Today, I decided to go to Superstore instead of to Costco again, as there were a couple of things on my list I either didn’t see at Costco, or what I did see wasn’t in good shape. Plus, I had a hankering for Superstore’s torpedo buns! 😂
I passed on the photo of the fallen tree to my brother and his wife to let them know about it, and ended up arranging to meet with my SIL for lunch. We had a fantastic visit! After we parted ways, I decided to take advantage of the location and made a quick run through the Home Depot that was next door to the Superstore. I found the plastic conduit pipes I want to use to bury and protect the hose we want to run to the garden tap, which gave me an idea of how much we can expect to spend. While looking for something else, I found short lengths of rebar with a protective coating for under $3 each, so I got 10 of them. I think I need only eight. We found the parts and pieces for a car port in the barn, but if we want to set it up, we need to secure it to the ground somehow. These rebar pieces can be pounded into the ground, and the supports should fit right over them.
I hope.
If it doesn’t work, I can find many other uses for them!
Then it was off to the Superstore. This is was $224.45, after taxes, looks like.
I won’t list the prices for everything on there, but this is what I got.
At my husband’s request, I got nacho fixings – olives, chips and mozzarella cheese. He also requested canned beans as a quick heat and eat. There was a sale on one brand, with a limit of 4 of each type, so I got two flavours. Eight cans at $1.50 each. I had intended to buy a case, but a case of 9 cans was almost $16.
I stocked up on distilled water for my husband’s CPAP humidifier; the cost/4L jug was about half what they cost locally. There’s a 20 pound bag of “almost perfect” potatoes for $11, and a large package of house brand paper towels. I got another case of Coke Zero, even though I got one at the recent Costco trip. This one it to tuck away for later. There’s a couple of boxes of tea; Maple Rooibos and Vanilla Earl Grey. There’s a bag of Basmati rice that I hope is good. I couldn’t find it at Costco, and this is a different brand. We have not had much luck trying different brands! I also stocked up some more on Beaver Buzz energy drinks for my older daughter and I. The citrus flavour was on sale, but I also got root beer and saskatoon flavours. There’s a 2 pound clamshell of blueberries. Regular price was $6.99, but there was a sale at $3.20, with a limit of 1. For fruit, I also got a couple of bunches of bananas, as they were only 35¢ each, instead of the usual 79¢ or more.
There’s a couple of jars of mayonnaise, a loaf of French bread, 4 packages of 12 hamburger buns and a sourdough loaf. I also picked up some fresh Fettuccini noodles, to make the original Fettuccini Alfredo I’ve been wanting to try. I would make the pasta ourselves, but no one wants to do that in this heat.
Last of all, I got cold bottles of water and Coke Zero for the drive home. I ended up only drinking the water, so I’ve got a Coke for later.
All of that, before taxes, came to $216.38 The one thing on my list that I did not get was cat kibble. For that, I will make a trip to Costco. Their cheap dry cat food is too cheap – not even the outside cats want to eat it – but the other large bags cost more than Costco by quite a bit. We’re okay for cat food supply right now, but the difference in price is worth the extra trip to the city.
The shopping done, I swung by the nearby Costco to fill the gas tank. Most places have their gas prices from 157.9/L to 160.9/L for regular. Costco is still at 144.9/L That’s a significant difference!
Now that I’ve been home for a while and recuperated from being around so many other human beings for so long, I’m going to re-watch a video on how to make the original Fettuccini Alfredo, then make some for supper!
My brother came out this morning to install a vent for the portable air conditioner they brought for us. It look longer than expected, of course, but we now have an AC in the living room! Yay!
Once that was done, it was almost lunch time, and we both left at the same time. I’d hoped to be able to at least buy him lunch as a thank you, but he had too much to do when he got home. His day was already a long one by then!
Once in the city, I had two places to go. The first was Canadian Tire.
I almost got a heavy duty hose on sale for the water tap project, but then I saw something else and put the hose back.
We needed this kit, more!
We’ve found all sorts of drill bits all over the place, but they’re all mixed up, many are worn out, and quite a few have broken as we tried to use them. What we don’t have is this range of sizes – or maybe we do. Somewhere. These can be used for metal, wood or plastic, and was 69% off. A much better deal than the hose, which would have cost more, even on sale! I had a budget for today for one, not both, so the hose went back.
Altogether, I got:
A 2 gallon watering can, to replace the one by the Crespo squash that is falling apart. $16.99 Plastic hardware cloth, 3′ x 25′ for the raised bed cover. I hope it works out. $34.99 Replacement spool for our weed trimmer. $12.99 A gallon of outdoor paint for the garden bench and “new” folding table. $54.99 The drill bit set, which would have been almost $150. Instead, it was $39.99
The total, after taxes, came out to $179.15
One thing I was looking for was more fire bricks for our eventual outdoor bread oven that I am slowly accumulating, but apparently this location didn’t even have a section for things like wood burning stoves, etc. The woman I asked while she was mixing my paint thought it was a seasonal thing.
Well, at least I got the paint and something to use on the third raised bed cover. If it works out, I’ll use it on the fourth frame, too.
Then it was off to Costco. I actually picked up gas, first. Driving through the town my mother lives in, one station was up to 160.9/L, while the other was still at 158.9/L Costco was 144.9/L !! I wanted to fill my tank but, unfortunately, the dust from driving on gravel roads tricks the gas pump into thinking it’s full, so it kept doing the auto shut off. I kept turning it back on until it was getting close to $25, then just hoped that was enough. When I started the car, the needle was just barely touching full!
Then it was time to do the shopping.
This being a Saturday, I was expecting it to be busy, but still, I find the crowds so draining! That, and so many people just park their carts willy nilly. Annoying enough at the best of times, but I’m using a flat cart!
When it was time to check out, though, the staff was absolutely fabulous, and I was through in no time.
This is what $682.30 looks like.
Ouch.
This trip was a big bigger with some things, as I’m also thinking ahead to our winter stockpile and pantry.
First, there was the “bottom of the basket” stuff that didn’t get unloaded.
Cat kibble; four 9kg bags at $29.99 each I would have gotten more, but not while using my mother’s car. Wet cat food, $38.99 Two packs of Kirkland toilet paper; $22.99 A flat of Coke Zero; $14.69, plus 32¢ enviro fee Box of spaghetti; $13.49 9 pack of mixed pasta; $13.99
Then there was the stuff that got unloaded onto the belt.
Pork chips: $20.10 lean ground beef, one package at $27.38, another at $26.29 ground turkey: $27.88, minus $5 at the till for a sale ground pork chub: $19.99 4 pk of bacon: $19.99 Marble cheddar: $14.99 Old cheddar: $14.99 Extra Old cheddar (a white cheddar): $19.99 two 1L cartons of whipping cream at $4.79 each 4pk of cream cheese: $9.49 Large bottle of Coffee creamer for the girls: $7.49 – that is typically a good price for the smaller bottles anywhere else! 6pk canned chicken: $17.99 (it’s actually gone down in price! A bit.) Walnuts for baking: $11.49 Butter, 5 pounds at $5.49 each 2pk of lemon juice: $4.89 Kirkland brand chocolate chips: $15.99 Glass cleaner; we keep losing our glass cleaner, so I got a set with one spray bottle and a huge refill jug: $17.99 Pork rinds (and this time I remembered to tell my husband it’s for cooking with!): $10.79 Iced tea mix: $9.99 Peanut butter, 2kg size: $10.49 Rotisserie chicken; two at $7.99 each 2pk rye bread: $4.49 two packages of tortilla wraps at $9.99 each A double flat of eggs (60 eggs): $18.89
Sub total was $651.97, plus $30.33 in taxes, for a grand total of $682.30
Ouch.
The sad thing is, I didn’t get everything on my list. I was running out of space. I’ll have to go over the list – and the budget – and make another trip out. The price for dry cat food alone makes the drive worth it.
I was feeling dehydrated by the time I was done Tetrising everything into the car, so I stopped at a gas station just outside the city to pick up something to drink. There was a fruit stand just across the parking lot, so I checked it out. I ended up getting some plums (actually a plum hybrid; he told me what it was, but I can’t remember now), cherries and avocados. The avocados were only a dollar each, which is much cheaper that most places. Altogether, it was another $26 for fruit.
I am so glad to be home now.
I think I’ll make myself a supper using rotisserie chicken and enjoy it in an air conditioned room! We’re at “only” 22C/72F outside right now. It’s almost 7pm, but my weather app says we’re still supposed to go up to 23C/73F before things start cooling down for the night. Last night, we actually dropped to 7C/45F – I had my window open and almost felt cold! 😄 Today is a brief respite, though. Long range forecasts have us approaching, and reaching, for one day, 30C/86F. No rain in the forecast, though, so we’ll be watering the garden. I’ll get to use the nice new watering can, with a rose that doesn’t have a crack in it, nor chunks of plastic braking off the opening! 😄
So yesterday was an interesting one… thankfully, not too interesting!
We hit 30C/86F and the rain that was forecast for our area was suddenly not being forecasted anymore. It was still insanely humid, though. The garden was wilting from the heat, so I set up the sprinklers to water the beds.
Which is when my phone started screaming at me.
Several times.
We were getting tornado warnings. However, the alerts were for the “mobile coverage area”. Which is pretty darn big. Looking at the weather radar after the first alert, the system was right on top of the smaller, nearer city we sometimes go to. My sister lives near there. The system continued to move northward, passing to the east of us.
As far as I know, there were no funnel clouds sighted, but some of the downs got walloped by massive rain, winds and, in some places, softball sized hail! I later saw photos people were posting on some local weather watching groups I’m on, and the damage in places from the wind and hail was pretty bad in places.
We had some pretty clouds blow over our area, and the odd gust of wind.
I’m okay with that.
There was no respite from the heat and humidity, though. My poor daughters, upstairs! My older daughter was working, but my younger daughter tried, and failed, to get any sleep.
I fared somewhat better, at least. Aside from being tackled by kittens, repeatedly, my room was much cooler, and I’ve started to partly sleep through the kitten attacks. I do have to be increasingly careful moving around, though. Question has decided I am her human, so I often have her climbing my leg while I’m on the computer and either sitting on my knee, or forcing her way up into my arms so she can sleep on my chest. During the night, at one point, I woke to find her snuggled over one of my arms.
She wasn’t alone.
One of the grey tabbies was also draped over my bicep.
Something still seemed odd, though. Thankfully, I could reach my phone and use the camera and flash to try and see. Which is how I found Ghosty stretched out in front of my leg and belly. Which is imressive, for such a tiny kitten!
When I had to roll over, I carefully scooped up Question and moved with her. The other kittens took off, but Question just settled in wherever I happened to stop moving, which means she spent most of the night sleeping in the palm of my hand! Another time, I woke to find her draped across my neck, and another kitten curled up around my head.
When my older daughter came in to help do Leyendecker’s meds (letting her sister, who usually does it, to finally get some sleep!), Question had moved to my pillow, curled up next to my face, and slowly slid down until she was on my shoulder, instead. I’m told it was an adorable sight!
After doing Leyendecker’s medications, I did my morning rounds (I’m pretty sure I’m seeing new kittens, but at this point, it’s getting hard to tell!), then grabbed an insulated bag with ice packs in it and headed to the city.
I ended up stopping at a gas station in the town my mother lives in, after discovering I was out of washer fluid. For some reason, the light that’s supposed to turn on and tell me it’s empty, doesn’t. I had some in the car, but after filling the reservoir, I went in to replace the jug. As I was leaving, a woman outside started chatting with me, asking if we’d gotten the storm. I told her it passed us by, but I’d heard about other places that got hit really hard.
She was in one of those places!
They were in a trailer, attending the Treaty Days events when the storm hit. Thankfully, they did not get any damage, though the ground was white with hail after it passed. A nearby town, closer to the lake, got the softball sized hail. She said some of the trucks she saw looked like someone had gone at them with a sledgehammer! Absolutely wild!
I’m really thankful it missed us. There are people in my local gardening groups that already had their gardens smashed to bits from hail in the last set of storms. I’ve since seen other photos posted online from the aftermath, and there were thing like large trucks blown over, pieces of sheds in the middle of fields, downed trees, pieces of roof torn off, and sheds blown apart.
I’ve not been home long, so I haven’t had a chance to see what sort of response there has been. So far, I have not heard of any people injured.
I’m glad I ran into the lady at the gas station. She was really nice.
Once in the city, my first stop was at a Walmart. This shop was mostly stuff we don’t normally buy.
This is what $203.24, after taxes, looks like.
The main thing I was looking for was puppy pads. There are a couple of places the kitten keep making messes in, once of which we will have to do some serious rearranging to access. The other is under my desk, where I was able to put some old disposable diapers we’d hung onto over the years. That, at least, will be easier to clean up this time, but I didn’t have anything to replace the diapers with. I was quite happy to see the Walmart was well stocked in the puppy pads!
The facial tissue was on my list; I didn’t want to get a Costco sized package of those, so I got them at Walmart. The tinned cat food was also on the list. I got a replacement package pectin, which was not officially on the list, but I do try to pick some up as I’m able. I would have also picked up replacement wide mouth canning lids, but they only had regular mouth size. There’s some toothpaste and deodorant, which are also things that I try to pick up extras of, when I can.
Not at all on the list was the broom. It’s just a cheap one, but it has stiffer bristles. The carpet in my room is a strange, felted-looking surface. It attracts cat hair, dust and everything else like nobody’s business! With the kittens, I’m not able to vacuum as often as I should, but I try to at least sweep it. All the brooms we have are soft bristled, so they don’t work very well. I’ve already tried this one out, and it’s exactly what I wanted. It pulls up so much cat hair! That’s make life easier for the vacuum cleaner!
I also got a cheap little toy for the kittens. It’s meant for dogs, but it’s a little fox that crinkles when squeezed, and the kittens will have a blast with it.
Also not on the list, but I did remember we needed, are a couple of pairs of kitchen sheers. They were both quite affordable, but one was less than $3. We’ll see how long they last, compared to the one that cost just over $10. I also grabbed a wooden spatula. We’ve got lots or plastic ones for the non-stick pans, and most have heat damage. The one that doesn’t has a crack in it. I’ve looked at wooden ones before, but they were all oddly thick. This one seemed properly thin enough to actually get under things, rather than just push them around the pan. 😄 It was less than $5, so that was nice, too.
The one big purchase this time, though, was a new pair of shoes! I finally remembered to look for some.
A nice pair of steel toes work shoes! I love the boots I have now, but I’ve been wearing them so much, one of the heels is giving out, and the zipper and Velcro closure are starting to wear out. All the work shoes had security cables on them, so I had to find an employee to unlock a couple of pairs to try on. It was funny when the first thing she did was point out that they were men’s shoes, not women’s. I told her I knew – I can’t fit women’s shoes! What made it funnier is that there was another lady looking at shoes to try on, and she was only looking at men’s shoes, too!
The ones I ended up getting were slightly more expensive, but at $69.97, that’s still a good price for steel toed shoes.
I put them on as soon as I finished loading everything else in the car!
The one last thing not on the list that I got was an actual food item. There was a really good sale on large package of blueberries, so I got two. They were only $3.84 each!
That put me at a before-tax total of $182.68.
My next stop was at the international grocery store, where I was also able to pick up some dim sum for lunch. That really hit the spot!
This is wat $215.21, after taxes, looks like.
This time, it was the strawberries that were at a great price! The bananas weren’t on sale, but still pretty cheap. The Coke Zero wasn’t on sale, but still cheaper than the local prices. The raspberry drink was a cold one for the ride home.
This store is one of the few places I can get the Beaver Buzz brand of energy drinks, so I try to pick up quite a few for my older daughter and I. It’s also where we can find the Philippine soy sauce my husband likes, and a 4L size of soy milk my lactose intolerant daughters drink. There is an uncut piece of locally produced Applewood smoked bacon in there; they didn’t have the big chunks, or I would have gotten a much larger one! There’s regular 3% cows milk in there, and I found the wide mouth canning lids I wanted. There’s some truffle infused olive oil; a real treat that is often not in stock. I picked up some sweet potatoes, because I’m getting a hankering for a sweet potato and peanut soup from a recipe my SIL gave us.
The girls and I had recently been talking about liverwurst. We used to get it all the time. When my oldest daughter was a baby, I’d picked one up and, while continuing to shop, gave it to her to hold and play with. She was very happy with it. It took a while to realize why she was so quiet and content. She had bitten a hole in the package and was happily sucking the liverwurst out! After that, for a long time, we would start our grocery shopping by buying a small tube of liverwurst for her to enjoy while we shopped, then did the same thing again with her sister. The girls were remembering that we used to get it all the time, but we just… stopped. So when I saw large tubes of it in the grocery store, I grabbed one. The thing cost over $11, though!
I also picked up some cheeses from the “fancy cheese” counter. I got an Alexis de Portneuf and a Ceddar with Caramelized onion. I was also looking for some parmesan that was not grated, because I would really like to make …
… the original Fettuccine Alfredo.
The price of parmesan is insane! In the end, I only got a little chunk, and it still cost almost $8 – on sale! Hopefully it will be enough for one recipe of Fettuccine Alfredo.
Other things were better priced. I picked up a 2 pack of whole chicken that was only $13.35 These days, I’d be hard pressed to find a single whole chicken for that price.
The big indulgence, however, was a beef brisket. I’ve never bought a brisket before. I’m going to have to look up how to cook it properly. It cost $55.40, and I normally would never buy a single piece of meat at that price, but it was really a good deal. It was on sale for about $9.90/kg ($4.49/lb was on the signs, if I remember correctly). Looking at the other cuts of beef, they were generally $20+/kg. Even the ground beef wasn’t much cheaper! So that was my major splurge.
What I did not get today was any dry cat food. Normally, I would have picked some up at Walmart., but they didn’t have the large sized bags, and the smaller sized bags were more expensive than what I find at Costco for bigger bags. Plus, I no longer had room in my mother’s car.
I so look forward to getting a replacement van!!!
So after this, I headed towards home. My husband’s bubble packs were in and I was supposed to pick them up tomorrow, but I decided to take a different route and get those, too.
Since I remembered to bring the ice packs, I could do that! 😁
His bubble packs, plus a container of diabetic candies (the last one!!) and a gallon of distilled water for his CPAP, because I forgot to get it at Walmart, came out to $89 and change.
Ouch.
Thank God for his private insurance prescription coverage!
My last stop was to fill the gas tank. The last time I filled it, the prices were still at 149.9 ¢/L, but the next day, the prices went up. Now it’s the same price as in the city; 157.9/L
I did, however, make one more unexpected purchase.
This gas station was newly renovated. It closed down as a Husky and reopened as a Shell. Aside from the fancy new pumps and new signs, not a lot has changed, but there was a new display of books that caught my eye. I was torn between several that would be very useful but, in the end, decided that this one would be the most immediately useful. For all that I grew up in the prairies, I don’t actually know a lot about what native species we have that are edible.
Or maybe I know more than I think. Flipping through it in the store, I did recognise a lot of the photos. I think mostly it’s that there are some that I don’t know if they are safe to eat or not.
I’m going to enjoy going through it more thoroughly!
Filling the tank cost $32.26, and the book was another $24.95, though I did get a slight discount for using my CAA card. According to my receipt, I was also discounted 0.03/L on my fuel. I’ll take what I can get!
So that is our first city shopping trip for the month. There will at least be one Costco trip – maybe two, if the price of cat food is crazy enough to warrant a second trip.
I really miss having a van. I don’t like making so many trips to the city like this!
Well, it looks like I got home just in time! Things were clear and sunny while I was in the city, but I drove home to a dark cloud. As we unloaded, there was thunder all around us, and just touches of rain. From the radar, it looks like a series of small, severe storms are being blown in from the West, all across the Prairies.
Meanwhile, our weather apps are pinging with tornado warnings.
No, not for us. For the south end of our province, near the US border. We’re getting the warnings because the whole province is included in the warnings. Which is a bit like if you lived in Spokane, Washington, but were getting weather warnings intended for Boise, Idaho.
What’s hilarious is looking at a closer view of the weather radar, and it shows a storm system is expected to split in two, with one part passing to the north of us, and the other to the south of us. We might not even get rain.
No matter. We are now pretty stocked up and won’t need to go out again to do the rest of the stocking up for a few days.
Today was just a Costco shop, and this is what $736.36 looks like.
There were a few unplanned purchases this time. One was a linen summer dress for my younger daughter, who really, really loves linen fabric, for $23.99 I’m happy to say, it did fit her. The problem with sizing is, they aren’t standardized, so you never really know if a size on the label of one brand will be the same at the same label size on another. Plus, there’s no stretch to linen, so if the arm holes are cut differently, for example, even if it’s the right size, you might not be able to even put it on.
Another unexpected purchase was a 2 pack of down spout extensions, for $18.99. As soon as everything was unloaded, I got those on right away! There is a downspout near the main entry, facing the kibble house, that drains way too close to the house. I’ve never added to it, because it’s also a fairly high traffic area. These flexible extensions will solve that problem. The other downspout was off the corner of the old kitchen, near the septic tank. The end had a short length of downspout on it that was starting to split, and that was extended by another length of PVC pipe. Those have both been replaced by a single extender, and I am quite happy with the change!
One more unexpected purchase was a package of work gloves, at $14.99. Our garden gloves are getting worn out and falling apart, so we really needed new ones. A package of garden gloves, however cost more than $20, and the quality is not as good.
Of course, the bulk of the purchase was cat food. I got a case of wet cat food at $38.99. With the dry cat food, I got four Kirkland brand, 9kg bags at $26.99 each. I also got a couple of 11.6kg Whiskas brand. Regular price, $37.99, but they were $8 off, so that was a good deal.
For the rest:
Regular mayo, two jars: 10.99 each, minus $2.50 each at the till Pork rinds: 10.99 (I plan to use them as a bread crumb substitute) Two rotisserie chickens: 7.99 each Ground pork chub: 19.99 Ground beef chub: 45.76, minus $5 at the till Pork loin: 28.28 Two backs strawberries: 5.99 each Family size sushi pack: 21.99 (for supper at home) Shepherd Pie: 21.91 (for my husband who doesn’t eat sushi) Triple berry jam: 7.99 5 pounds of butter: 5.49 each 4 packages of tortilla wraps: 9.99 each Four 2pks of rye bread: 5.99 each, minus $2 each at the till Two 1L cartons of whipping cream: 4.79 each Double cream brie: 10.99 4pk cream cheese: 9,49 Sour cream: 5.49 Old Cheddar cheese: 14.99 Mozzarella cheese: 14.99 Iced tea mix: 9.99 Peanut butter: 10.49 10kg bag of sugar: 13.69 2pk fabric softener: 16.49 (I’ve been looking for these for months! This will last us for a couple of years.) Dish detergent: 8.59 Toilet paper: 22.99
That made for a grand total of $692.92, plus $43.44 in taxes, for 49 items.
*sigh*
We didn’t get a lot of meat this time, as we will be ordering a couple of BBQ freezer packs from our beef supplier. Which I need to do after I finish this, or I’ll forget again.
By this point in the shopping, I didn’t even finish going through the store, as I was really pushing the limit on how much my mother’s car can handle. Another thing I need to remember: get the van to the garage! At least this month, we don’t have extra bills, or things like needing to empty the septic tank.
I got gas at Costco at 145.9 cents per liter. Everywhere else in the city is 157.9 With the new carbon tax kicking in on July 1, gas prices are going to go up, so a lot of people were filling jerry cans. Which reminds me: I need to refill our 20L can for Premium gas that we keep for the lawnmowers and wood chipper. To make it easier to fill the tanks, we transfer fuel from the 20L can to a pair of 5L cans. Right now, I’m down to maybe half of one of those 5L cans. We will probably do another city trip on Friday, so that would be a good time to swing by Costco again, just for gas, to fill the 20L container. That should last us for the rest of the summer, and possibly into next year.
Now it’s time to go over the list to see what got missed this trip, and make sure we get them on our next city trip, when the rest of my husband’s disability pay comes in.
After I place an order for that beef! I’m already forgetting!
It’s feeling a bit surreal today – I’ve gone to the city and back, and as I start this, it’s not even 1pm yet. I headed out early this morning to do the watering and switch out the trail cam memory cards, and was on the road not long past 7:30am. Usually, I don’t leave for the city until around 10:30 or 11.
I wasn’t sure if I’d be making the trip at all, today. My husband’s CPP Disability was due on Monday, but these days, both his CPP and private insurance payments show up in our account on Saturday instead of Monday.
I have no complaints there.
Because I left so early, I asked the girls to take the transplants out to the picnic table for me. We’re not supposed to get the high winds we got yesterday, but we were still supposed to get pretty hot, with a high of 25 or 27C/77 or 81F, depending on which app I looked at. The thunderstorm we were supposed to get last night is now pushed back to Monday. In the end, I figured it was just safer to have the transplants under the old market tent, even though it’s further from the house. Even there, with the high winds we had yesterday, one of our tomato plants snapped clean off, right at soil level. I replanted the stem. It might still survive. Not that we can’t afford to lose any. I just can’t help trying to save any that need it!
I was greeted by a pleasant site when I opened the gate to head out this morning.
Most of our lilacs were badly damaged by last year’s flooding, and not showing a lot of flower sprays. This one, however, has the most we’ve ever seen on it! Usually, it has none at all. This area is usually baked dry. For the first time in the past 5 years, at least, the water table is high enough for it thrive and bloom!
When I got to the Costco, their doors had just opened, and I found myself winding through two long lines of people that had been waiting to get in. The parking lot was already almost full! Things moved smoothly and quickly, though.
I did have quite the heart attack when going through the meat section. Especially the beef!
The strip loin grilling steaks were $39.99 (US$29.37)/kg. The ribeye grilling steaks were $45.99 (US$33.78)/kg. The whole beef tenderlions were $53.99 (US$39.66)/kg One kg equals 2.2 pounds.
No. I didn’t buy any.
Time for another order from our beef supplier!
I still ended up spending $800.06 after taxes.
That looks really meager for $800.
This is what I got:
Two large jars of mayo, at $10.99 each (yes, we can make it ourselves, but with the cost of ingredients, that’s no longer worth the effort, really) One jug of Kirkland EVOO – the smaller one – at $23.99 Iced tea mix, $9.99 That’s almost $5 cheaper than what I’m seeing for regular prices elsewhere right now. Triple berry jam, $7.99 Peanut butter in the 2kg size jar, $10.49 garlic granules, $8.99 Truffle, parmesan, black garlic mix, $9.99 This one was a splurge. I was looking for the garlic granules when I heard a couple other customers looking for ordinary table salt. She spotted this and read the label out loud, wondering what it was for. It sounded fantastic to me, so I grabbed some, and we ended up talking about different ways to use it. 😄 popcorn, $10.89 Bacon, 4pk, $19.99 Whipping cream, two 1L cartons, at $4.79 each – much cheaper than anywhere else Kirkland sour cream, $5.49 4pk Kirkland cream cheese, $9.49 Old cheddar, Marble and Mozza cheese at $14.99 each Double cream brie, $10.99 Butter, five at $5.49 each Two rotisserie chicken, $7.99 each Eggs, 60 pack, $17.89 lean ground beef, $46.29 – this is the huge plastic chub of meat that will be broken down into smaller packages ground pork, $19.99 – another chub that will be broken down into smaller packages pork loin, $29.47, minus $5 for a sale Tilapia filets, $32.89 – a treat for my fish loving daughters flour, $9.99 – a much better price than elsewhere. I’d have gotten two, if I wasn’t concerned about the space and weight in my mother’s car Vit. B12, $13.99 Mr. Freeze, $14.99 – this huge box of freezies cost about as much as boxes half the size in other stores AA batteries, $25.99 plus $1.60 eco fee AAA batteries, $25.99 plus 80 cents eco fee laundry detergent, $21.49, minus $4.50 for a sale Kirkland toilet paper, $22.99 Dry cat food, six 9kg bags, $28.99 each canned cat food, $38.99
The sub total came to $757.79, plus $42.27 in taxes.
Ouch.
It wasn’t that long ago when a load like this would have cost between $600 and $700, depending on how many things like batteries or household supplies were on the list. Back then, I would buy 10 pounds of butter at a time, too. As for today, I completely forgot to pick up any bread and wraps, which is okay, because I was running out of room.
Given the price of kibble, we might end up doing another Costco run. We did find a source for larger bags at an even better price, but none of the cats liked it. Not even the outside cats. There’s a reason the cheap stuff is cheap.
Along with the groceries, I got gas, which was at 151.9 cents per litre for regular gas.
So the first stock up shop for the month is done. It took a huge chunk out of the budget for the month. This month will have some extra expenses, too. One is to get the septic tank emptied. The other is to get the van checked and find out what’s causing that noise near the alternator. Hopefully, it will be a minor fix. As much as I appreciate being able to use my mother’s car – especially with working air conditions! – there are some things I would rather use the van for, like big shopping trips, or runs to the dump.
Well, the Costco shopping trip is over and done with.
Dear Lord, was it busy!
Things did go well, in general. It does make me shake my head when I’m lumbering around with my loaded flat cart, and people with near empty carts seem to think that cutting me off or whatever is a good idea. Like, Dude. I can’t stop on a dime, here. Or trying to make my way down an aisle with pallets of inventory all down the middle, leaving just narrow spaces on either side, and people with small carts seem to think I can steer around them, better than they can steer around me. Annoying.
There’s a reason I like being a hermit.
Still, I did have an excellent exchange. The first things I load up on are the bags of kibble. The 11kg bags were on sale, too, which was bonus! There was an older gentleman that was loading several into his cart when he saw me starting to add several bags to my flat cart (I ended up getting six altogether). He commented on having a lot of cats, and before we knew it we were having a grand conversation! It turns out that he and his wife have been caring for a colony as well, including providing warm shelters and heated water. They’ve currently got 12 indoors, including three kittens. Outdoors, they’ve had as many as 72!! When he found out we were caring for a colony, too, he started asking me questions, and I ended up telling him about using the stove pellets for litter, and about the help we’ve had from the Cat Lady. Turns out, they’re selling their house and moving to an apartment, and have to rehome their cats! He told me about his experiences with rescues and the humane society, which have been pretty touch and go. For the last few months, none of the places he’s left messages with have called him back, and the humane society won’t deal with people outside the city at all anymore, using the mandates restrictions of the past couple of years as their excuse. Some have told him they’re overwhelmed with dogs from the reservations up north, so they’re not accepting any cats at all. I ended up sending his contact information to the Cat Lady, and she recommended a rescue he hadn’t heard of yet. Hopefully, they will be at least more receptive. All in all, it was a great conversation, and he was the sweetest guy. I hope it works out for him and his wife!
Then I had to get back to shopping. *sigh*
This is what $688.62, after taxes, looks like.
That’s only 42 items.
This is one item I did NOT buy.
This wasn’t even the most expensive cut of meat, at $44.99/kg !!!! Good grief!
I got most of what was on my list, dropping a few non-essentials that can wait until next month.
This is what we did get:
Two bags of Basmati rice, in the brand my husband likes, for $17.99 each. Large jar of regular Hellman’s mayonnaise: $10.99 Canned chicken, 6pk: $18.99 Peanut Butter, 2kg size: $10.49 Pasta, 6pk with 3 different types: $15.99 Goat cheese, 2pk: $10.99 Crimini mushrooms: $4.99 Strawberries: $8.99 Extra strength acetaminophen, Kirkland brand: $10.99 Extra strength ibuprofen, Kirkland brand: $9.99 Bacon, 4pk: $21.99 Polish sausage: $18.99 Whipping cream, two 1L cartons at $4.79 each Cheese; both Mozzarella and Old Cheddar, at $14.99 each – they still don’t have the big blocks we used to get all the time Cream cheese, 4pk Kirkland brand: $9.49 Sour cream, Kirkland brand: $5.49 Pork loin: $29.97 (I used to be able to get roughly the same size loin for under $20, not long ago!) Top sirloin: $31.14 These were the cheap steaks! Four steaks in the package. Pork chops: $22.64 At least this had a lot of chops in the package for the money! Ground beef, lean: $29.41 (remember when ground beef was the cheap meat?) Bathroom tissue: $22.99 Butter, five at $5.49 each. Costco’s butter is about the only butter I can find for under $6 a pound. Cat food, 11kg bags, six at $29.99 each. Regular price is now $37.99, which is about what a 7kg bag size costs, locally. Vinegar, box of two 5L jugs, $8.99 Rotisserie chicken, two at $7.99 each eggs, 60 count, $17.29 wraps, 2 packs of 36 for $9.99 each Ziploc freezer bags, size medium, 3pk, $17.99
Subtotal: $657.68. I paid $30.94 in taxes.
That was just painful.
But, between the three trips, we are well stocked for the month, plus a bit set aside to top up our stockpile that we always need for the winter months. After this, we’ll still need to make local trips for fresh produce, and of course for getting fresh eggs from the egg lady. We just started our last 18.9L jug of drinking water, so I’ll need to head into town with the two clean and dry ones for refilling. The siphon pump can’t quite get all the water out, so we’ve got a jug with a couple of inches of water still in it to finish off, then set aside to dry out.
One thing about all those bags of kibble; I think this is the heaviest I’ve ever loaded my mother’s car, which had me a bit concerned. I made sure to load the heaviest things more to the middle, and spread the weight out as evenly as I could.
When it comes to my mother’s car, there are a couple of things in particular that has always driven me nuts. One is how noisy it is. There are always things rattling around in the back, and I’ve never been able to find what’s making the noise. The other is that it’s a much lighter vehicle than our van, so it constantly feels like I’m bouncing all over the road, either from bumps on the highway, or gusts of wind.
All that weight in the back, however, sure made a difference! It was the quietest, smoothest ride I’ve ever had with this car! Not a rattle to be heard from the back, and even when I drove through a downpour briefly, that little thing stayed hugging the road. 😄
I had intended to tank up while at Costco, but the lines were so bad, I took the route to town to tank up, instead. Costco was at 156.9/L today, but in town, the gas station I go to is still 155.9/L Nice!
So all in all, it was a good and productive day. Just very draining, to be around all those people. I’m glad to be home, that’s for sure!
I only saw about a dozen cats this morning. It was quite lovely out there, with little hint of what was to come!
I knew we were supposed to eventually get rain. The high today is supposed to reach 7C/45F. This morning it was already quite windy, so I made sure to tend the smoldering burn ring so the cover lay flat over it. Normally, I set it so the slight gap faces the wind, to encourage the smolder, but this time I made sure it was facing away.
Turns out I didn’t really need to worry about it.
As I write this, we are at 3C/37F, with the wind chill at -1C/30F, and not only is it raining, but snowing, too!
I’m glad I have those carrots I planted yesterday under plastic! The cooler temperature and snow isn’t the problem. Though I covered the seed tape with soil, the wind would probably still have blown some of it away, and whatever didn’t get blown away would have been bashed about by the rain.
Today, my husband’s CPP Disability came in, so I was planning to go to Costco. By the time I headed out, shortly before 11am, the winds had increased to the point that I was thinking I would be changing plans. When I got to the town my mother lives in and gassed up (168.9 cents per liter, there!!!), Costco was off, but I decided to head to the smaller, closer city for the Walmart and Canadian Tire part of our regular shopping. Honestly, though, I seriously considered just getting a few things where I was and heading home. If the price difference wasn’t so dramatically different, I probably would have. Even while parked next to the gas pump, the car got buffeted by wind gusts, and I was facing into the wind!
The route from my mother’s town to the smaller city takes me on a several east/west stretches of road. The wind was coming almost directly from the south, and I was fighting it the whole way. It was better when I was driving into the wind, though the gas gauge sure was dropping faster! I took it slower at times, and wasn’t even getting passed, which is saying something!
Still, I got there safe and sound, and my first stop was at Canadian Tire.
This is what $110.67 looks like.
There were two things I went there for. The stove pellets for cat litter, which were $7.29 each, and another 4 fire bricks, which where also $7.29 each. The plan is to pick up a few fire bricks each month until we have enough for our outdoor kitchen, when we are ready to build it.
The cast iron frying pan was a serendipitous find. For starters, the 10″ size was 80% off! Cast iron anything has become extremely expensive, so getting this for $19.99 was something I did not want to pass up. Even so, I would not have bought it if it weren’t for one other thing: the bottom of the pan is flat. The cast iron pans we have all have a slightly raised ring around the bottom. Which isn’t an issue with a typical electric stove, but we’ve got a glass top stove now. It actually affects how the pan heats up. This one does still have a ring on the bottom, but it is indented, which solves that problem!
It says it’s pre-seasoned, but… we’ll probably season it a few times ourselves, first!
The other thing is that blue metal bar. There used to be a pencil tip bar like that here on the farm – I even remember it from when I was a kid – but it is among the things that disappeared before we moved here. These don’t tend to be in stock very often and, when they are in stock, they’re usually out of budget. This one is a 60″ chisel tip pry bar, which will meet our needs quite nicely. Best of all, it was 40% off, which brought it in budget!
I then made sure I left very quickly, before I found something else to spend money on!
Hardware stores are a very dangerous place for me to be, which money! 😄
That done, it was off to Walmart. This is what $283.38 looks like.
*sigh*
Part of that total was a donation to the Children’s Hospital, for which I was given a lanyard as a gift, which you can see sitting on the case of wet cat food. That case cost $28.77 The 10kg bags of dry kibble cost $29.97 each. I don’t usually get a 16 pack of facial tissue, but it was on sale at $17.97, instead of something like $23 regular price. There is also a 6pk of double roll paper towels at $18.97; another sale price. One extra, off list, thing that I got was a pair of sweats for myself, at $18. The other was a hanging scratch pad for $4.97. The cats in my room tend to ignore the small scratch post I have for them, in favour of the carpet, so I’m hoping a hanging scratch pad of similar texture will better appeal to them.
For my lactose intolerant daughters, there are two 2L cartons of soy milk at $4.78 each, as well as coffee, at $8.97, though that had a $1 off coupon attached to it. There is a bag of mixed frozen berries at $12.97 and four different cheeses at 2/$10. There’s a 4L jug of 3% milk for $5.88, a large jar of green olives for $8.97, and 4 things of liquid Crystal Light drink mix for my husband, at $3.37 each, which is more than a dollar cheaper than locally. There’s a giant pack of wieners for $5, but there was only one package of hot dog buns left, at $3.37. There’s a 5lb bag of yellow potatoes at $5.97, and a 5lb bag of red potatoes for $4.97. Finally, there are two bottles of distilled water for my husband’s CPAP humidifier, at $1.87 each, and bottle of a Coke Zero for the road at $2.27. Of course, all the bottles and jugs also had their 3 cent enviro fee which, in this province, we don’t get back when we recycle them.
The grand total, before taxes and donation, was actually $256.86 However, I see on the receipt that the quantity sales – the Crystal Light was 2 for $6, and the soy milk was 2 for $8 – got deducted at the end, so that brought the subtotal down to$253.82 before my donation. Taxes totalled $19.56
So this was a smaller – though heavier! – shopping trip than the Costco trip I intended to make. Between the 40 pound bags of pellets and the pry bar that weighed more than one of those 10kg bags of kibble, I wasn’t going to get too much more while using my mother’s car. We’re not using the van until I can get that noise in the engine checked, and we won’t have the budget for that until June.
Still, I was appreciating that weight on the drive home. By the time I finished shopping at Walmart, it had started to rain. Between the extra weight and having the wind at my back, the car was not being buffeted around anywhere near as much. I was still fighting the whole drive home, though, this time with all the rain accumulated on the highways that wasn’t draining off.
I took a different route home. Instead of going back the way I came, I took the highway to the town closer to us, which is a more sheltered route. It also runs through several small towns, so the speed limit is lower for most of it. When I got to town, I topped up the gas tank again – this time at 155.9 cents a litre! – before the final stretch home. I kept the family updated with where I was, every chance I got, and my daughter kept me updated on what the weather radar was showing. The last leg of my trip was driving east, which meant I was getting broadsided by the wind again, as well as the rain. For most of the drive, I was doing 80km in a 100km zone and, once again, no one was passing me! I did my shopping just in time, though. According to the weather radar, after I left the Walmart area they got hit with the brunt of the storm, and I was safely home before the worst of it hit our area.
And in the time it took me to finish writing this, the rain and snow has stopped! From the looks of the trees outside my window, the wind has died down dramatically, too! Even on the live feed from the garage cam, I’m not seeing the trees in the distance moving at all. Not even the tarp on the shed roof near the barn is flapping anymore, and that thing was billowing when I left!
Ah, weather. If you don’t like what you’ve got at the moment, just wait 5 minutes and it’ll change! Especially in April!
Today, my daughter and I headed out for what should be our last big stock up trip of the month.
Well. “Big” is a relative term.
Of course, the morning rounds were done first, and I had company!
The ice these cats are so curious about was melted and muddy by the time we got home.
Also, I counted 24 this morning. When we got back and finished unloading, I topped up their food and water, and The Distinguished Guest was there! I’ve been seeing him more often of late, though yesterday, Shop Towel also showed up and there was quite the cat fight. No new injuries on TDG that we can see. He still looks very rough, but he’s no longer limping. Poor thing. He was so hungry, he almost let me touch him while he was in the kibble house!
My daughter and I left a bit later than we usually would have, as we thought we might have company this morning. The timing didn’t quite work out, so while we were gone, my husband got a quick visit from his sister from another mother, who dropped off some gifts. Including this.
His sister had bought it recently, but then got a really good deal on a Ninja, so she passed the Magic Bullet on to us! That was very thoughtful of her. 😊
My daughter and I had only two places to go to. Our second stop was at Walmart. My daughter had her own shopping to do. I picked up two more 9kg bags of kibble. At $34.97 each, it was a better price than the Canadian Tire. I also picked up some more cheese, since I wasn’t able to get what we usually do at Costco. Some Havarti ($4.44), marble ($4.44) and mozzarella ($7.87). We also got a small ham for the Easter basket ($10.97).
My daughter was shopping for clothes, which reminded me that I needed to get a new pair of jeans. Generally, I don’t like most of the clothes in the women’s department. Especially pants. I find the proportions are off, and they are often made with fabrics that feel really unfortunate. They do sometimes have one specific style of jeans in stock that I find comfortable. Today, there were just a few left in one colour, so there wasn’t a lot of choice, but I snagged them, for $22. That put our grand total at Walmart at $130.70 after taxes, most of which was cat food. We should be good for kibble for the rest of the month.
Our first stop was at Canadian Tire where, along with two bags of hardwood stove pellets (they were out of softwood, which is a bit cheaper) at $7.29 each, we got this.
You can see my new jeans in the corner. 😄
We were very happy to see they had the Iron Out tablets in stock, so we grabbed two, at $6.79 each. I also found nice large eco-pots that can be buried directly into the ground. I will test them out when I pot up some of our larger squash and gourds and see how they are. I got 8 of them for 79 cents each. They had even larger sizes, which might be useful, depending on how big the Zucca melon and gourds get, before we can transplant them outside. The other varieties will be started over the next few weeks, and should not get quite so large before it’s transplanting time.
We got an extra caulking gun because it was on sale for $8.97, and the one we have now has a lot of roofing tar stuck to it. It’s still useable. We would just prefer not to have to deal with that when we’re adhering and caulking the tub surround (the plumber never called back; I’ll have to contact him again and make sure he has my number!).
Then there are the bricks.
I got four fire bricks at $6.99 each. This put our grand total at $78.96 after taxes.
The fire bricks are something I plan to buy a few at a time, every month, which will be manageable on our budget. They are among the few things we will need to buy new for when we build our outdoor kitchen. The floor of the bread oven will be lined with these, and so will the fire area that will be under an open grill.
My daughter and I spent some time talking about our plans for the outdoor kitchen, including something we should be able to salvage. We still have that old wood cookstove in the old kitchen. It’s broken and we can’t use it. Even if it wasn’t broken, and we didn’t have the insurance issues, I wouldn’t dare use it. This thing is sitting directly on the floor, and there are no heat shields. No one had any of that stuff, back when this was installed. It would simply be too dangerous to use it.
However, we could incorporate the cook top into our building plans.
There are two main things broken on the stove. The hinges on the oven door are snapped. Which, I suppose, only matters if you want to use the oven. The thing that makes it unusable is the damage to the firebox.
You can read about how cleaning this old stove went, here, but this is the damage I discovered after emptying out the ashes. The oven hadn’t been used in many years, but no one bothered to clean out the fire box or ash bin.
That’s cast iron, and the space behind it was jammed solid with ashes, which you can see in the picture. It was really sad to see the results of how badly this old stove was treated.
Also, it’s a wonder we didn’t burn the house down, back when this thing was still being used!
So we’ve got this big cookstove in the old kitchen that can’t be used and is taking up space.
Which means that once we’ve got the shelter built, we can dismantle the cookstove and set it up again in the shelter. As long as it’s protected from the weather, and not sitting directly on the ground, it should be fine. Then we can look at incorporating pieces of it into the cooking area we will be building, and it would give my daughter the set up for a wok that she was thinking of, though the openings might be a bit small for what she has in mind. That’s okay. We will have plenty of time to modify our design ideas before we actually start building. The main thing is to get the shelter built, first.
Once we get that out of the old kitchen, we’ll have more space freed up. The chimney will still be there, though, so in the future, we can get a smaller cookstove and set it up with all the proper heat shields and floor protection in place.
After fixing that room up. The floor condition in particular is … fascinating.
All in good time.
Until then, we can do things like slowly accumulate the materials we will need, like the fire bricks I bought today.
On top of the expenditures listed there was, of course, the cost of gas. We were at half a tank on my mother’s car when we left. We stopped at the town my mother lives in to get gas, where we found the new carbon tax brought the price up another 4 cents per litre (we now pay 14 cents per litre in carbon taxes altogether), bringing it to 156.9 cents/L. Because of road dust getting into things, the gas pump nozzle keeps shutting itself off, as if the tank were full, so I never know how close to full I really am. I just put in a little over $20, which at least got me above 3/4 of a tank.
On the way home, we took a different route and stopped at the town we do most of our local shopping. My daughter had an errand to run, and I decided to try a particular gas station on the way home. This place had been closed for a while, but when the reopened, their prices were much lower. I figured, even with the price increase, they might still be the best price. Their sign read 151.9 cents/L, which was better than the old price in other stations – but when I put gas in, I noticed the pump was reading 145.9 cents/L! I put in $25 and actually filled the tank!
Okay, my mother’s car has a small tank and has terrible mileage, but I’ll take what good I can find!
I think I’ve found where I’m going to be buying gas regularly, as much as possible, now!
So that’s been our rather expensive day. Other than things like fresh produce we buy locally, we should be good for the rest of the month!
Oh, my goodness, what a day! Costco was so very busy.
I got just about everything on my list (I could not find dryer sheets anywhere!), plus a few additions I’d forgotten to include on my list.
This is what $692.38, after taxes, looks like.
What’s funny is what happened after I took this picture and started the van – which did NOT want to start when I left for the city, so I wanted to make sure it was running. While taking the picture, I saw a notification for a message from my SIL, who has been out of province for some time. I was going to load up the van, then read and answer the message after I was done.
As I was opening up the back and getting my bags handy, I heard my name.
It was my SIL!
I had no idea she was back! She had messaged me earlier to say she was also going to the Costco – which means we were shopping at the same time and missed each other – then again to let me know she was leaving. Pure chance that she drove past where I was parked! So she pulled into the parking spot nose to nose with my van, helped me load the groceries, then we sat and chatted for a good while.
It was so fantastic to see her! She’d actually been back for a little while, but she and my brother have been terribly sick with colds for the past week, which is why I hadn’t been hearing much from either of them.
I love her so much, and I’m so happy she’s back!
Anyhow.
Today’s Costco haul, as usual, included wet and dry cat food. I’ve got a bead on a farm supply store that I’m told I should be able to get large bags of kibble at a really good price, but I’m going to have to make a special trip to check it out. It’s just not working out to find the place while also doing other errands. Until then, I got four 9kg bags of the Kirkland kibble. They did have the brand name 11kg bags but, at $28.99 each, the Kirkland was a better price per kg. I also got their big case of canned cat food (42 cans, I think?) for $38.99
Also among the non-food items was the Kirkland toilet paper – their double roll TP is noticeably bigger than other brands – for $22.99.
One of the “treat” items I got was something new for us to try; a 24 pack of Bubly sparkling water in three flavours. I wanted something not-Coke Zero for a change. They are zero sugar, so I can drink them during my Lenten fast from sugar and high sugar/starchy foods. We haven’t found a sparkling water we actually like yet, but we’ll see how these are.
I did get two flats of eggs for $17.95 (yes, I’m still going to be buying flats of eggs from our egg lady! – we eat a LOT of eggs). While I was walking through Costco with them on my flat cart, a Native guy walking past me saw them and stopped to ask where he could find them. I told him, and he said that the same pack of 60 eggs costs $30 where he lives!! Prices at the northern reserves have always been insane, but yikes!
One of the things I got for the girls was a case of Kraft Dinner; Costco has larger cases than at the grocery store, while their $14.99 price would be a sale price for the usual 12 packs I find!
I got two packs of flour tortilla wraps at $9.99 each, as well as a two loaf package of rye bread at $5.99 – I’d be lucky to get one loaf at that price, locally.
I didn’t get much meat; we still have quite a bit in the freezer, plus I’ll soon be ordering a freezer BBQ pack of beef that includes two types of sausages, from where we get our annual quarter beef. I got a small pork blade at $19.83, some pickerel filets for the girls at $23.69 (only 3 filets, and they were the cheapest fish I could find!), a couple of hot rotisserie chickens at $7.99 each, a 3 pack of bacon for $21.99 and 6 pack of canned chicken for $18.49.
In dairy, I got 5 pounds of butter at $5.49 each AND!!!! they had ghee in stock! I got the big bucket for $39.99. They didn’t have the giant blocks of cheese, so I got smaller blocks of marble cheese, which was on sale for $11.99, and mozza at $14.99. There’s also a larger tub of sour cream at $5.49 and a 4 pk of Kirkland cream cheese at $9.49, plus a 2 pk of goat cheese at $10.69
I also got a 2kg size jar of peanut butter at $8.80, and two big jars of Hellman’s mayonnaise, which was on sale for $8.49 each. There’s avocado oil at $17.49 – a much better price, and a much bigger bottle, then anywhere else! – a 2 pk of butter chicken sauce at $9.99, a 2 pk of lemon juice at $4.99, and a jar of Saskatoon jam for my husband, at $7.39.
I don’t usually get much, if any, fresh produce at Costco, but this time I did get a container of mini portabella mushrooms for $4.99 – they where the same price as the buttons, when usually the buttons are at least a dollar cheaper for the same size container – and a bag of avocados at $7.99
I braved the pharmacy section this time and finally restocked myself on B12 ($21.99), Vitamin D3 (on sale for $8.99) and Zinc ($12.99).
Among the more “treat” things was a big bag of Kirkland chocolate chips at $16.99 – those have certainly gone up in price, but the bag usually lasts us several months – and 1 container of popcorn in the big plastic jugs that we always keep because they are so very useful. Those are now $10.89. There’s also a container of iced tea mix at $9.99. Usually that’s for my husband and I but, since I’m off sugar for 40 days, it’s just for my husband. The girls don’t care for it. For the girls I got a giant bag of Munchies Mix at $9.49 (it will easily last them the month) and for my husband and I, a couple of containers of pork rinds at $10.89. For me, they will be a sort of bread/cracker substitute during my fast. These are also containers that we keep, as they are a great size to turn into cloche covers over larger transplants, like squash, in the garden.
And there we have it. Almost $700 at Costco.
After I’ve spent the necessary 24 hours monitoring my mother after her scope is done, we’ll have to make probably two more trips to the city. We’ll need a Walmart trip, for sure, and the girls want to hit the International grocery store with their own shopping list. We will also need to finally do that Home Depot trip to get what we need to build the cat barrier to the living room, which we won’t be able to do with my mother’s car. We will need the van. Since I came home to a tire going flat, it will have to wait until we get that fixed or, pleasepleaseplease, our mechanic finds us an affordable replacement vehicle that the financing company will accept!
I think the most difficult part of all this fussing with the van and trying to get a replacement so much earlier than we’d thought we would, is being up in the air all the time, never quite sure what we can do next.
Ah, well. It’ll work out in the end.
I’m just glad we got this trip in, and I won’t have to do another one for a while, yet!
We had another lovely day today! Nice and sunny, with a high of -9C/16F, and almost no wind chill at all. The cats are quite loving it, romping around in the sun and the snow.
I had the hardest time getting this picture of Pointy Baby! He kept trying to reach out to me, or my phone. I managed to catch a shot during one split second he gave me a pretty pose! I counted 24 cats outside this morning.
With my last trip to the city, where were very few things on my list that I didn’t get, and I wasn’t intending to make another trip so soon. However, I’m going to be helping my mother with errands tomorrow, and I don’t want to shop on the weekend, so I figured I’d better head out today, before some things start running too low. I went to the closer Walmart, with the possible extra trip to Canadian Tire to get more stove pellet litter. I ended up not needing the extra trip.
This is $171.11
They had hardwood pellets in stock this time, and the price has actually gone down! They were $5 each. At Canadian Tire, the hardwood pellets have gone up in price from $6.99 to almost $8, while their softwood pellets stayed the same price. The Walmart price had been comparable to the Canadian Tire price, but I’d only ever seen softwood pellets. These hardwood pellets are the same brand that Canadian Tire carries. So I got two, and I would have gotten two more, if I weren’t also getting kibble.
Their inventory of large kibble bags was low again, except for the super cheap no-name brand, which come in 7kg/15lb bags. There were no 11kg/24lb bags, so I picked up a couple of 9kg/20lb bags, plus their largest size case of canned cat food. They all cost just under $30 each.
I wasn’t able to find the usual shampoo and conditioner we use, in the big bottles with pumps. I haven’t seen those in quite a while, so I got smaller bottles of the same brand – two types with different oils in them – to try. They were on sale, at under $5 each.
The only thing on my list that was groceries was the icing sugar, but I also grabbed some red rooibos tea. My husband requested nacho fixings, so I got the giant jar of olives (which was cheaper than at the wholesale place!) and no-name brand tortilla chips. I got a couple of loaves of rye bread. I saw some bakery cookies for sale and got some salted caramel chip cookies as a treat, plus a variety pack of gum to keep in the van. One last extra was a couple of packages of biodegradable pots. All of these were between $3 and $5.
They didn’t have the larger size pots that I would prefer to use for certain seeds, but these ones will do for others. Eventually, when we’re planting seeds that aren’t as much of an issue for size or potting up, we’ll just use the red solo cups we have so much of. I expect we’ll need at least a couple more bags of seed starting mix, but not for quite a while.
Everything except the big bags and the canned cat food fit into just one of my hard sided grocery bags.
With this done, anything else we need for the month can be picked up locally, as needed. We will be making one more trip to the city, though, to get the materials we need to build a cat barrier to the living room. This is a project the girls are planning out and paying for, so they get to tell me when that’s going to happen! 😄
After the shopping was unloaded, we loaded the van up again for a trip to the dump and I headed out again. That’s a quick trip, at least.
Then, more running around tomorrow, this time with my mother’s car. After that, I should be able to play hermit again for a little while! 😄
The Re-Farmer 