Friday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $18 groceries
Found money - $0.11 (Safeway floor)

Thursday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $10 lunch
Found money - $0.02 (2 different parking meters)

Carless challenge:
3/4 - no car, commuted by bus 12.5 miles, walked 3 miles
3/5 - no car, commuted by bus 13.5* miles, walked 1 mile
*the reason why my commute is so variable is that I often get off the bus 1.25 - 1.5 miles from my stop, then walk home. Longer commutes mean I didn't walk. .

Work eased up a bit in the last two days - a lunch with friends helped, and so did the fact that I could really buckle down and get done what I really wanted to get done. Yay.

I discovered, upon looking at a photo of the

writer who is behind "Ask an Uptight Seattleite", that I know him. Matter of fact, he is my bus marker for the 8:35 number 5. So he, along with the current mayor, lives within 4-5 blocks of me. Will it get me a sidewalk? Probably not.

Final observation, this time fiscal: I bought tuna on a good deal - 10 6 oz cans for $5. I walked down the pet food aisle to checkout and noticed the price of Fancy Feast - 10 3 oz cans for $6.50. Fancy feast, indeed.

Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.88 coffee, bagel + $1.70 apple, energy bar + $5 newspaper, pastry, espresso + $3 produce
Found money - $0.03 (planting strip, floor in front of counter, under bus stop bench)

Saturday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $14 breakfast + $2 green tea + $60 restaurant meal for 2
Found money - $0.18 (driveway, sidewalk cracks, gas station parking lot, bus stop, road)

Saturday I felt I slipped - pricey, and calorie-laden meals. They were delicious though, and the company was great. I did score a doggie bag - tonight's meal.

As far as the calories are concerned, I tried to partially walk them off. The real issue with super-yummy restaurant food is the same as with an illicit drug - when the body gets a taste of the high life, its much harder to hop back on the straight and narrow - in this case, the frugal and healthy straight and narrow.

I caught a break - a produce stand was along my walking route - I caught some deals on broccoli crowns for $.49/lb, cherries for $.99/lb, roma tomatoes for $.89/lb. It does mean that tonight's meal is broccoli crowns and I had to pick out a few sub-par cherries from the bag.

As I was waiting for my bus, a woman started a conversation with me. As we were going through the small transit talk - eg this bus is running about 10 minutes late - boy was I sorry I engaged. All of the conversation below was hers. -

So much traffic, she thought (I thought fine), I have a Zipcar account (I thought okay), but I think I'll be buying a car because I just need one (I thought whatever!). I don't see how anybody is going to lug their stuff to the airport on light rail (then don't I thought)...
And the airporter barely got me to the airport on time.

Then I suggested that she mail her stuff. Oh no, I'm not allowed to lock it, she said. And the TSA and no doubt the post office is going to steal my stuff - they all have in the past (!). Mental rolleyes. Yes, life is PITA. I guess my expectations are minimal - I'm still at the simpleton stage where despite being held captive in a metal tube I'm joyful that you are flying me at 25,000 feet and you're landing me safely.

My final volley was that I treat flying like prison - stop packing the fancy stuff. Oh, she said, I don't pack the fancy stuff and hate that attitude - you are giving in to awful behavior and giving away your freedom and privacy. Rolleyes again - awful behavior has happened throughout time, the US in the 21st century has not curbed the market on awful behavior.

Funny how negative stuff during travel really doesn't happen to me. I manage to get places on time, when my baggage doesn't make it it does 12 hours later, and I'm healthy enough to lug and smart enough to not pack a ton to lug. I'm not saying that bad things don't happen - it just feels like a lot of stress tends to be induced. Then when you have real stress actually induced by other people, you have a double burden.

It was warm this weekend, but really not warm enough to strip the patio table successfully - so I was smart enough not to try. I did plant a row of shell peas this evening in back of a patch of garlic growing nicely, and put some innoculant in the furrow. Both blueberry shrubs in the pots, bought last year, are covered in green buds. Grow guys grow!

Tuesday
Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $100 beef
Found money - $0.23 (sidewalks, parking meter, Safeway floor)

Monday
Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $10 groceries
Found money - $0.13 (sidewalks, parking meter)

Not much happened today. I did buy a deposit on 100# of beef. We plan on 50#; the rest should come from two others, each wanting 25#. Got one of those 25#/$25, all I need is the other one.

The second beef fest has begun.

I did find two semi-interesting fiscal links. One is a place to

compare 401K/403B of various companies. I tried our workplace - not enough information. For a long term project I might fill them in on our 403B - the information is not secret and it is not illegal to give out. Still, the discrete side of my personality really hesitates.

The other link is stock footnotes - some person I salute reads the various footnotes from 10-Ks, 8-Qs and other formal fiscal publications, then writes on the hinkiness she discovers therein. I can search on the ticker symbol for specific footnote hinkiness. Fantastic!

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $14 groceries
Found money - $0.11 (driveway, road)

I couldn't resist: blueberries @ $1.99/lb. Not local, not seasonal, cheap from Chile and probably put g%d knows how much CO2 in the air during its plane flight ... still a treat.

Fern, I found some real

ringers for your heat contest. Crazy, stubborn, super-cheap, anti-freeze for blood, all of the above?

Oh yes, after the third friday of 2010, we now have a second Washington state bank shut down. So much for moving your money to a local bank ... if it eventually creeps back to bigger and bigger bank.

Friday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.02 (sidewalk, floor of Ross)

Thursday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.11 (11 pennies in one spot on the sidewalk)

The beef deal is starting to come clearer. More people are interested - we might have enough interest to buy a full cow (400+ lbs) versus a quarter share, which is what we got last time.

The mechanics are this:
1. By Feb- March $400 up front to buy the full cow "share" from the rancher. In a sense, this is the down payment - we are now considered serious buyers. We can pick out "our" cow and personify it if we'd like. (Tactically, bad idea. Always name a cow Dinner.)

2. Come July - August, cow is butchered and we ourselves are on the hook for the rest at $3.85/lb hanging weight. The beef raisers have their USDA cert butchers and storage area, so they can handle the cutting and finished product. A cow runs, on average, 600 lbs hanging weight (no head, hooves, innards) which turns into about 400 lbs of steak and pot roast. So really, it turns into about $5.77/ lb, or to round up, $6/lb.

Not cheap, but organic, grass fed, local supplier, unlikely to be full of mad-cow prions, not pumped full of hormones or ammonia and not a canner/cutter.

My part of this whole business is to provide the math, numbers, and structure to this whole situation. I suggested, and I hope this will happen, that the many parties interested in beef pay in part for the $400 deposit. $400/400 lbs = $1/lb. Interested in 20 lbs of beef? $20 deposit. I'd be very interested in it being non-refundable, just to concentrate the mind. I also suggested that folks keep in mind that they would be on the hook for the other $5/lb come July. So save those pennies - I've bought 3 lbs of beef from sidewalk change. I presented this to a couple of the parties on my end who are interested. Very popular because it is now kind of concrete, so I'm pretty sure that I can, with my own friends, buy 100lbs worth of cow. We'll see when it comes time to collect.

The final issue that I see is based on the final hanging weight. Cows are never exactly 600 lbs - the range the rancher gave us was 575 - 625 lbs, which translates into 390 - 410 lbs finished ... on average. Would it be easier to think of it as straight pounds or as a percent? In other words - your 20lbs of beef could be considered 5% of the cow. Hence, if the cow is a little shy of 400 lbs, you are going to be a little shy of 20lbs. Bigger cow - slightly bigger share.

Monday
Saving log - $5 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $8 lunch
Found money - $0.20 (sidewalks)

Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.88 coffee, bagel + $20 (japanese plate,

box of wagashi) + $3 bottle of bubble bath
Found money - $0.34 (sidewalk, road, floor)

Little bit of fun over the weekend. There is a Japanese confectionary shop that is only open to the general public on the 10th of every month - 1-6pm. Usually the 10th fell on a day when I was working or otherwise occupied. Yesterday was the 10th, so for curiosity's sake I checked it out and split a box with DH. (3 pieces, so not diet busting) Delicious by itself, although I was supposed to have it with the green tea during the tea ceremony held in the center room. A Japanese potter was selling her creations outside on the porch, so I bought a shallow bowl.

2 days away from 6 months of noting where I find change. I'm at $19.81: 501 pennies, 17 nickels, 82 dimes, 19 quarters, $1 bill. Hard to believe that I might make $40/yr in "dirty money".

After that, I'm the process of figuring out from my sister how much to send for farmette maintenance, and I've printed out my W-2 from work.

Monday
Saving log - $5 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $9 yogurt/trail mix for desserts
Found money - $0.45 (sidewalk, under bus seat, parking meter, Safeway floor, vending machine)

Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.88 coffee, bagel + $0.75 apple
Found money - $0.10 (sidewalks, road)

Well its 2010. Anybody else get a creepy feeling as a 2010 date popped into the news, work databases and what not? Like I should be on Saturn while perusing the calendar. Of course it should be 2010! And I'm posting from a cold, rainy, dark, dreary, boggy, foggy place...maybe I'm on Saturn. It sure feels like it. The Saturnians around here are practically throwing dimes and pennies on the streets today.

Was successful at all the small stuff today - fixed a database just using compact and repair; checked Vanguard to make sure that the 2010 Roth is going to be funded sometime this week; more 2010 tax 1099s arrived in the mail today.

Bigger wheels are turning - there is enough interest on many, many fronts for a beef fest year 2. Only this time instead of buying 100 lbs (1/4 cow), its 400 lbs (full cow). We are still eating the 40 lbs - just finished the beef ribs (fantastic) - so unless the purchase can go in the summer or fall, I don't think I'm in for the full 40 lbs. But I suspect that I inspired, by my buying and storing 40 lbs of beef in my top freezer, others to think that they can also buy and use 40 lbs. For certain, it will be a lot easier to deal with 10 households who want to buy a lot than 20 households who want to buy some. We'll see what the timing issues are, how many other people we can get in on the deal.

Found money
Friday - $0
Saturday - $0
Sunday - $0.22 (sidewalk corner, Goodwill floor, Goodwill parking lot, Safeway floor)

Lots of little food and holiday things.

Yesterday, DH and I went to a coffeehouse "mugging". One of the arson fires in the neighborhood destroyed a coffeehouse and the quirky mugs therein. Another neighborhood business offered to host the destroyed coffeehouse, but no mugs, so on Saturday we could get a free cup of coffee if we brought our own mug and donated it to the coffeehouse by leaving it in the bus tub.

As I walked past today, I saw my former tulip mug being used.

Fish trade is being worked out - the fish in question is Alaskan sockeye salmon, always good. We have club, rib-eye, beef sausage (hot dog size) and ground beef for trade. The hitch comes from the beef cooking skills of the fish trader; to be fair, club and rib-eye are the classic slap on the grill/cook-hot cook-quick cuts, which you need a little bit of confidence/experience to do. She's interested in getting advice next week, and I'm to get information about the ground beef, so we can better assess the fish to beef ratio. Compared to the duck trade, this is definitely more business. The fish for beef trade will go through, but probably in a couple of weeks.

I was at Goodwill today, seeing what change I can pick up from the floor . We needed a platter or two for Thanksgiving; our ceramic platter broke when I dropped and it hit the floor. At Goodwill I found two matching circular metal with white-enamel platters, each at $3. No pattern - I liked the clean look, the handles, large diameter and the total unlikelihood of them busting when dropped. The enamel part is the only issue - carving and slicing directly on them is counter-indicated.

As far as change finding is concerned, winter has come. With the rain, cold, and wind, change hunting feels like it has become an inside game.

Tuesday
Saving log - $50 DRP
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.01 (gym floor)

Wednesday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $21 groceries
Found money - $0.28 (sidewalk, bus seat, between the sidewalk cobbles)

Right now its just watchful waiting. I bought a bit more gym time with the credit card last month, so I'm slowing my spending down (even more) and I have $700 in my bank savings account. I'd like to see if I can withdraw as little money as possible from my ING account.

Thanksgiving is only two weeks away. We are having the Duvall duck friends over. I picked up a few t-day specific groceries (cranberries) tonight and will keep buying. I saw a recipe for maple pear upside down cake and was intrigued, although the 11 tbsp of butter made me do a double take. (I'm 172, with a hope of being in the 160s by the end of the year.) I really enjoyed the roasted cranberries last year and it was fast, so I'm making that again this year.

Work is definitely heating up as it has every November since I've blogged - I see a lot more special event checks and much less

fake pledging than in year's past.

Not much money news. My 403B is heating up to close to 6 six figures. Stocks are creeping up also. Real estate? Well, the arsonist is still around - hundreds of neighbors attended a community meeting last night hosted by the Fire Department. First order of business: noting that the meeting site (a local church) is at over capacity, and note where the fire exits were. We are to call 911 if we smell smoke, etc, and not to worry about over reporting.

I heard a fire truck as I walked home tonight.

Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $5 coffee, bagel, apple
Found money - $0.01 (sidewalk)

Monday
Saving log - $6 tip box
Spending log - $2.00 2 coffees + $10 lunch
Found money - $0.02 (sidewalk, bus floor)

Busy at work counting pledges. It feels like more than last year, but that's only a feeling. As I walked to my bus to work this morning I wondered if Seattle has a mayor's residence, or whether he uses his own house. And if he uses his own house, how much security? This is not an idle thought - I now walk past the house of the guy who won. (the fence around it is tad junky, if you ask me) I guess I will find out the answer to both of those questions shortly. Increased security can only help catch the arsonist, though. I wonder who would win?

CD has matured - I think I will renew it for 6 months. The money will be for a down payment on a house, so its return of investment, rather than return on investment. The interest rate is depressing - in the 5-10K size range, the amount of money I'd make in interest rivals what I find around town. ($1.50 - $3). My found money totals are at $7.89 since July 15.

I haven't eaten all that much of the beef, and its a lucky thing - I got a call from the person who wants to trade for fish. I still have some beef to trade!

you Great Depression, you. You hardly look a day over 79. But never fear, your grandchild parts his hair near the same way.

(In all seriousness, today is the 80th anniversary of the then-Black Monday stock market crash. Wheee!)

Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $2 decaf coffee + $20 pizza
Found money - $0.03 (road, bus floor) and yesterday - $0.02 (coffee shop floor, road)

Today DH is off visiting his mom, so evil me, I cleaned the kitchen and ordered a large pizza - olive, mushroom, onion, and anchovy. All my favorites and even better cold for lunch, and it takes a rare lunch thief to go after the anchovy pizza.

Then Mad Men, then a bath, and off to bed. So far kitty is behaving herself also and hitting the box. Nighty night.

Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.88 coffee, bagel + $16 conveyor belt sushi pigout
Found money - $0.11 (coffeehouse floor, gutter)

Saturday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $14 breakfast + $6 Halloween hat + $21 miscellaneous
Found money - $0.39 (sidewalk, gas station parking pad, carpet)

Friday
Saving log - $9 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.04 (road, sidewalk, under picnic table)

Still having reasonable luck finding change despite the leaves on the ground. This weekend was a do or die time to "do" something for Halloween - I usually say I don't have a creative idea for Halloween in the two weeks before but then pull something off. This time, still nothing. I'm going with a funny hat (keeping the price tag on for the Minnie Pearl fans out there) and be done with it.

Finding the funny hat meant heading to the Goodwill, change hunting all the way. You might have noted that I expected, and was disappointed, that the Goodwill parking lot would be a rich source of found money, and I have mused about the mystery. When I walked into Goodwill, I found a cheap, funny, fuzzy hat, but also a partial resolution to the mystery: Goodwill's inside carpet was the rich source of found money. Goodwill was extremely busy with shoppers; they made a mess of the racks and floors; and the only person who was watching the floor was me. At first blush, if people drop change in response to distractions, the Goodwill store is a primo study site to explore. But for now - easy dime and five pennies. With the other change found in other spots - Seattle has provided me with $6.54 since mid-July.

Later at the Fred Meyer, I bought another item for the months to come: a clip-on, five-pattern, 1/2 mile visible bright flashing pedestrian light. $6, but when I walk home in December, that car is gonna see me.

The other delight I've seen at Fred Meyer are the definite price reductions for food. For example, I needed some luna/clif bars for breakfast - last year at this time they went, cheapest, @ $0.99/bar. Now - $0.79/bar. I've now been seeing produce for under $1.00/lb and canned tuna at $0.65/6 oz can. I've not kept up my price book for the last couple of years (too depressing). I might restart it now.

A bit of our neighborhood news made even some of the national news (at least I heard that it made the morning ABC news). Our neighborhood lost 4 businesses Friday to fire - 2 places I ate at semi-regularly, 1 I drank coffee at every so often. The

phinneywood blog has the fire pictures. Arson investigation is ongoing. Mine is from the back. That cooked area at the top is where the roof line was.

Saturday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $13 breakfast, coffee + $12 wine & dessert for duck trade dinner
Found money - $0

Friday
Saving log - $6 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $5 yogurt, fruit + $49 vet stuff
Found money - $0.01 (bus steps)

No money found - a miss after 21 days straight of finding something.

The duck for beef trade occurred - they got:
1 ground beef, 1 t-bone, 1 chuck roast, 1 sirloin = 7 lbs beef
and we got:
2 muscovy ducks @ 8 lbs total, 1 dozen eggs.

We had a muscovy duck for lunch/dinner, I got a slice of the breast, which hardly looked like a poultry breast ... it looked like pretty beefy on its own.

V.I. is giardia free (yay), but had continued with some more missing of the litter box. We've decided to go with the positive reinforcement - keep the box impeccable, and when she uses it, she gets a greenie and face scritch, both things she likes. If she misses, we clean up but we ignore her. In the last few days, she has been hitting the box. We'll see if it holds.

I've been also using positive reinforcement with DH during this whole affair. A few days ago, V.I. was tested for the fecal parasites in general, but before the results were in, DH gambled a bit that she was still sick. He sprung for a stronger prescription, but tuna flavored. When V.I. tested negative but was still missing the box, DH still presented her with the medicine. "Why?" I asked. "I spent good money for the medicine, and I'm using it," he replied. So we were at the stage where DH was going to give her something that she wouldn't take and didn't need, all because of cash. I paid him to offset the cost of medicine - its free to him so he's free not to use it.

N.B.(10/19/2009): Turns out that the vet suggested to DH that he still give the medicine to V.I. C'mon guys: less is more.

Saturday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $13 breakfast, coffee
Found money - $0.03 (sidewalks, a penny in our driveway)

Friday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $15 charity soup lunch + $20 cookbook
Found money - $0.04 (sidewalks)

Ate an outside lunch with the old gang: lawyer friend, lawyer friend partner, screenwriter friend. We ate a fundraiser lunch - all soups and bread donated from the restaurants in town for an entrance fee of $15. As soon I heard there was a cookbook compiling the recipes of the soups on sale, I had to spring for that.

We all asked the question: what's the difference between cream of x, chowder, bisque, and veloute? Smart ass me said "anywhere between a $1 and $3 a cup." I kid because I love.

Today I tried to hit the taco truck rally. Actually I made it to see what it was about and take a picture of it in the middle distance.


There were 7-8 trucks in the lot with a lot of people. I was aiming to try a Korean taco (bulgogi beef with kimchi in a taco, I think), but when I got there, they had no more. I could have gotten ice cream, but I've learned that consolation eating is the worst possible reason to have something. So I enjoyed what I got - the adventure and the picture - and considered it a win. FYI - the Taste of Seattle Taco Trucks sounds like a hoot. Look for it 2012.

Tuesday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $.80 coffee, bagel (finished up a gift card) + $13 grocery & misc shopping + $2 large iced tea + $10 sushi lunch
Found money - $0.26 (sidewalks, Safeway)

Monday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $7 curry lunch
Found money - $0.03 (sidewalks)

Took a day off today and I just kicked around. I bought a breakfast and coffee and finished off a gift card, so my meal only cost 80 cents. I told the cashier that I hoped she didn't mind a batch of dimes I found on the street! She was as amazed as I was - so many dimes. I joked that the obesity epidemic will only improve my odds - soon no one will be able to touch their toes. ... This before I found two dimes today.

Found a screaming good deal at the Pike Market today - 4 cukes for $1, so I bought two. After gym and the late lunch I popped into a QFC in the sushi lunch neighborhood, thinking that I would pick up some salad for the cukes. I looked at the prices and left the store. Despite picking up sidewalk change for laughs, I have my pride.

One my stocks has now been bought by another company. As part of the buyout, I get 1.35 shares of the other company, which also pays a dividend. Last I checked, they didn't have a formal Drp, so I suspect I will get dividend checks. But one never knows, things can change. Time to watch the mail to see who the new transfer agent is.

Sunday
Saving log - $125 moved from checking to savings
Spending log - $4 bagel, coffee + $2.76 garbanzo beans, apple
Found money - $0.23 (various sidewalks, Safeway floor)

Another great day for finding change - again, I found two dimes, one on a residential sidewalk, a place where I assumed I would find nothing. (the other was on the Safeway floor, a place nearly as good as an ATM) I don't understand why I've been finding so many coins these days. Dimes especially. Perhaps with the weather change, it changes everyone's wardrobe, and everyone has to be re-introduced to their jacket pockets.

I also found a great deal on canned garbanzo beans at the normally pricey organic food coop - $.89/can. Usually $1/can has been the low price over the winter and spring. October seems to be the bridge month for some food deals - its a good time to prepare for the deals of November.

Got off my duff and planted some lettuce for the winter/fall harvest, and watched my blueberry plants' leaves turn a gorgeous flame red.

Thursday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $2 fruit
Found money - $0.01 (sidewalk)

Wednesday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $.80 onion
Found money - $0.02 (sidewalk)

Quiet really, just a lot of a little. Payday, and with with the end of the 3rd quarter, I noted how my 403B finished the quarter (even better than last quarter).

Cracked open one of the pounds of ground beef and made spaghetti sauce with it. A couple of weekends from now, we'll have dinner with the Duvall friends and trade off our beef for some duck. Sister is finishing up her garden for the year.

One of the QFC grocery stores is closing. Its not one that I shop a lot at, but I did shop there once in a while. I don't see the recession easing, I see a grinding sameness with the legs down disguised. I hear the recession easing talk as a whistle in the dark. Better to hope than not, but I'm not going to be the first to spend freely.

But all is not doom and gloom with the recession.

Don't try any of these fixes at home... or at least, not in my home!

Monday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.02 (bus floor) + $0.04 (sidewalks) + $0.02 (Safeway floor)

Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.88 coffee, bagel + $20 groceries
Found money - $0.01 (sidewalk) + $0.01 (road)

Found eight cents the hard way - a few pennies here and there. Soon fall will come, the leaves making finding pennies extremely difficult, and the dark making finding silver difficult too.

Three months ago I learned a shocker: the bulk bin usually is not the best price for the staples. I tested it out yesterday afternoon with plain ol' brown rice. I wanted two pounds - $1.99/lb in the bin ($3.98), $2.49 for a 2 lb plastic bag on the shelf... and not an eye-level shelf either, the lowest one.

Such are the tricks of the grocery man.

Saving log - $5 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $3 office supplies + $9 groceries
Found money - $0.03 (sidewalk three different places) + $0.20 (under Coinstar machine)

The barter for the duck and the fish is beginning - in package units, to trade we have 10 ground beef, 4 soup bone, 2 t-bone, 1 back rib, 1 chuck, 2 sirloin, 1 flank, and multiple links of german sausage. We've reserved a few pieces for ourselves.

The Duvall friends, the other end of the muscovy duck trade, are going to be sending at least 8 of their ducks to "freezer camp" (euphemism theirs) starting this weekend. They're thinking about the chuck, sirloin, and t-bone, so I weigh my pieces, they weigh their cleaned duck carcasses, and we pound for pound trade.

Got the results of my mammogram back: normal.

Not much else - discovered that the Coinstar machine can be a rich source of change. Not surprising - easy to imagine a bit of change dropping out of the bin, and if you are doing this with the iPod on, you wouldn't hear the ching.

This weekend is the Greek festival, I saved to stock up on olive oil, feta, tarama, olives, and maybe a bit of wine. Saturday is also national

free museum day, sponsored by the Smithsonian. Tough choice.

Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.99 bagel, coffee + $.92 apple
Found money - $.01 (sidewalk) + $0.13 (bus stop) $0.02 (2 different parking lots)

Saturday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $8 Thai herbs and bamboo skewers
Found money - $0

Picked up our beef share yesterday afternoon at the drop site, a parking lot off of Lake City (sounds so illicit!). It was a bit more complicated than grab our bags and go - we had three other players, so it was sort the frozen cuts in the bed of a pickup truck, first divy up what cuts there are a lot of, then horse trade for the unique cuts, then weigh our shares just to get the ballpark. Our share was a couple of pounds shy of 40, so if I wanted to make a stink, I could, but we got a nice mix of stuff, and very tradeable for part 2.

The farmers, based out of Yakima, who were selling us the beef also came with a bit extra - we got a couple of pounds of extra summer sausage which is fresh and delicious, and a couple of pounds of peppers and tomatoes compliments of a couple of the neighboring farms.

Our share all fit in the freezer on top of our refrigerator. I did clean out and eat a bit of the old stuff we had there already to prepare.

After the beef share was divided, all of us decided to have "beef-fest" at lawyer friend's house and make a beef or beef-inspired dish. We thawed out one package of tenderloin and made Thai beef salad. We used what we had for the salad fixings, so instead of a bed of lettuce, which is the "official" recipe, we made a bed of sliced tomatoes, added some thinly sliced red onion, added thai basil, mint, cilantro. DH sliced and skewered the tenderloin, grilled it on site, we laid the grilled skewers on the bed of tomatoes, and dressed the whole thing with lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, garlic, serrano pepper. Yum!

In the next couple of days, I'll inventory exactly what we got - cut, number of packages, pounds, so our duck deal can get off the ground. I think we will be aiming for a pound for pound deal.

At the beef fest last night, one of our dinner guests mentioned that she gets tuna and seafood every year, and is very willing to barter tuna for beef, also on a pound for pound deal. I'm becoming more and more like dad every year. He used to trade beef for pig and chicken etc, too.

Saturday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $12 breakfast, coffee + $30 adoption fee
Found money - $0.10 (Safeway parking lot - underneath the vending machine)

At the breakfast place today, DH and I got a compliment. Our next table looked at the massive amount of food they couldn't finish and sighed...just about the same time we got our meals. I pulled out our Ziploc boxes and we merrily cut our portions in half. The waitress on duty said, "they do it all the time - they are the greenest people we know."

We are also in the midst of another recycling project. Because of the large crop of strays and abandoned pets, PAWS is swamped - PAWS Cat City ran a $30 special this month if you would adopt an adult cat. (includes chip, rabies shot, spay/neuter, etc) I wasn't ready at the beginning of the month even, but I feel ready now.

We adopted a very sweet, but very shy 2 yr cat this afternoon. She had been at PAWS for several months so the entire staff was excited about it ... and doubly excited that we were in the neighborhood so they could keep in touch. I have to reset my eyes - our new adoptee looks huge compared to Morgan. New adoptee is shy, so I'm hoping that that will translate into no desire for the outdoors. I enjoyed how PAWS classified her personality - they called her a "private investigator". Tentatively, I'm calling her V.I..

Saturday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $3.88 coffee, pastry + $23 groceries
Found money - $0

Sunday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $3.88 coffee, bagel + $.77 apple
Found money - $0

Another change finding drought. Ah well.

Yesterday was a walking day. All the routes that I thought of I thought, "meh", so it was time for adventure. My route was walking from work in south downtown Seattle (didn't work, just deposited CLEAN gym clothes), through the Pike Market, along Stewart St, Eastlake, then took the Lakeside overpass into Capital Hill, up Broadway, up 10th Street, turned right at Roanoke Park, and walked along south Lake Union (Delmar, Lynn, 19th) along the Montlake cut, nearly 5 miles.

I love

map my run, even though I rarely run. Jog maybe, walk mostly. I like my urban hikes. If nothing else, these walks force me to think on my feet. I note the bus routes and where I am, and am learning a lot of new-to-me-arterials. I'm debating whether to keep this to North Seattle only, or use the new light rail to explore some of south Seattle.

Today I did jog my 3 miles and did it in 45 min 9 sec, so very close to the 44 min goal my trainer re-set for me. At the very, very end though I did feel a sharp pain in my knee, so discretion being the better part of valor, I took it slow and took the bus back.

I looked in the freezer - with our influx of beef (and maybe duck) in the next few weeks - it was time to use the freezer food. I bought the last cheap cherries of the season, picked up several peaches for .99/lb, picked a couple of pints of blackberries hiding underneath our cherry tree, and we had a couple of plums to get rid off. The cherry, peach, plum, blackberry is the perfect cooked fruit combination - along with that tube of biscuits hiding in the freezer - it meant cobbler.

Sister called and asked us how our cucumber situation was. We are getting cucumber and carrots. The tomatoes that we planted at the farmette in June are beginning to come on. Turns out that there is a Tuesday Farmer's market 6 mi from the farmette with no participation fee for the growers, so sister tried it out. She sold $40 at the market but better yet, she picked up a weekly customer so close to the farmette that sister doesn't have to deliver, customer can come out. And the customer promises to tell her friends.

Saving log - $5 tip box
Spending log - $1.73 coffee + $.77 apple
Found money - $0.01 (Safeway parking lot)

I'm going in with 3 other couples to buy beef. We checked the freezer space (mostly empty), and we are in for forty pounds - the largest share - its coming to be about $278. Fully organic, grass fed, grass finished, crunchy granola approved. I get paid tomorrow, so I will be cutting the check before I do anything else. Now the question is how to have the butcher cut it. The battle is for whether we want NY strip or T-bone. Everybody else wants the strip, but since we are the big share and we want the T-bone, T-bone it shall be. He who has the gold, gets to dictate.

But we are mostly in agreement to get mostly roasts and chucks even with less tender cuts. I'm a pot roast kind of gal. If I have a choice between more pot roast and ground beef ... pot roast it shall be.

I'm planning to barter some beef with our Duvall friends, who are raising poultry. They have a bumper crop of muscovy ducks which are just as rich and red meaty as the beef. We have the turf, aiming for the surf, but we will hit a few air pockets along the way.

Saving log - $5 tip box
Spending log - $5 groceries

I wore a pair of pants today that I was not able to wear in awhile. Actually I've never been able to comfortably wear them until now.

At work, today was one of the quietest end of fiscal year ends ever. We still keep our books open a few days more, but I don't expect a mad rush as in previous years. Yet another indication of a deep recession.

DH reseeded one of the lettuce bowls for an early fall harvest. We planted Morgan's memorial catnip in the corner and it seems to be doing well - nothing has disturbed it yet. I had heard that if the catnip plant is big enough and you don't bruise the leaves too much, the plant won't get mowed down by rampaging cats. Hopefully that's what's happening.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $3.88 coffee, bagel + $1 donation + $27 groceries

Went back to some semblance of a routine and jogged that 3 miles. I did it in 48 minutes, but I didn't push myself particularly. The end of the jog puts me within a block of a PCC, the local large organic grocery chain (think Seattle version of Whole Foods), and from there I buy an organic apple.

Today I set my apple on the conveyor and the woman ahead of me said, "just an apple? Let me buy it for you." I was going to protest, but the woman asked, "you'd do the same for me, right? Just pass it on." I considered it for a milli-second and realized the universe was trying to do me a favor. "Sure," I said and thanked her.

Outside the PCC, a homeless guy was selling Real Change. I gave him the dollar that I would have used to buy the apple.

Passed it on.

I had a real hankering for a glass of lassi, and had a spare bit of fruit. This time it was a white nectarine. While a nectarine is not very Indian, the lassi was delicious.

Lassi

2 tbsp plain yogurt (I had the Greek stuff)
1 sliced up fruit
1/4 tsp salt
dash pepper (optional, but peppering fruit is pretty Indian)
ice cold water

Combine fruit, yogurt, and salt. Mash fruit into yogurt with a fork or use a blender. As you stir, yogurt will get thinner.

Add ice cold water to the yogurt mixture until the mix is about a milk consistency. Taste and correct for salt - salt brightens the yogurt and fruit flavors.

Pour over ice and enjoy!

Okay, I'll give you time to stop laughing and wipe your eyes reading that title.

Sister gave me a couple of pounds of rhubarb to do with as I pleased. Since I can't compete with her on the pie front, I decided to make a rhubarb cobbler. I've done the biscuit making in the past but I felt pretty lazy, so true to my Midwestern roots (we are the cooks who have most fully explored the uses of cream of x soup), I went for the easy route - biscuits in a can. I bought the biscuits, put them in a bag, then went on the bus. The bus hit a number of bumps and BANG. The most impressive part was that it startled the guy sitting across from me as he was listening to his iPod, drumming to the beat.

I sometimes get comments on how my pictures - how do I get such funny shots? Let me tell you about the ones that got away! For instance today, I failed to bring my camera, and I missed:

1. An extremely lazy panhandler downtown. He was standing at the corner of Olive and 4th, clean shirt, shorts and sneakers, intently reading the newspaper, and holding his cap out. That's it. I thought it was a bit of performance art for the tourists.

2. A message sign over

Hardwick's that read, "Larry/Thanks for less than adequate service over the years."

Still might go back and get that one.

Saving log - $5 tip box
Spending log - $9 groceries

So it is back to business fiscally. I deposited my monthly tip box collectings - $40 worth - into savings, which I need to do because I took out $400 out of savings to pay off the vacation from my credit card. All told, the vacation cost me about $800 - gift to sister for hosting us, 3 hotel rooms, incidentals, some groceries, a few restaurant meals including one big one for family and friends. DH bought the gas on his dime.

And speaking of the car, the insurance agent offered him two possibilities - $3200 and he keeps the car & fixes the bumper, but no comprehensive, or $3400 and they take the car. While DH is not wild about the car, its the "devil you know" - it gets reasonable gas mileage (even coming back and merely 'driveable' it got 28 mpg), is comfortable, its an automatic and I can drive it (I'm not comfortable using a stick which was DH's former car), and is large enough not to get crushed by a deer. Looks like it will be the $3200 solution. The clunkers tax break is tempting, but you have to buy the new car first, then get the credit. And DH is is very interested in getting a completely plug in model for the next car. That would mean waiting several years - next couple of years the first ones should come out and then you want the bugs to be worked out first. Why don't we have innovative cars? Look in the mirror.

I went to the downtown grocery store for an apple, then for an apple and 1/2 and 1/2 for my work coffee, then I saw a deal - .99/lb for fresh, good looking green beans. Haven't seen that good a deal for a couple of years, so I bought a couple of pounds at the spur of the moment. And then I bought salad for lunch. A planned 60 cent purchase turned into $9 in the blink of an eye.

Got weighed for my gym session - still holding at 178, which is nearly miraculous, considering the fish-fry, the several restaurant lunches, the beer, the cheese, the baked goods (our hosts at the funeral home bake like crazy - yum, but yikes!), the driving-but-no-jogging. The trainer smiled - the more muscle you develop the more bad eating for a week you can get away with.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.64 bagel (free coffee) + $8 conveyor belt sushi

Good news today -
Did my 3 mi jog in ...drum roll ... 46 min 40 sec! And I thought that I didn't do that well because I was skirting around parents with strollers, 3 abreast pedestrian chatters, and little kids in the middle of the sidewalk. Apparently the obstacle course made me faster. I celebrated by having a few plates of conveyor belt sushi.

Noticed at the grocery store that some of my favorite breakfast bars have new packaging, and are .2 of an ounce less. Good for the weight loss, but bad for price. Beware - I'm watching you!

Had a dinner salad full of lettuce thinnings, and I'll be having them every day for the next week - DH asked me what you look for and I told him we just play God.

This weekend I took some pics of what took my fancy. None of my subjects have any idea that there is a recession on.

Waitress! Another round for me and my table.


Green Lake egret


I have a lot of thinning to eat.


You are not blogging tonight.

Grocery auctions? I don't know whether to laugh or cry... or eat up or throw up. Anybody here go to these things?

...it'll be even cheaper for you and your health if don't bid on the cheese curls in the first place.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.50 bagel & coffee + $25 groceries

I did a super long walk - from coffee to the Fremont Bridge, then over to 3rd Ave NW, and back up to 85th. It was about 7 miles. I timed the leg between the coffeeshop and the Fremont Bridge, because that's about 3.2 miles...in other words about 5K. The new trainer suggested that to spice things up and give me a goal, I should think about participating in a 5K. (Any advice, Laura?).

With jogging 10%/walking 90%, I made it to the Fremont Bridge in 55 minutes.

There was a PCC near the Fremont Bridge, so I brought my 10 remaining Clif bar coupons. They were also a bit thin on those, and had signs about the peanut recall. The flavors that they did have I liked, so I used all the coupons.

I told the checker how I got that many coupons - he thought it was a fine idea, and also told me that some of the smaller food companies will give you a coupon or two even if its just an email that says "hi, I like your products." Something to try - all I'd lose is time and a few electrons.

But the frugal acts of kindness were:

1. Out of the grocery store, I gave one of the Real Change vendors a couponed Clif bar. Didn't cost me anything but built up a tiny amount of karma.

2. On 3rd Ave NW, the wind came up, and dropped a bit. A garbage can tipped over and its lid was in the middle of the road. It took about 30 seconds to fetch the lid and re-unite it with the can.

1/2...After a little grocery shopping, I took the bus home the last ten blocks. At my stop home, two bus riders ran up and just caught the bus.