Happy Sunday everyone. It is a gloomy and wet morning here. Rain and more rain - I sure wish I could send some of it to you who need it so badly. We have a chance of rain for every single day this coming week. Temps here have cooled a bit, which is lovely, it is just muggy feeling. I feel so sorry for those living out West where the temps are so incredibly dangerous. Please take care.
The week started with the 4th of July and it was horrible here. That night was like being in the epicenter of a war zone for hours on end. It didn't stop until 1AM. I was totally surrounded with idiots who had let loose of too many of their dollars!!!!! UGH! (I can't begin to describe the noise)
Thursday we had a major downpour and storms. Friday cooled so much and was just perfect. I got a lot done outside and was so tired at the end of the day. I sat out on the porch at the end of the day and watched others sitting out, the littles across the street being so sweet, listened to birds and had a kitty at my feet. It was a perfect end to a busy day. More rain came in yesterday and it rained during the entire overnight.
I got proficient with my ladder this week!!! A couple big outdoor jobs checked off the list. Boy did I use muscle I had forgotten about!!!!
My week:
- Pruned the lower limbs of my big old trees (over 50+ years old). Got the limbs that were hanging over the roof and gutter, over the greenhouse, over the power lines and just general trimming. The limbs are all out back to dry for burning at a later date
- I used the air fryer again this week. Slowly learning
- I cleaned up leaves 2X this week. Raked once and blew them once. It looks so nice when they are clean. Doesn't last long - but it looks nice!
- I did a small repair on a pair of jeans. I managed a super glue spot about the size of a thumbprint on them and it discolored. Didn't come out after washing. I used a dark blue permanent marker (which turned kind of purple blue) and then used a gray marker. You can NOT see the spot at all now!!!!!
- I am HARVESTING!!!!! I got 9 zucchini this week and several peppers. I have a pepper called Holy Mole' - supposed to be milder than jalapeno but the same flavor. Holy Mole' were they wrong - it was hot! LOL That is OK - I 'll use them.
- I did make a grocery run finally. Not much - mainly fresh stuff. Did get a good deal on cat litter - 20 lb. bags for 2.99 - got the last 2 on the shelves. Found purple cauliflower in .99 bin. Got 2 cantaloupes 2/$5. So super sweet and juicy. One is already gone!!!
- I cleaned the gutters and the downspouts on Friday. I noticed on Thursday's rain they looked full! Gutters were messy, especially out back - but the downspouts had gotten plugged up. Took them apart and cleaned out. All clean and ready for more rain! That was quite a tiring job!
- Cut more basil
- Just doing all the normal stuff. Cooking from home, using leftovers, basic cleaning, drinking tea and water, laundry in cold and used dehumidifier water in laundry.
Meals this past week:
Various fish, chicken and potato bites (in air fryer) and salad - (all cut in pieces and breaded)
Broccoli/rice/cheese and salad
Club sandwich and chips
Zucchini/pepper/chicken/pasta mix up - (pasta from freezer)
Hard shell tacos
Sauteed zucchini with leftover taco meat and salsa added (so good)
Pasta and veggie salad (mainly veggies)
OJ and cantaloupe for fruit this week.
How was your week? Are your gardens producing? SO many yummies to be had now - whether home grown or farm markets! Any good bargains this week?
I wish you all a safe and healthy week. Blessings from my humble little home to yours.
🙏🙏🙏
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.
Galatians 5:13
Lord help us be good neighbors and love others with our whole hearts. Prayers for peace and kindness in the world. May all people love one another and have peace. AMEN
Sounds like a good week for you, Cheryl. We have rain forecast several days this week too. Your pasta salad looks so good and colorful. Those can be so refreshing this time of year.
ReplyDeleteIt was a pretty good week - I like getting things marked off my to do list! Gutters and trees were biggies.
DeleteIt was so refreshing to eat! I have plenty left for snacks or as a side. It was a MEAL yesterday!
We have a rundown trailer park through the woods and every year when I hear all the fireworks going off over there I say that I hope the children will get to eat this week.
ReplyDeleteWe spent the early part of the week getting things ready for Hurricane Elsa to blow through and then had really almost nothing including rain. Then we go to put everything back. Yay us! Better safe than sorry.
Yesterday on Facebook I saw that a discount grocery farther afield had sirloin steaks for 3.99# and NY strips for 5.99#. We didn't have anything pressing to do so we got ready and went. They had probably 25 feet of meat case piled with those steaks and people were loading up their carts. There was also beautiful stew meat for 2.99#. We found 3# rolls of Jimmy Dean sausage for 2.99 and 2.5 pound packages of thick J Dean bacon for 6.99. We had not been to this store in years and I was pleased to find local produce and eggs. A flat of eggs in all the colors of brown and blue were 4.75. That is a great price here for farm fresh eggs that usually run $4 a dozen. We got many beautiful fresh produce items all for .99#. Heinz kosher dill slices were 1.50 for a big #10 can. I will put them in jars when I open them. There were so many good deals but I try really hard to be realistic and not buy what will not get eaten no matter how cheap. I think we will make a trip there every three months or so from now on. Meanwhile we have ten steak meals in our freezer that we will really enjoy.
We have a chance of rain everyday for the next week and I hope we get some because we are needing it now. We have kids coming in from all over this week including our missionary kids from Germany. Going to be lots of eating and so I am gad to be well stocked. Yes, we got steak to grill for them too!
Have a good week!
Glad Elsa missed you and as you said better to be prepared than not. Good practice!
DeleteWOWZA - what great deals you got. That is fantastic - I would have stocked up majorly as well. You did fantastic. I would definitely go back ever few months. Amazing.
I hope you get some rain. It seems those who are really in need aren't getting any. I feel so sorry for people out West.
Enjoy your visitors this week - sounds like fun!!!!
Have a great one
Good deals, Lana! Do you ever go to Bargain's in Pelzer, or J's in Forest City? Been a while since I've been to Bargain's, but we go to J's every 3 months or so. We have Grocery Outlet in our town; I'll be going there in a few minutes. They have 24 oz string cheese for $2.99 and our spoiled brat dog gets two of these a day. That's cheaper than Sam's, where I usually buy.
DeleteCarol you all are so lucky to have discount groceries. I wish there was something like that here. That is a good price on string cheese! Hey, your baby gets what your baby likes! Nothing wrong with that.
DeleteCarol, This was Bargain Foods in Pelzer and Wow! those steaks are delicious! We have Wise Buys and S&A here in Spartanburg area. Wise Buys carries a lot of restaurant food that we mostly don't really care for but we go once in awhile if they post a great whole bean coffee deal on Facebook. S&A is more our go to. You can find it on Facebook to follow the deals. There are two locations.
DeleteThanks for the heads up; I'll look for S&A. We come to Costco in Spartanburg periodically. Greenville would be closer, but Spartanburg is easier to get to (I'm near Hendersonville). With things going up so, it pays to look for bargains to even it out a little.
DeleteS&A is in Inman. Also one way down south of town. You never know what you might find. Last week 2 pound bags of coffee beans for 1.99 each and 50 cent premium OJ. They have cases of premium yogurt for $1 almost all the time. It is hard to find the first time but if you keep in mind that the door opens right on the sidewalk downtown and the parking is beside it will help.
DeleteI too wish we could share in some of that rain - we definitely need it here in California. It's cooling off a bit today (yesterday was 90).
ReplyDeleteWe have a lot of delicious things in our garden - herbs, tomatoes, zucchini, & peppers. I'm planning to pickle peppers today, and made zucchini fritters last night. They were fabulous.
I wish we could share with the West coast as well. I hope you get some soon.
DeleteZucchini fritters are so tasty. I may make some this week. I need to get creative. I will see my sis this week and she will be getting zucchini!
Have fun canning!!!
I looked at the Holy Mole' before I read your blog and thought it was some kind of lizard! than I put on my glasses!!
ReplyDeleteHere in the UK I have harvested peas, broad beans, salad potatoes, lettuce together with green and yellow zucchini (we call them courgettes) strawberries have been eaten, not sure if we will have raspberries this year as we have new plants.
LOL - it does kind of look like a lizard!!!
DeleteSounds like you are getting a nice harvest. It is all so tasty. Glad you are getting some fresh goodies.
Gosh, I'd take some of that rain if I could. We may get rain later today via a thunderstorm. I'll believe it when I see it.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed you cleaned your own gutters. I'm far to afraid to climb up a ladder for fear of falling. Thankfully my son is willing to do it for me.
Wish I could share the rain.
DeleteI don't like heights - but I hold on with one hand - have a bucket hanging and use the other hand! I did part of it one year and then did it all this year.
Glad you have your son around!
Here in southern IN we are getting lots of rain also. Hard to have everyone get the happy medium it seems. But, I remind myself that God knows what He's doing.
ReplyDeleteLots of good garden goodies now. Had BLTs last night with our own tomatoes. Sure tasted great. We have sweet corn, cabbage, snow peas, zucchini and cukes now. The son shared his green beans. Hard to know what to fix first. What a problem to have. Husband started a batch of kraut this week and picked wild blackberries. I am still picking red raspberries but they are almost done but a few blueberries now also.
We picked up just a few groceries while in town for an appointment. In the $1 bin we got two cantaloupes and a pint of blueberries...this was before ours started ripening.Those melons were so yummy! All are meals right now consist of fresh foods ...so flavorful!
I always love your menus...never quit posting those...please!
You were so ambitious this week...no wonder you were tired!
I know - some are singing rain, rain go away and others are praying.
DeleteYum on the BLT - I can't hardly wait for fresh tomatoes! My favorite.
Glad you are getting so many goodies. YES, this is a wonderful time of the year - so many fresh choices. I love it.
Thanks - I will keep on posting!!
You are so productive! 🙂💗 Could you explain a little about how you use the water from your humidifier in your laundry? I love the idea of reusing the water.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteI have a portable dehumidifier in the basement on top of using AC. Once it fills (portable) I either dump in a bucket (to us later) or pour it directly in the washer before starting laundry. My washer uses less that way.
It just seems crazy to pour it down the drain, w/o another use. I have used it on flowers as well - in dry years. You could use to clean with as well (mop, etc.)
Hope that helps
Still no real produce ripe yet here. Hot and very humid, and we got 2" of rain from last week's storms, with more expected today. A couple of my little zukes rotted on the vine. Too much rain? At least my rain barrels are almost full. Found a couple more volunteer cherry tomato plants, bringing my total to 16.
ReplyDeleteDid a stock-up run at Aldi. The price of nearly everything has gone up 5-10%. Used my credit card that has a 5% rebate at grocery stores this quarter. Of course, it will be paid off immediately.
Bought cedar fence pickets to make a couple smaller (2'x4') garden beds for next year. Much cheaper than using regular cedar lumber. I'm going to try the "lasagna" method of composting in one of the beds, since I can't have a real compost bin due to raccoons and other varmints. I also got peat moss, manure, and heirloom, non-GMO seeds for next year at Agway. The store manager said he's having trouble getting peat moss, so I'm glad I got it now instead of waiting until Spring.
Since Husband has recently fallen a couple of times in the shower, I installed a handheld shower head and assembled a shower chair for him. I also bought a corner shower caddy so he can reach things more easily sitting down. The shower caddy is one of those things I wish I'd bought years ago, it is so handy.
I love your volunteer sunflower! I have a couple of them just off my porch where the birdfeeders are. They are blooming this week. I also deliberately planted some in my front flower bed, and they area coming up. Free flowers are great! Cosmos, butterfly bush, butterfly weed, gaillardia, and hostas are blooming, and the marigolds and zinnias have buds.
Cleaned up some of the overgrown area at the back of my lot. I try to keep it mowed about 20 feet behind my privacy fence for a fire break. Got into the poison ivy, though not as badly as two years ago when it took steroids to get over it. Left the black raspberries for the birds, since they were in the midst of the poison ivy.
Fourth of July fireworks here weren't as bad as other years. They are banned here in the trailer park under penalty of immediate eviction.
My birdfeeders have been quite busy with all the fledglings. We enjoyed watching Daddy Baltimore Oriole bring his young to learn how to eat at the jelly feeder. Now we're waiting for the Red-bellied Woodpecker to bring his young to the seeds.
I used to clean the gutters on the front of Husband's 2-storey house before we got married. I don't have a fear of heights, but I did refuse to go up the ladder on the back of the house, which was 3 stories! I always checked the condition of the roof while I was up there, too.
The big thing this week will be to take Husband to the driver's license office to get a state ID, since his driver's license expires this year and he is no longer able to drive. The process is rather confusing regarding acceptable types of ID, so we're going to try to cover all the bases.
In the frugality dept, I spent a lot of money this week, but it was nearly all stocking up for the future and hedging against inflation (especially groceries). Used the A/C as little as possible, though I have to watch that Husband does not get overheated. He was starting to get sick from the heat one especially hot and humid day. Hung laundry out to dry. Found change in the street while walking to get the mail. Got more free food (individual serving cereal bowls, macaroni, and raisins) at the mail station. Our local library is again taking book & DVD donations, so I will be taking a box of each there this week. I keep a donation box for books out on the mud porch and drop it off when it is full. Love to shop library book sales! Planned dinners around foods that needed to be used before spoiling. Reading books I already own. Assembled 35 pieced fleece blankets for Project Linus using scraps that would have otherwise been thrown out.
Hope everyone has a safe and frugal week and gets or does not get rain as desired!
That is a lot of volunteer tomato plants. Funny you didn't think you would have a garden when you broke your wrist - now look at all the stuff you have.
DeleteLove watching the birds - how cool on the parents teaching the young.
One story is my limit - no higher thank you!!!!!!
So sorry you hubby has fallen. It gets scary as we get older. Sounds like you have taken all the precautions now. Great idea.
ID and license here are supposed to be the 'new' kind. I opted out last visit. I have no intentions on ever flying or going into a Federal building - so wasn't going to spend the extra. May have to do it next time - but they seem to have changed so many rules. Good luck with getting the ID.
How nice to get free things at the donation box. I need to take stuff to the thrift store sometime this week - tired of looking at it!
You sure do keep busy. Buying groceries to beat inflation is money wisely spent!
Have a wonderful week and stay safe.
What a nice post. Yard work is tough on the old body, but it keeps one in shape. I can't do hot peppers.
ReplyDeleteYep - but got to get exercise somehow and I don't do gyms!!! Don't like that kind of exercise!
DeleteI can't do real hot - but I do like a few slices of jalapenos on Mexican food.
Wow, you've been working hard!! I'm so glad you survived to tell of the tree-trimming and gutter clean outs. Good for you!
ReplyDeleteA week of rain, that's why it's so green where you are.
You got some great deals at the store! And that green chili pepper looks hot! Beautiful, though....as does your pasta salad. We ate on mac salad and potato salad all last week. Sure was good.
We had the threat of rolling blackouts yesterday, but thank God - they didn't occur. And I must say our weather in east San Diego county has been mild: 80s with a very few days up to 90s. I thank God for this mercy every day. My brother up in Portland, OR had temps for 2 days at 115 \0/. Broke records from 1938.
I felt so sorry for all the animals who had to hear the fireworks~prayed for them for days before and reminded myself to trust the Lord for their protection. Fans going in the house help. I can put in ear plugs.
Take care~
Well, some times I just have to buck up and do things. These were on my list. Done for this year!
DeleteThat little bugger is HOT!. My mouth didn't burn too long, and it did spice up the dish I put it in - but not too bad.
All salads are just too yummy this time of the year.
I heard some where in Nevada had 130* yesterday!! YIKES!
My friend lives in OR and yep from what I hear it has been very hot. We all complain - but many of us are just down right blessed. I sure hope the black-outs miss you. I hope you have preparations just in case!
I prayed for all the animals as well. I have noticed 2 cats around the neighborhood I had not seen before the 4th. I wonder if they are lost. They won't let me get close.
Have a great week.
Your pepper looks lethal! Have to keep that variety in mind. My son-in-law is a huge fan of hot, hot and more hot. He loves Carolina Reapers and Scotch Bonnets.
ReplyDeleteCleaning out gutters is not fun but necessary. When the Urban Farmer was a home inspector, he would always put in his report to clean out the gutters, as debris in the gutters and downspouts causes problems. A lady called one day after she had lived in her home for a while, complaining about a problem. His first question he asked was "did you clean out your gutters?". You had a lot of ladder work and I'm sure you were sore! Climbing ladders uses muscles not normally used in everyday chores. It feels good tho, to tidy things up. We need to do the big maple in the back yard. Reaching for branches, cutting and hauling debris away is a big job, again using muscles you don't normally use.
The Urban Farmer brought in two rather large zukes, which for some inexplicable reason, we overlooked. I used the smaller of the two to chop up for spaghetti sauce and the chickens got the other one. The leaves on the zucchini plant are the largest we have ever seen, which makes it difficult to spot the fruit.
Wish folks didn't have easy access to fireworks. Used to be you had to go into another state to buy them. Kitties get just as frightened as dogs with all the noise. You may have two new kitties to join the others in the greenhouse. Years ago I had trigger finger surgery and a fellow was in the office for a recheck on the surgery on his hand which had been severely damaged by what he thought was a dead firework. Turns out it was not and it blew up in his hand.
Our fifteen year old Maytag Neptune finally bit the dust. After a load this morning, it smelled really hot and smoke was literally coming out of the water dispenser. We decided not to repair it and went to Home Depot and found another Maytag top loader. It has a large tub which will be really nice. Trouble is we can't get it until the 26th of the month. I think we have enough clothes and towels, etc. and if not, it's off to the Laundromat. Some other brands were not available for a couple of months. A dead washing machine is nothing compared to the disaster at the condo collapse in Miami. Those poor people.
If we adhere to Scripture and love one another and care for one another, that will go a long way to solve so many problems.
I know I used muscles I hadn't for a while. Good exercise. Over flowing gutters can cause lots of trouble.
DeleteThose zucchini are sneaky. They sure can hide out under the leaves. I found one last week that had gotten pretty large (not huge). It was under a leaf.
Sorry about the washer. Hopefully they get it to you sooner. I hope you like your new one. I got a new one a few years back - and I still don't really like it. I would do it different now if I could.
Supporting each other is so important. People just need to be kind.
Silly question, Donna--but when you bought the washer, did you check to see that you can reach the bottom of the drum? I have a large capacity washer and I need to use a grabber to reach the clothes at the bottom of the load. I am 5'3". If you are short and didn't physically reach to the bottom of the tub, I encourage you to go back and check. You can probably get one that fits you if you do this before it is delivered. I just HATE doing laundry because of this...not that I ever liked it much before.
DeleteHi Cheryl, enjoyed the post! I too love that feeling at the end of a day when you've done lots of physical work around the house and yard. It's such a good tired feeling! In Arizona, we've just been getting lots of dust storms but one of these days soon we'll get lucky and get the rain too. Our local Frys/Kroger had the small watermelons and cantalopes for 87 cents each this week so I got a few, so good and refreshing! Also I was there on senior discount day - 1st Wed of the month - 10% off for seniors so that helped with my grocery bill this week. Take care and have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry you are living in such heat and dryness. I love your positive attitude!!!!!
DeleteGood deals on the fruit. I always forget to ask about senior discount. I need to do that more often. Good job.
Have a nice one.