Groceries and Tupperware

Chocolate above was less than $1 for 3 oz. bar.

 Of course, yesterday's good sleep is followed by a 4-hour nap last night. But, I did get up at 8:30 and start the day with a bit of reading on the internet. I washed my hair and bathed. 

Then, between the two of us, we put a chicken in the crockpot. We have our movements and separate tasks for all of this. Neither of us moves until we inform the other. That way, we are never bumped off our feet. Today, I have really been dizzy since I ate and don't know why. So, Tommy carries the knives...lol. 

In a bit, we are off to take recycling to Publix and get milk for Tommy, apples for me. The ads were not much this week, forgot what. But, the pork butts are $1.89 or something close to that price. Hopefully, Tommy will go in and get it since this store is the most difficult for me to get into and out of as I have to walk to far. Carts are not allowed outside of the store. I was told it was for my safety because if it rained, I might be electrocuted on the electric cart. 

Why do people think customers are ignorant. Can you imagine how an electric cart maker could stay in business if carts were that dangerous? I honestly think some of the doom peddlers believe it themselves. 

Tommy went into the store that carts are kept in the store only and bought a huge pork butt. One of us will cut it in half, cook one piece and freeze the other half. 

Then, we saw or Tupperware lady from Mississippi, stopped and shopped. She remembered my name and the fact I wanted a pie keeper. (She said she had my name and what I wanted in her phone.) But, she did not have one. I did find things to replace what went into the dump--pasta keeper, tall and skinny container for juice or whatever, midgets or smidgets or something, and another tall cylindrical container ($5 piece that sold for $25 originally. Tommy even paid for it, volunteered because I did not have my checkbook and she did not take cards. I bought the one piece for $5 that was $25. I suppose it was not a good seller or it was the last she had. 

This woman comes from Mississippi and sets up in a grocery store parking lot across from her family's restaurant. She spends the night with family. So, her only cost is gas to get here. She knows I cannot get out of the car and stand for long, so she cheerfully brings me what I want to see and shows me new items. I told Tommy that I would not have spent a dime if she acted like I was an irritant, a problem. Of course, I do have to sit while she waits on others who come to shop. 

Publix--Peter Pan PB bogo, gal of Publix milk for Tommy, dried marjoram, dried oregano, apples, bananas, tiny teeth grater. I had to get a rain check for Angel Soft. Diet Coke Caffeine Free, and Special K.

The Pig--bologna, hotdogs for the freezer, a2milk two half gallons that cost $2.85/half gallon as opposed to $4.99 at Publix, Vidalia onions, free mustard for buying $10 of groceries.

We were so tired when we arrived home about 6 pm. However, the chicken in the crockpot was delicious smelling and falling-off-the-bone done. Tommy made himself a salad and I put chicken on his plate. He had the last of the herb butter on a piece of French bread or some bread that was not loaf bread. I had chicken breast, and slaw. Shortly before dinner I was starving and had a huge salad. 

Tommy and I were discussing salad dressings. He hates Ranch Dressing, and I love it. He prefers Italian and I prefer not to have vinegar because I am allergic to it. However, I do love Italian dressing. Well, he told me he had been eating Ranch Dressing. I was shocked. He said he put either sweet or dill relish on top of the Ranch on his salad. So, I will make dressing for him and let him put in the amount of relish he likes before I put it in a jar with lid. I am trying to avoid all the stuff in store bought dressing that is an allergen for me or that is bad for us. 

Okay, it is 10:30 and the chicken is cool enough for Tommy to take meat off the bone. I may make chicken and dumplings on Saturday because I have sale dumplings to add. We will see. 

Have you ever had a Endangered Species Chocolate bar? 

I am going to use Anne's recipe for salad dressing first, but do you have a good dressing recipe?

Are you a Tupperware fan or not? 

Saturday Recovery

 We went to bed at 12:30 after a hard day on Friday. I got up at 1:45 to get something from my table in the living room. Tommy was sound asleep, holding the remote and tv on. I spoke loudly twice and told him to turn off the tv. He acted confused, and rightly so. Then, he just closed his eyes. I hate to yell at him, so I just went back to the bedroom. Just now, he said he turned it off. 

I got up once more in the night to go to bathroom. The next time I woke was 11:15 am. I felt bruised all over. It is 8 pm and I still feel bruised all over. I had a sandwich for lunch and ate peanuts a few minutes ago. 

There are leftovers--baked chicken breast and vegetables to eat, but I made something else. Chicken in soup, rice, cheese, 12 ounce package of broccoli, and pimientos. There is still taco soup, so I will freeze the rest of that tonight. There is still the other package of chicken thawing. I will cook it and have many packages of frozen breasts for other meals. 

Tommy had to help me with this dinner, heavy help. It was also too heavy for me to try to put it in the oven. Dinner is late because I didn't realize how long it would take me. 

Today, I started decluttering by cleaning out a bin of paper. Tomorrow, Tommy will go through the paper and get my name and person information off. I usually just rip my name off and put it in something gooey and wet. He cuts it off and takes scissors and gives it a good shredding. He will do this for hours each time. I remembered the other thing I wanted to get him for his birthday--a shredder. His birthday is on Dec 9th. When I have mentioned this before, he has yelled mightily and objected. I see this paper as a detriment to decluttering paper. So, we need this. It will help with decluttering. 

Saturday, I went to visit the Tupperware lady who told me she would be there on this date. She has a tent in a parking lot and brought things to my car. 

I went into Publix to get one thing on bogo and they did not have it out. I bought $43 worth of stuff that looked good and they finally found the item in the back--$5 more. In my defense, the pork loins were a good price and delicious. I will only buy this one quart of eggnog. 

The Christmas cards for the exchange finally got stamps. I forgot where I put the Christmas stamps, so these got winter flowers in the snow. 

That's it. Nothing else was done. I am in my snuggly nightgown with pockets. Dinner will be done soon. A Christmas Story is on TV. I love this movie! I asked Tommy if he ever wanted a BB gun when he was a kid. No. However, his father did buy him a shotgun for Christmas when he was about twelve-years-old. !!! His eleven-year-old brother received a shotgun the same Christmas. They lived in the city of Birmingham! 

Dinner had an off taste, not sure why. 

When you were little did you want a BB gun or get a shotgun? 

How about your husband? 

Your brothers or sisters? 

Children? 

Do you love A Christmas Story, also? 

Overwintering, Cut Rite, Saturday

 Most of Saturday was spent watching videos about overwintering geraniums. Really, it was just during the Auburn game. I learned lots, mainly I need to take them out of their pots. UGH I really hate to buy things again in the spring when I can save them. At my house, I had flowers in the ground, so did not have to try to overwinter. The hosta and tulips I had in pots came back the next year. So, this is all new to me. Tommy watched Auburn lose while I watched videos.

The videos I watched were people removing plants from the ground and from pots too large to move. I wonder if I could carry these gallon pots into the laundry room for the winter. What do you do?  

We went out for a McDonald's adult happy meal and the McD did not have them. Bummer. We did sit in the park for a bit and watched crows pecking around the baseball field. 

Even though I slept well Friday night, I still took a nap. Tommy had part of the rest of the chicken I cooked, the leg, I think, and had that and carrots and potatoes for his dinner. I had sourdough bread and butter. I am going to have tuna and celery later, plus half an apple. 

I found a drawer in the kitchen that has not been emptied. It is on the right of the oven and perfect for storing the potholders since it is only about six inches wide. So, I am slowly emptying it and finding things. He has a huge package of batteries with odd, old batteries in it. Hopefully, there will not be an argument about getting rid of used batteries. 

In the freezer I had a chunk of butter that was about 8 inches by four inches and thicker than a regular stick of butter, maybe 1 1/4 inch. Usually, I have sticks or one huge block of butter. I put a stick or equivalent of a stick in a glass container with a click lock closure, the kind that closes on all four sides. Well, this was a puzzle as to how to divide it into equivalents to a stick. I think I ended up with five "sticks."

Finally, I just cut off one end for the counter storage. Then, I took waxed paper and stored four more portions on the door of the refrigerator since the remaining uncut chunk would not fit. Of course, the butter stuck well to the waxed paper. And, tonight when I unwrapped a new piece, it did come off easily.

Handling the Cut-Rite waxed paper roll, cutting it, and wrapping the butter took me back to my childhood. That is what we used. Mama used it to wrap our sandwiches for lunch each day. We had no Glad Wrap. Was it even a thing back in 1950? Okay, it was invented in 1933, but we had none. At any rate, it was a nostalgic moment with my mother being the focus. When I unwrapped it tonight, I had more memories that comforted me. 

If my sandwich bread was a little less than fresh, I suppose I thought that is the way a packed sandwich was and did not fret about the lack of soft bread.  Who knew that a sandwich could be kept as fresh as my sandwiches are today? (rhetorical) We used waxed paper for many things in the kitchen. Now, I mostly use it to line a cake pan for baking.

The new Tupperware design of cannisters is hateful. I struggled to open the two larger ones. Finally, I asked Tommy to open the smallest one. He was wrestling it for a bit, and he is strong. Flour is now in the largest one. The middle one will hold sugar. I suppose I will put something in the smallest one that I never want to access. The new design of the place to open the cannisters is a big fail!

Another thing--the T woman said this was the left over from Easter line. Now, who changes cannisters with the holidays? That is just crazy. I am not one bit impressed with a lavender, teal, and pink cannister set! I looked for the old yellow Tupperware cannisters at SA. I did not like the yellow or brown, but for ease of use and a good seal, I would buy those second hand. Okay, maybe not. I keep cannisters in the cabinet but would much prefer yellow on the counter to these pastels. 

How do you overwinter geraniums or other plants in small pots? Do you use waxed paper? Did your mother use it? Have you tried the new styles of Tupperware?

Bugs on My Plates, More Chores Out, Witch Burning

I washed one small plate from my new set and ate off it several times. Each time I was a little horrified at the bug that had gotten onto my plate. I have had ladybugs in my freezer, food, skillets of food, and everywhere else in some years in my other house. But, there have been no ladybugs in this house. Everytime I startle, I realize it is a ladybug in the pattern! Finally, I check all the plates. The salad plates ALL have a ladybug in the pattern. None of the dinner plates have a ladybug. 

We headed out for a few local and short chores.

Yes, Dollar Tree items are higher! I went there looking for two things, did not find them, but found other items to buy. I was looking for a witch hat for Lynda, a bunch of fall leaves, and something else. Everything I did purchase was $1.25--construction paper, cupcake papers, three small notebooks, package of two potholders. 

I needed green and red construction paper. The package had one green sheet. The three small notebooks are for the Pink Purse Project to put in three purses. The potholders were pretty and very cheap. Even expensive potholders may be ugly or not sturdy. We are rough on potholders. When I went in DT that has no electric carts, I stayed right up front where Christmas is quickly replacing Halloween, and one trip halfway down one aisle to get the construction paper! There were some pretty and cheap Thanksgiving dinner plates up front and other accessories, but not for me now. The plates were autumn leaves, so okay for all of fall. 

We wanted to see the yard in another neighborhood decorated with a 10 or 12-foot skeleton. It was not out. None of the yard was decorated. Are they going to do it before Halloween? 

I used the last cooking bag so got three more boxes. If they are cheaper on Amazon, I will buy there. 

The tablet needs to be set up. Could find no one to do that. I looked at the directions and feel inadequate. 

We sat in the park and ate a small cup of ice cream and watched the world...lol. 

Right now, Tommy is setting up two squashes given us. He drew a face on a butternut squash and is take in little decorative squash Lynda gave me to put in another flowerpot. 

There is a little ratty iron wire table in front of the house where we placed the one we bought yesterday. The new one is putty with glass top. The wire one will be sprayed white and put on the porch in place of the one there now, that I paid $3 and think it is ugly and falling down. Spray paint is the most I do now so it has gotten no attention. I cannot make anything better like I could before. The one on the porch will go on the curb! 

The Tupperware sits unwashed, so I need to get on that. 

My crow needs to replace the bluebird on the porch or rather, on the shepherd's hook in front of the porch. 

There are so many little piddly things to do today. Nothing is large, heavy or earthshattering, just little things. 

Along with those, I want to make meatloaf and chopped burger meat. Tommy really likes it on salads or just with his vegetables. Plus, he does not eat as much as he would eating a hamburger. 

Hummingbird feeders need to come in. 

On Saturday Lynda was outdoors when I called. She was making a witch to look like it was burning at the stake. She said she had witch legs, black cloth, and a milk jug for a head. She has looked everywhere for a witch hat with no luck. She said she put black cloth over the milk jug head and now it looks like she is burning a nun! I almost choked I laughed so hard. Today, we drove by. Yes, it does look like a nun! I need to go look in my Halloween stuff and find a witch hat before the priests come and march in front of her house. 

We are drawing on gourds and she is burning a nun. I have to go now! 

Any hilarity happening at your house? More decorating? Cooking?

Busy Saturday + Edit of More Things

This morning, we went to Cullman for a few reasons, and in the process, 

I received a free chicken, dressed of course. 

Met with an artist friend. He has the paint by number and will stretch it. I have no idea how, but he mentioned a hammer, a saw, and staples. Tommy will be able to paint the Christmas picture with cardinals in the snow. 

We stopped and got the mail. I got Tommy a sheet of forever stamps. They did not have any I like, so I will get mine next month. I got "Pony Cars" for him. Next month I will get mine--flower stamps and Christmas stamps. 

We hurried back down to meet with the Tupperware lady from Mississippi. She is set up in a parking lot in front of a store. I had gotten something totally wrong when we first saw her. She took it back and let me get cannisters. Then, she cut the price on a pie container. I had one but it is gone. So, I can bake a pie or cupcakes and keep them all fresh and pest free. 

Then, I saw an estate sale with everything 1/2 price today. I managed to get in the house and sat down every chance I had in the house. There were lots of pretty things, but I decided I did not really want them. Outside, there was a patio table for $35 that they offered me for $15. It folds flat, so it went into the car. It is set up and I love it! 

On the way home, I saw a tent in a parking lot and got a Lifeline tablet for $20/ I hope these are not hot and are legit. 

Last night, I went to bed at midnight and awoke at 4 am. I am beat so I am going to bed right now at 4:30 in the afternoon. 

I don't know how to set up the tablet, but I may not know how to get to the bed. I am that tired. But, it is a pretty day. 

Tommy suggested I call Geek Squad. If I do that, I have lots of things for them to help me do and learn. Have you ever used GS? 

Let's see--hen, stretching canvas, Tupperware cannisters and pie taker, table for yard and tablet, plus 32 lbs of sweet potatoes, 5 red tomatoes, 1 green tomato.

We did everything we set out to do and more. Things went off smoothly.

Did things go smoothly this Saturday? What did you do?

I may sleep all evening, so this post goes out now.

Edit: add another 32 lbs. of sweet potatoes, 5 tomatoes, and 1 green tomato to the day's haul. I forgot.

My Quest; My Hair

 Tuesday happened like I planned it. The day was well under way before we left the house. We picked up my shoes from SAS. I need a wider size because of my swollen feet. sigh Then, I looked for leggings and came home empty handed. 

However, I did find some long-sleeves tops that may or may not fit. I have yet to try them on. I tried on the two dresses and they both go back. sigh 

I did find the pants like the ones that dumped things. However, the pocket is a bit deeper and not sewn down. So, these may work. When I try them on, I will just put things in stacks, fit and return. 

Sunday night, I slept well and slept until about 9:30 Monday morning. Then, I fought a nap when we arrived home. Since we had meat cooked in the refrigerator, I still did not cook the chicken. We agreed to eat what we had: pork, sweet potato and salad. 

I like water, so this is not a problem with getting enough liquids. But, the three days I made and drank iced tea, I did not want a Coke or even milk. I did drink milk, but didn't seem to drink it many times in a day. Tommy does not have an ice maker and I don't see him ever paying anyone to hook one up even if he gets another refrigerator. 

Yes, it is a quest. I want two ice cube trays with lids. The Amazon search is still on, but nothing measures up. I want two trays, one for Tommy and one for me. I don't think, well, I know his hands aren't clean half the time! The freezer has limited space and things are always crooked. So, I need a tray that will hold the cubes until we crack them out, one at a time if necessary.

No, there is not room for a box on the door where we can use a scoop.

I remember Tupperware having a tray with a seal. Tupperware seals did hold well. I looked at Tupperware recently and the lids/seals come off very easily. So, Tupperware is out. All the other trays with lids do not hold. I read the reviews for each one. All the reviews so far have the complaint that the lid falls off or is not tight. I am not trying to keep air out, just cube in the tray. 

Does anyone know of a brand of ice cube tray with a lid that holds tight?

Two days ago or more, I cut the length of my hair where I could see it. When I would flip my hair forward where it hung over my shoulder, it was really long, so I cut about two inches. It is still long enough that it touches my shoulders. Then, I decided to cut a bit more of the length of the back since it looked silly with the longer area not blended. 

Today, I sat in the lawn chair and had Tommy cut the rest to a length that blended and was a U-shape. Then I pulled up all the crown straight up and had him cut off the length and straggly part. So, now it is done unless I decide it needs layers, especially around the front. That will be for another day. It looks so much better and feels better. It was getting overly shaggy and weird looking. Tommy said it looked like jack o lantern teeth in the back with some places two inches longer and other places just snaggled. 

My hair color with tax is $10.95 in the store. From Amazon I can get it for $6.63, so it will be delivered every month. 

The weather is so nice, free of rain, sunny, and just warm enough. I woke this morning needing my inhaler and running a fever. So, maybe October won't make me too miserable this year. I just heard on the weather that it has not rained for 35 days. So, with nothing to clean the air, the dust is making weather people miserable along with me. 

Right now, we are making a list of things that we need to do on Tuesday. It is long but easily done. If we don't get things done, we can carry it over to another day. 

Do you know of an ice cube tray with a lid that stays on? Do you have someone who is not a licensed professional who helps cut your hair? Or, do you have a licensed professional who does your hair at your home? Has this always been available to you or has covid led you to seek help at home? 

Friday

Getting all the tomato sauce and green beans labeled and onto shelves has been a chore, to say the least. I use a Sharpie and write the year, sometimes the month, too, onto the top of the can and front. So, it is a lot of handling of heavy cans. Yes, a one-pound can is heavy to me. While not handling cans, I picked up a pen to write and clicked the top. The pain was excruciating in the back of my hand. That stopped all useful activity. 

Now that I am no longer with AT&T, they sent me a phone, the free one they said they sent in November. Thanks, AT&T (sarcasm). 

I have grass-fed beef, thinly cut pork chops, and maybe chicken thawing. I know I am making meatloaf. I want to cook the pork chops in sauce my kids were wild about. If there is chicken, it will be baked with carrots, onions and potatoes. The last time I cooked three meats in one day, it was just as easy as cooking one meat. Portions of all those are in the freezer. I will do the same today. 

Yesterday, we went out for one thing at one store and went nowhere else. However, something came to us in the form of a popup Tupperware stand in a grocery parking lot. The woman gladly brought the items to my car for us to examine. I looked at cannisters (tops did not appear to be tight enough); spaghetti holders (at $10 each, I would need ten of those); short, very fat cannisters (too weird); a pitcher and glasses and tray (not interested, just wondering); a divided tray (I will take it). 

Tommy gladly fixes his own salad from items in the refrigerator. I can cut bell peppers and there are usually shredded carrots or baby carrots and grape tomatoes. I prepare zucchini and squash for salads. But, he misses some things and must take out ten containers to make a salad some days. We had the tray in the car and he was looking with interest, holding it. That is a good sign. 

If he thought it was a waste, he would have been uninterested or not talking about it. I asked him if he thought this would help him get salad fixings out. He said it would. So, I had enough cash to buy the first piece of Tupperware I have bought in about 6 or more years. I was tired and did not wash it yesterday, but today I will have it ready for use and loaded. I have cut thin gs up for him and he forgot about the food, could not find it, or probably became tired of unloading the items. 

There are six divisions and a center part that has a covered container. In the summer I can slice or dice tomatoes for the center container. I think more produce will consumed and less wasted. 

I have my eye on a cheap container for spaghetti, but once filled, I cannot lift it. So, it would be relegated to valuable countertop real estate. So, I procrastinate. I had the spaghetti in a flat airtight container and could not lift that. So, I put spaghetti into gallon storage bags. I still cannot lift it from a shelf safely. Now, I just put a few packages of the Ronco in a storage bag. It works for me. 

Have you seen the huge jars that Cheese Balls, like cheese puffs come in at a Big Box store? That is what I want, but who wants to eat all these puffy cheese balls? Well, I probably could and just die! Since I cannot lift it full of spaghetti, I won't even try to find one that is empty. Speaking of spaghetti, prices have risen on my precipitously on my beloved Ronco.

Okay, I am looking forward to 78F today and 80F for two days. I love this. What are you doing this Friday or plan to do? Do you ever thaw out several meats at once to cook and have ready to eat?