HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY ~ week 38 of 2026 with MENU & RECIPE LINKS ~ BLOG 365.264

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

LAST WEEK RECAPPED

GOOD MORNING I feel like I lost a HUGE chunk of time with this last trip. Coming back to a busy week was NOT ideal!! I did manage to get the laundry done and was “forced” to glean the garden with the weather change, not to mention the massive amount of rain they had while we were gone. If I hadn’t done the tomatoes immediately I would have lost them to rot 🙁

I’m really sorry I didn’t get around to visit everyone last week, but am hoping to get caught up this week with you all.

Hubby and our neighbor were finally able to complete a garage lighting project that makes life easier. We had some old fluorescent lights that the ballasts went out in and needed replaced because we could no longer buy bulbs for them so we decided to replace them with LEDs, but the electrical was screwy trying to hard wire in the new fixtures so they had to run new wiring etc… and it turned into an all day project. What a nice thing it is to be able to use the wall switch again instead of a pull chain and have such bright light!!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

It’s official! As of tomorrow Fall is here! Our lows are already down to the 40’s and the foggy “moist” mornings are making for a seriously early late fall feel. Don’t get me wrong, I’M LOVING IT! It just changes up my chore list quite a bit.

They’re predicting an EL NINO winter for us which could hit hard and fast so we’re trying to get all the outside chores done as quickly as possible. This first week of fall should be beautiful. Highs in the mid 70’s, lows in the 40’s with some morning fog and even some rain rolling in around Friday. I’ve already pulled out some flannels for the evenings.

Here’s a handy chart for the rest of the year! You’ll notice the time change is listed as November 1st. For those of us partying on Saturday, Halloween night, might I suggest changing your clocks BEFORE you leave for the party? 🙂

TO DO, APPOINTMENTS, DVR/TV & PROJECTS

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS, TRAVEL, APPOINTMENTS, MENUS & DVR/TV

LAUNDRY & CLEANING I’m actually caught up – for the moment anyway 🙂
GROCERIES & ERRANDS I need to sit down and do a new freezer inventory and menu plan
PROJECTS & TRAVELS We won’t be leaving until around the middle of October again so I’m trying to get that trip planned.
THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY empty laundry baskets… empty dishwashers… finished chore projects… crisp fall mornings… snuggle weather…

READING TIME

LOL I’m still right where I was this time last week, MAYBE a page or 2 ahead of that, but probably not! I’ll work on progressing on THE BAKING GAMES by Rachel Hannah this week.

FUNNIES

MENU PLANS

BREAKFAST is always a work in progress for me – it will generally be hot water and a fruit yogurt 😀

	9/21 MONDAY	9/22 TUESDAY	9/23 WEDNESDAY	9/24 THURSDAY	9/25 FRIDAY	9/26 SATURDAY	9/27 SUNDAY
DINNER	CORN/YOYO clean out refrigerator night or you’re on your own	CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS with SAUTEED BALSAMIC GREEN BEANS	CORN/YOYO clean out refrigerator night or you’re on your own	MEATLOAF, FRIED POTATOES & GREEN BEANS	9-2-5 PARTY AND my friend’s birthday at the OFFYCE ~ how fun that she’ll have a permanent holiday for her birthday	CORN/YOYO clean out refrigerator night or you’re on your own	NEW ENGLAND CORNED BEEF & CARROTS
DESSERT					Di asked me to make Banana Pudding in honor of Dolly. I found Dolly’s very own recipe that they serve at Aunt Grannys in Dollywood 🙂

FAVORITE PHOTOS FROM THE CAMERA

I’m still working on cleaning up physically and virtually around here after the trip. I didn’t even get to the pictures from the trip yet as fall is hitting fast here and I needed to glean the garden before I lost what was still there. I spent Friday and Saturday doing that and making “Sunday sauce” for the freezer. We will have plenty for some yummy winter meals.