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| Okra Flower and Okra Pod |
On Sunday, I woke up with a sinus headache - too much fresh air and sun at the beach, I guess? Or, maybe I was dehydrated. Eventually, the headache went away, after a cup of tea and a light brunch of toast and jam (daughter had a bagel sandwich). However, later in the evening, I had a touch of vertigo, which was not fun.
Sunday afternoon, my daughter turned into a whirlwind of tidying, clearing surfaces and putting stuff away, including the last of her kitchenware she had brought down, some of my paperwork that I had allowed to pile up, and reorganizing things! She moved a stack of plastic drawers that I had in the family room (which no longer fitted into the space I had it in after the new shelving unit was set up) into my bedroom. We pushed my bed and the night stand a bit over to make room for it and it fits in very nicely in that space, between the night stand and my closet door. She moved another stack of plastic drawers that she had brought down with her into my bathroom for extra household supplies. I have yet to fill those drawers, but, extra storage in the bathroom will be very useful.
It took her a little over 2 hours, but, she had the whole house tidied, much to my amazement. It would have taken me days to do what she did in a matter of hours! The impetus for this round of tidying and organizing is the upcoming virtual home inspection for insurance renewal. We want the house to look tidy!
She broke down several cardboard boxes in which cat food and various other items had arrived and I took them all to the recycling bin. There were several brown grocery bags and another couple of boxes filled with various papers and other items to be recycled, too, and I filled the recycling bin with them and the broken down boxes. The bin will be emptied on Tuesday morning when the trash and recycling will be collected.
I still need to do my bit and tidy up my desk and the side table near my sofa, and vacuum, but, the house looks much better after daughter tidied it.
I ordered more groceries and picked up the items in the afternoon, did a load of laundry in the evening and walked for 20 minutes. We had rice and pork chops for dinner and a Sri Lankan sweet called kalu dodol for dessert.
On Sunday, I was grateful for:
- Daughter tidying the house
- Being able to order and pick up groceries
- A sunny day with a high of 80F
- Working appliances
- My headache and vertigo went away after a while
Sunday's joyful activity was filling the recycling bin!
On Monday, I felt fine; no headache and no vertigo. I slept in a little bit, then, I washed my hair, paid three bills that were coming due, folded and put away a load of laundry from Sunday, did another load of laundry, spread three bags of shredded papers in one of the garden beds to act as mulch, walked for 20 minutes, watered the back garden and the houseplants, and took the trash and recycling bins to the curb for pick up on Tuesday morning. I did most of the tasks on my to do list and felt very good about it and my time management.
I made us scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast for brunch and cooked a dhal curry and spicy sauteed potatoes and made a cucumber salad for dinner, to go with leftover rice and chicken curry. I will post my meal plan tomorrow.
On Monday, I was grateful for:
- Feeling well, again
- Getting the majority of my to do list done
- Being able to fit, once again, into the last dress my mother sewed for me (I held onto it even when it was too tight because it was one of the last dresses my mother made for me)
- Another sunny and warm day
- Water for the garden
Monday's joyful activity was spending time in the garden.
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| Lantana Flowers |
Plans for Tuesday include tidying my bedroom, doing another load of laundry, and vacuuming the house.
How was your Monday? What are your plans for the week?
I think okra blossoms are beautiful. I am sad we had no luck growing it this year. There is always next year.
ReplyDeleteI love when you post a new to me item you had to eat. I had to look up a recipe for the kalu dodol. It looks very tasty!
The flowers look almost like hibiscus, don't they? My okra didn't do too well, either, but, about 4 or 5 plants are producing and I am thankful for that.
DeleteI thought you might look up kalu dodol. Kalu means black and dodol simply means a certain kind of soft set sweet, like fudge. There is kiri (milk) dodol, too, made with coconut milk, rice flour, and sugar, which is a lighter brown color due to the caramelized sugar. But, I prefer kalu dodol. :)
I looked up kalu dodol . It looks very sweet but delicious. I hope the headaches and vertigo do not come back, they are so unpleasant. Once again, what a joy to have a daughter with you (I loved having mine with me at the weekend)
ReplyDeleteKalu dodol is delicious, in my opinion. It was a special treat, growing up. My grandmother made it at home and later, one of my cousins used to make it. A lot of stirring for it to thicken and gel.
DeleteThank you, Angela. So far, I've been free of headaches and vertigo since then.
Having my daughter at home is a blessing. I'm glad you got to enjoy your daughter's company over the weekend. :)
Nothing like an upcoming visit, inspectors or otherwise, to put housecleaning into high mode. :) We joke sometimes that we need to invite someone over, so we will clean up.
ReplyDeleteI know; having someone visit means the house gets tidied and cleaned! I, too, think that I should schedule monthly visits just to keep the house maintained. :D
DeleteYour daughter certainly was a whirlwind of tidying! Your lantanas are lovely. They are one of my favorite flowers, although really, most flowers are my favorite!
ReplyDeleteShe was very focused on the task when she's tidying. I tend to dawdle and I get distracted with cleaning and wiping surfaces, etc. She just puts things away and clears the space.
DeleteEach flower is beautiful in its own way, isn't it? I have many favorites, myself, when it comes to flowers. :)
I am impressed with the okra flower, having never seen them growing. I love that your daughter was able to achieve so much and set things in order for the inspection.
ReplyDeleteOkra flowers remind me a little of hibiscus flowers. They bloom for a day and then they die.
DeleteMy daughter got a lot done on Sunday. I tidied my bedroom today and dusted and vacuumed the house. :)
Lucky you, having someone to blitz the place. Cleaning is such a chore. I definitely find it helps knowing someone is coming, to prompt a whizz round. I don't have many visitors so the temptation to be lazy is rather strong, even if mess gets me down in the end. I hope the inspection goes ok and that you are feeling 100% by now.
ReplyDeleteI am lucky that daughter did the tidying for me. She doesn't clean, that's not part of the deal, but, I go in and clean after she has tidied. I think we should all arrange to have visitors once a month (or, maybe every other month) to encourage us to clean and tidy! I tend to let piles grow and then, I feel overwhelmed by the piles!
DeleteThank you for the well wishes. I, too, hope that the inspection goes fine and they not only renew my home insurance, but, also, not increase the premiums too much!
Well done to your daughter for giving the house a thorough tidying. There's nothing quite like an imminent visit from someone to encourage us to get something done :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm glad your headache and vertigo has passed. Neither are much fun, but having both together must have felt horrible. Xx
Thank you, Jules. The headache and vertigo have not returned and I'm glad.
DeleteDaughter did a great job. I tidied my room and cleaned the bathrooms. I was telling my daughter that we should arrange for monthly visits from people to keep the house maintained! LOL.
The Okra Blossom is beautiful. It sounds as though your daughter is being a big help around the house. I hope you get over your vertigo and headache
ReplyDeleteThe okra flower is very pretty, isn't it" Daughter is being a really big help and I'm loving it. The kitchen is next on her agenda to declutter and organize. We are trying to merge two fully equipped kitchens into one! Lots of duplicates and some triplicates, too!
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