Diary of a Homemaker's Week: New Month/ New Goals

Saturday:  A quiet and lovely day at home.  No matter that the sun played chase with clouds.    We did nothing today.  After last weekend, this felt like pure luxury.

And what does one do with a luxurious day?  Luxurious things.  Like a mini spa day.  I mixed up my own Sugar Scrub, broke out a new razor, brought out the lotions after I showered and exfoliated and shaved...Then I did a partial pedicure.  I haven't polished my nails yet but after moisturizing my feet, I didn't want to have to use polish remover again to remove the oils.  

I dressed and though I didn't do makeup I did put on my gold hoop earrings and my plain gold wedding band.  That's generally what I wear most days anyway.  I've found, oddly enough, that the boys pay far more attention to my jewelry than the girls of the family do.  And when I'm not wearing these pieces, they always ask where my earwings are.  Yes, I know I typed wings.  That's the way Isaac says it and I think it's adorable.

I finished Out to Canaan and am trying to decide between finishing up the Mary Stewart Merlin series, continuing with the next in the Mitford line, or choosing something entirely different.  Oh, the choices!

I've read blogs, watched vlogs and written a post, though I typically try not to write anything but my diary entry on a Saturday.  It was purely an accident; I swear it was.  I started writing and realized it was really a stand-alone post on its own and not at all a diary entry.  So, I cut and pasted to a new post form and restarted this one.

Meals:  John had bagels and I had the last Croissant.  We both had cream cheese and Maple turkey (I made a roll up of my meat and cream cheese).  I also had a bare teaspoon of Lemon curd to spread on my croissant.  Lovely breakfast!

Taco Pizza  I made extra taco meat to mix with some of the refried beans and make burritos for the freezer next week.   Kroger has packets of street sized tortillas on sale this week for 97c a packet as a digital coupon special.  I plan to pick up several packs and put them in the freezer.

Leftover Smorgasbord.  All the leftovers, taker's choice.

Sunday:  Up about 15 minutes before the alarm went off this morning.  No harm in that!  It gave me time to put dishes in the dishwasher and make the bed, as well as shower, dress, makeup and make breakfast.  We took a bag of trash to the dumpsters with us and outgoing mail.  We picked up the incoming mail on our way out.  

We heard a really good sermon this morning from our pastor.  His text came from Genesis 3 and he illustrated the point of Eve feeding the fruit from the tree of knowledge to Adam by sharing something that happened in his own household.  He explained that he is usually in the kitchen when his wife is cooking as they enjoy cooking together.  She said to him, "Taste this!" and thrust a piece of food in his face.  He said,  "I took it.  Then she looked at me and said 'See how easy that was (for Eve)'?"   Lol  The whole congregation burst into a lengthy laugh over that.

All I can say is that John would never have made a very good Adam.  He'd eye the fruit suspiciously, ask what it was, then where I got it, then ask if he's eaten before and did he like it, and last, he'd want to know if it was any good and then he might possibly maybe taste it.  He and Maddie are a good bit alike.  She's just as convinced as he is that I will one day poison her with something new she's never had before.

After church, John had to do something before leaving and I walked outdoors to find the car.  Last Spring they planted roses all along the back wall of the church facing the parking lot and every single one of them was in the most glorious flush of blooms.  Not one of them have any aroma but they are lovely!

We went to Kroger which is just about a mile from church to pick up a few items I felt were worthwhile in the weekly ads.  I didn't buy as much as I'd anticipated simply because some items were nowhere to be found, but I made up for it in clearance priced bread and the chocolates that John somehow got into the buggy without my noticing.   Never mind.  He rarely does such and he seldom asks for anything special.  I have found if I'm going into the grocery after church, it's almost inevitable that he must buy something to eat right away.   At Kroger, he insists on treating me to a Starbucks coffee, so I suppose it's fair play for him to slip something into the buggy.

I bought broccoli today.  It wasn't on my list, but it was well priced and as I said in my menu planning yesterday, I long for some variety by this time of the month.     We stocked up on several marked down bread items.  Whole wheat hot dog buns for 59c, a packet of Onion Rolls (a favorite since childhood for me), a whole loaf of White Mountain bread, and a loaf of Pumpernickel Rye for John.  He's especially fond of that with egg salad and I have eggs to make salad with this week.

I took time yesterday to actually figure out the cost of sugar and powdered lemonade mix packets vs. the 19 oz. containers of Country Time Lemonade with a digital coupon.  The Country Time mix was half what it would cost to make it using sale priced sugar and packets of drink powder.  I was pretty sure I was going to come up with the opposite case, that it would be cheaper to do it the other way around, but no Country Time won.  And that's why they call them loss leaders.  Get you into the store to buy those things and you'll likely get other items, like random bars of chocolate...  

I picked up cheese on sale again.  Prices are far better than at Aldi.  2-pound blocks were $6.99 and 1-pound blocks were $2.99.  They'll catch you with that sort of pricing.  At first glance you might think the 2-pound block is the best buy but it's not at all.  You're paying 50c more per pound of cheese!  And just to show you, I watched a few people say "Oh!  2-pound blocks are on sale" and grab two without checking the price of the 1-pound block.

I also bought 2 half gallons of milk on sale.  I knew we had half a jug of milk in the fridge at home and when I'd poured off a little from the fresh jugs into that one, I'd have plenty of milk to last us a month or so.  I freeze the jugs and often pour off about a 1/2 cup of each just to give it a little extra room for expansion in freezing, especially if they appear to be really full.  

The grapes I picked up were meant to be on sale but didn't ring up as a sale.  I took the receipt to the customer service station and got a small refund on that item.  Every little bit helps, doesn't it?

I decided firmly today, having always been a bit undecided about how to handle it, that officially the first day of each month is the first day of the grocery budget.  For years, I've played about with whatever the first payday was and then run it a month from that date.  I've made things unnecessarily difficult for myself trying to figure things out.  So, the first day of the month is the grocery budget refresh day from now on.  

We went by Goodwill to drop off the donations I'd packed up from the shed last week.  It felt good to let those things go.

That was a productive day of combining errands with a trip to church.

At home, I put things away in the pantry and then pulled items to restock my kitchen cupboard.  I'm trying to keep that stocked and cook from there.  I put a little of everything in that cupboard, so I know what I have that I haven't used.  It's a help with meal planning as it forces me to think about other items I stock that we don't use as often and planning those items into meals as well.

I used some leftovers to make up a lunch for us, with leftovers of that to put into the freezer.  I've made my plans for supper.  I'll take the rest of Sunday fairly easy.   There's a whole week to work hard ahead of me.  Sunday's are full enough without trying to cram in still more.

Meals:  Bacon and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich

Beef and Bean Burritos, Salsa   I used the last of the chili and rice from Friday night, the taco meat and refried beans from our pizza yesterday and some cheese as filling for the burritos.  I put six into the freezer and we ate two each for lunch.  These are not the giant burrito sized tortillas but the smaller ones, hence why we ate two each.

Steak, Red Potatoes with Lemon Butter, Zucchini Au Gratin, Salad with Croutons   This is the last of the HUGE T-bones I bought back in winter and put into the freezer.  We'll get two servings each off this steak and I'll save the bone to make beef broth with at a later date.  This month I didn't buy yellow onions, just the red ones.  I don't like the color they give to chicken broth but I'm not tossing those tops and root ends.  Nope. Those are being saved to go into the beef broth pot when I finally have enough bones to make broth.

I only ended using one zucchini for the au gratin dish.  That leaves me a second one to use later this week.

Monday:  Last night was a miserable one.  My mind wanted to play the 'What if...' game and it went into deep dark places.  I found myself at one point praying desperately, as though I was being actively tormented.  I finally left the master bedroom and put on some of the music that never fails to soothe me, music by the group Secret Garden.  I am always lulled into at least a quiet mind by that music.  Eventually I slept and slept hard, but not so hard that I didn't waken at 7am when John came to pull the door gently shut.  

Thankfully he made breakfast this morning.  I needed that extra time with my coffee to come fully awake.  

Aside from making two beds this morning and unloading the dishwasher and stacking breakfast dishes I didn't do much else.  Truly there wasn't much more to be done.  I made an important phone call to take care of a mistake I'd discovered (not mine but someone else's and it was a doozy) and then I got myself dressed and ready to go.  I was planning to go out and pick up my glasses. 

John had showered but he kept delaying getting dressed.  I didn't realize that he'd thought I was going alone.  He didn't realize I'd thought we were doing this trip together.  In the end, we got on the same page.

The morning went quite well. He returned an item he'd bought the other day and then I went on to pick up my glasses and Katie's as well.  We picked up exactly one item in the store today, a supbyplement that John ran out of last night.  

Then we ran Katie's glasses by her new workplace, met the boss, saw her office and headed over to Buccees for a brisket sandwich.  We sat in a shady spot, with the windows open and enjoyed our meal.  We watched people and chatted, both good occupations.

It was nearly 3 when we finally got home.  John lay down on the bed and I did something I rarely do and lay down beside him.  It felt nice to lie down beside him and just continue our earlier chat.  It doesn't last long with me, I'm afraid.  John was about to doze off and I wanted to get up and get started on my dinner for the evening, but it was a nice little rest just the same.

After I'd started dinner, I played a game, read emails and read.  I'm not accustomed to such a relaxed and easy weekday, but I've enjoyed this one.

I'm currently reading Mystery Flowers by Grace Livingston Hill.<<Amazon Associate Affiliate Link>>  I'm plowing right through this one.  Another of her novels that is essentially short on the homemaking end of things.  I've noted that a few of novels have an almost nightmare type quality in that the heroine keeps running into the same situation(s) over and over and over again and just barely escapes one mess of trouble before ending in another similar mess.  But as I said, I can't seem to stop reading this one so I think it's going to end up on the 'Keep' shelf.  It's a lovely old copy with the original owner's name written on the flyleaf and an old dustjacket cover.   

While I was making our salad tonight, Katie called to report on her first day at her new agency.  She did exceptionally well and it was lovely to hear her sounding so happy and confident.  She's worked hard this past year to get the licensing required to become an agent.  She takes her last test this Thursday.  I've no doubt that she'll pass it.  We talked a few minutes and then she went in to get Caleb.  All he will say is "Hey!  Bye" so phone conversations with him are short, lol.

Meals: Eggs, Toast, Spam

BBQ Brisket sandwich, chips, pickles  Oh Snap! pickles are sooo good.  They are thick cut slices and we really enjoy picking up these little packets when we go into the grocery or Buccees for a sandwich.  Today I accidentally bought Hotties which are spicy pickles.  Y'all...So good and a perfect counterbalance to the sweet BBQ sauce on the sandwich.

Baked Chicken and Rice, Broccoli Salad   I didn't make this in the slow cooker as I'd planned.  Had we communicated better this morning I would have begun it in the slow cooker before we left.  I just went ahead and used the oven to make the meal.  I need to figure out how to half this recipe for chicken and rice.  It's lovely and delicious but makes far too much for just John and me.  I plan to make a Chicken/Wild Rice casserole with the leftovers and put it in the freezer for a future meal.

The broccoli salad was a sort of out take on one Kimmy made on her vlog last night.  I chopped a portion of apple fine, a little red onion, and half a head of broccoli florets.  I added walnuts, craisins and a bit of finely diced cheddar.  I was shocked to see Kimmy add a whole CUP of sugar to her dressing last night.  She explained that this salad needed a lot more dressing than you might think because the broccoli absorbs it quickly.  I made a smaller batch of dressing but still had a cup full and nope I didn't use a cup of sugar.  In fact, next time I make this I'll decrease it still more.  But the salad is delicious and a nice change from a lettuce salad.

Tuesday:  Great plans for the day.  I wanted badly to go paint the chairs on the front porch, but I reminded myself repeatedly that I really should sort out the kitchen chores for zone work first.  I sat on the porch for a little while contemplating the plants and listening to the birds and then gave in to good reasoning and went back indoors.  It was nice out there though and I'm glad I took the time to sit for a little bit, even if the cat was insistent that she be fed.

Indoors, I went right to the kitchen and wiped down the portion of the walls I can easily reach without a step stool.  The walls have yellowed a bit and are white only where the cabinets were.  I used undiluted liquid dishwasher detergent and a wet cloth to wipe the walls.  It did lighten them a good bit, but I told John I think I'll just have to resign myself that there will always be a slightly visible line where the cabinets were.  

As I worked on the walls, I bumped the narrow black cabinet door John had hung over the open side of the air duct cabinet above the stove vent.  Sort of glad I did now because I suggested he use one of the white cabinet doors from the old cabinets to replace it.  The man did a proper job of it this time, taking time to measure the opening, cut the door to fit and then securing the thing up there.  Well done!  Now I don't have a black door that at least three people who entered the house had attempted to open, lol.  It looks really nice, but I'll need to paint the very edge where he cut it down.

Then I started dusting the tops of the remaining upper cabinets.  That space above the hood vent and the baking area to be specific.  John took the vacuum and vacuumed the top of the hood vent area, but he didn't offer to do that with the baking cabinets on the other side so what I dust I could move with the Swiffer duster had to suffice.

After I was finished with that, I sat down to rest and have a glass of lemon water.  I recalled that a couple of years ago, Bess bought a whole set of the meal prep meal plans and had downloaded them onto my computer so she could print out her copies.  She'd left them on my computer and I reasoned I might as well print out my own copies since most all of them are slow cooker meal plans and that's largely the appliance of choice for summer meals.  I got three of them printed before my printer ran out of ink.

A few months ago, when I knew I'd need ink replacements, I bought those refilled cartridges that were about $18 to the $60 wanted for the proper ones.  I figured they'd work just as well.  They don't.  My printer refuses to budge and though the cartridges do have the same label under neath the refill manufacturer's label, they aren't the same. There's just enough difference that they don't work at all in my printer.  I tried every trouble shooting guide online and nothing will make those cartridges work with that printer.  I'll have to get the proper ones. So much for the attempted savings!  I'd noted in putting them into the cartridge case that they were just a wee titch snug compared to the printer brand ink cartridges.  I tried to get around that by peeling off the excess labeling and they did fit slightly better but not quite.   Funny thing is the printer recognizes one color just fine.  It's just sending error codes on the other three.  Sigh.

In between faffing about with the cookbook pages and the printer itself, I too last night's leftover chicken meat and rice and turned it into Chicken and Wild Rice casseroles. I got two nine-inch square pans of mixture out of that.  I put both into the freezer for future freezer meals.  I also started the Lazy Day Stew in my slow cooker.  There's another recipe I've discovered missing from my notebook.  I was sure I had it, but I'll bet it was in one of those cookbooks or online somewhere and I just looked it up each time I planned to make it.  I'll write that recipe out, along with the tuna casserole I made earlier this week and make sure both go into the notebook.

All in all, an easy day but a productive one.

Oh, I finished up Mystery Flowers by GLH this morning.  I'll keep that one, I think.  Now I am about to start The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge. <<Amazon Associate Affiliate Link>> I'm joining in a group book reading with the Elizabeth Goudge group on Instagram.

Meals:  Cheese Grits, Toast

Leftover Taco Pizza and Salads

Lazy Day Beef Stew, Muffins, Ice Cream with Orange Sauce

Wednesday:  Progress, even if it's a little bit at a time, always is progress.  Period.  

Up early enough this morning and made a quick breakfast.  While breakfast was cooking, I made the bed and loaded the dishwasher of the night's dishes.  Why do we always end up with dishes at night?  Glasses from drinks, a plate, a bowl from a snack, a random spoon, and the odd thing I missed while doing dishes after dinner.

I read the day's devotional readings and then a chapter of my book before starting my workday.  I do like retirement for the easing into the day's work, I shall say that right away.

John has been going about the kitchen with a tub of spackle filling in holes on the kitchen walls.  For 25 years or so I've been putting holes in walls to hang this or that, removed things and put holes in other spaces to hold those.  Does he complain over a hundred nail holes in the walls?  No.  Not one word.  When I thanked him yesterday for filling them in, he said simply, "That's why they make spackle.  I don't care how many holes in put in the walls."  And he truly doesn't!  That's one of the nice things about this man. 

I tidied up the kitchen and the house following breakfast and my leisurely reading half hour and then I carried the compost outdoors.  While out, I walked about with my camera and took pictures of all the lovely flowers in bloom.  The New Dawn rose was lovely, cascading over the trellis with fresh new blooms popping out.  It blooms every year just in time for Mother's Day.  Every year without fail.  When I saw the tight buds last weekend, I said "That's coming on early this year!", but then I looked at the calendar and realized it was on time.  I had gotten my dates all wrong.

It's awfully dry here.  I noted that even the herbs are curling up their leaves and the coral rose was looking wilted.  I wish we'd get one of those nice showers we're being promised and never see.  I watered plants and fed pets.  

When I came back indoors this morning, I took up the rugs in the kitchen and baths and swept the floors. I ran hot water and put my mop in to soak while I made myself a glass of ice water and lemon.  I set that over in the kitchen sitting area and turned on the ceiling fan.  That was my reward for when I finished up the floors.  Then I got busy!

It felt good to see the floors come up clean and nice.  Our flooring in the kitchen looks like wood complete with knotholes and there are times I'm scrubbing away at a 'spot' only to look over five or six boards and see the same exact sized spot, with the same irregularities.  Sigh, lol.  I'm learning to check first and scrub that spot second!

After I'd finished, had my water and cooled off, I headed outdoors to lay weed mat in the bed in front of the back porch railings.  I don't have mulch yet, haven't purchased a single bag, but I'm ready to spread it when I do get it.

Then indoors to clean up, wash my face and do a spot bath, put on makeup and go into town.  My purpose was to pick up a card for Mama for Mother's Day.  I made beautiful cards this year and I'm using those for most of my birthday and occasion cards, but it won't do for Mama.  She's never ever approved of anything handmade no matter how beautiful.  So, I gathered up trash, outgoing mail (which I forgot to post) and picked up incoming mail.  I sorted that before I went to the dumpsters so I could go right ahead and toss the parts I can't shred and compost.  

I went to the chicken place and ordered two plates for John and me. I thought I'd purchased the same thing he had last time he went in but apparently, he purchased snacks and I said plates so that was what I ended up with.  We have leftovers from that meal.  My plan had been to place my order, walk next door and then return to pick up the order.  While in the Dollar Store I'd meant to do a quick $25/for 3 meals post, but nope, they handed me my food right away.  Must keep in mind that this place is under new management and new management is determined to make a go of the place!

So, I literally ran into the dollar store, chose my card and paid for it.  Why did I forget to go to the post office?  A man a little older than me was paying no attention whatsoever to life around him.  He stepped into my path as I was leaving the store and I nearly took a tumble coming to a quick halt to not run into him.  I was right behind him at the door and he let it swing shut in my face.  I made it to the car unscathed but when I had started backing out another car pulled into the shopping center and would NOT stop to let me finish my maneuvers...I said "RUDE!" to myself, "People are just RUDE, today!"  And they were.  But my little temper made me completely and utterly forget the post office which was on my way.

I felt it was time to relax after lunch and I sat down to read emails, but I've popped up four or five times.  Two different deliveries, coffee time, a phone call that had me going to different points in the house to get information and the mad hunt through the freezer for items needed for supper that I saw two days ago and today were both at the bottom of the darned thing.  WHY? lol  For one of those deliveries, I put the items away properly and put a new flea collar on Rufus.  Maddie won't come near me just now so I can put hers on.  John took care of the contents of the second box.  Just one of those sorts of afternoon.  I don't feel particularly relaxed but never mind.  I'll go finish up supper prep and the rest of the evening can be for relaxing. 

Meals:  Boiled Eggs, Spam, Muffins

Fried Chicken, Roll, Fries

Beefy Pasta Bake, Salad, Bread and Butter  I shared the recipe over on Blue House Journal recipes if you want to see it and the original inspiration for mine.

I subbed in tomato sauce I'd saved from making pizzas for the condensed tomato soup called for in the recipe.    I split the mixture between two pans, one went in the oven, and then I put a 9 x 9 square pan into the freezer.  Each will serve 4 servings, easily.  This is how you stretch meat and save money while getting the same good flavors of the original recipe.

As I made this, I thought how in the past I've bought and used dried shelf stable tortellini instead of the fresh.  Other times I've subbed in sale priced bulk purchased frozen cheese ravioli.  Both those substitutions were delicious, but this recipe would be just as good with plain old penne or rigatoni.  Not quite as rich but good, all the same.

Thursday:  I woke with a headache and a stomach that twisted and turned this morning.  I don't know why I feel so ill at times, but I was pretty certain that was more the result of anxiety than anything else and I knew just what was making me anxious.  No help for it but to get to the day and do what needed to be done.

I did a bit of housework prior to breakfast.  I kept breakfast very easy this morning.   Then I showered, dressed and got ready for my day out.  I took outgoing mail with me, picked up ingoing, too, but there were no other errands to run.  I turned on a podcast after I'd stopped at the post office, before driving to Perry.  I occupied my mind with that and rethinking the Church Windows post.

I had that post all written and ready to go out and was editing it on Tuesday when suddenly the whole page cleared, and I had nothing.  Ctrl z will often restore things but not this time.  I got a line of zzz's across the page and nothing more.  I rewrote it rather hastily and edited that version the best I could, though it was late at night.  I wasn't satisfied with it at all.  I'm happy though that so many of you commented upon it and shared your own memories of churches and one of you even shared a link showing the lovely untraditional style stained glass windows in one of the churches.  Simply lovely.

Well, yesterday I was asked by our small group leader if I would share something from my own writing at the next coffee house.  I thought perhaps the Church Windows post would be ideal to read but I knew it needed to be refined a bit more.  The previous version I'd had ready to publish was the one I was most happy with.  So I listened to a podcast and alternately rethought that post, mentally rewriting it.

Took Mama out to lunch and then for a ride.  She looked better than she's looked in a while and moved more easily, but her nature is a complaining nature and complain she must, so complain she did, lol.  I made up my mind to just not say much and let her have full sway.  

When I left her at home, I went by Starbucks for my 'reward' coffee.  I knew I needed to get two or three items at the grocery across town but doggone it, it was HOT outside, I was tired, there was a Publix less than 100 feet away with the very same items inside.  I had a list for both Publix and Kroger and I decided to just go with the Publix list, since some of the items were the same, if not quite the same price.  I cut out several items, easily done since a few items weren't available, decided to buy components to make from scratch for the same as the sale price on another item and just decided I wouldn't buy others.  In the end, I probably spent about as much if I'd gone to the other store, but not as much as my usual trip to Publix costs me.

On the drive home, I moved to back country roads as soon as I possibly could.  I listened to Vaughan Willams composition, The Lark Ascending on the drive home.  It is a lovely piece of music and always makes me think of Van Gogh's painting, Wheatfield with a Lark.  Both are especially appropriate music now because the wheat is very near ripe here in my home area and I often see birds gliding over the fields.

I've learned, you see, to go into these days with Prayer, Xanax, and whatever lovely things I can think of to take my mind off what was in between arriving and leaving.

When I got home, I watered the herb bed, and the plants.  I discovered today that the pot I brought from the town has does not hold an old Abraham Lincoln rose.  That has apparently died, and the thing sprouting was apparently a pecan tree.  I'll remove that, plant it elsewhere and plant a new rose in the flowerpot.  That time spent watering was also meant to give me one more lovely thing before walking into the house.

It all helped.  It did.  Once I'd cooled off, I was more than able to be conversational.  I kept everything super simple.  As I put away strawberries this afternoon, I washed a big handful and enjoyed them as a snack.  Golly but they were good!

Then I rewrote the Church Windows post.  I'm a bit happier with it now and I'm even more certain that is the piece I'll share at Coffee House later this month.

Meals: Cereal, Toast

Salad and Soup out with Mama

Leftover Fried Chicken, homemade Potato Salad

Friday:  Good and tired now.  Up early this morning with a plan.  Shabat cleaning is done.  Dishes in the dishwasher were washed and put away.  John did laundry after I stripped the bed and bath.  He vacuumed while I was gone to the town house and to run a couple of necessary errands.

At the town house, I was meeting up with the pest control man to let him indoors to spray. I worked in the yard.  I started moving the blocks and bricks that are scattered about the back yard.  Found my first snake of the season.  Wasn't too happy about him but he was little.   Fortunately, Cody the Pest Control came along about then and rescued the snake.  I told Cody I kept my eye on that snake and that snake kept his eye on me too.  Everywhere I moved, his little tiny head moved to see where I was.  Ugh!

I didn't let it put me off my task of moving those heavy landscape blocks.  I only got six to the sidewalk but I moved about 14.  I told John when I go back I'll use the shovel to get the rest up.

I picked up a few things that were out of place.  My goal every time I go there is to do something that leaves the yard or house improved.  Sometimes the 'improved' part is a work in progress as it was today.  There are blocks laying in a pile in two spots in the yard.  There are bricks tossed over the fence into the area by the carport lying every which away.  But I did something.

Off to do banking and to the post office and then I took the backroads home just for a change of scenery.   It's actually shorter than following the highway home.

Home and unloaded the three flowerpots I brought home with me.  I came in to start bread and tot up the checkbook, and then I showered and made lunch.  I still need to prep my supper for tonight but I'm calling me done for the time being.  I'm too tired to do anything else just now.

It's been another good week, productive, busy, blessed.  Just the way I like them!