Diary of a Week: First Week of September

Saturday:  How about another of my favorite autumn themed songs?   September In The Rain   We've just had a few brief showers and though September isn't here until tomorrow, it seemed fitting somehow.  I know you all enjoy the occasional shared vintage music.  It's appropriate to the expected weather for today and tomorrow...

I didn't just grow up listening to 'Stairway to Heaven' and 'Dream On' and other such rock and roll songs as a teenager.  I was the unusual kind of teen girl.  I played piano (more or less) and  learned songs such as the one I linked above and other hits from the 1920's to 1940's eras.   So I already had a love of the old standards and that was enhanced by watching Lawrence Welk every Saturday evening as well, which was a nice mix of contemporary and standards.



As I got into high school, I discovered my mother's records.  Xavier Cougat, Andy Williams, and the Ray Conniff Singers were there among others and I played those albums until the wax records had a powdery coating.  Ssshh!  I still have some of those same albums, packed with my things when I left home for my first marriage.   So for me, hearing this morning's shared music is a bit like a walk down memory lane.  You see, it IS part of the songs of my youth and let's face it, I suspect that 50 years from now this song will stand the test of time, but I'm pretty sure "Rock the Boat Baby" by The Hues probably won't.

We had Josh here this morning for about an hour.  He's a dear sweet boy but  has some issues with behavior at school.  Now honestly, I have had my opinion about how to handle this but I hadn't shared with his parents.  For one thing, I wasn't asked, but I did suggest to Bess that she should put it to prayer when she was telling me about it.  However, Sam called to talk to John and ask what he'd suggest.  Sam was semi-relieved to discover that he had pretty much followed the same line of punishment that we'd have chosen, but John also suggested a bit more outdoor time, and some real chores, which was right along with my line of thinking.

So this morning, Josh was delivered here and we put him to work.  He made a comment several times that he was tired and it was hot (it wasn't), but he didn't complain about the work itself and he did a good job at all the tasks put before him.   He used my electric blower to blow dirt and grass and leaves off the porches and patio, picked up some sticks that had fallen in the yard near the house, and watered my plants.  When he finished  what I'd set for him, John took over and had him blow out his shed. I  suggested to John that Josh cut the weeds about the 911 signage at the driveway entrance with a pair of scissors.  

Now don't get too upset...I had a purpose for this job.  The weeds weren't thick and heavy just a few stragglers.   You see, Josh cut up a shirt he was wearing at school with scissors he was meant to be using for art class.  Frankly, I think to use a pair of safety scissors to cut up a shirt takes some muscle, so I don't think he was too taxed in cutting a few pieces of sedge grass with close supervision and a sharper pair of scissors.  After about an  hour of work, he was given a piece of bubblegum which we assured him was NOT a reward nor payment, a lollipop to give to Isaac, then we  thanked him for the work he'd done and John took him home.

When they arrived back at the house, John told Sam and Bess what Josh had done and showed  the photos of the before and after of the cutting  job he'd done.  "Is that all he did?" Sam asked.  "Well no, your mom worked him a bit..."  "Yeah.  Mama's always been harder than you when it comes to this sort of stuff," Sam replied.  This tickled John because he really does consider himself the tougher parent, but to hear the kids think I'm the tough one is always so surprising to him.

I hope that this concept of good behavior being a better choice is driven home to my little love. I've told Josh if he's got good conduct at school and he wants to come 'work for hire' I'll happily pay him cash.  I assured him that money earned for  work done doesn't all have to go into savings in his piggy bank.  He can keep a portion of it to buy a toy or candy or whatever.  His dad agreed with this.   So we're trying to give him incentives for good behavior and maybe just maybe with all of us working together we'll manage to keep him on the right track.

John and I discussed children  yesterday when we were planning tasks for Josh today.  We both agreed that it really is a long process of feeling helpless and having to trust God to help us make the right choices from the first bit of colic or earache as an infant all the way up to their bigger adult hurts.  Today's frustrations with Josh's oh so simple troubles are just muscle building sessions for his parents.

Sunday:  I've just settled for the rest of the afternoon. (Ha!)  I didn't work hard today but I puttered until I am about puttered out.  As soon as I sat down, John called and then when we hung up it began to rain again.  I'm so glad I remembered to take that comforter I washed off the clothesline before I decided to stop working!

I made myself a checklist this morning of things I wanted to do today and I've pretty much done all but one...  I left my notebook in the kitchen and will double check when I go that way later and see if I am correct in what I remember.  (I was so wrong!  I had not done four jobs.  Fortunately all easily taken care of, requiring time more than energy.  So much for being settled for the afternoon!)

I knew it was meant to rain today so I didn't change sheets and towels this morning.  The rest of the week is meant to be sunny and I figured I could get those done tomorrow and on the line before John is home to start his load of things.   The comforter getting washed was part of clearing up the guest room.  I'd let it get in a bit of catch-all sort of mess once more and I really do mean to keep it as nice as possible for guests, be they the napping sorts are the stay the night sorts.   The comforters had been in the same bag John brought them home in early in the summer.

Because I was thinking of fall cleaning, I thought I'd go ahead and wash one of the comforters.  I spread them both out to look over and both had a few stains on them.  I chose the one I liked the very best and stain treated it and washed it.  It came out just lovely.   And it got all nice and fluffy on the clothesline.  I think I'd like to use this new to me comforter for the cooler part of the year in the guest room.  When John called to ask if I'd like to have it, he told me it was blue and white.  It's actually a teal green color with white.   I'm not sure how the room will come together with it, but then I'm never sure how anything might turn out...And yet, if I put enough of what I like into a room it generally does turn out rather nice.  Have you ever noticed that?

I decided to go out to the shed earlier this morning and gather things to use to decorate for fall.  I have tired of my main living area decor.  I do want to stick with the English country ideal but I wanted to spice up colors a bit.   Well I sort of did and I sort of didn't.  I hadn't meant to decorate right away but to look things over and think about them.  I guess inspiration caught right away because I have worked at it all day long.  I quit only because I got really tired.   There are spots I still don't like.
I had no idea I was so short on fall floral and leaf picks.   I could only manage two arrangements from what I had, until I gathered several fern leaf sprigs and added in to bulk them enough to get three smaller arrangements.  I'd like to buy some more autumn picks but I shall have to price what I like.  Sometimes I just can't afford my own good taste, lol.  I'd love to add plaid in the form of throws or pillows, but again, I shall have to see what I can afford, or will settle to using what I have.

I guess I did more than I'd thought today....I'm pretty well done in.  I'll write more about decorating tomorrow.  In the meantime I'll go heat the fish plate Sam brought in for me this afternoon.

I've just seen a second ad for the Downton Abbey movie.  I noted the date for opening in theatres was September 20, not September 5 as I'd first thought.  Tammy shared this link to the trailer


Monday:  Though I was up early enough, I didn't strip the bed early as planned.  I waited  until after breakfast.  Then I got busy doing all sorts of cleaning up.   But first I'll tell you what I ended up doing late yesterday afternoon when I thought I was all done for the day.  I told you I'd made a list...and then I got distracted decorating the house and I forgot about my list.

I had noted that both the drawer where I keep napkins and the dishcloth drawer were all tumbled.  I try to rotate things as I put them back in the drawers so things wear evenly but of late, I'd just laid the folded items in the drawer and anywhere I could shove them and pulled them out willy nilly.   No good!

I took time to pull things out and arrange them in a more orderly fashion.  It was a good time to pay attention to my supplies of both.  I need new napkins desperately, I really do.  So many of mine are stained and dingy and it pains me to continue to set a table with them.  I have put napkins in various online shopping carts several times then turned right around and removed them again and I've looked at them in stores.   I did add a lovely set of thrift store purchased white edged with lace, I am a little reluctant to put those out for day to day usage.  I'm sure that is why they still looked brand new when I bought them!  I've just got to make up my mind that I NEED new napkins and put them on my shopping list for real!

As for the dishcloths, I found I had exactly three left in the drawer and none were in the dirty clothes! I bought up a dozen or so at the start of the year.  If I find anything in that aqua sort of color I'm using in my kitchen, I grab it up and set it aside.  So when I realized yesterday afternoon that I was literally down to three dishcloths, I pulled out 4 new ones and folded them away in the drawer.

I also  had to look for two pieces of paperwork which led me to the bin where we store files.  I bought a bin large enough to put a hanging file system in last autumn when I ditched that ugly monster file cabinet and that has been my storage for all those important papers.  Its water proof, I can easily stow it in my closet and it's lightweight enough to haul out so I can see what I need to get to.  Well,I seem to be on a theme here.  I'd just been dropping papers into the box and not bothering to file them.   So I sorted all that out.  I found the two pieces of paper I needed.  One was in the middle of the pile of unfiled items.  Sheesh.  I reminded myself that doing a job properly at the outset saves time in the end.

After I'd done all that, I heated up the fish dinner Sam brought over.  A co-worker had given him some Amberjack fish.  My goodness, that was a nice meaty fish.  I wonder why we don't get that sort of fish in the market?  I would love to buy that!

I didn't do any more work yesterday after I had supper.  I had not slept enough and had gotten up really early with John to see him off to work. I was plenty tired.  I settled in and played with my computer, read another of the vintage magazines and finally settled to watch an episode of Season 7 of Great British Baking Competition. I don't think I was awake five minutes when I went to bed last night.

So up this morning, and I decided to go to work on my current extra bit of  Bible study.  I'm following a study guide on Galatians and the first two chapters went easily enough but I got tangled up with this third chapter.   I find Paul often confuses me.  I do not doubt his conversion nor the great work he did in carrying the message but I find, more often than not, that Paul just plain confuses me.  And today I was just as confused by the study guide as I was by the chapter I was meant to be studying.   Honesty time...I often avoid Bible study guides because I have no clue if I'm getting the answers right.  I do realize it's not a test.  I'm pretty sure some questions are meant to be open ended in some way so that we really think about the answers we give.  With this guide most answers are pretty clear.  It's right there in scripture. This morning, the questions weren't all so easily answered.  It was a challenge.  I guess that's exactly what it was meant to be.

I started that study before John came in and finished it up later.  I stripped the bed, cleared the dishes away, started the sheets and towels washing, and when that was done did a load of dishes, fed the dogs, etc. before going on with the study.  It was really all pretty much routine work.  Sweeping porches and the tile floors in the house, carrying a load of things out to the shed, cleaning the bathroom, making the bed, emptying trash cans...You see?  All routine stuff, including hanging out the clothes in that good breeze.

Not as routine but needed was 'blowing out' the pantry.  This was something I did in the winter cleaning and it worked so very well that I did it again.  I took my battery operated leaf blower and poke it down behind the washer and dryer and all the dirt and accumulated dust comes scampering out on the floor in the back entry!  I blew off the tops of the machines and the walls too.  You'd be surprised how very well this works and the amount of work it saves as I don't have to pull out my machines and risk messing up connections and venting pipes...A little bit of fall cleaning in doing that task.

Somehow or another all that work took me well into the late afternoon.  Just about the time I really meant to settle, John mentioned supper.  Sigh, lol.  A woman's work...right?

For all of you that think I am on top of my home, it's now nearly 8pm and I have not unloaded the dishwasher nor have I washed the dinner and supper dishes.  They can wait until tomorrow says my husband.  I told him, "You know what?  I have learned one thing in this life.  They will wait until tomorrow...and they won't get up and go anywhere until I get to them!" Truth, folks, truth.

So I was going to tell you all about my decorating yesterday.  Not one penny was spent in the task.



I had this big onion shaped blue and white china jar sitting on the buffet but moved it to the center of the dining table and shoved in a few autumn and green fern picks.  It's really  quite pretty, more so than I'd  thought it might be.  I love the green candles.  I put out some older napkins with these slightly gold/beige placemats.  The napkins have brown, green, red and a little turquoise in them...That they go so well with the table and placemats is purely coincidental.  They were on top of the mess in the drawer and I just grabbed them and put them in napkin rings.  Now I know that these to will look nice with this set of placemats as well as with the red ones.

I won't show the buffet.  I don't like it at all.  I realized that part of the problem is that everything I've used is all the same height.  I'll continue to putter with that this week...

I had been using the little green vase show below as a centerpiece (with a peony) on the dining table and the red tray on the buffet.  I love the acorn dish which is heavy and beautifully glazed.  I put an autumn floral pick in the vase and eventually realized it had to be shorter, so I cut it in half using wire cutters. In a way, I'm not at all sorry as it gave me added filler for the arrangement on the mantle.   Budget saver!




I puttered with this table arrangement far longer than you'd think possible.  It may sound silly but this table is in my direct line of vision when I sit in my chair and I need it to look just right.  Otherwise I'll get up and play with it until it does suit me.   

I played about with the bookcases a little too but nothing I think you would find noticeable.  Oddly enough the children will notice it all.  They pay great attention to the smaller details and it's sometimes the most subtle changes that draw the most comment from them.

I wanted new art work in the living room.  I loved the floral prints I had up before but I've been longing for more color in this room.  Autumn was a good excuse to change things up.

Oh this looks a bit blurry...But I did print out three pictures for these frames.  The birds were meant to fill an 8 x 10 frame but there was a flaw in the printer.  I was able to salvage this much of the picture which was fine.  The top picture is of a packet of squash seed and the bottom is of a seed packet for Pumpkin.

The floral seed packets in the bottom frame are seasonal flowers for this season.  I didn't print out anything new to go into this frame but I did switch out some I had in the upper frames for those that were in this one.   The top frame contains two new prints, one of a packet of sunflower seeds and the other is of an aster seed packet.  I'd love to find two toned asters like those pictured on that seed packet!

Here's the mantle which is between the two sets of frames I just showed you.  I changed out the big floral plate that is a family heirloom for this eBay find I've had for years.  The flowers on this platter are golden yellow, medium blue, orange and deep rose, which plays well off the transferware dish above it.   I printed out the blue jay picture which I think is just breathtaking.  It and the birds to the right were copied from a bird book Virginia gave me years ago.    I bought those lanterns back in early spring at the local dollar store.  I love to use blue and turquoise this time of year because it reminds me of the intense blues the sky takes on.   

I've used this picture here on the blog in the past:

Funny how much more orange the leaves appear in the printed photo compared to the scanned one...

I used the brown and white transferware pitcher (a thrift store find years ago) with a tiny Wedgewood black and white transferware creamer (thrifted years ago) and the black and white dog I picked up at the last estate sale I went to this summer. 

It all looks so deceptively simple.  It took hours to do just this little bit of decorating!   Setting it up, editing it, attempting to get things just right.  I won't claim I'm finished yet, but I've done all I can at present with buying something new, so we shall see.

Wednesday:  The sun is shining and the sky is bluer than blue but the wind has been stronger and stronger this afternoon.   I took one look at the blue skies, felt the hot air and decided with the morning's steady breeze that it was a grand day to wash and dry curtains.  And it was!  I got started about 9am and by 1pm they were all done and hung back up, except the curtain that goes above the kitchen sink.  That one requires the step stool and I don't feel like dragging it out and setting it up just now while I'm all alone.

I didn't take down the curtain in the guest room but I do mean to do so.  It's  a bit small for the window, not being quite full enough.  It looks, as we Southerners used to say, 'chintzy' which means cheap, but it isn't exactly cheap...The window is just bigger than the curtain.  I'll put up one of the better set of black out curtains from the living room which should fit the window better.

I also didn't remove the curtain from John's music room window.  Much as I'd love to sneak in there and clean, I don't.  I am sure that curtain, and the blinds too,  are just loaded with dust but he has things arranged in his own way and it behooves me to leave them alone.  I also didn't take down the curtain in our bathroom because I just put it up in June.  I'll be removing it and replacing with sheers once more come cooler weather and will wash those curtains then.   I prefer the sheers but in summer the western sun gets pretty intense in that window which isn't anywhere near a tree.

So let it be known that fall cleaning is under way, and that one more task on my goals list is done.

I will catch you up on my day yesterday now that I've told you all I've done today...and really besides minor routine tasks that is all I have done today.  It felt like a lot more work than it looks written down, lol!

So yesterday, I had agreed to taking the two boys as both Sam and Bess had late afternoon appointments and were traveling in opposite directions.   Poor Isaac had a  thankfully short lived virus on Monday.  He seemed to be feeling better yesterday afternoon when he arrived here.  He helped himself to the toys he wanted to play with, indicated which shows he wanted to watch on tv and greeted Josh at the back door when John returned from the bus stop.   He'd been on a BRAT diet since the day before, but I let him have a little apple and popcorn once Josh got in from school.  I was reluctant to give him much of anything else for fear he wasn't quite over that virus.

Well Josh is accustomed to being the center of attention and took up his rightful place when he came in but Isaac was none to keen on Josh having  all yesterday.  He fussed and groused at Josh and whined at me and made it plain that he was going to be the center of it all.  John had retreated behind his computer screen with headphones in and honestly...Oh dear I had to bite my tongue because I really really could have used a helping hand!

However, things went on in a hectic sort of way for a bit and then Isaac just started having a break down.  He fussed.  He stomped.  He whined and he cried.  I picked him up to hold him and his little tummy was growling so much that I could feel it under my hand.  I got the applesauce his Mama had brought for him and then he got just plain mad.  He didn't want applesauce!  He didn't want crackers!  He didn't want me to take applesauce or crackers and put them away either!  He wanted to sit in front of them and fuss about them! lol  It all got a bit much and then Josh started saying he was hungry and he wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  John stepped in and said "But you'll be eating at home with your parents, so No!" At that point I had two fussy, sulky boys on my hands!

Just about the time I was thinking I should pull my hair out, Sam came up.  It wasn't until they were all packed up and gone and I'd headed into town to pick up Katie who was feeling she wanted company, that I glanced at the clock and realized those boys were genuinely hungry...It was well past their supper time and mine, too!

We finally had our supper last night somewhere nearer 7:45 which is really late for us.  John requested I get a couple of frozen pizzas in town.  I really must make time to go in to the local grocery store and check it out thoroughly.   The former owners sold the place and it looks like the new owner is stocking it a little differently.  I got plum excited last week to see a sales sheet tucked into our local weekly paper.  Prices are looking fair.  I used to go in routinely and pick up loss leaders in that store.   Where the stock of the pizza we like had been hit or miss before, the freezer case was well stocked.  Katie had come in with me and she looked at it all and said "Wow!  They've made some changes!"  Indeed they have.

Anyway, pizza for supper then just before dark I took Katie home.   It afforded me the opportunity to appreciate our lovely  colorful sunset skies, something I miss more often than not this time of year because the shades are so often shut on the hot, western side of the house.

So there you are, two busy days back to back.  Prayers being said for all my Florida, Georgia and Carolina folks that might have hurricane weather to deal with.

Thursday:  I was up earlier than I usually am this morning.  I am sure it's because I went to bed earlier last night and apparently went right to sleep.   The coffee wasn't even brewing yet so I switched on the coffee pot and drank a glass of water.  I am trying to be more mindful of the need to rehydrate BEFORE I drink coffee.  I find that I feel more energetic and that my body feels better and performs better if I have at least 12 ounces  of water first thing each morning.

I opened the shades and fed the dogs and found River sitting in my pink wicker chair.  I must say, she chooses her setting well. She is a white dog with brown spots here and there and a definite pink skin showing through her short coat of hair.   I'm afraid that River is making herself at home here.  I like her well enough but she IS Bess's dog and was meant to be a companion to the boys.  Instead she hauls herself down here the moment she goes outside and spends all her time hanging around with Rufus.

I started Bible reading for the morning while I had my first cup of coffee.  I had decided to take a shower and get the bed made up after I finished my Bible reading and coffee.   When I came out of the bedroom I was setting up breakfast to cook when John called.  He was coming in later than usual.  I ended up eating without him because I got pretty hungry.  John regretted my doing so but it paid off well for him in the end.  I do not eat by the clock.  I eat by how hungry I am.  John just automatically eats at certain times: 7:30, 10:15, 12 N, 5...I don't even have to look at a clock to know it's time to eat when John is home!    Because I had eaten an early breakfast I was well and truly hungry by the time the casserole had heated through, so he got dinner a little earlier than we've been eating.

Not so much work to do today.  Just a few household basics and swapping out the guest room curtains, rehanging the kitchen window curtains and then making dinner.  It's days like today, when I am done with chores so early in the afternoon that I often wonder what work I might be doing, or indeed if I oughtn't to expend energy at a part time job, etc.   Then there are weeks when I feel I am so busy that I am deeply thankful I don't have to work outside the home!

I want to address something here.  Someone left a comment (anonymous, didn't sign name) on one of last week's posts stating their refusal to shop at Walmart and reported the hackneyed info that they didn't pay a living wage and all the owners were billionaires etc.,  etc.   I deleted the comment and will do so if it any such is left again.

Here's facts: The wages at Walmart are comparative with those paid at Target.  Just go check both websites.  It's right there online so you can look it up for yourself.  But better yet, check with some real folks.  As for the owners being billionaires, I don't know many people who don't hope to succeed in business...I'll wager Target has it share of billionaire owners, too.  Frankly, I have no problem with that!   I've had several small business ventures and I never went into any of them with the idea that I wanted to fail.  I wanted to be a success monetarily and otherwise.

At least one of my reader's husband is employed with Walmart and she's told me more  how very grateful they are for his job, that the wages he receives are decent and appreciated.  My oldest daughter worked at Walmart and was grateful for the wages she received there as well.  I have known others employed by the store.  None of them complained over their wages and all were grateful for the opportunity to work.  In each of these instances that job makes/made a world of difference and whether or not you approve of the wages paid, or the wealth of the owners, makes no never mind to any of us.

Fact: there are five or six Walmart stores within a forty mile range of us and each employs a great number of people.   Just imagine the loss to those people if they were all out of their jobs.  And in those same areas where Walmart employs people, there is ONE Target (a second one having closed it's doors) which employs only a few people.  One.

My choosing not to shop more often at Walmart has nothing to do with Walmart itself.  I also choose not to go into Target or Belk or Penneys!   I try not to go into any store on a regular basis.  I just find I am tempted to spend more money than I really ought to spend when I go into a store, any store.  It is my need to discipline myself and not a personal opinion about products, or labor practices, etc.

And finally, might I just say this?  Walmart's wages weren't that much different than the wages John earned as a paramedic not too long ago and we managed  a living on that single income.  I recall a friend sharing that her son had gotten a job at a well known corporate business and she reported his hourly wage as well.  "Will he be moving out of the house then?" I asked her.  "No!  No one can live off that wage!" she cried.  Little did she know that we'd raised a family off less an hour than that and were earning just barely over that amount at the time!  Not only that but Samuel was also employed at a job with the same wages and he maintained vehicle payments, apartment rent and necessities on that as well.  It's all in the eyes of the beholder.  To us it was enough.  And frankly, her comment stung a bit, too.  She had no idea what we were earning but she'd unintentionally insulted us by being so quick to assume it wasn't a living wage because it wasn't in the realm of where her own household wages were.

So let's check our personal opinions before we spout off in the comments board in future. THINK: Is it True?  Is it Helpful?  Is it Inspiring?  Is it Needful?  Is it Kind?    

Now I'd like to clear up one other misunderstanding.  My doctor is a Doctor of Osteopathy and very much prefers the holistic side of healing.  He frequently recommends supplements and essential oils and herbal remedies and doesn't just automatically write out a prescription.   He does not tell us to shun Vitamin D.   He thinks we should spend a bit of time outdoors each day (sunshine equals natural Vitamin D) and acquire it naturally through a balanced diet.  His opinion of  mega doses of Vitamin D supplements is based on his personal studies that unless severely deficient then high dosage supplements are unnecessary but he has not hinted that they are harmful.  I like his moderate approach to all things and he does pass out informational websites to all his patients so they may make informed decisions.

Friday:  Goodness, I feel I've been running a race of some sort from the moment I got up this morning.  This will be a longer weekend, too, and I guess it got an early start on me...

Briefly, this morning I ended running an errand that I'd not planned to run.  As it happened, I received notice last night that a prescription had refilled and it was in the same neighborhood.  Katie stated her need of a handful of items at the same store, so I had further reason to be in the area.  So in the end, it wasn't any of it my plan for today but it all worked to the good.  I find more often than not that if I flow with such a day instead of fighting it, I'll find I have more time and energy than I'd have otherwise.  Not more energy than if my day had gone as planned but more than if I'd wrestled with the day and lost, lol.

Well, I shall end today's entry here and try to get my weekend menus and plans in order.  I thought I'd clean out the bathroom cabinets.  I rearranged them earlier in the summer and I'm quite pleased with the arrangement but I noticed the cabinet under the sink in our bathroom is a little dirty.  I'm sure the one in the guest bath could use a cleaning as well.   Small jobs but days like today are just made for the smaller tasks.   I want to gather up trash to go out with me later this afternoon/early evening.  I also will fill my car with gasoline while out this evening so we have a full tank to begin the weekend transport.  

I can't wait for Taylor to see the Barbie dresses!  I have that to look forward to this weekend.   John will be working on Saturday this week so less to plan for on that day.

Have a pleasant weekend...and for those of you till facing hurricane conditions, please be safe.

Frugal Things:

No dessert made for this weekend.  I just didn't have time on Friday to get that done and I refused come Saturday morning to get caught up in work.  It's always so tempting to do just that one thing and then there's just one more and one more after that...It's a sticky web for me.

I mixed up a batch of cheddar biscuits which I coated with garlic butter I'd popped in the freezer after we had leftover from cheesy breadsticks we'd purchased.  These tasted a good deal like Cheddar Bay Biscuits and were very good with our meal.

I served leftovers of Saturday dinner for Saturday's supper.  This is a recent change I've made and frankly I find it is not only easier on me but involves fewer dirty dishes and labor overall and requires less to track that might get lost in the fridge.

I printed off copies of pictures from books I own or from online to use as new pictures in my living area.

I ate leftovers for my lunch.

I treated stains on a comforter I was given and then washed in a tub of hot soapy bleach water.  Stains came right out.  I hung it out on the line to dry.  The comforter looks good as new.

Re-hemmed a towel that is perfectly good but the end of it had come loose.  I like a heavy thick towel and so I don't sew these on a machine when they need to be re-hemmed.  I hand sew them using a blanket stitch closely spaced along the edge.  I find this holds quite well.

Stretched one smaller chicken breast half to three servings for our dinner.  I set a portion of meat aside for John's lunch salad at work, and we split the rest between our salads today.

Batched errands on my way into town: picking up mail, carrying off trash, dropping off mail and stopping at the grocery.

Washed all the curtains and hung everything on the line and porch railings to dry.

Though I was making just half a recipe of Tuna Casserole, I knew it would still be too much for John and I to eat, so I split it between two smaller pans.  I froze one.

A second day of batching errands while out.

Meals: 
Spaghetti Bolognese, green Salad, Cheddar Biscuits
Meat sauce from the freezer...time to think of making another batch and restocking...

on my own xs 2

Teriyaki Korean-style Short Ribs,  Brown Rice, Mixed Vegetables, Orange Slices

Southwestern Chicken Burrito Bowls
found the black beans and yellow rice in the freezer and decided to use it now rather than let it stay frozen any longer.  John was very complimentary of this meal idea and I found it quite tasty.

Tuna Casserole, Green Salad

Deli Fried Chicken, Sliced Campari Tomatoes, Deli Potato Salad