Category Archives: reading

Wrights Beach at Sonoma Coast State Beach

Posted in California, camping, cooking, reading by

We had a great trip.

We left Tuesday morning. Stopped in Sonoma for gas which is a little more than halfway. Traffic was fairly easy and towing went well. We love our truck for its towing capacity. Unfortunately on the way home, we discovered the AC wasn’t working again. When we bought the truck 2 years ago, the AC wasn’t working and they replaced the compressor. So the question is why would it not be working now??? Anyway, I checked our paperwork and we had paid for 24 months of unlimited service so we should be able to get it fixed at no cost. I certainly hope so as I won’t drive in a vehicle w without AC when it’s 95 degrees out. Still, it’s a PITA to deal with.

We rolled into Wrights at about 12:30. So the timing was perfect. The campground was not very full at that point so that was nice plus it was mostly retired people like us so it was quiet.

We set up quickly and had sandwiches for lunch. Then we strolled out to the beach and walked. It was sunny and the temperatures quite nice.

The next morning we used the griddle that attaches to the RV for the first time. It was fun. We made pancakes, eggs, and bacon (for me).

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The rest of the day we walked the beach, sat in camp and read and I knitted.

This part of the cliff trail that goes along the bluffs.

Lots of spring flowers and eucalyptus blooms.

Dinner one night: cheesy potatoes and grilled tofu and chicken.

We went to our favorite local spot , Fishetarian. Delicious.

The weather in Bodega that day was sunny and beautiful.

We also did a Lodge one night of stuffed peppers with home canned tomato sauce. It’s one of the best lodge dinners as the flavors really meld together. There were 2 in the pan not just one.

We did lots of walking and I finished 2 books. One was Michelle Obama’s new book. Very detailed and hopeful.

The second was an older Louise Penny , the Brutal Telling. She is an amazing writer and I plan on putting some of her newer stuff on hold. This was an older one.

After much discussion and so many people coming in on Friday, we decided to leave Saturday instead of Sunday. It was a good decision since the wind was also coming in and at 20mph, it’s tough to be outside. Plus, now there were lots of kids and families which is fine, it’s just we prefer it quieter.

So we took out time and left 10:30am. Then we went over to Bodega Dunes to use the dump station. It’s very weird that the State park system can’t afford to have someone in the kiosks. At both places, no one was in the kiosk most of the time.

We were both super tired after driving 4 hours and so it was nice to have the next day to just do a few things. B did most of the trailer clean up and I dealt with the left over food etc.

So today is Monday, and it’s just a chill day with some house chores. Tomorrow I have my labs and then I’ll go down to the gym. I’d rather swim but my labs are 8:30 and so I can’t get to the pool and swim by the time they close lap swimming at 9:25.

When we got home everything was in bloom and absolutely stunning.

Wisteria.

Apple tree.

This is our cherry tree. I’ve never seen it have so many blossoms.

My daughter had everything tidy in the house too. My son took a few days off work and worked out in the barn.

Now our weather shows cool and even possible rain. Go figure.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, California, cooking, Flylady, home stuff, reading, Uncategorized by

Our beautiful spring weather of sunshine and warmer temperatures is back. It’s so nice to go out into the yard and see spring popping up everywhere. Greengrass, trees budding, the flowering cherry tree is still beautiful despite losing those branches.

Yesterday, I didn’t swim because I had an allergy attack and didn’t feel great. Also, it seems after I swim more vigorously like I did on Thursday, I get a ‘lactic acid’ attack the next day so that may have been some of it. Since I’ve increased my weights to 15-20 lbs, I am definitely swimming harder. Yay to that but then I get the downtime too.

Today, we’ll walk and then I plan on going into the Auburn gym for a bit. Tomorrow, I have labs and then I will go down to the Roseville gym. I have books to drop off. I’ve been reading the Dales Detective series( which is fun reading) and had gotten the 4th one in the series as a zip book. I plan on doing the 5th one as a zip too, but you can only have one at a time.

Yesterday, I washed the Ikea couch covers. I had checked about getting a new set but lo and behold, they don’t make the Ektorp couch anymore. I was kind of shocked. It’s been replaced by the Uppland. So I guess until I plan on getting a new couch, I’ll be washing these covers. BTW, they do wash up very nicely and I love having a white couch. The next couch though I think I want is a bit more modern looking and I think it only comes in a grey color which I do love also. The covers on our Poang chairs are a beautiful grey and look good with the white.

I plan on making up the week’s menu plan this morning. So far I have:

  1. chicken pot pie (shelf stable that I canned) and tofu pot pie with green beans
  2. pizza night
  3. Taco night or Mexican night, BTW, the pressure canned pintos came out delicious.
  4. A stir fry night with the veggies from Costco probably with tofu and rice
  5. I have some cheese ravioli to use from the freezer so I might do that
  6. ,???
  7. I have some tilapia to use too, so I’ll pan-fry that with asparagus and potatoes on the side

This week is the kitchen zone so I’ll start that this morning. I’ve been doing a little every day but still I like to do it one fell swoop so it’s all clean and shining.

B went back down to Costco to buy another pear tree because you need 2 to pollinate. They’re good sized trees so we might get some pears in 3 years. I wish we had planted more fruit trees over the years but we never did. Our apple tree was planted when we first moved here so it is over 25 years old and in a good year produces tons of apples. Last year, sadly, all the blossoms got killed by that very late frost and all the orchard around here lost entire crops of apples.

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, home stuff, Pantry, reading, Uncategorized by

I guess it’s been a frugal week. By not going to Capitola we saved gas money and food money. So there’s that. But then I wanted to go to Costco and finish getting the extra things on my list like batteries, cheese, canned tomatoes, and some other small items, which added up to another $250. Oh, and B threw in a case of Sierra pale ale. Still, I won’t need to go back to Costco till the end of April when the coffee will need replenishing.

Yesterday, after Costco I picked up my library books. It’s a good haul of around 10 books. I’m really enjoying Phillip Margolin’s books.

When I got home I took the chicken broth I had made the day before, skimmed the fat off, and got the pressure canner ready. The chicken broth only takes 25 minutes at 15lbs of pressure so it went quickly. So far then I’ve done chicken soup, chicken broth, and pinto beans. Next is the split pea soup but I don’t plan on doing that till Sunday.

All our big annual spring bills are done which include property tax, Allstate, and IRS. So now there’s nothing big till Fall and I’ll start saving up for that starting in April. Oh BTW, we found out that the eviction of our neighbor was due to a foreclosure that happened last year but took this long to process and serve the eviction. Amazingly, it sold at auction for $105,000 which for Meadow Vista is shocking. You can’t even buy land for that price so whoever bought it basically ‘stole’ it from her but really she was the one who let it go. Sad… Now why she didn’t sell and make some money, IDK. Maybe her health has declined so much she wasn’t really thinking straight. The owners I’m sure will remodel and flip this house as it’s still redeemable. They have had the junk removal people there at least 3X with a big truck. As I’ve said she was a hoarder! I still feel sad about it.

Today is just home pottering around day. I’m doing some house chores and am working on a thrift store load and food pantry drop off for next week.

Friday Things

Posted in books, California, camping, meal planning, Pantry, reading, travel, Uncategorized by

Well, our trip to Napa has been on /off again till this morning when we checked the weather again and it looks ok. My concern was for the rain/snow here. But now it seems like that will hold off till Thursday. I guess we’ll see what it is tomorrow because you need 48 hrs cancellation. So I think that will be ok. It’s saying rain here Tuesday but not in Napa.

The gym was good although it seemed there were some new people I hadn’t seen before. I chatted with one of the guys from the pool and it seems he goes to the pool almost every day. The traffic wasn’t too bad for a Friday.

I just finished rereading for the hundredth( okay maybe 10th time) time Mary Stewart’s “The Crystal Cave’. I happened to see this in the Free Little Library at the park. Those books were a huge influence on me. I loved all things Arthurian especially Merlin. I guess I always have had my head in the clouds. As matter of fact, it was around the time when I was pregnant with Sachi that we called the baby “Em” which was short for Emryus, Merlin’s name was g Ambrosius. Fun fact. I’m going to hit the bookstore and see if I can get the second in the trilogy, ‘The Hollow Hills”.

I’m not planning on a pizza tonight so I’ll need to figure something out. ???? The whole pantry challenge has been great to do and we really used up stuff. There are still a few more random things and I still have lots of shelf-stable soups and meals. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do this summer /fall for food storage. Some things worked great and others I won’t do again. It’s a bit of trial and error really.

I did come to the conclusion to NOT get a meat/bread slicer or electric knife. I guess it really came down to not wanting another appliance. So it took a while to process but I’m there now.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, Flylady, minimalism, reading, simplicity, swimming, Uncategorized by

We lost power for about an hour last night but I’m surprised it wasn’t more. It’s still raining so we decided not to walk this morning. I actually like walking in the rain as long as the wind isn’t blowing and today it is still windy. It looks like we’re in for rain all week. There have been many trees down so I hope ours can hold on. Even along I -80 I saw some pines that had fallen over.

I did go swimming yesterday and got a lane fairly quickly but by the time I was done lots of ‘new ‘ faces were showing up and the high school team again. I imagine it’ll slow down after a while with NY resolutions fading away.

Then I popped into Winco for salad stuff and other veggies. I didn’t buy a lot of anything else as I’m doing the pantry challenge which is to use up what I have. So far it is going splendidly. Last night we had some salmon I had in the freezer so that’s used up and we had a salad with it. I also used my last acorn squash from the farm stand I bought this fall. So overall I’m pleased with the challenge. This week I plan on using 2 pressure-canned soups, and some enchiladas from the freezer, and then see what else needs to be used up.

I just finished reading an excellent book called ” The Longing for Less” by Kyle Chayka. It is quite the essay on minimalism. I’d highly recommend it. I’m not planning on writing down the books I read this year as last year once I hit 150, I didn’t bother anymore.

Today, I plan on doing the Kitchen zone and then read some more. This week is a mellow week, with no appts. Depending on the weather though, I’ll go down to Roseville to swim and to the Rec center at least 1x.

Frugal Friday

Posted in California, home stuff, reading, swimming, Uncategorized by

The biggest Frugal Fail was going out for the worst breakfast ever!!! We decided to go to a new place near Trader Joe’s after we shopped called Early Toast. Wow, so awful I should have taken the $50 bill and burned it in the parking lot. Oh well, it does not reinforce my wanting to go out for meals. 😦

But TJ’s shop was good and I really was just going in for their snacks( the best potato chips ever) and curry sauce, misc items, and some wine.

We also picked up the Walmart order and the only thing I didn’t get was the turkey breast which was the only thing I really wanted in that order. 😦

Overall, a frugal week though with just the above-mentioned groceries and breakfast.

I had a good swim yesterday and the pool was really nice. The last 2 times it was quite cool which is unusual. But they must have gotten a few complaints and it was back to the way it usually is. Tomorrow I haven’t decided if I’ll swim or possibly go to the gym. I think I’ll wait and see how I feel later today.

Our weather is much cooler now but still no rain. It shows rain next week so fingers crossed. We really need the rain. We’ve been having a fire most mornings and evenings just to take the chill off the house.

I picked up 4 Ann Cleeves books from the library and started one. I have seen Vera on Brit Box so some of these books are adaptations of the series. The writing is good though. I stopped counting books I’ve read this year after 125 and that was in September. So probably I’m close to 150 books for the year. I just finished ‘A Tree grows in Brooklyn’ which was THE BOOK that influenced me the most growing up. If Francie could go to college, so could I. I was the first person in my family to ever go to college and later graduate school. Heidi, my sister, eventually earned her degree at the Catholic college she was working at. And all of her children are college educated with her oldest daughter holding a Ph.D. in nursing. ( I think it would be DNP??) not sure but she teaches.

Well, that’s all I got this morning so I’m off to do some chores and tidying up.

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, California, cooking, Flylady, reading, seasonal things, Uncategorized by

Fall is definitely here and with it colder weather and lots of pretty colored leaves. In the park, the trees are red, orange, yellow, and gold colors. Up here on our hill, we mostly have shades of yellow and gold. We had a lovely walk with no one there again. Sunday is my favorite day to walk. We’re consistent in walking 45 minutes. Then poof! I’m done. It’s the same with swimming. 40 minutes give or take and then that’s it.

I ordered 2 more cases of Ball jars and lids. They didn’t have the pint ones so I’ll check around for them. I also got a table runner in a tartan red plaid for Christmas and a candle(balsam). Speaking of Christmas, I’m pretty sure we’re not going to go up to Tahoe to cut a tree. The permits are in South Lake and that would mean going twice up there, once to buy the permit and then second, going to get the tree. There are no online purchases this year. Again, I don’t think we’ll do much in the way of gifts. Both my children buy whatever they need/want anyway. I’ll probably do a few gift cards though.

Here’s the applesauce from the other day.

I only got 4-pint jars but it is very tasty. I’ll see if my son can pick up a few more apples from his friend’s trees.

This week is another quiet one with no appts. I will go to the gym at least once and then swim at least twice. I’m doing a small Winco trip on one of the swim days as it is just across the street from the pool. We’ll probably do Costco in two weeks. As always, it’s the coffee we’ll need.

So we have a ‘new’ very friendly cat that has shown up!!!

Meet Chester!

He looks just like Gus! But his face is squarer ( is that a word?)more square. He’s very friendly and wants attention. We’re not sure where he came from but he seems to like it here.

This is Gus the tiger boy!!! He is bigger than the new cat that we’ve named Chester!!

I’m glad the week is over. I had those few days I didn’t feel well and it was just kind of an off week. Flylady zone is the living room. I did the windows and dusted. I put out a few Halloween decorations( my vintage ones) and added some mini pumpkins.

We finished watching “Severance”. If you like futuristic, dystopian stuff, then this is for you. Very intense and you’re not really sure what is going on. I have some Ann Cleeves on hold at the library I’ll pick up this week. ( she writes the Vera series).

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, cooking, Flylady, reading, Walking by

I’d say overall a nice week. Our temperatures were in the 90s but it wasn’t unbearable. This coming week we do have 4 days of 102-104 degrees and that is not comfortable. Well, with global warming I guess the temperature of the planet is going up. I read that the UK is really suffering, and quite a few of my favorite bloggers have been talking about the incredible heat.

We had a very nice walk this morning and we were the only ones till about 6:05 when the one older guy showed up. He’s been walking almost every day and seems nice. He doesn’t say much and keeps to his own space. It’s rare we are walking alone as most days there are at least 6 other people. I’m sure that with sunrise getting later there will be fewer people. The Canada geese babies are all grown up and all flying. It’s always fun to watch their development from puff balls to flying.

After we got home I made up the last batch of refrigerator jalapenos. There was just one jar. I already did 2 other refrigerator ones. These are really spicy.

Yesterday after swimming( which was wonderful as always), I made up the pickled beets( 2 jars) and shelf-stable jalapenos. I got 4 1/2 pints and 1 pint.

I decided not to go to the gym tomorrow so I can process the box of tomatoes. These are all ours and I’m guessing 30#s. There are also tomatoes all over my counters in different ripening stages. I’m thrilled to have so many as last year was dismal.

And we have lots of cherry tomatoes still coming and it’s barely the start of the tomato harvest.

That tomato on the top left is a Black Krim. Very tasty.

This week is the bathroom zone and I just finished that too. The joy of being clutter free and with just enough is that my zones are generally no more than 15 minutes at the most except in the kitchen. In the bathroom, which is very small, there’s only one towel per person and they hang on hooks. I wash towels once a week on Mondays. So there’s no pile of towels, although right now I have one extra in there that came from the RV and should go back.

I just passed reading 101 books so far this year and there were probably a few more I didn’t write down. Interestingly, I had picked up two Zen interior books at the pet book store for $1 each, and they were written in the late ’90s and it’s amazing all the ‘catch ‘ phrases they used like ” less is more”, declutter for a simpler life, and lots of other things. These 2 authors, were WAY ahead of the whole ‘minimalist movement’ that really took off in 2010. Of course, the Japanese were always very minimalist in their homes and Zen was a huge influence. I will keep these 2 hardbacks for now as they are inspiring to read through. If you’re interested one is called Wabi Sabi, and the other is Zen Interiors.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, books, canning tomato salsa, cooking, Flylady, reading, Uncategorized by

HAPPY BIRTHDAY # 28 to my dear son, Zephyr.

On a Sunday morning, 28 years ago, we were scheduled to go into Auburn Faith Community hospital and induce labor. My ob/GYN came in in his tennis clothes, broke my water and by 12:30 I was in labor. My son was born at 2:28pm that afternoon. It was very hard labor but fortunately quick. Whoever said you forget the pain after childbirth obviously didn’t have the same level of pain I did.

I’ve been very busy canning blackberry jam and salsas since Friday morning. My daughter and I went and picked 2 buckets of blackberries. I did one bag yesterday and will do the other bag today. I need 1/2 pint jars so I plan on going into Target soon and seeing what I can get.

I didn’t swim yesterday because of the canning and it was a good thing as I started at 6:30 am and finished by 11am. Today, I’m only planning on doing the blackberries if I can get the 1/2 pint jars. Tomorrow, I will can the tomatoes. I have plenty of jars for that. I’m liking the new canning pot I bought it is much nicer than the old Ball metal one.

This week I have my fasting labs on Wednesday. My appt is early so fasting shouldn’t be a problem.

Tomorrow I plan on going to the Roseville rec center and then drop off library books. My two most recent ” TheLioness ” by Chris Bohjalian and “The Paris Apartment” are OUTSTANDING and I would highly recommend.

Well, no zone cleaning for me today, I am beat. 😦

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, books, California, cooking, Flylady, reading, simple foods, travel, Uncategorized, Walking by

A lovely walk this morning although with the cloud cover it was muggy/ humid. Our temperatures are 10 degrees higher than Sacramento which is crazy but they are getting the delta breezes and we have none.

A busy morning when I got back. It’s sheet day so the sheets have come off and are in the laundry and I did a bathroom swish and swipe.

Then I started on the canning I planned on doing this morning. I decided to do pickled beets and another 2 jars of bread and butter pickles in the water bath canner. My canner is on the way out as it is rusty and the rack is rusty. But it works fine for boiling water. Nonetheless, I just ordered a stainless steel water canner with a rack from Amazon. I had ordered a stainless rack for inside the Ball canner but canceled the order after looking at the condition of the Ball canner overall. So the other one is a good deal with 35% off so it ended up at $53.00. So the pickled beets made 2 jars and the pickles 2 jars. Next week at the farm stand I’ll buy 2 bunches of beets and that should get me 4 more jars. I’m going to open one of the beets in a few days and check out the taste. This recipe was from a Youtuber ( Wyse Guide) who has a farm.

I finished the Anne Hillerman book and started the Jacqueline Winspear latest. Both are excellent writers.

This week is still a light week for me and then next week I have my fasting labs and regular labs and I’m going to get my new eyeglasses ordered. I’m using my Lindberg frames so that will cut some of the expense. I’ve had these frames for over 5 years and they are remarkable. They are rimless and quite light. There I’m thinking they are a titanium frame. It’s the progressives, and the no line bifocal, that cost.

It’s hard not going stir crazy this summer but our Tahoe trip is about a month away now so we have that to look forward to.

Flylady zone is Entryways. My favorite blogger, Minimom, is going back to using Flylady after trying the SHE method. She is a great example of how minimalism works for a family and she has adapted Flylady to her needs. I think that’s the ticket with Flylady, is to use the basic concepts and then adapt them, which is what I do. But I do think you have had to declutter first which is always included in her weekly tasks on her website. Granted it’s not a very sophisticated website but it does show what to do each day if you need that. I do my zone all in one morning usually Sunday or Monday morning. Then each day I do a house reset and tidy and usually always do a bathroom wipe down.