Guilt: The Great Motivator

I don't remember what I did on Sunday, besides being on a conference call most of the morning. I talk with my Elliot Lake family every morning and then my Brother and SIL in Smiths Falls always call on Sunday morning. I know the weather was hot and I definitely stayed indoors. I probably just puttered around  (I baked some buns) and napped. I have been distracted and anxious lately. My dad is doing poorly. "Dee" had a nurse come in yesterday and this morning to administer an IV drip.

I do remember that I did absolutely nothing yesterday, because I hardly left this chair. I was well planted in front of this fan watching You Tube videos all day long. Except for making meals, requesting another grocery order on-line  and turning on the dishwasher, I did nothing. Instead of playing on-line crosswords last night, I played Bingo.

This morning I did not want to have a repeat performance. I emptied the dishwasher, took some sausage from the freezer for dinner tonight and made a pitcher of iced tea. I took my garbage and recycling out to the curb and watered my three large front stairs planters. I made a batch of yoghurt, baked a loaf of keto bread, fried a package of bacon for the freezer, and shredded and sauteed a head of cabbage. I wiped down the sinks, the stove and counter tops. I washed up the acrylic stamps I used recently in making cards and then watered the indoor plants. I mowed the front lawn and boulevard, before making lunch at 2 o'clock. This afternoon I am giving myself permission to sit on the computer but I have to first do my blog and write responses to peoples' blogs that I enjoy reading every day. I am also hoping that someone calls me by the end of the day to take down my grocery list.

There is no rain in the forecast, so this afternoon I set up my new sprinkler. It took some time because it is a narrow but long area. I wanted to reach the full length, but don't want it to intrude on my next door neighbour's yard. That is why I paid a little more for a sprinkler where I can limit the field of spray. Now that I have found the right angles and the right spot in the yard to place it, I have asked Alexa to let me know when a half hour is up. I tend to forget things like that. I might go to bed with the water still running. Oops. When the weather cools down a bit, I want to remove those bins from the yard and place them inside the shed. I will bring them out and use them when and if my seed starts get any bigger. Have a great evening. Hope the heat isn't getting to you and that you are staying safe.

Busy Saturday Morning

This morning I was awake and having my first cup of coffee at 7 AM. I had my cheese and broccoli omelette earlier than usual because "Dee's" brothers were arriving from the Sault to install the hydraulic lift and take some measurements for the wooden deck and stairs over at my dad's house. "Dee" had planned on hiring a local contractor, but they really want to do this for her. But first, they were arriving at my house  so they could load up this wardrobe from my smallest bedroom and take it over to my sister's downstairs guest bedroom. I gained more real estate in that room and my sister has a closet space now to offer her guests. Now that the shower has been removed from this room and installed in my downstairs bathroom, I now have a closet in this room. Before they arrived, I pushed this unit right to the front door so they would not have to come into the house. They only had to move it from the front door to the truck. I removed the drawer and tied the doors shut with bungee cords. 

 I was able to prepare my 25 Trivia questions for tonight's game. I like to do that before doing anything else on Saturday. I took another garden ornament to the back yard to spruce it up a bit. The paint had really peeled off this little sculpture and it looked bad. I decided to just spray paint it all over with the same gray paint, so that it resembles a statue made from stone or concrete. It looks better now than it did.

I will keep it up on my front steps with a potted plant inside.

I got a phone call today from an old friend. We had a great gab fest and got all caught up. It was great to get in touch.

It was pretty warm today so I did not start digging out the front flower bed. Now that I have the extra concrete blocks, I thought I would expand the size of the front bed and get it ready for all those perennials that I hope to receive later in the season. Hoping everyone is well and wishing you all a great relaxed weekend.

 A peony from my sister's garden.

Sunshine and Groceries

I knew I would be staying at home at least until after  my groceries were delivered, so I had planned out what my morning would look like. The Utilities truck came early to change out the gas meter. In fact, he arrived while I was still on my family conference call. It took only about half an hour, so I just wondered about the back yard pulling a few weeds until he was finished. After he left, I just wiped down all the doorknobs he would  have touched,  light switches, and the banister going down the stairs. I emptied the dishwasher, made my iced tea, and made my omelette before I went out to my van to remove 15 concrete blocks  and line them up alongside the house in the driveway. I think I will use these blocks to expand my front flower bed. "Dee" has more if I need them.

I then stripped the sheets, mattress protector and quilts off my bed and laundered them. They are going into storage and I have since made up the bed with my summer bedding. I intended to do this a couple of weeks ago, but then the temperatures dipped down VERY low. I washed three loads of laundry today, but only hung one load out on the line. I like to dry the sheets in the dryer, so they will be done after 7 PM.

In the meantime my groceries arrived. What a nice surprise. I figured since it took two days to answer my request, I thought the delivery would be late in the day. For three weeks now I have asked for a leg of ham or a pork roast, and each time there was none in stock. Well this week I got lucky. I got a pork shoulder. It cost me $16. Whoa!  I think when I cook this up, I will freeze some portions for later in the summer. They had NO cauliflower (neither fresh nor frozen). I'm glad I asked for a rutabaga. I also got a huge bag of fresh broccoli and some fresh zucchini, so I'm good.

With the groceries disinfected and put away, I drove over to my dad's house to finish the job of shoveling and removing sand. We also found layers of cement and asphalt that we needed to break up and remove. It looks really good now and is ready for next week when the builder puts in the wooden deck and stairs beside the hydraulic lift which will be installed this Saturday. It was a full day. I got home too late to have a nap, but so far I'm good. Maybe I can go to bed earlier  tonight. Have a great evening everyone. Tomorrow is another lovely day. 

A Cool and Rainy Day

We received more of that lovely rain overnight and all of today, and with it came much cooler temperatures. I decided not to work outside moving sand over at my dad's house. I stayed home and wrote notes to two of my grand kids,  inside those cute little cards I showed you yesterday. The Township office phoned to get my grocery order, but they won't be able to deliver until tomorrow. Once I was done the phone call, I was free to run the vacuum cleaner. I vacuumed through the house upstairs this morning before lunch and downstairs in the rec room this afternoon. I was also able to finish a sorting job that I had put aside, so I am feeling good about having got caught up with a couple of chores that were bugging me. I did not nap.

There are lots of concrete blocks in the back of my van that still have to be taken out and put somewhere, but I should have time to do that tomorrow. The meter exchange is supposed to take place tomorrow morning and then I will have to stay here for the grocery delivery, but if it is still early enough in the day, I could go over to my dad's to fill a few more wheel barrow loads of sand.

Yesterday morning I thought I might have chicken with stir-fried veggies, but as dinner hour approached I changed my mind as I often do, and I baked the chicken instead with cauliflower in a cream cheese sauce. Yesterday just seemed to call for comfort food. Tonight it was keto chili con carne (without the beans) topped with yoghurt and shredded cheese, with a green salad on the side.

Roasted chicken thighs with broccoli in cream sauce.

Today seemed to pass by very quickly. Have a quiet evening everyone and sweet dreams.

More Hard Labour

I had plans for the day, but when "Dee" asked if I could help her move some concrete blocks and a pile of sand, I agreed to help. She has people coming this weekend to install a hydrolic lift for my dad to be able to leave the house. He is very frail and has to be moved by wheelchair now. There is no way to build a ramp. There is just not the physical space for the required angle of slope. In order to install the lift, a cement pad had to be poured and the existing block landing and steps had to be removed. A new wooden deck and steps will replace the blocks. "Dee" had already dismantled most of the steps herself but time is running out. I loaded the concrete blocks into the back of my van. I will be able to make use of them in constructing my garden spaces. We also removed more than half the sand pile. We have until Saturday to remove the rest.

I got home at noon and had lunch shortly afterwards with some iced tea I made this morning before leaving the house. Can you guess what I did next? Slept on the couch, of coarse. When I awoke I realized that I did not receive my call from the Township. As of tonight, they never did call me. If I don't get a call by noon tomorrow, I will phone again.

I did not get my vacuuming done again today. I guess it will wait for me. My spray painted items were dry. I brought them inside the house last night, knowing that it would rain during the night. I also made two cards with my new stamp and die set.

Beginning of Our Fourteenth Week

While my first cup of coffee was dripping this morning, I went outside the front door to water the three large planters. Two matching planters on either side of the door hold my red shamrocks and down at the bottom of the stairs I have a black plastic urn that my sister has loaned me with 2 English ivy from inside, a viola I transplanted from the lawn and two pink geraniums I overwintered. In the centre,  is the one and only zinnia plant I grew from seed. None of the others came up. It is pretty scraggly looking, so you won't see a photo of it unless it does much better over the summer. Ha.

While having my coffee I am reading blog posts that others have written. I also get a head start on some of my emails. I have my second cup of coffee while I am on my conference call with family members. Afterwards I made my 2 egg omelette with fried mushrooms, chopped zucchini and broccoli, and shredded cheese. I took the kitchen compost out to the garden composter, emptied the dishwasher, and took some chicken thighs out of the freezer.

One of my emails informed me that my Canadian Tire order was ready for curbside pickup, so after the conference call I drove in to pick it up. I hadn't even got my trunk opened when someone met me to get my pickup order number. I was in and out in less than 4 minutes. Crazy fast. When I came home I started a batch of yoghurt. I made up my grocery list and then called the Township office to request a pickup. They will probably call tomorrow to get my list.

 I also called the Gas Utilities to schedule a meter exchange. I called because I wanted to know WHY (in the middle of a pandemic)  they needed to do this now. Two weeks ago they had wanted to do the exchange. They do most of the work outside, but have to come in to relight the pilot lights on the furnace, water heater, and the gas fireplace. I told them two weeks ago that I was uncomfortable with having anyone come inside to do this now. Then on the weekend, I received an email telling me that if I don't arrange the appointment, they will come anyway. They explained to me this morning that  it has to be done before the end of this year. Knowing that this virus COULD be worse in the Fall, I agreed to have them come this Thursday morning. So that's done.

I made a batch of keto buns and took a couple of phone calls. I washed a load of laundry and hung it out on the new clothesline. I emptied my last order of almond flour and coconut flour into mason jars which I keep in the fridge, before I made myself lunch. I decided not to have last night's leftovers for lunch. I would save them for dinner tonight so I would not have to cook in this heat. So I had a bun with lettuce and tuna salad.

I went outside for just a little bit to pull a few weeds and to spray paint a couple of garden "statuary" that were given to me. I happened to have Tremclad spray paint in a gray colour. I'll take a picture tomorrow. They are still very tacky right now. I was bitten or stung while outside because when I came in, the top of my foot was swollen and terribly itchy. I put on some Gold Bond cream and lay on the couch with my feet raised, and well.....you know.

When I woke up, I warmed up dinner and ate while watching the evening news. I had another full load in the dishwasher so I turned that on. I brought in the laundry off the line and put it away. I finished shredding all the files downstairs that I pulled a couple of weeks ago., so now  I have another seven bags of shredded paper for the composter. I put the lids on the jars of yoghurt that finished after 7 o'clock and placed them in the fridge. I left the house to go check on the mailboxes. I had a stamp and dies waiting for me. Yay! Rain is supposed to arrive tonight and tomorrow, so I may be able to stay inside to make some more cute cards for the grand kids with the new stamp set.

I think that is a typical day for me lately. It is now 9 PM. I will probably play some on-line games of crossword puzzles and check my emails again before going to bed. I don't really have an opportunity for taking photos. I have no flowers yet. You've already seen my yoghurt making and keto buns (a couple of times), so I came up with these two.

 Two greeting cards I made last week that I haven't mailed out yet. They are from a "House Mouse" stamp set. I think they are just the cutest little creatures. 

This is what I picked up this morning.....some wire brushes, clear lacquer spray and a fancy-dancy sprinkler where I can control the width and direction of the spray field. With rain in the forecast, I won't be able to try it out for a while. Hope everyone had a great day. Stay safe.

Missing in Action

It's been a while.  I've started getting texts and emails again asking where I am. I guess I am still trying to work out a blogging schedule and obviously it isn't working. Every morning I start with two cups of coffee while I read daily entries from other peoples' blogs. I don't comment on them at the time because I think I will be writing late in the afternoon while waiting on dinner. But instead I find I am watching the evening news at that time. While reading those blogs and my email in the morning, my family starts the daily conference call. There are five households (my dad and 4 grown kids/spouses) who check in with Facebook Messenger. It's actually great that we all do this. But by this time, it is already 10 AM or later and that is when I make my breakfast. I decide on dinner, empty the dishwasher, make yoghurt or bake keto bread or buns, and water the indoor seedlings.  This may also be the time that I go on-line to request groceries and make up the grocery list, or do some on-line shopping for delivery or curbside pick-up. I don't usually get outside until around 11:30 for about 2 hours. If I don't go outside, I am making cards, or writing out cards and mailing them out.

 I mixed 6 wheel barrow loads of my triple mix to place on this small garden bed. Because the peony bush I found in the front of the house had no buds on it, I decided to dig it up and replant it here in this bed. It may be that the plant was too deep in the ground, so since it isn't going to flower this year anyway I decided to move it now. It seems to be loving its new location. I also planted the forget-me-nots that I rescued from my sister's back yard. She also gifted me with two sedums...Autumn Joy and Dragon's Blood, which are already planted. "Dee" gave me some chives to plant as you can see in the pot in the foreground. The irises were not affected by the move either and they are in bloom (purple and white). I have the promise of more transplants later in the year, as my sister and "Dee" come across any of theirs that need thinning. I guess I will have to get to work on making this bed larger.

I only had one bag of mulch to put down on this bed, but I won't buy any more until I finish making all the transplants this year. I also got some "garden fixtures" from my family members to plant in the gardens until I get real flowers. LOL

 I was able to empty the screened topsoil from all of those Rubbermaid bins and have washed them out. Two of the larger ones still have working lids, so I will keep those on my lower deck to hold outdoor furniture cushions. The other bins have no lids, so I will drill holes in the bottom, fill them also with triple mix, and plant some zucchini and cucumber seedlings in them. I raked up TWO huge compost bags filled with the roots I dug up and screened from the topsoil. All those large rocks I removed are  underneath the back deck.

Look what else I finally planted. It took nearly an hour but I was able to finally erect this clothesline on my own. I have been using it and I am loving it. It is a parallel line and holds so much more than the umbrella line I left behind. So I have made some progress on my outdoor space, but still lots to do. While the roofers were working next door (for a whole week), I did not go outside at all. I stayed indoors and made cards.....a Father's Day card which I hand-delivered this morning, two more masculine birthday cards, three more feminine birthday cards, and 8 "Hello, Thinking of You, Just Because" type greeting cards. I went to my dad's house one morning to help "Dee" move eleven 30 lb. bags of cement from her driveway to the back of the house. My sister had a social distancing birthday party for her husband in the backyard. I had already mailed his birthday card and didn't want to show up empty-handed, so I made him a survival kit for his BIG birthday. It was fun. It was just me, my dad and "Dee" but it was the first time we have all been "together" in 3 months.

We are still meeting on Zoom every Saturday for our Trivia Club. I have to come up with 25 multiple choice questions every week, so that keeps me busy and off the streets, but I am still enjoying that. Sometimes I feel there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do, so I guess that is a good thing. I will try not to wait so long to write next time. Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend.

Heat on Tuesday

I knew yesterday that temperatures were going to rise today along with the humidex. I don't much like working outside in heat, so I decided to do as much as I could yesterday. Perhaps I could finish sifting out the rocks and roots from the tiny section from where I had removed the sod. I did that, and then forgot to take a photo until after I lay down the black plastic, cardboard and newspaper flyers.

 I can also tell you that it was impossible to get any closer to the fence (and paved driveway) because the topsoil there was just to rocky...just like on the other side of the sidewalk where I put the veggie garden. So, when I cleared this bed, I dug up the irises anyway and moved them to sit on top of this area. On the other side of the sidewalk, I placed a planter.

 Over top of the cardboard and newspapers, I spread 5 bags of shredded paper from the desk files that I shredded a couple of weeks ago before back filling with the screened topsoil. There were so many rocks and roots that came out of here, that there was barely enough to cover it back in.

That means that when I get back out there to work, I will be piling the triple mix in this bed. I don't think there is 6 inches of dirt here now. If I want to plant perennials in here, I will need to put in a lot of soil. I can't show you how many bins of rock and stone I removed (I lost count), but here is a photo of some roots I dug out.

I still need to gather these up and place in paper compost bags I bought at the lumber yard earlier in the spring. I didn't even bother to clean up yesterday afternoon. After shoveling all the screened topsoil back into the bed it was 2:30 in the afternoon. I came inside, showered, had lunch, and fell asleep for an hour. I am very glad I finished up as much as I did. Today is very warm and Rocky and I are staying indoors and taking it easy. Tomorrow there are thunder storms moving into the area and lots of rain. By Saturday we are supposed to cool right down, so great working weather again. I am kind of disappointed that this area is not very big. I ran out of steam obviously. But it is definitely wider than the other side of the sidewalk, and if I am so inclined to work on it further during the summer, I can. Someday, I hope to have it developed down to the end of the sidewalk to mirror the other side.

Today I baked a keto loaf, made a big salad for lunch, and made a masculine birthday card for my BIL this month. Rocky and I had our obligatory walk around the block at 7:30 this morning, so we could stay out of the heat today. This may be a good afternoon for a wee nap.

It's the Weekend

It might be that I was procrastinating, but yesterday I felt that I should stay in and work in the kitchen. It wasn't starting out as a nice day anyway, being very overcast and feeling like it could pour rain at any moment. So I started my day by making a batch of yoghurt. I was able to get whole milk this week in my grocery delivery. Once I had the yoghurt started, I brought out my food saver and wrapped each of the 5 chicken breasts.

Eww. What a messy counter. I guess I should have cleared it off before snapping a photo. 

Here are the chicken breasts vacuum sealed. I place a single paper towel inside to prevent the juices from being sucked into the machine. 

After those went into the freezer, I decided to make some keto buns. I still had some bread left, but I am enjoying sandwiches for lunch made from these. 

Because I am washing more laundry these days, I decided to grate a bar of soap and added a cup of borax and a cup of washing soda to make a supply of homemade laundry detergent. Only two tablespoons are needed in each load. 

By this time it was already 2 o'clock, so I made 2 buns with lettuce  and tuna salad before heading outside to screen more dirt for about an hour and a half. I didn't see much progress so I didn't take any pictures of that. I was tired though. After a supper of leftovers from the night before (farmer's sausage and cauliflower), I felt too tired to work on tonight's Trivia questions, so I saved that job for this morning. 

I just finished printing them out when "Dee's" brother arrived with a recliner chair and a kitchen table and chairs for me. I told them in the Fall that I would take them, and now they had arrived. It meant moving a few things around and putting them together myself, but they are in place now. I don't think there is room for one more stick of furniture. I also got an area rug which is still rolled up so I will not show that. I plan to steam clean that on the deck before I lay it down  either in my bedroom or downstairs in the rec room. Right now I am going to have a cup of tea before our game starts at 5:30. I hope everyone is having a wonderful relaxed weekend.

 This recliner is so comfy. It is replacing a green leather chair that used to sit here. That is now moved to the other end of the living area.

The kitchen table and chairs are sitting in the eating area of the kitchen that had nothing sitting here before. It came with a leaf and 6 chairs. I think I will move the extra 2 chairs right out of this room and store them elsewhere. I will also be on the lookout for round tablecloths. 

Auntie Susan, the Dog-Sitter

My sister and her husband had a medical appointment in Sudbury today to see her oncologist.  He confirmed there will not be any chemo, but there will be drug therapy. I had little Rocky for most of the day. After his obligatory walk around the block, we stayed inside. I didn't go outside to work until after he left for his house. I only stayed outside for an hour...just enough time to remove the sod and shake out the dirt from the section I previously dug up.

 I will do the same on this side that I did on the opposite side of the sidewalk for my veggie garden. I will dig down about 6 inches and sift out all the large roots and stone in the topsoil. Layers of cardboard and newsprint will lay down over a layer of black plastic. I will back fill with the sifted soil before adding my triple mix of black soil, peat moss and manure. This is where I will plant any perennials I have. There is already a clump of irises in this area. I will have to leave it mostly untouched until early Fall, if I want to move them. There are already buds, though I don't know what colour they are.

I am hoping I have enough energy and motivation to clear the whole area down to the end of the sidewalk. If not, I will go as far as I can before I put up a weed barrier and leave the rest for this Fall or next Spring. Slow and steady wins the race.

I picked up a few things from my sister's place yesterday. She was cleaning up her backyard and shed and gifted me with some items she no longer wanted and that I can use to "decorate" my yard space. I also grabbed some forget-me-nots from her lawn that she didn't want growing in her grass. For not spending any money on plants, I am hoping to have a pretty nice outdoor space by the start of summer.

In the Garden

I started my day by putting in an on-line request for a grocery delivery and then I prepared my list for the week. Yesterday I received an order from Well.ca for some keto supplies (cereal and mayonnaise) and an order from Amazon (not food, but crafting supplies). I made a special birthday card that "Dee" had requested because the thought of going outside to battle the blackflies did not appeal yesterday. So because I felt guilty about that, I felt I had to spend some time outside today. I wore jeans and sprayed myself down with bug spray, including under my sun hat, and proceeded outdoors. I still cannot face digging up more sod yet to make a flower bed, so instead I removed grass and weeds from between the sidewalk pavers. After that, I poured my homemade  weed killer (one cup of salt to one gallon of white vinegar with a dash of dish detergent) between the pavers to take care of the roots. It looks really good now.

 I bet you weren't even aware that this sidewalk existed in front of the veggie garden. It leads from the deck to the side yard, and it was completely overgrown.

This other sidewalk is now cleared. And if you forgot what it looked like while I was digging up the sod, have a look....

It will probably get dirtied and muddied again when I start digging up the other side where I want to plant flowers, but it will be much easier now to keep cleaned now that I have removed the grasses and weeds between the slabs. All the tomato cages now have a tomato plant growing at the bottom of them. In the second photo you will notice that I have placed glass jars over the beefsteak tomatoes because they are still pretty small. I will eventually plant my pepper starts alongside the cages by the sidewalk.

I started some cucumber and zucchini seeds in peat pots because I didn't want to attract the squirrels to my garden again. I have since thrown coffee grounds over both gardens, but it may be too late for the seeds I planted. I will wait to see if any beans start to come up by next week. I have also planted a packet of nasturtium seeds, some in peat pots and some directly in planters. Keeping my fingers crossed that they all come up. I don't plan to visit any nurseries this Spring, so I am putting all my trust  in seeds.

I turned on my outside water tap and hooked the hose up to it so I could water my transplanted tomatoes and hose down the newly cleaned sidewalks. I certainly earned my supper tonight. Maybe tomorrow I can start on the flower bed.

I Guess That Was Summer

As you know, we skipped right over Springtime from winter straight into a summer heat wave. In my last post I admitted to finally turning on the central air and hoping for rain to cool things down a bit and water the newly planted garden, which the squirrels treated as a smorgasbord. It was good to see the rain over the weekend, but the precipitation was brought in by a COLD front. How cold was it? Well I had set the AC for 75 degrees in the house, but the inside temperature never got above 65 degrees. I wore a corduroy shirt yesterday. It would have been great outdoor working temperatures but it was constantly showering, followed by sunny breaks, interrupted by more showers. I would bring out my tools from the shed and then quickly have to take them inside again, so I gave up.

Friday I pretended to be a domestic goddess. I picked things up and put them away. I brought out the vacuum cleaner and vacuumed, followed by wet mopping the floors. The rooms actually looked larger when I was done. There is still more that could be done, but I was pleased. I did three loads of laundry because I changed my bed sheets. My intention was to wash up the winter quilts and comforters as well, and change out for my summer bedspread, but after this weekend, I am holding onto the blankets for a little while longer, just in case last week turns out to be our summer. Ha.

Saturday I spent in the kitchen. I baked a keto loaf, fried a package of bacon, and sauteed a shredded cabbage to use this week. I also made the Buffalo Chicken casserole that Anne posted about the day before (so yummy), so I just needed to heat it up after the Trivia game that night. My youngest brother and his wife have joined the club, and because our membership had grown, he has put us on Zoom (on his corporate account) so we can accommodate more people now.

Yesterday (Sunday) after preparing my taxes with my brother (nothing like waiting until the last possible deadline), I spent the rest of the day watching a Virtual Open House at Ecstasy Crafts, which is a small crafting warehouse located just outside where I used to live, and where I still buy crafting supplies on-line. They had quite a few demonstrations and on-line classes. While watching those, I worked on and finished my dishcloth that I had started earlier in the week.

This is the extent of my knitting skills, but it is relaxing. I'm hoping everyone had a lovely weekend. Has anyone made plans for this week? Can you believe we are into June?