Work on the greenhouse continues!  Rob and Patsy worked for several hours yesterday, and whenever they needed an extra hand, Ja’Ana or I ran out and helped.  He is still not done.  This has turned out to be quite a project!  I’m SO excited to see it coming along so well.

Late in the day yesterday, Rob got it to the point where he wanted to put a plastic roof on.  He was not satisfied with the plastic he had because he felt it was too thin.  Also, the wind really kicked up and a rainstorm was coming in, so he cleaned up and stopped for the day.  Today, he is getting thicker plastic and will tackle that roof again this evening.

He is taking this opportunity to show Patsy how to build with tools.  She has been really enjoying her woodworking class at school this term, and is sorry it’s almost over.  So, he hopes to continue teaching her more skills in that area, since she is showing an interest.  He was talking about maybe moving on to some planter boxes or flower pots next with her.  Building things is a very rewarding hobby for him, and has saved us many, many dollars over the years.

In the meanwhile, the seeds have started to arrive.  2 out of the 3 orders I placed have arrived!  You may notice the “Mater Magic” fertilizer in the middle.  Who could resist something that promised that it would grow great tomatoes, take care of blossom end rot, and was organic to boot, all in a tomato-shaped container? Certainly not me:). So, I will try it this year and see how it does.  I’m also trying those biodegradable, stretchable twist ties for the first time.  I’m going to see how they do.

Rob and I both went scrap wood gathering this week.  There are a few places in town that put out tote bins full of scraps.  They are free, but it’s very rare to find them full of good-sized chunks, since people usually empty them as fast as they are filled.  So, we generally just check the boxes if we are passing by anyway to see if they are full.  Earlier in the week, he hit the jackpot at one of the places and got firewood scraps, and even a bit of scrap lumber he can use to make part of the plant table inside the greenhouse.  I put a bin in the back of my car “just in case” since he had such good luck.  When I went by, taking J to her house-cleaning job, I got a few scraps from the place he had such luck at.  But, when I went over to the other place about 2 block away–WOW!  So, I filled the bin the rest of the way up, filled up a shopping bag and a basket I had in there and piled extra wood around.  I took it home, unloaded it, got Patsy since she had come home from school, and went back and we did it again!

In the tote, Patsy found a broken dowel, like you would put in a closet to hang clothes on, and grabbed it for plant stakes.  It was split down the middle, so it will hold up 2 plants.  I found some pieces that will be perfect for garden row-marker stakes.  I don’t care if they are different lengths. Neither will the green beans:)

And, in the end, I got over 6 boxes of wood chunks.  Rob got an old garbage can full, several buckets full, and I think a couple of boxes besides.  He also got some larger pieces he will cut up a little more and then we can burn it.  These are great to use when starting fires and we’ve been burning through what we got before:), so it was nice to find some more.

I decided to get out my yogurt cooker, some starter that had been in the fridge for a long time, and some powdered milk and try yogurt-making.   No one wants plain yogurt to just eat, but Patsy is loving smoothies right now, so that’s what I’ll do with it when it’s finished.

Is your week going well?

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.

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.

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:)

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?

 

 

 

Keeping my pantry well-stocked is important to me, even on a month where I’m not planning to spend a great deal of money.  So, believe it or not, I was almost out of olives!  Now, to some, like my mom and aunt, that would be good news!  To me and my sisters, a tragedy:). Rob spotted these medium-sized olives at Grocery Outlet for 79c/can and so he snagged me a case. We’ve used 2 cans already.

I grabbed the 5 packages allowed of grated cheese from Fred Meyers on Saturday.  I got Rob a birthday present from the clearance rack while I was there.  His birthday is at the end of the month, and I struggle with what to give him every year, coming so close to Christmas.  But, this is a small thing that I know he will enjoy.  Better yet, I thought of another idea I will work on this week.  We will be watching both our niece and nephew that weekend, so any celebrations will be group efforts.  I think another chocolate cake is in order, for sure.

Our 1/4 beef arrived.  It was taken to the butcher shop in December, but Rob went and picked it up yesterday.  I had to do some major freezer arranging to fit it in, so now I’m even more committed to emptying out a few more items.  I like the freezers full, but not crammed to the point where I worry they will pop open.  I had been emptying them and they were in great condition, but now they are really full!  Buying the beef in bulk saves a lot, compared to purchasing little by little. We have done it for many years this way, but have cut our order down from 1/2 to 1/4 as our family is smaller.

One of my goals in January is to use things that have been around for too long.  This soup is some I canned in 2011.  I ate it for lunch, and it was still delicious.  I felt so virtuous when I ate it:). I also used some peppers I pickled a few years ago.  I put some in refried beans and some in chili.  They worked fine.  When a friend made them, they were crisp.  Mine turned out mushy, and so people didn’t want them that way, so they just sat there.  Now, I’m using them up in creative ways.  I’ve also used several frozen bread items.  I buy it when it is on the day-old rack at Fred Meyers and freeze it.  But, I needed space more than extra bread this week, so I targeted it.   I will try to post later in the week about the other goodies I cooked.

One day, Alissa came to my house for school, as usual.  She had her hair in curlers.  After she took them out, some hair was curled and some was not.  So, we curled the rest with a curling iron, and it turned out great!  (We also did school, if you were wondering). Ja’Ana had taken a job for the holidays where Lovana (older sis) works.  They just needed a dish washer for the break, and Lovana said, “My sister will do it.” And, so she did.  But, there was a mix-up, and they thought the break continued one more week than it did.  So, they scheduled J for a few days last week.  Therefore, Alissa and I had a fun week of school, and we made J a list of work she had to do in the evenings!  I tried not to make it too hard, and it worked out.  This week, we will hit it harder, as both girls will be here, as usual.  So, it was win-win for everyone, and J ended up getting a few hundred dollars out of the deal.  Alissa still has her after-school job, so she enjoyed buying Christmas gifts for everyone this year, even more than she usually does.

We got a microwave!  Rob went to a hardware store out in Mt. Angel, Oregon, where we have bought appliances for years.  It’s just a little store in a little town that has excellent customer service and good prices.  They showed him the choices. He did not pick the most expensive or the cheapest, not the simplest or the fanciest, the largest or the smallest, but one that met our needs for a good price, and within an hour, he had it home.  I’m sure glad to have one again.  I use it a lot.  With my work schedule, I cook a lot on the weekends and warm it up during the week.  We’ve managed, but…..this will be better.

We went swimming as a family at the YMCA and I took 2 exercise classes this week.  We’ve been enjoying watching Netflix, Rob’s Christmas gift from Lovana.  When we moved in here, the price of cable, plus internet, was less than our bill at our other place for phones plus internet, because we dropped our phone land line.  So, we got cable.  I’ve especially enjoyed the ice skating that was on this week, as I have not gotten to watch it for years and years.

Jake spent the weekend.  He wanted popcorn, so we enjoyed the frugal, tasty snack.  We had him help Rob run errands.  He went swimming with us, and decided to run around the track 2 times as well, while we were at the Y.  We read out loud several times.  Right now, we have moved on to “Little House on the Prairie” and he is loving it!  We just finished “Little House in the Big Woods.”  It’s been so rewarding to see him making this transition to enjoying it when I read chapter books.  This is our 4th, and I’m such a proud auntie!  It’s so fun to see how indignant he got when the Ingalls’ dog, Jack, got swept away when they were crossing the creek because they forgot to put him up in the wagon, and how happy he was when Jack showed up, all right, by the campfire that night.  (I know I have a few new readers–for you, Jake is my special-needs nephew, who is going to turn 10 this coming week, whom I work with as both an auntie, and as his personal support worker for DD services, so spending time with Jake is both rewarding for me as a person, and generates some funds for the family.  When I work with him, I try to help him go forward in his development, in some way.  You can read about some things we have done here and here.)