Happy New Month of June

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you're well. I don't know about you but I feel as if the month of may went by in a flash. I've been kept on my toes so that usually makes the time fly by.

Let's hope the month of June is a good one for all of us and that it doesn't get too hot or too cold where you live.  In Canada, wildfires started a few weeks ago in the far north of British Columbia and northern Alberta.  Several communities in both provinces had to be evacuated. Fortunately, they got the green light to return to their homes just a few short days ago. Sadly some people did lose their homes but I think the damage might have been less than originally expected. Thank God for small mercies. It's never fun having to move out of your home unexpectedly and especially not knowing what you might be returning to at the end of the ordeal.

Where I live the weather has been beautiful for much of the month of May but in the last week it turned quite cold.

The small community plot that I planted is doing 'so so'.  It was very cold in April and the garden rules are that the gardens must be fully planted by May 1st.  In April, there weren't a lot of starter or nursery plants available in my neighbourhood but I bought what I could and also sowed sunflower seeds directly into the soil.

They are green items growing in the foreground.  I probably planted too many because they didn't do so well when I tried to start them indoors so I wasn't sure how they would do being sown as seeds into the garden plot.  I've been to the garden plot a few times to check on them.  They seem to be growing a bit slowly but perhaps that is normal since they have a longer growing season than many vegetables.

Various invasive plants have planted themselves in the garden plot as well. I just let them grow.  It doesn't bother me but it does bother other gardeners.  I plucked out most of the mint but I left the strawberries and some poppy plants.  The cherry tomatoes haven't grown very much since planted but this seems to be normal.

We are growing kale, swiss chard, lettuce and tomatoes, sweet peas and corn.  The other plants have sown themselves or they come back yearly.  Soon I have to return to do some weeding and also harvest some chives.  They grow so well no matter what the weather and it seems like they don't really need any maintenance.

I picked a few strawberries and ate them after washing. It was a nice little treat.

I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday today.  Thank you for stopping by! Please come again soon.

Wednesday's Progress

Hello friends and fellow bloggers, Happy Thursday to you! I trust all is well in your world.

I continued to be busy all week with the condo water damage issue. I fluctuated between moving out completely or staying put during the completion of the damage assessment. In the end, I think we've decided to fully move out the belongings in the master bedroom where the majority of the damage is located. We decided to stay put while the work is going on. Primarily because it seems that the work itself may not take that long though we don't know that for certain.

Wednesday I started packing up all the clothing, shoes, projects and so on that I may need for the summer months just in case things drag on as they have a habit of doing. One of the factors that made me lean toward staying at home is all the projects I want to make progress on including more decluttering and also craft projects. I'm hoping to make a lot of progress since my theme word for 2024 was 'create' but I haven't had much time to create unless you count being creative with the meal planning and meal ideas.

During this hectic time, I continue to make meals and use up the foods we have had on hand for awhile.  Of course, I've had to supplement with fresh or frozen vegetables as well but I'm trying to keep food purchases to a minimum to minimize food and money wastage. I have a tendency of buying more than I need and I'm really working on changing old habits. The meals in the photos were made Tuesday and Wednesday night. 

Tilapia fish, fried potatoes and mixed salad greens

Stuffed green peppers stuffed with salmon/rice/veggies

Chicken and rice soup

Much progress was made on the paper decluttering though I still have a lot more to do. I can't believe how much paper and other things I still have because I've already shredded so much.  I've decided to stop saving receipts for the remainder of the year in order to reduce paper build up.  I'd been saving all receipts for the past 2 years.  I planned to log them all into an excel spreadsheet  & track my spending in different categories. I just never got around to it and there were so many receipts, especially for groceries.  I'll consider saving and tracking receipts in 2025 once I'm caught up to all the paper decluttering but only if I have time to input the information to a spreadsheet.  I do still keep receipts for anything I buy that I might need to return. I've very much cut down on buying since I'm trying to minimize what I have. My new approach is to buy nothing unless I know I'm going to be using it in short order.  Most of what I have purchased are clothing because of weight loss over the years. I've also purchased a number of work tools to help with small DIYs around the house.

Wednesday's paper trash 

I wondered when I would ever start to notice any progress for all my decluttering efforts. Now that I got rid of a few large pieces like a large screen television and a large stationary bike, I can definitely notice a difference is being made.  Friends were delighted to get the stationary bike because they were recently talking about buying one.  Several friends wanted the television but it wasn't possible for any of them to pick it up in a timely fashion so it went to a local charity.

Last, but not least, I had a meeting with one of my doctors today. He was investigating some spots found on my liver in some other recent tests.  The most recent CT scan I had showed that there was nothing to be concerned about after all. I felt enormously relieved.  I already have so much on my plate with both the indoor and outdoor renovations work that needs to be done. 

Though it may not be ideal to remain at home while renovations are being done, I'm looking at it in a positive light. If I remain at home, I'll be able to see the work that is being done and raise any concerns I might have as they happen.  If there are no concerns, then I'll benefit by feeling good about what is being done.   Another benefit is keeping my eye on patio renovation work and getting the patio set up when the work is completed at the anticipated time of end of June. I'm also hoping to get more decluttering and reorganizing done in the front rooms while work is ongoing.  Of course I don't plan on working every day. I hope to enjoy some time outside in the garden and with other outings.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you can come again soon. xx