Good morning my friends. Hope you are all well and happy.
My goodness, here we are at the end of yet another month! Just a few days left and then on to November. It just doesn't seem possible.
Well this week, mother nature has decided to try to give us all the rain we "didn't" get in the past 2 months! Many downpours here - even thunderstorms. Wind, fog and cooler temps now. More rain coming this week.
It was warm enough to have windows open a few days. Actually got to almost 80*F on 2 different days. This week is supposed to be in the 50's and 60's during the day. Normal October weather.
The leaves of the tulip poplar are about all down - not many left on the tree. Maple still has a lot - so it will be a while before all the clean-up gets done. Looking around, there are still a lot trees that are green - which is amazing.
I finally delegated one feeder just for the blue jays! I looked out back a couple days ago and there were 8 male blue jays scarfing whatever was on the ground! EIGHT! I have never seen that many at once. (It was beautiful) Now they have their own feeder with peanuts and sunflower seeds - they seem to be leaving the other birds alone.
Yesterday I was watching the squirrels play - oh my what fun. There were 4 of them chasing each other up and down and around the tree - having a ball. Then there was my tiny "pole dancer". One young-un was having a ball playing with the clothesline pole. He/she was "pole dancing". Round and round, up and down and flips and flops - I wish I had a video camera!!!!!! It was hilarious to watch.
I sure get enjoyment watching all the backyard babies!
It has been another quiet week here on the home front.
- Ran out and did a feed store stock up for the birds and squirrels (2 months since last big stock-up)
- Filled all the feeders and tins with stock. Balance in old freezer or back of Blazer
- Raked the yard - 2 X (can't tell at all today!)
- Pulled out more garden and did more yard work
- Windows open a lot and fresh air enjoyed. Minimal use of heat (took chill off 2 mornings)
- Chopped up the peppers my brother gave me last weekend and froze.
- Glen's aunt came for a short visit (it was about to storm so she didn't stay long). I gave her the china and silver I had that was her mother's. G's dad gave to us years ago and I felt it should stay in his family. She was delighted to have it
- Worked on re-arranging the over stock pantry area upstairs
- Used the Soda Stream this week to make carbonated fruit juice water
- Just doing all the basics - vacuum, dust, mop, did wood floors again, bath & kitchen clean, laundry in cold, using what I have, just the normal everyday stuff
Meals this week:
Smoke sausage/crescent roll pigs in a blanket, mac n cheese and sliced tomatoes
Leftover piggies and scrambled eggs and sliced tomatoes
Cheesy potatoes with ham pcs. and salad
Pizza skillet
Leftovers - pizza skillet, cheese pots and salad
Ham wrapped chicken roll-up
Tomato soup and grilled cheese
How was your week? I keep hearing about all the places getting snow - brrrrr. I don't miss it at all!!! We usually have snow sometime in October - I heard this will be the first year in ages that we won't! Fine with me!
How are your pantries coming? Is everyone getting all stocked for the holidays and winter? Now is the time.
I look forward to hearing from each of you.
May you all have a safe and healthy and frugal week.
Blessings from my humble little home to yours.
Blessings to all!
Wow, you're so lucky to have Blue Jays! They're one of my favorite birds and are kinda scarce in our neck of the woods. Your chicken wrap looks and sounds so good! Great meal idea, thx. We've been baking bread and eating it up the last few days. Our weather has gotten cooler, finally, so cooking comforting foods.
ReplyDeleteThat's so great you gave Glen's aunt her family's china.
Take good care~Mary in SD
I love blue jays too - but the can be kind bossy!
DeleteIt was a good and healthy meal. SO easy to make. Homemade bread sounds so yummy.
I figured it should be in the family and she is the only aunt and she has kids and grands to pass it to.
Have a good week.
You've got live entertainment in your back yard, how awesome is that? The birds and the squirrel have been enjoying the feed I've been putting out for them. Sadly, it's hard to get bird feed here - I guess there are some issues with suppliers. I bought really expensive feed yesterday just to have something for them during this cold snap. More snow overnight but just a 1/2 inch or so. The only good thing - it gets me to shovel which is a bit of exercise. :)
ReplyDeleteTake care, stay well!
I love the nature - they are entertaining. Sorry you are have an issue with feed.
DeleteThat is what I always say about snow and leaves - exercise!
Have a good week
Oh how funny about the pole dancing squirrel. Sounds adorable!
ReplyDeleteYour meals sound so good, and your wrap looks delicious. So expensive at Kroger. I'm sure the aunt's family will treasure the china and silver.
My pantry is coming along. I bought enough cat food and kitty litter to last a month or two.
Hope you have a good week.
The squirrel was hilarious!! The wrap was pretty darn good and cheap!
DeleteGlad to hear you are getting your pet food needs taken care of. I just want to be prepared for at least the rest of the year. You just never know.
Have a great one.
Those wraps look wonderful, and I bet they were a big savings.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Thanks. Probably less than a $1 I would imagine. A couple chicken tenders, ham on hand and a few chopped veggies.
DeleteIt was tasty.
Have a good week.
I LOL about the blue jays. My neighbor loves them, and she has her "regulars". She will stand on her driveway and call out "hey blue!" Then throw a shelled peanut on her driveway...here it comes and swoops it up. We watch as it goes to a yard and "buries" the nut! Well, the baby blues were just learning and they would swoop down and go to a tree and eat the nut. Hadn't learned about hiding yet. Not sure what they do in the fall. This was summer watching! They come everyday to her!
ReplyDeleteI know - they are a hoot. They yell and carry on if out of peanuts. I go out and put some out and they take them while I am standing there. Pretty darn smart! AND spoiled!!!
DeleteMy name for them is - Jay Jay! LOL
Your ham wrapped chicken tender wrap looks so good, Cheryl. How fun to watch the birds and squirrels at their feeders and playing in your yard.
ReplyDeleteThey sure give me a lot of free entertainment!
DeleteIt was quite tasty -I always forget how much I like them until I have one!
Our weather skipped frost and went straight to hard freeze (30F) Oct.17, followed by three days last week near 80F. I took advantage of the nice weather and finished emptying the vegetable bed and moving the dirt to the front flower bed. I also made new cedar frames for the veggie and strawberry beds. I hope I didn't make a mistake emptying the soil from the veggie bed. I sure hope I can get the vermiculite and peat I will need to make soil-less mix in Spring. Compost will be no problem. I also took out all the annuals and brought in rose buds to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteOur bird feeding station has been up about a month, and we've seen 17 species so far. I added whole peanuts last week, and the blue jays and red-bellied woodpecker are busy building up their pantries. The pine siskins have left for greener pastures (or found some natural arborvitae, their favorite food).
Made lasagna last night. Husband had never had it. He pronounced it "Not too bad". I also baked chocolate chip cookies (for him) and iced pumpkin cookies (for me). Made burritos and froze them for lunches for me. This time of year I sometimes want a hot lunch instead of a sandwich.
Not much out of the ordinary frugality going on. Went to Aldi two week ago, and they were pretty well stocked with no limits on anything that I saw. WalMart was less well stocked. The one thing I cannot find is molasses. Aldi, WalMart, and our local grocery don't even carry it. I'm going to try a local (expensive) grocery to get a couple of bottles. I want to make gingerbread from scratch. Tastes so much better than a mix.
I think we're pretty much ready for Winter (and whatever shenanigans may happen post-election). Husband is getting his flu shot tomorrow. I'm shopping Aldi and St. Vinny's and topping off the gas tank this week. At another St. Vinny's last week, I found an uncut pattern for aprons for $.59. Now I need to find some inexpensive fabric. I can't seem to bake without making a big mess.
The library has been very slowly filling my book requests. It's taking 3-4 weeks, making it hard to read a series in order.
Well, Husband wants me to walk down and get the mail so he has something to read. Free exercise!
Hope everyone has a safe and frugal week!
So happy you are getting so much enjoyment out of your feeders. I have a big old wood pecker that loves the peanuts too.
DeleteYou are sure have been doing a lot of yard work. Good for you!
Have you a local orchard around? Ours always has molasses for sale. I wish we all lived closer - so many things I see around here that I could share with others.
Glad your hubs liked lasagna - I love it. Amazing he had never had it before. Your cookies sound good.
Hope you have a great week!
Bluejays are beautiful thieves. We have them here and they steal the cats' food. But I do like them. That was my high school's mascot.
ReplyDeleteSquirrels: Farmer was laughing on Friday and called me to "Come Look!" 2 squirrels chasing around and around the tree outside the window. We normally don't see too many squirrels in our yard due to all our barn cats.
You may not be getting snow yet, but we did last night! A good 2-3 inches. It'll be gone by Thursday so some good moisture. Farmer & DS2 have decided to bring the cattle home from pasture this week. They've been on stalks for 2 weeks and the deer are in rut and running. We have pop cans on the electric fence posts but we don't want any going through the fence when rifle season starts next weekend.
I've been checking the pantry and keeping it filled. We just need some canned vegetables. Take a look at my blog for the great deal I got on produce last week!http://prairie-quilts-and-kolaches.blogspot.com/
My school mascot was a cardinal! The blue jays are little thieves.
DeleteOh wow, snow - nasty 4 letter S word!
Good job on keeping the pantry stocked. I will check it out!!
Have a good day.