Saturday: It's been two months since I last saw Taylor and I was more than ready to see my girl. I went over to visit at Katie's this afternoon, not staying long but getting to see the two children. Caleb was chattering away and definitely kept his eye on his sister. He has recently learned "No"...and to shake his head to answer questions. He lay his head down on his stuffed llama and I asked "Are you sleepy?" He immediately sat up and vigorously shook his head 'No', lol.
I've had little to share these past two weeks as most of my meals have been made from scratch and leftovers weren't made over but simply eaten as they were for another meal, either lunch or supper. But I have started this week with some gathering and thought I'd pick up this post again to share with you all how I used things.
Saturday: I had an extra chicken breast that I needed to cook, and it was extra large. I decided to roast it in the toaster oven rather than put the thing in the great huge crockpot all by itself.
November more or less ushers in the holiday season doesn't it? I've been thinking along the lines of the holidays and I think I have a good idea of what I want to do and what needs to be done but doing is always the main thing, isn't it?
I know it's later than usual, but do come in and have a chat with me, won't you? I can offer you decaf coffee or an herbal tea. I wish I were Granny's sort. She had a cup of coffee every winter night before bed and never once complained that she couldn't sleep because of it.
At 10:30, she'd make one last cup and sip it while she sat at the kitchen table, taking it with a little milk and a teaspoon of sugar. I suspect she did so because her room was cold, and the coffee was warming. She seldom left the heat on in her house at night, unless temperatures were dipping well below freezing and even then, she'd never allow the heat into her room. She had an electric blanket on her bed and wore flannel pajamas, but she also had a pile of quilts on her bed, lol. She fully believed in weighted blankets helping you to sleep best.
This past week, after struggling all summer long to earn my annual $100 from the blog, I enabled an expanded ad platform. By September I was at $17 for the year which is pretty abysmal. I'm sorry that this ad expansion was necessary but I really do need to find a way to make some money from this venture which takes a considerable amount of time.
However, I had a private email and a comment that I didn't publish about objectionable ads. For those of you who are kind enough to not block the ads, please email me privately (it's in the 'about' section) or just post your comment and let me know what the ad is about and/or screen shot it for me and I will do my best to block it. The objectionable ads won't appear again once I do this, but you will continue to have ads interspersed through out the page.
Thank you all for helping me sort this out.
Well here we are my dears...The last week of October. It's been a very lovely month here on my hill and I've no complaints. I've thoroughly enjoyed it. The flowers have outdone themselves, the lawn is beautifully green courtesy of morning dews and not knee high thanks to low rain and change of season.
Saturday: "We can begin ever so modestly. We can begin with a one week’s food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months. I am speaking now of food to cover basic needs. . .I fear that so many feel that a long-term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at all. . .Begin in a small way, … and gradually build toward a reasonable objective." (President Gordon B. Hinckley)
Someone is commenting in a semi-snarky way, pushing a personal point of view about any and all activities I mention that are not socially isolated. But in the interest of saving irritation, I am now going to moderate all comments. I understand that many of my long time readers sign in as guests which come up as anonymous. I've allowed this for quite a long while now. All I have asked is that you sign your name to your comment before you post it. Most of you have done this and I do appreciate it.
However, to the person who has been signing in as a guest and not signing your name: I am well aware of your view point. I am living out my view point. I have explained more than once that we are following and complying with all the guidelines in our state.
From this moment on, any and all commenters who do not bother to sign their name to their comment will be deleted. Comments of which I do not approve shall not be published. Period. I'm tired of trolls and just as tired of people who are too rude to get that their viewpoint isn't necessarily every one else's.
Friday evening we were sitting here thinking about our stash of leftovers and the possibilities for supper when someone knocked on the door. I went to the door to find Bess with a container of yogurt whey which was lovely. I had bread in the bread machine and thought after I got it all mixed up that I ought to have used the last of the whey in the fridge but then it occurred to me that might be pretty old at this point...And having Bess drop off whey was a sure reminder that I ought to rid myself of the last batch. Like myself, Bess makes yogurt about once a month and it had surely been a month since she last made it!
It's been a couple of weeks but groceries were bought and now I am ready to get back into the routine of using all the foods that come into our household, right down to the crumbs. Not desperation measures but most assuredly an attempt to be a good steward of what we have.
The weeks played out like this:
Saturday: When I made Challah for Shabbat, I divided the dough into thirds and used two thirds to make two loaves, and the last of the dough to make cinnamon rolls. This was a snack for yesterday afternoon with coffee and breakfast this morning. I have Challah in the freezer for this coming Friday's Shabbat.
Saturday: We were awakened this morning at 2:30 am with the fire alarm bleeping. It wasn't a sustained sound but reminded me of the summer we had stupid ants inside the wall and they would cross over the contacts on the alarm and cause it to go off in short blasts. Same thing. But John was out of bed like a flash, convinced the dryer had caught fire after his repair work on Thursday. I'd used the dryer to finish off sheets yesterday and it had worked just perfectly with no smell of overheating but I understood his concern.
It sometimes feels that making plans is futile... Then I recall that last week I might not have done every single thing on my list but I did manage to get all but two items done and that's a pretty good percentage of things accomplished.
Planning meals helps me to recall what I have on hand, and to incorporate items I might let slip through the cracks. Like Broccoli. I bought two heads of broccoli at Aldi the first of the month and when I looked in the fridge this morning, I realized that it was starting to look a bit like it wasn't going to last much longer. Hmmm... Better plan to use that up!
Saturday: Up early this morning, half chilled. John and I struggled for cover last night. I'll remedy that tonight by putting my own blanket on the bed. It's something I've learned from Bess and Katie. They each keep their own blanket on the bed and when they get into bed, that blanket is theirs and theirs alone. I practiced this last winter and slept quite well, thank you!
It's the cozy time of year...I wore loose pajama type pants and a big t-shirt on Saturday. I don't like to sleep in pajamas. I prefer a gown for sleeping. But to sit about in on a winter evening, please let me have cozy pajamas and a robe that I can put on.
Something I mean to look for this year is more lounge wear for weekend wear in these cooler months.
Hello all!
One thing I did this year that is unusual for me was that I bought more print blouses than plain. I can't tell you why except that I liked them, they were very well priced and they worked so well with the pants I have that it just seemed a good thing to have them.
Did I not make September goals? It appears that I did not. If I did, I buried them in another post rather doing a stand alone post. So I've no idea if I really accomplished much, besides reintroducing Zone work.
Zone work has worked very well for me. I'm glad to be back to that means of focusing on my housework.
We didn't do a big shop in September and I actually ended the month with a little money leftover. While we didn't do the 'big' shop we did shop as we needed things and we reminded ourselves we were not shopping for much each time we went. Result: money leftover. A little bit added to the pantry but mostly just going through the month.
We had a lovely vacation week. So lovely that we're planning to do it again...but not just now. It was one of the most relaxed weeks we've had in the longest time.
Well, never mind September, I'm here with a new list of goals for October.
I love October. Even though we had what felt like an extra long week with so many plans upset, October brings with it a renewed energy and a fresh attitude. I expect it's the cool air that heralds in the season. Even my old dogs play like pups. I walked across the yard Friday evening to put the shopping bags back in my car and I could barely make a step without Rufus and Maddie bumping into me as they nipped and jumped and played with one another. I can see they, too, feel that fresh new energy that comes this time of year.
Saturday: I slept in a little this morning, until 8:15. I stumbled to the kitchen to have coffee and tried to awaken. I opened the shades and found it very foggy outdoors. I could tell the humidity was high because the AC was already kicking on and off at that early hour. I wished for one of those cool mornings Katie and Sam bragged about having earlier in this week. I peeked at the weather app and it's meant to return by this next weekend.