By the time I sat
down to start this post it was already Thursday! Yes, another jam packed week for us three
girls. But a pretty good one nonetheless.
Knowing it was going
to be hectic around here I started off Sunday by making up three different pots
of soup. I filled up a dozen pint jars
with the soups and put them into our refrigerator. All of the leftovers ended up in freezer
containers and went straight into the freezer for later on. Those jars of soup saved our bacon this past
week, let me tell you. They made for
quick lunches and in between meals for my starving teenagers and even breakfast
one morning for one of them. And they
loved having these at the ready knowing they could have one anytime they
wanted. I call that a win!
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| I boiled up some eggs for quick grab and go breakfasts |
Monday I ended up
working a long ten hour day and it was nice to know I had pot roast dinner
leftovers from Saturday to reheat for our supper. We got dinner on the table nice and quick.
Tuesday I cooked up
taco meat, cut up the last of our lettuce and managed to pull enough stuff from
our refrigerator to make taco salads for supper. Boy they were really good too. Then it was off to watch my oldest get
inducted into the National Honor Society at her high school. Proud mommy moment.
Wednesday morning I
wished my darling daughter farewell as she headed off to Utah for their
regional robotics competition. They did
really well and had a lot of fun. Best
of all she was able to see her boyfriend who lives down there. They hadn't seen each other for quite awhile.
After work on Wednesday
I had an hour and a half to kill before I had to pick up the youngest from
cheering at a basketball game so I decided to do some grocery shopping. I managed to get to two stores, finding
pretty much everything I needed on sale or for a really good price and arrived at
her school just in time to pick her up.
Then home to unload and put everything away. Since it was just the two of us we had just
enough leftover pot roast, rice, gravy and veggies to heat up for a quick
dinner. Three dinners, one lunch and a
pot of soup. I'd say we got a lot of
mileage out of that pot roast.
Thursday I stopped
in at the dollar store to pick up a few items on my list before I picked up the
youngest from cheerleading practice.
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| We made yummy berry bowls for desserts last week |
Friday I picked up
my best friend and we headed off to the on of the local sports bar for dinner and to get caught
up. Both of us have been going nonstop
since Christmas and other than phone calls and texts hadn't had time to get
together. It felt so good to sit and
cool my heels and spend some time with her.
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| Chicken Alfredo |
Saturday we had
NOTHING on the schedule. Yes! Finally a weekend off. It was so nice to just stay home and be...
you know what I mean? I did a few
chores, cooked, made a cheesecake, spent time with my youngest, we watched a
couple movies and played with the our hens, yes we did. It was a quiet day and we really enjoyed our
downtime.
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| Check out this delicious slice of cheesecake |
Thank you for all
the kind responses you posted about our girls.
Our two remaining chickens have bounced back fairly well, all things
considered. The setup we have for them
in the garage is working out pretty well. They stick close to us when we let them out
for fresh air and exercise and anytime they get startled they run to the front
porch and hover at the door to come in.
They do spend a lot of time with us and we spoil them with lots of
treats. They've had lots of fresh fruit
and veggies to go with their regular feed.
Because they feel safe, protected and well cared for they are laying
eggs, surprisingly. Usually a traumatic
event and being uprooted from their home and normal routine would cause them to
stop laying. The fact that they are
laying lets me know they are doing okay.
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| I found this big container of large stuffable mushroom on markdown |
As for the raccoon,
he has been back. The other night we
were watching TV and heard him come over the fence and jump onto our deck. By the sound of the thump he's a pretty big fellow. My daughter jumped up and flipped on the
porch light and he scampered off. We're
going to have to get a trap and relocate him, I suspect. The other idea is to run a line of electric
wiring across the top of the fence, but we don't want to zap our cats, so I've
put that one on hold.
So that was our
week. How was your thrifty week?
Congrats to your daughter on the honor society!!! Both your daughters sound like such smart, great girls !!
ReplyDeleteThank you. They do make me awfully proud. Love them to pieces!
DeleteGot a neighbor with a pellet gun? (Or, at the risk of sounding trigger-happy, a real shotgun would also take care of your problem. My dad did it many a time to protect our chickens and livestock on the farm.)
ReplyDeleteI hate to say this...but that raccoon will keep coming back until you make it practically impossible for him to get into the coop. Or stop him - permanently. Zapping might work, but it's going to be expensive. A bullet is much cheaper.
(I actually am quite a peace-loving girl...just practical. And that probably comes from growing up on a farm, and raising chickens and rabbits ourselves.)
Oh Cindy you speak right to my heart. It is illegal here to discharge a firearm within city limits. So far we have not figured out how to put a silencer on a 12 gauge, ha,ha. If he is as big as I think he is a zap from a fence probably wouldn't phase him. Growing up my dad shot quite a few raccoons for coming after our chickens so I'm not entirely opposed to the idea. He referred to it as lead poisoning. It happens.
DeleteWhat a great week you've had. Well, except for the raccoon, darned rascal.
ReplyDeleteI try keep hard boiled eggs on hand at all times too, they're so convenient to grab and go. My mother would pickle eggs right before they went bad rather than throw them out. The pickling makes them last longer too, but I guess you have to like pickled eggs ;) I'm defrosting chicken right now to make a vegetable chicken soup later. I'll freeze portions of the soup for future meals like you do to. It's a lifesaver having prepared meals on hand.
Congratulations to your daughter who sounds like a hard worker! Honors Society is quite an achievement and it'll look great on her college apps. Like your daughter, mine has a boyfriend who attends a different college than she does and is about an hour's drive from her. She doesn't drive, so they don't see each other as often as they'd like due to distance and being busy with schoolwork.
Your food photos are making me hungry again :)
D.
In many states, it's illegal to live-trap and transport wildlife unless you are a registered handler. So catching that raccoon will have to be hired out and expensive and as long as your dumb neighbors keep feeding them, you are assured an endless supply of the little bandits.
ReplyDeleteToo bad you can't zap your neighbors every time they put food out... ;^)
I found out that the US Wildlife dept will give you a trap to use and if you catch one you run it down to their office and they give you another trap and take care of the raccoon for you. One of our neighbors told me he's trapped 16 of them in the last two years. We had no idea he'd already removed that many, but they are prolific little breeders. I doubt he's made much of an impact.
DeleteOh my goodness, I do hope you are able to catch that raccoon. We had to catch and relocate a momma and her babies who were wreaking havoc here.
ReplyDeleteHopefully we can. :)
DeleteYes ma'am!
ReplyDeleteIt is illegal here to relocate a raccoon because they will take their diseases to another area if you relocate. I have a live trap that the Animal Control will empty for me. I cannot pick it up. It is obvious you have a bigger problem than this one. I am not sure what your setup for your chickens is, but do you let them come into the house? I did. I love chickens.
ReplyDeleteWe set them up with a little coop in the garage and yes I do let them in the house. Amazingly they do not poo in the house. We also take them out in the yard to play and have fresh air. And we watch them like a hawk!
Delete