February Frugal Chatter

[Ciel]

Ink order came this morning. I fortunately was in the living room watching the local morning show when I noticed a car park in front of a fire hydrant (tipoff that someone is not on top of rules about parking by them). It was the PigeonShip delivery person, who placed my box of ink 1m away from edge of road by the house number sign, then took a photo (it was emailed to me as proof of delivery). While I hadn't cleared the walkway or a portion of driveway, the mailbox is on the garage at the end of the driveway. I let PigeonShip know (the service uses Zendesk, which is the same system Staples.ca uses so heads up about computer generated replies) about the matter that a mailbox would have protected the box but I'd not use their free shipping service for future SDM orders. Budget for shipping (two faster options than free are offered, not sure which carrier) next time! I almost want a Danby Parcel Guard unit but Bro and I are unlikely to agree who would pay for it or where to install it.

The only food items on the SDM online site is seasonal candy-like Valentine's Day chocolate boxes (about 9 options). I thought that grocery or pantry items were available but I am mistaken.

Last night at about 10:45pm, I needed a mug of tea. I tackled the dishes in the sink and on counter while waiting for water to boil, then dried most of dishes/cutlery while tea was steeping. This morning, it was so relaxing to see the dishes were not visible! Only a storage container that was drying overnight and three wooden items were on the rack, so easy-peasy put away.

My Giant Tiger small order notice came yesterday. Plan to collect it on Monday if weather permits so I can also see what's left of the Pop Tarts on special at the downtown store location. I have printed off the email to take to the store.

Found out a doctor is retiring (word of mouth; no patient letter has reached our home as yet and online reviews indicate some patients knew mid-Jan about the retirement) and I could not find an actual ad in any local paper (took some doing, as the Hamilton Spectator uses Marketplace on its website to mean Classifieds (not including obituaries). Printed off local doctors listed on CPSO (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) site to see what I can learn about their scheduling, time management and diagnosis skills/people skills. Found some eye-opening reviews on RateMDs.com. Tip-if your doctor has a middle name or two surnames, you might find the doctor with just one first name and the last of the two surnames. That's what I discovered yesterday when I typed in the full names off the CPSO register and not find reviews. RateMDs tends to suggest another local doctor at the top of the page and I would compare the name shown to the name on the list I had. Learned that one doctor who is always open to new patients seems to be about the money and has patients waiting for hours in waiting area. Kicker was learning that doctor charged $100 to transfer patient files and the transfers did not happen in timely fashion. Due diligence is the name of the medical system. I am thinking of sending a letter to the retiring doctor once I know my income tax return has the tax credit (climate change one) on it way to me so I can have funds to get my file.

Disney+ fans-today, there should be a music special on Yoshiki, a Japanese rocker and composer, airing on the streaming platform. I meant to check it out in the morning but got distracted by the delivery order and snow shovelling. I have to verify that Bro still has the service active (have not used it in a few weeks).

Tea, mending, some light cleaning (funny where dust can be spotted and needs a vacuum cleaner) and laundering bed sheets are the main priorities. I spent too much time window shopping online yesterday (Nordstrom Rack has some children's clothing that cannot ship to Canada, sniff, but those items don't even show up on Nordstrom Canada's site)--today, less time online. But contests need 10 minutes, so off I go!

Warmth is today's word of the day!

[Frugalbigmama]

It is snowy and blowy here now .

[Giseledta]

Happy birthday Angela!!

[Giseledta]

its been a long week. most are now adays.

i am keeping track of stuff... i am expecting a refund.. has not arrived yet. called this am .. it is being processed. ugh.

a fz lasagna is int eh oven for supper. buses were cancelled today, and it is cold out there. just cold.

only thing i need to do this weekend. ... out of house is a sdm run. i will go to the girls store. i really want to go to a local bread store... might see about that. i am really limiting trips. sigh.


ok. plans for the weekend... finish a hat. this will be hat number 2. return 2 cakes of yarn ( if you could call it that... embrodry floss is thicker!!) .. thats a amazon return. ( i miss stores)
i might make a stew this weekend..... hmmm.
i am going to start in on tax stuff.. mine is always a joy ... i expect tears from me.. shut down for 3 months will do that.

all in all , i have a ... quiet weekend planned.
i am rather enjoying crocheting...

[SassyAshley]

@Giseledta , not sure what type of crochet projects you are working on or how close the nearest Michael's is (they offer curbside pick up, you place your order online they notify when it is ready and when you get there you call and they put it in your trunk for you) but one my favourite number 4 yarns to use is impeccable. It is the Michael's brand, it goes on sale quite often and it is easy to work with and stitches up nicely.

For a thicker Yarn, I think it is a number 5 Charisma is nice. Same as Impeccable it is the Michael's brand goes on sale regularly.

I know a lot of crocheters say you need to user Bernate (sp?) or Red Heart but I always favoured Impeccable.

[SassyAshley]

Good Evening Everyone,
Today was one of those days where I kept losing track of time, I was getting things done, although a few things did take me longer then expected but such is life.

I knew I needed to go dig the cars out as Mom was going to run her errands today, she needed to drop off an amazon return and pick up a curbside order. Plus we had to move out cars as they were doing a clean up plow. Before I knew it, it was time to clean the cars and shovel. Did not enjoy today's weather, it was cold and windy, yuck.

Then before I knew it Mom was home and my work day was almost over which was good but I was disappointed. I had planned to get a few things done well Mom was out and all I got done was some work. I have to be honest I am missing having some alone time in the house. But it is what it is.

The only things I got done today was cleaning the snow, emptying the dishwasher and reloading it. Hand dishes and the bathroom will need to be done tomorrow. I am trying to put less pressure on myself and not get so down on myself when I do not get everything I want to get done, done, it is a work in process.

Tonight is all about me and preparing for next week. I want to finalize my meal prep plan, my to-do-list (it always grows as the week goes on but I like to have a good idea of what I need to tackle) and create a meal plan.

Tonight's dinner was Homemade Meatballs (pulled from the freezer) in Mushroom Gravy over Egg Noodles. Normally we have this dish with Mashed Potatoes but neither one of us wanted to make Mashed Potatoes. Egg Noodles were good but we bought the no name one this time and they were really starchy.

Off to finish my lists and finish watching Groundhog Day, we recorded it the other night when it was one.

Have a great night everyone.

[Ciel]

Received a brief apologies line from PigeonShip, who will share my feedback. Hope that helped because I won't use that delivery option another time. SDM fulfillment is from Vaughan(Concord)ON.
Seems UPS has a hub in that city too as my Nordstrom free shipping orders from GTA stores went through there as well last week.

No luck finding the Disney Music special on Yoshiki. Will check via Twitter if it might be US only because I searched, even clicked on the Disney box at top of home page and slid through all the New to Disney+ titles. Update: the special My Music Story:Yoshiki is only available in the US today. Here's an article on the special:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...301213240.html


Vacuumed the dust off the basement bathroom vent. Such a buildup in two months' time! Last time poking in the unit was November when I replaced a burnt out CFL bulb. I have a second replacement bulb on standby should the other original bulb stop working in 2021.

Roasted a couple of cut up carrots, two parsnips, two small snacking apples, a bell pepper and a yellow onion. Tossed in several peeled cloves of garlic with 3 tbsp of rosemary flavoured olive oil and 1/2 tsp of sea salt. Had a small serving before going for 3 hr nap as my right side felt like it was being stung by pain (will credit my cancer for being some kind of persistent bunch of cells).

Afternoon blowing snow- large curls of fluffiness. Glimpsed weather forecast tonight and winds of 60kph are expected tomorrow in Hamilton area with 40% chance of snow and -7C high feeling like -12C. Guess I won't be heading out except for spot of fresh air in the yard. Glad I picked up branches after shovelling-the effort helped to wipe out my energy. The stack of Garage Sale Mystery movies are looking very attractive tonight!

Need to make a second cup of camomile tea soon. I made certain to have a wool sweater on tonight, as I did not in the morning and felt consistently refrigerated.

I am still keen on the golden looking Nordic Ware toaster oven pans on Amazon Canada. Will see if budget allows me to ask friend to order them next week as my old pans are ready for scrapping. Have to check that the old toaster oven's manual gets recycled as I don't remember pulling it from the stack of kitchen appliance warranty/manual items last week. Bro does not seem to care about such paperwork until HE needs it for some reason and asks "do WE have ...?"

Let's keep as warm as possible through the weekend. Have a great Friday evening, everyone.

[Ciel]

Quick note-I realized the impact of the Bell Media cuts this week when I recognized a former CTV Barrie station (Bell owned) news anchor on Global Toronto's early morning show during the business news updates. Took me a couple of minutes to process. There'd be no way she'd work for two stations with the commute between those two geographical locations.

[Angela273]

My original birthday request was pizza, DQ icecream cake, and some fresh flowers.

Dh didn’t like the idea of pizza. He got my attention with ribs. So we ordered ribs, burgers, fries, and poutine. I used $30 in points ($25 was Birthday points) + $30 in promo gift cards, and $5 on the gc I bought in the fall. Supper was $5 OOP. The ribs were ok...I was disappointed that it was bland and dry. It just had a little sauce on one side, but at least it wasn’t tough.

My babysitter helped our twins make a couple surprises for me today. They blew up balloons and taped them to the outside of my office door. Twin girl drew me a picture and printed words on it. They also made icecream sandwiches. Keep in mind our twins are Kindergarten age.

[barbis9]

The day did not get off to a stellar start. The car battery was dead so I missed my dental apt. Anyway CAA came out within an hr during a snow storm and rush hour and put in a new battery for $210 which I thought was a pretty good price. The dealer had quoted $250 and Canadian Tire $300 so saved a bit and dentist is rebooked. Now back to Costco to buy more of the foam pillows I like and then off to the nursing home to visit DD's grandpa-they have been on lockdown since November so I am sure he will appreciate the visit. Then back to preliminary work on our tax forms-that will be a lot more than $210!!

The warranty on the battery is longer with CAA and I definitely trust them more than CTire.

[barbis9]

Received a brief apologies line from PigeonShip, who will share my feedback. Hope that helped because I won't use that delivery option another time. SDM fulfillment is from Vaughan(Concord)ON.
Seems UPS has a hub in that city too as my Nordstrom free shipping orders from GTA stores went through there as well last week.

No luck finding the Disney Music special on Yoshiki. Will check via Twitter if it might be US only because I searched, even clicked on the Disney box at top of home page and slid through all the New to Disney+ titles. Update: the special My Music Story:Yoshiki is only available in the US today. Here's an article on the special:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...301213240.html


Vacuumed the dust off the basement bathroom vent. Such a buildup in two months' time! Last time poking in the unit was November when I replaced a burnt out CFL bulb. I have a second replacement bulb on standby should the other original bulb stop working in 2021.

Roasted a couple of cut up carrots, two parsnips, two small snacking apples, a bell pepper and a yellow onion. Tossed in several peeled cloves of garlic with 3 tbsp of rosemary flavoured olive oil and 1/2 tsp of sea salt. Had a small serving before going for 3 hr nap as my right side felt like it was being stung by pain (will credit my cancer for being some kind of persistent bunch of cells).

Afternoon blowing snow- large curls of fluffiness. Glimpsed weather forecast tonight and winds of 60kph are expected tomorrow in Hamilton area with 40% chance of snow and -7C high feeling like -12C. Guess I won't be heading out except for spot of fresh air in the yard. Glad I picked up branches after shovelling-the effort helped to wipe out my energy. The stack of Garage Sale Mystery movies are looking very attractive tonight!

Need to make a second cup of camomile tea soon. I made certain to have a wool sweater on tonight, as I did not in the morning and felt consistently refrigerated.

I am still keen on the golden looking Nordic Ware toaster oven pans on Amazon Canada. Will see if budget allows me to ask friend to order them next week as my old pans are ready for scrapping. Have to check that the old toaster oven's manual gets recycled as I don't remember pulling it from the stack of kitchen appliance warranty/manual items last week. Bro does not seem to care about such paperwork until HE needs it for some reason and asks "do WE have ...?"

Let's keep as warm as possible through the weekend. Have a great Friday evening, everyone.

I find Kleenex fibres seem to cover my bathroom with dust.

[barbis9]

Ink order came this morning. I fortunately was in the living room watching the local morning show when I noticed a car park in front of a fire hydrant (tipoff that someone is not on top of rules about parking by them). It was the PigeonShip delivery person, who placed my box of ink 1m away from edge of road by the house number sign, then took a photo (it was emailed to me as proof of delivery). While I hadn't cleared the walkway or a portion of driveway, the mailbox is on the garage at the end of the driveway. I let PigeonShip know (the service uses Zendesk, which is the same system Staples.ca uses so heads up about computer generated replies) about the matter that a mailbox would have protected the box but I'd not use their free shipping service for future SDM orders. Budget for shipping (two faster options than free are offered, not sure which carrier) next time! I almost want a Danby Parcel Guard unit but Bro and I are unlikely to agree who would pay for it or where to install it.

The only food items on the SDM online site is seasonal candy-like Valentine's Day chocolate boxes (about 9 options). I thought that grocery or pantry items were available but I am mistaken.

Last night at about 10:45pm, I needed a mug of tea. I tackled the dishes in the sink and on counter while waiting for water to boil, then dried most of dishes/cutlery while tea was steeping. This morning, it was so relaxing to see the dishes were not visible! Only a storage container that was drying overnight and three wooden items were on the rack, so easy-peasy put away.

My Giant Tiger small order notice came yesterday. Plan to collect it on Monday if weather permits so I can also see what's left of the Pop Tarts on special at the downtown store location. I have printed off the email to take to the store.

Found out a doctor is retiring (word of mouth; no patient letter has reached our home as yet and online reviews indicate some patients knew mid-Jan about the retirement) and I could not find an actual ad in any local paper (took some doing, as the Hamilton Spectator uses Marketplace on its website to mean Classifieds (not including obituaries). Printed off local doctors listed on CPSO (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) site to see what I can learn about their scheduling, time management and diagnosis skills/people skills. Found some eye-opening reviews on RateMDs.com. Tip-if your doctor has a middle name or two surnames, you might find the doctor with just one first name and the last of the two surnames. That's what I discovered yesterday when I typed in the full names off the CPSO register and not find reviews. RateMDs tends to suggest another local doctor at the top of the page and I would compare the name shown to the name on the list I had. Learned that one doctor who is always open to new patients seems to be about the money and has patients waiting for hours in waiting area. Kicker was learning that doctor charged $100 to transfer patient files and the transfers did not happen in timely fashion. Due diligence is the name of the medical system. I am thinking of sending a letter to the retiring doctor once I know my income tax return has the tax credit (climate change one) on it way to me so I can have funds to get my file.

Disney+ fans-today, there should be a music special on Yoshiki, a Japanese rocker and composer, airing on the streaming platform. I meant to check it out in the morning but got distracted by the delivery order and snow shovelling. I have to verify that Bro still has the service active (have not used it in a few weeks).

Tea, mending, some light cleaning (funny where dust can be spotted and needs a vacuum cleaner) and laundering bed sheets are the main priorities. I spent too much time window shopping online yesterday (Nordstrom Rack has some children's clothing that cannot ship to Canada, sniff, but those items don't even show up on Nordstrom Canada's site)--today, less time online. But contests need 10 minutes, so off I go!

Warmth is today's word of the day!

hopefully your doctor will have someone take over their practice, that way you don't have to pay anything. Most tests results can be accessed by any doctor online, so no need to spend $100 to transfer files. I have change specialists without transferring any info.

[barbis9]

Does anyone know what type of rope to make plant hangers (like in the 70's)?

[Giseledta]

thank you for the information!!! the closest micheals is about 40 min away, i just dont like the busyness of the area. great to know about the yarn though. i am hoping to do a instore purchase once lock down is done. i am really enjoying the peace crocheting is giving me.

@Giseledta, not sure what type of crochet projects you are working on or how close the nearest Michael's is (they offer curbside pick up, you place your order online they notify when it is ready and when you get there you call and they put it in your trunk for you) but one my favourite number 4 yarns to use is impeccable. It is the Michael's brand, it goes on sale quite often and it is easy to work with and stitches up nicely.

For a thicker Yarn, I think it is a number 5 Charisma is nice. Same as Impeccable it is the Michael's brand goes on sale regularly.

I know a lot of crocheters say you need to user Bernate (sp?) or Red Heart but I always favoured Impeccable.

[Giseledta]

Does anyone know what type of rope to make plant hangers (like in the 70's)?

it would be macarame cord.... i believe