The Week Behind: Life is What You Make It

 

Saturday:  A quiet morning at home which is just what I needed this morning.  I felt the residue of the week's hard tasks and tiredness.   I'd promised Katie we'd come help set up for her party.  I was surprised when it began to rain.   My weather app had said nothing at all about rain and here it was pouring outside.  We had two or three more good showers and then it started to clear.  

As we were leaving, I grabbed my purse and ants swarmed over my arm.  I keep a diabetic 'kit' in my purse, with lollipops or hard candy for a fast increase in sugar if my blood sugar drops too low as well as a protein bar to hold me over when I'm long past a meal.  On Friday I'd apparently spilled a tiny amount of Coke in my purse and this had attracted the ants.   They took over the bag once they discovered the diabetic kit.   I ended up taking my purse outdoors and dumping it out on the back porch where we sprayed ant poison over all of it.  Ugh!  

When we arrived Chad was setting up the party at the park pavilion just behind their home.  And then I spied wasps.  Lots of wasps.  I knew that any sugary drink or cake would draw them right down upon us.  I pointed them out to Chad who called Katie and announced, 'We're moving this party indoors.'  Katie wasn't pleased but when she saw the number of wasps we were dealing with, it was more than clear that she had no choice.

Fortunately nearly everyone coming to the party ran late!  It gave us time to do some minor housekeeping, do the decorating and get the party pretty much set up.  We had it all set up when everyone finally began to arrive.   It does make you wonder if there isn't something divine in a child who suddenly needs changing as you're walking out the door, or a flat tired halfway to your destination.  All those little delays gave us enough time to set that party up and we were ready to go the moment the guests all arrived.

There were five children present and I told Bess proudly, "And all of them are my grandchildren!"  She smiled at me.   She'd brought Millie, Isaac and Josh and Katie had planned it so that Taylor would be there to celebrate with Caleb.   There were members of Chad's family, his best friend and me and John.  It was a pretty good sized group.  

Isaac made us all laugh as I was introducing them to Chad's brother and sister.   "That's Joshy...And here's my mama and Nillie!"   Poor little fellow got sick and had to be taken home before the party got started good...We'd just served plates and hadn't gotten to cupcakes. I begged Bess to take him a big blue cookie home with him at least so he wouldn't feel left out.  

He and Josh had dressed alike.  They each were wearing Khaki pants and a red and black Georgia bulldogs shirt.   Bess was much amused, because the boys had done it themselves.   She assured us all that she only ever dresses  them in similar outfits for Santa pictures each year.

The party was relaxed and easy.  So easy that people didn't seem to want to leave.  Eventually we all drifted away home again but it had been a lovely day to celebrate the sweetest little boy.  

I didn't get a good shot of Josh and none of Isaac since he left early on in the party.  I'm sorry for that but Caleb was meant to be the star of the show anyway.   I do love the sweet smile on Millie's face as she watches Caleb opening presents and that last photo of Taylor, who in the next moment was blowing out the candle for Caleb, is an especially lovely photo to me.  I'm glad the other Grammas were taking pictures because as usual...Yep, my camera remained unused.  I'm always too busy watching to think of photos until after it's all over.  I did remember to snap a few while Caleb was opening presents.  This was one I'm glad I got because Katie couldn't get a clear shot of it:

Meals:  Bagels and Cream Cheese

Grilled Cheese, burnt grilled cheese at that...However, I was in no mood to start afresh and waste what was made.

Store bought Frozen Pizza  Also cheese...Geez at all the cheese this day!

Sunday:  I wonder now if all those years behind when I lost hours upon hours of sleep weren't sleep anxiety due to knowing an alarm was going to go off in the morning?  I mean it sincerely.  I never sleep well the nights we set an alarm.  Goodness I'm glad we only need do that for Sunday mornings these days.

Off to church this morning.  I was mindful of my need to not cram loads of work into a morning, but we'd planned to go to Katie's house today for lunch and I wanted the house to be semi-decent on our return.  I got the kitchen cleared up, clothes put away and bed made before we left, as well as breakfast, dressing, etc.     I won't tell you the house looked nice.  By my standards it still looked like it needed a thorough cleaning but some of the worst hot spots had been attended to and that's what counted.

We picked up Gramma's Fried Chicken, now being called GFC by John,  and mac and cheese for lunch.  I do not much care for the commercially prepared mac n cheese.  I mean the sort from the deli that comes from a big plastic bag and is merely heated at the store or packed up for the fridge case in the deli.  I'd much prefer homemade.  However, John wanted mac n cheese and I wasn't going to run home to make any today.

We did end running home.  Bess is having a fierce time with her ears and needed my oil mixture to try to solve the problem, so I came home to get it for her.  I was going to lend her the basil oil but I cannot find it anywhere.  It's not with my other oils.  It's not in the medicine cabinet, on my desk, next to the distiller nor in the bathroom.   This irritates me no end, because I'd made a big point to put all my oils in one spot, except the lavender which I keep by my bed.  last note before I send this: I still can't find that basil oil!

I was able to see that Isaac was okay.  He felt just barely warm to me, but Sam said once home yesterday he'd eaten everything in sight until he'd gone to bed.  I guess whatever ailment he had was over as quickly as it came on.

At Katie's, I was at Taylor's beck and call.  Yesterday, she was all about Chad's baby sister.  Today she was all about Gramma.  I had to 'go to the hairdresser' and have my hair done, was promised a reward of a lovely little rainbow lollipop if I behaved nicely, had to fashion Playdoh into jewelry and hats and such.   It was a pretty intensive play session for more than 3 hours.  I had to sit by her at lunch time, too, and she needed to eat what I ate, drink what I drank, lol.  I enjoyed my time with her.

This was all interspersed by Caleb routinely lifting his arms to me to pick him up.  Lovely time seeing my grandchildren once again.

When we got home, we put the furniture back on the porch.  Boy was I aware of how shabby that furniture looked as we arranged it!   However, later, when setting up our accounts for November, I was reminded by receipts of how much money we've spent.  We made a dryer repair.  We painted the porch.  We replaced a toilet.  I don't see paint in my near future, not with Christmas coming up next month,  and that's a fact.  I had to borrow from a subaccount to help cover all the home repair/maintenance items for the past two weeks because we drained our home maintenance sub account.   And then I had to borrow from another sub account to cover the Christmas tree we purchased.  

I think my grocery budget this month is going to be rather tight as well since we've got to pay for the deer processing and I've had to order a few grocery items we can't buy as cheaply elsewhere.   Of course, this month the house insurance is also due.   I am opting to pay it quarterly once more.  It allows us to keep a goodly amount of cash in reserve and the cost of paying quarterly is only about $16 for the year which is more than reasonable in my opinion.

Meals:  Eggs and Toast

GFC, Mac n cheese, garlic green beans

Vegetable Soup and Pastrami Sandwich

Monday:  One night a couple of weeks ago, I baby sat for Katie.  I was having anxiety (barometric pressure induced) and at one point sought out a task I could do that would take my mind off the anxiety.  Washing dishes was my choice and so I cleaned up her little sink full of dirty dishes.   She had a bottle of the Dawn Power Wash on the counter, and having heard great things online about this product, I picked it up and tackled the top of her stove where she'd had plenty of spatters after frying meat.  That product took it right up with out any hard scrubbing.  I was very impressed and thought to mention it to John when I got home.

When we were out last Thursday shopping for a toilet, I picked up a bottle of the Power Wash (and a very overpriced package of store brand paper towels.  Heavens!  Glad I had it because we had NONE at home but still...)   John and Sam used the Power Wash to clean up the flooring under the toilet.  They were both pleased with how well it worked.

And so when discussing cleaning the front porch floor, John suggested he'd use the Power Wash for that task as well.  Here's my one complaint.  If you are using the spray bottle for that big of a job, the trigger handle is utterly useless.  I had a professional spray bottle that Chad had bought for me and we poured the product into that to use.  It cleaned the porch floor nicely.  John was also able to wash off the greasy dirty residue from the storm door where Maddie is prone to lay at night.  It took that mess right up and without any scrubbing necessary.   Now I shall make my way around to the back door sometime later today to try to clean her dirty greasy mess of that bottom of that storm door.

While starting our breakfast, I went to get a spice from the baking cupboard and discovered that ants were teeming over the whole inside of the cupboard.  I was not a happy woman.  I had to remove everything from the cupboard and spray the entire inside.  John had contacted the pest control guy on Saturday to come back to spray again.  I don't at all blame Mark.  I do blame the guy who seemingly did nothing four months ago.  In the two years we've used this service, we've had very few problems at all when Mark has sprayed the house and about the exterior.  But Mark was out of work following surgery in July and the man who replaced him appeared to pretty much wander aimlessly about with a flashlight.  I never saw him spray a darn thing.  Nor did he stay on the job as long as Mark does, who is very thorough.  I hate that he has to return but gracious I hate more giving up perfectly good items to an ant infestation.  As it is today's loss was all my holiday sprinkles.   I am not happy at all about that.

In between washing out that cupboard and respraying it when I returned to find more ants crawling about, I had my usual housework to be done, and some baking I hoped to do.   I had laundry that had dried overnight to fold and put away.  I worked for about six hours before I finally sat down  this afternoon about 2:30, and put my legs up.  

The front porch is clean and the furniture restored to position.  There are clean sheets on our bed and the clothes were put away that I folded.  I picked up the house, made lunch, Banana bread, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and a casserole dish for supper tonight.  I have the baking/jar cupboards restored, freshly washed and reorganized, finally.  I've checked other cupboards and the back pantry to be sure there are no ants in those areas.  I've pulled a stack of books to read this month, but despite all that,  I've done nothing that I really wanted to do today.  

I  had meant to go out to the shed and look over the Christmas ornaments to see what I have on hand and if I can work the theme I hope to have this year.  I haven't started a single list though I did note I need to purchase salt and baking powder and baking soda, all of which I'm either out of or down to just one of...I did manage prayer time but not the first bit of Bible study for the morning.  I haven't touched a thing in the zone area for the week.  I haven't played about with the furniture on the back porch to try and make it look fresh, nor sorted through the paint in the cupboard to see if possibly I had any I could work with for the furniture, besides pink.  There were just so many possibilities at the start of this day and unfortunately the ants ate up my time and energy as well as my sprinkles!

I'm sure I'll get up and attend to a few more tasks here in a little bit but the bulk of my hard work is behind me for today.  There's really only a dishwasher full of clean dishes to be put away.

Tomorrow I shall be keeping Isaac while Bess sees a doctor about her ears which are being problematic for her.  

Meals:  Apple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal

Nachos with Salsa

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Bake, Salad with Celery, Carrots and Red Cabbage.

Tuesday:  Yesterday while supper was cooking, I went out and cleaned the back storm door.  Yes, the Powerwash product did take off all the greasy dirty film where Maddie had laid down next to the back door.  It looks brand new!  I am impressed and tried another spot.  It even cleaned the dirty dog residue off  the white plastic molding that is under the door tread. 

John was the one sleeping in this morning.  I knew Isaac was coming so I wanted time to have coffee and a shower and Bible study before he arrived.   I managed all three and so Gramma was happy, lol.

Even though Sam assured me Isaac had eaten the door had barely shut behind him when Isaac came to me rubbing his tummy.  This always proceeds the words, "I'm hungy".   He shared breakfast with us and drank hot chocolate.

The morning went on fairly normally.  Isaac is pretty good at occupying himself but once I sat down he climbed into my lap.   We looked through catalogs and old magazines together.  I discarded all of these as we read through them.   Isaac named every animal he saw, 'ate' food from every picture of food and even counted some things where there were multiples and named out the colors.  I'd say a magazine is about as good as any preschool workbook!

I made lunch.  Isaac was less interested in eating but put up a good show of eating anyway.  

And then about 1pm Bess arrived to pick him up.  Isaac was not happy about his mom coming in to get him.  He wasn't ready to go home.  I happen to know he gets up very early and needs that naptime that was awaiting him when he got home.    We are teaching him to pick up toys.  He's not nearly as good at this as Josh, but we are pushing him to remember that is part of the privilege of staying with us.  He has to clean up the toys he brought out.  Fortunately he is not a messy child and doesn't bring out all the toys.

I did small tasks while Isaac was here, nothing complicated or time consuming.  It's a quick and easy matter to open a cabinet and assess the contents and determine what is needed or not.  For instance, while making a bathroom break, I opened the cupboard door and noted we need to buy toothpaste, shampoo and bath soaps if we're to be well supplied with these things.

Later in the morning, while digging about in the freezer looking for lunch inspiration, I did a bit more rearranging and feel I may now have enough space freed up to store our deer meat.  Never having had a whole deer, I really don't know what to expect, but I was told that most of the meat is frozen flat at this particular processor so it will fit more compactly in the freezer.

A little later I checked our supply of light bulbs.  Those too need to be replenished, and I know we need batteries...Lists can be made a small bite at a time, too, just like taking on big projects.    Later this afternoon I went through my cleaning cupboard and noted what we need (dishwasher detergent but not toilet cleaner, etc.) and then wrote out a list.   This is my starting point for stocking up for the coming year.

I finally determined what supper would be tonight.  Not anything on the menu plan but I am hindered by having planned meals without shopping for groceries.  As I reached for the rice, I scanned the cabinet.  I didn't see any ants but I am mistrustful of those pesky things...I did see one on top of the counter and I wondered where he'd come from.   Well in 20 minutes I went to put the rice back and there they were!  I had to pull everything from the bottom cupboard which is part food and part storage pieces.  Then I went ahead and cleaned out the cupboard on the dining room wall where we keep dried pastas and beans, teas and seasonings and our snacks.  I just went right ahead and sprayed that cabinet, too.  In the meantime, John contacted the pest control guy again and asked him to please hurry us into the schedule.  

I'd forgotten how tedious this fighting of ants was years ago before John could be bothered with professional pest control.   And if I had even a slight notion that I was going to let it go, I am absolutely certain I will NOT.  I'll have to be doubly careful with my pantry area.  I'm glad that everything that might be infiltrated is sealed and in storage boxes with seals on them.

And in the meantime, even though not planned, the cupboards where I might keep food items are all neatly and nicely cleaned and re-arranged. 

Worked on the checkbook, making out checks and setting up things for tomorrow morning.  I also made out a grocery list and noted a few items that we were out of entirely or needed to replenish as soon as possible.  I haven't an updated comprehensive listing to go by just now.  That's on one of my 'not yet made' lists of lists to be made. Ho hum.

Meals:  Chicken Sausages and Apple Fritters

Cheeseburgers and Chips.  I put a half dozen mini sliders in the fridge for lunch later in the week.  I went ahead and cooked and  cut up the extra burger patty (and half of Isaac's patty) since they were beginning to look a bit frosty.   That's one more item I don't expect to be buying in the future, now that we've got the deer meat. I made a half dozen sliders with the leftover meat and rolls.  We'll have those for another meal this week.

General Tso's Chicken, Rice, Oriental Style Green Beans  The Chicken was a frozen bag of chicken and sauce packet from Aldi.  I have liked this quite well in the past but tonight we found that several of the smaller bits of chicken were actually just batter lumps that had been fried.  I told John I think I'll choose to buy a bottled sauce to keep on the shelf here and we'll try to keep the frozen Chicken Tenders from Aldi in our freezer.  Maybe.  I may find a more cost effective way to manage this so we shall see. 

 I haven't made the Oriental Green Beans in a very long time.  It's nothing more than green beans, a yellow bell pepper (or red or orange) and a little onion cooked until tender and then dressed with soy sauce.   I made these a lot when Katie was growing up and then John requested I not serve them again.   It was a sheer desperation move tonight using what I have.  I noticed that the intervening years of a break from eating them seems to have smoothed over his dislike of them.  I won't put them on my menu often, though.   No need to spoil a good thing.

Wednesday:  Busy morning at home.   It was payday for the month and I needed to finish up my last tasks with the checkbook.  Then I totted up the checkbook, gathered my list and bills and deposit and headed out the door.

I have been wanting a hair cut for about two weeks but last week was not the week for it.   Last night as John noted how his calendar is filling up, he suggested we would not be going out to breakfast this week.  He's going out to lunch tomorrow and has a men's breakfast at church on Sunday.  I said that was fine, I'd happily take a raincheck until later in the month however I insisted we would need to combine errands today and allow time for me to get a haircut.  He was fine with that, of course.  He's only heard daily for the past ten days how much I wanted to go get a haircut!

The dumpster spot nearest our home has been closed and the dumpsters removed.  I suspect the county is easing it's inhabitants to a county wide collection with those trash cans that can be lifted etc.  Not sure how that's going to go with some of our unpaved county roads and haven't heard a thing to suggest it's truth.  It's just a suspicion I have.   Those dumpsters were within a mile of our house.  It was suggested we'd use some that are five or six miles away.  Fortunately I know where most locations are and suggested to John that we go to one north of us that is about 2 miles away unless we were already going into town in which case we might use the ones located at the county end of Katie's street (she lives in town).   

I say all that because we headed to the dumpster this morning on our way out, which is typical of us and we went to the ones north of us and then we had a long lovely meandering sort of ride along a state highway into the town west of us.  Our purpose was to go to the bank and post office...And only after we got to the bank, found it closed up tight and went back around the building to read the signs on the door did we remember that it was a holiday, Veteran's Day.   I do remember looking at the date on the calendar this morning and thinking that surely there was something about November 11...Well there is!  John said "Well that explains Bess thanking me for my service!" lol   He'd wondered what was up with that, lol.

And of course, it made the whole ride over to the town west of us utterly pointless because we could just as easily have gone anywhere to drop off mail and get cash (Still need to make my deposit, though...) but we like the personal service and the 'Thank you John/Terri!' that we hear when we do business at that bank.  Oh well.  

We drove over to the salon I've been using now for the past few months.  It's out of the way, seldom has a wait time and I almost always can walk right in for my cut.  I was happy to note I had the same hairdresser as last time.  When I asked, she said that my last haircut had been on September 15 which I found impressive since it's pretty close to being two months ago now and until the past ten days or so I'd been very happy with my hair and had only just begun to feel it was time to get a cut.   We'll see how this one holds.

The second convenience about this salon is that it's next to a smaller Publix that is less busy than the one we generally go to.  I had a very short list and found all but one item on it today.  We stopped in the deli and bought chicken tenders and potato logs.  I've noted before that they charge a ridiculous amount for that food.  But something nice happened today.  I was asked if I was a veteran and said "No, but my husband is..." and we received a discount that very nearly covered the cost of our lunch.  We were very appreciative of that.  By the way, I mentioned that John was also a senior and was told they didn't give discounts to seniors...Huh.

We ate lunch right there in the parking lot then headed off to Aldi.  I had a short list for there too but when you think in terms of a month it looks like a lot in the buggy.  Of course, John's still filling the cart half full of insulated bags and shopping bags so it always looks like we've gone slap crazy in stocking up. I'm telling you it's not necessarily a bad thing he insists on doing that.  It starts to make me wary of what I'm spending when it starts to spill over the top!    We bought no meat today except hot dogs.   I'm counting heavily on having more than enough to last us until the deer meat comes in.

The best thing that happened today was noting that the shelves of canned  vegetables at Aldi were fully stocked and the signs limiting us to 4 cans per shopper were gone!  I bought a flat of tomatoes and another of green beans and corn (half and half).  I would have gotten more vegetables today but I knew I really needed to come home and see what I have and what's needed and not buy what isn't.  

When we got to the paper aisle I was slightly fooled and it's on me.  Sleight of hand.  An empty space where paper towel normally sits was filled with a new brand of paper.  I picked up the packet only to realize it was in fact toilet tissue.  Mind you they were fully stocked with toilet tissue this time but the paper towel was still looking a bit low.  In the Publix we visited earlier today the paper aisle looked pretty pitiful with lots of empty shelving, however there was some paper on the shelves which is an improvement over where we were six months ago!

It was heavily humid today and while we were in Aldi it poured.  The temperature today was 85 and it felt like 95F with the humidity.  It was miserable outdoors.  I could see that John was about done in.  I knew what he really needed was a bottle of water but when I suggested he take time to stop and get some, he refused.   The first thing he did after unloading all the groceries today was to fix himself a tall glass of water and drink it right down.  I noted he seemed to look as though he felt better after that.

I always put groceries away right away.  I don't really have room to leave the things sitting about and that's the truth.  Besides it causes me to feel irritable and anxious if things look cluttered.  As I put groceries away in the pantry closet, I checked for signs of ants.  None seen...then I went back to the kitchen and left the cereal sitting out, meaning to put it in jars before the evening was over.  I got myself a cup of coffee and sat down.

Well I'm glad I took that little break because when I walked back into the kitchen meaning to start supper and finish putting away cereal and cookies, there were ants!   This time they'd gotten into my sugar canisters.  I was pretty peeved about that.  I lost 3 pounds of white sugar and about a pound of confectioner's.  They were in the brown sugar canister too, but that packet only had about 2 tablespoons left in it.  I wish that Mark would make room in his schedule for me NOW.   I have his word that he'll come this week so I will have to be satisfied with that promise.

Now, I'm going to finish up this post then  update my pantry inventory list with the new items I put into it this evening.

Meals:  Boiled Eggs, Cheese Cubes, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Chicken Tenders and Potato Logs, shared

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Bake, Steamed Broccoli, Cherry Tomatoes

Just one more quick thing.  I found Winternacht Spekulaas cookie today at Aldi.  And I did buy the Aldi brand Vanilla Creme cookies and can say that they are quite good and what I was hoping to find when I spent far more money on the Keebler Vienna Fingers last month.  Thank you to all who recommended these cookies.

Thursday:  John had plans for lunch and so I planned to take a day out.  There were a few things I didn't find yesterday or forgot entirely at the grocery stores.   I also wanted a trip to Dollar Tree to look for the grandchildren some items for a gift bag.   

However, first I had to fight off the ants...today they were on the baking counter again, this time they had gotten inside the bread machine.   When I opened an upper cabinet I saw one scurry across the top of the cabinet.  Sigh.   I think all the ant spray has contributed to my not feeling perky today.    Admittedly it might also have something to do with the grey skies and heavy humidity.

John and I left home at the same time.   I debated going on to a bigger city or even into two different dollar stores but in the end, decided I'd just go into Dollar Tree which is in the town east of us.  I'm happy I did that.  I found cute things for the grandchildren's gift bags for Christmas and a few ornaments for my Christmas tree at a decent price.  I also found brown rice in 2 pound bags at $1 a bag.   There was no brown rice at Aldi yesterday.

I went into the grocery next door to buy muffin mix (for church donation) and a big bag of cornmeal mix.  I would like a second bag to keep on hand but for today one is enough.  However, there were two items I wanted that I still didn't find.  As I headed home I realized I'd forgotten to make a bank deposit and would need to head to the town west of mine.  I decided to stop at our local grocery and pick up paraffin for canning jelly.  They had plenty of it on hand and I got three boxes so I'd have some for future needs as well.   At least now I can get busy making my jelly.

What I won't be doing is making fruitcake for Christmas.  I can't find fruitcake fruits anywhere.  I've decided if I do find them, I'll make the cakes and we'll have fruitcake in the New Year.  I think that would perk up January, don't you?

I went over my list for this week and though there are two things I've not touched on at all, I've done better than I thought.  Mind you the two things I haven't touched are the two biggest jobs I would have attended to this week, but given how often I've cleaned the kitchen cabinets, I guess it's pretty understandable.

I texted Mark right after I typed the above and he came out this afternoon and put out more poison.  He's stymied about where the ants are coming in from.  He looked all around the house outdoors and explained to us that ants need sunshine in order to lay eggs.  So they won't live in a dark place (like under your house or in a roofline) unless they have access to an opening so they can get sunlight.  Now there's a bit of information I didn't know and I must say it rather relieves that notion of mine that there are probably a billion ant hills under my house.  

We got a call from the processor that our first deer is ready.  We'll go pick it up in the morning.  I'll be curious to see how much meat it turns out to be.  It will be a big help in planning how much more room I'll need for that second deer.  Bess had warned me that they prefer cash, as the man of the place isn't sure how to operate any of the equipment and the lady of the place is only in evenings.  I had John call back and ask how much money we should bring.

I remembered finally to look up Chanukah dates for this year and immediately remembered that I had no candles for my Chanukkiah.  Which made me remember that I was nearly out of Lavender oil.  So I ordered both.   I wonder at times if being able to shop online makes me spend more or if I'm spending less.  I can say assuredly that ordering online does mean I typically get what I mean to get and nothing else.  I don't browse or add this or that to my cart.  Sometimes, I will leave my cart and come back days later and will delete items I've found I don't need or for a better price while we were out...So I'll venture to say I'm saving money, gas and time.  But it does make me mindful of the need to keep track of what I've spent online.  Which is why I keep a cheat sheet each month.  I hate nasty surprises of a big credit card bills.

Meals:  Bacon, Eggs and Toast.  The turkey bacon we had was Godshall's Uncured Turkey Bacon.  Let me just say that in the past I've had a love/hate relationship with turkey bacon.  It's often chewy beyond reason, and as it cools gets increasingly tough.  It doesn't smell like bacon or taste like bacon, hence John's request that we stick to Turkey Spam.  However, I bought this package (or did Katie?) somewhere and I was so pleased with how good it tasted.  It felt like a real piece of bacon in my mouth, too.  It's a nice wide slice of meat, not a thin little strip.  I told John that I could have Bacon Toasts once more with this bacon.  He remarked that there were only about 10 slices in the package.  I've no idea what it costs but I think it would be worth purchasing again.

Fish, Coleslaw, Hush Puppies (me)  Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Cooked Apples (John)

Hamburger Sliders, Chips

Friday:  Here of late, it's after Shabbat before I get a chance to share my day and finish up this post each week.  I don't know just why that is so but it seems my Fridays are busier than they've been in a long time and getting all things finished up is more and more difficult.  Add to that the time change, which pushed us ahead to Shabbat times nearer 5pm, and I really do feel the time crunch.

I said that yesterday we got a call to go pick up our first deer.  John finally decided to head out after 11am.  I'd have preferred to do this earlier but was at his mercy so to speak, so I tried to get the housework done before we left then got ready to go.  I think we finally walked out the door about 11:30.  We went to the bank, then headed to the Processor.  John stayed in so long I was afraid there was a problem, but I should have known better.  There was a group of men and they chatted.

They came out to the car with three or four bags total and put them in the trunk and as John came out the door, I heard him say, "See you tomorrow!"   I got out of the car and said "Is the other deer ready?"  "Yeah, we'll get it tomorrow."  "Let's just go ahead and get it today."  But I've used all our bags!  We don't have the cash!"  "It's partially frozen and piled in a double paper sack so it will last long enough for us to get it home.   And if we pool our pocket money we can manage this fee, too and will just run by the bank on our way back home and replace it."  I then walked indoors and told the lady "Can we just go ahead and get our second deer?" 

She was so pleased.  It seems they are so full of deer they've had to turn folks away.   "This means we can take a few more!"   We managed to distribute the meat into the one empty sack and then tucked the remaining packages into the other bags.  John called Sam who said Bess was on her way out to pick up theirs.  I told John, "That will free up two more spaces for the processors.  They'll be happy!"   

We made it to the bank, but missed the post office where I meant to mail off the cards to the twins for their birthday.  I wanted to combine Mama's with ours and put them in one envelope so we'll just mail those off sometime this weekend.

Back home, I began to pack my freezer.  I had to take out the two hanging baskets and spread the contents of those over the whole of the freezer, but it all went in.  I'll share my final tallies with you.  Most of the packages held a pound more or less, so I'm counting them as 1 pound.

61 packets of ground meat

10 packets of mild sausage

4 Back strap pieces

2 tenderloins

9 packets of cubed steaks

4 Roasts

The roasts and tenderloins and backstraps are various sizes and weights but I'm just counting them as a single pound each.  It might well be more than that.  We had about 85 packages of meat total.  John called Chad and told him to come get some for their household.  I did not object.  It literally gave me just enough room to pack the last things into the freezer, minus the baskets where those things once resided.  

After all the meat was put away, we found some leftovers which we ate for lunch.  Then Katie and Chad and Caleb came out.  Caleb had his 12 month checkup today.  He got four shots and a finger stick.  He weighs 22 pounds which I think is the same thing he weighed at nine months but he'd grown in height.  He did his usual exploring of the living and dining room and patted all the doors on the rooms and cabinets.  For a baby who'd gotten so many shots, he felt just fine.

After they went home, I felt like the kitchen just needed another good clearing up.  It was while I was in the kitchen getting bread out of the bread machine that I noted two ants.  Mark left us a gel type poison to put out where we saw them and this they carry back to the nest.   As I cooked supper I kept my eye out and noted that one tiny section of the corner was looking dark.  I turned on the light and it was a little group of ants.  They were coming down a strip of molding that covers a wall joint.  Hopefully this puts an end to the daily clearing of cabinets and spraying and washing them down.

Now I shall end here.  We've had our Shabbat, eaten a late supper and are ready for our Shabbat rest.  I hope you have had an awesome week.  Come share your victories and trials too if need be.