Great Saturday Shopping, Price Drop

 We went to the Festhalle Farmer's Market and I found homegrown tomatoes. The market only allows farmers within the county to sell their produce and products. There was everything to imagine. I found tomatoes and squash to bring home for $5 each, so $10 spent on produce. We bought apple fried pies, also known in some parts of the country as hand pies. We both wanted peach but by the time I went to the car for cash, peach was gone. So, apple fried pies were delicious. 

Tommy loves fast food. We got burgers and sat in my driveway. It was so peaceful! I offer to make a sandwich from chicken, bologna, anything he wants, but he says he wants something hot. And, I am not averse to having a Whopper with cheese, lettuce, and tomato! 

For the last year or so, I have been struggling with plastic bags that tear up before I can even put anything in them. So, I finally called customer service. The woman sent me three coupons for $4 each with an expiration date of today! So, I had to work fast, considering I only got these coupons a week ago. I bought a box using one coupon and still had to contribute $1+ tax to the purchase even using the coupon. 

Today, I decided I needed to spend the other two coupons in Cullman or go to the store once we got back home. We only want to get into the house and relax when we drive so far. So, I went into Publix and found what I wanted had been on sale. I got two boxes of bags for $7.50 and had two coupons for $4 each for a $3.50 product. I spent $0.63 for tax on two boxes of storage bags, 180 in total. I spent $0.63 cents for tax. Good deal! 

We dropped off the dozen shirts, so that is gone. 

Gas has gone down again to $3.43. 

Tommy saw a large hawk flying along with two mocking birds chasing it. Mocking birds are vicious and fearless. I have seen them terrorize cats and crows, now hawks. 

I had a nap when we got home. Tommy never wants a nap, he just does...lol. Friday night, I slept about an hour, if that, so I needed a nap. 

Tommy is out watering flowers. Next spring, we will have an irrigation system that goes from pot to pot. I saw one on someone's porch. So, they do exist. I had no idea, just wished it existed. 

Believe it or not! I put out a package of woody chicken to thaw! I am so disgusted and irritated. I will cook it, but only because it is thawing. 

Tommy spends hours using a reacher picking up bits of trash from the carpet around the house. Right now, he is putting together a cordless, stick vacuum cleaner that has a hepa filter. This won't be for the whole house and dust that has been here for about 16 years, but he can at least get up what he sees and wants to get up. In four hours the battery will be charged and I suppose he will be using it all over the house. Of course, the cleaner will use the corded, more powerful one. So, YAY for a vacuum he can use instead of a reacher. 

About the hepa filter, I need it. Regular vacuums just push out dust into the air. With almost twenty years of dust, I suffer. It would be worse having it pushed back out into the air up where I breathe. 

Tonight, for dinner I am combining stuff already cooked and leftover--half a jar of spaghetti sauce, spaghetti noodles in the refrigerator, and ground beef we cooked last night. I will probably add some zucchini to the sauce. No, I sliced zucchini and squash, he got slices of red and orange peppers, and some grape tomatoes to a huge bed of salad greens. So, he had a hearty and healthy dinner. 

Around midnight, he tried out the little stick vacuum using his walker with one hand and the vacuum with the other. After three minutes on a "clean" carpet, the dust bin was full. This was in front of his chair, in front of the front door, and toward the hall. 

Do you have a full-sized vacuum or a stick? Does the stick seem to do a really good job? 

Are you going to markets that limit vendors to farmers in your county? 

Have you ever observed a mockingbird terrorizing crows, hawks, and large birds? This happened daily at my house, but I cannot see out well here. 

This and That

 We went out for one thing today and forgot the watermelon to eat with mustard. But, there is a list for tomorrow and the watermelon is on the list. 

About ten days ago, I talked with two friends. These were the conversations that leave a person happy and filled with a satisfaction. You know the kinds of conversations I mean. 

Dinner Friday night was turkey breast slices, carrots, and potatoes, all baked in the oven. 

I received a pair of pants and two blouses I ordered from Amazon and nothing fit. Bummer. 

The neighbor that mowed Tommy's yard had to have someone mow his yard and had the service mow Tommy's, too. I think another neighbor is sick. Remember, one died. 

Instead of using storage bags, I mostly use sandwich bags for short-term storage. Tonight, I put two pieces of chicken in a sandwich bag instead of a storage bag. We will eat the chicken tomorrow. Sandwich bags are cheaper. 

Once a month, whether I need it or not, I buy a package of Northern in the purple pack, any size. 

Tommy lets oranges waste because he does not eat them regularly and just lets them sit. But, when he does eat and orange, he eats three. I don't understand. I rarely eat an orange, actually never because I cannot eat much fiber per doctor's orders. 

Tomorrow, I hope to get my car jumped off. The battery has been dead for about two months. I doubt I can help Tommy with the battery. I can sit in the car and start it...lol. We need someone to help us. 

Thankfully, we are eating down the food in the refrigerator. Tommy had two gallons of milk and I have five half-gallons. I cannot search, so he has to. Now, I can find things on my own. 

I had the nose-pieces changed in my new glasses from the ones that came on the glasses to new silicone ones. The tech said the ones that came on the glasses were plastic. The plastic ones make my skin, hurt, burn, sweat, and turn red! So, now I get to wear my new glasses again. 

Do the little nose pads on your glasses bother your nose/skin? 

Six Free Things and a Scholarship

 Okay, it is not as good as it sounds, although still good. At Burger King there is a coupon booklet that costs $1 for six free items--soft serve cup or cone, Value size French fries or hash browns, small frozen drink. There are two of each coupon. This is to benefit the BK Scholars Program where a scholarship from $1000 to $50,000 will be awarded. I thought it was just for BK employees, but it is for any high school student. 

Maybe you know someone who would like to apply for this scholarship. Maybe you want to spend $1 to get 6 items free to you. I bought two coupon booklets. The coupons expire 1-31-21. Between us, we can have 6 treats for a total of 12 treats over the next three months. 

When I went into another Publix, I was given another free bag, so that makes two.

On Tuesday, I had a doctor's appointment in Cullman. It was a good visit because I was not ill, just a checkup. But, I had AIC last week, so nothing was done this week. 

I did take names and telephone numbers to call and question/complain. She has sent for a meter for diabetes, a light box, and physical therapy, referrals to doctors and I have heard nothing. I volunteered to do the calling this time! She was all for that. Maybe something will happen now.

All the Halloween decorations have been dried and put away. So, that is behind us. 

Now, I am considering what to do for Thanksgiving decorations. This has always been minimal, anyway.  I am thinking about hanging turkeys from the tree out front. I always like viewing what people have outdoors. What kind of decorating are you doing for Thanksgiving? 

When I ask Tommy to look for cans in the dark, he has started putting food willy nilly on the shelves. I don't really care what or where he puts stuff. I do plan to be able to eat Thanksgiving dinner at the table! I am facing the holidays where there is usually more conviviality with increasingly low expectations. 

I figure if I can get someone to clean the house, we will be ecstatic and less likely to focus outward. I have someone scheduled for Nov. 16, but I have a feeling this will be a no-show. So, I am scheduling someone else before that and see how this goes. 

Tuesday night, I went to bed sad. Wednesday morning, I awoke hopeful. So, as the vote-counting continues, we will see how it goes. 

Wednesday, I used another two coupons for Ronco pasta. So, that was $0.75 off each package. I bought spaghetti, elbows, and something else. Since I shopped at the Pig on Wednesday, I got 5% off my whole order. I would give you the particulars but I don't have the receipt right here. 

I just bagged the 3 lbs of chicken in 2 cup packages and had a pleasant surprise. Remember how I said the chopped chicken was too salty. Well, these were half chopped and half sort of shredded and had no seasoning whatsoever. that is good. 

Tommy is going to wash the air fryer and I will put two packages of ground meat in it, yes, just plop them in. I want the ground beef the cook and store in the freezer for pizza, spaghetti and whatever. 

Okay, that's it. Are you following the election as closely as I am? Do you feel a sense of relief as the situation stands right now? 

(Once again, go waaay down below to find comments.)

 

The Natural Package

I don't know where this bag came from, but the bottom is the interesting part that made me think.

PAPER
The Natural Package
*recyclable
*reusable
*degradable
*renewable
This product contains recycled material

Yes, I have a paper bag! As I read this, I could only think of the flaws in the convincing wording, meant to reassure consumers and to convince consumers of the rightness and goodness of using the paper bag.

The bag is definitely recyclable. But, how many people will actually recycle it? If it gets wet or food stains it, the recycling facility will not want it.

The bag is reusable. How many times can it be reused before it is torn. Once the bag tears, I could never use it again. If it does not function, it is no longer usable. Of course, it can be used to start a fire, I suppose? It can become and craft tool/material.

The bag is degradable. But, what other substances are now in the wood product. This bag won't be killing fish or floating around, hanging in trees and fences. It will work in a compost bin.

The trees from which the bag comes are definitely renewable in that more trees will grow. But, how many years old must a tree be in order to cut it and make more bags? 20? 40? I did not look it up. Since there are more trees still available while we are waiting for the replacement to grow, virgin forests can be consumed. Maybe not. What chemicals are used? How much water? How much energy?

At least the bag contains recycled material.

As I read this label stamped on the bottom of the bag, I thought back to a movie I saw and my thoughts then. As I watched HAWAII, I marveled at the shipping containers. There was not one metal shipping container or huge plastic bin used to contain and transport merchandise coming to the island. Of course, the burlap bags and large and small wooden crates were manufactured from raw materials just like the paper bag I have or the alternative--plastic.

The difference? A burlap bag will last much longer in use. No trees that took decades to grow are cut. Burlap bags will not kill fish.

Reusable bags that last longer than our present choices, paper or plastic, would be perfect. Reusing colorful bags for Christmas wrapping is one way to cut down on wrapping paper. There are quite a few other ideas for not using paper or plastic.

I will stop since I could write about this for days. Almost all of my bags I have had for twenty years are gone. So, I have to start over. In antiquity, an animal skin from a consumed animal could be used to carry items. Pottery that still exists was used to transport items in ships. Okay, I am stopping here.

I know some cities and stores either ban or no longer made free plastic or paper bags as a matter of course. Hopefully, that will come to our city or area. But, this paper bag is not the solution to our problems. It is not the natural package we need to use.

Do you use paper, plastic, or reusable bags? I use a mixture.