Goals accomplished Goals for this coming week

Garden: harvested 3 heads of cabbage, harvested green onions, harvested radishes. Planted bush green beans, radishes and more green onions. Used clothes pins to pull outer leaves to cover cauliflower.

Preserving: dehydrated oregano.

Sewing: mended Trenton's shorts and Patrick's shorts. Sewed button on Trenton's other shorts.Mended Patrick's new pillowcase that he stabbed with Lego sword causing holes, he won't do that again.

Cooking: made treats for the kids instead of buying them. Been awhile since I had to be in that mode. :)

Service to others: helped find a honey supplier for a friend that can't use any other sweetener and her supplier lost 60% of their bee hive due to our last winter. Shared some of the garden harvest with a family that is struggling to put food on the table and their own garden isn't doing well.

Organization: broke down the to do list in to different areas so I can focus on what is most important first and not just what annoys me the most.

Blogging: read my favorite blogs and wrote my own for my own blog.

Next week's goals:

Organization : my desk, 3 boxes of papers,the garage and my sewing room.

Gardening: weeded, fertilized and plant fall crops.

Sewing: start on insulated curtains or making winter curtains,catch up on mending.

Preserving: cauliflower, cabbage, oregano, parsley, radishes, and onions.

Service to Others: help my daughter and older grandson paint his room. Send recipe for homemade noodles to my Dad.

Cooking: granola bars,cookies,ice cream, possible noodles and bread.

Blogging: post 2 - 3 times including pictures and check out new blogs of being frugal/gardening/sewing.

Blessed Be

another summer day

Hot....humid... and very limited on activities.

Grandkids had swimming lessons this morning. The older ones had a good time as they are diving now. The youngest doesn't like it that he has to put his head in the water, more he has to stop talking or he gets water in his mouth.

The kids are learning to be quiet because Hubby sleeps days from 12 to 5. Not a long time but he does take a nap before going to work at night.  Youngest thinks he needs to run everything and everyone...even though he is 7 and we just got custody of him, it's like a newborn that can get into everything and talk the whole time. We thought he would be better since he was in school but found out the teacher he had treated him as teacher's pet and pretty much allowed him to run the show and do what ever he wanted ...sigh...this next year is going to be rough with a different school system that will be expecting more out of him.

Tstorms in the forecast today so I am not getting out the sprinkler. They are tired of the videos, legos and games...the preteen is missing her friends and her own pool.

Tomorrow is the last day for the older 2 to be here...Sorry to see them go, I'd keep them forever...but I know they have had enough.

Blessed be

Sunday

After Hubby spent the day mowing ,I spent the day planting the gardens south of the grainary  and Patrick spent the day in the sand box, we gathered together at the end of the day on the front porch with our two dogs.

Not much time left of the day but enough to share our day, play ball with the pup (who is actually 2 but will be the pup for ever) and give rubs to the older dog.

This day as it rains and is on the cool side, we are taking the day of Rest and Renew our Spirit.

Blessed be you and yours

Taking a moment

Okay , really it's Saturday morning.

 I need to figure out what work is the priority for this week off the to do list.

 I need to make a basic weekly grocery list so I don't miss toilet paper and sour cream again.

I need to start working on winter bedding and curtains.

I need to start working on preparing the house for winter to keep the costs down.

  The upstairs is electric baseboard heat while the down stairs is propane. The first year here we spent almost $500 a month trying to hold those rooms at 68°. Then we figured out the house wasn't insulated like the new landlord was told (bought house from family member) and the windows were not as new as he thought either or caulked. My answer last winter was to just close it off since it was just the two of us and the dogs. Meant I didn't work on many crafts since that room is upstairs....sad but worth the price in saving on heat.

But this year we will have to heat it. Patrick is now living with us and his bedroom is upstairs. I grew up in a house that only had a space heater in the front room, with my brother's and my rooms upstairs. My own kids grew up in a house that had no heat upstairs, my oldest raised her kids there for awhile and now lives in a house with no heat upstairs either.
                                                                                                             SO why the panic attack?This child is used to having the heat of 68 ° or more in his bedroom, running around in shorts and thin shirt all winter.

 He had done well at adjusting to culture shock between city living,(going to shop daily, fast food,high speed internet, something to do all with the time not spent on xbox or tv,etc) BUT he is constantly cold.

It's summer and yet the house is on the cool side. Great when it's 80 something outside but not so much when it's only 65 ° and breezy.

Landlord is going to caulk the outside of the windows. I am making a comforter of old jeans, might have enough for curtains. My oldest daughter passed flannel pj bottoms down but didn't have any warm pj tops so I need to find thermal shirts for him. Might have to use adults found at the thrift shop to make some for him.

It's a worry with what all ready we having going on and the budget is getting tighter with Hubby looking at having some days laid off of work through the rest of the year. So this morning I am making a list of the priority of the work week, basic grocery list, winter prep and winter needs for Patrick...the time spent planning and organizing will make it easier to do and less likely chance of me forgetting something important ...like toilet paper ...but hey at least we are not OUT, just lower than I like.

How are you doing ?

Blessed Be

It's been awhile

Since I have had time to sit down and write. Several things have happened, a cold spring that stopped us from getting the spring gardens in, a backed up drain in our basement that flooded the pantry,emergency custody of our grandson due to his mom (our youngest) having issues with her health complicated with other things and a cold beginning of summer with rain pretty often to screw with getting the summer garden in topped with messing my back up to the point medications don't help and struggle to get up and down. Already had a xray which confirmed my deformed disk in my lumbar and scoliosis (duh, I already knew that and had it from birth) and go for a MRI next...sigh...

I can say after using 5 hrs of driving grandson daily to his school so he could finish the year out there....I was so far behind in my spring/summer to do list I didn't think I would ever even get close and the budget was whacked out with paying for the gas to get him to school, of course it went UP instead of DOWN.

To keep food on the table and cash for the fuel to get him to school I immediately pulled up The Prudent Pantry(theprudentpantryblog.blogspot.com).
 and followed Brandy's advice more that I usually do.

Hubby came in last night and told me that he ran the rotor tiller in the large in garden and I had lost about 1/3rd of my tomatoes, probably from the family of bunnies that are still running around the house even with 2 large dogs constantly chasing after them. Hubby doesn't hunt or care for wild meat or they would be on the dining table by the weekend.

I remind myself daily that GOD is giving me no more than I can handle and the strength to handle what comes my way.

Meantime since I have to clean out the pantry I decided to change how it is laid out. Hope my back hangs in there long enough to get it done.

Later....Blessed be