Saturday, May 19, 2007

yesterday and today...

Well, yesterday I had a dental appt. at a new to me..dentist's office.
The appt. was for 9:30 and lasted until after 11..close to noon.. before I left the office. Wow!
I had to have new xrays done and a teeth cleaning. The xrays were the most thorough teeth xrays I had ever had taken. Those alone took nearly an hour to capture..I guess it didn't help that my gag reflex was working overtime either..uggh.
Seems everytime the plastic baggy cover on the little xray thing was put wayyy back in my mouth..it tickled my tongue just enough to make me gag..uggh. It made my stomach hurt at one point cause it was so strong of a reflex..that I was more than thankful I had not eaten anything .
Glad that is over.
But I have an even funner appt. set for Tuesday morning. Have 2 fillings to get taken care of...bad girl that I am..I had 4 cavities! eek! fer shame, fer shame.
Guess it goes to show that chocolate does catch up to you sometimes.

I also stopped by Joann's fabrics yesterday..seems they had the fat quarter fabric pieces on sale for 99 cents. I plan to craft something..can't decide what yet..from some really cute florals that I found.... Victorian looking and cottage garden styled prints. I'm thinking maybe little mini pillows embellished with laces and ribbons, or perhaps little tiny handbags with lace and embellishments...for my little etsy shop.

Today..Saturday...was menu planning day..well..not quite as thorough of menu planning as some folks...as I just basically looked through some cookbooks to decide what I'd fix that was different, but healthy...then I built up the list from that..and planned on stocking up on plenty of meats and frozen veggies for the freezer, some fresh produce, and plenty of staples and canned goods for the pantry.

I decided that for my cleaners I'd start trying to use vinegar for my mopping, and using baking soda to scrub the bathtub with ;as it removes soap scum really well.
The vinegar when mixed with a little bit of dishwashing detergent actually does a nice job on cleaning the floors and doesn't leave a smell..the vinegarry smell dissipates very quickly and you are left with a nice fresh clean.
Really no odor at all.

My shopping trip took 2 hrs and I wound up with enough to safely say it will last about 3-4 weeks for our family of 5... before I have to go back to the store.
Of course I'll have to get things like toilet tissue and papertowels and bread and milk again..but the other will last quite a while.
It took me an hour to put everything away..uggh.
Grocery shopping is really one of my least favorite things to do..but it is nice to see a well stocked freezer and pantry.

My "quackers" are doing well..seems the oldest one..the female..is doing some molting..I have found feathers/small feathers about an inch to inch and a half in size..all over my yard.. and in the pen that they stay in at night.The ducks are only about 2 1/2 months old. I got them in March right before Easter... She appears healthy though..I don't know much about when they are supposed to molt or anything like that..I do know that she recently fully feathered out about 3 weeks now.
The male is just finishing up getting fully feathered..he was about a week and a half behind the female on everything..and has just a wee bit of light downy fluff left showing near his tail feathers.
(** note..I just did some research..apparently ducks have a molt around the end of May/end of Spring..hmm..interesting...she appears "right as rain"though aside from the fact that there are little feathers every where)

Checked out the cottage garden..looks like I have some light lavender colored bee balm sprouting up everywhere..and I have a plant of gloriosa daisies that has sprouted up and is fixing to bloom..yay! I adore the gloriosa daisies. They are so cheerful.

Well..that is the latest news here.
Thanks for joining me in "blogland"
Have a good evening and a wonderful day tomorrow.

~The Garden Goose~

6 comments:

Nancy Jo said...

You sure have had a busy week!! I know what you mean about the dentist. Not pretty good.
I should do a huge huge grocery order, do you have a major plan when you do yours? Or do you just go and fill the cart up, or two carts?
NANCY JO

Tina Leavy said...

Hi Nancy Jo,
I really didn't and don't have a real plan per say on my grocery gathering.
I did know that my main objective this time around was to aim for healthier choices for the meals.
So I eliminated the sugary sweet snacks and cereals that I had been buying for the kids before this trip, and went to things like shredded wheat cereals and snacks such as graham crackers, yogurt and crackers and pretzels.
I then made a point to make sure that I stocked up on things like pastas and sauces. I then made a point to get a wide variety of frozen vegetables and several varieties of meats.
I of course sat down first with my Weight Watchers cookbooks and looked through them for easy and inexpensive meal ideas and also planned a few items on the list from that.
I made a point to stick very much to the list..the only exception being that I found some dessert kits(2 of them only) that were to where I could create individual small portioned desserts like single servings of pumpkin dessert and a key lime type...
fotr our desserts I stocked up on packages of jello mixes and pudding mixes.
For my cleaners I decided that aside from my usual dishwasher and dish detergent that I would purchase baking soda for scrubbing my bathtubs and sinks and such(I got 2 large boxes of that) and then for my mopping I got a gallon of vinegar that I can use a small bit of that in some soapy water to mop my floors with.
My total bill for about a months worth of groceries for 5 ...$273.00
Of course since I have a baby that is being potty trained I will have to run back to the store at some point for pull up pants and I do figure that the things like milk and bread..I will run out of..but I do have a very stocked freezer and pantry now.
Hope this helped to answer your questions. I am not near as organized in my shopping excursions as most gals are. I just know that my husband says "you can spend x amount of dollars and don't go over hat..and I usually wind up staying well under the amount..I try to get as many of the store brand items as I can to keep my prices down.
Anyhow..naww I'm not this super organized chic..ha.
In fact I detest grocery shopping..ha. but love a full pantry and freezer.

Tina Leavy said...

oh hey..I found the reciept after all..if you'd like to see it I can send you a copy.

Aunt Jenny said...

Ugh..the dentist..not my favorite either..and I can sure relate to that gag reflex thing!! I had to have an impression made for a partial plate thing I have on top and they put this cold clay goo in and then a tray to mold it against your teeth..some of it squooshed out the back and I was gagging like crazy..the dentist is a friend and thought it was funny. I didn't..tried to kick the smart aleck!!
I go "Big shopping" whenever I can too. We buy a 1/2 a beef and a whole pig for the freezer in the fall and then I only have to raise my chickens and fill in with other meats as needed. I am looking forward to fresh veggies this summer..and then fresh fruit..it sure helps. I eliminate all the sugary stuff I can for my kids too. It was fun reading your blog again.

Unknown said...

I remember those big shopping days, but since it's just the hubby and me, we can get by alot cheaper and simplier too!

Tina Leavy said...

and my son hasn't hit the teen years yet..ooh LOL
I honestly am looking forward to when we can get a bit "off the grid"..we have not given up on that ..and when we can I do intend to have chickens.
I think having the ducks in the city is enough to ask my neighbors to "ignore" but I don't think they'd be as friendly if I introduced chickens into the mix.