Hello Everybody...
I finally have electricity again!
Was just finishing up a post when the power went out right before I posted it.

The wind has been raging today.
So much so that visibility was reduced to zero due to all the dirt in the air.
Someone on the road ran into a power thing and knocked out all our power.

Without electricity my water pump can't draw water from the well.
My kitchen is a big mess because I was cooking and doing all sorts of food prep.
Now I'm too tired to bother washing dishes.
Oh well, they will keep till tomorrow.

Other than no power it was a good day.

Hi Tatoulia
Thank you 🙂
YEA!!! WAY TO GO!!! thank goodness for your cleaning Fairies!

Tillie!!! That is highly interesting news! At least someone appreciates your hard work in establishing, maintaining and defending your clutter free zones!!! Yay you!!!

My fairies are here. Can you believe it? So nice.

Good Morning

Hi Subclinical
WTG! for disposing of the mold.
Great thinking about what a pain it would be to fix it and that it was basic and boring and not worth the time.
Now you have that little bit more space to store the molds that aren't broken and are more interesting to work with.

Wishing you all the best of luck filling all your classes with bright and curious children. (((hug)))

Hi Tatoulia
So very sorry about all that racket!
Hope the loud pounding stops soon and the rest of the work is finished up in a week, as they promised.

Focus on the positive aspects of being on your new strict budget.
All your financial plans coming to fruition.
This lesson will teach you more about "Making-Do" with what resources you already have at hand.
It will help you appreciate the little things in your life & day even more.
Find all the little things you are grateful for every day.
(((hug)))

No sunshine today, lots of rain clouds.
Will have to wait doing laundry.

Think I know why the man from the insurance company did not cancel our policy.
Steven finally told me that the man came inside the house to see the damaged ceilings.
None of the other agents would come inside, just saw the outside hoard and made their decision to cancel us immediately.
When the man entered and saw how clean, clear and nicely appointed the interior was he was surprised and impressed, commented on it even.
So I believe that it was him seeing my clear & clean
"NO CLUTTER ZONES"
that made the difference this time in not cancelling the insurance.

I took some lunch up to mom's for her. I also stopped up to see BF for a minute. Need to get back to work. No idea when cleaners are coming. Just as well, I suppose.

Good morning from a very loud apt in Boston! They are working on my bay window and it is loud. I've relocated kitty's dishes to my bedroom. This noise is really bad. It's causing me some stress.

SubC I'm proud of you for disposing of that broken mold. And you were so lovely with your worried student!

Tillie I'm glad that jack is still hanging around.

I am super stressed right now. I need to avoid worrying about the pounding. I'm glad that I disarmed my back window alarms while I was at work yesterday. What a racket.

Ok I'll try to get my act together here.

Oh! BF's sister needed me to buy her a few things from L&T yesterday and I felt so happy that I wasn't buying for me. I did on/line since I don't have the card anymore. Not thatI want it back. Spending seems so wasteful to me right now. BF said he'll go to the store and pay it this week. Sister lives overseas.

I have preplanned dinner with girlfriends tonight. Then in future if anyone wants to have dinner I'll suggest we come here or we go for a cup of tea and a walk instead.

Tmr I find out what my paycheck looks like with loan payment taken out and an additional sum I'm having put into savings. Might be a bit bleak.

Good morning.

Tatoulia, I hope you got to relax.

Mixed success last night. I still have a map to finish for class today (at worst I can do it on my lunch break), I only partly unloaded the dishwasher, and I didn't touch the laundry.

But the rest of my class stuff is ready, I did chores, and I poured my mold.

Class sign ups for next year start today. I am nervous and excited. I need six kids in a class for it to run. And I am nervous to see which kids I get.

Today the rest of my classes help with the molds. I told yesterday's class what I was doing, and one of my students was very concerned about "get rid of" and wanted me to promise not to throw them away. I reassured her that I was taking them home for now, but told her that I can't keep them forever, so if she knows anyone who wants them to please let me know.

Then I did throw one away after school, because I realized it was broken. It could be patched, but it's a pain, and the mold is basic and boring.

Hi Subclinical

That turn over sounds really good!
A batch of those would really help when you are busy, over tired and hungry.

I have a recipe where I use bread dough and wrap up hamburger with onion, shredded carrots and diced potatoes in the dough, that freeze very well after baking.

Poor Mr. Kitty. I have seen how vicious chickens can be when going after mice.

Jack is still around, comes by every day.

WAY TO GO! cleaning stalls and especially for passing on the items that were not exactly to your liking.
Thrift shops seem to go through phases where who ever is pricing items is totally out of touch with reality.

Good luck with your plans for this evening.

BADGER, BADGER, BADGER!

Hi Tatoulia
Sorry you hated everything you did today.
Happy you are in your jammies.
Yes, call and tell him not to call and do your relaxation tapes. 😉

Hello Ladies! Sounds like you both had good and productive days! I had the office then a volunteer thing. I hated both but that's okay.

I'm home now in pjs. I want to do my relaxation tapes but I'm afraid BF or mom will call me. I could call BF and tell him not to call me.

Tillie, i'm Glad you are taking care of yourself!

I can absolutely imagine mr. kitty being terrorized by butterflies. Once he caught a mouse and the chickens stole it away.

I wish I could make and freeze lasagna, but the cheese is a problem. I did find an interesting "turnover" recipe I want to try. It uses savory stuffing and you prepare the filling, pinch it into the dough, and then either bake or freeze to bake later. I could freeze a big batch and have choices about how many to bake.

Good candy choices. And glad for the reassurance on scooter and twinkles. Is "jack you're not my cat" still around?

It is time to free the badger.

I did not swim (although I did spend 45 minutes cleaning stalls this morning.) I ran an errand on the way home and stopped at the thrift store where I found one thing I wanted - but for some reason it was 4x the normal price, so I left it, and I almost bought a shirt because it was very very soft and would give me a second oversized shirt that doubles as a hand towel for class, but I wasn't in love with the color and it wasn't on sale, so I left that too.

Now I am home. Dinner is in the oven. I need to:
Organize my papers, materials and lesson plans for class tomorrow
Do my chores.

Ideally, before bed I would also:
Empty the dishwasher
Put the laundry away
Pour a mold in the studio

Unloose the badger!

Good Afternoon
Only 2:30pm here.

Gave myself a pedicure and it felt SOOOOOO good.

Got a whole lot accomplished.
Absolutely NO work or chores, just fun and relaxing activities.

The Hyacinth are blooming and two more daffodils too.

It's sunny and warm (70s).

I took the cats outside for a bit but for some reason they got scared, tails all fussed out, and came back inside to take naps.
Maybe it was the thick cloud of butterflies that scared them. LOL 😀

Good Morning Everyone
"Clink!"

Hi Subclinical
All the rain/snow this Winter in Southern California and Arizona has made a LOT of plants/weeds grow and the butterfly caterpillars are doing so well we are predicted to have a bumper crop of migrating butterflies this year.
YEA!!! 😀

One way I use to keep homemade meals on hand is to make a large batch and freeze half for later.
Works great for things like lasagna or enchiladas, etc.

Glad you found the blueberries and get to enjoy them now.
The way I keep a better control of what I have in the freezer is by having designated sections for each type of food.
Then periodically take mental inventory of what else is in the section I am rummaging through while looking for something specific.
A written inventory list would work better though.

Have a wonderful day today (((HUG)))

Hi Tatoulia
We need to get that badger out of the closet/cupboard so it can nip at your heals and get you decluttering that closet!

Have a great day today at work.
Enjoy your nutritious lunch!

YEA!!! for cleaning fairies tomorrow! 😀

Yeah, I've been eating chocolate covered peanut butter Easter eggs (Reese's) & chocolate covered marshmallow Easter eggs (Russel Stover's) and chocolate covered malt Easter eggs (Whopper).
It has made me feel happy to be so bad.

Woke up at 5:30am then laid back down and slept soundly until 9:40!
The Apricot tree is full of butterflies again.
Scooter is quietly playing with his toys and sitting at the window wishing he was outside chasing all those butterflies.
It's 10:30.
I am taking full advantage of my day off to rest.

It is just too sad to talk about when my babies are sickly and near the end of their lives.
But I will tell you right now that Scooter and Twinkles are both well and not fixing to die any time soon. 🙂

Yes I have closet phobia! Maybe the badger is in there.

Closets and cabinets. What is wrong by with me?

Tillie eat something better today. I hear you on the sugar. Ice cream is the most perfect food for me. Hits enough of the food groups as far as I'm concerned. That said, I am looking forward to a nutritious lunch today. Since I ate half of what BF brought me last night, I'll be getting my regular salad today and eating the remainder of his food for my lunch tmr. So tasty. Chicken and rice with almonds and pistachios and other deliciousness.

Off to work. Keep up the good work, my friends. Cleaning fairies come tmr!

Good morning.

Tillie, sometimes you just have to take a day and indulge yourself - give yourself permission to make bad choices and wallow in them. Besides, if you are eating chocolate, it has chemicals in it that help lift your mood. You are grieving and your body needs those right now.

Tatoulia - I will be your closet phobia buddy! I am very not ready to tackle mine, so every time you talk about getting rid of clothes, I am impressed.

We always let the milkweed grow for the butterflies, but there are so few of them the last few years. Last year I gave dsil some seeds so he could start a little butterfly oasis in his city yard.

Dh made shrimp dumplings. They were from a package, but they were good. I don't think I will buy them again because of the packaging though. I've been trying out a couple of "healthy" frozen things every week or two because there are so many nights when we both get home late.

With my (hopefully) increased work schedule next year, I am thinking I will need to get a head start this summer by freezing some meals myself. I will need a plan and a tracking chart though, because my freezer is one of my problem areas. Too often things disappear into it and I forget them. I forgot I still had blueberries until I was looking for something else a few weeks ago. But now I am enjoying them!

I want to work baking back into my week too. One reason my grocery bill was so high was because I bought cookies and bread. Lately dh has an English muffin for breakfast every morning. That is costing almost $3 a week. He would rather have biscuits, but I don't make biscuits anymore. Which is silly, because it only takes about half an hour to make a dozen biscuits for far less than $3! I could even make them ahead and cook them in the morning while the coffee is brewing.

Today I get to teach again! I am looking forward to seeing my kids. And we will get started on the molds - today and tomorrow, then I will have had all the classes that use them, and there will be no excuse to wait.

I am not feeling very well today, so I think I might skip swimming.

But if I do, I need to make sure that I don't waste my evening sitting on the couch with the computer. I may need CM to get the badger out.

Hello

Hi Subclinical
Glad you went for groceries and have a nice dinner reward for doing so.
YEA! that the old project pots turned out well!
Hope you get to do more pottery tomorrow.
WTG! for laundry!

Hi Tatoulia
That butterfly garden sounds so dreamy!

WTG! for kitty box, garbage and recycling!

I'm sure your closets need more work.
One thing I have noticed about you is that you have a very bad case of "closet-phobia". 😉

One very nice thing is that even when the electric power goes out, I can still always heat food or water for tea on my gas stove.
Plus some things taste much better when cooked on/in the stove/oven rather than in a microwave.

I'm all caught up with dishes, laundry & regular daily housework.
Tomorrow I have the day off!
Plan to do my much needed pedicure, wash my hair and relax.

Must confess, I need to straighten up my act concerning eating.
Last few days I have eaten very little real food and have been eating way too much candy.
Tomorrow I will change my evil ways, honest, I promise, I hope. ;p

Groceries are so frightfully expensive, SubC. Good work with the pots!

Tillie I bet the monarchs are beautiful. There is a stretch of park/walking/biking path near my house and at one spot, between my house and my mother's, someone has built a butterfly garden. It has grown more and more lush each year and it is beautiful to see the butterflies. Twice (many years ago) I saw a smallish orange cat just walking through. It was like a scene from a book. So perfect.

I didn't take my walk tonight. I did a few things here including changing kitty box and getting my garbage and recycling out. Then I slept.

Bf just brought me the meal he had gotten for me. I just had half and will have the other half for lunch tmr. So yummy. What did dh mane for dinner?

I don't miss having a microwave. It took very little time to heat in a pot on the stove.

It's so funny that I can't remember where I used that table before the big changeout last June. It's been hanging in the bedroom since then and now I'm grateful it is gone.

My closet needs more work. There's.more that can go.

I had sticker shock at the grocery store. I had not gone in so long that it was hard to go. Unfortunately, I couldn't wait and stop on my way home tomorrow. Dh is rewarding me with dinner in the oven.

The critters all have new food too.

Tatoulia, good job on the continuing to clear out!

I did some laundry today too, but haven't put it away. My hair will have to wait for tomorrow.

Thank you for explaining the card.

Tillie, that is a big empty space. It will take a while to get used to, or perhaps in time you will find more (not "new" they won't replace) companions to help you feel less lonely.

The old project pots I put in the kiln today came out well. I started glazing some more and will hopefully finish getting at least some of them ready tomorrow.

Good Early Evening Everyone

Hi Tatoulia
Thank you
That little table sounds lovely.
Very happy it has been found safe and will now be in a location where it can be used and enjoyed.

This very warm dry gentle wind today is coming up from the South.
This afternoon it brought several dozen Monarch butterflies who are happily enjoying the Apricot blossoms before they continue on their migration.
This morning I saw ducks migrating straight to the North.

It is wonderful to live in the flight path of migratory birds and butterflies.
Soon many species will stop here long enough to have and raise their babies before moving on.

You put your sadness so beautifully, Tillie, that I, too, heard the echo.

I know that lots of cats and dogs will benefit from the donated goods. Doesn't change the sadness, though.

Today I offered BF a wonderful little table, cast iron (not wrought iron) for his patio. He said, where have you been keeping this? Truth be told, I do not remember. It's now in the trunk of his car. I loved it and no longer need it. And it was be very cute on his patio.

It is cooler here today than yesterday. It is about 45F. The walk will feel good.

Good Afternoon Everyone

Hi Subclinical
YEA! for Daffodils!

Sorry the trash service does that to you.
Probably a different substitute driver.

WAY TO GO! for a successful firing!
The new projects are always shinier than the older ones.
Good to get them finished up to make room for all the new ones.

Hope food shopping is successful and you get lots of fresh veggies.

Hi Tatoulia
Hope the weather is nice and you get the skirt returned with no problems.

Be strong!
The temptation and feelings of deprivation will gradually diminish.
I promise. 😉

WTG! for shampooing & dishes!

Was very busy all morning.
Have 4 cat carriers & one small kennel out for donation.
Kept just two cat carriers.
Had laundry on the line and the wind is so warm & dry that it dried in two hours.
Lit the burn barrel...

Need to wash dishes.
Was getting started washing them yesterday but the water heater turned off & I only had cold water.
Eventually Steven relit it but by then my back hurt too much to stand at the sink.
So I took a shower & went to bed.

I have finished decluttering all the excess cat related things.
There was a lot because I didn't declutter much after losing Marty then Poohkie.
Going from 5 cats down to only 2 there was just too much and looking at the stuff just made me sad and bitter.
I feel good about all I have done but I sense an echo in my home and my life.

I did a lot of laundry today and I'm pleased with that. It is beautiful and sunny and I'm wondering if it's warm. My house is so cool.

I did get showered and washed my hair so that too felt like a victory.

I need to get out and walk a few miles tonight. I could return the skirt and then just wander around. BF is off tonight but he forgot to bring my lunch so he'll have to run home and get it so I have something tasty to eat tmr at work.

I have to unload the dishwasher. I forgot to run it last night so I ran it today.

My intern is sound asleep next to me. Wound up in a little ball.

Good morning! Great progress on your pots, SubC! I know what you mean about wanting to do the new work. More exciting! I'm glad you've decided to finish up the partly done pits. It will declutter your studio and get you ready for the sale! Two in one!

I gave BF the one store card because we use just the one card at this particular store. I get a lot of benefits on the card and he buys for his sisters and himself. He also charges on the card and then immediately pays right then and there. I have purchased all the clothes I need.

For Amazon, I have my bank account linked. The prime yearly membership fee requires a credit card. So as soon as that processes, I will remove the credit card. I don't think amazon takes Paypal. The point for me is to either have the cash on hand in my bank account or make me enter the credit card, which will add time for me to think if I need it or If I am just momentarily dazzled.

Good morning all!

Tillie, you are very brave.

My daffys are starting to open up, but the stonefruit trees are still shut tight.

Tatoulia, how will you order online from amazon without a cc? Are you going to use a paypal account?

So glad you found a place that wanted the tv!

Do you and your bf have a joint cc account, or does he use the card to buy stuff for you and your mom?

They did not pick up my trash Friday. Just mine, I have no idea why. So now I have to call them this morning. This used to happen several times a year. It is part of why I cancelled the trash service before. And I am really looking forward to cancelling it again! One more week.

I have to go to the feed store and the grocery store today because we are all out of food. (Well, actually, the animals are out of food, and the humans are out of almost everything dh eats regularly and things that are easy to cook. If we were snowed in, we would be short on vegetables, but otherwise fine. - I could make pasta/rice/lentils/cheese/eggs/canned or frozen fruit for weeks.) if we had power, I could also bake. And I suppose I could sprout the lentils for "veggies".

The firing went really well yesterday and I made some other progress. I'm going to do another firing today. I am trying to focus on preparing partly finished items for the sale instead of making new work, but it's hard because the new work is always the most exciting, and stuff I didn't finish has lost it's shine. OTOH, that should make it easy to part with at the sale. I really need to pare down my inventory.

Hello Tillie!

I bet the apricot blossoms and the daffodils are so cheerful! WTG for making decisions on the cat bedding and supplies. I know you are grieving and the kitties are too.

I always love reading your posts because they remind me of everyone else's posts too!

I napped and now the cat and I are wide awake!

I gave BF the credit card that he uses the most. The rest are tucked away far and wide. As soon as my Amazon prime is renewed (mid April) I will delete the AMEx from the site. The Amex is the one with the 300 limit and I pay it each month. But now it will be my emergency card. If I don't have cash, I cannot buy. And if it's not a true necessity, then I cannot buy.
I still have one skirt to return. It will get me out and walking tmr.

I feel lighter. I am glad that now that I won't be using credit that I will no longer have to say a silent stressful prayer to see if it will go through.

Good Afternoon Everybody

Hi CriticalMass
WTG! for tossing the nasty tasting freezer burned meat!
YEA! for being strong enough to deal with your friend's rat.

Steven tried cooking and eating all his freezer burned meat when I was trying to empty out the freezer.
He said it tasted disgusting even smothered in garlic & onions and it gave him gastrointestinal issues.

Hi Subclinical
Happy dd2's BF is nice. 🙂
WAY TO GO! for working in the studio creating, cleaning and straightening!!!

Hi Tatoulia
WTG! for donations and returning clothing!!!!
Wonderful that you have companions to share getting physical with.

Beautiful day here.
Yesterday the Apricot tree blossoms started opening.

Been keeping very busy.
Have sorted out all the cat bedding and my assorted linens and have a HUGE amount (5 large bags) ready to drop off at the Vet's office.
Removed one litter box so now there are only 2 boxes.

Cats & I went outside for a while then the cats went back inside to take naps so I came in too.

There are 2 blooming daffodils out there and 3 more buds.

Ok brief update. I got together with mom and we drove around the city a bit then I did get grocery shopping. Beautiful day here. I took one of my quilts to the laundry to have washed. They then fold them nicely and put in a thick, clear plastic bag to keep clean. I'm happy having it off my bed. I also got the TV, antenna and digital converter box to goodwill. The guy said they'd be glad to take it. Bye white tv. I loved you so. I also grabbed a few random things out of my trunk and donated those. After dropping off mom, i started working on the trunk of my car and I made excellent progress. I'm really pleased.

Now I'm home. I just ate the other half of yesterday's sandwich. I should stay up but I'd love a nap.

SubC! I love hearing about your pottery project! And I love the challenge you are doing. In addition to my no spend challenge here, I do several health-related challenges. One is private with a colleague from another office. We share our weights and we set goals for walking. Yesterday was four miles. Then I have a few more public ones with people in the office. Today we are doing a one-day throw down regarding physical activity. I don't much cotton to competition but this isn't actually competitive. We never discuss who came in first or last. It's just a helpful reminder to be active. The person who sets them up is expecting his first baby with his wife so he wants to lose his gut and be healthier. It's fun being a part of that process.

Beautiful and sunny here. Will do a little clean up then get moving.

I noticed a silver tray today that has been unused for over a year. I cannot come up with a reason to keep it. Yes it looks great Christmas time with a little scene or other things set up on it. That is not enough to keep. I'll polish and donate. (It's silver plate, obv, not sterling). I didn't use last Christmas because someone else had decorated the hallway. There's nothing special about it and it's just clutter at this point.

Sending my best to Tillie, Scooter and CM (no particular order!).

Good morning all.

Hugs for Tillie. I'm glad you and scooter have each other.

I have a happy thing to share - yesterday we got to meet dd2s boyfriend. He seems nice. They look very comfortable together and he has a great laugh.

Today I am heading back out to the pottery studio. When I went out on Friday, I started on project, took care of four that had been partly started and abandoned (clearing off most of a large work table in the process), fired my kiln, and cleaned up my glazing station.

Today I am going to pour molds, do more glazing, fire a fun (but tricky) glaze load, and hopefully keep working on the handbuilding series I started (I am being an optimist - I started one project on Friday and this morning I signed on to a "100 challenge" with the goal of completing a series of 100 pieces!) But there is no time limit, just reporting progress. Some of the other people are writers and pledged 100 hours or 100 pages.

CM, once the meat is freezer burned, it is done. Just try to remember that the meat got freezer burned the next time you are tempted to "save money" by buying extra meat. Here I would put it out for the coyotes, but most people cannot do that.

I'm sorry you are still struggling with the everyday. Sometimes everything is just hard. Did the bunnies enjoy the nuns?

CM, I meant to tell you: to the bunnies and us, you are a superhero.

Clean sheets on the bed! It is easier to make now that I've taken one layer off. My sheets are in the dryer right now. I'm looking forward to climbing into bed and reading or watching the Telly.

I do need to not spend for 30 days. I have now scheduled payments for all my credit cards. And no more is going on them. I am only carrying the one with the 300 limit. The store cards will be in the drawer along with the emgerncy visa. The TRUE EMERGENCY VISA which means no emergency.

I'm leaning toward not getting a car. I'm a bit worried about giving up my parking spot. I have arranged for a certain amount of dollars to be transferred automatically to my savings when my paycheck gets into the bank.

My life will feel less cluttered.

As soon as sheets are dry, I'm going to find a movie on Netflix to watch.

Ok I wanted to crawl into bed even though it's 615. Instead I stripped my bed and put sheets into laundry. I'll put on some music to putter by and get moving.

Poor scooter, too. I walked to the store and returned the dress I'd bought. It just didn't fit right. I walked around the breezy Windy City and eventually had to sit down. I hadn't eaten enough it had enough water to keep going. I pulled myself together, went to the grocery store, then BF picked me up. After I ate, I ran up to mom's with a turkey dinner I'd picked up for her. She was downstairs, in the dining room, so I got her keys and put her Sunday dinner in the fridge. I cleaned a few cat bowls, gave the kitty some loving, then went back downstairs. I'm now in for the night. BF is going homecto do some much-needed laundry. I should probably do the same.

I emptied dishwasher this AM. I find that if I run it over night, then I can empty it while the coffee brews.