October, in retrospect, was a pretty lazy month for me. For whatever reason, I had no energy and no motivation; I just couldn't seem to get myself going. I'd look around at all the things that needed doing, and all the things I wanted to do, and then fritter away the time on things that didn't really need to be done just so I could fool myself into thinking I was actually accomplishing something.
It wasn't until Hallowe'en was almost upon us that I managed to pull myself out of that rut ... actually, to be honest, it was Big Guy who got behind me and shoved me out (without knowing that's what he was doing). I'd pretty much decided to skip the whole Hallowe'en thing this year - no pumpkins, no candy handouts, just me and a good book on the sofa. But when I got home from work Friday night, he proudly showed me the three gorgeous pumpkins he'd scored on his way home that afternoon, and at that point could hardly say "That's nice, dear, but I'm not doing anything with them" ... So out came the stencils and paring knives, and by Monday afternoon there were three fairly decent jack-o-lanterns on the front porch waiting to have their candles lit, and a big bowl of (nice but cheap-on-sale) candy to hand out.
So today I'm cooking and pureeing the pumpkins, and toasting the seeds. I think by the time I'm done I'll have at least two dozen pints of pumpkin in the freezer, and the toasted seeds will be a nice snack later when my friend D arrives for our usual Saturday video night.
I've started my Christmas planning too - this year will be my first time hosting the annual pre-Christmas family-and-friends open house, so in addition to my usual notebook lists of things to do and to shop for, there's a new page for party menu planning. It's always nibbles and dessert-ish things, not a full meal, since people come and go throughout the day. So far I'm planning to have:
spanakopita wedges
smoked salmon with dill mayo on baguette rounds
vegetable gyoza (maybe)
cheeses and cold cuts, with French bread and butter
edamame
the usual assortment of pickles and olives
shortbread, gingerbread, and sugar cookies
pumpkin tarts
mince tarts
lemon pound cake
coffee, tea, soft drinks
And I won't be spending as much as you might think. Our local supermarket deli sells trays of cheese and cold cut "ends" for cheap; Costco has excellent, affordable gyoza, edamame, and pre-made spanakopita in the freezer section; our neighbour trades us his home-smoked salmon (fabulous stuff!) for firewood (which we get free), and I'll spread the baking out over several evenings after work. No booze, since people will be driving.
Our tree won't be up yet, but I can do some nice decorating with fresh greenery from our own trees and the ivy I'll have to cut back by then anyway, and my stash of holiday-scented candles. Fir swags along the mantel, bowls of fresh pine cones and shiny glass ornaments, and bouquets of candy canes in my crystal snifters ... quick easy decorating that will be almost completely free ... the only bought elements will be the candy canes, which we get every year anyway to hang on the tree Oh, and a fire going in the woodstove, with the doors folded back so all can enjoy it.
I guess the best way to describe October might be to say that it was kind of a "burnout" month for me. Or possibly a short-lived episode of depression - which I've never been diagnosed with, though it does run in my family. I didn't feel depressed, really, so much as just really tired. And I did have a low-grade sinus thing going on all month ... So, depression? Virus? Overwork? I don't know, and probably never will - I'm just glad it's over!
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Projects And Updates
Yes, I know it's been longer than usual since my last post. I could go on about getting caught up in other things, or delayed by events outside my control, but the truth is I just kept putting it off until here I am, a week later than I planned.
It's true that a lot has been going on here - some of it good, some not so much.
I'll start with a good thing - a finished project. Yes, a sweater is actually finished! And here it is:
Please ignore the mess behind it - the "get-the-workroom-cleaned-up-and-organized" project is not going as quickly as I'd hoped. But hey, one finished project is better than none - isn't it? And the second sweater is almost finished; I just have to assemble it and darn a few ends in. So maybe - with luck and hard work - more things will get done.
This year's food garden was almost a complete loss, thanks to uncooperative weather and steady rain through almost all of pollination season. So far we've managed to harvest one stalk of rhubarb, two tomatoes, and a handful of chives. The apple tree, however, contrived to bloom during the only dry few days we had all spring, and the apple crop was so abundant we were afraid branches would snap from the weight of the apples before we could pick them. One five-gallon pail at a time, they're coming into the kitchen to be canned as applesauce. We'd hoped to slice a bushel at least and run them through the dehydrators, until we realized that every one of them has had at least one bite taken out of it by the squirrels.
Every. Single. Apple.
You'd think that after the first, oh, hundred or so bites, the furry little buggers would have figured out that all the apples taste the same, but no. Apparently our squirrels, while handsome and sometimes entertaining, are not very bright.
And the basement project is almost at a standstill through no fault of my own. Or anyone else's, really ... accidents happen. It's not my co-worker's fault he had a bicycle accident last weekend. But because of that, instead of having a week off to really clear out the basement, I was called back into work. Yes, I'll get the days off some other time ... but probably not until next spring, since we are coming into the busiest / most hellish time of year for my department.
This slows the basement work down rather seriously, since the only time left for it will be weekends, when Big Guy always manages to have something "more important" to do and I can't move the big heavy things that need to be moved without his help. Why do they need to be moved? So that our huge old clunky noisy 43 % efficient furnace can be replaced with our new (still in its wrappings in the basement) small quiet 93 % efficient furnace. I would really love to see that happen before we actually need to turn a furnace on again this fall, but I know if I leave it up to Big Guy it will be at least another year before anything happens.
So my plan of attack has morphed into a plan of sneak attack. I'll be down there in the evenings clearing out all the small stuff, and on the weekends I'll just cajole him into helping me with just one or two large things at a time. Wish me luck!
In other news, J has rounded up two potential roommates, and their plan is to find somewhere to rent by the end of October. We'll miss her, and the move to paying rent will slow down her debt repayment plan, but I can understand her reasoning. She's working two jobs now, one full-time and one part-time, and the almost-two-hour commute each way is killing her. She goes to work, comes home, sleeps, and gets up and goes back to work, seven days a week. Living closer to work will give her a little time to actually have a life. Maybe even get some laundry done ...
This project has had side effects, of course. Big Guy is not happy with the last "baby" leaving home, of course. And all the bins and boxes of her stuff from the basement and the attic will be all over the living room until she makes time to go through them all and do the keep-trash-donate sorting. But ... the day after the last of her possessions leaves that big sunny front bedroom, I'll be in there with a bucket of paint! That room will become my new workroom, this little 8-by-11 room will become the den / guest room, and she already knows that if things go south and she has to move back in, she gets the den and not her old room.
Some people have said I'm unnatural, or a bad mother, for actually wanting my nest emptied ... but hey. She's twenty-six, she has a good education and a good profession (chef) ... it's time. Time for her to spread her wings in the real world, and time for Big Guy and I to be able to sit back, watch our girls all out on their own and independent, and know that we did a good job as parents making sure they could make it on their own.
It's true that a lot has been going on here - some of it good, some not so much.
I'll start with a good thing - a finished project. Yes, a sweater is actually finished! And here it is:
Please ignore the mess behind it - the "get-the-workroom-cleaned-up-and-organized" project is not going as quickly as I'd hoped. But hey, one finished project is better than none - isn't it? And the second sweater is almost finished; I just have to assemble it and darn a few ends in. So maybe - with luck and hard work - more things will get done.
This year's food garden was almost a complete loss, thanks to uncooperative weather and steady rain through almost all of pollination season. So far we've managed to harvest one stalk of rhubarb, two tomatoes, and a handful of chives. The apple tree, however, contrived to bloom during the only dry few days we had all spring, and the apple crop was so abundant we were afraid branches would snap from the weight of the apples before we could pick them. One five-gallon pail at a time, they're coming into the kitchen to be canned as applesauce. We'd hoped to slice a bushel at least and run them through the dehydrators, until we realized that every one of them has had at least one bite taken out of it by the squirrels.
Every. Single. Apple.
You'd think that after the first, oh, hundred or so bites, the furry little buggers would have figured out that all the apples taste the same, but no. Apparently our squirrels, while handsome and sometimes entertaining, are not very bright.
And the basement project is almost at a standstill through no fault of my own. Or anyone else's, really ... accidents happen. It's not my co-worker's fault he had a bicycle accident last weekend. But because of that, instead of having a week off to really clear out the basement, I was called back into work. Yes, I'll get the days off some other time ... but probably not until next spring, since we are coming into the busiest / most hellish time of year for my department.
This slows the basement work down rather seriously, since the only time left for it will be weekends, when Big Guy always manages to have something "more important" to do and I can't move the big heavy things that need to be moved without his help. Why do they need to be moved? So that our huge old clunky noisy 43 % efficient furnace can be replaced with our new (still in its wrappings in the basement) small quiet 93 % efficient furnace. I would really love to see that happen before we actually need to turn a furnace on again this fall, but I know if I leave it up to Big Guy it will be at least another year before anything happens.
So my plan of attack has morphed into a plan of sneak attack. I'll be down there in the evenings clearing out all the small stuff, and on the weekends I'll just cajole him into helping me with just one or two large things at a time. Wish me luck!
In other news, J has rounded up two potential roommates, and their plan is to find somewhere to rent by the end of October. We'll miss her, and the move to paying rent will slow down her debt repayment plan, but I can understand her reasoning. She's working two jobs now, one full-time and one part-time, and the almost-two-hour commute each way is killing her. She goes to work, comes home, sleeps, and gets up and goes back to work, seven days a week. Living closer to work will give her a little time to actually have a life. Maybe even get some laundry done ...
This project has had side effects, of course. Big Guy is not happy with the last "baby" leaving home, of course. And all the bins and boxes of her stuff from the basement and the attic will be all over the living room until she makes time to go through them all and do the keep-trash-donate sorting. But ... the day after the last of her possessions leaves that big sunny front bedroom, I'll be in there with a bucket of paint! That room will become my new workroom, this little 8-by-11 room will become the den / guest room, and she already knows that if things go south and she has to move back in, she gets the den and not her old room.
Some people have said I'm unnatural, or a bad mother, for actually wanting my nest emptied ... but hey. She's twenty-six, she has a good education and a good profession (chef) ... it's time. Time for her to spread her wings in the real world, and time for Big Guy and I to be able to sit back, watch our girls all out on their own and independent, and know that we did a good job as parents making sure they could make it on their own.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Am I Redundant?
I've been doing a lot of blog-surfing this past week - not just catching up on old favourites, but following links, googling odd thoughts, looking for more information on anything that looked interesting - and I'm amazed at how many bloggers there are who are thinking the same things I am, and doing the same things I am.
Am I redundant? Repetitive? Am I doing the blogger's version of carrying coal to Newcastle?
I don't believe so.
Everyone does things their own way. A hundred people may be heading for the same goal but getting there by a hundred different paths. Or as my grandmother used to say, "There are as many ways to make meatloaf as there are people who make meatloaf." And none of those ways are wrong.
I've learned a lot from other bloggers. Not just different methods, but different points of view; sometimes even different reasons for doing the same things. Some of us are just trying to save money. Some of us are just trying to save the environment. Some of us are trying to do both. Some are all-out do-everything-humanly-possible-and-then-do-more types, while some are chipping away at changing their lifestyles bit by bit. There are radical one-day total life makeovers, and there are one-thing-at-a-time ease-into-it gradual evolutions.
Now, I don't want to open that old can of worms about whether ends justify means. But it seems to me lately that I'm seeing a number of bloggers who are surprised that working toward one goal has had effects that spill over into other areas. And I guess what bothers me is: why didn't they foresee any of that spillover?
Decades ago, I set out to find ways to provide the best possible life for my small daughter that I could with a ridiculously tiny income ... we were so far below the poverty line we couldn't even see how far over our heads it was. But we managed. I managed. We ate healthy and stayed healthy, our home and our clothes were always clean and neat, and we had fun. To me, it was a serendipitous side benefit that we were living so "lightly on the earth", as the saying goes. We didn't just recycle - which was pretty much unheard-of as such back then - we re-re-recycled. We used and re-used everything until there was nothing left of it to use. We put out almost no garbage - because we couldn't buy anything that would produce garbage. We shopped at thrift stores (they were called second-hand stores then) and cheap produce markets. We walked almost everywhere, especially to the library every week.
And how could living like that not spill over into health and environmental areas?
No money = no junk food = eating fresh healthy food = minimal packaging = minimal trash.
No money = no unnecessary appliances = doing things by hand = less resources used.
No money = walking everywhere = healthy exercise and fresh air.
No money = minimal spending = re-using or buying used = more useable items kept from landfills.
Win-win!
Even so, I've learned a lot from other bloggers - about creative ways to save money, to use fewer resources, to make what we have go farther and do more - and I hope that maybe someday I'll hear that someone out there learned a little something from me. If karma works, maybe I'll give someone an "Aha!" moment like the ones I find in other blogs.
Redundant? Repetitive? I don't think so. I'm not just parroting the current "popular wisdom", or following someone else's practices to the letter. I'm doing what most of the other bloggers I read are doing - telling my own story, in my own words, and hoping that something resonates with someone else the way those other bloggers' words often do with me.
Am I redundant? Repetitive? Am I doing the blogger's version of carrying coal to Newcastle?
I don't believe so.
Everyone does things their own way. A hundred people may be heading for the same goal but getting there by a hundred different paths. Or as my grandmother used to say, "There are as many ways to make meatloaf as there are people who make meatloaf." And none of those ways are wrong.
I've learned a lot from other bloggers. Not just different methods, but different points of view; sometimes even different reasons for doing the same things. Some of us are just trying to save money. Some of us are just trying to save the environment. Some of us are trying to do both. Some are all-out do-everything-humanly-possible-and-then-do-more types, while some are chipping away at changing their lifestyles bit by bit. There are radical one-day total life makeovers, and there are one-thing-at-a-time ease-into-it gradual evolutions.
Now, I don't want to open that old can of worms about whether ends justify means. But it seems to me lately that I'm seeing a number of bloggers who are surprised that working toward one goal has had effects that spill over into other areas. And I guess what bothers me is: why didn't they foresee any of that spillover?
Decades ago, I set out to find ways to provide the best possible life for my small daughter that I could with a ridiculously tiny income ... we were so far below the poverty line we couldn't even see how far over our heads it was. But we managed. I managed. We ate healthy and stayed healthy, our home and our clothes were always clean and neat, and we had fun. To me, it was a serendipitous side benefit that we were living so "lightly on the earth", as the saying goes. We didn't just recycle - which was pretty much unheard-of as such back then - we re-re-recycled. We used and re-used everything until there was nothing left of it to use. We put out almost no garbage - because we couldn't buy anything that would produce garbage. We shopped at thrift stores (they were called second-hand stores then) and cheap produce markets. We walked almost everywhere, especially to the library every week.
And how could living like that not spill over into health and environmental areas?
No money = no junk food = eating fresh healthy food = minimal packaging = minimal trash.
No money = no unnecessary appliances = doing things by hand = less resources used.
No money = walking everywhere = healthy exercise and fresh air.
No money = minimal spending = re-using or buying used = more useable items kept from landfills.
Win-win!
Even so, I've learned a lot from other bloggers - about creative ways to save money, to use fewer resources, to make what we have go farther and do more - and I hope that maybe someday I'll hear that someone out there learned a little something from me. If karma works, maybe I'll give someone an "Aha!" moment like the ones I find in other blogs.
Redundant? Repetitive? I don't think so. I'm not just parroting the current "popular wisdom", or following someone else's practices to the letter. I'm doing what most of the other bloggers I read are doing - telling my own story, in my own words, and hoping that something resonates with someone else the way those other bloggers' words often do with me.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Much Ado About Something
It's been an odd couple of weeks - a lot to do, no time to write about it, and a lot of up-and-down-and-back-and-forth without really getting anywhere.
I did get to spend a weekend with my friends in Seattle, though, and it was wonderful. I just wish I could afford to get down there more often.
Why do some men seem to go out of their way to find the most difficult, time-consuming way possible to do the simplest things?
All I wanted to do was pick the ripe apples off the old Gravenstein tree in the side yard. So I went out back and asked Big Guy for one of the dip nets from the fishing gear. Well, no, I couldn't do that, because the net was too big and I'd knock down too many apples that weren't ripe and on and on ... but he'd fix me up something much better. Okay, fine. Two hours later, after much banging and cursing which I studiously ignored from indoors, he proudly presented me with a new, hand-made-just-for-you-dear ... dip net. Yep. It's slightly smaller around than the one I would have used, and the handle is almost a foot longer, but overall ... it's a dip net. Well, after thirty years with him I know when to keep my mouth shut except to smile sweetly and thank him.
So this evening I have a few gallons of apples to wash, peel, chop, and cook down. The actual canning (or freezing, if I get too tired) will happen tomorrow night. And by the weekend, lots more apples will be ripe and I'll start over.
There isn't much progress to be seen in other projects. The pink sweater sits forlornly on the needles, no longer than it was two weeks ago. The basement doesn't look any different, although a fair bit of stuff did get either tossed or relocated. Lots of laundry got done, but no mending, and my workroom is pretty much untouched. And yet I feel like I've been working non-stop on all kinds of things ... trouble is, most of what I've been doing has been just catching up on the housework that didn't get done while I was in Seattle. Because of course, Big Guy and J "meant to do it" but somehow it never happened. Story of my life. Sigh.
The apples and the basement have to be the top priorities for the next couple of weeks. The apples because, well, once they're ripe they won't wait, and the basement so that the guy who's coming next week to give us an estimate on installation costs will be able to see what he needs to see and measure where he needs to measure.
Oh, and can anyone tell me how I managed to acquire the head cold from hell this week? My head is pounding, my sinuses are throbbing, and my nose has already been wiped raw. Total misery - but I'm doing my best not to share it with anyone.
I did get to spend a weekend with my friends in Seattle, though, and it was wonderful. I just wish I could afford to get down there more often.
Why do some men seem to go out of their way to find the most difficult, time-consuming way possible to do the simplest things?
All I wanted to do was pick the ripe apples off the old Gravenstein tree in the side yard. So I went out back and asked Big Guy for one of the dip nets from the fishing gear. Well, no, I couldn't do that, because the net was too big and I'd knock down too many apples that weren't ripe and on and on ... but he'd fix me up something much better. Okay, fine. Two hours later, after much banging and cursing which I studiously ignored from indoors, he proudly presented me with a new, hand-made-just-for-you-dear ... dip net. Yep. It's slightly smaller around than the one I would have used, and the handle is almost a foot longer, but overall ... it's a dip net. Well, after thirty years with him I know when to keep my mouth shut except to smile sweetly and thank him.
So this evening I have a few gallons of apples to wash, peel, chop, and cook down. The actual canning (or freezing, if I get too tired) will happen tomorrow night. And by the weekend, lots more apples will be ripe and I'll start over.
There isn't much progress to be seen in other projects. The pink sweater sits forlornly on the needles, no longer than it was two weeks ago. The basement doesn't look any different, although a fair bit of stuff did get either tossed or relocated. Lots of laundry got done, but no mending, and my workroom is pretty much untouched. And yet I feel like I've been working non-stop on all kinds of things ... trouble is, most of what I've been doing has been just catching up on the housework that didn't get done while I was in Seattle. Because of course, Big Guy and J "meant to do it" but somehow it never happened. Story of my life. Sigh.
The apples and the basement have to be the top priorities for the next couple of weeks. The apples because, well, once they're ripe they won't wait, and the basement so that the guy who's coming next week to give us an estimate on installation costs will be able to see what he needs to see and measure where he needs to measure.
Oh, and can anyone tell me how I managed to acquire the head cold from hell this week? My head is pounding, my sinuses are throbbing, and my nose has already been wiped raw. Total misery - but I'm doing my best not to share it with anyone.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Projects, Plans, And Possibilities
Projects. Of the many currently in process, I'm starting to see actual results on a few ...
The sweater is finished. Actually, it's been finished for some time, but I keep forgetting to charge the camera batteries. Maybe next week - in fact, definitely next week, along with pics of ...
Next weekend's Renaissance Fair costume. I have all the pieces cut out for the underskirt, blouse, hat, and most of the vest. All that remain to cut out are the outer vest surface (the layer that shows) and the overskirt; but since they are plaid, and I'm a little obsessive about matching the plaid lines perfectly, I'll be putting the rest of the outfit together over the next three evenings, and tackling the plaid from start to finish on Friday (I have Friday off in exchange for working BC Day on Monday), when there will be lots of nice bright daylight to work by and plenty of time to get it absolutely right.
The mending pile seems to be stuck in some sort of recurring time loop. I mend and I mend but the pile never gets any smaller. I suspect my family of sneaking items into the middle of it when I'm not looking.
Replacing what I lost when I hard to wipe the hard drive is slow going, but I'm chipping away at it. Most of it is re-entering and updating files from hard copies - bank statements, insurance inventory, and so on. And yes, this time everything is being backed up on CDs. My friend D (the tech wizard) thinks he may eventually be able to retrieve most of the photos I hadn't put on CDs yet.
I've started another sweater - just a nice casual cotton/acrylic hoodie, simple but pretty - but I suspect it will end up being a birthday gift for my sister S, because it's pink. Strawberry-ice-cream-pink, which is one of her favourite shades. And since her birthday isn't until the fall, I might even get it finished in time!
The basement cleanup is moving along, though rather more slowly than I like. I'm rapidly approaching the point where I will just haul everything that's not mine - in other words, pretty much everything that's still down there - out into the back yard. Anything that's still out there a week later will go straight to either a local charity or the dump, depending on what it is, what condition it's in, and what mood I'm in by then. Whatever it takes to get that space cleared out so that we can install the new high-efficiency furnace before it's time to turn the heat on again.
I have to confess, as much as I love the Big Guy, this is one area where he makes me want to beat him about the ears with a brick. He talks endlessly about the things he's going to do - replace the furnace, clean up the back yard, replace the old single-glazed living room window, put the new box on the truck, finish painting the kitchen ... but none of it ever actually happens. The living room window is the last one left to be replaced and it's a huge heat sink in the winter. Combine that with an ancient, huge, loud, clunky, dreadfully inefficient furnace, and it's no wonder our winter gas bills are so high. Before the suite in the basement was done, we only went downstairs to do laundry or get something from the freezer, so we heated the main floor with the wood stove. But now we have a tenant, and when a tenant's rent includes heat, we need to provide said heat. Hence the new furnace.
Thanks to a cold, wet spring that continued right through June and the first half of July, the garden I had such high hopes for is pretty much a wash. The rhubarb is looking good, and the chives thrive, but I don't think the tomato plants are going to produce much besides leaves. One planter of strawberries looks promising, but we'll have to figure out a way to keep the birds and squirrels out of it if we're going to get any ripe berries.
But the apple tree! My lovely, antique Gravenstein apple tree! It's covered with baby apples - the branches are already starting to sag under the weight, and they're still no bigger than golf balls. If I can keep the local wildlife (and lowlifes) out of that tree, we'll have applesauce and dried apples all winter. At least, that's the plan. Meanwhile, I'm going to go baste a blouse and underskirt.
The sweater is finished. Actually, it's been finished for some time, but I keep forgetting to charge the camera batteries. Maybe next week - in fact, definitely next week, along with pics of ...
Next weekend's Renaissance Fair costume. I have all the pieces cut out for the underskirt, blouse, hat, and most of the vest. All that remain to cut out are the outer vest surface (the layer that shows) and the overskirt; but since they are plaid, and I'm a little obsessive about matching the plaid lines perfectly, I'll be putting the rest of the outfit together over the next three evenings, and tackling the plaid from start to finish on Friday (I have Friday off in exchange for working BC Day on Monday), when there will be lots of nice bright daylight to work by and plenty of time to get it absolutely right.
The mending pile seems to be stuck in some sort of recurring time loop. I mend and I mend but the pile never gets any smaller. I suspect my family of sneaking items into the middle of it when I'm not looking.
Replacing what I lost when I hard to wipe the hard drive is slow going, but I'm chipping away at it. Most of it is re-entering and updating files from hard copies - bank statements, insurance inventory, and so on. And yes, this time everything is being backed up on CDs. My friend D (the tech wizard) thinks he may eventually be able to retrieve most of the photos I hadn't put on CDs yet.
I've started another sweater - just a nice casual cotton/acrylic hoodie, simple but pretty - but I suspect it will end up being a birthday gift for my sister S, because it's pink. Strawberry-ice-cream-pink, which is one of her favourite shades. And since her birthday isn't until the fall, I might even get it finished in time!
The basement cleanup is moving along, though rather more slowly than I like. I'm rapidly approaching the point where I will just haul everything that's not mine - in other words, pretty much everything that's still down there - out into the back yard. Anything that's still out there a week later will go straight to either a local charity or the dump, depending on what it is, what condition it's in, and what mood I'm in by then. Whatever it takes to get that space cleared out so that we can install the new high-efficiency furnace before it's time to turn the heat on again.
I have to confess, as much as I love the Big Guy, this is one area where he makes me want to beat him about the ears with a brick. He talks endlessly about the things he's going to do - replace the furnace, clean up the back yard, replace the old single-glazed living room window, put the new box on the truck, finish painting the kitchen ... but none of it ever actually happens. The living room window is the last one left to be replaced and it's a huge heat sink in the winter. Combine that with an ancient, huge, loud, clunky, dreadfully inefficient furnace, and it's no wonder our winter gas bills are so high. Before the suite in the basement was done, we only went downstairs to do laundry or get something from the freezer, so we heated the main floor with the wood stove. But now we have a tenant, and when a tenant's rent includes heat, we need to provide said heat. Hence the new furnace.
Thanks to a cold, wet spring that continued right through June and the first half of July, the garden I had such high hopes for is pretty much a wash. The rhubarb is looking good, and the chives thrive, but I don't think the tomato plants are going to produce much besides leaves. One planter of strawberries looks promising, but we'll have to figure out a way to keep the birds and squirrels out of it if we're going to get any ripe berries.
But the apple tree! My lovely, antique Gravenstein apple tree! It's covered with baby apples - the branches are already starting to sag under the weight, and they're still no bigger than golf balls. If I can keep the local wildlife (and lowlifes) out of that tree, we'll have applesauce and dried apples all winter. At least, that's the plan. Meanwhile, I'm going to go baste a blouse and underskirt.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Ever Have One Of Those Days ...
... where you just can't seem to get moving? I'm having one today. And although I feel like I've earned a lazy day, this is not the best time for one. But every time I think about the things that need to get done today ... I sit back down here and start another game of solitaire, or read another blog/social site thread/news article.
And there are a number of things that do need doing today; the litterbox and guinea pig cage need cleaning, the dishes are piling up and so is the laundry, the bathroom is grubby, the whole house badly needs sweeping and dusting, the mending pile keeps growing, I still have a few more loose ends to darn into the "project" sweater, and my workroom is still chaotic. Don't even ask me about the basement ... and here I sit.
Why? I'm tired. Deep-down in my bones tired. Overtime every night at work, family who meet me at the door with things they "need" me to do right that second, a computer on which I need to replace/rebuild a gazillion files because we had to wipe the main drive and reinstall Windows (some files might still be recoverable, but it will take time); it all adds up. It seems like the only time I had to relax for the last week was during my train ride to work and back, when I could lose myself in a book or put my headphones on and ignore the world for a little while. That's not enough.
On the plus side, I have tomorrow off. Even though our office is in Canada, the ports I handle are in the US, so I work the Canadian holidays and take the American ones. Instead of Victoria Day, I get Memorial Day. This is actually a good thing, because tomorrow I plan to get my passport pictures taken, get J to sign one (she works an afternoon shift tomorrow so she'll still be here when I get back with them), go downtown to use the birthday gift card the girls gave me last fall for a manicure & pedicure, then take in my passport application. I'll be putting the fees on the credit card, but as soon as I get home I can transfer the amount out of chequing and so pay no interest and get the card back to zero again. The passport office, like the photo place, is within walking distance of home. So are the bank, the library, the computer store, and two grocery stores, all of which I will also be stopping at ... all in all, a very busy day, but a very productive one.
Oh, yes, the bank.
I have a little piggy bank on my desk here, into which I drop all the coins I accumulate during the week. When it's full, I empty it into an old toffee tin, and when the tin is full, I roll up the coins and deposit the lot into my savings account. So my trip to the bank will be to deposit - drum roll, please! - $233.00 !!! Which more than makes up for having to tweeze my eyebrows into submission and touch up my grey roots tonight so I'll be ready for the passport photos in the morning.
Now, if only the weather would lighten up a little. It may be the end of May on paper, but it's still March outside.
And there are a number of things that do need doing today; the litterbox and guinea pig cage need cleaning, the dishes are piling up and so is the laundry, the bathroom is grubby, the whole house badly needs sweeping and dusting, the mending pile keeps growing, I still have a few more loose ends to darn into the "project" sweater, and my workroom is still chaotic. Don't even ask me about the basement ... and here I sit.
Why? I'm tired. Deep-down in my bones tired. Overtime every night at work, family who meet me at the door with things they "need" me to do right that second, a computer on which I need to replace/rebuild a gazillion files because we had to wipe the main drive and reinstall Windows (some files might still be recoverable, but it will take time); it all adds up. It seems like the only time I had to relax for the last week was during my train ride to work and back, when I could lose myself in a book or put my headphones on and ignore the world for a little while. That's not enough.
On the plus side, I have tomorrow off. Even though our office is in Canada, the ports I handle are in the US, so I work the Canadian holidays and take the American ones. Instead of Victoria Day, I get Memorial Day. This is actually a good thing, because tomorrow I plan to get my passport pictures taken, get J to sign one (she works an afternoon shift tomorrow so she'll still be here when I get back with them), go downtown to use the birthday gift card the girls gave me last fall for a manicure & pedicure, then take in my passport application. I'll be putting the fees on the credit card, but as soon as I get home I can transfer the amount out of chequing and so pay no interest and get the card back to zero again. The passport office, like the photo place, is within walking distance of home. So are the bank, the library, the computer store, and two grocery stores, all of which I will also be stopping at ... all in all, a very busy day, but a very productive one.
Oh, yes, the bank.
I have a little piggy bank on my desk here, into which I drop all the coins I accumulate during the week. When it's full, I empty it into an old toffee tin, and when the tin is full, I roll up the coins and deposit the lot into my savings account. So my trip to the bank will be to deposit - drum roll, please! - $233.00 !!! Which more than makes up for having to tweeze my eyebrows into submission and touch up my grey roots tonight so I'll be ready for the passport photos in the morning.
Now, if only the weather would lighten up a little. It may be the end of May on paper, but it's still March outside.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Weekend Reflections
Today is Ostara, the Spring Equinox. The sun is shining, birds are chirping on the clothesline, buds are coming out on the trees, and the rhubarb actually survived the winter.
It feels like a good day to reflect on where I've been, where I am now and how I got here, and where I want to be and how to get there.
Spring - a traditional time for new beginnings of every kind. A good time to take a look at what my goals were when I started blogging, and decide what worked, what didn't, and what new goals might be more appropriate.
Goal - get another job.
DONE!!! And I couldn't be happier with it!
Goal - quit smoking.
No success there yet - I have cut down some, though, and I feel myself getting closer to actually being ready to quit.
Goal - lose weight.
A little success, but I think it's time to stop focusing on the numbers on the scale, and put the energy into an overall pattern of living a healthier life. Yes, I know, that would include giving up smoking. But it also includes things I'm ready to do now. Giving up "junk" food / empty-calorie-laden snacks, and walking more instead of jumping in the car. That will be much easier now that winter is pretty much over. Walking with my shopping cart to do all the errands didn't have much appeal when the weather choices were icy cold rain, icy cold windy rain, below-zero windy slush ...
Goal - de-clutter the house and keep it that way.
Progress is being made, but so slowly it's hard to see without referring back to my "before" pictures. There are days when I want to pile everyone else's junk in the middle of the yard and tell them to deal with it without just scattering it randomly back in the house. There are days when I firmly believe that the house won't look the way I'd like it to until J moves out and Big Guy dies. But every now and then there's a day when someone actually agrees with me that something can go, or pitches in and cleans a little of their mess themselves. Those are days I treasure, rare as they are.
Goal - use what I already have to expand / improve my wardrobe.
That's going very slowly, due to constrains of time and available working space. The "improve" part is moving along nicely ... this week I weeded more clothes, and have two more bags of donations to drop off. I've decided that it doesn't matter how much I like a garment - if it doesn't go with at least three other things I own, I'm not keeping it.
For office wear, I'm down to a base of slacks and jackets in neutral colours - greys, black, dark blues, and creams/tans/khaki. Shoes? Three pairs black, one pair navy, one pair tan. Maybe later this year I'll throw some dark forest green or bitter-chocolate brown into the mix. This neutral base will give me a lot more leeway in choosing colours and patterns for tops and accessories ... I'm all about scarves, actually; I have them in all kinds of fabrics, patterns, colours, sizes, and textures! Now I'm looking forward to making myself lots of nice sweaters, shells, tanks, and tunics to coordinate with the neutrals.
My current sweater project fits so perfectly into this plan that I must confess I've even done a little gloating about it! It's a longish tunic-y style pullover in shades of cream, charcoal, dusty pale blue, and cafe-au-lait that will look great with every pair of office slacks I have. It'll look great with jeans. It'll look great under a blazer or by itself. And by this time next week, it'll be finished - last night I got the shoulder seams sewn up and the neckband knitted on, which just leaves the sleeves and side seams. I can't wait to post a picture of it!
Goal - to spend less time just watching television and more time actually doing things.
This one shouldn't be that difficult. These days there are fewer programs I actually enjoy enough that I'd miss them if they disappeared. I need to get back into the habit of not sitting down in front of the television without something to occupy my hands, whether it's a knitting/sewing/craft project, or mending, or laundry to fold. Or maybe put some music on, instead of the television, when all I really need is background noise.
Goal - get the basement cleaned out so we can start putting in the family room we've been talking about for years.
This is going very slowly - in fact, it's almost at a standstill right now. I'm breaking it down into " mini-goals", for lack of a better word. First, I want to get all of my own stuff out ... except for the big steel rack holding all the canning jars and gear, and the boxes of home-canned food. Technically, the canning stuff is all mine - but in actual usage it's for the whole family's benefit, like the freezer.
I've been working with J - when she can spare the time - to get all of her stuff out, whether it's organized into bins in the attic, donated, or whatever.
What I'm aiming for is the day when Big Guy once again claims that he can't do anything in the basement yet because "there's too much crap in the way." I will smile sweetly and reply in dulcet tones, "Yes, dear, and all of it is yours."
It feels like a good day to reflect on where I've been, where I am now and how I got here, and where I want to be and how to get there.
Spring - a traditional time for new beginnings of every kind. A good time to take a look at what my goals were when I started blogging, and decide what worked, what didn't, and what new goals might be more appropriate.
Goal - get another job.
DONE!!! And I couldn't be happier with it!
Goal - quit smoking.
No success there yet - I have cut down some, though, and I feel myself getting closer to actually being ready to quit.
Goal - lose weight.
A little success, but I think it's time to stop focusing on the numbers on the scale, and put the energy into an overall pattern of living a healthier life. Yes, I know, that would include giving up smoking. But it also includes things I'm ready to do now. Giving up "junk" food / empty-calorie-laden snacks, and walking more instead of jumping in the car. That will be much easier now that winter is pretty much over. Walking with my shopping cart to do all the errands didn't have much appeal when the weather choices were icy cold rain, icy cold windy rain, below-zero windy slush ...
Goal - de-clutter the house and keep it that way.
Progress is being made, but so slowly it's hard to see without referring back to my "before" pictures. There are days when I want to pile everyone else's junk in the middle of the yard and tell them to deal with it without just scattering it randomly back in the house. There are days when I firmly believe that the house won't look the way I'd like it to until J moves out and Big Guy dies. But every now and then there's a day when someone actually agrees with me that something can go, or pitches in and cleans a little of their mess themselves. Those are days I treasure, rare as they are.
Goal - use what I already have to expand / improve my wardrobe.
That's going very slowly, due to constrains of time and available working space. The "improve" part is moving along nicely ... this week I weeded more clothes, and have two more bags of donations to drop off. I've decided that it doesn't matter how much I like a garment - if it doesn't go with at least three other things I own, I'm not keeping it.
For office wear, I'm down to a base of slacks and jackets in neutral colours - greys, black, dark blues, and creams/tans/khaki. Shoes? Three pairs black, one pair navy, one pair tan. Maybe later this year I'll throw some dark forest green or bitter-chocolate brown into the mix. This neutral base will give me a lot more leeway in choosing colours and patterns for tops and accessories ... I'm all about scarves, actually; I have them in all kinds of fabrics, patterns, colours, sizes, and textures! Now I'm looking forward to making myself lots of nice sweaters, shells, tanks, and tunics to coordinate with the neutrals.
My current sweater project fits so perfectly into this plan that I must confess I've even done a little gloating about it! It's a longish tunic-y style pullover in shades of cream, charcoal, dusty pale blue, and cafe-au-lait that will look great with every pair of office slacks I have. It'll look great with jeans. It'll look great under a blazer or by itself. And by this time next week, it'll be finished - last night I got the shoulder seams sewn up and the neckband knitted on, which just leaves the sleeves and side seams. I can't wait to post a picture of it!
Goal - to spend less time just watching television and more time actually doing things.
This one shouldn't be that difficult. These days there are fewer programs I actually enjoy enough that I'd miss them if they disappeared. I need to get back into the habit of not sitting down in front of the television without something to occupy my hands, whether it's a knitting/sewing/craft project, or mending, or laundry to fold. Or maybe put some music on, instead of the television, when all I really need is background noise.
Goal - get the basement cleaned out so we can start putting in the family room we've been talking about for years.
This is going very slowly - in fact, it's almost at a standstill right now. I'm breaking it down into " mini-goals", for lack of a better word. First, I want to get all of my own stuff out ... except for the big steel rack holding all the canning jars and gear, and the boxes of home-canned food. Technically, the canning stuff is all mine - but in actual usage it's for the whole family's benefit, like the freezer.
I've been working with J - when she can spare the time - to get all of her stuff out, whether it's organized into bins in the attic, donated, or whatever.
What I'm aiming for is the day when Big Guy once again claims that he can't do anything in the basement yet because "there's too much crap in the way." I will smile sweetly and reply in dulcet tones, "Yes, dear, and all of it is yours."
Saturday, January 22, 2011
New Year, New Goal
Well, not exactly a new goal ... actually the resurrection of a project that never quite got off the ground last year.
Those of you who are familiar with my old blog, My Life After Layoff , might remember my plans to de-clutter and organize my workroom (you can see the "before" pics here ). Right now it's a disaster ... bags, boxes, and loose piles of fabric, yarn, books, clothes, craft supplies, patterns, sewing machines, dress form, ironing board, computer stuff, fishing rods & tackle (don't ask) ... the room itself is seven feet by ten, and it seems like almost everything I do is done in here. Or would be, if I had space to do it ...
Well, life got in the way, as it so often does, and nothing in here has changed. Yet.
I was making progress. Really I was. But then ...
My computer died; actually, a component of the power source failed and took out part of my motherboard in the process - the part that says "Why yes, you do have hard drives, and here they are." That happened mid-September, and I was without a computer of my own until late November. It's my very good fortune to have a dear friend who is also a tech wizard, and he was able to slave my main hard drive to (daughter) J's computer long enough for me to copy the files I really needed (job-hunting can be difficult without access to one's resume).
On reflection, I must admit that the biggest hindrance to the timely completion of the project was a stroke of amazing good luck - a former colleague called me out of the blue and offered me a job! Naturally, I accepted with grace and gratitude. And then did the "Happy Dance" on the downtown sidewalk outside Dressew (which is where I happened to be when my phone rang), followed by a celebratory shopping spree at their 99-cents-a-ball yarn sale (I got some gorgeous stuff, too - Nashua Cilantro and Schachenmayr Nomotta Punto for 99 cents? A dozen pattern books for 99 cents each? Heaven, I tell you!). And after thirteen months without work, a call on a Thursday afternoon asking "Can you start on Monday morning?" merited some celebration! I believe my response was something along the lines of "If you want, I can find a way to start yesterday! "
Get-up-in-the-morning-and-work-on-the-room turned into get-up-and-go-to-work and work-on-the-room-on-the-weekend. Good.
Work-on-the-room-on-the-weekend turned into do-something-about-that-damned-attic-so-there's-somewhere-to-put-things and do-the-laundry-and-housework-all-at-once-instead-of-staggered-through-the-week and yell-at-the-people-who-had-all-week-to-do-their-laundry-and-chose-Saturday-and-I-am-not-going-to-work-on-Monday-without-clean-underwear and well, you get the picture. Frustrating.
Time constraints, attic temperatures, and family life being what they are, the attic turned into a much bigger project than I had foreseen, but I finally finished just in time for
Christmas. Baking. Cleaning. Decorating. Gift making / shopping / hiding / wrapping. And the Big Guy picked December as the perfect time to paint the kitchen and replace the stove ... The coldest week on record for the last umpty-dozen years, doors and windows wide open (therefore also the coldest week on record in the house) and no way to cook. Uber frustrating.
Well. Upward and onward.
The holiday dust has settled, the pine needles have all been swept up (well, all the ones I could find), and it's time to finish what I started in here.
Step one: weed the bookshelves. Difficult, that. Done.
Step two: weed the yarn and fabric stashes. Even more difficult, and involving some lip-quivering, but ... Done.
Step three: hit the dollar store for zip-close bags to store yarn and fabric, with the patterns I intend to use tucked into the bags. Mostly done.
Step four: inventory all the knitting needles and related gear so that I know what I have and what I need. Done.
Step five: weed the craft supplies and office supplies, then hit the dollar store again for clear plastic bins / boxes to store the keepers in. Weeding is done, dollar store trip will be later today.
Step six: go through the small Alp of mending and sort by type of repair needed, then swing by the local fabric store for any necessary supplies not already on hand (like the new zipper for my fleece-lined hoodie). Partially done. In a perfect world, this would be followed by
Step seven: Do all the mending. In a perfect world ...
At this point, someone is sure to be wondering what all that shopping and all those plastic bags, boxes, and bins have to do with making my life "greener, healthier, and thriftier". Well, life is full of trade-offs and compromises, and that's one of mine; an investment in plastic now will save me money, time, and stress. Fabric and yarn won't be ruined by exposure to dirt, dust, bugs, or mildew (it's happened before). Craft supplies won't get lost, broken, or damaged. I won't tear my hair out trying to find things I know are "in here somewhere", nor will I spend money duplicating what I already have. And having all those projects visible means I'll be far more likely to actually do them, which in turn means a better wardrobe for me and nice gifts for others, all without spending more money on materials. And ... I only buy plastics that are on my city's acceptable-for-recycling list, which is what will happen in the unlikely event that I no longer have a use for them and can't find someone else who needs them.
I don't usually make New Year's resolutions - mainly because I know how unlikely it is that I'll keep them - but this year I've made a few and I think they're going to work.
1) I will work with what I have.
2) I will finish what I start.
3) I will step up my efforts to reduce, re-use, and recycle.
Remember I said last week that blogging keeps me accountable? Well, putting that together with resolutions 1 and 2, every time I start a project I will post it in the sidebar, along with the start and finish dates. If I get really ambitious, I might even put up pictures. Yes, including "after" pictures of my workroom ... if only in the hope that someone, somewhere, will check out the "befores", compare them to the "afters", and say "Wow! Great job!"
Those of you who are familiar with my old blog, My Life After Layoff , might remember my plans to de-clutter and organize my workroom (you can see the "before" pics here ). Right now it's a disaster ... bags, boxes, and loose piles of fabric, yarn, books, clothes, craft supplies, patterns, sewing machines, dress form, ironing board, computer stuff, fishing rods & tackle (don't ask) ... the room itself is seven feet by ten, and it seems like almost everything I do is done in here. Or would be, if I had space to do it ...
Well, life got in the way, as it so often does, and nothing in here has changed. Yet.
I was making progress. Really I was. But then ...
My computer died; actually, a component of the power source failed and took out part of my motherboard in the process - the part that says "Why yes, you do have hard drives, and here they are." That happened mid-September, and I was without a computer of my own until late November. It's my very good fortune to have a dear friend who is also a tech wizard, and he was able to slave my main hard drive to (daughter) J's computer long enough for me to copy the files I really needed (job-hunting can be difficult without access to one's resume).
On reflection, I must admit that the biggest hindrance to the timely completion of the project was a stroke of amazing good luck - a former colleague called me out of the blue and offered me a job! Naturally, I accepted with grace and gratitude. And then did the "Happy Dance" on the downtown sidewalk outside Dressew (which is where I happened to be when my phone rang), followed by a celebratory shopping spree at their 99-cents-a-ball yarn sale (I got some gorgeous stuff, too - Nashua Cilantro and Schachenmayr Nomotta Punto for 99 cents? A dozen pattern books for 99 cents each? Heaven, I tell you!). And after thirteen months without work, a call on a Thursday afternoon asking "Can you start on Monday morning?" merited some celebration! I believe my response was something along the lines of "If you want, I can find a way to start yesterday! "
Get-up-in-the-morning-and-work-on-the-room turned into get-up-and-go-to-work and work-on-the-room-on-the-weekend. Good.
Work-on-the-room-on-the-weekend turned into do-something-about-that-damned-attic-so-there's-somewhere-to-put-things and do-the-laundry-and-housework-all-at-once-instead-of-staggered-through-the-week and yell-at-the-people-who-had-all-week-to-do-their-laundry-and-chose-Saturday-and-I-am-not-going-to-work-on-Monday-without-clean-underwear and well, you get the picture. Frustrating.
Time constraints, attic temperatures, and family life being what they are, the attic turned into a much bigger project than I had foreseen, but I finally finished just in time for
Christmas. Baking. Cleaning. Decorating. Gift making / shopping / hiding / wrapping. And the Big Guy picked December as the perfect time to paint the kitchen and replace the stove ... The coldest week on record for the last umpty-dozen years, doors and windows wide open (therefore also the coldest week on record in the house) and no way to cook. Uber frustrating.
Well. Upward and onward.
The holiday dust has settled, the pine needles have all been swept up (well, all the ones I could find), and it's time to finish what I started in here.
Step one: weed the bookshelves. Difficult, that. Done.
Step two: weed the yarn and fabric stashes. Even more difficult, and involving some lip-quivering, but ... Done.
Step three: hit the dollar store for zip-close bags to store yarn and fabric, with the patterns I intend to use tucked into the bags. Mostly done.
Step four: inventory all the knitting needles and related gear so that I know what I have and what I need. Done.
Step five: weed the craft supplies and office supplies, then hit the dollar store again for clear plastic bins / boxes to store the keepers in. Weeding is done, dollar store trip will be later today.
Step six: go through the small Alp of mending and sort by type of repair needed, then swing by the local fabric store for any necessary supplies not already on hand (like the new zipper for my fleece-lined hoodie). Partially done. In a perfect world, this would be followed by
Step seven: Do all the mending. In a perfect world ...
At this point, someone is sure to be wondering what all that shopping and all those plastic bags, boxes, and bins have to do with making my life "greener, healthier, and thriftier". Well, life is full of trade-offs and compromises, and that's one of mine; an investment in plastic now will save me money, time, and stress. Fabric and yarn won't be ruined by exposure to dirt, dust, bugs, or mildew (it's happened before). Craft supplies won't get lost, broken, or damaged. I won't tear my hair out trying to find things I know are "in here somewhere", nor will I spend money duplicating what I already have. And having all those projects visible means I'll be far more likely to actually do them, which in turn means a better wardrobe for me and nice gifts for others, all without spending more money on materials. And ... I only buy plastics that are on my city's acceptable-for-recycling list, which is what will happen in the unlikely event that I no longer have a use for them and can't find someone else who needs them.
I don't usually make New Year's resolutions - mainly because I know how unlikely it is that I'll keep them - but this year I've made a few and I think they're going to work.
1) I will work with what I have.
2) I will finish what I start.
3) I will step up my efforts to reduce, re-use, and recycle.
Remember I said last week that blogging keeps me accountable? Well, putting that together with resolutions 1 and 2, every time I start a project I will post it in the sidebar, along with the start and finish dates. If I get really ambitious, I might even put up pictures. Yes, including "after" pictures of my workroom ... if only in the hope that someone, somewhere, will check out the "befores", compare them to the "afters", and say "Wow! Great job!"
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