Convenience and Comfort!

Another one of my current convenience hacks, is to buy a small container of guacamole and one Haas avocado.  I'll chop and mush up the avocado, then mix in the pre-made guac.  This saves me from wasting at least half a bunch of fresh cilantro -- as no matter what I plan, I can never use it all.  This Little Salad Bar tub was $2.49 and the avocado was a buck.  Last week, avocados were on sale for fifty cents!  I buy these at Aldi along with their Simply Nature multi-grain tortilla chips.  As far as junk/snack food goes, this is a pretty healthy snack.  I also cut down on the cost and sodium in the pre-made mix.  The avocado comes out to two bucks per pound, while the tub of guac is $2.58 per pound.  So I am also saving a little bit of money too.

Embracing Convenience

She who used to refuse to buy salad in a bag, has drastically changed her opinion of salad convenience.  Not only do I now buy salad in a bag, I am buying salad kits, which I thought was something I would never do.  I have embraced not only the convenience but the ability to make a healthy meal that tastes fresh and delivers nutrition and fiber.

Beach Blanket Buy

I was lucky enough to score a beach blanket at a flea market this weekend.  This is something I'd wanted for the backseat of my car.  When you drive around with a wet dog in your car every day, you start to realize the value of decorative seat protection.  This one set me back just five bucks, so I figured it was worth it.  I'm driving our 2003 Malibu right now because the Benz is in the shop.  I think she likes it there, where she sits beside another vintage Mercedes and an older Jaguar.  My guess is that she either has a blown fuse for her glow plugs or it's the glow plug relay.  So for now, I am driving the car that we had previously made a dog-free vehicle.

My Life of Pottery

 So, I've decided to indulge myself.  While I won't go over-board decorating with objects, I've decided I want to use a little bit of pottery to accessorize the living and dining rooms.  This "Black Betty" style teapot seemed to fit the dining room.  I can use it for flowers too.  I found it at a flea market this weekend for five bucks.  It is in perfect condition.

Tranquil Time?

I had really hoped that I would have more time to relax once I started working part time.  Yes, I imagined I would decompress more at camp, read and sip wine in my backyard, and just slow things down.  Alas, that has not been the case.

It seems that no matter how much extra time I think I have, there are chores, tasks, obligations and the like that seem to fill it all up.  In my fantasy world, I would get to spend time here and there at home in comfortable, clean clothes, sipping wine or tea, reading a book or playing my guitar.  Invariably, I am up and down the stairs, trying to time a load of laundry for optimal time efficiency while I run out to the store to grab what I need to make dinner.  I get dirt and spills on my shirt in the course of it all and turn into a housewife slob.

Quick Cheap Meals

I try to make our meals from scratch, and also make them healthy.  Then there are times I am a hypocrite.   Mostly, it's because I am cheap.

On days where I have not had a chance to gather and assemble dinner, we'll order a pizza or some other form of take-out, or we'll eat out (generally at a diner).  Regardless of which we choose, it is rarely a healthy meal.  That's why I decided to buy a few "cheat" meals that I can make in a pinch.

Inside-Out I Clean it All!

We have a deal at Chez Petite.  Inside is my domain and outside is the responsibility of TBG.  There are two exceptions. Anything of a construction/maintenance nature inside falls to TBG (although I do fix things too), anything outside related to accessories/outdoor furniture is for me.  We do share sometimes -- like putting new stuff together, etc.  This weekend, we both toiled in the hot sun to clean up the back yard.  There was a ton of weed-whacking and blowing to be done.  The ground between the slate has pebbles but weeds are a big problem.  It took a lot of time to address that.  Some weeding got done in the beds, but not much!

Pretty Post Modern Pottery

I love California pottery from the fifties through to the early 70's.  While I don't collect a lot of it for myself, I do buy it as gifts for my sister.  She collects stuff and has an over-stuffed house, so it's a logical gift.  At Chez Petitie,we don't do a lot of "staging" simply because I don't like dust and want a house that is easy to clean.

Your Garage Sale Is Not Ebay!

 I wonder what the world is coming to when I go to two garage sales and one estate sale on a Friday and only manage to snag two kitchen implements for fifty cents a piece.  Actually, I have the answer to that -- it is greed.  People are seeing what junk is posted on Ebay for and then think their stuff is worth that much.  Or, they need to clean out dead grandma's house and want to wring out every last penny, so they have an estate sale.  Forget that grandma wasn't living the life of luxury and most of her stuff is crap, lots of it from dollar stores.

Is It Because I'm Old?

This is our first house, the old brick monster.  We lived in it for 20 years.  While we sold it for 50% more than what we bought it for, on paper, we took a loss.  Over the years, we put a lot of money into it -- but I still feel we came out ahead because we also had a roof over our head.  It was not a luxurious property and it was in a crappy neighborhood (although there were plenty worse).  When we purchased it, interest rates were near ten percent.

My Happy Dog

Teddy gets the blues when we leave camp.  There have been times when she's taken off and run to another trailer when it's been time to leave.  I certainly don't blame her -- I'd like to stay at camp too.  She does settle down in the car on the way home, which is an improvement over the trip out on Friday night.  On the way out, she won't settle down.  We also eat Burger King in the car and she drools buckets because she wants some.

Money Matters.... or Not!

I left some "money on the table" when I quit my last job.  One thing was that I walked away before our 2017 bonus was paid out -- that probably would have gotten me a couple of thousand dollars.  Another thing I walked away from, was a state tax advantage.  My company was part of a NY state program that had exempted me from paying state taxes.  I had to work six months in 2018 to qualify for the year, so I will have to make up for the taxes in January that were not withheld.

Our Daily Bread

I planned our weekend menu around a package of bread.  This six pack of ciabatta sandwich rolls at Aldi set me back $2.99.  The rolls were used to create three meals.  One of my goals at camp is to keep the food bill for the weekend lower than one dinner out.  The challenge last Friday was that my neighbor gave me a beer before I set out to shop!

Living the Good Life!

We had a lot of fancy coaches in the park this weekend.  Boy would I like to have one of those sleek buses with huge slide-outs, a kitchen with granite countertops, high-end finishes and conveniences galore.  Some folks spend close to a million or more on their traveling abodes.  I have no problem with that, since they can afford it.  Our trailer is a light-weight 2006 Jay-Flight, made by Jayco which we bought used about eight or nine years ago.  It's about 30 feet long with one narrow slide out for the couch and a very cramped kitchen, small back bedroom, dinette, tiny water closet (with a bath/shower we can no longer use).  Hey, it's a place to sleep!

Stocking up at the DT

 I stocked up on more than scrunchies at the DT this past week.  I grabbed more canned sauce products as a few lazy dinners this week depleted my supply.  The main reason for my visit, was frozen veggies/fruit for the pup and stock for Tuesday soup.  I was delighted to find small cans of pink salmon.  A large can, approximately the size of two small ones, generally runs about three bucks.  These cans get me out of a jam when we run out of meat for the pup or if what we've pulled from the freezer is too solid to give her.  We usually include a raw egg in a salmon meals -- making it one of her favorite eats.

Breaking Beauty Rules

I remember reading about seven or eight years ago, that scrunchies were "out."  No one who had any style (except maybe the Olsen sisters), would be caught dead wearing them. This week, I found a ton of them for a buck at the Dollar Tree -- of course I had to stock up!  Other things I've read: never cut your own hair or do your own eyebrows.  Ooops, I do both of those things too!

Smell the Roses

I didn't have to wake up to smell these... just unpack my grocery bag from Aldi.  When I see bouquets of a half dozen roses for $3.99, I'll generally go for it.  That is such a good price for a little something out of the ordinary.  My favorite color for roses, is yellow.  While these aren't super luxury florist flowers, they are still roses!

Storage Wars

 

I have been conscientiously working to organize our clutter in the master bedroom.  One problem was not having enough room for TBGs shoes.  He doesn't have too many pairs, but they are a size 11.5 EEEE.  They take up a lot of room.  The solution was to buy cheap shoe racks from Wallies.  I put one set set together to clear up the space around the central AC register.  I had extra room from relocating the cedar chest to the hall.  One problem is he had no place to set his overnight bag.  Spare clothes and the bag ended up on one of my hampers or my dresser.  Not anymore.  Now there is a place for it.  There is also a spot for him to stash his bi-pap carrying case.

Beating the Heat

The sudden onslaught of summer and 90+ degree temps has made life at Chez Petite quite uncomfortable.  Our early 1800's house has central AC, but there are no return vents upstairs to suck the hot air out.  That means the downstairs stays cool while we steam on the second floor.  I slept in the basement on a futon the past few nights, which was hellish. My back has been bothering me and the futon does not help.  Luckily, we found a solution!