This Week In My Home: Spring Has Sprung

In My Home this week:



I went out Thursday and noted that the peach trees across the road from my home were just beginning to bloom.  There were four or five blooms on each tree.  Not much, but enough to let me know they were getting started.  We went out on Friday and I told John, "My goodness!  Those trees had barely begun to bloom out yesterday!"  And there they were, every tree full of pink blossoms and pink stretching as far as the eye could see.  Not just the peach trees either, but the wild pear and plums and turkey foot oaks and oaks and cedars and pines have all bloomed out seemingly overnight.  The whole world, it seems, at least here in middle Southwest Georgia is determined to hurry up and beat the arrival date of Spring by a week or so.  And with temperatures in the mid 80's the past two days it's felt like a new season!

But I am not fooled by this Spring.  It will be cold again.  Indeed, today it is much cooler than it was yesterday.  There will be chilly Spring rains that will occasion turning the heater on once again.  There will be hot days and stupidly cold nights to confuse us.  Plants will bloom and keep right on blooming.  Pollen will haze the distances between here and there and coat the cars in a new hue.  One day it will be too cold to walk barefoot across the new green of the lawn or to sit outdoors without a sweater.  And the very next day it will be hot enough to sunbathe and wish for a pool.  Spring is fickle in her affections, like any newly engaged girl about to come into the commitment of  marriage, as though a little afraid to prove herself just yet as being this way or that.



...I plan meals


If weather is fickle so are my menu plans!  I plan, as a rule, to use what I have in a timely manner.  I plan to suit a craving or special request. I plan, at the very least, to give myself ideas of what we might eat in a given week.  Sometimes, I follow the menus and sometimes I use the same ingredients in a totally different way.  This time of year, I am also under the direction of weather.  Is it hot and sunny?  We'll want lighter meals.  Is it cold?  Back to the hearty warming main dishes.  Sometimes I get caught out as I've done today with the menu.  Well today's food is prepared and so that is what we shall eat.  

Tuna Pasta Salad, Saltines, Hot Strawberry Cobbler
You see what I mean?  I'd planned per the weather man's forecast, foolish woman that I am and here we are with a cold pasta salad as main dish and its cool enough I'm seriously wondering if I oughtn't put socks on my feet.  No need to say we'll have something else, as John saw me making the salad yesterday and remarked then how much he has looked forward to this dish.  I added the Strawberry Cobbler this morning.  At least we'll have something warm and rich to offset the lighter pasta salad!

Now let me plan the rest of the week, best that I can.  Just three more meals this week since John is working three days.  I'll eat some leftovers from our Friday take out lunch tomorrow and I'll be out with Mama on Monday.  I hope by Thursday there will be more leftovers.

Chicken Fried Rice, Orange Wedges, Stir Fried Vegetables, Ginger Snaps

New England Boiled Dinner, Soda Bread, Carrot and Raisin Salad
Corned beef and Cabbages on sale this week for a great price.  I'll have leftovers of the corned beef for sandwiches.

Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Coleslaw
I thawed 1 pound of ground beef late this week.  I've been just longing for meat loaf and I shall make one.  Leftovers of that too are good for sandwich meat.


...I plan work:
Some of these tasks my look familiar...as in they were on last week's list and made this week's as well!

Groceries, bills, errands, banking.  John is working an extra 12 hour shift on Monday and he can pick up his check and deposit it that day.  I'll tend to bills and have them ready to go out.

Mopping floors.

Work on the bedroom wall.  Dee's suggestion of lowering the one picture is spot on. I can see it now that she's pointed it out.  So I'll refine that wall and that room shall be done, finished.

Transplant plants from pots in the back flower beds to the Patio flower pots.

The living room gallery wall also needs work.  The frames are mismatched and shall have to remain that way for just now but spacing is an issue as well.  I need to add other objects to the wall but it's all a process.

Sew the ottoman cover now I've got thread and elastic enough to work with.

Start to empty the file cabinet of excess papers now that I've got the new shredder.

I think I'll start a deep clean of the living room this week. It oughtn't take long really since I've kept up with weekly tasks but it could use a bit of spring freshening as far as cleaning goes.

Sand the dining chairs so I can paint them fresh.

Put screening in window screen frames. I might try to patch the ones with smaller holes even though the screen is not expensive as some of the screens are just not that badly worn.  Will see as I go along obviously.

Work one hour daily on Swagbucks to get to next gift card, but just one hour and that only in the very early morning hour when bonus time is used rather than regular internet time.

Pull out April magazines to review.

Start working on second quarter budget sheets.

...I have fun...

Fun?  I have so many projects I want to finish and tasks to tackle this week I'm not sure fun is really the operative word.  Here's where I've got to make a promise to myself: to not overdo and really set aside relaxing time!

I'll be out with Mama on Monday.  It isn't usually a physically taxing day but it is a wearing day all the same so that day will be little to no housework and recovering when I do return home.

It sounds more like work to me but will likely sound fun to others: I need warmer weather clothing: camisoles to wear under sheer tops, shirts I can wear over tanks and cover my flabby upper arms, shorts for days at home.  I haven't had to buy clothes to wear about the house in eons but I will this year.  I also need a second nightie.  Yes, to me this sounds like work but I'll take my time and be sure to be sensible with it all.

I found books at the Peaches to Beaches this past week and I am already enjoying one.  I think I'll make time to read for at least an hour every day this week.

Pedicure (done by myself) now that sandal season is upon us.

7 comments:

Sew Blessed Maw [Judy] said...

OH, the weather is so uncertain now. We too are having some beautiful days, and then it will be cold/rainy? But, I am enjoying the pretty ones. Love when the trees start coming out and blooming.
The strawberry cobbler sounds so good, I love strawberries, and make strawberry pies, but have never had a sb cobbler.. I must make one.. thanks for sharing.
I too have a lot of projects I need to work on.. I need to make my list, and get started. thank you for all the encouragement your blog gives.
Hope you have a blessed week.

Unknown said...

We are having the same type of up & down weather up north in Illinois. I have the same problem with menus so I will have Chicken & dumplings written & the it is 70 & beautiful so it chiken salad. I decided to just be flexable & enjoy the good days

Lana said...

Ugh! Back from the lake and reality! Unpacking and meals to plan and all that goes with getting settled back into daily life.

Lana said...

Ladies, if you are a Publix shopper and still have your free Coke 12 pack coupons from the 30 reward points sale in December, you can make them go double when the new ad starts this week. 12 packs will be B2G2. I have 6 coupons so I can get 12 free and that will last us for a year and some to share with others.

Karla said...

I love your description of Spring being like a fickle engaged girl. Very appropriate. It will be in the 80s this week here in Oklahoma too but we are due for another freeze this weekend. Hopefully that will be the last but who knows.

I do have a quick question I've been meaning to ask for awhile. Do you have wallboard panels in your home? If so, how do you handle the holes you must incur when redoing wall decor in your rooms often? Just curious as I never know what to use to patch them.

Your menu sounds delightful. Your mention of tuna pasta salad reminded me I have a box of pasta salad and a can of tuna in the cabinet. I shall make that up tonight for lunches. Perhaps I'll boil a few eggs too! Last night I made a batch of jello with strawberries and a banana that were about to go bad and a batch of chocolate pudding using chocolate almond milk that has been lingering forever.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with for new wardrobe items. I am headed to a close thrift store on my work lunch hour today to see if I can find a new pair of jeans to replace the ones that are just about threadbare.

Have a wonderful week, Terri!

sparky136 said...

Do take time to read. Early morning, while I sip my coffee, is a favorite time for me. I love hearing the birds in the stillness of morning.

Lana said...

There are printable botanicals suitable for framing here-http://emilyaclark.com/2016/03/ready-to-print-gallery-wall-fern-botanicals.html

May be useful for your gallery wall.

Coffee Chat: Love and Marriage