July 2021 Frugal Chatter--treats for the heat!

[Ciel21]

Yesterday, I watched most of the Opening Ceremony for the Tokyo Games. I really would like different neon items from three different team outfits to wear as a pedestrian! I also thought Belgium's outfits were kind of similar to the HBC line for Canadian athletes-a graffiti vibe that was summery. I know that singer Misia's dress with those pale colours on the skirt folds were the talk of Twitter but I thought the skirt was a combination of the Mont Blanc dessert with the syrup flavours used in shaved ice treats. Rather clever! Pianist Hiromi has some wicked-fast hands for jazz music---wonder if she knows Yoko Kanno? The Pictograms montage and sketches were fun-it was like watching a sped-up SNL sketch! Whoever wore those pictagram outfits and helped with props-super effort! How come Canadians never think of such show elements when Canada hosts?

Managed to finish reading The Story of Spanish. Found the chapter The World According to Portugal most interesting as it dealt with the time that Portugal was a naval power (though it involved some not so good elements of history i.e. slave trade) and how that even came about (but it explains how Portuguese language spread to many different lands). Spain and Portugal had some rivalries. The chapter on Hispanics in the US (Arizona for example) revealed how some Hispanics tire of being monolingual and seek English lessons so they can travel beyond areas where Spanish is spoken and how Americans are keen on learning Spanish so they can speak with Hispanics (despite maybe not ever talking to their Hispanic neighbours). Do you know there are different academies for Spanish so that words can be compiled for dictionaries or creating terms to use for different industries?

A watermelon that Mom bought last night is rather light on flavour but it is juicy. I've been eating it today to help stay cool. Glad I had encouraged her to head to a grocery store yesterday to get a few things and that I put watermelon on the grocery list. Not sure what supper might involve until it gets cooler in the evening. Will look online at Olympics coverage to watch as I don't have to ask for tv access. No need to worry about downloading an app or being asked if I have a cable account-so happy!

Sunday-want to get a weekend newspaper and some beverages in the morning before the humidity cranks up.

Monday morning-trip to Burlington to return library items (meant to do it Friday but it was hot and I just was not keen) and visit Mapleview Centre for a short while (opens at 11am...). Ought to consider whether to include stop at Fabricland or Dennigers at Burlington Centre before the Mapleview visit. Decisions...

I saw that there's a Friends and Family event at Hudson Bay this weekend. You save 20% if you pay with HBC Neo Mastercard or save 10% with other tender. SItewide or instore. Online code: FRIENDS

Miles Baby-new fall collection has many items with yellow and pancake theme. Nordstrom has some of the items on sale (EARLY ACCESS)/preorder if you are a Nordy club cardholder right now (Anniversary sale is on now for cardmembers; sale opens to public on July 28). https://www.nordstrom.ca/sr?origin=k...&keyword=miles

[Angela273]

Ok, I considered keeping this quiet for a little while longer until all of the various paperwork is official, but I wanted to tell you guys that we just bought a bigger house for our family. There are some trade offs (smaller garden) but other good features. Our children can stay at their current school and the closest park and bike pats are 1/2 a block from the new house. It’s also located on a less busy street than where we currently live. The possession date is mid-August. We should be able to get set up in the new house before our kids start school on September 1.

[coupon girl]

Congrats angela on the new house -great news

[coupon girl]

My daughter and i had a small argument yesterday -me offering to babysit all summer was a hard choice(i love my grandkids to pieces but somedays it is hard with 3 small children that dont always get along )

I dont believe in sticking them in front of a t.v so i am always thinking of things to do (painting ,memory games ,colouring ,school work with letters and words,shopkins pop o matic trouble )

I think it is hard with 2 woman living in a household when one is in her late 30,s.All i was doing was venting that with this heat it is tiring and i did have a stomach problem twice last week.
Well we talked and worked things thru.My daughter-in-law's mother went back to work in a restaurant full time ,so i will have the girls a lot more til school starts .

On a nice note we have nobody with us for 2 days sunday and monday(we babysit the girls),plus daughter went to winners and bought me a lovely candle and 2 oven mitts (much needed )and a nice chocolate bar from a chocolate shop downtown.My daughter is looking at a rental monday in toronto ,i hope she gets it as she really loves this one for her and sebastian .Today she went to visit a girlfriend and stay over night there at her place .

[Giseledta]

good morning all..
tentive menu plan made for the week . so that is good.

i nearly finished off the area i wanted to clean... i will do that today... i have about 3 h of housework to do... then all done for the day. ..

i have a few play mats to finish up. then might work on some painting.

homemade burgers for supper w ith corn on the cob.

[coupon girl]

Afternoon-popped over to the beer store i got $11.10 in money as my son-in-law asked me if i wanted their beer cans -yes thank you .

Then popped into dollarama and spent 23.00 and then over to fortinos and got (10 ).19 cent corn and a basket of ontario peaches 6.99 plus pjs shorts and a sleep t-shirt for me on sale 25% off plus i used the 11.00 to pay for the shorts from the beer cans .

Supper will be a nice ham fresh corn and potatoes .I am working on a few loads of laundry mine and my son's still -just hung one load this morning and on my second load on line the rest i use the dryer .

[Ciel21]

@Angela _273 What fun news for the family! Sounds exciting to have new views and spaces to enjoy!

I was channel-switching between CBC's recap of Olympic event coverage and Fire Masters on Global. Wow, what chefs have to do in 30-min to make a meal. Chef Humberto was rather creative. He made a succotash and arepa with his squab (he never cooked it before) for his second meal.

I am enjoying glimpses of Tokyo in the Sugoi Tokyo segments and outdoor venues for rowing and women's cycling. Swimming (women) observation-why do divers have less fabric on their suits compared to the relay swimmers? I feel very much empathy for women divers who often have their backsides filmed as they exit the pool or head to showers. Irksome. Saw Simone Biles' floor routine (artistic gymnastics) and wow, did she manage to control her landing despite sliding off the mat! That was something to see. Vaulters were exciting to watch as well plus beam routines.

Last night, I put together the new baby clothing buys with other items I bought earlier so now I have a bag for future girl and a bag for future boy. Then I did a tally of what I spent and ouch, it's rather high again for each bag. I'd like a pair of shorts or pants for the girl bag as there are many tops inside (did spot a skort on Walmart's site but it seems to be a online vendor-anyone know of the Canadiana brand?). Have a lead on where to get a deal but I plan to scope out The Bay at Mapleview Centre tomorrow in case I see something there. Not heading out to any mall today despite the Friends 20% off deal. I know some brands are on sale or clearance so there's a chance of a find. I will get small greeting cards from a local store. (I am purposely buying older baby clothing so bag can be given after some weeks after a birth so no newborn baby items.)
Today's heat has involved eating watermelon and fresh blueberries. Need something a touch more substantial for supper. I must buy some potato chips!

[HermanH]

Today's heat has involved eating watermelon and fresh blueberries. Need something a touch more substantial for supper. I must buy some potato chips!

Have you heard of the fad for using watermelon to make pizza?

They cut a slab out of the middle and use it in lieu of dough and you can put whatever toppings you like. Instead of the Hawaiian with pineapple and ham, you get pepperoni and peppers on watermelon. I haven't tried it, but it does sound interesting.

[SassyAshley]

Congrats on the house Angela

[SassyAshley]

Good Evening Everyone,
Basement cleaning did not go as well today, we spent 2 hours working on it but that included hauling our the 10 bags of garbage, plus we had a 10 kg bag of flour and one small heavy bag I did not add to garbage bag. I think hauling this out of the basement and out to garbage took us about 30 minutes. I did the stairs and Mom threw it outside, the we used a cart we have to haul it out.

Today did not go as well, we only got 6 bags of garbage, there were a few factors:
A) We found some boxes that were not completely soaked so not everything was garbage
B) Mom found some stuff she wants to try to save
C) We found some old old photos from my Mom's side which are soaked, Mom thinks she can save the photos but not the book they are in

I am not going to lie, I was hoping we would have gotten more done. I am still trying to find a space I can set up a spare set of shelves we can put things on we want to keep. We are at that point where I am overwhelms and frustrates me because now stuff we want to keep is taking over. I cannot get to half the shelves in the Stockpile room, I cannot get the Chest Freezer and the Washer & Dryer are under piles and not usable.

Like tonight for dinner we had to come up with something that did not need anything out of the chest freezer because I cannot get to it. We are 100% in that phase where it look worse before it gets better. Maybe it is a me thing but when areas that were function become unfunctional it drives me insane.

Mom says all week well I work she will go down and do what she can, so fingers crossed in the next couple of days we will be to set up the shelves and start to feel like I am taking back control.

Also deep down I was hoping we would be further ahead as I was hoping we could go to Wal-Mart to grab a few things we need after work but now sure we are at that point yet.

I just have to remember we are making progress, we will get this done we just need to push through.

[Giseledta]

hugs Sassy.

[Giseledta]

i got most of what i wanted to get done.... but not all. i will get the daycare rooms done in the am .
ran out of propane with supper... highly annoying... finished it off in oven. tried bbq corn on the cob.. came out surprisingly well. will definatly do it again .

weather tomorrow is uber hot.. so hubby will need to get propane.. i will do supper on the bbq... chicken and roast veggies.. i have potatoes, zuchini, musrooms and carrots. yummy. i have been using a quarter sheet pan.. no foil, or disposable container. its been working fabulously.

not 100 % sure what tomorrow will bring, but it should be a good day.

[lilo0003]

Dinner was takeout tonight, I was going to do pizza but the kids were working for a neighbour today and they fed them pizza for lunch. So we did Burger Priest instead they never disappoint. Monday I think we are driving to Stratford for the day with a stop at my in-laws. Then Tuesday St. Jacobs with my mom and sister-in-law and aunt, it has been years since I have been there. I spent the day reading my book and my plan is to finish 3 books while on vacation. I made the goal so I would stay off Facebook. So far so good.
congrats on the new house Angela273.

[Ciel21]

@HermanH I haven't heard of that kind of pizza. I know about grilled watermelon or making watermelon wedges into popsicles but I'd rather slice and trim watermelon rinds and just enjoy the fruit right away. No waiting!

Did a second channel scan today and managed to pick up a large number of US stations including NBC, which naturally is covering the US athletes in Tokyo! CBC Toronto station keeps breaking up-about three weeks of this situation. Radio-Canada in Montreal however is coming in strong-go figure. TVO is also dicey of late. At least I know that a cloudy sky means I can pick up random US stations and go down memory lane with old tv shows or expand my informercial options...

Bro and I watched most of the TVO documentary on the Titanic (he did not want to watch the Games) tonight.

Going to post a new Leon's contest for LG Washtower. I've seen the commercial on tv recently. Imagine how much fun connecting the hoses will be.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Grrrr I did not sleep well last night, always makes for a rough Monday.

I have been thinking as much as we need to keep moving on the basement I think today I need a break. I had hoped to spend an hour or two in the basement after work but I think instead I will focus on other stuff around the house mainly, ingredient and meal prep.

Mom ordered Pizza Saturday night so I could do meal prepping but I was so tired I ended up chilling on the couch binge watching Netflix.

Yesterday we finished early afternoon one because we were done and two so I could meal prep but I was too tired and had a massive headache so it did not happen.

If I am being real here my eating has been so bad the past few weeks, since I have not been meal prepping or ingredient prepping I have been skipping meals and lately our dinner have been quick fixes. I am happy outside of Saturday no take out but I am really craving a good balanced meal. I need to get this turned around so I am thinking tonight instead of working on the basement I will spend my time in the kitchen.

Although I did not sleep well I was up at 5:30 to get my day started. I already took one break and cut up half a watermelon, a good start but I have quite the long to-do-list for the kitchen. I think that is the plan but we shall see.

Have a great Monday everyone.