Sunny on Sunday

Banana Nut Muffins

Thank you, everyone, for the very kind comments about the garden.  I'm hopeful that the little fruit trees will grow and produce well.

Today (Sunday) was a sunny day, but, cooler than it had been on Saturday.  Even a longer than usual hot shower didn't warm me up, so, I kept the heater on.  

I had another rather relaxed day.  I started the car since it hadn't been driven all week, picked a few more snow peas, called and wished my half-sister for her birthday, watched a few online videos on a variety of topics (ancient Christianity, the rising prices of groceries in different stores, some cooking videos, etc.) and continued to repair the quilt.  

Later in the evening, I took the last two bananas that had turned quite brown and made a batch of banana walnut muffins.  While they were baking, I did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen counters.  As I mentioned to one of my friends, one of the problems with brining in a bunch of lettuce from the garden is creepy crawlies sometimes hitch a ride and come into the kitchen along with the lettuce!  Although I wash the leaves carefully, first soaking them in a bowl of water and then, rinsing them in a mixture of vinegar and water, sometimes a creepy crawly will, you guessed it, creep and crawl out!  I didn't notice it, on Saturday, but, today, I suddenly noticed an earwig (the insect, not a song that you keep hearing over and over in your head) crawling on my kitchen counter!  By the time I went to get a piece of paper towel to gather the insect and take it outside, it had crawled into the crevice between the counter and the stove!  Fortunately, I'm not creeped out by the sight of creepy crawlies and other such insects, but, I gave the kitchen counters a good wipe down and made sure everything was clean before I kept the muffins to cool on the wire rack!  

Brunch had been a frozen burrito (reheated in the microwave, of course).  I didn't feel like cooking a big meal for dinner, so, I made spicy sauteed chick peas from the leftover canned chick peas and had some of that for dinner, followed by two banana muffins.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Another sunny day
- Hot water on tap
- A working heater
- Chatting with family and friends
- The car started without any problem

Today's joyful activities included video chatting with my daughter and baking banana muffins.

Plans for tomorrow include the appointment with the tax accountant in the afternoon and taking the trash cans out to the end of the driveway for pick up on Tuesday morning.  I might also give the newly planted loquat seedlings a drink of water as the forecast says the expected rain won't arrive until Wednesday.  

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

Edited - a song that keeps playing in your head is an "earworm" not an earwig!  I shouldn't write blog posts at 3:00 a.m.!
 

Sunny Days and More Garden Photos

Hellebore Flowers

We are having a few sunny days before the next storm arrives on Tuesday!  I thought I'll take a few more photos of the back yard to share!  The hellebore plants is flowering, although there are fewer flowers than it had last year.

Last year, in May 2022, neighbor S gave me two loquat seedlings her aunt had given her.

Loquat Seedlings in May, 2022

Last week, M planted them in the ground for me.  We planted one on Wednesday:

Loquat Seedling - March 2023

The second one was planted on Friday:

Snowball Memorial Loquat - Planted March 2023

I'm calling it the Snowball Memorial Loquat because we planted it where we found Snowball's body.  She would appreciate it, I think, because she loved to climb trees.

Painted Lady Butterfly on Osteospermum Flower

The garden flowers are attracting butterflies; this Painted Lady obliged me by staying on the flower long enough for me to take a photo!

While I was out in the garden, I took a photo of the area behind the garage and the shed:

Looking Towards the Corner Where the Side Wall and Back Wall Meet

Looking Towards the Back Wall
(Shed is on the left)

And this is the view of the garden, looking straight ahead from the front of the shed:

Another Look At the Garden

I wanted to give an idea of what you are seeing:

The Different Trees

1 Curry Leaf Tree
2 Peach Tree
3 Orange Tree
4 Plum Tree

5 Avocado Tree

6 Nectarine Tree

7 Calamondin Tree

8 Feijoa/Pineapple Guava Tree (behind the orange tree)

You can't see the other curry leaf tree, the Asian pear tree, the Fuyu persimmon tree, the newly planted loquat seedlings, the three lemon trees, the passionfruit vine, or the blueberry bushes from this angle.  And, of course, the pomegranate tree and the second feijoa/pineapple guava tree are in the front and side.  

After touring the garden, I picked another bunch of lettuce for my brunch:

Garden Lettuce

Friday, I had salad for brunch (garden lettuce, grapes, the last of the cucumber, bottled dressing) and fried rice (leftover rice, the last of the Spam, snow pea pods, cashews) for dinner.  I picked more snow peas, too, and shared them with M.

Saturday, I had salad for brunch (garden lettuce and canned chick peas/garbanzo beans, bottled dressing) and a cheeseburger for dinner (hamburger patty from the freezer, bread ends for the bun, slice of cheese, ketchup, and more of the lettuce from the garden).

I am grateful for:

- Sunny days with slightly warmer temperatures
- Garden flowers
- M tending to the garden for me
- Garden produce
- Working appliances

Joyful activities have included enjoying the sunshine and being in the garden.

How is your weekend coming along?  Hope you are all enjoying some sunny days.

Cloudy Thursday

Dinner: Rice, Chicken Curry, Cucumber Slices

It was cloudy, today, but it was dry and, occasionally, the sun shone through the clouds.  The daytime high was 56F, which is rather cool for us.  I have to admit that I had the heater on all day.

Speaking of the heater, I received my natural gas bill, today: $222.95.  I had hoped to keep it to $200, but, the last few days have been cold and I've had the heating on.  I am OK with a $223 gas bill during a winter month, though.

It has been a relaxed day, today.  I did a load of laundry,  did a few (very few) housekeeping tasks, sewed another patch or two on the quilt I'm repairing, chatted with friend R, video chatted with my daughter, and watched several videos.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- A dry day
-Working appliances
- Being able to have a relaxed day when I feel like it
- Chatting with friends and video chatting with my daughter
- A warm house

Today's joyful activities have included watching videos online.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a mostly sunny day.  I'm looking forward to that!  M will be here in the evening to tend to the garden and we might plant the other loquat seedling, then.

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

Rainy Wednesday

Nectarine Flowers

It was partly cloudy this morning, but, there was some sunshine, when I woke up.  M texted me the weather forecast which said 50% chance of rain and asked if I had anything I needed done inside.  I said I didn't have anything that needed doing inside, but, it was sunny at the moment, and left it up to him to decide.  Afterwards, I opened the windows to air the house and went outside to walk for 15 minutes.

I was just finishing up my walk when M arrived and with him, the rain!  LOL!  It was mostly a light drizzle, but, it would pick up, occasionally.  He decided it wasn't too bad and I joined him in the garden, picking another handful of snow peas and checking on the plants.  Today, M pruned some of the Euphorbia tirucalli plants I have growing in the side yard (I had planted them opposite the windows to provide a bit of privacy. but, I didn't want the branches going over the wall into the neighbor's side), planted one of the two loquat seedlings that neighbor S had given me last year, and did a bit of weeding.  I also had him empty the buckets of rainwater I had collected into the blue recycling bin for storage (the plan is to collect more rainwater in the emptied buckets during the next rain storm, due next week) and we found out that we can't fill the bin above a certain level because there is a metal handle like thing on the outside of the bin, about one third of the way up the bin. and the water leaks from the two ends where that handle has been inserted into the bin.  The excess water drained out but, that's OK.  I now have a few gallons of water stored in the blue recycling bin!  

Then, it began to rain in earnest and I told him to go home and I went inside.  The rain ceased, eventually, and we are supposed to have mostly sunny weather until next Tuesday when the next rain storm is expected to arrive. 

I didn't realize until later in the evening, when I was watching news, that we had a small tornado touch down, this morning, in a nearby city, close to downtown Los Angeles!  

Oh, and by the way, M's repairs to the garage roof didn't hold up under this week's rain and winds.  Some of the shingles had blown off and I found them on the driveway, this morning!

After M left, I had my brunch.  I wanted something warming after being outside, so made myself a packet of ramen noodles.

Ramen noodles were on my mind, partly because I had commented on another blog, yesterday, and mentioned ramen noodles.  Pensive Pensioner at Small Treasures had asked if one can eat on 50 (British) pence for one day (she had seen the challenge on another blog).  She had been able to buy a 200g can of baked beans for 21p, a loose baking potato (70p for a kilo) for 14p, and a small banana for 12p; those three items came to 47p.  According to the rate of exchange, yesterday, one British pound was equal to US $1.22, so 50p would be the equivalent of $0.61.

I checked the prices online at the grocery store I have been using for my groceries since the pandemic first started, and I found out that $0.61 didn't go far!  The smallest can of baked beans at my store was 8.3 oz. (235g) for $1.99!  Loose baking potatoes are $.99/lb. (and they tend to be rather large), and bananas are $.65/lb.  Ramen noodles and instant cup noodles were $.50 each and I might have been able to find a tiny carrot ($.99/lb.) for the remaining $.11 to grate into the soup.  Or, I could have bought a single bread roll for $.33 and perhaps found a small banana for the remaining $.28.  I thought I would have got most food for the money with the ramen noodles and I'd have to have half for brunch and half for dinner!  That would have been a most frugal meal!  As I mentioned to her, I guess our food prices here are higher than UK food prices (or, at least, the food prices at the store from which I order my groceries are higher; the ethnic store might have had lower prices, but, I don't shop there, anymore, because they don't offer pick up services).  

But, as you can see, I had ramen noodles on my mind!  LOL.

After brunch, I made a birthday card and mailed it.  Then, I watched a couple of videos while I continued to repair the quilt.  I also mended one of my knitted wool socks - I had previously darned the heel but, this time, it was the area just below the toes!  

In the evening, neighbor S called me to ask if I'd like to have some burek (made with phyllo dough, spinach, and cheese), some of the brown Armenian bread that I had liked earlier, and some candy!  Of course, I said I'd love to have some!  A few minutes later, she brought me some delicious food (and chocolates!):

Dinner and Dessert Compliments of Neighbor S

I ate a slice of the bread with a little butter while I warmed up the spinach and cheese burek which was very tasty.  Afterwards, I ate one or two of the chocolates!  

Today, I am grateful for:
- Neighbor S sharing her delicious food with me
- M's help with the garden
- A working heater (yes, I switched it on this evening)
- I don't have to manage on $.61 for meals a day
- There were no tornados in my area

Today's joyful activity was planting one of the loquat seedlings.  It replaced the loquat tree which died a few years ago.  My little orchard continues to grow!

Thursday is supposed to be a mostly dry day.  I don't have any specific plans for the day, other than more quilt repairs and maybe some housekeeping.

How was your Wednesday?  What are your plans for Thursday?  Could you manage a day's meals with 50 British pence or US$.61?
 

Rainy Days

Tuesday Dinner: Baked (Frozen) Fish Fillets, Savory Rice, Snow Peas

It rained on Monday morning, but ceased for a while in the afternoon.  It was cloudy, but, warmed up to 63F in the late afternoon, and I aired out the house.  I had a fairly productive day; I put away the laundry I had done, earlier, ran the dishwasher and washed a few other dishes by hand, cleaned the litter box and swept the bathroom, took the trash can to the end of the driveway, picked more snow peas (you can see them in the photo above) and lettuce from the garden, and did my meal plan for the week.  In the evening I had a long phone chat with my aunt C, chatted a bit with friend R, exchanged emails with a couple of friends, and video chatted with my daughter.  It started to rain again, in the evening, and it rained practically all night.

It was still raining when I woke up this morning!  Quite heavily at times, but, it stopped for a couple of hours in the afternoon before it started to rain again!  During the break in the rain, I went outside to bring in the trash can and to check on the garden.

I had scheduled an appointment with my tax accountant for this afternoon, and, at first, when I heard that there would be quite a bit of rain today, my first instinct was to call and ask to reschedule the appointment.  Yes, it is a very southern California thing to do.  Rain puts a halt on everything!  But, I decided that I would brave the weather and keep the appointment as rescheduling might be difficult.  I need not have worried.  My tax accountant emailed me in the morning asking me to cancel the appointment and reschedule it...due to the rain!  She said she didn't want me to get sick, getting exposed to the rain!  LOL.  She also said that both the IRS and State of California has extended the tax filing deadline until October 16, for residents and businesses located in certain counties in California which have been declared natural disaster areas due to the recent storms and Los Angeles County is one such area.  I emailed her back saying I'd be happy to reschedule, but, I would like to get the taxes filed before the regular April deadline.  So, we rescheduled it for Monday, March 27, which is supposed to be a sunny day before the next storm arrives on Tuesday, March 28!  

As a result, I didn't have to go out in the rain! 

I spent the afternoon repairing the quilt and watching some videos (some frugal living videos, a visit to Amsterdam, an episode of a news program I missed watching, etc.)  Afterwards, I watched news and a program on the public television channel about cats.  

I had some toast with jam in the morning for breakfast, today, and a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch.  Dinner was baked fish fillets using frozen, battered fish fillets I have in the freezer, some rice I cooked with a little vegetable stock powder, and the snow peas I picked, yesterday.  I put some Sri Lankan bottled chili sauce on the fish fillets.  Sliced apple for dessert.  I have some of the rice, left over.   It's only the second day, I know, but, I'm keeping to this week's meal plan, so far!  LOL.

Daughter's internet connection has been down all evening, so we said our goodnights over the phone, today.

Today, I am grateful for:

- More rain!
- Being able to reschedule the tax appointment
- Not having to drive in the rain (several intersections in my neighborhood get flooded when it rains)
- Working appliances
- Internet access, electricity, etc.

Joyful activities during these rainy days have included chatting with family and friends and watching online videos.

Plans for Wednesday include tending to the garden with M if the rain permits, more quilt repairs, and some card making.  

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

 

March Meal Plans: Week 3 Review and Week 4 Plan

This was the plan for Week 3, which I started with a lot of leftovers and some chicken that needed to be cooked and frozen:

Breakfasts/Brunches: Scrambled egg and toast or fried potatoes; ham & split pea soup with biscuits(on a day when I want more of a lunch than a breakfast)✔, yogurt with cereal and fruit preserves (eaten mostly as dessert instead of brunches)✔ 

Dinners: Ham & split pea soup (on a day when I don't have it for brunch)✔, patties with ground beef filling and salad✔, smoked sausage sauteed chicken stir-fry with vegetables and rice✔, leftovers✔.  Or...I might have something quite different!  It'll depend on how much I feel like cooking, or not!  

And this is how it worked out:

Monday:
Brunch: Drop biscuits with cream cheese
Dinner: Rice, sauteed chicken, carrots & broccoli stirfry
Dessert: Yogurt with strawberry jam and cereal

Tuesday:
Brunch: Ham and split pea soup, drop biscuits with butter and golden syrup (the last of the drop biscuits)
Dinner: Patties, salad
Dessert: Yogurt with strawberry jam and cereal

Wednesday:
Brunch: Patties
Dinner: Soup & cheese crackers
Dessert: Yogurt with palm treacle

Thursday:
Brunch: Soup
Dinner: Rice, chicken, stir fried vegetables (broccoli, carrots, snow pea pods)
Dessert: Yoghurt with apple-cranberry jam and cereal

Friday:
Brunch:  Spam sandwich (yes, the canned luncheon meat! Not as good as canned corned beef, in my opinion, but half the price.)
Dinner:  Soup and salad (the last of the ham & split pea soup; shared it with M)
Dessert: Yoghurt with apple-cranberry jam and cereal

Saturday:
Brunch: Spam sandwich
Dinner: Spam fried rice (leftover rice, cubed Spam, an egg, frozen green peas)
Dessert: Chocolate wafers

Sunday:
Brunch: French toast
Dinner: Sauteed chicken, boiled new potatoes, steamed pea pods 
Dessert: Chocolate wafers, ice cream!

Snacks included grapes, homemade cheese crackers, and chocolate wafers
Beverages included homemade passionfruit lemonade and apple juice from the store

Well, that turned out quite well, I think.  I finished all the leftovers I needed to finish and nothing went to waste.  

On to Week 4!  I have some of the Spam leftover and just a little bit of the yogurt I made (which I am keeping as the starter for the next batch).  

Brunches: Frozen burrito (Monday), salads, fried rice, sauteed garbanzo beans, egg salad sandwiches, toast with cheese

Dinners:
- Breakfast for dinner (Monday; scrambled egg, fried Spam, toast)
- Smoked sausage/vegetables stir fry with rice
- Baked frozen fish fillets with rice and pea pods
- Chicken curry and rice? 
- Leftovers

That is the tentative plan for now.  I might change things as I go!  

Did you make a meal plan, last week?  Did you keep to it?  Will you be making a meal plan for this week?   

Rain on Sunday

Dinner: Sauteed Chicken, New Potatoes, and Snow Peas

Well, the forecast had been for a cloudy day, and it was that, but, it rained, too!  A light rain, but, it started late last night and went on for most of the day.  At one point, I looked out from the window and Mama Cat was seated under the curry leaf tree, flicking her ears as raindrops fell on her head!  I guess she didn't want to get up and move a few feet to be under the patio roof, even though I had put out a rug for her to sit on and a cardboard box to sleep in!  She is a feral cat although she lives in my garden.  

I made French toast for brunch, today and had the new potatoes and snow peas from the garden with a piece of sauteed chicken for dinner.  

I spent a good part of the day chatting with friends and one of my cousins.  In between, I continued to repair the quilt and watched some videos.  It was a very relaxed day and I had the heater on because I felt cold.

Today, I was grateful for:

- More rain for the garden!
- A working heater
- Chats with family and friends
- Being able to watch videos online
- A relaxed day

Today's joyful activities included chatting with family and friends and relaxing!  

Plans for tomorrow include some housekeeping activities and making a birthday card for my half-sister.  

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