m excited to get more going.

Rob took this picture of the clouds. I really like it, so thought I’d end the blog post with it, just because:)