July 17th Dinner Post

[livetobake]

Good Morning!

It is partly sunny with a high of 78 and the low of 68. Rain is predicted and I know we need some as the grass is turning brown and the ground is cracking.

Dinner will be grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup and fruit salad.

What will be your dinner?

[rosie]

It's a beautiful gray, rainy day I'm so ready for a day like this.
have 8 or 9 boiled eggs need to use so creamed eggs on toast with bacon crumbled on top

[Chayote]

It's been really cold here. South Australia usually has a mild climate so the cold weather we are having is extreme. We were planning on going out but decided to stay home with the heating.

Our groceries arrived tonight. Are grocery prices high in the US since COVID? I order about the same amount of groceries each week but in the past two months my bill has gone from around $160 per week to $200 per week. Fresh fruit and vegetable prices are through the roof! Andrew is visiting two days next week and he's requested honey sandwiches, watermelon and chocolate for his lunch... The sandwiches and chocolate are easy but medium sized watermelons are around $30 each. Bananas are up around $1 each. The bread we buy has gone from $3.40 to $3.90 just last week.

The groceries arrived after dinner time and there wasn't much in the fridge. I found a couple of frozen meat pies that I thawed and heated.

I've been knitting every night... Andrew and Hannah both need hats for when they go out. I'll be surprised if Hannah keeps her's on but we'll see.

[rosie]

It's been really cold here. South Australia usually has a mild climate so the cold weather we are having is extreme. We were planning on going out but decided to stay home with the heating.

Our groceries arrived tonight. Are grocery prices high in the US since COVID? I order about the same amount of groceries each week but in the past two months my bill has gone from around $160 per week to $200 per week. Fresh fruit and vegetable prices are through the roof! Andrew is visiting two days next week and he's requested honey sandwiches, watermelon and chocolate for his lunch... The sandwiches and chocolate are easy but medium sized watermelons are around $30 each. Bananas are up around $1 each. The bread we buy has gone from $3.40 to $3.90 just last week.

The groceries arrived after dinner time and there wasn't much in the fridge. I found a couple of frozen meat pies that I thawed and heated.

I've been knitting every night... Andrew and Hannah both need hats for when they go out. I'll be surprised if Hannah keeps her's on but we'll see.

WOW $30 for a watermelon WOW not that high here. Everything has gone up and still rising. I guess gas and meat is what I find shocking. I'm not buying much meat. My freezers are well over stocked. BUTTTT if I see a good price on meat I will pick it up. There's a couple families having a hard time so we help them occasionally with mostly meat.
I hope you have an amazing 2 weeks with Andrew

[Chayote]

I hope you have an amazing 2 weeks with Andrew

We wouldn't last two weeks with him... it's only two days and that's enough for starters. My daughter is interviewing for a new nanny for the children and doesn't want them at home while she's interviewing. I'm not sure what she needs... Mary Poppins or Nanny McPhee... *LOL* Andrew is a delight but Hannah is still learning how to behave. She can be challenging at times despite looking so angelic. Their regular nanny is due to leave within a few weeks, however that came sooner when her partner contracted COVID. Andrew is on school holidays so it's better that he comes to us.

I will buy a quarter piece of watermelon for him for $9. Petrol is at its highest of all time... some days it's been $2.60 per litre and my brain is too tired to convert that to gallons. I think it works out to about $9.88 per gallon but that could be wrong. If we see it for around $1.70 per litre, we fill up whatever car we are driving.

[Chayote]

Yikes... watermelons went up by another $2 since I checked this afternoon...

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[livetobake]

rosie, that is so kind of you and Joe.

[rosie]

rosie, that is so kind of you and Joe.

One of them is his sis. She's 78 and has never been good with money. It's very frustrating I've gone to the grocery several times with her and it blows my mind the stuff she buys. I've shown her over & over how to buy meat. She acts surprised every time. BUT not going to let her go hungry just cause she's dence. The other has 4 kids. She doesn't get it either.

[rosie]

We wouldn't last two weeks with him... it's only two days and that's enough for starters. My daughter is interviewing for a new nanny for the children and doesn't want them at home while she's interviewing. I'm not sure what she needs... Mary Poppins or Nanny McPhee... *LOL* Andrew is a delight but Hannah is still learning how to behave. She can be challenging at times despite looking so angelic. Their regular nanny is due to leave within a few weeks, however that came sooner when her partner contracted COVID. Andrew is on school holidays so it's better that he comes to us.

I will buy a quarter piece of watermelon for him for $9. Petrol is at its highest of all time... some days it's been $2.60 per litre and my brain is too tired to convert that to gallons. I think it works out to about $9.88 per gallon but that could be wrong. If we see it for around $1.70 per litre, we fill up whatever car we are driving.

Oops misread that. I am stunned at the price of watermelon. I saw it yesterday for $3.50. You're gonna have to plant some. Their easy to grow. They would love your summer weather

[Sabine]

We wouldn't last two weeks with him... it's only two days and that's enough for starters. My daughter is interviewing for a new nanny for the children and doesn't want them at home while she's interviewing. I'm not sure what she needs... Mary Poppins or Nanny McPhee... *LOL* Andrew is a delight but Hannah is still learning how to behave. She can be challenging at times despite looking so angelic. Their regular nanny is due to leave within a few weeks, however that came sooner when her partner contracted COVID. Andrew is on school holidays so it's better that he comes to us.

I will buy a quarter piece of watermelon for him for $9. Petrol is at its highest of all time... some days it's been $2.60 per litre and my brain is too tired to convert that to gallons. I think it works out to about $9.88 per gallon but that could be wrong. If we see it for around $1.70 per litre, we fill up whatever car we are driving.

1 liter is 0. 264 gallons I don't know how to convert it either, so I looked it up
as far as Andrew wanting watermelon while he is with you , maybe he will have to pick something else , a quarter piece of watermelon for $ 9.00 or maybe more than that, that is just too much . But that is just my opinion, sometimes kids have to learn that they can't have everything they want.

[CharleneG]

Grocery prices and gas prices here are really high, especially for meat. I’ve been buying more chicken and pork, they’re still reasonable for the most part, beef is just ridiculously high. Produce has gotten very high too, but I’ve been using it up and not letting it go to waste. I purchase my packaged foods at Walmart, they’re frequently a dollar or more less per item than the grocery stores are for the same things. A good example is Progresso canned soup. Local market has them for $4.49 per can, Walmart has them for $1.89.

It’s been a nice day today, cool and partly cloudy. I had a buyer for the riding mower this morning, she paid me in cash and will pick it up in the next couple of days. I got the full price I was asking for too. I had a couple of offers for a few hundred dollars less, but this buyer didn’t quibble about the price. Once it’s out of the shed I can put some of the other yard equipment that’s in the garage in the shed. I did some busy work in the small bedroom that I use for hanging our trophies and is home to the file cabinet and a large storage chest of drawers. Still have some to do but I’m making headway.

I had intended to make something else for dinner but there were a few items I needed at the grocery store to make them and I’m too grungy to go down there at the moment. Sooooo, I’m going to reheat the rest of the Beecher’s macaroni and cheese and have 2 more Aidell’s chicken sausage with bacon and pineapple and call it a day. Tomorrow I’ll be more cheffy.

[Chayote]

1 liter is 0. 264 gallons I don't know how to convert it either, so I looked it up
as far as Andrew wanting watermelon while he is with you , maybe he will have to pick something else , a quarter piece of watermelon for $ 9.00 or maybe more than that, that is just too much . But that is just my opinion, sometimes kids have to learn that they can't have everything they want.

We will give him the lunch he asked for... We love spoiling him with little treats. It would cost us more than $9 if he had asked to go to Maccas for lunch. He's *so* looking forward to spending the days with us (he'll go home at 5pm for dinner, bath and bed). He knows that on Thursday we will be outside in the garden planting succulent cuttings into pots. The weather forecast is for 61°f and sunny but that could change.

[Chayote]

Oops misread that. I am stunned at the price of watermelon. I saw it yesterday for $3.50. You're gonna have to plant some. Their easy to grow. They would love your summer weather

It's one of the fruits I want to try growing when we get to the new house. The only garden I'm having before then will be in pots so I can take them with us. The fruits I've planned to grow so far after we move are apricots, blood plums, cherries, lime, pumpkins and watermelon... and of course, the usual tomatoes, beans, peas and asparagus.

[Chayote]

A good example is Progresso canned soup. Local market has them for $4.49 per can, Walmart has them for $1.89.

Charlene, do you have an NQR grocery store in the US? It stands for Not Quite Right and they sell non-perishable and frozen foods that are either close to the "best before" date or are overruns by the manufacturers. We had one in Melton and used to buy a few things in there for a fraction of the RRP.

[CharleneG]

Chayote, I think there are some stores like that around, but not sure. There’s something called Big Box Outlet and another one I’ve read about in Burlington, Skagit Valley Liquidation. I believe they sell canned goods etc. I do pretty well at Walmart though and I’m only buying just for me now. I should go check those places out though.