groceries

The luring begins! Also, a pre-op top up shop

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

This morning, after feeding the outside cats, I went to check on the wood pile, and spotted a bunch of squirmy wormies moving about.

One of them paused and posed for a photo.

They are so frigging cute.

I was doing well this morning, while doing my morning rounds and harvesting the cabbage, etc. I had a brief visit with my brother and SIL and their friends just before they headed out for breakfast. I was invited to come along, but had stuff to get done and declined.

It’s a good thing I did.

Once inside, before I even started making my breakfast, the pain started to hit. I ended up having to lie down for several hours.

Two more days, and this should no longer be happening!

So it was later in the afternoon that my younger daughter and I set up our “trap” to lure the babies.

I took stuff out from inside the catio, removed the weights on the roof (to keep it from being blown over) and cleaned off accumulated debris. The weights, food and water bowls and scrap pieces of insulation that were under the self warming shelter that kept getting smushed flat, went into the wheel barrow. Then my daughter went inside the catio, picked it up by the wire “ceiling” under the roof panels and walked it over to the branch pile for me. Awkward, but much easier than us trying to carry it from the outside. I had to take off the rope handles I’d set into the corners when it was winterized with clear vinyl (which never came off in the summer), so there is nothing to grab on to.

The big donated cat carrier – so big, I have to turn it sideways and squeeze it through the door – was set up inside with the pieces of insulation under it, and the cleaned out cat bed was set up inside again. The food and water bowls were set up, and I grabbed a couple of cat toys from out of the isolation shelter. My daughter got some kibble for the food bowl while I dragged out the hose to fill the water bowl, then added some to the kibble to soften it for little baby teeth. The kittens are probably just getting old enough to eat solid food now, but dry kibble would be a bit much for them.

Slick was in there in no time at all, so I expect the kittens will have already explored it by now, and maybe tried some softened kibble.

Tomorrow morning, they will get to try cat soup.

We set the catio up based on how the door swings open, and the prevailing wind direction, so it sticks out a bit far. There is enough room to drive around it, though, so it’ll just be a slight inconvenience.

Not long after that was done, my daughter and I got ready to head out for the shopping I meant to do yesterday. I knew my brother, SIL and their friends would be gone before we came back, so we headed over to say hello and goodbye before we left. I’m glad we did, because they were packing up to leave soon after we were gone.

As my daughter and I headed for the garage, we walked past the catio and saw the squirmy wormies with Mom, not far from the catio. Hopefully, this will work out and we’ll be able to get these babies to the rescue for adoption, and Slick for spay!

Once my daughter and I reached our destination, our first stop was the Canadian Tire. Thankfully, they had replacement handles in stock, so I was able to get that. We also looked at the spray paint and found an enamel paint that can be sprayed over rusted metal; I forget which brand we ended up getting, but it wasn’t Rustoleum this time. We will scrub out the inside of the old bathtub I dug out of the junk pile and paint the inside. The outside well eventually get done, too, but not with an enamel paint. I also found a flat sink stopped that should cover the drain hole, which does not have a drain assembly anymore. I did look for a drain assembly but couldn’t find one for a bathtub, so I hope this will be enough. I want to be able to soak the cat beds and blankets for a while before washing them, as they are pretty messy right now!

Then, oddly, we saw and grabbed a case of KD. Why Canadian Tire would have mac n cheese at all, I have no idea, but the sale price was good, so we got one for the pantry.

From there, we headed across the street to the Walmart. The first thing I did was feed my daughter, who hadn’t eaten at all yet (!!!). Then we took our time with the actual shopping.

I don’t know that I quite found what I was after. I was thinking of things that are quick and easy, in case I end up with a longer recover time after my surgery. I’ve had laparoscopic abdominal surgery in the past and, while it was as non invasive as possible, I found myself feeling shockingly week for a whole month. I am not expected to have anything as major done this time, but it depends on what they find once they get the camera in me.

I got some cat supplies and paper products first, then went very slowly through the grocery aisles, seeing what was available. I did get some basics, like butter and eggs. I ended up getting some hoagies and breakfast sausages, which should be good for quick eating. I found a few other things that I would normally expect to pick up later in the month to right away instead. I even got some bananas – it’s been ages since I’ve seen bananas that weren’t all bright green!

My daughter, meanwhile, has slipped off to the restroom, but took quite a while before rejoining me. As she was heading to the section I was in, she ran into my sister, who works in this store. I never saw her at all – she works in the back, not on the floor.

She didn’t recognize my daughter. 😄 It’s been a while since she’s seen either of them! They had a chance to catch up a bit before she had to get back to work.

My daughter had her own shopping list as well, so she did some running around and returning to drop things off in the cart. As always, before we left, we stopped to think if there was anything we missed, since we have no idea when we’ll be back next. We happened to stop near the Corelle display. My daughters had asked about getting more, as they are much lighter than our other dishes. What we have now is what my late father had been using, and there are quite a few pieces missing from the set. We won’t be able to find the same design anymore, as it’s discontinued (and I’m not willing to hunt online for it). There was a design sold as individual pieces that I’ve been eyeballing for a while, and today I finally saw it available as a boxed set.

They were on the self in two different places, with two different prices.

My daughter was able to see the bar code numbers well enough to figure out which was the correct price. It was the lower price, though not a sale price. I wasn’t going to get it, but my daughter put a box in the cart, and bought it herself!

So sweet of her.

After that, we headed to the checkouts. When we left home, I was still dealing with residual pain from earlier, but that went away completely while we were out.

Instead, my back and hips started giving out.

*sigh*

I was more than eager to head out. We paid for our stuff, then my daughter took the cart to the truck while I went to the customer service. I remembered that, last time we were hear, two bags of cat food hadn’t been scanned and paid for my mistake. I had taken pictures of the bar codes so I dug those up, then went to customer service to explain what happened, so I could pay for them.

She was shocked and kept asking me “are you sure?” I said I was, and she was able to scan the bar codes from my photos, and I paid for them.

I think I made her day. She had the biggest smile! I just feel better taking care of that, and I’m glad I didn’t forget. It might be a while before we’re back again. We shall see.

After loading the truck (my daughter got stung by a wasp!), we headed out. We stopped in town on the way home to get gas and I was tired enough and in enough pain that I got my daughter to drive the rest of the way home for me.

We were got quite a while, so my older daughter took care of the outside cat feeding today, and made sure to add more kibble to the catio lure. After we unloaded the truck and put everything away, I did my last walkabout for the evening. I saw Slick going towards the house, but didn’t see any kittens anywhere this time.

I do hope they learn to trust going in there, and enjoy a soft cat bed enough to move into that cat carrier, at least during the day.

I really, really want to get those kittens, and Slick!!!

… and maybe Sprout’s lonely white and grey kitten. That one has taken to meowing, and when I come to put food in the bowls under the shrine, it now watches me, meows at me and runs back and forth, but doesn’t quite run away.

Of course, we need to get Sprout and Sprig (the white and grey’s older sister), too! That is going to be more difficult.

I’m happy with any progress at all at this point, no matter how tiny.

So that is now done.

Tomorrow, I want to head to the general store in our little hamlet in the afternoon. We’ve got a couple of packages that are expected Wednesday, but tracking says they’re already in the city, which means they should be here by tomorrow morning, though the local postmaster might not be able to finish processing all the packages until the afternoon.

Which reminds me. The manual blower I got for my daughter’s forge is hung up. I knew it had passed customs, but then my husband got an email. The email itself was just the invoice information for the blower, but the subject offered either a refund or a replacement. ??? I went online to check and it says “held for pickup at carrier locations” – but it’s still at customs. It may not even ben in Canada. I suggested to my husband to respond by requesting a replacement. Maybe with our physical address, instead of our box number. I talked to my daughter about it later and she suggested that if this happened again, to take the refund. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get it. As far as I can tell, there is no one locally (meaning, all of our province) that carries them, so online ordering is all we can do.

We’ll figure it out. I really want my daughter to be able to get her forge going. After the blower, the next thing to get her is some coal or charcoal and she can finally try doing blacksmithing at home.

Little by little, it’s getting done.

The Re-Farmer

Costco stock up shop: this is what almost $790 looks like

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Yes! Finally! I felt well enough to go the Costco stock up trip!

In fact, I was up quite early and feeling rested. Did the morning routine and prepped the truck. We even remembered to grab the ice packs from the freezer before we left.

We postponed leaving long enough to go to the post office, first, to pick up a couple of parcels. There turned out to be three, with one of them being fairly large, so we headed back home to drop two of them off. One of them was a new phone case for me, as my old one was getting warn out, and my daughter switched my phone to the new one on the way out. It’s the thinnest “wallet” style I can get, so it fits in my pocket without being bulky, and keeps the screen from being activated by accident.

On the way to the city, we stopped at a gas station at the one town along the route, for some drinks and a food for my daughter, who hadn’t had breakfast yet. I also picked up some extra beef jerky to keep in the console of the truck as part of our usual stock of food and drinks we try to keep in the truck. Which came in very handy when I was in the ER and finally told I could have something to eat after fasting for well over 12 hours, and would NOT be going for any sort of emergency surgery. That totaled $50.04 Then it was off to the city again.

The first stop at Costco was to fill the gas tank. Gas prices had actually gone down to $1.669/L in most places, but at Costco, regular cost $1.619/L

It still cost me $89.61 to fill the tank

*sigh*

Once inside, we were not in any hurry and went through some aisles we hadn’t bothers to for some time. We haven’t had any major break downs or sudden bills, so the budget was a bit more relaxed, allowing us to get a few things that we might not have, or would have had to wait on.

When we were done and one of the staff directed us into a line, I went to get my membership card out of my pocket.

It was gone.

Checking that I hadn’t put it in my new phone case’s card slots and wallet, I was ready to have my daughter pull aside while I went back to look. My new phone case is not as smooth as my old one. It has a slight texture to it that feels slightly “sticky” with friction. I had pulled my phone out a few times while shopping. The card must have stuck to the new phone case and been pulled out. Which means it was on the floor, somewhere. I was going to backtrack.

The guy that had directed us into the line was still nearby and heard us. He asked me my name, then said he would see what they could do and went to the customer service.

He came back and handed me my card! Someone had found it an already turned it in!

God bless whoever did that!

While shopping, I keep a running count in my head and always round prices up. If something as a price that’s discounted at the till, I still count at the full price. This way, the final tally will always be at least a bit lower than what I kept as a running tally while shopping. That can lead to some nice surprises.

This time, that nice surprise was a final bill over $100 less than I was expecting.

This is what $789.86 looks like.

There’s quite a bit hidden from view. Here is the breakdown.

We tried to do all the frozen and refrigerator stuff first, as well as the heavier jars and such. A lot of refrigerator stuff was in a box and my daughter put the whole thing on the belt so the big stuff on the flat cart could be reached with the scanning gun.

So, from the top…

There is a case of frozen perogies and another of Pizza Pops (which mostly became our supper when we got home). There’s a 3 pack of oat milk for the girls. Two packages of chicken drumsticks that were discounted at the till. Two packs of loose sausage meat in mild Italian. A wheel of brie and a 4 pack of cream cheese. Two Panini packs of sandwich meats. Five pounds of butter. A liter of whipping cream. A 2L of Kefir for a treat. A shaker of grated Parmesan. Two blocks of cooking cheese; Mozzarella and Old Cheddar. A big bottle of oyster sauce.

On the cart was a case of Monster energy drinks, a case of Coke Zero and a case of water. There were two bags of Kirkland brand cat kibble, plus two larger bags of Whiskas. The Whiskas was on sale, at least. There was also a box of XL puppy pads and a cast of wet cat food.

One of the extras we got was a two pack of “cooling” pillows for my husband and I. Another was a three piece set of nesting ceramic “baskets”, designed to look like the cardboard baskets that fruit sometimes comes in.

We also got a case of large black garbage bags and another of clear bags for recycling.

Also scanned on the cart were two 2pks of rye bread and a bag of ciabatta buns.

Back to the stuff on the belt, there’s a large jar of mayo and another of peanut butter. There’s a big container of popping corn. I also grabbed a container of iced tea mix that was on sale.

We got some of the Dawn Platinum dish detergent; it’s better for keeping the plumbing clear. There’s also a case of toothbrushes; something we had been well stocked up on and were finally starting to run out of. There’s a package of seaweed for the girls, and a double flat of eggs. I got a sack of the Kirkland brand of Basmati rice. I’d bought another brand last time, and it sucked. Definitely don’t want to run out of the Kirkland brand again. Last of all are two packs of tortilla wraps and a package of Medjool dates from Israel. The last couple of times I picked up dates, they were from other countries, and they turned out to be pretty gross. These ones cost more, but are delicious. That is a “me” snack. I’m the only one in the family that likes dates!

And there we have it. $789.86 with several items that are not bought on a monthly basis, which actually put me right on budget!

On the way out, we made one stop at a gas station just outside the city to pick up some drinks and snacks for the ride home. That was another $17.08

Total damage for the day: $946.59

Ouch.

Still, there was stuff on there that we don’t normally get. The only thing that was truly a splurge was the set of ceramic fruit baskets, and that cost under $10.

I’m also just glad we finally made it in, a week later than it normally would have been done.

I am so looking forward to surgery.

The Re-Farmer

First stock up shop: This is what $253 looks like

/ Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

$253.11, to be exact, but the total stock up shop was more. I just didn’t get a picture of the rest.

After my doctor’s appointment was done, I needed to have lunch somewhere. I decided to go to a Subway near the Walmart, which decided the order of the rest of the shopping.

I got a 12″ teriyaki chicken sub and a bottled flavoured water to drink, which came to $20.81

The next place I remembered I wanted to go was the Dollarama. I was looking for some sort of cheap garden fencing to use around the bed with the Arikara squash and bush beans. There wasn’t much left in gardening supplies, though, so the only thing I got in that section was some soft ties for my tomatoes. I remembered to grab a new spatula to replace a broken one, and I also grabbed a small memory foam bath mat, as the ones we have just don’t work out for the space. I also grabbed four of their larger storage bins (which are large for a dollar store, but small for other stores). I need to get more of these, little by little. I’ve decided I need to pack away most of what I have in my room. It is a large room that serves as my bedroom, office and craft room combined, but with the cats taking things over, and particularly with Butterscotch still refusing to leave the room, I haven’t been able to use my craft table as a craft table in ages – and no matter what barricades I set up, some of the cats still keep trying to get to the top of the wall shelf. I’ve got stuff stored up there specifically to keep it safe from cats, but a couple of them still manage to get up there, usually causing quite a mess in the process. When I came home from the shopping today, I found all sorts of things knocked out of shelves and scattered about.

Plus, I need to get rid of the carpet in this room. It’s a sort of felted carpet, and I’ve never seen anything like it, anywhere else. It is a dirt and fur magnet. I’ve talked to my brother and he remembers that the original floor under it is just painted wood – and it was painted about 70 years ago.

So, I need to pack everything away and eventually empty my room. Since the things I’m packing are things I actually want to use, I want to pack them in clear plastic storage bins. I only got four today, but it’s a start. Around Christmas time, places like Walmart get huge inventories of storage bins, and I can wait until the go on clearance after Christmas. The most difficult thing about getting rid of the carpet will be moving my king size bed frame, and the wall shelf.

In total, what I got at Dollarama cost $41.72

My next stop was Walmart, and I got things on two separate bills for two different budgets.

The first one was personal items, which included a new pair of work shoes. My boots finally gave up the ghost and are toast, and I wanted to get steel toed shoes to replace them. This store is still under renovation, so it took me a while to find the men’s work boots, which weren’t moved to the new shoes section yet. I found two styles available in size 9s. The first ones I tried had several boxes on a mostly empty shelf, and there were two price stickers right next to each other, below them. One for $74 and change, the other for $3.

That detail turns out to be important.

Whatever the $3 item was, I figured it was completely out of stock, or moved to the new shoe section. The other pair I tried on were about $10 cheaper. After trying both, I found the more expensive pair to fit better and were more comfortable, so those are the ones I grabbed.

Along with those, I got myself another night down and some personal hygiene items, to go together with the shoe budget, then I got the rest of the stuff.

Since I had other places to go, I was not going to get anything that require refrigeration here. I got two big bags of cat kibble and a 9 pack of facial tissues. My husband requested nacho fixings, so I got round tortilla chips and a giant jar of green olives for that. I remembered to grab some peanut butter as well. Then I got a total of 9 cans of Monster for myself and my daughters.

Total cost, $76.76

Oh, my gosh.

I just realized something.

I didn’t get charged for the two bags of kibble!!!! She forgot to scan them!

I’m going to have to go back and take care of that. I just took pictures of the bar codes. They should be able to scan the photos, or manually input the code, and I can pay for them.

I do remember thinking the total was a bit low, but I had already paid for my personal items, and that threw my count off and distracted both of us.

This is why.

Check out my $3 shoes.

Yes. $3.

When she opened the box to scan the bar code on the shoes, she paused, looked at me and said “Three dollars?”

I had no context for what she was saying and must have looked confused when I asked her to repeat herself. She told me, they scanned as $3.

???

I was rather shocked. I told her, I’d seen a tag on the shelf saying $3, but I assumed that was for something else.

She called the cash supervisor over. They compared the number under the bar code with what was on the screen.

They matched.

They compared the number under the bar code on the box with what was on the shoes.

They matched.

Eventually, the cashier was told, if that’s what it scans as, that’s the price!

So I got what I thought was a $75 pair of shoes for $3. My total on that receipt, which I was expecting to be about $120 in total, came out to $45.77

!!!

That cashier asked me if there were more, and I told her there were two more on the shelf. A size 9 and a size 11. Oh, she says… I need a size 11!

I hope she was able to go and take advantage of this. I’m guessing someone made a mistake at head office somewhere and input the wrong price. These weren’t marked as being on any sort of sale.

Once these items were packed into the truck, I drove across the street to the Canadian Tire. The main thing I wanted to get there were litter pellets, but I had a few other things I wanted to look for as well.

I did find the sort of garden fencing I hoped to find at the Dollarama, but wasn’t filling to pay their price for them.

I did grab some more bug spray, plus a couple of Quick Connect hose attachments, one for each end of the hose. The one at had on the metal construction grade hose burst in a heat wave not long ago, and I wanted to replace that, plus I have an extra for the other end. I also got a replacement end for the soaker hose that is the right size; I had managed to fit a larger one on, but the soaker hose has started to leak badly at the connection, so I will try again. I then went looking for a small fan to replace one we’ve got set up in the bathroom window. The ceiling fan in the bathroom stopped working some time ago, then started again, then stopped again… We can’t find a reason why it’s doing that, so we’ve set up a fan to blow the heat and moisture out the window, instead. The fan we’re using was already here when we moved in, and it’s starting to sound like it’s wearing out, so I wanted to replace it. Fans the same size, though, are now USB or battery operated. I found a nice little 7″ fan – slightly larger, but it will still fit in the window quite nicely. Last of all, I got myself a cold drink to have while heading to my next stop.

Total bill at Canadian Tire was $88.59

From there, I went to the Safeway. Not somewhere we normally go; particularly since this location is in the downtown area of this city, though the city is so small, “downtown” is nowhere near as crowded or difficult to drive around as the larger city. The main reason I went to shop there instead of just shopping at Walmart is that they give out gas coupons.

This is what $253.11 looks like – and what got me a 10¢ off per liter coupon to use.

There really wasn’t a lot to get here, since I plan to do Costco tomorrow – or Saturday, if I find I’m not up to it after getting my blook work and EKG done.

Under “grocery”, I got some ketchup, bouillon cubes in three different flavours, a jug of distilled water (I forgot to get that at Walmart, where I usually buy packages of 4), and house brand Mac & Cheese, four boxes each in two flavours. I got mozzarella and smoked cheddar cheese for my husband’s nacho request. There was a deal on little tubs of ice cream, with both a sale price and a points bonus, so I got one for each of us, in different flavours, including a lactose free one for my husband. Last of all in that category was a large watermelon and a bag of 5 avocados.

Under the “meat” category, I got slab of pork belly that was on sale, plus had a point bonus, as did the ground chuck. I also got ribs and two packages of bacon, all on sale.

Under “deli”, I got a cheese for us to experiment with – Amber Mist, which is made with aged whiskey. For my husband and I to share for supper, I got a massive Dagwood sandwich, while for the girls, I got a fresh sushi tray and, finally, some garlic hummus to go with the nacho fixings.

Lastly, under the “bakery” category, I got a large package of croissants as a treat, two packs of Texas Toast, two packages of bagels and two loaves of Irish bread.

Total at Safeway: $253.11

With the total being over $200, that got me the maximum discount available for a gas coupon at Shell, and there’s a Shell station right next to the grocery store, so that was my next stop. They have pre-pay only, which needs to be done to use the coupon anyhow. I also have my CAA card, which gave me another 3¢ off per liter, so I got $60 of gas at $1.689 instead of $1.819

I was down to a quarter tank at the time, so that still only got me to 3/4 full. I’ll do a complete fill and reset my trip counter at Costco tomorrow.

So… today’s total, including lunch and a few extra items, came to $586.76 A total that is missing the two bags of kibble which, after taxes, should have added another $70 or so.

Oh, I almost forgot. On the way home, I stopped at the general store and picked up a 40 pound bag of kibble. After taxes, that came to $50.40 That came out of a different budget, but brings the total for the day to $637.16

Ouch.

And that’s after some major unexpected savings, like the $3 shoes, along with the missed bags of kibble, too.

*sigh*

The Re-Farmer

Stock up shop: This is what $190 looks like

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Today’s stock up shop was very strange, and quite small. Doing the Costco trip first made a big difference.

I had picked up a 40 pound bag of kibble after going to the post office, to activate my replacement debit card, so that was just over $50

Once in the city, my first stop was Canadian Tire. I looked around a bit, but only got two 40 pound bags of litter pellets. That totaled $18.88 after taxes. After that, I hit a gas station on the way to the Walmart and got $40 in fuel.

I had decided to go to Superstore after the Walmart, so there really wasn’t much to get there. I was only after one thing, specifically. I had decided it was worthwhile to get the straight sided 10’x10′ gazebo tent to use for the market days I’ll be doing in July, instead of using the splay legged tent we have now. I couldn’t find any in the nearer Walmart, which is still under renovation, but I’ve been seeing displays of these for months. I didn’t think I’d have trouble finding one in the city.

I was wrong.

Normally, I see them in aisle displays, but there was nothing. I did find the shelf section it would have been in, in the camping tent section, but there wasn’t even any empty shelves with price labels for it.

I finally found a staff member. I started off saying that I knew this was not her department, but was there someone that could help me? She asked what I was looking for and I told her.

She seemed very confused by it. She thought I was talking about one of the gazebos in the seasonal section. I told her, it’s the kind you can fold up. Still very confused. Did I want he to page someone to seasonal? This is an evergreen item, not seasonal, but I said yes. I figured someone in seasonal would have some idea.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Finally, I picked up some distilled water and sugar pills for my husband, which was right next to the seasonal section. Still no one.

So I found another staff member and, when she was no longer up a ladder, asked if there was someone in the camping section that could help me. She asked, and I told her want I was looking for.

She was confused. Not her area, but as she started walking with me, she saw someone else and called her over.

They went to the tent section I’d already gone through, looking confused. I kept describing what I was looking for, in detail. When I realized they thought I was talking about a “tent” tent, I described it as a market tent.

They both looked confused.

Once thought I had seen it online and started telling me that they don’t have everything that’s on the website, and I said no. I’ve been seeing them for months. Usually in an aisle display.

She then started saying that the aisle displays are not things they order, but what the company just sends them. She repeated that a few times and I let it slide. In the end, neither of them could remember ever seeing what I was describing and acted as though this was something they had never carried. Ever.

We’ve gone through three of these over the decades, all bought at Walmart. I have never seen them NOT carry this style of tent.

I finally gave up, thanked them, and bought my husband’s stuff. It cost a whole $33.38 in total.

Then I went to the Superstore.

This is what $190.82 looks like.

This has got to be one of my smallest “stock up” trips. ever.

This is what I got – the receipt is very hard to read!

From the top, under “grocery”, there is a small jar of whole grain dijon mustard. Then a 6 pack of facial tissues. I got a case of 24 small water bottles, as something to keep in the truck.

Next is a large jar of stuffed olives, then a cold Monster for the road home. I was excited to see they stocked Beaver Buzz again, so I got 6 cans in two flavours – Citrus and Saskatoon – for my daughters and I.

Under Dairy, Frozen and Produce are a couple of pounds of no-name salted butter, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, a 5 lb bag of carrots, a bag of yellow onions, bananas and finally a 20 pound bag of russet potatoes.

Under meats, there is a bag of chicken nuggets for a quick heat and eat, and a frozen pork roast. Under seafood is a bag of seafood mix for my daughters, and a fresh, whole steelhead trout for the girls.

Bakery is next. I got a caramel apple pie and a rhubarb strawberry pie. Those are our contributions to the Canada Day BBQ we hare having at my BIL’s cottage tomorrow. I also got two big bags of torpedo buns.

I love those torpedo buns! I got one for fresh eating and one for the freezer.

Under deli is a pack with green and red grapes along with cubed cheddar and mozzarella cheese. I was feeling pretty hungry by then, not realizing it was past 3pm by then, and I’d forgotten to eat lunch! I chose it as something that would be easy to eat while driving.

So, that was my shop today. The gas and litter pellets went under a different budget from the Walmart and Superstore purchases. All of it together totaled $202.80

Not much of a stock up trip at all, but enough to make it worth the trip to the city.

I do wish I’d gotten that tent, though! I have the splay legged one that will be fine, but market spots are usually 10’x10′ for a basic spot, and I don’t want to crowd out other people with the splay legged design.

I do hope the market works out. Not only because every little bit I can bring in is going to help pay down all those vehicle and plumbing repairs we had to put on credit card, but for the large animal rescue that is hosting it. They are not charging for spaces or anything, but the more people who come for the market, the more will be willing to pay for a tour of the rescue, and those admission fees help pay for the care of the animals a lot.

Every little bit helps.

The Re-Farmer

Costco stock up shop: this is what $790 looks like

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

$789.74, to be exact.

Plus, the deer screamer is in.

First up, the stock up shopping.

My younger daughter and I headed out at about 10am for the city. We made a stop at a gas station in the town along the highway for some drinks and some sort of snack. It was too early for their hot food, so we just got a couple of small pastries to tide us over. I was thrilled, however, to discover they now carry Beaver Buzz energy drinks! I haven’t seen these in years! I made sure to tell the staff how happy I was to see them. I got a couple of cans of Citrus – one for the road and one for home. We’ll have to go back specifically to stock up on more, in all the flavours. My daughter paid for this stuff, though, so it’s not part of today’s spending for me.

We went to the new Costco this time (I’m happy to say, Damocles behaved the whole way. No break downs), with our first stop at their gas station. I remembered to grab our 20L jerry can to fill with Premium for the lawn mowers. Premium at Costco was $1.699/L When the can was filled, we filled the truck with regular at $1.449/L Regular gas at the stations we saw along the way were $1.649 and $1.639 The can cost $35.02 for a tiny bit over 20L, and filling the truck cost $73.20, so we spent $108.22 before we even walked in the doors.

Before we started shopping, we had brunch so we wouldn’t be shopping while hungry. I got the Montreal Smoked Meat sandwich and my daughter had the chicken strips and fries. Those, plus drinks, were another $20.12

Then it was time to grab a flat cart do the shopping. This is what $789.74 looks like.

Some of this, my older daughter sent funds for, and my younger daughter will be covering a couple of impromptu purchases later.

That’s still a pretty empty flat cart.

At least we got more meat this time.

This is what we managed to get today.

We try to make a point of putting the refrigerator and freezer stuff on the belt first, but the staff scanned a lot of stuff right on the cart that normally wouldn’t be, so that was nice.

Starting from the top, we have two panini packs for sandwiches, mild Italian loose sausage meat, tilapia filets for the girls, pork belly, pork blade and pork loin. There’s a three pack of oat milk for the girls and two nigiri platters that my older daughter covered, then a case of frozen perogies and frozen Pizza Pops.

On the cart, they scanned a shaker of slow release fertilizer that my daughter said she would cover for me, a case of Coke Zero for my husband and I, a large jar of mayo, a shaker of Parmesan cheese, a 6 pack of canned chicken and a case of Monster energy drinks for my daughters and I, which my older daughter helped cover the cost of as well.

Then there’s a large jar of peanut butter, a large container of peppercorns, some AAA batteries, and a case of XL puppy pads. There’s a container of ice tea mix that was on sale. I also picked up some higher quality olive oil, as we will be making chive blossom oil again soon. The chive blossoms are getting into their peak right now.

The cat bed is an unplanned purchase that my younger daughter will also be covering. It’s a combination of a tunnel that runs in a circle around a bed in the centre, and the outside wall is a scratch pad. I have it set up on the cat bed side of my bed right now. A few cats have explored it already. Hopefully, none of the bigger cats will try getting into the bed from the outside, rather than from the openings, because it will definitely get crushed! 😄

There are two ll.6kg bags of kibble, one for the inside cats and one for the outside cats. We did not get more wet cat food because of the generous donations we got.

Next on the list are two 2 packs of rye bread, a case of ramen noodles, two 2 packs of tortilla wraps and a bag of flour.

Back to what went onto the belt, there’s a 2 pack of lemon juice, a block of Old Cheddar cheese and another of Mozzarella. We got a container of popcorn, a 9 pack of variety noodles, and two rotisserie chickens.

What we didn’t get were things like eggs, butter and the cream cheese I was looking for but never found. We can get those elsewhere. We still have another stock up shop to do when the main disability pay comes in on the last business day of the month, but my daughter has her blacksmithing workshop tomorrow, and that’s just a short drive to a Walmart, so we might pick up a few things earlier.

By the time we were done, my lower back was giving out and I was really needing to use that cart as a walker. We were both more than happy to be heading home. I did remember to stop at the post office on the way, though, to pick up this.

I have it pre-charging as I write this. I’ll need to figure out how to get it set up and how to use the remote. The last thing I want is for it to go off while I’m working in the garden. It has the hardware to install it against a building or post, but I’ll be using the ground stake. I’ll set it up beside the pea trellis to test it out, since that’s where deer have already been going in and munching.

So… there we have it. $789.74 If I take off the cat supplies and batteries, $584.17 of that was human food and drinks, before any taxes or enviro fees.

The stock up shop, plus gas and lunch, totaled $918.08

Ouch.

The Re-Farmer

Not-Costco stock up trip: This is what $334 looks like

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Okay, I did not have the stomach to do a Costco trip today so, instead, I went to the nearest Walmart. This was a bit of a test run on the truck, as I haven’t driven this far since I took the yard cats to the vet and started getting weird readings on my battery gauge.

Since I expected to have frozen and refrigerator items, I picked up gas, first. Costco gas prices are the one thing that had me second guessing going in, as they tend to be dramatically cheaper. While in town to visit my mother, I passed three gas stations. One was at $1.799, one at $1.719 and one at $1699/L for regular. In this small city, at the time I dropped the cats off at the vet, their prices were $1.559/L So I made a small side trip to a gas station nearest the Walmart that I knew of.

Their sign said $1.559/L, however they also had a rather alarming looking mannequin holding a sign saying 5¢ off/L, which means I was able to get gas at $1.509/L

Scary that this is now considered a “low” gas price.

From there, it was straight to the Walmart and a stock up shop. Not a full shop, since I wasn’t doing any flat cart shopping, but I will be in the area again early next week, to get my ultrasound at the hospital a short distance away.

This is what $334.16 in total looks like.

I ended up with two receipts, though, because I tucked my bread at the end so they weren’t on the belt, as I wanted the softested things run in last, only to forget them there. The cashier noticed them, though, and the customer behind me was a sweetheart and let them get rung in ahead of him.

The bread alone totaled $12.30 At Costco, I would have gotten wraps as well, but I completely forgot to look for any.

Here’s the rest of it.

From the top, there is a 10 pound bag of potatoes for less than a 5 pound bag costs locally. Some oat milk and coffee creamer for the girls. There’s couple of blocks of cheese; Old cheddar and mozzarella. I got an 8lb bag of Basmati rice; not the usual brand we get at Costco, so I hope my husband likes it.

I got two 18s of eggs instead of a flat of 30. Some frozen tater tots for my husband. I spotted dark roast coffee on sale and got that for my daughters. Peanut butter. Mayonnaise. A case of 24 chicken Mr. Noodles.

The Chunky soup has dropped in price quite a bit. Locally, those are in the $5 rants, so I picked up 6 cans, along with a couple of cans of baby clams to add to them. These are an uncommon treat for us, these days.

I also got packs of beef, vegetable and chicken bouillon cubes.

There’s toilet paper, tissues, a case of wet cat food and two bags of kibble. I got their last bag of 8kg Whiskas. They were sold out! I grabbed another brand in a 7kg bag as well. Hopefully, they were have more in stock by the time I’m back next week.

I got a couple of packages of popcorn and a bag of pearl couscous (a rare treat), and the only meat product; a package of breakfast sausages. I’ve been finding better meat prices locally.

For my husband, I grabbed a can of Gatorade mix, which seems to have gone over well when I got one last time. Then I got a total of 10 cans of Monster energy drinks for my daughters and I. At Costco, we get the big case, which has three flavours. I got 10 different flavours today. Their price per can is a lot cheaper than most places.

And that’s it. That’s what I got for stocking up today.

Whether this was better than driving all the way to a Costco, I’m not entirely sure. It’s definitely worth having a shorter drive to make sure the truck is behaving, at least!

The Re-Farmer

A semi-stock up shop: this is what $212 looks like

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

This is not the shop I intended to make.

With Damocles living up to its name while I took the cats to the vet yesterday, and the heat wave hitting us, I was going to skip another trip to the city.

I did, however, need to go into town. My husband’s prescriptions were delivered yesterday, minus one – his primary pain killer, that he can’t order in advance, because it’s a “controlled substance”. He was down to one pill. They did have it ready while I was still in the city, but there was no way I’d be picking it up with cats in the truck and, by the time I got home, the pharmacy was going to close before I could get to town.

Same with my trees that arrived in the mail.

So early this morning, before things got insanely hot, though it was getting there real fast, I headed into town. Since I was there anyhow, I decided to stop at a local grocery store. If nothing else, I wanted to get more eggs.

I ended up taking advantage of sales and got more.

This is what $212.32 looks like.

The big difference here is, I got actual meat. Including beef!

From the top, there’s a 4 pack of Monster drinks that were on sale, that I got for the girls. The Sour Patch kids candy were also on sale, and for my husband. The giant potato chip bags were a rare treat, for all four of us, along with two containers of dip.

I got three types of cheese that were on sale, as were the 18 count packs of eggs, making it cheaper to get two of those than to get the flat of eggs I’d planned to get. Plus, they fit better in our hard sided grocery bags.

The sale on butter was really good, but I only got two, since I already got four, when I was in the city.

There’s a giant bag of frozen tater tots as something my husband can cook himself. The baby spinach was not on sale, but our own spinach is struggling to grow in this heat.

The sale on the sirloin tip roast was good, but I was seriously tempted by the brisket, that was a dollar cheaper per pound. The whole thing cost just over $125. At Costco, the same thing would have cost more than $250. In the end, I knew I wouldn’t be able to process it before it would need to go into the freezer.

The whole chicken was also on sale, so I got two. The sausage ring was not on sale, but the regular price of this locally made product is already quite good. The jumbo pack of wieners were not on sale, but are an okay price for the amount in the package. The croissants on sale are another treat. The hot dog buns were not on sale. It blows me away that a 12 pack of buns now costs more than a 12 pack of wieners, and I got the jumbo pack, which is by weight and more than 24 wieners. The hot dog fixings are for those days when it’s just too hot to spend a lot of time at the stove!

Finally, I got some plain loaves of bread. House brand, so a better price, plus bonus points for buying 2 loaves at a time.

In the end, I did more of a food stock up trip locally, than I did while in the city! The main part is being able to get meat at a decent price. When it comes to beef in particular, Costco is now priced completely out of our budget. Still, there are enough things we need, where the price difference it worth the trip to the city. Cat food, in particular.

Speaking of which, I just realized the time. It’s time to feed the outside cats for the evening!

On the way home from this shopping trip, I stopped to pick up the trees in the mail, and also got a 40 pound bag of kibble for the outside cats, at $45. After taxes, just pennies over $50.

*sigh*

It’s still 30C/86F out there. “Feels like” 33C/91F

I am not looking forward to going out there.

The Re-Farmer

First stock up shop: this is what $258 looks like

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Normally, I would be in the city today, doing our second stock up shop.

I’m going to wait a few more days.

Instead, here is the stock up shop I did a couple of days ago, when I came back too tired and in too much pain to do a post. That and I needed to try and get to bed early, as we had to capture some cats to go to the vet the next morning.

This was day of multiple stops, but I only got pictures of two of them, for a total of $258.88 It was also an unusual shop, as I did not get as much as I normally would have, changing up where I went a bit.

My first stop was the Canadian Tire, not pictured.

I got two bags of hardwood pellets for the litters, some screws and neoprene washers to go with them, as the cat house roof needs a bit of repair, a new headlight bulb for Damocles (our truck), some stronger zip ties I’ll need for the garden, and a clear plastic runner that I’m wanting to set on my bedroom floor, under where some litter boxes are. The headlight alone was $40.

Grand total after taxes was $105.34

Gas prices were cheaper by 20¢/L so I got $50 in gas on the way to my next stop, which was Walmart.

This is what $138.81 looks like.

This is a really small shop for a Walmart trip. I didn’t get any cat food this time, because I expected to go to Costco and stock up there in a couple of days, though I did get the XXL size pee pads.

The paper towels were on sale. The Costco price for paper towels are good, but I get so many large items there, getting their bigger package of paper towels is too much, so I get them at Walmart, instead. Then there are the XXL puppy pads, a cheap watering can because my new one that I got last year cracked over the winter. I finally found the huge bottles of shampoo and conditioner in stock. I would have gotten two conditioners, as we all use more of that than the shampoo, but it was the last one on the shelf. The “baby wipes” are actually “all purpose” wipes. I find having a package in my office/bedroom handy, and the girls were wanting one for their upstairs apartment, so I got a couple. Then there is the personal hygiene product that I’m still using, just in case. Looking forward to that ultrasound I’ve got coming up early next month!

That’s it. One of the smallest Walmart shops I’ve ever done, and certainly the smallest “stock up shop” I’ve ever done! No grocery items – I didn’t think to bring ice packs on this trip – and no cat food really makes a difference.

Normally after this, I would have gone to an international grocery store, but I kept hearing how Fresh Co has better prices, so I decided to try there.

As I parked I saw that it shared a building with a Dollarama, so I went there first. I honestly can’t remember everything I got there, and I think the receipt got tossed. I did get 4 plastic bins, which we used to for the snail roll transplants, making it more stable to move them and have them outside. I got some plant clips and 3′ long plant stakes that my daughter helped me across the bed, with the clips to hold the netting in place, to hopefully hold it up the next time the cats jump on top of the netting.

They really want to be on top of that mosquito netting. It’s so weird.

I’m sure I got something else, but I can’t remember what. Looking at my bank transactions, though, it totaled $35 even.

Then I went into the Fresh Co.

I can’t say that prices were really any better, there. There were big signs all over saying they had the best prices, or they would match competitor prices. Meanwhile, their flats of eggs were $2 more than what I can get locally. There were things I saw at Walmart that were at least a dollar more expensive. Some prices were better, but only because they were on sale.

The store itself was… I don’t know. It’s not that it was laid out badly, but it felt like it was. They had a lot of international foods, but nothing that I was interested in, compared to the international store I normally go to.

In the end, I spent only $120.07, after taxes. This is what that looks like.

That really isn’t much. Not much for a stock up trip, that’s for sure!

As you can see, pretty much everything I got was on some sort of sale. I got three boxes of frozen chicken – even packed in insulated bags, they were partially thawed by the time I got home, so they got eaten pretty much right away. There turned out to not be much in the boxes, either. Definitely not worth paying full price for, but not too bad with the sale price.

The sale price on the butter was pretty good, so I got four pounds. Definitely a good price on the coffee creamer the girls like, so I got a couple of those, even though they still had. The water flavours were also a better price, though only because they were on sale. The price on the strawberries was okay for the size of package, and they were really good looking strawberries.

The bananas were an okay price; I got them more because they were actually decently ripe. Everywhere else I’ve been seeing bananas, they are totally green. I remembered to get onions, and those were a good price.

The sale price on the teas were quite good. I spotted a honey ginger drink mix we’ve tried before and enjoyed, and the price was right on that, too. The ketchup was also a good price. The sale price on the rye bread is about the same as when the rye bread is on sale locally for that brand. Then, finally, I got a cold Monster drink for the drive home, because by then, I really needed it!

Again, not much of a shop, and certainly not much for a stock up shop.

By the time I was done, however, I was heavily using my cart as a walker. My lower back was hurting, my left hip was giving out and, oddly, my left shoulder felt like it was trying to dislocate every time I moved it.

Which certainly made packing the stuff into the truck “fun”.

Counting the Dollarama and Canadian Tire shops, the total for the day was $414.22 Plus whatever my lunch at Walmart cost, which would have been under $20.

So, not much of a stock up trip at all.

The Re-Farmer

Costco stock up shop: this is what $739 looks like

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Well… $738.95, to be exact

Today was my day to go into the city for our second stock up shop for May.

It was a very rough start to the day.

I had a hard time sleeping, so when I was awake – again – at about 6am, I asked my older daughter to take care of the morning routine, so I could get a couple more hours of sleep before I needed to drive. I even managed to fall asleep for some of that time.

I was getting up and starting to get ready when the phone rang.

It was my mother.

She almost immediately launched into asking me about the call I had been expecting on Tuesday about the doctor. I told her, they didn’t call, but I was in the city yesterday and would be doing our Costco shop today, so I wasn’t able to follow up on it yet. She started ranting about the doctor neglecting me like he was neglecting her but I reminded her it wasn’t the doctor that was supposed to call me, but the administrator.

She eventually got around to telling me that when she woke up this morning, her hearing was gone completely. Obviously, she could hear me as we spoke on the phone, but I still had to ask questions to find out what happened, as she went on about how they’d need to do the oil treatment again and so on. When I asked her, several times, if she’d told the nurses about it, I found out that no, she had not. How was she able to hear now? She’d dug her fingers into her ears until she could hear again…

!!!!

I had to explain to her that she needed to tell the nurses what was going on, not just anybody, but specifically the nurses, but she kept ranting. It was nursing pretending to be doctors. She wanted the doctor to do the ear flush. She wanted to talk to the doctor about her pills (they repeatedly explain her pills to her, but she is convinced they are lying and deliberately messing with her meds so she will die, because “they” do that to old people…) and so on.

When she started going on about how she was a patient in the hospital so they should be doing… whatever it is she wants them to be doing at any given moment, I had to remind her, this place isn’t a regular hospital anymore. She is a resident in a transitional care unit, not a patient. Things are done differently in her situation, and the doctor isn’t there just for her, but has a lot of other people he is responsible for.

At some point, I tried to tell her again that I was going to Costco today, so she wouldn’t try to demand I visit her or do whatever it was she was winding up for. At which point she started railing at me… “All you think about is food, food, food! And see how you look!”

Yes, my mother decided this was the time to attack me for buying groceries, because I’m fat. I didn’t even try to point out that it’s not just food we buy at Costco, but seriously. According to her, we should all… stop buying food? Stop eating? Because she has problems with her hearing and wants me to do something about it?

She got so bad, I finally just said, that’s enough, and hung up on her.

Now, my mother knows I do stock up shops to the city only twice a month, at the end of the month. She doesn’t understand why I stock up for the month like this, instead of just going to the local grocery stores every week, like she used to. I’ve even explained to her that we save hundreds of dollars a month by doing this, which is the only reason we can afford to still buy things locally throughout the month. That’s why I make these trips. Somehow, she always manages to “need” me to drop everything and devote every moment to her, at the end of the month. Month after month. Just like she knows that, with the snow gone, there is lots to do outside, but she doesn’t think I have anything to do, because we don’t have cows. I should devote every moment to her.

Aside from her making it very, very hard to want to spend time around her when she gets nasty like this, I can’t help but think how she never really did this for her own mother until my grandmother literally moved in here with my parents until she passed away. Nor did she do anything for my father after she moved off the farm, leaving him to the abusive treatment of our vandal. Abuse she now denies, even though our vandal’s behaviour towards her is one of the main reasons she moved off the farm. She often tells me, she depends so much on us to take care of her, which is something she wasn’t willing to do herself when the need arose.

It’s very hard not to feel bitter. I can’t even blame it on cognitive decline or aging. She’s been like this for as long as I can remember. She’s just more open about it now.

After that, I took the time to message the my brother and SIL in our group chat about our mother (my sister is no longer on Messenger, but I didn’t have time to text her about it), let my family know what happened, then booted up and headed out. My husband had a prescription delivery for today, so I made sure to leave the gate open, and my younger daughter made sure to keep a handset with her for when the driver called before getting here.

My only stop on the way to the city was at a gas station for a drink and something breakfast like.

I should have filled the tank when I had the chance, yesterday. Prices are $1.889/L all over now.

It was too early for their fried chicken, but they did have fried perogies ready. I grabbed some of those so I wouldn’t be having my energy drink on an empty stomach. Plus, they were something I could easily eat while driving. I was still thinking of eating at Costco, since the new location I was going to has the awesome corned beef sandwiches again, but I never did get to that.

When I arrived at the Costco, about an hour + after leaving home, my first stop was to get gas. I was at just under half a tank by the time I reached the city.

Costco price for regular gas was $1.749 It cost me $96.10 to fill my tank.

This after our federal overlords promised to bring the fuel prices down by temporarily not charging one of the many taxes they have on fuel. Instead, prices are much higher now.

The tank full, it was time to get a flat cart and start shopping. Thankfully, it wasn’t too insanely busy.

This is what $738.95 looks like.

There’s a few things buried from view, of course.

This is what I got today.

For the non-food stuff, there are 3 bags of kibble for the outside cats, a case of wet cat food for the inside cats, a case of XL puppy pads and toilet paper.

For drinks, we got a flat of energy drinks, which my daughter paid for, a flat of Coke Zero for my husband and I, and oat milk for my daughters. There is also a large box of Earl Grey tea.

In dairy, I got a block of mozzarella cheese, a wheel of brie and a 1L of whipping cream – the whipping cream is a treat we rarely get these days. Then there’s 5 pounds of butter, and a large shaker of Parmesan cheese my daughters requested.

In bread, we got two 2 packs of rye bread, two packs of tortilla wraps and a big bag of ciabatta buns. The buns are a treat. I don’t recall if we’ve ever bought them before. At least not since we’ve moved to this province.

Not sure what’s going on with the receipt, though. It says I got one 2 pack of sliced French bread instead of two 2 packs of rye bread. So I got undercharged? The rye bread packs were more expensive.

Not going to complain. Last time, I got overcharged for something. It’s an odd mistake to make, though, since I had no French bread for them to scan. That makes it a error in their pricing system. Very strange.

For protein, I got two panini packs for sandwiches, a pork loin that will be broken down into different cuts, two packs of drumsticks that were $5 off at the counter, two packs of loose Mild Italian sausage meat (cheaper per kg than links), and a hot rotisserie chicken. The chicken was for my husband and I to have for our supper. My daughter sent funds and requested some sushi, so the sushi and the nigiri platters are for her and her sister. Oh, and the double flat of eggs, plus a 6 pack of canned chicken. I also got peanut butter, which I guess fits under the protein category, too.

We also got a 9 pack of variety pasta, a bag of Basmati rice, I finally found the popcorn kernels, two large jars of mayo, a large jar of sliced pickles, a 3 pack of baking powder and the only frozen item, a box of perogies. There’s a giant bag of nacho chips for my husband.

According to the rest of the receipt, I had 45 items and a total of $16 in discounts.

Together with the gas, I spent a total of $835.05 at Costco.

This is starting to really hurt.

Not just the budget. My whole body is hurting, and that pain in my lower abdomen is kicking in again. I’ve got my doctor’s appointment in a few days. We’ll see where that gets me. Probably on a waiting list for an MRI or ultrasound or something. Maybe some Xrays for my knee that still hurts from when I tripped and fell in the sun room, before Christmas, along with my right elbow and my left rotator cuff that feels like it’s about to pop out all the time. After I get those joints looked at, I’ll see about booking myself at the sports injury clinic again for another injection into my hip. That’s starting to hurt when I’m in bed, no matter what position I try.

I’m just falling apart all over the place.

Scary thing is, I’m still the most able bodied person in the household.

!!

Seriously considering going to bed, and it’s not even 7pm yet.

I am so tired.

The Re-Farmer

Costco stock up trip: this is what $817 looks like

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

I am so tired.

In pain.

Drained.

I really don’t enjoy shopping.

Still, it’s done. Expensive, but done.

My younger daughter and I headed to the city after I got a couple more photos and videos of specific cats for the rescue, and after topping up the tires. I’m glad we took the time to check them. They were all low, even taking into account winter temperatures.

We made a stop along with way at a gas station in the town my mother is back in. We meant to get gas and lunch at Costco, but we wanted to get some drinks and snacks to tide us over for the drive in. My daughter paid for it, so that didn’t come out of budget. Gas was $1.729/L for Regular there at the time.

When we got gas at Costco, it was $1.499 for regular (Premium was $1.729). As we were leaving the city, we passed a gas station that was at $1.719 – but when we drove through my mother’s town again, the gas prices had dropped to $1.649! Nice to see the drop. It’s almost unheard of for rural towns to drop before prices in the city drop.

Once at the Costco, the first thing we did was fill the tank and reset the trip counter. At $1.499/L, it cost us just pennies under $80 to fill.

Before we did any shopping, my daughter and I went in to have lunch. There was no way we’d have the energy to stop for food after the shopping, so we made sure to eat first. My daughter got a couple of slices of pizza – not realizing how big they were! – while I had their Montreal Smoked Meat sandwich; something the other locations no longer have available. It’s been years since I’ve had one, and it was absolutely delicious! Those, plus a couple of drinks, cost $16.97 – and over half of the before tax total was just the cost of my sandwich!

It was worth it.

Since we were planning to go to the new Costco this time, my older daughter sent me some funds with a few requests, so this “over budget” total of $862.72 was not actually over budget.

It was, however, still very expensive for what we got.

We didn’t have to buy a lot of cat supplies this time, and I was able to get a fair bit of meat, but still…

This is what we got.

For cat supplies, we only needed to get for the indoor cats, so there is just one 11.6kg bag of kibble, a case of canned cat food and a case of XL puppy pads. In other non-food items, there is a package of toilet paper and a 4 pack of toothpaste.

From the pharmacy area, we got some B100, Adult Gummie multivitamins, plus some extra strength acetaminophen.

In beverages, we got a case of Monster (which my daughter paid for), a case of Oat Milk, Iced Tea mix (only because it was on sale) and some English Breakfast tea in a new Peter Rabbit design tin. Can’t have too much tea, and my younger daughter likes the tins.

In baking supplies, we got a bag of flour and a 2 pack of baking powder.

I just realized I got charged twice for the baking powder 2 pack. Crud. It’s not like we’re going to go back to the city to get it fixed!

In dairy, we got 4 pounds of butter – the price has finally dropped below $5 each here! – a block of mozzarella, a block of Old Cheddar, a shaker of Parmesan cheese, a wheel of brie and a 2 pack of goat cheese.

For bread, we got a 2 pack of rye and two 2 packs of tortilla wraps.

For protein, we got two hot rotisserie chickens, two panini packs for sandwiches, a pork blade roast, frozen salmon for the girls, Gouda and Cranberry sausages, plus mild Italian loose sausage meat, and a double flat of eggs.

In the odds and sots, there’s a 2 pack of butter chicken sauce, mayonnaise, peanut butter, coconut oil, a 9 pack of variety pasta, a case of Ramen noodles, a case of instant oatmeal, soy sauce (we weren’t able to find the brand my husband likes at the international grocery store, during our last shop) and a case of frozen perogies. My husband requested sour candies, so we got two bags of those.

Last of all was some instant eats, because no one was going to be up to doing much cooking by the time we got home! My older daughter had requested a sushi platter, so my younger daughter picked two; one for each of them. For my husband and I, I chose a Steak & Ale, with potatoes dinner. It’s in the oven as I write this!

What we didn’t find were the garlic coil sausages I was after for our Easter basket and general eating. Nor could we find popcorn. According to the receipt, we got 51 items, though with the double charge on the baking powder, it was actually 50 items. We got a total of $16.50 off with at-checkout discounts.

Total damage for the day, with gas, groceries and lunch, was basically $960.

Thank God this is just once a month!

We still need to get to a feed store for 40 pound bags of kibble for the outside cats. I’m thinking to do that tomorrow, after visiting my mother.

While I was writing this, I got messages from someone in the rescue group. They will be taking 6 cats in total from us soon! Fosters already lined up. She was just checking to see if Grommet would be okay being fostered with other cats, like Furriosa. Grommet is really chill, and would probably help Furriosa handle the transition better. Furriosa is the least chill of but bunch. I’m incredibly grateful that they are focusing on getting the tiny females, first. They need the most help. Plus, Sir Robin and Grommet! They would be such perfect indoor cats. We’re looking at having them brought in for vetting and fostering after April 7, if all goes to plan! After that, they’re looking to grab some of the friendliest neutered males.

This means that they have had quite a few cats adopted, which is really awesome. It’s been such a struggle to find people willing to adopt rescues.

Anyhow.

That’s where we are at now – both city stock up shops for April are now done.

I am so, so glad it’s over with. I could happily curl up in a corner and go to sleep.

After taking pain killers.

Oh! That reminds me. I have come up with a possible reason for why this 15+ year post menopausal body suddenly wasn’t anymore. It might be a very rare side effect of the anti-inflammatories I’ve been taking. I am now stopping completely (I was already taking only the minimum dose), and already seem to be seeing a difference, though it is likely way too early to say for sure. Since I wasn’t able to get an appointment with the doctor until May, that gives me time to confirm the theory as right or wrong.

It would be good if it really was that simple!

The Re-Farmer