My Tireless Retirement – Week 111

 

On the Friday leading up to Mother’s Day we had a celebration at work.  I even received a couple of flowers, a rose and a carnation, to bring home along with a giant cranberry oatmeal cookie which was delicious.  It was the beginning of a gift shower that lasted throughout the weekend and I was feeling very loved and rather blessed, to be quite honest.  Plants and flowers were definitely the theme.

 

An unexpected surprise from some friends of mine
Just gorgeous!

After arriving home from the nursery with a huge load of perennials and a blueberry bush (to replace the one that didn’t make it through the winter) I spent the majority of the Mother’s Day weekend planting, cleaning up debris, pulling weeds, watering, flushing the pond, raking and digging.  It was absolutely perfect.  I enjoyed myself immensely.

 

It is a good thing I have myself a little part time job so I can go to work and get some rest.  Otherwise I’d be at home and just a go-go-going!  I do so love a project and keeping busy.  More importantly I love making progress in my yard and seeing all of my hard work coming to fruition.  It is so pretty, I can hardly believe it.  I sometimes feel like I need to pinch myself to make sure this is really my yard.  After all these years I finally have the yard I’d always imagined I’d have.  I just love it so much!

 

I still had plenty of kitty cuddle time

I did end up working all week, three short days and two full days, after one of our full time employees was in an accident and they needed some extra coverage.  I was very happy to be able to step up and work those extra hours to help out.  It is always nice to be needed, appreciated and to have a purpose.  Plus, I got to spend time with some great people and it was a lot of fun.

 

Ways I Saved Money: 

I rode the bus all week long to work and back home.  Right now gas where I live is hovering at $3.89 a gallon.  Every time I am walking to the bus stop I’m grateful that I have the option to use public transportation.  I’m even more grateful that it is paid for by my employer. 

As I’ve been cleaning out and using up things in my freezers and pantry I’ve washed out a nice stack of Ziploc and vacuum seal bags to reuse later for food storage.  I have accumulated so many that I won’t need to buy any at the store for a good long while. 

I’ve continued to pull up weeds and give them to the chickens which has slowed down there food consumption and given them some more variety in their diet.  I also think it may have boosted their egg production a bit.  They sure seem to love it when they see me coming with a pile of greens for them. 

I planted a vegetable garden with high hopes for a good harvest this summer.

 

Meals I Prepared: 

On Mother’s Day I prepared a rib eye steak, a baked potato with sour cream and a nice green salad.  It was just perfect after a busy day of gardening and working outside in the yard.  By the time dinner was ready I was absolutely ravenous and ate every bite.  It was delicious. 

I got off much easier the rest of the week.  I had squirreled away a lot of leftovers in the freezer, to the point that I was out of food storage containers, so I pulled a bunch of those out and placed them in the refrigerator to thaw.  All I had to do was reheat my dinner in the microwave and fix myself a salad while it was warming.  Then I rinsed and popped the dishes right into the dishwasher and ran it at the end of the week.  It doesn’t get much easier than that folks!

 

It was a fantastic week, very busy and very productive.  Before I knew it, it was Friday again!  Those Fridays just keep coming faster and faster, I tell you.  I’m super happy with all that I was able to accomplish.