It's going to be really, really hot!!!

I just heard on the news that here in Iowa today the temperature will be hovering around 100 degrees.  The weather forecast for the entire week will be the same each day.  Hot.  That means the heat index will make it feel hotter.  This is not the time to scrimp on air conditioning.  I am keeping the window air conditioners set at 68 degrees in order to keep our downstairs nice and comfortable.  The one thing I can't stand is to be hot.  I can live with being cold as I can always add a sweater and layer my clothes to be warmer.

The challenge in August when it is this hot is to try to figure out what to serve for supper. By now we have done a lot of grilling so it isn't quite the novelty as it was at the beginning of the summer and it is too hot to stand outside over an even hotter grill.  It is on days like this that I pull out the electric roaster that I use to cook the turkey at Thanksgiving and I set it up in the basement.  I use it as a portable oven.

Tonight I will be cooking my semi-famous turkey casserole in it.  Here is the link to the recipe. Back in June I roasted a turkey that I had leftover from Christmas and I carefully cut the breast pieces for sandwiches or to use as the main dish for dinner sometime.  The rest of the meat was cut into small pieces for soup or casseroles and the carcass was boiled down for broth.  All the meat and broth was frozen for later use such as a day like today.

I will put the casserole together in a square casserole dish and place it in the roaster to bake.   The best part of this is that the heat from baking this casserole does not affect the temperature in my kitchen as it cooks in the basement and the heat stays there.  Also it takes less energy to heat the roaster and it preheats in no time at all.  To complete our dinner meal, I will serve watermelon and a tossed salad.

I know some people will think who wants to eat something hot on a hot day, but these are also the same people who will go to an air conditioned restaurant for a hot meal or stand in the hot sun grilling some meat.

As I write this post, Ryan is taking his nap.  He spent the morning at his other grandpa's house as I needed some extra rest as I have a cold.  While he is napping I may take a nap myself or go through some of my sewing patterns so I can plan my next project.  I'm already thinking ahead to Christmas and there are several gifts I want to make.  I don't want to wait until November or December to work on these projects.  Also, there are a few tops that I would like to sew for myself.

I better start getting more sleep at night as when Ryan goes down for a nap, it will be sewing and craft time for Grandma.

Been on a Blogging Vacation.

I found that I needed to take a break from blogging for a couple of weeks during a busy time for me.  It also gave me time to just think about everything I have going on in my life.  No, I’m not having a mid-life crisis.  You see, September is that time when kids are going back to school and for me it is the best time to evaluate what I am doing and if I need to make any changes.

During July I began my training at the public library which took about two weeks.  Then I worked my regular part time hours plus I filled in for some full time employees who were on vacation.  Toss into that the normal August chaos of my husband coaching cross country and it got a little hectic.  My schedule has settled down and I am now working my normal 5 hours each Saturday at the library.

I can now breathe some.  Tonight I am spending some time looking at the calendar and planning out September.  This summer I was unable to work on scraping and painting the outside of our house.  It just wasn’t going to happen in 105 degree Fahrenheit weather.  Now I don’t have as much time to get the job done so I am having to compromise.  My plan is to paint the main color on the lower half of the house plus the two overhangs over the large windows in the living room and the dining room.  It is what I am going to refer to as the minimum requirement of painting on the house for this year.  If I have more time and the weather holds, I will do more. 

Next up is to clean the inside of our house from top to bottom in order to get ready for the winter months ahead and that means digging through closets and getting rid of “stuff.”  I also need to spend some time washing windows inside and outside, something that I have been putting off. 

I got behind on a lot of my housework and household projects this year.  I'm digging my way out.  

In order to get back on track on some of these projects I need to take an hour or so each week to review my calendar and review my plans.  I really need to stay on task in order to stay on top of all of the housework and the projects we have to get done in our house.  This is hard as I get sidetracked very easily. 

It’s odd but once I take out my calendar and get some planning done, I feel inspired to get to work and get things done.  It kind of takes me back to my days at the law firm when I loved to look at the work calendar and plug projects into place and then I worked the plan in order to get everything done.  I apply the same principle to my home.  Take the task, break it down into manageable pieces and calendar when you will get the pieces done.  It doesn’t take a special computer program to do this, a simple calendar and a spiral notebook will work just fine.

Now on to food . . . well, I’m sure all of you have noticed that the prices on many items have gone up.  It was a given with the drought.  I never thought I would be paying $1.89 a lb. for apples.  We live near some apple orchards and the drought has really affected their crops.  Again, it was expected to happen.  So, I have found that I have to bite the bullet and pay the price for fresh produce as we go through a lot of apples and bananas.  Today I was able to buy whole cantaloupe for only 99 cents each, so I bought three.  Also I have had several people give me some cucumbers, peppers and zucchini from their garden, which I gladly accepted.  Last month a neighbor was going to be out of town for 5 days and he asked me to pick up his mail, water his tomatoes and flowers and keep an eye on his house.  In return instead of getting paid (something I refused to do) he told me I could have as many tomatoes as I wanted from his tomato patch.  What a deal.  We ate our fill of grape tomatoes, Roma tomatoes and beef steak tomatoes. 

The best way I know to save on produce is:   1.  Don’t overbuy.  In other words, don’t buy so much produce (or anything else) that it spoils before you can use it.  I would rather go to the grocery store every two days to pick up fresh produce than to have the stuff go wilty and mushy in the produce drawer in my fridge.  2.  If the prices are too high on some produce such as berries or peaches (as an example), then don’t buy them.  Go with cheaper produce such as apples, pears or bananas or buy the berries in their frozen form if cheaper.  3.  If you have a local Farmer’s Market see if their prices are cheaper or if you have a neighbor that has a garden with surplus produce, consider approaching them and ask if you can purchase some of their produce.  Or better yet, make a trade.  For example, I would bake a few loaves of my whole wheat sour dough bread in return for fresh produce from someone’s garden.  4.  It’s too late this year, but next year consider planting a small garden. In my case I want to plant some tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers only if we don’t have another drought year. 

If you are struggling with your budget due to high prices on many commodities, you may have to make some serious decisions.  Cut in one area of your budget to find the money to spend on food if you need to or find a way to increase your income.  I can tell you that there are a lot of people who use our local library instead of paying for cablevision in their homes.  Many people come in to borrow dvd’s, books, c.d.’s and more for their entertainment versus paying for cablevision.  Many others have cancelled their internet service and use the library’s computer lab or the library’s wi-fi. 

As to increasing income, I had an opportunity recently that fell in my lap. My neighbor needed someone to watch her 8 year old son 4 days after school.  I decided to do it.  I get paid $5 (each day) to watch him for a little over an hour.  This little guy is the nicest little boy and he is very polite.  I fix him a snack and talk to him, help him with his homework and I let him watch some public television.  He is old enough to go the grocery store with me and I actually look forward to seeing him after school. 

So if you’re struggling and getting discouraged, take heart.  You can make it, but you may have to make some decisions and let go of some conveniences in order to meet your budget.  

Drought 2012 - The News Isn't Good

In 2007 to 2008 we experienced our first “Rainy Day” in a long time in this country.  It came in the form of a profoundly severe economic crisis.  It was this Rainy Day that those who lived through the Great Depression and World War II would have said that we needed to be prepared for.  There was a lot of heartache during that timeframe and it was in the fall of 2008 that I learned that I would become one of millions who would be unemployed in 2009.  We went into crisis or Rainy Day mode to get debt reduced and some money in the bank so that we could live only on my husband’s income.  Hence, this blog, The Path to Frugality was born almost 3 years ago in September. 

I have noticed something in the past year and it is that people believe that frugality is for “weird” people.   From 2008 to 2011 frugality was the trendy thing to do but as people got tired of feeling deprived (when they really didn’t need to feel deprived), they headed back to the stores with their credit cards.

Well, another rainy day has arrived and if you haven’t been getting prepared, you need to start preparing your family now.  It’s not just with food, but you need to get money into savings to prepare for job losses, rising costs of everything.  Yes, everything.  We live in a cause and effect economy and if you have a shortage on corn, everything that has corn as an ingredient will cost you more.  The same goes for meat in which corn is used in feed.  There is also a trickle down effect on jobs.  Farmers aren’t going to be able to purchase new farm machinery which will lead to manufacturer’s of those machines laying people off, which will affect communities as those workers will not have money to spend in the community and so on and so on.

This new crisis of drought goes one step further beyond the rising costs of food, gasoline and other commodities.  It is shortages.   Yes, it is the shortages that are costing us more at the grocery store.  The news has reported that the average family of four will spend $615 more next year in groceries due to the drought.  Also it was reported that the total number of cattle in the U.S. is the smallest number in 60 years due to ranchers selling off their herds because they can’t afford to feed them.  Those ranchers are now getting $150 less per animal. 

One poultry producer reported that they are paying $9 for a bushel of corn which is the highest they have ever paid for corn (up a total of 40%).  It takes about 12 weeks for a chicken to grow to the point of being butchered.  We will be seeing poultry at record prices in a short time.

On this site I have given numerous tips over the past 3 years on saving money.  Other sites that I follow do a very good job of money saving advice.  Frugality is going to be the way of life for many of us and that is, as Martha Stewart would say “A Good Thing.”  It’s not bad or shameful to be frugal, instead it is being mindful of your resources and it brings freedom.  What kind of freedom?  Freedom from worry.  If you are prepared, you don’t worry about your future as you know you have a sense of security because you can weather a job loss or a loss in spending power.

Continue to take care of the resources you have.  If you need a new couch because it is worn, sew a slipcover or purchase a slip cover if you can’t sew.  Learn to fix things on your own where practical.  Avoid purchasing what you can and put as much money into savings as possible.  As you are saving if you do come across a great deal on food, then stock up. 

Continue to make your own cleaners.  If you run out of your favorite laundry detergent, try making your own own laundry soap to save money or mix your detergent with a generic brand. 

Search this site for other money saving tips or check out my blog roll and look at the other blogs that I follow for ideas.  I can guarantee that if you put your head in the sand now, you will regret it in 6 months.

Too Hot to Do Much of Anything

It has been so hot here in Iowa for weeks. When you have temperatures at 105 degrees Farenheit and then a heat index 10 degrees above that, you don't feel like doing anything. Even with the air conditioning running non-stop, after a while you just want to be able to go outside in the evening and sit in a lawn chair and read a book. But there is one positive about the heat and the drought, it takes a very small amount of time for clothes to dry on the clothesline. I dried 5 loads of clothes on the clothesline this afternoon in record time.

Some communities are getting ready to limit water in an effort to conserve it. Life is getting pretty interesting here but it can't last forever. However some forecasters are predicting that this drought will last through Halloween. I hope the candy corn crop survives. (Okay I have to have some sense of humor in the midst of all of this heat.)

Been a Hot and Busy Week

Like most of the country, we have been experiencing quite a heat wave in Iowa. The daytime temperatures have been in the 90's and 100 degree Fahrenheit with a heat index today of 105 degrees Fahrenheit. I don't mind breaking records in a sporting event but not when it comes to the weather. Unless it is for the greatest weather ever - that would be a record I would like to see.

When it is this hot, you might as well know that your electric bill will be very high due to using air conditioning. There is just no way getting around not using air conditioning when it is this hot. It is just too dangerous not to use it. The only way to save money is to turn your thermostat up so that you are comfortable but not cold. I have been keeping the thermostat at 78 to 80 degrees mostly so that the air conditioner wouldn't run constantly. Our air conditioner is 20 years old and you never know when it will go. Hopefully we can get through this summer without any problems.

My week has been busy as I started my training at the public library. The first day of my training I felt like I had made a big mistake in taking the job. There are so many policies, procedures and general how to's to learn and I was overwhelmed. Then the second day came and I went home again feeling like I would never get it and I might have to give up. By the third day, I was starting to understand and then yesterday I was "getting it" more and more. In fact as I walked home yesterday I was so glad that I had answered the ad. 

The women that I work with are very nice. I am definitely on a team and what I like the most is that we are all there to serve the public which is something I enjoy.

Today I went to the library on my own time to just walk around and make sure I knew where things were located. As I sit and type this I know that I am going to understand the job more and more and that I am definitely glad that I answered that ad and was offered the opportunity to work at the library.

I will work a few Saturdays a month and will also cover as needed for vacations. It won't interrupt my schedule at home and the income I receive will pay off some bills and add money to savings. It is nice to have something to call my own again. Also I am an immense history buff and avid learner so working at a library is perfect for me. 

Since I took the library job I have encountered several women who are working a few part time jobs. For whatever reason they cannot find full time employment and have pieced together 2 or even 3 part time jobs together. I honestly don't know when these women have a day off or a break. It is something that I have encountered with college students also. 

I talked with one of these women and she looked tired, and I mean very tired. I don't know how she keeps her schedule straight, but as she said - these jobs pay her bills and that is what is most important. After talking with her I felt quite fortunate that even though I am working a small part time job, our life does not depend on it and I don't have to work several jobs to make ends meet.

Life is not easy for many people and I fear that with the extremely hot weather and drought like conditions that we may be in for higher food prices and perhaps lay offs from farm related industries. It's a perfect example of the trickle down effect. Practicing frugality with the addition of a part time job or temporary job will help families offset the rising prices and cost of living.

Blizzard Pictures

Here are some pictures of snowpiles around our townsquare today.  When they plow the snow downtown, they push the snow into the intersections and you have to drive around them - like a roundabout.  This is the highest they have ever been.

The band stand in our townsquare

Hunkering Down for a Blizzard

Well here in our household we are ones of thousands or should I say millions of people who are in the middle of a blizzard right now.  Everytime we go through extreme weather I always wonder about those pioneers of 150 years ago who lived in this area of the country.  I can't imagine first of all travelling in a covered wagon for weeks or months to get somewhere.  Then to have to live in a sod house, or if you're lucky a cabin, and have the wind blow through the walls and deal with the cold or the heat.  Well, I would have never made it.

As I sit and write this post I can hear the wind blowing outside - eerily, cold wind.  The snow is deep and drifting.  Our son took our 11 year old black lab for a walk around the block so the poor dog could get some exercise.  They were both covered in snow when they got back.

For supper tonight it was chili that had simmered on the stove for an hour along with grilled cheese sandwiches.  Perfect meal for an evening such as this. 

Our wind chills are to go to minus 30 degrees on Thursday.  When it gets that cold I am constantly checking the water pipes to make sure they don't freeze.  It has happened twice before and I always get out my hair dryer and turn it on high and point it towards the pipes.  After a few minutes you can hear the ice melting in the pipes and then the water flows freely.

I also do a couple of loads of laundry on those days as in the winter time we have the dryer vent the heat directly into the basement.  By drying a few loads of laundry it helps to warm the basement which also keeps the pipes from freezing.

I keep my laptop and cell phone plugged in just in case the power goes out.  And I have oil lanterns and plenty of batteries for the flash lights.  We don't have a fireplace but I have a plan in case the power does go out and it starts to get cold.  We close the pocket doors so that the diningroom and the kitchen are entirely closed off from the rest of the house.  Then I turn on the gas stove (we can light ours with a match when the electricity goes off), and I start baking and cooking.  The heat from the oven will warm up those two rooms without a problem.  Also the aroma of fresh baked bread makes everyone feel a lot better too.  I never just turn the burners on and let them burn.  I will put a pot of water on to boil or cook something. 

As to the contents of the freezer and the fridge, if anything would start to thaw, we can stick them in plastic bins on the back porch.

School was cancelled today and it has been cancelled for tomorrow.  Many businesses closed early today and many are not going to open until at least noon tomorrow. 

So, it is a hot chocolate and pop corn kind of winter night here in Iowa.  Tomorrow we will start to dig out from what mother nature has left us. 

Being Prepared

I am bone tired - whatever that means.  To me it means so tired that you can't think straight.  Yesterday was day two of water in our basement.  We spent Tuesday getting the water out of the basement and it was dry within 8 hours.  Early Wednesday morning we had another storm go through and we had water in our basement again.  It was only an inch if we kept two wet dry vacs going continuously.  It took about 8 hours of constant tending to the water. The ground is so saturated. 

Today was beautiful and the basement is completely dry and doesn't smell at all.  We did a great job of getting it all cleaned up.  That is the good news.  The bad news is early tomorrow morning we are to get another big storm and then another one tomorrow night.  I know that we will get some more ground water in the basement.  So we are prepared.

We have placed about 10 towels in unique locations around the front of the basement where the ground water has been coming in.  We do this in order to direct the water away from the rest of the basement and in one direction to make it easier to clean up.  We have a fan running and will continue to have it running, the wet dry vacs are ready to go along with 4 buckets.  My MP3 player is all charged so I can listen to some funky music over the noise of the wet dry vacs. 

Ready to Go

Our water treatment plant has been in danger of flooding so I have 75 - 16 oz. bottles of water on hand and I have taken several containers and filled them with water in case they have to shut down the plant and we have to go without drinking water.  This has brought to mind that although I have a pantry of food and a freezer filled with food, I don't normally keep a stash of water on hand in case of an emergency.  So, I have added this to my list of things to keep in the pantry. 

After my son is done showering in the morning, I am going to fill his bathtub with water so that if the water plant has to shut down, we will have a bathtub of water we can access for washing.  We can also set containers in our backyard to catch rain water for bathing.  Yes, I have thought this through. 

Best of all, I have 3 extra large bars of milk chocolate to snack on while I am in the  basement. 

Do you know what I am thankful for?  Fresh scented bleach.  I have been spraying a bleach water mixture around the base of the floor to keep away the mold and the fresh scent sure beats the original smell of bleach.  I'm thankful that we have only received 1 inch of water in the basement and that the sewer hasn't backed up.

As to what tomorrow holds, I don't know.   The only thing I can do is to be prepared. 

Today I made it to the grocery store and got some really good deals.  I will post those when this little incident with water is over.

Flood Pictures

To look at flood pictures of my community, go to this link.  Halfway down the page is a slide show of pictures. 

Flooding

Leave it to life's cirumstances to bring you back to earth and be thankful for what you have, even if it is a little water in your basement.

Last night our community was hit with a flash food.  We received close to 7 inches of rain overnight. There were some people that had to be rescued from their homes along with their pets.  Water has rushed over roads and brought with it remnants of sheds, propane tanks, pieces of a house and more.  Some tiny homes have water up to their roofs.  It is a little unsettling when you see in your own community that kind of destruction. 

The call went out for volunteers to help sandbag some areas so my DS is sandbagging this afternoon.  Also he is taking pictures as he runs a news site and when he returns I will post some pics to my blog.  

I'm sure our local United Way and Red Cross will be putting out a plea for donations and our community always steps up to help people. 

We had about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of clean rain water that was in our basement and I have spent all day sucking it out with a couple of wet dry vacs.  It was still coming in through a small little hole in the mortar but that has now gone down to a little trickle.  We need to invest in a radius (curved) gutter to put around the front of our house where the roof line is curved.  Guess we should add that to the list of things we need done.  However, getting that much rain in a short amount of time when the ground is saturated, nothing probably would have helped.  We have had so much rain everyday that it is a wonder that we haven't had much flooding before this.

As I was working in the basement I listened to a Christian radio station on my MP3 player and the speaker was Evangelist Chuck Swindoll.  I love listening to him as he is interesting and funny.  He said that if you are going through a struggle (yep - I was) and you don't know what to pray, say this simple prayer "Lord have mercy." 

Lord have mercy - not only on me but on anyone who is struggling and especially those who have been affected by the flooding. 

Too hot to cook, well almost

Last night I heard the weather forecast for today.  The heat index was projected at 100 degrees and it hit the mark.  I'm a little tired of grilled meat, so I pulled out the crockpot and an old stand by recipe.

On the menu for tonight's supper was Crockpot BBQ Beef, Broccoli Raisin Salad, chips and ice cream with homemade fudge sauce.  I should have taken a picture of everything but we were in a hurry to eat dinner as my DS's, DH and DIL were all playing in a church softball league game right after supper. 

I have had this recipe for Crockpot BBQ Beef for over 20 years and I always have the ingredients on hand.  The original recipe is as follows:

3 lbs. stewing beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 - 6 oz. can tomato paste
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon mustard

Combine all of the ingredients and cook on low for 8 hours in a crockpot.  Mix with wire whisk to shred meat and serve on buns.

My tweak from this original recipe is that I use a rump roast instead of the stewing beef.  I can get a rump roast on sale for $1.99 a lb. When they are on sale, I buy a couple.  Yes, a rump roast is a very tough cut of meat but if you do what I do, you end up with a pretty tender piece of beef.  I take the rump roast and cut it up into 3 inch chunks, dredge them in a flour, salt and pepper mixture and then brown the chunks in oil on all sides. Then I place these in the crockpot.  I stir together the rest of the ingredients, except I don't add quite as much sugar or salt, and pour over the meat.  Cook this on low for about 6 hours, remove the beef chunks to cut up or shred and then put back in the crockpot.   The sauce will be thick, which I like as when you serve it on buns, the sauce doesn't drip out all over.

Also, I use a rump roast to make beef and noodles or vegetable beef soup.  I use the same technique as above by cutting into chunks and browning before making it into soup or whatever.

Broccoli Raisin Salad

I don't really have a recipe for this one.  I cut up fresh broccoli flowerets, chop some onion and carrots.  I take about 8 slices of bacon and fry it up and then crumble.  Then I mix together some Miracle Whip, add some sugar to taste, thin it with a little milk and add a little vinegar.  Mix the broccoli, onion, carrots and bacon with the salad dressing mixture and add some raisins and that is it.  Sometimes I add cauliflower and grapes in place of the carrots to this salad.  Just depends on what is on sale and what I have on hand at the time. 

I posted my recipe for Hot Fudge Sauce the other day.  Next time I am going to use mint chocolate chips instead of the semi sweet chocolate chips for a change.   I think that will be delicious.

I did a lot of laundry today and hung the clothes out on the line to dry.  It was nice to know that while I was doing the laundry, my dinner was all set.

Monday Monday, So Good to Me

I love Mondays. Since leaving the workplace, I have a different perspective on Mondays. After being with the family all weekend and having a great time together, it is good to face the laundry and to "take back the house" so to speak.

Monday is laundry day in our household. I would rather tackle it all in one day than do a little bit each day. It gives me the sense of getting something accomplished vs. cooking which is never ending. One thing that I do that seems to save me time and make the sorting job easier is that I sort the clothes into 4 large plastic garbage cans. Yep – the kind you put out at the curb on trash day. I hit on this idea years ago and I love it. First of all the clothes aren’t laying all over the basement floor getting stepped on and it is so much easier to sort and just pull a garbage can over to the washer and load it. I have one for darks, whites, light colors and one for good clothes such as dress shirts and docker type pants.

On Saturday I cooked up another batch of liquid laundry soap and I also made a double batch of the powdered version. IMO the powdered version may do a better cleaning job and with the weather being warmer I want to make sure that the soap does get the smell out of those underarm odors on t-shirts. I did read that if you put some of the homemade liquid laundry soap in a bottle and dilute it a little you can spray this on the underarms of t-shirts and it will take the smell out. I am going to try this but I am going to also add a little Blue Dawn Dish detergent and water to this and use it as an alternative to Shout.

In the winter time our clothes do not get very dirty but when summer comes and the church softball league revs up, I will then have some pretty dirty, smelly laundry. One thing I have noticed is that my husband's running clothes do get really clean and the smells are gone even using the homemade liquid laundry soap. Perhaps it is due to my use of liquid fabric softener (a very small amount) on any clothes that have to air dry.

Speaking of fabric softener, I bought some store bought fabric softener sheets about a year ago for $1.00 a box - 80 sheets. I purchased 8 boxes. I have been using them all year and haven't had much of a problem until last week. I was in a hurry and didn't cut the sheets in half and used a full sheet on a dryer load of my husband's dress shirts. Well, when he ironed one of those shirts for work (yes, he irons his own clothes - what a guy), there were some stains on the shirts. They looked like grease stains and my first thought was that my new washing machine had a problem. I did the nose test and each stain smelled strongly of fabric softener. I put some blue dawn dish detergent on each of those stains and laundered and they came out.

Hmmm. Now I'm wondering about those fabric softener sheets. I have several boxes left and I want to use them so I will only be using those on the dark clothes and I will make sure I only use half a sheet. I may just take the boxes that are left and donate them to the Food Pantry. Pretty soon I will be using only liquid fabric softener as I will be hanging clothes outside to dry.

The downside to drying clothes outside is that it will take a little longer to get all the laundry done but nothing beats the smell of clothes that have been dried outside. I am kind of tied to fabric softener as I do like the fragrance and the feel of my clothes after using softener. With not using a commercial laundry detergent that is heavily fragranced I find that my clothes just need a little bit of fabric softener per load to make them soft and smell great. I use about ½ tablespoon per load of either Downey or Snuggle that I have purchased on sale and with a coupon. The Fels Naptha soap that I use in my homemade laundry soap recipe does seem to soften the clothes somewhat so I only need a minimal amount of fabric softener.

Now on to spring cleaning. I have been working hard to diligently use up my store bought cleaning supplies so that I can now use the homemade alternatives. I have been collecting recipes from books and the internet and am anxious to try a few. One such recipe is for a bathroom cleaner that uses equal amounts of Blue Dawn Dish detergent and vinegar that you put in a bottle and spray on the surfaces instead of store bought bathroom cleaner.

As to Dawn Dish detergent, it works so good on so many things that I noticed that you can now purchase Tide with Dawn Dish detergent in it.

My other task today is planning. I have yet to plan out the month of April and I need to get that done. Left unplanned I will not be able to get focused and get projects done.

We had company over the weekend so my house is clean and I can focus on planning and laundry today.

I love Monday, especially when the sun is shining and it is warm outside. I love spring and looking out my window and watching robins, cardinals and sparrows feeding from the bird feeder. I never seemed to notice this much when I was rushing out the door at 7:30 a.m. to get to work.

Life is good.

Spring is here!!!

I have gone a little A.W.O.L. on blogging for the past week.  It has been in the 80's in our area of the country and the warm weather puts me in the mood to get housework done. 

For the past couple of months I have been in a little bit of a "funk."  I love being home, however, being home alone during the day and looking out the window at a few feet of snow or rain or just general dreary, gray days can take a toll on a person.

I had every intention after Christmas to dig in deep and go through closets, deep clean the house and get some rooms painted.  Instead it seemed the only thing I could accomplish was basic cleaning, laundry, cooking and baking.  I didn't get a lot of the extra projects that I had wanted to get done.

Enter sunshine.  We have had several days of beautiful sunshine and warm weather.  It has been glorious.  My DH and I walked around the yard and noted all the work that needs to be done - the picket fence needs painted and several pickets need replacing, the brick foundation of the house has places that need tuckpointed, the house needs to be painted and more.  We joke that it would be easier to say what doesn't need to be done to the house than what does need to be done. 

There were other things we noticed such as the trees are budding along with the forsythia bushes, as are the raspberry and blackberry bushes. 

The birds were feeding out of the birdfeeder and getting drinks from the bird bath.  We have survived the winter and so has the wildlife.

For the first time since we bought this house 13 years ago, I really feel like it is my house.  I have spent years working and coming home at night to cooking dinner and cleaning up and then either going back to the office or working from home.

I can honestly say that this house has never felt like my home.  I have put off doing things such as a lot of decorating as I just didn't have the time.  Now I have the time and it is a joy to clean, renovate, decorate and manage. 

One thing I have learned about this path I have been on is that I don't want to screw anything up for us financially that would require me to go back to the work place.  It's not for me.  That part of my life is over.

Last week in the middle of doing laundry I made a cup of coffee and sat out on the back porch and watched the dog run around the yard.  Just sitting there in the warm sun and looking at our yard made me feel like the luckiest and richest woman in the world.

Odds and Ends

This month we have had some added expenses such as new glasses for my DH and DS. The insurance at my DH’s former job covered about 75% the cost of eye glasses and his new job does not offer any type of optometric coverage. So before the coverage ran out my DH and DS went to the optometrist for eye exams and new glasses. Our portion of the costs will be about $250 total for 2 pairs of glasses and both eye exams. It was not a bad deal.

I continue to forge on in finding ways to save money and such. I got an unexpected surprise at the grocery store today when I snagged a 5 lb. box of Clementine tangerines for $1.99 and I was able to get 4 boxes of Rice Krispies for 50 cents each after coupons. Another great deal.

The sun has been shining for the past week and I cannot believe how good it feels to have the sun streaming through the windows of my house. Of course with the sun shining into the house I am able to see a lot of dust bunnies and such, so I will be spending the next couple days deep cleaning the house.

The winter has been long and there were a few days that I didn’t get much done around the house as I just didn’t feel like it. It was dark and gray outside and the sun didn’t shine for such a long time. Now I feel energized to get more done and I feel that finally spring is around the corner. I can hardly wait to see a crocus peeking up out of the ground.

Next week the local meteorologist is predicting a lot of rain which will most likely lead to flooding in our area. We have been through a hard winter and now it would appear we will experience another spring of flooding. One thing always leads to another it would seem.

But for now, the sun is shining.

Another snowstorm?? Time to bake cookies

Another snowstorm is predicted for tomorrow with our area of the state to get the brunt of the storm.  Okay -- enough already.  Now we are close to breaking the measurable snow fall record that goes back to 1911.  I would rather break a record in the Olympics.  Do you suppose that if you live in a State when a snowfall record is broken, that all the residents in the State get a golden snow flake award?  Someone needs to look into this.

My way of dealing with winter is to bake. My favorite thing to bake during the winter is cookies.  Yes, I love to bake cookies.  The main reason is that my family loves to have a full cookie jar.  It is pretty easy to please them.

Back in December when I was stocking up on all those good deals on baking supplies I snagged about 15 bags of Hershey's mini chocolate kisses at 99 cents a bag.  Today I used my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and used the mini kisses instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips.  They are oh so good.

My chocolate chip cookie recipe is the standard recipe from the back of the chocolate chip bag with one variation.  The recipe calls for 2 1/4 cups of flour and I add another 1/4 cup of flour to the dough.  The result is cookies that aren't as flat and they hold their shape better.  They are still a little crunchy around the edges and soft in the middle.  Perfect.

My family prefers basic old fashioned cookies and here are their favorites.  Chocolate Chip is number one.  Then comes oatmeal, oatmeal molasses, snickerdoodles, rolled sugar cookies, peanut butter, oatmeal carmalitas and brownies. 

What is your family's favorite cookie?

Storms and being prepared

Back in 1999 with all of the Y2K talk I prepared my family by buying 1 large can of Dinty Moore Beef stew and 1 liter of water.  That was my answer if the worse case scenario occurred.

Yesterday we were hit with an ice storm.  Fortunately we have power.  Many don't. 

We have had ice storms in the past and I don't believe this one is the worst.  It is just a hastle.  The sidewalks and streets are glazed with ice and even though we live a few blocks from the nearest grocery store there is no way I would want to walk that distance on ice.  My Kia Sportage is stuck in the garage as the branches on our birch tree have bent all the way to the ground under the weight of the ice.  One branch is hanging down on the driveway in front of the garage door.  When the ice melts the branch will return to its normal shape high above the ground. 

Thankfully my husband's truck was parked no where near the birch tree and we will be sharing that vehicle for a few days.  Actually when a woman drives a pickup truck in Iowa she gets a little more respect from other drivers.  It is a Midwest thing.

We are prepared in case of a power outage.  We have oil lanterns and plenty of batteries for flashlights.  We also have a lot of candles.  I have always had a plan B for power outages should they occur.  During an ice storm if the power goes out it can take the power company a few days to repair the damage. 

Our kitchen and diningroom have an open floorplan.  There is a small doorway off the diningroom to a hallway.  There is a large pocket door entryway on the other side of the dining room which faces the livingroom.  If we are going to be without heat for a long time I can pull the pocket doors shut, put a tension rod in the other doorway and hang a curtain.  This blocks off the kitchen and diningroom from the rest of the house. 

We have a gas stove and even though I cannot light the oven manually (prohibited by the owner's manual), I can manually light the top burners.  I would never turn on the burners and let them burn without anything on them.  Instead I have put kettles of water on the stove to boil slowly.  These kettles will heat these two rooms somewhat and give some also needed moisture. 

As to food.  I have found from prior experience that if I keep the door to my deepfreeze close, it will keep the food frozen for 48 hours.  That is the longest I have ever had to do this.  If it would be longer or if I am worried about the food remaining frozen, I can resort to the "outdoor" freezer. 

Yes, this is a large plastic bin that we store our lawn furniture cushions in during the summer months.  Since it is very cold outside I can put any frozen food in this container and the food will remain frozen.  This also holds true for refrigerated items.

I have a pantry stocked with basics such as flour, sugar, canned goods and so on.  We would not need to go to the grocery store for anything.  I have evaporated milk and dry milk on hand if we run out of milk.  I believe my family would prefer to drink water than dry milk reconstituted in water, but I have it if we need it.

Do not forget about the pets.  We have a dog and a cat.  Both eat special food and our dog has to take some medication daily.  I always make sure that we have both on hand at all times.  Although I am sure that our dog would love to eat a beef roast if we were out of her food and I know our cat would love eating tuna out of a can for a few days. 

My role as homemaker means I must be prepared for these types of situations.  The night before the storm, the grocery stores were packed with shoppers and the stores did run out of some items.  I didn't need anything.  Many times when we have been hit by a bad storm, trucks cannot make deliveries to grocery stores for a few days thereafter so there will be some shortages.

It's a good feeling to know that I have enough supplies on hand for us to weather any storm.  It could be a snow storm, ice storm, thunderstorm or for that matter a financial storm.  Yes, a financial storm.  I have plenty of food on hand (along with toilet paper and such) to last us a few months.  If something were to happen to us financially such as a job loss, major household expense or illness, I could direct the money I budget for food to that expense. 

My husband's answer to snow storms and ice storms is to move.  Yes, he is always talking about moving to South Carolina for some reason.  I did tell him that he would probably get out of snow removal if we lived there but I'm not so sure that I would want to weather a hurricane.  It is a tradeoff.

If you do not have a preparedness plan for your family, I would hope that you would consider one. I have just touched on a small chunk of what we do. We also have a weather radio, a supply of bottled water and medications along with a first aid kit.

I trust in God to help us get through physical storms and other storms in our lives.  I also use the common sense he gave me to be prepared for emergencies.

Blizzard and Snow Days

I should have posted something days ago but here in Iowa we have been in the midst of a blizzard and today is our 4th snow day from school.  Last weekend the weather forecasts were reporting that we would be getting a tremendous storm with possibilities of it being a blizzard.  It was snowing on Tuesday and it continued to get worse until finally the winds came and we had a full scale blizzard on Wednesday.

Tuesday morning I went to the grocery store early to pick up some milk, which was all that we needed. At that point we were having what I refer to as a regular storm.  We live only 6 blocks from the grocery store so if need be, we could walk.  By Tuesday evening and into Wednesday, businesses closed including banks.  Plows could not keep up with the snow so they were ordered off the road and our small city (approx. 10,000 in population) declared a snow emergency.  This means that all vehicles could not be parked on the streets so the snow plows could do their jobs.  When this occurs two things happen:  everyone stays home and hunkers down for the storm, and neighbors help their neighbors or even strangers. 

By Wednesday night the temperatures plummeted and wind chills were 25 degrees below zero.  The snow was tapering off but the wind was making the snow drift several feet and the temperatures were dangerously low, so again we hunkered down.  In the end it was the worse storm we had in 38 years. 

We had a lot of "neighboring" in our area.  A neighbor one block away came down our street with his snow blower and helped my husband get our side walk and driveway cleared out.  I had just baked some banana bread and I took a warm loaf out to him to thank him.  He continued down our street doing sidewalks and driveways before going back home.  I believe in paying a kindness forward.  We have some college students living next door to us.  They are nice young men.  The university (William Penn University) had been closed due to the storm and yesterday classes were delayed in the morning.  I baked cookies in the afternoon and my son delivered warm cookies to them.  They were thankful.  On Wednesday I saw two young men shoveling their walk and driveway for them.  They were friends of these college guys and wanted to help them out.

Mail carriers and newspaper carriers couldn't get out until yesterday.  When they deliver to the elderly they take the time to make sure they are okay.  It is what you do in a small town.

For us, the stockpiled pantry was in the words of Martha Stewart "a good thing".  I had plenty of food with the exception of milk.  I did have evaporated milk on hand that I could have reconstituted if the need arose.  I will buy some powdered milk the next time I go to the store for such an emergency and to also use in homemade bread and cracker dough.

We did run out of dog biscuits, which is a necessity in our household.  I made some dog biscuits Tuesday afternoon and now I think I will continue to bake them on my own as the dog loved them, they are healthier for her and cheaper on our budget.  Basically the recipe is a wheat cracker with beef bouillon and extra vegetable oil.  I am now saving my leftover beef fat to use in place of the oil the next time.

So here we are survivors of the biggest storm in 38 years feeling blessed that our power didn't go out, that we have heat in this somewhat drafty old house, that even with snow days our son was called into work and able to earn some money, that we had plenty of food on hand, had plenty of blankets, clothing, oil lanterns and candles in case of a power outage.

I will be going to the grocery store today.  There are two things on sale that have been on my list to stock up on:  ground pork ($1.39 lb.) and chicken hindquarters (39 cents a lb.).  I use ground pork to replace hamburger in many recipes, for pork burgers and also in my own homemade ham loaf mixture.  It is an Iowa thing.  The best part of grocery shopping in this weather is that when you need to go to a few stores, you don't have to make a stop at home to drop off the frozen or refrigerated items.