The Week Behind: December 14 - December 20

Saturday:  Sam asked if we'd take the boys for part of the day so he could finish work on the master bedroom project.  Initially I said "Yes, tomorrow afternoon..."   but in thinking it over, I realized he'd get a lot more work done if I took the boys for the morning and they went home to nap after 1pm, so I texted him early this morning to send the boys over.  Josh ran across the field as usual, but Sam brought Isaac over in the truck.



Remember stick ponies?  Well I've had one now for three years and the children LOVE it.  However, Isaac's thing is dinosaurs (now dinoraurs but previously do-roars) and I found a stick dinosaur to ride and play with at the grocery.  He was delighted when he saw it.   He spent most of his time playing with that.  Josh didn't feel well I don't guess and was quite content to play with my Kindle, watching toy demonstrations on YouTube.

John came in from the monthly church men's breakfast.  I'd put on a roast in the crockpot  and sliced potatoes and washed broccoli before the boys came over, so lunch took no time to make.  Josh isn't fond of meat as a rule and I try not to make him eat it when he's here.  He asked for cheese grits, which I made for him.  When he balked at eating them, I reminded him he'd asked for them especially (they weren't on the list of options I gave him) and therefore he must eat them.

I walked the boys part of the way home.  When I came back home, I went right to sleep in my chair.  Perhaps little boys are good for grandma.

John asked for nachos for supper.  I opened the last can of bean dip from our family party and used up the shredded cheese.

Keeping Christmas:  Hot Cocoa and Christmas Tree Lights.  Shared the recipe in the "Worth Sharing This Week" post.

Sunday:  I'd promised John canned biscuits for breakfast this morning.  The can said for 'taller' biscuits to bake at 325F for 20 minutes.  I figured it was worth a try.  Honestly?  Didn't notice a whole lot of difference in height but it did give me enough time to get my makeup done for church.

Lovely original program at church this morning.  It opened with a modern day Grandfather and grandson talking about Christmas gifts and the ultimate gift.  It really was quite good and there were several times when my eyes filled with tears.  The last scene was the best of all.  The cast slowly came to the stable to see the newborn babe...and then the grandfather and grandson went to see him as well a very lovely reminder that Christ is just as much a gift today as he was all those ancient years ago.  This is my Keeping Christmas for the day.

We came directly home after church and I used yesterday's leftovers to make our meal.  I sliced roast beef and reheated it in gravy I made from the broth.  I made potato pancakes from the mashed potatoes and reheated broccoli in the microwave.

I had a running shopping cart on Walmart that I have been filling since last week.  Each time I thought of something I really need I'd add it to the cart.  I took time today to research prices and discovered that three items were much less expensive on Amazon.  John was placing an order and I added those items to the cart as well.  I paid for my items (personal care and nightgowns) with cash John gave me from his Christmas bonus.  He insists each year that I deserve half his bonus as I do so much to save money.  I am just as insistent that bonus money should 'work hard' just as he does, so I don't use it for frivolous things.  On average, I wear a nightgown from three to five years before it must be replaced.

The items remaining in the Walmart cart can wait another week or two before I order them.

Washed a full load of dishes in the dishwasher.

I wore the white button down blouse with the navy knit pants made like jeans and a teal sweater.  I used a purple stone necklace as my jewelry for the outfit.

I am wearing this blouse more because I am conscious that I've had it in my closet for two years now and I've left myself few other options that are suitable for a warmer day in this winter capsule.  I am however beginning to identify why it's not the perfect white blouse for me.  I don't care for the shirt tail  hem.  The shoulders are too big.   The pockets look droopy in an area where I don't really need droop.  The sleeves are too long as well and though I have tabs for rolling them up, it looks sloppy.

It's definitely not dressy and I can see why I've shunned wearing this in the past.  My original idea was to have something dressier than a white t-shirt, but this is not the blouse for that purpose.  I need something that is more tailored and which fits better overall.   So while I might wear this through this winter, I'm definitely looking to replace it with something that looks neater and fits better.

Monday:  Here of late it does seem I am rising later each morning.  It was about 8am when I got up this morning.  I truly believe this has more to do with the light in our room and that daylight now takes longer to reach that side of the house because all summer long I was awake along about 6:15 am.    Well never mind...  I shall enjoy these mornings of added rest.  It makes up for the many hours of sleep I've missed in the past, lol.

I had promised John French Toast for our breakfast this morning but the bread crumbled under the knife.  I had store bought loaf bread in the freezer so I used some of that, finding it a good use for the squished and misshapen pieces at the front of the loaf.   I scrambled the egg/milk mixture that was left over for John to eat.

I started a load of sheets and towels in hot water.  I've continued to forget to buy bleach each pay period but I find the hot water wash is still a beneficial thing for whiter sheets and cleaner smelling towels and dishcloths.  I do plan to buy bleach.  It's on my list of cleaning supplies to purchase.  I hung these things to dry on the line.

I washed a load of clothing on a warm wash cycle.  We hung most of those to dry.  As my sheets and towels dried and came indoors some of the clothing went outdoors to finish drying on the line.

I did not get my fridge cleaned as I'd planned to do today.

I know that this must be done before I do my grocery shopping but John had several errands to run prior to picking up his check and he wanted to get to the post office before they closed for lunch.   We took off trash, carried our outgoing mail, deposit slip and bills with us.   We filled his car with gasoline, stopped by Katie's to drop off something for her.  Of course we needed to hold and feed the baby. He's getting positively chunky.

We headed to John's work place to pick up his check.  We did banking and mail while in that town.  Then we went by McDonald's and got lunch/dinner.  It was almost 3pm and I was more than a little whiny by the time we finally stopped there to get food.  Note to self: Protein bars and nuts need to go back into my diabetic kit.  I keep hard candy for real emergency drops of blood sugar but those two previously mentioned items are a good holdover until I can get a meal.   Shame on me for forgetting!

Home once more and I brought in all the clothes that were on the line.  They are waiting to be folded yet because it's been a busy afternoon of phone calls and visits since we arrived back here.  Bess and the boys walked from the busstop.  Poor Bess was not only winded but had a stitch in her side that activated Braxton Hicks cramps.  After she'd rested a bit here I drove them all the rest of the way home which gave me an opportunity to see the master bedroom.  The accent wall he did is lovely, really lovely.  They will appreciate the extra room which is about the size of their master in the house down in South Georgia.

I watched River chase a deer down the driveway this evening as I talked to my 'nother son' Brian on the phone.  I was sure she was going to tag that deer because she was right there at it's shoulder when the deer leapt into the woods.

Please pray for Amie's family.  They lost her partner's step dad this morning, which is hard any time of the year but especiallly during the holidays.

Sigh....I really want to be done today but I'm off to go through the fridge and be sure I'm not letting anything get beyond notice.  And then I'll fold that load of clothes from the line.  Finshed!

Today I wore the forest green long sleeved tee with the red scarf (aka 'that rag' per Taylor, sigh.)  I wore the straight leg dark wash blue jeans with this.  I completely forgot to get a picture but it's the second time I've worn this combination since I started wearing the winter capsule items.  The sleeves are a wee bit too long on this top.  I'm going to try to hem them by about an inch or so.

Keeping Christmas:  I shared some of the Windmill cookies we love so from Aldi with Bess who hadn't been able to find any when she went shopping.  It's not a homemade holiday treat but it is part of our holiday season to have these cookies on hand and I was all too happy to share them with her.

We watched a documentary on Hollywood's portrayal of Christmases from the scariest Santas to the weirdest and the best loved films.  It was really quite interesting and featured spots with Rosemary Clooney and Judy Garland singing Christmas songs, as well as some animated cartoons and some rare movie finds.

Tuesday:  It began to rain hard in the wee hours of the morning, hard enough to wake us.  We weren't expecting more rain.  As it kept up, I decided we'd not go grocery shopping today.  We need very little and I told John we'd wait until Thursday.

I sorted out the house clothes drawer today and made it neat once more.

John made us breakfast.  He did something rather unusual: he cooked leftover roast beef with onion then filled an omelet with it.  It was delicious!  I really enjoyed that omelet quite a lot and I now have yet another idea for using up small portions of leftovers.

The apples in our fruit bowl are simply not being eaten.  I cored them and chopped into pieces to make fresh applesauce.  I don't sweeten mine, just let the apples steam a little until tender then cook until almost dry, then mash.  It's lovely served warm with a meal or with spicy ginger-y cookies.  When my children were at home, I often served warm applesauce with graham crackers for dessert and incidentally got them to eat a serving of fruit.

I put the cores in the freezer.  I am planning to make jam here in a few weeks time.  I need to buy half pint or pint jars and paraffin as I've determined that covering with paraffin is a fine way to seal the jars.  I did so in the past and simply fell out of the habit of it but it works very well and isn't hard to do.   Everyone in the family loves my homemade jam/jelly when I bother to make it.  I've been accumulating cranberries, pears, apples, grapes for the past few months to make this batch.  I know that John prefers strawberry but homemade is usually pretty tasty and it makes me feel accomplished to have some home canned jars on the pantry shelf.

I sorted out the fridge last night.  This is what I have in it that I want to use up next week: homemade bbq sauce, a mustardy mix that I will use on chicken or for shredded bbq chicken sandwich filling; about a cup of salsa I'll use for  meatloaf; Taco shells for a supper of tacos and for a freezer entrée of a taco casserole and perhaps a pot  of white chicken chili or santa fe chicken soup.    I've got a LOT of taco shells left from our family day.  A full box which is fine for future tacos but about 18 leftover that were heated for the day of the party that I'd like to go on and use as soon as possible.  And I have a bottle of V8 juice that I really need to make into something or freeze in smaller portions.  Note to self, it's pricey but worthwhile to buy the small cans since John won't touch it and I am the only one who drinks it and then only when I go on a jag of wanting it.  Oh yes, and there's a zucchini...Zucchini and v-8...sounds like the beginning of a soup pot doesn't it?  I could make and freeze.

I ate the last of the salsa dip for my supper last night.  I froze lime wedges.  I tossed the stems of the cilantro which had been most thoroughly used up.  I found two items that had to go into the trash because they had been in the fridge far too long.  One had fallen behind a basket and was against the back wall.  Another had gotten lost at the back of a basket.

You may recall I mentioned John bought me a Keurig coffeemaker in my favorite shade of turquoise blue.  It's lovely to make a single cup of coffee at a time and not have a lot of wasted coffee because no one wants to finish a pot.   I thought we'd end using more coffee in the long run, but we don't appear to be doing so.  That's all quite nice.  I will say however, that the grind of decaf we use in the afternoons is not suitable for our self-fill filters.  It leaves a lot of silt in the bottom of our cups which is unpleasant.  John has asked me to buy Keurig cups for our pot.  He really wants them because his partner has opted for them for his Keurig.  I think John doesn't remember that A is the only one who drinks coffee in that household and so it's hardly worth while to buy a pound of coffee that will go stale before he can possibly work his way through it.  However, John's now mentioned buying cups multiple times so I'm going to have to give in on this.  I suggested since we found our decaf coffee was not suited to us that we'd buy those cups and the decaf coffee on hand he can take to work and let his co-workers use in their multi-cup coffeemaker.

Today I made Kielbasa, Pirogi and Cabbage for dinner.  I cut up the apples in the fruit bowl and cooked those into applesauce as I said above.  With caramelized onions we had a lovely dinner.  Knowing that the box of Pirogi serves 3, I set aside a serving of the kielbasa, applesauce and pirogi and put that in the freezer.  One day in the next month I will need a single meal for myself or John and there will be a perfectly good one.  I put the fourth portion of Kielbasa into the fridge to have with breakfast one morning.

I don't know why but I feel this year we will have a colder winter.  I've been very aware that Rufus and Misu had no really sheltered warm place to stay.  I had the idea of what I might do for Rufus a house and it involved a $10 storage bin.  We cut a doorway in one end of it and placed a cushion and rug inside.  I've already put him in to insure it's suitable.  He turned around and came right out but I expect he might use it now he's been inside.    For Misu I restored her former shelter which was made from an old shredder trash bin.  I wrapped it with a trash bag so there is a flap for the doorway and yet some shelter from wet and cold winds.  I'd done this in the past for her and she was quite pleased and I expect if the front porch gets wet enough she'll be quite happy to use it once again.  In the meantime she's merely grousing about it but worse come I'll wager she'll go right into Rufus' house.

Keeping Christmas:  We received a phone call at about 6pm tonight inviting us up to try a new dessert recipe Bess had made and to receive a Christmas present from Josh who was given money to buy gifts for his family.  He was so excited to give us his present and could barely hold himself back.  Funny moment was when his mom told him to give us the gift and he said "But I need to open it for them!  They're too old!"  Rolled eyes and laughter and somehow we managed to open the gift.  He gave us a lovely picture frame which has a tiny clip to hold a new picture each time.  Josh says I must put HIS picture in it, lol.

I read the boys their evening story before we left to come back home.

And Bess' recipe was absolutely delicious, a bread pudding with pecans and a rum sauce.   A very nice evening and one full of Christmas spirit.

Wednesday:  I had two slices of turkey sausage left in a package, so I stretched them by making sausage gravy for our breakfast, along with homemade biscuits.

John had a county employee Christmas party to attend at noon.  I got busy when he left and did a number of jobs.  First, I cleaned up the guest room nicely once again.   Then I moved my vintage magazines into a smaller area, possible because I culled so deeply this year.  I vacuumed out the cedar chest and moved all the linens from our closet into the cedar chest.  I decided it was time to let go of three quilts I'd been holding onto for many many years.  One will go in trunk of my car for picnics since we tend to do these on frigid days, lol.

After finishing up in the bedroom I went into the kitchen.  I had planned to make Chicken Parmigiana for us and Katie.  I made up a big pot of marinara sauce.  I cut the breasts in half so they were thinner pieces which I prefer for Parmigiana.  John called to say he was on his way home as I sat down to eat some pineapple and cottage cheese.  He said he wanted to go on to the grocery store.

I couldn't remember where on earth I'd put my list but I knew there were a few things I really needed to stock up on: flour, sugar, olive oil, maple syrup.  I picked up a big roasting chicken and a corned beef for the freezer, as well as a packet of Italian chicken sausages. Result of shopping today was that I was most decidedly over planned spending.  We did buy more candy than usual, and three packets of cookies, one of plain butter cookies and two packets of the Winternacht Spekulas cookies.  I got the extra packet for Bess who'd not been able to find them when she was in store last week.  She was pleased as punch when I texted her I'd gotten her some.

I indulged John's desire to have the k-cups of coffee.  It works out to about 32c a cup which was better than I'd thought it might be but I'll wager it's easily 11c a cup or less when we fill the filters ourselves.  I'll  note the brand of these k-cups...It might be I can sway him if I can buy full pounds of the same brand.  I do know you can sometimes find good buys on k-cups that are sold as clearance.  Honestly?  It's not worth a quarrel over.  John asks for little enough and I'll accommodate him best I can unless it's too much of a compromise for our budget.  But I do know the decaf brand we've been using at present is just not the right blend for us.  The cup we had tonight was very smooth and left very little sediment in the bottom of our cups.

John decided to buy supper tonight.  I was fine with that.  I knew that as good as the Chicken Parm might be, it would be hard to settle our stomachs after eating marinara...I'm not sure fried chicken was much better but I purposely refused to go into this store since I'd spent more than enough at the last one.   We'll get three meals off this box of chicken.  I don't mind freezing it and reheating.

Oh dear...I'm not very good about taking photos of what I wore.  Today for grocery shopping I wore the teal green shirt with open work down each sleeve.  This is another blouse I seldom wear and I've no idea why.  It's really quite nice and I love the color of it.  It fits much better than the white blouse.  I wore this with my rose gold necklace and dark wash jeans.  I  wore my jeans jacket even though I dislike wearing denim on denim.  Truth, I wasn't quite warm enough.  John had complained of it being hot when he came in and it wasn't.  The house was just warm compared to outdoors, I think.  Next time I wear this I'll be sure to put a tank top under it and carry that paisley teal and green shawl, too.

Keeping Christmas: Grandmother used to call them Silver Bells and I have always associated Hershey's Kisses with Christmas partly because of her and partly because one of Daddy's favorite Christmas songs was "Silver Bells".  True confession here: Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Andy Williams and Perry Como are just classic carolers in my opinion.  Who needs anyone new?  And thank you to technology that allows us to hear them to this day!

Thursday:  Another cold wintry sort of day, despite the lovely sun shining from morning until evening.  I finished putting away the groceries.  I'd left out the things meant to go back to the pantry and because the bags were overly heavy didn't ask John to move them until this morning.  I got all those things put away and noted what  I might  stock up on  next pay period.

I was contemplating our meal choices for today and decided that it was a prime day for soup and here's where I discovered something.  I made the Spinach and Farro soup according to recipe as far as all the seasoning elements went because for once I had the whole lemon on hand.  John objected to it.  He does not like lemon.  He just doesn't.  I find it a lovely fragrance and taste in sweet or savory things, but he likes lemonade and lemon meringue pie and that's it.  In the past I've used the reconstituted lemon juice but apparently the real thing just doesn't compare in his opinion.

When I took the Farro from the cabinet, I decided to decant the Farro and Lentils both into jars.  I had 1 cup of lentils that wouldn't fit in my jar so I used them in the soup, too.  I find lentils overall don't really have much flavor but are great at taking on the flavors of the foods they are cooked with.

I moved things around in the freezer so I could fit in the quart jar of marinara sauce I had leftover yesterday and a quart jar of the soup we had for lunch today.  Nice to have those things in my freezer for future use.

Katie came out to trim my hair and cut John's.  I only wanted enough off the ears and shaved neck so that my current cut will look decent for the next couple of weeks.  John is letting Katie do his entirely since he pretty much goes for a very close cut.   The new clippers have almost paid for themselves with these two done today.

Keeping Christmas:  Found a new to us movie from 1940, "Beyond Tomorrow".

Friday:  I have been trying to figure out for two weeks what I want to do for Christmas Day meal.  John is coming in from work that morning and I know he wants neither a fussy heavy meal nor a lot of company but if the local family were to stop by for dinner that day I'm sure he'd not mind too terribly as long as I hadn't been in a tither all morning long trying make a complicated meal.  I have given myself through tomorrow to figure this out and if we need to go by the grocery we'll go by Sunday after church.  I won't go in at any other time as the stores will be crazy.

This morning after housework, John started a load of clothes and I did a load of dishes after he was done with that.  He hung a few things out to dry and a few more were put in the dryer.  I will just share here that I do not do laundry in his way.  I'd have hung all on the line today, but he's doing laundry and I'm not complaining.

I mixed up cookies this morning.  One batch for the boys to cut out and decorate on Monday and one batch for me.  Sugar cookies are my favorite.  This recipes makes a small batch so there won't be loads of cookies, just enough for us both.

I then made a carrot cake.  While the oven was pre-heating I put the Chicken Parm in to begin heating and then mixed up my cake.  I moved the Chicken Parm to the toaster oven once the cakes were ready to go in.

I won't frost the carrot cake today.    I put the cakes into a cake carrier and put in the fridge to keep over the weekend.  I put waxed paper between the two layers.  I'll wait and frost it on Monday then put back in the fridge until Christmas Day.

I mixed my first ever fruitcakes today.  I've spent the past two weeks reading various recipes and looked for one that had closest to the amount of fruits I had on hand.  I still didn't have all required per the recipe I used but I subbed in some dried cherries I had on hand.  I had a just enough bourbon on hand to soak the fruits.  I wouldn't soak the nuts as suggested as I didn't think that was necessary nor would it be good.    Next year I'll plan better and use Pam's recipe that she gave me years ago.  And please note y'all, I might not jump right on things I plan to do but I do eventually get them done!
I didn't want to do a big ten inch cake so I put my batter into two loaf pans to bake.

These fruitcakes are not for Christmas.  I enjoy fruitcake best after the holidays.  It's a nice treat on a winter's afternoon with a cup of black coffee or hot tea.

I emptied the dishwasher after dinner and pretty much reloaded it.  After clearing up the kitchen one more time, I am calling myself done for this day.  I need to determine what we'll have for dinner tomorrow and set things out to thaw if necessary, but I'm looking for easy and quick and low prep for my meal for tomorrow.

Keeping Christmas:  Christmas baking!  That to me just smacks of the season when I make things we only have once a year.