5 thing Friday - garden hose, letters, junk, garage philosophy, pillows

I've been seeing garden hose pots all over the place, and while they are pretty, I feel like they would make a great home for a snake, not to mention standing water for mosquitos.  We dealt with several snakes at Highlands,  and I'm not having it at my house.

So I ordered a hose holder from Lowe's that required minimal assembly and it works perfectly.  Maybe not as pretty as a pricey hose pot, but way more practical.

The backyard is greening up nicely and the fig has decided, once again, to live.  Just a couple more small projects out in the backyard and I will stop for the summer and go to mowing and watering only.

I gathered up all of the letters from Mom (2011-2023) and put them in order by date.  Then I took all of the ones I wrote to her, collected from her house, and added them in.  I read a few of them here and there.  {More thoughts later on the takeaway from that} For now, they are all in a binder.

The ones she wrote me from Saudi Arabia are in a separate box.  And the ones after she married Jim and before 2011?  I have no idea what I did with those.

The last few items from the never-ending garage clean-out went to Goodwill as no one wanted them in the Buy Nothing group.  Along the way I have had a realization that has grown stronger each time.  And I have gathered ideas from others, as well. So I put it all together and posted it in the garage, just to remind myself.

My Home and Garage Philosophy

I don't need “things” to be happy. True happiness does not come from accumulating stuff. I will have nothing in my home that I do not find beautiful nor believe to be useful. If I am sentimentally attached to something, I can make the decision to keep it for as long as it makes me feel happy to own it.

My worth is not defined by my stuff, or the stuff anyone left behind for me to deal with. And it is my choice and responsibility to decide what I want to keep. I don't have to live like everyone else. I'm not obligated to store things I don't want.

There is value in living within my means. Contentment comes from appreciating what I have. My donated items and excess stuff can bless others making generosity second nature.

Fewer possessions = more time to spend on people and pastimes that have value to me. I am in control of my life. The pursuit of more stuff will never be the reason I don't make a life for myself and make a difference in the world.

I will not store or organize stuff just for the sake of owning it. I have a choice in what I want to keep in my life. I can choose to purge my stuff, without asking anyone's opinion, any time that I see fit.

I will not leave a legacy of "too much stuff" to my family. It is my goal to empower my children to decide what things matter to them, letting the rest go.

******

Summer is here!  Time to freshen up some spaces in my home.

Two small throw pillows, a softer comforter color, thorough dusting, and a couple of feminine touches in my bedroom make for a sweet space to come home to each day.  Sometimes its the little things, right?

Gina

Monday menus #73

Now you see it... 

(the steel cabinet that weighs a ton!)

Monday - Lemony Alfredo with grilled chicken, brussels sprouts {I'm off today!}

Tuesday - Crockpot Korean Ribs, brown rice, green beans

Wednesday - Cafe Rio Chicken bowls with black beans and queso fresco

Thursday - Chickpea Pasta with Turkey Bolognese*, asparagus

Friday - Crockpot Cowboy Beans {payday}

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed

...and now you don't.  I made two trips to the recycling place, once with Scout after we figured out to disassemble it and got it loaded it into the back of the truck.  I made a whopping $14 in scrap.  But its not in my garage anymore and I think I would have paid someone to come take it by the time I quit procrastinating about it! Not a moment too soon as here comes summer heat.

Gina

*my Turkey Pesto Meatballs literally fell apart in the sauce you bake them in. I made a misstep in the recipe. When I stirred them, they became a delicious Bolognese that I can serve over healthy pasta. So I froze it for a future meal!

Little project: a lamp for the front room

Most of the things I took home from my mother's house had great sentiment to me, for various reasons.  The value was in the feelings they stirred in me.  Exhibit A: the lamp that is sitting on the antique table she had at her bedside.  I imagine she read under the light of this lamp for hours. 

It was in rough shape.  The shade had to be as old as the lamp itself - mid 60's?  I don't remember it in our house growing up, so maybe it was Jim's.  That shade went into the trash right away - not sorry.

I thought about using it in the front room for this very dark and awkward nook where I always place the Christmas tree.  But I hated this shade, too.  So I decided to buy it a new shade, and give it a spiffing with spray paint.

The original finish.

The base had a lot of discoloration and damage.  Nothing I can't buff up with steel wool before I paint.

For a hot minute I considered a hammered gold finish, but the other lamp in the room is shiny gold.  And I wanted a softer gold, so I went with the Behr metallic gold.  The part that took the longest was taping off her cord and the socket, then buffing out her finish and giving her a good wipe down. But start to finish, I probably spent an hour on it.

Isn't she so pretty now?  I got a matching lampshade to the lamp that was already in this room - $22 at Target.  The paint was $10, but I still have most of the can left.  And lamps like this cost a pretty penny.

She has really lovely lines - very mid-century modern.  In fact, the only thing that doesn't really "go" in this room now is that table.  But it stays.

Its still pretty gloomy in here with only one lamp on and grey skies outside.  But every time I see this lamp now, it will give me a cozy glow, remembering Mom.

Happy Weekend!

Gina

Monday menus #72

 Last week's Vietnamese Chicken, served with rice I made using the crockpot juices and some sauteed peppers, carrots, snow peas, and purple onion:

It made three full meals and one lunch and was quite tasty!

Monday - kitchen closed {pick up curbside grocery order after work}

Tuesday - Carnitas Tacos on low carb tortillas, cabbage slaw

Wednesday - (crockpot) Chicken breast over chopped salad {fixing a screen door today - learning something new!}

Thursday - One Pan Mexican Quinoa (made with ground turkey) {mow the yards, cook a crockpot full of white beans}

Friday - Tilapia, yellow squash, white beans {touch up paint on backyard window boxes, zoom meeting with dietician}

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed

Gina

5 thing Friday - beans, walking, habits, speaker, junk

 I rediscovered a couple of recipes that call for black beans and decided to cook my own because I can make them low salt with no additives, and they are cheaper than canned.

Also, its easy to soak them during the day, let them cook in the crockpot at night, then cool and bag them for the freezer in the morning.

One $1.50 bag of beans = 5 cans of cooked beans, more or less.

This is the view as I trudge along on my daily walks.  It takes me 15 minutes to get to the end of the street and back.  The road is nice and wide and has minimal traffic.  I have made a commitment to myself to walk four times a week for a minimum of 15 minutes and its kicking my rear, but these are early days.  Years ago I walked an hour at a time several days a week.  It will take me time to build back up to that, and its only going to get hotter so I have to get started on this.

I'm also dropping some bad habits I had started for no good reason.  You know the ones?  One day you wake up and think "why am I doing that?".  Chips with lunches, soda too often, white bread, eating late, yada yada.  Habits aren't preferences so I am changing it up.

I bought a neat doo-dad that makes the Google speaker into a plug-in basically.  No cord!  I tested it in the kitchen, but this one is for the back patio.  I may order another one of them, but at $16 they weren't super cheap.  Still, I rely on the Google Lady to give me the forecast, news, and muzak and this saves space.

A reminder of where I started in the garage.

Scout was out in there with me last week and I was explaining to him why the garage was such a bone of contention between Mark and I, and why it always made me stressed.  This is why.

Therefore, every bit of progress made out here I credit myself for and I am very pleased with myself.  I know it is a job that seems to drag on forever.  But it won't.  Its taking me just the right amount of time to resolve, considering where I started.  When he and Bubbie move out, one day, it will

be even emptier.

We pulled things out of the attic that I forgot I had.

Some of them I have no idea what to do with.  Does this machine work?  Who knows.  But I have another one to get rid of, too. 

Some of it I can keep, some of it must go.  I pulled out Mark's hiking pack and emptied it of expired meds and hand gels and such.  Found $10 cash.  Donated some tent stakes.  Tossed old Boy Scout handbooks into the recycle bin. Divied up the useable stuff to Scout and Bubbie's packs.  Gave away the extra charcoal bin and two mats on the Buy Nothing page.  Left to decide: the wine fridge, a camp kitchen, the pizza oven.  Scout and I will recycle that big steel cabinet soon.

And some of the collection of cast iron was passed on to a co-worker who likes to cook outdoors, because I don't want to store these things forever and at least I know they can bless someone else.

Gina

Monday menus #71

Did I need more jewelry? No.

But also, did I buy myself a Mother's Day gift of jewelry? Yes.

I had been looking for small-ish two tone real gold hoop earrings for every day wear and I found them on Ebay, so I dropped those right into my cart, sang "Happy Mother's Day to Me", and went on living my life.  I do not feel one bit guilty.  I also ordered: rug pads for the two rugs I brought home from Mom's house, a cute sleeveless dress from Kohl's, a garden hose holder and a Google speaker outlet mount from Lowe's, and replacement ink cartridges for my printer.  And believe it or not, I'm actually making thoughtful purchases, not just shopping for the heck of it!

Monday - kitchen closed

Tuesday - Vietnamese Chicken, stir fry veggies {working 830p-1a}

Wednesday - Beef Sloppy Joes on toast (use up the old bread), chopped salad {on-call}

Thursday - Skillet Tilapia, peppers and onion, skillet potatoes {payday}

Friday - Turkey Pesto Meatballs (never made these a couple menus ago), zucchini {pick up Lowe's order, Zoom meet with dietician*}

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed

Gina

*my employer includes this as a benefit to us, free of charge and she is helping to motivate me 

5 thing Friday - hydrating, quilts, free plant, walking, suppers

I'm not a big soda drinker (though lately I have been enjoying some dirty cokes*) so I thought I would give sparkling water another try.  It seems more refreshing to me than plain water and I can easily keep it handy in the fridge.

Some of them have interesting flavors.  Next flavor to try is Rose, along with raspberry/nectarine and ginger citrus.  Bubbie says the blackberry lemonade is also good.  I'm also trying Hop Wtr, which is interesting, but pricier, so I will finish what I bought and continue with the Waterloo.

I know Christmas is months away, but I wanted to get the quilts smelling fresh (oh dear, were they musty!) and in gift bags with some scented sachets, all ready for gift-giving to my peeps.  I did a rinse cycle with a splash of gentle cleaner and dried each one with a dryer sheet.  It certainly helped, although they still have the scent of Mom's house.

Mother "signed" all of them and put the date, sometimes embroidering the name of the design, too.

This yellow one is one of my favorites.

The earlier back you go, the neater the stitching and the signature.

I remember her showing me each one, as it was in progress.

She would finish one, then start on another.

Sometimes she would put a finished one immediately on her bed just so she could admire it.  I don't blame her - I would have, too.

They are works of art.

My sister and I used to point out various fabrics as we admired them - "Look! That's a dress I had!  Laura Ashley fabric!  The maternity dress you made me!  Curtains in my childhood bedroom!"  I know my kids won't have those memories, but I hope they feel her presence in these quilts.

I did research on how to care for quilts, typed it up, printed on bright cardstock.  Then I placed each one into an oversized plastic coated gift tote so they could take them to their homes safely.  I tucked the instructions and a sachet into each one, and placed them in the top of my closet, waiting for December.  It was an afternoon's labor of love and a few tears might have been shed.

One day last week, I drove by a neighbor's house and saw a small outside shelf with "free plants" posted.  So yes - I stopped and brought home some small type of yucca that I potted with soil and pot I already had.  Then I added her to my collection on the patio.  Sweet!

I bought some new tennies for walking and have left them sitting by the front door to encourage me to give this an effort.  Its been so humid that it feels miserable so I am aiming for short walks at first, just to get into the habit.  My weight is creeping up and so is my blood pressure.  And I just want to feel physically better.

I'm going to lean into making simple meals that are frugal and veggie-ful, like I was doing when it was just me by my lonesome.  The boys do not expect gourmet feasts and they are capable of fending for themselves if they do.  Its also getting warmer here, so I will use the oven sparingly and ask them to do the same.  Can you believe we are a third of the way through May?

Gina

*diet coke, a splash of lime juice, and coconut creamer - served over ice

Monday menus #70

Just after the house was repaired and painted, I tackled the strip of land between the sidewalk and the street.  This is the second big planting of lantana here.  The first one was years ago - I think maybe 15?  I made the mistake of mulching it in too heavily which led to powdery mold that I had to treat each year until finally all of the plants looked sickly so I ripped them up and started again. 

It had been sitting bare since January...

I kept the mulch light this time, bought bigger plants and spread them apart a bit further, sidestepping the inground irrigation pipe which is why they are offset from each other.  My hope is that they will fill in nicely.  And lo and behold, we've had quite a bit of rain and none of the mulch has washed away!  I'm going to remain hopeful that they will love their new home.

Monday - Kitchen closed {I'm off so I will pull something out of the freezer}

Tuesday - Skillet Chicken Thighs with cabbage and carrots {I'm actually thinking of getting a tattoo today...}

Wednesday - Mom's Corn Chowder, croissants {mow the yards, if they aren't too soggy!}

Thursday - Crockpot BBQ Pork, chopped salad, red potatoes {caulk and clean outside of dining room window, clean the outside of my bedroom window, 7 p.m. virtual meeting with dietician} 

Friday - Grilled Chicken with (freezer) Green Chile Poblano sauce, green beans {food prep the weekend, light housekeeping}

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed, but I will make myself a nice Mother's Day lunch to take to work, and I think I will get a Lemon Blueberry bundtlet from Nothing Bundt Cakes, just because!

Gina

5 thing Friday - lapis ring, crockpot chicken, books, cross stitch, Mom's yard

When I was 16, my mother went to San Francisco for a few weeks to learn Ultrasound.  While she was there, she purchased this lapis, intending to set it in a ring someday.  At age 19, I took it to a jeweler and had it set for her in 14kt gold.  To my knowledge, she never wore it, even though she was thrilled to receive it as a Christmas gift. 

I have seen it in her jewelry box for years.  Full circle moment:  it is now my ring, and I have been wearing it here and there, just feeling that connection with her.  Most of the jewelry I inherited from her is hard to wear.  I treasure these items, but I know I would not be able to own them without her death.   

Change of subject.

This chicken recipe from The Crockpot Lady, served alongside a chopped kale and cabbage salad, buttery rice on the side, was a fantastic meal this week.  And yes, I am still texting "chow call" photos to my peeps at home.  Bubbie told me it tasted like Christmas - the recipe does call for allspice and cinnamon.

The Goodwill I shop at is so small, but when it comes to the book section, its the place to go!  Plus, the lady who works there is so nice.  It makes for an enjoyable half an hour, picking up new books to read.  My goal lately is to carve out more time reading, less time scrolling.

  

I would also love to start a new cross stitch project and I am inspired by the pretty projects posted by an old friend.  I am hoping she may share her patterns with me because sketching them out from a photo is challenging!

The evolution of Mom's yard the past few months:

{photos courtesy of nosy neighbor across the street}

Overgrown and neglected yard.

The executor hired a yard crew to mow, remove trash, and cut the oleanders way back - it really needed this.

100+ year old tree, as seen from Mom's driveway before.

Some 20 feet up is the remains of a wire clothesline.

Disaster struck when a storm blew through just as the executor was going to list the house for sale - my mother would have been devastated at the damage to her home and the loss of this tree.

Tree removed, repairs to garage and house being made, yard to be re-sodded.

Tree crisis managed - now will the house sell?

As I told my sister, its like its all still hanging over our heads and we won't truly be able to move on until the estate is settled, once and for all.

Gina