Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Anything but Ordinary

 

Saturday:  It's been a lovely day.  We slept in, for us.  And we had such a lovely sleep.  For one thing it was cold, so it was nice to be under the covers together.  Often enough, I shed a layer while John is piling on a third layer.  Last night we both were comfortable and cozy without my being too warm or his being too cold.  

I was reading a blog today and the post written this week stated that the writer was putting away Christmas and returning to an 'ordinary' life.  That sentence really struck me because one thing I haven't had in the past three years is an ordinary life.  This holiday season wasn't ordinary.  It felt like we were slogging through the end of an overlong novel.   I don't want what has passed for ordinary in our lives. I don't want normal, at least not what had become normal.  I want anything but ordinary!

We had time for leisurely coffee and conversation this morning.  John noted that this is what life would be like in our home one day soon and I know this to be true.  I also noted that for a time it would feel rather empty.  But empty spaces have a tendency to fill up again, don't they?

In the meantime, we enjoyed our little reprieve, our bits of time alone are cherished.  

I put a corned beef in the slow cooker.  That's when I looked out the window and saw Bean the black cat coming to the back porch, so I went to feed him and that led to feeding the birds which led to feeding Misu and Rufus and filling the other bird feeder.   

We enjoyed our quiet time.  When the family returned, I was just prepping lunch.  The afternoon was a whirlwind.  The little had new cars, a gift from his grandparents and was excited to show them off. We had lunch.  We struggled through a sleepy period for us all.  John and I carried off trash.  As we came back to the house, the sun was beginning to set behind the trees.  In the places where the sunlight came through the trees, the light hit the stream of water in the ditch, turning them to molten pools of color.  

Yesterday, when I came back from the estate sale a low whirling dervish stirred up leaves and made them dance on stem ends and then they all scampered across the road like children let out for recess, playing tag and going back and then forward once more.

Meals:  Corned Beef Sandwiches, Potato Soup   I'd planned 2 meals from the corned beef, completely forgetting how much they shrink.  I decided to do sandwiches and soup tonight which suited the weather.  I just went right ahead and used the corned beef broth to make the soup, so I used all of that corned beef.  There are roughly 2 servings of soup and 3 of the corned beef left.  John and I figured for the cost of the piece of meat it worked out to just over $1 per serving.

Sunday: We slipped away from home this morning before anyone else was up and headed out to church.  We had to let the car warm up lot this morning, because the windshield was so thickly coated with frost.  We're in that difficult season.  The floor of our carport is packed dirt, but it gets saturated and muddy with rain this time of year.  So, we park the car in the open and then it cools off and frosts heavily, so the windshield is coated if we need to leave early.  I'd like to get crush run rock under the carport and perhaps we shall once we run into someone who sells and spreads it.

On our way home this morning, I had no clue what we'd have for lunch.  John hesitated and suggested I think quick if I wanted to go to the grocery.  I'd been trying on the trip over and after church to get either the website or the app for Publix to load the sales ad with no luck.  I told him I guessed I didn't really need anything; we could just go home and see what we had.

At home, I quick thawed some ground beef and made us a decent lunch, one that was greeted by all in the house with high favor.  It's always very gratifying to make a meal that suits everyone, not that anyone ever complains.   

After lunch everyone took a nap.  I happened to wake early and it's a good thing I did because our Seniors group met 2 hours earlier today.  We slipped away from home again while everyone was sleeping.  It's beginning to feel like a habit.

At church this evening and this morning too, I was very struck by the number of people we suddenly seem to know by name.  I mean just loads of people.  We've been in small groups or special groups or at ministry outreach sites with them.  We are becoming known to others and others are now known to us.  I realized this evening that it's more than a sense of belonging to this church but a feeling of community that we've finally found.  I felt happy when I realized that because if I've missed anything living here on this land it was the feeling that I belonged with others.  

I feel that here within the blog readership as well.  I feel you are my people, my place to belong.  I hope that each of you has that same sense of belonging.   We've prayed for one another; we've shared life circumstances; we've shared recipes and histories and disappointments and advice.  We are a community. 

Meals:  Butterscotch Oatmeal, Toast

Sloppy Joes, Oven Fries

out at church 

Monday:  It's been a whirlwind morning in my home.  We slept in this morning with all four of us getting up around the same time.  I made waffles while I sipped my coffee.  Once again, I want to say how very much I love my waffle iron.  So much nicer to use than the old Cuisinart I had before.  Everyone seemed to enjoy them.  I had just two extra from today's batter and set them aside.  Since we don't have cookies or a lot of fruit at present, I thought perhaps the kids might enjoy them as a snack.

I had just enough time to do basic housekeeping and then the kids from across the field arrived.  One little girl flatly refused to remove her beautiful pink puffer jacket, not even allowing us to slide her hood down.  After about two and a half hours she allowed her aunt to unsnap and unzip it but only because she had gems in her overall pocket and couldn't get to them without help, lol.

The boys were their usual wild self.  The toy box exploded toys.  John slipped out of the room for a bit and so did the other adult, but Gramma stayed right in the midst of them all and enjoyed them truly.  The oldest from across the field now comes to my chin.  He is long and thin, and I suspect will take after his dad or his uncle who makes my tall son look short.  

The middle boy is growing up too.  In the past he's cried a lot to get his way, but we didn't have but one incident of that today when both his aunt and I both shouted at him for climbing on the bookcase.  All I could see was 250 pounds of books and heavy decor pieces come crashing down on him.  John talked to him and clarified that yes, he was doing something wrong, but it was fear that made us shout at him.  

The little one here was just pleased as punch to be amongst all the cousins.  The only issue we had was that they brought toys from home and kept getting upset that little one was playing with them.  I finally had to point out that they were being unfair, and this shocked them.  "You're here playing with every toy he has, but you don't want him to touch a single thing you brought over...Either put your things away and don't have them out or share with him as he is with you."   Sorry to say their solution was to put things away but it did cut out the grousing over the little one handling their things.

As I suspected, they sat down to eat a piece of waffle each and polished off the two that were left mid-way through the play time.

John had suggested I make pizza for lunch and so I did.  Yes, we've just had pizza but it's easy, inexpensive and always a hit with the children.  Indeed, the little girl, the middle one and our little one all ate two pieces.  I reheated the leftovers from Saturday and those were polished off with all 7 of us eating.  Nice!  That's one way to make leftovers disappear.

The children were ready to go home for quiet time (!) after lunch and our little one was happy to go off to his room to rest as well.  I'm sure something must be wrong with them all, but they were active for several hours, so perhaps that's just what they all needed.  Can't say I wasn't appreciative of having a bit of quiet myself.

When I went out to feed Misu and the other two (Rufus and Bean but Misu is the queen), the birds at the feeder alerted me to the empty state of their feeder.  I went out to refill both feeders which took the last of my stockpile of seeds.  I'll have to get more.  I picked up branches and stacked them to haul to the pile we're accumulating for the lady of the house across the field to put in her burn pit.

It was while I was picking up sticks that I found the dandelion flowers in the grass.  I think dandelion flowers are the happiest little things.  I reasoned that picking the flowers would keep them from turning into seeds, but you know those little flowers are too pretty to live outdoors.  They look very appealing in a saltshaker on the kitchen window shelf.

John had made plans for this morning to be a morning out for us, but when I mentioned the kids were out of school and I'd hoped to see them he shifted his plans to tomorrow.  With any luck this means I can combine one or two other errands with what he wants to do, and we can really make the day out be productive.  If I can strike those items off my list, it will be wonderful.  If not, then we'll adjust.  Usually, John is good for about three errands included in a trip and he's over and done.

Meals: Waffles, ham.  I had four leftover slices of ham in the freezer and found them yesterday when I was digging for another item.

Pepperoni Pizza

Chicken stuffed with Spinach and Artichokes, Pasta, Salad

In the interest of cleaning some things out of the freezer, I put on chicken frames to simmer this morning along with my bags of ends and tops of carrots, celery and onions.  I added in some chicken breasts, too.   I'll use some of this broth to make supper for another night this week.   

Happy note.  I had supper alone.  John was told if he didn't get enough to eat at men's meeting I'd have leftovers.  When he was asked what they were he declined...

I was wondering how the little one would like the meal.  Needn't have worried at all.  At first bite, he said "mmmm!" and then he asked for more, twice.  When the meal was done he told me it was "Dishus"!  I told John he needed to take food notes from his grandchild.

Speaking of which, Aunt and Gramma both were amused to hear the two boys from across the field discuss the pizza I'd made.  "I think it's good...but the cheese is a little funky..."   This was something I'd noted, too, so no offense taken.  It wasn't all the cheese but just the odd bit here and there.  But it was the younger who amused me most.  "The cheese is fine...I think the sauce is a bit off."  It was at that point that their Aunt and I exchanged glances, lol.

Tuesday:  I don't know if my new freezer will arrive tomorrow or not.  I've had absolutely no word from the store about it other than an email on Sunday reminding me it was scheduled to be delivered on Wednesday.  The promised call from the store that the email said I'd receive has yet to come in.  Considering this freezer was out of stock nearly everywhere and only available for online orders, I shall try hard to be patient, but gee I do hope it comes!

We ran errands today.  We went to a bank and were surprised to see we wouldn't be allowed to go in.  I noted paint buckets off to one side and asked John if he supposed they were renovating.  We followed the directions on the sign and went through the drive thru to ask our question.  I was close to being right.  They are renovating but not due to wanting to.  A pipe burst in the ceiling over the Christmas holiday and ruined the entire lobby area.  This happened during that freeze we had over the holidays.  We said we'd come back when they were open once more.

Then we did a round of errands that allowed us to stay in the car until we arrived at the sports store to look for new shoes for us both.  I've discovered that the more I wear shoes with good support the better able I am to walk without knee pain afterwards.  The classic looking tennis shoe might be cute but gosh do I pay for wearing them more than a little bit if we need to do any walking at all.    I found a pair that I felt fit nicely and then tried on a second pair that I liked also.  A clerk walked by and said, "Oh I love my shoes!"  She had on the same ones I was trying on.  I asked her why.  "It's the support.  I'm on my feet all day long and my feet never hurt since I started wearing these."  She looked over the two pairs I'd narrowed down to and said, "The other pair are good shoes and more reasonably priced."  I asked her opinion of which she'd buy. "The Brooks," she said without hesitation.  "They do cost more but they are worth every penny.  My next pair will be Brooks, too."  Since she wasn't earning a commission off my sale, I felt I had gotten an honest opinion.

I have often said my size is such a common one that finding shoes in my size is the most difficult part.  And it is!  But I had no idea that John's size is equally as hard to find until today when we were looking for his shoes.  We will end ordering shoes online for him, but at least he went into two stores to try to find some.  

And for the record, John is usually good for just 3 stops but today he held in there for a grand total of 7.  That's something to write about!

Meals:  Eggs, Sausage, Toast

Pimento cheese for John, Buffalo chicken salad for me.  Sandwiches with a pickle and a grape salad on the side.

Sweet and Sour Pork, Steamed Broccoli, Rice, Oranges

Wednesday:  The new freezer is here.  It's HUGE and I'm so happy with it.  Right now, we've got it on and chilling.  I expect we can start to move foods into it this evening or tomorrow morning without an issue.  It's a bit over 6ft. tall.  I half-jokingly looked at the fridge and said "Oh!  Maybe we should get a fridge this big, too!"  John wasn't in the last amused with that crack, lol.  Truth:  I'd love to have a bigger fridge and I've been saying so for years, but until we remove the upper cabinets on that wall nothing taller will fit.  Also truth: My fridge is working just fine.  The dinosaur has ceased to roar and it's cooling as it should.  I'm not likely to replace it on a whim.

I spent the morning cleaning the house which seemed to have fallen apart in the time we were gone yesterday and through the evening and night.  Does that happen in your house as it does in mine?  There were things here and there that didn't belong, messes left in places where no mess had been when we left home.  I think we just go on autopilot and cease to think about keeping things neat and nice, so we just come in and drop things where we are at the moment and never put them away.  

When I was all done with those tasks, I moved porch and entryway pieces to ensure that the freezer could be brought indoors easily.  

I have had two of the best deliveries today.  We'd ordered a new car seat for the little one, one that is not an infant type of car seat.  It arrived today and the young man delivering said "It's heavy...I'll put it wherever you say to."  I asked if he'd bring it indoors and he kindly did so.  He was so very nice.

Ditto for the two young men who came to deliver the freezer later.  They were both strapping young men, as well they ought to have been, and so very nice.  As they started in the door the young man on the outside put his nose in the air and said "Mama!  What are you cooking?!"  I laughed and told him we'd just eaten leftovers.  I was flattered that he liked what he could smell.   Both were nice and polite and worked as quickly as they could to ensure that the installation went smoothly and that all was well.

The freezer is very tall, over 6ft., which I've mentioned but every now and then we have decided to do something and then we know very well that we've decided the right thing.  In the past the plans were to put the upright freezer next to the window at the end of the kitchen counter.  I'd decided only very recently that putting a freezer there didn't make sense.  It would, I felt, block light from the window and I reasoned it was an additional 3 feet of future counter/cabinet that might go in that space.   I explained to John that I'd thought again and determined we ought to put the freezer next to the fridge and put a pantry cabinet on either end of the two appliances.  We'd essentially have a wall of storage for foodstuffs was my idea.  

For right now, until I move the old chest freezer out in the next day or so, the upright freezer is sitting in the same area I had the island.  It blocks light from the windows on the north wall.  I'm even more sure now that I want to place the fridge and freezer side by side on that recessed portion of wall when we remove those cabinets.  I think it's the best possible design plan for us and one I will be very happy with when we are at that stage.

After the delivery men were gone, we sat down in the living room.  I got a message from my oldest granddaughter asking if she might call.  Do you ever just have a feeling about someone?  For the past three days I have had that girl very close in my heart and said multiples of prayers for her.  I guess she was needing them, though she didn't know I was praying, and I had no idea of her need.   I wish, oh how I wish, that I could smooth paths before my grandchildren and children and dust away the hurts and heartaches, but I cannot.  I can only be there and love them when they need me.  And as John said, "And be the one who prays faithfully for them."   

God knew what he was doing when he impressed that need upon me 18 years ago.  It occurred to me about that time that I seriously doubted anyone in my life had ever prayed over me. I thought over all my family and just knew that no one had but the I realized that Granny did and must have done for all my life.  She was just that sort of person.  She lived deeply in her faith, not in a holier than thou sort of way but in a way of one who spoke and walked and lived faith and left no doubt that she was intimately in relationship with God.  That's the grandmother I wanted to be as well.  

I've had little contact with my oldest grandchildren and that is partly due to my reluctance to insinuate myself in a life where I'm not sure I'm wanted.  Not by the grands but by the parents who are distant at best of times and off the radar the rest of the time.  But I've been impressed to pray for them all nonetheless and pray I shall until I can't pray any longer. 

Meals:  Cheese Toast

choice of leftovers

Brunswick Stew, Cornbread

Thursday:  I loaded the new freezer last night after the little one was in bed.  Although John kept telling me to wait 24 hours, I reasoned that it had cooled for nearly 6 hours at that point and everything I was placing in the freezer was already solidly frozen.  

Now here's a funny bit.  As I removed bins and placed them from the chest freezer onto the wire racks, John suggested, "Gee that looks heavy.  I think maybe you should unload the basket."  I said, "John...the basket weighs less than a 1/4 pound.  If I unload it the meat in it is going to be just as heavy."  He sort of laughed at himself over that.

My fears that this new freezer wouldn't be big enough were completely unfounded.  I mentioned yesterday that it's HUGE and it is.  It's over 6 feet tall.  But the interior is twice the size of my old chest freezer.  I know it sounds completely silly, but I was convinced that 10 cubic feet of chest freezer space was not equal to 10 cubic feet of upright space.  I assumed what I had would fill the full 21 cubic feet.  Not at all.  There's plenty of room to work with.  I'm thinking of leaving one shelf for pre-made meals.  I realized that I not only have more space to stock with fresh purchases, but I have enough room to actually store leftovers and make ahead meals.  

The baskets I used in the chest freezer not only fit this space, but I can put two to a shelf.  That means I can easily corral like items and not have a lot of stuff to free fall from the freezer.  

I couldn't resist going to look for similarly sized refrigerators.  I admit, I am a matchy matchy, symmetry sort of person and I get a bit antsy when things don't look put together in like manner.  I've been fighting that tendency for years as it can be boring and squelches the urge to show a bit of personality in decor or clothing.  However, that is still a strong leaning.  So of course, I had to go look at fridges.  One the same size would cost nearly the same as the freezer and would have no ice maker.  I'd have to pay extra for that kit.  That pretty much made up my mind that I'm going to live just fine with a shorter fridge and taller freezer.   Mind you that 95% of the time I'm not even going to be looking at it that much.  The stove and sink are on the opposite wall, and you can't even see the fridge from the living room nor my seat in the dining room.  It was easier than I'd thought to talk myself out of that idea!

We were up early this morning.  John was coughing in the living room which woke me.  He's been complaining of feeling he's something coming on.  I checked the pollen app and there's nothing in bloom here yet.  I don't know how he could have anything at all, as every time the little one sniffles, John takes zinc, Vitamin C and D3.   I offered him an allergy tablet this morning, thinking perhaps it might be a reaction to scents in the house he's not accustomed to.  After all there are hair care products, soaps and perfumes we don't generally have in the house floating about in the air.  The allergy tablet seems to have put a stop to his woes.

After everyone left the house, we started clearing up.  It's a sort of habit of ours.  I begin breakfast and clear up the kitchen.  He starts laundry if there's any to start and if not, he makes the little one's bed and tidies the living room.  After breakfast I clear up our bedroom and bath, go over checkbook to make sure I'm up to date and then do my Bible study.

This morning after Bible study, I cleaned the bathroom cabinets.  I'd mentioned wanting to organize under our sink cabinet in a better way.  I think I've found what will work for us from a Pin I found last night.  I am going to check at the dollar store in town to see if they have anything similar in stock.  If not, I'll order from an online retailer.  I want to measure my space to be sure it can accommodate it.

The master bathroom cabinet is half again the size of this cabinet, I think so I could possibly store a bit more in there, but after looking at dozens of photos, this one seemed best. It looks neat and nice, doesn't appear to be expensive and I think would meet our need very well.

For the guest bath, the cabinet is much smaller and could only hold one of these sorts of pieces, but that would be more than sufficient for that cabinet.

I didn't mention that I dusted our master bedroom yesterday.  I also swapped mine and John's bedside table items.  So now I don't feel quite so lost on my new side of the bed.  I can reach out and get my reading glasses, ear buds or chap stick when needed.

I thought, truly thought, John meant it when he said we were going to be leaving home today and I got myself pretty much ready.  But then he wandered off to the music room and then to start looking for an item he insists we need, and then started watching videos.  About that time, I decided I'd just go right back to work and make bread, start supper prep, fix lunch.  After lunch, he settled in his chair and went to sleep, so perhaps he's not feeling as well as he appeared to feel.

At least I'll have supper pretty much at the stage of being warm and ready when folks come in tonight.

Meals:  Grits, Toast

Toasted Sloppy Joes, chips

Corned Beef Hash, Fried Eggs, Blueberry Muffins, Apple Slices   I was surprised to note how much more corned beef was left than I'd first thought.  Adding potatoes and making hash will stretch it nicely into a second meal which will bring the costs of this cut of meat down still further.  I think I'll serve with fried eggs and muffins to make a Breakfast for Dinner meal.  

Friday:  The house is clean and neat around us.  We've had lunch and at present time, I've got to load the dishwasher and we're done for the day with household things.  How lovely to be so nearly finished and it only 1pm!   

John hasn't needed allergy med today and he seems to be coughing a bit less, so hopefully we caught what it was in time to squelch it.  I'm glad.  I was not interested in dealing with more sickness this month.

This morning, I did my usual routine cleaning.  Bathrooms are looking spic and span, the bed is freshly made with clean sheets, fresh towels are hung in the bathrooms.  Floors are clean and I've done myriad other small jobs: emptying compost, picking up a few more limbs, cleaning under an appliance or two, etc.  

Tonight we're off to small group at church.  I'll have to make a grocery run tomorrow.  I've repeatedly told John we needed to go but he's ignored me.  The cat food and bird seeds are gone and it's doubtful we've enough coffee to make it through the weekend.  I don't mind going on my own, but I really don't want to go during the weekend...It's always such a crush then.  Perhaps I can just grab two items for now and then do a proper shop next week.

Hope you all have had a great week and a lovely weekend ahead.  Tell us about your week...We love to chat back and forth in the comments.