Will take it a little easy today!

Well now that I look at it, from a distance they do look like a toilet.  But this is all that is left of the things that have to be moved.  I so hope Sissy and Dan will do this this weekend.

I consider the driveway project done and dusted until the fences are moved!

Sissy you will have to light a fire under his butt!

I did get banana bread made yesterday so all my baking for my Friend is done.

The chocolate zucchini bread is delicious!

The backroom project is at a standstill as I must go through our two large boxes of pictures and clean them up before I repack.  But I do have everything sorted and know where it will go and will finish this project next week as it is going to be very hot next week.

Today, I have paid bills for next month and entered monies into all my sinking funds.

I need to get to the bank and get cash and fill my car with gas.

I did get a box in the back seat with the rock I plan to disperse as I head north tomorrow.

I also pulled the small cooler from the garage (which is a nightmare) and the is a project for when it is cooler!

I will also go to two grocery stores for loss leaders.

Sissy and I went to the food bank with her Neighbor yesterday and the Women running it know we bake a lot and gave me, four large zucchinis (which I will process when I get back).  They also gave me three two-pound bags of walnuts which must be toasted and a 2-pound bag of almonds which have been roasted so this will save me a step.  We are almost stocked for Christmas baking.

I know that we will need:

Caro Syrup

More pecans

Flour and sugar

Heavy cream

brown sugar

And I think that is it.

Still have over 50 lbs. of butter in the freezer and this is about what we used last year.

We have been given:

dried cranberries

dried cherries

raisins

dates

almonds and walnuts

So, blessed!

It is such a shame that these beautiful food banks have so much, and most that need to use them do not cook, so a lot of the donations eventually get buried or thrown away.  I hate waste, to me this is a sin, so I will gladly take what is given knowing that I am not taking from someone else but saving a valuable resource which I can then share.

Sissy is making her famous shrimp pasta tonight with homemade French bread and a German chocolate cake. I gave her toasted pecans for the frosting and mushrooms that I needed to use before the weekend.

I am telling you this pasta is Restaurant worthy.

Now I am off to run my errands and then I will come home and pack what I can and just take it easy until I head up to Sissy's.

Off to conquer the world...

K
 

Another busy week!

 Up early this morning and watered my almost dead front yard just hoping that I can bring it back after pulling all of the crabgrass and spurge. Just trying to keep alive what I can.

Husb has two Doctors appointments today and I will accompany him, so my day is pretty well shot.

Thus, the earlier than normal rising time to get things done before his first appointment.

I did not work in the yard this morning as I get so damn dirty and I did not want to shower and wash my hair again, as my skin is getting so dry.

I did however work on the back driveway area yesterday and dispersed a lot of the rock that people did not take this past weekend and decided to place it behind the garages. I absolutely refuse to pay to dump this.

I have a bit left and here is my plan!

The broken small pieces of cement can go in the trash, but the rock...no!  So, I am going to gather it and place it on an old bath towel and take it on my trip to Seattle this weekend.  Every time I stop for a potty break (every two hours) I will disperse three or four of them at rest areas.  Yes, think Hansel and Gretel.  Then on my way back on Monday I will make the same pit stops and see if they are still there?

I am so hoping that Husb and Sissy will get the six large landscaping stone up to her house as she wants them, and I want them gone.  Please Sissy do this this weekend while I am gone!

This is the area I will work on Wednesday morning and possibly Thursday.  It has many river rock throughout and a lot of trash that must be disposed of and then we will be ready to rototill the area and get it flattened.

Also, two stumps to be ground out when fence is moved forward.

Go me!

I am going to visit a Girlfriend from college this weekend and am very excited to spend some time with her.

As we only have the one car which I am taking, my Lil Sis generously offered me her car while she and her Husband are in Europe, so Husb will have a vehicle.  Sissy will feed him and keep him entertained.

I have two loaves of chocolate zucchini bread in the oven, and I made two loaves of regular zucchini bread yesterday. 

I will make banana bread tomorrow morning or maybe this afternoon, if Husb appointments do not take too long.

I am taking my girlfriend threes loaves of different bread for her freezer.  She hates to cook, and her Husband is gone on a special project until the middle of September, so I know she is eating like Sissy. 

Her husband does all the cooking as he is a retired Dot Com exec, and she is still working hard as a grade school principal as she still enjoys it!

WE are having leftovers tonight, so I just have to reheat, which I love.

I have made huge progress in the back storage room/pantry and took a large load of goods to Salvation Army yesterday.  I think I am about half done so I am proud of myself!

I downsized back east, and then I downsized when we moved into the little house, and I am sure I can downsize more.

I hope to work on the rest of this project Wednesday and Thursday afternoon and call it done.

But as Sissy and I like to say, "we plan, and God laughs" after all he must have a sense of humor he created Sissy and me?

When I finish this task, I am going to go through both my closets and dressers again as there are so many things I just will not wear again, and I must do the same for Sissy.  We got her master closet so well-organized last year and she needs it again.

I then need to pack as I am leaving early for Seattle on Friday morning.  The trip is about 6.5 hours with potty stops.  I will pack some snacks and drink water the whole way.

Oh my, the bread is smelling delicious! Yum!

Now I need to go and clean my kitchen floor as it is a mess.  

Hope all are doing well!

I am off to conquer the world!

Kay

My Rock and stone are leaving!

I put all the leftover rock we did not want on Facebook marketplace for free and yesterday was a whirlwind of texts and messages. 

I had a Gentleman come over and he gathered almost all of the River Stone, and it was hot!

What little is left which I worked on this morning to clean and organize as it was spread everywhere can easily be dispersed in my other areas that have this stone.  I am just waiting for said Gentleman to call me back to see if he wants the remainder and I know he will.  

Look I will be able to park the Car carefully back here and very soon!

Someone is coming over shortly to look at the landscaping rock and I hope they take some.

I need to toast walnuts this afternoon as I am out of processed nuts for breads and cookies and I want to make some chocolate zucchini bread. I also have one larger zucchini to shred.

Oh, the Gentleman just came back for the rest of the river rock, and the couple came for some of the landscaping rock, but not all of it, but I can disperse this elsewhere!  That is a project for another day.  I am so sweaty that my makeup is in my armpits!

Time for a glass of wine.  I am done!

Hugs,

Kay

Postscript:

It will reach 99 today at high sun and will be over 100 degrees through Thursday of next week so the basement project is what I will focus on for the next several days.

I have made remarkable progress on my pantry and freezer challenge and will more than likely extend this into the month of September.

Our Landscaper may be stopping over tonight to discuss the final plans.  WE shall see.

We went to Sister's lunch today and I made homemade pizza last night no cooking as we will finish this tonight.

Tomorrow we are celebrating Kelsa's Birthday, and Uncle Dan will go up to the festivities.  I am not much for Children's birthday parties, but He is.  Hot, hot hot!

The backyard is cleared and ready!

 Well folks, for the most part we have moved all the dirt, and I am calling this done and dusted until we have the stumps ground out and this will happen when we move the fence forward and to the side which will happen next spring.

WE will mark out where the sod will be laid and live with it!

Still have to lay the path on the right side of the house and do some brick work on the left and get rid of all of the leftover rock and stone in the back driveway!

So much work!

A friend of ours is going to bring his truck so we can get the ground cloth to the dump!

Yesterday I did manage to make eight pie crusts and must take four of them up to Sissy after I shower and clean up.

I must also put gas in the car and do a return to amazon.

I pulled blueberries and huckle berries from the freezer last night and will make a pie this afternoon.  Don't know what dinner is going to be yet!

I was able to make the pie crusts in under 35 minutes as I used my kitchen aide grinder attachment that absolutely love to grind the cold butter.  It has become harder and harder for me to hand shred all of my cheese and butter when I bake.  It was not expensive, and I already own the meat grinder attachment which I use a lot.  I have come to the point in my life where I need to work smarter, not harder.

I am still pinching myself that the huge project is done!

I have a lot of work to do in the front yard that has been sorely neglected, and crab grass and spurge took over with a vengeance, even though we kept it mowed.  I sprayed and pulled all the crab grass and this took several mornings.  I have managed to get half the spurge and will spray again tomorrow morning early.

WE need to plant grass seed and fertilize but this cannot be done until cooler weather.

We are going into another hot spell starting tomorrow, and this will last at least 10 days. So, I will water the front and my plants very early and then work on the basement.

I really want to work on the path, but I get up very early and the Husb wakes up 3 hours after me and cannot seem to get started until it is too hot to work!  I start when the sun comes up.  I need his help to do the path so I will wait. The same with the brick work.  But it will get done eventually.

Now I am going to get in the shower and wash my disgusting gardening cloths and go run my errands.

Oh, and plan dinner?  I am thinking porkchops and something!

Have a great day!

Hugs.

K

It has been a while!

I cannot believe I have not blogged since the 31st of July.  I have been that busy!

Am I getting anywhere? Well not fast enough for me.

The weather has been extremely hot, and I have had other projects to take me away.

I did manage to get rid of more rock by placing it behind the abandoned garage and the alley is looking better.

We have almost and I say almost rid ourselves of the dirt on the soon to be parking pad.  This has been back breaking work, and I can only move so much in a day, or I start to stumble and am worthless.

This pile has gone by half, and I will try and get the rest done tomorrow morning.

Because the yard work has been all encompassing, besides traveling etc. I feel like there is fall out around me.

I need to organize my downstairs back storage room and a large set of shelves in the basement.

When we moved in, we were just overwhelmed and things got put where they could and now it is really starting to bother me.  So, this is going to be one of my goals for the next several weeks, and I will tackle this at least one hour a day. 

I have also made August a stay out of the grocery store month and eat from the pantry and freezers, and so far, this has been very successful.

Yesterday I made four dozen chocolate chip cookies and shredded six cups of zucchini, along with four pounds of mozzarella cheese.

Today I am going to make eight pie crusts, as I am out, and have blueberries and huckleberries to make a pie.  

I also need to make some French bread and some baguettes.  I now have some room in the freezer.

Have no idea what is for dinner tonight and I must go downstairs and figure this out.  Will call Sissy first and see if she wants to join us.

Now it is time to get in the shower and clean up as I am one very dirty monkey.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Hugs;

Kay