I am back sort of...

Hi Everyone!!! It's been a long time. I am finally home in NC. I did not leave NY as early as I had hoped. I stayed a bit longer to get my g-aunt's affairs in order, as much as I could as I am Power of Attorney through June and then my uncle takes over again. Long story there and many peoples feelings hurt over it. I talked to my Mom last night and my aunt was doing great, she was with it, talking normally. That was really good to hear. However, a month away from home is really way too long. It is great to be back. As soon as I walked in the door I sat down to greet Chantilly and she jumped on my lap and would not stop kissing me LOL I think I was missed. All week she has been my little shadow not letting me out of her sight. Even if DH and I head out she is at the door not wanting me to go or wanting to go with us. I think she is afraid I will be leaving again.

Hubby had taken the week off as he originally was to come to NY, I decided to fly home instead. We took advantage of the great weather and his time off to get the yard in order for summer. We bought lots of flowers for the property and deck and vegetables and herbs for the garden. While I was doing plants hubby was working in the garden and getting things set-up and organized. I have a huge area where my herbs are, my sage, rosemary and lemon balm plants are huge and take up a lot of space - they have been there for 8 years now - so DH made some raised boxes and transplanted my herbs into them. He also made a compost area which is now boxed in, a defined area makes it easier to turn things over and water. He also sifted our garden dirt and it is awesome!!! I used quite a bit of it for my plants on the deck.

I had been saving my money and had enough to finally get the freezer I wanted and that was delivered last week. LOL Just in time for my Schwan's delivery. I am so glad we got it as I use a lot of flours and if you freeze your flour you rid it of the pesky bugs, now I have the room to freeze them including my rice. It is all organized and I have a nice pad on the front with a list of things on the shelves, drawers, and doors. I am also psyched because I have room for my ice cream insert to make homemade sorberts and ice cream. I have no idea what in the world those refrigerator manufacturers were thinking of when they made the small side-by-sides. You can't even put a box of pizza inside them, not that I do as I make my own but still. When I would buy things from the Schwan's guy I couldn't pick out a lot of stuff as there was never any room or the box wouldn't fit in the freezer.

We also went and checked out BJ's Warehouse. We hadn't been warehouse shopping in over 17 years so it was a pleasant surprise when I got there. I was a little concerned about what I would be able to buy as I use mostly organic and make most of my things from scratch - including mayonaisse - so I was not sure what would be available. They had nice size packages of yeast, baking powder, and whatever else you could think of for baking, they also had a lot of organic products. The clincher was that I could use manufacturer coupons and combine them with BJ's coupons. They had different oils for soap making which I will not only use to clean but to make my shampoo and regular body soap (right now I am still using the stuff I made a while back with the Zote). They naturally had big bottles of vinegar, oxy clean and baking soda so all my homemade cleaning supplies are available. When we were done at BJ's we went to Food Lion and I compared prices with the receipt and what I had written down as we walked the aisles. We saved a lot of money at BJ's so that will be our new shopping venue. It doesn't take the place of Weaver Street my co-op and Whole Foods (which I haven't gone to since I read the bad things about them) but will take the place of my regular grocery shopping.

On the knitting front I am still working on socks. I have a bunch on the needles and near completion so I will have pictures soon.

Hugs!!!
Namaste!!!!

Comments

[Cindy/WAgal]

Wow Cat, you have a lot going the last couple months! I am so glad you are home. Sounds like how things were with me a couple years ago with my stepdad getting so sick and passing. I was away from home for 3 months. Even this year I was in Idaho 6 times between Christmas and March 1st. My mom got very ill with the flu and that required 3 trips over for a week at a time. Sometimes it takes me a couple days at home to even remember where my silverware drawer is! LOL! I hope things get worked out and ruffled feathers get smoothed down. Take it easy and enjoy your time at home. (((hugs)))

[Terry]

Glad to see you blogging again, sort of ;) and now I must go check out BJ's, is it better than Sams?

[briley]

I can't believe you are just getting home! You must be exhausted. I am glad to hear that your aunt was doing well when you last heard.

[Aunt Kathy]

Yay Cat blogged

[turtlegirl76]

Welcome back! glad you're finally home and able to relax and concentrate on you for abit.

The last part of your post made me think that maybe you might have an answer for me. Do you know of a good substitute for Grapefruit Seed Extract for a preservative? (it's for a hairgel I'm making)