The Cashier’s Note

We jumped from overnight freezes right into hot summery weather, from warm jackets into shorts and t-shirts. It looks as if by the end of the week, we will be back into cool temps and warm jackets. Gotta love Michigan–which, actually, I do. Love Michigan, I mean. EJ says that I am “Michi-centric.”

We’ve spent the last week busily working in our gardens. I got my raised herb garden in the front yard and planted. EJ has planted many of his veggies in his backyard garden. He is currently setting up fences and poles for his peas and beans to climb.

During the weekend, when he wasn’t working in his garden, EJ went grocery shopping. I usually pay the bills because I have more time and I know how much money we have in our accounts. Before he leaves to go shopping, he usually asks me how much money is available to spend. This last shopping trip, he went over quite a bit. The first thing he did when he arrived home was hand me a note, which he said was from the cashier. It is pictured at the top of this post. It said:

Please forgive your husband
for going over on his shopping bill!!
He is worried!!! Give him Big Hugs!!

I thought the note was hilarious. I don’t think EJ was all THAT worried and, of course, I didn’t yell at him. Most of the time he does extremely well at keeping within the budget when he shops. Oh, and we did give each other big hugs.

While EJ was shopping. I cut up a bunch of apples and froze them. EJ has sort of an informal arrangement with a guy at work. He gives the guy some of our eggs and the guy gives us a variety of items such as potatoes, onions, and apples. It works out well. It helps cut down on our grocery expenses.

After we got the groceries put away, EJ made homemade peanut butter in the food processor and also homemade bread. It’s simple making bread now that we have a bread machine. EJ puts all the ingredients in the machine, turns it on, and then goes off and does something else.

I also did laundry and mowed the lawn. This time I mowed under the clothesline in anticipation of being able to hang the clothes out to dry–which may not be as soon as I thought if the temps get cooler again.

Yesterday–or maybe the day before–Hannah Joy suddenly ran into the extra bedroom barking loudly. I went into the bedroom, trying to see what she saw. A lot of times she sees–or smells–things that we don’t so we don’t have any idea what she is barking at. However, this time I saw a deer standing just inside the forest. Then I saw Theo, our cat, creeping up towards the deer. I called to EJ, “Theo is stalking a deer!” Not a good idea. Theo is sweet, but such a dunderhead. We watched as Theo crept closer and closer, finally disappearing into the forest. The deer stomped its foot a time or two and then ran off.

I just heard geese honking. I ran outside and watched several groups of them fly overhead. The setting sun shone on them and turned them golden. This is the second large flock of geese I have watched fly over us in the last few days. We love watching the geese.

The trees are all beautifully green now. They hide us from our neighbors, making me feel as if I live in a secret enchanted forest.