Saving and Goals Journal # 3

The weeks are flying by this spring. Most of our savings have resulted from simply staying at home during the Coronavirus pandemic. Our state, and particularly our area of the state, has a high number of cases. Here are our savings for this week and our goals for next week.

In the Kitchen

Getting back into meal planning has been a huge help. We deviated one time from our menu plan. Carrot soup just didn’t happen. We had eggs and rice instead. Everything else went as planned. We did buy ice cream for my daughter’s birthday instead of making it. Grampy wanted butter pecan.

This week for dinner:

Monday: Pancakes, eggs, fruit
Tuesday: Frito Pie
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Protein bowls
Friday: Herbed chicken, rice, veggies
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: (Mother’s Day) Grilled chicken, Cowboy Caviar and chips, salad, Sugar-free chocolate pudding pie

Something I will probably start doing is having a cooking day each week where I cook two to three meals. I have so much fun puttering around outside that I don’t want to come in to cook. It will be helpful to have things cooked in advance.

I used baby greens from the garden to add to my salad one day for lunch. I can’t wait until they are big enough to make salad for the family. We are growing them in planters, so hopefully I can keep them going longer by moving them to a shadier spot if needed.

Grampy was given a bag of snacks from a co-worker. Her granddaughter didn’t like them. It was mostly the little bags of crackers and things. And our-two-year-old grandson sampled his first Pop-Tart. He is now a fan.

In the Garden

I repaired my windmill. It’s just a little one that sits in the garden for decoration. It is put together with tiny nuts and bolts and several were missing. I found what I needed next door in my dad’s shop. Next I will be painting it. I am going to try painting it with a brush this time. When I spray-painted it last time, so much paint was wasted due to overspray.

I used some mis-tint paint I bought for $2.50 to paint some other items for the yard. One is an old metal bed frame we are going to modify to use as a part of our porch rail. It sat behind a shed for years at my step-mom’s mother’s house until I rescued it. I was going to use it to make a flower bed, but I think it will work great as our porch rail.

We also had three old tires that we are going to use to plant squash in and trellis it along the back fence of my little garden area. I painted them with the same paint I used on the bed frame. It’s a nice neutral color. I am planting all the squash in the garden closest to the house so I have no excuse not to keep up on the squash bugs. We already have drip irrigation in that area, so that will be good.

I am continuing to baby all of my little seedlings. I have tons of tomatoes, lots of bell peppers, and many jalapenos. And not so many chile peppers (nineteen). We went to our favorite little greenhouse and bought the chile pepper plants we needed. According to my nerdy garden math calculations, each plant costs just over one dollar each. And we plant around 75 chile plants per year. I will try to grow them myself again next year. We are going to try to save seeds from this year’s chile plants to plant next year.

I started okra seeds, several kinds of squash seeds and some flower seeds. I was given tons of seeds last fall, so I have several varieties of seeds to try. We might find something we really like!

My husband was given a large bag of iris bulbs. I am hoping they will bloom differently than the purple iris I already have. I planted them in various areas around the yard and gardens. He also brought home some geranium cuttings from a co-worker. I’ve never tried rooting them before, so I will see what happens. I love to have pots of geraniums on the front porch.

We are hoping to get two raised beds built this weekend. The soil in the garden to the south of our house is so sandy. We have added lots of amendments, but it is still so lacking. Things grow, but they would grow better if the soil was better. We are debating whether to have soil delivered or buy it in bags and mix our own raised bed soil.

We are also checking into having a load of wood chips brought. These are brought free from the people who cut the trees away from the power lines. We want to use it for pathways and mulching flower beds.

Home and Family

Our little granddaughter had a growth spurt, and the clothes we thought would fit this summer are too short, especially the comfy little rompers. The thrift stores are all closed, but my daughter asked around and was given a bag of clothes that should fit well all summer. And, we have a friend who is a wonderful seamstress. She works at a store in the mall, which is closed for now, so she offered to sew some little dresses for our granddaughter. They are precious. She wouldn’t accept payment, but we will gift her some of our extra garden produce this summer and fall.

Indoor home projects haven’t really been happening as I’ve been spending the majority of my time outdoors. Next week I am going to continue my organizing project. I am anxiously awaiting the reopening of the thrift stores so I can donate all the things we’ve found to get rid of.

Have a great week!