DG's frugal journal

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Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Thursday-am

I must get more eggs. This last carton had 3 compromised eggs. While I look at them for cracks, these were all on the bottom. Grrrr. Luckily, I am planning to go out for hubs prescriptions, so it will be just another stop. Last time, I considered buying eggs, the price had really jumped. I hope it has come down some.

The meal plan for the week has been adjusted somewhat as I decided to eliminate hurricane canned goods that require can openers. There will be a lot less of them when I am done. Hurricane season starts on June 1. I also need to replace my emergency gallons of store bought water. I try to keep 5 gallons on hand as well as the 5 gallons frozen in the bottom of the freezer. Gallons of water still seems to be in short supply. The store ads for this week have nothing. So another week of freezer foods. Only one package of chicken breast, one turkey breast and 2 rolls of ground beef left. I found a small container of old turkey breast meat that had slipped down between the water jugs at the bottom of the freezer. Beyond using. The waste makes me sad. I am more careful to use all the turkey meat up and not freeze any now.

The house temperature is in the mid 70's and so far no ac has been required. The humidity has dropped inside as well. Electricity use is up though thanks to the hours of dehydration. It was necessary though. Cherry tomatoes don't freeze well in my experience. They become tart and acidic. I will be making some more fresh tomato/green onion tops salsa. I really enjoy its taste. We did use up the last of the pickle relish. I rarely buy it because hubs goes through moods. He never wants it long enough to use it all up.

I hope to have peppers soon. I would have liked them to have grown at the same time as the tomatoes, but they decided not to sprout until they finally did late. I am considering growing some eggplants as well. Hubs will eat eggplant when it is disguised in a meal. Maybe some okra. That would be for me only. Based on the number of farms closing, I have a feeling fresh produce will become more difficult to get and more expensive. Squash is very difficult to successfully raise here without pesticides. I did see a method using light weight netting that I might try. Hubs doesn't like squash, so not very motivated.

Nothing new to add to my frugal list of activities. Most important thing now is to grow more of my own food.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Friday-am

Waiting for the storms. Got hubs up early so we could finish coffee and breakfast before the storm hits. A lot of lightening and high winds in it. Two ways, power is lost. So expect it. Plan for the worst. Hope for the best.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Friday-am/pm

The storms were flashy, but not too bad. No power loss here. Other places, not so lucky. But we did prepare. I even set aside some extra water in case. Just a rainy day. An angel wing begonia did suffer a lost stem. It is in water now. Hope it roots. The cuban sweet peppers are a bit droopy. The hot peppers are quite perky. I don't touch wet tomato plants. It encourages disease. So we are eating from yesterday's harvest. Actually, hubs devoured them. There is no harvest left. I got 3. Hubs did consider charging the solar battery yesterday. He has decided to listen to his instincts in the future. Works for me.

Hubs wants ground beef stir-fry for tonight and we will use the last package of chicken and a package of fish for the weekend. It needs to be Italian chicken. Some dated canned tomatoes and canned olives. I found a beef roast at the bottom of the freezer. Ugh. It is several months old and so it needs to be cooked. So Monday is beef roast. No argument. Clearing the freezer. Then only 2 rolls of ground beef.

Old dance partner sent me an old joke. That is his way of wanting me to call. So I did. He is upset about.....things. Mostly that he can see there will be no dancing for months. He is missing it a lot. It hurts to see him so upset while pretending he is not upset. Our conversation was not supportive unfortunately. Covid-19 is preventing him from social interaction. Yet, he is afraid of dying from it. Yet he can't exercise and he is afraid he will lose whatever skills he has. The man is a basket case. When I suggested they might lift restrictions soon in his state, he was afraid that "we would all die." And since he had to give up alcohol, he is eating cookies. Hubs says he is a very emotional person and he used alcohol to limit/dull his emotional response. I never thought of it that way. He wants to go shopping a lot!!! I admit that wearing a mask discourages me from shopping. I go in, get what I need and get out. I do not wear a mask in my garden although I do when leaf blowing. Still I wish I could give old dance partner a hug and say it will be ok. Hubs is right. He is emotional.

I am connecting up with friends in a new way. I got upset about just everything and my FB response: I washed dishes. I think some of them were clean, but I washed them anyways. My friend in Houston treasured finding a 4 pack of toilet paper. We shared a FB laugh. They understood. We are one people. Interesting.

I listened to the Queen of England's speech. It was good. I told old dance partner that I actually liked social distancing especially in public places. I never felt good about being crowded in a line. And people bringing their sick kids to the grocery store. Ugh. I could get use to using a cloth mask all the time in public situations. What if I did? Right now, it is ok.

Hubs once told me that he didn't like tomatoes. Apparently, he likes them warm out of the garden because he eats a dozen or more when I bring them in at a setting. He complains that the seeds squirt all over his shirt. I hardly get any tomatoes!!! I have to eat my share before they get to the house! If he is changing?, I need to make more garden. That is really challenging in Florida as an organic based gardener.

I sure hope my military son contacts us this week. I didn't last week. It is funny how you miss your children. Maybe those in harms way.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Saturday-am

The storms are over at least for the moment. But they dumped a lot of water. The water soaked in quickly and my plants are loving it. Still it will be too wet this morning to work in the yard. I have taken these several months since I got my new kitchen to re-think what I actually need. I won't need most of my pots since I cook in stand alone plug in pots now in the outside kitchen. My upper cabinets are mostly bare and may stay that way. The glass dishes are heavy and hubs really has difficulty getting them up to or out of the cabinets. On the other hand, his dishwasher is really suited to the glassware. I moved some glass plates to the lower pantry shelves and that may be a better situation for him.The silverware is already in the cabinet at waist level. I always look for ways to reduce the barriers and frustrations in his life. Still, I wish he would make an effort to be more pro-active around the house. He sits almost all day. It worries me.

The safe room has become a storage room. After the threat of tornado yesterday, I realized it is not organized properly for hurricane season. I will have to get after that in the next 30 days. While a tornado is an hour event, a hurricane is more of a 24+ hour event.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Sunday-am

The weather turned nice yesterday, so I worked outside instead of inside. I picked tomatoes. Just a bowl full and the plants looked like the rain was not so nice to them. The tomato season is almost over. I picked out the best for hubs and took the split ones and added chopped green onion tops and chopped them up in my mini chopper/blender. The perfect amount for a relish topping for a meal. Hubs loves green onions, but so much of the onion is normally wasted. But not on my watch. Another 1/2 pint of green onion will be added to the Italian chicken meal for tonight.

I have decided to raise more vegetables. However, I need to extend the growing season. We have several sunny locations. The sun is good until summer, then it is too hot and too bright. So yesterday, I began construction on a pvc frame shade/green house lean-to on the west side of the northeast fence. I have the poles in and cut the cross pieces. However, I need a specialized connector. I stopped at Home Depot on my way to the grocery store and the line was out the door. So I ordered them from Amazon. I tried a discount pvc company, but the shipping made them more expensive than Amazon. Unfortunately, the connectors won't arrive until May.

Hubs has decided that he will need to buy another solar panel and hook it in parallel to quick charge the battery. Well, then I need to build an additional space for it in the sunny area. Right now, we are testing the battery. Hubs charged it using the house electricity and we will see how it holds up. I am glad he is taking this over. I am maxed.

In addition, I repaired 2 window blinds and replaced a burnt out light bulb. I felt like I was going all day. Of course, I planted and transplanted a number of plants.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Monday-am

I am going to try to visit Home Depot early this morning, but after sunrise. Get stuff. If the line is really bad, well, I can take my business somewhere else. Hopefully, it won't be too bad.

Monday is meal plan day. Tonight is pot roast in the crockpot. That should last 2 days. Then ground beef in various forms the rest of the week. We had fish on Saturday night and the last of the chicken from the freezer last night. I have 3 meals of fish left and 2 rolls of ground beef. Wednesday, the new grocery store circular starts.

I made tomato relish for the chicken last night using the less perfect tomatoes, green onion tops, 6 leaves of basil from the garden and half a can of black olives from the hurricane supplies that needed to be used. It was a hit. Hubs said, I could make it again. I also chopped some green onion tops up very fine. I found that they can be used to flavor cream cheese and maybe cheese. We don't eat a lot of cream cheese, so I am still thinking on that. I had tried freezing the tops before just cut up and they had no flavor at all. I will experiment with them finely chopped and see if that is what needs to be done. I can't find any information on freezing green tomatoes whole and then defrosting them for green tomato relish. I may experiment with that as well. Waste not. Want not.

I set off a new area over the septic tank for hubs enlarged solar panel setup. That area is in the sun. I need to observe if it gets the best sun for the project. Hubs is glad that he bought the unit. He now calls it his idea.

I transplanted some tomato volunteers into big pots. The first crop of tomatoes planted in the garden are spent. But they had a good run. Tomatoes are demanding, so I plan to let the soil rest for awhile. I have a feeling though, it will be filled with volunteers in a couple of months. The bugs did get a few and I just left them if they were too far gone. This new crop still in pots, well we will see how well they handle the heat. The transplanted to pots, peppers have peppers, so see how that goes. The second group of them go into the garden area soon. Probably next week. The potted snapdragons need more sun, so I will be moving them soon. One hydrangea is about ready to pop out blooms. The other 2, not so. I can't tell if they are getting the right amount of sun or not. They look ok, but not super. The plumeria stick is about to bloom. It seems to be happy surrounded by lantana. The garden is a busy place right now.

I got all the dishes washed yesterday using my outside sink and solar hot water hose. Hubs suggested how to make the water hotter. I said it is too hot to put my hands in now. No, thank you.

I may get my connectors early, this week. If so, I can finish my shade/greenhouse. So many of my projects are big and take many days. It would be nice if something is actually done.
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