Wednesday, April 26, 2023

When the question is "how can we save more ....

I brought up finances to Hubby while we were driving to doctor appt. yesterday.  

He didn't think we had anything except the mortgage to save for.... sigh... Yes I know that's his mild dementia so I just added that I thought we talked about it while he was working on putting garden beds together. Then it came back. He guessed he didn't realize how many  things we needed to be saving for.... which is why I do the finances or he would going out getting loans. 

We want the out of pocket for Medicare to be in the money market in full by Oct 1st when Hubby goes on Medicare. I can tell you unless things changed a lot, Hubby has NEVER met his out of pocket of $3200 from employer (who covers the insurance until he is 65). I can also say according to all our doctors our insurance is weird because the CO PAYS count in the OUT OF POCKET. That will be the hardest change for us.  I on the other hand usually have $3200 spent by March.... that hasn't happened in past year. Crohn's is calmed down and I didn't have any surgeries. 

Friends that worked at same place said they had out of pocket (including Doc offices) of $14,000 between the two of them. She is on biologic IV every 6 weeks. I am not a candidate because I only have 1 good vein in one arm but that goes on part A as she has it done at hospital.  But basically they have the same doctors and same health as us. There are some things we noted to ourselves that they could have saved money on that they won't ever do. Everything has to be brand name as I watched their sons and their wives roll their eyes. Plus they didn't get Medigap when they should have.

SO ... 

#1 . We need to save more for the Medicare out of pocket. We decided to double what we have now should be okay for his Oct. We will definitely get Medigap. Except for my biologic, all meds are generic.

# 2. We need to save back up maintenance fund by $2500. 

#3 The garden shed needs resided and a new roof. Metal shop said they could get white metal for siding and any shade of gray metal roof to make it look more like the house. Hubby is measuring this weekend to get the estimate costs. E said either he or his oldest 2 boys could help. We pay them $10/ hr. It's mostly going to be the roof. I would like to change it as it's over a loft and I don't use the loft so that would drop it down. Hubby said if he could rent the lift like he did to install the wood chimney he could do it with just 1 helper to lift the sheets of metal up to him. We will see as that will mostly be a fall job depending on the costs of the metal.

#4. We need to save $6000 for the rest of the garden beds and soil. Less if we can find it on sale as I based it on full price. 

#5. We need to increase emergency fund.

#6. We WANT to pay off mortgage as quick as possible.

#7  We WANT to replace red truck (one I drive) BUT I haven't found anything I would spend THAT kind of money on let along have a down payment for. The dealership we bought the red truck from told me that $5000 down would cover anything he has and he does a buy here pay here and he doesn't sell anything he wouldn't have his mother (mid 70s) in to drive. 

Mother would have made 7 savings accounts and divided what she had left at the end of the month by 7. She was a spender. She had 12 savings for her funeral. All of them had $100 . SIGH

Daddy would have started with emergency fund, then out of pocket fund and moved on from there. Daddy was a saver. 

I will have to think about this for a couple days

Blessed be

Prayers for peace and strength




  

Monday, April 24, 2023

GEEZE OHIO WEATHER

 Yes  I am yelling.!!!!


Snow pellets... first is was nasty cold rain and cloudy like late fall. Freeze warnings every morning... got one morning of frost warning and then back to freeze warnings. This CRAP is late February, early March weather.   I turned the furnace back down and we started the wood stove back up


Yes I know the ash door was still open. It had just started rolling. We have learned to wait to shut it until the smoke is coming out of the chimney outside. 

Asparagus is under row cover, M's oldest girl had Hubby show her how to move it so she could harvest. They were short some for Church supper. We did pick some before we covered it and E's Dad took it to auction for us. LOL. It sold for $3.50 a pound . Wow. He asked if we had more. Depends on how much his son's family eats and he asked for at least one more batch for him and E's mom.

We planted 12 roses, 2 elderberry bushes, 1 bee pollinator bed, 1 butterfly pollinator bed, 1 hummingbird pollinator bed, apple mint and orange mint. My peas in my hanging pots are starting to come up... they are now in the house ... not only for the cold but the birds thought they were a buffet . LOL

I cashed in Swagbucks and got a $25 card on discount and a $5 card. Both for Amazon.

I made waffles finally with the Belgian waffle maker. I did level 4 instead of 5 for darkness. Could have done level 3. Hubby said 4 was good in microwave but a bit hard with toaster. He wants me to label at what level they are cooked so he know which way to reheat them. We both liked the batter. I'll have to use the other waffle maker next time and a different batter.

We took Charlotte to the vet. She was limping. Nothing in her pads, got her toenails clipped. Taking the same med that Rascal took. Charlotte's mom started with arthritis at this age so it could be that. Athena, Charlotte's mom is on CBD oil and had done well. Doc said he could do an x ray to make sure that is what it is if she still is limping in a month. 

I made a extra payment on the mortgage that was equal to 7 months of the principal payment (no interest). Between it and the gardens and maintenance, back fence as the two pastures went bad. Looked like deer had ran into it and broke it in several areas. We put up cattle panels with metal posts. E told me to get some orange tape/ribbon and tie on the top and it would help stop that as they will see the ribbon and know to jump over it. He used in on the widow's next to us and it hasn't been broken in 6 yrs. I've seen deer run through her back yard so they will jump over it.... Anyways... we went over budget but not as I had been putting $$ back for those types of things.  

Now it's back to savings and hoping for warm weather so I can start getting more food out of the gardens to put on the table. Though I will admit eating asparagus daily for a week was plenty. I do have enough to have it twice a month thru the off season aka late fall/ winter.

Prayers for peace (and Sanity) 

Blessed be 


  


 

April's finances


 


Income

IRAs $6800.78

Social Security $3634.

Son 2 payment on loan $100

Business income $2600

Interest $89.98

Cash back from credit cards $100.05

Daddy's annuity $76.67

Swagbucks $30 (bought 2 Amazon cards)

CVS $10

Dentist $11 for paying cash 

Savings at Kroger's including Fresh Mode $125.61

Back pay from Daddy's Annuity $ 2453.44 

TOTAL INCOME $16031.53

Out go

Irregular expenses $2389.56

Down grid / maintenance $1327.90 (back fence to 2 pastures)

Automatic savings $180

Dog food/treats/vets $52

Household expenses $2543.55 

Business expenses $2522.26

Medical/OOP $1085.29

Garden $5228.73

Extra payment to Mortgage $3028.11( same as making 7 months of principal payments)

Extra to savings $780 (local bank has not increased interest so we moved a good part to our money market that is paying 4 %. We got 1 cent for interest from local bank.  If we didn't need cash on regular bases I would change completely. But nearest ATM for other accts in an hour away.

TOTAL OUT GO $19,137.40


IN RED $3105.87 

I transferred savings and still have almost 2 months saved for emergency. 



Saturday, April 22, 2023

I am bored.

Had visitors this morning at 8 AM.


They don't usually come over , was actually on the front porch pecking at the door driving Charlotte crazy. I don't think she scared them at all as they wandered around the side yard and the driveway before actually going back across the pasture. 

 

 Lousy weather. Got past this, then last night and this morning it was rain (we needed it) but the freaking cold came with it. Temps dropped over 20 degrees.

M's girls will pick the asparagus late  afternoon so that's not on my list. Hubby  said we would cover the asparagus and pollinator plants late evening trying to give them as much sunshine as possible. Next 4 days will be cover plants at night and uncover when the temps get above 40 during the day

I gathered stuff yesterday to go to the Township clean up today. Widow on E's side gave us her stuff a couple nights ago. E was over last night asking if we could take his as he was at a horse auction this morning. Hubby had a good size load as I cleared out part of the garden shed and gathered some nonworking appliances (heater, AC, humidifier amongst others) that he had scattered through the barn thinking he would remember where he put it.  I saw it and piled it in the front bay right where he walks. Second pile was in front of the 1st stall barn door so he had to move it to go out to his truck and the third pile was by garden shed by the trailer.  He just text me and said the hauler said they would have charged $300 for what was just ours and $500 for everything. It was FREE sort of since it's part of our township taxes. Might as well use it.

 I guess I can go play with finances or go read.... 

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be



Friday, April 21, 2023

How we get it all done


 we will be uncovering this today and recover late Sunday for the frost/freeze coming in on Monday. We are watching the weather to see if it comes in earlier.


These are the 12 metal garden beds that make 8 ft long beds to replace the wooden ones that are falling apart. They were to come in on Saturday. They came in early. They will be put together by mid May when it's time to plant "summer" crops

How do we get it done? 

We are up between 4 AM and 6 AM. We don't set alarms. Hubby will set an alarm if he is hauling. Both of us are usually asleep by 9 PM.

We ONLY watch the evening local news 5-6:30 and Nora Roberts 6:30 -7. At 7 we get things around for the next day. Plan meal, what we are doing at what time and which of us needs help. Hubby is doing a LOT better with the 3X5 memo pad and ink pen in his pocket. At 8 I head to the bedroom with Charlotte to read and Hubby sacks out in his recliner (has to sleep at angle). He tried to sleep in bed, ends up laying flat which is not good.

We start the day with coffee.... I drink 3- 6 ounce cups ,medium blend, he drinks 1- 22 ounce cup of dark or French roast. We snack for bfast, not big bfast eaters. We talk over what needs done this day vs what we like to get done this day. Needs done gets done first. IF errands are needed for supplies like this morning, one of us goes while the other one starts the day. We had a gate damaged due to winds, but instead of another gate that we don't need,  Hubby is picking up more cattle fence panels and fence posts. 

By 8:30 AM Laundry is done and either on the drying rack or on the clothes line. I will do some computer like now, and then some during "rest" times. I work a solid hour and the take a 15 min break to spend time with Charlotte. Charlotte has arthritis in her front legs. 

Neither of us have social media on our phones. (FYI over half our kids and grandkids have left social media due to violence and lies in posting and what they said was wasting their time). Hubby said twice he had to tell his mom when he was helping her do some weeding to put her phone down and leave it alone as she would hear it ping and look to see what it was and spend 10-15 mins. scrolling. His dad took it from her and put it in his pocket. He only uses his phone for calls .Our family and close friends know if it's important to CALL us not text us. 

I spend 40 hrs. a week in the gardens,  Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Mondays are usually 4-6 hrs. as I do a lot of in house work that day. Sunday we try to keep as the day of rest.  Tuesday is errands and appts. That will change some in the summer as Hubby will most likely be hauling some to Tuesday Amish produce auction. Hubby gives about 20 hrs. a week

In summer and early fall, those hours can easily jump to 80 hrs. a week for me (30 hrs. for Hubby) with Tuesdays being half days before or after errands. We still try to REST on Sunday. 

I bought bigger canners to cut down on the time and fuel needed to can.

My walk to the mailbox is also to pull weeds daily. 

I have Stihl clippers, hedge trimmers and pruner saw. What used to take me 4 hrs. now takes me 1 hr. Tools make a difference. 

Hubby was a single parent of two and quickly realized if I didn't work outside the home he would immediately save $$ between child care, housekeeping etc. I was working 3 part time jobs as a single parent and I wasn't paying child care as the oldest could watch the younger ones for the 30 minutes difference of my job and them getting home.  Since he wasn't great with the finances (paid credit cards before his mortgage and home bills), I took over the finances when we got together. With in a year he realized not only was he saving what he spent on childcare and housekeeping, he was spending LESS on clothes, groceries, utilities etc.  I cut back to 2 part time jobs at the same time.  Hubby figured out basing on 160 hrs. each month like he worked I was at $10/ hr. (not counting what I was earning doing ironing and housekeeping) which was more than the wages at that time for work I would have done with a full time job.

Right now he has me "earning" $28.02/hr. He has it at earnings... I have it as savings.

I would normally say back to the gardens... but it's starting to rain and I really hope we get at least an inch.

Prayers for peace

Blessed be


Wednesday, April 19, 2023

What I do with what I grow.

 Lettuce and greens gets ate fresh, if it bolts before we eat it I dehydrate it and grind it for green powder to add to sauces, casseroles and soups. I got 1 that will take some for their smoothies. Green Ice lettuce is allowed to bolt and go to seed so I can replant the next year. I have to be careful to make sure I get it before it goes to seed because about 10 yrs ago I had a yard full of it LOL.

Radishes are ate fresh or fried (just like a potato) when they get pithy.

Beets are ate fresh, roasted and canned with water or pickled.

Carrots are ate fresh, stored in second (or third) frig. I have canned them, froze them and at one time dehydrated them (such a pain to do that)

Peas ate fresh or frozen. I will let some "dry" on the vine to either make pea soup or if heirloom to replant the next year.

I grow snow peas for fresh eating and freeze for stir fries

Green beans. I grow Jade for regular green beans fresh, seeds and canned. They grow the best in this area (I used to grow Ky. Wonder). I grow Roma Wide Italian beans for fresh, seeds and canned for green beans potato and ham meals. I grow long green beans green and purple fresh and frozen for stir fries. If they are heirloom I will save some for seed. Wax yellow bean fresh, canned and seed. I also mix half green bean and half wax bean in pints for 3 bean salad. Hubby floats which other bean he uses as we save a bit of the "dry" beans for that.

Eggplant for fresh eating and frozen "breaded" for fried, canned in ratatouille.

Turnips fresh (silky sweet and Toyoko our favorites for fresh) I cook and can purple tops turnips. I either slice them like potatoes and fry them or cube and boil them to mash like mashed potatoes. The greens are in salads or cooked or dehydrated

Rutabagas and parsnips are cooked like carrots or turnips and canned. They have been mashed like mashed potatoes. The greens are cooked or dehydrated

Kohlrabi, ate fresh, cooked, canned, with greens in salads, or dehydrated.

Collards, kale, chard, spinach and mustards are ate fresh, cooked and dehydrated. Well not the collards, if I have extra daughter 1 and daughter 3 will take them. Daughter 2 will take the spinach. A few times the English widows will take them if it's enough for 1 to have a salad.

I grow dried soup beans, some I just leave as dried,  others I soak and then can so I can make quick meals. I make sure I save some for seed.

I grow cucumbers for fresh eating and pickling

I grow asparagus for fresh eating, pickling and freezing.

I grow Chinese cabbage for fresh and frozen

I grow red and green cabbages for fresh, frozen, red with apples canned, green as kraut or canned coleslaw as Hubby likes it better than frozen slaw.

I grow onions for fresh, winter storage and dehydrate. Yellow, white, red, Candy onions, scallions and walking onions. Can you tell we use a lot of onions?

I grow garlic, fresh and dehydrated

I grow peppers, sweet orange, red, cayenne, banana and pepperoncini for fresh, dehydrated and pickled.

I grow broccoli for fresh, if I get enough some frozen.

I grow brussels sprouts for fresh, if I get enough some frozen.

I grow cantaloupe for fresh.

I grow yellow squash and zucchini for fresh, frozen and pickled.

I grow tomatoes, cherry, roma, pasta, goat bag, and ox heart... fresh eating, roasted or not, canned as whole tomatoes, diced tomatoes, pasta sauce, pizza sauce, tomato sauce, and juice. I also dehydrate tomatoes and I dehydrate tomato skins for powder.

I grow pumpkin, butternut and acorn squash. I will not be doing that this year as one of the Amish is doing it to help pay off their medical bills. Means I have 2 garden beds for other stuff . I freeze butternut and acorn squash. I cook then dehydrate then grind pumpkin. 

I grow potatoes (white, golden, red and purple). 

I have grown sweet potatoes (didn't get any slips to plant😢 this year) So I will have to buy sweet potatoes but Hubby is going to ask one of the Amish if we can have 1 sweet potato in the fall to grow slips for us. 

I grow blackberries, red raspberries, golden raspberries, strawberries ,rhubarb, and apples. Fresh eating, canned in water or juice, pie filling, jam, jellies, and fruit butter, frozen and dehydrated. Purple seedless grapes and white seedless grapes... fresh, frozen, jelly or juice. We have a Bird deposit of a concord grape that is now 2 yrs old. If it lives through the summer we will transplant it for juice only. We have small cherry and peach trees. This is the 2nd year in a row a freeze hit after they started blooming. I doubt if we get anything off them. 

I grow thyme, oregano, garlic, apple mint, orange mint, garden mint, winter savory, basil, rosemary, lavender, lemon balm, marjoram, dill (weed and seeds), cilantro, sage, chives, garlic chives, parsley flat Italian and curly. 

We added elderberry bushes (covered from freeze) and rose bushes(also covered). Roses produce hips (if you don't pick the roses) that have Vit. A and C. We also added horseradish and more rhubarb(covered from freeze). We added blueberries and black raspberries also safe as not planted since we knew the freeze was coming in.

I sometimes plant Lady finger popcorn when we look to run low. I keep my popcorn in the freezer in pint jars, then move them to the frig. I only put out what I am going to pop about an hour before we want popcorn so it comes to room temp to pop better.  

I get my corn sweet white for fresh eating and yellow canning corn from E.

We eat a lot of roasts (beef, pork, and chicken) with root veggies whether fresh, frozen or canned. 

I use a lot of frozen veggies in off season of fresh with pasta, casseroles and soups. 

 IF what I grow doesn't make I first try to get it from Amish or farmers markets before going to a grocery store. Cauliflower is one that is usually from the store.

The Amish buy bushels of different fruits from an orchard over in Columbus area so sometimes we order some of that. Last year was peaches and apples. There is another Mennonite store we go to that sells bushels of fruit also that I can get some from. 

I am adding bee pollinator garden, butterfly pollinator garden and hummingbird pollinator garden this year.

Also replacing some herbs that died for herbal garden and a "medical" herb garden 

We want plants at the doors to help keep mosquitos and flies away. 

Hubby wants some sunflowers as he likes the seeds but I am willing to bet the birds will get them first and I want my heart garden to have flowers in it.

I am doing better by tracking that we eat our "colors" (red, yellow/orange, green, white/tan, black/purple/blue) on a daily bases.


Monday, April 17, 2023

what a week

Friday

We told E that Candy was not doing well by herself. She's 13 and has always been with the other horses.  His oldest son brought Nifty (retired race horse age 20) 


Nifty has been here before so was comfortable. Candy settle right down.

We got half of the weed barrier and trellises up for the berry vines. 

I planted 12 rose bushes, 2 elderberry bushes, 10 horseradish, and 4 rhubarb. 

Hubby laid more weed barrier down for the pollinator gardens. They are laying there but no soil.

I picked half bushel of asparagus to process today.


Blanch, freeze on cookie sheets, and then vacuum bag.

Sunday through Wednesday morning the weather SUCKS. Cold (almost to freezing in the mornings) wet, rain , wind and today SNOW PELLETS



SIGH... 

Hubby is in barn putting together 2 more beds as it was too bad for him to even drive fence posts in.

He is now carrying a 3x5 inch notepad and pen in his shirt pocket. It's helping with the memory issues. I had to draw a diagram of how I needed the berry trellises and weed barrier after he installed 3 trellises backwards.  We will have to buy more posts to add support as he made it clear he wasn't digging the posts back up and moving them.  I saw him sitting on the end of the trailer with his head down and E came over to check on him. Sat down with him and talked a bit and they both went over to the trellises. E put zip ties where the extra support would be needed. Hubby wrote it down in his notepad the zip ties is where the extra posts goes. E made a point later to let me know also.

Hubby also let the Amish know he would not be making long trips without one of them riding with him. He is doing well with GPS on his truck (dash board not on his phone) but feels he needs that extra "we need to stop for break" person. Couple of them asked if their kids could go (16 and older) to let them see outside the community. We both thought that was okay. Adults seem to fall asleep on long rides where the kids stay awake.

We updated my to do list. Nine a day SIGH.... The 12 garden beds that was to come in next month will be here this week. SO Hubby ordered 220 of 2 cubic raised bed soil to be delivered Saturday. Well worth the $79 to have it delivered than the 3 hrs. spent going after it, picking it up and bringing it back NOT touching UNLOADING it. This way they will unload it right where we need it to be.

I am waiting to plant the last of the berry vines since he doesn't have that area done. I can after this crappy  weather gets through put soil in the pollinator gardens and plant it. Hubby is going after mulch for the roses and elderberries later this week.

I need to plan menu and prep meals...AFTER I finish the asparagus

Blessed Be

Prayers for peace and patience 

 


AND it starts


 Our 1st meal of asparagus. I have enough up that we gathered a meals worth for a friend. It went well with the bacon sandwiches we had for last night dinner.

I planted different varieties of lettuce, onions, beets, carrots, turnips, radishes, peas and greens yesterday. My fake hip and lower back are letting me know I wasn't supposed to do all of that in one day LOL. I took breaks a lot but should have stretched more than I did and used my tens unit pain doctor got for me before bed. Lesson learned NOT.

Hubby went to do a couple hauling jobs... told me to take it easy and then called me as he sat in the driveway and asked me to put some of the smaller garden beds (pollinator beds) together so he would be able to figure out how much weed barrier to put under them tomorrow. I laughed. I guess he figures that is taking it easy for me.

Stay safe

Blessed be


SORRY.. it helps to hit PUBLISH button LOL


Wednesday, April 12, 2023

last couple days

 This is Candy... she normally is the school buggy horse or the horse M uses.


But E has several foals and the moms are getting a little nasty towards Candy as she wants to be around the foals. So she's at our pond for awhile. Hubby calls her our pond lawnmower. 

We are turning the furnace down to 60 (6 am to 8 pm) during the day as highs are in the 60s. When we have sunshine the house will get up into the 70s. The weather is still iffy and will be for another month.

I have been looking for metal garden beds to replace the one that are falling apart. Regular price has been $203.75 with tax. I found them on sale $166.23 and was able to use my cash back credit card saving a total of $550.19.  I was able to order 12 (half of what I need) which kept the costs in the amount I budgeted for this month. 

We went to grocery store. I saved $51.98.  I didn't get a couple things on my list but will check in 2 wks. 

Hubby got fuel at Kroger's and used my points saving $6.02 on fuel.

We use LED night lights (in Christmas candles).There are 13 of them through the house. We decided to stop using 7 of them. I am leaving the curtains/blinds open where they were and the security light in the yard is giving enough light for those areas. Hubby wasn't thrilled with leaving curtains/blinds open until I asked E if he could see in from his house one night. He went over and looked and said not really. As he is the only one that is behind the house enough to see in those areas. Said the security light and outhouse block that view from his home.

Going to the gardens to plant

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be


Sunday, April 9, 2023

Frugal week


 I stepped out on the front porch to what Charlotte was barking at, must have been a rabbit. I thought this "just before" the sun came up looked great.

Since we are expanding the garden we made a list of what we need.  Hubby looked it up and ball park figure was $2500 with taxes. We watched for sales and got it all for $1408.10. That included onion sets and the majority of plants and seeds for the pollinator gardens. I will have to completely redo the herb garden but I knew that last year and have been putting $$ back for that.

I am watching sales as 26 of the 32 beds need replace  with in the next year. I am buying metal beds when I find them on sale. Not looking for everything to match or like that.

The hall humidifier and the front room humidifier are off and unplugged. 

We have ate from home the whole week. Even though Hubby said he almost called when he was getting fuel for the work truck and ask if I wanted gas station pizza at $11. It's decent pizza. He decided not to even offer to be supportive of our(ok, mostly MY) choice to focus on getting perennials in and then getting the mortgage paid off as quick as possible. 

Our waffle maker died... we held off replacing it, waiting to see if we missed waffles. The second time I bought Eggo waffles , we agreed to buy a new waffle maker. Now I have to figure out a homemade waffle mix as I am trying to wean Hubby from Bisquick. Though I will admit I like it for cheddar biscuits.

Since it is light out longer, we are not turning the lamps on until an hour later.

I planted apple mint in the one grow tower and orange mint in the other. I am not sure where I want them yet so this will work.

I planted 4 varieties of dwarf peas in hanging baskets. I can't remember where I saw it at but they looked good so I decided to try it. 

On the 8th , I told Hubby I figured out my "work" for the month so I wouldn't trigger anything. April has 30 days minus the 8 days already past, minus 4 Sundays, 2 Tuesdays that are appts/ errands and 2 days to go visit the kids and his parents. Leaves 14 days for work. I have 28 "work items" on my list so I need to do 2 a day. Maybe I will be frugal with my time???

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be


 


What I do with what I grow

 We eat it fresh through the season. DO you know how tempting it was just say" EAT IT"??? 😋 I needed the laugh.

  I can (water bath canner and pressure canner), freeze, and dehydrate for when not in season. 

I used to "store" 2 yrs. of food. During the pandemic I ended up way too low after helping kids, grandkids and a couple friends. Two of the kids are now growing small gardens. 

Hubby told me to aim for 3 yrs. (I do first in , first out) this time as we have 3 that might not get paid (but still have to report to work ) if the debt ceiling doesn't get taken care of. Been there and done that the last time that happened. AND 2 that are having female surgeries this summer.

Heart.org says you should eat 4 servings of fruit and 5 servings of veggies a day per person. What I usually serve is 1/2 cup servings. That is 2 pints of fruit and 2 1/2 pints of veggies a DAY for the two of us.

That's 730 pints of fruit and 912 1/2 pints of veggies for a year.

 In my case I can 1460 pints of fruit (we don't eat the same fruit 2 days in a row) and 1825 pints of veggies for us for 2 yrs. 

That is not counting  the pints of, jam, jelly , fruit butter, pickles, relish, pie filling (for pancakes, French toast, waffles, cakes and ice cream), salsa, tomato sauce, whole tomatoes, or broths.

That's not counting the quarts of meat, beans, broth, soups, pasta sauce, tomato juice, grape juice. Or half pints of jams, pickled onions, pizza sauce and that types of things. 

Hubby asking for 3 yrs. Would be 2190 pints of fruit (minus what ever is left in the pantry) and 2737.5 pints of veggies (minus what ever is left in the pantry)

Since I freeze and dehydrate along with canning and I have large canners I can handle the increase. Plus he has no problem using the burner to the 3 turkey fryers to heat the water bath canners or sitting in the swing while watching them and timing them. Been and done that 5 yrs ago.

I would say most people don't think about how much they buy of anything when it's not done by season. MIL just told me Saturday that FIL asked why they have a case of green beans and a case of corn. She told him it would last 3 months... he didn't realize they ate one of week of each. 



Friday, April 7, 2023

And here we go

 I have to be careful or I will trigger the crap again with over doing it BUT

Here we go

We have to tear down the old wire fence (E said he will take it because he has a spot he needs wire fencing) and add 7 posts and install the cattle panels. Think 16 ft long , 50 inches high of wire fencing.

We have to plant 12 different rose bushes and 2 elderberry bushes (with 2 more to be planted next year).

We have 7 blueberry bushes to plant in the large grow bags.

We have 4-5 varieties of potatoes to plant.

We have to add cattle panels to existing berry rows and then make 2 more rows for the 2 varieties I just ordered of black raspberries. I also have red raspberries and golden raspberries to replace vines that didn't make it.

We have horseradish coming in to plant.

I have 5 apple mints and 5 orange mints to plant.

I have hummingbird pollinator garden to build and plant

I have bee pollinator garden to build and plant

I have butterfly pollinator garden to build and plant

I have a heart shaped garden to plant ... thinking cutting flowers ...

I have to transplant the walking onions 

We have 6 strawberry beds to build and restart the strawberries.

I have 6 hanging pots I am planting dwarf peas in to see if they work as well as I read.

I have peas, lettuces, greens, radishes, carrots, beets and maybe onions  if  Yoder's has them in, to plant this coming week.

Weather forecast is to be warmer every day ending in the 80s (I am considered north west here in Ohio. That warm is not common for early April)

MOST OF ALL

I have to make sure I am not over stretching stomach muscles and triggering cramps. Like two of the kids have just did after getting over the crap.



Monday, April 3, 2023

Better but not well...


Hubby said he used to see Rascal do this when I was sick but it's the first time he has seen Charlotte do it. He was surprised she didn't turn and look at him so he figured she was sound to sleep also.

I ate 3 bites of grilled chicken breast, 5 cooked baby carrots and 1/3 cup of mashed potatoes and retriggered the stomach SIGH. But reality is I HAVE to eat.  At least I am not "living" in the bathroom.😁  I actually walked around the perimeter 3 times in one day VERY slowly but I did it. Today I hung clothes on the line by myself... tummy a bit upset over the movement but not triggered much. LORD PLEASE.  

Since I couldn't do any manual work, I did paperwork. Budgets are redone, to do lists .. Hubby's, mine and ours (what takes both of us) is updated. 

We even tossed some future ideas around when I asked how we were going to mow if there is no way to get fuel. Hubby's first thought was E using his horses... that will work for the pond but since E mows our pond because we mow his small pasture as he can't get the horses turned around with the mower (mower is to the side not straight behind him). That thought isn't going to work especially if Hubby isn't picking up the horse crap after E mows . We might be able to "rent" his push mower and kids to mow around the yard. He is got that on his "think about" list. 

 Since most of the garden is above ground... I don't have to think about that.   I had already went through my kitchen appliances to figure out what I would have to do instead of using it. Though we did talk about more herbal and flowers for holistic and food. He asked if I would try growing sunflowers. 

We talked about how we used to get 5 colors of fruits and veggies daily and our grains etc... and why we don't now.  I showed him what I had written on the calendar which of course we haven't followed since I have been sick. He definitely pointed out we were doing a lot of stir fries (one sheet baked), 123 pasta(1 onion, 2 cups protein and 3 cups veggies), loaded pizzas and almost always had salad with the pasta and pizza. Snacks were fresh fruit in season with cheese and crackers.

We canceled see the kids, then we didn't go to baby shower on Sunday. We did check on everyone as tornadoes hit close to some family and friends. Everyone okay... some got roof damage but not bad.

I saw this and thought >>> WOW. why did I not learn this in school? Brother who taught history said that kind of stuff was kept quiet. He was "speeding".



Be safe

Blessed Be 


comparing Feb to March finances

 Business income was up, interest was up. I counted cash back since it was up so high. We got a new credit card at the local TSC to get a discount on a  purchase. It actually pays more back that our other credit cards for general stuff. 

Irregular expenses were down along with down grid/maintenance, dog, and business.

Medical/oop was up , garden was up and since we are doing a lot of changes to make it easier for 1 person to deal with, we put it in it's own category. Household was up due to grocery/eating out budget being up. We will not do 4 days straight of appts again if we can avoid it. Another out go was I cashed 2 CD's and then bought 2 other CDS with better interest rate.

Over all I felt it was okay.... Hubby was disappointed there wasn't a big amount paid extra on the mortgage. He also is very worried about losing money like we did in 2008. I showed him how the budget would be cut (already have some but he didn't realize that) and where money would be to help pay the bills. That calmed him.

 I did remind him that he can't go to the store and just buy what ever. He needs to stay to the list. If he sees something on sale that he needs... he needs to CALL me and see if it's in the budget. Tractor Supply CO (TSC) is where that happens a lot. I still don't know what he bought twice, he didn't give me the receipt and he can't remember. It is in his trip log he stopped there so he was in the work truck. But he put it on the home CC not the business CC. Since there are several small projects he is working on, it's hard telling what was bought but it racked up over $100 between the two.

Stay safe 

Blessed Be