Saving money end of May

In no rhyme or reason... 

Weather has been iffy all week but I still turned the furnace down to 60 from 8 am to 9 pm. and up to 70 degrees from 9 pm to 8 am. Hubby has issues if he wakes up cold. 

 I got up this morning and told him the temperature in the house was 75... if I get up the rest of this week and it's the same I will shut the furnace off completely. I let the late sunshine come in to warm the house to hold the temp up during the night. Week is suppose to be pushing 90 for 3-4 days so I can see that furnace being turned off.

We harvested from the gardens: strawberries, rhubarb, scallions, red and golden cherry tomatoes, radishes, turnips, spinach, mustard greens and lettuces. 

We got a rhubarb pie from M. M isn't getting extra eggs so we bought eggs from Amish bakery. Cage free organic brown eggs $2.50 a dozen... extra large eggs they were.

Used digital credit (earned by changing delivery days with Amazon) to buy the 3 books that Neurologist and a friend suggested on Dementia. So no out of pocket there.

I ordered 2 elderberry bushes using my Chase points. 

Doc took Hubby off B complex vitamin, I will use them for myself .

Used Charlotte's drinking water on kitchen porch to water 2 of the small plants on the kitchen porch. The inside water to water the mint and daylilies at the mudroom door. 

I froze all leftovers that was not going to be ate.

Used "Ever Lasting Meal" cookbook by Tamar Adler for using up some odds and ends

Took buttons off Hubby's work shirt that is nothing but thin rag now. I think I might get a few pieces that I can make patches with otherwise it's in the rag bag.

I made French toast with 2 loaves of the bread I got on sale. Now in freezer. Also froze another loaf so we only have 1 loaf to eat now. 

I replaced the plants that died when we got that late freeze. Since it's at the end of planting season I was able to find replacements at 2 Amish greenhouses that were starting to clear their stock to make room for fall crops and flowers. Nice discount and got the flowers for the family's graves at 25% off also 

Sold 4 lbs. of asparagus at produce auction for $4.50/ lb. 

Had a $10 credit on Hubby's TSC card, he got dog food which gave him another 5% off since he bought it at TSC.

Used the garden meter while watering, Hubby over waters and I underwater. This keeps things water correctly. 

Made snacks for Hubby's trip

Trip planning

 Hubby is going on an over night business trip. The gentleman going with him knows about his issues and the Neurologist okayed the trip to Wisconsin since he will not be alone. 

Hubby looked at 5 different maps and every single one of them had him going through Chicago (I have yet to find a trucker who wants to go through Chicago). He was getting upset about it.  I texted Son2 and asked how to get around it since he has for years had to go Fort McCoy Wisconsin.

He sent back this map. Hubby printed it off, took it to the other guy and they both felt it was good. It means 30 minutes more travel but NO CHICAGO. It goes south of Chicago on a road that both Hubby and the other gentleman have been on. It also means NO TOLL charges which was going to rack up to around $400 total. Hubby also loaded it to his phone that he can hook to the truck display so they can see it without picking up the phone. 

They are loading the trailer today... packing over night clothes (and Hubby's meds in original bottles) and some snacks, water and black coffee. Should be at destination at lunch time since they are leaving at 4 AM. Will drop off the load and reload then call it a day. The other gentleman is making the overnight plans.  Plan to leave when they get up (probably around 3-4 AM knowing these two men) and head home. I will be getting texts at gas stops etc. so I know where they are.

He will make enough to meet the bills for June so that is a relief with all of the automatic bills that come in on the 12th. 

He reminded E yesterday when the family was over here fishing the pond that he would be gone. E agreed to check on me so Hubby could feel more at ease. 

Hope it goes well.

if I started crying

I am not sure I would stop and I need to do for Hubby first.... a roller coaster week for sure.

 Apples are starting to make. That's a good sign.

Hubby's trailer is fixed after almost 3 wks. of losing work...$3200 later SIGH. He used his SS to cover the bill to the Mennonite company that did the repair (they don't take credit cards) and the bank let him do extend a payment for the parts he bought on his credit card. Mennonite arranged for him to get their "discount" since he drove a total of 4 hrs. to go get the parts for them. Finding parts was the hardest part. SO it the govt doesn't cover the debt ceiling and they don't seen SS checks we are going to be hurting bad.

The strawberries and black raspberries are in bloom, should be getting strawberries in a week if it gets warm like they are forecasting as we had a cool down with mornings in the low 40s and highs in the 60s, low 70s

I will now only go get groceries once a month with a pick up of milk two weeks later when Hubby is getting fuel as the medical bills will be through the roof for the next couple months. I did save $81.11 on groceries this past week, a bit over 20%. and Hubby saved a bit over $5 using the Kroger's fuel points. I now have $12 in Fresh Mode points and over 500 pts for fuel for June. We will have to start buying eggs. Free range, organic is running $2.50 with the Amish. M isn't getting enough to have extra with 12 of them at the table I understand that completely.

Hubby had a change in behavior followed by not processing things. I brought it up to our primary and he scheduled an appt. with the neurologist who ordered a MRI, Primary ordered extensive blood work and put him on B complex vitamins, thinking it's a vitamin deficiency.   

Blood work is in. Back off the B complex. He is not deficient in anything. He does have low thyroid and metabolic syndrome plus the A1C is 6.1 (both of us for over 30 yrs have had this number).

Went to see the neurologist, The MRI showed brain damage BUT the brain is NOT shrinking at this point. He has no feeling below his knees. Was told to stay off ladders since he doesn't know where his feet is (he pointed to them and told the doctor they were on the end of his legs. Even Doc laughed).

He couldn't do simple subtraction (he tutored me in math in high school and tutored the kids and their friends), broke my heart as I hadn't picked that up. BUT what I did pick up was he wasn't remembering what we would decide on or what I said to him about things. The nurse while testing him gave him a sentence that he was to repeat back to her exactly as she said it. He said the reverse. Specialist gave him the sentence ... go to second traffic light, turn right, the house is the 3rd on the left. Hubby came back with , go to the light , turn left and it's the 3rd house on the right. Specialist looked at me and said...it's not you, but he isn't going to repeat back what you said. If it's important WRITE IT DOWN. Hubby asked me if I write it down in the memo pad he carries to write it in red so he knows it's important.

 Specialist made it clear he has to have a routine (hubby admitted he battle me on this), he has to eat healthy (berries in any form daily) And if he starts hauling at 7 am , and he isn't hauling that day, he needs to do work around the house starting at 7 AM. Meals need to be close to the same time daily. He has to do physical work 1 hr. every day including Sunday. Push mowing the yard, splitting, stacking and hauling wood counts if he is doing it by hand or wagon, not tractor. He has to have at least 10,000 steps a day. He gets about 7,000. 

He told Hubby that he was lucky as usually by time he sees the patient the MRI shows the brain has shrank. My noticing the change in behavior and didn't blow off he was forgetting due to old age is going to make a big difference on how it progresses. Hubby told Specialist that he worked 3rd for 40 yrs even when he was farming and that he could always float his lunch time so he made sure the diabetics ate when they need to even if it meant he was eating lunch  30 minutes before clocking out for the night. 

He will be scheduled with neuropsychologist to pinpoint what caused the damage, could be chemical from farming,  from working with aluminum, rheumatic fever, motorcycle accident, hearing loss, eyesight loss, or dementia. He will also have a sleep study to make sure the sleep apnea is not back and testing nerve testing for hand and feet. 

He has to eat a brain health diet and told him to eat 1/2 cup of berries at least twice a week, daily would be better in any form as Doc knows that berries are expensive... We both laughed and told him we actually grow all sorts of berries and two types of grapes.  

Hubby did tell him that he had been copping a nasty attitude towards me because he thought I was lying to him. I got an apology from Hubby and the Specialist made it clear that I was doing very well, to keep that type of watch over him. If something improves he wants to know it along with what is getting worse. 

He definitely will NOT be doing the finances. 

We did decide, I wrote it out and he signed and dated it, that we would tell his parents in person he was having issues, that he had brain damage and being tested to find out what caused it. When we do that I will let his sister in law (retired nurse) tell his siblings as they live in her area and see her daily so they can question her instead of the parents. We will do the same with our kids except Son2 who is our caretaker if something happens who we told on the way home. 

ON THE OTHER END

I have hurt the right leg that the fake hip is in and I am now waiting for a call back to see if they want me to come in to see them or if they want to order a test to see if I messed up the hip  or muscle. I am limping, can't take my normal stride in walking and the knee has gave twice now on stairs.  I am hoping for pulled muscle and NOT follow Daughter 1's footsteps of breaking the stem to the leg bone that she did TWICE.

Prayer for peace and sanity

Stay safe

Blessed Be

Freaking tired

 I want a nap... whine whine whine. 

Over the last five days I have walked enough steps to have went 60 miles. 

All the winter stuff has been washed but not put away in the barn... I want a nap.

Hubby's hauling trailer had a brake lock up and heat up. He got it to release but drove it straight to the repair shop. He decided since it was already in to have the trailer completely gone over and all 4 brakes replaced. He ended up going after the parts after it took them a week to find them and they were clear across the state. Delivery would have been more than his fuel to go get them AND saved 5 days coming through the mail as it was Ascension the next day and that store is ran by Mennonites. 

STILL no trailer. Repair guy said they must have all heated up because they are being a bear to fix. Better than being in Wisconsin and having it happen like he will be next month. Meantime he lost 5 hauls due to trailer being down. SO he won't have the money coming in to cover the repair job nor to cover the regular bills so we did the money shuffle. All the household bills are paid to the 8th so gives him time to figure out if he needs to use his SS to pay the business bills or if he can pick up enough to cover it. The Wisconsin job could be moved up. It won't cover everything but it would help a lot. 

He wired the solar pump backwards and it drained the batteries connected to the solar panels and pump. So with help from the dealer he got the issue found and corrected. Hopefully nothing was harmed but we will find out later as we can't run the pump until the batteries are charged. He showed E what he had done wrong and E showed me. 

He was mowing the yard with the push mower with a can of gas sitting on it right against the motor and then thought I lost my mind when I stopped him over it. Mowed over my lilies thinking they were weeds also, they hadn't bloomed so he didn't think they were flowers. He won't mow weeds if they have bloomed either.

He turned the AC on even with the house only being 68. I turned it right back off and told him we would check it again when the house is 80. 

I asked him if he had been taking his meds... he said yes. He usually takes them first thing in the morning but I noticed today he was taking them mid morning.

I counted the pills when he went out with E (who knows about the issues) the answer is NO he is skipping the one, it's for his shakes. He has nerve damage due to accident. 

I went out to the barn to give it to him and found almost a case of unopened bottled water that he was supposed to be drinking and didn't the past week. Pinched the back of his hand and E pointed to it and told him he was dehydrated so he wouldn't think clearly. E told him they do that test when in the woods hunting or cutting wood. E got him to drinking the water. E is working with him for the afternoon and the boys are too making sure everyone is drinking their water.

New rule, he has to drink the water in front of me when he is out in the barn. Funny thing is, when he is hauling, he drinks water all the time and when he is in the house he regularly gets water to drink. 

After spending 6 hrs. with his parents, I can say he acts like his mom...AND neither would drink anything while here. His dad is into conspiracies (thank heavens I am not dealing with that from him... that's a couple of the kids), still very angry he lost the farm when he was gambling the money away, blames the gov't because they wouldn't let him roll it on the farm loan and is sure that certain members of congress are trying to take his title of his house. Hubby's mom always rolls her eyes (maybe I should learn that) and then talks of all the things she sees on media and it must be true it's on media (SIGH) and they blame each other for the spam, hack , break down of their phones, computers, iPad etc. I texted Hubby's younger brother and told him their phones were not right and he dad thought someone was trying to take the title of the house. He said between him and the 2 grandsons' that work in that area, they mess things up daily and he has their legal stuff dealt with to protect them from title theft etc. He wasn't sure but he thought his Dad applied for a reverse mortgage and his mom put a stop on it needed both their signatures so that triggered the "someone is trying to take my title because he couldn't borrow against it.".  

Hubby mentioned his dad was drinking sprite with orange juice when at home. Another text went out to his sister (nurse) and she went and took it out of the house. He is on insulin and is NOT to be doing that. So now they are being checked for what is coming in the door. I can vouch they could be in the nursing home and still getting food that they aren't suppose to have due to visitors (my brother and nieces giving Daddy candy ) and the ones eating at the table with him giving him their puddings or what ever they didn't want to eat. Daddy didn't believe in throwing any food away ever.

Hubby asked what we were going to do when he couldn't have his choc bar with peanut butter or me my coke... NOT BUY IT just like my Mother did when Pop couldn't have stuff due to his health issues. I cut way back on the coke anyways 20 ounces lasts 3-4 days unless it's with pizza which is maybe once a month.

We have back to back appointments this week at least he's not trying to juggle doctor appts between hauls. PLUS I need to use my coupons and points before I lose them. So grocery store is added in there. 

Have a wonderful week....

I need a wonderful NAP.

Stay safe

Blessed be 

Prayers for peace including peace of mind

  

I still need to...

 replant cherry tomatoes that have out grown their pot and plant the cucumbers (4 inch ones) in a pot also.

Hubby finished putting together the last 4 beds we have space for. He will fill them with dirt today. Mostly will be for late summer early fall crops. 

Days now will be weed/harvest/process/plant. Along with laundry/dishes/ meals 

Beyond that it's what ever I can get to. I thought I was going to get a good rainy day Saturday to clean house and prep... instead I was planting because it didn't rain enough to stop that. But at least the main part is growing.

Asparagus is done mostly. Might get one or two meals out of it before they all are ferned out.

I need to harvest rhubarb

Strawberries have bloomed and are starting.

As of today we saw the first blooms on the blackberries

We saw our first hummingbird yesterday, a female that was more interested in the hanging baskets than the hummingbird feeder. Hubby said she was saying Happy Mother's day and thank you for her Mother's day flowers LOL.

Since we didn't get the rain out on Saturday I finished planting the big gardens. 

Sunday I planted the heart garden bed I bought for myself. It has annuals and perennials. 

I really need to start the spring cleaning. But today is Monday. That is clean 3 frigs, put anything away that hasn't been and take trash to the road. I still need to bake bread and a spice cake. BUT refilling the hummingbird feeders comes first.

Stay safe

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be

I'm tired BUT

 Son2 got rid of some of his clutter. Mother had gave him this LEAD crystal pitcher (he doesn't remember using it ever) 

It might kill off the orange roses but what ever. I got them for $5.

Son 2 also sent me this.

He asked about where we were with updating our will and crap (his words) as he was updating his. Since I am his next of kin and he is our executor... it followed his thinking.

Then he brought up stupidity in DC (retired vet with working as civilian on base) over the debt ceiling . Could we make the bills without SS since we have always focused on making the bills only on SS.  I spent 5 minutes while he yacked about VFW (he works 2 jobs there) and Combat Vets (works 1 job there) I did said he was a work alcoholic right? Plus helping his girlfriend with her teenage daughter whose own dad doesn't make the effort.  The last time this crap hit I was paying his gas for him to go to work as ordered but not getting a paycheck.

YES we can either live on 1 IRA or on both SS with medical from Daddy's IRA that I inherited. ALSO know that's WITH the mortgage. 

Mean time we decided to put extra money back in savings instead of on the mortgage incase crap hits the fan. Then if it doesn't hit the fan we can just send it to the mortgage. 

The Amish lady I was buying herb plants from , waited on an Englisher (what Amish call us) who was telling Mrs. Y all about where she was going shopping with her friend. When  I stepped up to check out, Mrs. Y told me that the Englisher comes up from southern Ohio, a 3 hr. trip one way, once a month to go shopping at several stores with her friend. Mrs. Y had asked if the stores near her didn't sell what she was shopping for. Yes they do but she gets to go to more stores with her friend. 

Mrs. Y who very seldom offers that kind of conversation continued with " let me offer some thoughts,  more stores you shop, the more money you will spend because you see what you think are good deals. Deals you really could go without."

 I asked how often she went to the store, bulk or English... not even once a month.  But she acknowledged she had chickens for meat and eggs along with a milk cow so have milk, heavy cream and butter. I asked if she need to do other work, I wanted advice to help save money and eat healthy. She said she had the time for me.

Eat from your garden (or in season if you don't have a garden). Eat what you process yourself or get at farmer's markets. Leave boxed food on the store shelf. Make it from scratch. Buy canned goods or frozen if needed. She would add pasta if on sale cheap.   She pointed out I just over ran 5 Amish families (actually it was 6) with asparagus, one actually sold it at the produce auction and gave us the money. Everyone else's asparagus is just now coming on, ours is done. We ate it daily. I have 3 more meals of it in the frig and 26 meals of it in the freezer. Hubby would like to not see it on the table since it was on the table nightly for 5 wks.

She asked what would come in next. Rhubarb is ready now, strawberries are in bloom. Peas are just starting to come on, might end up with peas and green beans at same time.  She nodded. Eat that, and use what you already have in pantry.

She also told me to have Hubby say something to J at feed store about what cheeses he brings in from Holmes co. I pointed out that Hubby is hauling someone every other month to Holmes co. She strongly suggested he get his cheese then. 

Men must talk about eating cheese when Hubby is hauling them LOL.

I asked if she did pantry soup like E's mom. She said no, she does scrap soup or casserole. What ever is left over the day before goes to soup or casserole for lunch.

She asked how often I go to the store or shop Amazon (yes Amish shop Amazon through Englishers)  Twice a month store, once a month Amazon, but that was stock up of medical supplies including the dog medical, that I couldn't find local. She suggest to cut in half... or even down to one with just pick of milk and eggs.  She pushed  to every 5 to 6 wks. when she realized they had started going to the store on average of every 10 days. They were already in town, let's stop. When she quit that and pushed it to twice a month, the bill dropped by 25%. She pushed it again to once a month, it dropped another 25%. Now she is at 5 wks. and looking to push it to 6 wks. She's spending 1/3rd of what she was. She does put her gardening supplies in the grocery budget.... as she put it...it's food right? 

It was an interesting conversation from a woman I barely get any from. 

Let me tell you a story

We can start with last night's dinner that is off topic

Hubby mentioned he missed going to a steakhouse and getting surf and turf. I pulled it from the freezer and picked the asparagus fresh . Grilled it and called it done. Last time we had that meal at a restaurant it cost us over $100.

Now to the story

 In 2007 Hubby was telling me his plant never laid off, he was working 7 days a week 10 hrs. a day for a solid year as they couldn't hire enough to work. We had the old homestead that we were refinishing to sell and then decided to move Daughter 2 in to help pay those bills and help do the work. We bought a smaller 3 bedroom one story. I, for the first time in years, had no garden and no more than a month's worth of groceries including paper products and personal care. BECAUSE Hubby made him feel we were poor and that I was saying he couldn't take care of everything.  

 Within 1 month in 2008, not only did the plant lay off over half the workers, the ones they kept (mostly maintenance like Hubby) was cut to 3 days a week. The plant did that so they could keep them covered with health ins. and we were grateful for at least that.

Daddy lost over 50% of his investments due to not moving his money when his finance guy told him to and had to go to living on SS only. We actually gained money in our investments. 

 Daughter 2 lost her income and moved, we lost both houses and moved to an 800 sq ft rental a friend found for us. I started stocking when I could afford it. We ended up in slow pay bankruptcy. The judge refused to take the 401(k) like we wanted to just pay everything off. At the time I was ticked over that choice. Bankruptcy was for 5 yrs. Our kids and a friend were putting food etc. on the table for a solid year.

Hubby was still dealing with the shock of everything when I sat him down and told him, I was taking over the finances. In 4 yrs. instead of 5 I had the bankruptcy paid off. Every single extra dollar that came in or was not spent, went on that bill. I sent a letter thanking the Judge for not letting us use the 401k to pay it off as I don't think I could have got Hubby to start saving.

We moved to an old farm house a coworker was renting out. Daughter 4's ex moved us and told her not to worry as I had enough can goods stored under furniture to keep us fed for 6 months  We lived there almost 10 yrs. I saved up enough to come up with the down payment for this home. I went back gardening and canning.

As all of you know, if you have read this blog much at all. I have grow a huge garden. I stock pile everything. I have helped our kids , grandkids and neighbors . We have an emergency fund (lower than I like but it's there). We are able to go off grid if needed.

Hubby told me to stock for at least 2 yrs for everything and to get the emergency fund up to 6 months at least. FYI we are at 4 months, 5 months if I count what is sitting in checking. 

I asked what he saw on tv or read on the internet. A lot of things from what he explained that he doesn't believe they are being completely honest because they don't want to trigger a big freak out. Just like 2007-2008.

Just a FYI , average time of recession is 10 months according to Dave Ramsey.

Daughter 4 had texted him she had her 40 hrs. plus / week job at Amazon (within 30 miles of us) cut to 15 hrs. She was going for an interview at another place.  

The grocery store that was coming in locally, has backed out completely. 

Feds once again raised interest rates.

Two more banks are up for sale (and that's after our own put out they bought Union Bank)

He is seeing less work hauling pallets and knows the one company that he used to haul for has closed due to lack of orders. The company that buys used pallets, isn't getting much in either. 

He was watching on the internet some financial guys and one of them mentioned that Dave Ramsey had commented on his site that recession is like a hurricane. You don't know how hard it's going to hit or exactly what it is going to hit. When it hit him, that between world issues and political issues and banks going down... the hurricane has started. 

He didn't even bring up the crap in DC about the debt ceiling with possibly not getting our SS.

I did Dave Ramsey's debt snowball when my late husband died leaving me with $65,000 in debt and no income. Was it hard? Yes , I posted the debt on the wall and the kids learned where the money was going and on what. We celebrated not only paying that off but bringing a $33,000 one step before being condemned house up to $56,000 paid OFF. That was before Hubby and I married.

This morning I checked out Dave Ramsey's site for recession info.

He said put the 4 walls first: food, utilities, shelter and transportation. Follow that with stock pile cash with the assumption you already have 3-6 months emergency fund. 

I inventoried medical first, then medication, then over the counter vitamins and such. I even did the dog.  I made the list of what is needed and how much for 2 yrs.

I inventoried cleaning/personal care/ paper products including office products. Might need ink for printer before 2 yrs. but I felt what we have is fine

I inventoried the pantry. Since it's going into garden season, not real worried as I have grains, sugars of all sorts (honey, molasses and maple syrup in this area) I have yeast but can make sour dough. I have salt which comes from my Grandpa on Daddy's side telling me how they couldn't can one year because they ran out of salt. I am writing out what is needed so I don't lose focus during the season and miss I need more green beans like M did this past year. 

Utilities/shelter is current and I keep focusing on reducing those costs.

We are selling the motorcycle. We will run the red truck until we can't (frame rusting out) and Hubby has 18 more payments on the work truck.

We have 4 months emergency funds, 5 with checking.   We both carry some cash as Amish are always asking if we can "break" their $20s. 

When he gets home today from hauling I can sit him down and show him where we are with everything and hopefully calm his fears. It can make things worse with his mild dementia.

Stay safe, prayers for peace (and brains that actually are logical?)

Blessed be

Tomorrow is a new day

 Migraines are back and I am trying to not make them worse. I hate taking the meds as they just whack out everything else. 

It's May 1st  Ohio... you can see the sleet against the barn. I know I have lost several plants that will cost plenty to replace. Just weird weather for Ohio. 

E came over to get Hubby to take him and a couple of the boys to go get some motors that finally came in. Way to rainy, sleety, windy (gusts up to 40 mph with temp at 35 to help Hubby fix downspout on barn or unload wood from wagon.

I called the one place we had several people tell us that was good to go to for figuring out Medicare etc. They asked a few questions and came back we really didn't need them as I had 98% already figured out. Not only that but they specified they didn't provide all plans as they limit to the ones they SELL.  She did check about the prescription coverage thinking we should flip to Walgreens (40 minutes away from us 1 way) but came back with NOPE. We would spend almost twice as much going the way they were thinking.   They did suggest AARP Medicare supplement since we are long term members. They also said to wait until end of June or even the first week of July for Hubby. I won't be until Oct. If we wanted to come in to go over it to come in late June.  

The widow next door came over and asked when we went on Medicare (she already is on it). Her niece just opened a business in town that helps people find the best plan. They check around 200 plans, they don't sell any of the plans. Just do a small fee to help the headache of dealing with it. I called the young lady, Hubby goes in mid June. One headache at a time.

I took a strong look of what we need to restock for the year in the pantry. Weird crap LOL. Like vinegars for salad dressings.  I went to 4 stores to find parmesan and only could find the powdered stuff ... sorry but my Italian grandmother's voice was in my head over that. Ended up ordering jar from Amazon. Son 2 thinks he can get me some from his area. I want a block or round I will shred myself. I was down to the last box of Gas X  cherry as I can't stand the other flavor... of course that was to be found no where in store, was told I could order on line... okay but they wanted to charge $$ to ship, got it through Amazon and the box was even less than ordering through the store. GEEZE. I finally found some wintergreen tea as I am totally out and it's the only "mint" tea I can drink. I can do my home grown garden mint (that's what the Amish call it) a little if I don't let it steep longer than a couple minutes. 

I need corn for the freezer that will come from E or one of the other Amish. 

I need Italian green beans (wide for one pot meals), regular green beans (Jade beans grow best here) and yellow wax beans.  I need peas (planted , but if I don't get enough for freezer I will replant in the fall) I need tomatoes. If I don't get enough I will buy them from 3 different Amish. M had to buy some canned veggies at the store this year so she is definitely expanding the gardens and not giving any away (I usually get zucchini and tomatoes from her when she was ran over). I'm not sure what else as I've not done the spring cleaning yet.

Stay safe, prayers for peace

Blessed Be