Anglynn's Diary

[anglynn]

Yesterday the weather was so beautiful. My daughter and her family picked me up to go to the ocean front. We took the back roads to and the expressway home. My daughter started laughing at me because she said I looked like a puppy on an outing. I sat as sideways as I could to take in all the scenery on the way.

We laid in the sun while the children played in the sand. Then we went to Abbey Road. I don't know if one of the Beatles owns it, but the restaurant had all sorts of Beatles memorabilia. Who remembers that a concert ticket in NYC was 4.50 to $6.00? LOL I was shocked. It was so much money in the sixties. The food was the best I've had since I've lived in Virginia. (I've lived here 2 years.) Not so frugal, but a joy to be lived. Isn't that one of the reasons we are frugal? I have glimpses of the joy life offers us?

Today we will celebrate my son in laws birthday. I wrote before that I got him a pressure canner. I hope to see him flip out over that one! He's been wanting one for over a year now. I got him a starter one.

My garden is going well so far. I had another radish for breakfast. Yum. I'll have to wait for the others to get larger. I ate 2 of them because they were growing close to the side of the pot and would not form well.

Stay safe.

[anglynn]

Karen. If people send you word documents or excel spreadsheets, can you open them in Openoffice?

Mo,

I raed the information and it said it was compatable with Microsoft. I looks very much like it, as well.

[anglynn]

I got a couple of good deals at the grocery store yesterday. My grocer does not have loyalty cards.
Leaf lettuce at .99 cents a pound and green beans at .99 cents. I bought a box of chocolates for Easter dinner and was not charged the sale price. To my surprise instead of giving me a refund of the difference, they refunded the entire price - the original amount. It's a good thing in my book.

Stay safe.

[anglynn]

A high wind blew in last night bringing with it cooler temps. We went from 79 F yesterday to 39F this morning. The bean plant couldn't handle the wind so I lost it.

[KarenE]

Sorry Mo, I missed your post

Yes, they are quite compatible so you should be fine to open them. I'm not sure if there's a problem opening really old or new versions of Microsoft documents etc but we've got office 2003 and they work fine with openoffice. Just make sure I suppose that you have an up to date version of open office, as that should be fine with the current versions of the microsoft products

Cheers

Karen

[KarenE]

Sorry Anglynn, slightly hijacked your diary there with open office

If it's a bean plant as in french or runner bean or the like, you should be ok to replant more. I planted a few out about a fortnight ago cos I think the mice had nicked a few of mine and they're sprouting already. Still plenty of time to be sprouting things from seed, as long as they're in a nice warm place ie a sunny windowsill. The weather has really picked up here in the UK which is helping things germinate nicely

[anglynn]

I found a natural foods store today. The prices were good on most things. I got red lentils for $1.79 and barley for 1.29. Compared to regular grocery stores that's very good.

My garden is coming in nicely. Not as prolific as I'd like. But better than in past years. It was nice yesterday so I put my seedlings outdoors. My tomato plant is about 2 inches long. Not even as long as my baby finger. It was leaning over so I touched it to see if I didn't water it enough. Dang it. A baby green caterpillar fell off it. How do they find one small tomato plant? The little ugger.

Stay safe.

[anglynn]

My 3 year old grandson called me at 6:30 AMM so I went to the garden and weeded. It's a raised bed so it's easier for me to work in. After that I fed the plants with miracle grow in hopes they will grow healthier and provide lots of good food.

Yesterday I transplanted some radishes from the pot into the garden. They're taking nicely to their new home. I harvested and dried most of the spinach. I left some fresh so I can have eggs and spinach this morning.

I take an anti oxidant vitamin in the mornings. I started about 7 months ago. I had some blood tests done and found my body is no longer making antibodies against my thyroid. This is good news as my thyroid has been a mess for many years. So I am off the meds. Score one!

I have always been a person who cooks at home. But, now I see our food supply is being tampered with by the big companies. So I have, one by one, been changing over to untainted foods obtained from local markets and farmers. I buy less, but good for me foods.

I have also joined an exercise program at the local YMCA. We shall see if I can strengthen my body. I have upper body strength, but lower body needs help.

I made pound cake yesterday with fresh ingredients. So my 'good food' thing went to the wayside yesterday. I gobbled up 4 slices yesterday as my meals. Bad girl. Bad, bad girl!

Stay safe.

[anglynn]

I have tried all of the exercise programs offered to seniors at the YMCA. My favorite -at this time- is the chair exercise. My muscles have been weakened by the thyroid problems and I feel them getting stronger. When I'm ready, I will advance to the next exercise level.

My son in law came over on Monday and we made strawberry jam. The quirky thing is we tested my new outdoor stove. It's one of those small wood burners. The kind our government ships over to third world countries for people to cook on out doors. So we fed it with wood we found in the woods behind my home. WOW! It boiled the water for the canner in record time. We now have 9 jars of jam to feast on. I had the berries in the freezer from last season (we went to a berry farm) and they held up very nicely.

I made 2 lemon pound cakes and we all had the remaining strawberries on it for a Mother's Day treat. It took about 2 minutes to whip up some cream to top it off.

I also started a new batch of vanilla extract. The beans can be expensive, but I buy them online so the cost is minimal. The beans can be used 3 times for three
batches.

I hung 2 pictures in the guest room this morning.

My garden produced 7 radishes that were yummy. The weather has been hot so the remaining radishes are bolting. I gathered all the spinach and had 3 meals with it and dried the rest for soups in the winter. The rest of the plants are bolting so I will gather seeds for the next crop. Only one head of lettuce is growing, but the carrots are doing well. I also planted 7 bean plants this week and killed a number of slugs. Next season I will plant lots more veggies. I forgot about the garlic. I have 12 strong plants just turning brown. So I think by the middle of June I can harvest and dry them.

I only have 1 cucumber plant that lived so I will plant that one soon. I need to get some cages for the cuke and beans and the 1 tomato plant that survived.

I am growing a lemon tree from seed and it now has 9 leaves on it. The olive tree loves me so will take advantage of that and keep nurturing it.

What did you all do to practice your frugal life?

Stay safe.

[anglynn]

I've been reading a number of blogs in recent months. Reading them has given me encouragement to start mine back up. I lost interest when my husband passed, but I think I'm ready to hit the pavement again and begin communicating. Ilona you were part of this encouragement without knowing it.

If you find you are interested the site is www.angiesfrugalhouse.blogspot.com. I'm looking forward to 'seeing' you there. Leave a comment to say hi.

Thank you.

[anglynn]

Good morning to all. This week has been a stay at home as much as possible week. I've worked in the garden and dehydrated small amounts of food such as garlic, parsley and lettuce leaves. since the flavors become intensified when the food is dried, I need very little when I make a soup or stew.

I went to the dollar store yesterday and spent a total of 6.00$ for a silk flower arrangement on my dresser. Four flower bunches, a round glass vase and marbles to hold the stems in place. Lovely outcome for a not so creative person.

I want to say thank you to the people who checked out my blog. I hope it's an enjoyable read for you all. The blog has only 17 people who have signed up to receive it by email, but I have been getting 100 or close to that reads a day. That surprised me. I'm very happy about it though.

For those of you who may be interested iin checking it out the site is: www.angiesfrugalhouse.blogspot.com.

Stay safe.

[anglynn]

The weather is great today. So was the deal I got on a full grown super mature fern plant. $5.00! This size plant is usually 40.00 to 50.00. Because of this I normally admire them in the store and go home empty handed.

I bought the last 4 quarts of strawberries at the local farm. They were dear at 4.75 a quart, but so worth the great jam they will be turned into.

I picked 3 carrots from my small garden today. I wasn't sure how to know they were ready. After I picked one, I wanted two more for dinner. Raw and straight from the earth. Yum! (They were about 3 inches long.)

Stay safe.

[anglynn]

Today I turned the strawberries into jam. I looked at the kitchen when I was done and wondered what child came in when I wasn't looking.

I put pictures on my blog, but after cleaning my mess, I have been laying around the rest of the day.

Stay safe.

[anglynn]

I have fresh lemons to make lemonade. The basil plant is growing wildly. I have a whole spice jar filled to the top with fresh dried basil.

This morning I had a high protein breakfast. A ham omelet and a glass of whole milk.

The carrots are all picked now and I will cook the last of them up for dinner. I have only one beet, but I'll cook that too for dinner.

The garlic is dried. I have 8 bulbs with five cloves in each. These will be planted in the fall to -hopefully- produce 40 plants next year.

I haven't grocery shopped for three weeks with the exception of bread and dairy. I may go this week as there is a nice sale on 2 items I use.

I did go to Kohl's and bought a couple of embellishments for the yard. I posted pictures on my blog. If you'd like to see it: www.angiesfrugalhouse.blogspot.com

Stay safe.

[anglynn]

I'd like to ask a very serious question. Let me preempt it by saying I am not a person who follows celebrities often. The only two I ever admired were Mother Theresa and Princess Dianna. No matter her faults, Dianna had a heart for others.

I hope this isn't too brazen, but I'm more interested in the truth than the stories that the press prints in the USA.

Do Charles and Camilla get along? The articles here are always pointing out she is an alcoholic. That she wants 370 million before she divorces him. He's disgusted with her. And so on. Is she really a deep down beech?

I am asking because this is bothering me and has for some time. Our news can not be trusted in this country.

Thank you for the help.

Angie