What a month!
The fall colors this season were heart-stopping. We didn't have really cold temps until late in the month-- right about when everything faded.
We were supposed to stay home all October -- but needed to go to Denver twice (once for a funeral) -- plus a quickie trip to Utah to pick up our new car.
I had a number of work items to finish up...and the Brick spent a lot of time fixing up, winterizing -- and finding the best deals. He's good at that.
Oct. 31st marks two years that we've been in Fort Garland. Weird...it feels like we've been here forever.
FRUGAL HITS
(A few of these are from late September)
*Gardening: A few more beans and zucchini blooms before the first frost on Oct. 16 killed pretty much everything. I stripped out the mushy vines; a few greens were growing, until Tiger and Bo decided to aerate my deckside garden beds. (sigh) I covered the rose plants with (go figure) dogfood bags for winter protection, and took the blueberry bush down to the garage. Hopefully it hibernates there til spring.
*Gardening results: not much. Used tomatoes, leftover bits of greens and green beans in soup. Some green tomatoes are still ripening.
*Listened to a concert at the Fort Garland museum-- a friend plays in a mariachi band. (Yes, there is a real fort in Fort Garland!) Did our own band stint at Lu's restaurant in Blanca. (The Brick played the keyboard; I sang, along with several friends from Worship team. Rock n' Roll rules!)
*Watched BLACK WOLF, an intriguing series a la THE UNIT. The Brick also found a way to pick up some Michigan football games and a Colorado Buffs game or two -- for free!
*Stocked up on charms, including dragonflies and antique-look keys, for Daughter #2's necklaces.
*Missed out on an Ebay auction! Why am I thrilled about this? Because, after putting in the bid (which I couldn't retract, by the way), I realized that I would be on the hook for a bunch of extra $$, thanks to tariffs. (I learned from last month's debacle.) Some 'fortunate' bidder topped my already-low bid just before the auction ended. Whew. I bought the same item from an American seller -- and got free shipping out of it, too.
*Free groceries from a friend who was cleaning out her pantry: sliced almonds, tomato soup, tomatoes. Thanks, SueAnn!
*Stocked up on chicken noodle and celery soups, tomatoes, green beans and green chilies from Amazon. Their prices were even better than Walmart.com -- and the Amish grocery. I paid a bit more for a case each of peach nectar and pineapple juice, but they'll come in handy for winter. Free shipping, of course, because I was careful about totals. And after ordering black olives ($1.06 each), Amazon got a wild hair and offered them at 90 cents each! So I bought some more, even though that price included a bit of shipping. You can take the girl out of Holland -- but you can't make her stop being a Hollander.
While I was at it, I restacked and sorted the items in our pantry area. I found several cans of chicken I didn't know was there, as well as other items -- like a jar of caviar I'd been hoarding. I like caviar. So sue me. (It was on sale.)
*Made bread, cake, almond pound cake, biscuits, blueberry muffins -- baked apples and apple crisp. Used up souring milk in the cake, bread, biscuits -- and some waffles.
*Nearly $10 in royalties from Crazy Quilts. Not too bad, onsidering it's only published now in e-book form. (Brickworks still has a few copies left -- contact me via the blog if you're interested.)
*A much more substantial amount of royalties from Arcadia, though. (Royalties come twice a year -- in the spring and again in the fall. Always welcome.)
*Held off on getting myself a new nightgown until I found one on sale. (Tiger chewed up the old one.) I did buy a postcard, a few quilt patterns and a few yards of millenium fabric on Ebay -- I tried a low Best Offer, and both were accepted! The patterns were 20% off, with free shipping.
*Made a special trip to Denver for a funeral. Bought roses ($17.50) to bring with, and a clear glass vase-- the service was outside in a park, or I would have had them delivered. Left soon after, to make the long trip home before it got too dark.
*A few delayed payments came in -- always nice. We have a big insurance payment coming due in early November; they'll help.
*William Morris reproduction fat quarters -- for $1.79 each, including shipping! This is a STEAL for these classic designs.
*Thrift shop buys: mason pint and quart jars, with rings/lids, for $1 each; an old mason jar filled with thimbles for $20 (just counted 89 in there!); a few series videos ($4 each); a soft curduroy Eddie Bauer shirt for the Brick ($7). Plus a 10% senior discount (Treasures in the Park/Castle Rock). A few more shirts, $5-7 each; three beautiful cobalt blue glass bowls (50 cents each); some rare quilting books ($2 each); and a good stockup of stationery and Christmas cards, (10 cents - $3); a few Christmas presents ($2 each). Plus a 5% disount for cash (Nazarene Thrift Shop).
*Made onion rings. (His look better.)
*Cut the Brick's hair. Again. Did a better job this time.
*Appraisals, appraisals, appraisals. I'm hoping that November will be much quieter, in this respect.
*Found a new Ebay seller, offering buy TWO, get 1 free, plus free shipping -- yow! I ordered a few Christmas presents, and padded out my research shelves. (Thank you, Your Online Bookstore Company) I also got some CDs (buy 3, get 1 free/free shipping), including The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Bang Bang Bang. None were more than $2.99 each. (The best price on Amazon for BBB was $14.98. We sang a lot of songs out of it for the Lu's Diner gig.)
*Grocery deals: Several different Campbell's canned soups (99 cents ea), several imported/specialty items for 79-99 cents each, including hearts of palm and tahini (SLV Amish Grocery). Pasta, 88 cents/lb, reward free pounda of butter, $1.37 half-gallons of milk, $3.27 pkg of bacon, 6 doughtnuts ($1.50) and cans of buffalo cream of chicken soup (18 cents each), bags of snow peas ($1.57 ea), red-bagged fruit (5 apples, 3 multi-colored peppers, three avocados, a lemon plus limes) for $1.50 each, 8 pc. fried chicken for $5.28, and the best -- turkey breast for 99 cents a pound! (King SoopersCity Market). Produce discount ($3), gallons of whole milk for $2.77 each, apples at 97 cents/lb, blueberries $2.77 for 18 oz (Safeway). Lebkuchen (the best cookies in the world) for about $7 a large bag (about 1/3 the price as elsewhere) and free shipping. A Christmas favorite around here (Amazon).
*Found money: a shiny penny in Safeway's change machine; a penny on the sidewalk; two crisp dollar bills from Nielsen. On the way home from our Utah trip, I found a penny in the McDonalds parking lot -- so we weren't penniless, after our car purchase! (The Brick was not amused...but I was.)
*A birthday present of 100 daffodil bulbs was misdelivered by Fedex. (We got a photo as 'proof'...which wasn't our house.) A phone call by the Brick got a replacement order. Then weeks later -- the original box showed up! The company said we could keep it. Wow -- 200 bulbs to plant! Those went in the ground along our driveway. I also put some in the church's flower planter.
*A free birthday dessert at Chili's. A free burger at Red Robin.
*Sold a bunch of stock for a tidy profit. I have a feeling things are going to bottom out soon...but am keeping single shares, so I can watch to see what happens. Bought some more (Lending Club), which is moving up steadily. (The rest - except for a silver stock, not so much. One day, the silver stock went down 9.5% -- so I bought more! It's doing well. I also bought 10 shares of Lending Tree.)
*Bought a bird feeder that the bluejays won't empty in a day. In fact neither they or the squirrels have succeeded in emptying it at all. (Our local bluejays eat like pigs and kick out loads of seed while they're doing it -- something the local chipmunks appreciate, but we don't.)
Got it on sale, too, with free shipping. So far, it's working great, in spite of heavy winds. We had to grease the shepherd's crook pole, though, to keep the chipmunks at bay. They occasionally win anyways, but it's very funny to watch them sliiiiide down.
*Donated the fee for a talk at the Four Mile Historic Park -- but they did help out with mileage costs.
*A bouquet of yellow roses and baby's-breath: $2.80. A bunch of alstromeria: $3-plus each. I also bought some grocery store sushi for $6.25 -- bad girl. (It, and fried chicken, was supper on the way home from Denver. Delicious.)
*I did a bit of cleaning/putting away every day. After September's hustles, things have been looking a little messy around here. We had guests for dinner one Sunday, which meant a flurry of last-minute vacuuming and polishing. That helped, too.
FRUGAL MISSES
*The new car. 'Nuff said.
*Nailed for a $10 tariff on Ebay books shipped from Canada. Fortunately, the seller reimbursed me. WARNING: This is going to happen more often until the tariff situation changes! Be sure to tailor your purchases to accommodate it.
*Got my hair cut -- first time since spring. Why does it have to be so dingdang expensive? I think I will let the Brick try his hand at it next time.
*Missed out on a $25 giftcard (from our Humana healthcare) because, instead of marking my visit as an "annual wellness review," the doctors office made it a "new customer" stop, instead. It was... but still! I also lost my primary care doctor -- and now the local medical center doesn't accept Humana. (Fortunately, another Medicare program is accepted, so we'll switch to that eventually.) When you live in a rural area, and have to drive 45 min. to the "local" hospital, this adds up.
*Bought two dressy blouses via Amazon. Yes, they were on sale, with free shipping. (This is hard for me -- buying stuff for myself that isn't from the thrift shop. But they're lovely.)
*A TWENTY-FIVE DOLLAR FEE for parking a few hours in Denver -- near the park that an important funeral service was held at. (There was literally nothing in sight, except the university lot.) Afterwards, Daughter #1 showed me some metered spaces -- in the next row over. "They were only $6.00," she said. I hadn't noticed them....nor were they an option at the kiosk. Aaarrgghghghghghghggh.
*Bad peaches! The three-pound bag from City Market went straight from unripe to mushy. I cut out the bad spots, discarded a goner, then salvaged the rest by blending them with sugar, milk and some leftover vanilla yogurt. Delicious.
*Tiger didn't just chew up my nightgown -- he also ate a pair of black flipflops and a leather glove. The next day, he got another glove -- but just around the edges. (I guess we're supposed to be grateful.)
Then both dogs decided to tear up part of the truck's back seat. I wish I was making this up.
(The seat is duct-taped for now; we'll look for a replacement at junkyards.)
Add in his poop-and-puke incidents on the trip to Utah, and it makes you wonder. Fortunately, he's cute..and somewhat apologetic when he messes up.
*Threw away some Very Old food items, dating from the fifth wheel period, including rock-hard gummies and a liter of Coke. Ah well.
*The Brick has been sick much of the month. Chest congestion is no fun. (I got some, too.)
* I did NOT bid on an auction of antique quilts I'd appraised. And boy, was that hard -- but it wouldn't have been ethical. Yes, I could have done it...and it probably would have been okay with the client. After all, I had nothing to do with the initial bid, or the ones after that. But it just didn't feel right.
Some gorgeous ones were in there, too.
*A gallon of milk started going bad early. I used it up in baking -- see 'Hits.' A veggie bowl ($4.50) kept me in snacks on the way to Utah, but several items started going. I saved the peppers in a stirfry at least. (Broccoli and cauliflower went in the freezer.)
*Two big poopy incidents for the pups -- and several escapes. We think we have this figured out now: let Bo out without Tiger, and she won't take off. And the reverse goes for Tiger even more. (He's still a bit of a weenie. Scare him, and he starts peeing.) And the diarrhea? Eating deer poop, we suspect. Or maybe it's a reaction to all the other things he's nibbled on.
* One Amazon order was never delivered -- but its label was. (I am not making this up.) Fortunately, the post officemaster saw the humor in the situation, and refused the order. Amazon later credited it.
*No elk or venison this year...for us, at least. The Brick didn't go. Son #1 did get a nice buck on nearly the last day of October.
Last month is here. Oct. 2024 is here, plus the year before. The dreariness of early winter is starting, true -- but the kids are coming here for Thanksgiving. Hooray!
'You know, life is sent to test us, as well. And being able to overcome that is what makes us who we are.' ----Prince William
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