Hello Dear Reader!
Have you been enjoying these last weeks of summer? I have. Three of my four children, now grown up, have birthdays in August and September. I also have a grandchild who recently turned one. We celebrated Sunday. We had homemade chicken and dumplings. It's what I call a heritage meal. Both my husband and I grew up eating it, though our moms made it a little differently. Over the years, we've compromised and made it our own. We ate it a lot when my kids were little. It was a way to feed a lot of mouths for not much money. We made it with a family package of chicken thighs this time. It's really good with leg quarters or a whole chicken as well.
I gave each of the kids hand knit socks and homemade strawberry jam. Both gifts are always received with enthusiasm. I have a box in my closet in which I am collecting gift items that I've made or found at a good price. Some will be for family, some for friends, some will be donations. It's important to start early for fall birthdays and Christmas.
Here's my thrifty week:
- I'm a bit in shock. I was making my Walmart pick-up order. I saw a spot for a promo code; so, I Googled Walmart grocery promo code. I found $20 off a $50 plus order. Much to my surprise, the code worked! Here's the code. See if it will work for you. Let me know in the comments! TRIPLE20 Double shock! It worked for me a second time!
- I am knitting gift socks for my husband— maybe for his birthday, maybe for Christmas. He selected the yarn when we visited a yarn shop on our anniversary. What a guy! After I was a few inches into knitting the foot, I realized that I'd used the same yarn a few years ago to knit him another pair of socks! Different pattern this time. ~smile~ He wears size 13, so it's nice to be able to customize socks for his feet. I guess he likes Malabrigo sock yarn as much as I do. The color is Mask.
- I downloaded an audiobook from Everand. It's Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy.
- We picked up just a few things we needed and skipped the big shopping trip last week.
- Friends gave us green peppers. I chopped them up and put them in the freezer to add to chili or soups in the cooler months.
- I chopped up leftover onion for the freezer.
- Chopped zucchini squash for the freezer.
- I divided a package of chicken thighs into four packages and froze 3. The two biggest thighs will be fried chicken and are labeled as such. I made sheet pan chicken with two thighs, some stir-fry veggies that have been in the freezer too long, and some odds and ends. The smallest two thighs will be used in a pot of soup for the two of us. The last two were frozen without a plan.
- I put a snap on a dress that's been in my mending basket for nearly two years. Gasp! It was such a quick fix to have a new dress. I've only worn it a couple of times.
- A second dress required a bit of darning for a small hole that was just beginning. Fortunately, I had the perfect color of thread. The hole was on the bodice.
- I read a borrowed a library book through free interlibrary loan. It was a Biblical archiological adventure/mystery similar to Indiana Jones. It was the last in the series, but I'd sure like to read another one!
- I repaired a pair of handknit socks that have been sitting in that same mending basket for unknown months. I used the following YouTube video to learn Swedish darning. Although it isn't as pretty as I'd hoped, and I didn't have the original yarn, it will hide in my husband's shoe.
- Watermelon 🍉 for supper! We found a small one for $3 and ate half. Indulgent and satisfying!
- My husband and I cut each other's hair.
- I'm slowly learning Spanish with Duolingo. I use the free version. They have lots of languages. It's as easy as a video game.
- I listened to Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway on YouTube.
- I saved usable buttons and fabric from a couple of men's shirts that were too worn out to mend.
- I'm listening to Animal Farm by George Orwell on YouTube.
I just love how creative you are at being frugal. I love you
ReplyDeleteI love you, too, husband! Thank you.
DeleteGood morning Laura: We do many things similarly. I also have a plastic tote in the closet that I put Christmas gifts in over the year. I knit socks for each of our children and their spouses every year. They get really excited to see what colors and patterns I've chosen for them each Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI also buy family packs of meat and freeze separately. This week I bought a 10 lb chub of ground beef and cooked it all up at once. I put it in freezer bags and labeled it so now it will be easy to pull out and use for meals. One mess instead of grease to clean up five times!
Dennis and I are out camping. We got here on Labor Day when everyone else went home. It's nice and quiet with just a few retirees here with us. We're only twenty miles from home and can get back to Mom quickly if we need to. We do love our little home away from home.
Blessings and hugs,
Betsy
Sounds like you are a thrifty, creative lady. I'd love you to share some of your favorite sock patterns with me. I am HarvestLaneLaura on Ravelry.com. Are you on Ravelry, too?
DeleteHello, sweet friend! I always come away from my visits here with inspiration and good ideas! You know, Peyton and Christopher cut each other's hair. What a genius idea! I am sorry about the headaches. I must have missed that somehow. Prayers for that. Have a cozy evening. Happy September!
ReplyDeleteHi Billie Jo, Thank you. You always inspire me to enjoy life to its fullest. I've had the headaches for years now. They seemed to get worse during the cancer fight. The doctor's sending me for another MRI. I don't think they're cancer related, but I do need to find something to help. I don't think I've mentioned it much if at all here.
DeleteEnjoy your one thing a day! I may steal your idea.
Be blessed!
Laura
I love your blog. You are a real inspiration to me.
ReplyDeleteYou should be able to use the Walmart code one more time. I tried it but it wouldn't let me use it because I've ordered delivery from them many times before. I think that code is good for twenty dollars off of your first three orders.
There is an author called simply Miss Read that has a couple of series and a few stand-alone books. They are set mainly in small English villages. The Fairacre series centers around the school and the school teacher. The Thrush Green series is about the village and various people who live there. I really enjoyed the Thrush Green series and I'm about halfway through the Fairacre series. They are not overtly religious but are very clean books. I think you would enjoy them. They are what I like to think of as "comfort books".
Also, have you read anything by Corrie ten Boom? I've read everything of hers I can get my hands on and the story of her and her family is one of the most inspirational and uplifting ones I've ever read.
Thanks again for taking the time to share your life with us. God bless you!
Thank you! I'll try to use that code again. Every bit helps these days.
DeleteI read a Miss Read book years ago. I just happened to find it. It was quite enjoyable. Clean is a wonderful thing in a book. It seems that most books have pages that have to be skipped or behaviors that have to be ignored. I know it's that way in real life, but I would prefer not to face it in my reading.
It's been a lot of years since I've read anything by Corrie ten Boom. She can definitely put everything in perspective, can't she?
Thank you so much for writing to me. I truly enjoy hearing from you!
Laura
Wow, you've read a lot of books! I keep track of mine on Goodreads too. :)
ReplyDeleteI'd love to connect Belinda! I started tracking my books back in the early 2000's. Maybe 2002? I wrote them in a notebook. At one point, I decided to move the list to Goodreads to declutter the notebook. Now I wish I'd kept the notebook. It was more nostalgic. I know I haven't recorded all the books I've read on Goodreads, but it keeps me motivated. ~smile~ I love to see the Year in Books at the end of the year!
DeleteHave a wonderful week!
Laura
How can I find you on Goodreads? I’m just now trying to figure out how to use it. 😊
ReplyDeleteI'm Laura Lane on Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/56797284-laura-lane
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