Saturday, July 31, 2010

Saturday finds

I was in the area of Target today, so I used up my coupons that were expiring- today! LOL.
Not a whole lot but still better than paying full price.

I paid 24¢ (reg $2.24) for the Bagel Bites, Busy Bones $1.09 (reg $2.84), Beggin Strips $1.09 (reg $2.34), Tide (reg 97¢) They paid me 3¢ each (LOL).
Total value $10.33 > I paid $2.33
All thanks to coupons!!

I was in the area of Fareway also so I stopped for their sale stuff.

Van Camps were 4 for $1.00 with an in-store coupon,  (reg 68¢ each) Wheat bread $1.09 each (reg 2.29 each) Ball lids $2.19 each (reg $2.89 each) my coupon was buy 2 get one free so I actually paid $1.46 each, Era 32 load (not shown) (reg 3.99) on sale $2.99 I paid $1.99.
Total value $22.25 > I paid $10.64

I have quite a grocery list started for tomorrow. I am hoping I have enough tomatoes to at least put up 3 quarts of spaghetti sauce. We have been able to get a small bucket of them and I see there are maybe half dozen more out there (if they are any good). This years garden has not gone well due to ALL the rain. My squash and pumpkins are not producing fruit. I am going to attempt to pollenate them myself tomorrow. The Roma tomatoes are almost dead. I have had only 1 pepper out of 3 plants. Not many jalapeno peppers either like usual. Green beans I have harvested twice from (not many) and they are about done. The pole beans have not produced hardly anything. Cucumbers are doing fair but seem to be stunted. carrots have nice tops but nothing below.
We not only had an over abundance of rain we have had a problem with moles in the garden this year too. They did not bother it last year. They have also killed off some of the plants the shade garden I started.
I have never had a garden go so wrong on me before.

Anyway, I am going to try some new recipes for making my own Ranch dressing and Italian dressing.
If I think they are good I will share them.
It's late so I will say Good Evening!

Friday, July 30, 2010

Friday Blog Hopping

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I have been blog hopping again! I have found some great new blogs to read and follow.  I hope you also find some that you enjoy to.
Just click on any of the buttons and check them out.

























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Sunday, July 25, 2010

Sunday

Can you spot the little fawn? I barely saw it when we went for a ride to check the river. So cute!
Yes, I missed Saturday again. Ho-hum. LOL
It was a "not so good day" and progressed that way all day.
First the lawnmower broke. I reached down and grabbed the pull thingie, gave a yank. Then there I stood a piece of rope with a plastic handle dangling from my hand. Thankfully I have Dave, who can fix just about anything.
With the heat and humidity the swimming pool was starting to turn green. Ugh! The pump had gone out. I checked around and the cheapest pump in town started at a mere $300.00, I didn't pay that much for the pool! This was the second pump we have been through. The one that came with the pool expired on us last year. Luckily someone Dave knows, gave us theirs since their pool leaked. (At this time we have no friends willing to part with their pump). So I got on the great "find anything website" aka - Craigslist! Voila! There was one right here in my town for $50.00! 
The guy told us he bought it new for $129.00 used it a month and a half.  He moved and got rid of the pool.
We went over last night and he plugged it in and he even said "if it doesn't work", bring it back I will give your money back. WOW you don't hear that often. Very doubtful he was scamming since we know where he lives.LOL.
It is a really nice pump and better than the others we had, but, we found that the hoses were bigger and would not fit onto the ports on our pool! NOOOOOOOO!
Again I am so lucky that I have Dave who can "figure something out"!
The pump is all hooked up now and pumping out all the algae!!! YAY!  Dave is my hero!!
The guy said while we were there, "do you have a use for this area rug"? He said "its not that old and we don't want it". I checked it out and it is definitly "not very old"! My son was overjoyed when I stuck it in the truck and he asked what "the heck is that". (WOW sometimes it's the oddest things that can make them happy LOL).
He has been working on the rec room in the basement. The tile floor is old, ugly and chipping away. Now he can cover it and that is what he did as soon as we got home.
Dave's "plumber acquaintance" was just here. They will be doing the plumbing Tuesday. Yahoo!! I won't know what to do with "water pressure" LOL.  We are getting a discount, because > Dave is going to help him. Further we will be paying very little for the copper pipes and fittings. Most of it is coming from Dave's work. (No, it is not used). As I have said before - you would not believe the stuff that comes into the scrap yard.
Dave's boss told him he could set aside any new stuff that comes in that we can use for the plumbing job. We will just be buying anything more we need at Menards. This will be very helpful because copper is not cheap.
We are not having the drainage done, just the water pipes. The plumber is going to give us an estimate though on replacing a drain pipe under the floor and adding a spot for a toilet. Then I will have my second bathroom! We will be doing most of the work for that ourselves, with him coming in for the "official stuff".
When I found this house 3 years ago it had everything on my list that I wanted, except one>a  second bathroom!
You rarely find everything on your list of must haves. I fell in love with this place when I walked in the door. So when it came down to my list and it was just the one thing - I accepted it, because, Dave "knows people" and plumbing. The reason we are having a plumber in though is, although Dave knows plumbing, he is 1) not licensed and we have city laws on that, 2) he is not a professional and therefore it takes alot longer (like days). I cannot be without water for very long. The plumber said it would be done in about 5 hours. $30.00 an hour. WooHoo I can handle that!

                                                             Deals of the day!

Hyvee was having a coupon sale, I got the Brownie Mix for 49¢ (reg $1.58), mac & cheese 17¢ each (reg 58¢ each), brown sugar 99¢ (reg $1.89), Sara Lee Bread 99¢ (reg $2.28) the Kool-aid was on sale for 10-77¢ (reg 8 - $1.00) I had a coupon for $2.00 off C&H sugar when you by 10 Kool-aid so I paid 88¢ for the sugar!
Value $12.25> I paid $4.80


 The river is up and they said it would crest today. This is where you used to "back down to the river" and drop your boat. This was last night so I expect this area where we were parked is now under water.
 This is the Missouri River.

Moneymakers


Bee costume for child, bought at a yard sale for $1.00. Sold on Craigslist for $10.00


Vintage canister set still in the original packaging, bought at thrift store $1.00 sold on Craigslist $5.00

Paid $1.98 at thrift store for this juice set - sold on Craigslist $7.00


Thanks for stopping in. Have a good evening!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Trying Blog Hopping

I am trying something new today. Blog Hopping! If you are looking to check out some new blogs or get yours out there - check out these.  Have fun!



New Friend Fridays
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Vacation Wednesday's

 I started taking Wednesday off last week, to spend time with my son. He is so bored all day being on summer break.
 We are not taking a vacation this year because of the turbulent weather everywhere. We hope to get back to Tybee Island next year though (and I am going to try hard to save the money to rent a condo this time on the beach).
Last Wednesday we went to Joslyn Museum in Omaha, Ne. (accross the river from us). Joslyn Museum  We love museums and they have some very beautiful paintings and exhibits there. An FYI on Saturdays you can visit for free!
We also visited the oldest cemetary in our town here. I had not been there since I was a teenager. It was absolutely awesome.  (My son and I love old cemetaries).

Today we went to the "Bodies The Exhibition". Very expensive but very interesting. For those not familar with this they are preserved human bodies opened up so you can see what is inside of us. Here is a link Bodies The Exhibition. My son held a human brain in his hands and said he couldn't wait to tell his dad. LOL!
That didn't take as long to see as we thought so I decided to take him up to the oldest part of the city which before being annexed was Florence. Here we found an old Mill that was established by Brighom Young and is now a museum. It was free but they take donations (yes I donated). In the upper part is an Art Gallery. It was a very interesting place and the woman was delightful to chat with. They have a Farmers Market type thing on Sunday's she said so we are planning on returning then. There is also another museum in the area that is only open on weekends. We plan to stop at that. Florence Mill
We also discovered the Mormon Trails Center Museum. It was totally free and very interesting. I had no idea about their history. I love history and they very kindly gave me a Book of Mormon, which I do plan on reading. I declined the missionary visit though. Mormon Trails Museum
Finally, I took my son to Hummel Park.  I had not been there in over 20 years. Check out this link Hummel Park. I had only been there at night also. It was almost as creepy in the daytime I found, but, we love creepy. LOL! We will be going back with our camera's soon to take pictures of the "morphing stairs" (LOL) and the beautiful views.
So if you are ever in Omaha, Ne. These are just a few of the inexpesive historical places to visit.

                                                               From The Garden
Picked another mess of green beans. A friend at work gave me the best resipe for them. They are in the crock pot as we speak! Smell so yummy!
Recipe
Put raw bacon (cut in 1 in pieces) on the bottom of the crock pot (as much as you want)
Next put in potatoes (about 1in cubes)  as much as you want but leave room for the beans)
Then snap your beans and put them on top.
I add about a 1/2 cup of water
Put lid on and cook until potatoes are done. I stir them about the last 1-2 hours
If you put them on in morning I suggest on low if you start them after noon as I did put them on high and turn down when potatoes are done.

I made this with the first mess of green beans and it "was to die for". Dave couldn't get enough and went on and on about it.

Flipping It For $$

Got this at a church rummage for 50¢  sold on Craigslist for $5.00


Found on curb - sold on Craigslist  $20.00


Dave brought this hood ornament home (found at work) I sold on ebay for $28.00

Thanks for stopping by. Have a good evening.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Sunday Again


I wanted to blog more often but it has been less. I just can not find time to do everything I want to do in a day.
                                                             From The Garden
The garden is starting to produce a bit more. I was able to get these few tomatoes and I don't expect to get many more. The rain just keeps coming and the ground is not drying up. I had to throw out some cucmbers that were laying in water and had grown fungus all over them.

The flowers are all doing well too. Those clearance flowers I bought for $1.00 each
Just look at them now!

They just needed some attention.
My favorite flowers are Lilies and more of mine are in bloom and they just smell so good!


We had another storm last week with winds of 80 miles per hour. Luckily we had no damage at our place.

This was taken as it was coming in . The northern part of my city got it worse than we did. Looks like we caught the edge of it.

Trash to Treasure
Dave brought me this old cast iron kettle, the bottom is missing and the top piece (cover) I took off.




It's really old and there is just something about it I like. I found a clay pot fit perfectly in it.
 Notice something different in these two pictures?  The wiring is hooked up to the outlet. Now I can put in my pond! YAY!!  Dave got the outlet finished today. So expect pictures soon ( I hope) -(yet another project). I have all the stuff for the pond I was just needing an outlet .

Savings
I didn't take any pictures but my son and I hit the clearance rack at Kohl's this week and he found a pair of APT Jeans for $6.00 (orig price $60.00)  and a pair of shorts for $2.80 (orig price $14.00) plus I had a coupon for 20% off entire purchase so I paid  $7.53  for all!

No great grocery shopping deals to speak of. Only bought a few things this week. I am trying to use up all we have in freezer and pantry before it goes old.

Have a good evening!





Sunday, July 11, 2010

WOW It's already Sunday!

I have been dealing with hip pain (in both sides) these past 3 days. Needless to say I have not gotten as much done as I would have liked to, and here it is Sunday- back to work tomorrow. Ho-hum!
Friday I worked on the bathroom some more. Dave put up my shelf last Sunday so I could put my plant back in there.
I suppose I should explain the unusual planter. First, I want to say that I love it because it is unique and one of a kind. It means a lot to me. You see my son made it for me in "art class" at school last year. He admits he is not good at "ceramics", LOL (I don't care). I find it special an am proud to display it.

The Bathroom Project
I finished the cupboard by putting new knobs on. Here are a couple of "before" pictures.

There were cupboards around the "ugly" light fixture. We removed the upper and left side cupboards. I painted the one that I we kept.


I painted it to look like "old wood" but now I am thinking about going back over it and making it completely dark.

Now I am trying to decide if I want to paint the new sink base "black". It has a "plastic like" finish on the front doors for ease of cleaning and I just am not sure I can get that if I paint them.

 I wish I had taken a "before" picture of the old sink that was here when we moved in. It was one of those 60's fake marbelized ones. It had a tiny bowl and long 3 foot counter to the right. It was "nasty" (uncleanable), too.

The other thing I am about to tackle is the tub. ( Okay here if you could see me is where I am  rolling my eyes, LOL).  First - why on earth did they paint it?!! Not only did they paint it but they did a horrid job.


It has run marks!
This is the bottom of the tub (yes inside- we only use the shower at this time and a bath mat)
 The tub is porcelain so I can't scrape it off and have to be careful of any chemicals I use. I think however the paint is chipping itself off quite well .

This is not the only problem we have had while redoing the bathroom. At some point in time someone painted all the walls, ceiling and tile (we removed the tile) with varnish or polyurethane which, through the years yellowed, cracked and chipped and apparently when it got steamy in there, it ran down the walls. I scrubbed and scrubbed before painting just so my paint would adhere.
 So the bathroom is still not completely done.

Deals
I had only 2 great deals to share today.
 The tuna I got for 47¢ a can (reg 98¢ each) and the "always" I got for $1.69  (reg $6.98).

The Garden
It was raining today when I got up and it is supposed to rain more tonight. My tomatoes are not doing well at all, due to this. I am pretty sure I will not have enough to can.

I have already harvested several jalapeno's which is unusual since the plant is not even half the size as last years. I still have alot left in the jar, so I have started a jar for my son. Last year the big jar was full to the top, from just the one plant. I gave alot away too, off that plant.

The cucumbers, pumpkins, squash and beans are all doing wonderful.


My lilies finally bloomed!!


That $1.00 clearance pot I bought at Menards just needed some water and sunshine. (The other one is all budded)


 
Here is a clearer picture of the front bed (as promised).

I see I have green beans to pick and the sun is starting to go down so I better go pick them.
Thanks for stopping.
Have a - "good evening"

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy 4th!

I thought I would share a great recipe that uses lots of your garden's veggies and is great to take to a picnic. I took it today to a picnic and it was eaten all up!

I love this Summer Veggie Salad !

1 cup uncooked tricolor spiral pasta
1/2 cup chopped seeded cucumber
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup sliced radishes
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon Good Seasons Italian dressing mix (hint: there are 2 tablespoons in a pkg)
2 Tablespoons plus 1-1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine all the veggies, cheese, garlic powder and pepper. Drain pasta and rinse in cold water: stir into the veggie mixture.
In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the dressing mix, vinegar and oil: shake well. Drizzle over salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately or refrigerate.
5 servings

I doubled it to take to the picnic.


Hope everyone is having a great 4th. Enjoy the fireworks!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Another Busy Saturday

I was driving out to where Dave works on friday, ( a gravel road along the river where people seem to think it is the garbage dump).  Along the road someone had dumped off a few of these concrete scalloped edgers.
Of course I knew I could put them to some use, LOL. There were only a few (2 are not pictured). I stopped and loaded them into my SUV.
Today I put them to use to help keep the soil from continually washing down, pushing water into a storage room under my steps.

 I will do this on the other side as well. I will also be putting a flower bed on this side next year.





Here is a couple before pics of the new front flower bed

I laid it out then scraped off the top

planted some flowers and seeds.
Here is what it looks like now that I added some mulch today and "children" (lol)


( I didn't realize til now how the pic seems out of focus. I took this at dusk, I  will add a clearer pic tomorrow) You get the idea how it's coming along though.



I have discovered  that going to Menards on Saturday mornings gets me some great deals.
I was there to get more mulch and they were marking things down. I got a real tall "Shephards Hook" for $5.88  (reg $16.98) and as I was leaving I found these cute little "Scented Windowsill Garden" kits.  for $1.00 (reg $6.98)

They are copper colored tin pots with a tray, growing medium and seeds. I bought 2 and both are different seedwise. One has Silver Thyme, Lemon Balm and Mint, the other has Spearmint, Peppermint and Mint.
They will look great on my windowsills! Can't beat them for a buck!

Got a great deal on corn-on-the-cob at No Frills today 12 ears for $2.99!! WOW!
  (It is usually $3.99 for 6 ears).
It will go over well at the picnic tomorrow.



I got all the rest of my perennials planted today, except one. Still trying to decide where I want to put the other "Butterfly Bush", sis bought me.
We put up "another" trellis for the climbing green beans and some fencing around the pumpkins to get try and keep them off the ground.
I picked a handful of green beans off the row today! 

I happened to have my camera by me at just the right time today and got 3 of my "family" in the pic.
Here are top L-R "Blacken", " Boot-Z" and "Damon" (aka "itty-bit") bottom.



Enjoy your evening. Thanks for stopping in to read my blog!