Monday Afternoon Thoughts

It's breezy enough outdoors to warrant the above photo.  Especially since I had pillows hanging out to air earlier this morning.  Oh the air was so nice, the humidity practically non-existent and the cooler temperatures (at least for mornings of late) are most welcome.  Daytimes we're still hitting in the middle 90's but by end of week we should be seeing low 90's instead...lol.  Yes every little degree less is counted in these last days of summer, as we strain hard towards the new coming season.

Hurricane Irene missed us entirely.  Typically a hurricane means we see squallish rain, high winds and sometimes damage even here in our inland abode, but not this time. Other than the counter clockwise movement of fat fluffy clouds in an otherwise blue sky, all we got was increased humidity.  I have watched some of the news footage of the damage done and am certainly thinking of all those who live along the East coast who did feel the force of that hurricane.  Most of my online friends are reporting no damage in their particular areas and I am grateful to hear it. 

It's Thrifty Thursday!

I found this image in one of my August WWII issues.  The couple are looking over their ration book.  That seemed a fitting image for a Thrifty Thursday.

Do you ever have one of those spells where it looks as though you must continually reach into your pocketbook to take money OUT instead of putting it in?  I just need to adjust my thinking.  Thankfully I adjusted the budget last month when John mentioned OT was at an end.  What makes me nervous?  Not so much really except that now all the birthdays are over for the year, I begin to think of Christmas which is only months away!  Oh dear, and I have very little time.  However, it's nothing that being mindful of thriftiness can't cure.

Thrift IS routine in this house.  I can't, truly I can't, name all I do every day to save money.  That's partly due to the fact that so much of it is habit, ingrained and therefore just not notable.  I confess too that I tend to be more focused on what I'm spending and why instead of what I'm doing to save.  But now and then I do something that seems to me to be out of the ordinary and so I share it.  It might be something you already do on a daily basis, never think of, and wonder why I'm making special note of it.  Because it is new to me, and it might possibly be new to someone else.

A Changing Season

The day has been just beautiful...Heck the week has been beautiful thus far.  While our days continue unpleasantly hot (it was 100F Monday afternoon on my front porch) the mornings have been blissfully nice.  This morning the temperature was a mere 69F!  I was so pleased, that after feeding the animals, I rushed indoors to throw open all the windows.  It was lovely to have that fresh air in the house.  If only the breeze we had yesterday had been blowing today...Then the house might have been well aired for Autumn months ahead. 

I spied this blooming roadside three weeks ago and made a special stop to photograph it this past Saturday.  Isn't it just beautiful?  I hear often enough from people that golden rod is an allergen for them.  I beg to differ.  Nearly all allergies this time of year are ragweed which blooms at the same time as golden rod.  Golden rod is more noticeable and hence more people believe that is the allergen.   

Random Stuff of Butterflies, Loneliness and Telecommunciations, etc.

Isn't the above photo just beautiful?  It is an image from space, I think taken during a solar eclipse but not sure.  I think this particular one looks like a butterfly. 

Speaking of butterflies, that's something I've seen a lot less of this year, this dry summer with late rains and too hot heat.  I suppose that like most things, cicadas and gnats for example, there are just years without as many.  I've heard a few cicadas this year, but nothing like the never ending loud  droning of them in some years.  They are a cyclical creature and every seven years or so there is a gluttony of cicadas who hatch out and sing for all they are worth and drive you nearly mad as even a closed up house with AC and television running cannot quite drown out the sound.  I'm a huge fan of House Hunters International and a couple meant to live on a Greek island.  One of the houses they visited there were cicadas singing so loudly outdoors they could hardly be heard speaking to the camera.  I thought should I ever find that island in Greece I might close my eyes and hear the sound and dream myself back in my own Georgia summer once more and even perhaps wake in the night confused that I was in Greece and not at all in Georgia. 

But butterflies...Not so many this year.  I saw more yesterday on my way home hovering over what we call butterfly weed which is a tall twiggy looking plant with few leaves and the tiniest of purple flowers atop which butterflies love beyond reason considering the general un-showiness of the plant.  Yesterday I saw more and the roadside seemed to be alive with fluttering.  And still it is much, much less than in years past.

Re-Visit July 15, 2011

http://inthebluehouseonthehill.blogspot.com/2011/07/ten-things-i-learned-from-all-you.html

About a month ago I finished up the All You grocery challenge.  It was a personal challenge for myself and I learned quite a few things, which I enumerated in the post link above.  I believe the value of lessons learned is how you apply the new knowledge.  I thought it would be interesting to see where I am a month later and how I applied what I learned.

#1 I don't know how much to cook.   And I still don't.  But I'm trying harder to be more creative with  the foods I cook.  Last week I made tacos, a tortilla tower and taco salad out of a pound of taco seasoned ground beef.  And this week we've made 'new' recipes from chicken, roast beef, and another ground beef dish.  More variety and a few less leftovers than in the past.  I'm getting nearer the mark of cooking for two.  As well I'm going to be rethinking how I package up my meats.  I don't know why I lean towards putting up a pound of hamburger when we're only going to eat 3/4 pound at most and usually 1/2 pound.  So still more to learn, but this time about how I store my foodstuffs.

#2  My current method of menu planning doesn't work well for us.  And my lack of planning hasn't exactly worked well either. For the past month I've not written out one menu plan at all. However, by NOT planning I've been forced to be more creative with the leftovers.  See #1.  Personally I don't recommend this method at all.  Obviously I need to really work on this.  In the past I did a twice weekly menu planning session that worked rather well.  It worked like this: I'd plan meals on Monday and on Friday I'd sit down and plan meals based upon leftovers/produce/dairy products that might need to be used.  I think I'm going to adopt that method again.

Thrifty Thursday

Another week just past.  I don't know, honestly, where all the time goes.  We spend a bit of time working and a bit of time playing and a bit of time sleeping and a day is done and before we know it a week slips by and then a month or six and a year.  Granny wasn't kidding when she said it slid away from you fast after you passed 18!

Saturday was our usual Shabat at synagogue.  I'd planned ahead and thawed steaks bought on sale on my regular shopping day.  With baked potatoes and a big tossed salad my husband was a happy man...I know because he posted about it on Facebook, lol.  Well he did the cooking, I just did the budgeting and planning ahead part.  I'd say we were both blessed that day.

Typically our Saturday is a quiet afternoon at home and this was no different.  No work for us, just quiet pursuits like reading, watching  a movie, playing computer games.  It suits us just fine and is very restful after the usual busy pace of the week.  By evening I've begun to feel restless, a sign that I've rested enough.  I usually do some light housework then, and meal planning. 

Sunday morning I was up early, ready to do housework and make my usual Sunday trip into town.  Despite being a bit over budget, I'd noted in our local paper that sales were quite good on several pantry worthy items.  So with John's permission, I did some shopping while in town.  I added grits, Spam, sugar, and a couple of other items to the pantry shelves. 

Gracious! Shall I Ever Catch Up?

Internet has been problematic here the past few days.  We went without all day on Sunday and were away from home a long time yesterday, but it was intermittent in the morning hours.  Today internet is cutting out about every thirty minutes.  Just about the time I think I have a clear path to write, off it goes.  So I'm writing anyway.  At some point I feel sure I'll just be able to save and finally post whatever I write. 

Saturday we had rain after we got home and it was so cozy to be indoors and hear the rain outside.  Trouble was it made us terribly sleepy, especially after our dinner (Steak/Baked Potatoes/Salad).  John was especially happy over the menu.  Since he does the pan frying of steaks I hardly have a thing to do but set the table, make a salad (easy peasy when the lettuce is all washed and ready) and wait, lol.  I jokingly tell him all I have to do is budget for the steaks.  We didn't bother with computers that afternoon.  The eyestrain just made us more miserably sleepy.  We didn't dare nap though as it would have meant not sleeping well.  I was more than ready for bed around 10:30 and was about to head off when John found an old English cooking show I love, Two Fat Ladies.  I still like that show a lot and it's one of the few John willingly watches.