The Homemaker Plans Her Week: Singing In the Sunshine

 

In my home this week, I'm listening to my daughter Amie chatter happily about her new degree. She's become a CNA with her eye set on working towards her nursing degree.   I think it's awesome.  I'm glad to hear her so very happy over this new direction in her life.

We've just finished off a week of not as much work as we normally have been doing, but a busy enough week all the same.  I didn't get to one job on my list partly due to being busy and partly due to my reluctance to start the project.  Now it's time to start planning the next week, our last full week for this month.

Work:

Zone 4 is usually porches, patio and shed.  I know my shed is neat enough, but it definitely needs to be swept.  I usually just take the blower out there and use that to get the bulk of the stuff (dead bugs) out of the door.

It would be a good week to get the stack of things in my guest room out to the shed.

I'm discovering why the white tile table is not a good idea for the back porch.  It's dirty.  Not a look I want to stick with, I assure you.  I think I'll move that table out to the shed and remove it from the porch entirely.  At some point I'll find one that will work better for my purpose.  

Do I paint furniture?  Maybe.  It really is depending upon how the weather is this coming week.  Hot for sure, humid for certain, but rain?  There's a chance every day and we seem to be on the side that chance falls upon most days.  For sure I'll work at cleaning all of them up.  There are always refining touches I might do to make things look a bit better.

I know we'll mow Katie's and John will mow the two yards out here. 

That's as far as I'm going to plan this week.  I might tackle that upholstery task.  I might decide to do any number of things that haven't been done.   It's a positive thing that I will work, I always do!

Kitchen:

I said I'd do a pantry freezer challenge this month and I've been trying.  I didn't say I wouldn't spend any money on groceries.  I'm determined to take advantage of any really good sales on the basic items we'd typically use, but I have not bought items to use right now except produce and peaches.  I've got to have my peaches.  This week we will have peaches anywhere from 10-15 days more and then our season will likely finish.  It happens every year.  I'm going to try not to miss any of the days when I might eat a fresh peach.

However, my fridge is packed tight.  My freezers are both very full.  I take out one thing and put in two.  This is great if the freezer or fridge is empty but neither one is.  So, I'm going to ramp up the pantry and freezer challenge and carry it over into next month.  For the next 9 days I am not going to purchase anything in the grocery line.  Please understand I don't consider peaches as groceries.  I will purchase those when we run out, but I won't purchase anything else.  I don't need anything.  I've got plenty and I can most assuredly last 9 days without making a purchase even if it is a very good sale.

I want to concentrate meals around using items that are just past expiration.  I know there aren't many and none of those are things to be concerned over.  They'll all last well beyond the expiration date but I prefer not to have them in the pantry just the same.  I'd rather go on and use them rather than have them accidentally get pushed aside and lost and found when they are well past their prime.  

There are a few items in the freezer that I know have been there for a year solid.  I want to use them up.  It's time to move them.   Then there are always leftovers I hadn't planned upon.  For these reasons I'm not terribly sure what menus might look like this week.  I'm trying to plan with what I have in mind just now, but we'll see how near I hit when I post my daily menus on the diary.

Meals:

Vegetable Pizza

Chicken Patties on buns, Zucchini and Squash Fries   not a repeat, but a move.  I remembered last night I had another leftover dish that we really needed to eat.

Gramma's Fried Chicken, Squash Casserole, Green Beans, Mac n Cheese, Fresh sliced tomatoes, Banana Pudding

Venison Backstrap, Potatoes with Onions, Salad  

Stuffed Peppers, Butter Beans, Slaw

Soup, Cornbread Soup is the greatest use of leftovers and odds and ends ever and often it's quite delicious.  I've only ever had one or two fails where soup is concerned.  

Meatloaf, Rice, 3 Bean Salad, Corn Muffins

Personal/Leisure:  

Go to see some of our small group in their current play This took place last night.  It was really good, a production of the Musical "1776".  It's made me want to drag out history books and study it all over again.

Spa Day.  Desperately need that bit of pampering.

I haven't read a book in two weeks.  I'm anxious to do so once more.  It's choosing that is hard.

See the new Netflix production of "Persuasion".  Soooo good!  I viewed it this morning since John was gone from home and I had the tv to myself.  Perhaps that is what I shall read...

Continue with my self-led Bible study on the book of Acts.  I'm really enjoying taking these in small steps, and doing word studies, historical studies, cross referencing scriptures and jotting down my own thoughts based on all I've learned or discovered in my searches.   It's far less anxiety for me than those Bible studies where I feel there is a 'right' answer and I've somehow missed the point of a question entirely.

Have some time with grandchildren.  The older ones all return to school next week and I want at least a little more time to enjoy them before their weeks are all filled up.

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