I have been a busy bee!

Working with Sissy has made me a very busy bee!  I am learning a lot, but the learning curve is huge.

I want to accomplish so much more and time will tell.

Did not get as much done this past week like I wanted too as Sissy gave me two Woolridge heavy flannel shirts to shorten the sleeves for our Little Person.

I got one done, badly after ripping the same sleeve out five times.  I then proceeded to sew the cuff and placket opening in backwards three times. 

I swore a lot!  But I now know what I am doing and the next one will be easier.

I also had a floor length Opera Cape that had to be shortened nine inches, and this was really a challenge, but I finally got it done.  Did knock out three pairs of Jeans in record time.

Tuesday was a bust as I was ripping out the damn shirt all morning and then Lil Sis came up and cut Sissy and my hair. I was just done for the day.  My hair is very thick at the back and I had it cut back to a classis bob.  It is a difficult cut, but Lil Sis does a beautiful job. Yes, I lopped off seven inches of hair.

I love it!

Husb and I had our bi-yearly dental cleanings yesterday (I love getting my teeth cleaned) and then we went out to lunch. Read the rest of the afternoon. We stopped and picked Sissy's dog Roscoe up after lunch as the last time she took him to her daughters he rolled in something dead and then proceeded to clean himself and was one sick dog for about a week.  Husb kept Him while we were in Missoula and he was getting better, but the last time he pulled this, the Vet bill was close to eight hundred dollars.

Thank goodness Sissy still had meds from this debacle, and it really worked to settle his stomach.

Today Husb has a Dr. appointment and then I will run errands.

I gathered all my beef bones from the freezer late yesterday and put half of them in my large crock pot and processed that this morning and got three quarts of yummy beef broth.  The second batch is processing now.

Sissy and I have been very, very good this month about eating down the freezers and they are going down. Yeah!

I am closing out my month financially today as I have funded all my accounts and made my savings goals for the month. I have dinners planned with what I have on hand through the end of the month!

I have spent $ 184.00 at the grocery store and more than half of that was wine and soda for the Husb, wine for me! Everything I purchased was a loss leader!  I call that a win.

Eating out however was totally out of control.  We are so bad, and this has got to stop!  But we enjoy it so much!

I see my freezer challenge continuing at least another month if not more.  Now I did stock up heavily last month in anticipation of staying out of the stores this month, so my grocery spending will be a bit skewed for at least three or four months.

I need to make a Costco run on Sunday, as we will be out of coffee, half and half and heavy cream.

I will also pick up romaine lettuce and broccoli and cauliflower.

I need to get to the post office and return some books to the library.  Sissy and I are going with her Neighbor to a play this evening and tomorrow I am going to bake and make more chocolate caramels!

I eat at least two pieces of chocolate before bed and have been eating the Aldi's chocolate with hazelnuts that my Lil Sis brought me back from St Louis.  I am almost out.  Here the good chocolate with nuts is super expensive and I hate cheap chocolate. 

During Christmas baking and Candy making I discovered that if I cook chocolate caramel to 255 it turns much harder, but still somewhat chewy.  I make it with crushed pecans.  I ate this failed batch myself and it was so good.  It took me a month to get through the failure, and I enjoyed every bit of it. So, this will be my new go to chocolate fix for bedtime.  I figure I can make a batch of caramel (we have a years' worth of nuts left over in the freezer!)  for about six dollars and this is a true savings.  One half gallon of heavy cream will make four batches!  I will get this done next week, one batch at a time and freeze it!

I am also working on perfecting the Keto cracker recipes for the Husb, and when I get it down pat and to the texture and crunch, I want I will shoot you the recipes.

When you download recipes from the internet, they rarely give you really good instruction and I have baked enough that I know how to tweak!

Now I am going to go and put some makeup on, so I do not scare my public.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Kay

Just sewing,,,badly, but learning!

Yes, this is me, and I look that young and beautiful (not!).

I have been helping Sissy for two weeks now, and I do not know if I am more of a help or a hinderance, but we have had a lot of laughs. Probably too many to really get things done.

My frustration levels have been at an all-time high and I have dropped the *F* bomb more than I want to admit.

I segue... three weeks ago I was so bored by my retired life and the long dreary winter that I decided I needed a part time job. So, I put out the word that I would like a part-time bookkeeping position.  I got an interview last Tuesday morning.  I intimidated the hell out of this small accounting bookkeeping firm, and they have not called back? Did I mention that I do not interview well?

NO discussion of wages, nothing, but we will have to think about this! Great entertainment for Sissy and me. So, I went up to Sissy's and told her I was going to jump off of one of the two bridges in this area if I did not find something productive to do at least 10 to 15 hours a week.  Sissy had by now nine wedding dresses in her shop, so she hired me!  

I am on the learning curve, and I mean a big one. She is being the bad Sister that she is, gave me really hard stuff to do.  I have now relined the sleeves in a man's dress jacket and learned how to replace zippers in Levis (quite difficult) and men's dress pants (also very difficult).  I spent a total of nine hours on one suit, bringing my earnings to under three dollars an hour? (for the dress suit) I keep asking myself is it worth it, but for the laughs it is.

I was able to do a California hem on a pair of jeans this morning in under seven minutes, so I call that a win! $12.00

I show up at Sissy's at eight o'clock in the morning and she is starting to rise earlier.  We shall see.  I am learning a lot and feel quite satisfied with myself for the first time in a long while.

The yard so encompassed all last year, but this year it will be so different as we have hired the front yard to be done.  I will just require maintenance which Husb is more than willing to handle.

Now I have to say this might not work out, but for now I am happy.  I need to do more meal prep like I did back east.

We are leaving tomorrow for Missoula as the roads are good, and I am excited just to get out of town.

I have been to the grocery store twice this month and have spent under 110.00, go me.

Now I have to go scrounge up something for dinner and get to packing ever so little!

Hugs.

Kay

 

Another January Monday!

Busy weekend and a lot was accomplished.  The porkchop dish was good but different and a whole lot of chopping and dicing. I do not think I would make it again, although I will say those tough pork chops were very, very tender. I might but will tweak it. Less onion and more apples.

I also made two loaves of cranberry orange bread and this time it was not a failure and very good.  So, we got half a bag of cranberries out of the freezer and two cups of toasted ground walnuts!  That is a win.

Kim's middle daughter brought up dinner last night, so we did not have to cook and that is always wonderful.

I did get to the library and checked out several books on Excell and worked both Saturday and Sunday mornings for an hour and learned a lot but have a long way to go as I am not memorizing like I used to.  I have started a cheat sheet I can refer to for quick reference. 

After I blog, I will work again for an hour.

Tonight, the Husb and I are going to a fundraising Bingo game which is very entertaining and fun.  Cheap entertainment and the money goes to a good cause.  The big winner gets a 1/2 a processed beef!  Everyone brings two cold dishes to share amongst a table of eight.  So, I am making my famous smoked salmon dip and baguette toasts.  I also purchased Chinese barbecue pork as I cannot make it for what Winco sells it for.  I have the toasted sesame seeds and Chinese mustard that I buy in bulk.  I also spent two hours making keto crackers yesterday morning and they turned out very well.  Husb loved them, so I see this becoming a weekly chore, but then I love to bake.  I made a cheddar cracker (needs more salt) and an everything bagel seasoned cracker.  I baked them twice to make them extra crisp and put them in a large tin in the refrigerator as they have no preservatives and will go bad in several days.  Hopefully this will last Husb a week, we shall see.  I will try parmesan and garlic the next time.

Last month our Neighbor won it!  We were so excited for them.

I did break bad and go to the grocery store where I spent forty dollars and change and mostly for the Husb.  Keto and low carb food is very expensive, but it keeps his blood sugar in check.  That was the first money spent on real groceries for the month and here it is the twelfth!

I need to run back to the library to get a book they ordered in for me, and it is there and then run to little Sis's for a bag I need for tonight to haul my goodies.  I will then run to Sissy's to drop some things off and then home to make things for tonight.

It is nine thirty and I am showered and dressed, and my morning chores are done, I just need to dry my hair and put on my makeup, so I do not scare my public.

I also need to plan my menu for the week but will wait until I talk to Sissy and see what her plans are for sharing meals.

I still have not gotten her pantry organized as I petered out on Friday, but it will get done eventually.

Now I am off to make myself beautiful, which is hard work!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

God is good!

Kay

 

Friday the ninth of January 2025

Here it is Friday again, and I cannot believe how fast the week has gone.

I was up at 4:30 and have had a very productive morning.

Morning chores are done, and I did some organizing in my very large pantry.

Today I am going to head to the Diamond Shop to have a necklace repaired that I wear all the time, and I feel naked without it.  Then onto the Library where I have been wanting to go all week long.

I will then go up to Sissy's and start working on her pantry and make two loaves of Zucchini bread. After I clean up my mess, I will start dinner.

We have so many pork chops that we bought on a loss leader for 99 cents a pound and they are tough as nails, so I am going to try a new recipe where they are baked.

Sissy has a head of cabbage that must be used, so it goes like this.  Four pork chops in a glass 9 x 14 pan laid in melted butter, then a layer of cabbage leaves, then a layer of thinly sliced onion, another layer of cabbage, and then a layer of thinly sliced apple, another layer of cabbage and then a layer of thinly sliced potato just keep layering until pan is full and bake at 350 for an hour or so.  Sounds delicious and I will let you know.  This is something that the Husb can eat although the potatoes are not good for him, it is all about moderation when dealing with a diabetic.  A little portion and that is it.

Our grilled cheese and tomato soup was wonderful last night.  I do not like to use canned soups because of the preservatives, but I have several cans for emergency, and I used one with a can of petite diced tomatoes (no additives in that) and a can of heavy cream with dried basil leaves. It was so very good, and two cans have left the pantry!

I think Husb and Sis are going to start another puzzle as Sissy got a large puzzle board for Christmas.  We shall see.

It is day number nine of no grocery store for me, and I know I will have to make a trip soon as I am out of half and half for my morning coffee and am using up heavy cream instead.  Heavy Cream has about two more mornings left.  I will keep you posted. The least expensive place to buy these two products in our area is Costco and I need to have the discipline to only buy that. Need to put blinders on!

It is a cold and dreary day after two days of sunshine.  Cold here but the sun rarely shines in the winter months, so I will be grateful for the two days we had!

I also dug out my knitting basket and will work on making more cotton dishcloths, which both Sissy and love, and the others I made last year are just about at the end of their usefulness.

Knitting, reading and baking are my go-to winter past times, as when spring hits it will be about the yard.

As Cheryl stated spring is only 10 weeks away and it will be here before we know it!

In the meantime, I will be intentional about getting things done and not wish the day away waiting for warm weather.

Talked with Anne in the Kitchen yesterday to fill her in on Sluggy and it was so nice to talk with her. She is one of those people that just makes your heart squeeze!

Now I am off to gather things for Sissy and get my errands done.

God is good!

Kay

 

Being Intentional!

 I have finally come up with a new motto for the year, and it is... to be intentional!

Even if I do not want to do it.  Trying to be intentional and pushing past the "I don't want too" is difficult and at times quite challenging, but it can be done.

I also want to follow Billie Jo and try and slow down some. I push myself and try to accomplish too much in a day and then I am not intentional or working towards the great purpose.  So, wish me luck.

I did manage to get two nice pans of scalloped potatoes and ham made and sent one home with Kim's middle daughter.  Things are going out of the freezer, and we used up the last of the garden potatoes.

I spent Monday and Tuesday night up at Sissy's helping her get her house undecorated and I also organized or tried to organize her freezers.  We both have so much backstock of food and baking goods.

I made 12 servings of white chicken chili for Sissy and me on Monday and then six servings of regular chili with ground beef, but no beans for the Husb this morning.  He really hates beans, and Sissy and I love them.

But this got rid of 2 large bags of chopped chicken, eight containers of homemade chicken broth and also some turkey broth, four cans of great northern beans and various frozen peppers and chilis, along with two quarts of frozen garden tomatoes, four pounds of ground beef and garden onions.

I also made 6 servings of homemade pizza sauce.  Made pizza Monday night and it was so good. I made a quadruple batch of pizza dough and froze three balls.  Husb is on a strict low card diet, so his pizza went on low carb large tortillas and he loved it. Sissy and I had fresh mozzarella (had to be used) with precooked bacon and black olives, so good.  Husb was pepperoni.  WE still have plenty of pepperoni's frozen and spied a can of black olives in Sissy's pantry that I will process and freeze. Also cooked down three pounds of thick cut bacon and froze that.  Now we will need more mozzarella cheese for future, but I will wait for a sale, and it will happen.  I will then buy it in three-pound blocks and grind it with my KitchenAid grinder, flash freeze and then put into individual baggies.  I process all of my chesses this way, as I do not like the fillers in storebought shredded cheese.

The good news is we still have plenty of cheddar and parmesan.

I left Sissy with Hoppin John and leftover pizza, and I am sure she ate that last night.  Husb and I had homemade French onion soup, and it was very, very good. I have some Walla Walla sweet onions that needed to be used.

I took Sissy car yesterday morning and took a huge load of junk from her garage to the dump! Her garage looks so good.

I am so glad to get the freezers done and now I must focus on the pantry which I will do Sissy's tomorrow.  Mine is pretty well organized but it could be better.

I have also deep cleaned my bedroom, and it was not fun.  So glad that is done. 

This morning, I once again reorganized my upstairs freezer and started a menu plan.

Trying to use the oldest first.

Sissy and book club tonight, and Husb and I are having grilled cheese sandwiches and Frangelico tomato soup.  This will use up two more cans and Husb needs to eat the last of his Keto bread and then I will take another loaf from the freezer.

I have plans within plans.

Still have not gone to the library and will probably do this tomorrow morning.

Drum roll please...I have not been to the grocery store, and it is the eighth, I will confess that I did go to Walgreens yesterday and got diet soda for the husb as it was on sale, but Walgreens is not a grocery store, so I win!

Now I am going to go downstairs and put some makeup on, so I do not scare my public, run one errand and run up to Sissy's to see if she needs anything.

So be intentional!

On a personal note, I received a phone call from Sluggy's Husband, and she is not doing well, so prayers for our Friend.

Kay

January fifth, 2025

 Well, here it is Monday morning, and I was up at 5:00 and puttered quietly around the house as the Husb was still sleeping.  I am still trying to get my list of goals for the New Year together and I blame that on being sick for twelve days.  My brain has not yet engaged.  I am taking it easy.  Just got out of the shower and must get dressed and make myself beautiful! Ha!

Yesterday was the second warm day in a row and the ground was not frozen, so I donned my gardening clothes (which I vowed I would not put on until Spring but needs must).  When that vicious windstorm hit several weeks ago, we had shingles all over the yard, which husb did pick up and put in a pile, but they were also all over the surrounding part of the House outside the fence and the ground cloth was completely torn up in places.  It is hard for Husb to get down on his knees and then I got sick and well it had to be done, So I did it.  I also pulled the rest of my pots as they had died from the frost, and I am so glad to have that done.  Things are where they belong, but I did not like the fact that I was a dirty mess. This took me about two hours, and I then thoroughly vacuumed the basement.

Made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and Sissy came for dinner.  WE have leftovers but those we will eat tomorrow night as we really do not like to eat the same thing two nights in a row.  Tonight, I am making scalloped potatoes and ham.

My game plan for this morning is to strip my bed and deep clean my bedroom (oh joy as in dust and polish which I hate to do).  I will then take my large bedding and blankets up to Sissy's and do them up there as her wash machine is huge and will handle a king size quilt.  I may take the potatoes and ham up to her place and make dinner there, I will discuss that with Husb when he gets up.

Here it is the 5th and I have yet to go to the grocery store and I am proud of me!  Sissy and will put our heads together and come up with menus where we can eat down our freezers together.

While I am doing the bedding I will organize her freezers, so I know what she has.

I will hit the library tomorrow as I want to do more reading this year and I know that I want to polish up my skills in EXCELL.  I am bad at it as I was a Lotus queen for years and that program is no longer being used.  I barely get by in EXCELL which is supposed to be so much easier I just have not had the patience to learn.  I now have the time, and I love numbers and spreadsheets.  Just want to better at it.

So, I will check out books at the library on this program and really work on it.

Today is it very rainy and overcast a perfect day to stay indoors and get things done.

Now I off to get dressed.

I hope everyone has a great and productive day!

God is good.

Kay

Happy New Year!

It has been a while since I posted as I got sick!  I mean really sick!  High fever, bad head cold, just punk for about 10 days. I am not a good sick person, but a goer and a doer, and to be laid low like that was not fun!

Fever came and went but I am finally on the mend.

Sissy left a week ago Monday past, and I was already down, I rallied Christmas day, and Lil Sis came and got the filet mignon and lobster on Christmas Eve and did all the cooking.  It was very good; I ate dinner and slept on her couch until Husb woke me to take me Home!

My fever broke Christmas morning and with a ton of OTC medicine I made it through the day and then slept off and on the next two.  Started to feel Human on Monday the 30th and plans were made for Lil Sis and her Husband to join us New Years Eve.  They did we had simple appetizers (think tapas) and had a wonderful time.  However, none of us can hang any longer and the party broke up at eight o'clock in the evening and I was in bed by 8:30.  Husb cleaned up the kitchen for which I was truly thankful.

Today I was up ay 5:00 a.m. and have paid bills for the month and started a big pot of Hoppin John for the day.  I love black eyed peas and rice and had a nice ham bone to put in the pot. Husb does not like it, but there are plenty of leftovers from last night to make Him happy.  Hoppin John is a southern recipe and meant to be good luck for the New Year!

Just taking it easy today and scrolling through my phone sending Happy New year greetings to all.

I am still just a wee bit tired, and I am not going to push myself. 

Sissy comes home late tomorrow, and I have missed her.  She had a great Christmas with her Family, for which I am glad. Also, happy she was not here to pick up my crud as her immune system is so fragile.

I have some goals for the New year and the first is to eat out of the pantry and freezers for at least two months. I must stop buying loss leaders and use up what we have.  Tomorrow I will make a list of meals and stick too it!

I also must and I mean must stop eating out so much.  I love to cook and am not lazy I just like being out and about amongst the hub bub of people.  I think this comes from living so many years back east.  I have grown used to commotion and it is quite quiet here in the valley. I will continue to work on this.

Looking forward to Sissy's return and now I am going to go and rest, and binge watch some Netflix. I have become quite good at this the past two weeks!

Wishing everyone and happy and healthy New Year!

Kay