May Busy Beavers - May 2015 Frugal Chatter Thread

[lilo0003]

Sitting on the deck with my 14 yr old. Life is so very good. Last week my brothers 15 yr old nephew on the other side of the family passed away suddenly, makes one appreciate what they have so much more. If I never attend a funeral for a child again I will be grateful.

[Natalka]

Oh, lilo that's sad - but, yes, every moment with our children is a blessing.

[lilo0003]

Just catching up on the post and omg coupongirl my mom has the same issue with my dad, she pretty much has hide his good clothes.

[lizzie bargain]

Natalka-since you want a steak so bad maybe grill one, one night instead of ordering in? Perhaps the cost would be similar.

[coupon girl]

-ahh lilo thats awful 15 so young-my neighbour just told me he went
to a 24 year old girl's funeral today-epilepsy

[avoncallingu]

Hi folks! I'm now reading last Wednesday's posts. Wednesday was a day with MUCH DRAMA in our lives. Then I blew my back out - so Thursday and Friday I mostly took pills and slept. But life marches on!
I did go over to a friend's house who is "cleaning out" her summer clothes. She lives with her husband on her family's Century Farm. They have a BARN - they are collectors - need I say more?
I was the lucky recipient of 3 garbage bags full of "possibilities" for my summer wardrobe. But my back was so sore that I haven't been able to try anything on!
Her husband has flown out to Denver and she is joining him on Monday so she has 3 days to herself. She is visually impaired and living on her family farm makes getting around easy for her. But they are trying to clean everything out as they are considering moving to a place with less responsibilities.
We have invited her over for supper here tomorrow with my brother. We have a HUGE turkey breast which has been taking up room in the freezer, so we'll have Roast Turkey, potatoes and probably frozen peas, cranberry sauce and she's bringing over an apple pie for dessert.
I'll probably make a salad-of-sorts out of bits and bats that need to be finished up in the crisper. (We're leaving on Tuesday to go up to Sudbury to visit Lynn49)
I have been washing all the winter coats before I put them away, but with this weather - maybe they won't make it to the basement for another week or so.

It's DH and my anniversary next Thursday - I have a card - but can't think of anything that he would appreciate as a gift. It's year 11 which is supposed to be "steel". I usually try to buy something small of the "theme". Our trip is our real gift to each other. We haven't been able to get away like this for over a year - so that's a celebration in itself.

I bought a second hand wooden glider chair for our den today. It will need new cushions but I LOVE the motion of gliders and our current chair is too low for me these days. It can go down in the basement for visitors to use.

I'm going to try to hit the sack early today. I made it to choir practice this week, so I'd like to make it to church too! Believe me we never know what a new day will hold!

I have to say again, and again: I'm always so impressed with all of your frugal ways, planning and sharing! I love reading your posts!

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning All,
Lilo sorry for your family loss.

Up and getting ready for the day, Mom is working this afternoon but going to see if she will help me with a couple of things before she leaves. The biggest thing I would like to do is check the BBQ and see if it is ready for this season. Maybe I am weird but I would prefer to do that when someone else is home.

I have started to clean up the stuff I plan to sell, most of it has been living in garbage bags in my basement for over a year so I figure a good soak before I take photos is a good idea.

I am super happy with the progress we made but now you really see how much work this is going to be, in reality we only got a small chunk done yesterday and the rest of our basement shows it, we now have bins and boxes everywhere that we are sorting into. I know the end result will make us happy but right now my basement is bringing me some stress as it feels like right now it is getting worse rather than better.

Hoping to find a night this week we can go and check out local ReStore and see what they have maybe we can find some shelves even if I need to paint them if I can find them for less I will be happy. My Mom has her dream shelves in mind but to buy those in the quantities we need is going to cost This is money we just do not have and I do not think the shelves she want will work. They will not be deep enough to hold all her stuff.

Planning on trying to get a few things done today, get the stuff washed up to sell and start posting. As well I want to do some cooking to have stuff ready that we can just grab and reheat. I am finding I am working late more and more and with Mom's schedule as all over the place as it is dinner is becoming a huge struggle in our house. We need some grab and go options, only way we will cut out the take out.

Time to get back to work and see how much I can get done today. Have a great day everyone

[coupon girl]

finished my puzzle -couldn't sleep went to bed at 12.30 I was sneezing -thought it was allergies -nope I have a cold -sore throat -I guess cause "ashlyn" had a cold the last week and a half -she actually sneezed on me the other day
-so I used oil of oregano this morning now my throat is not that bad -hate the stuff thou
-may pop into hubby's brother's house he has some lag bolts for our deck -save us a tiny bit of money

[lizzie bargain]

Well the 3 sleepover girls are still asleep so that is good. I even slept in and no doubt I should rest up before Disney on Tues a.m. DH is making the kids crepes when they wake up and they went out for Thai food last night for my daughters upcoming birthday. Today will be a little shopping trip for them as I just gave DD money for her birthday. Yesterday I took my Mum out for a belated Happy Mothers Day lunch as she was away visiting my sister in TO last week. She has decided she will move there this summer and take an apt-at 83 she is still able to care for herself( now that her broken hip is healed) and my sister is a physician iving nearby so she can make sure her medical needs are taken care of. She has been out West for 24 years so why not have her spend some time with the Eastern part of the family-I think she will enjoy that and I say, especially at this age, whatever makes her happy. Pehaps I should be packing since I leave in less than 48 hrs.

[jasperandchar]

@lizzie bargain have a great time w/ the twins x2

[jasperandchar]

@Natalka I'm hoping for a good steak sale myself - nice treat

[jasperandchar]

@Ashley S ounds like a lot of progress great job

[lilo0003]

Today was a busy day but I accomplished nothing. Logan had three field Lacoste games and tomorrow is playing for gold. So the whole day was spent in the sun. Sitting on the deck with the oldest again, but all that sun is catching up with me, so off to bed,

[thriftygranny]

Just got home from our cabin, came home a day early to get some things organized at home. the boys will be home tomorrow. Typical May long weekend in Alberta, cold and windy yesterday with rain and a few flurries in the afternoon...minus 4 last night. Sunny today but only 13, we got our dock and boat lift up and boat is in the lift. I managed to vacuum and dust our tiny cabin so just the windows to do next time. We had two humming birds at a planter today (thank goodness for frost hardy pansies) and had two falcons diving for fish this afternoon, so wonderful to watch. I have a very busy week I need to cover holiday shifts so I will have to work from Tuesday to Sunday this week and I am afraid it has been a while. So meals need to planned tomorrow for the week, both lunches and suppers. when I started working part time last year I decided to bank everything and save for the kids to join us in Hawaii but since I can't travel right now I may just let it sit and maybe try something like California next winter with the kids and their families and do Disney. We will see how my health holds out!
I hope everyone had a safe long weekend.

[Andit]

Good morning, everyone.

Got home yesterday, but too many fun things to do and didn't get a chance to go online. We had a party for my 2 neighbours - a combo b-day/going-away party (one gal is being relocated ). Good food, great company, and a bit of competition when the board games came out.

Lily dog and I spent an hour outside this morning, waiting to spy on neighbours who were still asleep in their beds. We were enjoying the morning, the silence broken only by a few birds chirping. Lily dog was half dozing in my lap, when she perked up, very confused. Someone was walking down the street carrying a canoe. I swear Toronto's the only metropolis where these things are not too out of the ordinary.

Suitcase is mostly packed, still have to get the travel docs in order in the next day or so, then I'll be ready for vacation. 5 days and counting. Can't wait!

Another big excitement - my friend bought my Mom a new fish. Haven't met the littlest critter yet (I'm heading over there Friday when we drop the brats off for their vacation), but he apparently is slowly getting used to his new digs (he was a bit overwhelmed yesterday when he started exploring his new home and hid in the corner).

Off to squish the critters. I don't know what I'm going to do without them for a week!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day.