I don't know if any of you saw this post in the comments last week. I'd meant to share it in last Friday's post but was distracted by that grandson of mine. I'm sharing it here because I know that many of you likely are familiar with Dora, or Grammy D. via this blog and perhaps others that we all mutually read. I myself have known her for years and consider her a dear friend.
Friday: Today I cleared up a lot of the clutter in our bedroom and closet. That was my big focus and made a huge difference. I have a pile of things to go out into the shed in the next few days and then I think the room will cease to bother me so much. I also took time to go through two boxes, retrieved pot lids and a 9x13 pan as well as my 12-cup muffin pan. I'm calling that plenty good enough for now.
I baked bread and bagels. The bagels aren't right at all. I'm going to remake those, even though assures me he'll it the ones as they are. I am pretty sure I know where I went wrong...
John and I have just had coffee. The sun is setting outside the window and Saturday is now at an end. We've had a lovely day. It is a sad foreshadowing of our future, but it's been pleasant too. I'll tell you all about that in my diary this week, though.
In the meantime, it's time to start planning for the week ahead. Is it just me or are these days coming around with lightning speed lately? I swear the year goes into overdrive once we hit September!
The weather has been cooler. Mind you, you couldn't prove it by today, because it was really warm out there. But it is cooler in the mornings and the days are cooler, though we could use just a touch more coolness.
Saturday: We slept quite a bit later than usual this morning. I suppose it had to do with the grey skies outdoors. We got up when we heard Caleb run across the floor. He ran right to our door and knocked. I let him in, and he said, "You wake? I gotta potty!" and off he ran to my bathroom. Katie looked a bit nonplussed. She never meant him to disturb us, but I was pretty pleased that he wanted to go potty and volunteered to go on his own.
They've been gone all day and will spend the night away from home tonight. We got a phone call from him telling us goodnight. He looked tired. He'd had a busy day. We love that he thought of us and wanted to say night night.
Friday: I went into the local store this week. I haven't been in two or three weeks now, having shopped at Publix or Kroger. But I really wanted to NOT spend my weekend grocery shopping and truly needed a handful of items. I'd also noted meat was getting low in the freezer and I wanted to check local prices against what was available via ads at the other stores.
I was really pleased overall. I'm fairly sure of some prices at the other stores, like what Caleb's lactose free milk runs. It was a good bit higher, by almost $1 at the local store, but since I asked them to carry it, I do feel obligated to go in and pick up a half gallon now and then. However, the cost was offset by the good prices I found on other items today, namely in the meat department.
We had a busy week behind us. It didn't appear it would be all that busy when I was making my plans for the week, but things changed when the boys both separately with their Grandparents' Day invites. You wouldn't think it would upset a week, but it was just the beginning of a whole slew of changes that came up following their visit.
I'm not going to say I did everything on my list last week, but I did make a really good attempt to do something in the zone work and made most of the meals on my menu plan. We do what we can do, right?
Saturday: I was on my own this morning when I woke...Not really. John was just off to do a service day with the church. My plans had been to meet him for lunch, but he made it plain there would be no lunch except at home. I said I'd just go get myself some more flowers for the house, return those sparkly jeans and pick up his prescriptions. Just an errand day all by myself. That makes the third time this week I've been out all by myself. I wonder if we're developing a new pattern of life?
Katie and Caleb were home. It was clear that Caleb was in a very contrary frame of mind. Anything he was told to do resulted in "NO!" from him. I was a wee bit glad to leave home and go tend to my errands.
Friday: We worked hard today. My big push was to make bread this morning in between doing good steward work on the Keurig. I ran vinegar through the machine. Then I poured that hot water down the freshly treated drains. Two for one on that deal!
I cooked a roast today and used up a jar of homemade Teriyaki marinade that had been sitting in the fridge. Do I have plans for the roast? No... but I figured it would be good for sandwiches this next week.
Hello dears.
I shall offer you coffee. I've a lovely Gingerbread blend. I'm not a fan of pumpkin spice...Or rather I am of the spice part but not of the pumpkin part. Well, not in my coffee! I do like pumpkin just fine in pasta sauce, ravioli filling, pie, muffins, enchiladas...But please don't put it in my drink nor my milk shake or my ice cream.
So Gingerbread coffee for me. However, it is HOT outdoors and if you'd prefer a nice cold drink, just say the word. I can offer you Lemonade, Iced Water, Iced Tea with Mint, or even a poorly made Cold Coffee. I say poorly made because I've yet to find the right combination to make a good homemade Iced Coffee. I suggest you stick with the hot coffee or one of the other cold drinks in my house. Those are generally good.
Donna spurred memory when she remarked that she used to start school after Labor Day.
One of my standout memories is of a Labor Day when Mama loaded us children up to go buy school supplies in Ft. Valley. The old store building where we stopped was torn down long ago, but I can still see it in memory. I was so pleased with the blue denim notebook, the Blue Horse lined paper and my new pencil case with lovely new pencils and that nice box of crayons!
Last week, I accomplished only minor things aside from the basic meals, housework and childcare. Granted those three things I listed were enough.
What I did get done last week: visited Mama, planted three of the six plants I brought home, cleaned and deadheaded about half the flower and gardening pots, sorted out the refrigerator freezer icemaker, cleaned off the top of the fridge, removed all the excess medications from the kitchen now that colds have passed, cleaned up the last few boxes, ran vinegar through the coffee maker, refilled my canisters, cleaned the drains. My family got busy and sorted out the crowded back entry and boxes as they'd promised they would do. Gee, it looks like a lot more got done than I'd thought!
Saturday: Yesterday was a lovely rainy cooler interlude in a long string of hot days. I listened to the weather report yesterday and they said "Oh this holiday weekend will be HOT! Hang on everyone!" and they showed a great swatch of deep maroon colors all across the South.
Well, what a pleasant surprise to discover that HOT per the weather channel is apparently 83F...It was LOVELY! No complaints from us.
We went out to our favorite restaurant, Longhorns. I was much amused as I scanned the menu. For years we've longed to go out and order just what we wanted and for the most part we now do. Only here I am trying to watch what I eat...and calories count, so now I'm limited once more on what I might eat. Sigh, lol.
Friday: I had a lovely morning in the kitchen. Nothing is more frugal than baking your own bread. I got started on a loaf of our usual bread right away. It was cool enough this morning to allow me to use the oven and I took full advantage!
I thought I was going to make a pizza for supper, then realized the recipe I had in mind was for sloppy joes not a pizza. Oops. I'd already started pizza dough...Well pizza dough is no different than any other recipe for bread. They are all pretty much the same. Flour, water, salt, yeast, oil. I decided to just let the pizza dough rise once it was well kneaded, then I knocked it down, kneaded it lightly and let it rise again. After the second rise, I formed it into 8 balls and made my buns. Then I let those rise again before baking. These were wonderfully tender and so very good with our supper tonight.
Now that the last summer holiday is passed, let's savor September.
I have been thinking long and hard about my dissatisfaction these last few weeks. Now I am not terribly dissatisfied, nor disappointed in life, etc. I am not despondent. Not at all! I am too busy these days for the most part to be too focused on any such emotions, but I've noticed a creeping feeling of being less than satisfied with how I spend a lot of my downtime.
As well, now that I'm seeing something of a light at the end of a still quite long tunnel, I want to do a few more things with Caleb. He's older, more able to absorb things like his natural surroundings and seasonal tastes and I'd really like to share those things with him.
Say what you like, September is just a month when I find myself being lifted by joy. This year, we come right into a holiday weekend. Labor Day in the United States is considered the 'end' of summer. Mentally and emotionally, I am in full agreement. Our calendar denies this fact, of course, and while I long for true autumn weather the moment September arrives, it never does. However, we were blessed with a cooler rainy day for our 1st day of the month and today (Saturday) has been unusually pleasant with temperatures in the low 80's. We have four whole days of these lovely temperatures and then we soar right back to stinking hot.
Yesterday I spent a goodly portion of my morning baking bread, buns, cobbler, a casserole I was prepping ahead. It was just lovely! I've missed being able to bake! I look forward to what I call the slow season of cooking, these cooler months ahead.
I really enjoyed my time off in August! I'm most assuredly less tired than I was. I knew the last week of vacation that the time off had been beneficial when I found myself not only noticing tasks that needed to be done, but I started feeling excited to begin working on them. I restrained myself because I knew a fresh new month was just ahead.
Now I am ready to begin!