Yet Another Grocery Delivery!

October Groceries Part 3:  10/11/26

Yes!  I ordered more groceries on Saturday evening to be delivered on Sunday morning.  Mostly because I wanted to buy more sugar at the  "pick up and delivery only" sale price of $1.99/4 lb. package.  This time, however, several of the items I ordered were out of stock.  The out of stock items included store brand vanilla ice cream, store brand cranberry juice, and the sugar.  There was no indication, at the time of ordering, that any of these items were low in stock as sometimes happens when I order.  But, I guess in the time between ordering and shopping, these items were sold out!  I watched a video someone had posted online about empty shelves at their Kroger store in a Midwestern state and I wondered if our store shelves were empty, too.  Anyway, I am thankful I received the items I did receive!

Here's the receipt:

Order Summary

Original Item Total$44.91

Item Coupons/Sales-$26.00

Fulfillment Fee+$0.00

Other Fees+$0.40

Sales Tax$0.00

Order Total$19.31

---

Item Details

10 Items

Ensure Max Protein Shake, 42g High Protein, French Vanilla, 14 fl oz, 14 fl oz

$7.94

6 x $1.32 $4.49 each (approx.)

Kroger® Original Pancake Syrup, 24 fl oz

$2.49

1 x $2.49 $2.99 each

Nature Valley™ Oats 'n Honey Crunchy Granola Bars, 6 ct / 1.49 oz

$3.48

2 x $1.74 $4.99 each

Smart Way™ Fresh Uncooked Chicken Drumsticks, 4.5 lb

$5.00

1 x $5.00 each

---

Other Fees

$0.40

Bag Fee$0.40

4 x $0.10 each

My total came to $19.31

Going through the receipt, I noticed that I had not been charged for the package of bacon, which was on sale for $3.99 for 12 oz.  I knew from past experiences that the store would simply say to keep the bacon.  So, that's what I'm doing!  

My October grocery budget is $250.

Spent to date:  $43.94 + $68.71+ $19.31 = $131.96

Balance left: $118.04

I am honestly not planning to order any more groceries in the next couple of days! 

I cooked a curry with the tray of chicken I purchased in this order and froze some of it for later.  The bacon has been frozen, too.  

Are you noticing any empty shelves in your grocery store?

The Weekend

 

Saturday Morning Clouds

On Saturday morning, when I was outside taking pictures of pink flowers for my Ten on the Tenth post, I noticed that the clouds were starting to move in.

Saturday Afternoon Clouds

We started off the week with temperatures of 100F which cooled down to 90F by Friday.  On Saturday, the high was 80F and the forecast called for light showers.

Pomegranates

Daughter and I picked all the pomegranates from our tree on Saturday afternoon and we put them in a big pot of water to wash them and make sure there were no insects and spikers hiding in them:

Pomegranates

This year, we had a very good pomegranate harvest.  Some of the fruit were small, but, there were several bigger fruit.  Daughter spent several hours cutting them open and removing the arils from them.  We froze some of the arils to be used later and the rest are in the fridge until we decide what we want to do with them.  

Rain Clouds Moving In

While the pomegranates soaked, we decided to pick the rest of the calamondin fruits:

Calamondin

We have been picking them and juicing them for several weeks, but, this weekend, we decided to pick all the rest of the fruit that were still on the tree:

Calamondin Soaking In Water

They, too, were put in bowls of water to soak to remove dust and cobwebs!  Daughter juiced about half the fruit and filled a large jar with the juice.  We'll juice the rest, later.  They are too small to be juiced using the citrus juicer and need to be cut and squeezed by hand.

More Rain Clouds

While we picked the calamondin, Henny Penny and Niwatori enjoyed themselves pecking at things around the garden:

Henny Penny and Niwatori

A hawk flying overhead caused Niwatori to make a run to the coop enclosure, but, Henny Penny decided to squat under a small loquat tree, until daughter carried her into the coop enclosure and closed the door!

More Rain Clouds

Later in the evening, it drizzled a little bit.  

Raindrops on Roses

On Sunday morning, however, we received the light showers we had been expecting.  It had stopped raining by the time I went out to feed the chickens in the morning, but, the ground was wet and there were raindrops on the roses:

More Raindrops on Roses

Sunday's high was only 69F.  I had another small grocery delivery in the morning and in the afternoon, daughter and I went to a department store to return an item she had ordered, online.  Afterwards, we went to the nearby dollar store to buy a few items.  She mostly wanted some crafts items and I wanted a few things, including a white plastic table cover and a package of paper plates.  

After we came home, daughter tended to the chickens while I cooked a chicken curry.  I froze two portions of the chicken curry and kept a portion in the fridge for next week.

This weekend, I was grateful for:

- Pomegranates from our tree
- Calamondins from our tree
- Daughter processing the fruits we picked
- The chickens were safe from the hawk

- Rain for the garden

Joyful activities included picking our garden fruit.

Plumbago Flowers

How was your weekend?

Ten on the Tenth - October

Joining blog friend Joy at Forty Three The Final Front Door with October's ten photos taken on the 10th of the month.

In honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness month and celebrating it being 11 years since my lumpectomy (done on October 2, 2015), I'm going with a pink theme:   

A Pink Ribbon Sticker on my Bananas

Pink Lantana

Pink Rose 1

Pink Rose 2

Pink Oleander

Pink Pony

Pink Pipecleaner Flowers

Pink Pipecleaner Rose

Pink Crocheted Phone Carrying Pouch 

Pink Silk Sari (My Mother's 'Going Away' Sari; October is her Birth Month)

Thank you, Joy, for hosting the Ten on the 10th Photo Challenge.

October Grocery Shopping Part 2

October 9 Groceries
(only 1 of 10 gals. of water shown)

I ordered groceries on Thursday evening and they were delivered on Friday morning, by a nice young man who asked me to verify that all the items I ordered were there in the right quantities, which I was happy to do.

I wanted half and half for my daughter's coffee, bottled water for emergency preparedness, another dozen bottles of sparkling water, just a couple of items of fresh produce (bananas and a cucumber), another tray of chicken drumsticks (plan to cook the tray I have in the freezer for next week's meals and I like to have at least one tray of chicken in the freezer as a back up), and a couple of boxes of snack crackers.  Plus sugar and canned condensed milk since they were on a good stock up sale price and they are things I use all the time.

Here's the receipt (I've removed the UPC codes and added comments in blue):

Order Summary

Original Item Total$89.38

Item Coupons/Sales-$22.50

Fulfillment Fee+$0.00

Other Fees+$0.40

Sales Tax+$1.43

Order Total$68.71

---

Item Details

38 Items

CA Redem Val

$0.60

1 x $0.60 each (for the sparkling water)

CA Redem Val

$1.00

10 x $0.10 each (for the bottled water)

Cheez-It® Crackers Original, 12.4 oz

$2.49

1 x $2.49 $4.79 each (on sale with digital coupons)

Cheez-It® White Cheddar Cheese Crackers, 12.4 oz

$2.49

1 x $2.49 $4.79 each (on sale with digital coupons)

Cucumber, 1 ct

$0.59

1 x $0.59 $0.99 each ($0.40 "best customer" coupon)

Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk, 14 oz

$9.95

5 x $1.99 $4.49 each (approx.) (with digital coupon; stock up price!)

Fresh Bunch of Bananas – 5-7 Bananas, 1 bunch

$1.43

2.07 lbs x $0.69 each (approx.) (reg price; cheaper than at the Armenian store)

Kroger® Half and Half Half Gallon, 1/2 gal

$5.49

1 x $5.49 each

Kroger® Purified Drinking Gallon Water, 1 gallon

$13.90

10 x $1.39 each (approx.)

Smart Way™ Fresh Uncooked Chicken Drumsticks, 4.5 lb

$5.00

1 x $5.00 each

Smart Way™ Granulated Sugar, 4 lb

$9.95

5 x $1.99 $2.99 each (approx.) (with digital coupon, good stock up rice at $0.50/lb)

Sparkling Ice® Summer LTO Lemonade Variety Pack (Pack of 12), 12 ct / 17 fl oz

$13.99

1 x $13.99 each

---

Other Fees

$0.40

Bag Fee$0.40

4 x $0.10 each

Total:  $68.71

My October grocery budget is $250.

Spent to date:  $43.94 + $68.71 = $112.65

Balance left: $137.35

It's not a good idea to spend almost half your monthly grocery budget in the first week or so, but, I did some stocking up and emergency preparedness and I feel good about that.  I do recognize the fact that being able to stock up and prepare for emergencies is a blessing.  

As always, I am grateful for:

- The availability of groceries
- Being able to order online and have groceries delivered 
- Good sale prices and digital coupons
- Being able to stock up
- Receiving all the items I wanted at the right prices  and in the quantities I wanted

My joyful activity is putting away the emergency supply of water, knowing that I now have the minimum recommended stock of emergency water, if only for drinking, cooking, and brushing our teeth.  

October Grocery Shopping Part 1

 

October 8 Groceries

On Thursday, I went to the pharmacy to pick up a medication refill and received a coupon for $4, which I redeemed for two boxes of cereal, on sale for $1.99 per box.

Then, I drove to the Armenian store because they had salmon steaks on sale for $7.99/lb.  I bought four salmon steaks which weighed a bit over 2.5 lbs. and came to $20.29.  Before I went to the store, I did a bit of price comparisons and made myself a shopping list of items, in addition to the salmon, to buy from the store: onions, ginger, tomatoes, yuca root, Fuyu persimmons, bread rolls, raisin buns, a jar of Nutella, and two cans of coconut water.  My total came to $43.94.  I've shown the receipt, below: 

Receipt

I checked the price of fresh green beans and it was $3.99/lb. and I didn't buy any.  It's $2.99/lb. at the supermarket.

Daughter and I had a bread roll each for a late brunch, sandwiched with slices of curried chicken.  Later, I enjoyed a raisin bun at tea time, with a cup of tea.  

Then, I ordered more groceries from the supermarket, to be delivered on Friday morning, including gallon bottles of drinking water as part of my stocking up/emergency preparedness.  Canned condensed milk and 4 lb. bags of store brand sugar were on sale with digital coupons for $1.99 each, so I ordered the maximum of 5 each.  I will post about those groceries once they are delivered, but, my estimated total was just over $68.00

My October grocery budget is $250 for food and drinks.  It does not include household cleaning products, toiletries, paper goods, etc.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Free cereal with my coupons from the pharmacy
- The availability of my medications
- The availability of groceries
- A safe drive to and from the pharmacy and grocery store
- Not needing to buy eggs thanks to the chickens!

Have you gone grocery shopping yet in October?  Are you finding good deals?

Mid-Week on Wednesday

 

Sunset

After relaxing over Sunday, I had a fairly productive day on Monday.  It was another hot day.  The temperature was already 91F at 9:00 a.m. after I fed the chickens.  I let them out of the enclosure and allowed them to explore the garden while I watered the backyard before it got too hot.  The temperature went up to 100F later in the afternoon.  Daughter cleaned the chicken coop and put bottles of frozen water in their water dish to keep the water cool for them.

I watered the indoor plants, too, and picked moringa pods for daughter to take to Berkeley with her to give one of her colleagues.  This colleague had offered her parents' vacant house (they were away on vacation) to my daughter to stay in during her visit to Berkeley, which was very kind of her.  Daughter had booked two nights at a hotel, but, cancelled that booking and stayed at her colleague's parents' house, instead.  Her colleague is married to a Sri Lankan who accepted the offer of moringa pods with pleasure and daughter also took them a packet of our favorite Sri Lankan tea as a thank you gift.  

I cooked a pot of rice and some broccoli and packed a dinner for daughter to take with her, along with a packet of frozen chicken curry and some tangerines.  She had also packed some coffee and creamer to take with her (but, later, realized that she had forgotten to take some sugar with her, so she used some of the sugar that was there in the house in which she was staying).  

I drove daughter to the airport after she had finished her work for the day, came home and took the trash cans to the curb for pick up on Tuesday morning, and let the chickens out.  They enjoyed being in the garden and Henny Penny made her way into the raised beds that were planted with kale and Japanese mugwort even though there was chicken wire around them!  But, the chicken wire had been put up to keep the cats out and apparently, not chickens!  Or, at least, one particular chicken!  LOL!  She's the adventurous one.  

Eventually, I persuaded them to go back into their coop.  They love moringa leaves, especially Henny Penny, so, a moringa leaf is my "carrot"!  I wave it at them and call them and they follow me to the coop enclosure without any trouble (for the most part) and a handful of dried mealworms scattered inside the coop get them to go all the way in so I can lock them inside for the night.  I leave it up to them to sort out who gets the top rung of the two-rung ladder we have put inside the coop as their perch; usually, it is Niwatori.  

I video chatted with daughter after she got to the house she was staying at.  Berkeley was having their version of a "heat wave" but,  their high was about 20 degrees cooler than ours!  LOL. 

I also watched a news conference held by the Mayor about the city's emergency preparations being put in place for the anticipated El Nino weather this winter, especially in areas prone to flooding and landslides.  

I decided not to do a meal plan options post this week because I have a lot of leftover pancit and adobo chicken, as well as the rice, chicken curry, and broccoli I cooked.  It's a leftovers kind of week.

On Tuesday, Niwatori was in the egg box when I went to feed them in the morning, so I didn't let them out into the garden while it was still cool (as in 85F at 8:30 a.m.) as I had planned.  Instead, I had a cup of tea and did a load of laundry which I hung up inside the house to dry.  Tuesday's high was only 99F, not that it made much of a difference!  I brought the emptied trash cans in and checked the mail.  I made myself pancakes for brunch.

In the afternoon, I took a dishpan full of water into the chicken coop and put in three bottles of frozen water in it so the chickens could have some cool water.  I let them out to run around in the garden for a bit and then, used the moringa leaf trick to get them back in.  Later in the evening, I let them out again for a longer time and then, put them in for the night.  Dinner was pancit and adobo chicken.

Daughter said she had a full day of meetings and lunch was provided.  In the evening, the director of the department hosted a dinner for everyone and daughter got a ride back to where she was staying.  

Today is Wednesday.  I fed the chickens, put away some laundry. and checked the grocery deals for the week.  I took some leftover rice and leftover coconut milk and made myself some milkrice for brunch.

M was here in the early afternoon to tend to the garden and he also cleaned the chicken coop for me.  I let the chickens out while he did that and this time, Niwatori didn't want to go back into the enclosure and had to be carried back in.  I made more calamondinade and gave M a glass of it.  He told me I should bottle it and sell!  LOL.  It was a cool, refreshing drink on a hot day (the high was 95F).

I took a nap later in the afternoon then, let the chickens out, again.  Once again, I bribed them with moringa leaves and dried mealworms to get them to go into the coop and, once again, Niwatori had to be carried in as she didn't want to get down from the arm of the garden chair she was perched on!  

Daughter came home later in the evening, around 9:00 p.m.  It's good to have her back home, again. I had cooked rice and she had that for dinner, with adobo chicken and broccoli.  I ate some leftover milkrice and chicken curry.

This week, I am grateful for:

- Daughter had a safe trip to Berkeley and back
- Daughter had a free place to stay during her trip
- M's help with the garden and the chickens, too
- Water for the garden
- Continuation of warm summer days into October (it's supposed to cool down to the 60s with rain in the forecast for next week!)

Joyful activities have included interacting with the chickens and the garden cats, texting with cousins V and N, and spending time in the garden.

Plans for Thursday include picking up a medication refill from the pharmacy and maybe going to one of the ethnic grocery stores.  They are having salmon steaks on sale for $7.99/lb.

How is your week coming along?  What are your plans for Thursday?

Last Week

A Chicken in Every Pot?

Time for another quick weekly update!

On Monday, September 28, friend R stopped by in the evening to pick up some of her packages that had been delivered to my address.  We visited for a while and she had some of the japchae (Korean noodles) that my daughter had made and a cup of tea.  We spent some time in the garden watching the chickens and, although I offered to drive her home, she called a ride share to take her home.  Afterwards, daughter took the trash cans to the curb. Later in the evening, daughter and I spent some time singing together which was a lot of fun.  We need to do more of that!

On Tuesday, I watered the back garden, brought in the emptied trash cans, checked the new grocery ads, tidied the dining table, wiped down the shelves in the china cabinet and rearranged a few things in there to make room for the new dinnerware (eventually, they will go in the kitchen cabinets after we've had a chance to go through and clear out the old dishes).  In the evening, daughter assembled two more metal raised beds for me; we want to plant some cool weather vegetables in them, once it gets cool enough to do so!  We've been experiencing a mini heatwave this week.

On Wednesday, gardener friend M was here to tend to the garden.  He watered and tidied the garden and I asked him to buy me some bags of potting soil when he had the time to do so.  Wednesday was also an admin day with paying bills, etc.  I also did a bit of last minute decluttering to make sure I met my minimum September monthly goal of 30 items decluttered.

On Thursday, October 1, I celebrated the new month with milkrice for brunch and made seeni sambol to go with it.  I had gone to bed late the night before (I had been up till 5:00 a.m.) and slept in late and woken up with a bit of a back pain for which I took a Tylenol.  So, I took it easy all day and, in the evening, I spent some time in the garden with the chickens.

On Friday, after feeding the chickens, I got a few things crossed off my To Do List.  I wrapped the wedding gifts we had ordered for our friend's wedding, wrote out a card, ironed the outfits we were going to wear to the wedding on Saturday, etc.  I did take a short nap in the afternoon.  In the evening, M was here, again, to tend to the garden and we gave him four of our "home grown" eggs.  

Saturday was the wedding day of my late friend A's younger daughter A.  My daughter and I wore saris to the event.  There was a church service at 2:00 p.m. followed by a reception starting at 5:00 p.m.  The temperature on Saturday reached 100F.  The wedding ceremony was lovely and A made a beautiful bride.  We all felt the absence of her mother but her extended family made a real effort to be there for her, flying in from all over the world including Sri Lanka, Australia, the Middle East, England, and Canada plus several other states within the US.  

The Church service was over a little after 3:00 p.m. and we had a couple of hours before the reception started.  The Church was located a few blocks away from my cousin V's house, so when one of our mutual friends said she had called V and V had invited her over, I, too, called V and was invited to come over!  So, my daughter and I and our mutual friend R and her husband plus another couple that R had invited to join us all went over to cousin V's house!  Poor V had all of 5 minutes notice before we all descended on her! LOL.  But, V is an excellent hostess.  She had cool drinks and a tray of cheese and crackers, cookies, cashews, and grapes ready to serve us.  

At first, I thought that the couple that friend R had invited along were known to V and her husband, but, no, it was the first time they met them!  Then, I thought that this couple were known to R and her husband (since they had invited them along), but, apparently, they just met earlier at the Church!  But, they were Sri Lankans who were now residing in Canada and, obviously, known to the bride's family.  Before we left V's house to go to the reception, we had all been invited to stay with them anytime we visited Toronto, Canada!  LOL.  

The reception venue was very nice, adjacent to a golf course where we could see a flock of Canada geese enjoying the grounds next to a lake.  There was an outdoor reception area as well as the reception room where the tables were set for dinner and a dance floor.  Since daughter and I wore our masks, we took our food to the outdoor reception area where there were a few tables and chairs set up and ate there.  Dinner was salad, followed by both chicken and beef steak with vegetables, followed by an assortment of desserts set out on a table to the side.  

Daughter and I stayed until the cake was cut, but, we didn't wait until it was served.  We left early because it had been a long day for one thing and we were anxious about the chickens who were in their enclosure, but, not in their coop.  They were both sleeping on top of the chicken coop and daughter scooped them up and put them on their perches inside the coop and we locked them up for the night (the inner coop has been made predator-resistant while the enclosure is not (we've bought the hardware fabric to make it predator-resistant, but, we have not had the time to put up the hardware fabric).  

We were still up and discussing the wedding when daughter's friend P called around midnight (P knows that we don't go to sleep till well after midnight).  P's sister had celebrated her 40th birthday with a catered dinner for about 20 people and they had ordered too much food.  Would we like to have some pancit and adobo chicken?   We said we'd love to have some and P dropped off several containers of each, plus a big 2 liter bottle of ginger ale!  Daughter gave him six eggs in return, which P said his parents cooked for breakfast the following morning.

On Sunday, we relaxed.  Daughter did laundry and packed her suitcase in preparation for her trip to Berkeley for a work-related conference.  She flew to Berkeley on Monday evening, after work and she will fly back on Wednesday evening, after the conference ends.   I'll be on "chicken duty" while daughter is away. 

Last week, I was grateful for:

- Being able to attend A's wedding
- Being able to visit cousin V in between events
- A safe drive to the wedding venue and back
- A visit from friend R
- M's help with the garden

The week's joyful activities have included attending A's wedding and singing with my daughter.

How was your week?  What are your plans for this week?