Sunday, August 30, 2020

Weekly Wrap-Up 8/30

Wow, the last post of the month!  It is hard to believe that September is about here.  Labor Day will be coming up in a week or so, here in the U.S. and that is the unofficial beginning of fall.  We actually start fall with the Equinox on 9/22.  In the southern hemisphere they are getting ready for their warmer seasons again.
I went out this morning to feed the cats - it was still dark (at 6:45) - and it was 57*F.  WOW - did the temps and humidity drop over night.  It is so delightful out this morning.  This weeks weather will be more seasonal.  Thank goodness - I am over the heat and humidity.
Last night the sunset was incredible.  It looked like the sky was on fire - bright pinks, reds and oranges.  God sure is a great artist!

I have seen another young groundhog off and on in the yard.  It is a different one, as the other one died.  That I am sure of, as I found him a couple days after (oh my).  He is a cute little thing.  He likes my phlox, and stands on his back legs and eats it!
The finches are spending a lot of time on the echinacea flowers out front.  They love sitting on them and eating the seeds.  Amusing Coogy the whole while.  He gets so excited watching them right outside his window!!!!!

My week:

  • Went through tons of old paperwork - have bunches to shred
  • Cleaned out the corner hutch in the dining room - my goodness you can actually see the shelves in the bottom now!
  • Re-arranged the living room a bit
  • Made my bill paying station and put that in the corner hutch out of sight
  • Bagged yard rubbish I cut last week.  I then worked on several areas of the yard in the cooler mornings.  I got the front flower bed all cleaned up and tons of spent flowers out (cut back the spiderwort).  I worked on the side of the house and on the back flower bed by the house.  Just so much to do!!!!  Working a bit at a time as it would just get too hot.
  • Renewed library books online - instead of going out
  • Printed several recipes from the computer
  • Picked more basil and thyme and have it drying.  Cut more chives and chopped and froze
  • Washed windows inside, kitchen and porch windows outside and cleaned all mirrors
  • Made up new bottles of dish soap and shampoo
  • Took down the mini blinds in the kitchen and washed them
  • Made a yellow cake with chocolate chips and pecans this week for snacking
  • Got a Pioneer Woman magazine for FREE
  • Gave myself a really nice and relaxing spa night
  • No grocery shopping this week
  • Been picking lots of garden goodies.  2 zucchini and tons of cherry tomatoes and other tomatoes.  I know I picked hundreds of cherry toms this week.
This is just a little bit of what I picked.  I eat them like candy and have given so many to neighbors

Meals this past week:
Loaded cheeseburgers
Cheesy tuna mac
Sausage/egg/cheese sammies (used buns)
Veggie/stuffing casserole and sliced tomatoes
Casserole again and a side salad
Smoked sausage sandwich (on bread) and slaw and tomatoes
Taco salad

The veggie/stuffing casserole was good.  I used a box of Pork Stove Top, 2 eggs, 1 C water, onion, 1 small/med. zucchini (cut up), some broccoli from freezer and sliced mushrooms.  Mixed together and put in a 8 x 8 greased pan.  Baked at 350 for 20 minutes - topped with shredded cheese and baked 10 more minutes.  Quite tasty and filling.
                                                          Veggie/stuffing casserole

Working on things around the house has lifted my spirits and mood a bit.  I have been more active around here - instead of sitting and watching TV or You Tube!
Saving money shopping the house for redecorating and shopping the pantry for food and snacks.

What has everyone else been up to?  
You harvesting, canning, freezing?  Building that pantry?  How are you saving dollars?
Look forward to hearing from you.

There are many people we come in contact with each day/week that are at their breaking points.  It may be family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, strangers, you never know who - because they hide it.  Let us all remember to not be too busy that we can't be kind, caring and patient with our fellow man.  A little love and caring can go a long way.  It could change someone's world.

Blessings from my humble little home to yours. 



32 comments:

  1. Does Coogy chatter? We used to laugh out lad at our cats when they chartered. They even did it in unison and their cocking heads too!! We had a big scrub jay that would taunt them from outside. One day they were doing it and I didn't see the Jay in the bird bath. I looked around and they were chattering at a baby rattler!!😳

    You had a really productive week! Nice job. The cooler weather really helps with motivation doesn't it? I hope our weather heads your way cuz it's gonna make you positively blissful! Such a nice break... 78-84 is forecast all week.

    Let's see. I got a few extras done.
    * Cut my husband's hair
    * Got a lot done on the porch of my charity dollhouse
    * I sorted thru all my Cabbage Patch doll clothes and am keeping only the outfits my mom made. Don't laugh! She bought us each one way back and made seasonal outfits. The Pilgrim and Witch are my very favorites!
    * Scoured the fridge inside and out

    Reading:
    * John's Gospel, Proverbs, and 1 Samuel
    * a Flavia De Luxe mystery
    * The View from the Corner Shop - The Diary of a Yorkshire Shop Assistant in Wartime

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    1. Oh yes, he chatters. The others I used to have inside always did too. I love hearing that - it is so cute.
      This morning he was something - I don't know if he saw birds, other kitties, a possum or what - but he was talking at the bedroom windows. So many different sounds and intonations - like he was asking questions or trying to get attention. I laid there cracking up - must have went on for 15 minutes.

      You got a lot done! Good for you. Nothing wrong with keeping your baby doll. I have a few old toys myself!
      That sounds like what our weather should be this week! YAY!

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  2. Oops!
    Meals were:
    *Taco salad
    *Chinese chicken salad
    *Sloppy Joes
    *Loaded baked potatoes
    *Baked chicken subs
    and our two strange meals after late lunches lol.
    *Watermelon and a handful of pistachios
    *Cold cereal and an apple

    Have a good weekend!!

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    1. You eat when you are hungry and what you want - you are adults! As long as a person is full - what does it matter?
      Have a great one.

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  3. Your little groundhog sounds so cute, Cheryl. We are having rain here right now, which I'm sure is from the hurricane from the gulf. Most of the storm went north of us, which is good. We did see clouds and rain though.

    It's great to clean out stuff like your corner hutch, it always makes me feel good to have something cleaned out like that. When I used to mow the lawn, I used to love to sit on the porch swing and just look at it all neat and tidy.

    How neat that you got a free Pioneer Woman magazine, and your cherry tomatoes look beautiful!

    I've been helping Bailey with her shops and working on my blog this week. I hope you have a great week!

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    1. Glad you got some rain. We have some coming later this week. It rained one afternoon here this week.
      Yes, I just got done mowing and trimming, and set down to cool off and it sure looks pretty.
      It all makes you feel good to accomplish things.

      Good going helping Bailey!
      Have a good one.

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  4. You've had a busy and productive week! Since you've read my post, you'll know I didn't do much of anything. I guess some weeks are just like that. :)

    Take care and stay well!

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    1. Your week sounded pretty darn nice to me! It is nice to have a calm week where you just do whatever.
      Have a nice one

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  5. Sounds like it was a busy, productive and the menu sounds great too. I do my menu plan in advance and my frugal update was posted on my Friday 5 a couple days ago. Have a great week!

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    1. I tried - I feel accomplished. I just never follow through when planning in advance!! LOL I am kind of a seat of the pants girl!
      I'll check out your week!
      Have a good one.

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  6. I just love reading your column. Nice easy, no stress fun to read about someone elses life and remember that there are still a lot of nice people with more on their mind than Covid, politics and hatred. Thank you. Blue House Journal does the same as you with her writings and over the years feel like she is almost a friend. Stop by her blog sometime. Gramma D

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    1. Thank you so much Grammy D. That is kind of you to say. There IS so much more than all the bad things. I prefer to concentrate on them. My sweetie used to call me Pollyanna!!!! Maybe - but that is OK.
      I will most definitely check out that blog.
      I am glad to have you and so many kind people here.

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  7. Cheryl, I read your blog faithfully. Just don't comment often. Love reading what you've been up to and your week's food....often inspiration for our upcoming meals. We, too, have been very blessed with lots of cherry tomatoes and regular comes also. Did diced pepper and pepper strips in the freezer and bagged after frozen. So handy during the year. Made some mulberry jelly out of juice we had frozen earlier. Saw a large double rainbow one evening...how awesome!
    Thanks again!

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    1. Glad to have you here Linda (that was my sister's name).
      Glad to inspire. It is great having peppers in the freezer for winter's use. I just love saving all those lovely goodies. I miss my mulberry tree (sort of!). Sure made good jelly.

      Awesome on the double rainbow!
      Thank you for being here.

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  8. Isn't it wonderful when the weather cools down and gives us back some energy! You got a lot done this past week and it will just add to your enjoyment of your home.

    I'm just in from church. This was our first in-house service since March 15th! It was one of two trial runs that we are doing before we try to reopen for everyone. About 40 people pre-registered to come and give us the opportunity to test out all our protocols. It went well although it was odd not to be able to sing - we had a soloist and our organist so that did help. I had to ask two people not to hug and another to pull up her mask but other than that everyone followed the rules. We'll go through the feedback this week and make some changes before next Sunday. We are also continuing with online services so it's a lot of work for the ministers.

    I made a pot of chicken noodle soup yesterday and I'm about to put a tray of pork chops into the oven so that will cover a few meals this week.

    Enjoy the cooler weather.

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    1. Glad you got to go back to church and gather together. I guess I still don't understand the singing. My brother's church did that a couple Sundays and they are back to on-line church for now. No on could sing - heck - you can sing with a mask on! You can talk with one - so why not sing?
      Chicken noodle soup sounds good. ENJOY
      Going to love the cool weather!

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  9. After 2.3" of rain Friday and Saturday, it has finally cooled off to the 70s with lower humidity. The laundry is out on the line. Husband and I watched the beautiful sunset last evening. Just gorgeous colors. I kept thinking how the colors would make a lovely quilt.
    Everything in the garden is producing well except the cucumbers. I'm also picking a lot of cherry and grape tomatoes, carrots and scallions. Will be dicing and freezing green pepper soon. Took advantage of cooler weather a couple of weeks ago to cut back the spiderwort and weed the flower beds. Everything looks so much better. We've had a female ruby-throated hummingbird who has been a regular visitor to the zinnias and butterfly bush.
    In the frugality department, Husband finished up (so he thought) a bottle of lotion. I cut open the bottle and it was still 1/5 full! Now he can just scoop some out with his hand. I used your trick with a marker to cover some scratches in my living room end table. I'll be getting some Olde English polish to cover a larger scratched area. Since my new-to-me recliner is a lot larger than my old chair, I rearranged the living room a little to give Husband more room to get around the furniture. He is getting used to using a quad cane since his latest fall earlier in August. I also installed a grab bar in his bedroom where he has fallen a couple of times. We are actively looking at how to make our house work better for us.
    Husband had his annual dermatologist appt a couple of weeks ago, and she removed a lesion from the middle of his forehead. The biopsy showed squamous cell cancer, so he has to have more skin removed on Oct. 1.
    September is full of rescheduled appts. He has the dentist, and I have the dentist, optomotrist and mammogram this month. This is in addition to a couple of business appts. We're not used to so much activity, especially Husband.
    My pantry shopping is complete, and I now shop only to replace what I use. Aldi finally got canned salmon back in, and I bought 24 cans.
    I have finally located cedar lumber to re-make my rotting and bug-eaten raised garden beds, and I plan to buy it this week even though I'm not working on the beds until the end of the growing season.
    Did a couple of simple repairs in the bathroom. I'd been putting them off for over a year! Drilled a hole in a stick-on plastic door knob wall protector to use as an escutcheon behind my shower head. The pitiful excuse for a plumber who installed the shower hardware (and who no longer works there) had left a large hole in the tub surround. I also screwed back up a drooping ceiling tile panel in the bathroom. This is a common problem in old trailers.
    Meals this week are mexican casserole in the crockpot and tuna noodle casserole. I made your Pineapple Dump Cake recipe (less the nuts), and we both loved it! I will definitely be making it again.
    Our library is now open for business, but is still doing touchless pickup and returns. I've been reading Sharon Kay Penman's Justin deQuincy mysteries, which are set in 12th century England and France. It's nice that we can request books from other network libraries again.
    Our main Project Linus client, a large local children's hospital, has not decided whether or not to take our blankets again. Actually, the nurses and staff very much want them for the children, but their lawyers are dithering. Because we have a backlog of available blankets, our PL coordinator reached out to the regional Children & Youth Services. They want 3,500 blankets by mid-November for their annual holiday gift distribution to children in foster care! We blanketeers will be very busy!

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    1. Minus the large amount of rain - your first two paragraphs sound like my week!
      You need to do whatever it takes to make things safe. My goodness I still have 4 grab bars up and other changes that we made for hubs. It's your place and you should both be comfortable and safe.
      Glad you liked the dump cake - I really like that stuff.

      You would think they would take the blankets - they can let them sit in heat for a while before giving them out. Heck, masks are being 'heat' treated and reused. So you would think they blankets would be fine. I can't imagine how many children those blankets make happy and snug. Surrounded with love. Thank you for doing that!

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  10. I love cherry tomatoes! Next year i will plant more of those, and less of the larger variety. We built garden boxes, so will be able to expand our planting in future seasons.

    We've eaten up lots of tomatoes & jalapenos, and I've been sharing the jalapenos with anyone who will take them. I picked 40 yesterday. The plants are producing like crazy.

    Other frugal wins:
    -Menu planning
    -Selling things we don't need on eBay
    -I found a few useful coupons at the store, and saved $3
    -Stocked up on a few other grocery items when I noticed they were "on sale" (and, by that, they are almost back to pre COVID prices)

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    1. Cherry tomatoes are like eating candy for me (thank goodness not the calories!). I grab several every time I walk in the kitchen.
      Sounds like a good week. Glad you were able to find some deals!
      That is a lot of jalapenos. Have you made Cowboy candy with them? I have never had it - but everyone says it is wonderful. Sweet and hot.

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  11. After a small harvest of red tomatoes we have hundreds that remain green, I think in the end it will become green tomato chutney.

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    1. If we have too many green tomatoes, other than making chutney, we often cut the whole truss off and hang from window hangles. They often ripen, especially if in a sunny place.

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    2. mamasmercantile - it is amazing how tomatoes can flourish. I have made green tomato relish many times and it is a favorite. I can sit and eat it out of the jar with a spoon.

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    3. Dc I have heard of people doing that. That is a good idea to have fresh tomatoes longer in the season - just so they don't freeze.

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  12. We too had a glorious sunset here last night. Put one picture up for a new header photo. Been busy checking out the freezer and using up some fruit as jam. Smells and tastes lovely.

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    1. Those beautiful sunsets sure make a nice ending to the day - and a pretty sunrise starts the day on a good note.
      Good for you on using up the fruit in a new and useful way.
      I can almost smell it from here!

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  13. You had a busy week! And it made you happy! That's the best!

    I love your meal ideas. I feel like no matter what I eat,I cannot lose the 10 pounds I have put on during this pandemic! I am still working on my 10,000 steps a day. It seems to be a losing battle. ugh.

    Our weather here in Southwest Florida is still oppressive--hot and humid. Yard work is done in short increments!

    Pantry is full,so just keeping a short list of what I use to replace things.

    Trying to stay positive---still mourning the loss of my young neighbor a week ago (ovarian cancer---age 60) No symptoms till there were. Went to get them checked out,and came home from a week in the hospital--under Hospice care...nothing they could do. Died a month later.

    Sorry to end on a sad note---so will mention that it is a beautiful sunshiny day today, and I am grateful to be alive!

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    1. I am so sorry for loss of your neighbor. So sad. I hope she did not suffer.
      Losing weight is easier said than done. It seems mine fluctuates and is lowest when I do a big veggie kick.

      Glad it is a beautiful day there. Always look for the positive in each day - it helps with the sadness.
      HUGS

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  14. I agree with Grammy D: your blog is a pleasure to read and educational to boot! Cute how your hubby called you Pollyanna. Better that than Grumpy. ha! Yes, we need to always look for the positive(s) in each day. They are there, one needs to just open her eyes.

    Chattering kitties are funny! My youngest daughter sent me a post from Instagram with a kitty watching through the sliding patio doors a squirrel trying to get her food on the patio and he made enough noise that the squirrel took off just flying back over the fence. That probably won't keep him away tho.

    I am very excited about my new Bible and plan on setting up a color coding system for topics and improving my lettering skills for notes. Scripture study is a definite positive in my day.

    On Grammy D's recommendation, I checked out Blue House Journal's blog and subscribed. Love your blog and others like it. Who wants to read someone's diatribe about what is going on and most of the time they are misinformed. Be aware and discerning but look for the positives.

    Gorgeous day yesterday and today...just waiting for the rain...sure do need some.

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    1. Oh kitties are so much fun to listen to. They get so excited and chatter and wiggle those little bums!!!

      I understand. My personal Bible study each day is an important part of life.

      I agree - we all know what is going on in the world - mostly the bad - so we don't need a reminder from from people giving their opinions. We wake up each morning and that is good - so make the best of what we are given!

      Looking forward to the rain as well!

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  15. I'm reading this on Sept 14, Yesterday was our 40th wedding anniversary. When did I get that old. I don't feel that old on the inside. We've dug all the potatoes and let them dry on the front porch on tables. I covered them with old tableclothes as they were starting to get green. I will need to move them to the basement but the Littles play down there and I'm not sure how to protect the potatoes. Somehow I will need to barricade an area off and find a way to cover them. I found some more jars so will be canning more tomatoes. Everyone tells me they use their big canner just fine on their glasstop stove. So I guess I'll try it too. Also we've been trying to gather fragments of food and keep from wasting anything. I just cook too much. That's on my mind these days, how to reduce our meals so there are leftovers if Farmer wants them but not so much we get tired of it. And finally, he went in for an x-ray on his wrist, another month off of work (it's been 8 weeks already) and now starting PT. At least the swelling is going down and none of the healthcare people were worried about how it looks. Huge blessing as I was rather worried. Harvest will be starting very soon. We have some bean fields almost ready.
    Enjoy the Fall weather!

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  16. Your stove top stuffing casserole sounds quite tasty. I need to try something similar. We had a recipe that used chicken and cream of chicken soup. The first time I fixed it, we both loved it, the second time was okay...the third time we decided never again. I don't know why we changed...I did not do anything different.

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