Tag Archives: gym workout

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, budgeting, California, cash envelopes, home improvement, home stuff by

A lovely walk this morning. Quiet and no one there to begin with. One person showed up later but we were leaving by then.

I got another loaf( baguette style) of sourdough ready to go. I put it in the oven and set the timer so B could take it out. I was heading into the Auburn gym. I did my usual 30 minutes and then went over to Target. I rarely shop at Target anymore but I need stainless wipes( I use Weiman’s and think this is the best product I’ve tried) and their sliced cheeses are also very good and affordable. I think ice cream snuck into my cart because it was on sale. Usually, I just call all this a Target trip but this time I’m going to separate the categories and subtract them from my cash envelopes. I think that’ll keep the categories more accurate.

After I got home, I checked the bread and it came out great.

I do have a baguette pan so that does help.

The only thing I did differently is I didn’t add that much more flour after the first rise. I added maybe a cup.

I think I’ll try this one next.

I found this really fun cookbook at the FreeLittle Library and it’s a gem. Lots of stories and the book is divided by cities and regions with lots of history.

Last night I made Tucson Crispy Tacos. They were yummy. This recipe calls for frying the corn tortillas till crisp and then fold over. It actually worked great.

Tonight I’m going to make Chile relleno casserole. I have made recipes like this before. That seems like a lot of cheese so I’ll probably do 1/2 that.

B got the trim off the bathroom window. It did, as with everything, take longer.

Those boards are the original when the house was built and are all rough-cut fir. They are not standard sizes and very thick. It looks like there had been some water damage previously but I don’t think B is going to try and pull all that out. that would be too involved and mostly it looks like surface damage. He may try using some Tyvec.

Anyway, it’s a start!

We have another warm sunny day here in Northern California and it’s quite lovely.

Saturday bits and bobs

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, cash envelopes, frugalism, home stuff, library, meal planning by

I went to the gym yesterday in Roseville and did upper-body weights. At least it’s something to keep me going. I also dropped off my load of books at the library. The library wasn’t open so I’ll need to plan a stop there next week. I just finished the Anne Hillerman book ” The Stargazer”. It was good although her father was a bit more of a concise writer. Still, it’s good.

When I got home I warmed up the sunroom and then later did my PT exercises out there. The Ikea couch out there folds down and is low to the ground so that’s where I’m laying on my back and side to do the exercises. I still don’t think I can manage the floor because I’d need to use my knee to get up. Maybe in a few weeks, I can start practicing doing that.

I was over the moon that tRump had been told by the jury to pay 85 +million. Of course, who knows with appeals if he’ll ever pay but regardless it sends a message. I heard on the news(NPR) something about Christian evangelicals putting tRump out there as a messiah. crazy, ??? really?? He’s about as far away from Christian values as you can get.

B had an unplanned trip to the dentist for a toothache. I pulled some of the money from home EF and will deposit that next week so I can pay the CC. Fortunately, it’s not an infection so the crown can wait a little longer. We just finished paying that off in December so I need some time to build up that fund. I’ve been watching lots of YouTube cash stuffing. I’ve gotten a few good ideas and enjoy seeing how other people do it. Mine is very simple because we only get $ once a month so it’s a bit different than people who are stuffing paychecks. Still, it’s interesting.

I’m using 4 binders to track spending and to use for cash envelopes. Here’s the small Louis Vuitton. This is the one I take with me as it has my grocery money and coffee money.

We’ve had zero luck getting rid of the quilting frame. None of the thrift stores want it so now we’re stuck with what to do with it. Even Goodwill usually takes anything said no. hmm, not sure, but I guess the landfill unless I can think of something. Maybe the wood could be repurposed. ??

Today is a home day. I want to do the menu for the week, then check the freezer and pantry for ideas. I also want to take the 2 bins I took out from4 under the bed out to the garden shed and see if I need them out there or not.

Frugalwise, we did great this week. B went to Costco using the ‘stock up’ cash envelope. Mostly it was in fact stock ups. It was HP printer ink, AA batteries, toilet paper, eggs and a few other things that came in at $137. We bought our usual wine for the week and that’s it. Tomorrow(Sunday) I plan on going to Winco and TJ’s so that I have what I need for the week and not have to go to Safeway or Holiday. It does save money to plan on those 2 stores.

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 bread, budgets, California, camping, Flylady, meal planning, Pantry, travel, Uncategorized by

Another rainy Sunday.

I went to the gym in Auburn(Anytime Fitness) and did the treadmill and weights. Then I went to Safeway for some groceries to tide us over till we do Costco.

So far the menu planning for the pantry this week is:

Cheese/chile tamales from the freezer( used up the last 4) with refried beans and salad

Beer Brauts from the freezer( the last pack) with peppers, sauerkraut, canned baked beans( my shelf stable beans I canned, and Boca burger for B.

Chickpea curry over brown rice with broccoli( using up broccoli)

Tofu burgers

Chicken noodle soup/ lentil veggie soup

I’ll see what else is in the freezer and add a few more meals. I probably can’t get thru all February but I know I can do another week at least.

I’m back making some sourdough and have done a few loaves already. I plan to freeze 1/2 of each loaf so we have bread ready for toasting or grilled cheese.

I’ll see what else is in the freezer and add a few more meals. I probably can’t get thru all of February but I know I can do another week at least.

I’m back making some sourdough and have done a few loaves already. I plan to freeze 1/2 of each loaf so we have bread ready for toasting or grilled cheese.

There’s nothing on the agenda this week so It’ll just be normal stuff. B did book us a reservation at Napa RV in a few weeks. There are full hook ups which is always a treat and that’ll give us a chance to take Rubi out for the first time this season. It’s only 2 nights but it’s also only an hour and a half away. Maybe with towing. We really enjoyed our stay there last time and knew we wanted to go back. Unless there’s a really terrible storm we’ll go even with a little rain.

The Flylady zone is the kitchen if you want to do Flylady. Just set a timer for 15 minutes and declutter, wipe and clear counters, be sure there are no dishes in the sink or drainer, tidy shelves too. Just do what you can in 15 minutes and then do it again tomorrow. I have a laminated sheet that has my chores for the kitchen and I off each one when I’m done.

Monday Musings

Posted in Uncategorized by

Not much going on here. The weather is still nice but cooler than last week and we’re in for some rain starting Friday. I just hope it comes and goes quickly.  I spent the weekend tidying things up and we had lots of laundry to catch up on.

Yesterday I cooked the very last of the spaghetti squash my daughter planted last year. I think we harvested them in October. They were amazingly good. I found a recipe from Minimalist baker  It was excellent. here’s another source for recipes 

Tonight my son is going to grill some burgers up. It’ll be nice not to cook although I’ll make a salad. We went to the farmers market on Saturday and I picked up some beautiful lettuce. I’ve been rereading the Minimalist cooking by Meg Wolfe. It’s a short little ebook but really well done and has good ideas on simplifying not only cooking but menu planning and decluttering the kitchen. I’d recommend it.

I went to town to go do a small workout at the gym and then the bank and pharmacy. It was a short errand list. Tomorrow is my regular gym day and then I might pop into the thrift store.  We went into the Capitola Goodwill and I found a few treasures. A Chantal teapot, 4 Corelle lunch dishes, and 6 Dansk coffee cups.  I was excited to find these.

In decluttering I sold our oak pedestal table that’s been out in the barn. I’m hoping it’s picked up tonight. The wife said her husband would come by after work with his truck. It’s bittersweet since we bought that table in 1987 when we had just finished building our ‘farmhouse’.  But we used it for homeschool in the studio and then it’s been just parked in the barn( the black hole).  So that’s the last thing I have to sell for a while and it will open up a lot of room. If it stays nice for the next number of days I’m going to purge more magazines. Plus I have one bin of school stuff that’s my adult children’s and I’d like to whittle that down. So if it’s warmer Wednesday I’ll go do that. I did put out the few Easter decorations I have mostly because it is bunnies and cute chicks and an egg tree. We use to do the Waldorf egg tree with a manzanita branch and real blown colored eggs. Those days are over. The one I have has wool and wooden eggs.

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