Category Archives: Walking

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, California, meal planning, swimming, Walking by

Another rainy Sunday. We need all the rain/snow we can get but it does get old after a while. We were able to squeeze in a walk before it start really coming down. After that, I headed into the Auburn gym just to get some weights done. It was busy but I did my round and then left.

Tomorrow I have my monthly labs so I’ll see how much of an increase there is. It’s hard for me to tell if anything is different. The only thing is being slightly more tired. Well, I’ll know by Thursday or Friday.

Tonight we’re having one of the nut loaves I made with leftover brown rice. I have some small potatoes to use up so I’ll either bake them or mash them. Not sure which. Probably whatever is easier. I haven’t put together a menu for the week so I’ll look at what I have in the freezer and pantry. I will go to Winco whenever I swim again ( it’s just across the street from the pool). I thought Tuesday but now the weather is still saying winter storm warning. So I’ll just have to be flexible.{ sigh……}.

Nothing much on the calendar for this week. I have a thrift store load to drop off but can’t do that if it’s raining. Hopefully, we’ll get a few sunny days to do some outside things. 🙂

The Flylady zones are the Living room and the entry ways. It’s split because of the March starting on Wednesday.

another snow picture

That’s all the bamboo leaning over.

Here are a few of my new obsessions with Arhoj pottery

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, California, camping, Flylady, travel, Uncategorized, Walking by

A quiet Sunday. We walked and it was lovely in the park. No one there but us and the Canada geese.

I did the bathroom zone and then spent more time(wasted) looking at reviews on meat slicers for bread and whether an electric knife would be better. I’m undecided. I baked another sourdough and this one was some whole wheat. I timed cutting the other boule with my Mercer bread knife, which came in at under 4 minutes. Most of the slices were even. I guess one advantage of the bread slicer is it’s doing the work for you and not your arm.:)

After that, I went to the Anytime fitness gym. It wasn’t too busy today. Today’s Superbowl so maybe lots of people were doing other things.

This is another just the normal stuff week. I always appreciate the ‘normal’ weeks. Next week we’ll be in Napa so that’s exciting. I think we’re going to drive up to St Helena maybe to a winery. It’s only two nights so I know I want to go to the Rancho Gordo bean store and also back to the Public marketplace we liked so much. And there’s the river trail that we only did part of.

This week I’ll do a recheck of our taxes and then get ready to pay the little we owe and send it off. I suppose I could wait but not sure I need to. I’d rather they be done and gone.

Well, that’s it for this week.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, Flylady, Walking by

A nice simple RAINY Sunday which is fine with me. It’s just a nice drizzle although there is a winter storm warning for the Sierras. We walked this morning and it was just starting to drizzle as we left.

I went to the gym in Auburn and used the treadmill. I’m using this gym on Sundays for a quick workout to add to what I’m doing. It seems Sunday morning is old men’s morning who don’t use the wipes after using machines:(

Then I went to Safeway for a few things. Groceries are certainly expensive.

Then I came straight home and spent the last 2 hours looking at vintage Levi’s. I pretty much only wear Levis so a Youtuber I like was wearing some great-looking Levis and so I asked her what # they were and she said vintage 501s. So I just spent(wasted) 2 hours looking and didn’t really see what I thought would work for me.

Next week I have my doctor appt and then just the normal stuff. We may go to Costco as their sale stuff starts Wednesday and there are some items we need ie: laundry soap, coffee, toothbrushes and I think a few other things. Other than that same old same old.

The Flylady zone is the living room and entryways. I did the LR zone already so I’ll just tidy the entryways. I think I’ll also do some kitchen zone too. I want to start with all my pantry jars and give them all a wipe-down.

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Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, budgets, California, cooking, Flylady, home stuff, minimalism, Pantry, prepper pantry, simple foods, social security, Uncategorized, Walking by

A sunny Sunday but cold again. Still at 32 degrees and frosty on our walk this morning. The park was all frosty but it was a nice walk. It seems Great White Duck is now missing so we’re assuming it got taken by a predator. She/he has been around for maybe 4-5 years so that’s sad.

I worked on the bedroom zone and I plan on shampooing the carpet this week. I probably will also add in the LR zone too as there’s not a lot to do in that either. I do need to dust everything though.

I popped into the Auburn gym and felt the same about it as last week. The assisted weights are old and really dated compared to Roseville. The treadmills are also ‘dated’ to some degree. I was the only one using wipes on the equipment and it seemed most of the people there were ignoring wiping anything. I saw one old guy sneezing and snotting into his tissue and then go use a machine. Ewwww:(

Tomorrow I have my labs and then I might go down to the Roseville gym. I’m not committing yet because I may want to just come straight home and do some house tidying. The thing about being more minimal is it takes way less time to clean, tidy, or organize with a decluttered house. Still, things need to get done. Yesterday I washed the sunroom windows and washed the barkcloth cover I use on the couch out there. So everything in that room is done.

I also think having routines and daily to-do lists helps keep things organized. I almost always have my menu in place for dinner and I always keep my kitchen counters clear. If I had more storage space I definitely would keep my Kitchen Aid in a cabinet. Also, I think when our small microwave gives up the ghost I won’t replace it. I also keep the tea kettle on the counter. I really can’t change that as we use it a bazillion times a day.

The pantry challenge is going well and we are definitely using up things. This week I have some Dover sole to use up and from the big freezer, I’m planning on using the last ground turkey to make chili. I’m slowly bringing in all the pantry things from the prepper pantry and putting them in rotation. I’m pretty sure I won’t do a huge prepper pantry again. But I do want to keep doing pressure canned shelf stable foods. I don’t think I’ll do tons but I do enjoy the process and it is very convenient. So far the big winners are the BBQ sauce, enchilada sauce, chicken pot pie filling, and vegetable soup.

The pantry challenge also helped with my budget and I’m coming in way under what I planned. Our next month’s budget starts next week with our SS checks and then I’ll do a final tally. Let’s hope this debt ceiling shit doesn’t affect SS as that is all we’ve got!

Friday things

Posted in budgets, California, cash envelopes, swimming, Uncategorized, Walking by

Another nice walk without being too cold. Sunrise is 7:20 am and was the same yesterday.

Today is just a pottering day and tidying things up. I’m not sure why things look more ‘untogether’ around Christmas. Maybe it’s the Christmas tree and the few decorations I have around although I even put a few away as I felt it was too much visually. Maybe it’s being stuck inside a lot with the rain and cold.

We’ve had fun with the ‘ugliest’ tree ornament game again. So far the pink sparkly dinosaur is winning but it’s a close runner-up with pineapple face. <>!!!!

I’m debating going to the pool tomorrow. I want to go but I’m not sure about the traffic on Christmas eve day. I guess I’ll wake up and see how I feel. I need to check the hours too as I think I saw something about that on the way out the other day but didn’t pay attention to it.

Tonight we’re ordering a pizza so I won’t have to cook. That’ll be nice.

My January budget will go from Dec.26 to January 25 approx. I do think the cash envelopes are helping with some things like Home Depot, bird/chicken food, groceries ( to some degree), and, misc. For now, I’m going to keep doing it. January will be a low spend month with no extras. I plan on holding off on Costco till we need coffee. The biggest change is going to be saving from SS the extra increase so we can use that for annual bills. Plus whatever other money we can put towards that fund from anything else.

Winter Solstice

Posted in California, cooking, seasonal things, simple foods, Walking by

Yesterday was the Solstice and I am glad the longest night and shortest day are over. Of course here in California, it doesn’t really start to turn around and be that noticeable for a few weeks or so. Still, we will notice the increase in light probably in the afternoon.

Today is a run errands day. First to Safeway to get the fondue stuff for Christmas Eve. Then Target to get a calendar. I also will stop at Holiday Market( if I have any energy left) to get their coupon specials for the week.

I have one more night of beeswax Hanukkah candles left and then it’ll just be regular beeswax candles. My daughter has been reading out loud ” A Christmas Carol” while the candles burn down. Charles Dickens was a very flowery descriptive writer. It’s been fun.

I ended up with 10 1/2 pints of Seville marmalade. Some are more runny than others and I’m guessing it’s where the pectin was in the pot. I don’t mind it that way and it’s great as a sauce for chicken or tofu. Then the pear chutney ended up with 8 1/4 pints and we had one the first night and it was delicious.

Five on Friday on Saturday!

Posted in California, cooking, social security, Uncategorized, Walking by

Yesterday completely got away from me. I went to the rec center, came home, and got busy doing chores and pottering around.

Our weather is still freezing with mornings quite frosty and temperatures in the low 30s. We walked this morning and the fields at the park were all white with frost. Today’s high should be around 55 so that’s something at least.

After my walk, I started in on the Meyer Lemon marmalade and which is now ready to come out of the canner. I got the lemons at Costco and they are only seasonal. I’ll try and get another bag next time I’m there in January. Then I made the pumpkin chocolate bread batter and put that in the oven to bake for an hour. Next up is a gingerbread scone mix I had from last year so I thought I’d better make those too.

This past week was pretty mellow although B had 2 appts. One for his port flush and one for a bladder scan (urology). Nothing wrong except he doesn’t empty his bladder all the way. This goes way back to when he was working and on the road for hours at a time and didn’t go pee and just held it. We’ll see what the urologist says. ????

I went to Winco after my swim and bought most of the Christmas food I needed( like ricotta for the lasagna) and other misc. stuff. This has been an expensive month all the way around. Prop. tax, DMV, food, a few gifts, etc… I’ll be glad when January rolls around and a fresh start to the new year. I won’t do a No Spend but I will do a low spend of only essentials. I’m working on the amounts for our annual bills so that from each SS check we can set aside something. It isn’t a lot as we live on the SS exclusively but I’ll try. We do have the small amount from B’s 401K that is in fidelity but it’s not much:( I think it was laura over at the occasional nomads that said that the amount of SS increase they were going to save, so I think I’ll do that too. I’ll just have to look at the two amounts and subtract them. One thing that is worrisome is that when one of us dies we would only have one SS check and that wouldn’t cut it. I’m not sure if I add in the money both kids pay for rent if it would be enough. 😦 Probably if we increased it some.

Meyer Lemon marmalade

Pumpkin Chocolate chip bread from pureed pumpkin.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, California, cooking, swimming, Uncategorized, Walking by

I received the email that our Azure order is to be picked up today. I’m pretty excited to see how it goes. I’m not sure how many people will be there but I imagine quite a few. B is quite excited as this is like the old Mountain Peoples Warehouse days when we would go to the warehouse and pick up bulk orders. Of course, that was 1978!

Our walk was lovely again this morning with lots of pink gold and yellows and reds around. The park was frosty and even the trees had frost. Tomorrow I will not walk as I have to go get my labs and then Tuesday I’ll swim. It’ll be a short week for going to the gym or the pool but that’s ok, it is what it is.

I’m planning out the menu for Thanksgiving and when to defrost what. I think I’ll take out the petite Diestal turkey today and put it in the barn fridge and then take out the nut loaf muffins on Wednesday to defrost.

They popped out pretty easily but next time if I do it this way, I’ll use a small square of parchment paper.

This is the recipe I have used for years. I don’t always add green peppers and I don’t use cashews just walnuts and sometimes pecans.

I’ll prep everything on Wednesday and then just have the dishes in the fridge or the ingredients chopped. I have mashed potatoes in the freezer but I may make another batch for Thanksgiving and leave those in there for another meal. I plan on doing a few yams since I’m the only one that likes them. I just use store-bought rolls. I haven’t decided on the vegetable sides but probably have green beans and maybe some corn from this summer.

Here’s the crepe-making from the other day.

The sauce is a bechamel with gruyere. They were delicious. If you’re making crepes you need that little tool you see in the picture as it moves the batter into a circle. That’s the thing about cooking. Having the right tool makes it work. I made a stir fry the other day from NYT recipes ( check it out) called Everything Stir fry, which basically was leftovers in the fridge. It was delicious but I realized maybe I want a carbon steel wok. I checked Amazon and found one for $60 so I’ll think about it for a while. My large cast iron works fine but again a wok is a specific tool used for a specific type of cooking.

If I don’t blog this week, Have a Happy Thanksgiving. We always have so much to be thankful for and just being here is a gift.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, Flylady, home stuff, meal planning, Political things, Uncategorized, Walking by

Another beautiful walk this morning although chilly at 37 degrees. No one at the park but us. It’s always a thrill ( okay that may be an exaggeration)to get there and walk by ourselves. The trees are lovely fall colors and the geese have been around too.

The pie came out really terrific. I might tweak the recipe some and use heavy cream instead of evaporated milk but overall it was delicious. It was soft but after refrigerating it firmed up nicely. I think I will make another next week or maybe pumpkin cheesecake.

This week we are in the Bathroom zone and 1 other room so I’ll probably tidy my office area.

We had one of our dead snags fall over the neighbor’s fence down in the woods so B has been chainsawing that up. We have 2 other dead snags that we’ll need someone to drop. We hadn’t planned on that as they are down on the very lower edge of the property but the neighbor indicated he’d like them down. As long as it is very little $, I’ll do it. If it’s more than $100 no, they can just fall. These trees have been dead for about 7 years from bark beetle so it’s natural that they would eventually fall. Our other 2 neighbors have lost about 12 large trees and supposedly PGE will take them but who knows when? PGE is so backed up with keeping lines clear of trees that it could be a while. These trees are not near any lines so I’m surprised PGE said they’d do it.

I’m not planning any extra cooking today. I’ve pulled a bunch of things from the freezer for the week. Some chicken, frozen lentil soup, spaghetti sauce, and frozen eggs. So I’ll plan some dinners from that.

Tomorrow I plan to go to the gym and Tuesday I have a dental appt. That’s it for this week with probably a swim day Thursday.

Here’s Friday’s pizza. I’m using Tony Gemignani 00 flour and it’s a game-changer for pizza dough. Plus I’m making 1 large batch and dividing it into 4 balls and then freezing it. It’s working great.

Good news for Democrats holding the Senate. At least something positive is happening.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, Flylady, home stuff, Uncategorized, Walking by

The clocks turned back so that means we walked later than our usual time. We got out there at 5:50 am which would have been 6:50. It’s just getting light at that time so it ended up quite nice and no one was there. Just as we left ‘Mercedes Lady'( who has been there almost every day walking with no flashlight( one of my pet peeves), arrived and it was already light out. It was a really nice walk though, kind of misty fog. The trees in the park are shades of reds, oranges, and yellows, as most of these trees are maples and liquid ambers. We’ll see how the rest of the week goes. We’re expecting rain so that can change things.

When I got back I did the kitchen zone and tidied a few things. This week is pretty open with only Costco on the to-do list. I’m thinking Wednesday but we’ll see if we can plan a non-rainy day. My son will be using the Santa Fe on Friday and Saturday as he’s going up to Mt Shasta so I’ll need to figure out my swimming schedule. Yesterday the pool was really busy which is a bit unusual for Saturday.

I have most of Thanksgiving planned. A simple menu with just basics and a nut loaf. We rarely eat dessert so I may skip trying to figure out a pie/dessert. I plan on making the nut loaf in the next week and just freeze. I do like Costco’s pumpkin pie but we never finish it.

A picture of the sunroom and you can see the golden leaves out the windows.

Tomorrow I plan to can cranberry sauce. It’s an easy recipe to make.