End of Month Goals and Shopping

Although my month started out poorly, I did manage to accomplish some goals. Check out my progress here. My biggest success though was coming to a decision about the house, even though it wasn't really on my radar....at least, not in my conscious mind. Everyone so far has been very encouraging.

My new diet is much more expensive these days. A lot of my frugal meals from the past included fillers like grains, pulses and beans. When it was just myself, my Sweetie and my son living here, I got away with $75 a week ($25 a week, per person). I used coupons a lot more and I could serve a meat dish with potatoes, breads, and pasta. I know that the price of food has also increased a lot over the past few years, but mainly it is the cost of vegetables and dairy that affect my bottom line. My month begins from the date my government pension goes into my bank account, which is approximately the 27th of the month. In February, it was the 26th  (3 banking days before the end of the month)  From that weekend until this past Tuesday, I spent a total of $396.06 on food items alone. Actually $343.16 was taken from my account because I spent my $25 gift card on food and $27.90 from my lottery winnings of $43 went towards food. The point is I ate just under $400 myself for one month.

 I spent $28.75 on non-food items at the grocery store. I spent $18.06 on dog food and $127.12 to the vet. I paid for the dog's license, but that $15 was left over from the lottery winnings (so no out of pocket). I spent $22.76 on postage to mail out a parcel, and $54 on hobby supplies. (planting soil, beads, macrame cords, A2 sized envelopes).  I spent $29.49 on a LOL doll for my youngest grand daughter's birthday (also through Amazon Prime) and e-transferred another $25 for her birthday present. I usually give $50 to each grand child for their birthday presents. I spent $32 on Avon this past month, but they are all gifts for others that I have put away for Christmas. I only spent $50 on gas this month. I bought lunch for myself one day when I was out with a friend, but I have counted that already in my food costs. My  expenses for non-food items for this past month were...$387.18  My food cost me $343.16, so my total variable expenses cost me $730.34  Fortunately I was gifted a $25 gift card and I was given scratch tickets that won me $43, so that was a bonus this month. I was left with $55 which  I applied as an extra c.c. payment.

I will not tell you how much I bring in or how much my fixed expenses are. My own pension and my husband's survivor pension come in on the first of the month and that is also when all my fixed expenses come out automatically from my bank account.   I have put out this  list of money I paid out on variable expenses so we could see what there is to cut back on. I can already see that I paid too much on craft materials. I will seek out projects using up materials that I already have. A friend has already announced that she has jute to give me for my macrame, and Bless suggested I use several strands of cotton yarn (which I already have). Growing a veggie garden should certainly help with food costs during the summer months and I already have several packets of seeds. Any other suggestions for me?  Sometimes it takes an outsider to see the obvious. I will be making up a new list of goals for April in just a few days.

April Showers Have Arrived Early

All the snow has gone from the backyard. The rain has certainly helped with that. The robins have been digging for worms and the crocuses in the front garden have started to bloom. Spring may finally be on its way.

 The blue crocuses are out and to the left of them the alium has started to emerge. Up against the wall, the daffodils have just made an appearance.

 These daffodils were nowhere in sight yesterday.

 I have continued to work in my Craft Room all week. There isn't really anything to show you in photos because it is such tedious work. It reminds me of the week I spent before Christmas sorting through all the pieces of hardware and organizing it into containers on shelves or in drawers. It takes a lot of effort but I will be happy when it is all done.

Yesterday I sorted through my stickers. The bottom bin contains just stickers while the bin that sits on top have 3 dimensional stickers. The cardboard box to the side contain the ones that I will take to my grand kids to use in their craft space. 

 

I also have die cuts, vellum quotations, rub-ons, washi tape and lots and lots of scrapbook borders. Once I sorted through all the stickers and removed them from the larger rolling storage unit in this picture, I was better able to separate those items to make it easier to find and use them in the future. The top drawer holds my clear sentiment stamps and the  second drawer holds my clear image stamps. I also have rubber stamps, but they are in another location right now. You may notice I have two empty magazine racks. That's because I got rid of all my crafting magazines. I have been adding stuff to my yard sale bins. I kept most of my crafting books though.  I am always surprised when I realize it is 1 PM and I need some lunch, because it doesn't feel like I have been at it that long.

I had to go out this afternoon. I checked the Post Office and found an appointment to have a colonoscopy on April 9th. So I will have to delay my trip to Elliot Lake until the following week.  I also received a package of wooden beads that I had ordered a few weeks ago from Amazon (I had forgotten all about them). They cost less than $4 I believe and had to come from overseas somewhere and so the long arrival date. They will look fantastic with jute. I also stopped at the Municipal offices to pay for Satchel's license. It was $15 today, but next week it will cost $30. They didn't send out reminder notices last month, so I am glad I remembered.

 The No-Frills store was really busy. I should have gone yesterday like I wanted. I needed the 2 doz. eggs, more mixed frozen veggies to make a stir fry tomorrow, and some more sweet potatoes to take with me to Smith Falls on Saturday. I bought more frozen berries, cottage cheese and another block of cheddar. Total cost was $29.02  I will calculate this from April's budget because my government pension is in the bank. Since I had $55 remaining from March, I applied that as an extra payment against my c.c. This weekend I will add up the total of all my food, non-food, and gas expenditures from the month of March. Have a wonderful Easter holiday, no matter what you do. Stay safe on the roads if you are traveling. 

 

 

 

A Good Day to Stay Indoors

It was cool and overcast when I got up this morning, and now at 2:30 in the afternoon, it has just started to rain. I just got back from the Post Office where I mailed off two encouragement cards and picked up my mail. This morning I responded to  my email messages before I went to the Craft Room to resume my cutting and purging of black card stock and all of my patterned paper. I did not cut these. I just put together in page protectors any large pieces that were predominately one colour. I also separated Fall and Halloween papers, from Easter patterns, and Valentine backgrounds so they are all together in separate packages so I don't have to scout out where they are or cut into fresh unused sheets. My Christmas papers are in a lidded container of their own.

This way I will use up all my scraps to make cards and pack up the whole unused sheets to go to the apartment when I am ready. If I were smart, I would always use up just the scrap pieces for my card making and save the large sheets for scrap booking only. Besides the loose sheets of patterned paper, I have 12 inch by 12 inch paper pads and 6x6 inch paper pads. I never have to buy patterned paper ever again in my life time.

When I finished,  it was well after 1 PM and I realized I hadn't made my turkey vegetable soup for lunch, so I did that quickly. While that simmered, I emptied the dishwasher and started loading it up again. Then I watered my indoor plants, before walking over to the Post Office.  I am eating my soup now while I post this. It was a good day to stay indoors but it is also a day that saps my energy and makes me feel very tired.

Grocery Shopping This Week

I expressed the hope last week that I would not have to do any more shopping until the end of the month. That didn't happen. After sorting and purging in my Craft room for three full days and part of a fourth, I decided yesterday to take a break to do up my laundry and go into Kingston Freshco again to pick up some more veggies, dairy  and berries.

Since I cannot have any complex carbohydrates like rice, pasta, lentils, beans, or anything made with flour, I end up eating a lot of vegetables and meat. I can have sweet potatoes sparingly (they have a high glycemic index) and the occasional turnip; but mostly it is above ground vegetables. These veggies and frozen field berries cost $27.43

Dairy cost me $18.63 The yoghurt was still $1.69 each and the 400 gm block of Monteray Jack with jalapeno cost only $3.75  I needed to buy the whole milk and since the cottage cheese was not on sale, I bought only one container of store brand at $2.99  I lo-o-ove cottage cheese.
I didn't plan on buying meat but the chicken thighs were only $1.99 a lb. so I bought a pkg. of 9 for $4.04 

The Oktoberfest sausage was also on sale, so after picking up these two packages of meat I paid $6.53, bringing my total food expenditure to $52.59 for this week.

The only craft project I completed this week was a knit dish cloth. I worked just a tiny bit on my embroidery.

I mentioned already that I plan to pack away all my whole sheets of card stock (except for black and my card weight white card stock) and the 12x12 inch patterned scrapbook paper. I gathered all my scrap  pieces of card stock and cut them to usable rectangles sorted by colour. This is what I will make my future cards from. I still have to do the same with my patterned pieces of scrap.

My goals this week include finishing up the Craft Room purge and organization. I will also need to empty the large pieces I hope to sell on-line and get them listed. I need to get my financial papers over to the accountant to have my taxes prepared. Any other spare time I have, I will prepare items for the yard sale early in May. That will mean another week of no card-making Thursday.

Daybook: Monday, March 26/18

My SIL arrived last Wednesday morning. Before we settled down to "get right to it", we talked a lot about how I was feeling and we went through each room of the house to discover which of my possessions I should get rid of. I shared with her my financials and it was during this discussion that I decided that the house was just too big and too much  to keep up. So I made the decision to put it up for sale this year and move into an apartment. Once I decided that, things sort of fell into place. I knew what I had to get rid of and I felt immense relief at having made a decision. That afternoon and the following day we both spent time in the craft room purging and organizing. It is a huge job that I continued both Friday and Saturday after she was gone. I will try to sell it "as is" because there is no way I can sink any more money into this place. I am hoping the double lot will get me the price I need, as I am very sure who ever buys this place will bulldoze the building down anyways to erect a duplex or triplex for rentals. At the very least, they could build their dream house immediately behind this house and live here until it is completed before then tearing it down. Fingers crossed.

Outside my window.....it is sunny but cold outside. The snow is almost completely gone again.

I am thinking.....I have made the right decision for myself.  I am nervous, but feeling relieved at the same time. Paying rent on a two bedroom apartment will be less than my remaining mortgage payments, gas, electric, water and sewer, property taxes, house insurance, furnace and hot water tank servicing contracts,  maintenance, etc., etc. I will have more time for living instead of maintaining the yard and gardens in summer and shoveling  the driveway in winter.

I am thankful.....for all the advice that was offered for me to ponder and take into consideration.

From the kitchen.....I roasted 9 chicken thighs last night. I ate 3 with a sweet potato and Brussels sprouts last night, and took the meat off  3 this morning to add into a stir fry later this week. The last 3 are frozen and will  provide another meal later on. This morning I shredded and sauteed a head of cabbage to which I will add cooked ground beef for dinner tonight. I  peeled, chopped,  boiled, and mashed a turnip for future meals. I took the meat off the turkey wings and leg I had in the crock pot overnight to make soup later on this afternoon.

I am wearing.....black jeans, black socks, a gray long sleeved T-shirt with my red with white polka dot zipped hoodie over top.

I am creating.....a more organized Craft space to keep all my crafting materials. I will pack up all my whole sheets of patterned paper and card stock and work only from the scraps that will be cut into usable sheets and sorted by colour. I have already purged so many items that I will never use. I did not make any more cards this past week, but I did manage to mail out the kids' Easter cards and some "Thinking of You" cards that I had already made up.

I am going.....to the Post Office on my way to a grocery store to pick up some cardboard packing boxes.

I am hoping.....to make a final stab at meeting my March goals. I need to look back at them to remind myself what I had hoped to accomplish since I was majorly derailed this month. I also hope to spend most of my time finishing the sorting and purging of stuff from my Craft room this week.

I am hearing.....traffic outside on the highway, as well as the cries of seagulls.

Around the house.....I will need to empty the pieces of furniture I hope to sell online on  Kijiji. I  will pack everything in Rubbermaid bins or boxes and label for either the yard sale in May, or items going with me. It could take a year or more to sell this property.  I will also need to go through each room and wash, pack up, and "price" everything for the first sale. If I sell the house this year, there will be more items to sell off.

One of my favourite things.....about this past week has been about making a decision. Some of my favourite things I have to get rid of because I cannot take them with me. I have strong emotional attachments to things which makes it hard to let go.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....include a trip to Smith Falls this Saturday with my son and his fiancee for Easter dinner with my brother and his wife. There is nothing else on my calendar.

Here's the picture I am sharing.....

When sorting through the Craft Room, I found a bag of pennies. I rolled up $4.50

My Apologies

I need to begin by making apologies to the many people who have responded to my Daybook post by commenting, emailing and phoning me. I didn't mean to alarm people. This is the reason why I should never try to post on my blog when I am feeling down in the dumps. Everybody knows I have been treated for Depression most of my adult life and they are afraid of the worst. That is why I was quick to point out that I am not clinically depressed....just feeling down. I already attributed this to Spring Fever and I am sure that is all it is. Every Spring I used to talk of moving and I would look through the Real Estate pages. I think it is human nature to feel restless this time of year. Anyways, your concern was not all for naught because you gave me several ideas for consideration. And I am considering. This morning my SIL (the one who suggested a big cull of my personal possessions and yard sale)  is actually coming to help me over the next few days. She will be a sounding board as well and will also be offering advice. This is the same SIL who came last winter and Spring to help me purge out a lot of "cobwebs" so I could move on. Nathalie was quite correct to remind me that I already have a strong support system here where I am presently and both she and Bless have advised me to talk with someone and actually write down pros and cons before making any major decision. So I will be doing that for sure. Yes, moving is a big deal. I would have to sell this place first. I won't be doing that any time soon, but I can be preparing for that eventuality. In the meantime, I am paying all my bills. It is just very difficult getting ahead with any kind of savings when the cost of living just keeps going up and up, and all those life events that keep happening that require money to fix things. *laugh*  So I will be talking to people and asking for advice and suggestions, and I am giving consideration to all ideas that have been presented already. Thank you. I really appreciate the feedback.

So I had a wonderful time Friday night at Montana's. For dinner, I ordered a Cobb salad and tea for dessert. You will be happy to know that when I was presented with a humongous piece of ice-cream cake on a plate with 5 spoons, I did not have any of it. Nor did I have a glass of wine, much to the disappointment of my friends....but I am committed to staying away from the sugar. My dinner was paid for and I received several lovely cards with lottery scratch tickets inside. I won a total of $43. One of my friends gave me 3 tickets and every one of them was a winner. When the birthday cake was delivered to the table by the waiting staff, it had a sparkler lit on top. They also presented me with a very large set of moose antlers to wear for a Polaroid photo to be taken, so I have a memento of that night. I look like the Grand PooBah of the Moose Lodge. Ha,ha. The next birthday in the group won't be until August. And August is also the month that we will be getting together for our Girls' Weekend, near Ottawa.

Well, my SIL has arrived, so I am signing off for now. Talk later.

Daybook: Monday, March 19/18

Outside my window.....it is a beautiful, sunny day. The kids are back in school this week after their March Break. Road traffic seems a little heavier.

I am thinking.....about going North for a week to visit with my Dad. Of course, my sister and BIL have also moved up there with my mother, so I could also spend some time with them.

I am thankful for.....early detection of cancer. My DIL does not have a date for her radiation yet, but she will be getting treatment. I just learned yesterday that one of my husband's cousins went to Emergency Services recently and they discovered multiple cancers throughout. There is nothing they can do for her. She will be returning home in a few days for palliative care.

From the kitchen.....this weekend I cooked a beef roast in the crockpot for dinner Saturday. I shredded and sauteed a cabbage as one of the sides. I didn't get company as I expected, but I have been enjoying lots of roast beef for my suppers.  I baked more dog biscuits for Satchel.

I am wearing.....black denim jeans, black and white fuzzy socks, and a gray thin knit sweater.

I am creating.....a pillowcase embroidery project that will likely be finished this week, and a knit dish cloth that will be finished by the end of today. I was given some napkin rings that I will use as beads in my next macrame plant hanger. I will be mailing out the kids' Easter cards this week, as well as some more encouragement cards.

I am going.....nowhere today. It has been really tough to get up in the mornings and face the day. I am feeling very down, not depressed. Part of it I think is still getting used to the time change and part of it is "Spring Fever". I am keenly aware of the stress I am feeling regarding the health of people close to me and I am also feeling stressed about my finances. One of my SILs tells me I need to have a huge yard sale to get rid of a lot of my possessions and bring in some more money. She is right of course. At this juncture, I don't know if I will be staying in this house or even in this area. If I move, I may move myself entirely and start a new beginning. I am so conflicted right now.

I am hoping.....that I can pull myself out of this funk.

I am hearing.....the patter of Satchel's paws as he walks around the upstairs rooms. I hope he isn't looking for trouble. Ha. I can hear traffic outside and the hum of my computer. It is very quiet.

Around the house.....there is much to be done and no energy or motivation to get it done.

One of my favourite things.....right now is my dishwasher. I got to appreciate it more after I had to wash dishes by hand last week.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....?? I have nothing on my calendar. I need to find a pain killer for Satchel that I can afford. I took him to the vet Saturday morning and paid for his Wellness exam and a Leptospirosis vaccine. I still need to buy 3 months of flea and tick medication. The pain killers he is on cost $220 for two months. These are the pills my daughter's vet put him on when she was looking after him in Bradford. I had no idea she had paid that much for his pills. If I go to another medication, there will be a "washout" period where he won't be able to have anything for his arthritis pain until I can start him on the new medicine. . I have some hard decisions to make.

Here is a picture I am sharing.....

 After the vet appointment, I dropped into the Napanee Shopper's Drug Mart and purchased these items that were on a 2-day sale. I needed the eggs at $1.99 a doz. The cottage cheese was only $1.99 and the 450 gm of block cheese was only $3.99 each. I had to take advantage of this terrific sale.

Driving Into Town Twice

It's a good thing I don't drive much during the week, because today I will be making two trips into town and tomorrow morning I have a vet's appointment in Napanee for Satchel's wellness exam and a booster shot.
After responding to emails this morning and eating my breakfast, I went into Freshco Grocers to pick up the bulk of this week's shopping list. I thought I wouldn't have to go this week at all, but I ran out of fresh and frozen veggies for next week. This is what I bought.

Produce cost $ 36.73  Five packages of frozen veggies were $1.99 each (brussel sprouts, diced squash, and harvest mix) I also purchased a large bag of frozen field berries (to mix with my plain yoghurt). I bought fresh mushrooms, 4 avocados, 4 peppers, cooking onions, 4 more zucchini, and 2 clam shells of fresh blueberries.

I grouped dairy and pantry items together for a total of $ 26.25                    
The yoghurt was still on sale for $1.69 each. I bought another box of Stevia because I ended up back in the same grocers I went to last week. The 12 cup Keurig coffee was only $3. I fill my own reusable pods, but I like to have some for company. The wild Pacific red sockeye salmon was on sale for $1.25 each, so I bought 10 tins.

Non food items cost $19.99 Thirty dryer sheets were $1 and the Dawn dish detergent from which I make a lot of my DIY cleaners cost $2. I needed the Finish dishwasher detergent. It cost me $16.99....expensive, I know.
I paid a total of $86.62 with taxes   I am hoping this lasts longer than one week.

On the way home I went to the Post Office to mail off another card to my oldest grand daughter and picked up my mail that I haven't been for since Monday. There was my new provincial health card and an appointment with an ENT specialist. I guess my doctor did indeed rattle someone's chain. Ha, ha. That appointment is for early in May.

Right now I am going to feed Satchel an earlier supper (30 minutes earlier) because I am leaving about 4:30 to meet some friends at Montana's for dinner. This is actually my birthday celebration because the whole group was not available on my actual birthday. Since there are two February birthdays, this works out better anyways. I may stop in at Michael's because it is in the same area and because I still have some money left on a gift card that is burning a hole in my pocket. It is my birthday celebration after all. Have a great weekend everyone.

Taking a Break From Birthday Cards

Most of the cards that I need during the year are birthday cards. I make them for myself and it is the card most often asked for when I make them for others. But every once in a while, I need to send a  thank you or Thinking of you card, and usually the need is immediate. Since I only had one thank you card left in my arsenal, I decided that today I would make a few for my stash. I not only made cards using the same layout, I made them identical. That is the height of laziness. I actually made 10 cards today, but I am not pleased with one of the pairs. I haven't included those ones in the photo.

I have another identical set of these cards.

After putting together the ten cards, I did some fussy cutting and glittering of some die cuts to use on future cards.  I tried some foiling as well, but it didn't really turn out. I will probably use those two coi (with the  foil in the bottom right corner)  for a masculine card, since they look kind of distressed. Ha, ha. It was all very messy and frustrating to work with, so I am glad I waited until I was done my card making for the day.

It Must Be Winter

Another dismal snowy day but I decided early this morning that I would write down two things in my notebook and call it my To-Do list.  I needed to do up the dishes and I had several stalks of celery in the fridge that were not being used up quickly, so they needed to be washed and chopped up for the freezer.  I haven't gone out in the car since Saturday, so I am still without dishwasher detergent. I don't have citric acid, so I couldn't even make my own in a pinch. That means that I have to wash my own dishes....ugh! While washing them up and placing into the dishwasher for them to drip dry, I also washed the tops of my stovetop, my counters, and the coffee bar in the dining room. I bleached my cutting boards.

While chopping up my celery to place inside a freezer bag, I decided to also peel a couple of carrots, chop an onion and zucchini, wash and slice some mushrooms and added some spinach to the vegetable casserole I planned on cooking tonight. It is in the oven right now with some Basa fillets. I shredded some cheese. I collected the trash from all the rooms and placed it all into a garbage bag which needs to go to the curb after dinner tonight. I sorted through the recycling and placed it outside for the Blue Box collection tomorrow. I put Draino in six of my drains to clear them. I shredded some more papers from the box under my desk and placed the lot into the garbage pail at the back of the house. By this time it was 1 PM and time for lunch. I ate two bowls of the lovely thick beef and veggie soup I made earlier in the week before I put away all the dishes. This afternoon I relaxed in a chair at the living room window and worked on some more embroidery. Sometimes just the act of writing down a couple of small chores spurs you on to keep going. Fortunately, that was the case for me today.

Macrame Tuesday

I just knew that today was also going to be quite uninspiring. I woke up again to dreary overcast skies and more snow, and I had absolutely no ambition to get any housework done. I started the tidying and vacuuming on Saturday until my vacuum cleaner went on the fritz. I also did up so much laundry....not just the two usual loads, but draperies and blankets and scatter mats, oh my.  I did clean up my vacuum cleaner and got it running smoothly, but since the weekend everything has sort of come to a stand still. I showed my son's fiancee the white macrame plant hanger I did last week. She loved it, but reminded me they could not hang any plants from their apartment ceiling because it is basically drywall glued up to concrete. You cannot put in a hook and anchor, and DEFINITELY you cannot drill holes in the ceiling. So I went on line to whittle away my precious time on Pinterest when suddenly I was grabbed by inspiration. I found this pattern to hang straight on the wall. I had bought some jute a couple of weeks ago when I found the white macrame cord, and I had some small wooden beads, so I made this wall hanger this afternoon. I am still amazed how quickly these make up.

The three pockets only hold 3 1/2 or 4 inch pots, but I think it would look really nice with succulents in them, and they have a lot of those. Do I mind if they read my blog and see what I have made them?? Not really. It will give them a chance to practice their "Just what I always wanted" face, so I can surprise them. I threaded 18 small wooden beads at different heights in the dangles underneath the pots and I have a few more intricate knots in this piece. I hope they like it. I don't know when I will give it to them. I was making these things to gift people at Christmas, but so far I have just been giving them away as quickly as I make them. I am going to have to rethink this strategy.

Daybook: Monday, March 12/18

Outside my window.....it is overcast. We have more snow on the ground than we did last week and the temperatures have been hovering just below the freezing mark most days.

I am thinking.....of my daughter-in-law out in Vancouver. She just received the results of her cat scan on Saturday and the cancer is so small, it doesn't even show up on the scan. This is great news. The cyst she had removed from her throat usually indicates a secondary source, so she will have daily radiation over seven weeks in the hopes of eradicating it. The primary source is suspected to have come from the tonsils or the base of the tongue. This is the woman who is married to my oldest son who just had his kidney transplant. This family has been through a lot. His eldest daughter (my grand daughter) has been struggling with her BEd program this semester. I will continue to send encouraging cards to them all.

I am thankful for......encouraging updates from my family regarding their state of health.

From the kitchen.....the only cooking I did on the weekend was to make a pot of beef stock, cook some vegetable side dishes, and reheat leftovers.

I am wearing...... black denim jeans, a red long sleeved t-shirt and fuzzy black socks. The red t-shirt was a free promotion from Cheerios at the last winter Olympics 8 years ago.I got the one that says Canada on the front made up of all the signatures of both the men's and women's hockey teams. See link here.

I am creating.....an embroidered  king-sized  pillow case for my son's fiancee's birthday in April.  I printed out the pattern yesterday using a freebie from Pinterest and some carbon paper. On Saturday evening before dinner, my son's fiancee and I packaged up a "care" package for my DIL who will be getting radiation treatments. I also wrapped up a smaller parcel inside that contains a card and the pillowcase for my youngest grand daughter. She loves to get her own parcels in the mail.

I am going.....to the Post Office later this morning to mail off this parcel and check for the mail. I don't have any other plans to go anywhere else today.

I am hoping.....biopsy results for my other family member come back okay.

I am hearing.....only the blower on the furnace and occasional traffic noise.

Around the house.....there is more vacuuming to be done and a new to-do list to be written up.

One of my favourite things.....this past week has been both email and "facebook messenger" which has kept me in touch with a lot of friends and family. I had more than the usual number of people get in touch with me over the past few days.

A few plans for the rest of the week......only involve meeting with some friends for dinner on Friday night.

Here's the picture I am sharing.....I have nothing today. I am not inspired at all.

My Weekend

I remember telling Bless on Friday that I had no plans for the weekend. I was just going to go with the flow. Sometimes the flow is slow and meandering. Other times the current is swift and pulls you through so quickly it leaves you gasping. Yesterday the flow moved swiftly.  My day started with an early morning phone call that the  Avon order for my son's fiancee had arrived. I walked over a block to pick it up and pay for it.   I also had to pick up two new prescriptions my GP had phoned in for me on Friday and because I came home  ahead of the snow, I hadn't stopped for gas like I intended.  I was almost completely out, so I thought I had better fill up before I left town. Since I was going to the pharmacy anyway, I used the last of my Shopper's gift card to pick up 4 litres of whole milk. When I got home I received a text from my son's fiancee that they would be by for dinner and a visit.  I pulled one of the cooked turkey breasts out of the freezer and decided to make up the sweet potatoes and broccoli as a side.

Throughout the day I washed up and put away 5 big loads of laundry. I changed out my bed sheets again and washed those with my whites and lights. I had a smaller dark load, a load of sofa throws and cushion covers, my white draperies from the living room and a load of 2 4x6 scatter mats. I tidied and vacuumed all through the living room (moving furniture as I went), the kitchen floor and dining room floor, when suddenly the vacuum stopped. When I took it apart I found the canister was all plugged up, including the filter. So I took out all 9 screws and disassembled every piece. I washed and dried all the pieces that made up the canister including the filter and gasket. Now it runs like a charm. I made up the living room furniture and rehung the draperies and then removed the beef stock I had been simmering all day to make soup for later this week. By the time my company arrived, I was finished. After dinner I realized that I had run out of dishwasher tablets so I left the dishes until this morning. Because I was losing an hour due to Daylight Savings, and because I'd had a full busy day, I went to bed early.

I did not want to go out this morning again, so I decided to do up all the dishes by hand and put them in the dishwasher (like Nathalie) to drip dry. It seemed like it took a long time to get them done. I didn't look at the time, so I don't know. But between doing the dishes and talking to family members on the tablet, it was suddenly 1 PM and time for lunch. I have spent the afternoon reading and responding to the emails and blogs I didn't read yesterday because things got busy. I've put away all the dishes and I have also traced out another embroidery pattern on a pillow case to be my next project. I should report on my goals for this week but it is almost 7 PM and I am starving. I will catch you up tomorrow. Hope your weekend was good. Sorry but no photos today either.

Annual Physical and Grocery Shopping

It takes a long time for my hair to dry so instead of showering last night before bed, I decided to do it this morning after taking the dog outside and having my first cup of coffee. My doctor's appointment was in Kingston at 9:45, so that meant I had to leave my house at 9 AM. I still managed to read my email, have breakfast and a second cup of coffee and "face time" with my dad and Dee. At that time of morning it doesn't really take me 45 minutes to drive in, but I don't like arriving anywhere late. As it turned out I had to drive around and around the parking lot for 15 minutes to find a space to park. If I had found a space immediately, I would have gone shopping at Giant Tiger until my appointment time. But I didn't, and then the meter only recognized 3 of my 4 quarters, so I was gypped out of 15 minutes. Fortunately, I didn't get a ticket.

So I have lost 26 pounds since starting this diet, so definitely beginning to plateau.  I'll take it. My BMI has dropped 5 points so I am only considered over weight, but not obese. My doctor is happy. However, she is concerned about my thyroid levels so she has increased my prescription for thyroid medication. She says it could be related to the weight loss. She wants me back in two months now, instead of 6 months. She gave me a flu shot in one shoulder and a pneumonia shot in the other, so my arms are really feeling it now. She is referring me to a gynecologist for my prolapsed cervix and she is going to arrange for a colonoscopy. My fecal test came back negative, but I am 68 and  never had a colonoscopy so she wants to do that test. She faxed a referral last summer for an ears, nose and throat specialist, but the office has never called me. She wants to rattle their chain and see why they have ignored this request. Over all I think I am in good health, but she is being very proactive and all these tests and vaccinations are free to me, so there is no reason why I should not want to get these things done.

On the way home I stopped at two different shops....Freshco and Walmart.

I bought the 8 Kg dog food at Walmart for $18.06 with tax. I picked up one of the older bags that still had the denta bone inside as a free promotion. The newer bags  no longer contain those freebies.  I picked up two more items but handed them to the cashier and told her I no longer wanted them. I will look elsewhere to get them cheaper. *patting myself on the back*

 Meat cost me $42.33 -outside round roast, 3 chubs of ground beef, Basa fillets, smoked ham, Italian sausage and salami.  All were sale priced except for the hamburger and salami and I apparently saved over $24 off the regular price of my meat purchases. Yay me.

Produce cost $33.25 - frozen berries, 2 red peppers, 4 broccoli crowns, 3 lbs. carrots, 2 cabbages, frozen California mix, frozen butternut squash, 4 zucchini, whole mushrooms, 4 pack avocados, and 3 sweet potatoes.

Dairy cost $9.36  I bought the store brand name of cottage cheese for $2.99 each.  When I went to  Shoppers (where I usually buy my eggs and dairy) earlier in the week expressly to buy plain yoghurt, I discovered they don't sell it. Today I found this one on sale for  $1.69

I bought some pantry items for $11.39 The almonds were discounted by $2.30, so only $3.99   I am just realizing that I should have bought the large cans of stewed tomatoes for 99 cents (same price as these cans).   I only use one of these small cans, but I could easily have frozen half of the larger tin. This brand of Stevia is half the price of Splenda.

  Non food items cost $6.76  I was completely out of paper towels. I use cloth more often, but sometimes paper toweling comes in handy for certain jobs. The vegetable oil is a non-food item because I can't have it. It is only used to make the dog his biscuits.

I made a $2 donation to the Easter seal campaign, and after taxes my total groceries at Freshco came to $105.87

I took photos of my groceries before putting them away,  had a late lunch, fixed my supper casserole, talked with two of my grand kids on Facebook messenger, wrote out this blog post and now the day is done. It has been snowing off and on all afternoon, so I am very happy I did my grocery shopping on the way home. Have a great weekend everyone.

Cardmaking Thursday

I started my Thursday by unloading the dishwasher while making my two egg omelet with zucchini and crumbled bacon. I already had my two cups of Keurig coffee while talking to "Dee" on my tablet. We talk every morning. I answered some emails and read some blogs and wished some of my friends a "Happy International Women's Day". I sorted through the recycling and took all of it outside to the bins. I took the gray recycle bin (paper and cardboard) down to the curb for pickup, but no garbage this week. While the temperatures are still cold, I can hold the garbage for two weeks, but when the warmer temps arrive, I will have to set it out every week.

Finally I was ready to start my cardmaking. I decided to finish off the Easter cards for the kids. I actually produced 7 cards today. I cheated a bit by only making 3 designs and changed them up by using different colours and papers.

I made 2 "E is for Easter" (one is done in pink), 3 of the middle cards done with different coloured burlap as the background, and 2 of the "Easter blessings" using different patterned background papers.

These cards still took most of the afternoon and I got to "face time" with my sister. After I finished, I went to work on my embroidery project and finished that up. I made some mistakes. I should have filled in the bird's eye with a satin stitch intead of a french knot, but these things are learned through experience. I didn't sew the two sides of the pillow case together, so........I consider that a resounding success.

I think my youngest grand daughter will not mind the mistakes. I hope she likes the birdies.

I fed the dog, took him out for his walk around the block, came in and realized I had not shredded and fried my cabbage like I had intended. So while that is cooking, I decided to post about my day. Not getting any housework done yet, but it has been a crafty week so far. Have a great evening.

A Dark and Dreary Day

Yesterday I.....

• wrote a blog posting
• watered all the indoor plants
• made two more cards with "smooshed" backgrounds I made last week
• changed out my Christmas dishes (finally) for my every day dishes
• cut 8 lengths of 12 foot cord and macramed a hanger for a spider plant. It was a very simple pattern, but I wanted to re-acquaint myself with the various knots. I will try a more elaborate pattern next time. 
• received my latest  hydro bill yesterday for $104.99, which is less than last month and 19% lower than this time last year. Yay!

 

I used almost 100 feet of cord to make this simple pattern. It is the perfect length for this window, but if I want to make a more elaborate pattern, I will need closer to 200 feet. I happened to have 4 large wooden beads which I incorporated into the hanger. I will go to Michaels and see about getting other beads with large openings. (perhaps glass or ceramic)

Today I.....

• mailed off two cards (Thinking of you and Birthday wishes)
• picked up a large bag of premium potting mix
• started three  more cuttings of succulents and re potted two house plants
• planted up a soup tureen as another succulent garden and moved it to a sunny window
• worked on my pillow case embroidery project.

Yesterday, after writing out my Daybook, I got busy in the kitchen with making a big pot of soup using the soup broth I made the night before with the turkey carcass. I added fresh onion, celery,  and zucchini from the fridge, the last of my frozen yellow peppers, two frozen spinach "pucks" I froze last month by wilting some spinach and freezing in my muffin tin, some frozen burgundy beans from my garden 2 years ago, and a small tin of stewed tomatoes. I used thyme, ground black pepper  and some of my homemade seasoned salt  for flavouring. While that was simmering on the stove top, I baked some more dog biscuits. I substituted finely ground  bread crumbs for the cornmeal I have run out of. I also shredded and sauteed one of the small cabbages I had. I ate this last night for dinner with some of the meatballs I made on the weekend.

I drove to Amerstview in the afternoon after picking up the mail. My third and final "Just Because" box had arrived.

Contents include another handmade soap, bath bomb, and lip moisturizer. It came with the thick card you see, which is a perfect size for using in a greeting card....perhaps for a thank you to my niece for such a great Christmas gift that will keep on giving.

I picked up a prescription at my pharmacy before heading over to Shoppers to pick up a few items.

The frozen stir fry veggies, 1 litre of table cream, 2 litres of whole milk, 2 tubs of cottage cheese and one Kg of quick oats were all on sale and cost me $18.94 (I saved $10), but I paid with a $25 gift card ( a birthday gift), so nothing out of pocket.

I finished an encouragement card that I had started last week, was on Facebook Messenger for a half hour, and almost a week into the new month,  I finally posted my Goals for March here. My biggest area for improvement is in the management of my household....Spring Cleaning, or any cleaning for that matter. I will have to get back to writing out a daily To-Do list.

I ended the afternoon around 4:30 when I fed the dog and took him for a walk around the block. I made my own dinner and then settled in front of Netflix for the night. I am currently staying away from TV series and have been watching 2 or 3 movies a night. I have been enjoying most of them.

Goals for March

Environment:

House- If I want to finish up the Spring cleaning by May, I had better get a move on. Obviously, I have not been keen about starting the Craft Room, so this week I will choose the living room. I finished the living room  at the eleventh hour (on the weekend of the first week). I moped around for a week and a half feeling very uninspired and then my SIL arrived last Wednesday to help me decide on my future course of action. I have been working on the Craft Room ever since. I am newly motivated to purge every room in the house preparing for the big yard sale in May and the subsequent sale of the house.
I will wash the woodwork, dust the furniture, change out my red Christmas dishes (yes, I am still using those) for the regular service ware that is now stored in my living room cabinet. The dishes were changed out but I will wait until the very large wall unit, the couch, all the red maple furniture,  and the electric fireplace are gone before I tackle the walls and woodwork in that room.
I will wash the living room drapes, throws and cushion covers. Done
I will photograph any items that I purge and put them outside in my van for the next trip to the Thrift Store. I am either throwing out garbage or saving the items for a big Yard Sale. Anything that doesn't sell will be taken to the thrift store.
I will remove the finishing nails from the pine planks that need to go back on the dining room ceiling. Not done yet.

Garden- I will buy my potting soil this month in order to start some of my seeds indoors this month. I bought the potting soil for transplants (which I completed) but I will not plant seeds until after I come back from my trip to Elliot Lake. I need to be home to make sure the seedlings don't dry out.

Finances:

Spending- I will continue to record my spending and differentiate between food and non-food items. Now that I have all the paperwork that has come in for income tax purposes, I will arrange to meet with the accountant to have that done up. After this year, I will be able to do my own taxes. Later this month I will start my CAA membership again so that the renewal date is not during the month of February. I have too many one time payments due during that month.  I have not phoned the accountant yet. I don't want to start the membership to CAA until after the first of April or they will back date it until February anyway.

Saving- For the time being, I am attempting to put extra money towards c.c. payments, rather than into savings. I will try to do better with using coupons for discounts and freebies, but so far my record has been abysmal. (not for lack of trying). Most of my groceries are meat, produce and dairy, and little  processed food, so it is difficult. I did get to do a Pine Cone survey recently though so I am still earning a little through them. I am also earning loyalty points through two different shops. I was able to make a small additional  payment of $55 towards my c.c. debt at the end of the month.

Family and Friends: I feel that my family ties have grown much closer, but maybe at the expense of my friends? Sometimes I feel stretched as I really am more of an introvert. But I will continue to make an effort to phone them more often. The girls (from the girls' weekend) are celebrating my birthday mid March at a restaurant.  I enjoyed myself immensely with my friends at my birthday dinner. I drove to Smith Falls for the dinner and concert in Ottawa, and stayed overnight with my brother and his wife. I will be going with my son and his fiancee tomorrow for Easter dinner also in Smith Falls.

Health: I am continuing my diet. As the weather improves there will be more outdoor activity. Right now all I do is walk the dog around the block once a day. There has been little snow shoveling  lately [knock on wood]. I am scheduled for a physical and a pap test this week. Last month I was required to mail in a FOBT (poop on a stick) to the lab, but haven't got the results yet. Then, I am not required to see my GP until August. The appointment went well and my GP has made a few referrals. I have  heard from the ENT specialist and an appointment is scheduled for early in May. I received a notification by mail yesterday that my colonoscopy has been scheduled for April 9, so I will be postponing my trip to Elliot Lake by a week. My Doctor wants to see me in 2 months time instead of 6 months. She increased my thyroid medication.

Crafts and Leisure: I will not need to purchase any more craft supplies. I have threads for embroidery and cross stitch and I have found some on-line sites for patterns. I have two different cords for macrame projects and all kinds of supplies for jewellery making. I have everything I need for paper projects. My goal this month is to show you a finished craft every week.  I made a macrame plant hanger for myself and a wall hanging for my son. I mailed off a finished embroidered pillowcase to my youngest grand daughter and started another. I knit another dishcloth.

Daybook: Monday, March 5/18

It is now 10 AM. I have been awake since 6:30, but it takes me awhile to get my day started. I get dressed, take the dog for a short walk and his daily constitutional, feed him breakfast with his daily medication and make my first cup of coffee. This is when I check on-line for my emails and blog posts that I like to read. I am usually drinking my second cup of coffee when Dee calls me over Facebook Messenger. I usually have to take the dog out again before long and then I make my breakfast while finishing up my emails and blog posts. I guess I am a slow reader.

Outside my window.....it is overcast. There is not much snow left but it still does not look much like Spring is here yet.

I am thinking.....that I have not seen one robin yet. I usually see them before February is finished. That is not to say that they haven't arrived, but I personally have not seen them yet. Makes me worried that Spring is still a long way off. I am also thinking that I did not make up a goals list for March over the weekend like I had hoped, so I will work on that today.

I am thankful for.....carefree days of retirement where the only schedule is my own.

From the kitchen.....I roasted a whole turkey on Saturday. I immediately removed both breasts of meat and put in the freezer, along with the wings and drumsticks to make a turkey stock at a later date. I removed all the dark meat and have been eating that over the weekend. I put the carcass in the crock pot Saturday night and made another rich soup broth.  I will be making soup with that after 11 AM this morning (when hydro rates go down). I also fried another package of bacon for the freezer. I have been using this to make my omelets in the morning, along with zucchini or spinach. Yesterday I baked some more meatballs with cheddar cheese inside to add two meals to the freezer. I need to bake more dog biscuits  and shred and saute one of my cabbages later this afternoon.

I am wearing.....blue jeans, black socks, and the blue long sleeved T-shirt I bought at the Thrift store last week. My hair is down this morning until I get tired of it hanging in my face and then I usually tie it back in a ponytail.

I am creating.....more encouragement cards. My son's fiancee came over yesterday morning so I could help her make her own encouragement cards to send out to family members.

I am going.....to the Post Office to check for mail before heading over to Amerstview to buy more milk and plain yoghurt. I also have to pick up a prescription.

I am hoping.....that we learn some good news from medical testing going on this week.

I am hearing.....the blower from the furnace.

Around the house.....I got my laundry washed and folded on the weekend. I changed out the sheets on my bed and the furniture cover on the couch. I shredded a lot of paper from the box I keep under my desk, and placed it in the plastic garbage can I keep outside until the Spring, when I can add some of it to the composter or as mulch to one of my flower beds. If I won't do any housework because I am not feeling the Mojo, then I need to give myself permission to work on my many craft projects.

One of my favouite things.....lately is my reusable single cup coffee filters that I can use with my Keurig machine. I have the coffee in my pantry already, so now I can enjoy brewing my 2 cups of coffee every morning.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....include my appointment on Friday with my GP for a physical exam. Otherwise, I have made no plans so far this week

 Here's the picture I am sharing.....

Snowdrops are coming up at the base of my shrub rose bush.

Friday Update

Let me get this off my chest. It is what has kept me preoccupied all of this week and is the reason why I have not been writing or even reading other writer's blogs. Not one, but two female family members this week have received devastating and life changing news from their health providers. They are both in a "holding pattern" of waiting while further tests need to be done and treatments put into place. It is not my place to talk about it here and now, but I offer this information to show you where my head is at. I have kept myself busy  by making ahead some Encouragement cards to send over the next few weeks. It occupies my mind and quiets my soul to be working on cards. It is the only thing I can think of doing for them at the present time. On another note, I have learned that my oldest grand daughter is really struggling right now in her Bachelor of Education program to become a teacher. It is what she really wants to do, but she is struggling trying to keep up with a very intensive 2-year program rolled into one year. She has a lot going on in her life right now so  I have also been making ahead some encouragement cards for her as well. The only day this week that I have not been making cards was yesterday on my regular card-making day. I needed to be in the kitchen to prepare the food I bought last weekend.

Last Tuesday was my birthday and my son and his fiancee came over with dinner prepared for me. They brought helium balloons and a beautiful bouquet of bright yellow tulips. I can tell you that those tulips look almost as good today as they do in this photo. They have lasted so long and are a sunny reminder that Spring will come one day. My son made a crustless spinach, bacon and cheese quiche served with green beans on the side. Dessert was a large fruit platter with a musical birthday candle in the centre that played Happy Birthday. We watched the first two episodes of "Big Little Lies" that my daughter sent me from Amazon that day. It was a lovely birthday celebration.

Wednesday I had two doctors' appointments. That is when my doctor and I discussed why my blood sugar had crept up slightly. I learned that I should not have indulged in cocktails during my cruise and that the only fruit I should eat right now are berries. She is not concerned about the rise in sugar as she is overall very pleased that I know how I should eat in the future....and I am continuing to lose weight. I forgot to ask her how much more I had lost but I see her this week for my physical and pap test, so I will ask her then. I did some shopping at Giant Tiger in downtown Kingston where I wanted to use a coupon I received by email for a free gift for my birthday, but I had forgotten to put it in my purse. It was still sitting by my computer at home. Darn. The total bill came to $27.70, but I spent $3.74 on non-food items.

I picked up 3 Christmas bottle bags for 25 cents each, 2 flashing Xmas pins for a quarter a piece, 3 Xmas figures that grow X2 when water is added for 50 cents each, and 3 packs of vegetable seeds for 99 cents.
The Christmas items have been put away in my gift trunk.

Thursday was my regular card-making day. I made one birthday card and the rest were Easter cards for the young ones in my life.

I used the backgrounds that I made the Thursday before and some die-cuts from my Cricut machine. I have since added little pompoms to the tails and tiny ribbons on the baskets.
On Friday I met up with one of my IRL friends for shopping and lunch. We first went  to  Staples for some ink cartridges for my printer ($79.33), which I was sure glad to have this week. Then I went to Michael's to spend part of another gift card I received at Christmas, so nothing out of pocket. Then my friend and I checked out a new Thrift Store in the same mall. I spent $15.76 there. I did not NEED these items, but I was spending some quality time with a friend and I thought the prices were good.

 From Michael's I bought another great photo box for only $2.50 and 55% off a background script stamp which I have coveted forever.

From Talize I bought 2 embroidered pillow cases (I think they are brand new) to replace a set I need to get rid of, a King sized plain white pillow case to embroider for my son's fiancee, a lovely blue long sleeved T-shirt (not shown because it has been washed, worn, and is back in the wash again), and two lovely cushion covers for my living room. (I think they're lovely. I adore them) We stopped at Kelsey's for lunch and my friend treated me as part of her birthday gift to me. From there we went to  Giant Tiger in Kingston armed with my coupon to pick up my free gift of 12 K-cups of coffee for my Keurig machine and a few more grocery deals. When I was with the cashier, she distracted me with questions and I didn't realize until later that I paid for the coffee and forgot about using the gift coupon that I now had with me. Drat again. Next we went to Value Village (another Thrift Store) as I was looking for macrame cord and we were not able to find any at Michael's or Talize. They didn't have any either, but I paid $2 for a bag full of crafting materials I can use for card-making. At this point it was pouring rain and we were both very tired, so we decided to end our day after I filled the car with gas. ($50)  When I got home I thought I had lost my very expensive ink cartridges for my printer. I remembered putting them in my purse but now they were not there. I took everything out of my purse, checked all the pockets, turned it inside out, but no ink cartridges. I went out to the van and discovered them on the floor in the front seat. Phew! Disaster averted.

The next day, on Saturday, we picked up where we left off. We drove to a different mall where I had to turn in one more piece of cable equipment that I didn't realize I had after I cancelled my cable back in January. My friend picked up some slacks that were being altered. From there we went to Napanee. I was determined to get my free birthday coffee and both of us wanted to pick up some weekly grocery deals at No Frills. Both No Frills and Giant Tiger are in Kingston, but I wanted to be away from the crowds on a Saturday morning. We walked into GT first and I went over straight to the coffee aisle to get my gift. This was my 3rd time this week trying. Are you freakin' kidding me? It wasn't there. When I emptied my purse the day before, looking for the stupid ink cartridges, I never put the coupon back in. I guess it was never meant to be! We did go to No Frills to do our grocery shopping, (Total cost was $73.75). We also went to Home Hardware to check for macrame cord. I probably paid much less at the Hardware store than at a craft store ($18.06), so I was happy. We stopped for lunch at Swiss Chalet ($14.35) Shoppers drug Mart was having a great one day sale, so we stocked up there as well before coming home. I bought 2 litres of Homo milk, 1 litre of cream, 2 lbs. butter, 2 dozen eggs, 2 12 packs of tp, 2 frozen packs of Brussels sprouts all for $34.73, but saved $21.60 off the regular prices. I was so upset with my stupidity over the free coffee, I never did take photos when I got home.  Besides that, my son and his fiancee were already there waiting for me. I had invited them over to do their laundry and stay for dinner. I made pork chops, mashed cauliflower, and brussel sprouts.

I finally found my macrame cord....natural jute and cotton clothes line.

Sunday I awoke to freezing rain, but it eventually turned to just rain. I left for Smith Falls about 11:00 AM after taking the dog in to stay overnight with my son. The trip was good, but when I arrived my brother and his wife were without power for several hours (probably because of the strong winds). They made me tea from the kettle they had on the wood stove and then we drove into Ottawa and met up with my niece and her husband at Montana's restaurant where I was treated yet again with dinner before we went to see the concert. The show was wonderful. Alan Doyle comes from Newfoundland and is multi-talented...musician, song writer, actor, producer,  For more than half the performance, the audience was on its feet dancing in the aisles. It was one big party.

Poster for the show in Ottawa.

I got to use my other niece's ticket because she was called by work to attend a conference. Because the show ended so late after 3 encores, and we had to drive back to Smith Falls, I had already planned to stay the night and leave on Monday morning. My SIL gifted me with 2 sets of knitting needles and 2 books with cross stitch patterns before I left. I have barely had time to work on my embroidery. I drove to my son's apartment to pick up the dog and continued home, where there was a phone message waiting for me. That was my first piece of bad news. I have been making cards ever since. This week has been a blur for me and I can't believe it is Friday again already. I have updated February's goals over here, and I will be making up a new list of goals for March sometime this weekend I am hoping.