Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 Quiet reigns on the old homestead. I have been trying to get lots of little things done around the house. You know the things we keep putting off each and every day. Getting those little things completed is easing my stress level each and every day. 

I am still getting my regular tasks done and I am slowly learning to pace myself. Taking rests between tasks and finding ways to complete something with the least effort. This will not last as soon I will be washing walls, painting outside, planting, and getting the deck set up for use. I will also be pulling firewood from the wood box and resupplying the holder near our firepit. Must remember to get Harvey to split some as full logs don't start a fire very well. 

Work on projects is ongoing, and I now realize that I will not finish all that I had planned to do. Still I did manage to get a few completed, and some ready for the next step. That is pretty much all I can ask of myself at this point in my life. I am getting too old to go, go, go, each and every day and resting is imperative I find. Too much on my plate just seems to frustrate me in trying to get all done. 

This means my projects/goals list will contain things that I can get done quickly as well as those that will take a bit longer to complete. It is also making me rethink things like making cards (which I will still do) after I use up all the cardstock I have. In fact I am thinking that using some of the cardstock to make flowers might be a great way to clean that bit of my stash out. I am also considering sticking to cleaning out the yarn stash even more as that has really gotten out of hand over the past few years. Bits/bobs and orphan balls really add up and take up lots of valuable space. Hence why once I finish the 120 pairs of mittens I am going to try and get some toques made for Kurt's K-12 school. Might even make some colourful knit blankets to rid myself of even more. 

I no longer want to do things that do not bring me peace or joy, and am finding it extremely difficult to even read family members posts on Facebook. Perhaps it is time to take a step back and evaluate if that social media is serving it's purpose any longer. Could be the time to block some of the family.

At 70 years of age I want peace, joy, humanity, and love. I don't need complaints, hatred of people who don't follow the same political leaning, and those who want to drag the country down. 

Life is meant to be lived and enjoyed.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 I am still not feeling tip top, but at least now that the weather is no longer as windy and the air pressure has steadied my back is not as much of a problem. 

So today was a day of rest, I did the bare minimum to keep the old homestead running fairly smoothly, went to Mass (Harvey was ill, probably caught it from me) alone and spent most of the rest of today knitting and setting up a design on my Cricut desk top app to get started on the Thank you cards. 

I do feel much more at ease and not as stressed out even though the nutter who went after Kurt awhile back is at it once again. Guess his probation is over, but Kurt has been talking to the lawyer once again and if it gets too bad the nutter will be slapped with a cease and desist letter. If that doesn't work he will be back in court on charges as he admitted to giving out Kurt's name, place of employment, and home address to some very not nice people. 

Kurt finds in amusing as he has only mentioned this person twice on his blog years and years ago, and once he found out the person had a learning disability never mentioned him again. Kurt also says he has more or less retired from Nazi and fascist hunting for the past three years so why this is happening again is crazy. 

Hoping the weather gets much warmer as Harvey wants to work up the garden and plant his potatoes. He usually does them about now so they are quite large by the fall.

Me, well I just want to be able to enjoy sitting on the deck and hanging clothes on the lines.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Midweek Ramblings

 I think the neighbour on the other side of me is starting the moving out process, but I am not really sure as they are going about it very strangely. We shall see what happens later on. 

It has been a pretty grey day until about 30 minutes ago. The sun is out and shining brightly, but the wind is something else. The air is full of dust at times from the topsoil blowing around. We definitely need a good soaking rain.

Today has been spent decluttering, and I think that will continue for another couple of days. I have also looked up a couple of recipes to make when our weather changes tomorrow and Friday. They will be days to stay at home and keep busy.

First off on the cooking will be the veggie stock. I am pretty sure I have enough vegetable scraps to make some. I will probably freeze that in the smaller 1 cup molds. Then I will move on to some baking and get a carrot cake with cream cheese icing made. This will use up some raisins, some of the carrots in the crisper, and the cream cheese that needs using. Move on after that to Oatmeal Raisin Cookies to use up the remaining raisins. I should make some Hamburger buns as well as on Friday we will be having Fish Burgers. 

The menu is pretty well made up for next month. I will be pulling lots of ready made meals out of the chest freezer to use. Some are getting pretty dated. There is also a pie crust ball in there that I may try and make some calzone type things out of. Those will go back in the freezer as if they are out and have turned out I will eat them until they are gone. 

Managing to work on some projects, but my shoulders and arms start to bother me after about an hours weaving and I need to move on to something different. 

Tomorrow night is the once a month meeting of the ladies who knit and crochet, so if the weather cooperates I will make the effort to get to the meeting. I will just make sure to park in a different area of the lot. Making sure I do not have to crawl in again. That acrobatic movement caused me pain for many a day after. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

It rained a bit overnight, and was cloudy most of the day. Now the sun is out and I am enjoying that I could turn off lights in certain areas of the house. 

My back felt wonderful this morning, so instead of staying home and going to Mass online, off we went to the church. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate in community, however by the end of Mass my back was beginning to spasm. I had to walk very slowly out of the church and going down the stairs was jarring. 

Harvey decided that rather than me cook, or him cook he would take me out for brunch. The padded seats did help my back pain. 

Once home I would work for 15 minutes at a time on the loom and then take a short walk to ease the back. 

I also did the walk when cleaning and tidying the baking shelves in the larger side of the kitchen pantry. When I go shopping, because of all the bending, stretching, and lifting it takes me much longer (okay conversations with friends takes up a lot of time) to shop than it used to. It also causes my back to give me much more pain than usual. This means that when I come home and begin to put away the groceries, I more or less just toss things into the cupboard. Today, everything got put in their correct storage container, and I noticed I really need to get a couple more of those. 

This is the finished tidy.

I am very happy with how it turned out, and I can actually see things a bit easier.

Off to get supper sides started. I have changed my menu slightly as I am not going to waste any food. So instead of roasted potatoes we will be finishing off the pasta salad I made yesterday. I am also going to make some frozen French style cut green beans as those have been in the freezer for a very long time and need using.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

The heavy, wet snow we got yesterday is melting as the sun is shining. That sun is also keeping the furnace from cutting in much. Natural gas bill for next month should be a bit lower I hope.

I also hope that using small appliances like the electric roaster and toaster oven will bring down the electric costs as well. Especially since our costs for electric will be rising 5% starting April 1st. 

Got our extra medical insurance cost as well. It will of course be going up since we are aging. It went up for Harvey in June of last year, and is going up for me in May. It is getting pretty darn expensive, and I may look into the costs for other insurance, if I can find something that covers us for prior conditions. 

A few of the seeds I planted last week are starting to sprout. I am hoping to save just a bit this year on perennials and plants for my pots. Then next year saving a bit more by using one shelf on Harvey's set up with grow lights. Now if I could remember to save seed, that would even be better.

We were under overall budget for the month once again, but I was very close to going over on the grocery budget line. The fact is I probably will go over budget for the month of April. I want to stock up on items that are going to be very expensive due to transportation costs. 

Where we live in Saskatchewan, every single thing has to be transported. It either comes from out of province or from one of the four larger cities here. 

This, plus the fact that we live in a city where there is lots of oil and people can make a great deal of money does not make it inexpensive to reside here. Per capita, I have heard there are more millionaires here than anywhere else. Not sure if I believe that, but from the homes built and the vehicles driven I can see that many are not hurting at all right now. We did have a problem when the oil bombed, but things have picked up once again. 

I plan on stocking up on canned meats, fresh meat that is on sale (to build up freezer stocks once again), and things like flour, sugar, cheese, toilet paper, paper towels (for the messy things). If I can find olive oil with an extended use by date I will get a couple of those as well. Perhaps some instant coffee will make the list at some point as well. Prices seem to go up each and every week and that is concerning. 

Until the price of fuel falls (if it ever does) I think life is going to be tough for a great many people.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

I have had another fairly quiet day here on the old homestead. One in which for the first time ever I am trying to cook a beef brisket in my electric roaster. We have always smoked them before. I hope it is tender enough to eat.

The loom is once again set up for the next half of the rug. I really hope there is enough warp left to actually complete it and if not I may be doing the rug in three pieces. Not that Kris would mind either way, he will just be happy to have a rug in front of his door. I will be happy just to get it completed and a new project warped. 

Bob is getting a bit better in the behaviour portion. He is no longer scratching at things he shouldn't, and as far as jumping onto things he shouldn't all we now have to do is say "No" in a rather loud voice and he quickly gets down. 

Next up will be working on trying to get him not to move his water bowl around causing it to run into the mat, and under said mat which affects our flooring (not in a nice way as it is laminate).

As far as his night time behaviour, it is getting very much better. I have some toys that are keeping him awake during the day for longer periods and that is enabling us to get much better sleep. Okay, me much better sleep, as Harvey can sleep pretty much through anything less than an explosion right by his ear (could be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much).

I said I would not be going shopping earlier this week, but we have some nasty weather coming in and I am kind of on the fence right now. Especially since I will need to purchase some onions in order to make a few meals and some of the soups. I could use my allowance to purchase the onions and leave my credit card at home. I could also purchase some milk and that would probably do us for at least another week or week and a half. I will probably do that and hold off on the bigger shop until early the next week. 

There is a gentle rhythm to my days which I am really enjoying. Mornings are spent getting those tasks completed necessary for the smooth running of our small homestead, afternoons are spent working on projects, extra cleaning (things I do monthly and perhaps twice a year), baking and enjoying the changing weather (well at least the nice weather). 

Computer work is fitted in where I can, and the same could be said about watching Youtubers. 

One thing I have noticed with catsitting Bob is that my to do lists have gotten a bit longer.....

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

Still in the deep freeze here so I am glad to have things to do around the house and projects to keep me busy. Today should be the last of the really cold days, and then we will gradually have a warm up. 

I brought beef broth and chicken stock upstairs to make into soup this morning. I plan on doing a batch cook of soups one day this week. The only soup left in the freezer is Pea and Harvey really does not care for that. So I will make beef vegetable, beef noodle, chicken vegetable and chicken noodle to restock. I even plan on using my molds for this task. I will let you all know how that goes. 

First I think I must clarify something. Our Co-op give a yearly percentage into our accounts on what we purchase, and from that we get a small percentage back. The most I ever got was $110.00. The rest is put away until we are 65 and want to remove it. We could take it all, or a portion of what has accumulated. We can also remove the total amount if we move and close our account, I did this when Harvey was transferred to Shaunavon many, many years ago.

There are also a few questions from the last post I should answer. 

I was asked if I dehydrate fruits and veggies. The answer is yes, though I am more inclined to freeze them. I do dehydrate lots of herbs and have been known to make jerky.

I was also asked if I ferment veggies. While I do pickle lots of different vegetables I have not tried fermenting them. I often think I would love to make sauerkraut when cabbage is on sale, but have never gotten around to that. Instead I make Birokies (or what I call Cabbage bread), Cabbage Rolls, or Lazy Cabbage Roll Casseroles. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Midweek Update

 Another quiet beginning to the week. Not really because I have nothing to do, because I do, but more weather related. 

While we are getting nothing in comparison to places a bit further north, the freezing rain began about 2 hours ago, making me so glad that I did my shopping yesterday. No reason to head out and be on the roads with all those crazy drivers. 

Kris, up in Regina has been getting lots of rain. I hear the roads are sheer ice, like skating rinks. I will be phoning him later when I am sure he is home safe and sound.

Kurt, in Drumheller, is in the midst of a blizzard and so I will be checking in with him later as well.

I just want my family to be safe and sound.

I have been doing a bit of baking (bread) and working on projects. The list for this month is slowly being completed. Pictures to follow on Saturday. I may even be able to get a few other projects that aren't on my list. Super good.

Finished the Minimalism book, and realized that by living a frugal life, decluttering and organizing I have actually been doing many of the recommended things in this book. The book also states that a person only needs to follow this kind of lifestyle in the way that suits them. I do know there is no way I could ever get rid of the pictures I have displayed as is talked about in one chapter. My life while not one of minimalism, it will be a more simple one as I declutter more and more. Learning to enjoy the quiet times and the times with my family.

Here is a shot of this mornings sunrise, which did not stick around for very long.

Don't mind the reflections in the window.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

It has been a quiet, get things accomplished day here on the old Phillips homestead. I have been pretty achy today, which means I have been moving a bit more and changing position a great deal. Also using lots of my mint salve to keep the pain down. I don't like using pain meds unless absolutely necessary.

Now our trip is up in the air once again. It seems the striking workers are refusing to go back to work. Probably not a smart thing to do as the fines are very high for both the workers and the union the longer they refuse. Even if they get their wage increase (which they were offered) I doubt they will be making enough to pay said fines. I know they want to be paid for when they are boarding passengers or waiting between flights, but the only airline that does that is Delta in the US. Being offered a 35% increase in wages with the first year being a 25% increase is darn good. We will continue to keep our fingers crossed that things change and that we will actually be on a plane in just under 2 weeks. 

I got the 10 pairs of the smaller size mittens done, and I will begin sewing up the side seams tonight. I even managed between changing positions, get quite a bit of the firepit quilt hand quilted. I may actually be able to get it done by late tomorrow and that means sewing on the bindings, and machine hemming the tea towels tomorrow. 

As far as getting the floor cleared up in the sewing/craft room, that is moving along very slowly. I really need a shelving unit in the closet for another storage solution. I am promising myself (or at least I hope to) not to purchase any more yarn or fabric until I manage to clear out more of what I already own. The mittens are helping to use things up, but I think after these are done I will make some scarves for the students of Kurt's school. I can use some up in weaving projects as well. 

Working very hard on trying to get the garden produce put up for the winter season. This week I have made apple pie filling, I did a double batch today, and will probably get a single batch made tomorrow. Yogurt is started and I hope to get that draining overnight. Of course lots of dehydrating is happening, and I think that tomorrow and the next day I will be making fries and perogies for the freezer. I may even manage to get some flat breads made and put in the freezer as well. 

The next two weeks (just in case we actually get our trip) will see me trying to keep the fridge as cleared out as possible. This probably means a few fridge smorg meals and a redo of the menu plans. Not a bad thing if it enables us to use all our food to advantage and keep our bills down to a minimum if at all possible.

I hope that all of my readers are having a lovely day and finding the joy in the simple things. Hubby said he watered my round perennial bed yesterday and our resident bunny popped out. So far no damage to the garden, most times they seem to eat the weeds or the grass in the yard.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

We are back home from what seems to have been a whirl wind trip to visit with Kris. 

Now I have a whirl wind time getting ready for next week. Lots of lists to make, and things to complete before the next week and month can begin. 

Everything is unpacked, put away, or added to the laundry. I have checked all the flowers outside, and am very happy that we managed to get almost an inch of rain while we were gone. That means I don't have to water tonight. It is hot and humid right now, so I will more than likely be watering tomorrow.

I have managed to get the monthly extra cleaning list completed, the new months project/goal list done and I hope the menu plan for August done as well. Things in the fridge freezer are getting used up and I hope to get it totally cleared out by the beginning of next week. 

After this post I will be setting the table and working on my daily lists of household tasks, adding in little extras throughout the month starting on Friday. I need to complete lots of garden harvesting by the 29th of August as we leave on our trip for 9 days. I am hoping that my friend will be able to water the plants if we don't get any rain. 

I have had a mostly plastic free month. I take any plastic bags I have used back to the store to refill with fresh produce. I can never seem to go completely plastic free, but I hope the little I do does help. 

Off to set the table and then make my daily lists. I hope to visit with all of you at some point either tonight or early tomorrow morning.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 It has been a quiet and rainy day here on the old homestead. I got up after a very restless night, and some aches and pains. It made sitting in a pew at Mass very difficult. I told Harvey no going out for brunch, I just wanted to get home and put some heat on my back. 

I sat at the loom with the heating pad for an hour. I am actually within a few inches of getting the first tea towel completed. I will use the new way I found of finishing the ends so they will not fray or move around on the warp. Once done the item will be removed and the warp retied for the second one. Hopefully this second one goes a bit quicker and I may have enough for a third but that will need to wait for a bit.

I have also worked on the embroidery for a little while. I hope to get back to that now that supper is started and cooking very slowly in the oven. Pretty sure there will be enough for another meal later this week. Simplifying my meal prep is going to be next on my journey to a simple balanced life. Warming items up and picking sides takes no time at all in comparison to making whole new meals almost every day. I do love to cook, but it does get a bit tiring at times, and Harvey does not mind leftovers at all as long as they are not served two days in a row. 

Off to visit with you all a bit, and then back to embroidery and then cutting pieces for the rug project that I have planned for later.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Midweek Musings

 

I slept very well last night and didn't wake until 5:30 this morning. Meant a quick walk/hobble to the facilities. Then I decided to lay on the couch and fell asleep for another hour. I was very well rested. 

However, Jackie did something she swore she would not do ever again, and that was head out shopping before having something, anything to eat. By the time I was done, I felt weak, nauseous, and headachy. All I wanted to do by the time groceries were put away was have something to eat, drink and perhaps work on projects for a bit. Other household tasks were put on hold until I started to feel a bit better. Paying the remainder of the trip was on the list, but I will do so tomorrow. I did do the online bill paying and the transferring of money from the savings account to the chequing account. I will be using the credit card to pay the next installment and then paying that off totally when it shows up on the card. Probably in a week or so. 

The feeling better did not happen until just a bit ago. It was a darn good thing most of the household tasks were completed before I went out. I just got back in from watering my plants. It is a good thing that all I need to make is the sandwiches to go with the Lentil Soup tonight as I still feel slightly lightheaded and headachy. 

I am so amazed that grocery prices keep right on going up. Beef is getting really expensive, even on sale. When you have a big beef eater like Harvey this could be a problem. I did manage to get some steaks on sale (price was still crazy) and a rather large and costly beef brisket (it was on sale as well). The brisket has been cut in half and each half will do us many meals after smoking. I am really trying to get the most bang that I can from our grocery budget and figuring out ways to stretch a pound of meat into 3 or 4 more meals for the two of us. 

I worry about those just starting out, or in low paying service jobs. While saving money is important to us after years of doing just that, we really are okay and could in fact probably let up on the frugal endeavors. I think they are too ingrained to stop though. Many people have no choice and really need to cut back and sometimes the cutting back is on medical, heat, light, air conditioning. Those things could in fact cause death or failing health leading to other complications. 

Things are getting scary out in the world. Wars, allies no longer allies, and those we thought of as friends we sometimes find out really are not our friends. 

It is starting to thunder out, so I had better end this. It was beginning to be too much of a downer as well.

Hopefully some project pictures coming up very soon and more talk about trying to simplify our lives here on the old homestead. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless. 

 

Sunday Ramblings

 

Since the Passion was read at Mass today, it was a longer service, not really much longer though as one thing about this priest is that he always starts on time. 

I think the church was a bit warmish today as I started sweating, and got really dizzy. Holy week has started and so the Masses (except for Good Friday) will be longer than usual. I don't know if I will be able to attend like I always have. Good Friday there is a Way of the Cross outside put on by various mainline Christian churches so I think I will attend that for a change. Outside, walking and taking part in an interfaith service is right up my alley. 

Today has been very rainy. Which is a good thing. The ground needs the moisture and the cleaning effects. Love a good rain as it will fill up the rain barrel as well. 

Day of no spring cleaning just working on projects and enjoying the quiet. I did plan out next weeks daily tasks and my spring cleaning tasks. It will not be finished for Easter, but not too long after. I will probably get two areas cleaned, but the last two will need to wait. There is baking to do, visiting, and just plain being with family over the week. 

While Kurt will not be home, Kris will so I am going to check out his injury (well actually two as now he realizes that he did a job on his knee as well). He had to do some repairs on his covered deck and Harvey of course gave him some ideas. One support pole is up, and he will do the next couple probably next month. The heavy snow Regina got this year did a bit of a number on it. 

Home is quickly becoming our sanctuary, not sure when we will move, as the losses in our investment need to be made up and I have so many plans for making our yard produce more veggies and fruit. That is something we can not do in a condo. I can continue to declutter and downsize. I can make our home an oasis of peace and beauty. We can learn from the frugal habits of our parents and grandparents and perhaps pass on a few new ideas to our sons. We can enjoy our backyard more (what those in the UK call their gardens), and take the time to sit and talk with family around the firepit or deck. 

I also think that some drives to forage berries will be in order this year as well. I miss having chokecherry jelly and syrup in the pantry. Kind of an outdoor date with benefits. Hopefully the ticks will all be gone by the time berry picking takes place, I am kind of a tick magnet. I hate having to remove them from my body. 

While life can change, I am going to definitely make the best of those changes and live each day with joy and confidence in what is going to happen in our lives. We have our family, we have a mortgage free home, we have skills and habits that will see us through any and all of lives ups and downs.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

I phoned Kris just before noon today to see how he is doing. He did not get much sleep last night due to the pain in his arm. Hopefully he gets more tonight. As he said all he did was get off the couch to feed Eiko, and himself or go to the facilities. Tonight he is going to have a shower and rebandage his arm. The doctor told him that as long as he did not soak the wound he could have a shower. 

I also asked him if he wanted us to come up to his place for Easter and he said he would rather come home to visit. It will be very nice to have him home and make sure all is going well with his healing. 

Today has been very quiet. I got the few tasks completed that needed doing, and have done some knitting. I just can't seem to concentrate for very long at all. 

Harvey has been busy spraying the boxelder bugs. It seems like a never ending task this year. They seem to keep right on appearing. Perhaps by the end of spring we can get them under control.

Every morning I get to watch the Canada geese fly across our sky. 

Flock after flock are heading north. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

It has been very quiet today. After Mass, Harvey decided to go ice fishing. He didn't catch anything but he got out in the fresh air and had some fun. 

Me, well I made next weeks task list, did the few household tasks that were necessary for the smooth running of the homestead and then got to sit and embroider on the quilt square for the afternoon. I have almost finished the second corner, which if there is any sun and any time tomorrow I will complete and move on to the third corner. I may have to pull out my Ott light in order to continue as we are supposed to be getting rain and then snow. I hope to get out and get most errands done early.

Looking at the long range forecast it says lots of snow for later in the week, both here and in Regina where Kris resides. We may not be able to get there to visit as Harvey has a dental appointment early in the following week. We shall see, I am keeping my fingers crossed as to a change in the forecast.

Blocks have been put together to make the lap quilt and if it is too cloudy this week I will be sewing that instead of embroidery. Got to keep as busy as possible for the foreseeable future. I have lots of projects to complete this month so no problem keeping busy.

There is a great sale on mushrooms this week, so I am thinking of purchasing extra and pulling the dehydrator into service. I need to use that appliance even in the winter months from now on so as to stock things up a bit. Freezing works but I am trying to clean out the veggies I froze last year so as to make room for next years harvest. 

I wish I could say I have been staying away from news, but that would be a lie. I need to know what is happening so I can be prepared for whatever happens. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

We are heading into some bitterly cold nights. In fact tonight it might actually reach -50C, I am not too sure if we have ever gotten that cold. Here is hoping our power plant can handle this. Perhaps we won't be able to send any power to North Dakota.... We might actually need it all for ourselves.

We did not go to in person Mass today. Instead watched online from the Cathedral. Really just too cold to even attempt.

Not much has been happening since it is so cold. We haven't been out much and I don't plan on pulling out the recycling tonight or the garbage tomorrow for pick up. Things can wait a week or two, as there are only Hubby and I here there really isn't much garbage or recycling to be had in a week. Unlike my friend who always seems to have overloaded bins. 

Tomorrow is a holiday here called Family Day so everyone gets to stay home. I am glad I won't have to worry about Kris going to work and since he works at home on Tuesdays I am hopeful that he will miss the really cold mornings. Heck, he could even work from home on Wednesday if he chooses as they are allowed 2 days a week to do so. Thursday it will be warming up and then if things hold true we should be into some nicer temperatures for awhile. 

Kurt is in Alberta and they seem to be missing this nasty weather right now. Keeping my fingers crossed that holds true while he is undergoing Faith Days and Teacher's Convention this coming week. 

I did some straightening of my pantry in the kitchen. Lots of part cans of non-stick spray. I have put them in some order to be able to use them up. No idea how that happened at all. 

Pulled up the main courses for the week and if we do go to Kris's place on the weekend I will be taking a couple of meals with me. Well at least one meal and perhaps we can stop and pick up some chicken for the other meal. Trying to help him out as much as possible. Pretty sure things could get tight for him, at least he has seniority with the city and his job.

As far as my projects, things are moving along slowly but surely. I might actually manage to get another placemat. It will be nip and tuck though. Perhaps I will be hemming them by the beginning of next week. 

Frugal and thrifty things are happening as usual and decluttering is moving along very slowly. As I said before, this could just be the year of using things up as a means of downsizing. The more I use the less there will be to need using. 

Watching all of the YouTube video's of people doing pantry challenges and seeing all that I have in mine, I am tempted to try a couple of weeks worth of meals just from what I have. 

I am getting much better at making my yogurt. It gets thicker every time and I am beginning to enjoy adding frozen fruit, granola and honey to each morning serving. Much less expensive than purchasing it really and I know what is in it. I need to get some started tonight. 

Off to visit with you all, before starting to get the potatoes into the roaster.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

 

No finished projects to share, but I did manage to get at least on goal completed. Christmas is put away for another year, and I have managed to declutter a few more items from the house. 

I have also looked at my monthly menu and find that I have lots of meals that I can use appliances to cook with. Of course there are a few times I will need to fill the oven, but I am going to make sure it is full. No more half filled ovens. 

Tomorrow, after Mass I plan on baking some pies and using up the frozen bananas in banana bread. Most of these will go in the chest freezer as we have plenty of sweets still from Christmas to work our way through (even after giving some to Kurt and Kris). 

I hope to have some finished projects next week to share with you all, or at least some that are very close to being done.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Simple Living

 

I often wonder what simple living entails. We look back with fondness on how our grandparents, and other distant relatives lived, thinking they had a simple life. But did they really?

I can't see myself trying to cook on one of the old wood stoves that they used. Having to make sure they had enough wood chopped or coal stored for a frigid winter here in Canada. 

Using oil lanterns to light my home and breathing in all the smoke that could be given off would not be good for ones health. Candles, while lovely do not give off enough light. 

I knit, sew, weave, embroider and make quilts for pleasure. I can not see me having to do so in order to be dressed and warm. 

Washing clothes by hand in the winter would be tedious to say the least and take many days to dry.

The definition that I found online states:

Simple living is about getting rid of the excess and focusing on what matters most. Simplifying is making an intentional choice to minimize stuff so that you have more time to spend on things that are meaningful to you.

Now that is something I can get behind. It is however hard to minimize "stuff" and still be frugal. I am always afraid that if I get rid of something, I will find I need it in a few months. I do rid my home of those items that are broken, unusable, or which are now unnecessary. I do have many appliances, but those make meal prep much easier. Or, as has happened numerous times my oven breaks down. 

Do I need 5 sewing machines? Probably not, but one belonged to my mother, 2 are regular machines and when one needs to be cleaned I use the other, one is a serger, and one I use for embroidery work (plan to use this one a bit more this year to make some lap quilts and add some pop to a few of my sewing ideas). 

I did remove many books a few years ago, and now just collect them on my ereader. Most of which are free. There are a few cookbooks that can be removed as well, once I copy the few recipes I use from them. 

There are a few too many baking pans so I need to go through them once again. I am not like my mother-in-law who would bake 7 pies a day (the most I ever did was 4, and that was for a birthday at the school), so pretty sure I could remove a couple of those from the closet. 

Really, nothing I own causes me to not do things I enjoy and are meaningful to me. I do need to downsize if we ever move to a smaller place, and have storage limitations. Yet, I do have some simple storage ideas that could help with my hobby stuff. Most of which I already have. 

I am beginning to think I might have made living a simple life much more complicated than it needs to be.

What are your ideas about simple living?

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

I did get out for a bit of a walk today, the ice had mostly melted on our roads due to the sunshine. This isn't going to last too long as snow and clouds will be arriving again tonight and for many days next week. Of course it will be just warm enough for rain to fall first. Things are going to be slushy and icy for the rest of the winter.

Right now I am pretty sure that I have managed to get everything I need on this computer. I do have an error coming up with my "vault", it says I can't use the nomenclature that Kris set up. Hopefully I can figure out " to fix it.... Might need to wait until Kris gets home. However this does mean nothing is being saved to "the cloud" and I just may have to figure this out myself. 

Today is another day of decluttering and downsizing. This time it is mostly my clothing. I have one more drawer that I need to declutter today. Most clothing will be donated, but if there are a few items I can cut down into usable fabric I will stack those in my sewing/craft room to do a bit later. 

This next week I hope to get a good start on the remainders of my projects for this month. I won't be able to do the Christmas cards this year as our postal carrier is on strike. This will mean phone calls or a card on Facebook. 

Harvey will be watching the Grey Cup tonight, but as he really does not care if he misses some of the game supper will be upstairs. It will be tacos so if he decides he needs to watch the game, well this is easily carried to his man cave once made up.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

We are home now and both very tired. I was going to download some of the things that couldn't be transferred to this laptop, but I think I might just wait until I am less likely to make an error. I will however probably begin to add in last months budget items. 

I am going to have to get used to visiting the cloud for pictures and such.... Now that is something that is confusing to me. Kris says to just pretend it is my second computer. Hmmmm, not sure I will ever get used to it at all as it seems some things did not get downloaded onto this laptop from the old. I just might be pulling my hair out eventually.

I also need to get used to a smaller keyboard (not as small as the phone) and a smaller screen. What sold me on this Lenovo was the card reader. I will also be putting my old USB Hub to work (or at least I hope to do so. I am going to see if it will work with my mouse first and then move on from there. I also like the sound quality and the fact that I can plug in my phone and download the pictures straight from there. It has a plug in for that as well.

Harvey says he wants to get me a larger monitor to plug in the HDMI slot as well. Not too sure if that will keep me from gazing at the smaller screen while typing. 

These are all first world problems and I am sure I am up to the task of learning all that I can about this machine and how to get it to do exactly what I want.

Got to go and get supper started, but I hope to make a visit to each of you tonight.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.