Ushering in a New Month: I mentioned orphaned containers and lids. Like Louise I keep my lids if I have containers they still fit. It's far more common to have a busted lid than a busted container.
Lana, All was well with Bess and Sam. They lost power and a live power line went down in her driveway which frightened her badly enough to call me...after she'd called 911. Eventually they blocked off her drive which upset her further since Sam was out in the storm trying to get emergency quarters set up for a disaster crew if needed. They didn't need the adjustors thankfully as it proved to be mostly rain. I checked in on Lori in Kingsland and all was well there. We barely had a sprinkle. Katie is two hours north of us and got none at all.
Lana, Sarah, Susie, Jennifer in Oregon: I received a note from the Target store manager and she was going to headquarters in Minneapolis and said she'd bring up the issue at the corporate meeting. I need to go back to Target and see how they've done in my area. Katie tells me in her area which is more suburban the Target stores have nicer plus sized areas. So it's definitely store by store. However, it doesn't hurt to have had it addressed to the corporate heads.
Debby in KS I saw your comment right away when you posted. I don't have time to reply immediately so I do these posts monthly where I do reply. Thank you for your kind words.
Georgene, this is a simple and hearty oatmeal. It cooks on top of the stove and is super tasty. John asks for it routinely even in summer! 1 cup of oatmeal, 2-4 tbsps brown sugar (or 1/4 cup maple syrup which is awesome!), 1 1/2 cups of milk and one very well beaten egg. Pinch of salt. Put all in the pan and heat over medium heat, stirring until it bubbles and thickens. Delicious!
Rhonda, I've found that the Aldi price on the beans changes. Regularly it's about $.59/can. This past week it was diced tomatoes and kidney beans for $.49/can. I stocked up on them at that price, but yes, sometimes, it is cheaper elsewhere than Aldi. I have found it pays to really look at prices in multiple stores.
First Weekend Reading Georgene/Living With Less Money I used to worry about thawed meats as well. And then I was in Publix one day and as I came near the seafood counter one of the clerks said "We're out of Cod..." The other girl crossed the aisle, took out a frozen packet of the store brand cod fillets, and laid them out on the ice...and I wondered, 'What if that thaws and I took it home and refroze it?" Much later I was in another grocery and was told they couldn't cut the roasts until the portion of meat thawed...Hmmmmm...So I guess we can safely refreeze meat as the article says!
Clearing Out Several of you commented on the decluttering round I was on. I think the thing that really got us started was the realization that we couldn't have better things if our home was full of things that took up the space. Then I lost my aunt, my grandmother and my father within a five year span of time and had to clear our their belongings. They were none of them the sort to hoard but it was overwhelming. And finally, in the past five years we've had roughly 15 people we know move to a new area. With each they bemoaned the number of boxes they had, the accumulation of things. It made us look long and hard at what we're keeping and why. Even after all this time I can say honestly that packing up to move things for the flooring I wonder if I shouldn't go deeper still...
A belated Happy Birthday! to Sparkiedoll.
Small Economies Susie@Persimmon Moon Cottage How nice to be sharing with your granddaughter a lesson on a small economy. I learned a great deal watching my grandmothers and great grandmothers, even more than I did right in my parents home which was another sort of learning. One day she'll remember that little lesson and use it.
Waning/Waxing I want to thank everyone for the apple cake recipes. I haven't tried one of them yet but I've collected them all and I will attempt them to see how they work out.
I also shared in this post that we were waiting on a quote on the floors. That first quote was roughly double what we were given and even if we'd thought we might finance ourselves we couldn't stretch that much! However, we held on to the money and we held on to our faith. We got a second quote that fell more in our range and we get new flooring next week. We're getting a vinyl plank that looks like wood in the kitchen and decided to go with commercial grade carpet in the other three areas. We decided on carpet for multiple reasons: Our floors get terribly cold in winter and even with carpet it can be rather chilly. With grandbabies so close to the ground and another on the way, we thought it best to have carpet for their comfort. As well we need the sound deadening quality of it in our living/dining room and bedroom otherwise it's all hard surfaces. And lastly, John realized we'd likely end paying as much again for area rugs for each space and that we might as well have the carpet.
Second Weekend Reading Lana there are differences in hand santizers. Only some of those we've had in stores seem to be the ones discontinued. I noted in the hospital last summer that everyone seemed to use the sink and soap to wash with then followed with hand sanitizer. I don't recall anyone simply using hand sanitizer.
Un-Doing Jo in Oz Thank you! Welcome to the blog!
For those of you who are contemplating flooring or who feel overwhelmed at un-doing, let me reassure you on two scores. Number one: It's not been nearly so difficult as I thought it might be. I've had weeks though to prepare myself and have done something everyday towards the finish. And Lana is quite right anyone who does flooring will charge a fee to remove items. Some charge far more than others. One quote a few years ago they wanted $50 for every peice they moved. The first quote this time was for a set fee to remove larger items and it wasn't at all unreasonable. The guy who won our bid to do flooring charged even less! He made it plain that they do this all the time and it's short work for them. My biggest concern was all the books. All.the.books.Sheesh. lol
As for the decluttering process it doesn't have to be done all at once. When I first started lo many years and many years ago, I began with the top of my dresser. It hadn't seen the light of day in at least ten years. Now it stays just lovely day in and out. I see, even after all this time, that I really need to consider what I keep and why. Like my aunt's photo albums...I don't even know the people in them! I need to do some research and see if I can pass those on to someone or if I should just get rid of those that mean nothing to me...And why is it so hard to let go of photos, even horrid ones and unknown folks?!
Grandmama This post on my Grandmother probably received the most comments over the month. I am happy that this post brought up happy memories for so very many of you as well. She grew up in the area of Pickens County South Carolina in a tiny settlement called Six Mile at the foot of the foothills and I'm pretty sure her mother worked in one of the cotton mills, Grandmama was also rather keen on home remedies and once told me to place a flax seed in my children's eye when they got pink eye. I didn't know what on earth a flax seed was at the time. Now everytime I see them in the grocery market I think of Grandmama's advice, lol.
Determined Sarah I understood my friend to say her plumber recommended a full box of rock salt once a month but she lived in a heavily wooded area. I've far fewer trees about the house here so I do about half a box every six months or so. I do not know how the salt affects the ph of the septic system if you have one and that's part of my reluctance to do it quite so often here. But I mentioned it to my brother when he had trouble in his water lines. He too lives in a heavily wooded area (or did before this past weekend) and he used it without any troubles thereafter.
The Great Unknown Chris I just toss the quartered tomatoes with about a tablespoon of commercial (from Aldi) pesto and it's absolutely delicious just that way.
Lana Katie's husband was just over Hand,Foot, Mouth disease too! He caught it from Taylor. Katie had it in high school and the doctor said it's much worse on the older folks than the littles.
We never did see any stations closed here, but the price of gasoline went up about $.40 a gallon...pfft!
beckyathome for whatever reason Wordpress will not let me comment on your blog but I love all the work you've done on the house and how happy the girls seem to be in it. I'm glad that you all are settling in nicely. I've prayed about your husband getting a job, too. It's going to come, right job at the right time.
Vickie's Kitchen and Garden I think we'll have a fresh 'new' home when we're done. We've received a lot of compliments from the kids and that's something. They are very prone to let us know when they do NOT like something, lol.
Ant Household Karla I am so sorry about the loss of your mom. Somehow I missed this comment and I'm genuinely sorry I did! I know that it wasn't unexpected but it still wears you down. I hope that you are better every day.
Last Iced Tea Chat Ha! It won't be. It's far too warm yet, but it will cool down sometime this month. It always does and then we wonder how soon we might turn on the heater.
Gramma D I think you're right about John's little buddy. He got a voice mail from him last week and he's locked it in so he can't erase it. He plays it over and over. "Hey Dwumpo, Hey!" lol And whoever you got in North Carolina who said they don't serve hot drinks in warm weather just didn't want to bother.
Lana Your Aunt Shortie sounds wonderful!
Lynn We are Christians who went to a Messianic synagogue for about 4 years or so. We wanted to learn more about faith and about our God. We learned a load! It was a wonderful experience.
Chris: lol I grew up drinking iced tea year round no matter how cold it was. I gave up iced tea in my 20's because the tannins in tea made my tummy hurt. I have since learned that pricier teas have fewer tannins but now I can't handle the caffiene and so I limit myself.
Sarah It was the exact same show you mentioned. The goats climbing that 95degree incline was crazy...and the reason some homes had double front doors was supposedly to confuse Satan so he wouldn't know which door to enter, or so I'd read in some book at one time.
DebbieG How nice to have had a trip to see in your parents in such a lovely place as Montana.
Lana your story about the weather app is too funny! And what a disappointment to find it wasn't cool as you'd thought, lol.
Rhonda Thank you for ordering from Katie She has done rather well to be open so short a time. Thank you also for sharing the link on your blog.
2 comments:
You mentioned about putting a recipe on a recipe blog. Did I understand right that you have a recipe blog? I had the old Penny one but it is no longer good..is there a newer one? Could you please print it? If you already did I am sorry. I looked but couldn't find it and you do not have it on your side bar. I did write Katie,s Etsy down while I had it in front of me!! :-).
There is so much good information here!! Sarah
I know right where Six Mile is and will think of you now whenever we are over that way. We were actually in that area in July when we needed a new spare tire for my van and went to a junk yard out that way. I think Six Mile is more a small town now. One of the Thursday night library concerts was the music of the cotton mills and spinning rooms and it was very interesting as the musician knew so much history coming from a mill family himself.
We still have closed up gas stations here. We stopped to get gas Thursday night before our trip to Ohio and found our station out of gas. Some stations only have regular gas and you just have to get it where you can here. It is up 30 to 35 cents here.
It was lovely and cool in Ohio over the weekend. On our way home we stopped at the driveway of a farm in WV and purchased pumpkins for fall decorating.
One thing I did not expect after getting the new flooring is that our house smells so much better. We have always had a funky odor after coming back from a trip. Last night when we came in from 4 days away the house just smelled clean. All along it was the old carpet. Ugh! Our guys charged $50 per room to move furniture, $25 to take out and reinstall toilets and $85 to move and reinstall up our washer and dryer. It was all worth every penny. I am looking forward to our kids seeing all that we have done here. Ours are pretty vocal, too! Sometimes I want to ask them whose house this is anyway!
The forecast for this next hurricane is getting pretty scary. Our church has an orphanage in Haiti and my prayers are with them today. We have a lot of family in Florida and all along the coast of GA and SC. I am glad that son #2 is now in Ohio and out of the Boston area since it may go that way, too. Glad you all weathered the last one okay. My single Mom sis and her 12 yr old where terrified. I hope she will go to my parents this time.
Thanks for this post! I always enjoy them so much!
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