The Weekend

I don't know where the weekend went. I thought I would have a lot of time to do things because I precooked meals on Thursday for the weekend and did a lot of housework as well. There are some household  jobs I dislike and I tackled 3 of them this weekend. I guess I must be in spring cleaning mode.

The range hood, filter and back of the stove were cleaned. I see I missed a few spots.

The vacuum canister was emptied and washed.

Sunday I also tackled cleaning part of the refrigerator. I dealt with spoiled items in one refrigerator crisper and rearranged things. I need to do another session perhaps later this week to bring everything up to par. The refrigerator is one thing I really don't look after too well. It's because I tend to overbuy and then don't make time to clean things out before hand. I also like a bargain so when I go grocery shopping I over buy. I'm trying to stop these bad habits by doing more meal planning and am having limited success. Eventually I may hit on the right balance.

Friday I stayed up far too late.  I was pleased with myself for getting so much done and decided to take advantage of that by staying up to watch television and read. To be honest, I didn't really enjoy myself because I was too tired.  My fatigue bled into Saturday and I did nothing except read a book. Thankfully today was back to a more or less normal.  I was able to do my daily Bible reading, lots of dishes, cleaned out a good part of the refrigerator, did a load of laundry and made some chicken-rice stew for Monday's meals. I also finished reading one of the books on my stack.  Soon the library will be letting me know that another 2 books are ready and after that I'll probably slow down in the reading department.  The days are getting lighter and brighter as long as it isn't raining.  I'm hoping to tackle some long awaited projects when the weather warms up and the light in the day starts earlier. I'm like a turtle when it comes to household or crafting projects but I enjoy the process.

One of the things I did on Friday was wait for my meat delivery. The ranch that delivered the meat is located almost 3 hours north of me and they delivered right to my front door. It's my first delivery from them and I was only able to get ground beef because that was all they had left besides ground pork.  I am pleased with the process so I'll see whether I'm able to order different cuts next time. It will really depend on cost, timing and room in the freezer. My freezer space is limited and it would need to be emptied to get one of their 'packages'. That makes it very tricky right now so we shall see how it goes.

For the first package of ground beef I made some roasted veggies, ground beef patties and salad. It's also the first time I've used rainbow carrots. Altogether it was a satisfying meal and the beef patty was filling so I only had one. The other one was saved for the next day lunch/snack.

I do have a sweet tooth so I made these blueberry muffins with a mix of unbleached flour and spelt flour. They are dark from spelt four but also because I accidentally dumped a lot of cinnamon in the batter. No worries though. The cinnamon spice is well past it's prime and the taste is quite weak. The muffins were just right.

If you have done the FlyLady system before and want to try it again I thought I'd provide a summary chart for you.  This might save you having to go look for it. Click on it to enlarge.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Gentle Start to the Week

This was the view on Sunday evening as I headed out to do some late night grocery shopping and make a stop at a pharmacy a bit further afield. I was a bit tired since I have a cold so I got a late start.  I'm glad I did get out because I needed the air and the walk. It was a bit chilly and the first time I've needed to wrap a scarf around my neck.  It's been especially cold here over the past several days, especially at night.  The temperature is down to 3 or 4 degrees Celsius at night and around 7 during the day. By the end of the week it should go back up to around 12 Celsius.

 

 

When I'm tired, I certainly don't feel like making dinner so I'm always proud of myself when I manage to get dinner ready.  I usually try to keep my menu very simple.  On Sunday night I sliced up some potatoes, onions, yellow bell peppers and sirloin tip steak, seasoned with a bit of pepper and a few splashes of soy sauce,  put it all in the dutch oven and roasted it for about 45 minutes. I ate mine with a scoop of my favourite chili oil. Delicious.

 

 

 

 

On Sunday I was also able to declutter and recycle several large metal coffee cans and lots of plastic containers that fresh berries come in. I really wish they would package berries in paper containers like they used to. I guess because most of the berries are imported the juices would soak through the paper.  Sunday afternoon a woman came by to pick up a couple pair of shoes I gave away.

 

I also washed this small star quilt I gifted to my mom many years ago and which now belongs to me.  The dowel holding the quilt and the wall also needed a good cleaning from all the dust that accumulates.  All the walls need a good washing but that is a large job so I just do some cleaning here and there.  It's better to do a little at a time than to do nothing at all.  Another of the many jobs I have to do around my home is to remove the one wall sconce (I gave the other one to a friend) and put up two new ones that I purchased some time ago. The sconces I bought are black as that was the only colour available.  I'd prefer to have 2 white ones so I've been holding out until I can find them.  If I can find white ones, the black ones will be put up in my living room area and I will then get rid of the floor lamps.

 

 

When I went shopping last night I picked up some wild salmon on a really good sale. I marinated it overnight in honey garlic sauce and baked it for Monday's dinner along with roasted, caramelized cauliflower and steamed brown rice. 

 

I can see in my photos that the last two dinners look quite bland and colourless.  Usually I try to make them more colourful because one eats with the eyes first.  But they were delicious anyway and nothing was wasted. If I can get to the grocery store again before Thursday's sale ends, I will buy 2 more heads of cauliflower.  At $3.00 a head, it is a bargain.

 

In January 2019 I travelled to Paris with my nephew.  We had a great time and both of us would like to return some day, maybe during the Fall or Spring seasons.  This year I've read a number of books set in Paris.  The most recent one was written by Kate Betts, an American fashion journalist who began her career at Fairfield Publications European office in Paris.  I found the book very interesting because she met the top fashion designers of the day: Karl Lagerfeld, Yves St. Laurent, Christian Lacroix, Christian Louboutin, Thierry Mugler and others.  I am not a fashionista and I do not follow the fashion trends but I found it interesting to have a peek into the world of Parisian fashion through the eyes of an American expat.

Unfortunately, Canada's Covid numbers have been escalating since our Thanksgiving weekend a few weeks ago.  New and various restrictions are being brought in in various provinces including British Columbia where I live in an effort to contain the virus. I continue to keep as isolated as possible and wear my mask whenever I have to go out and do business.  Otherwise there is not a lot of excitement around here in day to day life. That is fine by me because it allows me to get the tedious jobs done.

If all goes well, I'm hoping to have different scenery and photos for you over the coming weeks and months. Just bare with me for a while longer. 

What about your dear reader? What is keeping you busy and occupied during these Covid times?

Until I read from you, please stay safe and take care.

At the Half Way Mark in the Month

I had a super busy day on Monday, October 19th (approximately the half way point of the month) and it was the start of a very busy week.  While I ran my errands the rain stopped and sun came out so I snapped a few photos to share on Skywatch Friday this week.  I hope you enjoy. 

Dinner was quick:  stir fried pork cubes with Swiss chard from my garden and daikon radish (and spices) and a dish of stir fried noodles with a variety of vegetables and chili garlic oil.  I ended the day with a clean sink and all the dishes put away. I mostly wash the evening dishes, cutlery and pots and pans but I don't always finish the job. I'm trying to turn over a new leaf because everything put away makes the evening and the morning much nicer.

This month is flying by so quickly. We had two family birthdays a month apart (and celebrated them differently due to Covid).  We also celebrated Thanksgiving in Canada on October 12th and cooking a traditional dinner takes time whether it is for 2 people or 10 people .  I'm doing a major declutter of paper.  I've been going through a long, long process of fully decluttering my home and I am  now on the paper files. I've got so many that accumulated mostly while my late mom was ill. I didn't want to throw anything out. Now I've got to sort through it all and keep only what I really need of hers, my late sisters and also my own paperwork.  It feels good to finally get rid of paper that have been cluttering my space and my mind for so long. 

I have also been getting rid of larger items, not just items from the kitchen cabinet and closets. I could finally be offloading the very large power wheelchair which is taking up a lot of space near the entry way.  Friends of mine have been fund raising to replace the battery and charger and ultimately gift the chair to a paraplegic lady who can really make use of it. The fund raising efforts are very slow.  But it sounds like they have more than enough now to at least have a technician come over to evaluate everything.  I will know more in a week or two.

I've also been busy learning a new routine for running the household and though I'm not fully on board with the program it is a big help. I suppose any method one uses to keep on top of the household is helpful. I never found the household maintenance to be very difficult when I was younger.  I guess I have slowed down a lot because these days the running of the household seems to take up more time. I think the key is to find an approach you like and stick with it and consistently apply the routines.  If anyone is interested, check out FlyLady or Diane in Denmark, both of whom are on You Tube. Diane actually was a Fly Lady mentor for many years and still teaches others how to implement the system.  I enjoy her sparkly personality and motivational pep talks.  What I like about the system so far is that many things are done in 15 minute increments.  As they like to say, "you can do almost anything in 15 minute increments".

I'll be linking up with Skywatch Friday later this week. I send you my best wishes for a beautiful and safe weekend. If you missed my post about Kenya you can read it here.