And two weeks later.......

My last Friday Freebie was August 7th

So my older son drove his rental car to my daughter's house on Monday with his 12 year old daughter and my daughter's 6 year old. It has taken me two days to recuperate. I am just trying to get into my normal routine, whatever that is. It has been crazy hot and humid for a few days now, and I am dying for some COOL relief. After my company left, I stripped all the beds and washed all the bed linens. I baked more treats for the dog. I mowed the front and back yards until the lawn mower  ran out of gas. I hadn't done anything with that last yellow zucchini I was gifted just before they arrived, so I shredded that and put it in the freezer. We had quite a few leftovers to use up or put in the freezer to use up later. Although I was incredibly busy while everyone was here, the visit seemed way too short. I think everyone had a great time. I will talk more about what we did and where we went over the next couple of days

Zucchini muffins with raisins and walnuts

I was so grateful that I had bought my groceries over the course of several weeks, and that I had thought of making a few freezer meals beforehand. It made things so much easier. I still have a few unused freezer meals and enough meat to take us into September without having to buy anything. It was nice to come home from a day at the public water park and find dinner  ready to go. We bought pizza one night (which we planned) on the day we all went to Toronto. I used a coupon for a free large pizza and I used a coupon for a free medium vegetarian pizza when I paid full price for a Specialty large pizza. It fed seven people, with leftovers. I need to clean my fridge and see what needs to  be used up. My oldest granddaughter is arriving on Friday for a 10 day stay. 

My haul from the veggie garden yesterday afternoon

Even though we harvested from the garden continuously during the stay, this is what was still available to pick yesterday. There isn't 2 cups of grated zucchini in that bag, so I will fry it up with ground meat or add it to soups. My tomatoes are just starting to turn pink, so none of those yet. We have been using up the cherry tomatoes, cucumbers  and red lettuce in our salads. I have frozen a few quarts of beans. I have thinned some carrots that were big enough to add to a stir-fry one night. The girls were impressed to see veggies growing in the garden, but picking them in the really hot sunshine and humidity was not all it was cracked up to be. That job fell on me. I tried keeping up with the laundry. I had full loads with my homemade laundry detergent in cold water and vinegar as a rinse, and I hung to dry every opportunity. But there was a lot of laundry (and dishes) so I couldn't always wash during low peak Hydro times.  I suspect my electric bill will be slightly elevated next month. All in all though, it was a fun and frugal time.