I've peeked ahead at the calendar. We have a few obligations this week. The weather is meant to be sunny, mild and clear. Those are important things to know before I plan my week, as well. I'm trying to be more efficient in thinking fully about the week and what I can reasonably do as well as what we must do. Just like I'm trying to make better use of my grocery list each week, I want to make the most of my weekly work list.
Work:
We just won't bother to look back at last week. I got some things off the list done. But we had a lovely week overall and I've no complaints over what didn't get done.
This week I hope to store some of the quilts under my mattress, as one of you suggested last week. Ideally, I'd do that while changing sheets, but I may get impatient and do it sooner rather than later. I'd prefer to store my quilts that aren't handmade or attack under the mattress. Then I should determine once and for all what I mean to do with some of those quilts are ragged. I should determine what their real value to me is...I have nicer quilts made by my great grandmother, my great aunt, and Grandmother that I'd rather like to hold onto but some I picked up at the flea market. Do I want to keep and store them? Find someone who can make good use of them?
Ditto for the pillows I've got piled in my bedroom. Do I want to keep or toss? I do find it's awfully nice to have a couple of extra pillows on hand. I needed one for Millie the other day. But all five pillows? I tend to procrastinate on these sorts of decisions but having piled quilts and pillows at the end of my dresser in a narrow space between that and the closet door, watching it tower over the top of that big old lady dresser of mine...It's convinced me it's decision-making time.
By the way, this week's Zone 3 is beds and baths...So it's appropriate that the storage issues in my room should finally be addressed. Also a good time to remember that I plan to sort through the boxes of books in the guest room and determine which are keepers and which I want to donate. I won't get rid of every box, I know, but I can at least get a few boxes out of that room.
I have quite a few things stacked up to go into the shed. The Easter decor items, a few odds and ends I've culled from various areas of the house.
I do hope to get outdoors this week. It's meant to be sunny and nice, not too hot. I'd love to tinker around the yard working on refilling flower pots. I know I've had that on my list for weeks now. I'm just as eager, but we'll see how the energy holds out when I've made meals, cleaned house and done the necessary indoors tasks.
Sam is giving me some onion sets. I've decided to plant all I can in my flower bed that never seems to really take off until fall. I'll do that as I have opportunity each evening.
Kitchen:
Clearing my throat...What I didn't do last week: find my instruction booklet, look at an online website, view a video etc., about using the pressure cooker/canner at all. It wasn't an intentional oversight but each time I'd think I had a moment I didn't do it or I was tired and decided I'd rather read something else. So, this week I really do mean to pull it out and learn to use it in some capacity.
Also: I acquired a gas grill when we cleared up the town house. It's quite nice, but I have no clue how to use it, how to hook up propane to it, etc. When I questioned someone in the family I was reminded 'There's always YouTube..." and that' true. This week I will figure out how to use that grill as well. Personally, I'd like to get rid of the charcoal grill entirely, but I was informed that food simply tastes different when cooked on both and that I might want to keep the charcoal one as well. Do I? I think I'd like to learn the gas grill and then make a determination about the charcoal grill.
I need absolutely to make a trip to Walmart where I can purchase 25-pound bags of flour very reasonably. That's a half day's effort right there...I'd like to take along my pantry list, but I don't want to do a big shop by any means. It would be a good opportunity to pick up the fresh produce we need, and then I can perhaps postpone shopping for another week or so.
Meals:
I'm including the menu here this week because I don't expect to have leftovers. The fridge is relatively empty now and I don't cook a lot of food on weekends anyway. John and I have two evenings we'll be gone, and he'll be gone a third evening, all for church things.
So just a short menu plan, Monday through Friday:
Omelets, Asparagus, Salad, Biscuits
Katie's Cheesy Chicken, Beans and Potatoes, Squash
Brazilian Burgers, Mashed Potatoes with Pan Juices, Broccoli
Tuna Pasta Salad, Saltines, Tomato Soup. It's meant to be sunny and warmer next week. I hope that I finally get to make this dish. It's one of John's favorites.
Roasted Whole Chicken, Rice Pilaf, Peas
Personal/Leisure:
Last week I let myself start feeling rather dowdy and dull. The solution was fairly simple: Light makeup for days at home. Light, yes, but enough that if I made an unexpected trip into town, I'd look all right. It made a huge difference in how I felt overall. Worth the five minutes to take the time to do that little thing for myself.
I mentioned my nails and cuticles are rough. I do use lotion and try not to keep my hands in dish soap too often, but I have always struggled with my nails. I want to take a little better care of my hands overall. Cuticle oil, lotion, routine filing, pushing back cuticles, etc. None of this takes a long time, but it does take a little bit extra time than I normally devote to the task.
Sort out my wardrobe. I can put aside the very heaviest of sweaters and the Ponte knit pants which are far too warm for this time of year. We may still have cooler days, but it won't be wintry temperatures for sure. I'll organize my clothing so that I don't have to filter through the winter things.
Read, read, read.
Find my journal...What did I do with it?!
All of this sounds like a plenty full week to me when you include meals and errands, housekeeping and daily duties with family. I may not get it all done, but I'll do what I can!
10 comments:
You may be able to donate the old and worn quilts to a thrift store. Some people turn them into pillows, table runners, or teddy bears.
We bought 25 pound bags of bread flour at Sam's yesterday. BTW a new membership is only $10 this weekend if anyone reading is interested. We also picked up eye of round roast and canned 13 jars of beef. I always forget how great their meat prices are and there is no need to look for sales. Eye of round was only $4.28 a pound. Have a good week. Our middle son just let us know they are planning a visit so it is a happy end to the weekend.
Hi Terri, You might want to look up how to make a kid pillow lounger. Basically, you take 4 bed pillows and then create the equivalent of 4 continuous pillowcases. Slide a pillow into each casing and you have a foldable, kid lounger. Given the upcoming Gramma’s Daycare, you might like having an extra mat. I keep hoping to either find pillows on sale super cheap or end up with 4 that aren’t suitable for sleeping anymore and give this a try. I definitely have the fabric!
Have a great week! My shoulder motion is getting better and I’m able to do more. Still not up to par, but better!
Cindi, I actually was thinking of someone on Instagram who repurposes old quilts and wondering if anyone else would use them. Perhaps they would! I'll sort them out later this week.
Lana, Do you mind if I ask how much the flour was? I have seen those deals to join Sam's but was afraid it wouldn't be worthwhile...but you are right the prices on meats and often butter, eggs produce are quite excellent. And the bulk items too.
Casey, That's a good idea! I'd still have to store it but Millie would love her own 'quiet space' I think. And I could make it pink just for her.
The flour was $11.78. We have great luck with produce keeping very well, too.
Another savings is gas. Yesterday we paid 50 cents less per Hall n than the station across the street. The average though is 30 cents per gallon. That alone causes us to keep our membership.
Sorry about al these comments but, Terri, you can go to Sam's website and look at prices and what they carry. My local store does not carry bread flour so we have to drive to the next town over when we need it. You may not have that easy option if your store does not carry it.
We have a few grills, and I prefer to use gas because it's easy to light, cleaner, and we keep that grill near the back door. Besides meat, we like to grill vegetables, and Greg makes pizza, too.
When I was 12, we had a late spring snowstorm that downed power lines and our community was without electricity for almost a week. Mom had just gotten a brand-new electric stove, so that was useless, but we had a gas grill, and did all of our cooking on that. We even made pancakes.
We use our grill year-round, so long as it's not buried in snow.
Lana, John is unconvinced a Sam's card would be worthwhile. When I mention that the nearest is a mere 30 minutes from us, he just scoffs. I will eventually get there but sometimes getting through his anxiety over something is harder than the actual doing.
Karla, I saw that deal on Sam's membership, too. It's a great value I think, but it is also true that mostly I'd go to just buy flour. Most other things I can get elsewhere in quantities better suited to our needs.
Tammy, it's due to sleet that we ended up with a gas stove and having no way at all to cook. Then we had hurricanes come through and we had no power for a week at a time. That gas stove was a blessing!
I think you would be surprised at how many ways you can save at Sam's. Even as empty nesters we have a good list of items that save us money there. Many years that Hubby worked his company paid for our membership so we used it and did not have to consider it's value. Even if we only bought gas there it would be worthwhile for us. A few weeks ago we were having breakfast with friends and the subject of Pioneer Country gravy mix came up. They said they love it but the cost of it was prohibitive. Once I mentioned that 15 ounces in a canister is only $5.38 at Sam's they were on board for Sam's. But, We will pick it up for them and they will buy Costco items for us so that is a good swap. We save so much on pure maple syrup, coffee, cereals, meat, lettuce and a few other produce items, bakery items, Laundry detergent, trash bags, TP price and quality cannot be beat, paper towels, Spices, chocolate chips, bacon, coffee creamer, grits, frozen foods such as veggies, canned goods if you buy name brand. But as I said above you can go online to your store and look up anything you want to know the price on and do a real comparison.
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