How I Spent my Husband's Vacation, by....

Jeff has been home from work since last Wednesday (going back to work this Wednesday), and oh my, have we been busy. Every garden but one small strip on the side of the house is done done done. Weeded, mulched, planted, moved, split, tilled... it's done done done.

We spent today finishing up the vegetable garden, after spending several hours in there yesterday pulling weeds and raking. I planted 12 tomato plants, 6 green peppers, 2 eggplants, two rows of cucumbers and two rows of green beans. I still need to get some zucchini plants or seeds, and I'd like to find some spaghetti squash seeds as well. I took this photo at about half way through the planting. You're looking at about one-half of the garden.

Sadly, I discovered my raspberry bushes have pretty much died out. Entirely my fault for not pruning them back and weeding last fall. The grape vine (upper left hand corner, runs along the top of the fence) is doing really well and already has tiny grapes on it. The "walkway" you see is recycled wooden decking we put down several years ago. When it rains here the Ohio clay soil turns to cement and you can't walk through it. This way I can get in to the garden even if it's wet.

I have had this peony bush for at least 6 years and it's never bloomed -- until this year. And my oh my, these flowers were worth waiting for! They are spectacular! The outer leaves are the palest of pinks, but the inner leaves are a striking bright yellow, then the very center is pink again. And oh my, the scent is just heavenly. I picked several and brought them in the house (after de-ant'ing them) and you can smell them through out the downstairs. The bush is really laden with blossoms as it's never been before. I'm sure it's our cool, rainy Spring we've had.

We had a large "circle" area in the back yard where a huge cottonwood used to stand. Jeff brought stones up from the creek and levelled the area by making a little stone wall. We moved the bird feeders and birdbath out here, and I planted the small lilac tree and day lillies. I also divided some of my herbs out of the vegetable garden and brought them out here -- oregano, rosemary and chives. I want to move some of my lavender out here as well. I planted flowers around the bottom of the birdbath, since this is an area we can view when we're sitting on our back deck. I do have one more Shepherd's hook and birdfeeder to put up. I'd like to put some windchimes out here as well!

On Saturday, Jeff took Brayden to the Air Force Museum in Dayton. I found a photo of the last time they went (November, 2007) and asked Jeff to take a photo of Brayden in the same place. Just look at how much this child has grown in six months! From rolly-polly baby to a little boy...awwww...

I love his shirt. It says "'No' means ask Grandma"! And how about those sunglasses?! LOL

Jeff said Brayden almost never rode in the stroller. The Wright-Patternson Air Force Base Museum is HUGE and includes a lot of walking outside to view planes and vehicles. Jeff is a World War II buff, and Brayden is an Umpa buff, so it's a good day for both. After all that walking, Brayden was asleep in his car seat before Jeff could drive out of the museum's parking lot. He slept all the way home (about 45 minutes), then Jeff carried him into the house and he slept in Jeff's recliner. I finally had to wake him up at 6:00 PM so he'd sleep that night! Brayden spent the night with us -- first time in awhile -- and didn't get to sleep until around 11pm, and slept until 8:30 am Sunday morning.

Tomorrow we're headed to the Cincinnati Art Museum to see the quilt display there, then out to eat and spend some time down on the Ohio River. We both need a good day of relaxing after a week of gardening, weeding, planting, and grandparenting!

The Colorado Tornado hits too close to home

Please keep my son, JJ and his wife, Lisa in your thoughts and prayers. They live in Windsor, Colorado - which was hit by a tornado early this afternoon, and most of the town was devastated. Thank God, JJ was on a business trip in Wyoming, and Lisa was at work out of Windsor, but we are still waiting to hear how their home and belongings survived. Lisa was trying to make it home, but having difficulty with power lines and trees down everywhere. We're mapping the path of the tornado from what we can gather from live helicopter video on the web, and if their house is still standing, or at least not severely damaged, it will be a miracle. Just hold them near your hearts and thoughts for a bit, please. I'll update when I hear anything. UPDATE: We've heard from JJ and miracles do happen. There was quite a lot of damage in their neighborhood (if you've seen the national news, the childcare facility they keep showing is just two streets from JJ and Lisa's house), but their home is OK. Some roof damage and a broken glass sliding door, obviously no electricity. Lisa is staying with a friend tonight, and JJ will be returning from his trip late tomorrow. Their Home Owner's Association will be taking care of repairs, so it's all good. From the news we've seen and reports we're reading, they are very very lucky and the tornado was very very close. It was way too close for this Mom -- but I'm thankful they are OK, and will keep the rest of the town in my thoughts and prayers.

My frugal trip to Walgreens

Well, I took the dive for the whole Walgreens coupons/rebates thing, and I'm pleased with the results. As I've said before, I don't do "freebies" for things I don't use -- that just seems wasteful to me. I have frequently taken advantage of Walgreens' "free after rebate" products for items we normally buy at full price, but always forget to use my Walgreens' gift card.

Today, armed with coupons from the Walgreens' flyer, manufacturer's coupons and my rebate book, I came home with the following "free" items. Before sale and coupons, total price for the items is $48.91. I used $19.95 in coupons and paid for the rest with my rebate money on the Walgreens gift card. I will add $5.93 back on my gift card for rebates on what I purchased today.

Tomorrow Walgreens has a one-day only $5 off $20 purchase (get the coupon here!). I will be using it to buy $10 ConAgra foods (for which I have several manufacturer's coupons) that offer a $5 rebate, plus I'll purchase a blender (which I decided last week I wanted to buy so we can start making low-cal fruit smoothies this summer) for $12.99 with $3 rebate. That will load another $8.80 (for a total of $14.73) on my gift card for next month's deals.

I will say one of the best things you can do when trying this (which is actually a lot of work and requires some real good organization), is to get the Walgreens rebate book at the first of the month, then hit the Internet for the coupons for items you already purchase. For example, I didn't have a Windex coupon, so I did a google search for "Windex Coupon" and came up with a $1 off coupon to print out. It worked for several items!

If you want more information on how this works, check out MoneySavingMom's detailed explanation.

My Frugal Mailbox

Now that I'm making an effort to take advantage of "freebies" and samples, going to the mail box every day is turning into an adventure. Just look what yesterday's mailbox brought me.

The book, The Pursuit of Happyness, is one I received in exchange for my listing books on PaperBackSwap.com. What a great way to get books to read at my leisure this summer! The Food & Family magazine is packed with great recipes for summer. It's a really great FREE magazine, and includes many coupons for Kraft foods. You can sign up for it here. The Kroger book has some great $1 and $2 coupons. An Icy Hot Patch - just in time to help my back through more weeding! Oh, and the $700+ refund check the government owed us. Last is the little tiny package in the bottom right hand corner. This is what that little package contained:

Aren't they sweet?!? They are "tokens" -- A Wish Token and a Guardian Angel token, from the Inspire Company web site. If you check it out, be sure and check out Amy's blog while you're there. I fell in love with these tokens the second I saw them. One of the Guardian Angel tokens will be for Brayden's "treasure bag". The others will be squirreled away until just the right time -- probably to include as a little surprise with a note or card to a friend. I may have to buy some more -- they would be so sweet to tie onto birthday or Christmas gift tags!

Here's a photo of Joey, the Killer Cat. Doesn't look like much of a killer here, does he? Jeff had the heating pad out for his back, and Joey discovered if he wiggled his way in backwards, he could share the heat!

I am from...

I am from slapping screen doors,

linoleum floors,

and three television channels.

I am from gentle mountains of brilliant red, orange and yellow,

where the swish of dried leaves underfoot is a child's favorite hobby

and a babbling clear brook a constant companion.

I am from granite.

I am from lilacs,

dried hay,

and swiss chard.

I am from brown ash ear drops and pine tree gum.

I am from maple syrup.

I am from overboard Christmases,

pioneer frugalness,

catching fireflies,

and dowsing.

I am from Paul and Danny and Barbara by luck,

from Dick and Alice by chance,

from Gail and Rick by blood.

I am from fighting about small things

but never discussing the big,

divorce that never settled disputes,

abandonment

and best friends forever.

From money that doesn't grow on trees

and do it yourself because no one is going to do it for you.

I am from Baptists who believe in music,

a white spired church as familiar as my heartbeat,

strawberry festivals and ice cream socials,

town parades and 4th of July fireworks.

I am from the three room schoolhouse with the dog in the corner

and the stars in a cardboard box.

I am from New Hampshire and Finland,

England and New England,

saltines and milk, and cranberry bread.

I am from cups of tea and too much wine,

head cheese, scratch biscuits, welsh rarebit on crackers,

baked beans and brown bread, yellow pea soup.

From the paratrooper with shrapnel scars who jumped on D-Day,

the future mother who dropped paper out the window

until she met her husband-to-be,

and the brother and sister who left for their future

without any goodbyes or apologies.

I am from a shoebox in the front hall closet,

assorted frames on the dining room shelf,

military medals and memories long lost,

black and white photos of hands in the air,

dusty class photos long stored yet never forgotten.

Where are you from? Try this for yourself. You can find the original post and form here. It's amazing what memories - good and bad - it brings back.