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Anthurium Plant |
- Getting my two walks in
- Emails from friends
- A relaxed day
- Afternoon naps
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Anthurium Plant |
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Paperwhites |
Yesterday, Friday, December 1st, was a sunny day, a bit windy, with an afternoon high of 63F. I picked fresh flowers from the garden to bring inside, some chrysanthemums and a few stems of paperwhites (the latter for the altars). Then, made my usual first of the month milk rice for brunch and enjoyed it with homemade seeni sambol.
I called the pharmacy to ask if they could mail my medications that were ready for pick up. I was told that because I am on Medicare, the prescriptions have to be picked up in person. I suppose it is a way to minimize fraud? Anyway, I went to the pharmacy in the early afternoon and picked up the medications. There was still only one person at the check out counter, but, the line wasn't too long and I didn't have to wait for too long. Or, perhaps, I'm getting more used to it, now?
On my way out of the store, I noticed that they had some potted plants for sale at the front of the store. There were the obligatory poinsettias, but, also, some red anthuriums! My mother used to love anthuriums and she grew many varieties, but, the red ones were her favorite! The plants, in 6 inch pots, were $24.99 each, which I thought was a little high, but, I had a 30% off coupon! I was able to purchase a plant for under $20.00 and I was happy!
In the afternoon, I did a little bit of mending and sewed on a button for M. He was here later in the evening to tend to the garden. He started pruning the fruit trees and watered the garden. He also brought me an Opal apple.
Later in the evening, neighbor S brought over two cheese filled puff pastries (bureks) she had made. She had called me in the morning to let me know that she was going to make them and to ask if I'd like to have some; I said, "Yes, please!" I had one of the cheese bureks for my dinner.
One of my dear friends had gifted me an online Advent calendar, which is my first, and I enjoyed clicking on the first door to open it. I did it while chatting online with my daughter and by sharing the screen with her, I was able to share the experience with her, too. Then, we sang a Christmas carol, and, as I mentioned to my friend, Dancer joined us and meowed along!
Today, Saturday, it was sunny, again, and the afternoon high was 67F (tonight's low will be 44F) I walked for 15 minutes, today, but, did only one walk. I will try to get in two walks, tomorrow. I watched some online videos, sorted through some papers, and watched some music programs on TV. I made a sort of curry with some leftover roast turkey - I say "sort of" because, in my opinion, adding precooked meat to a curry gravy, even when the curry gravy is made from scratch, doesn't make a good curry. But, I wanted a curry to eat with the leftover milkrice and some katta sambol for brunch. I had the second cheese burek for dinner.
At the start of December, I am grateful for:
- Sunny, mild days
- Neighbor S bringing me treats
- M's help with the garden
- The gift of an online Advent calendar
- The start of a new month
My joyful activities have included enjoying the garden flowers and watching some music programs on TV.
Plans for tomorrow include getting started on making holiday greeting cards.
What are your weekend plans?
As always, my overall goal is to live a life that feels well balanced to me. To that end, I have created several areas of importance to me to focus on. I try to evaluate each area, rating my satisfaction in that area of my life from 1 to 10, with 1 being most dissatisfied and 10 being most satisfied. Ideally, all the areas get equal and high rating, but, lower satisfaction ratings indicate that these areas need more work. My ratings for each area are shown within the parentheses, with the beginning of the month ratings in (black) and the end of the month ratings shown in (blue).
These are the individual areas of my life and their ratings for November:
Spiritual (10)(10): The goal is to live a spiritually meaningful life:
I continued to live what I consider to be a spiritually meaningful life, in the ways I am able to. I am happy with this area of my life.
My goal in December is to continue to live a spiritually meaningful life in the ways that I am able to.
On the last day of November, I still didn't take a picture to post on the blog! Tsk, tsk! Dare I offer yet another old picture?
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Dancer |
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Iceberg Roses (Old Photo) |
On Wednesday...
... I didn't take any new photos for my blog post, so I am reposting an old photo! This rose bush used to be in the front garden where it didn't do too well and we transplanted it in the back garden where it did quite well for several years. Then, this summer, it just withered up and died! I haven't decided if I will replace it or not.
... M arrived in the late morning to tend to the garden. He filled the yard waste bin with some of the branches he cut from the bottlebrush tree, weed whacked some of the overgrown areas at the back, and watered the garden which hadn't been watered since last Wednesday!
... there was sunshine in the morning and then, it clouded up and we had some rain in the afternoon. Not a lot of rain, 10 minutes or so of drizzle, but, even a little rain is welcome!
... the high temperature was 63F and I felt cold enough to have the big gas heater on almost all day! It is set at 70F, which means the family room warms up to about 65F. I spent most of the day in the living room (since it was the warmest room), but, moved to the family room in the evening to watch news. Then, I took a short nap on the sofa, while watching the news!
... I did a load of laundry (kitchen mat, bathroom mats, Dancer's rug, etc.). The folding metal drying rack was put away before company arrived on Thanksgiving Day, but, I have set it back up in the living room, near the gas heater, and today's laundry was hung on it to dry.
... I called the tree trimmers and left a message regarding trimming the eucalyptus tree. Hopefully, they'll call back with a quote and I can schedule it for December or January.
... I made a pot of turkey broth from the turkey bones. There was a little bit of turkey drippings and a bit of leftover gravy, too, and I added both to the broth! I will leave it to cool in the fridge, overnight; tomorrow, I will remove any fat and either make soup or freeze the broth for later.
... I replied to blog comments, read and commented on a few blogs, watched some online videos, and wrote this blog post, of course!
... Looked up mailing costs for packages (trying to decide if I want to mail homemade gifts to family living out of state - the bulk of the cost will be for postage - or order something online and have it shipped).
... I chatted with my daughter; she said she went to the store to buy some half and half for her coffee and spotted a seasonal snack, thought that I would like it, and bought it to bring to me when she comes down next! How sweet is that?
... I cleaned the litter box and swept the bathroom floor as usual,
On Wednesday, I am grateful for:
- M's help with the garden
- The little rain we received
- Working appliances
- A warm house
- My daughter thinking of me and picking up a treat for me
Today's joyful activities included picking some ripe serrano chilies from the garden, taking a nap on the sofa, and chatting with my daughter.
Tomorrow, I have a doctor's appointment with my primary care physician. I am not looking forward to that because I am anxious about the blood test results. Hopefully, all the numbers will be within the normal ranges!
How was your Wednesday? What are your plans for Thursday?
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"Where's my other human, Mummy?" |
I ran a few more errands today! First, I went to the gas station to put some gas in my car. I was down to quarter of a tank, although I usually try to keep the gas tank at least half full at all times. I put $50 worth of gas, at $4.79/gal. and it was enough to fill the tank. $50 is what I budget each month for gas, but, since I don't drive that much, anymore, I tend to fill up only every other month. I am considering lowering my monthly gas budget to $25 per month, next year.
After that, I went to the pharmacy to pick up my medication refill. The line wasn't all that long, but, there was only one person at the counter and the line moved very slowly. The store was rather busy, too, for a weekday afternoon. I was almost sorry that I decided to pick up the medication instead of having it mailed to me! But, mailing charges have gone up to $5; the medication cost $50.00.
Then, I went next door to the dollar store. I was hoping to find a 2024 wall calendar - the kind with big squares in which to write appointments and times. I was happy to find one for $1.00. In addition, I bought 3 bananas (@ $.49/lb.), a bag of grapes (@$1.79/lb.), a package of dates (@$3.99), two rolls of wax paper (@$1.50), and a box of snack sized sandwich bags (@$1.50). My total came to $14.08.
I was happy to be able to get about and run my errands, but, at the same time, I felt a little stressed about it, too. Even with my mask on, I felt uncomfortable being exposed to so many people in the stores. I think I'll continue to stay at home for the most part in the coming weeks.
I spent the rest of the day relaxing at home. I brought in the emptied trash cans, picked another handful of ripe cherry tomatoes, called friend S to check on her (she had burned her hand earlier in the month when hot oil splashed on her hand and forearm), watched news and the semi-finals of Dancing with the Stars and another musical program on TV, and looked through the week's grocery ads.
Breakfast was half a bagel with butter, lunch was rice with the last of the beef curry, and dinner was sauteed turkey with the last of the butternut squash. Snacks included a mandarin orange, some grapes, some preserved/dried pineapple, some potato chips, and the last piece of cherry pie for dessert.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Gas for the car
- Being able to drive
- My medications
- Finding the calendar I wanted
- A sunny day and a relatively warm afternoon
Today's joyful activity was video chatting with my daughter.
Plans for Wednesday include tending to the garden with M and reading.
How was your Tuesday? What are your plans for Wednesday?
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Keeping Mummy Company |
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Library Book |