Summer Staycation

 

Initially, I had planned to actually go on a vacation, but after I got my house back to myself, gave it a good clean and got my marbles all realigned all I really wanted to do was stay home and just enjoy it.  So that is exactly what I did.

 

Saturday was Day One so I headed upstairs to my craft room and spent some quality time doing something I had wanted to do for a long time which was to sew myself an apron.  There is a story behind this particular apron and why it took so long for me to finally make it.  I might share that story with you all because it involves someone who was very special to me.  Anyway, my apron turned out so darn cute and I thoroughly enjoyed making it, so much so I was hoping to make another so I’d have an extra one to use while the other one was in the wash.

 

Thank you for helping!

Once I had the apron made I went ahead and installed the hook I had purchased several years ago for hanging my aprons on.  It was in the garage waiting for me to actually have an apron to hang on it and now I do!  So up it went!  I was so happy to have that pretty little hook out of the garage and installed in my kitchen where it belongs and holding an apron!

 

Before

After

After dinner I went outside to do yet another item on my “to-do list” that used up another item I had loitering in the garage because I purchased it well over a year ago.  I had a million reasons for putting off this job, but because it was so old the dryer vent cover on the outside of the house was literally crumbling and once one of the louvers fell off I knew I could procrastinate no longer.  The BFF was impressed as he watched me do this quick little job that left me wondering why I hadn’t done this a year ago when I bought the replacement cover (sigh) in the first place.  It really doesn’t matter now because it is done!  I’d say Day One was a roaring success!

 

Sunday was another (golf) day spent in my craft room preparing to work on a few projects I had in mind that would use up a pile of fabric scraps and supplies I had collected and stored in a box in there.  I’ll be sharing a post with you on all of the gifts I’ve been making so this post isn’t too stinking long.  Suffice it to say it was another day of fun.  After using up nearly all of the cute fabric jar covers on some gifts I had made the week prior I was able to restock by cutting some more using the last of my scraps.  I told myself not to do any other chores or household projects and just enjoy my craft room on this day and I stuck to it.  I was able to empty one banker box and the collapsible bin I had been storing my smaller scraps in as well as make a dent in another box.  Whoo hooo!  Day Two was another success!

 

Monday I wanted to get the cars washed deciding that would be my only project for the day and the rest of the day would be devoted to fun stuff.  Since I had a helper it wouldn’t take us long to get them done using the power washer and a bucket of soapy water, right?  We ended up vacuuming and wiping down the interiors first, which was completely unplanned then got to work doing the exteriors.  While we were at it we rinsed off the motorhome, the bikes as well as the trash and recycling wheelie bins.  The garage also got swept out and tidied.   It took us nearly three hours and by the time we were done the heat of the day was hitting and we were hot, sweaty and exhausted.  We rewarded ourselves with a shower and a nap declaring our day was shot and we just wanted to stay inside where it was cool.  Day Three was successful, but I think we were a bit overly ambitious.

 

Laverne got some love too

as well as the  bicycles

and then the skies opened...

Early Tuesday morning I snuck outside ahead of the heat to finish up the Subaru by applying tire shine to the tires and protectant to all of the black exterior trim pieces.  She’s a beauty!  I was also able to finish cleaning up and reorganizing the shelves in the garage and purged some cardboard boxes I had emptied.  I was able to sneak in a few more small chores.

Selling

Keeping

One of the things I wanted to do was go through my vintage Pyrex collection and take a good look at what I had and make some tough decisions.  After a little research I collected several pieces that will be going up for sale on eBay.  I also managed to get back into the kitchen and go through the lower cabinet where I keep all of my baking pans and purged several things from there that I no longer need or use.  This prompted me to do another project the next morning which was to make more shelf liners.  Additionally, the extra apron I wanted to make was completed which made this girl very happy.  Lots of creativity!

 

Along with all the fun things I wanted to do there was some serious stuff to discuss and work on, not the least of which was to start updating my will now that I am a retired empty nester.  It was a chore I know I am long past due working on and I was very happy to have help on hand to get me through it.  Making some important plans for my future was another hot topic and something I worked on as well.  I will be sharing more about that later, but suffice it to say it was all good, very good.

 

Throughout the week we enjoyed some really good summer meals made with loads of fresh and nutritious ingredients.  Most of our meals consisted of a simple salad and a protein like steak, salmon or taco meat which not only made them easy to prepare but also very tasty.  There may have been a couple of ice cream desserts too.

 

Overall, it was a very calm and relaxing week.  We both got to do some of the fun things we wanted to do, some things I needed to do, enjoyed some great food and had a lot of good, meaningful and much needed conversations.  It was so nice to have some extra help around here too.  I came into my staycation feeling physically worn out and emotionally exhausted and now I feel like I’ve really recharged all of my batteries.  I’m ready to take on the world!