Pink tinged Iceberg Rose The Prudent Homemaker

We start school again this week. After we’ve finished school each day, I plan to work on my goals during the afternoons, as well as on Saturday.

There is a possibility of seasonal rain this week, which will dictate what days I work outside (if it rains, though this is the right time of year for here) and which days I spend on inside tasks.

 

Garden:

1. Prune grape vines.

2. Prune blackberry vines

3. Plant lettuce seeds

4. Plant other cool weather seeds: turnips, radishes, etc.

5.  Begin to prune fruit trees. I have around 40 trees, the last time I counted, but I’ve added more. I’ll try to make a count while I’m pruning.

6. Prune rose bushes

 

Sewing:

1. Cut out and sew 3 aprons

2. Cut and sew cloth wipes for emergencies.

 

Organization/Cleaning:

1. Organize desk drawer

2. Clean master bath, including detaching glass globes from light fixtures and washing them

3. Clear kitchen counters, except for the lemons

 

Shopping:

1. Order seeds online (I have a lot I’ve collected, but I’m still short on some items, such as radishes)

2. Write shopping list for the month

3. Possible trip to Sam’s Club for a few items; look at ads for other deals and determine if I am going to go anywhere else this week. Our ads come in the mail on Tuesdays and sales are Wednesday through Tuesday.

 

Cooking:

1. Make French Bread

2. Make a gallete du rois (or two!) including the puff pastry

3. Make pita bread

4. Cook a turkey

5. Make lemonade

 

 

 

 

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25 Comments

  1. Good luck with the puff pastry!!! I have never been brave enough for that one. I will make a a king cake as well for epiphany, but will be purchasing my puff pastry. Funny, my kiddos look forward to twelfth night almost as much as Christmas. I believe it is because we are the only ones they know that celebrate it. They also know that Mardi Gras will be just around the corner then. Not too big on Valentine’s Day here…must be the florist in me, I’m usually too exhausted to celebrate it much. I’ve been looking up new recipies for the gallette de rois as they are not too fond of the almond filling. Could you please share your recipe? I am also pouring through my existing seed library and current catalogs. We have had such a mild season so far here in the Deep South, but I know that February is when it hits us the worse. I have to hold myself back from planting when I just know we will be hit with a deep freeze and will lose those early plants.

  2. Out of curiosity, Brandy, who are the 3 aprons for? If I remember correctly, you gave all your daughters an apron for Christmas. Did you get requests from people to make some?

  3. I never did make mine! Plus I want to make one for my husband and a new one for one of my sons. But this week I’ll aim for three–one ofr each of us–and then another week I’ll work on some more for myself. I like to have a few for myself since I us them for different activities.

  4. Hello Brandy and all from Australia :). Love the picture of the pink rose too just a divine close-up. We too are having seasonal rain forecast all week here so we are getting a lot of rain. We had around 2 – 3″ yesterday and it is currently raining at the moment as I type.

    Well it is Monday night here in Australia and already have gone to a party in New South Wales and had a wonderful time catching up with friends from church. Whilst we were there picked up some deodorant on special to stock us for the year.

    For the rest of the week & rain permitting in the garden –
    – Harvest sweet & thai basil and hang to traditionally dry on the veranda.
    – Finish breaking up other dried herbs in the kitchen, crumble and package for sale and home use.
    – Harvest any ripe crops, I know that there is lots of green beans to pick so will endeavour to do that.
    – Weed back paddock tomato, pumpkin and cucumber patch & mulch.

    Sewing –
    – Catch up on sewing more sleep eye masks, curtain tiebacks and journal covers to top up stocks sold in the last couple of weeks online.
    – See if I have enough cotton fabrics to make some teatowels for the kitchen.
    – See if I have enough fabric to make curtains for the toilet and laundry windows.
    – List all new items that I make for sale on etsy & ebay.

    Service – help one of our sisters who’s husband is away overseas to tidy the house and supervise children. She has everyday functioning & organisation disorder & depression which makes it hard for her to organise herself or prioritise tasks in any order.
    – Saturday depending on how much response my husband gets from a call to church members, help him to mow and tidy up a rural house block, mow lawns and maintain gardens for a brother from church who is going in for a major operation in around a weeks time.

    Kitchen & cooking frugals –
    – Continue to make homemade bread all week.
    – We have decided to have a pantry,freezer and garden only total cooking week to use some of our food stored so we can rotate some fresh products in.
    – Our next grocery shop will be on January 12th to stock up on anything we have used in the house only.

    Have a wonderfully productive week on and all.

  5. I have one girl starting back to public school this week, and the other one is starting back with homeschool. I have some organization to do for the homeschooled one. We did some math over the break, as we were behind where I wanted to be.

    Our regular life of therapies, appointments, my work, driving the other daughter to and from work, etc. starts back up so I made a menu plan and did a LOT of laundry over the weekend to be better prepared.

    Today, Monday, I will have a few more hours at home to work on things here instead of going to work because everything is frozen up with freezing rain right now and I will have to wait until it freezes to go anywhere. It’s so dangerous, and it’s not worth the $ I would make this morning to risk driving until it melts. My piano students feel the same, as my phone was lighting up with texts last evening with them all canceling out for this morning. So, I plan to cook, change laundry loads, and do school with Ja’Ana until it melts. Patsy has a 3 hour delay so far.

    I plan to continue embroidering dish towels in my spare time. I gave away those I had made previously for Christmas and want to get a small pile back into the drawer for birthdays, etc.

  6. I have some bits of flotsam from Christmas to put away, and like always every figure from the manger is lost, so need to round them up. I am making broccoli cheese soup today, bathing everybody, and a lot of laundry. I was washing linens all weekend and have to wash and store the Christmas cloth. I have to list some things for sale too.

  7. Goals
    Not go crazy in a week with two boys, a job, and a traveling husband
    Stay dry
    Work more on this crocheted Christmas tree
    Exercise every day. My motivation has been lacking in the cold mornings. Here I sit, in my warm PJs… And the rain will keep me from walking at lunch.
    Think about starting to crochet a scarf. It’s finally winter here in So Cal. I’m cold.
    Update my major work projects. Make a plan for learning something new.
    Schedule the first meeting for the school jogathon, and hope someone else is willing to chair it.

  8. I just ran out of yeast and was contemplating a trip to Sam’s Club, too. But I’ll have to find a friend who is willing to take me since I don’t have a card. I love your list of things to buy there, it was a great guide for me the last time I went.

    Here are my goals for the week: http://www.mediumsizedfamily.com/5-ways-weve-saved-money-this-week-16/

    I’m trying to break my yearly goals into bite sized pieces so I can get them done without feeling overwhelmed!

  9. The recipe in the graphic and the one in the video/text are slightly different. One calls for one egg and the other two, and the amounts of the ingredients are slightly different. The cake sure looks delicious though.

  10. Many thanks for posting your goals for the week, I often have daily ones and then get disappointed when they are not all achieved, making them for the week is much more sensible. We also enjoyed the ‘Call the Midwife’ special although I think that you could tell in some parts that it was filmed in what passes for Summer over here in the UK ! Good luck with all your goals, I’m off to write mine !

  11. Tina, I noticed that too! I am going to follow the one in the video. The woman made me laugh when she held up the feve. I was thinking it was a donkey, and then she says it’s a horse–or a donkey–well, it’s an animal. I told me husband and he laughed and said, “She put an animal in the cake?”

  12.  This week I will be concentrating on cleaning up the house from top to bottom (we are in a bit of disarray after the kiddos being home from school for vacation.)  I need to get some things together as we will be having a family birthday party for my littlest who is turning four.  I want to use as much as I can from home and have recruited some family members to bring a few things as well. I also hope to pick off a little bit of my list of things I’d like to get to for January.  Going to be a busy week!
    https://morebymelissa.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/january-2016-plans/

  13. What a great list. I am always so amazed by how much you can accomplish each week (and with so many children around!). Right now I am trying to start 2016 off with a few tasks but I’m trying not to get too overwhelmed. That’s what happened in 2015 and by the end of it I just wanted to crawl in a hole!

    This week my goals are simply:
    Bake bread
    Make freezer biscuits
    make a deep cleaning schedule
    get blog posts scheduled for the next few weeks
    figure out why my newsletter is being delivered from the wrong email address!! (I am sooo not tech savy!)

    Can’t wait to hear more about what you accomplished!

  14. My week got off to a pretty good start today—3 loads of laundry and I did my daughter’s mending and then–same color thread in the machine—sewed up a couple rips in my husband’s “dirty jobs” winter jacket and washed it. I may need to stitch a couple more spots after washing it on “heavily soiled”–it’s very old and the fabric is fraying at the seams. He doesn’t have a nearly worn out one to replace it with, so will probably be using it a while longer. It’s for blowing snow and working on cars when it’s necessary in the cold—very warm but otherwise beyond hope. I have trouble with him putting his “dirty jobs” clothing in the wash EVER so I have been a nag lately on that subject. Especially after washing a very dirty, but not very old, zip up sweatshirt! I was appalled at it’s condition AFTER washing and fear it will never be clean again. I bought him several casual pants for around the house wear as he is looking way too homeless for my taste. He WILL get them full of paint, grease, and oil, but at least the fabric will be intact. I waited for sales, of course! I reserve the right to toss any clothing in which the fabric is actually worn through in so many places that patching would be useless. I also told my sister he could use new sweat pants, when we watched old videos and I could see that the ones he has been wearing a lot were at least 13 years old. She bought him a pair that he really likes and has worn already. We have gotten quite practical these days in asking for “wish lists” so the money we spend on Christmas gifts is really for useful things. I really need to get back to making more gifts. I meant to make some “gifts in a jar” but due to being sick all of November, that did not get done.

    My daughter bought me a “SET” of plastic food containers which I never would have bought–but the hook is that the lids stay attached while in the cupboard. I often ask for her help reaching things when she stops in, and lids are a problem. She promised she would come and help me clean the cupboard (and, no doubt, supervise the disposal of the old plastic containers–which are various deli containers, Cool Whip containers, and ricotta cheese containers. I don’t even buy Cool Whip but I have collected containers from sending food back and forth to my Mom’s house over the past many years.) The storage place is the third shelf up from the bottom, which I can barely reach anyhow, and I also received a mandolin for Christmas, which I need to make space for. Thinking of moving some unused items to storage to make room for things I use more often. Very small kitchen!

    Tonight’s goal is making yet another meal from refrigerator contents. It looks more than possible: sliced meatloaf, fried to heat up. Quinoa pilaf with peppers and onions, applesauce (just enough left for one more meal), corn bread (2/3 pan left), and may add a green veggie depending on how hungry we perceive ourselves as being by the time I make it. Two people can only eat so much. And we have sweets enough so I won’t be baking for a couple weeks at least, except for bread!

    Longer term goals: decluttering, year 2: emphasizing drawers and cabinets that haven’t been touched in a while, more careful spending, as husband wants a vacation in February. (We’re retired–he wants a TRIP somewhere is more accurate.) Getting rid of things we no longer use is a priority, which means cleaning a LOT of Christmas decor from the attic. We have things that have not been unpacked in the last five years–sell or give them away!!

  15. * Stay caught up on laundry
    * Clean out the rabbit trays and put the manure on the garden beds.
    * Make out my seed list and budget when they can be ordered.
    * Schedule “The Terrors” neuter surgeries and budget it in ($160)
    * Put the few Christmas things we had out, back in the basement box.
    * Make the curtain for the spare room + A window quilt for Daughter’s room (She needs it darker when she works 3rd shift)
    * Cut out a hole in the cat litter bucket for the puppy’s bowl to sit in = raised feeder that is essentially FREE
    * Can up the applesauce I made last week and re-can the failed strawberry/mulberry jelly that failed to set.
    * Check if the old fish tank holds water and if the filter pump still works
    * relist expired for sale items.

  16. In preparation for painting the bedroom and walk-in closet I will be sorting, decluttering, and cleaning up the closet. Since it’s so big the closet has become a catch-all for anything and everything! I will be so happy to get it done.

    I made a meal plan for the next 3 weeks so I am very much hoping to stick with it. I won’t have to do much grocery shopping except for fresh food, which will save us some money to throw at a bill or savings.

    We are in the middle of a deep freeze here in northern Indiana. It will be 19 degrees tonight plus there is snow on the ground so no gardening can be done but I am planning for the spring already and enjoying your garden, Brandy.

  17. I bought my yeast in bulk on eBay of all places. It was priced similarly to the warehouse stores for me. I bought two large packages. I freeze any extra that I won’t use within a month or so.

  18. It is good to hear that you can get out and about some! I have been busy and missed following the blog.
    The last week of December was the completion of 3 months of hard work. As I shared a variety of times I am in the middle of moving out of a warehouse. We have been restructuring the order of the garage and our “carriage house” [10×20 building] in preparation for phase 1 of the moving out process. Dec 29 the moving company brought over the carts and boxes. It was good to see that they slipped right into where I had planned them.
    While recovering from the move [my feet swelled from being on them for so long] I set in place my yearly calendar planner. I have not used a physical one for several years but thought this year it would be good. After a lot of research I chose http://intheleafytreetops.com/2016-mormon-mom-planner/ . I am not an LDS but I wanted the extra items such as family night planner each month. We plan on making Monday nights family game night. I have had it for 2 months and couldn’t wait to use it. It was a good feeling to have January goals laid out.
    The first week of Jan was planned to be quiet and do nothing important. I thought I had my husband’s rehab schedule cleared for this week, somehow in all of the moving the last of Dec that did not happen. We have rehab 2 days. Plus we need to get his driver’s license renewed. I tried to do it online but due to his age we have to physically appear. I might yet cancel 1 day of the rehab just to have time to rest more. My feet are still recovering.
    We have been trying to purchase groceries 1x a month. The plus to this plan of having a pantry full has meant we do not need to grocery shop which has been nice.
    During the holidays I purchased an Emergency Planner Notebook. I was originally going to create one but decided recreating the wheel was not worth my time. I hope in January to start filling it up. This way in an emergency I can grab it and have all of the important papers, numbers and whatever in one place.
    I am really hoping to keep January quiet. My experience has been January is the hardest month of the year on our health. Therefore wisdom is to not plan much of anything.

    It has been fun to read all of your plans as well!

  19. I understand getting the kitchen and house organized for “age” appropriate. lol I can’t climb on ladders to get things anymore. I find I have the same lid/container issue and must do another clean out. I wish I had the daughter that could help. You are lucky. I am glad I have a woman that helps me clean though. This year is sorting and clearing away that which is no longer needed is my goal as well. We are retired and would love to spend February in the sun but this year due to my husband’s stroke it a stay at home year. Have fun in Feb.!

  20. I appreciate that you refer to these as goals and not a “to do list”. I feel like there is a different approach to things you need/want to accomplish if is is a goal. Maybe its just me …

    My goals for the week:
    canning a batch of strawberry jam
    canning a batch of strawberry rhubarb jam
    baking 2 loaves of banana bread
    attempting to bake a sandwich bread (the children didn’t like the last recipe I prepared, so it became breadcrumbs)
    sewing my husband’s pants
    taking down Christmas

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