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Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up
with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

GOOD MORNING I hope you all had a blessed Easter though I’m sure it was probably quieter than normal for most. I know it was here!  I REALLY missed the munchkins and family time.  Cooking for 2 on a holiday is just weird!

I also hope you are all finding ways to stay on a basic routine and busy.  I find it really helps keep me sane! I’ve helped hubby with a few projects outside like the pressure washing which always takes so much energy to get it all done, but it’s a necessary evil up here to keep the moss at bay.  He has also gotten rid of all the wasp nests that were being formed in the eave areas and rebuilt the wooden garage step and fixed the mudroom step and rebuilt the sprinkler box frame and finally finished the lower fence border.  Now he’s painting a shelf unit he built for me.  It was raw wood and it’s taking about 4 coats to match the red hope chest.

I pray that when this is all over and we “return to normal” that we all evaluate just what should be in that “normal” now that we have been forced to slow down and realize we really don’t have to do it ALL!  I pray that families have reconnected, eaten their meals together, sat and talked and/or laughed together, walked or gardened, played board games, solved jigsaw puzzles…  You see where I’m going with this.  I do find it a bit disconcerting that Dominoes pizza is hiring 10,000 employees to deal with the uptick in pizzas!

Hubby wants to do his part to answer the call for blood and he is a universal type “O”.  The red cross has set up a special donation site in town for 2 days so he has an appointment to give blood today.  Unfortunately, they won’t take mine because of my underlying conditions, but I’ll be tagging along.  I will stay in the car to read while he is inside and then he’ll take me to do some much overdo grocery shopping and then we’ll be back here to shower off the excursion.

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW & THE WEATHER OUTSIDE & WHAT I’M WEARING As always at this time of year, the prediction and the reality of the weather are ALWAYS different.  They predict mid 60’s and party cloudy or sunny for most of the week with lows in the high 30’s or low 40’s.  What they don’t mention is the morning fog that takes forever to burn off and only allows that high and sun to be around for a few hours before the sun sets. 😀  We actually need rain – not something you would usually hear from the Pacific Northwest.  And if their predictions are correct we’ll have just that by the end of the week.  I’m wearing Levi’s, one of my favorite 3/4 sleeve T-shirts and tennies.

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE Hot water and baby food

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE, WEEKLY TO DO LIST, HOUSE & CRAFT PROJECTS, APPOINTMENTS

MONDAY	Grocery shopping Hubby Red Cross appointment for blood donation Work on Blue Mirepoix quilt
TUESDAY	paint shelving unit to match hope chest work on Catty Corners Quilt finish jigsaw puzzle that it giving me a headache
WEDNESDAY	cut quilt pieces clean out photo file clean out email SPAM folder
THURSDAY	paperwork and filing menu plan vacuum
FRIDAY	weed POLISH kitchen counter tops work on Christmas ornament “hooks”
SATURDAY	Farmer’s Market NOT, but a girl can dream 😀 Clean baseboards
SUNDAY	cleaning and laundry

WHAT IS ON THE DVR, I LIKE OR ON THE LIST TO WATCH/SOMETHING INTERESTING I WATCHED

Everything is pretty much over for the season (or longer ??), but I’ve been watching a lot of Game Show Network, Hallmark movies, the Cooking channel “home” episodes of the Joanna Gaines, Guy Fieri and even the Pioneer Woman, Netflix movie, Badland and we started the  Amazon series, Tales From the Loop.

I’M READING The Cookbook a novel

What if your grandmother’s old Betty Crocker cookbook contained mysterious messages that would shockingly change your life? For Kate Miller all is perfect. She is falling in love with the ideal man while advancing in her professional career. Then her neat and ordered life crashes.

She receives a strange email from her deceased grandmother. Coupled with this, her apartment is burgled and her cookbooks are stolen, the ones she was instructed to preciously guard. After hiring a quirky private detective she goes on a quest that leads to an impossible truth.

This exciting action thriller is interlaced with memories of tastes, smells and laughter in the kitchen, and how a grandmother lovingly prepared a young girl to face enormous challenges. Not only did Kate learn the craft of cooking, but also values from old-world traditions. These savoury breaks in the story provide unusual twists not typically found in bestseller action-thriller novels.

Those lessons passed from one generation to the next give Kate the strength to face powerful forces. While solving mysteries she is led on a journey of self-discovery, having to ask hard questions. What is this disconcerting game that her grandmother is playing and for what purpose? Is her past just an illusion? And, why are these malevolent people intent on extracting some unknown truth from her?

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA One day last week the peacock food bin was full and even though we knew the park gates would be closed we decided to get out of the house for a small drive which we figured would be safe since we weren’t really stopping or getting out anywhere. We knew the peacocks would be near the fence looking for their hand-outs especially since the gates were closed.  We weren’t wrong 😀  I just tossed the food over the fence to them and they were thrilled, but even they were practicing social distancing 😀 at least more than usual. We also passed by this cute mannequin that this family dresses up every season.

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
BREAKFAST	YOGURT & HOT WATER	YOGURT & HOT WATER	YOGURT & HOT WATER	YOGURT & HOT WATER	YOGURT & HOT WATER	LEMON BLUEBERRY PANCAKES	SHIRRED EGGS
LUNCH	LEFT OVER EASTER HAM SANDWICHES	LEFT OVER EASTER HAM SANDWICHES	TUNA SALAD	C.O.R.N. CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT	SALAD & FRUIT	LEFT OVER EASTER HAM SANDWICHES	C.O.R.N. CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT
DINNER	HAM TETRAZZINI and SALAD	CHICKEN & RICE CASSEROLE with PARMESAN PAN ROLLS	MONROVIAN CHICKEN PIE and SALAD	C.O.R.N. CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT	SWISS CHICKEN and CORN CASSEROLE	PORK CHOPS with TOMATO GRAVY and GOLDEN POPOVERS	C.O.R.N. CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT
DESSERT		ROOT BEER BROWNIES

SUCCESSFUL RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

• SNICKERDOODLE THUMBPRINTS
• CHICKEN TETRAZINNI
• ORANGE RICOTTA PANCAKES with MAPLE INFUSED ORANGES
• FIESTA DROWNED EGG SOUP
• CREAMY ONION MUSHROOM CHICKEN

FEATURED PARTY LINKS FOR THIS WEEK

• BUTTERMILK CHICKEN FRIED STEAK
• CONEY ISLAND TATERS
• BBQ CHICKEN COBB SALAD
  

RECIPES TO LOOK FOR THIS NEXT WEEK OR SO

• PINEAPPLE ORANGE HAM
• CARROT PINEAPPLE SALAD
• PASTA WITH CREAMY ARTICHOKE RAGU

INSPIRATIONAL

LIFE TIP

HOMEMAKING/COOKING TIP