Monthly Archives: April 2026

April in Review

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April was a whirlwind month. We definitely enjoyed our Spring Break trip, the cruise and the couple of days of Disney.  As we approach the end of the year, things are very busy! May is going to be exciting and busy.  The focus of this month is making it to end of the year and preparing for summer.

Groceries- Goal $800 per month.  We spent $1161.27  for the month of April.  We have been able to put three gallons of strawberries in the freezer. We also made a major chicken purchase which was a first in several years.

Gas- Goal is $400.  Total spent was $456.74 for gas at home this month. Our trip was $221.53.  Gas prices continue to increase in fact, I will be paying over $4 a gallon on my next fill up. We also will have to buy gas for the mower.

Blogging-The goal will be 11 posts per month.  I am actually really proud to say that this is post 10 for the month. With our vacation and busy baseball season this is actually a huge win.

Debit-   The goal for 2026 will be to pay off the Home Depot Credit card without interest.  We have several months with large credit card payments now thur September. I am working on paying this off and not adding to our overall debit.  I will be sharing how things are going at the end of the summer.

No Spend Days- Goal for 10 no spend days a month. Not even going to suggest that I have a clue about this.

Health/Exercise-I am no hanging out between 171 and 175.  Still here, still the same.

Foster Care- We actually completed all of our portion of the licensure process before March 31,  as of today our licensure paperwork is suppose to be submitted.  We also had a court date this month. I did have to speak but am glad to report that visit have been reduced to every other week.  We will not have another court date until July. We are moving forward with plans to continue as long as God has planned. This summer is going to be fun and busy.

Sunday Garden Update

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My original thought was to call this a Garden show and tell. As I have a lot of pictures to help document what is actually going on in the garden.  I was thinking I was way ahead with planting this year but to look back, I realized that I am not as far ahead as I thought. This is actually about the same time that I try to get things moved out of the greenhouse.  At first I was a bit upset but then I realized that I am learning that a frost in May is not impossible and is more likely than not. I do know that we have had some of the warmest weather this April so I am hoping the soil is warm enough to support the growth.

As you can probably tell the pepper plants are still in the greenhouse this is definitely a change from the past. Peppers are a hot weather plant. They like temperatures above 50* always. When I checked the weather app this week, 5 of the next 10 days have  lows in the forties. So I talked and thought and decided to leave the peppers in the greenhouse until the second weekend of May. My goal is to check the water at least every other day so that we don’t lose anymore. Here is the current list: 18 lunch box peppers,3 Jalopies (purchased from Zach’s school), 2 monster yellow, 1 great Anaheim and 5 that have been affected by too little water, 2 rainbow minis and 14 sweet California peppers for a . total of 40 definite plants with a possible 5 more. 

We tried to add some nutrients to our Amish paste tomato plants this year by placing a cracked egg in the bottom of each hole.  IF this works I will use for all tomato plants next year. We have also added the automatic watering system. i am optimistic for a huge tomato harvest. We currently have 18 Amish Paste plants (1 questionable), 15 tomato plants from a packet of seeds called tomato.(2 questionable)6 plants from seeds I saved from a tomato from Cherry Hill Farm last year (2 questionable), 9 German Johnson,(3 questionable).. For a total of 48 plants with 8 that will likely not survive.

I directed sowed zucchini plants, so far we have 4 plants that have germinated.

I planted close to 20 watermelon seeds about 10 days ago and this is the one that has emerged. I am planning to replant mother’s day weekend if nothing else starts.

Our potatoes are starting to show some stress because of no rain but we currently have 16 potato plants.

Only four of the 24 green bean seeds have germinated.

Not pictured are 2 basil plants I purchased in addition to the packet of seeds that I have planted. 3 loofas have started as well.

Now for the seeds that have been planted but have no germination, cucumbers, cantaloupe and yellow squash.

I am planning a short update next week as we have special plans but a longer full update will be two weeks out.

Saving on Saturday

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To be honest most of the time, saving money takes time and/or effort. There are, have been and will be times that I do not have the mental capacity to even attempt to add one single thing to my schedule. This week have been mentally and physically exhausting.  And I knew that we needed to get some major things checked off the list as we have a fun outing planned for next weekend.  My major goal for today was to get the tomatoes planted. I am happy to say that I accomplished that goal and will hopefully share more about it tomorrow.  And I definitely did not think I had time to save money but I decided that sometime you just have to go ahead with your plan.

We worked or should I say Matt worked adding automatic watering systems to the gardens last night. He focused on getting both our tomato beds set up to water at least daily.  We have been slowly working on this project and it was crunch time as I could not plant the tomatoes until it was complete. While we did end up purchasing a new solar pump and drip line, I am happy to say we re used both the solar pumps and now successfully have a watering system on all the bed. We also had enough of the drip line to not only complete both the tomato beds but also the front bed which this year contains watermelon. After some thought, we ended up using a food grade bucket as the source of the water.

Basically the watering system for this bed was free as we purchased nothing.

I have been watching the sales especially at Dollar General because they have been the cheapest place to purchase soda’s.   Today, I ended up going to two separate stores as the first store did not have enough pack for me to complete the deal. I was able to purchase two small plastic bags/containers for ninety cents each. My plan is that one is a spare bath basket and one is a good way to transport sunscreen.  I was able to purchase 6 twelve pack of soda and some chocolate bars for next weeks adventure for $31, which makes the cans around thirty-seven cent each.

While waiting for CVS to open, I was scrolling Facebook and noticed that the local farm was running a buy two get one free special on strawberries today.  I knew we needed the strawberries and this made them $14 a gallon or $3.50 a quart, this is half price and very similar to what you can purchase in the grocery store. I debated grabbing these as it meant that we would have to spend some time and effort in capping and flash freezing most of them.  I am so glad I did . The strawberries are juicy and delicious and we have frozen three gallon which means that I should be able to grab another two gallons and have enough for the next 12 months.

 

Friday Night Garden Prep

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I have talked about how strange the weather is and it continues. We have a couple of “normal” weather day with highs in the high sixty or low seventy then 85 and 90.  I have been trying to keep a check on the weather to make sure I am plant with the best opportunity for growth and no frost. I checked again today and it appears that things are going to settle down. We don’t have any lows in the 30’s but we do have some 40’s in the next 10 days. I am hoping we get lots of rain as my rain barrels are 1/4 or less. My plan is to get the 100 plus plants out of the greenhouse and into the ground tomorrow.

BUT before we could plant, I really wanted to get all of our watering system in place.  Matt worked hard to get a new solar pump hooked up. We ended up moving one of the pumps to the front bed which I am excited about.  The tomato beds now have a drip line that should keep everything growing!

Here is the watermelon bed. I planted this a week ago but with no rain, I am going to give this bed another two weeks before I replant.

While Matt was working on the water systems, I worked and struggled and finally got the blueberry bed weeded!  This was a long and labor intensive project but I am proud of the results and hope it last.

Yes we have blueberries!

 

I am planning to share again on Sunday when we get everything planted.

Monday Menu Planning

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This is shaping up to be one of the busiest weeks this Spring with baseball games four night, court and Matt’s birthday.  We did make the trip to Costco yesterday (Sunday) so I am a little bit more confident in our ability to start eating at home more next week. As for this week, we ate out twice on Saturday due to two baseball games, Matt’s birthday is this week and we have a double header ballgame in Mocksville on Thursday so there is no escaping the reality of fast food.

Breakfast- Saturday- Bacon and eggs and toast. Sunday-  Grits with egg and a Dutch boy pancake.   Monday-Muffins purchased at Costco, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts ,cereal bars, pancakes and eggs)My goal is to make a baked oatmeal for one  morning  this week but we will see.

Lunch- Saturday- Dario’s after ballgame  Sunday- East Coast Wings  Left-overs are always great for lunches. I also purchased two loaves of bread for use this week due to the schedule.

Dinner- Saturday- Chinese take out Sunday- Chicken  and stuffing  Monday-Chicken Stew from the freezer  Tuesday- Bad Daddy’s for Matt’s birthday.   Wednesday-Chicken Enchilada Thursday-  Eating out around ballgame  Friday-  Grilled Chicken

Square Foot Garden Update

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The weather in NC continues to be wild and is throwing everything in a tail spin for planting.  The good news is that I have been stalking the weather and trying to make the most informed decision I can.
I currently have 47 pepper plants, 44 tomato plants, several loofas and several Pettie marigolds plant starts in the greenhouse. I did make the right decisions for these plants.  The predicted low for both Monday and Tuesday mornings are around freezing. I decided to keep these plants in the greenhouse with extra water for at least another week.  I will keep looking at the weather to determine just how long they will be living in there. Both peppers and tomatoes like temperatures above 50 so I am hoping to keep them in the greenhouse until I see 10 days with temperatures above 50. But in reality it is not unusual for us to get a late frost in May.  I am also using a window to vent the greenhouse with temperatures hitting 90 on other days.
I did go ahead and plant out both watermelon and cantaloupe seeds last week. My thought was they will take 7-10 days to germinate and this way the temperature will be warmer by then. This will also allow me enough time to replant depending on what seeds germinate as well. I am using older seeds to I am planting heavy in hopes for 50% germination.  I have also planted out all my bush green beans, yellow squash, zucchini  and cucumbers.  I will buy plant starts if I do no have enough germination around Mother’s day.    I was given a bunch of okra seeds which also were planted.
Now is a couple of weeks of watching and waiting and likely replanting and watching and waiting.
I have some potatoes growing and sugar snap peas. The peas are not doing well because of the heat.
I still need to purchase basil seeds, hoping to find pimento plant (as NONE of the seed pack I purchased germinated) and dill after the cucumbers have started to flower.
Hopefully I will have some pictures to add next week.

Sunday Garden Update

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It is still really early in the gardening season for us but with the use of the greenhouse I am really encouraged about what I am seeing.  I actually looked back at last year and my plants are not nearly as large but  I am still hopefully! We are heading out of town so I wanted to heavily water in the greenhouse and decided to take a detailed inventory as well.

I have 23 Amish paste tomato plants, 6 German Johnson tomato plants, 6 plants from seeds I saved from Cherry Hill farm and 8 plants from a packet that says tomato. For a total of 44 tomato plants.

14 Sweet California peppers, 6 Anaheim, 2 rainbow mini peppers, 2 monster yellow peppers and 20 Lunch box pepper plants. A total of 44 pepper plants as well.

1 loofa gord, and 7 pettie Marigold plants.

i am not going to start cucumber or squash plants in the green house this year, I did not find it was worth the effort to have to transplant.

I might be most excited by this bed, it is a potato bed. we will be adding dirt this evening!

Asparagus bed

Snap peas are growing.

One small lettuce plant

Garlic plants are surviving as well!

Saving on Saturday – Hair

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Beauty cost!  And the cost of beauty is rising.  One of the few things that I am absolutely afraid to do myself is my hair.   I can not cut straight and if I mess up my hair then I am going to have to pay so I chose to pay up front.

I have been very fortunate to have a good hairdresser for almost 25 years.   She has always been reasonable priced. Since 2019, she has decreased her available hours and it has become more and more difficult to get appointments.  Fortunately for me, Lily enjoys doing hair especially coloring.

I did have a hair cut appointment on Thursday and the first thing she said to me ” Your girls have not dyed your hair lately and you need it:”  A hair cut is still $15 so that was the first step.

I called Lily and she agreed to work on my hair.  It cost me $33 for the hair dye and what else she needed.  Her words of wisdom were “Trust the process.”  I did snap some pictures so share. But I am very pleased with the results for $48, I have an entire new hair style.

First Lily “bleached” to bring out most of the red color. This process took almost an hour.

Yes there were some “orange” streaks but “trust the process.”

This was the look last night when it was still wet.

I am glad I did “trust” the process.