shopping is not my thing

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

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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

First stock up shop: this is what $694 in total looks like

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Today, I made it into the city for the first of our stock up shops for the month.

But first, I was greeted with this!

Yeah. April 29, and we had snow overnight.

*sigh*

It didn’t last long, of course, but still… not sure if the winter sown beds I removed the mulch from will survive the cold nights we’ve been having. I had to take the mulch off, to keep the seeds from being smothered, but weather is weather, and this is Canada, so yeah. We get snow pretty much any time of the year.

I’ve reordered some of the seeds, just in case.

The cats didn’t seem to mind the snow, though!

This little furball is on the roof of the isolation shelter, right above where the heat lamp is. I do have sheets of rigid insulation under the roof for the winter, but the cats have torn holes in it. This cat is pretty much on top of one of them, so it’s a warm spot.

I headed into the city on my own today, as my younger daughter who sometimes comes with me was still not feeling very well today. Today’s shopping was a triple shopping stop, though I did stop at a gas station on the way out to get a drink and a sandwich for breakfast, then at a Domo in the city to put in $30 in gas (fuel is from a separate budget line).

The price of gas. Oh, my goodness.

The gas station just outside of town I stopped at to get breakfast (their sandwiches are made fresh by a local bakery, and the single restaurant in our little hamlet, and are very good), the price of gas was $1.689/L

As I drove into the city, the first gas station I passed was $1.449/L ! As I continued on, I saw a Shell station at $1.889, but two other stations were at $1.449. After I was finished at Canadian Tire, I stopped at a Domo along the way and put in $30 before continuing my shopping. As I was leaving the city, that first gas station I saw had changed its price to $1.889!!! A 44¢ per litre jump happened while I was shopping!

I’m afraid to find out what the local prices will be. I took a different route home, so I never saw, one way or the other.

My first stop of the day was Canadian Tire, since there are no food items to get while there. This time, I actually got a picture, since I got a few extras.

This is what $92.02 looks like.

Yeah. Not much.

The main thing on the list was the litter pellets. I also found the small wood screws I needed, then picked up some flat right angle corner plates to further secure the extra roosts I made for the chicken coop. The angle brackets I used to assemble them are not very strong, and I don’t want to risk the weight of roosting chickens to break them loose.

I found some clear repair tape, and a hose repair kit I needed, plus another bag of seed starter mix; I haven’t been able to start the 4-6 weeks before frost seeds, yet, and will soon need to start the 3-4 week seeds.

I ended up getting a package of LED bulbs. We just used our last spare, and these were 53% off. On the way to the checkout, I spotted some nitrile garden gloves on sale. After making sure the size large would actually fit my hand, I picked up a pair. Most of the garden gloves I have now are wearing out.

Just that, for almost $100. *sigh*

From there, my next stop was the Walmart.

This is what $413.84 looks like.

That cart isn’t even full. It’s a lot of non-food items, though.

Going through the receipt from the top, there’s a package of paper towels that was marked down in price. Then there are four bags of dry kibble. Two for the inside cats, two for the outside cats. Feed store kibble is cheaper per kg, but this way they get variety, which is better for the cats.

The price of strawberries was very good, so I got 4 clamshells. There’s a couple of loaves of rye bread – I’ll get more bread at Costco – and a bag of 5 avocados for a very good price. I got some heat and eats – fish sticks and chicken nuggets – for those days when none of us is up to cooking. Those have gone down in prices. There’s a 2L of 3% milk and a 2L of oat milk, plus a large block of Old Cheddar cheese. For my husband, I got some pretzels, plus I got a small bag of popcorn. Normally we get the big container of popcorn at Costco, but we couldn’t find any, last time.

I found the brand of soy sauce my husband likes and picked up a bottle. I’m glad I did, because the international grocery store didn’t seem to have any again. For my husband, I got four boxes of Crystal Lite, in two different flavours.

Next is a large bottle of hair conditioner. Yes, just conditioner. We use twice as much of that as we do shampoo. Then there is the Lactaid, except I got the wrong kind. I thought I was getting chewable, which my husband asked for, but when I went for the extra strength, they turned out to not be chewable. There is a box of antihistamines for me, some *ahem* personal hygiene products for the girls and I.

The budget for this part of the shop was supposed to be under $400, but the taxes put it over.

Ouch.

After this, I had one last stop to make. I did consider going to the Dollarama next door, afterwards, but I was just too tired and just did the International grocery store.

By this time, it was coming up on 1pm, so I got lunch, first. Some Chinese food and a drink, that came out to $17.70 after taxes.

As for the rest of the shopping, this is what $188.24 looks like.

There’s … not much there at all.

You know what we didn’t get?

Beef. We did not get beef. I was looking at a “value pack” with a whole two grilling steaks in it that cost $56.65. The price per kg was $79.34. Those two steaks weighed only 0.714kg

I don’t expect the prices to be any better at Costco.

There is some instant milk tea for the pantry. Last time, we couldn’t find any, and now it’s a new brand to try. That and the instant Matcha Latte I got for the girls were on sale. I got a large bunch of banana, some Pink Lady apples, and a tiny Camembert cheese round that has a $1 off sticker on it.

The two Chef Samplers are sushi and nigiri platters I got for the girls – there was no way any of us would be up to cooking by the time I got home. For my husband, I got a Lumber Jack sandwich, and a Teriyaki Bento box for myself.

I had planned to pick up ground cinnamon at Costco, but when I saw the price here, I picked up a bag. Why pay more for a shaker container when we can just reuse the old one?

The frying chicken was a very good price. I got two whole chickens for about half the usual price.

The 10 pound bag of Russet potatoes was a good price, so I grabbed on. The sushi right for the girls was the most expensive thing on the list, but that will last time a long time (my husband and I prefer the Costco Basmati). I got two different types of smoked bacon, unsliced, that was on sale. There are two types of tea that I got on sale; tea is getting insanely expensive, but these are house brand teas, so they’re a bit less expensive even when not on sale.

Last on the list, I got two different types of fish fillets for the girls.

That’s it. That’s all of it.

The grand total for all this is $694.10 Add in my lunch and the gas, and we’re at $721.80

This isn’t even much of a stock up.

After what we got today, we’re working out the list of what we will be getting at Costco. I’m already dreading what it’s going to cost, but my older daughter has already told me she’ll be sending funds for some things. That will certainly help. Along with the usual budget times for May, we need to cover things like the annual WordPress subscription, and the bi-annual emptying of the septic tank. Which cost about the same. 😄

Well, that’s one stock up shop done, at least. Such as it is.

The Re-Farmer

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

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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

First April stock up shop: this is what $580 in total looks like

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The grand total was actually higher, but I don’t have photos of everything. 😄

Today, my younger daughter and I headed into the city to do the more tiring of our stock up shops.

I’m happy to say that Damocles ran well, with no issues, though road conditions certainly didn’t help matters much! I still expect the truck to break down at any moment. 🫤

At least the roads were better than yesterday. Today turned out to be a relatively warm (hovering on either side of 0C/32F, depending on where we were at the time) and very sunny. Which meant that the last of the ice built up in the wheel wells finally came off! With a little help from my daughter bashing at some of it with her cane. 😄

Our first stop for shopping was Canadian Tire. It’s attached to a mall and my daughter treated us to breakfast (well… more like lunch, by then) in the food court, first. So nothing there came out of my own budget.

At the Canadian Tire, we got three bags of the litter pellets we needed, plus a bag of seed starting mix, a two pack of nail brushes for the bathroom and the kitchen, plus a couple of packs of marigold seeds. I was specifically looking for the French variety, which is the one that is good for repelling damaging insects. It took some digging, but my daughter finally found some French Double Dwarf marigold seeds. I’ll start some of those when we do our next round of seeds in a couple of weeks, possibly more in May, and I still plan to direct sow some, so we should have them blooming through most of the summer.

Total damage at Canadian Tire was $48.41

As we were leaving, we stopped by a gas station and put in $40 in gas – I’ll fill the tank when I do the Costco run and reset our trip mileage counter. When we drove though the town my mother is in (again), gas was $1.729/L. In the city, it was $1.529/L!!! What a difference! Usually, it’s just a few pennies cheaper in the city, if at all.

Our next stop was Walmart. This is what $301.84 looks like.

*sigh*

This is what we got for our money.

There is a case of facial tissues, four bags of dry kibble, a flat of 24 Coke Zero, a couple of packs of wet wipes, spray cleaner, compostable compost bags, incontinence pads, and a total of 9 energy drinks for my daughters and I.

For actual food, strawberries were an excellent price, so we got two packs. We also got three packs of frozen heat and eats; chicken nuggets, popcorn chicken and fish sticks, for those days when we’re all too broken to cook. I also got four more pounds of butter, as they were still at a better than Costco price.

And that’s it. That’s all I got.

My daughter picked up something for herself, but also paid for an item I’d picked up as an unplanned extra. We found ergonomic snow shovels on clearance and grabbed one. It was marked down to only $17. It wouldn’t fit in the cart, so my daughter carried it around the whole time we did the shopping, then snuck off with it to pay for it herself as a gift for me. 😄😂

Most of this was the kibble, but still… ouch. And I didn’t even pick up more XXL puppy pads or wet cat food for the beasts this time, either! We got a total of 29 items on this purchase, and that includes the 9 individual cans of Monster.

*sigh*

By this time, we were already both exhausted and hurting, but we still had one more stop to make. The international grocery store. We haven’t been there in ages, and I was thinking ahead to our Easter baskets, for ourselves and for my mother.

This is what $279.11 looks like – and that was after discounts totaling $114.56!

Yeah, that looks pretty empty, doesn’t it?

This is what we got.

For fruit, we got a bag of Mandarin oranges, red grapes and bananas that weren’t solid green, like the ones at Walmart were. We also got a package of small cremini mushrooms.

The biggest purchase – and the biggest savings – was the ahi tuna loin. It was a “buy one, get one free” deal. This is something we get for the girls only when there are huge sales like this, and this is the only place I know of that has these.

We also got some locally made, unsliced bacon, two regular smoked and two applewood smoked, on an “Any 4 for $20” sale. There is a calabrese sausage that I got specifically for my husband, for snacking on.

We got a couple of cheeses for the Easter baskets; a little Boursin Fig and Balsamic Vinegar for ours, and a roasted garlic Havarti for my mother’s. We also got stuffed olives – one with feta, the other with garlic – for the baskets, though I don’t think my mother likes olives, so maybe just for ours.

My daughter found some sauces she remembered they were out of (I don’t use these in my own cooking). A particular fish sauce, a Siracha, and some oyster sauce. The seaweed is mostly for them, too, though I sometimes like to grab a package to snack on, all by itself.

I spotted a few other things not normally on our list that I grabbed, as they are things we typically get only when they are on sale, or they are not often in stock, so we grab when we can. One of those was some dark coffee for the girls; it’s almost never under $20 anymore, so I grabbed one, even though the girls still had a “spare” at home. Squeeze bottle pizza sauce was on sale, so I grabbed one, to make mini pizzas on the naan bread I recently picked up. I got some Twinings tea because my loyalty card offers had $6.50 off of a $7.49 package, and extra tea is always good. I also grabbed some Himalayan Pink Salt that wasn’t in a grinder. We have a grinder, so we just need a refill, but finding just the coarse rock salt on its own has been surprisingly difficult. I was about ready to order in on Amazon, so I was very happy to see it in stock.

Last of all, we got food for everyone for supper. For my husband, we got a huge Lumberjack sandwich, which will feed him for a couple of days. 😄 I got their last Bento box; chicken teriyaki. My daughter chose a Poke bowl and a Chef Sampler from the sushi bar for herself and her sister. Then, for the road home, I got an energy drink for myself and my daughter got an Arizona Green Tea – plus I grabbed an extra Peaches and Cream Monster for my daughter for later, because it’s her favourite and we hardly ever see that flavour.

One of the loyalty card offers I had available was a “spend $10, get $10 off” deal. That was after the $114.56 in discounts I got with sales, for 28 items in total. I could have used loyalty points to get other discounts, but I want to save them up again. I can usually get at least a free turkey at the end of the year with them. Not too bad, considering we don’t make it into the city to shop there all that often.

Okay, I just got a phone call from my brother and had to share this.

He just left from visiting our mother. She had told him our vandal and his wife had visited today – with his wife pushing him in, in a wheelchair. They were there for the money he thought she would give him to pay for his funeral. She told him, no. He’s rich, he has land, etc. He should pay for his own funeral. Why is he coming to her?

When it became clear he wasn’t getting any money, he got up out of the wheelchair and walked away, with his wife and my mother both calling after him to come back.

My mother said she wanted to talk to his wife, but she just left, too. I assume she took the wheelchair with her.

As far as I know, they don’t have a wheelchair. His house isn’t wheelchair accessible, anyhow. Most likely, they borrowed one of the “public” wheelchairs available in the hospital the TCU is located in.

[I got a confirmation while I was going over this post, looking for typos. Yes, it was a hospital wheelchair.]

When my brother told me our vandal got up and walked away, I could only laugh. What a scammer!!

Good on my mother for actually standing up to him. I’d been trying to tell her, how he acts when he’s around her isn’t at all like how my brother and I have been seeing him, and that he’s probably putting on an act. Yes, he’s sick, but anytime we see him, he looks quite robust for someone who constantly says he’s dying. Now, he just proved me right. He fakes it when around my mother.

And his wife is part of the role play.

*sigh*

Okay, back to the topic at hand!

Adding all our stops together, including gas, this was a $669.36 day. Slightly over budget for this stock up trip (the gas comes out of a different line in the budget), but with how late we did our last stock up trip, plus what I got locally just a little while ago, hopefully we won’t need to use as much of our Costco budget.

We’ll just have to see what the prices are when we get there, next week.

The Re-Farmer

Walmart stock up shop: This is what $455 looks like

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Yes!!!!!

We have the truck back, and it’s actually working again!

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

This morning the cats had me up early, so I did the outside routine that my daughter has been doing for the last while. This time, she got to sleep in. 😊 We had fog warnings overnight, and it was still a bit foggy in the distance as I went to switch out the garage cam memory card. Heavy fog earlier meant thick frost, of course.

It was already starting to disappear by then, too.

Once the outside stuff was done, one of the first things I needed to do was call the garage to follow up on a text I sent yesterday about the truck. They open at 8am, and I was just about to call them then, when my phone rang.

It was the dental clinic. I was on their cancellation list, and they had a cancellation for 10am this morning. Would I be able to take it?

I had no choice but to turn it down. My appointment is on Friday, though, so it won’t be much longer to wait.

When I called the garage, the owner answered right away. He confirmed for me that they had the part. I asked for an idea of when it would be done, so I knew when to book a cab. He told me, 1pm, but they would call if there was any change. Thankfully, the cab was available (we have a single taxi serving several municipalities) and I messaged him to see if he was available to pick me up at one. I wanted to give the garage all the time they needed to get the job done!

With that confirmed, I wanted to finally do our Walmart stock up shop – almost a month late – after picking up the truck. My younger daughter offered to come with me, which I was happy to have the company.

It was shortly after noon when I texted the garage to let them know I was able to get the cab booked for a 1pm pick up and asked the status of things, making sure to add that they could thoroughly test drive the truck afterward. I also brought up that I wanted to talk about pre-financing and trading in the truck. I got a response that the truck was already good to go!

Such good news.

We got the cab to drive me to a local bank, though, not the garage, so I could take out some cash to pay him. The drive was definitely a bit scary! We had high winds and more blowing snow the closer we got to town, with worse road conditions and poor visibility. The areas that were getting drifted over were also melting at the same time! The taxi is a lot lower to the ground than the truck is (my daughter and I were both struggling to get in and out!), so he had to drive on the wrong side of the road a few times to avoid having issues. Thankfully, there was little traffic.

My daughter and I then walked to the garage from the bank; it’s just a few blocks. The owner wasn’t there, however. There was a woman that I think might have been his wife (I’ve only seen his wife very briefly, and she was bundled up for outside). It turns out the owner had gone home sick. She was expecting me, though, and had the keys ready and waiting. I brought up that I was hoping to talk about pre-financing, so she took some notes and said she would get him to call me tomorrow. Hopefully, he will be feeling better by then.

Thankfully, the work was covered by warranty, so we only had to pick up the keys.

From there, we headed straight south to the smaller city to finally do our stock up shopping. It was straight into the wind, which wasn’t too bad – and the truck was running smooth, solid and quiet. Then we saw a thick fog up ahead, which turned out not to be fog at all.

It was heavy snowfall.

It was still warm enough that the snow melted as soon as it touched the truck or the road!

By the time we go to the Walmart, though, we’d driven through the system and it was barely snowing at all as we went in. It was past 2 by then and neither of us had had lunch, so we stopped at the McRaunchies (just over $30 for the two of us!). There was something my daughter was after in their electronics department, but the Walmart no longer carried it. After we ate, she popped across the parking lot (slowly, because she’s still caning it) to a Staples to see if they had it, then met up with me later. The store is being completely renovated and everything has been moved around, so it took a bit longer to find everything. My daughter had a few items of her own to pick up and went through the self check out, so what’s pictured below is just the general shopping.

This is what $455.52 looks like.

Yes, it looks stuffed, and there’s more on the bottom, too, but it’s mostly large cat supplies taking up space.

Here is what we got today.

For the cats, there are three bags of kibble – two for the outside cats, one for the inside cats – and a spare case of canned cat food, as well as a package of XXL pee pads.

In other non-food items, there’s a package of paper towels, a package of incontinence pads, 4 jugs of distilled water, some magnesium complex supplements and some ibuprofen for the girls (I can’t use ibuprofen with the anti-inflammatories I’m taking). For drinks, there’s a 12 pack of Coke Zero, some English Breakfast tea and Double Bergamot Early Grey tea.

In produce, they had five pound bags of potatoes at only $1.97 (usually, they’re closer to $8, locally) each, so we got two. We also got a bag of carrots. I was thinking to pick up some fruit, but nothing looked good. I was also looking to get more flour, but they were almost $20 for the larger bag we usually get! I saw that size at under $10 the last time we were at Costco, so we’ll get more flour there.

For protein, I got some pink salmon fillets for the girls, a 24 pack of hot dog wieners, some frozen chicken strips and a package of breakfast sausages.

In the “quick, heat and eat” category – because we all need a break right now – I also got a big bag of frozen tater tots.

Then there’s a flat of eggs, 2L of milk, and four pounds of butter. The butter was only $4.97 each, which is better than Costco, so I made sure to get extra.

I also saw cake mixes and icing going for only $1.87, so I got a box of chocolate cake and chocolate icing. There’s also a jar of sandwich pickles that was only $2.77, and penne pasta bags for only $1.97. Both much better prices than I’ve seen in a while. Plus there is a jar of mayo and a bag of popcorn.

For bread, we got two 12 packs of hot dog buns and three loaves of rye bread.

Then we have some treats. My husband requested some Sour Patch candies, so there are two bags of those. At $10.77 each, they are almost $2 less than local prices. We also got a total of five bags of chips; I picked for myself and my husband while my daughter picked for herself and her sister.

For the drive home, I got a package of lightly salted pistachios – the price had dropped to $6.97, while locally they are approaching $13 for the same size bag. For my daughter, we got a package of Teriyaki beef jerky.

And that’s all of it.

The cat supplies make up the biggest part of the bill.

By the time I was checked out, my daughter was already at the truck so she could put her own purchases into a bag – we never bother to bring any in with us, partly because I never know how many we would actually end up needing. It took a while to pack everything and load the back of the truck, then start heading home.

With the weather we had, I knew the road we usually cross over to take a different highway would be in rough shape, so we took the same highway that would take us back to town before turning for home. With gas at $1.729/L, that would give me the chance to go to a Shell station, where my CAA card gets me a discount on gas.

This route is slower, because we got through a series of small towns along the lake. I’m glad we did, though, because I sure didn’t mind having to slow down. We updated the family before we started heading out, and my husband informed us that it had started to snow at home. Where we were, however, it was raining!

Then the rain turned to snow.

Yeah, we drove right back into storm conditions again.

By the time we cleared all the little towns and onto open highway again, we pretty much drove right through it. We stopped for gas and also picked up some Monster energy drinks. The Walmart had next to none and… well, my CAA card gives me a discount on those, too.

From there it was straight home. All the areas we’d driven through in the cab, where things were drifting over, wet and slushy, were all melted away! It was clear driving, for the most part.

The truck behaved.

Talking with my daughter about it, I told her how, with so many things breaking down, and how the truck had been working, then not working, then working again, seeing how well it was running didn’t actually make me feel better. Driving it was like having the Sword of Damocles hanging over my head. What weird thing will go wrong next?

The truck is now named Damocles.

One thing felt really strange while driving home, and that was realizing it was past 5pm, and it was bright and sunny out! We were both feeling like it should be full dark at 4:30. Part of that is because there’s still so much snow. The municipality has the back hoe out, though. They’re starting to clear snow out of the ditches, to prevent ice dams and flooding once things really start to melt. The ditches slope to drain to the lake, and if they’re not clear the snowmelt can take out the highway in no time.

It was so nice out that, after unloading the truck and feeding the outside cats, I stayed out to try and do a bit of shoveling. I’d driven up to the house without turning the truck around first, because I hadn’t cleared the area behind the garage completely yet. With everything so soft and melting, I knew the truck would start sinking and spinning, and I really didn’t want to test the new differential that much, yet! I didn’t even need to wear a coat, it was so nice out.

My brother’s truck is still pulled as far into the garage as it can go. There is no way I can maneuver it back into the spot my brother had it parked before, so for now, our truck will stay parked in the yard.

The cats were all over it, of course. I’m going to have to be very careful when we had to take it out again!

I wasn’t able to completely clear the turn around space, but I think it should be okay now. I didn’t want to push myself too much and reinjure my right arm, which is still not really recovered.

So there we are.

We have our truck back. It’s behaving well. We finally got our Walmart stock up trip done. We would do our usual stock up shopping this coming weekend and I plan to do that as normal, with both the Costco trip and the Walmart/Canadian Tire and maybe the international grocery store run.

I’m so glad that we try to maintain a decent amount of supplies at all times. This isn’t the first time we’ve had to rely on them. Now, it’s time to replenish. Having enough for at least a month is not just “prepping”. It’s prudent planning!

Just in case Damocles drops his sword. Again.

The Re-Farmer

Costco stock up trip: this is what $800 looks like

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$799.40 to be exact. 60¢ under budget. 😄

First, though, an update on the truck.

The first thing I noticed when I started it this morning was that the clock’s time was wrong. I’d reset it yesterday. Which means, we lost power to the console during the night, and it came back.

As my daughter and I were starting the drive, we were talking about what’s been going on with the truck, and how weird it was for the tire warning message and light to not be there anymore.

Then, just shy of the highway, less than 2 miles from home, both the light and the message came on.

*sigh*

We had left earlier than usual to meet someone from the rescue to get our top loading cat carrier back, but also to stop in the town my mother is in (again). We picked up a couple of energy drinks and sandwiches for breakfast, then went to the feed store to pick up the lysine. They were still closed, though, so we kept on going to where we were arranged to meet up. We had plenty of time to eat our sandwiches and just sit and talk.

Once we had the carrier again (they even cleaned it!), it was off to the city and Costco.

I could not believe how full the parking lot was, for a Wednesday morning! It was really busy in the store, but the bigger surprise was as we left. There was a huge line to the customer service desk, running all the way to the main doors outside. I don’t usually see that kind of line except after Christmas.

Still, we got what we needed to get here; anything left on our list will be done on our next Walmart run.

There is is. $760.67, before taxes. After the cart was re-loaded, we had to stop and my daughter reorganized things. Because of the crowds and line to the Customer Service desk, we had to do it outside. As our stuff was being scanned, a guy showed up to load the cart and he basically just threw everything onto the flat cart with no attempt to be secure or even logical about it. My daughter and I are both very keen on packing and stacking things well, so it was hard to watch! 😄

This picture was taken before my daughter was done reorganizing so no, those eggs did not stay balanced on top of the pierogi at the end of the cart!! 😄

This is what we got today.

We did get cat supplies, though with the generous donation, we should only need maybe one more 40 pound bag of kibble before the end of the month for the outside cats. We didn’t need any for the inside cats, so the two 9kg and two 11.6kg bags are all for the outside cats. I think the price on the 11.6 kg bags went up. Either that, or they were on sale that last time I remember getting them.

We also got a case of canned cat food and a case of XL puppy pads. We now have enough canned cat foot that we won’t need to pick up more for the rest of the month. Usually, I get a couple smaller cases at Walmart to have enough for the month.

For non-food items, we got our toilet paper, AAA batteries, and some more Head and Shoulders that gets used as an anti-fungal body wash.

For beverages, we got a case of Coke Zero and a case of Monster. The Monster variety pack had replaced one of the flavours from before, and it’s to one I like but haven’t been seeing in stores much at all lately, so I’m happy. It was also on sale, so that was bonus. There is also a 3 pack of oat milk for the girls.

In dairy, we got a 4 pack of cream cheese, a carton of whipping cream, a block of Old Cheddar cheese, plus 5 pounds of butter.

For meat and other protein, there is a double flat of 60 eggs, a panini pack of sandwich meats, some pickerel fillets for the girls, two big packs of drumsticks that were $5 off at checkout, a pork blade, a pork loin, and a variety pack of dry sausages that was on sale. I also got two garlic coils, as the price was almost half what they are, locally. Oh, and some canned chicken. The price on that seems to be staying under $20 for six cans of late.

There is also a bag of carrots – organic, but they were on sale, and we didn’t see any non-organic ones anywhere, a 20 pound bag of Russet potatoes, frozen perogies, a case of ramen noodles, a bag of basmati rice, a case of tomato soup, large jars of mayo, peanut butter, and pickles. There is a two pack of butter chicken sauce, a shaker of powdered garlic (which, oddly, had more product for a lower price than the granulated garlic I usually get), and a large bag of granulated sugar.

For bread products, I got a 2 pack of rye bread and we got two packs of tortilla wraps. Finally, as a treat, my daughter selected from toffee and chocolate chip cookies.

Note that we did NOT get any beef. We haven’t been able to afford beef at Costco for a while, now. Lately, I’ve been picking up the odd package on sale, locally. The last couple of times I was in town because of the truck, I got some stew meat and some ground beef with sale prices much better than Costco these days.

Once the truck was loaded up, we filled the gas tank. Costco gas was at $1.239/L instead of $1.359/L everywhere else! It cost $51.69 to fill the tank.

On the way home, we stopped at the feed store and picked up the lysine. It came in adorable little 1kg buckets from a different brand this time. The price went up, so the two of them cost $67.20 after taxes. The containers I got before had been $20 each. Still better than buying it elsewhere.

When I saw the buckets, I commented on them, and that I would probably be keeping them to reuse. The woman behind the counter completely agreed with me – you can’t have too many buckets!

She also asked me if I was still wanting to get chicks.

I said yes, absolutely.

She asked if I was after a specific breed or anything like that, and I said I just want laying hens. She named several breeds, and I was fine with any of them. Then she asked about the date I’d want them, snowing the hatchery’s schedule on their white board.

There was no way we’d be ready for them in April! I told her, we need to be able to assemble the chicken coop first, which means, no snow on the ground. (Yes, I know; they’ll be in a brooder for weeks, first, but I still want to have the coop assembled and ready, before we get them.) So she put me down for the latest date they had, which is May 27. She has two other people who are interested in getting a smaller number of chicks than the 24 chick minimum the hatchery sells them for. I told her that, with our coop, we can have a maximum of 10 chickens, so we can go under, but not more than 10. So she will talk to the other two people and see what can be worked out to split an order of chicks between us, as well as splitting the shipping costs. With three people, we’ll be paying $15 each for shipping instead of $45.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to work something out with the other two people and get it all arranged and ordered. I’m flexible on the delivery date, too, as long as it’s not in April! She said, all three of us have said we are flexible on things, so this should work out quite well.

My daughter had been waiting in the truck all this time, so once we were back on the road, I updated her about the chicks discussion.

I think she is actually starting to look forward to having chickens! My daughters had been very reticent about it. Especially her sister. They have online friends who keep chickens, and my older daughter had commented about chickens getting sick, and we wouldn’t be able to take them to a vet.

Well, no, but we would be getting what we need to treat them ourselves! The feed stores carry medications and supplements for chickens, as well as feed. There’s lots of info out there on treating chickens.

Then we got to talking about where to set up the coop.

Ideally, I’d like to have it where we can easily see it, which would be in the south yards. Most of it isn’t level, and some significant portions of it floods in the spring, so that likely won’t work. I mentioned I was thinking of having it sheltered in the maple grove, or even where we currently have a pile of maple logs from the trees cleared away from the roof. The ground under that log pile is quite level, and I can see it out my bedroom window. Inside the maple grove would be more sheltered and there are fairly level spots there.

My daughter suggested we set it up against the retaining wall blocks at the end of the old kitchen garden. I had considered that area, but it would have to be at the northernmost end, as the south end is next to an area that gets deeply flooded in the spring. It’s not as sheltered from the wind, but it does get more light than if it were in the maple grove.

The other thing to consider is being able to secure the coop from being blown over in high winds. We’ve previously talked about getting panels that we can set around the mesh sides on windy days. The roosts are under the floors of the nesting boxes, rather than inside. There are three nesting boxes, with access from outside, at each end of the coop. When we assemble it, I want to find a way to attach a couple of roosts in the space in front of the nesting boxes, so they can roost for the night indoors, and not be exposed to the wind.

Ultimately, though, where we set up the coop will be temporary. I still plan to have some sort of polytunnel or greenhouse of some sort over garden beds in the main garden area. The coop and chickens would spend the winter inside that. So while we will need to secure it to make sure it doesn’t get blown over in high winds, we still need to keep it mobile.

I quite enjoyed talking it out with my daughter!

Anyhow.

Once at home, I had to drive up to the house to unload. I had some concerns on whether or not I’d cleared away enough snow before my body gave out. Especially the area I pull into behind the garage, so I can back up to the house. Sure enough, while in 2 wheel drive, I got stuck. I switched to 4 wheel drive and was able to back up. It was hard to tell, but I think that shuddering had started up again, while I was reversing in 4 wheel drive. The distance was so short, though, I really couldn’t say for sure. I just made sure to switch back to 2 wheel drive as soon as I was stopped, so I wouldn’t forget later.

Then it was the assembly line to unload the truck into the house. Last of all, my daughter and I took the kibble bags into the old kitchen. The whole time, we were constantly needing to make sure Sir Robin didn’t get into the house! He so wants to be inside!

Once the last of it was done, I left my older daughter to put things away while I grabbed some hot water and did the outside cats early. My younger daughter took over doing the kibble while I topped up the water bowls. Once all the cats were distracted, I was able to drive the truck out of the yard. I only had to scoot two of them away, first!

So there was have it. Finally. Our Costco stock up trip is done!

We will still need to do the Walmart and Canadian Tire trips, but that’s not as urgent, and there isn’t a lot we need to get there.

What I do need to do is visit my mother! I am planning to do that tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll be calling her tonight to let her know. My sister should have been able to visit her today. Maybe. During the drive home, we hit some pretty crazy blowing snow conditions, but it did clear up before we got home. As I write this, we are at our predicted high of -13C/7F, but the wind chill is -28C/-18F

Oh, my! Not only are we warming up over the next few days but, as I write this, we’ve got a high of 6C/43F forecasted for Sunday! 6C!!!! Wouldn’t THAT be nice!!

So, tomorrow (Thursday), I visit my mother. The day after, I have my doctor’s appointment. Saturday, I want to make a trip to the dump. Just a regular garbage and recycling run, though; my mother’s old mattress and box spring, and the broken office chairs, will have to wait for another day. Monday, my daughter has a doctor’s appointment. After that we don’t have anything scheduled until my dentist appointment near the end of the month, but March is also a birthday month for my older daughter. For her special birthday dinner, she usually chooses Pizza Hut pizzas. So at least one more trip there (no one delivers where we live. 😄)

Well, our mechanic has said, we need to drive the truck often. Mechanically, it’s running fine, with the possible exception of the shuddering in 4 wheel drive that comes and goes. I can just keep it in 2 wheel drive until absolutely necessary. They’ve checked and re-checked, and they can’t find anything wrong that could be causing it. The weird electrical thing has only affected the console and radio. The dashboard display has not been affected.

It’s still hell on my nerves, though.

The main thing is, we have transportation again, AND we finally got our first stock up shopping trip done – a week later than usual!

All is good.

I just have to keep telling myself that!

The Re-Farmer

Costco stock up trip: this is what $722 looks like

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Well, we finally made it to Costco! Not the new location I was planning to go back to, but to the one that we have been going to regularly, since it was near where we could meet up with someone from the cat rescue and deliver a furball for adoption.

We did do a bit of non-pictured shopping. After delivering the cat, we went in and had breakfast. I ordered a large meal of Chinese food, knowing I could only eat half of it, and brought the other half home for my husband. That, plus my daughter’s food, totaled just under $50. Then my daughter wanted to look for something. While going through the mall, we passed a store I’ve never seen before that specialized in warm things – leggings, touques, mittens, blankets, scarves, slippers, etc.

Boxing day sales were still going on, and everything in the store was a flat $10 each.

We went in and my daughter found a display of slipper socks. She got a couple for herself and her sister. I got a couple for myself and my husband, if they fit. I also got a blanket and some suede moccasin style slippers. Hopefully, either the slippers or the slipper socks will fit my husband. If not, they might fit me. If they don’t fit me, they’ll fit the girls.

Each of the items I selected was regular price, $40. My total after taxes was $44.80.

After that, my daughter found a store with what she was looking for, and then we went to the Costco. I had planned to get gas first, but it was so busy, we just parked in the first open spot we could find – way out in a distant corner of the parking lot! At least we didn’t have to go into the overflow parking.

Oddly, it didn’t seem that busy once we were inside.

This is what our $$722.57 looks like.

That… really isn’t a lot.

I folded up the receipt because it had been pulled up part way through, so there were a lot of empty space, with an item count in the middle. It was only after I unfolded it that I realized there was a single item listed with the item count, too. A container of Parmesan cheese at $17.49

Aside from that…

For the big stuff that stayed on the cart, there is a case of Monster energy drinks, which I will be reimbursed for by a daughter, and a case of Coke Zero for my husband and I. There is a case of kitchen garbage bags, toilet paper, a 9 pack of pasta, a small case of tomato soup, and a double flat of eggs.

For cat stuff, there is four 9.1kg bags of kibble, a case of wet cat food and a case of puppy pads.

For the frozen and refrigerator stuff, there is a pork loin, which will be cut up into roasts and chops, and a pork blade roast. There’s a wheel of brie that was on sale, 5 pounds of butter, a block of Old Cheddar cheese, two packages of panini sandwich meats, a case of Oat milk, two 2 packs of salad mixes and a case of frozen pierogi.

Then there is a 2 pack of Vitamin D3, and some goat milk soap my daughter will be reimbursing me for, and a 2 pack of Head and Shoulders, which both my daughter and my husband use as an anti-fungal body wash, at the doctor’s recommendation.

There is also a container of popcorn, two big jars of mayonnaise, two 2 packs of rye bread, two packs of tortilla wraps, a case of instant oatmeal, and a case of ramen noodles.

I just realized, my daughter accidentally grabbed unsalted butter instead of salted butter. Oh, well. The price is the same! 😁

And that’s it.

Total number of items, 42. Total discounts, $15.30, but about $40 in taxes.

We got hardly any meat. Which is okay. With doing so many heat and eats for our Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, we still have some in the freezer.

Then we had to get the flat cart all the way to the truck. With so much packed snow, it took both of us to push it, and we kept having to stop to grab things that were vibrating off the cart.

Once we were loaded up, we went to fill the gas tank. The Costco price for regular gas was $0.999/L! It’s been ages since I’ve seen gas at under a dollar, even it if is barely a penny. Filling the tank cost $27.13

On the way out, we did stop at a gas station just outside the city. Mostly for a bathroom break before the drive home, but also to pick up some drinks, which my daughter paid for.

So, everything together today, including purchases at the mall, we spent about $844 in total.

Thank God this is just a once a month thing!

The next big purchase for the month will be a trip to the feed store to get 40 pound bags of kibble for the outside cats.

Ugh.

I’m glad to have the Costco shopping over and done with for the month, that’s for sure.

Meanwhile, I need to get that pork loin divided up for the freezer.

The Re-Farmer

New Costco shop: this is what $563 looks like

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Today, my daughter and I made it into the city for our Costco shop, where we checked out a new location.

First bonus about this location is that we don’t need to drive through the city to get to it. It’s actually outside the bypass highway around the city. No city traffic, no frequent stops at lights, etc.

First down side: it’s near some pretty major event infrastructure, as well as some new apartments that weren’t there the last time we drove by here, years ago, so it shares entry lanes. Which includes two roundabouts.

I really dislike roundabouts. Yes, I understand efficiency of the design. I just have no faith at all in other drivers. The city we lived in before moving here had several roundabouts we had to go through regularly, much larger than the ones we had to use today, and they sucked when traffic was high.

Thankfully, traffic was not high.

When we first drove in, the parking lot looked really full. Our first stop was the gas station, which had more pumps than the other locations we’ve gone to. That went really fast.

Also, gas there was $1.139/L, instead of the $1.299 everywhere else. It cost me “only” $46.47 to fill my tank from a little over half.

As for the crowded parking lot, that turned out to be just the area closest to the entry. Once we got past a certain point and could see the rest, we found there was plenty of space to park.

The location is somewhat bigger than the others we’ve been to and, while they matched the layout of other locations pretty well, a few things were changed up. One of them was where the cat supplies were set up! We finally found it, pretty much opposite of where they are typically kept.

The shop itself was… well… okay, I have to admit. I hate shopping and I hate crowds, not that it was particularly crowded today.

I really hate it when people with half empty carts expect me, with my flat cart, to stop on a time to avoid hitting them as they wander and weave, not paying any attention to what’s around them.

Having said that, I was ready to abandon my flat cart only twice this trip.

My daughter is a sanity saver.

One of the things they have that’s different is their sushi bar, which was added on to where they have their in store made heat and eats, like Shepard’s Pie and chicken pie. I wasn’t able to check it out too thoroughly, though, because there was a lot of cart traffic and looky-loos. When pushing a flat cart, I’m just not flexible enough to get around everyone, though I still couldn’t see much even when I left the cart with my daughter and tried looking again.

Their food court menu was also different. They had sushi on the menu, but they also had their Montreal Smokes Meat sandwiches, too. The other locations dropped those from their menu, years ago. I was really looking forward to doing lunch after we finished our shopping.

It didn’t happen.

This is what $563.72 looks like.

That really isn’t much on there at all.

So, this is what we got today, starting with the non-food (at least, not for humans) items. There’s two 9kg bags of kibble – we have a good supply, but this should ensure we don’t run short at the end of the month – one case of wet cat food, a case of puppy pads, toilet paper and a dish detergent refill jug.

For drinks, there’s a case of Monster – yay! Finally in stock again! – a case of Coke Zero and a 3 pack of Oat Milk.

For meats, I got two rotisserie chickens, because it was cheaper than buying any of the uncooked chicken options. The fresh made sausage section was bigger and had new varieties, so we picked up a pack of Greek sausage, and one of Gouda and Cranberry. I also got two panini packs for sandwiches. That was it for meat. Beef prices were heart stopping. I should know better than to even look!

For dairy, we got a 4 pack of cream cheese, sour cream, 5 pounds of butter and a 2 pack of goat cheese. My daughter also grabbed some grated Parmesan, which I’ll be paid back for. We normally get blocks of cooking cheeses, but we still have plenty. I was sorely tempted to try new cheeses, though, as their cheese selection in much larger and more varied! Not in today’s budget.

In the frozen stuff, we got a box of perogies and a bag of mixed vegetables.

In breads, we got two 2 packs of rye bread and two 2 packs of tortilla wraps.

In the odds and sots, we got two large containers of mayo, a box of mixed instant oatmeal, a double flat of eggs (60 eggs) and a sushi platter to be supper for the girls. I meant to get something for my husband and I as a quick, heat and eat supper but I couldn’t find anything that both my husband and I can eat. More and more foods make him feel sick after eating, as if he were having a lactose intolerance reaction, even if there’s no dairy in the food. So I ended up not getting anything. It’s getting much harder to get food for him.

I was still thinking of going to the food court but by the time we were heading for the check out line, not only did I not want to have refrigerator/freezer items sitting out so long while we ate, I had basically lost all patience with being around people. In fact, we didn’t even finish going through all the food aisles. Aside from the usual cart traffic issues, I kept getting stuck behind one older couple that kept weaving back and forth in the middle of the aisles, stop suddenly, or split up and be doing the same thing in two aisles at the same time. We even ended up blocked by them again, while trying to get the the checkouts. At least I was able to get past them, though someone else was blocking the aisle from the other direction that I had to get around. We weren’t any any hurry, but I get really tired of trying so hard to not be in the way with my big flat cart, only to have to deal with people who are oblivious about being in the way. Even as lightly loaded as ours was today, flat carts are not easy to maneuver!

So… yeah. That’s all we got today. A whole 35 items.

Once we were loaded up and heading out, things went smoothly. The only down side was my not eating yet. On the way out, we’d stopped to pick up some energy drinks and I got a bag of beef jerky. That was all I’d eaten all day, and it was about 1pm as we were leaving the city. On the way home, my daughter insisted we stop for food. I was thinking a quick stop at the gas station in my mother’s town that we had to pass through; the one that has the best fried chicken, but she was thinking an actual sit down restaurant. There’s a restaurant right on the highway that is under new ownership and completely redone that she hasn’t been to yet, so we ended up stopping there and she treated me to breakfa… lunc… an early supper?

By the time we were done, it was late enough for the post office to have reopened for the afternoon, so we made a quick stop there (my expected items have not arrived, including something that got mailed more than a month ago. Thanks, striking Canada Post.) before finally getting home. Just in time to feed the outside cats after unloading the truck!

No more softening the kibble. It’s just too cold. Some of the trays still had frozen kibble from yesterday stuck to them!

Today, we reached a high of -12C/10F. Which isn’t too bad, except even the slightest breeze made it feel much colder. Tomorrow is supposed to be slightly warmer, which is good, because I’m going to my mother’s do to her grocery shopping. Overnight lows over the next while are expected to drop below -20C/-4F Looking at the long range forecast for December is just an exercise in crazy. This morning, I was seeing some pretty nasty drops in temperature over the next couple of weeks – but then seeing expected highs of up to 5C/41F before Christmas! Looking at it again now, those days are now forecast as being below freezing, but warmer than -10C/14F Around and just after Christmas, they’re now saying we’re suppose to reach highs of -1C/30F

I highly doubt that will happen.

Anyhow. That is our Costco stock up shop for today!

Now it’s time to go through and look at what got missed, because we never finished going through the store, and what we’ll need to get locally.

For now, though, I just want to stay home and not be around people.

I’m people’d out.

The Re-Farmer

Stocking up: this is what $453 looks like

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

$453.35 in total, to be exact.

I’m not sure why CPP Disability came in a day early, but I wasn’t about to complain. I just took advantage of it and made a run into the city.

With the work being done on the truck, plus the door replacement (still no word on the new, correct size, door that was ordered), it’s going to be a tight month, and we will be skipping Costco. Instead, I did the usual Walmart and Canadian Tire run, then his a Superstore along the same route.

My first stop was the Walmart. This is what $168.62 looks like.

Yeah. Not much.

The most expensive item was a box of 150 puppy pads. The Costco box is 100, but the pads are the same size.

Then there was the 9kg bag of kibble. I got just the one, for the inside cats, because I was planning to hit the feed store for 40 pounds bags for the outside cats.

Then there were two cases of 32 cans of wet cat food. One is for the outside cats, but I only use one can a day, mixes with hot water and powdered pumpkin seeds, which I then used to soften their morning kibble.

Last of all was a package of toilet paper that was on sale. Oh, and a $2 donation at the till.

So… five times (not counting the donation) was over $150.

*sigh*

My next stop was the Canadian Tire. This is what $0 looks like.

I looked all over but couldn’t find the sump pump hose I was looking for. I finally snagged someone and asked. It turned out they should have been in an empty shelf I’d walked past several times. Because the labels were so low to the ground, I never saw them. After looking it up, the guy said he would get one for me from their warehouse. When he came back, he had three, so he could restock the shelf.

I was just walking away with my one in the cart when I decided I’d better get a second one, just in case.

While going through the checkout, I paid for two bags of litter pellets, where were set up in the exit vestibule, so I picked those up on the way out.

I use my Canadian Tire dollars to pay for the entire thing, so what would have cost $53.72, cost me nothing.

After the Canadian Tire, I hit a Domo to fill the tank. The price of regular was $1.299, but it was Thursday, which was 4¢ off per liter day. Grand total to fill was $76.34

Last of all was the Superstore. This is what $284.73 looks like… sort of!

There’s actually more in there than it appears, as the bread is covering some things.

Under grocery, there’s a large jug of cooking oil, a giant bag of elbow macaroni, some mayo and a packet of rice noodles for the girls. The Monster was for me to drink during the drive home.

Under dairy, there’s a flat of eggs, and large blocks of Old Cheddar and Mozza cheese. We used to be able to get blocks that size at Costco, but they don’t seem to carry them anymore. I got 6 pounds of butter (they were on sale, but with a limit of one, so 5 of them were regular price). In the frozen section, I got two big bags of potato and cheese perogies and a back of mixed vegetables.

The bulk chocolate almonds were to snack on, on the way home. It was a very small bag.

The only produce I got on this trip was two bags of avocadoes that were at a very good price.

In meats and seafood, I got fish fillets for the girls, chicken thighs and drumsticks, a large ham, a frozen pork roast, a package of pork ribs and another of pork tenderloins. I don’t know why it’s under “meal replacement”, but I also got a hot rotisserie chicken.

I also picked up a frozen turkey that was free with a purchase over $300, so I wanted to make sure I reached that $300 mark, even though I tend to round up when I keep a tally in my head.

In the bakery, I got a couple of loaves of light rye bread and a back of torpedo buns. I don’t know what it is about their torpedo buns (labelled as “buns Italian” on the receipt) but the entire family absolutely loves them, and you get a LOT for the $5!

When I got to the till, though, I discovered I had rounded up too much, and the total was under $300! No free turkey. After finding out how much I was short, I went to a display I’d been standing next to while waiting in line and got two different tins of moon cakes; one with double yolks. That put me over, and I got my free turkey – and a rare treat for the family.

I did have things go a bit weird while I was in line, though. Because the lines were so long, I pushed my cart forward in line, then stood beside it, so I wouldn’t be blocking the aisle. I intended to step around when it came time to move forward and unload.

An older woman then got in line behind me, pushing her cart forward and forward and forward, until the end of her cart was under the handle of mine. Strange, but okay. We started chatting at one point, when she commented that she has to watch her cart. She forgets how long it is and has a habit of bumping into people. !! Okay.

Then things moved along and I was able to move my cart forward to the belt and start unloading.

She pushed her cart right up under my cart’s handle again.

Once the cart was empty and the customers ahead of me were done, I moved forward to the cashier, giving her my loyalty card.

I’ve been using that card for years, but it came up as not activated. I’ll have to phone them to find out what’s going on.

Once I had my card back, I pushed my cart to the end and started reloading it (I bag my stuff at my vehicle) as quickly and efficiently as I could, so it wouldn’t build up on the belt. When it came time for the total and to ring in my free turkey, she let me know I hadn’t reached the $300 mark. So I decided to grab the moon cakes.

No one in the line was willing to just pass them over to me, so I had to squeeze my way past the old lady’s cart to get through and get them, then squeeze back again.

She made zero effort to move her cart closer to the till. I’m no skinny minny, but even a thin person would have had a hard time getting by.

Whatever. I got them, the cashier rang them through while I continued to put things in my cart.

The old lady had moved forward and was standing right at where I needed to be to pay.

Both the cashier and I told her I needed to reach the PIN pad. She moved back…

But pushed her cart forward.

In the end, I had to first move my loaded cart forward, then move the old lady’s cart to the end of the belt, where my cart had been, just so I could get back in to use the PIN pad.

The thing that made it seem weirder is that I got no impression that she was someone dealing with cognitive issues or some such, and her comment about running into people showed she was aware. She may have been older than me, but probably not by all that much. Maybe 10 years or so? I don’t like to guess, since I have a mother who’s 94 but could easily pass as being in her 70’s. It just seemed… almost deliberate.

Maybe I’m just too used to dealing with my mother, who absolutely would do stuff like that, deliberately.

Anyhow.

So I got all that, it came to under $300 total, and I got my free turkey!

That cart looks pretty empty for that much, but most of the meat in there is covered, along with all the butters.

Once that was all loaded up, it was time to head home. I took the route that would take me through my mother’s town, instead of my usual route from this location, because I knew I’d have to make a pit stop at a gas station just outside the city. I was well on my way when my cell phone started to ring.

There’s pretty much only one place that calls my cell phone, so I pulled over to answer.

Yup. It was home care.

There was a cancellation and they did have my mother’s med assists covered by someone else, but that someone else wouldn’t be able to get to my mother’s until 9:45pm for her bed time med assist. The scheduler was concerned that would be too late for her.

I felt she was right – and since I was on my way home from the city and would be driving through my mother’s town anyhow, I decided I would stop by. Home care isn’t allowed to do this, but I can get her meds out and set them up for her in advance. Her supper med assist would come as usual, but no one would have to come for the bed time assist.

That worked out and she was able to cancel the super late bed time assist. I then phoned my mother and – making sure she knew I was pulled over on the side of he road and couldn’t talk long – let her know I’d be stopping by soon. I also made sure she knew I had groceries in the truck and couldn’t stay long.

Yeah, I’m really looking forward to having a cover on the truck box again. I had the frozen stuff and all the cold meats in covered insulated bags in the truck box. Heavy enough I had no worried that they’d blow around or slide around, but it would have been very easy for someone walking by to just reach in and grab a bag or two, heavy as they might be.

When I got to my mother’s, I made sure to bring a bag along. After getting her meds ready and we were chatting, I went into her kitchen and started taking down the stockpile of Pepto my brother got for her, that made her so very angry, into the bag I’d brought. She asked what I was doing and I told her, I’m taking them because they are bothering her. She asked if I was taking them here to the farm, and I said yes. She then pointed out the obvious, that it made no difference if they were at her place or our place and I just said, they’re bothering her.

She started going into her spiel about how these are medicine, they don’t last, they need to be kept cool, etc. I looked at the expiry date and told her, these are good for more than two years (it’s actually a best before date, not an expiry date, but I wasn’t about to try and explain the difference to her). They don’t need to go into the fridge, because they’re a mineral. My daughter even has a piece in her collection. That got her curious, so I looked up pictures of bismuth – the only active ingredient listed in Pepto – to show her. They are such gorgeous stones, too. I think that sort of mollified her, but who knows for how long!

She did ask me to leave one bottle in her cupboard; they came packed in pairs, and my brother had one pair unwrapped, with the open one now in her fridge. I took the time to show her that the only difference between what my brother got for her and what I’d picked up for her from the pharmacy (after checking the labels to confirm) is that I had picked up extra strength, and the ones my brother got were regular strength. That gave me the opportunity to remind her to use the cup they come with to get the proper dose, instead of just using a teaspoon, like she usually does. I’m kinda hoping it sunk in, but it’s hard to say.

Then I headed home, with six bottles of Pepto, and my brother no longer has to worry that my mother will follow through with her immediate idea of selling the “extra”.

I just quickly looked it up. The twin packs of Pepto at Superstore, where my brother found some in stock, cost about $25 each, before taxes, and that’s a much better price that buying them in singles. My brother spent over $100 on Pepto for my mother, so she wouldn’t run out. I think, if she knew that, she probably would have gotten even angrier.

*sigh*

Anyhow, that’s our stock up shopping trip for the month. Anything else we need will be smaller trips throughout the month for fresh stuff. It’s a shame the garden had so little production this year, as there’s little to supplement, and nothing to freeze or can. Ah, well. As I finish clearing up the beds, I’ll be harvesting both winter sown and spring sown carrots. It should be interesting to compare!

I’m still holding out hope for at least a couple of winter squash before the cold kills them. My daughter and I headed out to cover them again for the night while I was still writing this. It’s not supposed to get as cold as last night, so we didn’t cover the summer squash, peppers or remaining eggplant this time. We’re actually supposed to warm up again, and even get pretty hot, over the next week, so there’s hope for those winter squash, still!

But I digress.

We didn’t get a whole lot on this trip, compared to a typical Costco trip, but I did find quite a lot of prices seemed to be better at Superstore. They also have more selection and variety.’

Plus, they have torpedo buns. 😄

I wonder if it’s worthwhile to try going to their Wholesale Club location. The last time I went there, the prices didn’t really seem to be any better in general, and some of their meat was looking… questionable… but they do have things there that aren’t in their regular stores. It would mean an extra trip to the city, though, and I just don’t like doing those like I used to! Plus, if we make them too often, the trips are no longer worth the cost of gas to do them.

I do have a trip to the city on Oct. 1, though. That’s my appointment at the sports injury clinic to possibly get an injection for my left hip. Then there’s another trip, the week after, as my daughter finally gets to see an endocrinologist. Ah, well.

I’m really hoping to be able to hibernate as much as possible this winter!

The Re-Farmer

Addendum: I completely forgot! You may have noticed that I got no beef at all on this trip. This is an example of why.

That’s three chunks of Oxtail. OXTAIL. At over $30/kg. They did have other packages that were less per kg, but they had no meat on them. This used to be among the cheapest of cuts. Even cheaper than stew meat or ground beef. Now, it’s right up there with steak. Crazy!

The rain has stopped, and Eyelet is in being spoiled rotten!

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Well, today’s schedule sure changed.

First, a quick update with the home care crazy from yesterday. The plan was, if the guy didn’t come back to do my mother’s bed time med assist, as he said he would, by 9pm, I would drive over to do it.

My mother called me at 8:50 (the actual scheduled time) so say, no one arrived. I wasn’t 100% sure she was scheduled for 8:50, and sometimes they come late, which is why I asked her to call me if no one showed up at 9. I asked her to wait a bit longer and if he still didn’t come, let me know and I’d go over.

My other told me to not bother. She would just take some Tylenol and go to bed. She would be okay.

*sigh*

I hated to do that, but I also really didn’t want to drive to her town, in the dark, in the rain.

This morning, after I did my rounds (it was still raining), I gave her a call.

In which I will pause to share the cuteness! The first picture was taken last night, the second this morning.

Seeing Colby on top of his sister like that is adorable!

She needs a name.

Anyhow… back to calling my mother!

My mother told me she’d had a great night.

Then started going on about how the Tylenol helped so much more than her medications did.

Red flag time! My mother has done this before. Basically, she’s convincing herself that the medications aren’t doing her any good, because she has these other problems. How can she be taking all these medications, but still feel have all these other things? This time, because Tylenol did such a great job with her pains, to her that meant it was working better than her medications.

I have explained this to her before, but I did it again. NONE of her medications are for pain. They are all for different things, and I mentioned a few of them. Unfortunately, I could hear in the tone of her response that she was basically not believing me.

It’s a good thing she gets home care med assists, or she would start skipping her meds regularly, or picking and choosing which ones to take. Again.

To distract, I then asked her about her grocery shopping. She said she was only out of milk and hadn’t started a list. She was in her night gown and didn’t feel like getting dressed. I told her, don’t bother getting dressed, and I’ll help with the list. She was quite happy with that arrangement!

Since I was going to be dropping Eyelet off in the early evening, I wanted to get to my mothers a little bit earlier than usual. Once there, I first focused on her meds. I found a pill organizer and took the meds out of her “orphan” bubbles; last night’s bed time meds and a Monday morning bubble that’s been carried over to new packs for a couple of months now. I made sure to write down which meds they were and tucked the note in one of the organizer spots and tucked the whole thing away. My mother has strict instructions to leave them, unless there’s an “emergency”. I also prepared her bed time meds for tonight – I brought another of the tiny tagine sauce bowls to keep them in – and set up another note with it, setting it aside with the note facing where my mother sits at her table.

That done, we started working on her shopping list. It was mostly her usual items, but we did remember to include things we’d forgotten last time, like the instant oatmeal that makes things so much easier for her. Some things were just “see what looks good” type stuff. When she gave me cash for the trip, she included a bit extra, asking me to keep an eye out for anything else I might spot and know she would like.

Which worked out well. I was able to get her extra fruit that she likes but normally wouldn’t get. Today, they happened to be on sale. Her favourite bread was on sale, so I got extra for her freezer. That sort of thing. As I put things away, I always go over what I got and what changes I made, and she was very happy with the selections. Before putting the milk carton in the fridge, I made sure to open it for her, and I’m glad I did. For some reason, every now and then, they just don’t want to open. If it’s difficult for me to open, that would make it almost impossible for my mother to open! I do wish her grocery store still had their 2L milk in jugs as well as cartons, as jugs are so much better for people with mobility issues in their hands.

That done, I made sure to give her floor a sweep before heading out. One of her neighbours that has a garden plot has been sharing their bounty of tomatoes by leaving them in the common room for anyone to take. My mother keeps taking some, even though she already has, and is supposed to avoid acidic foods like tomatoes. So she gave me an ice cream bucket full to take home! We still haven’t finished off the last bunch she gave us!

Once I was in the truck, I started messaging my family to let them know the status of things. Which is when I started getting messages from the woman I was to bring Eyelet to. She was wondering if I could bring him to a different address, as she’d forgotten she was supposed to go there after her work this evening. It wasn’t far from her own address, so that worked out okay.

We continued our conversation as I got home when she asked when I was planning to head out with Eyelet. I told her, but mentioned that I was flexible, now that I was done with my mother’s grocery shopping. She asked if I could bring him in right away. The new address is for a foster that already had a room ready for him and was home.

!!!

I was back on the road with Eyelet within 10 minutes. My daughter went looking for him as I got a carrier prepared. Finding him was easy. He was napping in the sun room.

He did not appreciate being awakened, then stuck into a carrier!

I grabbed a donated carrier that is triangle shaped and opens on one side, which makes it easy to take cats in and out. It is, however, not our largest carrier.

Eyelet was not happy!

So not happy, he stress pooped in the carrier during the drive out.

*sigh*

He went back and forth between trying to claw his way out of the carrier, to just lying down calmly, and back again, which meant he got messy in the process.

When I got to the address and the woman came out to greet me, I made sure to let her know! I then followed her in to Eyelet’s new home for the next few days.

What a set up! An entire little bedroom, all to himself, with several beds, including one at a window, a cat tree, toys and, of course, a litter pan and food and water. He was enough of a mess that she brought a cloth to wipe him off a bit before taking him out of the carrier.

Dude was not impressed!

He did, however, start purring as soon as she touched him! He was very open to pets in general.

I’ve since gotten an update that he has settled into his new digs very well. I’m not at all surprised. The set up is pure luxury compared to the yard cat life!

The best part is that this was all done well before I was originally scheduled to deliver Eyelet. It even stopped raining shortly after I got home.

It was an awesome rain, too. Almost 24 hours of constant rain. Nothing too heavy, either. The sort of rain we could have used so much of over the summer!

Meanwhile, my brother came out today. I didn’t even realize he was here until I left for my mother’s and saw his car. He’s been busy preparing their trailer for the winter, including driving it out to where the tanks can be emptied. When I got back from delivering Eyelet, he was able to come over and tell me what he’d been able to do for my mother’s car. There’s still more to be done, but it can wait. The priority was to deal with that tire that keeps going flat. He just used the spray stuff in it, then made sure to drive it around, and even put it up on a jack to just spin the tire, so it wouldn’t cure in a puddle inside the tire.

Tomorrow afternoon, he and I will be going to my mother’s tomorrow, and her car is one of the main things she wants to talk about. She says she wants him to get it all fixed up, and that she would pay for it, so that we have a second vehicle, and one that she can get in and out of. It might be better off to sell it, or maybe trade it in for a newer vehicle. My brother is in a better position to make recommendations on that than I am.

So we’ll see how that works out.

Weather wise, next week is looking to be warmer again, and dry. That will be when we seriously need to get the sun room cleaned out. That requires basically emptying it, so we can wash the concrete floor. The cat cage can’t fit through the door without being dismantled, so the room has to be done one half at a time. It’s going to be a big, messy job. I’m going to have to stop storing most of my tools and garden supplies in there. The cats, skunks and raccoons get into it all and make such a mess – and make messes on top of things!

With the rain, I’ve made little additional progress in cleaning up the garden, but tomorrow is the 21st, which is when I’ve been typically doing my garden tour videos. It also happens to be the first day of our new average frost date range. Instead of one day, they now have a range of days. Which isn’t how an average works, but whatever. They now say our average first frost days is between Sept 21 and 30, from the previous Sept. 10. Of course, this year, we had two frosts before Sept. 10! Well, it’ll be another 30 years before they do the math again. I’m still sticking with Sept. 10, when I work out when to do things in the garden, and what the length of our growing season is. It was 99 days before. Now it’s supposedly 125-150 days, since the last frost date has changed, too.

Yeah… I don’t think so. Not a chance, where we are.

Gosh, though… having a 125 day growing season would be amazing. 150 days would be heavenly! There’s so much more we could grow with a season that long!

Ah, well. A girl can dream but, in the end, we have to deal with what we’ve got in our local climate, not what a map of averages says.

Time for me to head outside for my evening rounds before it gets dark, and see examples of that along the way!

The Re-Farmer