New things

      In spite of my buying diet, things do come into my house.  People send me things, or give them to me when I help them move, or I just break down and buy them anyway.  Last month my sister-in-law came to visit me and I joyfully took her to all the antique malls, and of course, in the spirit of companionship, I bought a couple of things, noteably this mincey purse, so called because carrying it absolutely forces one to mince slightly with each step, it's so girly.  Saks Fifth Avenue too, so it's marked!

 And then my best friend sent me some Hollyhock seeds, in time for fall planting.  Thank you Ida!

 And these aren't new, I've had them for 50 years.  I asked my then new husband to get them for me when we were newly married and had bought a sewing machine for me to use.  "A good pair of scissors" I said as I sent him off to the store.  He bought the best, some Gingher shears.  I used them for decades, having them sharpened every so often, until they no longer worked, having been sharpened too many times.  We sent them back to the factory last month to be refurbished and for $7.50 they were fixed, sharpened and inserted into a new sheath and mailed back to me, good as new!  I was most delighted to have them back, like old friends.

 When I went to drop off stuff at Good Will, I could not resist going in.  I found a little china "trug" style basket for Mary Lincoln.

Now for some cut flowers to put in it!

But these last two I shamelessly shopped for and, though I put off buying the head for a month, eventually I caved in and went to the Seventh Street Mall and bought her!

She is only a head but I am getting ready to make her into a whole doll.

  
 This contemporary boy doll and Limoges tea or soup cup with miss-matched saucer just came along with.  The total was $21.50 so not a serious budget deficit!

I have been keeping the food budget at $70 or below each week though and it has so far worked out.  I'm worried that prices will surge when it becomes apparent that the harvest has failed because of the drought.  We are in the midst of it here.  Last night it rained all over the state but only a few drops fell here.
     Here are my suggested menus:
Today, big meatballs, small tomato sauce and miniscule pasta.  I will have as an appetizer hot spinach and artichoke and cheese  dip with french bread slices for the others.  I'll just eat mine with a spoon!  And a big tossed salad and canteloup and blueberries for dessert.
Tomorrow salmon, roasted vegetables, salad and low carb ice cream.
Tuesday hamburgers and salad and chocolate square.
Wednesday the second salmon dinner, about the same though I might just fix steamed broccoli instead of the roasted veggies.
Thursday Lamb patties with sour cream and cucumber sauce and a salad enriched with herbs and lots of cheese.
Friday an old favorite. Chicken Fajitas with refried beans but no rice.
Saturday we'll have chicken and herbed cream cheese sandwiches on low carb bread and pumpkin and peanut butter soup.  

     This is not all the stuff that has come into my house this month but I'll save some for later!    

Soothing an irritation

     For the past month the phone has worked only spasmodically.  The phone guys were here 5 or 6 times, all nice guys but our wiring was old and funky.  I was very irritated.  In fact, that hardly seems a strong enough word though it wasn't
a crises, really.  I guess I just hate to miss a call.  Now I'm not a person who displays anger and irritation very well.  I found it very tempting to eat.  Food has always been my great panacea for emotion. Biscuits mostly, tempted me.  In fact several times I planned to make biscuits for breakfast and only squeaked by with tiny toast instead.  I could hardly think of anything to sooth myself.  Eventually I fell to organizing my clothes.  They are all hung in matching sets, color coordinated in my closet.  I did a lot of laundry while I was doing that.  Then I undertook to re-read all my Victoria Magazines, which I love devotedly.  I have 46 and now they are all catalogued and Bill is ordering the ones I don't have.  All except the first one, which seems to be going for $125.  I have some early ones though and could sell them on E-bay if I could bear to part with them.  When I explained to a daughter about all this she said "OCD as a calmer of emotions"?  But of course that's exactly right!  At least order is a desirable effect, in this case!

     While I was rearranging magazines, I got out some other of my favorites and among them was a volume of poetry written by another daughter and given to me as a present.  This is a treasured gift! 


 Here is one of my favorites:

Little Deaths

The trails of moths in velvet cloaks

Grow scarce in October's funeral rain;

The frost that fringes the shawls of oaks

Will hem my Mother's windowpane.

For little deaths she will not grieve,

But occupies these last warm hours

Simply;  pulls her heart from her sleeve

Look:  her arms, full of flowers!

 Elizabeth Heichelbech

     Eliyah went with us to Spring Mill Park last week and we had a grand time.  We cooked Southwestern on the grill and he doused his with hot sauce.  I didn't use the ice chest as I thought it wouldn't fit in his Mother's car.  Instead I used an insulated bag that came from Kroger years ago.  Despite being full of holes, it did the job but I thought I would buy some new ones when we went to the store.  However, I came in $2 over budget as it was and declined to spend any more.  Rather I came home and found that I could mend the two bags. Even the one with the broken zipper allowed itself to be pieced together.  Bill went through the house singing "Mighty Ana with her needle, here she comes to save the day"!

I'm afraid all our menus are very monotonous these days, although the shish-ke-babs with pineapple, onions, green peppers, mushrooms and chicken chunks went over big last night.   I am continuing to spend about $70 a week on this low carb diet and we are not hungry and I have my old energy back, for which I am very grateful.

Teapot used by the Dali Llama?

I have two pewter teapots which I bought at the Tibetan Monastery's garage sale years ago.  I know that the serving of tea is an important part of the Tibetan Monks' daily life.  So it is possible, I suppose, that one of these teapots could have been used to serve tea to the Dali Llama. He has visited our town more than once.  Anyway I like to think so. It seems to make the tea very soothing!  One had the knob broken and Bill fixed it and added a lovely Mother of Pearl insert.  I am drinking my favorite tea, Lapsang Souchong along with my low carbohydrate lunch.  I have had so much trouble with this low carb diet that I am planning to go to a dietician.  More about that later.

I will say that I've begun to enjoy having my favorite low carb foods whenever I want to!  Look at this breakfast!

That is a hamburger next to the omelet.  Bill has a mini-bagel and I have avocado!  Yum!


I have been playing with my doll rooms more and more.  Now, as the rejects pile up, visitors laugh and view that pile as another display!

This is the Big Bad Wolf with a cup and a clock and a table and rug, all just set over here in favor of other clocks and other tables.  He is reclining against a magnifying glass in a fabric pouch, a gift from dear friends.  He looks very comfortable doesn't he?  Notice the toothy grin!

I have had to set my new budget at $70 a week and it's starting to work out.  I had to get it out of my head that many treats had to be stocked every week.  I feared not having something good to eat.  Perhaps I am a carbohydrate addict, a term I've found in my research.  I have had some lucky sales too, to help the budget.  Aldi's had a vegetable sale this week and for $15 I was able to buy enough veggies to last for about six weeks.  Broccoli, cauliflower, and red and yellow peppers  were all frozen as soon as we got home from the store.  I blanched the cauliflower and the broccoli, but not the peppers.  You know, boiled them a couple of minutes, then plunged them in cold water, shoved them in bags and froze them immediately.  The peppers were just sliced, put on a cookie sheet and frozen and then slid into a big bag to take out however many I need.  Even for on a fresh salad.  They thaw out by the time you've got the rest of the dinner fixed.

Then when I went to Kroger's, they had pork loin roasts on sale for $1.98 a pound, I think.  I got two roasts and cut them in half to freeze.  The first one I roasted that same day and it was so good I went back and bought two more today.  And still I haven't quite spent the $70.