Teachers Everywhere - Take Note

 (Warning: rude alert ahead. My teachers were clever and quick -- just like this one. You rule, Ms. Johanson!!!)

How Could You Resist...

 

Unless they're dead now -- then forget it.

Even better... send them pigs. (Do they have to be named 'bob?')

Others Think This, Too...

 (Actually overheard in a courtroom)

No Treats

 ...not that our Ruby would ever do this. Nope. Unh-unh.

Monday Stuff on the Way to Other Stuff: Flu - and Due

      After our wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with the kids, the Brick came home with a sore throat. Being a generous husband, he shared his flu with me, as well. How sweet.

      I have deadlines to meet. Fortunately, we're both starting to feel a little better. So guess what I'm doing? 'It is what it is,' a cousin is fond of saying. In this case, she's right.

Meanwhile:

Michigan beat Ohio State 45-23!!!!

This was NOT supposed to happen. 

Perhaps next time they'll be taken more seriously. 

Ten items that help you throw a great party...Ina Garten's advice. (Use your own stuff -- don't necessarily buy hers.)

Ten things you can do to save money this week.  From one of my favorite bloggers, The Prudent Homemaker. (She's right, by the way.)

A wonderfully encouraging Christmas story about faith and commitment.  (From Harvest Lane Cottage)

A teenage McDonald's employee 'pretends' to quit, over a sinkful of dirty dishes. Cute.

Brownies -- with no eggs? (From Little House Living)

A bunch of interesting links.  (From the Crowned Goat -- her version of Monday Stuff)

Adam Schiff says he has to consider the 'validity' of any subpoena issued by Congress members before he'll comply. Isn't this the same guy who INSISTED that subpoenas be obeyed -- no matter what?

Egyptian mummies with gold tongues. Really.

FIFTEEN HOURS in the water, after falling from a cruise ship -- and surviving?!  Incredible.

Why was a 1930s steamer trunk ditched in the ocean, with a sandbag attached? (When found on the beach, it was empty. Hmmm...)

A writer apologizes to JK Rowling when she can't find anything that brands Rowling as transphobic. (Too late, buddette. Rowling's already had to endure these accusations for months, if not years.)

How to make lefse -- including a gluten-free version.  (From Little House Living)

More ultrawealthy investors are turning to the stock market -- because selloffs mean bargains are to be had. An interesting commentary here, though I'm not sure I totally believe it. 

Why smart people dig through the trash.  (From One Hundred Dollars A Month)

A hiker takes a 500-foot fall in Colorado...and somehow lives, including through winter conditions. Cheers to her rescuers, who endured a lot to get her out of there. 

A Mexican town sets a Guinness world record for the largest batch of guacamole. This one's for the Brick, plus Daughters #1 and #2 -- they love the stuff. (I do not choose to eat something that looks 'prechewed.' Sorry.)

A woman stupidly climbs one of Chichen Itza's pyramids, then dances up-top. What an idiot. I am happy to report that she got arrested and fined for it. 

Instant karma -- in very satisfying ways. This is long, but you can choose how many you want to read. Kind of fits the previous lady, doesn't it?

An amazing look at elk in Telluride.

'What's the most unexpected compliment you've ever received?'  Quora readers hold forth.

Luna Luna -- I'm not sure what to think about this amusement park, quite frankly. But it is interesting.

Be rich, not famous -- Financial Samurai's got a point here. 

Being poor at an Ivy League college -- and lessons learned.  (From Rockstar Finance)

Winter meals to try -- 100 of them!   Including Bavarian Meatball Hoagies -- I'm going to try this one. (From Taste of Home) 

Have a good week. We will...once we get to feeling better.

:)

 

Frugal Hits & Misses: November Report

      November, the keep-life-going month, with equal parts of cold, snow...and sun. (The latter is one of the best parts about winter in Colorado.)

The Brick kept the fifth-wheel repaired and comfortable.  I did more appraising this month than I usually do this time of year. Ruby the dog did her share of guard-dogging the deer that show up nearly every afternoon. And we Did Our Jobs. At month's-end, our friends suggested we move into the house, rather than staying in the fifth-wheel for the winter. This will be different -- but nice, too.

The freezer is full of bargains. I'm thankful for a pantry stocked with sale bargains. This will really help with groceries -- food prices have taken another jump in recent months.

     We had a peaceful Thanksgiving with our children -- the first in three years. (We spent the last two in Michigan.) I love to see their animated faces, and listen to them laugh. (And argue!) Unfortunately, there's flu going around; the Brick left with a sore throat, and it's getting worse. He *kindly* shared it with me, too. We had weekend plans, but I cancelled them all. Better to stay home and rest.

     This report is a bit early -- but I had time to do it. Back to work. 

FRUGAL HITS

(Some of these are from late October)

*Kept our heat down -- and used the electric fireplace more. (Our heat is powered by propane, but electricity is part of our rent.) We don't keep many appliances plugged in when not in use, either -- it saves, too.

*Four Fred Astaire movies for less than $5.  Follow the Fleet was actually what did it...

*Free Veteran's Day specials: The Brick's six year-stint in the Navy entitled him to free meals at Rodizio Grill and Red Robin (plus 25% off my burger). A free haircut at Great Clips and meal coupon at Freddy's rounded things out. While at Rodizio, I filled out a contest form, and...

*Won two free dinners at Rodizio Grill, plus a bottle of wine! We'll redeem this to celebrate our anniversary next month. (P.S. I almost deleted this message, thinking it was just a group advertisement. Glad I looked.)

*Supper covered -- by Daughter #1.  (Thank you, Honey...) Also -- a free steak dinner at a luxury restaurant with a friend, plus an investment talk on dealing with uncertain markets. 

*Some $2 videos, from the library's used booksale room, including (ironically, since I posted this) Yankee Doodle Dandy, Spiderman, Venom, The Train Robbers, Operation Petticoat and The Buccaneer. (Yul Brynner -- lots of swashing and buckling!) Plus The Green Knight...ewww. (Returned that one.)

*Worked two days for the election -- including a grueling 14-hour stint during Election Day. 

*Borrowed a vehicle for working the elections...the Brick needed the truck for his observing job that week. (Thank you, friends!) Returned it with gas to cover my use.

*Took home leftover cookies and bags of potato chips from the election room. 

*Mugs for an engagement present. (Plus a copy of The Princess Bride, so they knew why.)

*Donated candy bracelets, necklaces and lollipops, plus an assortment of toys, notebooks and coloring books, for a Mexican orphanage and pastors conference our friends will be visiting in December. (Buying the candy together actually produced a discount. Yay!) 

 *Instead of filling shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, we donated to their parent organization, Samaritan's Purse. (For some reason, our church didn't host the program this year.)

*Donated a bag of clothes, from the winter stash. (I didn't need as many.) Found a beautiful black turtleneck ($5) plus a Santa candle ($1) and Christmas cards (5 for $1) at the thrift shop. Plus a 20% discount on top of that. (Senior day)

*Supper with friends a few times. Once they paid for us -- other times, we brought food.

*Picked up friends at the airport. (Our other set of friends took them there.) The Brick also drove for the Brokentree church. 

*Did a bunch of appraisals, including collection reports -- difficult with lots of research, but very interesting. Sold some books, too.

*Some more photos purchased at discount on Ebay. For future books and columns.

Photo by Lori DeVries

*Found a silver basket for a Christmas gift ($5.99), plus tv tray tables  ($12.99 for four) at Sally's in Boulder. Love that Salvation Army.

*Grocery buys: 10 pounds of potatoes, a pound of asparagus, packages of Swiss and cheddar cheese -- all for 97 cents each; 97-cent/lb ham; shrimp ($4.50/lb); 3 pounds clementines ($1.97); free green onions and lunch meat, plus a free can of pumpkin (Safeway). Didn't buy much on Amazon Warehouse, except for some cans of clams. (We were pretty heavily stocked up.) A few other sale items, but not much. Milk and eggs were NOT on sale this month; sale milk stashed in the freezer got us through.  I did get extra eggs, anyways, for baking. (Daughter #2, up in the mountains, tells me that a dozen eggs there are a teeth-gritting SIX DOLLARS a dozen.) Not on sale, that is, until just before Thanksgiving, when I found 18-egg cartons at Walmart, unadvertised (and no signs -- so no one knew!) for $1.30. Astonishing. 

     Also from Wally: three-pound bags of onions ($1.58); canned pears in juice (96-cent clearance); cans of green beans (50 cents) and frozen vegs, including peas and broccoli (88 and 98 cents). Only the green beans had signs. I actually went back and got more...and the Brick picked up more eggs, as well. Is this the new trend -- don't bother to post signs by the really good deals?? Both Wal-Mart and Safeway did it...

     I didn't get a turkey this year. Too much meat for the two of us -- and just too dang expensive. Daughter #1 and her partner cooked one for Thanksgiving dinner.

*Another Tostitos special -- almost as good as the Safeway double-special, but not bad. I used coupons received for a bad bag to cover two bags of chips -- and got two more free! 

*Stocked up on some hard-to-find items we finally located -- like Pepto Bismol, marshmallows, and dried peas. I am not sure why the scarcity -- but we're glad to have extras. Especially the Pepto.

*No major repairs this month. What a relief. No new clothes, either, except for the turtleneck, from the thrift shop. Gloves and a leather coat I got earlier in the year  at a thrift shop sale came in handy, starting this month. 

FRUGAL MISSES

*Found a number of things in the fridge I'd forgotten about, including a pepper, the Brick's sandwich meat and Swiss cheese. (I love Swiss cheese.) Managed to use these up, plus some threatening-to-go mushrooms, before they went bad. 

*Two spoiled packages of cabbage. (I should have known better.)

*Watched one of the stupidest movies we have ever seen: The Green Knight, with Dev Patel. Great costumes, landscapes...and some of the silliest plot moves ever, including an obsession with heads falling off. We waited endlessly for the explanatory climax - which came literally a minute before the end. That made sense... sort of. But it was too late. Boooooo....

As the Brick said, "Well, that's two hours I can't get back." I'm including this review, so you don't make the same mistake.

*Loved having all those tortilla chips -- and ATE those tortilla chips. 

*The Brick worked free as an "Observer" for three very long days during the Boulder County elections. It was still worth it. 

*No elk or venison meat. Yet. 

Last month's report is here.  Last year's is here -- and the year before. Now on to one of the fun months of the year! 

From the Country Dirt FB page...

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Smartypants Talk

 ...Oops.

Probably Headed to Thanksgiving Dinner...

 

Holly Anderson banner -- contact her here for the pattern. 

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: And So It Begins

     It has been really, really cold here. And a bit snowy. 

Life is pretty quiet. Why do I get the feeling that most people are just hunkered down and waiting for Thanksgiving? 

     We are.

There are still chores, plus the fifth-wheel to winterize. And I have reports to finish up, plus some restoration to do. We sleep snugly, thanks to the down comforter the Brick found at a thrift outlet. But we're not sleeping through the night -- we both still wake up around sunrise. Not sure why, either. 

Michigan (barely) beat Illinois today in football; a field goal 9 seconds from the end of the game clinched the victory. What does that mean for next week's game against Ohio State... I'm scared to ask. 

So on with the week. Here we go.

Not this year...

A cornucopia for Thanksgiving. 

Potato string bean salad. You might want to sub this for the heavier green bean casserole. (I'd add a little bacon, too...)

Simple, tasty stuffing. 

Chocolate-covered strawberry turkeys!  This concept sounds weird...but the results look wonderful!

The Nord Stream pipe explosion WAS sabotage, based on explosives found on-site. Ya think?!?

Steak -- cooked in a toaster. I am not making this up. (Don't do it, by the way.)

Is this mystery painter Banksy??

LeBeau has passed on.  I loved the work of Robert Clary on Hogan's Heroes -- but he was much, much more than that -- including a survivor of Auchwitz, the only one of his family. 

Banksy created seven new paintings -- on rubble-torn walls in Ukraine.

Old-time celebrities --what they looked like then... and now.

A 600-year-old gold coin found on the coast of Newfoundland: a 'Henry VI quarter-noble,' minted between 1422-1427. Whaaaa? Archeologists are saying it must have been brought there long after it was 'out of circulation,' but I wonder...

pictured with a modern Canadian quarter, for size.

Also intriguing: further research on a rock crystal jar found in the Galloway Hoard.

Hawaiian rolls you can make yourself!

More than 800 thousand pounds (British) in gold coins -- found hidden until a kitchen floor in Yorkshire! Speaking of big $$...

An old worn-out pair of Birkenstocks belonging to Steve Jobs sold for $218,000 at auction.  (No, I can' t figure it out, either. Even the pre-auction estimate of $60,000-80,000 sounds zany.)

The chef who turned brunch into a verrrryyyyy sexy thang.

I finished a REALLY good book:  Jenny Colgan's The Christmas Bookshop. I've read a few of her other books, and didn't care for them. But this one hit a sympathetic chord...and included a welcome visit to Edinburgh, Scotland, as well as a good-sized dose of Christmas cheer. You'll like it.

Should (very) early Andy Warhol paintings be valued just as reverentially as his more mature work? Two are going up for auction soon -- we'll find out. (I realize I'm suggesting that Warhol's "mature" work is actually mature -- instead of swiped from others' designs and photos. I've never been comfortable with this.)

Saving $$ for Thanksgiving.  A classic from yours truly.  Another Thanksgiving-related classic:

Mayflower Memories. 

LIving on a really low income:

Some of the worst mistakes you could make, when packing for a cruise. Some of these are a bit zany -- people really do this?? On the other hand, I remember a woman who went on a missions trip with us who packed one pair of underwear for every day -- which she threw away, rather than wear again, And yes, there was a washing machine on board. (But we didn't know that when we started.)

Up for auction:  a card-shark's passenger list on the Titanic, carefully noted for wealthy 'marks.' (One was listed as 'millionaire.') Will you be surprised that the gambler survived -- and his victims generally did not? (He was 'hard at work' when the iceberg hit, and ended up sneaking into a lifeboat with Bruce Ismay. Figures.)

Poodle attack! (Plus their owner...go figure.) Boy, you don't hear this very often...

Have a good week. 

The Power of Patience - and Discipline

 

Eggs -- Don't Wait!

 I'm making a scary prediction: 

Eggs are going to be very difficult to find, come the holidays. As in Christmas. 

And if you're a baker, you're going to be really sorry if you don't stock up now. 

Want these? You'll need eggs. (Betty Crocker)

This was reinforced by a shopping trip a few weeks ago to Safeway in Castle Rock, CO. I went in to grab some eggs...and only a few dozen of the most expensive organic brands were left. 

The rest of the (very large) display was EMPTY.

There were more eggs when I stopped in a few days ago...but the cheapest large eggs were $3.86 a dozen. 

A friend went into King Soopers today, and could find no large eggs at all -- only a few medium sized dozens. And they were $3.68 a carton.

Could it be shipping issues? Flocks decimated because of bird flu? The middleman's desire to squeeze more bucks out of shoppers? A general sit-down chicken strike? I have no idea. 

         I still miss our chickens...

The Brick loves eggs in any form for breakfast. He hasn't griped, but I've been cutting down on henfruit gradually over the past few months. I've been mixing hashbrowns with onion, veggies, bacon (a slice or two, chopped thin) and ham chunks -- but with only one or two eggs mixed in. A sprinkle of cheese, and the Brick isn't missing a thing. (You should try the Poorman's breakfast, too. Delicious.)

BUT -- baking needs eggs. During the Depression, you could get by with one eggshell of water substituted for one egg... but you still needed that one egg.  Amy Dacyczyn of the Tightwad Gazette will also use one tablespoon of soy flour, instead of an egg. I read about substituting psyssilium husks and flax seed, as well -- go here to find out more. 

And what do people do for Christmas? Bake cookies and cakes. Which need eggs. The average cookie recipe takes at least two -- the average cake recipe can use up to seven. 

So, if you don't have dried egg powder in your pantry (which you should), it may come up to mid-December. The demand will be strong. And you'll be out of luck. 

Could this issue be just in Colorado? I would like to say so -- but have heard from other bloggers about egg prices skyrocketing in many parts of the country. And that's not even worrying about availability.

What if I'm wrong? 

Eggs can last up to four weeks in the refrigerator. If you buy them from a farmer, they can even be stored on the counter for a week or two. (We saw eggs out on the shelves while we were visiting Ireland -- 'unwiped,' I was told.) You can even freeze them, if needed.

Don't wait. Buy your eggs NOW. 

True, True...

 

And Now For Something Completely Different:

 

My brother would say -- it's probably me. (Not him!)

Things I Don't Understand: CATTLE*

 A new introduction to 'Things I Don't Understand' :' Cattle! I grew up on a farm that produced mostly 'feeder' cattle (for meat), though my dad experimented at least once with dairy cows. (My Grandpa DeVries had a working dairy for years in Coopersville, MI.) Brother and I helped raise a few calves -- for a while there, I was going to school with milk specks all over me, glasses included. (The calf had to eat before the schoolbus came -- but it kept butting the pail.)

*And, as any farmer's daughter knows -- the term 'cows' applies primarily to the female persuasion. Not bulls and steers. Otherwise, it's CATTLE. But bovine enthusiasts have gradually been changing 'cows' into popular usage nowadays.

This post is dedicated to our beloved 'Auntie Gertie,' who would gallop across the pasture to meet us whenever she saw us coming. I miss her still.

P.S. If you really enjoy these, type in "Things I Don't Understand" in the search box on my blog. Turns out I've done more than I thought -- dozens! And they range all over, from Christmas to cats to Kathy Griffin. Think of the fun you'll have.

(This one's from the Alien version of TIDU.)

Get it?   (Yes, I'm being funny.)

'Early Morning' by William Roelofs

Look closer. See the heart?

Quiet confession:  I actually like the smell of cow manure. 

In moderation.

Now, that's a rip-snorter...

Obviously the 'signer' noticed these Belted Galloways nearby...

my dad preferred Black Angus and Holsteins.

And finally:

Dana Lyons' classic Cows With Guns: