Around the Backyard

We have been in a rainy weather pattern that just won't go away!
I've been telling Hubs for weeks now that "Gee, we could sure use some rain!  It's been pretty dry here so far since May."
Well this past weekend the rain started and this front just won't leave.
The meteorologist this morning said we are due for another 7 DAYS or longer of this on again/off again rain.
Lots of flash flooding around here, mostly to the West and South of us, and more will happen until this front leaves.  The ground is saturated now and if we get much more I may loose lots of veggies.
Eek!

The rain let up for about a half an hour so let's take a walk around the backyard today at Chez Sluggy 

I actually took these first three shots on Saturday........

The profusion of morning glories

Many vines are on the bird feeder poles and trying to climb higher.
I don't even bother to plant these anymore......they just grow back every year from the seeds that drop from the previous Fall.

You might be able to make out the pollen grains on this flower.
You'll notice that we have again been invaded by Japanese Beetles this Summer.
They LOVE morning glory foliage evidently, as well as my Japanese Eggplant plants.

Here is a shot looking over the garden from the left corner......

And here is a shot from the right hand corner......

Here's one of my basil plants.  I am trying to stay ahead of the blossoms to pinch them off so I keep getting more leaves.

One of three eggplants almost ready to pick from 2 of my plants.  The other 2 plants got swallowed up by tomato and squash plants and can't get any sun.  I figured only a few squash would survive the Spring and actually grow but I was wrong.  Now everything is so crowded together some shorter plants don't have a chance.

 A few of the yellow squash not quite ready to pick.....

A couple tomatoes looking good.  Notice the leaves of a hidden basil plant to it's left.......

I see you there Mr. Zucchini, trying to blend in and hide from me until you are a massive size. lol

Here's one of my barrels with the lettuce in it.  It's Simpson black seeded lettuce.
Usually by late July the lettuce is done because of the heat but not this year!
I can't seem to kill these three lettuce plants!
Two of them have gotten so large they look like vines!  And they need support to keep them from falling on the ground from the barrel.

My entire green beans crop.
Only ONE of my bean plants survived the chipmunk invasion.
I may get six whole green beans this year, all from this one plant.  I'll let them go to seed and maybe start then indoors next Winter/Spring and see if I can have a better outcome next season.

And in the front we have about 12 tomato plants which are doing fantastically well.  Trying to stay ahead of pinching off some blossoms there too.  The plants get the best sun of the entire yard so these plants are almost five feet tall at this point.
With all this rain these plants are toppling over a bit so we'll need to tie them up some more.

Some Amish paste variety(like a Roma)growing out there too.  I can't wait to try those.

And all this rain(and now the tomato plants falling over)isn't thrilling the Coleus and Petunias.
Once the tomato plants die back they'll get more sun and nutrients.....

And here is what got picked this weekend--
On Saturday.......

And then on Tuesday........

I also picked 2 more ounces of lettuce for the nephew to take home but didn't photograph that or add it into our harvest count yet.

So far I've picked 170.9 ounces of veggies, or 10.68 lbs. from our garden.
Go me.

I just wish the rain would stop for awhile so I can enjoy my yard a bit more.  I really do like being out there near the garden.

What's growing in your yard?

Sluggy

And the Winner Is.....

Random dotorg helped me pick the latest Giveaway Winner.
And the winner is........

violinistaJuly 22, 2018 at 9:08 AM
Since I was homeschooled as a kid, a lot of our vacations were taken during the off season, so summers were a time to just relax; I remember it being a lot like what older generations reminisce about (even though some might call me a "millennial"): riding my bike freely around the neighborhood, running around with the neighborhood kids for hours, reading a lot of books, or just lazing around on the hammock:)

Congratulations Gaby!

Please email me from the email address you supplied within the next 48 hours of the time stamp of this post with your full name and mailing address and I'll get this box of goodies out to you.

Thanks for everyone who played this time and check back in 2-3 weeks as I'll have another Giveaway up on the blog.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

**LAST DAY TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY.  ENDS TONIGHT!  GO HERE. 

The "Happy Birthday!" Edition--

Our eldest son came home for a visit after he finished teaching Summer School at his school down in Virginia. I made him a cake(German Chocolate)and tortured him by singing the Happy Birthday Song.  He forgave me when he saw the check in his birthday card. lolz

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Leftovers

2. Monday--Mushroom and Chicken Parm, Salad

3. Tuesday--Pork Chops, Sauteed Squash, Mac and Cheese

4. Wednesday--BLT sandwiches

5. Thursday--Lasagna or Fish?

6. Friday--Steak, COC, Salad
7. Saturday--BBQ, Coleslaw

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Leftovers

2. Monday--Mushroom and Chicken Parm, Salad

3. Tuesday--Pork Chops, Sauteed Squash, Mac and Cheese

4. Wednesday--Lasagna

5. Thursday--BLT Sandwiches

6. Friday--Steak, COC(I forgot to heat up the leftover mac and cheese.)
7. Saturday--Eat Out Lunch/Leftovers for Dinner

Wed. and Thurs. plans were flipped but otherwise we adhered to the plan.

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 night of leftovers/fend for yourself, 0 nights of Take-Out or Eating Out.  

A trip to each to Shursave Market, Bread Outlet and 2 trips to Weis brought the weekly food spending to $86.09 and the monthly total to $321.73.
I have 8 days left in my shopping month for July and $78.17 left in the food budget.

My savings percentage last week was 55.66%(without Rite-Aid trips)and July's monthly savings total comes to 49.02% so far.

Leftovers going into this week.....small bit of sauteed squash, mac and cheese, lasagna, and corn on cob.

Here is this week's "food plan".....

1. Sunday--Pork Barbecue on Rolls, Cole Slaw

2. Monday--Chicken Enchiladas, Rice, Beans

3. Tuesday--Cheeseburgers, Mac Salad

4. Wednesday--Pork Ragu over Pasta, Salad

5. Thursday--Fried Zucchini and Leftovers

6. Friday--Squash Casserole and Leftovers
7. Saturday--BLTs or Chicken Salad Sandwiches

This week will see 7 new meals cooked, 2 night of leftovers/FFY and 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.

What needs buying for this menu? Milk and that's about it.
When I made mac and cheese last week I reserved a small amount of pasta to make Macaroni Salad.  The ends of the carrots I grated for the Cole Slaw will go into that mac salad as well as other veggies bits and pieces.  I bought a twin pack of whole chickens last week, boiled them down, picked the meat for enchilada filling and chicken salad, reserved the skin and bits to give the dogs.
I reserved a half of one of the 3 pork butts I smoked to make a Pork Ragu sauce to have over pasta later this week.  I've got a big bowl of Pork Barbecue which was served Sunday as well as 4 quart bags packed with some of the pork that was smoked for the freezer to use later.
Some of the zucchinis that are coming fast and furiously now will become fried zucchini this week, Daughter will freeze some(spiralized/sliced)for her Keto versions of lasagna/other noodle dishes and I will be grating much of it for zucchini breads and for making Keto taco "shells" for her and I to try.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy

Giveaway Reminder & Taking the Day Off

My eldest son is here visiting for a couple of days so I am taking today off from blogging. 

I will take this day to remind everyone there is still two days to enter the giveaway.
Go HERE before Monday night at 11:59 EDST to enter.  You can enter once per day.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Sluggy

Rite-Aid.....Trying Some Deals & They Worked!

So I had to go to R-A for drugs so I tried a couple of deals I saw online so see if they would work.........

1 x Crest 3D White Glamorous White teeth whitening strips($46.99-20% Wellnes discount)=$37.59
1 x Jolly Rancher candy on sale=$1.50
1 x Twizzlers candy on sale=$1.50
SubTotal......$40.59

Coupons Used
1 x $12/1 Crest strips L2CQ=$12.00
1 x $5/1 Crest strips L2CQ=$5.00
1 x $10/1 Crest strips any In-AdQ=$10.00
1 x $12/1 Crest glamorous white Q in R-A Beauty Pamphlet=$12.00
Coupon Total.....$39.00

$40.59-$39.00=$1.59 +$1.24 tax=$2.83 paid in BC
Received back $3 in new BC($1 wyb2 select candy, $2 wyb select candy)


BUT.......
The cashier got to talking and was spacing out and hit the complete button before putting in the $10 In-Ad RAQ and the $12 Beauty Pamphlet $12 Q. sigh

Two different Crest L2CQs came off which were loaded on this card I used...both for whitening strips, one for $5 and another for $12.
Now I don't know if the cashier had put both these Qs through if it would have kicked off one of the two L2CQs that came off.
So I got 4 coupons applied to one item...crazy!

So I brought home $22 in cash for the Qs she forgot to put through, thus converting $22 worth of BC to cash.  This card with the new $3 in BC has $19.68 in BC attached to it.

Select brands/types of candies are double dipping for both a weekly and a monthly deal.  Types that quailfy are Twizzler twists and/or nibs in cherry and strawberry(not licorice)and Jolly Rancher hard candy, assorted flavors bags.
The Weekly Deal is Buy 2, Get $1 in BC and the brands are shown in the ad(limit 2 deals), the Monthly Deal is Buy 2, Get $2 in BC and is Twizzlers/Jolly Ranchers/Red Vines(limit 4 deals).
Bags of these candies are 2/$3 this week so buy 2 that qualify and get $1 weekly BC and $2 monthly BC so free after BC earned.

I didn't think I'd find the Crest strips on a Friday, none on the shelf where they are but I found 1 on an end cap display.

Not bad......a .17¢ moneymaker in total after cash back and BC earned.
And now I can have movie star teeth!

Sluggy