Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Fall Y'all!

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.

Grammy D said...

As some of you know, my dear Gramps passed away on Thursday one day before out 61st birthday after a very hard year of fighting Parkinson's dementia, and a really horrible last two weeks. My last "kid" leaves Thursday morning and then begins the legal work, the long-neglected housework, catching up with friends I haven't seen in a year. As a typical young bride, I went from my parents' home to a home for two and now to find out just who is Dora? For right now she and Gramps cat are staying right here, although the various family members have at least 4 places for me to visit. I will need to learn to shop and cook for one which will be interesting.
I believe Gramps would have been very pleased with the funeral service. I told the funeral director and our pastor, keep the information, I want exactly the same. Family and invited friends, no visitation, no open casket (this 6 foot man weighed not more than 110 when he passed), just a family dinner picked up at the caterer instead of the big church dinner. Exactly as we lived, quiet and simple.
I just wanted my fellow "thrifties" to all know what is going on in my life.
Hug your loved ones tight!

September 20, 2023 at 8:02 AM 

If any of you wish to 'speak' with Dora, please feel free to use the comments section of this post to do so.  

Saturday:  We got in last night about 10pm.  Neither of us was ready to head to bed, so we stayed up.  I spent my time reading a book Katie had brought to me.  I must confess I got rather stuck in it, which I didn't expect.

We slept in this morning and then spent a quiet and leisurely morning here at home.  John and I have been alone since Friday evening.  I think this will be the pattern of our weekends to come.   We ate our usual Saturday morning breakfast and slow sipped coffees, drunk while they were still hot.  I read some more.

We had a call from Katie while we were loafing around.  Caleb was in tears and had been having a rough morning.  He wanted Papa to calm him down, I guess.  He told us where he was (we knew) and we assured him he'd be home tomorrow night.  He had been playing too rough and simply couldn't seem to get control of himself and his feelings.  As we talked, we could see him visibly start to calm down.  I remarked to Katie that he'd been awfully emotional these past two days and she asked, "Do you think he's having another growth spurt?"  This is exactly how he acted last time he was having one.  I asked her, "What's he going to do, skip 4T now and jump into 5's?"  We both laughed because we'd just sorted out the bin of hand me downs and pulled out all the 4Ts.

We got ready to run errands.  We loaded up donations to go with us and took them over to Goodwill.  We went to Lowe's to pick up soil.  As we were crossing the parking lot, we were hailed by a woman in an SUV who needed help with directions.  I had some idea but not a clear one of where she needed to be, just from the description online.  A man and his son came by, and I asked if they knew.  He figured out that the physical address she had was for an HOA management office, which was not where she wanted to be.  He said "I'll call my wife.  She knows where everything is."  I thought that was an awfully nice thing to say about your wife.  John and I excused ourselves, wished the woman well and went off to do our shopping.

I can barely stand to go into Lowe's garden center and not just wander about.  I picked up two flats of pansies that were pretty and fresh looking, got some soil and then we wandered down to the clearance racks.  I didn't see anything I wanted to add to my garden, but I noted they had loads of Knock Out roses.  I'd be curious to see what colors they had but they were on the topmost shelf where I couldn't see a thing.

It was so hot by then. Gracious, we might welcome the heavier blanket on the bed at night just now, but the days are still plenty hot.  John begged off doing the grocery shopping I wanted to do.  Kroger had some awesome sales this week and I really wanted to take advantage of them.  He promised to go by tomorrow after church.  

We went to the newish Mexican place we tried back in May.  It's our fourth time eating there, and we are consistently impressed with the food we get.  We had so much food on our plates today we brought home takeout boxes.

When we arrived back home, I asked John if he'd mind if I slipped back into my nightgown.  I typically don't wear my nightclothes about the house, but I just wanted something loose and comfortable on.  I sat down in my chair and went to sleep for a few minutes.  Then I read, read blogs, started a couple of lists (oh how I do love organizing my thoughts!).  

I especially enjoyed this post from Life With Dee.  I loved the coincidence that I had been working on a Fall Bucket list and here she had so many more wonderful ideas to consider adding to my own list.    I came across this blog as a stumble upon following a link from a comment on another blog where we both read.  This lady is 89 and routinely posts.  I want to be her when I'm older!

I also loved reading Laura's views on this post on her blog.  Hers too gave me some fresh ideas of things to add to my Fall Bucket list.

Now I am off to read some more in my book.

Sunday:  Friday night at the small group meeting, I got involved in a conversation with our leader about our spiritual walk.  The subject followed along with a book I'm reading and something John and I have been discussing all week long.

Today at church, the pastor's sermon touched on another subject that John and I had been discussing over the weekend.  I just love when these sorts of things happen because it makes me feel certain I am on the right track in my study and pondering.

After church, John took me to the grocery store as promised.  He pulled into a shady spot and when I asked if he wanted to stay in the car or go in, he'd started letting windows down.  He claimed he didn't care, but I pointed out that typically he'd have left the windows up, so I'd pretend that was his answer, which made him laugh a bit.  I wasn't upset. I like getting a chance to go in and shop without the added distraction of having someone with me answering questions or trying to find someone who has control of the buggy while I have an armload of things.

Anyway, I enjoyed shopping alone.  

We're going back to church tonight, so we've just taken it easy here at home this afternoon.  I doubt we are here when Caleb returns tonight, but hopefully he'll realize that we will be back in routine tomorrow morning.  This is just a new schedule for him to get accustomed to, and eventually he'll be fine with it.

Monday:  I slept later than I thought I might this morning.  John's awfully good to tend to Caleb and let me get the rest and I mean that sincerely.  He never appears to resent that I have stayed abed and slept.  I suppose because he's aware of how poorly I typically sleep.  He also kindly made us fried eggs this morning for our breakfast.  

I put in a turkey breast to bake and then went outdoors with Caleb.  He almost doesn't play at all outdoors anymore, but he seems to enjoy just sitting out there.  Why doesn't he play?  I can't really say.  He won't go downhill to dig in the dirt. He won't give me a reason why he won't.  He won't go down the steps because he saw a Grandaddy Longlegs in a web.  No amount of explaining that this is harmless soothed him.  He screamed in horror because he saw a tiny red worm and came flying to me.  He doesn't mind the tadpoles in his Water Table at all.  And he laughed at the centipede running across the patio.  

I dragged him indoors after 40 minutes and was about to settle into work.  Caleb was crying that he wanted to be outdoors.  John asked why I was upset.  "He won't play!  He just wants to sit and do nothing!"  "Then let him sit and do nothing.  I've seen you just sit on the porch many a day and do nothing."  Well, you can't argue with that logic.  We went back outdoors.  I admit I was frustrated as much because I can't get Caleb over his little fear bumps as I was the fact that I couldn't DO any of the things I wanted to do myself because I had to sit outdoors with him.  Never mind.  We stayed outdoors doing nothing for another hour.  And he was quite happy to come back indoors after that.

I fed him lunch, then made lunch for John and myself.  I had to rush to get ready to go to the chiropractor appointment.  I had a good appointment.  My hips hadn't bothered me but once in the week since I last visited, and my alignment was really good. I wish I could say the shoulder was pain free all last week, but it was at least decreased pain.  The chiropractor moved my appointments to every other week.  So, there is improvement overall.

I took myself right down the street to Wendy's and got myself a cup of their cold brew coffee.  It's my occasional treat just now.  I drove slowly home, drawing out my little time alone.  I went by the post office and mailed off that box of clothing I'd gathered from Caleb's drawer to Josie whose little girl is just getting into size 2T.  

Then home.  I gave Caleb his afternoon snack, started supper and glared at the dingy looking kitchen counters.  That was one job I really wanted to tackle today.  Well, I did finally get them done.  I did them after supper tonight and then I sat with Katie when she came in and heard about her day while she ate her supper.  We three put Caleb to bed...four times...he was a jack in the box this evening.  He finally went to sleep.

Tuesday:  Goodness I'm worn out this afternoon.  I worked hard all morning long.  No doubt in a bid to make up for the wasteland of yesterday, lol.

After I'd unloaded the dishwasher and made beds, Caleb and I headed outdoors.  I finally cleared all the pots off the front porch and patio.  I left two bins to be filled with soil and planted out, and one 5-gallon bucket. I figure those will come in handy for planting.

In the shed, I found my fall mug.  I was so tempted to buy a pretty mug on Sunday, and it really was a lovely one.  I checked the price, and it was $10.  I put it right back reminding myself I bought a pretty fall mug last year and I could just walk out to the shed and get it off the shelf.  So today I did.  

I dug out the wreaths and found a hooked Pumpkin hanging that I got last fall that is just lovely.  I hung that on the front door which is far more protected from the weather than the back door. I hung one of my blue Gingham wreaths on the back door.  Honestly, I forget each year how pretty those blue gingham wrapped wreaths are with the fall flowers on them until I pull them out each year.  

After we'd done the work of clearing off the porch and patio, we cleaned off the stuff from the back porch.  I did note later though that I utterly ignored the red metal headboard that's been waiting to go to the shed all summer long.   Sigh.  It's true that after a time, our eyes cease to see things that are out of place when we've gotten used to seeing them there.

I came indoors, just as John was going outdoors.  He told Caleb he could watch tv on the living room tv and normally I'd protest, but I saw opportunity and so I took it.  I pulled out that brand new mop, the one I didn't want at all, and ran hot water in the sink so I could mop my kitchen.  I swept the floor, pulling up the rugs and such.  

Now let me just say that I've no idea what brand this mop is meant to be.  John found it and bought it at Lowe's, and it had a Lowe's tag on it and no name brand anywhere.  It came as part of a bundle with a dustpan and broom.  The dustpan was rubbish, as the lip would not meet the floor in anyway so that you could sweep dust into the pan.  The broom is acceptable.  I replace brooms fairly often to be honest, at least once every 9 months.  The mop, however, was not what I wanted.  I wanted a new Libman mop, which is what I'd had for the past 10 years or so.  

I struggled with that new mop this morning and finally took it outdoors to John who quickly figured out how to unwind it.  Apparently, it has a sort of self-wringing function.  The strands are looped and in the middle of the bottom of the mop there is a sponge head.  I was totally unsure about this whole business...

I love it!  As soon as I figured out that it did a really good job of wringing the mop and that the sponge head was most excellent for scrubbing and that the loops really cleaned the floor well...I just wish now I had a name to put to it so you all could check it out!

Amazon Associate Affiliate Link:  

I've found this one on Amazon so you all can see what I mean.  My sponge head is different than this one but the looped strands and the method of wringing it is all the same.

I started lunch and while I was in the kitchen anyway, began making Pumpkin Banana bread.  I'd planned to make a full recipe but realized that I hadn't pulled out my smaller loaf pans.  So I halved the recipe and made a dozen muffins from it.  

Then I took out the turkey breast, gravy and broth from cooking the breast and mixed up a batch of Turkey Tetrazzini for tonight's supper.  And yes, I did all three at once.  At one point, I left the Tetrazzini simmering on a back burner, the butter and sugar for my batter creaming and went outdoors to blow off the leaves and grass from the porches and patios that had kicked up while John was mowing.   I thought, "All the servants are busy..." as I went out the door and felt perfectly comfortable doing so!

Sam ran by and handed me a container of Hungarian Cabbage rolls and a Millionaire shortbread that he'd made.  He didn't stay to visit at all, just ran in between meetings today.

I got Caleb down for quiet time about 2pm today which is late for us.  The kitchen was a huge mess.  I was so weary I felt like crying at that point.  I decided those dishes would wait.  I made myself a cold drink of Gatorade and sat down in my chair.  I hadn't been seated more than three minutes when I heard the gas truck coming up the driveway.  I wanted Caleb to see that so I hurried him out of his room and we went to the back porch so he could watch Mr. Russ give us our first top up for fall.  Caleb was fascinated by it all.

When the gas man came up to give me my sales ticket, he asked if I had company for the day.  I always say that we are full time with Caleb to people, because we are.  He doesn't go anywhere else and go home at the end of the day.  If he cries out, as he did last night, we're just as much on alert as Katie is.  We are here when he gets up and we're here when he lies down at night.  

Saying that he was with us all the time opened up a conversation between myself and Russ.  He's been our gas man now for as long as we've been here and we've spoken briefly at times, but I learned so much more about him today.  How he and his wife had their oldest daughter and first grandchild at home, and later her husband, then how the second child eventually returned and now the foster kids are coming home.  He said, "I don't think my wife and I have had 3 years alone together..." and I laughed and said, "John keeps asking me when we get to retire and spend some time together..."  

I put Caleb back down to sleep then found myself being texted by both Katie and Sam for conversation, lol.  John talked to me as well.  I finally got up and cleaned up the kitchen, even washing the dishes that I didn't want to load up.  I'm glad I cooked the supper entree earlier today.  I'll just make a salad and perhaps some biscuits and call that good enough for tonight.

Speaking of supper...time to go get that going.  Sigh.  A busy, productive day!

later:  My coat arrived this afternoon.  Y'all it's so lovely. I know the description says it's made from polyester, but it feels like a nice wool and has the weight of wool.  It's fully lined, beautifully finished.  And it feels quite well if I want to button it up.  I'm well pleased!

Wednesday:  Confession:  I was so tired last night I was not in the mood for company at all.   However, the guest we had over is a comfortable person and it was no hardship to listen to him and John chatter away.  Katie sat in a chair in the corner wrapped in a blanket.  She told me yesterday afternoon she wasn't feeling so great.  I took chicken soup from the freezer for her and let it thaw.

Caleb apparently woke in the mood to be naughty this morning.  He's not been horrible, but he's pushed the limits and tested on every single issue that he could.  I hate days like this because I really do enjoy him overall, but I find it difficult to remember that when he makes every single request into a battle.  On days like this offering choices is absolutely no good at all.  He just doesn't want to do anything asked, period.   Fortunately, the spells of refusal have been well paced with times of being pleasant.  That does help.

We went outdoors this morning and I looked into his water table.  The water had turned a murky color, and the tadpoles couldn't be seen.  What could be seen were hundreds of mosquito larvae.  I told Caleb I was sorry, but that water needed to go.  He asked about the tadpoles, and I said, "They'll just have to go to the ground, too.  We can't breed mosquitoes."  He didn't argue over that at all.  I'll use bleach to clean the table up tomorrow or the next day.  I know he won't be able to have it as a water table for much longer but until it's really cool, I want to keep it open for him. I wonder if we can get his old sandbox from storage and set that up as a play space for the cooler months?

While I was outdoors, I sowed a few seed, and planted the pansies I'd purchased.  I so love pansies!  I love their lovely little faces and they have a nice perfume-y sort of scent vaguely reminiscent of violets.  The seeds I planted were snapdragon.  Instead of the variety pack I thought I'd ordered, these are all a dark wine red.  The seeds are so tiny!  I plan to order more because I just love a pretty little snapdragon, too.  

Caleb and I stayed outdoors quite a little while.  It was overcast and cloudy and misted rain but only enough to know that the mist was there, not enough to get either of us wet.  I peeked at my raised bed and the lettuce, peas and beans all appear to be coming up very nicely.  I spied a few parsley seeds that had also sprouted.  No sign of the cilantro just yet, nor carrots.

We came indoors and I settled him to playing then I went to work in the kitchen.  Katie got up complaining that she was still feeling bad, so I sent her off to see a doctor and get a prescription.  

I made lunch, started the main entree for tonight's supper and cooked the red beans for tomorrow's supper.  I'm getting pretty adept at this business of making three or four items at once.

Thursday:  Somehow this morning we have skipped the usual standoff between Millie and Caleb.  They played separately at first and then decided to play together.  When we went outdoors this morning, they had a grand time together.  I'm saying the cooler air had everything to do with it.  No gnats to pester them and they could run and play happily.  And they did.  All over the yard and around the house they went.  The point is they played well and happily together and were tired enough to eat lunch and lie down afterwards.

I rather enjoyed the morning myself with the children and the cool air.  I took my journal out and wrote while they played.  It was a cathartic writing this morning and something that was very much needed.  

Katie was told to stay home until Friday by the doctor who saw her yesterday.  I'm happy to say she's feeling much better today.  Not well, but considerably better.  She's looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow and having a fun weekend with the children and her boyfriend.  

I've got a new to me recipe in the slow cooker, which is my second new recipe this week.  It's supposed to be an Apple Pudding cake...I'm trusting the process on this recipe.  I've not tried it before, so we'll see how it turns out.

Caleb is quiet in his room and Millie is noisy over in the quiet space.  She's sung and talked and has had all sorts of pretend play since she lay down.  At least she is happy.

Last night I was feeling super restless.  I decided a new book to read was the answer.  I'm reading Jan Karon's In The Company of Others.  It's just the sort of book I needed, one that felt like a welcome home with familiar people, you know?  

Friday:  The garden is planted.  I've put in roughly a dozen sugar snap peas, the same of wax beans, half a dozen blue lake green beans, loads of carrots but there won't be once they are thinned, golden beets, lots of lettuce, cilantro, parsley.  I have peppers doing well enough, sweet potatoes (at least two...cause that's what I planted!), and there are blooms on the tomatoes.  I still have plenty of oregano, and a bit of basil and some mint.  The chives are coming back, or the last sowing of seeds has decided to germinate, one.  And every last bit of it is pots and bins and raised planters.   Should I acquire collards, I'm not sure just where I'd plant those, but that reminds me that I did plant mustard for the greens and hopefully for seeds next year.

I cleaned up Caleb's lighthouse and having checked temperatures decided to refill it with fresh water.  I did mention to Katie that as it gets colder, I'd like to remove it and put the sandbox in its place.  We can cover that, as the thing has its own lid.    We stayed outdoors for a good long spell this morning, an hour and a half at least.  Caleb played in the water, blew bubbles, desperately struggled to get his bike up, played with Rufus who was feeling like a puppy this morning for whatever reason.   When I came indoors to get bread set in the pan, he stayed outdoors for another half hour on his own, which is fairly remarkable, especially because he played on his own the whole while.  I was pleased over that show of independence.

Indoors this morning, I stripped and remade beds, and stripped baths of towels and cloths.  I cleaned the shower, unloaded the dishwasher and rearranged the freezer.  While doing that, I suspect I broke my baby toe.  Again.  I know toes are useful but mine certainly do seem to always be in the way of falling frozen packets of something, or legs of furniture.

I have baked my bread, and I am calling this day done.  John is off to mow the Manor's yard.  Our big date tomorrow is an engagement to get the car serviced.  He was pretty well peeved that we would spend our date doing that, but I pointed out we've gone to get groceries on a date day, so why fuss?  We can still do something else after and we'll be in town.  He misheard me and said, "We've spent enough on groceries this month!"  I agreed, reminded him I wanted only the 99c sale priced eggs and fried chicken for Taylor's Sunday dinner and nothing more, then assured him I had no plans to go into the grocery myself at all.  "You can go in for me..." I added slyly, lol.

He didn't reply to that...

I hope you all have had a lovely week.  Ours most certainly hasn't been bad this week.  We've had family and company, though Katie got sick, she was well again quick enough and no one else got it.  We've had no ill reports from anyone in our family and while the days remain warm the nights and mornings are cool and feel like autumn.  I continue to wrestle with grief over the passing of summer and reluctance to face the real cold that must come, but I confess joy at my favorite season being here has almost overridden that grief.  

Do tell us all how your week went...and any plans you have for the weekend.  Make it a good one!