My aunt emailed me with the information that Grocery Outlet was selling 5 dozen medium-sized eggs for $2.99.  I hustled right down there and got them.  I know that in other parts of the country eggs have been super low-priced, but 99c/dozen is about the lowest we have seen in this part of the country, so I was delighted for 60c/dozen.  They weren’t even as small as I expected–pretty good size for medium.

It seems that I have had to go to the store way too often this month.  Last month, when I challenged myself to use things up, I guess I did a really good job! Every time I turn around, someone is letting me know that another thing is gone!   A lot of what I’ve needed to get has been non-food items, such as hair products, razors, deodorant, dish and laundry soap, school supplies, etc.  So, I’ve tried to use downloaded coupons, paper coupons, sales, etc. as much as possible.  I’ve also re-stocked the food items I was out of and continued canning and using produce from the garden and what was gifted to me from my sister’s garden.  I remembered to download my Friday Freebie yesterday from Fred Meyers, and also picked up more Tillamook cheese from there–at $4.99/2 lb loaf.  This week,  I have purchased 2 cheddar and 2 pepper jack bricks.  I grabbed 2 cauliflowers from the reduced produce rack, for $1/head.  I had a coupon for $4/off 3 Enjoy Life products.  I found some gf cookies on the reduced rack for $2.07/box.  I bought 3 of them, bringing my total, after coupon, to $2.21 for 3 boxes of gf cookies.  I grabbed several bread items from the reduced rack for 59c/loaf, 99c/bag of bagels, English muffins and hot dog buns for 59c–I got so many that every empty corner of the freezers are now full of bread items!  I found 1/2 gallons of milk for 87c, And so on. I’ve worked pretty hard at getting my pantry in order, and just have a few more things to round up and I will be done for a while again.

Fall is definitely on its way.  I’ve seen a few trees beginning to change colors around here.  This picture is from last fall, when we took the kids to Bonneville Dam and Multnomah Falls, up the Columbia River Gorge.  Our first soaking rain of the year is predicted for tonight and it is supposed to rain for a few days.  I’m ready.  The smoke was pretty bad yesterday from all the wildfires that still burn in the forests of Oregon. I’m delighted to think that there may be some relief once the rains come, and am also glad many of the historic sites in the gorge were saved from burning.   All week, we scurried around like crazy doing all we could to prepare, and spent many hours yesterday on fall chores.

Every day for the past couple of weeks, I’ve had each girl pull one bucket of weeds from the yard.  I’ve been pretty easy on them in letting them choose any size bucket, and sometimes they choose the littlest bucket you have ever seen, but the yard is starting to look way better!  Rob and I mowed the lawn one evening after work, and we’ve been clipping off branches that are in the way, or need pruning.  We’ve been trying to fill the yard debris bin each week.

Patsy and I worked on the garden and went to the store.  I am planning a garden update post for later in the week, so I won’t spend much time on that now, but one thing she did was pull and wash all the carrots.  She snapped off the tops and put them in Ziplocks.   They are now in the camper fridge with many other items, like eggs and cheese, and will keep a long time.  It’s not large, but it sure helps since we still only have the 1 fridge.

Rob and the older girls went for the remaining wood that was up at my sister’s place.  There was some cutting and splitting to do this week, so it took them most of the morning for 1 load, but we all worked to get it stacked once they returned, and that job is done for now.  Once that was done, Rob and Lovana took our old broken refrigerator and a bunch of recyclables to the dump.  It has been bothering him for quite a while, since it was sitting out there by the shop, and he wanted to get it gone while it way dry!   He had to pay $25 to get rid of the fridge, but the rest was free.  How nice to have that stuff all gone–a whole van full.  It’s amazing how many things you find that need cleaning up after so long without rain.  We’ve had a couple of small showers of rain, but no soaking rain all summer.

Are you ready for fall?  I am not finished, but sure feel like I made some progress around here this week.  Rob and I set ourselves a goal to do at least one thing each evening after work towards getting things cleaned up before the rain, and we are happy with our progress. Let it pour!!!

Now, I’m off to make those Deviled Eggs for our Family Sunday Dinner!  (I used an old picture since I have not made them yet!!)  The eggs are boiled and cold, and I’ll be done in a jiffy.  We are celebrating my aunt’s birthday today, and I wanted to make her Deviled Eggs, since she likes them and was so kind as to tip me off about the great sale on eggs:)  I’ll pack the food in a cooler, and take it to church with us, since we will be over at my sister’s house today.  Her kitchen remodel is finally done and they have been able to come in out of the garage and finally cook after a summer of using a hot plate and microwave!  It’s beautiful.  I’m excited for them!

We continued getting ready for winter this week.  We took 2 trips up to my sister’s farm, where we had a big pile of wood, and brought it home and stacked it.  We used the van, as we sold the trailer this summer.

We looked into renting a U-Haul, but decided it would be more tedious, but much less expensive to use the van.  Rob removed all but one bench seat, and put a large tarp down, and it worked just fine.  There is a little more wood up there, and we plan to get it next week.

I made salsa, and canned it.  I got 14 jars, a mixture between pints and 1/2 pints.

While up at the farm, my sister gave me prunes, peaches, peppers, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and corn.  Yum!  I used some of those things, plus what I had from my garden to make the salsa.  I will can the tomatoes in a few days, along with some from my garden.

We are about to cut the last watermelon.  I also picked raspberries, a few strawberries,  cantaloupe, snow peas, and beans from my garden.  I’ve been freezing the berries as I get them.

I also pulled the first carrots.

I made some recipes from the current Cooking Light Magazine.  I made Sweet Potato-Red Lentil Curry in the crock pot, and Basil Chicken.  They were both good and used things I had on hand.  I think the Basil Chicken will become a family favorite, for sure. The curry was good, too, but it was more of a soup than anything, the way we did it:)   I also made a simple beef stew in the crock pot another day, and we ate leftovers, corn dogs, tacos, and hot dogs other times.

Rob started back to work this week, and I started my regular schedule of getting my niece and nephew off the bus 3 days per week, and started back into homeschool with the 2 girls, Ja’Ana, my daughter, and Alissa, my niece.  We are using the library more this year for school, so we went there this week, as well.  Patsy also started school.

Rob gets the extra hour of work again this year, and needs to ride the little yellow school bus with a child who needs assistance. That extra bit of time was really helpful last year when the paycheck came each month, so we were glad to hear that he could do that again.   Last year, Rob parked the van in a certain parking lot.   He had permission.   This year he was informed by a very unkind, grumpy woman that if he dared to park there again, she WOULD have him towed, and so on and so forth.   So, the bus dispatcher decided that they would now pick him up AT OUR DOOR!  Isn’t that awesome?  Now he will use no gas at all unless that particular child is sick and he has to drive to work.  It was pretty funny to watch him get on the bus Friday morning:)

We did the “deal” at Fred Meyers this week several times, and even took my friend Harnet and little Danait there so they could do it, too.  Harnet confessed she did not really understand how it worked, and I confessed it had taken me a while to figure it out, too.  What you did this week was buy items in increments of 5, and then they would be 99c each. They included 4 lb bags of sugar, 1/2 gallons of milk, Life cereal, Goldfish crackers, granola bars, 18 eggs, and some bread. There may have been more choices, but I was interested in those things.  You could do it however many times you wanted, as long as it was in multiples of 5.  I ended up with 4-1/2 doz. eggs, 4 gallons of milk, 32 pounds of sugar, several boxes of cereal and several bags of crackers, 1 loaf of bread and 1 box of granola bars.  I was especially pleased at the sugar for 25c/lb.  I usually feel happy if it’s 40c/lb.  This is even less expensive per pound than buying a large bag at Cash and Carry.   I was getting very low after all the canning I’ve been doing. Harnet got 2 milks, eggs, bread, and sugar.  She was pleased as well, as those were things she needed, and all 5 for under $5.

I had to buy some odd items as well, this week, such as curry paste, a box of tea, etc., but I found it all, and everyone was well fed.  We did not go out to eat, but were flexible with when we ate, and sometimes what we ate.  I’m sure we will settle into a schedule quickly, but this week felt a little choppy.

The big girls wore her out!  She loves every minute she spends with them.  So sweet:)

How did your week go?

Jake enjoyed his library summer reading party.  His favorite thing was getting to sit in the police car.  He was the first one, so they showed him how to turn on the lights.  For the rest of the party, he kept glancing at that car, all lit up, and was so proud.  He received a free book and a few other prizes like a snow cone, foam airplane, stickers, etc.  It was a fun party.  The next evening, the big girls attended their party at the library.  They also received free books and had a good time.

We went to a nearby park and the kids enjoyed the equipment.

We spent quite a bit of time putting things away from our trip.  On Tuesday, we spent a good portion of the day up at my sister’s farm.  I helped her run the u-pick stand while we visited and got caught up with each other.  It was super fun!

For the rest of the week, Rob and I both took turns with Jake, keeping him occupied and learning.  Rob took him to an apple farm and they picked me around 100 lbs of Gravensteins.  The place we usually get them put us on a wait list, but told Rob they were not sure we would get any, there were more people on the list then there were apples available this year of that variety.  I helped him complete his chart each day, and did things like the library and park.  He stayed over one night as his parents had meetings that evening, so that was fun.

There were lots of simple activities like play dough, board games, and of course, freezing beans.

I spent many, many hours working on the garden and preserving food.

Even the grasshoppers thought my canning turned out well:)

On Saturday, Rob and I spent quite a bit of time cleaning the shop.  There is a long ways to go, but at least we got a large shelf unit up, and a lot of boxes moved around.  It felt good to get at that project.  It’s been an eyesore long enough!!

This week, we enjoyed a brief visit from our niece, Rachel, who has been in Ireland for several months.  She headed back yesterday, and made it safely.  We will miss her (again) but are so happy she gets this opportunity.  She is on a YWAM (Youth With a Mission) base in Ireland, doing an Arts and Media track.  During her time there, she did many things including training, traveling to SE Asia with her group and, among other things, helped make a video for a donut shop, and did a peace walk along the border of Ireland.  The walk was over 200 miles long.  It was very interesting to hear of her adventures.  I don’t even begin to pretend to know all the things she did–our time was too short.  But, we did have a lovely family barbecue in her honor.  It was so much nicer to eat here at our house, vs. a restaurant.  There was so much more time to talk.  Rob barbecued both chicken and steak.  People brought things to share.  Yum!

One of my orchids bloomed.  The bloom is small, but beautiful.  I have another one that looks like it may bloom in time, as well.

Patsy made a bouquet to liven up our outdoor living area for the barbecue.  Our flowers are blooming well in the flowerbeds and the garden is growing madly.  We have tried to trim off the spent blooms to keep the blossoms coming.  We are also watering frequently because it’s been pretty warm.  Thankfully, we have a well for watering, so it doesn’t cost much.

I have cooked many things this week.  I made lasagna, chicken soup, tacos, barbecued chicken and steak, and lots and lots of salad.  I froze a lasagna for later, and also individual servings of both the lasagna and soup for both Rob and I next week.  We had lasagna one day, and tacos another day, then had the leftovers of both today after church.    I cut up a cauliflower and a lot of carrots to make it easy to cook them at mealtime.  I am thinking I will do that more in the fall when I’m working a lot into the evenings because it made it so easy.  I made the sauce for the lasagna from home-canned tomato products, frozen hamburger and a bunch of Swiss Chard I picked from the garden.  I had Patsy make apple crisp from some home-canned apple pie filling.  I am still working on using the remaining items that I have in my canning cupboard.

Rob is taking the camper to help with high school camp, starting on Thursday.  I will be home because Patsy goes to camp tomorrow and returns Friday.  So, I want him to have a couple of small things frozen in the camper that he can just warm up if it’s not convenient for him to go over for the evening meal on any evening.  He has to park about 2-3 blocks away from the group, because that’s where the camper can be hooked up with electricity, water and sewer.  This is adventure camp, and the kids will be rafting, rock climbing, and more.  He will be transporting them to the top of the rafting course, and picking them up at the bottom and things like that.  He will also be helping in the kitchen as needed.  He will NOT be suffering in his air-conditioned camper or in his own camper bed, at night, as the teens will be camping in a school field in tents.  In fact, he is taking his fishing pole, and hopes to fish a bit while taking the kids their lunches, etc., or after he drops them off, or when he picks them up…….or all of the above;)

The garden is producing a lot of lettuce and we are trying to eat it most days.  We have used both of the zucchini the bushes have produced.  There are lots of little ones forming, but I am having some pollination issues, so some are not growing.  We are getting a little broccoli every few days.  The snow peas are done now, and I pulled the bushes.  I have a small baggie of snow peas still in the fridge, and there is another short row that is blooming so I won’t be out for long.  The green beans are making little beans–it will only be a few days now until I eat some.  I will also can a lot soon. The 3 tiny tomatoes were eaten with tacos today.  I was able to plant more seeds in all of the blank spots that opened up when I pulled out the peas and bolting lettuce.  I figure that anything that can get ripe in 8 weeks will be ready in mid-September.

I’ve been able to take the opportunity this week to get a few things done that were hanging over my head.  I am now done grading and scoring all of the home-shool work from the past year.  I turn the grades in on Tuesday, and the girls will take a test.  Then, I will be able to get busy planning next year’s work.  I’ve done a lot of yard work and weeding in the garden.  We mowed the lawn. (It was a group effort.  Patsy and I took turns pushing the lawn mower on the easy parts and dumping clippings, Rob moved things out of the way, and did the tricky parts). I used the clippings to mulch the blackberries and one area in the flowerbed.  I’ve done a bit of organizing and sorting in the house, although there is much more I had hoped to do.  I may get a little more done this week, but since Jake is coming back from his family vacation tomorrow so I’ll be back to work, and the green beans are going to need to be canned before long, I will do what I can do.  I plan to take a small area each day and see if I can get it organized.  The garage is next on my list.  It’s become a dumping ground again and the food shelves have been stirred into disarray by hungry bears (I’m sure that’s who did it!)

We did quite a few more things this week, like visit Harnet, celebrate the 4th, and enjoy the garden.  How did your week go?