2025 Frugal Friday File, September 5...

1.  I have NOT been in the mood to cook lately.  Today at five forty-five p.m. I hadn't even thought about supper yet.  I had quite a few eggs in the fridge, some bacon ends and pieces, and colorful peppers.  Also had a variety of cubed cheese left from the charcuterie board I made for book club.  I fried some pieces of bacon in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. After cooked to fairly crisp, I set aside on paper towel to wick away grease.  I removed some of the bacon grease from the skillet, and added the chopped onion and pepper to the pan.  When they were tender, I crumbled the bacon and sprinkled it evenly over the top of the onion and peppers.  On top of the bacon, I added some cubes of smoked cheddar, gruyere, and jack cheese about every 3 inches across the top, as the cubes were about 1" cubes, I didn't want to over do it.  Then I poured six beaten eggs over the top.  As the edges cooked, I lifted them  with a spatula to let the uncooked egg flow to the bottom of the pan.  Then I lowered the heat to low, and put a lid on the skillet to let the eggs cook through.  

After a few minutes, I folded the omelet, cut it in half, then plonked the two halves on plates.  We were eating by six thirty.  And actually, this was the best meal of the week.  The outside of the omelet was tender, but lightly browned from the bacon having been cooked in the pan first.  The cheese cubes melted into little cheesy pools.  The eggs were just perfectly cooked; still moist, but cooked through.

It was possibly the best omelet I've ever made, I didn't have to work too hard, and I used up things from the fridge that needed using.  I'm considering making another one for breakfast in the morning.  😋

2.  After bemoaning the sad state of my bra-drawer contents, I decided to buy a new model to give it a try.  If it passes the comfort and support test, I will get more before letting the old ones go.  

3.  I remembered to water the plants before they croaked.  Honestly, these monsteras are the hardiest plants ever!  

4.  I started the next book for book club.  It was one we chose because it had been an Amazon First Reads option that several of us had clicked on for free (for Prime members), and others of our group were able to get it for free as well after the club met.

5.  I have a 2026 calendar (23" x 34") in my shopping cart.  It's the whole year on one large sheet, and it has daily squares big enough to write a couple of appointments on.  It can just sit there till I have other things to add to the order.  

What we ate this past week:

Saturday:  Family supper at Kasey & Beau's

Sunday:  leftovers

Monday:  takeout Tex-Mex

Tuesday:  Poppy Seed Chicken, Cranberry Sauce

Wednesday:  grazed the fridge

Thursday:  leftovers

Friday:  Omelet: bacon, onion, yellow bell pepper, variety cubed cheese, eggs

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Forty-eighth challenge finish of the year.

This one has been on my Kindle since early 2018, when I bought it at a Kindle special price.

This is a compilation of blog posts by the author.  I've enjoyed the author's work in the past, and I like that this is blog posts.  The first is about a survey the author was asked to take inquiring about her spare time (hence the title).  Some essays/posts were over my head.  But my favorites were Pard and the Time Machine and Exorcists.  Many were very enjoyable, but those two stood out to me so much that I remembered their names.

Forty-ninth challenge finish of the year.

I read this when I was in high school.  Every once in awhile I've thought of it and wondered how I would feel about it on a second read through. I really didn't remember the young men in the book very much...and it's pretty much only about them.

Let me just say that coming-of-age stories are not my favorite.  I read A Separate Peace by John Knowles, and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger as an adult, and they were a struggle for me to get through.  The self absorbtion of pubescent boys is painful to read.  I have long said that, "I didn't even like teenagers when I was one."  Holds true.

2025 Frugal Friday File, August 29...

 

1.  Received a notice about my 401k.  I thought it had all been rolled over to an IRA, but I must have earned more last year before I retired from part-time work.  Sure, I'll take another $1,500!

2.  While talking with financial planner (former boss) about rolling it over, we couldn't help talking books.  He asked how many I had read so far this year.  When I told him, he groaned a bit that I was ahead of him again.  We talked about best books we had read this year, and he told me about his favorite so far.  I looked it up later, and it is one of a trilogy about traveling in the U.S.  None are available at our library, so I ordered used, "very good condition" copies of each of the three to put away for somebody's Christmas present.  We've always enjoyed his book recommendations.  (That makes three Christmas gifts so far.)

3.  We still had a $50+ credit at the vet, so that was nice to get subtracted from our bill for Rudy's annual exam and vaccines.

4.  I've lost fifty pounds since I retired from full-time work, and my blue jeans are too big.  I've put off buying new ones, but the time was now or have them fall down.  I received an email this week that offered 40% off denim items, so I took advantage.

5.  I don't frequent Starbucks.  I don't get manis or pedis.  I've gone a loooong time since my last hair cut.  I use the lilbrary as my first choice of obtaining books.

What we ate this past week:

Saturday:  leftovers

Sunday:  takeout barbecue

Monday:  pot pies

Tuesday:  Homecooked meal from the freezer (curry)

Wednesday:  Homecooked meal from the freezer (meatloaf & twice baked potatoes)

Thursday:  15 Bean Soup

Friday:  Linguini with Lemon Cream Sauce w/ Chicken

**designates meatless meal

The lost week...

This is not my photo.  It took it from my pinterest page, and it was for an Etsy item that is no longer for sale, nor can I find the shop it came from.  It reminds me of my mother, because this is the type of clown doll she made for the church bazaar.  She had the whole family making yo-yos and pom-poms for them.  I don't know why I'm using it for this post, except I'm feeling a bit like he looks...kinda worn down.  :)

Well there was no What I'm Reading Wednesday yesterday, because I haven't been reading a lot.  I'm still working on No Time to Spare by Ursela K. Le Guin, and parts of it are pretty deep and require some thought, so I don't read more than one essay a day usually.

Last Friday was our book club here at our house.  I was pleased with how much work I got done around the house, and I haven't re-messed things up yet.  My goal is to keep the dining room table and the kitchen table clear and unburied by mail and packages and mending, etc.  :)  And to continue decluttering, of course.

My knee was extremely painful last weekend (too much cleaning!), and mostly I've just tried to stay off of it.  I had to resort to taking Tylenol and Advil (not at the same time).  Just lying still it was aching badly.  I'm writing this on Wednesday night, and it is much better, but I want to give it the rest of this week to heal before I tax it.  I'm thrilled that I am able to be mobile again without too much pain.

Today I went to a quilt fabric store in the city with my friend Catharine, and we registered to participate in a year long quilt-along that meets monthly.  It's a cute chicken block that we will be making each month, with each block using different colors and prints.  I did buy three non-related pieces of fabric today, and one of them is the perfect color to match another piece I already owned to make a baby quilt.  I felt like it would while I was in the store, and when I got home and put them side by side they were perfect together.  THAT doesn't always happen!

On the way home Catharine and I were talking about a quilt that she is wanting to get finished using fabric inspired by the Outlander books and TV series.  I had also bought the fabric back when she did, but had never settled on a pattern to use, so the fabric remained in the craft room somewhere.  Since Catharine was missing enough fabric to make borders, I told her to come over and we could look through the craft room to try to find my fabrics that matched.  We got back to her house to pick up my car, and I came home to start looking while she followed shortly.  I was ecstatic to find it before she even got here, and I had several prints for her to choose from to finish hers.  

Carey's birthday is in a few days, so I guess I will make him a pie.  He's been working hard to get a fall garden put in.  Oh, and trying to rid us of a pesky, nighttime visitor.  Rudy got sprayed by a skunk TWICE last week!  Luckily we had some odor eliminator that really worked pretty well.  Between that and the air purifiers running non stop, the house smelled fine by book club day.

Yesterday was Rudy's annual vet appointment for vaccines, etc.  Good report.  We saw a new vet in the office, and he was surprised by Rudy's age.  He said he would have guessed he was several years younger.  (And he probably would probably have guessed that Carey and I are several years older.  Both of those assumptions would have been due to Rudy's constant motion and exuberance!  Exhausting.)

Well, this is kind of rambling.  I didn't have a clear idea for a post, I just wanted to reach out, and record the events of the week.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

No Time to Spare:  Thinking About What Matters by Ursula K. Le Guin

I haven't finished either of the books I'm working my way through this week.  This one (above) has been on my Kindle since 2018.  While I have read some of the author's science fiction, this one is a complilation of some of her blog posts.  

I've not had a lot of reading time this week; and I'm dividing it between the above, and also...

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

This one is my book club's selection this month.  I read it back in 2021, so to refresh my memory I checked out the audio book from the library, and while I'm cleaning and getting ready to hold book club, I'm listening to this one.  A story of Appalachia and the remoteness and the poverty of the people, and the Franklin D. Roosevelt traveling library program to reach and educate them.  It is excellent, and I am enjoying it all over again.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

Forty-seventh challenge finish of the year.

This one has been on my Kindle since 2017.  It was a pretty good story, I just couldn't go a full four stars.  It was an interesting depiction of a friendship between these two women from American history, and I did believe that it was a true friendship.  I just didn't fully engage with it somehow (but I have been busy and had other things on my mind too).

The actual dressmaker wrote a memoir, Behind the Scenes; Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House by Elizabeth Keckley, which I have added to my wish list at the library.  

2025 Frugal Friday File, August 8...

 

1.  Still doing a bit of decluttering each day.  I'm going pretty deep doing master bathroom cabinets and drawers.  Donated and discarded lots.  Today I started working in the craft room.  That is the worst room in the house.  Oy vey!  (Can't just keep the door closed, because that is where the most convenient restroom for guests is located.)

2.  My sweet husband cleaned the window exteriors; something I would not even think about doing in the summer heat, and I didn't ask him to do it either, but that's just the kind of guy he is, always looking for something to be doing.  Sometimes his hyperactivity makes me crazy (because it makes me feel like a slug staying in air conditioning and reading a good portion of the day, LOL).  I can honestly say that I have never ever nagged him about doing anything...because if I even mention that I'm thinking about doing something, it's done before I know it.

3. As I was doing laundry, I pulled the step stool in and dusted the open shelving and neatened them up.  I wanted something pretty, so looked through the china cabinet and found a hand-painted plate and plate stand.  I was happy for cheap.  Shopped my own inventory. 

4.  I have another Christmas present ticked off the list.  That makes two so far.  :)

5.   Aside from an appointment last week, volunteering at the library, dropping off at Goodwill, and picking up prescriptions and grocery order.  I'm not venturing out much.  This is my estevation season (definition:  [zoology] prolonged torpor or dormancy of an animal during a hot or dry period.  

What we ate this past week:

Saturday:  Family supper at Kasey & Beau's

Sunday:  out for Mexican food (and was extremely ill that evening and next day).  Our favorite place was closed, so we tried a different place.  :(

Monday:  Turkey & Rice Soup (homemade)

Tuesday:  Spanish Rice

Wednesday:  Charcuterie Board  (test run)

Thursday:  Breakfast for supper

Friday:  Sausage, Rice, & Green Beans stovetop skillet dinner

**designates meatless meal