The Week Behind: April Showers

When April showers...come your way...they bring the flowers...that bloom in May.

late Friday afternoon:  I did not make the planned return of items today.  As it happens I'd bought Mama a shirt which also needed to be returned but my receipt was at home.  I'll be going back next week to attend to another matter and will take both returns with me so I can turn them in at the respective stores.



Mama and I had a very dissatisfactory lunch.  I do believe in leaving feedback so I filled out the survey and stated what my issues were.  I did not lambast the clerk.  She was a lovely friendly girl who did her best to rectify the mistake, but you know the issues I had really needed to be addressed so the staff knows.     I got a code for another buy one get one item which seems to be the going rate for filling out a survey these days.

I decided to skip the Starbucks Cloud Macchiato I wanted and just come on home to make coffee.  I have a gift card, true, but there are more calories in that coffee than in my homemade and I know it.  I will save that treat for another day.  I enjoyed my home brewed coffee a great deal once I got it made.  I unloaded the dishwasher and put away dishes while the coffee brewed.

When I got home this afternoon I weeded the flower bed in front of the back porch.  Rufus apparently thought it was all for his benefit.  He lay down on the cool damp dirt and sighed heavily, lol.  Enjoy it doggie...that flower bed is soon going to be mulched and made pretty once more.

For my supper, I made a salad using a pear that had a bad spot on it.  I made a pear, walnut and roasted turkey breast salad with blue cheese crumbles.  Boy was that a tasty supper!   And I felt I had gotten myself back on the right track with a healthier supper.

I had a small windfall come in today and I determined right away that the money would go towards vacation.  I'd meant to start that fund in April and try to get that sub account filled up.  Now I can concentrate on that big hairy scary goal of mine instead.

I'm just going to toss this out:  John and I bought two Barbie dolls for the girls to play with when they are here...and naturally what Taylor wanted to do was undress and dress them.  I only have the two outfits for the dolls.  Does anyone out there have Barbie doll clothes they are willing to send my way?  I wish I had kept the scads of dolls and clothes Katie had but she insisted on donating them before she was done with junior high.   I'll happily pay shipping costs and will be deeply grateful if anyone has some they want to part with.

Saturday:  I was determined we'd eat all those blueberry muffins and so I popped them into the oven to warm this morning.  I also reheated some sausages leftover the other morning.  Breakfast was easy and definitely thrifty.

We made fairly big plans for a Saturday, something unusual for us.  We planned to go OUT.   John wanted to treat the kids to lunch today, so we all met up at a Mexican restaurant.  This excited Josh mightily as he kept saying he'd never been to Mexico and could we please go to Canada next?
Isaac played football with his daddy and Grampa, using a tortilla chip and two or not, the child's a natural when it comes to that boy's sort of game.

We had a lovely lunch.  Josh cleaned his plate.  Hard not to when all you get is a quesadilla.  Isaac made us all laugh when he took his spoon and helped himself to some of Grampa's food.  Hazard of sitting next to Isaac.

Katie needed a refill on medications but no longer has insurance.  Publix to the rescue once again.  Not only do they have awesome prices on prescription meds of all sorts, offering many common medications free, they informed Katie she qualified for a discount card program which reduced her costs still further.  Not as cheap as with insurance but close enough and she's relieved she can refill without any great strain on her budget.  I share this only because I think everyone should check out alternatives to traditional drugstores.  You just might be surprised at the great savings.

While we were at Publix, I picked up bread for the freezer.  It seemed reasonable since I knew I'd have to stop tomorrow.

Traffic was stupid crazy today.  We were assured it was partly because it was Saturday which I'll assume is truth. Still, it just seemed crazy to me when we stopped a mile or more from the red light and slowly edged forward for the next half hour.    I was even less impressed when we crossed the interstate and saw northbound traffic edging forward at the rate of about 15 miles per hour.  So glad we knew backroads and alternate routes and very glad we did not have to go up the interstate.  Even in the little town of Ft. Valley the line stretched far back from the red lights as well.  I told John it's obvious we do NOT go out during peak weekend hours.

I've been putting the new rosebush outdoors each day to sit on the back porch in the morning sun.   I don't know if it's necessary or not but it seemed reasonable to me to acclimate it to the outdoors.

No supper for us tonight.  Not at all necessary after that big lunch which we ate late.

Sunday:  This morning I was up a tiny bit earlier than John.  I fed the pets, got the breakfast things laid out and started my Sunday dinner.  I had time to have a cup of coffee and do my morning Bible study and prayer time.

After breakfast I loaded the dishwasher, made the bed and got busy getting ready for church plus set up my meds and vitamins for the week, etc.  I  thought for sure we'd be late to church but no, we got there right smack on time.

I added to my menu plan today and boiled a half dozen eggs. I deviled them as I knew it was good protein to add to our scanty chicken which wasn't quite 3 ounces each.   Of course we can't eat a half dozen deviled eggs...but John will take them in his lunch.

While dinner rolls baked and chicken heated, I prepared the things to go into John's lunch and put them in his basket.

I also treated the drains including the dishwasher with soda and vinegar.  The dishwasher has not been draining properly.  This is not uncommon in our home where our very soft water and the soaps we use combine to create a sort of sludge in the drains.  I used to treat drains monthly and really need to return to that.  Today I poured vinegar and baking soda in our dishwasher, added boiling hot water and then ran a rinse cycle using hot water as well.  The machine drained completely, so I fel I might have cleared that line.  The kitchen sink is still a little slow but I will treat it again if that doesn't clear up immediately.  I used the plunger on it this afternoon (I keep a short drain plunger in the kitchen just for that sink since it's handier to use than a longer plunger) and noted some sludge came up from that drain.  Vinegar and baking soda is good for the septic system, too.  It helps keep the ph balance at normal levels and doesn't kill off the beneficial enzymes.

I am going to do one more task this afternoon, before I call it a day.  I'm going to go sort out my fridge and insure we use the things that should be used up before they begin to spoil.  The fridge is very cluttered at the moment as is usual after a grocery shopping week.  I'll arrange the contents of my baskets more neatly too to maximize room.

Monday:  I was good as my word yesterday afternoon and did get my fridge sorted.  I tossed a baked potato (WHEN did we have baked potatoes?!) and a half packet of a rather stodgy rye bread I'd meant to make Reubens with (that was St. Patrick's leftovers) and didn't.   All else was good yet and I am motivated to use up a few things.  Nothing like seeing the food you have to remind you that menus may be planned but they just may need to be altered in order to not waste.

I heated chicken soup base (from the freezer, thawed) and made chicken noodle soup for supper which was quite good and just right, as it had turned off cool once more yesterday afternoon and we'd had such a heavy lunch that a lighter supper was appreciated.

This morning, I sent John off to work in the usual fashion.  As soon as he'd gone, I started a load of dishes washing then went back to bed where I snuggled under the covers until the sun shone through the living room shades.

I stripped our bed and while the bed was devoid of cover, I moved the mattress and headboard so that I could hang pictures.  I decided at some point in the weekend that the very best possible arrangement of pictures for above our bed was the ones hanging on the wall next to the bed.  I just moved them, arranged in exactly the same way and hung them on the bed wall.  They look perfect there.  We shall not discuss nail holes...

After I made the bed afresh,  I made myself fresh.  Before I put on my makeup, I removed every ting from the toy box and sorted through it all.  I found five of my measuring cups and a set of measuring spoons.  I had about a half bag of trash, took all the stuffed animals except the sock monkey, Eeyore and Isaac's frog and put them in the guest room because the children never play with those other stuffed animals they only sleep with them.  I sorted out the blocks and the cookware set and the cars and such and vacuumed out the toybox.  It had a load of gritty sand in it.  Now the children should be more easily able to find the toys they want to play with and there's none of that odd assorted lot of things that just sifted to the bottom and stayed there.

After I hung out the laundry I got myself ready to leave home.  I debated NOT going out today because I felt spendy but I also knew that I really needed to make taking those return items to the store a priority.   I also needed to stop at the bank and mail off a couple of tiems and there's always a bag of trash waiting to go to the dumpsters...In the end I scanned sales sheets, determined where I'd go and headed out.

My first stop was for lunch.  My excuse is that (a) I was very very hungry, not having eaten in 8 hours and (b) I had nothing ready to eat here at home, no leftovers of any sort.  I spent lightly but had good food and it was a proper hot meal which doubled the value of it in my opinion.

Made my return to the clothing store first.  Found a couple of white t-shirts which I feel are worth having in the wardrobe at any time.  And bought the super cute pair of hoops I'd wanted from the website. Same price at the store (clearance) and no shipping to be paid.  I spent more than I returned there but oh well.  I felt the white t-shirts were worth the bit of extra.

Over to Walmart where I utterly forgot to check about the Brazil nuts.  Doggone it!  I'd thought of it before I left home but I confess that I had no list with me except the mental one. Not at all the best way to shop, though I did look at several things that are on my list but nothing I found seemed quite right. I bought another white t-shirt...Yes I did!  This is just a plain v-neck the other two had different details, so it's three shirts that look unique but all three happen to be white.

Got six bags of mulch.  I laughed when the young man behind the register said he had no one to load them for me.  I told him I'd never been fortunate enough to have anyone load them for me at the big diy stores and I'd never expected there would be anyone to do so at Walmart.  He assured me that they do load for customers but his spare man had just gone to lunch.  I paid for my mulch and loaded it into the cart and then into the car all alone.  I figured I was going to be unloading it when I got home anyway, so no need of getting upset over lack of help at the store.

Went by and made an appointment for an oil change on my car.  I'll be back in that town on Thursday and I'm going to go get another lot of mulch while I'm in town.   John suggested on Saturday that I wait for someone with a truck to help me.  I shook my head and said very nicely but firmly, "Sweetie, I'm DONE waiting for anyone to do anything for me.  I want to get my tasks accomplished and I can't if I haven't got material to work with."  He was rather put out and asked if I meant waiting on him as well.   I assured him that I did. Not being mean, just honest and determined.  Sometimes we just have to decide to get it done and stop letting other's excuses prevent us from having what we really want.

Went over to Goodwill.  My purpose was to look for a few of the items I'd looked for at Walmart.  My second purpose was because I've been hearing for years from everyone that I should shop for clothes at Goodwill.  I've been following BJonesStyle on YouTube.  She dresses in vintage clothing doing runway knockoffs and spends pennies on the hundreds of what designer clothes cost.  I'll confess I got inspired.  I wasn't looking for vintage but I was looking just to see what's out there.  I finally got the order of the place worked out.  Sleeveless, short sleeves, long sleeves, shorts, pants, jackets, coats, dresses, skirts and all are then sorted by color or into patterns.

I didn't find a whole lot today but I did find a pretty peasant blouse...Any guess as to what color that was?  WHITE!  I also got a print top that will go with brown or olive green pants.  And a lovely pair of sling back leather shoes made in Italy in a natural calf color.  These will be awesome to wear with jeans for a dressier look or with any of my dress pants.  I think they need to be cleaned though they look nice and fit lovely.  They'd apparently been at the bottom of a closet so I've stuffed the toes to bring them back to shape since I haven't any shoe trees.

 I also learned a lesson today.  I'd just left an aisle and the lady across the rack from me picked up a beautiful piece of clothing that I could have used and loved as an accessory in my current wardrobe.  However, I didn't look through that section of clothing because I didn't think I'd find anything.  Lesson learned.  In future, I'll look through all the racks of patterned things.  I did keep in mind that I could use a grey and a yellow top.  No luck on either score.

Wandered to the back where I found four lace edged white napkins, a HUGE needlepoint that had been framed.  I paid a ridiculous amount for that picture but it was still cheap compared to what the needlepoint might have fetched or the frame either for that matter.  Perfect English decor piece.  I've got it propped in my bedroom at present but I think I'm going to put it over the bed in the guest room.  I'll need to touch up the frame first though, it's been dinged a time or two.

I headed home after that and made up my mind on the way that I'd get out in the yard and do something today just to say I'd begun.  I noted that the workers were still at one of the neighborhood homes.  Her's is a doublewide home, too, and she's having concrete block foundation put under the house.  That's something I've wanted to do since we moved here.  Had we had concrete block foundation we could have re-financed our mortgage when the rates dropped years ago from the much higher rate we were paying but John didn't feel we could afford the added expense of the blocks at that time.  And he was likely right!  That was long before we got started trying to climb out of the hole of debt we'd been in.  But anyway, there the men were today so I just decided to be bold and stopped and asked to speak to the boss.  The man followed me home and will work up quotes for us on blocking under our house as well as using a less expensive but equally good alternative permanent skirting material.  Fingers crossed that I actually do have enough money set aside to afford this bit of work on my home.  Toes crossed hoping John doesn't think I jumped the gun in asking the man to give us quotes.

After the contractor got his figures and left, I unloaded the mulch (oy!  That third lifting was a bit much), then went to work weeding that little corner flower bed that Maddy has made such a huge mess of.  She's dug so many holes in it that there are berns in the flower bed itself and deep holes, too.  I got the bulk of that area weeded and even started digging daylily from the areas where they had spread over the past few years.

As we walked about the house, I saw it with new eyes...Algae here and weeds there and limbs there and what a mess another area was.  Lots and lots of work to be done.  On the plus side, I noted the Angelonia has put out a tiny plant so it is returning.  And I've plenty of day lily to put in a new home.  Just need to determine where that shall be.

I was quite tired and weary after my day and my bit of yard work and I didn't quite finish some tasks I'd begun.  The sheets are thrown in a chair looking a right wrinkled mess.  The dishwasher is full of clean dishes, but I'm well and truly done for the day.    I generally go to bed about dark on these days when John is working.

I really appreciate the extra hours of sleep I get when I can go to bed earlier.  Years ago when I was chronically exhausted and periomenopausal I'd slip into bed about 8:30 or 9pm nearly every night.  John resented that I was so tired all the time and felt I was going off to bed to avoid him.  Not true!  But I got a taste of what it was like when my hormones and health were all sorted out and he began to have thyroid issues and  was sleeping all the time both day and night.  It's very important in a marriage to match bedtimes as nearly as possible and so I stay up until 10:30 most nights these days though truth told, I could easily slip off about 9:30 or even 10pm.  I'm no longer miserably tired as I used to be, but my natural bedtime is nearer 10pm and that's just how it is.  On the other hand, John could stay up until 11 or 11:30 most nights but he makes a point of going to bed at 10:30 which is a reasonable compromise.  Mind you, every now and then I just cannot carry on and he will send me to bed but our marriage is much improved by our equal willingness to create a bedtime we can both tolerate.

I stashed a lot of $1s and  a couple of $5s into hiding today, all change from various transactions since last week.  I didn't count it out but I think it's about $20.

I am going to take time tomorrow to sit down and make out a list of all the things I want to buy.  I might have had a mental list today but it's not the same as a real in your hand and readable list so that you can cross out stuff as you find it.  I don't want to forget to look for Brazil nuts again.  I don't want to stand at the end of an aisle struggling to remember what it is I'd meant to look at on that aisle (I'd meant to look for shelves for the pantry and shed but drew a blank).  I'm going to try and get a bit more yardwork done tomorrow if I haven't overdone it already.  We'll see how my knee and ankles act tomorrow.  Tomorrow, I'm going to do my best to be as productive as I've been these past two day and I'm going to finish off everything I started today and all that I start tomorrow.  But first I'm going to go set up coffee for tomorrow morning and take out something to thaw for dinner and then I'm going to toddle off to bed early and enjoy the luxury of stretching out on those lovely fresh sheets.

Tuesday:  I made hash browns this morning, to use up a few potatoes that were not going bad, but had been in the house for a bit long.  I used the rest to make mashed potatoes for lunch today.

John did a load of clothes and hung most to dry outdoors.

I finished up my work from yesterday early this morning, while I was having first coffee.  Honestly, I do wonder at myself sometimes.  It took no time at all to fold those sheets, but it seemed a pretty tiresome project last night.  Amazing how a few solid hours sleep can bring you back to reality and the realization that I might have done that task in a matter of less than five minutes last night.

I am composting.  I do this periodically but it has seemed to me of late that the amount of stuff I throw away that might be composted and used for my hoped for future flowers and garden made loads of sense and would ultimately be supremely beneficial to both budget and soil.   There are so many more things we can compost than I ever imagined.  I've searched and searched for a blog post about this but no luck.  Suffice it to say that a great many things we might consider trash can actually be composted.  I am also saving newspaper and carboard mulch.  Be sure to click on the link to see how An Oregon Cottage starts her new beds. later: see this one for what you can and cannot compost

John was watching an episode of the 1950's Superman TV program.  I was amused this morning when a bank robbery went wrong and one of the criminals failed to run.  When asked why he was robbing a bank if his conscience bothered him so much he'd  give himself up, the man replied that he'd needed money.  "You should have been saving your money instead of robbing banks!..." said Superman.   Where on earth is that kind of good sense these days?  I got three offers for credit cards and two for lending institutions this past week.   Long ago and far away that would have been a heyday of application filings for my first husband.

Thinking seems to have been the order of the day.  I took a roast beef from the freezer last night because I needed to use up mushrooms and to me, baby bella mushrooms and beef are a classic pairing.  I chose the roast because it was on top, by the way.  John was surprised when we sat down to eat our dinner.  "It's not even Sunday and here we've got this beautiful roast beef dinner!"   Well...you know he's right.  It IS better suited to a Sabbath day meal than a week day meal.  And in the future I'm going to save my more expensive meals for an initial dinner on Sabbath and we'll have leftovers for weekday meals.

I certainly didn't allow us to over eat that meat today.  I sliced up the meat and poured over a few meat juices to keep it from drying out.  I put that in the fridge to use as another meal or two and sandwiches.  I also put aside the bits and pieces, leftover gravy, mushrooms and onions and the last of the mashed potatoes to make hash.

I have been absolutely over the moon about the pear/blue cheese/walnut and romaine salad of late.  We got some lovely pears at Aldi and a  container of blue cheese crumbles last pay period.  With roast turkey breast luncheon meat it's a lovely supper salad.  Without the meat, it's a beautiful salad to go with a roast beef dinner.

I cleared up my chair side today which was looking pretty messy and cluttered.  I tossed some of the older more shabby vintage magazines.  This always pains me but the paper is very brittle and are torn, covers falling off, etc.  I've gotten a lot of use from these magazines over the years.  I will buy more as I find them good value for imparting knowledge, providing me with good reading, images for this blog and just general leisure.   And I got my dusting done.  Now that's three big tasks done in the living room for zone work.

Wednesday:  The day started out slow which was just what we needed because we had the boys come play with us today.  They called at 10am asking to come early but I had a bit of  a row with Mama and needed to calm down. I really didn't want to let there be a mar on our day.   The boys did come early, just not as early as they wanted to!

I bought 2 dozen eggs from Bess.  Her chickens are laying once more and I'm happy to have farm fresh eggs.  Bess is so sweet.  I'd commented on how happy a carton of eggs from one of John's co-workers made me because she'd set them in the carton in alternate colors.  Well Bess has done the same thing for me ever since and really it's a simple thing but it's such a lovely thing to do and makes me smile twice as wide when I see them because I know it's done in a genuine desire to please me as well as just being pleasing to my eye.    The co-workers had a predator get into their chicken coop and it wreaked havoc on their flock.

Josh got waffles for lunch today and a big plate of fruit. I scrambled eggs, too.  Those two little boys ATE and ate well today.   Truth told it was a good meal and there wasn't any conversation at all.  When I looked around the table every male was busy eating and paying attention to his plate, including the oldest one and they all asked for seconds!

We had fun, just plain good fun.  We try not to turn on the tv and to actively play with the boys when they are here.  That's not to say that the tv doesn't come on, but it generally doesn't come on right away.  Those blocks I bought were the best investment.  We sorted by color, we stacked them, I even invented a little game for Josh in which he rolled a dice and then tried to add as many blocks to the top of his stack.  Isaac had the alphabet blocks and he's just discovered how to stack.  We also looked at the pictures on the blocks and talked about how the alphabet letter they begin with, etc.

We had the best time with those blocks, all three sets. In fact, there wasn't anything in the toy box the boys didn't play with at some point today.  I walked by the box and every single toy was out and nothing was inside.  It made me feel I'd done well in sorting out what they do enjoy and what was just in their way.    It was a glorious afternoon in the house.  And Gramma and Grampa were as tired as the two boys when they left.

Thursday:  I realized last night that I'd have to begin to get ready when John got up if I was to make my 8am appointment in Perry.  I sent John off as usual, in all respects.

I remembered to grab a mandarin, water and a book.  I made myself a cup of coffee to go in a thermos as well but that sat on the counter until I got back home.  I wasn't pleased over that at all!  I was a little bit late this morning despite my hurry to get there, but fortunately they were not at all busy.

I took my car in for an oil change.  I'd noted that the driver wiper blade simply wasn't clearing the windshield this morning and wondered if it was worn out.  The inspection of the car pointed that up right away so I got new blades.  The remainder of the suggested work will wait.  I don't approve big ticket items without John's approval unless it's an emergency and none of these suggestions were.   I do know that at least two of those jobs does need to be done and I shall start saving for that work.   In the meantime we'll see if we can't get John's car over and get him new tires and brakes, which I have already set money aside to do.

I went by Walmart and picked up six more bags of mulch.  I mean that I literally picked them up, no less than four times today.  From the pile to the cart, from the cart to the trunk of the car, from the trunk to the patio and from the patio to the flower bed.  At one point yesterday I picked up both Isaac and Josh and together they don't weigh as much as one of those bags of mulch.

I avoided buying any plants though I tell you I wanted to!  I didn't even allow myself to look at them.  We've had several very cool mornings this week, in the upper 30's and I have plenty of work to do here at present without adding in planting a bunch of things I'm not yet prepared to plant.  It took a lot of discipline on my part but I made it in and out without even touching a plant!

I'd meant to go thrifting but somehow my heart wasn't in it today.  Instead I came back to my hometown and went into the Dollar General.  I bought nail polish remover, a big bin to use in the shed for storage, some corner plate racks and narrow shelves for the mug cupboard, a set of blue curtains for the guest bedroom to change out the red ones.  I have to buy two lampshades as well before I can do that mini makeover on that room...but that wasn't purchased today.   I also bought a single serve frozen entrée.  I knew I had no leftovers here at home and I also knew I was going to go right to work outdoors which meant no prep time for a meal.  It was worth the cost of the entrée to me to be able to get busy right away.

I opened windows when I came in from my errands.  The AC has not come on all day long.

I started a full load of dishes washing before I headed outdoors.

I cleared the rest of the daylily that weren't already up front bordering the corner bed and then replanted a few to make  border.  I raked the area so that it was more level afterwards and filled in the deep hole Maddie had dug there last year.  I am sure she will dig it out again but it can be filled in for a little bit at least.  I noted as I came around to the back steps that one of the tubs of Dianthus is looking gorgeously full of blooms.  I have an idea of how to 'fix' that empty bed until I'm ready to plant it out further.  I like having a pretty spot to draw inspiration from, don' t you?

I came indoors to eat and rest for a couple of hours. Then I jumped up and cleared up the house, mostly just straightening things and putting stuff away before I went back outdoors to work more on the flower bed. I know myself well enough to know I will overdo the hardest work and then not feel able to do the basic housework.  Sure enough when I came back indoors I was DONE and I knew it.  I was so glad I'd done that bit of housework so the house looked neat and nice before I was worn out.

Friday:  Decided this morning to make biscuits for breakfast.  They were yummy.  I kept the meal simple with just sausage patties and biscuits.

I hurried through housework this morning because I wanted very much to get one more project done in the yard.  It's that little flower bed next to the back steps which is where I keep my potted herbs and plan to set tomato plants in pots as well this summer.   I cannot plant anything in the ground at that spot because there is a water line and an electric line running under that area.   I removed the brick border, the pots that had accumulated there over winter and did some light weeding.  Then I cut weed mat and broadened the bed ever so slightly.  The brick's had sunk over time and so I put fresh dirt in that rut and set the bricks a little further out.  It was just enough to give the illusion of being a much more substantial bed.  I repotted the oregano and mint, both of which are growing well.  My but that mint smelled nice!  On the opposite side of the steps is that big rosemary bush, so you see the herbs and tomatoes will make a sort of kitchen garden of that space either side of the steps.

I came indoors and made a simple lunch of chicken tacos.  I used breast tenderloins cut into strips and made my own taco seasoning to go in the dish.  I chopped tomato, lettuce, avocado and shredded cheese.  We topped these tacos with Ranch dressing and while it was a messy dish it was pretty good!  I have enough leftovers to feed one.

I shredded extra cheese while I was shredding.  I'd found two partial bottles of pimentos in the freezer and pimento cheese sandwiches sounds like a good supper to me.

I made a cake, just a simple cake but I'd planned to make it fancier, per a 1942 recipe advertisement in one of my magazines.  Alas, my raspberry jam had molded...So I switched gears and made it an orange cake using orange marmalade as a filling and the last orange zested and juiced (with a tiny splash of lemon juice) to make the frosting.  I'm afraid my little loaf shaped cake that was made from a square cut in half lengthwise and then the two halves cut in half width wise is a bit of a mess.  It no doubt shall taste just fine, but it won't be one of those cakes I take a picture of !

I've started my annual sneaking...That's where I slowly increase the temperature on the air conditioner by 1 degree every few days until it's set at summer temperatures.  It's really all a matter of just getting used to each degree of increase and then we find we are quite cool enough so I raise it one more degree.  I usually stop somewhere around 76F and by the time summer is over that will seem downright chilly to us.

John could not avoid running over a deer that had been hit by another driver yesterday morning.  This morning he drove his car home and complained that he could hear something dragging underneath.  We'll have to take his car to a mechanic somewhere because it's a metal sheet that's dragging.   This may mean I stay home a few days while he's working.  He'll mind it far more than I will...

I am ready to call my day done.   The kitchen is clean, the house looks nice, I have a meal planned and have a dessert for our Sabbath meal.  I have meat thawing.  I've even washed my lettuce for a salad.  I've worked hard this week and there's something to show for it in more than one space.  I'm feeling pretty satisfied and don't mind these occasional showers falling on my freshly planted things.

How was your week?  Did you accomplish a big savings, or a lot of work?