Category Archives: plants

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, Flylady, library, plants, swimming, Walking by

Flowers from around the yard.

This is one of the original Camilla bushes that were here when we moved here. The other, a red one, was cut down as it was too near the house. This one is really a tree now.

This is a redbud which is native, I think, to California.

This was just a twig when we planted it( first in a pot). It was one of those free trees from the Arbor foundation. BTW, the Ponderosa tree you see in the background in the middle is the one we’re taking down as we can barely squeeze Rubi through. When we first moved here those trees were half this size.

Here are the ruffled daffodils out front.

The Flylady zone is the living room and I did that this week. Actually, there’s never much to do as it stays tidy and uncluttered generally. But I decided to add the kitchen zone as I skipped it last month when we were in Napa. The other regular zone is the entry ways since April 1st is Friday. We got the flowers all planted in pots out there this week so that’s done except for just a tidy up.

Here’s the first Ooni pizza of the year. The leopard spotting( the charred part) was perfect. I didn’t get a picture of the sausage one as it got eaten quickly.

There’s not a lot this week on the table and I’m glad of that. I’ll swim 2x and I might go down to the library one day too. Tonight I’m making a recipe from the youtuber’ Rachel cooks with love’. She’s hispanic and a terrific cook. She has a pretty big following too. I’m making her latest recipe, crispy chicken tacos. I’ll make a crispy bean for Barclay. Well, that wraps up things for me this week.

Friday things

Posted in bread, cooking, plants, swimming, Uncategorized, Walking by

It’s been a really nice week for me. Mellow and I feel like I got a lot done.

Walking has been really great and two people that used to walk at the same time showed up. They are friendly and always use headlamps. It’s been about 6 months since we’ve seen them so who knows why. I have to say not having the dog walker there has made the park mellow and pleasant. But if he comes back, we’ll deal with it.

I have another sourdough loaf of jalapeno cheddar ready to go. It’s so delicious and really quite easy. You just need the starter feed and then the recipe is basically no-knead and does a slow rise in the refrigerator. If you’re interested it’s King Arthur’s no-knead sourdough recipe and then I just added about a cup of cheddar and a few tablespoons of chopped jalapenos. I didn’t alter the recipe, just added it. I plan on trying an olive one and a walnut one.

Here’s another amaryllis bulb blooming. This one is called Minerva.

Today I might go to the pet bookstore but I’ll do my morning reset first and then see. I also have a load to go to the Goodwill. As usual, it’s in the back of buggie(my 2000 VW) and has been for a few weeks.

I just made the pizza dough for tonight and the oven is coming up to temperature for the bread. ( which takes forever to get to 500 degrees). After it comes up to temp. you drop it back down to 475 or 450 depending on what kind of bread you’re baking.

I plan on swimming tomorrow which I’m looking forward to.

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, Flylady, minimalism, plants, swimming, Uncategorized, Walking by

Another great walk this morning with a pretty sunrise. Nobody else there, not even the AH which we’re not sure why or what’s up with that but still it’s great not to have him stomping by us.

It looks like a cloudy day but the temperatures are really ok with high @ 60-65. Not bad for this time of year at all. The next 10 days actually look quite nice and I think we’re going to plan a drive up to Tahoe.

This week is the bedroom zone. I’ll wash the windows and tidy up but most of it is already done as this room is very minimal. I did wash the linen cover the other day. I may or may not iron it. I do like the look of linen without ironing it. The only thing I’ll probably do is tidy the closet some.

I made some sourdough pancakes this morning from the discarded sourdough and I have a batch ready to go for bread. The pancakes were good. I’ll bake the bread tomorrow after letting it do a slow rise in the refrigerator.

Just look at that beautiful starter. Except for it sort of exploded.

Here’s one of the amyrillys blooming. I bought the 4 pack of bulbs(Costco) and one didn’t come up. The other 2 have buds and this one is blooming. They are strange plants and I don’t think I will do them again. I love orchids though and usually buy one every time I go to Trader Joes.

This week is quiet for me but B has 3 appts. , two dentist and his port flush and blood draw. I plan on swimming at least 2x but that’s about it.

My second favorite Youtube vlogger, Beneta Larsson, has a 6 part series on decluttering if you’re interested. She is a minimalist that walks the talk. Her apartment is a beautiful example of minimalism and I love her cats. I’ve definitely been inspired by her.

Putting things up

Posted in cooking, plants, prepper pantry, Uncategorized by

I made a quick batch of pickled jalapenos this morning.

 

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We use these all winter. They are not canned but just refrigerator jalapenos. It says they are good for 2 months in the fridge but we are just finishing ajar from last fall so I’m guessing they last a lot longer than what the recipe says because it’s just vinegar and water and some sugar.

Also, at Winco we SCORED gamma lids and some buckets. These are seriously expensive on Amazon. They’re probably not quite as good as the Amazon ones but they’ll do the job of sealing the buckets. AF23071C-19BD-4C6C-9865-F0B4CA78E2BE

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I have the black beans and points to put in the 5 gallon buckets but I’m waiting on the mylar bags to separate the beans. I could vacuum seal them so I might do that but the mylar I guess are  better for longer term storage.  The mylar bags are not coming in till the first week of August so I’ll have to see what I want to do.

I rearranged the prepper pantry in the barn and moved all the non food( well almost) to other shelves that used to hold all my magazines. It looks good and based on what’s there I’d say I have almost a year for some things and 6 months for others( TP).

I was watching a few youtubers who are preppers and the recommendation was a cooler dark place. We do not have a closet to use in the house as there is only one real designated closet albeit that it is large. So I got to thinking maybe we should build a closed in cabinet in the barn. I’m not sure since the barn does not get any direct sunlight in there and is generally on the cooler side. I don’t know, I’ll have to think on that too.

I tell you though, some of these preppers are really out there with survivalist stuff. I sorta ignore all that and just try and glean some ideas about storage.

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Some of my orchids are reblooming which I’ve never had happen. It must be they like where I put them which was actually an accident. I had put them on B’s to get them out of the way and sure enough the morning light and then the coolness from the windows at night must be the right condition. Excited to see if it happens again.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, Flylady, home improvement, kitchen remodel, plants, Uncategorized by

Our beautiful weather continues here. Today we’re supposed to reach low 70’s.

Spring is in the air. Although it would look like we’re headed for another drought so that’s not good. The daffodils are up and there are violets in the yard. I like violets as they will spread and pop up in the most unlikely spots.

I finished the living room zone already. Since there’s not a lot to do in there it goes fairly quick.

Yesterday, I potted 4 starter plants and today I have 2 more to do. Mostly pothos and Monstera and

Syngonium podophyllum. I have at least 2 more of these.

I also decided to repurpose a little table my daughter took out of her room to put the plants on since now I have at least 4 more to put somewhere.  I’m painting it white so it’ll blend in more.

We’re looking at stove hoods and found one on amazon we like so we’re going to order that. This begins the very minor kitchen remodel. We can’t change the configuration of the kitchen due to walls and doors so we just have to make do with the way it is. I suppose if we had money, a contractor could do it but we don’t so that’s that.

I’m also going to get a new kitchen island in stainless. Basically, the same as we have that’s from Ikea but they don’t carry this one anymore and the one I found ( AMazon)has the shelf straight across whereas the one I have it’s split.

We’re trying to prioritize what we can do and how much we can spend as there is no more ‘extra ‘ money coming in.  That SDI was pretty great.:)  😦 sad it’s over…..

Well, off to the gym and then Safeway.

A lovely fall so far…

Posted in ikea, plants, Uncategorized by

Our weather is so beautiful.

I can’t hardly imagine being anywhere else, well maybe Hawaii! Next week looks lovely as well with day time temperatures in the 70’s. We do need the rain though:(

We had a fun time at Ikea this week. I got the new Poang chair covers(2) that I’d been waiting till they were in stock. I really would have liked the more expensive ones but they weren’t in stock till the end of November plus they were kinda pricey.  I love their storage jars and always buy one or two.  I’m liking the smaller ones to use in the fridge.

We also picked up the plant stand I’ve been eyeing so I can put 3 plants together.

 

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I really like the bamboo wood legs and it holds 3 plants. I’m still experimenting with which ones to use.

I also gave some plants a shower this week and they’re happier.

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This morning I made banana bread as we had 4 ripe bananas that needed using.

I always add pecans/walnuts and choc chips.

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This morning I’m planning on going into town for just a brief stop at the bank to get a copy of a transaction and then down to our local bagel store.

We haven’t heard from the tree guy so maybe next week. Since they did the other tree last Saturday I thought they might be back today but we had no call.

Simple Sunday

Posted in cooking, Flylady, plants, Uncategorized, Walking by

 A nice morning walk at the park with only the ” creepy” guy who sits in his car and smokes cigars. He never looks up and doesn’t’ walk. He sits for maybe 30 minutes. Well, I’ve made up stories about him but they’re not nice so I won’t include them here. 🙂

Then I did the Flylady zone which is zone 1, entryway, front porches, and dining room.  I don’t really have a dining room so I just wipe the Heywood down and clean the glass.

We grew some Indian corn that is a lovely blue color so I will set those out as a fall display. I was thinking of getting some sort of small table for the outside but I can use a wood crate just as well. We didn’t get any pumpkins growing this year so I’ll need to buy some. I do have orange mini lights I like to string outside in the fall as it looks fall-ish.

Then we went to the gym and it was empty-ish too. So that was a win-win. We’re having burgers for BBQ tomorrow so I’m making a quick cheese lasagna tonight. Nothing fancy. it’s just I had all the ingredients in the fridge.

It’s still warm out but it does look as if the week gets cooler, down into the ’80’s so that will be nice. It’s toasty out there right now though.

The pool is still great although pretty much after Labor day the temperature of the water goes down so it needs to be really hot for me to go in. B is in no matter what though and doing some water exercises.

I’m hoping next week to get the house insurance figured out. I left a message with AAA on Friday but since it’s a holiday weekend I don’t expect to hear back till Tuesday.

I hope it’s a nice Labor day weekend where you live.

The sun is shining!

Posted in cooking, meal planning, plants, Uncategorized by

Finally, we are seeing the sunshine. It’s also supposed to be 60 today so hurray, spring is almost here. We walked early to try and figure out daylight savings. So it was still predawn and quite cold but it seemed to be a good time.

Today is B’s last chemo session in this round.  Hopefully, it will kick in and his numbers improve. His WBC did go to 1.4 which is the best it has been so good news. We know his brother is a match BUT we don’t know how good a match which is called resolution. The higher that is the better the response. So we should know soon and also after we see Dr. Kiwan I’m sure he will let us know if we are moving forward or do another round of Dacogen.  So still unknowns.

My daughter is going to go test drive a Honda Fit also and I will meet here there. The unfortunate news is she gave her notice at the library. She just didn’t want to deal with the negativity any longer.  The library director wrote her up for not getting to work even though the freeway was closed.  I told her to take it to the union, but she just had it. Thus she wants to get a better mileage car. So we’ll see.

I’m skipping the gym to go with her but I do need to stop at the store for milk and some veggies.

Hopefully, this is a quieter week with appts.

We had a lot of fun at IKEA yesterday and I got just about everything on my list.  The best thing I found was this little plant stand for 4.99

I just love it.

dinner is Zoodles and meatballs.

Maintaining Minimalism

Posted in Flylady, minimalism, plants, simple foods, Uncategorized by

This morning as I was doing the Flylady zone( the bedroom) I looked around and was pleased that this room is calm and clutter-free.

In Quaker or Amish homes things are sparsely furnished. I was always, in my youth anyway, partial to the Amish look. And of course, as I’ve written we were Quakers for many years and married in a Quaker ceremony. (more on that later this week) 🙂

sparselyadverb

UK /ˈspɑːs.li/ US /ˈspɑːrs.li/

 

with only a small number or amount of people or things:

sparsely furnished/populat

. Function rules and there is little excess.

In Japanese homes, things are very minimal and ascetically lovely. For the longest time, I wanted to create a Japanese home with tatamis and low furniture.

For years we slept on a futon in our other house. But when we moved to this house we slept on the futon for a while only to discover (with disgust) that mold was under the futon due to it being on the floor with no circulation. In our other home( the one we built) the bedroom was on the second floor and carpeted.

As time went on, I just fell into stuff.

Then as I rediscovered my love of simplicity, minimalism fell into place.  I still would love a traditional type Japanese home effect but that’s not going to happen here.

But, I also love the Scandinavian look, which is really quite similar in some respects to a Japanese look except perhaps the lines are clean and simple and generally white or a teak wood. I do love white furniture and teak as well.

So my point, in a round- about way is, now having embraced minimalism for a number of years now, maintaining a clean room with little clutter is fairly easy and doesn’t require a lot of time.

I finished the bedroom zone including windows in 10 minutes.

I moved another plant in there in a corner and I’m not sure it will like it there. But I’ll keep it there for a few weeks and see how it is.

Dinner is roast chicken, a veggie burger for B and potatoes from the garden!

Tahoe Blue

Posted in Blood test, Lake tahoe, Myeloma, plants, Political things, Uncategorized by

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I actually haven’t seen this movie ‘The Fight Club’ but I do love this quote.

Note: that’s just a random thing I put in there, because I saw it the other day.

Tahoe Blue VODKA!!!

So here’s a funny snippet. The other morning I come out of the bedroom and it’s maybe 6:45 am ( of course I’ve been up for at least an hour), but my son sees me with the bottle of Tahoe Blue. He says” it’s a little early isn’t it”???

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Well, the funny thing is I reuse pretty bottles like this one to put water in and then water my plants!!!! So I had just finished the plants in the bedroom.

I don’t even drink Vodka although with all the Trump stuff going on I may start soon.

Today is my lab day. I figure I’ll call next week or maybe Friday as it does take 3 days for the SPEP test. All I can do is just wait and see. I feel good but that can be deceiving with myeloma.

I’m also going to do some weights at the gym and then stop at the market as I need half and half and a few other things. I’m trying not to shop till Aug 1 although that is a week away and I know I’ll need some fruit at the very least.

We are in a heat wave and today is supposed to be 102. Yikes!!!

Dinner is unknown at this point.