In My Home This Week: Winter Joys

In my home this week...

...I saw snow this week.  It's not something we see often but every now and then we have a dusting.  It lasted only a few hours though the temperature plummeted after it fell.  Sunlight is a powerful thing when the snow is only an inch or two in depth.

Maddie had no idea what to do.  She sat about looking miserable but wouldn't come in from the snow.  No she sat in it.  She stood in it.  She walked about in it.  Samuel, who had tried to make it west of us, had to turn around and come back home, finding it harder going than he'd anticipated.  He sat in his car for a bit and worked and told me he watched Maddie play in the snow as well.

Misu was the least amused one.  She does not like snow.  For whatever reason, like Maddie, she ignored her house.  Instead, she sat on the front porch welcome mat and groused at us about it.  I knew from past experience she would not go potty anywhere else, so I fixed her up a litter box.  I'd bought the litter a couple of years ago after a snow storm had her frantic for relieving herself.   I provided her with a box of earth then.  Litter is just easier to deal with than frozen dirt.



John was the least amused among us though I did catch him standing at the window taking a photo. It is pretty.  But he was ill about it for a score of reasons.  He loathes the ice and snow for driving.  He loathes the calls that come in for help when such occurs.  He loathes the worrying that accompanies having loved ones out on the road and the concern over downed power lines.   He loathes those who can use the excuse of snow as a reason to stay home.  He becomes rather grumpy when those meant to bring service to us for one reason or another can't come.  That makes it sound like he is grumpy but he isn't.  He just doesn't like snow and he makes it plain he doesn't.

I felt as I always do about snow.  Oh how pretty it is!  The first slip on the porch though and I'm over it, lol.  I much prefer to stand at the windows of my cozy home and admire it while it's pristine and regret it as it begins to melt and look patchy and muddy.  I do wonder though. It's a rare year when we see snow but it's a rarer one yet when we see it only once...I wonder when we'll have the next snowfall?

...I worked:

I started my housekeeping job.  I also may have ended my housekeeping job at the same time.  Why?  Because I realized that Bess was doing a rather good job and there was a simple solution to what appears to be a problem: closing closet doors closes out a LOT of visual clutter. No spot in her house was really dirty.  I helped her set up a simple 5 a day routine with a focus on one room a day for refining or deep cleaning touches.   It's worked well enough for her that she said she didn't see a need for me to return next week as planned.  I'm pleased that it's worked out so well for her!

I did the usual sorts of chores: changing sheets and sweeping floors, cleaning baths and washing dishes, making meals and work lunches.  That never ending round of various household chores that come around often enough to be hardly worth mentioning but is work all the same.

I worked on Jamberry.  A LOT.  I have set up a notebook to help me track expenses and income, customers

I spent one day out shopping.  If you think it wasn't work, think again.  Shopping for things upon a list often means spending a lot of time looking trying to find the needed item and then the best bargains on that item AND avoiding the impulse buys you can get distracted with and lugging  packages about with you if you happen to have parked across the parking lot well away from the last store you shopped, then hauling it all inside and putting it away....just saying.

I swept up snow off the back porch and hung the dog's bed to dry, etc.  I cleared snow from chairs and steps on the front porch, saving icy patches from forming to make us fall.

Kept the two boys occupied while Sam and Bess went to view homes.  This also was work but not exhausting work.  What other sort of work involves singing silly songs into a tube as a microphone?  Or teaching an almost 1 year old how to play pat-a-cake.

I sorted out a kitchen cabinet that had gotten into a real mess and got it organized so that I could easily find the foods contained within.

I also sorted out the bathroom cupboards.  I threw away a trash can full of samples, etc that we hadn't used in three years of hanging on to them.  No great loss since I paid nothing for them anyway.  Kept back a zippered bag of travel sized items for future trips we might make.

John washed and hung to dry most of two loads of clothes.

...I saved money and time:

I earned my first bit of money housekeeping.  I'll add that to my bathroom renovation fund.

John received a raise on his job.  This is big news!  We have had few raises in salary over the last few years.  Just these next couple of pay periods it will not go directly to savings for the simple reason that I don't know what his new base pay shall be.  Once that is determined I'll be putting aside the money into savings.  We are doing just fine on what he's made this past year.  The first part of the year always has holidays added in.  Those holiday amounts go into rebuilding our base balance, boosting sub accounts and helping us cover purchases for the inevitable needs that arise towards the start of a new year.

I put money into our windows and underpinning fund.  We are now gathering quotes for windows.  

I stopped at Dollar Tree and picked up new reading glasses.  The ones I'd been using in bed broke and the lens fell out.  I bought some last week at Dollar General for much more than $1 but they were not strong enough for me to see to read in bed.  These should work much better for me.  I picked up three pairs, all colorful and fun and all meant just for reading in bed.  This keeps my bifocals from being misshapen while laying on my side reading.

I ate leftovers for my noon meal each day.

Though we have apples and oranges as well as some canned fruits, I couldn't resist a container of mixed fruit at the produce department at the grocery this week. It seemed a bit pricey at $2.50 but it worked out to four generous servings of fruit so that seemed a small price to pay for something fresh that gave us the variety we were craving.  Now we'll go right back to apples and oranges and canned fruits.

Made a double batch of spaghetti sauce.  One portion for supper, one portion for lasagna.  The lasagna fit a 9 x 13 pan.  I served it for supper then put two packages up in the freezer with enough to serve two and four respectively in the two packages.

Cooked a corned beef in the crockpot.  Saved the broth to cook potatoes and cabbage the next day.  The guys really enjoyed this meal and left me about enough to manage corned beef hash as a leftover meal for two.

Made breakfast for two then stretched it to serve three when Samul returned unexpectedly on the snowy day.  I added pieces of toast and just divided up the rest into slightly smaller portions.

NO savings on this one.  I learned an expensive lesson.  Cute prizes for my party goers at the Launch party but I failed to purchase mailers that fit the items I was giving as prizes.  Ugh.  I was so pleased with myself and I loved loved giving prizes but I will be sure next party prizes have suitable less expensive mailers to get them to where they need to go!  Two suggested the possibility of gift cards which seems reasonable enough.  I'll work on this end of things.  Thankfully I made enough to offset the costs and break even.

It got pretty cold here.  We pulled out the electric heater to put in the master bath.  With the propane heater going and our bedroom door closed with company in the house,  it means that our room and bath are actually much cooler than the thermostat is set for.  We won't run that heater during the day but it's definitely going on at night for two or three nights.

More propane usage just now but I'm not letting it bother me in the least.  It's cheaper than replacing burst pipes!  I also have a small sub account with a balance in it for just such need to cover the possibility of overage in propane (or electricity).

A quart of leftover chili from the freezer and some homemade cornbread pancakes made an old family favorite of Tortilla Casserole.  I used some slightly soured milk to make the corn cakes. This hit the spot on one of our very cold evenings here.

Refused to go to the grocery this week, though the inner urging was strong.  Instead, everything we used was right from the pantry or freezer or food stock  on hand.  I did ask Sam to pick up a new gallon of milk when he had to go to the store on Wednesday evening.  Must have been intuition because  the half gallon left in the fridge was fine that morning, but was starting to turn in taste that evening.

Asked Bess to take a bag of trash with her to drop off at the dumpsters when she left on Friday.  Saved us a trip out on Friday afternoon.

...I made meals:

Steak, German Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli

Kale and Farro Soup, Turkey Sandwiches, Fruit Salad

on my own

Corned Beef, Potatoes and Cabbage, Baked Apples

Lasagna, Italian Flat Beans, Salad, Garlic Bread

Tortilla Casserole, Corn, Sliced Avocado

Corned Beef And Swiss Sandwiches with Pickles and chips, Pudding.


...I took my leisure

I took myself out to lunch on Monday.  No graveyard burger picnic.  I went into a restaurant, sat down and ordered a meal and took my leisure eating it.  I'd worked at home that morning and then worked hard shopping.  I needed that break and I'm glad I took it.  I must say I'm still not quite comfortable eating alone but I managed all right.

I sat down to read one of my vintage magazines.

I got tired of reading two or three paragraphs at a time in my book so I took it up and finished it.  Now I can start another.  I've only been reading this little book (Fairacre Diary by Miss Read) since Thanksgiving. Time to start a new book for the new year!

I walked to the mailbox one afternoon.  I like walking this time of year but seldom get out and do it.  It was lovely to walk to the mailbox and back again.  I spied a wild holly bush growing at the edge of the wooded area near the drive.