Wednesday

The Blueberry Bushes are Showing their Fall Colors

The day started off with a surprise phone call from a friend I haven't spoken with in a long time!  She used to be the pharmacist at the drug store located near my old office building - I used to pick up my medications from there and we became quite friendly.  I had called her quite early in the pandemic, but, hadn't spoken with her after that.  Well, today, she called to wish me a happy, if belated, birthday!  I was happy to hear from her and we brought each other up to date on what's been going on in our lives since we last spoke.  

Later in the morning M arrived to tend to the garden.  He brought me three additional chrysanthemum plants his other client had tossed more recently!  Two of them were purple and one was bronze.  He planted them with the other mums; if these plants establish themselves and grow, I should have a very colorful bed of mums under the lemon tree!  He also planted the snow peas I had soaked overnight in little 6-pack trays and small pots I had saved; we will transplant them to the beds once they've sprouted (hopefully, they will sprout!)  I think the packet had about 25 peas and we planted them all!  Assuming at least half of them germinate and grow big enough to produce pea pods, I might have the summer of snow peas!  LOL!  In addition, I have all the peas I saved for seed from the ones I grew last summer...

It was a lovely sunny day, today, with an afternoon high of 73F.  I aired the house and walked outside for 15 minutes.  I had planned to walk for 20 minutes, but, last night, I woke up a couple of times due to body pains/bone aches, (one of the side effects of the medications I take) and when I started to feel tired after walking for 15 minutes, I decided to stop and not push myself to do the final 5 minutes.  I was not in pain, but, I figured it would be better to stop then.

Today, I started updating my freezer inventory.  I don't always keep track of things when I take stuff out or put stuff in.  I have a side-by-side fridge/freezer and this is the only freezer I have.  The freezer has five plastic coated wire shelves and one pull out bin at the bottom, plus 5 shallow shelves on the door.  The only problem is accessing a particular item that is stored on one of the shelves without pulling everything out from that shelf!  Especially when the item is on the bottom of all the other items!  

While I went through the freezer, I pulled out two containers of soup ingredients I had frozen, added some carrots, celery, and tomatoes to them and made a pot of soup.  But, I will have to keep it in the fridge, overnight, to defat it.  Brunch had been a sandwich with the madeover corned beef (I cooked it with onions, curry leaves, tomatoes, and chili powder)  as the filling.  Dinner was the same corned beef mixture with coconut roti.  

Later in the evening, I did the dishes and accidentally decluttered one of my small Corningware dishes when it slipped out of my hand, fell on the floor, and shattered.  I was not happy about that, but, comforted myself with something my mother used to say, that when something shatters and breaks accidentally, it's a sign that all the bad luck went away!

Still later, I chatted on the phone with friend R and video chatted with my daughter.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- A surprise phone call from friend N
- M helping me with the garden and free plants

- A sunny, warmer day
- A working heater and a warm house
- Electricity for all the appliances that need it to run!

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

Plans for tomorrow include calling the doctor's office and tending to a couple of projects I've been putting off.

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

Saturday

 

Daughter's Dollar Store Grocery Haul

My daughter did her weekly grocery shopping, today, at the dollar store.  The dollar store has increased the prices on a lot of things, my daughter says, so, not everything is a dollar, anymore.  But, the strawberries were $1 for a 1 lb. container.  She bought bread, fresh fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, salad mixes and kits, a packet of cold cuts, a box of granola bars, freeze dried peach slices, dried seaweed, and some snacks.  Her grocery total came to $31.54.  She will get some half and half from a different store, later in the week.  

I haven't done any grocery shopping since we went to the Sri Lankan store on April 10!  I had thought I'd go over my April grocery budget, but, I didn't because I didn't go grocery shopping after that!  I thought I might have to grocery shop last week, but, I didn't need to.  

Today, I did a freezer inventory.  What I have is a side-by-side fridge/freezer.  I had gone through and sorted the fridge, shortly after my daughter went back to her apartment. Today, it was the freezer's turn.  I took everything out, shelf by shelf, making a note of what I had (and on which shelf) and putting things back.  I guess no one will be surprised to know that I have quite a lot of zucchini in the freezer!  LOL.  

I did use up some of that zucchini, today, when I finished cooking the packet of ground turkey I had browned the other day.  I added onions, a package of chopped zucchini, some tomatoes, and celery to the ground turkey.  I had some of the turkey with fried potatoes for my dinner, kept some of it in the fridge for meals next week, and froze some of it.  

Later, I did the dishes, chatted with friend R on the phone, and video chatted with my daughter.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- A full freezer
- Last year's zucchini harvest!
- Phone calls and video chats
- Mail delivery of medications
- A relaxed day

Today's joyful activity was crocheting.

How was your Saturday?  How is your Sunday coming along?

Sunday

Stripey Hugs the Curry Leaf Tree

Stripey Cat (also known as Will, as in "Where there is a Will there is a way" for his determined efforts to sleep in the planter with the chard plants and get into the okra bed) decided to hug the curry leaf tree, the other day.  I think there might have been a mockingbird on a higher branch that he was watching, but, he showed no signs of wanting to climb up the tree!  Instead, he clung to the tree for several minutes and then, jumped down.  He and the mockingbird have a little routine - the moment he comes into view, the mockingbird will dive bomb him and Stripey will give chase to the mockingbird.  When the mockingbird flies out of reach, Stripey will wander off and the mockingbird will dive bomb and it starts all over again!  Today, I watched him as he walked up and down the length of the garden wall, trying to figure out how to get down from it, until finally, he found the place where the asparagus fern is growing and jumped down, knowing the plant would cushion his fall!  His antics make me laugh!  Daughter says I am easily amused!  

I felt a little stiff and sore this morning when I woke up, so I took it easy and relaxed.  A cup of tea and morning prayers, then, leftover pancakes and a slice of ham for breakfast.  A phone chat with cousin P and neighbor T, both of whom told me to stop chasing rabbits!  LOL.

In the afternoon, I took out a tray of 4 chicken half breasts to thaw to cook for the upcoming week.  Then, I decided to do an inventory of the meat that I had left in the freezer, because that was the last tray of chicken that I had!  There is one single half breast (not a tray) and that is it for chicken!  Time to stock up on some chicken!  

I then decided to inventory the rest of the pantry which led to organizing some kitchen cabinets and sorting through the food storage containers!  Three lids without matching containers were discarded in the process, although, the last time I tossed what I thought was a container-less lid, I found out that my daughter had the container with her in Berkeley!  Of course, when she brought the container down, I had no lid for it!  LOL.

Midway through my pantry inventorying, I stopped for a sandwich (toasted ham and cheese - not quite croque monsieur, but, yummy!) and a cup of tea.  Dinner was leftovers - rice, green beans, and Italian sausage; daughter had rice and green beans for lunch and leftover pasta for dinner.

In the evening, I chatted with friend R.  

Later in the evening, we put in an order for groceries.  It included some baking supplies in preparation for the upcoming holiday baking season (butter, flour, and cornmeal), a couple of trays of chicken thighs for the freezer, fresh produce, and a few stock up items (canned condensed milk for my tea, coffee for my daughter, etc.)  I will find out, tomorrow, if everything I ordered will be available or not.  The convenience item was another packet of pot stickers and the splurge item was a package of bacon (on sale for $4.99 with digital coupon and loyalty card; $6.99 without coupon, loyalty card only).

Today, we had pleasant weather; sunny and a high of 76F.  The forecast for tomorrow, however, says it will be cloudy with a high of 66F.  No rain in the forecast, though.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Stripey/Will for keeping me amused
- Chats with family and friends
- Being able to order groceries online
- Pleasant weather
- What I was able to accomplish (kitchen cabinet organizing, etc.)

Today's joyful activity was chatting with family and friends.

Plans for tomorrow include picking up the groceries, the usual Monday routine cleaning, and cooking the chicken breasts I kept to thaw.  

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

Saturday: Freezer Inventory and July Grocery Shopping, Part 1

 

Rose and Shadows

My zucchini harvest picture is not loading from my phone to the computer, and my daughter put away the groceries before I could take a picture, so I will go with a picture I took the other day of one of the roses!  Yesterday (Friday), when M was here, I commented on the red roses and he said he had been feeding them with some type of specially blended rose fertilizer!  Oh!  So that's the secret to their flowering so nicely!  

Today, I finished doing my freezer inventory, sorting through the items stored on the freezer door shelves.  There are five shelves.  I took items out of each shelf, washed the shelves (not sure when that was done, last), and put things back.  I store flour, red rice, items I like to have easy access to when cooking (such as green chillies and pandan leaves), in the door shelves.  I am blessed to have a freezer, to have access to electricity to run it, to be able to afford the electricity needed to run it, and to be able to have food in the freezer!

**** Taking a break to reminisce****

When I was a child (late 50s, early 60s), we had a small fridge with a tiny little freezer compartment that was just big enough for a couple of trays of ice cubes from what I recall (they were metal trays with a metal grid and a lever to pull up to loosen the ice cubes).  We usually didn't store food in the freezer.  Not every house on our street had a fridge and I remember some of my neighbors coming to our house with a large cup or a small bowl to ask for ice cubes because someone, usually one of the children, had a fever and they wanted to place the ice on their heads to help bring the fever down.  The ice would have always been given and, if my father (a medical doctor) had been home, he would have gone to check on the person who was ill and prescribed something for the fever, as well.  That fridge (and all the other fridges in my country of birth at that time) were imported fridges; then, when there was a ban on imported goods, fridges became highly sought after.  It wasn't until the late 1960s (1969 or so) that the first fridges were manufactured by a local company.  My stepfather bought one and it was run on kerosene!  The fire was lit at the back and we had to make sure the tank was topped up every week or so.  

****Back to regular blogging!****

In the afternoon, my daughter and I drove to pick up the groceries we had ordered.  I drove and she came along for the ride.  Then, while I waited for the groceries to be brought out, I asked daughter to buy us some ice cream from the ice cream shop next to the grocery store - it offers 31 flavors of ice cream, but, I knew which flavor I wanted (mocha with almonds and a swirl of chocolate sauce) - as a treat!

The items we bought included:

3+ lb. package chicken breast halves @ $.99/lb = $3.35
1/2 gal. half and half = $3.99
3 lb. bag yellow onions = $2.99
1 lb. bag spring greens salad mix = $4.49 (sells for $1.99 at the Armenian store, but, they don't do curbside pick up)
1 iceberg lettuce = $1.49
2 lb. bag sugar snap peas = $4.99*
1 small seedless watermelon = $3.99
3 mangoes @$1 = $3.00
3 bananas @$64/lb. = $0.62
red grapes @$.99/lb = $1.29
2 x 2lb. containers strawberries @ $2.99 = $5.98

*Store substitute for the 16 oz. bag of store brand sugar snap peas we ordered, as they were out of it.  They substituted a 32 oz. bag for the same price!  

The total for groceries came to $36.18.

The one non-grocery item we bought was a container of shampoo for $6.49.  With the shampoo and tax on it, the total came to $43.20.

The package of chicken breast halves contained four pieces.  I pan sauteed them, with some onions and tomatoes, on the stove top, for dinner.  I also cooked a packet of Spanish rice mix that friend R had given me and made a zucchini salad to go with the chicken.  The leftover chicken will be eaten over the next several days, sliced and added to salads for lunch or with rice or pasta for dinner.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Having a freezer, the electricity to run it, and the blessing of being able to fill that freezer with food
- Being able to order groceries online and pick up curbside
- Being able to drive to the store and back
- Daughter putting the groceries away for me
- The packet of Spanish rice mix given to me by friend R

Today's joyful activity was definitely having an ice cream treat!  

Tomorrow is 4th of July - Independence Day, here, in the US.  All week long, I have been hearing the neighbors all around me lighting fireworks!  Fireworks are illegal in my city and the fire department and other officials have been begging people to refrain from lighting any fireworks because of the danger of starting fires, especially given our high temperatures and dry conditions.  But, their pleas are falling of deaf ears and the fireworks are being lit all over the city!

Plans for tomorrow will include a little cleaning (my bathroom needs to be swept and the kitchen floor could do with being mopped, again), provided I feel up to it.  

How was your Saturday?  What are your plans for tomorrow?  Have you gone grocery shopping yet in July?   

Friday

 

Yucca Growth

Sometime last year (can't quite remember when), I had M trim the big yucca plant growing in the back yard, in the corner where one of the side walls joins the back wall.  There were two branches growing over the wall into the neighbor's garden and I had M cut them down.  We planted the two tips of the branches, one in the back yard and one in the front yard, where they are starting to grow.  M tossed the rest of the branch in the yard waste bin, but, I dragged them out, thinking I could use them to place along the edge of the succulents bed in the front garden, where we had placed other bits and pieces of tree branches to edge the planting bed.  But, I didn't make myself very clear to M when I explained to him what I wanted him to do and he dug a hole in the front garden, in front of the succulents bed and planted the two branches!  So, we left them in place and sometime in early April or so of this year, I noticed little green bumps on the taller branch!  Then, a couple of weeks ago, M asked me if I had seen that there was new growth on the second branch, too!  I hadn't, but, earlier this week, when I felt well enough to walk in the garden, I checked it out and took this photo.  I think there will be a yucca plant growing in the front garden, very soon!

Today has been another good day.  I didn't feel any ill effects from any of my activities, yesterday, but, I took it easy.

My biggest accomplishment was taking an inventory of the freezer!  I have a side-by-side fridge/freezer and the last time I inventoried it was on Friday, May 7, when it was an impromptu inventory (I had been looking for some fish that I knew I had) and I didn't finish it because I got tired!  Then, the sciatica pain started the following day and everything came to a grinding halt!  Today, I took the inventorying one shelf at a time, with plenty of rest in between.  The freezer has five shelves and one pull out bin at the bottom.  I have tried to organize it so that like items are together (meat in the bin and shelf immediately above it; dairy and cooked items on the top shelf, etc.)  Whether it remains that way will depend on how much zucchini needs to be frozen, how much of the existing stock will be eaten, and how much groceries we will be buying in the next few weeks!  I still need to sort through what is stored on the shelves in the door, too, as I didn't do that, today.

M was here to tend to the garden, today, and he picked six more zucchini and a handful of green beans.  I took a picture of the zucchini, but, it is not uploading from my phone to the computer, so, I will take another picture, tomorrow.  M got to try the sauteed zucchini and he thought they were pickled, at first!  Afterwards, I made us some tea and we sat outside  (socially distanced, of course), and chatted while we had our tea.

Later in the evening, I sat in the family room and watched TV - some news and news programs and one other program about Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland.

Afterwards, daughter and I ordered some groceries as we wanted some fresh fruits and salad greens.  We also ordered some chicken (on sale for $.99/lb.)

And a certain kitty received his monthly flea prevention medication, much to his disgust!  LOL.  

Today, I am grateful for:
- Another good day
- What I was able to accomplish
- The yucca branches are growing into new plants
- M continuing to tend to the garden
- Being able to order groceries online

Today's joyful activity was watching TV for the first time in several weeks!  

Plans for tomorrow include picking up the groceries we ordered, today.  

How was your Friday?  What are your plans for tomorrow and the weekend?

Friday

Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides)

The star jasmine vine is flowering.  It used to grow on a trellis, but, the trellis has broken and the plant is now half sprawled on the ground and half climbing up the wall on its own.  The broken trellis is entangled in the vines and I am not sure how to remove it without cutting down the vine, completely, which I am not willing to do!

The wildflower patch has some pretty white flowers (a type of Gypsophila) in addition to the calendula and the last of the California poppies:

Gypsophila and Calendula 

While I was photographing the flowers, this little visitor came by for some refreshments:

Butterfly!

Cabbage White Butterfly (Pieris rapae)

Female Pieris rapae

Enjoying the nectar

The female cabbage white butterfly has two black spots on the wings; the males have only one spot; that's how I was able to identify this one as a female.  Cabbage whites are some of the most common butterflies in my garden and M doesn't like them because they lay their eggs on the vegetable plants!  I've already found some of their caterpillars chomping away on my broccoli leaves (didn't think to take a picture of them!), but, I don't mind because I like butterflies.  

I am afraid I didn't do any cleaning in the bedroom, today.  I didn't do any weeding, either, because my back is hurting me from all the weeding I've done this week.  M did a little more weeding for me and he trimmed two of the lemon trees.  He also planted more green beans for me because only some of the beans we planted earlier have sprouted.  I had him plant them in the last flower bed I had weeded.  

What I did do was organize the freezer and do a partial freezer inventory!  I've been trying to keep the freezer organized with all the meat in one place, the dairy items (frozen milk, butter, ice cream, etc.) on one shelf, etc.  However, sometimes, especially after a bit grocery pick up, items get shoved where there is space and after sometime, I no longer know what is in there!   I was, actually, trying to take out some fish to cook for dinner and that turned into the "pull everything out, wash the bottom drawer and area under the drawer (something had spilled), and reorganize the freezer" project!  It wasn't even on my May projects list!  I didn't do the very top shelf (which I had organized a few weeks ago) and the shelf immediately below that, because I got tired, it was already past 9:00 p.m., and dinner hadn't been cooked, yet!    But, I've a pretty good idea of what I have in the freezer and where things are!  

Eventually, I cooked dinner - salmon fillets sauteed with red onions and tomatoes, angel hair pasta, edamame (soy beans), and asparagus.  Then, I washed a pile of dishes and saucepans.  I delegated putting away the leftovers to my daughter!  

I also put a packet of chicken breasts to thaw to cook over the weekend.  Daughter will be able to enjoy some of it before she goes for her next tooth extraction on Tuesday.  

Today, I am grateful for:
- A restful day
- A full freezer

- Garden flowers and butterflies
- M's help with the garden
- Phone calls with family and friends

Today's joyful activity was spending time in the garden, taking pictures, etc.

Plans for tomorrow include starting the car, since it has not been started all week!

How was your Friday?  What are your plans for the weekend?  

Organizing the Freezer on Friday

Today was a fairly productive day, at least until I had an asthma flare-up in the evening.  

In the morning, I did two loads of laundry, checked on my neighbor T, and chatted with cousin P.  The radiology center where I had the mammogram on Wednesday called to ask where the previous mammogram was done to request a copy for comparison, so, at least, they are working on it.  

In the afternoon, I did a freezer inventory and organized the freezer a little better.  This is the freezer that comes with my side-by-side fridge/freezer (I don't have a second freezer).  I had organized it, earlier, but, the last grocery pick up I did messed it up a bit as I shoved things in where they would fit!  As a result, things became a bit disorganized.  Today, I took everything out, shelf by shelf, grouped things so that they were not all over the place and wrote down what I have.  

Then, I portioned out the trays of chicken breast halves that I bought, yesterday, and froze most of them, in packages of 2 breast halves per package.  I kept one piece to cook over the weekend - cut it up into small pieces and left it to marinate in the fridge.  I plan to make a chicken stir-fry with it. 

After that, I cut up the chub of ground beef.  I had been wanting hamburgers, recently, so, I decided to form all three pounds of ground beef into hamburger patties.  I made 16 patties and froze 12 of them in packages of two each.  I cooked the last four and had two for dinner, tonight; the remaining two are in the fridge for another meal.

By that time, it was 5:00 p.m. and M was here to tend to the garden.  I didn't have a specific task for him, so he watered and tidied the garden for me.  

My asthma flare up started around that time; I was talking on the phone with my daughter and realized that I was wheezing.  I took two puffs of my rescue inhaler and turned on the air purifier.

I've been taking it easy, since then.  I practiced the piano for a little, spoke on the phone with friend R, and watched news.  I needed to take two more puffs of the rescue inhaler, a few minutes ago; I am waiting for it to take effect.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Rescue inhalers and air purifiers

- M tending to the garden for me

- Freezers and a freezer inventory

- Working appliances and the electricity to run them

- Chatting on the phone with family and friends

Today's joyful activity was organizing the freezer!  Maybe not everyone's idea of a joyful activity, but, it brought me much joy to see what I had in there and know that it is somewhat organized!  

Plans for tomorrow include cooking the chicken stir-fry. 

How was your Friday and what are your plans for the weekend? 

Rain on Monday

Rain Drops on a Double Colored Rose

It rained all Monday morning!  According to what I read about the bacterial leaf spots on the peach tree, it apparently spreads from leaf to leaf on drops of water and is prevalent during wet winters and springs!  My daughter suggested I rigged up an umbrella over the peach tree to protect it from the rain, but, I wasn't able to do so!  LOL!  Now that would have been a picture worth a thousand words, would it?  The rain ceased in the afternoon and we had nice sunshine; hopefully, the peach tree leaves dried up nicely without too much spreading of the leaf spot bacteria!

I slept in on Monday morning and finally got a good 8 hours of sleep after a long time!  As a result, I didn't get a headache or an eye ache all day (lately, I've been experiencing some eye strain towards the end of the day - too much screen time on the computer, no doubt!)

I found a lovely surprise in the mail, yesterday:

Three No. 3 Knitting Needles!

A friend had read in one of the responses to comments on my blog that I had knitted the socks with three #3 needles and one #4 needle because I only had three of the #3 needles.  She sent me these three #3 needles that she had, which she received free with the purchase of some yarn (apparently, she, too, had lost the fourth one!).  They are about four inches in length and are the cutest little needles I've ever seen!   The shortest needles I've had in my collection, prior to this, are 7 inches long!  These needles will be a pleasure to use when I am working on the heel and the foot part of the socks.  The longer needles I currently use make it awkward to knit when there are only a few stitches to work on.  Thank you!  (You know who you are!)

Later in the afternoon/early evening, I did some baking:

Curry Puffs with Chicken and Potato Filling

I had shredded and cooked the rest of the roast chicken breast, the other night, with onions, curry powder and a little chili powder and turned it into a curried version of shredded chicken. On Monday, I boiled and mashed three potatoes and added them to the curried shredded chicken, with a few more spices, salt, minced green chilies, and lemon juice to make a tasty filling for frozen puff pastry triangles.  The puff pastry came in four inch squares; I cut each in half, diagonally, to make two triangles.  I placed a heaping table spoon of filling on each triangle which was then folded over and sealed by pressing along the edges with the tines of a fork.  I brushed the tops of the pastry with some milk and baked them at 350F for about 20 minutes or so.  I didn't time the duration of the baking, but, checked on them every now and then and took them out when they were puffed and golden.  I had enough filling for 32 curry puffs!  As I mentioned to one of my friends, no one will believe just how far I was able to extend that one chicken breast half!  LOL!

Then, it was my turn to spread some blessings!  I took six of the curry puffs to neighbor S.  I called her, first, and asked if her daughter could come to their gate and I handed over the dish to her daughter.  We both had our fabric face masks on and I think it was safe enough.  S stood on the door step and thanked me.  She was very pleased with the pastries and called me back, later, to say her husband and daughters enjoyed them.  They make a similar pastry known as borek (or byorek), which has a salty cheese filling, so she told me that I made borek with a chicken and potato filling!  LOL.

I took another six of the pastries over to cousin P, who lives across the street, a couple of doors down from me.  Again, I called her and asked her to meet me near the gate.  She didn't have a mask on, but, I had my mask on.  I left the container on top of the wall and stepped back while she took them from the wall.  She thanked me for the pastries and I hurried back home. 

After that, I took six more pastries and part of the soup that S had given me (I told S that I was sharing the soup with a friend), along with a few sprigs of curry leaves, over to friend R.  Friend R had told me, the previous evening, that she doesn't have much of an appetite, she's eating only because she knows she needs to, etc.  That sort of concerned me, but, I thought it was probably because she was tired of eating what she cooked (we all know that she does not like to cook!).  I had placed the food in a bag in the trunk of my car and R took them from the trunk, so we didn't have any physical contact.  She called me later in the evening to say she immediately ate one of the pastries (they were still warm from the oven) and was heating up the soup for her dinner!  I'm glad she enjoyed them.

I, too, ate some of the pastries for my dinner, last night, and some for my brunch, today!  There are enough left for another couple of meals during this week. 

Later in the night, it started to get cold and, instead of turning on the heater, I decided to do a little more baking!  There was one last banana that had got a little too ripe for my liking and I was determined not to let it go to waste!

Banana Nut Muffins

I baked a batch of banana nut muffins, with the one banana and a handful of walnuts from the freezer.  My recipe said to bake them at 400F for 20-25 minutes.  They were done in 15 minutes, however, but, I turned off the oven and left them in the oven for another 5 minutes and that was a mistake, as the bottoms got a bit burned!   I had been planning to take some of these to friend S, but, I can't give her burned muffins!   I will keep these for myself (I just cut the burned bottoms off and they are fine) and bake something else for friend S.

Yesterday, daughter found out that her salary will be frozen, next fiscal year.  But, we have a lot to be grateful for - at least she still has a job, she doesn't have to go on furlough, and it is not a pay cut.  Her rent will increase as of July while her salary remains stagnant, but, she is careful with her spending and will still be able to manage.

I remember back in 2008, when I had to go on furlough and had a 20% cut in pay!  I reworked my budget and slashed discretionary spending down to a minimum.  Not that easy to do when one was already fairly frugal and there weren't any extras like eating out, hair cuts and manicures, etc., to cut out of the budget!  There were also talks of layoffs and we all had to fill out a survey about our years of service to determine seniority, etc.  As result, I also made two other budgets, based on state minimum wage and federal minimum wage (lower than state minimum wage and our governor at the time was talking about doing away with the state minimum wage and adopted the federal minimum wage, instead) to prepare for being laid off and having to accept a minimum wage job.  I remember realizing that, even if I were to slash all my spending to the absolute bare minimum, given that I still had a mortgage to pay, I would have had to have two full time minimum wage jobs to make ends meet!  Even if I gave up my house and rented an apartment, my rent would have been higher than what my mortgage was at the time, so that was not a good option.    Thank goodness that they were only exercises on paper! 

On Monday, I was grateful for:
- Rain to water the garden
- The gift of knitting needles from a friend
- Being able to make the curry puffs and share them with family and friends
- Daughter still has a job and doesn't have a pay cut
- The car started without any problems

My joyful activities on Monday included receiving a gift in the mail, baking, and sharing the baked goods!

I didn't do anything on Monday's To Do List, other than taking the trash cans to the curb and making the curry puffs!  I also washed what felt like a mountain of dishes, both before and after I baked!  LOL. 

Dancer is ready for a nap!

 

More Masks on Monday

New Masks

I've had a request for a photo of the fabric face masks I make.  Photographed above are the ones I sewed for friend R.  They are made with two pieces of fabric, without a filter inside.  These ones have fabric ties to tie behind the head, so they can be adjusted as needed.  Besides, I ran out of 1/4 inch elastic after the first few and, although I made a few masks with 1/2 inch elastic, I don't have a lot of that, either! 

Today was a cooler day (our high was only 83F according to the forecast).  Neighbor T called me in the morning and we had a little chat.  Afterwards, I finished taking an inventory of what I had in my freezer and reorganized some of it so that I know what is stored where: all the meat in the bottom pull-out drawer, all the bread dough (1 package with 3 loaves of frozen dough) and puff pastry dough (5 1/2 packages of 8 4"x4" suares each - one of the sale items I purchased on my one but last grocery shopping trip before we were asked to shelter in place!) on one shelf, vegetables one one shelf, dairy and treats on one shelf, and so forth.  I also checked what I had in the little shelves on the door of the freezer (1/2 of a 5 lb. bag of all purpose flour, 3/4 of a 5 lb. bag of whole wheat flour, 2 partial bags of red rice, some green chilies, and a small bag with pandan leaves) and wiped each shelf before I put things back.  

I hadn't stocked up on meat before the "stay at home" order went into effect, so, while I have some chicken, two smoked sausages, and two pieces of fish, I am rather low on beef and I don't have any pork (I don't eat a lot of pork, other than the occasional pork chop).  With food processing plants closing down due to the virus, however, I am wondering if I should put in an order for groceries, including more meat, to be delivered or picked up curb-side.  I urged my daughter to do so and she put in an order for groceries, including meat, to be delivered on Saturday. 

After I did the freezer inventory, I sewed the last of the face masks and watched news on TV.  

Yesterday, poor Dancer threw up, twice.  Once after he had eaten his evening tuna and later, after he had eaten some of the store brand cat food I had bought (mostly for the garden cats, but, Dancer loves it and prefers it to the brand name food I buy for him!)  He has eaten it before, without any problems, but, I am thinking he likes it so much that he eats too much and two quickly.  So, I removed the bag out of his reach (it is now in the laundry closet, with the door closed so he can't access it).  Then, this morning, I opened a new can of tuna and gave him a little, but, he threw up after that, too.  So, he is now on only his regular dry food and he is very unhappy about it!  I didn't give him any tuna at tea time, although he begged for it, and, because he associates me having my evening cup of tea with him getting his tuna, I didn't have a cup of tea, either!  Because I felt bad about having tea and not giving him tuna!  He hasn't thrown up, since, however.

But, guess who has been showing up by my sliding glass door around tea time?   

Mourning Dove

There are two of them, a pair who might or might not be nesting in my back neighbor's big pine tree.  But, they spend a lot of time in my garden and stop by to see if there is any cat food outside (I tend to feed the garden cats around my tea time), which, they seem to think is as good as bird seeds!  (Sorry, the sliding glass door is smudgy; I haven't cleaned the cat nose prints, recently).

Later, after I finished watching news, I took the masks and some lemons from my garden to R.  I stayed in the car and she took the packages from the trunk of the car and gave me half of a packet of frozen parathas (a type of Indian flat bread) that she had asked a neighbor to buy for her!  I stashed it in the freezer to have with chicken curry, one night, for dinner.

Breakfast had been an egg salad sandwich (half sandwich, made with one slice of bread, cut into two).  I had another half sandwich with peanut butter around tea time (even if I didn't have a cup of tea).  For dinner, I boiled some pasta and had that with some of the smoked sausages and bell peppers.  I was going to have a tangerine after that, but daughter called and we video chatted for more than two hours and I forgot about the tangerine!

Daughter said that Berkeley extended the stay at home orders into May and her work place has said that staff will continue to work from home until the end of May.  Both daughter and I are relieved because she was scheduled to return to the office on May 4th.  She shares one small room with two other colleagues and she said there isn't sufficient space in the room to maintain six feet of distance between the three desks.

Today, I am grateful for:
- Daughter can work from home for another month
- I was able to drop off more masks and lemons for friend R
- R shared some of her parathas with me
- The contents of my freezer
- The car started and drove without any problems

My joyful activity today was having a long chat with my daughter.


Monday's To Do List:
- Sew a few more masks - DONE
- Deliver masks and some lemons from the garden to friend R - DONE

- Dust living room & dining area
- Finish freezer inventory - DONE

- Clean the fridge - DID the freezer doors, instead

- Take trash cans to the curb for Tuesday trash pick up - DONE

Tuesday's To Do List:

- Dust living room, dining area, family room and my bedroom

- Paperwork/pay bills
- Water the garden, front and back

- Water the house plants

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