The Homemaker Plans Her Week: Winter Joy

 

Thankfully NOT what our current weather looks like...

Friday night we were sitting around having coffee and chatting with Katie and the heat pump came on.  The whole wall of the house started vibrating and the racket was pretty awful.  We hurriedly shut the thing down and went out to look at the unit.  Another split blade on the fan motor.  Crud.  I called the local repair service, and it will be mid-week at best before they can get a replacement.  Double crud.

  

I do have an emergency setting on the heat pump that I can use if we're really desperate, but thankfully we have the propane heater we put in for emergency relief.  It's a LOT cheaper to run the propane heater than it is to run the heat pump on the emergency setting.  Last time we had to do that, it only set us back about 3 times our usual electric bill. Yeah.  I'll just use the propane and be glad we have it!

I walked about the house this weekend and looked over all the fresh newly organized spaces.  I started a new list as I looked things over.  There's so much I long to get done!   I feel energized by this opportunity to have a fresh start.  Do you?

I am so happy just wandering from one room to another setting various spaces to rights.  Last week, I touched on the guest room closet/guestroom, the living room, the kitchen, the master bath, the master bedroom and the master closet.  I'm all over the place, but I'm tackling every single job that has come to attention.  

I've decided to add something to my weekly diary: a gratitude observation to each day.  I just think it would be beneficial to me to do that every day.  

Work:

Remember those porches and that patio?  Definitely this week, absolutely.  I'll even be specific about what I'm going to do on each.

Back Porch: Remove the broken rocker entirely. Move the shelving unit. Clean the furniture.  It's going to be too cold to paint but wiping down the dust will help.  Straighten the tools that we keep there (rake, shovel, etc.)  I need to look in the clear bin to see how the plants are faring.  They would probably do better on the front porch where it's a little warmer and gets a bit more sun, so I'll move that.  Trim the rosemary back off the steps and trim the rose bush that is hanging over the railings.  Gather up the compost buckets I keep sitting down out there and eliminate two, then clean up the other two really well.

Front Porch: Remove the big gate and the ironing board that I've used for several years now. I'm ready to do something different out there.   I'm thinking that shelving unit would make a great plant area come this summer, and perhaps I might wrap it in clear plastic to be my winter greenhouse?  It's pretty big We'll see.  If it doesn't suit me, I'll move the shelving unit to the shed.  Caleb's toys need to be corralled so perhaps one of the milk crates would work well for that. Check the plants in the other clear container out here and see if they need water.  

Patio:  I still have that big round patio table.  Not sure what I want to do with it. It's too large for either porch, just as it's too large for the patio.  I have no real place I can put it...but Katie is moving in March to a house, and she might be able to use it at the new place.  I guess I'll just hold onto it until I ask her.  If she doesn't want it, I am out of reasons to keep it.    I have two rotten hoses that need to be trashed.  Empty pots are stacked in other empty pots.  I would like to amend the soil in those for future plantings.   I want to rearrange the few pots that have things growing in them.  

And toys.  Everywhere.  Some can be corralled with those on the front porch.  The water table probably ought to go to the shed and then can come out again when it's warmed up.  I'll see if Katie is wanting the playhouse for the kids at her new place. 

Goodness, that sounds like enough work to last a week, doesn't it?  Especially if Caleb is here with me for any of it.  However, there are other things to be done and I know it.  

Zone 2: beds and baths.  Namely the guest room and guest bath.  It's all in need of a good cleaning: deep vacuuming, dusting, wiping down walls.  Those two are the neglected areas of the house at present, so I'm going to try to get them sorted out.  

The guest room could do with a bit of rearranging.  I'd like to strip the bed and put my own covers back on it now that Kate's moved.   There are three big boxes of books behind the door that I want to go through and sort for the last time into keep or donate.  I have a bunch of stuff to go out to the shed.  I have a trunk full of stuff that I need to sort out and determine what I need to let go of.  I'm a great idealist when it comes to sewing and I accumulate fabrics of all sorts, but I don't use it.  Time to let those pieces move on as well and keep just the few I know I will use in the near future.

Then I want to make a list of needed items for the room.  I might hang a few pictures once more.  The room really does need a LOT of attention.

In the guest bath, a really deep cleaning is required.  The shower curtain needs to be washed.  I think I want to paint the mirror frame white once more and the cabinet could use a new coat of paint to hopefully cover the hair dye stains.

I don't know that I'll get all of this done this week, but I've got a list to work from!

Kitchen:

John's fasting sugar again this year, so no need to plan too much baking.  I wish I'd made a cake last week.  No need to make one this week because I'll only try to eat it all myself and that won't do!

I'd like to get back to one meal prep session for the week where I get as much chopping and thawing, and even assembling done as I can reasonably do ahead.  The workday goes so much smoother if I don't have to stop to prep everything prior to making a meal.  

I have the whole breast of that roasted chicken to use this week.  I have a recipe in mind for the menu this week and I'd really like to make up a recipe of the Spaghetti a la Diable for the freezer, then I'll set some of the plain meat aside in the freezer to be used next week in still another dish.  If I think I have a fourth meal's worth of meat, I'll probably make up chicken salad for sandwiches.  John's loving having sandwiches most days for lunches.  

As I was sharing with one of you last week, the whole making 3 meals a day from scratch is starting to pall.  I do get decision fatigue sometimes just from meals alone.  For that reason, I want to make a list of easy and quick breakfast menus and a listing of 'easy' meals for suppers just in case I don't do the necessary prep work and need a fast meal at times. Another way to do that is to double up on recipes and put one in the freezer.

Menus:

We ate leftovers from our lunch out on Saturday.

Tamale Pie*, Kidney Beans, Coleslaw.  I've had this recipe on my list for over a year.  It's from my old favorite cookbook and is listed in the leftovers section.  Cornmeal Mush base, a chicken and chili/tomato-based sauce, more mush on top.  It sounds a good bit like a chicken tamale to me, minus the cornhusks.

Italian Sausage and Peppers, Pasta, Green Beans, Bread and Butter.  I was going to do Pepper Steak but then I stumbled upon a package of Chicken Italian Sausage in the freezer, so I plopped all the ingredients in a pan, put that in the oven covered and let it cook until everything was thawed and cooked through.  I thought chopping it to add to hot pasta along with some fresh spinach leaves would be nice.  I'll top with some shredded provolone cheese for goodness. Note:  This was so delicious and John just raved. I used fresh onion, frozen peppers cut into strips, the last of a jar of Pepperoncini, some butter, Olive Garden Italian dressing, and a bit of minced garlic with the peppers.   Because they were frozen I popped all of this into the oven.  Then I cooked my pasta, added fresh spinach leaves (and taking a note from Annabel that lovely Aussie bluebird, I shall next time finely mince the stems instead of discarding them), the cooked peppers, onions, sauce, and some Parmesan cheese.  Tossed that with the pasta, chopped the sausages to add on top and then added a sprinkling of freshly grated Provolone.  Wow oh Wow!  Definitely a keeper recipe and certainly happy I cooked off the cuff on this one.

Tuna Cakes, Oven Fries, Tomato and Lettuce Salad, Buns

Pork Chops, Au Gratin Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli, Biscuits

Vegetable Soup, Cornbread, Baked Apples.  Once a week while it's cold outdoors I plan to have soup to help stretch my budget.  Soup leftovers go into the freezer to make an easy future meal.  I'm opting for vegetable soup because I find it freezes best, and I have plenty of fresh and canned vegetables and broth making supplies on hand.  For this soup, I'll be using up some beef bones I put in the freezer to save for the purpose of soup making.

Smothered Pot Roast, Baked Potatoes, Garden Peas, Rolls

Personal/Leisure:

Read along with Elizabeth Goudge book club.  The Heart of the Family, the last of the Elliot trilogy is our book for this month. 

I know that in my fasting time this week I'm going to find my free time is not as full as it has been.  So I'll choose to journal daily, attempt to read a second book while reading the first, look up scripture that I would like to study more deeply, color, etc.  I have plenty of other things to do beyond scrolling mindlessly.  Note:  Added the Daily Audio Bible app to my phone and have been listening to scripture as I work.  

Set up outfits for the rest of the month. I never did this task last week and I know it will be helpful.  Now that I've cleared out the closet of the things that don't fit, I should find this much more satisfying as well as easier. 

If I don't have Caleb, I want to get out of the house alone this week.  Can't make up my mind what it is I want to do, but that is not the point.  The point is to get out of the house on my own.