Tag Archives: snow

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, bread, California, camping, Flylady, Pantry, Uncategorized by

More snow!!!

Yikes, we are getting clobbered. I -80 is closed again for the billionth time. Well better that, than tons of accidents, which there still are plenty of.

I made it home just in time from the pool when the rain/snow started coming in. This morning it was snowy on the ground but we still went for a walk.

I did a fairly big shop at Winco and was glad to get that done. I bought lots of produce and some items for the pantry like mustard and jalapenos. The store was very busy which thought was odd since all the Saturdays I’ve been there it’s mostly empty. ???rain maybe??

I just finished the Kitchen zone and have now started another WW bread dough to rise. My order from King Arthur came super fast, and that had the vital gluten you add to your dough and the baker’s dry milk. I think in the bigger picture, I’d rather use the Kitchen Aid to make the dough and let it rise in the bowl. I’ll still think about it but I think maybe the bread maker will go sometime this summer.

I’ve been thinking about where to put more shelves for the shelf-stable pressure canned and regular canned goods. I came up with behind the bedroom door is kind of empty space that could handle a shelf unit. The french door is about 11.5 inches from the wall so a unit would fit. This is the one I’m looking at.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/ivar-shelf-unit-pine-s49248311/

I would get 2 extra shelves because some jars like pints don’t need a lot of room. Since I did the kitchen zone and tomorrow is my day to not do any workouts, I plan to go to Ikea. ( unless it’s snowing:( )

If it works, it will free up the closet shelves. Since we only have one closet in this house, storage is always a challenge. Because it’s open shelving, I may have to hang a cloth or something as I have issues with too many visual things around. Speaking of which maybe I need to remove some things that are on shelves or the wall. Every once in a while I remove some items to see how it looks. What helps me the most is taking pictures and then looking at them with a critical eye.

This week is a fairly normal week with swimming and the gym. We’ll do Costco sometime too this week. Next week is our trip to New Brighton, but again it depends on the weather. If it’s raining here and there, then no. Capitola’s weather is usually milder than here so there’s that.

Snow, Snow, and more snow! And a Re-birthday.

Posted in Bone marrow transplant, California, cancer, cooking, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma, Uncategorized by

Well, as they say,” the best laid plans of mice and men”. Totally snowed out yesterday. I -80 closed the next exit above us. It still is closed this morning. I went in for my labs and the computers were all down and not working. There were 8 people waiting for them to come online. I just said I’d reschedule. So at that point, it was just cloudy and I headed down to the gym. By the time I left, it was raining and VERY windy. Even the Santa Fe , which is a heavy car, was getting buffeted around. By the time I was home, it was snowing and then really snowing. My daughter opted to work from home. Today she’s going in to the college and it looks mostly like rain.

So, no swimming for me again. This is getting kind of old. But there’s not much I can do except NOT be out there with all the ‘stupid people’ trying to get either to the snow or somewhere. CHP was on facebook saying ‘do not try the back roads as they are just as bad as the freeway’, which is closed. So, I’ll go down to the market and get some lettuce and salad stuff since we don’t have any. I plan to make some soup for dinner.

I’m reviewing what I want to do food pantry wise this summer. I know I don’t need any more jams or marmalades. I might do some strawberry if the berries look good. We’ve been using the salsas so I will do that again. the chicken broth has been great to have pressure canned but I could freeze that too. I would like to do more flash frozen corn and maybe some other veggies too. I’m planning on starting a pantry book for just this kind of thing. I must have tossed the one I was working on thinking it was a different book. I think that was the book I started during the pandemic for price points like at Costco etc. That’s okay, most of it I can recall.

My 17th re-birthday!

My wonderful family.

So, 17 years ago, I was admitted into the Sutter General Hospital, BMT unit. This day is called -1, because you are given the high dose Melphalan. Then it’s the next day is day 0 when the actual Stem Cells are given. It’s actually very anti-climatic as it is a bag hung up and then just on the IV drip and it’s over. Then it’s just a waiting game. It gets very rough around day 4 and then continues until your WBC, RBC all your counts start to increase. Mine started around day 12. I was released day 18 but had to be readmitted the next day because of spiking a fever. But after that, it was just a slow process. Honestly, it took a year to really recover. But I am grateful everyday for science, medical professionals, and my family’s support.

Now I’m facing another relapse, but I’ve gotten more time than lots of other myeloma buddies I have known.

So another part of the journey begins.

Snowmageddon

Posted in California, cooking, home stuff, prepper pantry, simple foods, swimming by

I am now going crazy with NOT being able to go swimming much less walk.

SNOW, SNOW,SNOW……….

I had planned to go down to Roseville today to swim but again it’s snowing and I don’t want to be on the freeway getting stuck with a billion semis that are lining the on-ramps. Oh well, not much I can do about it. Maybe later we will walk from the house down to the park. The main reason we don’t do this regularly is our driveway is about a 45-degree angle. I can easily walk down but coming back up is difficult. Oh well, I guess since there’s nothing to be done about it, I’ll just accept it as Mother Nature’s way of saying take a break.

I made some yummy black bean burgers last night for dinner. The recipe is PioneerWoman’s and is simple and quite excellent. Everyone liked them.

I did a pantry check and wrote down what I have in the house and what I need. I still have to go out to the barn to do the prepper pantry. I have used most of what’s out there except a few things and I need to go check that out as I don’t quite remember. I think I have 2 bins of food plus the long shelf life of dried foods. Those I won’t use as they are true emergency food items. I’m not sure we will ever need them but they’re fine in one bin. or two. Most of the cleaning/non-food items I’m moving into the laundry room. Since it’s been redone it has two nice big shelves for those items. I still have some beans and oats in mylar bags and those too are long term so they’re fine in the storage bucket.

I’ve definitely gone thru some mental change in regards to a prepper pantry. I don’t feel the need to hoard a year’s worth of food or even 6 months. If the apocalypse is coming well, then it’s coming and me having a year’s worth of food isn’t going to matter. That being said, I have always ( 47 years now, since1975, have bought in bulk. Back then it was rice or beans, honey, flour, etc. I just always felt it was easier to have a supply on hand and then I didn’t need to think about it. So plus this last year really helped me focus on what we eat and what was just ‘hoarding’ or ‘what other people were doing. So that’s that.

I plan on making some scones this morning. I have a King Arthur Eggnog scone mix that’s definitely holiday-ish. I think I’ll do spaghetti with sauce tonight maybe a meat sauce but probably not as that means defrosting something. I’ll see how I feel later. I have some salad stuff that needs to get used up and some garlic bread. Yeah, that sounds good for tonight. Less thinking about it and it’s there to be used from the pantry. I have a nice bottle of red wine too!!!

Snow…

Posted in budgeting, budgets, cooking, ikea, minimalism, seasonal things, simple foods, swimming, Uncategorized by

Whoo Whee…it is cold. We woke up to snow on Tuesday morning and it kept going off and on. We usually get a sprinkling of snow at our elevation a couple of times during winter. This was a big snowstorm for the Sierras and is much needed. Needless to say, I didn’t venture out to swim. I probably would have been fine on the freeway but with Caltrans discouraging any travel, I didn’t feel I needed to add to it.

It’s bright and clear this morning and 27degrees. So the trees in the park were very frosty.

I went into Winco after swimming yesterday for a few things. And next week I’ll hit Trader Joe’s for a few things including fondue, which is our traditional Christmas eve dinner. So far even with Costco, I’m under budget for food/alcohol( mostly wine). If my calculations are correct, a total of @ $550 is really quite good. So if I add the TJ’s trip at about $100 that brings me under budget. Of course, there will be the run to the market here for the odds and ends before the end of the year but usually, that’s not too much. Shopping at Winco and the new Trader Joe’s, and of course, Costco has definitely made a difference from shopping just Safeway.

Other than that there are no unusual budget expenses for the rest of the month. January is a NO SPend month so no projects or Home Depot trips. Anything that the house might need is excluded like vacuum filters or the filters for the air filter thing.

Today I’m planning on taking the couch covers and washing them. I do this around every 3 months. This Ikea couch has been absolutely fabulous and I love it. When it’s time for a new one I’ll definitely do Ikea but maybe a bit more of a midcentury look. I’ve been waiting for the two chairs forever( since the beginning of the pandemic). The Poang chairs still look good and quite comfortable.

My son is headed to Yosemite today and is going to be there a few days. It should be quite beautiful as it got a lot of snow.

I need to go make some pizza dough and I was going to make bagels but the Barley Malt I ordered from Amazon was lost in the mail so I need to find it in a store. I haven’t been too inspired with cooking lately but maybe over the Holidays or not???

My minimalist Christmas decor.

Not a frugal week at all:(

Posted in budgets, Uncategorized by

It usually stems from a Costco trip and sure enough, it did.

I spent $375 on food and nonfood items. Nonfood added up to $165 and included Lysol wipes, toilet paper, and tons of other nonfood things. Food was lots of cheese, nuts and some other things. So about $200 in food. Since this will last about 6 weeks of basics it really isn’t that bad.

Overall that’s not bad.  The Arlo security was pricey since we’re not used to spending that kind of money.  But we had it on our list of things to buy for our small house to add security.

Today I -80 is closed due to snow all the way the to Nevada State line. My daughter attempted to get to Truckee but was turned back. Hopefully, it will be gone by tomorrow. Well, the snow won’t but the snowing.

Two movies we just watched I’d recommend.  ‘ The theory of Everything’ about Stephan Hawkin who just died. And then ‘ The Imitation Game’ which was superb. It was so well done. It’s on Netflix if you want to watch it. The other we bought from Amazon Prime.

Dinner is something as we had a pizza last night my son bought for us.141367066

 

 

Simple Sunday

Posted in simplicity, Uncategorized by

Yikes, the cold is just not going away. It was 29 degrees this morning and tomorrow looks more snow.

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We’ve had our wood stove going 24/7. At least we have the wood from the trees we had taken down plus B bought the wood splitter which really has been an excellent non-frugal purchase.

Flylady has 2 zones this week as March 1 is Thursday. So we’re starting in the Living room zone and then move on to the entry ways. Yesterday, I was listening to a vlogger and she mentioned going into a room and determining what you use it for and then getting rid of whatever doesn’t support that. So, I looked around and saw the vintage suitcase I have by the couch and realized it didn’t really fit there but would be a nice side table next to my bed. On my husband’s side, there isn’t a bedside table so I put it there. He doesn’t have a pharmacy like I do in my nightstand.  I take acyclovir at night and then I take levothyroxine sometime in the wee hours of the night when I get up to use the bathroom.  Plus, before I had to take dex and Revlimid and who knows what else, so I kept them in the Heywood bedside table.

So, I’m going to scrutinize the room and other rooms to see what can be or needs to be moved. There’s not a lot to declutter but with fresh perspectives comes new thoughts on what is needed or not.

Today is a gym day and then I may go into Target. We need cat food and I wanted to look for a candle. Candles for me are non-negotiable.  I use beeswax tapers every evening at dinner. I get those from Amazon( the best price I’ve found for 4 pairs is $40) from Blue corn bees wax.

But I like one or two fragrant candles around. I don’t keep more than that and then either I recycle the glass or reuse it.

But, look at what I received from my sweetheart….

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they are so beautiful

I’d completely recommend FARMGIRL FLOWERS!!!!

 

 

Friday Stuff

Posted in Blood test, Uncategorized by

We had SNOW!!

IMG_1243.jpg

Amazing at this elevation but it does happen from time to time. It’s like a winter wonderland!! And Cold!!! While I really dislike cold this makes it pretty. Of course, it won’t last but our cold temperatures are supposed to stick around for the next 10 days. Where’s our California weather??

Well, anyway, other stuff. I’m resigning my position as VP of the library friends. The board is elected in March, and I’m just not feeling it. I think that the Friends have been incredibly supportive of Applegate, still, really, more than it deserves still, it is a library. There is still no news whether it will close this year so who knows. Anyway, I think I’ll just back away. I’m still going to our Koffee Klatches, but that’s just Friends meeting for lunch.

The other news is my SPEP test came back, normal electrophoresis pattern!! YaY!! But I haven’t seen my light chains, so I e -messaged my doctor because they should have been in at least by yesterday.  So hoping they are still in the normal range too.

Today,  with the snow is still out there, I may not go into town. B is going to the gym so I can have him get cat food at Target.

Dinner is a pizza. I have a coupon for a free pizza so we’ll use that.

not feeling better:(

Posted in Uncategorized by

I thought I was on the mend and over this cold which was mild at least until yesterday. Then I was coughing non stop and by evening quite sore from it. All night, I  coughed even with Vicks Vapor rub which did help but not a lot. Today I feel worse. My heads stuffy and I’m coughing still. I guess I’m just going to take a bath and crawl back into bed….. sigh.

I was going to go to the gym and then I need to get 2 shower curtains. I know not part of the no spend pact but after a while, the old ones just need to get tossed. Maybe tomorrow.

My daughter left Truckee at 3 pm (early as she usually works till 6). It took her 4 hours to get home because of the snow and snow related accidents.

So far the Uber Frugal month has been great. I’ve used tons of stuff from the freezer that generally I just ignore. Like last night I made turkey chili with some organic ground turkey I’ve had in there and always push aside in favor of something else. So win win.  There’s more to use up especially since I’m getting a Zaycon order of Whole chickens at the end of the month. From the first time we moved to California 1975, we started buying bulk.Bulk beans, organic rice, honey, oats.  We were back to the landers living in a fairly rural area where my husband got a job with the Forest Service.  WE drove 20 miles to organic milk and made our own butter.  So even though today we live near a Holiday Market ( at the end of our driveway and across the street,  we still buy in bulk. Costco is great for cases of organic beans( when I don’t feel like making them from scratch, plus bulk butter, cheese ,tofu etc.  I don’t think we need a year’s worth of food but it wise to have some back up if a disaster occurred.  Believe me, the stores would empty out in hours.

So it’s prudent I think to have some things stored especially canned tomatoes and stuff you use a lot.  We also keep bottled water in the barn.

So think about your pantries and do a no spend month and really see what it is you use consistently and then slowly build up a small stockpile. so far, I’ ve learned quite a bit about my shopping habits.

I love to shop more European, where you go to the market daily for what you need. But it’s just not practical here.

I also enjoy reading Frugalwoods daily posts and one in particular stuck out about not trying to cook gourmet meals all the time. Stick to simple meals and simple foods. I like to think that my rotation of menus is basically simple foods like taco Tuesday which may not always be a taco but a bean bowl or burrito, Same with crockpot Thursday. Soups or beans, simple and then freeze the rest.

Well, I think it’s the Epson salt bath time for me.

Is it over yet??

Posted in Uncategorized by

We have been under storm watch for days and days. I 80 is still closed and has been for over 24 hours. It takes a lot to close this main pass in the Sierras. The rain was nonstop yesterday and came down in torrents at times. There also was the wind but I think we escaped the worst of it. It’s still raining off and on. I’m really sick of this and hope it passes soon and we get to dry out. There’s flooding all over the place in the foothills and Sacramento Valley.

Not doing too much different. Reading and tidying some. I’ve added a new page at the top of my blog for books in 2017 if you’re looking for something to read.

It’s still very depressing that in 9 days Trump will be president. His tweeting is ridiculous behavior for a president. I mean, what is he  like 14?? Plus he’s always saying something negative or untrue in his tweets. he says he never mocked the disabled reporter, but there it is recorded for all to see. Yet, he still is in denial. Whoa, that is pretty scary stuff.

Well, I hope something gets better politically. Just think of all the people especially like us with cancer( preexisting condition) and what that means for health insurance. That is very scary. Plus the GOP has no replacement. I don’t care what anyone says the ACA has helped millions of people get affordable health care. With the subsidies and credits, it is helping the people who need it the most.  If someone’s premiums have gone up, maybe it has to do with income bracket. I don’t really know. I’d be curious to know what are the income parameters.

Anyway, it’s all kinda depressing so I’m going to go read a book.

I’m trying a new recipe of Jambalaya. I’ve never made it so I have some shrimp to use and cooked rice. I don’t have the andouille sausage, but do have some Adele’s chicken sausage so… I’m going to give it a try. I’ll make the rice with peppers etc first so the veggie can have that and then add the shrimp and sausage later. I’ll let you know…..