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!
This week we may change zones, but you can bet we'll still be doing those basic three things all over again.
Work:
Zone 2: front entry, dining room and living room. Plans for this zone area this week: Clean the storm door and front door. Dust furniture and deep vacuum edges of the room along the walls, moving out stationary pieces of furniture. Sort out the bookcase which always seems to look cluttered. And why? We keep pull-ups and wipes handy on a lower shelf but Caleb likes to arrange things to his liking so there are pull-ups shoved on top of books and 'no-wears' on another shelf and powder and diaper rash stuff out of his reach on a third shelf and then I shove books willy nilly back onto shelves just any way they will fit. I loathe to say it, but I also need to sort out which books I am not going to keep...This is always painful. My good intentions about re-reading certain books are not going to occur. Some yes I will choose over and over again, but there are a few that were more acquaintance than friend...I need to let them go to a place that will appreciate them more than I.
I want to buy a basket to put all the stuffed animals in and a rug to go at the front door, so when we come indoors, we don't track dirt everywhere.
Finish planting the rest of my newly purchased plants. Clean and amend dirt in vegetable pots and get some fall things planted. Purchase soil if necessary. Work at deadheading more of the plants.
Get September checkbook in order. Write out bills and get those mailed. Go do banking, mail, etc.
Just relax. I've been lagging behind now forever, so why stress myself over not getting it all done immediately as I think I'd like to do?
Kitchen:
Make my first spice cake of the year...I don't know just which one, but I'll let you know when I know, okay?
Do my utmost to avoid going into the grocery store anymore this week. I have picked up juice, a couple of produce items and bread for the week ahead. I could reel off half a dozen things I 'need' but I really don't, not just at the moment. My expenses this weekend for groceries comes up to about $90.
Meals:
Chinese Take Out
Ham, Hash Brown Casserole, Butter Beans, Green Salad with Apples and Pecans
Chicken and Rice, Steamed Broccoli, Pear Salad
Salisbury Steaks, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans Speaking of green beans, the last few cans I've bought were all a 'good name brand'. No kidding ladies, I can barely feed two of us off those cans! I'll have to open two cans to feed the four of us from now on.
Kielbasa One Pot dinner
Ham and Bean Soup, Cornbread
Fish and Fries, Coleslaw
Leisure:
I picked up an Angela Thirkell book at a musty dusty old store and I've been pushing my way through it. I didn't realize that all her books are interconnected which explains why I kept feeling I was missing out on something. Her style of writing is witty enough, but the paragraph long run-on sentences make it a bit difficult to keep going. I'm trying, simply because I've always heard she was a good author for someone who loves to read older British books of the rural village type.
I'm reading more than one book at the moment. I'm still taking in small bites of Happy Landings by Patti Bender, started I Bought a Mountain by Thomas Firbank.
Give myself a fresh manicure. I'm trying to do this more often as it protects my nails from breaking so often.
Time for some 'at home day spa' pampering. Oddly I'm out of the sort of products I'd typically use, so I'll probably make up some sugar scrub for exfoliating and will deep condition hands and feet with gobs of vaseline and wear old socks on all four extremities.
Continue to play with my wardrobe. I keep meaning to get to this and failed to do so all week long. I have a long list of combinations to attempt.
Read all my September issues of Victoria magazine.
Pull out my genealogy notebook. One of these evenings after Caleb is in bed, I'll settle for a good long rabbit trail run.
9 comments:
I'm available for spice cake taste testing. Just sayin'.
I have read two Angela Thirkell books and thought they were fair.The writing was fine. Just not really something I can relate to- the very rich who don't have to do anything!
I'm with Anne!
We started out this week by having our middle son's family stop here for breakfast. It was only one hour but it was a nice little visit for Grandparent's Day. They are on their way to a funeral in the low country for DIL's grandmother who passed away last week at 102.
For small group on Thursday I am planning to make an apple spice cake that includes a spice cake mix, a can of apple pie filling and eggs. Easy and everything is in my pantry.
We will need milk by the end of the week and Lidl has their fabulous ciabatta bread on sale for 1.49 staring Wednesday so we can do both in no time at one store. Their bread is better than Publix and so cheap!
Have a good week!
Anne, Now wouldn't that be lovely?
Angela, Thank you for your feedback. I'm just not sure Thirkell is going to make my favorites list. I'm slogging through it...As for taste tasting, you'd be most welcome. You do at least live in the same state and probably aren't more than a couple hours from me.
Lana, I'm definitely on the spice cake wagon this week! Yours sounds just lovely. How nice to get to see family even though it was for a sad reason. Sometimes a flying visit is as nice as a planned long one.
You’re not wrong about canned items- I think they contain lots more water or juice to fill up can than they used to.
Terri, if you are looking for a different spice cake recipe and like nutmeg, may I suggest Tawra Kellam's recipe for zucchini cake. It was in her first book, Not Just Beans, but likely is in her second book, Dining on a Dime, that was a slight re-do of the first book with a trendier name. It is quite heavy on the nutmeg. I've been craving it. We like it with vanilla buttercream frosting. If you don't have either of her books and want the recipe, I'll be glad to post it. Recipes, as you know, can't be copyrighted, so no problem there.
HI! Sounds to me like you got a lot accomplished...sometimes more than we realize, until we start recalling!
I have noticed something about the Great Value (Walmart) green beans...they are very "stringy"...and this has been the case for a long time now. I finally finished the cans bought during the pandemic and decided to give them another try with fresh ones. Same issue.
Hope you have a productive week. We are still blistering hot here, but have some family coming to town on Wednesday for DH's 80th birthday! (how did we get so old so soon??)
Take care! Jane in South Florida
As some of you know,my dear Gramps passed away on Thursday one day before out 61st birtbday 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!
Dora, I am so sorry for your loss! Great HUGS from me to you...I may mention this in my Friday post if that's okay with you because some don't read the comments posted after their own.
Lej Mom, I know I do get a lot accomplished but there's always those lists there with all the things I haven't done...lol Granted I know I do enough, I just have more things I want to get done each week or in the very near future and sometimes it feels like it takes 5 years to get one list finished.
Max, I love nutmeg so shall have to check that recipe out. John's not fond of zucchini, but I'll bet he'd eat it in a cake with out noticing it.
Rhonda, I'm glad to know it's not just me! So many things have shrunk in size! It's not in the least surprising to find out that the contents of cans are getting less and less.
Post a Comment