2025 Frugal Friday File, April 4...

 

1.   Found the motivation to make a menu and a grocery order.  

2.  Prepared a full 6-quart slow cooker full of Rudy food on Tuesday, refrigerated it overnight, then packed it in containers for the freezer.  We mix it with his kibble, so it lasts about six weeks.

3.  We did our research and went car shopping.  Found one we wanted, but made the mistake of sleeping on it.  Called back the next morning at nine to ask them to get it ready for us, but it was gone.  I take complete responsibility for this.  If our car didn't have a valid reason that it can no longer be counted on to be reliable, we would not even be considering replacing it right now.  And I've just not been in a place to deal with the insanity behind, and the results of, tariff panic right now.  But as a result, still no money plunked down for a car.

4.  At medical appointment this week, my weight was down another five pounds.  That's about 40 pounds down since I retired two years ago.  I still drink one or two sodas a day.  We almost always have ice cream in the evenings.  I am not dieting. No pharmeceuticals.  I'm just not eating convenience foods five days a week like I did when I was working.

5.  This week I was unexpectedly invited to join a book club for their April brunch next week.  I was told I didn't need to read this month's book, but I wanted to understand the gist of discussion, and the book was Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister which has a time travel element (which I love when it's done well).  I looked online for a cheaper copy, and also checked the library without luck, but I didn't want to cut it too close, so I splurged, paying $11+ for ebook on Amazon. 

    I'm trying to be more social, and this book club is one a current friend has been a member of for many years.  She's having the brunch at her house, so I shouldn't be too anxious about walking into a new location.  I'm counting the cost of the ebook in the 'self care/personal growth' column of the budget.  :)

On the menu this week:

Saturday:  Family supper at Kasey & Beau's

Sunday:  homemade meal from the freezer - Enchilada Casserole

Monday:  frozen pot pies

Tuesday:  out for fried frish & shrimp

Wednesday:  Sushi (grocery store) and Asian Cucumber Salad (homemade) 

Thursday:  Shepherd's Pie

Friday:  Salmon, Rice Pilaf, Green Beans

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

Seventeenth finish of the year.

I stayed up all night reading to finish this one without even getting drowsy.  May not be for everyone.  There were a lot of tears, but there was a WHOOP of laughter that I don't think I will soon forget.

Best book of the year...so far.

Eighteenth finish of the year.

Told in verse is not my favorite kind of reading, so I didn't have any in my personal collection yet to be read.  I looked at my library, and on Amazon.  I was able to borrow this one through Kindle Unlimited.  It is YA (Young Adult) which I usually don't read.  I thought it was very good.  There was a surprise towards the end of the book that I was not expecting.

It is listed as having 253 pages, but being in verse they were not densely-filled pages, so it was a relatively quick read.

Now I have started on...

First quarter progress...

Prompts that have been completed are preceded by a black dot.

Can you believe that a quarter of the year has already gone by?  I feel pretty good about my challenge progress so far.  Quite a few books, that have been on my Kindle for such a long time, have now been read.  A lot have also been borrowed and read.  

Keeping in mind my original goal of reading down my backlog of books has worked wonders at keeping me from buying books!  I won't say I've bought none, I bought two just yesterday for $1.99 each, but they were two copies of the same book that I bought for a friend and I to read and discuss.  The topic interested me, and the  forward of the book is by an author that both of us like.  I'm not sure either of us will read it soon.

I have been struggling a bit lately (haven't we all?), so reading has been an escape.  I need to get a handle on some things, and I've reached out for some help with that.  

I'm doing okay with 2025 goals. I keep them in daily sight by writing the entire list at the top of the page of my weekly to-do list.

• + I deleted time wasters from my phone, but put Sudoku back on.  I tried using a paper Sudoku book, but found it took me longer to look for it, and find a pencil, and play a game, than to just play one game on my phone.  And I do keep it to just one game.  In times of stress, I have added solitaire, but then uninstall again when I feel calmer.
• + I've baked bread twice.
• -  No quilts finished yet.
• + Book challenge already addressed.
• + I've worked on both Storyworth and Ancestry a little.
• + I am volunteering at the library weekly.
• -  No Canasta for us yet.
• +/- I've had the Featherweight worked on, but it needs to go to a pro, so I'll take it soon.
• +  I've found date/time/location of farmer's market, so hope to go next time they are open.
• -  I'm behind on the 52 letters, but will make it up.

2025 Frugal Friday File, March 28...

I can't.  I just can't this week.

 

On the menu this week:

Saturday:  Saturday family supper at Kasey & Beau's

Sunday:  takeout BBQ baked potatoes

Monday:  homemade meal from freezer: Pork chops/Squash Casserole/Broccoli

Tuesday:  takeout Schlotzky sandwiches

Wednesday:  homemade meal from freezer: Roast/Dumplings/Broccoli

Thursday:  Meatballs, Au Gratin Potatoes, Cranberry sauce

Friday:  Who knows?

**designates meatless meal 

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Fifteenth finish of the year.

At just eleven pages, this wasn't really long enough to count as a book, but I'm going to, because it's been on my Kindle for a loooong while waiting to be read, and because it was delightful!  We all know the story, but Diane Setterfield (whose books I have really enjoyed as well) added her usual quirky vibe to the classic fairy tale.  Loved it!

It's only available on Kindle, and it's FREE.

Sixteenth finish of the year.

Very interesting book, written by an autistic boy, Naoki Higashida, in Japan when he was 13 years old (he is now 32).  Each 'chapter' was headed by a question that people have about autistic children, such as "Why don't you make eye contact when you're talking?"  He painstakingly constructed his responses using an alphabet grid.  The book was translated from the Japanese by KA Yoshida and David Mitchell (author of Cloud Atlas).

Refuge by Dot Jackson

Now I am reading Refuge.  It has been on my Kindle for almost five years.  If I had known how good it would be, I'd have read it right away.

Mary Seneca Steele is born in Charleston in the early 1900s.  Her father is a kind and intelligent man, who delights in his daughter and playing his fiddle.  Sadly, when she is still a young child, he dies.  Her mother is somewhat distant, and 'Sen' ends up marrying into a neighborhood family, and her abusive husband depletes her inheritance and keeps on spending.  The very day in 1929 that he came home in a new car, she waits till he is asleep and escapes with their two children in the new car.  

She drives to find her father's family in the Blue Ridge Mountains that she knows only from her father's stories.  

I'm about a third of the way through, and loving it.

I am SO FRUSTRATED...

Is anyone else having issues with Google and/or Chrome?  It is a never-ending battle every time I use my laptop.  I've had updates switch settings before, but I am ready to just toss everything.

I used to have just one Google account, the one that my blog is attached to.  When I got a smartphone, I did not want to have my blog and home email attached to my phone gmail account, so I have a separate google account for that.  For years it was not a problem.

Now I have to log on to my original (blog) account every single time I turn on my laptop.  And it wants to sync all my devices.  I am a compartmentalist!  I do not want all my devices synced!

It has been a nightmare since this all started.  First I couldn't get my home email, and that took forever to figure out.  Then I had to keep a link in a word document to  get into my blog's post pages to make any changes other than just viewing the blog.  Now all of my favorites disappeared from my Chrome home page.  I get some of them back, but then they disappear again.

I am BLEEPing PI$$ED!

In trying to find an answer I came across an article about AI issues makes it important to switch from using passwords to using passkeys.  Oh, joy!  Yet another thing I don't understand.  I can't keep up.  If you don't hear from me, it means either my head has exploded or I've gone offgrid self-preservation mode.

2025 Frugal Friday File, March 21...

 

1.  I was able to make it through the week without needing a major grocery shop (I think Carey went to pick up few things he wanted).  Our batch of Dublin Coddle from Monday covered three meals, and we like it well  enough not to turn down its leftovers.

2.  The two monsteras that I got last spring are still thriving in our living room.  Jared was here recently.  We were watching something on tv that showed a monstera, and I said something about the one on tv looking artificial.  Jared gave me a funny look, that made me realize he thought mine were artificial.  He couldn't believe it when I said they are live plants.  I guess he hasn't noticed that they are bigger than they used to be, but still I was tickled that I have kept them so healthy and hardy for a year now.

3.  Glad that reading can be a frugal hobby.  I've been sticking with my resolve to fill the challenge prompts with books already owned by me or free.

4.  I have not shelled out for a new car...yet.

5.  FRUGAL FAIL!  I caved to the lure of Joanne Fabrics.  I just felt the longing for a last visit to say goodbye.  The prices were not great, but I knew I would cave to the beauty of the fabrics and not be able to leave it behind.  I did spend too much, but if I stretch it over a year, it only works out to $1 a day.  ;)

On the menu this week:

Saturday:  Saturday family supper at Kasey & Beau's

Sunday:  Breakfast for dinner

Monday:  Dublin Coddle & Irish Soda Bread

Tuesday:  leftovers

Wednesday:  takeout burgers

Thursday:  frozen pot pies

Friday:  Carey leftovers / I skipped supper