Category Archives: weather

Saving Money, Slow Cooker, Use it Up, weather

Thriving In My Thrifty (Frozen) Week–Continuing to Use-It-Up–Jan. 17, 2024

8 Comments

We had a rare snow event here in our part of the Pacific Northwest. Then, it turned into a freezing rain/ice event. Hopefully, it will be over tomorrow morning and things can go back to normal. The birds were really, really hungry. We were not! They weren’t either, once Rob and Malcolm fed them. They continued to do that every day, until this morning, when they used up the last bit of bird food, including the bag I gave them as a joint gift for Christmas. Thankfully, things are melting as I write, and Rob plans to buy another bag tomorrow.

This picture was from the first morning of snow–Saturday. It snowed more than this, but it still was so exciting on that first morning, that yes…he is out there in his Christmas pajamas…

We made the decision to stay home during this storm. Saturday was a day off work, church was cancelled, and so forth. I haven’t left the house since I got home from work Friday night and this is Wednesday night. Choir was supposed to start back up again tonight, but the ice is so bad in the church parking lot, they cancelled all activities.

We did not suffer a bit. I had gone to the grocery store last week, as I mentioned in my last post. I wanted to work on using things up, still, so I made out very well with the things I gathered from the store, plus the freezers, pantries, and canning cupboards. We are down to 3 carrots, but that’s the only thing I can think of that is running low.

For breakfasts, we had omelets more than once, pancakes, oatmeal (for the oatmeal-loving boy), fruit (especially canned peaches), cereal, scrambles, fried potatoes, sausage from the freezer, and biscuits and gravy. Rob likes to make breakfast, so he does most days.

We had spaghetti pie using the rest of the spaghetti sauce and noodles from last week.

I cooked some quinoa that has been in the pantry for a long time. I used home-canned chicken broth and spices to make it more flavorful. I intended to make a salad or something, but instead, we ate it with a little butter on it, and in a chicken-taco bowl, using more of those frozen thighs I’ve been finishing up.

I pulled a roast from the freezer and cooked it in the crock pot with potatoes, carrots and frozen onions. The potatoes are some I got a few weeks ago and need to be used. I also made potato salad from them during the week. Rob has been frying them at breakfast as well.

We have eaten the beef in slices on a plate a couple of times. I also made a French dip sandwich with a home-made gluten-free bun, toasted in a frying pan with a slice of pepper jack cheese melted on it. I dipped it into some chicken bouillon I mixed up. Not traditional at all, but it’s what I had on hand and it was delicious!

We made some cut-out sugar cookies in the shape of snowflakes and hearts. I froze the hearts for closer to Valentine’s Day. We also made Krispie treats.

This is still the first day–we got even more after that!

The ice storm really got going yesterday afternoon. I really enjoyed the icicles that formed last night on the deck, as well as on the eves, birdhouses, and so forth. I also enjoyed the fact that we did not lost power, and it’s all melting already. Those ice storms can cause terrible damage around here.

We stayed as thrifty as we could during the storm. We used wood to heat our home most of the time, but did turn on the furnace at one point. The temperatures got very low.

Our nephew rode out part of the storm with us–schools were canceled, and our grandson had no preschool, so we spent each day planning fun things we could do here at home, such as reading aloud, listening to recorded (on Audible) Hardy Boys books, playing games, puzzles, cooking together, eating popcorn, watching t.v., and playing with Rob’s huge bins of Legos from the shop–the biggest hit of all. Rob played with them, and they had a blast. He just keeps those Legos out there for special occasions. They are some we’ve had for a long time so it’s nice to see them used.

Rob and I spent some time going through Malcolm’s toys and organizing them. We cleaned in his room a little. I cleaned the garage on 2 occasions. I did accomplish a goal of clearing out an area that needed organizing, making a place for my nephew to do puzzles and have a place to safely play his Pokemon cards, and for Rob to be able to more easily walk to the breaker box (his request!). There’s still lots to clean around here but I feel I made some progress.

We used no gas, as we did not drive anywhere and did all our cooking at home (obviously!). I was pretty tired on Saturday, and I think I slept 10 hours that night. I feel rested up now and ready for normal life to resume tomorrow, which it will. I’m glad I got some rest.

Saving Money, weather

thriving in my thrifty week–february 10, 2019

16 Comments

We enjoyed watching the birds this week during the snowy days we were excited to experience. Rob’s been putting bird seed out for them each day, and lots of them are coming to the bird feeder and the deck outside our dining room window.

Because we rarely get snow, we love looking at it. The kids had no school on Tuesday, then it all melted. There were a few snow showers during the week on various days, and this morning, Sunday, all services at church was delayed until 11 to let what fell last night melt off. It had frozen into ice on the roads. It’s all supposed to be back to rain tomorrow.

Rob made sure everything was weather-proofed.

Jake and Rob took the time to watch Star Wars.

I have been working on a baby quilt for Rob’s nephew’s upcoming baby. I was able to use some fabric I’ve had for a long time, and bought the rest of what I needed to finish. I’m almost done.

While I was at the quilt shop getting the batting and backing, they were having a Shop Hop event. So I was given a kit for a 6″ block and given a list of other quilt shops I could visit and get other 6″block kits. I went to the 2 other ones that were near by, but am not sure if I will have the time to visit any of the others, as they are not in our town. Still, I’m excited to get back into quilting, as I’ve taken a long break from it. In fact, I’m rusty and had to rip out a lot, but the project is looking good now. I just finished machine quilting it, which saved me quite a bit of money from having it done by someone. However, I’m really rusty on that–Jake’s blanket was the last one I did–and that was 11 years ago. Now I need to figure out the binding. Maybe I’ll have pictures in a few days:).

How did your week go? Are you getting any projects done during this winter weather?

weather

More Snow

20 Comments

img_3772

It’s unbelievable!  We got hit with a snow event even bigger than the one last week!  This is very rare in our area, so I don’t think people took the weather people very seriously.  After all, we have been promised snow many times and no snow showed up.  So, all of the children went off to school Wednesday morning, as usual.  People went to work.  Around noon, it began.

img_3777

By nightfall, we had over 4 inches.  Incredible!

I have to say, it was very hard for everyone to get home.  I was doing school with Ja’Ana and Alissa at Alissa’s house, around 20-25 minutes from my house when the flakes started falling at my house.  Lovana called me a couple of times to tell me it was snowing.  So, we finished up what we were doing and J and I started home.  I decided to stop at the store to grab a few things were were out of, such as milk.  I should have kept driving:)

By the time I had pushed my way through the people grabbing items, got the things that were left on the emptying shelves, and stood in a long line, the snow was pelting down, mostly in the form of ice pellets.  But, I had my milk!  I began to drive home.

The roads were clogged with drivers, all of whom were driving deliberately and carefully through the ever-falling snow.  We got to go about 5 miles per hour in quite a few places and got all the way up to 20 in a couple of places.  I spun my tires on a hill, but got up fine once the tires got a grip!  For me, that was more than enough excitement!  I have not left the house since I got safely home, between 45 minutes and an hour later.  Then, we waited for Rob to show up.

He was at school and needed to ride the bus home with a child, as he normally does.  They let out 2 hours early.  He did make it safely, but it was much closer to his regular time–not very early.  He was on that bus for a very long time and there were a few dicey moments, but it was all good for him.  In Portland, Oregon, the story was a bit different.  Some students did not get home until 11 at night, buses were sliding down hills, and traffic was gridlocked for hours and hours, taking some people 4-6 hours to return home.  Glad I didn’t go to Portland that day, as I had planned.

img_3775

I think the lettuce is finally done for:)

img_3782

Each day since, the schools have been cancelled, the snow has melted slightly during the middle of the day, and frozen back up each night, with temperatures down into the 20’s.  For many of you, that is nothing.  For us, here–it’s so very, very rare it is a novelty.  Rob drove to get Jake, my nephew, yesterday, with no problems.  He will go drive around a bit today, just because he likes to.  As for me, I’m content to sit in my warm, cozy house and enjoy the luxury of being able to cook and sew to my heart’s content!  I just may finish Michaels’s pajamas today, and the meals that I have time to cook and pretty yummy, I must say–warm soups, home-made pizza, and more.  All-in-all, it’s been a terrific vacation for me!