Category Archives: home stuff

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, California, camping, cooking, Gratitude, home stuff, travel, Uncategorized by

I’m excited, I have a bid on the rare star note. So we’ll see how it goes. This was my brother’s, so whatever I get minus eBay fees, he gets half. But a few extra dollars will be nice.

I am very grateful it’s sunny again, and no rain is forecast. We do need things to dry up. I went for a walk after I tried again to get a spot in Tahoe. Either more people are vying for spots, or the algorithm is not working for me. 😦 In all the years of booking Tahoe, I have never had such a difficult time as this.

I’m planning on checking daily for cancellations. I’m also going to make a list of what we need for a basic camping trip without Rubi. It’s a big unknown how all this will play out.

I’ve been enjoying watching a YouTuber who talks about Japanese concepts. His videos are quite beautiful. The latest one I watched was on Kakebo, or Japanese budgeting. I liked it enough that I bought a book from Amazon called Kakebo, and it has weekly sheets to fill in. Now I do a daily budget and write my daily lists in a notebook, but I always like a new twist on things to keep it interesting.

Today is a home day, and I’m doing a number of things. I made my favorite spinach soup, cooked up some burgers for lunch, and prepped some chicken for grilling either later or tomorrow. I still have a bunch of mushrooms to cut up and am thinking of a mushroom soup. I tidied the house, and all I have left is to put the Robo vacuum on.

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, budgets, California, cooking, home stuff, simplicity by

A very rainy morning. Like downpours and roads flooding! I managed to get to the gym, but it was tough going.

Afterwards, I went and picked up a ‘pay it forward’ free item. It was a mandoline that I’ve wanted for some time. It’s an OXO and doesn’t look used. I’ll test it out on some radishes. I do have no-cut safety gloves, so I’ll wear those.

Last night we had baked salmon, a huge salad, and some brown rice. I’m trying to up my protein intake and veggie intake, so I did pretty well. I have leftovers either for lunch or another dinner. I’ll check with my daughter what she prefers.

I didn’t sleep well again last night, probably a residual of Dex. But I don’t feel too tired,yet.

This is Miss Cherry, who always has a frown on her face.

My brother found a rare star note, $10 bill. I plan on listing it on eBay and maybe making a few hundred dollars. Of course, it depends on who’s buying right now, but I’ll list it and see how it goes. I had Chat GPT write up a listing for me to look at and use some of it. For things like that, AI is great.

I don’t have any cooking lined up for today, so I may just tidy up some and then read.

New Years Eve

Posted in California, decluttering, home stuff, simplicity by

I hope all of you out there in blog land have a safe and happy NYE.

We will do our tradition of sub-type sandwiches and watch some movies. I have never stayed up to midnight in all these years. B would always stay up with the kids till midnight. sigh:(

The rain is expected to come back in tonight and continue for quite a few days. My son’s friend came yesterday and helped do a deeper clean. He’s a wonderful young man. I was happy to pay him to help. It’s interesting because I had just watched a YouTube channel that caught my attention about Japanese things. The concept was

‘oosouji’, which means ‘big clean’. I told T how cool that was because he was here helping to deep clean. He does a great job, btw.

So, today, I have some more oosouji to do, such as cleaning out the fireplace and washing a few windows. I’m also hoping that the desk and chair I have listed for free will be picked up this morning. They are in the sunroom, crowding it. It’s an extra desk my daughter doesn’t want anymore. If I had room, I’d keep it, but I don’t. So the other Japanese concept of ‘danshari’ is applicable here. Basically it’s refuse, dispose, and detach. So be it.

Well, what kind of NYE plans do you have? I have never gone out on NYE in all my years, ever. Do you go out? Just the thought of crowds is enough to stop me cold.

Winter Solstice

Posted in books, budgeting, California, camping, cooking, home stuff, Lake tahoe, reading, Uncategorized by

Rain, rain, and more rain. No walking this morning as it is really raining. We’re supposed to get about 3 inches, which is a lot of rain. Still, daylight will eventually start getting longer, although it takes a few weeks for it to turn around. At least it’s not a cold rain. It’s about 53 out. I’m guessing that means there’s no snow in Tahoe.

I was on the Reserve for camping, but no luck. I’ll try again tomorrow. It’s a tough place to get a spot. But you just have to keep at it. I will continue to check for cancellations, but that’s unlikely to happen. sigh:(

I think I’m staying home today and not going to the Auburn gym. I’ll wait till it’s light out to decide. If I don’t go today, I’ll go to Maheny sometime this week. I’d like to get one swim in before Christmas, too. We’ll see how it goes.

Last night we had a marcella bean( white bean) and ham soup. It came out very tasty. I wrote out a list of freezer meals for my low spend challenge. Hopefully that’ll keep me on track. Plus, there’s a lot to use up. I also baked up a dozen potatoes and made double stuffed. After they are baked, I cut them in half, scoop out the potato, and then add some butter, sour cream, and cheddar. Then I mound it back in. I end up with 10 half potatoes.

My son went back up to Grass Valley for their Cornish Christmas and sent me these photos. It was rainy, but he said it was still nice. I don’t drive at night unless absolutely necessary, so I wouldn’t get up there to see this.

Not too much on the agenda for today. I have 2 more library books to read. I started one and wasn’t impressed, so I’ll just bring that back. Other than that, just the usual tidying, and I do need to dust. I ran out of swiffers(which I love), so I just got a new box from Costco. Not very exciting 🙂

Happy Hanukkah!

Posted in budgets, California, home stuff, seasonal things, Uncategorized by

The mass shooting in Australia at a Hanukkah celebration certainly puts a very dark cloud over everything. Why are people so crazy with prejudice and malice? And look at the vileness that comes out of tRump’s mouth. Such evil, nastiness.

I had a nice walk this morning. The sky was very Maxfield Parrish-ish. A lovely time of morning. Today, I’m going into the gym, and then I think I will get some scratchers for tonight. I believe the Holiday Market has some tickets in vending machines, so I’ll check that out. I don’t remember anyone ever winning anything, though LOL.

My Apple Watch said I was awake last night for 2 hours. This is the first time it has been wrong. I slept almost all night with no interruptions, so that’s weird. I checked with my friend Chat, and I guess sometimes this is a common problem with Apple Watch if you’re using a CPAP machine.

I sorted out some Christmas ornaments to give my son for his tree. I have a few more to do since most of the superhero ones are his. I plan on making the latkes for dinner and having homemade apple sauce on the side.

Friday Things

Posted in California, cancer, frugalism, home stuff, plants, Uncategorized, velcade by

My shot went well yesterday, and afterwards I went to WinCo. I spent $83 on food and paid in cash. I specifically wanted Taco sauce and a small jar of peanut butter. I don’t think buying the 2-pack at Costco is worth it for just the two of us.

Today is my dex day, and so far I feel pretty good, not too crazy:) I’m still a little sinus-y, but that’s it.

Some Christmas stuff and a totally funny New Yorker comic. B and I would always joke about this from “What About Bob ” and Siggy saying that.

I need to figure out my day but I know I need to:

clean the stove and hood

vacuum

do 1 load of laundry

look at the budget for the next 2 weeks

water some plants

???

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted in California, home stuff, Uncategorized by

I hope it’s filled with good food and family all around.

This will be the first Thanksgiving without Barclay. I’m sure we all will raise a glass to him. It will also be strange to not have him here. After 55 Thanksgivings together, I am very sad he’s not here, but I am thankful he’s not in pain anymore.

Well, I hope you and yours, whoever that may be, have a beautiful day.

Saturday Happenings

Posted in California, home stuff by

So far a nice morning of getting odds and ends done. I put up some more twinkle lights that are plug-in and not battery-operated.
I cleaned out the fireplace ash.

I cleaned the stove top with Dawn Power Wash. ( which, by the way, really is an excellent product. If you wait, it goes on sale at Costco.)

Next, I am planning on doing some touch-up painting.

My order from Bombas didn’t get delivered, and so I’m trying to track it down since it said delivered. 😦 I plan on ordering another 3-pack of T-shirts during Black Friday sales. It’s 25 % off if you’re interested. I’ve ordered from Quince before, and I like their T-shirts; they’re still not the quality of Bombas. Plus, Bombas gives one of the same items you buy to homeless shelters.

I have a few miscellaneous grocery items to still get for Thanksgiving. I need celery, sage, fresh cranberries, and a few other things.

I still need to do up a menu plan and look at the week ahead, and plan swimming and the gym. I need to go to the library as I have 2 holds there now.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, Gratitude, home stuff by

I’m thankful for a break in the rain. I woke up to it raining and now at 12noon it finally has stopped. It’s still overcast but not cold.

I thankful my foot isn’t any worse and it feels slightly better.There’s not a lot of pain walking so that’s good. But I still will keep walking to a minimum till I get the Merrills Moab. I do plan on swimming/and the gym but I think that should be ok.

I’m thankful to feel good enough to go to Costco and do the pre Thanksgiving shopping. I got the pie to freeze and the potatoes. It wasn’t a big shop so that was nice. I did pick up a small Lego set for my son’s partner. They love Legos so that’s a good gift.

I’m thankful for all the small things that make up life. Early mornings, walks, coffee, good food, jazz in the afternoon( that was B and my go to every day.) I do miss going out for coffee together and of course taking Rubi out. But I’m grateful we had the time that we did with the trailer. The very first year 2021 ,this time of year, November, we headed down to Santa Barbara. Unbeknownst to us the spot I reserved was the BEST spot in the entire campground as it faced the ocean and was steps from the beach. Good times, and I miss them.

I’m grateful our house is warm and dry. Our neighbors, who are in their 90s, have tarps all over their roof. Just to be clear, they have children and grandchildren that live right near by to help but don’t except to put tarps up. sigh:((

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, budgets, cash envelopes, home stuff, reading, Walking by

We’re back in the rain again. All.Day. Oh well, I won’t walk but may still go to the gym. Since that’s only in Auburn, I don’t mind. (Auburn is about 7 miles, just for reference.)

Friday, we went and picked up the VW. He fixed the brake light and the low beam headlights that had been out for like forever. sigh… $300 out the window. I pulled cash from my envelopes to pay. So now I need to go back and refill them when I can.

I plan on washing the couch covers today. This Ikea couch has held up so well, but now it is starting to show wear. I am hoping to buy a new couch sometime after the first of the year. It’ll be Ikea. The one I have picked out is grey and mid-century looking. I’ve loved my white couch, which was the Ektorp. But they don’t make that one anymore, but replaced it with another that looks similar.

I will also put together a meal plan and see how the week shapes up. I have some library holds, so I know I’ll go to Mahany and do the gym and library. I’ll see when I want to go to the pool. I may switch it up this week and go on Tuesday.

I have my Diestel turkey breast being delivered this week. I have some other things like green beans, cranberry sauce, and stuffing already. I’ll make the nut loaf and freeze it this week, too. I’ll probably buy the Costco pumpkin pie and freeze it till Thanksgiving. We’re not big dessert eaters at all, so I don’t worry about having 3 different pies. As I’ve said, this year I want to keep things like they were when B was here and not change the routine. Next year, who knows? My daughter and I talked about going to the coast for Thanksgiving, but not this year. I guess I want the continuity.

I’ve been reading Shogun again. Such a great story. I’m looking for a copy at the thrift store, but no luck so far. The new reprint was released this year, so I borrowed it from the library. Funny, how much back in the 70s this book influenced me. I suppose it is the traditions and simplicity that spoke to me.