Category Archives: Saving Money

food preservation, Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty 2 WeekS–June 8, 2021

10 Comments

I picked berries from my yard. I also went U-Picking and got 20 more pounds. Some were for my sister, but lots were for us. As you can see, there are some that got bitten by critters, such as slugs and potato bugs, from our yard. I cut all of those places out when I got them ready for dinner.

Today, Rob set up my canning area on the outside porch. I used it immediately.

I made quite a bit of strawberry-rhubarb jam and a smaller amount of strawberry. My niece helped me. She measured out the sugar and watched breathlessly to see if the pot was at a full rolling boil or not, while staying way back so she wouldn’t get burned. We had fun. I have only 1 jar of the strawberry-rhubarb left but more of the plain strawberry. We’ve also been cutting them up and eating them for meals.

It was nice to have a frozen gluten-free pizza in the freezer to have for dinner tonight. Rob got a few for $4 each at Grocery Outlet a few weeks ago. That’s a great price, and they are easy when I’m tired.

I’ve been so busy that I’ve had the recipe and ingredients for these blueberry muffins out on the counter for days. It became a household joke, but I FINALLY made blueberry muffins this evening!

It’s birthday season at my house. 3 of my 8 children have birthdays within an 8-day time period. There was a party on Saturday for my oldest, and we went and had a great time. Sunday, after church, we took Patsy and Ja’Ana to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, then out to dinner in a restaurant, a big deal for us since we have been only out to eat a very, very few times in the last couple of years. We used the membership we purchased a few months ago for admission to the aquarium, so that helped make the day feel more affordable. Of course, baby came, too. Our daughter, Lovana, joined us as well, so we were able to get the maximum amount of people our pass covers in, utilizing it to the max!

If I look like I was drenched with a bucket of water, you are close. We were caught in a heavy rain shower while going to our car. Perfect timing, I thought, as the aquarium in part inside, and part outside.

He wasn’t sure what to think. He tried in vain to “get” those fish, but mostly just looked around with wide eyes the entire time.

The raised beds are looking good. I was able to get in there and weed and do some succession planting. The garden is all planted and things are coming up. We even got a bunch of trimming done and filled the yard debris bin each week. Quite a few weeds were removed from flowerbeds, as well. It all takes time, but things are looking much better around here. Except the cucumbers. Just as fast as the pickling cukes come up, some bird pecks them out and leaves them laying there to die. I. AM. NOT. HAPPY. with those birds. I replanted again, and Rob rigged netting over them. I have a few new ones, but now the birds are trying to take away the netting…….Hmmmmm. We will see who wins.

We are eating lettuce frequently, along with artichokes and the strawberries. The pea pods are very prolific, as well. In fact, there are so many ready that I’m going to have to freeze some. We like them fresh the best, but I can use a few frozen, as well.

Our flower pots are looking great. Rob grew these all from seeds or cuttings. We have several hanging ones, pots on steps and porches, and flower beds galore, all from his efforts.

I picked, blanched and froze the hearts from all those artichokes and the ones in another place that you can’t see. I got 3 tiny bags full. We simply couldn’t eat them all, and we can use these in salads or casseroles. It’s a lot of work for a small amount of gain, but since they grew so well, I didn’t want to just waste them.

Rob peeled and chopped up a large quantity of onions left from last year’s garden.

He froze them in bags, in one or two cup amounts. I will use them when I make salsa or relish at the end of the summer. We grew so many onions last summer, and they kept until June, but were starting to show some signs of starting to rot, so it was time to preserve them in a different way.

We exercised several ways. We went for walks, down to the Kroc center for swim classes or to walk in the lazy river, and took a big hike to Silver Creek Falls. Last time, we hiked the shorter, lower loop. This time, we hiked the longer, upper loop and went about 5-1/2 miles. It was so beautiful.

I didn’t grocery shop, except for one watermelon and one bunch of celery. The last time I did a major shop was before Memorial Day. We’ve got a lot of food, and I have been working on making room in the freezers. It really helps that the garden is starting to produce, and that I have a good stockpile. The need for milk will be the thing that forces me into the store, I think, and it will be soon.

There are so many things that are keeping us occupied these days. We are needing to take one day at a time, and hopefully get most of our list completed before we collapse on the couch, and are trying to stay frugal while we do so. Mostly, we are succeeding!

Baby, Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My thrifty Week–May 24, 2021

10 Comments

Rob, with help from our nephew Jake, cleaned out the heat pump. He noticed there was so much ash and smoke from last summer’s wildfires he was scared to use it without giving it a good cleaning. He called at least one person to possible come do it for us, but they were unavailable, so he watched U-Tube videos and did it himself. Now when it gets hot, we will be ready. Doing basic cleaning and maintenance on our things saves us a ton of money, as they last longer. Doing it himself saves us even more, but it isn’t always possible, even for Rob. I’m glad it worked this time.

Rob took Michaela, our niece, to see horses twice this week. She loves going places and doing things and this is a totally free activity, other than a little gas, as both places were at friends.’ He’s always looking for fun things for them to do and is always excited when he finds good activities.

This past week, we mostly finished planting the garden. I worked a couple of long, hard days doing that. I didn’t take pictures because there’s nothing to show–the seeds aren’t up yet. So you get pictures of my other obsession–the baby:). There are a few small things to finish, but the bulk of it is done, and I’m not sorry it’s raining today. We need it badly.

I got into the flowerbeds a little bit, but there’s a lot left to do on those. The weeds will wait.

I cooked quite a bit as we had meals to deliver to a couple of places, plus our normal cooking. Patsy has been in a mood to cook, so baked brownies, lemon bars and lemon-poppyseed muffins, twice. Rob has been BBQ-ing everything in sight, so it was a group effort.

I spent quite a bit of time taking my rotation with a family member who is recovering from surgery, and we scheduled out the next bit of time as well on a Zoom call with the family. It’s one good thing that has come out of the pandemic–we just set the time up and all got on there and said which days worked for each one of us, then sent out the schedule via text. Now we know who goes over there and when, who cooks, who takes to appointments, etc. all without leaving home. This should eliminate people being scheduled on days that they are already busy and having to trade, but we can trade if we need to. It’s so nice to have several of us able and willing to take turns and to be able to choose convenient times to do so. And, it’s been great to have so much time to visit with that person more than I usually get to.

By Saturday, I was ready for time with the baby. So, I borrowed him for about 6 or 7 hours and Patsy and I just played with him. Rob was gone to a mens’ conference, but he got a turn once he got home. When his mama came and got him, she surprised me with pizza, which we gobbled right up:).

Rob really enjoyed his conference. It was the first thing like that he has been able to attend in a long, long time. It’s very encouraging to see things like that starting back up in our area. Our family is ready to get out there a little more, now that we’ve all had our vaccinations. Patsy got her second dose this week, so she needs to be patient a little longer, but things are definitely looking up.

Oregon Fires, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–May 18, 2021

2 Comments

The garden is tilled!!! Rob found a man on Facebook Marketplace who came and tilled it for $80, far less than we had feared. That’s actually less than it would have been to rent a tiller. Now there is no pressure for our tiller to arrive. When it does, we will still be happy to have it, as we will have to till it all up again in the fall.

We’ve started planting in every spare moment we have. I have a large chunk of time today, Tuesday, and will hopefully get the center planted. Rob had time to plant tomatoes and cabbage and he put up the trellis yesterday. I will do pole beans on it.

I’ve planted zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, a few bush beans, a few peppers and a few onions. There is lots more to do. The onions are especially time-consuming to plant so I like to do a few at a time.

I finished up a baby quilt on Friday and paired it with a stuffed turtle for a baby shower on Saturday. I finished up the binding while sitting in the hospital, visiting, so that all worked out.

The week was very busy, as a family member needed a surgery. The family has divided up care taking between several of us. My first job was to do hospital duty. So, we arrived as planned, and…..were promptly sent away due to not enough beds available because of emergencies. What a let-down! We went back the next day and surgery did happen. Whew! That hospital has a policy for Covid that only 1 person can come be with the patient. The same person. We could not swap off. So, I spent quite a bit of time down there, as I was the one. Now that our loved one is home, I’m just on the schedule with the rest and the patient is improving by leaps and bounds. It’s very encouraging!

One of my sisters made a very detailed schedule with who is where, and when, who takes them to the follow-up dr. appointments, who cooks which day, and so forth. As long as we all follow the schedule and switch and swap when we need to, we are golden! It’s good to have so many willing hands during a busy time like this.

Rob picked up the slack at home with our daughter and has cared for my niece and nephew when needed. He made several meals for us and for me to share, planted what he could and kept everything watered.

One day when I had spare time, Rob and I took all 3 kids fishing. Although nothing was caught, the girls waded in the water and Jake fished and fished and fished. He sure wanted to catch something, but it was not to be that day. Maybe next time. With fishing, there’s always a next time:).

After fishing/wading/eating, we drove over to Detroit Dam and drove across. Michaela wanted to walk across, so she and I did. The kids had a great time.

Looking at the wildfire damage from last summer was sobering, and yet interesting and informative for the kids. I think it’s important for them to understand what happened. Even the lake is full of charred evergreen needles, as you can see. There are SO many in the water. For miles and miles, there are charred trees, bare foundations with rubble surrounding them, new construction springing up, and here and there a fully-intact house right next to a decimated one. We drove all through the town of Detroit and the place we all stayed last summer is entirely gone, as are most of the houses surrounding it.

But, not all is gone, and the town seems to be making a valiant effort to re-build. We wish them the best with this challenge. There is a lot to do, but they have made a good start. We look forward to seeing the area in the years to come as it is rebuilt and the forest is renewed. Brush is being cleared daily, charred trees are being hauled away to be used as they can and there are already areas of re-planted trees springing up. Life is being renewed in the area, and that is a good thing.

food preservation, Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–May 10, 2021

6 Comments

Here is my lovely Mother’s Day basket Rob grew for me in the greenhouse. Each of our mothers got one as well. Grandpa helped our grandson a little with his present selection, by doing some shopping for a very small gift and a card. So did I. I put the one choice on the table and let him crawl toward what he wanted to give his Mama. Not surprisingly, he chose the present I put out, although for moment I thought an empty milk jug in the vicinity might actually win out:).

Much of the week centered around work and a small gathering we decided to have on Mother’s Day. Many significant people, including both of our mothers, had other important places to be, so the numbers were few. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as I severely pulled a muscle in my leg while working on the flowerbeds. Rob and Patsy did all the work to get the house ready and Rob did most of the cooking. I sat on the couch and read or watched t.v. while they did those chores. Hmmm…some people will do anything to get out of work….. I say in my defense that I did clean 1/2 the bathroom. Gladly, I’m much, much better now and Rob and I took 2 super short walks today to get that leg back in shape. Tomorrow’s going to be much better yet, I can already tell.

I saved a lot of money sitting on my couch. How, you ask? Well, we made up a menu entirely of food we had on hand, except for some sugar soda Rob picked up. All we use here is diet soda, but some like the regular kind. It was on a very good sale, so that didn’t cost much. Thankfully, I had shopped last weekend for 2 weeks, and my plan payed off. We still have lots of groceries. People also brought things, and that’s always a nice gift to the host! This time, we really appreciated it more than ever.

I did not buy paperwork at the Dollar Store or anywhere else. I used regular silverware, not plastic and my usual glass plates for dessert. I did use a few paper plates I had in the cupboard, but bought no special napkins or anything for the occasion. I put fabric placemats here and there on t.v. trays and on the table for people to use, so did not buy a paper or plastic tablecloth. I put basil plants Rob grew in the center of the table for a centerpiece with the intention of giving them away after the party, so did not buy flowers or any other decorations.

I did not go to JoAnn’s as planned to buy new patterns on the pattern sale. Because I was not there, I bought nothing else, either. Because I’ve not chosen to go often during the pandemic, I do buy things when I’m there and can find something I like. There will be other chances to go to JoAnn’s, and other pattern sales, even though my phone is constantly telling me “It’s you LAST chance to get a good deal at JoAnn’s!” I have so many projects to work on, I’m not worried.

We also spent extra money when I sat on the couch. For one meal, Rob ordered me some gluten-free pizza from Dominos. Yum, yum, yum. If it didn’t hurt so much, I would definitely think it was worth doing it again…..but….it did hurt, and I got very bored sitting down, so I’m not planning on it.

I sent artichokes home with my oldest daughter. I said anyone who wanted some could pick some, so she did. She picked some for us to eat as well.

I picked lettuce a couple of times already and have more getting ready. I was able to re-use the nets from last year to keep the birds off.

The Little White Snowpeas are blooming and the Maestro peas on the left are about to bloom. In the back the Sugar Snap Peas are climbing the fence, as they should. Since we can’t till properly, as the new tiller is still delayed, I’m so thankful for the new raised beds Rob built last fall.

My aunt kindly texted me that there were eggs for 98c/dozen at her local Waremart (like Winco). Rob needed to run over there anyway for another reason, and, since I didn’t have as many eggs as I thought I did, he stopped to get me some and SCORED!!!!! Around here, jar lids are still very scarce. But, now we have enough to add to what he’s purchased here and there to finish up what we need for this upcoming canning season and so do the rest of my sisters and my mom, as some of these are for them. He just couldn’t believe it when buying a whole case was an option. He couldn’t believe there were any at all, much less that many! He has checked over and over in basically every store he has entered for any reason, and also on line. (Yes, there are some there, but we refuse to pay outrageous prices like $9/box, or other equally ridiculous prices.)

Now, if that elusive jar lid super sales comes along, I may buy extra to have a backlog, but for now, I’m super happy with what we have. The people he’s talked to where we often buy lids told him they got some, quickly sold them, and have no idea when, or IF, they are ever getting more. And, there are limits on how many a person can buy posted on the shelves when they are found in this area. We are not jar lid hoarders, but it is a fact that I canned over 1,000 jars last summer and that’s a lot of boxes of lids. I’m also a jar lid snob and only want Ball or Kerr. I’ve had some bad experiences with other brands and it’s just too much work for me to risk repeating those experiences. This year, I probably don’t need to do quite so many as I tried to can a few extra of each item last year, but we hit some items pretty hard this past winter. Good thing I love canning and gardening.

The other thing Rob and I did last summer was dry more items. We plan to do even more of that this year, as we found uses for most of what we dried. There’s just no point in growing such a large garden to preserve if I can’t find supplies to do just that and a way to use what I preserve. If they don’t like it, they won’t eat it. Plain and simple, sad, but true, and any other cliche you have heard. They are all true around here:)

Are any of you having success finding lids where you live?

Cooking for a crowd, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–May 4, 2021

4 Comments

I have a large pansy plant that overwintered in the corner of one of my raised beds. I’m really enjoying it a lot this spring.

The spinach in the raised bed is ready to pick. I picked some that had overwintered in the garden, and these spring-planted ones are next. There are a few snow peas, too, and some artichokes.

We have a bit of a situation going on in regards to our garden. Our big tiller is broken beyond repair and another one is on order. And remains on order. And the store was sent the wrong one. And…..And….And… They say it’s very difficult this year, with Covid, to get things.

We are hoping it gets here by the end of the week. Rob really needs to deeply till the garden. We’ve spread our compost. Leaves and grass clippings have been added weeks ago. We’ve used the tiny tiller to work up a small corner to get a few cabbages, carrots and beets in. We know things won’t grow very well there since we’ve tried doing it like that before. That one is a cultivator, and is for getting a few weeds from the center of the rows, the edges, and maybe roughing up a little area for a second crop of lettuce, and things like that. I’m trying to be patient. I need to try harder. I don’t feel patient one bit:). There are so many lovely plants ready to go out into the garden.

Rob scored big-time this week. He got a pack-and-play, a wagon, and baby gates from a Facebook post. Basically, they said whoever got there first could have the things–don’t call, don’t knock, etc.–just take it from the side of the road. He happened to see the posting 6 minutes after they put it up and it wasn’t far from our home. I made a sheet for it from some flannel I had and now there is a place for the baby to sleep if he needs one here at my house. I still had J’s baby blankets, so put those in there and I’m set.

He also got piles of baby clothes, in various sizes from a garage sale, for a very, very inexpensive price. We sorted them and put them in sizes and will give them to baby when needed. If some never get used, it was still worth the price and we will donate any extra.

We had my niece and nephew all weekend, and Jake and Malcolm shared this sweet moment after church on Sunday. We didn’t do any great, fancy activities with the kids–just stayed close to home, watched movies and t.v., read aloud, took a walk, did school with Jake, and played Safeway Monopoly.

Patsy was given a huge envelope of tickets and she graciously shared with the other kids. When we went to the store to redeem some prizes, the cashiers were extremely generous, so there were lots of tickets to tear open and download into our phones. Over the course of the game, we’ve won lots and lots of water bottles, a large package of toilet paper, some tissues, bread crumbs, vinegar, batteries (although they were out and we didn’t get them yet), waffles, several loaves of French bread, ice cream, a $25 credit on our account, and sour cream. There were a few other things, too. Once we had our $25 credit, they played for the girls, and got them one, too, which was used to buy diapers and baby food. We are thrilled with the prizes, but I will say this year the game takes a lot of time. If I didn’t have such willing helpers, I’m not sure I could find that kind of time in my schedule. But, this year, I’m delighted since I did have so much help and it gave them an activity and me free groceries.

People were hungry this weekend, and I felt like I cooked, washed dishes and went to the store all weekend. Twin pop (popsicles) were the elusive item that was hard to find, but I finally did Sunday afternoon on the third try. Jake was eating so many, and he actually needs both the calories and the liquid, so I try to keep them on hand. The crew ate so many pancakes and syrup they downed an entire container of syrup, so I had to get more of that, too. I love cooking for a crowd, so I was in heaven:)

One of our large upright freezers had a problem. We still don’t know if it is broken, or just got left open. I spent several hours last night sorting and making decisions and re-arranging things amongst the freezers. I pulled out everything that couldn’t ruin in one night like bread, butter, cookies, brownies, nuts, etc. and put them in boxes. Then, I filled all cracks, gaps and spaces with meat, fruits and veggies–things that were most important to me. I spent all day today cooking up things that wouldn’t fit or needed to be used and the few things that did start to thaw. I made pork chili verde, enchilada casseroles from both chicken and pork, mixed fruit crisps, and boiled the 3 remaining packages of beef bones into broth. I’m glad we caught it early. I was able to share some food, and have plenty for us, as well. Best of all, nothing was wasted except a few packages of things that were buried and needed to go away anyway. I’m sure by tomorrow, we will have a better idea of if it’s broken or just got left open on accident. I put all the bread and things in there and a water bottle to see if it freezes.

Of course, we had just gone to Costco and loaded up on a few things like jumbo bags of cheese and a chicken right before it broke. Obviously, Rob had just barbequed an entire roast beef so the little fridge was full. And, the kids and I, appropriately had just won 5 or 6 loaves of French bread from Safeway and they were in there along with all those popsicles… Hmmmm……I wonder sometimes about my timing:) I even had to stuff the camper freezer with some of the important items I really wanted to save, and every fridge I have is full, no matter how small. We will eat well this week!

Saving Money, Uncategorized

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–April 27, 2021

4 Comments

I finished sewing a dress for Patsy. I’ll try to put up the pattern number and more specifics later in the week, if I get time. I used a thinner cotton from JoAnn’s, purchased on sale several weeks ago. I find the thinner weight of cotton drapes better, and is less expensive for dresses that take over 6 yards like this one. I used a pattern I bought last summer and made a different view than I did last time. Patsy found a belt she rarely wears that looks great with the dress. All told, I spent around $25, and am very pleased with the results.

Rob found a lot of bags of these chocolate chips for 99c/each. He grabbed a bunch, shared a few and we froze the rest. He also got some very inexpensive lunchmeat and cheese. I found gf hot dog buns in the same discount store, and have been using them for sandwich buns. I wish I had bought more than 2 packs, but there weren’t very many, and they were gone when I sent Rob back for more. Gf anything for $2 is a great deal.

I did a lot of large batch cooking. Some was for meals for us, which we ate or I froze. Some items were for others in my life, also either eaten or frozen. The girls and baby came over after church on Sunday, so we ate some then, too. I made meat loaf, mini meatloaves, lentil-potato soup, zucchini muffins, apple crisp, peach crisp, chicken-rice soup, salmon, a huge batch of white rice, potato salad, salads, and a few other things. I was able to use lots of little things that sorely needed using, such as a lot of Granny Smith apples from the school lunches, some sad and sorry celery, some baby carrots from the school lunches, a few peaches that had been lingering too long in the bottom of the freezer from 2018, plus some newer ones, gf rolled oats from a 25-lb bag Rob got for $10 a while back, Jasmine rice, also purchased on clearance in a 50-lb bag, thinly sliced turkey cooked and frozen a while back for sandwiches. I pulled lots of little baggies of various bits from the freezer and used them. I love it when that happens.

Rob was able to deliver tomato plants he grew to lots of friends and family. I planted a few in the garden and Patsy put Walls-o-Water around them. We’ve had 10 of those mini-greenhouses for years and years, but don’t always remember to use them. I’m waiting to plant most of my tomatoes. I have lots of nice plants saved aside for our garden. We need to deeply till most of the garden before I can plant the rest of it. The very small area Rob tilled up was done using the small tiller, and I also dug in there with a shovel to get down deeper. That small tiller doesn’t get deep enough. We will till it all in a couple of weeks or sooner. It’s really early yet, for gardening around here.

I went to Safeway and redeemed a handful of Monopoly prizes and bought groceries. I grabbed the 99c/milk (1/2 gal.) and a few other things to use in all that cooking I’ve been doing. But, for the most part, I was able to draw from the pantry and freezers for most of those items I cooked. Patsy loves playing the Monopoly game from Safeway, but we didn’t shop there very many times during the game. So, we were not wining much, obviously, as we were not getting tickets. However, the game is about to end, and we were given extra tickets when we shopped. Some other shoppers didn’t want their tickets, so we happily accepted them, as well. I took J shopping, and got a handful then, plus some when I shopped. Patsy entered every code into my phone app and actually won enough tokens to add to what we had to get a $25 Safeway gift card! We were so far from having enough before this week, I thought we were not going to win one this year. Free items she won: several bottles of water, vinegar, French bread, lemon juice, 2 gas rewards, $2 off our order, a jar of spaghetti sauce, and some barbecue sauce. Now, she has another group of free items loaded onto my card/phone to get next week. I am very thankful she is willing to do this to stretch our grocery budget.

The baby likes flowers. His Mama took this picture. I watched him several times lately, usually for a short time. On Sunday, I took him home from church and played with him for a little, until the girls got there. I gave him a pansy to touch and hold, since I knew it’s edible. Good thing. He ate an entire petal! Just down the hatch. Boy was I surprised.

I guess he was hot.

I think he would have crawled out of the outfit, if allowed. My sister ordered a bunch of larger clothes for him. Just in time, I think! Rob and I went thought the Union Gospel Thrift Store and found several outfits for the baby, skirts for Patsy and myself and a few baby books. I even found a Land’s End swim suit top in the style I usually buy, in my, that looked like new, for only $4.

The Kroc Center (Salvation Army) gym and pool is open. We took Michaela down there today for the first time in over a year. I took an exercise class and walked in the “Lazy River.” Although I do a lot of walking with Rob, I am sore tonight in different muscles. It’s good to work different parts of my body. Good thing we went. It sounds like the Governor will be closing things down on Friday again, due to the rise of Covid in Oregon. We will keep walking when we can.

Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–April 20, 2021

4 Comments

Last week can be summed up with one word: YARDWORK!!!

We had 8 yards of well-rotted mint compost delivered on Friday morning at 7 (Yikes!) and spent Friday and Saturday taking it by the wheelbarrow-load to the garden. You can see the new raised beds in the background. There are peas, snap peas, snow peas, green onions and strawberries growing nicely. The weather has been great, and Rob got the watering system up and running so now they are growing even better between the water and sunshine.

We spent quite a bit of time working on the watering system. A few sprinkler heads needed replacing and there was one evening where Rob was on his stomach in the grass, I was wrist-deep in mud trying to screw the new head in, water was spewing everywhere at one moment, and Jake wanted noodles! Wow! Never a dull moment. Eventually, we got 2 out of 3 replaced and left the other one for another day!

I used an old-fashioned shovel to dig out many, many dandelions and other weeds near the raised beds by the deck and the flowerbed nearby. After I got it cleaned out, I spread a couple of bags of bark chips in the paths to help keep them clear. It helped a lot last year.

We have saved hundreds lately by either doing things ourselves or having Rob fix broken items.

We put steer manure in the flowerbed area where the fig tree used to be. The soil is terrible, but we will improve it over time. I planted out geraniums that Rob either dug up and saved in the greenhouse all winter or started from cuttings. The alyssum, pansies, African daisies and poppies were started from seed in the greenhouse. Some seeds were from seed companies, some from the Dollar Store, and the cuttings were from last years’ plants.

In the area behind the geraniums, including the stump area, tons of zinnia seeds are scattered. Most are old, (25c/quart bag at a yard sale a couple of years ago), so I threw them in there thickly. Straight back on the right, is a snowball bush. We bought it at a yard sale for $5 this weekend. I’ve been wanting one for quite some time, so I was delighted. On the right-hand side are some Hood strawberry plants–just 12. They are June-bearing. I’d like to have a large crop at one time for jam next year. The rest of my berries are overbearing, and I love having berries all summer. We shall see. Without the tree to shade everything and take all the water, I have high hopes for this area.

We all took our nephew to a track meet. They have a very short season, due to Covid, so his parents, Michaela, Rob, myself, Lovana, Patsy and Malcolm went to cheer him on. He has 2 more, and then he’s done. Malcolm’s mom was working that day, so we got to take him to his first ever sporting event:)

We took advantage of the sunshine and had a picnic at the park with Jake, Michaela, Patsy, Malcolm, Ja’Ana, Rob and myself before J had to go to work one day. We took several walks. We cooked a few meals, but did sandwiches, salads, and things like that quite a bit. I finally went to the store today, Tuesday, and stocked up on enough to hopefully last the rest of the month. The last time I went was almost 2 weeks ago, so we were getting low on produce. I also placed an Azure Standard order with the money I’d set aside the last couple of months, to stock up on some cleaning supplies and bulk items. The funniest thing we ordered, for me, was a pound of pepper. Again! I got one about 3 months ago. Really! I’m not kidding–Rob likes pepper (understatement of the year!). It amazed me to see I needed another one so soon, but I did. So, if you ever stop by for dinner…..consider yourself warned!

camping, Saving Money, Vacations

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–April 12, 2021

2 Comments

We had another nice, long weekend camping. This trip was different in several ways. One difference is in the amount of outdoor activities we were able to engage in, since the weather was so nice. I’m glad we had so much fun, because this is the last trip for a while.

We had some out-of-town relatives who were staying down at the beach and my aunt got a condo down there so she could visit with them. That condo comes with a crab dock. Need I say more?

After 2 afternoons of crabbing, a few were captured. They aren’t showing up well in this bucket, as they were Red Rock Crabs. One Dungeness was also caught. All were eaten by us, aunts/uncles/nieces/nephews/ etc.

We had one nice, group dinner over at the condo and enjoyed visiting. We were camped at a near-by campground and everyone came and went at will.

One day, our family hiked the Drift Creek Falls Trail.

We hiked 2.9 miles down into a canyon, along a little creek, up the other side, across a suspension bridge and to the water fall. We enjoyed the hike very much, especially the part where we climbed right back out of that canyon without too much trouble. We surprised ourselves, in a good way! I will say Rob overdid a little though, because with his 2 trips down to the ocean that day rock collecting, plus this hike, he did over 7 miles. He was a little sore the next day, but the dog couldn’t move for 2 days, so…..Rob wins:)

We raked for cockle clams at low tide one day. Patsy got 1 measly clam. The rest of us got skunked. We put the baby back to live another day. We will try again some day when the tide is lower.

The weather was gorgeous. It only rained one night, and not very much. There was quite a bit of wind at times, which felt cold, but mostly it was pleasant and sunny. Yesterday, while Rob and our older nephew were crabbing, Patsy, Jake and I walked to the boardwalk viewing area. I know the picture does not show them well, but those tiny specks in the sky are people surfing with large 1/2 parachutes (parasurfing?). There was also a windsurfer with a bright sail out in the water. I hadn’t seen that before in this location.

Another different thing for us was today. We needed to come home, but had nothing pressing in the afternoon to return early for, so decided to stay down there until early afternoon. (We usually leave first thing in the morning when coming home). We decided to drive to a nearby beach and take a walk before hooking up and driving home. I was delighted to find that beautiful rock/sand formation pictured above while I was walking. The rest of them hunted for rocks and shells and a certain little boy got his shoes completely wet in a creek, and had to come home barefoot. Now, that’s a beach trip. I love it!

As usual, we got a large amount of fun for a very small fist full of dollars. Obviously, nothing is free, and we used gas to drive around. Thankfully, we had some gas rewards on our Fred Meyer card, so we used those. We always save them for when the van needs gas.

We used our park pass to camp. We used the dock at my aunt’s condo to crab with equipment we have owned for years. Rob bought some chicken to crab with, but a lady on the dock gave him hers when she got tired of crabbing, so we cooked ours, as it was on ice and perfectly good, and used hers for crabbing. We used our rakes to rake for clams. Rob had recently picked up another one at a garage sale and painted its tines blue, just for this purpose.

The Drift Creek Falls Trail had a very small parking fee, which was nice since our park pass doesn’t cover that place.

Several times we put food from the camper in a bag and took it along when we drove somewhere. We got some food from McDonald’s and used the app to save money. (McD’s is Jake’s favorite and we wanted everyone to get to do something they wanted.). We ate meals at the camper and, once, at the condo. We enjoyed visiting with all family members who were there.

I was able to use up several items in the camper fridge, such as spreadable butter, from a couple of weeks ago, and many things from our fridge. I love putting leftovers from the house right into the camper fridge so they get used, and vice versa when we return. I bought a few things from Grocery Outlet before we went and we didn’t have to shop, except for milk, while we were there. There’s plenty left so I don’t have to shop for a few days now, unless I’m SO tempted by the 97c ice cream at Safeway that I can’t stand not to get it….

We don’t have any more camping trips planned for quite some time, and I’m o.k. with that–there’s lots to do around here. We’ve already started doing the laundry from the trip and I’m looking forward to getting out into the yard and garden as the week progresses. It should be a fun week, in its own way.

Holidays, Saving Money

Thriving In My thrifty Week–April 5, 2021

6 Comments

Yesterday, we had such a nice Easter. After missing going to church in person for almost a year, it was very meaningful to attend yesterday. We went bright and early, since I was having extended family over for lunch.

It was the first family gathering we have had in over a year. Now that so many of us are vaccinated, we feel safe to get together again. Of course, we were careful anyway. The weather cooperated and quite a few ended up outside on the sunny, but chilly, deck. I had areas set up in almost every main room, bedroom and the garage so people could spread out as much as they needed to. We had a reduced menu and sent a few people into the kitchen at a time to get food, then a couple more went in. It worked very well and we had a wonderful time together.

Everyone had fun passing the baby around.

He’s learned to kiss Grandpa now, and of course, stole the show in his cute Easter sweater.

This was a busy week. We had a birthday party for Lovana on Wednesday.

The girls brought over seafood and did a seafood boil. It was delicious. They also brought a cake. I cooked the rest of the meal. We had a wonderful time. It was just our little family and one sweet cousin, and Lovana loved it.

I spent most of the week getting ready to entertain, and entertaining, but still did a few frugal activities.

We took a couple of walks, but I’ll admit I wasn’t as diligent as I should have been with that. I ran out of time.

Rob went to the store right after we got back from camping, got milk, salad stuff, a ham and potatoes, stuff for that night’s dinner, and didn’t go again. Instead, we made out with whatever we had on hand for the rest of Easter dinner. I bought a few jelly beans for decorations, and that was it! Family members brought various foods and it turned out great. He did find a turkey for $5 and cooked that as well. We just couldn’t pass that up!

Today, he went again for about $23 worth of odds and ends, and that’s all I need for a few days, so I”m getting off easy this week where groceries are concerned. I plan pulling lots of food from the freezers for the next couple of weeks. It’s time to start clearing out room for the upcoming summer’s garden . I was already able to pick cilantro and lettuce from some volunteer plants in the garden to use in meals. I still have quite a few onions from last summer’s garden, and we are using those daily.

I went out and worked in the yard for several hours last Friday, just because I was in the mood to be out in the sun! The benefit is a flowerbed out front that looks great. I can’t wait to do more.

Quite a few seeds have sprouted in the raised beds and the small portion of the garden Rob tilled with the tiny tiller a couple of weeks ago. It won’t be long….

Saving Money, Vacations

Thriving In My thrifty Week–March 29, 2021

8 Comments

We spent last week at Beverly Beach State Park, camping. We had an extreme mix between gorgeous, sunny weather and windy, rainy days! Thankfully, we had a great travel day to drive down to the coast, and a showery mix on the way back today. During the first part of the week, it was just Patsy, Rob and myself. The second part of the week, we were joined by our niece and nephew. We specifically planned some activities just for Patsy, to spoil her a little while the other kids were not with us, and plenty of fun things for them all, once they arrived. We did crafts, played “hot and cold” as is tradition on our camping trips (with small prizes for them to find), and had glow sticks. There was lots of candy, movies, games and chips, involved. We were thrilled to take the lot of them to church in the nearby town on Sunday morning. Besides the obvious spiritual reasons to attend church, it provided a great outing for our “camper-bound” crew on a rainy morning. The wind blew so fiercely that night that the camper was actually shaking and we could hear it howling. It was an adventure, for sure.

We took many walks and hikes, some on the beach and some on the trail that winds its way around the campground along a pleasant stream.

Trails like this tempt me every time and I can rarely resist following them. I hiked this one twice. It wasn’t long, but it was lovely.

Another day, we drove down the coast, and yet another time we hiked a trail from the Newport Jetty to the South Beach State Park day use area.

We visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium twice. We got a membership on-line before we went. The first time, we just took Patsy. She got to look at everything she wanted to without having to share her trip with the other kids. Then, we went back once the other two joined us, and we all enjoyed it again, together.

We had to call and get a ticket reservation each time, which was waiting at the ticket booth for us, for a certain time. We had to wear masks, and there were markings on the floor, so we could distance ourselves from others. Everyone waited patiently for everyone else, and surprisingly, we didn’t feel rushed and everyone got to see everything for as long as they wanted to. It was a one-way walk through the aquarium, and you could not backtrack. But, I believe you could have gone around again, if you wished. We were tired by then, so went out. By going those two times, we’ve already paid for our membership, but still can go all we want for the next year. We are thinking Patsy wants to do Marine Biology next year, so I’m sure she will want to visit again, and Michaela, especially, loves all kinds of animals.

On one of our walks, when we were out quite early, we came upon several salamanders. This one was plodding along, but was quite clumsy, and tumbled off this wooden block placed over a marshy spot on the trail. It was clear that he already had a owie on his back from some previous excursion, but Rob put him upright, and tried to steady him a bit and put him on a better path, but he just started on again immediately, tearing off to run into another little rock or dirt clod. It brought to mind Matthew West’s song, “Truth Be Told.” It’s one of Jake’s favorites and he can sing it all the way through, but it goes something like this: “I’m fine, yes I’m fine, oh I’m fine, yes, I’m fine, but I’m not, “I’m broken.” (It’s easy to find on U-tube). We got a chuckle out of this salamander, who did not have the sense to even rest up a minute or take the help Rob was offering….and while we were laughing at that silly salamander, we knew there was a lesson in there somewhere…..

Rob and Patsy went down to the beach frequently and collected agates, beach glass and other rocks and shells. Rob and I took walks together down the beach, then I took them alone when the kids got there. We switched off so someone could stay with them, once they were there.

The campsite we got this time was such a treat. It was up at the front of the campground, and I had an ocean view out of my camper window. Rob got this one by getting up at midnight, the very first day they were taking reservations for this time period, and clicked the button just in time. We’ve only been able to get reservations in that part of the park once before in our whole life, so we enjoyed every minute. Next time, we will camp elsewhere, but that will be fun, too!

I’ve been doing laundry since the moment I walked in the door, but there’s more. We used a lot of old towels, due to the mud and sand. I’m glad I have a washing machine, and we were able to take enough clothes and towels that we did not have to visit a laundromat, as we’ve done when the big kids were small. It’s always nice to not have to spend a lot of quarters:). Tomorrow, we will have a day to get back into the groove of things, and back to work on Wednesday. I have a bit of cleaning to do in preparation for Easter, a little cooking to do, and the garden is starting to need some attention. Last week was fun, and this one will be, too, in a different way!