Hello dear friends! I've had a lovely time off but I'm ready to get back to routine tasks and yes, even feeling a bit antsy about doing some Fall cleaning. Anyone else feeling the seasonal cleaning pull?
I'm also getting my plans together for the month ahead. I have three different lists, made over the past four weeks. I've been reading through every item on them each week and sometimes adding one or two tasks as they occur to me or become obvious.
Do you know another list I plan to make? A room by room freshening guide. Not cleaning based necessarily though that will also be done, but I want to change out bedcovers, put out something new in each room for decor, or rearrange spaces so that they are more pleasant.
I've also made out a list of goals for September, because it is right around the corner of the middle of this week...
Let's get busy sharing the plans for this week!
Work:
Since we have both the end of August and the start of September in this month, I'm going to divide my tasks this week into two different zone areas.
Our patio looks pretty doggone awful. I never got around to refreshing the patio table and chairs, have never filled the new pots at the steps, have piles of weeds and such on the end of the patio. The tomato plants have never really recovered from the attack of the green horned worms in early July. There's just loads to do out there and since the mornings are rather pleasant just now it seems a good time to work on it. I've taken time to do something on both porches this summer to help improve them both, but the patio remains the neglected wasteland. I want it to look prettier.
I've also brought home a dozen landscape blocks from the town house and would like to finish off the border around the Sweet Gum tree.
That's probably about as much outdoor work as I can handle for one week, so I'll stop right there.
Zone 1 is the laundry, back entry and kitchen. I've done quite a bit of work in that space this month, including decluttering, neatening, reorganizing, and cleaning. I'm not hard-pressed to do any deep cleaning in that room, but I will take down the curtains to wash them and hang dry while the weather permits. I need to declutter both drawers on the island, and the dishcloth and kitchen towels drawers.
Aside from that just a good general cleaning and mopping will suffice just fine. I have one list devoted to different updates I'd like to do, and I'll choose a few of the kitchen related ones and get them attended to. It's simple enough things, like update the grandchildren's' photos on the fridge and repot a fern in the kitchen, putting a splash of color on the chairs in the kitchen sitting with pillows or a lightweight throw. I'd like to change up the shelf above the kitchen stove and rearranging and hanging some things on the walls.
Any other tasks I get up to this week will come from a list I made out late July from which I've been cherry picking jobs all month, most of which are just things I procrastinate about doing but which aren't heavy duty tasks.
Food and Meals:
My freezers and fridge are pretty well packed at the moment. I'm trying to figure out how to empty out a few things, without putting back an equal or larger amount which seems to be the case these past two months.
For food preservation: Continue on working to shell out the last 2.5 pounds of pecans from a bag John brought home last pecan season. These nuts are dryer and frankly easier to shell now than they would have been last year. I don't want to let them go to waste, so I started work on them last week, putting up a fully packed quart bag in the freezer and using about 2 cups to make a pecan pie.
I also have apple juice I want to make into jelly, also frozen since last fall. I have it thawing now. I'm thinking I will hot water bath can the jars this time around, though the paraffin topped jars have all held well, save one that I felt unsure about and dumped. However, I want to get more familiar with hot water bath canning once more, brush up on my old skills, la da da da.
The only item I will need to bake this week is loaf bread at the end of the week. We've plenty of bagels and no room for anything extra to go into the freezer.
Now to plan my week of meals.
Meals:
We are already craving the heartier foods in our home. The weather for the past two weeks has been pretty mild (never going above 90F outdoors), the leaves are getting tinged with color or dropping to the lawn, the grass has slowed growth even with all the rain, and golden rod is blooming in many areas though here on our property it's just tinged green gold with buds. A seasonal change is upon us for sure and one indicator we have is the desire and willingness to eat a bowl of soup, or to think with longing of a pot roast dinner. That's how I know it's getting time to start adding in a few of those such meals into our menus.
Breakfasts: Bagels and Cream Cheese; Banana Nut Muffins and Boiled Eggs; Oatmeal; Sausage Biscuits; Cheese Grits; Blueberry Muffins, Cheese Cubes; Mini Breakfast casseroles, Mixed Fruit
Lunches: Pizza; Bbq Chicken Sandwiches and Chips; Leftover Pizza, Green salad; Tuna Pasta salad; BLTs; Beanie Weenies; Vegetable Soup
Suppers: Fried Rice (used a variety of leftovers from fridge)
Creamed Hamburger over Toast, Mashed Potatoes, Lettuce and Tomato salad
Macaroni and Cheese, Tossed Salad
Oven Baked Chicken and Rice, Green Peas, Pear Salads
Meatloaf, Italian Peasant Vegetables, Mixed Fruit Salad, Corn Muffins Updating to add this link to 31 different meatloaf ideas for both meatloaf and for sandwiches. I got it in my inbox this afternoon. I'm always looking for a new spin on classic recipes that we might like to try.
Brandy's Black Bean Burgers, Spicy Sweet Potato Fries
Meatloaf Sandwiches, Coleslaw, Chips
Personal:
I'm ready for a fresh look for my wardrobe, too. There's a Stitch Fix subscription coming at the end of the week. I pay for my wardrobe from allowance I've saved over the quarters between deliveries. Split up between shipments means that it is affordable for my budget if I choose to buy any of the pieces.
It will be warm here for a bit but there will be cooler mornings and evenings when I might want a light sweater. I often find church and restaurants both are chilly even at this time of year. Today I wore a sweater on the ride over to church and didn't remove it until we headed home.
I've pulled down a few things I put up last spring to add into my wardrobe for the month ahead. Now I want to set things up with accessories, make notes of anything I think I'd like to have (like an Ivory tee-shirt, a tank to wear under shirts when it is colder, and utility garments (underthings, night gowns, robe) so that I know what I need and can plan those purchases.
So that's one task.
I've been trying to get back in the habit of keeping my nails done at least for the weekend. This means I have to take extra time to care for my hands, oil my cuticles, etc.
I'm also trying to do the light makeup routine daily, of mascara, brows and sheer lip color which just makes me feel a little livelier when I look in the mirror. Both these things are my way of taking care of myself. It's surprising how much nicer I feel as this elevates my mood.
I've slowed my reading pace over the past month, but I plan to step that up once more now that I'm back in full work swing. I've ordered my two books for the month ahead.
I've spent more than ample time on the computer this month while I wasn't working, and I mean to cut out games and decrease Instagram viewings and such. I'm going to limit myself to a set time for viewing vlogs on weekdays.
And last, I mean this week to get out of the house, possibly alone and go nose around the flea market or a thrift store. I'm specifically looking for replacement lamps for our bedroom, as one was bumped last week and broke. Since the lamp has been cracked it seems silly to replace the wiring and such and instead, I will replace the lamp itself. Specifically, that's what I'm looking for but a good old plunder in a thrift store is fun to me, period.
1 comment:
Personally I would like summer to last till Christmas day and spring start right after. I live in PA and we get snow, some ice, and very cold weather. I'll start fall cleaning in October.
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