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| Pomegranates from the Garden |
Last week was the first week of Autumn, although our temperatures were in the 80s and 90s as usual for September.
On Monday, I had another dental appointment to have a permanent crown put in and another tooth prepared for another crown. Daughter bought us some Thai fried rice on the way home, although I had a meal replacement drink. Later in the evening, daughter's friend A brought us more mooncakes she had made.
On Tuesday, the tree trimmers were here and the eucalyptus tree in the front yard was cut down and removed. I'm counting that as the biggest item decluttered this month! LOL. Later, I went to the pharmacy to pick up one of my medication refills and decided to put more gas to my car since I was down to half a tank and, with gas prices rising so rapidly (the cheapest gas is over $6 per gallon), it seemed better not to wait until the end of the month to put gas. So, I used up my October gas budget of $50 in September!
On Wednesday, M was here to tend to the garden and he was amazed to see the difference the removal of the eucalyptus tree made in the front yard. I did a load of laundry and caught up on a few things that needed doing around the house. I cooked an omelette curry for dinner.
Thursday was a quiet, restful day. I went back to sleep after I fed the chickens in the morning and did some paperwork in the afternoon and caught up on a few blogs. I watched over the chickens while daughter cleaned out the coop and enclosure in the evening and afterwards, I cooked a meatball curry for dinner.
On Friday, daughter had a day off from work and she made japchae, a Korean glass noodles dish for brunch. I did a bit of housework and dusted and vacuumed the living room and dining area, In the afternoon, daughter's friend C came over with her puppy to visit with daughter and see the chickens. Daughter gave her some eggs to take home with her.
I moved my bed and made room for M to take down the window air conditioner in my bedroom when he arrived later in the evening. We store it in the garage over the winter and put it up only in the summer. He asked me if I used it at all this summer and I said I did, a total of 5 times. LOL. I only switch it on when the temperature inside the house goes above 95F.
Two of daughter's friends had invited her to attend a comedy show with them on Friday evening, but, daughter needed to trap the kittens to take them to be fixed on Saturday and one of the kittens was refusing to be trapped, so, she had to decline the invitation. Two of the kittens, Mochi and Mimi entered the traps almost right away, but, the third kitten, Tora, proved to be too clever for that! It held off for the longest time and then, it entered the trap, but, didn't go in far enough to trigger the trap door! Instead, it stretched out a paw and drew the plate of wet food closer and ate the food! We opened the sliding glass door to try and push Tora further inside the trap, but, it ran away as soon as we opened the door! Daughter was so frustrated as it meant we'll have to make another appointment with the neutering clinic and try and trap Tora, again, while making sure that the other kittens don't get trapped!
On Saturday, we were up early, to take the two trapped kittens to the neutering clinic. We left the house by 7:00 a.m. to be there by 7:30 a.m. We waited until the kittens were checked in and then, came home. I did a load of laundry after we came home and mended a tear in the sari that daughter is planning to wear to her friend's wedding in October. The sari has a beaded border and some beads had come out, so I sewed on a few beads, too.
Then, it was time to pick up the kittens. Around 1:00 p.m., we got a text saying they were ready and we collected them and brought them home. They had to be kept in the traps until later in the evening, we were told, and given half a can of wet food mixed with water. Daughter did that while I took a nap!
Later in the evening, I ordered groceries and daughter baked a pan of brownies.
On Sunday, the groceries were delivered in the morning. I cleaned the kitchen a little bit (scrubbed the sink and dish drainer, wiped down the stove top and counters, swept and mopped the floor) and cleaned my bathroom, too.
Later in the morning, daughter's friend C stopped by to drop off some dinnerware! Apparently, she ordered a new set of dinnerware and two of the bowls were broken when she received the set. She had notified the store and requested two replacement bowls. Except, the store, instead of replacing only the two broken items, had sent her a whole new set and told her to keep the previous set, as well. C didn't want the incomplete set and had offered it to daughter; she was going to donate it if daughter didn't want it. Daughter asked me if I'd like to have a new (incomplete) set of dinnerware and I said yes! I know, I'm supposed to be decluttering, not getting new items, but, I couldn't resist! I have mismatched plates for everyday use and we decided that we will replace them with the new dinnerware.
So, C stopped by in the afternoon and brought us the incomplete set of dinnerware, still in the box. 6 plates, 6 salad plates, 6 small "fruit" bowls and 4 larger "cereal" bowls (since 2 had broken); white with fluted edges, dishwasher and microwave safe. They can be used for everyday and any occasion, too. I sincerely hope that C bought them on sale because I checked the regular price on the store website and they weren't inexpensive. Daughter took them out of the packaging and I washed them in the dishwasher.
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| The Set of New Dishes |
Friend R had said she will stop by on Sunday afternoon to pick up some packages that had been delivered to my address, but, then, she texted to say she will come on Monday evening, instead. So, daughter and I had a relaxed Sunday evening and she finished sewing her sari blouse.
This past week, I was grateful for:
- Access to dental care (even if it costs an arm and a leg!)
- The availability of my prescriptions (I've been hearing that some pharmacies are having supply issues)
- The availability of gas (even at a price)
- Tree trimmers who did an excellent job of removing the eucalyptus tree
- M's help with the garden and tasks around the house such as taking down the window a/c unit
- Daughter's friend A bringing us more mooncakes she had made
- Daughter's friend C giving us the new dinnerware set
- Free cat neutering clinics and the groups who run them
- M's help with the garden and tasks around the house such as taking down the window a/c unit
- Daughter's friend A bringing us more mooncakes she had made
- Daughter's friend C giving us the new dinnerware set
- Free cat neutering clinics and the groups who run them
- Produce from the garden
- Sunny, warm days
- Sunny, warm days
This week's joyful activities have included spending time in the garden with these characters:
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| Niwatori and Henny Penny on their Favorite Perch (Daughter's Back) |
All in all, it was a good week for me. How was your week?
