Friday, January 5, 2024

5 thing Friday - eating out, puzzle, gifts, repurposing, apple crumble

I have a plan to take myself to eat out once a week, and I'm doing it on one of my days off so I can get out and explore new places.  One day just before Christmas I treated myself to Pad Thai at a restaurant I haven't been to in years.  For some reason, I entered through the bar and was seated in there vs. the restaurant.  I was the only patron and the place smelled funky, but I was served the best Pad Thai I think I have ever had and the service was great.
Just goes to show that you can't always judge a restaurant by the bar area, I guess! Or your memories, really...
Because the next place I ate was another Chinese restaurant I also hadn't been to in years.  However, they offered take-out only and the food was very marginal, so now I can cross that one off my list of places to ever go back to...
All of Christmas got put up and I moved the puzzle back to the dining table to continue working on it.  Scout gave me another puzzle for Christmas so I need to finish this one!
I left a bunch of wintery decor up, like pinecones and greenery - I like the way they look in January, post-Christmas.  I also have been pulling out various things given to me by my mother over the years like this sweet lidded dish.  I think this was from Spain?  Not sure, but I love it and there's the knowledge that these things are the last of the gifts she'll ever give me.  Same with anything from Mark, like jewelry.  Its such a weird feeling - both of them were generous to me.
The Girl crocheted me a cactus and I LOVE IT.  She and Scout were the only ones to give me gifts this year.  Which is OK, because, A. I don't need more stuff to purge one day, and B. I might have purchased myself a few items I knew I would love and use.
New uses for old things: the bread bowl turned potpourri bowl is now a fruit bowl.
And this lid-less vintage glass candy jar is now my tissues holder.
Frugal me made mini apple crumble desserts using three sad apples and some butter added to pantry items like oats, brown sugar, and spices.  They were enjoyed with vanilla bean ice cream and were delightful.
Happy Weekend!


Gina

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! I thought the cactus was real and had to zoom in to see that it’s crocheted. It’s so realistic looking! I’m also at the point in my life where I don’t want anymore clutter. I have such a hard time decluttering. I want to keep everything, sigh.

Pattie @ Olla-Podrida said...

You went out to eat on your own? Bravo! That is something that I just will not do. I’m glad you had wonderful pad Thai. I love that, but I have yet to find a place that does it quite the way I like it.

It’s like a kick in the gut when you look at something and realize that’s the last gift that you’re going to get from them. I try not to think about it. I am glad that the holidays are over, but, like you, I do keep some things out that carry me through the winter. I got some White wooden snowflakes this year that I will leave up into February.

Kim said...

I love your tissue holder! Very creative and very cute.