The Week Behind: We got rain!

Saturday:  As we went from place to place yesterday I kept thinking about that star on my back porch and how much I want to get rid of it...And then I thought of something I have in my shed that I think is going to work to cover that hole just fine.

And while I was rifling through my wallet for something else, I found two gift cards that will offset my cost for plants.  Yay!



When I mentioned on Friday that I had nothing to do at home, John said "Read a book!"   Well he started me thinking about all the really good friends I have on my bookshelves and how I have neglected them of late.  And that led me to think of which ones I'd like to keep company with this summer.  I chose three authors and then I got lists of all their books in publication order and checked that list against my bookshelf.  One author I was missing the first two books of the series of books.  They are sort of key...I'm also missing the last two but I have about a dozen books to read before I need those.  And another author I had all but the last four in the series, also key.  The other author didn't write so many serial books, hers were more stand alone and though I may try to read in publication order, I won't miss anything key if I skip the ones I don't have and add them later.  I went to Alibris.com and checked books against what was available on ebay and Amazon.  Alibris had the best overall prices and I was able to order ALL the books from the first two authors series for a mere $7.  Shipping was a bit more (quite a bit) but it was well within the budget I'd set for myself for the month of June.  Now I've two complete series to read sequentially, something I really love to do if I'm going to read a series.

Want to know why the shipping was so high?  Once upon a time the USPO  shipped books and magazines as media mail.  Now they are iffy about that.  They may or may not allow the books and the magazines are a no.  Since the media rate is just pennies off the regular rate, most sellers opt for the quicker delivery turn around and go for regular.  The post office also havs a library postal rate but it's for books only and not for magazines.  Again the turn around time, from seller to you, is so much quicker regular rate that mot just opt to send the books regular mail.

When I made the Alpine Chicken dish in the crockpot for our dinner on Friday, I split two breasts in the packet into two filets each.  We had plenty of food for four...Or for two with a full portion of leftovers for two for the weekend.  I put one breast back in the fridge and will use it to make chicken salad for sandwiches.

Used the little toaster oven last night to make Toasted cheese sandwiches.  It worked great and I was impressed by the lesser degree of heat it put out compared to the stove top even.

Well I used it last night and then I used it this morning.  John laughed at me but as I told him I want to really understand it's usage and get to know it.  I baked hash brown cakes in it this morning.  I used the pre-formed frozen patties.  Again, I was so impressed with the lesser heat put out.  I think I'm going to really appreciate this appliance.

When I fed the dogs and cat this morning, River popped up the steps.  I guess she'd been put out for the morning and was anxious for company.  Just like the rest of the family breakfast is breakfast is breakfast and even if we've already eaten a bit more won't hurt.  So I put her a bowl of food down and she tucked into it the same as the little boys usually do when they come in and we're having our breakfast.  It made me smile.

Sunday:  John and I had a leisurely cup of coffee on the front porch this morning while the pets had their morning feed.   It's been a little cooler this weekend and it was lovely.  Did I have time for sitting upon the front porch sipping coffee?  Not really but you know it's the little things in life, truly it is.  That fifteen minutes was lovely and if the morning was a little more hectic following that peaceful interlude the peace was lasting.

Used the toaster oven again this morning.  I love it!  I love turn on the thing and cooking at whatever temperature I choose and not having the kitchen and living room feel hot and stuffy.  Lovely!

Off to church.  Sam texted me while we there saying that Josh was asking to come visit.  I showed the text to John after church and we decided to ask the boys to come visit once we'd had time to get home and have lunch.   John wanted ice cream and I made a decision...Tell you about it in a bit.

We came home to reheat leftovers: Alpine Chicken Casserole, Green Beans, and a Pear Salad.  I made extra salad, figuring we could use it later in the week to go with a meal.   While our dinner reheated (toaster oven!) I prepped the vegetables for stir fry and Italian roasted vegetables .  I didn't get any further work done but I at least got a start on my week's meal preparations.

I used the last of the mushrooms, some onion that I'd peeled earlier in the week, sliced zucchini and peppers.  I shredded zucchini for the cake I mean to make.  I chopped onion for the enchilada sauce.  I had a bit of onion and pepper and zucchini over what I needed for this week.  I've planned ahead for the weekend and will use those vegetables for shish kebab.

The boys came over.  We had a grand time with a couple of empty cardboard boxes which became boats.   Josh and Isaac set sail on the high seas.  I was the boatkeeper and stayed safely ashore at the Dock.  This imagined journey lasted at least 20 minutes and ended when I told Josh he had to clean the fish he'd caught.

There was more play but mostly Josh just wanted to sit on my lap and fuss about what John was watching on tv.  Isaac was fine with all that as it left him free to play with whatever he liked without Josh's interference.

And then it was supper time.  I surprised the boys with an Ice Cream Supper.  Yes, I did!  One small scoop for the three of us (John fixed his own bowl).  We topped it with caramel corn and whipped cream, chocolate syrup and a cherry.   The boys then requested cheese, so I cut them some and we followed that up with two teeny packets of candy.  Josh had three Ever Lasting Gobstoppers.  I was afraid of Isaac choking on those so I opened a teensy packet of Nerds for him.  He had the hardest time coordinating his fingers to pick up the tiny pieces of candy.  I poured them in the palm of my hand for him.  Finally the smart boy solved the problem entirely.  He took my hand in his and put his face down into my palm and licked up the candies, lol.

We took the boys home and it is my hopes that they went to bed like lambs.  I know I've surely been awfully tired since they left.

I loaded the dishwasher when we came back home and ran a very full load.  I'll unload in the morning.

Monday:  Not a great night's sleep which is funny because I went to sleep before our tv program was over and had to ask John "Who did it and why?"  Sigh.  Off to bed, right to sleep and ten minutes later there I was with eyes wide open and not a comfortable spot to lie in no matter how I twisted and turned.

Never mind.  I wasn't going to sleep in this week anyway, and especially not today.  I had said I'd bake on these early morning work days and since John was sent off to work, I figured I'd keep my word.

I made a Lemon Zucchini cake.  Can't tell you if it's any good but will say that it looked pretty when it came out of of the oven.  My loaf pan was a larger one so it's a little flatter than it might have been but cake is cake, right?  I did not glaze mine at this time.  I wrapped mine and put in the freezer.  I will glaze it when I start to serve it.   My purpose in making this cake was to use up the zucchini I had bought last pay period.  After all my vegetable prep yesterday I still had a whole medium zucchini left.

I started bagel dough while the cake was baking and when I had that dough rising in a freshly oiled bowl, I used the same mixing bowl to mix up brown and serve dinner rolls.  I haven't tried this particular recipe before but I feel so much confidence with my bread making these days that I just went ahead and gave it a try.  When the dough had risen I formed half of the dough into two pans of 6 each cinnamon rolls and the other half made 3 pans of 5 each rolls.  Some of my rolls are big enough to use as buns (about 6) and the rest are just roll sized.  You bake the dough 20-30 minutes at 250f being sure not to let them brown.  Then you cool and freeze the rolls.  When you want rolls you can thaw and then bake 7-10 minutes more  at  400f.  My oven was a warmish 250f by the time I slid the rolls in because I'd been using it all morning long.  I turned the temperature down when I took out the bagels and let it stay on while the formed rolls went through their second rising of about 45 minutes or so.

The AC came on this morning while I was baking but it was cutting on and off regularly, not just running.  I baked a little longer than I'd thought I might, running close to 10am but next time I'll know to divide my baking into two morning's worth.

The brown and serve roll recipe calls for shortening.  I had two containers of the stick type Crisco, both with a lid on them.  One was basically keeping an empty wrapper with enough shortening on it to grease cake pan and bread pans.  The other container had a partially used stick, just enough for this roll recipe.  I was about to toss the two containers with their lids into the trash when I realized that it would likely fit my Clinique soap.  Years ago the soap used to come in it's own soap dish was rather nice.  I'd been leery of keeping the face soap in easy reach for fear that John or one of the grandchildren might use it to wash their hands.  That's some expensive hand soap, lol.  Now I can keep the soap in my basket with the rest of my skin care items.  Glad I thought it would fit and saved the container and lid!

It was too warm with the oven on to stand over the stove making the cheese sauce and enchilada sauce needed for the meals this week.  I will make those up early tomorrow morning before the heat of the day.

Stripped our bed and bath and washed on hot water.  I have no bleach nor ammonia so hot water and soap will have to suffice.  I hung them to dry in the sun.

While the baking went on (and on and on) I  cleaned up the kitchen, unloading and reloading the dishwasher, picking up the house, remaking my bed and putting out fresh towels in the bathroom, doing Bible study and working on the bill box.  Yesterday I was flipping through the birthday cards looking for my oldest granddaughter's and discovered I'd accidentally picked up a bill and tossed in the basket with the cards.  Thank goodness it's not going to be past due but my goodness, I'm glad I found it.

Once the oven was off and the breads cooled and put away, I got ready to go look for plants.  I decided to stop in the next town over between us and the diy stores' town.  I found a nice Pentas which hummingbirds and butterflies love.  This is a perennial so it should return year after year.  I got 4 packs of petunias and marigolds.  This particular spot is a grocer who sells locally grown plants for a nursery owner.  I've had good luck with these plants in the past.  The petunias are leggy but healthy looking.  When I  plant I'll prune them back and try to root the pruned parts the way I did a few years ago which kept me in fresh petunia plants for months.

I went into the grocery to buy some of the bulk packaged turkey sausage we like so well.  Odom's Tennessee Pride Turkey Patties, 18 count packages are just $5.14 a package at this store and that's a price increase over last time I visited..  At Kroger an 8 count package costs about the same.  This is one of the best  turkey sausage patties we've found, lean and well seasoned.   I usually buy 2-3 packages every 3 or 4 months.  I had just opened a package here at home so I got only two today.  I put these in my insulated cooler bag from Aldi (so nice!) as I wanted to do another couple of stores before heading home.

I drove a little further to another area where there is a diy store.  I decided to stop in at Goodwill, my purpose being to look over the furniture (working all leather recliner for $29.99...Golly yes!  And darn!! it had just been bought, sigh).  I was actually looking for anything sizeable that might work in my flower beds, not something for the house.  I didn't find any of the sorts of things I thought would work.  I did find a lovely pair of Italian leather wood soled sandals for $5, a shirt to wear this winter (brand new Kim Rogers) and a black and white print knit top to wear with my capri athletic pants about the house.  $14 for all three pieces.

At this point I walked to the car and realized I was just dog tired.  I didn't want to get out of the car again to look at anything. I wanted lunch and home.  So I drove to a relatively inexpensive fast food place, got a meal deal, went to my favorite cemetery and sat in the shade of old cedar trees.  I had to introduce myself to my lunchtime companions as they are not my usual crowd. I do hope that Miss Elizabeth doesn't mind me using her as a personal reference.

Came home and wearily made my way up the porch.  I'm  especially tired but I think it's because my knee is out of sorts and I've been holding my body in a tense manner which wearies muscles.  I unloaded my goodies and set myself a task list: bring clothes in off the line, put away  the dried dishes on the dish mat in the kitchen, straighten the desk area a little.  Before I'd begun, John texted me the amount of his check and deposit.  So I added 'finish off bills' to the list, too.   I got all that attended to and then I decided that though the bills must be sent out and banking ought to be done, I had done quite enough this day.  I can't pot plants because I didn't buy any soil and I haven't any fit to put plants into here.

Now I am all about sharing helpful hints with you all and this is my final tip for this afternoon:  If you happen to have a  Reese's Big Size Peanut Butter Cup in the freezer, it takes a full 30 minutes for it to thaw enough to bite into.  Yes, I know you are grateful I shared that.   Good afternoon!

Tuesday:  Yesterday evening, I took the chicken breast left from making the Alpine Chicken and chopped it into chunks.  I made a sort of stir fry meal for my supper.  I had a packet of 'instant' brown rice I'd gotten free from Kroger some months back.  It was a sort of vacuum sealed packet with water and parboiled brown rice, oil and salt in it.  It had to cook just 90 seconds in the microwave in the packet.  I don't much care to cook or steam anything in plastic bags of any sort but I will say this was quick and tasted well enough.  I'd certainly consider buying one or two of these packets to keep on hand for vacation or a tough situation since I didn't have to add any water or anything to get cooked rice.

I realized that John was going to be late this morning so I headed outdoors. I went out to water the plants in the back flower bed.  It's been so very dry here.  I sure hope we get the rain  that is supposed to come in today.

I decided to take a load of stuff off the back porch to the shed.  I didn't get it all out to the shed because once I got out there I got distracted by what I was bringing out of the shed to use in the yard.
I set up the herb bed with some of the pieces I brought out and though I want to paint them I can see that I'm going to appreciate the way this looks.  It has far more interest now.   I've a new planter coming that John bought from a girl at work who builds them.  It may go in that bed, too.  I have no idea the size of it because I just saw a photo with nothing next to it for reference about the size.  I've told you I'm a really poor visual judge of size based on photos and/or written measurements,  anyway...

I came indoors long enough to check my phone and John had called.  Sure enough he was going to be late.  I got the orchids watered on the front porch and fed the pets.  Josh called and asked to come play but I felt it would hinder John's rest once he got home so I had to decline. I told him we had to go to the grocery tomorrow but he said he'd just bring his own snacks, lol.  Tempting as that offer was I declined to have him again.  But we did decide that next visit we'd make the boxes into  spaceships and fly through the stars.  Then he started begging his mom to let him watch various cartoons as he was done with me.

I had my breakfast and headed back outdoors.  I got the headboard painted for the guest room.  It's VERY red...Pretty but so very red.  I am debating if I really want to use it in the bedroom or not but come winter if I move back to the red and blue and white quilt I shall like it well enough I think. Maddie had to come along and snuff up paint.  I don't know why that is such a sport to her.  It makes no difference where I move to in the yard to do this work, she's bound to come along and position herself downwind.  Silly dog.

John came in just before I finished that project.  I came in and showered then remembered I had one more item in the shed I wanted to get out.  So back outdoors to the shed.  This time while I was out there I hung the two stars from the porches on the shed door.  I'm going to look for one more to put on the door.  I LOVE the way that looks.

To cover the badly repaired hole on the siding next to the back door, I hung the rooster from my broken weather vane where one of the metal stars had previously hung. The weathervane  looks so nice.  I'm quite happy with the way that looks even if it's a little wider than the star.  Now to get my new Welcome sign done.

That was quite enough outdoor work for a morning.  It was humid enough to really make me perspire a lot but I needed to water the new pots of flowers.  I have to go get soil on Thursday so I can get them in pots.

John brought in corn this morning.  I think I'm going to put on a couple of ears to boil to go with our lunch.  This corn was picked fresh so I look forward to tasting the first local corn of the summer.

later:  After resting a bit I felt able to get up and deal with our dinner.  I made enchiladas from the leftover taco/refried beans as I'd planned.  I was going to make enchilada sauce but found I had enough in the freezer to make a recipe of enchiladas.  I didn't have quite enough meat/bean mixture after my first pan was made up,  so I made the second one a pan of mixed enchiladas, some beef/bean and some cheese. I put that pan in the freezer.  I had plenty of sauce to make both pans.

While reaching for the cheddar cheese,  I found the Cacique Queso Fresca that I got for free from Kroger a couple of months back.  I used it in the enchiladas, too.  It's not something I normally have on hand but I didn't want it to go to waste.

While waiting for the water to come to a boil for our corn, I cut the tops and stems off the corn and shucked all the ears.  I had a ten ears total.  John asked to have two ears for his dinner portion, so I put seven blanched ears of corn on the cob in the freezer.

John and I raided the fridge and pulled out leftovers.  I had a portion of pimento cheese and had a sandwich.  John had hot dogs and a baked potato.

Wednesday:  We were very leisurely starting our day today, almost 8:30 for us both.  It was nice to sleep a little later for once.  And I did so without planning it, which might well be the key, lol.

We had leftover cinnamon rolls (one each) and a piece of peanut butter toast for our breakfast this morning.

We gathered trash, mail, addresses we needed, deposit slip, and shopping bags before we left home.  Again, we were very leisurely.  It was well past 11am when we finally left home.

We stopped several times running errands and finally we came to Aldi to do our shopping.  John walked over to the bank next door while I went on in and started the shopping.  Maybe he should have been there to restrain me.  It's obvious my breakfast must have been wearing off pretty quickly because I added extra packets of cookies and an extra bag of chips to the buggy.  I realized what I'd done fairly quickly and hurried to the bread section.  I made myself buy only the organic bread we've been eating of late (similar to Dave's Killer Organic Bread) and then hurried along to the produce section.

I wanted to go down the home goods aisle.  They had a pretty mosaic cafe table marked down that I wanted but John suggested I wait on it.  Phooey.  I did find the non-stick aluminum two burner griddle I'd noted in last week's ad that I'd wanted.  I had a two burner cast iron griddle ages ago but it simply got too heavy and awkward to deal with.  This one will be much lighter and while I'm not fond of non-stick I find the kitchenware at Aldi is usually good value for the money.

I figured up my grocery spending when I got home.  I made sure to subtract out the plants bought on Monday at the one store and the pillow and griddle bought today at Aldi that was all lumped in to the store totals.  I am just under this two week's budget amount and I know I have plenty of produce and bread and dairy to last us the full two weeks...Well bread is a little iffy but definitely plenty of milk (two gallons frozen and a full gallon in the fridge).

We bought a cheese pizza, 12 inch, from Aldi today for $2.19.  I put in the big oven as my toaster oven was too small for it and made a salad after I'd unpacked groceries.  The pizza was quite good.  It was a Mama Cozzi thin crust three cheese pizza.  I think we got it from the refrigerator section but not sure.  It was definitely good though.  The crust was preservative and artificial free.

My freezers are so full that I had to put the packet of chicken breasts I'd bought today into the fridge.  This works fine since I have chicken on the menu for this week.  I also bought a sirloin tip roast which I was able to fit into the freezer.  I'll save that for grilling one day this month.

Thursday:  Well I am impressed.  I bought a pillow yesterday, a bed pillow, that said it was a cooling pillow, at Aldi.  Now I wasn't expecting it to feel like I'd shoved my head into the fridge but it certainly did stay cooler.  What's more I slept so much better last night.  My old pillow had gone flat and I simply wasn't getting the neck support I needed.  This pillow did very well indeed and I'm happy  spent the $7 on it.   John didn't get one because John has had the same loose fill pillow for YEARS and it's the one he seeks out every time we go to bed.  Confession: of late I've grabbed his pillow to sleep on when he's at work because it's a very comfortable pillow.  However, he's home more than he's gone.   I'm happy to have a pillow that seems to be a comfortable one for me.

Maddie has kept digging at her hole in the corner flower bed, until she'd dug below the new foundation wall and the foundation of the back porch.  Sigh.  John suggested we fill it in and put concrete blocks there to keep her from digging right up against the foundation.  So this morning as soon as he'd left, I ran indoors to dress and ran outdoors to get to work.  I refilled the area best I could and put two blocks down to keep her from digging up against the house.

Then, feeling ambitious and being extremely sweaty anyway, I went ahead and moved the rest of the blocks off the patio over to the side of my shed where I created a 12 foot long 16 inch wide flower/vegetable bed.  I have two blocks left and I think I'm going to add them to the ends and move the long line of blocks back so the bed is 32 inches wide.  That will make a pretty good sized  bed.   I haven't made up my mind yet what I'll plant in it but I'd really kind of like a cut flower garden I think.  That's my first brand new bedding area this year.  I'll buy soil to fill it in.  John will laugh and say there's nothing but dirt all around me.  He's right.  There's nothing but red clay and sandy soils and a pile load of roots and it's all hard as a rock, even the sandy bits which have loads of pebbles mixed in.  I can't dig that mess up to use.  So I'll buy bags of soil to put in the bed.  I'll do as I do with all else: a little bit at a time.

When I started the border work about the trees at the end of the house, I connected the last mulched area to the tree with a curve.  I thought I'd made a curve John could maneuver with the mower but he said it was too deep for him to get into  This morning I did a whole load of work.  All the border blocks were moved.  I used al the flat patio border rocks to work my straight line down the back side of the house and then used the retaining wall blocks to make my curved bed about the tree.  It took about an hour and half all told but it looks nice and there's a much smoother curved area for John to mow through.  We'll see how well he can maneuver this one.

I decided after that job it was enough.  I came indoors and took a shower and freshened up.

Then I decided what my focus was today.  I wanted to go get potting soil so I could plant the things I'd just bought the other day, look for a fern for the back porch as well as for bougainvillea to go on the front porch.  I needed to make a return to Walmart and had a short list of items to pick up.  I had a longer list of plants than anything but I decided on my way to Walmart that it would pay a bigger dividend in time and energy for me if I bought a hose for the back side of the house this pay period and then buy more plants later.

So I made my return, found a hose and three items I needed for my personal use.  I walked out to the plant area to see if they had a café set and there were none.  There was, however, a load of discounted plants that looked pretty decent overall.  I found my fern for the back porch and picked up two 5in pots of dianthus in a solid pink (mine are pink and white and white with pink).  I used the refund money to pay for the bulk of those things.

Then I went to Lowe's.  I am getting to dislike this particular Lowe's quite a bit. I found one bougainvillea and the potting soil I wanted.  They had no café sets, an extremely limited selection of plants and colors, no orchid pots and as usual, an attitude at the register.

Drove from Lowe's down to a Kroger that has a huge selection of outdoor plants and furnishings.  I didn't see any café sets.

On my way back up the highway, I called Katie while I was at a long stop light and asked if she wanted to meet up for lunch.  We agreed on a restaurant and had a nice visit as well as lunch.  Then I headed home.

I still need to load the dishwasher, wash a handful of dishes and sweep the kitchen at the very least today but honestly I am so tired and so done that I do believe I shall sit here a good bit.  later: got these things done.

Friday:  I was having a very interesting dream this morning and kept drifting back into it.  I finally woke and realized it was 7am and more than time to be up.  I'd planned to work in the yard a little this morning but it was raining.  Coffee sounded a far better idea to me when I realized work in the yard was out of the question.

I set plants on the steps to catch rain water.  We shifted a bucket that had filled and put an empty one in it's place.

John refilled the dog food container.  I'd contemplated skipping the next subscription order mid month but I realized we'd run out before the next expected shipment so I'll just let that order stand as is.

After breakfast I got busy clearing up the house.  The living room hadn't been touched all week long.  Mostly it needed tidying and that deep dusting that I'd planned to give it.  I oiled the boxes and buffet, used glass cleaner on lamps, picture frame glass, mirrors and used the carpet sweeper to get up little  bits of paper and dust that fell.  I did the bookshelves last as they are the bigger part of the dusting job.  I rearranged most of the items on those shelves as I worked.  This gives me a new perspective.  I'd brought in a cobalt blue medicine bottle of water to refresh the plants and realized that here was a good piece of added color for the shelves.  I brought in a second medicine bottle and an old ink bottle that has some of the same colors in labeling and grouped them together.  Pretty and interesting.  It took me about two hours to get this done.  It really was needed.

John did a small load of laundry.  He hung several pieces to dry indoors.

I rearranged my menu plans.  John has asked the boys to come over this afternoon and we will have supper and Shabat with them before taking them home.  I wanted something easy to make and clear up behind today.  It will give me time to rest before the boys come over.  Bess texted me this morning that Josh, who was aware that the invite was 'after their nap', was complaining of tiredness ten minutes after he got up.  "I really think I need a nap NOW, Mama, then we can go to Gramma's."  Hmmm...lol.

That's my week...How has your week been?