In My Home This Week: True or False Spring?

In my home this week I...


...have been busy as a spring bee this morning.  Is it Spring?  You'd think so by the blooms and weather!  But I am admittedly cautious.  It IS still February.  It is 3 weeks until Spring is officially here.  But yeah.  80 degree days with a green lawn and blooming plants all over is pretty much looking like "Hi honey!  It's SPRING!" to me.

John and I visited the DIY store yesterday and oh how my heart soared.  Flowers and patio furniture and lovely gas grills and seed packets galore!  I could have dropped a cool $1000 and never yet gotten all I longed to have.  In the end I came away with nothing at all and it was pure practicality that made it so.  I do not have ground broken for planting nor pots ready for new plants nor porches cleaned and cleared for furniture.  In the end I satisfied myself with pictures of the golden Ranunculus and gorgeous tulips and determined to come home and get to work right away on my place and make what I have ready for something fresh even if that something fresh is a seed packet of seeds and a can of spray paint to touch up my furnishings.



It is spring in that I am ready for that fresh touch and perfectly willing to work to get it!  Today I've spent time cleaning the master bath and bed...and then I determined that I could manage a few fresh touches if I cleared away clutter and printed out some fresh pictures and painted the frames a nice gray and recovered the bench with some fabric on hand.   I swapped votive holders between the living room and bedroom.  I have plans to purchase a  pale pink paint for a ginger jar lamp that is currently living in the shed that will go in the bedroom.   I started cleaning the front porch railings, a tedious job but one that reaps big rewards in that an hour of labor nets me 1/3 of the porch looking spruce.  So far I've bought $1.50 worth of seed packets to go into the one flower bed that needs only a little work.

So let it be Spring whenever it chooses.  I'm happily making my home ready!

...worked:

Typically on Sunday mornings I strip my beds and change out the towels in the baths.  Samuel was only here one day this past week so I won't be changing those out this week but ours got done.   I do this load of clothes myself, though John typically tends to all of our laundry needs.

Gave myself a fresh mani.  This is a work related one.  I have a party this week and spent Sunday working on the party format, etc.

Packed John's work lunches.  Set up breakfasts.  Made late evening snacks for my hard working husband.

Began decorating the house for Spring.

Started a list of things to try and get done BEFORE family moves in with us.  Began doing some of it right away i.e. making room in the freezer for their foodstuffs, setting up a Bible study and work area in my room trying to make room for John to have a place to play guitar...There's an awful lot to figure out.

Deep cleaned our shower.  I really enjoy using that  simple vinegar and Dawn cleaner it works so very well and makes the job a little easier as it's awesome for breaking down the soap scum.

Cleaned the blinds in the kitchen and kitchen sitting on Wednesday.  This is one of those tasks that is pesky in that it takes more time than anything, so I'll do a window or two at a time over the next couple of weeks.

Cleaned a portion of the front porch.


I left that dirty post in the photo for contrast on how just a little bleach and dawn and some hand scrubbing can make a HUGE difference in how the railings look.

Deep cleaned our bath and bedroom.

Did a pretty heavy cleaning of house overall.  I'm worn slap out but it's nice to know it's had a good tidy.

Ran a very successful 3 day Jamberry party.  

...made meals:

McDonald's burger and a cup of coffee.  We were on our way home from Isaac's birthday party.

Rojo Chicken Enchiladas...Call me beyond hungry and lazy and upset.  I picked this up as I dashed through the grocery and heated in microwave.  Must say it was quite good!

Broccoli, Rice, Chicken and Cheese casserole, Green Salad, Caramel Pudding

Nachos.  This was mine and Sam's plan and I made the chili that topped the chips.  I have a quart of chili left.

Hamburgers and Chips.  We ate a later than usual breakfast and John wanted me to 'keep it simple'.

John took me out for Mexican.  I had a Chili Relleno Quesadilla, he chose a burrito dinner.

Chicken Pot Stickers and Stir fried Vegetables

...saved money:

John took on an extra half shift today and will work another tomorrow.   We were just talking on Saturday about his desire to go to the beach.  Sam, Bess and boys will be moving in with us come March as they do some minor reno work on their new home.  I expect they will be with us about six weeks.  I am going to start planning now for John and I to take a bit of time away from home in the latter part of April.  This extra money will be put into a vacation fund for just that purpose.

I've been mooning about the house looking for something 'new' for the décor.  I've gotten tired of the winter look and am ready to see a bit of fresh spring in the house. Truthfully at the moment I'm not happy with a thing, not even what little new I'd already purchased.  I took the time to shorten a stem of lily of the valley I'd purchased and fluffed it a bit and that added to a blue vase made a rather pretty arrangement for the mantel along with a ceramic chick and a porcelain rabbit.   It's not all of the fresh look I want in the house but it's a start and it cost me $0 at the moment which is kind of awesome as well!

The casserole I made for lunch was really just a combination of leftovers plus homemade cheese sauce that turned into a very tasty entrée.  I realized as I made that simple white sauce and added in grated cheddar that making cheese sauce really doesn't take much longer than stirring up a packet of the stuff from the boxed mac n cheese.

Signed up for an essential oil class.  It's something Bess and I have been talking about and I know that Katie and Amie both have been dabbling in.  I'm hoping this is a good class.  I'll let you all know it.  I listened to Lesson 1 on Wednesday and printed out the workbook.  I'm really liking this class thus far and will certainly recommend it if it proves to be as good as it promises at this time.

Found a hummingbird feeder for $4.50 at the DIY store.  John was pleased as could be over that.

Went into the dollar store and bought pet foods and 3 packets of cosmos, zinnia, and wildflower seeds.  I plan to prepare the bed at the end of the porch for these seeds.

Went to Macon and bought the sale priced chicken breasts and hamburger.  What I didn't buy was the ridiculously priced 'chili': one quart jar of 'fixin's' minus the pound of meat required for $8 and the can of organic vegetarian for $5.  I decided that my $2.99/pound ground meat and my $.49 each cans of tomatoes and kidney beans from Aldi were sufficient.  I had a quart of chili leftover after we made our nachos.

John has been lugging his computer to work but it's become more of a burden to haul it there and back.  He talked with Katie and ordered a far more easily portable Kindle to use.  I ordered it using Swagbucks and got 10xs the purchase price.

Went to CVS and picked up several items that we were completely out of.   Not the most frugal thing but time is at a premium just now and I had waited too long.  I did find the best price I could on each item and while the cost was hefty it was all necessary.  I'm comforted by the fact I shall not have to repurchase several of these items for 4 months.  The one or two that will need to be replaced in a couple of months time are already on my list of things to watch for sales on.



Painted thrift store frames for the third time since I've owned them.  It's easy and cheap to make something look fresh and new with little effort.


Printed out fresh pictures to put in the frames.  These will go into the bathroom and that will be a small but fresh touch for that room.


...took my leisure:

Watched the final episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maizel and I warn you all the language was disgraceful and there was some nudity which was not gratuitous but truly part of the story line and in context but yeah...  The story took a big twist at this point and I don't know just what the 2nd season will be like.  I've recommended this program to you all and I surely do not want any of you saying you weren't warned about language and such.

Continued with the Jane Austen at Home book, still fascinated and there at least there is no disgraceful language nor nudity to worry over.

Read the March issues of my vintage magazines.  I won't likely leave these out once the little boys have moved in so I want to really enjoy them just now.

Louise, here is the bread recipe from last week:

Katy and Amy's One Hour Bread


 

3-4 cups all purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
2 tbsps. dry yeast
2 tbsps. sugar
1 tbsp. salt
2 cups hot water (120F-130F)
2-4 tbsps. melted butter

Mix 3 c all purpose flour and 1 c whole wheat with yeast, salt and sugar.  Pour in hot water.  Stir until thoroughly mixed.  Stir in remaining flour until no longer sticky.   Knead until smooth and elastic.
Place in a greased bowl in a warm spot with a damp cloth over top for 15 minutes.

Punch down.  Divide dough into 2 round loaves.  Score an 'X' on top.  Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with seeds of cornmeal if desired.

Place in a COLD oven.  On bottom rack have an oven safe dish that is partially filled with water.  Set temperature to 400F.  Bake 40-45 minutes until golden brown.

MY NOTES:  Two weeks ago, I divided the dough and put into two greased loaf pans, not flattening it to fit the pan but simple fitting it in.  There were corners that were not filled.   I noted that I started smelling fully baked bread at about 35 minutes and when tested found it was indeed done at that point.  I cooled on racks.   This is a nice rough coated bread that is dense enough to use for toast or sandwiches without it falling apart.

This week's bread topped the bowl when it had sat 20 minutes.  I divided and put into the two new round cake pans.  These turned out flatter.  Next time I'll do the loaf pans again because that was a size better suited to sandwiches.  I let the bread cook exactly 40 minutes.   I wish you could smell my home just now.  Good thing Shabat isn't far away because a piece of that bread has gotta have some butter slathered on it real soon!

3 comments:

Out My window said...

What a productive tie you have had. It is fun to go into stores and look around and then realize you will leave with nothing. I love that you repaint frames, I do the same thing. I think Spring wants to be here but she is fighting winter. We woke to a skiff of snow again today. Drat! I so wanted to buy some primroses, but I don't dare.

Karla said...

Can't wait to see all of the spring touches you bring about this year! I am certainly ready for spring. We've had lots of cold weeks with a 60, 70 or 80 degree day thrown in the middle randomly. It's been odd.

Louise said...

Thank you for the recipe... I will give it a try one of these days.