Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Starting February

Camellia

M brought me a camellia flower from his garden, today!  The above photo is my attempt at taking a close up!  I could almost hear my phone saying, "What on earth is she trying to do now?"  LOL.  

Monday was a rainy day, but, Tuesday was sunny.  I brought the trash cans in, cleaned the shelves on the fridge door and organized them a bit, and started on the freezer.

What I have is a side-by-side fridge/freezer and that is the only freezer I have. The last time I organized the freezer and took a proper freezer inventory was in July 2022.  Since then, I've taken things out and put things in and tried to keep a record, but, I was not very consistent.  So, yesterday, I took everything out, shelf by shelf, wiped down the shelves and put things back, trying to keep things organized.  I've seen some freezers with pull out drawers, but, what I have are shelves that don't pull out and one bin at the bottom which does pull out!  

I have it organized so that I have mostly dairy items (frozen milk, butter, a small container of ice cream) and some nuts on the top shelf; mostly cooked items (including two packets of chicken curry and several small packets of moringa curry) and some fruits (the last packet of frozen peaches and a bag of quartered lemons) on the second shelf; vegetables on the third shelf (I have a shoe box sized plastic storage container to hold the packets of frozen corn and peas, etc., in one place so they are easy to find); several packets of grated coconut and at least 8 bags of grated and chopped zucchini still left from the summer of zucchini on the fourth shelf (time to make another batch of chutney, I think!); some meat (small packets of ham and a few packets of turkey meat, plus a ham bone for soup) on the fifth shelf.  The bin at the bottom also contains meat - 3 packages of sausages,  a bag of chicken wings, half a packet of hamburger patties, some turkey bones for soup, a small package of bacon (4 slices); and half a package of hot dogs!    

I also cleaned out the shelves on the freezer door although they were already fairly well organized.  I actually have one empty door shelf!  

Now, I have a better idea of what I have and what I don't have in the freezer and what items I might want to buy when they go on sale (chicken and ground meat or ground turkey).  I am also thinking of eating mostly from the freezer in February.  With that in mind, I made a turkey and vegetables soup for dinner, using some of the turkey bones and freezer vegetables (with leftovers for later).  

I feel I ended January on a good note because doing a freezer inventory was on my to do list for at least a couple of weeks!

On Tuesday, I was grateful for:
- What I was able to accomplish in terms of cleaning the fridge and organizing the freezer
- The blessing of a well stocked freezer
- Working appliances
- Electricity and natural gas to run the appliances
- A sunny day

Tuesday's joyful activity was video chatting with my daughter.

The Peach Tree on February 1

Which brings us to today - Wednesday, February 1.  My maternal grandmother's birthday.  Also, the birthdays of two of my cousins!  It was a sunny day, today, and I took a couple of photos of the peach tree.  The bees have discovered the flowers!

Bees in the Peach Flowers

As is my custom on the first of the month, I made milkrice and seeni sambol for brunch.  I was careful not to make too much milkrice because I didn't want to have a lot of leftovers, but, then, when M arrived to tend to the garden, he detected the smell of the seeni sambol that I had just finished making and asked me if I was cooking something, so, of course, I offered him some milkrice and seeni sambol, which he enjoyed.  The interesting thing is, even though I cooked less and had plenty of milkrice and seeni sambol for my brunch and served a bowlful to M, there is still plenty leftover for my brunch for tomorrow!  Maybe I didn't cook that much less, after all!  LOL.

I spent a fairly relaxed day, today.  I cooked the milkrice and seeni sambol in the morning, did a bit of weeding, walked in the driveway for 15 minutes (had the timer on), did a little walking meditation as well (walking with awareness of each step being taken), did the dishes, peeled and ate some of the homegrown pomegranates I had stored in the fridge (the peels had hardened and I had to soak them to soften them enough to cut them, but, the seeds inside were still fresh and juicy), watched the news, and spoke with my daughter.  She flew out to Hawaii, today, for her friend's wedding (daughter is a bridesmaid, again).  The flight was very turbulent, she said, but, she arrived there safely.  It's her first visit to Hawaii and she'll be there for a week.  

Today, I am grateful for:
- Daughter had a safe flight, even if it was turbulent
- M's help with the garden and being able to share
- Bees to pollinate the peach flowers
- Traditions and customs 
- Memories of my grandmother

Today's joyful activity was speaking with my daughter after she reached Hawaii.

Plans for tomorrow include tidying up the kitchen, a bit.

How was your Wednesday?  What are your plans for Thursday?

24 comments:

  1. You organise your freezer in much the same way as I do and having eaten from my freezer in January it's ready for a restock. Your peach tree looks lovely, I can imagine how nice that would be to be able to pick fresh peaches from the garden. That's nice to remember your grandmother with such fondness. It would have been my father's birthday on the 30th January he was only 71 years old when he died, I'm almost that age now. Life can be short.

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    1. That's nice to know that we organize our freezers in a similar manner! "Great minds" and all that! LOL. I'm hoping that I'll get a good crop of peaches, this time. There's nothing sweeter than a perfectly ripe peach picked from the tree, just minutes before eating it. :) My grandmother was the only grandparent I knew and she was both gentle and strong at the same time. I'm sure you have fond memories of your father; how old were you when he died? My father was 55 when he died and I was 7; my memories of him are rather fragmented.

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    2. My Dad died 25 years ago, I was feeling a little sad as his birthday was just a few days ago and I'll be that age next year, sort of reminds me of our mortality and how suddenly life can end :( I'm OK now. You were very young when your Dad died, that's so sad.

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    3. We still miss them no matter how long ago they died, don't we? My mother's death anniversary is next week; it'll be 17 years since she died (at age 85). She lived a good, long life, but, I find myself feeling a little melancholy around this time of the year.

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  2. A very pretty camellia flower, what a lovely gift. Glad to hear that your daughter arrived safely in Hawaii. What a beautiful location to be married in & what fun that your daughter has a week to explore - which island?

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    1. It is a very pretty flower; M grows many varieties of camellia in his garden. Daughter's friend who is getting married lives in Hawaii Island (the "Big Island"); her parents live there, too. She came to California to attend university and that's how she and my daughter became friends. :)

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  3. I need to do a freezer inventory here. Maybe today, or maybe later. I am betting on later, but we shall see. :) How exciting that you daughter gets to spend a week in Hawaii. I hope her trip back home is smoother.

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    1. It'll be good to get your freezer inventoried whenever you are able to get to it, June.
      My daughter has been looking forward to this visit to Hawaii; her friend lives there and while they keep in touch online, they haven't seen each other in person in almost 7 years (her friend flew out to attend my daughter's graduation from Berkeley, because I was still undergoing chemo at the time and we didn't know if I'd be well enough to attend the graduation; her friend didn't want daughter to be alone on that day).

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  4. Cleaning out a freezer is a daunting job and I bet you are glad to have it done. We have a pull out (bottom of fridge) freezer and I like it a lot. We used to have a separate freezer but don't have that any longer.

    Your flower is beautiful-close up and all. Hope you have a great upcoming weekend. xo Diana

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    1. I am, indeed, happy to have the freezer inventory done! Now, the challenge is to keep it updated! One of my friends has a pull out/bottom of the fridge freezer and I like the fact that you can really see what's in there!
      Thank you, Diana; hope you have a wonderful weekend, yourself. Stay warm!

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  5. The way you organise your freezer, with a shelf for veg and another for meat etc., is what I'm always aiming for but never quite achieve! Despite my good intentions it always gets mixed up!

    Your peach trees look lovely with all that pretty pink blossom. We still have a while to wait before we see any blossom in this country so I will enjoy yours in the meantime. I thought your close up photo of the camellia is very good. It's a beautiful colour.

    I'm glad your daughter had a safe journey to Hawaii. Does her friend live there or is it just the venue for the wedding? I hope she remembered to take her bridesmaid dress with her!

    I've been watching crochet videos and unravelled the granny square I'd made to have another go .... I need to buy some more wool! xx

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    1. Having a separate shelf for different things was a goal of mine for a long time! It doesn't always stay that way, however, because things get put in where there is space!
      The peach tree does look lovely, doesn't it? I hope the bees do their job and pollinate all those flowers so we can get a good crop of peaches! Thank you for saying the close up of the camellia was good. :)
      Yes, my daughter's friend lives in Hawaii; she grew up there and her parents are there, too. But, she attended UCLA with my daughter and that's how they met and made friends. Yes, she took her bridesmaid dress with her! LOL. She packed it in her suitcase as soon as I finished hemming it and didn't unpack it for the 3 days she was in Berkeley!
      Sounds like you are getting the hang of crocheting! For years, I had my own made up versions of crochet stitches because I learned to crochet using UK terms and then, came to the US and got confused with the US terms! :D

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  6. I have the same style freezer as you. But I have an ice maker (huge waste of space for us - I don't even use it lol. I won't buy a fridge with one if I ever need to replace it) I just use the ice bin as storage.
    I found a vinyl coated heavy wire basket at a yard sale years ago and use that as a pull out basket for the taller shelf. I keep my meat in that. It makes it easy to pull out and get what I need.
    It sounds like you have a pretty good inventory in your freezer and are well-stocked. It's nice to take note of everything and now you can fill in any holes, keeping an eye on the sales.
    The Hawaii wedding is here! What fun. I hope you daughter has a great time.
    That peach tree is becoming the star of your back garden.

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    1. I specifically shopped for a freezer without the ice maker as I knew I wouldn't use it! I like the idea of your wire basket! I do have a fairly well stocked freezer, but, I will buy more chicken when it goes on sale, next, and I want some ground meat, too.
      Yes! The Hawaii wedding is this weekend! My daughter called me from Waikiki Beach to ask if I'd like a souvenir T-shirt (I said, "Yes, thank you") LOL.
      The peach tree is looking very pretty, isn't it? :)

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  7. Your peach tree is gorgeous, and so is the camilla! How nice that your daughter could visit Hawaii and be there for her friend. I hope her return flight is smooth! My freezer is (amazingly) well organized! It's a bottom drawer, wth only one pull out shelf. I do a lot of lunch preps at the start of the semester, then about once a month to keep up with use. I prepare individual soup servings, and can pull one out for each day. They are sorted by variety. I also have quick dinners I've made for days I get home too tired to cook. I like it tidy so I can keep track. I'm really not this organized in the fridge part or other areas of my life!

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    1. Thank you, Celie; I love looking out at the peach tree, right now. :) My daughter is enjoying her visit, so far. She went on a hike this morning with her friend and now, she's spending the afternoon at Waikiki Beach; there's a wedding rehearsal tonight, she said.
      Oh, your freezer sounds very nicely organized and you are definitely organized with your meal prep and frozen meals! Having lunches and some quick dinners ready on hand makes it so much easier on busy days!
      Hope all is well with you, Celie, and you are keeping warm!

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  8. Lovely to see those flowers. I imagine there will be lots of wonderful flowers in Hawaii for your daughter to see. I hope she has a lovely time and that the wedding goes really well. How nice to be able to share some milk rice and seeni sambol with M.
    We had a blizzard this afternoon and we are in for something like -30°C tonight. The wind is howling outside. I shall stay in tomorrow if it is super cold out, and maybe do some baking. You have your freezer nicely organized. I more or less know what is in mine but I did forget that we had an unopened tub of ice cream last week and sent DH out for some more. I've just added 3 containers of chili to the freezer. I made a big batch in the crockpot for supper today.

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    1. I thought you might enjoy seeing the flowers, Bushlady. Yes, Hawaii will have lots of lovely flowers for my daughter to see.
      Oh, my! A blizzard! I think your plan to stay home and maybe do some baking is a good plan! There's no such thing as too much ice cream in the freezer, so, good that you stocked up! :D Chili would be another wonderful thing to have on hand when it is cold! It was not nearly as cold here, but, I still enjoyed a warming bowl of soup in the afternoon as I was feeling cold.

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  9. Beautiful flowers. I rely on your photos to show me something growing at this time of year. The colour is amazing.

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    1. Thank you, Sharon. I shall do my best to oblige and post lots of pictures of growing things! :D

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  10. We are just at the beginning of flowering things and it is so nice to see bits of yellow on the forsythia, and the daffodils blooming. I have not checked my pears or apple trees yet. I have not pruned them so I hope they have not set their buds.

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    1. Sounds like spring has arrived over there! I hope you still have time to prune your pears and apple trees; if not, perhaps going without pruning for one year won't make much of a difference?

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  11. Brilliant close-up of the camellia! Your peach tree looks so spring-like. Not long now ... the days are getting longer and the birds are singing so I feel a bit uplifted.

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    1. Thank you! I find it hard to focus with my cell phone camera - it doesn't seem to have an auto focus feature (it's not one of the better quality phones and it's primary function is to be a phone, not a camera!) Spring will be here, soon. :)

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