July Diary: Week Four

Saturday:  In two weeks, Josh will be headed back to school.   He's looking forward to it, despite the very early mornings and long days away from home.   He's been asking to go back since June.  He's had enough of the summer vacation.  I think it's mostly because he's missing the companionship of other children his own age.  When parents work, friends do not get invited over to spend the day nor are play dates arranged if you haven't had time to assimilate into the community.  I get it.   My own children had a bit of a shock, too, when we moved from town to the country, and Mama and Dad worked long hours.  A little later, when I was at home, I couldn't afford to drive anywhere extra.   Katie was never accustomed to the town life.  She was more prone to make her own fun...still the long vacations palled for her, too.   Thankfully a girl she went to school with lived nearby and they became good friends and were able to visit often enough.



Things have not changed much in our little rural county.   It is still necessary to drive from Josh's house up the road to the stop sign here at our end to wait upon the bus each school morning.  Katie and Sam and Amie were driven up to the end, Granny used to drive me if she had the car and I walked when she did not,  my mom and her brother walked each morning.  We were told the reason for the necessity of this was that there was no place in which the bus might turn around to remain on route.  That is still true, really.  No bus stops on this road to let a child on or off.  Only at the end of it.  In winter, the football players bus routinely drives up and down but that is usually at dark.

So Josh has to rise at 6:15am in order to dress and be ready to leave the house to meet the bus at 6:50.  He isn't home again until 3:55pm.  He's gone from home the equivalent of a full time job!  Well none of that is any different than my own children experienced or any other rural county child faces each day.

Josh amused John mightily last night.  He's been five just about 5 weeks...Apparently he's finding it a rough age to be.  "I wish I was still four," he told his Grampa wistfully.  "It's not fun being five." Poor boy, lol.     We asked for him to tell us what the matter was but he just sighed and tuned us out in favor of Peppa Pig.  And so goes life, little man, so goes life.  Hopefully today is sunnier for him.

Sunday:


John off to work this morning.  He arrived to find that in their grand and glorious wisdom the contractors  remodeling the EMS building restrooms had ripped out both men's and women's rooms, leaving the EMS workers without any form of a restroom to use at all.   When one of the other employees demanded they at least leave a toilet hooked up, the contractors offered to leave a five gallon bucket...And, they assured the employees, they would be back on Tuesday...

To say that the employees are disgruntled would put it mildly.  And while a porta potty is not ideal in July of all seasons, it's at least a facility that might be used if there is one there.    No such luck.  The building is stuck way out in the country by the way, so nowhere nearby to go.  Honestly, I do shake my head at the sheer idiocy displayed at times.  I expect the county manager will get a right full ear of complaints come Monday if they haven't already reached her.   As it is, the guys on shift today managed to hook up a toilet.

I determined that I would absolutely tackle that ivory rocker I've procrastinated cleaning...And so I did.  I followed the method recommended in a vintage magazine.   Then I tried my own methods using  first one product and then another.  Lots of scrubbing later, I can tell you sincerely that the arm I tackled looks no better than it did before.  I found that the fabric, once wet, began to stretch, even if light pressure was used.  I tried to remove the seat cushion cover to toss into the wash but that wasn't happening either without tearing the foam.  I settled for vacuuming the upholstery  well was all was dry, which also made no dent in the ground in dust.  Plan E is to buy material and make yet another slipcover.   I really need to start that shopping list.  

Let's see:  Paint for the planter box stand, plants to fill it,  fabric to make a slipcover, more fabric to cover the seat cushion for the pink wicker chair, paint for the café set or a new café set, lampshade for the glass lamp in the living room, plants to add some desperately needed color to the beds, landscape border blocks, more mulch...Better start setting money aside!

I washed a dishwasher load of dishes and then a big sink full, as well.  All are now done and put away.  I washed a load of sheets and towels and have them hanging on the line.  Remade the bed, refreshed the bathroom with towels, tried to clean that rocker.  Then I resolved an issue with an Amazon return, ordered a birthday gift card for my grandson who turned 10 today...  All puttery sorts of things, not hard labor sorts of things.  I do not think I'll do more than bring in the laundry to fold when it's fully dried and sunned and sweep up the kitchen floor.   Tomorrow I will do a full Monday morning routine cleaning of baths and vacuuming.

oh!  Guess who's back?

I was curious Thursday afternoon where all the dirt had come from on the back porch.  I'd just cleaned it up that morning!  I was sitting in my chair in the kitchen reading the Bible when I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye.  Mrs. Wren was busy darting around the back porch.   I looked out the door a little later and noted she'd been trying to build a new nest in the corner of the back porch right where the door opens.  I suspect she'd dug out the trench in the potted palm trees to try and put the nest there then decided against that idea.  

She obviously decided against the back door corner as being a good area, too.  I noted on Friday morning there was dirt all over the front porch and when I glanced at the Bougainvillea I could see the beginnings of a new nest there.   We watched as we ate breakfast and she kept darting in and out.  Now this nest is right over the railing where Misu eats her morning meal.  Obviously our bird is an opportunist but not the best surveyor of home sites.  Nevertheless by Saturday morning we had this snug new house:

I hope she's successful in getting her eggs to hatch this time around.  The last set were abandoned  for reasons unknown.  And I'm assuming it's a female building the nest, but is it?  Perhaps I should find more information on sedge wrens and see.

Hard to believe, but Sam and Bess have been in their own home for  a year this week.

I have this habit of going back over the past blog posts of the month ahead.      Last month I started reading back over last July.  I really dreaded reading those blog posts from that season in my home.  I felt I'd been a bad sport and shone a side of myself that was not very likable.  I feared I had  shown my family in a bad light.  So yes, I worried I'd shown us all up in one way or another...But it was all in my head.   I found nothing but mild complaints on my part and a whole lot of tiredness.  

I related to a friend earlier today all the many things that Bess and Sam got hit with from March through July of last year and shook my head all over again at the weight of frustration they had to have felt.  I know first hand how difficult it made things for them and what a testing time it was for all of us, as they struggled hard financially and were working from morning until dark every single day.  Not one thing that occurred was any fault of their own.  It all related to someone who hadn't kept their word or had done a poor job of wording contracts or not done their job properly and it all cost those kids a great deal of time and money and worry.  It delayed the sale on their former home so they were obligated to pay that mortgage and pay for the land they'd bought here at about the same rate.  So Sam and Bess decided to go to work on one of the two houses that were on the property, though neither was fit to live in...Every spare penny they had was poured into the mobile home and getting just HALF of it livable.

Now after resting for a year, Sam is again tackling home projects.  This month he's replaced a kitchen window and put a door in the pantry that leads to the back part of the house.   For the first time since moving in, Bess can take laundry from one room to another to be done instead of having to walk outside with it, go around to the back of the house and into the laundry room on the back porch.  I did this when we lived in town and honestly it's a bigger deal than you'd think to have to walk outdoors to get to the wash room.   At least it is in our modern lives!

Despite the hardships of six living in this small house, despite the breakages and wear on furniture, and the minor aggravations and disagreements, aside from my horrible anxiety attacks the posts from July read as though it was all just an ongoing  period of adjustment for us all.  Looking back now, I see that the furniture that bore the brunt of wear often were older used pieces anyway.   Those things don't even cause me to raise an eyebrow now.  The finances somehow stretched to accommodate every need.  The anxiety attacks still come along but I'm learning that often they are tied to summer storms coming in...If only I'd known that then!

Was it exhausting having a 2 and 4 year old in the house?  Oh man, YES!   And it was doubly hard because I was chief cook and sole maid and baby sitter.  Bess and Sam were working hard to bring their home together, and I said I'd watch the two boys when they were working on that house and I did.  I'd  forgotten how weary just one 2 year old could make you even if there are two watching the two year old.   Double up with a 4 year old and subtract one adult and no wonder I was weary, lol.   

But there are things I miss.  I miss rocking a baby to sleep.  I miss having a coffee chat with Bess in the morning and  quiet time sitting in the kitchen with her after supper.  I miss Sam turning on a TV program he'd chosen to share with me and his hurrying through the end of supper cleaning so I could sit and watch the show with him.   I miss little boys smiling with joy when I return home and coming for hugs first thing in the morning and eating like hobbits with first and second and third breakfasts.  Do I want to do it all again?  No.  Not on your life, lol.  But I did enjoy a few things about last summer and I'm glad that I had that opportunity.

Tuesday:  
I was starting to wonder if there would even be a diary of any sorts for this week at all.  I woke in a mood yesterday morning, borne of a deep funk and tiredness that really shouldn't have been tiredness at all.  I mean, for a change, I am sleeping incredibly well.  So why was I glum?
Because I let worry take over and forgot my 'Wait upon the Lord' mentality which typically gets me through a trial.  It does seem of late that most every week brings it's own brand new trial and frankly I'm ready to pass the test already.

I woke in a fog of irritation.  I'd overslept, and rushed into the kitchen to discover ants milling about all over the countertops.  Pest control was just here two weeks ago and I watched the man put stuff down in the grass and planters, spray about the house and windows outside, spray all around the house inside.  Why on earth did I have ants?!   I grabbed a can of spray only to discover it was the sort that sends out that projectile stream and not the light spray.  I wiped all that mess up and went outdoors to fetch the other can which does spray and then wiped things up yet again and chased ants all about the place.  Not one of them wanted to do the jittery joe dance the spray typically generates.

Oh but it got worse.  I rushed to make breakfast after that and missed getting even a sip of my hot coffee.  It had gone just barely above lukewarm when I finally got to it.  John came in and we had a spat of sorts and then breakfast was a silent and labored affair.  I wanted nothing more than to put my head down and sob my heart out but stubbornly, and no doubt wrongly,  refused to do so.  Did you know that tears release all sorts of toxins?  No, I hung on to my poison and went sullenly about my morning until I sat down to do Bible study.

And there, after a heart felt prayer spilled into my prayer journal, I found  I was reading a verse in nearly every chapter that related to my need of the moment and felt my burden lightened.  I went  off to the guest room to hide the clutter and generally neaten that space.  Thank goodness for sewing tables with floor length covers on them, lol.

Did I hang on to that goodness received from that morning's study?   No.   I was needed elsewhere and then realized it was lunchtime and I'd taken out nothing to thaw.  I scrabbled about and put a pan of frozen enchiladas in the toaster oven and got myself ready to leave home.  I had just enough time for us to eat and stack dishes after the enchiladas cooked.

I offered to do something for one of my children and snarked about it which is unseemly at best and doubly damning when you consider I took the initiative to offer up the blessing and then snipped about it and another blessing done earlier in the weekend.   I made a few dark complaints about JAnd then I snarked about yet another offer I was taken up on...sigh.   Robbing a blessing of the pleasure to be had in it is the very worst thing one can do.   I believe that most sincerely.   And here I'd done it three times in less than an hour and blackened the character of my husband to boot!  Oy vey!!

I've no idea why I was so out of sorts.  It was the same  world I'd known the day before and yet here I was, off kilter, out of balance, frustrated, snarky and unpleasant.  I loathed myself by day's end.  I went off to bed early last night and slept like the dead all over again and slept even later this morning than I did yesterday morning.  As a sometimes insomniac I'm not one to sneer at sleep but gracious, when it's the least normal thing I do, I do worry that something might be wrong if I DO sleep so much.   Silly isn't it?

Today I have done very little.  Mostly I've sat about reading and playing computer games and off and on I've contemplated my indecent behavior of the day before.  I've made my apologies, indeed I have, but I've been stern with myself about it all.   One cannot go about acting badly and excusing it away.
I do not want to be the person I was the day before!  I must say this rainy afternoon has suited me perfectly.   It's as good an excuse as any for doing little or nothing.

Wednesday:  

John off to work this morning and was I pleasantly surprised when we stepped out the back door.  67F and no humidity at all.  It was almost crisply cool.  Not quite, but almost.  I was so excited to come indoors and fling open every window in the house.  It was warmer in the house than outdoors but the open windows prevented the AC from coming on until 9am.  

I was so inspired by the cooler weather that I stripped off the slipcovers from each chair and tossed them in the wash.  Then I gave the living room an added blessing cleaning.  I dusted and cleaned fans and vacuumed upholstery and carpet and even throw pillows.  

I'd just got the slipcovers from the dryer when Katie and I started to text.  We'd planned to do a little shopping today.  Well I planned to tag along as she shopped really, because I have spent ENOUGH and I had just enough money to buy lunch today.    We went to Chipotle to eat.  I'd never been there before as they parking lot is very awkward but did go today at Katie's request.  I must say I was favorably impressed by the Burrito Bowl.  I got the Barbacoa Bowl and YUM!   I got an idea of what I might do at home with leftover chuck roast besides Roast Beef Hash or Shepherd's Pie.  I could not eat all my lunch.  I expect to have the rest of it for my supper tonight.

I stopped at the peach packing shed and bought what will apparently be my last bag of peaches from there.   They were not running any on the line and there were only a few peaches to be had.  It's not yet mid-August which is when I expect to have no peaches...It is only a week until August, though.  It does seem that this peach season has gone quickly and that I've had far too few peaches from it!

I received my Kindle today.  I kept telling myself how foolish I was to buy a Kindle at this time when I have no spare cash to buy any books to download.  At least not the books I most wanted to download.  However, I'd forgotten how many books I'd had on my former Kindle which I'd given away.   When I pulled up my library on the new Kindle there were two or three dozen books awaiting me.  Yay! 

Now that the Kindle is all set up and I've had a cup of coffee, I shall go struggle with dressing the furniture in their slipcovers once more.  It really does remind me of the struggle to get Isaac back into his diaper and pants the other night...  The furniture is still but the struggle is just as real!  

Thursday:  

John always wants to tentatively make plans for the day he's coming in from work.  I hold those ideas of his very very loosely.  Invariably, if we plan on doing anything, it falls through.  He has an especially long and tough shift, or someone calls with a need that must be attended to right away, etc.   Today, we didn't go anywhere because it was a tough shift.  No problem.  Oddly enough, despite going to bed at a decent hour last night I felt I'd had a 'tough shift', too.

I decided this morning that since we'd have lunch out tomorrow, I'd best plan the weekend meals and prep for those.  I will make a crockpot meal on Saturday.  Sunday we'll have our choice of leftovers from Thursday or Saturday.    My dessert for the weekend is already in the fridge, a lovely cool Boston Cream Pie.   I don't do anything fancy for this recipe, just a typical one bowl one egg cake (Dinette Cake in the Betty Crocker Cookbook) and a box of instant vanilla pudding with a simple semi sweet chocolate ganache topping.   That should be lovely following our hot midday meal and won't sit too heavily upon us.

All my morning was taken up in the kitchen.  I sorted out the fridge which helped me find the missing bottle of unopened blue cheese dressing and made me aware of how very low we are on cheddar cheese.   And it served well to remind me that I have an eggplant to use up first thing next week (Eggplant Parmigiana I think or Rollatini).  

Then I prepped today's lunch and this weekend's dessert.  Cleared up following our meal and then had a lovely long chat with my girl V with whom I haven't talked in far too long but think of on a daily basis.  Happy to hear all is well with their little family and happy too, to release the loads of worry I've carted about of late to someone who knows and loves my family as I do.     John spent most all afternoon 'not sleeping' but breathing deeply with his eyes closed.

That was pretty much the day.   I haven't any big projects I'm currently working upon due to lack of funds and materials.  I haven't any major cleaning to do because I've tackled every job and then a few more as they come to my attention.  I feel at odd ends, to be honest, as though I'm waiting upon something but I've no idea what it is I'm expecting nor why.  

The day has served well for reading.  I've been soaring through Winter in Thrush Green by Miss Read, which puts me at three books for July...counting it now as done because I've only two or three chapters to go.

Friday:  

When John asked me where I'd like to go today and what I'd like to do I offered up two suggestions.  Both involved heading north of our home into the foothills area.   I thought he'd already decided when we headed out but he asked again about 30 minutes into the drive where I wanted to go.  I decided to go to Dowdell's Knob.  "Let's just pick up lunch at McDonalds and go eat in that park."    So that is what we did.

We splurged a little and got chocolate shakes to go with our burgers and fries and then we rode over to the mountain and had the place all to ourselves for a good bit.  Lovely, lovely.  I felt happier still when John said "I really wanted to do a picnic today, and here we have!"   

The weather has been very pleasant and while it did hit 90f today there was a steady breeze blowing on the mountain so we sat comfortably in our car, looking out over the miles and miles of forest and field.   We had our sweet moments of prayer and then the place exploded with visitors and lawnmowers and weed eaters and dogs, lol.   

We stopped by Sam's on the way home to drop off a RED pencil pouch for Josh.  Bess was shopping for school supplies for him earlier today and couldn't find a red one and Josh is all about the red things, though he settled for a green pencil box earlier.  However, Grampa must spoil the children now and then.   Hugs and kisses from the little boys, a quick admiration of Sam's recent work on his house and we headed home where I've washed a load of dishes in the dishwasher and have bagel dough rising.  I'm going to go on and just bake them in my big oven today, simply because the amount of time the bigger oven runs will be less than the multiple bakings I'll have to do in the toaster oven.  

And that's my diary for this week!

 

Frugal things:  

Made a big pot of the Tuna Pasta salad Friday  which made Katie and John both quite happy.  Katie took home a container of it.  John's had leftovers of it in his work lunch twice and  once for supper..

John asked me to bring home chicken for supper and I said "Please, let's have a roasted chicken and not fried..."  Y'all... it was the tiniest little thing...I'm not sure it had even had time to learn to cluck.  We had one meal of scant portions off it that evening and I'll get one more and then there shall not be enough left on that wee bird to even consider boiling it for stock.

I wanted to buy all sorts of junky foods and feed my feelings.  Instead, I got my roasted chicken for supper and allowed myself to buy bananas and a small bag of cheese popcorn, which I still haven't touched.  I was not hungry when I went into the grocery.  I was frustrated, feeling a bit sorry for myself, and upset at a whole series of things.  As a former compulsive eater, I know too well that just as any other addict, there are days when I just want my 'fix'.  I thankfully recognized what I wanted to do and redirected my thoughts to healthier foods.  

Thanked the Good Lord for the rain we had that lasted most all afternoon on Tuesday.  The plants desperately needed that refreshing.

John and I watched two videos about small engine repairs on lawnmowers. The information is going to be very helpful in repairing our mower.  

Katie and I stopped off to buy paint for her baby bed and rocker.  She produced a $5 off coupon to offset the costs of paint and masks.

Sam came in complaining of a head ache and body aches after he'd spent the afternoon working on his house.  I reached in the fridge and pulled out an electrolyte drink and told him to drink at least half of it.  Even before he left he was starting to feel a little better.  I think we all tend to forget that sweating as heavily as we do in this heat we must replenish those electrolytes.  Drinking loads of water is not going to accomplish the task, will only further dilute them.   I have reminded Katie of this with her being sick  and told Sam he might suggest the same thing to Bess with her being sick.

I froze a cooked chunk of fat for Maddie as a hot weather treat.  She really liked that.

I knew when I went shopping with Katie just what I had that I could spend.  Enough for lunch and peaches.  Nothing more.  I spent every bit of the cash  I had today but didn't buy anything except those two items.

Having sorted out the refrigerator, I found the bottle of blue cheese dressing I was certain last week I had yet.  It was at the back of a basket that I keep filled with olives and various condiments and yeast.  Things I don't need often, but want handy when I do need them.

In rummaging in the drawers I found I room enough to combine the salad makings in one drawer and the 'other' vegetables in the opposite drawer.   This led me to finding the eggplant I'd bought a couple of weeks ago, and the ginger root and to notice the softness of the three big tomatoes I'd bought when I purchased the eggplant at the farmer's stand.  I'll have to do something about those two items come Monday but for today, I dealt with the ginger root.  I took that up and grated it all and then put spoon full mounds upon a paper plate and popped those in the freezer.  I'm hoping it holds as a portion.  Typically I cut into coins but find it's hard to mince once frozen and hard too once it's thawed and gone rubbery.  I thought I'd try grating it and see how that handles.  I was inspired by a tube of the minced ginger root that I saw at Aldi yesterday when I took Katie shopping.

I made a favorite version of Shepherd's Pie.  It's actually called Kids' Favorite Casserole, but I was always fonder of it than my children.   It's easy enough to make: a can of green beans drained and spread on the bottom of a 9 inch square pan, topped with a cooked hamburger, tomato soup and onion  mixture and then topped with mashed potatoes and cheese.  I added a layer of crushed potato chips since we had a bag of nothing but broken bits left in the cabinet.  I liked the added crunch.  This is a hearty four serving pie and so we have plenty of leftovers for Sunday's dinner if we choose.

Have used the toaster oven for all our baking needs of late.  I haven't tuned on the big oven even once, though it's milder now and I might.

I noted on our last electric bill that we'd used 400kw less than the same time last year for May 8-June 8 and this month's bill was 150kw less than June-July of last year.   I'm assuming the new foundation is responsible for the savings, and money wise we've saved about 10% of what we paid for the foundation, which is nothing to complain about either.  I'm curious to see how this savings progresses over the next year.  I do realize that variations in temperatures plays some part but our usage is remarkably similar one year to another so we'll see.

We were going to stop today to buy a roll for Shabat tonight but I decided that I'd really like to make bagels.  It takes about two hours start to finish and good homemade bread is so much better than store bought.

Since River is so very hungry these days we've decided it's just easier to keep the food containers in the house.  Not ideal but it beats having her protest her diet, lol, by coming to eat our pet food...


Meals this Week:

Mississippi Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli with cheese
I like this recipe but really find it salty with it's requested Italian Dressing mix and Ranch Dressing mix...I've made up my mind that when I make it again I am going to do as I do with the onion soup mix dip.  I'll just use a couple of tablespoons and then store what remains in the packets for another time.  
Two portions of this leftover. 

on my own
I had leftovers from the previous day with green beans on the side.  There wasn't enough roast left to serve two if John joined in.  I'd cut the chuck roast in half and then discovered it had a big chunk of fat on the underside when I went to cook it.  Chuck roast shrinks terribly anyway, even more so if there's a hidden fatty portion.  I froze the rest of this for another day's meals.

Chicken Verde Enchiladas, Salad with green onions and tomatoes

Hot Dogs, Chips, Slaw

on my own
We ate at Chipotle.  I had enough leftovers for a hearty supper.

Shepherd's Pie, Vegetable Salad, Oatmeal Cookies (packet cookies not homemade)

Take out burgers, fries and chocolate shakes.