I've enjoyed a nice, relaxed, extended weekend/mini vacation visiting my daughter. But, today, I returned home, again.
I had a pleasant drive home; I guess I am getting used to the 6+ hour drives by myself. Still a bit nervous about driving alone, but I'm a firm believer in the power of prayers.
I reached home in the early afternoon, unpacked, cleaned the cat's litter box, picked up my mail from my neighbor, returned some phone calls, watered the front garden, and did two loads of laundry. Both loads have been hung up to dry overnight.
Tomorrow, I will return to the office. I think I can deal with a two-day work week.
How was your Wednesday?
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
That's the Way the Money Goes
"A penny for a spool of thread,
A penny for a needle,
That's the way the money goes."
We are all familiar with the nursery rhyme, aren't we? Things cost a lot more than a penny, these days, but how the money goes is still the same.
Today, I took $20 with me and went to the stores. I wanted to buy a couple of items for an upcoming prayer gathering, a few grocery items for daughter, and a couple of treats for us to celebrate my birthday.
First, we went to the dollar store. I bought a white plastic table covering, a package of small paper plates, a dozen eggs, a bottle of soda, a package of granola bars, and some chocolate candy (all, $1.00, each). Spent $6.38.
Next, we went to the Indian store to buy 4 samosas ($1.00 each) and a package of tea (ginger chai; $5.00). Our total came to $9.00.
And finally, we stopped by the neighborhood convenience store to buy a container of hazelnut flavored coffee creamer ($3.00).
We had the samosas for tea; there's one leftover which I will have tomorrow. 1 egg was used (with the last egg left in the old package) to make a pan of brownies; 5 more were hard-boiled and 3 of them were made into egg salad for tomorrow's lunches and the other 2 will be kept for lunches later in the week; the granola bars will be for snacks during the week and the chocolate candy are a treat for daughter. The white plastic table cover and paper plates are for next month's prayer gathering.
I had $1.62 left from my $20 and daughter shook her head in disbelief at how quickly the money was spent. And I was reminded of the nursery rhyme I quoted above. Although, we might have to revise and update it for the present days:
"A dollar for a dozen eggs
Five dollars for the chai tea
That's the way twenty dollars go."
How does your money go?
A penny for a needle,
That's the way the money goes."
We are all familiar with the nursery rhyme, aren't we? Things cost a lot more than a penny, these days, but how the money goes is still the same.
Today, I took $20 with me and went to the stores. I wanted to buy a couple of items for an upcoming prayer gathering, a few grocery items for daughter, and a couple of treats for us to celebrate my birthday.
First, we went to the dollar store. I bought a white plastic table covering, a package of small paper plates, a dozen eggs, a bottle of soda, a package of granola bars, and some chocolate candy (all, $1.00, each). Spent $6.38.
Next, we went to the Indian store to buy 4 samosas ($1.00 each) and a package of tea (ginger chai; $5.00). Our total came to $9.00.
And finally, we stopped by the neighborhood convenience store to buy a container of hazelnut flavored coffee creamer ($3.00).
We had the samosas for tea; there's one leftover which I will have tomorrow. 1 egg was used (with the last egg left in the old package) to make a pan of brownies; 5 more were hard-boiled and 3 of them were made into egg salad for tomorrow's lunches and the other 2 will be kept for lunches later in the week; the granola bars will be for snacks during the week and the chocolate candy are a treat for daughter. The white plastic table cover and paper plates are for next month's prayer gathering.
I had $1.62 left from my $20 and daughter shook her head in disbelief at how quickly the money was spent. And I was reminded of the nursery rhyme I quoted above. Although, we might have to revise and update it for the present days:
"A dollar for a dozen eggs
Five dollars for the chai tea
That's the way twenty dollars go."
How does your money go?
Monday, November 10, 2014
Making a Box
Daughter needed to mail something and needed a small box for the purpose. Unfortunately, she didn't have a suitable box on hand. I guess we could have bought one from the post office. But where's the fun in that?
Instead, we emptied out a box of facial tissues (put the tissues into a zippered bag). And we cut the box down to size.
Fold in the ends and glue in place.
The lower half of the box:
We did the same to make the lid, using the top portion of the tissue box, using some pieces of the cut off sides to cover the opening which had a piece of cellophane.
We used some saved up bubblewrap to cushion the item she was mailing and closed the box. We cut up a brown grocery bag to use to wrap the box for posting. Then, we walked to the post office in the evening and mailed it.
Would you have bought a box to mail something small? Or would you have made a box out of something you had on hand?
Instead, we emptied out a box of facial tissues (put the tissues into a zippered bag). And we cut the box down to size.
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| Box Making 1 |
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| Box Making 2 |
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| Box Making 3 |
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| Box Making 4 |
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| Box and Lid |
Would you have bought a box to mail something small? Or would you have made a box out of something you had on hand?
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Food Waste
One of the things I hate to do is waste food. Usually, I am very good about using up the food I buy (buying just enough for a week or two) or preserving it in some way (usually by freezing it). However, occasionally, (usually when I have a family gathering or party at home and have 15-25 people to lunch or dinner), I tend to buy a bit too much, don't use everything I buy, and end up tossing it.
So, on Friday evening, when I cleaned out the fridge, I saw that a cucumber I had bought for the prayer meeting luncheon, but hadn't got around to using, was well on its way to becoming a science experiment! Much as it pained me to do so, it had to go. I put it on the compost pile, where it will eventually decompose into fertilizer for the garden. Even when I have to toss something, I try to salvage as much as I can!
In addition to the cucumber, there was a beyond-its-prime tomato, a red onion, and the remains of a bunch of celery. I cut up everything and froze for use in soup. Now my freezer is full of all sorts of odds and ends to be made into soup, this winter.
What about you? How do you manage to keep food waste to a minimum?
So, on Friday evening, when I cleaned out the fridge, I saw that a cucumber I had bought for the prayer meeting luncheon, but hadn't got around to using, was well on its way to becoming a science experiment! Much as it pained me to do so, it had to go. I put it on the compost pile, where it will eventually decompose into fertilizer for the garden. Even when I have to toss something, I try to salvage as much as I can!
In addition to the cucumber, there was a beyond-its-prime tomato, a red onion, and the remains of a bunch of celery. I cut up everything and froze for use in soup. Now my freezer is full of all sorts of odds and ends to be made into soup, this winter.
What about you? How do you manage to keep food waste to a minimum?
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Finally, Friday
Had a busy day at the office, today, and a very productive one, too. I managed to complete all my projects for the week. Now I can look forward to the weekend without worrying about unfinished work at the office.
It was another warm day, with highs of 89F downtown. I went to the pharmacy during my lunch break to pick up some medications. I now have a $5 "bonus" coupon that I can use towards a future purchase. Sometimes I use these bonus coupons to buy toiletry items. Other times, I use them to buy holiday gifts.
In the evening, after I came home, I cleaned the fridge and did the dishes. Picked two oranges from the tree in my garden and ate one, right away. Freshly picked oranges! Such a treat! A friend called and I had a brief chat with her. Later, I wrote to another friend. And video chatted with my daughter. And just like that, Friday came and went!
How was your Friday? Did you look forward to Friday all week? And then, when it arrived, did it sort of fast-forward and end too quickly? Well, we can all look forward to the weekend now, can't we?
It was another warm day, with highs of 89F downtown. I went to the pharmacy during my lunch break to pick up some medications. I now have a $5 "bonus" coupon that I can use towards a future purchase. Sometimes I use these bonus coupons to buy toiletry items. Other times, I use them to buy holiday gifts.
In the evening, after I came home, I cleaned the fridge and did the dishes. Picked two oranges from the tree in my garden and ate one, right away. Freshly picked oranges! Such a treat! A friend called and I had a brief chat with her. Later, I wrote to another friend. And video chatted with my daughter. And just like that, Friday came and went!
How was your Friday? Did you look forward to Friday all week? And then, when it arrived, did it sort of fast-forward and end too quickly? Well, we can all look forward to the weekend now, can't we?
Friday, November 7, 2014
Quiet Thursday
It's been a quiet day, today. A warm day, with the temperature going up to 90F. But I was in the air conditioned office, where it was cold enough that a sweater was needed. I didn't go outside at all, today. Even during my lunch break, I just stayed in the office and read a book.
I didn't go to the weekly Farmers Market, either, today. I still have the three persimmons I bought last week - still waiting for them to get ripe enough to eat them. Persimmons have to be ripe to the point of being almost over-ripe to be sweet enough to eat them.
After I came home, in the evening, my neighbor phoned me and I had a brief chat with her. I had visited her, yesterday, after work, and given her some of the muffins I had baked. She was calling me to say she enjoyed them.
In the evening, I video chatted with my daughter, wished a friend for her birthday, watched a program on TV, paid a bill, and booked daughter's flight home for winter break.
And that was how the day was spent. Doing quiet, ordinary, everyday things.
How was your Thursday?
I didn't go to the weekly Farmers Market, either, today. I still have the three persimmons I bought last week - still waiting for them to get ripe enough to eat them. Persimmons have to be ripe to the point of being almost over-ripe to be sweet enough to eat them.
After I came home, in the evening, my neighbor phoned me and I had a brief chat with her. I had visited her, yesterday, after work, and given her some of the muffins I had baked. She was calling me to say she enjoyed them.
In the evening, I video chatted with my daughter, wished a friend for her birthday, watched a program on TV, paid a bill, and booked daughter's flight home for winter break.
And that was how the day was spent. Doing quiet, ordinary, everyday things.
How was your Thursday?
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Holiday Gifts Planning
50
days till Christmas! 57 days till New Year's Day. I updated my holiday card & gift lists today. I say holiday, because only some of the cards and gifts are for Christmas; the rest are for New Year's, because I have family and friends who, like me, are not Christian. I've just over 30 recipients on the card list, of which approximately half are overseas and the rest domestic; and just under 40 recipients on the
gift list. And a budget of $120 for everything from cards and postage
to gifts and bows.
Time to start making those gifts I've been planning to make! I make most of the gifts I give, rather than buy them. I will leave the discussion about how commercial all the holiday preparations have become, to others. For me, the holiday season is a time of celebration and gift-giving is very much a part of it. My gifts tend to be homemade with love and it gives me great pleasure to make them and to present them to others. I allocate $10 per month in my budget for holiday gifts and that is an amount that is reasonable for me.
Time to start making those gifts I've been planning to make! I make most of the gifts I give, rather than buy them. I will leave the discussion about how commercial all the holiday preparations have become, to others. For me, the holiday season is a time of celebration and gift-giving is very much a part of it. My gifts tend to be homemade with love and it gives me great pleasure to make them and to present them to others. I allocate $10 per month in my budget for holiday gifts and that is an amount that is reasonable for me.
Every year, I make jam to give as gifts. Making jam with fruit from the garden keeps the costs down, since all I need to buy are sugar, pectin, and the jars. The canning jars tend to be the most expensive item for me.
This year, I'm also planning to make quite a few items from fabric I have in my stash. My challenge is to avoid duplicating gifts that I have crafted. I try not to give the same type of gifts two years in a row. The jam, however, is the exception to that rule. I've friends who look forward to my jams every year.
Now that I've updated my gift list, it is time to decide what I'll be making for each recipient and start making them.
Anyone else started planning holiday gifts?
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