Tuesday's backyard happenings

Here are some pictures from today's progress:

They cleared out the brush and pavers that were around the deck. Steve finished taking out the steps to the deck.

Natalie checking out how big the backyard is now. The trash pile and the plants are now gone. The plants to her left still need to be taken out.

They still need to take out the bush and finish cleaning out the bed. What a difference!

Is it worth it to have a warehouse membership?

I have read numerous debates about whether or not having a warehouse membership is worth the cost of joining. We actually have a membership to BJ's and Costco. I think that they are worth it.

I had a membership to Costco through my first employer. I found that there were several things that I liked to get there, so when I left that job and we moved to Richmond we got our own membership. We live less than 5 minutes from Costco.

BJ's just opened also less than 5 minutes away from us last winter. I found a coupon in the paper for a free day 60 day trial and thought I would give it a try. I actually compared prices with some of the things that I get from Costco on a regular basis. Some things were less expensive, some were about the same, and some were more expensive. I can't really say that surprised me. When it was about time for my 60 day trial card to expire Steve found out that his company was offering a discount membership for employees, and that we would be able to sign-up for 15 months at the 12 month price. I decided to keep the membership.

Which do I like better? They both are different. There are some items that are less expensive at BJ's or Costco - so I go there for that item. I do like that BJ's accepts manufacturer coupons and that their bulk sizes aren't as large. BJ's has Pampers diapers (Costco doesn't) so I figured I have saved the cost of membership by just buying diapers there. Both stores have a good selection of books, seasonal items, and clothes. They both also have a fuel center. Costco carries furniture and wall art, which I haven't seen at BJ's.

You may be surprised that the warehouse price may not be the least expensive price. I have found that things I used to swear by buying only at Costco, such as Chinet plates, paper towels, toilet paper, and laundry detergent, are actually less expensive if I pay attention to the sales cycles and match-up the sale with the coupon. It is also a lot easier to manage a container of laundry detergent that is for 32 loads than one that is for 132.

Both BJ's and Costco send out monthly coupon books to their members. I have recently found out that you can combine the coupons in the BJ's book with your manufacturer coupons. The other nice thing is that if the item is a multi-pack item you can use a manufacturer coupon for each item (that has a barcode) in that package. I have tested this several times and it works!


I think the bottom line is that you have to be aware of how much an item cost. When you are looking at warehouse prices you have to be aware of the unit price and what that unit is. Some items it is per pound, and some are by the ounce. It is also important to look at the item and make sure that you really will use it. The 144 packets of instant oatmeal, may not be worth the savings for you if you don't have the storage and you only eat oatmeal every once in a while.

I have read about several people who say that they share a membership with a friend or family member. That may be an option for you as well. I know that BJ's will let you shop there without a membership you just have to pay a fee. I also read somewhere (I don't remember where) that it is not unusual for BJ's to offer the free 60 day pass in the fall - so take advantage of it if you are interested in BJ's.

So, what do I normally buy at Costco or BJ's? It depends, right now BJ's has the lowest price on organic milk and on plain soy milk. I usually buy gas and diapers from a warehouse club. I don't buy lots of perishables from them, but I do usually buy baby carrots because that is a regular snack item at our house. I will shop at either place for food for church socials. I can find great deals on clothes at both places. (I went to BJ's last night and got 2 pairs of Levi's for myself for $24.) We bought our Wii at Costco and the games are reasonable at both places.

I think that what it all comes down to is that you can never go to one store (warehouse, mass merchandiser, grocery, drug, or department) to find the lowest prices on everything. You have to be willing and able to shop around and keep track of what size and price the item is in each individual store. Yes, it takes time to do that, but you will be surprised at how much you can save.

More progress in the backyard

It has been really neat and exciting to watch the progress on the backyard. I feel like I am in my own episode of an HGTV show. Today before they got started they had to pump out the remaining water from the rain last week and Saturday. Then they finished building the forms around the pipe. This afternoon the cement truck came in and they poured the cement. I was shocked when I looked outside late this afternoon and saw the majority of the pipe covered with gravel and sand. We were actually able to walk across our backyard without going over a bridge! The trench with the pipe installed is now covered!

The shrubs and plants that are going to get taken out tomorrow. Our property line ends right about where you see our neighbor's shed. The trees are going to stay.

More plants and planters that are going to get removed tomorrow.

A view from the street - the white fence is our neighbors yard. Everything to the left of the fence (except the tree) is going to get taken out.

The county wouldn't allow us to completely cover the drainage ditch. We had to leave a 6 foot area. The drain area where Steve and the girls are standing will remain. The plants are going tomorrow.

What happened in the backyard on Thursday

I took these pictures this afternoon. The guys came to the house this morning and realized they were not going to be doing any work today. We had a storm last night and all of the water from the neighborhood seemed to have drained in our backyard. They have a temporary dam there - I don't really know why. The guy working on the project told me to check it again on Sunday morning to make sure it is still in place because it is suppose to rain really heavy again Saturday night.

The standing water that kept them from pouring cement today.

All of the pipe - it isn't finished. They still need to seal the joints.

The deck got demolished - the only thing left is the few steps that led to the deck. Steve ran out of light to finish taking them out. Don't worry we set the dead bolt lock on the main door and the storm door so no one will forget and walk out the door.

The "before" pictures of the backyard

Steve found the pictures we took of the backyard area in early March. (I had him take the pictures because I was trying to win a contest with a local TV station called, "Best on the Block".) The area around the drainage ditch actually looked worse when we started the project because bulbs popped up over the Spring and Summer and it looked really overgrown.

View from the street. You can see how the backyard slopes in the picture.

This is actually a picture from our master bathroom window. You can see the deck below and the drainage ditch in the middle. You can also see all of the gravel that we had in the backyard.

Another picture from the master bathroom window. You can see the drainage ditch went all the way to the end of our yard and it also goes through our neighbor's yard.

Let's add more chaos to my crazy world

I have posted a few pictures below of what is going on in our backyard this week. When we bought our house 2 years ago it had a storm drain in the backyard. We were told by our realtor that the previous owners had looked into getting it covered, but they decided to just lower the price and let the new owners (us) take care of it. We were finally able to find someone who was able to work with us and Henrico county to get it fixed. Thankfully the price tag for the fix was about a third of the price the previous owners quoted us.

I have pictures somewhere of what it looked like before, I think Steve must have them on a different memory chip or saved to his computer. It was an eyesore so we never really took pictures out there.

They started demo on Tuesday morning, they removed all of the brush and plants that lined the drainage ditch (the previous owners had a small bridge over it and made it look like a stream.) They also started tearing out the concrete that lined the ditch. On Wednesday they did more demo and started to prepare the trench they dug with gravel so that they could start laying pipe. This morning they have started laying the pipe and they are hoping to have it completed today.

The trench filled with gravel ready for pipe to be laid. (I took the picture off of the few boards we have remaining on the deck)

Laying the first piece of pipe.

We decided to start demolishing the deck. We are hoping to get rid of some of the slope in the backyard, so by getting rid of the deck they can fix the entire back yard. I want to build a patio. Steve thinks he wants to keep a deck. We have to decide on something soon.

The trash pile, the gravel that got brought in, and the pipe (there are a total of four pieces being installed) that will go in the trench.

What the neighbors see when they drive by. We have had lots of neighbors stop to watch the guys work and ask them what they are doing. The construction vehicles are also preventing me from getting in and out of the garage so I am having to park on the street and go through my front door. I will be happy to have my garage back.

A sticky burnt mess...

I am trying to be better about organizing my day, my activities, and even my meals. I have been really challenging myself to use up a good portion of what I have in my freezers. One reason is that I am about to start baking and freezing Amish friendship bread for a friend who is getting married in October. My second reason is that I get nervous when it is hurricane season and I have one deep freeze and a second refrigerator freezer full in the garage. I have also been trying to eat at home more. It is nice to enjoy a meal out, but a lot of our eating out is tied to poor planning.

In order to use up what is in the freezer I have been trying my hand at menu-planning. It really does make the day a little bit easier when I have an idea of what I want to make for dinner as opposed to the 4 o'clock panic of what's for dinner tonight? I sat down Monday and wrote down some ideas of things that I knew I had available for main dishes and a list of what I had available for side dishes. That wasn't so bad and it didn't take very long. Now comes the hard part, making sure I have everything available and making sure I plan enough time and know what I am doing to make the meals happen.

Tonight was one of those nights. I thought I had it all planned out. I planned a meal of honey-orange marinated salmon, steamed asparagus, and rice. I found the salmon recipe on one of my favorite recipe sites - www.allrecipes.com. I like allrecipes because you can read the reviews from others who made the recipe and get tips and suggestions for the prep or side dishes. The recipe had several positive reviews. The recipe was to make a marinade out of soy sauce, orange juice, honey, olive oil, ginger, green onions, and apple juice and let the salmon sit in the marinade in the refrigerator for at least an hour, then remove the salmon from the marinade and bake it. No problem - my kind of recipe not a lot of mess and an easy clean-up. I had read several reviews from people who took the marinade and reduced it on the stove while the salmon was baking, they said it made a yummy glaze to pour over the fish. I thought it sounded easy enough and that it would be a nice addition to the recipe.

I thought I was on top of everything - I prepared the baking dish, got the piece of salmon into the dish and had it in the oven. I poured the marinade into a small saucepan and turned it on high to make sure it got to a boil. My plan was to let it boil for a minute then reduce the heat to low so it would sit and thicken. That was my plan. I made one crucial mistake. I started washing the few things I had in the sink while I was waiting for it to boil. When it started to boil I thought I turned the burner down to low, except for some reason I turned the burner in the front on low. (The sauce was on the back burner.) I didn't even have a pan on the front burner. I didn't realize it until after I finished washing up the dishes and noticed that the back burner was still red. I tried adding a little bit of orange juice to the sauce, but I knew I was in trouble when it splattered and steamed as soon as I added it. I grabbed the handle and ran the water in the sink as hot as I could and tried to rinse the pan out. It was not coming off. After rinsing it out a few times I got the top layer off, but it was still burnt and sticky on the bottom. I added hot water and some dish soap to the pan and just let it sit. I tried washing it out after dinner and it was still stuck on there. I did make a little bit of progress when I tried some soft scrub. It is a Calphalon pan so I don't want to use steel wool. So, the pan is sitting again on the stove filled with water and dish detergent. I hope I get it off the bottom of the pan. The mess was one thing, the other bad part was the smell. It was horrible. We ended up eating dinner with a window open to try to get rid of smell. I have had a candle burning all night and still feel like it smells like burnt soy sauce. Yuck!

On a positive note, the salmon itself turned out really good and I would make it again. I thankfully didn't burn the rice, and the asparagus was good with some butter and fresh Parmesan cheese shredded on the top. I think I will try the recipe again and even try to make the glaze again. I do think it would add to the dish, but for tonight it just wasn't meant to be.

Any suggestions on removing a sticky, burnt mess from my sauce pan will be appreciated!