This week was less busy at work. There were no tests, so the weekend was a relaxing one. I had time to get all except one task on the weekly to-do list done.
I was running out of fresh veggies, so Saturday morning I went grocery shopping. Now I have enough groceries for the month.
I cooked extra pasta and green beans to keep in the freezer and there are several containers of extra food in the fridge as well.
I tried another recipe from Happy Retiree's Kitchen. It's called chicken Marbella. I have tried several of Pauline's recipes and each time they came out really well. Now I have another recipe to keep in my 'Tested Recipes' folder. Thanks Pauline!
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| Chicken Marbella ready for the oven. I didn't have red wine vinegar, so I used white wine vinegar. |
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| I have enough chicken Marbella for this week's lunches. |
Sunday morning was cool and overcast. I worked in the yard for about an hour. I sowed sweet basil and broadleaf mustard seeds. Purple mustards are doing really well. I love picking fresh greens and cooking it right away.
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| Purple mustard leaves are bigger than my palm. |
I noticed several flowers on the tomato plant.
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| Tomato flowers. |
The raised bed is almost ready. I still have to add compost and mix everything well. I will do it next week.
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| New raised bed. |
Finally I finished cutting quilt blocks from old shirts. Now I want to pick a design. A part of me want to simply sew blocks together because it is the easiest. I have a quilt design book, so I am going to see if I can find a simple pattern.
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| Quilt blocks. |
I already received my tax refund. It took exactly a week. I'm glad that I e-filed, that must be the reason for this extremely fast return.
Two colleagues and I designed a new research course, so I received a small stipend this week. I'm planning to save some of the additional money and also pay an extra mortgage payment.
How was your week?
Two colleagues and I designed a new research course, so I received a small stipend this week. I'm planning to save some of the additional money and also pay an extra mortgage payment.
How was your week?
1)
2)
3)
4)
5) Sleep 7 hours.
Next week's to-do list:
1) Weed a flower bed.
2) Transplant Four o' clocks and Salvia
3) Choose a pattern for the quilt.
4) Do yoga.
5) Sleep 7 hours.
XX
Nil
Your gardens look very healthy! Good luck with your quilt. I think the hardest part is what you have done already, cutting the squares. The fun is sewing them together and seeing the progress. We e-filed and received our refund into our checking in a week also. congrats on your research course earnings! Andrea
ReplyDeleteThank you Andrea.
DeleteI don't want to use a complex pattern, because I find it hard to match corners. I agree, fun part is seeing the progress. 😊
You had a very productive week and weekend, Nil! Good job getting your monthly grocery shopping done! I have not tried shopping just once a month; it would be a great time saver, I think, for a busy person. That chicken recipe sounds interesting. Nice to have all your lunches ready for the week, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteYour garden is looking good and the raised bed is coming along, nicely! My gardener was suggesting a raised bed for the vegetables I want to plant this year - I told him I'll get the lumber for him to make one. May I ask how big your raised bed is?
Yay! You got all your quilt squares cut! You have a nice selection of colors! Have fun choosing the quilt pattern - that is often my favorite part of making a quilt!
Congratulations on the stipend! That is lovely! I like your plans for it - save some and pay down on the mortgage with the rest. :)
I hope the week ahead is a good one for you and you accomplish all the tasks on your weekly to do list! Maybe you shouldn't give any tests next week, either! I'm sure your students would love that! :D
Bless , I really dislike shopping. So that's the reason I try once a month shopping. But sometimes I have to buy a fresh vegetable or two in between.
DeleteThe new raised bed is the largest so far. It's 8x4x1. For smaller beds I bought lumber from the discount bin at Home Depot. For the new one I bought the least expensive untreated wood.
The best is to use cedar planks because they last longer. But it's too expensive for me.
Heheee, there are no tests next week. I already made two tests for the following week, so I have less work for a while.
Oh my I agree... The prep before sewing is always the most arduous task. Have fun though... It's going to be.wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThanks Raquel. :)
DeleteHi Nil, I used to shop once a month. I did find that I spent less money. It was a challenge with the produce, though. I would eat dried fruit and citrus form the garden. Your purple mustard leaves look so healthy! I'm impressed to hear that you got your tax refund so quickly. I will receive mine on Tuesday if it's as fast as yours was.
ReplyDeleteYes, Stephenie. It's not easy to shop only once a month. I use easily perishable produce first. Carrots, potatoes, butternut squash, celery etc last longer, so I use them later. I also get fresh greens and herbs from the yard, so most months I can manage it. :)
DeleteI hope you will receive your tax refund this week.
Looking forward to hearing more about what you will be growing in the raised bed, I am going to start planning what I will grow this year. Hope the quilt making goes well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Marlene. :)
DeleteWhat were you doing that you didn't get your 7 hours sleep Nil.....something fun I hope 😊 That's great you have all your squarez cut, look forward to seeing the pattern you choose.
ReplyDeleteOh Nanette, I was just wasting time watching silly Netflix movies. Sometimes I really don't have self control. I was able to get 8 hrs of sleep last night. :)
DeleteYour garden looks great. I haven't grown anything other than herbs and raspberries for a few years, but I'm thinking of some salad for this year as I seem to have lots of spare pots in the garage.
ReplyDeleteExcited to see you quilt choice. Have a great week.
I've found that greens are a lot easier to grow. I rarely have success with tomatoes.
DeleteI am glad I don't have to do grocery shopping, my husband and daughter love it more than I. I am going to suggest to grow some greens this summer, they are quick to cook and tasty to eat, and full of vitamins also. I doubt in our climate we'll get any the size or yours though. I love a simple patchwork quilt, still my favourite design. You could arrange them in diagonal rows by colour, that would look amazing. Have a lovely week. x
ReplyDeleteIt's great your husband and daughter love grocery shopping. :) I do it only because I need to eat. :)
DeleteI too was thinking about diagonal rows for the quilt, Christina. The easier the better. :)
Your purple mustard is gorgeous! Almost too pretty to eat . . . heehee, almost. You got a lot crossed off on your to-do list. I hope you get your 7 hours sleep this week!
ReplyDeleteI did Priscilla. :) I slept 8 hours last night. I think it's a good start. :)
DeleteThat's amazing that you have tomatoes flowering in February! Earliest that will happen here is May or even June. And what store do you get coconut milk in bulk?
ReplyDeleteJulie, I buy coconut milk from BJs. It's the least expensive choice. The same brand per can costs more at other stores.
DeleteYour garden looks very good. I think you do have a green thumb (though the photo doesn't show it!!). Good news about the fast tax refund. I need to hustle up and check our account to see if ours has come in.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure your refund has already arrived Anita. I think e-filing is very fast.
DeleteYou can keep fresh produce fresh, for a month?
ReplyDeleteStill wondering why it is so hard for you to get 7 hours of sleep..... Perhaps you answered in your comments, but I don;t go back to a blog post, twice.
💛
It depends on the vegetable Wisps of Words. I normally use easily perishable veggies first.
DeleteCongratulations on designing a new research course Nil, and that you received a stipend as well, I am very impressed by that having worked in a uni in a prevous life:) I am so happy you enjoyed the Chicken Marbella, it should taste even better as the week wears on. Also thanks for the mention on your blog. Quiet day here as I am in recovery mode from surgery, but we have been busy looking after our bees and planning beehives. That is a story to come when I get my act together. Take care, Pauline
ReplyDeleteThank you Pauline.
DeleteI'm going to have another piece of chicken Marbella for dinner tonight. :)
I hope you have a quick and smooth recovery from your surgery.
I like how organized you are with the list for the week. I have never seen purple mustard leaves. Does it tastes very different from the regular green leaves? That raised bed for veggies is looking pretty good. I can not even dream of gardening now with the mountains of snow we have outdoors. Hope you're doing well. Blessings to you!
ReplyDeleteI think purple mustard leaves have a bit stronger taste, more peppery . :)
DeleteStay warm Angela.
How I wish we could grocery shop on a monthly basis, Nil, but for us weekly is the norm, but sometimes we go for 1-1/2 weeks depending on the amount bought the orevious week and if we are traveling😉 sadky, we have no fresh veggies in a garden now that we are apt dwellers, so I envied your gardening results. The chicken recipe looked wonderful and I will check out the blog link, thanks. We haven’t even filed our tax return yet as we’re still waiting on a last 1099. Congrats on the extra stipend for that project, Nil.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason for my monthly grocery shopping is my intense dislike for shopping. :) And luckily I have an abundance of fresh greens in the yard, so that also helps.
DeleteI hope you will enjoy the chicken recipe Beatrice. Have a wonderful weekend.