Windy Sunday - Another Visit to the Cemetery and January Grocery Shopping Week 4

They arrived very late last night/very early this morning - the hot, dry winds known as the Santa Ana winds.  Blowing from the Mohave Dessert, through the mountain passes, to the Pacific Ocean.  Our temperature was almost 80F, today!  Needless to say, I loved the temperature (but not the winds, so much). 

I enjoyed a nice cup of tea, this morning (with condensed milk since I finished the last of the regular milk with my coffee, yesterday morning), and later, had a brunch of hash browns (the last potato, although I ate only half of the hash browns), a scrambled egg (the last one in the carton; sounds like someone needed to go grocery shopping, doesn't it?), and half a fresh orange from the tree, which had fallen for the winds (the other half had cracked and split, so I cut it off).

Chatted on the phone with my daughter who called to say good morning, and with my neighbor T, who called for our weekly chat.  I also called friend R, again, and left a message.
 

Finally, in the afternoon, I ran a few errands. 

 

First, I went to the cemetery to check on my mother's grave; it was the same as last week - the grave stone was more or less clear because I had wiped it off and washed it, last week, but the mud hadn't been removed and it was still covering the in-ground vase.

 

Mother's grave with the mud covering up the in-ground vase

There should be a vase (turned up side down to prevent water collecting in it) with the opening and base of the vase showing like this:

In-ground vase at another grave

There was a guy in a golf cart type vehicle going around, so I assumed he was one of the grounds keepers, waved him over, and I showed the spot to him, but he said I needed to complain at the office and they had to issue a work order specifying what needed to be done.  I also showed him some of the nearby graves that had mud on them:

 

 

Nearby Grave Stone with Mud

 

 

Another

I really wish I had taken a picture of my mother's grave the way it was, because it had mud both at the top and the bottom of the marker.  But I had been too upset that day and wasn't thinking, just reacting.

 

Anyway, I went to the office again, and the same receptionist was there.  She didn't remember me, but I remembered her name.  I reminded her that I had been there last week, too, and she had taken down my particulars to give to a manager who was supposed to call me, but I never received a call.  Then, she said she remembered, and said she emailed the manager and expressed surprise that the manager hadn't contacted me.  The manager isn't there during the weekend, she said, only during the week.  This time, I made sure to get the business card of the manager, so I have a name and number to contact her.  At least, the graves are not vandalized; just not maintained properly.

 

After that, I put gas to the car.  Gas has gone up to $3.15/gal., but, at least it is still available and it isn't as expensive as it was during the economic down-turn!  I put $35 worth of gas and it filled the tank. That should last me for the week.  (I budget $50/week for gas.)

 

Then, I went to the grocery store across the street from the gas station and did some grocery shopping.

 

1/28 Groceries

 

I bought:

1/2 gal. milk = $1.99

1 doz. large eggs = $1.49

1 pineapple = $.99

1 bunch bananas (5) @ $.49/lb = $.77

1 cucumber = $.50

Total = $5.74

 

 

1/28 Receipt

 

I also bought two bags of cat food, which cost $8.99 each, plus $1.71 tax, which brought up my entire bill to $25.43!  But, cat food is not part of my grocery budget, so my portion of the bill is only $5.74!

I also spent $3.50 on Friday, when I bought a bag of raisin buns at the Japanese bakery, during my walk, so that brings my Week 4 grocery spending to ($3.50 + $5.74) = $9.24

 

January Grocery Budget = $75
Spent to date: $40.14 + $5.58 + $2.81 + $9.24 = $57.77
Balance remaining = $75 - $57.77 = $17.23 

I doubt very much if I will grocery shop in the remaining days of January, so I am going to say that my January grocery spending was $55.77 and I will be carrying over the balance $17.23 to February.

 

After I came home, I had a cup of coffee,  Friend R returned my call, so I chatted with her for a bit.    Then, I watered the indoor plants and the newly planted grape vines (one of them is putting out new leaves, but the other looks either dead or still dormant; time will tell), put away the dried laundry from yesterday, did the dishes, and cleaned the rest of the kitchen counters!  I cleaned two of the bins in the fridge, too.  I will try to clean the rest of the fridge, tomorrow.  Two additional oranges had fallen from the tree, so I picked them up, washed them, and put them in my fruit bowl.

 

I cut up one of the mangoes I had in the fridge, before it spoiled.  It wasn't quite ripe and was rather sour, so I sprinkled it with salt and pepper; as a result, it was more of a salsa than a dessert!  But that's OK. I ate half of it and will eat the rest, tomorrow.

Today, I am grateful for:

- The sunny, warm day

- Nothing got blown down or over due to the winds, other than the two oranges

- The grave stones are not vandalized, just not maintained

- Gas is available and even if the price has gone up, it isn't as expensive as it was during the economic down-turn

- Keeping in touch with daughter and friends

 

All in all, I had a productive day and accomplished much.  I couldn't water the front garden as the wind was too strong and blowing the water back at me!  I didn't attend to the garage door yet, either, because I want to see if changing the bulb in the overhead mechanism would help (I read that LED bulbs can block the radio waves of the remote) and daughter doesn't want me to climb the ladder when I am alone.  So, I need to call my neighbor and have him change the bulb for me.  Then, the plan is to test the remote from inside the garage to see if it works.  If not, then, I'll need a new remote (I already replaced the remote battery, so it's not the battery).

Weekend To Do List:

- Visit the grave site to see if mother's grave marker has been cleared of mud- DONE

- Attend to the garage door - NOT YET

- Put gas to the car - DONE

- Do grocery shopping- DONE

- Clean the kitchen - DONE

- Do the dishes, again!- DONE

- Put away the dried laundry- DONE

- Water the indoor plants - DONE

- Water the grape vines - DONE
- Water the front garden - MONDAY

- Meal plan/cook - Put chicken (cooked) to thaw - will make??? stir-fry again???

- Paperwork/pay bills - MONDAY

Monday's To Do List:
- Doctor's appointment
- Clean the fridge
- Take the trash cans to the curb
- Water the front garden
- Clean the litter box
- Paperwork/pay bills/file

How was your Sunday?  What are your plans for Monday?