The Week Behind: Tips and Tricks and Treats, Oh My!

Saturday:  Taylor's dad moved into a new house this weekend.  He was moving and closing on the home Friday so Katie picked Taylor up at school.. six hour drive round trip for her,  but well worth while to have the time with her girl. 

Of course, today Taylor called and asked "Gramma will you come see me?"  "I will..."  "And will you bring me Fried Chicken?"  I heard Katie gasp and say "Taylor!",  lol.    That's something we didn't do last weekend, have Gramma's fried chicken,  and I know she likes things to be routine.    I tried calling our local chicken place but they wouldn't answer the phone.   Instead I called the one in the next town and got through right away.  It's just fifteen minutes from the house to go there but I erred on the side of everyone being busy and told Katie we'd be over about lunchtime.   I paid for this meal from my allowance which I've done nothing much with since the viral self isolation started.  I keep thinking of various things I might buy with the money I've saved and I'll promise you that fried chicken was not on my list of wants, but I'm glad I'd been tucking it back.



I might have not been saving for fried chicken, but I'd a vague idea I'd save until I could afford something on my dream list.  Do you want to know what is on my list?  I'm thinking seriously about whether I want a larger freezer.  I've asked Sam to try and get enough deer for me to have one for my freezer.  I've never had enough room to spare in my current freezer to keep even a small deer.  A few years ago, we had two freezers and I used them both but it seemed silly after a bit to have two so I gave one to Katie and Matt.   But in light of the shortages of things we've experienced and John's retirement, it just seems we might benefit from having a little more freezer space.  That's one thought.

Another is to buy a new kitchen island.  Remember the waffle iron I mentioned?  Well it was a gift from Mama who thinks I really don't know what I want/need, so she orders what she believes I should have instead.  It's very generous of her but...Guess where the island came from?  I wanted a larger island, about double the size of the one I have.  As it is, I can't really use the butcher block surface to work on as it's too small.  There's no substantial storage in it either which was also wanted.  About the only things that were as I wanted was the color and the fact that it is on casters so I can move it.  But yeah...Not really what I wanted and to this day I struggle with trying to make it work in the way I envisioned it should work.

Least it sound that I am hard to please, I assure you there are many gifts I've been given for my kitchen that have been and are huge blessings: a Kitchen Aid mixer and hand mixer, a set of Revere ware pots with lids, a set of Corning Ware casseroles that I absolutely love and work to death, and a couple of stainless frying pans...Well I did pick out the frying pans and the blender myself.  The rest were and are great bonuses in my kitchen which I deeply appreciate but sometimes she insists on things that were not at all what I wanted and which I asked her pointedly NOT to give to me when she mentioned that she felt they were necessity and which I was gifted anyway because she told me "You don't know what you're talking about!" 

Tomorrow, when Taylor goes home, so does Zoey and Baby Cat who have been houseguests with Katie for several months now.  Zoey is a 120 pound German Shepherd who is absolutely a sweetheart and gentle as can be with the baby, just as she was with Taylor.  It is HER baby when she's there.

Baby Cat is actually Zoey's cat, though she was meant to be Taylor's.  Baby Cat doesn't really like people over much and most especially does not like Taylor.  But she loves Zoey and Zoey loves her.  She keeps Zoey company at home each day while Matt is at work.   I know that Katie has very much enjoyed having Zoey these last months.   She raised her from a pup with her but she is most assuredly Matt's dog and so she will go back to Matt's house.   I expect that Katie's house is going to feel kind of empty without Zoey about.

Want to know something?  I never meant to be one of those people who considered pets as grand pets but Sam's cat Muffin and Katie's Zoey and Bess's River...Well they are grand pets and I love them all dearly.   I shall miss having Zoey get all excited at seeing me and coming to lay her head upon my knee or to raise her nose up to mine when I'm in the house.

 All the evaporated milks I've found have carrageenan in them which I cannot tolerate.  I found a Mexican table cream that was carrageenan free but saw it at Aldi the other day and it's no longer carrageenan free.  I'd gathered up several to add to my pantry shelves, but had to put it all back, sigh.   I've tried making my own evaporated milk but that was a disaster to say the least.  This evening I was reading an article from Southern Living about evaporated milk substitutes.   Their suggestions that I found most likely to work well were Half and Half, which I do keep on hand though it is admittedly a good deal higher in fat than evaporated milk or dry milk reconstituted with a little bit more than half (they said 60%) of the recommended water.  One more reason to invest in some good dry milk.   Click on link to read article if you're interested in the other suggestions.

Now I am off to plan meals for the week...

Meals:  Coffee Cake and Cheese
              Fried Chicken, Fries, Rolls, Lemonade
              Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Green Peas

Sunday:  I did not feel at all well when I went to bed last night.  I began to get anxious about feeling unwell and then I got anxious over being anxious.  It was ridiculous.  You know, it's amazing how well those anti-anxiety tablets work if you do something nutty like say TAKE THEM.  So I took one.  And guess what?  No anxiety, no more feeling unwell and off to sleep I went and slept quite well all night long.  I can sometimes fight off anxiety attacks by redirecting my thoughts but sometimes that doesn't work.

So today has not at all gone as planned.  It's not that I haven't tackled things on my list of tasks to do this week but that I seem to keep getting caught in other tasks that grab my attention while I'm in the midst of doing something else. 

For instance, this morning I stripped the bed, but I was aware that John wanted to go out to work this morning and would want to shower after.  "I'll wait to wash clothes until he showers," I thought, "and just go on and pick up the house."   Not a hard job picking up house, but I got distracted because I had noted that the Staghorn Fern had a baby staghorn to one side and I wanted to repot it.  I needed a planter and recalled a pretty little green one in the shed.   So I went to the kitchen, picked up the compost bucket and then headed outdoors.  Oh but first, I thought, I might as well go on and break up the two beds that I want to plant flowers in.

So I set down the compost can, picked up the shovel and the cultivator and went to work on the flower bed in the corner of the deck/patio.  I dug up spiderwort and broke up the ground and left Maddie two lying down places and pathway to get to both.   I dug a trench so I could back up the edging that had gotten dislodged last year and dug up more spiderwort and in the midst of all this had words with John over something perfectly silly.   Which only made me do a bit more than I'd meant to do because I prefer to work off a good mad spell than have it go to waste on furthering a silly argument by saying more stupid words.

So that sent me off to plant the lantana I'd meant to get into the ground in the hopes that it would 'take' and then to cultivate that bed beside the shed.  And then back to the corner bed where I planted hyacinth bulbs that I'd bought in pots at the grocery in the middle of winter as well as the amaryllis bulbs (three, since I also uncovered and replanted the one that Maddie completely buried last summer.  I put them in a spot where they ought to be free from said red dog covering them or lying on them or digging them up but who knows if that's truth or not?    I will say the hydrangea that she did her level best to bury multiple times last summer has absolutely flourished with all the extra rain we've had and is tripled in size and has a dozen bloom heads upon it. 

I finally retrieved my green planting pot from the shed, emptied the compost and came over to the house to wash off my tools.  I noted that the new planter was getting plenty of sun and things were flourishing but that rain coming off the house had splashed dirt onto the siding and was likely to wash out any new plantings I put into the lower two tiers.  I asked John if I might move it to a spot  near the carport and we did but he then decided that was no good.  And so we moved it over by 6 feet and I think it's going to get too much shade there, but we'll see.

Then back to wash off the tools and as I did, John decided that having them stacked in a corner or lying on the floor was not the best idea and he wanted to hang a rack to put them on.  I didn't care for the spot where he wanted to put it (in the path as you came up the porch towards the back door) and suggested he put it opposite the back door on the railing where the storm door generally bangs anyway to prevent it blowing hard against the railing.  I sensibly did mention that we'd obviously not want to have tools on the section where the door hit if we wanted to keep the glass intact.  Position worked great, proven by John going in and the wind catching the door and slamming it against the rack...where it promptly bent in the whole lip of the door in that spot, sigh...  I pointed out to John that at least we weren't doing much more damage than the wind did all year long.  He wasn't impressed with my 'bright side' comment.

We came indoors finally and there was the plant I was about to repot three hours before.  And the kitchen not really pulled together from the morning either.  Oy!  John mentioned lunch.  I looked at the mess and said "I'll need 5 or 10 minutes but I'll pull something together then."  He went off to shower and I had lunch underway by the time he returned with his dirty clothes and towel and started a load of wash.

We ate and when I'd rested a few minutes I went off to the pantry.  I'd started loading the new shelf when John suggested it might need to be anchored, so I unloaded it and he got it anchored to the wall.  I was too weary to finish it.  I came back to the living room to have a sit down rest spell and John made me coffee.   And then it was time to start dinner which I wasn't really in  the mood to make it but it must be made.  I could have  asked John but his repertoire is fried eggs or omelets and cheeseburgers

So I went back to the pantry for a bit and finished it off.  I told John I didn't know whether to be thrilled or disheartened.   The new shelf is fairly full.  The old shelves have loads of room for still more upon them now.  However, I don't mind saying I'm rethinking my pantry at present.  Some of my bins are quite heavy and hard to lift.  They'd be far better suited to be on the bigger shelf unit but should I do that then there's likely going to be need of another shelf unit.  I shall not be purchasing the same as the last I bought though it was reportedly heavy duty.  It will do well enough but I don't really believe I've gotten the best.  I daresay though I got about what I paid for.

I started supper and remembered that I had a packet of stuff in the freezer that would do as well as what I'd planned to use from my cupboard and incidentally use up that frozen item.  It worked out quite nicely and tasted really good.  I liked the packet of veg/noodles much better with the addition of the vegetables I'd planned to use in the dish.

I felt bone weary by the end of supper, but you know there were dishes to do as well as clothes to be got in off the line.  John had offered to bring the clothes in but at the time I'd been cooking onions and I really didn't want my freshly air dried things to smell of onions.

I've had quite a time with rough dry splitting nails and cuticles lately.  I'm being more conscientious about using lotion and oil.  That said I thought my lotion tube was empty but decided to cut it in half and just see if I could salvage any from it.  Well there was a lot of lotion in that tube yet.  I was quite shocked at how much use I'll get  from what was an empty tube.

Meals:  Bagels with Peanut Butter and Banana
              Beanie Weenies (Thank you Carolyn for the inspiration!)
              Chicken Chow Mein, Orange Slices

Monday:  It seems these days I am working hard enough.  I won't say I'm running myself in the ground because you all know I'm just as a much a proponent of quiet work as I am the active physical sort of work.

So today began with me rising early because I knew Josh would come across the field to my home this morning for his school day.  I'd found two videos about Madagascar that were short enough and interesting enough to hold his attention and teach him something at the same time.  I had quite a good bit of work laid out for him as well.  Yes, he whines but I remind him that we've an hour to work and then a half hour to play and then we do some more work.  In an hour's time he read the first lesson in the McGuffey's reader and we discussed various things about the short sentence such as which vowels sounded like a short 'o' and what the beginning and ending phonics of each word sounded like.   And lest you think I've gotten ahead of myself, nope, I found a similar paper among those his teacher sent home for him to work with.  He then did seven pages which included one that had to be colored and a video.   I mix his reading, math and English with coloring and geography or nature/science which  seems to keep him from getting bored.

He ran to play when he was released and I could hear him talking up a storm as he played.  He came ready prepared to play today and knew just which toys he wanted out of the toy box.

After his play time he settled to do three or four more sheets.  I will say that I'm not really particular about which page he does.  If he sees something to do on the back side of a sheet that appeals more than the one I present to him, I let him do the one that appeals but tell him, "Ok.  We'll do the other side next school day."  And we do!  I realize that at school he doesn't have the opportunity to choose but I don't see that there's any harm in it if he's willing to work.  After all the whole class isn't trying to keep up with Josh or vice versa.  He finished his morning by watching an episode of Wild Kratts  in which they went to Madagascar.  That was an added half hour of learning time today though I imagine he thought of it as merely cartoons.  However, I noted that several animals mentioned in our videos this morning were also mentioned in the cartoon, including various characteristics of the animals, so it was really a reinforcement of what he'd heard earlier.

I had to encourage him to go home finally, lol.  I think it's lovely that even though he might balk a little about working on school work, ultimately he's interested enough to keep going on his own.

While he was watching the Wild Kratts and incidentally two more videos, I started working on meals for this week.  I realized I'd completely forgotten that John is working two days this week.  That means I don't need as many meals as I've planned for this week.  I'm going to go ahead and make them but put some in the freezer.   

I had thawed ground beef for the Shepherd's Pie and Korean Beef.  John kept asking if I was going to make Cheeseburgers.  Now I know good and well it's his favorite of all foods, ranking high on his list of ten best foods ever.  I answered him sharply the second time he asked and then I apologized and explained that my reason for making the meals I'd planned was to incorporate leftovers in the fridge.  The Korean Beef recipe will use up green onions that are nearing their best use time, as well as some rice that was leftover last week.  The Shepherd's Pie used up mashed potatoes.

I also put together food for tonight and then I cleared up the kitchen and felt pretty much done in.  I've noticed that most days along about 2:30 I start to feel that I've done plenty and then some.  I came to my chair and organized my home notebook.

Now my tiredness didn't stop me getting up to make a from scratch pie.  It's a recipe I've been meaning to try for five or six years and I made up my mind that today was THE day.  I had all ingredients required and nothing about this pie was tedious.  It was ready to cool within 40 minutes!  Link below in the menu!

Meals:  Omelets, Toast
              John made the omelets using bell peppers, onions, cheese and hot dogs.
              BLT's, hummus and crudite
              Crock Pot Lasagna, Green Salad, Orange Meringue Pie

Tuesday:  John off to work this morning and was sent off with a lunch that didn't require refrigeration.   I keep canned chicken Vienna sausages, microwave mac n cheese, peanut butter and bread, crackers, protein bars, and shelf stable gelatin and pudding along with water and electrolyte drinks on hand just for his work day lunch.  I do have to put them away where he can't see them because honestly he thinks they are treats, lol.     Out the door he went, with packed lunch in hand, and breakfast already eaten, coffee in hand.

I really didn't want to be up so early but I stayed up anyway.  I might easily have gone back to bed, but last night I'd been restless so I planned out work for today.   Though I must say I had far less ambition this morning after my restless night than I did last night while I was planning!

I made myself get the house cleaned up which was no hard task, since I try to go to bed with the house fairly clean.  I did need to sweep the kitchen this morning, the only task I didn't get to yesterday.   

I decided the other day that I would wash the pillow shams on our bed and then forgot when I stripped the bed on Sunday morning.  I made up a small load of things to wash, including the desk chair slipcover and the shams and had them on the line. 

Then I brought in the two cushions from the front porch chairs that the dogs sit upon.  Not my ideal and I'm working on various ideas to avoid this in the future.  In the meantime, the cushions were washed.  They went wonky in the machine and so I took a seam ripper, opened the back seam up and removed the filler pads and straightened them up.  I took the two covers and put Dawn on the stains that hadn't come out and put them back through a very hot wash.  They looked so much nicer after that!   All were hung to dry on the line.  I've made up my mind that putting a zipper in these chair covers would make washing a good deal easier.   By the way, these are the pillows I bought at Aldi last summer for about $6 each and I'm impressed!  Those that are on the patio chairs, where the dogs don't sit, have been in full sun, all weathers for a year now and are not faded at all.  I'm hoping to get more of the same this year for the chairs on the back porch.

While I was outdoors this morning, I planted every seed packet except those meant for fall or mid-winter sowing.   So zucchini and green beans went into the planter to start at least, as well as lavender and I sowed all sorts of flower seeds: cosmos, phlox, zinnias, sunflowers, wild flowers were all sown into tilled ground.  I am serious about wanting flowers this year.

I went into the shed to put a few things from the house there and then brought in a few things.  My main goal was to 'dress up' our bedroom and bath.   I am fairly well satisfied with the bathroom at present, though I would very much like a different sort of curtain.  I need one that is also a black out curtain for summer because that window catches full sun and the room gets so bright it's almost blinding in the afternoon and evening, not to mention very warm.

In the bedroom I dusted, removed items from tabletops and rearranged, bringing in items from other rooms.   I puttered about the living room and dining room in the same way.

I found a recipe last night that incorporated an item I had more of than I'd realized.  I mixed it up and put two casseroles in the freezer.  Not going to keep the recipe.  I made as directed and it was so bland and tasteless so I seasoned it up a bit and will add more  Parmesan cheese than the recipe calls for too, as they suggest just 2 tablespoons,  when I do make the item for our supper but the recipe has already been tossed.

I won't tell you I was feeling any more energetic as the day went on.  I pushed myself to do what tasks I did do and took long rest breaks between some work sessions.   I finally deemed I'd done enough and allowed myself a nap which made me feel a little better.

I'll not post menus for the day.  Truth told I didn't eat as well as I ought but I did find things in the fridge and freezer that were reasonably nutritious.

Wednesday:  Went to bed last night more than overtired.   Have you ever noticed that you seldom sleep well if you're too tired?  I woke tense, with a headache, and felt weepy.  I told Bess this evening in a half joking/half serious manner that if I weren't beyond hormonal woes I felt a bit menstrual...and then mused that there might possibly have been a stray hormone that had a very late start date.

I fought my own moods all morning long.   When John asked if I wanted to do something today I'd thought about how long it's been since we had a date out.  And that made me sad and weary of the world overall.

I opened my credit card bill and discovered I'd not cancelled a trial subscription to a genealogical site I'd used to find information for a relative of John's.  The info was necessary for a project we've had to sideline due to stock market falling so hard when we'd planned to withdraw retirement funds.  However, I'd flat forgotten that trial period and now I had to pay the piper.  Sigh.  With other known charges I found my saved allowance had dwindled to less than pin money and that deepened my frustration/angst.

Before we got ready to leave home I asked what John's plans were.  Turns out it was just an errand run to Lowe's.  I was so disappointed and seriously thought about just staying home but knew that would spoil his day because he likes my company.  I gathered up a water bottle, my book and face mask and off we went.

But not before I glanced over the porch railing to find Maddie actively destroying the freshly planted flower bed...I screeched at her and she went off guiltily as well she ought.  I left both her spots where she typically loves to lie but she was busily digging up the front of the flower bed.   And what's more she's torn up the bed about the Faith tree as well.  It seems all my hard work is of the sort that must constantly be done over again.  I could have sobbed with frustration but refused to let tears flow.

 I refused to go into Lowe's with John today but sat in the car and read several chapters of my book.  The wind was very rough and the tree John had parked near did more than merely rustle.  It was downright noisy and at first I found it very unsettling but eventually I was caught up in my book and rather enjoyed my 'time away'.

I didn't refuse to go with John due to fear.  I wanted so many things today and it seemed that frustration met each want with a sharp "No!"   I wanted to just sit in the car and get my mood straightened out instead of dwelling in the midst of my own frustrations and going round with them in an endless dance as I'd been doing all morning long.   And in the end I wasn't sorry and did feel a bit better by the time John returned.   Better enough to suggest to him that we might stop for take out burgers and go to the graveyard where I love to picnic...

As we drove back to that town, we talked about various things and eating out came up.  I mentioned our favorite restaurant chain had reopened and sent out emails stating that dining would be less crowded and servers would wear masks and gloves and sanitation stations would be set up, etc.   "You mean, our restaurant might be open?"  "I think so."  "Well call and see!"  So I called and got an automated message saying yes they had an open dining room.  John said "Well how do I get there from here?" and so we went to our favorite restaurant.  Yes, it was different.  And as expected it was not crowded but the staff was so happy to welcome folks in and took extreme care to make sure we felt comfortable.  There were perhaps six other pairs of diners present.  We were all spaced with a great amount of room between us, well more than the suggested safe distances.  And the food was so good!

Did it feel normal?  No, not quite.  But it felt safe.  I was 'out' and with John.  At some point in the hours after our lunch out, I spoke to Katie, Amie, Bess, and Sam.  The weather finally broke and began to rain, which meant that my headache too was relieved.  John insisted on my having my money back from my unexpected charge.

I allowed myself the pleasure of ordering some books I very much have wanted to read again, books I'd long ago loaned or given away.  I found them on ThriftBooks for under $10 for all three.  I made a meal that John raved over and was much amused when he said "Whose recipe was this?"  "One I made up..."  "Well I hope you wrote it down!"

Did the day become perfect by any of these?  No.  There are concerns we must bear on several accounts yet and we must wait for solutions to come in their own good time.  There are solutions to other problems (like that digging dog) that must be found.  We have an idea but couldn't find the material required.  My back aches for reasons unknown.  My headache comes and goes, courtesy of exposure to allergens while we were out today.   My frustrations remain with me but they shrank to proper size as the day went on and for that I am deeply grateful.

Meals:  Cereal with Berries, Toast
              Out at our favorite place
              Shepherd's Pie, Canned Peaches
We both had big salads at lunch so I let the vegetables in the pie suffice as vegetables for tonight

Thursday:  I have had a hard week where sleep is concerned.  Weather changes/barometric pressure drops, allergies,  etc.  just did not produce restful nights.   I had to be up early this morning as it was Josh's school day but oh how I wanted to lie in for a bit!

I made sure to get up early enough that I could have coffee and Bible Study before breakfast.  I managed to get bed made and had started banana bread when Josh came in at 9am.  I thought I'd settle him to work and I could mix up a second batch of banana bread batter.  I was interrupted by Josh a lot while I finished that task up and I gave up doing anything else until he was at play time thinking I could do something then.

So yesterday morning we were going to have cereal with bananas for breakfast.  The bananas were looking good but the moment I touched one I felt the squish under the skin despite the lack of sugar spots.  All four were very ripe indeed. They were very long bananas, too.  Two made a cup of banana.  So two batches of banana bread.  I made one nut loaf and 18 muffins with chocolate chips from those two batches of batter.

While Josh was having play time I tried to sort out the laundry area baskets.  It didn't take a long time but I got interrupted many times over.  He really was attention hungry today, lol.  Mind you he sailed right through his school work and insisted on doing three lessons in the McGuffey reader.  He earned his play time but he wanted Gramma to watch him play as well.  It was a "Gramma!  Gramma!" morning and even John mentioned after Josh was gone home that it had reminded him of Katie at the same age.  Indeed!  I'd thought the same thing myself while it was going on, lol.

I had saved the crumbs from the breakfast bread and took a partial loaf from the freezer.  I cut that piece into cubes for croutons and scraped up the crumbs to put into a crumb jar.   When I make the croutons and crumbs, I put them in a Mason or Ball jar with a piece of paper towel over the top then I screw on the jar ring.  The toweling insures that air can get to the crumbs and croutons and no moisture is in the jar to cause mold.  I keep croutons like this for a month or more (depends on whether John and Katie know I have made them.  They like them for snacking!)

I took Josh home.  I stopped at our mailbox to see if yesterday's mail had come in and so Josh wanted to check their mailbox as well.  There was another huge sheaf of printed worksheets from the school.  I read in the paper when I got back home that the last day of school this year is May 12.   Josh and I do about ten or twelve pages each time he's here but gracious!  I feel I've done mere nothing compared to all the work sent home.  I noted that some of the sheets are repeats so I shall not worry about those.  But as I filled out my calendar for May with appointments and work days and school days for May, I did wonder if Josh was going to get a vacation from school this year.  He's got a notebook full of work to show for our time together and there are many activities and lessons we've done that aren't in that notebook like sight word flash cards that we use for both sight reading and creating sentences, but I made those...They didn't come from the school.

Well anyway, Josh went home.  I came back and made lunch.  I'd managed between "Gramma Gramma" to clear up the kitchen things from my morning of baking.  I felt a sitting down spell was in order after the morning and took a little quiet work time.

But I wasn't ready to call my day done just yet.  I wanted to clean my fridge and go through it.  I had to toss a bit of parsley I'd bought for Passover and I decided to let go of some items I'd tucked away that were gifts but we simply don't use those items and they are never on my radar when I am cooking.

Well the fridge and freezer were organized and then I thought about the cupboards where we keep snacks and cooking liquids like Soy Sauce and Balsamic vinegar which seem to leave a mess.  I cleaned that cabinet up really well and tossed some things that I had saved to use but we keep skipping the meal that they were meant to be used for and I was tired of looking at bits and bobs of things.  Into chicken pan or into trash those items went.   I cleaned out my spice rack and found jars from 2013 that had no aroma at all and then sorted out the baking and storage container cupboards and asked John to fix a problem area for me that required him going out to the shed to fetch tools.  This little wipe down was no light weight task, let me tell you.  It took a good two hours!  I went up and down the step ladder multiple times.   I found things I wondered at myself at times.

I'd thought I'd sort out the big freezer as well but not today...not today.  I have a lot of dishes stacked in my sink that will go into the dishwasher while I'm preparing supper.   Oh gracious!  Supper!

Meals:  Cheese and Buttered Toasts
              Spam Sandwiches with Chips
              BBQ Chicken, Broccoli with Cheese Stuffed Potatoes

Friday:  John off to work again this morning and I was up early right along with him.  I made him breakfast, packed his lunch and sent him out the door with coffee.  Then I had my cup of hot tea and Bible Study time while the sun came up.  It's really a lovely way to start a day, even a chilly one which seems to be the order of the days...I snuck a peek at the weather app though and we'll be pushing up towards the 90F mark next week, so I'll take these last cool mornings while we can have them.

I contemplated various things I might do and ought to do and ultimately got busy with what was most needed.  I worked on the bills for May and wrote out a tithe on a small check we receive on the first of each month.  I totted up the checkbook, and then balanced it which surprisingly came out to the penny where it ought to be.  I used to be a bookkeeper in days long gone and had to balance my books daily.   I'm a little easier on myself with my checkbook, so if I'm within say $50 it's all right with me.  I can afford to do that since we keep a base balance under our funds.

I often muse that were I to give my checkbook to anyone to balance it would be given right back again.  Our system is uniquely ours.

I did a few chores then determined I should organize my freezer,  Well that led me to determine that some things I needed to let go of.   I had saved lots of fruit for jelly but I made myself face facts.  John only wants strawberry.  He doesn't really like homemade jelly.  Bess and are the only ones who eat homemade jelly.   It's creamed corn...I love making jelly but no one eats it.  Better to feed the chickens.  I realized the freezer really needed to be defrosted so I went ahead with that task.  Now I have a far better idea of how much room I have to fill.  I want my freezer to work hard for me these days an be well stocked for the future with good foodstuffs.

I'll end my week here.  There are children playing, and Bess is doing laundry.

How was your week?