A Frugal Bunch

Came home from the farmer's market with a bargain Friday..over seven lbs.of apples, five tangerines, and two green tomatoes, for $3.00! Granted, they were a bit past their prime, and I didn't have a plan for any of it, but I felt rich with my haul.

Today was my let's do it all up day. I made two apple pies; one for Josh, who was here to help his Dad with installing the wood stove preliminaries, and one for Pete, for the freezer (he'd just finished a pie off). I was excited to use one of my little pie birds my sis got me for Christmas that I've wanted (seen with the ribbons still on them)..worked well! I'm not one to do a lot of baking, but I do like doing pies since my honey especially loves apple pies (with lots of cinnamon!), or any pie for that matter! The left over apples I sliced into rings and have drying on four racks in the dehydrator.

Also made some fried green tomatoes with some fried chicken tonight for dinner..thought I'd go to hell with myself and have a rare "fried" night and be done with it! The tangerines I'll send to work for a snack for Pete. And the apple peelings were shared between the birds/critters and the compost pile. I love being frugal and that none of it is wasted!

Ice Storm Goeth

Tried to capture pic of ice droplets forming on tree branches

Well. we got some ice in the form of sleet which coated the trees and surface areas for a brief while (we even had a few icicles hanging from the roof!) and the roads were bad for a while, but it only lasted as long as the night..once the sun broke and temps rose it was just wet out there again. Such is the South, or for us in the south central area, it seems.

I love weather changes, I get charged with excitement by ominous cloud formations, or when the wind changes hinting at something brewing in the air, or by an electrifying light show in a thunderstorm. I'm a weather junkie..so I was naturally disappointed we didn't have the "event" they predicted. Just as well, as I always feel selfish if that expected high is fulfilled while knowing our children and others might need to drive on bad roads, or deal with problems related to the bad stuff. So I do these tiny little voices in my head of "I hope we do get (fill in the blanks)", but not too loud, as if a little wish is ok so if it comes to fruition it won't have much impact on others.

Oh well. Excuse me while I go check the weather channel for the next event...

Just had to post something on this date of 1/11/11..cool :)

Waiting for the Storm

 The ice storm cometh!..Started sleeting about 10 minutes ago. Everyone's been waiting with anticipation on the arrival of this much televised and forewarned iced storm. A big deal here in the south that doesn't get much wintry weather of concern.
We woke at 6 a.m. to our weather alarm blaring. We bolted upright in bed as we usually do when it goes off, to get an announcement of the impending winter weather warning beginning at 6 p.m.  Gee thanks for the wake-up call 12 hours early on a Sunday morning! Really, tho, it's a blessing to have the weather alarm and to be alerted that far ahead of bad weather..always good to know. Winter weather here is always such a big thing!

Everyone in AL has been preparing, especially with predictions of downed power lines and loss of power. Our concern with that is if power goes out, so does our well pump, thus no water to the house. I've filled the bathtub and washing machine with water. Can use for misc. or pouring water into toilets for flushing. Have several jugs and coolers for drinking if needed. Temps will drop into mid 20's tonight, so if necessary, we can put a few immediate necessary food items from the fridge/freezer outside for easy access, at least till temps rise to mid 30's tomorrow. Have our little portable fire pit with a stack of wood I collected today should we need a flash of heat, even if outside just off the porch. Have been in touch with the kids and cell phones are charged should we need to connect.

The birds I feed chowed down on their regular feeder food plus I made/put out five peanut butter seed feeders..looked like Grand Central Station out there today, so much activity! Put out the last in the bag of deer corn and four deer wandered thru and had their fill tonight.

Made some nice Mediterranean roasted veg soup today and had for dinner. Yum! Love cooking when the weather/temps are wintry. Usually make bread, too, but, oh..how I love to eat it. No, no..don't dare. Have a wedding to attend and a still unpurchased dress to force myself into in five weeks!

Still sleeting out there...frozen precip expected overnight. TV warning of treacherous traveling in the morning. Hope Pete's job calls him tomorrow morn to say he doesn't have to go in ( a 20 mi drive into Montgomery)! Most roads here are supposed to be "closed" to driving, and no school for the children. We'll see what it's all about in the a.m.! Nite!

Winter Precip?

This should be interesting to see what comes of this "weather event" that's suppose to occur tomorrow, Sunday, afternoon into Monday. Big winter weather warning out for the south as a system moves east from Texas and across the southern region, passing thru Alabama, with predicted 100% precip of ice pellets, sleet, snow or freezing rain, saying any or all may occur at any time. Because this type of weather isn't usual, it becomes the talk of the town! They've been scrolling the weather warning on TV all evening.

We stopped at Walmart to pick up a few items on the way home from Abby's B'day party tonight, and were blow away by the canned goods isle..OMG, looked like a bomb hit the shelves..they were ravaged and trashed after folks picked thru and grabbed to stock their shelves with this storm warning scaring them. At the entrance of the store they even had a stack of "Pool salt for stairs, sidewalks and driveways". Pool salt? A first to me. Anyway, I love weather changes and looking forward to this "event". I'd love some winter precip, but not to where it is dangerous for driving or power outages. We'll see what happens!

Sweet Birthday Girl

Abby had her 8th B'day party this evening at the mall skating rink..she seemed to have a great time with family and a few friends there to share in the celebration. She had two little friends go home with her to sleep over. She looked like she was having a lot of fun skating and was just speeding around, great on the skates. I even got out there, first time in, oh, 25 yr's or so. Didn't stay out there long as my feet were like being in vices from too narrow skates and being rather shaky after so many years (I used to skate well), but it felt good just doing it again.

So the big question is, how is it these kids are growing so dang FAST! Brody turned 7 a few days ago, as will Jaycie the end of the month and the other three speeding along, too. Jeez. my sweet grand babies aren't babies anymore and it kills me to see them grow so fast. I want to shout at them to just slow down!! I know that won't and can't happen, sadly.Hope you had a wonderful Birthday, Abs, and a great year ahead..we love you so much!

What a Good Guy..

Pete's down under the house as I write, installing insulation that was non-existent when we bought the house. It's only crawl space and he has 30 rolls to staple up on the floor joists. I'm so glad I'm not a man having to do that kind of thankless stuff. I give him credit for getting under there. I'd have to hire someone, as I'd be too claustrophobic! But he's always been a do-it-your-selfer, which has saved us tons of bucko's over the years not having to hire someone for our home projects. And I love that he's like that and can do about anything he sets his mind to.

Uh oh.. my poor guy just came in. Said he had to quit. He came in earlier for a break and said he found a snake skin under there which totally creeped him out as he's deathly afraid of snakes. But he went back down anyway to get more put up. But just now said he was having a panic attack, being in that tight space, trying to work while thinking about a snake having been down there, and that one could be around. Said he broke out in a sweat (he's also bundled up with the cold), started breathing hard and just had to get out. Hell..I don't blame him one bit! Said he'll have to wait till one of our boys can give him a hand, someone to talk with while they work and keep his mind off it. Poor guy.