Running Behind

Am running way behind today. We had some thundershowers and I always shut the computer off when we have them.

I was so inspired by yesterdays total overhaul of my cabinet that I did go ahead and do two today. It has been years since I did this and it astounds me all the crap that was in the back of the cabinets. I threw so much a way - it really does feel good to do that. I am left with a nicely organized baking cabinet and, get ready for this, and empty one. For the moment. It is kind of a weird cabinet. It has the bottom shelf and then halfway up it has a half a shelf - so that you can have two levels of stuff in the back but only one (tall) one in the front. I am pondering the best use of this space. I am going to get some trays that will fit side by side and can then put things in it - one good idea I read somewhere,(you buy inexpensive baking pans - like 9 x 13's from the dollar store, spray paint them all to match and then you can slide them in and slide out easily) but the upper back level is hard to get to so I know I don't want everyday stuff there. I am leaning toward putting a small winerack on the shelf and then on the side can set other liquor bottles. We aren't big drinkers, in fact, The Rock doesn't drink at all. So this might be a good use of the space.

I am thinking of taking seldom used baking pans or extra bowls and storing them in the back of the bottom. Then maybe cereal and snacks in the front in two trays. Of course, putting the seldom used baking pans and such there means I am going after the baker's rack next. Hmmm. Well, it does put off doing the main pantry cabinet and that is a good thing. LOL I will probably tackle that one next week.

Dinner tonight was easy. I had a chef's salad and TWC is having canned kid's pasta - The Rock has his monthly eating meeting at his sportsman's club. Canned kid's pasta is a major treat for TWC so she is quite happy. She had a small salad earlier.

We are having a party Saturday night and I have been planning that.

It is much cooler today, that is I suppose the good thing about the storms. Oh, heck, the rain was a great thing - we needed it. I got some laundry done earlier and worked a bit with TWC on cleaning her room.

And I got some reading done. Not too bad a day.

Two in One

Two in one, that is what the Tuesday after a three day weekend always seems like to me. I have things I do on Mondays, that I never seem to do on holidays. So, then I have to double up. Argh. Oh well, I guess it was worth it for having a lovely weekend.

It was very warm, but, never got as hot as predicted, which was nice. I have been trying to ingrain this into The Wild Child - one must never really think or say it is hot, - and, yes, I plead guilty to forgetting this rule last week and bitching about how hot it was - instead think cool and stay cool. It works when I remember to do it!

We had a nice weekend. Got the mudroom (although maybe I should think of a better name) almost as done as it will get till later in the summer. In other words, we got it cleaned out, yeah, and found cool things we forgot we had and cleared out a massive amount of stuff/junk/fill in your own word choice we don't need and it is all gone! Some to a local thrift store but most trashed. I can't tell you how good it makes me feel.

I was so inspired that after my daily routine stuff this morning I cleaned out the kitchen cabinet I have been meaning to. This cabinet is where all the spices, and various other things were. I was in a mood to pitch. Flylady would be so proud. It looks great - I made small basket (those little tray ones) and have one for all flavorings, all odd things, all cake decorating things, etc. I found a cool little three tiered shelf thingy when cleaning out the mudroom and it is a great little think in the cabinet - you can see everything - I have it mostly with various little bottles of flavored oils and am impressed at all the empty space. I found a bunch of meat and candy thermometers, didn't realize I had that many. Or bottles of peppermint extract, four vanilla, and two almonds. And a lot of sprinkles!!

The Wild Child found it hysterical at how many cans of cooking spray we have (7 - but hey, you have your butter flavored, olive oil, plan) and how much salt (regular, sea - coarse and fine, kosher) and since I always love doing things that bring joy to my child's heart cleaning the cabinet had a nice bonus. Tomorrow I am going to redo two more - I kind of have to since the some of the contents of one have to go in the other.

Tonight we are having Mexican night, The Wild Child insists. Primarily home made tacos - since she realized you can do this (and they are better than bought!) we have to have homemade Mexican once a week, although not always tacos. The plus is she can do almost all of it herself and call it fun while she is at it. Not sure on side dishes. She is lobbying as I write this for the tacos being a complete meal in themselves (I know The Rock agrees with her on this) and I think I am just going to go along with it.

Other than cleaning we basically just relaxed this weekend. Cooked out a couple times (pork steaks and grilled chicken,) and hung out with some friends Sunday and yesterday. Nice to really just take it easy.

TWC goes to Brownie camp this weekend for an overnight and then Day Camp next week, so I have to make sure everything on her camp lists is ready.

I guess I am really on summer mode now. We did break down and turn the air on this weekend, even though I like to hold off. Here's a tip that makes life easier in the summer. Find a good sized basket and stock it with stuff you need for summer entertaining - plates (either disposable or plastic ones you wash) glasses and cutlery (ditto) salt, pepper, napkins, bug spray, a spray bottle with water, etc. Then just grab one thing to take it all outside. A simple idea, I know, but, it really does help.

Finally Friday

I think I mentioned earlier last week that I was thinking about switching my shopping day from Friday to Wednesday (or even Thursday), but, what did I do this week? I waited till Friday. Madness of the normal Friday, but, extra chaos today due to the holiday weekend. UGH!! But, what can you do? I sure didn't want to end up there tomorrow. So now we are well stocked for the weekend and all.

We are staying home and working on the garden (the lovely think about gardening is there is always something to do. And, The Rock has promised to help me finish cleaning out our back porch. This is not a porch like with nice chairs, a porch swing, fan, etc where one passes time. No, it is actually a mudroom type room that for whatever reason has always been called a porch. He started that and I suppose I should try to change the term.

Since I have fibro there are some things I can't do alone and The Rock helps, although I can't always say he does so gladly. But, he does. We have something to do every weekend in June and into July, so this is the last home all weekend we will have in a while. We will cook out almost every meal and not only work in the yard, but, enjoy it. It is the weekend the screen house goes up and the hammock goes up.

I was planning dinner for tonight when I realized that with the Brownie BBQ I don't have to . Lovely. And I don't even have to make something for it, as everyone is supposed to do, as The Wild Child took care of it. Bless her heart!

Even though the calendar doesn't say so, summer is here. Hope you all have a good weekend and stay safe!!!

Lazy Day

I was seriously considering skipping blogging today, but, you know I am just so proud of myself for blogging regularly that now I can't.

Today I did the morning routines and then homeschool. And had a nice surprise in that The Rock came home for lunch - he NEVER does this but was in the area. In an ideal world he would just stay home all day. I never get tired of him - well, not much. LOL

The Wild Child made her second batch of cupcakes all by herself today!!!! So proud. She beats her batter by hand the 450 strokes the box says to. She counts them outloud. (I don't let her use the Kitchen Aid alone yet, and I mislaid both my hand mixers. I put them somewhere and since I don't use them (much) I can't recall where.) Then she felt a need for colored sprinkles and all we had on hand was green and red sugar, so I showed her how to color sugar (sugar with a drop of food coloring or two if you are making an non primariy color and then you stir like heck till the color is even ) and you would have thought I taught her the greatest mystery of the universe. Knowing that (at least for this day) your offspring thinks you are superwoman is awesome!

Besides that today is kind of a mellow do nothing day. I have been surfing the net, reading other blogs (am taking a news holiday today, we'll see if I can make it through without watching Nancy Grace later) and performing beauty rituals. I gave myself a facial and touched up my hair color. I am a goddess!

Dinner is something on the grill (chicken breasts) and probably veggies in foil. And a salad. I guess we are officially into summer eating. Which makes means a lot of the recipes I am discovering in the old cookbooks won't get made for a while.

Here's the recipe for our house blend ice tea. Everyone loves this and it is tasty without sugar - even big sugar lovers like The Rock like it. Although one could add sugar. Take four bags of Tazo Passion tea and one family sized bag of Luzianne (you could use four regular Luzianne's or Lipton works I suppose, but, for some reason I am a Luzianne girl for iced tea). Pour your boiling water over it, let it steep till it looks done and then put in a 2 quart pitcher and add cold water to fill the picture. Don't ask me why I use half boiled water and then add cold. My mom has always done this and the tea tastes great. We add the ice to the glass when I pour it.

What a Change

Today it is hot. Really, I just checked and the temp is 90F right now. So that really bothers the fibro, but, not so bad today as it could be.

Got a lot done. Got my standard routines, got all laundry done and put away - 4 loads.

Got a lot of school done with The Wild Child and still helped her make a batch of cupcakes. Her Brownie troop has its end of year BBQ and awards night Friday and we all have to bring something. She is bringing cupcakes. She made white cupcakes with fudge icing today and is saving one dozen and then tomorrow making chocolate with vanilla icing to have a dozen. So we also have lots of cupcakes for snacks.

Not sure what dinner is. Think it will be grilled pork chops. It is just too hot to think of anything that requires inside heat. Although, we made cupcakes, and actually that is probably why I feel like outside now. Just have to think of a side and make a salad.

In the first chapter of The I Hate to Housekeep Book, Peg tells us there are five important things to keep in mind.

1. Don't cover things up unless it is absolutely necessary. It just means you''ll have two things to take care of and keep clean instead of one.

2. Keep the pots and pans you cook in out of sight, in the cupboards or drawers.

3. Each tie you give the hosue a good going-over, start with a different room.

4. Establish a clutter depot.

5. Act immediately on whatever housewifely impulses come your way.

Words to live by, my friends.

Peg then goes on to mention what I really feel is the most important thing about homemaking. Know the answer to this question - "Who, or whom, are you keeping house for?"

"Certainly not for your friends and neighbors. If their windows are shinier than yours are, it will make them feel all warm inside, and they'll like you for it. You never heard a woman say "I simply adore Marcia, she's the most marvelous housekeeper.

Certainly not for your children. You don't keep house for them, but in spite of them.

No, what you keep house for is for you and your husband, but, mainly for you. Because if things get oo cluttered you won't be able to think straight and you never will get to record twoin your Conversatiolnal French course."
(uh, it is from 1958, remember?)

Peg goes on to add:

"Husbands with few grim exceptions, don't care much. They want a modest modicum of order, tha's all. They'd rather not see how it got there either, and they hate the whine of a vacuum cleaner only slightly less than the wail of a policeman's siren hard behind.

This modest modicum, then, is the thing to keep in mind. And don't let it be upgraded too far by other housekeepers. Remember, women have a tendency to grow neater as they grow older anyway. In spite of yourself, you can turn inot a compulsive picture-straightener, shade-twitcher and ashtray-emptier, which is a straight shoot to a terribly nervous old age."

Okay, I don't know about all of that about becoming neater as I grow older. Maybe I care more. I suppose that is it.

What I really agree most about is the modest modicum of order. That is what I strive for. The other part, about husbands (most of them) only wanting that is, in my opinion, pretty accurate. I know I was smart enough in my single days to run from a couple neat freaks I encountered. Great guys, but, I know there was no hope of a happy future. Not that I am now, nor have I ever been a slop or lived in squalor, but, I could tell pretty quick that my standards and theirs wouldn't be the same. I like things good enough to allow the rest of life to happen with ease. I strive for that. And luckily, I did find a man who's happy with that!

This will make you feel better

This morning, as is my custom, I was reading a few websites I visit every morning. My local newspaper for one, a couple other regional and national (I skim the front pages and on those who have it, the most emailed section) and then Salon.com I have been reading Salon for years and am a premium member, which should express how much I like it.

Anyway, Salon.com has a daily advice column,Since You Asked by Cary Tennis and today's letter is interesing. The letter writer is complaining about his wife being a compulsive hoarder and the damage this is doing to their marriage. Tennis gives his advice and then you can read other reader's comments on both the letter and the advice. While reading the comments I came across reference to a website called Squalor Survivors


Wow, what a website. I am just awestruck. And greatful. No matter how cluttered I think my house is, it isn't that bad! I can't tell you how good I feel about that. Okay, my little moment of superiority a side, there are mega tips and ideas on that site and I always look at things for what I can use.

If you are a hoarder, please accept any apologies if it seems I am making light or fun of this. It is a serious problem and I am thankful that I don't have it. At best I am a mild pack rat and have learned to pretty much control that.

Will be posting more later today.

This and That

Thanks for those of you who took the time to email me good wishes. I do feel better today and am trying to catch up.

I got a hair cut over the weekend - a shorter (and perkier according to the Rock) for warm weather. I like it, it is shorter than I have had it in forever.

Discovered a great tip when making strawberry shortcake. Slice up your berries and then sprinkle a little balsamic vinegar and a TINY amount of sugar (maybe 2 tablespoons of vinegar per quart and ONE tablespoon of sugar). Trust me on this and just do it. You then refrigerate at least an hour, but, longer is better. This really makes them juicy and you can't taste the vinegar at all - there is just something better than without the balsamic vinegar.)

Thanks to a suggestion from a reader I am going to try doing different themes for various days beginning Monday.

Monday - Recipe Day
Tuesday - Kid's Day
Wednesday - Blogs and Home Business Day
Thursday - Tips and Home Routine Days
Friday - Hobbies including Gardening

Thanks Domestic Chicky!


If you have blogs about any of these, email me with the link and I will promote your blog on the appropriate day. I will also be adding a blog roll and can add your blog there. And I will be sure and stop by daily, see what's new and click on anything you need clicking on!

I am also going to be talking about Peg Bracken's books a great deal, as I mentioned last week. The first is The I Hate to Housekeep Book - I am finishing up a rereading of this delightful little volume. Tell me Ms. Bracken doesn't have us Barefoot Domestic Goddesses in mind when she says "My own goals are more modest. I only want to make it around the clock, that's all, and I don't want to think about it too much eitehr, because I'm thinking about something else. If you're a bit nervous in the service anyway, and your mind is on raising the African violet or running an office or painting a picture, reorganizing yourself into an efficient housewife is a grian step you're not about to take. You want an aspirin, not radical surgery."

Ms. Bracken, who I am just going to start calling Peg, since she really does seem like an old friend, calls us Random Housekeepers. And I suppose she is correct on that point. Her other two categories or Spotless Housekeepers (the gal who won't stop) and Spotful (the gal who won't start). Those of us who are Random are just here in the middle.

I also think that the Fly Lady approach ties in nicely and we will have some more discussion of that.

I have planted more seeds (this will end soon) and have some more to get going yet. I have been aspired a new in the gardening realm by the Chelsea Garden Show I love to browse the gardens at the show and I point you especially to this one -

WOW - isn't that something!!! While I think it should have won Best of Show, it did win the Silver-Gilt Flora. Here is link to the website for the garden that did it and especially note the diary of the past year on all the work involved. It makes my own garden chores look easy. And it gives me some new ideas of my own.

Monday

Hey! Wow, did that weekend fly by or what? This is going to be a shorter post than I planned as I had a flare up of my fibromyalgia today and pretty much down for the count. In fact, much shorter. Just wanted to keep the momentum going and will return tomorrow.

Getting the Hang of it

Wow, five days in row I have blogged this week. Hmmmm maybe I can keep at this.

Today is gorgeous and the weekend should be as well. Ran some errands today, alone, which is nice, but, actually I am so used to having The Wild Child along it was a little odd. But, a nice kind of odd I supposed. I went through McDonald's anyway and had a Mighty Kids meal in her honor to get her one of the eight new Build a Bear toys. She is an avid fan of Build a Bear and Micky D's toys so you know she is all excited about this one. Since Double Cheeseburgers are my favorite food from there getting the meal just makes lunch fun. Although, I do feel odd ordering them. LOL

You might think from the Amazon link to the book Home Comforts that I enjoy reading about homemaking. You would be correct. I love reading about it. I could read about it all day. I love reading about house work far more than I enjoy doing it, but, don't we all?

I developed this love of reading about homekeeping at a young age. Everytime we visited my Great Aunt, she would give me magazines - old movie magazines and crime magazines as well as Good Housekeepings, Ladies Home Journal's etc. I devoured them all. I still do some, although my magazine consumption has dropped with the Net and all. Later, I discovered the housekeeping books. I love them, as well as cookbook and etiquette books. I collect them. I read them. My favorite of all times are the I Hate to books by Peg Bracken.

I Hate to Cook probably shaped my life as a homemaker. And even though I love to cook, I love I Hate to Cook.
Clickable links for all the books referenced are below - I just spent over 45 minutes trying to figure out why they won't work in the text format, which I thought I mastered but apparently not.

From the I Hate to Housekeep book - "Here is hilarious, yet sound guidance on how to let a house virtually clean itself. Hundreds of sensible suggestions for the harried homemaker, from tips on handling electrical equipment to care of clothes and entertaining. The very useful and funny contents include Don't Just Do Something, Sit There and Stains, Spots Blots, Scars and Dueling Wounds.

First published in 1962, these books are gems. Since I haven't read The I Hate to Housekeep book in at least five years, I just decided after getting it down from the shelf that I shall reread it and over the next week will share some of the choice tidbits with you. And actually the cookbook is good too and has some great recipes (but easy and quick for the most part) so I will be rereading that soon. And then there are the supplementals to the cookbook and her etiquette guide I Try to Behave Myself.

Wow, while making that link I discovered a book by Ms. Bracken that I don't have -I Didn't Come Here to Argue, a copy of which is now on its way to me (there are others - these are all out of print by the way and are available from the wonderful sellers of Amazon's Marketplace.


I didn't come here to argue

I Try to Behave Myself: Peg Bracken's Etiquette Book

The Compleat I Hate to Cook Book

The I Hate to Housekeep Book

I love books like these from 50's and 60's - and decades both plus and minus I guess. I got to looking around to see what there about Peg Bracken on the Web and found the following article. I am quoting it as it is only available cached. And you know I love to make things easy for you! ;o)

" Bracken’s banter is still cooking
Portlander’s prose challenges ingrained ideas about domesticity
By JILL SPITZNASS Issue date: 5/13/2003
The Tribune Visitors to Peg Bracken’s West Hills home are offered a homemade ginger cookie and then asked to sign the kitchen tablecloth. Later, the slender hostess in the St. John Knits pantsuit will embroider over the name with colorful thread, creating a one-of-a-kind guest book.
Don’t be swayed by the social niceties. Bracken, 85, is not your average “LOL” (little old lady). Her 1960 best seller, “The I Hate to Cook Book,” put forth the then-radical notion that for a lot of women, cooking was a drag.
Wielding wit as dry as a gin martini and as sharp as a paring knife, Bracken offered easy, clever ways to approach the culinary tasks that millions simply viewed as domestic drudgery.
Her fresh, irreverent attitude turned down the heat on women’s self-imposed domestic expectations. And while they weren’t on the same culinary level as James Beard’s, her recipes helped the harried chef of the house create quick and delicious dishes.
In the next eight books, which spanned nearly 40 years, Bracken’s humor and wisdom extended into the realms of housekeeping, travel, etiquette and most recently aging: “On Getting Old for the First Time” was published in 1997.
During a recent interview, Bracken proved that she still possesses the keen perspective and no-nonsense humor that made her name recognizable worldwide. When asked her age, Bracken says dryly: “No euphemisms, please. My birthday’s this month, and I feel great except for a tendency to want to throw up when I look in the mirror.”
Bracken lives with her third husband, John Ohman, father of The Oregonian’s political cartoonist, Jack Ohman.
Signs of the couple’s opinionated mind-sets are everywhere, from the numerous thought-provoking books that lay open to the photo of Attorney General John Ashcroft that’s taped to the refrigerator, a Hitler mustache drawn on his face.

Patience is a virtue

Bracken says friends provided the ingredients for “The I Hate to Cook Book.” She simply stirred it all together.
“It all started with a group of friends that used to get together for lunch,” says Bracken, who was an advertising executive in Portland at the time. “I said, ‘Why don’t you each give me a recipe that’s easy, that you can count on, and I’ll put them together and we’ll exchange them.’”
Another friend suggested the now-famous title, and Bracken knew she was on to something.
“I went to work on the book, but then I hit a speed bump,” she says. “My husband who was also a writer was jealous. He said, ‘You’re wasting your time; who’d want a book like that?’ He didn’t want competition. He wanted to be the only writer in the family.”
After that particularly telling period in their marriage, Bracken says, “I showed enormous patience and waited four more years until I left him.”
The episode led Bracken to believe that perhaps he was right about one thing: “I don’t think it’s great for a couple to be in the same business.”
Nevertheless, this mother of one daughter has always believed that women should expect the world, at least in pieces. “I think women can have it all but not all at once,” she says.
Revealing that she’s got her finger on the pulse of popular culture, Bracken refers to the comical British best seller “I Don’t Know How She Does It” when discussing the challenges that women face in juggling home and career. “I think a sense of humor is important. Mark Twain once said that there’s no humor in heaven. He’s nuts. I don’t believe that at all. You have to laugh about it all.”

Seen and not heard

The occasionally brazen Bracken says that she wasn’t encouraged to speak her mind as a child.
“My mother was a successful club lady, and I was always in awe of her,” the St. Louis native says. “I knew when I’d crossed the boundaries; the bridge of her nose would become pinched.”
Bracken recalls being equally reticent on the sports field: “I prayed that no one would pass to me; I never knew what to do with the ball.”
Bracken married after graduating from Ohio’s Antioch College. Following a brief stint writing advertising copy for a department store in Cleveland, Bracken and her husband decided to move west.
The couple landed in Portland, where she was hired by the ad agency Botsford, Constantine & Gardner. One of her co-workers was Homer Groening, the father of “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening. Bracken and Homer Groening co-wrote a syndicated cartoon called “Phoebe, Get Your Man.”
“It was a sort of how-to cartoon about a gal eager to get married,” Bracken recalls. Incidentally, Matt Groening’s mother, Margaret, now lives across the street from Bracken.
The surprising success of “The I Hate to Cook Book” spurred Bracken to leave the agency and write follow-up books such as “The I Hate to Housekeep Book,” “I Try to Behave Myself: Peg Bracken’s Etiquette Book,” and “I Didn’t Come Here to Argue,” a collection of vintage Bracken observations.
Bracken’s literary accomplishments led to many high-profile appearances. She was a spokeswoman for Birds Eye Foods for several years and toured with a national speaking bureau. Bracken says that the twice-annual lecture swing was the least favorite part of her career.
“I can speak in front of a group now without having kittens, but at the time I hated it,” she says.
Despite the saucy confidence that characterized her writing, Bracken claims she possessed little of it herself, even at the height of her success, when an appearance on “The Mike Douglas Show” was all in a day’s work.
“I didn’t feel that I could do anything,” she admits. “And I don’t think that I was unique in that way. Things have definitely changed for women since I grew up, when you were aware of the limitations of your sex. So many more opportunities are available now for either sex.”
Including the ability to call out for Chinese."

Have a great day and a joyous weekend. I may or may not blog over the weekend, but, I will be back for sure on Monday!

Success!

Today is feeling very successful. I cleaned off my desk and threw away over half my whatever box and organized the rest. In terms of time, it really didn't take that long, maybe 30 minutes, I should have timed it. But, the pay off is great.

My daughter is going to her grandparents later this afternoon, to stay till Saturday morning. How wonderful. Tomorrow, I am cleaning her room. I also have a big surprise for her when done cleaning. I have new curtains, spread, etc. I have an idea on rearranging her furniture that I think will work well. Why am doing this while she is gone you might ask? Well, The Wild Child is a bit of a pack rat (hmmm, I wonder where that comes from) and can't stand the idea of parting with anything and she just has soooooo much stuff. I am probably not going to get rid of much - a lot of it I will box up for the attic, some might find new homes. She has so much stuff I doubt she will miss it.

Dinner is grilled chicken kabobs with veggies, rice and salad.

It is sunny but still a wee bit chilly. Even so, I am finishing planting a bunch of seeds this afternoon and have made a makeshift greenhouse box to set the trays of seeds in - some old wood I nailed together and an old window laid over the top. I am not that talented a carpenter to make a hinged top, no, the glass just fits over the top, but I can slid it open a bit or just take it off in the day time - this will keep the seedlings and soil warm till they are ready to transplant. I like to start zinnas and various other annual plants this way - then when I put them in the ground where I want them I know what I have. I hate just planting seed and then thinning.

I bought a hanging copper (?) bird bath at Big Lots a couple weeks ago and it is totally rusted! I should have known as it was cheap. (but some solar lights I bought shaped lock Sun, Moon and Stars are awesome) I am so ticked, I thought of taking it back but decided to sand off the rust and spray it with Rustoleum. I hope to get that finished this afternoon as well.

All the laundry is done, but, I have to put it away which I hate. Seriously, putting away laundry just might be my least favorite chore. I would rather clean the bathroom - although that is easy with the daily routine and all. .

What ever you're doing - have fun doing it!

Hump Day

Today has been just getting finished on things I started yesterday. Plus did the grocery shopping. Normally I do it on Fridays but we were out of catfood so instead of just buying some of that, I ended up doing the weekly shop instead. I got off track last week with being gone Friday. It was actually better in that the store was far less crowded. May have to just change my day for it. One of my goals now is to get organized as a couponer and only shop loss leaders and sales. For some reason I am not making much progress with this.

I am trying to get motivated to clean out and reorganize a couple cabinets in the kitchen. And looking around I realize my desk has gotten disordered and I need to deal with it. Primarily I need to deal with my whatever box. I can't really call it an inbox as I know there is all kinds of things in there, I just need to sort it all and probably pitch half. I try to open the mail by the trashcan in the kitchen and toss a lot right away, and, I do pretty good with this. But, one of my downfalls is catalogues. I save too many - I do shop a lot from them though. But, you know, there is always something or somethings to do! It never stops.

Hubby has been gone since Monday morning and will be back this evening. Dinner is going to be pork chops alfredo, pasta and fresh green beans with fresh baked French bread, although I cheated on the bread and bought a half baked loaf at the store. Hey, it's the thought that counts! It is still a bit cool and this sounds good to me. No planned dessert as there a plenty of sweets people can pick something from.

I planted a bunch of eucalyptus in big pots this year. It is growing. I love eucalyptus, we were planting it yearly and then a few years ago, suddenly I couldn't find any locally and just never got around to ordering any. I love to make wreaths in the fall. The plants don't overwinter here, but, DH is hoping to get a small green house made by fall so perhaps I can save them. I also have a lot of rosemary and lavendar and sage growing, so I am quite excited at the possibilities.

Now I think I am going to curl up in a comfy chair and read for a bit before time to start dinner. I am reading
With No One as Witness (Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers Novels) by Elizabeth George. I love her books. This is a great big British Mystery. Perfect with a hot cup of tea.

Have a good one!

Tuesday

What a lovely Tuesday. The sun is shining, the birds are singing. It almost inspires me to spring clean. I said almost!

Actually, I don't really spring clean. I try to keep up all year so there really isn't the major cleaning to do at any time. But, what I like to do is do a regular nice cleaning and then get the house ready for spring and summer. This involves getting out spring linens and taking down heavier winter drapes and bed stuff. Changing slipcovers on the furniture to lighter stuff. I clear most all of the knick knacks and pack them up and put out (less) more summery things. I take down, wash and put away the shower curtain and window curtains in the bath, as well as the throw rugs in there and swap them out for the summer stuff. It is an (close to) instant makeover that lightens up the house. So that is what I am working on today. Not quite warm enough though to throw open all the windows.

Also working in the garden. Our garden is going to be better than ever this year. For the first time we used a tiller instead of hubby digging and all by hand. We went to a huge plant sale last month and got all sorts of wonderful things. I still have some seeds to get going (I do them in waves so we have more things blooming longer).I do the same thing with lettuce. Plus it has been cool this spring so some seeds needed to wait. Rock got very ambitious a couple weeks ago and built a huge new pergola for our wisteria which is about 7 years old and needed something huge and sturdy. So we have this lovely new outdoor room.

My other project this week is to clean and paint our wrought iron patio furniture and get some new pads for the loveseat and chair. They need a nice sprucing up. I also have some large plain plastic pots that I am painting and then have to plant them. And then we got our daughter a new play house and want to get that up this weekend. I have an area we have been making a deck/platform to put the house on and then it will have plantings around it on two sides (it is in a corner and already has fence on two sides) to make it cozy and private.

Have a good one!

Long time no blog

Since several folks have emailed me recently asking what was up with the Barefoot Domestic Goddess, I have been prodded to come out of hiding and post.

Actually, I wasn't really hiding. I was here in plain site spending a lot of time laying about reading and doing various other things. It has been a cool drizzly spring following a blah winter. In fact, it is cool and drizzly today.

BDG and her family went camping this weekend. Yes, camping. I know, many who know me, don't think I am the type of person who camps, and, well, you would be correct. My idea of roughing it is a Motel 6. But, as it happens, BDG married a man who likes to camp. And we have friends who like to camp. So, this weekend we went camping at a not too far away state park with a large group of friends. We left Thursday and I spent Wed and Thurs getting ready.

BDG and her dear spouse have an arrangement. He doesn't want to take her camping TOO often (no more than once a year. Next, she gets everything ready. He does everything at the camp site and treats her like the Goddess she is and then after he hauls all the stuff back home, she deals with it. This works out well, except I still feel like I am involved in the camping. Loads and loads of laundry and several tubs of stuff have to be unpacked. I did several of each already today and should be done with all by late this afternoon.

We don't pack light when we camp. We took too vehicles (LOL) and a large 3 room tent, accessories and some decor items (the BDG likes a pretty camp) a canopy and tables and stoves and coolers and tubs and rugs and chairs and ended up with a large portable home. With many of the comforts of same (although the wind doesn't blow through my real home quite so much).

Before I go I make out menus for the entire trip for all meals and snacks. I make a number of check lists for all categories. Food, each family member, campsite things, etc. This works really well, and helps elimates forgetting important things.

And it was fun. For the most part. It is lots of fun to be in a lovely campsite with lots of friends forming a great little tent village. Being out in the fresh air, seeing wild life (herrons, ducks, turkeys, deer and raccoon as well as hearing wolfs or something and many birds including woodpeckers) is nice. But, the downside is it doesn't last - you know you are going to be taking it all down and packing it up to go home. I have decided that the next time I camp, it will have to for at least a week. And that my friends won't be for a couple years since our vacations are planned for the next two.