The 21st Century Matriarch

A lot has happened over the past month. I was at home and settling in except for the one week I spent in Carrollton, TX (an easy road trip).

Roses. I enjoy the roses outside…the bushes were among the first parts of the yard I watered (before we got the sprinkler system fixed). I’ve started bringing in some of the flowers…putting them in a small glass on the windowsill in my office.

Sprinklers and some rain. The sprinkler system is now working, and it helped the yard to begin to recover before the recent rains came. Most of the grass was brown or turning brown before we started watering. There are some parts of the yard that the system doesn’t cover well but the rain has caused the whole yard to green up again.

Scan app at grocery store. One of the local grocery stores has a scan-as-you-shop app like I had in Maryland (Walmart does too but charges a monthly fee for it, so I’ll continue to use the self-checkout in that store). The grocery store is further from the house than the Walmart; my plan is to shop there once a month; I’ve already identified items that the store has that Walmart doesn’t. I did have a small accident in the store: I bumped a can when I was reaching for some seasoned pinto beans on a high shelf; it fell on my big toe; since it was wearing flip flops, it hurt (broke the skin enough to bleed and lots of bruising); the injury has kept me from doing yard work and other activities that I need to wear close toed shoes; it should be healed enough in the next week or so.

Screens on my office windows. I have tried to take pictures through my office windows and realized that the screens need to be removed – note the grid in the picture of the dragonfly below. When I do it, the windows will need to be cleaned too.

Compost. I bought 2 pieces of cedar edging and made a circle for compost…thinking that I didn’t have enough kitchen scraps to warrant a larger bin. The watermelon rind is loading it up fast! In need to add ‘browns’ to keep it from smelling like garbage…I may have to shred some cardboard. Some of the smaller yard waste can go in too (larger pieces will still have to go to the recycle center).

Trash/recycling. We made one trip to the recycle center taking boxes since there were too many to fit in the bin for curbside collection every other week.

Telescope. The telescope ‘stuff’ has been moved from the garage to the John Deere room – the easier to get it set up in the backyard. We aren’t planning any camping/star parties near term (too hot). Hopefully, there will be some good night skies from our back yard.

Birdfeeder. We have put up one bird feeder, but it is not in an ideal spot; neither one of us can see it unless we look out one of the basement den’s windows. I have seen some house finches on the perch.

Cats. We are preparing the house for cats. That has meant getting rooms cleared of boxes and bins that need to be unpacked…coils of extension cords…anything that might be hazardous to young cats. The cat paraphernalia was in the basement…now it is on the first floor. The largest cat tree is near the big window in the piano (dining) room.

We have chairs and small tables near other windows that will give the cats good views of the outdoors. There are two doors with glass low enough for cats to look out to the deck from floor level. I put pillowcases on the pillows in the breakfast area window seat and raised the blinds a little to provide a view from that vantage point. My husband has bought supplies (litter, food). The cats we are getting are 3 siblings that have been fostered…are now old enough to be adopted. Stay tuned for more cat news!

Previous ‘settling in’ posts: 1st month