Thursday, March 31, 2022

After the Rain

Iceberg Roses
After the rain, the garden plants are happy!


Rosa "Dr. Huey" (Root stock rose)

I didn't notice the bug on the pink rose bud, below, when I took the picture:


Pink Rose Bud and Bug!


The succulents growing along the side wall in the front garden are happy, too!


Succulents

And the pomegranate tree is full of buds!


Pomegranate Flower Buds

The self-seeded phacelia plants are flowering, too!  


Phacelia

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a mostly sunny day, after Monday's rain. I didn't have to report in person for jury duty, so I got to relax at home.  I brought in the trash cans, checked on the garden, did a load of laundry, wrote my blog post about the decluttering (thank you, everyone for your very kind comments on that), ran the dishwasher, decluttered another file of my mother's old bank statements, watched news, spoke with friends and a cousin, and cooked dinner:

Glazed Chicken, Salsa Rice, and Vegetables

I pan sauteed the second tray of chicken thighs that I had bought, with some sliced onions and tomatoes, teriyaki sauce and a couple of spoons of a jar of ginger marmalade that I had received as a Christmas gift.  I also sauteed some carrots and broccoli go to with the chicken and cooked a pot of rice.  There was half a jar of hot salsa languishing in the fridge, so I added a couple of spoons of the salsa to the rice when I was cooking it, and gave a really nice flavor to the rice!  It's a good way to use up some leftover salsa!

I didn't make a specific meal plan, this week, but, we will be having chicken in one form or another!  LOL.

I didn't have to report for jury duty, today (Wednesday), either!  So, I slept in, then, got busy in the garage!  I had almost come to the end of my cleaning when M arrived to tend to the garden.  But, first, he got roped into helping me a bit in the garage!  He wiped down a shelf that was too high for me to clean without standing on a chair, checked and washed the patio umbrella, tossed a partially used box of joint compound for sheet rock (left over from the family room addition nearly 25 years ago!), moved the box with the Christmas tree from where it was stored on the floor in a corner to the top of one of the metal shelving units (I'm trying to have fewer things being stored on the floor), and finally escaped to do some weeding in the garden!  LOL.  

I had thought I was done with decluttering in the garage, but, I found a lot more stuff to declutter, today:

3 more boxes
- Party favor bags
1 wooden expandable bracket
1 fabric protection care kit
2 round wooden boxes
3 metal bookends
1 book
3 vinyl records
1 binder
1 vinyl table cover
1 metal piece from the old water heater vent pipe
- assorted nails, nuts and bolts, etc. 
- partial box of joint compound
1 candle holder
1 package with 10 mini plastic food containers

Then, there was this:

"Fossil"

When my daughter was in 2nd grade, she learned about fossils and made a "fossil" in class.  I showed it to her and she had no recollection of making it.  She told me to toss it, but, I kept it in one of the planters in the garden.  

And there were these two items, too:


University Flag and Button

I received these two items during my orientation session at the university, August 1974!  Blog readers from Wisconsin might be amused to see them.  Yes, I've kept them all these years, but, I tossed them, today.

I relaxed in the afternoon and later, I shredded my way through another couple of file folders of papers.  My daughter ordered a cross-cut shredder for me, today.  I think I am going to need it!

Later in the evening, I called to check if I need to report for jury duty, tomorrow.  The good news is: not only don't I have to go in tomorrow (a state holiday - Cesar Chavez Day), I have been deemed to have completed my jury service for this time around!  Hurray!

Today, I am grateful for:

- Garden flowers (and vegetables, too!)
- M helping me in both the garage and the garden
- More decluttering
- Memories
- I was able to complete my jury service without having to go to the courthouse in person!  

Today's joyful activity was more decluttering!

Plans for tomorrow include doing a bit of housework and maybe baking something.  

How was your day, today?  What are your plans for tomorrow?

24 comments:

  1. I woke to a heavy snowstorm, 3 hours ago. Now blue skies and bright sunshine. Crazy weather!!!

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    1. Oh, wow! Spring snow! Glad the snow gave way to blue skies and sunshine, though. :)

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  2. I'm relieved for you not to have to worry about the jury service.
    You will find your new shredder so useful and much better than cutting your way through lots of paperwork, we put our shredded paper out for recycling too. Your garden flowers are lovely bug and all. We had a light dusting of snow last night and it's so cold and unbelievable after the warm weather we have been enjoying recently.

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    1. Thank you, Eileen. Yes, it is a relief not to have to go in person to do jury duty.
      I am looking forward to having the shredder. My hands are starting to complain about all the cutting I've been doing!
      Thank you; bugs are part of the ecosystem, aren't they? :)
      I'm so sorry that you had snow last night and it is now so cold! Hope it warms up soon and you'll be able to have pleasant weather.

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  3. I think my hands would be getting tired too if I had to cut everything we shred. I'm glad you're getting shredder and I think you will, too.

    Your garden does look very happy after the rain.

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    1. Yes, I managed to cut the contents of about 4 fairly thick file folders (one contained 10 years of bank statements). I think a shredder will be a good thing to have, even if it means one more thing to find room for!
      The garden is very happy! :D

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  4. This post made me smile. Just yesterday, a friend gave me a succulent plant that needs a little TLC. I told her about you and that you were lucky enough to have some growing in your garden. X

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    1. Oh, I hope your plant will thrive under your care! :)

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  5. Lovely flowers again! That rain was a gift for your garden. You will feel so free with even more decluttering going on. I'm glad to hear that your daughter has ordered you a shredder. Cutting up paper is hard on the hands. One tip about shredders, they usually tell you a maximum number of pages to insert. It pays to insert fewer! The manufacturers like to make them sound good but unless you have very flimsy paper, you may find the action quite slow with the number of sheets allowed, and that's where the risk of jamming occurs, plus of course accidentally leaving in a staple or some tape joining pages. You will get to know your shredder's limitations. Otherwise they are fun and very satisfying, if somewhat noisy to use.

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    1. Thank you, Bushlady; the plants are very happy after the rain!
      I am starting to get into that decluttering "zone" where I feel I am finally ready to part with certain things I've held onto in previous go arounds. :)
      Thank you for the tips about the shredder! I will start off slow and do just a few sheets at a time!

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  6. I'm glad your daughter is bringing you into the 21st century and has ordered a shredder for you to use. It'll be so much easier for you. If I'm doing a lot of shredding I find that mine stops regularly because it overheats (but no danger of catching fire) and if I leave it alone it'll have a little nap and then start working again.

    It's brilliant news that your jury service is over and done with. Is there a set gap until you can be called again?

    Well done on the extra decluttering. I know you haven't finished yet but getting your garage cleared and sorted is a huge achievement for you and you must be relieved to be getting on with it.

    The work on my patio was completed today. I really felt for the landscaper as it is bitterly cold and he must have been freezing. I've been tweaking my budget because I now need to reschedule some planned purchases to find a pot of money for the garden trellis that I ordered today!

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    1. Thank you, Eileen; I was reluctant to get one earlier because I was thinking it is one more gadget, one more thing to store and care for, etc. But, I have too many boxes of papers to go through and I think it will be a worthwhile investment. Daughter said to consider it a very early birthday present! LOL.
      Usually, you are not obliged to serve for another year. I find that I am usually called on to serve every 2 years. The last time I received a summons was in April 2019 and prior to that, it was in June 2017.
      Thank you! Yes, I am very happy with the garage decluttering. My official goal was 31 items, but, I had a second goal of 300 items if possible and I exceeded that goal!
      Your patio looked beautiful in the photo you posted. Good luck with reworking your budget! Good idea to prioritize the purchases and delay what can be postponed. :)

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  7. The garden seems to be flourishing after the rain. You are really getting through the decluttering. It's impressive.

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    1. Yes, the garden is very happy with the water it received! Over 300 items decluttered! I am very pleased!

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  8. We have not had the forecast hailstones, but snowflurries on and off all day, interspersed with sunshine. I'm glad the "fossil" remains in the household a little longer, though I suppose if it is plaster of Paris, it will perish in its own time. That dinner looks so appetising! What does GB stand for, in the context of Wisconsin University? Great news about the jury service! (Job well done; you really are a pillar of the community! hehehe!)

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    1. Well, I suppose snow flurries are better than hailstones, but, I do hope your spring flowers are not much damaged. Yes, the "fossil" is plaster of Paris; it is keeping Clark Kent Supermango company in his planter, right now. Poor Clark is looking rather stunted next to Lois! :D
      GB stands for Green Bay, home of the American football team the Packers! Packer fans are known as Cheeseheads (Wisconsin being a dairy state and producing lots of cheese); they wear headgear shaped like giant wedges of cheese! I decluttered my Cheesehead hat (a gift from a colleague who also attended university in Wisconsin, but a different campus), a few years ago!
      Oh, I am such a pillar of the community that I wonder what they'll do without me! Ha, ha, ha!

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    2. I should add, I went out for half an hour while the sun was out. I was wearing a thin woollen jumper, a thick sweatshirt and a lined coat. But after just a few minutes I was chilly and my fingers were like icicles. I had gloves, but I was trying to take photos. So I don't wish to hear anything about "no jacket needed"!!

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    3. You will be pleased to know that it is a cloudy, rather chilly day, here, with a high of only 61F. I wore a sweatshirt and sweatpants when I went to throw out the trash and walked in the front garden (and up and down the drive way) for a bit. Hope you took lots of photos! Looking forward to seeing them. :)

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    4. Only one photo, but yes it's in tomorrow's post. It was something I had seen earlier in the month but failed to see the significance of so not photographed. It came to me several days later, and I was going to make do without but in the end I decided to go back and get it. Not sure it was worth the effort but at least I got some fresh air and also saw a beautiful magnolia.

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    5. It must have been a special item for you to go back and photograph it, cold fingers and all! :) Looking forward to seeing it. :)

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  9. How funny that you still had the uwgb souvenirs! I've never been there, maybe some day... Your roses are very lovely. Celie

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    1. It's amazing what one holds onto, isn't it? Good memories associated with those items, though. :)

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  10. Haha - M escaped to do some weeding in the garden. lol
    I'm glad he was able to help you do a few more things in your garage. I'm hoping to see some pictures as I catch up. :)
    You added quite a few more items at the end to really boost your March decluttering.
    The chicken dish with all your extras added looks delicious!

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    1. M will help with cleaning, but, he prefers to garden! He weeded a whole patch in the back where some California poppies had self-seeded! If they all grow and flower, I might have a small strip of a meadow, there!
      Over 300 items decluttered in March! I'm very happy!
      The chicken turned out well. But, I think we are ready for some curry, next! :D

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