In My Home This Week: Homebody

Saturday: I realized today that I haven't been away from home on my own in over a month except to run errands two weeks ago.  When I stop and think of all that I might do here each day I've had to myself and try to think of what I might go do or see...I just want to be at home!  If I try to tempt myself by going out to eat then there's nothing sounds half so good as what I have leftover here at home. I do like to shop but only occasionally not as a rule and at present with all the decluttering and tossing away, I'm not yet ready to spend money on things I mightn't really love or need.  There's nothing like sorting things out to bring home how much money is going back out of the door!  Home just seems to me the place to be. I think  I'm a Homebody.



I was home on Wednesday.  We stayed home all day long Thursday, Friday and today, too, not at all unusual on Saturday.  We took today as a true rest day and kept meals very simple.  I made pancakes for breakfast and Garlic bread pizza for lunch and we 'scratched around' for our supper and ended up having eggs and toast.   Can you tell I didn't really plan meals for the day?  No, nor do any prep ahead.  I was pretty sure of what we had on hand and used those items, but no real planning.  We spent the afternoon munching, a sure sign that our meals didn't satisfy.  Fortunately it's end of pay period which means there wasn't a whole lot to choose from, so little damage done to calorie-wise and we used up quite a few odds and ends that might have gone unnoticed or wanted had we had more to choose from.

I read a little, watched a movie with John that was ridiculous (Mystery Science Theatre) and worked on a tricky family line in my genealogy notebook.  I'd been given wrong information by my parents and discovered back last winter that the line needed to be corrected.  I'd made notes of my findings and thought I was going to have to scrap the whole section but it turns out that my great grandfather eventually did come from the five times great grandfather, just by a different son than supposed.  Oh the tangled webs we weave when we fail to check all our facts!  The original source was word of mouth; the internet is a very helpful resource that family didn't have.  My great grandfather wasn't well known by his family and was orphaned before he was 14 years old.  An uncle apparently raised the youngest brother and that was where everybody was certain sure they had the facts.

Sunday:  A few weeks ago, when we got the new mattress, I went ahead and changed our sheets on the Thursday that it arrived.  I'd  changed sheets on Sunday mornings for the past few years as a fresh start to the week but things got pretty hectic trying to get ready for church, wash and hang laundry, getting breakfast and remaking the bed, etc.   I did many a hasty toilette to get ready to leave the house on those mornings.  Since getting the new mattress,  I've been changing sheets towards the end of the week as I did when we first received it and I confess it's made my Sunday mornings a breeze.

That said, it's still a hectic morning.  I've been marveling for years at how cool, calm and collected John is while I rush about making the bed, clearing up dishes, feeding the pets, etc. I'm so glad he avoids all the ruckus...Yes, I'm having a little fun at his expense just now.  The truth is he would do anything I asked if I'd only ask.  I seldom do.  I used to resent it mightily that he didn't just pitch in and help but I gave that idea up long ago.  I remind myself that this is one morning of the week when I will pay the price that peace requires.  I loathe going to church all irritated and upset and dislike even more to have caused John to arrive there in the same state.

Today before leaving the house, I prepped a simple roast beef hash and put it into the crockpot.  There's something nice about coming home to a warm meal.  I wish I'd think to do this more often.  It's especially a comfort on a cold day but even on a late August day it's not too shabby a thing to come to.

After church we went to the grocery store.  I had a few items on a mental list...I should have written them down.  I needed dishwasher detergent and forgot that but I remembered other items I'd wanted there.  These were items I can't normally buy at Aldi or dislike purchasing there.  I put back any number of items we actually picked up and handled that weren't on my mental list and told myself "No...it's not on sale and this week we will be going to Aldi."  I said it so often that John said we'd go tomorrow.  Obviously he got the idea that I was out of enough items to warrant a real grocery shop.  I am!

This afternoon as I cleared up the dishes and was rinsing items for the dishwasher, I noted the cold water from the faucet was quite cold.  In summer, it's not uncommon for the water to be just slightly  lukewarm.  This was cold enough to chill my fingers.  I'm not accustomed to having such cold water at the end of August.   Later, as I stood at the kitchen window looking down the driveway, I noted that several trees had begun to take on a red tinge.  I asked John if he'd noticed them.  He had. Could it be we are in for an earlier than usual fall season?

Monday:  We were lazybones this morning.  I made the bed, fed the pets and rinsed dishes for the dishwasher and that was my sole housework today.  John did less than that even. Breakfast was easy enough.   John had asked yesterday if we might have cereal this morning, since we had fresh bananas on hand.   We'd also bought a fresh gallon of milk yesterday.

Why so lazy?  No particular reason.  We'd slept just fine and we'd plenty of things we might have done but it was the last day of John's five days off.  He'd worked hard on Wednesday and while he got a few things done he spent a good portion of the day Thursday sleeping.  Day one of his longer period off was done.  Friday, day two, he mowed our lawn and Sam's.  That is about five or six hours of work right there.  I'd worked hard myself all three days.  We rested on Saturday, a day we seldom do anything unless we are visiting or being visited by family.  Sunday was pretty much taken up with church and the few things I'd done in the house had been enough to keep it looking rather nice today.  So we vacationed so to speak.  I had an entrée in the freezer that I made for our lunch.  We were out of enough things that we settled for the entrée.  No sides and no salad.

We drove down this afternoon to pick up John's check.  While out, we took off the trash, went to the bank, mailed off our bills and then headed to the grocery store.

We are still getting used to the placement of things in our Aldi.  It's very nice but we've really only been in two other times before today so everything is still kind of new to us.  I knew what I'd spent yesterday at the grocery near our church and I knew about what I needed to come in around at Aldi.   I was happy to find I was very near the budget mark.  I pretty much stuck to the basics.

I recalled as I stood before counters and shelves that we had quite a few canned and frozen vegetables...so much for my excuse that we hadn't anything to go with the meal we'd eaten earlier.  I told John later, as I was putting things away, that I reckoned we'd get by for about three weeks with what we'd purchased added to what we had on hand. If I am tempted to purchase anything more it would be a small carton of plain yogurt so that I might make my own.  I am not currently planning to do even that much spending, though.

As I totted up the check register this evening, I noted that we've only a little of the current paycheck left.  If I'm careful we might save that portion and not spend below that point. With the lack of overtime the past couple of months, I really should refigure our income/outgo. I haven't done so since the first of the year.  I generally look at this quarterly.  I don't really want to wait until October to do this though. I think I can get a head start and do it for September and that will carry us through the end of the year.    I know that it's time for our electric bill to decrease.  It's time to begin to plan to pay for propane.  That first refill comes at the end of September.   There are a few sub-accounts I can decrease the amount we're setting aside and we'll suffer not at all, while increasing our wiggle room between checks.   Then if we should have any overtime I'll be able to save or allocate to a sub-account without our  feeling the current pinch we're experiencing.

We stopped and bought sandwiches on our way home.  I paid from my allowance.  I've apparently been out of the house so little that I realized, as I counted out change,  I had two and part of a third pay period's allowance in my wallet.  I'll set that aside to spend on something for the house when I finally set my wants down on paper.  In the meantime, I won't carry it all around with me either.  I will surely nickel and dime it out to nothing if I do.

John and I typically buy only one sandwich and share it from this particular place.  They really make a very generous sandwich.  I guess he was hungry (as was I) and so he ordered two plates this time.  Well, hungry or not, we couldn't either of us finish our sandwiches.  We both ended up setting half aside to have today.  He took his in his lunch tomorrow.

Tuesday:  Another day at home...I'm not going to even try and defend myself.  I really am more interested in what I want to accomplish here than anything else at present.  I asked myself over and over last night and this morning what I'd do with my alone time and I realized that there's so much work here just at present that I'd rather stay and see it through.  Well the weather went against me doing all I might have.  I did clean one front porch railing, though there's half the back porch to do yet.  I weeded about 2/3 of the mulched area about the Faith tree.  I only stopped because my knee began to bother me.

I came in and cleared the laundry area shelf above the washer and dryer and tossed half of it and rearranged what was left.  I really ought to clean but I was so hot and tired at that point that when John called, I agreed to go shower to cool down and to sit with my feet up a bit before tackling any more work for the day.   I did just as I'd promised.

I sat for a good thirty or forty minutes and drank a glass of water and then I jumped up and went right back to work.  This time I wanted to get my pantry settled and then I sorted the drapes and blankets and such that I keep on the upper shelves.  Result: two empty shelves on the bookcase, and a whole section of empty shelving above.

I noted the spread and shams on the guest bed had seen better days when I was making the bed up fresh after Sam and Bess left here.  Sam and Bess didn't use those items.  They'd been stored because they preferred their own pillows and blankets and I guess after not seeing them for a bit I saw them with fresh eyes..  I noted how terribly faded and stained the blue spread had gotten and one of the shams was discolored as well.  This morning I pulled those items off the bed.  The shams I will keep for the dogs to lie upon on the porch this winter.  The spread is far too big to do that with and too heavy to cut up.  I put that in the trash.  But what to do for my guest bed?

I decided to use the eyelet shams and skirt I'd gotten from Mama's house and brought home to wash.  I have a quilt Mama gave me a couple of years ago that I like rather well and I put that on the bed.  It's a fresh look for the room.  Now I need to redo the artwork and such on the walls because it doesn't suit me or the room any longer.   I'll sort that out here over the next few weeks.  I can't do much of anything as long as there's an old mattress propped against the wall and that old dresser in the way.  The guest room is just in transition at present and there's not much I can do about that.

I came out of the bedroom and looked at a photo of our room I'd meant to share with my simple changes and decided I just couldn't do it.  We need new box springs to go under our new mattress...and that lack of headboard!  Ugh.  Twenty years I've been waiting for John to 'find something' he likes.  Enough.  I went online to price box springs first, because that's our first need but wowza!  I just couldn't spend that sort of money right away.  I decided to check the clearance section and didn't find box springs there either but I did find a headboard.  I knew I had more than what it cost in my wallet.  John and I have a fast rule.  We never spend over a certain amount without asking the other...unless we have it in our personal account or pocket.  Then it's a free game.  So no asking him if he would like it nor waiting for him to come home.  I just went right ahead and ordered it.

Leftovers for meals today.  I've been unusually hungry for some reason today.

Wednesday:  John in this morning from work.  I'd been up early enough to hear the school bus stop and start off.  I always think of my little Josh climbing up those steps and sitting down near the driver and say a prayer for his day.  He's had some trouble adjusting to school.  He'll do well in the end, because he is smart.  He just needs that period of adjustment.

I made meatloaf for dinner today.  I used a full pound of the 85/15 beef from the freezer section at Aldi. It's a nice lean meat with little waste.  I divided the cooked meatloaf into four pieces, so we wouldn't overeat.   Half went into the fridge and we'll likely have that for sandwiches.

We had three ripe bananas that had just gone freckled.  That is the kiss of death as far as John's wanting to eat them.  I'd thought I would make a banana pound cake but that would mean having the oven on for hours since I couldn't cook the meatloaf at the same time.  I suddenly remembered we like banana pudding and Id just bought a box of vanilla wafers.  I made a meringue to go on top and it turned out lovely and golden when I'd cooked it. Yum!  No loss of bananas, no more forgotten frozen bananas in our freezer.

Used the two egg yolks to make a small pan of cornbread.  It made for a more yellow bread than we're accustomed to have but it tasted just fine.

It is very humid today and I felt absolutely no compulsion to go outdoors to work at all.  Nor did I feel sewing was the job for me today regardless of the stack of items waited to be altered.  I cleaned fans, chased cobwebs and vacuumed, and played about in the kitchen.  When I told John I had sewing to do and no inclination whatsoever, he started a sentence, "Well there's jobs I just don't want to do but I..."  I interrupted him, "There's plenty I will do even though I don't want to but sewing is different.  It can turn into a huge mess right quick if your mind isn't set to do it and I've absolutely no mind for it today."  This is fiddly sort of sewing, not the simple straight seam sort, so you others who sew know just what I mean about my mind not being right for sewing today.

This morning as I went out to empty the compost can, I saw a big brown feather in the rosemary bush by the back steps.  I reached out to touch it and then pulled my hand back.  NOT a feather!  It was a HUGE praying mantis and I was looking at his back half.  I've never seen such a large praying mantis before and was very impressed.  I wished I'd had my phone or camera.  Josh has a fascination with pictures of bugs though he's scared beyond reason of them in person.  I'd like to have shown him that one.  It was gone when I came back from the compost pile.

Thursday:  I have little or no desire to work these days, lol.  I made a quick breakfast of cheese grits and toast.  After clearing up those dishes, I started a corned beef in the crockpot for dinner (our midday meal).  After making the bed and feeding the pets, I spent time talking to Mama and Bess, and finishing up a book I'd started last night.   John was not in the least bothered by this lack of activity on my part.  He seldom is.

Cooked cabbage and potatoes to go with the corned beef.  I'm getting pretty good at guessing about what we'll eat and have no leftovers.

The corned beef was the smallest I've ever bought, just barely 2 pounds.  This is the perfect size with shrinkage for cooking for four people.  I put about half in the fridge and told John we'd have it Sunday after church with potato salad.

After I cleared up dishes we went to town.  We did our usual batching job of errands. I wanted to go to the dollar store for pet food, John wanted to get gas for mowing the field portion of the yard up the road and we took off trash, picked up and dropped off mail.

In the dollar store, I had a short list.  I did stray from it, looking at a few other items. I will be going back but my list today was full enough with out adding anything extra.  I got a few much needed personal care items, dog food and a rug to go at the back door.  Now that it's getting to be change of season mud is more likely to be tracked indoors.

John and I went back to the head of the drive.  He trimmed the over reaching branches near the mailboxes and cut the brush growing in front of our resident numbers.  I picked up the brush and moved it.  He drove the mower on up to Sam's and I brought the trimmers home and put them away.

Indoors at home, I unloaded my dollar store purchases, folded and put away laundry, cleared a few things up.  Then I settled in my chair and sipped ice water.  Did I feel guilty that John was off working and I was relaxing here at home?  A little...but I also know my husband.  He would never feel a similar guilt if roles were reversed.  On those rare occasions when he's working and calls home to hear that I've not felt like doing much, he always says, "Good!  It doesn't hurt for you to rest."

Spent a lot of time this evening looking out the window and admiring things.  Rust and green look so lovely together don't they?  That's what we have lining our drive just now.  Almost exactly alternating are trees that are green or rust.  Add in one red dog standing on the green grass of the hill and your heart can ache for the beauty of it all.  Maddie did a good job choosing her post to watch over the yard this evening.

A little later looked out and the skies were beyond beautiful with the sun shining on the cotton candy clouds.  The sunset to the west wasn't remarkable in the least but oh what it did to that eastern sky!

Friday:  Morning beauty: sunrise.  I'm afraid the sky started out red, so I guess we're due more weather today.  It rained last night around midnight.   Looking out my windows I noted that there's a sweet gum further up the yard that I wasn't aware existed.  I know it's there because there are yellow stars flung all over the ground of the upper level of the yard.

The yards look like Persian carpets anyway just now with all the leaves upon them.  Nothing like last night's vision of the rust and green and this morning's view of green grass with yellow stars and rusty red leaves strewn all over to remind one that today is the last day of the month.  And like it or not, this weekend ahead marks Labor Day which is unofficially noted as the end of summer, despite having three more weeks until the calendar says it is here.  My yard says we're nearer than we think.

This morning, I did work a bit.  I finished weeding the flower bed about the Faith tree.  It was quite wet out, having rained last night and I knew the last of the weeds would come up easily and they did.  No desire at all to wash porch rails today.  Too wet to paint anything.  So I cleared off the back porch a little.  Put a liner in the big older trash can and started filling it with odds and ends that were out there.  Moved the metal folding chairs that we took from the shed in June back to the shed.  Dang tree frog scared snootles out of me.  Do.not.like.frogs!

I stood looking about the yard and am amazed at what I'll see if I just stand there long enough.  Three bucks at the back fence who were just as curious about me as I was about them stared back at me.  I even walked out on the porch and looked at them more closely.  I so hope Sam renews his hunting license this year and we all get a deer for our freezers.  What a bonus that would be for us!

Remove three or four larger items from the shed to put with the donation items.  The car is quite full now.

Hung a few pictures this morning.  I'd removed the artwork above the bed in the guest room when I changed out the quilt.  I moved them off the sewing machine this morning and laid them on the bed and realized they went perfectly well with that quilt.  So I hung them back up on the wall, not in the same places as before.

Then off to the kitchen to hang a metal Sunbeam Bread sign I've wanted to hang for over a year but haven't.  That's up on the wall of my baking center, now.  The old black clock got a facelift and was moved, too.  Because it has a second hand, I keep it on the baking center wall.  It's easy to keep track of beating times with that second hand sweeping around the clock face.  I'd seen a lovely aqua/turquoise blue clock yesterday at the dollar store and I'd so meant to go back and get it.  No need.  I remembered I had some deeper color aqua chalk paint and so I dabbed it over the black clock this morning.  Quite happy with my even less expensive than dollar store clock.

Totted up the checkbook and that dollar store set of purchases yesterday threw me down below my previous balance, which I'd not meant to allow to happen.  We'll we're tightening up our purse strings now.  The credit card bill is in, too and though I couldn't figure what on earth made it so high, I discovered it was my new glasses.  Ow.  Forgot about those being charged.  Yep. We're done!

 Three guesses as to where I am today?  Bingo!  At home...and feeling a bit at loose ends really because you see I've done all I care to do today.  I tell myself I could run the donations that I loaded into the car this morning over to drop off...but then we'll be there on Sunday so why make two trips.  I tell myself I can go out to lunch.  Well I can...but I can't think of anything I'd like to have especially and I'm feeling a bit tight fisted with my money at present.  And the fridge and freezer are simply filled with foods.  So here I am.

I have meals planned for the weekend ahead and need do only a very little bit of prep.  I'd like to make a dessert of some sort but can't make up my mind just what.  The chicken is thawing.  All I need do is go ahead and dice potatoes to go in potato salad on Sunday and we'll be all ready for the weekend ahead.

I don't have any especial plans for this holiday weekend.  I think I want to sit here and mourn that summer is about over and get all excited that autumn is about to begin.  I'll pull out my September vintage magazines to read through.  John is working today and so I'm assured we'll do nothing much tomorrow but let him recover.

Y'all have a happy Labor day weekend!  Go enjoy the last of your summer.