Yesterday

 Yesterday was successful, but not the the ways I expected. The external chores, those pertaining to shopping, banking, and the pharmacy went well. The internal chores less so. The cold weather certainly isn't helping. 

Today is colder still. We have cleaning of the bedroom still to finish. The 2025 household budget needs to be completed. Our monthly budget is broken five ways to Tuesday as corporate inflation has taken over. 

We have cancelled all subscriptions. Cancelled the house phone. Yes, we still had one. There is no TV and its needs. The cat has lost its healthcare insurance because it doubled in price. 

We are about to lose our healthcare coverage as our carrier is not going to including our local providers in their covered network. We will have to find all new providers along with many, many others. We are a rural community and there are few providers as is. I think most of us will not be able to reestablish primary care physicians and therefore have no access to healthcare other the emergency room.

We power down in the evening and go to bed, because electricity is 16% more costly. I'll bet water is next. I worry about the house insurance because of national problems. Gas is still $3 a gallon and eggs are $5.50 a dozen. The system isn't working any longer.

And yes, I am complaining. My bootstraps are stretched to the breaking point and I know that other folks have broken their bootstraps years ago. We have been lucky up to this point, but no longer.

The dark ages have come again.

It is colder than a ...

The icicles have stopped dripping. I shall see if the car starts and the list of menial, but necessary, chores feels like it's a mile long. I'm going to want soup and tea for lunch today, chicken soup and linden tea. 

Today's cleaning focus is the bedroom. Clean sheets and dusting are the main chores. That takes time as the washing machine must run through its cycles. There is time for multi-tasking. I don't do multi-tasking very well. 

 Is this an opportunity to practice? I've been practicing for years. It doesn't seem to get any better. I need to accept my weaknesses.

Look to My Own Plate

It is Monday. Monday is bathroom cleaning day. It is time to make my bathroom shine. No matter how small or large or old or new, it is time to look to my bathroom. What do I need? Cleanliness and no clutter. 

I must go and get that done. I begin with tossing the trash and transferring laundry to the basement. Now, I clean the surfaces. After the cleaning, the reset begins. I set out clean towels, check toilet paper, and the trash liner. After resetting any products that are needed on a daily basis, everything else is tucked away. 

I start with cleaning and end with organization. I begin with removing the trash and follow through to putting everything away. I look to my own bathroom, not anyone else's.  I do the best with what is in front of me and in my house.  I clean according to my needs. 

Now I can begin the rest of the day. 

January Ramblings

It is the middle of January. How is the no-buy year going? Well, I've made two purchases. A sorting tray for the workshop and a self-help book. In my defense, I did go to the library website to see if anything in the was available for the book.  We'll see how the next two weeks evolve. 

Planning and budgeting meals is a big undertaking. I'm doing about three extra hours of work per day for the meals. Low budget shopping, cooking, and planning food to fit within two different dietary guidelines is a lot of work. If dinner arrives hot and on time, thank the cook profusely and help with the clean up. Help with the kids and pets. Help reset the house so that the morning goes smoothly. Pick up the shoes and socks! 

Since, I'm on a food tirade, ask before eating the last nibble of cheese. That bit of cheese wrapped up and languishing in the corner of the refrigerator has really been hidden. It was hoping to make it to the topping of tomorrow's casserole. 

Ask! There probably are other choices for snacks. Where budget meals are concerned, if a key ingredient is lost, the precision meal planing becomes chaotic. When chaos in the cupboard rules, tuna and olives over pasta accompanied with blanched cabbage is served for the last dinner of the week. THINK! THINK of us all!

Today, is clean the bedroom day. That's the bedding being washed and floors mopped. All clothing is put away, furniture is dusted and calm is restored. That's the goal.

After that, I have a small job in the workshop to complete and then I'd like to get upstairs to my sewing studio. There are a few mending jobs that need to be done. I'd like to sort that room out and make it more usable this spring. That is a future plan.

Enough for now.