Daybook: Monday, May 1st, 2017

Outside my window.....it is overcast. It is wet, though not raining at the present time. It is chilly.

I am thinking.....I need to get back to writing out  weekly and monthly goals by starting up my to-do lists again. I started the beginning of the year by writing daily in my yellow composition book. I stopped mid way through the month of January. Then I started up again briefly in February as I wrote down things I needed to do after Rick passed away, then nothing... I started a page today on May 1st.

I am thankful for.....a friend of mine who is coming this week with a list of things that I need to do in order to tie up loose ends.

From the kitchen.....on the weekend, I made a batch of soup that will make most lunches this week. On Saturday for my son and his GF, I cooked chicken thighs with Teriyaki sauce in the crock pot with a side of rice, carrots and corn. I cooked a chocolate pudding and made yoghurt for the first time in my yoghurt maker. Last night's dinner was cabbage roll casserole from which I froze two dinner servings for later in the month. There is a batch of dried red kidney beans cooking in the crock pot right now.

I am wearing.....blue jeans, gray tube socks, a gardening t-shirt and a red with white polka dots zippered cardigan.

I am creating.....more cards for birthdays, sympathy, get well, and thinking of you. I have a buyer for a boxed  assortment. I will make a bunch and let her pick the ones she would like to purchase.

I am going.....nowhere today. At least, I haven't made plans for today. Last Monday I didn't have plans either, but my son and his GF were off work and picked me up to go for a drive. It was a sunny day.

I am hoping.....that this veil of anxiety and depression lifts soon.

I am hearing.....the blower on the furnace. I had to turn the heat back on yesterday morning. I put some peanut butter inside one of my dog's bones, so he is busy trying to get that licked out.

Around the house.....there is housework that needs doing. Hopefully this week I can get the upstairs rooms vacuumed and the downstairs floors wet mopped. I would like to get my new-to-me drapery panels hung. When the weather allows, I want to spend an hour or two outside pulling weeds/ cutting grass/ planting.

One of my favourite things.....is my yoghurt maker, because it is a new experience for me. It is still work because I have to heat the milk to 180*, so very careful monitoring with a thermometer. And then I have to cool it down to 110* (not any cooler than that), before pouring into the clear containers in the yoghurt maker. Unfortunately, it is not simply a matter of pouring in the milk and pushing a button. It is time consuming, but I hope it will become second nature because the yoghurt is absolutely scrumptious. I probably only need to prepare it once a week, or less.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....include a drive and picnic lunch with two of my friends tomorrow. A friend coming over later this week to help me tie up loose ends. I have a breast examination appointment on Thursday afternoon. My son's GF's mom has arrived for a visit from California and so I am invited for dinner this Saturday at their apartment.

Here's the picture I am sharing.....

 Grape Hyacinth growing among some Globe Thistle plants that seeded themselves. I want to dig them up and move them to one of the back gardens. Though beautiful flowers, the Globe Thistles are very invasive.

Bleeding Hearts are just starting to come out against the back drop of my daffodils.