Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Busy Season

 

Saturday:  I did not have Caleb yesterday evening, so I took time after supper to go through the house and do a little more clearing up.  I folded the clothes John had hung to dry and put away the last of the supper dishes that had dried.   I swept the kitchen floor and sorted out my desk and then cleaned out my purse.   Do any of you make that a habit?  I try to clean mine out each time I walk back in the house with it if I've been shopping or visiting but this week I simply hung it and moved right on to other things.

I use the Emilie Barnes method of keeping my purse neat and nice.  I have three little zippered pouches.  I have Diabetic test kit and hard candy, masks and hand sanitizer in one.  I have one to keep my lipsticks, an orange wood stick, nail file, and nail clippers in.  I have a third one to hold pens and a notepad and a tape measure.  Then I carry my wallet and a glass case with my sunglasses in it.  I clip my keys to the zipper of the inner pocket where I can easily find them. I have a pocket for my phone.  It makes finding things in my purse super easy and less stressful.

For all that I am quite organized, coins and change, scraps of paper and receipts, accumulate, so I do try to clean it out.  

I like best big roomy tote type purses though Katie is training me to carry more structured bags which I confess do like nicer.  I prefer a good sized purse, with one big open pocket and no center zippered pocket.   I like a purse big enough to take along a book and a bottle of water and John's wallet and keys if it is deemed necessary, as well as a bottle of water for him, too at times.   Mind you, this man has absolutely no problem carrying my purse if I find it gets too heavy.  He does it boldly, too, not in the least ashamed of being seen with it.  

Sunday:  Brought home a beach ball from church this morning.  I discovered it was busted but think we can patch it with some pool plastic repair kit.  I thought a soft ball like a beach ball is unlikely to do damage in the house and is toddler friendly for Caleb and Millie.

We stopped at the grocery on the way home.  I bought Potatoes, shelf stable milk, cornmeal, a new notebook for sermon notes, two composition books and two packets of G-2 Gel pens (all school supplies were bogos), gelato (one pint for each of us, also on sale), and soda.    John picked up a smaller container of fresh chopped fruit.  I tried to get him to put it back since we had so much fruit here at home (oh yes!  I bought a bag of Georgia peaches too as my last lot John won't eat unless I now make them into cobblers).   Anyway, the cut up fruit was something John insisted we get.  I was a bit shocked at the cost but the man seldom insists on anything and he cracked that bowl of fruit open the moment we got in the car.  He must have been really hungry!

Last night when we got in bed, I noted that there was an odd looking spot on my sheet.  I poked it gently with my finger and immediately the sheet ripped about 2inches.  I stripped the bed this morning before we left and when I went to put sheets in the washer, I checked to see if the torn area was a generally weak area or just a spot.  It appears to be just a spot, so I'll try to patch and salvage the sheet.   This same sheet was torn in another place that has already been mended.  I will probably order a new top sheet next month but in the meantime I'll just go ahead with the mending job and see how the sheet holds up.

I reheated leftovers for breakfast and again for dinner.   We're going to have supper at Seniors Oasis tonight so there will be no more food prep required of me today.  

Borrowed an idea from a fashion vlogger I watch routinely.  She often combines pendants and charms on a chain necklace.  Today was a t-shirt day for church and most of necklaces look too dressy with t-shirts.  I found three gold chains of varying sizes and added on all the pendants I have.  One necklace has a big gold plated heart and a small diamond heart that John gave me years ago.  On the other chain, I threaded on a pretty gold cross with an amethyst and diamond pendant and a small gold cross on one side and my little diamond heart  from JD with another small gold crust.   That looked just right to layer on the chains and have various pendants attached.  It made for a far more casual necklace which suited jeans and t-shirts with tennis shoes.  I took a photo of the necklace for you to see:

Monday:  Woke to cloudy skies this morning and I thought long and hard over my plan to leave early and mulch the flower bed in town. I decided I'd let it wait until tomorrow.  I really wanted to spend today 'loving' on my home.   

So after making breakfast, I went to our bathroom and dusted it.  I think I may have the only bathroom that requires dusting!  It's a big room and I think that is part of it.   I dusted and then cleaned the surfaces and watered my palm tree.  I still need to sweep it and to clean the mirrors.  I don't dust every week but I do try to swipe anything that looks like it might be dusty when I do my twice weekly cleaning of the bathroom.  The other days I just pick things up and put them away.  I also need to restock tissue in our bathroom.

Then I decided that the kitchen really needed to be sorted out.  There were rinsed dishes on the counter waiting to be loaded into the dishwasher and dirty dishes waiting to be washed.  Wiping off the counters and sweeping the floor made that room look much nicer and neater.  

Off to the bedroom where I used oil polish on all the old wooden pieces.  This room has the most old wooden pieces.  I have an antique washstand, an antique cedar lined trunk, and an old lady of a dresser with triple mirrors.   John has a set of chest of drawers his grandfather made many years ago.   All those pieces got a good coat of oil.  I try to do this at least twice a year to keep the wood from drying out too much.  I dusted the rest of the room: pictures, objects on surfaces, along the top of the upholstered headboard and lampshades.   I picked up feathers that had escaped from our pillows onto the carpet.  Sometime this week I will also clean our ceiling and oscillating fans and then vacuum the room deeply, moving furniture so I can get underneath (thank you for slides that help move big, heavy pieces easily!).

I went outdoors to feed the pets and collected a pretty bouquet.  The last of the 'ditch lilies', a sole hydrangea blossom and a handful of coral roses.  That rose bush has suddenly sprung to life and had has a dozen or more blooms on it this week.  They don't last long but they are lovely!   While I was clipping flowers, it began to rain lightly.  It was, however, a soaking rain.  I had to dry my hair and change clothes after just five minutes out there.  I set a few potted plants on the steps to get watered naturally.

I mended the sheet that I discovered was torn Saturday night.  I patched it with some sheeting material I had leftover from a sewing project.  I won't tell you it's a neat job but I hope it's a mend that will hold it together for a bit longer.  I checked it over carefully and found one more tiny tear about 8 inches from the other one.  I mended both spots and then folded the sheet up to put back in the linen trunk.

I slipped outdoors to pot up plants from the cuttings I rooted.  I have a dozen or so coleus, six mint sprigs, six rosemary stems rooted and now in pots.  Fingers crossed they all make it.  I still need to pot up the impatiens but I had to hurry indoors to remove lunch from the oven.  I'll get those potted up next.  I have begonia, coleus, and oregano on the kitchen sink shelf along with two African violet leaves that I'm trying to root now.   

After lunch I took a rest break then hopped up to clean the guest bath which really just meant checking it and dusting over it.  I went into the guest room and oiled the old Singer sewing machine cabinet.   I dusted the rest of the room.   Then I decided to sort out that tub where I'd stashed throws and throw pillows.  Those all came to the living room to be put in the wood chest in the living room.

That left me with an empty bin.  It's not clear and there is no hermetic seal on the lid so I don't think I want to use that bin in my pantry.  It might be a good bin for the shed storage though.   I sorted out the chifforobe.  Now if we have guests they can use the side where you hang clothes to hang anything if they'd like.   

While I was digging about I found 3 pillowcases.  Now I know why I kept feeling I was short of pillow cases!  I also found a slipcover I'd made for a chair and it just fits my desk chair enough to cover up that dingy looking upholstery.  It will do for now, until I can cover it in a better way.

I just started an oven full of entrees and cobbler.  Now I really am going to rest, besides finish up supper here in a bit.  Time for coffee, I think. The rain has continued steadily all day long and now that the afternoon is here, the day really is more conducive to reading than to doing anything more.  Happily I've just put out my stack of vintage August magazines and I think that will be fun to look through!

Tuesday:  I didn't have Caleb yesterday afternoon.  He didn't feel well and Katie kept him home.  She said he only wanted snuggling all day long, not even food.  Gracious!   I can't imagine him not eating at all.  Like Isaac, he came to the world hungry and has remained so for all his days here on earth thus far.  

I was a bit at loose ends this morning.   The weather app assured me chances of rain today were high.  Humidity was hanging in at 85% and indeed I could see off to the north west that there was a nearby rain shower.  I didn't think working outdoors would be on my radar at all today so I planned to do the vacuuming, cleaning of fans and sorting out files, all work that centers around my bedroom.   I also spent some time just doing general housekeeping and I went ahead and cleaned the living room ceiling fan while I had the vacuum plugged in anyway.

I washed a full load of dishes in the dishwasher and put those away once dried.  And that was all I did today.  I say it was all as though it was just a bit but it took all morning long to get it done.  I mused as I walked out of my room that I have really done a seasonal deep cleaning of my bedroom this week.  I'm not at all sorry about that!

I spent the afternoon working on a post and then had a message from Katie that she and Caleb were coming out for the afternoon.   Once she was here I took advantage and gently nagged her to get some necessary phone calls made.   Then I went down to the mailbox and picked up mail.  When I came back I nagged John a little about calling Medicare to straighten out an issue that has been lingering.  He was not happy with me in the least.

John much prefers the 'old' days when I could get on the phone and handle such as this.  HIPA regulations don't allow just anyone to deal with things any more unfortunately.   I coached him through and that too got all squared away.  I was able to talk to the company doing the billing and they are going to resubmit the bills for medicare payment.   While I was doing that I urged Katie to call her doctor's office to get  a matter straight

In the meantime, Caleb got hungry.  And he began to screech. I was struggling to get dinner on the stove and trying to figure out what he could eat that was ready right now.   I discovered he likes fresh ripe peaches.  I pared one, diced it and put him in his chair.  That quieted him down while I rushed his dinner by putting it in the microwave.  Whew!  That little boy is beyond starved by the time he complains of being starved.

Rain came in just as Katie was taking him home to put him to bed.  He'd skipped his nap this afternoon and poor little fellow was weaving and wobbling and rubbing his eyes even though it wasn't quite 6pm.  He wants his bed right now, just like he wants his food.   Otherwise he's a very mild mannered fellow.

Lovely peaceful day.

Wednesday:  Not a lot got done today.  John and Katie were off to get some services done on her car and Caleb stayed here with me.  He looked tired when he arrived and as the morning went on he began to look more and more tired.  I gave him an early lunch, bathed him after a messy diaper blow out and watched him play.  

I think watching children play is fascinating.   Caleb has recently begun to do a few things that shows his developmental stages.  I don't know what they are nor whether he's advanced or average or behind times.  It doesn't matter to me.  What fascinates me is that this is CALEB doing these things and it's the stage where he is.  

He likes to sort like objects together.   So all the stuffed doggies go into the same place and all the cars go in another place.  He likes to empty out a box and then put things back in again.  He takes them out one by one and puts them back one by one.    He also sort of lines things up.  He's not quite there yet with the straight lines but he likes to put them in a line.

Today I also saw his temper.  He got purely frustrated with himself because he wanted to put one container inside another.  And he was right in assessing that it should fit.  What he couldn't quite figure out was that it wasn't going to fit along with his thumb which was firmly hooked over the edge.  He would throw those things down and screech and wail out loud and then he'd pick them up and try again.  He eventually gave up that tiresome task to put on John's shoe and walk carefully from the back door all the way to the living room and back again.   

At that point he looked as though he'd just fall over with being tired and since I didn't know when his mama might come back, I decided he'd benefit from a nap.  He fussed a little about being put to bed but not for long and he slept for a full hour and a half.    Katie let him rest when she arrived and only went to wake him when it was getting to be 3:30.  

I picked up after he'd quieted down and then I should have looked around for things to do but instead, I took up my book and finished reading it.   I took time to make our main dish for supper tonight while Caleb was eating his lunch.   Today I brought his highchair into the kitchen and we were both happy with that.  I could keep my eye on him, but not have him underfoot while I cooked.  And he enjoyed watching me cook while he ate his lunch.

Not going to get  much done the next two days.  John has booked in for two different appointments to get our cars serviced and they are on Thursday and Friday, sigh.  Had it been me....But it wasn't and he insists that this is a 'we' task.  Oh well.  I might just slip around the corner and go to Tuesday Morning one of those two days. I usually don't buy much of anything but it's fun to go nose around and see what they might have.  I don't know about anyone else, but I'm in the mood to think of Christmas.  I bought my first gift today...and I can always see if there's anything I might want to add to my gift stash.

I have one problem to ponder at present.  I'd planned Leftovers as my meal plan for Thursday....Well there are NO leftovers!  We're going to be gone probably 4 hours tomorrow and when we do return, I have Caleb for the evening while Katie works.   I need a Plan B that fits my time allowance.   And my mind is a complete blank.

We've just seen the mama deer with her twin fawns stroll down the side of the driveway munching tree leaves as they went.   It's such a joy to see them

Thursday:  At John's suggestion I packed a lunch to go with us today.  He and Katie had quite a wait yesterday and it was closer to 2pm when they returned bringing lunch with them.  He and I had both cut our sandwiches in half and I packed those with a small bag of chips while he packed soda and a bag of ice to keep it all cold.  He carried his Kindle and I had a book with me.

I'd decided last night that I'd walk around the block to Tuesday Morning and just browse through the store.  It's a good little walk for me but it was very pleasant and breezy out this morning so it was nice to get that little walk in.   At the store, I looked through the majority of things but I had a mental list of things I wanted/needed: pillows for the living room chairs, curtains for our bedroom, bathroom rugs, and a pretty box for Taylor to keep her nail polish in.  She has quite a stash of cast offs from my own supply and she'd outgrown the little storage box she was using.

I found pillows and they were all feather as well but the ones I liked were a little pricey for my budget.  Curtains in the color I wanted were single panels only.  I need four.   I found rugs but at $20 I wasn't crazy over them.  I found another set for $14 and was quite happy with those until I realized there was nothing to keep them from skidding across the floor.  I found another set of two for $20 that had a rubberized finish on the material back, but not the white vinyl sort that tends to yellow floors.  I swapped for those feeling safety was better than getting hurt.    I found two items I wasn't really looking for.  One was a new picture for our bathroom.  I had actually meant to look for something new to go in the guest bath but when I saw this particular picture, I wanted it for our bath.  I swapped the picture from our bath into the guest bath, so that worked out well enough.  

And last I picked up some pretty colored flexible plastic chopping boards.  I have some in primary colors but will seldom use them unless hard pressed because I loathe the colors.  I don't know if anyone else feels the way I do but if something jars me visually, if I consider it just plain ugly, then I won't use it!  It might be perfectly good but if the visual appeal isn't there, I'll do without.   These are in a pretty color wave that I LIKE and think I shall be happier using.

There were other things I'd like to have had, but I knew my budget wasn't strong this month.  What I had in my cart was easily paid for from my allowance.   No having to feel guilty for doing a little shopping and that is a good thing!

I walked back to the service center and settled into a chair with my book.  I didn't make it through Chapter One before we were called to let us know the car was ready.   No need for the picnic lunch.  We drove home and had lunch here.

John went off finally to mow at the house across the field.  I'd asked him twice in the previous hour and a half if he didn't want to go on and do it but he kept putting me off.  "I'll go in a bit...Haven't heard from Sam...think I'll have lunch first..."  Well he didn't get over there and mow for more than 20 minutes before the skies opened up and poured rain.  He came home soaking wet.  

While he was gone, I managed to plan meals for the weekend and start on ideas for next week's meals.  I had decided last night that I'd make the Beef Stroganoff I planned weeks ago.  I have every item required to go into that dish finally and needed only to thaw the sirloin for it.    I swept floors and did some other housework too before John returned from across the field.  

I think Caleb will be here about 4:30 so I have supper pretty well prepared.  I need only to add sour cream to the stroganoff and cook the wild rice I plan to serve with it.  I know noodles are traditional but we had mac and cheese last night and I've no egg noodles on hand anyway.  

Friday:  I was not satisfied with our supper last night.  Nor was John.  We found ourselves looking for snacks later in the evening and I told him "I just don't feel I've had a good meal today."   Why so?  I think it's because all through out our supper last night I was jumping up and down to pick up this or get more of that for Caleb.  It wasn't his fault but I never really just sat down and ate as I typically might do.  

Caleb was fun last night because he was busy climbing on things.  He was very pleased to sit in the little blue chair, the same chair that Josh asked me quite seriously one time if he might sit in without being in time out? lol   All my grandsons have loved that blue chair and I'm pleased to have it.  I had a similar one in white that Amie, Sam and Katie used all through their childhood and they loved it.  If it were up to me, I'd collect old fashioned wooden children's chairs but they are harder and harder to find these days.

It's been another early morning and busy-ish sort of day.  Off early to take John's car over for service and then we stopped by the grocery to pick up Gramma's Fried Chicken for Sunday dinner.  That is already tucked deep in the back of the fridge where it shall stay until Sunday.     

John stopped on the way home for burgers.  I'd meant to make burgers for supper tomorrow night and it will not upset him in the least should I repeat that menu but I confess I feel far less inclined to eating it again myself.  I might push that one back for another day and time.   We ate our lunch here at home and then he went off to mow over across the field.  No sudden downpours today soaking him out of mowing.   Every yard in our area looks like a sea of weeds at present due to all the rain.   I expect he's going to want to cut ours either this afternoon or tomorrow.

With John gone, I went about sorting out my house. I haven't done a full Sabbath cleaning as I might typically do, but I've done plenty and was just about to sit down with a tall cold glass of water and ease my aching back when I had text messages come in on my phone.  I was hurrying to find my phone when there was a tap on the backdoor.   It was Bess who had run by to bring me a tomato cage to go about my Champion.  It's produced the first bloom and I felt it was time to reinforce it a bit so that it won't break with weight of the heavy expected harvest (only one flower at present mind you but I'm hopeful).     She was on her way to pick up produce at the organic farm where we both buy and asked what I'd like. I handed her some money and told her what I'd like.  "Get what you can with that and if it's more, let me know."   

Then we had a quick little chat about other things and off she went and I went right back to work even though I had meant to rest.   Now it's time to sit and sip a glass of pink lemonade and really rest until I start to put supper together for the evening.  I'd planned Chicken and Dumplings for our meal...It's hot outdoors and I guess that sounds like a very heavy meal but it also just plain sounds good to me.  I cooked a few extra chicken breasts to use over the weekend and first part of next week.

Oh dear...I hear thunder!  Sounds like we can expect another rain shower today.  Oh well.   It's rather nice to have a rainy summer rather than a dry one!  And whose to say that August or September will bring us any rain at all?

Hope you all had a great week!