DG's frugal journal

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Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Saturday am

Already hot outside. 80F and over 90% humidity. Inside here, 83F and 75% humidity. That is a good balance for us. The ac has not come on since yesterday afternoon. Fans are keeping us cool.

The eye with the recent injection stayed irritated longer than I would have liked, but it is finally feeling ok. I still avoid water and dust although I am sweeping a bit. I do need to move a couple of more planters before our trip. However, I will definitely wear a knee brace before lifting and use a dolly.

I repaired a hose with the plastic repair kits yesterday. I cut the hose where the leak was and turned it into 2 shorter hoses. I hooked one up to my northeast rain barrel. It is set up with an irrigation line to water a line of pots when we are gone. The coco plum plants that hubs let die while I was traveling could not be revived. One is completely dead. The other a few weak leaves.

The wasps have found a crevice for a nest on/in the porch. I considered several ways to deal with it, but I think expanding foam is the way I will go. I don't do poisons. Besides, the crevice needs to be filled or the problem will recur in a few months. This will have to wait until I get back from the Houston trip. I don't want to risk the knee on the uneven ground.

Today, I have used up most of the extra fat from ground beef burgers that I did a few days ago. While cooking oil is not that expensive, the fat makes nicer turkey bacon. I have started making coffee with a heaping scoop instead of a flat scoopful. Just too weak for me. Hubs is happy. Solar tea time. Hubs loves the cold drink at dinner. So put it out around 10 am and bring it in around 3 pm and it is cold by about 6 pm. I want to get out the solar battery charger now that we have sunny days.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Tuesday am

Already walked and watered. I have the driveway bed to water from the rain barrel. I am sure there is a clog in the southeast gutter, but I would have to get on a ladder and not with my bad knee, at least not until after I dance in Houston in July. I put trash cans under the likely leak spot where the water overflows the gutter and then transfer pail by pail into the rain barrel. Turn it on this morning and water. The driveway flowerbed seems to be less sensitive to dry condition than the regular bed. Odd and surprising. It gets a lot more sun.

Hubs thinks I am crazy to plan for another rain barrel. This one will be in the yard and reuse the kiddie pools as a rain catch. It will be an interesting project. Well, it will have to wait until the knee is better. The rain water is better for the plants than the softener treated water. And cheaper.

We had ground beef burgers and it generated excess fat. I had been keeping the excess in a plastic container in the frighted, but I can't warm those up safely to get the fat out. So last time I put it in a glass bowl and covered it with a lid. Fat can be left out for a while without going bad. Today, I warmed up the old fat and put it in the skillet for breakfast meal. I took some of the new fat and put it in the bowl. Waste not. Want not.

Today, I will make another half gallon of solar tea since it should be a dry sunny day. I switched to tagless tea bags after calculating that they were a better deal compared to family size. It was a different mix and it tastes even better. Good decision and frugal as well.

Hubs is giving me resistance about the solar battery charger. He is afraid the charger will melt in the hot sun. That is confusing since it has to be in the sun to work.

I got out some of the black beans I cooked up awhile back and then froze. Hubs had it with some 69c/lb chicken and the rest of the tomato/chili peppers. He said it was good. I will do something else with the black beans tomorrow. Tonight will be salmon. It is on sale and I will buy just enough for tonight.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Thursday am

I turned the house temperature up to 84F last night. I was cold. Hubs was asleep and hasn't complained so far this morning. We had a rain storm at 2 am. Woke me up. The trashcans I put under the leaking gutter has several inches of water in them. And the DIY overflow diverter from the rain barrel to a trashcan worked well. That trashcan is very full this morning. I moved a pot yesterday and my knee didn't like me last night. I wrapped it and it finally let me go to sleep, but then the storm. So I guess it will be an afternoon nap. Makes me feel like an old person.

Moving more and more little tasks to hubs. He is on pain medication holiday and drinks apple cider vinegar water twice a day to decrease pain. I showed him how I made it and said do it yourself. I also let him make coffee in the morning. I do take the old coffee filter out and put the grounds in my garden right after the pot cools. So it is clean and ready to go the next morning.

Today, we will have fish for dinner. I have a skillet I use for fish and it has a wonderful bit of the salmon fat in it from Tuesday night. So cook up some white fish tonight and get that healthy fat. I stored the skillet in the refrigerator to keep the fat good. After tonight's meal. I will clean it up. The white fish does not produce the good stuff. Publix grocery store apparently is selling a 0 carb burrito wrap. I intend to get a package and try it tomorrow night when I make burritos to use up the frozen black beans I got out this week.

It is nice to not have to water the garden.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Saturday am

I just read the frugalwood.com post about refrigerators and freezers. I know that my current refrigerator is a power hog. I will get rid of it sometime. I looked at what was available and just didn't feel good about what I saw. So I will acknowledge the energy waste for the moment. I also read that my "new to me" chest freezer is a power hog most likely. But it was free, so I will keep that.

I have turned the house temperature up to 83F both day and night. I sometimes turn it up to 84F at night if I get chilled. But 83F during the day. We were at 82F, but now that our bodies are adjusting to summer, 83F feels fine with fans. With the rainy season, comes afternoon clouds and highs only in the low 90's. The ac runs just now and then. Hub's purchase of a small dehumidifier appears to be not a great decision. But he never asked me. With the new windows, the humidity in the house is staying around 70% which is nice for us. Oh well.

My nearby Publix did not have the 0 carb wraps. Oh well. We ate the black beans with diced tomatoes, peppers, onions and hot sauce for hubs. I did go to save a lot and got cucumbers, lettuce and discounted beef. Tonight, hubs will get discounted smoked sausage with kraut. I will have a piece of discounted beef with my kraut. I get puffy with the processed meat products.

Knee is uncomfortable today for some reason. It is discouraging.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Sunday am

I have been thinking about plans for the rest of my year. Of course, things are behind due to the knee. And now, the yard guy and the handyman have disappeared and not return phone calls. Finding new people is never fun.

Well, I will plan on being able to lift some when I get back. I need to move landscape timbers and concrete blocks. If I can move those, I can do most everything.

First project. Clean up the back yard and prepare for the hurricane season. I find I have only a short time to work outside before the knee starts bothering me. And I must save it for dancing this coming Friday. After that, I can be a bit less careful.

Before I order more rain barrels, I will set the concrete block base up first. I want 3 more barrels. That will allow me to capture 300 gallons of water. According to published estimates, that is half the rainfall off my little house roof. The cost of the rain barrels is twice the cost of DIY rain barrels made from garbage cans. However, the holes are drilled and the fittings included and they are delivered to the door. I am not sure they would fit into my little car if I bought them from a store. So I will go that way. July and August to do that.

The outside cooking area needs to be finished by the end of September to prepare for the kitchen redesign in November. November the kitchen. Hopefully finished by December.

I hope to have a fall garden this year. Sigh.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Monday am barely

Took a walk with nervous neighbor at 6:30 am. She takes a widower neighbor to breakfast on Mondays, so need to get the walk in early. And it was already near 80F. I did ok, but not seeing any more real progress. Then took the ultrasound down to spinal deterioration neighbor, but she said hers was on the truck for delivery and declined it. She is still feeling pretty good.

Discussed the dehumidifier with hubs. He said it was for the dry closet. Problem is that dehumidifiers generate heat and that can be as hard on clothes as dampness. But I decided not to mention that.

Rain skipped us yesterday. I turned on the rain barrels and plants are happy today. I checked the dimensions of the kiddie pools and they are smaller than I remember. Probably will work out fine as a rain catch on my fall project.

Finally heard from the lawn guy. Broken mower. We will see. People who want to make excuses generally go through the been sick, broken machine. See which kind he is. Still haven't heard from the handyman.

Hubs is going to get mail held via computer. See if that works. I will ask the neighbor to check on it anyways in case.

Even though the ac is set to 83F, it is coming on more than I like meaning no night time cool down.

Job today will be to tidy up in preparation for hurricane season. Stray pots and the like. Can't do much with the knee. Then clean up some more in the kitchen. It seems to always be a mess.
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