Thriving In My Thrifty Week-June 20, 2022

We went berry picking at a local farm. Jake had a blast on the playground and in the pipe, where other kids rolled him around!

I picked enough strawberries to fill 8 quart-sized ziplocks and to make another double batch of jam. We also ate a bunch of them fresh. This year, berries are almost $2/lb if you pick them yourself in our immediate area. They are $2.40/lb if you go up toward Portland. If you buy them already picked, in our area, they are anywhere from $32/flat to $46/flat. That’s about 10-12 pounds. I’m so glad we could pick them ourselves!

I made a bouquet from Japanese iris from my yard and the last bit of baby’s breath from Patsy’s party. I cleaned the bathroom really, really well and spruced it up with the flowers. I cleaned and mopped several times. Rob and I were joking around that it was hard to believe I had done it, after all the garden dirt was tracked in over and over. A few minutes after I got the bathroom done, Malcolm had a bath and when he took his boot off, it was full of dirt…which was dumped on the floor…and there I went again!

As is normal this time of year, I spent quite a bit of time weeding, hoeing and caring for the garden and flowerbeds. I harvested snow peas several times, along with a few green onions and lots of lettuce–gallons and gallons. I shared some, we had so much. It’s so good, but a person can only eat so much and I’m happy to know people who also like to eat it. Once I’ve gone to all the trouble to grow it, it’s satisfying to see it used! Since I have multiple succession plantings going, I rarely run out from spring until fall.

I did have a lot of help some days. Thankfully, the help got new boots “Pa” found at a yard sale for $1, as he grew out of his red ones. He has tools he received from his first birthday, and is all set.

We had to move locations after several veggies were in grave danger from the wild shoveler!

“Double trouble” kept our lives interesting. These are the M and M bandits here…..trying to get candy out of those big containers. They look guilty, for sure, but actually Grandpa lets them play with them. There are a few candies in the bottoms of the containers, and they shake them around a lot. There are a few M and M’s eaten over time, but not as many as Mac wishes.

This was a week filled with little boys. We had our grandsons several times, our nephew 3 times, as usual, and one day, I also had 2 neighbor boys for several hours, along with one grandson and nephew. It was a wild week! My neighbor gave me a gift card, to thank me for filling in when her normal sitter had a crisis, which was totally unnecessary, but gratefully received.

I did a lot of grocery shopping with some extra money we had, including Costco. It’s nice to have some of those things like Ziplock bags restocked. I use so many in the summer to preserve fruits and vegetables. Even with re-washing, bags are used up rapidly. Of course, I got a $4.99 rotisserie chicken. Easy for those busy days!

We went to several stores, and gleaned the bargains from each one. I was delighted to get 9c/lb watermelon at Safeway. Grocery Outlet had a large bag of Pamela’s gluten-free pancake and baking mix for $12, quite a savings, and a few other items I could use. We ended up at Winco for the 98c/can olives and a few other items that are less expensive there. I bought diapers. I have tried the Safeway diapers a couple of times now and I’m very satisfied. They are a few dollars less than the Huggies. I had an Ibotta reward for baby food, and got that, too.

Meals were made from scratch, as always. I made salad after salad–garden salad, chef salad with meat and cheese, crab salad, and turkey meat taco salad on the day my Mom came to visit. We had sandwiches and hamburgers. I made chicken-rice soup, which is a big hit with the babies. Monday evening, I just took things from the fridge and used them up. We had cooked carrots, stir-fried celery and snow peas, and mashed potatoes from the bottom of a bag of potatoes. I added a little chicken and there we were!

Our neighbor gave us 2 Dungeness crabs he caught. We cracked them out Sunday. I love crab, but don’t buy it because it’s very expensive and we can catch them occasionally. We haven’t been crabbing for a long time haven’t had any to eat lately, so it was a real treat.

We took plenty of walks! Sometimes we found a few pop cans laying around and hauled them home. Rob did Bottle Drop and with all the cans everyone gave us, plus our own, he put $49 on the card. That will be worth even more groceries, as I use the 20% + feature when I redeem them at the store.

This pretty well sums up how we felt at the end of some days! Happy, but ready for our rest:)

15 thoughts on “Thriving In My Thrifty Week-June 20, 2022”

    1. He was helping me finish the chicken quilt, too. Took my pins. Stole my scissors. Absconded with my thread. Hmmm…..I really need to finish that by Saturday, as it is Rob’s Mom’s birthday party and that is her gift.

  1. Sounds like it was a beautiful week! I totally understand that needing rest after the grands visit thingy!!!!

    1. Well…..I got about one night of rest, and then….what can I say? I was back with the boys. I hadn’t planned on them coming on Thursday, but who can say “no” to those cute faces? Not me.

  2. You have some precious grandsons, Becky. Your post reminded me of that poem: What are Little Boys Made of?” Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that’s what little boys are made of.” And you might add–boots full of dirt!

    1. This week it has been all about water since it’s been hot. It was just when the dirt and bark dust went into the kiddie pool that things got interesting, trying to convince Mac that those two things really weren’t going to be a good idea together…..

  3. Those are some handsome helpers you have, there! 🙂

    Sounds like a really good frugal week. I miss Dungeness crab (grew up in southern Washington, and spent much time on the Oregon coast) & it’s hard to get anywhere else.

    We are overflowing with lettuce as well! I picked two huge salad spinners full of it, as it’s starting to bolt & we need to get it eaten, and plant the next batch. Maybe I can also give some away to my neighbors. We’ve already gotten a zucchini giveaway going, and are barely keeping up with using the spaghetti squash. But, garden food is always welcome!

    1. We don’t have zucchini yet….but it’s growing well and my day is coming where I will be begging the neighbor to take it! I do love crab now and then. It’s a special treat.

  4. I just wanted to let you know that Dr Praeger’s are on sale at Gaint/Stop N Shop Buy 1 get 1 free. There is an Ibotta rebate of $1 each for 5. Here is also a $2 off coupon and you can use one on each box so it was a money maker for me. I got 8 boxes. I did 4 on my account and 4 on my daughter’s. My youngest is GF but not celiac so I don’t know if you can eat them. GF foods are so expensive. We are stocked up for a while now. http://drpraegers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/DrPraegers-Printable-Coupon_Exp070122.pdf

    1. Thanks for the heads-up! I love those fish sticks, especially, although I haven’t had any for a long time. Unfortunately, we don’t have that store here in Oregon:(. I agree..gf food is awfully expensive so any way to cut that cost down is a good thing! I’m glad you got some.

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