In My Home This Week: Green Green Grass of Home

In my home this week...

...The grass is green.  Our two weeks running of rain followed by a full day of sunshine then a front of thunderstorms has left the yards and trees so freshly green that  the world here still has that spanking new look about it.   Unfortunately it also meant that though John had just spent five hours mowing the overgrown lawn, it looked within two days as though it could use another hard clipping.  And so he mowed the lawn once again.

I was inspired by all the masses of plants at the garden centers to get out in the yard and do a good bit of work.   Flower beds were weeded which was fairly easy with the mulch put in place, though two or three areas need more work.  I repotted volunteers and overwintered plants.  Now I have a bevy of empty pots to fill with something fresh and new.



In town, at one of the thrift places there are two metal chairs painted turquoise with the most hideous gold and brown panels on them.  I have decided I really need to get those two chairs to replace my rotting wooden ladderback ones for my little flower bed in front of the back porch.   I can just see them there.

This is a birthday month for our family.  Really it starts the last week of May...and we are now coming right up on birthdays  3 and 4.  We have two the following week and two the week after that as well.  Then we settle back into a more reasonable pacing for birthdays.

...I worked:

I have dusted, wiped, washed and generally given my home a really decent going over.  I've taken ten and fifteen minutes of spare time to do this.  It was much needed and while it's hardly a spring cleaning it at least looks a little less neglected than it's been doing.

Repotted mums, dianthus, petunias, Angelonia and snapdragons.

Weeded several flower beds.

Put out mosquito dunk pellets in all the buckets where we allow water to stand.  That comes in awfully handy in the dryer months for watering the potted plants and keeps the animals well watered as well.

Spruced up the front patio to some extent.

Painted a lamp for our bedroom.

All the usual: laundry, dishes, meals, changing of diapers, keeping boys.

...I made meals:

Leftovers all day Shabat.

out with John on Sunday

Leftover burritos, Salad, Yellow Rice

Fried Cubed Steak...and for the life of me, I can't remember what I made to go with it.

I can't remember...

Crockpot Alpine Chicken, Mashed potatoes, steamed mixed vegetables

I have no clue what we shall have.

...I saved money:

Long conversation with John on Harvest Day over various things, including the current grocery budget.  We have agreed that if no extra money is forthcoming to help with expenses then we shall just all have to do best we can on what we'd normally spend for the two of us.  It's not ideal but it's the way things must be.  To that end, I decided to skip purchasing groceries until necessity demanded it, which is going to be sooner rather than later since the lettuce is gone, and the milk is low and we've but one dozen of eggs.  Still the longer it's put off, the further our funds stretch.

Happily found a nice head of iceberg in the fridge drawer.  Not in the drawer I use for lettuce but still fresh thankfully.

Sorted out the fridge and made sure we ate all the leftovers of various sorts or put them in the freezer for a future entrée for one if nothing else could be done with them.

A windfall was put directly into savings account.  This shall be used to purchase a new mower, a pressure washer and fixtures for the guest bath, plus a toilet for the master bath after tithing.  John wanted to make a special tithe with this money and is gathering information.  We don't spend one penny of it until tithe is made.

John earned quite a lot of money with all the overtime he'd earned.  I am setting aside a bit of it for work to be done on the master bathroom.

I transferred the money I've  earned from Jamberry (after all the expenses I've paid for my business) into my bank account.

A complaint lodged that coffee we were using was not up to the taste standards of some in the household.  It was pointed out that since the coffee is in house, we shall be using it up and can change brands when it's done.

Put a four serving portion of a casserole dish that was leftover into the freezer for a future easy meal.

Painted a thrifted ginger jar lamp for my bedroom.  The paint color matches my new throw pillows on the bed exactly.

Pulled a few things from a bin in the shed and brought them indoors to use on the living room mantel.  Not quite the look I was going for but fresher than it had been looking.

Much as I prefer the bakery bread, I have resorted to cheap mass manufactured bread.  In fact, quite a lot of little luxuries have been removed from the grocery budget.

Gave myself a fresh manicure.  I chose to use wraps this time around.  They tend to last far longer than any other manicure on my nails.

Went thrifting for a second lamp to use in my bedroom.   The old candlestick lamps will be repainted and repurposed for another use.

We shopped carefully for groceries.  I spent 3/4 of my budget for the month but there was nothing frivolous about what we purchased.  Sadly nor was it quite enough.  It does hurt a bit to buy foods on Wednesday and see that they have already been hard hit by Friday.  But there's only so much storage and so much needed.  At least waste is minimal.

...I had my leisure:

Binge watched a Vlog I've been enjoying.

Had an afternoon out with John in which I got a fresh haircut in a slightly different pixie style, ate out and ran errands.  We stopped for a milkshake on our way home which is a rare treat indeed these days.

Watched "Marie Antoinette"(2007).