August 2015 Frugal Chatter thread

[jasperandchar]

@Crochetlady We have royal galas apple trees but they don't produce (sigh) they are 8 years old, just curious what type you have as you have made cider in the past few years

[Natalka]

I thought I was the only one that didn`t have a smart phone. I have a flip phone for emergencies. It totally bugs me when I`m out with a friend and she keeps checking her phone and texting her daughter. Does she really need to know that she is on her way to Kitchener at 2:00 when they saw each other 3 hours earlier?

Sigh, I don't even have a cell phone. Husband has one for work.

[Crochetlady]

@Crochetlady We have royal galas apple trees but they don't produce (sigh) they are 8 years old, just curious what type you have as you have made cider in the past few years

We have 1 mac and 1 courtland.. They`re loaded again this year...hope the bugs left them alone. Hubby put lime around the base of the trees so hope that helps..


I just did some research...Royal Gala trees need a cross pollinator...Empire, Red Delicious and Honey Crisp are compatible but if you don`t like them a nursery could tell you what others would work. Hubby says it`s also important to keep the trees pruned.

[YOU AND ME]

I thought I was the only one that didn`t have a smart phone. I have a flip phone for emergencies. It totally bugs me when I`m out with a friend and she keeps checking her phone and texting her daughter. Does she really need to know that she is on her way to Kitchener at 2:00 when they saw each other 3 hours earlier?

This totally bugs me i have a friend that texts constantly ,i've told her it's very rude to do this in my company and i will not be seeing her if she continues

[saundyl]

@Crochetlady We have royal galas apple trees but they don't produce (sigh) they are 8 years old, just curious what type you have as you have made cider in the past few years

Bf tells me apple trees don't produce up here

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[avoncallingu]

Momof5boys
The same thing happened to us. We thought we could repair it ourselves but in the end it was a challenge even for the professional repair person. Sorry to say.

[momof5boys]

Momof5boys
The same thing happened to us. We thought we could repair it ourselves but in the end it was a challenge even for the professional repair person. Sorry to say.

Well, I've spoken with a fellow that used to repair appliances. Since the small tear is at the '4 o clock' mark, we may be lucky since normally the water level doesn't rise to that height (except when going through the 'clean machine cycle' which is why I noticed the leak under the machine today). Don't laugh but I've taken some 'gorilla tape' and covered the small tear and will now just see what happens. If we have to call a repair fellow, so be it, but I wanted to try this first. This tape sticks like crazy (my kids use it to repair their bike tubes) so fingers crossed....

[walkonby]

The twins were very needy last night, so I'm in need of sleep. Dh helped from 12:30-2:30am so that I could sleep, which was the longest stretch of sleep that I got all night. I have a couple of meals planned, just not sure when we will eat it what.

Shepherd's pie with fresh red potatoes from my garden and a big glass of milk.

Pork steak, apple sauce, tossed salad, organic corn on the cob from a friend's mom's garden, and a big glass of milk.

I also want to do some baking.
Cheese pinwheels made from home made pizza dough, first time attempting this. Oatmeal squares. Molasses oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I will happily freeze some of these to eat at a later date.

I am planning on going fishing for a while on Saturday with my brother since it is free fishing weekend. It would be great to bring home made snacks. I haven't seen my brother in months. Dh agreed to take care of our children so that I could go out for a while. I will obviously leave him with pumped bottles of milk in the fridge.

I have too much tomatoes in my garden and I have no intention of making pasta sauce this year. I have posted on local Facebook garage sale pages to trade or sell the extras. Someone bought $10 worth of tomatoes from me yesterday. I still have about 8 large ripe yellow tomatoes on my plants right now. We ca only eat them so fast, so I'm hoping to sell some more. I am currently waiting on a lady who is coming to buy fresh red rhubarb from me right now.

@Angela273 do you have any extra freezer space for the tomatoes? I tried freezing them whole and doing the easy skinning process with pouring boiling hot water over them a few weeks back, so I am wondering if you just kept them in there until you did have a chance to make sauce with them?? Just a thought, I mean it is not like you are busy with anything else right now?? ( forgive my terrible sense of humour, you know I am in awe of your energy!! )

[Natalka]

Hoping everyone has a great day to close out the week!

[Angela273]

@ walkknby - I have done the boiling water peeling tomato method before. I was thinking about freezing some whole and then leaving them that way until I wanted tomatoes for something like chili.

I have been getting very sleep deprived this week, especially when both twins decide to cluster feed at night. Two nights ago the longest I made it was 1hr between feeding babies. Dh was't feeling well, so I was on my own. I pumped milk yesterday for the first time in over a week. It was intended for my Saturday fishing trip, but some was used to get me sleep. I took a nap before supper and then kept sleeping larger chunks as the night went on and dh helped with the twins. They are drinking about 4oz per feed right now, so I certainly need to pump more in order to head out fishing with my brother tomorrow morning.

LO has been pretty consistent in starting his morning at 6:20 each day this week.

Yesterday I took the twins and big brother to WM with me. I put the twins in their double stroller and big brother in the shopping cart. Big brother wanted to be in the stroller, but he just had to get over it. I pushed the stroller with my right hand and pulled the shopping cart behind me with my left. Our local WM does not have working AC, so it was very hot in there.

[Frugalbigmama]

TGIF!!! So happy it is finally Friday. We had a good night last night. I did one load of laundry start to finish So nice to have everything clean and put away. So no laundry needed to be done this weekend. I will wash couch blankets and bed sheets but at least the daily stuff is done. (takes the longest to fold and put away I find!) DS and I went for a bike ride last night to his school. Lots of new play stuff including a huge chalk board outside and a stage! Can't wait to go grocery shopping this weekend and I have a huge list! But think it will mean that I won't be spending much then next 2 weeks so it all works out Have a great day everyone. The sun is starting to shine here finally! Oh and our gas has gone down 97.9L here and 91.0 L 40 mins from us so will top up for sure!

[momof5boys]

Well, I've spoken with a fellow that used to repair appliances. Since the small tear is at the '4 o clock' mark, we may be lucky since normally the water level doesn't rise to that height (except when going through the 'clean machine cycle' which is why I noticed the leak under the machine today). Don't laugh but I've taken some 'gorilla tape' and covered the small tear and will now just see what happens. If we have to call a repair fellow, so be it, but I wanted to try this first. This tape sticks like crazy (my kids use it to repair their bike tubes) so fingers crossed....

Update: ran a load of laundry through a heavy duty cycle and all is good!

[thriftygranny]

Happy Friday Girls!
Had a very busy week, working and baking and making meals for my friend. Her son's funeral service was huge and it was a very touching and emotional day.
Went to Walmart yesterday to buy the cheap Charmin TP and what did I find but a reduced produce rack, you know the one Walks has been talking about. Big bags of produce for 1.00. I got about 10 pounds of roma tomatoes in beautiful shape, a bag with a pound and a half of blueberries, 5 bananas and 2 big oranges, a bag of 6 green peppers. All for 4 dollars. I have a feeling I will have to arrive early once this rack has caught the eye of other people! I made slow roasted tomato sauce, froze the bananas except two which dh and I ate last night, we will grill the peppers tomorrow and freeze what we don't eat for fajitas etc. WE had fresh blueberries on our oatmeal this morning and will make some muffins and freeze a few for another day.
I have a busy day taking down blinds and drapes, our new windows are coming on Tuesday but want to have it done today so I can enjoy the weekend at the lake, the weather here has been warm, we still have a smoke advisory but it isn't really bothering us but it can't be good for us!!
Sounds like everyone is nesting for fall and winter, with all the fruit harvesting and canning, I have juice made from apples to make apple jalapeno jelly, we love it with wild game and we are out, so maybe next week I will get it canned.
Enjoy the weekend and enjoy these last days of summer, I hope for a beautiful fall my favorite time of year!

[lilo0003]

Happy Friday. Just checking in from the free wifi at mcdonalds. We rented a cottage for the week in Muskoka. DH does his ironman on Sunday. The internet free week is good for us all. I did read a few pages back. For the back to school like many I don't have a back to school deadline. My have never bought the cheap backpacks and my oldest has been using the same backpage for 5 years. The same with locks, they are expected to bring them home and reuse them every year. For clothes I like to wait until later in September. With boys they can grow an inch in a month. Like FBM I stock up on snaps but then hide them away.
I do have a question for knitters. The thrift store here has loads of needles for a buck, is this a good price and what sizes should I start with.

[SassyAshley]

@lilo0003 I paid I think $4 or $5 for mine at Wal-Mart, the needles size really depends on the yarn you are using but for like Cotton Yarn best to start with like a 7. The needles all depends on the thickness of your yarn and the size of your project, the bigger the needle the less stitches needed. But to start I would suggest a 7 but check the the yarn you are using as well as the project you want to tackle.