July Diary: Week Three

                             

                               The back porch looking spic and span in the early  morning sun.

Friday:  Listened to a tree frog located somewhere on the front porch last night calling up rain. I was mighty disappointed to find we'd had none when I got up this morning.  And despite the 99% humidity this morning we still didn't have rain any time this morning.



I wanted to share about a movie John and I watched this week.  It was called "Boynton Beach Club" and had a bevy of recognizable older stars.  It appeared it might be a good film, so we settled in and watched.  For a film that was meant to celebrate the older retiree, and to be written by women at that, it was a farce.  Here's the way they view seniors: the guys are still on the make, but only for the thinnest and prettiest women who openly lie about their age (Diane Cannon 58?  Biiiiggg stretch and then she claimed she was only 52!  And by the way, she was over 70 at the time the film was made.  Vanity, much?), while the women who appear to have aged normally were left alone, unless befriended by those open minded prettier, slimmer women.  You'd think women would be kinder to women.  Perhaps I wrongly assumed that the writers were mature women themselves.    In the end, I was just disappointed.  Inexplicably, one scene was pure Venice Beach, California.   All those beautiful beaches and boardwalks in Florida and they could only come up with the often viewed Venice Beach on the other coast?  Hollywood rules of life pretty much are all make believe.

This morning, after John left, I started a loaf of bread in the machine.  I thought I'd try the 2pound loaf recipe.  Mistake.  The loaf rose, overflowed and burned.  I thought I was safe, since I'd used a Breadman Breadmaker recipe and my machine plainly offers the option of 1 1/2 or 2 pound loaf.  I'm going to try other recipes (provided the machine continues to work properly).   Aside from not heating up the kitchen I'm not sold on the machine but it is worth the break in heat.  I'm also going to do what I've kept meaning to do: READ, read, and read more experienced baker's recipes and notes on various blogs.  And y'all check last week's  diarycomments.  Lana left a few helpful hints and a bread machine recipe there for anyone interested.

After starting the bread, I did the housework and by 9:30 I had a short shopping list for the local dollar store and was ready to visit the estate sale.   Oh my.   I was told it took three weeks to unpack everything that had been in boxes, and they had set up over 1800 photos on the website.  I laughingly told the woman I probably looked at 600 of them but decided at that point I'd just wait and see what was available when I got there.  Honestly it was a good bit overwhelming.  There was so much stuff and so many people that I settled for scanning what  I could.   Someone had put on so much Skin So Soft to deter gnats that I literally was overwhelmed by the aroma parking a half block away!

I picked up several items.   I put back two or three items.  One because I found a copy of the same item in another room and I figured the price tag for something obviously not unique was a bit high.  Another couple  items were put back because they were impractical or because I had nowhere to put it in my own home.

I was disappointed in pricing.   The woman who had the home had amassed vast collections of things: antique kitchen tools, Fire King and Pyrex, china, silver, every Bradford Exchange collection of most every collector series thing ever offered, etc.  Pretty much everything had the top eBay auction pricing on it.  I looked and looked and in the end I chose a pottery bud vase for $4, and a ceramic dog, $5.    The pottery vase is a soft green color that I am drawn to over and over again.  As for the dog, it is white with black spots and appears to be a bird dog.  It reminded me a little of Trudy in shape though not in coloration.  These china dogs are often found in English country décor.  And happy coincidence, the grandchildren love the ceramic birds and cats  I already have and will be thrilled to spy a new animal when they visit.  It was an easy decision to make to add this dog to the living room.

The estate sale house itself was pretty neat.   It was a smaller 2 bed/1bath house, with a square kitchen and a square central hall.  The hallway linen closet was impressive beyond words and there was a second  deep closet in the space that was as generous.  The living and dining room shared a space and there was what might have been a breakfast area sort of doglegged off that area and next to the kitchen.  It was not period vintage.  It was well maintained and very neutral in colors.    The original carport laundry space had been turned into a storage area with shelves.   The washer and dryer had been moved to that central hall where a stackable unit was located in a corner near the bathroom.  It wouldn't have been my choice to put them there but there you are.  To each his own.

It was fun to get out and go to the estate sale and to run into some familiar faces of people I've seen at other local estate sales.  As I said, I love a good nose about and estate sales are wonderful for that and it's not considered rude to look hard at things in a way you mightn't if you were a stranger invited in for a moment.

Katie called while I was out.  She needed help with a task at her house and when I said I needed to run by the dollar store first, she asked if I'd pick up an item for her.  I went over to her house and we took care of the job and then another that really needed to be done.  She's not well at present, so I brought her back home with me.

Back home, I finished the housework I'd left behind.  I do wish someone would teach it to get up and do itself at times especially on these days when I am well and truly tired already but there it was, waiting patiently.  Insert deep sighs....

And then weariness caught up with me and I napped in my chair and Katie napped in hers.  When I woke I thought John must surely be on his way home from his class, so I started a pot of coffee and just as I picked up my phone he called to say he was on his way.  I told him I was glad to know that my 'psychic' abilities were still good.  Before we got off the phone, rain began to pour in earnest.  I guess that tree frog did a pretty good job calling up rain, after all.  He's some more reliable than the weather man!

Later in the evening, the sun shone through the droplets caught on the windows screen.  This is a photo I took from across the room of the glittering mass of raindrops viewed through the blind and sheers.  Isn't it pretty?  That photo only partly captured the glory of it but there's enough sparkle and color for you to imagine how much prettier it must have been.

Saturday:  Yesterday as I drove into town I remembered when we first moved into this house,  I could stand at the east facing kitchen window while washing dishes and see the fields running downhill and up the next into the back yard of the old 1776 house site where another double wide  sat and beyond that to the east where the hills across the river stood out deep blue against the sky.   I cannot see those hills any longer.  The trees between my fence line and the field beyond it have grown, as have the pine trees where the neighborhood sits atop the peak of the next hill..  The doublewide whose back yard we looked directly into in the days when the land was cleared,  was sold and moved long ago.

Katie asked to go back home yesterday evening.  I took her into town and as I drove back home I realized with a shock that the road was so very familiar to me not because I had been driving into town and back again for the last 23 years but because I had been coming home here for 60 years and six months.  All my life this place has been home.  It was where Granny was.  It was security and surety and love.  It is my safe haven.

Yes the scenery has changed.  Oak trees fell and pine and cedar trees grew.  Houses were lost and new homes were built.  Fields that were planted went fallow and slowly became forest.  Things changed.  I changed.  But this was still home.

As I thought of this, driving home, the sun was setting in the west.  I noticed ahead of me the clouds had parted and revealed a bank of blue hills in the sky. Blue cloud hills mounded in the sky just behind home.  Somehow, it was reassuring that there were hills to look forward to one sweet day.


Sunday:  One rough  night behind me.  I slept perhaps a half hour  last night and then lay awake for hours and hours.  I eventually got up and came to sit in my chair in the living room and watched a slew of videos.  Finally I started to drift off, so I put on music and slept for two hours before it was time to get up.

One thing I'm discovering about these nights I am awake:  I am very hungry around 3:30a.m.  I could eat a horse by 5:30.  By 7:30, food is of more import than coffee.  That's saying a great deal.  I started breakfast this morning well before I poured and sipped that first cup of coffee.

The house was a disaster this afternoon when we returned from church.   John did a load of laundry in the early evening on Friday before sunset but not early enough  for me to put them away.  I made pizza yesterday and loaded dishes twice but you couldn't tell I'd done a thing except mess up that kitchen.   So this afternoon my house got a much needed tidying.  I'd only just sat down when John came in from mowing, a job that takes him roughly two hours...Just goes to show you what a mess the house really was!

Two comforting moments occurred today.  One was when I opened up to John all that I'd had on my heart and mind, part of the reason I was up most of the night.   The other was a very unusual panel discussion instead of sermon for today's church service.  I cannot tell you how much it lightened my heart to hear a seasoned pastor relate a similar situation such as we have faced over the past couple of years and hear him say that he too had questioned God about why as well as asking if it were all somehow his fault...God knew just what I needed to hear, and answered questions I'd asked during that long and wearying night battle.  I'm glad that I made the very real effort to go to the church today.  It would have been so easy to stay at home, claiming I needed the rest, which I did...but I needed that peace I got from that service a whole lot more.

Monday:  Housework...You might well ask "Why housework again today?"  Didn't I just clean yesterday?  I did not do the Monday routine jobs yesterday.  I knew that John would go off to work, I'd be up early and I had time to accomplish a few tasks prior to my planned outing.   The outing ended up being delayed until sometime this afternoon (maybe).  I made out a list of jobs I knew I needed to do today. I find if I have a list before I begin Bible Study, I have fewer interruptions while I'm studying.   My mind will insist on thinking of housework and tasks I must do instead of concentrating on what I'm reading.   And just in case anything further popped up to distract me, I kept that list and a pen by my seat.  I'd jot down an item and go right on back to study.

So today I have cleaned bathrooms and swept floors.   Unloaded the clean dishes and loaded up the dirty ones.  Stripped my bed and bath and put out fresh linens and towels.  Remade my bed.  Put away the few items out of place in the rooms (most of that was done yesterday).

I swept the porches and while outdoors watered the potted plants on the porches.   Then I came indoors and watered my indoor plants.

I cleared up my kitchen and then tackled cleaning out the fridge.  This involved tossing three items: goat cheese dated April (!!), Feta cheese that was in date but had mold, and a cup of yogurt that I knew good and well was past it's time.   I combined dibs and dabs into newly opened jars and bottles of the same to cut down on the clutter in the fridge.  I wiped down the shelves and emptied and wiped baskets and put things back into the fridge in a neat and orderly way.

I emptied the compost buckets.  After reading years ago on a blog that the writer included paper in her compost, I often add in crumpled used paper towels  except those I use to wipe up grease.   Today's compost included the paper sack that my peaches had been packed in.

I brought in my wicker chair.  I decided it was best to put it in the bedroom, where little boys couldn't help break the stuff up even more.  I may get a good year's use from the chair...We shall see.  At any rate it's convinced me that I do really want a wicker set for the porch or possibly even a pair of chairs for the kitchen sitting.   I'll keep my eyes open.  In the meantime, 3 cans of paint and a chair for the bedroom...

It's going to appear I broke my word, about the credit card being dead to me...  Here's the deal: Amazon Prime collaborated with Pampers on a very sweet deal for Prime Day.  We checked prices of both the diapers and wipes bundle and it was a huge savings over anywhere else.  I ordered one deal for Katie.  We'd discussed it and determined that if this baby didn't need all of the newborn diapers we'd pass the rest onto Bess.

Then an hour or so later I came across a very sweet deal on another web site for a Kindle.  I'd noted that I could get several of my favorite authors' books for  less than $3 each as a Kindle edition and while I dearly love to hold a book in my hands and turn pages, facts are facts.  There's only so much space in my house and each new book in means some book must leave.  I am done boxing up books to give away.  Those on my shelves at present are dearly loved, many times read books and I don't feel I want to give up any of them.  So I ordered the Kindle Fire HD 8.   I did use my credit card to make payment for both items but I have the cash in hand for both purchases right this minute.  It's in an envelope marked that it's for this Amazon order.  I plan to deposit that in the bank and go right on and send a check to the credit card company.

Tuesday:  Katie was unable to go to the store to use her WIC vouchers so I offered to do the shopping for her.  WIC stands for a supplemental nutritional program for medium to low income pregnant Women, Infants, Children.  The program was designed to provide supplemental nutrition to a high risk population that require a higher level of nutritional value than they might get otherwise, by the federal government and is run by each state individually.   I received WIC during all three of my pregnancies and the first years of each child's life and what a huge help it was!

Fun fact: I was in on the ground floor of this program both as a recipient and as a paid employee for the State of Georgia about 40 years ago.  Way back then, in 1979 we received at home, by way of a delivery truck, the following items:  milk, juice, eggs and cheese.   The problem was that you could never be sure what day was delivery day each week and once the truck was gone, the truck was gone.  It didn't come back if you missed out.   The use of vouchers was implemented by the time Amie was ready to get supplemental foods and that was far easier to manage.

I'm awfully glad to see Katie take advantage of the program.  She had not, however, shopped this month and her coupons were close to expiring.  It was fun to do the shopping and see how the program has changed.  Today I bought lactose free milk for my lactose intolerant daughter, whole grain cereal, whole grain pasta, canned beans, a variety of juices, yogurt, eggs, cheese, peanut butter, apples, and a variety of vegetables.   There is a small dollar amount  to be used for the fruits and vegetables and while I bought fresh items, it is possible to also purchase canned fruits and vegetables instead.  Frankly I'm impressed.  In a month's time she is allowed 4 1/2 gallons of milk, although it must be 1% or skim.   I was pleased that we could purchase the lactose free variety for her because this means she will be more likely to eat the cereal.
(Wednesday note:  Katie picked up new vouchers today and said they have a farmer's market next week in the parking lot.  If she shows her WIC vouchers she can get $30 of produce from the market...She was thinking ahead today.  "I might put something up in the freezer for use later."  Indeed!)

I couldn't help but think what a boon those coupons would be in building a pantry.  I forgot to see if oatmeal was included but instead of pasta she might have gotten brown rice, whole wheat tortillas, whole wheat bread (finally found a store where that item is available) or buns.  Instead of canned beans (4 allowed or about 2 pounds) she might have gotten a one pound bag of dried beans.  I chose to get the canned beans because those I know she will use.  Dried beans she would only hand to me months from now and say "I don't use these...".

Back at the start of the program the only cereal allowed was Kix, a brand that I found flavorless and a bit like chewing cardboard once it was dampened by milk.  Later Cheerios were offered as an alternative.   I discovered today that one might have a wide variety of whole grain cereals including Bran flakes and cornflakes.   Two big boxes of cereal are allowed each month.

Now this program is not going to feed anyone for a month.  It will, however, give a good variety of options to supplement a diet and insures that there are good basic breakfast and possibly lunch items available for those at risk.   I just wish Aldi accepted WIC vouchers but it does not.

It took quite some time to scan shelves and read and re-read vouchers in order to determine that I got all that was allowed for each one.  Impressive too, though.  For her month's worth of vouchers I walked out of the store with enough food and milk and juice to fill a big cooler and 2 grocery bags, so it's definitely nothing to sneeze at.

I've gone these last two weeks without planning meals and we've done fine overall.  I just wanted a break from planning but this week I find myself ready to start planning again.  I cooked chicken carcasses yesterday because I felt Katie was in need of good bone broth.  She had a big bowl of that yesterday and proclaimed herself feeling better today.

I plan to use the chicken  I pick off the bones to make Chicken Enchiladas Verde, which will also use up corn tortillas I'd purchased a couple of weeks ago.  I'll likely make the enchiladas as a freezer entrée or two for us.   I thought of several other recipes I might make to use up a little of this or that which I found in the cabinets or freezer when making my inventory out two weeks ago.

I may not have saved much money last pay period, spending almost my full two weeks allowance then, but I  am making good use of food on hand.  I will not be walking down the central aisles at Aldi at all, tomorrow.  I'm sticking to the outer aisles for my purchases and have told John to remind me that even a great sale on any meat item will not fit in my freezer at present!

Wednesday:  After my Aldi shop today I find myself spot on  with the lower two week allowance for grocery purchases.  $300 has been my goal and this is the second time in three months I've hit that mark.  

We enjoyed our day out today.  We got haircuts which were much needed, and did our grocery shopping and then we headed to that lovely little restaurant we like so very well and order Mushroom and Swiss Burgers. Yummy!   We parked the car under the shade tree and were so glad of that added bit of coolness.  Temperatures have run about 97f daily for the past few days.

Yesterday afternoon while John napped a bit, I finished reading my  vintage July magazines and then scanned several pages of The Tightwad Gazette.  Both of those readings made me feel frugal minded.  Here I had those chicken carcasses in the fridge and needed to pick them over.  I decided after supper that sitting in the kitchen at my desk doing that work would be a cool and pleasant past time.  Last summer when the heat hit, Bess and I often sat in the kitchen after supper and chatted because it was the coolest spot in the house.

I found myself quite happy as I sat there doing that little job.

Here's the deal: I don't have to do this anymore.  I don't need those picky little bits of meat to stretch our budget.  I could have tossed the bones in the trash at any point.  I save them  because I do like to make broth and it seems foolish to me to buy containers when I might make broth for practically nothing.  Now I will buy beef broth.  I seldom find beef with bones in anymore.  It's all boneless cuts everywhere I go but chickens?  Bones.  Free broth.  I spend less than 10c to get about a gallon of broth.  Compare that to a 16 ounce can at 89c...I love feeling I've gotten something of value for free and broth is one thing that is easy enough.   There is something very satisfying in making something from what might have been trash (bones) or compost (onion and carrot tops and celery root ends, etc.).  

I LIKE doing it, too, because it brings back memories of the days when I DID have to do this.  I needed that extra meal or three I could manage from the carcass and broth.  My children remember those meals from a very frugal table fondly and always mention how frugal our meals where when they are all together.  They bring tears to my eyes when they say how good it all was, because it was pure desperation to stretch our too small budget to feed far too many.  Our table back then seldom was just us and four children, which was enough, but often  included three to five others who stayed to have supper with us, either neighbors or friends or both.   They are happy memories... I don't know if anyone ever knew how hard I stretched the meals put on our table for those company nights that came so often but I do know that the talk at our table was always pleasant and full of laughter and the contentment on each face bespoke a fullness that came from more than food.

I LIKE making broth and picking over the bones because I want to keep my hand in my former super frugal ways now and then, so I don't forget the skills that kept us afloat.  In dire needs, I could manage again...Praise God those days haven't returned but if they do, I shall be ready and able.

Little tiny bits of meat...I like the possibilities of meals I might make.  Spaghetti Diable, or chicken pot pie.  Chicken and noodle soup, or chicken and rice.  Chicken Salad.  This week's 3 cups of meat (yes 3!  I am always amazed at how much meat I can get off what appears to be bare bones) will net us yummy Chicken Verde Enchiladas, some for this week and some for a future meal.

Wednesday:  How can it only be Wednesday?!  I swear I have lived this week twice over and it's only half done.  

Thursday: No it wasn't Wednesday...Why I even read the last passage and still typed out Wednesday all over again.   It's Thursday...and just to prove it's a family thing, Kate argued with me that it was only Wednesday when I said "It's Thursday," while I was over at her place this afternoon.  No.   I'd lost a day somewhere this week.  I was all wrong when I wrote out that sentence above at noon...Sheesh.

John off to work today so I decided I really had to get back outdoors and attend to some necessary jobs.  It's been so very hot that the only time to attend to outdoor work is at 6:30.  In one hour today, I weeded the corner flower bed, watered plants, blew grass off the patio, swept the porches and picked up bits of trash.  I rearranged pots in the herb bed and back porch flower bed, determined that two other plants were really most sincerely dead.  I did some general housekeeping on the porches and at 7:30, wringing wet with sweat, I got my second cup of coffee and went to sit on the front porch while the cat and dogs had their breakfast.

That cup of coffee was much improved by the lovely mourning dove boo hooing gently, a red bird that kept saying "Pretty, pretty" and just the quiet normal country sounds of birds, cattle, the occasional rooster who wanted to be certain we really were aware that the sun was up at last.

Indoors this morning, I found myself with a mess almost as big as I'd had on Sunday.  The truth is that most of them were little messes that recur daily.  I'd made John's breakfast and packed his lunch so the kitchen was messy.  The bed was unmade still.  But mostly, there were just space I'd been ignoring.  Paint cans still lined up on the shelf at the back door entry, cardboard boxes I'd saved to use as a deeper mulching layer, items not put back where they belonged.   Ugh.  I tackled them all except for those spaces in the guest room where I need to work still today.   The house looks it's best self once more, outdoors and in.

I put together two pie pans of Chicken Verde Enchiladas and popped them both into the freezer.  I still have corn tortillas leftover.  I will have to plan another entrée that can use those up but not for today...

later:  Stopped in at Katie's to drop off items and she promptly filled the bag and gave it back to me.  She's given me four pairs of jeans, which I must try on, and two coloring books.    I did a couple of tasks for her that were out of her range of motion at present and then drove to Ft. Valley because I simply had to have something to eat and  I wanted fish.  I don't bother with frozen fillets anymore.  I just go right on and go to the fast food place and get fish when I want it.  John doesn't eat fish.   I am the only one who eats it.   I couldn't buy any frozen yesterday because I had no room in the freezer to store it.

Checked in on my July goals and I'm doing okay on that score.  I also managed to tick off a few of June's goals this month.  I'm satisfied that I'm getting the things I thought were important done.


Friday:  Contacted Katie last night to apologize for blowing in and out again in a total frenzy.  Truth, I was overtired, hadn't had any water all day long and was hungry.  I realized later yesterday afternoon that I'd been rude, hadn't even asked if she needed to go anywhere or wanted anything.    When I texted her she texted back that she'd needed to go to the store...and she would love to come out here if I didn't mind company.  That's Katie code for being a little lonely and a lot tired of staring at her own four walls.  I told her I didn't mind her coming out at all.  She came with a bag packed to stay the night.  I'm sorry I didn't get around to clearing up the guest room yesterday which was the only room I didn't touch.

Trolling on Pinterest last night I found a new bread machine recipe.   I tried it out this morning and I have a lovely loaf with no rise/slump.   I didn't use bread flour nor bread machine yeast, just what I had on hand already, which was a Fleischman's yeast.   I can't attest to taste yet, since it's meant for Shabat tonight but it's the prettiest loaf I've seen yet and not as crusty as those last two I've made.

Extremely Soft White Bread

I did follow the tip to check dough after kneading to see how it looked.  My dough was soft, pliable and not sticky.

I also stumbled upon a recipe for Cherry Clafoutis last night and saw that it called for sweet cherries.  I'd just bought a big bag of fresh cherries so I stood there in the kitchen this morning pitting the cherries.  I tried using a sturdy plastic straw which worked great for two cherries and then I found it was easiest to just split then and pit with my fingers.  The kitchen counter looked like I'd slaughtered a small animal when I was done.    I checked this a few minutes ago and it's still quite liquid in the middle so we shall see how it goes.  It might be worth it to crank up the big oven but I'm really trying to avoid it.  The heat has been pretty harsh this week and the AC hasn't cut off for hours on end even with shades and curtains drawn.

This afternoon we plan to go fetch the little boys for a play date.  And then we'll have our simple Shabat evening, maybe a little early so the two boys can participate with us.  They do love to do this with us and their greatest joy is being able to blow out a candle each at the end.

Hope you all have a cool and pleasant July weekend.

Items of Interest:
Bread machine tips   Click the link to  read more tips...

Use bread machine yeast.  It is specifically designed for bread machines and is not the same as regular yeast apparently...or so stated another tips article I read.

Absolutely use bread flour and nothing but bread flour for the best results.  Apparently in a bread machine it's very important unlike making bread by hand.  

Check dough after it's mixed.  If it appears wet add more flour, it too dry add a little more liquid.  I didn't even know you were supposed to check the dough!  I just figured the recipe was perfect and that all would work out well.

Just for fun: This article caught my eye this past week.

Meals This Week:  starting with Friday's main meal
Leftover Fried Chicken, Fried Green Tomatoes,  Leftover Potato Salad

Homemade Pizza, Salad

Homemade Cheeseburgers, Chips and Homemade Refrigerator Pickles

on my own

Sam's Venison and Bean Soup

out at our favorite restaurant

on my own/fish

Tuna Pasta Salad, Cherry Clafoutis

Frugal Doings:  
I made a big pan of pizza and a small pie pan of pizza that I parbaked and put in the freezer.  We had plenty of leftovers to go into John's work lunch on Monday and supper for another night for the two of us.

John called home Friday to say he was in the grocery.  His purpose there: he was treating me to a favorite snack food that I'd normally forgo purchasing.  He asked if we needed anything else, and I checked the freezer for bread before telling him we were good for the weekend at least.

The peaches I bought on Thursday were soft on Friday and almost ready to spoil on Saturday.  I got them sliced and added some lemon juice to keep them from browning then put in the freezer.

Sunday before we left church Katie texted us that she required an item from the grocery where we normally stop after service.  Before we'd gotten into the car outside the church, Sam called requesting we go by the DIY store to pick up some needed items for a home reno job he's working on.  We were maybe 3 miles from the store while he was 40 miles away.  John and I agreed to do what everyone requested.  However it meant we would be nearly an hour later getting home.  Still when John asked if I needed him to pick up lunch while he was in the grocery I declined.  I told him what I would make at home that would be fairly quick and easy and that is just what we did.   We ate such a late lunch that we'll just let a snack suffice for our supper tonight rather than attempt to eat another meal.

I chopped vegetables for a tuna pasta salad this week, and then put extra diced peppers into the freezer.  I cut up celery sticks for John and I to snack on this week.  

I grated cheese and used a partial bottle of roasted red peppers to make sandwich spread (or filling for celery sticks.  Yum!).   I froze the rest of the bottle of peppers which is just enough to make one more batch of roasted red pepper and cheese.   

I mixed up a lot of almost empty condiment bottles and made a cup of BBQ sauce.  I put that in the freezer because it also contained some cranberry relish I had leftover from last week  and I wanted to make sure it didn't spoil.  

I topped and sliced some strawberries and combined with a half cup or so of blueberries to put in the freezer.  I'll either use those in muffins or as a mixed berry cobbler.  Or make jam...Or a smoothie...Who knows?

I pulled out the chicken carcasses from the freezer and put them in the crockpot to make a fresh batch of broth.  I'm hungry for soup.  Apparently my family is all hungry for soup.  Sam made soup.  Katie made soup.  Here I am getting ready to make soup.  Fun that we all had the same thought in the same span of time.

Even though I was very careful with grocery shopping, I am spot on the $300 mark for this month at present.  I don't anticipate needing anything before the two weeks is up, so that should be all that we'll spend.  I had certainly hoped that we'd save a little more but I'll happily settle for the $300 instead of $400 that we spent last month.

Made up two pie pans of Chicken Verde Enchiladas.  I was able to squeeze them into the freezer.

I diced, tossed with lemon juice and then froze three large white peaches I'd gotten at the grocery last week.  I added in a lonely little apricot that I just didn't want to eat.  I popped that in the freezer, too.

Made sure John got the senior discount for his haircut.

Carried off trash when I went to town, as well as picking up and dropping off mail.  Filled my car with gas as it was nearing the half full mark.

Katie gave me four pairs of jeans.  I'll need to hem two pairs and lose five pounds to get into the fourth pair.  Good incentive since they are black jeans and I've been wanting a pair for the longest but haven't found any when I was shopping.