The Week Behind: Time for a New Song

 

Saturday:  John off to men's meeting this morning and I had the house to myself for a couple of hours.  I sipped my blueberry coffee, enjoyed Peach Streusel muffins and peace and quiet.  I couldn't have asked for a better start to my day, especially considering I was up for three hours in the middle of the night for no reason I can name other than waking and finding myself fully awake with no return of sleep.

I've had a lovely day today reading blogs and magazines and planning the week ahead.  It's just the easy sort of Shabat day I like best!

Sunday:  Up early this morning.  I stripped the master bedroom and bath and started a load of clothes washing right away.  I had them hung on the line before we left home for church.

After church today, John went into the grocery (it's across the four lanes from our church) to pick up the tuna on sale.  No luck.  The shelf was bare.  Boo!  Hiss!  No seriously, had it been up to me, I'd have driven down to the next couple of stores and checked there.  There are three within an 8 mile range of the store we'd stopped at.  However, John is a one stop sort of man.  I was lucky he stopped there.   Oh well.  I make do a little longer and maybe I take off on Tuesday and go look at another store or get a rain check.

He also picked up a twin pack of NY Strip steaks on sale.  I'm pretty sure he's expecting to eat that tonight.  I guess I'll just push off my planned meal one night longer.

Once home again today, he washed a full load of clothes, and hung the greater portion of it to dry.  

I got busy and made up our bed and bath with fresh linens and then dusted the rooms and cleaned both bathrooms.  I think that's a pretty good start on the week ahead.

I just shook up my whole week's meal plan, lol.  I was so sure I had little in the fridge to gather as fragments and yet when I sat down in front of it, I had quite a list!  I realized that I really needed to plan those things into my week and since my food week was already planned it threw all of that out of the window.   This week I'll be sure to put a tag on any fragments use here in this post, since I've posted my list of fragments.

I realized I'd much rather use what I have already in the fridge if I'm going to be serious about food waste.  And since we're all talking about building a pantry what better way to keep a pantry going strong than to have a plan for the foods that will likely spoil first?

I was right about John wanting steak tonight so I recalled what I had in the fridge and pulled things out to make a meal.   I did tell John I'd just cook one steak and put the other in the freezer.  I figured we're getting more meat than we'd typically eat even sharing one New York Strip steak.

I cut up an onion and all of my button mushrooms and caramelized them together as my second side for the steak.  Lana and I were talking about simple seasonings for food in the comments of one of last week's posts and here's where I kept it simple.  I used butter to cook the onions and mushrooms and just salt and pepper on the steak which cooked in the same pan I cooked the vegetables in.   This was an easy supper and quite nice.  John agreed that 1/2 steak each was plenty.  

Gathered Fragments: I cut the loaf of bread in half and cubed it to make croutons for our salad.   I pulled the little bag of spinach out and decided we could mix that with our lettuce.  It made a lovely green salad.

As we ate our steak I commented that I'd love to go back to Publix and purchase not only the sale priced tuna (or get raincheck for it) and two or three more packs of steak if I had room to store it in the freezer.  John admitted the steak was good..."But if you're going to spend that much, I'd rather you spent on a bulk purchase of ground beef.  You can do more with it."   I nodded.  He's perfectly right.  For the same money we could get quite a lot of ground beef and it would indeed be the more versatile of the meats.  My next choice would be a good sale on chuck roasts which I also find to be versatile, since I can cube that for stew, cut into portions as a chewier steak for slow cooker or make a variety of different roast dishes.  I do love it when my husband makes my brain come up with more frugal ideas!

Katie came out to cut John's hair.  She's been doing this for several months now.  He pays her about the same he'd pay to have it done in the salon but she comes here and it's always at a time that is convenient for us.  

Monday:  This is our third morning in a row to have to rise to an alarm.  I do hope this doesn't become a trend!  I do not sleep well at all if I know there's an earlier than usual arising.  I was awake at 4:30 waiting for my alarm to ring this morning.  I finally looked at my phone to see the time and gave myself permission to sleep two more hours.  I was awake again though when John's alarm rang.

Why an alarm this morning?  I'd promised to sit with Millie and Isaac while Bess took Josh to school and Sam had an early meeting in the opposite direction.  And for the record, I did smile!  It just wasn't caught on camera, lol.

  

I'd normally shun photos of myself but you know what?  I'm done not being a part of my own life!  Seriously, I loathe photos of myself, but Josh needs a record that I was there in his life just as my other grandchildren do.  I didn't feel great, I'm not  smiling and I wasn't really dressed but I was so proud to be there in that moment before he went off to first grade!

Isaac was pleased as punch to see me, as was the big orange Muffin cat who thinks I am his grandmother first of all and he's right.  I have known him longer...Isaac talked and talked to me.  He refused to eat his breakfast which Sam set before him but he did have a taste of every food picture in a magazine that was on the table.  I told Bess I guess pretend meals filled him up!  

Millie woke from her second morning nap like a little ray of sunshine and patiently sat on my lap and played with Isaac until Bess was able to return.  She never let out a peep of hunger or frustration.  I am so blessed to have such good grandchildren.

When I returned home later this morning, John had fed pets and made the bed and I could settle with a cup of hot tea and help him prepare a quick breakfast.  I was late enough this morning that most of my previously planned breakfast menu items wouldn't work well for us.  However, it takes no time to fry eggs and make raisin toast.  

After breakfast I had my Bible study, watched a couple of Youtube videos with John, and folded two loads of clothes from yesterday.   After putting those away, he went off to mow Sam's yard and I went outdoors to plant the recently rooted plants.  This morning's plantings were a coleus and more portulaca,  basil and rosemary.  I think I have tiny spears of chives popping up out there.  The tiny little oregano start has spread and is doing wonderfully well.    At this rate I shall have perpetual plants!

I weeded the flower bed in front of the back porch and along the back steps.  I do not like to have to weed the back steps but John is out of weed spray and also out of weed eater string.  Fortunately, no baby snakes curled about my fingers this morning.  I just saw a mole cricket who ran away from me as quickly as he could.

I also weeded the baby tree bed...Did I mention the baby tree?  It's a small turkey foot oak that has been insistent for years now that it would come up in that spot.  We've cut it back for years upon years but I finally gave in and moved the forsythia which wasn't doing well there anyway,  cleared out the grasses about the tree and it's taken off like a champ and is lovely.  John keeps telling me it's a happy tree and I do believe it is.

I emptied the compost bucket and cut a new bouquet of zinnias.  I think the zinnias are finally taking off, and even a cosmos deigned to bloom for me.  I'm glad I planted these but should have tried them out earlier.  I'm definitely looking for more zinnia for next year.  I can't say I am deeply impressed with this mix.  It's a lot of pale pinks and pale corals, and limes and yellows.  I prefer the brighter happier oranges and magentas and bright pinks, etc.

Indoors, I picked up the house which took no time really and then went to work on our planned supper for tonight.  I figured while I was cooking sausage patties for the stuffing for our squash, I might as well add in some for our planned breakfast this week and then I set some more patties out to thaw so I can make some sausage balls to go into the freezer.

I took all the beans out of the cabinet and went over the pantry to see how many more I had (none in a bag as it happens!  Lawdy, best put those on my shopping list!).  I rinsed a handful of several types to make my soup with and set those to soak overnight.  I then put them all in fresh jars which better fit the amounts I have on hand and labeled carefully with type and expiration dates, even though I know they do not really expire.  Just read an interesting item on One Good Thing by Jilly and she cited a study where 32 year old dried beans had been cooked for a group of taste testers and they couldn't tell the difference.   Well I do know that they older they get the drier they become and may need a longer soaking and cooking period, but none of mine are that old!

When my sausage had cooked through, I added a tiny bit of water and half a can of mushroom soup that had been frozen to the pan.  This should make a nice moist gravy for my sausage and rice stuffing for the acorn squash.  

I had about half the rice/sausage leftover so I just put it in the freezer.  I'll use it somehow in the near future.

I hear John returning so I shall run go make him lunch now.  I've just eaten an open faced tuna salad and green salad sandwich.  He'd already declined to eat the tuna the other day so I feel sure he won't be upset about not getting that for his lunch today.

later:  John complimented again on the Stuffed Acorn Squash.  I am so glad that he really likes this as it opens us up to more fresh foods in the cooler months since squash generally store well for winter.  

Katie had seen office chairs at a local used furnishings store.  She'd decided to call and ask how much for one.  Well she got surprised.  "You can have it, if you'll take both!"  She called me right away and asked if I'd like one.  I said "Sure!"   I have wanted a better chair for my sewing table.  Right now I'm using a folding metal chair.  The chair needs a good cleaning and possibly recovering but it's solid and comfortable enough that it would be a nice chair for any guest in the room to use as seating, too.

Tuesday:  No alarms this morning, but I was slow moving, lol.  John cooked breakfast for us again this morning, this time making French toast.  However, he used the freshest loaf of homemade bread and not the stale loaf I'd planned to use.  Oh well.  I'll plan that bread to be used as a breakfast casserole or something else.

After puttering about the house, I went off to town.  I was conducting a sort of experiment on two levels, one to see how comfortable I felt driving on my own (don't...won't do that until my hear is improved) and the other  was to see what I might add to my pantry from our local stores.  I've written a separate post about that experience.  

I was done in when I returned home.  Between the heat, the exercise of walking our two small stores, a painful knee (thank you, weeds!), the general unwell feeling due to my ears, I was ready for a rest so I took one.  John was out mowing our yard.  

After a glass of water and a few minutes rest, I started our supper for tonight in the slow cooker, got beans cooking on the stove and unloaded the dishwasher.  I made us some lunch and frozen Coke slushies, which I thought John might find refreshing.  He did.

Little else got done today.  I told John I felt like my energy is just going "Pfftt..." and never getting started.  Never mind.  It always returns.

Tonight's supper: Alpine Chicken Casserole, Turnip Greens, Cranberry Sauce.   John raved over this meal as well.  

I love trying new recipes but I think I love my husband's enjoyment of meals even more.  I ask myself why I don't put his favorites on the table more often and try new recipes less frequently.  Life would be a lot simpler really and costs would certainly be stable.

Wednesday:  Pineapple juice and tea tree oil...

We've had a lovely day out of house.  I'll share all about it in a moment but first, Lovely Lana offered up a possible remedy using items she was sure I had on hand here at home.  I could not find the tea tree oil that I know full well I have somewhere but...I did combine the basil and lavender essential oils with olive oil and started using that.  Then yesterday when I'd picked up Pineapple Juice I began drinking a glass of that twice a day.

Today John decided to call the pharmacy in the town west of us to ask if they had tea tree oil.  I sort of scoffed when he said he was going to ask, but they had it!  It was reasonable enough and the hardest part was sitting in line at the drive thru waiting to get to the window which was the only way they were doing business.  Now I have a proper mixture to put all about my ear and throat.

So today was date day.   We headed to the mountain town to have lunch at The Bulloch House restaurant.  The little town of Warm Springs appears to have done rather well over the past few months.  I noted a couple of new businesses.  There were plenty of precautions taken.   And the food was delicious.  I had homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert and here again comes the 'simple' food is best theory.  I could taste the sugar, half and half and crushed berries...It was just that simple and it was so good!

More than food today though was the gorgeous weather, hot enough to warrant AC but sunny with clear blue skies.  I noted the seasonal sign of blooming golden rod...I told John, "I don't know how it knows that it's time but it's always right on time!"  And it is.  Most years, I'll find some blooming along about this time in August.  It always makes me feel happy and sad at once.  Happy to see that a new season is ahead and sad that summer is almost over.

There's a lovely historic roadway to drive over to the town with lots of Colonial and earlier homes along the old highway.  Today I noted two old wells I'd never noticed before.  It was obvious they were old ones but it surprised me because I've been talking about having a proper old fashioned well...Just a little reminiscing from my childhood when Grandmother lived in a house with a covered well much like her own mother's in the front yard.

Wells in the front yard weren't uncommon especially along old federal highways because it bespoke a hospitable welcome to travelers and stage coach drivers.  I don't suppose those folks would appreciate anyone stopping to ask for a drink of water these days, but I know it was probably a relief to see a well way back then.

We had an easy late afternoon at home today.   Our supper was easy too, just grilled cheese sandwiches, which was plenty after our good lunch on this lovely day.

Thursday:  It has come to my notice this week that I am not going to accomplish much from this week's work list either.  That leads me to ask myself ,"Why?"  I  know from experience that when I continually fail to accomplish certain tasks there is something more holding me back from getting them done.  Is it because it seems unimportant at present?  Is there something else I'd rather be doing?  Do I lack materials?  

Running down the list of questions and answering honestly today didn't serve to give me motivation, but the shortest answer is that I simply don't feel well enough to go outdoors and work hard and the bulk of my list is filled to maximum with hard work items.

However, it is against my nature to take off many days in a row.  If I weren't going to work outside then what indoors might I do that required less energy.  Of all the answers I might have given it was the one job NOT on my work list this week that really kept nagging at me: Clean up the guest room.

So today I cleaned the guest room.  I started by moving all the junk from the chifforobe closet and then I unpacked all the fabric I'd shoved in a plastic bin and put it back into the two bottom drawers on the other side of the chifforobe.  The bin was then refilled with the bulk of the pillows and covers I'd moved from the closet side of that furniture piece.  Most of these will go back into the living room come fall/winter so no need of moving them too far.  I'm not one to decorate months ahead of fall, but I generally will start switching over my decor by end of September, so no need of putting those things into long term storage spots just now.  

After sorting things out I was able to take down the pack n play (worth every penny we paid for it 11 years ago!) and put the two baby chairs we need to keep on hand away in the room.  It all looks so very much nicer.  There's room for guests to place their clothing and the room looks inviting and welcoming.

It didn't take long but it was the one job that has been nagging at me these two weeks and it's done.  Now perhaps, as I find energy to work, I can accomplish some of these other tasks...

Everything has fallen by the way side this week, including my menu but I pulled myself back together and made Chili for supper's Chili Mac tonight with the beans I'd cooked in the Corned Beef Braising Liquid, which I then drained  and poured over the quart of tomato juice I'd meant to use this week.  All I needed from there was a half pound of already cooked frozen ground beef with onions and garlic and chili powder.   Ta Da!  Chili for Chili Mac and Cheese.  It smells awesome by the way.

As I puttered in the fabrics this morning I realized that I also have a real desire to make aprons .  I have three aprons just now I might wear but something in me calls out to make aprons anyway.  It's more than wanting to wear them myself, it's a desire to express creativity through matching fabrics and creating something lovely to play house for real in.  

I'd also like to make some doll clothes.  Yes, doll clothes. I have some pretty old fashioned looking fabric remnants and I think they'd make lovely dresses for an old fashioned sort of doll.  

Years ago I gave Mama a pretty China doll, an old fashioned little girl, about 18 inches tall.  Her hair is in braids wrapped about her head, a style that Mama herself wore her hair when she was a child.  For one reason and another Mama handed the doll back to me when she moved the first time.  All this time she's been in the guest room, lying in a doll bed that John's cousin brought us that their grandfather had made for a church fundraiser sale.  The people who'd bought the doll bed had called Tom and asked if he'd like to have it since their daughters and granddaughters had long since outgrown it.  He brought it to us. 

Naturally I hope that one day one of the girls in my life will show an interest in a doll that isn't Anna or Elsa, but even if they don't I confess here and now, that I love dolls and always have.  I only ever put my dolls away at age 12 because I was told I was much too old to continue to play with them.  Well at 61, I say no, I'm not too old for dolls (hence my recently playing about with the paper dolls).   I'd like to make this doll a proper bedding set, too.  The bed is a four poster canopy type and even has a set of 'bed springs' that are soldered metal strips.  And it just so happens that it's the perfect size entirely for my doll.  Some things are just meant to be, you know...

I also came across the fabrics I've been playing about with and making yoyos out of for years.  The idea being, of course, that I'd make a coverlet large enough for my guest bed...Only now I've changed my mind about our guest room.  I'm thinking twin beds might be a better way to go with that room.  Namely because little boys don't sleep well together and the other guests who've come to use the room all sleep in separate beds.  Much more suitable to have twin beds I think.  I just need to find twin beds, frames, sheets, etc.    Needless to say that while I have my eyes open I'm not shopping hard for those things and it's not really in the finances just yet but I'll look where ever we do happen to be.  I don't necessarily have to have matching beds.

Well I suppose I've chattered long enough about the guest room and it's contents, both present and future.  

Today's meals: Peanut Butter toasts, Cheeseburgers and Chips, Three Bean Chili Mac...

Friday:  I could hear a wee bit by mid-afternoon yesterday.  Yes, my ear is still stopped up and it's still ringing like crazy but I could hear my fingers rubbing together next to it which is a lot more than I've heard in two weeks now.   I'm guessing the combination of pineapple juice and proper oil mixtures are doing their stuff.  I'll keep right on working with this!

Up early enough this morning to get in a cup of coffee before Bess texted to ask to borrow a necessary breakfast item from us.  I was surprised when she said in her text that Josh was home for the next 14 days in quarantine as a classmate tested positive.  It really makes me angry, not because he was at school but because darn it all, the school had limited the class size to 8 students which must be a tremendous burden on the overpacked system and because they've been in school a whole four days...Could not that parent who suspected they'd been exposed not have kept that child home for a few days more?  Now the entire class has been sent home!  Ugh.

John and I have done nothing much today but ready ourselves for Shabat.  The house is all neat and clean about us and fresh table linens are out, freshly baked bread on the sideboard awaiting the candle lighting this evening.   I've run to town to mail off  a package for someone and birthday cards to others.  I had to go into the grocery to get a loaf of bread (why did I not pick that up on Tuesday?!) and spent the prerequisite extra amount as I picked up this and that as well.  No more of those sorts of trips this month!  I'm quite done.

The mail brought in our electric bill, which was a bit higher than last months but not so much that I shuddered hard over it.  We had some really hot days during the last billing cycle and it's to be expected that our bill would increase a bit.  I must say we can really tell a big difference with the new foundation in place.  I'm well surprised at how low we've been able to keep our bill all summer long.

Meals today: Oatmeal with Peach Streusel Muffins,  Tortilla Pizzas with Tomato Pesto, and plans for supper tonight are Bbq'd Chicken Legs with Black Eyed Peas, Rice and a Green Lettuce and Yellow tomato salad.

That's it for this week.  I didn't stick very well to my work plans nor my meal plans but the week is over and done and here we are edging nearer Shabat.  I'll call this week well done.  

What about you?  Did you accomplish your goals?  Did you make a good savings this week?  Tell us all about it!