Tag Archives: Walking

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, canning tomato salsa, cooking, simple foods, Walking by

A nice walk in the park. We got there right a 6am. One person showed up right after us and then by the time we left it was getting busy. The sun is now cresting the trees at 6:40 right about the time we were leaving.

Today is the Auburn gym day. Sundays are pretty quiet in there so I like that.( the introvert that I am). Then I went over to Safeway to see if they had the petite pork roasts for pulled pork but they had zip. I mean the meat section looked like it did during the pandemic. Strange. I did get the mini cheese cake Z wanted as dessert.

When I got home I started the tomatoes for sauce. B did all the food mill turning and I got everything else ready.

Just look at the beautiful color. I got 4 quarts, so I’m pleased with that. They are in the water bath canner waiting for it to come up to a boil before I start counting the time.

One of my favorite YTers changed the content of her YT channel to homemade items, knitted, sewn, etc. She must have gotten burnt out on the whole minimalism thing. She’s one of the more genuine YTers there is. Another one I watch that I do like is Scandish Home. But she is not quite a minimalist( although I think she does call herself a minimalist). She doesn’t have clutter at all but she still has so much stuff. (mostly kitchen stuff).Now it is all VERY organized and in beautiful jars etc but her pantry is like a grocery store. Still, she is a wonderful cook and loves what she does. She does all gluten-free and dairy free too. She is a really excellent cook.

I wouldn’t say our house looks all that minimalist either partly because it is so small that things always look more cluttered in a small space. But I don’t have any excess or unnecessary stuff.

The week ahead looks nice, no appts so I’ll probably swim 2x.

Five on Friday

Posted in Blood test, California, cooking, freezer cooking, Pantry, seasonal things, simple foods, Uncategorized, Walking by
  1. The washer is all installed and I’ve done 3 loads of laundry already. Yay for a laundry machine. It’s definitely been upgraded from the model we had and seems to have a larger bin capacity.
  2. Last night B and both kids went to see Oppenheimer so I had the house to myself, a real rarity these days. I didn’t do anything different than normal but it was nice to be here alone. They said the movie was outstanding so if you’re into going to movies add this one in.
  3. This morning the park path was like a freeway. Ugh, at least the AH seems to be on sabbatical again. Still, when there are 12-15 people at 6am, I’m wondering ‘WHY????’ I guess it’s summer but also there really isn’t anyplace else in this area with a paved path. There is one other park ( there might be 2)in Auburn that has a paved path but I’m not sure if it’s a loop or not, since I haven’t been there. We have tons of dirt paths especially along the American River but that’s not, to me , for daily walking. When we first moved here I walked all the back trails alone. In hindsight, with mountain lions around, that may not have been the smartest thing to do although I did eventually get an alert whistle and spray to carry.
  4. This morning I made zucchini bread, banana bread, ratatouille and, pickled jalapenos.
  5. I’m not going back to the pool till next week probably Tuesday. Monday I have a fasting blood test for my PCP to check thyroid and lipids.

Yesterday I also made turkey chili to freeze. I was going to can it but I didn’t have the amount needed( like 3lbs) so I just froze it. It was delicious though. I ordered more freezer containers in the 16 ounce size. This is very convenient way to stockpile food.

There is something amazing about growing your own food and preserving it. The ratatouille was all either grown by us or from the farm.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, bread, cooking, home stuff, minimalism, Myeloma, simplicity, Uncategorized, Walking by

Beautiful weather this morning , cool and refreshing. Our walk was nice except, once again, after 4 months the AH showed up. He doesn’t look at us just drags his dog beside him. Actually, my guess is he had some kind of breakdown as he’s gained a lot of weight and is definitely NOT manic like he was. Now he’s playing music on his phone sans headphones. What is with this guy?? Anyway, we just ignore him and go on our way. He’s left before and will probably leave again. We’ve been walking in the park since 2008 or thereabout, so we’ve seen lots of people come and go.

I’m going into the Anytime gym this morning and then to Target for some stainless steel wipes, hand soap, and bar keepers. I’m sure something else will jump out.

I’m not planning on any cooking today. Yesterday I did crockpot fiesta chicken, and made up meatballs for either sandwiches or spaghetti. I did just feed my sourdough starter so I’ll probably make that up this afternoon.

Tomorrow I have my labs. We’ll see how it goes. I was so thrilled last month to only have a one point increase but I don’t want to get too invested in it staying that way when I know it won’t. Still, it was pretty nice to have that happy feeling that my myeloma was somewhat stable.

After my labs, I might go down to Roseville to the Rec Center. I’ll wait till tomorrow and see how I feel.

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. 🙁