Productive Monday

Another sunny and warm (86F was our afternoon high) day.  Tomorrow, however, according to the forecast, the weather will change and the rest of the week will be cloudy, or partly cloudy, and cooler, with the highs in the low to mid 70s.  That's sweater weather for me!  LOL.

After morning tea and prayers, etc., I started on my To Do list, taking breaks to read and respond to blog comments and visit a few other blogs.

I finished dusting the family room and dusted my bedroom, vacuumed the house, cleaned the fridge (the shelves were fine, but, the three drawers had to be cleaned out, washed, and lined with new paper towels before the things stored in them could be put back!), took the kitchen composting to the garden, watered the seedlings, took the trash can and yard waste bin to the curb for pick up in the morning, and cooked - a ground beef curry, a pot of tomato soup (using a packet of the homegrown tomatoes I had frozen), and some seasoned croutons using bread ends I had stored for the purpose.

I kept up with the dishes and pans while I cooked, so only the dinner dishes will be left to be washed.

I also called neighbor T to check on her (she had told me that her daughter would be out of state for the first part of this week and I had promised to call and check on her, daily).  Called friend R and checked on her, too.  I asked both ladies if they needed anything from the grocery store since I will be ordering groceries, tonight, but, they both said they had plenty of groceries.  T said her daughter did her grocery shopping, yesterday, and R did her grocery shopping on Saturday.  

Daughter took the kitchen trash, etc., to the trash bin for me, after I had cooked, because I was tired by then!   I am happy with what I was able to accomplish, today, though!  I wanted to get the house cleaning and cooking done before I go for my Covid vaccine booster shot, tomorrow!  I expect I will have some side effects on Wednesday; with the housecleaning and cooking done, I won't feel guilty about relaxing on Wednesday and even Thursday.  I do hope that I will not get the sciatica pains as a side effect, again!  That was just a horrible experience!

Well, I haven't seen Bun Bun in days (maybe even a week), Snowbunny and Pirate Bunny in weeks, and Bunny Foo Foo in months, but, today, I saw a little black bunny in the front garden!  Twice!  Once in the morning and later, in the evening, when daughter saw it, too!  I was unable to take a picture of it, but, I hope to see it again, soon!  I wonder if there are more little bunnies!  I'm not sure if I am ready to host all of them!  

Today, I am grateful for:

- The sunny and warm day
- A productive day
- The newly planted seedlings seem to be doing well
- Weekly trash pick up
- Phone calls and emails from friends

Today's joyful activity was watching a favorite dance program on TV with daughter.

Tuesday's To Do List:

- Mop the kitchen floor
- Bring the trash cans in
- Pick up groceries
- Get the booster shot

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

Rain on Monday

The forecasted rain arrived early in the morning.  It was already raining when I woke up at 7:00 a.m.  A slow, steady rain, not the powerful downpour that was experienced in northern California.  It continued to rain all day, but, it stopped around 5:30 p.m. and the sun peeked through while it set.  I was grateful for the slow rain which soaked into the garden without causing floods (other than a few flooded intersections).  We have had the second driest summer on record and the rain we received, at least here in my area of southern California, has been a blessing!

This morning, when I opened the sliding glass door to feed the garden cats, a certain Bun Bun was also waiting, with the cats, for his breakfast!  I think I've acquired myself a garden rabbit!  Since the cardboard is not preventing him from coming in, I think I will surrender gracefully and accept Bun Bun into my back garden menagerie!  

We left the house at 8:15 a.m., with me driving us to the clinic.  The freeway wasn't too congested and everyone was keeping to the speed limits.  The first proper rain of the season always leaves the roads slick as all the motor oils that have spilled over the summer starts to float above the water on the roads.  Often, there are accidents due to cars skidding on rain slick roads; today, we heard and saw one car skid as it took a turn too fast, but, luckily, no accidents.  We got to the clinic by 9:15 a.m.; my appointment was for 9:30 a.m.

The waiting room wasn't crowded, but there were people there who weren't wearing their masks properly!  One couple had their masks pulled well under their chins while they conversed with each other and my daughter and I felt very uncomfortable sitting in the same room with them.  Then, another man walked in and, although he was wearing a mask, it kept coming down as he first spoke to the receptionist and then, spoke on his cell phone.  I heard the receptionist tell him at least three times to wear his mask properly and another medical assistant also spoke to him and said if he didn't wear his mask properly, he will have to wait outside.  I felt encouraged by that to alert the receptionist that the other couple in the waiting room also had their masks completely down.  Once I pointed it out to her, she spoke to them in Spanish and asked them to pull up their masks.  Then, they were called inside and after a few minutes, I was called inside, too.  My daughter remained in the waiting room.

Once inside, I had my eyes dilated and checked; the doctor said that everything seemed fine.  Such a blessing!  I do have the beginnings of cataracts (and have had them for a few years now), but, I was told that they were still at the beginning stages and nothing to worry about for now.  I have another appointment in one year's time!  We parked in the medical building and parking cost $10 for the time we were there (maximum parking rate at that particular building was $18 for the day). 

Daughter drove us back and we had a good drive back, too.  Daughter had taken a few hours off from work in the morning to go with me to the eye exam.  But that did not prevent her supervisor from calling her about a work related matter before we had returned home!  She returned to work as soon as we got home! 

I rested for a couple of hours until my eyes returned to normal and I could remove my dark glasses.

Then, I made a pot of chicken and vegetable soup for lunch, using the bones from three of the chicken breast halves and the meat that was left on them, along with some vegetables I had on hand, including half a can of cut green beans that was approaching its expiration date.  Soup, made this way with what I have on hand, is a very frugal meal, I think.  I had the soup as it was; my daughter thought it was too bland and doctored it up with some additional ingredients to suit her taste!   

Then, I replied to blog comments and read a few blogs.  On one of the blogs, I saw a picture of American style biscuits the blogger had made and I asked for the recipe.  In the meantime, I decided to try my hand at making drop biscuits, adapting a recipe I found online (I substituted some half and half that was starting to turn sour - not so good for drinking, but fine for baking - for the milk called for in the recipe).

Drop Biscuits

With Butter

I think they turned out well, especially for a first try.  My daughter loved them and we ate several of them, while still warm from the oven!  She ate them plain, I tried mine with butter; they were pretty good with butter and my homemade strawberry jam, too!

After tea, I took the trash cans to the curb for pick up in the morning, practiced the piano for a bit, and spoke on the phone with friend R and aunt C.  Daughter ate some of the Korean food she cooked for her dinner; I had another bowl of my chicken and vegetable soup to warm me up from the inside out!  

Today, I am grateful for:

- A safe drive in the rain to the eye appointment and back
- My daughter was available to drive me back
- A good eye appointment
- The rain we received - a slow rain which soaked the garden and didn't cause any damage in my area
- Chicken soup and drop biscuits!

Today's joyful activity was making drop biscuits.

Plans for tomorrow include doing some tidying up and sewing.

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

Breached!

This is the gate with the bunny blocking boards set in place by M on Friday (gate not locked in this picture):

The Gate Barrier Boards

All Openings Blocked

This is the metal fence blocking the entrance to the side yard (where I fell, by the way):

Side Yard Fence

It is barricaded with a fine wire mesh and more cardboard to cover the gaps where the mesh doesn't go all the way to the end.

And this is the Bun Bun who breached those barriers on Saturday:

Enjoying a Snack Under the Calamondin Tree

"Oh, Hi There, Lady!"

"Yum!"

"What's that?  Leave the Garden?
Oh, you are so funny, Lady"

He spent all evening in the garden.  Stripey cat would occasionally chase him, but, he was trying to play!  Bun Bun enjoyed some sweet potato leaves, as much of a newly planted Japanese purple mustard leaf as he could reach from between the wire mesh, some chrysanthemum buds, and grass; for dessert, he ate some of the cats' kibbles while I watched from the sliding glass door.  He left some fresh droppings as a thank you, I suppose.  I didn't see him leaving, but, he didn't show up, today (at least, I didn't see him!)

Maybe I should call him Super BunBun, because, surely he has some super powers to get through those barriers!

Today was a cloudy day, with some occasional sunshine.  The afternoon warmed up to around 73F, which was nice.  I slept in, this morning, then, said my morning prayers, chatted with Aunt C who called to tell me about the forecasted rain storm for tomorrow and with neighbor T who called for our usual Sunday chat.  

In the afternoon, I put gas to the car.  Gas at the cheapest station near my house was $4.26/gal.  Since I already had half a tank of gas, it cost me $36.89 to fill it.  The last time I put gas was on August 23, and I paid $4.15/gal.  I put $40 worth of gas, that time.  I didn't need to put any gas in September (one good thing about staying home during the pandemic is I don't use as much gas as I used to!)  I budget $50 per month for gas and any unspent gas money goes towards defraying other costs, such as higher than normal water bills, etc.

Later, I chatted with friend R, ran the dishwasher, cleaned the kitchen a bit, and read a little.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Phone calls from family and friends
- The availability of gas
- Warm afternoons
- Electricity, hot water on tap
- Working appliances

Today's joyful activity was reading.

Today's decluttering was 5 items of clothing (I haven't been posting my daily decluttering log as it is getting long, but, I am decluttering at least one item a day).

The big plan for tomorrow is the eye doctor's appointment.  We are supposed to get a major rain storm tomorrow and I am not looking forward to driving to the appointment and back in the rain!  It is the first major rain storm of the season and driving in southern California when it rains is not fun!

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