General Musings

I got some candles today from someone on the freecycle list. They'll be nice to dress up and use to decorate the bathroom or a bedroom or something. Or maybe I'll put them on the woodstove just for decoration in the summers.

I managed to get all the trash sorted so that I can take the paper and cardboard trash to work with me tomorrow. Now I need to get it out to the car so I don't forget it!

Then I went to Weis and got dog food. WOW was that ever pricey! It was a whole $4 more expensive than Giant, but it was on my way and I didn't want to use extra gas to get it cheaper. We use IAMS for our dogs, so its pricey to start with, but then ANOTHER $4?? Thats about a 25% inrease!

I also got eggs, but unfortunately the only eggs they had were in styrofoam containers. I HATE styrofoam! I'm trying so hard to cut down on all the trash, and then I bring home *this* stuff.

Then I stopped by the little farm stand up the road from us. This one isn't so "little". They sell local, but also sell a lot of non-local stuff, and they are a bit more expensive than the other stand, but again, this one was on my way home, and gas is always a factor these days. At least there I didn't have *any* extra packaging. I put all the produce in my cloth grocery bags instead.

I did manage to do well with tomatoes. I spent a bit too much on a watermelon, but I'm hungry for watermelon, so I don't care. I got about 5 big tomatoes for $1. They were labeled as "seconds" but they looked fine. And they had these GIANT green bell peppers. They were asking 50cents each. I'm not sure if thats a good price, but I'm pretty sure its cheaper than the grocery store. And since dh took our garden peppers to the mountains, I wanted to get started on filling our freezer. We have more pepper plants that will yield, but not for a few weeks yet. In the meantime, if I can find them cheap I'll just go ahead and get them and put them in the freezer.

So, into the freezer they will go.

I'm still trying to figure out my traveling schedule for the rest of the week. Tomorrow is completely out, as I have to work. But Wed or Thurs I may go pick those blueberries. And Thurs or Fri I'll go get that water heater. Now my dd wants me to take her to Lancaster to get her nails done. So we may have to combine that trip with something else, like taking the dog to the vet or getting the water heater.

I'm so happy that things are coming together so well. Once we get this place set up, the rest should be fairly easy. We just have to re-arrange our lives a little bit to make the most of it all.

The most labor intensive chores will be the garden, preserving food, cooking with a solar cooker (requires more time and planning ahead), and doing laundry. But that Wonder Clean should make a big difference. At least I won't be soaked when I'm finished.

My little grandbaby is coming over today and staying with us for a few days I think. I can't wait to see her. Its been a couple of weeks. The last time I saw her, she hadn't seen me in a couple of months, and I was afraid she wouldn't remember me. But she walked right up to me, gave me a big baby hug, and cuddled right in my lap. AWWWWWW. She just tugs those heart strings!

I wish I didn't have to work tomorrow, because I am so looking forward to taking her to the pool. And the weather has been so hot, I can't wait to get in the pool myself!