Mom's Garden

I'm happy to add pictures of my mom's garden. While mine's still in frost season, the weather is wonderful over at my mom's. She's sprouting green already!

It started out like this.


Then built fences around it (she has 3 dogs!).


My sister-in-law is helping too. She's eagerly await the growth of her Chinese turnips (she loves to cook!).

The first sprout of green around mid-January. That's probably Chinese radishes. Grow!


My turn will come.

Garden plan for the new year

Spring is coming soon! This means the plan for garden will begin! One part of great things you could save big is doing your own fruit and vegetable garden. Disagree with me? You'd be right too. But there are ways and if you find enjoyment in it. I've started on the compost back in September for over the winter - the neighbors bagged leaves, our fruits and vegetable scrappings, leftovers that aren't meat and milk.

My garden plan will involve flowers that attract bees and natural bug repellents. Did you know Thai lemon grass is a natural and effective mosquito repellent? Or that Marigolds plants help steer deer and rabbits away from your garden?

If you have slug problem like I do, watering in the morning will help reduce major slug damage. But not all... I find handpicking slugs are necessary in my case. I do find most of the slugs in weeds which made the picking easier. There are other recommendations: Small amount of beer in open lid cup to attract and drown the slugs. Seaweeds around the ground of the plant or Diatomaceous Earth are great against slugs. My favorite of all is overturned half cantalope left overnight, slugs hide in that and I throw it away afterward (but I've read raccoons eat cantalope, slug and all).

Or are you more curious to know more about natural repellents for indoors?
Flies - Make small crushed mints satchets in your home, or flypaper by soaking brown paper in a bowl of 1/4 cup syrup, 1 tbsp. granulated sugar and 1 tbsp. brown sugar mixture and dry overnight, and then hang with string or thread.

Internet research are one of the great tools for planning. My parents are another. Mother tells me the pepper spice packet from Pizza Hut grow into delicious peppers. That's going into my garden plan!

Wanted & Narnia rating

Watched a newly released DVD Wanted with husband tonight. That was something, surprises and twists! Hubby gave it a 8 out of 10, and I agree with him on the rating. It's still fresh in my mind, I loved a couple of scenes that made me laugh.

How do you rate it?

Coupon Bag

On Black Friday, I lost my bag of coupons... it happened at Walmart looking for a good deal. A 12" long and 3 inches thick purple envelope with hairband around it. I didn't put my name on it.

I like to think a mother with 3 kids found the envelope and use it. Then she too would start couponing. That's a good thought. My coupon envelope was getting worn and didn't have enough room anymore. My husband came up with a great idea of a backpack (since I don't carry purses but coupon envelope) with notebook and baseball card envelopes. I think I'd like that. My mother tells me "Necessity is the mother of invention". I willna forget to add my name on it.

Black Friday buys

The deed is done. I've shopped a year's worth.


First stop was at Sears for the Kenmore 3.5 cu. ft. front load high efficiency washer & Kenmore 5.8 cu. ft. dryer at $599.99 for the pair. A once a year deal!
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Next stop Home Depot for Ryobi Super Combo Set plus a free Ryobi One+ Tool, along with Gorilla 17' Multi-Position Ladder and Table Saw that my husband wanted. What's surprisingly is they took the 10% off Home Depot coupon. The receipt reflected that -
18V Super Combo Kit $159.00 (Torque IV mode selector, 2-speed drill transmission and 24-position clutch, P201 cordless drill, magnetic bit holder and 2 bits, 9501 circular saw with edge guide, P510 reciprocating saw with 2 blades, P700 flashlight, 2 rechargeable battery packs, 1 hour diagnostic charger and tool bag)
Ryobi One+ 18V Cordless Jigsaw $49.97 (FREE ONE+ TOOL -$49.97)
Gorilla 17' Multi-Position Ladder $89.00
Table Saw with stand $99.00
(10% off -$34.70)

Total before tax $310.30.
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Then Lowes for 14 gallon, 4.5 hp Wet/Dry Shop Vac $29. A real special value.

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And lastly Kmart, a nice deal there too. Essential Home 5-piece Drop Leaf Dining Set for 79.99 (table & 4 chairs)



Will I shop again on Black Friday next year? For sure!

Black Friday hunt

Okay, here's what I'm planning to do on Black Friday.

5:00 a.m. Sears opens
Kenmore High Efficiency frontload washer & dryer $599 (this sounds like $599 for the washer if you also buy the dryer which cost $479.99).

6:00 a.m. Home Depot opens
LG large capacity washer & dryer pair $998 (in case the Kenmore didn't go through)
Ryobi 18V Super Combo Kit and Free Ryobi One+ Tool $159
17' Gorilla Multi-Position Ladder $89

7:00 a.m. GameStop opens
GameStop is having Buy 2 Get 1 Free on all used games and accessories. I'm looking for Persona 4 ($10 used), Mana Khemia: Alchemist of Al-Revis ($10 used) and Resident Evil 4 ($9.99 new) on PS2.

I'd have liked Playstation 3 especially when Final Fantasy XIII comes out. Rumors has it, FFXIII will be released December 2009. Seems awful long time. If that's the case, I can wait for the PS3 price reduction.

Thanksgiving sale at CVS

A great big Thanksgiving sale at CVS will be going on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Yes, they're open on Thanksgiving and a lot of items on sale have ECBs.

Today's buy:

1 Reese Cluster $2/6
1 Aussie Shampoo or Conditioner $2.99 (earn $2.99 in ECBs)
1 L'Oreal Juice Lip Gloss $6.99 (earn $6.99 in ECBs)
1 Right Guard Sport 99¢
2 Tylendol Arthritis 24 ct. BOGO $5.69
2 Dove candy BOGO $4.49

$1 coupon for 1 Reese Cluster 8 oz.
$1 coupon for any Aussie product
$1 coupon for any L'Oreal lipcolor
50¢ coupon for Right Guard Professional or Sport
$1 coupon for any Tylendol Arthritis

Total before tax $19.65 (After ECBs $9.67)

But there are other things that you could go for, I didn't buy (have too many makeups):

Cologate Total Advanced Clean $2.99 and earn $2.99 in ECBs
Johnson's Softlotion 11 or 14 oz. $5.69 and earn $5.69 back in ECBs
Gatorade G2 20 oz. $1.49 and earn $1.49 in ECBs
Bic Soleil razor with 2 cartridge and shower holder $5.99 and earn $5.99 in ECBs
Schick Quattro Razor or Trimmer $7.99 and earn $7 in ECBs
GGarnier Nutritioniste Cleansing Towelettes 25 ct. $5.99 & earn $5.99 in ECBs
Maybelline Mineral Foundation $8.99 and earn $8.99 in ECBs
Cover Smoothers Liquid Makeup $7.99 and earn $7.99 back in ECBs
Cover Girl Smoothers Pressed Powder $5.99 and earn $5.99 in ECBs
Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Nail Color $3.79 and earn $3.79 in ECBs
Oster 10-cup rice cooker, Rival 5 qt. CrockPot, Black & Decker 12-cup digital coffee maker or $9.99 after ECBs
Revlon product Buy 1 and get 1 50% off (must be regular priced, don't think you can use coupon for this)

Awesome Thanksgiving deals! There's more to come - Black Friday is tomorrow!

Happy hunting.