Sunset - God's Big Screen

 I snapped these pictures as the sun was setting. Enjoy!

Mrs. Smith

A Little Drive...

Number One Husband and I took a little drive... 

This rainbow followed us for miles.

The cottonwoods are thick like shag carpet and are vibrant in color.

It is a long drop down to the reservoir. 

No guardrails!

It was a last-minute trip that I was not prepared for, so we stopped at a store and picked up smoked sausage, cheese, bagels and chips.  For the price of two fast food meals, we were able to eat several meals on the cheap.  

The leaves were just beautiful. It was a lovely drive through the giant mountains full of brilliant colors. The winding road was all but empty, unlike the previous weekend when traffic was at a standstill and a mountain town actually had to close down due to traffic. 

I have logged over 1000 miles in the last two weeks. While I enjoyed the travel there is no place like home. We are ready for the slower pace of the winter months. It's time for hot soups and warm breads. In fact, I have chicken thawing in the refrigerator for homemade chicken noodle soup that I am making to share with a friend who is coming out for a visit this weekend. 

Stay safe out there...

Shalom,

Mrs. Smith

Making Extra Cash Without Getting a Second Job - Secondhand Treasures

We are always on the lookout for items that we can resale. I recently came across two such items on my trip with my friend on our Fall leaf tour. We stopped by a little thrift store to pick up a set of measuring cups that I had spotted on a previous trip. Little did I know that I would somehow lose one of my stainless-steel measuring cups. How is that even possible? I also lost a pair of glasses and sunglasses the same week. They probably fell out of the car. Sigh...

I found another new pair of boots that I kept for myself. They are Sperry Saltwater
Two-Eye Leather Boots that retail for $99. I paid $8.

My next find was a brand-new Vineyard Vines Leather Tote with a MSRP of $175.
I paid $5.

I also paid $5 for this duffle bag. This was a rare find. It is brand new with
tags. Apparently, it is a highly sought after bag and 
finding one that is brand new is almost impossible.

I really didn't know if either of these items had any value whatsoever, but for a $10.00 investment I took a chance, and it paid off. I would have definitely investigated both items if they were higher priced and I wasn't on a trip with someone else. Do your homework or you will end up with a lot of un-saleable items and a lot less money in your pocket.

There are many sales platforms to choose from. Do your homework. All of them are different and have different fees and requirements. You can sell new or used items on most platforms. Shipping costs are expensive, so watch the size and weight when determining what to resale. There is a learning curve, so be prepared to have your ups and downs. 

I do not go out of my way to search for resalable merchandise. Gas is expensive, I live far from any town or city, so I take these factors into consideration. Beware that places like Goodwill have the internet too and they price their stuff accordingly. I still check if I need something for myself, but I do not go out of my way to stop by there. It's usually a waste of time. Garage sales and estate sales usually have good prices for resellers. The last day is the best day for negotiating.

This day was an exceptional day. Usually, it's hit or miss at best so be careful. Don't spend your rent or grocery money. It will probably be Spring before either of these items' sell or maybe they won't sell at all. Some items are seasonal, like the tote I purchased. The duffle bag will probably sell due to the fact that it is a collectable item. 

Watch for cracks, rips, tears, stains or hardware, like zippers, that are non-functional. These types of imperfections will make your purchase worthless. Take your time looking closely at every item before purchasing. 

Keep the items that you are interested in inside your basket until you make your decision or someone else will buy it. They may even try to take an item out of your basket while you are not looking. I've had people follow me around until I checked out several times. I've been in a store that was full of re-sellers, they can be spotted a mile away, and it was a feeding frenzy. The interesting thing was that there wasn't anything valuable in the entire store that I saw. In fact, it was a nasty store.

The most important thing to remember is to have fun! Enjoy the hunt. Even if I don't find anything, I still enjoy looking. Seeing something from my childhood makes me smile every time. 

Shalom,

Mrs. Smith

Outside My Window - Future

Snow started falling on the peaks a couple of weeks ago. While most of it melted, the snow that is falling now will not melt until Spring. I recently returned from a "Girls" trip with my friend to Rocky Mountain National Park. The main road is now closed due to snow and ice. It closed a couple of times for short periods of time two weeks ago, but close to two feet is expected to fall over the next few days. I'm glad that my friend came when she did or our trip would have been cancelled.

We traveled over several passes, that will close very soon, on our adventures. It was a wonderful trip full of wildlife and endless views. She left yesterday morning. We got up at 2 am to get her to the airport to catch her flight. We came back home and slept another 5 hours. I was ready for some much-needed rest after our great 5-day adventure. 

Looking back at these pictures reminds me of what the future holds this winter. I'm ready to enjoy the benefits of the winter months. A change of pace so to speak. I think this winter may be a doozy this year for the entire US. We will see what the future holds...

I will share pictures of our trip soon. I have to catch up on a few things and make our last trip into the city until the end of December or the beginning of January. Number One Husband and I have a short overnight trip planned next month, then we are hibernating until Spring. 

Shalom,

Mrs. Smith

Secondhand Treasures - Company is Coming

Number One Husband and I recently went to a small thrift store that benefits seniors. It's a great little store with lots of treasures. While their prices have increased, it's nothing like Goodwill. I found these brand-new Sorel Caribou boots for $20 bucks. Retail on these boots is $225 dollars. I may not need to wear them for a while, but I am excited to have such a nice pair of winter boots. They will work great with my snowshoes. 

I have a pair of Sorel Manitou boots that I just love. My friend gave them to me when she moved to a warmer climate. I love them also. They are super warm. The Caribou boots are similar to the Manitou boots in some ways, but different at the same time. 

Number One Husband picked up a Made-in-America waffle iron. I promptly made Herman sourdough waffles. They were delicious. And I picked up a few books and DVDs. From free to $1 is all I had to pay. I think that they get a lot of media type stuff, and they don't have a lot of room, so they price it to move or give it away when they have too much.

Third time is a charm. On the last one, I got the batter ratio correct.
I ate my waffle plain. The sweetness of the whole grains and the
Herman sourdough starter was enough for me.

In other news, my girlfriend, the amazing BB, will be here in two days. We are doing a Fall leaf tour of the area. Hiking, hot springs and food is on our agenda. It's perfect timing. The peak is on the 20th. Another girlfriend may join us for a couple of our adventures. Number One Husband has graciously bowed out of all of our adventures. He and I have trip coming up soon.

Number One Husband is making a cheesecake, and I already made tamales and froze them for the occasion. Both of which are two of her favorite foods. (ours too) I will put together some travel foods also. I made a mild breakfast sausage for breakfast bagels. Spicy is not her thing. I need to get to work on the bagels and blueberry muffins. There are no restaurants on the trails. We are going to need some food with substance to power us up the cold mountains on our hikes.

It has definitely turned cooler, and snow appeared on the peaks a couple of nights ago.  Our yearly goal is to not turn the heat on until the first of November, but we had to turn it on to take the chill out of the air a month and a half early this year. It was 57 degrees inside the house this morning. 

The craziest thing has happened to me. I have lost my prescription sunglasses and glasses and my 1/2 cup measuring cup. Now I can understand that my glasses probably fell out of the car, but my measuring cup? What the hay? Did I toss it out in the trash? Is it inside a container somewhere that I haven't yet checked? I have spent hours looking for both to no avail.

I'd better get moving. 

Shalom,

Mrs. Smith

Big Jane the Rabbit...

Big Jane, our resident rabbit, comes home every morning around 8 am and leaves again around 6 pm.  This particular evening, she was being hunted by a large Osprey. Three of them have been watching her and surrounding her using our fence posts. 

Jane is smart. She stays close to the porch just in case they attack. About dusk every evening, the Osprey's leave for the night. I'm not sure where they roost for the night, but they come back every day. They will be migrating south soon. Three less birds of prey for Big Jane to worry about.  

Can you see the Osprey on the fence post?

Big Jane will also morph into a snow-white bunny for the winter months. Right now, she blends in perfectly with her surroundings. Number One Husband and I play a game most days trying to see who can find Big Jane first and then give clues to the other one to see if they can locate her. 

She doesn't seem to fear us whatsoever. We talk to her as we walk by. She just continues to eat or pretends like we can't see her. When she was little, she lived in the chicken coop and ate with the chickens. It was sweet. 

We enjoy the beautiful wildlife and creations that God has blessed us with. He is so creative. He has thought of every detail with great love and care. Thank You Father and Creator of all...

Blessings,

Mrs. Smith

Winter Preps - Stocking Up the Freezer

We are now well into September and it's time to prepare for winter. All the forecasts are pointing towards a harsh winter. Number One Husband has ordered the propane, put up the lawn chairs and anything else that could cause drifts. There is more for him to do like change the oil in the gen and replace batteries in the cars. 

I have been washing blankets, organizing closets and making lists to make sure we have everything in place in case we have a rough winter. Winter and summer clothing still needs to be switched out, but we are still in the in-between days. We have graduated from wearing short sleeves and sandals to fleeces and socks and shoes. It's cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoons. 

This weekend we will drop into the low 30's. The house is already cold in the mornings when we wake up. The temp most mornings is 58* inside. I've already added a blanket to our bed and an extra wool cover on Number One Husband's side. 

I took down the hummingbird feeder, cleaned it and stored it away.

Food, water and shelter are important to the human body. We take winter seriously around here. It's not just our home that needs to be readied but our vehicles need attention also. I need to put together our emergency winter car kits. Here are my previous posts about winter preps. Winter 

We had to make an extra trip into town due to pharmacy losing my refill in a computer glitch. Apparently, I was not the only one. This took five days and a couple hours on hold and a new prescription from my doctor and in the meantime, all of the pharmacists quit. 

It wasn't all bad. We were able to top off our gas tanks and gas cans and find a great deal on split chicken breasts and boneless skinless chicken breasts. So good in fact that we made a second trip to top off our freezer after I processed the first batch and discover that I could fit even more chicken in the freezer. We could not pass it up. We didn't get home until midnight. I finished processing the rest of the meat the next morning.  

First load.

Managers Special: Split chicken breasts

Both cuts of chicken breast added together made the cost .50 cents a pound.

2nd load of chicken, plus we topped off our tanks. Gas was $3.19 a gallon. Ridiculous! We also took
advantage of the other sales on cheese and frozen vegetables.

.99 cents a pound is a great bargain, right? When we used our member's card
we got every pack of split breasts for .99 cents a pack. The boneless
skinless breasts were on sale for $2.27 a pound. 

I re-packaged 23 packages of chicken
 for a total of 101 lbs. of chicken.

Number One Husband, aka Gill Master, grilled us some chicken,
potatoes and Vidalia onions. 

I made homemade baked beans and sauteed spinach to
round out our meal.

The cheese that we picked up was $2 off every package. Yea! Another score... We literally cannot squeeze one more thing into our freezer. Our chest freezer is small, but after carefully packing our booty into the small space I was able to fit everything in without one inch to spare.  

Something that absolutely blew my mind at the store was the fact that Blue Bell ice cream is now $10 a carton. It was on sale for $7.99, but that was just getting us ready for the $10 price tag. $10.29 to be exact. 

Our freezer is now full. Over the next two months we will work on topping off the pantry with a few extra canned goods in case we are unable to get to the grocery store for fresh produce. We prefer fresh, then frozen and lastly canned. 

Bonus Pics

We had a downpour of rain and sleet this afternoon. When it was over, the brightest double rainbow formed. It was strange because even though they were side by side the colors were reversed. I love how the rainbow illuminated the mountains. 

Here is the other side of the rainbow.

Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs. Smith