MENU PLANS – Chasing MY Life WHEREVER it Leads ME

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY with MENUS & RECIPES week 29 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.197

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

WEEKEND RECAP

We started the weekend Friday by traveling to our “BIG” go to town an hour+ away in order to pick up my Hallmark Premiere order for the Keepsake ornament club, do some antiquing and eat at a favorite restaurant (though they were not as good as normal) and I even started my Christmas shopping 😀

It was a fairly quiet weekend though for us despite all that was going on around us (Music Off Central, Bull Riding Stampede, Graffiti Week with classic cars, the Lavender Festival and Lots of LIVE bands everywhere! We did go see TIMBERWOLF on Saturday night with friends and while the guys drank Annette and I worked the door and raffle. Sunday was much quieter and I was able to get the laundry done as well as see a dear friend for a few hours.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

We’re NOT in triple digits, but are oh so close 😂 At least the humidity is fairly low around 20% so I WILL NOT complain about summer though I am already looking forward to fall! I have on Levis rolled to capri length, my favorite birkenstock thongs and a pretty pink paisley blouse.

ON MY MIND

I can’t help wondering when exactly we declined as a polite society? I know this is mostly a rhetorical question, but seriously I pray we wake up (AND SOON), starting talking to each other and finding middle ground instead of senseless violence. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

TO DO LIST, APPOINTMENTS & PROJECTS

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING I had several loads of laundry to do and was going to work them into my free evening hours this week to avoid taxing the appliances in the heat of the day, but was able to get them done yesterday. Just a bit of sorting and general clutter pick up otherwise.
GROCERIES & ERRANDS & MEETINGS I have to go to town and sign the surgery consents today so will pick up the necessary groceries for home at that time. I also have a few meetings this week regarding the upcoming BBQ Throwdown in our little town next weekend. This will be the second annual, but the first was such a HUGE success that I really have high hopes for this becoming a permanent event! Everyone seems to enjoy it and we have attracted sanctioned BBQers from ALL around the country. There is also a high stakes Corn Hole Tournament.
PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS Slowly, but surely I am making progress on a couple projects and sorting old paperwork, but it’s a SLOW process.
RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m still researching some summer recipes and making progress in re-writing some older favorites to update them to current ingredient styles. I’m also going to make some banana ketchup this week for my first time.

DVR/TV TIME

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

NETFLIX We started the sequel to REBEL MOON, but just can’t get into it – they were taking too long to get “there” and have “borrowed” too many things from other favorite SYFY movies s we started binge watching SUPERNATURAL as we never watched it when it was on regular. I am also watching the old MacGyver series with Richard Dean Anderson.
CABLE I have a few cooking shows to catch up on, but haven’t had much TV time.

READING TIME

FUNNIES

MENU PLANS

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

	7/15 MONDAY	7/16 TUESDAY	7/17 WEDNESDAY	7/18 THURSDAY	7/19 FRIDAY	7/20 SATURDAY	7/21 SUNDAY
DINNER	PEACH JALAPENO CHICKEN	NUMERO UNO PIZZA	PORK CHOPS with APPLE PIE STUFFING and BAKED STUFFED CARROTS	APRICOT SALSA CHICKEN and ARTICHOKE CAKES	CHICKEN PARMESAN MEATBALLS, PASTA and SWEET & SOUR GREEN BEANS	CORN/YOYO clean out refrigerator night or you’re on your own	CORN/YOYO clean out refrigerator night or you’re on your own
DESSERT					BUTTER BISCUIT CHERRY PINEAPPLE COBBLER

FAVORITE PHOTOS FROM THE CAMERA

I really didn’t take many photos this week, but love the ones of my tomatoes looking so awesome and I did find this one from a restaurant we ate at amusing. Evidently they are FINALLY keeping people out of the landscaping with a sense of humor 😀

INSPIRATIONS

LIFE TIP

HOMEMAKING / COOKING TIP

RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

WEEKLY FEATURED PARTY LINKS

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY with MENUS & RECIPE LINKS week 28 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.190

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

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

WEEKEND RECAP

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were the last American Cribbage Congress events for 2024 in our little town. My girlfriend, Annette and I have been doing these for over a year now and really enjoy the challenge of feeding these wonderful people for 3 days! BUT, 4:30 AM came earlier and earlier each day leaving me REALLY, REALLY exhausted by last night! And it was not easy to get to sleep on the 4th with my neighbor shooting off illegal fireworks under my bedroom window so I began that first early morning at a deficit for the weekend. But, it’s a new week!

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

We hit triple digits on the 4th and they are supposed to last a couple more days and then drop down into the 90’s for the rest of the week. Even as warm as it has been I have NO complaints as it is still cooling down quite a bit at night and is relatively low humidity.

ON MY MIND

I’m going to be having a bit of surgery in a couple weeks that will limit what I can do, lift and such for a few weeks so am making lists trying to get ahead for whoever will be doing my work at the Eagles. Between you and me I’m hoping someone wants to take it over permanently.

TO DO LIST, APPOINTMENTS & PROJECTS

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING I have a couple of loads of laundry to do and a bit of ironing too.
GROCERIES & ERRANDS We got back from our vacation in time for me start the Cribbage tournament so there was no time to do our shopping. I do have a pedicure on Thursday and will do my grocery shopping then while I’m in town. In the meantime we will eat from the pantry and freezer.
PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS I need to sort through a few things and get my next project organized.
RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I need to sit down and get organized to make a new meal plan for the rest of July and August.

DVR/TV TIME

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

NETFLIX Last night we watched REBEL MOON and then realized it has a sequel 😀
AMAZON PRIME We just finished re-watching EUREKA and need to find another show to binge watch in the hot summer months.
CABLE I have a few cooking shows to watch and some Christmas in July movies too.

READING TIME

FUNNIES

MENU PLANS

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

	7/8 MONDAY	7/9 TUESDAY	7/10 WEDNESDAY	7/11 THURSDAY	7/12 FRIDAY	7/13 SATURDAY	7/14 SUNDAY
DINNER	MANDARIN PORK & BAKED CARROTS	TACO ROLLS & SALAD	PORK CHOPS, APPLE STUFFING & SALAD	LEMON CHICKEN with SWEET & SOUR GREEN BEANS	OOT for an appointment so will find a FUN place to eat 😀	CORN/YOYO clean out refrigerator night or you’re on your own	APRICOT SALSA CHICKEN & ARTICHOKE CAKES
DESSERT			BLUEBERRY LIME CHEESECAKE

FAVORITE PHOTOS FROM THE CAMERA

I didn’t get many pictures edited this week yet, but did get a couple from the 4th done. We went and watched the parade in a small neighboring town that we see every year. Our neighbor and their youngest grandson Griffin squirming before the festivities began. They shot off the fire department water truck at the end for the kids to run in.

Our friends and neighbors across the street had their grand kids visiting and we did an early family friendly fireworks show.

INSPIRATIONS

LIFE TIP

HOMEMAKING / COOKING TIP

I couldn’t decide if this was a tip or a funny! 🙂

RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

WEEKLY FEATURED PARTY LINKS

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY & RECIPE LINKS week 27 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.183

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

WEEKEND RECAP

This was supposed to be super brief as we are still away having a fabulous time on the coast with beautiful weather, at least weather we like – cool, cloudy, 60’s, breezy… Thanks to a dear friend we had the opportunity to spend several carefree days in the coastal resort community of Ocean Shores. But, I couldn’t sleep and was ups so early I found quite a bit to say.

We left last Thursday after my eye doctor appointment to avoid the Friday traffic. Well, that didn’t work. Between construction and just way too many people, traffic was still a nightmare, just not as bad as it would have been on Friday. We ended up in a cute little and colorful town for the night.

Friday we trekked down to Cape Disappointment that has 2 light houses and seriously earned its name for more reasons than the internet will tell you. 😀 We then crossed one of our favorite bridges to Astoria, home of the Goonies where we visited a favorite antique store, but didn’t buy anything for a change and had a fabulous late lunch/dinner at Astoria Brewing Company before checking in at Ocean Shores. Such a beautiful place and what a view! We also had a momma deer and her fawn that spent the evenings in front of our balcony.

Saturday we spent at the Sand & Sawdust festival followed by a little antiquing in junk stores and then beach combing in the afternoon at low tide. We found odd things to buy this trip like a vintage pair of pinking shears that hubby is going to oil for me and 3 OLD knobs for a set of drawers I already have as well as an OLD rusty hand saw that hubby will clean up for me so I can paint it for a Christmas tree. I LOVE the new architectural salvage company we found.

Sunday found us having our coffee with having a bit of a storm and turbulent waves that sounded glorious by the fireplace while we had the sliding door open. The weather was such that we were certainly glad we had opted for indoor activities which included a coastal drive where we encountered an odd “new” (built in 2005) little town, Sea Brook, that is a planned community resembling Pleasantville or home of the Stepford Wives or maybe the Truman Show or even the fictional town of Stars Hollows from the Gilmore Girls in a location previously abandoned by the navy after WWII and left off maps for years as well as a visit to make a deposit at the local casino for a friend LOL. Here’s an article that really spells out that odd little town. We also had brunch/lunch at a fun little spot called, Brunch 101. Oh my was the food awesome. This was half of an amazing chicken and biscuits Benedict that hubby and I shared. But I LOVE their motto! “Brunch without mimosas is just a sad late breakfast”!

Unfortunately, today we will be saying goodbye to Ocean Shores and heading homeward, but will stop somewhere tonight near a few towns we like that have some great antiquing.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Can you believe it’s July already? It seems like the days are running on double time. I’m not ready for July!!!!! For heaven’s sake it’s only 177 days until Christmas!!!!

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

The weather is glorious here, but will get warmer and warmer as we trek towards home. I see at home we will finally and consistently reach the 80’s this week, so I’ll enjoy the 50’s-60’s here as long as I can.

TO DO LIST, APPOINTMENTS & PROJECTS

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

There is a cribbage tournament this next weekend that I will be shopping for on Tuesday on our way home, but with the holiday I’m not planning much else this week except trying to get a hold of the primary doctors office to process a necessary referral to the ophthalmologist.

DVR/TV TIME

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

Whatever taped while we were away. I know Christmas in July started on Hallmark and the Summer Baking Championship will be on there.

READING TIME

I’m about two thirds through Phillipa Nefri Clark’s House at Angel’s Beach. I decided to wait on the The Memory Thief until we get back – just seemed too heavy for a vacation read.

FUNNIES

MENU PLANS

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

	7/1 MONDAY	7/2 TUESDAY	7/3 WEDNESDAY	7/4 THURSDAY	7/5 FRIDAY	7/6 SATURDAY	7/7 SUNDAY
DINNER	OUT	TACO TUESDAY	MEATLOAF & SAUER POTATOES	HOBO PACKS on the GRILL	CRIBBAGE TOURNAMENT CORN/YOYO	CRIBBAGE TOURNAMENT CORN/YOYO	CRIBBAGE TOURNAMENT CORN/YOYO
DESSERT				BUTTER BISCUIT CHERRY COBBLER

FAVORITE PHOTOS FROM THE CAMERA

This is a wide open category this week and if you have been following me on Facebook or Instagram you know I’m really behind in posting pictures 😀 so I’ll just give a couple of the highlights from this weekend – A couple of sunsets from our balcony, a foggy rainy landscape, Irwin the friendly raccoon who was living in the boulders I was crawling on to get a lighthouse picture, the town hall from the cute little town of Sea Brook.

INSPIRATIONS

LIFE TIP

HOMEMAKING / COOKING TIP

RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

WEEKLY FEATURED PARTY LINKS

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY & RECIPE LINKS week 26 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.176

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

WEEKEND RECAP

After working so much and doing the auxiliary dinner at the Eagles last Friday we went for a lazy weekend. We visited a few garage sales. I cleaned and did some laundry, read a little, worked on menus and recipes, but nothing strenuous or that used a lot of brain power.

OH MY, it really just hit me that we are almost literally 1/2 way through the year!!! Can you believe there are only 191 days left in this entire year of 366 days!! Or in realer terms, Christmas Eve is 6 months from today. 😀

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

Lows in the 50’s here and highs in the 70’s here at home. We’re going north to the coast though for the end of the week and it’s supposed to be in the low 60’s during the day and low 50’s at night so no complaints here!

TO DO LIST, APPOINTMENTS & PROJECTS

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING ALL caught up as of last night, but you know how laundry is 😀
GROCERIES & ERRANDS None other than the Eagle’s shopping on Wednesday before we go.
PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS Nothing that won’t wait until next week 😀
RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING Right now I’m planned through the end of July, but open to changes.

DVR/TV TIME

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

We watched ATLAS with Jennifer Lopez which was quite good and LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND with Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke that was just plain weird and even a bit disturbing.
I’m also watching the SUMMER BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP and GUY’S ROAD TRIP on the food network.
We’ve also been binge rewatching EUREKA and COACH at night.

READING TIME

I finished Marie Force’s State of Suspense last night and will start Emily Conlin’s The Memory Thief tonight.

FUNNIES

MENU PLANS

BREAKFAST is always a work in progress for me – it will generally be hot water and a fruit yogurt 😀 With leaving on Thursday for a short trip it’s a pretty basic menu this week.

	6/24 MONDAY	6/25 TUESDAY	6/26 WEDNESDAY	6/27 THURSDAY	6/28 FRIDAY	6/29 SATURDAY	6/30 SUNDAY
DINNER	GREEN CHILE BEEF CALDILLO and REFRIED BEANS	CAJUN CABBAGE and SALAD	CORN/YOYO clean out refrigerator or your on your own 😀	OOT	OOT	OOT	OOT
DESSERT

FAVORITE PHOTOS FROM THE CAMERA

I’ve been cat/house sitting since Thursday for a neighbor. KitKat and I had a great time together. My English Lavender and Calla Lillies are looking absolutely gorgeous this week. The bees LOVE them! I have rarely seen a spotted cucumber beetle, let alone get a picture of one. They are considered BIG pests, but are so unique looking. And my Clematis are looking really nice also with HUGE purple blossoms.

INSPIRATIONS

LIFE TIP

HOMEMAKING / COOKING TIP

RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

WEEKLY FEATURED PARTY LINKS

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY & RECIPE LINKS week 25 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.169

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

WEEKEND RECAP

Friday night we were supposed to go to a local winery, Joseph Jane (who has one of my all time favorites, Pink Panik) to meet friends for wine slushies and brick fired pizzas, but they bailed so we did too and will try again in a few weeks after we get back from our trip. Then on Saturday the temperature dropped A LOT! (high was 55°) and it rained off and on so I got the baking done for the Eagles event, researched some recipes and planned our upcoming trip. I actually pulled out a hoodie and then yesterday was Father’s Day and hubby got to choose everything 😀 which did NOT include the father’s day event at the Eagles this year, but I did make a pan of pecan pie bars for them to have. Hubby decided he wanted to exploring so we went down to the river as we hadn’t been there much since the Archie fire a few years ago and ordered our favorite sub sandwiches (the FLY FISHERMAN and the SWIFT WATER SUB) from a favorite little hole in the wall trading post on the way home.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

Whenever I read the title for this section a Christmas song pops into my head! “The weather outside is frightful”…, but in reality it is the BEST time of the year weather wise, at least in my neck of the woods. I absolutely LOVE this time of year when the weather is just about as perfect as possible.

Temperatures are mostly in the 70’s during the day, but still getting down into the low 50’s at night… ABSOLUTELY my PERFECT weather. BTW since I brought it up, it’s time to start those summer Christmas projects so they’re done in time!

😂

ON MY MIND

I’m making a list of all the things I have been putting on the back burner and trying really hard to get back to my organized self! My biggest need is blocking out section of time to make this happen. July seems to be the time this will happen after my obligations are done at the Eagles and we have gotten back from our trip.

TO DO LIST, APPOINTMENTS & PROJECTS

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING All caught up!
GROCERIES & ERRANDS I have to have a low pressure sensor checked today so will pick up some groceries while I’m in town.
PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS I’m beginning to see my way through a couple piles of paperwork.
RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’ve been planning a summer menu, but the cold this weekend kind of left me lacking the energy to plan much for next week.

DVR/TV TIME

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

We watched a wide and varied range of things this past week, EVERYTHING FROM DISNEY+ Marvel movies (MOBIUS and LOGAN) to old classics like CHARADE with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart in ROPE by Alfred Hitchcock. I also watched quite a few cooking shows – GUY’S ROAD TRIP, MASTER CHEF, MARY MAKES IT EASY

READING TIME

I finished Jana DeLeon’s Baskets and Beignets so am down to 2 books which is more manageable as I seem to binge read anyway – Marie Force’s State of Suspense and Philippa Nefri Clark’s The House at Angel’s Beach.

FUNNIES

MENU PLANS

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

	6/17 MONDAY	6/18 TUESDAY	6/19 WEDNESDAY	6/20 THURSDAY	6/21 FRIDAY	6/22 SATURDAY	6/23 SUNDAY
DINNER	TERIYAKI CHICKEN MEATBALLS with RICE NOODLES	BEEF TIPS IN BALSAMIC SAUCE over GREEN BEANS	CARIBBEAN CHICKEN with PINEAPPLE SALSA	SALISBURY STEAK, SAUER MASHED POTATOES & GLAZED CARROTS	YAY!!! LAST CHEF NIGHT AT THE EAGLES!!	FIRECRACKER CHICKEN with CRISPY PARMESAN POTATOES	PULLED PORK ROLLS & SALAD
DESSERT				CHOCOLATE CHERRY DOODLES

FAVORITE PHOTOS FROM THE CAMERA

Friday afternoon was absolutely beautiful! We had an absolutely gorgeous and unusual double halo rainbow around the sun. From what I read this usually indicates that it is caused by ice crystals when the sun or moon refracts off them in a thin veil of cirrus clouds. It also said snow or ice is coming. We didn’t get either, but did get a severe drop in temperature and rain 🤣

Trees and the landscape are FINALLY trying to grow back after the devastating Archie Fire a few years back.

INSPIRATIONS

LIFE TIP

HOMEMAKING / COOKING TIP

RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

WEEKLY FEATURED PARTY LINKS

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY & RECIPE LINKS week 24 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.162

GOOD MORNING dear friends. Summer is quickly approaching and I still have so much I want to do for spring! The weather has FINALLY turned nice here on a consistent basis and I have FINALLY packed away the flannels and jackets. Though I do have a sweatshirt in the car for those places that are now cranking the air conditioning so high it’s like a meat locker.

Highs in the mid 70’s with lows in the mid 40’s – my FAVORITE combination of temperatures! So today will be my most comfy levis, a plaid blouse and flip flops.

I’m adapting a new attitude and trying extremely hard to NOT to let the idiots, blowhards and the like affect me. The “changing of the guard” is going to be hard for me to adapt to at the Eagles. Those few “in charge” as of June are either repeats from the past with serious egos and attitudes that aren’t good leaders or they tend to drink too much and spout off orders and rude comments to people or they have zero idea what it’s all about. Worse yet are the ones who were talked into filling a vacancy so we can keep the doors open, yet they aren’t either qualified to fill the slot, too easy to be pushed around by the blowhards or they don’t know how much work it will be and here we sit waiting for it to all fall apart, because it has before with these same people in charge. I am prepared to turn in my duties and find new avenues to donate my time. A couple friends and I had “bets” on when the first would fall. I wish we’d actually bet money. My bet was for 1 week and the first of the five resigned last night. 🙁 Sad, but true.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING I have a load of sheets to do and a pile of ironing
GROCERIES & ERRANDS / PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS Taco Tuesday, Eagles Bar and Kitchen Shopping
PROJECTS & TRAVELS Drinks and pizza at a favorite winery with a friend on Friday, find a matching fabric for some quilted place mats I’m working on, buy a birthday present for a close friend. Make reservations for the day before and after a trip we were recently gifted at the end of the month.
RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m working on a summer menu plan for some lighter dishes.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

AMAZON PRIME ~ Time Changer, From Time to Time, Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop
CABLE ~ Cooking shows ~ Summer Baking Championship, Girl Meets Farm, Mary Makes It Easy, Best Bite in Town

I went from not reading at all to having 3 books at once going. I’m reading Marie Force’s State of Suspense, Jana DeLeon’s Baskets and Beignets as well as Philippa Nefri Clark’s The House at Angel’s Beach.

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

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
DINNER	CHICKEN CAESAR PASTA SALAD	PERUVIAN CHICKEN with SALT & VINEGAR POTATO SALAD	GRILLED CHICKEN PEACH SALAD	CORN/YOYO CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR or YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN	OUT	STRAWBERRY JALAPENO CHICKEN with SALAD	BRUSCHETTA GRILLED CHICKEN and SALAD
DESSERT						PECAN BARS

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY & RECIPE LINKS week 23 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.155

GOOD MORNING! Can you believe we are in June already? This year is zooming by! There is so much I had hope to have already accomplished by this time, yet here we are almost to summer and I haven’t. For me, it was our lack of a real spring this year and the “extended” wintertime that seems to be holding me back. 😂 At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.🤣 I do have the garden beds planted FINALLY! and yesterday’s rain seems to be helping them settle in quite nicely.

We had quite a bit of rain yesterday and a much cooler temperature. Today is supposed cooler still (than normal), but at least sunny and then we should be getting much warmer by the end of the week. Spring temperatures are FINALLY here. I’m still carrying a light sweatshirt in the car at all times because it takes all day to get to the warmer temperatures 😂

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING Laundry and cleaning are up to date 😀
GROCERIES & ERRANDS I have no pending errands or appointments this week that can’t wait. I do need to get the tires rotated on my car and address a brake squeal that shouldn’t be happening because they are pretty new brakes 😀
PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS Because I don’t have many actual errands, I’m hoping to get a bunch of paperwork handled.
RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I found some OLD, really OLD taste of home magazines in an antique store and will be going through them in hopes of finding some new and fun recipes.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

AMAZON PRIME We’ve been re-watching WAREHOUSE 13 ~ it’s been so long that it feels new again, but with characters that feel like family 😀
CABLE We ran across an old Hitchcock movie that starred Jimmy Stewart called ROPE which was kind of fun on a rainy Sunday morning.

After a couple of weeks of audio books I’m having a tough time getting back into reading 🙁

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

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
DINNER	BBQ BEEF PATTIES & ASPARAGUS RICE	SOUR CREAM PORK CHOPS & CORN TAMALITOS with GREEN BEANS	ORANGE TERIYAKI CHICKEN	HONEY THYME PORK TENDERLOIN	YOYO CORN your’re on your own or clean out refrigerator night	BALSAMIC HERB CHICKEN and PARMESAN MASHED POTATOES	JAMBALAYA & SALAD
DESSERT				PECAN BARS

We took a walk around the pond the other day and I found that the blackberries are starting to bloom. Hopefully they’ll be on time this year for the festival in August.

There is a neighbor who spearheaded a grant program to “build up” the pond. Unfortunately, most of us don’t share his vision. There are tons of construction changes (paving walkways where there used to be a well used path, tearing out the trees that lined the south side of the pond, adding pavilions and tons of concrete…) and upgrades going on that are disrupting the local neighborhood peace. Many of the animals aren’t happy either. The 9-10 swans that were living on the island are gone, literally just vanished, many of the birds are no where to be seen, we haven’t heard the frogs this year, the beavers that built this dam have lost most of their trees and vegetation in the area…

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENUS week 22 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.148

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 my friends. I’m so happy to be home and maybe back to a more normal routine this week. I hope you are all enjoying the long weekend, but also remember that this is not just a BBQ holiday. It’s a time to honor those that gave all for our country.

Honestly, I’m exhausted!!!!!! It’s been an exhausting month!!!!!! I need a vacation from my vacation!! I’m going to take a couple days to rest up and then think about what needs to be done next.

Also, I’ve spent a great deal of my time volunteering for the Eagles over the past 2 years. June 1st will bring about a “changing of the guard” in officers that I have some serious doubts about. So, I’m branching out to other organizations with my volunteer efforts. This is a good thing for me, but requires a mind change.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING I have a couple loads of laundry to get caught up on.
GROCERIES & ERRANDS I have to make a list and get several groceries this week when I go to town for my pedicure on Wednesday.
PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS Hoping to spend Thursday and Friday getting caught up on multiple projects.
RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I really need to hunker down and go through several recipe piles and trim down my want to make list.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

AMAZON PRIME We started watching WAREHOUSE 13 of an evening. We really enjoyed it the first time around.
ROKU We are watching COACH reruns for hubby to fall asleep to.

Now that I’m all caught up from the trip and a non-stop week of food prep for the cribbage tournament over the holiday weekend I can finally start a new book. I STILL DREAM ABOUT YOU by Fannie Flagg.

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

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
DINNER	BBQ BEEF PATTIES and TOMALITOS	TUSCAN CHICKEN and ASPARAGUS	CORN / YOYO clean out refrigerator night or you’re on your own	ORANGE TERIYAKI CHICKEN and RICE	BAKED HAM with RASPBERRY SAUCE	CORN / YOYO clean out refrigerator night or you’re on your own	BAVETTE STEAK in DEMI-GLACE AND SAUER POTATOES
DESSERT

I’m still sorting through all the pictures from our trip, but I did get a couple this week with my super early mornings that were particularly nice and spoke to me.

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY with MENU PLANS & RECIPE LINKS week 21 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.141

It’s cool and foggy here this morning, but we should hit some pretty nice weather as we travel home today. That said the weather at home appears to be running on the cooler side so we’ll see what tomorrow brings. The weather app on my phone says the high for tomorrow will be a cloudy 49°. I did get a new hoodie and flannel on the trip that I’ll wear one today and one tomorrow.

I’m a bit tired, but happy that I was able to get so much accomplished for my SIL in a short amount of time. We also had a smaller than normal group (only 42 due to graduations, proms and weddings) for the family reunion, but it was a great time. I’m hoping next year’s group is bigger again.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING I’ll have a few loads of laundry when we get home, but the cleaning was done before we left.
GROCERIES & ERRANDS I’ll definitely to do grocery shopping on Wednesday 😀
PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS ??
RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING ??

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

We’ll see what’s on the DVR when we get home 😀

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

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
DINNER	OUT WHILE ON THE ROAD	OUT WHILE ON THE ROAD	ORANGE CHICKEN and CHOW MEIN	JAMBALAYA and DIRTY RICE	OUT working CRIBBAGE WEEKEND	OUT working CRIBBAGE WEEKEND	OUT working CRIBBAGE WEEKEND
DESSERT				CAJUN CAKE

I’m not posting ALL the photos from the family reunion, but if anyone is interested here’s a link to see how much fun we had.It was a little bit colder than normal, but we didn’t let that stop us! 😀

We had lunch at the wharf before we headed down to the family reunion. It was a cold, but pretty day!

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY with MENU PLANS & RECIPE LINKS week 20 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.134

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day! Ours was spent traveling and then having a wonderful late lunch with my SIL and then a late dinner with a favorite nephew and his family. I’ll be accomplishing SIL’s honey do list (mostly technological stuff – updating her cell phone, changing out her modem and router…) for the next couple days before we leave for the family reunion.

We traveled this past weekend to spend time with my SIL before the family reunion this next weekend. What a shock to the system! We were warm at home, but only for 2 hours a day. We crossed the state border and the temperature jumped almost 40 degrees at 10AM! It’s a beautiful 70 degrees here at SIL’s house.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

SIL’s choice

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

	5/13 MONDAY	5/14 TUESDAY	5/15 WEDNESDAY	5/16 THURSDAY	5/17 FRIDAY	5/18 SATURDAY	5/19 SUNDAY
DINNER	SIL’S CHOICE	SIL CHOICE	SIL CHOICE	HITCHING POST with friends driving up for the night	STREET TACOS	POTLUCK	SIL’s CHOICE
DESSERT

Winter has gone on and on this year. I didn’t think we were ever going to be able to start a garden. Then this week the temps finally hit spring! The feed store was down to their last tomato starters so I bought them because they said they wouldn’t be getting anymore and am hoping for the best.

We also had an old box spring that needed disposed of. The local disposal site wouldn’t take it unless it was broken down into pieces and even then it was going to cost $18 for us to take it to them. Hubby took all the batting off and broke it down and then folded it in half so it would fit in my car for transport. It was then that the light bulb went off in my head. Let me introduce you to the new tomato cage. I think it will help support the tomato branches much better than the old cages.

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY with MENUS & RECIPE LINKS week 18 of 2024~ BLOG 366.120

I CANNOT believe that it is almost May already! This year is speeding by way too fast.

We’re at that time of year where the highs in the 60’s are good for about a 2 hour window in the afternoon, but we are starting the day in the high 30’s-40’s and the weather pattern changes several times a day from partially sunny, to cloudy to rainy and back again with some strong breezes thrown in around noon time lately. So layers are the name of the game! Today is Levis with a black tank, buffalo plaid flannel and a favorite hoodie. I’m cleaning out my closet this week and getting a bag together for donation

I went to the County Quilt Show last Friday and had a great time. A friend of mine won 2 of the prizes with her great eye for color and designI’m hoping to get a post done with the other wonderful quilts I saw later this week.

Sandra posted her baby birds last week which made me wonder where I had filed my own pictures 😀 I just LOVE watching the birds each morning as I have my coffee. SO I started looking and I found them. I took these outside my SIL’s back door last year.

Broom Hilda and The Grinch made an appearance in our little timber town recently.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING Laundry is up to date, but I need to vacuum and do the bathrooms and kitchen.
GROCERIES & ERRANDS I don’t need much this week, but will get those few items when I do the Eagle’s shopping on Wednesday.
PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS I’m still waiting on a few callbacks from several people, and working on final plans for the upcoming family reunions.
RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m ahead of the game on this category, but will quickly fall behind with the upcoming trip and all the cooking for the cribbage weekend and 2 June dinners at the Eagles.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

DVR is caught up (almost) and have been watching the spring baking championship, 24 in 24, season finales for a few shows and a few old movies.

I finally finished The Alice Network which I really enjoyed. I have no idea why the first half of the book read so slow for me and I LOVED the twist ending. I’m now reading I STILL DREAM ABOUT YOU by Fannie Flagg.

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

	4/29 MONDAY	4/30 TUESDAY	5/1 WEDNESDAY	5/2 THURSDAY	5/3 FRIDAY	5/4 SATURDAY	5/5 SUNDAY
DINNER	PERUVIAN VERDE ARROZ con POLLO	cooking at EAGLES ~ CHICKEN CHILI & CORNBREAD	CHICKEN MARSALA and NOODLES	PAN FRIED PORK CHOPS and BROWN RICE	cooking at EAGLES ~ BEEF FAJITAS	HALIBUT ENCHILADAS and BEANS	SEAFOOD SALAD
DESSERT		STRAWBERRY POUND CAKE			CHOCOLATE ANCHO CHILI CUPCAKES

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY wtih MENU PLANS & RECIPE LINKS week 17 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.113

The weather has been ALL over the place! We are getting an hour or so each day that’s nice, but still having multiple weather patterns each day. We are seeing a couple of spring poppy blooms finally though and the hummingbird vine is coming in quite well. Today is Levi’s and a favorite hoodie kind of day. Highs in the low 60’s (maybe) and lows in the high 30’s to low 40’s.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING I’ve been doing some deep cleaning, sorting for donations and a friend’s garage sale and just some much needed overall organizing. Laundry is up to date and actually folded as well as put away.
GROCERIES & ERRANDS I have some grocery runs to do for the Eagles this week and an oncology appointment in a neighboring town an hour+ away so hubby and I will take that day to maybe do a little antiquing and have a nice dinner.
PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS This is all part of my organizing. I have notes everywhere and am attempting to organize my busy life into a single notebook in hopes of simplifying things – wish me luck 😀
RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m still taking this one week at a time…

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

We are finally caught up on the DVR shows and even watched an old movie that we’d never seen before Tidal Wave – No Escape with Corbn Bernson and The Homesman with Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank. We started watching COACH at night when we go to bed – hubby can’t seem to fall asleep without the TV while I read.

I am back to finishing The Alice Network at night on my kindle, but have been so tired I only get about 10 minutes in before I fall asleep. During the day when I have time I’m reading I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg on my phone app.

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

	4/22 MONDAY	4/23 TUESDAY	4/24 WEDNESDAY	4/25 THURSDAY	4/26 FRIDAY	4/27 SATURDAY	4/28 SUNDAY
DINNER	FIGGY BALSAMIC PORK & RICE	LOOSE MEAT CHEESESTEAK SAMMIES	CHICKEN FAJITA BOWLS	BAVETTE STEAK IN DEMI-GLACE	BALSAMIC TOMATO & HERB CHICKEN	SWEET CHILI PORK & CABBAGE STIR FRY	BROWN SUGAR BOURBON PORK CHOPS
DESSERT		BUTTER BISCUIT BERRY CRUMBLE

Years ago we rehabbed a Queen Anne Victorian that was 120 years old. It came with some really old German bearded iris bulbs. When we left there I dug up several and brought them with us. Obviously they were VERY hearty stock! They still look beautiful today.

Hubby has been working diligently on the power washing after the long wet winter. This year is the worst it’s ever been! Each section is taking a very long time, but it is starting to look better little by little. And aren’t these baby chicks adorable? I check them out every time I go to the feed store. 😀

Category: MENU PLANS