Frugal end to May

Rascal was messing around the climbing rose bush and got this stuck on him some how so I put it in the vase for my dining table.

It's been a rough week emotionally, 2 different tornadoes was within 1/4 of mile from our son's, worried a lot as he has no basement, he had some limbs down but no real damage, then  our dog Miss Kira  passing and Hubby , who is an EMT at work having to do CPR on a co-worker for about 10 min and said he didn't think the guy was going to come back...THANKFULLY , he is recovering and now out of ICU. I gave Hubby the last of the grocery money to get gas to go see him and to donate some to help the guy as his wife and him are raising 3 young grandkids. My emotions triggered my Crohn's and then we had a 2 hr drive (1 way) to Hubby's brother's wedding the day after Miss Kira died, rough leaving Rascal here alone. We used Kroger points and Speedway gas cards to save on gas.

The Gardens have been soaked repeatedly that I am not sure if I will be able to finish planting or get in to weed what was planted.  I keep moving the potted plants off the porch to the yard when it's going to rain to not have to water them .I did plant some scarlet runner beans in the front flower bed, more for the blooms for the hummingbirds than for the beans. I was given under size tomato plants that need to be repotted and allowed to get bigger before planting in the garden.

Sorry, I keep forgetting to raise the screen in the mornings so I can get better pictures LOL. This is Mommy Hummer... Daddy Hummer usually uses the other feeder ...this morning (when I didn't have my phone) Baby Hummer came by himself to feed at this feeder. The other day he was with Mommy Hummer.

I have been listening to my online classes through our health ins (we have earned enough pts that if Hubby doesn't retire this year, his health ins will be free next year and mine will be $1.50 a week.Plus we save $ on the copay and deductible and have a 90-10 plan instead of the 80-20 plan with larger payments,co pays and deductibles. We are planning on him coming out this year BUT you just never know what life is going to throw at you. I work on the afghan I am crocheting for my great grandson. Over half way done. On the days I don't have class I do Swagbucks videos for the same length of time.

I mixed equal amounts of 20 mule team borax and sugar for the ants.


I harvest thyme (twice), garlic scapes (twice), chives, garlic chives, lavender and rose petals.

We ate most of what was on the menu, the leftover was what Kira (and Rascal also even though he ate 3 bowls of dry dog food also) was eating as she could no longer handle dry dog food.

Electric bill came in $50 under budget.That will go back up as I had to turn the dehumidifier on because it's 90% humidity in the basement pantry.

While I was in the root cellar during tornadoes I made a list of what was still missing and plan to have it finished by July. Part of it I think I can find stuff we have to work (like plastic to keep things from getting wet if the house gets blew off it's foundation), so that's the focus of this week.

We also started listing what we use daily so I can makes sure that is stocked for the 4 months we go without income. Our neighbors that farm and run a construction business said they thought they could give us some off and on work, that was nice for the offer even if they can't do it at the time because construction and farming slows down a lot during the winter.

Do the same routine with opening curtains (binder clipping tops to limit sun coming in) and opening windows. Run fans when we are the room. Hubby uses the ceiling fan when he sleeps during the day. We do have a room AC that he also uses if it's too hot for him to sleep so we don't have to use the Central air. When we do use the central air it's at 76.

Hubby needed new shoes( he does one pair for yard work, one for dress..yard work need to go in the trash), there is one pair that is the best for his feet. We priced it at a big shoe store while killing time before the wedding and it was running about $150...OUCH. He was talking about just finding something else. I found them on Amazon for $90... Since they will last him for at least a couple years (yard work pair is over 4 yrs old) it's a price we are willing to pay. I found the shoes I wear at Walmart so used my swagbucks to order through so I would get some back. Also ordered 3 blouses that were on clearance as I wasn't finding anything to go with 4 skirts I bought at yard sales and thrift shops and am down to 1 outfit to wear to weddings and such. We can wear jeans to church.

Blessed Be