My Tireless Retirement - Week 66

 

Hello everybody!  Another fun filled summer week has zipped right on by.  Oh how I wish I could slow down time just a little bit.  I am coming off of a two week “staycation” of sorts and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.  Lots of late nights visiting while playing cards or games as well as slow leisurely mornings with coffee and more conversations.  Our days were filled with fun activities and really good food.

 

A trip to the zoo and a picnic in the park were on the agenda.  I hadn’t been to the zoo in a good long time so it was fun to get to go and see all the animals and the new habitats that have been constructed since my last visit.  A lot had changed so there were a lot of new things for me to see.  My favorite animals are the cats – tigers, snow leopards, lions, I just love them.  This girl loves to hike so there was more of that on the agenda as well.  With the warmer weather we got started nice and early while it was still cool and then home for a nice brunch.

 

Shrimp with pesto & asparagus

One of the items on my freezer wish list to restock on was frozen shrimp.  I found a really great deal on some at the Grocery Outlet store, 2 pounds on sale for $8.99, regularly $11.99 (which is still a great deal).  While I was there I also picked up a two pack of cream cheese and a huge jar of green olives, which I love to add to a salad.  Just a little mini shop last week to keep things going around here.

 

Scrambled eggs & sausage patty

The main reason for the trip to the outlet store was actually to go to the feed store located next door and pick up a 50# bag of chicken food.  My first bag on my stock up for winter plan is now stored in the garage.  I’ll be picking one up each month (June, July, August & September) now until Fall and should be good to go again until this time next year.  I usually get a bag to fill up the bin and three in reserve, one of which is a bag of scratch grains.  That way I don’t have to load heavy bags of feed into the back of the truck and unload into the garage when the weather is bad or there is ice on the ground.  At some point I’ll pick up a bale of hay for the little bunny and a couple large bags of dry cat food.  Then we should be well set.

 

My BFF surprised me and picked up a load of groceries including four beautiful huge rib eye steaks on sale for $4.97 a pound.  We went ahead and put them through the vacuum sealer before putting them away in the freezer.  They will be used for my birthday dinner (in September) and over the holidays so I wanted to make sure they won’t get any freezer burn on them.  Right now my groceries are all topped up and I have nothing else I want to stock up on so moving forward it is back to the pantry challenge and picking up some dairy and fresh produce as needed.  I feel so blessed.

 

NY Strip steaks & deviled eggs

A lettuce wedge salad

We had made plans for Independence day, but by the time all was said and done, about all we could muster up was a little BBQ.  I had thawed some NY strip steaks I had purchased last month on markdown and we had that with lettuce wedge salads and some deviled eggs.  It was perfect.  I opted to stay home during fireworks to hang out with my nervous kitties and make sure all was good on the home front, which I did not mind one bit.  Each year is seems they struggle more and more.  They took refuge in the hall closet and since I gave it a makeover they had deluxe accommodations.  Little Miss Bunny and the hens took it all in stride and didn’t seem to mind all of the noise.

 

All of my company has now gone home and I am once again on my own.  I have a pile of bedding to wash and some housework to catch up on as well as a fresh housekeeping checklist to start on now that we are beginning a new quarter.  I don’t know when my next round of guests will appear, but I’ll be ready whenever that should happen.  Hopefully I won’t have to wait too long.  In the meantime it is business as usual.  I hope you all enjoyed a fabulous week and were able to celebrate the 4^th of July with your friends and loved ones.  Let me know how your week went.  I’d love to hear about it.  XXX