Short verse...

 

Outside the winds howl.

Rudy, warm, sleeps on my lap.

Twenty pounds of love.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

Buckeye was just released last month.  When I noticed the library had already acquired it, I jumped on the reserve list asap.  Set in the 40s through the 70s, it was quite good; I would give it ✮✮✮✮.  Very well-developed characters; even the villains could be forgiven.

(I feel like I need to add here that I only give 5 stars to books I know I want to reread in the future, so 4 stars is almost as good as it gets.)

Poison Flower by Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry is my favorite mystery writer.  And Jane Whitefield is my favorite of his characters.  She is a smart, strong (both emotionally and physically) indigenous woman who helps people in trouble to vanish.  Her job has increased in complexity since I began reading the series (The Jane Whitefield novels) decades ago.  With computer technology advances, and a society that now has video cameras everywhere, her methods have had to change with the times.  

This has been on my Kindle for years (since 2013!), and I just kept putting off reading it, because I have trouble saying goodbye to favorite characters.  But there are now two further books after this one, and I need to read them before I run out of time.

Highly recommend this series.

2025 Frugal Friday File, October 24...

1.  Taking advantage of the great opportunities at our public library.  Tuesday was Cook Book Club.  A different cook book is selected each month, and members sign up, choose a recipe out of it to cook, and bring the dish to the monthly meeting to share (potluck style).  Wednesday was chair yoga day.

2.  We decided not to take a vacation this year.  Carey had a rather expensive vacation this past summer with our son and Carey's brother and nephew.  We had kind of kicked around taking a road trip vacation in the fall, but I just don't feel good about it right now.  With all the skunks that have been around lately, I don't want Rudy spending all day and after dark outside by himself.  There have been rabid skunk and fox in the county, and I just don't feel right about leaving him.  Jared is always glad to take care of him, but he works different shifts throughout the week, so just not ideal right now.

3.  The dress I ordered to try for the December wedding arrived.  Ummm...  I haven't tried it on yet, but I can tell it is way too long, and so wrinkled from the shipping, I'm wondering what it would look like after driving to the wedding venue.  Thinking I might have to get back on the hunt.  The good news is that I can do the shortening myself, not that I want to.  More details later.

4.  Made a menu for next week, and placed grocery order.  

5.  I put out the autumn decorations.  Same ones I've had for years; some used in a new way.  I don't have a lot, but I love what I have.

     Now, we have a lot more Christmas decorations than autumn.  Between now and Thanksgiving, my plan is to decide what I will put out for Christmas THIS year.  All other Christmas decs WILL be donated in the next few weeks so that they can be useful items for someone else's holidays this year.  I say this every year, and I have donated some, but I need to be more ruthless about what goes and what stays.  I am putting it out here so that I will be accountable.  I would love it if decorating for Christmas was as easy as decorating for other holidays/seasons.

What we ate this past week:

Saturday:  Family supper at Kasey & Beau's

Sunday:  burgers out

Monday:  **takeout pizza

Tuesday:  Tuna Salad Sandwiches, Fruit

Wednesday:  lefovers

Thursday:  Quiche and Stir Fried Asparagus

Friday:  leftovers

**designates meatless meal

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

Murder on the Mind by L.L. Bartlett

I received this book free in January of 2013, and it feels awesome to get another one read that has been lingering for far too long.  

It was pretty good.  Liked the plot and the characters.  It is the first in the Jeff Resnick Mystery series.  I have two others in the series which will be read soon (I hope).  The premise is interesting.  An uninsured insurance investigator is mugged, beaten, and left with a severe head injury and broken arm.  While still in the hospital he is plagued by nightmares and frightening visions of a murder.  His injuries reunite him with his brother who helps him investigate what the visions mean.

Some of last week's meals...

Chicken Burrito Bowl

I didn't get around to a frugal friday post last week.  The week was very busy. But I did cook every meal or else we ate leftovers.

Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef w/ Stir Fried Vegetables

I'm so excited to have found this Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef recipe at Dinner At The Zoo, but we really like vegetables at our house, so when the cooking time was up on the beef, I pan stir fried carrot, celery, mushrooms, sugar snap peas, baby corn, and sliced water chestnuts on the stove top, and then added them to the crockpot, stirring to distribute all evenly.  Then served over rice.

Mexican Cornbread Casserole (w/ beef and cheese baked in)

This casserole has been in regular rotation at our house for forty years.  I got it from my late best friend, and I think of her every time I make it.  Usually I like picante along with sour cream on it, but we were out, so I garnished with tomatoes.

Green Enchilada Casserole w/ Avocado, Tomato, Corn Salad

When I made the menu for the week, I swear it had lots of variety.  But when I placed the grocery order I must have been sleepy or distracted.  I managed to get all the ingredients for the Mexican inspired meals, and the Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef, but oddly the main ingredients for the other meals weren't as lucky.

In addition to the meals shown in this post, we also had fajitas, but they weren't exactly satisfactory, and I forgot to snap a pic.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

The Notekeeper by Hannah Treave

Three quarters of the way through, and I'm not sure how I feel about it.  The characters run so hot and cold.  I want to know how it ends, but I'm tempted to flip to the last chapter to get it over with.

Debbie's photo story haiku...

My friend Debbie is one of the most fun, and funny, people I know.  Tonight she texted me three photos of her geraniums that she has been prepping for overwintering inside.  She included a brief photo story clip with each photo.

Previously in the day in an unrelated conversation, I mistook something she mentioned about writing poetry, and I jokingly told her I was going to write a haiku for her.  

So enjoying her photo story, I had haiku on my mind, and then I read and reread her description under her last photo, and I realized it was just one syllable short of a haiku.  So with her permission, the following is all Debbie (except for the "just").  😂

they asked if they could

come in...but I told them it

just wasn't time yet

Fall gardening...

Carey's fall garden is coming along.  This was the largest of his spaghetti squash as of two days ago (Saturday).

Here is the very same squash today (Monday).

Amazing, right?!  I'm looking forward to it being ready to harvest (along with its twenty or so siblings!  :)

This is the first time he's put in a garden since 1982 maybe?  That one was a big disappointment.  This year's is doing well so far.

When we bought this house, it already had a fenced-in garden area with fence tall enough to keep the deer out.  But before retirement he wasn't home enough to garden, as mowing our three+ acres and various house upkeep was about all he had time for.

Also in the garden are beans, beets, potatoes, Brussells sprouts, and a fig tree.  I may be forgetting some.

Stay tuned.

2025 Frugal Friday File, October 10...

1.  When I opened the refrigerator on Thursday, it made me so happy and proud.  The produce drawers were darn near empty; there were two apples in one, and a bag of onions in the other.  I somehow managed to use up a crazy stuffed-with-produce refrigerator with minimal food waste!  It took some inventive meal planning.

2.  Then I had to think about restocking, so I prepared a menu plan, and placed my grocery order.  I'll be picking it up later today.  We haven't really had any lower temperatures yet (accept in the early mornings), but I am SO ready to switch my menu plans to more slow cooker meals.

3.  Wednesday was mammogram day.  Health insurance is a wonderful thing that I wish everyone had.  

4.  Monday was quilting at the library day.  Love that the library offers the room for us to meet.  I worked on a baby quilt using fabrics I already own.  I decided not to attend the quilt retreat that will be next month.  Though it is a very low-cost retreat, I'm still trying to build back up our cash reserves after the car purchase earlier this year. 

5.  I love not having a car payment, so it was worth shopping within our budget so that we could pay cash for it.  Also worth sacrificing a few fun things to build savings back up.

What we ate this past week:

Saturday:  family supper at Kasey & Beau's

Sunday:  leftovers

Monday:  Cabbage Bacon Skillet

Tuesday:  takeout BBQ Baked Potatoes

Wednesday:  Omelets

Thursday:  Grilled Cheese and Bacon Sandwiches

Friday:  Chicken Burrito Bowls

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

This one was heartily recommended by a friend.  I was very happy that it was available at the library with no wait.  I finished it this morning.  ✮✮✮✮

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Poems of Parenting by Loryn Brantz

I bought this as an e-book at a special low price.  I read the sample that Amazon offers online, then I wanted to be able to read its entirety to see if I would want to buy the printed book for a gift.  I enjoyed it.  Humorous.  I enjoyed some of the poems better than others, most of them discussed thoughts that I have had.  Like the kids bringing Mom breakfast in bed on Mothers Day; and Mom smiling as she is thinking, boy that glass of juice is going to be a mess when it spills on the bed linens, and the syrup, oy!  (Not that I have ever been served breakfast in bed.  I'd rather have an extra hour of sleep, while Dad takes the kids out for breakfast!  But you snooze, you lose out on precious memories.)  

I might buy it for a gift, but it would have to be for the right recipient.  I think the parents of toddlers may be about right, or kindergartners.  Parents of younger babies may be too exhausted to take it in.  Not that toddlers and kindergartners aren't exhausting, but parents of toddlers and above have learned some coping skills.  :)

82 Days on Okinawa

by Col. Art Shaw (Ret.) with Robert L Wise

I started reading this one on Sunday.  I'm over halfway through it.  I've been getting a lot of reading done as I have had a stomach ache the past couple of days, and so I've spent a lot of time lying down and reading.  Today I began wondering if maybe my stomach ache was because of this book.

It's not my usual genre.  I picked it up because my dad served in the Battle of Okinawa.  I'm over halfway through it, and I'm feeling like it is a miracle he made it home, and that I (and two of my sisters) were born.  It's very well written, but also definitely enough to give me stomach trouble.  I'm glad to know these things.  I wish I had asked my dad more questions.  I'll be glad to finish this one.