The Homemaker Plans Her Week: Finishing January Strong

Yes, I am late today.  This morning, I realized with a start that I hadn't posted and then promptly forgot all about it until now.  

Sunday afternoon, following our lunch, I went off to sleep and slept for three hours or so.  Then we headed to church for the revival that is ongoing this week and when we got home, it was nearly 10pm.  

All is well enough.  The whole family seems to have some sort of something or other.  Caleb is here with a low fever and stuffy nose.  My throat aches but is not hurting as it did last week. John and I both are snuffling.  Sam has been sick with a tummy virus.  It's just the usual season of the year for this and here we all are.

It's cold, not because of the temperature but due to the wind which cuts like a razor, sharp and quick, right through anything we might be wearing.  Brrr!  

Work:  

My heavy focus will fall on the outdoors areas.  I have work to do!  I want to prune the floribunda type roses.  The others, which bloom only in the Spring should be pruned only after they have bloomed, though I will take out any unruly canes headed towards the siding or screens or being invasive to the interior of the porch.  But yes, my little tea hybrids and the other two roses must be pruned and I'm fast approaching a time when it's too late to do it.  

Though I've waited late, it's not too late yet to put out garlic bulbs for a summer harvest.  I have some that Sam kindly gave me when he harvested his that are holding up well and I'd like to go on and plant them.  I also want to get some onions, carrots, beets and lettuce in the ground, too, as well as some Green Peas.  I don't have a load of space to plant in but I'm going to just tuck in some things here and there and hope for the best.  I'm a fairly careless gardener, and I know it, but I've had just enough success to spur me on until I can afford more space and to put more time into it overall.

Technically this month we've five weeks, or very nearly, for work.  True February does begin this coming week too, but there are four full weeks after these first days to look forward to and because of that I am calling this week Zone 5.  I plan to focus on the shed this week and try to finish off the work I'd begun in increments these past two weeks, while the weather continues to be fairly pleasant.  

Goodness gracious!  February coming right along means I'd better get Millie's birthday gift ordered pronto!  I've had it in the cart all this time, forgetting that her birthday and John's are literally coming right up!

Indoors, I've been trying hard to stay on top of floor care.  I am trying to sweep every day and mop some portion of the hard floors once a week.  It wasn't a goal I initially set but after watching Jennie Lee Hamilton's vlog about her housekeeping goals, I thought it worthy of my attention.  

I contacted the church that is doing research on the local cemetery and will dig out files from the old church that previously was housed in the building to see if I might come up with any helpful information for them. 

Kitchen:

Continue the Pantry Freezer Challenge through this week.  And I'm pondering on continuing it at least two weeks beyond that if not into the end of February.  We'll see.  I'm committed for sure to seeing this week out.

Lately I've been making bread twice a week.  I plan to do the same this week. It's gotten to the point that typically I made bread on Friday and again on Monday or Tuesday.  And we're not leaving any slices behind either!

Make bagels.  John has ended his fast and I know he'll want bagels.  After his gentle fuss over the quality (or lack of) in the last two packets of store-bought bagels, I figure I can make him some.  He's never once complained over my homemade ones!

Make birthday cakes.  I'm going to keep them small.  John has two great loves when it comes to cake, both of which he calls 'birthday cake': yellow cake with chocolate frosting or chocolate cake with a vanilla buttercream.  I happen to have a chocolate cake mix that I really ought to use and so I'm going to ask if that's acceptable to him.  I'm sure it will be, but for his birthday I do try to give him what he really wants.  

For myself, I've been longing for a Black Forest Cake for the longest time now.  I don't make them 'properly' but I make one good enough to suit me and that's what I've been craving for two months now.  I can use one layer of the box mix cake for each of us, if he's agreed and if not, I'll freeze the second layer for future use.

 Meals:

Out on Saturday.  

Slow cooker Chicken and Dressing, Cranberry sauce, Coleslaw and Butter Beans.  It's not going to be nearly as cold this weekend as last but coming home to a ready prepared hot dinner was a lovely thing. I figure I can give myself that gift again this Sunday.  I have some frozen cranberry sauce I'd like to use up anyway and this will suit John.

Beef Pot Pie, Green Beans, Pear Salad.  This will use the last of the roast beef from last week up.  

Oven Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potato Biscuits.  I had a Sweet Potato left from a meal last week and want to use that up. It's the bits of this and that in the freezer that I often fail to use.  If I go ahead and plan to use it while it's on my mind, I'm less likely to 'lose' it in the deep freeze instead of using it.

15 Bean Soup, Cornbread.  And this should use up the bony piece of ham I had left from last week's ham dinner.

Alfredo Chicken and Broccoli Pasta, Green Salad, Rolls.  There's not a lot of Broccoli left but there's enough that I don't want it to go to waste.

Chili over Rice with fixings, Chocolate pudding.  My gift to me on Friday night?  Keeping supper as simple as possible.  In this instance, I have 2 quarts of chili in the freezer.  All I need do is thaw and heat.  Serving over rice stretches it a bit and tones down the spice.  Chocolate pudding because I have it and shelf stable milk on hand and why let either expire?

Personal and Leisure:

I need to make time for a deep pedicure.

As part of my fast this month, I didn't allow myself time to sit and mindlessly scroll through pages of videos and shorts.  And frankly, I found even my self-made rules could be stretched in a way that I was very conscious that I might do better.  Well, why not make it a yearlong thing to try and avoid scrolling mindlessly.  What would I do to fill my time?

One of the things I really enjoyed this month was working on some small jigsaw puzzles of about 100 pieces.  I'd forgotten how much pleasure that gave me.  Since John put in a brighter light over the dining table, I think I'll see if I can't put together another one or two.  I wonder if I have any tucked away in a closet anywhere.  I had a few at one time but I might have long ago packed them off to the thrift store.

I am determined that I will read more than I have in the past couple of years.  I truly enjoy reading and have so many books that I love and would like to re-read as well as many new ones that I've yet to explore.  I love the inspiration I draw from really well written, well-loved books, too.

Pull out the genealogy stuff and just see what I have for the fun of it.  Perhaps it will inspire me to begin researching anew.

I love to scroll the screens when I'm tired but it eats up a lot of my time, time that I could use in happier and more productive ways.  It's not bad to scroll and gather in inspiration but it's sad if we do nothing but gather that inspiration and don't do other things, I think.  And since I can be a bit obsessive anyway, it's good for me to remind myself that I enjoy other things, that I am not a slave to the computer or phone!