Monday, April 2, 2018

Monday, Easter weekend happenings and money saving madness

 Happy belated Easter everyone!  He is Risen!  I love Easter, new life, new goals, forgiveness, Atonement.  We have so much to be grateful for and we always forget how really blessed we are.  Easter helps us remember these things.

     Here is a picture of the wonderful Birthday cake D#2 made me.  It was chocolate with a raspberry filling and butter cream icing.  So good.  It was our desert for our Easter dinner.  The rest will goes to Hub's old office.  We had of course way too much food.


Here are the cookies that mom and I made and frosted Friday night.  We got home late and did not start the cookies until 9:30.  Mom went down at midnight and I stayed up and frosted and decorated until 2a.m.  I left the kitchen a terrible mess and my Sissie is still mad at me.:)
 Sis and I worked cleaning up the garden for Hub's to till.  I even trimmed the ivy.  We cannot plant yet as the water is not on and I have to replant many of my seedlings as I drowned them leaving them outside in a rain storm.  I am a bad seedling mother.

 Hubs really cut back the Wisteria this year but I am not worried as this things grows so fast.  It cannot be killed.









 I cleaned up to this point in the pond area and I still have to clean the pond and cut back all the bamboo.  Bamboo also takes over.  It must have taken a page out of the Wisteria's book. Because the pond is a natural environment eco system all the plantings around it were purchased to shade the area.  The Stag Horn Sumac grows at an odd angle and has been force pruned by me to add color and shade.  The same with the weeping pine over the skimmer.  I also have a weeping sterile crab apple with a really bent stem that leans over to shade the other side.  I bought it purposely from a nursery for very little because of the bent stem, but it is perfect for my purposes.  I will take a picture of it when it blooms.
It is so pretty.





 See the cat drinking out of the bird bath?  Such a smart cat.  The area looks so bare and clean. We still have the pond to clean and that area around it to clean.  I also have to trim all the ivy along the rock wall and clean out one more bed.  Then it is just plant the garden and all the boxes.  Now onto the front yard!


     Money saving madness March 24-31st 2018

1. ate all but one meal at home using pantry and freezer
2.  made cookies for churches for Easter rather than buying.
3. Used my clothes line for heavy items
4. Bought steaks for Easter dinner with a 50% off coupon.
5. Used a ham bought 6 weeks ago for .79 a lb for Easter weekend and have plenty left over for soup and sandwiches.
6. ordered two gifts on Amazon and then added a new pair of overalls for me and took them back off.  I have the material and a pattern so I will make some.
7. finished my new bath rug and continue to work on one for in front of toilet.
8. started a new crocheting project with disposable bread bags.  I need to collect more. Does anyone want to save and mail me there bread bags?  I will gladly reimburse you postage or mail you a cute gifty.
9.Stocked up on soda as it was $2.00 a twelve pack.
10.  Really cut back on Easter baskets made.  Only did them for nephews( even cut back there on candy) Also one for B and her significant other.
11.  Made a large order of sewing supplies from U-line saving me hundreds of dollars on trips to Joanns plus 1/4 the prices.
12. paid several bills on line saving postage.
13. stayed home much of the week to save gas.
14. Panted all my birthday flowers that could be planted to add color and new growth next year.
15. Used coupons at Joanns, for things needed.

Well I have so much to do in the shop I had better get busy.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim




24 comments:

  1. I love the cake, and happy birthday! I see that you have staghorn sumac--do you make lemonade with the berries? Delicious! My cat drinks out of the horse trough--pulls himself up to the edge and stretches his head over to drink. Lovely garden you have.

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    1. No I can't drink lemonade it makes me throw up. Thank you I love to be outside.

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  2. When I can read all the words and see all the pictures, I will come back...lol. Hair color is on hair and I do not wear glasses when it is. Didn't you have an Easter egg hunt?

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    1. Well we hid eggs for our nephews in their back yard. We did not stay to watch.

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  3. Happy Birthday! I would be happy to save bread bags for you - does it matter what they have on it - as in, they don't need to be clear?

    WHERE is diet coke $2 a 12-pack???? I'm in mourning though....they are discontinuing my diet coke with lime :(

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    1. No the more color the better. It is on sale in Idaho at Albertsons. Well buy diet coke and limes it is better fresh!

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  4. Ah, bigger letters and pictures helps a lot. My wisteria will never be gone, I fear. You can buy bamboo that does not spread, as it just stays where you put it. I love all the pictures and items in the pictures. Most of my pots are empty, also, except for the sedum. I need a new azalea and a petunia. The rest of new stuff will be food or flowers to sow.

    It sounds like Easter was fun. How did your mother do?

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    1. She was very sick at church on Sunday and my sisters had quite the time with her.

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  5. Another beautiful cake that turned out!!! Mine was lovely, but yucky. Seriously. Even my mother would not say it tasted good, and she is the most gracious person on the planet. Instead, she complimented the frosting. Hmmmm. I will get over the disappointment, and have another occasion to try again. I don't think I'll try gluten-free, dairy-free and egg free again. It just didn't work!

    We had a great Easter and made do with apple crisp and cookies. Several family members were able to attend, and my aunt filled the same plastic eggs she always does. The kids find them, then hide them again. The family is growing up, though, and there are really only 2 egg-hunters/hiders left. They would have done it for much longer than the teens and adults wanted to play the game, but had fun. Then all candy was divided and handed in baggies to everyone, adults included, so no one has a huge pile.

    It was great to see a cousin who lives in Nicaragua.

    I'm glad you had a great day as well.

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    1. Thank you well when you take that much out of a cake it probably tasted like sawdust or the box. Sorry about that.

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    2. It did not rise. It was so soggy that liquid was oozing out of it onto the plate. It was overly sweet and gummy. Sounds really memorable, huh! Everyone was being so polite, eating small bites, commenting on how good the crisp and cookies were, and how good the frosting was.....I finally took a look, and a bite, and declared it awful! They all breathed a sigh of relief and my sister asked for something good to get that taste out of her mouth....They are all so sweet and didn't want to hurt my feelings and I did not want to make a big deal of it as I had been told my cousin needed gluten free, dairy free and egg free food, so I made several things that way. There was some kind of mistake, as she can have eggs, so I didn't want to embarrass her, especially since she only visits rarely. I do have a daughter who cannot eat eggs, either, and I didn't know she couldn't make it until Saturday night, so I was trying to make food for her as well. I'll choose differently next time, but will certainly find something better to make without those things if need be. It's a challenge.

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  6. Your yard is so pretty and inviting!
    Glad you had a good Easter and visit with Sis. Does she know everything is your fault?

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    1. Oh yes. In fact Lil sis and Si got into it with mom today and of course mom denied every thing she did. I am sure tomorrow it will be my fault.

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  7. Happy Easter! Looks like you had a lovely day.

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    1. I did, but I would have had a much lovelier day if you had been with me.i

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  8. Your yard is lovely!!!! and the cake looks fantastic! I bet it tasted as great as it looks!

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    1. Thank you and it was very good. I am back on low carb again and i hate this....

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  9. You garden is amazing, even if it is not all planted yet. ;) I wish wisteria would grow up here but it is just too cold and I have a suspicion that my hubby night be allergic to it due to a past encounter with it when it was in bloom. Your daughter did a great job on that cake. It is lovely and sounds delicious too.

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    1. I love my Wisteria, and my Husband hates it. It is like a large overgrown planet eating tree. We agree to disagree on trees. I love trees and would plant every square inch of my lot. Hub's says NO more trees. But, but. but..

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