Tag Archives: Walking

Simple Sunday

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

A nice Sunday walk to wake up the old body!!!!. We get up fairly early 5am or so usually 5:15 and have coffee. Then we go to the park and do 2-4 rounds. Today it was just us and that is always a treat. The Canada Goose families were there too!! The babies are all growing.

Supposedly the kitchen pipe is getting fixed today so that’s a good thing. The next issue is the wood on the foundation is pretty rotted and will need to be replaced. That could be a bigger job than just the pipe. So maybe it’s a good thing the pipe was leaking as we would never have pulled off that siding.

After tidying up I went to the Auburn gym and did weights and treadmill. I was going to go to Safeway as they have corn on sale again but I didn’t feel like it after the gym. Maybe tomorrow. After getting home, I put a chicken in the oven to roast for dinner. I made some coleslaw too.

The yogurt was put in a colander and drained off the whey. So what were 2 quarts of yogurt after draining the whey was one full quart. This method is pretty great and I feel I’ll keep making yogurt this way once a week. I figured out the cost factor to be @ $2.00 for an organic probiotic yogurt quart. The Nancy’s probiotic yogurt I’m using as the starter was $6. So a significant savings.

I moved a few house plants around for summer and probably will need to move some out of the sun room as it gets too hot for them. But since it’s still cooler out, for now their fine.

I’m glad something is happening with the debt ceiling crap but who knows? I’d like to see any of them deal with having to rely on SS to live and then see how fast they do something to change the system. Every Senator and Congress person should be required to live for one month(or more) with $$ xx for one month and see what it’s like. And it should be what the average senior gets which I can’t remember but I think it’s only $1500 or less.

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.

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.

Frugal Friday, and the heat is coming:(

Posted in California, camping, canning tomato salsa, Lake tahoe, travel by

The heat is on its way.

Today is around 103 degrees; by Monday, we’re looking at 108. That’s pretty much unheard of in the Sierra foothills. We get 100-degree days, maybe even 103 but I don’t remember 108. We’ll be leaving for Tahoe Monday morning @ 10 am so we can get up there by 12:30. Checkout is noon so we don’t want to get there too early. We’ve never had a problem with early check-in but it does depend on the camp hosts.

Even in Tahoe, the temperatures will be in the 80’s, and for September that’s hot. I’m looking forward to just getting up there.

I have most of the meal ideas planned and will make a list of what to go buy at the store. This week was another lower spend week with B going to Costco but that was only $85 and $20 of that was champagne to bring with us. But he filled the truck at Costco gas and that was the main reason for going. No extras from Amazon or Winco this week. I stopped at our market yesterday to pick up cilantro for the salsa I was going to make this morning.

We had a nice walk at 5:40-6:20 am and then I came home and started chopping stuff for the salsa. The recipe calls for chopped onions, tomatoes( peeled and cored), bell peppers, and jalapenos, cilantro, and garlic. After all that I cooked it down for 30 minutes and then put it in the jars. Processing was 20 minutes.

That was 10 lbs of tomatoes. I think probably I’ve done @ 50 lbs so far. There’s not a lot left on the plants but if there is I’ll just do some quick sauce and maybe freeze that.

Except for the excessive heat, it’s been a nice week.

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.

It’s almost July.

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

Wow, where did the time go?? Tomorrow is July 1st. It’s been a very nice summer so far even without going out in the RV. This time of year I’d rather stay home than deal with everyone out in campgrounds and on the road. Right now the weather is lovely again and our temperatures will be in the 80s for the next week at least. We even sat outside after dinner last night.

I didn’t walk this morning. I just felt I needed a break from getting up at 4:45. But I am going down to the sports center to do weights. I’m not there yet, but I think a few more weeks and my muscles will be much stronger and back to where I was when I was going to the gym in Auburn(pre-Covid). It is a commitment though, that’s for sure.

Here’s an updated pizza picture, after the Ooni disaster. This one was perfect. As one person commented, Ooni is overly optimistic about the time it takes to heat up the oven to 900 degrees.

This was using OO flour too which made the dough very pliable and easy to work with.

The garden is doing well, and here’s some of the garlic harvest.

These were planted last about 6 months ago. A few bulbs are a really nice size. That’s one onion out of a few I’ve already used. I’m not sure how many onions will get with this second planting but I hope enough for a few months.

I dried some mint in the dehydrator and plan to do more so we can have mint tea. I also have quite a bit more parsley I will start today. The tomatoes are looking very good and I hope I get a bumper crop. I’d like to can some salsa and of course, do my freezer sauce. I’ve been watching a Youtuber” The Happy Homestead”, and she does a lot of pressure cooking canning. I’m kind of freaked about using a pressure cooker canner so I’m not sure that’s for me. But she does lots of broths and meat things which do need that type of canning. Does anyone reading here use a pressure cooker canner? and how does it work?? is it easy?? BTW, her youtube channel is very refreshing as she is honest and open with her information and quite informative. I’ve unsubscribed from a bunch of YouTubers, even my favorite Benita Larsson in Stockholm. When someone starts putting money ahead of content and adding the Patreon thing at 3 levels, I just see they’re doing it for the money. The content of her videos has gone way down the rabbit hole of now the ” 10 things to ……( fill in the blank). I find that supremely annoying. Of course, in her defense, she does say this is her job now but still. 😦

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, books, California, cancer, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma, Walking by

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday it was 93 and hot. Today it is overcast and 70. We even had a sprinkling of rain. How cool is that and we really need it.

I had a good walk this morning and almost no one was there except the one runner who happened to be walking. At first, I didn’t recognize her not running, and then on my second round I said” oh you’re not running, I didn’t recognize you”. She laughed. So all in all a nice walk.

I had a bit of a setback yesterday from doing the weights on Thursday. I guess the lactic acid build-up or exercise flu hit me pretty hard. I felt pretty lousy all day and figured out it must have been the weights even though I hardly did more than 20 minutes. So when I go next, I’ll need to hydrate and do less. I’m very careful with anything I do physically but I guess it was more than my body could handle. The last time I did weights at the gym was February of 2020 right at the beginning of all the lockdowns. So perhaps even the small reps were too much. I guess there will be an adjustment period.

Today I’ll do the bathroom zone and quick house tidy. Mostly just putting things back where they belong. Since I didn’t feel like eating much yesterday my daughter put together some ravioli and salad. I’m not sure what I’ll do tonight as I still don’t feel like food much. Maybe breakfast for dinner.

I started reading ‘Maus’ by Art Spiegelman and geez, wow, If you haven’t read go buy it, get it from the library. It is brilliant. Tragic, but brilliant. I’m not sure what the ‘banned book’ thing is about as the story is about his father in Nazi Germany and how he survived in Poland and then eventually was betrayed and was sent to Auschwitz. Maybe the White Supremacists don’t want the truth out there. ( I just looked up the banned book deal. Apparently, it Tennessee that banned because of language(damn) and nudity( I guess the naked men when they were stripped in the concentration camps). WTF, those horrors and so much more beyond our comprehension happened. The world CANNOT forget what Hitler did and was doing to eradicate and entire race of people.

I went to the farm stand Friday and picked up some early zucchini, radishes, lettuce, spinach, and some delicious peaches.

All good news with my labs. No increase and staying almost where they were right above high normal. So I made it to my goal which was to stay out of treatment for a year. Everything else will be icing on the cake. BTW, June 15 is my anniversary of my diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma. 17 years later here I am. Hopefully for a while longer.

This coming week should have much cooler temperatures except Wednesday which looks like a 90 degree day.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, decluttering, Flylady, minimalism, swimming, Uncategorized, Walking by

A very pretty morning in the park and no one there but us and the Canada Geese.

Today I plan to do some reorganizing in the pantry, closet, and the Heywood in the kitchen. There’s not a great deal to do but a few things I want to rearrange. The closet( our only closet and my nemesis) is almost where I want it. I don’t want food storage in there anymore just clothes and seasonal things. So I know there’s a bag of coffee to move out and a bag of flour. Otherwise, I’m finally getting the closet to a space that’s not so crowded with EVERYTHING.

B got the patio shade cover up and it’s very nice and really covers the whole area. It’s 13×13 so bigger than most patio shade covers. We had some serious wind the other day and it was well anchored.

This week is quiet with not much going on except the normal things like swimming, walking, some grocery shopping( not much), and just house stuff. I’d like to do a library run maybe Thursday. Next Sunday is my darling daughter’s birthday so I need to ask her(again) what she wants to do. It’s hard to believe she is 37 YO and 37 years ago we were waiting for her to arrive. It was one of the happiest times of my life. I loved being pregnant both times. I did have a miscarriage 2 years after she was born as we were trying to have another baby. I was 16 weeks. That didn’t work out and after that, we just gave up on any infertility treatment. But of course, then the miracle child(my son) showed up 9 years later.

This week is Flylady bedroom zone but I did that this week as I had B move the bed and I vacuumed and cleaned under and around the bed. This week I’d like to change the curtains out to some light fabric but I’m not sure what I have around. I might need to go down for a quick trip to Ikea.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, decluttering, Flylady, home stuff, swimming, travel, Uncategorized, Walking by

A lovely morning. We walked a little earlier as on Easter the Christians come out to the park to celebrate some mythical being. Well, actually Jesus was a real person but the other stuff is way too magical for me. Anyway, enough of my sarcasm. We got in our walk before they started singing which was why we went earlier. It’s a nice sunny day but there is rain forecast for the week. I guess we’ll have to see as the tree people are supposed to be here Wednesday.

I made the Salad Lyonnaise last night and it was yummm.

Basically, it is endive( frissee) crumbled crispy bacon, with a poached egg on top. The dressing is shallot that has been sliced thin and barely sauteed with some red wine vinegar and dijon mustard.

Here’s the Daphenoise from the night before.

I booked a spot at New Brighton for October. Not our favorite spot but it’ll do if I can’t get one of the others we like. At least it’s something. Nothing is available at Refugio. I tried again this morning and however their booking is, it’s not working for me. I clicked on book now at exactly 8( I’m using the second hand on my iPhone. But someone must be I stroke ahead of me because it doesn’t come up and is then locked(meaning someone has blocked it).

At this point, I’m fine with not going to Refugio as it is quite a distance and gas would be expensive. But I’ll keep trying for a while. We’re kind of thinking of maybe a bigger trip to San Diego in February so that could be a reason not to do Refugio in November.

Tomorrow I have a dental appt for a routine cleaning and then Tuesday I’ll swim. My inexpensive suit( not a speedo) did show up late Saturday so I’ll wear that. I found a NWT tags Speedo on eBay and bought that so I should get that in a couple of weeks. At least I’ll have 2 suits to rotate and that may help with the chlorine issue. Then Wednesday is supposed to be tree day and I’ll go down to Roseville to the library and Costco. Then that should be it for the week.

I’m planning on BBQing some chicken for dinner and maybe making a macaroni salad.

Flylady zone is the bedroom. I worked on the closet from hell and rearranged some clothes and got rid of a few things I found on hangers that I didn’t remember I had in there like a tank top. I also got rid of 2 pairs of leggings that I never wear(almost brand new) but the legs are too tight and I don’t like that.

Well, that’s a wrap.