Daybook: Monday, Sept. 4/17

Happy Labour Day. Hope you are enjoying the last long week-end of summer. Tomorrow the kids go back to school.

Outside my window.....it is a sunny but breezy day. Everything is drying out after a day of rain yesterday.

I am thinking.....of what I would like to accomplish this month before I go away for 3 weeks in October.

I am thankful for.....my relatively good health that allows me to work around the yard to get things done.

From the kitchen.....I baked another batch of dog treats, cleaned and cut up the four heads of cauliflower, shredded a head of cabbage and sauteed in preparation to make another casserole, and made another large pot of soup to work as lunches this week.

I am wearing.....denim capris and a blue t-shirt and my slippers. The temperatures are much cooler lately.

I am creating.....some birthday cards, some Cricut cuts from a new Christmas cartridge I bought during the summer, and a revised and updated address list  for my Christmas cards.

I am going.....nowhere today because it is Labour Day and everything is closed. My son and his fiancee are coming here later today.

I am hoping.....I can shake off this anxiety I am feeling. The family friend who was recently diagnosed with cancer is now in the hospital. He is quickly failing. Although I have been texting his wife and I have mailed off a couple of "Thinking of You" cards to him, I have not gone to visit him. I can't. It is too painful and I am reminded of my husband's death whenever I think of him. I have been feeling very "weepy" and can't seem to rally enough to be of any help or support to anyone.

I am hearing.....the chimes outside my window.

Around the house.....there is lots of work to finish up outside, as well as the ever present housework that needs to be done.

One of my favourite things.....is my crafting. When my motivation lags and I can't seem to focus on getting things done, I can relax by making cards. At the end of it, I may feel guilty about not working on my To-Do list, but I have something at least that I can show for my efforts and be proud of.

A few plans for the rest of the week......include moving all the gravel from the driveway into the back yard. I would also like to finish up weeding and pruning back two flower beds at least and spread the rest of the mulch I have left. On Saturday I will get together with my friends (from the girls' weekend) to have a restaurant dinner and a theatre play. It will not be a weekend away this year, but an evening out, which is better than nothing. This year has just been difficult to get together because of conflicting holiday schedules. The Holiday Grand Plan for this week is "The Livingroom". I will move that room forward into the "Recreation Room" in the Plan, and use this week to do the  "Porch", which I didn't do this week. My Christmas preparation will be to gather up what I already have in my gift trunk, and come up with some ideas for Advent calendars and stocking stuffers.

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

I made some paper cupcakes last week that I used to make birthday cards this past week for my personal stash or to bundle into packs to gift at Christmas time.

More Money Spent

August may be over, but the spending just keeps going on. I started today by receiving 3 yards more of gravel. The cost for this load was $135.60

This is what 3 yards of gravel looks like.

This is what it looks like after 3 hours of hard manual labour....not that much different.

Slowly but surely, the area is getting covered over.I figure that two more nice days this weekend should do it. Hopefully, there will be enough gravel this time to fill in the hole left by the pond liner. I came inside about 12:30 and noticed there was a phone message waiting for me from my Optometrist's office. My glasses were in. I had a quick lunch and showered before leaving for town.Cost of my new glasses was $199. I walked over to Food Basics to pick up some eggs and milk, and picked up a few specials for the week.

Dairy cost $16.90 

2 dozen eggs at $1.97 each
2 cartons of heavy whipping cream at $2.49 each
200 g of Feta Cheese $3.99
2 litres of whole milk $3.99

Meat cost $10.76 

2 pkgs. of thick sliced bacon for $2.88 each
twin pack of sliced cajun chicken is $5

Produce cost me $16.91 

cauliflower is still $1.88 each
green cabbage is $.88 a pound
zucchini is $.88 a pound
garlic bulb was $.75

Non-food items cost $5.88 for a total grocery bill of $51.21 including tax. On the way home, I stopped to put $50 of gas in the van.

Last weekend my son and his fiancee left me an eggplant that they didn't use up while making eggplant parmesan. I didn't want to waste it, so I tried a recipe tonight for a low carb Moussaka from the Keto diet I am on. Doesn't it look gorgeous? It doesn't taste like the one from my favouite Greek restaurant, but it was delicious. I also didn't use lamb. I used lean ground hamburger. The Bechamel sauce was made by mixing my homemade yoghurt with 100 g of crumbled feta cheese and 3 egg yolks. Yum. I will be keen to make this again. 

 

Here I go a-gravelling.....

Here is my pile of gravel at the end of day yesterday.

This is the back yard after so many wheel barrow loads, I lost count. Most of it was piled high across the back against the foundation of the house. I lay down most of the landscaping fabric that I bought yesterday.

Now I realize I don't have enough fabric either, so I will need to pick up at least one more roll.

This is ME at the end of day yesterday, just before I crawled into the shower. I was so tired I could barely walk.

 I was expecting rain today. I was kind of looking forward to having to take some time off  from the work detail. But alas, the sun was up this morning. A few dark clouds moved in shortly after 9 AM, and I got my hopes up again. It didn't last long, so I buckled down and got to work.

When I quit for the day at noon, the pile of gravel was gone. As a reward, I got on the phone and ordered 3 more yards....that is more than I ordered the first time.

This is what 2 yards of gravel looks like after it has been shoveled, wheel barrowed, and spread out. It didn't go nearly as far as I had hoped. But then, I am laying down more than 4 inches thick in a lot of places, trying to even out the landscape. I am hoping the new gravel will be delivered before the long weekend, so my son can give me a hand. I am also going to ask him to help me fix the back steps. I somehow raised one side, so now the door will not open.

I have eaten my lunch and am now waiting for a call back from the "gravel people". Even if they deliver it this afternoon, I will not be going back out there. I just want to take my shower and have a rest this afternoon. I may not take a nap, but I would like to work on some cards or my Christmas card list. I have a lot of address changes to record. Then at least I can say that I scratched off one of my items from the Grand Holidays plan. Fa-la-la-la-la.

Tuesday

 When I first got up yesterday morning, I hung out my son's two huge loads of washing on my clothesline. He didn't have time the day before to get everything put in the dryer because he was making my dinner for me. Did I mention how yummy that eggplant parmesan was? It was perfect drying weather and it was a small price to pay for dinner. I posted my Daybook on my blog and then I headed into town. I ordered my gravel and paid for it. It was only going to cost me $113 instead of the $160 I was quoted because they would deliver it in a smaller dump truck. I picked up the gasket for the dishwasher which cost me $90.40 with tax. Then I drove over to my optometrist's office. I didn't have an appointment, but I picked out a pair of frames and the doctor took measurements and I was out the door in five minutes. They should be ready for pickup on Friday. With all the running of errands I did in the morning, I did not feel like working outdoors yesterday afternoon. I stayed inside and puttered in the kitchen, starting with the dishwasher.

I removed the old rubber (that's it on the right hand side) and replaced it with the new one after I cleaned the door the best I could with my Miracle Clean spray and baking soda and lots of elbow grease. Can you believe that piece of rubber cost me $90?

It was a very easy job to do. Then I ran the empty dishwasher through a normal cycle with baking soda and vinegar before running a full load of dishes after supper. 

 

 

 This morning saw me outside again pulling weeds and laying down mulch. I only did part of the garden bed at the end of the driveway. My Snowball Hydrangea is still blooming, so I will not be pruning until nearer the end of October or even November.

I will finish this bed much later in the Fall, but I wanted to get some mulch down on the end of the garden that I did weed.

Next, I moved my efforts to the back yard. Woohoo! This itty bitty garden took almost 2 1/2  hours to complete. (I need to replace those rotted garden ties bordering the garden.) When I went in at 12:30 for lunch, I was tuckered out. I thought perhaps I might take an afternoon nap, except that I saw a message on my phone. The gravel was ready to be delivered. So I moved my van to the back of the property to clear the driveway just before they arrived.

Doesn't look like much. I don't think I have enough. Even though I was worn out, I decided to move 5 wheel barrow loads to start the back corner of the house. I had just enough landscaping fabric to cover that little corner. I am very sure I don't have enough. 

 
So can you guess what I will be doing tomorrow and for the rest of this week?

Daybook: Monday, Aug. 27/17

Outside my window.....it is sunny and warm (but not hot and  sticky). The lawn has been cut again and the flower beds are tidy. I hope they will stay like this for a while. Last week I had hoped to work on my driveway and the bed in front of the fence, but it was too much to expect.

I am thinking.....I will do well to move the big delivery of gravel I am expecting this week.

I am thankful for.....my son and his fiancee coming over yesterday afternoon to remove the pool liner in the back yard for me, and also making Eggplant Parmesan for our dinner last night. Yummy!

From the kitchen.....I made nothing over the weekend. Friday was leftover salmon (not tilapia, as I first reported) with broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini in a mustard cream sauce. Saturday was one of the cabbage casseroles from the freezer, and last night my dinner was made for me. The only thing I made was another large container of Miracle Clean spray cleaner.

I am wearing..... a pair of denim capris and a blue T-shirt.

I am creating.....a few birthday cards with paper cupcakes I made last week. This will start going into a box of homemade cards I will prepare as Christmas gifts. I received my first alert from Holiday Grand Plan yesterday. I reprinted my Christmas card list so that I can update the list and check to see if I have correct addresses for everyone. This week is "List" and "Front Porch"  week. I will see how much if anything I can accomplish this week.
                                                                    
I am going.....to pay for my gravel and arrange delivery, pay and pick up my dishwasher gasket, and go to my Optometrist this morning.

I am hoping.....I can get all my gravel moved this week.

I am hearing.....heavy trucks moving by. There is construction of new houses going on close by. We will have blasting going on over the next 5 to 6 weeks. 

Around the house.....there is lots to be done both inside and out. I will work in the yard when the weather is fine, and I will try to follow the Grand Cleaning Plan laid out by the aforementioned website.

One of my favourite things.....this week will be my trusty wheel barrow. 

A few plans for the rest of the week....do not include going out anywhere after today.

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

Here is the hole left in my back yard after having the pool liner taken out, and the flat rocks taken away from the perimeter.

                                                                   

Saturday Summary

I stripped my bed this morning after awakening and washed two more loads of laundry. The sheets and quilt went into the dryer, but everything else was hung out on the line to dry. The bed is now made and all the laundry from the past two days has been folded or hung up.

I spent the majority of today outside pruning back and/or pulling out all the Globe Thistle from the front garden space. There will still be some growing next summer because some I was unable to pull out the roots and because there will be seed in the ground. However I was able to lay down mulch and make sure all the weeds were pulled. Slowly but surely, my flower beds are being prepared for the Fall.

The only things left blooming in this bed are the Autumn Joy in the foreground, my pot of red and white portulaca, sea lavender (or statice) pink coneflower, and pink potentilla.

Where I removed the Globe Thistle up against the front of the house, I have tried to transplant some Blue Flax and hope that some of it will take root.

While I was busying myself with this, I noticed a really pretty butterfly enjoying the red verbena of one of my planters. I have no idea what kind of butterfly it is, but it was rather large.

Are you noticing how long the grass has grown in the last couple of days? It needs to be cut again already. Sheesh!

Another No-Spend, No-Drive Day

I stayed home today and worked outside some more. I didn't spend any money as a result. I washed up two loads of laundry in cold water and hung out to dry. I used up 7 bags of cedar mulch from my stash out beside the veggie garden and "wheel-barrowed" it up to the front yard where I spread it over two and a half of my flower beds. The perennials and shrubs  in those beds have been pruned back for winter.

I ripped out most of my Snow-in-Summer overhanging the rock border. I lay down my vinegar and salt water solution over the gravel to help prevent them from growing back too quickly and overtaking the sidewalk again. I also lay down some new mulch here to contain the plants. Next, I will take out most of the Globe Thistle that is growing in the background up against the house. Then I will lay down mulch over that entire area. The gardens look so much nicer with a thick layer of cedar mulch, and I still have 12  more bags of the stuff. 

My planters filled out quite nicely with my red and white flowers this year.

My glasses fell apart late this afternoon. Wouldn't you know it is a Friday and I will have to make do until I can go to my eye doctor on Monday. The new prescription I received at my last eye appointment is on file for 6 months, so I should just be able to pick out new frames. In the meantime, I have glued my lens back in the frame, but I am still missing an arm. I cannot attach it.

I called a local aggregate company to find a price on a delivery of gravel. Over the phone, he estimated the cost around $160  to fill the area behind the house. They will need to dump it in the driveway because they cannot drive into the back, and I will "wheel" it back where it needs to go. Free exercise. I think he has overestimated the amount, so I am sure I will have lots to fill up some other areas I am considering, like the hole that will be left when I remove the pond liner in my back yard.  I can always rake any surplus over the rest of the driveway, as it is bare in places. So on Monday morning, as I drive in to my eye doctor's office, I will stop into the Aggregate company, pay for the gravel, and set up a time for delivery. Further down the highway, I will stop at the appliance store to pick up my dishwasher gasket and pay for that.

So although I technically didn't go out today and spend money, I know that my Monday morning will be a humdinger when it comes to forking over the cash. In the meantime, I will enjoy my weekend. And I hope you all do to.