My Tireless Retirement - Week 34

 

Helloooooo!  Did everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday?  I think I'm still stuffed, ha, ha, ha!  Now to get ready for Christmas and New Year's, can you even believe it is already that time again?  In the past two weeks I've been surprisingly busy with lots of little tasks as well as a fun little food waste challenge I did and a budget friendly Thanksgiving.  Lots of delicious and nutritious food to enjoy.

 

Plenty of items in my pantry and refrigerator to build a great feast

I roasted half a chicken I had tucked away in my freezer

In spite of our frosty weather I got out the leaf blower and gathered up three trash cans full of leaves giving two of them to the chickens to process, they have already processed two other cans full, and then holding the third one which I will give to them later.  They love to scratch around in those leaves, in fact I tell them it is their "job".  I don't think they think it is a chore at all, however, they are having a blast.  In the spring I'll rake out their pen area and add whatever I collect to the compost bin.  In the meantime these leaves will help them stay warm and healthy as they won't have to wallow in the mud.  So far no leaves have been sent to the landfill this year and that makes me very happy.

 

They have their work cut out for them and they love it

 

I made a bunch of Christmas cards, put the finishing touches on my annual letter I send to close friends and relatives and updated my card list with current addresses.  I had already gone to the post office and picked up a couple books of Christmas themed stamps at the beginning of November so I was all set there.  I made some new mailing and return address labels using label stock I had on hand and printed out my letter on some pretty white stationary I had in my fancy paper stash.  Then I got a jumpstart on preparing my cards to send out this year.  I like to send them out the first week of December so it feels really good to be ahead of the game a little bit.

 

I cleaned out the fridge (pictured above) & freezer and got it all organized

I'll be starting another food challenge to use these things up very soon

In preparation of the holidays I gave myself a haircut, a manicure, a pedicure and a facial using items I already had.  No extra money spent and it left me feeling terrific and ready to take on whatever the holidays may bring.  Amazing what a little freshen up can do.  To get ready for Thanksgiving Day I pulled everything out of the refrigerator/freezer and thoroughly cleaned the insides as well as the outside and even underneath and behind.  Then I went through all the food items and even wiped off the condiment jars before I put everything away all neat and organized.  Guess what?  I will be doing another food challenge.  I have a lot more stuff to use up.

 

I canned up some of the cranberry sauce so it won't go to waste

Since there was far more cranberry sauce in the can than we could use for Thanksgiving I went ahead and repacked half of it into some cute little jelly jars and canned it in a water bath.  After both jars cooled I labeled them and tucked them away in my pantry.  Now I'll have it to use again next time I need some and I won't need to worry about any of it going to waste as often can happen.

 

I made homemade rolls and a pie

I made up a couple freezer meals with some of the thanksgiving leftovers so I'll have some quick dinners to enjoy later on.  This way too I won't have to eat the same thing for a week straight and will have it to look forward to without worry of wasting any of this delicious food.

 

I was feeling very blessed last week

With a little bit of sadness that the season is over all of my fall décor has been gathered up and put away in the bin I keep on a shelf in my garage.  But!  The Christmas décor came inside!  I am having so much fun decorating my home and I'll be posting more about this next week once I'm all done.  It is a year for new traditions and some "new" decorating too.  I typically don't decorate for Christmas until the first day of December, however this year I've been really excited about it so I got started the day after Thanksgiving.  So much fun!!!  Are you decorating for Christmas yet?