[AtoZ] The Monthly Herd-- April -- Yall, The Blog is Going Dark & Zany and Zen

Yall, I wanted to let you know the blog is going dark for a little while. Monday afternoon I lost Cleo. She was my third baby I've lost already this year and my heart is feeling pretty battered. 

In My Cart-- Paid $.72 for $24.21 in Groceries

I decided to start sharing my couponing adventures on the blog!

My Shopping Totals This Week

Paid $.72* for $24.21 in Groceries

[AtoZ] X Bench

I was TOTALLY going to rock the X post and make an x-bench. I saw it over on pinterest and was like omg it's adorable! It would be great in the garden with a different top bit. Buuuuut, well, April was a little eXtra and I ran out of time.

So I give you my future crafting plans.

[AtoZ memes] Writing Reviews When Stressed + my week in books

Well summer is trying to make an appearance here! It warmed up a lot. Nice at night at least. And it's doing lovely things to the garden which is fun to watch.

It was a fairly quiet week here. Cleo was making me nervous (video here) so I skipped the food pantry and stuck close to home. Her vet agreed she needs to be on steroids full time now instead of just for big flare ups. So she'll get them daily. Fingers crossed we can nip this in the bud.

[AtoZ] Vegan Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I'm always looking to try new things. Jackfruit is one of my new-ish items. It's an interesting fruit. Can be savory and have the texture of pork when unripe and then when ripe it's sweet and apparently peach-ish in texture.

I've only had green jackfruit so far. I decided to make a pulled pork sandwich for my V post. And, yall, it was pretty dang good! Even with one little blip recipe-wise. 

[AtoZ] Unbroken Cowboy (Gold Valley #5) by Maisey Yates

Well these two were a handful.

The Gist: A devastating rodeo accident has left Dane's body and future in shambles. It's also put him in Bea's reach...finally. She's had a crush on him for decades and is dealing with her own bit of uncertainty about the future and trying to figure out what to do next. Bonus if it includes Dane. 

So yes. Serious. These two were a handful. A. Hand. Full. lol

[AtoZ] Tag: The Cat Herder (edition37)

Some of the silly crazy stuff I've been tagged in the last few months...

 

[AtoZ] 4.5 stars -- Spirit of the Knight by Debbie Peterson

Oh my! Spirit of the Knight was a delightfully wonderful surprise. It had been ages since I read a ghostly romance. Add in Scottish knights? Oh yes, I was in!

The Gist: Mariah has been tasked with painting a castle for an art exhibit. When she arrives she finds it's inhabited...by a herd of 700+ year old ghostly Scottish knights. Including one that she's somehow been sketching since she was a child. 

[AtoZ/memes] Reviews That Started It All! Oh, My! + my week in books

Happy Almost Easter!

This week was somewhat quiet here. I had the USO and Food Pantry. Both were pretty slow but went well. I got my 1000+ hour pin at the USO (I've officially volunteered 1155.25 hours). So that was neat.

[A to Z] Quiet Week In My Cart -- I Paid $13.54 for $110.54 Worth of Groceries

I decided to start sharing my couponing adventures on the blog!

My Shopping Totals This Week

I Paid $13.54 for $110.54 Worth of Groceries

It was a super Quiet Week here shopping. Things were going on, deals were 2 weeks instead of 1 (due to Easter), crazy weather. So not much shopping.

[AtoZ] Probable Paws (Mystic Notch #5) by Leighann Dobbs

This gave me a good laugh because, honestly, truer words have never been thought. #CatMom

[AtoZ] Blog All About It: Oh, the Sweets!

Our prompt for the Blog All About It challenge this month is Sweet. I was trying to think of something to do for Sweet that would work for the A to Z challenge letter O, too.

And thought of doing a new recipe. But I've done other recipes this month so I thought I'd do a throwback post to some of my favorite sweet noms I've posted over the years. Oh the sweets! It's a smorgasbord of sweets. These are desserts I'd make again and again. So yummy! And almost all of them are super easy, too!

Oh, the sweets! *here you go*

[AtoZ] -- Need Me, Cowboy (Copper Ridge Desire #6) by Maisey Yates

Need Me, Cowboy. Is there a time when I don't need a cowboy? Especially one from Yates? No...no there's really not! lol This one had a crazy unique set up, too!

The Gist: Levi's spent 5 years of his life locked away for his wife's murder. Only thing is...he didn't kill her. She's still alive. And he is pissed. And definitely ready for a bit of revenge on his money hungry social climbing ex. Thumbing his nose in her direction by having a glorious house built by the most sought after architect seems like a good place to start. He absolutely won't fall for the brilliant young little architect. He's off women. It's not gonna happen. He just wants the house please and thanks!

[AtoZ] Meet The Herd: Cleo

I've been asked a few times now to introduce the herd. Now and again I let one of the herd babies hijack the blog and tell you a little bit about themselves.

Baby of the Month: Cleo

In My Cart-- I Paid $38.52 for $468.75 Worth of Groceries

I decided to start sharing my couponing adventures on the blog!

My Shopping Totals This Week

$468.75 in Groceries for $38.52

[AtoZ] Liebster Tag #2!

Questions are always fun, right? I found a few of these I'd been tagged in and just never posted and figured I'd go ahead and toss them up on the page. I was tagged twice. By Words From Sonobe and by Voracious Bookling. I did Sonobe's questions a couple weeks ago so VB's questions this time!

Why did you start book blogging?

[AtoZ memes] Keeping Me Company on Rainy Days + My Week in Books

KellyCat helping me tend the tulips

It was a long week and I am worn out! It wasn't bad, though. Just busy and exhausting. Some weeks are like that I guess. Dang near every time I sit down or close my eyes I knock out for hours. lol

I was able to get a good bit of gardening done (yay spring!) and had the food pantry which was very quiet until the last half hour then crazy. I did some reading and couponing and tending a herd baby that's not feeling great. She's going into the vet today so we'll see what can be done. Cleo is doing great for those wondering. A few small attacks due to pollen, I think, but doing good. 

[AtoZ QuoteTastic] Just a Hint - Clint (Visitation, NC #4) by Lori Foster

Oh yall. One of my favorite books! I decided to do a re-read of Just a Hint-- Clint. It's been nearly a decade since I read it first. I just love these two. So Clint is pretty darn gruff and Julie's pretty darn innocent and wanting to liven up her image a bit. Clint's neighbor who happens to be a prostitute has decided to give Julie a makeover...

[AtoZ] Insta-March

Because I love Instagram and sharing what we've been up to the last couple weeks...

[AtoZ] Honk (If You're Tonky)

This song. Yall. The first time it popped up on my Spotify playlist I had a good laugh. After a couple times the damn song hooked me. And then the lyrics. Dayum. About the minute mark I was going whoa whoa whoa did he really just say what I think he said?!! Quite the, erm, promise, yeah?

I think he'd be such a hero. Seriously, you just look at him and you're like yeaaaaah you'd be a little dirty but so much fun. Yes, please! He'd be a handful for sure. Cocky thing. lol

[AtoZ] Gnocchi & Veggies

One of my goals this year is to try 52 new recipes. I'm...a bit behind but thought it was time to try something new. I have a ton of gnocchi from a recent sale (50cents per bag!) so decided to try a Crispy Gnocchi And Veggies Sheet Pan dish.

It was an incredibly easy dish and pretty tasty, too! I'm looking forward to making it when I have fresh herbs and tomatoes (and hopefully red onions!) from the garden.

In My Cart -- I Paid $8.60 for $61.69 of Groceries

I decided to start sharing my couponing adventures on the blog!

My Shopping Totals This Week

$61.69 of Groceries for... $8.60

It was a surprisingly quiet start to April couponing. I didn't need much (I don't usually anymore) and while there were some deals most didn't catch my eye. Next week will be WAY different but for this week it was a simple one of buying some freebies and a few new to me items and just a couple necessary items for recipes.

[AtoZ] From My Garden

One of my 2019 goals was to turn my yard into a garden. I have a terrible black thumb, yall, so this...is a challenge. But I've been determined! I have, erm, caused the demise of a few plants but a lot of them have actually survived! The winter even! 

I started with some pretty plants.

[AtoZ memes] Eve Me! + my week in books

I went for just a trowel. Oops!

Not too shabby of a week, yall. Got a lot done, got a lot left to do. lol

[AtoZ] Dorcus Food Pantry

A little bit ago someone in a comment said I should do a food pantry update post. And...I thought that was a great idea!

For yall that are just coming round. I started donating to the local food pantry back in January 2018 because of couponing and then started volunteering in February. It's right up the road from my house and I have a standing Wednesday sift.

So today I'm going to tell yall about the pantry and what all I do.

[AtoZ] Coupons & Rebates (Tips for Saving)

I love couponing! If you've been around for a while you know that. I got hooked just about 2 years ago. And oh my gosh. The savings are INSANE! It's also an amazing way to be able to donate to charities (I donate to the USO and food pantry) at very little cost.

So far this year (since Jan 1) I've bought $3358. 85 worth of groceries and I PAID $358.05 for them. And $59.80 of that was tax. So I've saved $3,000. Holy cow, yall!

[AtoZ Quotetastic] Blow Me Away (Mile High Matched #2) by Christina Hovland

Yall. This book. I was dying. DYING! It was amazing and hilarious and you just have got to read it. I am so glad I tried Hovland out this year. I think Sophia recommended them. Anywho. This scene. It was just the best thing ever...

[AtoZ] 3.5 stars -- A Nice Day for a Cowboy Wedding (A Mile High Romance #4) by Nicole Helm

Cowboys and Nicole Helm? I. Was. In!

The Gist: Shane's current mission? Stopping his mom's upcoming wedding. Cora's mission? Making sure that wedding happens come hell or high water. And get that reluctant cowboy to walk his mama down the aisle. *nods*