October Meal Planning: Week 2 Review and Week 3 Plan

Pastries and Cakes from the Cuban Bakery/Cafe

These were my October Week 2 Options:

Brunches:  Scrambled eggs (with lunu miris), bacon, toast, orange juice✔; Uppuma (Indian style cream of wheat/semolina, cooked with curry leaves, dried red chilies, roasted peanuts, etc.)✔;  Toast with peanut butter and bananas✔; Cold cuts sandwiches✔, Pancakes or Waffles with bacon and syrup/blueberry compote; Pastries from the Cuban bakery; leftovers from dinners

Dinners:  Rice, chicken curry, dhal curry, ala thel dala (spicy sauteed potatoes), okra, cucumber salad, tomato chutney (Monday's dinner)✔. Pork chops with rice or potatoes, and vegetables✔, Mac & Cheese with tuna and salad, Leftovers✔

Snacks/Desserts:  Fruit✔, Sri Lankan sweets and snacks✔, Pastries maybe another bread pudding?

And here's how that worked out:

Monday:

Brunch:  Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast  

Monday Brunch

Dinner:  Rice, chicken curry, dhal, spicy sauteed potatoes, cucumber salad, tomato chutney

Snacks/Desserts:  Sri Lankan sweets and snacks; bananas

Tuesday:

Brunch:  Uppuma (Indian style cream of wheat/semolina)

Uppuma

Dinner:  Leftovers - rice, chicken curry, dhal, spicy sauteed potatoes, okra, cucumber salad, chutney

Snacks/Desserts:  Sri Lankan sweets and snack mix; bananas

Wednesday:

Brunch: Toast, peanut butter, bananas

Dinner:  Beef pot pie (frozen meal) with extra green peas and carrots (me); leftover porkchop and rice, with green peas and carrots (daughter)

Wednesday Dinner

Snacks/Desserts:  Sri Lankan sweets and snacks

Thursday:

Brunch:  Cold cuts sandwiches

Dinner:  Rice, chicken curry, dhal, etc. (leftovers from Monday's dinner)

Snacks/Desserts:  Assorted Sri Lankan sweets and snacks; bananas

Friday:

Brunch: Assorted pastries from the Cuban bakery/cafe 

Dinner:  Mor of the assorted pastries from the Cuban bakery/cafe

Snacks/Desserts: Cakes from the Cuban bakery 

Saturday:

Brunch:  Leftover pastries from the Cuban bakery

Dinner:  Freshly cooked rice, sauteed okra, made-over carrots (I sauteed the leftover boiled carrots from Wednesday with seeni sambol mix and sesame seeds), with leftover chicken curry, dhal, and sauteed potatoes, plus tomato chutney

Snacks/Desserts:  Cake from the Cuban bakery; toast

Sunday:

Breakfast:  Pastries from the Cuban bakery

Lunch: Cold cuts sandwiches

Dinner:  Pork chops with green peas and onions, spicy baked potato wedges

Sunday Dinner

Snacks/Desserts:  Strawberries, cake, lemon puff biscuits, etc.

Well, all in all, I stayed mostly on the plan, just going off the plan a bit with the pastries and cakes daughter bought from the Cuban bakery/cafe.    I am quite pleased with how that turned out.

On to Week 3, which has already started.

I cooked a big pot of chicken curry on Monday night and there are some cooked pork chops as well, for a change from the chicken curry.  I am planning to make another big batch of moringa curry, as well, and there might be another picking of okra before the week ends, so there will be more sauteed okra.

It's not exactly batch cooking, but, I'm going back to cooking two main entrees for the week and a couple of vegetable curries that can be kept in the fridge and warmed up as needed.  My daughter is fine with leftovers and often, it is I who gets tired of having the same thing and when that happens, I will cook something else or make a sandwich or have something on toast.  

I am making this week's meal plan based on what I have on hand, BUT, I do need to buy milk, half and half, bread, and some additional fresh fruits and vegetables (just placed the order and will pick up this evening).

Here are my meal plan options for October Week 3:

Brunches:  Scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice; Cold cuts sandwiches, Pancakes or Waffles with leftover chicken curry gravy and/or bacon and syrup/blueberry compote; Drop biscuits with butter and chives; leftovers from dinners

Dinners:  Rice, chicken curry, sauteed moringa leaves, okra, and tomato chutney. Pork chops with rice or pasta and vegetables, Mac & Cheese with tuna and salad, Soup (?); Leftovers

Snacks/Desserts:  Fruit (pomegranate from the garden, tangerines, a couple of apples), Sri Lankan sweets and snacks, maybe an apple or peach pie?

As always, I am grateful that I am able to enjoy a variety of food.

Will you be meal planning this week?  If so, what is on your meal plan?  

June Meal Plans - Week 1 Review; Week 2 Plan

Lasagna and Salad

This was my meal plan for June, Week 1:

Brunches:  Milkrice, chicken curry and seeni sambol (Sunday; June 1)✔; Scrambled egg, bacon, fried potatoes or toast✔; French toast; Tuna or Egg salad sandwiches; Uppuma (Indian style cream of wheat), Salads;  leftovers

Dinners:  Sauteed chicken, green beans, carrots; Smoked sausage stir fry✔; Lasagna✔; Chicken curry with rice and lentils; leftovers/planned overs.

Snacks/desserts: Banana muffins, peaches, apples, granola bars, crackers with peanut butter or tuna salad

Sunday:

Brunch: Milkrice, chicken curry, seeni sambol; a piece of jaggery
Dinner: Lasagna and salad

Snacks/dessert: Fresh peaches, cashews. slice of bread with peanut butter

Monday:

Brunch: Milkrice, chicken curry, and seeni sambol
Dinner:  Lasagna
Snacks: Crackers, peaches, grapes

Tuesday:

Brunch: Leftover milkrice, chicken curry, and seeni sambol
Dinner: Leftover lasagna

Snacks: Peaches

Wednesday:

Brunch: Leftover lasagna
Dinner: Sauteed salmon, boxed wild rice mix, cucumber salad
Dessert: Peaches' Snacks: Cheetos, croissant

Thursday

Brunch: Croissants with leftover salmon and/or leftover salmon and rice

Dinner: Appa ("hoppers") and curries at cousin's house

Friday

Brunch: French bread rolls with canned corned beef (cooked with onions, tomatoes, chili powder, lemon, etc.)
Dinner: More bread rolls with corned beef
Snacks: Peaches, bananas, chocolate

Saturday

Brunch: Fried rice made with leftover corned beef, shredded lettuce, frozen corn and green peas, a scrambled egg, and peanuts

Dinner: Smoked sausage stir fry with broccoli and carrots; rice

Dessert: Peach cobbler

Peach Cobbler

Sunday:

Brunch: Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, peaches
Dinner: Leftover smoked sausage stir fry and rice (daughter), pepper steak sandwich (me)

Snacks/dessert: Cheetos, peach cobbler

Well, that didn't go exactly according to plan but, it worked out well enough.  No one went hungry and we enjoyed some good meals.

In addition, I cooked some food for daughter to take back with her - 2 beef shoulder steaks cut up and cooked with bell peppers and onions (what I am calling pepper steak), 2 beef shoulder steaks cut up and curried, sauteed mixed vegetables (broccoli, cauliflowers, carrots, and green beans), dhal curry, parsley mallung (finely shredded parsley sauteed with grated coconut, minced onions and garlic, green chilies, and turmeric, plus salt, of course).  And rice, Plus two curried pork chops and sliced ham that were already in the freezer.

I had taken out and thawed a package of what I thought were chicken thighs, but, which turned out to be a ham bone, so, I boiled that to make a broth which will be made into soup, later.  I had double bagged the ham bone, writing ham bone on the inner bag and reusing a washed freezer bag on which I had previously written "chicken thighs", which led to the confusion.  

Moving on to this week, here's the meal plan for June Week 2:

Brunches:  Rice, leftover sausage stir fry, dhal, and mallung (daughter, on Monday); rice, beef curry, dhal, and mallung (me, on Monday); yogurt with treacle and cashews; cereal with milk; peanut butter toast; French toast, scrambled eggs and toast

Dinners:  Bacon cheeseburger with sweet potato fries and cucumber slices (Monday); pepper steak with mixed vegetables (Tuesday); rice, beef curry, lentils, and mallung; leftover lasagna and salad; leftovers

Snacks/Desserts: Fresh fruit, the last of the peach cobbler, Cheetos, crackers and peanut butter, granola bars, yogurt

Since I am posting this late on Tuesday night, I've already eaten Monday and Tuesday's meals.

Are you making a meal plan for this week?

On Friday

The Star Jasmine is Flowering

The star jasmine vine, growing up on the home grown and home made pole trellis, is flowering.  

Star Jasmine Flowers

I had planned to take the laptop in to the shop, today, but, I was pleasantly surprised, late yesterday evening, to find that the whirring fan noise had disappeared!  It has been working just fine, today, too, so, it seems that the threat of taking it to the store for a check up worked!  LOL.  I will see how it goes over the weekend and take it in if the noise returns.  

Yesterday, after I did my blog post, I took over some cake to my neighbor S; she said to bring her a small piece just to taste, but, I took her enough to share with her husband and daughters.  Later, I cooked a chicken curry with one of the packets of chicken thighs I had bought, earlier in the week.  There were eight thighs in that packet and I froze six of them, two to a package, for future meals and kept two in the fridge.  Today, I sliced one of them and had chicken curry sandwiches for brunch.  I still need to cook the other package of chicken thighs - I might saute them for a change from the chicken curry or make more curry (I am more likely to eat the curry than sauteed chicken).  

I changed my bed sheets, today, and did two loads of laundry.  

With this year's blueberries ripening, I decided to use some of the frozen blueberries from last year to make a blueberry compote to go with the cake I baked:

Blueberry Compote

I used about two cups of blueberries, 1/4 cup sugar, the juice of half a lemon, and a small piece of cinnamon stick and cooked it for about 10 minutes (the only thing I measured was the sugar).  The resulting compote is both sweet and tangy.  I served a piece of cake with some of the compote poured over it to M and he thought it went well with the cake.  

Brunch had been chicken curry sandwiches; dinner will be reheated fried fish, a baked potato, and salad.  There might be cake and compote for dessert.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Another sunny, warm day
- Working appliances
- M's help with the garden
- The laptop seems to be working well
- Blueberries from the garden

Today's joyful activity has been being online without worrying about the computer breaking down!

Ripening Blueberries

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

Mid-February and Yogurt Flat Bread

Valentine's Day Flowers

Gardener friend M brought me a different variety of the Michelia Magnolia flowers (he told me the name, but, I didn't write it down and have since forgotten what it was!) from his garden and a miniature camellia (which I stuck in the lower middle of the arrangement), yesterday (Wednesday).  He also brought me a different variety of aloe plant, which he said was a blue aloe.  We tended to the garden and I did a little bit of weeding while he cleared an area with overgrown asparagus ferns and trimmed the passionfruit vine.  I took some of the passionfruit vine cuttings and made a wreath base.  It's hanging up to dry, now.  Neighbor S called to ask if her daughters could park their cars in my driveway overnight as they needed to keep their driveway free for some construction workers to park there in the morning.  I was fine with that as I didn't need to go anywhere.

Today, Thursday, I did need to take my car out of the garage, but, S's daughters had moved their cars by that time.  My friend R had ordered a package that was delivered to my address, yesterday evening, and today, I took the package to R, along with some lemons and curry leaves from the garden.  It was another quick, masked, curbside visit.

I did some weeding in the backyard, today, read for a bit, did the dishes, cooked a chicken curry with one of the trays of chicken thighs, portioned out and froze a beef curry I had cooked earlier, and made yogurt flat bread/roti to have with chicken curry for dinner, because I had some leftover homemade yogurt that needed to be finished.

So, approximately 3 cups all purpose flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt, mixed with just over a cup of yogurt to form a dough.  Rest the dough for about 20 minutes, and divide into smaller balls of dough.  I divided my dough into eight portions.  Rolled each one out until it formed a thin round.  Heat up a skillet and apply a little oil to it, then, cook each round of dough, about 3 or 4 minutes on one side:

Yogurt Flat Bread Cooking on First Side

Then, another 2 or 3 minutes on the other side:

Cooking on the Other Side

I made eight flat breads:

Yogurt Flat Bread

Dinner was yogurt flat bread with chicken curry:

Curry and Roti for Dinner

In my opinion, the yogurt flat breads taste a bit like naan and they make a very acceptable roti to eat with curry.  I made a citrus drink with freshly squeezed lemons and oranges, to have with dinner, but, I forgot to take a picture.

Later in the evening, I watched news and video chatted with my daughter.

I am grateful for:

- More sunny days
- M's help with the garden and gifts of flowers and plants from his garden
- Being able to help neighbor S and friend R
- A safe drive to R's and back
- Fresh fruit from the garden

Joyful activities in mid-February have included gardening, crocheting, reading, and video chatting with my daughter.

Plans for Friday include cooking the other package of chicken, paperwork, making a birthday card, catching up on housework, and gardening with M.  

Have you made yogurt flat bread?  What are your plans for Friday?

Rainy Wednesday

Holiday Scarves

The two scarves I knitted are done (unless I decide to embroider some snowflakes on them - still debating on that).  They are both knit very simply with garter stitch (knit on both sides).  I cast on 25 stitches with medium  weight, worsted acrylic yarn (Red Heart brand) and US #7 needles.  US #8 needles are the size recommended for this weight of yarn, but, I seem to have misplaced one of my US#8 needles (still have the pair of UK #8 needles), so used the #7 needles, instead.  The red yarn was leftover from when I used to knit red hats for newborn babies for the American Heart Association (they stopped asking for hats a few years back).  The blue yarn and the white yarn were leftover from when I crocheted a baby blanket for my cousin's grandson.  I had added the yarn to my daughter's stash, but, took them back for this project!  The scarves are going to two sisters, so, the same pattern, but, different colors!

It rained very heavily during the night and has rained on and off all day, today.  M was able to fertilize some of the fruit trees during his visit (the rain had ceased for a bit when he arrived, but, then, it began to drizzle while he was here; then, it rained quite heavily shortly after he left). He brought me two small bunches of variegated azaleas from his garden. 

Today, I decorated the Christmas tree:

Christmas Tree 2023

My daughter was sleeping off a migraine headache most of the day, but, she placed the tree topper after she woke up and felt better.

We had leftover French toast and bacon for brunch.  For dinner, I cooked a spicy "devilled beef" - thinly sliced beef sauteed with onions and tomatoes, etc., with plenty of chili powder and other spices.  Daughter cooked the rice to go with it.  

I am also cooking another beef smore (which is like a pot roast of beef cooked with lots of spices in coconut milk).  

I am also marinating the chicken I bought on Saturday to make a chicken curry.  I might leave it to marinate overnight and cook it tomorrow.  I didn't make a meal plan this week, but, those will be our main meals this week and there will be leftovers, as well.  

My daughter is playing the piano as I type this - the piano is very out of tune, but, getting it tuned will have to wait until the new year!  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Rain for the garden
- M was still able to tend to the garden 
- Daughter's headache is better
- Daughter playing the piano and filling the house with some lovely music
- Getting some batch cooking done

Today's joyful activity was decorating the Christmas tree.

Plans for tomorrow include some more knitting!

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

A Warm Weekend

 

Oleander

The warm summer days are here!  Not horribly hot, just in the upper 80s and low 90s, so far, but a bit more humid than usual.  But, the temperature inside the house is at least 10F cooler than outside, so it's very comfortable.  I open the windows in the early mornings to get the cool air in, then, close most of the windows during the heat of the day and keep the drapes in the west facing living room window drawn closed in the afternoon, to keep the sun out!  The very same drapes I used to open in the winter to get the sunshine in to warm up the house!

M wasn't able to tend to the garden on Friday evening and he called to ask if he could postpone his visit until late Saturday morning, and I said that was fine.  Later Friday evening, neighbor T's daughter called me.  She was next door and apparently, her car battery had died!  She was waiting for the Auto Club to send someone out to give her a jump start, but, in the meantime, her cell phone battery was dying and could she borrow my phone charger, again?!  Of course, I let her borrow it.  Poor thing, she hasn't had the best week, what with locking herself out with the keys in the garage and now, a dead car battery!  It took a while for the auto mechanic to show up, but, he got her car battery jump started; she returned the phone charger before she left to go home.

I cooked one of the pieces of beef I had bought, making a pot roast with it.  I sliced it up and froze some of it for later.  I've been enjoying roast beef sandwiches this weekend!

M was here on Saturday morning and he weed-whacked the back yard and watered the garden, both front and back.  Later, I made some lime gelatin from a box that I had in my cupboard from before the pandemic - it set well and I've been enjoying it.  I spent the afternoon and most of the evening relaxing and watching videos.

One video was about "essentialism" as opposed to "minimalism".  According to the video, essentialism was keeping what was essential to you and getting rid of the rest, not necessarily paring down to the bare minimum.  I know I couldn't be a minimalist, unless I absolutely had to, but, I could get behind keeping what I consider to be essential to me and decluttering the rest.  I suppose it is another way of keeping what sparks joy, although there are some items that are essential (such as mops and brooms, for example) which don't necessarily spark joy!  

I cooked a package of hot Italian sausages for dinner on Saturday; I had one with rice and vegetables for my dinner and froze the rest to have later.  

On Sunday, I made blueberry waffles for brunch.  Later, I cooked the other piece of beef, making a curry with it.  Again, I froze some of it for future meals.  Once again, the freezer is filling up!  

This weekend, I am grateful for:

- The warm, summer days
- M helping me with the garden
- I was able to help T's daughter by lending her my phone charger, again
- Phone calls and emails with family and friends
- Working appliances and electricity to run them

Joyful activities have included tending to the garden with M, cooking, and relaxing.

Plans for Monday include:

- Dusting the living room and dining area
- A load of laundry
- Taking the trash cans to the curb
- Watering the garden 

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

July Meal Planning, Week 1

Sunday Dinner: Rice & Curries (Chicken, Lentils, Green Beans)

Time to start the month off right and plan a few meals!

I picked up groceries on Friday, June 30 and did just a little bit of meal prep over the weekend.  I cooked milkrice, seeni sambol, and 10 hamburger patties on Saturday and cooked a chicken curry with 4 lbs. chicken thighs and a lentil curry and curried sauteed green beans (from the garden) on Sunday.   I'm not sure if that counts as batch cooking, but, meals during the week will be based on what I've cooked over the weekend, with other items prepared to supplement them as needed.

Brunches: Milkrice and seeni sambol (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, too, with some chicken curry, as well); toast and cream cheese; cereal and milk, egg salad or tuna salad sandwiches

Dinners: Hamburger (with the ends of bread for the bun; Saturday and Tuesday); Rice, chicken curry, lentil curry, curried sauteed green beans (Sunday and Wednesday); Chicken curry sandwich with potato chips and sliced cucumber (Monday; who needs cold cuts when there is chicken curry?);  coconut roti with leftover chicken curry or mackerel curry; breakfast for dinner (scrambled eggs and baked potato wedges or pancakes with bacon).

Snacks/desserts: ice cream bars, the last zucchini muffin, fresh fruit, canned fruit cocktail, cereal

That is the plan; we'll see how it all turns out!

How about you?  Are you making a meal plan this week?  If you are in the U.S., are you planning a special meal for July 4th to celebrate Independence Day?  

Mid-March

Today's Garden Harvest: Lettuce and Snow Pea Pods!

I picked some lettuce and the first of the snow pea pods from the garden, today!  Some of the lettuces are starting to bolt!  I picked three more snow pea pods after I took this photo - I'll be having them in a stir-fry, tomorrow.  

Last night, after I posted, I baked the second tray of chicken thighs:

Baked Chicken Thighs

There were 12 thighs in this package.  I seasoned them with some salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, ground ginger, and a little soy sauce.  After they cooled, I packaged them, three thighs per package, and froze them for future meals.  

Then, while the oven was on to bake the chicken, I mixed up some pastry dough and made some patties with the leftover ground beef and dhal curry I mixed together.  There was just enough of the mixture for 10 patties.  I added some freshly grated cheese to the leftover pastry, along with a little garlic salt and paprika, and baked some cheese crackers for a snack.  

Patties and Cheese Crackers

I had some of the patties for my dinner, last night, and for brunch, today.

It was a cool and cloudy day, today, but, the rain ceased and M was able to check on the garage roof and do a few more repairs.  He wasn't very pleased with his efforts, but, he's a perfectionist; I told him that as long as the repairs hold out until I can get a roofer to check on things, it's good enough for me.  M also checked on the peach tree and noticed that some of the baby peaches that are forming are showing signs of frost damage.  We will have to thin out quite a few fruits, in another week or so.  

I called and wished one of my cousins for her birthday, sewed a few more patches on my quilt in the afternoon, watched a walking tour of the Tower of London, and watched news.  Later, I cleaned the litter box.  Dinner was more of the soup and cheese crackers followed by grapes.  Grapes are selling for $2.99/lb. this week, so I am glad I bought some when they were on sale, last week.   

Today, I am grateful for:

- M's help with the garden and roof repairs
- A well-watered garden
- Today's garden harvest
- Working appliances
- A relaxed day

Today's joyful activity was picking the first pea pods from the garden.

Plans for tomorrow include some kitchen cleaning and more quilt repairs.  

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

 

More Rain on Tuesday

The Garden Plants are Loving the Rain
(Those tiny plants are osteospermum seedlings)

Monday was a mostly sunny day and "warm" with a high of 65F.  I must be getting used to the cooler temperatures we've been having because I didn't need to switch the heater on until quite late at night.  Of course, I was wearing a pair of leggings under my jeans and three sweaters plus a scarf, so, I was well insulated!  LOL.  But, it's only 55F, today (Tuesday), and rainy; I'm  wearing the same number of layers, plus a knitted poncho and a scarf AND my fingerless mitts, but, I had to switch the heater on as I felt cold (thermostat was set at 65F, but I was still cold and I've since raised it to 70F).  Now we know why I have so many clothes in the closet!  I wear multiples of them in the winter to keep warm!  LOL!  

On Monday, I paid my gas bill of $337.74 (for the billing period 1/20/23 - 2/17/23).  I had used fewer therms of gas (104) than during the same billing period in 2022 (136), but, the cost of gas and associated fees and taxes have gone up, so, the amount of the bill ($337.74) had increased, too (last year's bill was $277.46).  I used 32 fewer therms and paid $60 more!  Sigh.  The next meter reading will take place 3/20/23; the current estimate of that bill is $263.22.

I also cleaned the litter box, took the trash cans to the end of the driveway, took the kitchen scraps to the compost pile, and checked on the garden, a bit.  The blueberry bushes are in planters set under the cover of the patio overhang and they don't get much of the rain, so I watered them.  The rest of the garden is getting rained on, today, and there's more rain in the forecast for tomorrow, as well!  

In the evening, I cooked one of the trays of chicken thighs I had bought on Sunday.  There were 10 thighs in the tray.  I sauteed them with some onions and two of the Roma tomatoes I had bought, earlier in the month.  There was a tiny bit of teriyaki sauce that my daughter had made when she was here and kept in the fridge for me, so I added that to the chicken, too, along with some salt and pepper.  Once they were cooked, I decided to have one for my dinner (although that was not in my meal plan!) with the leftover rice I had in the fridge, and I stir fried some carrots and broccoli to go with it.  

Monday Night's Dinner

I froze some of the cooked chicken in meal sized portions and kept the remaining couple of pieces in the fridge, along with the leftover stir fried vegetables, for later in the week.  I will cook the remaining tray of chicken thighs, tonight, and freeze them, too.  Having cooked chicken in the freezer helps; they are easy to thaw and reheat in the microwave.    

Today, I brought the trash cans in and I kept the lids on the green yard waste bin and the blue recycling bin open, in order to catch any rainwater I could in the bins.  I can leave off adding yard waste and recycling material to the bins for another week or two and then, we'll use whatever water gets collected in the bins first.  

Monday's brunch was two of the drop biscuits with cream cheese and dinner was what is pictured above.  Afterwards, for dessert, I had some yogurt with a spoonful of strawberry jam stirred into it and some cereal sprinkled on top.  I should mix up a batch of granola as that would be just perfect as a topping for the yogurt.

Today, I had a bowl of the ham and split pea soup followed by the last two drop biscuits with butter and golden syrup for brunch.  Dinner will be some of the patties I am planning to make after tea (which is brewing as I type this).  I am thinking that I might just bake the chicken thighs in the oven, along with the patties.  Having the oven on will help warm up the house, as well!

I am grateful for:

- More rain for the garden
- Weekly trash collection services
- Working appliances
- M's roof repairs seem to be holding up
- Delivery services - I ordered some kitty litter and one box was delivered yesterday and the other is expected to be delivered today.

Joyful activities have included being in the garden and knitting.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow, too.  If it does, then M will not be able to do any garden work.  

How is your week coming along?  What are your plans for Wednesday?

Warm Fall Days

Dancer Collage

A blog reader once commented that I need to have photos in my posts; that they hate to read a long post with only text.  After I wrote this blog post, I realized that it was all text and no photos, so, I tried to find some photos I still have in my phone to create a collage, since I didn't take any new photos, today (well, I took one, but, that is for later!)

We are having a mini heatwave with highs in the mid 90s(F), yesterday and today.  Warmer temperatures are in the forecast for early next week.  Needless to say, I am loving it!

Yesterday (Friday) started with a phone call from my half-sister.  It was mid-morning when she called, but, I was still waking up, having gone to sleep after 4:00 a.m.  It was not an urgent, emergency type of call, just checking to see how I was doing, so I let it go to the answering machine.  I called her back later in the afternoon and it was my turn to leave a message on her answering machine!

In the afternoon, I went to pick up my groceries.  I used the key to open the car door (the remote didn't work) and the car started without any problem.  I drove to the grocery store and my favorite store worker, Jennifer saw me pull in to the special parking spots they have set aside for curbside pick up.  I guess she was helping another customer.  I didn't see her and started to call the store to notify them that I was there when she called out that she'll be with me in a minute!  I didn't even complete the call to the store!  Jennifer brought the groceries to me and told me that it was lovely to see me (her words), and that she feels happy when she sees my name on the order when it comes in because she knows she'll get to see one of her favorite customers!  Now isn't that lovely?  I told her it was great to see her, too; she is so bubbly and exuberant.  No discounts, this time around, but, I wasn't expecting one and I was happy that I received all the items I had ordered.

After I came home and put the groceries away, I called friend R to see if she was home because I wanted to take a piece of cake over to her.  I asked her if she wanted anything else and she asked for some curry leaves and lemons.  Just before I left the house to take the cake and other items to R, I just tried my car key remote to see if it would work and, guess what?  It worked!  I guess being in the ignition while I drove to the grocery store and back (and the short wait at the store parking lot when I had the car engine idling while I waited), must have recharged the battery?  I had wondered if that would do it and I guess it did!  

Friend R lives about a 15-20 minutes drive away; I stayed in the car (masked) while I handed the bag with the container of cake, the curry leaves, and lemons to R (who was also masked) through the open car window; the engine was running during our less than 5 minutes visit.  Then, I drove home and yes, locked the car doors with the now functioning key fob!  I will be making it a point to not only start the car for a few minutes every few days, but, to drive it around for a little bit, too.  

Later in the evening, M arrived to tend to the garden and he enjoyed a slice of cake, too.  He put away the window a/c unit that we had taken down earlier in the month when we had that rain shower; he had left it in the family room in case I wanted it up, again, but, I don't think it will get warm enough for that (even if we are supposed to go up to 100F next week).  So, the a/c unit is now back in the garage, waiting to be called into service again, next summer.

Still later, I cooked one of the trays of chicken thighs I had bought.  I made a curry with it and once it had cooled, I portioned it (two pieces per package) and froze it.  There were 10 chicken thighs in the package and now, there are 5 packages of frozen chicken curry in the freezer.  I am planning to do the same with the second pack of chicken thighs (I kept it to marinate in the fridge and am cooking it, tonight).  I guess you could say this is my version of batch cooking!

My daughter had another migraine headache, yesterday.  She was fine in the morning, but, the headache started in the afternoon and she had to take the afternoon off from work.  She took the Excedrin for migraine that her doctor had told her to take and the headache eventually wore off, but, she was still feeling a bit heavy-headed this morning, she said.  However, she felt better in the afternoon and did her grocery shopping and bought her monthly bus pass, etc.  Chicken has been priced at $2.89/lb. in her area and she had been holding off on buying any; but, today, she found some drumsticks for $1.99/lb. and bought a small pack of them, she said.  I am thinking that I will buy another tray of chicken when it goes on sale for $.99/lb. next (if it does), closer to daughter's next planned visit home (for Thanksgiving) and cook and freeze it for her to take back with her!  

Today (Saturday) has been a relatively relaxed day.  I guess yesterday's activities wore me out!  LOL!

I am grateful for:
- My daughter is feeling better after her migraine
- Driving around for a bit seems to have recharged my key fob battery!
- Being able to order groceries online and pick up, curbside
- A short visit with friend R
- M helping me with the garden and taking the a/c unit to the garage

Joyful activities have included in-person chats with Jennifer, friend R, and gardener M!  

How is your weekend coming along?