The peppers in the greenhouse are up! Rob planted them a few weeks ago, but peppers are notorious for taking a long time and being a bit fussy in our greenhouse. I’m so glad they are up so strongly and we are almost ready to begin up-potting them when needed. The basil in the back certainly needs to be put into larger containers right now!

Rob has also planted several varieties of onions. We are doing Patterson (storage, yellow), Red Mountain (a new red one for us, supposed to be good for storage), Red Bull (leftover seeds from last year), white (don’t store well), and green onions. They are starting to come up.

He has planted some delphiniums and pansies and they are coming up, as well.

Today, we went out together and got cabbage (Quick Start, Pintree Mix, Red Acre) and celery (Tango) planted. We do need to get some broccoli started in the next few days, as well.

We did a few frugal fun things over the past couple of weeks. My niece and nephew stayed with us for a few days while their parents were out of town. On Sunday afternoon, we took them down to the carousel. Our grandson is still more comfortable in the wagon, vs. the horses that go up and down, but he had a great time playing on the playground equipment and riding a couple of times.

Our niece rode the entire time, as much as she was able. Because she is special needs, she can have 5 free rides per day, and she enjoyed every one of them.

There was also a day a couple of weeks ago, where a news station out of Portland did a feature on the adaptive horse riding organization my niece always rides at. Rob got to take her down there because she was asked to be a background rider. She got to have an extra ride that week as she was mounted on the horse and they took her through the arena, out for a ride on the trails outside and back in. She knew she wasn’t going to be interviewed, and didn’t care! She was just so happy for the extra ride! There was a time or two where the camera panned the arena as she and Rob were walking in, and you can see them standing in the entry, waiting for her turn. That was enough publicity for both of them, especially Rob:)

On President’s Day, we were not working and there was no preschool, so we loaded Malcolm and his bike up and drove down to the coast. We went to a paved trail at South Beach State Park and started at the rest area. We walked, and he pedaled over 2 miles. It was fun to get some exercise in a different place. We took a picnic lunch and drove over to a viewpoint where there is a great view of the ocean and ate it there. We were grateful that the morning was fairly sunny and pleasant, and that it waited to rain until we were safely in the car eating lunch.

I’m still working on using up things from the freezers and pantry. This batch of food I just pulled out includes frozen meatballs, frozen chili, berries, cauliflower, cookies, and a pound of hamburger. We will eat the chili and meatballs for lunches and I plan to make an “impossible pie” from the hamburger as I have some gf Bisquick I want to finish up.

I really haven’t needed to buy much at the grocery store in February until this past week, when it seemed as if I was going there every few days! I grabbed a lot of chicken legs for 89c/lb. We ate some and Rob barbecued a lot of them for the young adult group we cook for. We also bought produce for salads a few times, along with milk. Rob found a huge stack of super heavy duty foil pans on the clearance rack for $1.26/each. That only 1 penny more than the dollar store and the quality is SO much better. We use those a lot when we cook for the group.

I also used fruit from the freezer and pie filling from the cupboard to make crisps for the group and for a potluck we attended at church.

I fed my niece English muffins we got for free when we volunteered at the food bank. She loves them and ate a lot! We go again this upcoming Saturday to help out, and I will see if they have any available. If they do, I will grab a couple more packs and freeze them for the next time she’s hungry while over here.