Two Frugal Things — Wedding Anniversary & an eBay Sale
by Katy on August 9, 2025 · 71 comments
-
My husband and I decided to stay in town for our 32nd anniversary, as neither of us felt like putting the effort into organizing an out of town trip. Instead we spent the day enjoying our own amazing city.
• First up was dim sum at Excellent Cuisine, which only gets better with each visit.
• We then came home to work on projects for a bit. I added my fake plants into our built-in window box and my husband answered emails.
• I then took an hour or so to pick blackberries across town, which I promptly washed and added to the freezer.
• We ate delicious leftover eggplant/pepper pasta for dinner, which was fine as we’d enjoyed an indulgent lunch.
• We then drove over to Powell Butte park for an after-dinner constitutional, which was a perfect end to the day. Nice long walk with beautiful views of Mt St. Helens and Mt Hood. Free parking and only twenty minutes or so from the house.
• Lastly we stopped at New Seasons Market and picked up a half-price pint of ice cream for only (ha!) $3.99.
-
I sold a piece off a free curbside chair on eBay for $35! This made me really happy, as this chair would normally be considered garbage. Might as well scavenge it for parts!
Tee hee hee!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Instagram.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
Like this post? Then please share it with your friends!
Like this:
Like Loading...
{ 71 comments… read them below or add one }
Happy Anniversary!!
1. A friend’s husband stopped by to pick some fresh mint. I have a large patch that I’m happy to share.
2. I stayed home all day yesterday. I spent the whole day cleaning. No money spent.
Another beautiful day in the neighborhood…
Happy anniversary! You’re a year ahead of us. We’ll celebrate 31 years in October.
1) Headed out to the food pantry this morning. Really helps since my husband is on disability and I can only work part-time.What we can’t use, we share with others.
2) Ah, the joys of renting! There’s a water leak somewhere in the bathroom and a couple years ago, our landlord (supposedly) fixed a hole in the wall under the bathroom sink where mice were getting in. He was delinquet about fixing that until we came home to an 8 foot black snake in our bathtub! Fortunately, it was facing the outside wall. DH (my hero!) got it behind the head with his telescoping pruning shears, hauled it outside (while I screamed) and sliced and diced and put it in the garbage can. Yeah, I know, black snakes eat rodents, are good for the environment, etc. They don’t belong in my house! IMHO, the only good snake is a DEAD snake. At any rate, the mice have chewed through again. All necessary repairs (repairing the hole under the sink and fixing the water leak) are at the landlord’s expense, not ours – and that’s a great price – free for us!
3) Laundry ready to wash and hand outside when we get home.
4) A garbage bag full of donations for Salvation Army in the car…will drop them off on the way home. Less stuff in our house that will help someone else.
5) DH’s brother gave us an assortment of flower bulbs (about half a grocery bag). We don’t do well with plants. Giving them to DH’s sister who just moved into assisted living. She loves gardening and she is going to help take care of the little flower garden at the facility. Will bring joy to the residents when they bloom.
Happy anniversary! A nice meal out is always enjoyed more when it’s a special occasion.
Yesterday I hemmed the cut ends of several Ace bandages that were shortened because I’m small and don’t need a knee wrap that’s eight feet long. Also tidied up the big freezer and planned some meals. As part of that, I turned the whole crop of frozen homegrown cherry tomatoes into tomato sauce. Tidied up the pantry and found a few things to donate to a new charity thrift shop.
I join everyone else in wishing you a happy anniversary!
1. Beach walk this morning. I picked up a lot of empty beer cans and put them in the recycling bin. I also picked up stainless steel spoon which I will wash and donate. I walked 39 minutes, another notch in my belt to earn $10 in groceries from UHC.
2. Encountered a free pile yesterday and took home an avocado slicer, a potato masher, and a set of measuring spoons.
3. Was offered a pair of sandals yesterday and I accepted, based on the picture. I’ll pick them up next week.
4. Picked up the book How Not to Look Old from LFL. Might be good for a laugh!
5. Made sweet and sour cucumbers yesterday from a free package of mini’s. They’re chilling in recycled pickle jar. I’m excited to try them today!
Will you share how to make the sweet & sour cucumbers? Thanks!
Yes, please share, and tell us how they turned out!
So simple! I thinly sliced 5 mini cucumbers. Sprinkled them with salt and let them sit in a bowl for about 10 minutes. Then I squeezed out all the moisture I could. I put the slices in a 24 oz pickle jar (without any pickles, of course!) and added 2 Tbsps of sugar and 2 Tbsps of vinegar (can be white, apple cider, or rice. ) I used white. Shook well and stored in fridge overnight. You don’t have to wait that long; three hours will do. They turned out good!
Thank you
I just discovered in June that my insurance offers incentives for sharing your FitBit info and doing surveys, challenges, etc. You can get up to $75 a quarter. Part of me worries that they will see that I’m out of shape, but then I remember they can see my doctor visits, so…
That is a great incentive! Ours offers $100 a year to e@ch if us and I set a reminder in my calendar to do it in the beginning if each year.
Congratulations on your Ebay sale of the Cesca Breuer chair back. It would never have occurred to me to rescue that chair from a free pile. You definitely have an eye and understand the value of saving a part of the whole in order to restore a quality piece of furniture.
I was in a clean out the refrigerator mode yesterday which resulted in my cooking two different dinner entrees. First, I made a one pan meal that used up leftover chopped tomatoes, shredded cabbage, taco meat, half a bell pepper, a half cup of chopped onions, and a few cloves of already peeled garlic. I had to add a shredded carrot and a can of chopped tomatoes. I saw something similar in a video and thought I’d give it a try since I had all of the leftover ingredients ready to go. It was delicious.
The second recipe was designed to use a couple of chicken thighs that had been defrosted for a couple of days. I grabbed them from the freezer thinking that it was a large chicken breast. When I checked the package later I saw that it was two chicken thighs and then I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do with them so they sat in the refrigerator for a few more days. I finally decided to bone and skin them and make a stir fry. I had a nice assortment of vegetables that needed to be used up as well as two cups of defrosted chicken stock from another recipe. Once I made up my mind it came together quickly and along with a pan of steamed rice made enough for several meals.
Nice work rescuing part of that chair!
Got home last yesterday & we debated take out. Instead, sat by the pool & had a glass of wine while chatting, & then reheated leftovers. Our third night eating the chicken curry, but it was so delicious & easy. I’m a huge fan of this recipe.
Happy anniversary. We have a few years of marriage on you. It’s nice that you enjoyed a staycation. I understand completely about not wanting to put the effort into a trip when there are nice things to do/see near home.
It was brilliant to save and sell the chair back. Kudos! Hopefully the metal will be scrapped.
1. Thursday was trash day and on our early morning walk we rescued two “like new” plastic pools and a chair that was a mate to a previously rescued chair. I listed everything on Freecycle last night and this morning awoke to a lot of interest in the pools. They have already been picked up. I think the chair will be claimed soon. I know ti is just a drop in the bucket of waste but keeping items out of the landfill feels good.
2. We walked the local wooded trail between our suburb and the next one. No need to go farther than that for a nice walk. In the parking lot we ran into people we know and did a bit of catching up.
Might want to see if you can sell/reuse the metal chair frame, as well. It might bring more $ than scrap.
I’ve tried to sell it on Marketplace for $10 with no success. I just changed it to “FREE!”
Happy anniversary!
1) I’m picking blackberries this morning from the hedge that lines our driveway/lane. I’ll can jam and whole blackberries tomorrow.
2) Today is county fair day! We will park in a free lot and walk in, instead of paying $8 to park closer. I also bought the tickets in advance, which saved us $4 a ticket.
3) We have been planning a local “staycation” day out on the San Juan islands. We were going to take the “cruise” option for $79/pp, but I managed to convince everyone that the $16.50/pp walk-on ferry was the better option, so I made the reservations this morning. With the cruise, we only get a couple of hours in one island port. With the walk-on ferry, we can get onto the free inter-island ferry and visit four ports on the San Juans, if we so please. We can also do things at our own pace, instead of being tied to a day cruise schedule.
4) There are no baseboards in my kitchen, only bare plywood and I hate it. Last night we made the decision to just paint it with some white gloss wall paint we have on hand, and to then stencil on a little floral motif with cobalt blue paint. (My kitchen is yellow and white with cobalt blue backsplash tile and accents). Free fix, perhaps temporary, perhaps permanent.
5) Instead of going out for Friday night, we stayed home and enjoyed a cold beer in the orchard and making plans for winter maintenance. Two mama deer and three fauns wandered through while we were out there. We then walked back to the house and enjoyed a homemade pizza while watching Star Trek, Strange New Worlds. Much better than spending a fortune going out!
Would even quarter round at the bottom of your walls make them look better? Shouldn’t be too hard if you already have the paint out.
There are also self-stick baseboard trims.
We’ve used that, it works well.
Congratulations to you two lovebirds. Guess you can call yourselves “oldlyweds” by now, LOL!
Wish I could take a stroll outdoors but our temps are in the upper 90s and feel like 100 degrees. Starting in mid-morning.
1. After ol’ Snuggy dog got into my laundry basket and chewed up 2 bras(!!), I needed some replacements. This is our (Texas) state’s back-to-school tax-free 3-day weekend (Friday, Sat. and Sunday), so I gritted my teeth and went to Walmart and Target, the last places I’d seen my brand of bras for sale. Didn’t want to break the boycott, but I needed the bras. (Being frugal means your underwear comes packaged in multi-packs of plastic bags, LOL.) Neither store had them. Most had padded bras, and if there’s one thing I don’t need, it’s padding in my bras….unless I’m going to a costume party dressed as Dolly Parton. I also didn’t want to go on Amazon. So I tried ebay. Success! My style, which may have been discontinued, was on there. So I bought several packages. I saved the Texas sales tax, at least, and it was free shipping. (Note to self: put laundry basket on top of dryer from now on. And close laundry room door.)
2. Frugal win: used my AARP card at Cici’s Pizza and got their 15% senior discount on their buffet, and promptly pigged out.
3. Frugal fail: didn’t know that it was Whataburger’s 75th anniversary and they were selling hamburgers for only 75 cents. One day only. Missed out on that deal because I didn’t hear about it until the 10 o’clock news.
4. This has been going on since tariffs were announced but I don’t think I remembered to list it: Stocked up on cans of coffee, since the tariff is going to up the prices. Can use the coffee in refillable/reusable k-pods or in a regular coffeemaker. Already the store I work in has priced new cans $13, up from $8.99. We don’t scan bar codes so the ones with the $8.99 price stickers will still be sold for that price. But people are snatching them up real fast, so they might already be sold out.
5. Haven’t paid for entertainment all summer: free over-the-air TV and radio, Wordle, online crossword and jigsaw puzzles. (And reading free books and NCA and Frugal Girl blogs…..or should that be classified educational?)
Re: your #1, Lisa, do be careful about Snuggles and your unmentionables from now on; some dogs (and this is usually a cross-gender thing) are obsessed with them. I still vividly recall the story of a yellow Lab belonging to former friends who once came proudly into the living room waving a pair of his female human’s “knickers” (they were British) while the humans were entertaining.
Yes, and it can lead to some very expensive surgeries to remove the fabric from doggy tummies when they eat underwear. We keep our laundry baskets in the closets and I am hyper-vigilent about not letting cut thread or scraps fall on the floor while sewing.
One of our Irish wolfhounds ate some underwear, and it came out the other end still in one piece. That dog could eat a handgun and fire the bullets out of his butt with no apparent ill effects. Cast iron stomach was a phrase created for him.
Lindsay, I was not prepared for your 2nd sentence. Had just gulped a mouthful of water and almost sprayed it everywhere. That was hilarious! Thank you for the belly laugh in my not cast iron stomach. lol
That’s quite the visual!
THAT WAS A HILARIOUS SENTENCE!!!!!!!
I have an aunt who used to raise.show dogs. She’s was a high school gym teacher before she retired. Always put a towel in the bottom of the dog crates until one dog thought he was Cookie Monster and the towel was a pile of cookies. She came home from school and couldn’t figure out what happened to the towel until it began to emerge out the southbound end of a northbound dog. She pulled a lot of poopy towel out of that dog and ŕushed it to Cornell University (an 8 hour drive) for emergrncy surgery. It took HOURS to get all those fibers out of that dog.and $$$$$! Dog was found and its potential career as a show dog was over. My aunt sold it for a house pet.
Fru-gal Lisa,
I had heard about the price of coffee going up, so I bought several bags of my favorite from Aldi. They were already up $1/bag from the last time I bought some. I’m thinking I might “decaffeinate” myself (gradually, to avoid the dreaded caffeine withdrawal headache) so I won’t be dependent on my morning coffee. I do enjoy the taste of coffee, but if it gets too costly, I’d rather not pay $$$ for my cup of java.
Congratulations on your wedding anniversary!
I only have a frugal fail today: Broke the blender by accidentally leaving a teaspoon in the mixture …. don’t ask ….
Congratulations!
I once put a flower pot in wicker chair with a rotted seat. It was very cool, but I’m not sure if it would work with what you have left. And, I suspect you’ve already gotten rid of the other half of the chair.
I have it on Facebook Marketplace for $10, but I just now changed it to “FREE!”
Happy 32nd to you and Mr. NCA, Katy. And may you make it to 50 and beyond. (DH and I got to 43.5 years of legal hitchitude and 45 years of total cohabitation–and it still wasn’t enough.)
My monthly NM PBS guide tells me they are re-running (“Back by popular demand!”) the entire Pride and Prejudice series (starring — in my opinion — Colin Firth) for (adding up in my head) 5 consecutive uninterrupted hours this Sunday night. And running it all over again Tuesday night. This may just be my local NM station.
JDinNM,
I looooove the version of P & P with Colin Firth. Okay, full disclosure: I love Colin Firth. Swoon. 🙂
Although Colin Firth is my P&P dream team Mr. Darcy, I prefer some of the actors in the 1980 BBC version to some of those in the 1995. Good as Jennifer Ehle was as Elizabeth, I prefer Elizabeth Garvie in the older version.
And, IHMO, Allison Steadman and David Bamber as Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins in 1995 were in the wrong novel altogether: They were Mrs. Micawber and Uriah Heep from Dickens’s David Copperfield. Malcolm Rennie as the 1980 Mr. Collins, and especially Judy Parfitt as the 1980 Lady Catherine, were incomparable. Parfitt comes off as a Regency-era Martha Stewart. (No wonder I love her.) And, yes, this is the same Judy Parfitt who was in Call the Midwife.
Thank you, I think we’re in it for the long haul. However much that it. I’m so sorry that you and yours didn’t get longer.
A lovely thing for your 2 children to be raised in an intact family unit. My father died when I was 7. It was never the same after that as my mother had to do everything for the 4 of us.
They had a laughably stable childhood.
Happy Anniversary!
1. We grabbed a large limb my neighbor put on the curb. We scalded it with boiling water, cleaned it up, sawed it into various sized parts and my son used it in his reptile enclosure. Purchasing these sized pieces would have cost us over $100 so this was a huge win for a little effort.
2. My teen and I perused the largest vintage/antique resell shop in our area yesterday. 2.5 hours of chatting and observing. It was wonderful connection time. He had a goal of not spending more than $20 and left with a highly desired item of his for $15! I spent $0.
3. We ended up at a local restaurant where I had a free appetizer coupon and we ordered another. 2 apps, + 2 waters = $12 oop which wasn’t as cheap as eating at home but was a nice treat.
4. We stopped by the green market on the way home to pick up a couple of needed items for home. On our way into the store I received a text for $3 off a $15 purchase which I happily put to use.
5. I used supplies I already had on hand to craft a birthday card for a dear relative and got it in the mail for the cost of the stamp only.
I just wanted to mention that I did tip generously at the restaurant so the $12 was only the bill total BEFORE tip. 🙂
Okay, that’s new “frugal thing” to me! I would never have though about the wood that’s inside a reptile enclosure as something that people buy. Well done!
Yes, they are big sellers at the reptile conventions and stores and pricey!
Happy Anniversary!!!
And all of us need to know: what is this ice cream that is normally $8/pint??
I checked our garbage and it’s McConnell’s Fine Ice Cream. New Seasons has a different ice cream priced at 50%-off each week during the summer, which brings the price down to “normal expensive.”
Here, it’s Graeter’s and Jeni’s. They’re good, but not 3x good.
Happy Anniversary!
1. I took my parents out for dinner to celebrate their 61st wedding anniversary (I won’t be there for the actual date). While overall not frugal at all, the 3 of shared a dessert, my dad and I both got soup and an appetizer (less than the cost of the +/- $50 entrees, and both my parents only drank water. We also got there early enough to snag a free parking spot before the 5:00 hour when they charge $8 for parking.
2. I brought my parents some bottles of all-purpose cleaner (I have a large stockpile from mystery shops). My mom, in turn, heard me say that I needed to go purchase some new pillowcases to use for company instead of the dryer-imposed grease stains (which mostly came out with Dawn & Oxy), when she said that she had an extra pair with which she could part.
3. Stopped by my aunt’s house while there to visit my cousin who is visiting from China, where he lives with his [Chinese] wife and daughter. His wife had cooked dinner (actual Chinese food!) and offered me some. Since we had just eaten dinner, he offered it “to go” and gave me enough for dinner for two.
4. On the 2-hour drive from my parents’ house to mine, I pass by 2 burger joints that are often on offer for mystery shops. So I signed up for one, just before leaving my parents’ house, so that I could get a free lunch and have someone pay me $18.75 to do so.
5. We need some paper for our printer, as well as part of the power cord for my computer. I’ll buy it this weekend, which is tax-free weekend in MA
Happy anniversary, Katy!
I wish I’d been able to get that far with my husband, but whatever.
On a jaunt with friends, had a French vanilla cone at our local homemade ice cream joint. Made some myself today and it’s just as good. (NB: the French is from including egg yolks, which make the substance pale yellow.”
Have continued a knock down drag out fight on Nextdoor. Ha.
Planted some hot peppers for a fall crop, since this year is such a dud, tomato-wise.
Took the local jitney into town to buy last minute hamburger buns. Yes, I could have walked or driven easily enough, but the jitney has been rolling in the summer for 12 years or so and I’ve never been on it.
Caramelized onions in left over bacon grease for tonight’s burgers. (A pox on anyone who writes “carmelized.”)
Rose,
Wait, what?? You’ve continued a knock down drag out on NextDoor? Did I miss something? I want ALL. THE. DETAILS. Heh.
And I just flashed to “It’s a Wonderful Life”, when George says something like “a pox upon me for a lout”. I love that film.
You know what town I live in, right? You know my real name isn’t Rose, right? It’s all public I believe.
My August renter apparently thinks he can bully me. Yeah, that’s not happening.
An Irish blessing for your anniversary
“May your love shine bright. May you share the depths and valleys of your souls. May you dance together under an Irish moon, and end each day blessed for all the love in your lives.”
I love Irish blessings. That is so sweet. Have never heard that one. Thank you for sharing it.
I love this, thank you!
Great job Katy on the marriage and the chair LOL!!!!
1. stuck with the very short grocery lists and was able to find steaks(small) and pre made fresh ground chuck burgers on the markdown rack so score…..
2.got the DD’s their much loved feta cheese stuffed olives for 1.00 per jar, bought 5 off of flash foods. I don’t like them but they love them. Happy to do it for them.
3. made 1 large jar of bread and butter pickles ….my cucumbers are just very slow in producing but it is not an issue to make 1 jar at a time.
4. picked my tomatoes and brough home a sack full from DD’s and processed 12 pints of tomato sauce.
5.so very hot here, but am trying to get outside extra chores done either very early or very late when sun is going down.
* didn’t sell out a country that Isn’t even ours to a despot. tRump is an arsehole
Seriously– Alaska?
(And how much will security for that little jaunt cost?).
Actually Alaska is a good choice He is safer here than in another country. And Russia is very close. Natives of both countries used to walk back and fourth across the Berring Strait in the winter. Don’t know if they still can with global warming and heightened security.
Sorry– I wrote quickly and was cryptic. Yes, Alaska is an excellent geographic location for this meeting.
Thanks for the kind words. Okay, feta stuffed olives sound delicious!
1.Hubby has been away for the last 4 days for work. All of his meals are covered while he travels. I have been eating up leftovers from the freezer. I did get a broccoli pinwheel one night on my way home from work. It was $4 and worth every penny. They give you sauce to dip it in. I froze the extra sauce.
2. The lady I help was given a large bag of vegetables from her neighbor. I made a cucumber and tomato salad. I also fried up an eggplant. Her daughter turned it into eggplant parm. I cooked up a pound of bacon a different day and they had BLTs for dinner. It doesn’t save me anything but I like knowing that the food doesn’t end up in the garbage. I made a batch of the salad with our garden veggies when I got home.
3. My daughter and I carpooled to a bridal shower. When I dropped her off I went inside and played with the grand pup. Dog kisses are priceless.
4. I won a game at the shower. I was given a gift card and a cross body bag. I don’t shop at the store because it is expensive. I won’t use the bag either. I offered the bag to my daughter. She said her sister(my oldest) would like it. It is the kind she uses for work. Another gift for Christmas. I wrote it in my christmas book. The GC will probably end up as a gift too or I will donate it. The gift bag and tissue paper they came in went into the gift closet. My friend made the centerpieces out of old books. You fold the pages to make a vase and then she cut out a bunch of flowers from a different book.. They came out so pretty. She asked me if I wanted one. We have done several book folding classes at the library. That is where she got the idea. I wore a dress and shoes I already owned.
5. I washed a full load of laundry and hung it outside this morning. I made a week’s worth of dog food this morning.. I picked figs, stringbeans, tomatoes and an eggplant. I used washing water from the vegetables to water my indoor plants.
6. My friend and I went to see Superman at the theatre I used to work at while Hubby was away. I had free passes for us to use. A different friend is still a manager there and she wouldn’t let me use my free passes. She used her friends and family passes instead. She said to save my passes for a day she isn’t there. We both brought water and candy with us.
That’s a good friend!
Katy, that sounds like a wonderful anniversary day. May you have many more happy and healthy years.
Thank you, that’s the plan!
1. We took the kids to a pirate festival on the Oregon coast! It was free and parking was crazy but also free. We brought lots of snacks, but we did buy lunch and drinks while there. We used cash my husband got from selling some old games so it didn’t come from our bank accounts. All in all we spent around $50, including filling the car with gas before we left.
2. Dinner last night was homemade bagel breakfast sandwiches, and free yogurt. Froze the extra bagels and will use them for additional sandwiches and breakfasts later.
3. Planned our errands for Monday, my husband will be off, and we’ll pack snacks so our kids aren’t cranky and tempt us to stop somewhere while we’re out.
4. Enjoying dinner at home tonight with ingredients we have on hand.
5. We’re continuing to go through our belongings and box things up to sell, gift, and donate. My husband and I have dubbed it The Purge: Weekend
I love that you gave a name to your decluttering weekend, extra fun that way!
HappyAnniversary! Went out of town to a huge 70th anniversary party of dear friends, loads of snacks, all but one of the wedding party was there, pretty impressive for the 90+ crowd. The bride and groom arrived in their classic corvette that their kids bought them. So cute!
Picked 3gallons of blackberries for the freezer.
While driving thru town, stopped at farm supply as they had a super Sat sale and bought a new pitchfork. Sale made it30% off.
Stopped at a huge fancy schmancey estate sale on their 50% off day, picked up a few items for resale.
Neighbor brought me a sad kalancho plant, I split it into 5 smaller plants.
Bracing for our mini 3 day heat wave.
The mental image of the 70th-anniversary couple arriving in their classic Corvette is making me smile. Long may they wave!
Well, I can appreciate purchase of a new pitch fork for 30% off. Hope it lasts as long as the old one, assuming it was quite old. Good for you too have working tools.
My last one is over 75 yrs old, from my grandpa’s farm. The wood snapped. My field guy is going to weld a new handle. The metal is in perfect shape thanks to my gramps showing me how to care for and over winter my tools in oiled sand.
My super strong farm helper was using too much torque and he snapped 3 antique pitchforks this week. The one I bought nearly caused me to faint at the price ($85). However it has a 25 yr warranty.
My neighbor gave me a turning fork, similar to a potato fork, just bigger, for him to try. I gave the neighbor 2 gallons of blackberries, a small bucket of plums and a bushel of red gravenstein apples.
1. Started to sift through the 62 one gallon pots that contain garlic bulbils (from scapes) that I have grown out for their first year. I have all of these these varieties; some of which got a LOT bigger and some didn’t (well, they all doubled in size, but some got a lot bigger!). It is tedious and a bit hard on my back, but I have a system and am listening to some podcasts of the CBC radio shows that I haven’t been able to get to. I had saved all the paper bags and paper envelopes with the names of each variety, my cousin’s wife helped me put those into alphabetical order so it will be easier to reuse them for storing for the next couple of months.
I also very cleverly sucked it up and cut all the stalks off my ‘volunteer’ garlic cloves that have been drying in a wheelbarrow. This was also hard on my back, however it was extremely timely as it unexpectedly started to rain about 3 hours after I brought the bucket of bulbs inside. Go me.
2. Finally got out and picked ‘my’ blackberries on ‘my’ walk – I had taken the cousins up the road -just for a walk – and she got all excited when she saw them, so I had to share! However I got a Katy(TM) milk carton filled, and washed them gently in water with vinegar, placed into canning jars then sucked the air out of the jars. They will last in the fridge for the 3 days necessary for me to use them up in smoothies, and share with my #1 son and grandbaby.
3. Started to up-plant- transplant some of my summer potted garden – I had picked up a truckload of compost prior to some of the chaos that landed here, and it has been sitting in the truck waiting to be used. I had a lovely couple of hours with a good playlist and a lot of dirt all over me, as well as in the pots. I have rearranged some of the garden pots to better display some blooms and to protect some hostas from the marauding chickens. (Damn chickens like to eat one variety, and the poor plants are naked stems. ARGH)
4. I pulled some salmon fillets from the freezer and cooked them up following a barely remembered budget bytes meal, which of course I can’t find – essentially salmon fillets gently sliced almost through into squares, a bit of sesame oil and ginger and baked til just cooked, and sushi rice with sticky rice.
I have had all the ingredients for ages, and have procrastinated about making the sushi rice because it is that teeny bit fussier than just dump and cook rice, but now I am kicking myself for not making it more often. Ah, well, there is more to make next week. I took a meals worth to #1 son when I went to hang with the grandbaby.
5. I took home-grown eggs and volunteer potatoes to #1 son’s. Both the parents are exhausted (she has a couple of disks pressing on nerves causing her back and leg pain, and he has been really unwell for two weeks). My GrandBaby is lovely, and (of course) started walking this week. (!!)
While there I cooked up a dozen eggs and a pot of potatoes, made up a big potato salad – used up the last of their dill pickles and mayo but it was just enough, and left some peeled eggs and cooked potatoes for future faster food in their fridge. We sat down to a simple meal of potato salad, a bit of chicken they had and a sparse few lettuce leaves. Simple and everyone ate, sometimes that is all we can hope for. This left them with the salmon and rice (above) for another day’s dinner, yay for helping out frazzled newish parents.
6. One of my two best buddies convinced me to try making kefir (she gave me some milk kefir grains, and instructions on how she uses them). I’m not sure if I am convinced, however I had just purchased a gallon (4 litres) of milk to make yogurt, and making kefir daily requires about zero brain cells and hardly any prep, so I am diligently making some each morning, drinking yesterday’s with my smoothie, and will see if my gut biome gets happy. I have been foraging volunteer kale leaves from my neglected garden (amazing that bolted kale plants piled in a corner of the garden will generously self seed) and adding those to my smoothie along with home or roadside foraged berries and fruit. Because I am trying to follow some of the How not to Diet suggestions for daily foods, I have been pre-measuring some ground seeds and spices into jars along with my protein, creatine and collagen powders. Having these prepared ahead of time has been a huge time saver, and measuring out several jars takes about the same amount of time as it would for just one day’s smoothie. Gifts for future EcoTeri!
7. I spent some time with a podcast and my hose, watering my trees and potted plants. As mentioned before, I have a problem with morning glory (bindweed) so most of my gardening up by the house is done in pots – which has both good and bad features. I can move things around as they are in and out of their glory seasons, and there isn’t as much leeway when it comes to staying on top of watering. However, I have it down to a fine art. Of course, we then had some serious rain the next day – over 15 mm, which is huge for us in the summertime and is greatly appreciated. I just have decided to take that as the ‘second breakfast’ of watering and let the plants glory in their unexpected bonus wetting.
Happy anniversary!
1) This was an unexpected rest weekend. I felt well enough to push myself helping to set up for a friend’s funeral, and paid with a miserable day and a half in bed. I struggle to accept being disabled, but am learning to rest without moping about it. I felt enriched by knowing this good man, and happy to meet other friends and family. We took home some leftovers, helpful since we didn’t have it in us to cook, and thought about what it means to live a rich and full life, loved and loving.
2) This meant skipping the Route 127 yard sale, which runs right through the neighborhood. The heat dome meant fewer customers and tons of free piles, all of which I missed. It’s good to break patterns, though.
3) Bonus child requested a walk-behind toy for bonus grandbaby, and we found one for $10 on FBMP, after asking on BN. DH went to pick it up, and stopped by the grocery store on the way back, picking up just a few things.
4) I prepaid internet; it was nice to see the additional $5 military discount apply, since it took several months to coordinate a trip to the store without wasting gas, which ime trumps paying a little more.
5) I didn’t tell NASA to destroy $750 million in carbon-sensing satellites.
Happy Anniversary! What a lovely picture of you two and thanks for sharing the details of your lovely day.
1) I picked up a pound of fancy salt from BN and won’t have to buy more for a few years, and a friend dropped off a half-dozen organic bananas left over after a presentation. I’ll freeze some for smoothies and make banana bread pudding for my kiddo.
2) My son’s recovering well and can finally eat soft foods. DH wanted to order out, but we put together the delicious congee made by a friend and spicy fried tofu from the BN bonanza last week. Delicious. I then took a much needed nap on the sofa, one of the finest free pleasures there is.
3) But, because of the nap, I frugal failed – it was B1G2 chicken week, and I had a coupon for one free package from writing to the company when a package of “boneless” thighs was full of shards of bone. I missed store closing, and the sale is over.
4) I scored a few vintage tablecloths at a nearby church rummage sale, including pretty printed and damask Irish linen, all with minor damage so they can be repurposed in sewing projects and priced at less than a dollar each. It’s many yards of excellent fabric. Plus, a half dozen vintage tea towels to replace the few in my stash that are halfway to rags. I regret being too chinchy to pick up the large, quality firepit for $10 – ours was lost in a misunderstanding, and both my son’s household and ours would make good use of one. I also didn’t buy anything for resale, which was foolish as the prices were mostly excellent.
5) I didn’t waste the American peoples’ nascent investments in truth and reconciliation by preparing to gut the Smithsonian of everything suggesting that white supremacist exploitation may have pernicious, persistent costs.
Oops. Posted on the wrong day. Reposting correctly.