Happy Sunday to all. Holy heck, here we are officially halfway through the year and the days will soon start getting shorter again. The year is flying by. This week we celebrate our Independence Day here in the U.S. on the 4th.
We have been all over the place weatherwise this week. It was nice and it was hot. We had humidity and wonderful days. We had storms and rain. Today is lovely after a very humid, gloomy and stormy day yesterday.
Butterflies are all over the place! The cicadas have finally started making themselves heard. Not the brood, just the normal ones. I like hearing them at night.
The garden is coming along nicely. The tomatoes and peppers are full of blooms and a few little veggies. I have a zucchini that seems to be growing overnight! Baby cukes on the vine and the cabbages are getting huge. There is even one double one out there (yes one plant split). I will try to get a picture of that. The rain surely helped with everything. It won't be long and I will be picking something. I know some of you are already getting produce - YAY! Got to love our gardens!
My frugal week:
- I did make a little run to the feed store for a few things
- Picked myself a bouquet and a huge bunch of flowers for the neighbor to take to shut-ins at work
- Made more hummingbird nectar
- I needed a new notebook to write ideas in this week - I got one from my .25 each stash! Those past school deals are still paying off!!
- Made hard boiled eggs
- Picked and used purslane in cooking
- Mowed and trimmed the entire yard. Did a lot of dead heading of lilies at the back of the yard (need to do the big flower bed today), pulled weeds and cut things back. A couple hard days of work.
- Had 2 gals from across the street come and porch sit one evening until skeeters decided to get us! Very enjoyable evening.
- Made OJ from concentrate
- Cut up some older fruit & made a small fruit salad - no waste
- Did finally run to the grocery store. Got lots of fresh fruit and veggies, of course cat food and litter, and some ground beef marked down on clearance. I spent out of pocket $78 and my savings with coupons and markdowns was $70! I did good! I bought NO junk, & NO canned or frozen.
- Meals from home and from scratch
- Air the house each morning - then close windows & blinds. Trying to keep AC off as much as possible. Windows open now and cool air coming in!!
Meals this past week:
Rice/cheese burritos (leftovers used) & salad
Fish wrap and fresh veggies
Tuna salad on sourdough
Breakfast - eggs, bacon & fried potatoes - used purslane & green onions in eggs
Plain burger and salad
Chef salad and fruit
Corn on the cob, smoked sausage on bun, cukes & onions
Eating lots of fruit for snacks - watermelon, cantaloupe, & cherries. Also had some crackers w/cheese slices
How has your week been? Have you gotten any rain to help your gardens, or have you gotten too much? Some places have really flooded - that is so sad. Did you find any deals this week? Many stores are starting their holiday sales already.
Any fun stuff on your menus?
I hope you all have a safe and healthy week. May you all enjoy some time with family or friends over the holiday and that it is a safe day for all. If you are traveling this week - please be safe.
Blessings to you and yours from my humble little home.
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Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old received divine approval. By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear.
Hebrews 11:1-3
Dear Lord, we know You are with us in every way and in every day. Please help us to help others to understand Your word. Faith is believing in what we cannot see and that is hard sometimes. Give us each strength. Prayers for our nation, our people and the world. Amen
Good morning Cheryl. Glad you had a good week and the circadas are just the usual ones ; It is officially summer in Phoenix, but so far it is just the usual horrible ;). I have started looking in shelters for a dog, so that process is started. Otherwise, nothing too exciting. I am doing the Bible in a year podcast by Father Schmitz and am about a month away from being done. It has been a, great way to read the Bible, each segment is about 25 minutes long, 15 minutes reading and 10 minutes explaining what is means. For me, since I am 68 and have never read the entire Bible, it is wonderful to get it in bite size pieces and have an explanation of what matters and how everything goes together. Fyi it is free. End of advertisement ;). Have a good 4th of July. Hilogene in Az.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the podcast info, Hilogene. I like Father Schmitz. Praying you find the perfect dog and am sure you will. --Elise
DeleteHi Hilogene - glad you are on the search for a shelter dog. I think more people need to seek shelters - those poor babies need a home.
DeleteThat is neat on the podcast. I have been completely through the Bible once in my life (69 here), but that is it. I am always reading, but going through it again from beginning to end is lovely. Thank you for the mention.
You have a lovely 4th as well.
Have a great week.
Hello Elise. Hope you are well. Have a good week.
DeleteI read the Bible through during Covid. But I had no guide so a lot of it was just words. However, the Psalms and Proverbs and all were *wonderful* to read, and I had a King James and a Revised Standard versions so I could compare. Very interesting.
DeleteElise! :) Good to see you here, I've missed you.
MaryB
Good Morning!! It sounds like you had a pretty nice week. It's a bit cooler here but still too hot and humid to open any windows. Today is cloudy and looks like it may rain. I hope it does. I have one probably 8x4 'flower' bed that has somehow been taken over by mint. I have to go out in the next couple of days and rip all of that out and start over. I guess the mint I had in the pot next to the bed jumped the border. I'd never plant it in the ground. I hope you have another peaceful week. The 'normal' cicadas are welcome and I've started hearing them here. SO much nicer than the two we had in Spring.
ReplyDeleteWe had some really heavy rains yesterday - one was real heavy. Today is just lovely. Oh that darn mint can take over in no time. There was mint next door when we moved here, and I am still battling it in one of my flower beds 38 years later. Seems impossible to get rid of - so I try to use it as often as possible. I guess if you can't beat it - use it!
DeleteYes, the 'normals' are nice - I just don't even want to image what you dealt with earlier.
Have a lovely week.
There is SO much! I already have filled a huge jar with dehydrated mint and if I try to give my coworkers or friends anymore, they may snap. lol
DeleteGood morning! It HAS been a wild weather week here, too. Everything from 95% humidity to 100+ "real feel" temps, to this morning, when I felt that I almost needed a sweater (59*, low humidity, and a light breeze). We did get some rain, too, and my deck planters are loaded with romaine, buttercrunch, and other leaf lettuces. My tomatoes and peppers all have flowers, so we'll hopefully get some veggies later this summer. I've been down for the count for a couple of days, after lunch out at a German bier haus, so no shopping for me this week. This week will be getting ready for having friends over for the Village's fireworks display on the 4th of July.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how quickly things can change. It is just beautiful this morning, and I have already been out doing yard work.
DeleteLucky you on the lettuce, mine is starting to seed and get bitter. I think I may need to move it to more of a shade spot. Will do that today.
Hope you are feeling better. Sounds like maybe a bit of food poisoning? Enjoy the festivities and your friends.
Have a great week.
It's been quiet around here, but humid and I hear thunder today, but no rain. I love those past school deals, mine are still paying off too. Great deal on the $70 savings on groceries. I'll need to do grocery shopping this week too. I hope you have a great week, Cheryl.
ReplyDeleteI like quiet! Hope the humidity leaves you for a while, like it has us today. Thanks - got to get the deals when you can. Yes, those past school deals used to be great. I still have a stack of notebooks and a lots of pens!
DeleteYou have a lovely week.
I was excited to see that the tomato is starting to produce, with several wee tomatoes. The strawberries are starting to turn red, so we'll be picking those soon. The lettuce is nearly ready too, and I pulled a few radish. Those we'll have in a pasta salad for dinner tonight. I need to thin the carrots but they are starting, and several pea plants are starting their climb on the trellis.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, the weeds! They are happy as can be too. I'll be working at the garden and the rest of the yard for much of the week. That, hopefully will put a dent in it!
How wonderful your garden is starting to produce. You will sure enjoy all those goodies.
DeleteGood luck putting a dent in the weeds! It seems I pull all I see, and a couple days later - there they are again.
Have a super week.
People do have a hard time believing in something they can't see. Actually the Father's handiwork is all around us in the trees, flowers, animals and water.
ReplyDeleteYou worked hard this week! Today is really nice and we worked outside this morning. We got an inch of rain this week, which was welcome. Rain barrels are full as well as some 5 gallon buckets. The people who took our chickens came by to get what was left of the chicken house and run. I asked her if they liked cucumbers and she said yes but they didn't raise any this year. I said you got some now! The cukes are going crazy although the zucchini is slow. Going to pick beans again in the morning.
See you Tuesday!
A lot of people still don't believe in what they can see. Yes, the wonders of the world are gifts to us all.
DeleteI didn't feel like I worked hard - but I did get a bit done. The rain was just wonderful.
You lucky already picking. I am looking forward to that. So happy things are growing well for you and you can share.
Have a fantastic week.
Discount notebooks are fun to use up. For sure. Good on you! Cukes sound wonderful as well as zukes. Can't wait to grow those next year! Cheers to you and Happy New Week.
ReplyDeleteThey cost so much - so I always have bought at the super school deals.
DeleteI love cukes and onions - Mmmmm. I am so ready for fried zucchini.
Have a good week. Glad you stopped by.
I spent a lot this week, but I took advantage of lots of good sales to stock up on things like butter, cheese, and oat milk ice cream (the only kind I can tolerate). After my last comment on here the school posted that they will now allow the option to pick up lunch and breakfast for the entire week at one location once a week. That is great since going daily is not worth it, and the pickup location is closer to my house also. Yesterday was our 14th anniversary and we dropped the kids off at my parents for a while and ordered Domino's and played video games. That's our version of fun and relaxation, we aren't big on gifts. When I ordered Domino's there was an offer for a free dessert for customer appreciation, so we got chocolate lava cakes free. It was a nice little surprise. And afterwards I got an email saying we're sorry the delivery was not as expected to be and got points for a free pizza. The delivery was a few minutes late so I'm guessing that's why, but I never complained or reviewed or anything so I don't know. Another nice little surprise though.
ReplyDeleteSome weeks we spend more than others when stocking up. Glad you found some good deals.
DeleteHow wonderful that it will be worth the trip now for you to get the kiddos meals. That is great.
Hey, that sounds like a nice evening to me. It was something you both like to do - that is all that matters. Happy Anniversary. What a nice couple of surprises you got!
have a great week.
Happy Canada Day! There will be a parade & festivities in our little town to celebrate. The week started with a visit to my friend recovering from a broken hip. MS complicates her rehab. We had a fun afternoon sharing pizza & playing cards. I spend too much time attempting to amend the long distance telephone billing errors that occur repeatedly. I'm suspicious that the wrong computer buttons are being pressed. I will be tenacious about getting to the bottom of these errors but it's time I'll never get back. The garden has been weeded, potatoes hilled, perennial bed cleaned & the yard looks fabulous. The peonies are just starting to bloom. Rhubarb was picked & processed - juice & more rhubarb in the freezer. The cold room was organized in preparation for more garden processing. I was gifted a wood splitter a few yrs ago & finally used it with the help of my cousins. The pile of wood was split & stacked. There's enough wood for the coming winter. I even washed the siding beside the front entrance. It's unlikely that anyone will notice but me. in the kitchen: lasagna, Greek salad, butternut squash soup, paella, rhubarb crisp.
ReplyDeleteWell Happy Canada Day. I did not realize. I bet your friend enjoyed the visit!
DeleteMy goodness, that sounds like a frustrating problem. Basically we do not get charged for long distance here anymore. It is all just one bill, the same every month.
Your yard sounds lovely. I love that your peonies are just starting, mine have been done for over a month.
You have been very busy gal! Sounds like you have accomplished MUCH this past week. Good for you.
Rhubarb crisp sound tasty. I may make some soon.
Have a wonderful week.
Mona, when I had a landline I had issues with being billed for long distance calls that I did not make. I refused to pay them and dealt with supervisors who basically said that I was lying. I found out that I could have long distance calls out blocked. (I was using a phone card). I had my outgoing calls blocked. Still got long distance charges but did not have to fight with them as they could see that I was unable to call out. After we got a cell phone, we cancelled the landline and it has been great.
DeleteI have never used purslane in cooking and our backyard is full of it. I will have to check into that.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
It has so many nutritional benefits. Very good for us. I often use raw as well in salad. Larger leaves have a peppery taste, and the younger ones really have little taste - but the nutrients are worth it.
Delete