Surprise Party and a New House

I can't tell you how surprised I was when one of my dearest friends surprised me with an early 60th birthday party with most of my oldest, dearest friends. There wasn't anyone there I'd known less than 25 years. Each one took a turn and said some kind words to me. I'll treasure that memory forever and am so grateful to those who made the effort to come, even those who had moved away years ago. What a wonderful memory! I know I'm blessed richly with great friends in my life. This party also served as a farewell party, too, since we are moving early next month.

So, day after that big event, we went back to Yakima and bought a new house. We had been struggling with which house to buy. There were several we liked, but finally boiled it down to two and then after a couple of stress-filled sleepless nights, we settled on one and had a great peace about it.

Here's a picture of our new house...............

New House

After the inspections, appraisals, and fixes on our current house, we have finally come to terms of the selling aspect of our big move.
Yesterday, we went to Yakima and made an offer on a new house. We still don't have a response, but will let you know. There are actually 2 houses we like, so we will make an offer on both and just see what happens. When we get an acceptance, we'll post pictures....... fun times!

Moving on....

We signed the papers yesterday to sell our house. Closing is October 5th. It's a big step for us. Now we need to buy a new house in our soon-to-be new hometown of Yakima.
We'll post more as know more.

Blueberry Time

This has certainly been the year for blueberries. The front page of our local newspaper recently touted the blueberry season we are having. All the right weather conditions came together to make this a crop to remember. We have been out picking blueberries several times in the past few weeks and now have a total 30 pounds in our freezer - that should hold us until next year.
Here's a picture of some of the blueberries on one of our own bushes. Also note that although it is only mid-August the leaves are already beginning to show signs of autumn. Theses leaves are also on the same blueberry bush.

Lean Times

We were recently having coffee with friends and talking about ways we save a little in these lean times. Here are some of our ideas:

We pick blueberries at a county park that was once a blueberry farm and so now all the blueberries are free for the picking. There are no signs - you just have to know it is there. We go once a week and so far this season have picked 22 pounds of blueberries. They are frozen and should last until next season. Of course, since the season is still going strong, we'll go back for one more round and may just top off the year with 30 pounds - all free!!

We are Starbuck's fans so we bought a Gold Card and get 10% off purchases plus several other perks. Last month Gold Card holders were sent a certificate for a free pint of Starbucks ice cream (value about $5). Earlier this week we were sent a certificate for a free Vivano (Starbucks smoothie). Often there are sample drinks and pastries in the shop of which we partake - of course. Another favorite of ours at Starbuck's is reading the newspaper. Patrons buy newspapers there, or bring their own, and after reading them, just leave them in the basket for others to read. We have canceled our local newspaper, because there is always one there for us to read. To top it off, we order one drink (10% off with the Gold Card) and split it between us as we peruse the newspapers. What better way to start the day! Oh, and don't forget the pastries behind the counter..... the banana bread for example costs about $1.75 per slice, but they give out the recipe cards and you can make an entire loaf of banana bread (10-12 slices) for less that the cost of one slice. Our Gold Card has paid for itself and then some!

Cherries are another favorite of ours this time of year. They generally sell for about $5 a pound, but this time of year they're about $2 a pound in the grocery store. Costco had them for $1.50 a pound, but a truck along side the road was selling them for $1 a pound, but.........buy 10 pounds and they are just $5 - that's only 50 cents a pound - now that is a real savings. We got enough to last us a year.

We never did have a gym membership, but if we did, we'd cancel it. We just get outside and hike several times a week. Who wants to be in a stuffy gym? Yuck. Also having a house with stairs is great exercise. We go up and down stairs several times a day - who need a stair-stepper exercise machine - not us.

Eating in rather than out is another huge way to cut back, as is cooking from scratch rather than buying packaged foods and mixes. We bake cookies rather than buy them, turn old bananas into yummy banana bread, never buy frozen meals, make popsicles from our own juice rather than buy them, make our own pies from the abundance of seasonal fruits and buy single-ply toilet paper (50 cents a roll).
As for the gasoline bill, we let our errands accumulate and run several in one outing, especially if it involves going to a neighboring town.

We try to make our big trips/vacations during the off season - now that we don't have school age children or jobs that tie us to a set schedule. We recently booked a family cruise and saved more than half, by going two weeks earlier than originally planned.

Not only is traveling off season a huge savings, but buying clothing is, too.
Food is bought seasonally, but clothing and travel are off season purchases.

What ways are you cutting back and saving big $$ ?

Back to Normal

After having the grandchildren here for 5 days and having 'historic heat' as the weatherman put it, we are back to normal.
The temps hit 106 at our house yesterday and the day before for the first time in recorded history. Seattle has never recorded any temperatures over a 100 degrees. Since our normal for this time of year is 77, we were ill-equipped for the heat - ie. no air conditioning, but we survived and are enjoying having our usual summer weather back again today.

The children are now with their other grandparents until their parents return on Monday, but we had some great summer fun with them while they were here. We went to the ice caves, went blueberry picking, played in a local river, and the local lake.
Here are some pictures of our adventures over the past few days.

Also in preparation for Drew and Sarah's return on Monday, we decided to surprise them by washing their car for them. We all joined in the fun of detailing their car.


Big Four Ice Cave Fields in July


Down the road to pick blueberries


Playing in the Snoqualmie River


Cottage Lake


Washing the car

Music in the Park

Every Thursday evening all summer there is a free concert in our local community park. We went last night for the first time this year. We are hoping to get to the others. It was a great time for everyone. Kids were swimming in the lake, families were having picnics on the lawn and others were just sitting and listening to the music. The weather was perfect for such an event.