Diary of A Homemaker's Week: June, Week 2

 

Sunday:  Saturday proved to be a rare sort of day.  I not only slept in but we did nothing all day long except laze around and watch a new series John found, "To the Ends of the Earth",  a BBC drama series.  I didn't think I was going to like it despite it 'having all the things I like," according to John by which he means it's "British accents and costumes".  Ha.  Well, it isn't half bad, though there were a few things I'd as soon not seen, and to be fair the moment I realized they were going to be things I wouldn't want to see, I averted my eyes and left the room.  But it is interesting, too as you get a better idea of what traveling to Australia would have been like in the mid-1700s.  

Meals:  Bagels, made on Friday and so light and good!

Low Low-carb tortilla Pizzas

Mini Wonton Dumplings, Egg Rolls, Cucumber, Pickled onions, Fresh Oranges

Today we've been to church, stopped to speak to a few people on our way out, and on the way home stopped for gas.  John wanted to get some coffee and asked if I'd like anything.  "Yes...but make it low sugar please."  "I...I have no idea what to get."  "Never mind then, just get me something."  He came out with a glass of ice and a bottle of water and I will tell you I was not in the least made about that.  I thought, "Well that's about perfect!"  But then he pulled one of the Starbucks coffee drinks from his back pocket and said "And I got you this."   Next time I will tell him that a bottle of water is just fine.     I think it's very sweet of him to remember I like those coffees over ice though.

We took a longer way home.  We were actually doing it to look for a better way for him to avoid a snarly traffic area, but we couldn't find a route that didn't involve twists and turns on back roads.  I told him it's best he just stick to the alternate route he already uses, which works fine though it takes him slightly out of the way.

Home to make lunch.  I'd planned to go to Katie's today after church but she has Strep Throat and Taylor didn't come because she's got an ear infection.  I've puttered here at home making dinner, bread, cleaning up and such. Nothing heavy duty, but enough.  Now I'm going to take time to read.  

I'm currently reading "Between Friends" by Debbie Macomber.  I  started the book last night and was two chapters in before I knew it.  I used to read a lot of Macomber and then I stopped.  I don't recall why.  I was pleased to note there was a shelf full of her books at my local library and I have not read most of them.  I've been reading Macomber since she began writing and have seen her grow as an author going from Harlequin romances to proper novels with complex characters and plots.  

Meals:  Spam, Fried Eggs, Toast

Fried Chicken, Mashed potatoes and gravy, Sliced Tomatoes, Deviled Eggs, Lemonade.  I bought chicken Thursday and put it in the freezer for this weekend with Taylor.  I was craving that chicken so took a couple of pieces out to heat for our meal today.  I'll buy another 8-piece pack to put with the leftovers in a couple of weeks when we see Taylor.

Red, Black, and Bleu Salads.  We had leftover steak Friday night that I'll use in tonight's salads.  

Monday:  I was up early this morning.  Before even thinking of coffee, I dressed and headed right outdoors to work on the Faith Tree flower bed and the Sweet Gum bed at the back corner of the house.  I cut out trees, literal TREES that stood nearly 5 feet tall.  How do they grow so fast?  Everything looked much tidier when I was done.  That's not all the work required but it was enough.  

I was most surprised to discover that a plant I kept seeing from the car was a gladiolus as I'd thought, that had somehow been planted in the Iris bed around the Sweet Gum.  Did the squirrels do it?  And the daylilies I planted on the sunny side of the tree are doing lovely there.  I want to get busy and plant more daylilies and Coreopsis in that area.  But first, more weeding...sigh.

After sorting out around the Faith Tree I took the loppers and trimmed the low-hanging branches of that tree.  I do this every year and every year I think that next year I can not possibly have to cut them again but the tree grows so much that I must if I want to see the driveway without the tree blocking my view.  There are two huge piles under the tree now that I need to haul out of the yard.  

I stopped to water the plants on the patio and picked up the toys.  I deadheaded plants, admitted the cherry tomato (which produced two tomatoes) is likely dead, noted the zucchini have been chewed off to the nubs and the bell peppers continue to strive to grow.  The one little tomato, variety unknown, is hanging in there.  Everything will grow enough to produce just about the time it gets too darn hot to do so.

I was exhausted when I was done but felt refreshed after a cool shower and my morning coffee.  I said I'd do nothing else, got up, and did odd jobs.  I cleaned all the mirrors and glass in picture frames and the kitchen sitting windows and blinds.  I swept the floor, made the bed, and freshened the armchair covers in the living room.  I folded clothes, filled water bottles, made the bed, and cleared my desk and dresser.  

Then I went about doing little decorating tasks.  I was going to straighten a picture that was askew behind the glass but when I removed the back of the frame, I found another picture inside and decided to frame that one instead.  I moved a seldom-used lamp from the laundry area to the little table in the kitchen sitting area. That will be a welcoming light when we come in late at night.  Simple little tasks but they made a change, something a room needs.

After lunch, I finally slowed down.  I've been planning supper all afternoon but realized it's a Men's Meeting night and John won't be here.  I am not sure what I'll have for my supper, but I will watch another Jane Austen film.

Meals:  Yogurt and Berry Bowl for me, with crushed cereal on top, Cereal and toast for John.

Burgers and Fries.  I wrapped my burger in a low-carb tortilla.

Vegetable Soup, Crackers with Cheese and ham.

I watched "Little Forest".  It was recommended by Joy Clarkson at the end of her first chapter "You Are a Tree", from the book of the same name.  It was really quite good and the scenery was gorgeous.  It was a good movie to watch while I ate my supper because the movie wasn't about food, but food was definitely a main player in the film.   I rented the film on Amazon Prime Video.

Tuesday: I headed outdoors this morning to pick up branches and trees cut out of the flower beds yesterday.   John kindly went around the front and hauled my two piles of branches, so I only had to empty my wagon twice instead of four times.

I have an increase in insurance that is not related to rates but to the fact that we had a refund issued after I paid in January.  Now that the refund has expired, we have increases in electricity and gasoline (summer costs), so a general redistribution of funds is necessary to reflect the changes.

Figuring out where to trim and by how much so that we can manage over the next three months when the new quarter begins in July took a lot of brain power.  Do you find brain work as taxing as physical work?  I do.   

When I was through with the Quarterly work, I worked on bills for this pay period.  It took me a good while to get all that done.  I like to tackle finances when John is pre-occupied elsewhere and less likely to interrupt my thinking processes.  

As it was, he came in to speak to me about something and I glanced down at my Quarterly budget paper and saw a $100 mistake.  Uh oh!  I would not have caught that until later.  So I went back to the quarterly budget and did some more finagling of money from one area to another to offset my mistake.

I repotted the peace lily I got on clearance about three weeks ago.  It was so root-bound that I nearly couldn't cut through them to give any separation to the roots at all.  While I was at it, I decided to remove another African violet from 

Meals:  Protein Hash Brown Bowl, last of the Apple and Cheddar muffins I'd made about a week ago.

Taco Salads.  I made my own homemade French dressing and fried corn tortilla chips.  I was duly impressed by the chips and the dressing.  I am adding more to my 'make it at home'.

Hasselback Style Caprese Chicken, Parmesan and Garlic Potato Pancakes, Broccoli.  This meal...The potato pancakes melted all over the pan instead of being cakes.  I dumped the first lot back into the bowl with the remaining batch and added more flour.  It was marginally better than the first try.  I've made potato pancakes a lot over the past 50-odd years of cooking and I've never had them do as they did today.

The chicken tasted good but it was not pretty.  In the future, I'll rub the chicken with the pesto then put in the tomato and mozzarella slices.  And I wish I'd used a little more mozzarella.   The broccoli was perfect.  Sad but true, it is the least favorite part of our meal so its perfection mattered least.  

After making lunch, I sat and thought about getting a deep fryer.  I've fried food twice in the past two days...but then I reasoned with myself.  I want another appliance if I can truly utilize it fully.  I don't fry food occasionally and then I'll do it two or three times and I'm done for months.  The expediency of getting fries to go with our burgers led me to fry them.  Because I had the oil in the pan, today I decided to fry tortilla chips.  This works fine for us.  So I'll save myself that purchase and continue to deep fry in my deeper pots as I've been doing. I don't need an appliance for occasional use.

Wednesday:  Today is Josh's 10th birthday.  We went over this afternoon after lunch to have cake with them and to give him his gift.  He was very pleased about his present from us, which pleased me because it was not exactly what he had on his list, but turns out it was even better.  

I went out on my own today to the discount grocery.  The selection of produce from the clearance rack was good.  I picked up apricots (at least 8) for $1, a big package of jalapenos for the same price, celery for 75c, tomatoes for $1 (I believe there are 10 in the package, blueberries for 99c, zucchini and bananas for $1 each.

In the meat section, I found what is known locally as Flanken Steak for under $5.  That is a cross-section of the short rib cut so that it is a thin piece of meat with four little thin bones (rib pieces) at the bottom of the section.  A Korean restaurant we visit now and then grills these on the hibachi.  They are delicious.  I got a six-pack of Springer Mountain Farms boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.58/pound.  

That was not all the groceries I bought.  I got local peaches,  and then I had a list of items that we were out of (breakfast meats, half and half, etc.) as well as a list of pantry items: salt, baking powder, tomato paste, and whole wheat pasta.

I don't know what Lily will want to eat next week.  I haven't purchased snacks.  I finally decided to let my anxiety go.  I'm not broke.  I can walk back into the grocery and buy any snacks she might want.  

Bless her heart, she asked if I could take her to the beach,  but I pointed out that it was a good 4-5 hour trip from here. I did offer her a selection of other places to visit which pleased her.  Fortunately, we have quite a few spots within an hour or so of home that are tourist places and a few that her Mama would appreciate hearing she'd experienced.  I've made a short list of things we might do.  Her three days to visit us will go very quickly as it is.   I hope that she finds it all fun and worth the money she spent (Yes, she paid her own way) to get here.  

Meals:  Cheese Toast

Sandwiches.  John had bread, I had a low-carb tortilla.  John ate the last of the watermelon and I ate apricots.

Roast Beef, Roasted Baby Potatoes, Green Peas, Tossed Salad.

Thursday:  Of late the days seem to be flying past.  Is it a June thing that the last month of the 2nd quarter of the year must speed up so much?   This week and last have seemed bent on disappearing as quickly as possible.  

John went off early this morning to mow.  We've had little dew and the yards were completely dry by 9am.   While he was gone, I puttered here at home, getting little tasks done, and then went into the kitchen where I prepped three or four meals.  

I cooked a roast last night.  It was warm through but a good bit more rare than I like.  I put that in the crockpot this morning to slow-cook all day long.  Hopefully, it will also tenderize it further.  The roast recipe was delicious: Worcestershire Butter Roast.  So good.  And if you have not tried it, the McCormick Worcestershire Pub Burger Seasoning is an excellent seasoning.  I used that as well as the butter and Worcestershire sauce.

I confess that I didn't follow a recipe.  I saw the idea on Pinterest, this lovely roast coated in seasoned butter, ready to bake and I took the idea suggested by the title and made up my own recipe based on that.  

I didn't cook it long enough for Medium Well.  We ate the outer pieces which were nearer that level of doneness and I made up my mind today I'd put it in the slow cooker and make sure it got more done.

I also prepped Sweet and Sour Pork, Rice, and Grinder Salad ingredients (except the croutons) and then made lunch.  John had gone to mow without breakfast and I wanted to make him a bigger lunch than usual.  All of that got done and then John was home.  

I am off this afternoon to take the kids to the library.  We must return books and we will go to another library to participate in one of the summer programs.  After the program, I'll take them to get an ice cream at the shop on the Courthouse Square and then we'll head home.

Have you all heard of Jeanne Robertson?  She's passed away but she was so funny, laugh-out-loud funny, and clean.  John and I watched her a long time ago and somehow she's shown up in our algorithms once more so we're viewing her again.  I have laughed so often while watching her.  It's good for the soul.

Meals:  Smoked Sausage, Sauerkraut, Pierogis

Roast Beef Sandwiches, chips, fruit of choice

Friday:  Can we spell T-I-R-E-D?  Well, I can!

Sad but true, I have yet to tackle the Friday work.  And now I don't feel like tackling a thing heavier than a feather.

It was 95F yesterday when I was out gallivanting with the children.  We did everything I'd planned and then I brought them home, threatening them to not let the sugar go to their heads and start acting wild around their dad.  I told them if I heard they'd aggravated him I'd never take them for another treat.    It was mostly a genuine threat.  They know this, I'm sure.  

This morning, I was outdoors around 8am watering plants.  I need to go water those on the front porch, but I never made it quite that far.    I stripped the bed and bath, made breakfast and finished the book I'd been reading.  

After I finally drank my coffee and got myself in gear, I went into the kitchen and made Banana Chocolate Chip muffins, bread, BBQ wings for lunch, yogurt (incubating as we speak), unloaded the dishwasher, remade the bed, and somewhere in there I managed to shower and do a myriad of other tasks as well as cleaning up two sinkfuls of dishes.   Whew!  That's good enough as far as I'm concerned.  Supper tonight will be an easy enough meal.  I'm making Sweet and Sour Pork with Rice.  

I'm afraid the peaches I bought the other day at the grocery are no good.  They are mushy when they get soft enough to eat.  I've never been a huge fan of early peaches and these are not helping to convince me I've been wrong.  Perhaps when Lily is here next week I shall find some good peaches at a peach shed.

The book I was reading, Kristin Hannah's Nightingale, was intense, riveting, and hard to put down.  I did put it down about every three chapters so that I could relax enough to breathe.  I highly recommend it.  There was no explicit content and very little language.  The story was compelling and well-written.

That my dears, is enough for this week.  I hope you have been busy and productive and you are enjoying the last days of Spring.  Be sure to comment.  I look forward to hearing from you.

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