It’s Gonna Be May

Busy weekend! Friend time, family time, garden time! I needed it after a crazy and hectic week at work.

Yesterday I hung out with two friends for hours catching up. Pedicures were part of the itinerary. No guilt here, I haven’t spent money on myself in forever! Before that, I did some pine needle gathering (from the dead Christmas tree hanging out in our yard) and mulched some plants with them. I’ve been doing this all week. The garden fence is coming along, but I’ve started to plant seedlings regardless because they are outgrowing their current containers. So far the dog hasn’t torn them out. All of the lettuce and onions are now transplanted, as well as scallions that were growing in water. I wasn’t sure what type of lettuce seeds I had, exactly, but it looks now like some of them are May Queen, one of my faves.

Today I baked bread first thing in the morning. This no-knead recipe is very fast and easy but the flavor is lacking a little so I think I’m going to switch back to a kneaded recipe.

After a visit from my dad, I placed a ShopRite food order, did the dishes and protected some of the seedlings from the high wind. Then it was off to PA for another family visit. Once back at home, I got more seedlings planted and mulched and squeezed in a quick walk.

Needless to say I am not getting a lot done this weekend and it doesn’t bode well for this week’s dinners/spending. I also still need to sit down and pay some bills, put money on the kids’ lunch accounts, put away the Easter baskets, etc. And I need to try to get free mulch and compost from the Public Works yard this week. I have not done this before.

We actually are in fairly good shape as far as the pantry and freezer go. The food order was rather small. It’s more about committing to some meal ideas and using up what we have.

On Friday I accidentally took the one set of car keys for our one car to work with me. That was a problem — I had to race home at lunchtime and work from home the rest of the day. We really need to find the missing set of keys!

What we ate last week:

Sunday: Easter dinner at my parents. I brought funeral potatoes.

Monday: Easter leftovers plus some convenience foods from Sprouts (e.g., a chicken Caesar wrap).

Tuesday: Pasta with storebought vodka sauce and cheesy garlic bread.

Wednesday: Scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast.

Thursday: Pizza from Stella Pizza.

Friday: Nachos with avocado, salsa, sour cream and lettuce thinnings.

Lunches: packed turkey sandwiches twice, bought once ($12).

A slight improvement over last week in that there was no fast food? Oh but wait, there was, last night while I was out  😭

Small wins:

• I walked to the eye doctor and back on Thursday afternoon (14 minutes, 0.6 miles each way).
• We were treated to a free breakfast at work on Wednesday (then Tom made breakfast for dinner… whomp whomp).
• F. asked me to mend two articles of clothing. Happy that she wants to take care of her clothes! Now I just have to find the time.
• Beautiful weather all week — something you just can’t buy. I’m also thankful that the smoke from the big forest fire didn’t blow this way.
• We went with my MIL to Home Depot today so she could buy a lawnmower and I didn’t buy any mulch, dirt or plants. It would have made life a tad easier to snag some mulch and dirt right then, but I know I can get it free, if not from Public Works then from the Suburban Jungle peeps. (The pine needles alone won’t be enough, and it’s tedious, though weirdly satisfying, descaling them from the branches.)

Some not necessary, but fun, spending:

• I bought a yard sign to celebrate T’s graduation from high school.
• I bought another yard sign to support a local animal shelter.
• F. and I got ice cream on Friday night. We tried a new local place and it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, so that’s one less place I’ll be tempted to go in the future.

The kids were on spring break, so on the days I worked at home, and at dinner, etc., we had some fun conversations, about college, jobs, the future. It was nice to spend a little extra time with them.

I forgot to take pictures of the garden and fence progress. Next time.

“Underconsumption” made the NYT this week, by the way.