TWO FINISHES AND INCREASED FRUGAL ENDEAVORS...

It's FINISHED!  The afghan that I have been working on for  5-6 years is now stored under the desk next to our loveseat.  It is out of the way, yet easily accessible when needed.

When I had finished the colored rows, I added three rows of single crochet in gray around the perimeter.  Did the gray totally obscure the obvious imperfections?  Not completely.  Do I care?  Not at all!!  My beautiful creation is colorful, warm, cozy...and big enough to cover Dear Hubby and I together, from neck to toes, while we sit on the loveseat watching TV.  This thing is HUGE and HEAVY!!  I think it will be a year or more before our grandson can wrangle it from under the desk to the sofa.  But that is okay....he has four big people in this house who love him and are always willing to help!

My second finish was the St. Patty's Day table topper for my foyer.  Ugh...the blood, sweat and tears that went into this finish were ridiculous!!  I don't know WHY I had to continue with my original plans when a miss-cut meant my original binding plan was going to be hard, if not totally impossible.  I should have said "bag it" and cut all four sides evenly and made a separate binding instead of folding over the backing to make the binding.  I wanted to avoid the hassle of ending a sewn on binding.  Bindings are my "quilter's block".  So I soldiered on with salvaging the short cut backing.  Sometimes I am a stubborn idiot!!!  In at least one spot I missed sewing the teeny, tiny folded edge.  Oh well.  As they say, "Better finished than perfect!"  I will use this topper, as is, for as many years as it holds together.  When the time comes that the binding has frayed and no longer holds, I will schedule a long date with "Jack"(the ripper) to pull out all of the stitches and bind it the right way.  Who knows, maybe by then I will have at least partially perfected the binding technique!

Well, it's official!  Dear Hubby emailed his notice of retirement on Sunday night.  His last day of work will be 7 June 2019.  You would not believe the relief I feel.  The stress he has had to endure over the last year or so has been monumental.  If we were in our 20's I would still be worried with the toll the stress was taking, but in our golden years??  I've been petrified that I would lose the love of my life because of a JOB.  It's not that his employer has been worse than any other, it's just that today's economic climate has meant more work with fewer bodies. People who leave are not replaced and the conscientious workers are on a treadmill struggling to keep up.  For those employees with no work ethic, they are barely fazed.  There are just more deadlines missed and work falling by the way-side.  Who knows, maybe they are handling things the right way.  But, for my husband, myself, our family and many of our friend's and acquaintances...duties by the wayside are unacceptable.

Now for the next stressor...will we REALLY have enough to live on?  You know, everything looks better on paper!  In an effort to hone our frugal skills and kick that stressor to the curb, I have begun cutting coupons and matching them to sales at our local markets.  I have increased the number of money back sites where I scan our receipts and get points back toward e-gift cards.  Today I requested a $3 e-card to Amazon by redeeming points.  On another site, I scanned enough receipts today to qualify for another $3 Amazon e-card, once my receipt has processed.  Dear Hubby and I have traded in our old American Express card for a newer card which offers much higher reimbursement points, which we have set up to convert to cash at Amazon.  We get all of our gas, groceries, medications, etc. through our AmexCard.  We pay off the balance monthly (unless it is home or car repair too expensive to swing at one time), so the converted points are truly free money on Amazon!

Around the house I'm making some changes also.  At the moment our HVAC system is turned off (I prefer open windows and "real air" anyway).  I've done two large loads of laundry today (in cold water), so as to reduce the amount of water and electricity used with four medium sized loads (I sometimes forget that this washer and dryer have a much bigger capacity!).  I've even begun entering contests where the prize is something I could use when sewing or making quilts.  I know the chance of winning is slim, but all it took was five minutes of my time to maybe provide free supplies for my hobby.  I've also begun listing items purged from our home on both Facebook Marketplace and Ebay.  After almost 34 years of marriage our home is bursting at the seams with unnecessary "stuff"...potential money collecting dust!  I have also renewed my library card and had it hooked up to their e-book and audio book sites.  When Dear Hubby is not home I sit on the loveseat and listen to an audio book through my tablet and the TV stays off.  Energy saved!

That's about all I can think of at the moment.  I know there are more "changes" and "frugal endeavors" happening around here.  Maybe I will remember when I post next. 

Until then,
Toodles...