Chilly Joys

This third week of the year was a very unusual week. What started as quite normal for our January devolved quickly as frigid air launched an attack on hot blooded Southerners. They told us it was coming and though we prepared for it, still did not mean I liked it at all.

Monday: I was able to go to my happy place this morning, but instead of cooking we simply had a tea party and conversations. Before Christmas I bought 3 kringles at Trader Joe's, then got another one as a Christmas gift. We had planned on having our neighbors over during the holidays for coffee and goodies, but for one reason or another it did not work out

The pastries would be fine in the freezer, until we ate them but neither TheHub nor I are eating sugar right now. Every year, we use January to clean our  systems of the sugar overindulgence we had in December. Instead of leaving all of them in the freezer, I took two of them with me to The Independence Place and they were very much appreciated. Some of the participants really did like the hot tea and some of them hated it. I kept telling them they did not have to drink tea to indulge in kringle.

Maybe in February we will share the remaining goodies with neighbors or friends.

After a stop on the way home to grab a sale price on ground chuck, I found  a huge package Fedex left on the porch. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to get it into the house. It weighed about 45 pounds but the weight was not what threw me. The box was very bulky and I could not get my arms around it to lift it. I decided to just set it on one end and "walk" it into the foyer.

Once it was inside, the assembly was fairly quick and now, thanks to Wayfair, I have a new end table in the den. 

(aside here) Have any of you noticed the new trend in upholstered furniture where the body and back are a solid color and the bottom seat cushions are a print? I would never buy anything so trendy, but I am seriously thinking of making slip covers for the couch cushions. I might like it or I might not, but would only be out the cost of fabric if I didn't. The only downside is it means getting the laundry room in order so I can use my sewing machine, ___maybe not!

Dinner: I had just purchased several pounds of ground chuck and planned on making a meatloaf according to my meal plan. That did not happen

Hamburger patty, grilled asparagus, coleslaw

Tuesday: We did not get all of the expected ice and just had some early morning snow flurries, but we did get the forecasted cold. I had the option of going out or staying in, so I chose staying in because I am not stupid. 

After several cups of coffee, I started back with my year plan of putting my hands on every single thing in this house and making critical decisions on what stays and what goes, while reorganizing everything. I figured a strategy of an hour a day x 365 days should get it done, knowing some days I will do nothing and some days I will spend nearly the entire day at it. Tuesday I got 2 sections of the laundry room done (Have I ever mentioned I might have the world's biggest laundry room? OK not really, but it is a very large room.)

The only joy about doing it is that it is done and I can move to the next section.

I was very thankful Sluggy called so I could kinda guilt free just enjoy a conversation and laughs!

I did put a new vacuum cleaner  together.  (It had been sitting in it's Amazon delivery box in the foyer for a few days. (Why? No idea!) It is going to become the upstairs vacuum but I tried it on the main level floors first. For a very inexpensive vacuum cleaner it does a fantastic job on carpets, and will work well on the upstairs bedroom floors.

Dinner: I had done a lot of soup making the prior weekend, so our dinner was mainly heat and serve.

Turkey vegetable soup, cheese toast

Wednesday: It was very cold when I woke so it was pretty easy to stay in bed and read for a while. Once I got up and went into the kitchen for coffee I made a quick decision, because I had to be nowhere, I was not going outside at all. I have Southern blood after all. Instead of doing anything productive I decided to have a spa day with lotions. potions, masks, and manicures. I will freely admit I enjoyed pampering myself.

And what good is a spa day unless you dive into a good book afterwards!

Dinner: TheHub wanted something different from what I wanted, so I was able to use  the  contents my new Aldi silicon freezer containers to make his meal.

Spaghetti with meat sauce (TheHub), tossed salad (both of us) pickled okra (me)

Thursday: The day had warmed up enough that I could have gone out and about, but I had nowhere I wanted to go. Instead I stayed at home, worked in the laundry room, talked to Sluggy, read, watched Ghost UK and read some more. Other than chores, a load of laundry, and cleaning another section of the laundry room, I did nothing majorly productive.

Dinner: TheHub called me while he was eating lunch. He was craving a veggie plate meal and his former go-to meat and three recently closed. Instead he went Cracker Barrel for his meal. While there he found if you purchase a meal you can get a small to-go meal for $5. He asked if I was interested .  A $5 meal that will feed both of us? You bet I was.

Meatloaf, collard greens, mac and cheese, (TheHub) 2 biscuits (TheHub)

Friday: More work in the stupid laundry room which has become a catch-all. The good thing is that by touching everything in there, it will either be moved to its appropriate place, given away, or trashed. The joy is not about getting the room in shape but in making decisions about "stuff" and following through. 

Dinner: TheHub wanted to go out for dinner. Who am I to object? Luckily we went before the temps started seriously dropping.

Pulled pork, collards, coleslaw (me) deviled eggs (gag), stuffed baked potato (TheHub)

Saturday: As usual we got up had coffee or tea before we did errands and some exploring. The day was cold, below freezing  and windy all day, but the sky was gorgeous! I prefer a little warmer day for hopping in and out of the car, but___

After a couple of quick stops we made a destination trip to a speciality store. 

One of my Christmas presents from TheHub has not happened yet because I have to be with him when he actually gets it. You might be thinking what a wonderful guy for taking her to pick out the jewelry she wants, but you would be so wrong. 

For years I have wanted a stand up bass, and I am talking about 30 years of wanting. Now I have to decide if I will have a used one rebuilt or opt for a new model (or forget about it entirely and just keep on with the wanting). It is pricy, but at the end of the day when I can no longer enjoy it, I have 3 sons who will all be vying for it, so it would continue to be enjoyed. In fact Son2 has already suggested it might be a good idea to keep it at his house instead of mine! 

Little shops like we went to are a dying breed. The owner has owned his for over 30 years and you never hear of anyone now days who wants a career in refurbishing and rebuilding instruments. I wonder if this is the last generation of people who will choose these types of professions.

We got back in the car to talk it over, it was cold and we had not eaten so we tried a little restaurant  that shares space with our favorite fish monger . (The word restaurant is actually too big for the place, but some delicious food is served in that small space)

We continued with our errands, discovered all I need for my phone is a new battery, and picked up a couple of things at the grocery store, then headed home to get and stay warm.

Dinner: It was about 18 degrees when we were about to eat and I was very thankful for the meal preps I had in the fridge.

Broccoli/cheese soup, biscuits

Sunday: We woke to a 13 degree morning in plenty of time to make it to Sunday School and church, but all I had to do was poke my nose out of the door and I wimped out. I know some of you deal with cold for protracted amounts of time. It is not how our winters go and I have no cold weather  "Sunday" clothes . Instead we streamed our church service from the warmth of our house.

Neither of us left the house, except to run the garbage outside to the garbage can (which sits about 4 feet from the basement door) and make sure the pool pump was running.

TheHub did some business from his home office, and I cleaned out the baking center. Like every other thing I organize, I find things that had been pushed back in the recesses and forgotten about. A huge score was finding several boxes of various herbal teas.  I drink way too much coffee and these will be a great substitute for the afternoon and late night cup. 

I also found some unopened red and white candy melts I bought to decorate Christmas cookies I never made. I put them on our neighborhood Facebook page and had a taker in about 10 minutes. I like that much better than just tossing them.

Dinner: After we finished our Saturday lunch at the place adjoining the fish shop, we naturally brought something home with us.

Broiled tilefish, mashed potatoes, tossed salad

Meals for weird weather changes. The highs are supposed to hit 70 later this week???

1. Chili, cold slaw, cornbread

2. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts

3. Conecuh sausage, sautéed cabbage, fried apples

4. Leftover soup, cornbread

5. Grilled Steak, potatoes, asparagus, tossed salad

6. Out to eat

7 Big salad meal

Enjoy your week staying on plan, going off plan or with no plan at all

Books read in January

Demon Copperhead

Paper Names

Symphony of Secrets 

May all your weeds be wildflowers,

Anne