A Peek Into Last Week (August 27-September 2)~

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authentic•oldfashionedvalues•lowtech•slowliving

~livingsimply~

September is upon us, school is back in session here, and it's still hotter than a Texas bonfire outside! Whew! As long as our air conditioners keep on blowing the cold, I am good with laying low and doing indoorsy things. After several days in a row of rain, for which I am extremely grateful, we seem to be living smack dab in the middle of a mosquito hatchery. I rue the times I walk out the door not having had the forethought to apply my lemongrass essential oil, dabbing it on liberally like so much eau de parfum, to repel those tiny vampires.

While I was busy fanning myself and tending to my mosquito bites, I did jot down a few notes of the things I managed to accomplish this past week. Let's take a peek, shall we?~~~

What I'm cooking, baking and eating ~ 

Tomato and basil chicken sausage served over garlic cauliflower mash, enchilada casserole (Since I was making this in a 9"x13" pan-I don't have the size pan called for in the recipe-I used 12 corn tortillas rather than 8. I substituted pork from this recipe that I made in the past, portioned out and froze for future meals. The black beans were big batch cooked in the past as well, divided up into 1 1/2 cup portions and frozen. I substituted green enchilada sauce for the red, as that's what I had on hand. I also added about a half of a cup of salsa verde that I had in the freezer to help stretch the saucy part to accommodate the extra corn tortillas and larger pan. I also used more cheese on top than one cup-maybe 1-1 1/2 cup more), a little garlic powder and a bit of salt.😋), "power food meal", devil's food bundt cake, chocolatey chip yellow snack cake (using up cake mixes I bought at a great price several months ago)

Homekeeping ~ 

this Mainstays candle from Walmart has the most delightful Autumnal scent!

This weeks focus was the master bedroom and closet. I straightened up my shoes and organized a few things on the closet shelves. 

What I'm watching/reading~

After reading this article I decided, after getting away from reading fiction in recent years, to revisit a long lost favorite author of mine and tackle some of her books that have been gathering dust on my bookshelves. I used to devour Ms. Steel's books back in the day. Now, I don't know if they qualify for the fiction Dr. Restack meant but hey, baby steps😉.

Ghost Diving USA I love that they are upcycling the lost nets into other items while helping to clean up the ocean floor!

Arctic Daughter: A Lifetime of Wilderness

and

Rewilding Kernwood, both on Prime Video. The two documentaries were a fun mental escape-sentimental, real and raw from the perspective of Jean Aspen and her husband, Tom Irons.

Garden ~

Haha! Do you ever feel the way Miss Sourpuss does when those never-ending bumper crops keep coming through the door while you feverishly work to put it all up? I know I shouldn't get frustrated and overwhelmed at the work the blessing of the bounty creates,  but I do sometimes if I am to be perfectly honest 🙄. Thankful? Most definitely. But I am after all, only human.

I harvested a few spinach leaves from a volunteer spinach plant and some basil that I used to make some basil ice cubes that will be easy to throw into our favorite Italian dishes.

Create~

After spending all of last week working on trying my hand at my own watercolor rendition of Monet's Water Lilies on a small scale in my traveler's notebook, I thought this was an appropriate quote to salve the frustration that can come with trying to learn something new...

"When I'm working in the barn or house I often think of all the errors I've made in my life. But then I quickly put that behind me and think of water lilies. They will always eradicate unpleasant thoughts. Or goslings are equally comforting in their own way."

 ~Tasha Tudor

Thinking of water lilies and trying to paint them are two totally different things, lol! 

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Thanks for stopping by! ~TJ