In my home this week, I am already planning ahead. I'm going to take the weekend off, so I thought I'd go ahead and get my first post for July written out and have it ready to go.
We aren't planning to do a single thing this weekend. I'd tentatively started planning a family gathering so all the cousins could have a get together and then I discovered that Taylor wasn't going to be down, the children across the field had plans to visit their Papa and GrandNessa. I just quietly let my plans drop and never told anyone I'd been tentatively making them. I know my 3 grandchildren from South Georgia like Gramma and Grandpa visits, but the real draw is the time with their cousins, and I felt pretty sure the weekend would fall flat.
To be honest, now that Maddie's gone, John and I are in a period of adjustment and between our missing that red haired dog keenly this week, we are busy trying to keep up yards. We're weary. Probably not the best time to plan a packed weekend.
In the meantime, I'm thinking ahead, holiday aside and planning next week.
Work:
The beginning of a month brings us back to Zone 1: Kitchen, laundry and back entry. There aren't any jobs jumping out at me commanding me to do them at present. I think I'm going to give each space a good routine cleaning and if any job does push itself into my line of vision, I'll tackle it. So just the usual wipe, mop, sweep, declutter, tidy sort of cleaning.
This month I feel the need to do a pantry/freezer challenge once again. Things are financially snug. I spent more than I thought I might on cleaning supplies, which usually comes from my grocery/household budget (all one and the same). That means I'll have to less spend in that area. I had already planned to trim it to cover the extra cost of gasoline for our household, so another decrease in budget and then I thought of all the odds and ends of foodstuffs I'm finding in my current inventory. Why not get creative and use some of them?
Get the checkbook set up for the new month.
Mow the yard in town. Bring home some landscape blocks and brick. Perhaps spread a few bags of mulch? I'll have to buy more.
Repot another plant.
And buy soil. That bird has four eggs in her little nest. I don't know how much longer she'll be raising her family in my bag of potting soil.
Make the time to go buy some annuals to pot up for the empty spots in the flower beds. I have a six pack of dusty miller, and a small pot of pink begonias that I can use and plenty of freshly rooted coleus, but I'd like just a little more color pop here and there. I'll buy something hardy enough to withstand heat and general lack of showers even though we're supposed to have a chance of rain every single evening for the next ten days.
Plant more basil. I have more seeds, I have places I could put more, and Sam's asked if I would have enough to share with him. I most certainly could! I find that once it's going, it's easy enough to collect seeds for next year off this year's crop.
Maybe paint something. The patio set? The back porch furniture? Touchup the front porch? We'll see.
Kitchen:
Pantry Freezer challenge for the new month ahead. I've just done my inventory for the quarter, and I have odds and ends of things I'd like to use. Some were experiments to see if they were worth having on hand. Canned collard greens? Yes. Canned cabbage? NO. Some are just things I'd saved thinking I ought to use them up, so I'm going to put on my thinking cap and find ways to use them creatively and make them into meals. Some have just been lingering because they require a bit more time and thought than I've put into meals of late. A few have expired. Some of those things aren't the sort that lasts well too far beyond the expire date. Some will be safe for years to come. I've checked this online to be sure.
I know about what I really need, and that I'll have less money this month to spend. Frankly my chief concern isn't whether I get the milk, eggs, cheese and lettuce I always need because that will be bought but that I have enough money to BUY PEACHES. I've waited on peach season all year long. Now I want to enjoy it while it's here.
General zone cleaning.
Meals: I'll just list a few of the things I'm wanting to use up: Venison Backstrap, a whole chicken breast half, 2 cups of chicken pieces, bread cubes, 2 cups of frozen kale, 4 lasagna noodles, 1/2 cup of melon seed shaped pasta, canned nacho cheese sauce, Alfredo sauce, a great variety of dried and canned dried beans. That's just the starting lineup. There's plenty more to come, I'm sure. I haven't finished my inventory at this writing. So, there you have week two of unplanned meals!
Personal/Leisure:
I'll take the boys to another program at the library.
Grill out.
Have a long relaxing weekend. Holiday and all. This is the last holiday for two long months, and I want to enjoy it.
2 comments:
I need to organize my upright freezer so I can see and know what is in there. Planning on doing it one day this week and then I will probably do a freezer/pantry challenge in August. I have been very good about using or freezing our leftovers now I just need to use those frozen leftovers. :)
Doing an inventory is always eye opening. It makes you very aware of what you could be using that you've ignored or helps you realize that a few odds and ends can be turned into a meal.
Food waste is not a sin, but every time we toss food into the trash we might as well take that sum of money and toss into the trash too. There's no need to complain about how much food costs as long as you're tossing money into the trash can in my opinion.
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