Dreams and Treasure

My two cent bird feeders are working well - I made two new ones yesterday and the chickadees have been dashing back and forth from the huge cedar trees behind my house and the super deluxe feeders.

I am a technician of the highest order. Take two empty toilet paper rolls, slather in peanut butter, roll in birdseed  and stick somewhere that hopefully squirrels won't be able to access. I stuck mine onto a butterfly garden ornament - the antennae to be exact.

They work well for small birds, not so sure about larger birds.

Luna and Lily are thrilled that CAT TV is back and running once again! I mean, this is riveting stuff!

Speaking of larger birds a dove kept them captivated all morning. While I watched, a black squirrel came into the back patio and tried to scare off the dove, but the dove was having none of it. She stood her ground and the squirrel left in a hurry. I assumed the dove would just continue to munch on the seeds that fell to the ground...

 ....but no siree that dove was able to perch on the butterfly and have a lovely lunch - it was a bird's dream come  true!

And the black squirrel?
Relegated to sifting through the dove's droppings! (Note wee kitty ears at the bottom of the photo!) Don'tcha just love free entertainment?

And the treasure?

I thought I'd check my gramma's sewing box for any scraps of ribbon for Luna. She keeps losing (and I keep hunting for)  the Christmas ribbon that she fell in love with. I found some ribbon but even better.........my gramma's crochet hooks! I've been wanting to buy more and have a piece of paper in my purse listing the few sizes I already have so I won't purchase duplicates. I may have enough now after uncovering this treasure trove!

My gramma was a master crocheter - she could look at a picture of a doily or afghan and reproduce it without a pattern. Looks like I have a few crochet hooks to use with crochet cotton if I ever make it to that level of skill.

Ignore my spool knitting - it is sitting on a crocheted table cloth that my gramma made for me using crochet cotton years and years ago (she died in l986 at the ripe old age of 94). This is the sort of work she could do with her eyes closed. They almost were closed as she had cataracts that were removed in her 80's.

I think it's just incredible!

Plus there were a number of needles similar to the plastic one I bought for finishing a crocheted piece, tucking in the last bit of yarn. I'm sure they have other uses as well.  How lucky am I??

I've gotten out for a couple hikes this week, pictures to follow on another day. The temperature continues to rise above 0c most days and today we're getting some drizzle. Seems kinda weird for January. Lots more to tell but his post is already long enough!

Boring Budget Basics otherwise known as the BBB

Every Monday I head out to fill Dougie the Dodge with gas and to buy groceries. I allot so much per week for these expenses. Now...wouldn't it be so nice if each month had exactly 4 weeks? Unfortunately the calendar doesn't work that way. Next week will be part March and part April. Should I allot the gas & groceries to March next week?  or April? Go halfsies? I spent a few moments thinking about that conundrum when I thought of a brilliant solution!! Yes, sometimes there is brilliance!!

I'm going to change gas & grocery day!! Instead of Mondays starting April 1st (no joke!!) gas & grocery day will be on WEDNESDAYS!! Woot woot!! No doubt at the end of April I'll have to make another little adjustment as we all know there are 4 weeks AND A COUPLE OF DAYS in every month, except February...why can't every month be nice and tidy like February?? The challenge will be to make the gas & groceries last 2-3 days longer at the end of each month. That's a challenge I can handle.

I guess I could stop being a zero budgeter but it's all I know!! There's usually some money left at the end of each month but I do what my gramma used to do - move the leftovers into a different "purse" and start fresh with next month's money. (Yes, I only get paid once a month!)

My gramma had two purses hidden behind a cushion in her bedroom. Her monthly money would go in one purse and she would pay all of her bills from it. Then whatever was left at the end of the month went into the "savings" purse. No carry over into the next month. And that's the way I do things too except I use bank accounts not purses. Maybe I should switch? No...it'd be too tempting to spend.

After spending on gas & groceries today I have $61 left in the gas budget and $81 left in the groceries budget. If I can make that last til April 1st then I can tuck$142 into savings. If I can't it's no big deal as the money is there if I need it.

Are you going to make it to the end of the month before the end of your money?

Secret Santa came to Town!

I am truly enjoying my Secret Bloggy Santa gifts from my mysteriously anonymous Santa! There is a wee bit of dark chocolate left (and no I didn't share! - get your own Secret Santa I say!!) and now I am enjoying two more parts of my gift - LOOK LOOK!!

 I finished "Edge" by Jeffrey Deaver a couple of days ago and since I always have at least one book on the go, even during the busiest times of the year (especially then!) I dove into "Plum Island" from my Secret Santa.  All puns aside it is a "plum" of a book - only 30 pages in and already a DOUBLE MURDER!! Yippee!


What's that you ask? What am I wearing on my feet?? Why, only the coziest pair of hand knitted slippers complete with pink bows! Here, take a closer look...

My gramma always gave me crocheted slippers every Christmas but she died in l986 so that's how long it's been since my toes were this cozy! How did you know Secret Santa??  Not only are my toes warmer but you've taken me back to a simpler time when opening my gramma's lumpy Christmas packages were the highlight of the day. 


My gramma never put gifts into a box...no, she let the lumps and bumps transform the wrapping paper into a lunar landscape that my siblings and I would grapple with trying to figure out the contents. Along with crocheted slippers we would find other little treasures: homemade fudge, a card with a $5.00 bill tucked inside, socks, mittens, the Christmas Lifesavers "book box" (with a whole lot more rolls of lifesavers than you get these days!) and other "homely" items. 


While I'm thinking of my beloved gramma I want to share with you how she managed her money. She lived on the Old Age Pension (OAS) and also a small veteran's pension she received because her husband fought in WWI. Every month she'd cash her cheques and keep the money hidden under a pillow in her bedroom. She'd take out a bit to live on week by week until the end of the month. Whatever was left got transferred into an old purse which was also kept hidden in her bedroom and became her "savings". Then she started over from scratch the next month.


That old purse was her "bank" - like a lot of people of her generation she didn't trust banks and preferred to keep her money close by. When she died in l986 she left instructions for each of her four children to receive a certain amount from that savings purse, in the neighbourhood of $1000 each and left each of her almost 20 grandchildren $100. She also prepaid her funeral expenses. How she managed to save that amount of $$ while living on next to nothing would probably make the most frugal of us look like wastrels! 


I used the money she left me to buy a silver locket at Birk's jewelers in which I keep her picture.

 Ida Belle Catton (nee Gordon) 1891 - 1986

Ida Belle with three of her four children: she's holding the crying face of her youngest, Arthur, while seated in front of her are my Uncle Verne, and my mother - Edith Jane Eileen Harrison (nee Catton).  My gramma's three sons are still living but my mom died from complications of Parkinson's disease in 2000. I looked just like her at that age!


Wow, what a trip down memory lane! I really enjoyed that Secret Santa - thank you!  I guess I do believe in Santa after all!