Thursday doings

No little grands here today so I am doing stuff that I can't really do when they are here.

In the crockpot, a big batch of pinto beans are cooking with jalapeños, cumin, chili powder and garlic. 

When they are cooked, I will make them smooth in the food processor for the most delicious Refried beans. We will have bean burritos and a big salad for supper, the rest of the beans will go in the freezer.
here is how I do them 

Yard work - first I mowed the back, then I planted the onion sets my brother brought. 

I put them in big pots, and enriched the soil with homemade compost.

While I was planting onions, I brought over the rest of the posts and planted them too. 

More tomatoes in 2, dill in 1 and flowers in the others.

For now, the pots with new seeds are under the pergola roof. They will still get quite a bit of sun but the roof should protect them from heavy rainfall we may get soon.
if you look close, you can see some of the cherry tomatoes I started from see are doing great and I put the support cages on them today. 

A close up of the katawpa tree- I think it is funny and looks like a drawing from a Dr Suess book.

in the yard, I found some eggs that the grands did not find Saturday - one egg was hanging from  our clothesline, I wonder which of my clever children or brothers hid it there? 

My list for the week is almost done!  :)

I am going to clean our bathroom, have some hot tea, and then I plan to sew all afternoon on 2 dresses and 2 tops for me. 

hope you are getting stuff done this week too!  

List update, today's shopping, and my 5 little ones

I posted my list yesterday and you all had some nice comments and some funny comments too- thank you!

I worked hard yesterday and surprised myself getting so much of the list done.

One year old JJ was here but he was so tired from the busy weekend that he took 2 long naps. That gave me lots of work time. He sat happily in his stroller with some toys while I worked in the front yard. 

Grandson Braeden is with me today. 

We did just a couple errands this morning. 

We stopped at Dollar Tree and got these

The Airborne is their item of the week. I don't like to swallow pills, especially big vitamin pills. This Airborne has lots of vitamins in it and will be easier to swallow. 

The next stop was my favorite  thrift store. Sorry, no amazing furniture finds today........

There were 19 of us here Easter Eve. I decided we needed to add some forks to our kitchen and was happy to find these - All 11 for $1.

Shorts for the youngest grandsons. Some were 50 cents, some were $1.

Little boy shirts

A 3 yard length of a heavy cotton knit for $3 - I think it could sew up to a great summer top

We had a very fun Easter Eve. The grands like hunting and dyeing eggs but after supper, they seemed to like playing with play dough the best.

Monday morning list

Good morning everyone

I like lists, they keep me on track. Here is what I need to get done and hope to get done this week. 

I could write more but my paper is full and realistically, I don't think I could get more done anyway. 

Hope you all have a good week and gets lots done. 

Anyone else writing out their to-do list this morning?

Easter 51 years ago......

The first little girl in this photo is me. The boys are my older brothers. 

We were all outside playing that Sunday afternoon.

Happy Easter everyone. 

Take some photos to remember it.

Finances on Friday

Blueberry muffins made with low priced Aldi blueberries.

actually baked these last week but I never got around to posting then 

my neighborhood has an addition-wide yard sale every spring.  My children have been cleaning out their homes and bringing their cast-offs here to get ready for it.  I don't need most of their junk but I was interested in this red plastic crate that one of them brought over. 

it fits perfectly on a shelf in our fridge and is so useful to hold all those extra condiments that tend to get lost in the very back.

it can be slide in and out, almost like a drawer. 

Our recent electric bill was the smallest ever in this house.  I think the switch from an electric range to a gas range has a lot to do with it. But I am not sure why it just showed up now, as we got the new range in December.  

Cashed out Swagbucks for $25 in Paypal and almost have enough to do it again.  

JJ's birthday quilt was sewn up completely with fabric, thread and batting from my sewing stash.  

not much shopping to blog about because all our recent groceries have come from Aldi but I do have a stack of coupons ready for Walmart and CVS that I hope will net some bargains.  You never know though....

Cut my husbands hair- I should say buzzed his hair. It is not my favorite thing to do but it is thrifty and quick and it makes him happy. 

Baked up a batch of banana nut muffins with some very ripe bananas and also a pan of cinnamon rolls. Both are in the freezer for Easter morning breakfast.  

Extra cooking this week as I get ready for Easter.- I made 4 pie shells and they are waiting in the freezer.  I also made a tray full of twice baked potatoes that are waiting in the fridge to be reheated.  

continued to bake all our bread in 2014.

Found these 2 Ethan Allen vintage nutmeg maple pieces at my favorite thrift store. The end table was $30 and the bigger piece was $45. I am thrilled with both of them and so is my husband. I will not be refinishing them and plan to keep them.
 My parents have Ethan Allen furniture pieces similar to these and so did my some of my aunts and uncles.  They just look and feel like home to me.

inside the drawers are the Ethan Allen stamp

We will be having our family egg hunting and coloring and a big meal to celebrate Easter on Saturday.

There will be at least 16 and possibly 19 here. 

To add extra seating for dining, I used a folding table that is same size as our dining table and put them end to end. Counting high chairs and the 2 chairs in the sewing room I have not moved yet, there is seating for 16 now.

The tables needed covered and I thought about buying fabric or vinyl table cloths but went with a thriftier and easier option. In that garage sale pile, I pulled out a full size flat sheet, off white with an tan stripe. It was the perfect size to cover both tables after I cut it lengthwise down the middle and machine hemmed those 2 raw edges. I think it was probably quicker to do that little bit of sewing than it was to go shopping. 

The brown doilies were all crocheted by my mom.

The white bunnies are thrift store treasures and the brown ones were made by a friend many years ago.

just using what I had makes for a natural neutral table and I am happy with it.

I hope you all are having a pleasant and thrifty week too.  

Linking up with Rebecca at Renaissance