From My Home to Yours
5/8/26
~ Happy Mother's Day ... ~
to all women who have the heart of a mother whether you have biological children or not ...
to all the women whose heart hurts over estranged children ...
to all the women who fill the role of mother to another woman's children ...
to all the grandmothers, or whatever the grands call you ...
to all the mothers who can't be with their children ...
to all the mothers who will be surrounded by their children ...
you all matter ...
Happy Mother's Day!
(roses from my rose bushes)
This week didn't go quite as planned, but we made hay with the 'hay' we had ...
(Hubby had a knee injury and I battled allergies and respiratory issues all week.)
We had a big pile of brush that needed burning, but couldn't be burned because of a burning ban. After the rain we had last week, the burning ban was lifted and hubby seized the opportunity to 'get it done!' He soon realized that his knee wouldn't allow him to stand on it for the duration, so he enlisted my help and we got it done. We are a team through the thick and thin of life and very much enjoy our life together ... even when we're doing something like burning a brush pile!
We had occasion to be at the grocery store this week and the food prices were shocking! We don't purchase a lot of groceries, mostly loss leader items or specific items we need for a certain meal and as a result don't keep up with food prices that much. I came away with the conclusion one again, that this is certainly the time for frugal shopping, stretching what you have and working hard to build and or maintain a well-stocked pantry!
Let's move on, what about my goals for this week, let's take a look ...
Here's what my goals list for the week looked like ...
harvest and preserve nettles ... Done!
plant green beans ... Didn't get Done!
get 3 remaining raised beds ready for planting ... Didn't get Done!
start more seedlings ... Didn't get Done!
tie up rose bush 'arms' (from the rose bushes I planted earlier this year) ... I started this but didn't get far, but hey, I did get started!
snip roses from older rose bushes and bring them inside to enjoy ... Done!
add 1 freezer meal to the freezer part of our pantry ... Didn't get Done! In fact, we ate a couple of those freezer meals we were sent home with from a friends house. Having freezer meals ready to cook and or thaw, heat and heat sure do come in handy when the cook and the cook's assistant are both a bit under the weather!
Speaking of freezer meals, I pulled an apple pie out of the freezer that I put together last fall. I let it thaw and cooked it for 45 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Both hubby and I thought it was delicious! Note to self, make more of these for the freezer when apples are ready to harvest this fall!
make a batch of pickled eggs ... Didn't get Done!
make yogurt ... Didn't get Done!
do a garlic check, indications are that it won't be much longer before it will be ready to harvest ... Done! It's not quite ready, I'll keep checking. I did however harvest some garlic scapes, chopped them up and added them to a pint jar of ACV. This will be used as a basis for a homemade dressing.
my dear hubby always gets me something for mother's day and he has asked me what I would like to have this year ... I need to decide and let him know! Yes, I am blessed. My hubby is so good to me! Done! I told him I wanted a wind chime to go on a shepherd's hook I was given last week. We had planned an outing to go purchase said wind chime, but towards the end of the week I told him I needed to talk to him about said outing. I told him that I appreciated that he was willing to push through his knee pain for our planned outing. But considering his knee injury, and taking into consideration that I was miserable with allergies and respiratory issues, that I would really just rather wait until I felt better and his knee had more time to recover. I told him that I wanted to enjoy our outing not push through and treat it as something that needed to be checked off of a to-do list. He agreed and so we postponed my mother's day outing until we're both feeling better.
try my hand at making rhubarb tea (we have rhubarb ready in the garden) ... Didn't get Done!
do a price check on ground beef ... Done! The price was $5.99/lb for 70/30. We didn't buy any, we'll keep looking! We checked at a different store later in the week and its price was $5.86/lb. We didn't buy any again, we'll keep looking!
make a herbal pain relief salve ... Done! I will be posting the process in a separate blog post asap. Update 5/10/26 ... I finished the how-to post, you can find it HERE.
In addition, I did some weeding of blackberry bushes, raspberry bushes, rhubarb and Echinacea while keeping an eye on the burning burn pile.
We also purchased a few more strawberries (at a reduced price) to flash freeze and add to the freezer part of our pantry.
Here's my goals list for the upcoming week ...
We have several appointments next week so I'm not sure how much I can get done, but here's my list anyway ...
try my hand at making rhubarb tea
plant green beans
make a batch of pickled eggs
make yogurt
get 3 remaining raised beds ready for planting
start more seedlings
tie up rose bush 'arms' (from the rose bushes I planted earlier this year)
keep checking prices on ground beef
shop loss leaders, marked down or clearance price grocery items if opportunity arises
... and anything else I can work into my schedule!
I'll report in next week with a progress report!
and finally ...
I nearly finished reading book 6, Carried Forward by Hope, in the Bregdan Chronicles, by Ginny Dye and put my hands on book 7, Glimmers of Change for the purpose of starting it as soon as book 6 is finished. I listening to Somerset by Leila Meacham on an audio book from Libby the library app. I really enjoyed it as well! I had more listening time this week than 'sit down reading time.'
That's it for this week, I hope you've found something in my ramblings that will help and or encourage you in the upcoming week.
Until the next time ...
mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry
~ quietly holding the home front ~
She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
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I'm sorry that you didn't get more crossed off your list this week but health comes first. I hope you are both feeling more comfortable soon. You do sound like a good team.
ReplyDeleteMy second sowing of tomato seeds failed (I really don't know why) so I gave in and bought some small tomato plants. They were £1.95 ($2.66) each, which I was really shocked by. I hope they are good croppers at that price! I also altered the second big velvet curtain from my son's room. This one turned out great, so I think I will unpick and have another go at rehemming the 1st one, but probably not for a while as I have plenty of other things to be getting on with.
Tracy, sometimes we have to 'give-in' and purchase what we'd rather not, don't we! It happens to us all! It sounds like you're making up the savings in other areas ... that's how it works, doesn't i? We save in one area so that we can spend in another!
DeleteThank you for your well wishes, we are recovering, me quicker than my hubby!!
Happy Mothers Day. Praying that the health issues are quickly resolved. Glad you're enjoying the books. I just got volume 22 and the sequel to Somerset. The title is "Roses". Today is another"first"for me since Hubby passed away in March. I am so glad that I saved all of the cards he gave me in the past and I will be rereading the ones from Mothers Day today. Blessings, Cookie
ReplyDeleteCookie, I have requested the audio version of Roses from Libby, I can't wait for it to become available! I really, really enjoyed listening to Somerset!
DeleteWhat a good idea about the cards ... I must remember that and start doing the same. I thought of you this morning and prayed for you knowing that today would be a hard one for you. You continue to be in my prayers.
I love my library. It's very close to my home so it's easy to get to, If they don't have the book one is looking for they will search for it inter-library and if no one has it they will buy a copy and hold it for you. Cookie
DeleteHappy Mother's Day!
ReplyDeleteWe had two days without water for several hours while a new water heater and filtration system was added to our home. Our well has been pulling up so much sediment that we couldn't put this off. The sediment had caused an expensive washer repair already.
I feel you on the prices of food. Hubby does our shopping and sometimes when I see the receipt I think to myself that I might have left some items on the shelf if I had been there. Aldi has been a huge help with the budget but so many items are double what they used to be. I have no idea where you might find cheaper ground beef. Even with the competitive prices here it is not below $5.99.
My freezer meals for the week were two bags of frozen beef and broccoli skillet meals that were BOGO. $7.99 for two which I think is a good deal especially since they are beef. We know we like these and they are easy .
I hope you both feel better soon!
Lana, those freezer meals sound delicious!
DeleteI'm sorry you've had to have a new water heater and filtration system installed. Whenever I think about fudging on the saving aspect of our budget, I remind myself that life happens and so do home repairs and continue on with the saving, just in case.
If you get near an Aldi they have a five pound chub of 73/27 ground beef for 17.45. That is only 3.49 a pound! I have not tried it so I don't know how it tastes.
ReplyDeleteThis looks to be a seasonal item and won't be in stock until 5/20.
DeleteLana, there is one about a half hour away, if we're in that area this week, I'll pop in and see what I can find. Thanks for the heads-up!
DeleteLana, that makes sense. Ground beef usually goes on sale around Memorial Day weekend ... I'll be checking all grocery store ads around that time and if possible stocking up! Thank you!
DeleteHappy Mother's Day Mrs Patsy. It was very kind of you to mention all the different situations of motherhood the way you did.
ReplyDeleteYour roses are beautiful. I know you will enjoy listening to your wind chimes when you find just the right one. They just add another measure of peace and contentment to the home front.
I hope you can continue to find sales and discounts to continue to build up your pantry and freezer in the months to come. One thing we know for sure is that the Lord will provide no matter what happens on this earth because we belong to Him.
Your apple pie really looks good too. You are pretty amazing.
Blessings, Elaine
Elaine, thank you for your sweet words of encouragement and yes, the thoughts you expressed were what prompted me to ask for a wind chime for mother's day ... continued creation of a home that has an atmosphere of peace and contentment.
Delete