Another weekend packed with fun and savings

Last night, Benny and I had another cheap (ok, inexpensive) date night. This time, Benny had found two online reservations at Chick-Fil-A for their new Spicy Chicken Sandwich. Since they were rolling this out this weekend, they were giving away free sandwiches, as long as you had a reservation. We combined this with our calendar coupon for a free water and fruit cup, added a kid's meal (traded in the toy for icecream), and ended up spending all of $3.22 for the meal. Oh, did I mention that we had a sandwich leftover for lunch today? Not too shabby!

Then, we were off to Lowe's again for more plant hunting deals and to find a shepard's crook to hand the bird feeder on. I found tons of petunias and begonias on the clearance rack at Lowe's for ten cents a piece (they were just in need of some dead-heading and water), along with some squash and cucumber plants in peat pots for the veggie garden. Once we used our coupon and gift card, we paid about $3 there also. All in all, a $6 date night isn't too bad at all!

Today, we got up bright and early and went to one of our favorite breakfast places, Stick Boy Bakery, for sticky buns, courtesy of our gift card from one of my students. Then, we were off to the plant sale at a local church where we found tons of perennials and lots of knowledgeable local gardeners. After making our selections, we walked out with our loot... 10 plants for $8.50, and all guaranteed to make it through a Watauga County winter! Apparently, this is an annual event at this church and the proceeds go toward helping families in need in the community, so we'll definitely be back again next year.

When we got home, we unloaded the car and I spent all morning planting things and transplanting some things around the yard and gardens. This afternoon, we had some great small group friends come over to help us prep the squash and cucumber bed, where we planted 9 plants, including those in peat pots and some that one of my students had grown for science fair and donated to my little veggie garden. (I have fantastic students!) We added some organic composted manure to the soil and are hoping for some rain tomorrow afternoon to give things a good soaking. With four of us, this took much less time than we thought, so we had an early dinner (steamed shrimp, veggies, and wild rice--all bought with coupons from my stash and Corinne's) and enjoyed some time chatting around the table.

How does your garden grow this weekend? Have you seen any butterflies or humming birds dancing around? Here's to living and saving green, and having fun doing it!