Gardening Season is Almost Over

Since my last post, all it seems we have done is run from appointment to appointment. I think about half my days of October are filled with one obligation or another. The children (or should I say teens) had their vaccinations yesterday, and they're a bit under the weather today. I decided to let them sleep in today, and will give them an easy day of it today. DS received 4 - 2 in each arm, and DD received 3. I hope DS is back in his game tomorrow, as he has an open house tomorrow at the college he is interested in attending. They have a whole day of tours and lectures planned.

After a long day of trying to get the doctor's visit and shopping done, we came home beat on Friday. I missed the weather report and never gave it another thought, and went to bed. We had a hard frost, and lost most of our garden. The only things left are cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and horseradish. My Egyptian onions (walking onions) have done well and I have quite a few babies sprouting. I can't wait to be able to have enough to finally use!!

Now, for some really great news.... My update about Macy's @ Amazon....

We spent many hours on the phone with Macy's to try to get our order straight. Actually, my sweet husband took over and spent most of the time on the phone with them. We were promised 3 different times that they were going to ship out the pressure cooker and there would be an email stating that it was coming. There was never an email, and when we'd call back, there would be the run around again that they never offered that item!! Well, DH had a screen shots of the ad that he sent to them.

Now, there was no more argument, because there was the whole add - including the seller's name of Macy's with the price. (Thanks Barbara for sending the link!! I had no idea that you could do a Google Cash look-up.) Well, this one actually convinced one of the supervisors that we weren't making it all up and she told hubby that she would see if she could find something that was comparable. On Thursday afternoon, she called back and said that she found something and would be shipped out and we'd get an email confirmation. We never got one. On Friday, I found that Amazon LLC. had the same set listed for $34.95 with free shipping, so I spoke to my husband and he said I should order it, as he wasn't expecting Macy's to hold up on their end of the bargain (again).

The same day that I ordered from Amazon, they shipped the package out and it was due here on Monday! YAY!! I patiently waited Monday afternoon for the package, and instead of getting one, I received 3!! There were 2 packages from Macy's plus the one I was expecting from Amazon. Macy's sent a beautiful Fagor double boiler with steamer, a cookbook, and a Fagor pressure cooker. These were a much nicer replacement than I ordered, so we called just to make sure the shipment was correct. YES!! I now have 2 pressure cookers, and 2 canning sets, plus so much more. It was difficult getting a correction to our order, but it did happen - but gosh... there was a lot of time and frustration doing it, however, my husband says it was well worth it. :)

The Big Grocery Trip

We don't shop like "normal people" or so I have been told. I take that as a big compliment :) Our shopping trips are well planned out, with the seasons, coupons, sales, and refunds/rebates. This week, we had to use a 15% discount on a grocery trip that came from using our grocery store shopper's club card. We paired up the sales with coupons, and took advantage of the 15% on top of it all. When we were finished shopping, we had $500 worth of groceries for $302, plus we got a couple of kickouts totalling $27 off our next shopping order. This was not $500 worth of prepackaged foods, but good staples, like meat, veggies, eggs, baking needs, etc.

One example of a good bargain for us was Classico Pasta Sauce. I don't grow enough tomatoes to make my own yet, so I buy spaghetti sauce (for now). The Classico was on sale for 2 for $4. If you purchased 12 of them, you received a kickout for $10 off your next grocery order. I had a $1.50 coupon plus we used the 15% off on top of it all, making the Classico 91 cents a jar! Mind you, I am counting the $10 off the next order in, because I wouldn't have gotten it, if I didn't buy the sauce. It's kind of like an instant rebate, if you know what I mean.

CVS & RiteAid

Last week we did great at CVS and RiteAid. In fact, everything that was free after rebates and kickouts was there (unlike this week!) and we actually had a few items that were money makers for us. No matter how many times I get things at these two stores, I'm still blown away by the fact that we now can get many of our health and beauty aids for free!

One promotion that CVS had that was neat was, if you purchased $20 worth of certain products, you'd get $10 off the purchase of an Iron Man DVD. I didn't pay too much attention to it, though, because my husband went to K-mart to get some tools and received a $5 coupon towards the purchase of an Iron Man DVD. We went to K-mart on Friday to get it. I had expected that to actually be cheaper than CVS, but the DVD was $24.99 AFTER the coupon! I went to CVS and spent $5 more and came home with some much needed items, including the batteries that we were going to get at K-mart on top of the cost of the DVD. Believe it or not, the batteries were the same price as those at K-mart.

Taste of Home Cooking School

I didn't make the 10 mile yard sale. sigh..... Instead, I stayed home on Saturday and waited to be able to call in for tickets to go to the Taste of Home Cooking School. Our local paper sponsors the show, and they have one day that you can call and get them - and only a few hours to do it. I so wish they would do it a different way, but I guess this works for them. This will be our third year going, and it's always a lot of fun. It does cost $10 but we get a nice tote bag filled with all kinds of samples, a Taste of Home Cooking School cookbook, plus lots of other goodies. Before the show, you can sample lots of yummy foods and there are vendors set up to visit. Usually my brother's girlfriend, my daughter and I go, but this year, our whole family is going. I'm really surprised that my huband and son want to tag along. I guess they are curious after hearing all all our talk and raves about the show. With 2 more bodies in our group, we will have that much better of a chance at winning one of the lovely prizes they draw for. (ok, so I'm being VERY optimistic!) If you have the chance to go to one, please consider it. They are worth the ticket price in just the things you bring home!

The Macy's Saga Continues

There are times when saving money isn't easy, and in this case it appears it much more of a pain than it's worth.

I stated in my past post, Macy's had agreed to send me the missing part of my 12-piece Fagor Cooker/Canner set, and that was the main part - the 10 quart Cooker/Canner! I had not received any type of confirmation in my email that they were sending it, just a note from customer service that the problem was resolved. The more I thought about it, and the more postings I saw on my canning list about how Macy's told those that had the same problem I did, that they wouldn't send the canner because it wasn't sold that way, the more I concerned I got. Amazon themselves now had the same set listed for $10 more, but with free shipping, I would have gotten it cheaper.

I decided to call to get my tracking number and make sure it was on it's way, since I didn't get any type of confirmation that the canner part of the set had been sent. I was told that they never sold them as a set and that they have marked on my account settled with a note that I was ok with the just the canning kit. HA!! Why in the world would I want a canning set that fits a Fagor if I don't have a Fagor? We went through all the songs and dances that it was a miscommunication from Amazon, blah, blah, blah, and they weren't sending anything else. I told them I would believe that, however I have their shipping confirmation saying they sent the 12 piece set and not the 7 piece that I received. She told me that the price way too low for both, and I shouldn't expect all that for under $30. We went round and round and I wasn't giving up, especially when she brought the item up on Amazon and it was at $89, which means I really lost out. I stood my ground as long as I could, then handed the phone off to my husband. He got no where with her, asked her position in the company, and then asked for her supervisior.

Well, to make a very long story short, after over a 1-1/2 hour phone call, we are supposed to be getting the canner set now. They requested the delivery confirmation emails forwarded to them as well as a few other things. After they got them, they finally agreed to send it. Oh they are sly ones too. At first they were only sending the canner. No glass lid or any of the things that it would be packed with - like they were going to open the box and just send that. Hubby caught that and made sure they were going to send all the items with the canner. Then, he has asked for confirmation, delivery tracking numbers, etc. and when we would expect them. So, we should be hearing from them today. If not, he will be back and breathing down their necks.

We are not out of the woods yet - not until I have the canner in my hands. I am just amazed at how they run their business. I have never in my life dealt with anything like this company. I'll tell you, I will be so glad when this is all over. Buying an item shouldn't be this painful! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed!!!

One of Those Weekends

Did you ever have one of those days that everything goes wrong, or at least seems to? That was my weekend. It started Friday and so far hasn't changed for the better.

Friday started out nicely - I got my blogging done, kid's morning lessons, and thought all was going well. Then the mail arrived and a book that I was looking forward to receiving arrived with a broken spine. It was apparent that it was damaged in the mail - even though it was well wrapped and even bubble wrapped. They must have caught the corner of the spine on something and snapped it right off! I bet that book has an amazing story to tell about its travels to here! The really sad thing is, the book was in new condition and every thing else is pristine, except for the ripped off top of the spine.

Then my 12 piece Fagor 10 quart pressure canner/cooker with canning supplies was to be delivered. I waiting all day for it and when Mr. UPS came, I was doing the happy dance. I ran out and got the box only to note it was too small and too light. In the box was only the home canning kit, and nothing else - no cooker, no note stating that the item would be shipped separately, nothing except a bill stating that the canning kit was the cost of what I paid for all of it.

I got online and checked with the Amazon website to find out what to do next. It said to contact Macy's through their email and not the store. I did that and have yet to receive a response. My next step was to find their phone number and call. The customer service rep said that I did indeed only order the home canning set and that was all, and I said sorry, I'm looking at the receipt and it states as 12 piece set. I received a 7 piece set and also their confirmation from the said they were sending a 12 piece set out and when it was sent with a tracking number. The line went silent for a bit, and he said he'd need to call the warehouse. About 5 minutes later he came back and said they were expediting a canner/cooker out and I should have it in 5-7 business days. I sure hope so. I know many of the people on my canning list are having the same problem. I hope they get it straight soon. I could really use the canner now.

Saturday rained all day and things just didn't seem to get done. Everything seemed to take twice as long or just not get finished. I think it was just the weather - or at least I'm blaming it. LOL

Yesterday was just plain interesting. Hubby awoke to what he thought was a gun shot. He said he laid listening and dozed back off. When we got up, we had no internet connection, and up the road from us was what appeared to be an accident. They were redirecting traffic past our house and it looked like an electric pole was sheered off. The poor guys from the electric company spent almost the whole day in the pouring rain setting another pole and fixing the lines. Not a job I would like!

When I finally got to get online last night, I had 3 books requested from me at Paperback Swap, but when I went to print out my postpaid labels, I found that the printer ink was out. Grumble!!! So, I have to wait until tomorrow to send them out.

Yes, I'm glad Monday is here

Our First Frost

We had our first frost Thursday. Friday morning at 6am our thermometer registered at 30 degrees F. We covered our tomatoes and peppers but had hoped that there wouldn't be any frost yet. Guess that was wishful thinking.

I've been canning tomatoes and put up some corn for the winter. I don't know how the cabbage will fare. I've been battling cabbage worms and those dang things are winning. I swear they multiply more than wire coat hangers do!

Today brought a wonderful mail delivery: "The Weather-Wise Gardener" by Calvin Simonds. What a fantastic looking book. It was printed in 1993 by Rodale Press and like all their books, it is just full of information. I've only had a chance to read the introduction, and can't wait to get some time tonight to really start reading it.

I found a wonderful purchase on Amazon.com today. It's a Fagor 12 Piece Pressure Cooker and Canner Set that they are offering for under $30!! This is normally and expensive item - alone running about $100 plus all the other goodies that come with it. I've heard a lot about this set on my canning list, so I decided to purchase it. I have a huge Mirro Pressure Canner that will hold over 20 pint jars, but there are times I'd love a smaller one for those small batches of soups or stews to can. Not only that, but it is to do double time as a cooker, and being 10 quart instead of the 6 quart cooker that I have, will be more geared to our family needs. It's due to arrive by Thursday - and I just can't wait!
I started a Herman last weekend, and it had its first feeding since it was created. Two more, and I'll be able to use it. Hubby can't wait to get some good Herman food again :)