Catch Up Friday

 

It's been a quiet day of getting a few things done around the house. I did a bit of decluttering, worked on tidying and organizing the sewing/craft room. I picked herbs to dry (need to put the comfrey in the dehydrator), walked around the garden and backyard making a few plans for next year. Pretty sure more food will be planted and I am thinking of getting one of those tower Aerogrow things. In order to try and save a bit on greens this winter. I will need to price that out.

I will do a bit more organizing in the sewing/craft room in a bit since supper is made and the table set. We are both now waiting for Kurt to arrive and then after he has rested a bit, supper will be served. 

We got almost half an inch of rain last night, so the rhubarb patch was a bit wet this morning. No rain today, even though we had some pretty black sky this afternoon so I am kind of hopeful of getting some picked a bit later or first thing tomorrow morning. 

I, sort of hate that we have the Torquay Village 100th Celebration tomorrow. It means we will be leaving Kurt by himself, and missing out on a days visit with him. Considering he is only here for 5 nights and 4 days this time around I find it hard to not want to spend as much of that time as possible visiting. 

The lists for next month's extra cleaning and goals/projects has been completed as well. Monthly menus are done and whenever there is a cooler day, batch cooking will be happening. More main dish salads are going to be made as well. Of course my menu plans are pretty interchangeable and as long as all I have planned to make is actually made, it really does not matter what day it is made on. Things need to be used up, of course, but most of my recipes or menus do enable me to use up what needs to be used. 

Life is actually getting simpler as I realize that organizing, decluttering, having menu plans, cleaning lists, projects, and garden harvesting can not be as complicated as I made it. Sure it is work, but work for the most part that I enjoy.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

So Very Tired

 Oh my, have you ever just wanted to crawl back into bed after being up for a couple of hours? That is pretty much how I have been feeling the last couple of days. I am even running a low grade fever and have a slight cough. 

I was going to do so much outside today, but with the smoke and wearing an N95 mask I was lucky to get the plants watered. The smoke is worse today and I am not sure if it will be gone by tomorrow. The wildfires are still not under control and the wind does not want to die down so I am pretty sure there will be smoke tomorrow as well. 

I hope to put on the mask after supper and dishes to at least get the rhubarb picked. I will then crawl into the tub, have a nice soak and turn on the jets for a change. Then perhaps a bit of knitting and bed once my hair dries. Hopefully a nice long sleep will help things out a bit.

I did get the budget figures inputted and the paperwork filed away. I am happy to report that I was under for groceries once again. That amount is what I am using to pay off the dining room chairs. I only have another $116.00 to go so those should be paid off by next month, with hopefully a bit going toward the stove. With any luck the new range will be paid off lickety split. Or at least well before Christmas. My next pay off will be the income tax (that is actually lower than the 2 partial plates). 

Off to get a very simple supper on the table. Most components have been prepared in advance so it isn't too taxing. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 

The day started off sunny, but fairly cool. Now it is grey, windy, and even though the temperature is decent, it feels so much cooler. 

I managed to get most of my Tuesday household tasks completed, but haven't gotten the fridge wiped down. I decided to wait until it was slightly more empty before trying to do so. Instead I got my nightgown finished and by the time that was done the clouds had rolled in. No more sewing done, though I may yet do some hand sewing on the jacket cuff. That would finish off one sleeve before the step of putting it into the armhole. 

Tonight I will continue knitting, I am almost finished the back of the second knitted tank. This means only two projects carried over into May, and since I have a good start on them they should both be finished fairly early in the month. 

Harvey has been outside working in the garden. He has rototilled about 1/4, put up the chicken wire around the cucumber area, and planted his potatoes. On Friday we will be traveling east to a small town greenhouse to pick up our Haskap (Honeyberry) plants and hopefully get those into the ground by early next week. Slowly but surely planting will continue over the next while. The tender plants and veggies will not be planted until after our long weekend. 

Budget work needs to be done tomorrow, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to have a good portion saved for the chair pay back. It would be great if I managed to put that back into savings in just a couple of months. I am also hoping to save some money on plants this year and do some container planting of veggies. That will add green to various areas if not pretty flowers. I do know Kris has planted some flowers so I will probably collect some from him. 

Off to visit you all before I have to make the dumplings. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits And Stuff

 

The house is quiet once again, perhaps too quiet right now. Work, other than slowly hand stitching the quilt went by the wayside this weekend. 

My back was much better, just a twinge now and again. With Kris's help Thanksgiving dinner went well. He helped by putting the turkey in the oven and taking it out. Saved my back for sure.

Kurt was outside helping Harvey cut branches off the trees. Those now need to be cut down, the bigger portions saved for the firepit, and the smaller ones hauled to the dump next weekend. He then raked the leaves and smaller sticks up for easier disposal. 

Eiko, our grandcat is getting more and more used to us being around. She is still a bit skittish, but at least does not attack us, claws out when we walk by. 

I spent some time yesterday cutting scrap fabric into strips, 4" squares and 6" squares. One more project finished this month. Sure glad that I only have a few small ones left to do. The 6" squares are being edged and then I will be using them as tinkle cloths... Should have enough now to last more than a week. I got the first 20 or so done this afternoon. 

There are tomatoes left to either process or eat. I do think there are too many to eat, but shall give that a try. I have made 6 containers of tomato sauce, 6 jars of salsa and have numerous bags in the freezer of frozen tomatoes to use in chilies and stews over the winter. 

The days are drawing in and soon we will be turning on the heat. Not something I am looking forward to, but Harvey is complaining that it is pretty cold in here mornings. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can manage to keep it off until at least the end of this week. The house does warm up considerably during the day. 

Stocking up for the winter will be continuing. Mostly canned items and cold/flu type items are left. Plus a few of the gifts still need to be purchased as well. 

My laptop has been acting up and Kris said it is reaching the end of it's life span. We will be traveling some time soon up to visit with him and he can take me shopping for a new one and then gets the joy of transferring from this one to the new one. He also wants to set me up with the "cloud". Scary proposition as then I would need to learn something else. I do have an external hard drive, so perhaps I can talk him into using that instead. This laptop will be used in my sewing/craft room with my embroidery machine and my Cricut. Should work perfectly fine for those things. 

Tomorrow I will post some pictures of our visit to our (my sister went with me) aunts. One is 92 and the other is 97. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.