My Weblog

New week...........

So, it's Monday. I happen to like Mondays. Every day is a new lease on life. Every Monday is a chance to start over, do better, forge ahead. Mondays are a good thing.

I worked some more on the afghan I'm crocheting. I held it up and decided it needed at least one more round (5 rows each of 4 colors). It comes to the top of my head and I'm about 5'5" tall. However it's for a growing boy. Who know how tall he'll be 5 years from now! Once I get these 20 rows done, I'll actually lie down with it, tuck it around my feet and see by how much it covers me. I think it will still need to come at least to the top of my head to be the size I want it to be for him. It's getting heavy and unwieldy to position as I'm working on it. And I can't figure out why but one of my fingers is sore. Not arthritis sore. More like maybe rubbing against the afghan repeatedly sore. I don't know that a boy will value an afghan now, but maybe later.......... It has a lot of love, prayer, and time in it as well as more than a few bucks.

I ordered 4 of the 6 skeins of yarn I'll need to do the next afghan. The next one will be just a solid "sheet" of crochet. No fancy stitches, no hole-y design. And it will be done in gradient colored yarns, working from white to black with some red thrown in for accent. I got the 4 lightest shades of yarn which means I can get started on the afghan while waiting for a good coupon to use on the last 2 skeins. 

I am still struggling with this menu planning thing. I finally gave up and planned out just one week. This means I will have to be VERY careful as I will have to enter a store more than once this month. I must avoid impulse purchases or there is no chance of sticking to my budget.......

I am sorry to say there are some pricey items on this week's grocery list. I must have dishwasher detergent. I am stuck on this stuff called Lemi-Shine. My dishwasher has a dispenser for a rinse agent, but for some reason that is not working. And our water is HARD. With regular dish detergent, stuff comes out of the dishwasher really badly spotted. So badly spotted that when I go to use a glass or a spoon, I can't keep from thinking that I'm actually consuming chemicals. This Lemi-Shine stuff makes everything shine with absolutely NO spots. It comes in two formats--straight up detergent pods and also as an additive for other brands. I have almost a full box of other stuff, so I'll buy the additive variety which is a bit less expensive. I don't know where this stuff ranks in comparison to other dishwasher detergents. It is probably not all that different from the regular stuff. It's just that when you are operating on a very tight grocery budget, dishwasher detergent of any variety eats a good chunk of the available funds.

There is one blessing in the offing. Seems NV has passed a law instituting a very small tax on businesses. This applies to all businesses, whether operated as a Schedule C (self-employed), LLC, LLP, corporation, S-corporation, whatever. The taxable year runs 7/1/15-6/30/16 so somewhere about July I'll get to collect a few $$$ from several clients for preparing that return. Love that! I'm afraid it does detract from attracting businesses to NV. The "no corporate tax" thing and the "no state income tax" thing was a real advantage in getting businesses to come here.

There are no instructions to speak of on this new tax. I sure hope the state mobilizes and gets something done in the next few months...........

So, today, I will design, as usual. And I will work around the house. And I have clients coming to pick up a return (Yay! Money!). And I have another client who is coming to drop off some additional paperwork so I can finish his return. And, I'd better schedule a grocery run to some store somewhere. Dog food and coffee creamer are getting VERY low! Can't be without either of those things in this house! And, I'll be dusting. Hopefully, more successfully than last time with more territory covered, though I don't hold out a lot of hope for that "more territory" thing.......

YOU be BLESSED today! 

Beans, beans, the magical fruit...........(kudos to the cook)

I know that's not the way the saying goes. So what? I adapted it to suit my purposes.

Do you remember that last summer I was wild for a garbanzo bean salad? Well, I'm kinda at it again. Today I created a garbanzo bean and black bean salad. It was darned good!

Dressing:

1 scant teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 teaspoons dried parsley

4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Salad:

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved, or 2 cups chopped tomatoes

1 15oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup chopped onion

feta cheese (estimate: 1/4 cup)

I created the dressing first. I wanted to give the spices a chance to release their flavors. 

I would suggest that the following could be added to this salad: chopped black olives, chopped cucumber, chopped avocado. I didn't have any of these and the salad was plenty good without them though I do think this would "dress it up" some. Of course, you'd need more dressing if you added these items.

To my way of thinking, this is a pretty decent "meal". There's protein and carbohydrate in the beans and lycopein in the tomatoes. Good Eats! The next time I make this, I will double everything and add in some of those extra goodies and make extra dressing too. Yes, it's that good.

 

 

Well, Good Morning!

Sunday morning. I love it. It's blue skies and highs in the low 80's here today. Almost perfect weather! 

Working on design til my fingers are tired. Well, it might be something else that's making my fingers tired. I'm also working away on an afghan I'm making. Do you remember I told you that I was working on an afghan for my oldest grandson? Well, I am almost finished. Since I hope it will be his for a lifetime, I want it wide enough for 2 to snuggle. And long enough to tuck around cold feet and still cover up to the neck with a little to spare. Of course, I've got the width. I figure I am probably somewhere between 6 rows and 26 rows of finishing the length. Then it's the border and I'm done. Probably by the end of next week.

It's looking good. It is a ripple afghan in black, dark blue, light blue, and a yellowish green. Last time I saw my grandson's bedroom, he had a lot of blue in it and blue seems to be a popular color with boys/men, so I'm hoping this will fit right in.

I'm making plans for the next afghan as well. I still have 2 to go.......... The next one will be for my younger grandson. I was originally thinking of doing it in shades of beige/brown and green. But I kind of decided this morning to go, instead, with white, grays (at least two shades), black, and for a little color: red. Gray and red are the local university's team colors, so I figure a young boy would appreciate that color combo. I spent a little time this morning tracking down a pattern I like and getting it printed out and scoping out some yarn on JoAnn's website. 

Yarn happens to be on sale this week. That's both good and bad. It's bad because I can't use one of their 40% or 50% off coupons on the purchase since those only apply to regularly priced items. However, if I have to wait til I buy one bundle of yarn a week using just those coupons, I won't be ready to start the next afghan til it's pretty darn hot around here. It occurs to me I may not want to be working away on an afghan that is growing and is already big enough to cover my lap when it's 100+ outside........ So, I'm going to plot out the exact pattern for the next afghan this week and buy some of the yarn at the sale price. Then I can get the rest with coupons. Good plan, right? Fortunately, these afghans are for children so I don't have to buy super expensive yarn. Instead I just want something that's durable and washable! 

In the meantime, I've also been working on design, of course. I've been trying to figure out the whole St. Patrick's Day thing. Several years ago, I designed a St. Patrick's Day mini which was a color match to a full sized kit that was generic in theme. I really wanted to re-work the full sized kit and release the two together. I spent a good bit of time, working toward that end. I decided a bunch of papers needed to be replaced. Then I started on the elements and a lot of those are no longer to my taste either. This was beginning to look like a MAJOR project. So, last night I took a step back and decided to take the very best of the St. Patrick's Day mini and the matching generic kit, together with the new papers I'd created, and combine the two. I am still doing a good bit of work creating new elements, but basing everything off the stuff I'd already done did shortcut things a little. So, I am now about 50% done with elements. Still a ways to go, but definite progress and I'll end up with a St. Patrick's Day kit. It's going to be pretty generic, though, as only 1 paper is "theme-y". I think it will also work really well for outdoorsy photos.

I also have two other kits still open in my workspace. I started work on a baseball themed kit. I don't have much done for it other than the papers and the theme-y elements. But, so far, I'm pretty pleased. It has been a real treasure hunt, trying to find elements to support the theme though. I am no artist and my efforts to produce something on my own are usually pathetic. I tried to come up with a batting helmet. I spent a good deal of time on it and what I produced was truly laughable. Thankfully, after more searching of pretty much every Commercial Use store I could think of, I found one in template form. Phew! I really wanted a batting helmet in the kit and I sure didn't want to use what I made! 

I've also got a flowery springy kit in process. I have always loved the color palette of one of my older kits. I had thought to just dust it off and spruce it up a little and re-release it. Instead, I decided I'd be better off starting over using just the color palette I so love. That's coming along. It, like the baseball kit, still has a long way to go though. But I sure do love the patterned  papers in the kit which are all finished. 

I have a return to check and finish printing today. Clients are coming tomorrow to pick it up. Hallelujah--a bit of money for my bank account. Judging from the pile of bills on my desk, I need it, LOL.

I have not yet gone to the grocery store. I wanted to make some sort of rough menu plan before I want. But, let me tell you, when you're used to flying by the seat of your pants, trying to do a month-long menu plan is daunting. Particularly when you're limited to very budget conscious "meals". I wanted to plan both lunch and dinner "meals" so that would be 60 to come up with. So far, I think I have 15. Not doing too well in the menu planning department......

I spent an hour or more on the phone with my mother yesterday afternoon. She was quite sensible which is sometimes a bit iffy. Anyway she had some news to share with me. I reminded her I need her tax stuff fairly soon. I had to extend it last year and she decided that was worth worrying about. So, trying to do it earlier seems a better idea. While I was chatting with her (a lot of the time I end up just listening while she does a brain dump), I worked on organizing files for my design stuff. I don't often multi-task, but it was good that I could just then.

Well, mucho to do. YOU be BLESSED on this Lord's Day.

Friday Update.........

I have done my update to the creative ladies who help me sell my design stuff. Now they know what I've finished, what I'm working on, and so forth. I hope, once they get the update, it helps them perhaps plan ahead as to photo selections or photo ops for the goodies that are coming. I'm not sure it really works that way, but I hope so. I really want to make things as easy as possible for these fabulous ladies!

I realized just the other night that we have both St. Patrick's Day and Easter in March! Ooops! I just finished a faith-based kit so I guess that will be my Easter kit. Now I am working on something for St. Paddy's day. In the meantime, I have two other kits open and in the works in photoshop, LOL. If I can't think of what to do on one kit, I can move on to one of the others.........

The big deal in the desert these days is the pollen count. Before I moved here, I really didn't have any allergy problems. Oh, I sniffled a little bit when the Goldenrod bloomed, but it was no big deal. Then I moved here, had allergy tests done, and realized I am allergic to pretty much everything that grows in the desert. And, since I moved here, several hundred thousand more folks have moved here and brought their favorite flowers, plants, and trees with them. So, we have some pollen around here! For the past 4 days, the pollen count has been either "high" or "very high". And I'm coughing and my eyes itch, and all that despite the fact that I take an allergy pill every day........ Well, it's true that allergies can make a person miserable, but I am more than aware that there are far worse things in the world! 

I think I have finally outsmarted the water delivery guy. In case you don't remember, I have bottled water delivered to my house. The city water has been wretched tasting for as long as I've been here. It is REALLY heavily chlorinated and you can taste the chlorine. Yuck! Anyway, when there was a man around, I used to have 5 gallon water bottles delivered. I've changed that to 3 gallon bottles now. However, I've been known to have back problems. I'm pretty sure that bending over to pick up those 3 gallon bottles off my front porch is just not the best idea ever. I've spoken with the delivery guy 3 times and 3 times I've asked him to deliver the full bottles ON the wooden bench that sits on my front porch. That way, I only have to carry them. I don't have to bend over and lift them up and then carry them. He puts the bottles where I want them ONLY sporadically. Yesterday I left him a note. I wanted to leave him a scathing note, one so hot it would burn his hands. I didn't. I remembered I'm supposed to be Jesus with skin on for him and others I meet and deal with on a daily basis. So, I left him a nice note and the water bottles are on the bench today. I'll just have to remember to put a note out there each time I'm expecting a delivery. I was thinking about it this morning. He may have 300 customers on his route, which makes me one of 300 people he has to deal with. He, on the other hand, is my ONLY water guy. So, it's easy for me to remember our interactions. But, he may have trouble remembering which of his 300 customers is the crazy lady that wants to fill up her wooden bench will full water bottles. Well, so long as a reminder note works, I'm happy.

I did both some cooking and some baking yesterday. Actually it was pretty late last night by the time I got around to the "baking" thing. And I may have proven that that sort of activity late in the day is just not a good idea. First, I turned the mixer on too high and blew cocoa powder everywhere. I stopped and cleaned that up. Then, I'll be darned if a few minutes later I didn't do the same darn thing with a bowl of powdered sugar! Considering all that, I'm shocked that the kitchen doesn't look like a total disaster today. 

I was browsing through old photo files last night. I don't do that often. It seems to remind me that there are folks that were in my life then that are not in my life now. The primary example would be my husband, of course. I ran across some photos which reminded me there is an anniversary of sorts coming up. In May, it will be 10 years since my son-in-law was mugged and experienced a traumatic brain injury as a result. I looked at some of the photos I took back then and realized he's come a long way in those 10 years. Actually, we all have. So grateful for the progress he's made.........and that God spared his life.

Well, that's all I have time for right now. I need to get back to those 3 kits I have open in Photoshop. And, of course, there is much else in this house that needs attention. YOU be BLESSED today.

 

 

The morning after.........

Yesterday was not a fun day. I started the morning with a master blaster headache. I thought it was probably just sinuses and thought it would drain, given enough time in a vertical position. No such luck, so I ended up taking a mega Ibuprofen and that helped. Then, my otherwise (I hoped) productive day was further interrupted by the visiting nurse. She has a somewhat embarrassing "oops" along the way. Not long after she left, my digestive system decided it was time to cause problems and I spent, literally, hours, almost running to the far end of the hall. At one point I clocked it and I made 3 trips in 45 minutes. That shocked me so I quit counting, LOL. And, then, at the end the day, the headache came back. However it's a new day with potential to be very different and much better!

I had a visiting nurse that I liked a lot. Unfortunately, she decided to go spend several months in Florida, helping to care for her ailing father. So, I got a new visiting nurse. This one prides herself on her efficiency. Being efficient is a great trait to have. It's that "prides herself" thing that can get you into trouble. One of my usual daily meds has been doubled to help cope with some symptoms that have been aggravated by the last case of pneumonia. And, I'm close to out. I knew that would happen last week so I enlisted her help to get a new prescription written. She loves to tell me about how much pull she has with the doctor's office and how they ALWAYS call her stuff in because they know she'll bug them til they do, and I find the doc's office darn near impossible to contact by phone. However, I had not gone to pick it up from the pharmacy because I was waiting for a fresh money supply from SSI to arrive and I still had enough pills to cover it. Anyway, she followed up with me to see if I had gotten the pills. I told her I had not and did not know if the order had been called in as was supposed to happen. She grabbed her smart phone and immediately called the pharmacy to see if the script was ready. It was not. So, she immediately called the doc's office. While she was on the phone with the doc's office, she told them the pharmacy stated they did not have the script. She then proceeded to give them the phone number. EXCEPT it was the wrong number, wrong branch of the right pharmacy chain! I caught it immediately when she started reading the phone number from her smart phone and together we figured out what she'd done.

Around here, it seems there's a pharmacy on every corner. The one I use is on the corner of Durango and a major cross street. She called the one on Buffalo and a major cross street. THey're a good 3 miles apart............ No wonder they didn't have that prescription ready for me. 

So, she made a blooper in front me which tarnished her "efficient" facade a bit but she also embarrassed herself in front of the doc's office. Sometimes it pays to ask questions..........

So, anyway, between nursing a headache, dealing with the visiting nurse, running up and down the hall for hours, and then being hit with the headache again, I didn't accomplish much else yesterday.

I need to make a grocery run fairly soon. To tell you the truth, I'm putting it off. I know there are some pricey things I need to buy. I know what I have to spend. I know what staples I need to buy. I'm combing through a pasta cookbook that is a favorite of mine to try to come up with CHEAP meals that will allow my available funds to cover stuff I'm out of, staples, and meals for a month. I'm also trying to use up some oddball stuff that's in my pantry since I own it and eating it will save me $$$. All in all, It seems to me to be the impossible dream........ But, nothing is impossible with God, so I'll just hang on for the ride. Sometimes He takes those corners pretty fast...........

I don't know if I even know where to start today. I know I need to work on my usual jobs: straightening the kitchen, dealing with stuff on the desk, unzipping and organizing files, deleting extraneous e-mails, etc. 

And, today is drag-the-trash-to-the-curb-day. 

And, since some money has come in, I have a stack of bills to pay here at the desk. 

Beyond that, it's a blur. Maybe I'll pull myself together better with more coffee??? Anyway, YOU be BLESSED today!

 

Success or failure?

I spent about 30 minutes "dusting" in this room yesterday. Actually, it was more "wiping down". I was using a wet rag and a bucket of water. I didn't want to use anything else that might stir up the dust into the air. I had hoped to get a lot further than I got. However, I even wiped down vertical surfaces, so, at least, I know that where I cleaned, it really IS clean. 

Today is vacuuming day. That will go a lot faster and if I have any extra time, I'll do more dusting. It turns out I am also straightening as I dust, another reason for failure to fly through this room in record time. 

Design-wise, I spent my time yesterday working with the kit I told you about. I ended up keeping 2 of the old papers just as I'd done them before, except with an entirely new texture. I also reused another paper but I flip-flopped the colors on it. There are 13 brand spanking new papers completed. So far, only 1 element, but we'll get there. What I've got so far is looking mighty good!

I made some cookies last night. Do you remember that cookie recipe I shared with you for super moist, soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies? Well, I did an experiment and I get BIG GOLD STARS for the results. Instead of adding chocolate chips to the cookie dough, I added raisins and 1/4 tsp of cinnamon. These are seriously some of the best Oatmeal Raisin cookies I've ever tasted. And, I love knowing that they will stay soft and chewy for days without preservatives! 

I guess I need to give myself credit for some kitchen clean up yesterday too. I've even dealt with the cookie crumbs, even though I didn't finish baking them until after 11PM last night. 

I did pare about 500 e-mails out of my inbox. I also unzipped and organized some files. And I did some backups. Yay me. Got to keep that daily maintenance stuff going, you know. 

So, I'm outta here for now. Maybe later. In any case, YOU be BLESSED today!

You're not going to believe this............

I now have 3 functional coffee makers on my kitchen counter! I know, I know.............

I decided I could not operate with the counters so cluttered. I tried to gather up the little mini-Keurig to trash it. It weighed a ton. Obviously, it had a LOT of water in it. I tried turning it upside down in the sink to drain it, but the water must be enclosed in some sort of sealed area within the machine--nothing drained out. I put it back on the cupboard and plugged it back in. Then, just because I didn't know any other way to get rid of the water, I tried turning it on. Oh, weirdness. It started putting out water. Well, it drained and drained, and I've made at least 5 perfectly fine cups of coffee in it since..........

Then I turned to the Hamilton Beach. If you remember, it was producing droplets, but stopped doing that after just a few minutes, leaving about a quarter of an inch of liquid in the cup. So, I just kept unplugging it and plugging it back in and draining out another 1/4 inch of liquid. And each time, I'd unplug it, I'd clean the "needle" in the top. That's the thing that punctures the pod on the top. The hole is big enough that you can stick a straightened-out paper clip in there to free it from any coffee grounds that have gotten into it. I can't decide if this is good design, or bad design. Maybe it is bad design in that the hole is big enough that coffee grounds can actually get in there. Or, maybe it is good design--after all THIS "needle" can be cleaned whereas good luck with that on the Keurig. Anyway, after messing with that thing for about a day and a half, pretty much every time I was in the kitchen, it produced a full cup of liquid. I haven't actually made any coffee in it yet, but if it can produce a cup of water, I suppose it can produce a cup of coffee too.

And, then, of course, the "big" pot I carried in from the garage is still in the kitchen as well. I have finally figured out about the right proportion of grounds for water in that thing. I don't know if you've ever paid attention to this, but on a coffee machine, a "cup" is about 5-6 oz. In our kitchens, when we bake or cook, a "cup" of liquid is 8 oz. So, I reduced the amount of water I was putting in there to 8 "cups". That's somewhere between 40-48 oz of water. To that, I've been adding 4 of those coffee scoops of grounds. It's still a little light for me, so I think I need to do one of those "one for the pot" additions. My parents had older friends who always added "one for the pot". I guess if some was good, more was better. Anyway, I think "one for the pot" would produce a cup of coffee that would put a good sized smile on my face. 

So, of course, the dilemma is what to do with the 3 coffee makers. Well, the big pot is going back into the plastic bag from which it came and then back to the garage. Surprisingly, I think I will keep the Hamilton Beach in the kitchen and use the Keurig for a spare (so it will move to the garage too). I actually may experiment a bit more with the Hamilton Beach before I make this move. My primary reason for keeping it as THE coffee maker in the house is the ease of using my own ground coffee instead of the pods. I believe this could save me a good bit of money if it actually works consistently. A can/bag of coffee beans will make a lot of cups of coffee for a lot less $$$ than using the pods. We shall see..........

So, what's going on around here. 

As the weekend approached, I figured out that I was actually just "tired". Maybe "worn" is a better word for it. So, mostly, I didn't do much. I did some minimal kitchen upkeep and I dealt with a bit of the mail on the desk, but that's about it. And, of course, I worked on design. I finished the kit I was working on. I'm pretty pleased with it. I'd love to stuff some more elements into that one, but there's just no room. I've already gone through all the elements twice, looking for items I could resize down to lower the MB count. There's kind of an agreed upon "limit" to download files in this industry. The store where I sell has an international market and some folks are still on dial-up. So, files are limited to 50 MB. I usually include 80-100 MB of elements. I don't want to have folks need to download 3 files to get all the elements. So, I just had to STOP! Anyway, it's a beautiful kit with a full load of elements and beautiful papers and a great color palette. It also has 5 alphas! So, you can choose whichever color way best suits your layout. Anyway, I'm DONE with it. 

I have a new color scheme open on my work area. Actually it's an old color scheme. But, while I love the colors, I'm not fond of the papers and it's way short on elements so......... I'm reworking it from the bottom up. It's gonna be lovely when I'm done. It will hit the stores in the spring. 

Today is drag the trash to the curb day. I really needed to do that for Friday, but I didn't and I'm now overrun with trash. So, I'll be hauling lots of trash to the curb! I met with a client on Saturday and he told me he'd gotten a letter from the company that handles rubbish removal in this area and they've advised him they're reducing trash pick ups to once a week. I haven't gotten such a letter (to my knowledge), but I'd bet it's coming. Chances are they're doing it by zip code or neighborhood or whatever. Anyway, according to him, there's some sort of requirement for a new, much larger trash bin. I don't want to pay for such a thing and I'm concerned about moving it from place to place. I suppose, if it's on wheels, I can handle it.

Today is also dusting day as well as cleaning windows, mirrors and other glass items. I won't tell you I don't have any windows that need cleaned. That would be a BIG lie. BUT, I think dusting is a bigger thing right now. The accumulated dust gets to me and messes with my breathing. So, I'll be going after surfaces with the wet rag and hot water thing. I don't like doing that one bit, but it seems to be the best way to get the dust out of here without breathing in clouds of it. So, I'm going to go for it.

I DID work on weeding out old e-mails from my inbox over the weekend. But there's still unzipping and organizing files, running backups, etc--all to be done in the background while I'm designing or while I'm working on other things. I'm going to get going on all that stuff, so YOU be BLESSED today. Maybe we'll chat later..........

Livin' in the lap of luxury...........

You might drive by my house and think it REALLY needs some care. Or, you might actually come in and think the same thing. Right now, even paint is beyond my budget, unless, maybe, I save up for it at $1 a week. But this morning I have had a luxurious morning. There are two things that do not go together in my mind. They are cold and wet. I can handle cold, or I can handle wet, but the two together--well, NOT my idea of fun. This morning I moved my space heater into the bathroom and then took a long soak in the tub, complete with scented shower gel. And when I got out of the tub, I was wet but I wasn't cold. LOVED that.

I am drinking coffee. My expedition to the garage did indeed discover a functioning coffee maker. Years ago, before I recognized the correlation between thyroid malfunction and high blood pressure or high cholesterol, Joe and I used two coffee pots. He brewed his caffeinated coffee in one; I brewed my decaf in the other. Eventually one of the pots died. However, the other was found alive and well in the garage. It's a little sluggish. Takes a while to produce a carafe of coffee. And, I'm going to have to experiment with how much ground coffee should go in there to make a good cup of coffee. (Yesterday's was a little weak. Today's is better.) I did end up pouring some of yesterday's coffee down the drain this morning. But, I can't imagine that's any more expensive than Keurig-style coffee pods. 

I happened on some comments on Facebook about something called an Aeropress. I've never heard of it before, but it looks interesting. Yes, it's a coffee maker. However, it is strictly manual so no electricity is used. It seems to eliminate some of the delay in producing a cup of coffee that makes me so irritated with the French Press. And the steeping time is more like 20-30 seconds than the 4 minutes recommended for a French Press. I also don't like seeing tiny bits of dark brown in the bottom of my coffee cup, bits of ground coffee the French Press's filter didn't filter out. I do not want to have to strain my coffee through my teeth. If I didn't mind that, I'd just drink Turkish coffee and be done with it, LOL. With the Aeropress, you can get either paper filters or a reusable filter to help strain out the bits of coffee from the finished product. Anyway, if you want to check out what I'm talking about, you can see an Aeropress here: http://www.amazon.com/AeroPress-80R08-Coffee-Maker/dp/B000GXZ2GS/ref=sr_1_1?s=appliances&ie=UTF8&qid=1455990271&sr=1-1&keywords=aeropress 

I am also thinking about an "old fashioned" Melita drip coffee maker. Cheap, consistently good reviews. Filtered so no coffee bits in it. No electrical parts to quit working at inopportune times. What's not to like?

I was thinking that I have MANY coffee pods in a cardboard box in the garage. I think I am going to open those up by slicing through the foil with a paring knife and just use the coffee grounds that way. Waste not, want not...........

Sadly, there IS some wasting going on here. I had, long ago, (so long ago Joe may have done it, I don't know) stored some coffee grounds in the garage. I pulled out a can the other day when I was messing with the French Press. UGH! Apparently storing coffee grounds, with no seal, just a plastic lid, in desert heat is not a good idea. I can't drink that stuff. I think it's going in the trash.........

Gotta run. Places to be and people to see. Later, I'm sure. YOU be BLESSED today! 

I was SO prepared to love it...........

the new Hamilton Beach Flex Brew Single Serve coffee maker. And, right now, I just want to throw it through the front door in front of a heavy-duty trash truck. I ordered it last Friday. The shopping page indicated 2-day shipping which is why I pay Amazon a $$99 a year membership fee--free 2-day shipping. When It went to the order page, it indicated it would not arrive til Tuesday. That's 4 days, folks, not 2. In the meantime I struggled with a French Press and even resorted to instant.

It arrived on Tuesday. I made coffee in it with no problem Tuesday and Wednesday. It even worked fine most of yesterday. That is, until last evening. Now, it does nothing but put out droplets. Just droplets. Then, after 20 or 30 droplets, it turns itself off, with an indication that it's out of liquid. Well, that's just not true. There IS liquid in there..........

I consulted the owner's manual. It indicated I needed to clean the "needle" that punctures the coffee pod. I've done that twice. It also indicated cleaning the pot out with vinegar. I'm trying to do that, carefully following the directions, but the vinegar only comes out in droplets just like the water.............

I am SO frustrated.

I decided to just order a little 4 cup coffee brewer, like the old fashioned Mr. Coffee. The description on the shopping page indicates 2-day shipping. However, when I go to check out, it indicates the pot will arrive on the 23rd. Once again, that's 4 days, not 2. Is anyone besides me noticing a pattern here? 

I have decided to put together an expedition to the garage in search of some coffee brewer that will work and has an unbroken pot. Any old coffee brewer will satisfy me at this point, as long as it works and I don't have to wait 4 days to unearth it! So, Amazon, give me back my money and come pick up your crappy Hamilton Beach Flex Brew Single Serve coffee maker! 

Reprieve...........

I do not "shop". I don't go out much at all. I am pretty darned happy just working around here. However, I have some errands I need to run--to drop off the accumulated bags of donation goods, to buy half n half for my coffee, and to pick up a couple of other things. I had more or less decided last night that I would try to get that stuff done today. Well, I've revised my plan. I have to go out tomorrow anyway--to see a client. So, I'll get myself a solid list of what I need and an itinerary of the best way to get there and try to do as much as possible in just one trip. Should save a little on gas and still get the things done I need to do. Makes me happy I don't have to do it today!

I last did a grocery shopping trip on 1/30. I was hoping to make that last a month. That's not going to happen, I think. I will probably have to head to the grocery store by the 25th or 26th. Maybe I can just buy the things that are an absolute necessity and hold off on the other stuff.......... I don't see how I'm going to make the dog food last longer than that.

I'm pretty much concerned as to whether or not I can keep grocery spending next month to the amount I have budgeted. I am going to need some stuff that will be pricey. I have almost used all of my big box of Oxiclean detergent. (Note: I use cheaper stuff on my dark clothes and sheets and save the Oxiclean for my light coloreds and whites.) My dishwasher is not working properly--it is not releasing the rinse agent as it should. I have found a dishwasher detergent that still allows me to have spot-free dishes regardless. With our hard water around here, that's amazing. Even more amazing--I think my dishes have fewer spots just using this dishwasher detergent than they did when they were being treated with the rinse agent. BUT, this little magic potion is not cheap. And, of course, I will have to buy a 50 pound bag of dog food. Just those 3 items will kill about 1/3 of my budget! But, I am determined to hold the line on this particular budget item. I may be eating a lot of macaroni and dried beans, LOL.

I had wanted to plant a garden this year. However, I would need to pay someone to till the soil and enclose the thing with wood or fencing of some sort to keep the dogs out. Again, not something I want to spend money on this year. So, I think I will content myself with a few (one or two) containers with veggie plants in them. I am thinking tomatoes and zucchini. It's not much but it's a start and everything has to start somewhere. I can always add to it later......... The valley's best nursery is just a mile from here so I will probably be paying them a visit.

So, today:

I am making good progress on the current kit. I know, because of the theme, it's going to be a battle as I go along, but, for now, I'm doing well. I'll continue working on that today.

I'm starting in the master bedroom today. I decided yesterday that continuing to pack a box of tee shirts for storage is sheer nonsense. After all, it hit 80 degrees here yesterday. It won't be long til tee shirts are the order of the day. Why pack them up now just to unpack them in a few weeks? So, instead, I'll concentrate on other things in the bedroom that need attention. I may even get brave, spend some time in prayer, and work at getting that comforter cover on the comforter and the comforter back on the bed. I did get a lot of dusting done in there late last night.

Master bath. Well, I made significant improvements in there yesterday, so I want to keep up with that. Still working on clearing that counter. I will be SO happy with myself when I finally learn to put away EVERYTHING I take out. I'm getting better at it, but there's still LOTS of room for improvement. 

I left the kitchen in pretty decent shape last night. So, I think I might actually get to that fridge today. It really needs done, even if I have to sit on the floor to do it! 

I decided to donate just the electric blanket for which I cannot find a control. There is an off chance that the blankets that go with the 2 "extra" controls should go with electric blankets that are on the beds in the guest room. I don't want to discover later that now I have 2 extra blankets with no controls! Anyway, ALL the donation stuff should be cleared off the dining room table today. 

The desk is still the priority today. I will still not be caught up with filing. And I won't be paying any bills unless there's a really small one in the stack. I think maybe I will throw in some extra time on this room, just to deal with something out here besides the desk. Lord knows, it could use it!

I dusted most of the living room last night. Just two tables to go. Maybe I can even get in some vacuuming in there today. 

The hall is looking GOOD. I cleared a bunch of junk off the top of the washer and dryer. Perhaps today I'll try to bring some sort of order to what's left on there. When we bought a washer/dryer a while back, I wasn't as smart as I am now, LOL. I thought those storage drawers that go under the appliances would be a wonderful thing. As far as I'm concerned, I was sadly mistaken. Now they sit up really high and I cannot reach the shelves behind them without a step stool. That makes using those shelves difficult. And the drawers are not deep enough to hold a lot of things I'd like to store in them. Someday, I'll pay someone to get those drawers out of here. THEN, I have a multitude of unused cabinets in my garage. I could easily relocate one or two of those into the laundry area and make my life SO much better! 

The hall bath is still in fine shape. No need to spend any time in there. 

As always, there are files to back up, files to unzip and organize, e-mail to police, and so on. 

But first, some time with the Lord is in order--makes the day go better...........YOU be BLESSED today.