Month: October 2018

I haven’t purchased houseplants in years. There really hasn’t been a need for that since we have plenty of plants indoors and even more in our one-acre garden, however, over the past three weeks, I’ve brought about fifteen new plants into our home. The main reason has been because of my lovely daughter. She’s shown an interest in plants and so we went plant shopping. Although there are plenty of plants at the home that I can give to her, there’s something special about picking out a plant that is new to you.

My daughter favors succulents, and so her selections reflected that. Myself? I mainly lean towards variegated plants and am partial to plants that either has medicinal qualities or are extremely beneficial for the home. Before I make any new plant purchase, I will research them just to make sure they’re a good fit for my zone and the location that I plan to place them. I’ve found doing that, has saved a lot of frustration and ensures that the plants I own flourish instead of just “surviving.” Why? Plants are living things, and I do treat them respectfully. So yes… I do talk to my plants. Later this week (and next) I do have a few plants arriving by mail. A few are exotic, I’m looking forward to receiving them and more importantly seeing how they do in their new home. One of the plants ordered is a tropical plant and so that will be traveling with a heat pack, that will keep the box temperature at 70 F during travel. It’s making its trek to me all the way from California.

A few weeks ago, I made another vegetable stir fry.

They are a staple in our household. They’re quick, delicious and nutritious. I typically make enough for at least two to three meals. What isn’t eaten is put into a glass storage container and moved to our storage freezer.

Besides cooking, is something that is done several times a week in our home, I’ve been doing a lot of decluttering. I don’t purchase a lot of items, in fact, several years have gone by without me purchasing any clothing, however, I (at times) can hold onto items. I’m 48 years old. When I started decluttering my bedroom, I gave away the clothing that I had had since college. I tend to choose classic pieces so I’d still wear those items today, and sometimes I do since I can still fit them. I must say that after cleaning my bedroom, I’m really enjoying the area much more and the clothing I had was donated.

My Dupray Neat steamer and my Shark Rocket vacuum cleaner are still items that I use often. The vacuum is used daily. We have two dogs, daily maintenance is a must to keep our home looking clean. Also, the vacuum does an excellent job of cleaning up any dust or pet hairs that might settle on the floors (we have hard surfaces) or furniture. It actually doesn’t take too long to vacuum, perhaps ten minutes or less. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve found doing chores daily keeps the amount of cleaning I do to a minimum. I clean between 20 – 30 minutes daily. One of the first things I do in the morning is to make my bed. I’ve found that this just adds another layer of peace to my busy days.