Thanks to my husband, our little artificial tree is up. I haven't done anything else. I don't know if I will. I'm just not in the mood.
We'll give the kids gift cards this year and no secret Santa. Pops, my 94 yr old FIL won't be here due to covid and I really don't know who will be able to come.
I hope my mood picks up. I'm really on a downer and just going through the motion, for my husband.
I made a German Chocolate bundt cake (from a mix) last night. No, I didn't frost it with coconut pecan frosting because I can't stand things THAT sweet anymore. I also don't like coconut. When I was a kid, my mom made it all the time - the german chocolate layer cake with that frosting in between. I would take a slice and then proceed to scrape off that yucky frosting. Anyway, I sprinkled it with some powdered sugar. My husband cut a big piece and got out the Guittard chocolate ice cream topping and drizzled some of that on top. Ice cream would have been nice but we don't have any. I was happy with just a touch of powdered sugar. It was a light dessert.
Yesterday I cleaned out and rearranged my pantry.
I remember back in my younger days, with 3 little boys underfoot, and I could clean my whole house. These days I am lucky to get 1/4 of a room done in a day. I really hate to admit this, but I think I might be lazy and all this covid-crap doesn't make it easier. It's just one more excuse. "why clean and decorate the house, when no one comes over anymore?
One thing I am doing is cleaning out my computer files of all my SAVED recipes I will be sharing these.
ACORN COOKIES
It's been rainy. Not a big storm but it's been wet. After our 6-mos dry season, those first rains smell so sweet. Formerly yellow grasses turn green almost before your eyes.
Good News, the husband finally is done with the patio pavers - so the patio is completed. He still has some finishing touches to complete - it may have to wait till the Spring. Unless it is going to be wetter than the wet rainy season, we most likely will have some dry days with sunshine and spring-like weather in between storms. We have a chance to get it all done.
My section of the garden - on the other side of the fence, I didn't get a chance to lay down the weed barrier. So I took some cardboard boxes and laid them out flat until I get to it. I want to lay some rocks down as well. The morning glories are starting to die off, which surprises me. When I lived in the bay area, I had them year-round. It did get down to 29 degrees one night so that must have nailed it.
I was able to clean out my pantry. Slowly I am getting things done but not as fast as I would have done a year ago. I also made some homemade chili last night for dinner. I wanted it to last 2 nights but it was so good, we only have enough for lunch today. I normally make 2 batches.
THANKSGIVING
So what is everyone doing for Thanksgiving this year? Next week I will go out to "gather" my meal. We will have a small, low key meal. Weather permitting, I hope we can have a small bonfire.
The husband is making some good progress.
Still have some pretty flowers blooming. I plan to pull out the morning glories for the winter. They usually grow all year, but I planted too many and they are too thick - I want just a small vine of morning glories rather than a WALL of Morning Glories on my picket fence.
I will plant some seeds by the back fence - to cover up the different sections we have replaced.
I pulled out the remaining sunflowers.
I really need to lay down a weed barrier before the rains that are forecasted for later this week.
I plan to do a deep cleaning of my kitchen before the heavy-duty holiday cooking as well as clean and organize my cupboards and pantry. I have this one drawer, I use for my silverware and it needs a wooden stabilizer underneath because it keeps getting jammed. I'm thinking of just changing everything around. Perhaps the flatware is too heavy and I should instead use it for kitchen towels instead.
At our age, changing the placement of dishes and glasses can really mess with us. I did it a couple of years ago, with our glasses and cups. I also did it with our pots and pans. They use to be placed in a bottom cabinet - but was hard for me to find them. I had to sit on the floor to find something. I moved them over to my pantry. Works great but every now and then, when my husband cleans out the dishwasher and puts away the dishes, I will find a pot or two, in the old place. We are creatures of habit.
Yeah, it's time to do some deep cleaning before I start in with all the Christmas clutter which I really want to minimize this year. We'll see.
Do you have a husband who at times, doesn't finish the home project he started? He was out with a broken toe and has been cleared but he continues to favor it. He worked on the patio for an hour last week, and then nothing. He comes in and watches TV, eats his lunch at 11am and then takes a nap.
He's not sick - this is not him. He is usually a workaholic. He just got comfortable having a legitimate reason to lay around and he got used to it.
Today 10/27/2020
I've already asked him several times - he's defensive.
Needless to say, I am annoyed. He only has just a little more to go.
In all fairness (and I am all about being fair) I have slacked off my chores as well. We've both lost the momentum we had in the Spring and Summer. It's like our bodies and mind are going into early hibernation - when it comes to working on the house - or at best, FINISHING UP.
I haven't even decorated for Fall at my house and I am usually ON-TOP-OF-IT.
What can I do? I'm just going to do what I need to do at my pace and leave his crap for him to finish. Maybe he is waiting for me, to lead the way?
I am disappointed - I had thought we might hold our Thanksgiving on our patio this year.
At least I still have some pretty flowers to look at.
The weather is turning to Fall, my absolute favorite time of the year and I feel I have some catching up to do. It has been so hot and then we had fires, and then the wind. Today is the first day the wind has died down - and I can open my windows and air out my home. The evenings and mornings are getting colder. This morning it was around 50 degrees.
I enjoy the days when my husband leaves in the afternoon. I can have the house to myself and do what I want. I seem to have more energy. Right now I am washing the sofa pillows and sofa covers. The windows are open and I have chicken in the crockpot for dinner tonight.
I am not a fancy cook. I used to love to cook but I think I burned myself out. I hardly try new recipes. Sometimes it seems like I have lost the touch. I do a few meals well. I like quick and easy - I love casseroles and one-pot meals. I love soups and stews. I admit I love gravies and sauces. Fortunately, my husband is always happy with what I cook. He is a lousy cook. NO seasonings and he either overcooks it or undercooks his dish. One time I was sick and I asked him to make some Lipton dry chicken noodle soup mix. It calls for 4 cups of water and he only put in 2 cups and the noodles were stuck together. He never stirred it.
Today for dinner we are having 2 chicken breasts with a mushroom sauce from canned cream of mushroom soup. I added fresh garlic, Italian seasonings, sliced onions. Since I have an issue with pale chicken, I always brown it before adding it to the crockpot. I know some say that defeats the whole purpose. Whatever! We'll have a salad with some of our homegrown aroma tomatoes and that will be it. I am trying to go every other day, eating rice, potatoes, and pasta for the sauce - hoping to stretch it every 2 days once we get over the trauma of it. That's comfort food! We love our starch but so does our waistlines.
I want to get out my Fall/Winter clothes and pack up most of the summer clothes. Here in Northern California, you have to leave out a couple of shorts and tops just in case. We've had 80-degree weather for Thanksgiving. I do the same with my winter clothes. I did have some jeans and a long-sleeved top to wear today - it was very cold this morning and I won't turn on the heat just yet. I need to make an appointment for my furnace to be tuned up. Plus I just like to try and wait as long as we can before turning it on.
So that is what is going on at my house.
I washed the windows from the inside - took the curtains down and washed them.
Dried them and hung them back up - they shrank about 2 inches! I washed and dried them on delicate. Oh well. I really don't care anymore like I used to when I was younger.
I'm not the perfectionist like I used to be.
I have been doing some heavy-duty cleaning and I'm on a roll. It takes me longer these days to complete this mission. Today I washed down the walls in the hallway, office, our bedroom. My goal is by Monday I can start putting up my Fall decorations.
I've been having some issues with all the smoke and dust that gets into the house. Next year I want my air ducts cleaned out. I can smell DUST. No one else does but when I can smell it, it's bad. Every wall in this house will get cleaned this weekend.
I used to love the way a freshly painted room would smell. I'm not going to paint my walls just to get them to smell better, so I wash them down. Although, I do need to paint my master bathroom.
I noticed the AC didn't kick on - so I checked the thermostat and it was blank. Needed new batteries. 99.8% of me knew it was the batteries but that other small part was thinking,
"oh no, it's the complete AC Unit."
No, the HVAC should last another 15 years. It will go out when I am 81. Wonderful!
They say they last about 20 years. Maybe we'll hit the lottery and I'll hold back some of that money to pay for the new HVAC. Or maybe I will be dead by then.
The husband has been working on the yards. He says next week he will start in on the finishing of our patio. He's cutting it awfully close if that storm door should open up. (wishful thinking)
As the weather cools and the smoke from the fires is not as bad, I feel more alive. It's 95 today but isn't like a summer 95. The sun is at a different angle - we have more shade and it gets dark earlier. We're having wind so keeping the patio and all swept is a never-ending impossible job. It stirs up my allergies, so I stay inside and wash walls.
I still have some Roma Tomatoes on the vine. They seem to grow better when the 105+ heat goes away. That is why I experimented and planted them in a pot outside my front window.
We really need to paint our trim next year.
We were supposed to do it this year but the smoke and fires kept us indoors.
I have some flowering as well.
Looking up toward the big incense cedar in my yard.
I noticed these small, white berries seeds which turn into one-inch-long cones
that are produced at branch tips.
These seeds provide treats for many varieties of birds and wildlife.
Beautiful color green.
The photo doesn't do it justice. It takes up all of my front yards - It is our front yard centerpiece. We lovingly nicknamed our place Twin Cedar. I've often thought about changing my blog name to that - too much of a hassle.
It's impossible to grow a decent lawn - but we won't cut it down. Who needs a green grass anyway here in California? It really doesn't make much sense. I'd rather grow drought-friendly flowers and plants.
It's not Fall here yet - these are my Liquid Gum trees or Sweet Gum.
We have 4 of them on the other side of the picket fence - street side. I love privacy.
I'm surprised these came up. I bought a box of Impatient seeds from Dollar Tree.
I sprinkled them in the pot and here they are.
This lasts all year - The dusty miller I've had for years now. I just cut it down and it comes back.
I want to move a planter box to the side of my shed - for more planting options and then let the grass grow around it for the winter rainy season. We can overseed or put in a new lawn next spring. There were two planters there - I already took one out.
I also need to haul out my Fall decorations to start decorating. I am suffering from pure unadulterated LAZINESS - Not having people come to our home, we've become pack rats and we have little organized piles of clutter well beyond what we both like, but we're stuck. I am going to need a stiff pot of strong coffee and a six-pack of red bull and some Pink Floyd to get me moving. I did go grocery shopping -this morning - that's something. I have to do some major cleaning in order to decorate.
I honestly don't know why I still do this. I have got to get motivated...or I will miss my favorite months.
I did buy a pumpkin today.
Tomorrow we are going to go on a picnic - just the husband and I and Laydee.
