Sunny Sunday

Today was mostly sunny, with clear blue skies, until late afternoon when the clouds moved in.  There is rain in the forecast for tomorrow.

Cousin P called me in the morning and asked me if I could come over for a minute, so, I masked up and walked over (she lives two houses down across the street from me).  I wore one of the dresses she had given me so she could see how well it fitted me.  The reason why she called me over was to give me another bag of clothes with a shirt, a sweatshirt, and a sweater!  I think they will be good for my daughter.  Now it is my turn to go through my closet and see what I can set aside to donate, to make room for the new additions to the closet! 

Neighbor T called in the early afternoon and we chatted for a bit.  Afterwards, I went out into the back garden and did a bit of weeding.  The ground was nice and soft after the rain so it was easy to pull up the weeds.  

Today's Harvest 

I picked two oranges and four radishes from the garden, today.  I have three or four more radish plants still in the ground and that will be the end of the radish harvest, unless I buy more seeds and plant them (these plants are from seeds that M shared with me).  Since I saute the leaves to be eaten as greens, the whole plant gets eaten and there is no waste.

Speaking of food...last night, before I went to bed, I put mung beans to soak and, this morning, I boiled them for our brunch. For dinner, I cooked the rest of the packet of rice noodles that I had.  I had some of the rice noodles with leftover Thai Green Curry soup and my daughter had rice noodles with leftover roast beef and vegetables.  I need to see what I have in the freezer and come up with a list of meal plan possibilities for next week.  

In the evening, neighbor S's daughter N brought us three boxes of cornbread mix!  Apparently, one of her cousins had ordered more than was needed and gave her some of the extras; she had texted my daughter to ask if we would like to have some.  We offered to pay for them, but, she declined.  Daughter gave her some of the flourless oatmeal peanut butter cookies she had made, in return.

Later in the evening, I practiced the piano and then, chatted with friend R.

Today, I am grateful for:

- A sunny day

- Today's garden harvest

- More clothes from my cousin

- Neighbors sharing the cornbread mixes

- Receiving a card from my oldest half-brother

Today's joyful act was harvesting some fruits and vegetables from the garden!

It's time to start posting my regular To Do lists, again, I think! 

Monday's To Do List:

- Dust: living room, family room & dining area

- Clean the fridge

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

- Piano practice

- Laundry - handwash wool sweaters

How was your weekend?  What are your plans for Monday and the week ahead?

   

Rainy Saturday!

 

Flourless Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

With Raisins (for me)

The rains arrived late last night and it has continued to rain all day, today!  A much needed, slow, steady rain that is good for the garden as the ground has time to absorb it.  

It has been a bit cold, too, and I have had the heater on, all day!  I am SO thankful to have a working heater and the hot water heater was repaired, too!  Just in time!

Earlier in the week, it might have been on Thursday, cousin P blessed me with a bag of clothes.  She had been going through her closet and had set aside some blouses (some with the tags still on!) and dresses for me.  Today, my daughter and I tried them on.  They fitted both of us, although some looked better on her than they did on me!  I kept two of the dresses and a couple of the blouses for myself and gave the rest to my daughter.  She will keep them in her closet, here, so I could borrow them if I want to!  LOL!

Today, my daughter offered to help me go through and organize my dresser drawers, as an act of service.  The majority of the dresser drawers are well organized (in my opinion), but, there were two smaller drawers that had become more like junk drawers that I kept saying I needed to organize but hadn't!  Well, today, my daughter sorted through them and helped me to declutter and organize them.  She did most of the work, just asking me questions - keep? donate? toss?  Some items were relocated to better homes - tape measures went to my sewing basket, spare buttons went to my button box, some craft items to the craft supplies drawer, etc.

Things that had survived a prior decluttering session were decluttered this time around - a few pieces of costume jewelry (she took a few items for herself and put aside some bits and pieces that needed repairs), some sentimental items I had kept from her childhood, and some old letters, etc.  At one point, however, I started to cry when I found something my mother had written; I kept that, as well as the eulogy my daughter, then aged 12, had written to read at my mother's funeral.  I let her toss her karate patches and medals that I had saved for her (there's another box in the closet with all her karate belts), but, I kept her first pair of ballet slippers, bought when she was 5 years old!  

It took us about one hour to go through the two drawers.  I now have a small stack of old photographs and souvenirs to scrapbook and an empty drawer!  I think I might go through the top of the dresser, tomorrow; I think I'd be able to store some of the items in the now empty drawer and clear up the dresser top!  

Later in the afternoon, I did two loads of laundry.

Daughter requested French toast for brunch, today, which I made.  I had a bowl of her Thai Green Curry soup and an apple for dinner and she had the rest of the Hawaiian chicken with rice for her dinner.  For dessert, she baked the flourless oatmeal peanut butter cookies!  She added raisins to a portion of the dough for me, because she doesn't like raisins.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- The rain!

- A working heater and other appliances

- Clothes from my cousin

- My daughter's help with organizing my dresser drawers

- Cookies still warm from the oven!

Today's joyful act was having daughter help me with organizing the dresser drawers!  

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

Friday

Knitted Hats

Today, I had my oncologist appointment in the early afternoon.  I took the eight hats I had knitted since my last visit, which had been in October to give the cancer center to be given to anyone who might want one.  The appointment went well.  The lab results were mostly good and the cancer indicators were within normal range.  Most importantly, the recent mammogram and ultrasound results were normal!  I was so happy to hear that!  An answered prayer!  I had been worried when I was told a repeat mammogram was required.  I received my injection for osteoporosis (given every 6 months) and my next appointment, which will be in April.  

When I came home, the letter from the radiology clinic with the mammogram results was in the mail box!

I had eaten a frozen burrito for brunch before I left for my appointment.  After I came home, I had a bowl of the Thai Green Curry soup.  Later, I had some cheese and crackers with my evening cup of tea.

In the evening, M came to tend to the garden.  We are expecting some rain over the next couple of days and he moved some potted plants to where they could get rained on and did some tidying.  Clouds have been gathering all day, but, so far (typing this at 11:20 p.m.), no rain, yet.

Daughter prepared Hawaiian Chicken for dinner, tonight:

Hawaiian Chicken with Vegetables

I added some sliced carrots, broccoli stems, and canned pineapple chunks to the sauce and prepared a cucumber salad to go with it.  We had it served over rice:

My Dinner

Dinner was delicious!  I really like the sauce daughter prepared for the chicken - she mixed it up as a marinade and kept the chicken to marinate overnight; once cooked, the marinade turned into the sauce.  

I had some of the canned pineapple chunks for dessert.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Good mammogram and blood test results

- A safe drive to the clinic and back

- Health insurance

- Daughter cooking dinner

- M tending to the garden

- Answered prayers

Today's joyful activity was donating the knitted hats to the cancer clinic.

Plans for tomorrow include doing a load of laundry and some paperwork.

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

Yesterday and Today (Wednesday and Thursday)

On Tuesday, the Gas Company sent out a technician to service the heater and he was able to relight the pilot light for me.  

On Wednesday, I discovered that I didn't have any hot water!  The water heater pilot light had gone off!  I didn't make the discovery until after I had watched the inauguration and some of the coverage of the events that took place immediately afterwards.  I checked the water heater in the afternoon and there was a red indicator light that was blinking at a fairly rapid pace (the indicator light is blue when the water heater is running well).  There is a panel of trouble shooting instructions on the front of the water heater, which stated that if the red light blinked 3 times a second, it meant X, if it blinked 5 times, it meant Y, if it blinked 7 times, it meant Z, etc.  Well, I really couldn't tell how often it blinked, but, it was blinking fairly rapidly.

I called neighbor E and left him a message, then, went about the rest of my day, putting water to the front garden (couldn't water, at all, on Tuesday because it was so windy - at least, that's my excuse!) and chatting on the phone with a friend from my university days.

Neighbor E came over a little later in the evening and took a look at the water heater.  He said the pilot light wouldn't stay on and there might be something wrong with the gas valve.  It was not something he was able to fix, however.  

So, this morning, I called the Gas Company, once, again, and asked for another appliance service!  Again, they sent out a technician an hour or so later.  He checked it out, told me the red light was blinking 7 times a second, which meant that the gas valve control panel needed to be replaced.  But, it was not something he could do and I would need to get a plumber to attend to it.  He filled out a form indicating what he checked and what needed to be done.

After that, I called the same company who had replaced the water pressure regulator when the water heater was leaking, back in 2018.  They were the plumbing company that the water heater manufacturer had referred to me.  I called and left a message and, in the process, discovered they needed the model and serial numbers which were on the heater; so, I rang off and went to check the numbers.  While I was doing that, they called me back and left a message!  Then, I called back and left another message!  But, they called back a few minutes later and we were able to connect!  I gave the model and serial number and said I needed the gas valve control panel replaced.  The person I spoke with asked what made me think that was the problem and I told her that that was what the Gas Company technician had written down on the problem diagnosis form (there was a form number which I also gave) and read it out to her.  She said they had a service truck in my neighborhood and the repairperson would be able to check it out, sometime today (but, she couldn't tell me when).  

The repair person actually showed up within the hour!  I showed him the form the Gas Company technician had given me and he took a look, himself, and replaced the part.  It was a flat, round thing at the bottom of the water heater.  On the work order statement copy he gave me, he wrote that he replaced the valve control panel and readjusted the gas pressure which had been too high.  The work is guaranteed for 30 days, I was told.  The whole job took him less than 15 minutes and the bill came to $98, which I thought was reasonable.  Having hot water on tap is a luxury and something we often take for granted!

In between waiting for the water heater to be fixed, I watered the back garden, did some paperwork (bill paying, filing, etc.), and confirmed my oncologist appointment for tomorrow (and answered their Covid-related questions).  

Neighbor S called me around noon and offered to bring me a plate of chicken and rice her daughter had cooked; she included two chocolates for dessert:

Chicken and Rice

Daughter and I enjoyed it with some vegetables I had cooked previously for our lunch.

Later in the evening, daughter cooked a Thai Green Curry soup with chicken, vegetables, rice noodles, and coconut milk for dinner:

Thai Green Curry Soup

I didn't serve a lot of the broth into my bowl, but, later, I took another serving of mostly the broth.  

Then, daughter texted neighbor S's daughter N and it was our turn to share some food with them!  

Later in the evening, I washed the hats I had knitted to donate to the cancer center.  I will take them with me when I go, tomorrow.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Hot water on tap!

- The gas company sending a technician so promptly

- The plumbing company sending a repairman so quickly, as well

- Neighbor S bringing over lunch

- Working appliances!

Today's joyful activity was getting the hot water heater repaired!

Plans for tomorrow include going to my doctor's appointment and having M tend to the garden.  

How was your day, today?  What are your plans for Friday?

Windy Tuesday

Last night, I put another knitted blanket on my bed for extra warmth and slept very well (daughter had a small space heater on in her room).  The house registered 64F when I woke up, this morning, which is not horrible.  Of course, you all know that I prefer the house to be at least 70F.

This morning, even before I had drunk my morning cup of tea, I called the gas company and explained about the heater going off.  They asked a series of Covid-related questions, which I appreciated very much, because, according to our latest numbers, one in every three people in Los Angeles county is testing positive for Covid and, last week, there was one Covid-related death every 6 minutes in the the county; the more people taking precautions the better, in my opinion!  They promised to send someone over today.  They couldn't give me a time, but, assured me that it was on today's list of service calls.  I verified that the technician will be wearing a mask and assured them that we will be masked up, too.

Approximately one hour later, one of their service technicians showed up!  He checked the heater (a 15 point check, he said), found everything to be fine, the heater was venting properly and no gas leaks were detected, and relit the pilot light.  He was a bit concerned about some soot marks on the wall on either side of the heater and asked me about them, but, I told him that they had been there for at least a couple of years.  He said that it was an indication that there had been some earlier problems, but, everything seemed fine, now.  He urged me to get a carbon monoxide detector and also to call for an annual service check, in the fall, that a technician will come out and make sure everything is fine before the winter heating season began.  I shall definitely do that.  There was no charge for the service call, which was an added bonus! 

It has been a windy day, with gusts of strong winds blowing from time to time.  Today's daytime highs are supposed to be in the mid to upper 60s, which is about the normal temperatures for this time of the year for us.  Last week's 80s were unusual.     

I made uppuma (or upma) for breakfast, which is made with semolina.  Then, I brought in the trash cans from the curb (trash was collected this morning), practiced the piano, and did a load of laundry (the dust sheets from the family room sofas - I call them kitty fur protectors!) 

It is afternoon as I write this.  Plans for the rest of the day include watering the houseplants (garden might have to wait until tomorrow when it might be less windy), doing some paperwork, watching a little news, and piano lesson in the evening.

Today, I am grateful for:

- The gas company technician's visit

- A working heater

- The heater didn't need to be replaced

- No charge for the service call

- Weekly trash collection services

Today's joyful activity was getting the heater to work again!

How is your day progressing?

Monday

Last night, I was tired and went to bed at 10:30 p.m.!  Not only that, I even fell asleep almost right away!  Practically unheard of for me!  I woke up a couple of times in the night, especially since daughter was awake and moving around, but, I fell asleep, each time.  I woke up when the alarm went off at 8:00 a.m., but, I could have slept a little longer if I didn't have to get up.  However, I had an appointment at 9:15 a.m. for my blood test, so, I got up, got dressed, had a cup of hot water because I needed to be fasting for the blood test, and drove to my appointment.

I got to the lab a few minutes before my appointment time and there were about four other people in the waiting room, but, I was called in right on time.  After the blood was drawn, I came home and had breakfast - a slice of toast with slices of cold roast beef and a second slice of toast with butter and some of my homemade apricot jam.  Daughter made herself a smoothie with a frozen banana, tangerines, and an apple and shared some of it with me.  

Then, I did a little weeding, looked for more sweet potatoes (didn't find any), added the kitchen compost items to the compost pile, and spent a little time sitting in the garden while I finished another knitted hat.  

In the afternoon, daughter helped me with tidying up the family room.  I sorted through the last box of Christmas stuff (crafts supplies, for the most part) and repacked it; it is ready to go back to the garage to wait until needed.  Daughter broke down several cardboard boxes for me and I spread them in the side yard.  Then, I did three loads of laundry and remade our beds with clean sheets.  

Later, I cut up and cooked green beans and we had rice, chicken curry, and green beans for dinner.  

In the evening, the heater quit working!  We think the pilot light has gone off (it is a gas heater).  But, we don't want to try and relight the pilot light because daughter thought she had smelled gas, earlier.  I shall call the gas company, tomorrow, and see if they can send someone out to take a look at it.  Fortunately, we've been having some nice warm weather, lately.  It is supposed to be colder, tomorrow (highs in the mid 60s), but, we have two small electric space heaters and plenty of quilts for the beds.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Health insurance

- The blood test appointment went well

- Another productive day

- Daughter helping with the tidying

- The washer and dryer

Today's joyful activity was finishing another knitted hat.

Tuesday's To Do List:

- Call the gas company

- Paperwork

- Water the garden and houseplants

- Bring the trash cans in

- Piano lesson

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

Sunday

Peach Flowers (with orange tree in background and feijoa tree behind it)

The unusually warm days have tricked the peach tree into thinking it is spring and it has started flowering and even leafing out!  

Flowers and Buds

I just hope the colder weather in the forecast (there is a frost warning for the nights) won't damage the flowers!  I am hoping for another plentiful supply of peaches, this year, too!

Today has been another warm, sunny day.  I was woken up by a kitty batting at my nose!  His strategy worked and I got up from a dream in which I had returned to work because I was bored with being retired!  LOL.

I finished dusting the living room, today, and returned the blue and white china to the fireplace shelves.  I also picked some fresh flowers for the altars and made a small arrangement for the mantel:

Winter Flower Arrangement: Paperwhites, Pine Branch, and Rosemary Sprigs

When I was out in the garden, I noticed something near the sweet potato vine - it was the top of a sweet potato!  I dug around it with my fingers and found, not just one, but, two sweet potatoes!

Sweet Potato Harvest!

With my hand for size comparisons

I looked to see if there were more, but, I couldn't find more and I didn't want to pull up the vines as they are still growing.  I plan to root the tops of these two, as well as the two that we bought from the grocery store, and plant them.  Maybe I should have M make a proper planting bed for them!  

Today, my daughter made tamagoyaki (a Japanese rolled omelet) and a fresh fruit salad with apples, tangerines, blueberries, and pomegranate, for brunch.  She had rice and some of the chicken stir fry as well with hers; I had the rice and chicken stir fry a couple of hours later, for my lunch.  I am not making a formal meal plan for this week, but, we have a little bit of the chicken stir fry left, some chicken curry, a couple of hamburger patties, and most of the roast beef that I made, last week (I really should slice and freeze some of it for another time).  I might have to cook some vegetables to go with them, but, we will finish up the leftovers before we cook something else for meals, this week.  

In the afternoon, neighbor T called and we chatted a little bit.  Later, I vacuumed the family room and daughter put second sofa back in its usual place under the window, to make an L-shaped seating arrangement (I had moved the second sofa to face the other sofa to make room for the Christmas tree in front of the window).  The room needs to be tidied a bit, but, I am keeping that for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I have an appointment to do a blood test in the morning.  Plans for the rest of the day include tidying the family room and maybe doing a load or two of laundry.  The front garden should be watered, too.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Sweet potatoes from the garden!

- Fresh flowers from the garden

- Daughter making brunch

- A working vacuum cleaner

- A sunny, warm day

Today's joyful activities included harvesting sweet potatoes and picking flowers from the garden.

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