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| It Worked! |
Yay! Leaving the trash cans lined up in front of my driveway seems to have worked! No body moved them away and they were emptied, this morning!
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| Prompt: Tempting |
Characters are from the anime "I'm the Villainess so I'm Taming the Final Boss"; apparently, she is tempting the guarding bird with a bow tie!
It was another sunny and warm day, with an afternoon high of 79F! But, inside the house, it was 62F in the morning and the highest I could get the house to warm up to was 68F. I thought it was ridiculous that it would be so warm outside and so cold inside! I went outside to warm up in the morning, walked for 15 minutes, then, sat outside to finish saying my morning prayers! I am resisting turning on the heater, at least until I've scheduled a visit from the gas company technician to do a safety check on the furnace. Also, it seems silly to have to turn on the heater when it is so warm outside! But the same features that kept the house 10-15 degrees cooler than the outside temperatures during the summer are keeping the house cooler during the winter, too!
Oh, by the way, I received this month's natural gas bill - apparently, in the last 30 days, I used 15 therms (my baseline allowance is 13 therms) and my bill came to $34.26.
Dancer had thrown up, again, this morning, but, he's been OK during the day. Maybe I shouldn't leave out any dry kibble for him during the night!
Today, I spent a little time in the garden and added to the compost pile, cleaned the bathroom sinks (can't have the plumber come out and see messy sinks!), did the litter box, made a meal plan for the week, chatted on the phone with Aunt C and friend R, exchanged emails with a friend, and video chatted with my daughter (there was a 5.1 earthquake up in the Bay Area, this morning, located a few miles from San Jose; not too close to Berkeley, but, close enough for daughter to feel it; she's OK and so is her friend P who lives closer to San Jose).
Brunch had been apple slices and a slice of frozen pizza (I reheated two slices of pizza, but, ate only one; will probably have the other slice for brunch, tomorrow). For dinner, I made over the two leftover Italian sausages, slicing them up and sauteeing them with some vegetables I had frozen - bell peppers, celery, and broccoli - and adding a portion of leftover pasta sauce that I had frozen, I served some of it over some spaghetti I put to boil while I cooked the sausage mixture:
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| Pasta with Italian Sausage and Vegetables in Sauce |
Of course, this created more leftovers! There's another portion of the cooked pasta and at least two, possibly three, servings of the sauce! LOL! I ate the other half of the apple I had sliced for my brunch with a spoon of crunchy peanut butter for dessert.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Daughter was unaffected by the morning's earthquake and her friend P was safe, too
- Warm sunny days and being able to sit outside in the garden
- Sweaters and blankets to keep me warm indoors
- Leftovers!
- The trash got collected without any drama with the bins being moved!
Today's joyful activity was sitting outside in the garden enjoying the sun's warmth!
Wednesday's plans include tending to the garden with M, starting the car, doing a little more housekeeping.
How was your Tuesday? What are your plans for Wednesday?
Good hear of the trash bin success. We have to put out our regular /recycling bins separately on alternate weeks. And the garden waste bin fortnightly. I pull them to the edge of the property. The bin men often leave them on the narrow pavement (sidewalk) Which is frustrating for users of wheelchairs and baby buggies!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angela; I guess I'll be leaving the bins at the end of the driveway from now on! Our bins are collected weekly, but, I don't always have enough in the green yard waste bin or the blue recycling bin for weekly collections, so I put them out only when I have at least half a bin of items to be collected. The black regular trash bin gets put out weekly even when I have only a little bit of trash.
DeleteGlad your trash cans were left alone and you got your trash picked up. We put our cans at the end of our driveway and that seems to work to keep them out of the way of others.
ReplyDeleteThank you, June; at the end of the driveway is where I'll be placing them from now on. My neighbor across the street (not S) who uses my driveway to reverse his big truck into his driveway won't like it, but, he'll have to find another way to reverse his truck on trash days! :D
DeleteI'm glad the new location of the trash bins worked. Your house must be well insulated for it to stay so cool when it is much warmer out. I didn't know there was an earthquake as I no longer check the website since they changed it around.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bushlady; seems like the end of the driveway is the ideal spot for the trash bins! :D
DeleteI don't think my house is all that well insulated, but, it takes time for it to get warm! I appreciate that in the summer, but, not so much in the winter! :D
I only heard about the earthquake on the news; my daughter didn't think of letting me know about it! LOL.
I am dreading the bills for heat that are coming this winter. Last year one bill was over $400 for ONE month. I keep the thermostat 68. Glad your daughter is safe. Have a great Wednesday. xo Diana
ReplyDeleteI, too, had a natural gas bill (I use gas for heating as well as cooking, the clothes dryer, and the water heater) of nearly $400 one month, last winter. The gas company is already sending out warnings that natural gas rates will be going up this winter. I have a wall furnace/heater that heats the house through diffusion, not central heating with warm air being blown through vents. It is a very inefficient way of heating, but, putting in central heat is expensive. It's warm in the living room, right next to the heater, but, cold in the rest of the house! As a result, it can be 75F in the living room, but, 68F in the family room and about 65F in my daughter's bedroom! She has to have a small electric space heater in her room!
DeleteThank you, Diana; I'm very thankful that my daughter wasn't affected by the earthquake! Hope you are having a good day, too. :)
Yay that your bins were emptied, a relief for you. Poor Dancer still has a bit of an upset tummy, I hope he feels better soon. We have our boiler serviced every summer before it needs to go on for the colder months and thankfully the weather is still fairly mild so not needed to turn the central heating on. I'm glad your daughter and friend are safe from the earthquake. We are having a stressful week with a funeral next week and another brother-in-law just out of hospital and very unwell so spending afternoons with him.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eileen; I'm happy that the bins were emptied! I think I've found the ideal spot for them from now on!
DeleteDancer is still recovering, but, he's been ok, so far, today. I'm keeping an eye on him. He is getting on in years, too.
That's good that you had the boiler checked in the summer; you are very well organized! I've scheduled a safety check for the heater; November 7 was the earliest that was available.
Thank you, yes, it was a relief that the earthquake didn't cause much damage and both my daughter and her friend are safe.
I'm so sorry to hear that you are having a stressful week with the upcoming funeral of one brother-in-law and another just out of the hospital. Take care of yourself and your husband, too, for these types of stressful situations take a toll on everyone.
Hi Bless! Yay for trash being picked up! Those barrels are heavy so for you to have to lug a full one twice last week made me righteously indignant on your behalf! So glad this worked. Leftovers from leftovers. Ha! Happens here all the time. 😀 Take care. 👋🏻 Judy in Anaheim.
ReplyDeleteHi Judy; yes, keeping the bins across the driveway worked! Thank you for being indignant on my behalf, but, I guess my arms needed the workout! :D
DeleteI had some of the leftover leftovers for my dinner, tonight! It was very good! :D Hope your week is going well, Judy.
Glad nobody moved the bins from their news spot.
ReplyDeleteOur house is like that too. Like you, I usually go sit outside the house if it's warmer outside lol. It was good today as our temperature suddenly dropped and even though it is cooler outside now it's toasty warm i the house without turning the heat on!
Thank you, Sharon; I'm glad, too, that the trash cans remained in place until they were emptied! :)
DeleteGlad your house has stayed warm without you needing to turn on the heat! I imagine it gets harder to heat the house when winter really sets in.
Hope your son is OK today and you are doing well after your booster shot.
I'm glad your bins got emptied okay this time. I have to leave mine at the end of my driveway, but still on my property. Very occasionally they can get missed but it isn't usually a problem.
ReplyDeletePoor Dancer. Perhaps he is eating his kibble much too quickly. X
Thank you, Jules. I'm glad the bins were emptied! :)
DeleteYes, Dancer tends to gobble up his kibble too quickly! But, he seems to be well, now.
I'm glad the trash can rearrangement did the trick and they got emptied as they should.
ReplyDeleteYour pasta looks very good. I am thinking I will make pasta tomorrow for the weekend and now seeing your delicious looking meal, I think I will do just that.
I am glad you are able to go outside and warm up since your house stays cool. Like you said, it is what is a benefit in the summer but then not so good now.
I have a full tank of oil so won't need it for a while but my friend just got some and it was over $5.00 a gallon. That is so much money for a lot of people to come up with. That's $1000 to fill an average-sized tank.
Thank you, Debra; looks like I've found a good solution to the problem with people moving my trash cans!
DeleteThe pasta sauce turned out well! I had the last portion of it, today, for lunch. I have more pasta leftover, but, I'll make fried noodles or something with it. :)
Not only does the house tend to be on the cool side, I myself seem to feel the cold more than others. I'm cold in temperatures that feel comfortable to others! I'm waiting until the gas company tech conducts the safety check (scheduled for Nov. 7) before I put the heater on, but, I might bring out the electric space heater, one of these evenings.
Your heating oil sounds quite expensive (like our gas for cars, down here). I guess people are having to pay more for heating their homes this winter; it's probably going to be quite a hardship for many people.