Today I noticed...Misplacing things is just too easy.

I had a few minutes and decided I would dip my toe into a craft project that I had been procrastinating about. I had seen a blog post (Thrifty Decor Chic) where the author had used Rub n Buff to update some frames. Knowing that I had an abundance of frames, I decided I might give that a try. I read a couple of other Rub n Buff users' experiences and how-tos. Then, I went online and ordered a couple of different colors of Rub n Buff. 

Rub n Buff Gold Leaf

Rub n Buff European Gold

So, I gathered my prints that I plan to put into the frames, went to my frame stash, and went to where I thought I had stored the Rub n Buff tubes that I ordered several months ago. Can you hear that Wah! Wah! sound? 

I have searched all the likely places that I might have stashed those tubes and cannot find them at all. So, instead of knocking out a quick little project that might be really easy, I spent twice as long as anticipated and never found them.

I did the same thing not long ago with a new phone case. Finally, I gave up and ordered a new one. The day that the new one was delivered, I stumbled across the old one - I was probably looking for something else I had misplaced!

Happy Birthday, Harris!

Today I noticed...some posts make me happy!

I was scrolling through social media today and realized that some people's post just bring a smile to my face on a regular basis just like some people do that when I see them. Maybe that is because the person or what was posted directly makes an impact on my life. 

Then, I noticed a post by one of my neighbors. It really brought a huge smile to my face and probably won't directly impact my life. However, just the thought of what is in the works makes me smile and feel less stressed just the same!

 UPDATE:

The Longhorn neighbors departed on Saturday morning!

Happy Birthday, Stephen!

 

Hope you have a great one!

Just Three Things

I've mentioned before that I am sometimes a procrastinator. I don't know why I drag my feet and fill my mind with angst. As I stated in a previous post, sometimes that dreaded task turns out to be simple and moves along fast once it is tackled. This has been a week that reminded me of that as I checked off a few items on my To-Do List.

What I'm Working On

I've finished up The Great Freezer Cleanout and now I am faced with freezer scrubbing duties. When I started the cleanout, I just spent a little time on the morning of our regular garbage pickup and gathered up all of the home-frozen bags and sealed packages and hauled them to the trash barrel for the garbage truck to take away. Then, Mike gave me the nudge to take out all the outdated packages of sausage and meat. So, the next week on garbage pickup morning, I began that sort. Three consecutive weeks of me sort of standing on my head to sort through the sealed packages and zip bags and tossing them into the garbage, and the freezer is really empty. All those dried up bits and sticky bags of mush have been hauled away with the garbage. I have plans to give the the inside and the outside a good scrub down with a spray cleanser and scrubbing cloth. For some reason, cleaning really does make a person feel refreshed in a way and provides incentive to tackle the next little project. 

What I'm Loving

I've spent some quality time in our kitchen lately. While I was clean out mode, I cleared out all the mysteries in the fridge in our kitchen and the fridge in the basement. I washed all the shelves and drawers and the edges and seals as well. I guess I'm now geared up to scrub down the aforementioned freezers.

I also did a little painting. When we updated the kitchen last year, I cleared off the island because I knew the cabinet and appliance installers would want to move it out of the way. I never put my cookbooks and sundries back on the bookshelves because I told myself they needed a good coat of paint and the entire island would look better with touchups as well. So, procrastinator that I am, I had been putting that off and dreading it. Then, when I tackled that project this week, I surprised myself at how quickly the job was done. I'm letting the paint cure and was surprised when the paint store recommended waiting weeks to a month for letting the latex paint cure. Maybe that is why the shelves had gotten dinged up; I'm sure I didn't wait that long before! At any rate, I catch myself smiling and admiring the freshly painted shelves and how clean and nicely they look.

Kitchen Island painted in Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore

I've done some recipe testing in the kitchen as well. One night when we were thinking of ordering take out from a local restaurant, Mike mentioned that he wished the special was chicken and dressing. Now, I have made old-fashioned dressing for Thanksgiving, but I have never made chicken and dressing for a regular old meal. So, while I was taking a breather from some of my cleaning, I searched for good recipes. Then, I included what I needed in my grocery order and stirred up a great dinner. My effort was based loosely on this recipe. In my search for a good chicken and dressing recipe, I stumbled across a chicken an broccoli alfredo recipe and we enjoyed that on another night. In the process, I learned a great way to make chicken taste juicy, flavorful, and delicious using my crock pot. 

What I'm Reading

I am a reader. I have been a reader since before I went to school. I love books. I have grown to love reading on a digital device because it is always available and handy. So, I can just open up an app and read for a few minutes when I'm taking a breather, or when I wake up in the middle of the night, or while I'm waiting at an appointment. I also generally have two or three books going at once. 

I have been reading and looking and thinking and gathering ideas with Marian Parsons (Miss Mustard Seed) while reading the hard copy of Feels Like Home. I find myself turning back and rereading parts and pausing to think about what I have that might be used in ways she describes or how places in our home make me feel the way she describes. The book is just the inspiration I've needed to help me be patient and keep thinking and practicing the art of making the basement be a reflection of us and how we live. I've followed her blog for years. So, I already feel like she is an acquaintance. Reading her book has been a special treat because of the beautiful photography as well as the way she phrases words to encourage readers to love their home.

via Amazon

I've just finished reading Confessions of a Grammar Queen by Eliza Knight using my Kindle app. The book is set in the 1960s and it has really made me pause and think about how things for women in the world have changed over my lifetime. It has also made me think about how some things still need to change and how it seems we have sometimes taken a step back in regard to progress for women.

I've begun reading Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey. I kind of like how it is a bit quirky and has notes included in different formats as well as stories he tells in regular text. I've also begun reading Helen Simonson's The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club. This is another historical fiction novel set just after World War I. I'm reading these two with my Kindle app. One is checked out as an eBook using the Libby app from the library and the other is a selection from Kindle daily deals.

Well, that's just three things that have been a part of my world lately. I hope your world has held at least three wonderful things lately! 

Today I Noticed...Online shopping with delivery is a really good thing.

I know that the title of this post says, "Today I noticed..." I did take notice of this today but I've also known it for quite a long time. 

I cannot recall when I first started mail-order shopping or order-by-phone shopping. I know that my children were wee little folks when I really adopted that practice for their clothing at times. Oh, I still went into stores and picked up items for them and got our groceries and such. But, I did a bit of shopping where something had to be delivered and I really appreciated the convenience. 

It also sort of reminded me of when I was a girl and we would get surprise packages from my great aunt Mae. Aunt Mae was my Granny's sister. She lived in Mobile, Alabama. As a kid, she may as well have lived overseas as far as I was concerned because I had no idea where Mobile was - just that it was far away from the farm where my family and I lived. 

Every year at Christmas Aunt Mae would send us a pretty good sized box packed full of treasures. She would also send us a gift for our birthday. Sometimes we would just get a surprise out of the blue from her as well. I remember unwrapping a couple of yards of fabric, an embroidered piece that went under the lamp on my bedside table, a metal piggy bank, and all sorts of things packed in a box from her. She always wrapped everything in tissue and taped that together. Then, it might also be wrapped in gift wrapping paper of some kind and plenty of tape was used on it as well. Then, the different items were packed inside a larger box that was wrapped in brown craft paper. Each corner and edge of the box and the brown paper were taped with tough shipping tape. Half the fun of getting one of her shipments was cutting through all the tape to get to whatever was folded into the layers of tissue paper. 

Aunt Mae even continued the tradition of sending Christmas shipments when my children came along. I remember that one year my son, Bryan, got a roll of pennies - wrapped in several layers of tissue paper and taped up firmly. Then, packed in with a couple of placemats for me, some brass candle holders, a couple of coloring books, some socks, a couple of shiny Christmas ornaments, a pair or two of socks for each of the children, a miniature tea set, and a Matchbox car. Each of those were rolled up in layers of tissue paper and tape and packed solidly inside a larger box that was covered in brown paper and about a half a roll of packaging tape. 

Shipping probably cost more than the value of the contents of the package but it was the adventure of discovery as we opened each treasure and the anticipation of what might be hidden inside that made those shipments extra special. Now that I think about those treasure boxes that were delivered via parcel post, I think about all the time she probably took gathering the items, wrapping them in tissue and taping them securely, wrapping them again in gift wrapping paper and adding an elasticized bow or yarn bow on each item. I think about how she was thinking of each of us and what she could send that would fit us in our stage of life. For example, she knew that a roll of pennies was better to give a little tyke than a crisp dollar bill. She knew he would love all the coins and feel rich. She probably stretched her dollars to the max to put together each treasure box to her nieces and their families. She was thoughtful and generous and, as kids, we experienced wonder, anticipation, and excitement. What a wonderful gift to share.

When we were nesting at home during Covid. I really turned to online shopping and delivery. Every gift, every necessity, every need that could be ordered and delivered became a gift of sorts. We were told to stay home, if possible. So, we did. Groceries, gifts, everything became something that I shopped for online and had delivered. I grew to love the option to order and have things delivered and I've never looked back. 

What made me really notice the convenience and goodness of it today is the fact that I needed a part for our vacuum. When I sat down to work on it, I thought I had everything I needed. However, I soon realized that I didn't have one of the parts I needed to replace. So, I went online and searched for the part. I clicked on the button and put the part in my cart. Then, I noticed that if I spent $12.95 more, I could have that part delivered later in the day. Wow! So, remembering that I had been getting a notice that the ink was low and would soon need replacing, I also added an ink cartridge for the printer. I clicked on another button and added my card number and now I wait for the delivery of my vacuum part and ink cartridge. 

I know that these items will come in the manufacturer's package. They will probably also be in some sort of brown package - a sturdy bag or a box that is taped up tight. While this shipment might not be the same sort of treasure that I once got from Great Aunt Mae, I am anxiously looking forward to it arriving. I still appreciate the fact that somebody has taken the time to gather my items together and package them. I still appreciate that somebody will deliver the package right to my door. While I went about my daily routine of laundry, dish cleaning, and tidying up, someone is working behind the scene to make my life better and easier and that is what I appreciate most. Those are really good things.

Grandparents' Day

A while back I went to Grandparents' Day at the school where one of our grands is a student. They had different times for different grades to assemble in the gym. Then, grandparents were led from the front door of the school down to the gym to see the grands. I was glad to see Luci and she hopped up and came over to greet me with a hug as soon as I entered the gym. 

A couple of her friends did not have grandparents who were able to come; so, I adopted them on the spot and they tagged along with us for the activity. The activity was to make friendship bracelets. The school staff had done a good job of preparing. There were two rows of tables lined up down the middle of the gym floor and a couple of spots decorated to serve as backdrops for photos on either end of the gym. Atop the tables were pans of beads and the students reported to a staff member to get a strand of cording for stringing the beads onto in making a bracelet.

Luci and her friend, Natalie, have made bracelets a lot and they quickly began sorting through a couple of the pans to find different beads that they liked. They chose a color pattern and selected beads with letters and laid them all out into a row. Then, began stringing them onto the cord. When they had their cording full, they reported to a teacher who added a clasp and they were done. They returned to the table to help a couple of their friends find specific beads and lay them out for stringing. I loved how they demonstrated lining up the beads in a desired pattern or row and then threading those onto the cord. The concept came pretty easy for some of their friends and was a struggle for a couple of them.

Near the end of our assigned bracelet-making time, Luci and Natalie circulated round the gym and picked up stray beads that had dropped and little bits of cording that had been cut from the bracelets. They were tidying up the space for the next grade of students and grandparents who would participate.

It was a fun experience to watch Luci in her daily environment and how she interacted with her peers. It sort of made me puff up with pride about the job her parents are doing to guide her toward adulthood. I'm sure that the school staff learns a lot about students on days like this that can help them to be better teachers, guides, and mentors for these young folks. Seeing them interact with family members or friends' family members can be eye-opening. It also gives the community an opportunity to see the school and their family member's friends and peers. 

Just another perk of retirement for me! I had the chance to enjoy time with one of the grands and to see how things happen in their world. 

Happy Birthday, Linley!

 

Today I noticed...Dreaded little jobs often go fast.

We have been reading that the price of beef in the grocery store is going to go up. So, Mike and I talked about it and we decided we would purchase a half of a beef. For those unfamiliar with purchasing like that, basically, we have bought half the meat of a processed steer. Doing this provides a large quantity of meat, which includes steaks, roasts, ground beef, and other cuts. It offers cost savings and high-quality meat but requires significant freezer space. Like many farm families, we have chest freezers in addition to the freezer at the bottom of our kitchen fridge. Since Mike makes sausage and sells it, we have more than one chest freezer. 

Having all that freezer space means that sometimes when I order groceries, if I notice that chicken is on sale or something like that, I will buy more than we might eat in a couple of meals and freeze the rest for later. When Mike grew a big garden, I also froze some vegetables for us to eat later. Plus, like most everybody, we often buy frozen goods at the grocery store. All of this - Mike making and storing the sausage, buying frozen foodstuffs, and preserving vegetables is great and cost effective but also means we need to keep a good inventory. That is something that neither of us is really good at. We start off with the best intentions but then get in a hurry for one reason or another and our intentions slip off the track and the train gets away from us. 

So, our freezers need a good cleanout before the half-a-beef gets here. It is a job that should already have claimed our attention and efforts but just got pushed down on the To-Do List. Today was the day. I decided I would begin the great freezer cleanout. 

I found frozen squash that was dated from the summer of 2017. I found a frozen pizza labeled best before August 15, 2020. I found a frozen topping container labeled vegetable soup from 2022. I found a lot of outdated and forgotten items. Thus, my dreaded job was certainly bringing to fruition why I had been dreading it and putting it off. 

I was perturbed that we had wasted so much food. I was frustrated that I had not kept a better inventory. I was aggravated with having to dig around and read all the labels on items. Yet, the entire process of cleaning out one of the chest freezers in the basement took a grand total of twenty-five minutes. That short timeframe included standing bent over with my head and arms digging around in the bottom of the chest freezer, bagging the outdated foodstuffs, and trekking out to the trash barrel with the garbage bag. 

The frustration with myself for not doing a better job also served to encourage me to try to do a better job of keeping an inventory of what we do have. I've already started a spreadsheet listing of items in the freezer. I can print a copy off and we can keep a tally of what goes in and what we take out of each freezer. Have I mentioned before that I REALLY like digital accessibility? I'm trying to figure out what the simplest way will be to keep the inventory list accurate and up-to-date!

I'm also trying to remember that I should just tackle a job and not keep putting it off with dread...

Happy Labor Day!