Snow, sleet, rain, deaths and sickness and budget AGAIN.

 when temps are at 32 SIGH.. what a day. Hubby is out in it as he is making sure the two widows can get their cars out. He cleared off both of our porches and the deck along with the sidewalk to the barn. Plowed our own lane and cleared mailboxes for both widows , E and us after the township plow went through.

IT was a bad hair day on top of catching pneumonia. SIGH. Urgent care was cheaper than driving to primary and him sending me for x rays.

We had more deaths in the family, heart attack, my cousin's son, cancer, from another cousin and old age with a grand parent on the eldest's other side. My brother let me know his wife lost 2 on her side from old age. Still hard even when their are of "that age". 

The guy around the corner (we can see his cabin across the field from our porch) house burned down. Completely gone, possible damage to foundation. Has been working on this for 3 yrs. and was getting it finished this week to move in Feb. 1st. Outdoor furnace got to hot, and the pipe from it got too hot and was too close to cabin that was dried pine logs. Rumor is his insurance told him the furnace had to be 100 ft from the house. It wasn't even 10 ft. He was working in the upstairs bedroom and smelled smoke. Went out the window over the front porch roof to get out. He was not hurt. Did say that was the fire escape plan so he knows that works well as both bedrooms have way to get off back and front porch roofs. He is planning to raze it and rebuild.

I am in the house dealing with the changes we have decided on... again... some more......

This is the south loft. The two side walls are done except for the 2 attic doors needing built and covers over outlets and the light switch. I want to put an edging between where the ceiling is and the wall starts. We will be looking for that on Tuesday.  The window wall will have the same bottom but some where in the barn is dark paneling cut to fit for the top part of this wall. I took it off when we started on this room 4 yrs ago. YES 4 YRS.AGO.  Put it in the barn in the big bay. I went out to where it should be and Hubby had buried everything I had put there with broken doors, scrap lumber from the basement ramp etc. Frustration as I had that area organized and now it's not. What I get for not walking through the WHOLE barn instead of just the loft and front bay. He was going to pull the "crap" out but couldn't figure out where to store the "crap". So it sits.  Barn decluttering starts when it gets warmer which is NOT THIS WEEK. That is okay since I am just getting over the walking pneumonia.

We changed the budget. Hubby wanted to live off our social security... until he heard the estimate of what we would be paying for health insurance.  THEN he had the panic attack.  I told him it just meant we needed to be more frugal let the social security pay the medical and live off our investments and what ever we can earn. THEN he got his stuff around for taxes and realized (DUH) his business lost money last year (which didn't help the panic attack). I guess telling him I covered bills from the household budget didn't click he was losing money due to diesel fuel costs. About a month's income but I was able to cover it with being frugal. Eighteen more months and the work truck will be paid for in full, that is 6 months ahead of time. If he hadn't had to pay the legal fees he does for hauling out of state he would have broke even. I divided that out by 12 and put it in the freaking  budget... it's actually less ( about half) than if I covered the work truck payment or it's insurance. I feel like I got the lesser of the evils with that low of a payment. The one Amish company he used to haul for and quit as it conflicted with other hauls he had first. They have pretty much closed down from lack of business. A lot of the Amish in that area are moving as they don't like the laws that passed that affects them having outhouses on ground. This county allows it if the outhouse is on a septic tank system, 1 line of running water into house is required also.  The Amish guy we bought our house from had 3 lines ran for his wife. One to the kitchen sink so she could have water there (and it drained to the septic line), one to the stove for the reservoir to be filled without her hauling water and one to the wash room for the stove there and for her to have cold water for the clothes washer. If the family doesn't want to put in a septic line, the "Church" has okayed porta potties. Some have them out in their field or at businesses, close to a drive so they can be dealt with by what ever company owns them. We didn't remove those lines, figured if we even had to use the 650 gallon water tank(above our water pump and pressurized tank) that is connected to those lines, we would be ahead of any issues. 

Propane. We over paid for this year, lucky our provider allows carry overs. IF we can make it 6 more weeks on this tank, we will have enough already paid for to cover the next heating season with adding 1 tank full as long as the price with tax is no more than $3/gallon.SO the budget is getting cut there as I had budgeted 4 tanks. We switched to coal this morning. So far it's burning good and the benefit is I don't have to keep feeding the stove as coal is pretty much 3-4 times a day if it runs right if that much. 

We have enough coal already for next year, but decided to buy another 2 tons this summer when the cost is lower for back up. That is already in savings.

E asked Hubby for help as he had a couple trees down but with the limbs his horses could not pull it. They were cut down by another neighbor wanting them for fire wood and then never came back and got them after 2 yrs. E doesn't like waste especially cutting down trees and letting them rot. Offered to split the wood in half if Hubby would trim the limbs off. Ended up giving all of it to us when Hubby found 3 maples left also there. This wood is cured. Plus E asked Hubby to help him clear the property line and we could have ALL the wood since he had told us he would deal with it when we bought the house.  . Daughter 2 said a cord of wood in her area is $800. Her boys' dad got her a couple cords for $600 total as he is a landscaper. We have a cord still coming from the sawmill... we are 5th down on the list, we were 4 but found E's Dad H was 5th so we had the sawmill flip us with him. We still had 1/2 cord of sawmill wood when E gave us some, we passed it to E and he took it to his Dad. His parents are our age but his Dad is handicapped and his Mom B just had her knee replaced. SO we won't be buying any wood but fuel for the saws cutting the wood. E told us fuel costs for 1 cord is $15. He has the same saws as us. AND we should have 6 cords of wood if we are not burning any coal. That is $90 for "wood heat" for the season. The property line has about 2 dozen trees to deal with 2 of them are half way down due to storm damage.  We shouldn't be buying wood for awhile. BUT Hubby is going to be busy cutting wood. Maybe that will make hauling jobs come in... seems like if he is busy at home, he gets ran over hauling. 

We need 28 garden beds and 6 strawberry beds replaced. Hubby built slab wood beds last year for the potatoes... they didn't hold up as well as he thought they would but I can use them for lettuce, spinach and such this year. We priced what we would like to have Cedar wood beds... that came to about $20,000 with out soil. Not happening. I found metal beds for 1/3rd of the price that is suppose to last 15-20 yrs. and bought 2 just to see if they would work for us before spending all that money. We will be sifting soil and compost to refill to save on that part of the budget. I figured a year to replace all the bed and hopefully the strawberry beds also. 

I brought up the mortgage to get back on track of getting it paid off early. Adjusted propane/ heating budget. Played around with what can go into savings for a down payment of another used truck or SUV.

Checked, double checked, and triple checked that the household budget could cover the business costs without any business income (that has not happened in 3 yrs even during the pandemic) and NOT cause a problem with paying household outflow) Would have to drop extra off mortgage but that was it. 

We didn't go to store .... Hubby grabbed a gallon of milk when running errands and I yanked the last loaf of bread out of the deep freezer. Down to hamburger buns. 

Prayers for all and peace

Blessed be

We had visitors

you can barely see the bunny at the right hand corner of the shed

Squirrel 1 

 all 3 squirrels (one on the tree trunk)

the other 2 squirrels

 Charlotte who was a tad sad the animals didn't want to play chase with her

the young deer that would stop and check her out before running a bit. 

by oil lamp light and birthday

 

E was over last night to let Hubby know when they were leaving for M's great nephew's funeral this morning and that his oldest might need help with moving a wagon as he struggles to harness the work horses. He got a kick on the oil lamp by the laptop instead of me turning on a light.  Amish neighbor on our other side came over this morning to move the wagon and helped with chores and let me know he took care of it and another should be over tonight. The oldest daughter of the another Amish neighbor is going to stay at the house and take care of the younger kids while the older ones are in school. She will stay until M and E get back home. They are rotating who is coming to help with chores since so many have went to the funeral.

When it hits 77 degrees in house with only wood stove heating, I open windows and doors. Took 2 windows and 2 doors to get it back down to 72.  Several now have had pneumonia in the Amish community. Hubby has hauled 2 of them to the ER. Since I started running a low grade fever yesterday,  I went on aspirin and onion juice immediately. Onion juice helps with the lungs. E did the same thing. Aren't waiting until we have to go to ER before dealing with it. E's mom said the stoves are getting the homes too warm and then they walk out into cool damp weahter Weather has been a roller coaster from mid 50s to mid 30s for our highs. We call it pneumonia weather because of it. I am better this morning. Not well but better. I can take deep breaths without coughing or struggling. 

We "celebrated" my birthday by staying home. I added onions, bell pepper, mushrooms, carrots and ground beef to the pasta sauce, made extra sauce as Hubby wants manicotti next (sauce froze now)  and made 2 servings (go me!!!) of spaghetti. Make King Arthur birthday cake , yep that is what it is called. More like a coffee cake but only makes 9 servings so works nice for us.

I will probably replace the cocoa line with cinnamon next time. Maybe put the cocoa in the cake batter instead of the "filling" batter.

We tried a new recipe for our loaf bread. It made two loaves so I wrapped and froze the one. It was quicker to do 

Blessed be

Prayers for everyone

Another death

 M's great nephew at age 16 months died due to being hit by truck. The driver hauls for the family. Hubby has hauled to this family and he is struggling himself. M and E left this morning along with half the community *which is related*. The rest of the community with us Englishers will be helping with covering for chores and childcare. At this point no one here knows how it happened.

My oldest *late husband's daughter with 1st wife* memaw died.

My grandson that used to live with us, stepmom (his dad past several years ago but he still claims her as his stepmom) grandma die.

The man that died in LaRue fire was friends with my brother's friend, our neighbor and her kids and my youngest's grandparents on her biological side.

Horrible fire (NOT HERE)... some savings

 In village I lived in for awhile in my 20s. They haven't put out the name of the gentleman that died yet. I imagine if I went into the village, I would hear who. It took out the pizza shop (no injuries, everyone got out) and the old bar and former village kitchen, neither were doing business any more. 

Over half of the businesses are closed in this village to begin with. REALLY hard hit. It started in the old bar or the apt above it where he was using propane space heaters to heat with. 

I did an inventory... made a list of what was missing. Mostly condiments, medical supplies and  weird crap and then released I had it on the list and if it wasn't in stock or was too high in price I didn't transfer it to the next list but tossed it. Went searching for the best prices. Saved 30% on one order not including I got free shipping. Saved 12% on another not including free shipping. We need fresh veggies and some dairy also.

Got 20% off the order of the cheese press and ice cream maker (non electric) 

Got 15% off a still for making essential oils. Something we are having a hard time getting around here that is LOCAL. Got a small one a homesteader recommended that she uses all the time for her essential oils. 

Electric bill is in. They increased the security light charge from $10 to $11 and distribution went up $3 (thanks to cost of poles, conductors etc went up)  when  A year ago we used 1434 kWh , this year with MORE lights we used 600 kWh. We were a lot under budget. 

The propane is at 50%. Wood stove is being cranked back up Tuesday night. Summer fill is May 1st. Not sure we could make it to the summer fill but we have already saved 2 tanks of propane with tax it's close to $2000. 

Tomorrow we are doing all the errands, car tags, bank, pick up a new chainsaw (E has 3 trees that are down that are too small for his usage so offered to Hubby, we just need a bigger chainsaw as a 12 inch blade is too small for that) Menards for odds and ends, Kroger's for fuel and groceries, CVS for meds, chiropractic appts. and stopping to eat as we will be leaving at 9:30 in morning and won't be back until after 7 pm. Hubby figured out the "loop" to take to not back track anywhere to save on gas. Not sure what the rest of the week will be like.

**** just got the news from my English neighbor whose child lives in LaRue of who died...one of my brother's friends. We will helping his family.***

I DON'T WANT TO !!! DAY

 It's cold enough the "rain" coming in is very small snow that won't make a coating on the grass. Still Hubby insisted that I not be out in any "moist" weather with pneumonia going around. I understand the concern since awhile back I had 3 different pneumonias back to back including walking pneumonia through the winter. I was wanting to trim the blackberry and raspberry bushes. He was wanting to burn the asparagus ferns that are dead as we don't salt the ground of the asparagus like the Amish do.

Since it's going to be in the 40s and 50s today and tomorrow, we are letting the wood stove go out so I can clean it. It takes 4-6 hrs. to cool down enough for me to scrap the areas that ash and creosote gathers. We don't get much creosote as we use a chemical twice a week the helps prevent that from happening PLUS we have a gauge on the stove that warns us if the stove it dropping heat to that level or too hot. 

We would have been getting the 3rd winter fill of propane... we are still on the first so that is another savings of $600. So we have broke even with what we have spent on coal for the wood/coal stove... in fact we have part of next year's coal included in that since we picked up more. We would have to go to below 32 for 90 straight days to use the coal up. E told Hubby that he dragged 2-3 trees that are a bit small for his stove up to the equipment shed out of his woods thinking maybe we could use it for night wood. In exchanged Hubby is going after a thirty foot I Beam that E needs as they are expanding the kitchen tomorrow and will be finishing building the new wash aka laundry/ mudroom room in the spring. E told Hubby to NOT split them (like I said) to leave them ROUND as they would burn longer and to only use them at night or if we would be gone the whole day. That will be a cost next year, though E said if Hubby would bring his saw over when they were cutting wood next year he could have some wood for free. We will see as most times when they are cutting, he has hauling jobs.

Hubby has found himself snacking if we have a broth soup and asked for more stew like or a milk based soup or sandwiches with the soup instead of just a salad. I did offer a soup, salad and wrap as he eats more tortilla wraps instead of bread or buns.

I did finish up the spread sheet for Dec. We came in under budget by $306.50.

We have a few more left to come in for Jan. Usually by mid month all the bills are in. 

We started looking for a replacement for the truck (not work truck). I float between truck and SUV .

SIGH... I still DON'T WANT TO LOL 

Heavens what a week.

 Squirrel is way up that tree... she will still sit and wait and look up the tree even though squirrel is no longer there.  We are strongly looking at the possibility of a puppy in late spring.

We went through below zero for about 3 days and then up to high 40s AGAIN. See another roller coaster of it coming at us. Hauling wood, feeding the stove and hauling more wood. We decided to wait on using coal as it gets warm within a couple days and stays warm. I really don't want to put wood plate in and take wood plate out every couple days as it makes a mess.

My brother and I dealt with a mess with a cousin that tried to forcibly move in (along with her boyfriend and son that were just released from prison for gang activity) to the home of another one of our cousins that is disabled. Disabled cousin called Brother , he called the law and his daughter called me. I will give the guys credit, when cousin said no, she was selling her house and moving , the guys walked out and sat on the porch even though they knew they weren't suppose to be around each other.  I dealt with hauling brat butt cousin out of my cousin's home over my shoulder after she tried to hit me and I broke her nose *yes we gave her a rag to hold her nose with *. Cops saw her swing at me.  Parole officers where notified  by cops and had all 3 arrested in violation of their paroles. Found out they were looking for the 3 as they had tried that crap on another cousin and her 3 siblings.  Her older brother showed up and just laughed. He told the cops she must be either high or plain crazy as the family has always brought up about me knocking him out when he was 15 and I was 10 for hitting his stepmom. I totally forgot about that. My parents taught me to defend (and how to fight dirty) the weaker ones. News made the rounds with in 1 day and I don't think any of the other of the family is going to bail her out AGAIN. She was not raised that way at all and not one of her siblings do drugs or drink. I did mention to her parole officer that mental illness runs in the family and he didn't know that but would make sure she was tested for it. 

Cops mentioned it was nice to see someone younger defending an older person with disabilities. Then didn't understand why we were all laughing. Cousin is a lot younger than me. She was not happy about the comparison LOL. She has brittle bones. I would rather have my heart failure, cerebral palsy and Crohn's than that.

Took me 2 days to quit shaking. Adrenaline rush does that to me. I am glad I got to my cousin before they hurt her. I don't think I would have stopped with just a broke nose if she had been hurt. I've been praying over that one.

I fixed mushroom wellington (Sam, coffee, money and Thyme) 

Hubby was glad there was extra filling as he used it with leftover mac and cheese and then I put it in omelets. Was more than filling.

Then my cell phone quit working on making calls or incoming calls... of course the company want me to call them so they could back door it GRRRRRR. 

Son's boss suggested I reset it . His went down a week ago same way. Different providers and types of phone... it worked. Son took him a 6 pack of coke a cola as a thank you. 

On a the calmer side. I wore the earrings the kids bought me for Mother's day 1989

They all got a kick out of it that I still had them. Daughter 2 has the pair I got her when she got her ears pierced in 1992 at the age 13. 

Hubby and I went through our supplies. California having such sever storms I can only imagine it will affect the supply chain (again, some more , what ever).

We are down on condiments that is mustard based and medical supplies. Gelatin... really, I went to the store and couldn't find lime, orange or lemon. Amish bulk store said they only got in strawberry, raspberry and peach (which I got some of). I got it ordered at Amazon. 

I made sure we had food that would help keep us healthy. I focused on only buying what I can not grow or find amongst the Amish. 

We decided to replace only some of the garden beds this year unless prices come on down. I want a medical garden on the north side and move the strawberries to the south side.  We will see. 

I am trimming the raspberry and blackberry vines this week even though that is early. I can see them starting up late Feb with how the temperatures are going. 

Hubby made enough with the business to not have to take it out of the house budget. It's a worry with work being so slow. Amish have had several deaths... old age with pneumonia. It's been a worry for those of us in our 60s let alone late 70s and early 80s. This type of weather makes it easy to get it. Hubby caught the one elderly man needed to be checked when Hubby took the wife in for pneumonia. They were thinking just a nasty cold or the flu going around. They shut down their school for a week (not something they do) and the school house and out houses got scrubbed down good. We donated Lysol to help with the germs. The teacher is now spraying every night when she leaves. 

I pray everyone is well and safe.

Blessed be

Prayers for peace. 

We don't do New Year Resolutions

We do goals.

Charlotte's goal is to make sure she gets the pillows before I get in bed.

Hubby's goal is not have to cut ice from the pond like the Amish for storing food during the summer.

Speaking of Amish, M just sent over eggs and asked if I had 2 dozen wide mouth lids to spare... she's canning meat and ran out of lids. I have enough wide and regular for 2 canning seasons. I think I have flipped these 2 dozen lids four or five times with her. 😁

Goals 👫

Stay Healthy.

Have more in savings and lower withdraw from retirement funds. It's the first year we haven't reduced the pull. We have a few things we want the money in savings as it's due in fall.

To have the solar panels installed on pump house by spring.

Replace garden beds

Refill garden beds with dirt

MAYBE plant garden beds. I do have some that I can plant limited.

To declutter basement, barn and garden shed

To organize basement, barn and garden shed. 

I already finished the house doing that but of course will need to go back through drawers and cabinets... never ending to my way of thinking.

Son 1 was up and said the house seemed "settled" and comfortable. 

BUT first is take down the Christmas decorations and put it all away and plan what we are doing with the gardens.

Happy New Year ... may this one be calmer and more peaceful

Blessed Be

Prayers for peace

 

On the Menu

 Mushroom Wellington (Blogger Sam, coffee, money and Thyme) maybe with a risotto or beef and barley soup.

Creamy Ham Veggie soup (once again Sam, coffee, money and Thyme) with Homemade rolls or bread

Autumn Stew (Home Chef recipe of poultry, butternut sq and Kale) 

Prime rib, baked potato, salad, shrimp cocktail, rolls (Son1 up for Christmas)

Sausage balls and mac and cheese with green beans and applesauce

Spare Ribs and kraut and mashed potatoes

Leftover pork roast with mashed potatoes, kraut, blackeye peas and cranberry sauce

Philly steak pizza

Shrimp scampi with CA blend veggies 

Country boil (Amish B recipe)

Mackerel patties, fried potatoes and peas

Sausage with red cabbage with apples

Turkey enchilidas

Taco salad in tortilla bowl

Taco pizza

Salisbury steak mashed potatoes  and corn (or Brussels sprouts)

Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and red cabbage with apples

Pasta (Hubby's choice) 

Bfast. I found the waffle iron so probably waffles.

Now I am hungry LOL

Blessed be 

Prayers for peace

End of year

 Second day of Amish cutting ice from our pond. Pond was froze 8 inches in 2 weeks. It's usually around 6 inches in February but they were worried it would get warm and stay warm or we would get a lot of snow which makes ice mushy. 

We ordered more coal thinking it wouldn't be in until Jan. It's in so maybe we will go get it tomorrow when it's 50s and not raining like the rest of the week is to be. Supplier said it went up and another raise is coming in Jan. So instead of the 1 ton we got 2. 

I checked the budget. Couple areas we were over budget... way over budget and in others we were way below budget. BUT over all we were balanced. We even have more in savings than we did at the end of last year and the IRA's are at the about the same amount also as they were last Dec.  Lots of big ticket items, wood/coal stove and solar well pump. Second order of coal and the on property fuel tank also that we saved for.

Next year's big ticket items... gardens beds along with dirt, replace my truck, 4 tons of coal and odds and ends on the porches. Wood is going to be cheap if not free. Out of pocket for Medicare will be double of what we half now.  I gathered estimated costs of each. We will figure out which we need to save for first and take care of the priorities first.  

Blessed Be

Prayers for peace

Prayers for the blogger whose Husband died of heart attack Christmas morning

Saving money through Christmas to New Year's

 Daughter 4 got this for me... The other 5 agreed it was the best present for me and all got a laugh. She also got us some off grid stuff, travel mugs that we can take out side and a wood rack to put on our porch so her dad won't have to go to the barn to refill as often and to put what is in the barn in the wood rack at the end of the season so we have this year's wood separate from next year's wood.

We saw most of the kids by making the loop only going 10 miles out of the way of a 2 hr. trip one way on driving to Daughter 2's to see her son in on leave and having Christmas with him. For the 1st time in years we only saw the daughters. Son 1 is coming up on the 30th when the weather is good and we will see Son 2 on the 2nd though we did drop his gifts off as he was out of town. I got kitty time with my 4 legged grandkids though. I took appetizers made from what I had on hand. 

The 2 legged grandkids got a kick out of the dollar store regular envelopes I put their Christmas cash in and the advanced birthday cards of the ones in Jan and Feb. Most the evening was answering questions on how much to save, how to save, and being getting back up for the grid going down. One made the comment he would be packing his cats and coming to live with us if bad crap happened, Daughter 4 told him to wait and she would drive pass so he could follow her as she would be heading this way. Hubby told them to plan on living in the barn since only 1 of them has a home over 1200 sq ft, they could do that as the barn is over 8000 square feet. As we were leaving they yelled see you in March, that's when the next round of birthday cards would be. All of them asked about how much to save for retirement about half of them are self employed and know not to count on Social Security to support them.

We came home a different way (10 miles shorter LOL) and saw more Christmas lights.  

I cut the Christmas eve prime rib so we had some Christmas eve, put the rest in the freezer  so can roast the rest on the 30th for Son 1 instead of buying another roast. Actually it was better as I have only enough leftovers for 2 small Philly steak subs and a pizza for the two of us. 

I checked all automatic payments making sure they had the correct information and would continue as automatic. Son 2 had 2 stop last year because he didn't confirm his info. Was a mess 

I donated to the food pantry in memory of Mother, Salvation Army in memory of Pop as they raised him when he was put on the street at age 12 by his parents and Seed Savers in memory of Daddy as he was always a gardener until his late 80s.

We ate appetizers made from what I had on hand for two meals.

I baked 2 loaves of bread. First loaf was used for bread on Christmas eve along with croutons for the salad. Then into bread pudding. Half of the second one was  French toast (got free eggs from M).

I transferred $2.96 cash back to the card and then took the same amount and put it in savings. 

During the 35 to 50 below wind chill temperatures I closed off the two lofts and the basement. Kept curtains closed, only turned on Christmas lights on Christmas eve and day to help with power grid . We didn't lose power thankfully. Still needed to turn the furnace on to 65 even with wood stove to keep the south end of the house from freezing pipes. Found one window that allowed snow through it and then had ice on the inside. I covered it with an old towel. Will be researching windows for sure. Hubby checked the propane tank level as we turned the furnace back down to 55. We are at 59 % so we only used 2% during the week of sub zero. Not bad at all as the last time we had that type of weather we used 15% . 

I used the wood stove to cook and bake instead of using the propane cook stove. 

We are sitting down today and talking of goals/plans for the next year. We do know we are decluttering/downsizing. 

Blessed be

Prayers for peace

Be safe and healthy (as I cough my lungs up LOL)

Level 3

 in this area we are level 3. Means we can be arrested if on the roads without reporting to essential work or going home from essential work. Personally with it a negative 31in temp and gusts over 50 mph... we are NOT going out. 

Got 1 kid without heat, furnace went out. or water pipes froze, she forgot to let them drip when she lost heat. They got space heaters and bought water as they can't get anyone to fix it until Jan. She's planning on the pipes being busted so turned the main water off. She rents so notified her landlord what happened and he brought her some water and a space heater he had.

Another kid had their car go down while going after one of their kids' whose car went down. 

Son 1 will not be up due to weather. He is coming up next weekend when it's suppose to be in the 50s (pneumonia weather).

We might not be going Christmas day to drop off Christmas and to daughter 2's to see grandson in from deployment, he thinks he is being sent back to Italy which he loves. That sucks we might not see him but we went through the same thing with son2, so even though it tugs the heart, we know we need to stay safe and a 2 hr. drive one way might not be safe as the wind is still causing white outs and drifts not to speak of windchills if you break down.

E came over and checked the thickness of the pond. The kids want to skate on it and he wants to go ahead and cut ice for the ice house as he is worried about it staying warm after this. Normally it would be 2 1/2 to 3 inches . He won't let kids on it unless it's at least 4 inches. It's 6 and will be closer to 7 on Monday when they skate on it. Tuesday he will be cutting ice. 

Even though it's Christmas eve, the day runs the same, feed the stove, feed dog, feed stove, do laundry and hang on drying rack, feed stove, feed us with a couple drag dog out on leash to potty as she won't just go out. She did get Hubby through the night to do business...on the steps to the porch but at least she was out. 

Prayers everyone is safe and warm.

Blessed be

Merry Christmas, Happy Yule, Happy Holidays.

Prayers for peace

Winter nasty coming in

 Our internet and phone has already been up and down. Better it than the electric. I ran the dishwasher even not full so it's done 

We are ready if the grid goes down and for what ever the 30 below plus temps bring with 50 mph winds. Hubby thinks we have what decorations we have up can handle that wind. Otherwise they will end up at E's. 

We and E checked on both widows. They have full tanks on cars and groceries. If electric goes out in middle of night, they have our cell phone numbers. One will go to E and the other one here as neither have back up heat. The one might go stay with their granddaughter who has a generator. Said she would let us know if she did.

Hubby's parents are ready. Had their propane topped off as their generator is hooked to it and got groceries in. So set.

Stay safe

Blessed be

Prayers for peace

bad weather prep, frugal items, update on kids.

 It's going to be a wintery mess the end of this week

Rain/snow depending on what time it comes in due to being in low 40s to dropping to 30s ... anywhere from 1 to 5 inches of snow on Thursday

30 to 50 MPH winds on Friday with the temps in the single digits

Artic slam on Saturday with wind chill at 20 degrees BELOW if not more

High possible on Sunday (Christmas) is ZERO for the temp with 25 mph winds. 

Hubby didn't finish getting the solar pump installed , hand pump does work and will pump to pressure tank at least nor did he go get diesel fuel for the tractor and other generator (he keeps the work truck full) BUT he had regular gas delivered  for our tank that would also help if E runs out of gas for their water pump he uses a small gas motor to pump.(Just a side note, E is changing to wind power with gas pump back up for his water after Hubby told him why we were going to solar, grid down affects them also)

 So I put diesel fuel on the to do list along with all of the other things we want to get done while out for appts. 

We had all meals but one from pantry/freezers. Hubby picked up $11 gas station pizza one night.

I cashed in my pinecone and swag bucks for gift cards. Matched amount went to savings.

I used Menards rebate to pay for a couple items Hubby needed for the solar pump. Matched amount went to savings

Hubby used a TSC rewards, matched amount to go to savings

I used 4 coupons at Kroger's and 10 cents off gas... matched amount when to savings

I bought thrift bakery buns (amount difference compared to Walmart went to savings) and used the condiments we had at home for the HAM radio group dinner. There was no horseradish cream to come home. 

We are using the Christmas lights as our lighting in the mornings while we drink our coffee and talk over the day and oil lamps if needed. Hubby uses a task light at his computer and I use one when reading.

I found a total of $1.20 in coins that is in the coin jar 

I paid off the last of the school taxes that were not due until Feb.

I went back through our subscriptions, if it's not saving us the amount it is costing us it got cancelled. I will not renew one and the other 4 will be continued.

I am using the clothes line to freeze dry and/or the drying rack for laundry

All the bills that came in that was lower than budgeted amount... the "extra" $$ got transferred to local savings so if they come in higher during winter the money is sitting there but making us some money while doing so.

I broke even on my IRAs. I earned the same amount I lost.

Hubby made money at the shock of our finance group when most were losing 10-18%. We are hoping this coming year things settle down.

I figured out that we could use 22 bags of coal a week to equal what we would spend on propane. Our coal provider let us know that with what is coming in we would use 4 bags a day and he isn't getting the next load of coal until Jan so we went back to wood which mainly is FREE. It's just we do have to feed it during the night and load it like night time if gone over 2 hrs. I just turned the furnace up to 62 so if the stove goes out, Charlotte will still have decent heat along with the plumbing.

Today we are going to doctor's appt. Since I am not going to run around in horrible weather I combined stopping at dentist office to drop off info, drop Christmas cards at post office, getting dog tags, doc appt., picking up prime rib on way back as we pass the butcher shop (it's 10 miles outside of town), getting the last of the groceries and milk that I will be out of today for holidays , Hubby will get diesel while I am getting groceries and then hopefully my meds will be in for me to pick up.

Hubby ran (since Amish don't have phones) his business errands this morning to confirm what jobs he was doing this week since he will not haul during the bad weather. He was able to shift some things around and one of the Amish won't be ready for him to pick up a load anyways due to flu hitting the family. He wasn't even willing to open door to talk so not to pass it. 

I had enough in local bank savings to move to our "savings" bank that has better interest (negative is it takes a week to move it from one acct back to checking acct. but that definitely makes us think if we want to go through that or not).

We have a money market 3 % interest set up for medical. We now have 50% there *25%  is in another savings as we will be paying co-pays again Jan 1st .SO only need to save another 25% and then start saving for 2024 on Medicare.

We have a 12 month CD 4.15% interest (no minimum to open)

We have a 11 month no penalty 3.5% interest (no minimum to open)   

It's been a long time that my savings didn't out earn CD's or I had to have a large amount to open one.

I set up monthly spread sheets to track outflow and income. I set a separate one for savings . Hubby is now listing what category on receipts so I know what it is for besides how he paid for it.

Daughter 1 is doing better since surgery on her wrist. Back to work as floor  manager of Walmart. Her family is fine, all 5 kids working, and grandkids are starting to come along at a steady rate LOL

Daughter 2 changed jobs after 19 yrs would have been 20 in March. Server and bartender... She is now custodian at a local school with solid 40 hrs. a week, benefits and retirement. She is working Saturdays at the old job and willing to be on call for fill in on weekends. Things seem to have settled down some with the job change. All her kids are working, one in Army is to be home this week and she is expecting another grandchild.

Daughter 3 is working steady, has her 2nd child getting ready to move out on their own (I've gotten lots of texts of her struggling to deal with the child being old enough even though the kid is a nurse working full time) The other kids are doing well.

Daughter 4 got her cost estimate for her surgery as it's pre existing she has to pay a chunk of it. Thinks she will have enough before her doctor tells her it is a must for surgery. 

Son 1 is working and doing fine, said he is just dating around. 

Son 2 is still celebrating retiring from Army. Loves his job at Air Force (civilian)  and is doing well in his relationship with his lady as her focus is raising her 13 yr old and he is fine with that. 

It's nice to know going into the holiday that drama and health is good. We will probably all come down with some bug or another after Christmas which seems to be the norm after 50 yrs (Lord the oldest is 50 LOL)

Blessed be

Prayers for peace

SIGH this is why

I get frustrated with Hubby

This is how the coal fire looked when I went to run errands

nice lovely fire, not full but a good amount .

One hour later what did I come back to???

I grew up with coal stoves and I told Hubby to not load over the full line and not load a lot at one time think of thin layers. Coal burns from the bottom up so there has to be air coming up through the bottom. To NOT poke or stir up like you would wood..

He closed the air off to the coal, then added 40 lbs. (way too much at one time) and then stirred it thinking (not thinking to me) it would help it. THEN he moved the shakers (the vents in bottom) to the point he had a ash tray full of hot coals and the shaker (what controls the vents) stuck open with lumps of hot coal so nothing was staying in the fire box and he couldn't get the ash tray out with the hot coals being bigger than the door way of where the ash tray is. He did say he was sorry he complained I bought 3 buckets for the stove as he used all 3 and the ash tray after he got the coals out of it. He didn't know what he would have used to carry hot coals out. I suggested the bottom of the fire pit that is on wheels and could be rolled in and rolled out and not burn the wood floor if he didn't have buckets (that he made sure was on the fire protector on the floor).

SIGH

AFTER spending 2 hours cleaning up the mess as there was dust everywhere and reloading coal from those buckets as I'm not throwing coal away and getting it going, he went to run his own errands. Saw one of the Amish that burns coal and said something to them about what he did. They asked if he ever burned coal before, nope just wood in fireplace. Asked if I did. Yep  and I had said blah blah blah.... 

The guy asked why he didn't listen to me . Hubby said he thought he knew it all since he was a guy. Just FYI he really isn't that way most times. But it gave the Amish a laugh and was advised the same thing I had told him AGAIN and don't need to add fuel every hour either as coal is not like wood at all. He still struggles on not loading it every hour or two (coal can burn 10-12 hrs.)usually around 3- 4 hrs.  is good to load, you don't want it on the low side and you still don't want to dump a lot on it as you will smother it.

Planning for 2023.

 Planning to declutter and organize the house, garden shed , barn and property. WITHOUT paying extra to get rid of it. Tempting to hire it done just to not deal with it ????

We kept a lot of stuff, everything from cabinets to dishes to to tools to crafts and to what ever through the years . I have Daddy's, Mother's, Pop's, late Husband's, Hubby's grandfather's, and things from all 6 kids and a few things from the grandkids that their mother's passed to them that they don't want now either.

TIME TO GO.

Son2 is doing happy dance over that plan as he is in charge of our estate and us if we need care. EVEN though we have put in the will to have an auction (noted for him to go to E as E's dad deals with the auctions for the Amish).He would rather see it gone before we get to that stage of old age or die and stick him with it. At least he no longer threatening to just burn it down.

I found on This Old House an idea of knee wall dresser. Knee wall( Hubby calls them half walls) is a wall that comes up to about your hip and then goes into an A frame or like ceiling. There was a built in book case also. Both thoughts would help in the loft bedrooms. I can't even put all my bedroom furniture in my bedroom but the dresser is too tall for the knee wall loft bedrooms.

In the old homestead I had a cabinet that was my baking center. That cabinet is now in barn surrounded by other stuff and not being used. BOY do I miss it when I have to hunt for what I want as my baking stuff is now in 4 places.

I decided we had to have a list and broke it down to 40 areas ( I multiplied it by 3 for 120 as it's 3 parts to the whole) and a plan of when to get it done as we decide to declutter, organize (what will make it easier to take care of also) and clean. 

Hubby's first thought was how to get rid of it. 

April our township has a clean up day and we can take "trash, non hazard stuff, to the township hall and they will haul it for FREE. 

Our trash company takes 6 kitchen bags a week. Our usual is 1 a week so that's 5 more bags that can be gotten rid of without extra charges.

We have a Habitat Restore in 3 place near us, 1 Salvation Army store, 3 Goodwill and 1 Fish thrift shop and several churches also taking donations.

My thoughts went to time to get it done.

IF I started now (even though we said we would do nothing until Jan 2nd) and did 8 to be done by the beginning of April for the township clean up day.

If I start Jan 2nd I have to do 10 

IF I start Jan 2nd and focus on doing 1 area and do all 3 parts in 1 wk. I would be done Sept 30.  Which means we would be storing some things that can't be ran through regular trash until the next April or we would be paying to have it hauled. 

Cardboard boxes (not used to cart stuff to thrift shops) and paper items can be burned in burn barrel. Bubble wrap goes to the one thrift store along with extra plastic bags that the Amish don't take during the winter months. Amish use them for their veggie market stands. Couple grandkids said to not get rid of any kitchen stuff as they plan on going out on their own next summer. I am okay with holding stuff like that. 

We are flipping it back and forth how to do it but by Dec 31st the choice will be made. 

Blessed Be

Prayers for peace

 

frugal in kitchen

 

Fried potatoes and onions from our gardens

Navy bean soup , we grew the beans, made the broth and chunks of ham from a leftover ham bone.

Jiffy cornbread muffin mix in memory of Daddy. Son2 bought me a dozen mixes even though he knew I had yellow and white cornmeal because he was thinking of his Grandpa. He also has always used Jiffy as it makes only 6 muffins which is enough for him. He also uses Daddy's bean soup recipe using smoked hocks instead of ham. He has a butcher shop around the block from him so he can get them pretty easy. 

We had baked oatmeal with apples I had kept from canning.

We had pork chops (from E) sweet potatoes and green beans we grew. I made custard pie (eggs were from M) and will put raspberry pie filling on top of it. Had to buy that we didn't grow enough last year. 

So far the only thing we have bought at the store is milk twice.

Hubby had bought powdered buttermilk at an Amish store a couple months ago (he used it when he was single parent) that I have been premixing and let sit until thickened to use in the Irish soda bread I make as it's just flour, salt, soda and buttermilk. Sometimes I  add dried raisins or cranberries to it. Saves the yeast plus if I float between different types of bread, it gets ate before it gets bad. I like bread pudding but not with store bought white bread.

We got the electric bill, it's $75 LOWER than this time last year even though we have had the Christmas lights on when usually we don't turn them on until Dec 1st to be on only one month's bill. Part is it's a bit warmer but I know that our furnace fan costs us $50 a month as I have ran it full time instead of automatically to help hold the heat steady. The wood burner has a non electric fan that is run by the heat coming off the top. Even the lofts which has always been below 50 degrees fall- early spring is at 72. E says it won't be that warm once the below freezing weather comes in and stays.

At this time last year we had our second propane fill and we are at 65%. Hubby considers that a savings of $550 as that what it would have cost to fill the tank

I boiled eggs, made frittata, custard pie and fried eggs for meals as the eggs are free from M. 

We focused on eating the menu we made. We had 7 off the menu along with 3 of them repeats as leftovers and bfast twice for our lunches /suppers. We had lunch out once when out with appts and errands. Got 2 sandwiches and split the French fries and drank the water we took with us.  

Blessed be

Prayers for peace

weird

 It feels weird to not be figuring out how to get the canning done or what needs canned first LOL. 

I did get most the Christmas cards ready to go out tomorrow, I have 5 that I want to include letter in.

Hubby spent the day working on the solar pump for the deep water well. He got the hand pump attached which is the most labor but still needs to install the solar panels and the batteries. 

Thought it was kind of funny the morning before he started on it we lost power and my first comment was I have no water to do laundry. I have water for 3 days for regular uses but that wasn't the point when the solar pump had been on site for a month. He immediately went to install it. Did not think it would take more than a couple hours to do it completely but if necessary he can hand pump water. I grew up doing that at my grandfather's and aunts... 860 pumps with a hand pump for a wringer washer and rinse pan.  (UPDATE) he found it was going to be harder to install solar panels as he thought they went one way narrow side as side and longer side as height and it was the reverse. E is going to help him install them after he braces the walls they will hang on the pump house.) AND the electric went out 6 hrs... not big deal as I had already pulled water for the morning and just put off laundry until the next day.

We are changing the times we eat since Hubby is not hauling as much (slow season) plus he needs a snack around 7 pm or he munches through way too much (1/2 gallon of caramel popcorn that was suppose to be for me and I got none of it). I made the mistake of suggesting cheese and crackers... he ate a pound of each SIGH.... and he realized that wasn't good when the next day Doc was on him for gaining 6  lbs. in 3 months when it took him 9 months to lose it to begin with.

 I eat at 10 and 2 and eat light meals or snacks and dinner (supper) was at 5. Hubby wants to eat dinner/supper at 4 to 4:30 and have a snack at 7 as he is usually asleep by 8:30. I think the oatmeal bars I used to make for the kids' breakfast would be a good snack for him at night. Since he told Doc he was getting hungry a couple hours after eating supper. I just have to make sure he doesn't munch through them like he did the caramel popcorn. He drinks over 1 gallon of water a day not including his 20 ounces of coffee or 20 ounces of dandelion tea (for his gout). 

We went and got fuel additive for the generators , lawn mowers , tractor and both trucks. When it clicked none of that was written in the budget... nor was the fuel for the tractor, lawnmowers or generators... SIGH. Nor was the grandkids moving out on their own money that we give them. Back to redoing that budget.

We haven't had sunshine for almost a week. Drizzle , foggy  and dreary.

The sun came out but the wind was above 25 mph. Charlotte doesn't like wind in her ears but wanted the sunshine. Kept going out , getting in her chair and then coming right back in . So I moved the dog bed into the sunshine

  

I spent the day , moving the bed with her on it to keep her in the sunshine. Hubby just laughed. 

Hope you are well and safe

Blessed be 

Prayers for peace

End of canning for this year

 12 meals of turkey canned

15 pints of turkey broth canned

14 pints of kraut canned (after fermenting in crock)

I told Hubby I am done canning for this year. I will be taking the 4 canners and the large stock pot (25 lb. turkey fits in it) and moving them into storage so I can walk to the clothes washer or to my dresser in the laundry room without walking around canners or moving them. 

Hubby is installing the solar SIMPLE PUMP on our well pump this weekend. I've checked on him a couple times. He is doing fine just very slow going. 

The guy in charge of the Christmas dinner for the HAM radio group sent Hubby an update of what is coming so far. He is bringing a ham (wants us to bring bread and buns for it). Someone is bringing lasagna for those tired of ham. Sounds like some sort of salad is coming. Hubby is going to pull the list up when he is done for the day . It's a small group of about 30 with families included(that is less than us with the kids and their families). The other ham radio group Hubby used to be in was closer to 50-60 people with families included.

We are bouncing some thoughts on goals for next year around also.

I am heading for a nap as I just took the meds for the RSV and now I want to sleep LOL

Looking at the end of the year and menu planning

 

This is our new decoration for this year. I made it from plastic clothes hangers 

We loved it that the cross showed through the light tree.

We decided to not really shop for each other, I'll get a few odds and ends for the stockings . It's the first time we don't have any essentials, needs or wants... We both feel that is the best gift we can give each other. We don't count savings as we always will want more there.

We went over the punch list... over 1000 when we bought this house four years ago. Was at 188 Jan 1st 2022. Been averaging 37 done each year. BUT we changed which way we were going and really cranked through some of the smaller items and it's down to 56 and that includes windows and siding to be done in a couple years down the road. 

We spent Thanksgiving at home with just the two of us. The only left overs was the pumpkin roll and the turkey. Turkey is being frozen and broth is being made with the bones. SIGH. I really don't need broth but I just can throw it out, seems so wasteful when I know not "simmering" the carcass doesn't get all the meat off the bones. 

We were going to go to Walmart to replace a couple outdoor pots but I got up coughing my lungs up at 3:30 this morning so I am home. Hubby is running prescriptions to CVS and delivering messages to Amish as they had another death out of state. AND then said half a dozen was in CVS coughing their heads off so when he got home he stayed outside for an hour hoping the germs were killed in the cold temps

The house is decorated, the prime rib ordered for Christmas eve. I will pick up some baking potatoes (ours didn't grow big enough) salad and shrimp for shrimp cocktail ( I use leftover shrimp for shrimp scampi). Haven't set dessert yet. 

Have a HAM radio dinner to go to mid December. I will make a cranberry custard pie for sure but not sure what else as I told Hubby to tell the guy in charge we would bring what he needed after he finds out what everyone else is bringing. One year it was salt and pepper and butter.

We wrote out menu thoughts. We have 3-4 days we will eat else where.

Christmas eve we will have prime rib, Christmas appetizers. New Year's eve will be pork and kraut. 

Cuban black beans and rice. 

Bean soup

Turkey, broccoli and rice casserole

brats and baked beans

pork chops 

turkey, noodles and mashed potatoes

Mexican (any where from tacos to enchiladas)

fish, fries and cole slaw

sausage gravy and biscuits

pizza

bfast (waffles, pancakes, French toast, fried mush, eggs (any style cooked) etc..)

I have chili and veggie soup canned in pantry. Son 2 just sent recipe for meatball tortilla soup that he thought was good and quick. 

Baby Charlotte waiting for me to come back to bed for a nap as Hubby just told her to take me to bed for a nap.  LOL He thinks you can sleep the crud away.

Saturday evening.

 Hubby is watching football on tv because his best buddy can't and is moving his daughter... so Hubby is texting scores until Buddy gets home.

We had a cold morning mid week and she came in to did this. First time she's went anywhere near the stove. Wednesday, we turned the furnace on and let the wood stove go out. Mornings have been in the low 40s and high's in the 50s. No sense burning the wood and opening doors and windows to cool the house down. Next Wednesday night we will most likely fire up the wood stove and turn off the furnace if the forecast says the same as now.

We had Thanksgiving for 2. Two of the daughters had to work and their kids went to their dad's side, and the other 4 kids went to their other side. Which is why we used to have the family Thanksgiving dinner the Sunday before the holiday until kids said to quit as it was becoming too much for them. Since it was at our home , we quit, didn't have to say something twice especially when it came from 2 of them that NEVER agree on anything. Now they are dealing with their kids "other sides" and grandkids and wonder how we got it done. Daughter 2 has Christmas night as that's when her son3 comes home from deployment. Not all will make it then either.

We have decorated for holidays. I made a cross out of plastic hangers and outlined it with lights for our new decoration for this year and Hubby hung it on the house. I try to add something every year. 

We love it that the cross shows right through the light tree.

I ordered the prime rib roast for Christmas eve (Son 1 will be here). I got a discount for ordering this month. This is the only thing Hubby ever asks to have for holidays. His grandma on his Dad's side always served it when it was her turn to have Christmas eve dinner.

Hubby's business has not been doing much this week. So he used the time to cut more wood and do a couple small repair jobs he's had on his to do list forever. There has been several deaths in many of the families that require them to go out of state. Rough as it is since they automatically bury on the 3rd day of the death. 

With the weather being decent, I have washed the Christmas table linen and odds and ends and hung them on the yard clothes line to dry. Don't usually get that all done in one day since I usually have to use the drying rack at this time of year. It was really nice to have that completely done.

We are going down to Son2's tomorrow for lunch. 

I am ready for a mini break LOL

7 more qrts and 25 pints

 of turkey and turkey broth. Broth in the canner at this moment.

I had to rearrange some things in the pantry to get the turkey and turkey broth together.

I kicked the dishwasher on and then after it started running, I ran dish water for the hand washing of canning items. Hubby asked why I didn't run the water first. Because then the dishwasher is pulling the cold water instead of me running twice as much in the sink to get hot water to wash the dishes.

Hubby stopped at Save A Lot and got sausage. They were having a sale buy 2 for $6 of their brand which is 16 oz.  A friend checked at Kroger's and they only had mild in their brand of sausage for $2.99. The only spicy/hot sausage was from $3.49 to $5.49 and a few were only 12 oz not 16. I told Hubby get a dozen, meaning total of both together. He got a dozen of each. Guess that is okay at that means we eat sausage twice a month and I have a couple new casseroles that calls for sausage. He also picked up Save A Lot's brand of thick sliced bacon .  I have plenty of bacon in the freezer but he wanted to see if he liked this brand as I usually buy Wright Brand thick sliced bacon and only buy it when it's on sale.  Maybe we will have it this weekend. It is priced what I would buy the other bacon for. 

We had a wood handle break on the wood stove. E's dad is going to fix it for us as he's known for that type of repairs. We were heading over to where he was at anyways as they were sitting up for an auction... lots of things I would have bought years ago... now it's just pretty to see but not have to deal with taking care of it. 

Hubby scheduled the winter tune up for the lawn mower, saving 10 % on parts  and reduced labor price for doing it now. He changed where he takes the tractor and they charge half the price the other shop did.

Oven timer buzzing. Supper to get ready

Blessed Be 

Prayers for peace

$49 in savings at grocery store

 But first... our first loaf of bread out of wood stove. Top darker than we like but it was not burnt and was soft.  I will definitely be watching the whole wheat or speltz or rye. E said it looked good as M had burnt the top of 4 loaves that day. 

I was supposed to bake it to internal  temp of 210 degrees and I pulled it at 205. My other recipe it's supposed to be 190. 

 Charlotte needed her shots and nails clipped. Doc suggested that since she is 5 that we look at getting a pup to keep her active. I will look at that in the spring. I am not into house breaking during the winter. We had talked about a pup since the boys died. 

 Since we were in Sidney we went to Kroger's (we don't have one).

 SAVINGS!!! Kroger's had a coupon for their turkey to be 49 cents/ lb. (got 21 lbs.). if you bought $25. I added, another turkey that was 69 cents/lb. (got 20 lbs. ), dairy and a pork loin that was half price to cut into pork chops ( 9 meals now in freezer). I didn't realize I still had another coupon $4 off meat on my Kroger's card so instead of the $100 after coupons and sales that I was aiming for for fuel points. I had $98 and change SIGH but I saved $49 !!!! I can always get dairy next week after our appts. to make the fuel points.

Then after we got home and I was prepping meals. (Yes the two turkeys are thawing for me to can) I sliced up the pepperoni I bought last week. Nine meals(pizza or subs or with cheese and crackers) of sliced pepperoni and 6 of diced...to go with sausage for pizzas, calzones, and pasta casseroles. I went to the freezer to get the sausage to cook it today and found I was down to just what I needed for the pizzas. I could have got more at Kroger's and had the fuel points. MOAN GROAN.. worse was I didn't realize we were down that low. Checked the pantry inventory and yes that is all there is as I was hoping it was in another freezer. Hubby is stopping tonight after hauling as he will be refueling right around the corner from Save a Lot to see if they have sausage. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. If they don't, I will put it on the list for next week.

We were gone 5 hrs. Wood stove had just barely dropped to creosote stage. House was 72 degrees. Hubby had put less wood than I would have. But he did say he might put a "nighttime" piece of wood with the rest the next time.

Hubby said he is no longer leaving a night light on in the front room as the firelight shows right where he walks to go to the bathroom. Our security light out back lights up his bathroom. Works for me

How we saved Money we didn't think about

 First, a pretty early afternoon with Charlotte. 

I am glad I moved my head back before that tongue came out LOL.

The laundry is on the line, dishwasher has ran, the empty jars are waiting to be taken to the basement and put in boxes for storage. I will have to move things around in the barn to store the empty jars as that it starting to cause some clutter in the basement.

We were coming home from a funeral and got a phone call to deliver a message to an Amish... worked out great as we were going to be driving right by his house ( so no driving 10 miles , yes he gets paid for messages)but we knew he was at a wedding and wouldn't be home. Hubby wrote a note and I had him put it in the freezer bag we keep in the truck (Amish get car sick and that's what they use for that so it can be gotten rid of nicely) and he used a clothes pin to attach it to their clothes line in front of the front door. W said it was nice as she saw it before she got up on the porch at 2 am. The one boy wrote on the bag he saw it but left it there for Dad. LOL

I cooked taco soup on the stove with cornbread muffins... we ate it twice with the second time with rice that came from the microwave. So no propane used for that meal. 

Today Hubby went to add softener salt  and checked the filters to the furnace and the cold air vent... HUM guess we won't be using as many filters either as none of them needed changed. We are guessing that will be cut in half so that's a savings of $125 a year. Something we hadn't thought about.

We are keeping track of what we save so we know when the "savings" paid for the stove and chimney. Since the wood stove oven is holding pretty much at 350 (thermometer on door) I will be baking the bread in it. Part of the bread dough will go for a deep dish pizza that my Nonna used to make .The pumpkin apple soup is simmering on the stove. Hubby isn't much into soups but liked that there was soup on the stove so he can eat it any time instead of looking at snacks as he is trying to lose weight.  I have ground pork patties to go on the grill and a huge sweet potato that will be baked in the oven also plus green beans that can be heated in the small pot on the stove... no propane for the meal again.

We also realized that the electric bill will not go as high as the furnace doesn't come (set at 50) on so the fan is not running. I know last winter the electric was up $50 due to the furnace fan running as a circulation fan to keep the house more level in heat. We turned off the ceiling fan and the rotating fan in the front room as I got the stove to be steady and not run us out. Hubby still struggles a bit to NOT throw several pieces of wood on at a time. Sunday being a day of rest I had him watch me take care of the stove. He said this morning it was great as he didn't have to add any  wood from 10 pm to 4 am when he as up anyways. Large hard wood is good for night time . I also told him to think about what wood he is putting in the stove. Soft wood (like cotton wood) burns fast but oak, hard maple will last longer and you use less wood. You can tell what is soft wood vs hard wood as hard wood is heavy and soft wood is light weight. He picked up some wood the other day (we only paid $70 for 4 cords (4x4x8 is a cord of wood) of wood and $40 of it was for E's 4 sons that helped unload on the one trailer). He put the word out he was willing to take scraps and slab and they almost over ran him. One asked if he could haul wood to their mother( just widowed) in exchanged he would reload the trailer with the scrap from cutting her wood. He would have hauled it for free but it worked.

E asked if we could figure out how to put a phone out in our barn as the other neighbor is getting rid of her landline even after he offered to pay for it as he knows since her husband died she had to cut costs and a half of dozen Amish were using it. She was charging them 75 cents a phone call. Since it's not adding any costs to us to have it, we put the extra phone and charger in the barn in a metal file cabinet to keep mice from messing with it with note paper and pencil and taped the number to the top incase they needed to leave a call back number. Added a metal lawn chair and a light on the wall in case they don't have their flash light. We just put a donation bowl in the drawer as we really didn't want anything since it wasn't costing us... I think we repeated that a lot. It actually is better for them to have it in our barn as they park the buggies and horse at E's sawmill. They aren't parked along side of the road like they were with the other neighbor. Plus E's youngest brother thanked us as he can bring the kids with him and let them play at the barn or sit in the buggy as he is way off the road . E made it clear everyone was to park their buggies at his sawmill so we aren't dealing with manure. 

We told our kids we were on a phone party line with the Amish. They thought it was funny. I can add, it's been busy as "donations" have paid for 1/3rd of the bill and it's been only a week. H said doctor appts, confirming feed deliveries and business calls will be the majority. Death in the family if needed. Hubby gets some of those on his cell phone anyways. 

I ordered some specialty flours and used a code that was for that day only that I just happened to run across. Hubby told me to use the savings to order the extra's I would like to have.  I noticed he tires quickly of the same bread on the table. I started paying attention to what type he buys (not white sliced) as I just tell him to get some bread and don't specify. He is more of ciabatta, French and Italian and some rustic. He likes tortillas and sometimes flat bread or pitas. I like Irish soda, pumpernickel, rye and rustic. We both like oat breads. I think we should try potato bread.

I found a penny then a dime and then a dollar bill. 

Hubby brought home a pie, one of the Amish ladies gave it to him for helping her get the milk cow back in the pasture and off the road as she was home alone. He was going down the road to another Amish when he saw the cow and her. 

M sent over a pan of caramel cinnamon rolls after I shooed their colt back over into the pasture.  He had rolled under the barb wire when he was sleeping. His Momma wasn't too happy with him but she was waiting for him at our gate so it was easy to get him back to where he belongs... unlike the one last month that was across the road into the corn field kicking up his heels. E is slowly (because there is a supply issue) changing the barb wire to solid metal pipe. Horses are rough on wire and they lean across it to eat on the other side.

Blessed Be everyone 

Prayers for peace.

 

Text from Son2 and wood stove

 I got the text..

WE DID IT....

I first thought he went and got married to his lady ( no they are not engaged) because he has always said when he got married he would call me and say " Listen Mom I DO". 

Nope, but this is definitely a WE DID IT

We are proud of him because there were times he thought about giving it up, sucked it up and continued on. 

He thanked us for the 21 years of taking care of his finances, home, and cats while he was away on duty.  

Now he is a civilian working for the Air Force... looking to work there 20 years . 

It has turned cold, highs in 30-40s and lows in low 20s. SO the wood stove is on

3 doors and 5 windows were open trying to keep the heat in the front room below 80 and the bedroom on the opposite side of the house from 75.That with the stove temp being right in middle of the sweet spot to stay out of creosote and not to hot to cause damage...  E said something about Welcome to Amish world. LOL

I got it figured out this morning. Only 2 windows edged up an inch and doors are closed. Front room is 73 and bedroom is 72... the dining room, always the warmest is 75. What did I change?

We never had heated the lofts... I opened the door to the staircase for north/soft lofts and took the curtain out of the stairway of the east/west lofts. I turned the ceiling fan in the front room OFF. Lofts that are usually in mid 50s to 60 are now 70. The house is pretty much the same temp through out (front room has always been 5 to 10 degrees cooler than bedroom which is closest to the first furnace vent)

Since the wood stove was on, I had decided on spaghetti with meat/veggie sauce and cheddar bay biscuits. 

Turned out to be easy... need to doing prepping all at once and then take to stove. Since the stove is in the front room and the kitchen is over 30 ft away.

Need to open the oven "valve" sooner as it took almost 20 minutes to get up to 450 and it border lined being too hot for the stove to run. BUT I didn't burn the bottoms or sides as I had used my temperature gun to check for hot spots before I put them in. 

I did not boil the spaghetti there. I was not going to carry boiling water 30 ft to a sink to drain it. I did order a roll cart for those issues. We have solid wood floors so no carpet to try to roll the cart across.

We did run into an issue of Hubby pulling wood from the wood wagon on porch instead of the wood box beside stove so when the wood box became empty after me stoking the fire all day... there was no wood in the wagon. and of course he had left for the day. He also didn't check where the fire was in the stove before leaving (before I got up) and it was in creosote level when I got up about 3o minutes after he left and almost completely out.  

We' ll work it out but I really didn't think we had to have the rule if you empty the wagon, you refill it immediately ,not later