Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Monday

I slept in, this morning, and got a good 9 hours of sleep!  I guess I was tired from the weekend's activities.  After I woke up and enjoyed a cup of tea, I responded to blog comments.  Breakfast was grapes:
"Sweet Sapphire" Seedless Black Grapes

Later in the afternoon, I noticed that the avocados I had bought had ripened.  I cut one, scooped out the flesh from one half and made:

Avocado Pudding!

I grew up eating avocado made into this favorite dessert: mashed up ripe avocado with condensed milk and sugar!  It is the only way I will eat avocado.  I am not a fan of guacamole, avocado toast, or sliced avocado in salads, etc.  I guess this was lunch!  

Neighbor T called me to tell me that she found a round metal piece that had blown over into her backyard after last night's wind storm.  She wasn't sure if it was from her roof or mine!  So, I went over and she gave me the piece of metal - it looks like it was a cover of something, but, I've no idea where it came from!  Anyway, I guess I will keep it until I can show it to someone who might know what it is!  Neighbor T showed me the damage the winds did to the wall between her driveway and her other neighbor's back yard - there had been a section of fencing on top of the cinder block wall and that had blown over, taking some of the cinder block capping stones with it!

Then, I took the trash cans out and watered the front garden - the newly planted euryops and the beds of osteospermum.

Today, I did three loads of laundry, including the bedding from the guest bed.  But, I didn't remake the bed, yet.

In the evening, I re-did some scrapbook pages.  My daughter had removed some of the photographs to do school projects when she was in high school; that was almost 10 years ago!  The scrapbook pages with the photos missing had been languishing in the "will re-do one day" pile.  Well, I re-did several of them, today, while I watched news.  Nothing fancy; just a matter of rearranging the remaining photos on new card stock and pasting them down.   Of course, Dancer came to help!  He is such a good shredder of papers!  Didn't matter if I wanted them shred or not!  LOL!  I still have several more pages to re-do, but I put everything away after I finished for today.

I am so happy the way the house looks after I tidied it for the prayer gathering that I am determined to try and keep it looking that way, by erasing the evidence after each activity!

The Family Room (before the sofas were covered)















With the Sofas Covered (with old bed sheets and towels on the arms to keep Dancer's fur off them) 
Dinner was leftovers.

Friend R called in the evening to check on me and daughter and I video chatted a bit.

I practiced the piano twice, today, and I think I have the first song memorized.  Working on the next two songs.  One of them is Happy Birthday, and while I know the melody well and have no problems with the right hand, I haven't quite memorized the notes for the left hand!

Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to sleep in
- Last night's wind storm didn't do any damage to my house and garden, as far as I can tell
- A tidy house (at least, the main rooms)
- Time to craft
- Phone calls and video chats

My joyful activity today was scrapbooking.


Monday's To Do List:
- Cover the sofas with the dust sheets - DONE
- Laundry - two three loads (guest room bed sheets; quilt; kitchen mat and Dancer's towels) - DONE
- Wipe down the toilet seat in the guest bathroom - DONE
- Take trash cans to the curb for Tuesday trash pick up - DONE
- Practice the piano - DONE

Tuesday's To Do List:
- Remake the guest bed
- Bring the trash cans in
- Water the house plants and back garden
- Start tidying my bedroom
- Practice the piano

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

22 comments:

  1. Well, I am intrigued by the avocado pudding - sweetened condensed milk AND sugar. Sounds right up my alley. I hope you uncover the mystery of the round metal piece and it is an easy fix for whatever it was. And yay for scrapbooking! And yay for your self-discipline in cleaning up afterward -- shredded paper and all!

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    1. The avocado pudding is very sweet, but, one can adjust the amount of sugar (or omit it, altogether) to taste. :) The metal piece looks like it had been fastened to three other metal pieces that have rusted and broken off. I will take a picture of it and post. I've no idea what it might be!

      Thank you for inspiring me to get back to scrapbooking. My layouts are nothing compared to yours, but, that's OK. Thank you - I didn't want to leave anything out to spoil my cleared surfaces. In fact, it was rather alarming how soon everything got messy once I had papers and scrapbook pages out! I do plan to go back to doing a few more pages and, if I feel brave enough, I might take a photo or two and post! :)

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  2. Your tidied room looks great. That's a great coffee table with lots of space and a shelf underneath. And wheels to easily move out of the way. Also, I really like the colors of the big picture over the couch. Can you tell us about it?

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    1. Thank you, Live and Learn. The coffee table is a favorite. I bought it from Ikea - it has four shelves on the side that is not shown, two shelves and two drawers on the side that can be seen. I bought it mostly for the extra storage!

      The big picture over the sofa is fabric batik, depicting a procession that takes place annually in a city called Kandy in Sri Lanka, where the tooth relic of the Buddha is carried on the back of the Temple elephant through the main city streets. It is called the Kandy Perahara (sometimes spelled "perahera". This particular batik was a gift to me from friends.

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  3. I don't like avocado very much so tend to avoid it but your pudding sounds rather nice.

    You're very good about getting your home back together after the gatherings you organise. I'd still be thinking about doing it!

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    1. Avocado pudding might be something to try, Eileen. You can always adjust the amount of condensed milk and sugar to your taste (or omit the sugar).

      I used to leave everything for several days, if not a week or so, before I clear everything, but, I am finding that doing it right after the event enables me to have a tidy house for several days before the daily clutter creeps up! I am also more likely to spend a few minutes, every day, to tidy up the place if it is already tidy. Anything left out, overnight, seems to multiply at an alarming rate!

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  4. What a lovely big room. It is small wonder you can entertain such large numbers of people. It is so tidy looking. Is this the room that you normally live in, like doing paper crafts, knitting and sewing?

    Good for you having memorised the first song already. You had little time to prepare for your next lesson what with the prayer meeting going on and everything else. One thing is certain. You have not procrastinated when it comes to doing your practice time. Way to go.

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    1. Thank you, Susan. This is the room I spend most of my time in during the summer, whenever I watch TV (the only TV in the house is in this room), which is also when I usually knit. Sewing on the machine and paper crafts are usually done in the dining area, on the big dining table. In the winter, I spend most of the day in the formal living room because the space heater is there and that is the warmest room!

      Thank you! I was supposed to memorize 8 pieces, but, I'll be happy if I can memorize 3! LOL. The old brain isn't quite what it used to be! Plus, this weekend was rather busy! I have been practicing, though, twice a day for the most part, usually for 30 minutes a session.

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  5. Goodness ....what enormous grapes! I've never heard of avocado pudding. We tend only to eat them in salads, guacamole or mashed on toast. Haha,my wedding album has been in the 'must do' pile for over 20 years. It's 80% done so heaven knows why I've never finished.

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    1. Some of the grapes are about 2 inches long!

      That is how we used to have avocado when I was growing up. It was always a dessert! I don't like them any other way.

      Well, maybe this is the year the wedding album will be completed. :)

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  6. Your home looks spic and span. I am having someone over today to give me an estimate on my roof. Some of the metal blew off in the storm, too. I was planning on replacing it, anyway. He will be here this afternoon.

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    1. Thank you, Stephenie. It's going to be a bit of a challenge to keep it looking so tidy, though!

      I'm glad you are having someone over to check on your roof and give you an estimate. Maybe I should get someone to check my roof, too. It was newly replaced just before I bought the house, but, that was almost 30 years ago!

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  7. I love your family room. I don't think e'ver seen it, have we? Maybe smaller close ups of images.
    The tapestry on the wall along with the white slip covers really make the room very visually pleasing.
    Thanks for showing us where you spend a lot of your time.

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    1. Thank you, Debra. I probably haven't posted any pictures of my family room because it is rarely this tidy! In fact, there are two cluttered areas to the left and right of this picture that I didn't show! LOL! But, thank you for your kind comments. :)

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    1. I guess they do look a little like eggplants! :D

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  9. Avocado with condensed milk AND sugar is too sweet for me. :) I usually eat avocado with a bit of brown sugar.

    Your family room is so clean and spacious. I love the wall hanging (perahera). I can see you also have a bowl with three elephants. :)

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    1. I definitely have a sweet tooth! :)

      Thank you. I didn't show the cluttered areas, but, maybe I will show them, another time. :) Yes, the brass bowl was bought from an antiques shop in Kandy when I went back in 1979. My step father's friend owned the shop and he charged me Rs. 50/- for it, at the time! It was tarnished black! It is very heavy and is intricately carved all around. My mother said it should have had a wooden ring on which the elephants should sit, but, if there was one, it had been removed or rotted, by the time I bought it.

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  10. You did well to catch up with some of the work on the scrapbook. I hope you will be able to finish it, it is so nice to get these jobs done and put away.
    Your family room looks calm and peaceful and a purrfect place for a kitty to lounge. Just as well those sofas are covered with sheets!
    We went in to town yesterday and I took charge of the car while DH read in the library until I picked him up. No problems finding the car this time!

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    1. Thank you, Bushlady. I did a couple more pages on Tuesday, too. It will be nice to have it all done and put away.

      This is how I want my family room to look! Tidy and cleared! Too often, however, you'll find stuff piled on the small dining table and the coffee table, my latest knitting project spilling out all over the sofa, etc. The dust sheets are required to keep Dancer fur off the slip covers! It's easier to wash the sheets than the slip covers!

      Oh, good! You had no problems finding your car! :D

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