Starting April

Jasmine Flowers

The jasmine vine is flowering!  I have written about this plant before, but, it is an offshoot of a plant my mother planted in the front garden, which had to be relocated to the back yard when I had to replace the main water pipe bringing water to the house from the mains.  My mother wasn't happy about having to move the plant to the back, but, it did well there until it died during one of the multi-year droughts we've had (fortunately, it happened after my mother had died).  I was sad that the plant died, but, with the on-going drought, I didn't want to replace it.  However, a couple of years later, after a very wet winter like the one we've just had, I found a small jasmine vine growing near where the old plant had been growing in the back yard and M potted it up for me and we eventually planted it in the front and trained it to grow up one of the trellises. Since then, every time it flowers, it makes me feel happy!  

Yesterday (Saturday) was the first of April.  We have completed the first quarter of this year and have started on the second quarter!  Can you believe it?  As usual, I prepared milkrice for the first meal of the month (along with mackerel curry; I didn't make any seeni sambol because there was some purchased seeni sambol in a jar that needed to be finished).  I also picked three bunches of jasmine flowers to place at the altars and on the mantlepiece.  The house is pleasantly scented by their fragrance.  Later in the night, I tidied and cleaned the house.

Today (Sunday), my daughter's friend A (who made the cinnamon rolls, earlier) brought me some cornbread that she had made:

Cornbread from Daughter's Friend A

She was returning the container in which I had given her chicken curry (when she brought the cinnamon rolls) and collecting the baking dish the cinnamon rolls came in.  I served her a container of milkrice and a small bag of snow peas to take back with her.  My daughter is very amused that I am now exchanging food with one of her friends.  I had a piece of cornbread for my brunch.

In the afternoon, I changed the dust sheets on the family room sofas and did a load of laundry.  The washing machine's light came on indicating that it needed cleaning, so I ran the cleaning cycle.  I will do do another load of laundry tomorrow.  I also did a little cleaning in the kitchen, scrubbing under the stove burners, etc. 

This weekend, I'm grateful for:
- Sunny days
- The jasmine vine is flowering
- Receiving cornbread from daughter's friend A
- Working appliances
- Chatting with friends and family

Joyful activities have included watching videos, harvesting pea pods and lettuce from the garden, and video chatting with my daughter.

Lettuce from the Garden
(the edges of the leaves are bronze colored)

Plans for tomorrow include doing another load of laundry and tidying the family room.

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

WPSH - Final Selections

Eileen at A Bracelet of Days hosted the Winter Photo Scavenger Hunt, which ran from December 1 to March 31.  There was a list of 20 items and 3 alternatives to find.  These are my final selections for this scavenger hunt (some of which have already appeared in the WPSH 1st link up and some which did double duty and appeared in the March Monthly Photo Challenge, as well).

#1 Seeing Faces Everywhere: I struggled with this prompt, which surprised me because I am someone who often sees faces when I look at various things. 

#1 Seeing Faces Everywhere: Sri Lankan Demon Masks

#2 An Essential Item:  We get two for the price of one, here!  My eye glasses resting on top of my laptop which is fast becoming an essential item!  

#2 An Essential Item: My Eye Glasses resting on the laptop

#3 Shadows:

#3 Shadows

#4 A Sporting Life:  The Superbowl - one of the biggest sporting events in this country 

#4 A Sporting Life: The Superbowl

#5 A Peek Inside - Peeking inside a broccoli plant to see the broccoli head forming!

#5 A Peek Inside: A Broccoli Plant

#6 A Religious Item or Building: The Stupa (a structure enclosing relics) 

#6 A Religious Item or Building: The Stupa at the Temple

#7 Water: A puddle of water in my driveway (thanks to the rain!)

#7 Water: A Puddle of Water in my Driveway

#8 Upside Down: Another one I struggled with.

# 8 Upside-down

#9 Wildlife:  Urban wildlife in my garden!  One of the visiting raccoons.

#9 Wildlife: Raccoon

#10 Winter Berries:  I was unable to find any ripe berries to photograph, so, these still green baby blueberries will have to do:

#10 Winter Berries: Baby Blueberries 

#11 Hand or Foot:  I took a couple of photos for this prompt, including the hands on the clock and my hand, but, this photo of a foot was my final choice; just look at those impressive claws!

#11 Hand or Foot:  How About a Hind Paw?

#12 This Season:  Winter and Christmas

#12 This Season: Winter/Christmas

#13 Point/Pointed:  I guess I could have gone with the upside down arrows for this, but, how could I resist these pointy ears?

#13 Point/Pointed: Purrfectly Pointy Ears

#14 Keeping Warm:  Dancer says the best way to keep warm is to take a nap in the sunshine in front of the heater!

#14 Keeping Warm - Dancer Shows How He Keeps Warm

#15 The Oldest Thing You Own:  This carved wooden elephant is supposed to have come from my father's childhood home and he is supposed to have sat on it as a child.  I don't know how true that is, but, the poor elephant is certainly old and battered, having lost his tail and one of his tusks (the other tusk fell out, but, I have it and keep meaning to glue it back in) and the lacquered finish peeling off.

#15 The Oldest Thing You Own: My Father's Elephant

#16 Signs of Spring:  Spring flowering bulbs (paperwhites) and peach blossoms (I really couldn't decide on just one).

 

#16 Signs of Spring 1: Paperwhites

#16 Signs of Spring 2: Peach Blossoms

#17 Tree Bark:  I had taken at least four pictures of tree bark from four different trees, but, the eucalyptus tree is my final selection.

#17 Tree Bark: The Eucalyptus Tree Bark

#18 Something Round: 

#18 Something Round: A Glass Bauble

 #19 Something Red: I selected the red rose with the raindrops.

#19 Something Red: Red Rose with Raindrops

#20 Something You Can See Through:

#20 Something You Can See Through: Peephole

Alt A: A Christmas Decoration

Alt A: A Christmas Decoration

Alt B: Winter Sun

Alt B: Winter Sun

Alt C: Free Choice - I chose a photo of a sunset I took in early December:

Alt C: December Sunset

Thank you, Eileen, for hosting the WPSH.  I had fun participating.  

Monthly Photo Challenge: March

The theme for March's monthly photo challenge, hosted by Eileen, is  Beginning with M. 

These are the photos I took:

The Month of March

Month of March

Meal of Milk rice - something I make on the first of each month for brunch

Milk Rice (with Seeni Sambol/Spicy Onion Relish)

Masks - these are hand carved, hand painted wooden decorative masks of demons, replicas of those worn during healing ceremonies in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan Demon Masks

M Mending the garage roof - I told him I was taking a photo of him from the back; he assured me that it was his good side!

M Mending the Garage Roof

Morning Medications:

Morning Medications

Music Books:

Music Books

Mourning Dove on one of the overhead wires:

Mourning Dove

Muffins:

Muffins

Many flowers:

Many Flowers

Manure to help all those flowers grow:

Manure

Of course, these monthly photo challenges wouldn't be quite complete without an appearance by a certain Mister Dancer Cat, would it?

Mr. Dancer Cat

Thank you for this opportunity to participate in the photo challenge, Eileen.

Thursday

Today's Harvest: Snow Pea Pods and Vine

It rained late last night and early this morning, but, later in the morning, it was sunny.  I woke up relatively early for me because M had rescheduled his visit from Wednesday morning to today, saying he be arriving between 9:30a.m. and 10:00 a.m.  When I went outside to unlock the gate for him, I realized that it was nice and warm in the sunshine; warmer than it was inside the house, anyway.  So, I sat outside in the sunshine to say my morning prayers and afterwards, I picked some snow pea pods.  I also did a little bit of weeding in the planting bed with the pea vines, but, stopped when I was realizing that I was pulling out the pea vines along with the weeds as they were all tangled up together!  I replanted the pea vines that I had accidentally pulled out, but, a piece of another vine broke off and I brought it in with me.  I will add the growing tips of the pea vine to the leftover stir fry.  

M texted to say he was delayed a bit, but, he'll be here around 10:30 a.m., which was fine with me.  He checked on the plants in the backyard and fertilized the blueberry bushes.  But, today's main project was to tidy up the front section of the side yard.  This is the area behind the chimney and it's where the gas meter is located and one of the feijoa/pineapple guava trees is growing.  The guava tree was already here when I bought the house, 30+ years ago and it is showing signs of stress, with several sections of it drying up.  There is some new growth at the bottom, though; maybe if we cut down the dying branches, it might regrow.   In any case, that area was overgrown with weeds and M cleared it out, today, and pruned some of the nearby euphorbia branches, too, as they were growing over the fence into the neighbor's yard and knocking against their motorhomes that are permanently parked in their driveway, these days.  While he did that, I pulled some of the weeds that were growing in the front yard.  At least, the ones that were easily pulled up!  There are some others that need to be dug up, but, I'm leaving them for another day.  

The clouds moved in by late morning, before M left at 11:30 a.m.  It was no longer sunny and warm and I went inside. 

Last August, I had baked a Welsh bread known as bara brith and there was another portion of it in the fridge.  I had wrapped it well and it had not spoiled, but, it had dried out.  Well, I wasn't going to let it go to waste, so, I cut up a portion of it. mixed up the milk and egg mixture, added a few more raisins and cashew nuts, put it all in a dish, and left it in the fridge overnight for the bread to absorb the egg/milk mixture and soften.  Early this afternoon, I baked the bread pudding:

Bara Brith Bread Pudding

I cut myself a piece of it while it was still warm from the oven and had it for my brunch:

Piece of Bread Pudding

I must say it tasted very rich and I could definitely taste the orange rinds, the ginger marmalade, and the spices I had used to make the bara brith.  I think it would be great served with some custard for a dessert and I just might do that, later.  But, today, I had the piece of bread pudding on its own.

I spent the afternoon repairing the quilt and I watched a few videos while I did that.  It started to rain around 4:00 p.m., and it rained for about 1 1/2 hours.  Then, the rain ceased and I think that might have been our last rain shower for March.  There's no rain in the forecast for Friday and April promises to be a drier month.

I watched the news in the evening and warmed up leftover rice and smoked sausage stir fry for my dinner.  Later, I video chatted with my daughter.

Today, I am grateful for:

- A sunny morning
- More rain for the garden
- M's help with the garden
- Today's harvest
- Working appliances

Today's joyful activities included gardening and baking bread pudding (not to mention eating bread pudding!)  

Plans for tomorrow include more gardening with M. some housekeeping tasks, and quilt repairs.

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

Rain on Wednesday

A Peek Into the Garden Shed

It's been just over a year since I cleaned out the garden shed and I took this photo, yesterday, to show that it is still, relatively, tidy.  Garden-related stuff from the garage were relocated to the shed and things have been shifted around a bit, but, it is, for the most part, still organized and functional.  The floor gets wet when it rains and it is a bit muddy, but, I will go in there and clean it once it stops raining, in the summer.

It rained, late last night and early this morning (and it is raining, again, tonight, with more rain in the forecast for tomorrow evening, too!)  M texted me in the morning to say that it was too wet to tend to the garden and he could stop by tomorrow (Thursday) morning, instead.  I said that would be fine with me.  

It didn't rain during the day, but, it was cloudy with some sunshine.  It was a bit chilly, too (for me, anyway) and I stayed inside for most of the day, going outside only to check the mail and pick a few snow pea pods from the plants we planted near the trellis in the front.  

I had a scrambled egg and toast for brunch, today.  For dinner, I had a bowl of the canned stew, with some frozen green peas added to it before I warmed it up:

Canned Beef Stew

I know I said I was going to make beef pot pies, but, I got hungry rather early, this evening, and didn't want to take the time to make pastry for the pie crusts.  But, there's more beef stew leftover and I will make the beef pot pie tomorrow.  I might add some green beans to it, too, before I make the pie, because the canned stew only has carrots and potatoes for vegetables.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- More rain for the garden
- More snow peas from the garden
- Working appliances
- Phone calls and emails with family and friends
- Clean water to drink

Today's joyful activity was playing online word games with my daughter.

Plans for tomorrow include M's visit (weather permitting), some baking, and more quilt repairs!

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

 

Still Sunny

Persimmon Tree is Leafing Out

Monday was a lovely, sunny and warm (highs in the upper 60Fs) day.  I had my appointment with the tax preparer at 1:00 p.m. and it went very well.  I am glad that the taxes were done and filed in good time.  I took some of the banana muffins I had baked and gave them to the tax preparer; she was very happy to receive them.  She called me, today, and thanked me, again, for the muffins, saying she shared them with her husband.

I noticed a bit of a pain at the back of my right leg when I drove to the tax preparer's office and it persisted for a good portion of the afternoon.  Ever since I had my sciatica pains, summer before last, I get worried when I have any leg pains!  I think I was dehydrated and maybe low on potassium, as well (my blood tests have indicated that I have low potassium levels).  I made it a point to drink some water and kept a heating pad on my leg and the pain went away.  Then, I watered the newly planted loquat seedlings, picked more snow peas, cleaned the litter box, took the trash can to the end of the drive way, and cooked dinner.  By then, the leg pain was back!  I drank more water, ate dinner, ate some raisins, and had some cereal with milk before I went to bed.  Both raisins and milk are high in potassium.  Brunch had been sauteed garbanzo beans and a banana muffin; dinner had been rice and smoked sausage stir-fry.  

Neighbor T called in the afternoon and I chatted with her for a bit and, later, I called friend R to check on her.

I have not had any leg pains, today, and I am trying to drink plenty of water!

Today was another sunny and warm day.  I brought the trash cans in, picked more snow peas (I am able to pick about 6 or 7 snow pea pods almost daily), brought in the mail, and checked the grocery ads (not planning to buy groceries this week, either, because I spent all my March grocery budget, but, I like to see what the deals are).  In the afternoon, I watched some online videos and continued to repair the quilt.  Later, I watched some news and a couple of TV programs.

Brunch had been the last banana muffin.  Dinner was a three course meal!  A garden salad with lettuce from the garden, followed by sausage stir-fry over rice, and canned pineapple chunks for dessert!  

Friend R called me in the evening to see how I was doing and I video chatted with my daughter.

Today was the anniversary of my father's birthday.  I debated making a cake in his memory, but, I didn't.  Instead, I remembered him with a prayer.

My Father and I

I am grateful for:

- Sunny days
- The taxes were completed and filed
- Garden produce
- Memories and old photographs
- The leg pain seems to have subsided

Joyful activities have included chatting with family and friends, picking and eating garden produce, and being able to share some of the banana muffins.  

We have rain in the forecast for later tonight/early tomorrow morning and tomorrow evening.  If the rain ceases later in the morning, M will be able to tend to the garden.  We will have to wait and see.  Plans for tomorrow include tending to the garden with M (weather permitting), doing a bit of tidying, and housework.

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

March Meal Plan - Week 4 Review and Week 5!

This was my meal plan for last week:   

Brunches: Frozen burrito (Monday & Sunday)✔, salads✔, fried rice✔ (eaten for dinner instead of brunch), sauteed garbanzo beans (eaten for dinner instead of brunch) ✔, 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✔

And here's how it all turned out:

Monday:
Brunch: Frozen burrito
Dinner: Scrambled egg, fried spam, toast; followed by salad and a mandarin

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Toast, butter, and apple-cranberry jam
Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwich
Dinner: Baked (frozen) battered fish fillets, savory rice, snow peas; Apple slices

Wednesday:
Brunch: Ramen noodles
Dinner: Spinach and cheese burek, bread and butter, chocolates

Thursday:
Brunch: Cup noodles
Dinner: Rice, chicken curry, cucumber slices

Friday:
Brunch: Salad - garden lettuce, grapes, cucumber, bottled dressing
Dinner: Fried rice with spam, snow peas/garbanzo beans, and cashews

Saturday:
Brunch: Salad - garden lettuce, canned chick peas, bottled dressing
Dinner: Cheeseburger - hamburger patty (from the freezer), bread ends for the bun, slice of American cheese, lettuce, ketchup

Sunday:
Brunch: Frozen burrito
Dinner: Sauteed spicy chick peas, banana nut muffins

I went off the meal plan a few times, but, I think I did well, on the whole.

Which brings me to this week (March 27 - April 2) that I am calling March Week 5.

Here are my options:

Brunches: Sauteed garbanzo beans (Monday), banana muffins, scrambled egg and toast, salad, frozen burrito, milkrice with seeni sambol and mackerel curry (on Saturday, April 1), leftover milkrice and mackerel curry

Dinners:
- Smoked sausage/vegetables stir fry with rice (Monday)
- Beef pot pie (using canned beef stew)
- Turkey and vegetable soup; biscuits
- Leftovers

After listing the smoked sausage and vegetables stir fry for two weeks, I finally made it on Monday!  I used half of a 14 oz. smoked sausage, snow peas picked from the garden, two carrots, some broccoli florets, part of a can of pineapple chunks, and a handful of cashew pieces, and had some for dinner with freshly cooked rice:

Smoked Sausage Stir Fry and Rice

It made a big wok full of stir fry and I now have plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week!  

Are you making a meal plan for this week?