Frugal Friday 2023...the August 11th Edition

Welcome to Frugal Friday!   

When will this living hell of a Summer end???  And the photo doesn't even mention the "Heat Index temp" here.  This photo is just from a random day last week.

There are very few Frugal wins this past week but here goes......

*  Got a few things at Kroger last Friday....pounds of blueberries and strawberries for .99¢ each, reduced fresh produce like .54¢ lb. mushrooms, slaw mix for .75¢, a salad kit for $1, a lb. of local Kielbasi for under $4, a lb. of salmon for $7.49, non-green peppers for .99¢ each and BOGO olive oil.

*  Staying inside mostly, needless to say, due to this extremely warm Summer still.  Who else thinks that Mr. Willis Carrier should be canonized a saint?!?  Right up there with him is Mr. Frederick Jones who invented the first portable a/c unit. 8-))

*  Two PT appointments this past week which costs Zero OOP.

*  After PT last Friday we went to Kroger(see ABOVE)..  I had points worth .30 discount per gallon of gas at Kroger so Hubs got gas there and used my discount.

*  My new clothes arrived last Saturday...

I needed a black dress as I had none.  When we went to pack up and move our wardrobes in PA the black dress I had from 16 years ago when Hubs mom died was nowhere to be found.  Roaman's was running a 60% off your first item and 40% off your 2nd item deal(really, if you got items that were the same price it just meant they were both 50% off).  So I got another of the same dress in a different color as more of my clothing is just hanging off me so these are a size smaller.  I also had a $10 Reward Certificate that was expiring this month and a Free Shipping code I could use.

And it's a good thing I had that free ship code.  They charged $19.99 for shipping just these 2 lightweight dresses(but I didn't pay that w/the code).  And in that package were all these various catalogs from them and their affiliated companies.  I think this all weighed MORE than the dresses!!  And I am certainly not paying shipping on all this cr*p I didn't ask for or want!

*  The doggies got groomed!

They were way overdue too.......

Some shaggy dogs.

And the after......

Nice and clean and short cuts.

We found a local person who does dog grooming instead of paying out the nose for PetSmart workers to do it.

She charges less than PS, did a better job and they are looking mighty spiffy(and smell much better)!

*  I found money! 

A penny on the floor at Kroger last Friday near the registers.  This may be the wrong penny photo but whatever.  It's a penny and if this isn't the "one", the actual one looks just like this(but maybe with more wear on it). lol

Total Found in last Week.... .01¢
Total Found this Year.......$3.03

That's all for this past week.  Just sitting home is frugal, right?

Any frugal wins in your neck of the woods?  Let's hear all about them!

Sluggy  

Now That's HOT!

And you thought it was HOT where YOU live?!
Check out the forecast for next week where I grew up.

I am sure glad Hubs and I don't live in Charlottesville anymore....lol



Sluggy

Dante's Inferno

I don't know about you but the weather lately here has been something from the Third Circle of Hell!

Another 95 degree day in the armpit of Pennsylvania is predicted.
Ugh.

Didn't I move away from the South to get away from these temperatures?lol

For anyone also suffering from the Heat Dome Effect, here is a photo of what the weather will be here in 3 months from now.....

Feel better now?
I know I do....

Sluggy

Saturday Around the Yard

For all my friends out there roasting in this awfully hot day, here is a photo you might appreciate about now......

I know *I* feel MUCH cooler now....how about you?! ;-)

Oh, what a difference 6 months makes, huh?lol


I spent the morning running around to Rite-Aids trying to use up my $5 off $20 coupons that are expiring tonight.  And 2 of my +Ups didn't print so I'll be calling Corp. Customer Service on Monday since I don't feel like hanging on the phone today in this heat.

Then to the grocery store to stock #2 son up on chicken nuggets.....well, I wanted chicken strips but they were out and a raincheck wouldn't help since the coupons expire today....ugh.....so nuggets it was...and he's rather have nuggets despite the awful way they are made....double ugh....but at least he's happy.
No marked down meats today since I went so early but that's ok since I am still fairly stocked up.  That's not to say that I didn't buy anything because my receipt says I spent $37.84!  The nuggets ended up being $3 a bag after sale and coupons but I also bought iceberg lettuce at full retail(ugh), milk, a can of crabmeat on sale and blocks of cheese on sale 1/2 price.

Then home to make an early dinner and feed any stray teens hanging around as well.  And a long leisurely float in the pool while avoiding the teens as they jump in and sling boogie boards around.
Then some watering of the garden plants and some quick photos of same....

Remember the photo of my volunteer tomato plants from June?...

Here they are now.....

And they have lots of blooms too now!
Unless we suffer some catastrophe between now and harvest time, we will be needing tons of butternut squash recipes.  The butternut vines are taking over the beds and the yard now!  Here is our largest so far....

This one is about 6 inches long now and on a vine that climbed over the netting we have strung up for fencing.  Here are two of the vines that have escaped from the garden bed....

Here's a teeny tiny squash on one of them....

Here's a shot of something I planted that the nursery guy said was an Italian Roasting Pepper....

You can't really tell from this photo but they grow upside down with the bottom toward the sky and as they get bigger they turn their bottoms toward the ground.  There is one upside down, one halfway down and the largest one is now growing right side up.  Now did that make any sense or has the heat fried what is left of my brain today?lol

Here is a cuke rainforest....

They have run amok!!!  I am scared to even look in there because I just know there is a cucumber the size of Cleveland lurking within, ready to eat us!

And here is one of the cauliflower heads.....

There are now one on each of the 6 plants, ranging from golf ball sized to water balloon sized?.....what would you say comes after softball sized?....all I could think about is a water balloon.lolol

I have seen 2 'friends' in the garden so far(not counting the Japanese beetles that just arrived or the white moth things munching on the leaves)--a nice big garter snake & a baby bunny that's been hanging around.  Though I haven't seen more than 1 at a time I can lay money that where there is 1 baby bunny, there are more brothers and sisters.lol   I've been trying to get a pic of said bunny(or is it bunnies?)but she/he is too fast or I am too slow with the camera.  I'll keep trying though.

Oh and remember my poor lemon magnolia tree that bloomed and then we got a hard frost back in April?....all the blooms and leaves turned brown, curled up and fell off......

Well, you'll be happy to know that she recovered from her springtime trauma & is looking quite glorious now.....

So how is your garden doing this week? 

Sluggy

Meet my BFF!

Yes, here is my best friend forever......

The poor old girl.....if it ever cools off here I'll be able to clean her filters.

I *heart* my BFF.......

Today was Cooler!!
A mere 94 degrees......yes, I am typing this WITHOUT laughing...barely!


Yesterday was 96 degrees with a heat index or some such nonsense of 102 degrees.

We are in DAY FOUR of this Heat Wave.
I left southern Virginia to get away from this kind of shit!
Seriously.
WTF??

If you live on a mountain top in northeast Pennsylvania you should NOT see 4 days in a row of mid to high 90 Degree weather......
EVER!

That daydream of going up to Maine and finding a summer camp to buy may actually happen if this keeps up....
Because that is where I'm going to have to go to get some relief!


Sluggy