Saturday: Made a Dutch Baby Pancake for our breakfast this morning. It is not the recipe I used the first time I made this. I couldn't find that one and so I pulled one from one of my cookbooks. It tasted just fine. It did not, however, turn out as it ought to have done. I shall read through several recipes and try and determine what went amiss. I did this after I made an Armenian Nutmeg Cake last week and one cook had within her recipe a hint that no others mentioned. Having looked at all the recipes I am certain it was not mixing nor ingredients that were at fault, but was instead in assembling the cake. I am sure I can figure out this Dutch Baby failure and will make notes in the book about it.
Cooked a corned beef in the crock pot this morning. I opted to leave out the pickling spices, rinsed it and then put in the crockpot with water enough to almost cover it. This resulted in a milder flavored corned beef that I quite liked. It shrank a great deal in cooking, but I guess I'll have enough for sandwiches off it.
Dressed to go to nephew Jason's memorial service and was glad to have black pants and a subdued top to go with it. I'm not a big believer than one must wear black to a funeral by the way, it just happens it is the sole pair of non-jeans I own. Put on my black patent sandals and discovered after ten years of wear they were finally coming apart. They did fine for the day but I will look at clearance shelves with a plan to replace as soon as possible. This incident also convinced me I ought to set a day aside each month and in that day make time to go over my wardrobe items, setting aside those with loose threads or buttons, drooping hems, or broken straps and repair or do away with.
Determined as well, that it was time for a new pair of dressy pants. I shall be putting that item, too, on my shopping list of things I must have.
Spent the rest of the evening with magazines, Pinterest and blogs. It was a restful, calm way to end the day of rest and one that my over worked mind, drooping spirit, and tense body much appreciated.
Inspiration pages...I'm sure I've mentioned them before, but let me mention them once again. I begin about the third weekend of a month with a fresh spate of blank sheets of paper on a clipboard. I keep this next to my chair, or desk, and as the weeks progress I keep track of all those great ideas, simply must make recipes, or Pins that trigger inspiration to use what I already have on hand in a new way. I write the Month at the top of the first page and I fill pages until the same time the next month when I start up sheets for the new month that is approaching. I started September sheets this past weekend.
Why do I do this? Because all those little ideas, recipes and inspired bits add a great deal to my home. It is seldom that once written down I don't immediately attempt some of those ideas. There's no need of my saying, "I must remember that!" because I never do. But once on those sheets of paper, I DO remember and will even refer to them throughout the month to see if there's something fresh I can implement, or try. Not every single idea works out but more do than don't.
Sunday: Got up quite early this morning (5:30am) because I'd been awake an hour or more and simply couldn't doze back off to sleep. I made coffee, did my Bible study, unloaded the dishwasher, started Sunday dinner (roasted chicken) and set up our breakfast table. John was up by 6:30 and he started a load of clothes. I stripped our bed and gathered towels to wash and those went in as soon as the first load was done. He hung up or hung out clothes and I did my bit of work, which included putting away dry clothes, remaking our bed afresh, setting out fresh towels and getting ready for church. By the time we left for church at 9:30am I was rather smug with pride at getting so much done. I got over it as soon as we came in though and I saw how much more there was to do!
We dropped off trash on our way to church.
We stopped at the grocery after church and bought the few items on my list of must haves. Our splurges today included a small apple pie at John's request, and instead of cut flowers a lovely pink and white chrysanthemum plant. I thought it might last longer than cut flowers just now while the fans are running along with the AC and the indoor air is so very dry.
We cashed in the coins from our charity box. I'll write those checks out next pay period and I put the cash aside to be deposited.
Came home and reheated our dinner. I slipped the apple pie into the oven to heat along with the food. It didn't require much heat, not any of the food.
Put half a chicken in the fridge for sandwiches or another meal this week.
Saved the water the green beans steamed in and fertilized plants with it.
Saved the water the green beans steamed in and fertilized plants with it.
Prepared John's lunch for tomorrow. Set up oatmeal ingredients so my brain doesn't have to strain.
Emptied the fridge of various leftovers and we had a 'pick and choose' supper.
John put the new deck on the mower. He needed an extra wheel that didn't come with it and he wasn't of a mind to order it nor to wait to use the mower. So he used a wheel off the old deck to replace the missing one. He's keeping the old deck to use as replacement parts for future needs he says.
Dumped dishwater over the fern outdoors.
John put the new deck on the mower. He needed an extra wheel that didn't come with it and he wasn't of a mind to order it nor to wait to use the mower. So he used a wheel off the old deck to replace the missing one. He's keeping the old deck to use as replacement parts for future needs he says.
Dumped dishwater over the fern outdoors.
Monday: The usual work day morning stuff took place: breakfast, lunch, coffee.
Switched off all fans and the back door light before leaving home. Turned up the AC to 78F.
Took mail into town with me to send out. I was mailing off two birthday cards and in the past these do not fare well when going to my daughter's address...So I included them in a package. I sent her some books I no longer want but which I know are favorites of hers. Yep, it costs a lot more than sending just a birthday card, but then again, when the cards are "lost" and must be resent, there's no savings in that.
Mama gifted me a sum of money, today. I have plenty of wants at the moment and a list of needs to purchase, too, and this will be much appreciated for those things but...I'm not ready to begin to actively shop and past experience has taught me that soon the money is frittered away on nothing but impulse items and meals out and I have neither money nor the items on my list. I put the money straight into savings accounts. Yes, I put some aside into our household savings as well as my personal account. We just bought that new mower deck. It's nice to know some money is set aside.
This relates to my subject this week: Mind hurdles. At the beginning of this year, I began to pray about having filled reservoirs and deep wells. As the year has gone on, I've realized that these sub-accounts within our main account are reservoirs. I've filled them through 2018, just using dibs and dabs of money. They are there to cover needs as they arise.
Our savings accounts are the wells and my savings accounts wouldn't have drowned a mouse! I've been intent on letting the two smaller accounts increase and this gift created a nice amount of water in both.
When I stood there with the gift in my hand and saw the amount, my mind went straight to our current needs. Nothing on my lists that can't be met in the usual ways. Yes, there's work we want done on our home but John is so caught up with his crazy schedule at present he's no time to think of working, nor hiring work to be done, on the house. None of the work is an immediate pressing need. So why not just set money aside for the time when we can do those things?
That was my thought pattern...And that is different from what it once was, because even a year ago I would have immediately determined that now was the time to shop for clothes, take a vacation, etc. Extra money was meant to be spent, right? Not necessarily. Yes, if we had debt (we don't) and yes, if we had urgent needs (again, we don't). So who says it can't sit in a bank account that actually pays a little interest, which this particular bank does? It will have an increased value when we do use it.
This relates to my subject this week: Mind hurdles. At the beginning of this year, I began to pray about having filled reservoirs and deep wells. As the year has gone on, I've realized that these sub-accounts within our main account are reservoirs. I've filled them through 2018, just using dibs and dabs of money. They are there to cover needs as they arise.
Our savings accounts are the wells and my savings accounts wouldn't have drowned a mouse! I've been intent on letting the two smaller accounts increase and this gift created a nice amount of water in both.
When I stood there with the gift in my hand and saw the amount, my mind went straight to our current needs. Nothing on my lists that can't be met in the usual ways. Yes, there's work we want done on our home but John is so caught up with his crazy schedule at present he's no time to think of working, nor hiring work to be done, on the house. None of the work is an immediate pressing need. So why not just set money aside for the time when we can do those things?
That was my thought pattern...And that is different from what it once was, because even a year ago I would have immediately determined that now was the time to shop for clothes, take a vacation, etc. Extra money was meant to be spent, right? Not necessarily. Yes, if we had debt (we don't) and yes, if we had urgent needs (again, we don't). So who says it can't sit in a bank account that actually pays a little interest, which this particular bank does? It will have an increased value when we do use it.
Saw a glimpse of the eclipse. It was only slightly darker than the clouds that kept moving across the sky had made things but it was an event and I didn't miss out on seeing it.
Picked up mail on my way in.
Sat down immediately upon getting in and wrote out tithes on that money Mama gave me. It is one thing we do with all cash, offering up a portion to church and ministries that we feel are important.
Was beyond exhausted this afternoon when I came in and no idea why but I decided that taking it easy was on the must do list and every thing else could wait.
Tuesday: I ended up going to bed at 9pm last night and went right to sleep, too. I woke once and went right back to sleep. I woke for good this morning at 6:30am and I must say that nine hours of sleep was what my body and spirit most assuredly needed. Sleep is not something to discount, that's for sure!
I had a plan for breakfast this morning so I got up and set up my meal things right away and then had time to do Bible Study before John came in. I made waffles. I put a dozen in the freezer for a future meal.
I set out butter to soften and eggs to come to room temperature. Sunday as we were looking over pies, John practically drooled over a dozen chocolate chip cookies. I took one look at the price and said "Oh I'll make you cookies!" At $4.00 a dozen it's worth thirty minutes with the oven on to make cookies!
I moved the clock/radio/cd player out of our bedroom where it gets no use at all and put it atop the refrigerator in the kitchen. I do not need another clock in the room but it occurred to me over the weekend that it was a good way to listen to my choice of music when John had TV on and I just need a soothing space. Mind you I can still hear the TV and I won't be rude and turn up the CD so loud that he can't hear the TV or that music competes but it did make a huge difference this morning to have music playing quietly in the background as I worked and it dulled the sound of the TV which was a tremendous help.
I moved the clock/radio/cd player out of our bedroom where it gets no use at all and put it atop the refrigerator in the kitchen. I do not need another clock in the room but it occurred to me over the weekend that it was a good way to listen to my choice of music when John had TV on and I just need a soothing space. Mind you I can still hear the TV and I won't be rude and turn up the CD so loud that he can't hear the TV or that music competes but it did make a huge difference this morning to have music playing quietly in the background as I worked and it dulled the sound of the TV which was a tremendous help.
While the cookies were baking, I decided it was a good time to start dinner. I had other plans on my menu this week but the fridge is pretty full and some things just needed to be used up, so I pieced together a meal from what was in the fridge. I reheated corned beef and sour cream potatoes, cooked the last of the Brussels Sprouts (more on that in a minute) and made fried Green Tomatoes I didn't cook yesterday. I was surprised to find I still had leftover corned beef and potatoes though it didn't look to be that much when I put it away on Sunday. I put all the food except the tomatoes into the oven and let it continue on for about 15 minutes more then cut off the heat. Result was that 45 minutes later we had perfectly hot food and steamed Brussels Sprouts and the house was already cooler than it'd been with the oven running.
I made up a full recipe of cookie dough but we do not need 5 dozen cookies! I put half the dough in dollops on waxed paper and popped into the freezer to flash freeze. It is now packed up and we'll have cookies another day.
Brussels sprouts were the odor in my fridge. Not because they'd spoiled but because they were getting older. While they looked fresh and green and pretty, they smelled pretty strong when I opened the bag on Saturday and they smelled just as strong when I finished up that bag today. I told John that while the price at Aldi on those is quite good, I think in future, I'd really rather buy them at another grocery where I can purchase them loose and only get enough for one meal instead of having enough for two. I find I don't much want Brussels Sprouts right away again after I've just eaten them.
Dumped dishwater over another two potted plants. Then I noticed the watering can that is meant to be decorative was filled with water too, so I tipped it to water the plant it was hanging over and watered two more pots with what was caught from dew dripping off the roof.
Wednesday: Some mornings coffee just hasn't enough oomph to get me going...I drank my usual amount but no noticeable increase in desire to do much. I had a glass of iced tea almost immediately after breakfast in order to push the caffeine a bit harder.
Swept off the patio this morning, which was liberally scattered with leaves that have begun to drift off the Faith tree. I have a blower meant for this purpose but it's kept in John's tool shed, which is not really convenient for me. Given my lack of energy this morning it is an even less desirable place to keep it. But just where would I keep it otherwise? There's the question. So I swept and came to the conclusion that sweeping is a lot harder than using the blower, lol.
Worked on my recipe file. Time to sort it out and organize, cull recipes I've not tried in a year's time, copy out fresh those much used and badly battered ones, etc. A nice job for a low energy day.
Pinned and basted a damask tablecloth to the green chair and decided it shall make a very nice slipcover. I'll sit down to sew it up this next week. I want it to fit the curves of the chair and decided the best way to accomplish that was to have it button up the back. I'm not very experienced with buttonholes, but I'm going to stretch myself and see if I can't manage them. The damask tablecloth was picked up in a thrift store years ago and came from my storage.
Made a half recipe of a new to me tuna casserole. Dawn made this and recommended it on her blog. I used two cans of tuna because it called for six ounces and most cans are under 5ounces with the liquid in them. Honestly think next time I shall do the same. Tuna is inexpensive enough since my price point is 50c a can. The recipe halved made enough for two more servings and that's after John went for seconds. It's quite good. I'll be sharing the two recipes I've tried these past two weeks very shortly.
Prepared John's work lunch.
Made chicken salad from the last of the roasted chicken. Put the carcass in the freezer to make broth with one cooler day here soon.
Thursday: Work day morning routine: breakfast, lunch packed, coffee sent off with the man of the house.
I finished making up my September calendar pages in my handmade planner. Yes, I can buy a nice planner for under $10 but...well the truth is none of those suit my purpose half so well as having my own handmade one. I set up two pages as a full month calendar and then do two pages per week (like an at a glance calendar) and I have blank pages to fill with notes, quotes, etc. that I want to keep. In other words, this is a very custom planner. I thoroughly enjoyed using it last month. My little hard cover spiral journal cost me about $5 and is perfect for popping into my purse or upon my desk.
Used the free data hours to listen to more of my favorite music. I could, if I wanted, watch videos as well and this I might do in the future but I'm really enjoying having more music in my life.
Do you know what else I'm doing? I can be so somber at times...so I am spending time looking for things that I think are funny and guaranteed to make me laugh out loud: funny animal pictures, funny quotes, those texts gone wrong things. If it makes me laugh out loud, I'm saving to a board on Pinterest. My goal is to laugh out loud at least twice a day. I figure if keeping track of what I'm grateful for daily helped me be more grateful overall, the same will work with laughing out loud.
Worked on bill box. Happy that I've now set aside enough money to cover auto insurance renewal for the first six months of 2018. My next goal? Christmas funds.
Gathered the mail and trash and went off to do some of that necessary shopping. I thought long and hard about it and what I'd do and I decided that today was a good day to purchase Fall Floral picks to use in my home. I've used my old dollar store things for so long the leaves were falling off and the colors had gotten 'odd' over time. I also wanted to look for shoes and a blazer. I decided to concentrate my efforts in a certain section of town today where there is a mall, Hobby Lobby and a Kohl's about 2 blocks down. At the mall, I went into Belks. Apparently they have remodeled and expanded departments. They were having a huge shoe sale but I loathe the thing, because they stack boxes of shoes on a table four or five deep and you must look at every single box to find anything with your size...then it's a bad surprise nine times out of ten when you open the box. There is a much nicer Belks in a town northwest of me and I'm seriously considering heading there while John's off, if he's willing. I found three pairs of shoes on the regular displays, and only one of them was in stock in my size. At least they were half price. I was frustrated however. I specifically went to LOOK for shoes because I don't want to order them online and then find I needed a half size bigger or smaller, or a wider width in a particular style. I thought if I could try them on, then I'd be assured of somewhat better fit. I was a bit nonplussed when the clerk offered to order them for me...
Walked about looking for the women's section and I was super impressed. They gave over a whole section to the women's sizes and I don't mean just an 8x8 section but a whole segment of the store. I was so overwhelmed by the shoe mess that I hadn't patience to stand about and look at the women's clothing as I would have any other time. I'm going to make a point of going back to do that, though. I scanned racks looking for blazers or jackets but scanning isn't really looking.
Headed to Kohls where I was underwhelmed by the women's section and then went on to look at shoes. I tried on several pair of Aerosoles which I generally find quite comfortable but the style I liked would have been too large a half size up and wasn't quite wide enough in the size I fit. Oh well. I walked out empty handed. Here too I was appalled by the 'clearance' section of shoes, piles of boxes in deep cubbies. Again, you'd really have to devote time to finding a box with your size and a style you'd like. It does seem to me there must be a better way to do this clearance shoe thing!
At CVS, I used a $3 ECB reward that came in the mail and purchased sale priced paper towels and bathroom tissue. I came out with a $5 ECB.
Purchased a takeout lunch which I proceeded to try and eat in the car. Most of the food seemed intent upon rolling down my shirt front, sigh. When I came home, I treated with stain remover.
Dropped off a box of donations at Goodwill.
Went on to get my haircut. The young lady who did my hair today suited me very well, as far as styling my cut. I felt so much better to have my hair looking nice once again. We chatted and she informed me of several stores grouped in another section of town where I might have better luck shopping. I was too worn out to attempt it today but I've notated in my notebook and will go visit that area when I have my next bit of time to myself in about two weeks.
On my way home I stopped off at the Dollar General and bought four white sheer panels to hang in the living room. I will change the green ones I've got hanging now in the living room and dining room. I love the green but it's two different colors and two different lengths. This will give a more cohesive look in the living room and I'm hoping it will be brighter come winter when we typically can have cloudy days often.
I also found a new back door mat for $2.50. It has all the colors I've used on the back porch and is a heavy foam type mat. The one I bought this past early spring was a Coir mat. Not a thing wrong with it except Maddie has used it as bedding instead of the big bed John bought her. One shedding dog on a Coir mat, equals one fuzzy mat. I can't figure out how to de-fuzz it and I'm tired of looking at it as it is. I like the new mat so well I'm seriously considering going back and choosing another one or three at that price to set aside for future!
Came in from shopping and turned on the ceiling fans. I did not turn the AC any lower, just left it alone.
Made myself a fruit smoothie when I came in. I used frozen pieces of fruit and milk. I used 1 serving fruit, 1 serving milk and this resulted in 2 cups of smoothie mix.
Friday: When I spoke with John late yesterday afternoon there was a possibility he'd have to work an additional 12 hours before coming home. I revamped my planned weekend menu accordingly. It was best to have something I could easily start and finish the moment I knew he'd be coming home, or put away if it was to be just myself. He called about 7:30am to let me know he was on his way home, so I had time to do my Bible study before I needed to make breakfast.
I set Challah to rise while I cooked eggs after John came in.
I sort of cleaned out the fridge and this too precipitated weekend menu plans to change. I realized I had more tuna casserole left than I'd thought. I decided it would make a perfect meal for today, along with green beans and salad from the fridge.
I spent about an hour outdoors this morning, spreading mulch and pulling weeds, deadheading flowers and pulling up fully spent petunias. I tossed those stems into the flower bed at the corner of the porch. There were loads of seeds upon them and I'm hoping they will spread in that area and come up. Petunias are particularly quick to germinate and grow, so I could easily have a fresh batch well before autumn is started and they will last until we have our first killing frost, sometime in late November.
I fertilized the Hibiscus and watered it well. I've neglected it these past couple of weeks that we've not had rain and the leaves have fallen off it. I've noted that this is very hardy in our area and watering should bring it back to full leaf.
Came back indoors and went to work on meal prep for the weekend. I rolled out and braided the Challah. I used half the dough to make a pizza crust. We never finish a loaf of Challah. I don't know why but we don't. I made two small loaves for this week and next for Shabbat.
I tossed a squishy cucumber and the last leaves of a head of cabbage. I haven't had much food waste of late because I've been pretty diligent but something always seems to slip by doesn't it?
I prepped the vegetables for a pot roast dinner tomorrow, planned an easy menu for Sunday that can be made in under 20 minutes and plenty of salad made to go with all our meals.
After dinner, I loaded the last dishes into the dishwasher and then ran it. It was a full load. I opened the door to allow the dishes to air dry.
Poured my dishwater over a couple of baskets in the back porch bed.
That's my frugal week...How did yours go?
Living Well
This morning I went out to work in the yard. We've a spell of decreased humidity in our area and temperatures dropped a small amount. It was breezy and nice for a little while. I looked about me as I worked and realized the signs of the ending season are upon us. Golden stars have appeared on the Sweet Gum by the driveway. The Turkey Foot Oaks are increasingly filled with red leaves. It's also in those petunias which declared themselves done.
Yesterday on my way home, I found more and more goldenrod blooming roadside. Yes, the season is surely starting to change.
I have come to truly appreciate all the seasons but I confess, it's still autumn that makes my heart sing.
Dumped dishwater over another two potted plants. Then I noticed the watering can that is meant to be decorative was filled with water too, so I tipped it to water the plant it was hanging over and watered two more pots with what was caught from dew dripping off the roof.
Wednesday: Some mornings coffee just hasn't enough oomph to get me going...I drank my usual amount but no noticeable increase in desire to do much. I had a glass of iced tea almost immediately after breakfast in order to push the caffeine a bit harder.
Swept off the patio this morning, which was liberally scattered with leaves that have begun to drift off the Faith tree. I have a blower meant for this purpose but it's kept in John's tool shed, which is not really convenient for me. Given my lack of energy this morning it is an even less desirable place to keep it. But just where would I keep it otherwise? There's the question. So I swept and came to the conclusion that sweeping is a lot harder than using the blower, lol.
Worked on my recipe file. Time to sort it out and organize, cull recipes I've not tried in a year's time, copy out fresh those much used and badly battered ones, etc. A nice job for a low energy day.
Pinned and basted a damask tablecloth to the green chair and decided it shall make a very nice slipcover. I'll sit down to sew it up this next week. I want it to fit the curves of the chair and decided the best way to accomplish that was to have it button up the back. I'm not very experienced with buttonholes, but I'm going to stretch myself and see if I can't manage them. The damask tablecloth was picked up in a thrift store years ago and came from my storage.
Made a half recipe of a new to me tuna casserole. Dawn made this and recommended it on her blog. I used two cans of tuna because it called for six ounces and most cans are under 5ounces with the liquid in them. Honestly think next time I shall do the same. Tuna is inexpensive enough since my price point is 50c a can. The recipe halved made enough for two more servings and that's after John went for seconds. It's quite good. I'll be sharing the two recipes I've tried these past two weeks very shortly.
Prepared John's work lunch.
Made chicken salad from the last of the roasted chicken. Put the carcass in the freezer to make broth with one cooler day here soon.
Thursday: Work day morning routine: breakfast, lunch packed, coffee sent off with the man of the house.
I finished making up my September calendar pages in my handmade planner. Yes, I can buy a nice planner for under $10 but...well the truth is none of those suit my purpose half so well as having my own handmade one. I set up two pages as a full month calendar and then do two pages per week (like an at a glance calendar) and I have blank pages to fill with notes, quotes, etc. that I want to keep. In other words, this is a very custom planner. I thoroughly enjoyed using it last month. My little hard cover spiral journal cost me about $5 and is perfect for popping into my purse or upon my desk.
Used the free data hours to listen to more of my favorite music. I could, if I wanted, watch videos as well and this I might do in the future but I'm really enjoying having more music in my life.
Do you know what else I'm doing? I can be so somber at times...so I am spending time looking for things that I think are funny and guaranteed to make me laugh out loud: funny animal pictures, funny quotes, those texts gone wrong things. If it makes me laugh out loud, I'm saving to a board on Pinterest. My goal is to laugh out loud at least twice a day. I figure if keeping track of what I'm grateful for daily helped me be more grateful overall, the same will work with laughing out loud.
Worked on bill box. Happy that I've now set aside enough money to cover auto insurance renewal for the first six months of 2018. My next goal? Christmas funds.
Gathered the mail and trash and went off to do some of that necessary shopping. I thought long and hard about it and what I'd do and I decided that today was a good day to purchase Fall Floral picks to use in my home. I've used my old dollar store things for so long the leaves were falling off and the colors had gotten 'odd' over time. I also wanted to look for shoes and a blazer. I decided to concentrate my efforts in a certain section of town today where there is a mall, Hobby Lobby and a Kohl's about 2 blocks down. At the mall, I went into Belks. Apparently they have remodeled and expanded departments. They were having a huge shoe sale but I loathe the thing, because they stack boxes of shoes on a table four or five deep and you must look at every single box to find anything with your size...then it's a bad surprise nine times out of ten when you open the box. There is a much nicer Belks in a town northwest of me and I'm seriously considering heading there while John's off, if he's willing. I found three pairs of shoes on the regular displays, and only one of them was in stock in my size. At least they were half price. I was frustrated however. I specifically went to LOOK for shoes because I don't want to order them online and then find I needed a half size bigger or smaller, or a wider width in a particular style. I thought if I could try them on, then I'd be assured of somewhat better fit. I was a bit nonplussed when the clerk offered to order them for me...
Walked about looking for the women's section and I was super impressed. They gave over a whole section to the women's sizes and I don't mean just an 8x8 section but a whole segment of the store. I was so overwhelmed by the shoe mess that I hadn't patience to stand about and look at the women's clothing as I would have any other time. I'm going to make a point of going back to do that, though. I scanned racks looking for blazers or jackets but scanning isn't really looking.
Headed to Kohls where I was underwhelmed by the women's section and then went on to look at shoes. I tried on several pair of Aerosoles which I generally find quite comfortable but the style I liked would have been too large a half size up and wasn't quite wide enough in the size I fit. Oh well. I walked out empty handed. Here too I was appalled by the 'clearance' section of shoes, piles of boxes in deep cubbies. Again, you'd really have to devote time to finding a box with your size and a style you'd like. It does seem to me there must be a better way to do this clearance shoe thing!
At CVS, I used a $3 ECB reward that came in the mail and purchased sale priced paper towels and bathroom tissue. I came out with a $5 ECB.
Purchased a takeout lunch which I proceeded to try and eat in the car. Most of the food seemed intent upon rolling down my shirt front, sigh. When I came home, I treated with stain remover.
Dropped off a box of donations at Goodwill.
Went on to get my haircut. The young lady who did my hair today suited me very well, as far as styling my cut. I felt so much better to have my hair looking nice once again. We chatted and she informed me of several stores grouped in another section of town where I might have better luck shopping. I was too worn out to attempt it today but I've notated in my notebook and will go visit that area when I have my next bit of time to myself in about two weeks.
On my way home I stopped off at the Dollar General and bought four white sheer panels to hang in the living room. I will change the green ones I've got hanging now in the living room and dining room. I love the green but it's two different colors and two different lengths. This will give a more cohesive look in the living room and I'm hoping it will be brighter come winter when we typically can have cloudy days often.
I also found a new back door mat for $2.50. It has all the colors I've used on the back porch and is a heavy foam type mat. The one I bought this past early spring was a Coir mat. Not a thing wrong with it except Maddie has used it as bedding instead of the big bed John bought her. One shedding dog on a Coir mat, equals one fuzzy mat. I can't figure out how to de-fuzz it and I'm tired of looking at it as it is. I like the new mat so well I'm seriously considering going back and choosing another one or three at that price to set aside for future!
Came in from shopping and turned on the ceiling fans. I did not turn the AC any lower, just left it alone.
Made myself a fruit smoothie when I came in. I used frozen pieces of fruit and milk. I used 1 serving fruit, 1 serving milk and this resulted in 2 cups of smoothie mix.
Friday: When I spoke with John late yesterday afternoon there was a possibility he'd have to work an additional 12 hours before coming home. I revamped my planned weekend menu accordingly. It was best to have something I could easily start and finish the moment I knew he'd be coming home, or put away if it was to be just myself. He called about 7:30am to let me know he was on his way home, so I had time to do my Bible study before I needed to make breakfast.
I set Challah to rise while I cooked eggs after John came in.
I sort of cleaned out the fridge and this too precipitated weekend menu plans to change. I realized I had more tuna casserole left than I'd thought. I decided it would make a perfect meal for today, along with green beans and salad from the fridge.
I spent about an hour outdoors this morning, spreading mulch and pulling weeds, deadheading flowers and pulling up fully spent petunias. I tossed those stems into the flower bed at the corner of the porch. There were loads of seeds upon them and I'm hoping they will spread in that area and come up. Petunias are particularly quick to germinate and grow, so I could easily have a fresh batch well before autumn is started and they will last until we have our first killing frost, sometime in late November.
I fertilized the Hibiscus and watered it well. I've neglected it these past couple of weeks that we've not had rain and the leaves have fallen off it. I've noted that this is very hardy in our area and watering should bring it back to full leaf.
Came back indoors and went to work on meal prep for the weekend. I rolled out and braided the Challah. I used half the dough to make a pizza crust. We never finish a loaf of Challah. I don't know why but we don't. I made two small loaves for this week and next for Shabbat.
I tossed a squishy cucumber and the last leaves of a head of cabbage. I haven't had much food waste of late because I've been pretty diligent but something always seems to slip by doesn't it?
I prepped the vegetables for a pot roast dinner tomorrow, planned an easy menu for Sunday that can be made in under 20 minutes and plenty of salad made to go with all our meals.
After dinner, I loaded the last dishes into the dishwasher and then ran it. It was a full load. I opened the door to allow the dishes to air dry.
Poured my dishwater over a couple of baskets in the back porch bed.
That's my frugal week...How did yours go?
Living Well
This morning I went out to work in the yard. We've a spell of decreased humidity in our area and temperatures dropped a small amount. It was breezy and nice for a little while. I looked about me as I worked and realized the signs of the ending season are upon us. Golden stars have appeared on the Sweet Gum by the driveway. The Turkey Foot Oaks are increasingly filled with red leaves. It's also in those petunias which declared themselves done.
Yesterday on my way home, I found more and more goldenrod blooming roadside. Yes, the season is surely starting to change.
I have come to truly appreciate all the seasons but I confess, it's still autumn that makes my heart sing.
8 comments:
I completely understand about needing 9 hours of sleep and about not feeling motivated some mornings. I am that way too. Sometimes sleep is just the thing to refresh and give you a new start.
Lisa from Indiana
Autumn is my favourite season, too :)
I love Autumn, until it starts to wind down and I realize we are almost into winter which is my least favorite season.
I usually am only able to sleep 5 or 6 hours, and since I don't drink caffeine, it takes me a while to snap out of my stupor to the point where I can even scramble an egg.
What a great idea to find a few humorous quotes and pictures each day. Laughter really is good medicine.
I anticipate Belk's having a Labor Day sale next weekend so if you have the chance to go then you might have luck. This Belk is so nice since they expanded and I love that they have sections specifically for clearance items. The staff there are are great also. I rarely get to the one northeast of you-I try not to go to that town by myself- but it was nice on my last visit. A friend told me that Kohls is going to reduce the square footage of their stores so it will be interesting to see how much smaller they make the one you visited. Stopped for a minute in a thrift (hubby says junk ) store and everything except clothes were 50% off- got 2 long pieces of flower foam for 50 cents each, 2 potholders for 25 cents and 8 cloth napkins for $1.00 each. Here is hoping we have an early and long fall-- this humidity has been rough.
That goldenrod is beautiful. I love autumn, too.
It sounds like you had a great, busy week, getting lots done around the house. I've been canning, canning, canning, and need to start in this morning again. However, the boxes are finally getting emptier, and the end is in sight....at least for the peaches, pears and applesauce. I'll still need to do some tomatoes, but there are a lot that are not ready yet.
Have a great day!!!
I've also been working on my recipes too, particularly at low energy times. I have way more than I'll ever use, but I do love to try new things. The Dutch baby pancake recipe I use is in the King Arthur Flour cookbook. At least I think it's the same. They call it a Puff pancake, and it always comes out well. Hope you have a lovely Labor Day holiday!
I am here, browsing posts I haven't had a chance to catch up on and I have to tell you, Terri, this is a place of comfort for me. That may sound odd. I have been really struggling with anxiety this week and I started reading your blog posts and suddenly felt like I was sitting in the living room of a friend just enjoying the silent peace of your cozy home and godly friendship.
Thank you.
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