The Week Ahead: Spring has Sprung!

Indeed it has sprung.  I looked out the window this weekend and realized that I had no view through the trees...they are all fully leafed once again.  The faith tree has tiny new leaves on every single twig and the pecan has started to leaf out.  That is a sure sign that the winter weather is done!   We might well have cool days to come but we'll be unlikely to have frosts.



John has managed to avoid mowing thanks to those very cool mornings we've had these past two weeks but the lawn has definitely started to look a bit shaggy.  Plants are returning in the pots and I'm happy I shall have Angelonia, Oregano, Mint, Chrysanthemums, Asiatic Lilies, and Hydrangea once more.  No sign of Coleus or Snapdragons or Petunias...I'll just replace those.   Some years they act like perennials and return and some years they act like the annuals they are.   I'm debating whether I can harvest some of the Boston Ferns growing under the back porch.  My brain does turn to the yard over and over again as the days of spring progress.

I worked in the yard last week and I am aching to get out there this week. Seems every time I look at the porch or flower beds or pots I see some other task I hadn't even put on my list that really needs to be done. I'm so glad that I don't have to add Spring cleaning to my list of jobs.

How did I do last week with my list for the week and month?  I got the toy box sorted, removed one box of photos from the bookcase and found a more suitable container for them.  They now fit in the cabinet with the other photos.   I have a couple of more albums of modern day photos to move into that cabinet as soon as I figure out the best way to organize what I have on that bottom shelf.  That just leaves the really old photos, the ones Mama and family has passed on for genealogy purposes.  I did price albums and was not impressed with quality nor price.

I dusted the living room deeply and vacuumed well, including along the edges.  I did not get to the cleaning of the Ivory rocker.  I made a decision this week to content myself with what I have up in the living room for sheers, after pricing lace curtain panels at various websites.  Eventually I'll find something that will be suitable at a price that I consider very good.  I attempted to reorganize the buffet end cabinets with no luck in rearranging things in a better way.

I recalled I had a quilt I'd gotten from Mama's that would be pretty for guest room bedding and a trip to the dollar store turned up a lone pair of curtains in the perfect shade of blue.  I'll switch out bedding and curtains this coming week and will go on the hunt for new lampshades for the bedside lamps.

I did not paint the chifforobe (ho hum).  I decided to let that wait until I am working in that zone this week.  Perhaps today...

Outdoors:  I got the corner flower bed weeded.   Daylilies that had wandered from the border edges were dug out, and I replanted a few in bare places at the border.  I  leveled the bed once more including filling Maddie's deepest cooling hole and mulched the bed out.   I did try to dig a spot suitable for the new rosebush and found it hard going so I gave up.   I confess I was pretty doggone tired at that point.   I also got the little flower bed next to the back steps re-mulched one day last week, including moving the brick border out a little further, expanding the width of the space.  I repotted oregano and mint.  John admired all the work.  He always does.  But not enough to help accomplish it...

I changed our menu up and I'm not sorry I did.  We had a roast beef dinner that was delicious and had enough leftovers for sandwiches as well as a hash dinner.  We didn't have the hash dinner because I ran out of potatoes.   I'll move that to this week's menu.  I also made Chicken tacos one night because the avocados got ripe...While I might plan out menus of late, either weather changes or I find I really need to use up something that has suddenly reached prime usage date so menus at best are loose guidelines these days of what we might have.

I wrote and published a post on the newest blog which is called Roots and Rabbit Trails.  If you click on the 'About Me' on the right hand side of the blog page, all three of the blogs should come up and you can just click on whichever one you might want to see.   I have a second post almost ready to go up.

I finished reading the Nina George book and started a Grace Livingston Hill book called The Tryst.  I continued to read my vintage magazines and the blogs I follow.

I added a few rows of crochet to my little dishcloth.  I haven't touched my needlework sewing though.

What I read or watched this weekend:  From Frugal Measures  "Remember too that being kind costs nothing. A smile, holding the door for others, being a courteous driver, there are so many ways to be helpful and kind.

From the Frugal Girl blog this quote from Sanchita Pandey "Never let the things you want make you forget the things you have."

Did any of you participate in Patsi's Preparedness Class at A Working Pantry blog?  Be sure to read the posts and the comments, because there are lots of  tips in those comments.  

We watched a documentary on Neflix called "The Windsors" which gave us a bit more background and insight into "The Crown" which we also watched.  Frankly, I find the parallels between Elizabeth and Phillip remarkably like Victoria and Albert's reported struggles.  

One episode I watched this past week related to what the Queen saw as her lack of education.  She had many tutors all through her childhood and teen years who schooled her in etiquette and speech and English history.  She felt however, that she was lacking in general knowledge.   She hired a tutor to bring her up to date on  what she felt she was lacking academically.  At one point she brings up a matter of state that had occurred and the tutor points out to her that she is the leading authority on England's Constitution and encourages her to use her authority to bring the matter to a head, and that leads to increased confidence on her part.  

In a previous scene on the same episode she became aware that knowledge is a relative thing.  While one might not know all about politics or how to work out complicated math equations there are other areas where one is very knowledgeable and even the most brilliant men may know nothing at all.  

I find this relates quite well to our skills and knowledge in what we do on a daily basis.  It might not be within the expertise of someone else to do what we do in our homes or gardens.  For instance, John might well know how to thread a needle and sew on a button or tack up a hem, but it would be quite beyond him to make a set of lined drapes or a slipcover and while I can carry a tune I do not play guitar at all.    It's good to remember that we are all, in one way or another, intelligent people who carry on doing the best we can in our personal realms.

Work:  

It is Harvest week.  So bills must be worked up, the checkbook brought up to date (done) and groceries and pay week related errands must be attended to.  It's not a long process, but it is often one that is spread out over several days which eats up more hours than I'd like.  However, it's a great deal easier to do the bills and checkbook when there's no one about to distract me and the help rendered me in the process of getting the rest done is at least appreciated when we do get around to those tasks.

I mean to have a meal prep day in which I work on all three meals, dessert and snacks for the week.  I am trying to cut down on kitchen work overall, an area where I can spend about 1/3 of my week which means I am short on time for other things like yard work.   This week is meant to be quite warm so if I can get outdoors early so much the better.  

Keep Isaac while Bess has some OP diagnostics done.   This is afternoon only but will be quite enough.  I'll  be picking up Josh from bus and keeping him as well until Sam is off work and at home.

I have some indoor plants that need to be repotted.  I'm still waiting on the orchids to finish blooming so I can repot them.  They have gone outdoors for this week at least along with the Christmas cactus and avocado tree.

A day out with Mama.

All the usual housework.

All the work in the yard and on the porches that I can fit in.

Zone:

Typically I do the kitchen after the living room zone but I'm ready to tackle the bedrooms so I shall do beds and baths this week.  I am most interested in getting the guest room changed over to a new quilt and curtains (Done!) and pictures hung in that room.  I will go to the Dollar store to look for new shades for the guest room lamps.  I bought the lamps there and they carry a variety of shades, hopefully some that will go nicely in the room.

I also want to clear out some odds and ends from the guest room.  I've got books I can carry to the women's club for their annual sale, there are TWO tvs in that room, and a few other items that could leave and not be missed.

I hung pictures above our bed last Friday and LOVE the way it looks.  I simply moved the entire gallery arrangement from the side wall to above the bed and it's perfect.  I'd like to replace the grey sheers which frustrate me with their skimpiness with plain white ones for summer.  I'll pick those up while I'm in the dollar store, too.  I hope to get some that are much fuller.  If I have an opportunity I will seek out some material for a bed skirt to go with the summer spread.  I found something at Walmart the other day that would work and may just return when I'm in the area visiting Mama  to purchase it.

I also want to hang a new set of pictures in my bathroom and shall be gathering frames and working on that.   I think I'll sort out the bathroom cupboards once again.  I haven't done that in a few months.

Menus:


Turkey Tenderloins, Wild Rice, Steamed buttered Asparagus, Green Salad and Orange Marmalade Cake

on my own x2

Chicken Parmigiana, Pasta, Green Salad and Garlic bread
This meal at Katie's request.  I made enough for her, a dish for us and a single serve for me to have one day on my own.

Roast Beef Hash, Green Peas, Salad with tomatoes and cucumber

Probably a meal out with John.   He prefers to pick up something on our grocery shopping day.

Tuna Pasta Salad, Saltines
We didn't have this last week due to the cooler weather but likely will have it the day John mows the grass.  It's hearty enough to fill us up but light enough to allow us to get some work done after eating.

Quiet Time:

I am going to take a little time out and gather up my inspiration notebook and just see where my thoughts take me this week.  Truth told I am feeling a bit bored with my quieter pursuits and with leisure time overall.  I know full well there are loads of things I want to do but I can't think of them or haven't got what is required, so it shall be a week of making lists and jotting down inspired ideas and determining what it is I'd like to pursue and in what quantity.

And in the meantime, I have a few more vintage magazines for April to read, as well as a book or three.