Saturday, April 17, 2021

Saturday Random Bits and Bobs

      Am I even using that expression right? Bits and bobs? I think it's supposed to mean things, items, to pick up in a store, around the house, but probably not thoughts. Well, I like it for my various thoughts in my head and things I am putting on lists. My daughter is gone this weekend, so no latching on to her free time this weekend. We're still a week away from our second vaccination so unless it is to meet up with someone outside, I'll likely hang out with no one this weekend but DH. Well, I do have a lot of projects, many inspired by you all. We still haven't hit multiple days without frost, so not pushing the yard work too much, but likely DH will be out there tomorrow as the grass is starting to get long. No signs of my hostas yet. 

      I'll do another walk around and pick up stray sticks and other yard clutter-we get incoming toys from the large family of kids next door. I collect  multiple pieces of toys, balls, shooty things (end up in our gutters) on a regular basis and toss them back to a corner of their yard, or make a neat pile and leave by their fence gate. I lose track of the number of kids they have-I think there might be 7 under 12? She has  five children from her marriage, two who are adults-one who married young but doing quite well as a nurse, with a husband and two children, and the son who must be 23 now, but no clue what he is up to. He had troubled teen years, but I' hoping for the best for him. She has a  a 17 year old that just had a child, and I just learned was diagnosed with leukemia (17 year old not baby) and twin 10 year old's, one of which has down syndrome. He absolutely loves DH, and whenever he sees him working outside, he has to know what DH is doing and will come over and pick up sticks and put in our fire pit for him, or just watch what he's doing.  The man neighbor has  the 12 year old from his marriage, who I think lives there most of the time. 


     Then, I think there are four kids they have together-nope five-they had another baby last year, so eight children under  12. Other than just loud kid noise, the occasional fights, crying, and mischief you would expect from a lot of kids, they are Ok as neighbors. We don't know them well, but chat when outside. He tends to yell out their back window to their fenced yard when the kids noise and fighting gets too much, but I don't know if I've ever heard her raise her voice other than to maybe call a child back. The girl twin and the next in line girl who might be 8, like to rollerblade and bike together and when they see me outside or walking always wave and say hello, share if they were in school or  did online school. One asked me why I am home alone all the time-she noticed! They both take the younger two boys, maybe 6 and 4, and a perhaps two year old girl to the playground, pulling the littles in a big red wagon. They are very nice young girls from what I see, and must be a lot of help to mom. They do have a nanny that comes everyday with her own child, but  mom works outside the house. It's all very fascinating and I can't imagine I would cope 1/4 as well, but I guess it works for them. Do any of you care about my neighbors? Probably not, but  was thinking about them as  I saw the girls out early on their bikes this morning. 

     Being nosy about my neighbors aside, I've decided I will drop in at the church garage sale and the thrift store this morning and see if I can find any big pots to transplant my very large out of control plant. Then, a stop at the hardware/garden store for the flower seeds for the pots. Does anyone know how deep Sunflowers need for roots? The little tiny pots I planted last Sunday are growing like crazy. With plans to rip up the deck and the things in the backyard, I want to do things in pots so I can move around. 

     Supper tonight will be the homemade pizza I talked about yesterday. I'm going to even make a yeast dough for the crust, and do the nice garlic and herb butter for the crust. I'll load with veg-onions pepper, mushrooms, artichokes, tomatoes and pepperoni. On Thursday about 1:00 I mentioned to DH I was hungry for Chinese food. Well, that went away and he cooked pasta. I must have planted a seed for  him though because he called at 5:30 yesterday and asked me to order at 6:00 and he would pick up after work. He devoured his cashew chicken, but  the  sesame chicken I got was so filling, I have more than half left. We each had an egg roll and a couple of the cream cheese  wontons too, and there's a couple of them left as well. The egg rolls were free with a $20 order so after tax, our meal only came to $24, so not too bad for take out with leftovers. Lunch tomorrow (and for me today) will need to be  all the random leftovers  that have accumulated this week. Meal plan was really just a bunch of suggestions this week. Grocery needs are slim-the milk went bad early-I hate that. So besides milk, we need  a bit of cheese and fresh fruit, and coffee. I even have a few seltzers and a couple unopened bottles of wine, so feel our take out splurge was mitigated by limited grocery needs. I found enough coffee to make it this morning-sans milk, but won't treat myself again. 

     It's time to get myself going I guess. I feel a bit less hopeless today about society and plan to throw myself this weekend into good and positive things. I got decent sleep last night and woke up before the sun, so nice to see the day begin not feeling  dragged down. Wish me luck on my hunt for pots and planters. I will be sure to share any success I have. 

19 comments:

  1. I love church garage sales. I hope you find lots of goodies there!

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    1. Closing hours when trying to clear-got quite a bit, but made donation so not as cheap as could have been but goes toward camp scholarships so good cause.

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  2. I think you are using the term correctly, but the misuse of the apostrophe makes me crazy!!!
    Yesterday was my birthday! I watched the neighbor's daughter after school, so no celebration. My kids, however, thought it would be fun for the girl to see me open my gifts, so I did. They picked out very thoughtful, useful things.
    The weather is glorious, so I am going to work in my flower beds. I decided to give up even pretending to grow vegetables except for Romaine lettuce. The raised beds DH and youngest built for me are now going to be filled with flowers!
    Enjoy your weekend.

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    1. Yes, point taken and corrected. Happy belated bday!

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  3. I feel so hopeless and helpless too about our society, it's so bad and I don't see any end in sight. Things just seem to get worse and worse by the day.

    I was actually quite fascinated reading about your neighbors. I can't even imagine. I don't know how they do it!

    Good luck at the garage sale and thrift store today!

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    1. They make it work. I mean the older kids really went through stuff based on his drug stuff, and the teen pregnancies, but not really steteotypes someone reading story might think. I think the older girls will end up fine, but my heart breaks for her being sick. It's kid chaos, of course, but heck my three made life chaotic some days!

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  4. Hope you are able to find your pots. I like church sales and hope they will start up again this year. Your pizza sounds delicious.
    I can't imagine having that many children. Sounds like the girls are a big help, and they seem thoughtful too.
    Glad you were able to get some sleep. Life does seem a bit better when you are rested. Hope you have a good weekend

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    1. Not great luck, but vot large plastic planter and rectangular plastic planter for a grand total of $1. Found like brand new jeans for girls, a brand new floor lamp-still in plastic and box, plus couple other bits.

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  5. I always wanted a large family but realized very quickly that I would still have to work and knew absolutely that we couldn't afford the day-care. I take my hat off to your neighbours being able to manage it. If they get it right, they will have a large family to make lots of happy memories with. If they get it wrong and the kids don't get along, it could be hell!

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    1. Or they all just go their seperate ways! I'm fortunate to come from a large family that for the most part, gets along. It's diverging a bit with time and as our own families have grown up and are forming different priorities, but no feuds! DH has a bad family issue with his crazy uncle.

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  6. My mind explodes at the idea of that many kids. Suffice it to say, I do not have the temperament for that. :-)

    I'm really frustrated by a work situation that will get worse next week. I'm trying not to dwell on it this weekend, despite getting pulled back to it off & on. May as well try to relax & have a good weekend, so I'll be ready to tackle the challenges next week.

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    1. I'm sorry that cloud is over your head. I'm slowly getting things done, and have tomorrow as well.

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  7. Glad you feel better about society today. A good night sleep always helps. My smaller hostas mostly in mixed sun/shade areas are up, but the giant "sum and substance" not yet tho those are in very deep shade. I have a small sunflower garden, I toss the soil well, spread seed and rake soil over that. So roots are not deep, maybe an inch? They probably should be a little deeper, but this is all the energy I have and they do fine. Celie

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    1. I found a couple plastic, not what I wanted, but price was right. I have a big plastic one I'll put the sunflower seeds in.

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  8. I like hearing about your neighbors. Hearing kids in yards is a nice sound. Getting enough sleeps certainly impacts my day, so I am glad yours started with enough sleep.

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    1. Well last night's sleep was horrible. We do hear a lot of kids as we also back up to the park.

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  9. We've dug up sunflowers at the end of the season that have had a rootball that was up to 12" across, depending on variety. The tall ones develop a lot of roots to anchor them.
    I can't imagine having a lot of children, as it's not something we ever wanted.

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    1. That doesn't bode well for planting in a pot but I'll give it a go. Three children was what I wanted and had.

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  10. dear me I misread the title. I am glad to know it was about church sales rather.

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