This Week In My Home: Busy as a Bee

This week in my home...

...I lost my way last week.  This week I'm renewing my purpose: get my home and yard spring ready.  The yard doesn't require much from me so that's not the big thing.  I want to finish off the spring cleaning indoors so I can make my way outdoors to the porch and patio next.  I need to do some things to the main living/dining room and work on the kitchen a bit more.  Not so a hard task to say it like that, but it's coming nearer the Passover mark which means the kitchen really must be deep cleaned.  I think subconsciously I put it off because I realized it was near and I wanted this task done nearer the end of spring cleaning. 

Why did I lose my way last week?  I went out to rake leaves and pick up limbs one day and then had a nosebleed which made John command me to stay indoors out of the pollen, sigh.  This happened last year and the year before too, and it's really an old story but every time I have a nose bleed he worries.  It's easier to do as he says and let his worries die down.  I still have medications the doctor gave me to use to offset the problem and have had no further incidences on that end.  But then I dropped a stupid 1 liter water bottle on my foot and bruised it.  I was commanded to sit and keep ice on it, which probably saved me some awesome bruising because what I have is huge and looks like a big smudge of dirt on top of my foot, lol.  Then John insisted we take a day out and somehow I wrenched my hip.  I took something for the pain on Friday morning and that promptly put me to sleep for three hours or so and there was that day gone by the time I got over being groggy and finally got routine stuff done. 

What I did manage last week was over half the yard work that I deemed mine to do, and I managed to sort of almost spring clean the laundry.  There's still work to be done back there.  I just got a good beginning on that job.  Then I determined I wanted to redo the back entry wall/shelf.  I lucked out and found three items at the antiques mall for less than $6 and I've put those in frames.  I put those with a few more of my things and it made up a lovely set.  I've asked John to hang them all for me.  But if my hip stops aching, I'm likely to attempt the job myself...

What shall I do this week?  Let's push ahead and see.

...I plan my work week:

I made out bills on Friday, but I'll need to take a day to mail them, run errands, do banking and buy groceries.  The usual round of Harvest activity.

I will strip slipcovers and wash them.  I have pen marks on the chair seat that Josh left here way back at Christmas.  High time I got that tended to.

I need to sort out the linen drawer in the buffet.  Overall the living area could use just a good hard routine cleaning and it will be good.

In the kitchen this week, I will clean the walls near the stove as well as under the stove hood.  Not y favorite task but it must be done.

Clean the oven.  Another 'ugh' job.  Thankfully the oven is not too bad, but I always feel it's hard to clean because it's a gas oven.  I don't feel comfortable just spraying it with Easy Off the way I could the electric one!

Go through the kitchen and pantry and gather all the items that contain yeast in one spot in the freezer or cabinet so I can easily see and focus upon what we need to use up or must throw out as we get near Passover.

Clean and wipe the insides of the baking cabinet and glass and plate cupboards.  Cull items as I clean.

Clean and stock the main food cupboard from the pantry supplies.  This will ultimately save steps when making meals as I shouldn't have to run to the back pantry to grab basic items during meal prep. 

Create and implement a restock list so I can make one trip to the back every few days instead of four or five times a day.

Pantry and freezer inventories.

Finish that yard work I started.  I should really be able to do it all in under two hours.

Get my closet back in order and make up outfits for the coming weeks.

Make more tortillas.

All the usual routine stuff: laundry, dishes, meals, daily floors, trash, pets, etc.

...I plan my menus:

Not so many menus this week.  John is working 2 extra half days and his usual full day this week.  That means I am on my own for 3 days except for breakfasts.

It's meant to warm up and I know John would much appreciate one of his favorite warmer weather meals:

Tuna Pasta Salad, Saltines, Fresh Fruit Bowls

Chicken Tenders, French Fries, Green Beans, Tossed Salad

Ground Sirloin Steaks, Wild Rice, Spring Salad of Carrots, peas, radishes and lettuce

Italian Sausage Roasted with Vegetables, Green Salad

...I plan my leisure:

It may not sound like leisure to you all but I want to do a mini fashion course.  I've already determined I am a 'romantic' (duh...) but I have several web sites I plan to spend my spare time going through and learning what I might do differently.

Work on outfits for spring. Yep, it's work and it's play.

Start now planning for a trip somewhere during the late spring.  I don't know where we're going.  I'll be gathering prices and looking at possible spots and such and then run the best of the best by John.  I'm starting now because for all his spontaneous self, there's always a lot of back and forth before we get to the part where he'll 'suddenly' decide what we'll do and where we'll go. 

Read.  I have another book going and a stack of vintage magazines for April, plus the three new ones I picked up at the antique mall last week. 

I also have a project of sorts, gathering some poetry I've written for the Poet's Group I joined at church.  I need to copy these pieces off and perhaps tweak them a little bit.  This too will be leisure since I have a month to get these things together.