Gathering Fragments: Another Week of Using What I Have

 

Saturday:  Went out to the herb planter early this morning and snipped off the chives again.  I love to mix these into scrambled eggs along with some cream cheese.  It was delicious!

For tonight's supper, I scrounged around in the fridge to see what I had for pizza cheese.  We went through a lot of Mozzarella this month!  No clue why but we did.  Anyway, I had a 1 inch cube of mozzarella* and about 2 tablespoons of shredded in a bag*...Not nearly enough for a pizza!  I dug a bit more and found a portion of a wedge of Asiago, a one inch cube of cheddar**, and the last bit of that hard dry aged Gouda* we had from earlier in the month.  All combined we made a decent pizza.   I have four slices leftover.

Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Blowing Off Steam

Saturday:  Did not sleep at all last night.  Not one minute.  I've no idea why not but I didn't stay in bed last night and toss and turn. I got up and did some maintenance work on my phone which has been bothersome lately.  I rocked in my chair and waited for dawn.  Turns out I didn't have to wait alone.  John was up about 6am himself.  And while the sky got lighter we never saw a sunrise due to the cloud cover.

Early Morning Coffee Chat: It's Just A Season

Come on in and have morning coffee with me.  I've been up for hours now, and I do mean hours.  John was up early as well.  I didn't sleep at all last night.  He did but couldn't go back to sleep after waking twice between 4 and 6.   I'd love to say we saw a glorious dawn on the horizon but no.  Just clouds and such a gradual change of light that there was nothing to remark upon at all. 

We are in that slight cool down spell of August.  It's been almost pleasant in the full heat of the day and truly pleasant in the morning and evening hours.  Two evenings we took a drive with the car windows down.  One evening was nothing more than a trip to the dump (baby diapers stink too much to keep about for 24 hours) and another we went into town for ice cream after our dump run.   Both evenings, I was so tempted to sit on the back porch and just enjoy the air but I didn't.  No I came back inside and settled into doing last housekeeping tasks and then I went to my chair and didn't move until bedtime. 

The Week Ahead: Starting Behind Getting Ahead

                                                     1940's Hot point Kitchen plan

In 1905, Earl Richardson invented a new iron.  He formed the Pacific Electric Heating Company in Ontario, California and marketed his new iron.  The iron was innovative on many levels, not the least of which was the fact that it was heated by electricity.  The heat was hottest near the pointed end and hence the name Hot Point which later became the name of the company in 1912.  

Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Adjusting To Change

Saturday:  John was given a pizza at church yesterday.  We both agreed that it would be our supper last night and so it was.  What luxury!  I like my homemade pizza very well but honestly last night's no cook meal  was so welcome to this weary homemaking Gramma!   By 9pm, John and I were both nodding in our chairs.  By 10pm, I told him, "I just can't keep this up.  I'm going to bed."   Gracious but I slept well.

All the way to 6:45am.  I think my body was just accustomed already to the sleep schedule from the week behind. So much for my plan to sleep in.   It was easy to relax this morning though and take my time with Bible reading and Instagram scrolling.  We had cheese toast for breakfast.  I didn't take time to make Bagels two weeks ago and I don't know if I'll manage it this week or not.  Worth while to do, for sure...Just making the time when the oven isn't going to heat the house too much and little boy isn't under foot is another issue.

A Diary of Gathered Fragments: Every Bit Counts

I'm going to change this up ever so slightly.  In the past I've been planning meals and then I'd think of the Gathered Fragments that I ought to use and then I'd alter meal plans to try and incorporate those or forget all over again.  A whole lotta planning was going on without a whole lotta execution.  

This week I'm NOT planning meals, exactly.  I'm going to look each day, see what I have on hand and plan that day's menu according to what we have, incorporating those items that really need to be used up sooner rather than later.

Goals for August: Really?

 

Honestly in reading my July goals and then my weekly to do posts, I wonder why on earth I even bothered.  I thought I was doing well but in actuality I got little done of all the items listed.  I managed the new zone work in two areas but failed utterly with the other two.  I got mulch spread at the house in town in the one section of flower bed and laid out the whole new roll of weed mat but need more.   I did nothing in my own yard and my only accomplishment was potting up all the bits of plants I'd rooted from cuttings.

The pantry freezer challenge was a bit of a bust. I spent the full grocery budget at the start of the month and I've made little progress on my proposed plan to stock the pantry and freezer afresh while eating the older items.  I spent small sums here and there and when I added them up the total was shocking.