Category Archives: Walking

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, home stuff, Walking by

Mostly a frugal week since I didn’t go anywhere for 4 days due to feeling lousy. Then on Wednesday, I went to the pool. Before that, I got gas, and it had gone up quite a bit from my last fill-up. Costco gas is still the cheapest, but yikes, $5.69!!

After the pool, I went to Costco as I mentioned and spent a little over $200. I took out non-food and wine, so the food cost was around $100. Non food included batteries, an orchid, and I think something else. Wine was my favorite, Kendall Jackson, which is $9.59 at Costco. Oh, and I picked up that Rose for Mother’s Day and the most expensive thing was some steaks for Mother’s Day and for the freezer. I think the pack had 6 pieces of thinly sliced rib-eye. My daughter and I will likely just share a piece, and the other counts as LTF for the freezer.

My food total so far is running around $300, so not too bad. I don’t need anything, so it may just be a small Winco trip or something.

I ordered propane and put that on the CC. I’m slowly getting the card paid off, but then something like this happens, and I need to charge another $257. Oh well, I’ll get there. sigh:(

I haven’t really been doing active cash envelopes. Most of what I get, I just use for groceries. I guess I need to try to do better, especially for annual bills. It does help when I have the envelopes even a bit filled. Well, I have a few months with just a few annual bills. Next month is the truck DMV, but my son will pay for that as he’s the one using the truck, so it may give me a chance to fill some envelopes for fall. Having lost 1/3 of my income after B died is definitely a factor. sigh:(

Well, today I plan to go to the gym and the library. I have a book to return. I don’t have any holds, so I may just browse the new items. I want to keep up with my weights as I feel they really do help. I’d like to find a new walking path for when I’m down there, so I may look at RPR (Roseville Parks and Rec) trail maps to see what is close to the gym. Sadly, the only paved trail up here is the park I walk at. Auburn has another paved trail at a park, but it’s not in my normal route. The MV park is so well used by so many people, and they come from all over because it is paved. I’m at the stage of life where I’d be concerned for my stability on an unpaved path unless I used my walking sticks. I have been taking them with me even to this park because they give me an added sense of security. It’s tough getting older.

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, Uncategorized, Walking by

Even though it was sprinkling, I decided to go for a walk. The park was mostly empty except for the park worker who came in at 6:30, driving a big truck and maybe a little too fast. sigh!

We had a fun day yesterday at Sierra College’s time capsule event. It was well attended. We were going to go into Grass Valley and walk around, but the streets were closed for a vintage car event. We decided to go down to Colfax to Il Pizziaoli for their wood-fired pizza. It was delicious, and we had leftovers for dinner. yeah!!

I finished Untamed about Yosemite. I’d give it a B. The scenery was beautiful, but the story was not very developed. Just ok.

Today, I’m actually going down to Roseville because I saw a print of ‘The Great Wave’ by Hokusai on the marketplace. I’ve wanted this forever, and it’s framed. I’m going to meet the person at Trader Joe’s and then get a few things in the store. If I’m energetic, I’ll go down to the gym; otherwise, I’ll just come home.

I plan to make Rancho Gordo beans today in the crockpot. These are ‘eye of the goat’ beans, which I don’t think we’ve had before. I also plan to make some polenta as well. Other than that just home stuff and plan the week out.

I have Velcade on Thursday, so that means it’s Dex time again. sigh….

There’s a brand new Nugget market right by the infusion center, so I plan on going in and checking it out. I know they are carrying Rancho Gordo beans, so I’ll pick some up. I’m hoping they have RG’s Mexican oregano, which is absolutely delicious.

Oh, and my random loaf of sourdough.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get any cake:(

Saturday happenings

Posted in bread, budgets, California, cooking, Death, Walking by

The estate planner meeting lasted all of 5 minutes to just sign the papers. She was going to record them that afternoon. Then the county mails back the paperwork to me. All good.

I walked this morning, and no one was around except the geese. It was nice. I did feel sad that one little gosling had been separated from its family, and the 2 adults it was trying to be with kept attacking it, which I’ve seen happen every year. Sad, it won’t make it.

Today I have a plain sourdough to bake, no inclusions.

This one is the everything bagel seasoning. The blueberry cream cheese one was interesting. I like the blueberries, but not the cream cheese. I froze most of it, thinking it would make a good breakfast bread /egg casserole. I wanted to bake this one in a loaf pan, but my cast-iron one is too small. I will need to buy a USA loaf pan to do that. I do have my pullman pan so maybe I’ll try that today.

The archive stuff my daughter has been doing is having an exhibit today. It’s for Sierra College’s 30-year time capsule. So we are going to go see that and get lunch out.

I finished watching Season 3 of Resident Alien. There is a season 4, so I’ll start that at some point. I then started Untamed, which takes place in Yosemite, and I like it so far. That’s on Netflix.

It’s cloudy today, and it looks like there is some rain forecast for tomorrow. But then next week looks really nice.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, Gratitude, Uncategorized, Walking by

That are temperatures are going back up. I had to make a fire during this spell, and that is using up our firewood. I guess I need to check when I can get some more.

I’m thankful to have enough energy to do things most of the time, although my legs always give me problems. Specifically, Dex affects muscles, and my leg muscles always feel a little weak. That’s even with doing squats, weights, walking, and swimming. I just live with it and get on. I did just buy some compression socks from Amazon, and they seem to help.

Flexibility. Today is my normal walk day, but I have to leave at 8am to get to Sacramento, so I’ll skip it this morning. I may go later after I’m back home.

I have to give a lot of gratitude to Pope Leo for standing up to the orange idiot.

Midweek Musings

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, Walking by

Another gorgeous day here in Northern CA. The pollens are coming out, though, and a lot of people are affected. I get some seasonal allergies but not a lot.

I plan on going down to the gym today and to the library. I don’t want to miss my holds. Then I’m going to Costco to get the champagne to bring with us and a few other things.

I haven’t walked in the park since Sunday morning. It’s now 6:40, and it’s getting light out. I plan on walking down at the gym on the outside trail some. Then plan on walking tomorrow morning, and I’ll plan for 6:30. Sunrise is 7:10, so people start showing up earlier. That’s ok, really.

My eye doctor did order the other steroid eye drop, but it’s still coming in at $75. I had checked before I had him order, and it said it would be $39, so I’m not sure what happened. I’ll pick it up either today or tomorrow.

I finished watching True Detective Season 4, and it was ok. Seeing Alaska, though, with the endless nights, was certainly strange. I can’t imagine living in that. I watched an episode of Scarpetta too.

Last night I didn’t make the nachos and ended up with an egg salad sandwich. I just didn’t feel like much. I cleaned out a few things from the freezer, though I knew we weren’t going to eat them, like some pieces of bell pepper I stuck in there and some mushrooms I froze. I don’t know why I think I’ll use them. At the time, it seemed like a good idea.

Things do get buried in the freezer drawer, that’s for sure. Do you find you freeze things thinking you’ll use them and then don’t?

Menu Monday

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, meal planning, Uncategorized, Walking by

I write a basic menu, mostly to keep me focused and to try and use up things that need using.

Last night was simple: beans and weenies with sauerkraut.

Monday- I think I’ll do something with tofu as I have 2 packages in the fridge.

Tuesday- I’m going to pull a souper cube of chili out of the freezer.

Wednesday- Chicken of some sort, maybe chicken pot pie?

Thursday- With the weather so nice, maybe I’ll get the BBQ out. I have some potatoes, so I could make a potato salad.

Friday- It might be a pizza night, as we didn’t do that last week. I might do homemade since pizza is expensive out, but I’d need to check what I have to make it. I think I’d need to get some mozzarella.

Saturday- TBD

I know I need some veggies and salad stuff, which I’ll get at Winco. I have some bell peppers in the freezer to use.

Today, I’m going to get the car washed and then go for a walk with my daughter down at Sierra College. There are lots of trails there, so we thought we’d give it a try. We’re planning on some sort of lunch out.

I also do sheets on Monday, so there’s that plus regular daily chores.

My son is coming over after work too, so that’ll be nice.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, freezer cooking, simple foods, swimming, Walking by

A nice walk this morning, although a few people showed up. Still, nice enough, and it was not really cold. The rain is expected this afternoon and looks like it’ll be all week. It’s supposed to get quite cold, too.

I’m not going to the gym this morning either. I’m pretty stiff from my swim, so I’ll rest up. The pool is open on Monday, but I don’t think I’ll go down. I’ll have to see how it goes.

My son is coming up to deal with a garbage run and work on the barn some. Most everything in the barn now is his tools and stuff. I think he’s been getting rid of things, too. Yay for that!

Last night we watched the season finale of Stranger Things ( season 4). Geez, that show is intense. I may need a break for a few days. We had fondue with veggies and some bread. The fondue was an extra that I bought for New Year’s Eve. We also had some rosé prosecco. Yumm.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do today. I have the bathroom zone to do and maybe water my plants and ?? I do need to go drop stuff off at the thrift store, so I may do that because they don’t take donations if it’s raining. It’s not a lot of stuff, but I’d rather get it out of the house and back of the car.

I do want to freezer dive and see what I’m using this week. That’s a priority since it’s jammed packed. I might need to toss some things like bananas that I froze, as they’ve been in there a while. I had been doing that so B could have smoothies, but that’s now 8 months ago, probably time to toss. I could make some banana bread, but my daughter doesn’t really eat that kind of thing, so then I would, and I don’t need the extra calories. 🙁

Here’s a view from my bedroom window.

Friday Things

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, Flylady, Walking by

Since I didn’t walk yesterday, I decided to go out this morning, and I’m so glad I did. It was a nice walk, with no one around except the people who use the community center stairs for a workout. There was a crescent moon, which is my favorite.

Yesterday was a nightmare driving to Sacramento. Apparently, there was a terrible accident, and it was stop-and-go from Roseville all the way down to the I-80 split, which is quite a ways. I barely had time to check in for my appointment. And of course, my blood pressure was high. Even after waiting a bit, it was still higher than my normal. UGH, I guess I’ll talk to my PCP when I see him for my annual wellness appointment. I’ll start tracking again, which I do as a record for him to see.

Dr. Laptalo suggested I go off DEX because it could be contributing to weight gain. It could be, but I think I’m just not as active as I was with both knees having torn meniscus and my left a torn ACL. I forgot to mention any of that, but going off DEX will certainly be nice. I guess I’ll just have to take my chances with my numbers going up. Most people on maintenance don’t do dex, so that’s a positive.

After the doctor’s appointment, I went to Costco. For a moment, I thought of skipping it as I was pretty stressed out, but then I thought, no, it’ll be good to get that done, and walking around Costco would help. It did help to calm me down. So I picked up the non-food stuff, including TP, allergy pills, dishwasher pods, Lysol wipes, and a few other things. Most of that was on a coupon, so that was nice. Food-wise, I bought coffee, eggs, and their new Hawaiian ready meal. We had some for dinner, and it was tasty, but I don’t think I’d get it again. It’s a large serving, and there’s quite a bit left over, so I’m not sure how well that will freeze.

Today, I plan on cleaning the kitchen and doing my Flylady stuff there. That includes wiping all the shelves and the stove hood. Plus, using the stainless steel wipes on the appliances.

We’re heading into rain on Sunday, and the temperatures are going to get cold. We still need rain, and the ski areas really do need snow, so it’s ok. If it’s too awful out, I won’t go anywhere.

What frugal things have you done lately?

Monday menus, And Simple sunday late.

Posted in Blood test, bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, home improvement, home stuff, library, meal planning, Walking by

The day got away from me yesterday. I was doing some house chores, baking a sourdough loaf( jalapeno cheddar), and sitting in the sun. It was a very nice day.

I had a nice walk in the morning. Sunrise is now 7am, so I’ve been getting to the park at 6:30. Since sunrise is going to keep getting earlier, I’ll have to decide what my cutoff is for getting out. In the past I’d jump out at 5:30 am but I’m feeling too old for that.

Last night we had a frozen pizza and watched some more of Stranger Things. This season(4) is really intense, and the episodes are quite long. Still it’s keeping my interest.

Tonight, I might make a chicken tortilla soup as I made broth the other day. I also have chips I can use on top along with avocado.

Tuesday- this is my daughter’s later night at work, so usually I do something easy. I might do a grilled cheese. I also have leftover curry from the other night, I froze.

Wednesday- I need to look in the freezer and check what should be used. I know some pot stickers could be used with rice. I also have some tilapia I can grill up.

Thursday- Spaghetti and meatballs,salad

Friday- I might get takeout, tacos?

Saturday- Something from the freezer. I think I have some other soups frozen, so I’ll go check that out, plus I have lots of Souper cubes frozen of beans, chili, etc.

My son was here on Saturday and built the railing for the stairs off the sunporch. He’s been working on making sure I have handrails and grab bars for safety. It looks good. I just need to have him buy a piece of lattice to make it more attractive, and I can plant a vine of some sort to make it even nicer.

I went to Ace and had them match the house trim paint as the one I had saved must have deteriorated, as the color was definitely off. I haven’t opened it yet to see, but from the color on the top, it looks like a match. It looks like we have rain coming in so painting will have to wait anyway.

I have my labs this morning, and then it’ll be too late to get to the pool, so I plan on going to the gym and then the library. I have a few books to drop off and a hold to pick up.

I also see Dr. L this week, so that will change my routine as to the pool. I think I’ll plan Costco after I see him on Thursday. As usual, it’s coffee that I’ll need, plus some non-food things like toilet paper, paper towels, etc. I might pick up a ready-made meal there.

Here’s the jalapeno loaf. It looks good. I haven’t cut it yet, but I will slice it up this morning.

I finished the taxes, and it all looked good, and we didn’t owe, so that’s a win.

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, California, cooking, Flylady, simple foods, Uncategorized, Walking by

A cold walk this morning. The temperature is 36 degrees, but it’ll warm up to about 65 today, so still nice.

Today is a gym day in Auburn and then a few errands. I need to get gas in the VW, drop off a package at UPS, and stop and do a propane exchange down at the store. I’m sending my old MacBook to Apple to recycle. I had put in a request to send back a monitor, but I can’t find a box big enough, so I’ll have to find another way to recycle that or try giving it away on Pay it Forward.

I’ve been doing my FlyLady zones a little differently. Instead of just one zone, I try to do 2 and then just do a quick tidy of the other zones. Today, I’m doing the bedroom zone and bathroom. Both are very minimal, so it doesn’t take very long. Of all the zones, the kitchen is the biggest to do. But even that is timely because I’ve decluttered so much, it’s just essentials.

I try to do a check of each zone to see what can be decluttered. This time, in the bedroom, it was some ribbon I hadn’t used. Plus some Ball jars that are the regular mouth. I’m only keeping wide-mouth jars, as they are useful for pantry items.

I have another loaf of sourdough in the oven before I head out to the gym. It should be done shortly.

It’s getting there!