Both okay....

 When Hubby didn't text or call when he should have arrived to their destination. I checked the map. There had been an accident that had a road close for a couple hours that I thought probably slowed them down..... yeah it slowed them down all right. Since it was Hubby's truck. I wish I had screen shot the map. The bed of the truck has pulled from the cab some.

He used his finger to point to the blown tire LOL. Since he had just had the brakes done the tires were checked also. Especially when the repair place knew he was going to hauling 10 tons. They had even checked the hydraulics for the lift tail. The end aka tail of the trailer goes up and down so you can drive fork lifts etc. up on the trailer. Everything was good. ST told the cop that Hubby had checked the tire pressure every time they stopped. He thought it was a little weird for Hubby to do that. Cop told him it was a good practice and asked if he was taking a long drive with his buggy would he check the horse's hoofs when he got there... he said yes. Same thing. I thought it was kind of funny that ST actually said something to the cop about it then realized he was trying to figure out why it blew when Hubby had been checking them.

 

ST told his wife that the cop that was driving behind them told him that Hubby was great at handling it as the majority of the time that much weight (10 ton) usually flips the truck part also. That he didn't slam on the brakes which would have slid the trailer on up into the truck bed possibly into the cab since it is a gooseneck and hooks in the bed of the truck not the bumper on a hitch and possible harmed them. That Hubby would definitely be sore.  ST's wife made sure I got that message even though it was close to 10 by time it was delivered as the Englisher that brought the message went to E and E come with him to tell me since I don't know him. E let him know Hubby had talked to me but they still came to tell me. I think it was midnight before I went to sleep. 

Still with what is going on with Hubby's health, I was glad to hear that he handled it correctly. AND I will push for no more long trips. I'm okay with him going across the state line to get mineral spirits for oil lamps as it's actually closer to us than us going to the kids or a couple doctor appts.  Ten tons is what he limits the loads to even though he can legally haul up to 12 ton.

He is calling the business insurance today. He has these pictures (cop told him what to take for insurance) and the State police report. Said he needed to repair the wiring harness that runs the lights from the truck to the trailer. Someone went and got him a tire on a wheel. He is using his credit card to pay for this. 

He couldn't remember his out of pocket amount. He is worried again about the financial hit. I told him I was more worried about him and ST needing medical and not realizing it. They are spending the night with ST's brother in law with Bishop's approval (Englisher's staying in the home over night is not the norm) and said ST's Mom showed up to check them out.  Reminded him of E's mom.

I let the kids know.... last night. I will let his parents know this morning. 

MEAN TIME I will be checking finances and transferring money as I know he doesn't have enough to cover his deductible for the business insurance since he just paid the trailer brake bill.

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

SO ... 

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

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

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

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

#5. We need to increase emergency fund.

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

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

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

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

I will have to think about this for a couple days

Blessed be

Prayers for peace and strength

  

GEEZE OHIO WEATHER

 Yes  I am yelling.!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prayers for peace (and Sanity) 

Blessed be 

  

 

April's finances

 

Income

IRAs $6800.78

Social Security $3634.

Son 2 payment on loan $100

Business income $2600

Interest $89.98

Cash back from credit cards $100.05

Daddy's annuity $76.67

Swagbucks $30 (bought 2 Amazon cards)

CVS $10

Dentist $11 for paying cash 

Savings at Kroger's including Fresh Mode $125.61

Back pay from Daddy's Annuity $ 2453.44 

TOTAL INCOME $16031.53

Out go

Irregular expenses $2389.56

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

Automatic savings $180

Dog food/treats/vets $52

Household expenses $2543.55 

Business expenses $2522.26

Medical/OOP $1085.29

Garden $5228.73

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

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

TOTAL OUT GO $19,137.40

IN RED $3105.87 

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

I am bored.

Had visitors this morning at 8 AM.

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

 

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

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

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

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

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be

How we get it all done

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

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

How do we get it done? 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prayers for peace

Blessed be

What I do with what I grow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I grow cucumbers for fresh eating and pickling

I grow asparagus for fresh eating, pickling and freezing.

I grow Chinese cabbage for fresh and frozen

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

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

I grow garlic, fresh and dehydrated

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

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

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

I grow cantaloupe for fresh.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

what a week

Friday

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

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

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

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

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

I picked half bushel of asparagus to process today.

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

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

SIGH... 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blessed Be

Prayers for peace and patience 

 

AND it starts

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

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

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

Stay safe

Blessed be

SORRY.. it helps to hit PUBLISH button LOL

last couple days

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Going to the gardens to plant

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be

Frugal week

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be

 

What I do with what I grow

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And here we go

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

Here we go

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

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

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

We have 4-5 varieties of potatoes to plant.

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

We have horseradish coming in to plant.

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

I have hummingbird pollinator garden to build and plant

I have bee pollinator garden to build and plant

I have butterfly pollinator garden to build and plant

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

I have to transplant the walking onions 

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

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

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

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

MOST OF ALL

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

Better but not well...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be safe

Blessed Be 

comparing Feb to March finances

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

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

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

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

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

Stay safe 

Blessed Be

Plans for April

 I took the Flylady calendar I usually use for what I am canning and put our protein on it and then in markers of yellow, orange, black, purple, blue, green and red for the color of the fruit and veggies we need to eat. I will either write the food down or just cross off the color it was. I used pencil for white/tan.

I cashed in 2 CDs and turned around and bought 2 more that are paying 1.5% more in interest. 

I got an annuity from Daddy... Man has been dead almost 3 yrs and they just let brother and I know it was sitting there. I got the back payment and then will get a monthly payment. It's not a lot but it would have gave him some spending money for the month. As it is Brother and I get 50%. 

I was talking to older cousin on Daddy's side about what to do with such a small amount and about gardening. I mentioned Daddy growing roses which seem weird as it was after my stepmom died. She remembered Daddy talking her mom, his older sister, into growing roses as the rose hips help with inflammation and have vitamin C. 

Hubby and I talked it over as we were already planning to put in more perennials. I figured this would be where Daddy who grew his own veggies until his late 80s would like his money used this way. 

I have or have ordered a dozen different roses (rose hips have vitamin C plus help with inflammation )to go along the back fence at the pasture behind the barn. It needs the fence replaced. So that's where the back payment can go on. I also ordered 2 elderberry bushes (helps with immunity) because right now I either get it from friends that get it from other friend or I have to order it. I ordered horseradish  as what we planted last year did not grow. I have 5 blueberry bushes in and 2 on their way. I have 10 black raspberry bushes (helps with inflammation, nausea and mouth sores) ordered.  

I still need to replace some herbs that died and find apple mint  also. 

We have another large medical bill coming in as our eye glasses will be in.  

Our federal, state and school tax refunds are in. I hope to put most if not all of it back after paying off this year's coming school tax due. I would like to see the budget cut by at least 10% BUT AND have 3 months savings incase something happens to one of us and the other doesn't have access to money

Hubby wants to pay the mortgage off. 

I'm still dizzy enough to not try to work on that.

Blessed Be

Prayers for peace

March finances

 

Until I got sick middle of the night Sunday we stayed on point with eating the protein on this calendar.  

Income

IRAs $6800.78

Social Security $3634.

Son 2 payment on loan $100

Business income $2992

Interest $87.45 (2 CDs cashed)

Cash back from credit cards $242.49

TOTAL INCOME $13856.72

Out go

Irregular expenses $1040.15

Down grid / maintenance $241.15

Automatic savings $180

Dog food/treats/vets $0

Household expenses $2448.46 

Business expenses $2444.64

Medical/OOP $2349.40

Garden $1284.23

New CD $1000

TOTAL OUT GO $8543.57

IN BLACK  $5313.15

Considering Hubby didn't work for a solid week we were surprised he was able to cover his bills. He lucked out and was able to double up 4 small jobs and then had one job hauling out of state. Which definitely put the business in the black this month even though not by much. 

Health update

 I saved money by calling my GI instead of just showing up to the ER for my Crohn's attack. After answering what seemed to be a million questions, the PA asked if anyone around me had the stomach bug that is going around. I didn't know so I called the kids I had been around.... Daughter 4 said it was like having hard labor while sitting on the toilet and dry heaving in the trash can... HUM... Called PA back and he said the treatment would be the same but they would run a CT Scan with contrast to see if it was Crohn's or stomach bug. Not putting my veins through that or spending that kind of money to be treated the same. Plus 3 hrs. of driving and the gas money.

Hubby said we saved 2 pots of coffee and 4 pots of tea as the only thing I could keep down was water... room temperature water. Last night I ate a grilled cheese sandwich with crusts removed (Charlotte love it as she got the crusts). Kept it down but still spent 2 hrs. in bathroom.

Last night was the first night since Sunday night I slept in the bed. Charlotte has been sleeping beside me on the bathroom floor. Rascal used to do that. She was happy to be back in her rocking chair that she has made into her bed. I got about 3 hrs. of sleep at a time with 30 minute bathroom break. BUT hey, I slept in bed and made it to the bathroom every time. Lots of improvement there. 

We saved gas as we didn't go see the kids and after I told my symptoms none of them wanted me any where near them. I got a lot of I love you BUT ... 

Hubby took a lot of short hauls to keep the money rolling in but still be able to check on me. He has a long haul today but different Amish along with the kids blowing my phone up will be checking on me. 

I get tired easy... not surprising with out eating. 

It took me 3 days to do finances that normally take me an hour. SIGH

Blessed Be

Stay safe

Prayers for peace

Sorry

 down with sever Crohn's attack😢