Happy Homemaker Monday

 The weather ... is lovely this morning with the sun shining brightly and the temperature already in the mid-twenties. According to the forecast we should be getting a bit of a break from the cold, cold weather we've been having.

Outside my kitchen window ... the squirrels are enjoying their feeder.

Right now I am ... writing this blogpost while sitting on our ancient rocking recliner. I'm guessing it saw its best days over thirty years ago, but it is still comfortable even if its hopelessly ugly and outdated.

Thinking ... about some dreams I had last night. They were so vivid and interesting. Most mornings I remember only faint wispy bits of my dreams but occasionally they will stick around a bit longer.

On my reading pile ... The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, Embers in the London Sky by Sarah Sundin, and The Shady Hollow Mystery series by Juneau Black are next in line to be read.

My to-be-read pile is always quite large and I keep adding books to it.

Yesterday I read People Pleaser by Jinger Voulo. It was a quick read, had some food for thought, but I don't see myself wanting to read it again or adding it to our home library. 

On the menu for this week ...

Monday - Cream of Chicken Soup, Herbed Dinner Rolls
Tuesday - Meatballs with Orange Glaze, Asparagus Casserole, Ranch Potato Salad, Dinner Rolls
Wednesday - Mashed Potatoes, Sweetcorn, Potsticker Salad
Thursday - Jailhouse Rice, Loaded Salad
Friday - TexMex Potatoes, Lamb Burgers, Green Beans
Saturday - Hotdogs and Chili
Sunday - Meatlovers Pizza (homemade)

On my to-do list for today... clean the refrigerator, cook up a batch of tapioca pudding, do laundry, grocery shopping, and take care of the daily dozen.

Listening to ... Sharon play the piano. She plays beautifully and I could happily listen to her for a long time. Most of the time she's too busy studying to play, which makes it even more special when she does.

I'm thankful for ... red light therapy. LV has suffered a lot of pain with his ankle and foot since his accident almost three years ago. He would come home from work hobbling. On harder days it would be black and blue and swollen. In December we decided to give a red light therapy boot a try after hearing good things about it. 

The difference it has made in less than ten weeks is amazing. He no longer has constant pain. We are very thankful!

A simple pleasure ... playing games with Steven. This past week we've been pulling out Mancala quite regularly.

Currently

Reading ...  in the Bible, Ephesians.

In other books I am somewhere around a quarter of the way through Persuasion by Jane Austen. I felt this book started off slow for a Jane Austen book, which is saying something because none of her books start off in a gripping sort of way. If not for the fact that I determined to read  all of her books this year I would abandon it for something better.

I shall prevail. Hopefully by the end of the book I will think it was somewhat worth the time and effort it took.

Writing ... nothing exciting. More text messages, several letters, and a smidgeon of progress was made on my big project.

Watching ...  after organizing our DVD collection we discovered that we have several seasons of The Lucy Show we had never watched, so an episode or two have been enjoyed after lunch.

Listening ... to the noise of the ice falling off the trees. Everything was coated in ice this morning and now as the wind has picked up and the temperature has risen it is losing it's grip and falling in chunks taking lots of twigs and smaller branches with it.

Baking ... sourdough pretzel bites. They're so, so good! We've made four batches since Saturday. We shared batches two, three, and four with others, though we did sample some of each.

Cooking .. with the kind of weather that seems to be begging for soup it only seems right to be planning to make soup and grilled cheese for supper tonight.

Feeling ... a bit sore. I twisted my knee yesterday and it's still sore today. Regular walking is fine, but going up and down the stairs ... ouch!

Disliking ... mice. That's all I'm saying on this topic.

Loving ... the quick wit and ready humor that seems to abound in some of my favorite people.

Playing ... a variety of  games: Ice Cream Empire, Pass the Pandas, Top Trumps, and Uno No Mercy. We also did a 1,000 piece puzzle. Five hundred piece puzzles are my preferred size, but this one only took two days so it wasn't that bad.

Cleaning ... we are starting to deep clean the storage room today. I tidy and semi organize it quite often, but it's been quite a while since a proper deep clean has been done and I think it's time. 

Currently

Reading ...  this morning I read Psalms 107

In other books, I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin. It is set in World War II

It has been a while since I read any historical fiction books in that timeframe, but something about the cover spoke to me and I decided to give it a go. I'm so glad I did. 

I also reread When Calls the Heart and When Comes the Spring by Janette Oke.  She used to be one of my favorite authors. It has been a number of years since I last read her books, so I was excited to have a reread. Obviously the books are still the same, but the enjoyment level of reading them was not. I'm abandoning this series after two books. Book one was simple, but okay, with only a few eyerolls needed. Book two ended up annoying me more than it should have.

I'm planning to give some of her other books a chance before too long. Hopefully they won't disappoint.

Writing ... text messages, a letter, and some progress has been made on a story that I'm writing because I want to be able to read it.

Watching ...  Steven and I watched the first episode of the newest season of Worst Cooks in America.  Seeing all the dreadful creations and general helplessness in a kitchen was both entertaining and helpful in building resolve that all our children learn how to cook well. 

Listening ... to the sound of the wind whistling through the pine trees beside the house, and the wind chimes chiming merrily. We didn't get around to bringing them in last fall, and at this point winter has progressed far enough that we may as well leave them outside and enjoy the music.

Baking ... sourdough bread was the latest thing we baked. Last week I had wanted to bake apple pie to take to Kenneth and Paige's, but while preheating the oven there was an explosion. The oven door flew open and the foil that had been lining the bottom of the oven was torn into smithereens. I don't remember the last time I was scared that badly!

The heating element had burned through. It has been replaced and I'm once again using the oven, but somehow I don't quite feel the same calm I used to while baking.

Cooking ... tonight I'm making a tater tot casserole and a romaine lettuce salad with cheese, dried cranberries, and pistachios 

Feeling ... thankful for the many little blessings in our life.

Disliking ... the tracks of a mystery man in our yard. Sharon saw him, and took a picture as evidence. We have no idea who he is or what he was doing, but his foot prints in the snow led him out of the woods and down the hill. He then crawled under the fence, and traipsed across our yard before vanishing mysteriously.

Loving ... the warmer temperature. It's in the upper thirties today which is a pleasant change from the -22º we experienced last week.

Playing ... Rummikub and Steven's favorite card game.

Cleaning ... other than the daily dozen, I haven't done any extra cleaning so far this week.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What's a winter memory you treasure (can be from any winter in your lifetime)? 

My fondest winter memories that I will always treasure are from my childhood. After supper dishes were cleared away, the kitchen swept and tidied, and the woodbox filled heapingly full we would all gather around Mom and her rocking chair near the woodstove while she read stories to us. We always read the Little House on the Prairie series every winter, and then random other books. We'd often crack nuts as she read. Most every night we would have apples to eat and occasionally we would enjoy popcorn as well. 

The wind could be howling around the corners of the house, and snow blowing into impressive drifts, but inside it was cozy, warm, and simply delightful. 

2. Tell us about the last time or a recent time you were caught up in red tape. Does it send your frustration level off the charts or is it something you've come to expect when dealing with any sort of bureaucracy?

Red tape = frustration even though I have come to expect the levels of incompetency it seems we always deal with.

The latest only affected me from the sidelines as LV dealt with the massive headache of it all. I won't go into details, but suffice it to say the levels frustration hit new highs before a lawyer stepped in and suddenly the things that state DOT claimed couldn't be done were done in a matter of 24 hours.

3. Do you eat/like fish? Do you cook fish at home? What's your favorite fish dish? Ever been ice fishing? 

I love fish and cook it semi-regularly. My favorite fish being salmon. The recipe I use most often is for a Sweet Chili Garlic Glazed Salmon. I have never been ice fishing, and really have no desire to go ice fishing. It's certainly cold enough here to do so with it being -21º again this morning. There were tents on the ice on the lake the last time I drove past, but I can't imagine shivering out there trying to catch a fish.

4. Did you watch any of the US President's Inauguration coverage on Monday, Jan 20? On a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being not at all and 10 being very very) how interested are you in politics in general? Do you follow/keep up with/ get involved with local politics? 

I didn't watch any of the inauguration.. I could rate myself on the scale of interest that politics hold for me, but I have been trying to keep this little space free of all things political so I shall refrain.

5. What's the coziest thing you own and what makes it so? 

The coziest thing I own is a blanket Rosie gave me for Christmas several years ago. It's my go to when reading a good book or when ever the house gets chilly. It's the perfect texture, perfect softness, and well, as near perfect as I've found a blanket to be.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We have been enjoying feeding the birds outside our kitchen window, but yesterday something happened that I wasn't prepared for.  A hawk stopped by. He wasn't interested in the bird food, but instead helped himself to one of the birds. 

I know, I know. Circle of life and all that. But I didn't enjoy front row seats to it.

He did leave some pretty cool prints in the snow.

Currently

Reading ...  this morning I enjoyed some Psalms. 

In other books I am half way through Little Women and actually enjoying it. I tried it several times years ago and always gave up, but this time I will finish it.

I read News of the World by Paulette Jiles. I have somewhat mixed feelings on it. It was about a young ten year old girl who was being returned to family after having been a captive of the Kiowa since she was a wee child. The idea for the book was a good one, but there was something about it that I found a bit lacking. 

Towards the end of 2024 I created a list that I dubbed 25 in '25. On it I have 'Read all the Jane Austen books'. So far this year I have read three of them. Up next is Mansfield Park. I'm hoping to get it from the library this weekend.

Writing ... letters. I have this relaxed goal of writing at least one letter per week this year. Relaxed as in, I will be happy if I get it done, but if I don't I won't be disappointed in myself.

Watching ... some videos on baking different kinds of babka. 

Listening ... to classical music as I make this blogpost. The rest of the house is quiet as Sharon studies and LV and Steven are reading.

Baking ...  Sharon made a batch of our favorite chocolate chip cookies. They're Steven's recipe that he has dubbed Geronimo cookies.  

Cooking ... tonight I made turkey meatballs served with rice and a chopped salad.

Feeling ... relaxed, cozy, and happy. 

Disliking ... the cold. It's -2º right now, I can only imagine how cold it will get by morning. 

Loving ... how pretty the snow is, and how fun it is watching the birds and squirrels at their feeders.

Playing ... today it was multiple rounds of UNO No Mercy. We had dug out a few other games as well, but ended up not playing them. We'll try again tomorrow.

Cleaning ... bedroom closets. The one in the master bedroom didn't need much, but Steven's closet is another story. He is going through quite the growth spurt and it's already time to update and replace most of his clothes. It had been done in September, but here we are again already.