My Tireless Retirement – Week 140

 

It is December!  In fact, the first week is pretty much done.  Can you even believe it?!  For me, it was another busy week in my tireless retired life and I am sitting here feeling very satisfied.

 

Thanksgiving Day leftovers

The day after Thanksgiving I spent some time going through all of the leftovers and putting together a couple meals to reheat and eat (they were delicious!).  I had just enough leftovers for two complete dinners, which was really nice to have on hand.  The rest of the chicken was cut up, wrapped and tucked away into the freezer for future meals.  I had two hard boiled eggs in the fridge so I decided to turn them into deviled eggs to go with my two dinners.  The two leftover dinner rolls were just right to have with them too.  I used the vegetables from the veggie tray someone brought to add to red potatoes and roasted them in the oven to make a sheet pan dinner later in the week.  The rest of the veggies made great snacks.

 

Veggie scraps & chicken bones to make stock

I took all of the chicken bones plus the bag I keep in the freezer which was stuffed full of veggie scraps and put it all in my largest slow cooker to cook down overnight to make stock.  I even added a sprig of rosemary from my garden.  Once the broth was ready I strained it and put it away in freezer containers.  I have big plans for all of that delicious brothy goodness this coming winter.  Yum!

 

On the way to meet friends for dinner I stopped at
Fred Meyer to pick up oranges & milk that were on sale

On Black Friday evening I met my gal pals for dinner out at a nearby restaurant.  Then I spent Saturday afternoon helping a friend with a drywall repair project in her bathroom.  Once we got that little chore done she treated me to pizza and salad bar for lunch.  After lunch we stopped into Home Depot to pick up a few supplies and then back at her house I replaced a couple of light switches in her front entryway.  She seemed rather pleased with my handywoman skills as she ticked those items off of her “to do” list.

 

I treated myself to something on Black Friday, actually it was Sunday, but it was a Black Friday special.  I signed up for a year subscription of Hulu & Disney + for $2.99 a month.  I could’ve done just Hulu for 99¢ a month, but I decided not to cheap out – Ha, ha!  I wanted to reward myself for having a really good 2024 and celebrate all that I’ve accomplished this year!  I’m thoroughly enjoying my new TV subscription.

 

Time to put Fall away!

Last Sunday morning found me gathering up and putting away all of the Fall décor that was scattered throughout my house.  Once all of that was tucked back into its bin and put back on the shelf in the garage I carried in the Christmas bin.  Needless to say, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  My tree is up and I even managed to get my fruitcakes made using my grandma’s recipe.  They don’t taste as good as hers, but they’ll do.  Especially once I soak them in the brandy I bought.

 

I've done a good job streamlining my Christmas decor
down to these two bins which includes my tree & wreath

I worked all day Monday and had Tuesday and Wednesday off, then worked a half day on Thursday.  That was just the right amount of “working” this past week along with the long holiday weekend.  I had other things to do.  I literally spent the majority of Tuesday relaxing, watching TV and snuggling with my kitties.

 

I tested the fruitcake!

And made myself a new candle

On Wednesday morning I gathered up a couple of spent jar candles that still had quite a bit of wax left in them as well as my small bin of candle supplies and decided to make a couple new candles.  I placed the jars in my slow cooker to melt the wax and once melted I poured them together (vanilla + hazelnut crème) to make two small nice smelling candles to burn this Christmas season.

 

A foggy morning

While I worked to clean up the last of the leaves a flock of birds flew
overhead and $h!t all over me.  Then they came back and did it again!
No good deed goes unpunished! 😂

It was a very foggy morning, but I was able to turn my attention later in the afternoon to cleaning up leaves in my yard anyway.  I got out the mulcher to suck up a pile of leaves and filled up the trash can I keep in the backyard.  The chickens will have plenty to leaf litter to put down and scratch around in this winter and spring.

 

At least the chickens got some leaves to play in

After work on Thursday afternoon I walked over to Winco and got some fresh produce before walking downtown to the bus station and catching a ride home.  By the time I got home it was dark, pretty chilly and the fog was rolling back in again.  It made for a nice wintry walk from the bus stop to my house.

 

Cornbread & beans

Meals I Prepared: 

After finishing up the Thanksgiving Day leftovers I was in a mood for some yummy hot soup.  I thawed and reheated a container of Thai Curry Soup I had put away in the freezer.  I ate that with the last of the holiday dinner rolls.  I also thawed a ham steak I had cut off the Easter ham and put away in my freezer and used it along with a cup of navy beans, some diced onion and carrots to make a small pot of soup.  I baked a batch of cornbread to go with that soup and it was delicious.

 

I also made this small batch of spanish rice using up leftovers

One evening I pan fried a couple of burger patties and baked a potato in the microwave.  I cleared the remaining vegetables from the crisper drawer to roast in the oven as a side dish.  I used one burger patty, half of the potato and a nice sized serving of the roasted vegetables to make a nice dinner.

 

That pretty well sums up my latest week of retirement.  I absolutely love how my home looks and feels right now.  I am feeling very Christmas ready this year and I am looking forward to everything the season has to offer.  Have you put up your tree yet or done any decorating?