The Week Behind: A Prudential Home

Saturday:  Sent John off to work in the usual manner.  He was surely not happy about this constant cycle of work, come home to lethargy, cram in everything into 14 waking hours and then going back to work...and who can blame him.  He must feel a great deal as though he's got on the hamster wheel and can't get off.



Noted the height of the grass/weeds outdoors.  John will surely have to mow this week on one of his day's off.  By the time he does our yard, he'll determine he must go do the yard up the road as well and there will be five or six hours of one of his day's off.  We are expecting freezing weather in the middle of the week, but we shall see.  I have to admit it's looking rather spring-ish around here in the South.

The University of Georgia has a free digital library of historical newspapers of various sorts.  I spent a happy day perusing our local paper through that site yesterday and found several mentions of family members and got a better idea of how they were involved in the county.

I had leftovers for meals today.  I contemplated going out to get something to eat, but in the end, I decided it was better to just stay home.

I noted that a pillow on John's chair was splitting along the seam in two or three places.  I had a threaded needled here next to my chair for making yoyos and took five minutes to sew that seam shut once more.  Another bit of prevention, this not delaying on repairs.

Spent a few moments more looking at the dishes I found last weekend that were from Corelle.  Truly not what I want, pretty as they are, so I deleted them.  I'll keep looking.  I really do have an idea of what I want and all I need do is wait for it.

Sunday:  When I woke this morning, I had a clear idea of what we'd have for breakfast this morning.  I wanted to keep it fairly simple in case John wanted to go to church.  I can never be sure if he's gotten rest or not during the night.

I started a chicken roasting right away.  I knew I had time to get it baked before we left if need be.

Well we didn't go.  I figured I was just so much ahead.  I made a graham crust for our dessert pie and mixed up the filling.  It's chilling now in the fridge.  The chicken is roasted.

I stripped our bed and bath and washed sheets and towels to hang in the sun...which has since disappeared entirely.

I swept off both porches this morning.   Then I came indoors and quickly swept up the kitchen and our bath, swished both bathrooms and made up our bed with fresh linens.  That put me right at the start of live stream service for church.

A rather rotten afternoon in our home for one reason and another.  The weather was nasty and nerves strained hard.  When all storms were over, both personal and weather ones we were all exhausted.   It was at this point that the heavy winter winds came pushing in, making a load of noise and knocking down tree branches on the roadway.  Ugh.

Monday:  A very poor night overall, let me tell you.  It was beyond 5am before I fell asleep and I was wide awake by 8:15a.  I was so disgusted with the night watch that I refused to go back to bed as John suggested I ought to do.

He had suggested last night, as a sort of consolation for our wretched afternoon the day before, to go out today.  I was dressed and ready to go long before he was this morning and seriously very nearly let my foul mood ruin the day more than once.  When he was not ready to leave home at what I deemed the hour of departure, when we were on our way to Warner Robins and I anticipated where he meant for us to go, anticipating where he might want to go eat, all gave me opportunity to dwell in my own foul sewage of thought...  I did bite my tongue however, and I'm so glad I did because what he planned out as we drove was to make today about me.

First a trip to the bookstore where I was told to get whatever I wanted.  I purchased two books, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane  by Lisa See and Little French Bistro by Nina George.   It blows my mind that the two paper back books cost only slightly more than two modern day magazines might have cost.

I was mighty tempted by a lovely copy of The Secret Garden which was well priced and made me deeply regret my purchase late last month of a paper back copy for about half the cost of the lovely leather bound and beautifully illustrated edition I found. Lesson learned there.  In future, I shall buy at least good hardcovers of these classics that will live on my bookshelf.

One of my favorite clothing stores is Cato.  There was one within the same shopping center, just a nice walk from the bookstore.  John suggested we go in there.  It was about this point I realized that today was all about me because typically, a trip to a clothing store puts John right off.  He not only insisted on going in with me but picked out a blouse for me, one I liked but might never have tried had he not suggested it.  It fit beautifully and was so flattering that I bought it.   I was very mindful as I shopped what I was looking for.  I'd worked that out last week.   I needed blouses to go with two pairs of  jean type pants, one a sort of taupe in color and one olive green.  I need new white and black jeans.  I could use anything that might go with any of those pants and blue jeans.   In the end, I didn't get any of the things I was after except a white t-shirt which is a staple in my wardrobe.   That is not to say I walked out empty handed.  I bought several tops that will go nicely with my jeans and with white or black jeans when I buy them.   I was rather pleased to find I was well within the self-imposed budget I'd determined to allow myself, despite John's urging to buy all I wanted.  I also felt pleased to be able to pull all of the money for my purchases from my purse.  I'd been saving a little of my allowance each pay period for several weeks for just such a purchase.

We then proceeded to drive further uptown than we normally travel to visit one of my favorite Asian food places.  I brought home enough leftovers for my dinner one day this week while John's working.

1. Prudence, calculation, foresight, forethought imply attempted provision against possible contingencies. Prudence is care, caution, and good judgment, as well as wisdom in looking ahead: sober prudence in handling one's affairs.

This definition went on to say that 'calculation denotes coldness, meanness and a determination to win at any cost' which I hotly deny.   I think calculation in the instance of prudence is a clear thinking about what future needs might occur and making that provision at a cost that suits the household.

As with my shopping today, I had assessed my needs and determined what pieces I would buy to meet those needs as well as what I meant to spend.  Though I bought other things, I kept in mind my wardrobe overall and know that what I bought will work with multiple pieces while looking flattering and right on my body.    That's calculation in a prudent manner.

After my Week Ahead post this week, Chef Juls Owings commented that she was continually reassessing her food storage.  She's had deeper food storage than I for quite a long time now.  She is aware that the needs of her household continually changes over time.  She is prudent in calculating what they will store in the future and how it shall be used and how much of it shall be wanted and what she might spend to achieve those items.

How do you calculate prudently in your household?

Tuesday:  Allergies have made my throat raw and occasionally mean a stuffy nose.  It is pollen season and this is to be expected.  Nevertheless, John has mentioned he must mow as I was sure he would, so I will likely go out later today when it's a bit warmer and pick up the branches that have blown to liberally about the yard under the few trees we have.  I am glad we do not live on a fully wooded site!

Sent John off to work this morning in the usual way.  I made oatmeal for our breakfast and slipped into the mixture some flax seed and hemp hearts, adding a further boost of omega threes and zine to our morning cereal.  We've eaten less oatmeal of late but it is inexpensive, filling and most importantly hot on these cooler mornings.  I did not notice frost when John left, just clear cold.

I do not feel over inclined to do much of anything today but of course, I shall push myself to do what needs to be done.  It's not an onerous list of things but there's enough upon my list to offer variety and I can pace myself so that it's not a heavy duty sort of day.  Oh the luxuries of a mostly clean house!

It is a reward system workday, lol.  That means I get time on the computer, or a chapter to read in my book club selection or whatever other leisurely activity I want to pursue if I do 'x' amount of work.  It took but an hour this morning to vacuum and sweep the house, do a general picking up and straightening, load the dishwasher etc.  I took time to put ingredients for Shabat bread in the mixer bowl, but I am waiting for the eggs to come to room temperature and the butter to soften somewhat before continuing with the bread.  I mixed up a box of gelatin and divided into four separate serving cups right away.

I also mixed and baked a mandarin orange Angel food cake which is a HUGE disappointment and went into the trash.  I have triple checked the recipe I used and I did as the recipe said: used an add water only angel food cake mix, mashed my mandarin orange slices, didn't drain them,  mixed briefly and baked in an ungreased pan.  It is a flat heavy gummy baked on mess, sigh.

Pulled a bit of leftover sauce from the freezer, tossed in some chicken from our Sunday roast chicken and cooked some pasta.  That and leftover salad was my dinner today.  Mind you this didn't taste very well either but I picked out all the chicken and ate it and the dogs can eat the sauce.  Future reference file, don't freeze that particular sort of sauce.  It's best made when you want it

Made a batch of rolls.  The recipe left me with questions but I relied on my limited experience and the dough rose beautifully, so I couldn't have done things too wrong.   This is a make and freeze recipe, then you take them from the freezer to thaw, rise and bake.  I'll have to plan ahead for Shabat but I'm curious to see how these come out.   I got a bit over two dozen.

Light supper because I failed to pay attention to time.  I had a date nut protein bar and a little bit of yogurt that was left in a jar.

Hand washed a good many dishes this evening, though I also loaded some into the dishwasher.  That hot water felt good on my hands.

Fed the pets an extra portion of food.  Typically they eat in the morning, but we're expecting below freezing temperatures again tonight and I want them to have the calories to keep warm with.  I have houses and bedding for all three.  Maddie insists on sleeping out in the yard and Rufus sleeps on the front porch door mat.  The cat is the only one who uses a dog house.

I am reworking my menu plan.  I completely failed to plan to use the leftovers of that chicken I roasted this weekend.   I'm still going to make the meatless spaghetti sauce with lentils but I think I want a chicken pot pie and chicken noodle soup from the remainder of the chicken.

I had new toys arrive today.  I love the Melissa and Doug toys but they can be pricey.  However, Zulily has a few offers now and then that are affordable.  Typically I try to grab these for birthday and Christmas gifts for the three youngest but this last time I ordered for my toy box here.  I got a stacker set that has three arms and three shapes to stack on them, plus a shape sorter set and two wooden kazoos.   Eventually I hope to have nicer toys and fewer of the fast food variety toys that seem to populate the toy box most.  I want basic good toys like a tea set and  baby doll and blocks and cars.

Wednesday:  John was supposed to have class this morning...and I'd planned to sleep in.  The sunshine was so bright in my west facing window though that I woke at 7am.  So I got up and showered and was dressing when John called to say he was on his way home and what was for breakfast?  Yes, indeed...what was for breakfast and me thinking only that I wanted a cup of coffee!
I found pancakes in the freezer and made eggs to go with them.

I bought bell peppers a month ago to stuff and here I've yet to stuff them.  I really didn't feel well (itchy ears, swollen lymph glands, hoarseness...it's all allergies, ugh) enough to go outdoors and pick up sticks from the grass, so I decided I'd make it a kitchen day.    I blanched two bell peppers and chopped a third, cut up onion and celery, grated carrot and diced a potato.  I stripped chicken from the carcass and thawed puff pastry.   I soon had a double recipe of spaghetti sauce simmering, a big pan of chicken soup base for chicken noodle soup with vegetables and a chicken pot pie base.  The pot pie was today's dinner.  Leftover gravy was turned into the chicken soup pot and did no harm to that.

John washed a large load of clothes today.  He hung all my shirts, jacket, etc to dry indoors at my request, but took his own clothes to the line to dry.

I washed a full load of dishes in the dishwasher.

I spent a lot of time reading, or playing a game on computer or reading...Not a lot of work from me today despite my morning's work in the kitchen.   When John sat down in his chair this afternoon and went right off to sleep (he'd been up since 3am), I took that as permission to take my weary, bleary eyed self off to bed to lie down, too.  I was shocked at how much my body ached.  I hadn't even noticed it until I relaxed.  I didn't go to sleep, but I did enjoy the warmth of the sun pouring over the bed and listened to vlog posts, mostly with my eyes closed so I might have drifted here and there.   I got up at 6pm and went about reheating the oriental foods left over from our meal out on Monday.  It was yummy and just the right amount for two.   John added in two boiled eggs he'd not eaten in his lunch the day before, so he had plenty, too.

The last thing done today was to clear up the kitchen one more time, including putting away the dishes I'd washed mid afternoon.   I was so tempted to skip this but I know that come tomorrow morning I'll wish I hadn't left the job undone.  Much better to ease my way into tomorrow's work than deal with leftovers from today's tasks.

Thursday:  Last night we'd discussed going to a bank to open an account for our new savings account.  However, at breakfast this morning, John let me know we'd not be going out.  'You don't feel well, and it never fails when you push yourself to do extras that you get even more sick.  We'll stay home."   I thought over my plans for the day and I'd planned a hefty day out, meaning to ask him to run three or four errands.    I'm afraid my husband is on to me...and he's wise as well because I really don't feel well.   As much as I might want to go to Peaches to Beaches tomorrow, I may stay home.  Aside from the exposure to loads of pollen, it tends to be a crush and involves a good bit of walking to get to the vendors or to see even a portion of them.

I used milk to cook grits this morning.  I don't do this often, as I like grits just fine cooked with water, but I wanted to boost the protein of the hot cereal without adding cheese as we'd typically do, nor to eat more eggs.   I'm down to a mere 18 in the fridge and after the glut of six dozen it feels a smidge like scarcity, lol.

I decided today we'd have our stuffed pepper meal.  I'd forgotten I'd diced potato into my meat mixture and didn't want to add in rice, too.  I just proceeded as usual with the stuffed peppers...or so I thought I would but I also discovered I've zero cans of tomato soup on hand.  I grabbed a jar of marinara to use as the sauce instead.   This entrée turned into quite a different thing than I'd anticipated, but it was good.  Fresh coleslaw and the last of the butter beans from the freezer finished off the meal.

Since I made eggrolls, I made good use of this cabbage but too often I fail.  I do like fresh coleslaw and I like it in a variety of ways.  Shredded cabbage with pickle relish and mayo is quite good, but it's also good with, of all things, pineapple chunks and marshmallows (we used to have that in Florida); with grated carrot with or without pickle relish;  with diced apples and walnuts; and also with diced fresh tomato and green bell pepper.  Occasionally I make a KFC style coleslaw with a bit of horseradish and chopped green onion tops added to the mayonnaise before mixing into the shredded carrots and cabbage.  It's all quite good!  My point is we like freshly made slaw and I seldom take the time to utilize my range of recipes to make it part of our diet routinely.  I mean to correct that.  Cabbage is never as cheap anymore as it was once upon a time but it's still inexpensive and it's tasty.  And to add to it's versatility, we like it steamed and creamed, as well.  Like a potato, it just lends itself to many recipes.

Speaking of being out of tomato soup reminds me that John and I talked of tomato soup last night at dinner.   I'd recently made tomato soup for supper one night.  He told me that he really preferred Campbell's tomato soup and I have to say that if I'm not using it as an ingredient in a dish, so do I!   Now for my part, I'd quite happily continue to sacrifice my personal taste and use just the Aldi soup, but it John prefers Campbells then I'll purchase Campbells.    Is Aldi of lesser quality?  I wouldn't say it is, but it does not taste quite the same eaten as a bowl of soup nor does it have the same bright color that Campbell's tomato soup has.   I can buy Campbell's tomato soup for just a couple of pennies more in cooler months.  So I'll make a compromise here.  I will buy a few cans of Campbell's for use as soup, but I'll continue to use the Aldi version when it's part of a recipe.  Now all that said, I'll continue to buy the Aldi  cream of whatever soups because frankly they are always served as a part of a recipe and never on their own and I find they do just as well as the name brand.

I looked online yesterday for a blouse to go with my olive green pants...and what I keep noting is that nearly every pair of olive pants I see online is shown with a navy, gray, black, white, cream or maroon solid blouse with an occasional glimpse of a coral, peach or yellow one.   In other words, the pants are being used a neutral piece and is often paired with other neutrals.   I  don't have a lot of patterned blouses in my wardrobe and I did find one I rather liked on Zulily which I ordered, but I think I'm going to adjust my 'wants' to include a gray tee shirt and maybe an ivory one to pair with those pants.  All but the gray would pair well with the taupe colored pants as well.

I am out of oranges.  I can't think how that happened as oranges are the one fruit we generally have on hand.  However, I do have lemons so I've been slicing a big thick piece and floating in my water to drink the past two days.  I may make some lemonade, too. I do a lower sugar version and I just feel the Vitamin C would be super beneficial to me at present.

Shopping at home this week:  a box of tissues (my sore nose thanks me), a roll of paper towels, a box of waxed paper, a bag of decaf coffee, a fresh box of cereal.  I so appreciate my pantry!

Friday:  It's very early morning...I've just heard the bus take Josh to school and I'm sitting here gathering my thoughts about what I'm likely to accomplish today.  I looked over my plans for this week and despite this stinking allergy going on, I've done well enough.  Not all accomplished but not all allowed to slide to nothingness either.

I'd really wanted to go to Peaches to Beaches today but the pollen count is not listed as Very High, and given how much stuffiness, sneezing, and sinus pain I have at present, I'm going to skip being outdoors.  I just don't feel well enough to leave home to do  anything, much as I'd love to knock out the rest of the shopping I'd meant to do.   I don't want to go outdoors and dig about in the shed or work in the yard.  I'm miserable enough with allergies without going about in the pollen laden air.   It's simply not my happy place at present.  I know that everything I'd touch at the vendors booths will be covered with pollen, as will the car.  I do wish this wasn't a once a year event but there are thrift and antique stores abounding in Warner Robins.    I saw 5 or 6 earlier this week when we drove to that oriental restaurant and every one of these stores is within to miles or so of where I normally go to shop so not too far out of the way.   I'll put that on my list for another day's pleasure jaunt.

Plans for today: Sweep/vacuum floors.  Mostly I'll hit the traffic patterns on the carpets and about the dining room table, so I'll likely opt to use the carpet sweeper.   In the kitchen it takes no time at all to sweep the floor.  I'll check the baths to see how they look.  Again, it takes not time to sweep those floors.  I'll swish the bathrooms and freshen them for the weekend ahead.  Empty trash, make the bed and wipe the kitchen counters (before I sweep).

I need to take out rolls to thaw and rise for Shabat/weekend meals ahead.  I need to determine what I'll have for weekend meals.  I have options that are pretty much ready to go, but are they what I want?  There's the question, lol.  I want a crockpot friendly meal for Sunday.  I expect we will go to church.

I might take time to make out my grocery list for next week.  Tomato soup and oranges will top that list!

I started work on the bills the other day.  I'll finish that work up and balance the checkbook.

I'll check my closet and try to work out a few more options for outfits

And that will see me pretty much done.  I don't expect all of these tasks will take a full two hours, so my day is pretty much free from there...so I'd best plan what I shall be doing for my leisure hours today as well, huh?   John's off to work, sent off with coffee and breakfast and work meals as usual.  I'm going to finish up this post and get busy on my housework.

Please share what you did this week to generate savings in your home and any weekend plans you might have.