Tag Archives: LOTR

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, frugalism, Gardening, Lake tahoe, Pantry by

It’s been an okay week budget-wise.

I got gas at Costco since I knew we’d be driving to Sacramento and then the next day to Rocklin. Gas here in town is almost a $1 more so it does save $$.

We did go back into Costco after Sacramento and picked up avocados, butter lettuce, milk( B is drinking a lot of milk in his protein shakes), cheese, and I can’t remember what else. That came to a little over $100 which I used cash for. I also, on a separate checkout, bought 3 Christmas gifts one of which was Chocolates in a 3 pack that I can separate for gifts.

That was it in spending so I think it was a good week.

Today is one of my Dex days so I’ll do stuff around the house although I feel kind of off. I bought a wood step stool from Amazon so I can sit on it and go through my pantry boxes. I just can’t sit on the floor for any length of time. I’ll check it out today and see if it works otherwise I’ll send it back.

I started my annual rereading of LOTR. I finished The Hobbit, and am 1/3 of the way through Fellowship of the Ring. I also picked up my holds from the library so I have a nice stack of books on my bedside table.

My daughter harvested the delicata squash and oh my, there must be 20. That will make some tasty fall/winter dishes. Everything in the garden is done. The tomatoes are done. There are still some jalapeno peppers out there but not a lot. I’d say the only thing I missed were cucumbers for pickling. But that’s not something I do a lot of anyway. She’s going to put in a fall garden with radishes, lettuce, and maybe chard. Our cilantro seeds itself so that should be coming up soon too.

Friday things

Posted in Blood test, California, camping, Lake tahoe, swimming, travel, Walking by

I decided to not go down to the gym today and just do home stuff. I do plan on swimming tomorrow though. Next week will be a little different because I have labs on Monday and then my eye doctor appt. That will be dilation so no driving except straight home. Then Tuesday is probably a swim day. Wednesday is lunch out with my daughter at the High Hand Nursery. Then Thursday probably the gym.

We leave for Tahoe next Sunday, the 24th. The weather looks very fall-like. Cool evenings and warmish days, so nice. Barclay got the 2 battery system set up so we’re hoping that will give us the backup we need.

Barclay had to go down to Rocklin so he went to Costco and Winco. Costco ended up $100 and Winco $60 and that included some wine. I think we’re set till we get back from Tahoe. Any groceries we need, we get up there at the Safeway.

We continue to enjoy beautiful fall weather. The mornings are actually not that cold and walking has been nice. I’m a little surprised at the number of people walking early. We get there close to 5:50 and then by 6:15 there were 5 other cars there. Kind of weird. I don’t really remember previous years being quite so busy. Hopefully, most will fall away. There is one lady ( quite nice) who walks very early 5:15-5:30 and uses a headlamp. She’s been very dedicated to her exercise program and walks for over an hour. She does have a walking buddy so she’s not out there alone which is good because we have had homeless people sleeping in cars and vans occasionally. ( That is not a judgment on homeless people at all, it’s just best to be safe). Plus we do have mountain lions in our area too. Best to be careful.

We started our annual LOTR movie marathon. I can only get through about an hour a night so it’ll take a while.

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, cooking, frugalism, reading, Walking by

There have been some frugal things this week so here goes:

* We just returned home from picking up a trailer load of free oak. Beautiful wood that a friend offered. It won’t really be ready to burn right away but it’s lovely wood. There’s a lot more to get but we will need to see if my son can help as a lot of it is on a downhill slope which is too slippery for me.

*We had leftovers for all our lunches this week including today which is the left over chicken and wild rice soup.

*Since we have so many eggs I made egg salad for lunches too.

*I picked up a free pizza and salad for dinner tonight with the coupons from the Holiday market. Each month they have a coupon you can use. It’s a handy thing to have .

*We didn’t really go anywhere this week or do any big shopping just picking up a few fillers. Next week I plan to hit Costco to get a few things. We don’t need a huge amount but some things like cottage cheese and cream cheese are just too expensive at the store.

Overall, it’s been a nice week. I’m slowly getting a few Christmas items together plus asking what people want or could use. My son wants the Witcher books that the TV series is based on. I’m looking at some gardening stuff for my daughter.

I’m halfway thru my fall re-reading of the LOTR trilogy. I’m in the Two Towers. Everytime I read it I love it more and more.

We’re still walking early like 5:10 but I think we may start to go a little later starting next week. Mostly, I’m avoiding the jerk dog walker but he shows up anyway sometimes early too. So maybe there’s no getting around it and we just have to avoid him and when we do it doesn’t bother me. Mostly, I get irritated because he’s not using a flashlight and comes up behind us it is startling. Go figure.

No appointments week

Posted in books, Uncategorized by

Finally, where we have NO appointments.  It’s crazy such a little thing can mean so much. ( sounds a bit like Gandalf the grey). (Also, we just finished watching the trilogy and I’m halfway thru the last book “Return of the King”), hence the reference.

Seriously, it is nice. So today I’m going to get the oil changed in my VW.  If the wine sale is still going on at Grocery Outlet I might stop there. I had picked up a Malbec last week and tried it last night and it was quite good.

We haven’t heard back from the tree guy so who knows but it’s only Wednesday.

Out neighbor hasn’t gotten home from the hospital yet. We haven’t heard anything but I hope he is okay and gets to come home even if it’s only for a short while. His doggie misses him. The son is coming 2x  day to feed and walk him. I’m not sure where the son is staying as he lives in the bay area.

Tonight both my adult kids are going to see LOTR part one on the big screen. It’s the extended version so it’ll be long. I’m sure it’ll be great to see.

I’m planning just some jasmine rice with vegetable spring rolls for dinner.