Simple Sunday

Posted in books, budgets, California, cooking, home stuff, simplicity by

A very rainy morning. Like downpours and roads flooding! I managed to get to the gym, but it was tough going.

Afterwards, I went and picked up a ‘pay it forward’ free item. It was a mandolin that I’ve wanted for some time. It’s an OXO and doesn’t look used. I’ll test it out on some radishes. I do have no-cut safety gloves, so I’ll wear those.

Last night we had baked salmon, a huge salad, and some brown rice. I’m trying to up my protein intake and veggie intake, so I did pretty well. I have leftovers either for lunch or another dinner. I’ll check with my daughter what she prefers.

I didn’t sleep well again last night, probably a residual of Dex. But I don’t feel too tired,yet.

This is Miss Cherry, who always has a frown on her face.

My brother found a rare star note, $10 bill. I plan on listing it on eBay and maybe making a few hundred dollars. Of course, it depends on who’s buying right now, but I’ll list it and see how it goes. I had Chat GPT write up a listing for me to look at and use some of it. For things like that, AI is great.

I don’t have any cooking lined up for today, so I may just tidy up some and then read.

Friday Things

Posted in books, California, frugalism, Uncategorized by

I’m off to get my Velcade shot this morning. Then to the library to return books. I’m not planning on going to the gym, even though I should. Well, maybe I’ll wait till I’m there and then decide.

Updated: I dropped off books, but the library was closed, so I didn’t go in.

My shot went well. Vicki, one of the nurses, is retiring, so I said I’d miss her. She’s a great nurse.

Then I need to go to Winco for veggies and a few things. I also need to stop in Costco for coffee, so I’ll see how far I get.

Updated: Skipped Winco and just went to Costco. I wanted to get there when it’s only open to Executive members, so that worked out perfectly.

I bought a lot of veggies as one of my intentions for 2026 is to eat more veggies, fruit, and fish. I also got the coffee, some wine, eggs and bagels, and a few other things.

I’m just finishing up and putting things away in the freezer. I have the iRobot vacuum going, and that will clean the floors. I do need to mop still though.

I did manage to get rid of the desk and chair. The person came right on time, so that was nice. I have a load to go to the thrift store, but didn’t get there today. I’ll try for Sunday after the gym.

Last night I made homemade pizza. It was ok, not great. I also shredded Brussels sprouts and sauteed them with mushrooms. That was quite good.

A new year,2026!

Posted in California, Death by

I, for one, am glad to see the back of 2025. It probably was the worst year I’ve ever had. The death of a spouse is really awful, and after all the stuff Barclay went through in his first round of cancer( the MDS), it just seems so unfair. But look at all the ones who die young, like Tatiania Kennedy, only 35. Geez, now that seems unfair. Well, life is what it is, no matter how you spin it. As I’ve always said, it is what it is, what it is. 😦

It’s raining again, so I didn’t walk. I might try to put my rain jacket on in a while and go down to the park. As long as it’s not pouring, I can use an umbrella. I guess I’ll wait and see.

I plan on making a pizza tonight, as I made the dough yesterday. We had our fun sub sandwiches and watched some of the new Dr. Who. It’s only fair in MHO. It seems geared towards adolescents. But I’ll watch a few more. I do like the new doctor.

I’m thankful to wake up and feel ready for the day.

I’m thankful our house is warm and dry.

I’m thankful that my daughter has taken on all the tasks B did, and she’s doing an amazing job. ( like getting the wood splitter moved, started, and used to split some of the larger pieces of wood.)

I’m thankful my son stayed home and was not out on the roads for NYE.

I’m thankful for the time that is given to me. That’s all we can do, is decide what to do with the time that is given us. Gandolf the grey.

New Years Eve

Posted in California, decluttering, home stuff, simplicity by

I hope all of you out there in blog land have a safe and happy NYE.

We will do our tradition of sub-type sandwiches and watch some movies. I have never stayed up to midnight in all these years. B would always stay up with the kids till midnight. sigh:(

The rain is expected to come back in tonight and continue for quite a few days. My son’s friend came yesterday and helped do a deeper clean. He’s a wonderful young man. I was happy to pay him to help. It’s interesting because I had just watched a YouTube channel that caught my attention about Japanese things. The concept was

‘oosouji’, which means ‘big clean’. I told T how cool that was because he was here helping to deep clean. He does a great job, btw.

So, today, I have some more oosouji to do, such as cleaning out the fireplace and washing a few windows. I’m also hoping that the desk and chair I have listed for free will be picked up this morning. They are in the sunroom, crowding it. It’s an extra desk my daughter doesn’t want anymore. If I had room, I’d keep it, but I don’t. So the other Japanese concept of ‘danshari’ is applicable here. Basically it’s refuse, dispose, and detach. So be it.

Well, what kind of NYE plans do you have? I have never gone out on NYE in all my years, ever. Do you go out? Just the thought of crowds is enough to stop me cold.

Menu Monday

Posted in bread, California, camping, freezer cooking, Lake tahoe by

Last night, I made chicken/orzo soup from Rotesserie Chicken that I had frozen. There’s quite a bit left, so either that’s lunch or dinner.

I have the Costco dumplings, so I’ll do that with TJ’s orange chicken.

I plan on making a homemade pizza sometime this week. I found my 00 flour in the cabinet so I want to use that.

New Year’s Eve, we’ll do sub sandwiches of some sort. Either from the market or homemade, and I’ll get the ingredients.

One night, we’ll do tacos with ground beef, and I’ll also add pintos. I have at least 2 jars of pressure-canned beans left.

I’m still contemplating getting the electric pressure canner, as it would be much easier to use. However, it’s pricey, so I need to consider it. I do enjoy canning, so there’s that.

I used the Zojirushi bread maker yesterday for a whole wheat bread. It came out good, although I didn’t have the non-fat bakers’ milk, so the crumb was off some. I need to go to the store this morning, so I’ll pick some up and try another loaf. I always just use the dough setting and bake in the oven.

Absolutely no luck with camping reservations. I tried again this morning and didn’t get nada, zilch, zero. It makes you wonder who is getting these reservations, and whether they are using high-speed computers or multiple computers. Sigh…. oh well, all I can do now is check for cancellations since we are into 4th of July week.

This is the beautiful clock my son got me for Christmas. Lake Tahoe.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cancer, seasonal things, swimming, Uncategorized, Walking by

I took down most of the Christmas stuff and labeled the boxes. Since I did do a Snoopy tree this year, I labeled those ornaments in a box so next year I can pull them out if I decide to do a separate tree. I kept up the Ikea tree but took the bird ornaments off and put them away. I’ll probably take down the Ikea tree tomorrow or at least sometime this week. It always feels good to get a fresh start, although I do love looking at the different trees and their ornaments.

My daughter got me a compact waffle maker to replace the bigger one we have, so we had waffles last night. I might make some more this morning. Yumm.

This was our Christmas morning bagels and lox. I didn’t get a picture of dinner, but everything turned out delicious.

The pool was insane the other day. All the college kids were there. I forgot that this was winter break between semesters. I’ll have to see if I want to brave it next week. I finally got a lane with one of the college kids, and twice I got mouthfuls of water as he was kicking so hard. It wasn’t fun.

A very cold 36 degrees this morning, but the walk was lovely. The park was all frosty.

Today, I’m planning to go to the gym and then home. I might go back out later if my daughter wants to go to Home Depot. We need some things for the house.

This next week is a repeat of Christmas with New Year’s on Thursday. I have Velcade on Friday, which will be a little weird. I usually go on Thursdays. So my Dex day will be Saturday.

Other than that, I’m looking forward to the next year and hope it’s not as awful as 2025. I’ve had no luck getting a camping spot, so it’s been close to 10 days of trying every day. I’m almost at the first week of July, and I never go to Tahoe in July or August unless it’s a day trip. Too many tourists.

Merry Christmas Eve

Posted in California, cooking, swimming, Uncategorized by

I went down to the pool yesterday only to find it closed. Apparently, when they had an open swim that included kids, some kid mistook the pool for a bathroom. So they have to chlorinate it to a very high level. That’s ok, it’s closed today as well. I’d rather they get it clear to be able to swim without any risk.

I came home straight away, although if I had extra gym clothes, I could have gone to the gym. But I was in my swimming suit.

I finished dusting most everything yesterday and also went down to Holiday to get a few last things.

We had some pretty intense wind overnight and rain, but right now things are calm till the next wave, which is this afternoon. Hopefully, it won’t be too bad. I do hate the wind.

Tomorrow, Christmas looks just as bad, so I told my son and brother not to come up if it’s treacherous. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. I can cook dinner on the weekend if that’s the case.

Christmas Gus squishing his brother Bean.

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve.

Menu Monday

Posted in budgets, California, cooking, meal planning by

Still raining, and there’s some flooding in the area. Not so much where I am, but the Yuba River is flooding, and there’s some flooding near Yuba Gap. i hope the rain lets up.

I again decided not to go out. Just not feeling it for some reason. I’m trying to go with how I feel daily, so that’s where it is today. I do need to get to the bank, so maybe I’ll do that later.

I’m working my way through all our Christmas movies, Die Hard, It’s a Wonderful Life, etc. I still have Muppet Christmas and Chevy Chase.

Menu:

Last night we had Asian salad and TJ’s orange chicken

Tuesday- turkey chili from the freezer

Wed-Christmas Eve- Our tradition is always Fondue with baguette, veggies, apples, and whatever else.

Thursday- Christmas Day- Cheese lasagna, Steak (for the meat eaters), baked potatoes, brussels sprouts, roasted butternut squash, and dessert?

Friday- I’ll probably do a pizza

Saturday- soup of some sort

What kind of dinner do you all make for Christmas? Is there a tradition? Curious minds want to know.

Winter Solstice

Posted in books, budgeting, California, camping, cooking, home stuff, Lake tahoe, reading, Uncategorized by

Rain, rain, and more rain. No walking this morning as it is really raining. We’re supposed to get about 3 inches, which is a lot of rain. Still, daylight will eventually start getting longer, although it takes a few weeks for it to turn around. At least it’s not a cold rain. It’s about 53 out. I’m guessing that means there’s no snow in Tahoe.

I was on the Reserve for camping, but no luck. I’ll try again tomorrow. It’s a tough place to get a spot. But you just have to keep at it. I will continue to check for cancellations, but that’s unlikely to happen. sigh:(

I think I’m staying home today and not going to the Auburn gym. I’ll wait till it’s light out to decide. If I don’t go today, I’ll go to Maheny sometime this week. I’d like to get one swim in before Christmas, too. We’ll see how it goes.

Last night we had a marcella bean( white bean) and ham soup. It came out very tasty. I wrote out a list of freezer meals for my low spend challenge. Hopefully that’ll keep me on track. Plus, there’s a lot to use up. I also baked up a dozen potatoes and made double stuffed. After they are baked, I cut them in half, scoop out the potato, and then add some butter, sour cream, and cheddar. Then I mound it back in. I end up with 10 half potatoes.

My son went back up to Grass Valley for their Cornish Christmas and sent me these photos. It was rainy, but he said it was still nice. I don’t drive at night unless absolutely necessary, so I wouldn’t get up there to see this.

Not too much on the agenda for today. I have 2 more library books to read. I started one and wasn’t impressed, so I’ll just bring that back. Other than that, just the usual tidying, and I do need to dust. I ran out of swiffers(which I love), so I just got a new box from Costco. Not very exciting 🙂