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Taking a break when needed is good.  The October break made me anticipate your return and appreciate it much more.

I just finished reading my third WWII book on I think the title was Our Mother's War.  I found it interesting in that it had many details about all aspects of life during the war years.  One part that caught my attention was on the families living in New Mexico in the town where the atom bomb was developed.  The lady was shocked when she realized that the stove provided was a huge coal fired cookstove and that she bought an electric hot plate and cooked on that.  The same lady complained about the house being cold as the fuel oil heater was inadequate plus there was often no fuel.  If she had just learned to use that coal cookstove, she would have solved both cooking and heating issues.  I think most all of us on this forum would have had the common sense to learn to use the cookstove!

I have one row of potatoes planted and we've been having rain enough to keep me out of the garden since I planted that row.  I had difficulty finding seed potatoes and finally found them at Menards.  They are very nice but not cheap.  

I've also changed menus to keep within my grocery budget.  I've been leaning on my pantry more which is good because I have things that need to be used.  I generally cook two meals each week and eat them every other day until gone.  Leftovers are my best friend!  Six meals from a meatloaf, four from scalloped potatoes with ham, five from chicken noodle soup and then it's time to cook again.

Thanks for keeping the blog and forum going, Grandma Donna. Enjoy a well-earned break from both!

Funnily enough, I decided back in March that I was going to take the month of May to get back to basics,  and I've been preparing the home and family accordingly. I want to declutter, organise, clean and tidy, get up to date on our finances and do a new budget.

Lately my husband has been catching the bus to and from work. It's about a two hour round trip. It saves us money and reduces the demand for fuel. I try not to go into town and if I do, I plan the trip to get most out of it.

We don't eat much meat these days, and I have started making bread at home again. I used to be in the habit but I stopped for a while. It's saving us a lot of money and is much healthier.

We have the wood fire going again, so I need to get in the habit of heating water and cooking on its stovetop.

We are adjusting to our daughter not being home much these days as she has a job about an hour away. She stays in town. This means we often have enough of our main meal to last two nights, as we still cook for three dinners plus leftovers. By bulking up a bit with rice or the like, the meals go much further. I also might add lentils or beans to leftovers if our daughter is home unexpectedly for dinner, before I reheat it.

See you in a month, Grandma Donna. Stay well, and I hope you get good rain.