Busy Weekend, New Week Begun...

It was a beautiful day Friday...Perfect for having windows open in the morning hours (which I did) and perfect to watch the lovely flag blowing in the breeze.  I couldn't help but take a photo of it while I was out on the back deck taking a few other photos.  I thought I'd share some of my activities this past week in my home and then tell you my plans for this week as well.

Thursday I really worked myself too hard.  Entirely too hard.  I paid dearly for that the next day with aches and pains and general tiredness.  Which is why, when Mama came by at 10am I was still wandering about the house in my pajamas.  I'd piddled about doing little tasks, but didn't bother to dress.  I showered after she left and went outdoors to gather my materials to work with...I had plans you see, to become farmer Terri.



Now I know we have all these acres all around us and some of it clear enough for a garden.  BUT we also have deer, which eat nearly everything you  plant and we have NO tools to work with.  I am a hearty, hardy girl but I do not want to break up rock hard ground with a pick axe and hoe and shovel my way into a garden.  My plans are to use a former dog kennel between the two sheds as an enclosed area for raised bed garden.  I believe it gets enough sun to make a fairly good spot for most of the crops I would like to grow.  Besides, John is adamant that he doesn't want a huge big garden.  So I'm sort of under warning to keep it manageable and small!

But lacking funding at the moment, I can't build raised beds.  And being the impatient sort, I believe in starting with what you've got.  What I have are loads of pots, some packets of seed and I had a partial bag of soil.  Hence, I have started.  Now I felt obligated to plant up the mums I just bought, so the bulk of my soil ended up going to those pots.  Then I used what was left to start the lettuce and cilantro seeds.  Here's my little pot garden so far:

 The old blue enamel dishpan was the perfect depth for lettuce.  I had some leaf lettuce seeds that were sown right in the center of the pot and then I used the square foot gardening method of sowing ice berg lettuce seeds around the edges.

 Here's one of my pots of mums.  The strawberry planter, formerly home to petunias is not home to an iceberg lettuce and cilantro. 

This geranium is looking fresh with the shorter stems and new growth.  The surprise sowing in this pot was four basil plants.  I believe you can see them if you enlarge the photo.  The pot of herbs that sat next to the pot on the deck apparently did a bit of self sowing. I'm not complaining. I was sorry to lose the basil to the heat these last days of summer.

This last photo is really all about the rose bush I rooted earlier in the year. It's bloomed a few times now.  And there's a cache pot of mums at the foot of that chair.  Also in the cache pot are two pieces of coleus I rooted.  They are quite small but I hope that they will do well enough to become real plants which I can then move indoors and baby through the hard freezes.

So that's my bit of gardening.

We've had lovely cool mornings but the heat soon builds and usually by noon the AC will kick on once again.  Friday after I planted it warmed up and then it got cloudy and humid.  I thought for sure we'd get rain and I fretted that my little seeds would be washed up.  No rain ever came but the breeze did blow harder and it was downright chilly.  Cool enough the AC went off and the windows stayed shut.  I shivered outdoors later that evening feeding the dogs and cat.  Brrrr!  Mind you now, the temperature was about what it had been all day long but the added breeze and cloudiness made it feel a lot colder for some reason.

Samuel came up while I was feeding the dogs. He stayed here until about 8:30 at which point he'd talked himself almost out.  He was so excited over his test scores for this first portion of job training and the upcoming training in Washington, DC.  It seemed funny to me that he'd worried so about passing the tests, because I never once doubted he'd go right through.

After he left, I had Shabat on my own.  John worked late that evening, not getting home until 11:30.  It was not a good night for him and he dropped right into bed after he came in and went to sleep very shortly after prayers.  I was as tired as he at that point, having worked just enough that day to be ready for bed at my usual time and then waited up for him.

Saturday morning was still cloudy and cool. I wore a sweater when I left to go to synagogue. It was just too chilly to go without.  By the time service was over, I was miserable.  Tired, aching and headachey.  Nothing in the world wrong but too little sleep over the work week. I stopped at KFC and bought the special (2 pc dark meat snack $2.49) and headed home.  I ate, went to my chair, put up my feet and slept before I got the webpage up on my laptop.  I woke about twenty minutes later and felt less aching and had no headache but definitely didn't feel less tired.  I was glad it was still Shabat so I could rest and do nothing.

I tried to watch tv but there was nothing I wanted to watch, so I read blogs and looked through magazines for the rest of the afternoon.  It was relaxing and fun and I felt rested as the afternoon went on.

When sunset came I was ready to quickly pick up the house, load dishes, feed the pets.  John came in right on time that evening and it was lovely to see him.  We chatted and drank coffee (afternoon and evening cups of coffee are always better with company...) and accidentally fell into watching  a movie that was just absorbing.  Based on a true story, it takes place in WWII era in Poland.  "Defiance" is the name of the film.
Anyway, plans to go to bed early that night didn't happen...We watched that movie right to the end, and so we ended up going to bed as late on Saturday night as we had on Friday night.

Sunday morning would normally be my ideal day to slip back to bed, but no luck.  Samuel had asked me to drive him to the courier site for the coach to Atlanta airport.  He did offer good incentive, mind you, the promise of treating me to breakfast out.  We both agreed as we drove over to IHOP that breakfast out is always a pleasure.  "Let's face it, Mama.  You never know when you go to a restaurant if your meal is going to be good or not, but breakfast is just hard to mess up!"  That's Samuel's opinion and I'm inclined to agree.  I've eaten many and many a breakfast out and it's rare to get a bad meal.  We had good coffee and good food which was even better due to the chilly morning.

After I dropped Samuel off at the courier, I hit the interstate.  I'd thought it would be the quickest, least busy way out of Macon, but the north side was pretty heavy, almost like any weekday, no doubt due to the two bottle neck lanes where  repairs were being made.  As I drove south however, cars disappeared until I was practically the only driver on the interstate, which is kind of one of those surreal things you just wonder at.  Six lanes of highway and as far as you can see, you are the only car...I got off as soon as I was out of Macon and took a backroad, my preferred route of travel.  Unfortunately, I took a back road that I didn't know, just hoped would come out where I wanted.  It didn't.  I ended up being lost for a good 30 minutes or so but kept heading in the general direction I thought was homeward until I finally came out on another highway I did recognize...And honestly I wasn't any closer to home there than I'd been when I got off the interstate.  It was an interesting ride, but not one I shall repeat I don't think, lol.

When I got home it was beginning to warm up, so I didn't open the windows.  I just opened all the shades to let in the daylight and went to work.  I am sure those three cups of extra coffee had a great deal to do with the energy I felt!  I started the washer with the sheets I'd stripped from my bed before leaving home, put a roast beef in the oven to cook, and did a routine daily cleaning. I'd normally have done a first day of the week routine, which is more intensive but it was already noon at this point.  I decided upon the rest of my menu for dinner, then went to the craft/guest room where I played about trying to find a fall look for that room.

Friday afternoon, after I'd gone to check the mail, I thought I'd check the big container in the shed to see what I had in it.  I was surprised to find it held a few quilts.  I photo'd them on the deck.

Both of these were made by my Grandmother Crowley.  She didn't start making quilts until she was in her 70's.  Grandmama obviously liked this pattern very well.  She'd made a beautiful pink and white nine square quilt for Amie when she was little, big enough to cover a twin bed, but her other quilts were made up from scraps of this and that randomly mixed and matched.  Only the top quilt is large enough to cover a full sized bed and that is a skimpy fit.  The second quilt, which I prefer best of the two, doesn't even pretend to be big enough for a twin size bed, much less a full sized one.

This quilt was made by my Great Aunt Myrtle.  She was Granny's older sister.  Aunt Myrtle took up quilting with a passion years ago when she was in her 60's and kept it up until she was in her 90's.  She used all cotton fabrics (Grandmama used a polyster cotton blend that is unpleasant to the touch).  The patterns of this quilt radiate out from a central star.  I love this quilt, because it feels good and has a nice weight to it, but the red fabrics in it were not color fast (discovered after we had to wash it following a spill) and the size is as more suited to snuggling on the sofa than a full sized or twin sized bed...

The surprise quilt was this one:

This quilt is genuinely old.  I vaguely recall Granny giving me this and telling me to not let Mama know she'd given it to me. (It's okay...Mama nor any other relative has internet). It is cotton, with real cotton inside.  There's a spot on one edge where the binding is come undone and a few tiny holes with a bit of cotton peeking out.  When I examined the binding to see if I could repair it I discovered that the quilt was hand stitched, and it is hand quilted as well.  I suspect that Big Mama made this one (that would be Granny's mom).  I wanted to put this one on my bed but it is better suited to a 3/4 size bed rather than a full sized one.  And honestly, I am still mindful of Granny telling me to hide it from Mama, so I thought it best not to have it out just now...but one day, I will!

So in the end I do not have a fall cover for my bed. I put the first of Grandmama's quilts on temporarily, but I can't say I like it very well.  It looks a bit skimpy though it is the largest of the four quilts and Grandmama's color choices are not the colors I'd choose.  I have not bought any bedding other than sheets for this bed so I don't have a lot of choices in my stash.  I'll just keep my eye out for a good sale at retail and thrift stores and see what comes up.  I confess, since I have a desire to go with a cottage feel, I'd love to have a pretty quilt or two.  I might see if Mama will loan me one as she has several modern day factory quilts in full sizes.
 
I spent the rest of yesterday's work hours compiling shopping lists, clipping and sorting coupons. I  have a bit more work to do on that this afternoon but I'm not sweating over it.  I've accomplished a good amount of work today as well.

This morning after John left I watched two ministry programs, then went out to do Bible study on the front porch.  It was another cloudy and cool morning and I felt inclined to be showered and dressed before going out this morning. I'd planned my breakfast (yogurt topped cereal with walnuts and craisins) and my tasks for the day (making bread as we had NONE and I didn't want to make a special trip into town for one item when I'm shopping tomorrow), mopping, and a Monday, or first day, cleaning routine.  The bible study was interesting and gave me food for thought and inspiration for two future posts.  The mopping was soon accomplished and before I knew it the house was clean.  The Monday routine ended being not much longer than a daily cleaning, since I'd done so many tasks while piddling about the house yesterday.

I soon had bread rising in the pans.  I  attempted my own version of oven baked corn dogs (not a failure, not a huge success) and made a beautiful red cabbage and carrot salad for an accompaniment. I looked up cookie recipes but decided to just thaw one of the Chocolate Banana pound cakes I made the weekend before last.  Every single cookie recipe I thought I might make called for butter, something I am very low upon at the moment and not too keen to use up before I buy more.  I also got John's work lunch packed before I had my lunch today.

I have had most of the afternoon free.  All I've needed to do this afternoon was to run the vacuum and wash dishes once the bread pans were cool enough to handle.  I did that shortly after reading emails.  It has, in honesty, been a fairly nice day.  I've gone back to the guestroom and contemplated my options using what I have (still not happy with anything) so nothing accomplished there.  I did organize a few things that were out of place in that room but nothing big.  Of course, I've chattered away to you all and had coffee and slice of pound cake for an afternoon break.

Plans for this week:  Grocery shopping,buying mulch and soil so I can do a bit more yard work and potted gardening.  John has classes Wednesday and Thursday, so I'm taking two extra work days this week and using that time to work on my food storage areas in the kitchen (badly disorganized, and I need to check expiration dates on the canned stuff to make sure I use all that will expire shortly) and general cupboard organization.  That should be just enough extra with the routine work to keep me busy.  If he's done with music selection by Thursday, I hope to get the Power Point done for worship service.  I'd like to bring out my October vintage magazines.  I also hope to begin working on October goals for home and person.  I imagine by Friday all we'll either of us do is the bare minimum.

Meal plans this week:
Tuesday: something from deli I think
Wednesday:  Cheesesteak sandwiches (using roast from Sunday), chips, baked apples
Thursday:  Chicken Sausages, red cabbage and pierogi
Friday:  Loaded Baked Potatoes, Salad, Apple turnovers
Saturday:  Who knows?  Never know how long service will run, if business meeting is being held after or John has a particular want, so I've just quit planning for this day.
Sunday: Mac n Cheese, Broccoli, Salad 

Guess I'll go wander back to the guest room and look in the closet one more time, just in case I missed something inspiring...then get cracking on that final grocery list.