Category Archives: home improvement

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, budgets, Flylady, home improvement, Uncategorized by

We are out early for B to get platelets. But he isn’t done so I’m sitting at Starbucks waiting.  I’ve already been to the gym, Safeway, the bank, and the car wash so I guess I’ll just chill till he’s done.

We had our first BBQ last night. I did salmon I bought at Whole Foods last week. It was good.

Tomorrow I need to go to the Apple store as I ordered the wrong Ipad cover and I don’t want to send it back. r just go there and exchange. My daughter is going to come along and then we may go to a few stores. I may go back to Whole foods for a few items for this week.

We don’t celebrate Easter but do celebrate the pagan celebration of spring. Of course, Easter started as a pagan celebration and then somehow Christians turned it into palm Sunday and then Easter.  I love that Easter is still predicted by the first Sunday after the full moon in April. Of course, Passover is celebrated too.  And Of course, Jesus was a Jew, not a Christian as there was no such thing.  The first gospels weren’t even written for 70 years after Jesus’ death. Ahhh, real accurate I’m sure. Ask any 70 year old what happened all those years ago. Hmmmm.  thought so.

 

Oh well, enough of my Atheist cynicism.

Our week ahead looks pretty good. Regular labs for B and then I have the dentist on Tuesday.  That’ll be long and I’m not looking forward to my mouth being drilled and yanked for a few hours. But I have to do it while we have dental insurance.  I’m going to schedule a different appt for the Invisalign scan but hopefully this week. Then all I need to do is order my prescriptions so I have enough while the new insurance to is processed which I was told needs to be after Medicare approves me. I’m going double check to see if that’s accurate but I’m assuming the social security guy knew what he was talking about.

I’ve done a menu for the week and I don’t need a whole lot. Maybe some veggies which I could get at Whole foods tomorrow.

Also, the budget is done for the month.

We’re very proud of our son, Zephyr who will be graduating from Sac State in May. No student loan debt and it took incredible focus and fortitude to drive that 4 days a week. It’s an hour or more drive on way. We’re planning on giving him some money as a graduation gift.  Then he can buy what he wants.

For those following Flylady, we’re in the bathroom zone. I had my daughter use some leftover paint and redo the ceiling. One of the great things about loving a paint color is when you need to touch up it’s so easy.

Beginning of the week.

Posted in Blood test, decluttering, Flylady, home improvement, Uncategorized by

I’m off to get my labs this morning. Even though I don’t see my oncologist till the end of the month, I wanted to get my labs at 6 weeks to see where they are or if they’ve changed.

Then I’m going to go pay our property taxes(bi-annually), and I have to go pay the car tags on the Santa Fe.

Then home to do Monday chores. I need to wash mirrors and the window in the entryways and the sun porch. But the sun porch is ALL windows so maybe not all today.

On a super positive note, I called the American Cancer Society about there partnership with hotels for our stay after B is released from the hospital and it all sounds great. He’s in the system and when he goes in then call and set up the tentative date for the hotel. Since it will be at a reduced price, even if we are a few days different, I’ll go and check in just to keep the reservation. So very good news there.

So yesterday, inspired by “The Home Edit”. I pulled everything out of the fridge. Then I cleaned all the shelves with the help of my daughter. I had gone to Target and got some plastic bins for specific things to group. I’m pleased with it all.

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It looks all fresh and bright.

Today I might work on the kitchen pantry which is the restaurant shelving. It seems I haven’t found the best way to work things there.  But I think I’ll take everything out and see where I go with it..

Dinner is unknown…….

 

Five on Friday

Posted in home improvement, home stuff, Lake tahoe, Uncategorized by

It’s going to be another nice spring day. We didn’t walk this morning but will tomorrow. Sunday is my favorite day for walking as usually, no one is there.  But this Sunday, B has his transfusion scheduled for 8 am. He doesn’t get labs till tomorrow at 3pm so we won’t know what he needs till after that.  So getting out the door will be too rushed if we try and walk at 7am.

Today is going to be a fun day as we are driving up to Tahoe, actually, Incline to go to the Marijuana store for B to get some edibles and may the oil.  He can’t smoke anything as he signed an agreement not to while undergoing the transplant.  So just the chocolates and something else.

Then we’ll go to Truckee for lunch.

The dogs will be home outside so we need to time it so they’re not out for too long. I think we’ll be gone for about 5 hours.

Here’s a couple of pictures of the Ikea cabinet we got for the bathroom. Funny, it’s really the only thing that would have fit there so I guess I was spot on.

 

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I’m planning on painting the tub black and we’re hoping to replace the floor this summer or fall depending on if B will be well enough or we may hire someone to do it.

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This is one of my most favorite prints.  I found this at a garage sale many years ago.

It’s been another frustrating week with NYC corrections not answering my emails about our original marriage license and then LLS (leukemia lymphoma society) denied my insurance claim because the breakdown in the forms we have doesn’t have B as the Assoc. alone. It shows him plus one. So that was not good enough for them even though that’s how I’ve been doing it since last June. Go figure.  I resubmitted everything again with an additional form we found that shows his health credits but it still only shows him plus one. So I’m not going to sweat it although I was pretty nasty on the phone saying that was all we had to show it.

Since I’ll be switching to Medicare by June 1st I  can just wait till then as they do cover Medicare.  I did speak to an insurance agent and actually got MORE info.  Wow, It’s amazing anyone figures this stuff out. So I need to get a form from B’s HR stating I won’t be on his insurance and then go into SS office for them to process. Then I add the plan F and Part D. He was helpful in that he said to go with the less expensive drug coverage as right now I don’t need the chemo drugs. And actually, in the future, I would ask for only infusions so that would be covered by Part B. I can’t see me going back on Revlimid since I became refractory to it.  But if that does happen I can change the plan in January ( I think that’s what he said). 

So at least I know the next step.

Dinner is some kind of pizza. I’m not making one so it may be a frozen one.

No Spend January

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I’m going to do a no spend month. If you’d like to do it too, it’s pretty easy.

Basically, you don’t buy anything non-essential. Food, pet supplies, household stuff is allowed but no extra stuff.

HDT quote

I plan on not buying anything from Amazon.  If I need something such as Rid-X which I do get from Amazon, I’ll just either wait or go to Home Depot. So, no clothes, coffees out unless we use a gift card.  We do have a Panera one that maybe when B feels better we can go.

I’ve done this before and it really does make one aware of the things that money is spent on.  Generally, I don’t buy a lot of extra stuff but still, there is some.  I didn’t ever feel I saved money per se, but it did make me more aware of where I spent money.

On another note, I’m almost done with the SDI form so we will do that soon. There are a few things were not clear about but overall it is straightforward. I think this will take us thru the transplant and then after that, we will need to do something else.

On a fun note, if you have Netflix, there is the new MarieKondo series called Tidying up. I’ve watched 2 and it was fun. She is a really sincere person and I like her approach. It’s definitely worth watching.

Today is a gym day, but I’m not feeling great(probably stress) so I’ll just do some weights. There is the Koffee Klatch lunch but I’ll probably skip that too even though I’d like to go.

Dinner is unknown…

 

some added photos

Posted in budgeting, frugalism, home improvement, kitchen remodel, Uncategorized by

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Almost done!

 

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A view from the sink!!

I think for now it’s done in the kitchen. I thought about some kinda of temporary back splash. I may go into HOme Depot and see what they have. I’ve seen on Pinterest some tile that is peel and go. Not sure if Home Depot has that but I might check.

Today is Friday.

Frugal Friday or this week? Yes and no. I haven’t bought too many groceries, just milk and cream. I did spend $100 at Target but that included cat food at $15 and some frozen Amy’s enchiladas on sale.  Most of it was the bins.

I need to get gas in the VW and I’m going to go to the local bakery and get day old bagels if they have any. They’re organic and go quick. So we’ll see. Plus I need to get some multi vitamins at Grocery Outlet.

Other than that I have a load of laundry to do and just tidying up the house.

I’m working on the budget for November and it’s in good shape. I’m paying extra on our second and I’m going to make an extra car payment if I can pull it off.

Things are coming together.

Posted in decluttering, home improvement, kitchen remodel, Uncategorized by

I took everything off the shelves to the right of the sink and did the 2 coats of paint and then this morning did the final third.

I have the bins ready to go back tomorrow when it’s had 24 hrs to dry. My goal with all this redoing is to really only have what we use and get rid of the rest. On someones minimalist video, she said ” having open shelves keeps me accountable to what I have”. I really love that. And it’s quite true.

I have a vision of what  want this funky old house to look like. There’s nothing really special about it. It was built in 1949 in at that time, a very rural community. There was no insulation in the walls and when we re -modeled ,we insulated what we took down but there are still walls without. All the window were replaced as they were just single pane. Now after 24 years almost some of the window need to be replaced as the dual pane has some degradation and they are slightly filmed. But we continue on. We don’t have any inclination to move so it’s making the best of what we have and I WANT that vision of a a clean, minimalist house.  I think there’s really a ways to go as I am continually surprised, yes, genuinely, surprised when I declutter for the umpteenth time and still find I am releasing stuff.

Over the years, I’ve given away thousands of things, many valuable. And you know what, I hardly remember or care what they items were. By removing them, I have moved toward that goal.

So back to these open shelves. What’s there is what I can see and the rest is gone. Some stuff is in other baskets on the restaurant stainless steel shelves, but most is gone.

I love this process of minimizing and and have learned so much.

So today was a gym day and then to I went into Target to get a water proof crib liner for Bonnie, the rescue dog, as she is peeing in her bed Every. Single. night.  So in I go, get cat food, of course, cream, a bottle of wine and sale, one more bin for the pantry to hold my brush,Invisalign,stuff, etc and then left and promptly forgot the liner. My list was folded over and of course the one thing I went in for was on the other side.

I did call and got her an appt. Monday to check out the situation.

IMG_0541All this is open shelving now and ready to go tomorrow.

 

Frugal Friday

Posted in bread, budgeting, cooking, home improvement, Uncategorized by

This has been a good week without a lot of unnecessary spending. The budget is in good shape for now.

We did our big shop at Costco on Monday so we were set for the week and even into next week. I had bought lots of lunch things so both my adult children would not spend money on food out. This is usually my son but he’s been absolutely great about taking stuff to work and school. He can easily spend $20 a day since he’s gone from 7:30am- 11pm. But taking 2 sandwiches or rice and chicken helps a great deal.

Last week I paid the 6 month Allstate bill so that was pricey but at least it’s done. B got a great bonus (relative to us) so we could pay it all at once. Then I put some in savings too. The first of the month bills are ready to roll out. That’s our mortgage, 2nd, internet, PGE, and the car payment. I’m really close to putting a large payment on the car loan but not yet.  I want to finish off the cc that we put our daughters Honda repair on. She is paying this back but we put the amount on our card.  So by the end of October, I will finish that.

I haven’t been to the store except we needed some half and half.

Tonight we are having takeout pizza so that will come out of dining out money. We don’t do this often, maybe once a month so I’m okay with that. Plus there’s always leftovers for lunch the next day.

I just started the Tartine Sourdough leaven to make bread this weekend. I’ve been just making sandwich bread but I’ll go ahead with the boule this weekend. The Tartine recipe takes a few days so by Sunday it should be ready to go.

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It looks just like fall outside. The yellow colors of Northern California are starting.  We don’t get the New England colors but there are wonderful golden colors and some orange. We have a Japanese maple in the yard and that turns red so it’s very pretty.

Today I’m just tidying up things and putting more stuff away for fall. I’m moving the geraniums to the greenhouse. I have to decide if I want them in the sunroom where they were last year. It’s nice in there for them but they do take up a  lot of room. I need to get chicken food but I think I’ll let B get that tomorrow. They can make it on the other seeds they have for a day. All the chickens are molting so they aren’t really laying eggs except one or two.

I think I will put out my vintage Halloween stuff today too!

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I’d love to find more but that would just be adding to the amount I already have. We put up the orange lights outside and I just love the glow they give this time of year.

 

 

Simple Sunday

Posted in cooking, home improvement, Uncategorized by

A nice long weekend for family members. My daughter will get Tuesday off as her holiday time and my son has tomorrow off and so does B.  So lots of home energy.

B and my son, Zephyr, are finally building the redwood deck off his studio. It won’t be as big as he wanted but will basically replace his old deck. But it will be new wood and should last another 20 years.

I made 2 zucchini bread this morning. One to freeze and the other for the Friends of Library event.  I still have quite a bit of zucchini coming in but I have kept up on them. I think I still have 3-4 in the fridge.

The other day I made 2 more quarts of freezer tomato sauce and the next batch of tomatoes are ripening.  I’m glad I didn’t get around to buying any since I have more than enough:)  I should end up with 20 or so containers.

We went to the gym and it was nice as hardly anyone was there. My favorite day is Sunday there!

I listened to an audible book yesterday. It was the book I’ve read numerous times. ‘The life-changing magic of tidying up.’ Someone mentioned listening to it and how it made a big impact. So even though I’ve read it 3-4 times, listening definitely helped glean a few new ideas.  I would recommend Audible as well. This is my daughter’s account but 2 other users can access the books. It’s a good deal.

Dinner is 2 roasted cornish hens(from the freezer and uses up the last of them), roasted asparagus, and brown rice. Some grilled tofu for B.

 

Picture perfect weather

Posted in cooking, home improvement, husband, just keep walking project, Uncategorized by

It is so idyllic out this week. Mid-eighties to low and just beautiful. We even had our first little fire outside in the firepit last night. You know the season has changed when we do that. Plus I made the first Lodge dinner too. I made a vegetarian chili with the Jiffy cornbread on top. Quite yummy.

Today was a gym day and it was so-so. I didn’t feel too inspired to try too hard. We are also walking 4 xs a week now. But yesterday in the garden my foot went wrong and I felt the stress fracture tweak. I sure hope it’s nothing and only a pull on the area. I’m sick of this foot thing.

My son is back at Sac State this week. It’s a long commute in heavy traffic but he’s sticking it out. I’m proud of him. His internship is hoping to bring him on permanent at some point. What a thrill for me. I just want him to have a secure job.

Not much happening this week although my highlight will be meeting my friend Sara for a coffee. We go way back and she is just a wonderful person.:)

We had a bobcat come into the yard and get one of our chickens yesterday. I was sad. But the fact is they are around and we do let the girls out during the day to roam. But this was right below one of our gardens so close. Then on the community facebook, I read, there were 3 other bobcat/chicken encounters. Quite unusual.

Other than that, Friday will be a Costco trip as I think there are only a few more days of this sale catalog and I was hoping to get a new electric toothbrush. If not they do go on sale regularly. Plus I need organic flour and some other things.

This coming weekend we (meaning my husband) are going to be pulling off the deck on the studio (where Z lives) and replacing the whole thing. It’s falling apart so needs to get done. With a 3 day weekend that sounds good.

Dinner is something taco or Mexican like. I don’t have it figured out yet.

 

 

 

Five on Friday

Posted in Blood test, home improvement, Uncategorized by

I wanted to write this as a separate post from my good news with my labs.

But first,  I want to give a shout out to Bob over at Satisfying Retirement.

He wrote a very good post on being prepared for retirement. Or in our case, what not to do, but now scrambling to do!! ( If that made sense)!

So five:

  • my great news on my labs is top of my list
  • we went to Home Depot and bought a security screen door so we can leave the front door open at night and let cool air in!!
  • it’s been a hot,hot week, but we’ve managed to keep the yard watered and the house cool.
  • my son fixed the AC in my old van and it’s nice and cold now. so that saved us the money from taking it down the road to the mechanic.
  • we’ve had lots of zucchini from the garden this week and they have been excellent in a variety of recipes.

My sons birthday is coming up in the first week of August. He already received his present which was the trip and tickets to Elton John in LV.  But I am going to tuck a little money in an envelope for him and tell him that’s the start of his emergency fund.

Not much else going on, there are terrible fires all over but the one in Yosemite and up near Redding are especially bad. Our air quality is not so good.