Good morning, welcome back to my little corner of the world.
It has been a while since I've done a good ol' proper, spend the day with me, come along, kind of post, and truly it's been long overdue. The past few months I've had so much going on, that my blog has once again kind of taken a hiatus with only the Happy Homemaker Monday posts staying put, while everything else has fallen to the side.
I don't like at all, but it's what has happened and I can't go back, only forward.
My blog has always been my daily journal, a way to live my life by record it for eternity. A way to be able to produce my blog books, to have on my shelf, to possibly one day pass on to my kids, so they too can go back and see life through my eyes from when they were toddlers to adults. I only wish that blogging was a thing back in the day and that maybe my mother or another member of the family, had started a blog and recorded our lives. What a wonderful thing it would have been, for me to now sit with the memories in my lap, to look at myself as a baby, as a toddler and as a teenager.
The fact that I have not blogged as consistently as I wanted, has meant that there will be years or blocks of months, that I have nothing to show for. It's sad to think about, but I can only try to continue moving forward, right?
Anyway, after that long drawn out introduction to today's post, let's get to what I really want to show you. As I said above, it's been a while since I've done a homey kind of post, so I'm here today to show you exactly what I got up to yesterday.
So settle in, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and get ready for a photo heavy post, just like the old days.
MORNING::::
My mornings start very early, at 4:30am to be specific. It's a time that just happened at the end of last year. For some reason I started waking up at this early hour, and as always I didn't realize that it was God preparing us for Curt's new job, because by November of 2024, he started a new position at base which meant being at work by 6am.
It wasn't easy at first, but I got used to it, and now I love being able to get up long before anyone else does, and just having a slow morning to myself.
One of the first things I do is open the curtains and usually one of the windows to let in some fresh morning air.
A first cup of coffee is always in hand, it's the perfect way to wake up, to slowly awaken the senses to the day ahead. I then sit on my bed, and either scroll through my social media and answers messages or lately, I choose to read instead.
It's been a good habit to get into and it allows me to get more reading done, because truth be told, by the time I get to bed around 8pm, I am exhausted and last through maybe one page before dozing off for the night.
It's also been a good way to start my days slowly and calmly, not immediately glued to phone or computer screens.
For breakfast this morning, I did one of my favorites, which is a low carb banana pancake. I think I've shared the recipe but if not, here it is:
Low Carb Banana Pancake
1 banana
1 egg
1 tablespoon almond flour
Stevia to taste
Mix all together and cook. It makes a perfect one size pancake and it keeps me quite full until lunch. I always have my second cup of coffee at this time.
Next thing on the list is to get the kitchen clean and tidy. This usually means emptying the dishwasher that has been working during the night, and reloading with breakfast dishes. I don't run it again until after dinner, so that I can collect dishes throughout the day. I hate to run a washer with only a few dishes, it's a waste of water and electricity, in my opinion.
Today, I needed to refill the cookie jar. I do this for all the boys in the house, I don't personally eat cookies. Well, not usually, I will sometimes get a craving and have one or two, but it's a rare thing, I'm just not a cookie fan for some reason.
The boys however love their cookies, and especially after dinner while we play family games, they will raid the jar and enjoying a few.
Sometimes I bake homemade cookies, other times I buy them.
The living room always needs tidying, so pillows were fluffed and put back in place, blankets were folded and laid over recliners and couch covers were pulled and straightened again.
These couches are very old, we bought them when we first arrived in Arizona in 2007. Their bones are still good, they are comfortable and everyone in the family loves them, but they are getting ratty. The fabric is starting to tear from wear over the years and I really need to invest in some new couches, but for now I make do with some covers over the seating part.
Maybe at the end of the year, we will finally get rid of these and get some new ones, but we will see.
Once the dining room and den area is taken care of, I move into the living room, and do the same. Fluff cushions, put things back where they belong and dust.
This green living room as grown on me, I still want to go for a darker sage green on the walls, but again, it's not a need or a must, it's a want and over the years I have learned to work in God's timing and do things when the opportunity arises.
I am certainly not rushing to make major changes in the house, just because.
Once the house is clean and put to sorts, I can then sit with a book or watch a little tv. It's a way to take a break, enjoy the freshly clean and tidy house and put my feet up a bit.
AFTERNOON::::
I had to water all the plants today. I have learned over the years what plants like what window and which spot in the house is best for them. For some reason, they all love this living room window, they get all the light they want but are not in direct sunlight, which makes them happy.
Isn't it funny how you always hear that as we get older we start to accumulate cats and plants? I think I have the plant thing covered, and only one cat, but who knows over the next few years.
There's always someone outside the window peeking in, watching my ever move as I deal with the plants. This is one of the squirrels we have in our yard, there are two of them who love to instigate and mess with my animals. It's quite funny watching the way they climb right on the window sills and run back and forth, setting off the dog and cat.
Naughty little things.
Since I get all my housework done in the morning, afternoons are usually for more relaxing activities, although I do get my 15k steps in, and get in a 20 minute workout. Sometimes I only manage a 5 minute workout if I'm really not in the mood, but I try to do between a 10 and 20 minute workout every single day, then an hour at the gym on Saturday and Sunday.
I've been mentioning my Retro Granny Crochet Squares for the books I've been reading this year, and I'm working through those, here I am picking out the colors to match the cover.
For my current reading, I just started Willa Cather's O Pioneers and am hooked from the first page. I feel like I am in When Calls the Heart, walking the streets. I love books like this and I even though this is my first Willa Cather read, I think she may become one of my favorites to read.
Today I decided to make an old favorite of mine, which I haven't had in a long time, especially since I started cutting carbs, but I wanted to make these for my lunch tomorrow.
Paezinhos de Leite.
Portuguese Milk Rolls which are divine, very similar to a Hawaiian Roll, and are wonderful with a slather of butter, a slice of ham and slice of cheese. My lunch will be one of those with a cup of coffee.....tomorrow, not today because I've had two cups of coffee already and three would be a bit of an overkill.
I already have the recipe on my food blog, I think I posted it either 2011 or 2012. I didn't use this recipe for mine today, I tried a new one which was amazing too, but I'm linking my recipe for you if you want to try.
While the dough rose, I got busy with dinner. I had a smoked kielbasa sausage that I wanted to use up and needed it to stretch for a meal for 4 people. The only thing I could think of was a sausage rice and that is what I went with.
It turned out just perfect and filled everyone with some leftovers in the fridge too. I love leftovers but won't eat these because they're carbs and I already had them for dinner, so won't be having more tomorrow. But Curt will take them to lunch, and no doubt Nick will have some later too.
The rolls were finished around 7pm. I started them a bit too late in the day, but that's ok. They look amazing and smell even better. The kitchen was clean and tidied up, and now I can get some sleep, knowing that I had a good homemaking day, and even better, that I was able to capture it all for you.
I do hope you enjoyed this post and coming along with me. I always get such sweet comments from you all and messages about how much you love the daily homemaking posts and seeing what I'm doing, so I hope this brought back good memories.
I hope to continue making more of these, not just for you guys but as a memory for myself as well.
For now, I will close off, wishing you all a wonderful night. I will see you back here tomorrow!
