Dec. 28, Saturday: Last night when I shut the shades just as dark was coming in, I saw deer on the front lawn. They come most evenings to graze on the front lawn. Not at all unusual. What is unusual is that a deer has literally been wandering the yard today. Front and back and around the house, coming nearer and nearer. That's unusual behavior. Admittedly it's been nice to watch her.
Today has been easily as overcast as yesterday. None of the promised rain has come as of yet. My bones feel this weather.
I've been thinking about the New Year ahead and about my life in winter. I have a tendency to snug in come wintertime, which is quite okay. But I don't want my life to consist of endless meals, lazing about and tv programs and it can quickly descend into that.
I also thought once more about romanticizing my life. I've talked about this before, and I contemplated it this morning. I came to the conclusion that what holds me back isn't lack of funds, but the fact that it's work! I mean it seriously is work when you're always polishing up your life to make it look pretty and Hallmark-like, you know. Somewhere in there you have to fit all the fluffing along with the normal everyday cleaning and cooking and such. I think perhaps what I really want to experience is a snug and comfy vibe. So, I thought about how I could do that, and I think I've gathered a few ideas.
1. Throws on every chair. Even the grandkids when they come in want to snug up under a blanket, and especially so this time of year. I would love to have perfectly coordinated throws, but I don't. I do have a variety of quilts and Afghans, and I think I can make those work just fine for now. If I find a pretty throw that coordinates with my living room (I am happiest when things go with other things, lol) then I'll buy one this year and perhaps one next year until we have a set.
2. Light candles come evening. We never turn on the overhead lights. It's just something that was drilled into me. Granny nor Mama either one would have an overhead light on in the evening hours. They were all about the lamps. While I would like to find a lamp to go between the two chairs across the room, I thought I could add a little extra ambience by lighting candles each evening. I don't do scented candles and I'm not yet at the place where I am flush enough to burn beeswax, as much as I'd love to, but I do have some decent candles and tealights and such on hand and I might as well use them.
3. Dress in a cozy way. The danger here is that some of my warmer clothing can be almost pajama like. I don't want to feel I'm wearing pajamas all of the time! I do have nice wool socks, and a few sweaters and sweatshirts that aren't my best but look nice enough. I'm over dressing in the worst clothing I own for working around the house.
4. Make all those cozy slow simmering meals that go so well with this time of year. They are both budget friendly and comforting. I tend to use my slow cooker far more in the summer months when it's hot but I'm going to make an effort to use it more here in the cold months.
5. Stop scrolling so much and playing games on my computer. Not going to happen. I have said for years I'd love to learn to embroider again. I want to read more. I've set myself the task of reading some of the classics this year. I have a lot of new to me unread books. I have loads of old favorites. I'd promised myself I'd work on genealogy. I'm going to have a set day to mend things.
I'm also going to set myself up with a stack of reading for January. I have the books Nourishing Traditions, The Rain Watcher, Robinson Crusoe. I don't expect to finish the first book this month. It's so packed with information I'll be taking that one in small increments.
I find this time of year is a great time to learn new things, too. I'm not quite so busy as I might be in a warmer, sunnier season of the year.
6. Bring in fresh flowers. I haven't bought flowers in quite a few months but this time of year. I find them necessary. I'm going to try to purchase flowering plants as well as cut flowers. I enjoy and have success keeping orchids, there are bulbs which can be planted in the yard once they are done blooming, azaleas and such that will all be in season and comparatively speaking they cost about what a really nice bunch of flowers might cost.
I can do these things without breaking my budget or adding too much to my usual day to day work. What's just as important to me is that we can have days in the 70's and days in the 30's, so doing any of these things can quickly be adjusted to what weather we are experiencing without my having to remove and put away things if we have a longer warming trend. That's important to me.
Dec. 29, Sunday: I'll keep this brief today but here are the highlights of my day.
The weather finally broke last night in the middle of the night. Goodness at the heavy rain, squall-ish sounding winds and the lightning! However, my pain levels also dramatically reduced once the weather broke, so that was a huge blessing.
We went to church and heard a great sermon from the associate pastor.
Baby Henry laughed for me. Really and truly laughed and not just once but several times. Caleb and Bella had to have me sit in the middle of the sofa so they could have a pink side and a blue side of me, one for Bella and one for Caleb. Want to guess who had which color? lol
The rain cleared out leaving blue skies and very pleasant weather. After we got home, we opened the windows of the house and let fresh air pour into the rooms until we got cold. Lovely!
And that's enough for today.
Dec. 30, Monday: I've been busy all day today in the kitchen. I was serious about deep cleaning and today I sorted out the baking cupboard, the pots and baking dishes drawers, moved the bread machine to the baking counter, moved the coffee pot to the island and cleaned out the islands. I had three junk drawers in the island and that struck me as a ridiculous amount of space used for things I never look at, so I dumped them all ad moved mine and John's coffees to two of the drawers, moved all the junk out of the room and then reorganized every cabinet of the islands. The coffee cups and coffee are now under the coffee pot area and the silverware now lives in the drawer above the dishes.
It took far longer than you'd think it might, and I truly nearly gave up about fourteen times today, but those tasks are now done. The kitchen looks rather decent once more. Tomorrow, I plan to work on the baking sheets cupboard, the appliances cupboard and the two drawers in that cabinets. I keep spices in one and cooking utensils and knives in the other. I may even tackle the under the sink cabinet area which would finish off all of them. I am not including the food pantry cabinets in this particular clearing up as I've kept them clean and organized.
I also managed to make bread, clean and sort the fridge, made two meals and have gotten the Christmas tree undecorated. I've cleaned our master bathroom and got the checkbook in order after the weekend.
But for now, I'm tired and ready for quiet work/study. We have leftovers that will be made into sandwiches for tonight's supper. I might heat a can of tomato soup up.
Dec. 31, Tuesday: The first thing I tackled this morning was the guest bathroom. I'd gone into it yesterday afternoon, which I admittedly don't do often, and realized that the children had completely messed up one corner of the mirror. The floor was littered with dust and dead ants. The ants, I've discovered, seems to be the space where all ants go to die once we've poisoned them. I don't know why. I realized then, that I need to go into that bathroom more often. I don't use it but John does at least once a day and the children always. So that was my first job today.
I don't know about anyone else, but I am constantly cataloging a room and determining what it 'needs'. Our bathroom needs fresh rugs. I am so over plush rugs. They pack down and appear to be matted all of the time. I'm going to look for proper rugs, the sort that one doesn't typically put in a bath. I'd obviously choose washable rugs.
In the back (or guest) bathroom I am ready for some color. I've loved the shower curtain I fashioned from sheer curtains ages ago and I don't want to change those, but I want color on the walls and color towels. I think I'm going to go back to using just a runner rug in that room. It's narrow and long and that seems to work best.
I'd really like a lamp in the living between the two gray chairs. I think it would seem more inviting with a lamp there.
Aside from those sorts of homemaking thoughts, I tackled the appliances cabinet and drawers yesterday. And then the really nasty hard work began on the horrible mess under the top of my gas stove. Oh my! It really was a horror! It took me a good two hours of working hard to get it decent once more. I didn't go further than that. I was just plain doggone tired after yesterday and today's work.
I'm glad I quit when I did because Katie called about 5 asking if they might come out. I'd had plenty of time to rest and felt rather chipper once again. So I was in good shape to have company, especially those two little boys.
Caleb made me giggle to myself, because he went right to the room to play and when he came out, I said, "Be sure you don't mess with my things. Everything in the wagon in that room is mine. Leave it alone." He didn't ask what wagon. He didn't ask why. He looked at me for a moment or two and said, "The cookie cutters? They're yours?" "Yep." "Oh. I'll go put them back." lol
Henry felt like he weighed two pounds more than he did on Sunday. After supper I begged him to let me rock him to sleep. I explained very nicely that he was the last baby and the last I should likely rock to sleep but he just smiled and fought me all the way, so there we are. He doesn't give a fig that he's the last. He just wants to be his own little man and so he shall be.
I'm off to bed. We won't wait to see the New Year in.
Jan. 1, 2025, Wednesday: I now know what old people do on New Year's Day. They wake in the morning, greet each other and then have Chinese food for lunch. I know this because that's what we did and when I went to pick up our food at the restaurant, I discovered that every other older couple in the county had the same idea. I told John I had felt we were doing something unique with our holiday. Now I know that we are just old folks and somehow you automatically start to act like old folks. Sigh.
We woke extra early this morning, and I watched sunrise, such as it was, while I had my coffee. That was lovely and I promised myself that I'd attempt to do that more often this year.
I am taking a much-needed day of rest. We've been very much at ease, and it's been quite nice. I've just finished watching a Mrs. Pollifax film with Angela Lansbury. Just seeing that title brought back such a lot of far-away memories.
Technically, I met John the first time when we met at the library. We were introduced informally by Mrs. Violet Moore. John had been invited to play guitar for a friend of hers coming through town. I just happened to have stopped in to get my books for the week. John and I nodded at one another and I went to choose my books and marveled at his talent afar. We didn't speak again for perhaps two or three years and then not again for about five years. Isn't it all funny? And yes, this whole while we lived two houses apart in the small town across the river.
Mrs. Moore was something else again. She was head librarian at the Carnegie Memorial Library in Montezuma which was a lovely old marble building. It had lovely old wooden shelves and a reception area separated from the children's area and the adult reading materials were behind the circulation desk. Mrs. Moore was something of a celebrity. She had been married to a well-known lawyer in the town. She hailed from Minnesota and wore her snow-white hair in the old-fashioned Swedish way, two braids wound about her head. She was a syndicated food columnist for newspapers.
She and I struck up a conversation the first time I went in and discovered we were fans of many similar authors. I was a huge Gladys Taber fan, and she related to me that she'd had an argument with Ms. Taber via letters over which one of them 'invented' a certain method of serving something or other. It seems they were of an age and had both been doing it the same way for ages, but both considered themselves the 'original', lol. It was Mrs. Moore who one summery day suggested I try the Mrs. Pollifax books as a change of pace. I didn't regret her suggestion in the least. I thoroughly enjoyed them.
As I said, it was a far-away memory. At the time I had only one child and was new to that area. Mrs. Moore was as near a friend as I had for the longest time, and I looked forward to our weekly conversations. That was over 40 years ago!
I looked at John after relating that she'd suggested read the Mrs. Pollifax series and asked him, "Do you think there's anyone much who even remembers her now?" "Oh shoot, probably not! I'll bet you could go to her old house and ask if the owners knew who she was and they'd ask, 'Who?'" Irony at play here of course as the old Carnegie Library was shut down and a more up to date modern library put up on the lot right across the street from Mrs. Moore's old home. Now the old library is the county historical society and Chamber of Commerce office.
My goodness that is a memory lane walk.
Happy New Year, dears!
Jan. 2, Thursday: I had ambitions for today, I did truly but I do not feel well. Not sure why I don't feel good but I'm definitely not up to par, so I'll take an extra 'rest day'. Mind you a 'rest' day that has already seen me do a few things: make a big breakfast, clean-up the kitchen from yesterday's and this morning's mess, puttered about the bedroom putting away fresh laundry, cleaned out the magazine basket, totted up the checkbook once again, and then made a Chicken pot pie and salad for lunch. I should be cleaning out the fridge but really, I don't feel up to it. So, I shall not. As I told John this housework lies around and looks at me until I get up and attend to it, so I'm not worried it's leaving. It's a lot like the cat...she will stare me down until I do something for her.
Technically I am starting the Pantry Freezer Challenge this week and so far, I've bought nothing from the grocery. I am out of onions, carrots, need celery, lettuce, half and half, cat food. Obviously, the cat food should not count as part of my groceries but it's on my list.
Which reminds me that I have had my last fuss with Chewy. Not their fault but it is kind of. I placed an order early last month, planning to have cat food arrive ahead of running out. They shipped it out and since December 12, it has been sitting at the Fed Ex delivery depot. I called Chewy, they said, "The holidays..." I called Fed Ex and got an automated operator who said "Who have no plans to deliver..." I called Chewy back, and they said, "Have 10% off your next order." And I waited two more weeks.
I called Chewy this week and said, "Look I haven't gotten my order can't you get hold of them and expedite this?" To which they cut and pasted a blurb, "The holidays..." and I told the operator that was a sorry excuse at this point of time. I explained again that I had been unable to talk to the company and asked them to reach out from their side. Well, no they wouldn't, but they'd offer me $20 off my next order...and then offered to reorder all my stuff and apply the $20 off and guarantee 3-day shipping. I asked, "And what about the money I've already paid out for the order that isn't being delivered?' "Well, you can wait for delivery..." "What's the 'guarantee' I'll get this next order?" Crickets.
I said, "Tell you what, refund all of my money for the order that isn't being delivered, and I'll take my business elsewhere, okay?" And they did. Thus, I need to go buy cat food. I'm super disappointed about Chewy because (a) I can buy a larger size kibble dog food there for a far better price than I can get anywhere around and (b) they've always been such an excellent company when I've dealt with them in the past but to utterly ignore that I've already paid for an order they aren't concerned about getting delivered...I mean, somebody ought to be able to do something!
Well never mind. Somebody did. I demanded and got a refund, and I will find a different source to carry my business.
I think I hear a nap calling my name.
January 3, Friday: I truly did hear a nap yesterday. I slept for nearly 45 minutes in my chair, then got up and went to bed and slept nearly 2 hours! I would have told you that I'd slept well this week and wasn't particularly tired, but I definitely had something going on yesterday because I had a slight headache and last night, I sweat up a storm despite how cool it was. Today I feel right as rain!
The projected forecast for next week is COLD, as in BRR! sort of cold for us. Mind you, those of you who live in snow country and the far north would scoff, but believe me it's supposed to be rather cold for us. The coldest we've ever been but seasonally cold for the south of the country.
This morning after breakfast I tried to pin John down as to whether he wanted to go with me to get a few grocery items or not. It took him about 3 hours to work his way around to answering me. It was an affirmative answer but he apparently had to do a whole lot of thinking about whether he'd go or not starting with the question of 'How much are you planning to buy?'
Contrary to what you might think, if I'd said I was getting quite a lot he'd have gone with me only because he knew I'd appreciate his help. When I said, "I have a short list...and I'm keeping it short on purpose," that answer meant he had to ponder still further the idea of leaving the house. An hour of contemplation and then, "And where do you plan to go?" I named off two stores and said that it was an either/or not a both situation. He pondered some more and then said, "Well if I do go, I will need time to ..." and I finished his sentence for him, "finish laundry, shower and all that sort of thing. I know."
I was unfussed through it all. One of my goals this year is to be a bit more independent once more. So, if I'd gone alone, I'd have been fine with that and if he wanted to go, too, I was okay with that. I just wanted to know how to pace my own getting ready to go. I was determined to finish my own housework for the morning before leaving and as it happened everything got finished and we both got ready at about the same time.
It was just a trip to the grocery store, but I kid you not that there are days when I am just happy that he's with me as company and today was one of those days. We took a back road around one town and then over to the major shopping area where we'd typically go. I knew that everything I needed today could be bought at one store and that it would cost about as much whether we went to Publix or Kroger, but anywhere else nearer home we might have gone would have meant skipping half of what was wanted today because it wouldn't have been available. John opted to go to Publix.
I stuck to my list and picked up only one thing that wasn't on that list, a container of gum, and that because we'd just opened our last container in the car this morning as we headed out.
I suspected my total would be around $100. I spent $195. To be fair once I'd subtracted the personal care and pet food items my total was nearer the $100 mark. Those things were on the list and also needed but were non-food items that ran the total right up. Oh well. It's one more reminder to me to stop lumping it all in and calling it groceries, especially these days when the $100 mark is so desperately needed to be in the right category.
I won't say that things were more than they've been being, but I was a bit shocked that short ribs were double the price they were a few weeks ago. Ouch. I wasn't planning to buy any, but I always look just the same.
Grocery shopping is grocery shopping. I get that. It was the companionship on the ride to and from that I enjoyed most. On the way home, we came to a four-way stop that John dislikes. We were in the right-hand lane and a big 18-wheeler was in the left-hand lane headed out of the stop. John was in the truck's blind spot and knew it. He stepped on the accelerator and was moving ahead when suddenly the truckdriver began to move into the right lane. John reached out, grabbed my hand and held it tightly. "Here we go!" He was able to move into the emergency lane and the truck driver suddenly saw us. Everyone went back to their respective lanes; we slowed way down and allowed him to go ahead of us. But I don't mid telling you, I thought we weren't coming home today and that's the truth. My heart didn't go back to normal pace until we reached our town. I noticed that the truck driver was super careful and looked continually in his side view mirrors.
Bless him, we didn't blame him. We were in his blind spot. It was just a bad place to be, and we all did our best to avoid the accident that looked inevitable. God was with us all.
That's the week here. Not a bad start to this new year before us.
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