My Tireless Retirement - Week 224

 

Another week has whizzed right on by and for me it was a busy one.  Are you finding yourselves rather busy these days too?

 

Friday afternoon I handed over the keys to Laverne’s new owner and she is now off to a new life.  It was a surprisingly easy handover for me as I want her to be used and loved.  It was a dream to for me to live in her in retirement, but life has a way of changing things and I’m adaptable.

 

She sure came in handy!

And, much to my amazement, I also sold my truck on Friday.  This past year I had been waffling back and forth as to whether to let it go or keep it.  After I got the Subaru however, I found I wasn’t driving it as much and it was sitting quite a bit.  I just don’t drive enough to justify two vehicles right now and vehicles simply do not do well if they sit for long periods of time.  So, with a somewhat heavy heart, but not really, I offered it for sale and it was immediately snapped up.

 

I didn’t go into this week expecting to sell two vehicles, definitely not on the same day, but now that it is done I feel that it was the right decision for me in my current stage of life.  Along with that I put some other items on Facebook Marketplace to sell because they are no longer needed.  I’d say I’m taking this round of decluttering pretty seriously.

 

It was HOT on Friday and over the weekend with 100°+ temperatures so I hunkered down inside with the A/C on and drank a lot of water throughout the day.  With the exception of power washing the driveway I only ventured out to check on the chickens and water my garden and flowerbeds.  I’m not too sure my garden is going to make it through the next two weeks of extreme heat.  My poor plants are struggling.

 

Tuesday was much cooler, thank goodness.  We even got a spit of rain.  That morning I had to take the car in to get one of the tire pressure sensors replace and then headed over to one of our senior living centers to be a judge at their Mac & Cheese contest.  It was so much fun and rather tasty too.

 

Wednesday I was back to doing some decluttering and cleaning and was able to wrap that project up.  It felt really good to be done and know that I have now streamlined things to a much more manageable amount of crap in the house.  I’m sure I’ll find more stuff to get rid of in the coming months.  It’s crazy how you just keep finding stuff.  On Thursday I loaded up a laundry basket with donations for our neighborhood food pantry.  I had been working on that project for a while and now I can check that off my list as well.

 

I felt so good after this week, a little sad about my precious truck, but just like the motor home it needs to be used and driven.  I had a good 29 year run with it.  Now someone else gets to enjoy it just like the motorhome.  Laverne’s new owners are in love and have even sent me pictures.  Win-win for everyone!  I hope you are all doing well.  Be sure and tell me what have you been up to lately.  Have a great weekend!

My Adventure Mobile

 

I love to spend time outdoors and I love to go camping.  One of the things I don’t love is pitching a tent and sleeping in it which is why I bought Laverne.  However, Laverne can’t get to the places I like to go, off the beaten path, and she costs a lot to drive so that is why I sold her.  When I got the Subaru last year one of the things I really wanted to do was make it into my new adventure mobile.  It’s more affordable to drive and I am easily able to get where I want to go.  With a motorhome I am much more limited as far as where I can take it.  Last summer I tried it out and it worked beautifully!

 

With the backseats folded down the Subaru is surprisingly roomy and long enough to completely stretch out.  In the back I am able to put my bed on one side and line my gear up on the other.  There are plenty of nooks and crannies for me to tuck various things into from bug and bear sprays to hiking boots.

 

Instead of a cooler I upgraded to a 12 volt refrigerator/freezer.  I can use it either way, but for now I only plan to use it as a refrigerator.  I have a solar powered generator with panels for charging and I can also use the car adapter to charge while I’m driving.

 

The pop up shower tent with the collapsible potty can lay on top of my bed without taking up much space at all and the window covers are stored underneath where they are protected when not in use.

 

For the most part I keep my gear fairly simple.  A camp chair and a folding table, a single burner stove, an axe and a folding hand saw for firewood, a bucket, etc.  I’m not too fussy, but I do really do appreciate my comfortable bed, complete with sheets and blankets, to sleep in.  That’s the tour!  I hope you enjoyed it.

 

Refreshing Summer Dessert

 

As the summer is heating up I thought I’d share one of my favorite refreshing summertime desserts.  There are still plenty of hot days ahead, not to mention the Labor Day holiday, where this dessert would be perfect.  It is super easy to make.

 

Low Carb Peaches & Cream Dessert

 

1 large 6oz. box of sugar-free raspberry gelatin

2 c. boiling water

1 cup cream

1/2 cup cold water

1 can sliced peaches, drained

 

Completely dissolve gelatin in boiling water.  Place in refrigerator for 30 to 45 minutes to cool and just start to set.  In a deep dish pie plate arrange peach slices.  Combine cream and cold water.  Whisk into cooled gelatin until frothy and creamy.  Pour over peaches.  Place in refrigerator and chill a minimum of four hours overnight is best.  Slice chilled dessert into wedges and serve.  Serves 8.

 

Variations:

 

Orange Creamsicle = use orange gelatin with a can of mandarin oranges, drained.

Strawberries & Cream = use strawberry gelatin with 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries.

Raspberries & Cream = use raspberry gelatin with 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Strawberries & Cream

 

You can use regular gelatin with sugar if you don’t want to use the sugar-free versions.  You can  also put this into a graham cracker crust if you wished and top with whipped cream.  I like to serve it as is and then squirt a big pile of canned whipped cream on top.  Any way you decide to make and serve it, I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as I do.

 

My Tireless Retirement - Week 223

 

Hello my friends!  It has been another quietly productive week in retirement.  On Friday I got the garden fertilized and watered, cleaned up the chicken pen area a bit (stirred up a mouse in the process) and got the A/C units installed upstairs, one in each bedroom.  They will stay there and cool the house until Labor Day weekend, give or take.  Looking ahead at the weather report we were slated to have hot weather and we did.  With temps in the high nineties and tickling eh century mark I was super grateful to have those two units installed and cooling my home.

 

One of my rehabbed dolls in a holiday dress I made

Saturday was Independence Day and we stayed home with the kitties because they get anxious with the neighborhood fireworks going off.  The chickens seemed like they could care less, same with the bunny.  We celebrated with a grilled steak and a salad for a late lunch/early supper and some ice cream for dessert.  It was a nice, definitely not a quiet, low-key day.

 

Downstairs I kept the air cool with a new addition.  Last month I invested in a portable swamp cooler.  The upstairs A/C does a good job keeping the entire house comfortable, but when we have those marathons of one hundred plus degree weather the lower level can get stuffy, especially when the overnight temps don’t get low enough to cool it down.  Adding the cooler downstairs has been really nice to have.  I just fill it with cold water and add an ice pack to the tank to keep the air chilly.  It works so well I sometimes have to turn it off for a bit to warm up.  First world problems!  LOL

 

Another new summer addition to my home this year is a new set of ice trays, but not just ordinary ice trays, the ones that make the big round balls of ice.  I love them.  I also love that I just need to grab one ball of ice to keep my drink cool and it melts slowly so my drinks don’t get as diluted as with regular ice.

 

Empty bins!

Inside, I continued decluttering, I cooked, I cleaned, mopped the tiles and vacuumed the carpet, did my laundry and washed my bedding, including the pillows and mattress cover.  I binge watched the entire ten episode season of Dexter New Blood.  I also did some sewing and made some “new” cleaning cloths after cutting up an old bath towel I had in the rag bin.  I went around the edges so they won’t fray and sent them through the wash to test.  That will work!

 

A big project here last week was to completely go through and assess the LTFS.  Monday I was able to clear some items, pack it up and send it home with the BFF.  This will make it much more manageable for me as I often find the volume of it a bit overwhelming at times.  It is a lot of work to dust, keep inventory and rotate items to make sure the older products are up front and get used.  At this time we have no plans to add to it any further.  Unfortunately he wasn’t able to transport any of the frozen food, but thinning out the shelf stable food and some of the nonfood items feels much more balanced to me and I’m quite happy to share the load.

 

I still have plenty of home canned foods

Since then I have restocked my working pantry as well as the freezer in the kitchen from the LTFS to keep me going throughout the month and well into August.  I’m also going to focus on consuming more of the home canned items I’ve put up over the past two years.  I am so well stocked right now that I do not plan to do anymore canning for the remainder of the year.  After reorganizing and reassessing my current inventory it simply isn’t necessary at this time.  One, or two, can only eat so much.

 

I had to ask the BFF to stop buying me coffee 😆

As it sits I am feeling tremendously thankful and rather pleased after all of the hard work I’ve put into the LTFS over the years and I’ve really enjoyed the process.  Right now I feel like I’ve won the lottery as I’m able to use and maintain it, not just for me, but also another entire person as well.  For me, it is going to help a lot to bridge the gap from when I left my job to when I get my first Social Security check in October.  Knowing I do not have to worry about buying groceries anytime soon is absolutely priceless and I am so thrilled.  This is what a LTFS system is for and I get to put it to the test.

 

I am storing items for a future yard sale in this closet

I hope you all enjoyed a blessed and happy week as I did.  Nothing too terribly exciting happened and that’s AOK!  I’m rather content to just calmly and peacefully make my way through the week one day at a time.  I much prefer a drama free existence.  How was your week?  Anything exciting happen?

 

"You Have Arrived At Your Destination"

 

A couple weeks ago I received a comment to one of the posts I shared where basically the commenter was suggesting that what I had worked hard on needed to be completely redone.  I’d like to believe that this wasn’t meant to be rude or critical, but to a certain extent it could’ve been, hard to say.  Although I have a strict policy to only allow positive and kind comments I decided to go ahead and allow this one.  Because, again, I thought it quite possible it was coming from a good place.  More importantly, it confirmed something I had long suspected.

 

I’m doing really well.  Comments like that are a whole lot less about me and tell me far more about the person writing them.  Regardless of the intent behind it, I wasn’t reactive or hurt, I was reflective.  This comment didn’t bother me because I am rock solid.  I am happy and content with what I have and I don’t need more or something different to try to make me happy.  I don’t need the latest and greatest in order to feel content.  I’m already there.

 

If you’ve read my blogs for any length of time you’ve probably come to learn that I’ve never really been one who is motivated by material things.  Bigger, better, best is not my mantra.  My happiness and joy is not derived by having the latest and greatest.  I have no desire to purchase or acquire more things.  In fact, quite the opposite.  I don’t constantly need to have something new.  Good enough, is good enough.

 

I personally would never criticize someone’s choices or dare to suggest how someone should spend their money, but that’s just me.  I do know that there are a lot of people in this world that do that and they probably do it a lot.  Again, I think that speaks more of them than the person they are talking to.  I choose not to be one of those people.  And, I’m not.  In anyway.  And I love that about myself.

 

I am someone I can look in the mirror at each day and smile with confidence and a sense of peace about the person I’ve become.  I love who I am.  I’m also extremely happy with my current lifestyle and home.  Even more importantly, I’m really grateful that I’m not easily influenced or adversely affected by the way other people treat me.  I feel like I’ve been on a long journey with tons of bumpy roads to get to this point, but now I know the truth.  I’m good.  I have arrived.

 

Cooking For Two - Sour Cream Enchilada Stack

A few weeks ago I made this enchilada stack and I thought I’d share it with you because it was so delicious and easy.  I had a cup of leftover green chile enchilada sauce in the freezer and a can of chicken breast just past its best buy date so I was eager to use both of those things up.  You could totally substitute a cup and a half of cooked chicken for the can I used if you don’t have a can and some broth or water.

I emptied the can of chicken breast into a pan with its broth along with the chile verde and some diced onion and let that simmer a bit.  I seasoned this with some dried garlic and some cumin about a teaspoon each.  Then I removed it from the heat and stirred in a half to three quarter cup of sour cream.  I didn’t really measure it.

 

I then took a pie pan and about six or seven corn tortillas and a cup of grated cheese and started layering.  I placed a small amount of this chicken mixture in the bottom of the pan and then arranged three tortillas, half of the remaining chicken mixture, half of the cheese and then repeated to make a second layer.  I let this spin in the microwave for five minutes on high and it came out perfectly.  I cut this into fourths and topped each piece with a dollop of sour cream.  I also had leftovers for another meal.  So good!

 

My Tireless Retirement - Week 222

 

Good Morning and, if you live in the USA, Happy Independence Day!  We are 250 years old which is quite a milestone.  I remember as a kid celebrating our 200^th birthday in 1976, going to a parade in the morning, a picnic in the afternoon and then fireworks that night.  It was quite a celebration for a ten year old, as I remember.  This year it is just me and the kitties hunkering down and I’m quite fine with the low-key approach.  I’ll probably grill a steak, make some potato or pasta salad and call it good.

 

Lots of kitty snuggling this week.

Our weather had been cooler and wetter lately which I’ve been quite happy about.  Last Friday morning I awoke to gray skies and stormy weather.  Because it was so much cooler than it had been I opened up the windows, set the fan at the back door and invited in the cool fresh air as it began to rain.  I love the feel and the smell of a summer rain.  It was simply lovely.  Later in the evening we got a good storm, complete with lighting and wind, and it dumped.  I got to repeat that again over the weekend and on Monday morning.  The bird bath was filled to overflowing.  I truly appreciate it when God does the watering for me.  We are on track for a much hotter week ahead, however.

 

I am very much enjoying not my having cabinets and drawers stuffed

I’ve been going through my things and doing some more decluttering as I feel I simply have far more stuff than one person needs.  I have been steadily decluttering since the day I retired and over the years I have let so much stuff go, but I continue to find things I am not using or no longer want so the adventure continues.  This time around I’ve decided to collect and price items to put in a yard sale next spring.  I have an extra bedroom downstairs to store these things in.  My plan is to have my sale next April on a Friday and Saturday.  I am also planning to list some items, like old video game consoles (the kids don’t want them) on eBay, probably closer to Christmas.  I plan to take and invest all of my proceeds for my future endeavors.

 

In addition to decluttering I’m also making a point to use up things, including food.  Hence the banana cream pie I made the previous week and this week I made a peaches & cream dessert to have when I had a friend over for dinner Thursday.  I will be sure to post the recipe soon, because it turned out really nice and it is low carb so we enjoyed it completely guilt free.  I’m pulling things that have been hanging out for a while and focusing on using them up while also making recipes I haven’t made in a long time.  A culinary walk down memory lane, ha, ha.

 

I also needed a dessert for an upcoming get together with the caveat it be easy to serve and clean up after.  My initial thought was to bake cookies, brownies or cupcakes, but after looking ahead at the weather report I thought turning on the oven didn’t sound like something I wanted to do.  So I cheated.  Wednesday morning I went to Fred Meyer and picked up three boxes of ice cream sandwiches on sale for $1.99 each.  Done!

 

I made cheeseburgers & potato salad 😋

It was a quietly productive and fun week of retirement for me.  I was pleased with how things went and what I was able to accomplish.  I’m finding on this go around of decluttering my entire house that I feel far more willing to get rid of things I’ve been on the fence about or thought I’d use, but haven’t and do not plan to.  I think in the past four years I’ve really dialed in what I enjoy and how I want things to be like going forward.  Are any of you decluttering or working on a project this summer?  Have a safe and Happy 4^th of July!