The Week Behind: Odd Jobbing

Saturday:  Well perhaps the skies were not blue all day on Saturday but there's a great appeal to me of seeing new Spring green against a steely grey sky.   In fairness, there were streaks of blue and the afternoon brightened enough we pulled the shades to block out some of the light.

I had not planned nor prepped today's meal.  Thankfully, I had one last pan of ready made entrée in the freezer, Chicken Verde Enchiladas.  It was easy enough to pop into the oven to thaw and heat, while yellow rice and black beans were prepared stove top.  Pretty much a hands off meal and quite nice, on a chilly cool day.



We watched a half dozen old films today that John somehow manages to find for free on Amazon.  I don't know just how he does it but I'm thankful we can watch some old favorites as well as some new to us oldies that we've never seen.  Nice relaxed day overall.

Sunday:  Feeling much less itchy overall today.  No allergy tabs since last night at bedtime and that is something, since I've been taking them routinely since last Tuesday.

John started a load of laundry early this morning and I followed right behind him with a very full load of dishes in the dishwasher.  Both were air dried, except for a handful of undies.  I do find the elastic has more of a tendency to snap back into shape if they are air dried, but it takes mere minutes to dry them so no great loss of energy there.

I started a pot roast.  It's still cool, but not as cool as yesterday.  I figure this is about the last pot roast dinner we shall have now that warm weather is here.  Temperatures for the coming week are all slated for the 80's.

I have been taking time on weekend mornings to color in some of the borders on the devotional pages of my Bible.  They are pretty illustrations of various flowers and leaves and each time I look at them I think of the antique illuminated scripture books.  It's fun to color in the borders on these pages and watch my own Bible become illuminated.

After my coloring session, I hurried through the rest of the housework.  We'd hoped to watch our church service this morning on live feed but they were having technical issues.  So housework for me and then I slipped out to the yard.

Small tasks today: I took pots from the next bed I shall be working upon, so it's really just a matter of very light weeding and then spreading fresh mulch when I get it.  I arranged a few pots in different places.  I moved the half barrel of Asiatic Lilies to the corner flower bed that is nearer the front of the house.  I laid cardboard under the rosemary bush and bordered that area with rocks and built up a sort of retaining wall against one end of it since Maddie has dug down beyond the concrete surrounding the deck footing.  I must find a way to fill in that deep hole which is a good two or three feet deep.  I did get all the rest of my border rocks out of the hole which was task enough.  I don't have enough to border much of anything now, but I shall find some way to manage to use them.

Monday:  I kept thinking this week I'd forgotten something...well I did!  I forgot how many days this week I will end up being out of the house!   I was reminded of it when Katie was telling me what all we'd planned.  Should have made notes on my calendar and I guess I best get in the habit of doing just that.

John and I up early, he being sent off to work in the usual manner with breakfast eaten, a thermos of coffee and lunch bag for the shift ahead.

He was no sooner gone than I began to strip down the kitchen towels, our bath towels and the bed.  I ran hot water in the machine, added bleach and soap and then plunged the white sheets in first before the towels, etc., went in.  I've been doing this two or three weeks now and according to all the oldest magazines I own it's meant to keep my sheets white.  I hung all the clothes outdoors to dry and even had to get inventive and find new places that I might drape things, as I ran out of dryer rack and clothesline.

While I was mucking about with laundry, I noted that the floor was looking fairly full of sandy dirt...Obviously I haven't been keeping as tidy a laundry as I ought to have done.   A glance up proved how far I'd fallen.  Lint strung webs dangled brazenly from the ceiling.  You know good and well that mess was soon cleared up. I made my laundry really nice and tidy and well dusted before any more work was done. And incidentally I found it very handy to use my blower (my yard tool!) to blow all the grit from under the two machines.  Quite handy.  I hung it down the backs and let it blow it out toward me.

Noting how badly I'd neglected the laundry I figured I'd likely done the same with the back entry area and I was quite right there, too.  I don't care how much grass we have here, when it rains, we bring in loads of sandy grit on our shoes, even though we have rugs outside and inside the door and wipe our feet twice.  I might have gotten it up from the paths, but the places where our shoes sat when we slipped them off, the shoe baskets, the hidden areas and corners behind things had filled up with sand.  That too was soon nice and tidy.

I worked a good two and a half hours on the house this morning.  It wasn't all bad.  Most of the work was just routine post weekend cleaning.

I gathered trash to go to the dump with me on my way to pick up Katie.  I took that huge bag of trash from the shed with me, too.  I would have loved to load up stuff to drop for donations but I couldn't fit anything else in the trunk of the car.

Katie and I were out together today.  I wanted to drop off my resume at the doctor's office.  They were closed, so I couldn't do that.  She had several errands that needed to be run and we got all of them attended to, had a nice lunch out, enjoyed each other's company and wore ourselves out.

I went by Walmart to buy more red mulch, still listed at $1.97 a bag but not one bag available.  The girl in the garden center said she had no idea when they might get any more.  I confess to you all, she didn't act as though she much cared and she certainly didn't check with anyone else to see if a delivery was due.  I wandered around and found two outdoor cushions for $5 each and a $4 welcome mat.  I think the mat is for the back porch but the cushions don't go with anything yet...I sense a painting season coming up.

We went by Target.  I was sensible there and didn't add a lot to my buggy.   I bought a new loofah for the shower, a separate charger pack for my phone so I have  back up power for emergencies and another nail polish...It was clearance priced!  I do not need more nail polish and will be severely steering myself away from displays in the next few months.

Went to Kroger, and I was sensible there, too.  I got bananas, plain yogurt to use as yogurt starter, half and half, three boxes of instant jello pudding on sale and cat treats.  Misu has not much cared for the Friskies treats, so we're back to the slightly more costly brand that she does like.  I treated Katie and I to Starbucks with my Christmas gift card, which is now empty.  I'm thinking I may load some cash onto that this week when I get my allowance. I don't indulge often but I do enjoy my occasional coffee treats.   This was our final stop and I was thoroughly tired by the time I'd walked around that huge store trying to help Katie find the items required to fulfill her coupons.

Coming home I noted that the warmth and sunshine has brought out the privet bloom and the air is fragrant and lovely.  I have a mild allergy to the stuff, will likely get a headache if outdoors too long, but it really is a glorious spring time scent that I truly enjoy.  How quickly our spring has progressed!  I must remind myself to sit on the porch and enjoy it a little while and not be too constantly busy.

Now I am off to give my kitchen a quick clearing up and fold the laundry brought in off the line.  This day has been a long one and I am starting to wind down.

Tuesday:  John has just given in to the urge to nap...Good thing I'm ready to settle to quiet work.  It's been another busy day with an early start for some reason.  I woke first at 4:30 and was still awake an hour later.  At that point I put on some praise music and drifted to sleep for a bit over an hour...then awake for good and ready to start my day.

I never have a clue what John's work day and night might have been like nor what his plans for a day at home are when he comes in from work.  I did know that Mr. Handyman called last night and was due to arrive here early this morning to talk over the work with John...eek!  We might be getting our front porch fixed properly as well, which means MORE ROOM and I like that idea very much!

Before John came in this morning I had already blown off the patio and front porch, fed the pets  and had a good start on breakfast and that all important first cup of coffee and Bible study, as well as being showered for the day.  Praise music suited the sunshiny morning in my corner of the kitchen...

Well John was still undecided about what he would do today after breakfast.  Banking was in order as we made first deposit on the materials needed for the work on the house, posting mail.  I made the plea that I needed only to shop at Aldi and would then have a full day at home this week...my only one until next week.  I told you that my week has turned busy!

I went out to empty compost.  I have been very consistent in keeping up with compost production.  Hopefully I'll have some rich soil to feed my plants and pots with in a few months time.    While I was out at the shed (compost is around back of it) I cleared up some things the wind had blown about and then weeded the iris bed next to the shed door.  Those few little iris I planted there two years ago have exploded and filled the spot.  I need to divide them.  More stuff to do and more things to plant.  I now have quite a lot of excess stuff to plant that all needs to go into the ground.  Where oh where shall I put it?  I've just about made up my mind that a broad flower bed down the side of the shed would be rather pretty.

When I came indoors, John was finally ready to start getting ready to leave.  I  know he was plenty tired but we had only to shop at Aldi today and  we were barely gone from home two hours.

While at Aldi we picked up a handful of things for Kate.  I talked to Bess last night and ordered two dozen eggs.  We bought one more at Aldi today because we do go through eggs and it's getting to be time to make egg salad for sandwiches.  John enjoys that when it's warmer.

I made out a list last night of things I might stock up on today at Aldi, concentrating on stocking up the pantry in areas where I knew we were low.  I focused on paper products and baking goods.  I am satisfied we are nearer having a strong  pantry/freezer once more.

Again, I find I spent a higher amount but today there was good reason: almost 11 pounds of 90/10 ground beef and a $30 standing rib roast.   Not at all the extravagance it sounds I assure you.  The ground beef had $5 off coupons on them and I bought all those marked down.  The packets weighed 2 1/3 pounds each.  I put up four 1/3 pound packets of beef and 16 1/2 pound packet in the freezer.

To save on plastic bags, I put up 1 pound of beef in each bag but divided it in two and then folded the bags in the freezer so the bag itself acts as separation between the two pieces.  The bag with two pieces is on the left.  The other bag contains approximately 1/3 pound.  This way I can choose exactly how much meat we require.

I cut the standing rib roast into 4 1 pound steaks which saved us $12 over the cost of four rib eye steaks.  We will share one of these and I'll save the bones for beef bone broth.

We will be cutting back to our previous grocery spending levels this next month.  I have only a short list of things that I wish to stock up on.   I will watch for great sales.  These four months of stocking the freezer and rebuilding the pantry has been a huge blessing and will allow us to live well over the coming months now with the assurance we've a good supply for any needs that might arise.  Again, I say, I consider a well stocked pantry and freezer as a separate emergency fund, one that has true value to a homemaker.


Wednesday:  Gracious!  It's been a busy day at home for me and I for one am glad to be sitting down with my feet up now that our supper things have been cleared away.  Let me share what all I did today.

John was up a little earlier than I this morning.  I knew this was going to be my ONLY morning to even think about being leisurely in rising so I took advantage of it.  I was still up before 8am but it was nice to have a bit of a lie in.

After breakfast, I ran a full load of dishes.  John had laundry done and hanging to dry when I rose.

He went off to get gas for the mower and I made up my mind that today would be a day of odds and ends.  I had a list but there were little things I'd noted over the past week that simply needed to be attended to.  For instance, on Monday evening, I took time to neaten up our walk in closet in our bedroom.  I bagged up donation items, moved some bins to the floor, put some linens that had been stacked on a bin on the shelf, etc.  The closet took perhaps five or six minutes to clear up but boy was it big impact for the short period  of time.    I think Monday was also the day I put the filter from the stove vent to soak in hot water and dishwasher detergent which completely cleared the gunky grease build up from it.

So this morning, I'd noted that my bedside drawer was a right mess, and I'd been fussing all week long about the drawer where I kept my house clothes.  After quickly cleaning up the bed and bath, I tackled those two area.  Again, it took just a few minutes but it was big impact.  It felt good to walk from that room knowing that it had truly been put to rights on both the surface and behind the scenes.

After I started bread dough rising, I tackled  cleaning the kitchen sink blind which I'd noted yesterday was decidedly fuzzy looking.  It's a job I should have done during a deeper cleaning session but I confess I've been so distracted by outdoors work that I hadn't noticed it until it was glaringly obvious that it needed attention.

Around to the back entry.   I climbed up on the tall step stool and took everything down from shelf and wall.  What a lot of dust was on that shelf!   I wiped the shelf down with a wet cloth and then hung the items on the wall the way I'd envisioned them originally, adding in an antique corn platter I'd thrifted years ago and a cast iron corn stick pan I'd gotten from Mama's cabinets when I was cleaning up her left behind household items.

From there to the guest room where I hung the plate and framed doily I'd originally had above my bulletin board at the desk.   I also cleared out the wardrobe side of the chifforobe.  I found a pretty set of pillowcase covers that I inserted accent pillow forms in for the guest bed.

I also found two pretty vintage pillowcases that made a nice mattress cover and 'quilt' for the doll bed.  I'd not realized how dirty the bottom of that little bed was until I removed the pillow case I'd been using on the mattress.  Yuck!  I took a soapy rag and washed it down well.  I should have used an old rag...that white dishcloth will never be the same again.  I'd never have worried much over that doll bed not having proper bedding but it bothered Taylor that I hadn't anything to cover the china doll when she was lying down...Oh the things we will do to please our grandchildren!  The two pillow cases look rather nice as bedding.  The mattress fits in one and the other lies over the doll as though it were a nice coverlet.  My 'mattress' is just a thin dollar store pillow that happens to just perfectly fit that old doll bed, which John's grandfather cobbled from scrap wood and some spindles from kitchen chairs.

I found two more doilies that match , one an oval and another round, the one I'd framed and hung in the guest room today.  I'm going to frame both of those and set them up on the wall above the bed I think...

I removed all the quilts from the top of the chifforobe and finished painting the exterior of that piece.  I didn't even crack open that quart can of paint.  I just used the sample pot which was plenty for the finish of the project.  Paint seldom goes to waste here.  I'll find some good use for that quart.  I  still need to paint the interior and touch up the decorative details on the exterior but at least it's got a good first coat of new paint all over it.

I started our dinner and sat on the porch with John for a few minutes after he'd finished mowing.  I ran back indoors to form my bread dough into loaves and set it to rise and then unloaded the dishwasher and put everything away.  After lunch I cleared the foodstuffs and table and cleaned up.

The pest control man was coming to spray and I wanted to be sure he sprayed the shed.  I went out to the shed to open it  and while I was there I pulled out the  trunk shaped tool box John's dad had made which he'd given me.  I cleaned it with a pan of soapy water and vinegar which removed loads of grease and grime.   That dishcloth I'd used to clean the doll bed with was put to good use scrubbing that trunk clean.  The dishcloth is fit for nothing but trash now!

I brought the tool box indoors and moved the trunk from in front of the window in the living room.  That went back to the bedroom.  Then I put the old tool box trunk next to the chair.  It's just right for additional seating if we need it, not being as high as the old trunk, but will be handy for  a plant or books or cup of coffee, too.

There were only a very few easy tasks after that and some texting with Bess.  I was invited to have supper with them tonight as she was making fish, but John doesn't eat fish so I declined that invite.  We discussed the upcoming Strawberry festival and I checked on Isaac.  He's sick, poor baby, with a fever.

I put together John's work lunch and we had an easy sandwich supper.  Everything is all put away for the evening.  I need only set up coffee for morning.  It's early rising tomorrow and another busy day ahead.

Thursday:  I  made breakfast and sent John off to work with coffee and meal bag in hand.  The house has been picked up and the last items to dry were folded this morning.  The dishwasher is loaded.  I need to feed the pets, brush up the kitchen floor and make the bed.  Those three jobs can be done in under 15 minutes time.

I decided I had plenty of time to get the kitchen rugs all washed and hung on the line to dry before I left home this morning...and so I did.  I did a few other household tasks: sweeping the floors, clearing up breakfast dishes, making the bed, emptying the trash and general straightening up.

I loaded my car with trash and with several boxes of stuff to donate from my shed, as well as the bag from my closet that I'd filled the other day.  I was rather impressed by the increased space I see in the shed, now that trash and donations are going out.

I picked up mail and dropped off trash on my way into town.

Picked up Katie and off we went for another long day, which got longer as the day went on.  We went to Goodwill to drop off donations, then stopped at Lowe's to buy mulch (6 more bags).

I dropped off my resume at the doctor's office which was open this morning.

To Mama's.  Katie wanted to pick up a free item at Target.  I wanted to run into Hobby Lobby to pick up more of the Waverly Ikat fabric I'd used.  The two stores are in the same shopping center.  As is a Joanne's.  And good thing since they no longer carry the Ikat fabric at Hobby Lobby, nor did they have it at Joanne's.  I did find a lovely batik pattern with the right colors to use as a bed skirt and accent pillow cover for my bed.  It was not the least expensive of the two fabrics I chose but it turned out to be 50% off...Joy!  I love nothing better than to discover that what I really really want and choose to buy despite cost, just happens to be on sale.   I bought all that was left on the bolt, about 5 yards. I won't need it all for my current project but it's always nice to have extra of a pretty fabric on hand.

We went out to lunch.  Katie ordered Pho which comes with a huge platter of bean sprouts, jalapenos, basil, cilantro etc.  Katie doesn't care for basil but Thai basil has the loveliest anise aroma.  I picked up the stems and brought home to try and root.

I went into the grocery to get bread and blackberries.  Blackberries were very well priced  today at 98c a 6 ounce package.  I bought extra so I could share with Bess and the boys. I know they love blackberries, too.

The rest of the afternoon was rather unexpected and certainly was unplanned....But Katie now has a car of her own once more.  Neither of us thought we'd end up at a car lot with her making a purchase but it all just worked out in that way.

Bess called early this morning and asked if I'd like to come for fish tonight, as they hadn't had fish last night after all.  I said I thought it would be just lovely.  I arrived to find a pale, wan looking Isaac who is just over some viral something or other and a pitiful feverish Josh who has just picked it up and both boys prone to cry at mere nothings and a very sad looking dog who'd been in just loads of trouble and needed Gramma attentions as much as the two sickly little boys, lol.  

Poor Bess was done in by the day.  Isaac hasn't slept well and she'd had to go fetch Josh from school and the dog did a world of mischief while she was getting Josh... It doesn't sound very inviting does it?  But it was.  Bess puttered about outdoors cleaning and clearing things up and Sam was puttering about the kitchen finishing off dinner and I had the boys and dog to myself to console.  I think we all got just what we needed.    I didn't leave until the boys had video chatted with Grampa,  and  read two stories because when  Sam told Josh to go choose a book, Isaac ran to fetch one, too. I tucked them in and kissed them goodnight.  Then I walked about the yard with Sam and Bess and looked at the little garden, the wild asparagus bed with a yummy spear of fresh asparagus picked and eaten fresh from the good earth and admired the new chickens before heading back home.

It's been a long day.  A very long day with lots of things happening and lots of phone calls coming in at all times. But it was another full day with lots of lovely family time to share.   Sometimes, I end a day wondering how things could all go so wonderfully right.

Friday:  I tried not to worry last night when it began to rain...The materials for the work on the house are stacked in the yard...In one of the spots prone to standing water.  I went out to check on it all and determined I couldn't move it on my own, so I came inside and let it be.

I work early this morning, but I slept hard enough to not wake all night long.  I don't get many nights so full of rest and I felt energized by it.

Quick housework tasks were done before John came in and then I made a light breakfast.  I felt ready to sew this morning and wanted house stuff out of the way.

First I made a pillowcase for a body pillow for Mama.  Then I shortened two king sized pillow cases to regular length cases.  Then I went to work on the bed skirt.  I had a full sized sheet that was an odd piece (no bottom) and used that as the base.   The bed skirt isn't quite done at present.  I have to pick out two sections where I hemmed it the wrong side.  Isn't that the way it always is?  I want to finish it tonight though before sundown so shall get back to work on it shortly.

I grilled steak for dinner today.  I am completely off menu this week but then I didn't expect to be home at all this weekend, and now I shall be.  I've warned John that my cooking and clearing up are done for this week at least, lol.

What was your week like in your home?  Did you find big savings or did you make small savings that added up to a lot?  Tell us all about it.