A few morning thoughts

Although June is one third of the way over I am now just getting to doing my menus. I did it all backwards this month, shopping first and then now having to create menus to fit what I have in the house (with a few ideas needing items I can pick up at the Farmer's Market later in the month). I have hardly even cooked at all so far this month; the first weekend of the month we traveled  to my oldest stepdaughter J's wedding so no menus necessary. Last week I just made meals that fit from last month's menu ideas or from what we had on hand (we had a roast boneless leg of lamb one night, a Greek salad with warm lamb strips another night (see photo above),breaded chicken strips a third night, then out to dinner with GF after taking prom pictures for youngest daughter L, a Pampered Chef party on Friday that I didn't need to cook for & kids all got pizza for themselves, and then over the weekend we had a car show & festival we ate at on Saturday and then out to dinner on Sunday following L's graduation from high school as a treat from GF, and then last night youngest son H brought home pizza from work). GF and I have talked about our standing Thursday night dinner date night for the summer and have decided that since we usually have some kind of plan on Saturday nights (classic car shows, festivals, celebrations to attend) I will make us a nice dinner for two on Thursdays and we will eat out on Saturday instead. With the teens and my young adult son all having their own weekend plans as well as jobs this works for everyone concerned. 
I want to get back into doing some of the  homey things that I so enjoy this summer as well. I am going to bake bread & cookies & crackers, I am going to do a bit of canning, I want to find some pick your own places for fruits and make jam, I am going to use the clothesline more, and I am going to grow a few of my own food items in the really nice raised bed that my adult son J built for me as a belated birthday gift.

 

 

I plan on using my local library more for reading and videos, we have memberships to the zoo and the waterpark that we will use (if it ever warms up and stops raining), and I have a list of things I need to get done around the house:

1. Clean off dining room window seat which has become a catch-all for stuff and make cushions for this as well

2.Repair the broken drawer front underneath the window seat

3. Clean and organize the basement. Adult son built some nice shelves for pantry items and larger pots and small kitchen appliances to live on and they need some serious attention so this is where the basement cleaning will begin. I need to wipe off cans and bottles and get the older stuff out to the front of the shelves. I also need to replace the moisture catching bags we have hanging down there since they are full and the shower curtain liner that hangs at the top of the steps is torn and needs replacing.

 

4. Clean out the area behind the living room tv and organize the built in bookshelf that is back there. Right now there are stacks of books on the floor and piles of old magazines in a basket that need throwing away.

5. Clean out the living room coat closet and donate too small jackets to charity.

6. Rescreen the kitchen window that the kids broke out when attempting to enter the house after forgetting their house key one day. I also should rescreen the sliding screen door in the dining room which leads out to the back yard. I am in two minds about how I am going to do this however. It needs rescreening because the doggies broke through the screen to chase a squirrel last fall. This created a very convenient doggie 'door' at the bottom of the screen. It looks bad though because it is torn through and bugs can get inside. I am considering rescreening the door but leaving the bottom corner loose from the edges so the dogs can still let themselves in and out while at the same time preventing flies and mosquitos from coming in and not having the torn pieces hanging down.