Category Archives: Gratitude

Thankful Thursday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, Gratitude by

I’m grateful our weather is much cooler and that fall is in the air. We’re only using the window coolers for a few hours mostly for some air circulation. I am still closing windows in the morning and then opening in the evening. But now we’re partially closing some windows as the night air is very cool. It looks like this weekend our temperatures are going to drastically drop into the 70s.

I’m really excited that the indoor pool is opening next week. I’m thankful the other pool has been available and is quite nice but it is an extra 10-13 minutes both ways so it adds to my drive. Still, I love swimming and am so glad there is this option.

I’m thankful my knee is improving and I’m almost back to normal but not quite. I’m still not using the treadmill at the gym but I did manage 3 rounds at the park today so that’s an improvement. I’m still taking ibuprofen so when I stop that I’ll know it’s probably healed. Still, I’m grateful it wasn’t worse.

The garden was a huge success this year and I’ve had lots of tomatoes, onions, garlic, zucchini, and peppers( so many jalapenos). I even just froze a few bags of tomatoes as it wasn’t enough to can a batch. I’ll wait till I have at least another box. B has a nice crop of grapes so I think I’m going to try some grape jelly. I’ve never made that and I’ll need to watch some YT to see how much pectin/sugar I need to add. I’m not a huge fan of grape jelly but I’m willing to try it since he’s got the crop.

I’m thankful the budget is set for September and everything is covered. We just got our auto insurance and that went up $300. It seems odd since these are not new cars at all. My son’s Subaru which is a 2006 went up the most to over $500 for 6 months. He’s still on our policy as it would be ridiculous what he would pay if he had his own. At least 3x was the quote I got. When he’s ready to buy another car then he’ll be on his own with that. He does pay us in full so it’s not a problem.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, Gratitude, simplicity, Walking by

+ My knee, which I twisted, is getting better day by day but still not good enough to go walking. I may try swimming first to see how it feels. I did do quite a bit of walking around the nursery yesterday and did fine. It’s more the getting up from a sitting position that is the weak point and I really don’t want my knee to give out as I stand up and injure it more.

+ I’m thankful Barclay and I got to celebrate 53 years of marriage. It’s been a good time( well for most of it). there were some rocky times but somehow we got thru it. We had a fantastic lunch at High hand Nursery Cafe. The place was packed. I keep wondering where do all these peole get money to eat out like it’s an everyday occurence.??? It’s so special for us and it was with tip over $80. Still it was fun and delicious.

+ I’m very grateful I have 2 wonderful kids and they enjoy being around us. My son bought us a fancy bottle of Tattingers champagne and my daughter a very fancy french pepper mill. 🙂

+ The kitties from the barn that have brought us laughter and joy. Plus Chester, who wandered in, is so sweet and loving.

+ We got a good soaking of rain from Hilary and boy, was that welcome.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, California, cooking, Gratitude, Uncategorized by

I’m really grateful that our weather has been very nice. The high yesterday was 86 so that’s really nice for this time of year. I didn’t turn the coolers on till @ 1pm.

That I learned to pressure can and right now I have a full canner of pinto beans. Beans are really quite easy as there is no additional ingredients. So it’s just presoak the beans then cook for 30 minutes and then pressure can.

The window replacement looks really good and B just needs to put up the shake shingles and paint.

As always, all of us are in good health. Well, I do have rising #’s (Kappa light chains) but I just push that off till my next set of labs.

We’re getting LOTS of tomatoes, some cucumbers a few zucchini. It’s always so amazing how good homegrown produce is. I plan on doing another batch of tomato sauce this weekend. I’d like to get 2 dozen Qt jars for winter.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in bread, California, canning tomato salsa, Gratitude, swimming, Uncategorized by
  • The competition pool was amazing and the water was perfect. The only downside was it’s deep(7ft) almost all the way around with quite a space between the top of the pool and the water. I jumped in and didn’t like doing that. To get out though, I went under the lap lanes and over to where there are stairs. Tomorrow I’ll get in that way I think. They have us using this pool only this week.
  • I shopped at Winco and am so grateful their prices are below Safeway or Bel Air. I haven’t shopped in Safeway for months now.
  • Our weather continues to be beautiful with highs in the 80s.
  • Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes,…I made my first batch of tomato sauce yesterday. I ended up with 7 pints of beautiful sauce. The hardest part is putting the tomatoes thru the food mill.
  • I had an hour alone this morning as my daughter was at the college and B went to Costco. Hurray for a few moments of alone time.
  • I found a sandwich bread recipe that I think works. The only thing is I did the last rise last night so it overinflated this morning. But I punched it down and still had an ok rise after that and it baked up ok. Good flavor. So I will try again but start the dough in the late afternoon instead of the morning. The recipe has 3 rises but the first one is 8-12 hours so that will be the overnight one. Then in the morning, there are 2 more rises at 2-3 hours each. I’ll link the recipe after I get it done without overinflating the dough.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in books, California, Gratitude, husband, Uncategorized by

First, our washer broke. Well, I’m not thankful for that but I am thankful we can afford to buy a new one and have B put it in. B went and got the right parts but that didn’t solve the problem and it all was too complicated for a relatively inexpensive washer. So I went online to Lowes and the same one we have was on sale so I got that. It’s been a good washer used daily for at least 5 years. Both kids use the washer with their laundry almost daily too. I wanted the Samsung, which was on sale too although more, but it wasn’t in stock and we’d have to wait, so that wasn’t an option. It’s ok, just that it seems it’s always something. I did tell both kids to fork over something to pay for the washer since they use it too. Otherwise, try going to a laundromat. We never had a washer until 1985 after S was born so that’s 15 years of laundromats. So I am thankful for washing machines.

I am thankful to have had Leo as our neighbor all these years. He died last week after being confined to his house for the last 4 years. He was always a good neighbor, quiet and helpful. We’re definitely concerned as to when it sells and who will move in. We are planning another privacy fence along the property line but not sure how soon we’ll get to it. After seeing all the people for the services over there and kids and cars, I shudder to think about new neighbors.

I’m thankful our weather is not overly hot. We’re still in the 90s but it’s ok and we’ve even sat outside on the patio for a while.

I’m thankful we are getting tomatoes!! Yay!! I made the first round of salsa the other day. I’m going to open one jar to test it out. The tomatoes are the first round so I’m sure as we get more Romas the flavor will improve. I used the water bath canner and boy does that take a lot of water. I’m thinking of looking at the Amish steam bath canner( also used for things like tomatoes, sauce, salsas,) and it is designed differently. It only takes a few inches of water and there is a bigger lid that comes down to seal it.

I am thankful I can go to the gym and get a good workout in with weights. It’s so important to keep muscle mass as you age.

Lastly, I’m grateful for the library right next to the gym. Perfect.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, California, Gratitude, Uncategorized by

There’s always something to be thankful for even if you’re feeling grumpy( that would be me).

My labs came back 20 points up so, that’s a bummer. My Kappa light chains are now in the 70s. I have at least one more lab in August before seeing my doctor in September. Actually, it may be 2 as I think I see him @ September 10?? Not sure, I’ll have to check my calendar. I’m disappointed but not really surprised.

I am still grateful to be doing the things I love, like walking, swimming, and weights, and I don’t feel slowed down by the increasing cancer cells yet. I’m still guessing it’ll be sometime in the fall I’ll start treatment and then that’ll take me out for 3 days a week so I’ll need to adjust what I do.

I’m grateful that the heat hasn’t quite kicked in but it will by the weekend. The forecast is 107. Nothing like the temperatures in Phoenix and Tucson. I’m still able to open windows by 8pm and let the cooler air in.

I’m grateful to have a pantry with plenty of items. Lots of people, me included, are complaining about the cost of food. Yes, everything is more expensive. Is someone to blame? No, not really, I think it’s a combination of food supplies being affected by weather/global changes. Of course, there are always the people blaming Democrats/Biden for the food woes but it’s not really that at all. It’s a combination of so many things. Look at the rains/flooding in Vermont/NY. How do you think this will affect the prices of food grown there and the transportation of food/products. Still, I am grateful to walk into a grocery store or Costco and see the abundance that is there and then try and shop mindfully about cost and need.

I’m grateful we have clean water and water available to water our gardens. Our water bill gets pretty steep this time of year( $149) was our last bill but everything around the house is either flowers or food growing.

My daughter is the gardener and does an amazing job. It looks like we are going to have a bumper crop of tomatoes!!!

What things are you grateful for? I love to read about other people’s lives and what they find of value.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, Gratitude, Uncategorized by

I’m grateful we had such lovely weather for June. Now we’re heading into a heat wave at least till Tuesday. Maybe it’ll be ok. We have our window coolers and I’ll close down the house by 9am.

I’m grateful our SS came in and we’re able to have all our bills paid. We may not have much in the way of retirement money but our basics are covered. We also did a big shop at Costco that should last most of July.

I’m so thankful ( not to any mythical god, just thankful), that B is 4 years out from his Allo and is just fine. Essentially he is cured of MDS.

I’m just glad the G..D. AC in the truck is fixed again. Last week B said, “Oh, it’s not working again.” So back down the truck went. This time it was the AC pulley. Do they even know what they’re doing.???? Anyway, I’m just thankful it’s fixed.

I’m grateful for other bloggers who bring a different perspective to life and in many cases, a different life in a foreign country.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cooking, Gratitude, home stuff by

First, our weather has been spectacular for June. We can see temperatures in the 90’s and 100’s by now and we haven’t even hit 90. I guess it looks like the heat is coming with 4th of July going to 105 😦

A good week of a gym workout and a swim. I’m so grateful for Roseville Parks and Rec that they have these facilities. Roseville is a fairly wealthy area so maybe that’s why.

We had 2 BBQ’s this week. Last night I cooked some marinated chicken and it came out great. Then we had a big salad with lots of veggies from the farm stand. I am grateful that the CSA farm is right down the road. They work hard at what they do.

My sourdough came out perfectly. After a few not-so-spectacular loaves, I watched some Youtube videos and figured out I wasn’t quite feeding my starter right. I used one person’s ratios and now it is perfecto.

B replaced the wood that was damaged on the kitchen side of the house where the pipe was leaking. He figured it out and did a great job. It wasn’t an easy task as it meant lifting the frame with a jack and then getting the new wood in there.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, Gratitude by

This June has had exceptional weather. Not too hot at all. We can definitely have 100-degree weather by now so this has been so nice.

I was able to can 18 half pints of strawberry jam. I found a deal at Winco for .98 a pack so I got 7 packs.

I am so grateful that I was approved for LLS and my insurance reimbursements are being processed.

I’m also so grateful my Kappa light chains only went up 1 point, and that gives me another months reprieve.

Always, the pool and rec center to do weights. The pool was nice the other day but it was colder than the indoor pool. I really didn’t warm up. I did get a lane though so that was nice. Lap swimming is only from 5:30 to 7:45 so it’s not a lot of time. But then it opens at 12:45 – 3pm but I don’t drive to Roseville that late. Plus it would be in full sun and I don’t do that either.

Flowers in the yard…

Thankful Thursday, the Nevada Beach Version

Posted in California, camping, cooking, Gratitude, Lake tahoe, Uncategorized by
  • That we had an excellent drive up here. I -80 was not busy as it was Monday. Then when we arrived at 12 noon our spot was ready for us. ( Well, that was after we had to tell the camper parked in our site to leave:( )
  • This spot is probably the best we’ve had here at Nevada Beach.
  • The weather has been better than we expected. We had rain one night and some rain one afternoon. The nice thing is that many of the tent campers pulled out and the campground was emptier. Right now it’s full up and busy.
  • That the Anytime gym we belong to is here in Zephyr Cove and we have the chance to do some workouts. We planned to use their showers so as to conserve water in Rubi but they have their showers closed. I think perhaps too many people using them as a main shower source.
  • We’ve had some great camp meals. The first night we had my pressure-canned split peas soup with bread. Then another night we had BBQ chicken, tofu, and corn. All in all good meals.

You wouldn’t get me doing this!!!!