Category Archives: home stuff

Saturday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, home stuff, Walking by

Well, I’m sitting here at 6: 30, and it still seems too dark to go for a walk. I’ll wait another 10 minutes or so. I’m not into getting there in the dark anymore. At one time, walking in the dark was one of my favorite things. Now, though, the path has lots of uneven places and holes, so for safety, I’ll wait. Update:/ I got there at 6:45 and it was fine.

Our weather has turned and it’s going to be cool and maybe even some rain. I think we’re ready. My daughter got all the wood stacked which was a big job. Since my son left the truck here while he’s gone we are planning at least one trip to the dump. Mostly it’s leftover junk wood that I’d like out of here. Frankly, I ‘m amazed at the crap still here that wasn’t taken care of. So my goalis, all of it gone by mid November.

I decided to go to TJ’s yesterday as it had more things I wanted on my list. It was busy for some reason. Maybe because it was Friday? I checked whether they had the fall mini bags but they are long gone. I did pick up the french fries and their has browns that we like because they are unseasoned. I also got some frozen meals of chicken chow mein and their fried rice for a easy dinner. TJ’s is so great for getting interesting things. I want to plan a trip when I have some extra money to get some Christmas things like chocolates and cookies. But not now.

A couple of my vintage Halloween things. Plus pumpkin boy and apple girl.

I’ve been doing some Sashiko on some linen blend napkins. I got the designs off Etsy and they stick to the fabric so it makes it easy to do them. I need to get more thread though. The sashiko thread is a bit silkier than embroidery thread. I’m planning on giving these to my son for christmas, at least that’s the thought now.

I have a few house things to do today and then I’d like to get back out to the garden shed. I had decluttered some but it’s a mess again so that’ll be my first priority today. Now that it’s cooler I get a bit more ambitious.

Midweek things

Posted in books, California, decluttering, home stuff, plants by

I had a good dentist appt yesterday. Still, OOP was expensive, but I don’t have dental insurance, and Medicare doesn’t cover dental things except, I think, surgeries and stuff. Oh well, it had to be done, but at least it all was good- no cavities, etc. She did recommend I go back to the electric toothbrush. I had an Oral B somewhere but when I got home I couldn’t find it so I ordered a Sonicare. It was on sale for Prime so I got a good deal.

Before the dentist, I went over to the pet bookstore and dropped off 3 bags of books. Some were cookbooks that I bought there but really haven’t used. It’s cheap entertainment for me to read cookbooks.

Monday I did a house rest and got through the kitchen zone. That always feels good as it is my biggest zone to do.

Today, I plan on tidying things up and I need to find some different places for my sunroom plants. I have a very large fiddle leaf fig ( over 5 ft) but it’s not liking the sunroom going from very warm to cool at night. So I need to rethink where to put that plant and 2 others. I don’t have a lot of space in the house which is why they were in the sunroom. I’ll google or AI what fiddle leafs like. The spider plants can really tolerate temperature changes so I’ll leave them out there.

Other than that, a day at home. I think this our last hot day too. Fortunately, as I mentioned, with the angle of the sun this time of year, our house is not getting direct overhead sun but more south eastern, so the house is staying cool as long as I close the windows.

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, home stuff, knee injury, Walking by

I’m in the process of canning tomatoes. I ordered a flat of Roma tomatoes from a local farm. They were 2.50 a pound, so a very good price. I did half the lug and have half to do tomorrow or Tuesday. I have 8 pints in the water bath and 2 more ready to go when these are done. I’ll add some jars filled with water so it fills the canner. I didn’t add any seasoning, just citric acid and a little salt. I’ll do seasoning when I open and use them. I’m a little tired from standing but I’m almost done.

I did go for a walk, and it was quite nice. A few other people, but not bad for a Sunday. My left knee (torn ACL and meniscus) seemed to tweak a few times, so I’ve been really careful, and I’ll probably put my knee sleeve on to help with stability. The only thing I’ve done differently is that I’ve added my PT exercises back into my workout, so maybe that tweaked it. So today I’ll back off since I’ve been on my feet a while now.

This is a busy week for me, which, as you know, I really dislike a lot of appts, but they must be done. That includes my Velcade on Thursday. I did change my dentist appt from Monday next week to Wednesday, as Monday is my labs and dex crash day. It doesn’t always happen, but I figured it would be better to change it if I could.

I also finished Calamity Club, and it’s as good as everyone says. Really, such insight!

I moved most of my cookbooks into B’s office bookcase.

I’ll see if I like them there or not. The other picture is the little fire pit I bought a while ago. I had a few nights of fires outside when it was cooler. Now with our temps dropping, I’ll sit outside again. Today’s high is supposed to be 75, so quite lovely.

Friday Things

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

My appointment went well even with him being late( as usual). I thought of stopping at Costco for those non food items I still need but didn’t feel like it. I prefer to use the executive time only, which is at 9 a.m. when they open.

When I got home, I made a sandwich and called it good. I was starving since I hadn’t eaten before I left for Sacto. I thought about going to Costco this morning (Friday) and haven’t decided if that’s what I want to get done. Probably I’ll wait.

We got some rain!!! Very unusual for September in the Sierra Nevada foothills, but very welcome.

The only shopping I did was at Holiday on Monday for about $ 50. That was for deli meat for sandwiches, milk, and some salad stuff. I try not to go there too often, as it is more expensive than WinCo. But it is just right down the driveway. (Well, you still need to get on the main road and then make a right turn in.) I also spent $106 on the oil change.

Today, I’ll wait for the chimney guy to show up and give me his assessment. I wasn’t sure if he was planning on cleaning it today or just telling me. He wasn’t very clear. After that, I plan to go into Auburn and return a T-shirt from Old Navy that I ordered online and don’t really like.

Before the oil change, I dropped off the Goodwill stuff, so that’s out of the car. But think I’ll see about loading up our cardboard and take to the cardboard bins the county provides for free. It’s kind of a pain to do, and again, this was all the stuff Barclay did. UGH!!! I’ll have to check how wet it all got before I load it up.

I pulled some things out of the chest freezer: some bacon, the cannellini beans in the Souper cubes, bagels, and tortillas. I have quite a few avocados from Costco to use, so I’ll make some quesadillas and use them. With the cannellini beans, I might make a soup and add them. I did see some random containers of chicken broth in the chest freezer that I should get out.

Well, I just got a text from the Chimney guy, and he’s sick, so I will go down to Costco this morning at 9am. I’m sure the chimney will be fine.

The fires of Mordor!! Ha, just kidding. This was my last fire.

Menu Monday

Posted in California, cooking, home stuff by

We did have the Di Fara pizza last night.

It was quite excellent. I was surprised. I will definitely try another one. I got this at Bel Air, but I think Safeway has them too.

Menu ideas, not in any order of when I’d make.

Tonight, I have some Dover sole to make. Costco had them in stock, and so I picked up a pack. It’s a nice, mild fish. I have a bit of salad stuff to use so I’ll do that.

I have some taco shells in the pantry box that I want to use, so either taco meat or beans.

I plan to defrost some chicken, so I’ll do something with that. I have brown rice I need to use as well, so I’ll put that in the Zojirushi. This brown rice is at least a year old so it needs to get used up. I had it in the freezer so that does extend it’s shelf life.

On the nights my daughter gets home late, I’ll probably do grilled cheese or something easy like that.

I have quite a few eggs also, so maybe a scrambled egg/ breakfast for dinner thing.

We did get to Home Depot and bought the garden soil and the smart light bulbs, and my daughter picked up a few bags of rocks for their rock garden.

Today, I think we’re going to try to get to the bookstore since I have 2 bags of books to go. It’s Monday, so I need to do a house reset for the week. Mostly, just tidying up and being sure the kitchen is tidy and clean. I did clean the stove and stove hood the other day, so that’s done. The Flylady zone is the entryway. I’ll do a sweep of both. I did change out my faux flowers for the fall ones.

The flash flood in the Grand Canyon looks devastating. Phantom Ranch and the campgrounds are all damaged. Mother Nature does it’s thing and it can be shocking. Also, the mudslide in Nepal is devastating. The loss of life is huge and very sad.

Frugal Friday

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

Overall, my budget is going well. I haven’t really gone out most of this week, so that makes a difference. I’m making headway on my CC bill, so that’s encouraging. X amount of dollars can only go to X amount of places.

Today, I’m heading to the pool, then going to Costco to return the pants I bought online. I’ll pick up coffee and olive oil as well. My grocery budget for August came in a bit higher than I wanted, at $500 approx. Of course, some of this is LTF for the freezer/pantry, so even though it’s high, some things won’t need to be bought for a while. I’m going to try to stick to $400 this month and see how it goes.

I’ve got most of September’s bills in. Almost all are on autopay, but PGE is not, as it is on the balanced pay program, so it averages out over the year and is different each month. Other than that, except for annual bills, all are on autopay. Actually, some of my annual bills are on autopay like my Costco membership.

Finally, our weather is turning and will be much cooler next week. I’m ready to not have coolers going all day.

September brings my dentist appointment, eye doctor appt, Flu and COVID shots. I read that the new COVID shot will be available soon, so I’ll wait to get that.

Next week, I have my oncology appt. My labs came back good. No real big change, so I was very happy about that. My platelets are still a bit low due to Velcade, but nothing alarming- just below low normal. Overall, they were good. I’ll see what he has to say next week.

We’ve been moving all the plants near the house to a different spot. It’s suggested to not have anything within 5 feet of the house. We had 4 different bamboo pots near the house, so my daughter moved them out. I’m pretty sure our California Fair Plan insurance is going to have an increase, which I hope isn’t too dramatic. But I did hear/read that it’s likely going up.

We also scheduled a chimney cleaning for the wood stove. There are just some things Barclay always did that we just don’t want/can’t do now. The same with getting the firewood. He pretty much handled that, and now one of us needs to. sigh:(

Well, I’m off to go swim.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, Gratitude, home stuff, swimming, Uncategorized by

I’m thankful it’s been a good week without any appts apart from my lab appt. I did that early yesterday (7:30), and then went to the pool.

I’m thankful the guy who does my draws is quite good and this time he left NO mark, so that’s a win.

The pool was wonderful and I had a lane to myself the whole time. I’m a little stiff this morning from swimming but that happens if I haven’t been for 6 days. I am very thankful for this pool and how well it is maintained. It’s been 5 years since I started back swimming. I plan to go one more time this week. That may then exclude going to the gym as I do need to be conscious of time and gas $.

The weather is hot, that’s all I can say and it looks like this is hot and next week is hotter. Not my favorite at all. I did a little outside watering yesterday and will do some this morning. We’re not trying to keep any grass green, just watering lavender bushes etc.

I’m thankful my daughter did the Costco trip for water. We do use plastic bottles, mostly I do at night when I wake up and need a drink and also I use bottles to track how much H2O I drink. Not ideal with the plastic, but it is what it is and I have to choose my battles.

After the pool , I went across the street to Winco and got a few things. Mostly, I wanted some veggies and although not organic, they do have wonderful produce. They do have organic veggies though. I bought a cabbage for coleslaw, jalapeno peppers, bell peppers, and romaine lettuce. I picked up some corn tortillas to make enchiladas. I also picked up a pre seasoned tri tip so I might make that tonight. I don’t usually buy meat at Winco, just Costco so I’ll see how the quality is.

Today, I plan on decluttering some in the bedroom and clean out the fridge some. I think I’ll put a pot of beans on too. Later, I’m going to pop out to Ikeda’s for more tomatoes. I kinda feel like going to the bookstore but that’s on the other side of town. We’ll see, maybe my daughter will want to go.

I am thankful to have started recycling again. It’s kind of a pain to do but I’m keeping it manageable. It’s in a convenient location so I like that. I only had 3 bags, so I got back $8. Not bad. I think next time I’ll wait to have a bit more.

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgets, California, cooking, home stuff, Walking by

Well, it’s officially hot and getting hotter. I saw close to 100 next week. Yikes. Coolers will be going.

I woke up early around 5 and decided to get up instead of lying there for half an hour. I checked my ResMed, and it looked good. Good mask fit and .2 events, which is almost perfect.

I did find a cancellation for my labs on Wednesday morning at 7:30, which is better for me than 11:40. I’ll keep checking, and maybe one will open up on Monday or Tuesday. Because of forgetting to do it, I went ahead and scheduled my next labs for after my August Velcade, so that’s done.

We’ll see how the labs are. It takes 3 months of a trend to be sure of something, so I hope it goes down slightly or at least stays the same.

The gym was a bit busy, but I did my usual weights and a little treadmill. Since I walked already this morning, I only did about 12 minutes.

After the gym, I went over to Goodwill and found a few things. A new Gap T-shirt in navy, which is always a hard color to find for some reason. Then a cool Starbucks cup that is a mini coffee press. It looked brand new. That’ll be fun to try.

I have chicken for dinner, as we had the cheese chile relleno last night. My daughter did it in the air fryer, and I’d definitely recommend that way to cook it.

The rest of the day is probably spent hanging out inside, as it’s too hot already to go sit outside. I’ll send iRobot around to vacuum and maybe mop. I’ve been doing some embroidering on napkins, so I might keep doing that.

Saturday things

Posted in California, cancer, home stuff, LLS, Myeloma, Walking by

I didn’t get to a post yesterday. I went down to the gym, and by the time I got home, I forgot about it. I walked this morning, so I plan on not going to the pool, plus that’s gas.

I plan on doing some house chores and popping down to Holiday for a few things. I need some cottage cheese, hot dog rolls, and a few other odds and ends. I really don’t feel like going out to Auburn, especially since I’ll go tomorrow.

In the next few days, I need to get the oil changed in the VW and wash it. I may stack that on tomorrow, but I’ll see how it is then.

This coming week is also when my LLS grant officially closes. Of course, the grant $ was gone in May, so once it hits the official date, I can start checking when it opens up for Myeloma. Sometimes it’s a few weeks. It’s a matter of checking multiple times a day, as once it opens, everyone who has been waiting gets on the site. Fingers crossed, since I’ve not had reimbursement on my UHC insurance, which went up $60 to $360. UGH!!!

Here’s a fun picture of the bookcase in the mirror and our Quaker wedding scroll.

A menu for the week, sort of…

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, home stuff, Uncategorized by

Last night we did do the Kirkland meatballs with Rao’s sauce. I threw a few egg noodles in, too. It was good. NO salad because I didn’t feel like making it. The humidity is awful, and we are not used to humidity here in Northern CA. I think today is about the same. There are some clouds that are keeping the heat in and the humidity high. Ugh…

So, I have some chicken defrosting so one night will be something with that.

I have 1 pack of tofu, so I’ll do something with that, maybe a tofu scramble, so that the veggies get cooked( don’t want the horrible parasite!).

I have some shrimp in the freezer, so maybe a shrimp scampi-type thing.

I might open some home-canned pintos and do a nacho-type thing. I’ll have to check what I have. I know I don’t have any corn chips because we were doing low carb. Maybe I’ll just do bean bowls. I do have some taco meat in the freezer I could pull out.

Past that, I have no idea. I probably should pull out some cookbooks and get some ideas.

I’m mostly home today and need to do a sweep through the house. Plus, I need to mop. Then the plan is to go over to the pet bookstore and maybe the nursery. After that, find some lunch.

I read two of Marcia Muller’s books, which take place in SF. I like her writing. These were not new at all. I think one was from 2006. A quick read and entertaining. Next up are two Stabenow books. All these I picked up at the pet bookstore. They are $2 a piece. Cheap entertainment.

I haven’t had any off days, which I’m pleased with. I’m still only getting 2 bottles down in a day, but that’s way better than before. Also, tracking my 02 has been good. Overall, it’s all in a good range.

This week, I plan to go to the pool and the gym in Roseville. I’ll probably tack on a Trader Joe’s stop as well. I don’t need anything from Costco, so I’ll skip that. Ok then, I’m going to go pick up cat puke!!