My Tireless Retirement - Week 218

 

Time flies when you are having fun!  And I am!  Now that I am in full retirement mode I am finding great pleasure in doing all of the things.  Even making my bed, doing the laundry and cleaning the refrigerator has a whole new feel to it these days.  Last Friday I did get myself busy in the kitchen and got some eggs, milk and cheese “processed” for the LTFS.  I whipped up the eggs in my mini blender and put those up in Ziploc bags and into the deep freezer as I anticipate a slow down this winter in backyard egg production.  I had extra milk nearing its date so I put some of that away in the freezer too.  Then I grated up and sliced two of the two pound blocks of cheese I had in the refrigerator.  The slices are for more immediate use and I was able to stash four packages of grated cheese in the freezer.  Then I got everything tidied up, reorganized and restocked.  It felt good to have that all done.

 

For easy meals and to continue working on my “squirrel stash” in the kitchen freezer I pulled out a readymade meal of pork stir fry with rice and some taco meat.  I used the taco meat for tacos and taco salads.  I also hardboiled some eggs for making deviled eggs and egg salad or to slice and add on top of a salad.  From the garage deep freezer I pulled a four count package of mild Italian sausages.   It was an easy and delicious week of meals.

 

My new property tax assessment from the county arrived in the mail and once again it has taken a giant leap.  What is the county trying to do?  Give me a heart attack?!  It has been an ongoing problem in this area that property taxes price retirees out of the homes they worked so hard for.  As it sits right now, between my homeowners insurance and property taxes, my monthly bill is now the same as my monthly mortgage payment was when I bought my home in 1995.  Disgraceful!

 

Over the weekend I worked on transforming my Subaru into my adventure mobile for the summer and fall which was super fun for me.  I also packed it with my clothing and camp gear so I am ready to jump in and take off at any given time.  Both the truck and the car got some preventive maintenance as well.

 

I harvested some rhubarb

Monday I went outside and worked in my garden adding some mulch around my plants to help hold the moisture in the soil.  I finally got the hosta replanted in its new home underneath the pear tree.  I’m so glad I pulled it up and potted it to winter over and then got it planted in a much better shady spot because it is doing better than ever.  After pulling up a big pile of weeds and the rosemary plant that sadly didn’t survive my attempt to transplant it, I got cleaned up and headed off to the Antique Mall just to wander around and see what they happened to have.

 

Tuesday I harvested and froze some rhubarb from my garden before going upstairs to start work rehabbing another doll after finishing up the one I had started over the weekend.  I’ve got dolls lined up all over the guest room at the moment.  Later that afternoon I treated myself to a milkshake from a neighborhood restaurant and then took it on a nice long walk through the hood.

 

I discovered a fabulous digital coupon deal on ice cream at Fred Meyer for $1.99 each up to five containers so Wednesday morning I headed off ahead of the heat and picked up five plus a twenty four count of cones.  Now I’m planning to have friends over for a little ice cream party and I’m sure there will be enough leftover to enjoy throughout the summer.  I used funds leftover in my Fun & Leisure budget to finance this little expenditure.  All for under $15!  Yay me!

 

Thursday was more of the same thing, puttering inside the house and outside too, plus more doll rehabilitation.  A little touch of sewing thrown in for good measure.  And that was that!  Another happy week in retirement!