Menu Monday

Saturday - Buffalo Chicken Strips and Mashed Potatoes
Sunday - Hamburger Steaks and Baked Potatoes
Monday - School Night
Tuesday - Ham Fried Rice and Egg Rolls
Wednesday - Sub Sandwiches and German Potato Salad
Thursday - Mexican
Friday - Pizza (either homemade or $5)

Deal of the Week

This week I found a couple of great deals - again at Target.

First, I picked up a wire shelving using for only $9. It had been sold originally for $29 but was on clearance. I think they decided not to see the four shelf unit any longer. I had hoped for two but they only had one by the time I got over there.

Second, DH picked up a metal tool bar. It was only $1.25 marked down from $5. I think he can find a spot for that in the garage.

Finally, I picked up a folding drying rack. It too was only $8 (and change), marked down from $28. This will allow me to dry more items without the use of the dryer. I find that by line and flat drying many items, they last longer.

New Rainbarrel

We appreciate being able to harvest rainwater for our irrigation needs. Having had two summers under drought conditions, having a ready supply of rainwater is a real bonus. Unfortunately, a pre-made rain barrel or a re-claimed wine barrel can run anywhere from $75 to $150 - not in the budget last year or this year.

Our first frugal attempt at a rain barrel was a large heavy duty trash can. DH cut a whole in the lid and fitted it to a flexible pipe feeding directly from the downspout. He installed a plastic spigot at the bottom. I think it cost about $30. Practical and functional, yes but certainly not aesthetically pleasing. Our biggest problem was that the barrel sat in full view of the neighborhood. We started looking for alternatives. Again, no options less than $80 or more.

Our luck changed when I won a rain barrel at work. It was large and came with a metal spigot. The problem was that it was ugly. Just plain ugly - not any better than what we had. Sometimes, you can change ugly.

Krylon makes a paint that is specifically made to bond with plastic - Fusion. DH took a can or brown matte finish and painted the barrel. Then he used a can of the hammered finished metal to paint the horizontal bands on the barrel. It was much better than the trash can and better than the plain white barrel.

To give the barrel a more realistic look, I took a couple of small paint brushes and a very small can of black matt paint and painted some vertical lines about 3" apart all around the barrel. Then I painted faux knots and grain lines in the "boards." Our total cost included two cans of spray paint (Fusion), one can of hammered metal paint, and a small can of black paint. I'd estimate our cost was less than $20.

Bargain(s) of the Week

We found two great bargains this past week.

First, apparently there was a complete re-vamping of the party/office supply area at my neighborhood target. While we were in there shopping last Friday, we stopped off to see what had been marked down. I found a great 24X36 bulletin board, originally priced at nearly $10, marked down to an incredible $1.24. Yes, $1.24 and it included the mounting hardware, too.

Our second bargain was found at Home Depot today. Along with some half off seeds, we found a package of ten (10) Brinkmann compact LED flashlights. It even included the batteries! The price for 10 flashlights (with batteries) was less than $10.

It always pays to check out the marked down items and the seasonal sales.

Raised Planting Bed - Part Two

THE INSTALLATION

We have very little full sun in our backyard. There's one area that should get mid day and afternoon sun. That's where we selected to place the raised bed. It's very near the deck (as you can see from the photo) and we plan to move a rain barrel close to the planting bed.

DH leveled the ground in the area we had selected. Then we stepped on the ends and rocked the box until the stakes pierced the ground. Final leveling was done by using a rubber mallet. Once the box was relatively level, we installed some heavy duty landscape fabric in the bottom of the box and stapled the sides. We folded the fabric over and stapled again to help it hold up.

To the box, I added some soil that I had used last year in the very bottom of the box. On top of that, I mixed two bags (small ones) of top soil, 2 bags of Miracle Grow potting soil, 1/4 bag of cow manure and 1/2 bag of mushroom compost. I have another bag of top soil that I may use when the plants get added later.

For some reason, the weather turned very chilly and started misting while I was adding the soil to the box. It's now ready for warm weather to come so our planting can start.

The third part of this post will include dividing the box into planting sections and the actual plant. We will have to wait until the weather gets warmer for that to happen. Until then, the seedlings are sprouting and growing in their greenhouses. I'll have a upcoming post to show how the seeds are spouting next.

Just where do we come from....

It's always been quite a mystery in our family and now I'll share what I know with you.

My great, great-grandfather Michael (Mikel) Delaney was born in Ireland in the early 1800s. H e and his wife (Mary Lee ?) had a large family of eight children. His wife died leaving him with this large family. Unable to support and feed his children, he decided that his best option was to emigrate to America. He would take his oldest daughters with him and, as soon as possible, he would send for his other children. He left the younger ones safe in a church orphanage while he made the journey.

Arriving in America in the late 1860s, after Ellis Island closed, his daughter Kate (Catherine) stayed in New York and married a man named Fisher. His other daughter, Mary Morea Delaney moved with him to Georgia. She subsequently married Thomas Nelson Boddiford. As the story goes, when it was time to send for the other children, they were no where to be found. The orphanage had burned down destroying all records. The children were sent to live with families throughout the area. There is no record as to where they went and, as far as we can tell, no way to find them. (My great uncle even went to Ireland many, many years ago and was unable to find any information on them.)

Ultimately, Michael and his new wife Lucinda (Lourenzia) went on to have six children of their own. My great-grandmother Maggie (a twin to the great uncle mentioned above) arrived when Michael was 58 years old. Times were hard in south Georgia. Wanting to secure a good marriage and stable life for his daughter, Michael made introductions to an older gentleman from a well known family. Leon Lasseter was the son of a Civil War soldier and grandson of a judge. Maggie (14) married Leon Lasseter (28) just after the turn of the century. While such an age difference would be scandalous in today's times, an age difference of this kind was accepted in their time.

Maggie and Leon also had a large family. My grandmother was born in 1914 and will be 96 years old this April. She and my grandfather were married from 1937 until his death this past year.

While it is exciting to know this information, much of it cannot be substantiated. There are few documents to support any of this story and some information contradicts it. Because Michael Delaney and his daughters had VERY common names (Catherine and Mary), it is almost impossible to tell my ancestors apart from others with similar names.

Every few years, I pull out my information and take another look. Sometimes, I find something, many times I do not. For now, I prefer to accept this family legend as unsupported fact until it is proven false and I will continue looking.

For now, my mission is to record the information on our current generations so that this information will be more readily available for our desendants.

Raised planting Bed - Part One

THE BUILD

DH constructed the box from four 8 foot 2x6s. He also used six stakes and some galvanized lag bolts and washers. The first step was to cut the 2x6s were into 2 foot and 6 foot sections.

A two foot by six foot box was constructed and a stake was place in each corner and at the halfway point of the short ends. When attaching your stakes, be sure to allow sufficient room to attach the side pieces by moving your stakes at least 2 inches in from the end. These stakes will assist in keeping the box in place and help to keep the 2x6 firmly attached to each other.

I had read that using pressure treated wood was unsafe and an insect resistant wood, such as cedar, was price prohibitive. As an alternative, we used a stain and seal product on the box to deter weather wear. DH estimates that it took about four hours to cut , assemble and stain. I think if he had had some assistance, it may have taken a bit less time. The cost was just about $40 for the supplies and we have enough stain to finish another box.

I really appreciate that DH took on this project. The next step will be installation. (It looks great, thanks DH.)

Menu Monday - Birthday week

I call this the birthday week for four reasons. DD, DS, DH, and grandson #1 all have birthday's this week. Here's my tentative plan:

Sunday - Corned beef and cabbage, red potatoes
Monday - Cubed Steak and mashed potatoes
Tuesday - Spaghetti and Meatballs
Wednesday - we may go out, undetermined at this time
Thursday - Smoked Sausage, Savannah Red Rice
Friday - Tomato Soup
Saturday - Grilled BBQ chicken, pasta salad, three bean salad

These selections could change as plans change.

Supreme Saturday Shopping

I made my usual trip to Publix Saturday for our weekly groceries. I was well prepared and had pulled many coupons.

My best buy was two large containers of Enfamil powdered formula. Publix is offering a deal this week, $5 off the purchase of two. These containers are $22.50 each at my Publix so it's still a big bite to the budget. Fortunately, I was able to use five $5 formula checks that I recently received. I'm not sure if the cashier should only have redeemed 2 or if five was acceptable. In any event, they did accept five on this trip. (It's probably a one time thing for me anyway.) My net price, after the Publix $5 and the $25 in formula checks was $15 for two canisters.

Publix is offering free Yoplait Greek yogurt this week. It's a six ounce container and it retails for $1.19 in my store. The selection was limited but I picked up a blueberry and a plain. We're not big yogurt eaters but I'm sure I can find someone who will enjoy it.

Some other good deals included the Hebrew National hot dogs which retail at $4.99 - after bogof price and a .75 coupon, these were only $1.75 each. Eight o'clock coffee was also part of the BOGOF sale this week. It's normally priced at $4.99 each but after sale and $1 MQ, it was only $1.50 a bag - 100% arabica beans. I also picked up a Wanchai Ferry frozen entree. These were priced at $7.99 each which I think is too expensive. We've been wanting to try these and fortunately there was a Publix coupon and a MQ which brought this price down to $4.50.

I picked up three packages of Bounty Napkins - retail at $1.99 each less a $1 Publix coupon and a .25 MQ (doubled) for a net price of only .50 each. These are my favorite paper napkins and although we try to use cloth for most meals, we do still use some paper napkins. Probably the best deal of all was a in-store special on some Kelloggs cereals. As you remember, these were marked down to half price last week as part of the 50% off promotion. They must have stocked too many because they were specially priced at only $1 each. I had a couple of $1/2 MQ so I scored four boxes of cereal for only $2. I sent home a box of Fruit Loops and Apple Jacks with the little girls as a special treat.

There were also some other items that we cheap after the coupon. In the end, I also picked up two packages of ground chuck, two packages of cubed steaks, some deli meat and a corned beef brisket. Along with a package of smoked pork chopped that I picked up at Walmart later in the day, I was able to put meat in the freezer for five additional meals.

OK, here the numbers. My total on the screen was $152 which already included the sales and bogof prices). From that I deducted $25 in formula checks and additional coupons bringing my net OOP to only $95.00. My receipt says that I saved $77.39 plus you need to add in the formula checks for a total savings of $102.39. If I had a calculator, I could give you a precentage but lets just say it's good.

TGIF!

I get a little excited about Fridays.

Usually, it means the end of a long work week and the beginning for some family time. I have some projects to finish (painting the new window glazing) and hopefully, working on my new planter bed.

DH is building me a raised planter bed for the back yard (I hope that we will have a tutorial with pictures to share soon). I have one little spot that may get enough sun to support some vegetables. The materials are purchased and only assembly lies between me and getting the soil ready.

My next building project (outdoor) will be a compost bin. Right now I have a wire cylinder that I've been using as a compost bin but it's too tall and skinny to build up enough heat to decompose. I love the idea of throwing my organic waste (especially potato peelings and other vegetable scraps) into a compost bin. We have plenty of leaves around here to assist in the decomposition, it's just a matter of having a bin that is the right shape and size to "cook."

Right now, I'm planning to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, several kinds of peppers, carrots and some herbs. I already have garlic planted from the late fall. I'd also like to get some lettuce that we could actually eat. (Last year's lettuce was small and tasteless.) We're also going to try some pumpkins later in the year. Those will probably grow outside of the planter bed near the compost bin.

Sewing Projects

Here are two projects that I recently completed. I started with this cute pink dress. This is some fabric I found at Walmart (before they stopped selling fabric). I also found a similar fabric in blue. For the pink dress, I used a piece of white butterfly trim to accent the front. My dress loving grandgirlie likes this and wants to wear it now.

I made a similar top using the same pattern and making a top for the little one who does not like dresses. I used the blue fabric and trimmed with a simple yellow gross grain ribbon on the front.

For my second project, I tried to make a outfit that my dress-disliking grandgirlie would like. I used a very simple pattern that had a pull over top and matching pants. I made this by a size four but it was still a little wide at the shoulders. I took a little inverse pleat (3/4 inch max) at the front neckline and used a blue button to dress it up.

I kept this very simple by only using a little jumbo white rick rack at the bottom hem. Unfortunately, she still doesn't like it. We'll try again now that the outfit is completed and keep our fingers crossed.

Works for me Wednesday - Perserverance

Perseverance.

OK, I know my DD thought it was a hoot when she gave me a 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle for Christmas. To make it even more difficult, it was the painting Stary Night by Van Gogh.

I love jigsaw puzzles. Unlike most folks, I find them to be relaxing. This one was a little stressful. If you look it it closely, there are no hard lines or distinct borders to help with the assembly. On first look, most of the pieces look the same.

I finally got this finished last Friday. I started in early January. I had it about 1/3 done when I dropped the whole thing on the floor. I was determined to get the darn thing finished. It just goes to prove that almost anything can be accomplished if you take it one piece at a time.

Warm weekend means projects begin...

We finally got a warm weekend here. (Let me just say that that means you didn't have to have a jacket on. With the breeze, it was still quite chilly.)

One issue we've had for a while was our weeping window in the kitchen. Ultimately, we'd like to take the thing out and replace it with a two french doors. We love the light that it brings into the room and enjoy being able to watch the birds and squirrels outside while we eat. Our problem is two fold. The window is single pane glass which means it does little to insulate us from the cold. The other issue is the placement of the outside door. The door is too close to the fridge and we can't fully open the door. Replacing the window and relocating the door would be our wish but it is simply impossible right now.

As a stop gap measure, I removed the worn glazing from some of the window panes and replaced it today. I've never done this before but like everything else, with some patience it was doable. I used a chisel to gently remove the old glazing and a putty knife to place the new glazing. My total cost for this project is less than $10 which included a new putty knife. The package says to wait 7-10 days before painting.

Hopefully, next weekend will also be nice.

Planning for Spring

Let the growing begin...


I've planted some seeds in my makeshift greenhouse this past weekend. I spent a total of $12 on peat pots and seeds. I had the soil in the garage and the "greenhouses" are re-purposed fast food containers. I did have some help with the first batch. (Note to self, four year-olds think it's funny to add a bunch of seeds when you tell them only 2-3!)

I tried to make my old seed planters from recycled newspaper. It worked ok but it took quite a bit of time and left my fingers completely black with ink. I had to add a bit of sand in the bottom of the
tube to hold it upright. It's also very difficult to move or adjust the newspaper pots. The peat pots were relatively cheap ($2.50 for 50 small pots) and are much quicker and easier to work with.


For now, I've planted carrots, jalapenos, bell peppers, cilantro and banana peppers. I'm going with plants for my tomatoes and that will have to wait until the weather gets warmer. For now, my seeds will germinate near a south facing window and can move outside if it ever warms up.

Menu Monday - What's for supper?

Saturday - Chili - created on the fly solely from items in the pantry and freezer

Sunday - Steaks*, Baked Potato and Steamed Broccoli

Monday - School Night

Tuesday - BBQ Sandwiches and Brunswick Stew, Cinnamon Apples - this will be the last of the barbeque pork brought to us in January from our favorite restaurant. I'm going to pair this with some cinnamon apples I picked up (on sale) from Publix.

Wednesday - Potato Soup - I have an abundance of potatoes that need to be used up this week.

Thursday - Chicken Enchillada Casserole - I may try to pick up a few more packages of chicken from Kroger this week since the price is back down to $1.99 per pound for skinless, boneless breasts.

Friday - left over casserole

*I purchased a large Top Sirloin at Publix Saturday. Originally, I had intended to cut this into chucks for k-bobs but when I took it out the fridge Sunday, it appeared to me that I could cut two medium sized steaks and chunk the rest for a later time. I was able to get two steaks and about a pound and a half of chunks. I think I paid just shy of $9 for the whole Top Sirloin.

For school night, DH usually eats something before he leaves for school or picks up something along the way. He'll only be in school for about three more months. We usually share a snack or dessert when he gets home. I will eat something leftover in the fridge or make myself a sandwich. It's been a good opportunity to use up some bits in the freezer.

I was going to purchase some salad items at the store since the weather is warmer here but the high cost of tomatoes quickly changed my thinking. With tomatoes running nearly $3 a pound, it's going to have to wait a bit. If I'm going to pay that much for a tomato, it better be flavorful.