All Quiet on the Southern Front

• Who can find a virtuous woman...


• She is like the merchants ships, she bringeth her food from afar


• She rises while it is yet night and giveth meat to her household...

This post is a little bit about everything and a lot about nothing...

This has been a fairly uneventful week for me. I've really struggled with the feed and subscription issues that A Virtuous Woman has had--I've delved into technicalities that I had no desire to get into (!) and things are still not back to normal, but I've come to the conclusion that most of it hinges on a "known issue" that Google/Blogger techs are working on, so I'm going to go ahead and post as usual this next week and hope that everything gets it's "fix".

I've really been missing my Philippians 3:14 Fridays posts--even though some weeks it seemed I didn't always accomplish the things I set out to do, it really helped me in general to take a step back and reassess what I was doing, how I was spending my time, etc. I think this meme (that's blogger talk for "themed posts") has gone by the wayside due to lack of participation--much the same as my Mission Possible meme--some weeks I have good participation, some weeks none! But, even though Philippians 3:14 Friday may have "done it's last do" I plan to find another way to bring back some planning, inspiration and accountability.

I didn't post a lot this week about my bargain shopping. I think I've been doing this just long enough to start taking some of my good deals for granted, but I still find good deals almost every place I shop. They are out there, you just have to look for them! My favorites that I found this past week:

• Aveeno Positively Ageless facial cleanser for $.62-on clearanced to $2.62 at Rite Aid, less a $2 manufacturer's coupon
• 16 oz Store brand shredded cheese at Piggly Wiggly for $3.25 for mozzarella and $2.99 for cheddar
• Hebrew National wieners for $1.50--on sale 1/2 price at Publix, less a manufacturer's coupon
• Free Country Bob's sauce--with "Free" coupons I got for doing a review on my food blog
• St Ives body wash, free after Register Reward at Walgreens
• Colgate toothpaste, $.88 after coupon at Rite Aid
• Coppertone sunscreen, $1.97 after coupon at Walmart

Several of these I meant to go back and do again, but it's been entirely too HOT to get out many extra times.

Meanwhile, my sweet husband has been bringing home blackberries he's picking himself from wild berry brambles around his job site. If you follow my food blog, Secrets of a Southern Kitchen, you may have already read about the homemade blackberry pie I made this week--that's the picture at the top of this post. It looked and tasted good, even though it was a little (!) runny. And while I haven't posted the recipes yet, I also made homemade biscuits, and just this morning made blackberry freezer jam. I'll be posting these recipes this week at Secrets of a Southern Kitchen, as well as a pie of a different sort that I'll be making this week.

The temperature is supposed to peak today in the triple digits again, and then cool slightly this next week (highs will only be in the mid 90's!) so most of what I do this week will involve trying to keep cool as I go about cooking, cleaning, doing my regular bargain shopping, making it to a thrift store or two this week, and whatever else comes my way! I hope some of that includes making it to the pool at least a few days this week (that's why I need all of that suncreen I've been buying lately!)

Hoping you and yours are having a good weekend and by the way, Daddy, Happy Father's Day!

Until next time...

Walmart

• She is like the merchants' ships, she bringeth her food (and other things!) from afar.

After last week's Walmart fiasco, I was eager, yet hesitant to see what deals I could snag at Walmart this morning, using my internet coupons! I did make a small mistake by going relatively early on a Monday--they were still restocking from the weekend, and a couple of things I wanted weren't there. I did get several free and almost free items, though! The four itmes pictured above, after coupons, came to $.20. Yep, you read that right, $.20. "How could this be?" you might ask. And I might tell you!

Kotex pantiliners, 16 count, $1.00, less $1 Q (coupon) off any Kotex product.

Colgate Plus toothbrush, $.96, less $1 Q off any Colgate adult manual toothbrush. Net of +$.04 (edited to add: I don't think this coupon is still available, but Colgate regularly has good coupons of at least $1-$1.50 off, and they change the flavors, style of toothbrush, etc, periodically. Click here to see what they have available now.)

2 pkgs Goody's ouchless hair elastics, $2.12 each, less two $2 Q (available here), net of $.12 each or $.24.

The overage from the toothbrush offset part of the hair thingys, net of $.20!!

I did also buy a few grocery items--3 boxes of cereal, 3 pouches of cookie mix, and a box of granola bars, but they've already been put away in the pantry, so no picture!

Total merchandise, $19.69, total after Qs, $9.69. (It should have been a little lower, I didn't realize till later that the cashier scanned 1 Q twice and missed another, so it would have been $1.75 less!, or $8.44!)

Altogether a good day of shopping! Until next time...

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