Cozy Office Space June Edition

Welcome Friends

I hope you are all having a wonderful Saturday

Today I am sharing again my cozy office space

Back in April I showed you how it looked here

I loved the sweetness of the space and the look but it was time for a change.

And because I find to keep it from looking like this . . . 

I have to regularly move everything to dust so why not start over with a fresh new pallet.

 

Everything gone but the essentials.

The computer and pencil box

I love my free leather pencil box from The Container Store.

Yes.

I said 'Free'. 

Back in the day when The Cowboy worked in the corporate world we used American Express for all our purchases.  For a time they offered gift cards as rebates.  I got some really nice things from Pottery Barn and The Container Store that I would not have normally bought. 

I did keep a few bunnies out because they make me smile and they are functional.  Doesn't everyone need a pot hanger bunny keeps my pens and pencils from running away.  The rock bunny holds down all my pieces of paper and notes to myself. 

I did tidy up alot before inviting you in.  I will show you at the end a little of what a normal day looks like!

I ran across the below picture and decided it was the perfect time to put on my desk to admire . . . 

Then and now.  Look how much hair he had and how skinny he was.  He wore 29" waist pants when I met him in 1974.  

 The perfect time to share?  Our anniversary is this month.

It's been a long time

I surround myself with special treasures, things and people I love.

One more photo before I show you what my desk looks like before my weekly dusting and organizing. 

The Cowboy took this one in 77 I think when he was in college

I was skinny back then!

Here's the desk on a normal day . . . 

My calendar filled with book reviews.  My highlighters I use to mark read, reviewed, written, posted and submitted.  It's a process.

See the little bunny card on the left.  It's written and ready to mailed to my new penpal.  I joined Sarah for her penpal project. 

Her blog is over here. 

And way over to the left you'll see a small stack of books.  I keep the pending ones on top.  There's always 4-5 on the book case next to my desk.  It doesn't get that weekly dusting.  

Just for fun I want to share one more shot just because m silly. . . . 

The ceiling and window.  A blank pallet.  But there's a plan!

Someday I'll hang a shabby chic chandy.  And get some white 

breezy curtains.  

Curtains/lighting on my to Dream To Do List

So do you have a Dream List?

Thanks for visiting my office space today. 

I hope your weekend is wonderfully Blessed.

Just in case your posting Patriotic themed posts 

Check out the party

It's over here

And at Our Holiday Journey you can join 

The Fabulous Party

Our Holiday Journey

I'm linking with some great parties

The short list . . . 

Share It One More Time, Make My Saturday Sweet,
Make It Pretty Monday

Share Your Cup, Saturday Sparks, The Art Of Homemaking,

Create With Joy 

and a bunch more listed on my parties page

Frugal Friday

Good afternoon my dear friends.

I've been awoke everyday this week to the sound of birds singing.

What a pleasant way to start your day I think!  I hope you've had pleasant days this week.  

We've had a great week being frugal.  As I am eating my left over lunch I am thinking how humbly proud I am to be saving money by being frugal and eating my leftovers.

As usual we got some real bargains at the grocery store . . . 

 Look at this big 'ole pork chops the 

Cowboy grilled they were just over $3.00 for two.  The fire wouldn't stay lite so we had to finish in an iron skillet. He marinated them in 'whatever was in the fridge'. His answer when I asked.  He actually used ...

    

Regularly well over $2.00.  Suggested use is for beef.  I love that is says 'Junk free" beef marinade.  It was great on pork. 

Looks like a bargain doesn't it?  There was a $1.00 coupon on each package.  Yep.  I paid .49 each!  I didn't look at the regular price.  The Cowboy went back the next day.  No more marked down but the regular price was $6.89!   I over head the meat market worker telling the manager that he was almost done with his pallet.  I asked him and he told me that corporate orders for them.  They end up with way more stock they need.   

Crazy.  But works for me.  Here's a couple other finds . . . 

The week before these were $2.00 each.  Last week $1.00

I paid $1.00 each last week.  This week they are on sale at 
Sprouts for .88.  I've seen Sprouts put them on sale for as little as .49.  I rush to grab a few.  I love blackberries!

   

I think I mentioned before that I bought seeds at our favorite resale store.  I paid .10 for tomatoes and cucumber little seed pots.  I have 3 of each growing already too big for the little pots! 

I am always on the look out for a bargain.  Are you? Bargain hunting and finding ways to be frugal make me a really Happy Homemaker everyday of the week.  

I apologize for writing this post so late and not having it up early for my early rising friends.   I have had so much trouble the last few weeks with the internet.  I am writing at 2:33.  Yesterday from 1:00 in the afternoon until about 10:00p.m I could barely get any website to open much less get a post written.   

I hope your day and your weekend is

Blessed 

Thanks for coming by!  

                                             

A New Recipe On The Luncheon Plate

Good morning sweet friends

Are you having a lovely spring morning?

 The birds are singing and the sun is shining here.

Today I want to welcome you to my new feature 

On My Plate

With one caution.  I give you warning. 

Don't expect pretty!

I warned you.  Not really pretty.  No photo edits. Just a shot from my phone
Back in the day one of my favorite lunch spots was Olive Garden.
Now I eat lunch at home almost daily.  And my favorite is still 
an Olive Garden salad.  
Especially since I found O.G. dressing at the grocery store 

At my grocery store it is over $5.00 a bottle.  When I buy it I have

to warn The Cowboy NOT to use for marinade!   $5.00 ridiculous. So I've decided to try and find a copy cat recipe.

Off to Pinterest.  I waded through the options.  I tried this one. 

Source

I made my choice based on the ingredients list on the pin.  

Here's the list . . . 

A simple straight forward list.  

I questioned the first ingredient 1/3 tsp. garlic powder.  I don't have 1/3 tsp. But I love garlic so I used 1/4 tsp.  

The box mix I used was Good Seasons.  I didn't really realize that here are others.   I think that the mixes are slightly different. Which would change the overall tast

I also think the the Italian spice mix is going to be different depending on the brand or recipe you use.  

• 

I followed the recipe exactly.  The result.  Yes I did clean my 

plate but I don't think it's the real deal.   

Sorry I didn't take a shot just of the finished product so you could see the amount this recipe made.  Look at the above photo again.

There are two reasons that I am back to the drawing  Pinterest board.

1.  I thought this recipe tasted sweet
2.  Cost. I'm not sure the amount it makes is worth the trouble.

It is easier to grab that jar that taste almost like the real thing out of the fridge and chow down.  

When I was grabbing pics for this post I noticed that there are online sources for cheaper options.   Maybe I'll check into them.

All in all.  This recipe . . . 

Was good.  And I'll try it again.  But I'm still on the look out for a bit of a different flavor.  

Have you tried any 'Copy Cat recipes'?  What's your favorite 

salad dressing.  

I would love for you to come over to Our Holiday Journey.

This weeks party is here

Each month I have a theme party.  You can visit the blog 

here for the complete list.  

In May the theme is Copy Cat posts.  Post anything thing you've copied.  A recipe, a magazine photo, a Pin.  

Come over and join us in May and share your Copy Cat's.

Enjoy Your Day!

I have a whole list of Favorite parties.

Check out my parties page. 

Frugal Friday

 Welcome to my Friday Feature

Source

 I try to share on Fridays what I've done during the week to be frugal.  I was inspired by Laura who writes a weekly frugal post
on her blog Harvest Lane Cottage

I/we have made some frugal purchases the last few weeks. 

• When I delivered donations to our favorite resale shop I found seeds for .10 cents.  I have cucumbers, tomatoes, basil and spinach already sprouting in my green house room
• I don't buy books.  I read books for free for review.  Super frugal!

• One of our biggest expenses is food.  We are foodies.  I love finding a bargain at our grocery store. Here are a few . . .  3# crawfish     I will get at least three meals out of this ground beef. 
•   Pies for the neighbor who mows our grass I pay in pies.  I will make a quiche for us.  I bought 4 packages.
•  I used the recipe found  here for Olive Garden Salad Dressing.  I checked the price at our store today it is $5.29 for one bottle.  
• We buy puzzles at the resale store for $3.00 sometimes they are on 20% off 
•  A client gave me an orchid she was going to throw away because it was 'done' blooming.  Such waste.  In a few months with care it will bloom again. Today I saw orchids marked down at the grocery for $4.99.  I am waiting till they mark them $1.00 hopefully I will be there on the right day. 

It's fun for me to look back and see all the ways that I've provided meals, decor and entertainment while being thrifty and frugal. 

So have you been thrifty or frugal this week? It's much easier than you think.  Keep your eyes open and watch for bargains. 

Linking with a few favorite parties.

Complete list on my parties page.

Share Your Cup

The Art Of Homemaking

Let's Be Social 

Create With Joy

Share It One More Time 

Thrifty/Frugal At The Grocery Store.

This week I worked at being more thrifty and frugal in the kitchen. 

For me being Frugal and Thrifty begins with making a plan before I shop.  I make a weekly menu.  I share my post on Monday and join Sandra at Family Corner for Happy Homemaker Monday.  
I plan my menu based on what we already have on hand.  And what I find on sale.  

I rarely purchase anything that isn't on sale.  And we eat well!
 If what I need isn't on sale I rethink my 'game plan'.
                     
                                        Aren't I cute. HeHe.  I can dream can't I?

All of our meat is bought on sale or marked down.  Last week the Cowboy found pork loins on deep discount.  He bought one and cut it up and put it in the freezer.  

We are extremely lucky in that we live in an area that has every grocery store you could want.  Or in my case 'not want.  Here's the list of stores available to me.
Aldi I don't shop there. 
Sprouts most of my produce comes from Sprouts but only on sale.
Kroger my main 'haunt' 
Tom Thumb I/we shop the ads.  
Central Market I/we rarely shop at CM a little pricey but I will go there for special items.  The do have fantastic produce as well.
Albertson's  I/we purchase a lot of meat.  They have super sales. Other sale items are purchased.  But I have found Kroger is much cheaper and I like Krogers store brand items. 
Winco I/we like Winco for some items.  I love the bulk area.  Rice and Beans are super cheap!  The one in our area is super clean.  There are other locations we went to before the one was built by us that weren't as clean as I prefer. We didn't go back.
I like to go to Winco at Christmas time for special candys.   
The best day I have found to shop is a week day.  I like Wednesday.  It's a little like Walmart.  Very busy on the weekend.
Walmart I hardly ever go to Walmart.  I will go in for craft items or garden.  I never buy food.  Just don't like it.  
Traget We do not shop in Target.
Dollar Tree we have found some food items are great. The have a powder soup mix similar to Lipton Chicken.  Much cheaper 3 packs for $1.00. Lipton only has 2 and always over a $1.00.

It is convenient when you have so many options!  The Cowboy passes all of our favorites on his way to work so it's easy to stop in and check the marked downs!  We save alot.  

We also have a freezer we will buy another one in the spring.  A freezer is great to have to fill up with bargains.  There are weeks that we don't even go to the store!  

I don't freeze milk.  We rarely even buy milk.  Sometimes I get a hankerin' for cereal so I'll buy a gallon if it's on sale.  I did buy one last week.  Our grandson likes to have a bowl of cereal for a snack with me.  One of those things that just makes the day like a holiday.  

For cooking or baking I use powdered milk.  I can usually find it on sale and so I stock up.  Also my mother gets meals on wheels and she won't use the powdered milk so she gives it to me.  I can mix 8 oz for use in a recipe.   


So that's a few ways that I am thrifty and frugal at the grocery store.  

I enjoy being Thrifty and Frugal.   

Do you?